DX LISTENING DIGEST 10-17, April 29, 2010 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 2010 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 1510, April 29-May 5, 2010 Thu 1900 WBCQ 7415 9330-CUSB? Thu 2100 WRMI 9955 Fri 0030 WRMI 9955 Fri 0330 WWRB 3185 Fri 1430 WRMI 9955 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9515 [second, fourth, fifth Saturdays, maybe] Sat 1330 WRMI 9955 Sat 1630 WWCR2 12160 Sat 1800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Sat 1900 WRMI 9955 Sun 0230 WWCR3 4840 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WBCQ 15420-CUSB tested last week Sun 1900 WRMI 9955 Sun 2330 WWCR4 9980 Mon 0330 WWCR4 5890 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Tue 1900 WBCQ 7415 Tue 2230 WRMI 9955 Wed 0030 WRMI 9955 Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1900 WBCQ 7415 Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html or http://schedule.worldofradio.org or http://sked.worldofradio.org For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://193.42.152.193/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN: http://www.wrn.org/wrn-listeners/world-of-radio/ http://www.wrn.org/listeners/world-of-radio/rss/08:00:00UTC/English/541 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AFGHANISTAN. BBG CONTRACTS HARRIS TO MODIFY MW TRANSMITTER SITE IN AFGHANISTAN The US Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has issued a modification to its contract with Harris Corporation concerning a recently- installed BBG mediumwave transmitter in Afghanistan: “Harris is the only firm capable of meeting BBG’s requirement to enhance the capabilities of the existing 200 kW shelterized mediumwave (MW) transmitting system in a remote location of Afghanistan to provide for 24-7 operations. The enhancement to existing Harris designed and provided broadcast site includes the design, fabrication, shipment, optional installation, commissioning and testing of one (1) additional Caterpillar C-18 generator capacity and fuel capacity at the recently completed site. It is mandatory the new equipment be precisely integrated into the existing site with no downtime. Harris is required to provide all personnel, design, equipment, materials, supplies, documentation, training, fabrication, assembly, packing for overseas shipment, shipment, installation and otherwise do all things necessary and incident to the delivery of a highly efficient and highly reliable commercially available enhancement to the existing solid-state mediumwave (MW) transmitting system. Minimal US Government security is provided at the site.” (Source: BBG via tradingmarkets.com) (April 25th, 2010 - 11:37 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) Andy Sennitt adds: This appears to be the new transmitter carrying VOA’s Deewa Radio in Pashto into the Pakistan border area. According to a BBG document issued in July 2009, “an AM transmitter was being readied in Afghanistan whose signal was expected to extend significantly into the targeted region inside Pakistan. The transmitters are located in Afghanistan rather than in Pakistan because the Pakistan Media Law is very restrictive in this matter.” Currently, only shortwave frequencies are listed for Deewa Radio on the VOA website. Does anyone know if the transmitter is already operational, and on what frequency? 2 Comments on “BBG contracts Harris to modify MW transmitter site in Afghanistan” #1 Kai Ludwig on Apr 25th, 2010 at 12:33 621 kHz, and apparently still not on air, at least I have not seen any reports about this “readied” transmitter actually being fired up. The situation appears to be still such as described by a Washington Post columnist in last October: “So have we gotten all the cooperation we need regarding transmission facilities from the governments in the area? That was the question Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) posed last week to members of the Broadcasting Board of Governors at a Senate subcommittee hearing. Not really, the members said. (…) And an unnamed Afghan minister — we understand it’s the minister of information — has been ’sitting on our request’ for a transmitter for more than a year. (…) ‘Are they looking for a little gratuity perchance?’ Wicker asked. No, no, board member Jeffrey Hirschberg said, the BBG doesn’t do that and the law forbids it.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/20/AR2009102003727.html #2 Kai Ludwig on Apr 25th, 2010 at 18:54 And now I receive rumours that the transmitter is on air, since about two or three weeks ago, with some testing done even earlier. It would be nice to receive some confirmation or probably denial from the region (Media Network blog comments via DXLD) Comments to this post conclude that this transmitter is on 621 kHz. It's listed as a frequency for RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal http://www.rferl.org/howtolisten/PK/ondemand.html (click on Waves), its Pashto service for the Pakistan-Afghanistan border region. The frequency is not listed for VOA's Deewa Radio, to the same region, also in Pashto. Is Deewa not using the frequency, or has it not been posted yet at voanews.com? Refers to FedBizOpps via TradingMarkets.com, 22 Apr 2010 http://www.tradingmarkets.com/news/stock-alert/hrs_modification-to-contract-no-bbgcon3607c5854-harris-corporation-929725.html Posted: 27 Apr 2010 (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** ALASKA. A Unique AM Station in Alaska Turns 50 There's my commentary after the article. KICY CELEBRATES MILESTONE Last weekend, KICY (Nome, AK) held a celebration to mark an important milestone: the 50th Anniversary of their station. Owned by the Arctic Broadcasting Association and run primarily by full-time and part-time volunteers, this station has a unique footprint throughout Western Alaska and Russia's Far East. KICY AM 850 is a 50,000-watt station and runs 24 hours per day, sending the Gospel of Christ into regions that aren't necessarily accessible through other forms of media. NRB President & CEO Dr. Frank Wright sent KICY a letter, which was read at the celebratory dinner. "It is through the efforts of KICY that so many over the past 50 years, not only in Western Alaska, but in Eastern Russia across the Bering Strait, have been able to hear, believe and follow Jesus." He continued, "Praise God for your work in the industry as we seek the common goal of spreading the Gospel message to those who need to hear it." While KICY has broadcast into Russia since 1960, it wasn't until the late 1980's that the station management discovered that they were broadcasting into Russia at 5,000 watts. Today, it's the only commercial radio station in the United States that the FCC has licensed to broadcast into another country, and in another language. When Alaska sleeps, KICY turns their full 50,000 watts toward Russia, and Luda Kinock takes over. As a native of the Sireniki area of Eastern Russia, Kinock grew up listening to KICY programming, and today she not only directs KICY's Russian programming but includes a popular program "CareForce," where Russian pastors pray for needs on the air. Source: NRB Today, April 21, 2010 This sentence is incorrect: "While KICY has broadcast into Russia since 1960, it wasn't until the late 1980's that the station management discovered that they were broadcasting into Russia at 5,000 watts." Actually, from the very beginning KICY was well-aware of its coverage of then highly militarized Soviet Chukotka. Moreover, the station had to compete for its local Eskimo audience with a well-funded and highly professional Yupik service from the Soviet city of Anadyr. KICY launched its Russian service in 1970. But the first written responses came in the late 1980s. (I guess that's what NRB Today is referring to when it talks about the management's "discovery.") In 1994 KICY had direct contacts with Yupik service in Anadyr. There were discussions of some joint projects. But from what I know nothing came out of that (Sergei S., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I put your report and your brief comments on Radio-Info.com on KICY. They did not keep the whole report as on NRB Today. Your comments on KICY as observed by a Russian observer (That's you pal) were kept on the post. On the NRB today post they told everyone the link where they could find the article. If you are interested in showing some of Alaska's broadcasters what you picked up from Alaska, or some stations on AM that someone could try from Russia, they might be interested. Just go to http://radio-info.com and add a users name and password (Rich Lewis, ibid.) ** ALGERIA [non]. 7295, RTA via Issoudun, FRANCE, April 26 at 0522, Arabic pontifications, good strength accompanied by squeal on the transmitter but no echoing this time. Note, on May 2 until Sept 5, there will be time adjustments in these relays. 7295 will be on at 04-06 instead of 05-07, but it`s not a matter of just going one hour earlier across the board. This is apparently based on propagation predixions, following the sun, as there is no DST in Algeria and DST is already underway in France (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANDORRA. Andorre Français/Principauté d'Andorre Radio Andorre / 25 Mai 2010 [new stamp to be issued in a month; see:] http://groups.yahoo.com/group/radiostamps/attachments/folder/1254841035/item/142120486/view (Raymond AUPETIT, F-87230 CHAMPSAC, France, radiostamps yg via DXLD) ** ANGUILLA. C.B. also reactivated on 11775, PMS at 1335 check April 23. But there will surely be a next time when they break down, reaudiblizing DX on 6090 at night (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6090 with English, Pastor Melissa Scott angst-ing about those who have left her great church and implying she wished some of those who were being a pain in the rear would also leave, but */SHE/* would persevere. I guess that means this station isn’t set to go off the air. Audio ID from TV show at :24 and then into a recording of Dead Dr Gene with one of his more sedate pontifications. I haven’t heard a good snit on this station in ages. Sigh. :) SIO 4+4+4+ 0420-0430 25/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, LRA36, Friday April 23 audible again at 1303 with music, very weak and a struggle against noise level, no broadcast QRM. 1310-1321 switched to YL talk, but could only outmake an occasional word such as ``palabra``, ``10 mil vatios``, and am not sure of the latter. 1342 music again and now 15480 Woofferton with Poland in Belarussian has faded up, but not enough to really bother 15476 which is still JBA, when I quit at 1358. LRA36, only detectable on 15476 as a carrier, Monday April 26 at 1314. Need to confirm whether it`s also active on Tuesday, as it definitely was on Thursday, instead of only M/W/F (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476.0, LRA36 (presumed), 1445, April 26. Heard some music; slightly above threshold; switched over to check reception via my E-5 and just missed the exact time of sign off; was shortly after 1500 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, LRA36 confirmed active on Tuesday, not just M/W/F, April 27 at 1231 very weak but some music audible. 1300 still there but increased ACI from 15480, PRES in Belarussian via Woofferton UK. Checked again at 1357, now ACI not a problem, LRA36 still very weak, but music with heavy beat continues past hourtop until finally 1407 YL talking, but just too weak. It seems the great majority of airtime is devoted to music, but surely not Antarctic traditional as there are no anteskimos; instead it`s to plant the flag of Argentine expansionism, in defiance of the Antarctic Treaty against territorial claims upon the continent. 15476, LRA36 on Wednesday April 28: at 1256 music just barely audible past 1308. Peaking better at 1310 when YL with Argentine accent starts talk segment until 1329, but only a rare word understandable, such as at 1315 ``presencia en la bahía``. ACI from UK 15480 is now a problem, but hi-latitude paths in general on 19m are attenuated, and at 1255 nothing but Chile was making it on 16m, 17680. 1329, the 15476 signal is a bit stronger as OM singing starts. By 1424 has declined to a carrier only. As poor as it is, reception seems much more reliable in this time slot than it was at 18-21 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, LRA36 audible on another Thursday, April 29 at 1237 weak carrier, very poor but some music. 1323 singing audible. While Woofferton is on 15480 at 1300-1430, this makes quite an abnormal 4 kHz het, another tipoff that the Archangel is present (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476.0, LRA36 (presumed), 1452-1500*, April 29 (Thursday). This corresponds with Glenn’s recent observations; slightly too weak to ID language; EZL pop song (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 15345.13, Radio Nacional, 2320-2335, April 24, Spanish programming with possible fútbol coverage. Very weak. Much stronger on // 6059.99 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** AUSTRALIA. Hi Glenn, I spotted this article in DXLD APR 8, 2010 edition. ``I hear that some of the transmitters decommissioned by CVC at Darwin may be going on to useful second (third?) lives: two 100 kW could wind up at Radio Australia, Shepparton, if rather expensive shipping costs of a megadollar can be covered. RA may also be getting a 300 kW transmitter, DRM-capable, and some new antennas to serve Africa and SW Asia. Some other equipment from Cox Peninsula has already been donated to HCJB Kununurra (Glenn Hauser-OK-USA, dxld Apr 8)`` Well, yes, two 100 kW SW transmitters from CVC Darwin will replace two 100 kWers at SHP site. I know one higher powered SW transmitter from DRW will go to another CVC site, so I'd imagine would be either Zambia or Chile. Yes, SHP is take delivery of a new DRM SW transmitter. It will be essentially used as a feeder SW transmitter to feed local transmitter stations in the Asia Pacific region like RNZI does at present with its DRM SW transmitter. Again I would have to imagine on designated SW broadcast bands. These changes are expected to occur in around six months time. I would be interested to know who suggested new antennas at SHP site. This is news to me, particularly as Radio Australia is a regional broadcaster and not a global broadcaster and RA doesn't target Africa any more (not since early 90's). I think the last RA/forces program service to Africa was to Australian forces serving in Somalia(?) from the military SW site Exmouth, WA in 2005, unless I am mistaken??? Anyway, maybe others know more (Ian Baxter, Australia, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM. SW-transmitter site Wavre Belgium --- Hello, To anyone who is interested , on the following link are a lot of pictures free to download and distribute from the Wavre Belgium shortwave transmitter site: http://the-antenna-site.eu/belgium-vrt-waver.html The main page with a lot more links is at: http://the-antenna-site.eu/index2.html 73's (John Bernaerts, Belgium, Apr 26, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL/BRAZIL (reativada?) 4875, R. Roraima, Boa Vista, P, px Falando de Deus, OM "através do programa da Radio Roraima", mx religiosa, ouvinte por telefone e textos biblicos. S-3 (Rogildo Fontenelle Aragão, Quillacollo, Bolivia, 17º 23' 00. 65" S, 66º 15' 49. 60" W raragaodx @ yahoo.com.br Sony ICF-2001D / Lowe HF-225E, LW 26m - RGP1, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) No time given! But posted at 0256 UT April 26. WRTH 2010 does not show it *inactive, but on 4876. DSWCI DBS April 2010 does not list it as active but instead last reported: 4875.6 B R Roraima, Boa Vista, RR APR09 LA SW Logs has it last reported in January 09 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Both GBC Guyana 3290 and 4875, Brasil Rdif Roraima, Boa Vista being heard well in Florida 0900 and 0000. Rlcw (Bob Wilkner, FL, UT April 30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5939.95, Radio Voz Missionária, Florianópolis, 2335-2350, April 24, Portuguese preacher. Religious music. Poor in noisy conditions. Weaker on // 9665.09, 11749.88. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BRAZIL. 6009.95, Radio Inconfidencia, Belo Horizonte, 2350-0010, April 24-25, Brazilian ballads. ID at 2358. Portuguese announcements. Poor in noisy conditions. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) See also EQUATORIAL GUINEA, UNIDENTIFIED 15190 ** BRAZIL. I didn't hear an ID, but there was Brazilian Portuguese on 6185 at fair to good strength this Sunday morning - the 25th - at 0635 tune in. Mostly popular music with some talk. I assume this is the all night Sunday programming mentioned by Glenn? I measured the frequency as close to 6185.00 as possible, and there was no trace of XEPPM or a heterodyne (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RNA colliding with MEXICO: q.v. ** CANADA. CBC HOST BUDD SAYS FIRING FELT LIKE DROWNING April 26, 2010 Barbara Budd: “I’ve always been laugh loud, talk a lot, cry big, get angry." When Barbara Budd was told on Feb. 22 that her contract as the co-host of CBC’s As It Happens wasn’t being renewed after 17 successful years on the air, she thought back to 1979, when she was diagnosed with cancer. “I’m not saying the two experiences are the same,” she explains, “but the feelings they provoked in me were. “Both times, I felt like the person giving me the news was pushing me down under water. I could see their mouth moving and they didn’t look like they were being unkind, but for a few moments there . . . you’re drowning.” She shakes her head to clear away the memory. “And when I came up for air, the reaction was the same with both events: Why me? Why didn’t I see this coming? What do I do now?” http://www.thestar.com/entertainment/article/800852--cbc-host-budd-says-firing-felt-like-drowning (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Interesting article; I was not aware her departure was involuntary. It leaves me wondering, though, about the CBC wanting "...hosts who are also journalists. ..". Seems pretty disingenuous to me. It was also interesting to read where she was always year-to-year with the CBC, given the prominent role both she and AIH have had within the CBC. A fixture like AIH is risky business for the CBC; they want to keep the balance on the program vs. the person, yet when a two-person team is on the air nightly, the focus becomes the person pretty quickly. The BBC World Service tries to strike this balance with the hosts of its featured programming such as "Newshour". While there are a few recognizable names among the program hosts, there aren't one or two people that are the exclusive hosts (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) I think it IS disingenuous. Sounds more like a cost-cut to me. As far as hosts vs. journalists is concerned, radio is a personality driven medium. (We all know that; apparently current CBC management forgot it.) jaf (John A. Figliozzi, Half Moon NY, ibid.) ** CANADA. TRANSMITTER FAILURE KNOCKS CBC OFF AM RADIO [CBW Manitoba] CBC News April 27 2010 http://www.cbc.ca/canada/manitoba/story/2010/04/27/mb-cbc-transmitter-failure-winnipeg.html#ixzz0mKkJ8qMf A power failure at a CBC transmitter west of Winnipeg has hushed the radio broadcast on the AM dial. Programming can still be heard at 89.3 FM but selecting 990 on the AM side only brings soft static. There is a backup generator at the site in but that too, has failed. Crews are working to restore power (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. FCC ADVISORY TO OFFICIAL OBSERVERS Special Enforcement Officer Laura Smith at the FCC has asked Field & Regulatory Correspondent, Chuck Skolaut, at the American Radio Relay League, to inform all ARRL Official Observers, that a Canadian amateur operator has engaged in a disinformation campaign on or about 14275 kHz in "a weak attempt" to get American licensees in trouble. Smith says the Canadian's attempt "did not work." Karol Madera, VE7KFM is a former Glenn Baxter, K1MAN co-host who has taken up residence on 14272 kHz and vicinity. Published reports indicate Madera is transmitting falsehoods and threats to anyone who will listen. The advisory from the FCC is seen as an extension of their point of view, dating from FCC Agent Riley Hollingsworth's Dayton Hamvention speech, where he labeled the Canadian a "very poor operator" who is "several french fries short of a Happy Meal." http://www.arrl-ohio.org/ooc/feb-2010.html http://forums.qrz.com/showthread.php?t=245817 (Brian Crow, K3VR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. The game plan in Canada now seems to be to convert only the biggest cities to DTV (in the case of Global, that would be the CIII- TV-41 signal in Toronto), with everything else just going dark whenever the deadline date comes around in 2011 (or later, if extended). s (Scott Fybush, April 23, WTFDA via DXLD) The current CRTC plan is to require digital conversion only in so- called "mandatory markets": * provincial and territorial capital cities * markets with a population over 300,000, and * markets with a population under 300,000 where there is more than one local television station. Windsor *is* a mandatory market -- stations there *will* be required to convert next year (unless the CRTC changes their mind again, which IMHO is rather unlikely). However, as Scott suggests, that could well just mean Global takes the Stevenson transmitter off the air altogether. They've already threatened to do that once. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/com100/2010/r100322.htm -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) It's going to be interesting to see how Windsor impacts us on Channel 35 in Lima. Not so much in the city of Lima, but Findlay and to the north. I assume that CBEF is still shooting for Channel 35, and not staying on 9. I also assume that the first applications tendered for non-directional still holds (Frederick Vobbe, WLIO-TV, ibid.) It's kinda hard to tell but I don't think there are any applications on file for DTV in Windsor. Industry Canada has populated their database with what I think we'd call "checklist" facilities -- facilities that will presumably be automatically approved if applied for. The best indication I can find that a station's permanent DTV has been applied for is to find more than one "-DT" record. For example, pull up CKVU Vancouver. There are four records: CKVU-TV (their existing analog signal) CKVU-DT with 107 kW/300 m (their assigned transitional facility, to my knowledge never built) CKVU-PT (their "checklist" permanent DTV allocation on channel 10) CKVU-DT with 8.3 kW/670m (I can match this to an application in a Public Notice. Strangely, it's on channel 47, not their assigned post- transition channel 10.) I don't know of a good way to know for certain *which* -DT record reflects an application for permanent facilities. The post-transition Windsor DTV dial: CBET (CBC English): ch. 9/26 kw CBEFT (SRC French): ch. 35/1000 kw CHWI-60* (A): ch. 25/40 kw CICO-32 (TVO): ch. 32/350 kw CIII-22 (Global): ch. 22/600 kw CHWI (A): ch. 16/540 kw *this is the analog ch. 60 translator of channel 16. No guarantee that any of these stations will actually be built. To the best of my knowledge none of them have even applied for their DTV facilities. As Scott says, CHWI is not likely to happen (either transmitter). I do note that permanent DTV applications are beginning to show up in the CRTC Public Notices. They're being treated as amendments to stations' existing analog licenses. I have to presume the post-permit construction process will be a LOT faster in Canada than it was in the U.S., because if it isn't there's no way they're going to complete construction on time. I wonder if there is no requirement to wait for a licence before beginning construction in Canada? In the U.S. there's a requirement (which I don't fully understand, having not read the relevant parts of the Communications Act) that you get a construction permit from the FCC before beginning significant construction. Presumably someone built a station & then pressured the government to give it a license. Just last year there was some controversy over a TV station -- Galesburg, Illinois, I think -- engaging in "premature construction". -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) ** CHILE. CVC, Calera de Tango, is STILL putting out big mushy spurs from the HCJB relay transmitter on 11920, April 24 at 2310 difficult to pinpoint, but with BFO they are centered around 11897.6 and 11942.4, i.e. plus and minus 22.4 kHz. Sometimes they are closer to 20 kHz displacement, or even 18. Portuguese talk and music from fundamental are also audible on the spurs. This started as soon as the relay deal did last October, or was it September (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. RADIO CHILENA CHEGA A PORTUGAL EM VHF --- Reenvio a escuta de um amigo aqui de Portugal de emissão Chilena e Brasileira. Manuel Jesus, Sintra, Portugal _____ Boas. Venho partilhar um DX. No dia 14 de Abril recebi uma das famosas estações MUSAK do Chile. Estes emissores são conhecidos mundialmente por serem uns bons indicadores de propagação pois estão numa frequência invulgar. Transmitem nas frequência : 47900, 48200 e 49300 kHz. A que eu escutei chegou em 47900 e pelo tipo de musica deveria de ser a estação: Serena. Neste dia 14 a propagação F2 esteve bem activa, no mesmo dia chegavam a Portugal algumas estações Brasileiras tais como o PP5XX bem confortável nos 50107 CW. 73's Bom DX. CT1FFU-CR5A (via Jesus, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** CHINA. 6035, PBS Yunnan/Voice of Shangri-La, 1223, April 24. In Vietnamese with music program; 1300: pips; clear ID in English: “This is the Voice of Shangri-La, brought to you by Yunnan Radio”; changed over to program in Chinese; mostly poor with usual adjacent QRM / splatter, but was one of their better receptions; no trace at all today of BBS/Bhutan (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also MYANMAR! 6035, PBS Yunnan/Voice of Shangri-La, randomly from 1211 to 1537, April 29. In Vietnamese and Chinese; 1300: pips and the standard ID in English; “This is the Voice of Shangri-La, brought to you by Yunnan Radio”; at times could faintly hear a station underneath which I assume was BBS/Bhutan. Yesterday`s reception here of Myanmar was much stronger than either Yunnan or Bhutan (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6190, PBS Qinghai, 1217-1245, April 27. Thanks to the observations and comments from Sei-ichi Hasegawa, Mauno Ritola and especially from Martien Groot, was able to hear this in assume Tibetan; // 4220; at 1230 heavy QRM on 6190 from NHK (in Korean) sign on. So is this ex: 5990? (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1 and E5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Sei-ichi has confirmed that he also heard 6190 // 4220. He adds: “PBS Qinghai broadcasts Qinghai Earthquake special program formation now. It seems that it broadcasts on high-power 6190 kHz for disaster area.” Seems that the Qinghai Tibetan website is outdated http://www.qhtb.cn/fujian/view.jsp?id=413&zt=0 Thanks to Sei-ichi for confirmation and comments! (Ron Howard, ibid.) 6090, Qinghai PBS, Ge'ermu, 2205-2226, April 28, Chinese talk &pop songs competing with co-channel Melissa Scott. Very slightly behind // 4750. Also checked CNR-1 4800, CNR-2 6155, CRI 5975 but none of these were in // 6090. Apparently, as on 6190, the Ge'ermu transmitter here has dropped CNR-2 relay and now, temporarily (?), carries its own QPBS programming in Chinese aimed at the earthquake disaster area. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, April 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. According to HP of Yunnan PBS, http://www.ynradio.net/minzu/pinlvzixun/20100420248.html Minority Language Service on 6973 kHz QSY to 7210 from May 1. 1242 kHz on MW is stopped on Apr. 30 (S. Hasegawa, Japan, NDXC, April 27, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 7270, PBS Nei Menggu, 1543-1604*, April 26. In assume Mongolian; mixing with Malaysia (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. EAST JAMMERSTAN: 13300, Crash & Bang Chinese Music Jammer; 2245, 22-Apr; weak -- first one heard in weeks. Not there at 2301 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake, lots of them April 23: at 1325 fair with flutter on 13970, but no other `970s --- is that a Falun Gong ``lucky number``, as someone suggested frequencies are picked on that basis? None found in the 9-11 MHz area. But at 1333, fair with flutter on 11100. 1336 poor on 12950 and 12620, but 13320 was good with flutter, and still heard at last check 1411. Firedrake April 24, showing up on different frequencies, in perpetual cat-and-mouse with never-heard Sound of Hope 1 kW annoyance transmitters from Taiwan (or so we can only assume): 10410, fair at 1325 12990, fair at 1337 13970, JBA at 1342 14920, poor at 1345 Also, 9450 at 1425 April 24, mixture of echo jamming and noise. Per Aoki, SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng is scheduled here at 14-16 via a 100 kW transmitter at Yunlin, Taiwan, 335 degrees. Yunlin is also used for several RTI and Family Radio transmissions, but only on 9450 for SOH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15720, strong Firedrake at 1607, April 24; against SOH? (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not much 'life' this mid-day here in the northeastern US in terms of SW listenability (although I stumbled upon Firedrake just below 22m). Heard today April 24 on 22 meters/1800 UT: 13300 Firedrake, S meter not moving past 1, audible with flutter (S McLean, Buffalo, NY - Yaesu FRG-7/DX-440, 53.34m random, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake April 24: full bandscan found only a JBA signal on 13970, April 24 at 2318 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 14600, Firedrake music, at 0715 UT Apr 25, S=4-5, poor signal in Europe. Against "SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng" (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake 25 April 2010 --- 1148 UT: 14600, 13970, 10300 all three ||. All three frequencies strong and || at 1205 UT 25 April 2010 (Leonard J. Rooney, Springfield, Delaware County, PA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have 10970 at 1210 UT/very good (off by 1213!) in addition to the frequencies listed by Mr. Rooney this morning. And just when you thought it was safe to go outside, lo and behold, SOH must be switching frequencies - like playing shortwave 'Whack-a- mole'. Here is an updated Firedrake list at 1225 UT: 8400, fair with some noise/fade 10300, good, little noise 13970, very good/strong 15140, good, slight noise (S McLean, Buffalo, NY (DX-440, 53.34m random), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake April 25, from full bandscan 7-18 MHz: 15140, fair at 1225; good still at 1356, a rare inband frequency 13970, JBA at 1226 13320, poor at 1227 12950, good at 1220 10300, good at 1231 8400, good at 1234 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15140, Firedrake, strong up to signoff at 1400 UT, April 25. (Mike Bryant-KY, DX398, ANLP-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake all over the place April 26, with nothing audible co-channel, u.o.s.: 8400, good at 1246 10300, good at 1246 10420, good at 1246 11100, good at 1246 12970, good at 1249 13320, good at 1249 13500, good at 1249 13970, good at 1249 15545, poor at 1318, // 16100. Nothing to jam in the April 26 edition of Aoki, but V. of Tibet likely upshifted from 15540, via Tajikistan at 13-14 in Tibetan and Chinese. 16100, fair at 1254, nothing higher found yet up to 19 MHz 17300, poor at 1326 15795, probably CNR1, Chinese language QRM to something singing, April 26 at 1253; at 1259 jamming off leaving S Asian music, and at next check 1315 that is gone too. The explanation from Aoki: All India Radio`s *Chinese service at 1145-1315, 500 kW, 35 degrees from Bangaluru. Maybe it was just an hourtop pause for monitoring check? The ChiCom are afraid even to let India speak to the oppressed, information-deprived Chinese people on SW --- and so many of them don`t even know it. As a result, does AIR get any listener response? [more below] CNR1 jamming on // 15330, 15285, 15265, April 26 at 1323. First noticed on unusual 15330 mixing with something, i.e. BBC Uzbek via Thailand during this semihour only per Aoki; and for good measure, the DentroCuban Jamming Command adds some residual pulses on this frequency abandoned by Radio Martí a month ago; and in any event did not start until 1400 in B-09 --- but close enough for Cuban government work! Does the autocratic Uzbekistan government approve of China jamming broadcasts in its own language, or even encourage this? 15285 and 15265 are longtime haunts of CNR1 jamming, vs Chinese from BBC via Singapore, and RTI respectively. Reception here varies widely depending on the nightside MUF, which this date exceeded 17 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake on 9355 kHz over IBB - monitoring since 1700 UT still going now (1810 UT April 26) - strong signal of firedrake. Since my childhood I am familiar to this musics never thought I must monitor this frequencies too, they are so easy available here. In nights when we dont have to tune or turn the dialing knob we used to tune one of these channels and keep listening the music (Partha Sarathi Goswami Siliguri, West Bengal, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Are you saying exactly the same 60-minute loop of jamming music has been heard since your childhood, and how long ago was that? (gh, DXLD) Firedrake April 27: 8400, poor at 1327 12950, good at 1315, none lower down to 10 MHz; also at 1417 13300, good at 1224, very good at 1417 13970, good at 1306, much better than 15970; very good at 1417 14900, JBA at 1314 15970, JBA at 1306 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 8400, Firedrake at 1940 27/4 with signal S9 covering SOH (??) // 10300 S8 (clear) (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake April 28: at 1335, 14900 poor with flutter, while CNR1 jamming on 15285 and 15265 were equally poor. At 1338, FD good on 13320 and 12970, fair on 10300, at 1343 poor on 8400. Unfound anywhere else 8-18 MHz. 15795, Chinese talk in the clear at 1236 April 29, so AIR`s Chinese service is unjammed? No! 15795 quickly confirmed as the CNR1 jammer since // 12040 where there`s also a CNR1 echo against VOA. Not a trace of India itself audible on 15795. 15255, CNR1 echo jammer also here, April 29 at 1238, vs VOA Chinese via Tinang, Philippines at 11-13. Lots of CNR1s all over the dial as jammers or non-, but at 1240 April 29 I start looking for Firedrakes. Only these found in the 8-19 MHz range: 12970, good at 1240 10300, good at 1241 vs ute bursts 9150, very good at 1242; unusual frequency 8400, good at 1243 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FIREDRAKE INFORMATION: http://www.satdirectory.com/firedrake.html I found this on the web while looking for more information on China's Firedrake 'service'. I suspect this may have been posted at this group before but wanted to share it in case anyone missed it. There is a link to download a 'studio quality' version of the entire 60 minute music program, as well as an interview of the gentleman from Australia that obtained the source music directly via satellite. Interesting. (Scott McLean, April 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, it has ** CHINA [non]. Washington Post “discovers” CRI relay in Galveston The Washington Post today publishes an article informing its readers of the low-power AM station KGBC in Galveston, Texas, which is now a 24-hour relay of China Radio International as first reported in this Weblog on 5 January 2010. The newspaper goes into some detail about China’s huge investment in international broadcasting. It will be interesting to see if this makes any difference to the way the BBG’s budget request is handled by the politicians in Washington. ¦Read the article (April 25th, 2010 - 11:53 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) FROM CHINA'S MOUTH TO TEXANS' EARS: OUTREACH INCLUDES SMALL STATION IN GALVESTON By John Pomfret Washington Post Staff Writer Sunday, April 25, 2010 GALVESTON, TEX. -- Cruise southeast out of Houston, past the NASA exits and toward the Gulf of Mexico, and you pick up something a little incongruous on the radio, amid country crooners, Rush Limbaugh, hip-hop and all the freewheeling clamor of the American airwaves. "China Radio International," a voice intones. "This is Beyond Beijing." Way, way beyond Beijing. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/24/AR2010042402492.html (via Benn Kobb, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) Nothing really new in this story. Going as far back as 2001 and 2002 when I was heading this department at CRI, I always got into arguments with CRI management over the kind of stations that should air their programming. And that also if you want the mainstream audience you need to have foreign voices, not bad Chinese accents. Billy Chung, guy in the US who is setting of these relays, is milking CRI as if money is going out of fashion. As you know, Susan Osman, formerly from the BBC is now on CRI. I would place bets right now this will not continue for 2 years. There has already been some conflict between her and the management over editorial decisions that have been made. Same happened with Jocelyn Ford from MPR [who] went to CRI; after 1 year and a few months she told them what they could do. During my time at CRI I saw this happen a number of times. Until finally I had enough and told them also what they could do (Keith Perron, Taiwan, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1 Comment on “Washington Post “discovers” CRI relay in Galveston” #1 Kai Ludwig on Apr 25th, 2010 at 13:17 Well, 2.5 kilowatts during daytime and a whooping 250 watts at night, this on 1540 kHz, at the top end of the mediumwave band where groundwave performance is poor — I understand that there are still more mediumwave listeners in the USA than in Europe, but still I would call this small tranny as rather insignificant, especially since it appears to be not even the first US relay of CRI. “They really haven’t a clue as to how to win over the foreign market.” — This statement appears to apply not only in this case. Obviously they also believe that something can be gained by leasing high power mediumwave transmitters in Europe (Albania, France, Luxembourg, Finland), certainly overestimating the remaining mediumwave listening. At the same time they terminated almost the complete cooperation with World Radio Network, thus depriving themselves of access to FM in Berlin. But on the other hand the Xinhua and CCTV activities are presumably of much greater importance than CRI. Just like Russia Today vs. Voice of Russia, France 24 vs. Radio France Internationale (OK, same company now), the BBC World Service TV channels vs. their radio programmes (the ones that still exist at all) etc. (Media Network blog comment via DXLD) CHINA RADIO INTERNATIONAL ON PAGE ONE, ABOVE THE FOLD, OF THE WASHINGTON POST Well, not propaganda by way of adjectives and imperatives. But, yes, propaganda, in the choice of news items, which follows the line of the Party rather than that of genuine journalists. I remember listening to Radio Peking in the 1960s, beginning each broadcast with a quotation of Chairman Mao Tse-tung. Then the "news". Today's China Radio International is much more listenable, and even occasionally reports on negative developments in China. Despite its page-one placement, this article incredibly misses a big part of the story. While China Radio International is heard on radio station in an assortment of US cities, China won't allow the placement of VOA or Radio Free Asia on Chinese domestic radio and television stations. The Chinese government's idea of international broadcasting is: we broadcast, you listen. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 25 Apr 2010 (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) See also INDONESIA ** CHINA. RADIO INTERNACIONAL DE CHINA TRANSMITIRÁ EN DIRECTO LA INAUGURACIÓN DE LA EXPO SHANGHAI Radio Internacional de China transmitirá en directo la ceremonia de inauguración de la Exposición Universal de Shanghai en unos 30 idiomas, incluyendo español, inglés y chino mandarín entre las 20 y 22 horas del día 30 de abril (hora local, o las 12 y 14 hora UT). Nuestras emisiones universales en chino e inglés transmitirán la ceremonia tanto en radio como en Internet. Los programas en chino también se escucharán en las emisoras locales de FM en Nueva York, Perth y Melbourne. Los departamentos de inglés, japonés, coreano, malayo, árabe, ruso, francés, español, portugués e italiano la transmitirán en video a través de Internet. Se puede acceder a la página de transimisión en español por nuestra página http://espanol.cri.cn Igualmente se llevará a cabo en Internet mediante fotos y textos en los idiomas mongol, bengalí, nepalés, hindi, tamil, vietnamita, laosiano, tailandés, malayo, indonesio, filipino, birmano, turco, persa, pashto, swahili, rumano, húngaro, alemán y esperanto. Las emisiones locales de FM 90.5 y FM 91.5 también transmitirán en directo. Fuente: http://bit.ly/an4Jjf (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia) I wasted my time hunting around the CRI website for an English version of above. The Expo/CRI page, anyway: http://english.cri.cn/08china/events/expo/index.htm (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CHINA’S CCTV 9 SWITCHES TO BECOME ENGLISH-LANGUAGE NEWS CHANNEL | Text of report in English by official Chinese news agency Xinhua (New China News Agency) BEIJING, April 26 (Xinhua) - CCTV 9, China Central Television’s (CCTV) English-language channel, switched Monday to become an English- language news channel with 19 hours of news broadcasts every day. . . http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/chinas-cctv-9-switches-to-become-english-language-news-channel#comments April 26th, 2010 - 13:52 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) + some interesting comments by Keith Perron, et al. CCTV-9 was always CCTV's English-language channel, so apparently the change is to more news programming. If the channel ever identified itself as CCTV-9, is it still doing so? At the main CCTV website http://www.cctv.com/ clicking on English brings up http://english.cntv.cn/01/index.shtml China Network Television (CNTV), "a national web-based TV broadcaster." The English video reports available there, however, show CCTV News in the corner of the screen. Watching CCTV-9, or whatever it's called now, might answer the question, but I can't get its internet stream (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Andy Sennitt writes from the Netherlands: "I just checked CCTV on the Sky platform. It is still shown as CCTV-9 on the EPG, but carries a new logo as CCTV News - and that was also the spoken ID at 1400 UT. Interestingly, the preceding programme was Culture Express, a feature programme, so I wonder just what has changed, other than the name of the service." Posted: 27 Apr 2010 (ibid.) ** COLOMBIA. OCUPAN TROPAS COLOMBIANAS RADIOEMISORA DE LAS FARC piedraonline.blogspot.com * "La Voz de la Resistencia" funcionaba en el caserío Los Laureles * El grupo guerrillero enviaba mensajes a sus hombres a través de ésta Bogotá, 28 de abril.- Tropas colombianas ocuparon una radioemisora de las rebeldes Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia (FARC), que emitía su señal desde el oriental departamento del Meta, informó hoy el Ejército. En un comunicado divulgado este miércoles en Bogotá, la institución militar señaló que la emisora “La Voz de la Resistencia” funcionaba en el caserío Los Laureles y era empleada por las FARC para enviar mensajes a sus hombres en la zona. Las instalaciones estaban distribuidas de forma camuflada entre cuevas y túneles que albergaban los equipos de transmisión, las antenas y un área de seguridad, la cual fue destruida por el Ejército, precisó el informe. Según el reporte militar, la radioemisora insurgente tenía cobertura en las localidades selváticas de La Uribe, Vista Hermosa, Granada, San José del Guaviare y Mapiripán, consideradas por décadas como bastiones del grupo rebelde. (Con información de Notimex/MVC) Fuente: http://bit.ly/a6Z1SV (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) WTFK? Presumably long gone from SW already. Referred to as a ``radioemisora``, so does that mean it was funxioning as a broadcaster while also conveying messages or just a milcom unit, possibly SW? (gh) ** CUBA. My name is Hector (Luigi) Perez NP4FW. I have been in SWL for many years as far as today. I love to hear SW stations for their programming. I strictly separate radio and politics. This, said, Radio Havana Cuba is among my preferred stations. They currently speak about stamp collecting, culture, music, history and of course baseball without the ever time consuming commercial brakes among many other interesting issues. Signal in my shack is always a big one. Best of all, they confirm all reception reports. Best 73s to all (Luigi, HCDX via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. RHC anomalies April 23, at 0502: English on 5970 and 6000, into music; Spanish on 6010, 6060, 6120; still same at 0505. Nothing yet on 6150. RHC is still on 12020 colliding with Portugal, both for South America, April 23 at 2300. RHC // 12030, and RDPI // 9715. Cuba atop 12020, and it sounded like Portugal had modulation problems underneath on 12020, serves the DentroCubans right. Since RDPI 12020 is M-F only, one might think the problem had been resolved if monitoring on Saturday and Sunday --- but not as long as RHC stays on 12020 after 2300. Wake up, Arnie. Recheck 12020 April 24 at 0226, RHC alone now, but its audio is awful scratchy; and also at 0425. Poor propagation plus T-storm noise worst below 11 MHz, but I can still log stuff like this: April 24 at 0235, 9810, jamming against nothing, long abandoned by República, and VOR Spanish via Guiana French having finished at 0200. At 0235, 9780 with jamming against something, Radio República`s current frequency at 02-04, readable at equal level to the noise. 9460 at 0237, R. Martí also equal to the jamming. 9660, in Kreyòl, April 24 at 2305, axually matching RHC`s posted schedule for 2300-2330 to Caribbean, also supposed to be on 17705 at same time to S America, not checked. At 2330, 9660 had converted to Portuguese, and that is not on the schedule; in fact, 9660 is unaccounted for between 2330 and Spanish from 0000. It has adjacent interference from Romania 9655. At 2315, RHC Spanish on 12030, but missing from 12020 (and so is Portugal, this being a Saturday). But at 0012 April 25, 12030 is off and 12020 is on, with same bad crackly audio as yesterday. At 0015 I hear the same defects on poor // 15380. At 0018 April 25, 5970 RHC in Spanish has co-channel QRM under it, in Dutch; what could that be? RHC // 6000 with no QRM. The victim on 5970 at 0025 closed with the overplayed Orange anthem. Yes, RNW is already scheduled in HFCC for 0000-0027 due south from Bonaire. There would be no such collision if non-HFCC Cuba adhered to its own schedule showing no 5970 until *0100 in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Surprised the Radio Netherlands/Radio Havana Cuba clash is still happening at 0000 on 5970; been going on for several weeks. Must make both transmissions useless in the target areas; pretty much equal strength here in Houston (Steve Luce, TX, UT April 27, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for your observation. I have forwarded this to our frequency manager (Andy Sennitt, RNW, ibid.) You will be pleased to hear that the RNW frequency is changing to 6140 as we have indeed had a number of reports of interference in the target area. I think the change is happening tonight, but if not it will definitely happen tomorrow (30th April). (Andy Sennitt, RNW, April 29, ibid.) RHC, 5970 // 6010 // 6060, 25 Apr 2010 at 0652. Usual English content, but found mixing product on 5880. 6060 causing interference up to 12 kHz on either side. Spanish on 6120 at 0709 GMT is overmodulated and heavily distorted, // to excellent 6150 and good 5040 (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DXLD) 11705, RNV relay, April 25 at 1213 with same continuous crackle on audio as heard in the evenings on 12020, obviously same transmitter and/or same degraded program feed. Sounds like it originates from some cross-talking modulation unrelated to this program. 12030, RHC at 1316 April 27, fair with CCI sounding Russian, which fits as VOR is also scheduled here from Irkutsk during this hour in Russian, per Aoki; Commies vs ex-Commies. Also QRMing CODAR. But this collision pales in comparison to jamming VOR`s Spanish service evenings on 9810 via GUF (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11760, Surprisingly strong RHC Quivicán in English around 0655-0710 UT, S=9+10dB. Strong on 25mb in second English hour, but rather tiny poor under threshold on all \\ 49 mb channels this morning Apr 29. Newscast, - on Mexican visitors to Arizona state item top news, Calderón condemned new Arizona police organization law, travel warning for all Mexican nationals to Arizona, strike on lorry driver on MEX - Arizona route (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, April 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checking DCJC behavior against WRMI 9955: monitoring from 2057 April 29 hearing nothing, but first jampulsing starts at 2058.5 and more pile on quickly to make wall of noise inaudiblizing any trace of WRMI, scheduled to broadcast WORLD OF RADIO at 2100 on Thursdays. Thanks a lot, Arnie, my friend in Habana! What a crock (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Cuba TV skeds online --- By the way, for you Cuba skip folks, don't forget that the net skeds are online... http://www.tvcubana.icrt.cu/telerebelde/ (William R Hepburn, Grimsby ON 43 10 59.4 -79 33 34.5, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. LAS SORPRESAS DE LA RADIO --- Siempre la Radio nos sorprende, con cosas que no esperamos. Yo tengo un pequeño receptor en mi trabajo y escucho a diario la programación de Radio Martí a partir de las 13:00 horas local de Miami, las 1700 UT. Mi sorpresa fue encontrar a esa hora, destinada a el programa "Contacto Cuba" una Programación de TV-Marti "La Pantalla de Azogue" con una programación de la Bolerista Cubana Olga Guillot. A las 1730 y sintonizando la frecuencia de VoA escuché su Identificación anunciando SIGNOFF; sin embargo la trasmisión continuó con Norma Miranda y su Programa "Panorama de TV-Martí, con temas económicos. Normalmente en ese horario se trasmite el programa "Sin Censores ni Censuras" Abruptamente a las 1800 cesó la frecuencia de 11845 kHz; comprobé 9565-11930-13820 kHz que seguían emitiendo la programación de TV- Martí. Normalmente entre las 1800-2000 UT se trasmite el Noticiero de Radio Martí; sin embargo a las 1830 estaba María Salas con su programa de TV-Martí "Hollywood en 30 minutos" relacionado al cine. A las 1930 programa deportivo con el narrador Omar Claro desde Key West en Boxeo, programa de TV-Martí Desconozco las causas de esos cambios, porque no hubo hasta donde yo sepa, anuncio previo. En estos momentos 0115 UT se repite el programa de TV-Marti de Deportes, una repitición del programa de las 1930 UT. Cordiales 73 (Oscar de Céspedes, April 28, condiglist yg via DXLD) Radio Martí was carrying programming from TV Martí instead of its usual radio schedule (gh) ** CZECHIA. RESPONSE TO A REMARK CONCERNING LISTENERS' EFFORTS SAVING RADIO PRAGUE FROM CLOSURE Dear Kai, dear Glenn, it is interesting to follow the discourse in DX Listening Digest on the recent closures of short wave services and stations. Instead of hate messages to stubborn decision makers, I would like to encourage other means. I was not involved in any recent campaign to save Radio Prague from closure, but I recall the successful efforts of 1997. As president of Kurzwellenring Sued, a regional short wave club with some 300 members mainly from Baden-Wuerttemberg and Bavaria, I was able to get my local members of the Bavarian parliament interested in the fate of the station. Indeed, one representative of the governing party CSU was able to get the case through to the Staatskanzlei (office of the Bavarian prime minister) which through diplomatic channels expressed Bavarian interest in a continuing stream of information from the Czech Republic towards Germany. ("Die Staatskanzlei hat sich in dieser Angelegenheit mit dem tschechischen Generalkonsulat in München in Verbindung gesetzt und um Überprüfung gebeten, wie der Sachverhalt sich derzeit darstellt. Außerdem wurde auf das bayerische Interesse, vor allem im Grenzgebiet zur Tschechischen Republik, hingewiesen, einen intensiven Informationfluß aus der Tschechischen Republik in Richtung Deutschland zu haben.") In November 1998 (!), the Staatskanzlei closed the correspondence on the matter. So they followed it up even when I already considered Radio Prague's German service as saved. Kind regards, (Hj. Biener, Germany, April 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.07, Radio Amanecer Internacional, 1000- 1025, April 23, lite instrumental music. Spanish ID announcement at 1001. Lite contemporary Spanish religious music. Spanish talk. Poor in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) See also UNIDENIFIED 6048 ** EGYPT. 9305.07 (9305.08 at 0650), R Cairo in Arabic, radioplay on odd channel, 0005 UT Apr 25. Only poor S=6-7 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Usually terribly distorted modulation but you do not mention that (gh) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, good strength open carrier April 29 at 0551, still at 0617. Has to be R. Africa in typical pointless incompetent behaviour, but EqG has fuel to burn? Band was open, altho nothing from Nigeria on 15120, presumably not on. Australia was in well on 15160 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see unID 15190 ** ERITREA. At 1515 UT on Apr. 26, I can receive Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea at 4700 kHz. // 7175 & 7185. My DX-friends receive at 1547-1858* UT on Apr. 24. Apr. 25 was not able to receive it. 4700, 7175 & 7185 kHz were blocked at 1600 UT by Ethiopian jamming. 7120 clear. 7175 jump to 7165 at 1615. 4700 Ethiopian jamming 7120 Ethiopia (jump from 7110 kHz) & Eritrea 7165 Ethiopian Jamming 7185 Eritrea Ethiopia & Eritrea 7120 kHz jump to 7100 at 1620 UT (S. Hasegawa, Japan, NDXC, April 27, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. via Pridnestrovye, 15540, Radio Xoriyo Ogadenia, 1435-1500*, April 23, presumed with talk in listed Somali. Local Horn of Africa music. Weak but readable. Mon/Fri only (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS [non]. 780 kHz, LRA10, RADIO NACIONAL USHUAIA E ISLAS MALVINAS, ha inaugurado recientemente su nueva Págine Web en el dominio:: http://www.rnacionalushuaia.com.ar La emisora posee su QTH en la Avenida San Martín 331, (V9410BFD) Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego. Tel: (02901) 42-1670, 42-1706. E-mail: ushuaia @ radionacional.gov.ar Opera además en FM en los 92.1 MHz (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, April 26, condiglist yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. 13640, RFI Spanish service via GUIANA FRENCH, April 27 at 1225, correspondent with very strange accent; I guess it`s African-influenced more than French-, about music groups associated with the Copa del Mundo in Sudáfrica --- why isn`t that about a silly ballgame instead of music? 1229:30 transitioned to ME music so smoothly that at first I thought it was another RFI service, but really I was then hearing Turkey on 13635 after TDF QRT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Nauen antenna: http://www.flickr.com/photos/offshore/4511546425/ (via Andrea Borgnino, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Quite a thing, but how are you sure it is Nauen? That word is one of a dozen tags on the right but why not label it directly? (gh, DXLD) The only pre-1997 antenna that still remains. This is a development of the postal office's RFZ unit (centre for radio and TV engineering), inaugurated in 1964 as a prototype, which remained the only one that was ever built because the construction is just too elaborated. The particular feature of this antenna is that it can be adjusted not only in azimuth but also in elevation. The building left of the antenna appears to be a new, lightweight one. Probably the ex-Jülich transmission equipment, which with this antenna is used today (the original, related Funkwerk Köpenick transmitter has been shut down in 2000), sits in this shack. At present this antenna is in use 0100-0500 on 7375 (Hrvatski Radio to North America), Sun only 0900-1000 on 9780 (AWR in Italian), on various slots between 1530 and 1815 on 13590 and between 1800 and 1900 on 11855 (Bible Voice Broadcasting to Arabic world). (Kai Ludwig, op. cit.) Hi Kai, Thanks very much for the technical & historical/current info on this antenna & its broadcast schedule usage. Simply fascinating! I see 4 rotatable SW antennas at the Nauen - (Weinberg-Waldsiedl ung) site with year 2000 image on Google Earth (GE) . Using GE as reference, what is the exact GE coordinates of this antenna? It's too difficult for me to discern the difference between this antenna & the other 3 with current GE image. It's certainly the most complex & unique rotatable SW antenna that I have seen to date. Regards (Ian Baxter, Australia, ibid.) These are the transmission systems from 1997, of the Thomson design originally developed for Allouis (never installed there) and Issoudun, thus known as "ALLISS". The only major difference: These ones house Telefunken transmitters, the S 4105 design developed especially for the Nauen project after Telefunken almost got bumped out completely. As far as I know only a single more S 4105 has ever been built, for the Sveio site in Norway which no longer exists. The old main building http://maps.google.de/?ie=UTF8&ll=52.647851,12.908437&spn=0.002327,0.004823&t=k&z=18 houses only the control room. The large transmitter hall there is empty, away from being home of a collection to which also the first broadcasting transmitter of the Nauen site belongs. This was a 50 kW Funkwerk Köpenick, installed at 1958 in this building http://maps.google.de/?ie=UTF8&ll=52.644095,12.899339&spn=0.002327,0.004823&t=k&z=18 Otherwise this was until 1990 a utility site. The unique antenna is here: http://maps.google.de/?ie=UTF8&ll=52.645374,12.88781&spn=0.004654,0.009645&t=k&z=17 West of it were the old 500 kW facilities, with the towers just being demolished. It started in 1972 with a Brown Boveri 500 kW, using a 6/7 MHz HQ for services to Europe, a HR 4/4/0.5 for the Middle East (listed as 15 MHz only) and another HR 4/4/0.75 (6...12 MHz), dedicated to Chile services. During following years two PKV-500 transmitters plus a S-shaped row of 4/8 curtains have been added with a Soviet contractor. These old 500 kW facilities have been replaced by the new 500 kW systems in 1997. The 100 kW system remained in use for another three years for DW (6140 kHz) and RNW (English at noon to the UK, the second frequency besides Jülich-6045) until 2000, then it has been revived after six years with an ex-Jülich transmitter for free brokerage in 2006. The 50 kW transmitter on the utility site has been withdrawn in 1991, together with three of the four 2x50 kW Sneg units at Königs Wusterhausen. http://www.senderfotos-bb.de/nauen.htm By the way, on the next annual open monument day in 2006 the traditional Deutsche Welle booth (pictured in 2005 here) was already missing, of course, since another presentation after terminating the transmission contract would have been quite impudent. And I already considered again walking out in 2007, only to listen how they say that they have nothing to do with Deutsche Welle anymore. Perhaps I indeed missed something, judging from the surprise I saw when explaining this to people. Re: Jülich demolition has started Update: Meanwhile all curtains are down. The empty towers still stand, but in all likelihood they will be next. http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,783048,790590#msg-790590 http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,783048,790774#msg-790774 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) ** GERMANY. Relays A10 via Radio 700 - 6005 Khz --- Generell: ============ ========= ========= ========= ========= == Montag-Sonntag 0700-0900 Radio Belarus Montag-Sonntag 0900-1700 Radio 700 ============ ========= ========= ========= ========= == ** Mai 2010 Samstag 01.05. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Samstag 01.05. 1300-1400 Radio Gloria International Sonntag 02.05. 0900-1000 Radio Joystick Samstag 15.05. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Sonntag 23.05. 0900-1000 Radio Gloria International Samstag 29.05. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Samstag 29.05. 1300-1400 Radio Gloria International ============ ========= ========= ========= ========= == ** Juni 2010 Samstag 05.06. 0900-1000 MV Baltic Radio Sonntag 06.06. 0900-1000 Radio Joystick Samstag 12.06. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Samstag 26.06. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Sonntag 27.06. 0900-1000 Radio Gloria International ============ ========= ========= ========= ========= == ** Juli 2010 Samstag 03.07. 1300-1400 Radio Gloria International Sonntag 04.07. 0900-1000 Radio Joystick Samstag 10.07. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Samstag 24.07. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Sonntag 25.07. 0900-1000 Radio Gloria International Samstag 31.07. 1300-1400 Radio Gloria International ============ ========= ========= ========= ========= == ** August 2010 Sonntag 01.08. 0900-1000 Radio Joystick Samstag 07.08. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Samstag 21.08. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Sonntag 22.08. 0900-1000 Radio Gloria International Samstag 28.08. 1300-1400 Radio Gloria International ============ ========= ========= ========= ========= == ** September 2010 Samstag 04.09. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Sonntag 05.09. 0900-1300 Radio Joystick (4 Stunden PX) Samstag 18.09. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Sonntag 26.09. 0900-1000 Radio Gloria International ============ ========= ========= ========= ========= == ** Oktober 2010 Samstag 02.10. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Samstag 02.10. 1300-1400 Radio Gloria International Sonntag 03.10. 0900-1000 Radio Joystick Samstag 16.10. 0900-1000 Medienmagazin Sonntag 24.10. 0900-1000 Radio Gloria International ============ ========= ========= ========= ========= == (via Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, shortwave yg via DXLD) ** GERMANY. BREMEN 936 KHZ OFF FOR GOOD Press release, issued yesterday: http://www.radiobremen.de/unternehmen/presse/unternehmen/mittelwelle100.html Says that in the four weeks since the transmitter has been switched off they received just under 200 reactions, so little feedback that they decided to rather spend the money on new technologies and program formats, especially since "in all likelihood there will be no future- proof digitalization of mediumwave broadcasting". It has been considered to keep the transmitter on air at reduced power, but the operational costs would still be too high to justify it. As a gesture of appreciation the 200 listeners will be invited to a exclusive visit. (Comment: I suspect the event will become kind of a DX meeting...) By the way, Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk has at present no plans to give up any of its mediumwave frequencies (783, 882, 1044, 1188 kHz), sources hurried to say even without being asked. In this case these are leased facilities, owned and operated by Media Broadcasting (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAHAN. KTWR studio and antennas [also some Bonaire] http://www.flickr.com/photos/30201906@N05/ 73 IW0HK (Andrea Borgnino IW0HK - HB9EMK, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Received another mailer from R. Verdad, still inactive from 4052.5. The envelope is a keeper with the station logos, two copies of two stamps totaling Q20.00 commemorating the Batalla de la Arada, 2 Feb 1851. The script looked like Prada, but Googling found it as Arada, http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalla_de_la_Arada Has the same enclosures as usual, another rubberized yellow pennant with fancy fringe, next to some coated paper to protect it, but the letters still tend to peel off if one is not extremely careful in removing it; perhaps some blank non-coated paper would be better as an insulator; a bumper sticker similar to the pennant; a 2010 calendar with a color photo of the staff; a sheet headed Radiation Area of ``Radio Truth`` with tallies of reception reports and web visits, by countries, states, departments, etc.; a faux-bank cheque signed by Jesucristo paying eternal life to anyone who believes; a slip of paper showing a dapper guy with a drink degenerating into a beast in six steps as his dose of alcohol steadily increases to a keg`s worth; QSL #9 for its ninth anniversary last year verifying my ``internet entry`` of December 6 (I don`t recall sending them an axual ``reception`` report); and the same form letter signed by Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid, updated as of April 9, with this significant opening: ``We are very close to come on the air on Short Wave. The engineer who designed out transmitter will come to fix it.`` So maybe the KWMO third harmonic will finally have some competition (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST ** GUINEA. 7125, Radio Guinea, Conakry, 0654-0703, 24-04, locutor, francés, comentarios, a las 0700 noticias. 23322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, Escuchas realizadas en casco urbano de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7125, Radio Guineé, 2230-2259*, April 24, wide variety of local folk music, Afro-pop music. French announcements. Fair. Irregular (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** GUYANA. 3289.98, Voice of Guyana, 0620-0635+, April 25, tentative with English talk. Possible BBC program. Poor in noisy conditions. Reactivation? [later:] 3289.98, Voice of Guyana, 0620-0732+, April 25, possible reactivation? Tentative logging with English talk. BBC news programming. “BBC World Service” ID at 0700 and at 0732. Poor in noisy conditions. Guyana has been heard in the past broadcasting BBC and VOA programming (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX Listening Digest) Carrier here at 0730, but not getting any audio. df (Dan Ferguson, SC, ibid.) There`s been a non-broadcast carrier around 3290 all along; I don`t know about its precise frequency (gh) Also reading 3289.98. Weak signal of music with pronounced bass drum, percussion, flute and male vocal, followed by OM too faint to ID language (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, 0821 UT April 25, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Glenn, Nice to say hello to you, my name is Jorge Luis Medina. I live in Punto Fijo city, Península de Paraguaná, Falcón, Venezuela. Like you I like hearing shortwave stations, but my experience is minimum (I started in 2008). I write you because I need your help to identify a station. Last night from 2335 to 0005 I heard a station in 3290 kHz; the programmation was music in UnID language, like Arabic music, some comments in English in male voice; after 0000 started a kind of news bulletin. Is could be this station Voice of Guyana? Thanks in advance (Jorge Luis Medina, April 27, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jorge, Nice to hear from you. Yes, it probably is Guyana. There have been several reports from North America, tho I am not sure anyone has heard a definite ID. The non-English is probably Hindi or Urdu, for the large minority there. An American engineer built them a new transmitter and told us he would go there to get it on the air around this date (also on 5950 in the daytime, which you could probably hear unlike us.) Please send along any further observations about this. You might hear the same on MW 560 kHz if not blocked by a closer station. Best wishes, Glenn Hauser, (WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3289.9, GUYANA. Voice of Guyana (Georgetown) (presumed), 0323-0401, 4/27/2010, English. Pop music. Short announcement by man at 0330 followed by more music. BBC news by woman at 0400. Poor signal in a very noisy part of the band made worse by a new local noise source that started here last week. Could only understand a few words of the BBC news, and none of the 0330 announcement. Signal drifted up a bit, almost reaching 3290. Thanks to Brian Alexander for the initial report of reactivation (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, IC-R75, RX-340, Random Wire (90'), ALA100M Loop (20') WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3290, GUYANA, presumed GBC Georgetown, 0926-0940, April 25, English. Continuous ballads and (presumed) religious music; noisy & quickly unusable due to local N.H. sunrise (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DXLD) Both GBC Guyana 3290 and 4875, Brasil Rdif Roraima, Boa Vista being heard well in Florida 0900 and 0000. Rlcw (Bob Wilkner, FL, UT April 30, Cumbre DX via DXLD) As originally reported in DXLD, Jaime Labadia was going to visit and activate around April 22 the new 10 kW SW transmitter he built for GBC, and there have now been several reports of something on 3290, partly in English including BBC relays, surely this but definite IDs seem hard to catch. For me so far, the signal alone has been hard to catch; checked April 28 around 0600 could detect no carrier on 3290, just the usual 3287.3 open carrier occasionally sending RTTY. He was also going to get the same transmitter operational on the daytime frequency 5950. WRTH 2010 says the changeover times were 0900 and 2200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3250, Radio Luz y Vida, San Luis, 0551-0556, 22-04, español, comentarios, locutor. Muy débil, audible en LSB. 15421 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, Escuchas realizadas en casco urbano de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I seldom hear them at this hour; I wonder what their nominal schedule is? (gh, DXLD) ** HONG KONG. Glenn: Re http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/message/40330 "The BBC WS stopped broadcasting in Hong Kong after the turn over to China in 1997. RTHK run some newscasts but that`s about it." That was BBC WS on SW. Station was located in NW New Territories, area now a massive landfill. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/message/40334 Replying to DF5SX's mention of Radio 6 on 675 kc: "Yes I know. But now on that frequency is one of Metro Radio's channels." http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/message/40337 "Forgot to paste this. Here is the RTHK site: http://www.rthk.org.hk/index_eng.htm Radio 6 is long gone." Refer to sound broadcast service information from our telecom authority: http://www.ofta.gov.hk/en/freq-spec/eng_freq_table_sound.pdf As for the web site, I believe seeing how Radio 6 is only non-RTHK content service, gives them convenient excuse to give it a little less visibility. No point or perhaps even no contractual basis to stream it, therefore not archived either. Nor schedule anything for it. So no real surprise that only mention of R6 I can find is at bottom of their "Radio Home Page" http://programme.rthk.org.hk/channel/radio/channel_index.php Says "Heung Gong Din Toi Dai Luk Toi" - R(T)HK Radio 6 BBC World Service: AM 675. (Brett Graham, Hong Kong, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. 6150, at 0056 April 25, open carrier and intermittent tones, 0100 opening in Hungarian, therefore what`s left of R. Budapest, to North America but no English; believed to be still transmitted from Hungary but not for much longer (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4920, AIR Chennai, 1433-1444, April 28. Very nice to hear this without the usual QRM from Xizang PBS via Lhasa, which is probably just temporarily off-the-air; in English with special speech; “You have been listening to a recording of the address delivered by the Honorable Prime Minister Manmohan Singh at the 16th SAARC’s [South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation] summit at Thimphu, Bhutan”; // 5010 (AIR Thiruv.) and 9425 (AIR Bengaluru, which preempted the news in English and the Wednesday edition in English of “Vividha”, so they could broadcast the speech) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1235-1315, April 25. In English; PSA with security tips; into “County Roads” (C&W songs) music show; AIR Shillong is seeking local applications for Hindi announcer/presenter; local IDs for SW and new FM ID; almost fair except for prominent hum. April 26, at 1252 with “Hit Parade” pop music show; 1315: “Youth Time”, panel discussion about local education; 1335 switched over to the Delhi feed for sports news in Hindi; also fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 9425, AIR Bengaluru- National Channel, 1435-1500, April 21. The Wednesday edition of “Vividha” in English; segment with: “This is Earth Beat. The show about the environment and our impact on it. Produced by Radio Netherlands Worldwide, in partnership with All India Radio”; show about the future of hard copies of books and developments with digital books; believe this is heard every fortnight; fair. It’s nice to see such a partnership between stations to bring listeners a better variety of programming! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. 9690, April 27 at 1324 had some music, without a hum, which I figured was something other than AIR; however, no transmission break noted before 1330 as AIR opened GOS in English, and now there`s hum. Perhaps Bengaluru was warming up with a locally- played prélude, but also on 9690 during this hour is Deewa Radio, Pashto via Sri Lanka, and Voice of Nigeria, q.v. is allegedly running English from 09 to 15, perhaps from its new transmitter in Abuja (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. Cf. CHINA [and non] above: AIR in B-09 1145-1315 Chinese 9425(B) 11840(Kh) 15795(B) 17705(B) NE Asia. Re 11840 kHz, okay, noted CNR1 jamming this April month in A-10 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, April 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CHINA ** INDONESIA. 1512 kHz, RRI Bukittinggi (presumed) peaking strongly here post sunset on Sunday 25 April. Phone-in programme with lots of raucous laughter and joshing from both men and women in BI. No sign of it after 1600 on Monday. Is this an extended schedule for Sunday? Also, I have never seen a power listed for this transmitter. 73s from (Graham Bell, Cape Town, South Africa, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3344.96, RRI Ternate, 1234-1245 Apr 19. Qur`an program in progress to 1245 tuneout. Fair signal with usual band noise (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya at 1232 with pop and easy- listening Indonesian songs. Fair April 27. 3995, RRI Kendari at 1251 in Indonesian, two men in dialogue, 1253 woman and song, which was interrupted at 1254 for another song, 1300 Song of the Coconut Islands followed by news. Poor April 27 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Eton E-1 and AN-1 active antenna, listening from my car, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9526-, VOI English April 24 from 1310, good modulation and quite listenable with usual features such as This Day in History with three topix, one of which was the Hubble Space Telescope. Unusually, managed to be atop the CRI Russian het from *1357 on 9525.0, and could hear the VOI English sign-off until 1401* 9526-, VOI stayed on the air this Sunday, April 25, but instead of regular English programming was continuous rock music concert from 1300 past 1325, good reception. 9526-, while VOI replaced English at 13 by rock music on Sunday, it was back to normal on Monday April 26, 1302 news including new FOI law in Indonesia. Also noted earlier at 1244 with VOI ID and jingle in Japanese, good with some hum. 9526-, VOI`s Tuesday ``Exotic Indonesia`` excursion to Banjarmasin was dashed by total lack of modulation other than hum, but good signal April 27 from 1323 tune-in, and never came back past 1341 and 1350 as I left a receiver running on it. I wonder if they were blithely producing the hookup assuming they were really on the SW air? Prior to 1300, 9526- was doing fine with Japanese service, seemed like Indonesian lesson shortly before hourtop. And it was also on the air during the 14 UT hour, abnormally, as CRI Russian 9525.0 had a het at 1426. The unreliability of some SW stations is really incredible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. CRI NOW BROADCASTING IN INDONESIA VIA RADIO ELSHINTA As of 20 April 2010, China Radio International’s Indonesian service is broadcasting daily on FM through these Elshinta Radio stations across Indonesia: ¦Jakarta 90 FM ¦Bandung 89.3 FM ¦Tegal 99.9 FM ¦Semarang FM 99.1 FM ¦Surabaya 97.6 FM ¦Medan 93.2 FM ¦Lampung 88.5 FM ¦Palembang 103.7 FM Programmes are on the air (local time) 2030-2100 and 2200-2230 daily. (Source: Borneo Listeners’ Club) (April 28th, 2010 - 13:03 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 4 Comments on “CRI now broadcasting in Indonesia via Radio Elshinta” #1 Keith Perron on Apr 28th, 2010 at 13:52 Hence the pressure people reported on coming from China to Indonesia to remove a pirate station that has been on for year operated by Falun Dafa. The money involved in this deal is not pennies. My sources within CRI told me the unofficial figure is 100,000 RMB a month. #2 Andy Sennitt on Apr 28th, 2010 at 13:56 Good point, Keith. I hadn’t connected the two stories. I see that the Chinese have just signed a cooperation deal to help the Liberian Broadcasting System, so I suppose we’ll see a CRI FM relay in Monrovia before much longer. #3 Jonathan Marks on Apr 28th, 2010 at 14:40 Times have indeed changed. There was a time when it was illegal (or not a wise move) for Chinese or Indonesian speakers in Indonesia to write to Radio Beijing. They used to announce an address in Singapore instead. #4 ruud on Apr 28th, 2010 at 18:16 Real Chinese hypocrisy, ban all foreign critical signals out of your country and flood other countries with your own propaganda. Colonalism is still there, from China; also bear in mind the Chinese behaviour in Africa. Why can`t we (Britain and Holland) have our colonies back? (Media Network blog comments via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. llistats programes L'ONA CURTA - Us fai arribar els meus llistats de programes musicals. Cordials salutacions. Rafael Martinez, Barcelona L'ONA CURTA AMB MÚSICA Nº 52 04/10 DISSABTE 0000 MYSTERY R./ PLAYBACK INTL -IRREGULAR DIL A DIU, RELAY S OCASIONALS- 6220 0000 R. AMICA -HORARI IRREGULAR- 7610 0800 R. JOYSTICK via IRRS (1r DISSABTE DE MES) 9515 0800 R. CITY via IRRS (3r DISSABTE DE MES) 9515 0845 IRRS "39 DOVER STREET" (2n, 4t, 5è DISS DE MES, REP 1830 7290) 9515 0900 MV BALTIC RADIO (1r DISSABTE DE MES) 6005 1745 CHINA R. INTL "ESPERANTO KONCERTO" 11650 1830 IRRS "39 DOVER STREET" -REPETICIÓ- 7290 1830 VOICE OF NIGERIA "TIME FOR HIGHLIFE" 15120 1900 VOA AFRIQUE "DECOUVERTE MUSICAL" 9815, 17550 1935 VOA AFRIQUE "REGGAE HIP HOP" 9815, 17550 2000 VOA AFRICA "MUSIC TIME IN AFRICA" 4940, 6080 2010 RFI "MUSIQUES DU MONDE" 9790, 7205 2015 CHINA R. INTL "ESPERANTO KONCERTO" -REPETICIÓ- 7265, 9745 2205 WWCR "INTO THE BLUE" 9350 2245 CHINA R. INTL "ESPERANTO KONCERTO" -REPETICIÓ- 7315, 9860 DIUMENGE 0000 R. AMICA -HORARI IRREGULAR- 7610 0900 MV BALTIC RADIO (1r DIUMENGE DE MES) 6140 0900 R. GLORIA INTL (2n DIUMENGE DE MES) 6140 0900 EUROPEAN MUSIC R. (3r DIUMENGE DE MES) 6140 1133 RFI "L'ÉPOPÉE DES MUSIQUES NOIRES" 17620 1900 VOA AFRIQUE "SOUL USA" 9815, 17550 2000 VOA AFRIQUE "DECOUVERTE MUSICAL" -REPETICIÓ- 12080, 17550 2000 VOA AFRICA "MUSIC TIME IN AFRICA" 4940, 6080 2132 BBC WS AF "CHARLIE GILLETT'S WORLD OF MUSIC" 12095, 9915 DILLUNS 1633 RFI "COULEURS TROPICALES" (DILLUNS A DIVENDRES) 15300 2000 VOA AFRICA "AFRICAN BEAT" (DILLUNS A DIVENDRES) 6080 2105 VOA "AMERICAN GOLD" 15580, 6080 DIMARTS 2105 VOA "ROOTS & BRANCHES" 15580, 6080 DIMECRES 1830 R.TAIPEI INTL "JADE BELLS & BAMBOO PIPES" 6155 2105 VOA "CLASSIC ROCK SHOW" 15580, 6080 DIJOUS 1940 RFI "MUSIQUES DU MONDE" 9790 2000 VOA AFRIQUE "AFRO MUSIC" 12080, 17550 2000 WWCR "INTO THE BLUE" 15825 DIVENDRES 1940 RFI "MUSIQUES DU MONDE" 9790 2000 VOA AFRIQUE "MUSIQUE DE LA CARAIBE" 12080, 17550 DIES I HORES UTC. LA SELECCIÓ DE PROGRAMES ÉS TOTALMENT PERSONAL I SUBJECTIVA --- A més de les freqüències recomanades, els grans serveis internacionals com la VOA, BBC o RFI en fan servir altres en parallel. Moltes emissores emeten via satèllit i alguns programes es poden escoltar als webs d'aquestes en streaming o descarregar en podcast. Per a més informació consulteu llistats, revistes, internet, etc. (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** IRAN [and non]. Updated A-10 for Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran: ALBANIAN 0630-0727 on 13810 15235 1830-1927 on 9570 9760 2030-2127 on 5980 9535 ARABIC 0230-0527 on 6025 7350 11660 "Al-Quds TV" 0330-0427 on 9610 11875 "Voice of Palestine" 0530-0827 on 13790 13800 15150 0830-1027 on 9885 13790 13800 15150 1030-1427 on 13790 13800 15150 1430-1627 on 9920 15150 1630-1727 on 6025 9920 1730-0227 on 6025 ARMENIAN 0300-0327 on 7220 11700 0930-0957 on 9700 15110 1630-1727 on 7230 9505 AZERI 0330-0527 on 13710 1430-1657 on 6000 BENGALI 0030-0127 on 5950 7325 0830-0927 on 11710 1430-1527 on 12085 13800 BOSNIAN 0530-0627 on 13750 15235 1730-1827 on 7295 9860 2130-2227 on 7305 9810 CHINESE 1200-1257 on 13735 15190 15530 17670 2330-0027 on 11645 12000 13715 DARI 0300-0627 on 11940 13740 0830-1157 on 11980 13720 1200-1427 on 9940 13720 1430-1457 on 9940 ENGLISH 0130-0227 on 7245 9495 "Voice of Justice" 1030-1127 on 15600 17660 1530-1627 on 7305 9600 1930-2027 on *5940 6205 7205 7215 9800 GERMAN 0730-0827 on 15085 15430 1730-1827 on *5940 9940 15085 FRENCH 0630-0727 on 13750 15430 1830-1927 on *5940 9860 13600 15085 HAUSA 0600-0657 on 15220, only one freq. 1830-1927 on 7370 9905 HEBREW 0430-0457 on 9610 11875 1200-1227 on 13685 15240 HINDI 0230-0257 on 11710 13750 1430-1527 on 11955 13700 INDONESIAN 1230-1327 on 15200 17560 2230-2327 on 6000 7245 ITALIAN 0630-0727 on *9770 13620 15085 1930-1957 on 5910 7350 JAPANESE 1330-1427 on 13630 15555 2100-2157 on 9765 11765 KAZAKH 0130-0227 on 7360 9790 1530-1627 on 7340 9940, retimed, ex 1300-1357 on 11665 13765 KURDISH 0330-0427 on 7375 9715 1330-1627 on 5990 PASHTO 0230-0327 on 5940 7360 0730-0827 on 11990 15440 1230-1327 on 9500 11730 1430-1527 on 5890 1630-1727 on 6110 7340 RUSSIAN 0300-0327 on 9650 11925 0500-0527 on 9855 13750 15150 17655 1430-1527 on 7295 *9555 9580 9900 1700-1757 on 3985 7335 1800-1857 on 6140 7235 1930-2027 on 3985 7370 SPANISH 0030-0227 on 7200 9905 0230-0327 on 7200 0530-0627 on 13650 15530 2030-2127 on *6055 7300 9780 SWAHILI 0400-0457 on 13750 15340 0830-0927 on 15240 17660 1730-1827 on 7360 9655 TAJIK 0100-0227 on 6175 7285 1600-1727 on 5945 6180 TURKISH 0430-0557 on 9560 12015 1600-1727 on 6125 7370 URDU 0130-0227 on 5930 7325 9845 1300-1427 on 7265 11695 11805 1530-1727 on 5890 UZBEK 0230-0257 on 7290 11945 1500-1557 on 5945 9685 *via Sitkunai, Lithuania (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 27 April via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. 15680, R. Farda via Sri Lanka, 1608-1615, April 24. Good reception with music show (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL [non?]. Kol Israel in Russian on 11985 --- David Crystal [in Israel] phoned to say that he heard a test transmission from Kol Israel in Russian today (March 26) 1400-1500 on 11985, parallel to the FM service. Interference from NHK Radio Japan 1400-1430. Both Aoki and Eike Bierwirth have Voice of Russia in Russian to the Middle East 1400-1500 on the frequency. He said Voice of Russia came on at 1459 (Mike Barraclough, England, April 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Apr 27 checked 11985 at 1430 and the ID was "Golos Rossii". Heavy splatters from both sides. At 1459 they went into VOR IS and 1500 VOR in English (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) I don't know if this has any relevance, but I published this in the Media Network Blog nearly six years ago: "Voice of Russia plans to broadcast in Israel June 30th, 2004 - 13:55 UTC The Voice of Russia and Kol Israel (Voice of Israel) have signed a tentative cooperation agreement for re-broadcasting Voice of Russia programs in Russian on FM in Israel. A Voice of Russia spokesman told the Interfax news agency that programmes will deal with cultural, educational, musical, and literary issues as well as news and politics. The financial and technical aspects of the project are currently being worked out." So was David Crystal listening to a VoR programme on the Russian service of Kol Israel? (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) He could well be, checked today at 1400 onwards, fair but much splatter, didn't get an ID like Jari but the programme was parallel to the Voice of Russia Russian internet feed (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) It seems to me much more likely this transmission came from Voice of Russia, perhaps with program content about or from Israel (gh, DXLD) See 11985 coverage in V of Russia engineering schedule of April 9th, Moscow super beast tx 500 kW towards NE/ME/NoAF under Russian 1400- 1500 and English 1500-1800 UT. http://www.wwdxc.de/topnews.htm 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** JAPAN. 15195, April 24 at 0428 jazz on guitar, off by next check after 0500; presumed NHK on longtime channel. Yes: Aoki says Japanese service 0155-0500, 290 degrees from Ibaragi-Koga-Yamata to Asia. This is broken up into four blox with identical parameters: 0155-0200, 0200-0300, 0300-0415 and 0415-0500; why? R. Japan does play a lot of western music, classical too, probably home service relay. [non]. 13840, something in French April 29 at 0554 mentioning Champs Elysées à Paris. Has some squishy ute QRM about 13842. 0558 R. Japon IDs and contact info, to 0600* timesignal and 2 or 3 notes of NHK IS before cut off air. Fair signal, compared to much better NHK Russian on 11715. 13840 could have arrived directly too, but really 295 degrees via MADAGASCAR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. 11960, Radio Jordan, Amman in Arabic, scheduled 0500-0715 UT, but noted also much earlier at 0400-0500 UT like \\ 11810 kHz. S=poor 6-7 signal on Apr 13 (Wolfgang Büschel, April 13, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 24 via DXLD) Are you sure? I can't hear 11810 kHz at any time! (Mauno Ritola, Finland, April 20, ibid.) Yes, 11810 is not at Jordan Radio Amman service at present, channel was empty this Morning Apr 21. And also as surprise, 11960 kHz service was only 4-5 UT shorttime on air, not til 0705 UT as usual ... maybe a maintenance day ??? 11810 was regular on air in past decade at 0400-0710 UT slot, and also marked on my frequency list in B-09 too (Wolfgang Büschel, April 21, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. CLANDESTINE - 3911.99, Voice of the People (presumed) 1148-1216 Apr 20. Guy & gal in Korean chat // 6599.98 and 6517.98. All frequencies jammed at tune-in but the jamming seemed to stop at 1152. The jamming resumed again at 1154 on the 6 MHz freqs but not on 3911.98 - at least I could not hear any. Possible ID at 1203 after a bit of fanfare, then frequencies announced, followed by talk/music. Loud and clear S9+20 dB signal; still no apparent jamming as of 1216 tuneout (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. CLANDESTINE - 6135, Shiokaze via Yamata *1400- 1430* Apr 18. Usual talks in Japanese; piano opening and closedown. Fair but had deteriorated somewhat by 1430 (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) 6135, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1408, April 23. Another Friday in English, but for the past two days they have been heavily jammed by N. Korea (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6015, KBS Hanminjok Bangsong 1 (presumed) via Hwasong. Continues to have frequent periods with no jamming from N. Korea. 1422-1433, April 24; conversation in Korean; very faint QRM from PBS Xinjiang (// 4330); 1433 lost to the start of heavy jamming. Why do they only intermittently jam this? Are they really unable to jam them full time? (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOSOVO. KOSOVO JOURNALISTS CONDEMN DISABLING OF TRANSMITTERS April 25th, 2010 - 10:57 UTC by Andy Sennitt. No comments yet The Association of Serbian Journalists (UNS) and its regional branch in Kosovo have condemned the destruction of television and radio transmitters in Kosovo. “UNS and the Kosovo and Metohija Journalists’ Society (DNKiM) have condemned the new vandalism of the Kosovo Regulatory Agency for Telecommunications, whose workers have been destroying broadcasting equipment of the Serb radio station KOSMA,” the UNS states. UNS adds that the equipment of five radio stations that broadcast in Serbian and have licences for working in Kosovo is located at the Beli Kamen transmitter in Brezovica. With the assistance of police, Agency workers have cut cables on the KOSMA links and destroyed a generator worth about 10,000 euros. Equipment of the Puls television station in Šilovo was also destroyed when a transmitter was blown up several months ago. UNS and DNKiM warn the domestic and foreign public that all of the destroyed equipment belongs to the radio and television stations that have licences for broadcasting, the statement adds. The statements mentions that “UNS and DNKiM are horrified that no officials of the Serbian state institutions, international community or Kosovo government have reacted or stopped the vandalism of this organized violence against media that broadcasts Serbian-language programmes.” (Source: B92) Andy Sennitt adds: This development may be connected with another report in Celluar News, which says that the government of Kosovo has started forcing the shut-down of network infrastructure operated by Serbian mobile networks. Local media added that landline networks are also being disabled, leaving Serb villages in Kosovo disconnected from each other. In a statement, the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) said that, in cooperation with law enforcement agencies, it had taken action preventing “unauthorized illegal activity of non licensed operators”, who have extended their network within the territory of the Republic of Kosovo. It seems probable that untrained agency staff would not be able to tell the difference between equipment used for mobile networks and broadcasting equipment (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. Apr 26th noted R Kuwait starting on 7600 around 1650 in Arabic, parallel to 13650. Noted them on 7600 also previous day at 1705 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks, Jari, for the news, now at 1740 UT nothing heard on 7600 kHz anymore, but as usual on 6050 kHz {noted Apr 24/25/26}, seemingly at 1600-2100 (-2200?) UT. And same program in \\ on 13650, latter which is also new. Kuwait noted also on 11630 kHz {to Sahara and West Africa?} recently in 1500-1600 UT slot and co-channel CNR Lingshi in Uighur language. Zacharias Liangas also reported 9750 kHz at 1116 UT. Latter is covered by V of Russia DRM hiss noise, so seize the hour til 1240 UT ... I guess the sheikhs need 4 weeks time to arrange their operations, according their registration, after start of A-10 season to establish their new summer schedule. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Comment by NG: KWT is another station that seems to have a "wish list" of registered frequencies that are never used (Noel R. Green-UK, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Apr 21, via Büschel, ibid.) Well, 7600 is probably a mixing product of 13650 and 6050. Kuwait seems to be on both frequencies. The rather weak signal of 7600 points also to that direction. 73, (Jari Savolainen, Finland, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, ibid.) ** KUWAIT. 15540, R. Kuwait once again in English at 18-21 UT Friday April 23, after having carried Arabic the day before (and Wolfgang Büschel implied it was also in Arabic on Tuesday April 20 when I did not check; is that correct?). Good signal today, 1800 sign-on, giving frequencies 963, 96.3 (what a coincidence?), and 11990! The former 1800 English channel --- what do they know in the studio? They obviously don`t bother to tune in their own broadcast and find out what frequency it is on, or not on. 1801 program summary, seemed mostly to be music. Even before 1802 began ``Islam & Peace`` with ponderous declarations. But once that is over, RK lightens up with mostly western pop music. Didn`t have time to listen much, but rechecked before closing: 2058 ID again giving frequencies for this broadcast and also ``15110`` for 05-08 (local 08- 11) English, which hasn`t been confirmed in many months; in fact if it`s on SW at all, we don`t know where. 2100 into Arabic news, still on past 2108 when cut off yesterday, but had disappeared by next check 2113, as it had also been fading down (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15540 NF, Radio Kuwait, 1955-2112*, April 23, tune-in to English programming with mostly continuous English pop music. Several IDs, English news. Closing announcements at 2058. Anthem at 2059. Into Arabic talk at 2100. Abrupt sign off at 2112. New Frequency for English service. ex-11990. Thanks to Glenn Hauser tip (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 15540, R. Kuwait in English again on Saturday April 24 at 1831 check during newscast, good signal. The main newscast on this 18-21 transmission is at 1830, with a summary near the end (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15540, R. Kuwait, Sulaibiyah with English twangy C/W music (really!) and into English news read by a YL, with IDs before the news as “This is Radio Kuwait”. YL was one of those who didn’t really enunciate so the FIRST time she said ‘This is Radio Kuwait’ it didn’t even register as English, but the second time (said after the anthem/news theme I recognized!) I got it, and realized she was actually speaking English! Into rap/pop music after news at :35. VERY eclectic mix of stuff on this station! SINPO 3+5443+, 1825-1840 25/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 1900 UT noted R Kuwait ENGLISH on 15540 kHz Apr 25, and 1910 UT R Kuwait Arabic on 6050 kHz S=8-9, and increased signal from dark around 1930 UT onwards. Around 1800 UT also Arabic on 6050 and 13650 in \\ (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, April 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15540, R. Kuwait again in English April 25 at 2051 with news headlines delivered by YL far too swiftly for comprehension, coupled with her accent. She obviously has no clue of the need for clarity in shortwave broadcasting. ESL people seem to delight in speaking as rapidly as possible as some kind of faux-proof of their fluency. 2053 to a postlude by Tom Jones, whose English is quite clear despite being Welsh; it was something reminiscent of Delilah in his inimitable style. 15540, R. Kuwait again in English contrary to its own announcements, April 27 at 2058 at sign-off still claiming to be on 11990 at 18-21, and on 15110 at 05-08. Possibly the latter is really on 15515, scheduled in Arabic, but so is 15540. Please check. 2059 NA, 2100 accurate timesignal, news theme and headlines in Arabic but cut off the air today earlier than usual after only one minute at 2101* (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15540, R. Kuwait in English this Thursday instead of Arabic last Thursday: April 29 at 2050 going from rock music to final news summary, starting with red shirts in Thailand. I don`t think there was a single item about Kuwait; are there any at 1830? 2053.7 back to music, YL song about love (is this allowed by Islam?). 2058 segué to another song but fade it down by 2058.5 for standard sign-off once again giving wrong frequency 11990, and imaginary 15110 for English at 05-08. 2059.4 brief NA by military band. 2100 accurate 5+1 timesignal, Y L Arabic ID, news fanfare and news, this time staying on until 2106.6*. Signal was fair with deep fades (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. RADIO KUWAIT CLEARED FROM AMATEUR RADIO BAND Radio Kuwait was broadcasting in the Amateur Radio 7 MHz allocation, however speedy action by the IARU Monitoring System Intruder Watch resolved the problem. A 'combined action' by Ulrich Bihlmayer, DJ9KR led to the removal of Radio Kuwait on 7150 and 7190 kHz. From 12 to 19 April 2010 the broadcaster had been transmitting programs in Arabic language with up to S9+30 dB signals blocking almost 20 kHz of the 40m Band. Many national coordinators had requested their telecoms authorities to send “International Complaints” to the State of Kuwait. Faisal Al-Ajmi, 9K2RR, IARU Monitoring System Intruder Watch Coordinator in Kuwait rang up Radio Kuwait and asked for a frequency change. Read the full IARU Monitoring System report at http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/actions.pdf You can log reports of intruders in the Amateur Radio bands online at http://peditio.net/intruder/bluechat.cgi IARU Region 1 http://www.iaru-r1.org (Southgate Amateur Radio Club via Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, shortwave yg via DXLD) ** LAOS. 7145, Lao National R., Vientiane. 1327-1357*, April 24. In English; seemed to be a repeat of April 19 domestic news (17 people died in traffic accidents during the Lao New Year, etc.); fair to poor; active ham QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR [non]. 15630, R. Mada International via Pridnestrovye, presumably the trace of QRM underneath V. of Greece, Sunday April 25 at 1544 and producing a SAH. That`s about the best it can do since accepting this collision, depriving the world at large, if allegedly not the boresight Madagascans, of Mada audibility (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 6049.6v, Salam FM via RTM, 1606-1619*, April 26. In vernacular; reciting from the Qur’an; many “Salam FM” IDs; pop songs; // 6174.4v (poor with CNR-1 QRM) and 9750 (poor with NHK QRM) 6174.4v, Voice of Malaysia, 1357, April 23. Series of V.O.M. IDs; ToH: 1+1 pips and into the Radio Suara Islam program in vernacular; reciting from the Qur’an; poor with usual QRM from CNR-1 (6175.0); // 9750 (very poor). 6049.6v continues to be off-the-air, as it was yesterday. /SARAWAK. 7270, Wai FM via RTM, 1543-1600*, April 26. In vernacular; many Wai FM IDs; pop songs; on air phone calls; mixing with PBS Nei Menggu. 6175.0, R. Suara Islam via RTM, 1448, April 29. They have adjusted their frequency (ex: 6174.4v); Glenn should no longer hear a het here; in vernacular with pop songs; mixing with CNR-1; // 6049.6v (fair) and 9750 (poor with NHK QRM) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 783 is in tonight very clear at 2040 EDT [0040 UT] with Arabic music, woman singer. Signal strength is S1 or less thanks to WABC having dropped their iboc. I read about this on the Radio-Info HD Radio board. 774 should be easier now also (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, UT April 25, WTFDA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Reactivated! 6045, XEXQ, Radio Universidad de San Luís Potosí. April 29 at 1205 as I tune across this frequency, I hear Elgar`s Pomp & Circumstance March (No. 5, I think), which was always the sign-on theme of XEXQ when last heard in 2008. Then Spanish announcement mentioning mexicana, and Pemex, probably a government PSA. 1212 mixing music with talk, including partial ID ``Sintonizas al 11-90 de la amplitud modulada``, which chex as the XEXQ MW frequency. 1213 timecheck for 7:12, into classical hits, as always at wake-up time. 1224 operatic duet, then something from Magic Flute, 1229 announcement and more opera, 1234 Barber of Seville; 1244 weaker but recognizable with Triumphal March from Aïda. 1259 becomes JBA with Spanish announcement, 1306 still audible with classical, but just about faded out. Winter sign-on is circa 1300, so we have DST since April 4 to thank for forcing XEXQ to open an hour earlier while some propagation remains, but window will narrow until past Solstice. Good modulation but weak and fading vs noise level. Presumably 1 kW transmitter which they were running at considerably less when last heard. Pretty weak at 1224, peaking at S9+8, compared to regular XEOI on 6010 which was steadier and stronger at S9+10. Luckily, altho Asian reception was good today, there is no co-channel QRM during this hour. Current schedules show nothing either on 6045 until India from *1430. Zimbabwe and Uruguay may be on at 12-13, but certainly not propagating far in daytime. Frequency is axually slightly low, and this matches consistent measurements at 6044.93 by Ron Howard, CA and Terry Krueger, FL, before it went silent 16+ months ago. DXLD archive finds the last reports were from Ron on Jan 11 and 17, 2009 when weekend sign-off was early at 0100*. Ron also had it Dec 24, 2008 at 0235. Krueger had heard it Jan 2, 2009 at 1419. My last report was Dec 26, 2008, a trace at 1352, also heard Dec 24 at 1332, and barely Dec 22 at 1459. Current schedule remains to be determined; EiBi lists 1200-2400, extended Tue-Sat until 0530. However, VOA Hausa via Ascension is at 0500-0530, and KBS via Sackville 0600-0700, so look for it before 0500 and 0600. It`s great to have XEXQ back, reasserting Mexico`s lead over the USA in cultural broadcasting on SW, now two active stations vs zero here. We may have hundreds of public radio stations on FM, AM and IBOC, but not a single one has ever had the vision to represent the best of America to the world by adding SW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Efectivamente, XEXQ Radio Universidad de San Luis Potosí de nuevo al aire en los 6045 kHz. Escuchada en el centro sur de la ciudad de México con un SINPO general de 4 a las 1715 horas. Hace un mes conversé telefónicamente con el Ing. Moreno, encargado técnico de RUSLP, quien me informaba que estaban cerca de recibir los repuestos necesarios para la reactivación del transmisor, mismos que son enviados desde Chile en donde se encuentra la fábrica de el mencionado transmisor. Ojalá que permanezca con buena presencia, ya que, coincido que presenta una muy agradable programación cultural (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, April 29, ibid.) ** MEXICO [and non]. Just when does RNA Brasília sign off for the night? I figured it would be around local midnite, currently 0300 UT. April 24, tuned in 6185 at 0241 to find RNA on top of XEPPM, with the rapid SAH as always between them adding to the annoyance; but at 0312, RNA still on the air on 11780 with timecheck for 00:12 and greeting ``um novo dia``. And both still on at 0320. By next check, 0343, both were gone. Probably varies, when they get around to it, just like sign-on. But 6185 still had SAH CCI at 0343, now from Vatican. The latter is weaker, so now XEPPM is on top in Spanish, but still too much QRM. 0359 can hear the VR IS mixing, scheduled until 0500. Since CRI/Sackville runs very strong ACI from 6190 at 05-06, that means Radio Educación is essentially unusable all evening until 0600. Thence we may finally enjoy its eclectic music in the clear should we be awake, until RNA come back on, presumably somewhen between 0730 and 0800; except UT Sundays when it is all-night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Educación, 6185 kHz, 25 Apr 2010 at 0719 GMT. OM and excellent Latin music. S9 + 20 signal, but extreme fluttering renders an unfortunate gargling quality (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DXLD) More like Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, which is all-night on UT Sundays only, obliterating XEPPM. Listen for Portuguese announcement or // 11780. RNA sometimes has trans-equatorial flutter on the higher frequency, but off-frequency XEPPM makes a rapid subaudible heterodyne, so not sure which you mean (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, Voice of Mongolia, Ulam Bator, 0910-0917, 24-04, inglés, locutora, comentarios, música. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, Escuchas realizadas en casco urbano de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR [and non]. 6035, Myanma Radio, 1423-1430*, April 28. Heard on this new frequency carrying a Minorities and Distance Learning Services lecture in vernacular; // 5915; both went off after the usual indigenous theme music. Heard 6035 again from 1452 to 1529 with non- stop EZL songs; 1530 into their routine segment in English with full ID and news; 1537: “That ends the news from Myanma Radio” and off-the- air; the usual 5985.76v was clearly off the air after checking at 1423. Is this a Naypyidaw transmitter? 7185.75v, Myanma Radio, 1317-1331*, April 28. Fair reception in vernacular; at 1330 heard the primary audio (strongest) going // with 5915 and their usual indigenous theme music; while secondary audio (weaker) had the usual BoH chimes (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ! And we thought Bhutan had it bad with Yunnan, ``Shangri-La``, China on same frequency 6035. Are there hostilities among these countries, or merely self-centered ignorance on part of the usurpers? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On 28/4/10 at 1530 UT as I was checking to see what Bhutan on 6035 kHz had for the Regional Summit of South Asian Heads of States, I was surprised to log Myanmar with signature tuning coming after Burmese pop and on to English news. The signals went off after English news at 1540. When I checked again on 29/4/10 at 0015 I found Bhutan feeble and struggling with Myanmar Co Channel running parallel to 5915 kHz. This must be the third Myanmar shortwave transmitter which has been silent since cyclone Nargis. But why choose 6035 kHz and run co channel with Bhutan? (Supratik Sanatani, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6035, Myanma Radio. April 29 did not hear them here during random checking from 1211 to 1537. Could only clearly hear PBS Yunnan, with possibly BBS/Bhutan underneath. At 1530 I scanned the 49m band looking for their English segment, but was unable to hear it anyplace. Was nice to find that Supratik Sanatani was also listening to Myanmar here yesterday. So did they come to 6035 in error or was it a trial run of some type? 5985.76v, Myanma Radio, 1211, April 29. Random checking found them here past 1438, but was gone by a 1516 check, so they never made it to their English segment today. At 1403 sounded like their usual slogans in vernacular; 1415 to 1430 nice selections of indigenous stringed instrumental music. 5915, Myanmar Radio, 1332, April 29. Lecture in English; 1345 into lectures in vernacular; perhaps signed off at 1500 (gone by 1506) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. 6250, April 26 at 0517 in Spanish vs ute QRM, // 6080 R. Japón relay, leaping over RNW Dutch on 6165. Theoretically there could be a matching leapfrog on 5995, 85 kHz lower than 6080 at 5995, with Dutch audio, but could not confirm that, altho at 0519 there was a fast SAH between two weak signals amid ACI [adjacent channel interference, which I will not explain every time I use it]. Nothing else is scheduled at this hour, unless Mali`s carrier was already on before *0600. In any event, 6250 was not Equatorial Guinea (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 6089.85, Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, 2235-2302*, April 22, talk in listed Hausa. Local tribal chants. Sign off with National Anthem at 2301. Fair signal. In the clear with Anguilla still off the air (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) But it was back April 23 (gh) ** NIGERIA. At that time, 1500-1520 UT listen to Voice of Nigeria in English at frequency 15120. Wonderful and strong signal here in Bulgaria. New hours of broadcasting for the evening transmission in English? 73! (Ivo Ivanov, April 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, heard also a powerful signal this morning in 6-7 UT range on 15120 kHz. Seemingly they use at V of Nigeria now the new 250 kW Thomson French transmitters at Abuja; other channels are 7255, 9690, 11770 kHz on other time of the day. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Here is the latest announcement made at the start of Voice of Nigeria's "This Week on VON" at 1005 UT on Sunday 25 April 2010 listening online at http://voiceofnigeria.org "Broadcasts of programmes in English from this station can be heard on three frequencies: 15120 kHz in the 19 metre-band to North Africa and Europe, and 9690 kHz in the 31 metre-band to West Africa, and 7255 kHz in the 41 metre-band also to West Africa. Times of broadcasts on 15120 kHz are from 4.55 GMT to 7 hours GMT for the first segment, and 15 hours GMT to 19 hours GMT for the second segment. And for 9690 kHz programmes run from 9 hours GMT to 15 hours GMT. On 7255 kHz programmes are broadcast from 19 hours GMT to 20 hours GMT." This still doesn't seem to completely match what is actually being heard on shortwave, but maybe it will settle down when all of the new transmitters are on air (Tony Rogers, UK, BDXC-UK yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) VOICE OF NIGERIA LAUNCHES NEW WEBSITE The Voice of Nigeria has launched a new website, which looks much better than the old one. The new shortwave transmitter site, which was due to be ready by 1 October 2009, appears not to be in operation yet, as according to the schedule http://www.voiceofnigeria.org/freq.htm only a single frequency is currently in use. Unfortunately there are at least two typos in the online version. However, I doubt this is accurate anyway, as there have been various announced and observed changes recently reported in DX Listening Digest 10-15. The website says “Voice of Nigeria which started with prototype RCA 100KW HF transmitters, installed and commissioned in 1963 graduated to Brown Boveri Transmitters with antenna system in 1980. Von now has 250KW Thomcast AG Transmitters and is installed digital transmitters with rotating antennas at the new transmission Station, Lugbe, FCT, Abuja.” More information may be available shortly as there will be an online edition of the VON Airwaves magazine ‘coming soon.’ (April 28th, 2010 - 16:32 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) ** OMAN. RADIO SULTANATE OF OMAN A10 (From 28 Mar 2010 to 30 Oct 2010) FREQ STRT STOP CIRAF LOC PWR LANG 15140 1400 1500 28,39N THU 100 English 15140 1500 2200 28,39N THU 100 Arabic 15355 0200 0300 48,53 THU 100 Arabic 15355 0300 0400 48,53 THU 100 English 7405 0400 0600 48,53 THU 100 Arabic 7405 0600 1000 28,39N THU 100 Arabic (via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) 7405? That must be new for them. Can anyone confirm it on the air? 7405 is totally blocked here from 0300 by DentroCuban Jamming Command and Radio Martí, until 0700 when Oman probably would not be propagating --- except on UT Mondays during the Dentro/FueraCuban truce, which doesn`t necessarily mean the Dentros will turn the jammers off completely. Due to weak signals and only occasional audibility on 15140, suspect they are not running anywhere near 100 kW, and this schedule indicates only a single transmitter (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 15630, Radio Pakistan: 1259 Indian howling type music, slightly distorted, with slight hum. 1302 "Pakistan"; mentioned 11535. 1303 off/vanished? 1312 recheck still there, but audio cutting out at 1314. 1315 news. March 7 (Larry Russell, MI, DXPedition, MARE Tipsheet April 23 via DXLD) 15100, R Pakistan Urdu Hqur`an service to NE/ME?, scheduled 0500-0700 UT, noted at 0615-0630 UT but poor signal S=4-5 level stronger S=7-8 level, \\ 17835 kHz, April 23 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3905, R. New Ireland, 1122-1147 Apr 20. YL with local announcements in Pidgin; island music from 1126-1137, then YL again. Thought I heard "NBC New Ireland" mentioned; not sure if is the ID they're using or just a reference to NBC. Good signal, best in a while (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. QSL: DZRP - Radyo Pilipinas, Overseas Service in English - 15285 kHz, 22 February 2010, 0200-0330 UT - Full data verification *card*, single-sided, dated April 15, 2010 and received April 23, 2010; 60 days. (This English transmission was intended for and aimed to an Asian audience; it was rough going that evening. I was not really sure they'd QSL my somewhat tentative report.) Like the V of Russia QSL, unusual size and shape, 8.5" x 3.125". With letter, English/Filipino sked & large colorful station sticker. Invited further reception reports and comments via e-mail at either(?) radio_pilipinas_overseas @ yahoo.com or radyo-pilipinas-overseas @ yahoo.com Signed by Ric G. Lorenzo, Audience Relations. Return Address: Philippine Broadcasting Service DZRP - Radyo Pilipinas - Overseas 4/F PIA Bldg., Visayas Avenue Quezon City, Philippines. (Bruce Jensen, California, United States, April 24, ptsw yg via DXLD) Since e-mail addresses are not case-sensitive, it should not matter whether there is a hyphen or an underscore, right? But of course radio vs radyo would matter (gh, DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES [and non]. 9920, April 26 at 1240, ``Gott sei die Ehre`` hymn in unknown language, then talk in Thai/Lao, fair signal. Must be YFR relay, right? Wrong! While that`s YFR`s main theme, they do not have a monopoly on it. Uplooked later in Aoki, at this hour 9920 is occupied by FEBC Manila, in Koho, Sun-Mon-Tue-Wed at 1230- 1300, 100 kW, 280 degrees from Bocaue. EiBi`s language reference at http://www.eibispace.de/dx/README.TXT says it`s spoken by 100 kilopeople in Vietnam, a.k.a. Kohor --- but from the sound of it, closely related to Lao, rather than Vietnamese. The gospel huxters have got 9920 all tied up, used only by: 10-11 FR via Taiwan in Chinese; 11-13 FEBC in SE Asian languages we have never heard of in the relentless drive to deprive as many ethnic groups as possible of their original religions; 13-14 KNLS Chinese; 14-15 KTWR Vietnamese; 15-18 KNLS Chinese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. As suggested in last World of Radio, today I have tried the new frequency of Radio Romania International, 23 April 2010, 0530-0556 UT, 15750 kHz, SINPO 34433 Remark: occasional fading and weak signal. Program: News, Reports on Power failure continuation, new draft constitution. Travellers Guide - announcement of Contests, previous contest winners name and letters. Said about new competition. Football Flash, ended with frequency and address announcement. On A10 schedule previously at 0530 UT the frequency 21500 kHz was not listenable at all; the new frequency 15750 kHz is fair to listen, but still 17760 kHz is great to listen, average SINPO 45444 - strong and steady, no interference too. Radio Romania International in English on shortwave also being heard in India as follows: 0300-0356 11895 SINPO average 34333 weak signal and noisy 0300-0356 15340 SINPO average 34433 weaker than normal but well heard 1700-1756 11735 34333 weak & natural noise but readable, external antenna helps to receive well. BTW, as per the schedule I received from Mr. Alokesh Gupta on 14th March, English schedule was as follows: Tentative A-10 schedule of Radio Romania International: ENGLISH 0000-0056 7335 9580 0300-0356 7335 9645 11895 15340 0530-0556 *7305 9655 17760 21500 1100-1156 15210 15430 17510 17670 1700-1756 *9535 11735 [also 1700-1730 +DRM 7350 Kvitsoe Norway] 2030-2056 9690 *9765 11880 11940 2200-2256 5960 7435 9790 11940 So, 7335 is already listed there. But new frequencies 7335 kHz at 0000 or 15750 kHz at 0530 isn't yet reflected in the RRI website till now. http://www.rri.ro/art.shtml?lang=1&sec=20&art=30820 RX: Redsun RP2100 (similar to C. Crane CCRadio SW); Antenna: open loop in window built with 23 meter insulated 20 SWG copper wire; Listening post: 26.719010 North; 88.434126 East. Regards, (Partha Sarathi Goswami, Siliguri, West Bengal, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There have been some recent changes to RRI`s schedule, including English at 00-01. On April 25 at 0007 I was hearing ``The Week`` on 9580 and weaker 7385, NOT 7335 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Noticed the same RRI frequency combo at 0000 4/27. Both strong here in Houston, with 31m the best. Aren't these from different transmitter sites in Romania? Appears the end result of 9580 to 7385 and the later 7335 to 9580 was a swap of sites for 41 and 31m...? (Steve Luce, TX, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15435, April 26 at 1320, Chinese talk and then soprano with piano, peaks S9+5. RRI Chinese service, 1300-1327, 300 kW, 67 degrees from Tiganeshti. No jamming audible, as the ChiCom apparently do not feel the need to block the Romanian apostates from Communism (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. As there is a difference between, for example, CRI and CNR or Voice of Russia and Radio Rossii, as is also with Radio Romania International - Foreign Service and Radio Romania Actualitatsi - it is Home Service first program. The schedule published as of RRI in Romanian language broadcasts is not exactly. Here are some observations: Radio Romania International 1204-1256 1704-1756 1604-1656 1804-1856 Radio Romania Actualitatsi // MW 558 and others 0400-0456 1300-1356 1500-1556 1900-1956 1200-1204 1600-1604 1700-1704 1800-1804 No checked transmissions 0000-0056 0100-0156 0700-1000 on Sundays All heard in A 10 period. P.S. Now I am checking the schedules of Radio Rossii and eventually relation with new time zones in Russia (some new exactly). 73s, (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, April 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. 5920, R. Rossii, Pet/Kam, off-the-air April 26, random checks from 1202 to 1233. Hope they are fixing their audio / modulation that recently has been terrible. The other usual frequencies were heard: 5940, 7200, 7230 and 7320. 5930, R. Rossii, Pet/Kam. No wonder I did not hear them on 5920 yesterday! April 27 found them on this new frequency at 1246; // 5940, 7200 (VOK QRM), 7230 and 7320. Still heard with their distinctive poor audio/modulation (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I had noticed some time ago that HFCC had this on 5930; wondered if a mistake or a future plan; at 1700-1300 from Petropavlovsk/Kamchatskiy is listed on 5930 instead of 5920 where we had continued to hear this awful motor-boating transmitter interfering with itself, but following tip from Ron Howard, now it has really moved to 5930, April 28 audible as early as 0605, and now unpleasantly close to WWCR 5935. Next check at 1247, 5930 somewhat better with singing and Russian talk // 5940 Magadan which is weaker but motorboat-free. So Pet/Kam can accomplish frequency changes from 6075 to 5920 to 5930 but not clean up the modulation once and for all. Per http://www.gaisma.com/en/location/petropavlovsk-kamchatskiy.html sunset at Pet/Kam was 0847 UT but the sun is still relatively low in the sky at that latitude of 53 North, equivalent to Goose Bay or Edmonton (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5930, at 1229 April 29, R. Rossii, Pet/Kam, motorboating and colliding with REE in undermodulated Spanish via COSTA RICA, already using 5930 at 11-14 weekdays. Also a fast SAH because Cariari is off-frequency. Meanwhile ex-5920 is clear! Why in the world did RR move? VOR had also been scheduled on 5930 at 10-14 in Chinese and Mongolian westward from Vladivostok, but surely that had to move off, to where? Then there`s Monchegorsk, longitude 33 east, R. Rossii which was (is?) also on 5930 at 01-21. Could it have been unacceptable QRM on 5920 from also dirty transmitter of WBOH --- except it took this long to accomplish the QSY in Russia, now long after that station is kaput? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 9455 poor signal, April 24 at 1424 station in English discussing EU, inserted VOR sounder so no additional ID needed, then War Chronicles from this day in 1945y. 9455 is 14-16, 250 kW, 265 degrees via Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky for South Asia. VOR continues to ruin its Pashto/Dari service by failing to get the modulation to come out of the 15510 transmitter unscathed. April 27 at 1355, 15510 had severe audio break-up, or should I say, breaking in for split seconds during music, from Love Story(?). Aoki says it`s 250 kW, 110 degrees via Krasnodar; HFCC says 250 kW, 140 degrees via Samara; Eibi too says Samara. 9890, V. of Russia in English at 2308 April 24 with ID, starting ``Music & Musicians`` with Chaikofsky theme, then bells. ACI from DentroCuban jamming and VOA on 9885, almost evitable by sidetuning upward. But there is also a SAH directly on 9885, and the only thing else at 23-24 is BBCWS in English USward from Thailand at 25 degrees. VOR site is Armavir a.k.a. Krasnodar in Russia itself, per the main three online A-10 schedules. Don`t you believe Stewart MacKenzie`s report, already published somewhere, claiming Tajikistan is involved on 9890 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Tajikistan [sic], Voice of Russia-VOR, 9890, 2208, English, 333, April 18, OM with comments on ballet music and piano music. OM with VOR ID 2210 (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, via RusDX April 24 via DXLD) ?? What`s Tajikistan got to do with this transmission? HFCC, Aoki and EiBi all agree it`s via Armavir = Krasnodar, which is in Russia itself. Maybe this frequency was once via Tajikistan at some time, some year, and Stewart still has this in his `database` rather than consulting the big three current online schedule references. It beats me why he won`t do this, and why other editors publish his erroneous logs without question. Usually I just skip them (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 17615 and 17625, noticeably in // with Arabic talk, April 25 at 1329, both about equal with fair signals, shortly BSKSA ID with reverb added. Both are supposedly 500 kW and 100 degrees with Holy Qur`an program, except 17615 is supposed to switch to 17625 at 1200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BS of Saudi Arabia, 11820 kHz, 25 Apr 2010 at 2150 UT. OM singing Koran. Fair signal in moderate band gusts, which are a bit too much for this signal. Later, BS again on 9555 at 2211 with OMs speaking Arabic. Much better reception than ongoing 11820, though not // (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DXLD) 9675, BSKSA, 2041 25 April with ID and talk in Turkish. Cracks in modulation, hymn at 2055 and then sign off (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 18-21, 500 kW, 340 degrees from Riyadh (gh) ** SERBIA [non]. International Radio Serbia, 9675 kHz, 26 Apr 2010 at 0022. Presumed. YLs reading features in presumed Serbian over background music by Andreas Vollenweider. ID by OM at bottom of the hour and into English service at 0030 UT. Nearly perfect signal slightly bothered by VOR on 9665 (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA. Belgrade's Avala TV/Radio Tower Is Back! CEREMONIAL OPENING OF THE AVALA TOWER. 22.04.2010. The Avala Tower, one of the trademarks of the Serbian capital, was ceremoniously opened yesterday by Belgrade Mayor Dragan ??las, who said that the building represented a symbol of future. The tower was opened in the presence of the highest state officials [...] The opening ceremony was also attended by Serbian Patriarch Irinej, who emphasized that the Avala Tower represented the symbol of love and creativity of a people. He recalled that no one had ever built a monument to those who tear down monuments, but had to those who built them. He described the tower as a symbol of restoration, as Serbia is like a phoenix rising from ashes. The new tower was built on the basis of the latest international standards. It is 204.5 meters tall and is taller by a meter than the old one, torn down [sic] during NATO bombing. It has many functions for use ?" for telecommunication, for establishing a digital TV system and will also be transmitting all signals required for the army, police, televisions and mobile stations. Its construction cost some 10 million EUR and, besides the Serbian government and the city authorities, more than one million citizens donated funds for the restoration of the tower [...] More text and video at: http://glassrbije.org/E/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10662&Itemid=28 (Sergei S., April 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. U.K., 15220, Cotton Tree News Radio via Rampisham at 0730-0800 UT Apr 25, S=8-9 in Germany. Program in some English, but mostly vernacular interspersed with some French words. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, SIBC, 1143-1201*, April 27. In English; local religious program about Christian values presented by Seventh- day Adventists (sounded like local accent); religious song; 1156: “devotional” and a prayer (speaker with British accent); 1159 sign off announcement with frequencies (“This is the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation”); National Anthem; almost fair, but with some QRM from 5025; open carrier usually continues on for a long time (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5020 kHz, 1035 UT, 4/23/2010 - S3-S6 signal, splash especially during Rebelde/5025 musical transitions, male/female English, clear ID this morning at 1036, 'South Pacific Radio, the Solomon Islands today, always at your service'. Followed by male talking about a business community meeting to be held tomorrow (Saturday), more mentions of the Solomons, more Rebelde splash at 1040, followed by different male speaking local and English/heavily accented about education / information. 1055 short musical segue', male teasing the news, reviewing some headlines, more local announcements of the weekend's events in the Solomons. Music segué at 1059, short anthemic variety and ID 'SIBC' into male news at 1100. Seems I have found the window of opportunity for this DX here in the northeastern US between 1030-1100 UT (S McLean, Buffalo, NY - Yaesu FRG-7, 53.34m random, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5020, S.I.B.C. at 1155 with man in Tok Pisin, 1156 devotional in English to 1200 woman with ID, frequencies, closing announcements, followed by national anthem. As usual, carrier left on. Fair April 27 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Eton E-1 and AN-1 active antenna, listening from my car, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA [non]. KENYA: IRIN RADIO: NEW SOMALI RADIO DRAMA SHOWS HOW HARD WORK CAN CHANGE LIVES NAIROBI, 27 April 2010 (IRIN) - Halima is a mother of five living in the village of Raqayle. Her jobless husband Hassan spends more hours in the `qat’ parlour with his friends than looking for ways to feed the family. So, saddled with debts, and burdened initially by her own lack of confidence, Halima launched a small business venture delivering cooked food to people’s homes and workplaces. You will not find Raqayle on the Somali map, for this is fiction. But it is close enough to the reality for many Somali radio listeners to find something of themselves in the main characters of the new IRIN drama series, No One Earns Without Effort. . . Source: http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=88939 (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) NO ONE LISTENS TO "NO ONE EARNS WITHOUT EFFORT" WITHOUT EFFORT The 10-episode drama "No One Earns Without Effort went on air on IRIN Radio’s Somali service on Monday 26 April 2010. It will air every Monday with repeats on Fridays. IRIN’s Somali radio service broadcasts direct to Somalia every day on shortwave at 1130-1230 local time and is rebroadcast on some local FM stations." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) The IRIN Radio web page says the Somali broadcast is at 0830-0930 UT, 1130-1230 Somalia time, on 17680 kHz, from somewhere outside of Somalia. Posted: 28 Apr 2010 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) Hunting around on the IRIN website, one is hard-pressed to find what the ``shortwave`` frequency is, Kenneth! There are some two-year-old items that mention 17680. IRIN apparently feels SW is hardly worth mentioning, expecting most Somalis to listen to podcasts. Really?? Searching the online schedules we have located it: 0830-0930 now on 13685 via UAE (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Radio Sonder Grense, 7285 kHz, 25 Apr 2010 at 0542 GMT. OM speaking excitedly in presumed Afrikaans. Weak signal in gusty band conditions (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, dxldyg via DXLD) 7285, April 26 at 0523 studio announcer conversing with another YL on phone, maybe a child, in an unique SW language, corrupted Dutch a.k.a. Afrikaans, ergo R. Sonder Grense as scheduled 05-08, 100 kW, 275 degrees from Meyerton, clear between Arabs on 7275 and 7295. As I tune around the band, I realize that there is something strange but welcome about amateur behaviour: hardly any SSB to be heard above 7200, altho certainly not off-limits to Americans; they voluntarily stay below 7200. That`s normally the case at nightmiddle, but not around sunrise when there is plenty of SSB QRM to Asian broadcasters up to 7300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. TWR Test Transmission Update for DXLD --- a follow-up regarding my previously mentioned logging of a test transmission from Trans World Radio. In a postcard dated 2010-04-20, from Kalman DuBos of TWR Europe, Postfach 141, A-1235 Vienna, Austria, she writes: "I have received your reception report about a possible test transmission on 7310 kHz that you tuned in on April 6th. Originally, you sent it to our US office in Cary, NC and that was passed on to me via e-mail. Through e-mail communication, I learned that the transmission (test) originated from Johannesburg [sic], South Africa. By the time you get this note from me, hopefully you will have their proper verification. Kind Regards, Kalman DuBos`` To date, I have not heard from TWR Africa, though I have sent them a reception report, Glenn, after you mentioned the test transmission I heard may have originated from South Africa, which turns out to be correct. The mail service to TWR Europe to here has always been excellent; mail from TWR South Africa has always taken longer, so I am not surprised that I haven't heard from them as of today, 27 April. I will be curious if they mention further as to test transmissions or perhaps TWR programming on 7310 kHz, which was received well here. I'll keep you posted when I hear from TWR Africa. 73's, (Ed Insinger, Summit, NJ, April 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. 15160, REE in Spanish at 2319 April 24, ``Diario de América`` program, // 9620 and synchronized, so not Costa Rica. 15160 is 242 degrees from Noblejas to South America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also RUSSIA: 5930 colliding with Cariari ** SPAIN. ESPAÑA: LOS TRABAJADORES DE RTVE MANTIENEN LA HUELGA DEL VIERNES --- Rechazan el preacuerdo alcanzado entre la dirección de la Corporación y CCOO y UGT --- PÚBLICO - 27/04/2010 23:52 La plantilla de Radio Televisión Española irá a la huelga el próximo viernes. La mayoría de los trabajadores ha votado en referéndum a favor de mantener la convocatoria de paro de 24 horas previsto para el 30 de abril y rechazar el preacuerdo alcanzado entre la dirección de la Corporación y CCOO y UGT, los sindicatos mayoritarios en el comité de huelga. Los sindicatos minoritarios (Alternativa, Apli, USO y CGT) se oponían a este acuerdo. Del total de votos emitidos, 3.588 (el 56% de la plantilla), 1.769 estaban a favor de continuar con la convocatoria de huelga y 1.615 aceptaban el documento, según indicaron fuentes del Comité General Intercentros. El preacuerdo rechazado por los trabajadores de la Corporación prevé la constitución de una mesa de diálogo paritaria sobre producción interna, así como la reducción del número de directivos externos. De igual modo, el documento incluye el inicio de la negociación del convenio colectivo y una veintena de compromisos concretos de la dirección de Radio Televisión Española. Está previsto que hoy se reúna el comité de huelga para analizar los resultados del referéndum y comunicárselos a la Corporación. Fuente: Publico.es http://bit.ly/aIM03u (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, noticiasdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. SLBC ON THE OLD 15120 --- During the past 2 days noted SLBC (Sri Lanka) in English on their age old frequency 15120 kHz instead of 15745 kHz in the morning at 0030-0330 (Alok Dasgupta, Kolkata, April 23, http://dxasia-uadx.blogspot.com/2010/04/slbc-on-old-15120.html via Alokesh Gupta, dxs_asia yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) ** SUDAN. 7200, SRTC, *0245-0335+, April 23, sign on with Qur`an followed by Arabic talk. Radio-drama. Local music. Fair but some co- channel QRM from a weaker Iran. Sudan in the clear when Iran signed off at 0330 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 7200, Radio Omdurman (Omdurman), 0257-0306, 4/26/2010, Arabic. Traditional vocal music. Announcements by man at 0259, beeps on the hour, more announcements, and news by man. Strong signal with little fading (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, IC-R75, RX-340, Random Wire (90'), ALA100M Loop (20'), DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 15710, Miraya FM via Slovakia, randomly from 1432 to 1533, April 26. In English and vernacular; interesting phoned in reports from various parts of Sudan about the elections; report from Unity State (which confused me for a moment, as I thought he said United States!) about the election of their governor; almost fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [and non]. See picture no. 11 of Radio Studio Miraya from Sudan, and the other pictures too... http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/04/scenes_from_sudan.html (Heinrich Gudhardt-D, A-Dx Apr 22 via BC-DX April 24 via DXLD) Das ist eine sehr beeindruckende Bilderserie. Erstklassig! (Martin Elbe Apr 23, ibid.) Radio Miraya host Lubna Lasu broadcasts the Betna Weekend Edition program on April 10, 2010 in the southern Sudanese city of Juba. The show focuses on the elections and women's rights and is broadcast across South Sudan. There were no televised debates, much less Twittering or blogging, as candidates sought to get their messages across to the people of south Sudan in an election campaign that wrapped up on April 9. Instead, it was mostly the transistor radio for the inhabitants of the dirt-poor semi-autonomous region, where most people are illiterate and few are wealthy enough or lucky enough even to have electricity for a television. (AFP/Getty Images) [caption of No. 11; yes look at them all! gh] (BCDX 24 April via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. ICRT 100 FM Taipei, Taiwan http://www.icrt.com.tw/ Por cierto la Comunidad Internacional de Radio Taipei (International Community Radio Taipei = ICRT), es operada por la Fundacion Cultural de la Comunidad Internacional de Taipei (Taipei International Community Cultural Foundation = TICCF), con oficinas y estudios ubicados en 19-5F, No.107, Sec.1, Jhongshan Rd., Sinjhuang City, Taipei County. ICRT oficialmente comenzó a emitir en la medianoche del 16 de abril 1979. La estación de la antigua Red de las Fuerzas Armadas de Taiwan (AFNT). Cuando los Estados Unidos anunció la terminación de relaciones diplomáticas oficiales con la República de China en 1978, AFNT, el único radio que emite en Inglés en Taiwán, dispuesto a salir de las ondas. Esto causó gran preocupación entre la comunidad extranjera en Taiwan. Mas: http://www.icrt.com.tw/en/A01.php Escuchar en linea: http://www.icrt.com.tw/en/live/nowonfm100.htm (Yimber Gaviría, Colombia, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. TAIWAN ILLEGAL RADIO STATIONS DOWN TO EIGHT Taiwan News, By Staff Writer, April 29, 2010, Taipei http://www.etaiwannews.com/etn/news_content.php?id=1241072<=eng_news&cate_img=83.jpg&cate_rss=news_Politics_TAIWAN Only eight underground radio stations are still left after a government crackdown on the sale of illegal medicine, Premier Wu Den- yih said Thursday. The crackdown provoked accusations that the government was looking for a pretext to remove critical voices from the airwaves, since many of the broadcasters were sympathetic to the opposition Democratic Progressive Party. Critics alleged that the ruling Kuomintang wanted to suppress criticism of government plans for the signing of a controversial Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement with China planned for June, especially ahead of crucial year-end local elections. Wu heard an update on the latest situation with the crackdown during the regular weekly Cabinet meeting Thursday morning. The number of illegal radio stations dropped to eight from 190 in the third quarter of 2008, Wu said. The amount of illegal medicine caught rose to 150 incidences this week from an average of 48 a week during the first quarter of the previous year, he said. Per week, 73 cases were referred to prosecutors, compared to an average of 11 a year ago, according to government statistics. Rooting out counterfeit and low-quality medicine and closing down underground radio stations were ways of safeguarding the public's health and security, Wu said. The premier instructed the Ministry of Justice, the Department of Health and the National Communications Commission to continue their campaign and "build an environment where one can safely take medicine." The phenomenon of illegal radio stations started during the Martial Law era and shortly after in the 1980s, when most of the media were still under tight government supervision. The broadcasters turned into a rare channel for alternative opinions while many of the mainstream media were sympathetic to the KMT (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) These stations will be back on air in a few weeks. Not really news. These crackdowns happen every few years. Just the other day I heard while I was in a taxi one station that was taken off air a few weeks ago. The claim made by the DPP that these stations were taken off air because the KTM wants to silence those who don't agree with their policies is rubbish. There are some local elections coming up in the next few weeks and the DPP has been playing this card, everyone knows it. The problem is recently a few people fell ill including one death connected with medicine being sold on these stations. It should be noted these stations were all owned by pharmaceutical companies with products that make some very odd claims (Keith Perron, Taiwan, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. 11510.035, V of Russia, via Dushanbe-TJK, S=9+20dB, but only 20% modulation. Symphonic orchestra, at 0020 UT Apr 25 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNID 11500 ** TAJIKISTAN. Hi Glenn, 12155. 1325-1346, April 26-27. English religious station. Fair to good. Family Radio from Dushanbe-Yangiyul according to Aoki (Paul Kennett, Chorleywood, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. VT GROUP GIVEN AWARD FOR FLOOD EFFORTS IN THAILAND Support services company VT Group, which transmits the BBC World Service, has been presented with the Professional Services Award at this year’s BBC Global News Reith Awards for its exceptional effort in protecting the BBC Asia relay station in Thailand from severe flooding and maintaining transmission. The site, located in the Nakhon Sawan province in Northern Thailand, is owned by the BBC and operated by 29 VT Group staff. The building faced major damage and the staff were also in danger after extreme rainfall in the region caused authorities to divert flood waters from dams to protect the population of Bangkok and other urban areas. However, as a result, the transmitting station was in the direct path of the diverted flood waters and desperate action was needed to protect the site and staff. Hundreds of tons of sand were packed into bags to protect site buildings and inside doors were sealed and additional barriers erected. Once the flood waters began to rise there was nothing more staff could do as the site was breached and eventually the safety of the equipment was compromised. There was no alternative but to cease all broadcasts and to find alternative ways to transmit in appropriate quality. The decision to close the site triggered the VT planned emergency response. Within 30 minutes, all on-air transmissions had been placed at alternative VT transmitting stations. Site staff even enlisted the help of the Thai army who worked with volunteer staff to reinforce the sand-bag wall, operate the pumps and control water ingress. The building stood secure and essential power was maintained until the waters subsided and a clean-up plan was put in place, using local staff to ensure a cost-effective and efficient solution. Subsequent work upgraded flood defences, including the re-design and re-laying of drains around the station to control any ingress of water better, strengthening the perimeter wall and raising the height of equipment in the antenna field. VT Group General Manager Communications John Prior explained: “Inspirational leadership and great teamwork avoided a potential disaster. Although there was a threat to the homes of many staff, they remained on site to lead the efforts there. If the water had entered the building, it would have affected the equipment. BBC transmissions from the site would have been off air for months and the financial costs of repair would have been enormous. The response of the staff was really beyond the call of duty.” Nigel Fry, Head of Transmission and Distribution in the BBC World Service said the tremendous effort of the VT Group staff has been recognised with this award. The response is a great reflection on the relationship that we have with the VT Group team. In recognition of the help offered by local teams, VT and the BBC made financial and other aid donations to the local flood aid centre for distribution to the neighbouring population. (Source: VT Group) (April 28th, 2010 - 9:44 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** TIBET. 24/04/2010, 1540 UT, 6130.0, PBS Xizang-Lhasa, Comentarios YL + Música Popular, English, 34333 (Antonio Madrid, Rubi-Barcelona- España, Kenwood R5000, Hilo Largo 25 mts, http://www.elradioescucha.tk Twitter: http://twitter.com/el_radioescucha Hecho con: http://www.log-report.tk dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6200, Xizang PBS via Lhasa, 1530-1600, April 24. “This is China Tibet Broadcasting English program, Holy Tibet”; in English; repeat of a Sunday music program; mostly Tibetan songs; poor. As of April 24, have been unable to find when “Holy Tibet” is broadcast via CNR-11 on 6010 // 7350 // 9480. Not heard during their former 1430 to 1500 time period (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6200, Xizang PBS via Lhasa, 1410, April 28 noticeably off the air; also not on 4905 nor 4920 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. 9885, in tonal Asian language, not Chinese, April 24 at 0234, with ute QRM (BTW, ute is short for utility, not an initialism or acronym and there is no reason to write it in all-caps as so many are wont to do). 0257 some music and off at 0259*. Per Aoki, it`s Wertachtal, GERMANY, 250 kW at 75 degrees with Radio Free Asia in Khams dialect of Tibetan from 0230, preceded by Amdo dialect at 0200, and mainstream Tibetan at 01-02. Surely jammed by the ChiCom, but that not audible here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TINIAN. Now relayed from here: VATICAN, q.v. ** TURKEY. Contrary to what Seref Isler said a month ago, the 2200 UT English broadcast from VOT is not carrying the next UT day`s program content, despite being after local midnight. UT Saturday April 24, DX Corner still on today at 2217-2230* instead of UT Friday. I tuned in 9830 just in time, but reception poor so I brought up the webcast ASAP. And later confirmed to repeat UT Sunday at 0317 on webcast, i.e. on the same old schedule as before. Seref wings it by reading and replying to some e-mails he has printed out, instead of the usual scripted shows. This was nothing but a mailbag with some reception reports, and hard to differentiate from the Wednesday program Letterbox. At least he`s not plagiarizing material from DX Listening Digest any more, but calling it a DX program is a bit of a stretch, with nothing resembling DX or media news. At one point he refused to promise a QSL since someone had not provided any proof of reception. At another point, he said they *always* QSLed, wondering why someone sent a follow-up after 99 days. He also said if you want to get an answer on this program, better send by e-mail rather than p-mail, which apparently is just too much trouble to handle, but someone in the office does collect the stamps, so don`t ask for any of those either. 15450, VOT, Sunday April 25 at 1248 with Turkish lesson, translating phrases about visiting Ankara, 1250 outro ``Let`s Learn Turkish``. 1251 historical talk about Istanbul. Fair signal here, // JBA 15520 eastward. At 1254 found better signal on 13635 in Turkish, soon switching to presumed live sports coverage with crowd noises. Checking VOT`s UT Wednesday April 28 0300 broadcast on webcast, but could have heard on 5975, to confirm that it is still carrying the ``Tuesday`` program lineup: yes, at 0312 starts ``Through History``, a lexure about genocide thru the ages starting with the fate of the ``Red Indians`` in the New World, to the My Lai massacre, lingering effects of Agent Orange, justly blamed on the US. (Well, geez, if North Vietnam had just renounced Communism, none of that would have happened.) Hmmm, are they leading up to painting Turkey as just another genocider, against the Armenians? Tune in next week. Following at 0319 was ``Heading Toward(s) Turkey`` on Van. 15450, VOT`s Live from Turkey, Thursday April 29 starting abnormally late at 1308 with usual catchy theme which doubles as opener and closer, and ``Hello, hello, hello``, inconsequential studio conversation starting with end-of-world parties scheduled for 11 July 2012, and if needed, 20 December 2012, ha ha. (First we have to get past 21 May 2011!). Poor signal and I had more to monitor elsewhere. This show was supposed to be a world-wide call-in, but has never taken off, lacking proper promotion and user-friendly setups; haven`t heard any callers in weeks, and there used to be only a couple of people who ever participated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. 4976, Radio Uganda, Kampala, 1922-1943, 24-04, locutor, inglés, comentarios, canciones, locutora, comentarios, menciona "Uganda". 34433 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW 7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, Escuchas realizadas en casco urbano de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA [non]. Ugandan opposition station Radio Y'Abaganda is scheduled on Saturdays at 1700-1800 UT on 15410 kHz via France. However, for the fifth week running, the transmitter has come on air at 1700 followed by a continuous automated recording saying "We're sorry, you've reached a station that is unavailable at this time, please try again later". The announcement is interspersed with a jingle which sounds like "Live three sixty five". On 3rd April I heard audio from Radio Y'Abaganda in presumed Luganda start abruptly at 1738 then continue until 1759 so this may happen again today, or maybe not. I wonder if whoever is paying for this weekly slot realises that their programme is not being aired week after week! Reception is fairly good here at the moment (1706 UT) (Dave Kenny, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+25m long wire, April 24, BDXC-UK yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) Heard from 1740 to 18 GMT here with normal programme. Reasonable signal (Rog Parsons (BDXC 782), Hinckley, Leics., ibid.) Not sure why it takes the French transmitter site so long to connect the audio for Radio Y'Abaganda (not until 1737 UT on 15410 today). I could listen on Live365.com with no problem at 1710 UT at: http://www.live365.com/cgi-bin/mini.cgi?station_name=omumbejja&tm=3440 (and still ongoing) (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, ibid.) That sounds very interesting, Dave- in more ways than one! I was too busy enjoying a thrilling episode of "Dr Who", I'm afraid, to be listening; interestingly the DW episode had some tenuous radio connections (e.g. radio signals working underground), but that's by the by! However, the 'jingle' you heard, Dave, is actually the announcement made by one of what for want of a better phrase I'd call an internet radio 'multiplex'. 'Live 365' is an American service offering, as the name implies, live feeds around the clock every day of the year. I came across it online through a link from somewhere else, I think, signed up to one of the subscription free options and also tried to programme some of its stations into my Intempo, but without success. Live 365 offers both free 'stations' with ads, and a subscription package. I'd imagine they offer similar deals to the broadcasters that want to take advantage of their service. Most of these however seemed to be bespoke or internet-only stations, rather than feeds of material also available via conventional radio receivers. Maybe Radio Y'Abaganda have not paid their sub, or perhaps there was some other technical reason the station couldn't go on air, but it suggests that normally they are just feeding the output of the internet service to the short wave frequency, via whoever is brokering them that air time- I don't think that would be Live 365! Sounds like one worth listening out for on the bands again, anyway (Mark Savage, Feltham, ibid.) Am surprised internauts would not be familiar with live365.com --- a number of public or student real radio stations in the US also rely on it (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U K [non]. The IMG football has ceased and no more is scheduled (WRN April 26, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Those weekend 5800s via UKRAINE ** U S A. CONFIRMATION OF THE NEW BBG MEMBERS: INDECISION AND UNCERTAINTY --- From sources: At the Senate Foreign Relations Committee’s business meeting on 27 April, the nominations of Michael Meehan and Dana Perino to the Broadcasting Board of Governors were held over without discussion. The other six members, including designated chairman Walter Isaacson, were already approved by the committee. No date has been set for what had appeared to be a routine action. The BBG staff has proposed the first meeting for the new BBG members on 24-25 May in Washington, assuming they will be confirmed by the full Senate by then. But to add to the uncertainty... (from http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=8839 via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Hi from New Zealand. Just a quick question regarding VOA verification policy. In the past VOA has always been quite a good verifier. Sadly over recent months this seems to have changed as I and some others I know of are getting no response at all and queries to VOA regarding this are unanswered. Does anyone out there have any information regarding this? Any comments, etc., welcome. Many thanks (Ian Cattermole, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) I agree with Ian on this subject. I have given up sending any reception reports to the Voice of America (direct to the Washington. D.C. address) as they simply do not verify any reports. Yet, If you send a report DIRECT to any one of their relay sites (Thailand, São Tomé) in most cases you will get a reply from the site itself. It seems after the fall of the old Soviet Union and the Cold War, the idea of responding to requests for verifications, dimensioned too (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, ibid.) ** U S A [non]. 12140, April 29 at 1349 VG and steady S9+18 signal, YL with musical background, Burmese-like language, into drama with M&W, SFX, bit of singing with guitar; at 1355 I notice there is a low het but main signal off abruptly at 1358. I was comparing frequency to OKC 1140 and concluded that this one was slightly off, unlike the het. Uplooked later, it`s R. Free Asia via KUWAIT at 1330-1400, in Burmese (but was it really a dialect?), to be followed by RFA in Vietnamese via Sri Lanka, which was probably the on-frequency het source, tho I was not hearing it alone at 1400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) IBB involved with the papists: see VATICAN ** U S A. Moving on to a job position with "Religions for Peace (WCRP)", I had the opportunity to sometimes identify as a short wave listener to representatives of countries which had an international service. I don't recall meeting anyone who was aware of these efforts in public diplomacy. Maybe some readers would think "Religion" and "Peace" should not be used in the same sentence. Listening to many US-American short wave programmes you cannot evade the conclusion that (protestant / fundamentalist / patriotic) Christianity would not contribute the noble cause. To me, too much airtime used on private US broadcasters projects a very bad image of the US. That is why I would prefer having a strong and credible Voice of America over some of its private competitors for an international SHORT WAVE audience. And yes, I used to listen to many hours of VoA morning and VoA Europe, as long as it was available on medium wave. Kind regards, (Hj. Biener, Germany, April 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15825, WORLD OF RADIO 1509 confirmed on first WWCR airing, Friday April 23 around 2050, but just barely audible here in skip zone, hope much better elsewhere. Next chance: Saturday 1630 on 12160, which inbooms tnx to sporadic E, but with some reverb added not on my original audio file. 5890, Pastor Pete Peters is back on WWCR-4, following an hiatus. UT Sat April 24 at 0242 there he is, // WTWW 5755. Program schedule dated 9 April still omits the Aryan, with 00-02 UT Tue-Sun occupied by filler Golden Age of Radio Theatre, but at 02-03 it was a rebroadcast of The Roth Show, Tue-Sat. 12160, WWCR-2 confirmed with WORLD OF RADIO`s Saturday 1630 broadcast April 24, this time inbooming since a sporadic-E opening was in progress reaching above 88 MHz in some locations. But reverb has been added, not on my original audio file. Have also noticed this on some other WWCR programming. I did not get the 0230 UT Sunday broadcast checked early enough on 4840, but when I tuned in at 0258, Voice of Salvation was ending, sounded like more than a promo, no mention on DX Block and into next program. Online schedule not updated since April 9; we`ll have to see if this is a permanent change (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I was hearing your show via WWCR on 4840, UT-4/25 at 0230, but the reverb started at about 0247 when I tuned out; that may explain why you heard Voice of Salvation promos at the end (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Joe, Tnx, I was still wondering about that. By reverb, you don`t mean looping (repeating a few words over and over), do you, as has happened before? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Yes, I think the reverb stated when you mentioned a station on 4747 kHz, then some details and then it repeated at that point over and over; I think this repeated every 10 seconds or so (Joe Hanlon, ibid.) OK, but this is not reverb. Reverberation is a bottom-of-the-barrel slight echo effect, not repeating. WWCR does that too on some transmitters, but it does not disrupt the programming (Glenn, ibid.) Oops: The issue was about the problem that WWCR has had in some of its program airings: the part of the show where a portion of it gets repeated every 10 seconds or so -- it is the looping matter. This must have something to do with the playback at the studio and this has been occurring so often not just with World of Radio but with some other shows at WWCR, and something that can be remedied soon (Joe Hanlon, NJ, ibid.) WORLD OF RADIO LOOPY AGAIN --- I try to check every WOR airing to be sure everything is OK, but Saturday night I did not tune in until about 9:57 and WOR was already over with some promo running. And no outro for the DX Block. In case you have not heard: Later a listener told me that AGAIN that playback went into looping about 9:47, same few seconds repeated over and over. Hope you can fix this problem. Does it happen to any other programming? I still do not see how it can be caused at my end, since other playbacks of the same file work fine. Tnx again for the new airings on Sunday night (Glenn to WWCR, via DXLD) Hey Glenn, We are working on getting the issue corrected. The file is not copying fully into all of the studios for some reason. This has happened with another file. I have made a note to double check and listen to the file once it is in the computer to make sure everything is OK. Thanks for understanding and we're glad you appreciate the additional airings! Have a great week! (Chris Buchanan, Production Director, WWCR/WNQM, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO inbooming this week on new WWCR-4 times as propagation upheld: Sunday April 25 at 2330 on 9980; UT Monday April 26 at 0330 on 5890 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9955, WRMI, Friday April 23: at 1330 fair with news in French from R. Prague, no jamming. This is for the minuscule number of Haitians who have SW radios, want to know what is happening in Europe and the Czech Republic, and understand real French well enough. 1435, OM talking in English, sounds like me --- yes, it`s WORLD OF RADIO 1509 as scheduled, apparently no jamming but signal very weak. We are now into the fourth month of WRMI`s NW antenna being out of order. Next SW airing of WOR is Friday 2028 on WWCR 15825. 9955, WRMI reconfirmed with Sat 1330 airing of WORLD OF RADIO, April 24 at 1348 poor but readable via the SSE antenna, with lite pulse jamming. Jeff White says, ``We have an outside engineer working on the North American antenna situation. But his time is limited. We will eventually get this back in operation. There has been very little demand from clients for North America lately``. He also sends the latest program schedule grid updated as of April 23, which is now available only as an attachment on the DXLD yahoogroup (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not exactly: Para un horario completo de programas en WRMI, hora por hora y día por día, en formato Excel, envía un correo electrónico a info@wrmi.net y coloca "Programación" en la línea de tópico (Yimber Gaviría, dxclube pr yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) ** U S A. 15000 and even 20000, WWV VG at 0228 April 24, thanks to sporadic-E opening, which also brought in some analog video on channel 2 around 0200 from somewhere. And more signs of TVDX at 1616 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The WEWN English transmitter continues to put out mushy spurs at approx. plus and minus 10 kHz, and woe betide any station foolish enough to broadcast next to such a noisy, inconsiderate neighbor. These were especially noticeable April 24 as a sporadic-E opening enhanced WEWN`s megameter-distant signal: at 0230, 11520 put mushy, squealing spur on weaker 11530 WYFR in Spanish; at 0342, 9455 put spur on 9445, tho no victim audible there; if there was a match on 9465, it was obscured by DentroCuban jamming and Radio Martí on temporary 9460 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9385, WWRB anomaly April 23: at 1327 big signal but Brother Scare just barely modulated, then he cuts on full, equivalent to sound on WINB 9265. Next tuneby 1333, 9385 back to JBM. Keep wiggling that patchcord! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Area 51 is broadcast on WBCQ, Monticello Maine, USA. This weekend we're doing a special mid-day broadcast Sunday on WBCQ 15420 MHz. Reception reports are welcome, as always, at radio @ zappahead.net Saturday, April 24, 2010 2200 UT (6 pm) 5110 // 9330: The Lumpy Gravy Radio Show 2300 UT (7 pm) 5110 // 7415 // 9330: Radio Timtron Worldwide 0000 UT (8 pm) 5110 // 9330: Radio Timtron Worldwide 0100 UT (9 pm) 5110 // 9330: The Eric Dolphy Mystery Hour Sunday, April 25, 2010 1500 UT (11 am) 15420: WBNY Radio Bunny 1530 UT (11:30 am) 15420: Glenn Hauser's World of Radio 1600 UT (12 noon) 15420: Radio Jamba International 2200 UT (6 pm) 5110 // 9330: Radio Jennifer 2300 UT (7 pm) 5110 // 9330: Pirates Week with Ragnar Daneskjold 2330 UT (7:30 pm) 5110 // 9330: The International Radio Report 0000 UT (8 pm) 5110 // 9330: Radio Newyork International Regards, Lw (Larry Will, 1940 UT April 24, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Allan said yesterday on his show that Good Friends Radio Network was returning on May 1, taking 9 am-9 pm Eastern time daily on 9330. Lw (Larry Will, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7415 kHz, 2315 UTC, 4/24/2010 - S20, very strong, 'Radio Timtron' program with unhinged male English playing obscure/silly Music. Also tried 5110 kHz/S9+ but not as good, 9330 kHz an S9 with lots of interference, the worst of the lot (S McLean, Buffalo, NY - Yaesu FRG- 7, 53.34m random, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) What was the interference on 9330? No other broadcaster is supposed to be on it at that time; or was Damascus running late? (gh to Scott) Glenn, I found this frequency to be noisy - static or maybe local interference. I did not note anything in terms of another broadcaster. 73 (Scott McLean, ibid.) WBCQ, 9330 kHz, 25 Apr 2010 at 0050 GMT. Ozzy Osbourne and Mothers of Invention songs, followed at 0100 by "Hour of Slack." Off at 0202 with several seconds of mutant version of WOR, with the standard theme music treated with an echo effect and Glenn's voice atop re-edited and some of the words flipped backwards. Gave me a good giggle. Couldn't tell if that was part of "Hour of Slack" or general Area 51 block. Earlier heard OM and YL discussing previous pirate logging, so I switched to pirate band and found him on, I think, 6924.25 with music but in his announcer segments the OM was ranting like Gwen Dreck and played entirely backwards (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, via DXLD) 15420-CUSB, WBCQ with special Area 51 transmission, Sunday April 25 at 1512, advertising WBNY hats and T-shirts. Good reception and no BBC Seychelles QRM as feared. WORLD OF RADIO to follow at 1530. 15420-CUSB, special Area 51 [or 154?] transmission Sunday April 25 with WORLD OF RADIO #1509 at 1530: good reception at 1542 check, no BBCWS Seychelles co-channel audible this time. Will this catch on as a regular transmission in early open time on this transmitter? Also, Pirate Week and International Radio Report were moved two hours later than before, and 9330-CUSB added, so now IRR conflicts with WOR 9980 at 2330 Sundays, confirmed in quick check April 25 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9690, April 24 at 2329 good signal from WHRI ending program ``Living Like Jesus Miracle Hour``, with contact info in Philippines too fast and too accented to copy even if I had wanted to, then WHR promo, and 2330 ``British Israel World Federation``, from Toronto, from one fringe to another (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7505.7, open carrier at 0058 April 25, occasional bit of hi- pitched audio cutting on and off, then OC until finally 0104 WRNO ID mentioning transmitter site of New Orleans, Louisiana, not really a sign-on, another ID and into music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7505.7, WRNO with English, Jesus Pop. In phenomenally well SINPO 5554+4+. Why is this station always off frequency? ID by OM and indicated they were conducting “FCC authorized tests”. WRNO promo/ad about using SW as an advertising medium for */your/* business, and then more soft pop music. 0340-0355 25/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. 15550-USB, WJHR on air with its one and only preacher, April 25 at 1643. Still/again there at 2053 check, a pennywhistle compared to neighboring Kuwait 15540 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 7460, April 23 at 1255, instrumental version of ``Hark, the Herald Angels Sing``, reminding us of how underplayed Xmas music is the rest of the year, and how overplayed in the fourth quarter. We have Family Radio to thank for this, as became obvious at 1258 segué to ``Gott sei die Ehre`` theme. Per Aoki, the 12-13 hour on 7460 is Vietnamese, 100 kW, 225 degrees from Paochung, TAIWAN site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. 17580, April 26 at 1327, S Asian song by solo OM, F-G signal; must have been unrecognizably Christian, as at 1330 segué to ``Know My Redeemer Liveth`` theme and YL announcement. Per Aoki this is YFR in Bengali, 500 kW, 90 degrees from Wertachtal, GERMANY at 13-15 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 18930, WYFR Okeechobee with Harold C droning about the end times including the cheery thoughts that Satan wants us all to die, and that the philosophy he’s teaching is ‘crazy’ (because it doesn’t sound the same as most churches ideas), all in Harold C’s lecture “To God be the Glory: Part 76” -- beware anyone who can’t summarize their thesis in less than a paragraph or two! Into Polish at 2000 (it’s what’s listed, & it sounded possible!) Fun stuff -- this band needs a new broadcaster in it! Anyone? :) SIO 333, 1945-2000, // 18980 SIO 2+32+ which was weaker for some, reason, but continued in English past the ToH 25/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** U S A. KWBU-TV TO GO OFF AIR --- I received this message from a friend at KSPS-TV in Spokane. KWBU-TV operates on channel 20 (it was on analog channel 34). Citing an impending $400,000 budget shortfall, PBS affiliate KWBU in Waco, Texas, is ending its broadcast at the end of May, according to a statement from Joe Riley, station president. The move will not affect its NPR broadcast. Riley told Current that it hasn't yet talked to nearby PBS affiliates to as to the future of its channel. "The first thing we had to do, was let our staff know," he said. Ten full-time and four part-time employees are affected, about two-thirds of the staff. KWBU is a community licensee but associated with Baylor University and housed on campus, Riley said. For about 10 years the university has provided "just under half, but certainly the biggest chunk of support" for the station's budget. Community support never materialized, and the station began living on a university line of credit. That backing finally ran out this year, "a little sooner than anybody had anticipated," Riley said. With a June 1 end of fiscal and no funds to make up its deficit, the station was forced to face what Riley termed "the worst case scenario," and shut down. Radio is safe, for now. "Baylor has assured us they will continue funding us at the same level as last year for this year, and freeze any payments and interest on the line of credit," to keep the FM signal going. The station started out in 1978 via a translator for KNCT in Killeen. In 1989 it became KCTF, its own station in Waco. In 2000 it changed its call letters to KWBU and KWBU-FM and began broadcasting NPR programming. Riley said he will be speaking to PBS, CPB and the FCC as the station moves through the shut-down process (via Dave Pomeroy, KS, WTFDA via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) ** U S A. WXEL 90.7 (es-WHRS) has been sold to Miami FL classical broadcaster WKPC-89.7. WKPC carries no NPR programming, a classical format only, as well as having a translator on 101.9 in Palm Beach County (mid). The TV station is still owned by Barry University in Miami FL. WLRN-Miami and WNYC were interested in buying the West Palm Beach station (studio on Congress Avenue in Boynton Beach FL (Ken Simon, lake Worthless FL, April 28, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. There is still hope, Glenn (Tom McNiff, Burke, Virginia, with a link to the following, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) CLASSICAL MUSIC’S COMEBACK, ON PUBLIC RADIO By ELIZABETH JENSEN NY Times April 25, 2010 In the last decade, public radio stations could not get rid of classical music fast enough, as station after station abandoned the format for news and talk, alienating classical fans. Just 19 commercial classical stations remain on the air nationwide, by one count, down from about 50 in the early 1990s. But as ad-supported programmers also decide that the classical format is no longer practical, the music has started to find a new savior. And, to the surprise of many, it is public broadcasting. . . http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/26/business/media/26radio.html?ref=business&pagewanted=print (also via Ray T. Mahorney, DXLD) Although not discussed in this article, one of the clear benefits of IBOC technology has been the ability to air multiple broadcasts on the same NPR station. My local 100,000 watt NPR service runs a full-time classical music broadcast, a full-time NPR news & talk broadcast, and a full-time "global broadcasting" (BBC, DW, etc) broadcast on the digital side. The analog broadcast is a mix of classical music and news-talk. In addition they make all 3 digital services available over the internet. I don't know how many listeners they have online, but they just signed a contract with a third party service to audit & certify the online audience, which suggests someone is listening (Ray T Mahorney, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. 6045-USB. Radio Sport 890, Montevideo, observada nuevamente hoy Abr 21, a las 1039, con señal regular retrasmitiendo no MW 890 sino a su estación hermana, CX8 R Sarandi, Montevideo, [690] con su acostumbrado noticioso matinal. A veces sin audio observable, así que debo haberla escuchada en condiciones de prueba directa. Como siempre, en mi caso, recepción ruidosa, con ese ruido blanco producido, presumiblemente, por una antena de internet inalambrico proveniente de algun vecino (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** VATICAN [and non]. UT April 24 I make a point of checking the transition from Bonaire to Sackville on 9610 by R. Vaticana at 0250: From 0236, it`s VG with Vatican in French discussing topic-A. At 0247 I suspect the SAC carrier is already on, as there is a slow SAH and RV audio is a bit distorted and pumping, but no. Sackville really cuts on at *0249:45 while Bonaire is playing IS, and for a few sex there is a lo het, enough to distort the pitch of the IS: I wonder which one is off-frequency, or both? Then English in the clear with just as good a signal here as French had been. Veronica presented program about England in honour of St. George`s Day, blithely ignoring topic A, or so it started, tho I did not listen to it all. 0317 concluded with ``Latin Lover``, ha ha, apparently a regular segment, with Carmelite Fr. Reginald Porter, really about the Latin language and words derived from it, or not, such as on today`s theme, Londinium, fretum = channel or narrows. 0319 to ID and IS, cut off at 0319:30 revealing something weaker on 9610, but back on by 0320 to start Spanish with VG signal. During those few sex, SAC switches from 240 to 253 degrees, and from antenna type 158 to 218; why? Also, at 0239 I had checked // 7305 Vatican in French and found it about one word ahead of 9610. Uplooked later, I see that this frequency also makes a site switch at 0250, from Santa Maria di Galeria, Vatican direct, to Sackville, so that`s my next project to monitor. Also, shortly after 0300, noticed separate VR English to Africa on 9660 which is via MADAGASCAR. See also MEXICO [and non] When I heard Vietnamese on 12035 in the sideband of Cuba 12030, April 24 at 2316, I thought of Vietnam. Seems to me VOV used to be around this frequency. But now it`s that other V-land, broadcasting direct from Santa Maria di Galeria, 500 kW at 75 degrees, 2310-2400. That means it could include that 2.5-minute English prélude which we used to hear on 9600 before Vietnamese at 2314, thanks to sloppy switching. 17765, April 27 at 1311 Chinese with VR ID, Laudetur J.C., a dead giveaway, as was the first note of the IS, cut off at 1312, but back on a few sex later, 1315 opening in Vietnamese. VR at SMG was moving its antenna from 65 to 72 degrees during the brief break, probably inconsequentially as signal continued equally fair. Just got VR`s printed schedule folder for A-10. It no longer comes with an elaborate postage meter imprint, just a postage-paid rectangle printed on the envelope. Glad I have saved previous ones for collexion. Stamps? What are those? O yeah, Vatican makes a bundle selling them to collectors, but can`t be bothered to put them on its own mail. VR finally acknowledges they are using several SW relay sites, even naming them, including those in Islamic-dominated countries, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. By color coding, they attempt to show which sites go with which frequencies and times --- except there is a brown triangle coming out of Tinian with no frequency to match. Searching HFCC, we find one transmission of Vatican via Tinian: 2200- 2245 on 12035 in ``Zho`` which I assume means Mandarin Chinese as it is also in the Vatican folder as Chinese, just with no brown color- coding indicating Tinian. This 12035 transmission is not to be confused with the next one on same frequency, which I happened to recently report, 2310-2400 in Vietnamese, which is direct from Santa Maria di Galeria. I suppose SMG could back up the Tinian transmission if it is not funxioning for some reason; and apparently was not firm at printing deadline, or overlooked. Assuming it is running as scheduled, thus the ``faith-based`` IBB once again violates Separation of Church and State, by availablizing USG facilities to one particular religion. Again? Yes, R. Martí broadcasts Catholic services, and R. Liberty was caught broadcasting RussOrthodox services in Soviet days, and may well still. Who knows what may go on unrecognized in other languages? In case you think this is inconsequential, it opens IBB to demands for airtime from every other religion! How can the USG justify propagating (literally) one of them, and not any or all of them? This is the age- old reason for maintaining total separation of church and state in all circumstances, to assure impartial freedom of and from religion. This probably results from a relay-exchange deal, but it is lopsided. IBB now has these transmissions via SMG, raising the question whether the USA is so strapped for relay sites that it has to make a deal with the RCC? Just who initiated this? There may be more such odd bedfellows as IBB is bent on closing down Greenville, and who knows what others of its own assets. Sawa, i.e. Hello, Darfur, for Sudan via Vatican: 0300-0330 5945 1800-1830 9465 1900-1930 9800 Perhaps The Church has a particular interest in expediting such a service, and nothing else from IBB? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Confirmed the Chinese broadcast from somewhere on 12035, splashed by Cuba 12030, April 29 at 2241 with ID, sacred choral music, 2242-2245* VR IS. Did NOT conclude with ``This is the Voice of America, Washington DC, signing off`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Vatican Radio A10 Changes effective Sunday, 2nd May: 0025-0040 URDU Monday, Thursday 11850* (ex 7335) 0040-0200 HINDI, TAMIL, MALAYALAM, ENGLISH Daily 11850* (ex 7335) * from Tashkent (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) ** VATICAN [and non]. THE YIELD OF ACCOUNTS http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/regioni/lazio/2010/04/29/visualizza_new.html_1787363123.html ELECTROMAGNETIC JUDGES, VATICAN RADIO HAS EXCEEDED LIMITS Codacons, opened the way for compensation claims April 29, 17:18 (ANSA) - ROMA, 29 APR -''exceeding the limits set by law.'' Cosi'la sentence for the electromagnetic pollution produced by Vatican Radio. The reasons for the sentence of the second degree on plants Vatican Radio, were released by Codacons. The appeal process has been 'concluded with the declaration of not having to carry the prescription to' former president and ''guilty'' for the death of former Director of the broadcaster. But the way is open for compensation claims. http://www.ilmessaggero.it/articolo.php?id=99815&sez=HOME_ROMA Vatican Radio: pushing the limits, open the way for compensation Electromagnetic Codacons announced the motivations of the process: crime prescribed but acknowledged the electromagnetic pollution ROME (April 29) - "A reading of documents is clear and undisputed that have been exceeded exposure limits and values of care provided by all the special laws." Writes, as reported by Codacons, the Second Court of Appeal of Rome in the grounds of appeal the ruling to the electromagnetic pollution produced in some areas north of Rome where they are, inter alia, plants Vatican Radio. The appeal process was completed last October 14 with the declaration of not having to carry occurred for limitation against the Cardinal Roberto Tucci and not having to proceed to the "death of the offender`` against Father Pasquale Borgomeo, respectively former chairman of the committee Management of Vatican Radio and a former director of the issuer. "The fact - is said in the ruling of the panel chaired by Antonio Cappiello with reference to exceeding the limit - it is also proven by measurements in addition to knowledge of the facts by the Holy See in July 2000 which established a bilateral commission to resolve their problems related to the intensity of electromagnetic emission Vatican Radio Station." "This is so true - says the part of the common reasons Codacons - the Germanic Pontifical College of the Holy See ordered the expulsion of tenants from the land of the Holy See because of the danger resulting from the intensity of the transmitting station for people. According to Carlo Rienzi, president of the association of users and consumers, the appeal courts said a very important principle because now any emission of electromagnetic waves, where produce disturbances of any kind to the population, may also be reported through the criminal instrument Article 674 of the Penal Code punishes the jet [sic] dangerous things. Not only that, the ruling opened the way to possible demands millions in compensation, whereas the investigations are under investigation for deaths linked to installations issuer Vatican." Reporting Gigi Nadal. (via Dario Monferini, via Google translation via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. LISTA DE EMISORAS VENEZOLANAS EN AM Saludos cordiales queridos colegas diexistas. Para los interesados he puesto en mi blog, la lista de emisoras venezolanas según el WRTH 2010. Espero sea del interés de aquellos colegas que necesiten esta lista. http://sintoniadx.spaces.live.com atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, noticias dx yg via DXLD) Hilited in red the ones closed by the oppressive Chávez regime (gh) ** VENEZUELA. ATACAN EMISORA COMUNITARIA RADIO REBELDE DE CATIA Por: Ciudad CCS Fecha de publicación: 22/04/10 22/04/10.- El pasado 7 de abril, manos anónimas atentaron contra la emisora comunitaria Radio Rebelde de Catia. Ese día los murales que revisten la fachada de dicha radio amanecieron manchados con tinta negra, dañando así el trabajo del artista popular Enry Mariño, autor de la obra. . . http://www.aporrea.org/medios/n155737.html (via Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, condiglist yg via gh who found the original article, DXLD) I wonder if our Chavista licensed locutor Adán González of Catia la Mar is involved with this station (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. Aló, Presidente, on the air this Sunday as declamations of El Hugazo audible at quick check April 25 at 1750, best on 13680, also 13750, 12010, 17750 via CUBA. So what`s become of RNV`s own SW site supposed to be on air by end of last year from Calabozo?? Not a word since last October or so about progress in constructing it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Glenn, This is too late, but just in case you're wondering about their HF outlet, the Polisario Front (*) is inactive for quite a number of days; // 1550 is active, and a lot more regular than the HF operation. *) "RASD" for those who insist in mentioning the name of station pertaining to an inexistent country (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, April 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 1Africa, CVC, is still on the wrong frequency, 9540 instead of 5940 as scheduled at 19-22. Or is it? Registered on 5940, but is it pure luck that there is no collision with anything on 9540, while there would be a collision with Iran via Lithuania on 5940? Maybe CVC intended to use 9540 all along, and ``5940`` was the mistaken entry in HFCC. I`ve advised CVC HQ in UK about this anomaly. Rechecked 9540, April 24 at 2149, gospel rock, 2153-2159 extremely overwrought dramatization with screaming, something about the international airport in Tanzania. Gospel rap at 2200 until abruptly cut off air at 2203* without so much as a good-night, frequency announcement, or please-retune-to. I say ``gospel`` but that is only an assumption since any religious content is unclear, due to rapid pace and accents, hard to tell what they are saying or singing. Gotta hand it to these stealth evangelists: they really know how to suck in today`s modern young Africans (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, 9540 is correct as per the 1Africa schedule at http://www.1africa.tv/ i.e. 1900-2200 UT. 73s (Dave Kenny, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 10-16: Yes, the China Radio International relay on 1370 is KWRM Corona CA (Martin Foltz, ABDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 3950, 1242-1255 Apr 20. Talks & music alternating; language may have been Chinese but not sure. Weak with ham QRM. Xinjiang maybe? (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100- foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6048: Hi Glenn, Regarding my last Log, do you have any idea about could it be at 6048, in Spanish? I clearly heard "desde Santo Domingo, Repúblicana Dominica", and later "Transmundial". Religious program. Tnx and 73 (Fabricio Andrade Silva, Tubarão, SC Brazil, April 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fabricio, I have not seen your log of this so I don`t even know the time or any other details. The only station I know of around this frequency which has been recently reported is 6047.2, Radio Santa Rosa, Lima, Perú, but no doubt it is Catholic. Are you positive of the frequency? Maybe it is spurious from some other channel. 6025, Radio Amanecer, Dominican Republic, might be off-frequency, but it is not with Radio Transmundial, instead Radio Adventista Mundial, or is it Mundial Adventista (Glenn to Fabricio, via DXLD) Then we find 6048 - 27/4/2010, 0153 - REP. DOMINICANA (?) - Radio Transmundial - 35322 - Programa com falas sobre temas religiosos; A tentativa de identificar essa emissora foi uma bela confusão: quando captada às 0153, imaginei ser a Radio Santa Rosa, do Peru, mas depois de conferir com a transmissão online, conclui que não era. Passei a considerar então que fosse a HCJB, que segundo a lista AOKI, opera nesse horário nos 6050 (o áudio também era razoável nessa frequência); às 0303, toca-se uma breve música, o locutor fala algo e depois menciona "desde Santo Domingo, Rep. Dominicana" - então passei a considerar que pudesse ser a Radio Amanecer (inclusive o aúdio da transmissão online era muito parecido, um locutor com um timbre de voz muito parecido e falando sobre João Batista e os livros de Isaías e Lucas, embora eu pude perceber que não se tratava do mesmo sermão); às 0400 identifica- se como rádio Transmundial. Não encontrei nenhuma menção de transmissão da Rádio Transmundial em espanhol nos 6048 ou 6050. Se algum amigo puder ajudar, fico grato desde já (Fabricio Andrade Silva, Tubarão - SC, Brasil, Long. -49.0289 W (-49º1'44"W), Lat.: -28.4865S (-28º29'11" S), QTH locator: GG51LM, Sony ICF sw 7600 GR, Antena Loop Blindada (Ondas Curtas), radioescutas yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6190, April 25, 2240, transmitter came on, uninterrupted tune-up tone, then dead air to 2248 female opening in definite Chinese, 2250 march which I recognized from CNR-2 because they play this before s/off. Followed ID in Chinese and English 2251 but could only make out the last word "... Radio", then continued in unid Chinese dialect or possibly Tibetan to well past TOH. Mixes co-channel DLF &Belarus, Aoki lists CNR-2 here 2055 - 2300 but not sure whether this is really them? A bit late for me to stay up to monitor this every night so can someone please help? 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) More under CHINA; TIBET Perhaps I should have mentioned straightaway that I first ran across this station on April 22 at 2318 in what to me sounded like Chinese with a difference (mind you I'm not an expert on Chinese), then stayed tuned to past 2345 when heard mixing with XPBS tune-up tone. Did check CNR-2 on 7315 & 7335 but 6190 was definitely not in //. Curious as to what time this would come on the air I again sat on this frequency April 24 from about 2230, and never heard the faintest hint of CNR-2 there. Unfortunately I tuned away now and then and re-check at 2252 was a few secs too late to catch full English ID as mentioned in my report for April 25. I'm afraid I never said I heard any English programming, just the ID was in English. I'm not implying this can't be Ge'ermu, only that apparently their scheduling on this freq has changed from what is listed in Aoki (who has English 2240 to 2300 close down). 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, April 26, ibid.) 6190, April 26, 2251, English ID after same march as in previous report. Unfortunately co-channel DLF was much too strong so I again missed exact wording. I agree with Mauno Ritola that this might be Qinghai PBS broadcasting their own Tibetan service rather than relaying CNR -2. Tried // 4220 but inaudible there. Also have a listen to their multilingual string of IDs on http://www.intervalsignals.net 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 6925.0-USB, unID pirate April 25 at 1236 with top 40 music from the 80s, maybe Arrowsmith? 1247 robotic YL voice, sounds like she says ``Point of no return hit show``. 1253 still but weakening; 1258 robotic YL ID but couldn`t copy, also with yahoo.com address. Then sounds like SSTV mixing with music, 1301 definitely SSTV beeps (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. [INTRUDER ALERT] 7160.2 --- Dear Intruder Busters, German Net Agency [Bundesnetzagentur] has pin-pointed the intruder most to "possibly off the coast of southern England, Colchester Region", England. I was able to pick up the station ann. It sounded as "this is non stop Merchow (Mercho, Merchnow) Radio. I will listen again this evening and stay tuned. It was a bit difficult to listen and to take the bearings as there was heavy ham radio traffic. (as it should be!) Regards, and have a nice Sunday de (Uli, DJ9KR, DARC MONITORING SYSTEM Intruder Watch, via Büschel, DXLD) Gestern Abend gab's einen englischen Musikpiraten bei 7160.2 kHz, 310 Grad aus OE wb (Wolfgang Büschel, April 25, A-DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 11500, still open carrier, with flutter, at 1230 April 25. We can only assume it is Dushanbé, Tajikistan, which is supposed to be relaying Voice of Russia. Isn`t it about time someone noticed at site that there is no modulation? Or, `it`s not my job to get the modulation, just to turn on the transmitter``! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still hearing OC morningly including April 29 (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 11780, Unknown Country, Unknown Station, 0012, Arabic, 444, April 26, OM with vocal Arabic music. YL with comments 0018. Iraq mentioned often. YL with vocal music 0020. YL with an ID as Musica 0040 (Stewart MacKenzie, WDX6AA, Huntington Beach, California, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nothing likely listed. 11780 is normally dominated here by R. Nacional da Amazônia, Brasil (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 11888-SSB, intruders, 2-way in tonal Asian language, intermittently, April 28 at 1345 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 13750, 25 Apr 2010 at 0611 GMT. OM speaking in Chinese followed by Western classical music, occasionally buried by the waxing of band noise swells. Certainly not scheduled IRIB Iran. Is it Radio Free Asia which I see listed on 13760? (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15105, April 28 at 1427, guitar music fill loop from VTC past 1430, poor with fadeouts, still going at 1437, 1443. Nothing scheduled at this time, but BBC Hausa via Ascension is at 1345-1415, so perhaps overrun from that. Also again had weak het from carrier near 15106, and Noel Green has already ruled out Pakistan (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. EQUATORIAL GUINEA, Radio Africa, 15190 kHz, 25 Apr 2010 at 2124 UT. Presumed. OM excitedly jabbering, which could mean sports coverage. Very weak signal in heavy and choppy band noise. Could not ID language while hoping to hear scheduled English (Terry Wilson, MI, Eton E1, via dxldyg via DXLD) Brasil`s R. Inconfidência has been promising to reactivate on 15190. Maybe it finally has if the jabbering was in Portuguese. R. Africa would never be broadcasting sports --- it`s either dead air or gospel huxters in English. Some subsequent chex such as April 28 at 2128 found nothing but EqG`s open carrier on 15190; also April 29 around 2050 when it was JBM, no ZY at all (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15385, April 25 at 1357 with open carrier, then tone tests at a variety of descending pitches, past 1400. Someone`s transmitter is getting proofed, and I bet it isn`t KJES. Nor is it necessarily any of the other users of 15385 during the day, Tinang, Noblejas or even Novosibirsk. 15385, like April 25, again some station running tone tests, sweeps and steps from hi to very low pitches April 27 from 1412 tune-in until 1414:30*. Strong signal but with flutter, so unlikely Greenville. 15385, once again unknown station testing, April 28 at 1425 open carrier at first, fluttery to S9+15 at peaks, 1435 brief tone test, back to open carrier. Signal does not resemble anything else on 19m, but clearly extracontinental. Could be from ME or Asia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15867 approx., as I tuned by heard SSB at 1318 April 29, American accented YL repeating a position report, I think in the lat- 40s, long-70s. Kept listening for 15 minutes but heard nothing more except occasional digital bursts. Matches a previous log of mine in DXLD 9-073 of Sept 27 at 1329. Coast Guard?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Actualizando Sin Fronteras Lamento decirles que existen errores en la ultima edicion de Sin Fronteras [a schedules column in weekly Conexión Digital]: Albania, inglés 1430-1500 en 13755 y no en 3625 (tipo por 13625) Ucrania, fuera de la onda corta! Aun antes se quitaron de la emisión a las 03. [full ex-schedule had been given as if it were current] Vaticano, 0320 en S-9610 y no en 6040; 1130, diario, en S-9830 [add] Sugiero que consulten a DX Listening Digest y a mis informes log para info mas actualizada. Todo esto ya se ha publicado. 73, (Glenn Hauser, condiglist yg via DXLD) Muchas gracias Licenciado por estar siempre atento a nuestros errores. Es verdad, como no tenemos otras cosas de la vida cotidiana para hacer deberíamos leer antes su boletín. Saludos (Enrique Wembagher, ibid.) I spend far too much time researching and publishing the most accurate and up to date info possible, but I can`t make people read it, refer to it, or make their own publications more accurate. And when I correct some errors, this is the snotty response I receive (gh, DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Yahoo! Group for SDR-RADIO.com Support for the SDR-RADIO.com console, everyone is welcome here. Hi All, At the request of users here's a shiny new Yahoo! group for the console: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sdr-radio-com/ Not everyone likes forums, especially those with these nice new high- tech iPhone gadgets. The forums will still be available, no change there. --- Now back to the bug-fixing, Simon HB9DRV (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia) This yg archives are open PIRATES RADIO ANNUAL Glad to see it. I just got my first Radio Log since White`s Radio Log, 1972 and SRDS (Standard Rates and Data Service) August 1981. Pirates Radio Annual 2010 by Andrew Yoder. Cabinet Communications, Post Office Box 109, Blue Ridge Summit, Pennsylvania 17214 USA. $17 brought it nicely with a CD. No Pirate TV stations, though (Frederic Jodry, April 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ROBERT FEDER BLOG The ex-newspaper columnist specialising on Chicago media is now writing a blog instead on WBEZ`s: http://blogs.vocalo.org/blog/feder (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) TINY TRAP +++++++++ Stephen Hawking, on his excellent new Discovery Channel series, at 0117 UT April 26 called Europa ``tiny, with a diameter of 2000 miles``. Try wheeling around its circumference and then tell me if you still think it`s tiny; at least he has admitted before that he was mistaken about slightly less trivial matters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ HFCC A10 out-of-band analysis Radio Kuwait appearing as booked in A10 (congratulations on chasing them away, everyone) made me wonder, as a whole, how much is scheduled with HFCC that is not on a frequency that is allocated to the broadcast service? The attached spreadsheet has the weekly number of hours booked (by all the participants of each administration), hours transmitted (by sites of each administration) and the difference between those two figures (shows if an administration is a net importer or exporter) of out-of- band transmissions. What is considered out-of-band was taken from the latest ITU RR ToF [rules and regulations, table of frequencies, presumably --- gh] (no national footnotes). Unlike the previous analysis covering just 7100- 7200, band edges are not considered to be out-of-band for this analysis (to be mentioned here, the carrier of a scheduled transmission is outside a broadcast service allocation). As sent, the data in the spreadsheet is in descending order of booked out-of-band time, followed by those administrations who booked no out-of-band time in descending order of hours transmitted out-of-band from sites in their territories. If you like, the data can be sorted in some other order, just select Data|Sort from the Excel menu bar - the graph will change accordingly. Is interesting to see that USA books more (roughly five times), transmits more (again, about five times) and exports more (twice) out-of-band time than any other administration. RUS books more than CHN, but exports roughly 50% more than it transmits itself. CHN is the second largest transmitter and actually is a net importer, though only by a very small amount G & AUT are noted for exporting roughly three times what they transmit themselves. SNG & HOL stand out for having exported 100% of their out-of-band bookings. A number of administrations transmit but do not book, though biggest importer KWT is an obvious exception. The reader is encouraged to look further. The total amount of out-of-band transmission time scheduled totaled 13.6k hours/week, a little over 13% of the total transmission time in A10. Clearly the participants of HFCC and HFCC itself not too concerned about where they transmit - I take back my previous suggestion that they be thanked again, in hopes they might notice what we might have thought was just a little something that slipped through the cracks. HFCC coordinates operation not in compliance with the ToF - no small amount and I would imagine we would find they have a habit of doing so. 73, ex-VR2BG/p. (Brett Graham, Hong Kong, April 29, INTRUDERALERT mailing list via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ VICARIOUS DXING Always as we approach the end of the season (not that this winter was all that good), I look for radio activities for the summer. Of course there are some FM openings and I also do some utilities like Navtex and DGPS (let the computer deal with the static). Then there's updating logs, organizing various resources, antenna work, learning new software, etc. But I saw a post recently on the Perseus list about some John Plimmer captures from South Africa near Cape Town that were available to share with other Perseus users. You might say why bother if you didn't hear it "live" yourself. I kinda thought that myself, but then got to thinking that there really is no difference between me going to South Africa and setting up my Perseus next to his and bringing my file back or bringing his file back; they will be exactly the same. Merely capturing the IF doesn't involve any DXing. There are no settings to make once the capture is started. Once you "open the box" so to speak and let all those pesky electrons in, you are doing nothing but sitting. Unlike listening to a recording that someone else has made, when you play a capture file, you are re-DXing and it's up to you to milk all the DX from the file according to your skill and how you use the controls. It's a great change of pace to DX from another perspective and see what the propagation is from different parts of the world. We think Spain is a pest here; Brazil from South Africa is worse. There was Portuguese on just about every even channel! I heard some good IDs from Radio Colonia, Uruguay (550) and Radio Continental, Argentina (580), which I probably will never get from here. The VOA from Botswana on 909 and Lesotho on 1197 was booming in like WBZ and I'm fairly certain I had VOA from Marathon FL on 1180, but didn't get an ID. It's really funky hearing the US stations from somewhere else. From South Africa I had 710-WOR, 1000-WMVP Chicago, 1050-WEPN NY, 1130- WBBR, 1190-WLIB, 1200-WOAI, San Antonio [would be a new one, too bad I can't count it] 1210-WPAT, 1500-WFED DC, 1520-WWKB, 1530-WCKY (under strong VOA São Tomé), and 1660-WWRU. I also played a capture from Australia from a couple years back. In addition to about 60 new beacons, here are the main domestics I logged: 680 KNBR San Francisco, 820 KGNW Burien/Seattle WA, 840 KMPH Modesto CA, 890 KDXU St George UT, 910 KNEW Oakland CA, 980 CKNW New Westminster BC, 1050 KTCT San Mateo CA, 1100 WTAM Cleveland OH, 1120 KPNW Eugene/Springfield OR, 1130 KSDO San Diego CA, 1140 CHRB High River AB, 1160 KSL Salt lake City UT, 1190 KEX Portland OR, 1200 WOAI San Antonio TX (also had from South Africa. They must really get out!), 1220 XEB Mexico DF, 1300 KKOL Seattle WA, 1320 KCTC Sacramento, 1350 KSRO Santa Rosa CA, 1410 CFUN Vancouver BC, 1460 KION Salinas/Monterey CA, 1480 KYOS Merced CA, 1530 KFBK Sacramento, 1640 KDIA Vallejo CA, 1700 KVNS Brownsville TX So, if you have a Perseus, when the summer static is too much, grab a cool one and take a DXpedition (Guy Atkins has many capture files for download on his blog) and hear stations that you will never get from the home QTH (Chris Cape Cod Black, April 23 ABDX via DXLD) One does not need the Perseus hardware to play back Perseus files. And I think that it is fantastic we can pull up the view of the dx'pedition location on Google Earth/Maps and listen to the DX just as if we were there. Some Perseus files from my location are on Guy's website and for those of you that have any interest in ham radio and contesting, I have a number of files showing how the bands sounded in western Canada during the great conditions we had in the CQ WPX SSB contest about a month ago. File names show the frequency range and time of the recording, plus the direction I was beaming at the time. Files are at: http://www.4shared.com/account/dir/34969409/5124c8fb/sharing.html?rnd=84 and this includes the demo Perseus software that Nico has made available so anyone can play back the files (Don VE6JY Moman, ibid.) Excellent, Don! I had forgotten about being able to listen to Perseus files with the demo software. Hopefully others will take advantage. Played a Walt Salmaniw file from Northern BC last night and heard all kinds of Alaskan IDs, which brought back many memories of my years there mid 70's (Chris Black, ibid.) TECHNOBUDDY: MAGIC OF SHORTWAVE RADIO EASY TO EXPERIENCE By Bill Husted For the AJC http://www.ajc.com/lifestyle/technobuddy-magic-of-shortwave-499209.html My real love sits glowing in the basement. I have a house full of computers -- I enjoy them and make a living with them -- but I've never recovered from an early love affair with shortwave radio. There's a room in the basement lined with radios -- some new and computerized along with a few old ones that glow in the dark from light produced by their tubes. Many a night I sit down there pulling voices from the static. Perhaps there's an airliner checking in with New York traffic control as it crosses the Atlantic, or a commercial shortwave broadcaster talking about a music festival in a town spelled with more consonants than vowels. Shortwave monitoring is like fishing: You are never sure what you are going to catch. For me, that's part of the magic. And it's a direct pipeline to the news of the day. Stories that seemed distant and a bit unreal over the TV take on a new dimension. You hear the voices, the local take on things -- unfiltered by American sensibilities. The first time I wrote a column about shortwave radio my editors were aghast. No one cares, they told me. It's old tech, not high tech. But each time I do this, I hear from nostalgic readers who want to try it again as well as from folks who almost instinctively understand the magic and want a part of it. Luckily it's easy to try and not very expensive, either. There's no need to buy one of my old tube type monster receivers. While my huge antennas -- some are just wire strung between trees, others amount to forests of aluminum tubing -- make things better, you can take part without all that. All you need is a battery-operated receiver that uses a whip antenna. They can be had for $100 or a bit more. Even if you try it and lose interest, the battery-powered radio will have its uses. The radios I'll mention also pick up regular AM and FM broadcasts. They'll serve you well for listening to a ballgame while outdoors, or -- even more important -- as a way to keep up with local news when some weather catastrophe knocks out the power in your home. But I'm betting that a few of you will find these shortwave windows to the world even more interesting than the Microsoft Windows variety. Navigating the shortwave bands is so much easier these days; digital tuning helps you find stations without a bunch of searching. I can help with the shopping. While there are hundreds of radios that would work just fine, I'll recommend a few based on price and performance. But you may also want to learn a little more -- that way you can come up with your own list of radios based on your preferences. Here's a Web site that offers an excellent introduction to shortwave listening: http://www.hamuniverse.com/shortwave.html Now here's my short list of radios to consider: The Sangean ATS505P sells for a few bucks more than $100 and provides a surprising array of features. Here's one merchant who sells the radio: http://tinyurl.com/d6kwj Receivers made by Grundig are generally top-notch. For beginners, the Grundig G5 can be a good choice. Here's a site that will tell you more and also provides a way to order the radio: http://tinyurl.com/yypd6po I provide these links as a way to let you read about the radios in detail. Smart shoppers will Google around to find the best deal. My favorite battery-operated shortwave receiver is no longer in production. It's the Sony 2010. But if you check eBay you're likely to find a used one. Even used you are likely to pay twice what either of the radios above cost new, but it's an amazingly good radio. Give it a try. You'll get a little static if you do, but that's part of the magic (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Nostalgic readers who try shortwave again may be surprised to learn that most of the European stations that were staples though the 1980s have left shortwave. Now the bands are dominated by privately owned US shortwave stations with religious programs, non-mainstream political talk, and vendors of gold and survivalist products. With patience, however, broadcasts from distant countries can still be heard, and the fun is knowing the signal comes directly through the ether from that broadcaster to your radio (Kim Andrew Elliott, April 28, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) MUSEA +++++ X-BAND WAS POLICE BAND Off the wall question --- I was noticing the other day, my 1948 Firestone radio I keep in the workshop goes up to 1700 kc. The X band wasn't officially used until around 1993 if I'm correct. Why does it go that high in the first place? Does anyone else know of some of the older tube, and transistor radios that go that high?? (Stan, IRCA via DXLD) It was a BCB/police radio. Back in the day the police were called in their cars on frequencies between 1600 and 1700 kc. The top of the AM band was 1500 kc. back then. It`s kind of like having an AM radio with a police scanner with those radios back when they were new (Kevin Redding, Crump, TN, ibid.) And no one thought twice about letting the public easily listen to police calls! (gh, DXLD) Many of the tube radios of that era went up to 1700 or sometimes even 1800 kc; for example the GE radio that my parents received as a wedding gift in 1950 goes up to 1700 (I still have it; it was the radio I stated to DX on). The top end of the AM broadcast band was extended from 1500 to 1600 in 1941 as a result of the 1937 Havana treaty. Some experimental stations operated between 1500 and 1600 as early as the mid 1930's however. Above 1600 we had the original police band, one way only to the patrol cars, which was phased out in the 1960's I believe. This was the reason that radios of that era went above 1600 - did not add to the cost of the radio so the addition of the police band was "free". In the early 1970's I remember at night (I lived near Toronto at that time) one would hear a steady fairly low pitched tone near 1620. Anyone have any idea what that was? (Deane McIntyre, Calgary, AB, ibid.) When I was first discovering radio in the early 1960's, a favourite passtime for me was to listen to the ship-to-shore calls. They were handled by an operator and were generally to/from tugboats and cargo ships, to relatives on shore. This on my parents "stereo", which both received AM, AND played 78s, 45s, and LPs. This was on AM 1630. It might have been my first QSL; I know I knew then that the content of the calls was protected to I included the details spoken by the ship-to-shore operator, over a period of (say) 15 minutes. Got a QSL finally with a prepared card. ef (Eric Flodén, Vancouver BC, then & now too, ibid.) On my web site located at http://community-2.webtv.net/AM-DXer/ is a 1939 QSL card from WNYF which was the New York City fire department dispatch station that broadcast fire calls on 1630 kHz. Apparently the station was primarily used to talk to fire boats. The boats answered back on 35.6 MHz (Patrick Griffith, CO, ibid.) Stan- That part of the BCB band was, as others have already told you, for the police. I would sit in Dallas and listen to the Los Angeles police. Also in the 20's and the 30's it was used for the video signal for the flying spot scanner type of TV. The audio being broadcast on the station`s normal frequency. Not all TV operated in 1600 to 1800 range, some was up around the 2000 to 2500 range. When I was about 10 years old I had a all band radio, don't remember the brand or model. Someone had painted the case a dark green. It did have a electro-magnetic speaker and went up 20mc. It disappeared when I went into the navy, as did a lot of my old QSLs (Willis Monk, Old Fort, TN, ibid.) In the late 60's LAPD transmitter on 1730 could be heard in the San Francisco Bay Area at night. Signal was good, even on a transistor radio barefoot. During the 40's when on 1712, they got reports from the East Coast and a ship up near Alaska. Over the years power vary from 250 watts up to 1,000 watts towards the end. Below is a link that gives some history of LAPD Radio broadcasts. http://harrymarnell.net/kma367.htm (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) I remember in the 60s hearing police at night in New Brunswick from somewhere in the eastern states on an old table radio which was tunable up to 1700. I wonder why these frequencies were used when the 136- and up MHz band was already in use for emergency and utility services. Was there some reason why skip was necessary in police two way com? Anyone? (Bill Kral in BC, 23 April, ibid.) Thanks to everyone for the answer, I had forgotten about the Police Band. My Firestone is just two years older than I. My grandparents had one just like it that I used to start DXing with many years ago. Who remembers "Stereo FM(AM)" ? When one channel was FM and the other was AM? That's it for now on off-topic subjects (Stan, ibid.) Many older tube radios did. The marine radio-telephone band was in the 1620+ segment and I used to hear the marine operators on some of those old radios back in the 1960's. But I can't say for sure if that's why they tuned that far up (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) My 1946 Philco, a 46-1209 covers 550-1700 though it actually tunes to 1750. I have a 2 band Philco 41-230. Band 1 covers 550-1500 and band 2 covers 1500 to 3.5 megahertz on the scale but actually tunes close to 4 megahertz. As another note, 540 wasn't added to the band plan until 1955 (Powell E. Way III, SC, ibid.) Stan, I'm going to take a semi-knowledgeable guess on this one. Back in the 30's 40's and into the 50's police dispatch was done just above the AM broadcast band and a bit in the two MHz band. The dispatch was first only one way from the headquarters to the cars on patrol. Lots of the old radios could tune up into the dispatch frequencies just above the AM band. Maybe this is a part of the answer to your question. Add to this fact that perhaps lots of the radios of that day were just designed to tune a little above and maybe below the broadcast band (Dave Marthouse, ibid.) Back in the 80's, you could hear cordless phone conversations up in that part of the band. In some cases, I bet trying to get a QSL could be hazardous to life and limb (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, ibid.) The LA County Sheriff's Dept continued to use this band until the mid 60s. I remember hearing some of their transmissions on about 1650 during the Watts riots in 1965. A 14-year old at the time, I found it quite interesting listening. By that time, the LASD had several VHF frequencies for two-way communication with the patrol cars, so it seems odd that they would hang on to the 1.6 MHz channel (Bruce, ibid.) In one of my previous careers I served for over 12 years as a 911 dispatcher in two states. My first dispatch job was in Rockford IL in the late 70s where I fondly remember the long wire antenna running between the old police headquarters roof and the roof of city hall at the opposite corner of the block. I was told that this was the antenna used for the old AM transmitter which had been located on the roof of the police station. The antenna wire was a heavy looking mutli-strand cable and the insulators at each end looked to be about 2 feet in length. The Rockford police went on the air in 1933 and converted to two-way radio in 1940. Several years ago I researched some of the history of police operations in the AM band. The Galvin Manufacturing Company of Chicago (Motorola was their brand name) realized that many police departments were ordering car radios from them for use in their police cars. Recognizing a market for a police specific product in 1936 they introduced a special receiver called the Motorola Police Cruiser. It was capable of receiving from 1550 kc to 2800 kc. One of the primary differences from the Motorola car radio was that the police receiver was crystal controlled for frequency stability on a specific channel. At this time Galvin was having trouble meeting the demand for its very popular Motorola car radios. So initially the police receivers were only produced on weekends so as not to disrupt normal car radio production during the week. By 1936 Galvin had introduced an AM mobile transmitter operating in the 30-40 mc "UHF" band to enable police cars to talk back to the dispatcher via radio. In the 1920s and 1930s many police departments in the US broadcast on 1712 or 1714 kc. There are reports that at night these channels were so busy that the various police departments across the country had to take turns broadcasting. Some of the early police transmitters sent Morse code messages instructing individual squad cars to respond to a call box to get their message via telephone. As early as 1921 the Detroit police had a mobile radio system. The transmitter had the call sign KOP which some attribute to the origin of the word "cop" as a slang for police officers (most likely "cop" is a shortened version of "copper" resulting from the common use of copper badges many years before the Detroit radio system existed). The Detroit system operated on 1050 kc and later was moved to 1080 kc. Some exceptions to the 1712/1714 kc frequencies that I noted were Berkeley CA on 2410 kc, and most radio equipped departments in the state of Tennessee on 1619 kc. A history of the Denver police radio system indicates that they operated on 1610 kc. That history mentioned that this was a common nationwide police frequency as well and mentions Denver police cars relaying messages at night between various western US police agencies. Relays between Indio CA and Kansas are specifically mentioned. It also mentions that the Grand Junction CO police were on this frequency as well and came in so clear that Denver officers sometimes responded to calls with similar addresses that were actually intended for Grand Junction officers. I found a reference stating that in 1949 the FRC (pre-FCC) ordered all law enforcement stations to move to VHF. However, it appears that it may have taken years for this move to be completed. Here are some early police radio call signs taken from various historical references: KOP Detroit, KGPX Denver, WPGD Rockford IL, WLAW New York City, WMAZ Indianapolis, KSW Berkeley, WPDA Tulare, KGJX Pasadena, KGPL Los Angeles, KGPI Omaha, KGZY San Bernardino, KGPC St Louis, WPDB WPDC WPDD Chicago, WRR Dallas (Patrick Griffith, CO, ibid.) BBC TV SHUTDOWN IN 1939 Re BRITAIN’S CLANDESTINE NAZI TELEVISION SURVEILLANCE, 10-16: Bob Cooper's fascinating article was a great read. However he manages to perpetrate [sic] the great television myth, viz: "The BBC’s Alexandra Palace (London) transmitter operated to a published schedule from November 2, 1936 to September 1, 1939. It shut-down abruptly, without fanfare, in the middle of a Mickey Mouse cartoon (‘Touchdown Mickey’) because, on September 1, Great Britain and Germany had formally entered a state-of-war resulting from the invasion of Poland." Lazy journalism means that this story has been repeated ad infinitum in history books (even some well-respected ones) until it has become accepted fact. Except that the actual transmission logs from AP tell a quite different story. (As noted in my own book "A Concise History of British TV") For a start, the cartoon was "Mickey's Gala Premiere" and it wasn't abruptly cut off mid-film. The film continued to its end and was followed by a continuity announcer trailing the afternoon's broadcast. Then about an hour of test signals before the transmitter was turned off. I readily concede that this is trivial. But if history books contain myth rather than history, it becomes difficult to know which bits are true, doesn't it? (TONY CURRIE, radio six international, Glasgow, Scotland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WOODPECKER PIX May be off topic, but I realise there are photos of the woodpecker OTHR system which interfered with broadcasters in 1987. Listening to a report that Bob Horvitz made on a Media Network show in February 1987. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Woodpecker_array.jpg (Jonathan Marks, Apr 26, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) More Photos (with details) here: http://englishrussia.com/index.php/2008/04/28/duga-the-steel-giant-near-chernobyl/ 73 And HK (Andrea Borgnino IW0HK, ibid.) THE SECRET LIFE OF THE RADIO This is great series! You can view parts 2 and 3 in the right hand pane as well. Enjoy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ehVVpY6XE4 (Rocky R., ptsw yg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV see also CANADA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE END OF TV DXING? I read this today on the AVS Forum Springfield MA board and nearly fell out of my car (I was in a McDonalds parking lot with a laptop at the time).... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Among the FCC's suggestions to Congress (1) Channels 31 through 52 should no longer be used for television broadcasting, and stations currently on any of those channels would have to move down to a channel between 14 and 30. (2) Each of channels 14-30 would share their secondary multi-cast channel with another broadcast entity, even though they are competitors and even if both are broadcasting in high definition. (3) By allowing TV stations to receive money from the auctioning off of their spectrum, many low-power stations might cease to exist because their spectrum has more monetary value to them when used for broadband instead of TV broadcasting. (4) The Broadband Plan advises that Congress consider a federal tax for internet users as a revenue producer. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- So taking ch 46-51 wasn't enough? If everything gets crammed into ch 14-30, then I think most TV Dxing is over except for the few DXers who find sitting on A2 in the summer and looking for 2 hop interesting. Can't wait for that internet tax, can you? That's what I thought :-) (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, 9 April, WTFDA via DXLD) Mike, TV stations in the northeastern US are short spaced now. I can just imagine if any additional channels are taken away how much of the coverage area will have interference from adjacent market signals. The sad part is that Congress doesn't have a clue and more importantly, they don't care. All they see is the extra money that can be collected by auctioning off the spectrum to broadband users. If you can't pass the performance tax, try the internet tax. Now the main question is, how many of the current members of Congress will remain after November. It seems that the voters in my area have the attitude of kicking the incumbents out, but who knows how that will turn out (Bob Seaman, ibid.) On the other hand... I have seen some suggestions that the Supreme Court decision denying the FCC the power to enforce Net Neutrality was greatly unexpected and will slow down any move to promote wireless broadband (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Slow down? Had the court ruled the other way and allowed the government to take over the internet, wireless broadband development would have stopped just like the economy has, for the same reasons (Rick Shaftan, NJ, ibid.) That was before the court decision earlier this week which Comcast won which casts all of the FCC's plans for the internet and broadband into limbo (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Considering ch 14-15 can't be used in NYC and 19-20 in Philly, etc., etc. because of existing land mobile use, that should be interesting having only 13 available UHF channels to serve the NYC-Philly area (Wm R Hepburn, Grimsby ON, http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ ibid.) Remember though that with DTV, the interference zones are smaller, so a transmitter is placed near either doesn't necessarily affect the other today (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Yes, and no. What we notice here in Lima with the "real world" is that it`s very dependent on the home viewer antenna. For example, we have viewers of WLIO channel 8 in Upper Sandusky, Tiffin, Bucyrus, Mansfield OH. The folks with real good "traditional" antennas get us just fine. Those with the fancy panel antenna or lossy 2 element Digital antenna are constantly fighting interference from WJW in Cleveland. But that same antenna issue also applies to the quality of the signal close in due to multipath and noise. :) The interference has not really changed. It's how the person on the receiving end deals with picking up the signal (Fred Vobbe, ibid.) Well, heck, Mike. How about all the TV stations drop HD, and we all go to one MHz wide channels in SD that is letterboxed, and let the home viewer zoom it out. Think of the savings! Think of how many channels we would get back. How about giving us back 52-59 and we'll give them 2-13. That's a good deal. I still like what the one congress-critter said about the loss of OTA TV. "We'll just give people satellite and they will be happy". Gosh my head hurts (Fred Vobbe, OH, ibid.) And how well will all this new wireless stuff work when there's a blockbuster tropo opening lasting for days and massive interference ensues (Hepburn, ibid.) Meanwhile....................... Verizon CEO Does Not Back FCC Spectrum-Reclamation Proposal http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/451209-Verizon_CEO_Does_Not_Back_FCC_Spectrum_Reclamation_Proposal.php (Steve Rich, Indianapolis, IN, 10 April, ibid.) Wow, I like this guy. Seidenberg thinks the FCC is getting too greedy and should just back off and let the demand of the market dictate where things will go. He comments there are other areas of available bandwidth that the FCC isn't even looking at and wouldn't effect OTA TV (Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Milliken, Colorado, (40 miles north of Denver), ibid.) A little story. About a decade ago, I was invited to a meeting of MSTV, FCC lawyers, and folks on the ATSC committee in Washington. The buzz word at that time was to move EVERYONE into the UHF bands, and shorten the spacing between stations. At that meeting they were talking about "interference free" signals, that don't have the artifacts of low-band TV, saying that they might have to use High-Band VHF in some rural application. Now, I had been tipped off about the "interference free" statements by a friend at the FCC earlier, so I brought some items from WLIO which includes pictures of WLIO (Lima) taken in Madison WI, and in IL in the 1980s. I also brought some of my DX pictures, which included a lot of UHF stations. I also had a VUD to show the loggings. At that meeting they said, "the UHF band is preferred because propagation interference never happens like in the VHF band." I raised my hand, I said my piece, and showed a few people close to me the photos. The speaker blew it off as "someone driving through the area that took a picture of your station", and then told the humorous story about the TV signal that had supposedly been seen thousands of miles away and 10 years later in the UK that turned out to be a hoax. So, they pretty much blew away any idea of propagation for anything channel 7 and up. Later, at the Scripps Howard station in Cincinnati there was a MSTV meeting, and again the subject of propagation raised its head. "UHF if preferred because it's not prone to interference." This time the speaker conceded there might be interference in 7-13, but 14 to 69 is clear, and concluded "there is more than enough channels for all the television stations in the US to keep from interfering with each other." Again at that meeting I showed pictures and the VUD, and more than a few people expressed some concern about propagation, but the speaker at the meeting blew it off as "well these are ham radio operators with sophisticated equipment that the normal public doesn't have, so it will never see any interference." So there you have it, guys. These were the movers and shakers in the industry saying this. And I can't help but think of something my daddy always said. When a man repeats something over and over again that is blatantly untrue, he is either ignorant, or a smart man that wants to fool you because he has an interest in the fraud. I'll leave it to you guy to decide which one applies. Bill, I can't speak for Canada, but I think that some of the lunacy we have here in the states tends to come from the fact that lawyers now run communications design and not engineers. Much of what we're doing here now is being done because it legally can, and not because its good spectrum management or beneficial to the people. You and I, and I suspect the people on this list know, what propagation can do. We also know that with digital modes it's P5 or nothing. We also know there are smart ways to design and fragile ways to build up infrastructure. But again, it's moving forward because it's "legal" to do, not because it's the right thing. Will there be an end to OTA TV? I don't know. In big towns cable is probably king, so you don't really need OTA. But in the case of the stations I run, OTA is about 60 of our audience. While the city of Lima commands a 72% cable penetration, we have a lot of small towns and rural viewers. So I see OTA as relevant at least until networks find a way to do the Station in a Box thing like the CW does, but put in local content. How important is local? 55% of our revenues are from local news, weather, and sports. So I think it's pretty important to a lot of people (Fred Vobbe, WLIO-TV, Lima OH, ibid.) Anyways, even tho the technology is there and that we must not get carried away. I love having TV stations and hope for their best in the future with DTV operations. I agree with discontinuing Analog as Digital provides a quality signal. I hate to see TV go all Internet. If that`s the case then TV Networks won't need to rely on affiliates, course they could almost break away in using affiliates and NBC or CBS, etc., have their own national channel available over Satellite, Cable and Internet. Then we will probably find a lot of TV stations go out of business freeing the airwaves. If anything that`s left is Journal Broadcasting WTMJ-TV, Ch 4-1, 4-2, 4-3 wouldn't no longer have to call themselves Ch. 4 Milwaukee (They aren't on VHF ch. 4 anymore anyways, so it doesn't matter) but change their name to Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel Internet TV and just provide SE Wis, NE-ILL News, Weather and Sports 24 hours a day over the internet since DTV signals will no longer be allowed to transmit anymore. Already some of my DX friends have given up TV DX because you really can't get much TV DX with Digital. It was much easier at Analog and using a old tuner, not the newer tuners that turn the picture blue when the video gets a bit too snowy but watchable (John L., ibid.) One thing I need to add. I miss the old style TV Guides that we used to get. Listings of local channels, but TV Guide worked their way to losing subscribers and buyers to their Magazine by shortening the listings and placing in grids istead of the old list of shows 8:00 (2) (3) (6) (7) (12) (23) I LOVE LUCY Yep, I have a bunch of old TV Guides and I bet their value is going UP! I bet in 20 years I could sell them on eBay for $50 a piece. Course by that time (in 2030) it probably cost $100 min to have a store on eBay, or auction listings will probably be $10 min. USPS Postage will probably be $2.00 min to send a letter to your next door neighbor (John L., ibid.) Sounds like a repeat of the TV "Freeze" in the early 1950's. Interference complaints from citizens were ignored because TV signals (ch 2-13) were "line of sight". Ignored until Washington, DC channels started getting blitzed by tropo. I believe that ch 4 allocations were in Lancaster, PA, Washington, DC and another location close by (maybe Philly? Baltimore?) Ridiculously close in any event. Only when Congressmen were affected was any action taken --- 60 years later the same mind set (Jim Pizzi, ibid.) While antenna and location make a difference, the useable range for a DTV signal in normal circumstances with a modest consumer outdoor antenna is significantly less than with analog, and due to the nature of digital transmission, there isn't much area where you have a marginal signal. With DTV it is mostly either there or not there. With such antennas people could readily receive New York stations on analog. Today that's not possible unless they're on a hill or have a big antenna, and even then they only get some. But bottom line, at some point, and sooner rather than later, either TV via internet or cable will reach a saturation point where OTA will be superfluous given the expense to maintain it. The future isn't all that rosy for OTA TV (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Well said. With my setup I cannot get all the NY stations pointing at them 39 miles away (Rick Shaftan, 973-726-8114, ibid.) I think we're finding DTV<=>DTV interference is a considerably larger issue than once believed (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN, ibid.) Cable and satellite saturation is indeed high in most markets (some more than others, of course) but reports tend to ignore the fact that many people with pay TV are also doing some of their viewing over the air for a variety of reasons. Some with cable in this market are using antennas to watch local stations (for local and network programming) because they are unwilling or unable to pay the cost for HD tiers. In Topeka Cox charges a minimum of $67 to get any HD service. I put up an antenna for a daughter and her family so they could watch the Olympics in HD. They have young children and need to save money. They are now watching all network programming with the antenna. We have a neighbor with cable who saw the quality of the OTA HD signal on our set. He put up a Channel Master 4228 for the improved HDTV signal. There are also several stations (primarily from Kansas City) that aren't distributed by Cox or satellite here and I have seen some new antennas pop up apparently to receive them. Unfortunately these homes are counted as cable or satellite homes. We don't have any form of pay TV at home, but I would sure hate to rely on cable or satellite during storms of which we get plenty this time of year. Cox sure doesn't provide the same quality of coverage of storms that the local network affiliates provide even in a small market like Topeka. Storm coverage from Kansas City, of course, is even better and we rely on it as well. We now have two battery powered DTV sets ready to use in case of a storm emergency. Cable isn't very practical in those cases. If the major networks go totally internet or cable/satellite local stations will disappear for sure no matter what the FCC does with the spectrum. Cable systems might go into the news/weather business but there won't be multiple outlets (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) At some point someone has to determine what makes the most sense... ONE TV broadcast signal providing an HD Super Bowl signal to MILLIONS of New Yorkers....or... MILLIONS of high bandwidth unicast signals each providing an HD Super Bowl signal to ONE viewer. No matter what the medium, some things like sports events, concerts, etc. still make more sense to provide as one broadcast rather than millions of unicasts. Wrh (William Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) I think I agree in principle, presuming your argument is that we currently have the former. I've been outspoken enough about the questionable need for more channels, whether they're from DTV -2's and -3's or more smaller stations or what. There are already channels in most major metros which don't pull sufficient audience to predict long- or even mid-term survival. Some are due to uninteresting programming, others to technical issues. But you'd have to significantly increase current DTV power levels in order to serve enough larger areas to reduce and/or eliminate some of the smaller stations in between, and in a sense that moves back closer to where we were before digital (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, ibid.) YES. It is amazingly inefficient to use millions of IP connections to transmit identical content to millions of viewers. (The Verizon exec is the first person in the industry I've seen mention this. Then again, his company is involved in MediaFLO, which is a broadcast signal from a technical standpoint but managed more or less like a phone product...) (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Very true. Look at the FM logs I posted to the list over the past week and compare them to the tropo DTV logs. Time after time I would hear analog FM from Houston, San Antonio, NOLA, Mississippi-Alabama-Florida panhandles only to be greeted with DTV scans only bringing in my locals (Little Rock) and pests from Shreveport. Perhaps I'm seeing the "dark" side of DTV here, but there's the capture effect with FM radio, and of course its possible to see more than one analog station on the same channel (floaters, etc). Unless one signal is at a certain threshold, when two DTV-ATSC signals are detected at about equal strength instead of decoding both or one, nothing is decoded and one is left to stare at a signal meter *knowing* that a certain signal is there but just under the surface. I'm using the old style CM4228 and Winegard YA-1713 antennas and a preamp (FM/lowband TV is on that other antenna) so it`s not an issue with a mediocre antenna and installation. *If* this FCC scheme goes through, kiss DTV DX goodbye. Perhaps even my ability to receive OTA TV here in western Lincoln County AR will be in jeopardy due to reduced power levels/shorter spacing unless repeaters are located in every hick town in America. And a repeater in every town would IMHO just create another situation like present day AM radio on the "graveyard" channels. Instead of the murmuring of "AM radio coffee pots", dozens of underpowered DTV signals will just go decoded in much of rural America. There's always FM DX and 50/144 MHz "weak signal SSB VHF" ham radio, but those don't mix well together as do TV DX and FM DX and/or VHF hamming at the same time. At least the worst issue with FM DX here is the translator glut below 92.1, and not an IBOC transmitter on every corner. Its possible that the good but flawed ATSC system could become useless with the greed and power desired by some cellular providers in bed with the Federal Government (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, EM43aw, http://tvdxseark.blogspot.com http://www.twitter.com/KC5KBV ibid.) That isn't DTV to DTV interference. That's simply lack of skip propagation of DTV or lack of sufficient DTV power to get through where analog with higher power can. DTV to DTV interference is where two stations present roughly equal signals to the receiver to the effect that neither can be viewed (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, ibid.) DTV to DTV interference degrades both signals. You can see how the signal bar starts to dip. That`s a good indication of CCI (Jeff Kadet, Macomb IL, ibid.) In some places, perhaps many places, that may be true. I have no knowledge of such. But that may or may not be simply the conversion. It may also be inappropriate estimates of power needed, and dropping stations in between others. And if those who argue that many DTV's are underpowered currently should prevail and numerous increases are granted in order for stations to regain portions of their former analog coverage, that will doubtless increase. My point was and remains that where in analog, protections had to be on the order of the distance between NYC and Philadelphia - about 100 miles as the crow flies, that much distance is not needed between them for digital TV at the current power levels (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Some of the DTVs do have enough power to cover the distance of about 90 miles. The Philadelphia stations which do are: KYW 26, WPVI 6, WPHL 17, WCAU 34, WPPX 31 and WUVP 29 (in some directions, since they have a directional transmitter). The stations that have lost coverage have done so because the FCC cannot authorize them to increase power due to short spacing. WTXF 42 applied for a power increase, but their engineers said that the FCC has not authorized it. This is because the Annapolis, MD MPB station is on Ch 42 and their protected contours almost meet midway between Annapolis and Philadelphia. WPSG 32 had a directional pattern which sent less signal to the northwest on analog when the digital assignments were made. This locked them into the same directional pattern for digital. They had gone non-directional on analog shortly after that time and their signal was quite strong on analog to the northwest, but now it only appears here on a rare occasion. Digital TV is not only affected by co-channel interference due to short spacing, but adjacent channel interference as well. If there is a strong local on an adjacent channel, it will interfere with the decoding of the weaker digital on the adjacent channel. The FCC has not gone to protected distances for digital transmitters since the reassigned digital channels are not uniformly distributed. This is partially caused by the elimination of Ch 52-69 and Ch 2-6 in most areas. There just are not enough channels to work with in the highly populated areas like in the Northeastern US. WPVI went back to Ch 6 because there wasn't any other possible channel choice available that would provide a coverage area similar to their analog signal, according to one of their engineers. Their interim channel was 64. WCAU had a similar problem. Their interim channel was 67. They had to pay WYBE to move back to Ch 35 and then they were able to use Ch 34 as their permanent digital channel (Bob Seaman, ibid.) While that is true for someone who has excellent elevation and/or a good antenna, the 'average bear' living in W or S Central NJ probably has trouble with both, although there probably aren't that many folks going the OTA route there anyway. When I last lived in Northern NJ, 25+ years ago, I had only a modest outdoor antenna, although I did have an elevation of about 750'. I was 20 miles ESE of where Rick is, and I could routinely receive 3, 6 and 10 just by moving the antenna in that direction. 12 required some effort (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) I get 6 most times, 17 sometimes, 26 and 34 rarely and almost never 31, 32 or 42. Never gotten 29. I'm 80 miles away (Rick Shaftan, NJ, ibid.) Out here in the middle of the country where markets are somewhat distant from each other we still have the problem as well. It isn't unusual for channel 31 from Wichita (about 125 miles southwest) to cause channel 31 from Kansas City (65 miles east) not to decode. If I wern't a DXer I wouldn't know what the problem was. I can tell because when the problem exists channel 19 from Hutchinson (CBS for Wichita market) will be in and easily received off the back of the antenna. Before analog shutdown, digital channel 19 from the Wichita market would wipe out KCPT-19 with digital snow at times. KCPT is now on channel 18 and KAAS-18 Salina is on DTV 17 so that is not a problem. The biggest problem is channel 31 which is our local CW affiliate and has "This" movies on 31.2. Too few channels now too close together (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) I think we're finding DTV<=>DTV interference is a considerably larger issue than once believed (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN? EM66, ibid.) I still have to question how much of this reported DTV-DTV interference is encountered on consumer-grade equipment, as opposed to DX antennas (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) In areas on the Cumberland Plateau (Cookeville, Tenn.) I suspect it's a significant problem on consumer-grade equipment (admittedly that area is beyond the protected contour of the stations involved -- and was beyond the protected contour of their analog signals as well) (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) WWLP-DT 11 has lost quite a bit of viewers in Franklin County MA due to WENH 11 New Hampshire. Most of these viewers are within WWLP's coverage area. When a plane is landing at Westover ARB I lose DT 10, 20, 31 from Hartford CT due to DT 10, 20, 31 Boston scattering off the aircraft. I have confirmed this as DT 19, 30, 42 Boston quickly decode when I lose Hartford. This is all on my non DX setup. It is rather annoying as this goes on all day long! (Jeff Rostron, Springfield MA, Sangean HDT-1, Winegard HD 6065P @ 35Ft, ibid.) The problem is the average home view doesn't know "interference". To them, their signal goes away, so it MUST be the TV station`s fault. Russ, I take the calls from people who claim we're off the air, when I'm looking right at the off air transmission and a transmitter at 100% power (Fred Vobbe, WLIO-TV Lima OH, ibid.) I suspect very few people have reported interference as most people would have no idea. In analog you can see two or more stations and know there is an interference problem. It took me a few times to realize what was happening. Some of the stations from outside can come in very strong as you know and I often see DTV stations off the back of the antenna (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) Re: I still have to question how much of this reported DTV-DTV interference is encountered on consumer-grade equipment, as opposed to DX antennas. Plenty. I always know when tropo is in when my local NYC 11 and 13 get smurfed by Baltimore's 11 and 13. My master antenna for my very consumer bedroom flat screen is a two-bay bow-tie hanging from a coat hanger in my bedroom closet. Granted, I need a pre-amp to bring in all the NYC channels, but I wouldn't really consider this a high-gain array. It's more like a dormitory make-do. Keep in mind, these are UHF bow-ties feigning to be VHF antennas. I do agree with Russ: I would go as far as to say that my DX antenna, a CM4228A with CM pre, is less reliable than my coat-hanger array for local viewing. When there is no propagation lift, the CM must be zillions of db higher in strength than the 2 bay in the closet. When propagation lifts, often single channels stop decoding or more. It often goes in waves. I'll lose the lower channels and then lose the higher ones as the lower ones come back. I really miss NTSC. There's nothing much to watch on the additional virtual channels and the main channels are no longer reliable. Hand me the cell phone. I want to watch some TV (Karl Zuk, N2KZ, ibid.) That isn't my point. My point is that a number of posts here prior to my comment appeared to be DX'ers who are knowledgeable about this, and who have better-than-average equipment (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Karl, I suspect that some of the problem with NYC 11 & 13 are 11 WBRE & 13 WYOU near Wilkes-Barre. Their transmitters are only about 105 miles from the NYC transmitters. When there is enhancement from the east and NYC is coming in strong here (about 15 miles south of the Wilkes-Barre transmitters) I can get 11 & 13 from NYC at times. The transmitters are just too close together (Bob Seaman, Hazleton, PA, ibid.) Fred is correct. Most viewers have no idea about signal enhancement and they don't know that when two digital signals are coming in on the same channel that neither one will decode. If you check the signal meter, you can see it moving up and down without turning the antenna or the wind blowing the trees around. Also it isn't due to multipath signals. The average viewer thinks that it must be a problem with the local TV station. After all they promoted digital TV as ELIMINATING SNOW AND INTERFERENCE !! The average viewer doesn't even consider that option because they don't know any better (Bob Seaman, ibid.) Hey Bob: Propagation in these parts almost always runs up and down the seaboard and not inland. When the whole world was analog, if I moved my UHF array to the right position, nearly due west, I might see a weak rendition of the Wilkes-Barre / Scranton stations if I was really, really lucky. Who knows? Maybe you are absolutely correct since I'm used to this market being exclusively UHF. Baltimore seems more likely since it is in the plane of where my antenna usually aims (south southwest) and that I sometimes see the Baltimore UHF DTVs when I lose NYC 11 and 13. Yours is a theory that didn't even occur to me. How much do your 11 and 13s (PA and NYC) interact with each other? Can you tune between them when you move your array? Thanks for writing. (Karl Zuk, N2KZ, ibid.) Another thing is the seasonal greenleaf 10 or 20 db pad some of us endure. When the leaves grow on the trees, stations disappear! Welcome to UHF (Karl Zuk, N2KZ, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OH, WELL, ON WITH THE EXPERIMENT MCLARNON FINDS THE FM IBOC POWER VERDICT TO BE FLAWED Re: For AM DXers, the Romance Lives On by James Careless, 04.21.2010 A strange coincidence (James Careless and I live in the same city), as I also have an article in the same issue of Radio World. Unfortunately, they did not choose to put mine on-line... not surprising, when you see its subject matter (yup, IBOC "naysaying" again). Anyone interested can read it, though, by looking at the digital issue of Radio World at http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/rw_20100421/ exactly http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/newbay/rw_20100421/#/5/OnePage I could tell James a thing or two about AM DXing too, but he didn't contact me. :-) (Barry McLarnon VE3JF Ottawa, ON, ABDX via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BELKIN PLT ADAPTOR CAUSING INTERFERENCE TO FM, DAB AND CIVIL AIRBAND Video on effect of the Belkin Gigabit Powerline HD starter kit uploaded to YouTube today: EMC Engineers have long known that Powerline Networking adapters cause unacceptable interference to radio and breach the European EMC Directive since they do not comply with the Essential Requirements. This adapter, the Belkin F5D4076, has been tested by a UKAS Accredited Notified Body (laboratory) and found to be exceeding the permitted levels by a notable margin. In this video I demonstrate that the radiated emissions are capable of chronic interference to Broadcast VHF FM, DAB Radio and reception of the Civil Air Band. These adapters will also interfere with the following amateur bands:- 6m, 4m, 2m. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3yVu5IfaEY (Mike Barraclough, England, April 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES Compiled by: Phil Bytheway E-mail: phil_tekno @ yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary March 1 2010 through March 31 2010 Tabulated from email status daily. Date Flux A K Space Wx 1 78 6 1 no storms 2 79 4 2 no storms 3 80 7 2 no storms 4 80 7 0 no storms 5 80 4 1 no storms 6 78 2 2 no storms 7 77 3 9 no storms 8 76 4 1 no storms 9 78 2 1 no storms 10 80 7 2 no storms 11 84 9 1 no storms 12 90 9 1 no storms 13 92 3 1 no storms 14 89 6 2 no storms 15 86 2 1 no storms 16 85 4 2 no storms 17 87 6 2 no storms 18 86 5 2 no storms 19 84 2 1 no storms 20 84 9 1 no storms 21 85 1 0 no storms 22 82 1 1 no storms 23 84 2 1 no storms 24 84 2 1 no storms 25 88 5 1 no storms 26 86 4 2 no storms 27 88 3 1 no storms 28 86 7 1 no storms 29 83 4 1 no storms 30 83 5 2 no storms 31 81 4 2 no storms (IRCA DX Monitor April 24 via DXLD) BIG DAYTIME MWDX OPENING [re 10-16, USA] Glenn - Wow! What a pleasant surprise. I rarely scan MW during daytime, but think I may start now. Great stuff. - DRA (David Alpert, LA CA, DX LISTENING DIGEET) Tnx. Certainly worth at least checking frequently a few `open` daytime channels. But if my theory is correct, not again until another Space Shuttle daytime reëntry over the USA. Sometimes approaches the Cape from asea, and the ultimate path will depend on delays due to surface weather, but surely there have been similar circumstances many times before. Reëntry thru ionospheric altitude would also have to be at a useful area geographically relative to the listener and the stations. It would be great if any previous such openings could be uncovered and correlated, not necessarily directly over North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hey Glen[n] and all, Around the time of Glen[n]`s DX I snagged several new stations here from Montana. AND from both of the Decotas! Don`t hear them here very often. Shuttle DX? How cool!! Some more interesting band conds, to put in the log (as well as new stations for me). If there`s some strange band conds. I put that down in the log with the station. Good DX to all, (Robbie kd7cjo somewhere in southwest Wyoming, April 26, IRCA via DXLD) No details. At least we can look up his ham call at ARRL: SPAIN, ROBERT J, KD7CJO, ROCK SPRINGS, WY 82901 (gh, DXLD) [SkywavesDX] AIRCRAFT AND SATELLITE ECHOES FROM TV TRANSMITTERS AT VHF AND UHF A couple of months ago I tried to track satellites using the TV transmitters in South Africa and my own receiver as a "passive" (bistatic) radar system. The experiment was unsuccessful due to the fact that TV broadcast antennas do not allow significant EIRP to clear the horizon (not in this country anyway), but to gain experience in the required techniques aircraft reflections were used initially. To fully comprehend how local and distant aircraft reflect TV transmissions it is necessary to have a working understanding of tropospheric scatter propagation. This mode should be familiar to VHF DXers, but at times it does not seem to be the case! In the article an complete worked example of a tropo scatter path calculation is in the Appendix - your own parameters such as horizon, antenna gain, TX EIRP, etc may be inserted to calculate expected results. In many cases the calculated signal to noise ratio will be negative. However, when using software such as SpectrumLab and a large FFT, the improvement can be as much as 20-30 dB due to the integration time of a large FFT. Although analogue TV transmissions are assumed, in some countries digital TV transmitters also send a largely unmodulated pilot carrier which will serve as a good source of RF power. In theory FM broadcast transmitters and similar phase or frequency modulated carriers such as cell phone repeaters may be used but processing the hash requires complex Bessel function analysis which will probably defeat amateur methods. Unless there are exceptionally favourable radio horizons at both receiver and transmitter, the maximum duration of an aircraft echo is around 15 minutes. For jet aircraft flying at 600-800 km/h this translates to a distance of 150-200 km and will occur when the aircraft flies directly along the line of sight between TX and RX. This situation also produces the least Doppler shift, in some cases less than a Hz. When the aircraft's Doppler echo coincides with the TX carrier frequency, the aircraft is directly in line of sight between the RX and TX and often sidebands (50 or 60 Hz depending on the countries mains frequency) previously not visible in a waterfall display, become visible resulting from the enhancement of over 25 dB. It is interesting to note that if the RX is close to a TX (within about 50 km), overhead aircraft will produce no reflections as these aircraft are generally well above the altitude of a typical TV TX. It is thus a requirement for an overhead aircraft to produce an echo that a reasonably distant TX illuminates toe overhead aircraft. Also, one is inclined to overestimate the distance to the aircraft creating echoes. If two separated TXs are locked together in precision offset all information necessary to calculate the exact position and speed of an aircraft is available, but I have not gone into this. I've placed the results in the form of an article (366 kB in PDF form) on my ham website at: http://www.qsl.net/zs6bte/Aircraft%20echoes%20from%20TV%20transmitters20at%20VHF%20and%20UHF.pdf (the entire URL without breaks may be copied to the address bar of your browser) (Ian Roberts, April 24, skywavesdx via Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) Curtis Sadowski wrote [sic]: ``Unless there are exceptionally favourable radio horizons at both receiver and transmitter, the maximum duration of an aircraft echo is around 15 minutes. For jet aircraft flying at 600-800 km/h this translates to a distance of 150-200 km and will occur when the aircraft flies directly along the line of sight between TX and RX. This situation also produces the least Doppler shift, in some cases less than a Hz. When the aircraft's Doppler echo coincides with the TX carrier frequency, the aircraft is directly in line of sight between the RX and TX and often sidebands (50 or 60 Hz depending on the countries mains frequency) previously not visible in a waterfall display, become visible resulting from the enhancement of over 25 dB.`` Interesting. I see the doppler lines intersect with the carrier of ch 2 in Montreal all the time. Now I know that when this happens, the jet is directly in line with the receiver and transmitter. ``It is interesting to note that if the RX is close to a TX (within about 50 km), overhead aircraft will produce no reflections as these aircraft are generally well above the altitude of a typical TV TX. It is thus a requirement for an overhead aircraft to produce an echo that a reasonably distant TX illuminates toe overhead aircraft.`` I assumed that the planes causing this echo were in the vicinity of BDL (Bradley Int.), but that's not true. They are probably up in Northern Massachusetts on the E-W flight path (Boston to Fitchburg and west to Albany). I guess this isn't really DX related stuff but it does answer a couple of questions. It's something to look at when there's no DX and you're bored silly (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.) Of course, I didn't write it, that fellow down in South Africa did (Curtis Sadowski, ibid.) Spectrum Lab Carrier Measurement Take a look at this webpage and see if makes sense to any of you. http://pages.cthome.net/fmdx/speclab/ Todd gave me a little help with this last summer, I think, but I'm not sure if I got it down correctly. If anybody finds I wrote anything completely wrong, omitted something useful or makes this procedure even more confusing than it should be, post it on the list and I can correct what I wrote. The European guys (the heavy hitters, anyway) use this method to try to determine what stations are out there. It might come in handy with Central American and South American DX for us here. Worth discussing??? (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, WTFDA via DXLD) That's great Mike, Couldn't be without Spectrum Lab to see weak signals start up. Helps a lot with African TEP, etc., and double hop Es signals here in Portugal. You can also use it with any of the global tuners on their site. The Vero Beach FL receiver (seems down at the moment) normally has the LP analogue FL ch 2 there and a few hundred Hz below it MS pings from Dominican republic ch 2. Antenna is normally a discone with most of the receivers which is a shame. Rome, Italy often gets evening TEP from Cameroon on E2 48.25 MHz video and the Broome Australia and Hong Kong ones can produce all sorts of DX; pity no video possible. They do suffer in general from pc spurs, though, which show up as small solid single lines in place on SL (Hugh Hoover, Portugal, ibid.) A little more: http://pages.cthome.net/fmdx/speclab/SL2.htm Listening to a 1000hz tone for a couple of hours can give you a splitting headache (Mike B, Enfield, CT, ibid.) [ICDX] Peak Amplitude Of Solar Cycle 24 Hi folks, I found this article that uses a (new) precursor method to predict the amplitude of solar cycle 24: http://www.ann-geophys.net/28/417/2010/angeo-28-417-2010.html These authors have shown that the monthly smoothed SSN (sunspot number) at a time three years before the minimum or its rate of decrease during those three years is best correlated to the amplitude of the succeeding cycle using SSN data for 23 cycles since 1750. Thus the probability is high that solar cycle 24's peak smoothed SSN will be 84 +/- 24, provided sunspot minimum actually occurred in Dec 2008. regards, Tony (via Curits Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) SOLAR DYNAMICS OBSERVATORY RELEASES FIRST PICTURES NASA has unveiled the first images from a new satellite designed to predict disruptive solar storms, and scientists say they're already learning new things. Researchers showed off brightly colored images and short movie clips of the sun from the Solar Dynamics Observatory in a webcast Wednesday. The satellite was launched Feb. 11. Dean Pesnell, the chief scientist, says it already has disproved at least one theory, but he didn't give any details. Richard Fisher, director of NASA's heliophysics division, says the satellite is operating flawlessly. It carries three instrument packages, one built by the University of Colorado's Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics and two built by Lockheed Martin in Palo Alto, Calif. http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/04/21/science/AP-US-Solar-Observatory.html?partner=rss&emc=rss Also take a look at: http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/ (via Kirk Allen, Pasadena, TX, April 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) SUN POISED TO ERUPT ? SpaceWeather.com speculates that the Sun may be poised to erupt again. They say that already this month, the sun has produced two of the biggest eruptions in years on April 13 and 19 when magnetic filaments became unstable and exploded. A prominence on the eastern limb of the sun apparently resembles the precursors of those two earlier blasts, see picture at http://www.spaceweather.com/images2010/26apr10/eit304.gif?PHPSESSID=b9shrb1mtopof4momnd65bu8d6 SpaceWeather http://www.spaceweather.com (Southgate http://www.southgatearc.org/news/april2010/sun_poised_to_erupt.htm via Mike Terry, April 27, dxldyg via DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to minor storm levels during the period. The geomagnetic field was initially at quiet levels from 19-21 April, but became unsettled late on 22 April due to the arrival of a coronal hole high-speed stream. Minor storm to active levels were observed early on 23 April due to elevated wind speeds of 468 km/s and sustained negative Bz of -8 nT, both observed at the ACE spacecraft. On 24 April, mostly quiet level were observed, with the exception of isolated active to minor storm levels observed at middle latitudes due to nighttime sub-storming. The remainder of the summary period was quiet. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 28 APRIL - 24 MAY 2010 Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels with possible isolated periods of low levels during the forecast period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal background levels through most of the period. However, moderate to high flux levels are possible during 05-08 May. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels from 28-29 April due to a coronal hole high-speed stream. Quiet conditions are expected during 30 April- 03 May. Generally unsettled levels are expected for 04-05 May due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Quiet levels are expected to prevail from 06-19 May. Generally unsettled levels are expected for 20-21 May due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Activity is expected to return to quiet levels during the remainder of the period 22-24 May. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2010 Apr 27 1851 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 2010 Apr 27 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2010 Apr 28 75 7 3 2010 Apr 29 78 7 3 2010 Apr 30 80 5 2 2010 May 01 80 5 2 2010 May 02 80 5 2 2010 May 03 80 8 3 2010 May 04 80 15 4 2010 May 05 80 10 4 2010 May 06 80 5 2 2010 May 07 80 5 2 2010 May 08 80 5 2 2010 May 09 80 5 2 2010 May 10 80 5 2 2010 May 11 80 5 2 2010 May 12 78 5 2 2010 May 13 75 5 2 2010 May 14 75 5 2 2010 May 15 75 5 2 2010 May 16 75 5 2 2010 May 17 75 5 2 2010 May 18 75 5 2 2010 May 19 75 5 2 2010 May 20 75 8 3 2010 May 21 75 8 3 2010 May 22 75 5 2 2010 May 23 75 5 2 2010 May 24 75 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1510, DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Well you have to LOVE reading ideas from uneducated religious zealots who were indoctrinated with ignorance from the moment they began forming memories. Science vs. Religion comes down to one simple principle: Do you prefer your assumptions of the universe to be backed up with millions of facts and testable experiments? or do you prefer to make the claim that you "know" something about life based on to some stories that some humans wrote back when we thought lightning was the wrath of God striking down those who speak against him? Well, we now have an answer for what lightning is, because science gave it to us. Religion is a crutch that the human race used to explain the world around us before we had real answers. So what if there are some holes in scientific theories. There are still millions of pieces of evidence that point towards a conclusive answer and that is millions of pieces of evidence more than ANY religion can claim. Religion does not even make an attempt to find facts, it simply makes up what it wants and says believe it without any evidence at all. How is that a good thing? Do you make decisions about your life based on something random people tell you on the street today? So why would you make choices about life based on something someone said 2,000 years ago!? Never once has science ever made an attempt to disprove god. Science simply looks for facts and guess what, the facts are not in favor of religion. If someone told you they were, you should seriously question that persons critical thinking ability. Gods retreat from science because religion does not stand up to critical analysis in any capacity. Science is always changing into a better picture of existence as we gain better understanding of the world around us, something religion can not offer. It simply says, "Believe this," even though there is tangible, proven-by-repetition experiments that say otherwise on a continual basis. Religion makes the claim of being the divine inspired word of god, so how could it be wrong? I guess we should keep slaves, rape women, and stone our children to death when they talk back, cause guess what, that is exactly what the Bible tells us to do. The Koran even tells us to kill everyone who doesn't believe the same thing you do. Hell, religion even has the audacity to stand there and not only say "I am right." but also "You are wrong" to other religions. Then talk trash about Atheists. Guess what, Christians, you ARE atheists already. Every world religion you attempt to discredit makes you part atheist. Can't pick your battles. Argue with THAT. You can't, because you have no basis in fact when you argue for a religion. You only have sensational stories from a long time ago and your only source is the religious texts that you bought hook, line and sinker from people who bought it too. Science is, pure and simple, our best guess at the way the universe works based on the evidence we have collected (Blake Rizzo, April 26, 2010 2:32 AM BST on community.timesonline.co.uk http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/science/space/article7107207.ece via DXLD) ###