DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-075, October 8, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1481, October 8-14, 2009 Thu 0530 WRMI 9955 Thu 1200 WRMI 9955 Thu 1900 WBCQ 7415 9330-CUSB? Fri 0000 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 Fri 0100 WRMI 9955 Fri 1130 WRMI 9955 Fri 1430 WRMI 9955 Fri 1900 WBCQ 7415 9330-CUSB? Fri 2028 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9510 [2, 4, 5 Sats] Sat 1330 WRMI 9955 Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sat 1830 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1130 SHR 5835 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Mon 2200 WBCQ 7415 Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Tue 1900 WBCQ 7415 9330-CUSB? Wed 0700 WRMI 9955 [or new 1482 starting here?] Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1830 SHR 3935 Wed 1900 WBCQ 7415 9330-CUSB? 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. Apsua Radio with news in Abkhazian and Russian heard on Sundays 1400-1425 including program in Russian at 1400-1410 called ``Weekly Survey of Events`` and native songs. Noted 15 Sept in Russian 0800-0808 followed by relay of TV audio in Russian until 0820*. On 16 Sept heard with news in Abkhazian at 1100-1118, then program from FM station Avto Radio in Russian until 1122. All heard on 9495. Also heard M-F 1700-1720 on 9495 // MW 1350 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Mercoledì 30 settembre 2009, 0722 - 9495.5 kHz, APSUA R. - Sokhumi (Georgia), Mxs OM/YL e mx locale. Segnale sufficiente-buono. Battimento con altro tx quasi co-channel e 9535 è spenta (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ABKHAZIA [non]. RFE/RL TO BROADCAST TO ABKHAZIA, SOUTH OSSETIA October 07, 2009, PRAGUE -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has announced plans to launch daily broadcasts to the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia beginning in November. The 60-minute daily program will be produced by journalists in RFE/RL's Prague headquarters and correspondents in Georgia (including South Ossetia and Abkhazia) and Russia. The new broadcasts will be in Russian and will be available on shortwave radio frequencies every day in the evening. Broadcasts may also be available on FM frequencies. The broadcasts will include news and features and will be interactive with listeners. A website known as "Caucasus Echo" will debut simultaneously with the first broadcasts in November. The web presence will be optimized for dial-up connections, which predominate in the region. The new program's major objective is reconciliation among people in the regions and the bridging of different viewpoints expressed by the parties to the processes in the region (Source : RFE/RL via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Oct 7, dxldyg via DXLD, and via Yimber Gaviría, DXLD) WTFK? ** AFGHANISTAN. US FIGHTS TALIBAN ON AIRWAVES Posted: 06 October 2009 1106 hrs http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1009564/1/.html GOLESTAN: "You're listening to W.IED 102.5 FM 'the bomb'," joked Staff Sergeant Todd Bowers as he slotted another cassette of religious chants into his portable radio station. While most of the battles fought by US Marines in restive Farah province are against improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and guns, Bowers, 30, is fighting a war of words to win the hearts and minds of people in rural western Afghanistan. The radio station - a portable deck and 45-foot antennae at the military base in Golestan - began as a chance to give local villagers a taste of the music they were banned from hearing under the hardline Taliban rule. "Ever since word got out, I've had people bringing me cassettes. To have this music now has such a strong impact on the people," said Bowers, who heads the Marines' civil affairs team. "When I drive through the valleys and play local Pashtu music on the loud speaker, people out in the village are singing and dancing. A lot can be said for music changing things." The station, which goes on air at 5:00 am and ends at 11:00 pm each day with the Afghan national anthem, takes song requests amid a schedule of prayer chants and official messages from the government and coalition forces. But this week the station took on greater importance for the US Marines after Taliban insurgents launched their own propaganda drive after accusing them of defiling a mosque in nearby Bakwa. Militants then fomented a riot involving about 200 protesters in Delaram, 36 kilometres from Golestan. Tyres were burnt in the street and rocks were thrown at Marines and Afghan soldiers, while rumours continued to escalate. Troops were later accused of killing about 50 people during the ruckus, including a baby, but no evidence was found. "It's a common tactic," said the commander of the 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines Company, Captain Francisco Xavier Zavala. "The enemy tries to get you to open fire into the crowd. The whole propaganda thing is huge. Having the trust of the population is important." To quash the rumours, the Afghan National Army's local commander, Mohammad Anwar Sakra, was swiftly called to record a radio message to play to villages. "(The) Americans do not disrespect our culture and our country. Before they came here they learned from the Russians' (experience)," Sakra told people across the airwaves. The broadcasts reach a potential 40,000 people in 107 villages surrounding Golestan, and Bowers' team have handed out 450 wind-up radios to overcome the lack of electricity in the mountainous region. Marines said similar claims were made in Bakwa and eastern Kunar province in 2007. But with the arrival of the radio station, foreign forces now no longer have to rely on fighting counter-propaganda with leaflet drops from planes. "I burn the cassettes to CD and then add them to my iTunes playlist," said Bowers. For now, government red tape means the radio station can only play music and official messages - no DJs are allowed to sound off across the airwaves. Bowers said he tries to mix local Pashtu music and Indian Bollywood film soundtracks with chants from the Koran at prayer times. - AFP/sc (via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ALASKA. MP3 of KYUK 640 kHz - staggering quality http://www.dxer.ca/file-area/doc_details/263-kyuk-bethel-alaska-october-4-2009-part-2 I have never had such clear reception of an Alaskan station -- my luck and style I guess. I am particularly proud of this segment. Eton E1 with a Wellbrook ALA100M & a 7M loop about 3' above the ground... yes. 3 feet. In the case of most Alaskan receptions from the West Coast, any radio could hear it - because it was utterly in the clear after KFI dropped into its sunrise. Enjoy! (Colin Newell, Victoria, British Columbia, Oct 4-5, IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) Viz.: This is part two of two recordings of KYUK in Bethel Alaska - recorded on October 4, 2009. They are on 640 - and this is the better of the two recordings. This recording is astounding. Listen for the weather and the sunrise - sunset times! The time this was recorded was 1359 UTC -- or 6:59AM Pacific Time - the receiver was an Eton E1 attached to a Wellbrook ALA100M and a 7m loop. http://www.dxer.ca/file-area/doc_download/263-kyuk-bethel-alaska-october-4-2009-part-2 (via DXLD) I urge all the readers to download this confirmation letter from KYUK and see if you can spot the irony in it. It is very informative - but there is a twist. Enjoy - http://www.dxer.ca/file-area/doc_details/266-vacouver-island-kyuk-reception-confirmation (Colin Newell, ibid.) Viz.: 10/5/09 Colin Newell Coffee Crew dot Com Victoria, B.C., Canada Colin Newell, Thank you for your email message and audio file regarding your SWL reception of KYUK, 640 AM in Bethel, AK. I have verified the information you provided and I am pleased to confirm your reception report of KYUK 640 AM in Bethel, Alaska of October 4th. 2009 at 1359 UTC. I could clearly hear our program stream on the audio clip you provided. Bethel is a small Yup’ik Eskimo village located on the banks of the Kuskokwim River in Southwest Alaska’s Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta. We use a Nautel XL 12 transmitter at 10 kilowatts into an electrically short monopole antenna at 221 feet that is located 5 miles southwest of Bethel at the abandoned Bureau of Indian Affairs site. KYUK will be replacing the antenna this coming summer with a customized “egg-beater” monopole to accommodate IBOC digital broadcasting. We will continue to broadcast our analog mon-aural signal until 2010. KYUK is a public radio station with a mission to serve the residents of the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta with news, information and entertainment. Most of the residents of this area are Yup’ik Eskimos who continue to speak their native language. KYUK broadcast are often bi-lingual. The station has been on the air since 1973 and has recently added several FM translators to expand the service. KYUK also operates two television stations, K200EA (channel 21) and K15AC (channel 15) in Bethel, Alaska. Again, thank you for your reception report and happy listening in the future. Sincerely, Joseph Seibert (AL1F), Chief Engineer, Bethel Broadcasting, Inc. (via DXLD) K200EA, if it existed on 87.9, would be an FM translator and not a TV station as he says it is;) And I see they're going IBOC. Public radio stations in Alaska apparently got a grant that was specifically for HD radio transmitters and if they didn't use it for that, they lost it and couldn't use it for anything else (Paul Walker, IRCA via DXLD) Hint: "2010" and "all-digital". Irony: It is in the middle of nowhere. Their listener spread must be staggering, hundreds of square miles, if not thousands, and to abandon their AM Monaural signal for IBOC -- would leave all the trappers, hunters, joe-six-packs, and vice-presidential wannabees without a viable media alternative (Colin Newell, ibid.) "K200EA" is apparently a typo for K21AO, which is one of two LPTVs that KYUK owns in Bethel. Here's my understanding of the IBOC situation: because electricity is almost unbelievably expensive in rural Alaska - I've heard figures as high as 50 cents/kWh (!) - some of the rural public radio AM stations are looking for ways to reduce their power bills by turning off analog AM. KIYU in Galena shut off its AM entirely earlier this year, replacing it with a half-dozen 100-watt FM signals. I've heard some discussion from other AMs up there about going digital-only on AM. Even if it means providing listeners with replacement receivers, the savings on power bills would apparently more than make up for that cost. As a bonus, it would provide us with our first chance as DXers to see what digital-only HD operation - literally IBOC in this case - might do at a distance. ``without a viable media alternative.`` Not if KYUK supplies them with radios, it wouldn't. Here's my back-of-the-envelope-over-lunch math: at 50 cents/kWh, and assuming 50% efficiency on the analog transmitter, it's costing them $10 to power the 10 kW transmitter for every hour they're on the air. That's $87,600 in annual power bills, which is a sizable chunk of change for a small station like KYUK. If they can get a PTFP grant to pay for a new digital transmitter (as they very likely can), they could knock their power bills down to maybe 10% of what they're paying now - a savings of close to $80,000 a year. That would go a long way toward buying inexpensive radios (which do exist, and are available at serious bulk discounts to stations) for the 1190 households that exist in Bethel, and the 4226 total households in the Bethel Census Area. That's the theory, anyway... s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) There was a report on another list that the HAARP site in Alaska ran and created an ionospheric enhancement. I wonder if this is a result of that? Supposedly happened from the Gakona, AK site on 04 Oct. (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, IRCA via DXLD) Viz.: ** ALASKA. SCIENTISTS CREATE 'ARTIFICIAL IONOSPHERE' USING RADIO WAVES Sunday, October 4, 2009 6:06 PM Times of India ANI 4 October 2009, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/news/science/Scientists-create-artificial-ionosphere-using-radio-waves-/articleshow/5086874.cms London: An experiment that fires powerful radio waves into the sky has created a patch of 'artificial ionosphere', mimicking the uppermost portion of Earth's atmosphere. According to a report in Nature News, the experiment is called the 'High Frequency Active Auroral Research Program' (HAARP), near Gakona, Alaska. It has spent nearly two decades using radio waves to probe Earth's magnetic field and ionosphere. One of the most obvious results of the experiments is that they can create lights in the sky that are similar to auroras, the glowing curtains of light that naturally appear in the polar skies when electrons and other charged particles pour down from Earth's protective magnetosphere into the upper atmosphere. There, at an altitude of about 250 kilometres, the charged particles collide with molecules of oxygen and nitrogen and make them emit light, similar to the process inside a fluorescent light bulb. HAARP's high-frequency radio waves can accelerate electrons in the atmosphere, increasing the energy of their collisions and creating a glow. The technique has previously triggered speckles of light while running at a power of almost 1 megawatt. But since the facility ramped up to 3.6 megawatts - roughly three times more than a typical broadcast radio transmitter [sic] - it has created full-scale artificial auroras that are visible to the naked eye. But in February last year, HAARP managed to induce a strange bull's- eye pattern in the night sky. Instead of the expected fuzzy, doughnut- shaped blob, surprising irregular luminescent bands radiated out from the centre of the bull's-eye, according to Todd Pedersen, a research physicist at the US Air Force Research Laboratory in Massachusetts, who leads the team that ran the experiment at HAARP. The team modelled how the energy sent skywards from the HAARP antenna array would trigger these odd shapes. They determined that the areas of the bull's-eye with strange light patterns were in regions of denser, partially ionized gas in the atmosphere, as measured by ground-based high-frequency radar used to track the ionosphere. The scientists believe that these dense patches of plasma could be gas that was ionized by the HAARP emissions. "This is the really exciting part - we've made a little artificial piece of ionosphere," Pedersen said. "The novelty is not seeing the aurora - it's the fact that we can actually create enough high-energy electrons to form plasma," said Mike Kosch, chair of Experimental Space Science at Lancaster University, UK. "It shows something completely different and new that we hadn't expected. We didn't know we could do that from a radio array on the ground," he added (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Monitored most of R. Tirana English to NAm on 13625, Tue Oct 6: 1434 the only announcer amid news of political matters, 1435 ID and about Kosovo; 1438 end of news and into press review, about the prime minister`s first official visit to Kosovo. 1441 she started reading reception reports, almost all from familiar names: Kevin Molander in the USA, someone in Ireland, Sue Hickey in Canada, Edwin Southwell in UK. Soon launched into a talk about film music, the Albanian RTV orchestra, foreign conductors, in a reply to Edwin? Anyhow that was still part of In-Box, which ended at 1449, then song until 1457 goodbye and theme, 1457:30* off. Signal was a steady S9+15 and modulation almost sufficient, no QRM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA [non]. Just heard a station at 0000 UT on 880 kHz with an ID (in English) as possibly "the voice of the Albanian community in Florida". Not sure about the Florida part, but definitely heard "the voice of the Albanian community". Immediately after the English ID, the broadcast switched into Albanian. A search on the internet provides absolutely no information as to the details of this station. Any ideas ??? As of 0022 UT, still hearing the broadcast, under WCBS). (Barry Bankston, Sparta, TN, UT Oct 5, ODXA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) Barry, Not sure if it's them but I heard WRFD Worthington, OHIO on 880 earlier this evening while DXing with a religious program in ETHIOPIAN! [sic] Maybe this is their Cultural Broadcast Night??? (Robert S. Ross, London, Ontario CANADA, ibid.) It appears to be this one: Tan Talk Radio Network, Clearwater Florida. WTAN-AM 1340 / WDCF-AM 1350 / WZHR-AM 1400 / KLRG-AM 880 Albanian hour is scheduled Sundays at 0000-0100 UT http://www.tantalk1340.com/ (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, ibid.) KLRG was KGHT. They are in Sheridan, AR. Their transmitter failed and they are doing testing on a new 50 kW. They are heard all over the Eastern US and Canada while testing (Kevin Redding, Crump, TN, ibid.) ** AMERICAN SAMOA. Quake/tsunami aftermath and radio: see SAMOA & SAMOA AMERICAN [henceforth AmSam should always be under S too --- gh] ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. ISLAS ANDAMAN & NICOBAR: La estación regional de la All India Radio desde Port Blair (8.5 kW), transmite de acuerdo al siguiente esquema de emisiones: HORA UTC KHZ DIAS 0315-0400 7390 Lun a Vie 0315-0415 7390 Sábado 0315-0500 7390 Domingo 0730-0930 7390 Lun a Sab 0730-1000 7390 Domingo 1030-1700 4760 Lun a Vie 1030-1730 4760 Sab y Dom 2355-0300 4760 Diario Los programas en su mayor parte se irradian en idioma Hindi, con segmentos en inglés y vernacular. Se recomienda intentar la escucha de noticias en inglés a las 2335 UTC por 4760 KHz. QTH: AIR Port Blair, Haddo Post, Dilanipur, Port Blair 744102, South Andaman Isl., Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Union Territory, India (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Argentina, Conexión Digital Oct 4 via DXLD) Fuente? 4760, AIR Port Blair (presumed), 1419-1448 + 1513-1526, Oct. 5. In Hindi; program of subcontinent music; 1513 noted // 5040 (AIR Jeypore) and 9425 (AIR Bengaluru) with Delhi network programming; ads till start of news in Hindi. Am I correct that because this was parallel with the Delhi network, that it must be Port Blair and not AIR Leh/R. Kashmir? (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA. ANGOLA NATIONAL RADIO CELEBRATES 33 YEARS OF EXISTENCE 10/5/09 11:28 AM Luanda --- State-owned Angola National Radio (RNA) marks Monday, October 05, 33 years since the first Angolan Head of State, António Agostinho Neto, paid a visit to the station, in 1976, serving as landmark for this media institution’s anniversary. As a public radio station, RNA aims at, among others, contributing to public information, guaranteeing citizens’ right to information, informing and being informed, without constraints or discrimination. The radio has 62 working centres, six local broadcasting stations, 18 provincial stations, seven regional ones, 30 transmission and training centres. Besides Portuguese language, RNA broadcasts in 12 local languages in Luanda and a total of 59 local languages at provincial level. International programme is made in Portuguse [sic], English, French and Lingala. The coverage is made through a national network of broadcasting, with 61 frequency modulated (FM), 23 medium wave (MW) and 10 short waves (SW). Source: http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/en_us/noticias/sociedade/2009/9/41/Angola-National-Radio-celebrates-years-existence,4c440ee2-d4d3-4b8c-b264-0440a7a82617.html Portuguese version, with more details: http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/pt_pt/noticias/sociedade/2009/9/41/Radio-Nacional-Angola-apaga-hoje-velas,7c77f883-e742-407f-b320-1d63af8f6928.html (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) Ha, ha, 10 short waves? Of which one and possibly two remain on the air now. Why bother with facts when celebrating such a notable anniversary, and besides, who except foreign DXers would know any better? (gh, DXLD) e.g.: ** ANGOLA. 4949.71, Radio Nacional (presumed), 0050-0103, Oct 2. First time audio heard this DX season; clearly in Portuguese; playing some music; poor, but at least it was above threshold level (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4949.746, Radio Nacional de Angola, 2020, Portuguese, full audio and great local music, enthusiastic male announcer with many local time checks. // 7216.764, which had much weaker audio. 3 OCT (David Sharp, NSW Australia: FT-950, NRD-535D et al., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4949.83, presumed R. Nacional de Angola, Mulenvos, 0308-0331, Oct 2, Portuguese. Continuous format of announcer with brief talk between music selections; poor; logged same frequency this past June (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. Re 9-074: It will be interesting to see what happens when we revert to UT as opposed to BST and the nights get darker. This has been a pretty much every night visitor throughout September. Does anyone have any details how to contact them. All the best and good DX (Mark Davies, Isle of Anglesey, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Re p 78 2009 WRTH address is: LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel Base de Ejército Esperanza CP 9411-Antártida Argentina [sic] Argentina I don't think Universal time of transmission changes so will sign-on and sign-off one hour earlier UK local time when we revert to UT (BDXC-UK moderator, ibid.) 15476, LRA36, 1830, 10/1, Spanish. Male announcer playing acoustic- guitar tunes and providing commentary, up and down around noise threshold. No sign of RAE on this day. Poor (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just a trace of a signal from LRA36 on 15476, Oct 1 at 1945; nothing like the S9 peaks a week before (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 6190v, 6220v, 6290v, 11423v kHz, Radio Bosques, the SW pirate station of Argentine, now is a communitary FM station called FM Gonnet on 103.9 MHz, broadcasting with test transmissions from 1100 UTC +, and 24 hours on weekends. Contacts emails: fmgonnet103_9 @ yahoo.com.ar & radio_bosques @ yahoo.com.ar (Source: Radio Bosques, ARG, Oct 2, 2009 Sent by Gabriel Ivan Barrera, Argentina via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) So no more SW, right? ** ARGENTINA. 15345 - Radio (Revolución?) Argentina. - Buenos Aires - Sept 24 at 2220 UT polka styled accordion music heard. Announcements in Spanish, + frequency rundown, then news. ID & frequency rundown at 2310, then Classical Spanish music with guitar and two male singers till after 2333 UT. Then Frequency rundown, followed by some brief talk, then back to music with accordion, although this time reminiscent of ballroom, complete with piano, violin, and other instruments (Louis Turner, KB3LAP, Petersburg, WV, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not Revolución, but probably Radiodifusión Argentina al Exterior is the ID you heard (gh, DXLD) 15344.1, RAE, 1808, 09/29, English. Male and female announcers providing light talk over tango tunes, clear RAE ID in between songs. Much weaker at 1835 recheck. No sign of LRA36 on this day. Fair/poor. (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11710.66v, RAE, 0030-0045, Oct. 2. In Portuguese; tango music; talk about higher education; almost fair; best in USB (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Nacional, General Pacheco, on 15345.15 at 2155 in Spanish, Oct. 4. Man with excited soccer coverage, crowd background noise. Fair, Morocco on 15340, but very weak (Icom R75, Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASCENSION ISLAND. A shipment of cargo bound for a renewable energy project has left Poole Harbour. Two thousand tonnes of aggregate and machinery were loaded onto the cargo ship MV Thor Falcon hired by construction group Galliford Try. The company has been contracted by the BBC to construct the foundations for a wind farm on Ascension. Because the BBCWS operates shortwave transmitters on the island, it has put it in the unusual position of also being the electricity provider for the island`s inhabitants. Currently diesel engines are in use, but the new five-turbine wind farm will generate green energy, offsetting the emission of more than 4,000 tonnes of CO2 every year and saving around 500 kilopounds a year (Bournemouth Daily Echo 14 Sept via David Morris, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. RA is on 11665 in English at 1600-1700, good signal here on 4 Sept apparently via Darwin, tnx to tip from Richard Lemke/CIDX via DXLD (Dave Kenny, England, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ?? Aoki says 11865 is 1430-1657, 329 degrees from Shepparton (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. RA very good on 6020 // fair on 9475 // poor on 9560 // very good on 9580 // good on 9590 // very good on 11945, Oct 2 at 1215, with mainstay Philip Adams' Late Night Live. Liberal commentary about the great Bill Clinton versus the evil Republicans, way back in the 20th century. No trace of RAI on 5995 or 12080. Topic had switched to religion by 1234. Show page with large archive of past shows: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/latenightlive/ Recent podcasts: http://www.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/feeds/lnl.xml (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. RA, Shepparton, on 11660 at 2115 in English, Oct. 4, Interesting reports from earthquake salvage efforts in Indonesia. Followed by report on climate negotiations in Denmark. Fair to good signal, CRI-Kashi audible underneath in French. RA 11650 barely audible, mainly carrier (Icom R75, Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11660 with bad collision between RA in English at 2137 Oct 4 and something a bit weaker in French. That would be CRI at 2030-2230, 500 kW, 308 degrees via Kashgar, East Turkistan, to Europe. While RA is at 20-22, 100 kW, 70 degrees toward Pacific. Thus both are also aimed USward beyond their stated targets (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Australia is being heard in English on 9475, 9710 and 11945 0700-0800. Two different programme streams: 9475 and 11945 carry Life Matters from ABC National, 9710 has Radio Australia's Pacific Beat (Mike Barraclough, England, Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Latest RA operational schedule - A09 ver 1.2 Daylight Saving commences; Another is due end of October for B-period revisions including commencement of a Burmese frequency from Darwin and a frequency change at Shepparton. nh (Nigel Holmes, RA, via Johno Wright, NSW, Oct 6, DXLD) with spreadsheet, no 11865 (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. 2485, VL8K Katherine, 1314-1330 Oct 3. C&W music hosted by M; long phone interview 1320-27, then one last song; ABC news at 1330. Much better than usual, maybe best ever (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Oct 4, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) VL8 on 120m heard here for the first time this season, 2485 with English talk at the late hour of 1308 Oct 5, about half an hour after sunrise, very poor in noise; could only detect carriers on 2325, 2310 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 120m VL8s all audible Oct 7 at 1228, and seemed // in music, then YL talk: best on 2325, then 2485 and worst on 2310. Really all JBA vs local noise level. Later dates and monitoring earlier hours should improve them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Radio Symban testing again on 2368.5 kHz Radio Symban, Australia is reported to be testing again on 2368.5 kHz. For reception reports, see earlier entry here [as in May]. Radio Symban operates 24 hours a day, 1000 watts (probably less) of power, omni directional, from Peats Ridge, near Gosford NSW, Australia. The station plays Greek music. (various sources) September 24, 2009 (Dxing the Finnish Way blog via SW Bulletin Oct 4 via DXLD) What various sources? Have not seen anything reported for many weeks. DFW languishes for weeks at a time so perhaps they were just getting caught up with old August news as of Sept 24, a gap since August 14 (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Via MWOZ & John Wright --- Graham Dawe in Broken Hill advises the following for 1656 that recently started transmission on 1656 kHz with about 50 watts into a trap dipole by the looks of things. Graham visited the station today. Hype FM 87.6 is the sister station. Address is 622 Beryl St, Broken Hill 2880 NSW Australia (via David Onley, Netherlands, MWC yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. R. Austria International, domestic relay on 6155, still has token English news capsule, at least on weekdays, heard Monday Oct 5 in progress at 0609 after German, probably started during 0608, with items about N Korea, Save the Children, Sumatera rescuers giving up, coalition talx in Germany, Austrian foreign minister to Moscow, Austria to preside over UN Security Council, very brief weather forecast, 0611 introducing equally token news in French. I had previously remarked that English was at 0508, but 0608 is correct DST time, 0708 in winter. These are presumably what get repeated starting 13 minutes into mostly-Austro-German broadcasts the rest of the day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9820, 22 August, ORF International, news in English at 0043, French at 0046, SIO 444 (Alan Roe, England, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** BENIN. TWR Africa sked updated effective 6 July-29 Oct, on 1566: 0300-0600, 1700-2245 UT daily; English at 0300-0330, 0430-0500, 0530- 0600, 1740-1805 and French at 2040-2215 (SaSu 2040-2245). African vernaculars at all other times (Dave Kenny, MW Report, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. Bhutan noted back on 6035 after several days around 0100 today Oct. 3, 2009 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4699.945, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta still in at 1040 to 1050 with strong signal. 1 October. 4716.633, Radio Yura, Yura with flauta and YL, 0956 fair signal 3 October (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Drake R 8 ~ Icom, 746Pro DL, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meter band dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4699.93, R. San Miguel (presumed), 0133-0202*, Oct. 2. In Spanish; playing LA ballads; poor with QRN; fairly sure signed off at 0202; open carrier still heard at 0312 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4409.81, Radio Eco, Reyes, 0235-0329*, Oct 3, Bolivian music. Spanish ballads. Spanish talk. Weak but readable. 4699.99, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta, 0155-0230, Oct 4, Spanish ballads. Spanish talk. Poor in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 4699.95, Radio San Miguel, 0946-1000+, Noted a male in Spanish language comments with TC's, but mainly music heard. On the hour, canned ID "...Radio San Miguel" followed by promos. Signal was good this morning, so far that is (Chuck Bolland, October 5, 2009, Watkins Johnson HF1000, 26.27N 081.05W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4700, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta 0940 with their frequency now almost 4700 on the dot. 7 October (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Drake R 8 ~ Icom 746Pro DL, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meter band dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4699.98, R. San Miguel (tentative) – Riberalta, 10/4, 0151-0206. Slow song; then presumed talk (barely audible); another slow song; M / unclear talk from ToH; only heard in LSB with rx inter filter & nir 12 to avoid strong het; fast QSB; QRN statics; poor / very poor; (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy. Equipment: JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX- SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Zoom Corp. H2 handy digital recorder MP3 & WAV files; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock; Interkart framed wall board political world map (1: 46,400,000); the DX Edge-Xantek Inc (daylight- darkness desk world map), NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 2379.9, Brasil Radio Educadora, Limeira, SP 0940 deep fades om in Portuguese, fair signal at best, 7 October [Wilkner] 3375.41, R Municipal São Gabriel da Cachoeira 0930 - 0950 7 October (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Drake R 8 ~ Icom 746Pro DL, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meter band dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL – A Rádio Cultura, de Araraquara (SP), voltou a ser sintonizada em 3365 kHz, na faixa de 90 metros. A estação paulista foi ouvida, em 24 de setembro, às 0000, no Tempo Universal, pelo José Moacir Portera de Melo, em Pontes e Lacerda (MT), quando ia ao ar a reza do terço, identificação e anúncios, sempre com bom sinal. Em 4 de outubro, foi monitorada, em Porto Alegre (RS), pelo colunista, às 2210, com bom sinal. Na oportunidade, uma apresentadora iniciava um programa religioso. BRASIL – O sinal da Rádio do Observatório Nacional, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ), tem chegado, ao Sul do Brasil, com bom sinal, por volta de 2040, no Tempo Universal, em 10000 kHz. Foi monitorada, em 4 de outubro, em Porto Alegre (RS), pelo colunista. BRASIL – A Rádio Capital, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ), em 6070 kHz, não emite somente programação religiosa da Igreja Pentecostal Deus é Amor produzida no Rio. Em 4 de outubro, foi monitorada, em Porto Alegre (RS), emitindo em cadeia com as demais emissoras da Super Rádio Deus é Amor (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Oct 4 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4885.000, Rdif. Acreana, 2031, Portuguese, male reverb announcer, mention of "Rio Branco" and many mentions of "Brasil." Finally into nice ballad at 2036. Peaking nicely with my local sunrise. Several other possible Brazilian long-paths today but this was the strongest. 3 OCT (David Sharp, NSW Australia: FT-950, NRD-535D et al., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 6009.95, Radio Inconfidência, 2325-0010, Oct 3-4, continuous Portuguese talk. IDs. Good signal. Fair signal with adjacent channel splatter after 0000. Appears to be irregular (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BRAZIL. The reactivated station on 9675, R. Canção Nova, Cachoeira Paulista SP, no doubt the source of Brazilian dialect religious talk, Oct 4 at 0601, peaking S9+12 but with deep fades. Modulation rather distorted, but carrier stable. Stronger than other Brazilians on 31m air, 9645v and even weaker 9565. Hardly any sign of WYFR 9680 to bother, unlike super-signal it sometimes has (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Hi Glenn, On 2 October 2009 at 2330 UT, I was resetting my clock to WWV on 10000 kHz. Fair signal holding its own against the stronger WWV announcements at my QTH this evening, using NRD-535 + PAR EndFedZ EF-SWL, I heard an ID as "Observatorio Nacional" by a female announcer. The first time I heard the ID, I was unsure and crossed out the "Observatorio," in my log book, only to hear it clearly a moment later. I could not distinguish between Spanish and Portuguese, due to my language limitations. The time pip beeps were approximately 10 seconds apart and very short, by a female announcer. She also was heard speaking between the beeps, within each one minute ID. WWV was preventing me from copying anything she was saying in between, Glenn. 73's, (Ed Insinger, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) However between 14 and 15 UT only on 10000, you might hear Argentina`s LOL, which per an article in Enrique Wembagher`s utility column of Conexión Digital Oct 4, IDs every 5 minutes at :04, :09, :14 – past the hour as "Observatorio Naval Argentina" (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL, 9505, Rádio Record, São Paulo, 0920-0932, 04-10, portugués, locutor, canciones brasileñas. Interferencia de emisora con programa en chino, en la misma frecuencia. 23322. (Méndez) 9565, Rádio Tupi (Súper Rádio Deus é Amor), Curitiba, 0916-0925, 04- 10, locutor, portugués, religioso, predicaciones, curación de enfermos. 24322. (Méndez) 9630, Rádio Aparecida, Aparecida, 0914-0918, 04-10, locutor, religioso. En paralelo con 11855. 24322. (Méndez) 9819, Rádio Nove de Julho, São Paulo, 0912-0927, 04-10, locutor, portugués, comentario religioso: "Celebración de Deus", "Esta profecía", canciones religiosas. 24322. (Méndez) 9675, Rádio Canção Nova, Cachoeira Paulista, 0912-0926, 04-10, portugués, religioso, transmisión del santo rosario. 34433. (Méndez) 9695, Rádio Rio Mar, Manaus, *1000-1010, 04-10, identificación: "Rádio Rio Mar, ..., ondas curtas, 31 metros, 9695 kHz, 49 metros, 6160 kHz, Rádio Rio Mar, Manaos, Amazônia, Brasil". Canciones brasileñas. 24322. (Méndez) 11725, Rádio Novas de Paz, Curitiba, 0940-0955, 04-10, locutor, portugués, comentarios y canciones religiosas. 24322. (Méndez) 11780, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, Brasília, 0932-0945, 04-10, canciones brasileñas. 33333. (Méndez) 11815, Rádio Brasil Central, Goiânia, 0910-0935, 04-10, canciones brasileñas, locutor, comentarios, identificación: "Radio Brasil Central". 34433. (Méndez) 11855, Rádio Aparecida, Aparecida, 0907-0910, 04-10, locutor, portugués, religioso, transmisión de la misa dominical. 24322. (Méndez) 11915, Rádio Gaucha, Porto Alegre, 0905-0917, 04-10, canciones brasileñas, locutor, comentarios, portugués. 24322. (Méndez) 11925, Rádio Bandeirantes, São Paulo, 0901-0905, 04-10, locutor, portugués, comentario: "Primeiro aniversário do programa". 34333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Escuchas realizadas en Friol, Sony ICF SW7600G, Antena de Cable, 10 metros, orientada WSW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 25m Brazilians were making it in nightmiddle UT Oct 5: 11925, R. Bandeirantes, at 0600, non-religious speaker in monolog pontificating about Brasil; but better signal on 11815 from R. Brasil Central, Goiânia, at 0601 with full ID, ZY-callsigns, and asserting 7 and a half kilowatts on this frequency, jingle ID, and announcer Célio Silva on duty until 4 am (0700 UT; DST of UT-2 starts in this and most south/easterly parts of Brasil on Oct 18, per timeanddate.com). There was also a het on 11895, probably off-frequency Brazilian vs Spain, but nothing on 11780, which is on the air overnight only on UT Sundays. On 31m, the best Brazilian was 9675, at 0604 about equal level to WYFR 9680, sounds like religious catechism, but by 0615 WYFR had weakened, audiblizing 9675 better, now with singing, still distorted modulation, 0621 full ID Rádio Canção Nova on the air 24 hours, plus various slogans, IDs in passing again and again, and promoing website http://www.cancaonova.com/ which strangely enough does not say anything about SW, just AM, FM and TV! Music did not resume until 0624. I assume the name alludes to a `new song` being sung by those allegedly saved from damnation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA [and non]. As outpointed before, R. Bulgaria usage of 15700 in Bulgarian has a one-hour gap at 1400, which Deutsche Welle has taken advantage of for its Russian service via Woofferton UK. But they still overlap. Oct 5 at 1459, DW Russian had a tone test and SAH from Bulgaria interfering with it, but DW (or VTC) cut off its modulation in mid-sentence about 1459:30. At 1500 RB opening theme was barely audible with a roar and since the SAH was gone, assume it was purely a Plovdiv problem (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. MYANMAR [non]. 15480 with something interesting, Oct 6 at 1455 in unID language, but didn`t get back to it until 1529* when it went off. Per Aoki it must have been Democratic Voice of Burma, via Armenia, at 1430-1530 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. [see ETHIOPIA]. 6030: As Oromia faded was replaced by CFVP Calgary with Country tune, man with ad for car dealership and back into C&W music. Oromia peaked about 0405 at fair. CFVP best about 0425, and was lost in the noise. First log of Oromia; best logging of Calgary here since the 1980s (Don Jensen, WI, Oct 5, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. CKZU Vancouver still heard here on about 6160.02 kHz. Can't measure exactly on the R-8 (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Oct 1 via BC-DX Oct 4 via DXLD) CKZU Vancouver 6160 at 1637 with CBC Radio One’s “The House”. Good Sat Oct 3 and fair at 1955, “Quirks and Quarks” (Harold Sellers, Vernon, BC, Eton E-1 and Sony AN-1 antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reminder that CKZN logs are under NEWFOUNDLAND 6160, CKZU (and presumed CKZN): tuned over the frequency ~0150 Oct 4 and noted a bit of a mess. A re-check at 0202 during the CBC National News showed audio had an obvious echo. This stopped immediately at the network news escape. 'ZU's tx is about 20km WSW of my location. RX: Eton E1 -- antenna: random wire ~10m on an apartment balcony (Theo Donnelly, BC, ptsw yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. Re 9-074, correct sign off date of CKRU, ``I assume he meant Sept 29, as posted at 2001 UT that date (gh)`` You`re the only one that caught this, Glenn! Geesh, and I proofread it twice. Sorry and tnx! CIGM gone too --- From: "Dan Sys" who sends this: ``Andy: According to this posting on the SOWNY board CIGM signed off on Sept 30 http://members2.boardhost.com/scrapbook/msg/1254372868.html and http://mediumwave.info/news.html 790 CIGM is now off the air.`` I have not been able to hear it the last couple of nights. It normally dominates here after dark so I would concur that it is gone (Andy Reid, Ont., Oct 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. The CBC has applied to the CRTC to move its 40 watt low power relay station CBXP-1240 Tahsis BC to FM (90.5 MHz, 46.5 watts, - 209 meters. CBXP is a relay of the CBC Radio One station in Victoria BC, CBCV-FM. Tahsis is a village of 366 people (per the 2006 census) on the west coast of Vancouver Island, more or less across the island from Campbell River. Does anyone actually have this station in their log? Tahsis, British Columbia Application No. 2009-1260-2 Application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to amend the broadcasting licence for the radio programming undertaking CBCV-FM Victoria, British-Columbia. The licensee proposes to add an FM transmitter at Tahsis, British Columbia to replace its AM transmitter. The transmitter would operate on frequency 90.5 MHz (channel 213LP) with an effective radiated power of 46.5 watts (non-directional antenna with an effective height of antenna above average terrain of -209.0 metres). The licensee stated that this change was necessary because it had been advised, by the new landlord of the AM site, that the present lease would not be renewed. The CBC decided to replace its AM transmitter with a new low-power FM transmitter to maintain its present Radio One coverage to the Tahsis village. The AM licence will be revoked as soon as this change is approved. 73, (via Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. During a recent DXpedition with Brandon Jordan and Jim Pogue, I logged an UNID Canadian on 1050. It seemed to be a relay of TV network news (Katie Couric), and I heard ID/slogans such as "CG 24 - Toronto's News Channel" and "AM 1050". Is this a new Canadian? Has CHUM changed call letters? 73, (J. D. Stephens, MS, IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) It's CHUM 1050 Toronto. No longer an oldies station, now relaying TV station CP 24 (Cable Pulse 24) which is an all news station, in Toronto. I'm not sure if the call letters are still CHUM (Dave Pyatt, Burlington, ON, ibid.) http://www.cp24.com/ reasonably new format for the CHUM pest. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) ** CANADA. Tom Bryant reports that CKX-TV has gone dark. ----------------------------------------------------------------- From brandonsun.com: CKX FADES TO BLACK After more than 54 years of broadcasting across western Manitoba`s airwaves, Brandon`s CKX-TV will fall silent tonight. CTVglobemedia has announced that it has failed to broker a sale of the TV station to Oakville, Ont.-based Bluepoint Investment Corporation and has no choice left but to shut down the station after this evening`s newscast. CKX`s approximately 40 staff were apprised of the decision late yesterday afternoon. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Check out this link to see the result: http://www.ckxtv.com/ (via Mike Bugaj, CT, Oct 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Viz.: THANK YOU... for 54 years of choosing CKX-TV Brandon for your local news and community programming. As of October 2, 2009 the station was closed, and the signal that had served the Brandon community since January 1955, went dark. For information about how local television is threatened in Canada, visit http://localtvmatters.ca (via DXLD) This is indeed sad. CHCA-TV (Red Deer, Alberta, ch. 6) fell permanently silent about a month earlier. CKX dated back to 1955, CHCA to 1957. The latter station had installed relay stations in Calgary and Edmonton barely a year earlier. A story earlier this year says CKX was offered to the CBC for **one dollar**. The CBC turned them down, saying they couldn't afford the cost of converting the station to digital. (I would imagine that cost would have only involved the transmitter -- if the CBC had purchased the station I strongly suspect the studios would have closed and it would have become a satellite-fed 100% relay of channel 6 in Winnipeg.) The deal that fell through for the station was also for $1. CHEK-6 Victoria, BC actually did sell -- they got $2 for the station. CHCH-11 Hamilton and CJNT-62 Montreal went in a group deal for $12. (the CHCH/CJNT deal, the press release says assumption of liabilities was also part of the deal. I would be confident the liabilities were a lot more than $12. The CHEK deal didn't say anything about liabilities but I *strongly* suspect they were part of the deal as well.) Canadian OTA stations are trying to get the government to order cable systems to pay "retransmission consent", much as is paid to most network-affiliated stations here in the U.S. (though in the States, no government mandate is involved). Consolidation of OTA TV ownership in Canada is considerably greater than in the U.S. -- IIRC the vast majority of stations belong to three groups, if you include the CBC. (Canadians: please correct me here!) (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) I'd imagine the transmitter itself will remain operational as a relay? Anyone know? (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) The publicity I'd seen was that no, the transmitter would be turned off. That said, Craig does own CHMI-13 in Portage la Prairie, not too horribly far away but far enough that using the channel 5 transmitter as a relay would be worthwhile. So maybe... CHMI carries "A" (or does "A" still exist?) (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) ** CANADA. DTV subchannels in Canada --- FWIW, the CRTC issued today a proposed framework for proceeding with the DTV transition north of the border. See http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2009/2009-615.htm A couple of highlights: 6. 25 "transitional" DTV licensces have been issued. 8. No further transitional licences are planned. Stations wishing to launch digital broadcasts will receive an amendment to their existing analog licence to cover the DTV rig. 9. "Where necessary, the Commission would also consider applications for amendments to authorize the operation of DTV transmitters with more limited coverage or on an interim channel until the analog shutdown." 12. "The Commission would also consider applications to share a digital transmitter between the services of one or multiple broadcasters (e.g. multicasting or multiplexing) on a case-by-case basis." 15. "The Commission encourages broadcasters to provide digital coverage that matches their current analog coverage (within the constraints of the Department of Industry`s DTV transition and post- transition allotment plans)." At this time these are simply *proposals*. They're taking comments until November 2nd (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, Oct 5, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CHAD. RNT has been heard back on SW since early Sept, using mainly 7120 in evening, until abrupt close any time between approx. 1850 and 2130 UT. Heard 11 Sept on 7120 with news in French at 1935 tune-in, fair reception until went off abruptly at 2007. Also reported on 4905 in early Sept but seems to have settled now on 7120 (Dave Kenny, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) But not any more: New 4904.98, 1755-1815 30.09, Rdif. Nationale Tchadienne, Gredia, N'Djaména, French talk, 1800-1808 French news, then Afro pop song and commentary, 45343. Best after Tibet signed off at 1805* (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030 with a 28 metres longwire in stormy and rainy Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 4904.97, RNT, 1950-2000, Oct 2, very tentative. Threshold signal with talk. CODAR QRM. Gone at 2010 check (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 4905, R. Nationale Tchadienne, Gredia, found active today, 04 Oct, at 1815-..., with a program in Arabic, talks, some music at 1836 and then reading something like messages (or announcements, obituary?), tribal tunes at 1849; 45333 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It seems Chad's signal on 4905 improved as compared to y/day's signal: 55444 as I write this, 2055 UT; program in French. They were observed on Sun. 04 Oct s/off; today, the signal vanished at around 1900, but I found it active again later. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Oct 5, dxldyg via DX WORLD OF RADIO 1481, LISTENING DIGEST) Heard back on 4905 again in past few days (ex 7120). (Alan Pennington, Sheigra, NW Scotland, [dxpedition site] AOR 7030+ / 500m beverage, Oct 6, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. CRI STARTS AM/FM-SUBCARRIER RELAYS IN NYC It seems like CRI consciously chose not translate this news item into English, in keeping with its policy of low profile for CRI ongoing expansion in the US. But CRI's Russian department proudly carried the announcement of yet another achievement... And I translated it into English. Sorry, Keith! :) (Sergei S., IL, Oct 4, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CRI STARTS CHINESE-LANGUAGE RELAYS IN NEW YORK CITY On the occasion of PRC's 60th anniversary, China Radio International launched a daily 10-hour relay in Standard Chinese (Putonghua) in New York City. This transmission is carried out in cooperation with China Radio Network (CRN). According to the signed agreement, CRN started relaying CRI programming from 8 am to 6 pm on the frequencies of AM 12400 (sic!) and FM 101.1 on October 1 [2009]. This is one more breakthrough for CRI's overseas broadcasting. CRI is already relayed locally in Russia, UK, France, Australia, Canada, Germany, Brazil, South Africa, Japan, Los Angeles (US) and other countries and world regions. Source: CRI Russian, October 1, 2009 http://russian.cri.cn/841/2009/10/01/1s308884.htm Some background info I collected online: AM 1240 is WGBB Long Island, 1,000 Watts http://www.am1240wgbb.com/home.htm Live streaming: mms://64.106.217.229/wgbb "WGBB has been serving Long Island since 1924. We are Long Island's first radio station and one of the oldest stations in the country. Through all the challenges we have faced over the years, WGBB has always remained your community-minded radio station. WGBB's radio signal serves Nassau County, Western Suffolk County, at least three of NYC's five burroughs [sic] and parts of New Jersey. With a blend of Specialty Programming that includes a multi-cultural flavor, WGBB truly has something for everyone. Over the course of a given broadcast week you may hear any of 5 languages on WGBB. Its just our way of serving our community." China Radio Network is scheduled on WGBB Monday through Friday 6:00 am to 6:00 pm [10-22 UT during EDT]. There are no CRN relays scheduled on weekends. CRN started in 1988. It seems like it is also relayed in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Dallas. If you understand written Chinese, you can check this out: http://www.chineseradionetwork.com/ Online streaming: mms://64.106.217.227/crn (Sergei S., Oct 4, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Again I say are the people at VOA, BBCWS and others sleeping? Are they putting any pressure not just on the Chinese but also on Washington and London to have the same kind of relays? No! Why! All the west is doing is kissing the ass of a government that since 1949 has kill more people than the Nazis. Now I want to state I am not anti-China, but I am very anti-communist. This is the conclusion I've come to after working in two different communist systems and have been to North Korea on a few visits. Before I had a chance to work in Cuba, China and visit the DPRK I didn't have this view. Because I said that I always wanted to see it for myself. Now that's said. Beijing keeps going on about exchanging ideas with the international community. But is this happening? No! Why! When I hear Western governments talking about freedom and democracy it seems that lessons learned from 1950 to 1992 are forgotten (Keith Perron, Taiwan, ibid.) ** CHINA. Belated Day THREE Report from Grayland --- Made it home at 6:00 PM after starting to pack at Grayland at 8:00 AM. Man, what a drag. But worth it. This Third morning, October 1, Thursday was one of my more interesting in recent years. The upper band was quite open and a number of things were there that were far from usual. In fact, there were several that I simply had no idea what the heck they were. The more interesting, in chronological order: 1458 kHz: Man, the catch of the DXpedition (I think) was just sitting there as I tuned by. Wham, traditional Mongolian men's chorus doing very well. For several odd reasons, I've heard a bit of traditional Mongolian men's singing and it is unmistakable. It is related to Tuvan "throat singing" and similar to that type of singing from NE Siberia and the Arctic. It is hauntingly beautiful. After sitting there stunned for a minute (I NEVER hear anything on 1458) I hit the record button and dove into PAL. Sure enough, there is a 200 kW station that I've tentatively heard a couple of times over the years in Hohhot, Nei Menggu (Inner Mongolia, China.) Just gotta be this baby! I recorded about 20 minutes worth. There were several solos by men and all of the music was "a cappella" without instrumental accompaniment. I think Walt may have heard this, too. I fear that I'll not get a QSL. The regional Chinese stations rarely answer English reports. I'm sure gonna try, tho'. Heard from 1304 to 1324 (John Bryant, Orcas Island, WA, USA, IRCA via DXLD) John, Great going on your Hohhot on 1458. Never heard that one here, but you might QSL it as I have their other station on 675 QSL'd from a few years back. You may remember the QSL I brought along in old Chinese. That is the QSL from Huhhot. The same address in Huhhot, so give it a shot. Both stations run 200 KW. Maybe the same engineer is still there. You may get a reply in old Chinese as I did though. Great DX.... 73, (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) Good Catch John!!!!!! That's some pretty neat stuff!!! A while back I watched a complete TV show on that a cappella throat singing you speak of in this message!! I think it was on National Geographic Channel??? That is really an amazing form of singing, and like you say, it is very haunting!! There was a guy from North America; can't remember if he was American or Canadian and he was trained in this throat singing and had spent years over there perfecting it and the show centered on his exploits in that part of the country!! Hey John, send 'em a report in Mongolian!!! Or better yet call 'em up on the phone and Throat Sing your report to them!! HAHAHAHHA!!! Good luck. I sure hope they answer the QSL Request. That will be a good one! 73...ROB (Robert S. Ross VA3SW, ibid.) Inner Mongolia may sound exotic, but it`s just another province of China, without much desire for independence, overrun as it is by the Han/ChiCom imperialist expansionists (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CHINA. Special coverage of the National Day evening gala. Observed the following stations in parallel with CNR-1 on Oct. 1, from 1203 to 1325: 4990, PBS Hunan, mixing with AIR Itanagar. 6060 and 7225, PBS-2 Sichuan. After 1400 they went back to their own programming in what sounded like Yui. Their schedule was thrown off by the gala, as Yui is not scheduled after 1400. 6065 and 6155, CNR-2/China Business Radio (7245 after 1300). After 1400 was not //, but was carrying their own programs (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, Dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non] ALBANIA. 6020, CRI, 0204, 10/1, English. Live coverage from Beijing of the parade for the 60th Anniversary of the PRC, with announcers giving a rundown of military hardware on display, at one point encouraging listeners to turn down the volume on their TV broadcast and turn up CRI instead. Normally listed as being in Mandarin at this hour here. Good (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4990, PBS Yunan, 1412-1417, Oct. 3. In Chinese. No hint of AIR Itanagar, so assume off the air today. 5050, Beibu Bay Radio, 1203, Oct. 3. Special scheduling in Chinese; entertainment program, along with songs that sounded patriotic and with audience applauding; by 1248 was in Vietnamese; 1301 English: “weather report”; list of Asian cities and assume their temps. or weather, in Vietnamese; after weather back to Chinese programming with traditional Chinese music and singing till tuned out at 1313; fair; // 9820 (poor with QRM). First time I have heard this much Chinese used here and must have been part of the celebrations for their eight day long National Holiday. 5075, Voice of Pujiang (ex: 9705), 1352-1420 + 1504, Oct. 4. First day back here; moved to 9705 on May 3; // 3280 & 4950 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5050, Beibu Bay Radio, 1258, Oct. 6. In Vietnamese; EZL music; pips; IDs in Chinese/Vietnamese/English; “Weather report”; music program of pop/rap/EZL/Chinese opera, etc.; BoH no announcements. Seems to be a change in format, with no news at ToH, just the weather and no ID at BoH; mostly fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Mercoledì 30 settembre 2009, 0629 - 21550 // 21690 kHz, CNR 1 vs. RFA Mandarin; Su 21690 si sentiva anche RFA. 0641 - 17880, FIREDRAKE vs. RFA Mandarin, No CNR 1 (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) Mercoledì 30 settembre 2009, 0910 - 17775 kHz, CNR 1 (2 txs) + FIREDRAKE vs. VOA Mandarin. Su 17855 CNR 1 (1 tx) + FD (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** CHINA. Glenn, fantastic reception of the Firedrake Jammer (easy SINPO 45544) right now (2334 UT 2009 09 30) on 15150 to my location in Central Ontario, Canada. Only using my AOR7030+ with 65' long wire too. Cheers! (Sean Welsh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Firedrake Oct 2: at 1240, JBA on 9000, and NBA (not barely audible) on 8400; nor sometime during the next hour audible on 10210 or anywhere higher. Firedrake Oct 3 at 1447: poor on 9000 but good at S9+12 level on 8400, none higher. Firedrake Oct 4 at 1331: 8400 much better than 9000 just barely audible. Firedrake Oct 5 at 1306: equally fair on 8400, 9000. Firedrake Oct 6 at 1312: good on 9000, poor on 8400. Firedrake Oct 7: at 1251, good on 8400, poor on 9000. At 1425, still good on 8400, JBA on 9000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. TAIWAN/CHINA, 14970 kHz Firedrake? Sept 26, at 0749 UTC, SIO 354-3. 13970*Xi Wang Zhi Sheng SOH 0000-2400 Chinese 1 ND ? TWN SOH a09 14430*Xi Wang Zhi Sheng SOH 0000-2400 Chinese 1 ND ? TWN SOH a09 laut Aoki Nagoya auch 6280, 7105, 7280, 7310, 7425, 7535, 8400, 9000, 9450, 9540, 9635, 10210, 11300, 11760, 11765, 12115, 13500, 15150, 15200, 15740, 15765, 16250, 17470, 18320 kHz, je nach Tageszeit. Da piesackt eine kleine Oppositionsorganisation auf Taiwan den 1.5 Milliarden Titan mit Minisender Aussendungen (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Oct 4 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. China National Radio spuckt der DWL auf 6075 kHz z.Zt. um 1600 UT ganz schoen in die Suppe. Das gab es seit 1959 noch nie, dass man aus Frust ueber solch einen Misch-masch tagsueber von dieser QRG wegschaltet. Dies beobachte ich seit dem 14. August 2009 (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 28 via BC-DX Oct 4 via DXLD) ** CHINA. CRI on 9540 via Kunming, Oct 2 at 1229, with imperial- sounding music ending with OM and YL and segue to perhaps station theme music (though not the "Moments in Love" by the Art of Noise we hear over here.) Lots of QRN/M (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. /ALBANIA, Frequency change of China Radio Inter in French from Sep. 3: 1800-1957 NF 9480 CER 150 kW / 310 deg to W Eu, ex 9455 to avoid RFA+jammer (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) ** CHINA. China Regional Radio --- Look at page 154 in WRTH 2009, and you will see why Chinese can obtain workhorse receivers. China is a vast country, so is Canada. Canada should follow China's good example. Letterbox programs have many letters from Japan, but none from China or even Taiwan. I hear China Regional radio in English. These are lessons in advanced English, American style. Daily at 1445-1500 UT on 17740 // 7370. Saturday and Sunday 1430-1500. Weekdays the program at 1433-1445 is mostly English. On Sunday, English lesson is at 1330-1400. I do not DX, but I prefer the tuning knob to the keypad, and my ears are open (David Crystal, Israel, Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** CHINA. NTDTV JAMMED BY SATELLITE FROM CHINA New Tang Dynasty Television (NTDTV), a private Chinese language satellite network had its signal interfered with for about 3 weeks for its programs over Taiwan and China. They use the Taiwan satellite ST-1 with distribution done by Chung Hua Telecom. http://www.epochtimes.de/articles/2009/10/05/499188.html But today it was released by Chung Hua that the jamming was caused by China. This would be the first time that China would jam a signal not meant for the PRC but a totally free, democratic and open territory. The jamming of the signal caused NTDTV to have large chunks of its news programming blocked out for viewers in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, and other areas. NTDTV is not targeted to China, but can be picked up in Southern China using black market satellite receivers. It is estimated that over 2 million people in China watch the channel illegally just as many millions do to foreign radio. Taiwan and its neighbors are alarmed that China now can interfere with satellite signals. This morning I spoke with the head of the CNN International bureau in Hong Kong who told me they are watching this very closely. He said he fears that its just a matter of time that China starts to jam CNN International and BBC World News on satellite which would not only jam signals picked up in China, but would also interfere with other areas. After I spoke to him I called a retried friend who use to work in the technical department of CRI's SW and satellite distribution, who after a few calls found out that the government had installed a new satellite "uplink" station on Hainan Island. I'm wondering how long it will be before satellite jamming because just as big a problem as firedrake? NTDTV use to be on Eutelsat until Beijing ordered them to stop carrying NTDTV. I had someone send me a transcript of the phone conversation between the Propaganda Department in Beijing and a Eutelsat employee in Beijing. If you have trouble opening the link let me know. It's uploaded as a new file [in the dxldyg under T for transcript, pdf, 61 pages, bilingual, a real eye-opener with much broader implications --- gh] If you have a problem to open it please let me know (Keith Perron, Taiwan, Oct 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) As a background, NTDTV is run by Falun Gong. And all cult's media outlets are fiercely anti-communist. I believe PRC jammed something on a satellite before, didn't they? Or was it some other country? Obviously, in this case they are mostly concerned with local viewers. This reminds me of BBC that shut down its Kazakh service partially due to heavy Chinese jamming. BBC wasn't even targeting PRC but rather Kazakhstan. That didn't help. I think for China it's easier to quietly buy CNN or guide its editorial policies through enticing commercial deals than bother with jamming its signal. Keith, sometimes you sound like an idealistic guy from the end of 1980s. If you read Karl Marx you'd know that future belongs to Communism. And if you read The Wall Street Journal you'd know that future belongs to China. I just caught a headline on Yahoo. It says, "Obama orders government to cut greenhouse gas emissions." Maybe both Marx and WSJ are unto something. Cheers, (Sergei S., ibid.) I'm not at all idealistic. But it seems no one cares anymore. Most people are now just kissing the backside of the CPC. The communists in China have killed and detained more people than the Nazis ever did, so are you saying we should forget that? The WSJ is a business paper. As much as I like Obama, when you consider the US economy is now controlled by China, I really wonder if in some indirect way Beijing is not leading the course. If Beijing was to cash in all its US currency, the US economy would fall. But it was the US's fault to be put in this position. I've lived in two communist systems and have been to the DPRK a few times; I've seen the human rights abuses and media controls. There was a time when governments would stand up, but now the attitude is to do nothing. They way said "IDEALISTIC" makes me wonder if maybe the US should never have gotten involved in WW2, pressure on South Africa to change and others (Keith Perron, Taiwan, ibid.) 4 Comments on “Taiwan investigates interruption of NTDTV signal” #1 Keith Perron on Oct 6th, 2009 at 04:33 This is not the first time that the Government in China has interfered with NTDTV. In 2008 they ordered Eutelsat to stop carrying the station. Here is the full transcript of the conversation between Eutelsat and someone from the Propaganda Department in Beijing. http://wikileaks.org/leak/transcript-eutelsat.pdf #2 SRG on Oct 6th, 2009 at 18:18 Please note that both The Epoch Times and NTDTV AP are run by Falun Gong. I cannot find any confirmations for this story coming from more objective news sources. So far the event was covered by Falun Gong only. #3 Keith Perron on Oct 7th, 2009 at 04:43 It was also reported on by CTTV (Chung Tian Television News), Apple Daily, China Times. If you read Chinese you can find this story on these sites. #4 SRG on Oct 7th, 2009 at 17:50 Keith, I bet those sources simply quoted Falun Gong’s reports. Personally, I do not trust Falun Gong’s coverage of China due to its highly ideological nature. I mean, this cult is not some kind of Chinese BBC. It’s religiously anti-Communist in its perspective with no pretense for objectivity. Even anti-PRC stations from the US do not want to be associated with Falun Gong media: http://www.clearwisdom.net/html/articles/2008/8/2/99460.html (Media Network blog comments via DXLD) ** CHINA. Re 9-074, Radio Peking 1967 clip --- Wow! What a blast from the past! Reminds me of browsing through a collection of archived editions of Peking Review and Beijing Review when I'm bored or waiting for classes at Lakehead University. I even found a schedule for Radio Peking on the back of one issue from around this time. Don't know who the communist was on campus back then, but it's a hell of a read (Jon Pukila, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The recording was made in Okinawa. It can be downloaded at: http://www.archive.org/details/RadioPekingExcerptsLate1967 (Mike Barraclough, England, ibid.) ** COLOMBIA. 5910. Marfil Estereo, 0420, 10/4/09. Usual program of romantic and pop-style ballads. Fair to good signal (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Drake R8B, Wellbrook 330S 1.1 M loop, Par SWL End Fed, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910 with peppy keep-you-awake music Marfil Estéreo perpetually plays, Oct 4 at 0625. Did not listen long enough for a definite ID, but surely HJDH, which operates quite sporadically, not heard for a week or two in routine late-nite bandscans. And also with ute beepbursts every few seconds from the hi side around 5911, somewhat escapable by offtuning to lo side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. DISCLAIMER FOR ANY LW/MW ITEMS, INCLUDING ALL TIS; MIS; PIRATE; AND LPAM ENTRIES, OR ANYTHING THAT CAN BE LINKED BACK TO A LW/MW REFERENCE: No portion of the below may be reproduced in any format and/or redistributed by the National Radio Club and/or their editors without my expressed written permission, which will then be swiftly -- and we do mean swiftly -- denied. Editors receiving this directly from me are excluded, provided this entire disclaimer is included once where any of the aforementioned items are first reproduced. 710, Radio Rebelde. 1650 GMT October 2, 2009. Big sub-audible heterodyne on the 2004 Impala stock radio, Clearwater. Purpose: to jam the Miami Hispanic, of course. 790, Radio Reloj, Pinar del Río. 1645 GMT October 2, 2009. Good signal though under a domestic, on the 2004 Impala stock radio, Clearwater (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Glenn and Terry, I very much enjoy listening to Radio Enciclopedia - 530. When RVC [Turks & Caicos] comes back on the air, maybe I'll have to listen to HF. Right on the [none] "Popular." I vividly remember the old Radio Enciclopedia Popular with its continuous readings of eclectic subjects. I wonder how REP made a profit before the days of the Castro Boys' Fun-Loving, Warm-Hearted, Easy-Going, Peoples' Democratic Republic of Dungeon. Maybe I should use some of the marijuana from Casey Woods behind my house. I have a love/hate relationship with Radio Enciclopedia. I have heard RP on 750, 810, 1340, 1570, 1620 from locations unknown. It is no fig-newton of my imagination hearing RP on all of these unlisted frequencies --- (as Mark Twain might say:) "Dod-dern nuisance" But I do seem to have a pipeline into Cuba. DCJC using Radio Enciclopedia as a blocking signal, perhaps. It is a wonder that RHC stays on the air. Overloaded schedule what with transmitting Radio Voz de Venezuela (?). Oh, love that sweet Hugo Chávez. Such a nice lad is that Hugo Fidel Raúl Castro Ruíz Chávez. Kiss-kiss (Cholly (Cuba) Taylor, NC, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Tonight at 2102 [EDT? = 0102 UT] I heard another Radio Enciclopedia station on 1570. As Mark Twain would say: Radio Enciclopedia: That there station is plumb bully station (Charles (Cuba) Taylor, NC, 0322 UT Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. RHC observed 22 Sept back in English at 2100-2130 on 11760. Arabic at 2030 on 11770. On 23 Sept English heard earlier but weaker (Edwin Southwell, England, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) 11760 was back in Spanish when checked on 26 Sept (Dave Kenny, ibid.) Radio Havana noted on 11770 at 2030 September 22 and 23 with interval signal, identification and Arabic broadcast, good reception. Radio Havana heard on 11760 September 22 with English at 2100 tune in, good reception, on September 23 also noted in English earlier but weaker reception. On September 24 11760 heard at 2030 tune in with Spanish, carrier cut off at 2100. On September 25 11760 in English at 2015 with weak signal (Edwin Southwell, England, Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Another case of you-never-know-what-they`ll-do-next. 11760 is supposedly the non-direxional channel including English at 2030, whilst 11770 is 53 degrees toward Europe/Mediterranean, not including English, per Aoki. You never know whether 6140 from RHC will be in Spanish or English, tho the online schedule says English. Oct 2 at 0511 it was in English, tho hummy, // 6060 and 6010, despite Spanish frequency 6120 still absent, which 24 hours earlier we assumed might be the reason why 6140 had switched to Spanish. Only 6000 had Spanish this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Lunedì 28 settembre 2009, 08.10!!! - 6140 kHz, R. HABANA CUBA, Musica romantica. Segnale sufficiente-buono. 6060 active but not clear if in // (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) 6060, R.H.C.; 0645z English program with Ed Newman, (obviously an American) playing music from AFRICA and the CARIBBEAN, talking about black American actor Danny Glover visiting CUBA's NATIONAL MUSEUM of the SLAVE ROUTE, located 2 1/2 hours outside of Havana (by taxi - bus takes longer due to more frequent stops). Danny Glover apparently has become the darling of R.H.C., in part, because of his politics. 10/03/2009 (Steven C. Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, (2 miles from Boca Chica Beach, GULF of MEXICO), Radio Shack DX-399, 150' center fed LW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Once again Oct 4 checked around 0620, RHC English on 6140, 6060 and 6010; Spanish frequency 6120 absent. At 1503, no sign of any of the Aló, Presidente frequencies, starting with 13750. However, on later: see VENEZUELA [non] But it`s Esperanto time at 1500, and that was running on 11760; after ``saluton,`` at 1503 took at least 5 minutes to introduce their schedule and contact info. Sked given was (Sundays only, they should make clearer): 0700 6000 1500 11760 1900 11760 2330 6000 CAm, 5965 Carib, 9600 SAm Also see new Esperanto website via http://www.radiohc.cu and referred to this for more Esperanto: http://www.ameriko.org Schedule above resembles what it was formerly, but is at great variance with the one claimed on current website presented in Spanish, http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm that Esperanto is only at 1500 on 11760, and ``2400-2430 Sundays on 13790``, the latter certainly not true as checked last week. The new Esperanto page is http://www.radiohc.cu/esperanto/index.htm and linx to http://www.radiohc.cu/esperanto/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm which with Esperanto headings shows schedule in Spanish for all languages starting with long-abandoned 12000 in Spanish at 11-15. But after several minutes page had not finished loading to the bottom where Esperanto schedule resides, and then it gave up. Navigation around the RHC website is really sluggish! Second try on a different browser got it to load, showing Esperanto: América del Norte 6000 07-07:30 UTC Norte Centro y Suramérica 11760/5965 15–15:30/ 19:30–20/ 23:30-00 UTC América Central 6120 23:30 -00 UTC Buenos Aires 9600 23:30 -00 Now, just try to sort out which frequency goes with which time on the second line amid all those slants! This nonsense pervades the RHC posted schedules. Anyhow it more or less matches the announcement except for 6000 instead of 6120 at 2330. Also linx to http://www.ameriko.org where it`s not clear if under Communist control, but likely so as includes large audio archive of RHC`s broadcasts thru last week 9/27 at http://www.ameriko.org/radiokubo And the content of RHC`s Esperanto broadcast is mandatorily just as obsessed with The Five Heroes, and Zelaya, Chávez as are the other languages, so why bother? I certainly did not bother to keep listening after the introduxion. For a few months, the secret third airing of RHC`s Spanish DX program En Contacto had been at about 2240 UT Sundays, more than an hour earlier than before. But Oct 4 I found it back closer to its original time, in progress at 2148, with the voice of none other than Alen Grajan, the SS clone of Allen Graham of HCJB. He was being interviewed by contributor Rubén Guillermo Margenet, whose home he recently visited in Rosario, Argentina. Just as I tuned in, AG mentioned that HCJB was broadcasting via WRMI! Imagine that, WRMI being mentioned on RHC, comrade to the archenemy DentroCuban Jamming Command which blasts away against 9955 not only when in Spanish but when in English. But En Contacto is one of RHC`s least political shows. Allen said that he was born in Kansas, and then moved to California before exiting the country to become a missionary. Admitted that most Cubans would no longer be able to hear HCJB as it exits shortwave, since they don`t have much internet access, (least of all broadband). HCJB will instead see what it can arrange in various LA countries to be heard on local FM (not including Cuba, for sure). 2153 next feature on EC was para los principiantes, too basic explanation of direxional antennas, for SW transmission. Must have started circa 2141, since end was at 2156.6, then RHC ID as transmitting for N, C and S America and the Mediterranean area. 2157 next program, Cuba Campesina, that wonderful music show. Frequency observations: synchronized on 11760, 11770, 13790 and 5965; an echo apart on 13760 and 6000 which were synchronized with each other. No signals where they might also have been, 11800, 17660. Here`s RHC`s complete program schedule in Spanish http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/c_programacion/programacion.htm which still shows no details at 21-23 UT Sundays, only Revista Iberoamericana, a grab-bag which includes repeats of real shorter programs such as En Contacto. One can refer to the full schedule for some other titles likely to be less politically charged than e.g. Voces de la Revolución. The resumed En Contacto time, this week anyway, is also news to José Bueno, who circulates weekly promotions for several DX programs in Spanish, still showing this as 2242, and also included a frequency abandoned months ago, 11820. O, that`s not all! UT Monday Oct 5 at 0550 as I made my nightly check to see which language was on 6140, there was En Contacto again re- interviewing Allen Graham, at a completely new/unscheduled time, ending at 0558, so started about 0543. Is RHC Spanish going to a 2- hour repeat cycle now like English? That would lead to many more airings. Last overt time for show was 0135 UT Monday. At 0550 // 6000 which was much stronger than usual; have they switched antennas and/or transmitters around too? Not only WWCR, but also RHC bothered by squealing transmitters, Oct 5 at 0607 on 6060 in English about a trova composer; and Oct 5 at 1452 on 13780 in Spanish. Then the RHC leapfrog on 13880 was getting QRM from clicking on 13882, suspect a spur from the DentroCuban Jamming Command blasting away against Martí 13820; how apropos. This clicker also rode a full carrier, making a het with 13880 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Anomaly report for Oct 6: at 0550, RHC English on 6010 during music, splattering 5995-6025, almost merging with the DentroCuban Jamming Command noise on 6030! 6140 and 6060 also in English service, 6000 in Spanish JBA with QubaRM, and 6120 Spanish still missing. Suspect it is the same transmitter as had been on 11800 daytime, altho more distorted when there, as it too misses at 1428 check. Matching rapid clicking sounds, too narrowband to be OTH radar, Oct 6 centered about 11881 and 11981, and suspected to be spurious from the DCJC on 11930 and/or 11845. At 1433 found strong RHC signal on 13780 again suffering from squeal. Leapfrog over squealless 13680 landing on 13580 was strong enough to bother R. Prague. It`s been a month since Arnie posted a DXUL script on his blog, but there is now one for Oct 6-7 with the usual propagation, homebrew stuff at http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/ and not a word about RHC operational or scheduling matters; tnx for Alokesh Gupta tip in dxldyg. Did anyone hear him say anything worth preserving in the interim? RHC Oct 7: at 0540, English on 6140, 6060, 6010; Spanish on reactivated 6120 and JBA 6000. Another frequency missing yesterday was back Oct 7, 11800 distorted at 1315 in Spanish. Several of the DCJC frequencies are accompanied by jamming spurs on each side. While the center frequency is a wall of noise, perhaps only one transmitter is doing the spurs, at a rate of 2 pulses per second, such as at 1256 Oct 7 covering 10-15 kHz each side of 9805 and 9955. Same setup observed around 7405 earlier circa 0530. RHC 13780 transmitter still squealing, Oct 7 at 1337, very strong and much more noticeable here than on WWCR 13845 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Did you know that Radio Habana Cuba has a callsign and it is CMRH? Well, that makes sense, but why don`t they ever announce it in any language? It appears as a push-button on the rotating banner at the top of this page with live audio linx, also claiming it has 12 OC transmitters http://www.radiocubana.cu/radialistas_cuba.asp (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Monolinguals feeling left out from the exile side of the Cuban radio war have one program from the fueracubans in English: CDHD Brigade on WRMI, 9955. Among other times it`s 1515 Tuesdays. Tuned in at 1524 Oct 6 as W&M were discussing the downside of the big concert in Habana recently from the Plaza de la Revolución, which she said is an ugly place for any positive peaceful event, surrounded by government and military edifices. G signal on NW antenna, no jamming audible, preceding WORLD OF RADIO 1480 at 1530 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 13820, Radio Martí with feature on singers, Sat Oct 3 at 1340, the story of Chavela Vargas, who was a victim of alcoholism but had quite a career in Mexico, and lastly was a big success in Spain. Google her for more. Unfortunately, mostly narration with only bits of music, concluding with ``Ponme la mano aquí, la Macorina`` (Put your hand here, Macorina, addressing an Habana whore). Where is `here`, exactly?? At 1349 moved on to Roy Órbison, with bits of ``Pretty Woman``; and by 1355 it was Pedro Luís Ferrer, whose top Google hit quotes Mother Jones: ``He's famous in Cuba as a musical innovator and sharp social critic. Fidel Castro is not a fan,`` therefore red meat for Martí. But over at 1400 for ID already. Steadily and heavily jammed, but strong signal from Greenville stayed on top as it often does here on this frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS TURKISH. [tentative] 6150.740, Moin, moin - neben der Deutschen Welle Rwanda auf ziemlich genau 6150 kHz zieht sich um 1600 UTC auf 6150.740 kHz noch "ein Faden" (nannte Ruehmkorf nicht seinen Joint so?). Weiss nicht zufaellig wer, ob das Bayrak sein koennte? (Nils Schiffhauer, Germany, DK8OK, A-DX Oct 2 via BC-DX Oct 4 via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) 6150.74, 6/10 1955, Radio Bayrak ? Cyprus, too much QRM on 6150, so non usable, only few words and music (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Perseus Remote in Bocca di Magra - Drake R8 in Milan; Ant: Wellbrook 1010 loop & T2FD, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK. New SW station? Message received from Roy Sandgren addressed to SW Broadcasters: ``Within the next months we are offering broadcasters `airtime` via our SW station in Denmark. The station has 4-5 transmitters of 10 kW AM and 15 antennas in all directions. Planned a 100 kW AM with rotatable log periodic antenna. We intend to do tests in October with one of the transmitters which has to be converted to `broadcast` AM-mode. Your programs can be on 4-5 frequencies and 4-5 antennas at the same time. All over Europe. Are you positive to do tests via CD or the net, even via satellite, let us know. . . 24/7/365 contracts available. Best regards, Roy Sandren, fax +46(0)40-644 44 60 +46(0)40-49 50 00, mobile +46(0)76-6632030, 070- 2432000, Box 14006, SE-200 24 Malmö, Sweden`` (Roy Sandgren direct to BDXC 15 Sept, Oct BDXC Communication via DXLD) Sounds dubious, or does Roy mean the Bergen SW site in Norway? (Dave Kenny, editor, ibid.) See DXLD 9-072 under NORWAY, similar (gh) ** DENMARK. Denmark-1062 coming in here in North Alabama at 0336 UT Oct 7. Chimes interval signal really cutting thru the QRM, 73, (J. D. Stephens, Drake R-8, Randowmire, IRCA via DXLD) Yes, I noticed this in MN, too. I may or may not have heard a few words after 0345 but those chimes, it's like a *nightly* DX test! 73, (George Sherman, MN, 0414 UT, ibid.) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.00, Radio Amanecer, 2305-0010, Oct 2-3, religious music. Spanish talk. IDs at 2316, 2345. Strong but with some co-channel QRM from possibly Iran. Strong adjacent channel splatter by 2340. Poor signal after 0000 due to strong adjacent channel splatter. 6025.04, Radio Amanecer, 1200-1215, Oct 4, religious music. Spanish talk. ID announcements at 1203. Promos. Poor. Weak with adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 6025.03, R Amanecer, Santo Domingo, 0450, Oct 05, Spanish? praise songs in the clear for about 3 minutes after co-channel VOIRI Arabic had broken down, then continued to presumed 0455 close. In DXLD 9-074 Ron Howard reported 0306 s/off, perhaps they are running late on Sundays? No ID, but pretty sure it must be them. Will keep an eye on this just in case VOIRI suddenly disappears again. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Martien, I am sure you are hearing them! On Oct. 5, I tuned out at 0438 and they were still on. Bruce Churchill (So. Calif.) noted the sign off about 0455, just as you did. On Oct. 4, I heard them sign off about 0403. So this really needs more monitoring to tell if they have a different schedule just for the weekend. Best regards and good listening! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, USA, ibid.) earlier: 6025.04, R. Amanecer heard 10/5 from 0227 tune with many hymns/praise songs, occasional man in heavy adjacent channel and co-channel QRM – distorted audio. After 0300 noticeable improvement with disappearance of QRM from 6030 [UT Monday truce in the Cuban radio war --- gh]. Station ID and frequency announcements for FM and SW by man at 0306. Shifted to USB and tuned up to 6025.04 for best readability after 0300. After this sigs gradually improved to S4 and armchair quality here, with diminishing QRM. Many devotional talks, occasional hymns and praise music and announcements after 0307. Left the air suddenly at 0454:50 in the middle of a praise vocal. SINPO 45444 with USB after 0315. Before 0300 SINPO 32442 in SAM mode (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) SAM? 6025, R. Amanacer. Email reply from longtime station engineer Socrates Domínguez who says he managed to persuade his "boss" that the Adventist broadcaster should return to SW. Its absence from SW for two years resulted from matters beyond his control. (By that I take it mean administrative decision to leave SW, not technical problems). He built the nominally 1 kW SW transmitter from "parts" he scrounged up in the Dominican Rep. about 20 years ago. The SW transmitter uses a vertical antenna, 18 ft. long aluminum pole with wire radials. He says it simulcasts with their 1580 kHz AM outlet. This is curious, since the station announces and long has been on 1570. Perhaps this was a typo. Frankly, it looks like Socrates has pulled a bit of a con job on the station manager to get back on SW. Admittedly there is some reading between the lines here, but it sounds like Socrates convinced his boss that SW broadcasting was about to get "hot" again because of DRM, perhaps aided by the fact of Jeff White's recent meeting in Punta Cana and the various DRM transmissions aired in association with that gathering of broadcasters. Nevermind that Socrates' old SW transmitter has nothing to do with DRM. I am assuming that with time, and the lack of major feedback from Dominican audiences, the management will realize that DRM or not, there is no real boom in SW listenership. And when that happens, I would expect R. Amanacer again to leave SW, much to the dismay of Ing. Socrates Domínguez and DXers. --don (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, Oct 4, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. Yesterday I listened much to last day of The Voice Of The Andes and listened to it in the night until it signed off. Had the eerie feeling that I was beside a friend in his final dying moments. I precisely purchased my first SW radio in 1976 in Nicaragua to listen to HCJB in English and Spanish. The signal was so good that it almost sounded like a local FM signal with almost no fade outs or distortions. And then I got hooked to DXing. HCJB, we will miss you! (Serafin Pagan Caro, Oct 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HCJB en el aire por los 6050 kHz. Acabo de escuchar que efectivamente es HCJB en los 6050 (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, 2147 UT Oct 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Estoy escuchando a HCJB en los 6050 Khz aahhhhhhhhh y otra cosa el concierto para el cual están invitando es para el de Paulino Aguirre y no Paulina Rubio como había dicho antes jajajajajajaja. Pero lo cierto es que HCJB sigue en el aire por los 6050 kHz. Están transmitiendo resumen de noticias y acaban de identificar (José Elías, 2201 UT, ibid.) HCJB La Voz de Los Andes sigue en la onda corta en español la estoy escuchando por los 6050 Khz con muy buena señal por Venezuela. He escuchado su identificación y noticias (José Elías, 2247 UT, ibid.) Yes, HCJB lives on 6050, presumably its only remaining SW frequency [not], (regional services on 3220, 6080 also gone?), Oct 2 at 1200 in Spanish, business as usual religious comments, mixed with some federal and municipal government PSAs produced so as to sound like commercials. Hetting Malaysia 6049.6v. HCJB slowly fades down as the sun rises over Quito and Enid, but is capable of reaching at least as far as Florida all day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And Pifo remains on the air, at least 6050, heard at 1400 today, just a moment ago. Details with other logs late tomorrow (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: 6050, HCJB. 1358-1405 October 3, 2009. Preacher in Spanish, HCJB time sounders 1400, Spanish ID, into another gospel program. Fair. We read that this is an exception, to remain on the air and relocated to Mt. Pichincha and at 10 kW. It will be nice to have this remain on, and it will be fun to see if we can pull it mid-day, summer, from this location. Recheck 2158 October 4, local level with Spanish, ID, time sounders, into Radio Transmundial Spanish programming with gospeltalk and classical music fills, but co-la Voz de los Andes ID's during the program. Didn't know HCJB was in bed with TWR (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) O yeah, they divided up the world (gh) ** ECUADOR [non]. According to Stephan Schaa, HCJB German will as of today be on air via Calera de Tango (Chile) daily 2300-2400 on 9865. Programmes in Lower German will be aired on Tue, Thu, Sat and Sun 2330-2400. No word about possible transmissions of Portuguese so far (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: HCJB / VozAndes Media via CVC Chile Hello everybody! The German programming has just started for the first time on regular basis from the CVC Chile site. The frequency is 9865 kHz and I can receive it even in Germany now. The first half hour is in Low German, the second half hour in High German. Here's the schedule (in German) : Für Südamerika täglich eine Stunde Sendungen im 31mBand auf der Frequenz 9865 kHz über die Sendeanlagen der „Voz Cristiana" in Santiago de Chile ab 23:00 UTC – 20:00 Brasil – 18:00 Quito Sonntag 23:00 20:00 18:00 Gottes Wort zum Sonntag 23:30 20:30 18:30 Bibelstund (Plattdeutsch) Montag 23:00 20:00 18:00 Hörerpostsendung Südamerika 23:30 20:30 18:30 Lieblingslieder 23:45 20:45 18:45 Stimme der Heimat Dienstag 23:00 20:00 18:00 Familienalltag mit Gott 23:30 20:30 18:30 Licht vom Evangelium (Plattdeutsch) Mittwoch 23:00 20:00 18:00 Licht des Evangeliums 23:30 20:30 18:30 Gute Nachricht für Brasilien Donnerstag 23:00 20:00 18:00 Neues unter der Äquatorsonne 23:30 20:30 18:30 Derch de Bibel (Plattdeutsch) Freitag 23:00 20:00 18:00 Hallo Kinder 23:15 20:15 18:15 Stimme der Heimat 23:30 20:30 18:30 Botschaft des Heils Samstag 23:00 20:00 18:00 Aktuelles aus dem alten Buch 23:30 20:30 18:30 Fruis met Hopninj (Plattdeutsch) 73, (Stephan Schaa, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) HCJB, via Rampisham, U.K. on 12025 at 2135 in Arabic, Oct 4. Just wondering if those interesting-sounding ME vocals had gospel lyrics. Good signal (Icom R75, Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) /LITHUANIA, Frequency change of HCJB Global via Sitkunai from Sep. 20: 1530-1628 NF 5940 SIT 100 kW / 079 deg, ex 9805 in Russian/Chechen Sun only (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As already in DXLD. See also UNIDENTIFIED 11960 Re 9-074: Re: HCJB closed Pifo but not really closed > Broadcasts in Portuguese, German and Kulina are scheduled to > continue from Pifo until November 15 on a powerful transmitter, an > HC100. (German will be both analog and DRM digital broadcasts.) The > Port & Kulina are on 11920 kHz. German is on 9780 kHz (analog) and > 15280 (DRM). Can this be confirmed by monitoring observations? The piece at http://www.hcjb.de/index.php?id=209 appears to contradict it, but in this case it really appears to be necessary to weigh these words very well: "Dear all, we're sorrow... yesterday the last German programme to South America went out via the antennas at Pifo. Officially this is now the end from here. Last week we officially celebrated our farewell. Retired colleagues came along or wrote us some lines. For us as German department, now Vozandes Media, it is a relief that as of today, October 1st, we can transmit our broadcasts for South America from Chile..." "South America" and "officially": The target of 9780 was (is) the Caribbean and North America (in particular Mexico) instead (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, 11920 is still inbooming with praise music in Portuguese at 2328 check Oct 4, so remains 2245-0230? 9780 presumably refers to 0230- 0330, as previously scheduled in both Germans to Mexico (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hello Kai! The analog German programming for Mexico and South America have stopped at 30.9.09. What's still on the air from Pifo is as following: 6050 kHz, 50 kW (until the transmitter on Mt Pichincha is ready) 11920 kHz in Port.; 100 kW (until 15.11.09) 11705 kHz in Port., digital, 4 kW (until 15.11.09) 15280 kHz in German, digital, 4 kW (until 15.11.09) I think the reason for those programms that are still on the air to mid of November is that these (except 6050) are all transmitted by two relative simple rhombic antennas which can be brought down very quickly by the end of the year. The German - as well as the Spanish - programs have been transmitted via the last curtain antenna that was up in pifo (north-south direction). This may now be brought down next. The German service for South America now transmits over the CVC Chile transmitters from 2300 to 0000 UT on 9865 kHz (Stephan Schaa, Germany, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Another story: HCJB cancelled its shortwave transmissions in Russian [via Rampisham], effective October 1st. For the time being SW-Radio in Detmold will catch up in cooperation with the HCJB office in Germany and Vozandes Media in Quito, they broadcast every Sunday 1530-1600 on 5940 via Lithuania. At present it is being discussed between the HCJB office in Germany and HCJB headquarters in the USA if the service can again be expanded to a daily 30 minutes transmission. http://www.hcjb.de/index.php?id=210 And another photo report of the 6050 kHz antenna construction: http://www.hcjb.de/index.php?id=211 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) VozAndes Media - HCJB: Project 6050 Update Hello everybody! An OM asked me to post the information and pictures about the "Project 6050" that I posted before in the German A-DX list on DXLD in English, too. So here are some infos and pictures to those who are interested in the development in Quito, Ecuador: Initial plans from HCJB global and the LAR (Latin America Region) had been that the regional programming on 6050 kHz should be continued from Mt. Pichincha where also HCJB FM and AM (690 kHz) are operating. Due to new strategy and lower donations due worldwide recession the plan to move one of the HC-100 to the "Quito-Antenna-Mountain" had to be cancelled. But there have been many fixed frequency radios that have been handed out to people far away from the big cities in the region that are still in use and the programming in the indiginous languages are still heavy needed on the shortwave band. So a lot of talks have been made by all people involved and finally a solution has been found to continue the broadcasts at 6050 kHz: The frequency 6050 kHz will be moved to the Mt. Pichincha and operated by a transmitter with about 10 kW Power. It shall be on air for about 16 - 17 hours a day, 365 days a year. A new schedule has just been prepared with some major changes to provide more programming in the indigenous languages. The new location is planned to be on air in November 09. VozAndes Media will be responsible for operating this transmitter. In order to build the new antenna, antenna lines, fences etc. some so- called "Mingas" have been planned to transpose the plans to reality. "Minga" or "Minka" is a term for "community work" in the Quechua Language. The first minga has been made on Saturday two weeks ago. The goal was to dig some holes for foundations for the antenna masts, the guy wires and the fences. 38 men and women came to work voluntarily on that project. I've uploaded some pictures from the minga on the 19th of September 2009: http://www.pappradio.de/bilder/minga1/1.JPG ... http://www.pappradio.de/bilder/minga1/13.JPG Yesterday (3rd of October) the second minga has been made to build up the antenna towers for a lazy-H antenna that shall broadcast on the 6050 kHz frequency. Here are some pictures from that event: http://www.pappradio.de/bilder/minga2/1.JPG ... http://www.pappradio.de/bilder/minga2/25.JPG A (German) report on the minga and some other news from the HCJB World Office Germany and VozAndes Media in Ecuador can be found on http://www.hcjb.de/index.php?id=206 I'll keep you informed about the latest developments at the project. :-) (PS: Sorry for my a little bit bumpy english. I'm not an English native speaker. I hope that everything is understandable and no misunderstandings are in my posting.) Greetings from Germany and 73, (Stephan Schaa, Oct 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. New HCJB SW site for domestic service in Ecuador. I'm thinking perhaps the new Mount Pichincha HCJB SW site might be located in the vicinity of: 00 11 16 S 78 32 10 W from the images seen thus far (Ian Baxter, Australia, Sept 27, shortwavesites yg via BC-DX via DXLD) News from Radio HCJB & VozAndes Media Quito: Erection HCJB 6050 kHz future project for regional service with 10 kW is on its way. Voluntary service on Mount Pichincha. That's not a big HCJB SW site, rather a dipol rope on the landscape, hanging between two MW tower masts. Google Earth imagery. Some high resolution place. 00 11 15.91 S 78 32 10.71 W looks like the picture on video on in 3800 meters altitude. But another image like this, some 2.6 kilometers northwards at 00 10 00.80 S 78 31 31.76 W (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Missionary Ken MacHarg`s article, Spanish translation: Fuente: http://www.alcnoticias.org/interior.php?lang=687&codigo=15158 (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** EGYPT [and non]. 15255, Oct 6 at 1454 with two signals making a SAH, and one of them with intermittent tones atop the other in a S Asian language. Uplooked later in Aoki, Family Radio via Nauen, Germany in Bengali until 1500, then R. Cairo in Albanian. At 1525, Cairo was alone mentioning `Salaam Aleikum`, undermodulated. 1530 ID clinched by timesignal and Cairo news march (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, 6/10 1748, Radio Bata, Guinea E., songs, good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Perseus Remote in Bocca di Magra - Drake R8 in Milan; Ant: Wellbrook 1010 loop & T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250 Malabo has not been noted for several weeks now in almost nightly bandscans around 0530-0600+, while Polisario has been regular on 6297 (Glenn Hauser, OK, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [non]. Dear Brothers and Sisters, friends of the ministry: On October 23rd, Pastor Alamo will be sentenced. The probation office is suggesting a life sentence. We would appreciate any letters of recommendation to give to the judge. If you feel moved to write a letter, it should include: The good works Pastor Tony has done how he has helped people (IT MUST STAY FOCUSED ON THIS SUBJECT ALONE, PLEASE) how long the writer has known Tony or been affiliated with the ministry, the writer’s name, and address. (Addressed to Honorable Judge Barnes) We need letters ASAP, Thank you very much, Yours in Christ, (Tony Alamo Christian Ministries mailing list, Oct 4, via Ron Howard, DXLD) ** ERITREA. 7175, 6/10 1818, Voice of Broad Masses, Eritrea, African music and talks, good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Perseus Remote in Bocca di Magra - Drake R8 in Milan; Ant: Wellbrook 1010 loop & T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UNIDENTIFIED 5060 ** ETHIOPIA. 5980, Voice of Tigray Rev, *0255-0340, Oct 3, sign on with IS. Vernacular talk at 0300. Instrumental music. Horn of Africa music. Fair. // 5950 - weak, mixing with Okeechobee (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ETHIOPIA. 6030, Radio Oromia, *0320-0335, Oct. 5 (Monday). Nice quiet conditions; jamming was turned off today, not like last Monday. Started listening to a fair signal from Calgary and was amazed to clearly hear a xylophone IS underneath CFVP. Checked it with http://www.intervalsignals.net/countries/ethiopia.htm for Oromiya. Positive match! Could hear IS till about 0330, then some talking, but unfortunately CFVP was just too strong to tell anything about what language was used. Believe this represents a new schedule for R. Oromia. Am very pleased to finally hear this, but needs more Monday monitoring! Audio posted at dxldyg “Files > Station Sounds” (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ron, Nice! What a difference 3,000 miles make. I had very little audio this week from this one. I started listening while the jammer was on. The jammer left the air at 0259. Sounds like you had much more to listen to on the west coast than we did on the east coast. 73, (Rich D`Angelo, Wyomissing PA, NASWA yg via DXLD) 6030, R. Oromia came up out of the mud about 0356, with HoA music to 0400. Brief ID by man, mentioning R. Oromia and into what clearly was news by woman, with some recorded "actualities". 0408, brief melody repeated twice, then woman, briefly. 0409, man in commentary. Began weakening, but heard until about 0415 with man and woman talking. All in presumed Oromio language. As Oromia faded was replaced by CFVP Calgary with Country tune, man with ad for car dealership and back into C&W music. Oromia peaked about 0405 at fair. CFVP best about 0425, and was lost in the noise. First log of Oromia; best logging of Calgary here since the 1980s (Don Jensen, WI, Oct 5, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 5990.31, 6/10 1834, Radio Ethiopia, Drama // 7110, VG 6110, 6/10 1908, Radio Fana, Ethiopia, African songs, QRM CRI, fair 7110, 6/10 1809, Radio Ethiopia, Reports in Amharic (presumed), good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Perseus Remote in Bocca di Magra - Drake R8 in Milan; Ant: Wellbrook 1010 loop & T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6110, R. Fana, Addis Ababa, 0259, Sept 29, vernacular. IS at tune/in; M & W announcers with several IDs; M with brief talk into HoA-like instrumental music at 0303; fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6890, Radio Fana, 0320-0340, Oct 3, vernacular talk. Horn of Africa music. // 6110 - both frequencies fair to good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ETHIOPIA. 7110. R. Ethiopia, 0415, 10/4/09. Continuous HOA music with pop beat and heavy bass. Amharic listed. Fair to good on peaks (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Drake R8B, Wellbrook 330S 1.1 M loop, Par SWL End Fed, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. 6870, EUROPIRATE Playback Radio. 0105, October 4, 2007. Presumed the one, weak with pop music (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Free Radio Service Holland: see NETHERLANDS [non?] ** EUROPE. [SW-pirates] Cupid testing again on 15.070 MHz Hello radio friends, with the huge success from last Saturday in my mind, I have planned a new test broadcast. Schedule will be as follow Saturday 3-10, frequencie 15070 AM Start at 1330 till 1430 UT, the beam will be aimed towards the south- east; curious if there is anyone listening in the Middle East !!!! At 1430 till 1500 the beam is aimed towards South America. I hope that the signal will be better now on the Caribbean than last week! At 1500 till 1600 the beam is pointed towards the USA and Canada. If the conditions are helping a hand it`s possible that we broadcast longer towards the States. I have planned to use the big arrow with 400 watts. If everything works well for this test broadcast, will be given out a special 19 mtr DX QSL card. It`s a real exclusive one, so keep your ears wide open, for a report & request, 0031-623812045 Cupid Radio P O Box 9 8097SE Oldebroek Netherlands 73`s from Holland, cheers, Rinus (SW-pirates yg via David Hodgson, TN, 1429 UT Oct 3, DXLD) PIRATE - 15070.55, Cupid Radio, 1623-1636* Oct 3. Pop music, then M chatting at 1627; gave address at BoH; more music followed to closedown anouncement at 1635. Not very strong here with deep fades; about 25% readable (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Oct 4, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) PIRATE. 15070.57, Cupid Radio, 1620-1630, Oct 3, very weak signal with pop music, announcements, ID (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** FRANCE. 15300, Radio France International, in French. News, then African reggae music at 1650 UT Sept 24. Talking about Cat Stevens with music and interviews at 2020, more contemporary French music at half past, with a full band and salsa beat - female singer, male singer with band and acoustic guitars + interview. Same band, reggae style, with horns sax, and clarinet, almost a mix of reggae with clesmer [sic] music. Cameroon mentioned in reference to this band. More interviews & music till top of the hour. Station ID at 2100, then back to the music. Same band. American jazz/blues mix at 2105 UT. At 2146, Bob Marley - Duppy Concurer remix. Still music at 2200. A song about dogs at 5 after. Then back to a rhumba/reggae beat kind of mix. Back to Cat Stevens at around 2220 UT. Must be an all music day. Best 73's and good DX to Glen[n] Hauser and all of the World of Radio listeners from the mountains of West Virginia U.S.A., (Louis Turner, KB3LAP, Petersburg, WV, Sept 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not sure the times have been converted correctly as 15300 is supposedly scheduled 0600-2000 only. ``All-music day``, i.e. filling during strike. Checking once again for RFI on 7265 during the 05-06 UT hour, which for two days was heavily echoing, then missing Oct 1: on Oct 2 at 0535 I could barely make out very weak YL talk in French, and seemed not to have an echo, but instead a much quicker reverb/hollow sound. Neighbors Portugal 7240, Vatican 7250, Ascension 7255, Tunisia 7275 were all much stronger, so these variations from France are still odd. Maybe TDF are playing with azimuth changes at Issoudun or even experimenting with other relay sites, which could explain the double audio earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. 6005, 6/10 1838, Radio 700 & BBC Seychelles, German & English [respectively], songs and reports. Radio 700 dominant in Milan, BBC dominant in Bocca di Magra remote (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Perseus Remote in Bocca di Magra - Drake R8 in Milan; Ant: Wellbrook 1010 loop & T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GLORIOSO ISLAND. FT/G, (Update). The FT5GA team continues to be on the air and is trying to satisfy the international ham radio community. As of October 4th, they have made just under 43k QSOs with 13.4k unique callsigns (20256/CW, 18342/SSB and 4106/RTTY). This will be the last week to work them. The Web page is now reporting that the team will be active until October 8th. They are also planning to pay more attention to 160 and 80 meters CW to the USA, even if these bands are very very noisy. For updates, visit the FT5GA Web page at: http://glorieuses2008.free.fr QSL Manager is F5OGL: Didier Senmartin, P.O. Box 7, F-53320 LOIRON, FRANCE. Online log is available at: http://www.clublog.org/charts/?c=FT5GA (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 928, October 5, 2009, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** GLORIOSO ISLAND [non]. Pirates & FT5GA: The following has been released by Carl, N4AA of QRZ DX / DX Magazine and is displayed in its entirety: Hello DXers: This is a SPECIAL BULLETIN and the following will reveal why: I have been contacted by a person (who I will NOT name) who has the capability to pin point (very accurately) the source of an on the air signal. What I am saying is - this person has the professional equipment and the expertise to monitor a signal on the ham bands and determine to a very narrow area where that signal is coming from. Apparently there was a pirate on 10114 last night signing FT5GA. That signal was NOT coming from Glorioso, it was coming from QUEBEC in CANADA, NNE of Montreal. On two other days, pirate signals were monitored signing FT5GA, one was coming from LATVIA and the other from the SOUTH COAST OF SICILY. These pirates should be relatively easy for "local" DXers to find. They need to be specifically identified and pressure brought to bear on them to cease their deliberate and illegal activities. The "source" that I mentioned above will continue to provide periodic reports like this and I will continue to publish the locations of these irresponsible persons. I ask for those within the areas identified pay particular attention and use whatever means are available to them to put a stop to these activities. Your cooperation with the identification of these pirates will be appreciated by all of us (via I.C.P.O. Bulletin (October 01 - 09, 2009) "Islands, Castles & Portable Operations", via editor Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** GREECE. On Saturday, 3 October 2009, ERA-5 will connect with ERASPOR, from 17.00 until 22.00 hours Greece time (1400-1900 UT), and will transmit live the fights of Greek championship. [what kind of fights?] For the Greek elections of Sunday, 4 October 2009, ERA-5 will connect with NET 105.8, from 10.15 Greece time (0715 UT) until the next day (Monday) at 09.00 Greece time (0600 UT), and will transmit the latest developments of the election results as well as the first reactions to the Greek elections of 4 October (John Babbis, MD, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For the Greek elections of Sunday, 4 October 2009, ERA-5 will connect with NET 105.8, from 10.15 Greece time (0715 UT) until the next day (Monday) at 09.00 Greece time (0600 UT), and will transmit the latest developments of the election results as well as the first reactions to the Greek elections of 4 October. VOICE OF GREECE (ERA 5)-LIVE INTERNET RADIO http://tvradio.ert.gr/radio/liveradio/voiceofGreece.asp (John Babbis, Oct 4, ibid.) ** GREENLAND. 3815 USB, 2055-2108* 01+02.10, KNR, Tasiilaq Greenlandic / Danish orchestra music, 2100 KNR jingle, news in Danish, song 24232 Occasional QRM calls from Russian utility stations (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030 with a 28 metres longwire in stormy and rainy Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** GUAM [and non]. 11880, Oct 2 at 1331 with talk in Thai as scheduled from KSDA on M/W/F at 1330-1400, while English is on Thu and Sat, Cambodian on Sun & Tue. Bothered by rapid clicking slightly on the hi side, as often heard. I suspect that is spurious from the DentroCuban Jamming Command on 11845; resembles the clicking often audible around 6080, which would likewise be spurious from 6030 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA ADVENTIST WORLD RADIO INVITES YOU TO CELEBRATE GOD AS CREATOR OCTOBER 24, 2009 You may have been hearing more rumblings recently regarding the validity of the Creation Week as recorded in the book of Genesis. This year is the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin. AWR believes that God created the world in six literal days, using the same creative power that Jesus Christ uses to transform people today and will use to recreate the earth in the future. [. . .] JOIN US: With Seventh-day Adventists around the world, we will affirm our belief in the Creator God in worship services on October 24. Sincerely, (Dr. Benjamin D. Schoun, President, Adventist World Radio, AWR Inspirations Newsletter via DXLD) I have tried to cut the SDA some slack since they give us a DX program, and have some good ideas about nutrition, but they are doing their damnedest to make fools out of themselves. Me, I`ll be celebrating United Nations Day. Poor Darwin is getting a bad rap; I understand he was a faithful guy just looking for scientific truth (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** GUAM. B - 09 Frequency Request for KTWR [all 100 kW] Trans World Radio - Guam (October 25, 2009 - March 30, 2010) ----+----+----+------------------------------+---+----+-------+---+--- FREQ STRT STOP CIRAF ZONES LOC POWR AZIMUTH DAYS LANGUAGE ----+----+----+------------------------------+---+----+-------+---+--- 09345 1345-1400 41 285 1234567 Santhali 09355 1200-1345 42-44 305 23456 Mandarin 09355 1200-1300 42-44 305 1 Mandarin 09355 1200-1315 42-44 305 7 Mandarin 09585 1300-1330 49 285 1234567 Sgaw Karen 09910 1100-1230 42-44 315 1234567 Mandarin 09920 1400-1415 49 278 23456 Vietnamese 09920 1400-1500 49 278 1 7 Vietnamese 09975 1130-1200 42-44 315 1234567 Mandarin 09975 1200-1215 43,44 308 1234567 Mandarin 09975 1230-1330 42-44 315 1234567 Mandarin 09975 1330-1400 43,44 315 23456 Cantonese 09975 1400-1440 41,49,50 285 1234567 English 11570 1315-1330 41 293 1 4567 Boro 11570 1315-1330 41 293 2 4 Manipuri [sic: shows both languages above for day 4! --- gh] 11570 1315-1330 41 293 3 Kokborok 11570 1400-1515 44-45 335 123456 Korean 11570 1400-1530 44-45 335 7 Korean 11590 1015-1100 42-44 315 23456 Mandarin 11640 1100-1130 49 285 1234567 Vietnamese 11765 2200-2215 42-44 308 1234567 Mandarin 11840 0830-0910 51,55,56,58-60 165 234567 English 11870 1230 1300 41 293 23456 Kokborok 11935 1030-1100 42-44 305 123 5 Uyghur 11935 1100-1200 42-44 305 1234567 Mandarin 12075 1330-1400 41,49 293 23456 Assamese 12075 1330-1345 41,49 293 1 Assamese 12105 0930-1045 42-44 315 1234567 Mandarin 12130 2300-2330 43,44 285 23456 Cantonese 12130 2300-2345 43,44 285 1 Cantonese 13765 1200-1300 41,49 285 1 7 Burmese 13765 1200-1245 41,49 285 23456 Burmese 15170 0820-0900 49,50,54 263 123456 English 15200 0900-0915 54 248 123 67 Balinese 15200 0900-0915 54 248 45 Torajanese 15200 0915-0945 54 248 1234567 Madurese 15200 0945-1045 54 248 1234567 Indonesian 15200 1045-1115 49,54 248 1234567 Sundanese 15200 1115-1145 54 248 1234567 Javanese ---------------------- (via Jaisakthivel, Chennai, India, For B09 http://www.adxc.wordpress.com dxldyg edited by gh via DXLD) ** GUINEA. -Conakry, 7125 R. Guinée, Sonfonya, is surely the "author" of the poor~fair carrier I have been observing on 7125, but no perceivable audio (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Guinea booming in! I'm listening at 2155 to a very good signal on 7125 kHz, presumed to be Conakry, Guinea, playing West African music. I haven't heard them at this level since last year (Bruce Fisher, Lexington, MA, Oct 4, Palstar R30CC with a 100 ft. longwire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You mean the modulation was good for a change, not just the signal strength? (Glenn, ibid.) Glenn, Yes, Bruce Fisher is right about Guinea-Conakry. I did not check this until today, but the fair silent carrier from Sonfonya 7125 is now filled with audio; it's either the aftermath of a repair or adequate transmitter handling. [non]. Other audible signals 7100-7200 this evening: 7100 KRE (poor~fair), 7110 ETH (the best signal), 7135 BLR (poor), 7200 SDN (strong, adj. QRM). 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Oct 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Conakry heard with good strength signal and nice audio on 7125 kHz this evening (5 Oct) so must have repaired their transmitter. Yesterday was just a carrier with no detectable audio which is what it's mostly been like for the past few months. Talk in vernacular to 1800 UT followed by programme of nice local music. But then went off abruptly in mid-tune at 1848 – maybe just a power cut though as back when rechecked at 1957 and still sounding good at 2120 (Alan Pennington, Sheigra, NW Scotland, [DXpedition site] AOR 7030+ / 500m beverage, Oct 6, BDXC-UK yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) 7125 Conakry is now an everyday station here in Central Europe, each night (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Oct 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3 OCT 2009, 3250, R Luz y Vida-San Luis; 1205z Spanish M with sermon with background guitar + vocal music. Fair-Good 10/03/2009 (Steven C. Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, (2 miles from Boca Chica Beach, GULF of MEXICO), Radio Shack DX-399, 150' center fed LW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. CONATEL DECIDIRÁ BAJO LEY SI REABRE RADIO GLOBO Y CANAL 36. Tanto canal 36 como Radio Globo han mantenido una postura a favor del depuesto presidente Manuel Zelaya antes y después de los acontecimientos del 28 de junio. TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS --- El Consejo de Ministros envió una nota a la Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, Conatel, para que decida bajo ley si reabre Radio Globo y Canal 36, cerrados por decreto ahora derogado. El cierre de los medios de comunicación se registró horas después de la aprobación de un decreto ejecutivo que contemplaba la restricción de algunas garantías constitucionales en el país, que este día fueron derogadas. El decreto autorizaba a “impedir la emisión por cualquier medio hablado, escrito o televisado de manifestaciones que atenten contra la paz y el orden público”, o que “atenten contra la dignidad humana de los funcionarios públicos o las decisiones gubernamentales”. Tanto canal 36 como Radio Globo han mantenido una postura a favor del depuesto presidente Manuel Zelaya antes y después de los acontecimientos del 28 de junio. La orden de suspensión de operaciones para canal 36 y Radio Globo fue emitida a través de la Comisión Nacional de Telecomunicaciones, Conatel, en la resolución No. 0D-19-19. Fuente: La Prensa.hn http://www.laprensahn.com/Sintesis/Lo-ultimo/Ediciones/2009/10/05/Noticias/Conatel-decidira-si-reabre-Radio-Globo-y-Canal-36 (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** HUNGARY. Winter B-09 schedule of Hungarian Radio in Hungarian: 0200-0300 on 6100 JBR 250 kW / 306 deg to NoAm 0500-0600 on 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu 1100-1200 on 6025 JBR 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu 1700-1800 on 6025 JBR 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu 2200-2300 on 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 7 via DXLD) ** INDIA. 4920, AIR Chennai, 0022-0040, Sept 29, vernacular/English. W in vernacular talk; brief Hindi & clarinet music bits; presumed commentary at 0030; "This is All India Radio, the news read by..." in English at 0035 with news in same; music at 0040; fair (Barbour-NH) 5010, AIR Thiruvananthapuram, 0046-0102, Sept 29, vernacular. Hindi vocal music with announcer between music selections; snippet of "The Godfather" theme at 0056; M & W announcers thru ToH; fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, NH USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [non]. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1241 + 1333, Oct 6. Off the air today (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 9425, AIR National Channel via Bengaluru, Oct 2 at 1320 with IS, into Vande Mataram. (Ron Howard explained that it`s the National Song of India, which can allegedly also be heard at http://odeo.com/episodes/1880543 but I could not get that to play.) 1321 ``Yih Akashvani`` Hindi ID and YL with some kHz. Why at the odd hour of 1320? It`s the listed sign-on time for the all-night service on 9425 which runs all the way to 0043, supposedly // Aligarh on 9470 but not audible here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RE: Audio of Vande Mataram --- Hi Glenn, Sorry that site did not work for you. Please try the following: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g8nQuX8dUg&feature=related or towards the bottom of the page. http://www.theholidayspot.com/indian_independence_day/national_song.htm (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9485, broad extremely distorted FMy noise sometimes resembling talk, sometimes music, Oct 3 at 1323. First idea was that it could be North Korean jamming against some clandestine, but none scheduled here. Maybe there is now. Still going at 1333 and at 1402 when I tuned another receiver thru 31m looking for possible modulation matches, but none found; there was a similar but weaker noise on 9750 at 1327, probably unrelated. 1438 now with strident talk resembling the Walterboro Wacko on 9385, but no match there either and 9480-9490 is splattering as far as 9475 bothering Radio Australia. I don`t find anything scheduled on 9485 before 1400, altho R. Rossii via Samara might be there after 1400 with an upacting transmitter. If this keep up, could be a problem for WTWW when inaugurated on 9480 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Same type of extremely distorted spur as heard yesterday around 9485 was centered about 9432 on Oct 4 at 1334; fortunately just far enough from AIR 9425 not to bother its strong signal. Hmmm, as I mentioned, the scheduled // AIR National Service frequency 9470 via Aligarh was missing, and still missing. Could that be the source of 9485 and 9432? On two receivers, I attempted to match the `modulation` on 9432 with 9425 around 1349, and it was sort of similar, but the 9432 signal was so bad that I could not be 75% sure. If 9432 (or wherever it appears next time) come on just before 1320 like 9425, that would be a hefty clue that it is indeed what is supposed to be on 9470. Would listeners in S Asia please check out the blob for this? It may continue on air all night like 9470 is supposed to (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It is indeed AIR Aligarh scheduled on 9470 kHz. It is unpredictable where it will land tomorrow. Everyday there was some variation. I spoke to one Engineer in New Delhi a few days back and they were aware of this and are trying to rectify this. Will contact him again soon. On 2nd October it was centred around 9505 kHz. This particular transmitter is scheduled at 0100-0200 on 9635 in Sindhi, 9910 at 0215-0345 in Pashto and Dari and on 9470 kHz at 1320-0040. Both 9635 and 9910 kHz also suffers from this spurs problem. 73s/ (Alok Dasgupta, 1750 UT Oct 4, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx to Alok Dasgupta in Kolkata for confirming identity of the extremely distorted blob I had heard after 1320 on 9485 one day, 9432 the next, as indeed AIR National Service via Aligarh which is supposed to be on 9470, and which I had also found strangely missing. He had been tracking it a few days; on Oct 2 it was 9505, and notified AIR engineering about the problem which they are supposedly striving to solve. The same transmitter also ails when attempting to use other 31m channels during the daytime. So I look for it again Oct 5 at 1323, and now find it centered on 9500, still extremely distorted but this time with sufficient musical copy to match it with Bengaluru on 9425. It spread from 9495 to 9515, and especially disrupted a station on 9510, i.e. VOA in English via Thailand. AIRblob was considerably weaker later but still audible on 9500 at 1506. During that hour VOA Spe-cial Eng-lish is on 9485, well heard today but must also have been blasted by the blob when it was residing around 9485. Then at 1513, 9425 AIR music seemed to have a low het upon it, but then I decided it was just the drone (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Alokesh, Do you have any personal contact to AIR shortwave department? The situation with the spurious emissions from the 9470 kHz transmitter from 1320 onwards is unbearable and has been going for a long long time. It disturbs a wide spectrum (9450-9490 kHz) even here in Finland. I can send spectrum photos and audio files if that helps. They started tonight at 1600. I attach a Perseus screenshot at 1600. You can see another carrier appear a bit above (actually 40 Hz) above the carrier of R. Rossii, which was there already. Along with the AIR carrier, a lot of subcarriers appear on both sides of the frequency, ± 2-3 kHz. The recording starts at 1559. I start from 9470 kHz, with the audio of R. Rossii and then I move a few tens of kHz up and down to show that the spectrum is clear and return to 9470 kHz to wait for the AIR Aligarh sign-on. There is even a weak ID of AIR in the mix with with R. Rossii. Then I move again up and down and the strong QRM has appeared on both sides. The noise is much stronger than the actual audio.This has been going on now for three months, with a break of few days. I hope they fix it at last. Best regards, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, *September* 3, via Alokesh Gupta, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AIR Aligarh 9470 blob Oct 6 at 1317 centered on 9465 but extremely distorted FMy spread at least 9460-9475, with IS // 9425, 1320 announced and played Vande Mataram, 1321 Akashvani sign-on mentioning kHz at least twice, into music. By 1335, R. Thailand in Thai on 9455 was being splashed by this menace to the neighborhood, which has no business being on the air at all under such conditions. Mauno Ritola in Finland says this has been going on for three months! [now 4] It seems AIR Engineering is totally incompetent; or the bureaucracy only requires the transmitter to be turned on every day, not that it funxion properly and not interfere with other stations. No one could possibly listen to this garbled mess voluntarily, so this 11-hour-daily transmission is serving no purpose whatsoever, meanwhile wasting 250 kW, the cost of which could have fed countless starving poor or flooded-out homeless. Sadly, the same situation can be found at some other government broadcasters, notably Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Meanwhile I enjoyed the VBS mostly music on 9870 with an even better signal than 9425, at 1350-1420, still the case at 1506. By 1425, found that Aligarh was still centred on 9465, spread expanded to 9450-9480; but at 1506 the blob had weakened considerably tnx to the ionosphere. The AIR 9470 Aligarh extremely distorted blob covered 9475-9485 opening at 1318 Oct 7, initially cutting on and off // clear Bengaluru 9425 with AIR IS. Now it`s blocking R. Australia in Chinese on 9475. Has RA filed a complaint with AIR? That might get some axion after four months of this nonsense! By 1427, the blob ranged 9470-9490 and RA was undetectable under it. The AIR 11585 transmitter had a big signal at 1430 Oct 7 but also a big hum marring the Sindhi service via Delhi-Khampur. Wiggle that patchcord! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AIR on 9870 via Bangalore, Oct 2 at 1340. Nice signal, though with very gusty band noise, sounding like wind blowing ocean waves into a beach. Excellent music as per their usual standard, making AIR one of my favorite SW catches since the suicide of BBC's NAm service (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11585, AIR at 1436 Oct 3 with big hum interrupted by bits of talk; earlier it was fairly good with music. At 1437 music for a few sex; 1454 had managed to resume continuous music. Per Aoki, it is the Sindhi service at 1230-1500 via Delhi-Khampur, 250 kW at 65 degrees but HFCC says 334 degrees which makes more sense and is also USward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AIR, Bangalaru, on 11620 at 2100 in English, Oct. 4. W with Indian and South Asian news, first items about flood relief efforts. M with All India Radio ID. Very good signal, better today than // 9445 (Icom R75, Mike Bryant, KY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11620, AIR GOS at this hour free of QRM from Spain, Oct 4 at 2138, W&M conversation over lite hum/buzz, good signal but with transpolar flutter. Try as I might to get something out of it, despite listening for almost ten minutes, I could not figure out what the subject was, due to their heavy accents, not helped by the flutter and hum. From the tone of it, may have been something deeply reflective and/or philosophical. I would say copy was at best 20% as far as recognizable words, including one complete phrase, ``quality is not good enough``. I agree! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR DRM service, Khampur since it`s toward Europe, received by long path, 27,381 km to reach my receiver, Sun 4 Oct at 1800 on 9950, (recording in near-`perfect` quality, with some dropouts) (Adrian Sainsbury, RNZI Mailbox Oct 5, notes by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sadly, Adrian seems to be another one laboring under the illusion that SW signals are mono-direxional. It is far more likely that this would be reaching NZ by short-path, off the back of the antenna over a dark trans-equatorial path. Dual-path might happen, but surely the delay would disrupt DRM worse than it would AM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. PRASAR BHARATI: BHARAT KI AWAZ? Prasar Bharati is coming up with a slew of measures to revive its falling fortunes, but will it be able to tackle bureaucracy and legacy issues... GAGANDEEP KAUR, Thursday, October 01, 2009 http://voicendata.ciol.com/content/service_provider/109100105.asp That the public broadcaster, Prasar Bharati is in trouble, is old news. The organization has not been doing well for some years now. Initially modeled on British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Prasar Bharati today finds itself in doldrums, with serious trouble on the manpower and funding front. Besides the broadcaster is unable to meet the technological challenges. It is far behind in terms of technology currently being used, which is affecting its transmission and standing in the market. Candidly, chief executive officer, BS Lalli admits that Prasar Bharati has not been able to fulfill the vision for which it was set up, "We haven't been very successful in setting the benchmarks for the industry. The vision that was there for Prasar Bharati of excellence in programming has not been fulfilled." Prasar Bharati's saga of irregularity reached an influx point recently when the Information & Broadcasting Ministry gave a report on the functioning of its Board, which has been surrounded by allegations of financial irregularity. CVC is also probing the financial irregularities at Prasar Bharati. Last year, there were some management related issues as well when the chairman of the Board, Arun Bhatnagar and CEO, Lalli were at loggerheads. The organization is today beset with funding and manpower issues. Funding remains one of the key issues being faced by the broadcaster. This obviously has to do with the inherent structure of the organization. While the broadcaster has revenues, it is also funded by the Ministry of I&B. So the broadcaster is not only supposed to compete with the other players in the market, but at the same time be a bridge between the government and the citizens of the country. BBC, on the other hand, is funded by an annual television license fee, which is charged to all households of the UK using capable equipment to record or receive live TV broadcasts. The level of the fee is set by the UK Government under a multi-year agreement with the Corporation. "Funding issue has been taken care off to some extent since we have our own revenues now. Though we are not making any profit as of now, we have been able to stop the downward trend. Our revenue is between Rs 1,200-1,300 crore and around Rs 2,000 crore is coming to us from the government funds. We have been able to stop the downward trend and as of now we are looking at a 10% growth," says Lalli. Manpower is another major issue plaguing the broadcaster. As of now, it has 40,000 employees under its aegis. There is a shortage of another 25,000 employees. Prasar Bharati has got the approval to recruit another 2,000 employees, and the process is likely to start soon. There is an acute shortage of manpower. Besides, the employees are unhappy because of stagnation. Dissatisfaction and frustration is eating into its work culture. The broadcaster hasn't recruited in the last sisxteen years. "There are several management and work related issues, which we haven't been able to resolve even after being in existence for the last twelve years. We have been saddled with some legacy issues. Apart from shortage of manpower, there is an issue of stagnation of employees," says Lalli. The employees of Prasar Bharati were recognized as government servants on deputation by the government order dated October 5, 2007. So the employees are central government employees and can avail similar benefits. This was a significant move since Prasar Bharati is an autonomous body. The order came as a relief to employees of AIR and Doordarshan. "We haven't been very successful in setting the benchmarks for the industry. The vision that was there for Prasar Bharati of excellence in programming has not been fulfilled" Problems and challenges notwithstanding, the public broadcaster is in a combative mood and is planning to not only ebb the downward flow but to gain the market share also. New Strategy Going forward, the broadcaster is banking on mobile TV and HDTV initiative to boost its fortunes. Prasar Bharati is working on a new business model with accent on mobile TV to increase its revenue. Doordarshan had launched it earlier this year on a pilot basis and sees immense revenue earning potential given its first mover advantage. The organization has been looking at ways to generate some extra money and hopes things would look up soon. The mobile TV, in association with Nokia on DVB-H technology, would be available to subscribers within a radius of 10-12 km from Akashvani Bhavan on Parliament Street in the capital city. Currently, eight channels of Doordarshan are available on mobile TV platforms, which would be later increased to sixteen. The DVB-H enabled mobile handset currently comes at a price of Rs 30,000 but the broadcaster believes this price would come down significantly. Prasar Bharati would be investing around Rs 100 crore in the project and believes that it would turn out to be a significant revenue generator in the near future. Where content is concerned, the public broadcaster is planning to focus on regional channels and to improve programming content. It is also planning to digitize its content and archives, which can further be an additional source of income. "We have one of the best infrastructure. We are planning to move from analog to digital. We have around 1,430 transmitters today, out of which 630 will be left behind when we move to digital. Besides, we would have to syngerize between Doordarshan and All India Radio transmitters," says Lalli. DD News has also been given a new look recently. However, the focus area of the news remains the same. "Going forward, we plan to focus on socially relevant programs, but the format remains entertaining. As a broadcaster, we have to transmit socially relevant messages. For instance, we started `Kyon Ki Jeena Issi Ka Naam Hai'. Where news is concerned, our focus remains plain vanilla news without any hype. This will remain the same," says Lalli. Prasar Bharati's DTH service remains one of the focus areas of the organization. Doordarshan has one-of-its-kind DTH service in the world which is a combination of paid and free-to-air. As of now, it has seventy-five channels, out of which fifty-nine are free-to-air and the rest are paid. Elaborating on the major concern for the organization, Lalli says, "My major concern right now is how to make our programs more meaningful, which cut across the diversity of our people and still appeal to them. Our programs also have to attract a wide variety of people. Our programs also have to address the issues being faced by the citizens of the country. It is our endeavor to make programs on socially relevant issues like health, religious harmony, etc. We have to be the bridge between the government and the people. All this has to be combined with entertainment." Lalli is also upbeat about the forthcoming Commonwealth Games. Prasar Bharati recently came out with an Expression of Interest (EoI) for the coverage of the forthcoming Commonwealth Games, 2010. The Commonwealth Games will be broadcast using high definition (HDTV) format. Under the CWG rules, it is mandatory for the host broadcasters to produce a feed of the games in this format, so the public broadcaster doesn't have much option but to do so and have the application up and running before the games begin. HDTV format requires at least three times more bandwidth compared to the standard telecast currently used by most broadcasters in the country. However, both picture and sound quality in this format is far superior. DD will need to upgrade its infrastructure in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai to broadcast in HDTV format. The I&B Ministry has already shortlisted five broadcasters and their consortium partners, from which the contract for the production of CWG 2010, will be awarded to one, based on financial and technical bidding. Tokyo Broadcasting, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, USA's International Sports Broadcasting, and International Games Broadcast services are among the five international production companies that are said to be in the race. Keeping the expenditure of the Commonwealth Games in mind, the ministry has increased the loan to Prasar Bharati by 36%. For 2009-10, the ministry will offer a loan of Rs 356 crore, up from Rs 262 crore in 2008-09. A lot needs to be done before Prasar Bharati is able to tackle the issues being faced. As Ambika Soni pointed out in an interview, Prasar Bharati needs a `mindset change' more than anything else. It has a lot going for it. The reach of DD and AIR, coupled with the best infrastructure, make it a formidable combination. It is upto the organization to make the best of it (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA [non]. TWR INDIA B09 WEF 25/10/09 TO 28/03/10 [in time order, not frequency as seems at first] LOC FREQ STA STOP CIR PWR AZI SLEW ANT DAYS LANG ------------------------------------------------- DB 5995 0000 0015 41 200 125 0 158 23456 BENGALI DB 5995 0000 0015 41 200 125 0 158 7 DZONKA DB 5995 0000 0045 41 200 125 0 158 1 HINDI DB 5995 0015 0030 41 200 125 0 158 7 NEPALI DB 5995 0015 0045 41 200 125 0 158 23456 BHOJPURI NVS 9510 1300 1315 41 250 180 0 218 234567 GARHWALI NVS 9510 1300 1315 41 250 180 0 218 1 KASHMIRI NVS 9510 1315 1330 41 250 180 0 218 23456 DOGRI NVS 9510 1315 1330 41 250 180 0 218 1 7 HINDI NVS 7320 1330 1345 41 250 180 0 218 1234567 HINDI NVS 7320 1345 1400 41 250 180 0 218 1 34567 HINDI NVS 7320 1345 1400 41 250 180 0 218 2 TIBETAN NVS 7320 1400 1415 41 250 180 0 218 1 567 HINDI NVS 7320 1400 1415 41 250 180 0 218 2 BRAJ BHASHA NVS 7320 1400 1415 41 250 180 0 218 3 AWADHI NVS 7320 1400 1415 41 250 180 0 218 4 HARAYANVI NVS 7320 1415 1430 41 250 180 0 218 1 7 HINDI NVS 7320 1415 1430 41 250 180 0 218 23456 BHOJPURI NVS 7320 1430 1445 41 250 180 0 218 1234567 HINDI NVS 7320 1445 1515 41 250 180 0 218 1234567 PUNJABI NVS 7320 1515 1530 41 250 180 0 218 1234567 HINDI NVS 7320 1530 1545 41 250 180 0 218 234567 HINDI IRK 5920 1245 1300 41 250 224 0 218 7 KUI IRK 5920 1245 1300 41 250 224 0 218 1 SANTHALI IRK 5920 1300 1315 41 250 224 0 218 7 HO IRK 5920 1300 1315 41 250 224 0 218 1 KUMAONI IRK 5920 1315 1330 41 250 224 0 218 7 BENGALI IRK 5920 1315 1330 41 250 224 0 218 123 MARWARI IRK 5920 1315 1330 41 250 224 0 218 56 MEWARI IRK 5920 1315 1345 41 250 224 0 218 4 PUNJABI IRK 5920 1330 1345 41 250 224 0 218 1 BONDO IRK 5920 1330 1345 41 250 224 0 218 567 ZONKA IRK 5920 1330 1345 41 250 224 0 218 23 MAITHILI IRK 5920 1345 1400 41 250 224 0 218 1 7 BUNDELI IRK 5920 1345 1415 41 250 224 0 218 23456 MAITHILI IRK 5920 1400 1415 41 250 224 0 218 1 BUNDELI IRK 5920 1400 1415 41 250 224 0 218 7 ORIYA IRK 5920 1415 1430 41 250 224 0 218 567 KURUKH IRK 5920 1415 1430 41 250 224 0 218 12 MAGHAI IRK 5920 1415 1430 41 250 224 0 218 34 MUNDARI IRK 5920 1430 1445 41 250 224 0 218 1 7 SADRI IRK 5920 1430 1500 41 250 224 0 218 23456 SINDHI IRK 5920 1445 1500 41 250 224 0 218 1 7 CHODHRI IRK 5920 1500 1515 41 250 224 0 218 1 7 BHILI IRK 5920 1500 1530 41 250 224 0 218 23456 KUTCHI IRK 5920 1515 1530 41 250 224 0 218 1 7 MOUCHI IRK 5920 1530 1545 41 250 224 0 218 1 7 DHODIYA IRK 5920 1530 1545 41 250 224 0 218 234 GAMIT IRK 5920 1530 1545 41 250 224 0 218 56 VASAVI SAM 6115 1500 1530 41 250 140 0 158 1234567 URDU SAM 7315 1600 1615 41 250 140 0 158 234567 PASHTO SAM 7315 1615 1630 41 250 140 0 158 23456 PASHTO SAM 7315 1615 1630 41 250 140 0 158 7 DARI DB - Dushanbe NVS - Novosibirsk IRK - Irkutsk SAM - Samara 1 - SUNDAY 2 - MONDAY 3 - TUESDAY 4 - WEDNESDAY 5 - THURSDAY 6 - FRIDAY 7 - SATURDAY (Via Shakti Verma, TWR INDIA via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3987.036, 21.9 1541, RRI Manokwari (tentative) very weak signal, and almost no audio. TN 3995.018, 21.9 1538, RRI Kendari with a clear ID 2. Often heard at this time (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Oct 4, translatred by him for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3995.02, RRI Kendari, 1254-1315 Sep 28. Vocal music, then SCI and short Jak program at 1300; local program at 1306 with vocal music following a short announcement by M. Pretty good signal today. (Wilkins-CO) 3976.06, RRI Pontianak, 1252-1403 Sep 27. Assorted talks and music to 1359; then local IS on piano and apparent local news at 1400. Good signal with sporadic ham QRM; poor by 1400 (Wilkins-CO) 4925, RRI Jambi, 1253-1330+ Sep 30. Vocal music to 1259, then 3 reps of local IS on local instrument; followed by "Radio Republik Indonesia Jambi warta berita..." at 1300 (local news by M); 1306-1330 English pop oldies, with every other song a Beatles tune; one long ad or promo at 1312-17. Good signal topping my local noise level, which takes some doing. Have noticed an improved signal from them for the past 2 or 3 weeks and today was the best ever. Noted on several other days at the same time with the same format (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Oct 4, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) 4750, RRI Makassar, peaking S9+8 on meter, but still only poor reception in noise, Oct 5 at 1317 with music and Indo talk. 4925, RRI Jambi presumed, at same time 1317 Oct 5 was peaking S9, with vocal music, flutter unlike far lower-latitude-path from Makassar. Music still audible at 1330, surely nearing fadeout. Bothered by SSB on the low side, more so than by a carrier on 4920, India or Tibet. Jambi is a tough catch here; Ron Howard in California and Luca Botto Fiora in Italy each independently have noted much stronger signals on 4925 since the earthquake, and Jambi is of interest as the closest active SW station to Padang. However, propagation is also improving, and I don`t see how they could turn up the power significantly on such a 10 kW transmitter --- unless the quake jostled something favorably, or they had deliberately been running it on reduced power until then (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4925, RRI Jambi, randomly from 1225 to 1442, Oct. 1. Strong signal; playing pop songs; promo for music show; many on-air phone calls; brief news bulletin that seemed to be about the earthquake, with several mentions of their President; in Bahasa Indonesia. Audio posted to dxldyg “Files > Station Sounds” (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Today (Oct. 2) had almost duplicate reception from RRI Jambi on 4925, as heard yesterday. Was still hearing them at 1546. John Wilkins (Colorado) has also been monitoring this dramatically improved reception. We think it seems to be the result of increased power. Is anyone else hearing this change in reception? (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Venerdì 2 ottobre 2009, 1530 - 4925 kHz, RRI - Jambi (Indonesia), Telefonate in diretta e mx locale. Segnale sufficiente-buono. Too much good for just 10 kW. Good propagation or power enhancement for earthquake emergencies? (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) Seems to me you can`t just suddenly turn up the power on such a transmitter (gh, DXLD) RRI Pontianak, Kalimantan presumed, 3976 with music Oct 6 at 1247. Just as I switched on the BFO to pin down the frequency compared to anything on 5975, it dumped off the air at 1248* 4925, RRI Jambi, Sumatra, presumed, Oct 6 at 1252 YL singing ballad, occasional brief announcements, 1300 mentioned ``Republik``, likely in ID, and 10-note IS (or was it 11?) played thrice, 1301 YL with talk, presumed news. That IS is of particular interest, specific to Jambi? 4750, RRI Makassar, as usual stronger signal than Jambi 4925, but 4750 has co-channel QRM, and at 1302 was still playing music rather than news. I still look for other 60m Indos, finding nothing on 4605 or 4790 which have been inactive for months, but there was a trace of something around 4870 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Referring to comments about possible power increase for RRI Jambi. When I was in the Philippines last year I did not hear Jambi on 4925 at all, but I did pick up many of the other RRI outlets. 3325 Palangkaraya was local strength to the east. Jambi was noted with very good strength here in Norway Oct 3rd up to s/off 1555 UT. Oct 4th was very poor. The same was the case with Palangkaraya 3325 and Pontianak 3976. It may well be that Jambi has a new rig. I am puzzled by the fact that I didn´t hear them in the Philippines last year, I should have done ... (if they were on the air). (Geir Stokkeland, Vestnes, Norway, Oct 5, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9525.9, V. of Indonesia, Jakarta, 1107-1122, Oct 2, Mandarin. W announcer with talk and music bridges; passing mentions of Indonesia; URL at 1121; poor-fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Noticed het on 9525, Oct 2 at 1225, with ECSS zero-beating at approximately 9525.85, but OM was at the nearly imaginary level. Zero- beat on 9525.9 at 1307, but OM was still too weak to discern (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9680, RRI, Oct 2 at 1301 in Indonesian, full ID with several kHz and MHz, web streaming address I could not quite catch, then trying to phone Sumatera RRI stations, notably Pekanbaru, which is across the mountain range from Padang. BTW, Pekanbaru is stressed on the U; neither of those on SW for years now. Good signal and modulation, not much QRM at this hour. Meanwhile, how was VOI doing from a nearby transmitter down the hall at Cimanggis, Java? Still offset to 9525.9 at 1311 during English hour, but after a couple days of decent modulation, had replummeted to just barely audible. Is no one paying attention to the modulation levels at all stages from studio to transmitter? 9525.9, VOI still here, Oct 3 at 1325 in English, quite undermodulated but not to the point of inaudibility. Would have needed much stronger signal to shoulder aside the noise and fading (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525.90, Voice of Indonesia, 1335-1400, Oct 3, English programming with pop music program. ID. Surprisingly strong signal but audio a little muffled. Strong QRM at 1358 from China 9525 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) VOI, 9525.9, during English hour at 1333 Oct 4, strong signal but heavy flutter, which was louder than the modulation! Flutter noise being multipath interference by the original signal with itself thru the disturbed ionosphere. VOI, 9525.9, Oct 5 at 1323 was registering S9+10 with flutter, YL in English, music, but very low modulation. Ignored during the 14 clash hour with CRI in Russian; but this date VOI stayed on air well past 1500 for the English hour repeat, instead of cutting off rudely a few minutes after starting. At 1506 news in progress, 1511 ending with headlines. No QRM now and almost readable now despite undermodulation, but then switched to OM speaker and his voice was unreadable. Kept an ear on the carrier, however, to see how long it would stay on --- still there at 1518, 1525, 1530, 1535, 1542 when I quit. 9525.9, VOI – if it`s Tuesday, must be Banjarmasin. Tune in at 1322 Oct 6 but modulation is JBA with hum, sounds like the Banj guy talking about quakes. 1324 ID as ``Exotic Indonesia, broadcast live by VOI Jakarta and RRI Banjarmasin``. Jak YL with ID as if on three frequencies instead of one, and Banj OM with FM 95.2 ID. Then he talked about a 4-day radio contest which started yesterday, to select 70 singers to send to Makassar; something similar is going on in Jakarta. And the mayor was celebrating something this morning in Banj. At 1327 over to different YL voice in Jak for Today in History, and her modulation is clearer, about Edison and Chiang Kai-Shek. 1334 ``Sound of Dignity`` slogan boomed louder, and into Focus. Skipped the 14-15 hour with CRIQRM, retuned 1501 when VOI aired transition announcement from Malay to English; did not hear Exotic Indonesia mentioned in program summary, nor the Banj guy`s voice, so perhaps EI does air only during the 13-14 hour when it is really live. 1503 into news but modulation level drops, and transmitter cut off 1504* unlike yesterday when it remained on most of the hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOI, 9525.9, good carrier but no modulation audible at all during the alleged English hour, Oct 7 at 1302 and several more chex, e.g. 1328. See PHILIPPINES (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. DOVE TROVARE NEWS DALLA INDONESIA ???? [e SAMOA] Ciao! Distruttivi terremoti nell'Oceano Pacifico (Isole Samoa) ed in Indonesia zona di Padang.... si sono verificati il 30 settembre. Mentre prontamente in rete sono apparsi vari VIDEO girati alle Samoa dopo il disastro.... a distanza di 24 ore....quasi nessun VIDEO è apparso per avere una documentazione visiva sul nuovo disastro in Indonesia. Qui una lista di giornali editi in Indonesia (la lista è tratta da una WEB gestita in Australia) http://www.onlinenewspapers.com/indonesi.htm La TV Metro News di Jakarta è l'unica che ha messo alcuni Video on line nella loro WEB : http://www.metrotvnews.com/ La WEB del Jakarta Post .....come notizia del giorno riporta che La Ferrari ha scelto Alonso al posto di Raikkonen Ferrari reaches Alonso deal to replace Raikkonen http://www.thejakartapost.com/ Siamo alla totale disinformazione in Indonesia??? Se avete suggerenze per fonti meglio documentative, le vostre segnalazioni saranno gradite (Dario Monferini, Italy, Oct 1, playdx yg via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Jamming satellite TV to elsewhere: see CHINA ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Cricket FINALLY on USA radio --- I have always wondered why the sport of cricket was not at least on satellite radio in the USA. I was even thinking of writing to Sirius about the matter since I think they could pick up many new customers. So, today I was quite surprised to turn on Sirius channel 125 and find live cricket commentary (Australia - England ). The commentary was via an entity called "cricket radio", not the BBC or other major broadcaster. Sirius Channel 125 carried mostly UK soccer games, one call-in show about soccer, and some BBC Radio 5 programs like "606". They often have repeat broadcasts for several days while awaiting new soccer matches. They also have a hole in their schedule since World Soccer Daily stopped Monday to Friday broadcasts due to threats against the host (and a mass exodus of sponsors), Cricket could be a good "fill" (Andy O`Brien, NY, K3UK, ex-UK, Oct 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ? What was that about, threats and mass exodus, I hesitate to ask. New customers? Nothing but expats, I daresay. Are there more IndoPakistani in USA now than BritAussies? (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN. /ISRAEL, Two high-power transmitters were observed in late August from Iran, possibly to counter Kol Israel`s Arabic program. Heard on 1026 kHz from 1830 UT with possible TV audio in Farsi and on 1206 kHz from *1825 with a different program in Farsi. Neither were parallel to IRIB on 1188 kHz or others (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, 20 Sept, MW Report, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** IRAN. VOIRI, 7375, 0329, Arabic, 333, Sept 29, Two OMs with comments (Stewart MacKenzie, WDX6AA, Huntington Beach, California, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Iran is not scheduled here, nor anything in Arabic, and it is unlikely you would be hearing anything but V. of Croatia via Germany to North America, mostly in Croatian (gh to Stewart, via DXLD) Glenn, I got the info from the A09 Iran schedule (Stewart MacKenzie, WDX6AA, ibid.) Hi Stewart, And where exactly did that schedule come from, please? I would like to see it as there may be some other anomalies. Please provide a direct link to the website, or was it on paper? 73, (Glenn to Stewart, ibid.) Hi Glenn, I got their schedule via email after I sent them a request. Contact them at Englishradio @ irib.ir (Stewart MacKenzie, WDX6AA Huntington Beach, California, USA, ibid.) Stewart, I`ve asked them [no reply by Oct 8]. Meanwhile, I found their Arabic shortwave schedule at: http://arabic.irib.ir/Pages/Frequency/index.asp It does not show 7375, but 7350 at 0230-0430 (the times backwards, right to left). 73, (Glenn to Stewart, via DXLD) ** IRAN. 15555 in Japanese, good signal with some flutter, Oct 3 at 1406, mentioning Iran and surely VIRI as scheduled 1330-1430 via Sirjan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [and non]. 28 settembre 2009: NOTE: This morning no jammer vs. R. Farda (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) Mercoledì 30 settembre 2009, 0647, 15680-15695 kHz, JAMMER vs. R. Farda 15690, Disturba (casualmente?) anche R. Free Afghanistan 15680. Alle 0915 assente o f/out. 0700 - 13860NF? KHz, R. FARDA - tx? IDs OM e mx farsi/pop. Segnale sufficiente-buono, NF to escape from jammer? (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) 5860, KUWAIT, R. Farda, *0200-0214, Sept 29, vernacular. Carrier then crash-start right into music; M announcer with ID followed by music; touch-tone fx with various announcers; good (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UAE ** IRAQ. Subject: [INTRUDER ALERT] 7000.0 kHz, ALE Hi, just got the following loggings from "OM ALF" for the ALE-usage of 7000.0 kHz by the US Army in Iraq over the last few days. Regarding the callsign "T449" here is a short remark: > It's "strange" that the old 449th TAB ident ("T449") is still > active as the web says that the new "Task Force 38" took > over from the 449th TAB some weeks ago > http://www.dvidshub.net/?script=news/news_show.php&id=38370 > and that the "Soldiers of Headquarters, Headquarters > Company, 449th Theater Aviation Brigade (TAB), North Carolina Army > National Guard have returned to N.C. September 2, 2009 from Iraq, > after a year-long deployment. Headquartered in Morrisville, > these North Carolina Guardsmen deployed in support of the 10th > Mountain Division to Iraq as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom last > fall. During the course of its deployment the 449th TAB has > commanded 7 battalions and 6 separate companies" > http://www.nc.ngb.army.mil/index.php/2009/09/3061 > > Maybe the new TF38 still running the old 449th TAB ALE-box without > changing the ident so far.... or they just forgot to switch their > radio off before leaving the country...hi > Or anyone has a better idea? The T-station usually sounding every 30 minutes. The systematic for these kind of idents is (usually) as follows ================================================================ T (plus) Battalion-Number (plus Regiment-Number) T's are units ground stations, most probably the HQ company If it's another company they add the "Company letter" after the T. C-Companies are usually Air Ambulances. R's are airborne units/helicopters. 73, Tom Rösner 07000 T1Z130: North Carolina Army National Guard "1-130th Attack Reconnaissance Battalion (1-130 ARB)"; 28th CAB, Task Force Keystone, IRQ 2158 ALE/USB SND. 26Sep09 (ALF) 07000 T1Z137: Ohio Army National Guard "1-137th Assault Helicopter Battalion (1-137 AHB)"; Task Force Keystone, IRQ 2220 ALE/USB SND. 26Sep09 (ALF) 07000 T1Z150: New Jersey Army National Guard "1-150th Assault Helicopter Battalion (1-150 AHB)"; 28th CAB, Task Force Keystone, IRQ 2217 ALE/USB SND. 26Sep09 (ALF) 07000 T28CAB: Pennsylvania Army National Guard "28th Infantry Division, Combat Aviation Brigade, Headquarters and Headquarters Company (28th CAB/HHC)", Task Force Keystone, IRQ 0014 ALE/USB SND. 26Sep09 (ALF) 07000 T2Z104: Pennsylvania Army National Guard "2-104th General Support Aviation Battalion (2-104 GSAB)", 28th CAB, Task Force Keystone, IRQ 0000a ALE/USB SND. 30Sep09 (ALF) 07000 TC1Z52: US Army "1-52nd Aviation, C Company - Air Ambulance (C/1-52 AA)"; 28th CAB, Task Force Keystone, IRQ 2251 ALE/USB SND. 26Sep09 (ALF) 07000 TC7158: Orgegon Army National Guard, 158th Aviation Regiment 7th Battalion, C Company "Medevac" (C/7-158 AA), IRQ 0200a ALE/USB SND. 5Oct09 (ALF) 07000 T449: [still "North Carolina Army National Guard, 449th Theater Aviation Brigade, Headquarters and Headquarters Company (449 TAB/HHC)" ?], IRQ 0200a ALE/USB SND. 5Oct09 (ALF) 07000 R057: unid US Army Helicopter, Task Force Keystone, IRQ 1900 ALE/USB to T1Z (ident incomplete). 30Sep09 (ALF) 07000 R381: unid US Army Helicopter, Task Force Keystone, IRQ 0000a ALE/USB to T1Z150 ("1-150 AHB") w/LQA who reply. 1Oct09 (ALF) 07000 R393: unid US Army Helicopter, Task Force Keystone, IRQ 0000a ALE/USB to T1Z150 ("1-150 AHB") w/LQA who reply. 1Oct09 (ALF) 07000 ATKTOC: unid US Army Aviation unit/ground station, IRQ? 2158 ALE/USB SND. 26Sep09 (ALF) 07000 GUNTOC: unid US Army Aviation unit/ground station, IRQ? 2205 ALE/USB SND. 26Sep09 (ALF) 07000 SHDTOC: unid US Army Aviation unit/ground station, IRQ? 2217 ALE/USB SND. 26Sep09 (ALF) 07000 WARTOC: unid US Army Aviation unit/ground station, IRQ? 2240 ALE/USB SND. 26Sep09 (ALF) 07000 DEFAULT: unid US Army Aviation unit, prob. IRQ 0351 ALE/USB SND. 6Oct09 (ALF) (all via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Mercoledì 30 settembre 2009, 0644 - 15785.5 kHz, GALEI ZAHAL - Lod (Israele), Intervista telefonica OMs. Segnale insufficiente-buono, Battimento con CRI 15785.0 (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) 3 October 2009 at 0200 on 6973, pleasant mellow music from Galei Zahal putting in a solid S7 signal. Low noise level making for enjoyable listening. 73's, (Ed Insinger, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15785.88v, Galai Zahal, 1845-1855, Oct 4, Hebrew talk. Good signal but with a very slight wobbly carrier. Threshold signal on // 6973 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) When you hear an odd-pitched het other than 5 kHz between adjacent stations, you know someone is off-frequency, and that was the case Oct 5 at 1406 when BBC Arabic on 15790 via Cyprus had a less than 5 kHz beat from the next station down, Galei Tsahal, of course, measured on 15785.9 with a Russian-sounding vocal musical quartet (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Rai Notturno Italiano program has news in English at 0004 and 0204, in French 0008 and 0208, and Italian at 0000, 0100, 0200 and maybe 2300 and 0300. Notturno Italiano ends at 0355 when the National Anthem is played. Heard in Sofia on 657 and 900 kHz, but on 1107 Serbia is heard // 684, 693, and 1440 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, 20 Sept, MW Report, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** ITALY [and non]. COMUNICATO STUDIO DX Qualche riga per comunicarvi che a partire da domenica prossima, per la prima volta dopo 326 settimane, saremo costretti a mandare in onda una replica cui abbiamo aggiunto solo pochi minuti che avevamo già realizzato nei giorni scorsi. Purtroppo, l'ultimo nubifragio di ieri sera ha allagato il nostro studio provocando danni ingentissimi e la perdita di oltre 25 anni di lavoro e di attività radiantistica. Ci scusiamo, anche con le emittenti che ci ritrasmettono, per il disservizio non dipendente dalla nostra volontà. A seguito dei numerosi messaggi di richiesta di informazioni che ho ricevuto, approfitto anche per comunicarvi che sono finalmente riuscito a mettermi in contatto con Giovanni IT9TZZ e per lui e famiglia fortunatamente è tutto a posto (Roberto Scaglione, Oct 2, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) Mi dispiace molto Roberto. Da quello che si vede in televisione deve essere stato veramente terribile (Quirino Tirelli, ibid.) A noi qui fortunatamente è andata anche bene, solo tanti ma tanti allagamenti e qualche appartamento evacuato, la morte fortunatamente non ci ha toccato (Roberto Scaglione, ibid.) Posso solo associarmi allo sgomento e al senso di impotenza che ci trasmetti con le tue righe. Senza riuscire a distaccarli dal sentimento altrettanto forte che mi provocano le tragiche notizie provenienti dalla tua terra (Gianfranco Buonomo, Pontecagnano (SA) AIR 8BG57 - SWL I8-56330, ibid.) Solidarieta' a e per Roberto Scaglione Le notizie riportate da Roberto Scaglione e appena apparse in lista sono inquietanti e tristi. Soprattutto perché saranno seguite dal solito imbarazzo tipico di chi non sa che pesci pigliare o, peggio, dal solito silenzio di chi è inevitabilmente e inequivocabilmente colpevole di indifferenza. Perché sappiamo come sono andate e come vanno le cose nel radioascolto. O, almeno, nell'AIR e nel GARS. Che, poi, è la stessa cosa. Tanto HAM Spirit, tanta retorica sull' "amicizia tra I popoli", ma poi ognuno vuole le QSL e le bandierine, meglio i diplomini delle radio in lingua italiana e starsene con le cuffie in testa ad ascoltare Radio Bulgaria in Urdu. 25 anni di lavoro e di sacrificio per la radio sono un patrimonio inestimabile. Per quello che può valere mi impegno a mettere a disposizione di Roberto e dei suoi progetti tutti I risarcimenti che avrò e che riuscirò a ottenere attraverso le mie cause giudiziarie contro i "mostri sacri" del radioascolto (sempre meno "sacri" e sempre più "mostri"), nonché i rimborsi delle spese procedurali degli atti in corso presso il Garante per la Protezione dei Dati Personali, sempre verso i "carissimi amici di vecchia data". Il radioascolto in senso associazionistico è finito. Questa è l'ultima possibilità che abbiamo per dimostrare che nella sua vita ha avuto anche uno straccio di dignità (Valerio Di Stefano, Web : http://www.valeriodistefano.com/ "Non devi spiegare tutto ai tuoi amici e i tuoi nemici non ti crederanno comunque.", ibid.) Apparently refers to heavy rains and landslides in Sicily, which caused Robert Scaglione to have to run a repeat Studio DX show instead of a new one. We hope his own damage is not too severe (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. B09/Winter 2009 schedule for IRRS-Shortwave Effective Oct. 25, 2009 - 28 Mar, 2010 IRRS-Shortwave (Milano, Italy) Last update on Sep. 27, 2009 in parallel with Internet Radio NEXUS (IRN) (24 hrs) http://mp3.nexus.org/ Freq. Time Days Power Antenna Language (kHz) UTC ---------------------------------------------------------------- 5990 0530-0630 Mon-Thu 150 kW Europe English (1) 7290 1800-2100 Fri, Sat, Sun 150 kW Europe, ME, Africa English (1) 9510 1030-1300 Sun 150 kW Europe, ME, N. Africa English (2) 9510 0900-1000 Sat 150 kW Europe, ME, N. Africa English (2) 9835 0300-0600 Daily 150 kW Africa Engl, Arab (3) 15650 1500-1800 Daily 150 kW Africa Engl, Arab (3) (1) To Europe, Middle East and Africa (2) To Europe, Middle East and North Africa (3) to Africa See program schedule for language and program details Information on any additional test transmission will be available on our Web site http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules For more information: IRRS-Shortwave, PO BOX 10980, I-20110 Milano, Italy. ph: +39-02-266 6971 fax: +39-02-706 38 151 email: info @ nexus.org (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Oct 6, dxldyg via DXLD) See also SLOVAKIA; would RSI closure affect IRRS?? ** JAPAN [non]. 6120, NHKWNRJ via CANADA, Oct 2 at 1215, there was no escaping the disco-beat on Yucatán 6104.8 (see MEXICO), as I tuned 15+ kHz upward and found more of it, a familiar tune as theme to the Radio Japan Focus program, talking incongruously about ancient Japanese court music getting some kind of world heritage recognition. But did we hear a note of it? Of course not! Just the disco in background. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gagaku Main topic was instead about a Chinese scholar, Liang Sicheng, 1911- 1972y, who successfully persuaded American forces to spare Nara and Kyoto from air raids in WW II, as well as many historic places in China, on behalf of the government of Chiang Kai-Shek. He deeply treasured Japanese historic sites, preserving what had already been lost in China, and was in fact born in Japan. It seems his work went largely unrecognized until recently, as a statue of him is about to be erected in Nara. Audio, apparently for one week only: http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/radio/asx/friday.asx (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. According to the announcement on the website http://www.abiweb.jp --- The Asian Broadcasting Institute celebrates the 30th anniversary this year. We will have the special shortwave broadcasting in commemoration of this. Date: October 8, 2009 (re-broadcast on October 9) Time: 1300-1330 UT Frequency: 12085 kHz Language: Japanese (short announcement in Korean, Chinese and English will also be contained in opening and closing announcement) Interval Signal: refer to http://www.abiweb.jp/is.mp3 [nice! --- gh] They will issue the special QSL card for this transmission (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, Oct 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Asian Broadcasting Institute celebrates the 30th anniversary this year. We will have the special shortwave broadcasting in commemoration of this. Date: October 8, 2009 (re-broadcast on October 9) Time: 1300-1330 UT (22:00-22:30 Japan Standard Time) Frequency: 12085 kHz Language: Japanese (*) Interval Signal: Click here * The short announcement in Korean, Chinese and English will also be contained in opening and closing announcement. Please tune in the broadcast. The information related the broadcast can be seen and updated on the following web: http://www.abiweb.jp/ de Asian Broadcasting Institute-HQ http://www.abiweb.jp/special.htm The address of the reception report introduces it in broadcast. Interference of RNW-Dutch on 12085 kHz at 1300-1358 via PHL is concerned about. 12085 ABI 30th special tx. 1300-1330 ....56. Japanese 100 65 Tashkent UZB 06909E4113N ABI_ a09 Oct. 8. 9 only 12085 R. NEDERLAND 1300-1357 1234567 Dutch 250 283 Tinang PHL 12037E 1521N IBB/RNW a09 (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Oct 2, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It's a pity the broadcast cannot be at 1330-1400, as the RNW Dutch transmission ends at 1327, not 1357. Tashkent is in the HFCC schedule for this hour for WRN clients, but apparently is not in regular use (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) Thanks Andy, I confirmed on 12085kHz at 1300-1330 transmission of RNW-Dutch (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, ibid.) I missed checking it during T- storms Oct 8 when was it really on, for retry Oct 9? (gh, DXLD) Special broadcast of ABI was broadcasted at 1300-1330 on Oct. 8 on 12085 kHz via Tashkent. It's broadcasted at the same frequency and same time tomorrow (Oct. 9). The address of the reception report is info@abiweb.jp http://ndxc.org/aoki/binews/au/abi30spc-20091008-1259_12085.mp3 (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. Radio Jordan presumed the one 9830 signing on at 1745 with brief piece of music, then man in Arabic. Brief talks, with piano music bridges; possibly news. Good but strong QRM Oct 3 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, BC, Eton E-1 and Sony AN-1 antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. The sole occupant of the 105m band, KCBS 2850, with martial orchestral music, Oct 7 at 1230, VP vs noise level, slightly better than the 120m Strines (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. CLANDESTINE, 3912, Voice of the People, Goyang, South Korea, 2139-2156, 03 Oct, Korean to N. Korea, talks, music; 33442, noise jammer; \\ 6518 & 6600 both worse (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 7510/11640, Open Radio for North Korea has verified by letter for my reception report in English. Also I have received CD and the program schedule as of Sep 05 in English and printed letter in Japanese language. In it, the schedule of the station will change from Oct 01 to 1300-1330 (until Sep 30 till 1400) on 11640 and 2100-2200 (no change) on 7510. And also the letter said that the station published News Letter twice a week in Japanese and once a week in English on the Home Page. The listeners who wish to receive the News Letter, should write the e-mail address in the reception report. In it, the program director, Mr. Han Gwang Hee, says "We’re sorry that we currently have to issue QSL Letters rather than cards, as a result of a temporary printing difficulty. The usual cards will resume very soon." Address is http://www.nkradio.org (Shin-ichi Shiraishi, Sendai, Japan, Sept 26, DSWCI DX Window Sept 30 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5910, Shiokaze - Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1412- 1430*, Oct. 7. Another Wednesday in English; data on Japanese abductees; fair with no jamming. Audio of sign off announcement at dxldyg “Files > Station Sounds” (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. KOREA FM TOO CROWDED TO DX I've been spending the past few days [endlessly] making a local bandscan of my town here in Korea, as I mentioned before. I have to admit after exploring radio here that it is NOT a nice place for DXing, especially hoping for tropo or practically any mode of propagation; it's relatively pointless. Es may be able to bring in some stations, but Korea is one of the most densely populated countries in the world, it's full of mountains (only about 20% of land can actually be used), stations are bunched close together, and aside from the national networks (almost every station is affiliated with one, sometimes you get 5 or 6 of the same network!), the non- affiliated stations seem to almost never ID, despite the talk talk talk (almost all in Korean too!)!! *argh!* Almost every frequency here is full, more than half of them come in on seek. I've found that I do have just a handful of open frequencies, then I started noticing the rest of the "open" frequencies were silent. Dead silent. Just tonight, looking at my list of stations, I realized the reason for this. First, I have to say that listening to radio from North Korea is illegal. Silly, I know, but true. Not like they give you much choice though, because I have 3 or 4 full power stations broadcasting silence on and around (the North has some even- numbered frequency stations) North Korean FMs. 97.8 was on my list to listen for, then I noticed that 97.7 and 97.9 were both silent signals I could not get through. I struggle to find a tiny null of about one degree where I can sometimes pick up 97.7 (a South Korean station), sometimes it's pretty strong too, then the silent signal roars in like a blowtorch and it's gone. Annoyingly, that 97.7 has never IDed when I was tuning in unless it was so casually mentioned in Korean that I didn't notice. My radio seek stops on 88.0 all the time; sometimes it's silent (almost always), but at school today it was a perfect classical music signal, yet on top of a mountain, silence. Not a freaking clue what it is or why I keep having a silent signal on THAT frequency, of all of them (since Korea uses the same ones as the US, 88.0 obviously ain't one of em, and no record of anything from the north!). Still hard to believe my little MP3 player is pulling in stations 130 miles away, just wish I could get a little tropo and get something *not* blocked from North Korea. I'm near the border, but the South has a good grip on the FM dial. Plus, most stations don't even top 1 kW in power, considering the large majority are atop 4,000 to 5,000 ft mountain peaks. Once I figure out some of these UNIDs, I'll post my bandscan, or I'll give up and post it with the UNIDs. Some of em I can only hear atop the mountain and it gets dark in a hurry here with no daylight savings time [sic] and all (Chris Kadlec, Icheon [sic], Korea [South] http://www.beaglebass.com/dx Oct 6, WTFDA via DXLD) South Korean radio oddities --- I've posted some MP3s of the unidentified strangeness on the local FM band here today... http://wtfda.info/showthread.php?p=10161#post10161 I found today that I can indeed receive North Korean stations, with a great deal of effort (climb the side of a mountain and try to null the jammer stations). I'm guessing many of the jammers are located on Namsan (mountain) in Seoul, which in its 35 mile distance from me, is lower than the mountain I listen to the radio on, with a somewhat- blocking set of mountains nearby, so if I'm careful, I can get through these silent stations, barely, if I aim my MP3 player directly along a ridge in the mountains across town. I had insane distortion on local 92.5 today and found out that there is another silent station on that frequency blocking the Kaesong station (that's in the north, about 25 miles outside of downtown Seoul). The effect of the silent one on the local one was crazy. Got an actual jammer with sound on 107.2, blocking the Nampo station in the north. And finally - finally!! - got through the 97.8 station, where there is a silent jammer as well as one on 97.7 and another on 97.9, both of which wipe out otherwise local stations in most places. But I heard 97.8 clearly on 97.9, so these north stations must be prettttty strong, with good reason I'm sure. It IS illegal to listen to these stations. It's illegal to post them, even what frequencies they're on... but hey, they didn't ID, sooooo... I can't be held accountable :). Just a lot of classical and traditional music, and every station I heard from the north is the same network (easy to compare them to confirm!). Nice windy evening for Dxing; just made my bandscan effort more complicated though, considering I went up there to wrap things up! Nice to be back in the DXing world before it's too damn cold to climb mountains to listen to the radio, and I hope I can share some of the radio here now that I can record!!!!! (Chris Kadlec, Icheon, South Korea (30 miles SE of Seoul), Oct 7, ibid.) ** KURDISTAN. Clandestine: two V. of Kurdistan stations noted at *0155 16 Sept: one on 3925 and one on 4769 kHz, both playing the same anthem with ID ``Eira Dangi Kurdistana`` but the program was different (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Could one be `black`, or two different faxions? (gh, DXLD) ** KUWAIT. Radio Kuwait 11990 at 1759, marching band music, 1800 time pips, ID, local time at English s/on. Good Oct 3 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, BC, Eton E-1 and Sony AN-1 antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 7145, LNR, 1350, Oct. 1. In English; “international news” (item about celebrations in China, etc.); ID “That ends our program. You have been listening to the Lao National Radio, broadcasting from Vientiane, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic”; suddenly off a few seconds before 1400. 7145, LNR, 1326, Oct. 3. In French; indigenous music; 1332 starts English segment with usual canned ID that goes something like: This is the Lao National Radio, broadcasting from Vientiane, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. Our English language is broadcast twice daily at 1300 hours and 2030 hours local time, which is 7 hours ahead of GMT. It is transmitted on a frequency of 97.25 MHz., on FM (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. 17725, news in English at 1436 Oct 5, items about Pakistan, FAO, YL ``ending the news from Voice of Africa``, fanfare from produxion music album, fair signal at best (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5009.943, Radio Malagasy, 2048, nice ballads and covers, including reggae version of Leo Sayer's "When I Need You." Don't get to listen every day at this time but seem to think they stay on late local weekends, as nominal sign-off is listed as 1900 UT. Pulled plug mid-song at 2053. Excellent signal 3 OCT (David Sharp, NSW Australia: FT-950, NRD-535D et al. , dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5009.45, 6/10 1758, Radio Madagascar, talks and music (Opera! Also Carmen by Bizet), good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Perseus Remote in Bocca di Magra - Drake R8 in Milan; Ant: Wellbrook 1010 loop & T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7105, RTVM , 1452-1500*, Oct. 1. In French; EZL songs; briefly played some music (Anthem?) before going off. Weaker than yesterday`s reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Ron, that is a fine catch! Here very weak audio and ham QRM. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. SARAWAK - 5030.03, Sarawak FM (presumed), 1345-1355 Sep 26. YL talk in language; regional vocal music at 1347. Fair signal but covered by strong CRI (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Oct 4, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 6175.02, R Suara Islam via RTM, 1445 - 1505, Bah Mal ID, freq announcement, website, religious segment & westernized pop ballads into news at TOH. Unusually strong, easily dominated co- channel CNR -1, slightly off frequency. Also, Klasik Nasional FM noted on 5964.93 in the clear as early as 1356 on Sept 30 and again on Oct 02 at 1600 Bah Mal news after sung Negaraku in the clear after co- channel BBC Bengali off. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bah Mal = Bahasa Malaysia ** MEXICO. 1610, XEUAC, Radio Universidad Autónoma de Chapingo, Estado de México. 0120-0130 October 4, 2009. Unusual a capella vocals, Spanish Man and woman, under/over Tampa International Airport TIS and Dr. Gene Scott from Anguilla. Presumed the one; it’s eluded me up till now thanks to the local TIS and other pile-ups on 1610 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See disclaimer under CUBA ** MEXICO. 4800, XERTA noted with weak signal 0935 to 1010 on 3 October. 73s de (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Drake R 8 ~ Icom, 746Pro DL, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meter band dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6104.8, Oct 2 at 1210 the usual considerable het revealing presence of always-off-frequency XEQM, RASA Mérida, but this time also some modulation making it, YL speaking what I assume was a Maya dialect, but with a Spanish accent, and occasional real Spanish interspersed for concepts apparently foreign to the Maya, such as ``programas educativos``. 1214 had incongruous disco-beat behind a commercial; but see JAPAN [non]. O, for a Q multiplier, to boost the signal and avoid the ACI from Asians on 6100 and 6110, and O, for a notch, to avoid the CCI from the Asian on 6105.0 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also URUGUAY [and non] Re: ``No one else has reported it varying up to 6110, but only slightly below 6105. I think Terry Krueger`s report of 6105.8 meant to say 6104.8 (gh, DXLD)`` Correct (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, Oct 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MIDWAY ISLAND. KH4 [sic] (OC-030). Just a reminder that a multi- national team of 18 operators will activate Midway Island (OC-030) between October 9-19th. The team will sign K4M and will operate from Sand Island (Reference numbers: USI OI-011S and Grid AL18). The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service has authorized this amateur operation from this rare U.S. entity for only a 10 day period -- the first radio activity in almost 10 years. Midway Island ranks number 24 world-wide and number 13 in Europe on the DX Magazine's "Most Wanted List". The updated team member list consists of operators: Joe/AA4NN, Franz/DJ9ZB, Max/I8NHJ, Kevin/K6TD, Kimo/KH7U, Craig/K9CT, Don/N1DG, Tom/ND2T, Paul/N4PN, Tom/N4XP, Arnold/N6HC, John/N7CQQ, Dave/WB4JTT, Charlie/W6KK, Bruce/W6OSP, Art/WA7NB, Joe/W8GEX and James/9V1YC. In addition to the on the air team members, K4M is ably assisted by the following off island support team: Don/AA1V (Web support/online logs), Markus/DL9RCF (European Fund Raising), Dan/W5DNT (Logistics), Paul/W6XA (Radio Setup and Testing) and Margarett (XYL AA4NN - Finance), Janet/W8CAA (Fundraising) and Vrata/OK1KT (QSL Card Procurement). Activity will be on 160-6 meters with 5 to 6 stations. Suggested frequencies are: CW - 1826.5, 3504, 7004, 10104, 14024, 18074, 21024, 24894 and 28024 SSB - 3799, 7078, 14200, 18145, 21295, 24945 and 28475 kHz RTTY - 7040, 10140, 14080, 18100, 21080 and 28080 kHz 6m - 50115/CW and 50118/SSB For more details, updates, online log, frequencies and bios, go to: http://www.midway2009.com QSL via online QSL Service, direct (Midway 2009, Box 333, Bethlehem, GA 30620-9989 USA) or LoTW (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 928, October 5, 2009, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. MONGOLIAN DEMOCRACY 'PUTS PRESSURE ON BROADCASTERS' Thursday 01 Oct 2009 http://www.abu.org.my/abu/index.cfm/elementid/55229/Mongolian-democracy-puts-pressure-on-broadcasters- Democracy in Mongolia has put pressure on broadcasters to provide balanced, independent news and programmes, an international meeting in Ulaanbaatar heard today. Naranbaatar Myanganbuu, General Director of Mongolia’s national broadcaster, MNB, told the ABU Programme Committee that since the democratic revolution in 1989, audiences had become open-minded and interactive, and expected fair, balanced news. “MNB used to be a government mouthpiece to some extent,” he said. “Therefore our challenges are balanced reporting and editorial independence.” MNB had undergone a few years of major structural change and renewal, he said. Its current challenges were the revision of programme policies and production methods. News and current affairs programmes had to be brought to international standards. MNB needed to build its capacity in specialised reporting and commentating, and investigative journalism. Clara Choi of RTHK-Hong Kong chaired the meeting, which reviewed a range of radio and television activities among ABU members. Participants agreed to set up an ABU TV Documentary Working Party to look at new cooperative activities. Source: ABU Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** MOROCCO. 171.000, Medi-1, 0002 10/04/09 Nador, Morroco. While I was DXing in the LW band: I heard Radio Mediterranée Internationale. I have two audio clips. One is gorgeous Arabic female young jazz-like vocal with Arabic orchestral background! The other one has Arabic and French IDs. Receiver: Drake R8B, EWE 30 x 75 x 30 with ground return & 9/1 toroid (Charles (Cholly) Taylor, NC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5770, Myanmar Defense Forces Broadcasting Station (presumed), 1420, Oct. 2. Pop music; usual BoH format (selection of indigenous music followed by military march band with bugle); in vernacular; 1514-1528*. Segments of playing music and talking; weak. 5985.0, Myanma Radio, 1530, Oct. 2. In English; usual ID; Myanmar and international news (Chairman of the State Peace and Development Council, Senior General Than Shwe, and other high ranking officials were at the airport to welcome back the Prime Minister and the delegation returning from New York and their meeting at the UN; gave their NY sightseeing itinerary; etc.); weather; same slogans as heard Sept. 26; EZL music program till tuned out at 1544 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5985, R. Myanmar, 1328-1352 Oct 3. Pop music, then usual instrumental IS following a brief Burmese anmt; 1330 chimes and long talk by M; a mix of pop music and chat followed to 1352 tuneout. Very good signal, best in a long time (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Oct 4, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 5915, Myanma Radio, 1527-1530*, Oct. 6. In vernacular; pop songs; usual selection of indigenous music at sign off. Usual CRI QRM. 5985.78v, Myanma Radio, 1321 + 1349, Oct. 7. Assumed they switched over to the transmitter located at Yagon, as opposed to the usual transmitter at this time from Nay Pyi Taw, which has a steady frequency of 5985.00. Playing pop music. Yesterday was still on 5985.00. Perhaps doing maintenance on the Nay Pyi Taw transmitter? (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Wegen des Erdbebens vor Sumatra wird Radio Nederlands am morgigen Freitag, 2. Oktober, zusaetzlich senden: 0600-0900 via Kranji-SNG 7235 kHz 0600-1100 via Dhabbaya-UAE 21480 kHz 0600-1300 via Madagascar 21730 kHz (RNW Media Network/ Radio Nederlands, via Klaus Spielvogel, A-DX via BC-DX Oct 4 via DXLD) The schedule has changed into: 0600-0900 via Singapore on 7235 kHz 0600-0800 via Dhabbaya, UAE on 21730 kHz 0800-1100 via Dhabbaya, UAE on 17575 kHz 0600-1300 via Madagascar on 21480 kHz We’re also on air via Astra and Thaicom RNW3 (Rocus de Joode, Pdis / RNW, Oct 2, Media Network blog via DXLD) For how long the extras? (gh) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Notes on RNW shortwave transmissions [from B09], as left at the referenced place: All Dutch transmissions to target areas outside Europe will be cut back to 27 minutes, as is the case in the western hemisphere since spring. Transmissions to Europe appear to be further reduced a little bit as well; in particular the late night slot 2100-2300 UT will use a single Tbilisskaya transmitter on 6040 kHz only. Of course altogether it is still remarkably extensive. No Skelton, Rampisham, Moosbrunn anymore, but instead Arabic will use Trincomalee and Kigali, perhaps RNW's first shortwave services from these sites altogether, while Santa Maria di Galeria will be used for Dutch to Europe. And I think this has not been noted down so far: The airtime exchange with RCI is gone, already since last spring it seems (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non?]. FRS-Holland Test Broadcasts --- Dear FRS Friends, Summer has gone and autumn is ruling. Propagation conditions have? reached to a satisfactory level. Time to expand some activity. We haven't decided yet on which date(s) FRS-Holland will take to the air with a regular schedule. But: in preparation to that, we have planned a series of tests on 39 metres, just above the well-known 41 mb. Next Sunday October 4th and 11th FRS-Holland will be carrying out tests on 7600 kHz and a second frequency close to 7600 kHz. Each Sunday will see 4 hour of tests in two blocks of two hours: 0800-1000 UT and a repeat between 1200-1400. During each 2 hour morning block we will use two different frequencies; the same ones will be used during the afternoon tests. We are understandably curious about reception on each frequency. What is the best frequency choice, is there much difference between 7600 and the other channel, is there much difference in reception between the morning and afternoon hours? Questions on which we would like to have your answer. To collect the most reliable information the test schedule for Sun October 4th will be copied for Sun October 11th. We'd love to hear from you, either by mail or via P O Box 2702, 6049 ZG Herten, the Netherlands. Comparisons between the two frequencies and morning/ afternoon blocks is of course extra interesting! A nice QSL card is waiting for you. Keep an eye on 7600 kHz and a second frequency close to that, for instance 7635 and 7650 kHz. The latest edition of FRS News is out. In this 4 page edition (in colour!) the latest FRS News, we look back at the highly successful December 2008 broadcast, Mailbox 2702, Fact File and a story on Radio Europe Int. (History of European SW Free Radio). If you would like to obtain a copy, send two euro/ 3 US dollars to our Herten maildrop. More news in the upcoming weeks. 73s, Peter Verbruggen on behalf of the FRS Team a Balance between Music & Information joint to one Format.... FRS-Holland e-mail: frs.holland @ hccnet.nl e-mail: frs @ frsholland.nl (via Rich D`Angelo, PA, Oct 1, NASWA yg via DXLD) Testing right now --- Hi FRS Friends, Right now FRS-Holland is testing on 7600 kHz. At 0900 UT we planned to switch to 7635 kHz but owing to circumstances beyond our control that has to be cancelled. Instead we will continue on 7600 until 1000 UT. This afternoon we start at 1200 UT on 7600 and hope to do the final hour between 1300-1400 UT on 7685 kHz. Information about next week's tests (Sun Oct. 11th) will follow in a few days. Good listening! 73s, Peter Verbruggen (on behalf of the FRS Team), 0855 [UT?] Oct 4 via GRDXC via DXLD) I tried both frequencies ydy here in Denmark but in vain. Did anyone manage to pick this one up ?? Thanks (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, Oct 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No trace of a broadcast signal here in the NW of England either (Noel R. Green, ibid.) I'm quite surprised to hear that FRS-Holland was unheard in Europe, because I managed to pick them up (bits and pieces, at least) here in the Midwestern US, re: my log of yesterday: 7600.1, FRS-Holland, 0810-0850, 10/04, English. Male DJ playing modern pop/rock, some familiar tunes and some less so. A few IDs and a canned promo for an apparent contest, including a telephone number and a an email address for contact info. In and out of the noise. Faded by 0850. Poor. That should possibly be *0810, because I didn't hear anything before that. So either they signed on a bit late, or the signal was below the noise here at the start. I've uploaded a brief clip to the Station Sounds folder when the signal briefly peaked during the aforementioned contest promo, but it was pretty rough copy for the most part here, just music and occasional decipherable phrases (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Mark, Yours is the first report I've seen that the station was actually on air. The problem for Tarek Zeidan and myself might have been due to skip, as we both live relatively close to Holland. I would suggest that a lower frequency on 6 MHz would be preferable (for Tarek and me anyway) - for a broadcast at 0800-1000 UT (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Noel, Hello Mark, Hello Group :) You have a point here Noel, but I tried a couple of receivers as well on globaltuners but I was really sad that I couldn't get anything; maybe next Sunday, will have to get up early again ;) Will keep you posted. All the best from Gloomy Denmark (Tarek Zeidan, ex-Egypt, ibid.) 7600.14, 0940-1000* and 1250-1301* PIRATE, Sunday 04.10, Free R Service - Holland, English announcement, many ID's, requested reception reports, English pop songs, announcements continued on 7685, 35333. 7685.03, 1305-1400* PIRATE, Sunday 04.10, Free R Service - Holland English announcement, ID, English pop songs 35333 (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030 with a 28 metres longwire in stormy and rainy Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. LITHUANIA, Cancelled transmissions for Mighty KBC in English 2130-2228 on 6055 SIT 100 kW / 259 deg to W Eu Daily, from Sep. 30 0200-0258 on 6110 SIT 100 kW / 310 deg to N Am Sunday from Sep. 27 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As already in DXLD Re: Mighty KBC leaving Shortwave --- Thanks for the tip, Mike. I was able to hear the *final* SWBC of The Mighty KBC, but got off to a bad start with a human error in Lithuania and the transmitter did not come up on 6055 till around 2145. Glad I stuck with the frequency until then or I'd have missed it (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Oct 1, NASWA yg via DXLD) Re 9-074: Concerning KBC Radio see this, posted yesterday at http://www.kbcradio.eu/?p=207 "We are trying to bring 1395 back on the air as soon as possible It is no secret that we have been ready for the nighttime service since September `08. If a return does not happen before 1st December `09 We will return to short-wave. We can't wait for ever!" [also via Steve Lare] Seems to be related to this: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/british-broadcaster-mike-read-declared-bankrupt More about this vaporware that produces more page views and comments than real media news: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/new-uk-based-commercial-radio-station-plans-to-use-1395-khz (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Both Happy Station Shows for October 1, 2009 are now uploaded. They can be found at: http://www.radio4all.net/index.php/series/The+Happy+Station+Show Also let me know if you would also like the Indonesia and NZ shows uploaded (Keith Perron, Taiwan, Oct 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Two SPECIAL broadcasts from PCJ Media on SW As you may know I started a production company using the old PCJ call sign. This October and November I am please to inform you that PCJ Media will produce two upcoming specials. October 23, 2009 0100 to 0155 UT - North America October 24, 2009 1300 to 1355 UT - Latin America/Caribbean [Note time! During jamming] Frequency: 9955 kHz Come Aboard The Faith Train --- Who is Faith? What is Faith? Faith, a bipedal female dog [sic], was born in December 2002 with only three legs; two fully-developed hind legs and a deformed front leg, which was amputated when she was 7 months old after it began to atrophy. Her owner, Jude Stringfellow, adopted Faith when the mother dog was found trying to smother the deformed puppy -- her son rescued the puppy and brought her home. Many people, including veterinarians, advised that Faith be euthanized. Instead, using a spoon with peanut butter as an incentive, Jude taught Faith to hop but Faith decided on her own to walk; the family's corgi would bark at Faith from another room, or nip her heels to urge her to walk. She has also been featured on Oprah and recently a TV crew from Japan filmed a documentary about her. This special program will talk about the Faith Train Tour and much more. Website: http://faiththedog.info/ November 20, 2009 0200 to 0255 UT - North America 1400 to 1455 UT - North America Frequency: 9955 kHz Ears To Our World A few months ago Thomas Witherspoon was a guest on The Happy Station Show to talk about a charity he founded called Ears To Our World. They send out self-powered SW radios to schools in areas of the world where there is now power and where batteries are expensive. The radio they send is the Grundig FR200. This special program will be hosted by Keith Perron in Taipei, Taiwan and by Colin Newell in British Columbia, Canada. The focus will be on ETOW and radio in Africa. Website: http://earstoourworld.org/ If you wish more information please email: pcjmedia @ gmail.com On October 29th, 2009 Happy Station is going back to the USSR. How many of you remember Vasily’s Weekend? Well tune in to hear someone who did the most unusual show on the old Radio Moscow (now Voice Of Russia) in the 1980s and early 90s. You will laugh at his stories about Joe Adamov and working to get Monty Python passed by the Soviet censors. So tune in to join me and my guest Vasily Strelnikov. Regards, (Keith Perron, Taiwan, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Keith, did you already record the interview? I was going to tell you to make sure to ask Vasily about Vladimir Danchev. Vasily was personally involved with the whole affair of Danchev's Afghanistan announcement. He was even interrogated by KGB, as a result. Vasily shared his memories of that event in one of his older Russian podcasts. Great story! If I'm not mistaken Vasily's program initially was called the Listeners' Request Club. Only in later years it was renamed Vasily's Weekend. Somehow, Vasily himself never mentions LRC. 73! (Sergei S., ibid.) Yes we talked about that. That part of the conversation is going to be used for a another program (Keith, ibid.) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. CANADA. 6159.96, CKZN, St Johns, 1900-1920, Oct 4, still slightly off frequency with English talk. Classical music. Weak but readable (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) See CANADA ** NEW ZEALAND. Caught few seconds of DRM noise from RNZI on 7285, Oct 2 just prior to 1200, but was off by top of hour. No trace of RNZI on 9655, but it would have been overwhelmed by KBS via Sackville on 9650 if there had been (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI Mailbox, caught part of it Monday Oct 5 at 1335 on 6170, and the rest of it from audio on demand. Adrian Sainsbury explained like he did last year about why RNZI has a transition schedule effective for only one week: Seasonal changes require changes to antenna system. Oct 25 falls in middle of a ``labor holiday weekend`` in NZ, so need to make changes earlier, as it`s not practical to get staff to Rangitaiki during the holiday weekend. So to be off the air Oct 16 from 11:30 am NZT for about 6 hours [2230 UT Oct 15 to 0430 UT Oct 16], and not implement the full B-09 schedule until Oct 25, which cannot be done before then since some frequencies are occupied by other stations until 25 Oct. The new sked from 25 Oct will be posted on website sometime this week, he says. How inconvenient! NZ ought to change its holiday to another weekend so as not to disrupt RNZI`s scheduling. Or, what`s this nothing- interferes-with-holiday mentality? The individuals concerned could celebrate their holiday time off a week before or after instead, and avoid all the crowds, highway congestion? to boot. See also PHILIPPINES (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Schedule of Radio New Zealand International Oct 17-24: 0459-0658 on 11725 RAN 050 kW / 000 deg AM All Pacific 0459-0658 on 11675 RAN 025 kW / 000 deg DRM All Pacific 0659-1058 on 6170 RAN 050 kW / 000 deg AM All Pacific 0659-1058 NF 7440 RAN 025 kW / 000 deg DRM All Pacific, ex 7285 1059-1158 on 9655 RAN 050 kW / 325 deg AM NW Pacific, PNG, Timor 1059-1158 NF 7440 RAN 025 kW / 325 deg DRM NW Pacific, PNG, Timor, ex 7285 1159-1550 on 6170 RAN 050 kW / 000 deg AM All Pacific 1551-1750 NF 7440 RAN 050 kW / 035 deg AM Cook Isl, Samoa, Tonga, ex 7285 1551-1750 on 6170 RAN 025 kW / 035 deg DRM Cook Isl, Samoa, Tonga 1751-1850 on 6170 RAN 050 kW / 035 deg AM Cook Isl, Samoa, Tonga 1751-1850 NF 9890 RAN 025 kW / 035 deg DRM Cook Isl, Samoa, Tonga, ex 7285 1851-1935 on 9615 RAN 050 kW / 000 deg AM All Pacific 1851-1935 on 9890 RAN 025 kW / 000 deg DRM All Pacific 1936-1950 NF 9615 RAN 050 kW / 035 deg AM Tonga, ex 11725 1936-1950 NF 11675 RAN 025 kW / 035 deg DRM Tonga, ex 9890 1951-2050 on 11725 RAN 050 kW / 000 deg AM All Pacific 1951-2050 on 11675 RAN 025 kW / 000 deg DRM All Pacific 2051-2235 NF 17675 RAN 050 kW / 035 deg AM Vanuatu, Solomon Isl, ex 13730 2051-2235 on 15720 RAN 025 kW / 035 deg DRM Vanuatu, Solomon Isl 2236-0458 on 15720 RAN 050 kW / 000 deg AM All Pacific 2236-0458 NF 17675 RAN 025 kW / 000 deg AM All Pacific, ex 13730 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 7 via DXLD) Above for ONE WEEK only!! RNZI B09 25 Oct 2009 - 28 Mar 2010 UTC kHz(AM) kHz(DRM) Target Days [all daily, so why bother?] ------------------------------------------- 0459-0658 11725 AM 11675 DRM Pacific Daily 0659-1058 9765 AM 9870 DRM Pacific Daily 1059-1158 13660 AM 9870 DRM NW Pacific, PNG, Timor Daily 1159-1258 13660 AM NW Pacific, PNG, Timor Daily 1200-1549 7440 AM Pacific Daily 1551-1750 6170 AM 7440 DRM Cook Isl, Samoa, Tonga, Niue Daily 1751-1850 9765 AM 9890 DRM Cook Isl, Samoa, Tonga, Niue Daily 1851-1935 11725 AM 9890 DRM Pacific Daily 1936-2050 11725 AM 11675 DRM Tonga Daily 2051-2235 17675 AM 15720 DRM Pacific Daily 2236-0458 15720 AM 17675 DRM Pacific Daily (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) I have hi hopes that 7440 will be good for NAm in our mornings, but IBB Sri Lanka may collide for an hour and China is on both sides (gh) See http://www.rnzi.com/pages/listen.php (Adrian Sainsbury, RNZI, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For current A-09, interim, and B-09 skeds (gh) Or separate AM and DRM versions: TE REO IRIRANGI O AOTEAROA, O TE MOANA-NUI-A-KIWA P O Box 123, Wellington, New Zealand Phone:+(64 4) 4741 437 Facsimile +(64 4) 4741 433 E-mail address: info @ rnzi.com Web Address: http://www.rnzi.com 7/10/2009 12:04 PM FREQUENCY SCHEDULE Effective from 25 October 2009 ANALOGUE SERVICE UTC kHz Primary Target 1300 – 1550 7440 Pacific 1551 – 1750 6170 Cook Islands, Niue, Fiji, Samoa 1751 – 1850 9765 Cook Islands, Niue, Fiji, Samoa 1851 – 2050 11725 Pacific 2051 – 2235 17675 Pacific 2236 - 0458 15720 Pacific 0459 - 0658 11725 Pacific 0659 - 1058 9765 Pacific 1059 - 1258 13660 NW Pacific, Bougainville, Papua New Guinea DRM SERVICE - A DRM Capable Receiver is required for this service 1200 – 1550 NO SERVICE 1551 – 1750 7440 Cook Islands, Niue, Fiji, Samoa 1751 – 1935 9890 Cook Islands, Niue, Fiji, Samoa 1936 – 1950 11675 Tonga 1951 - 2050 11675 Solomon Islands Niue, Fiji, Samoa, Fiji 2051 - 2235 15720 Vanuatu, Fiji 2236 - 0458 17675 Pacific 0459 - 0658 13730 Pacific 0659 - 1158 9870 Pacific (Adrian Sainsbury, RNZI, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 1026, Jigawa Broadcasting Corporation, Duse, Nigeria; news in English and then in Hausa, program “weke we dunya”, 333 2030 17/8 (Roberto Celestre at his summer location, Cava D'Aliga, Ragusa - Sicily Island, Italy, DEGEN 1103, no external antenna, Oct MW News via DXLD) You don`t see this one reported every day (gh) ** NIGERIA. 4769.966, FRCN Kaduna, 2041, continuous hilife music, weak audio but readable. 3 OCT (David Sharp, NSW Australia: FT-950, NRD- 535D et al., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Voice of Nigeria 15120 at 1735, English, man and woman discussing economy and development in Nigeria. Fair. And at 2003, English, news. 2009 “This is African Hour coming to you from Voice of Ngeria.” Good but low modulation. Oct 3 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, BC, Eton E-1 and Sony AN-1 antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. To follow up on your note in the October 1 DXLD regarding TDP - Transmitter Documentation Project. Received a QSL from Aso Radio on 04 March 2009 on 15180 kHz from 1600 to 1635 UT. As you stated, there is no transmitter site lised on this QSL either, confirming your statement about TDP. Seems to me that they should be complying with their name and documenting transmitter locations on QSL's. Blue background showing a transmitter with http://www.airtime.be listed on the front (from Summit, NJ, Glenn, Ed Insinger, UT Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6930 USB, Barnyard Radio, 0035-0046*, 09/29. Steve Martin sketch and a couple of novelty songs, ID, and off. Nice fade- free signal. Good (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. TCS ON AIR Tuesday Evening *2200- Greetings, pirate listener folks! The Crystal Ship will be going on the air this evening, commencing at approximately 2200 UT, or 6 p.m. EDT, possibly somewhat before or after. We will be using FULL POWER on about 5385.5 kHz AM, and expect to continue through 0000 UT. As always, we welcome your reception reports at this address. Reports complete with time, date, frequency and some kind of program details will be eQSLed upon request, with our new full-data design. "Notes" that don't represent a "reception report" but just let us know where and how we are being heard are always appreciated as well. Although we may not always answer them, they are helpful. -- (John Poet, The Crystal Ship, Oct 6, via Will Martin, Oct 7, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KXOK, Enid`s own TV station, as previously advertised, has gone to more local programming. Make that infomercials, such as real estate, as noted UT Monday Oct 5 at 0400 on analog 32, but mostly a slide show of local merchants, including an oxygen pusher. Now instead of // programming on DTV 31, that`s running ¾ color bars and no audio; that is, modulating zero. And never any IDs superimposed, N.B. DXers. Still same at 1600 UT recheck. Signal is still breaking up but less than before, so presumably their new `hi-power` transmitter testing, 3.7 kW ERP instead of only 40 Watts; from same location atop the Broadway Tower in downtown Enid, or `main street` as the locals like to promote it, even tho one of the main streets downtown, the N/S dividing line for address numbering, is spelt Maine. I assume that was an affectation, rather than a tribute to a northeastern state, as there are no other state-named streets in the area (except Oklahoma, of course, which is not spelt Oklahomae). BTW, KXOK have never got remapping set up, so if you punch channel 32 on the DTV tuner, you don`t get anything, but have to enter 31 directly to get it. Initially last year it was remapping to channel 12, which made no sense whatsoever, an OTA channel never in use here even by a translator. How much longer till they turn off analog 32? The main reason for either is to reach the must-carry Suddenlink cable headend only one sesquiblock away, which has one UHF antenna aimed at KXOK, perhaps necessary for a good signal with 40 watts, but they must be taking the analog 32 now as the CB do not appear on cable 18. The CB on KXOK-31 continued as of midday Oct 8. KXOK-32 is the only analog TV signal I can see any more without DX. When area tropo is up, there are LPTVs in OKC and Stillwater, on 17, 19 and 21, unseen lately, and wondering if they have digitized (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3259.992, 25.9 2020, R Madang (tentative) with the traditional mix of South Sea music and oldies, quite weak. TN 3334.969, 25.9 2010, R East Sepik (tentative) with easy listen music. Stronger signal after a while, S 4-6 but started to fade away around 2030. The band was extremely quiet this afternoon and the weakest signal could be traced (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Oct 4, translatred by him for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3345, R. Northern Popendetta, 0958-1018, Oct 2, Tok Pisin. M & W announcers at tune/in; M from ToH with presumed news; continuous thru tune/out; weak-poor (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD- 545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3290, NBC Central, 1103-1135, 02-October-2009, Pidgin, English. 1103: News by male announcer, 1107: Song with group vocals, 1109: Female announcer with local news items in English, mentioned the General Assembly and provincial land laws. Signal: Fair, peaking at 1115. (Other PNGs audible this morning, RENB good on 3385) (Wlodarski-NJ) 3345, NBC Northern - Poppondetta, 1010-1130, 04-October-2009, Pidgin/English. 1050: Typical PNG vocal song by group, 1053: Female announcer, time check 1055: Religious song with steel guitar and vocals. 1103: Female announcer, station ID, followed with program of local (religious) music. 1105: Male announcer with sermon interspersed with hymn type songs. Signal: Poor at 1010, increasing to fair by 1100. (Wlodarski-NJ) 3385, Radio East New Britain, 1028-1130, 01-October-2009, in Pidgin. 1100 to 1108, News by Female Announcer, 1108 Station ID by female announcer, 1114 to 1130: Music program, 1130 Signal Fading Signal: Fair to Good at times (Ed Wlodarski, N2ED, NJ, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 4 via DXLD) ** PERU. 4746.90, R. Huanta 2000, Huanta, Ayacucho, 1023 instrumental music, Peruvian vocals "mucho más... en todo el país..." 5 October (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Drake R 8 ~ Icom 746Pro DL, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meter band dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES [and non]. Ham radio supports disasters [sic] --- A severe tropical storm in The Phillipines [sic] and earthquakes in Indonesia have seen radio amateurs providing emergency communications and other relief and recovery assistance. Philippines Amateur Radio Association (PARA) President, Dr Joey Panganiban DU1BP reports that a tropical storm named "Ondoy" hit the Philippines five days ago creating a tragic calamity with hams swinging into action to help. Joey DU1BP said, "We have mobilized our amateur radio clubs for the relief operations. The frequencies [sic] of 7045 kHz have been used for general announcements while 2-metres FM is for our community operations." The disaster has affected more than two million people and the death toll is headed for around 300. Joey DU1BP said, "All amateur and civic radio clubs are now on operation in Metro Manila under the guidance of the National Telecommunications Commission and PARA." He said the PARA Secretariat has been designated to receive donations and soliciting donations both in kind and cash for the victims. Joe DU1BP said, "What the evacuees need is food that are ready to eat (those without much preparation) such as canned goods, noodles, rice, bread, coffee, milk, sugar, salt and water." "They also need medical attention and medications needed for cough, colds, fever, diarrhea and vitamins [sic]. These items will be repacked and given direct to the recipients, using community officials as contact points." Meantime a powerful earthquake rocked western Indonesia on Wednesday, trapping thousands under collapsed buildings and triggering landslides. At least 75 people were killed on Sumatra island after the 7.6 on the Ritcher [sic] scale earthquake strike. A follow-up strong nearby inland earthquake caused even more damage. In a brief message just hours after that disaster from the Organisasi Amatir Radio Indonesia (ORARI), received by IARU Region 3 Disaster Communications Committee Chairman, Jim Linton VK3PC, it has been confirmed that hams are involved there too. Wisnu Widjaja W1SNU/YB0AZ reports "We are active on the field now to support the emergency Communications in West and South Sumatera, Indonesia. Now, we are using 2-meters and 40-meter band." More information can be expected in coming days. However no reports so far of amateur radio emergency communications in the Pacific as a tsunami hit Samoa leaving a trail of death and destruction. Jim Linton VK3PC via Southgate http://www.southgatearc.org/news/october2009/ham_radio_supports_disasters.htm (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. If the FEBC schedule on page 454 of the WRTH 2009 looks a bit sparse, you`re right. It shows nothing at all on the air in any language, evenings after 1300 UT from either site Bocaue or Iba. It must be incomplete! I was wondering if Bocaue was really curtailed or off the air, as FEBC had warned in a quick call-for-prayer after the typhoon and flooding hit [see 9-074], but FEBC in Chinese was being heard as usual at 1315 Oct 2 on 9400 plus a different Chinese program on 9430. Per Aoki, 9400 is in Chinese at 0900-1400 from Iba while 9430 is in Chinese at 0900-1630 from Bocaue. So both are apparently still on the air; better signal on 9400. The incomplete listing in WRTH 2009 was corrected in the A-09 pdf WRTH updater, under Philippines integrating schedules from these sites plus KFBS Saipan, and showing lots after 1300. It lists 9400 and 9430 separately under Mandarin on page 27/28, and the former has KFBS 11580 along with it, so are those two really parallel? Hmong singing, à la Hmong Lao Radio on WHRI, was also ruining reception of CBCNQ on 9625 with a fast rippling SAH since Sackville at least is off-frequency, Oct 2 at 1307. This is also listed as FEBC via Bocaue. It would have been helpful if God had told his typhoon to blow, or flood, that one off the air permanently, but he is apparently partial to the Christian Hmong over the probably Christian Inuit. So it looks as if Bocaue was spared, found on at least two frequencies today. WRTH 2009 says there are 3 x 50 kW there and 1 x 100 kW, while at Iba there are 2 x 100 kW. Finding anything recent about typhoon damage on FEBC website starting at http://febc.ph/ --- let alone a SW frequency schedule --- is an exercise in futility (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You are right, there has been a problem in schedule processing, but it has been corrected already in February update by publishing full schedule for FEBC on the web page. 73, Mauno Ritola, Finland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FEBC IN EMERGENCY RESPONSE AFTER STORMS http://www.feba.org.uk/newsbriefs/febc-philippines (report includes a photo of flood waters inside txer installation) (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DXLD) Including: Flood waters poured into the FEBC short wave installation building in Bocaue, Philippines, with 4 high-powered transmitters that broadcast to 54 language groups of Asia (36 hours total daily). These were taken off air for a few days, while staff worked around the clock to clear the mud and dry out the equipment, even before their own homes, in order to restore broadcasts as early as possible. By Thursday the transmitters were back in action, with no permanent damage (via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 9395 kHz, 1830 / PHILIPPINE BROADCASTING SERVICE RADIO NG BAYAH special coveridge broadcast male ANN STN IDS Co station named inc Marintine Radio Philippins hospital / airport Earth Quake update situation, phone in talkback in Indonesian and broken Englash / Maly etc audio thin sounds like radphone style with continued back gnd humm continues Stn Rec Wed 30 / 9th 1830 utc = 0730am New Zealand daylight saving time as from 27/9/09. From Roger Radio Dunedin New Zealand, Cheers and 73s to all at Cumbre more news to follow (Roger Pryde, Oct 2, [sic] Cumbre DX via DXLD) Great log, have you heard this since? I just tried at 1925 on a computer controlled receiver in Hong Kong and did not hear anything (Hans Johnson, Everglades City, Florida, USA, Oct 3, ibid.) ** PHILIPPINES. 15285, R. Pilipinas/VOP, 0214-0306, Oct. 2. Frequent use of both English and Filipino; non-stop coverage of news conference with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and National Disaster Coordinating Council, about the situation due to flooding; talking about water supplies, available housing units, etc.; poor to almost fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15285, R. Pilipinas/VOP, 0217-0312, Oct. 4. Special coverage of the damage done by Typhoon Parma; in Filipino; relayed another station; clear references to “Sports Radio”. A check at 0550 of audio streaming for Sports Radio (918 AM) found identical programming as the audio streaming for Radio Magasin (1278 AM), so I suspect many stations were carrying the same audio feed. Sound of sirens between items; mention of “Evacuation Centers”, “report by Governor Antonio”, “National Disaster Coordinating Council” and “Philippine Broadcasting Service”; gave phone numbers to call to volunteer; President Arroyo heard speaking over a loud speaker. At 0307 heard the only ID for Radio Pilipinas, in English and giving their address and phone number; back to the relay in Filipino and sound of sirens; poor to fair. Even though I could not understand much, it was fascinating to hear this first hand coverage! 15285, R. Pilipinas/VOP, *0200, Oct. 5. Back to their regular programming today in English; program "Dateline Malacañang" till 0231; “P-B-S Network News”; “The Philippines Today”; frequent IDs: "Radio Pilipinas Overseas Service, The Voice of the Philippines" (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 6170.4, PBS relay of DZRM R. Magasin (tentative) heard here 10/3 with thanks to Ron Howard for tip to try LSB [sic; USB?]. Heavy QRM from both sides but after 1212 woman could be heard weak but occasionally clear – seemed to be a continuous news with a man talking from time to time as if a field reporter, being interviewed by the YL announcer. One QRM source quieted for 3 minutes from 1230 to 1233 allowing clear copy of the woman and man talking. Programming was likely coverage of recent Typhoons Ketsana and Parma and their disastrous impact on the P.I. Language had the tone and cadence of Tagalog. SINPO 12531 (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Whilst listening to RNZI Mailbox on 6170, Oct 5 at 1335 there was a constant het on the hi side, about 6170.3 and becoming a bit annoying; surely PBS - R. Magasin DZRM, as reported by Ron Howard, CA, and Bryan Clark, NZ on 6170.4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see URUGUAY [and non] No het detectable on RNZI 6170, Oct 6 at 1315, unlike 24 hours earlier from presumed DZRM a fraxion of a kHz high. Was its absence operational or propagational? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chris Hambly of Melbourne rang me to advise that he couldn't hear anything on 49, 41, 31, 25 mb bands between 0200 to 0600 and again 0800 to past 1000 UT 6th October 09 in Eastern Australia. IPS website showed T index's down up to 40 per cent to the north east of Australia and to the north west of Australia about, an estimated guess of 2000 miles. I didn't have much time, as my [broken] leg was giving me grief, whilst on the computer so logged off; but your guess of propagational would be correct. At least that`s were my money would on. Lately the bands here in Eastern Australia, is just like our weather, pretty awful, for spring. You never know if its going to rain, hail, sunshine or blow the proverbial, "dog off the chain", but hey that`s the "land downunder" (Johno Wright, NSW, ARDXC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9520 with instrumental music at 1325 Oct 7. Dialing by feel, at first assumed I was on 9525.9 for VOI, but that was an open carrier. At 1327, 9520 went to ID in English as Radio Veritas Asia, Quezon City, the next broadcast at 1330 to be in Sinhala, repeated at 1328; 1329 into Sinhala announcement, 1330 IS and march theme, 1333 giving P O Box in Q.C. Fair signal for something so far off-target, per Aoki, 250 kW, 280 degrees from Palauig-Zambales site at 1330-1357, balanced during following semihour by Tamil on same parameters. During the few minutes I listened, nothing overtly Catholic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. 9525.0, R. Polonia [sic] via Wertachtal, 1221-1239, Oct. 6. In English; news about Parliament; talking about Warsaw; pop music; poor with QRM VOI (9525.90v) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. DRM noise, 15635-15640-15645, Oct 1 at 1440, or is it Ethiopian jamming? No, DW via Sines scheduled 14-16, 90 kW at 40 degrees. 15470, RDPI with much weaker signal than // 15560, Sunday Oct 4 at 1409, discussion of candidates and their gustatory preferences in extremely slurred conversational Portuguese, swallowing syllable after syllable, gulp. This frequency is on air weekends only at 14-16, 144 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PUNTLAND. See SOMALILAND ** ROMANIA. 11895, VG signal S9+20 playing segués of country/rock tunes in English, Oct 5 at 1532. Hmmm, another VOA Greenville test on a frequency used later at 2100 in Creole? No, at 1539 into announcement in Romanian, i.e. RRI at 15-16 via Galbeni. They must be hard-up for real Romanian programming if they have to play such off- topic stuff to fill the time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA RRI English in B-09, but website shows still B-08 http://www.rri.ro/art.shtml?lang=1&sec=20&art=15758 WESTERN EUROPE 0630-0700 6020drm 7370 1200-1300 11970 15105 1800-1900 6065drm 7215 2130-2200 6030 7380 2300-2400 6015 7220 NORTH AMERICA 2130-2200 6115 9755 2300-2400 6015 9610 0100-0200 6145 9800 0400-0500 We 6130 7310 [what`s `We`? Surely not Wednesdays only] JAPAN, KOREA 2300-2400 5915 7300 THE PACIFIC AREA 0630-0700 17780 21600 SOUTH-EAST ASIA 0400-0500 9690 11895 East AFRICA 1200-1300 15430 17760 (via BC-DX Oct 4 via DXLD) Here are B09 schedules of the two RRI services: - in Russian: 0530 UT 7210 kHz (AM) 6175 kHz (DRM) 1430 UT 9535 kHz (AM) 11870 kHz (AM) 1600 UT 7445 kHz (AM) 6300 kHz (DRM) Well, this is the first time that RRI Russian service uses DRM mode for its transmissions. Maybe it is the first step to cancelling AM in future. (Source: "Club DX" program on RRI.) - in Ukrainian: 1600-1630 6130 kHz 1800-1830 6090 kHz 2000-2030 5960 kHz Source: RRI website: http://www.rri.ro/cat.shtml?lang=12&sec=111 73! (Alexey Zinevich: a DXer from Minsk, Belarus, Oct 3-5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Hi Daniel, I was tuning across the dial at 2237z on Monday evening and came across an extended broadcast in English from what appeared to be the Voice of Russia, yet it was on what I believe to be Radio Bulgaria's frequency (5900). You may already be aware of this, but just figured you'd want to know (Lee Parshook, Tampa, FL, Oct 5 via Daniel Sampson, DXLD) Lee, I tuned in tonight, Tuesday, and you are right. After 2230 I was hearing the Voice of Russia on 5900 and continuing into the 2300 hour. The programming was the same as on 9665 the VOR Moldova relay. I couldn't hear 9890 (Daniel Sampson, WI, Oct 6, ibid.) 5900 is not R. Bulgaria`s frequency between 2200 and 0500 (gh, ibid.) VOR WS in English heard on new 5900 from 2200 past 2300; Bulgaria signs off at 2200 and VORWS signs on (Edwin Southwell, England, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Voice of Russia on 7200, Oct 2 at 1149, fair signal with YL speaking in Russian over classical music background. Later, weaker and garbled on 7265 at 1246. Both bothered by (and presumably bothering) hams (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7200 is supposed to be R. Rossii in Russian via Yakutsk, while 7265 is VOR in Japanese via Chita, per Aoki (gh, DXLD) Disco lives! thanks to Radio Rossii, Oct 4 at 0617, ``Stayin` Alive`` playing on both 7320 Magadan and weaker 7200 Yakutsk. Helps to keep warm in Siberia? 7320, R. Rossii via Magadan, Oct 7 at 0525 with circus music, a bit of it reminding us of Looney Tunes & Merrie Melodies; 0530 brief announcement introducing a pizzicato piece; 0533 into the Vladimir Danov show, discussion with an academic about organ music? But no more music for 2+ minutes so I move on. Good signal. 9440-9450 noise blob, Oct 7 at 1304: could it be Aligarh transmitter on early? No, that appeared on 9475-9485 at 1318, see INDIA, and 9445 noise still there at 1322. Looked up later in Aoki, it`s DRM! VOR to S Asia via Irkutsk-Odinsk, 15 kW, 234 degrees at 1200-1600 in Russian, Hindi this hour, then English and more Hindi, and the DRM DX schedules have it too on 9445. VOR, 12040, in English Oct 5 at 1519 discussing how to celebrate the space age (Sputnik anniversary being Oct 4), and concluded that a Space Week Oct 4-10 would be more appropriate than anything associated with July 20-21, 1969, ``unjustified``. This was running about 1 second ahead of // 15605 where signal was better. Respective sites listed as ``Serpukhov`` and ``Moskva`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. BROADCASTING FROM VOICE OF RUSSIA IN MOSCOW This online supplement is produced and published by Rossiyskaya Gazeta (Russia), which takes sole responsibility for the content. Artem Zagorodnov, Russia Now, Published: 4:40PM BST 07 Oct 2009 Voice of Russia broadcasts to six continents from its headquarters in downtown Moscow --- Photo: Anna Artemeva [YL at mike] Huddled in grimy, candlelit barracks, with Nazi guard dogs barking outside, inmates of Eastern Europe’s most notorious concentration camps would gather round a strange device made of old light bulbs and tin cans. The contraption was an improvised radio, broadcasting the only outside voices most of them would hear for a long time. They were tuned to Radio Moscow. On October 29, 1929, Radio Moscow – the Soviet Union’s first try at foreign propaganda – became the first radio station in the world to broadcast to an international audience. It was followed three years later by the BBC, and then by Voice of America in 1942. By 1939, the station was broadcasting in English, French, German, Italian and Arabic and warning the world about the growth of fascism in Europe. Mussolini personally ordered Radio Moscow to be blocked, as did Hitler following the onset of the Second World War. The station would continue to inspire those involved in opposition movements throughout Nazi-occupied territories. At the peak of the Cold War, during the Cuban Missile Crisis in October 1962, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev chose Radio Moscow to broadcast his open letter to President Kennedy informing him of the USSR’s intention to redirect a military convoy headed for Cuba, thereby avoiding a global war. One of the primary achievements of Soviet propaganda during this time was its sheer size and scope: official sympathy and support for the “oppressed” peoples of Western colonial powers necessitated the goal of reaching every person in his or her own language. Hence, Radio Moscow – called Voice of Russia since 1991 – developed its vast international broadcasting network in languages such as Urdu, Bengali and Pashto. Today, the station broadcasts in 38 languages – more than any other network – to 160 countries. A recent Kremlin-driven campaign to improve Russia’s image resulted in the appointment of 49-year-old reformer Andrei Bistritsky to head the Voice of Russia. “We need to become a multimedia resource, not just a radio station – something like the BBC,” Bistritsky, a former deputy director of the All-Russia State Radio and Television Broadcasting Company, explains. Behind a somewhat serious façade, Bistritsky’s almost boyish exuberance and genuine sense of humour shine through from time to time. “I don’t know the size of the shoes I have to fill. At least one of my predecessors must have been shot,” he grins, referring to Joseph Stalin’s infamous purges of the diplomatic and media community in the Thirties and Forties. On whether his station, the successor to a powerful Soviet propaganda machine, was willing to be as objective as the BBC, Bistritsky is quick to respond, “I worked as a producer at the BBC myself and regard it with much sympathy and respect, but I don't overestimate its objectivity. Remember when [BBC journalist, John] Simpson was expelled from Belgrade? “The Voice of Russia’s charter states that its owner – in this case, the Russian government – has no right to interfere in its content. This rule is obeyed. We provide our listeners with the Russian point of view, but if we don’t give them different opinions that they can compare and analyse, we would be wasting our time.” “I’ve been listening to the station for 40 years,” writes Mike Giblin from the UK. “The content has become better. Now, there’s less politics and more information about life in Russia. The BBC has too many commercials: I hope Voice of Russia doesn’t make the same mistake.” Globalisation has, however, taken its toll on Voice of Russia’s popularity. The rise of the internet, burgeoning international commerce and inexpensive travel all mean that listeners are now less interested in receiving targeted information in their native language. The development of English – which is now understood by more than one billion people – into a “global language” has also affected major media. “Traditional radio is experiencing slow and very painful changes,” explains Bistritsky. “The oncoming digital age has increased competition internationally. While the average listener in, say, Brazil, was presented with maybe 15 radio stations a few decades ago, now he faces 600. Content – more than ever – has to be adjusted to fit local demand.” One visit to Voice of Russia’s website http://www.english.ruvr.ru demonstrates how far technologically the station lags behind similar projects. “We don’t need a total rebranding of the station,” Bistritsky argues, “but we do have to modernise. The average age of our 1,100-strong staff is much higher than that of our listeners, who are mostly young, professionally active individuals. “We plan to develop broadcasting over the internet – already a reality – and over mobile-phone networks. We’ll also have to get an FM station in the US and open our own bureau in Washington. The main problem is financing: our budget remains a state secret, but I can tell you that it should be at least three times as large.” Voice of Russia also faces a major challenge from maintaining its sheer breadth of languages and listeners. “While we’re a single radio station, each of our languages is a separate media outlet. We try to maintain a somewhat unified editorial line that directs content, but it’s not always easy,” says Bistritsky. Recently, the station launched several FM transmitters in the north of Iraq. “Afghanistan is one of our most successful markets,” he adds. “Yet exactly this challenge provides Voice of Russia its mission in the 21st century,” he explains. “We will be a ‘hub’ of sorts, an international airport. We will collect, organise and integrate information, distributing it to our vast audience. We target each listener – in his language – with exactly the content that is interesting to him. This is something the BBC doesn’t do.” An successful integration of past diversity and scope with modern technology would make the station a valuable resource in a globalised 21st century. Bistritsky agrees a new, “overhauled” website would provide the best infrastructure for his new hub, and promises to launch it within months. “There’s no internet anymore; there’s just a collection of different types of media. We’re going to be at the forefront.” RN Dossier Andrei Bistritsky was born in 1960 in Moscow. He entered the media in 1991, when he joined the All-Russia State Radio and Television Broadcasting Company. During this time, he hosted several radio and TV talk shows. In 1996, Bistritsky headed the Society section of the popular Itogi magazine before becoming a producer for the BBC in Moscow in 1998. In 2008, President Vladimir Putin appointed Bistristky to head the Voice of Russia. Bistritsky holds a PhD from the Academy of Pedagological Sciences and is a professor at the Higher School of Economics. He is married and has one son. Facts 1. The Voice of Russia (Radio Moscow) was the first to start international radio broadcasting in 1929. Now, with an audience of 109m, it ranks third after BBC and Voice of America among the biggest broadcasters. 2. Since 2003, Voice of Russia has been broadcasting digitally in Europe. It currently maintains mobile phone broadcasting in 16 US states. [how is that? gh] 3. 25pc of all listeners have started listening to Voice of Russia during the past five years. VoR broadcasts 151 hours of content globally each day. Quotes "VoR does a good job of providing objective coverage of the most complicated processes under way in Russia. It makes the country’s foreign policy more clear to the audiences abroad" - Andranik Migranyan, NYC branch of the Institute for Democracy and Cooperation "Everyone should have an opportunity to receive information from many sources, not just CNN. If an American wants to learn more about Russia, he should also listen to Voice of Russia to form his own view" - Mike Sefanov, CNN’s Moscow Producer Numbers 38 languages encompass Voice of Russia’s broadcasting capability. The station airs in more languages than any other network. [not true! There are several gospel huxter nets that use many more. IBB and BBC must be close to 38 too --- gh] 160 countries on six continents receive Voice of Russia's broadcasts in some format. The station has been praised for maintaining its scope in an increasingly globalised media atmosphere. [sure it`s not 161+?] 3rd place – after the BBC and Voice of America – was taken by Voice of Russia among the world’s biggest broadcasters in an opinion poll conducted by the International Organisation for the Support of Mass Media (Switzerland). [a matter of opinion how `big` it is??? --- gh] Source: Telegraph.co.uk http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sponsored/russianow/6269631/Russia-Now-The-changing-face-of-the-radio-industry.html (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) Illustrated; what do they mean by `sponsored` in the URL? Paid-for, not objective reportage? (gh) ** SAMOA & SAMOA AMERICAN [and non]. SAMOAN RADIO SURVIVES TSUNAMI BRAVE BROADCASTERS DEFY DANGER Media Release Radio Heritage Foundation http://www.radioheritage.net The recent earthquake and devastating tsunami affecting Samoa, American Samoa and northern Tonga brought forward several shining examples of radio broadcasting dedication in the face of extreme danger says the Radio Heritage Foundation. KKHJ-FM activates emergency warnings In Pago Pago, American Samoa, the morning DJ at KKHJ-FM felt the earthquake and activated emergency warnings immediately. Lupe Lohmann then broadcast calls for residents to head for higher ground and by the time she realized that a tsunami was heading up Pago Pago harbor towards the studios, it was too late for her to leave. She stayed on the air as surging waters smashed into the ground floor of the Pago Pago Plaza, home of KKHJ-FM. You can hear her interview with the BBC describing the events at http://www.newsbbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8281616.stm and look at photos of the devastation caused by the tsunami at the KKHJ-FM website http://www.khjradio.com where you can also listen to KKHJ-FM streaming live and see more images of the temporary studios being used at the transmitter site. Pago Pago FM Towers For images of the KKHJ-FM tower high above Pago Pago visit http://www.radioheritage.net and click on the article 'Pago Pago Tower Tour'. Other features about American Samoan radio can be found at the same website - 'WVUV Radio Romance' and 'This is WVUV'. According to the World Radio TV Handbook http://www.wrth.com there are five FM stations on the air in American Samoa [population 61,400] and in addition to KKHJ-FM, live streaming is currently available from KSBS http://www.ksbsfm92.com and KNWJ-FM http://www.fm104.org 2AP 540 AM stays on the air Across in independent Samoa, another DJ also stayed on duty as the earthquake struck the islands. Radio 2AP broadcasts at 540AM from sea level near the capital, Apia, and Epati Tamati felt the earthquake and also realized a tsunami was likely. He also chose to stay on the air, accepting hundreds of calls from worried and frightened listeners and broadcasting emergency messages. You can see a photo of Epati inside the 2AP studios and read his story in the article 'Radio Man Risks Life for Listeners' in the October 7 edition of The New Zealand Herald newspaper online at http://www.nzherald.co.nz Radio Polynesia moves to the hills Olga Keil of Radio Polynesia in Apia is also reported on the BBC Asia-Pacific website with her comments about the earthquake. You can find this story at http://www.newsbbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8282115.stm and find out more about the four stations of Radio Polynesia at http://www.fmradio.ws Since the earthquake, the staff have been broadcasting from makeshift studios in the hills behind Apia, close to their transmitter complex. According to the World Radio TV Handbook there are one AM and eight FM stations on the air in Samoa [population 178,000] but none of the local stations currently stream services online. The Radio Heritage Foundation recommends reading the following features about radio in Samoa at its website: 'Radio in Samoa', 'Samoan Radio Sale', 'ZMAP Apia Samoa' and 'Samoan Radio Journey' for more information about 2AP, Radio Polynesia and other stations. RNZI Pacific Coverage We also recommend staying tuned to Radio New Zealand International http://www.rnzi.com for breaking Pacific news and live reports from reporters in Samoa, American Samoa and Tonga as tsunami reconstruction continues. _____________________________________________________ Radio Heritage Foundation is a registered non-profit organization connecting popular culture, nostalgia and radio heritage across the Pacific. Our global website is http://www.radioheritage.net (David Ricquish, RHF, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAO TOME. 6080, VoA English via São Tomé in well with VoA News and pop music on “VoA Music Mix” would be QRM free but I’ve got some sort of pulsing local QRM that is driving me buggy! SIO 4+44- 0603-0623 27/Sep (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) Clix are not local since we hear them too around this frequency (gh, OK, DXLD) 4960, VOA on 10/4 with best signal heard this season thus far with VOA feature “Our World” with man talking on a new telescope at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum at 0415. Nice signal all the way to the Hausa service at 0500 and beyond. No QRM but moderate noise and fading. SINPO 35333 (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. From Aug. 22, BSKSA broadcasting in Turkish: 1800- 2055 on 9675 RIY 500 kW / 340 deg. Poor signal in BUL (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As already in DXLD ** SERBIA [non]. New additional transmission of International Radio Serbia in Serbian: 2130-2158 on 7230 BIJ 250 kW / 100 deg to Australia. Good reception in BUL (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As already in DXLD ** SLOVAKIA. POSSIBLE CLOSURE OF RADIO SLOVAKIA INERNATIONAL * Radio Slowakei International erneut vor dem Aus Die Zukunft des slowakischen Auslandsrundfunks Radio Slowakei International ist erneut unsicher. Den Mitarbeitern wurden die Verträge zum Jahresende gekündigt, nachdem der Slowakische Rundfunk vom Staat noch keine neuen finanziellen Mittel zum Betrieb des mehrsprachigen Senders erhalten hat. Radio Slowakei International hofft, die Gelder noch zu erhalten. In diesem Fall würde der Sendebetrieb unveräündert fortgesetzt werden. Andernfalls würden ausschließlich die Sendungen in slowakischer und englischer Sprache fortgeführt werden - vermutlich aber ausschließlich im Internet. http://www.rsi.sk Di, 06. Okt 2009 http://www.satnews.de/mlesen.php?id=fdd06549bcb469b68266cc0fd2e60951 (could be gone as early as tomorrow) Says that SRo got no new funds for running the foreign service so far, thus the contracts of staff members have been terminated, effective yearend. They still hope to get the money; in this case the service would continue without changes. Otherwise only broadcasts in Slovak and English will continue, but presumably no longer on shortwave. No sources specified, perhaps reflects statements from German service staff (Kai Ludwig, Oct 7, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5018.4, SIBC, (presumed), 0927-1000, Noted a male in Pidgin language comments. Between comments music presented. Signal was just weak enough where it was very difficult to make out the details. More comments and music ensue during the period. Signal was poor (Chuck Bolland, October 7, 2009, NRD545, FL, 26.37N 081.05W WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Charles, Yes, noted at 1000, seems to be returned, a great log! 73s, (Bob Wilkner, 1006 UT Oct 7, ibid.) 5018.57, SIBC caught at 1010 to 1029 per tips from Charles Bolland and David Sharp. Good to have them back on this frequency as they formerly came in well. 7 October. 73s de (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Drake R 8 ~ Icom 746Pro DL, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meter band dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Back on! Hi Everyone, Will follow-up with a log shortly but SIBC are back on, hearing them 0900+ UT Oct 7 on 5018.513 kHz. Slightly distorted audio but not too bad and very strong signal, pegging both my FT-950 and NRD-535D with an over S9+60dB signal. Should be propagating to North America right now. Good luck (David Sharp, NSW Australia, 1002 UT Oct 7, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5018.513, SIBC, 0910 Oct 7, English, local messages, including tsunami relief news for people in Tonga and elsewhere. Local time check by man, into "Voice of Salvation" at 0915. Certainly not here day prior so must have reactivated today. Very strong, pegging S-Meters on both radios at S9+60dB (David Sharp, NSW Australia, FT-950 and NRD-535D, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) SIBC on 5018.5 at 1030, tune in with good. Closing announcement at 1201 by male and national anthem at 1203. Relayed BBC-WS from 1205. (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, ibid.) 5018.50, SIBC (presumed), randomly from 1207 to 1437 tune out, Oct. 7. In English with non-stop BBCWS programming; best reception from about 1300 to 1330 (almost fair); much better reception here than ex: 9541.50; some CW QRM. Thanks to Chuck Bolland and David Sharp for their timely tips (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Before this news reached me, as I was tuning around 5 MHz, Oct 7 at 1240 I noticed an unusual carrier below Cuba 5025, but figured it was just India on 5015, unpursued (gh, DXLD) Yes, noted SIBC also here with decent signal on 7 Oct at 1335 on 5018.5 with BBC relay (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5019.958, SIBC, 0947 Oct 8, nearly on nominal with strong signal. Now, if they could just "fix" the garbled audio! Had tried for this earlier without luck at 0700 and again at 0800, so I'm not sure when it came on, or if intermittent. Obviously they have someone "tweaking" the xmtr. Nice to have them back (David Sharp, NSW Australia, FT-950, NRD- 535D etc., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5020, SIBC, 1038-1100 Oct 8, Noted SIBC right on their assigned frequency this morning with a male in Pidgin comments. Being rather late already, the signal was very poor at my location (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALILAND. 7145, 6/10 1814, Radio Hargeisa, songs, fair (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Perseus Remote in Bocca di Magra - Drake R8 in Milan; Ant: Wellbrook 1010 loop & T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALILAND. Somalia: PUNTLAND BANS LOCAL RADIO STATIONS FROM AIRING VOA SOMALI PROGRAMMES | Text of report by Somali independent Radio Gaalkacyo on 2 October Puntland regional administration has issued a decree prohibiting local radios in Puntland from airing VOA Somali programmes through their FM radio broadcasts. The deputy information minister of Puntland, Abdishakuur Mire Adan, and the security minister jointly issued the decree ordering local radio stations in Puntland not to air VOA Somali programmes through their broadcasts. The decree stated that VOA Somali programmes are fuelling new political tensions in Somalia, especially Puntland, adding that the administration has decided to suspend all its operations in the region, Puntland has accused VOA Somali programmes of airing programmes that are negative to stability and security. The information minister said that the VOA is spreading baseless information regarding religious groups in Puntland and condemned its reporters for interviewing a man who claimed to be the spokesman of Ahlu Sunnah wal Jama'a in Puntland. Puntland has also accused VOA Somali programme of falsely airing reports which claimed that Puntland army had arrested politicians and MPs from the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia at Gaalkacyo airport. The move comes after Puntland had suspended operations VOA reporters in Puntland. However, the journalists of Puntland have accused the administration of suppressing the freedom of reporting and the media, and called the authorities to review its policy towards the media. Source: Radio Gaalkacyo, Gaalkacyo, in Somali 1015 gmt 2 Oct 09 (via BBCM via DXLD) Where is Puntland, exactly: Map put out by its `government` http://www.puntlandgovt.com/map.php shows it`s the real HOA, NE corner of Somalia including the eastern part of Somaliland, but not as far west as Hargeysa (gh, DXLD) VOA DENOUNCES BAN ON VOA JOURNALISTS IN PUNTLAND, SOMALIA Urges Puntland government to reverse suspension "immediately" Washington, D.C., October 5, 2009 - The Voice of America condemns the indefinite ban on reporting imposed on three VOA journalists by the government in the semi-autonomous region of Puntland in northeastern Somalia. "This represents censorship and a serious blow to press freedoms and cannot be tolerated," said Voice of America Director Dan Austin. "Our journalists all over the world follow the guidelines laid out in the VOA charter; reporting that is accurate, objective and comprehensive. I urge the Puntland government to reverse this suspension immediately." Puntland's Deputy Minister of Information Abdishakur Mire Adan issued a letter late last week, banning three VOA reporters - Nuh Muse, Mohamed Yasin, and Abdulkadir Mohamed - and any other VOA journalist from working in the region. The deputy minister also ordered all VOA affiliate FM stations to cease airing VOA programs. "Access to information is a basic right enshrined in the 60-year Universal Declaration of Human Rights," said Steven J. Simmons of the Broadcasting Board of Governors which oversees U.S. international broadcasting including the Voice of America. "It is a tragedy that those most in need will be deprived of essential news and information by these actions." On Friday, Puntland Security Minister General Abdullah Samara also wrote a letter, describing VOA reports in the region as "negative" and inciting "instability." Chief of VOA's Somali Service Abdi Yabarow believes the decision to suspend VOA broadcasts came after the service aired an interview with Sheikh Sayid Khalif, a moderate Sufi Muslim leader who told VOA he had opened an Ahlu Sunna Wal-Jama'a branch in Puntland. The Sheikh went on to condemn the extremist practices of Al-Shabab and other hardline religious groups in Somalia. Several weeks ago, Puntland officials briefly detained reporter Mohamed Yasin after he reported that the former governor's son had killed a man in broad daylight. Yabarow said, "We ask Puntland authorities to allow the free flow of information. For the last two years, VOA journalists have reported the news fairly and accurately in Puntland, where we have many listeners. We also urge officials to allow our affiliates to do their jobs and broadcast our programs." VOA's Somali Service broadcasts three hours and 30 minutes of news and information programming daily, 7 days a week on AM, FM, shortwave and the Internet at http://www.VOANews.com/Somali (VOA press release Oct 5, also via Hansjoerg Biener, via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Once again Jülich turned Brother Scare on early, Oct 6 at 1458 as he was giving addresses on 17485; nothing there as I tuned past a minute or two earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. REE`s Amigos de la Onda Corta, monitored on webcast tho could easily have heard on 6055 direct if convenient, Oct 3 at 0510 was interviewing the W&W who do the weekly Sephardic show. I knew it, I knew it, introduced by playing the sign-on announcement for that, with wrong frequency 15325 instead of real 15385, Mondays at 1425- 1455! I have pointed this out more than once recently in my log reports and DXLD, but it seems station personnel are so out of it they don`t read them, even the portions concerning their own station! Not to mention they don`t even listen to their own station and discover the discrepancy themselves sesquimonths ago. Of course 15325 could be the `right` frequency, only the Noblejas operators don`t know it. But that`s no excuse. Weekly REE Sephardic service, 15385, Monday Oct 5 at 1423 with IS, 1425 YL opening still imagining she is on ``15325``. If I worked at a radio station, I would at least have enough interest to find out what frequencies I was on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 9780, VOA via Irana Wila, 1307, 9/29/09. Deewa Radio program in Pashto. Presumed news presented by OM & YL. Good signal (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Drake R8B, Wellbrook 330S 1.1 M loop, Par SWL End Fed, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3 OCT 2009, 7495, USA (non). VoA R. Deewa via Iranawila, M&W in Pashto 1712z, taking calls from listeners and the DJs were asking the listeners to sing the song they just played (maybe for a prize or possibly for 3 days of R&R in Kabul?). The music sounded subcontinental and some music sounded more Middle-eastern/Persian. Two men and one woman at 1755 talking in Pashto, then abrupt s/off 1758* no NA (and I was looking forward to hearing old reliable the Yankee Doodle IS). Fair mid-day reception, a bit after high-noon (Steven C. Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, (2 miles from Boca Chica Beach, GULF of MEXICO), Radio Shack DX-399, 150' center fed LW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, quite unusual; aimed USward at 340 degrees (gh) ** SUDAN. 7200, SRTC, 2055-2104*, Oct 2, Arabic talk. Many mentions of Omdurman. Jingles. Abrupt sign off. Good signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 7200, 6/10 1824, Radio Sudan, talks in Arabic mentioning Sudan, fair, better in LSB (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Perseus Remote in Bocca di Magra - Drake R8 in Milan; Ant: Wellbrook 1010 loop & T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAM. 4990, R. Apintie (tentative) heard 10/4 for first time in many months with typical non-stop pop music (or so it appeared) from 0623 tune, in and out of audibility – this is typically when Apintie is heard here when on the air. Threshold signal with no QRM from the Brazilian on 4985. Signal spike on the Perseus was better looking than the audio sounded (well above the noise level) and was centered on 4990. SINPO 15331 (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) ** SWEDEN. 15735, R. Sweden, quite good Oct 2 upwrapping English semihour at 1355, despite being aimed anything but USward, 40 degrees per Aoki, 55 per HFCC. Averaging S9+10, plus/minus 5. Certainly not longpath, but plenty of the 500 kW signal leaking off the backside of the antennas, coupled with favorable propagation, which was not always the case this summer. Ha ha, we can still hear you in the morning. 9490 in Swedish, YL in studio interviewing OM on phone, Oct 5 at 0618. Could this be Radio Sweden, direct from Hörby? Yes, scheduled M-F 0600-0700 with 250 kW each at 140 and 240 degrees, i.e. totalling 380 degrees - just kidding (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Sweden B09 – the English Service: (From October 25, 2009) Broadcasts to Asia and the Pacific 0230-0300 11550 (50 ) via Madagascar 1330-1400 7465 (55 ) 1430-1500 9400 (120 ) Europe, Africa and the Middle East 1530-1600 9360 (Middle East) 1700-1730 7465 (Middle East) 1830-1900 MW 1179 1900-1930 MW 1179 2230-2300 MW 1179 2030-2100 9490 (320 ) via Madagascar 2130-2200 7425 (280 ) via Madagascar North America 0230-0300 6010 (240 } via Sackville 0330-0330 6010 (268 } via Sackville (Source: SR.SE website) 73! (via Alexey Zinevich: a DXer from Minsk, Belarus, Oct 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It appeared there already are B09 skeds of two more R. Sweden services: - in Russian: ASIA + EUROPE 1400 - 1430 SW 11540 kHz (25m) 55 + satellite EUROPE 1530 - 1600 SW 9400 kHz (25m) 55 1730 - 1800 SW 5840 kHz (31m) 70 1930 - 2000 SW 6065 kHz (49m) 70 MW 1179 kHz (254m) 2030 - 2100 SW 5850 kHz (49m) 85 MW 1179 kHz (254m) - in Romani: from. 25 oktober Radio Romano Saturday: 2130-2200 (UTC) 5840 kHz 2200-2300 (UTC) 5840 kHz 2300-0000 1179 kHz [so is this one `UTC` too?] Cafe Romano Sunday: 2130-2200 (UTC) 5840 kHz 2200-2300 (UTC) 5840 kHz Source: http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/international/artikel.asp?Artikel=2725962 73! (Alexey Zinevich: a DXer from Minsk, Belarus, Oct 4, ibid.) R. Sweden B09 FULL sked can be found here: http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/international/artikel.asp?Artikel=3144955 (all the services) ------ 73! (Alexey Zinevich: a DXer from Minsk, Belarus, Oct 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGESET) Viz.: Here`s the full B-09 schedule from their website, all times UT u.o.s.: Programs in Swedish short-and medium wave Radio Sweden special produced SWEDISH PROGRAM DISCONTINUED This means that our weekend programs The Week That Went (with a summary of the week's main Swedish news), Sweden Granary, Maritime magazine and Sweden in the World disappear, and the daily half-hour packages of actuality and news on weekdays. Broadcasts on shortwave, medium wave and satellite will continue until further notice, especially with repeat consignments from Eko program (Lunch echo in the afternoons, Daily Echo 17:45 in the evening and night). Schedule Satellite Radio Sweden 1 Schedule Satellite Radio Sweden 2 Here is the SWEDISH broadcasting schedule which applies from 25 October 2009: All time: UTC (Swedish winter = UTC / GMT +1 hour) Europe / Africa / Middle East Weekdays kHz Riktn. 0500-0600 9490 (125 ) 0600-0800 6065 (140 -240 ) 1500-1530 9360 (125 ) 1645-1715 5865 (140 -240 ) 1800-1830 7465 (125 ) 1900-1930 5865 (140 º -240 º) 7465 (235 ) 2000-2030 5850 (140 -240 ) 9490 (320 ) via Madagascar 2100-2130 7425 (275 ) via Madagascar 2200-2230 5850 (140 -240 ) Saturday 1500-1530 9360 (125 ) 1645-1715 5865 (140 -240 ) 1800-1830 7465 (125 ) 1900-1930 5865 (140 º -240 º) 7465 (235 ) 2000-2030 5850 (140 -240 ) 9490 (320 ) via Madagascar 2100-2130 7425 (275 ) via Madagascar 2200-2230 5850 (140 -240 ) Sunday 1500-1530 9360 (125 ) 1645-1700 5865 (140 -240 ) 1800-1830 7465 (125 ) 1900-1930 5865 (140 º -240 º) 7465 (235 ) 2000-2030 5850 (140 -240 ) 9490 (320 ) via Madagascar 2100-2130 7425 (275 ) via Madagascar 2200-2230 5850 (140 -240 ) Listeners in Europe and the Middle East can hear many Asian Broadcasting in 40 - 120 . Listeners in the Canary Islands can try the 140 -240 and Madagascar Transmission of 320 . Medium wave 1179 kHz (254m) --- Daily broadcasts in Swedish: 0455- 0700, 1645-1715, 1800-1830 (Sundays SR P4 sports), 1900-1930, 2100- 2200, 2200-2230. Best listening during the dark part of the day in Northern and Central Europe and the UK and Ireland. Asia 1200-1230 9380 (40 ) 1300-1330 11600 (55 ) 11550 (95 ) 1400-1430 9400 (85 ) 1500-1530 9400 (100 ) 0200-0230 11550 (50 ) through Madagascar, South Asia Broadcasts in 80 - 100 to Asia in many cases can be heard in the Middle East. North America 0200-0230 6010 (240 ) via Sackville 0300-0330 6010 (268 ) via Sackville ENGLISH: Europe, Africa & the Middle East 1530-1600 9360 (125 ) 1700-1730 7465 (125 ) 1730-1800 MW 1179 1830-1900 MW 1179 2000-2030 MW 1179 2030-2100 9490 (320 ) via Madagascar 2130-2200 7425 (275 ) via Madagascar 2230-2300 MW 1179 Satellite: To Europe daily at 1430 and weekdays at 1830 and 1930 hrs UTC on Eurobird 9 (9 E) 11,919 GHz / V, SR 27500 FEC 3 / 4. Also at 0130, 0530 and 1430 (MF) (BST through October 25, UTC from October 25) via WRN on Hot Bird 6 (13 E) 12,597 GHz / V, SR 27500 FEC 3 / 4 and on Sky Digital channel 0122 on EuroBird 1 (28.5 E), Sundays at 0130 local time via Spectrum Radio in London on 558 AM. To Africa at 0930 (MF) and 1900 UTC on Intelsat 10 (68.5 E), 3808 MHz / V (transponder 14), SR 10,340, FEC 3 / 4, the audio stream WRN English, on World Space AfriStar channel 305.Broadcasts to Asia and the Pacific North America 0230-0300 6010 (240 ) via Sackville 0330-0330 6010 (268 ) via Sackville Satellite: Daily at 0230, 0630 (MF only), 1500, and 2130 Eastern Time via WRN on Galaxy 19 (97 W) on 12,177 GHz / V (transponder 27), SR 23000, FEC 3 / 4, WRN1 (English), and Sirius Satellite Radio on channel 140 In Canada on CBC Overnight 0205-0230 local time (weekends 0305-0330). Russian Asia & Europe 1400-1430 11540 (25?) (55 + sputnik) Europe 1530-1600 9400 (25?) (55 ) 1730-1800 5840 (31?) (70 ) 1930-2000 6065 (49?) (70 ) 1179 (254?) 2030-2100 5850 (49?) (85 ) 1179 (254?) Arabic, Middle East 1730-1800 7465 (125 ) Monday-Friday /Aramaic / Assyrian, Middle East 1600-1630 9360 (125 ) Thursday and Friday Kurmancî / Sorani /????? /Kurdish, Middle East 1630-1700 9360 (125 / 140 ) Monday-Friday Persian, Middle East 1600-1630 9360 (125 / 140 ) Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday Romany Chib, Middle East 2300-0000 MW 1179 Saturdays 2130-2200 5840 (145 ) Saturday and Sunday 2200-2300 5840 (145 ) Saturday and Sunday © Copyright Sveriges Radio 2009 (via Noel Green, DXLD) ** SWEDEN. No More Printed Schedule or QSL Cards --- The start of the new transmission period for short and medium wave, as well as satellite, on October 25, Radio Sweden will only be publishing our broadcast schedule on the Web. This is a logical consequence of the increasing importance of the Internet as a broadcast platform and because we have stopped broadcasting our own programs in Swedish. At the same time we are simplifying our marketing and audience services. Listeners to our programs will find the schedules for all our languages under the heading "Frequencies/Tider och frekvenser" on the SR International homepage. When necessary and by request we will also continue to mail printed versions of our schedules in Swedish and other languages. Listeners can also contact Swedish Radio´s Listener Service department with requests. At the same time we are discontinuing mailing QSL cards to listeners in response to reception reports. Ingemar Löfgren, Head of SR International (Source : Radio Sweden via T.R.Rajeesh Taken from http://alokeshgupta.blogspot.com/2009/10/no-more-printed-schedule-or-qsl-cards.html via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, noticiasdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) The formal headline is partially misleading. R. Sweden will continue mailing the printed schedules "when necessary and by request." But it seems like printed QSL will have to go. Get yours while they are still available! I used to have a huge (A4-size) QSL from R. Sweden issued sometime in the end of 1980s. The largest one in my collection. Sadly it was lost during one of my moves. 73! (Sergei S., dxldyg via DXLD) Two stations, namely "Radio Vlanderen Intn'l" and "Radio Sweden" have stopped issuing physical QSL cards. Aren't we as shortwave listeners responsible for this? Look at the number of "active members" the DX clubs have. There are usually 4 or 5 members who are active in each online club, rest are sleeping members. Inactive members have a variety of reasons to tell why they are inactive. Similarly the poor response from the audience have resulted in stations showing less interest in listeners on a reciprocal basis or is it the other way around? This comparison may sound weird but the way man is himself responsible for the natural disasters because of global warming similarly I think Shortwave listeners themselves are responsible for the decline in BC DXing. I also consider myself as a "sleeping member" as I was also inactive for quite a long time. You may have different views and reasons for the decline in DXing. Please share them here. 73s, (Harjot Singh Brar, Punjab, GRDXC via DXLD) Hello, Yes, the decline of shortwave and the decline in issue of QSL cards is due to a number of reasons, the majority of it being to do with a too fast paced world these days which is also due to the increasing greed of people living on this earth. Because it is a fast paced world there is less time to listen, compile and send reception reports be it either by snail mail or email. This is mainly the reason for me not sending reports or receiving QSL cards anymore. I am self employed and have to work fairly long hours at both a shop and also from home. Listening to radio programs and compiling reception reports takes a lot of real time, something I just don't have anymore and I feel this is the majority of people's problem! The decline in shortwave transmissions and the issue of QSL cards by the stations themselves is due to budget constraints and cut backs by station management, the station owners and even the lack of government funding, staff cutbacks etc. once again, due to a fast paced world and also due to super greed because no one wants to fund a non profit radio station broadcasting on shortwave anymore! Of course, the internet and mobile phones also has something to do with it as well as the installation of more FM transmitters to cover the world's regions that shortwave used to cover and also globalisation where multi culturism now makes getting a certain country's message out on shortwave almost redundant. Also, it is just about only us old timers left to care for shortwave as the young people don't feel as excited about receiving for "FREE" the sound of another country from the other side of the world on a portable radio especially when it doesn't offer good quality sound. Best wishes from Australia! (Michael Stevenson, ibid.) R. Sweden stopped ``Calling DXers`` many years ago, and now adds to that, ``Get lost!`` (gh, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Frequency changes of Radio Taiwan International CBS in Chinese: 1000-1700 NF 7385 KOU 100 kW / 352 deg, ex 7185 1400-1800 NF 6075 KOU 100 kW / 310 deg, ex 7130 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As already in DXLD ** TAJIKISTAN. Voice of Tajik heard on 7245 at 1703 September 25 in English, local news, identification and music. Interference from other stations but Vatican 7250 off air (Edwin Southwell, England, Oct World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** TIBET. Special coverage of the National Day evening gala. Observed the following in parallel with CNR-1 on Oct. 1, from 1203 to 1325: 4820 and 6110, PBS Xizang. After 1300, PBS Xizang on 4905, 4920 and 6200 picked up the coverage from the very beginning of celebrations (not //) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, Dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) China, 6200, PBS Xizang, (tentative, 1000-1030 Oct 3, Noted a male in English language news with many mentions of China. Signal was very threshold. PBS has a few English language schedules during the day as per AOKI and EIBI, but none that I can find during the 1000 hour (Chuck Bolland, Watkins Johnson HF1000, 26.37N 081.05W, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. U K (non), Some VT Communications changes: Voice of Tibet in Tibetan: 1330-1400 NF 15430 DHA 250 kW / 070 deg, ex 17550. Both freqs jammed by CHINA (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) ** TRISTAN DA CUNHA. See LANGUAGE LESSONS ** TURKEY. Winter B-09 schedule for Voice of Turkey: ARABIC 1000-1055 on 11955 13690 1500-1555 on 9665 AZERI 0800-0855 on 11835 1630-1725 on 5965 BULGARIAN 1200-1225 on 9640 CHINESE 1200-1255 on 15140 DARI 1600-1625 on 11680 ENGLISH 0400-0455 on 6020 7240 + 6040 SAC 250 kW / 277 deg 1330-1425 on 12035 15300 1930-2025 on 6050 2130-2225 on 9610 2300-2355 on 5960 [note some new frequencies for English unlike last winter: 6040 Sackville --- will RCI manage to get the right language on during the new timeslot, unlike the entire month of March? 15300 will give us some propagational variety, unlike 11735 in B-08; sticking to the RTTY QRM on 9830 at 2200 until the bitter end of A-09, but then! --- gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1481] FRENCH 2030-2125 on 5970 6050 GERMAN 1230-1325 on 11620 1830-1925 on 7205 GEORGIAN 1100-1155 on 9840 ITALIAN 1500-1525 on 7335, not 1730-1755 on 6185 KAZAKH 1430-1455 on 9785 PASHTO 1700-1725 on 11680 PERSIAN 0930-1055 on 11795 1600-1655 on 9530 RUSSIAN 1400-1455 on 9410 SPANISH 0200-0255 on 9410 9650 1730-1825 on 9495, not 1500-1555 on 7335 TATAR 1100-1155 on 15360 TURKISH 0100-0255 on 6000 0500-0655 on 9700 9820 0700-0955 on 11925 15350 15480 1000-1355 on 15350 15480 1400-1655 on 11815 1700-2155 on 5980 6120 TURKMEN 1300-1325 on 11965 URDU 1300-1355 on 11985 UYGHUR 0300-0355 on 9540 1400-1455 on 11640, not 11620 UZBEK 1100-1155 on 11865 1630-1655 on 11680 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, corrected version Oct 8 via DXLD) ** TURKMENISTAN. SW off? Haven't been able to get any signals from Turkmenistan on 4930 and 5015 for many, many weeks now during UT afternoon/evening. Anyone still hearing them, or are they gone for good? (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Oct 6, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. 1575 kHz, Radyo Farda, al-Dhabbiya. 2350-0020 GMT October 3-4, 2009. Punched up 15475 in error, hitting 1575 to hear this, strong and with very decent audio. Turned out to be Farda, parallel to the website audio feed (delayed slightly) per David Crawford, who I was IM chatting with shortly after tuning in. Mid-east pop-ish vocals, Farsi man just seconds before the hour, no time sounders, and back to vocals, even one Madonna track at 0117. Signal slowly dropped as the local grayline passed. Also heard: 1098 Spain (threshold audio); 1431 Radio Sawa, Djibouti (weak traces of audio popping up); 1089 UK (weak audio, definite UK-accented man). (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See disclaimer under CUBA ** UNITED KINGDOM [non]. BBC Mundo on 9410, Oct 2 at 1206, via Furman SC. Very nice signal of Spanish service of now rare-catch BBC. How I miss the NAm English service of old; the FM newsfeed simulcasts and streaming online domestic UK stations are no substitute (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. 15285, SINGAPORE, BBC Kranji, 1348-1400, Sept 28, English/Mandarin. "BBC Learning English" program with expressions of dissapointment, "Authentic Real English" IDs at 1355, as opposed to imitation fake English, I guess, pips & W announcer at ToH; good until co-channel V. of Turkey IS at 1355 (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yeah, lots of imitation fake English, hi (gh) 15790 with B-B-C- chime notes IS, Oct 3 at 1358, but final repetition cut off after the first B- at 1359:30, then to pre-hourtop 16-bells of BigBen, but on-hourtop marker cut off too after only one bong, even tho local London time was 3:00! Geez, is BBCWS out of synch. And opening Arabic, as scheduled via Cyprus due south. Fair signal anext Galei Zahal. As I was bandscanning between 13 and 1330 Tuesday Oct 6, I noticed that BBCWS on 5875, 6195, 9740 had a programme about Venezuela, but I was put off by the correspondent on the spot who hadn`t even learned how to pronounce Bolívar. After considerable searching thru the BBCWS website for an appropriate SW program schedule, by pretending I was in Laos, found it was ``Oil in the Works`` on Global Business with Peter Day; nevertheless, I dredged up the archive and listened to the whole thing later, cringing as I went while he also mangled Chávez, Caracas, barrios, Quiroz: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p004f23j or direct audio: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p004f23j (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBCWS - user survey regarding "Newshour" If you're a fan of the BBC's flagship news analysis program (as am I), you'll want to make your opinions heard at the BBCWS feedback website, BBC Global Minds. The survey is here: https://www.bbcglobalminds.com/R.aspx?r=I.lIxIoAyUyYFR8dHNPtlQ&m=60000 0246 (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Oct 5, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. Some changes of BBC: Arabic 1500-1700 NF 11605 RMP 250 kW / 168 deg, ex 15180 SKN 300 kW / 180 deg to NAf English WS 2200-2400 NF 7490 NAK 250 kW / 045 deg to EAs, ex 7390 Swahili, additional frequencies 0400-0430 on 7275 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg & 11785 SEY 250 kW / 270 deg to EAf Turkish, all transmissions on SW are cancelled 0400-0430 on 6145 CYP, 9435 MOS Mon-Fri 0800-0900 on 7375 CYP, 17870 RMP Sun 1500-1530 on 3990 CYP, 11615 MOS, 13580 SKN Sat/Sun 1500-1550 on 3990 CYP, 11615 MOS, 13580 SKN Mon-Fri (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As already in DXLD - Turkish ** U K [non]. Some VT Communications changes: TWR Africa 1800-1845 NF 6120 DHA 250 kW / 225 deg to E Af, ex 5940, re-ex 9895 as follows: 1800-1815 in Tigrinya Mon-Wed; 1800-1815 in Amharic Thu/Fri; 1800-1830 in Tigre Sat; 1800-1830 in Kunama Sun; 1815-1845 in Tigrinya Mon-Fri; 1830-1845 in Amharic Sun (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. English Football in Chinese to China on 7485 TAC 100 kW/090 deg 1625-1830 on Sat Oct. 3 Manchester Utited vs Sunderland [sic] 1455-1700 on Sun Oct. 4 Chelsea vs Liverpool 1140-1345 on Sat Oct. 17 Aston Villa vs Chelsea 1455-1600 on Sun Oct. 18 Wigan vs Manchester City 1355-1600 on Sat Oct. 24 Spurs vs Stoke City 1455-1700 on Sun Oct. 25 Liverpool vs Manchester Utited [sic] (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As originally in DXLD, but DX Mix News never credits sources (gh) ** UNITED NATIONS. 4U1UN ACTIVITY WEEK (October 19-25th). A press release by Jarmo, OH2BN, states (edited): "4U1UN - United Nations Headquarters, New York - This DXCC entity will be active from October 19 to 25th, on all bands, all modes, with a team of well-known DX and contest operators: OH2BH, OH0XX, OH2NB, OH6LI, G3SXW, F5CWU, F4EGD, PY5EG, JK3GAD, UA9AB, LA5IIA LA4OFA, NN1N, K2QI, KA2RTD, K2LE, N2UN, N2GA, K2DO, N2YBB, KA2D, WQ2N and W2VQ. Antennas and security access to the building are heavily restricted but the team will do their best to make this rare station available to all. Activity will be from 8AM until midnight local time (1200-0400 UT) each day. All-night activity is planned for Friday the 23rd and Saturday the 24th of October. Some of the operators will form an international team for CQ World-Wide SSB Contest participation in the 'Two Transmitter' (M2) category. QSL via HB9BOU. LoTW upload will be done after the operation. It is highly appreciated if you are able to distribute through your publications. 73 es tnx de Johnny, NQ2G / LA5IIA." ADDED NOTE: Look for 4U64UN to be active until mid-November. Activity is to celebrate the 64th annual UN General Assembly. Activity is expected to be on all band and modes. QSL via HB9BOU or LoTW. Please note that the logs will be uploaded to LoTW once this event is over. QSL cards are expected to be mailed out sometime in December 2009 (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 928, October 5, 2009, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** UNITED NATIONS [non]. Radio ONU --- Audio del programa de Radio Francia Internacional en español Planeta RFI que entrevista a Laura Kwiatkowski, directora del servicio en español de Radio ONU: http://swdxer.blogspot.com/2009/10/radio-onu_8751.html 73's (J C Menotti, Oct 7, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. VOA on 9760 via Tinang, Philippines, Oct 2 at 1240, with news in English and OM talking about Iraq. Co-channel interference with OM and music was probably CRI in English via Kunming, but I could not even ID the language. VOA again on 7575 via Tinang at 1335, with YL and OM in English, but weaker with QRN static hash (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED You never know whether VOA will be propagating from Greenville in English at 1400-1430, but it was in well Oct 3. Retune at 1433 found weaker, still readable signal from Botswana, but stronger S9+15 Greenville carrier about 2 Hz away remained on until 1435:35*! So they still don`t have their act together. Can only hope that at least there was no modulation overlap before and after 1430. During brief GB fades, the audio from Botswana was able to increase secondarily. IBB still doesn`t have its act together to avoid interfering with itself on 17585 at 1430! Oct 5 at 1429:30, Greenville cut off the last quarter of the 2-minute and very well researched Today in History segment, in order to play the Yankee Doodle Dandy sign-off, tho it was a mercifully short version. Why in the world does the operator think that is more important to broadcast than whatever programming continues in progress relentlessly?? Meanwhile, Botswana switched from their tuneup carrier on 17575 to modulate on 17585, so there was an overlap of about 20 seconds of YDD from GB and VOA programming from BOTS. Then the GB carrier stayed on a while longer, but off by 1432. It appears that the concept of stopping one transmitter at a precise time and immediately starting another is too much for them to grasp, or to manage to coördinate. Or maybe one operator gets it, but another on rotating work schedule does not. WINB missing both from 9265 and 13570, Oct 5 at 1452, which was just fine, allowing VOA 13570 São Tomé to be bothered only by CODAR. English was running about one second behind 17585 Botswana, why? 9485, fortunately clear of the AIR blob [see INDIA], Oct 5 at 1505 ending news and starting Spe-cial Eng-lish hour with New Dynamic English, Funxioning in Business; S.E. news to follow at 1530, plus more. At 1513, part of the English lesson was curiously, identifying phrases as French, Spanish and Russian. By now, VOA Tinang, PHILIPPINES, has co-channel QRM underneath in uncertain language, but registered is DW Swahili via Rwanda, and maybe also R. Rossii via Samara (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also PUNTLAND ** U S A [non]. Frequency change of Voice of America: 1400-1500 NF 17500 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg, additional in Tibetan 1500-1600 on 9700 UDO 250 kW / 292 deg, deleted in English 1500-1600 NF 7520 PHT 250 kW / 200 deg, ex 15550 in English Special 1500-1600 on 9760 PHT 250 kW / 270 deg, deleted in English Special 1530-1630 on 9940 PHT 250 kW / 283 deg, deleted in Burmese 1530-1600 NF 9390 IRA 250 kW / 299 deg, ex 9405 in Farsi 1900-2100 NF 6070 PHT 250 kW / 021 deg, ex 9510 in Korean (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) See also SOMALILAND New Frequency for VOA Urdu --- Sun, 27 Sep 2009. Effective 28th September VOA Urdu service is moving on to 6100 kHz at 0000-0100 replacing 9515 kHz due to propagation from Sri Lanka relay station (Alok Dasgupta, Kolkata via http://dxasia.info/news/ via Alokesh Gupta, Oct 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes of Radio Liberty: 0000-0130 NF 7490 IRA 250 kW / 299 deg, additional Farsi Radio Farda 0300-0400 NF 17825 PHL 250 kW / 315 deg, ex 9855 in Uzbek 0300-0500 NF 13860 IRA 250 kW / 316 deg, additional Farsi Radio Farda 0630-0800 NF 13860 IRA 250 kW / 322 deg, additional Farsi Radio Farda 1500-1530 on 7465 BIB 100 kW / 088 deg, deleted in Kyrgyz 1500-1600 NF 9405 BIB 100 kW / 105 deg, ex 7480 in Azeri 1500-1600 NF 7430 BIB 100 kw / 088 deg, ex 7420 in Turkmen 1600-1700 NF 9760 WER 250 kW / 105 deg, ex 7340 in Farsi Radio Farda 1800-1900 on 11670 LAM 100 kW / 092 deg, new program in Azeri (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. CHILE Frequency change of CVC International in Spanish to S Am from Sep. 1 1200-2400 on 9635 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg, ex 1200-2300 on same 0000-0200 NF 9745 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg, ex 2300-0200 on 6070 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As already in DXLD ** U S A. Checking for WORLD OF RADIO via WBCQ, Thursday Oct 1 at 1925, in noise just barely audible trace of my voice on 9330-CUSB, and after 1930 more clearly the voice of Ed Bolton, a.k.a. Amos `n` Andy; these are supposedly on 7415 only, but a good thing they are sometimes simulcast on 9330, as 7415 was totally inaudible here (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 3215, WWCR, Sunday Oct 4 at 0630 starting WORLD OF RADIO 1480 promptly with excellent reception. We can highly recommend this broadcast for good, broad coverage of North America at least. Only two US SW stations are smart enough to use 90m, which holds up when higher bands, sometimes even 60m, are dead, and minimizes skip zone, altho less so than 120m where WWCR gave up 2390 sesquiyears ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WWCR on 7490, Oct 2 at 1324. Excellent signal on 7490, but was splattering from 7476 to 7504! What a sloppy pig. Usual paranoid BS, with YL fear-mongering about how flu shots have nanotechnology in them. She should stop watching those Borg episodes of Star Trek. Followed by more anti-medical institution propaganda and infomercial for alternative health crap. Avoid the flu by wrapping your head in Nikken magnets for 6 months (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Did you mean sloppy sig, or rig? (gh) Squeals are showing up again on WWCR and RHC. Oct 5 at 0557, VG DGS signal on 5935 brought with it squeal. Was also audible the mixing product of 5890 leapfrogging over 5935 to land on 5980. Usually takes a very strong signal from WWCR to detect any squeal, but Oct 7 at 1337, PMS was less than solid on 13845, but squeal still audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WTWW website: http://wtww.us --- Site is now public. Not really anything special. To keep individuals that have an interest in the new station, up to date on construction (George McClintock, TN, Oct 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SW basix and some fotos (gh) ** U S A. 6915, Radio Taiwan International, 0305, 09/30, Chinese. News bulletin with plenty of items dealing with Taiwan, apparently an error in programming at WYFR, since they're listed as being here in Spanish at this hour. Did not listen closely enough to determine whether language was Mandarin or another dialect. Very good (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WYFR 15(?) meter band signals are normally weakish, so surprised to hear Spanish inbooming S9+20 on 18980 at 1450 Oct 5. This one is supposed to be aimed 142 degrees but I wonder if it was on their opposite 315 degree antenna usward instead? If not, speaks well for the amount of back-radiation the forward antennas are capable of. I was checking the A-09 FCC schedule, which now is in its third version updated Sept 18: http://www.fcc.gov/ib/sand/neg/hf_web/A09FCC03.TXT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. ESTADOS UNIDOS – Dois locutores, com forte sotaque mineiro, apresentavam, em 4 de outubro, o programa em português Perguntas e Respostas, da Family Radio, uma emissora religiosa da Califórnia. A transmissão era em 7360 kHz, por volta de 2225, no Tempo Universal. Pelo conteúdo que se depreendia, um autor informava que escreveu um livro destacando que “o mundo acabaria em 1994”, mas não “teria dado nem dia, nem hora”. Coisas que só ocorrem em ondas curtas! (Célio Romais, Panorama, @tividade DX Oct 4 via DXLD) That of course was FR cult leader Camping himself who keeps predicting the worldend, unfazed when it doesn`t. This is via Guiana French (gh) Frequency changes of WYFR Family Radio via MB(ex DTK) 2300-2400 NF 5930 GUF 250 kW / 215 deg S Am in Portuguese, ex 11965 0000-0100 NF 5930 GUF 250 kW / 215 deg S Am in English, ex 11965 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As already in DXLD ** U S A. Anything non-English catches the ear of tuners-by 5920 or 9370 from FBN. Oct 2 at 1206, 5920 had preaching in Spanish, making fast rippling SAH over Russia, proving WBOH is much closer to proper frequency than WTJC is, but no cigar. Does their weekday program schedule in EDT at http://www.fbnradio.com/new_page_copy%281%29.htm show Spanish at 8 am? Of course not! In fact, the only Spanish shown is a 15-minute show on Sundays at 6:05 am and 8:30 pm = 1005 and UT Monday 0030. These pages bear a 2008 copyright, but I bet they are even staler (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Frequency change of WEWN Global Catholic Radio in English to SEAs: 1200-1500 NF 12160 EWN 250 kW / 355 deg, ex 11530 to avoid Denge Mezopotamya (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As first reported some weeks ago in DXLD by gh MOTHER ANGELICA AWARDED TOP HONOR BY POPE BENEDICT XVI Irondale, Ala., Oct 5, 2009 / 05:12 pm (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI has awarded the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice Medal to Mother Angelica, founder of the Eternal Word Television Network and also EWTN executive Deacon Bill Steltemeier. The medal is the highest honor the Pope can bestow upon laity and religious. . . Source: http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=17308 (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) Well, it`s a bit short of beatification; that comes later. I thought M.A. had some serious doctrinal differences with The Vatican, but perhaps they have patched up since a previous papacy (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. DX TEST 1550 WSRY ELKTON MD --- PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY! Date: Sunday morning (late Saturday night) November 29, 2009 Time: 0001-0100 EST (0501-0600 UT) Mode of Operation: 1000 watts directional to north-northwest (daytime pattern). Programming: Tune in and find out! QSL and other information to follow shortly. Many thanks to Dan Oetting for organizing this test! (Saul Chernos, for the DX Test Committee, Oct 5, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. WWRL 1600 BRINGING BACK CARIBBEAN PROGRAMMING http://www.rbr.com/radio/17393.html A day after renewal of its airing of liberal talk shows from Air America was announced, Access.1’s WWRL-AM New York announced that it is adding some talk programming not focused on politics, at least on weekends. Starting October 3rd, WWRL will expand its programming to include local Caribbean Talk and the syndicated radio program, “The CaribZone Radio Show.” The local, live and caller-driven programming will air Saturdays noon to 7:00 pm, featuring an alternating panel of regional experts, dignitaries, Caribbean leaders and community organizations designed to keep the community informed on a range of Caribbean topics and issues impacting the livelihood of the population. Immediately following each week, 7:00 pm to midnight, WWRL will also air “The CaribZone Radio Show,” a live five-hour radio broadcast linking the Caribbean Diaspora through music, lively discussions and celebration of Caribbean culture. “The goal is to create a larger platform from which all New Yorkers can be kept abreast of issues impacting their lives and livelihood; particularly the 1.5 million English Speaking Caribbean nationals who call the New York metropolitan area home,” said Rennie Bishop, Trinidadian, Program Director and Host of “The Caribbean Corner,” airing Saturdays 5-7 pm. The announcement from WWRL said the return of Caribbean programming represents an opportunity to expand the voice of New York’s fastest growing consumer segment. The complete line-up of WWRL’s new Saturday programming includes: “All Things New York,” noon-2 pm; “Working New York,” 2-5 pm; “The Caribbean Corner,” 5-7 pm; and “The CaribZone Radio Show,” 7 pm- midnight (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Times ET = UT-4 now, -5 later ** U S A. MORE BUT SELECTIVE MUSIC FOR THE NEW WQXR October 1, 2009 By DANIEL J. WAKIN http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/01/arts/music/01radio.html?hpw=&pagewanted=print Some announcers will remain. The Metropolitan Opera will still be heard on Saturdays. Religious programming will disappear. Don’t expect to hear much vocal music. Vivaldi? “Just about anything.” WQXR, the only classical music station in New York, will have a new sound after Oct. 8, according to plans unveiled on Wednesday by WNYC, its new owner. Chiefly, “there’s going to be a lot more music,” said Laura R. Walker, the president and chief executive officer of WNYC Radio. “That in and of itself is a huge thing.” She said the new WQXR, which is becoming a public radio station, would have about 4 minutes of underwriting announcements an hour. WQXR’s commercials now can reach 12 minutes an hour. “We can program the music around the music, not just commercials,” Ms. Walker said. Although WQXR will travel up the dial to 105.9 from 96.3 FM, WNYC officials were clear that much of its music would remain safe and on the traditional side in an effort not to alienate its longtime listeners. But the station hopes to attract new listeners more accustomed to the public radio sensibility and online listening. Ms. Walker said she wanted to combine the best of both worlds. “It’s the longstanding tradition of being a 24/7 classical music station with WNYC’s curatorial point of view and passion and commitment to discovery,” she said. Tradition, though, appears to top boat-rocking. A mission statement prepared by WQXR’s new programmers said, “There may indeed be times when the more radical and unfamiliar pieces work, but we will not favor them over the work that speaks directly to the needs of uplift, beauty and contemplation.” “Greatness matters,” it added. “Bach trumps Telemann.” Less familiar works, more modern music and pieces geared toward a younger audience will be presented on the station’s new Internet stream, called Q2. WNYC radio’s listenership is more than double that of its stream, the station said. “Radio definitely trumps Internet still,” Ms. Walker said. Several WQXR hosts have been rehired, including Jeff Spurgeon, Midge Woolsey and Elliott Forrest, who will have daytime shows, along with a newcomer, Naomi Lewin from WGUC, Cincinnati’s classical public radio station. WNYC’s Terrance McKnight and his colleague David Garland will assume evening duties. Overnight music will continue to be canned, but now with recorded introductions by a host. The station will continue to broadcast the Met, the New York Philharmonic and the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center, along with programs — some of them syndicated — including “The McGraw-Hill Young Artists Showcase,” “Performance Today,” “From the Top” and “Pipedreams.” The fates of “Reflections From the Keyboard” and the Metropolitan Museum of Art concert series are uncertain. The station will phase out the broadcast of religious services by the end of the year because National Public Radio, of which WNYC is a member, forbids such programming. Much of the music on WNYC, which has steadily become more of a talk station in recent years, will migrate to WQXR. Weekday evenings on WNYC’s FM station, 93.9, will now be almost all talk. Several music shows will remain, including “Soundcheck” and “New Sounds.” Music will still have a strong presence on WNYC on weekends. WNYC took charge of WQXR after it was sold by The New York Times Company, a move that probably saved its classical format. The public radio station announced a $15 million fund-raising campaign to pay for the acquisition and operations. Ms. Walker said the station was about halfway there. The goal for WQXR is to present “the greatest Western music performed by the greatest performers we can find,” said Christopher Bannon, program director for the sister stations. The mission statement proclaims a philosophy of “the right music at the right time.” “Monday morning, when you’re trying to get your kids to school, you won’t hear the large choral works,” said Limor Tomer, the executive producer for music. The programmers also provided a sample list of “core composers” and the works that would most likely play on the radio versus the Internet. They stressed that the list was but a guideline. Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mozart, Schubert and Wagner were there. So were Copland, Janacek, Gershwin, Satie, Sibelius and the ever-popular Vivaldi. Mahler was missing. Schubert symphonies were deemed radio-worthy but not the piano trios or songs, which were reserved for Q2. Radio received Ravel orchestra[l] music but not solo piano works; Sibelius’s symphonies but not his tone poems; Janacek chamber works but not operas; Brahms symphonies but not choral works; Beethoven symphonies and piano concertos but not the late piano sonatas, songs or chamber works. Vivaldi had sweeping approval. Except for “shorter sacred works.” (via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) ** U S A. KFUO RADIO STATION SOLD FOR $18 MILLION [FM side, that is] By Sarah Bryan Miller ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH 10/06/2009 The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod will sell its 61-year-old classical music station, KFUO-99.1 FM, to Gateway Creative Broadcasting, the LCMS and Gateway announced today, for $18 million plus $8 million in interest over a 10-year term. The sale will become final in March, pending the approval of the Federal Communications Commission and transfer of the license. Des Peres-based Gateway, as Joy FM, broadcasts Christian contemporary music. It presently owns two "rimshot" stations, in Potosi and Bowling Green, that do not penetrate St. Louis County or city. The LCMS will finance the sale, with a 10-year balloon note. According to sources close to the Synod’s board of directors, Gateway will pay $150,000 immediately, $1.35 million at closing, an additional $1,500,000 in interest and amortization in the fourth year, and the remainder in the tenth year. Gateway also owes $600,000, due in March 2011, on the two rimshot stations. The station was never advertised, and the sale was handled in secrecy. LCMS treasurer Tom Kuchta and board member Kermit Brashear, an Omaha lawyer and politician, were behind the sale. Brashear handled the negotiations. The board reportedly decided it wanted to sell to a Christian organization. However, said the Rev. Dr. Paul Devantier, senior vice president at Concordia Seminary, Brashear refused to acknowledge a Lutheran group which wanted to buy the station and retain the format. LCMS second vice president Paul W. Maier, a professor of history at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, charged that the board had ignored a petition signed by 41 church leaders, and abandoned its responsibilities. At its August meeting, the board turned over full authority to sell the station to Brashear. No discussions within the Synod were ever held. . . [much more and lots of negative comments] http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/tvradio/story/7E33989A3E2B2A87862576470047C8E1?OpenDocument (Post-Dispatch via Artie Bigley, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) ** U S A. Hi, Are you going to put the status of 1140 AM radio on your website? I saw the news report on the web and went to your site and there's nothing on 1140 AM. Also, when will you be on the air on 1140?? What is the latest news? I'm a radio buff. I have lived in GR for a few months in 1996 or so. We have a Catholic station here in Columbus, Ohio. Thanks, (Artie Bigley, Sept 29, evidently to WJNZ, COL Kentwood MI, address in Grand Rapids, via DXLD) Hi Artie, We do not own 1140 AM due to some legal issues still; waiting for the judge to make a decision. We are praying only for God's will for all parties involved, and we should know by Oct. 12 or 13. Thank you for your interest (Cheryl Doyle, Holy Family Radio, via Artie, ibid.) Hi, I was able to hear H.R.R. 1680 AM radio last Sunday evening on the radio. I was hearing the Catholic programming during the last few weeks but didn't know where it originated back then. The signal on 1680 skips over to Columbus, Ohio during the evening. WHY don't you purchase 1680 radio?? It is 24/7. Thanks, (Artie, Oct 6 to HFR, ibid.) Hi Artie, Wow! I had no idea 1680 AM went as far as Columbus, OH in the evening? Do you have a special radio receiver, or are you able to pick it up on an ordinary house or car radio? What part of Columbus are you in? N, S, E, W? We have relatives in Powell. I should see if they can pick it up there. 1680 AM [WPRR] is not for sale. I know the man who owns this station and he is not interested in selling as he's been working hard on setting up a new "Public Reality Radio" format for this station. The format changed about a year ago when it was a "Disney" format. Regards, (Cheryl Doyle, HFR, Oct 7, ibid.) ** U S A. 880, KRVN, Lexington NE; 2:30-7 PM [CDT? MDT? EDT?], 27-Sep; Rural Radio 8-80 KRVN; Near continuous C&W music on Sunday with very little chit-chat. They have apparently stopped running Cowboy Corner on Sunday. I did not hear a single ad for bull semen, manure hauling or dead stock removal services. Bummer (Frodge-CO/KS) However:: 880, KRVN Lexington NE; 8:50-11:50 AM, 28-Sep; Ad/Nutra Advisors--How far can you afford to haul your manure? Ad/Westpoint Design manure spreaders -- Do not try to spread frozen manure below 15 degrees. Feature/The Hay & Forage Minute -- Fall alfalfa tends to cause bloat more than Summer alfalfa. You never hear this kind of useful wisdom on WJR (Harold Frodge, visiting KS, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** U S A. KLRG-AM 880 / Tan Talk Radio Network http://www.tantalk1340.com/ Was getting KLRG AM 880 Sheridan, Arkansas until a few minutes ago. They're running Tan Talk Radio Network programming, including station IDs of WTAN AM 1340 Clearwater, Florida, also commercials from Clearwater, Tampa and Saint Pete. Last heard running classic rock program called "Guerilla Radio". FCC lists them as 220 Watts night, but there were handily burying WCBS's blowtorch signal here (Curtis Sadowski, Paxton, Illinois, Oct 6, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Curtis, I've never heard them at night, but missed my chance tonight. KLRG been a repeater of Tan Talk Network programming // with WTAN Clearwater FL but starting last week airs 3 hours of a local Southern Gospel music show on weekdays. The host was a former employee of KLRG under the old callsign (KGHT) and the show isn't on the Florida stations. I've seen the four-tower array of KLRG (ex KGHT)---its located on the east side of Sheridan AR on US270. The primary transmitting site (and daytime tower) is located in SW Little Rock. I'll keep a heads-up for KLRG tomorrow evening at sunset ;) (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR EM43aw http://tvdxseark.blogspot.com http://www.twitter.com/KC5KBV ibid.) Hi Fritze, Try it before 2020 CDT, that's when I had it drop out. (Curtis Sadowski, ibid.) 50 kW? See also ALBANIA [non]! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Obama Controlled Radio as a Stunt - Yes this is for real. I hope some is recording an aircheck of this and will make it publicly available. GEORGIA STATION BILLS ITSELF AS 'OBAMA GOV'T-CONTROLLED RADIO' http://tpmlivewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/2009/10/georgia-station-bills-itself-as-obama-govt-controlled-radio.php A radio station in Athens, Ga., is drumming up publicity by calling itself "Obama Government-Controlled Radio" and playing Hawaiian pop, songs like "Superfly" and "Disco Inferno" and clips from President Obama's campaign speeches. Between songs listeners hear messages such as, "Why let highly paid consultants pick the music when you can let the government do it for you?" Bulldog WPUP-FM http://thebulldogonline.com/ a classic rock station, is trying to hook listeners with the gimmick before changing formats Thursday night at 6 p.m. "Yes, it is a stunt," the station's program director, Kevin Steele, told TPM. And it's working. "Our online streaming listeners have doubled in the last 24 hours," he said. After playing REM's "It's The End Of The World As We Know It" last night, the station started its Obama push and will begin its new format -- which is still a secret -- tonight. The station is owned by Cox Radio (via Bill Harms, MD, dxldyg via DXLD) After finding the audio stream I managed to record a 40 minute long aircheck of this. The station changed format at 1800 Eastern Time on 1 September and was branded Power 100.1 and appears to be a top 40 type format. http://powerathens.com/splashpage/index.html There was nothing controversial about the stunting and it was fun to listen to. Life is meant to be fun! (Bill Harms, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1080, FLORIDA (carrier current) "WUTT", University of Tampa. 1525-1550 GMT October 3, 2009. Indeed this low power, non-licensed station exists, and not on the frivolously reported 1020 channel from that bad source of long-ago and now far away. Audible (threshold) at Dale Mabry and Kennedy, and rapidly increasing heading east on Kennedy. Excellent signal in the UoT parking lot. Lame format: Air Supply; female cover of Rolling Stones’ (I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction; Kenny Rogers/Dolly Parton "Islands In the Stream"; Andy Gibbs; Olivia Newton-John "Let ’s Get Physical" etc. (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See disclaimer under CUBA ** U S A. News of South Florida: WPBT-2 is now in the bidding to buy WXEL-42. Barry University has had WXEL on the market for 4-5 years. WNET was a major contender but dropped out. WEYS-LP 6 IDs in Spanish "Radio Alma Visión" and states frequency not as "Canal Seis" but as "87.7", NOT 87.75. There are 8-10 FM pirates here mostly Creole and one Reggae. Regards (Ken Simon/Lake Worthless FL, Oct 6 WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. 1660 kHz, WCNZ Marco Island FL, and 1410 WMYR Fort Myers FL appear to be running a syndicated jazz-based format called ``The Avenue`` to perhaps catch a segment of the smooth jazz crowd that misses Clear Channel`s WZJZ. The format is also running on an AM station in Chicago. You can read about it at http://www.chicagojazz.com/thescene/the-avenue-950am--387.html (posting by Matt Mangas, boards.radio-info.com, 2 Sept via MW Report, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** U S A. UNIDENTIFIED. 1322 kHz Mystery Station - Possible ID? While reviewing Perseus files from this morning I was following a building signal of CNR2 in Russian on 1323 kHz, and spotted a peak on 1322. Sure enough, it was my 1322 mystery station again, playing the same thumpa-thumpa, bass heavy music as I've heard before. The signal was extremely weak as always, but I was quite surprised to hear a female announcer saying (what I think is) "You're listening to KCIZ Rock". What??! KCIZ is a high school AM station in Mora, the eastern part of Minnesota on 1650 kHz. Could I possibly be hearing a spur of KCIZ? I've posted a couple MP3 clips of the possible ID from 1322 kHz on my blog, along with more speculation about it. Input and ideas are welcome! (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA http://fivebelow.squarespace.com IRCA via DXLD) Viz.: Friday, October 2, 2009 at 12:01PM --- This morning's reception of 1322 yielded two more IDs around 1340 UT that sound for all the world like You're listening to KCIZ Rock. The breakthrough, though, came in an IRCA reflector message when Bruce Portzer of Seattle suggested that 1322 might actually be a spur from 1330 KGRG, the AM outlet of Auburn (WA) Green River Community College. . . http://fivebelow.squarespace.com/posts/2009/10/2/1322-khz-mystery-solved.html (via DXLD) ** U S A. HOUSTON'S NEWEST RADIO SHOW AIMS TO FIGHT ISLAMIC EXTREMISM 12:40 PM CDT on Tuesday, October 6, 2009 By Dave Fehling / 11 News [video linked] HOUSTON -- As young Muslims accused of terrorism are making court appearances in Dallas and New York, a Houston radio station owner wants to use the airwaves to fight Islamic extremism. KBRZ-AM 1460 caters to listeners with ties to Pakistan, India and other South Asian countries. Some of the talk shows and newscasts are delivered in Hindi and Urdu or a mix they call Hindish, like what Spanglish is to Mexican-Americans. Owner Saeed Gaddi sees his station as the perfect venue to reach impressionable teens who might be targets for recruitment by extremists. KBRZ-AM’s studios are in southwest Houston, not far from where Pakistan seems to intersect with Texas at the corner of Hillcroft Avenue and the Westpark Toll Road. The area is full of clothing stores, restaurants and other shops catering to South Asian cultures. The streets are cluttered with election signs for Pakastani[sic]- Americans running for positions at Houston’s City Hall. . . [more] http://www.khou.com/news/local/stories/khou091005_tnt_islamic-radio-show-teens-just-chill.1e98025c0.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. ANOTHER MILITARY EXPERIMENTAL STATION PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 455 12TH STREET, S.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20554 News media information 202/418-0500 Fax-On-Demand 202/418-2830 Released: October 1, 2009 Report No. 424 EXPERIMENTAL ACTIONS WD2XUM HATFIELD & DAWSON CONSULTING ENGINEERS 0098-EX-PL-2009 New experimental to operate on 530, 890 and 1680 kHz under Space and Naval Warfare (SPAWAR) Systems Center contract to modernize and transform psychological operation equipment. Fixed: El Centro NAF (Imperial), CA (via Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, NRC-AM via DXLD) Not really new; WD2XUM have run similar transmitters there before, of considerable interest to MW DXers. See http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld5207.txt http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld5210.txt http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld8012.txt http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld8018.txt (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Glenn, Nothing scheduled at this time, but this license is kept active per our contract with the Navy for Psyop equipment testing. (As is stated in the application filed with OET, so a matter of public record.) (Ben Dawson, WA, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY [and non]. Its many years since a Uruguayan shortwave station has been heard in New Zealand, but I have just had a positive identification for 'Radio Uruguay' on 6125 kHz. The frequency was clear when checked at 0910 UT 1 October, but on rechecking at 0919, I found pleasant folk music followed by commercials and a recorded identification as "Radio Uruguay 1050 AM, Montevideo, Uruguay". From postings to Glenn Hauser's DX Listening Digest, this is the 350 watt SODRE transmitter reactivated. I thought this might be a possibility tonight because Mexican Candela FM 6104.76 was at the best strength I've heard them earlier this evening. Also the presumed Filipino on 6170.39 was just making it past the strong RNZI 6170 signal (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, NZ, AOR7030+ and EWEs, DX LISTENING DIGEST) He pronounces it mangavai on RNZI (gh) Great, Bryan, nice one, now to get them on 1050!!! (David Norrie, ripple via DXLD) 1050 easy at Waianak!! (Paul Ormandy, ZL4PW, ibid.) ** URUGUAY. El domingo 4 de octubre, a las 02:00 de la madrugada, los relojes de todos los uruguayos deberán adelantarse una hora, en virtud del decreto establecido para ahorrar energía eléctrica. (Uruguay legal time goes UT-2 from 0500 UT Oct 4) (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Oct 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. [in response to VENEZUELA [non] item below] Re: Uruguay: CX 36 integra la chavista Radio del Sur Es interesante, pues esta radio representa hoy día sólo al 1% del electorado uruguayo, según las encuestas, en la fuerza electoral llamada "Asamblea Popular", y que es integrada por la izquierda- izquierda, la ortodoxa, que ve que el actual gobierno de centro- izquierda del Frente Amplio ha traicionado los principios, y que está tratando de ganar al menos un representante en el parlamento en las próximas elecciones presidenciales y legislativas. No la toma el SODRE, por ejemplo, que es la radio oficial (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Oct 4, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 3945, 0800, R. Vanuatu good, English news at 1000 15.9 (Terry Nielsen, Christchurch, New Zealand, Lowe HF150, Sangean ATS-80, GRDXC via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) 3945, R. Vanuatu heard 10/3 with island vocals from 0643 tune, clear signal with little noise or QRM. SINPO 35533. After 0705 started getting co-channel QRM from R. Nikkei 2 with its extended weekend hours and signal faded quickly. No sign of Vanuatu on 10/5 at 0645 (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 3945, Radio Vanuatu, Port Vila, 0955-1000, October 03, vernacular, music and short announcements, 24132 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3945, Radio Vanuatu - Port Vila, 0945-1015, 04-October-2009, Pidgin. 0945: modern ballad followed by female announcer with station ID. 0947: Male announcer with a call in type program for listeners with music requests? 1000: Male announcer with time check, station ID, followed by more popular music. Signal: Poor to fair at times (Ed Wlodarski, N2ED, NJ, NASWA Flashsheet Oct 4 via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) 3945, R. Vanuatu, 1211, Oct. 7. Sounded French; woman talking; did not sound like the usual “evening devotional”; first time I have noted this language here; pop song; sign off announcement (not French, probably Bislama) with many frequencies (MW, SW and FM); several IDs for “Radio Vanuatu”; Anthem; 1219* (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. Some days Vatican Radio is not heard on 7250 with English news at 1615; not heard on 15 Sept but back on the 16th (Edwin Southwell, England, Oct BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BROADCASTING NOTED THE EXPANSION OF THE “BOLIVARIAN MODEL TO CONTROL THE PRESS” http://english.eluniversal.com/2009/10/01/en_pol_esp_iab-urges-venezuelan_01A2821617.shtml The shutdown of 32 radio stations was reported by the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB) in Brazil (Photo: Kisaí Mendoza) POLITICS On Wednesday, during the 39th General Assembly of the International Association of Broadcasting (IAB), in Brasilia, the Venezuelan delegation urged both the international community and the hemispheric organization to request Hugo Chávez's government to meet its duties. Oswaldo Quintana, an adviser of the Venezuelan Chamber of the Radio and TV Broadcasting Industry and legal representative of private TV channel Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), as well as Nelson Belfort, the president of the Chamber, took the floor to present the case of Venezuela. Quintana told reporters that they suggested calling for the international community to "demand the Venezuelan government to meet with its obligations under the Organization of American States (OAS), the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Democratic Charter." He highlighted the "double standard" of the Venezuelan government regarding the crisis in Honduras, because it "purports to be a champion of justice" requesting the Central American country to fulfill its international commitments, but "it has not allowed the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to visit Venezuela and it is also refusing to enforce the decisions of the IACHR." The Venezuelan delegates also urged the international community to demand Chávez's government to restore the open signal of RCTV and the 32 closed radio stations. Daniel Slaviero, the Brazilian vice president of IAB, said that other Latin American countries have the clear intention "to expand the Bolivarian model" which, in his view, seeks to "increase control" over the media (Reyes Theis, EL UNIVERSAL, via YIMBER GAVIRIA, COLOMBIA, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [and non]. URUGUAY: CX 36 INTEGRA LA CHAVISTA RADIO DEL SUR http://www.uruguayaldia.com/2009/10/cx-36-integra-la-chavista-radio-del-sur/ Montevideo, Uruguay - La capitalina CX 36 Radio Centenario, emisora del Movimiento 26 de Marzo http://www.radio36.com.uy/ integra La Radio del Sur, el proyecto del gobierno venezolano de Hugo Chávez, emula así la televisión multiestatal Telesur. La Radio del Sur fue oficialmente lanzada en la cumbre América del Sur – África y hasta el momento, 48 emisoras de América Latina y algunas africanas participan en la Radio del Sur, cuya sede esta en Caracas. El acuerdo permite que la emisora uruguaya incluya programas de la Radio del Sur en su transmisión. Entre las emisoras que participan en el proyecto está la Radio Nacional Argentina, Radio Patria Nueva de Bolivia, Radiobrás de Brasil, Radio Libertad de Perú, Radio Café Stereo de Colombia, Radio Centenario de Uruguay o Radio Nacional de Paraguay, entre otros. En Venezuela, a través del dial 98.5 FM, enlazados con 12 frecuencias en las ciudades de Maracaibo, Puerto La Cruz, Guasdualito, Santa Bárbara de Barinas, Puerto Ordaz, Barquisimeto, Valles del Tuy, Guarenas, Valencia, San Cristóbal, Mérida y el estado Vargas, se escuchará la programación de la Radio del Sur que en su primera etapa cubrirá más del 40% territorio venezolano. En el continente africano intervendrán en este tejido comunicacional la Radio de Gambia que recibirá la programación en inglés la cual será enviada por el equipo de traductores en Caracas y ellos la llevará a sus lenguas nacionales, al recibir las noticias en Venezuela, igualmente será traducida al español. Similar intercambio se llevará a cabo con Radio Benin y la Radio Internacional de Argelia. En cuanto la Radio Nacional Guinea Ecuatorial, esta última tiene la ventaja de que su lengua oficial es el castellano. Fuente: Uruguay al Dia (via Yimber Gaviria Blog el 10/03/2009 06:33:00 PM via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Nothing on any of the Aló, Presidente frequencies via CUBA, starting with 13750, Sunday Oct 4 at 1500. Next check at 1703 found some of them running expostulations of Hugo Chávez Frías, best by far on 13750, JBA on 17750, fair on 12010 echoing against 13750; inaudible and absent? from 13680, 11690 with RTTY. RHC posted schedules, otherwise somewhat updated, continue to claim this starts at 1400, which it has not for many weeks. One Sunday we caught 13750 cutting on in progress around 1545. 11680, RNVCI via CUBA, tune-in Oct 5 at 1522 to find it in English with comments about the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, start of the Vietnam War, warning to ``stay alert against The Empire``; I guess they fear US is about ready for another war starting with V, or rather los Chavistas want to stir up such fears. 1525 to music break; 1527 in Spanish with ID and the same laughable schedule they have been announcing for 5+ years, even tho only one hour of it happens to remain in effect, Rio de Janeiro, 17-18 en 17705 --- once you convert the time to UT 20-21, tho never specified that all the times they give are local, not including DST variations. 1528 quoting Chief Seattle on the occasion of Earth Day, still in Spanish. Note: neither Earth Day nor the Gulf of Tonkin affair occurred in October (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Received a large Global Express mail packet from Radio Nacional de Venezuela, República Bolivariana de Venezuela, Canal Internacional (Reading off the date-only QSL). Time and frequency left off two QSL's that I received with pamphlets and magazine in Spanish, along with a box of pills labeled Loratadina 10 mg 10 tabletas, manufactured by MEDIGEN. Box says: Indicación y Posología: A juicio del Facultativo. (?) If I didn't know better, I'd say they are trying (inadvertently?) to get me in trouble with FDA and authorities, sending it to me in such manner from Venezuela to the USA (from Summit, NJ, Glenn, Ed Insinger, UT Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmmm, a new element in the QSL game. Drugs.com says Loratadina is not known to be marketed in USA, just in Venezuela and some other SAm countries. Flexyx says: Bedix Loratadina - General Information: A second-generation histamine H1 receptor antagonist used in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and urticaria. Unlike most classical antihistamines (histamine H1 antagonists) it lacks central nervous system depressing effects such as drowsiness. [PubChem] Pharmacology: Bedix Loratadina, a non-sedating H1-blocker similar in structure to cyproheptadine and azatadine, is used to treat seasonal allergic rhinitis. Unlike other H1-blockers, loratidine does not penetrate the CNS effectively and has a low affinity for CNS H1- receptors. Bedix Loratadina for patients -- Description ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This medicine is used to treat symptoms of hay fever such as runny nose, watery eyes and sneezing. Your doctor may use antihistimines for other conditions as well (via gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Does anyone know the exact schedule of RNV in English (the so called Venezuela in Direct) via Cuba? I heard them this local morning (09/05/09) from around 1540 to 1558 UT on 11680. (Bulgaria's DX MIX News lists it as Spanish. Perhaps the first 30 min. are in Spanish.) Pretty good reception in the Midwest. No English segment during 1900-2000 broadcast on 15290. I noticed that they run some kind of DX-corner starting with 1553 or so. It included a review of the recent reception reports and a brief explanation of SINPO and UTC. Note that the online audio files of RNV in English haven't been updated since July 2009, even thought the dates are current: http://www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/index.php?act=ST&f=46&t=95998 (Sergei S., IL, Oct 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ? Really? The dates in each file are Oct 1 thru 6. Did you listen to them and hear July dates? They usually do announce the date of broadcast at the outset on SW. However, if Spanish and English audio on demand are 30 minutes each, that doesn`t match what happens on SW, so these may be different content. At least they deintermix the languages. I listened to the first few minutes of the 1006 Spanish and English editions, and they seemed to be current, about the outlook for the final trimester of 2009. As for the DX corner, I have only ever heard one single edition of this repeated over and over, featuring one report from a listener in Japan; was it that? (gh, ibid.) Glenn, yesterday the content in all programs sounded old. They were reporting news from July, giving old dates, etc. And 6/10 broadcast wasn't there. Now 6/10 broadcast is current. And other news reports from older programs seem to be current, too. Except for October 4 program - about "radio electronic spectrum" in Venezuela. It's almost impossible to understand the guy who is reading the news bulletin in a 6/10 broadcast. Does he really know English or just reading a transcription? Note that after the news, there's a TV interview with President Chavez about his recent overseas trips. It starts at 4:10. Sure enough it's not translated into English! At 28:10 there's an English ID, though. If I'm not mistaken the DX-feature is titled Connecting or Connection with DXers. The program that was on yesterday and today featured reports from Brazil and Netherlands (Sergei S., Oct 6, ibid.) Sergei, here are two recent loggings that I made. Harold 11670 CUBA Radio Nacional de Venezuela at 2224 with a speech (probably President Chavez), numerous mentions of “revolucion”. (Fair Sept 28) 15250 CUBA Radio Nacional de Venezuela, signing on just before 2300 with repeated, synthesized musical tune. Man in Spanish with IDs, “R- N-V” and “canal internacional”. 2301 English ID, announcements, several minutes reviewing upcoming features, finally into English news at 2304. (Very good, //13680 good Sept 28) (Harold Sellers, BC, ibid.) Thanks, Harold. This is helpful. I'm using this schedule from DX MIX News published about two weeks ago: Radio Nacional de Venezuela in Spanish 1000-1100 6180 1100-1200 6060 (In March 2008 used to be the first half - English, second half Spanish) 1200-1300 11705 1500-1600 11680 (actually English, at least last 30 min.) 1900-2000 15290 (only Spanish) 2000-2100 17705 (no reception in the Midwest) 2200-2300 11670 (only Spanish) 2300-2400 13680 15250 (actually English, at least first 30 min.) --- Yep, the first part is in English, then SW schedule and a brief report in Spanish. From 2333 English again. At 2337 a report on immigration - I already heard it at 1540 today. During first half both frequencies are heard loud and clear but 13680 is off at around 2333. Transmitter on 13680 reappeared about 15 minutes later. The issue with R. Venezuela's English service is that they seem to believe that their audience is fully bilingual. I guess that's why there are so many Spanish announcements and talks within RNV English segment. Not to mention that RNV's English is far from perfect. Maybe our friend Keith should move to Venezuela to teach them a thing or two about real international broadcasting :) (Sergei S., ibid.) Just be bilingual as the Caracans expect you to be and don`t worry about pinning down exactly when English is, lest you be totally frustrated and wasteful of your valuable time (Glenn, ibid.) Hehe. I hear you, Glenn! Of course, it's easy for you to say that since you speak perfect Spanish. I guess I'll have to brush up on mine if I want to fully enjoy the International Channel out of Caracas. Let's hope Cubans will teach Venezuelans how to run two separate language radio services. 73, (Sergei S., ibid.) I just finished listening to RNV, mostly English from 2300 to 2400 on 13680 and 15250. They did have a DX program at 2350-2357, acknowledging reports from listeners in Brazil and Germany. I also heard the explanation of SINPO and UTC (Harold Sellers, BC, Oct 6, ibid.) Harold, I caught only the second part of 2300 broadcast. It was exactly the same like yesterday at 2300 and 1500 - Venezuelan music, program on immigration, DX-corner. I don't know if the first part was any different. The second DXer mentioned is from the Netherlands, not Germany. 73! (Sergei S., ibid.) I have a feeling the Hugo may want to start a RHC type station (Keith Perron, Taiwan, ibid.) ** VIETNAM. Additional two new frequencies of Voice of Vietnam HS-1: 2250-1200 NF 7435 HAN 050 kW / non-dir in Vietnamese 2150-1500 NF 9635 HAN 050 kW / non-dir in Vietnamese (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 1 via DXLD) As already in DXLD ** VIETNAM [non]. Attention, would-be Vietnamese language students: VOV via Canada, 6175 heard again with lesson presented in English during the Vietnamese-language broadcast, starting at 0518 UT Friday Oct 2, as lesson 14, section 4. This is getting pretty advanced, so you need some visual material to go with it, available on paper or monitor?? If that`s a bit late for you in most of NAm, I suspect it`s a repeat of something earlier in evening, unknown when, but most likely 0218, as there are two one-hour broadcasts starting at 0130 and 0430; now, are they daily, M-F or what? Do they promote them during the English broadcasts so people at least know they are available? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 6165, R. Zambia/Radio 2, 0416-0437, Oct. 4. In English with DJ playing pop African songs/Hi-Li; he was a sports fanatic, as he was constantly talking about Manchester United’s latest game; surprisingly fair reception with no QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 6165, 6/10 2003, ZNBC R2 (presumed), Lusaka, Zambia, English, News, songs, no ID heard, fair (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, Perseus Remote in Bocca di Magra - Drake R8 in Milan; Ant: Wellbrook 1010 loop & T2FD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA-ZANZIBAR, TBC-Zanzibar, 11735 at 1801 man wth news in English, first East African then world. Mid-news ID, “This news is coming to you from ... (could have been TBC), Zanzibar.” 1807 time check and into music. Swahili programming. Fair-good Oct 3 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, BC, Eton E-1 and Sony AN-1 antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11735, Voice of Tanzania-Zanzibar, 1800-1809, Oct 4, English news. ID as “Voice of Tanzania-Zanzibar”. Swahili talk at 1809. Poor to fair in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ZIMBABWE. 4828, presumed ZBC Gweru, 0106-0133, Oct 2, vernacular. Indigenous music, continuous thru BoH; poor with mild CODAR (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Zimbabwe Community Radio on 3955 via Meyerton (from 1800 UT?) heard 4 Oct and 5 Oct both around 1812 tune-in. English ID mentioned http://website www.zicora.com (I'm guessing the spelling as they don't spell it phonetically on air and unable to check it from here). At 1855 transmitter stayed on with music before Family Radio programme in Portuguese at 1900 UT (Alan Pennington, Sheigra, NW Scotland, [dxpedition site] AOR 7030+ / 500m beverage, Oct 6, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi all, I have noticed by a pure coincidence that today Sep 28 a testing signal was hearable on 558 kHz, as a continuous beep. I heard it in Switzerland at 1000 UT (ground wave, medium power) as well as Swiss evening time at 1900 UT. I heard it at home as well as in my car while driving in the Zurich area. The signal direction seems to come from Monte-Ceneri (formerly transmitting on 558 kHz), South of Switzerland, close to the Italian border. Is this Monte-Ceneri doing a coverage test for somebody else? The Swiss-Italian broadcast was phased out in summer 2008. Regards (Philippe Aeby, MWC via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. New 5005.03, 0043-0140 fade out, ??? 04.10. Maybe very irregular R Nepal, vernacular talk, 15321 (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030 with a 28 metres longwire in stormy and rainy Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Been watching 5060 Sep 30 and Oct 1. The carrier is heard already before 1500. At 1500 the white noise jammer starts and continues until 1600. And then the similar jammer starts on 7175. The station on 5060 is then clear until sign-off 1630, but I can't pull out their ID. Anyway 1500-1600 the program is something Ethiopia doesn't like (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Has something to do? Same unit like entry: 5100 R. Bana 1600-1800 Tigrinya/En Asmara ERITREA (Aoki) wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) NEW 5059.99, 1615-1629* ERITREA? 01.10, R Bana, Asmara (tentative) UNID language announcement, Horn of Africa music, 15121 not // 6030, 6110, 7110, 7145 or 7165, but possibly Voice of Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara on 7175 which continued after 1630 in Oromo (presumably) (35333) (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030 with a 28 metres longwire in stormy and rainy Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5200-5270, OTH radar pulses mixing with CODAR. They deserve each other, but do they disrupt each other? CODAR seems oblivious to broadcast QRM, as are the broadcasters who don`t raise a stink about it. At 1208 Oct 2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. OTH radar pulse observations Oct 7, all ranges approximate: at 1245, 5740-5790 bothering AFN GUAM on 5765; also 6910- 6960 and 6785-6825; at 1340, 14385-14410. The last was quite strong peaking around 14395 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Presumed OTH radar clix observed in several spots the morning of Oct 5: at 1332 on 5790-5840 and 5355-5390; at 1353 on 7625- 7675; at 1456 on 14900-14925, this one strongest reaching S9+3, and weaker 14375-14400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6170, surprised to find strong signal in English here, W&M discussion about something in British accents, so BBCWS? Oct 4 at 0620. As I started to look for //, it dumped off at 0621* and still had not resumed by 0630. Anyway, quite different programming was running on DW 7310, but it did seem to have been similar by the time I got to BBC 9410. Nothing in the schedules to account for this, so maybe BBC was testing or on the frequency by mistake. RNZI starts 6170 at 0659, of course, but seems less likely to have been them; and anyway I believe I had noticed RNZI earlier in the hour on 11725 where they should be. Checked 6170 next night, Oct 5 at 0612, and nothing there either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6924.9V, USA, (PIRATE), Unidentified. 0107-0127* / *0138-0140 October 4, 2009. Old 1940’s/’50’s radio reel news clips (Ethel and Julius Rosenberg trials/executions, etc.). Abruptly off 0127, but back up 0138 and way stronger, with old Viet Nam topic radio snips. AM mode (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It is 0213 as I write this and I have been listening since 0100 to a pirate on 6925 AM replaying news stories from the 1950's onward. Stories nonstop by a male announcer, very interesting, despite fadeouts. Decent signal into my QTH, still going at 0215 here. More details: http://www.frn.net/vines under ACE LOGGINGS. Mine and 7 others are listed. Absolutely no ID during this time period! 73's (from Summit, NJ, Glenn, Ed Insinger, UT Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7280, Oct 2 at 1245. Perhaps Sound of Hope via Taiwan. Very good signal of Chinese children speaking and singing with classical music segments, reminding me of Peter and the Wolf for some reason. I wish I had made an audio recording of this one. Very bothered by ham on 7278, but had to use LSB to escape unlisted DRM on 7280-7285-7290. DRM was off by 1258 so tuned to USB, and DRM returned for a few seconds at 1259. 7280 had presumably station ID in Chinese, clock beeps leading to 1300 and then was off (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Much more likely to have been CNR1 jamming SOH, which I doubt has timesignals. RNZI DRM supposedly takes a break 1158-1551, but 7280- 7285-7290 is DRM until 1158; maybe it got stuck in the `on` position or clicked back on as Terry heard it stop at 1158; see NZ (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 7300, Oct 2 at 1309. Probably either VOR or CNR1 in Chinese with talk and vocal music. The music sounded Russian to me, so I guess it was VOR. Bothered by hams on 7297.2 (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7420, Oct 2 at 1315. Probably BBC in Chinese via Thailand. Very good signal with YL and OM. Music stings sounded BBCish but were not ones I recognized. Co-channel interference could have been AIR via India with OM and YL speaking in Tibetan. Bacon-fry QRM briefly at 1320 (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9600.4 --- I am still hearing that intriguing het, 0603 Oct 5 against Bulgaria in French. Still at 0638. It`s hard to separate them, but I think the 9600.4 carrier has some fading, and thus external, and furthermore is not always there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9760, PHILIPPINES & UNKNOWN. Voice of America – Tinang & UnID station(s?), 1334–1346, 10/3/09, in Mandarin & languages noted below. Pop music, YL announcer, abruptly off mid sentence, back at 1340 mid sentence with www address, Chinese ballad, 30 seconds dead air, ID in English for Bible Voice, postal address in U.K., 1344 second program starts in probable Russian (both different) then talk in probable Russian. All with VoA in Mandarin mixed in. A mess. CRI in English and VoA are the only listed services at this time that I could find in frequency lists and resources available to me (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Equipment: R-75, Winradio g313e, Eton E1 & e5, Satellit 800, Kaito 1103; 2 Flextennas, EWE, attic mounted Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Bible Voice certainly not scheduled on 9760; but CRI went on there to block VOA, both in English at 12-14. Fortunately, VOA is usually well on top here. Should not be any Chinese or Russian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. HCJB had been absent from 11960 since Sept 30, but Oct 5 at 1357 found a very strong S9+18 signal there with a variety of tone tests; no sweeps, but switching to different pitches, including a very low one at 1401 rumbling the speaker cone; mostly open carrier after that until cut off at 1408* with no ID or any announcement. Strongly suspect this was last gasp of a 100 kW transmitter at Pifo, put thru its proof-of-performance paces before dismantling and shipping to Kununurra. If not, someone doubtless covets this wide-open frequency. Nothing on the other former morning channel, 11690 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15080-15105, OTH radar pulses presumed, Oct 4 at 1408, and most likely from the NE rather than the NW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15535-15555, peak of presumed OTH radar clix, Oct 2 at 1356, fortunately no broadcasters getting hit at the moment. Not much scheduled either except for some likely wooden Russian registrations, and inaudible Iran in Japanese on 15555 at 1330-1427+ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ All the Best! I enjoy reading your work (Andy Reid, Ont., with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com, WORLD OF RADIO 1481) Glenn, I wish to take the time to thank you for the dedication you have given to the shortwave radio hobby. As you can see in the attached copy of the Radio Nederland QSL that I received in 1970 as a teenager in the SW radio hobby, you were already established and respected for your knowledge of the hobby. I was saddened to hear of Monitoring Times dropping your column. Although I have not subscribed to the magazine, many have, and used your info to help them make the best use of their radios to reach all parts of the world. I hope the small donation will help keep you active in this hobby which so many enjoy. Respectfully yours, (Doug Tilley, Covington WA, with a check to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702) Thanks, Doug. The QSL copied is the one showing gh as the label inside a shiny LP surrounded by the other contributors to DX Juke Box, dated 21.5.70 for Bonaire on 9715. Doug also used the classic VOA and Amateur Radio 5-cent US postage stamps, one of which sends out concentric waves, the other pseudo-sine waves (gh) Glenn, Hope things have been well with you. Was disappointed reading the October 2009 issue of "Monitoring Times" to discover this was the final "Global Forum". MT's logic for ending "Global Forum", "everything has already appeared all over the place", applies to the whole magazine. I guess this is next. Hang in there, OM. We're still with you and find your efforts very informative and useful. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ ENJOY A TRIP BACK IN TIME WITH SHEP! If you're like me and starved for DX, do what I do. Resort to DX- related alternate forms of entertainment! In this case it's the (not-as-popular-as-it-should-be) Gene [sic] Shepherd radio show from 1971. On this show, Shep spends quite a bit of time explaining DX and such to the audience as only Shep can. Give him a few minutes to get going, and like always you won't be disappointed. This show is about 45 minutes long, trust me it's well worth it if you can get past the poor audio quality. http://www.podcastdirectory.com/podshows/1934118 A bit of background: you probably are familiar with Gene Shepherd if you're a fan of the movie "A Christmas Story", you'll recognize his voice (and comedic style) immediately. He had this program on WOR for many years through the 60's and 70's, and now the recordings are finally showing up online, in a semi organized fashion. See http://shepcast.blogspot.com/ Thanks to the keepers of that blog and iTunes. Also have a look on http://archive.org Oh, and good luck on NOT getting hooked! There's a seemingly endless supply of recordings available, I've been through about 10 already and none has disappointed. When you're searching for shows, include words like "ham radio dx cw" and you'll find a few that really focus on those topics in particular. I apologize in advance for being off topic, and especially so if this has already been discussed here in the past, but my enthusiasm is overwhelming, I guess. Excelsior! (John Hanna (KC9HZC), Brookfield, IL EN61bu, http://www.kc9hzc.com Oct 7, WTFDA via DXLD) UP TO DATE UTILITY STATION LIST Please be advised that if you need a comprehensive & up to date list of M.F. Coastal & Maritime Stations between 305 kHz to 4000 kHz, then you should check the list from G4PYR. The 54 page list was last updated 30/9/09 http://www.coastalradio.org.uk/freqlists/coastmf.pdf 73 (Steve Whitt, Oct 2, mwcircle yg via DXLD) SWL QSL CARD MUSEUM som hjälper dig. http://www.antiquecorner.com/SWLQSL/Syftet med sidan beskrivs så här: This site is dedicated to the hobby of Shortwave Radio Listening and the collection of station verification reports, better known as QSLs. The QSLs are presented (card and letter format) from various collections throughout the world. If you have a QSL from a station not represented in our collection, we would be very interested in making it part of the museum. The museum is supported entirely by volunteer (SW Bulletin Oct 4 via DXLD) SWL Cluster: swl.dxwatch.com Hello folks, I would like to invite the community to enjoy the DX cluster devoted to SWL and general listening activity: http://swl.dxwatch.com DX Watch is one of the most visited and stable internet access for amateur radio DX cluster with additional tools. Fortunately, after many years, now we have the cluster toward SWL information traffic based on the successful ham radio experience. So PSE visit the SWL cluster, make your spots, send your suggestions for improve the service since it´s only the very first version. DX Watch is also looking for partnerships (Flávio PY2ZX, Brasil, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mostly utility logs NEW RADIO WEB SITE OF BLOOPERS Something you may like to check out, and one for webwatch next time round: http://www.radiofail.tk/ This is new to me and contains embedded clips of on-air errors. The site owner asks for audio contributions of slip-ups. Great stuff! (Keith Knight, BDXC-UK via DXLD) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ INTERNATIONAL REPLY COUPONS (IRCs): OUT WITH THE OLD, IN WITH THE NEW From The ARRL Letter, Vol 28, No 39 on October 1, 2009 Website: http://www.arrl.org/ It is now time to start dumping your old International Reply Coupons (IRCs). The "Beijing Model No 2" http://www.dailydx.com/images/IRC-2007-100.jpg must be redeemed before December 31, 2009. The new IRC -- the Nairobi Model IRC http://www.dailydx.com/images/2008-08-08_irc.jpg has been available in the US since September 10 and elsewhere since July; the price is $2.10 each in the US. The Nairobi Model is due to expire in 2013. For more information, click here http://www.arrl.org/news/stories/2009/09/30/11103/?nc=1 Thanks to The Daily DX http://www.dailydx.com/ for the information. http://www.eham.net/articles/22512 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY See AUSTRALIA; URUGUAY +++++++++++++++++ LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ About Tristão da Cunha... and you'll find out the obvious about why on earth "Tristão" evolved into "Tristan": http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trist%C3%A3o_da_Cunha http://topazio1950.blogs.sapo.pt/167260.html http://carreiradaindia.net/2007/05/protagonistas/tristao-da-cunha/ ________________________ By the way, the -nh- sound is not similar to Galician -nh-, Cast. -ñ-, French/Italian -gn-, Provençal -nh- http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/L%C3%ADngua_proven%C3%A7al it is the same, but cannot be translated into what you said, -nye-, for there is no y/i. Foreigners tend to think there is an -i- there, but that's wrong. Conversely, we have -lh- which I think is also the same in Provençal; Castilian/Catalan -ll-, It. -gl- and possibly -lh- too in Galician. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See CANADA; OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC; ECUADOR; INDIA; NEW ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ZEALAND; PORTUGAL; ROMANIA; RUSSIA; UNID 7280 DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ANOTHER HD PORTABLE! JVC KT-HDP1 The world's smallest HD radio tuner! The KT-HDP1 adapts to most vehicles and features a thin and slim design with Built-In HD (With Multi-Cast), FM, and AM Tuners. Using the optional accessory kits, the KT-HDP1 allows you to listen to your favorite High Definition Radio programming while driving, or, you can take it into the home or office too. http://support.jvc.com/consumer/product.jsp?archive=true&pathId=149&modelId=MODL028210 I am not endorsing this product. I am just presenting this here for discussion purposes. I own an HD Insignia from Best Buy, and really like it. Has anyone compared the two radios? (Bill Harms, MD, Oct 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So I take it in this instance, JVC is focusing more on the "ability to receive the stations in between the stations" and less on "improved sound quality". It has a built-in FM transmitter. So you can hear HD in pure analog 15 kHz FM Stereo quality broadcasted through your existing FM tuner (Michael n Wyo Richard, ABDX via DXLD) I just ordered one of these (KT-HDP1) from Amazon. They are extremely inexpensive there right now. I bought the radio plus the home dock and with shipping, the order was about $80 (Emily Keene, Middletown, NJ, ibid.) Hello Bill (and everyone)-- Just curious if anyone has seen national (U.S.) numbers for HD radio sales? Everyone I talk to says the numbers are pretty low; low sales of radios and a small number of listeners. A friend of mine back in Tampa, who works at a major station, says the number of HD listeners there is "just a handful." If that's the case, I can understand why many HD formats are juke-boxed. (As an old-hat radio broadcaster, I could just as easily argue that if stations don't put something into HD formats, people have no reason to listen!) (David Sharp, NSW Australia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) David - If I may, I think it would be fair to say that there are more listeners to the extra HD channels via internet or wifi radio than there are via those presently using HD radio devices. It has been my experience (and research bears this out) that the extra channels are not well used in the sense that the content is weak and not all that diverse. Furthermore, to avoid interference with the primary channel, the extra channels are broadcast at significantly reduced power. One must be quite close to the transmitter (certainly within 15-20 miles) to get reliable reception and, in most cases, an enhanced antenna beyond the built-on rod antenna is necessary for widespread reception of HD channels. It is my understanding that there are significant restrictions put on formatting of the extra HD channels by the company that licenses the technology. This is to protect the financial viability of the primary channels by not further diffusing the advertising base upon which commercial radio depends. Consequently, the most effective use of multiple channels is by the public broadcasters (NPR and PRI affiliates) which typically reserve the primary channel for news and ideas programming, the first secondary channel for classical music and arts programming and--where possible--a third channel to carry the BBC World Service and/or additional news and public affairs programming that doesn't fit into the primary channel's schedule. IMHO, the truth is that HD radio doesn't add enough in terms of program diversity or audio quality to justify the money spent by stations and consumers to use it. HD provides the most dramatic technical improvement on the AM band/medium wave (MW). But the problem in my view isn't AM technology; it's the lack of attention to quality construction of AM/MW receivers. I have a number of older MW receivers whose internal components provide a very good listening experience. And FM is perfectly fine as it is; HD makes only marginal improvements there. To me, the only compelling justification for digitalization is spectrum savings; but the free to air scheme developed by the commercial radio industry in this country doesn't even accomplish that! During the Reagan administration, the FCC largely abandoned the saner broadcasting matrix that had been in place for decades in favor of making broadcasting another mere commodity by foolishly and recklessly expanding the number of licensees. Today, there are too many stations chasing too few listeners and advertisers and this has homogenized radio in the U.S., with some promising but too few exceptions, into a colorless lump with a staleness and a sameness that can make one's ears bleed. I should add that all this is only one man's opinion. But I do think many others share this view (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I agree with most of what John said. Regarding the Ibiquity license restrictions on what can be placed on secondary and tertiary HD channels, most of those restrictions have now been lifted. However, most broadcasters continue to observe the restriction that they will not program anything on HD2/HD3 that competes with a similar format already in that market. The marketplace is passing judgment on HD radio and mostly, it is negative. The issue broadcasters now have to answer is whether the on- going investment in HD makes sense or if the money would be better spent on alternative delivery methods (internet radio streams). A parallel question is what the FCC will do. My personal thinking remains that HD for AM (mediumwave) in the US is already a near failure. FM remains a potential but weak success over the next 5 to 10 years. (Worth remembering that FM took 3 decades to succeed.) (Rob de Santos, ibid.) Some interesting posts on the state of HD Radio in the USA. regarding the limiting of formats, it's my understanding that Clear Channel and other major broadcasters (I want to think Cox and CBS) formed the "HD Alliance." Is this right? I believe there is (or was) a "gentleman's agreement" between these broadcasters, not to compete with each other with HD formats. It's also my belief that tests by Clear Channel, show the HD sub- channels can broadcast at significantly higher power. This would solve reception issues but would it generate more interference? HD on AM is good in theory but there seem to be real interference issues. Some large broadcasters are putting their "AM signals" on the FM HD channels and it will be interesting to see how this trend progresses. Personally, I think many of the HD channels will eventually be "leased out" to other interests and used as "cash cows" to prop up the main stations (David Sharp, NSW Australia, ibid.) Honestly, David, I can't think of anyone who would want to "lease" them; certainly not at a price that the behemoths like Clear Channel would likely set. No, what we need here is a "devolution" of the broadcast landscape. Fewer stations, restoration of large area clear channel frequencies with widespread defined markets (to gather enough ad dollars), on the one hand, with community broadcasting on the other; and either divestment of large group ownership and multiple ownership of stations in the same market OR a mandated commitment to format diversity within markets for those holding all those licenses. (And I'm not talking skinny "music of the 70s", "music of the 80s", music of the 90s" kinds of diversity.) The broadcast model in this country is badly broken and commoditized. (Is that last one a word? No matter: I think it gets the point across.) (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ WI-FI SIGNALS USED TO SEE THROUGH WALLS The 2 October edition of the Telegraph reports that scientists at the University of Utah in the United States have found a way to harness Wi-Fi signals to 'see' through solid walls. The researchers say that the variation of radio signals in a wireless network can reveal the movements of people behind closed doors or even a wall. Joey Wilson and Neal Patwari, from the University of Utah, have used the principle of variance-based radio tomographic imaging. The system works by measuring interference between the nodes of wireless devices. If someone passes through that field, the device registers a change in the levels of resistance, and feeds that information back to a computer. The system can currently only see about three feet through a wall, and is so far only capable of sensing motion. At this stage, it is not sophisticated enough to generate an actual image of what lies beyond the wall, but the research team is confident that this feature could be developed in time. You can read the full article 'Wi-Fi signals used to see through walls' at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6254646/Wi-Fi-signals-used-to-see-through-walls.html (Southgate, from Lee M0HOK via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) A SIMPLE PHASED BOG SYSTEM DESCRIPTION AND A RECENT MOD A couple DXers have asked about phasing BOGs so I'll spend some time describing what I do with BOGs. First of all, I strive to get my BOGs close to the ground, i.e. across low cut grass, on dirt or mulch, or on my driveway. I want to take advantage of the fact that the velocity factor is lower when the wires are very close to ground to hopefully give me an antenna with similar directivity to an elevated Bev. The field to the east of my house here in IL is about 85% the size of a football field and nearly as flat as one and low cut. If one is going thru areas with undergrowth or tall grasses, I have found that the quickest way to get the wire close to ground is then to roll the spool on the ground and then walk back and forth and try to get the wire lower and step on it. I strongly recommend cord winders for BOG wire as they make it easy to install and supereasy to pick up. These things cost about $7 at Home Depot or Lowes. The simplest Phased BOG System and one that is very easy to use will likely result in many new mid and high band loggings for most domestic DXers due to both a fine back null and good forward directivity. First of all, I usually DX out of my truck and I use the Quantum phaser and battery pack. Other phasers should also work so feel free to test or home brew your own. I usually don't use transformers (a presumed 5:1 SWR doesn't seem to hurt) and cables when DXing in my truck but simply run the wire ends under the truck door(s) and hook up to the phaser on the passenger seat. Simple, isn't it; very simple, I think, and very easy when I need to break the setup down as well as quick and easy to set up. Yes, no transformers, no cables (except from the phaser to receiver) and I am inputting the medium impedance BOGs (about 250 ohms) directly into the 50 ohm phaser inputs. I am breaking some RF rules, but so what? It doesn't hurt performance for mini-DXpeds in my fields and it means that setup and take down take about 10 minutes. I will describe the 320 deg Phased BOG System I have been recently using here in IL since powerline QRN mostly went away earlier in the year, allowing me to park at the SE end of my field and have no noise sometimes. The main wire runs from under my truck door and slopes down to ground and has a total length of 330 ft. It is straight as an arrow aimed about 320 degrees. I want these short BOGs very straight to try to narrow the beamwidth as much as possible, but the concept will still work fine with some small bends. The second wire runs out under the same truck door and is 200 ft long. The wires are very close together when they enter my DX truck and pass under my legs and then hook up to the phaser. This doesn't seem to harm performance one bit and I have also come in under the passenger door and hooked up and it works the same. The wires are // and separated by about 1.5 feet. That distance apart isn't critical and I've used them 1 feet apart or 3 feet apart and the Phased BOG System is just as effective then as now. When I reach the lengths I want for these quicky setups, I just leave the spool of wire on the ground and this doesn't hurt performance either. 130 feet difference in length seems to work well for the upper part of the AM band. If you have the wires the same length you'll phase null everything deeply. If you make the shorter wire too short, its beamwidth widens more than I'd like. Longer BOGs would be more effective for the lower end but I have no more room here towards the NW. When I use longer BOGs to the ENE in WI for mid latitude TA's and SSS [sunset skip] to New England and NY State, I tend to use about 180 or 190 feet difference in length. (This seemed good when I got Ireland on 549 in WI and has also made me think that I was DXing from Spain with them all over the dial.) Last time in WI I used 415 ft // 281 ft aimed more northerly and while I'd like longer wires for the lower end, getting Syria, Spain, and Mauritania on 783 passed phased back end WBBM (92 miles) would indicate a decent antenna system. The exact lengths of BOGs for the Phased BOG System isn't critical and I don't feel that the difference in lengths is critical either. You want to make sure that the DX left over when you phase the back end isn't greatly attenuated and most certainly you don't want it attenuated across the band. The low end here with my setup in IL seems rather attenuated but getting CKUA 580 indicates that it can still provide nice DX. Use: OK so you have your two // BOGs down and it is time to phase them to null back end pests. Compare back end amplitudes and they are usually similar, but make whatever quick adjustment if needed to get them close to equal and then adjust phase as needed to null more and back and forth, tweaking amplitude and phase until you greatly reduce that back end pest. The nulls are reasonably broadbanded and decently wide. Phasing WRTO 1200 is good for much of the upper band while phasing WLAC 1510 tends to require a bit different phaser tweaking and is good for the very high band. Phasing WMVP 1000 seems good for midband. WMVP is SE of here but the null of it also reduces things like KDKA and WBZ and KYW to the east enough to tell there's stuff under but I may sometimes want to further deepen that specific null. The array can also be used to null stuff in the direction it points, but even at these lengths BOGs have a few dB of attenuation and it is preferable to aim directly at the DX. That being said, two years ago and a few times in auororal conditions the back ends of my Phased TA BOGs provided a pipeline to Veracruz. Termination: Note that this quicky Phased BOG System requires no termination. I seriously don't recommend putting ground rods on land you don't own! Termination can help further reduce back end QRM, but I've never seen it do a good job across the entire BC band (also not seen that for classic elevated Bevs). I also have not found that fanning out a few wires on the ground after the resistor rather than using a ground rod did anything to help BOG termination. I suspect they simply may become part of the antenna. However, this is reported to work at LBI, but beach sand conductivity is likely much less than my midwestern soil. More on termination in a later post, but for quick use and casual use don't worry about it! Just phase a pair of different length // BOGs and enjoy. A recent mod seems quite useful for the upper band. I strongly believe that the best performance and most broadbanded nulls (i.e. for Perseus users to record the entire band) would be obtained from // staggered BOGs or Bevs the same length. Theoretically with feedpoints 1/4 wave apart and 90 degrees phase different would result in adding in phase in one direction while having a nice 180 degree out-of-phase null for the other. If you combine the two antennas 180 degrees out of phase and then use either delay line or a LC circuit, the back end should be 180 degrees out of phase for the entire band. 1/8 wave apart and 3/8 wave phasing would also work, of course. With that in mind, and wanting to use a longer phase, shorter BOG to narrow its beam a bit, I decided to try extending the back end of the shorter BOG and then bending it back to my DX truck and phaser. So now while my 330 ft BOG at 320 degrees remains the same, the shorter wire still runs 200 ft to my truck but passes under it and goes 51.5 feet (I haven't an inch more room) and then bends 180 degrees and comes back to my DX truck and hooks up to the phaser. This is somewhat staggering two BOGs and seems to have more signal left over when I phase the back end pests. The doublebacked BOG usually has a bit more backend pest signal than my longer straight one so I just need to add a bit of resistance with that phaser pot. It really seems that I have more signal left over after phase nulling now across the band and especially across the high end. When I phase null to the Palatine TIS on 1660 due SE, WTDY due NW on 1670 isn't any weaker on the phased combo than on a single wire and some upper band stuff is honestly a bit stronger on the pair. The back null also seems to be somewhat more broadbanded now! This is exactly the effect that I want and a few dB can make all the difference in pulling out DX from the mess and pulling out that DX under a phased powerhouse local. I'll make a more exhaustive test of this concept in WI where I have more room and where I don't have Chicago's pests to make a mess of daytime DX that direction. I honestly have never had some of the northwesterly DX as good as the past two nights. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, Barrrington IL, Sept 30, NRC- AM via DXLD) To the extent that one feels that termination would be an asset, a DGS system might be worth a try. I came up with the DGS [dynamic ground system] last winter and built it in the spring. I have two of them and I'll be taking them to the Priest Pond DXpedition. So far, my testing seems to indicate performance equal to, or better than, a long ground rod. Plus, you just set them on top of the grass - easy to plunk down, easy to remove. For antennas that are portable, it allows quick and easy repositioning too. Mine are also designed to serve as an antenna base for the EWE. It also works great as a passive vertical, and for that matter, two passive verticals for a phased array. It is amazing what 16.5 feet of 14 gauge wire, strung vertically, will do with a good ground system! (Phil Rafuse, VY2PR, Stratford PE Canada, ABDX via DXLD) STATION FIRE NEWSLETTERS CONSOLIDATED INTO ONE FILE Thanks to the considerable efforts of Robert Sudock (KTTV retired), the CGC Communicator newsletters covering the 2009 Station Fire have been consolidated into a single Web-posted file. Now you can read the whole fire story in chronological order without having to open archived newsletters one by one. The posting is a simple text file. Although you must copy and paste the URLs if you want them to work, the newsletter text is easy to read and that is the purpose of this posting. Thanks again to Robert for a great effort! http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Sudock_Fires.txt OUTSTANDING ARTICLE ON FIRE FIGHTING PHILOSOPHY The Smithsonian article from your last newsletter about fire fighting philosophy is top notch, the best. I hope everyone takes the time to read it to find out how we got into this mess of not being allowed to thin forests and prevent runaway fires. Name withheld http://tinyurl.com/yewe9n3 TRAVEL POSTER PRINTED, THEN FIRE HITS Here are a few photos of a poster the Angeles National Forest had printed as part of their marketing campaign to promote the Angeles Crest Scenic Byway. Ironically I learned of the new campaign, proudly announced by the District Ranger, while attending a meeting held at the Forest Service Supervisors office in Arcadia just days before the Station Fire started. As one of many who appreciate the beautiful scenery every time I travel to Mount Wilson, I was heartbroken by the devastation of the Station Fire and look forward to nature rapidly revitalizing the area with new growth. Vikki Amrine, American Tower Corporation Broadcast Account Manager - Western Region vikki.amrine (at) americantower.com http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Images/Wilson_guide.html (all: CGC Communicator Oct 4 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) FOLLOW-UP ON THE REVERSE POLARITY DURACELL 9V BATTERIES In last week's CGC Communicator, Marv Collins warned us about Duracell 9V batteries with reverse polarity. There is a bit more to the story. Marv explains: "The case was put on the battery in reverse and thus the labeling was reversed. Had I been using a normal 9 volt battery connector, there would have been no problem. But I was using clip leads and the reverse labeling fooled me." http://earthsignals.com/add_CGC/Images/9V_Batts.jpg (CGC Communicator Oct 4 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) SPECIAL SECTION ON SDG&E SMART METERS OVERVIEW A new San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) "Smart Meter" electric power meter was installed at CGC in Fallbrook on October 1, 2009. It replaced an old-style mechanical meter. The new unit is an Itron type C2SODL2 with a digital display. It is virtually of identical size to the old meter but has two RF transmitters and receivers built-in. The following SignOnSanDiego article from July 2008 gives an overview of the Smart Meter program. The second URL links to a fascinating SDG&E technical slide show dated August 2009: http://tinyurl.com/5reyob SDG&E SMART METERS -- INFO ON FILE WITH THE FCC The FCC ID number on the Smart Meter installed at CGC is SK9AMI-3. By visiting the following FCC Website, quite a bit can be learned about the RF portion of this interesting device: http://www.fcc.gov/oet/ea/fccid/ For Grantee Code, put in: SK9 For Product Code, put in: AMI-3 Then click the search button. On the new Web page, five file lines appeared at the time of our search. The right columns indicate that the meter uses two transmit frequency bands: 902.25-927.75 and 2405-2475 MHz, sometimes called the 915 MHz and 2.4 GHz ISM bands. These are the license-free "Industrial, Scientific and Medical" bands that contain everything from cordless telephones to wireless computer mice. By opening the "Detail" exhibit of the first file line, we learn that the Smart Meter uses 0 dBi gain slot antennas for both frequency bands and that both of the transmitters may come on the air at the same time. The maximum EIRP (effective radiated power relative to isotropic) with both transmitters turned on is 0.2 watts. Both transmitters use spread spectrum modulation. The 915 MHz transmitter communicates with SDG&E while the 2.4 GHz transmitter is designed to communicate with ZigBee-equipped consumer devices and your gas meter, if you have one. SDG&E SMART METERS - OBSERVED SIGNALS CGC has not yet seen either of aforementioned transmitters on the air, but we haven't looked hard either. We have however noted a host of weak harmonics that are radiated continuously from the meter, probably from an internal crystal oscillator. The fundamental frequency is 4.19428 MHz. Harmonics of the clock to beyond 1,000 MHz have been seen at our frequency and spectral monitoring lab. For example, in just the FM broadcast band, harmonics fall in the passbands of the following FM channels: 88.1, 92.3, 96.5, 100.7 and 104.9 MHz. The good news is that the harmonics are relatively weak and our lab can work around them, much as we work around weak signals radiated by computer clock chips. Whether the Smart Meter's harmonics will cause objectionable interference to broadcast or other communications services has yet to be determined. Our off-hand reaction is that Smart Meters are no worse than home computers in terms of generating RFI; however, if most of the Smart Meters have the same oscillator frequency and the meters are installed throughout San Diego County and south Orange County as is now planned, it is possible that some communications channels will be compromised. SDG&E's Smart Meters are Part 15 devices meaning that they must not cause harmful interference and must accept RFI from other sources. (CGC Communicator Oct 4 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Our water meters in Enid are about to become `smart` and I and my antennas a few feet away are apprehensive (gh, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ RSGB MAY TAKE LEGAL ACTION OVER POWER LINE ADAPTORS The battle over the use of Power Line Adaptors in the UK looks set to escalate, with a threat of legal proceedings looming. Power Line Adaptors use the mains power supply for data/broadband communications around a house or building, but they cause severe interference to the HF Radio Spectrum over a wide area (up to 300 metres) and spoil peoples' enjoyment of their favourite radio show. The RSGB, the UK's national amateur radio body, has been fighting against the introduction of this technology, and now appear ready to mount a legal challenge over the UK regulator Ofcom's position allowing the use of these devices. The following statement has appeared on the RSGB website: RSGB GOES TO LAW OVER PLA DISPUTE WITH OFCOM The RSGB continues to take the Power Line Adaptor compliance fight to Ofcom. Following Ofcom's statement on PLT/PLA on the 3 September 2009 and the RSGB's response statement issued on the 4 September 2009. The Society has now received a formal reply from Ofcom following the Society's earlier formal complaint to Ofcom regarding non compliance PLA's and Ofcom's interpretation of the EMC Directive regarding these devices. The RSGB continues to find Ofcom's responses and position totally unacceptable and has recently met with and instructed its lawyers to investigate a legal challenge on the Ofcom position. The RSGB will continue the fight to protect the radio spectrum against non compliant devices which cause unacceptable levels of interference particularly to the HF bands. We will issue further statements as the case develops. More details at http://www.southgatearc.org/news/september2009/rsgb_legal_challenge_to_plt.htm (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) There is to be a presentation on Power Line Communication (PLC) by Professor Paul Brown (Consultant) on Tuesday 13th October at 6 for 6.30pm at the Manchester Conference Centre (Days Hotel) on Sackville Street, Manchester M1 3BB. Everybody who is able to, please do turn-up for this free event and listen to what is stated. Then ask your questions (perhaps about interference?) This event has been organised by the The Institution of Engineering and Technology, see http://www.theiet.org (Southgate http://www.southgatearc.org/news/october2009/power_line_communication_talk.htm via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) BBC RADIO 4 - WIRELESS INTERFERENCE The BBC Radio 4 show Click On, first broadcast on Monday Oct 5, and now on the web, featured an item on interference to Wifi Networks from household appliances. Click On describes the item as: Household appliances such as cordless phones and baby monitors can interfere with home networks. Adrian Wagstaffe, author of an OFCOM report about wireless congestion, helps Simon solve his home wireless problems. Click On Series 5 Episode 1 can be heard at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n0qr6 The Wireless Interference item starts 10 minutes into the show. Southgate http://www.southgatearc.org/news/october2009/bbc_radio4_wireless_interference.htm (via Mike Terry, Oct 6, dxldyg via DXLD) PROPAGATION see also ALASKA: HAARP +++++++++++ WHAT HAPPENED TO SOLAR TERRESTRIAL ACTIVITY REPORT? Hello, does someone know what happened to Jan Alvestad's propagation site Solar Terrestrial Activity Report http://www_solen_info/solar It is (was?) a very good source of information about propagation conditions, in my opinion. Now the site is down and I'm forwarded to a Sedoparking page that seems to be a source for trojans and other malicious software. So be aware not to access it. I can't find a new address for the propagation site, so it seems it was let to expire. Jan, I miss your pages! (Fabrizio Magrone, Italy, HCDX via DXLD) I go here: http://www.spaceweather.com/ (Yodar a.k.a. Joe Strain, words MEAN things, ibid.) Thank you to those who alerted me that the site is working regularly. It seems that my Firefox 3.5.3 was infected by some malicious software, maybe a trojan, who grabbed the browser and redirects it to wrong URLs full of malware. I discovered the problem with Alvestad's site, but then it happened with other sites too. I tried to deactivate Java scripts, to reinstall Firefox, to bring the computer to a previous system configuration, but to no avail. Antivirus scans gave no result. I think I'll have to wait for Mozilla to correct the bug. Firefox isn't anymore as safe as it was in the beginning. If someone knows how to cure the infection, please contact me off list, thank you (Fabrizio Magrone, ibid.) I don`t get it either at above URL, but defaults to my ISP`s search page, not malicious, I hope. However, a quick Google search finds that it is really at: http://www.solen.info/solar/ with dots, not underscores (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to active levels on 28 September with brief minor storm conditions at high latitudes. Activity decreased to quiet levels during the remainder of the period. A geomagnetic sudden impulse (18 nT, as measured by the Boulder USGS magnetometer) was detected at 04/0422 UTC. ACE solar wind measurements indicated the 28 September activity was associated with a period of southward IMF Bz (minimum -6 nT at 28/0530 UTC) and enhanced IMF Bt (peak 8 nT at 28/0534 UTC). ACE data indicated the sudden impulse was associated with a weak interplanetary shock. A velocity increase (approximately 297 to 362 km/sec) and increased IMF Bt were associated with the sudden impulse. There was no obvious source for the sudden impulse. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 07 OCTOBER-02 NOVEMBER 2009 Solar activity is expected to be very low. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal levels through the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet levels during most of the period. However, unsettled conditions are expected during 24 - 25 October due to recurrence. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2009 Oct 06 1921 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2009 Oct 06 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2009 Oct 07 69 5 2 2009 Oct 08 69 5 2 2009 Oct 09 69 5 2 2009 Oct 10 69 5 2 2009 Oct 11 69 5 2 2009 Oct 12 69 5 2 2009 Oct 13 69 5 2 2009 Oct 14 69 5 2 2009 Oct 15 69 5 2 2009 Oct 16 70 5 2 2009 Oct 17 70 5 2 2009 Oct 18 72 5 2 2009 Oct 19 72 5 2 2009 Oct 20 72 5 2 2009 Oct 21 72 5 2 2009 Oct 22 72 5 2 2009 Oct 23 72 5 2 2009 Oct 24 72 8 3 2009 Oct 25 72 8 3 2009 Oct 26 72 5 2 2009 Oct 27 72 5 2 2009 Oct 28 72 5 2 2009 Oct 29 72 5 2 2009 Oct 30 72 5 2 2009 Oct 31 70 5 2 2009 Nov 01 70 5 2 2009 Nov 02 69 5 2 (SWPC Oct 6 via WORLD OF RADIO 1481, DXLD) ###