DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-15, April 14, 2011 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 2011 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html Searchable 2010 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid0.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 WORLD OF RADIO 1560 HEADLINES: *Radio Australia ``renovated`` *Radio Bulgaria testing lower power *English from Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Mongolia, Taiwan, Vatican *The Met on shortwave *More news from: Albania, Antarctica, Australia, Bolivia, Central African Republic, Ethiopia, Guatemala, Korea North, Netherlands, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Sarawak and non, Sudan non, UK, USA SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1560, April 14-20, 2011 Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Thu 1500 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Thu 2100 WRMI 9955 Fri 0330 WWRB 2390 5050 Fri 1430 WRMI 9955 Fri 2030 WWCR1 7465 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1400 WRMI 9955 Sat 1600 WWCR2 12160 Sat 1730 WRMI 9955 [pre-empted last week] Sat 1800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 1566 1368 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WRMI 9955 Sun 1730 WRMI 9955 Mon 1130 WRMI 9955 Mon 2130 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 0100 WRMI 9955 Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 2100 WBCQ 7415 [or 2115, or 2130] Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html 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/09:00:00UTC/English/541 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg without delay. When applying, please identify yourself with your real name and location, and say something about why you want to join. Those who do not, unless I recognize them, will be prompted once to do so and no action will be taken otherwise. Here`s where to sign up: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** AFGHANISTAN. T6, (Press Release #2). Paul, N6PSE, Co-Leader of the T6PSE DXpedition, reports: "The Intrepid-DX Group continues to move forward with our plans to conduct a DXpedition from Afghanistan to take place during ten days in May of 2011. Due to security concerns, the exact dates and location of the DXpedition will not be announced until the eve of our activation. The team is closely monitoring the security situation and events in the news coming from Afghanistan. Unless conditions worsen in the comings weeks, our plans are a go! Our primary objective is to activate Afghanistan with a goal of providing as many DXers as possible a 'new one' with this rare DXCC entity and, as a secondary objective, to give as many band-slots as possible. We will focus on North and South America during those periods when propagation is possible to those areas. We anticipate that we will be working EU amateur stations nearly around the clock, but we will ask for their cooperation to allow us to work North and South America during those brief periods each day when propagation will permit us to work those far away regions. The team consists of eight operators including: Co-Leader Paul Ewing/ N6PSE, Co-Leader David Collingham/K3LP, Hrane Milosevic/YT1AD, Krassy Petkov/K1LZ, Al Hernandez/K3VN, David Flack/AH6HY, Alex Pavlenko/UX0LL and David Ritchie/W6DR. You can find out more about our plans at: http://www.intrepid-dx.com/t6pse/index.php Thank you, Paul S. Ewing/N6PSE, Co-Leader T6PSE DXpedition" (The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1006 April 11, 2011, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD ** ALBANIA [and non]. 13640, checking again April 8 the unexpected AIR interference to R. Tirana, English to North America at 2000-2030: At 1920, 13640 has poor signal mix of the two Arabic stations. 1958, India in French is very poor but reads S9+10 peaks. *1959, RT comes on with carrier at S9+15, but less modulation more than makes up for the slightly stronger signal, making AIR and RT roughly equal in sound, both unusable. 2012, both are playing music, a mess. 2020, both are talking, also a mess. There is a rippling subaudible heterodyne between them, maybe circa 15 Hz apart, which adds to the annoyance. 2028:30* RT carrier goes off, AIR now in the clear. During this half- hour, of course, // 7465 is not audible here, not an alternative. 13640, R. Tirana English to NAm and Europe, April 9 at 1845-1857:40*, typically ending at least two minutes before the hour/half hour, still has co-channel QRM from All India Radio, also causing a rippling SAH. Altho R. Tirana is slightly stronger here, an unacceptable collision. If AIR continues to be unresponsive about this usurpation, R. Tirana will have to move to another 13 MHz frequency for this and the 2000 broadcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still both on 13640 at 1845 April 13. R. Tirana is expected to QSY to another 13 MHz frequency, since there has been no response from India (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Tirana, Shijak transmitter site, 9860, 2145 UT April 12, 34433, Albanian Talk by man, possible news. S-8 signal but extremely low modulation (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwiren 40 feet high, Running East to West, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) ** ALBANIA [and non]. INDIA/ALBANIA/GERMANY, 13640 kHz tonight April 12, 18.39 to 19.00 UT. Radio Tirana Shijak TX started signing-on - carrier only - at 1839:45 UT. Signal strength is S=9+30dB tonight from Albania. At Netherlands remote Perseus rx unit Shijak carrier covers AIR Arabic service totally, but AIR is heard underneath, with a slight heterodyne of 41 Hertz frequency difference. Measured both signals on 13640 kHz channel tonight: RT Shijak on approx. 13639.972 kHz AIR Bangalore approx. 13640.013 kHz. At 1844:20 UT Radio Tirana interval signal started English program. After RT program and close announcement at 1857:05 UT, the tx at Shijak switched off suddenly at 1857:14 UT. btw. also Media & Broadcast Cologne changed their 13640 kHz usage of tonight, "Radio Dardasha 7" program at Wertachtal on 13740 kHz at 1900-1930 UT, instead of 13640 kHz. Wertachtal transmitter 13740.000 kHz 125 kW, carrier switched on at 1859:40 UT like at crash start, signal strength in Europe and Iceland around S=9+10dB, despite signal is beamed southwards at 180 degrees to the Muslim world. Hopefully Radio Tirana will follow soon, to avoid brutal interference by AIR India. 13640v RT English at 2025-2029 UT. Equal signal level of AIR French and RT English. S=9+25dB. Approximate RT Shijak 13639.965 kHz AIR 13640.013 End of RT interval signal at 2028:10 UT. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, April 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, after appearing April 6 for the first time in almost 5 months, LRA36 gone again as eagerly sought 24 hours later, no signal, not even a carrier detected April 7 at 1237, 1300, 1320, 1334, 1353, 1404, 1410, 1430. Perhaps yesterday was just a test. No reply to my e-mail inquiry (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) They had damage to antenna, now solved. Today on the air only in FM for trouble to shortwave transmitter. They hope to solve in few hours (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, 1532 UT April 7, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, LRA36 still missing April 8, after sudden appearance April 6, and absence April 7. Roberto Scaglione says they were working on fixing antenna and transmitter problems. On April 8 I checked repeatedly at 1255, 1330, 1409, 1417, 1447 and never heard even a carrier, tho propagation was poor. Harold Frodge, reporting to DXLD, also looked for it recently at later hours, and indeed they might have the transmitter on beyond previous regular schedule while they are testing and repairing: ``15476, 2156, 5-Apr; Weak het only centering about 15476. Not there at 2315. No het detected at 1700 or 2129, 6-Apr or 1824, 7-Apr (Frodge-MI)`` By ``het`` he means carrier. 15476, no carrier from LRA36, Monday April 11 at 1308, 1418, 1456 checks. Still waiting for them to resume regular operation after the surprise re-appearance (test?) April 6. 15476, April 12, guess what? Still no LRA36 carrier at 1255, 1407 chex (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, RN [Arcángel] San Gabriel. April, 12 2035-2102 Argentinean folk music selections, no talks. Presumed local engine noise QRN until 2044, around 2047 signal fails, at peak 44344. 73’s (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Off-time, for test only? I'm hearing pop music on 15476 this morning, (1206-1215 UT 13APR11) at nice, but not strong, level. Surely is LRA36 RN San Gabriel, Antarctica?! 73, (Bruce Winkelman AA5CO, Tulsa OK, TenTec Jupiter, Zero-5 43 foot vertical, Par EndFedz, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, April 13 Heard; no, detected, this morning in Whitby ON on the Perseus at SA level, but with a clear trace peaking at a bearing of 170 degrees. TI around 1230Z, but they left the air suddenly at 1250. Perseus and Kiwa mod 535D to Pixel RF-1A loop. Detected all last season, but never to audio level. Peak signal here in the Good Ole Days was always after 1900Z, so encouraged (a little) by yesterday's test (Tony Ward (VE3NO) nr Toronto, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I started checking at 1257 and no trace of LRA36 during the following hour. Wonder what their new schedule will turn out to be: 15476, April 13 at 1257, 1325 and 1357, not even a carrier detectable from LRA36 --- However, Bruce Winkelman in Tulsa was hearing it a bit earlier, at 1206-1215, and Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec in Embu, SP, Brasil, the day before at 2035-2102 --- so still testing, or what will their complete new schedule be? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) One trouble a week; this time a power trouble, non totally solved. They hope to be regularly on the air tomorrow 1230-1500 UT (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, April 13, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, LRA36 finally back in business, following sporadic logs of it past two days, and Roberto Scaglione`s news that they hoped to have all the problems solved by April 14 for 1230-1500 transmissions (presumably M-F only) --- 1228 tune-in April 14 to open carrier, fading up from S6 to peaks of S9+10. 1229 YL says ``Transmite LRA36 . . . 15476``. Copy is still marginal but definite. Into music, 1234 ID also mentioning full name ``Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel`` (people tend to leave out the middle word, for some reason, but I still heard it), ``Antártida Argentina . . . el futuro. . .``. More talk mixed with music. 1238 ``saludos . . . nuestras operadoras``. 1239 introducing Señora ---, who says she has ``41 años, soy enfermera [nurse]``. 1242 a male voice is heard briefly, the only one. 1243 weakening, vocal song. Generally mix of music and talk; 1312 YL seems named Lidia; 1313 giving some numbers, phone? And something .com.ar At 1316 I was surprised to hear a couple of fast CW messages ending with K. I had BFO on, but did not want to touch it, so not certain whether this was QRM or something they sent. 1317 music with heavy beat, 1330 announcement, and checked 15480 UK signal, which was steadier at S9+5 but no problem for 15476. On this auspicious reinauguration occasion, I stayed on 15476 for a full hour, passing up my usual bandscanning, but reception waned. Occasional chex later found at 1403 still carrier but S3 to S7 max with little audio; 1422 quick CW occurred again. Esperanza Base is about latitude 63 which puts it outside the Antarctic Circle, and closer to the Equator than Reykjavik, Umea, Arkhangelsk, Anadyr, Unalakleet, Iqaluit. Then we hear from Roberto Scaglione, recorded in Sicily? Only music 1210-1230 UT, regularly on the air. First 11 minutes are available on http://www.bclnews.it/110414-15476-1230z.mp3 Listening to that, there is a lot of spoken info, not just music. The three women announcing ``en la producción y conducción`` are Lidia Guzmán, Mónica García [the 41-year-old nurse], and Vanesa ---. Their husbands are involved in base support., etc. They agree they are at 63 degrees south, and the schedule after this `first broadcast` is M-F 9:30-12 [1230-1500 UT]. Also mentioned names of several other people involved including: Dirección, Teniente Coronel Guillermo Bolger(?); Coordinación General de la Radio, Teniente Coronel Pablo González. Phone 0810-222-0760 (or 0770?), and added 02-16, as extension? Totally different from the one in WRTH 2011. E-mail LRA36 @ infovia.com.ar which is the address I have used twice recently without any reply (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. 11755, R. Sadaye Zindagi via Armenia: Apr 01 1523-1529* 24332 Dari, Talk and music, Closing announce, IS, 1529 sign off. Apr 03 *1459-1507 35232 Dari, 1459 sign on with announce by man, IS, Opening music, Opening announce, Talk, Apr 05 *1459-1511 35433 Dari, 1459 sign on with IS, ID, Opening announce, Talk Apr 06 *1459-1510 35433 Dari, 1459 sign on with IS, ID, Opening announce, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium April 8 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Hi Gle[n]n - this is my very first report [3210-3480 kHz], all 17 Mar: [see also PAPUA NEW GUINEA] 1146, Gospel Radio 3210 Schofields NSW Australia 59+10 Rig: Perseus + 20m vertical. (various other receivers/antennas) 73 (Nick VK2DX, Sydney, Australia, April 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5050, from 0943 to 1030, April 7. EZL instrumental music; man (Australian accent) and woman announcers; 0949 into segment of pop songs (Aretha Franklin “Respect”, Chicago “Does Anyone Really Know What Time It Is?”, Johnny Cash, etc.); between songs gave local time; a historical item with dates; 1025 local news (something about a security guard; a police report; etc.); by 1030 BBR QRM was coming up. Unable to make out any ID, so is there a station name now? Thanks to Ian Baxter (Australia) for the timely alert! Poor reception, but still a pleasant surprise on a day that had stupendously good Pacific and Asia propagation. Audio at http://www.box.net/shared/kyzkgof6g2 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) VKD963 Ozyradio --- Hi Glenn, Was very happy to log the low powered Australian station on 5050 today and now thanks to Ian Baxter, I have an informative unofficial e-QSL. Do not imagine I will have many more sessions as good as today (Ron Howard, San Francisco, CA, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ######## QSL ######## Hi Ron, Pleased to know that you can receive [Ozyradio]: (owner label for radio & not necessarily what the station will eventually ID itself as), from the USA. The station presently broadcasts with just 300 Watts. I can confirm that you did indeed receive VKD963 Ozyradio on 5050 kHz based on your program description & MP3 file at the time of reception. Presently Ozyradio don't actually have live announcers. Programming is 100% automated. Time announcements & news feeds are current, but automated. Sorry to say there are presently no station IDs. The dipole transmission antenna is now 13m above the ground. I suggested to the owner during the previous broadcast to get the dipole up up up & away from obstructions. Signal is now getting out with good local reports over eastern Australia & now making it to the USA as I'd hoped. Again, well done Ron on your reception. Regards, Ian Baxter (via Ron Howard, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5050, Ozyradio not heard on April 8; about 1025 started to hear Beibu Bay Radio (BBR) fading in; clearly nothing else there. I was lucky to have caught them yesterday! (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) OZ RADIO, 9+ on 5050 here in NZ. Male voice saying "We play the best Australian Country Music" at 0755 Z and at 0807 "100% Australian Classics" followed by Rolf Harris (FurlX April 9, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5050, Ozyradio, 0956-1026, April 9. Back on the air again after being off yesterday; reception poorer than heard on the 7th; pop songs and announcers; mixing with Beibu Bay Radio (BBR) (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 11-14: 5050 kHz AUS - back on & better --- So is that its proper name now, Ozyradio, or just another nick? (gh) Hi Glenn, When I contacted station owner Craig some weeks ago, I enquired about a station name. He gave it as 'Ozyradio'. One of his emails incorporates that name. 'Ozyradio' doesn't exist as a registered business name. Nor do I necessarily believe that the on-air station name/ID will eventually be 'Ozyradio', but given what Craig has said, let's refer to these broadcasts by that name until normal programming commences. Best regards (Ian Baxter, NSW, April 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3210 also transmitting & parallel with 5050 kHz. I believe 3210 transmission recommenced April 9th. As previously reported in DXLD YG, now definitely IDing as "OzyRadio"; as per advisement from owner to me last month. Presently playing Aussie music mix from as far back as 60's era (I. Baxter, NSW, 2011-04-10 0808 UT, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ozy Radio - Ian's Juicy Bits --- I recently received some feedback to an email from Craig, the owner `Ozy Radio', which I thought I would pass onto the sw community. 1. The SW outlets 5050 and 2355 kHz (latter frequency yet to commence) will be used for `Ozy Radio' 50s, 60s & 70s music along with local news & Information. 2. Craig is currently building a higher gain antenna for 5050 kHz (which is why it's now off air – [Ian]). It is hoped that the new antenna will provide better daytime reception. Also a new SW transmitter is currently being built for 2355 kHz. This new low frequency will be used for local (100 km) night time reception of our (Aussie music program) service. [I expect this transmitter to also be located in Sydney - Ian] 3. The current 3210 kHz service will eventually be used for a bible reading religious service as QRM is high in suburbia and a voice only service would be received better in these areas (plasma TVs main cause). 4. I asked Craig about how he will finance the stations. He says: "Main source of income will be me! and maybe I will sell some air time." 5. On air ID is confirmed as 'Ozy Radio' 6. A website is coming. I'll release details later [Ian] 7. When asked about QSL cards, Craig says : "I'm currently having some QSL cards printed…….." Ian: Expect an announcement from John Wright of the ARDXC with details about Reception Reports/QSL procedure for Ozy Radio in the near future. Ian: As at 0712 UT on April 12, 2011 'Ozy Radio' is off air on all frequencies. Might be a while before normal transmissions & programming commences (or progress beyond the testing phase), but it seams like things are progressing well for Craig's new venture with OzyRadio. I wish him well (Ozyradio & Ian Baxter, April 12, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. HCA A11 schedule - pdf version with language details is now available for download after a reminder sent to HCA y'day : http://www.hcjb.org.au/docs/A11_Schedule_HCJB_Australia_20110327-20111029.pdf Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why not add a letter and call it HCJB? Some changes in timing for DX Partyline, their only program worth semi-listening to, had already been included in our DX/SW/MEDIA PROGRAMS schedule (gh) HCJB Australia Newsletter April 2011 http://www.hcjb.org.au/docs/140_Voice_and_Hands_Newsletter_HCJB_Australia_April_2011.pdf Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) Excerpt: THE RUN HOME FROM THE CEO HCJB Australia, PO Box 291, Kilsyth Victoria 3137 Tel: 03 8720 8000 Fax: 03 8720 8020 Email: office@hcjb.org.au LEFT: Installing mains cable into new TX building [captions] ABOVE: Cleaning components for container in Ecuador --- April 2011 Dear Friends, Grace and Peace to you. HCJB Australia is part of a global community committed to reaching unreached people groups with the gospel. Our mission is to serve with global partners as the Voice and Hands of Jesus. For Australia the emphasis is on being the Voice of Jesus through our shortwave radio broadcasting to the Asia Pacific region. 21 languages, 15 hours a day, every day. It is your support that has made our efforts to date so successful, so let me bring you up to date on our activities. All the materials required for the installation of our new power line have now arrived in Kununurra and are being assembled at the Horizon Power depot. Praise God that this is paid for! The start of this year though has been tough financially and we face significant expenses over the coming weeks. This is the year we make our push to begin broadcasting from Lot 3000 Packsaddle Road, Kununurra, our new facility. It is our intention to install our third HC100 transmitter into the new transmitter building and have it ready to broadcast by October this year. But there are a number of incidental items needed to make this possible. The following is just a sample: »» Helium and Phillystran cable for antenna elements $20,088 »» Circuit breakers $2,000 »» Connecting the new mains power line to the switchboard $16,000 »» Transportation of the refurbished HC100 to Kununurra from the USA $10,000 »» Retrieval of antenna components from Ecuador via shipping container $16,000 »» Crimp Lugs for electrical fit out of building $1,850 »» A new high pressure cleaner $1,000 Incidentally, our third HC100 will not only be able to broadcast in an analogue signal but also in digital! What this means is a higher quality signal (FM quality) at less cost! May God bless and encourage you in the days ahead. Yours in Christ Jesus, Dale Stagg (HCJB Australia Newsletter via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Tuned across R. Australia on 9500 on 10 April at 2105 just in time to hear them announcing that the R. Australia is undergoing what they term as a "Renovation". Checked the webpages at http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/renovate/ and sure enough changes are happening. There'll be nine audio channels on the web: English for Asia English for the Pacific Burmese Chinese French Indonesian Khmer Tok Pisin Vietnamese ... so two separate English channels online, which looking at the schedules are partly in parallel, and partly break away for specific Asian and Pacific programming. Details at http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/universal.htm It is not clear at the moment how this works for the shortwave frequencies - i.e. whether the frequencies carry seperate programming on different frequencies for Asia and for Pacific (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, April 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I would think so, Alan, Pacific Beat has always been carried only on the frequencies for the Pacific. I'd noticed this quite often at 0700 IIRC where Pacific Beat was audible in the UK on 9710 whereas 11945 had different talk programming. On the new schedule I see Pacific Beat is at 0500 (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) THE DUMBING-DOWN OF RADIO AUSTRALIA: One of the few bright spots on the SW dial in our mornings (in English with a strong signal) has been RA, with a variety of intellexually- stimulating or at least meaningful ABC feature programs on weekdays between 13 and 15 UT. Monday April 11 I tune in 9580 at 1345 expecting to hear ``Innovations``, but instead: YL DJ is jabbering about the local times in various Pacificasian cities where RA has FM relays, such as Port Moresby 101.9; then pop music outroed at 1350 as by Melbourne band Electric Empire; temps in cities as far as Tokyo. Mentions she is hosting this new program in the wee hours, asks for SMS messages. 1359 says something about RA being made over into a ``brighter radio``! Still news at 1400, anyway, after 9580 has closed but still on 9590; at 1405 instead of `Big Ideas`, right back to this ``overnight show`` with frequencies 107 in Honiara, 103 in Port Vila, 102.1 in Lae, wants text messages to +61 427 72 72 72. Would someone please tell her to go away and put `Big Ideas` back on shortwave, at least??? She is ``all about connecting with you, the listener``. 1408 starts to play wrong track, ``the beauty of live radio, the unexpected``. Strike RA as anything worth listening to. I hope they still haven`t canned ``Late Night Live``, superb discussion show in the 12-13 hour, which I last heard on Thursday. OMG, ``Late Night Live`` is no longer among the L`s in program list http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/ Just Live Talk-this, and Live Talk-that. I expect we can still find LNL on ABC domestic webcasts. Indeed, the program sked at http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/universal.htm now shows ``Live Talk`` English for Asia, M-F at 1230-1530 and also at 05-08 and 09-12, plus some other times. A few of the old ABC feature shows still appear between 16 and 18, deep in the night / day. The official term for this revolting development is not ``dumbing- down`` but ``Renovating``: http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/renovate/ ``Over the coming weeks and months you'll begin to notice changes to Radio Australia. We're renovating to be more relevant and immediate in our coverage of breaking news, major stories, activities and events as they occur around Asia, the Pacific and Australia. Through this renovation we'll provide new improved opportunities for sharing, participating and collaborating, as well as a new look, style and feel. Preview the new Radio Australia. You can now preview our new program schedule featuring nine live audio streams, which will be live from 11 April across Asia and the Pacific. Below you can also preview how the new site is shaping up. During the renovation we'd like to hear what you think makes a great website. You can let us know by visiting our contact us page. . .`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) "Late Night Live" seems to have been a casualty, as well. "Asia Pacific" comes on at 1200 and the mindless lady DJ comes on at 1230 (Mark Coady, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks to Glenn Hauser for the heads up on this. Radio Australia's website mentions the are "renovating". They have become "revolting". Gone from (local time in Eastern North America) our mid-mornings are excellent programs like "Late Night Live" and "Innovations". At 1230 a program listed as "Live Talk (English for Asia)" comes on with a lady DJ with pop music and mindless small talk. Camilla Benson is the DJ and calls the program "Radio Australia Overnight" (Mark Coady, NASWA yg via DXLD) FYI. "Late Night Live" remains on RN and is available live and on- demand via RN. "Innovations" has been moved to times that don't propagate well to Eastern North America. I'd mentioned at the ODXA and NASWA groups that this could be related to an evaluation of tastes in RA's "target audiences" -- North America isn't a target for them (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) It would be interesting to understand the rationale, as "Late Night Live" still appears on the Radio National schedule, airing at 1000 UT and 0600 UT the next day. It's also available on-demand and via download / podcast. Nor has "Innovations" been cancelled, it's just moved. We'd likely hear it on shortwave (were propagation to cooperate at that hour...) at 1700 UT Tuesdays and 1630 UT Sundays. It could be that old bugaboo about "target demographics..." that RA is thinking that younger people in the Pacific Islands would rather hear "Live Talk" than "Late Night Live". RA has made it clear for several years that North America is not a target region for them; any reception we get should be considered "gravy"... (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, NASWA yg via DXLD) I think you have it pretty well nailed, Rich. RA has been doing a lot of research into what works (and doesn't) in their target areas. The use of Radio National and other domestic network content was always seen as a stopgap measure until RA had the resources to -- once again -- support its entire 24 hour schedule. (You might recall that, at one time, it did.) There was a question some years ago as to whether it should go back to a daypart schedule (i.e.: less than 24/7) or stick with a full time service. It opted for the latter, added a ton of domestic content and began lobbying the government for more funds. It has steadily cut back on domestic content as it has expanded its "home grown" product. It will still use a few programs from Radio National and is now partnering with ABC Newsradio (which has recently had its own challenges) for five hours a day; but the "renovation" is intended to cut out an identity for the station that allows it to effectively compete with audiences in its target area (Asia and Pacific, especially in population centers where it has 24/7 FM accessibility) leveraging its known strengths -- its authori[ta]tive (in the region) news service and audience interaction shows. Hence the new emphasis on "talk" programming -- which frankly resembles the kind of radio we once had here -- conversation, music, phone-in, variety type stuff. Parenthetically, they now have two separate streams (programs are sometimes identical), one carrying the Asian service, the other the Pacific service which will be reflected on the shortwave frequencies as well. (We, owing to geography and propagation, will get only the Pacific service for the most part.) They've also eliminated the "Multilingual" stream and replaced it with individual streams for all their non-English language services (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, internetradio via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) If I recall correctly the web stream (up till now) was the Asia focused programming. The Pacific schedule - which we hear via SW - didn't always line up. For the past few years they have had two different schedules. RC (Richard Cuff, ODXA yg via DXLD) I'll be mainly pissed if I can't listen to Saturday Night Country on SW with my Saturday morning coffee while checking, e-mails and Lotto Max results (Mark Coady, ibid.) Looks like you're OK, Mark -- it's showing in the Pacific stream (what we'd get on SW) from 1200 to 1600 UT. http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/universal.htm?tab=stream_RAS1 The show is also available on-demand in one-hour chunks here: http://www.abc.net.au/snc/listen.htm Best of luck with the Lotto! RC (Richard Cuff / Allentown, ibid.) One qualification: The two English language streams are identical for only portions of the day. They diverge when separate programs are scheduled for each region (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. According to the ORF website the brief English news should now be on at 0610 UT, Mon-Fri, 6155 kHz. Presumedly [sic], in the Fall, it will move back to one hour later (Harold Sellers, Editor of World English Survey and Target Listening, available at http://www.odxa.on.ca April 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Better tune in at 0608 or miss most of it, followed by French. I still wonder if they also insert it into the otherwise German to Americas in the evenings like they used to, 9820 thrice at 0000-0130, but have not got around to monitoring that. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Another web-based English language ORF news program appears on the youth-oriented service, FM4. There's a two-hour, midday news program called "Reality Check" that airs 12 - 2 PM local time weekdays, which would be 1000-1200 UT. There is a single-themed one-hour edition on Saturdays at 12 noon local / 1000 UT. URL: http://fm4.orf.at/radio/stories/fm4realitycheck The podcast from Friday, April 8th runs 17+ minutes, obviously not the whole program. "Reality Check" has a global remit; so not sure how much Austrian news is on the program (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, dxldyg via DXLD) The three minutes around 0608/0609 does not have an ``Austrian remit`` either, except for quick weather summary, mainly world news headlines intended for domestic audience. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) There's about 12 hours give or take of English programming on FM4, with newscasts and the aforementioned "Reality Check" program. It is a bilingual channel intended for the youth and young adult audience with a mix of music and information pieces, including some wide- ranging discussions in the studio among the on-air staff. "You're at Home, Baby" is its catch phrase (for want of a better characterization). The format reminds me a little of Australian ABC's triple J (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) Have these English news ever been included in the transmissions to overseas target areas? I'm not aware of such a practice. Background: 6155 now carries Ö1, as on FM/satellite/webstream, and it is on air at the same local time around the year. The other transmissions have after the news a playout of recorded programming. Inserting the English and French news from the morning would presumably be an additional hassle, perhaps even requiring to extract them with an audio editor from the recorded program output. The English programming on FM4 is a political matter, it results from the circumstance that FM4 replaced the former Blue Danube Radio which had extensive English content. Here in Germany Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk used for some time to broadcast English news on its MDR Sputnik program, out of an idea that this could attract listeners at Leipzig which MDR Sputnik reaches on FM. But all this is history since last autumn, following a reformatting to mainstream CHR (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, certainly, as I stated in my inquiry whether they are still doing it. This was reported repeatedly in DXLD at the time. When External English broadcasts ceased, the 3-minute news from the morning domestic service were included in the evening broadcasts to the Americas, additional hassle or not (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) So a bit longer ago, at a point when this was still kind of a real ORF service. After the latest cuts, with brought the usage of 6155 down to the current 70/75 minutes in the morning, ORF is basically out of the game and nobody there really in charge for a shortwave service anymore. I understand the situation to be such that they only provide the modulation for a kind of legacy service, necessary because the Moosbrunn facilities are for external representation of Austria and may not be operated exclusively for foreign clients (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) ** BANGLADESH. Re 11-14: They will use the new transmitter in 2011 with connect to present curtain antennas. And from spring 2012 use mostly the new Thomcast revolvable antenna to very different direction targets. And save a lot of money in future too, no to refurbish work on the old curtain dipoles anymore. BGD Kabirpur site contains 10 SW curtains, 4 MW masts at 24 00 27.63 N 90 15 13.24 E which transmitter center inaugurated since 1983 year, see (Wolfgang Büschel, April 4,, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews 13 April via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. These logs are a bit dated, but I thought I would post them anyway. All are gleaned from my Perseus recordings during a DXpedition to Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park in western Tennessee on March 12-13, 2011. I have many more hours of recordings to peruse, and unless anyone objects, may post more logs as time permits. The electrically quiet conditions during the DXpedition make for more enjoyable DX on these month old recordings than the QRN I usually have to deal with at the home QTH [see also BRAZIL, ECUADOR, PERU] 4699.97. BOLIVIA, R San Miguel, Riberalta, Mar 12 *0840 - OC until 0900, s/on greetings, woman with echo. Latin vocals with occasional announcement strings. Mention of R San Miguel ID finally noted at 1000, ads, followed by religious talk by man, slowly fading after 1030. Noted Mar 13 with a 0349 s/off, and a Sunday morning late 1107 s/on. 4716.69, R Yura, Aillu Yura, Mar 12 *1008 - OC until 1012, back to back rustic Andean vocals, locutora mentioning "Radio Yura, Aillu Yura" between vocals at 1022 and 1024. Brief announcement by man at 1032, then back to rustic vocals, slowly fading after 1030, fair.Also noted Mar 13 with 1005 s/on, poor. 4795.96, R Lípez, Uyuni, Mar 12 *0831 - OC until 0833, back to back Andean vocals, brief echo-heavy canned ID by man and woman at 0857 and back to vocals, canned ID again at 0926. Signal nicely peaking to a fair level with locutor and locutora at 0956, full canned ID mentioning frequencies, phone at 0957 and back to Andean vocals, brief canned ID by woman between songs. Signal fading after 1030, CODAR. Also noted Mar 13 with a 0930 s/on, although weaker. (Brandon Jordan, Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park DXpedition, Perseus SDR, 23'x112' Super KAZ Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. Radio Nacional de Huanuni has left shortwave 5964.7 for mediumwave 1260 with 10 kW. DXer Angel Oquendo, who lives in Stockholm, talks to Station Manager Rafael Linneo. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NphpEbmdseE&feature=youtube_gdata (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, April 7, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 8-minute low-quality phone conversation in Spanish which was put on the air; illustrated. Seems RNH are fans of El Che (gh, DXLD) Following item says resuming SW ``is being studied`` but has been off the air since 2000! I thought the interview mentioned until end of last year (2010), and: According to http://www.mcdxt.it/LASWLOGS.html this was last reported 10 months ago, source W = DSWCI DX Window: 5964.97v BOL R Nacional, Huanuni [2255-2342](4.88-7.93) Jun10 W SS (irr) (a)"... Bolivia ... Radio Nacional" It`s not a tropical band, so of course not covered in Tropical Bands Monitor (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Nacional de Huanuni, es la emisora de los trabajadores mineros de Huanuni del departamento de Oruro en Bolivia. Esta Radio es una de las que ha sobrevivido no solamente a las agresiones de los gobiernos golpistas, sino también a serios problemas de carácter financiero. La frecuencia de 5965 kHz se mantuvo activa hasta aproximadamente el año 2000. Ahora cuenta con un equipo nuevo de fabricación italiana de 10 kilovatios de potencia operando en la frecuencia de 1260 kHz, conforme el mismo director de la radio nos menciona. La reactivación de la frecuencia de 5965 KHz según nos afirma Rafael Lineo, está siendo estudiada. De acuerdo a un contacto reciente con el director de Radio nacional de Huanuni, la emisión de la programación será escuchada en unos días más por internet, realmente esta es una muy buena noticia, estaremos atentos. Tu quieres saber más sobre esta famosa radio minera? Encontrarás algo más en: http://sites.google.com/site/primeradelpais/home/historia-de-la-radio También puedes contactarte con la radio al teléfono que aparece en este pequeño documento. Este video tiene Copyleft; quiere decir que puedes hacer uso de él solo citando la fuente. Cordiales 73´s Angel Oquendo, Suecia, http://www.youtube.com/user/Angeldx2009 Radio Nacional de Huanuni en Facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/TELSAT-BOLIVIA/390330486227 (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, April 7, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.80, 2350-0109* 09.04, R Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Spanish, lively romantic songs, ann and closing ID: "Transmite Radio Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia", frequency ann, Andean flute and song about Santa Cruz before sign off, 44434 (Anker Petersen, here in Skovlunde, Denmark, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BONAIRE. 6215, April 9 at 0315, very poor signal in Spanish. It`s a leapfrog of RNW Bonaire 6165 over RNW 6190 in Dutch, another 25 kHz higher. Confirmed // 6215 and 6165. So add one more pair to my list of possible Bonaire leapfrogs, the other side being 6140 but likely buried by inband QRM; possible only at 0259-0327 when both 6165 and 6190 are on the air from adjacent antennas and transmitters. Tnx to Theo Donnelly, BC, for a tip on this as an unID, April 7 from *0258:30 to 0327*. In turn he was checking out another report from California, claiming that this was R. Baluarte, Argentina on 6214! Not bloody likely, a low-power pirate which no one has reported in months (years?) even from South America. Now let`s see which DX editors go ahead and publish or broadcast that item unchallenged as Baluarte? [1) Japan Premium] For the benefit of list-loggers, Aoki really ought to include these and my other computed Bonaire leapfrog frequencies, also same for Habana and Sackville, plus other notorious offending sites. Those real but unintentional transmissions would certainly be more useful than maintaining long-inactive pirates and defunct legal SW stations on the roster, not flagged as such. BTW, I am not a hard-liner against list-logging, and do it myself --- but only by applying all available facts and experience, and if still not certain, saying so. And furthermore, if ever am completely wrong, hastening to correct it. Since I am not competing against anyone for station or country DX totals, there is no harm in doing this (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1559, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250, April 13 at 0526-0527* song // much stronger signal on 6080, which is NHK Spanish relay, with 6080 leapfrogging over 6165 RNW Dutch which always goes off at 0527* sharp, thus eliminating the fulcrum. Still need to look for the dozen other Bonaire leapfrogs at various other times as previously computed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOTSWANA [and non]. 11670, VoA, English “Issues in the News”, wwith talk re ‘Mid East Spring’ of political issues in Libya, Syria, Egypt, etc. Jammer started at ToH reducing SIO to 41+1+. Who’s jamming VoA now, and why wait until an hour in to start the jamming? Curiouser and curiouser! SIO 44+4+ 0450-0500 3/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) You can`t tell NZ DRM from jamming? (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. This is an important story about how Brazilian broadcasting is being taken over by gospel huxters, often hidden buyers of stations, and by politicians. If necessary, suggest you run it thru Google translation, which will turn the key word ``laranjas`` into ``oranges``, but it obviously has a sinister connotation here (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A morte do dial brasileiro ... Está aí porque eu tento fazer DX em MW de emissoras de outros países nessa faixa! Aqui no Rio com um radio de pilha qualquer, em mais da metade do dial só se escuta o davi miranda e cia (Sarmento Campos, Brasil, April 6, radioescutas yg via DXLD) http://www.observatoriodaimprensa.com.br/artigos.asp?cod=635IPB002 LARANJAS COMPRAM RÁDIOS E TVS DO GOVERNO FEDERAL Por Elvira Lobato em 29/3/2011 Reproduzido da Folha de S.Paulo, 27/3/2011 Empresas abertas em nome de laranjas são usadas frequentemente para comprar concessões de rádio e TV nas licitações públicas realizadas pelo governo federal, aponta levantamento inédito feito pela Folha. Por trás dessas empresas, há especuladores, igrejas e políticos, que, por diferentes razões, ocultaram sua participação nos negócios. Durante três meses, a reportagem analisou os casos de 91 empresas que estão entre as que obtiveram o maior número de concessões, entre 1997 e 2010. Dessas, 44 não funcionam nos endereços informados ao Ministério das Comunicações. Entre seus "proprietários", constam, por exemplo, funcionários públicos, donas de casa, cabeleireira, enfermeiro, entre outros trabalhadores com renda incompatível com os valores pelos quais foram fechados os negócios. Alguns reconheceram à Folha que emprestaram seus nomes para que os reais proprietários não figurem nos registros oficiais. Nenhum, porém, admitiu ter recebido dinheiro em troca. Há muitas hipóteses para explicar o fato de os reais proprietários lançarem mão de laranjas em larga escala. Camuflar a origem dos recursos usados para adquirir as concessões e ocultar a movimentação financeira é um dos principais. As outras são evitar acusações de exploração política dos meios de comunicação e burlar a regra que impede que instituições como igrejas sejam donas de concessões. Não há informação oficial de quanto a venda das concessões públicas movimentou. De 1997 a 2010, o Ministério das Comunicações pôs à venda 1.872 concessões de rádio e 109 de TV. Licitações analisadas pela reportagem foram arrematadas por valores de até R$ 24 milhões. Também não existem dados oficiais atualizados sobre as licitações disponíveis para consulta. As informações do ministério deixaram de ser atualizadas em 2006. Para chegar aos donos das empresas, a Folha cruzou informações fornecidas pelo governo com dados de juntas comerciais, cartórios, da Anatel e do Senado, que tem a atribuição de chancelar as concessões. Em nome de Deus Pessoas que admitiram ter emprestado seus nomes dizem que o fizeram por motivação religiosa ou para atender a amigos ou parentes. Donos, respectivamente, das Rádio 630 Ltda. e Rádio 541 Ltda., João Carlos Marcolino, de São Paulo, e Domázio Pires de Andrade, de Osasco, disseram ter autorizado a Igreja Deus é Amor a registrar empresas em seus nomes para ajudar a disseminar o Evangelho. Políticos também podem estar por trás de empresas. O senador Romero Jucá (PMDB-RR), líder do governo no Senado, é apontado pelo sócio no papel da Paraviana Comunicações como o real dono da empresa, que comprou duas rádios FM e uma TV em licitação pública. Em e-mail enviado à Folha, João Francisco Moura disse que emprestou o nome a pedido do amigo Geraldo Magela Rocha, ex-assessor e hoje desafeto de Jucá. Magela confirmou a versão. O senador foi procurado quatro vezes pela reportagem para responder à acusação, mas não se pronunciou. O radialista e ex-deputado estadual Paulo Serrano Borges, de Itumbiara (GO), registrou a Mar e Céu Comunicações em nome da irmã e do cunhado. A empresa comprou três rádios e duas TVs por R$ 12,7 milhões e, em seguida, as revendeu. Borges disse apenas que usou o nome da irmã por já ter outras empresas em seu nome, sem dar mais explicações. E que revendeu as concessões por não ter dinheiro para montar as emissoras. Chama a atenção o fato de que algumas concessões são adquiridas com ágio de até 1.000%. Empresários do setor ouvidos pela Folha dizem que as rádios não são economicamente viáveis pelos valores arrematados. O setor não tem uma explicação comum para esse fenômeno. A rádio de Bilac (SP), por exemplo, foi vendida por R$ 1,89 milhão, com 1.119% de ágio sobre o preço mínimo do edital. A empresa está registrada em nome de uma cabeleireira moradora de Itapecerica da Serra (SP). *** Ministério diz não ter como saber se donos são laranjas O secretário de Serviços de Comunicação Eletrônica do Ministério das Comunicações, Genildo Lins de Albuquerque Neto, diz não ter meios de identificar se os nomes que aparecem nos contratos sociais das empresas são laranjas ou proprietários de fato, e que essa é tarefa para a Polícia Federal e para o Ministério Público Federal. "Seria preciso quebrar o sigilo fiscal da empresa e dos sócios e fazer escuta telefônica para saber se há um sócio oculto por trás dos proprietários declarados", afirmou. Alega ainda que não pode contestar a veracidade de documentos emitidos por instituições de fé pública, como os cartórios e as juntas comerciais que registram os contratos das empresas. "Não há lei que impeça um soldado, um desempregado ou um funcionário público subalterno de abrir empresa. Não tenho como obrigá-los a comprovar, antes da licitação, se têm ou não o dinheiro para pagar a concessão." A prioridade, segundo o secretário, é colocar em dia os processos de concessão atrasados -após a licitação há um longo caminho até a aprovação definitiva. Ele prometeu zerar o estoque de rádio e TV acumulados no prazo de um ano e meio. Até lá, está suspensa a abertura de novas licitações. "Entre a licitação pública de venda da concessão e a emissão de licenciamento da emissora há uma via crucis administrativa. Os procedimentos são lentos e burocratizados. Cada processo passava três vezes pelo gabinete do ministro até a aprovação da outorga. A partir de agora, só irá ao ministro uma vez." Ele avalia que os editais de licitação foram malfeitos e deixaram brechas para as empresas adiarem o pagamento das outorgas e a assinatura dos contratos. Atrasos Os processos de concessão se arrastam por mais de dez anos. Cerca de 890 licitações feitas entre 1997 e 2001, no governo Fernando Henrique, ainda não foram concluídas. Licitações feitas até 2002 juntavam concessões em diversos locais num só edital. Como as empresas disputavam em regiões diferentes, quando um candidato era inabilitado em uma delas, os demais processos paravam. Mesmo com os processos se acumulando, novas licitações foram abertas, agravando o problema. Em 2000 e 2001, sem ter concluído licitações anteriores, o ministério pôs à venda 1.361 concessões. Até hoje, 40% desses processos viraram contratos. Não foi criado um filtro que impedisse o candidato de vencer mais concessões do que o limite legal. A legislação diz que nenhuma empresa ou acionista pode ter mais de seis rádios FM, quatro AM e dez geradoras de TV comercial em todo o país. Há casos de empresas e pessoas físicas declaradas vencedoras de mais concessões do que o permitido. Também há problemas com prazos. O ministério teria dez dias, a contar da aprovação no Congresso, para convocar o vencedor, e 60 dias para assinar contrato de concessão. Há 336 processos aprovados pelo Congresso sem assinatura do contrato de concessão. (Elvira Lobato) *** "Só dei o meu nome para a igreja arrumar emissoras", diz evangélico O evangélico Domázio Pires de Andrade, 74, vive da pensão de um salário mínimo numa casa humilde em terreno público invadido. No papel, é sócio da empresa Rádio 541 Ltda., com Antonio Ribeiro de Souza, ex-vice-presidente da Igreja Deus é Amor. A empresa comprou quatro rádios em Minas, por R$ 200 mil. Após trabalhar por 24 anos na igreja, Domázio foi demitido e aderiu à Clamor dos Fiéis. A direção da Deus é Amor não quis falar sobre o registro de empresas em nome de fiéis. (E.L.) O senhor é dono da empresa Rádio 541 Ltda.? Domázio Pires de Andrade – Só dei meu nome para a igreja arrumar emissoras. Quem lhe pediu o nome? D.P.A. – A direção da igreja. O senhor tem recursos para pagar as concessões? D.P.A. – De jeito nenhum. De onde virá o dinheiro? D.P.A. – Disseram para eu não me preocupar. A igreja arca com toda a responsabilidade. O senhor sabe qual é a situação atual de sua empresa? D.P.A. – Não tenho ideia. Todos os documentos ficaram no departamento jurídico. O senhor vai reclamar a propriedade das rádios? D.P.A. – De maneira alguma. Dei minha palavra. Por que saiu da Deus é Amor? D.P.A. – Me mandaram embora há cinco anos, porque eu estava de idade (velho). No início, eu vivi da ajuda dos meus amigos. Depois, fui para a Justiça do Trabalho. Na semana passada, eles me ofereceram R$ 3.000, e aceitei. *** Comércio ilegal de rádio e TV funciona sem repressão Elvira Lobato # reproduzido da Folha de S.Paulo, 28/3/2011 No rastro das licitações de venda de concessões de rádio e TV surgiu um mercado ilegal de emissoras que o governo, reconhecidamente, não reprime. Concessões recém-aprovadas pelo governo estão à venda abertamente em sites especializados na internet, contrariando a lei. A legislação só permite a transferência de controle de emissoras depois de cinco anos em funcionamento, e ainda assim com autorização do governo e do Congresso, que aprova cada concessão. Antes do prazo, só é permitida a transferência de 50% das cotas. Mas as concessões mudam de mãos por contratos de gaveta. O secretário de Serviços de Comunicação Eletrônica do Ministério das Comunicações, Genildo Lins de Albuquerque Neto, reconhece que não tem meios para coibir o comércio ilegal. Segundo ele, os contratos de gaveta devem ser investigados por Polícia Federal e Ministério Público, assim como o uso de laranjas para a compra de concessões. Como a Folha revelou ontem [domingo, 27/3], os laranjas são usados para camuflar os reais donos de veículos de comunicação – em geral especuladores, políticos e igrejas. Aparência legal A Folha apurou que igrejas são os principais clientes desse mercado. Elas adquirem principalmente rádios em sites que trazem links do Ministério das Comunicações e da Anatel para dar aparência de legalidade. O site Radiodifusão & Negócios, por exemplo, anuncia a venda de uma rádio FM "por montar" em São Paulo por R$ 4,8 milhões. Emissoras educativas e retransmissoras de TV, distribuídas gratuitamente, também estão à venda em outros sites e por corretores autônomos. Os preços variam de acordo com o local. A venda é feita por meio de um contrato de transferência imediata de 50% do capital da empresa, e de direito de opção sobre os 50% restantes. Assim, o vendedor não pode recuar do compromisso com o comprador. Simultaneamente, o comprador recebe uma procuração que lhe dá poderes para responder pela empresa junto ao Ministério das Comunicações e à Anatel. Sem se identificar, a reportagem conversou com um vendedor, pelo celular, sobre o aluguel de rádios a igrejas. "O contrato é assinado com pagamento adiantado de dois meses de aluguel. A igreja fica com o comando total da rádio. É assim que funciona", disse o corretor. A Folha não conseguiu localizar os responsáveis pela página na internet. *** Ministério deve ampliar controle, cobra deputado Presidente da Comissão de Ciência e Tecnologia da Câmara, o deputado Bruno Araújo (PSDB-PE) afirmou que o Ministério das Comunicações precisa de um "aperfeiçoamento burocrático" para evitar que laranjas apareçam como proprietários de rádio e TV. "O ministério tem dificuldade [em constatar a prática], mas os instrumentos de aperfeiçoamento burocrático precisam se dar dentro da pasta. No Congresso, [a aprovação] é mais uma chancela política", disse. A comissão convidou o ministro Paulo Bernardo (Comunicações) para audiência pública no início de abril. O objetivo é discutir a legislação do setor e possíveis mudanças na área. Bernardo defende que políticos sejam proibidos de ter concessão de rádio e TV (via Campos, ibid.) And a reply from the stream-of-consciousness guy: Colegas radio escutas, li a materia é uma vergonha o que acontece neste meio nas concessões de licensas para radio difusão no BRASIL e ja não é de hoje o mais grave é que o ministério das comunicações diz que não pode fazer nada,alem dos laranjas desconhecidos existem propinas troca de favores na relação governo politicos toma la da ca só nos resta lamentar e perguntar até quando. 73 a todos (Paulo Michelon, Porto Alegre RS, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 4804.98, R Dif do Amazonas, Manaus AM, Mar 12 *0942 - on mid-sentence, lots of echo talk by man, full canned ID at 1000, more echo announcements. Signal best a s/on, fair, slowly fading. 4815, BRASIL, R Difusora, Londrina PR, Mar 12,13 - not heard. 4845.23, R Cult. Ondas Tropicais, Manaus AM, Mar 12 *0955 - OC until 1003, canned ID by man followed by choral NA, and another canned ID at 1007 then back to back pop ballads. Fair to good signal strength, only modest modulation, drifting up from an initial 4845.20 at s/on. Heavy utility QRM. Noted Mar 13 with 0934 s/on, poor. 4865.06, R Verdes Florestas, Cruzeiro do Sul, AC, Mar 12 *0932 - contemporary Christian vocals until 0945, low key religious monologue by man inter-spaced with occasional brief music interludes, canned ID at 1000, non-stop contemporary Christian vocals until 1028, ID, announcements then long monologue by woman, continuing over the top of the hour, fading after 1040. Fair, het from weak unid on 4864.59. Noted Mar 13 with 0051 s/off and Sunday morning 0959 s/on. 4885.02, R Clube do Pará, Belem PA, Mar 12 0735 - overnight Radio Clube Madrugada music program, Bom Dia program from 0900. Full R Clube do Pará canned ID caught at 1000. Great signal but over-modulated, fading rapidly after 1000. Another station also here, weak, and only about 10 Hz up so not causing much of a growl. 4915.02, R Anhanguera, Araguaína TO, Mar 12 *0901 - ballad in progress at s/on, full ID by man at 0902, more ballads, talk, pop vocals. Good signal but extremely strong CODAR, fading rapidly from 1000. Also noted Mar 13 signing on at 0905, much weaker. 4925.23 (tentative), R Educação Rural, Tefé AM, Mar 12 *0957 - OC until 1000, s/on announcements, all talk until fading. This would have been a good signal except for huge CODAR, could not stay with it close enough to hear an ID, so logging as tentative. 73, (Brandon Jordan, Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park Dxpedition, Perseus SDR, 23'x112' Super KAZ Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See BOLIVIA ** BRAZIL. 9820, Radio 9 de Julho, São Paulo, 0550-0705, 07-04, good signal at this time here in Lugo, NW of Spain. Some days out of air, but other days on air and very easy to receive it. Program "Com a Mãe Aparecida", male, religious comments; "Estamos a presentar Com a Mãe Aparecida, rede ... de rádio", at 0700: "Com a Mãe Aparecida, Rádio 9 de Julho", "Rádio 9 de Julho, 1600 AM, São Paulo, Brasil". 34433 to 24432 (Manuel Méndez, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [non]. Rádio Líder Brasil Ondas Curtas (9955 kHz) Olá amigos (as), Neste sábado dia 09/04/2011 a Líder Web Rádio http://www.liderwebradio.com se torna Rádio Líder Brasil. Estaremos realizando um teste de transmissão através da Rádio Miami Internacional entre 1700 e 1900 UT na banda dos 31 metros. A transmissão teste já está confirmada por seu diretor Jeff White. Convido a todos os radio escutas e dxistas a escutarem a nossa programação e compartilhar opniões e sugestões. RÁDIO LÍDER BRASIL SÁBADOS 1700 ÀS 1900 (UT) 9955 kHz - RADIO MIAMI INTERNACIONAL PROGRAMAÇÃO 17:00 - 17:15 - BOLETIM DE NOTICIAS 17:15 - 17:45 - FLASH BACK 17:45 - 18:00 - CLUBE DOS OUVINTES 18:00 - 18:15 - BOLETIM DE NOTICIAS 18:15 - 18:45 - TOP 10 18:45 - 19:00 - SEGMENTO DX A Rádio Líder Brasil confirmará todos os relatórios de recepção com cartão QSL. Atenciosamente Leonaldo Ferreira Líder Web Radio (Rádio Líder Brasil) Rua Presidente Castelo Branco, 183 Centro - Lagoa de Dentro - PB 58250 - 000, Brasil Tel: +55 83 3263 1368 liderwebradio @ live.com http://www.liderwebradio.com (Leonaldo Ferreira da Silva, April 7, radioescutas yg via DXLD) This was a one-off test. There will be another one tonight at 0300- 0400 UT (Jeff White, WRMI, UT April 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Infelizmente essa WRMI em 9955 raramente chega aqui em Brasília com sinal bom. Eu acredito que somente os ouvintes do Norte poderão aproveitar essa programação. Poderiam utilizar o espaço em alguma emissora com sinal direcionado ao Brasil. 73's!! (Thiago P. Machado, http://bsbdx.blogspot.com Brasília-DF, Brasil [GH54XC], radioescutas yg via DXLD) Well, it is originating in Paraíba (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 15190.13v, R. Inconfidência, "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel at 0024. Nice "Inconfidência" ID at 0028, then canned announcements, 0032 ID/promo by M, and back to music. Variable frequency QRM from 15190. Nice to hear this again. (10 April) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Hard-Core-DX via DXLD) 15190, 12/4 2103, Radio Inconfidência, Brazil, several IDs, really good signal! (Giampiero Bernardini, Milan, Italy, Collins 51S-1; Perseus - Ant: T2FD, http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. An announcement of Radio Bulgaria. Dear listeners and DX fans, Radio Bulgaria’s Technical Department turns to you with a request for a one month monitoring of our transmissions made in two parts: Part 1: April 18 through May 1 via a transmitter in Plovdiv 300 kW and Part 2: May 2 through 15 via a transmitter in Kostinbrod 100 kW as follows: to West Europe 0430-0500 in Bulgarian on 7400 kHz 0530-0700 in German, French and English on 11600 kHz 1300-1400 in Bulgarian on 15700 kHz 1630-1800 in German, French and English on 7400 kHz 1900-2200 in German, French and English on 7400 kHz to North America 2300-0300 in English, Bulgarian, French and English on 11700 kHz We expect your opinions on the possible difference in the strength and quality of the signal from the two transmitters. You can contacts us by e-mail and send us sound files in the MP3 or MP4 format at the following address: . Thank you in advance and 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Frequency Manager, Technical Department, R. Bulgaria, DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 11 April via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) ** CANADA. OTTAWA TEEN CONVICTED OF THREATENING TO KILL DJ Boy also guilty of CRTC violation By Meghan Hurley, Ottawa Citizen April 8, 2011 A 15-year-old boy was convicted Thursday of running a pirate radio station, threatening to kill a radio DJ and an Industry Canada investigator and threatening to harm another radio show host. Ontario Court Justice Donald Ebbs also found the Ottawa teenager, who was 13 and 14 at the time of the incidents, guilty of criminally harassing Industry Canada investigator Mylène Quesnel. Ebbs acquitted the youth of obstructing justice and assaulting a peace officer. He cannot be identified because of the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. "I'm trying to conceptualize what happens in a matter of seconds," Ebbs said. Ebbs convicted the teenager of threatening to kill Quesnel after she showed up with the RCMP to seize his radio broadcasting equipment. The youth had been operating a pirate radio show and was also convicted under the Radiocommunications Act. The conviction of criminally harassing Quesnel stems from repeated calls to her after his broadcasting equipment was seized. . . Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Ottawa+teen+convicted+threatening+kill/4579829/story.html#ixzz1JB2dEI6E (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** CANADA [non]. Bible Voice Broadcasting A11 http://tinyurl.com/3dxbnd3 (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, April 7, dxldyg via DXLD) > EAST EUROPE 1/RUSSIA > 6.030 Khz; 49 meter band; 125 Kw; Nauen Actual frequency is 6130 kHz (Aleksandr Diadischev, Russia, ibid.) Alokesh, there are A LOT OF FAILURES on that BVB file !!! Please correct your .DOC file. 73 de wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) And why would it have A10 in the filename? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 21490, surprised to hear gospel huxter in English, April 13 at 1331 with over-dramatic delivery, sounding almost like a parody, saying the devil`s phone number is 666-4355 (=HELL, hee hee); 1334 outro with address in Ohio given about five times: Ed Bousman, P O Box 511, Lynchburg OH 45142; ``God is just a prayer away`` book of gospel bible lessons available free; 1337 Bible Voice Broadcasting ID, Toronto address. 1338 says is to Eastern Europe; 1353 still in English, cut off at 1400* sharp as another gh is saying ``the apostles . . .`` Must be brand new frequency, as have been checking 13m frequently around here for Hamada 21480 --- see NIGERIA [non] --- and never noticed a trace of it before today. In fact, not listed in latest HFCC. Seems BVB often runs programming at odd times rather than hours or quarter-hours. Maybe a test. Fair signal but less than Hamada via Wertachtal. Site for this? 21490, no trace of a signal from BVB in English, April 14 at 1339 and further chex to 1400, unlike April 13, so that must have been a test. Or BVB transmissions may vary depending on day of week. Will we ever know whence? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re gh on WBCQ 9330: but is CHU`s frequency really ``standard`` , i.e. extremely accurate like its time? WBCQ is normally a bit off (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It was my understanding it is and seems to be from some wording in this entry http://www.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/eng/services/inms/time-services/short-wave.html They have an e-mail address at the page foot. 73, John (J D Erskine, VA7OTC, April 12, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Don't Touch That Dial --- Radio ICDI, a shortwave station operating at frequency 6040 kHz, has been broadcasting community development, local news, and culturally relevant spiritual formation programming for nearly five years. Until recently the station was able to operate only from 6 am to noon [0500- 1100 UT] because of a frequency overlap with other shortwave stations. With the help of technical engineering partners HCJB Global http://www.hcjb.org and a second frequency license from the Central African Ministry of Communications, Radio ICDI is now staged for 24- hour, 7-day-a- week capacity. Currently this second frequency (3390 kHz) is being utilized for nighttime programming from 4pm to 10pm daily. In a country with very little media access for the average person, radio is a big deal. On any given day in even the most remote villages, you will find people huddled around small transistor radios, listening to the news and programming from stations like Radio ICDI. This becomes a powerful tool in ICDI's community development process for further reinforcement of the messaging that the ICDI teams initiate throughout the country. Josué Mbami, Program Director for Radio ICDI, records an interview for use in ICDI's radio programming. [caption] (Jim Hocking, ICDI CEO, April 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6040?! Had been on 6030, presumed change rather than typo? Maybe because of R. Oromiya, 100 kW, still active there? Yes: see ETHIOPIA. WRTH 2011 still had ICDI on 6030, at 04-18 UT, and planned 3390 at 18- 04. When this started, DXers strained to hear it on 6030, fighting the Cuban-American radio war, with R. Martí and sometimes the jammers in truce UT Mondays only at 0300-0900 (winter 0400-1000). Now in the UT+1 zone he says ICDI is on 3390 at 15-21 UT, but not the hours for 6040, anyhow not yet 24/7, but look for it starting at 0300 UT. What else is on 6040 now? Plenty, per HFCC and Aoki. Grodno, Belarus, Minsk from 0200 onwards, 5 kW Sackville, Canada, 0250-0400, 100 kW relaying Vatican Limassol, Cyprus, 0300-0400, BBC Arabic, 250 kW, 101 degrees Emirler, Turkey, 0400-0600, TRT in Turkish, 500 kW, 138 degrees Jeypore, India, 0415-1115, AIR, 50 kW, 27 degrees [daytime] Huhhot, Inner Mongolia, China, 2150-1700, 50 kW, 263 degrees Rádio Clube Paranaense, Brasil, 24 hours --- Lotsa luck hearing ICDI inside CAR, let alone anywhere else. Current Aoki still has 6030 at different hours, M-F only: 6030 0500-0800 CAF Radio ICDI Fre Boali 23456 6030 1600-1900 CAF Radio ICDI Fre Boali 23456 and no listing for 3390 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very weak signal heard here in Finland from 2040 until 2107 s/off. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, April 12, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Try now on 3390 kHz! It is a bit stronger than yesterday. 73, (Mauno Ritola, 2026 UT April 13, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 11870, "Firedrake" Jamming music, 3/28, 1700, VG, with //s on 9905, 9540, and 9455 (Rick Barton, El Mirage AZ, listening from my car. ....and tent, at Lake Pleasant, AZ, Sangean ATS-803A, RadioShack DX-375, 9' Garden Stake helical Wilson CB antenna, ABDX via DXLD) 8400, Chinese Firedrake music jamming, 0948 UT Apr 6, heard remote Perseus receiver at Vancouver Isl. S=7-8 very fluttery signal. 13850, Chinese Firedrake at 1230 UT Apr 6, S=8 signal fluttery. Observed on remote Perseus at AOR Tokyo-JPN. Also \\ 11500 kHz jamming at 1200-1300 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, April 6, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Apr 13 via DXLD) Firedrake April 7: Since I was generally tuning downward today, they are in reverse order by frequency altho not strictly chronological: 16100, good at 1239 15900, good at 1239, off at 1300* along with most or all of the others 15430, fair at 1354; Aoki shows V. of Tibet via UAE at 1330-1400 14700, poor at 1242 13920, very good at 1328, not in previous hour; still at 1353-1400* 13850, good at 1243. Nothing scheduled here in HFCC, but Aoki shows Sound of Hope from Taiwan at 20-17 13130, fair at 1244 12600, fair at 1245 --- all the others are // except this one 12240, always check this, but not on today 11500, fair at 1248, fair at 1330 10970, good at 1249, very good at 1331 10300, good at 1249; was clear at 1209 for SOH: see TAIWAN 8400, good at 1250, fair at 1354 17515, April 7 at 1323, CNR1 jamming vs algo, // 11990. Aoki shows BBC Uzbek via Thailand at 1300-1330. 13830, April 8 at 1318, CNR1 jamming // 11990; 13830 is to block R. Free Asia, Tibetan via Tajikistan at 11-14. 15670, April 8 at 1332, Firedrake atop something, // 15900, and no other FD found 8-17 MHz by 1340. 15670 is also RFA Tibetan via TAJIKISTAN at 11-14, and 15900 presumably Sound of Hope. 17705, April 8 at 1308, Chinese vs Chinese, i.e. ChiCom jamming against All India Radio`s Chinese service until 1315, burying Saudi Arabia, q.v. Firedrake April 9, all // except as noted: 10300, good at 1320, gone at 1410 13980, fair at 1334, poor at 1413 14700, poor at 1336 15430, very poor at 1338, ditto to 15670 15670, very poor at 1337 (or is it CNR1 music? As not // others), mixing with something, presumably V. of Tibet 16100, fair at 1339, no others 8-19 MHz; 16100 gone at 1418 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Crash & Bang Chinese Opera Music Jammer, a.k.a. Firedrake From 2011 posted logs (various sources). All broadcasts originate from East Jammerstan. * Not reported on this frequency during 2010. 6030 13 7415* 17 7445* 17 8400 10, 11, 12, 13, 23 9350 13 9355 13, 14, 17, 19 9365 13 9380 13 9450 15 9455* 17, 19 9905 17, 19 10300 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23 10970* 01, 12 11500 12, 13, 15 11540 13 11940* 17 11945 19 12180* 12 12240* 05, 11, 12, 13, 14 12600 13 12980 12, 13 13130* 01, 11, 12, 13 13500 03, 12, 13 13625 13 13850*(t) 04 13920* 12, 13 13960* 23 13970 01, 03, 12, 13 14400 03 14700 07, 13 14720* 01, 03 14900 00, 03, 09 14950* 23 14970 13 15265 13 15375* 13 15430 13 15520 13 15545 13 15670 13 15900 00, 01, 03, 08, 11, 12, 13, 23 16100 01, 03, 11, 13 16970 01 16980* 00, 03, 13 17170* 01, 03, 23 --Updated 10-Apr-11 (Harold Frodge, MI, April 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But does not include some frequencies I heard April 10 and 11: (gh) Firedrake April 10: 8400, fair at 1236 10300, fair with flutter at 1247; this and all off at 1313, but this and many others back on at 1321 check 10965, fair at 1248 and also on not // 10970! Odd one out except // 13130; 10965 off at 1313, back at 1321 and 1352, off with all at 1400* 10970, fair at 1248 and also on not // 10965! Unusual to have two adjacent. 10970 is // 11500 et al.; off at 1313, back at 1321 11500, fair at 1246; off at 1313, back at 1321 12600, fair with very heavy flutter at 1250, // 10300; off at 1313, back at 1321 13130, fair at 1250, // 10965, not 10300 13850, good at 1251 // 10970, 10300 13980, good at 1252 // 13850; no others on 14 or 15 MHz now; also at 1321 when lower ones have returned but no others on 13 MHz; and 1352 14700, very poor at 1325 15900, good at 1352, not heard earlier; none higher Firedrake April 11: 8400, absent at 1255. Starting here, did not have time for a thoro bandscan before 1300, but: 10300, good with flutter at 1255 10965, fair at 1256 // 10300, no 10970 today; very poor at 1328 11500, poor at 1329 // 13920 13130, VG at 1259 13920, VG at 1259; good at 1326 13980, fair at 1326, weaker than // 13920 14700, good at 1416, not earlier 15670, fair mixing with some talk at 1303, i.e. RFA Tibetan via Tajikistan 11760, RHC normally very strong here, has heavy CCI from music at 1329 April 11; talk in English after 1330 turns out to be // CRI 9650, but two seconds behind Sackville. Aoki shows Kunming site at 12-14. At 1356, RHC is atop 11760, but CRI under // 9760. Commies vs Commies! See also EAST TURKISTAN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 12240, Firedrake? 0420 12 April, S2 (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Why not? (gh) Firedrake April 12: nothing on 8400 at 1252, and with very poor EAs propagation today, only cursory check upband found no others. Firedrake April 13: still nothing heard 8-18 MHz between 1305 and 1325. Propagation conditions still have not recovered from yesterday`s geomagnetic storm at G1 level. Firedrake April 14: no bandscanning 1230-1330 as I was sticking with ANTARCTICA [q.v.], but then found: 13920, good at 1346; gone at 1405 By 1350, no others 8-17 MHz. 10300, very poor at 1351 // 13920; no 8400 now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Alcaraván Radio, Puerto Lleras, 0455-0550, 10-04, very nice program of Latinamerican songs, "Llaneras" and others, identification: "Las 12 y 10 minutos en Alcaraván Radio", "El Alcaraván compañero", "Alcarávan Radio, 1530 AM y en onda corta 6010 kHz, Alcaraván Radio, desde Colombia". 34323. (Méndez) 6010, La Voz de tu Conciencia, Puerto Lleras, 0701-0715, 10-04, only after 0700 when Radio Habana Cuba, English program close down. Female and male, religious comments in Spanish. Very weak. Today I can't hear Radio Mil on this frequency. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, 27 km W of Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, faced WSW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910, Alcaraván Radio (Puerto Lleras), 0353-0401, 4/10/2011, Spanish. Local pop music. ID by man at 0354 ("desde Colombia, Alcaravan Radio") and at 0359. Time pips on the hour. Good signal with local static, but little fading (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, Tecsun PL-660, whip antenna, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5954.26, 2325-2335, CLANDESTINE, 02.04, R República, via Guápiles, Pococí, Costa Rica, Spanish talk, ID: "Radio República", frequency ann, talk and music 33232 best in USB due to QRM (Anker Petersen, here in Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS again with my 28 metres longwire up in 9 metres altitude, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) See also CUBA [non] ** CROATIA. 3984.99, Voice of Croatia, Deanovec in Croatian, 04/08 2038-2109, non stop local pop songs till 2059:49; woman announcement & ID as "Glas Hrvatska" (Voice of Croatia); time pips (2100) & OM brief announcement with ID as "Hrvatski Radio" (Croatian Radio); music break, into OM news with correspondents; weather report; announcement & ID at 2105; YL announcements over music pause into local cultural talk program by same woman; better heard in SSB with lite fast QSB; excellent local audio/very good audio when heard in AM mode (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy, JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 6050, RHC continues to blast HCJB in the evenings, not only for English at 01-07, but already on the air in Spanish at 0058 April 7. No telling how much earlier it came on. Poor HCJB is stuck with this frequency, not only by Ecuadorian government frequency assignments, but also having foolishly handed out thousands(?) of fixed-tuned radios, expecting to have a captive audience, especially among indigenous. Now HCJB is the captive of Arnie Coro, who refuses to move RHC. As a good Communist, does he have an anti-Christian agenda? 7405, R. Martí, VG with no jamming audible, April 7 around 0620, same as noted April 1. Is the DentroCuban Jamming Command diminishing its `service`, or just out of touch? Checking RHC 49m frequencies before 1200: April 7 at 1145 on 6000 and 6150, not heard on listed 6140, and 6095 is no longer in use; Venezuela relay in English on 6060. While monitoring Kuwait, q.v. on 17550, I also check for RHC on 17560, new frequency to Europe which has been colliding with VOA at 1930- 2030. April 7 at 1950, RHC French is way on top, with VOA under via Bonaire JBA, but soon becoming more audible. Around 2000 I notice that RHC has gone to open carrier instead of Portuguese. I figure it`s another pregnant pause as RHC tries to get its act together, but at next check 2019 the carrier is off leaving VOA in the clear! Exhuberant DJ Mathieu LaVoie is conversing with a caller. Could it be that RHC has caught on that they have a problem with this collision? I quickly search thru 17, 15, 13, 11 MHz bands for a replacement frequency, but none found, yet. At 2042, 17560 is still vacant of both stations, but at 2058 the RHC carrier is back on, as if intentionally about to resume for Spanish, whose modulation does not kick in until 2103, typical amateurish JIP of `Revista Iberoamericana de la Tarde`, VG signal and much better than // 12040, 12020. So maybe in subsequent days we shall find French, Portuguese and/or Arabic at 1930-2100 on a new clear RHC frequency. Or maybe it just broke down today and will stick to 17560. Another check Friday April 8 of the RHC/VOA collision on 17560 at 1930-2030: while RHC was off at least between 2019 and 2058 April 7, possibly for monitoring, on April 8 it stayed on 17560: At 1921, VOA French very poor but in the clear. *1927 RHC OC comes on; 1930 under OC, VOA French strengthens as it switches from São Tomé to Bonaire relay. 1932:05, RHC French audio cuts on late in progress, typical shoddy performance, 1958 still colliding, RHC atop. 2001 RHC opening Portuguese way atop VOA, and continuing past 2006. 2030 RHC into Arabic, as VOA is now off. 11760, April 9 at 0535, RHC is still on the air and VG in English, while 6010 is missing, the scheduled 0500 switch having failed. At 0601, 11760 is gone and open carrier on 6010; 6060 and 6050 are in Spanish about, what else, Los 5, an hour past nominal end of that language daily. Then I check 6150 and along with the squeal hear a bit of music, then IS, and into English, after which 6060 and 6050 are also in English, but 6010 still OC. 6150, April 10 at 0514 RHC just squealing atop trace of program modulation, while English was on 6010, 6050, 6060 (not 11760 this night); Spanish still running late on 6120, 12040. 13780, April 10 at 1335, RHC `En Contacto`: Among other things, Manolo replied to Christer Brunström, Sweden, that he would send a list of Cuban FM stations with powers for the WRTH, info CB had a hard time obtaining. During this segment, // 11830 was buried way under WYFR; 13680 was still on, along with much weaker 11730, 12040?-under China radio war, 15120, 15230, 15360. This Sunday, never heard a carrier on 13750 in several chex after 1400; that and the four other `Aló, Presidente` frequencies were still vacant at 1533. El Hugazo`s website http://www.alopresidente.gob.ve/ says there will be no show ``this week``, but the announcement looks just like the one last week, ``ceding his space to a special transmission on a South American tour`` --- by him? Yes, a further link dates that info as of April 3, and it was about a previous trip of his. So maybe there is still hope for a later appearance this Sunday if the page gets updated. 13780, April 11 at 1432, RHC audio is suppressed and distorted, while still loud and clear on // 13680. Wiggle that patchcord! See also CHINA: collision on 11760 17560, RHC continues to collide with VOA at 1930-2030, both in French the first semihour, checked April 11 and 12. Who will blink first? VOA moves around frequently for less reason than this. Did Arnie pick the frequency knowingly, just to annoy the enemy, at the expense of RHC`s own clarity, that being the only frequency scheduled for French at 1930, Portuguese at 2000? 13780, April 12 at 1311, RHC missing from this frequency, but still on 13680; at 1409 both were on. At least one transmitter may be giving them problems, as at 2325 check for R. Nacional de Venezuela relay, 15250 was missing, but 13680 was on as usual, as well as weaker RHC itself on 15230, 15370 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, CUB/VEN checked 13680 and 15250 last night, and observed 15250 ON AIR only approx. 2300-2307 UT, then 15250 from CUB disappeared totally (Wolfgang Büschel, April 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6050, RHC English absent April 13 at 0536 check as DXers Unlimited is starting on usual 6010, 6060, 6150. Can Arnie finally have found his heart and eliminated 6050 QRM to HCJB starting before 0100? More likely another transmitter failure, but we`ll see subsequently. 6050, while RHC was missing later last night, it`s back on the air as usual, // 6010 English during music, April 14 at 0229 check, totally blocking poor HCJB, as Arnie Coro continues to prove what a bully he is, refusing to move off the only channel HCJB can use direct from Ecuador (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. CLANDESTINE, 9965.47, R. República, 1027 rapid talk in Spanish by M, mention of Cuba. 1040 just caught ID and sked at recheck. Sometimes the jammer just obliterated it, sometimes this was easy copy. (9 April) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Hard-Core-DX via DXLD) So starting now at 1000 UT, the switch from 5954.2v? (gh, DXLD) See CR ** CYPRUS. 21565-21590, OTH radar pulses, presumed from here at 1357 April 7 and also past 1400. Kudos, they picked a 25-kHz range without any broadcast stations at the moment, but still an unwelcome noise intrusion into an SWBC band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [non]. GERMANY, Radio Dardasha 7 in Arabic via MBR from April 12 0500-0530 on 11810 NAU 125 kW / 185 deg to WeAf Arabic, co-ch RRI in French in DRM till 0527 1900-1930 NF 13740 WER 125 kW / 180 deg to WeAf Arabic, SINPO 55555, ex 13640 to avoid AIR in Arabic (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, April 13 via DXLD) See also ALBANIA [and non] ** DJIBOUTI. 4780.00, 0015-0100* Sat 09.04, Rdif. TV de Djibouti, Arta (presumed) Somali (presumed) excited talk, songs from the Horn of Africa. This extended broadcast was not heard the following days, so it must have been a special event, 44333, CWQRM (Anker Petersen, here in Skovlunde, Denmark, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.14, 2345-2355 09.04, R Amanecer Internacional, Santo Domingo, Spanish talk, much QRM. Thanks to Ralph Perry for identifying this one, 31331 (Anker Petersen, here in Skovlunde, Denmark, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** EAST TURKISTAN. 13670, April 11 at 1325, ``Chinese opera``, flutter, not // CNR1. Aoki shows it`s CRI Chinese service this hour only via Urumqi. NOT ``Urumqui`` as I keep seeing it misspelt: the Q in Chinese transliteration has no need of a U and doesn`t even sound like our Q. Or, to be more politically correct, we should spell it Urumchi, less confusing and closer to the Uyghur? Even better: some old maps, Rand McNally Atlas 1971, show it as Wulumuchi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4814.98, El Buen Pastor, Saraguro, Mar 12 *1000 -s/on exactly at 1000, canned ID, brief greetings by locutor, Latin contemporary Christian vocal, more talk until 1012, Andean vocals. String of canned announcements from 1027 and back to Andean flavored vocals, then a long monologue by man until 1051, more Andean vocals. Moderate signal improving to fair after 1030, CODAR and also presumed utility blob centered on 4812 kHz, both of which fading a bit from 1100. Station also started fading after 1130. Also noted Mar 13 with exact 1000 s/on, signal poor (Brandon Jordan, Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park Dxpedition, Perseus SDR, 23'x112' Super KAZ Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See BOLIVIA; CUBA ** EGYPT. R. Cairo is really fond of the out-of-band lower side of 9 MHz. April 7 at 0131 I am hearing it on 9315, 9305 and 9290. 9315 is open carrier, or possibly just barely modulated. Spanish via Abu Zabaal is scheduled at 0045-0200, English 0200-0330. 9305 is the usual extremely distorted Arabic service, via Abis at 19- 07. I often hear it after 0500, 0600, but unlistenable. 9290 has some weak modulation at 0132. Scheduled as Spanish via Abu Zabaal to SAm at 0045-0200. But that`s not all. HFCC A-11 shows all these other low-9 frequencies at some time during the day from ERU: 9250, 9280, 9295, 9310. While hunting thru HFCC, let`s pull out all the R. Cairo English frequencies: 1215-1330 17870 1600-1800 12170 or 15345 1900-2030 11510 or 15270 2115-2245 5770 or 6270 2300-2430 6270 0200-0330 9315 I am assuming that where two frequencies are registered, only one will really be in use, as usual for English. I`m surprised that nothing but 6270 is found at 2300 in the summer to WNAm; should be on much higher band, and Cairo may have been among those stations scared out of the 6200-6300 range by the Russians. Is the 2115 broadcast really on 5770, or 6270? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I've heard their broadcast on 6270 2115-2245 UT (Peter W Hansen, April 8, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, April 11 at 1503, gospel huxter in Amerenglish, Brother somebody from Georgia, introducing the ``Bible Way Temple Radio Choir``; presumed R. Africa on its sporadic ``schedule`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, Radio Africa, 0550-0605, 12-04, after various days without listen it, probably out of air, now active again with good signal, female with religious comments and male with program "The Hour of Living". 34433 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [and non]. 7185.2, VoBME ?? 10 April 1619 with discussion between OM and YL, a lang that seems Amharic or Trigre. At 1626 strong white noise across the frequency (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. ETIÓPIA, 6030, R. Oromiya, Geja Jawe, 1742-1814, 10 Apr, Oromo (listed), talks, chanting, announcements; 45433 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, April 12, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Everyone, 6030, R Aromia [sic --- it`s Oromiya], Addis Abeba, 10/4/11 1830 UT, quite a regular and at good strength. Local music, (presumed) OM in Oromo ID, WRTH has this as a Regional Government station http://www.box.net/shared/3pgbo7l1zn (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I could follow the 6030 station till the end, tonight at 1900. It has the same end music of Sunday evening. So it was Ethiopia even if they had a different program without usual music and the propagation was really poor to Horn of Africa. Thanks for you help in this monitoring (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italy, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL Radio Oromiya 6030 kHz bestaetigte meinen Empfangbericht mit einer netten e-mail innerhalb von 2 Tagen. E-mail: v/s Habtamu Dargie, Oromia Radio Engineering Head. snail mail, Oromia Radio, P.O.Box 2919, Adama, Etiopia. (Patrick Robic, Austria, A-DX Apr 12 via BCDX 13 April via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. DEUTSCHE WELLE: ETHIOPIAN SERVICE JAMMED AGAIN NEW EXAMPLE OF AN EVIDENT BLOCKADE OF CRITICAL INTERNATIONAL MEDIA. Deutsche Welle (DW) has condemned the latest case of jamming of its Amharic service for Ethiopia. Germany’s international broadcast has appealed to the Ethiopian administration to ensure that an undisturbed shortwave signal remain available for listeners in the region. The latest infringement has made it difficult for Deutsche Welle to deliver fair and balanced news about the political, economical and social developments in the target area. DW’s shortwave signal for Ethiopia has been jammed since April 6. Programming from Voice of America has also been affected. This has lead DW officials to believe that it is a concentrated effort to block critical international media. Several individual broadcasters were also jammed in Ethiopia in May 2010 around the time of local elections. The latest case of jamming is occurring at a point in time in which more than 200 from the alleged opposition of the Oromo Group have been arrested and journalists who have voiced criticism of the administration have been silenced. The Ethiopian administration is apparently concerned that the so-called Jasmine Revolution in North Africa will spread into their country. A call for protest has been popping up on social media platforms over the last few weeks using the motto “Beka” (enough). After being approached by Deutsche Welle on Thursday, April 7, a spokesman from the Ethiopian government has denied any jamming attempts. The Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has publicly acknowledged the jamming of international broadcasters in the past. German development organizations will be meeting on Monday, April 11 in Bonn ahead of the bilateral negotiations between Germany and Ethiopia – under the direction of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). For the first time, DW will use this opportunity to report on the current media landscape in Ethiopia and expand on jamming and the restrictions put on its correspondents in the country. DW has been broadcasting its Amharic service in Ethiopia since 1965 and is along with Voice of America the most popular international source of information (DW Press Release via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, India, April 8, dxldyg via DXLD) Why in the world don`t these press reports even from stations themselves, include extremely pertinent details? When? Where? As of March 4, the DW Amharic sked planned for A-11 was: 1400 - 1457 KIGALI Ethiopia daily 27.03.2011 - 09.04.2011 250 09880 kHz (31 m) KIGALI Ethiopia daily 27.03.2011 - 09.04.2011 250 11935 kHz (25 m) SINES Ethiopia daily 27.03.2011 - 09.04.2011 250 21840 kHz (13 m) [I happened to hear the above 21840 today but did not notice any jamming] {note that above hour was to expire 9 April, unlike this:} 1600 - 1700 KIGALI Ethiopia daily 27.03.2011 - 29.10.11 250 09800 kHz (31 m) KIGALI Ethiopia daily 27.03.2011 - 29.10.11 250 11630 kHz (25 m) SINES Ethiopia daily 27.03.2011 - 29.10.11 250 21840 kHz (13 m) according to the version handy at http://www.bclnews.it/a11schedules/dw.htm Last time this happened, DW added a bunch more frequencies from different sites (Glenn Hauser, April 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Breitband Rauschjammer gegen DW Amharic und andere. (BCDX 13 April via DXLD) By way of a remote receiver in Addis Ababa, listen to this monitoring http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/audio/DW_Amharic_080411.mp3 of DW Amharic, 8 April 2011, at 1604 UT. The first sound is 11630 kHz, apparently jammed, and the second, just up the dial is 11835, either unjammed or unaffected by jamming. Most of the DW frequencies were either unjammed or unaffected by jamming (Kim Andrew Elliott, April 8, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) PORTUGAL/RWANDA --- No Ethiopian white noise jamming heard today Sunday Apr 10th. 73 wb (Wolfang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DEUTSCHE WELLE ETHIOPIAN SERVICE JAMMED AGAIN Deutsche Welle (DW) has condemned the latest case of jamming of its Amharic service for Ethiopia. Germany’s international broadcast has appealed to the Ethiopian administration to ensure that an undisturbed shortwave signal remain available for listeners in the region. DW’s shortwave signal for Ethiopia has been jammed since April 6. Programming from the Voice of America has also been affected. This has lead DW officials to believe that it is a concentrated effort to block critical international media. Several individual broadcasters were also jammed in Ethiopia in May 2010 around the time of local elections. The latest case of jamming is occurring at a point in time in which more than 200 from the alleged opposition of the Oromo Group have been arrested and journalists who have voiced criticism of the administration have been silenced. The Ethiopian administration is apparently concerned that the so-called Jasmine Revolution in North Africa will spread into their country. A call for protest has been popping up on social media platforms over the last few weeks using the motto “Beka” (enough). After being approached by Deutsche Welle on Thursday, 7 April, a spokesman from the Ethiopian government has denied any jamming attempts. The Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has publicly acknowledged the jamming of international broadcasters in the past. German development organizations will be meeting on Monday, 11 April in Bonn ahead of the bilateral negotiations between Germany and Ethiopia – under the direction of the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). For the first time, DW will use this opportunity to report on the current media landscape in Ethiopia and expand on jamming and the restrictions put on its correspondents in the country. DW has been broadcasting its Amharic service in Ethiopia since 1965 and is along with the Voice of America the most popular international source of information. (Source: Deutsche Welle) April 9th, 2011 - 11:36 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) ETHIOPIA GOVERNMENT DENIES JAMMING DEUTSCHE WELLE Ethiopia yesterday denied it was jamming Deutsche Welle’s (DW) Amharic language radio shows, after the state-funded German broadcaster appealed for its signal to be restored. Deutsche Welle issued a statement at the weekend saying its broadcasts in Amharic, the predominant language in Ethiopia, had been blocked since 6 April. “This has lead DW officials to believe that it is a concentrated effort to block critical international media,” the statement said. “The Ethiopian administration is apparently concerned that the so- called Jasmine Revolution in North Africa will spread into their country.” Government spokesman Bereket Simon told Reuters there was no jamming of services to the Horn of Africa nation. “Deutsche Welle is heard by only 1 percent of Ethiopians. An independent study (by Electoral Reform International Services) confirmed it,” Bereket told Reuters. “We know Deutsche Welle is not ethical but I can assure you, with only 1 to 1.5 percent listenership, why should the Ethiopian government care to jam it?” In March last year, two months before a disputed election result returned him to power, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi ordered the jamming of US-funded broadcaster Voice of America (VOA) and sparked a diplomatic row. Ethiopia has frequently clashed with DW and VOA and regularly accuses both of broadcasting propaganda that could destabilise the country. DW said its reports on the recent arrests of more than 100 ethnic Oromos could have motivated the jamming. Ethiopia’s government on Thursday said it was preparing to charge more than 100 people it says are members of the outlawed rebel group the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF). International press freedom advocacy groups say the Ethiopian government intimidates and harasses critical journalists, a charge the government denies. Ethiopia is one of the world’s poorest countries and most of its population has no access to satellite dishes or the Internet. VOA and Germany’s Deutsche Welle are the only foreign broadcasters producing Amharic radio programmes. (Source: Reuters) (April 11th, 2011 - 9:44 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) ** EUROPE. 3899.87, 10/4 2146-2306*, Radio Polaris, Pirate, power 80 watts, songs, weak, frequency moving slowly upward till 3899.95 (Giampiero Bernardini, Milan, Italy, Collins 51S-1; Perseus - Ant: T2FD, http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also IRELAND ** FRANCE. Has anybody heard France's new 4 hour program 4-8 on short wave? Which frequencies are used?? Their 4 hour block can be heard on http://www.english.rfi.fr/broadcasts - but no SW fq's mentioned! 73, (Erik Koie, Copenhagen, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RFI English has been heard here with fair to good reception the past few nights between 4-5 UT on 9805. I prefer to listen to DW English at that time on 7240 which puts in a very strong signal here near the East coast of the USA. Unlike RFI, DW hasn't (yet) ditched its feature programming in favor of an all-news format (Bill Flynn, Pennsylvania, April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I confirmed RFI English yesterday morning (7 April) at 0700-0800 on 15615. The other two registered frequencies (15605 and 17605) were silent. 73s (Dave Kenny, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked the 0400-0700 UT portion of RFI English this morning April 8th. Mixed feelings, only at 04-05 UT I could note both frequencies 9805 and 11995 kHz. But later I could only observe a single frequency at a time, on at least 10 remote Perseus receivers europeanwide. 0500 UT 15160 (13680 was totally idle-dead, but 13695 RFI Fr very strong at same slot). 0600 UT 11615 (15160 only RA SHP noted, idle on 17605 and 17800 channels). - - - Later I was out, not observed today in 0700-0800 UT slot, usual registered on 15605, 15615, and 17605 kHz. All via Issoudun transmitter site. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) 11615, FRANCE. Radio France Int’l, 0630 Apr 8. English, man with mention of RFI, news headlines and news. Poor. (Sellers-BC) 15615, FRANCE. Radio France Int’l, 0702 Apr 8. English, woman with news and ID. Very poor (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening beside Lake Kalamalka from my car. Eton E1 and Sony AN1 antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 21580, RFI, April 13 at 1329 with ad for Jeune Afrique, hebdomadaire, cut off abruptly at 1330* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GAMBIA [non]. Looking thru RMI HFCC A-11 registrations, an interesting one on 15225, 1815-1830 Saturdays only, 125 kW, 221 degrees via Nauen, GERMANY. Aoki reminds us that in A-10 that was Baati Rewmi, Voice of the Nation, from the Save the Gambia Democracy Project in Fula, Wolof and English. Per http://www.savethegambia.org that started May 22, 2010, but Aoki says it was off as of Oct 2. So is it back, or planning to come back? Read about its previous activity in 2010 DXLDs: 10-25, 10-26, 10-27, 10-29, 10-31, 10-33, 10-39, 10-42 where we get search hits on ``Baati Rewmi``. There could be others not mentioning it by that name (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glen[n], that must be a contingency (Jeff White, RMI, April 11, ibid.) ** GERMANY. 702, The broadcast station Radio 700 is currently also audible with (irregular) test transmissions on 702 kHz. A 10 kW Siemens transmitter with reduced power is in use from Krekel (Nordeifel). The station has been active on shortwaves since 2008. Reception reports are welcomed to 702@shortwaveservice.com (DX- Aktuell, Germany via ARC Information Desk 17 Feb 2011 via editor Olle Alm, April 9, DXLD) ** GERMANY. 1593: This frequency is being used in a primarily technical testing phase, which may continue until 31 December 2011. During this time the parameters of the transmission method may be changed. The programme content is not important. Currently it is not possible to tell when there will be changes. For the time being spoken word is transmitted (WDR via A-DX Mailing-Liste via ARC Information Desk 17 Feb 2011 via editor Olle Alm, April 9, DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. 15595, April 7 at 1325, Russian tones off and on, poor carrier. Nothing in Aoki, but HFCC shows DW, 250 kW, 110 degrees via ``Armavir``, a.k.a. ``Krasnodar``, RUSSIA at 1330-1500, i.e. in Dari, Pashto, Urdu (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ETHIOPIA [and non]: DW JAMMED AGAIN ** GERMANY [non]. 15510, April 12 at 1406, DW in Russian, good signal as usual even when not much else making it from Europe, despite being 500 kW, 62 degrees from Rampisham, UK at 1400-1659 (then 1700-1757, 250 kW, 15 degrees via Kigali, RWANDA). At the moment it sounded like there was a collision with a slightly weaker station in another language until I realised that DW itself was doing a voice-over probably from original German. SW stations need to realize that audio clarity is more important than fancy voice-overs. Depending on the ultimate audio processing, the undercurrent may be boosted louder than the studio producer expects. One language at a time, please! Or fade out completely the original real quick. O, I forgot === SW is just an ancient afterthought to web and satellite. 11875, April 13 at 0523, YL in English with ACI from WEWN 11870. Normally nothing heard here, but HFCC shows DW via SOUTH AFRICA, 0500- 0530, 250 kW, 5 degrees. 11830, April 14 at 0539, Portuguese soon with DW ID in passing; I was expecting RFI, but its Portuguese is on 11830 after 0600 via Meyerton, while DW is 0530-0557, 250 kW, 150 degrees via Sines, PORTUGAL (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GIBRALTAR. 1458, R. Gibraltar, Maida Vale, 1147-1250, 10 Apr, English, pops, advertisements at 1200, ID & frequency announcement (3 VHF-FM channels) and into BBC news bulletin at 1201, then resumed local program with pops; 45454 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Note: midday; was this unusual? (gh, DXLD) ** GREECE. 9420, April 7 at 0615, song in French, then Greek announcement, so it really is VOG, diversifying? At this hour no co- channel, the 11-hour Iranian collision having ended at 0530 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Greek media blackout; V of Greece strikes STRIKE OF SMEs APRIL 7 TO 11, 2011 The programs of ERA5 (Voice of Greece) will be amended from dawn, Thursday, April 7 from 06.00 Greece Time (0300 UT) until Monday, April 11 because of two consecutive strikes that have been launched against the Media of the country. The Voice of Greece will connect for these four days with the ERA Network. Greek refinery strike. Tourists be warned if renting a car. 10-day refinery strike starting Sunday, April 3. May lead to gas shortages. You can always cross the border to get petrol. Start hoarding petrol now if you live on the islands. Eventually gas stations will face shortages in refined gasoline. Add to this a Greek media black-out from Thursday April 7 for four days. Tune in your radio today to the Fifth Schedule of the Greek Radio, "the Voice of Greece." It broadcasts to all corners of the earth, from North and South America to Europe, Australia, Japan, and Africa (via John Babbis, MD, April 7, DXLD) 9420, April 8 at 0129 with classical music, also // 7475 at 0142. That`s because of a 4-day strike by journalists thru Monday. John Babbis forwards this about it: ``NEWS BLACKOUT IN GREECE AS JOURNALISTS STRIKE http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,14973098,00.html Greek journalists began a four-day strike today in protest at the government's austerity measures, leading to a nationwide news blackout. Television channels aired pre-recorded material, radio stations played back-to-back music and newspapers will not be published until Tuesday. Even online news sites shut down. The Athens journalists' union is demanding the rehiring of journalists recently laid off at several newspapers and TV stations. Many unions have staged months of strikes and demonstrations since the government unveiled austerity measures to battle its budget deficit crisis. The financial crisis gripping Greece has hit the media sector hard, leading to the closure of several newspapers. Sources: AP/Deutsche Welle`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) World --- THE LATEST STRIKE IN GREECE INCLUDES…REPORTERS? The Blaze * Posted on April 7, 2011 at 1:35 pm by Jonathon M. Seidl ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek journalists have walked off the job at the start of a four-day strike to protest job cuts and austerity measures. The strike began at 6 a.m. (0300 GMT) Thursday and will continue until early Monday. No television or radio news bulletins will be broadcast, news websites will not be updated and no newspapers or magazines will be published until Tuesday. Greece avoided bankruptcy last year due to a three-year, euro 110 billion bailout loan from euro zone countries and the International Monetary Fund. In exchange, the Socialist government cut pensions and salaries while increasing taxes and retirement ages, amid a recession and growing unemployment. The measures have been met with frequent demonstrations and strikes by all sectors, from lawyers and doctors to bakers and port workers (from http://www.theblaze.com via John Babbis, MD, DXLD) Hearing a steady diet of classical music on 15630 this afternoon. Canned ID in Greek at 1900 (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I've noticed a lot more classical music fill when tuning across VOG on 7475/9420 during North American evenings; had the entire Bruckner 4th Symphony one night. I'm still surprised the SW output hasn't been cut with all the money problems the Greek government is going through (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, April 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15630, VOG with non-classical music, fair April 8 at 1456, but presumably filling with even more music than usual of some sort, during strike thru Monday. 15630, April 9 at 0530 with Brazilian song, fair // better 9420, then song in another language, Spanish? As ERA continues music fill during strike. 13, 15, and 17 MHz bands were really hopping this nightmiddle [and non]. Metropolitan Opera live broadcast on SW! Saturday April 9 at 1850 as I tune across fair 15630, V. of Greece, am surprised to hear two YLs in English discussing Handel and Rossini, one of whom is Renée Fleming. Sounds like a Met intermission feature, and then Greek voice-over translation. This is happening only because of the strike in Greece, as VOG plugs into an ERA domestic network authorized to carry this, but back at Lincoln Center they are very protective of Met broadcast rights, and would likely nix it getting out for one and all to hear on SW. Fortunately the voice-over translator person is not on strike, whew. Per http://www.operainfo.org/ this week it is `Le Comte Ory`, an obscure opera by Rossini, and indeed for the single intermission just ending, ``Renée Fleming interviews Diana Damrau and Joyce DiDonato``. As music resumes (without voice-overs!), I also check our local MORN affiliate, KCSC 90.1 OKC and match it up to 15630, except KCSC is running 8 seconds behind VOG, maybe its own self-imposed delay to match analog with tardy IBOC. In case there are more strikes subsequent Saturdays, this year`s Met season runs thru May 14, all starting at 1700 UT except the last, ``Die Walküre`` an hour earlier in order to get the patrons out before dark. Ha, the penultimate, May 7 has a Greek angle, Strauss` ``Ariadne auf Naxos``, altho set in Wien. BTW, if you miss a live Saturday Met broadcast, you may catch it 8 days later on Radio Cultura FM, São Paulo webcast, Sundays at 1800 UT, via http://www2.tvcultura.com.br/radiofm/programacaofm.asp I wonder if they have to wait for a CD in the mail? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9420 GREECE, Voice of Greece, 2258, April 11, playing IS, 2259 music possibly the Greek anthem, Greek from 2300. Normally non-stop programming through this time period, so I was surprised to hear what sounded like a s/on. Poor (Harold Sellers, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTEING DIGEST) Maybe the domestic service being relayed does that in the nightmiddle? (gh) ** GUAM. AWR BOARD APPROVES PLANS FOR EXPANSION OF SHORTWAVE STATION The Board of Directors of Adventist World Radio has approved, in concept, the expansion of AWR’s shortwave broadcasting facility on the island of Guam in the Pacific Ocean. This project will result in much better coverage of China, a critical mission area for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. The Guam station, which was established in 1987, currently broadcasts programs in 30+ languages for nearly 300 hours each week to a large portion of Asia. Just over half of these hours consist of Mandarin programming for listeners in China. The station’s shortwave footprint also includes India; together with China, these two countries contain close to half of the world’s population. As well, listeners in countries such as Vietnam, North Korea, Cambodia, Indonesia and more can all hear AWR programs in their own languages. The station’s broadcast equipment consists of six towers, four curtain antennas, and five transmitters. The largest tower is 330 feet tall, and each curtain antenna is about the size of two football fields. The shortwave signals that are generated can travel for thousands of miles, enabling the gospel message to freely enter non- Christian areas without being subject to government control. The current equipment cannot provide a signal of sufficient strength, at the right frequency, to adequately reach listeners in northern China, Mongolia, Siberia, and beyond. Adding a fifth antenna will enable AWR to broadcast a strong signal to these areas during prime listening hours, as well as simultaneously transmit additional programs in more languages. “Over the years, our Mandarin broadcasts have generated incredible response from listeners in China,” says AWR president Dowell Chow. “But these listeners are primarily located in the south part of the country, where our signal is much more consistent and clear. So our goal is to provide the same quality of broadcasts to the millions of people in the northern areas. “At the same time, we are continuing to develop programs in additional languages. We are excited to have recently found producers in Tibet and Bhutan. But once their programs are ready for broadcast, we will need to be ready to add them to our airtime schedule.” While AWR recently put significant resources into launching a comprehensive podcasting system – in which all of its radio programs can also be heard worldwide online – the organization recognizes that shortwave broadcasts are still a vital part of its mission, Chow says. “In spite of the growth in Internet usage,” he explains, “shortwave is still the primary method of receiving information for literally hundreds of millions of people. A full 24 percent of the world’s population does not have regular access to electricity. So at AWR, we remain very aware that our listeners are extremely diverse.” AWR hopes that the installation of the new tower and antenna can be completed by the end of 2012, which is the Guam station’s 25th anniversary year. Adventist World Radio is the mission radio arm of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Programs are broadcast throughout Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Middle East through shortwave and AM/FM radio. All of AWR’s multi- language programming is also available worldwide as podcasts and on-demand at awr.org By Shelley Nolan Freesland AWR Communication Director (AWR Press Release, via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, India, April 12, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, 0135-0145 05.04, R Verdad, Chiquimula, Spanish ann, instrumental music - only audible in LSB due to heavy utility QRM in USB, 32332 (Anker Petersen, here in Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS again with my 28 metres longwire up in 9 metres altitude, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 4055, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, 0555-0606*, 07-04. Good reception here in Lugo, today no need to switch to LSB. Comments in English, identification in Spanish, English and more languages. Anthem. 24232 (Manuel Méndez, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4055, Radio Verdad, 0210 Apr 8. Spanish, hymn, then xylophone music and man with ID, frequency and mention of “Guatemala, Centro America”, followed by xylophone again. Poor at a time when it’s not yet dusk here (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening beside Lake Kalamalka from my car. Eton E1 and Sony AN1 antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4055, April 8 at 0556, R. Truth with multilingual announcements, English at tune-in offering QSL, with postal address Box 5, Chiquimula. Then YL in German; Italian; Swedish? Japanese; native language including Spanish words, all with Hammond organ music background, but audio quality varies greatly from language to language, some hard to copy or even identify. Overall modulation is somewhat distorted, and some T-storm crashes, but good steady signal at S9+20. Then brief sign-offs in Spanish and English, 0602 starting NA (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Edgar, Could you tell us in exactly which languages you have ID announcements? Are there other times these are typically played? Thanks, (Glenn to Édgar Madrid, April 9, via DXLD) Thank you, Glenn. Our ID's go in this order: The Lord's Prayer ID Spanish ID English ID German ID Italian ID Swedish ID Japanese ID Chortí (Native Language) Close Transmission: Spanish, English Guatemala's National Anthem, sung by girls. Such identifications in that order are presented when we open and when we close transmission. Several of them (Spanish, English, Japanese, and others) are presented at different times of the day, according to the most convenient schedule for each language. May God bless you (Dr. Édgar Madrid, Radio Verdad, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4055, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, 0513-0606*, 10-04, religious comments and songs in English, identification in various languages "Radio Verdad, Apartado 5 Chiquimula, Centroamérica", anthem and close down. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, 27 km W of Lugo, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, faced WSW, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. 7125, April 8 at 0605, RTG again with Qur`an, in Arabic of course. Did not catch any French translation like before in brief monitoring this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GUINÉ-Conacri, 7125, R. Guinée, Sonfonya, 0946-1000*, 08 April, vernacular (presumed), tribal music, abruptly off; 25442, sporadic amateur QRM. Not heard later in the day (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 5010, AIR Thiruvananthapuram in vernacular 03/06 1725-1740* Indian chant; brief announcement by YL (1729); local string music pause; YL/possible ID & announcement (muffled audio & s/off at 1730; then heard co-channel Madagascar heard in USB); again s/on & IS at 1733 & YL / man unclear talk (till 1739); s/off 1740; since then Madagascar on air only; heard in LSB with fast QSB; lite static crackles at times; increasing rustle; fair (Serra-Italy) 5010, AIR Thiruvananthapuram in vernacular 04/03 0021-0031 Indian chant; OM talk; local bow sound music; OM brief announcement; other men talking; no other // frequencies on 60 mb; heard in SSB with fast QSB & moderate static; fair (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy, JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR VBS noted on 6090 kHz since check in on 9th April, 0900- 1200 UT, probably testing in 'simulcast' mode, // to AIR VBS DRM on 6100. During Dec 2009 tests were noted on AM 6090 150 kW + DRM 6100 kHz 50 kW. Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi dx_india yg via DXLD) 15050, April 14 at 1333, after shivering in the Antarctic for an hour on 15476, I warm up by tuning here for South Asian music, flutter, S9 to S9+10 from AIR`s Sinhala service, 250 kW, 174 degrees from Delhi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SUDAN [non] ** INDONESIA. 3344.97, RRI Ternate, 1301-1355, April 7. Another Thursday with the “Bali International English Club” program in English; very informal show with a lot of back and forth chatting; predominately about North Maluku; students introduced themselves (Nina, who is in her last year of college, etc.); on air calls; ironically all the phone number given were not in English; conversation about rubbish in North Maluku and how trash is bad for tourism; their club has programs of “Go Green”; caller suggested more handicrafts being sold in North Maluku; 1355 end of show announcement; pop song till ToH; audio breaking up from time to time; almost fair. Audio at http://www.box.net/shared/yf7iz9cyz2 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4749.95, RRI Makassar, Mar 13 1018 - signal rapidly rising from carrier level with sunset Qur`an prayer (Makassar sunset 1017 UT), female announcer after 1021 between sub-continent and pop music. SCI at 1159, 3 time pips and news. After 2 hours of a steady but moderate signal, peaking from 1215 to a truly outstanding level (Brandon Jordan, Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park Dxpedition, Perseus SDR, 23'x112' Super KAZ Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See BOLIVIA 4749.95, RRI Makassar. Friendly response in 11 weeks from Syahrir Badulu < thebestforum @ yahoo.com > : “Is lovely indeed that you managed to stayed tune and kept listening to your favorite songs from RRI Makassar. Yeah, I always try our best to meet the listeners' needs in terms of music/song being played back and improving the coverage area of our show here from RRI Makassar. Really glad to hear from your feedback from California, USA. And as you probably know that our shortwave channel is actually able to be monitored in Amsterdam and in some places in Europe. Big thanks ya. Keep up the good work and get the habit to listen to our cultural and art show on the radio. Kind regards from all of us here at RRI crew. Syahrir Badulu”. Background information on him is at the Kang Guru Indonesia website http://www.kangguru.org/radio/presentersprofiles.htm which is where I originally obtained his email address. I of course did write to him in English. Always nice to receive such emails from Indonesia! (Ron Howard, San Francisco, CA, April 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ron: Very nice! Sounds like a pretty casual guy! I liked the "Big thanks ya!" You can almost see the Dutch influence there (Bruce Churchill, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Good news! The Kang Guru Indonesia website http://www.kangguru.org/Podcast/Radio/series_70.html now has audio and podcasts. Now everyone can check out their fun programs in English that are being broadcast via 170 stations throughout Indonesia, alas not many go out over SW. Believe that currently the KGI program has only been observed via RRI Wamena (4869.96), only on Wednesdays from 1000-1020 UT (Ron Howard, San Francisco, CA, April 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 7289.88, RRI Nabire, 0737-0759*, April 8. In Bahasa Indonesia; program with children singing; pop songs; just started SCI when they went off the air suddenly; was fading in at tune in and would have had fair reception if they had continued past 0800, which they often do. 7289.88, RRI Nabire (presumed), 0843-0856*, April 9. No announcements, so I have to assume it was them playing non-stop Middle Eastern sounding songs; fair; suddenly off; certainly one of their longer transmissions, as usually goes off about 0800 or so (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9526-, VOI gone again Monday April 11 during the 13 English hour, and 14 Indonesian hour; will it be back in time for Banjarmasin co-produxion 24 hours later? As always, the higher- priority RRI transmitter next to it on 9680 is still running, Indopop at 1358. 9526-, VOI, April 12 at 1257, already inserting English ID into tail of Japanese hour, but quite poor signal on bad propagation day. At least it`s on the air, unlike yesterday. Late at 1301.5 started `Exotic Indonesia` co-produxion with Jakarta, but no point in trying to listen (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. April 12 will be the 50th anniversary of manned spaceflight --- From BBC World Service publicity: Fifty Years Of Human Spaceflight – BBC World Service examines The Yuri Gagarin Legacy Date: 07.04.2011 Category: World Service To mark the 50-year anniversary of the first human to journey into space, BBC World Service broadcasts an hour-long special on Monday 11 April, from 7pm GMT. (This is a UK press release, don't know if the same time throughout WS) Travelling back to the historic events of 1961, the programme features those that knew Gagarin and examine the legacy and global impact of this first human spaceflight. In the first part of this 60-minute special, presenter Richard Hollingham relives the momentous events of 12 April 1961 when Yuri Gagarin became the first human to fly in space and to orbit the Earth. Through archive recordings and the memories of people who met Gagarin, or whose lives were changed by his journey, Richard builds up a picture of the life and untimely death of the first cosmonaut. He also examines the risky technology that propelled him into space, and the impact this first spaceflight had around the world. Reporter Katia Moskvitch visits the village where Yuri Gagarin was born and the city where he grew up, which now bears his name. She meets one of his school teachers and his niece, Tamara Filatova, who remembers him well and who now runs a museum dedicated to his memory. The second part of this programme examines the history, legacy and future of the Soviet and now Russian space programme, from the collapse of the Soviet Union through to its recent explorations to deliver cargo and crew to the International Space Station. Hollingham reviews recent successes and asks a panel of experts what the next 50 years might hold for the Russian space programme. The panel includes European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne, who has commanded the International Space Station; Yuri Karash, a Moscow-based commentator on the Russian space programme, Dr Iya Whitely, a psychologist at University College London, the European Astronaut Centre and the University of Bath; and, from his home in the US state of Maryland, Roald Sagdeev, the former head of the Soviet Space Science Institute. The final part of this programme features a special edition of BBC World Service's history programme, Witness, which goes back to 12 April 1961 to relive events on the day that Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin became the first man in space, revealing that secrecy was so tight that even his niece didn't know her uncle had been selected until the mission was under way (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) This programme is being broadcast as part of the "Discovery" strand, which since 27 March has been cut back to 18 minutes. The press release refers to topics for this programme in parts one, two and three. Discovery is typically followed by "From Our Own Correspondent", and I would be slightly surprised if this was dropped. So my guess is that the "One-Hour Special" is actually 3 x 18 minute episodes starting this week (first airing Monday 11 April at 1932 UT) and continuing for the next two weeks. But, I'm probably completely wrong! (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, ibid.) That may be how they do things in some versions, but the Internet web stream shows a full 55 minutes for Discovery - which isn't the normal modus operandi - on the 11th at 1905 UT (Richard Cuff, swprograms via DXLD) On that date in 1961, I was living in Denison, Texas, birthplace of President Eisenhower, (back in the days when presidents had real birth certificates 8^) listening to Radio Moscow on my Collins R-388 receiver. They played a recording of Yuri Gagarin speaking from space describing what he could see out the window. He said he saw plowed fields and railroad tracks among other things. Shortly thereafter a press release by some US "experts" announced that the descriptions proved that the flight was a fake because human visual acuity was insufficient to see such things from space. I had a reel-to-reel tape recording of the Radio Moscow broadcast that got lost someplace between New Jersey and New Mexico on a moving van around 1978. Luckily I had made a cassette copy of that tape. It got lost someplace after 1995 but not before I made another dub and passed it to my SWL buddy, Chuck Rippel, who gave it to his daughter's school teacher. That may be the only remaining copy in the USA if she hasn't lost it. I hope the BBC has found another copy to use in their special broadcast. It is truly goose-bumpy stuff (Joe Buch, ibid.) Unfortunately I spotted this too late for live-on-shortwave airing, but the Voice of Russia's weekly "Russian Book World" program featured a review of a newly-released book about Gagarin, "Starman: the Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin" . Last shortwave airing was last night (0105) but you can listen online for (most likely) several weeks at this URL: http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/28742746/48746137.html I remember a National Geographic issue of late 1969 (I think) had one of those floppy plastic 7-inch LP records in the issue; Frank Borman narrated key developments of the US and Soviet space program up to the Apollo 11 lunar landing. One of the audio bits was the Radio Moscow interval signal with a Russian-speaking announcer heralding the development. "??????? ??????..." ("govorit Moskva", or Moscow Calling) . RC (Richard Cuff, ibid.) Rich, Thanks for the memory jog. The recording you remember is bound into the December 1969 issue of National Geographic. I have a copy of that issue and other issues which had Apollo and Surveyor articles. The record is bound between pages 750 and 751. Unfortunately, I no longer have anything that will play it. It looks like a groove width typical of 33 1/3 LP records but there is no indication on the label of the speed. I would not want to pull the record out anyway as that would destroy the collector's value if any. The instructions in the article tell one how to pull away the record. It then goes on to say, "If the record slips or makes a rumbling sound, tape it to another record." Brilliant!! I bet this is also the first truly floppy disk, long before the computer memory device (Joe Buch, ibid.) I am 90% sure it was 33 1/3, Joe. And I do remember that advice to tape the disc to a "real" record if the rumbling (from the uneveness of the felt / rubber turntable) or slippage was an issue. And, Joe, don't worry about separating the record out. The National Geographic has thoughtfully put the audio online here, running 5 minutes and 17 seconds in duration. http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/1969/12/moon-landing/moon-audio-interactive And the Radio Moscow interval signal starts at roughly 54 seconds into the article. It's actually two audio files...the first "side" covers through Apollo 8, then you are invited to play the second "side". I was thrilled to see this available online! RC (Cuff, ibid.) I have a feeling that record would be worth more out than in the magazine; as Nat Geo's generally have very little collectible value in and of themselves, since there are so many of them out there. That's a tip from my days working in a used book store, albeit it an eon or two ago (David Goren, swprograms via DXLD) Anything on radio for 50th anniversary of first man in space? Has anyone heard of any special radio broadcasts that will be taking place on (or around) April 12th to celebrated this anniversary? In particular, I was wondering if any special programs are planned by Voice of Russia? (Kevin Cozens, April 11, ODXA yg via DXLD) VoR has a multi-part investigative video documentary on its website regarding the fatal air crash that took Gagarin's life, and a collection of other Gagarin-related stories. I don't see any particular special programs on the radio, at least not in any descriptions appearing on the website. The BBC World Service has a special 55-minute edition of the "Discovery" science and technology program dedicated to Gagarin. That special begins today at 1905 UT on the live webstream. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/pressoffice/pressreleases/stories/2011/04_april/07/worlds.shtml It appears the West Africa shortwave service will only include half of the program, if the online schedule is to be trusted, beginning at 1932 UT after Focus On Africa. Shortwave frequencies at that hour targeting West Africa include 11810, 15400, and 17795 kHz. Listeners in the USA via Sirius and PRI-fed stations should try the following times UT: Tuesdays 1006, Saturdays 1900. Discovery is also offered via podcast, and an extensive on-demand archive is also available online, with audio available back to 2009. Meanwhile NPR had a story a couple weeks back regarding Vladimir Komarov, a cosmonaut in 1967 aboard Soyuz I; he and Gagarin were friends. Komarov perished when the spacecraft descended back to earth; its parachutes failed. There apparently was a host of structural problems on board the spacecraft; had Komarov refused to fly on the mission, Gagarin was his backup. Those are the programs I'm aware of; a Google News search on "Gagarin" may yield others (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) Following up: ABC Radio National and Radio Australia's "The Science Show" also commemorates Gagarin's flight as the first item of its weekly broadcast. http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/stories/2011/3185614.htm After the fact (but still available online) I found "Russian Book World" on the Voice Of Russia with a review of "Starman: the Truth Behind the Legend of Yuri Gagarin" Its last shortwave airing was last night (0105 UT). However you can listen to the program online here: http://english.ruvr.ru/radio_broadcast/28742746/48746137.html (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. Radio Caroline --- During the last few days I have heard a number of emails read out on the station from the US, the excellent New York Times article has generated interest. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/business/media/04radio.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1&src=busln The internet stream is at http://www.radiocaroline.co.uk (Mike Terry, UK, April 8, dxldyg via DXLD) http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/04/business/media/04radio.html?_r=2 (via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Presumably same story ** IRAN [and non]. R. Tirana, ALBANIA, 13625, English to NAm at 1430 is normally without ACI from 13630, but April 11 at 1430 a stronger signal is on 13630 with music, soft announcements, language uncertain, 1431 into Qur`an. That`s typical behaviour of VIRI; gone at 1455 recheck. Uplooked later, Iran is scheduled on 13630 but only at 1330-1427 in Japanese via Kamalabad, so another of their sloppy overruns. Languages supposed to start at 1430 on other frequencies are: Arabic, Bengali, Hindi, Pashto, Russian. However, DX Mix News, Bulgaria April 11 in an updated A-11 VIRI schedule shows Japanese until 1427 is supposed to be on 13645 now; and nothing on 13630 any time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Updated summer A-11 of VOIRI/IRIB: Albanian 0630-0727 on 13810 17595 1830-1927 on 9570 11980 2030-2127 on 6090 9830 Arabic 0230-0527 on 9420 11660 11760 0330-0427 on 9610 11875 "Voice of Palestine" 0530-0827 on 13790 13800 15150 0830-1027 on 13740 13790 13800 15150 1030-1427 on 13790 13800 15150 1430-1627 on 9920 15150 1630-1727 on 9420 9920 1730-2027 on 6215 9420 2030-0227 on 9420 Armenian 0300-0327 on 7220 11700 0930-0957 on 9700 15225 1630-1727 on 7230 9505 Azeri 0330-0527 on 13710 1430-1657 on 9655 Bengali 0030-0127 on 7325 9730 0830-0927 on 11710 1430-1527 on 12085 13800 Bosian 0530-0627 on 11790 13670 1730-1827 on 9860 12020 2130-2227 on 9810 11685 Chinese 1200-1257 on 15190 15530 17610 17670 2330-0027 on 11645 13670 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 9605 11920 "Voice of Justice" 1030-1127 on 17710 21630 1530-1627 on 9600 11945 1930-2027 on 5940 6205 7205 9780 9800 German 0730-0827 on 15085 15430 1730-1827 on 5940 9565 11950 French 0630-0727 on 15430 17700 1830-1927 on 5940 9860 11865 13600 Hausa 0600-0657 on 17750 1130-1157 on 21520 21750, new txion 1830-1927 on 11885 13710 Hebrew 0430-0457 on 9610 11875 1200-1227 on 13685 15240 Hindi 0230-0257 on 11710 13750 1430-1527 on 11955 13810 Indonesian 1230-1327 on 17560 21670 2230-2327 on 7245 9820 Italian 0630-0727 on 9770 13620 17665 1930-1957 on 5910 7350 Japanese 1330-1427 on 13645 15555 [still on 13630 April 11 and 12 --- gh] 2100-2157 on 9765 11765 Kazakh 0130-0227 on 9790 11800 1530-1627 on 7340 9940 Kurdish 0330-0427 on 7365 9715 1330-1627 on 7230 Pashto 0230-0327 on 5940 7360 0730-0827 on 11990 15440 1230-1327 on 9570 11730 1430-1527 on 5890 1630-1727 on 6090 7340 Russian 0300-0327 on 9650 11925 0500-0527 on 11790 13750 15150 17655 1430-1527 on 9555 9580 11830 13720 1700-1757 on 6065 7350 1800-1857 on 6090 6140 1930-2027 on 6155 9570 Spanish 0030-0227 on 9905 11760 0230-0327 on 9905 0530-0627 on 15530 17530 2030-2127 on 6055 7300 9780 Swahili 0400-0457 on 13750 51340 0830-0927 on 17660 21650 1730-1827 on 9655 11830 Tajik 0100-0227 on 6175 7285 1600-1727 on 5950 6110 Turkish 0430-0557 on 9560 12015 1600-1727 on 7370 9905 Urdu 0130-0227 on 5930 7325 9845 1300-1427 on 9830 11620 11695 1530-1727 on 5890 Uzbek 0230-0257 on 7290 11930 1500-1557 on 5945 9685 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 11 April via DXLD) Finally got around to checking the new A-11 frequencies for the so- called ``Voice of Justice``, VIRI`s English service to North America, 0130-0230 UT --- In B-10 both channels were losers, 7250 colliding with V of Russia and 6120 with R Habana Cuba. April 12 at *0130, 11920 comes on a few sex before 9605; sign on correctly giving these frequencies, Qur`an 0133-0136, then Qur`an interpreted briefly in English. Some flutter, and 9605 slightly stronger but no ACI or CCI on either, working well for them. Another check April 12 whether R. Tirana 13625 has QRM from Iran on 13630: depressed propagation meant nothing but a carrier could be detected on 13630 until 1427:38*, presumably VIRI Japanese service still here and not running over, while no carrier on 13645, alleged QSY (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9610, Sawt Islamic 0357+ 11 April, ID, with phone in report, S7 (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) unID?? No country mentioned, but Iran via Kamalabad: 0330-0427 on 9610 11875 "Voice of Palestine" as in DX Mix schedule (gh, DXLD) ** IRELAND. 6295, 10/4 2000, Reflection Europe, several IDs and religious in English. Good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milan, Italy, Collins 51S-1; Perseus - Ant: T2FD, http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 12255, Reflections Europe, 2118-..., 10 Apr, English, rlgs. propag. prgrs; 25443; \\ 6295 very good, inaudible on 3910 which is off for quite a long time (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Israel clock change / analog TV shutdown A) Israel "springs forward" on April 1, 2011. B) Israel shuts down analog TV (yes, this is TV and not Radio) on March 30, 2011. Personally, I have no idea about reuse of the frequencies currently used for analog. Official webpage for Israel DTV (English version) http://www.rashut2.org.il/english_idan_lobby.asp Information on how to receive DTV in Israel is also available here: http://www.iba.org.il/reception/ The analog TV shutdown is now gradual transmitter shutdown between March 30 - June 30 (Doni Rosenzweig, April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. 7290, IRRS, 1814 10 April [Sunday] with Russian pop songs. ID and a IS series of IRRS then with program from ‘Victoria University Price’ and Amplify S20, 45545 (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) So should be good for WORLD OF RADIO at 1800 on Saturdays. Still waiting for specific reports! (gh) ** JAPAN. JAPAN'S PUBLIC BROADCASTER PLAYS CRUCIAL ROLE WARNING ABOUT EARTHQUAKES | Asia | Deutsche Welle | 07.04.2011 http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6497013,00.html?maca=en-newsletter_asia_taeglich-5132-html-nl (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. 15735, April 11 at 1301 poor with news in English of Japan disasters, music stingers à la NHK, and in fact it is R. Japan, via Tashkent, UZBEKISTAN. HFCC shows two 100 kW transmitters, both to CIRAF 41, i.e. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, one at 141 degrees, the other at 163, getting them all covered (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Glenn, I don't have a proper logging for you, but heard Radio Japan in English early this morning, April 11th, very early PDT, somewhere in 31 meters. Heard the end of the program with male and female hosts. They played an unusual Japanese version of Rodrigo's famous piece -- only the slow, beautiful, middle movement -- and the female host offered a moving, heartfelt thanks to all around the world who have been helping Japan with its disaster. Looking at Prime Time SW, this must have been the 1000 broadcast on 9840 to Oceania. The signal was excellent. I can't be sure of time or frequency, but 9840 feels about right because it was in the upper end of the 31 mb. I'm passing it along because of the impact the genuineness of the woman's words of gratitude had on me (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Eric, That would be this one, music starting 11:25 into it: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/radio/asx/201104111430.asx Yes, R. Japan has been providing excellent programming about this, not just on the monthiversary (Glenn TO Eric, ibid.) ** KIRIBATI. RADIO KIRIBATI CHANGES MEDIUMWAVE FREQUENCY Kiribati’s state radio, a division of the Broadcasting and Publications Authority, began broadcasting today on a new frequency of 1440 kHz, thanks to a grant of almost AU$137,000 from the government of Taiwan. The new frequency replaces 846 kHz which has been used since independence. General manager of BPA, Betarim Rimon, told the national paper, Te Uekera, that the new frequency is a big achievement for the organisation. Radio Kiribati is the only station that broadcasts across the country to the population of about 100,000, mainly in Kiribati languages. In 2008, the radio station went off air for several months after its transmitter broken down for serious technical problems. This put pressure on the state broadcaster to cut its expenses and consider a bank overdraft to solve its financial problems. (Source: Pacific Media Watch) Related story: * Radio Kiribati in technical and financial trouble (March 28th, 2011 - 9:58 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 1 Comment on “Radio Kiribati changes mediumwave frequency” 1. #1 Bob Foxworth on Apr 11th, 2011 at 21:02 Interesting news from Tarawa. In the 1960s they had been running 50 watts on 844 and in 1971 upgraded to a 10 kW set, still on 844. On so doing, they were heard by several dozen MW DXers in the US, many of them in the East. I heard them from Long Island, NY using a HQ-150 and a 4-foot loop, on the 2nd level of a 4-story brick apartment building, with interference from Rome on 845. The English tech manager, Alan Robins was able to identify the announcer I had recorded on tape, a lady from Funafuti in the Ellice group (now Tuvalu). I think they had moved to 846 when the 10-to-9 kc channel spacing shift took place in 1978. The story completely lacks the most important unanswered question, which is why they had to move to 1440 when 846 would give so much better groundwave coverage, unless there was some other station on 846 that complained (MN blog comment via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. A11 Summer Schedule of VOICE OF KOREA, Pyongyang, DPR Korea (North), effective Mon, 28 March 2011 Hello! First of all I wish to THANK YOU for mentioning me again as a collaborator to the WRTH 2011. I was really surprised that I qualified for this. Please find below the broadcasting schedule of VOICE OF KOREA, Pyongyang, DPR Korea (North), effective Mon, 28 March 2011 (they announced the schedule as being effective from Sun 27 March but in fact switched to Summer schedule on Mon 28 March). I have sorted them by either time (incl. feeder freq) or language (no feeder information). I can also provide, upon request, my Word-formatted lists. I hope the current schedule update is of interest to you. Kindest regards, Arnulf Piontek, Berlin, Germany A-11 Transmission Schedule of the Voice of Korea, Pyongyang, DPR Korea valid from Sunday, 27 March Juche 100 (2011) last modified: 25 March Juche 100 (2011), Version: 1 00^00 Chinese 13650 15100 3560 SEAs 00^00 Korean (PBS) 7220 9345 9730 4405 NECHN 00^00 Spanish 11735 13760 15180 CAm, SAm 01^00 English 7220 9345 9730 4405 NEAs 01^00 English 11735 13760 15180 CAm, SAm 01^00 French 13650 15100 3560 SEAs 02^00 Chinese 7220 9345 9730 4405 NECHN 02^00 English 13650 15100 3560 SEAs 02^00 Spanish 11735 13760 15180 CAm, SAm 03^00 Chinese 13650 15100 3560 SEAs 03^00 English 7220 9345 9730 4405 NEAs 03^00 French 11735 13760 15180 CAm, SAm 07^00 Japanese 621 3250 9650 11865 4405 J 07^00 Korean (PBS) 7220 9345 3560 NECHN 07^00 Russian 9975 1173 5FE 07^00 Russian 13760 15245 Eu 08^00 Chinese 7220 9345 3560 NECHN 08^00 Japanese 621 3250 9650 11865 4405J 08^00 Russian 9975 11735 FE 08^00 Russian 13760 15245 Eu 09^00 Japanese 621 3250 6070 9650 11865 4405 J 09^00 Korean (KCBS) 7220 9345 3560 NECHN 09^00 Korean (PBS) 9975 11735 FE 09^00 Korean (PBS) 13760 15245 Eu 10^00 English 11710 15180 CAm, SAm 10^00 English 11735 13650 SEAs 10^00 Japanese 621 3250 6070 9650 11865 4405 J 10^00 Korean (PBS) 7220 9345 3560 NECHN 11^00 Chinese 7220 9345 3560 CHN 11^00 French 11710 15180 CAm, SAm 11^00 French 11735 13650 SEAs 11^00 Japanese 621 3250 6070 9650 11865 4405 J 12^00 Japanese 621 3250 6070 9650 11865 4405 J 12^00 Korean (KCBS) 11710 15180 CAm, SAm 12^00 Korean (KCBS) 11735 13650 SEAs 12^00 Korean (PBS) 7220 9345 3560 NECHN 13^00 Chinese 11735 13650 SEAs 13^00 English 9335 11710 NAm 13^00 English 13760 15245 3560 WEu 13^00 Korean (PBS) 9325 12015 4405 Eu 14^00 French 9335 11710 NAm 14^00 French 13760 15245 3560 WEu 14^00 Korean (KCBS) 11735 13650 SEAs 14^00 Russian 9325 12015 4405 Eu 15^00 Arabic 9990 11545 ME, NAf 15^00 English 9335 11710 NAm 15^00 English 13760 15245 3560 WEu 15^00 Russian 9325 12015 4405 Eu 16^00 German 9325 12015 4405 WEu 16^00 English 9990 11545 ME, NAf 16^00 French 9335 11710 NAm 16^00 French 13760 15245 3560 WEu 17^00 Arabic 9990 11545 ME, NAf 17^00 Korean (KCBS) 9335 11710 NAm 17^00 Korean (KCBS) 13760 15245 3560 WEu 17^00 Russian 9325 12015 4405 Eu 18^00 German 9325 12015 4405 WEu 18^00 English 13760 15245 3560 WEu 18^00 French 7210 11910 SAf 18^00 French 9975 11535 ME, NAf 19^00 German 9325 12015 4405 WEu 19^00 English 7210 11910 SAf 19^00 English 9975 11535 ME, NAf 19^00 Spanish 13760 15245 3560 WEu 20^00 French 13760 15245 3560 WEu 20^00 Korean (KCBS) 7210 11910 SAf 20^00 Korean (KCBS) 9325 12015 4405 WEu 20^00 Korean (KCBS) 9975 11535 ME, NAf 21^00 Chinese 7235 9345 NECHN 21^00 Chinese 9975 11535 CHN 21^00 English 13760 15245 3560WEu 21^00 Japanese 621 3250 9650 11865 4405 J 22^00 Chinese 7235 9345 NECHN 22^00 Chinese 9975 11535 CHN 22^00 Japanese 621 3250 9650 11865 4405 J 22^00 Spanish 13760 15245 3560 WEu 23^00 Japanese 621 3250 9650 11865 4405 J 23^00 Korean (KCBS) 7235 9345 NECHN 23^00 Korean (KCBS) 9975 11535 CHN 23^00 Korean (KCBS)13760152453560WEu ---------------------------------------------------------------------- A-11 Transmission Schedule of the Voice of Korea, Pyongyang, DPR Korea valid from Sunday, 27 March Juche 100 (2011) last modified: 25 March Juche 100 (2011), Version: 1 Arabic 15^00 9990 11545 Near & Middle East; North Africa 17^00 9990 11545 Near & Middle East; North Africa Chinese 00^00 13650 15100 Southeast Asia 02^00 7220 9345 9730 Northeast China 03^00 13650 15100 Southeast Asia 08^00 7220 9345 Northeast China 11^00 7220 9345 Northeast China 13^00 11735 13650 Southeast Asia 21^00 7235 9345 Northeast China 21^00 9975 11535 China 22^00 7235 9345 Northeast China 22^00 9975 11535 China German 16^00 9325 12015 Europe 18^00 9325 12015 Europe 19^00 9325 12015 Europe English 01^00 7220 9345 9730 Northeast Asia 01^00 11735 13760 15180 Central & South America 02^00 13650 15100 Southeast Asia 03^00 7220 9345 9730 Northeast Asia 10^00 11710 15180 Central & South America 10^00 11735 13650 Southeast Asia 13^00 13760 15245 Western Europe 13^00 9335 11710 North America 15^00 13760 15245 Western Europe 15^00 9335 11710 North America 16^00 9990 11545 Near & Middle East; North Africa 18^00 13760 15245 Western Europe 19^00 7210 11910 South Africa 19^00 9975 11535 Near & Middle East; North Africa 21^00 13760 15245 Western Europe French 01^00 13650 15100 Southeast Asia 03^00 11735 13760 15180 Central & South America 11^00 11710 15180 Central & South America 11^00 1173513650 Southeast Asia 14^00 13760 15245 Western Europe 14^00 9335 11710 North America 16^00 13760 15245 Western Europe 16^00 9335 11710 North America 18^00 7210 11910 South Africa 18^00 9975 11535 Near & Middle East; North Africa 20^00 13760 15245 Western Europe Japanese 07^00 621 3250 9650 11865 Japan 08^00 621 3250 9650 11865 Japan 09^00 621 3250 6070 9650 11865 Japan 10^00 621 3250 6070 9650 11865 Japan 11^00 621 3250 6070 9650 11865 Japan 12^00 621 3250 6070 9650 11865 Japan 21^00 621 3250 9650 11865 Japan 22^00 621 325 09650 11865 Japan 23^00 621 3250 9650 11865 Japan Korean 00^00 (PBS) 7220 9345 9730 Northeast China 07^00 (PBS) 7220 9345 Northeast China 09^00 (KCBS) 7220 9345 Northeast China 09^00 (PBS) 13760 15245 Europe 09^00 (PBS) 9975 11735 Far Eastern Russia 10^00 (PBS) 7220 9345 Northeast China 12^00 (KCBS) 11710 15180 Central & South America 12^00 (KCBS) 11735 13650 Southeast Asia 12^00 (PBS) 7220 9345 Northeast China 13^00 (PBS) 9325 12015 Europe 14^00 (KCBS) 11735 13650 Southeast Asia 17^00 (KCBS) 13760 15245 Western Europe 17^00 (KCBS) 9335 11710 North America 20^00 (KCBS) 7210 11910 South Africa 20^00 (KCBS) 9325 12015 Europe 20^00 (KCBS) 9975 11535 Near & Middle East; North Africa 23^00 (KCBS) 7235 9345 Northeast China 23^00 (KCBS) 13760 15245 Western Europe 23^00 (KCBS) 9975 11535 China Russian 07^00 13760 15245 Europe 07^00 9975 11735 Far Eastern Russia 08^00 13760 15245 Europe 08^00 9975 11735 Far Eastern Russia 14^00 9325 12015 Europe 15^00 9325 12015 Europe 17^00 9325 12015 Europe Spanish 00^00 11735 13760 15180 Central & South America 02^00 11735 13760 15180 Central & South America 19^00 13760 15245 Western Europe 22^00 13760 15245 Western Europe All times in UT, all frequencies in kHz, subject to change at short notice. Programmes last 47 to 57 minutes. Data based on announcements and schedules of the Voice of Korea and own monitoring. KCBS = Korean Central Broadcasting Station (Choson Jungang Pangsong) PBS= Pyongyang Broadcasting Station (Pyongyang Pangsong) Compiled by Arnulf Piontek, Berlin, Germany. Please feel free to publish this schedule by mentioning the source: (Arnulf Piontek, Berlin, Germany, April 8, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Korea is coming in very well on 15180 currently at 0118 UT here on the east coast of USA; weaker on // 13760 kHz (Peter W Hansen, UT April 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) North Korea, 7210, Voice of Korea. Location ??? Not listed in HFCC A11. 2011/04/02 sat 1910-1922 News. ID: at 1916 & 1921 "Voice of Korea". Poor (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg, South Africa, April 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Kujang is the main transmitter site. No VOK listings are in HFCC, because as an outlaw nation, NK does not participate. Consult Aoki instead, or the full schedule above (gh, DXLD) Pyongyang to launch “Voice of Korea” website 15 April Text of report by state-run North Korean radio on 12 April [Unattributed report carried as the last item in newscast] The Voice of Korea [VOK] will open its Internet homepage. The VOK will open its Internet homepage. Dear audience, The VOK will newly open its Internet homepage from Sun’s Day on 15 April, the birth anniversary of great leader [suryo'ng] President Kim Il Sung [Kim Il-so'ng]. The Internet homepage address can be located at www.vok.rep.kp. We notify you that the VOK will newly open its Internet homepage from Sun’s Day on 15 April, the birth anniversary of great leader President Kim Il Sung. The Internet homepage address can be located at http://www.vok.rep.kp The VOK’s Internet homepage, to be launched anew, will further strengthen relations with the audience (Source: Central Broadcasting Station, Pyongyang, in Korean 2100 gmt 12 Apr 11 via BBC Monitoring) Andy Sennitt adds: Existing North Korean websites are listed on this page. http://www.northkoreatech.org/the-north-korean-website-list/ (April 13th, 2011 - 8:47 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via i WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. (?) 6230, unidentified clandestine, *1200-1240*, April 7. Sei-ichi Hasegawa (Japan) first heard this in early March; on with pop song in Korean; program with long monologue in Korean and ending with another song; strong. What is the name of this station? Audio at http://www.box.net/shared/xczuz4fb3l Best in LSB due to Australia (VMW) being here in USB (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5965, Shiokaze, 2002 10 April with ID over background music. Start of the program at 2003 (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 11530, UKRAINE, Denge Mezopotamia (Mykolyiv), (presumed), 0431-0437, 4/10/2011, Kurdish. Talk by man in Kurdish heard under WYFR in Portuguese. Poor signal with fading. Improving slightly at 0515 recheck, at that time Kurdish music under WYFR in French (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, Tecsun PL-660, whip antenna, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 11530, April 11 at 1413, great Kurdish music at S9+20 without too much flutter; still but weaker at 1456, and also heard before 1400, V. of Mesopotamia via UKRAINE currently scheduled 04-18, and from May 29 expanding to -20, while WYFR blox it only until 0900, so should be in the clear anytime after then. 7540, the other frequency seldom heard here, follows at 18-20 until off for the summer. Thus the PKK terrorists get far more SW time on Ukrainian transmitter than RUI any more (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 15540, Radio Kuwait; 1834-1915+, 7-Apr; English anmt at tune-in to brief fanfare, into Euro-pop, soul & rock tunes. English ID at 1900 into feature about the current 5-Year Plan. SIO=454- A11 HFCC lists this in Arabic; 2011 WRTVH correctly as English (Harold Frodge, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15540, R. Kuwait, April 7 at 1809 sounds like Christian preacherman with American accent, so I figure WYFR or something must have taken over the frequency --- but this fair signal with fading has no QRM, sounds much like RK reception has been. Then British-accented YL mentions interest in Arab civilization and culture, Islam. So must be R. Kuwait`s opening feature really about Islam. By 1947, signal has improved to good with western pop music, even rap, still past 2001, a sure sign of Kuwait, pretty good reception today. Still rocking at 2044, but I missed the news headlines around 2050 before 2100*. Back at 2000, I looked for the RK Arabic service to C&W NAm opening on 17550, but nothing; must have come on late as it`s there at next check 2017 with Arab music; 2040 into Arabic talk, but signal is fading and weaker by 2100. On other days it`s not been heard at all. So for a while we had a choice between Western and Eastern music from the two frequencies of R. Kuwait toward North America. [and non]. 21540, April 8 at 1454, Arabic pop music rather than Qur`an on this Friday, atop co-channel Spain, the SSOB now after Hamada Radio International is finished. Altho Kuwait may be at fault for this stupid collision, Spain could solve it by reactivating vacant 21570 which it was using in B-10, instead of 21540. But that would be too easy and require diligence. 15540, April 9 at 1756, tuning in early for R. Kuwait, I hear something non-English, 1758 announcement starting with ``Yeh ---``, mentioning ``mediumwave`` ``and meter band``, so it`s Urdu --- some other station just before RK in English? No, Urdu is indeed scheduled on their domestic service until 1800, but not on SW, so the transmitter was turned on early. 1759 military band plays NA, 1800 accurate 5+1 timesignal, anthem plays again! And sign-on in English still claiming to be on 11990; by 1802 into ``Umbrella of Islam`` religious propaganda. 15540 held up well at least until 1850 today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Similar happened on 15540 kHz channel today Sun Apr 10th. Transmitter switched on at 1758:15 UT. Heard an S=9+15dB signal on TF4X's remote Perseus rx on Iceland. 1759 NA played. Time pips at 1800 UT. Frequency announcement on local mediumwave 963 kHz to Kuwait and Arabian Peninsula, local FM 93.7 MHz, and - sic - 11990 kHz in the 25 meterband shortwave. Program content about religious orientation from christianity to islam world. S=5-6 signal in Finland and Ukraine. S8 in Spain, Switzerland and Germany, S9 in Netherlands. But signal will improve in coming summer, I guess. And R Kuwait in Arabic at same time on 13650 kHz in 22 meterband. But little stronger S=9+25dB, than 19 mb. Great music of English singer at present 1840-1850 UT on 15540! 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Kuwait. Sulaibiyah transmitter site. 15540 kHz. 1900 UT April 12, 45544, English, talk by man about shipping on the Arabian and Red Seas. Also, mention of diving for fossils at 1910. Very good signal. Best I've heard this one in a while (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwiren 40 feet high, Running East to West, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) 21540, R. Kuwait, April 14 at 1340, good signal, in fact the Strongest signal on band (SSOB), better than #2 Saudi 21505, during drama in Arabic, complete with music including some Bach, SFX including neigh, 1341 ``Idha`at - Kuwait`` ID, 1343 mentions Lebanon, Brasil. Way atop co-channel Spain; in fact only a hint of a SAH from REE during Kuwait fades, while Spain in clear on 21610, Portugal 21655 were quite weak (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strange, but true! - Radio Kuwait often broadcasts songs with verses composed by an author who signs "Son of the Desert": with such nickname, the Emir of Kuwait, the Sheikh Sabah IV Al-Ahmad Al-Jabir Al Sabah, conceals himself (via La Settimana Enigmistica magazine # 4124 - April 9th 2011 via Gianni Serra, Roma, April 10, DXLD) ** LIBERIA. Just found a photograph of Radio Veritas Monrovia: (Harald Kuhl, Germany, DXplorer April 11 via BCDX 13 April via DXLD) askew (gh) ** LIBYA. Re: [dxld] Benghazi rebel radio now streaming --- Hello DXers, I'm doing this as a test transmission, going through 675, 1125 and 1449 kHz but not 24/7 on that link: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/free-libya-radios B.Rgds (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, 1320 UT April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This had some problems over recent days, but is now streaming OK again. It's off-air reception, so rather weak and noisy in the daytime and with co-channel Qatar at night, but generally monitorable. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/benghaziradio (Chris Greenway, England, April 11, ibid.) LIVE STREAM OF VOICE OF FREE LIBYA 675 KHZ A live off-air feed of Voice of Free Libya, Benghazi on 675 kHz is now available at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/benghaziradio They have just broadcast what is, apparently, the new national anthem being used by the National Transitional Council. Broadcasts are, of course, in Arabic, but sometimes there are explanatory comments in English on the chat stream beside the audio player. Update 1815 UT: I was waiting for a station ID, as various names have been reported, but heard a clear ID at 1807 as “Sawt al Libya al Hurra”. Station operates 0530-2350 UT according to the Euro-African Medium Wave Guide (April 12th, 2011 - 15:26 UT by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 1 Comment on “Live stream of Voice of Free Libya 675 kHz” 1. #1 Chris Greenway on Apr 13th, 2011 at 10:53 Hi Andy, Ref. the reported schedule of 0530-2350 GMT: it’s not been operating to such a precise schedule. Although sometimes it has closed earlier, it has frequently been heard well beyond 2350 (MN blog comment via DXLD) ** LIBYA. The voice of Libya's rebellion is up and spinning --- The burgeoning radio, TV and press empire of the rebels in eastern Libya is giving Moammar Kadafi's foes information and outlets many have never had. Not that the coverage is exactly balanced. *Caricatures of Moammar Kadafi line the walls of the opposition media center… (Luis Sinco, Los Angeles Times) [caption] April 07, 2011|By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times Salah from central Benghazi was on the line, sounding indignant. Why was Benghazi so filthy? Was everyone so busy rushing to the front to fight that they couldn't clean up their own city? Inside a makeshift sound studio, radio host Khalid Ali wearily rubbed his eyes. Voice of Free Libya radio — 98.9 on your FM dial — had just opened its caller lines for another round of hectoring. "If they're not asking about garbage, they're complaining that people fire guns into the air all night long," Ali said, tapping his cellphone, which he holds next to a worn microphone when taking listeners' calls on the air. "Everybody has an opinion." Seven weeks into the rebellion, Voice of Free Libya is a centerpiece of the emerging rebel media, public relations and propaganda effort in eastern Libya. The station airs revolutionary music, pop songs, rebel-themed poetry — and calls from cranky citizens irritated by the chaos stirred up by the rebellion. It also provides news reports from the front by unpaid amateur reporters, plus caller updates on casualties, missing persons, rocket attacks and funerals for shuhada, or "martyrs," killed by Moammar Kadafi's forces. Mohammed G. Fannoush, the urbane former national librarian who runs the rebels' expanding media empire, acknowledges that it is a mouthpiece for the rebel leadership. But he also says the rebels have opened up information streams and public dialogue that didn't exist under Kadafi. "Anyone under 50 doesn't know anything about their own country, because Kadafi has controlled the media since 1969," Fannoush said inside a former Kadafi regime building, where a two-story mural of the dictator has been ripped from the facade. "If you read one Kadafi newspaper, you'd read them all." You might also say that if you've heard one rebel media outlet, you've heard them all. A common theme is the heroism of the shabab, the young rebel fighters, and the purity and legitimacy of the rebel cause. Kadafi is portrayed as the devil, along with his grasping sons and scheming henchmen in Tripoli. It's not exactly fair and balanced media. In fact, as Fannoush helpfully pointed out, there are four inviolate rules of coverage on the two rebel radio stations, TV station and newspaper: • No pro-Kadafi reportage or commentary (at least until the tyrant in Tripoli is deposed). No mention of a civil war. (The Libyan people, east and west, are unified in a war against a totalitarian regime.) . . . [MORE] http://articles.latimes.com/2011/apr/07/world/la-fg-libya-rebels-media-20110408 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Third page finally gets to ``AM 675`` (gh) On the air from the air: Radio Sawa beamed to Libya on FM via Commando Solo http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11056 (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, April 8, dxldyg via DXLD) ** LIBYA. 8500-USB! Libya 1631 heard on 10 April in USB only, YL talking a poem or something similar, in Arabic with strong actorship in her voice and many mentions of ‘na Libya’. Strong internal audio buzz S5-6. On 11th mode was AM at 15+ as tuned in (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 17725, VOAf from the GJ, April 7 at 1402, poor with ID, drumming. 17725, I can tell VOAf from the GJ is there, April 8 at 1453, fair signal with undermodulated music during presumed English bihour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LJBC on April 8 LJBC in French 1700-1800 on 17725, not on 11800 LJBC in Hausa 1800-2000 on 11800 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, 1845 UT April 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17725, VOAf from the GJ, April 11 at 1404 poor with ID in English, drumming; better at 1532, YL about alleged free medical care in Libya. She refers merely to Libya instead of the ``Socialist People`s Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah``, the cumbersome name apparently abolished some time ago; how I miss the SPLAJ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. [. . .] For 27 years World Christian Broadcasting has been receiving and responding to messages like that, thanks to programs coming from our station in Anchor Point, Alaska. But now new opportunities lie close at hand as our new station in Madagascar is closer to completion than ever before. A giant step was taken in February, 2011, when our Vice President of Engineering, Kevin Chambers, participated in the HFCC (High Frequency Coordinating Council [sic]) in the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague. During that meeting our new station was unanimously approved for membership. This means that the way is now cleared for us to officially turn on the transmitters and begin programming. Kevin was overwhelmed with how other shortwave broadcasters were extraordinarily supportive of us. Broadcasters from Germany, from Vatican Radio, from Trans World Radio, from Radio Netherlands, and others all lent special aid. The unanimous vote was especially gratifying since some of those votes came from stations in Islamic countries. During the meeting, evidence was presented that shortwave listeners in the country of India are changing rapidly from analog to digital (DRM) shortwave. We now feel justified in sending out our broadcasts aimed toward India in digital format. This will allow us to saturate the country of India with a much clearer signal than we had planned. We have been certain since our first interaction with authorities in Madagascar that God's fingerprints were all over this project. This all-important meeting in Prague was simply another confirmation. Kevin's conclusion to his report of the meeting in Prague; "I was overwhelmed with information and offers to help." We are now just months away from giving the word to have our three 100 kW transmitters shipped from Dallas, Texas, to Madagascar. Pray that God hastens the day! http://www.worldchristian.org/ (see transmitter photo on site) (via Mike Terry, April 10, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.: Two new pics of the completed Mahajanga SW site in Madagascar. Just waiting on txers now, which will be shipped to site when last payment received for the three txers. http://www.worldchristian.org/Updates/LatestNews/updates.php (Ian Baxter, NSW, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Just as he imagines that ``God`s fingerprints are all over this project``, he also imagines that HFCC has the power or the mission to authorize SW stations to go on the air! Acceptance of new stations into HFCC is in other stations` self-interest, as the whole point is coordinating frequencies of as many broadcasters as possible. It`s hardly an endorsement of the programming, especially by Islamists. And he also imagines that DRM has any significant listenership in India. Or anywhere. More noise to come! It`s nice that MWV will be participating in HFCC, but not yet in A-11 are any frequencies forecast under that name (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I think it's good news that somebody is STARTING a shortwave station with so many others shutting them down. 73, (Curt W4CP Phillips, Raleigh, NC USA, ibid.) ?? This world`s SW bands are already infested with far too many gospel-huxtering SW stations, each of them imagining that they are the One True Faith to Save the World, while sowing nothing but irrational religious hatred. And this one is also enthralled with DRM noise (gh, DXLD) More nice pictures: similar pictures on [correct URL has a space on both sides of the figure 1] (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** MADAGASCAR [and non]. 17750, April 9 at 0549, how ironic that the strongest, virtually only signals on band are on the same frequency colliding, making a fast SAH circa 12 Hz, R. Australia, Shepparton with a silly Saturday ballgame and something else, per HFCC, VOA Kurdish via Madagascar. RA scheduled to remain until 0700, and in the following hour to collide with Iran in Hausa via Sirjan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Madagascar relay might close? See NETHERLANDS [and non] ** MALAYSIA. 9835, RTVM Sarawak FM (Kajang), 1331-1344, 4/11/2011, Malaysian. Ballad music. Occasional announcements over music by enthusiastic man and woman. Mention of Malaysia at 1343. Initially poor to moderate signal, improving to good with only minor fading by 1335 (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, Tecsun PL-660, whip antenna, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. MAURITÂNIA, 783, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 2155-2207, 08 Apr, Arabic, phone-ins, some lute (?) tunes prior to newscast at 2200; 53443, adjacent QRM de Spain on 792. Still silent on parallel HF, be it on 4845 or 7245 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Re R. Mexico Internacional resumes as webcast, Jan 6 2011 jolyon curran on Apr 8th, 2011 at 23:44 RMI - now in English! News in English is now presented twice a day! go to: http://www.radiomexicointernacional.imer.gob.mx/ (Media Network blog comment via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) RADIO MÉXICO INTERNACIONAL ADDS ENGLISH NEWS --- Thanks to Jolyon Curran for alerting me to the fact that Radio México Internacional has added short (approx. 3 minutes) bulletins of Mexican news to its schedule. The bulletins, which are available on demand through an audio player on the RMI website, are scheduled twice daily at 0800 and 1600 UT (April 9th, 2011 - 11:31 UT by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 3 minutes? Wow! Listen to Imagen Radio (gh, DXLD) ** MICRONESIA. 4755.44, Cross R.: Apr 01 0857-0907 35333 English, Music and talk, ID at 0859, Apr 03 0853-0904 34343 English, Music and talk, ID at 0859, Apr 07 0854-0905 35443 English, Music and talk, ID at 0859, (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium April 8 via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 4830.00, 2305-2315 03.04, Mongoliin R 2, Altay, Mongolian talk, 35333 heard // 4895.00 Murun (35433) and 7260.00 Khonkhor (25232) (Anker Petersen, here in Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS again with my 28 metres longwire up in 9 metres altitude, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, V of Mongolia, 0959 usual IS twice and M with ID, then fanfare and into Chinese. 1029 IS and M with ID again, into English. 1048 ID and cultural/geographic program about some specific region of Mongolia. Was getting up to decent level at 1000, but faded by 1030, then started coming back up. Wiped out by 12080 DRM at 1057. Still not enough for a nice recording or report. (8 April) 12085, V of Mongolia, while waiting for the English program, noticed it went off the air for about 20 seconds at 1028. Wonder if they change antennas. The signal doesn't seem as strong as for the Chinese program from 1000 to 1030. (9 April) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Hard- Core-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) 12085, Voice of Mongolia (Ulan Bator), 0941-1001, 4/12/2011, Mongolian. Dramatic reading by a woman with occasional orchestral music with an Oriental flavor in the background. Music only at 0951. ID by man at 1000, and change to Chinese with talk by man and woman. Surprisingly good signal throughout the broadcast (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, Tecsun PL-660, whip antenna, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) I hope you can accept a SWL logging from me. Every once in awhile I catch your show on SW, and check out your WOR website. I think I contributed some loggings several years ago. Anyway, I've been chasing the Voice of Mongolia for as long as I've been listening to SW, and I caught it!! So with improving Solar weather and at least ( I presume) a 250-500KW signal to Asia, as listed in WRTH, I was able to hear VOM in English from 1030 to 1100 UT on 12085 kHz. IS, and intro to English service ("for Asia, Australia and Europe"), then news about mineral deposits and trading with its neighbors (a geographical reminder about Mongolia being located between Russia and China!). Also, a long segment about the UN dedicating April 12 some sort of international space exploration day, and discussion about Yuri Gagarin's accomplishments, and mentions of space exploration for "peaceful purposes". A couple of songs (Mongolian pop?) in between each talk segment. Not a powerhouse signal, but in the clear (until 1055, with something coming on 12080, and a DRM signal starting up on 12085, I think) and quite readable, even on a G5 and G6 radio, with a few feet of wire clipped to the antenna. I did hear a bit of the Mandarin prior to English on VOM as well. A very pleasant surprise! Thanks Glenn, I hope this is useful to you! (Erik Hinnov, Manchester NH, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 7200.05v, Myanma Radio. *1130, April 7. Strong open carrier before sign on; in vernacular; prominent hum which I had suspected in earlier receptions, but could only confirm today. Thanks to the tip from Robin Harwood (Tasmania) in dxldyg, I was indeed able to hear the spur on 7185.87; weak but definitely // (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7200.05v, Myanma Radio. *1136, April 9. Late signing on; skipped usual sign on format; in vernacular. By 1218 could confirm spur on // 7185.87. Was not // with Myanma Radio on 5915 (in the clear till CRI *1158) nor 5985.84v (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. RADIO NETHERLANDS WILL DROP DUTCH-LANGUAGE BROADCASTS AND WILL SCALE BACK SHORTWAVE http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11057 (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, April 8, dxldyg via DXLD) The original Media network blog entry about this is here: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/radio-netherlands-worldwide-opts-for-international-focus And more info straight from the RNW website: http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/radio-netherlands-worldwide-opts-international-focus ** NETHERLANDS [non]. RNW OPTS FOR INTERNATIONAL FOCUS The Dutch government has committed itself to public spending cutbacks in a range of sectors, including public broadcasting. Radio Netherlands Worldwide has been making headlines in recent weeks amid speculation on where these cuts will fall. The broadcaster has now issued a statement that, if faced with a choice between its core activities, it will dispense with its services informing Dutch-speakers abroad. In a statement, the director and editors-in-chief informed the staff about this decision on Tuesday. * Read the statement http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/radio-netherlands-worldwide-opts-international-focus (April 8th, 2011 - 16:11 UT by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) Viz.: The Dutch government has committed itself to public spending cutbacks in a range of sectors, including public broadcasting. Radio Netherlands Worldwide has been making headlines in recent weeks amid speculation on where these cuts will fall. The broadcaster has now issued a statement that, if faced with a choice between its core activities, it will dispense with its services informing Dutch-speakers abroad. In the following statement, the director and editors-in-chief informed the staff about this decision on Tuesday. “In its coalition agreement, the Dutch government has presented its plans for its current term of office. This agreement states that Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW) should focus on its core activities, including freedom of speech. This is partly inspired by the fact that technological developments have compelled a re-evaluation of RNW’s activities. Parliament recently adopted a motion put forward by D66 Democrat MP Boris van der Ham to examine RNW’s role in a changing world. Future vision The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs explained these latest developments to RNW’s management in January and February and announced that an analysis would take place. This analysis included approximately 60 questions on such issues as personnel, finances, distribution, core activities and cooperation with other organisations. One question called on RNW to provide a vision of how it would carry out its activities in future. The director and editors-in-chief decided to give a clear indication of its priorities in this regard, taking into account the economic climate and the need for cutbacks in all areas of public spending. RNW’s current ambitions were recently set out in its Policy Plan for 2010–2015. This plan also formed the basis of the Performance Agreement reached in June 2010 with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Dutch Media Authority (CvdM). International expertise The key objectives set out in the Policy Plan for 2010–2015 and the Performance Agreement are: • to reinforce the distinctive profile of Radio Netherlands Worldwide; • to bring about a shift in the distribution mix (scaling back shortwave broadcasts); • to limit the activities for Dutch-speakers abroad to information targeting specific groups; and • to encourage national public broadcasting media to use RNW’s international expertise. In addition to these points, our answers to the questions asked by the ministries contained the following passage: ‘Should a prioritisation of core activities prove necessary, we would therefore give prevalence to the task of providing information to countries with an information deficit (core activity II) – in combination with core activity III. Informing Dutch-speakers outside of the Netherlands (core activity I) could if necessary be limited to the role of “emergency broadcaster” and the provision of information for expats and/or be taken over by the NOS. We also see opportunities to accelerate the scaling back of shortwave broadcasts as a distribution platform, including the closure of broadcasting stations on Bonaire and Madagascar.’ Uncertain The above is not to say that this will be the nature of any decisions taken. These decisions lie with the politicians. The Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will consider our answers in the coming period. Before the summer recess, the government will inform parliament about the future of Radio Netherlands Worldwide and how its activities will be conducted. The outcome is uncertain. We have provided the initial impulse for a discussion that will take place elsewhere. (...)” Discussion: Dan Saygrasha 12 April 2011 - 7:43pm / Canada Much like R. Japan then. But when we desparately want good, well- written news and some entertainment, we may no longer find RNW on the air? That is sad. And unnecessary. You are breaking a lifetime habit and they will not come back. One of the major reasons I have a KLM Blue card and travel through The Netherlands is the image over the decades of Holland and other provinces that RNW has given me. This should really be thought through. Internet is easily blocked and difficult to connect freely. Radio comes through no matter what and repeats and is more forceful. The internet is a bowl of pretty beads that the usual user just plays with. Dan, who likes salty licorice and bought wooden shoes as a youth (ibid.) Keep in mind these are contingency plans, but will probably be implemented sooner or later. Governments everywhere are facing huge budget deficits, and the bond market/investors are demanding huge interest rates which are a further strain on finances. Cuts have to be made. You can argue all day about "how important shortwave broadcasting is" but there are thousands of other government funded government entities that are saying similar things about their own services. There is not an endless supply of money. Most of us have to live on a budget. When money is tight, we do without some things. The dropping of Dutch on shortwave would be understandable. Dutch businesspeople traveling abroad almost certainly have smartphones and/or wifi enabled laptop computers. Dutch vacationers/travelers who want to keep up with news will have smartphones. And Dutch expatriates living abroad obviously have the financial means to do so, and have modern communication devices as well. As far as "emergencies abroad" I'm not sure that shortwave is the answer these days. Few people actually own/carry portable SW receivers, so the cost per listener is prohibitive. If you choose to go to a place where the internet could be cut off during civil strife (Libya comes to mind) you might want to think twice. One thing that surprised me: the mention of the possible closure of Madagascar. I would think this would still be an important gateway into Africa and Asia. Unlike Bonaire, there might be serious interest by potential buyers for the station, especially if the (relatively) new Thomson transmitters from Bonaire wind up there. And RNW could always lease time if it wanted to keep some SW presence in that part of the world. Such a sale would probably annoy the operators of the future Madagascar World Voice SW station, after having gone through the expense and effort of building their own facility (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, April 9, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) > The dropping of Dutch on shortwave would be understandable. And it would with a single bang eliminate the majority of RNW's shortwave output. Taking a workday, not during the holiday season and Tour de France when even more transmissions are on air, they use for Dutch at present 30.5 frequency hours on shortwave plus two hours on Orfordness 1296 kHz (which from hearsaying is not exactly cheap). This compares to 10 hours for English, 6 hours for Spanish and 4 hours for Indonesian. Figures perhaps not correct to the last digit, but it shows the picture. I think this has run out of all proportions, and things like a transmission to Iceland only for some holidaymakers who sent letters, lamenting poor reception, are really an excess. > One thing that surprised me: the mention of the possible > closure of Madagascar. I would think this would still be > an important gateway into Africa and Asia. One would think so. Thus I was a bit surprised to note that the majority of the current transmissions at Talata Volonondry are for third parties. If I did not overlook something the remaining RNW schedule there is English 1400-1457 on 11835, 1800-1857 on 6020 and 1900-2057 on 7425 plus Dutch 1700-1727 on 6020, and that's it. Of course on the other hand RNW gets from some the mentioned third parties (DW, Radio Vatican, IBB) in return airtime on their Sines, Kigali, Trincomalee, Santa Maria di Galeria, Tinang, Tinian, Saipan and Greenville facilities. But if they drop Dutch they will have much less need for such slots. Well, right now, at 1145, I have RNW on two frequencies, 5955 and 9895, on Sundays at this time both from Nauen. 5955 is booming in, something I hardly have here, just 130 kilometres away. 9895 is of course just weak backscatter. On is some entertainment show with a European selection of pop music, something one hears on shortwave almost exclusively from RNW nowadays. There is also a faint carrier on 15650, but just too faint to tell if this is really Tinian with RNW Indonesian (Kai Ludwig, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, ibid.) Spanish version, also mentions closing Bonaire and Madagascar relays: Holanda: Radio Nederland opta por estrategia internacional FUENTE: http://bit.ly/iguWYm = http://www.rnw.nl/espanol/article/radio-nederland-opta-por-estrategia-internacional (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, April 11, DXLD) In addition... "Foreign [Dutch] Minister Uri Rosenthal plans to close nine Dutch embassies as part of an effort to modernise embassy services and re-focus the priorities for Dutch foreign policy. Dutch economic interests will now take centre stage abroad, while development aid is being reduced. Embassies will be closed in four African countries (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Eritrea and Zambia) and five in South and Central America (Bolivia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Uruguay). Three of these countries will no longer receive direct development aid from the Dutch government, and therefore no longer need a Dutch embassy. In the other countries, the cost of maintaining an embassy is seen as too high compared to Dutch interests there. Read here: http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/netherlands-close-nine-embassies (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) ** NIGER. NÍGER, 9705 (not 9704), La Voix du Sahel, Goudel, 1406-..., 10 Apr, vernacular, talks, phone-ins, local tunes; 25342. It was rated 35422 on 04 Apr, 2105-2207 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Radio Nigeria, Abuja extended hours --- Glenn, It has been a while as I have not been very active in the hobby, but here are some observations of stations concerning Nigeria: 7275, Radio Nigeria Abuja National Station, observed daily from 0545 until 1200 closedown. However, on Saturday 09/04/2011 transmissions continued all day with live coverage of parliamentary elections. Extended broadcasts also today 10/04/2011 but went off air sometime between 1550 and 1620. Further elections are scheduled for 16 and 26 April (James MacDonell (Niger State, Nigeria), April 11, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 15120, April 9 at 0544, VON with usual awful audio, about politix, elexions about to start in Nigeria. With BFO on FRG-7, its carrier is wobbling, unstable, compared to e.g. Australia 15160. While this is going on, expect more attention to broadcasting to and from Nigeria (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15120, 10/4 1825, Voice of Nigeria, English, Reports, ID on half hour, good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milan, Italy, Collins 51S-1; Perseus - Ant: T2FD, http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. 21480, Hamada Radio International, via RMI, April 8 at 1415 is the SSOB --- strongest station on the band of 13m! Frequent mentions in Hausa of Kaduna. This is currently scheduled M-F 1400- 1430, due south from Wertachtal, GERMANY with a semi-transmitter at 125 kW. Close second in strength is Kuwait on 21540. At this hour I am pleased to note 10 audible signals on the 13 m band, unimaginable just a year ago during prolonged solar min: 21470 BBC English via Cyprus, 21480 HRI, 21505 BSKSA, 21540 RK AND REE, 21560 NHK via France, 21610 REE, 21630 BBC Hausa via Portugal, 21655 RDPI Portugal, 21840 DW Amharic via Portugal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11945, Hamada R. International via Germany: Apr 05 *1930-1941 33433 Hausa, 1930 sign on with IS, Opening announce, Talk, ID at 1934 and 1935 and 1940, (ex: 11865 kHz) Apr 06 *1930-1959* 35433-35333 Hausa, 1930 sign on with IS, Opening announce, Talk, ID at 1933, etc. Apr 07 *1930-1941 35433 Hausa, 1930 sign on with IS, Opening announce, Talk, ID at 1933 and 1934 (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium April 8 via DXLD) 11945, Hamada Radio International, 09/04/2011, 1930-2000, in Hausa but nothing heard on 11865 (James MacDonell (Niger State, Nigeria), April 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 21480, Monday April 11 at 1357 open carrier, but nothing starts at 1400. Finally at 1402, Hamada Radio International modulation, no RMI ID in English, and my Hausa is not good enough to decide whether it was joined in progress, or merely late starting. Meanwhile, with BFO I notice that the carrier from Wertachtal is unsteady, compared to others on 13m, and has a curious wobble (slight regular pitch shift) 48 times per minute. Jeff White says the schedule will keep changing due to the Nigerian elexions in progress. Besides 21480 M-F at 1400-1430, HRI is registered at 0530-0600 on 9545, 9610 [see below] and/or 11970; 1930- 2000 on 11865, 11945, but not all of these may be in use at once via GERMANY, and M-F broadcasts might be expanded to Sat and Sun too. As of April 5-7, Kouji Hashimoto in Japan Premium reported that the 1930 broadcast was on 11945 ex-11865 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency change of Hamada Radio International in Hausa Mon-Fri effective April 10: 0530-0600 NF 9610 WER 100 kW / 180 deg to WeAf, ex 9545 // 11970 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 21480, Hamada Radio International, April 13 at 1347 carrier via Wertachtal, 1400 starts promptly today in Hausa. The WRMI website schedule has now been updated for A-11: 9545 0530-0600 46 100 180 1234567 11970 0530-0600 46 100 180 1234567 21480 1400-1430 46 100 180 1234567 11945 1930-2000 46 100 180 1234567 But DX Mix News says the 0530 is on 11970 and 9610 ex-9545, and I am not sure that all three are really 7 days a week. 21480, April 14 at 1358 open carrier, like before shifting very slightly and regularly at rate of 72 times per minute, obvious with BFO slightly off-tuned. Something is amiss with this Wertachtal, GERMANY transmitter, but not noticeable in ordinary AM-mode listening. 1400 sharp, percussion starts and Hausa from Hamada Radio International, ``Salaam Aleikum``. At same time started to notice some lite second-ACI from BBC Cyprus which just opened English on 21470. Latest RMI schedule from MBR via HFCC shows additional frequencies following week only: 9610 0530-0600 daily since 8 April, 180 degrees, 100 kW Wertachtal 9860 0530-0600 daily 15-21 April, 180 degrees, 100 kW Wertachtal 11970 0530-0600 daily since 8 April, 185 degrees, 100 kW Nauen 17860 1400-1430 daily 15-21 April, 180 degrees, 125 kW Wertachtal 21480 1400-1430 daily since 8 April, 180 degrees, 125 kW Wertachtal 11945 1930-2000 daily since 8 April, 180 degrees, 100 kW Wertachtal 13800 1930-2000 daily 15-21 April, 183 degrees, 100 kW Nauen While registered as daily, weekends may be contingency basis only; all due to elexions in Nigeria (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Enid 104.7, KEIF-LP Fined $10,000 for interrupting regular programming with unauthorized commercial announcements and operating at antenna height greater than that authorized Read all the 'lawyer' talk at: http://www.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0408/DA-11-650A1.txt (via Bruce Elving DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. ENID PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION. Issued a $10,000 Notice of Apparent Liability for Station KEIF-LP, Enid, Oklahoma, for operating at greater than authorized antenna height and violation of enhanced underwriting rules. Granted the application for renewal, as conditioned. Action by: Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau. Adopted: 04/07/2011 by Forfeiture Order. (DA No. 11-650). MB http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-650A1.doc http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-650A1.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-650A1.txt (via Benn Kobb, DC, April 8, DXLD) Viz.: Federal Communications Commission DA 11-650 Before the Federal Communications Commission Washington, D.C. 20554 In the Matter of ENID PUBLIC RADIO ASSOCIATION Application for Renewal of License for Station KEIF-LP Enid, Oklahoma ) Facility I.D. No. 124554 NAL/Acct. No. MB-201041410011 FRN: 0007446396 File No. BRL-20050131AAR FORFEITURE ORDER Adopted: April 7, 2011 Released: April 8, 2011 By the Chief, Audio Division, Media Bureau: I. INTRODUCTION 1. In this Forfeiture Order, we issue a monetary forfeiture in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to Enid Public Radio Association (“Licensee”), licensee of low-power FM radio station KEIF-LP, Enid, Oklahoma (“Station”), for willfully violating Sections 73.503(d) and 73.811 of the Commission’s Rules,1 as well as Section 399B of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended (the “Act”),2 by willfully and repeatedly interrupting regular programming with unauthorized commercial announcements and operating at antenna height greater than that authorized. II. BACKGROUND 2. On July 13, 2010, the Media Bureau issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture (“NAL”) in the amount of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) to Licensee for willfully violating Sections 73.503(d) and 73.811 of the Rules, as well as Section 399B of the Act.3 As noted in the NAL, Chisholm Trail Broadcasting Co. (“Chisholm Trail”), in its petition to deny Licensee’s renewal application, demonstrated that Licensee was operating with an antenna higher than authorized, and further was willfully and repeatedly broadcasting unauthorized commercial announcements, in violation of the Commission’s enhanced underwriting rules.4 A copy of the NAL was sent to Licensee on or about July 13, 2010, by Certified Mail, Return Receipt Requested. The Return Receipt was signed by Carol Clark on July 23, 2010. Licensee filed no response to the NAL. III. DISCUSSION 3. The forfeiture amount proposed in this case was assessed in accordance with Section 503(b)(2)(D) of the Act,5 Section 1.80(b)(4) of the Rules,6 and the Commission’s Forfeiture Policy [footnotes: 1 See id. §§ 73.503(d), 73.811. 2 See 47 U.S.C. § 399B. 3 Enid Public Radio Association, Memorandum Opinion and Order and Notice of Apparent Liability for Forfeiture, 25 FCC Rcd 9138 (MB 2010). The Station’s license renewal application was conditionally granted in the NAL for a period of six years from expiration of Station’s prior license. 25 FCC Rcd at 9145-46. 4 See NAL at 9139. 5 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(D). 6 47 C.F.R. § 1.80(b)(4). Federal Communications Commission DA 11-650] Statement.7 In assessing forfeitures, Section 503(b)(2)(E) of the Act requires that we take into account the nature, circumstances, extent and gravity of the violation and, with respect to the violator, the degree of culpability, any history of prior offenses, ability to pay, and such other matters as justice may require.8 4. Licensee, as indicated above, has failed to dispute the findings of the NAL, nor has it made any attempt to argue that the forfeiture should be reduced or cancelled. Licensee has thus failed to identify facts or circumstances to persuade us that there is a basis for modifying the proposed forfeiture. We are therefore not aware of any mitigating circumstances to warrant a reduction of the forfeiture penalties. For these reasons, and based on the information before us, we hereby impose a total forfeiture of $10,000 for Licensee’s willful or repeated violations of Sections 73.503(d) and 73.811 of the Rules, as well as Section 399B of the Act, for the reasons set forth in the NAL. IV. CONCLUSION 5. Accordingly, IT IS ORDERED, pursuant to Section 503(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, and Sections 0.283 and 1.80 of the Commission’s Rules,9 that Enid Public Radio Association SHALL FORFEIT to the United States the sum of ten thousand dollars ($10,000) for willfully violating Sections 73.503(d) and 73.811 of the Commission’s Rules,10 as well as Section 399B of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended. 6. Payment of the forfeiture shall be made in the manner provided for in Section 1.80 of the Commission's Rules within 30 days of the release of this Forfeiture Order. If the forfeiture is not paid within the period specified, the case may be referred to the Department of Justice for collection pursuant to Section 504(a) of the Act.11 Payment of the proposed forfeiture must be made by check or similar instrument, payable to the order of the Federal Communications Commission. The payment must include the NAL/Acct. No. and FRN No. referenced in the caption above. Payment by check or money order may be mailed to Federal Communications Commission, at P.O. Box 979088, St. Louis, MO 63197-9000. Payment by overnight mail may be sent to U.S. Bank--Government Lockbox #979088, SL-MO-C2-GL, 1005 Convention Plaza, St. Louis, MO 63101. Payment by wire transfer may be made to ABA Number 021030004, receiving bank: TREAS NYC, BNF: FCC/ACV-- 27000001 and account number as expressed on the remittance instrument. If completing the FCC Form 159, enter the NAL/Account number in block number 23A (call sign/other ID), and enter the letters “FORF” in block number 24A (payment type code).12 Licensee will also send electronic notification on the date said payment is made to Michael.Wagner@fcc.gov and Thomas.Nessinger@fcc.gov Requests for payment of the full amount of this Forfeiture Order under an installment plan should be sent to: Associate Managing Director- Financial Operations, Room 1-A625, 445 12th Street, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20554.13 7. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the relief ordered in this Forfeiture Order is without prejudice to any other actions the Commission or the Media Bureau may take with regard to the conditional license renewal set forth in the NAL, including but not limited to actions necessitated by any failure by Enid Public Radio Association to comply with the conditions set forth in the NAL. [more footnotes: 7 Forfeiture Policy Statement and Amendment of Section 1.80 of the Rules to Incorporate the Forfeiture Guidelines, Report and Order, 12 FCC Rcd 17087 (1997), recon. denied, 15 FCC Rcd 303 (1999). 8 47 U.S.C. § 503(b)(2)(E). 9 47 U.S.C. § 503(b); 47 C.F.R. §§ 0.283, 1.80. 10 See id. §§ 73.503(d), 73.811. 11 47 U.S.C. § 504(a). 12 See 47 C.F.R. § 1.1914. 13 Id. Federal Communications Commission DA 11-650] 8. IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a copy of this Forfeiture Order shall be sent by First Class Mail and Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested to Enid Public Radio Association, 2122 West Maine, Enid, Oklahoma 73703-5320, and to Chisholm Trail Broadcasting Co., c/o Andrew S. Kersting, Esq., Dickstein Shapiro LLP, 1825 Eye Street, N.W., Washington, DC 20006. FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION Peter H. Doyle Chief, Audio Division Media Bureau (via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. As I was flipping thru the DTV channels April 7 at 1437 UT, I finally got something on 9-2: KWTV-DT 39 OKC has activated at last a second channel with PSIP ID as News9 N (with a space), vs the main channel merely News9 (even tho it`s mostly entertainment). It`s obviously not something just thrown together, as full of grafix, commercials, traffic reports, news and weather --- and now, coverage of the wildfires around OKC, which we suspect is the reason for this activation on RF 39.2, carrying the news channel they had been putting on Cox Cable in OKC for years (but not in Enid). There is NOTHING about the extra DTV channel to be found on their website http://www.news9.com/ not even by searching on News9 N. About time they put it on the air too, if they have nothing else to fill up a subchannel with, but will it stick after the fires? We got twisters too! As KWTV was dithering last year whether to keep RF 39 or 9, they duplicated programming on 9-1, 9-2, and even 9-3, never any alternative. So KWTV finally joins the big leagues, with major competitors KFOR, KOCO, KETA, KOCB, KOKH all running an extra DTV channel. BTW, KFOR is still running weather on 4-2, and Antenna TV http://www.antennatv.tv/affiliates/ still says it`s ``coming in May`` on 4-3, so I guess KFOR will keep 4- 2 as weather, even tho with a hint of severe weather, the Big 3 all blow away regular programming on their main channels. Re previous report of KWTV-DT 39 adding continuous news on 9.2: Searching their site on ``News 9 Now`` (abbr`d as News9 N on PSIP ID), does get this: ``KWTV'S 'NEWS NOW' TO BECOME 'NEWS 9 NOW' --- News9.com OKLAHOMA CITY -- News 9 is proud to introduce News 9 Now, formerly known as News Now 53. Beginning April 1, 2011, viewers can find News 9 Now on KWTV's digital sub-channel, 9.2. The news will continue to be broadcast on Cox Cable Channel 53. "We made this move to make these channels more accessible to our viewers," said Griffin Communications President and CEO David Griffin. "We're happy to continue our successful 15 year partnership with Cox and look forward to serving even more Oklahomans by offering News 9 Now and News On 6 Now over the air." The new channel will also allow News 9 to carry special programming without pre-empting regular scheduled programming. Viewers may need to rescan their channel lineups in order for the change to take effect. For more information, including a list of cable companies who will carry News 9 Now, check out http://News9.com/News9Now [website]`` (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Happened to catch a promo on KFOR-TV 27, OKC, April 7 that its secondary station KAUT, RF 40 will be changing April 11 to ``Freedom 43 TV``, ``red, white and you``, evidently a super-patriotic politico-gospel huxter format? Not yet; looking at upcoming program listings on zap2it, I see the same mostly syndicated and MyTV network programming as before, except `News Channel 4 at 9` becomes `Freedom 43 News`. BTW, I was pissed to find that when I brought up zap2it on the same browser I had used earlier today to look at the Antenna TV program listings (reruns, reruns, reruns), it had overwritten my cookie set up for local cable listings, now going directly to Antenna TV. Grrrr. This change has already been making media news. Here is one story: ``Rebranding as ‘Freedom 43,’ Oklahoma City’s KAUT Targets Conservative Viewers === By Andrew Gauthier on March 25, 2011 5:37 PM http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/rebranding-as-freedom-43-oklahoma-citys-kaut-targets-conservative-viewers_b8111 Oklahoma City’s KAUT is undergoing an aggressive rebranding effort to appeal to the more than 50,000 active and reserve military personnel in Oklahoma. Next month, KAUT (channel 43), a MyNetworkTV-affiliate which airs a two-hour morning newscast in addition to a half-hour nightly newscast at 9 p.m., will relaunch as “Freedom 43.” “For the first [time?], a TV station is aiming its news focus not at a particular demographic, age group, or gender,” boasts Jim Boyer, KAUT’s president and general manager, “but at an audience bound by social connections and shared values.” “Freedom 43 TV is for all Oklahomans who believe in faith, freedom, and patriotism,” Boyer said, in announcing the brand makeover. KAUT’s new identity appears to be in line with that of Fox News, with programming based on a specific worldview and meant to draw a conservative audience. “We usually focus on covering geographic areas or news events of the day,” says Mary Ann Eckstein, KAUT’s news director and senior vice president. “While we will continue to do that, we are also going to tap into the culture and beliefs of our audience with things like local commentary and new franchise reports that appeal to our patriotic and conservative viewers.” Anchoring Freedom 43`s revamped 9 p.m. newscast will be Bobbie Miller. In an interesting twist, meteorologist Mike Morgan‘s weather updates will include forecasts for the places abroad where many Oklahomans are stationed. KAUT is owned by Local TV, which also owns Oklahoma City’s NBC- affiliate KFOR. Freedom 43 officially launches on April 11th.`` Another: http://newsok.com/oklahoma-citys-kaut-43-to-rebrand-as-freedom-tv-43/article/3551654 The station`s chequered history is pretty well covered here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KAUT-TV (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 17790, BBC relay 1200 synthetic music, 5+1 time ticks, fanfare and ID by M "BBC World Service, this is the ??". 1229 M with e-mail address. Weak and gradually got worse by 1400. Clear though. This is probably the first time since the 70's that I intentionally tuned for this relay site!! (9 April) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Hard- Core-DX via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3205, R. Sandaun (West Sepik), 1026-1058, April 10. Impassioned Christian sermon in English by a local preacher; "The nation of Papua New Guinea needs to rally"; ID “This is Radio Sandaun”; a lot of religious songs; still on at tune out at 1217. Has been almost two years since I last heard this one! (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good catch, Ron! (same comment for the new Aussie on 5050!) These guys are only on once in a blue moon! All this great DX is going by the board while I still await installation of the antenna at my new QTH L 73's (Bruce Churchill, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. HI Gle[n]n - this is my very first report [3210- 3480 kHz], all 17 Mar: 1146, NBC Radio 3260 NBC Radio Madang PNG S8 1150, Radio Southern Highlands 3275, Mendi PNGm S9 Local govt politics, English / Pidgin 1110, Karai Radio Central 3290 Port Moresby PNG S9+10 Ethnic music 1145, NBC Radio Milne 3365 Alotau PNG S9 Monica Daniel interview 1148, NBC Radio East New 3385 Rabaul PNG S6 Local music mix, English Rig: Perseus + 20m vertical. (various other receivers/antennas) 73 (Nick VK2DX, Sydney, Australia, April 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA [and non]. 3260-, April 7 at 1151 some music, presumed R. Madang, one of the better NBC signals along with 3275, 3290, 3365, 3385; plus Indos 3325, 3345. 3260 slightly on low side compared to 1260 signals. 1158 announcement, but back to music past 1201 as it is weakening to very poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3385, NBC East New Britain, 0915, April 7. There was a problem with the NBC National News audio feed at 0902, so they didn’t relay it today; had the “N-B-C East New Britain” news; mostly about indigenous people and things being done to help them; almost fair; again no hint of RRI Kupang. 3385, NBC East New Britain, 0902, April 8. The NBC National News audio feed was working today, unlike yesterday; // Wantok Radio Light on 7324.95 with the PNG birdcall and news in English (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 5960, Radio Fly, 1031, April 7. One of their best receptions! In Tok Pisin with island pop songs and many phone calls; played “My Heart Will Go On” (Celine Dion) and “Tequila Sunrise.” Audio at http://www.box.net/shared/o84cl8b6kt Note at 0:04 they said “Radio Fly Wantok”. At first thought “Wantok” was part of some new ID, but no, it must be in reference to the song “Girl of My Dreams.” 3915 still off the air. 5960, Radio Fly, 0949-1020, April 8. Excited coverage of the rugby match between the Cowboys and the Titans playing at Queensland, by two Australian announcers. Still no 3915. 5960, Radio Fly, 0921, April 9. Sports recap of the just concluded rugby match between the New Zealand Warriors and the Sydney Roosters held in New Zealand; 0925 DJ in Tok Pisin with island pop songs; “Here now is Radio Fly’s Community …” with PSA in Tok Pisin about such things as training programs, etc.; song by Foreigner “Feels Like The First Time”. Hi Glenn, Status report on the 3915 kHz. (R. Fly) transmitter that has been silent for some time now. Transmitter site for both 3915 and 5960 is Kiunga, a port town on the Fly River, about 85 miles south of Tabubil. Per their radio technician, the 3915 transmitter has been repaired, but needs to be re-install at Kiunga. Also the circuit breaker for the Aircon tripped and needs attention. She did try to reset it, but it only held for about 2-5 minutes before tripping again. She suggested it would be good to have both aircons working before they re-install the second transmitter. She is currently on leave, but will be back working at the Kiunga site next week (Ron Howard, San Francisco, CA, April 12, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wonder how the story got started that 3915 and 5960 were at different sites? But then siting either at Tabubil turns out to be wrong too (gh) Contacting Radio Fly via email: Hi Glenn, Now that Jobby Paiva is no longer with R. Fly, hence not available to receive our requests for QSLs (which supposedly are being printed), I decided to try to initiate a new contact with the station. Thanks to the wonders of the Internet, was actually simpler than I imagined. Well that and some very nice folks at Ok Tedi Mining Limited, who forwarded my email along to the right parties. Sent an email to an address found on the Web: Emmanuel "Manny" Tajonera < Emmanuel.Tajonera @ oktedi.com > Manager Finance - Ok Tedi Mining Limited His response: “Nice to hear that you are enjoying our Radio Fly station. The person in charge of our communication is Michael Miise. He is the Team Leader Communication. You can get in touch with him through the following: Phone: (675) 649 3859 Email: Miise.Michael @ oktedi.com ” I also found the email address on the Web for the top man himself: Nigel H. Parker < Nigel.Parker @ oktedi.com > Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Ok Tedi Mining Limited Did not really expect him to respond, but did so in less than an hour: “Thank you for your interest. I have copied our media Relations Manager and she will follow up with you.” About ten minutes later received an email from: Jane Mills < Jane.Mills @ oktedi.com > “We are pleased to know we have a fan from across the Pacific Ocean. For communications with Radio Fly you can contact broadcast officer/sports reporter James So-on who has been copied in on this correspondence. He will be able to assist any of your enquiries.” Sent a follow up report with more details of my reception to: James So-on < James.So-on @ oktedi.com > His response: “Good to know you're in tune with Radio Fly frequency 5960. I will check on QSL card and advise accordingly. Regards, jayso” So it looks as if either email to “jayso” or Michael should get a response. Hope this helps (Ron Howard, San Francisco, CA, April 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7324.95, Wantok Radio Light. 0859, April 7. ID; rare for them not to have the National News at 0902; EZL and religious music; 0906 made an announcement that there was a problem with the NBC National News audio feed, so they played music instead; hence not // 3385 which also did not receive the audio feed (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4747.97, R Huanta 2000, Huanta, Mar 12 *0954 - on with back to back Andean vocals, man/woman with canned ID at 0959, string of lively ads until 1015, pop vocal, live locutor after 1017, more mainly Andean vocals with a few pop Latin vocals. Good signal, even better at 1100, then fading. Also noted Mar 13 with 0103 s/off and 0952 s/on, although poor. 4774.95,, R Tarma, Tarma, Mar 12 *1001 - on with brief canned announcement by man into back to back vocals. Finally locutor at 1056 with announcements, ID at 1059 with lots of echo, mention of Peru, caught Radio Tarma mention at 1102 and back to music. Poor, CODAR, improving slightly toward 1100 and then rapidly fading. No sign of them Sunday morning, Mar 13. 4790, R Visión, Chiclayo, Mar 12, 13 - not heard 4824.47, La Voz de la Selva, Iquitos, Mar 12 *1114 - on with female ballads, canned ID at 1121, locutor talk, canned announcements and back to ballads. Strong signal but poor modulation, fading from 1130, slight CODAR. Not noted Sunday morning, Mar 13. 4835.00, (tentative), R Marañón, Jaen, Mar 12 *1053 - on with live and somewhat excited locutor, low key Andean instruments in background. Left air for a few seconds at 1058, back a for a few seconds and then off again at 1059. I believe I heard mention of "Red Marañón", but LASWLOGS lists this one on 4835.4v. Not heard Mar 13 (Brandon Jordan, Meeman-Shelby Forest State Park Dxpedition, Perseus SDR, 23'x112' Super KAZ Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See BOLIVIA ** PERU. 5921.27, R Bethel, Arequipa, 0044-0121, April 11, non-stop hymns like "Amazing Grace" and "The Old Rugged Cross" interrupted by Spanish announcement at 0101. Unstable carrier drifted down very slightly and then back up again, better in USB to escape ute QRM. No definite ID but no doubt it's them. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6019.17, 7/4 2310, Radio Victoria, religious emphatic talks, weak but the 6020 channel is free. Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, rx: Perseus - ant: T2FD, SW blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6019.185, Radio Victoria, 1002-1015 April 9, Prior to the hour could not hear any audio thinking that I wasn't tuned in well enough? Anyway at 1002 audio heard with a male giving ID followed with promos. It's possible that they came on the air after 1000 UT this morning because it's Saturday? Signal remained at a fair level during the noted period with Spanish comments and music. Frequency was double checked (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, WR-31DDC, 26N 081W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 18057.9, April 9 at 1342 some JBA wailing from David Miranda, so the third harmonic of R. Victoria, 6019.3v is propagating, while easterly signals on 16m are not making it today; and unusually, nothing audible on 13m at 1345 or 1420. Yet WWV was reporting no space weather storms in past 24 hours, solar flux 109 on 8 April, K indices only 1 on 9 April at 1200, 2 at 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. AUSTRIA/NORWAY/UAE/U.K., Polskie Radio Warsaw [sic] A-11 BC schedule 27 March 2011 to 30 Oct 2011. ors=ORS Moosbrunn Austria via BAB(exVTC). A lot of changes from Woofferton to RMP = Rampisham site. ENGLISH 1200-1259 11675ors 11980RMP 1700-1759 7265kvi-drm 9770mos POLISH 1030-1059 11790ors 15265RMP 1530-1629 11640skn 2100-2159 6155skn 7245wof GERMAN 1130-1159 9435RMP 9610RMP 1530-1559 9495rmp 1930-1959 6035skn 6135wof-drm RUSSIAN 1100-1129 15265RMP 15460rmp 1300-1329 15480RMP 17860uae 1430-1459 11760wof 1800-1829 11730wof 1900-1929 15155skn BELARUSS. 1330-1429 11955rmp 15480wof 1630-1659 11760rmp UKRAINIAN 1430-1459 15500wof 1500-1529 13730rmp 15265wof 1830-1859 11730rmp 15155wof 1900-1929 11730wof HEBREW 1800-1829 11865skn Power mostly increased from 125 to 250 kW at Rampisham relay. (BAB/VTC/PRW A-11 March 6, updated April 9, BCDX 13 April via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. 13755, RDP Internacional, Friday April 8 at 2003 at VG strength and splattering at least +/- 10 kHz. This is an ``extraordinary emission`` frequency, available 7 days a week between 20 and 23, 300 degrees to NAm, on the air only when there is something so important as a stupid ballgame. 21655, April 11 at 1320, RDP Internacional announcing this very frequency plus satellite info. After a couple days of deadness, 13m has revived with this plus the usual signals. 21655, RDPI is the SSOB, April 13 before 1400, as 13m has recovered somewhat, also Spain 21540, 21610 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. 11805-11810-11815, DRM noise, April 10 at 0507, louder than that from NZ covering 11670-11675-11680 --- it`s RRI scheduled in French to Europe, 300 kW, 285 degrees from Galbeni, fortunately only during this single semihour. Says HFCC; does RRI really run full power when in DRM or just fail to register reduxions? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 11818.75!!! V of Russia with an unstable frequency moving down and up during the listening, with program about churches, S9 [no time, April 10] (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Muito bem escutado o programa em francês da VoR, Voice of Russia, em DRM, a 14.06 kbps AAC+ Mono, audio de 10 kHz de banda, 16/16 QAM, transmissor de 15 kW em Bolshakovo, 9880 kHz, feixe dirigido para a Europa entre 2030 e 2045 UT. 73 de (Roland, PY4ZBZ, April 6, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. VoR A-11 (version April 8). Only few changes, compared to recent file version of April 6, download by Mike Bethge earlier this week. "KAVKAZ" program to Caucasus area is added, using new 500 kW unit on 1395 kHz mediumwave via Yerevan Gavar-Armenia site. Pashto, is now combined Dari/Pashto service. Serbian, called Serbo- Croatian Additional DRM shortwave unit from Moscow 'is planned for later use in this season' New MW 558 Cima di Dentro Switzerland relay services in German, Italian and French sections were not included in .XLS file yet! I guess only GRFC Authority know about that new relay contract with Switzerland, in effect from April 2011, but not all language and website sections in 'Voice Of Russia' on the broadcasting house be aware of that news. 73 de (wolfy Büschel, April 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: RUSSIA A-11 Voice of Russia Moscow, schedule til October 29, 2011 [sorry about the columns not lining up: I wish providers would do that, but I don`t feel like spending valuable time fixing, just to see them out of line again once going thru the mail --- gh] language kHz UTC location kW target area remarks Arabic 5925 1500-1600 Novosibirsk 250 AF/ME 11795 1600-1700 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AF/ME 1314 1700-1800 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 9360 1700-1800 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME 11795 1700-1800 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/AF 12060 1700-1800 St. Petersburg 200 AF 12065 1700-1800 St. Petersburg 400 ME 1314 1800-1900 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 9360 1800-1900 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME 11795 1800-1900 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AF/ME 12060 1800-1900 St. Petersburg 200 AF 1314 1900-2000 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 7315 1900-2000 Novosibirsk 250 ME 9360 1900-2000 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME 648 2200-2300 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 ME 1377 2200-2300 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 7315 2300-2400 Novosibirsk 250 AF Kavkaz 1395 0100-0500 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CIS-Cauc. 1395 0600-1200 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CIS-Cauc. 1395 1300-1700 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CIS-Cauc. 1395 1800-2000 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CIS-Cauc. 1395 2100-2400 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CIS-Cauc. Chinese 1251 1000-1100 Ussuriysk 600 AS 6075 1000-1100 Vladivostok 100 AS 1080 1100-1200 Irkutsk 500 AS 1251 1100-1200 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS 1251 1100-1200 Ussuriysk 600 AS 6075 1100-1200 Vladivostok 100 AS 801 1200-1300 Kruchina Chita 600 AS 1080 1200-1300 Irkutsk 500 AS 1251 1200-1300 Ussuriysk 600 AS 1251 1200-1300 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS 6075 1200-1300 Vladivostok 100 AS 1251 1300-1400 Ussuriysk 600 AS 13610 1300-1400 Vladivostok 250 AS Dari, Pashto 648 1200-1400 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 ME 801 1200-1400 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME 972 1200-1400 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 ME 4975 1200-1400 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME 15510 1200-1400 Samara 250 ME English 7440 0200-0300 Lviv Krasne-UKR 500 NoAM 9665 0200-0300 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 CeAM 15425 0200-0300 Petropavl.-Kamchat 250 NoAM 9665 0300-0400 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 CeAM 15425 0300-0400 Petropavl.-Kamchat 250 NoAM 15585 0300-0500 Vladivostok 250 AS 15735 0300-0500 DRM Koms.-on-Amur 30 AS 13775 0400-0600 Petropavl.-Kamchat 250 NoAM 1323 0500-0800 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 15405 0600-0800 Komsomolsk/Amur 250 AUS, NZL 1251 0700-0900 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS 1323 0800-0900 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 12060 0800-0900 DRM Moscow 40 EUR planned later 15405 0800-0900 Komsomolsk/Amur 250 AUS, NZL 12060 0900-1000 DRM Moscow 40 EUR planned later 15170 0900-1100 Kruchina Chita 500 SoEaAS 12065 1100-1200 Kruchina Chita 500 SoEaAS 9445 1200-1300 DRM Irkutsk 15 AS 11500 1200-1300 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS 12065 1300-1400 Kruchina Chita 500 SoEaAS 1251 1400-1500 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/AS 4975 1400-1500 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME/AS 7225 1400-1500 DRM Krasnodar 15 EUR 9750 1400-1500 DRM Moscow 40 EUR 9870 1400-1500 DRM Moscow 40 EUR planned later 11500 1400-1500 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS 4975 1500-1600 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME/AS 7225 1500-1600 DRM Krasnodar 15 EUR 9660 1500-1600 Xian China 150 SoEaAS 11985 1500-1600 Moscow 500 ME 12040 1500-1600 Moscow 200 EUR 11985 1500-1800 Moscow 500 AF 1251 1600-1700 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/AS 4975 1600-1700 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME/AS 11985 1600-1700 Moscow 500 ME 12040 1600-1700 Moscow 200 EUR 1251 1700-1800 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/AS 1269 1700-1800 Xuanwei Yunnan-CHN 600 AS 4975 1700-1800 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME/AS 11985 1700-1800 Moscow 500 ME 12040 1700-1800 Moscow 200 EUR 4975 1800-1900 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME 12040 1800-1900 Moscow 200 EUR/AF 1215 1900-2100 Kaliningrad 1200 EUR 12040 1900-2100 Moscow 200 EUR 9665 2300-0200 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 NoAM 9800 2300-0200 Krasnodar 500 NoAM French 9410 1600-1700 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR/AF 9840 1600-1700 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 AF 9880 1600-1700 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 9410 1700-1800 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR/AF 9840 1700-1800 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 AF 9870 1700-1800 DRM Moscow 40 EUR planned later 15465 1700-1800 Moscow 250 EUR/AF 9410 1800-1900 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 AF/EUR 9840 1800-1900 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 AF 9880 1800-1900 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 12050 1800-1900 St. Petersburg 200 AF/EUR 15465 1800-1900 Moscow 250 EUR/AF 558 1900-2000 Cima di Dentro-SUI 200 EUR 1323 1900-2000 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 9410 1900-2000 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR/AF 9840 1900-2000 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 AF 9880 1900-2000 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 12030 1900-2000 Novosibirsk 200 EUR 12050 1900-2000 St. Petersburg 200 AF/EUR 15465 1900-2000 Moscow 250 AF/EUR 1323 2000-2100 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 9410 2000-2100 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 AF/EUR 9880 2000-2100 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 12030 2000-2100 Novosibirsk 200 EUR German 630 0900-1000 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 0900-1000 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 1323 0900-1000 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 1431 0900-1000 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 11655 0900-1000 Lviv Krasne-UKR 500 EUR 558 1000-1200 Cima di Dentro-SUI 200 EUR 630 1000-1200 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 1000-1200 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 1323 1000-1200 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 1431 1000-1200 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 9850 1000-1200 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 558 1500-1600 Cima di Dentro-SUI 200 EUR 630 1500-1600 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 1500-1600 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 1323 1500-1600 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 1431 1500-1600 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 9750 1500-1600 DRM Moscow 40 EUR 9870 1500-1600 DRM Moscow 40 EUR planned later 12010 1500-1600 Samara 250 EUR 558 1600-1700 Cima di Dentro-SUI 200 EUR 630 1600-1700 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 1600-1700 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 1215 1600-1700 Kaliningrad 1200 EUR 1323 1600-1700 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 1431 1600-1700 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 9750 1600-1700 DRM Moscow 40 EUR 9870 1600-1700 DRM Moscow 40 EUR planned later 12010 1600-1700 Samara 250 EUR 1215 1700-1800 Kaliningrad 1200 EUR 1323 1700-1800 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 9750 1700-1800 DRM Moscow 40 EUR 12010 1700-1800 Samara 250 EUR 558 1800-1900 Cima di Dentro-SUI 200 EUR 630 1800-1900 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 1800-1900 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 1215 1800-1900 Kaliningrad 1200 EUR 1323 1800-1900 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 1431 1800-1900 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 12010 1800-1900 Samara 250 EUR Hindi 9445 1300-1400 DRM Irkutsk 15 AS 9670 1300-1400 Dushanbe-TJK 100 AS 11500 1300-1400 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS 972 1500-1600 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 AS 9445 1500-1600 DRM Irkutsk 15 AS 9670 1500-1600 Dushanbe-TJK 100 AS Italian 558 1700-1800 Cima di Dentro-SUI 200 EUR 6155 1700-1800 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 7310 1700-1800 Moscow 250 EUR 9880 1700-1800 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 12050 1700-1800 St. Petersburg 200 EUR 1548 2130-2230 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR Japanese 630 1200-1300 Komsomolsk/Amur 500 AS 720 1200-1300 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 1000 AS 7235 1200-1300 Irkutsk 100 AS 7340 1200-1300 Petropavl.-Kamchat 250 AS 630 1300-1400 Komsomolsk/Amur 500 AS 720 1300-1400 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk 1000 AS 7235 1300-1400 Irkutsk 100 AS 7340 1300-1400 Petropavl.-Kamchat 250 AS Kurdish 1314 1600-1700 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 5925 1600-1700 Novosibirsk 250 ME Mongolian 801 1300-1330 Kruchina Chita 600 AS exc.Su 1080 1300-1330 Irkutsk 500 AS exc.Su 6075 1300-1330 Vladivostok 100 AS exc.Su 801 1330-1400 Kruchina Chita 600 AS exc.Su 1080 1330-1400 Irkutsk 500 AS exc.Su 6075 1330-1400 Vladivostok 100 AS exc.Su Persian 648 1500-1600 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 ME 1377 1500-1600 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 9360 1500-1600 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME 648 1600-1700 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 ME 1377 1600-1700 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 9360 1600-1700 Dushanbe-TJK 100 ME Polish 693 1700-1800 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 1143 1700-1800 Kaliningrad 150 EUR 9615 1700-1800 Samara 250 EUR Portuguese 5920 2100-2200 Krasnodar 200 EUR 9430 2200-2400 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 SoAM 11605 2200-2400 French Guiana 250 SoAM Russian IS 630 0500-0800 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 0500-0800 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 801 0500-0800 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 1431 0500-0800 Dresden-GER 250 EUR Russian schedule of new relay site in Switzerland not published yet. 558kHz Cima di Dentro-SUI 200kW EUR could be probably in Russian at 05-08, 13-15, 20-22 UT ? Russian WS 1314 0000-0100 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 7270 0000-0300 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CeAM 7285 0000-0300 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 SoAM 648 0100-0200 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 ME/CIS-CeAS 801 0100-0200 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 972 0100-0200 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 ME/CIS-CeAS 1026 0100-0200 Novosibirsk 500 CIS-CeAS 1314 0100-0200 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 1503 0100-0200 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/CIS-CeAS 15585 0100-0300 Vladivostok 250 AS 15735 0100-0300 DRM Koms.-on-Amur 30 AS 648 0200-0300 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 ME/CIS-CeAS 801 0200-0300 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 972 0200-0300 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 ME/CIS-CeAS 1503 0200-0300 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/CIS-CeAS 621 0300-0400 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 648 0300-0400 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 801 0300-0400 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 1548 0300-0400 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1314 0300-0500 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME/CIS-Cauc. 621 0400-0500 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 630 0400-0500 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 0400-0500 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 801 0400-0500 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 1431 0400-0500 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 1548 0400-0500 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 972 0500-0600 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 1314 0500-0600 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 CIS-Cauc. 1395 0500-0600 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CIS-Cauc. 648 0600-0700 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 972 0600-0700 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 621 0600-0800 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 CIS,UKR,MDA 999 0600-0800 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR/CIS,UKR,MDA 1314 0600-1200 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 CIS-Cauc. 648 0700-0800 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 972 0700-0800 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 621 0800-0900 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 630 0800-0900 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 0800-0900 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 801 0800-0900 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 972 0800-0900 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 999 0800-0900 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1431 0800-0900 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 9850 0800-0900 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 1314 0800-1200 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 621 0800-1600 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 CIS,UKR,MDA 999 0800-1600 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 CIS,UKR,MDA 621 0900-1000 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 972 0900-1000 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 999 0900-1000 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 9850 0900-1000 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 972 1000-1100 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 1323 1000-1100 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 621 1000-1200 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 999 1000-1200 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 648 1100-1200 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 801 1100-1200 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 972 1100-1200 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 1323 1100-1200 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 612 1200-1300 Vilnius-LTU 50 EUR/Baltics 621 1200-1300 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 630 1200-1300 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 1200-1300 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 999 1200-1300 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1143 1200-1300 Dushanbe-TJK 150 ME/CIS-CeAS 1143 1200-1300 Kaliningrad 150 Baltics 1314 1200-1300 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME/CIS-Cauc. 1323 1200-1300 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 1395 1200-1300 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CIS-Cauc. 1431 1200-1300 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 1503 1200-1300 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/CIS-CeAS 9745 1200-1300 Kruchina Chita 500 AS/CIS-CeAS 9850 1200-1300 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 12030 1200-1300 Novosibirsk 250 AS/AUS, NZL 13870 1200-1300 St.Petersburg 200 ME/CIS-Cauc. 612 1300-1400 Vilnius-LTU 50 Baltics/EUR 621 1300-1400 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 630 1300-1400 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 1300-1400 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 999 1300-1400 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1143 1300-1400 Dushanbe-TJK 150 ME/CIS-CeAS 1143 1300-1400 Kaliningrad 150 Baltics 1170 1300-1400 Mogilev-BLR 700 EUR 1251 1300-1400 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS/ME/CIS-CeAS 1314 1300-1400 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 1323 1300-1400 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 1431 1300-1400 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 1503 1300-1400 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/CIS-CeAS 1548 1300-1400 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 9465 1300-1400 Irkutsk 250 AS/AUS, NZL 9745 1300-1400 Kruchina Chita 500 AS/CIS-CeAS 9750 1300-1400 DRM Moscow 40 EUR 9870 1300-1400 DRM Moscow 40 EUR planned later 12015 1300-1400 Samara 250 CIS-CeAS 13870 1300-1400 St.Petersburg 200 ME 1170 1300-1500 Mogilev-BLR 700 CIS-BLR 1314 1300-1500 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 CIS-Cauc. 13870 1300-1500 St.Petersburg 200 CIS-Cauc. 612 1400-1500 Vilnius-LTU 50 EUR/Baltics 621 1400-1500 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 630 1400-1500 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 648 1400-1500 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 693 1400-1500 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 999 1400-1500 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1143 1400-1500 Kaliningrad 150 Baltics 1170 1400-1500 Mogilev-BLR 700 EUR 1314 1400-1500 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 1431 1400-1500 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 1503 1400-1500 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/CIS-CeAS 1548 1400-1500 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 5925 1400-1500 Novosibirsk 250 ME/CIS-CeAS 12015 1400-1500 Samara 250 CIS-CeAS 13870 1400-1500 St.Petersburg 200 ME 621 1500-1600 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 801 1500-1600 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME 801 1500-1600 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 999 1500-1600 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1089 1500-1600 Krasnodar 1200 CIS-Cauc. 1143 1500-1600 Kaliningrad 150 Baltics 1251 1500-1600 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS/ME 1314 1500-1600 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME/CIS-Cauc. 1494 1500-1600 St.Petersburg 600 Baltics 1503 1500-1600 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS/ME/CIS-CeAS 11730 1500-1600 Irkutsk 100 CIS-CeAS 12015 1500-1600 Samara 250 CIS-CeAS 15640 1500-1600 Moscow 200 ME 801 1600-1700 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/CIS-CeAS 999 1600-1700 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR,CIS,UKR,MDA 1026 1600-1700 Novosibirsk 500 CIS-CeAS 1089 1600-1700 Krasnodar 1200 CIS-Cauc. 1143 1600-1700 Kaliningrad 150 Baltics 1170 1600-1700 Krasnodar 1200 ME/CIS-Cauc. 1494 1600-1700 St.Petersburg 600 Baltics 1503 1600-1700 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS/ME/CIS-CeAS 7310 1600-1700 Moscow 250 EUR,CIS,UKR,MDA 12015 1600-1700 Samara 250 CIS-CeAS 15640 1600-1700 Moscow 200 ME 630 1700-1800 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 648 1700-1800 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 999 1700-1800 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR,CIS,UKR,MDA 1026 1700-1800 Novosibirsk 500 CIS-CeAS 1089 1700-1800 Krasnodar 1200 CIS-Cauc. 1170 1700-1800 Krasnodar 1200 ME/CIS-Cauc. 1170 1700-1800 Mogilev-BLR 700 EUR 1395 1700-1800 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CIS-Cauc. 1431 1700-1800 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 1494 1700-1800 St.Petersburg 600 Baltics 1503 1700-1800 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/CIS-CeAS 15640 1700-1800 Moscow 200 ME 1170 1700-1900 Mogilev-BLR 700 CIS-BLR 648 1800-1900 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 801 1800-1900 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 1026 1800-1900 Novosibirsk 500 CIS-CeAS 1089 1800-1900 Krasnodar 1200 CIS-Cauc. 1143 1800-1900 Kaliningrad 150 Baltics 1143 1800-1900 Dushanbe-TJK 150 CIS-CeAS 1170 1800-1900 Krasnodar 1200 ME/CIS-Cauc. 1170 1800-1900 Mogilev-BLR 700 EUR 1323 1800-1900 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 1413 1800-1900 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1494 1800-1900 St.Petersburg 600 Baltics 1503 1800-1900 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME/CIS-CeAS 7310 1800-1900 Moscow 250 EUR,CIS,UKR,MDA 630 1900-2000 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 1900-2000 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 1089 1900-2000 Krasnodar 1200 CIS-Cauc. 1143 1900-2000 Kaliningrad 150 Baltics 1413 1900-2000 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1431 1900-2000 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 1503 1900-2000 Dushanbe-TJK 500 ME 7310 1900-2000 Moscow 250 EUR 648 1900-2100 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 801 1900-2100 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 1143 1900-2100 Dushanbe-TJK 150 CIS-CeAS 1503 1900-2100 Dushanbe-TJK 500 CIS-CeAS 630 2000-2100 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 693 2000-2100 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 999 2000-2100 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1143 2000-2100 Kaliningrad 150 Baltics 1170 2000-2100 Krasnodar 1200 ME/CIS-Cauc. 1314 2000-2100 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME/CIS-Cauc. 1395 2000-2100 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 ME/CIS-Cauc. 1431 2000-2100 Dresden-GER 250 EUR 999 2000-2300 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 CIS,UKR,MDA 630 2100-2200 Koenigslutter-GER 100 EUR 648 2100-2200 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 CIS-CeAS 693 2100-2200 Oranienburg-GER 250 EUR 999 2100-2200 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 1143 2100-2200 Dushanbe-TJK 150 CIS-CeAS 1170 2100-2200 Krasnodar 1200 CIS-Cauc. 1170 2100-2200 Krasnodar 1200 ME 1314 2100-2200 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME/CIS-Cauc. 1323 2100-2200 Wachenbrunn-GER 1000 EUR 1431 2100-2200 Dresden-GER 150 EUR 621 2200-2300 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 999 2200-2300 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 621 2300-0300 Grigoriopol-MDA 150 EUR 1026 2300-2400 Novosibirsk 500 CIS-CeAS 1314 2300-2400 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 7270 2300-2400 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 CeAM 7285 2300-2400 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 SoAM Serbo-Croatian 1548 1500-1700 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 6155 1500-1700 DRM Kaliningrad 15 EUR 12060 1500-1700 St.Petersburg 200 EUR 1548 2000-2130 Grigoriopol-MDA 500 EUR 7340 2000-2130 St. Petersburg 200 EUR Spanish 9430 0000-0100 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 SoAM 9810 0000-0100 French Guiana 250 SoAM 9430 0100-0200 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 SoAM 9810 0100-0200 French Guiana 250 SoAM 9945 0100-0200 Dushanbe-TJK 500 SoAM 9430 0200-0400 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 500 SoAM 9735 0200-0400 French Guiana 250 CeAM 9945 0200-0400 Dushanbe-TJK 500 SoAM 9735 0400-0500 French Guiana 250 CeAM 9945 0400-0500 Dushanbe-TJK 500 SoAM 5920 2000-2100 Krasnodar 200 EUR Turkish 1170 1400-1500 Krasnodar 1200 ME 1377 1400-1500 Yerevan Gavar-ARM 1000 ME 7325 1400-1500 Krasnodar 100 ME 1170 1500-1600 Krasnodar 1200 ME 7325 1500-1600 Krasnodar 100 ME Urdu 801 1400-1500 Dushanbe-TJK 500 AS 972 1400-1500 Dushanbe-TJK 1000 AS 9445 1400-1500 DRM Irkutsk 15 AS 9670 1400-1500 Dushanbe-TJK 100 AS Vietnamese 603 1200-1300 DongfangHainan-CHN 600 SoEaAS 12065 1200-1300 Kruchina Chita 500 SoEaAS (Voice of Russia, via Vadim Alexeew-RUS, DXing.ru Google translated and transformed from xls to txt file format by Michael Bethge-D and wb., wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, April 6) Or see the latest nicely organized: Voice of Russia schedule http://hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A11&broadc=VOR (Ken Fletcher, CH43, April 9, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Summer A-11 of Tatarstan Wave in Tatar and Russian: 0410-0500 on 15110 SAM 250 kW / 060 deg to FE 0610-0700 on 9690 SAM 250 kW / 060 deg to CeAs 0810-0900 on 15195 SAM 250 kW / 295 deg to EaEu (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 11 April via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. VOA LAUNCHES "JOURNALISM IN THE CROSSHAIRS," WITH RENOWNED INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER FATIMA TLISOVA Washington, D.C. — April 7, 2011 — Award-winning investigative journalist Fatima Tlisova, who writes extensively about Russia, Islam and the Caucuses, has teamed up with Voice of America on a multi-media project aimed at telling the difficult stories that reporters are often punished for pursuing. More than a blog, the Russian language project, titled Journalism in the Crosshairs (Pressa pod Pressom), is curated by Tlisova, and provides a digital media platform for reporters from the former Soviet Union and Central Asia, who are often beaten, threatened, or killed as a result of their work. In Thursday’s inaugural issue on VOA’s all-digital Russian Service (click here), Tlisova speaks on-camera with famed Russian journalist Vladimir Pozner, who discusses the state of the news media in Russia, where he says journalists often find it necessary to censor themselves. Russian journalist Vladimir PoznerIn addition to taking advantage of Tlisova’s extensive journalistic contacts, Journalism in the Crosshairs uses social media and crowdsourcing platforms to allow grassroots users to report on issues not covered by the mainstream media in the region. The site will also post video, audio or text from “journalistic refugees” about their experiences in other media environments, including Europe and in the United States. VOA Director Danforth W. Austin says the program “gives a platform to those who are often intimidated or blocked from discussing critical issues because of censorship.” Austin called the new program, “another example of how social media platforms are empowering people who live in restrictive media environments.” Investigative journalist Fatima Tlisova Tlisova, who spent years reporting on human rights abuses in the North Caucasus, was Editor in Chief of the Regnum News Agency, worked as a special correspondent for Novaya Gazeta, and reported for Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty and for the Associated Press. Her many awards include the Lyons award for Conscious and Integrity in Journalism from the Nieman Foundation, the German Zeit-Stiftun Award for commitment to reporting in Chechnya, the Human Rights Watch award for journalism, the Amnesty International Media Award for best magazine article, and an AP award for best report on a hostage situation. Find the new VOA Russian language feature at http://blogs.voanews.com/russian/press Also visit VOA’s Russian language website at http://www.voanews.com/russian/news For news in English visit our main website at http://www.voanews.com (VOA press release April 7 via DXLD) ** SAIPAN. Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan. A new station at Garapan- Saipan has been assigned the call KKMP on 1440. Not yet on the air, has a CP for U1 3/0.5 kW but requests amendment to U1 with 1.1 kW day & night (NRC via ARC Information Desk 17 Feb 2011 via editor Olle Alm, April 9, DXLD) ** SAIPAN. 11800, April 10 at 1243, Vietnamese music and talk, good signal tho 100 kW, 278 degrees from KFBS at 12-13 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SARAWAK [and non]. Radio Free Sarawak causes SW radio shortage The 10th Sarawak state election has sparked the usual scarcity of accommodation, transportation and halls. But in Sarikei town an additional item has unexpectedly sold out – shortwave radios. A young native, who only wanted to be known as Jefferson, told Free Malaysia Today that a group of Ibans youths had pooled together their money to buy up all the radios in Sarikei to cart back to their longhouses. There the radios are tuned to Radio Free Sarawak so that the elders can understand the events that are unfolding outside their villages. * Read the story from Free Malaysia Today (April 8th, 2011 - 11:07 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) 7 Comments on “Radio Free Sarawak causes SW radio shortage” 1. #1 Roy Sandgren on Apr 8th, 2011 at 17:09 Well well, shortwave radio survives and get what people needs, radio. 2. #2 Vincent Lee on Apr 11th, 2011 at 09:18 the website is not accessible through Telekom Malaysia internet service. 3. #3 Roy Sandgren on Apr 11th, 2011 at 09:43 But the SW transmissions works??? 4. #4 ahmadjek on Apr 11th, 2011 at 10:00 Listen to Radio Free Sarawak through itunes is possible. Let others know so that people from BN cannot control all the medias. 5. #5 Roy Sandgren on Apr 11th, 2011 at 16:10 But if some regime is blocking internet?? How do you listen?? 6. #6 Bell on Apr 12th, 2011 at 07:17 For those who got facebook account, please add Radio Free Sarawak http://www.facebook.com/radiofreesarawak because they also upload latest episode in it. Inform others….YNWA! 7. #7 ahmadjek on Apr 12th, 2011 at 10:03 internet is not blocked,.. yet. so we must do whatever we can (MN blog comments via DXLD) MALAYSIAN GOVERNMENT TO INVESTIGATE IMPACT OF RADIO FREE SARAWAK The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has been asked to study if broadcasters of Radio Free Sarawak are instigating the people or using innuendos bordering on security issues. Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said the Home Ministry too had also been cautioned of its existence. Mr Rais said that if the study proves so, his ministry would report the matter to the Attorney-General’s Chambers for action to be taken. The clandestine radio station, reportedly broadcasting from London, is said to be promoting an anti-state government stance among the people of Sarawak besides attacking the state’s leaders in its twice daily broadcasts. Angered by its broadcasts, Part Pesaka Bumiputera Bersatu [the largest political party in Sarawak] youth wing recently lodged a police report in Kuching so that the MCMC could begin its investigation. “We cannot simply terminate any signal from an Internet source or through the shortwave band as this is embedded in the Human Rights Convention of Geneva. Criticising per se, we cannot do anything. We should not be too alarmed whether they are saying the truth or otherwise,” he said. (Source: Bernama) (April 11th, 2011 - 18:32 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) Radio Free Sarawak in Malay 1000-1200 on 15420 HBN 100 kW / 270 deg to SEAs + test // on 15425 VLD 500 kW / 220 deg to SEAs, from today April 14 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mainly in Iban, no? ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. 17705, BSKSA in Arabic was blasted away by the Indo-Chinese radio war April 8 at 1308, see CHINA; that should have ended at 1315, and at 1411 check, BSKSA is alone again on channel in Arabic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9980, as I tune across WWCR, April 11 at 1410, Brother Scare reveals that ``Jesus is the only one in heaven now``. I`m sure that will disappoint scads of survivors (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Not DRM... "DRAM" perhaps? A bit odd, RNE Arganda 1359 on AM mode instead of DRM, but with a DRM signal underneath splashing around. Two different RNE txs?! If not Spain, then who? This is still on as I write, 2138 UT, 12 Apr: a discussion on the political Basque group ETA. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This was already discussed in DXLD 11-06 under UNIDENTIFIED 1359 --- Arganda in BOTH DRM and AM at same time (gh, DXLD) Two different signals are clearly "visible" on 1359, one on AM mode, the other using DRM, and apparently both from the same direction. Something hybrid [and surely experimental] is more like it. I hope I won't forget to check it again this evening (Carlos Gonçalves, ibid.) RNE-1 Arganda 1359 is back on DRM mode only, as usual. While they're pumping on silly noise into the band, I'm waiting for a reply on this issue from a Spanish DXer. 73, (Carlos, 2208 UT April 13, ibid.) ** SPAIN [and non]. ESQUEMA DE RADIO EXTERIOR (27 de Marzo a 30 de Octubre 2011) [note: COSTA RICA relays NOT specified! Why?] ÁRABE 1700-1900 21610 OR-M ÁRABE 1900-2100 12015 OR-M L-V ÁRABE 1900–2100 9570 AF L-V ÁRABE 2000–2200 9570 AF SyD CAT, GALL Y VASCO 2330-2345 9535 N-AM M-S CAT, GALL Y VASCO 2330-2345 9535 S-AM M-S CAT, GALL Y VASCO 2330-2345 9620 S-AM M-S CAT, GALL Y VASCO 2330-2345 11680 S-AM M-S CAT, GALL Y VASCO 2330-2345 15160 S-AM M-S CAT, GALL Y VASCO 2330-2345 15160 S-AM M-S ESPAÑOL 0000–0200 9630 DRM N-AM ESPAÑOL 0000–0400 5995 S-AM ESPAÑOL 0100–0600 6055 N-AM ESPAÑOL 0200-0500 6125 S-AM ESPAÑOL 0200–0500 6125 S-AM ESPAÑOL 0200–0600 3350 S-AM ESPAÑOL 0200–0600 9630 N-AM ESPAÑOL 0400-0800 5965 S-AM ESPAÑOL 0400–0900 12035 EUR L-V ESPAÑOL 0500-0700 11890 OR-M ESPAÑOL 0500-0900 9780 DRM EUR ESPAÑOL 0500–0900 12035 EUR SyD ESPAÑOL 0700–1300 13720 EUR L-V ESPAÑOL 0700–1400 13720 EUR SyD ESPAÑOL 0900-1700 21610 OR-M ESPAÑOL 0900–1400 21540 AF SyD ESPAÑOL 0900–1500 21540 AF L-V ESPAÑOL 0900–1700 15585 EUR ESPAÑOL 1200-1400 11910 FILIPINAS (Desde Xi’an) ESPAÑOL 1200-2300 11815 S-AM D ESPAÑOL 1200–1500 5970 S-AM D-V ESPAÑOL 1200–1500 11815 S-AM L-V ESPAÑOL 1200–1500 11880 N-AM D-V ESPAÑOL 1300-1500 17595 N-AM L-V ESPAÑOL 1400-2200 17715 S-AM D ESPAÑOL 1400–2200 17755 AF SyD ESPAÑOL 1500-2300 17850 N-AM D ESPAÑOL 1500–1700 15385 AF L-V ESPAÑOL 1500–1900 17715 S-AM L-V ESPAÑOL 1500–2300 9765 S-AM D ESPAÑOL 1600-2200 17715 S-AM S ESPAÑOL 1600-2300 17850 N-AM S ESPAÑOL 1600–2300 9765 S-AM S ESPAÑOL 1600–2300 11815 S-AM S ESPAÑOL 1700–1900 17755 AF L-V ESPAÑOL 1700–2100 9665 EUR SyD ESPAÑOL 1700–2300 7275 EUR ESPAÑOL 1800-2000 9765 S-AM L-V ESPAÑOL 1800-2000 11815 S-AM L-V ESPAÑOL 1800-2000 17850 N-AM L-V ESPAÑOL 1900–2300 15110 N-AM ESPAÑOL 2200–2300 9570 AF ESPAÑOL 2300-0200 15160 S-AM ESPAÑOL 2300-0500 9535 S-AM ESPAÑOL 2300–0200 11680 S-AM ESPAÑOL 2300–0200 15160 S-AM ESPAÑOL 2300–0500 9535 N-AM ESPAÑOL 2300–0500 9620 S-AM EUSKERA 1200–1500 5970 S-AM L-V [! Surely just another 1240-1255 gh] EUSKERA 1240-1255 11880 N-AM L-V EUSKERA 1240–1255 11815 S-AM L-V EUSKERA 1240–1255 15585 EUR L-V EUSKERA 1240–1255 21540 AF L-V EUSKERA 1240–1255 21610 OR-M L-V EUSKERA 1330-1355 11910 FILIPINAS L-V [really? Why not // at 1240 gh] FRANCÉS 1800–1900 9665 EUR L-V FRANCÉS 1900-2000 12015 OR-M D FRANCÉS 1900–2000 9570 AF S FRANCÉS 2000-2100 9690 OR-M L-V FRANCÉS 2000–2100 11610 AF L-V FRANCÉS 2300–0000 6055 N-AM FRANCÉS 2300–0000 6155 EUR SyD INGLÉS 0000–0100 6055 N-AM INGLÉS 1900–2000 9665 EUR L-V INGLÉS 1900–2000 11610 AF L-V INGLÉS 2100–2200 9650 EUR SyD PORTUGUES 2100–2200 17595 S-AM L-V PORTUGUÉS 1730-1800 7275 EUR L-V PORTUGUÉS 1730-1800 17715 S-AM L-V PORTUGUÉS 1730–1800 17755 AF L-V RUSO 1700–1730 15325 EUR L-V SEFARDÍ 0115–0145 11795 S-AM M SEFARDÍ 0415–0445 9650 N-AM M SEFARDÍ 1425-1455 15385 OR-M L (Gracias a Antonio Buitrago, de REE) Los días de la semana figuran al final (L, M, X, J, V, S, D), si no pone nada, la transmisión es diaria (via Pedro Sedano, Madrid, España, COORDINADOR GENERAL, AER, http://aer-dx.org/ April 7, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** SPAIN [and non]. 11880, REE via COSTA RICA, Thursday April 7 at 1246 in Castilian instead of Basque during this semihour, interview with writer, flamenco guitar and singing breaks, much stronger than // 11815. Another interruption in the Basque schedule, or possibly still the Basque service just switching to Castilian for a bit with someone not fluent. Is `Amigos de la Onda Corta` from REE really at 0630 UT Saturday as alleged in some schedule, which got its other time wrong? I wanted to be asleep at that hour April 9, but semi-awake at 0648 I checked poor signals on 11890, 12035; never heard the recognizable voice of Antonio Buitrago but others in an interview, so I have my doubts it was AOC. Of course he also does other announcing, and if I did hear him that would not prove it was AOC without considering the content. I am still waiting for anyone in the Spanish-speaking world to confirm this by monitoring, or find when it is really on. 11880, REE via COSTA RICA, April 10 at 1237, Antonio Buitrago with `Amigos de la Onda Corta`, reconfirmed at new summer timing of 1230 Sundays; he also uses little giveaway electronic jingles during the show, which I was not hearing around 0645 Saturday when its only other airing is allegedly scheduled. 13m closed again this morning, so no // 21610 or 21540 audible, nor later by 1404. 11880 via COSTA RICA, Monday April 11 at 1434 REE token news capsule in Portuguese, the extremely nasal Brazilian YL, but by now should be in French; were the two swapped at 1430, today or forevermore? 1435:08 into English with Coe; 1437:50 Arabic YL; 1440 outro in Castilian. So English got almost three minutes, Arabic only two. Just so the quadrilingual headlines add up to 10 minutes. Another full REE A-11 schedule from Antonio Buitrago, DX program host, via Pedro Sedano, noticiasdx yg, still fails to mention this segment at all, merely part of Spanish service. What about ``co-official`` languages? Per that, Catalan, Gallego y Vasco are Mon-Sat 2330-2345 on 9535, 9620, 11680 and 15160. While Euskera (same language as Vasco, i.e. Basque) is Mon-Fri 1240-1255 on 11880, 11815, 15585, 21540, 21610. The trouble is, Euskera/Basque was divorced last season from the other two when it got its longer slot elsewhen, which we have recently heard starting closer to 1230 than 1240, but not always. That schedule also claims there are a full 3 hours of Euskera on 5970 at 1200-1500, surely a mistake. Further, it claims that Euskera via China to Philippines on 11910 is at 1330-1355, likely also a mistake rather than // all the others at 1240v. We still need to confirm the ``2330- 2345`` slot, surely still only Catalan and Galician, and in B-10 there was an unpublished repeat of that at 0505-0515; and still? 11795, REE Emisión Sefarad, UT Tue April 12 at 0132 has good signal as usual even tho to S America, but discussion has continuous pulsing noise underneath, rather like atop a Cuban jammer. But I think it is self-imposed poor audio produxion, faulty feed link or transmitter. No reason for Cuba to be jamming here, like 11775 vs Martí. Meant to see if it was also inflicted upon the 0415 repeat on 9650, but missed it. Did anyone else notice, or on the Mon 1425 on 15385? I`ll bet not. 17595, the normally solid REE signal weekday mornings direct from Noblejas, April 12 at 1315 is fluttery, unusual for this lower- latitude path; recovered later in the hour, OK for token Arabic news at 1438. 11880 via COSTA RICA, April 13 at 1430, REE ``Noticias en idiomas del mundo`` starts with Portuguese, so back to normal after previous swap with French (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. Further comments on “Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation Website now online” [originally Feb 22, 2005!] http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/sri-lanka-broadcasting-corporation-website-now-online#comment-1403874 # #25 sharadkumar Vedpathak on Mar 23rd, 2011 at 16:07 It is learnt that SLBC is again starting hindi programme broadcasting from 21.00 to 22 Hrs. This span of time is very less and needs to be upto minimum 00.00 Hrs with full of old sweet songs sung by our noted old masters and musicians. Why the authority of SLBC is not declaring / announcing the new schedule on their website as well as on radio. The present time given for morning broadcasting should be minimum upto 10.00 AM as before. Myself with lacks of such fans of SLBC are waiting for this announcement. # #26 R Mukund on Mar 24th, 2011 at 04:46 Dear Mr. Vedpathak, it is close to a year now since SLBC started the night broadcast titled “Namasthe India”, at exact time as you have mentioned on 11905 KHz (25m band). This program is also available online on http://www.slbc.lk simultaneously. The program plays a mixture of Hindi and English songs. The reason SLBC assigns for curtailing the broadcast hours is “lack of budget allocation”. If you remember well, back until early 80s, SLBC used to generate revenue through commercials. Now that all the attention is towards TV and FM broadcast, revenue generation is almost nil, excepting that generated by a few christian programs. A lot of listeners like you and I have expressed anguish at curtailing of broadcast time. Some have contemplated sending a representation to the President of Srilanka. They may have even sent it by now, I am not sure. A collective effort like that should help. Unfortunately, majority of listeners are not net savvy. That’s not a necessity but it helps to bring all the listeners together faster. If possible, do drop in a mail to my id r.ashrit@gmail.com. We shall discuss. # #27 sanjeeva on Mar 26th, 2011 at 10:34 Being SLBC listener of morning service, it is sorry to inform that transmission quality at sw 25 mtr. is of poor quality and at 41 mtr band it is bad quality. I don’t know is there any solution to this. During 2010 I have listened very good quality but nowadays transmission in Rajasthan is quite poor. SLBC authorities may kindly look into. Any regular listner may please let me know the film name of song played today i.e. on 26.3.2011 in the legendary voice of lataji # #28 Muzaffar Khan on Apr 13th, 2011 at 09:50 I started listening Radio Ceylon now SLBC since 1958-59 but miss it since I moved back to UAE. I still listen it particularly the early morning program whenever I visit home. If anyone has information about its internet site pl let me know (MediaNetwork blog comments via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [and non]. 15640, April 8 at 1448, noise jamming, bleeding to adjacent frequencies, perhaps Ethiopia using a Chinese- provided DRM transmitter to jam DW Amharic? NO! Looking it up in HFCC, this really is DRM, the joint BBC/DW service via Trincomalee, 90 kW aimed 5 degrees across India at 1400-1800. It`s so hard to tell DRM from jamming. And this was in fact jamming an analog signal, Russian-style tune-up tone going on and off! Per HFCC, a Moscow analog site is also on 15640 at 13-18, 500 kW, 190 degrees. But Aoki shows 15640 really in use only at 15-16, for VOR in Russian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. Re 11-14: Sudan Youth R was heard on 15540 at *1531- 1600*, Sa Apr 02, Arabic, Sudanese music and short reports, 23332 (Patric Robic, Austria, DSWCI DX Window April 6 via DXLD) Also heard at *1537-1602*, Tu Apr 05, carrier on from 1530, but first audio at 1537, short messages in Arabic mixed with Sudanese music and songs; technical problems, 45433 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) or: 15540, *1537-1602*, CLANDESTINE, Tue 05.04, Sudan Youth R (New station), Carrier on from 1530, Arabic short messages, Sudanese music and songs, mentioned Sudan in closing ann - some technical problems, 45433. Best 73 (Anker Petersen, here in Skovlunde, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS again with my 28 metres longwire up in 9 metres altitude, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) So far not heard here. Tried 168 hours later, but no signal during very poor propagation conditions April 12. It`s Tue, Thu, Sat only via PRIDNESTROVYE. Read all about it in DXLD 11-14. But is quite unclear what the real name of the station is, in Arabic; a.k.a. Shararah which means spark (Glenn Hauser, OK, April, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [and non]. 13730, April 10 at 0510 whine & grind with fading; can only assume it is jamming against R. Dabanga, 500 kW, 255 degrees via UAE at 0430-0527, a site hard to hear here even if unjammed. 13620, April 14 at 0527*, tuned in just in time to hear closing ID from ``Radio Dabanga``, good signal. This is 250 kW, 330 degrees from MADAGASCAR at 0430-0527. Meanwhile there was a tone test in background which continued in the clear until its 0529*. Jamming? Unseems: that gave me time to tell it was a DSB tone on an AM carrier, rather than a het. What else is there there? HFCC shows: 13620 0345 0530 38-40 BGL 500 300 Pers/Arab. IND AIR AIR Presumably this tone happens at the tail of the AIR transmission, but if also heard much earlier in the Dabanga hour, could be jamming. 13730, April 14 at 0527, whine and grind jamming against something inaudible. The sound cuts out every 15 seconds proving that it is modulation on a normal carrier. It is also pulsing regularly at the rate of 78 times per minute. Continues past 0530 until 0537:28*. The victim is surely R. Dabanga on its other frequency, 500 kW, 255 degrees via UAE at 0430-0527 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 17745, Sudan Radio Service, Friday April 8 *1459:20 carrier on via Sines, PORTUGAL, a few sex after VOA Kurdish via Wertachtal finishes 17750 at 1459*. Only fair signal, starts with drumming and other percussion, 1500 echoey YL with sign-on mentioning station name as in English, but otherwise in colloquial Arabic(?). I made a point of monitoring SRS, since Ivo Ivanov reports to DXLD that this and all other transmissions via Portugal are being deleted from April 9, as well as various vernaculars via UAE at 17-18 on 9590, retaining only these: ``0400-0500 on 13720 DHA 250 kW / 245 deg to EaAf Arabic 0500-0600 on 13720 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg to EaAf Arabic/English Sat/Sun, ex Daily`` Which are unlikely to be heard well here in NAm, contrary to Sines. But there should be one more SRS broadcast on 17745 via Portugal on April 8 at 15-17, when the first semihour on Saturday is normally in English. Does SRS consider its mission almost accomplished, or another funding cut? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi all, Sudan Radio Service: 0400-0500 on 13720 DHA 250 kW / 245 deg to EaAf Arabic 0500-0600 on 13720 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg to EaAf Arabic/English Sat/Sun, ex Daily 1500-1530 on 17745 SIN 250 kW / 114 deg to EaAf English >>>>>>still on air April 10 1530-1700 on 17745 SIN 250 kW / 114 deg to EaAf Arabic >>>>>>still on air April 10. 73 (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, April 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17745, April 11 at *1500, Sudan Radio Service still opening in colloquial Arabic but pronouncing station name in English, strumming, 1501 akbar. There was a false alarm last week that this transmission via Sines, PORTUGAL at 15-17 was being canceled (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New schedule of Sudan Radio Service via BABCOCK from April 11: 0400-0500 13720 DHA 250 kW / 245 deg EaAf Arabic 0500-0530 13720 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg EaAf Arabic Sat/Sun, ex Daily 0530-0600 13720 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg EaAf English Sat/Sun, ex Daily 1500-1530 17745 SIN 250 kW / 114 deg EaAf English 1530-1700 17745 SIN 250 kW / 114 deg EaAf Arabic 1700-1730 9590 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg EaAf Dinka Mon 1700-1730 9590 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg EaAf Zande Tue 1700-1730 9590 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg EaAf Moru Wed 1700-1730 9590 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg EaAf Bari Thu 1700-1730 9590 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg EaAf Shiluk Fri 1700-1730 9590 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg EaAf Arabic Mon-Fri, ex Sat/Sun 1730-1800 9590 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg EaAf English Mon-Fri, ex Daily Test of Sudan Radio Service via BABCOCK on April 11-13: 1600-1700 on 15500 RMP 250 kW / 125 deg to EaAf Mon-Wed, but no // on 17745 SIN. Also no // on 11770 MEY and 17700 ASC for EDC Southern Sudan Radio Service (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, April 13, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. 15360, April 9 at the TWR music-box IS giving RHC a lot of co-channel QRM, but off at 1415*. 1400-1415 is in A-11 the only usage of 15360 from Manzini, 43 degrees in Urdu (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. GRIMETON RADIO/SAQ EXTRA TRANSMISSION --- SAQ will be on air on Thursday 14th April at 1245 UT. It is an extra transmission for the EUCAP2011 conference in Rome, concerning wave propagation and antennas. The frequency is as usual 17.2 kHz CW. We start the transmitter about 1215 UT for tuning. Reports from this transmission will not be confirmed by QSL cards. http://www.alexander.n.se/ (via Nick Rank on the BDXC-UK list via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Re 11-14: Hörby Antenna Destruction Videos: En nog eentje, oh wat zonde :-( Die had ik wel willen hebben :-) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNw53c0mxsI&NR=1 (Ary Boender, Netherlands, April 6, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) I also found this one with the destruction of the Log Periodic. http://www.youtube.com/user/apholmstedt#p/a/u/0/DNw53c0mxsI Well, they certainly didn't waste much time pulling down these SW antennas did they? A pity that perhaps a cooperative of DXers & hams in Sweden couldn't perhaps buy the site with the antennas, feeders & building to use for dx-expeditions or other such usage. Will never happen now. And what of the txers & land? (Ian Baxter, NSW, Shortwavesites Yahoo Group, April 6, 2011, ibid.) Sorry, it should be in English :-) I wrote En nog eentje, oh wat zonde :-( And another one, what a shame Die had ik wel willen hebben :-) I would like to have that one :-) (Ary Boender, ibid.) I'm almost crying! I visited Hoerby just a month ago and then everything was still standing except for some feeders. I can't believe my eyes! I knew that something was going on but I couldn't realize that they would demolish the station. Let's hope that Soelvesborg won't be demolished (Chris Stödberg, SM6VPU, Sweden, April 7, ibid.) Hi Chris, Yes I was thinking of you when I saw the first video - I was shocked it had happened so soon after your visit. So what happens when a massive solar storm wipes out the world's satellites & a couple of large ship's anchors accidentally rip through some of the major submarine cables or a major undersea earthquake or subsidence severs some major telephony/internet undersea cables. We won't have shortwave as a backup when they tear down all the HF BCB transmission antennas/sites. I don't see shortwave broadcasting as obsolete. As a medium of communication it's just not as significant as it once was. For being mobile, especially in remote areas & when travelling OS in a country where one's own language isn't spoken having access to a shortwave broadcast in one's own spoken language is just so important for information & company & simple to establish - just turn on the radio & set the frequency (Ian Baxter, ibid.) Well! The owner wants money for the transmitters and antennas. Money that local clubs don't have. I don't think Teracom is so generous that they donate antennas and transmitters to local HAM-clubs. What will happen to the transmitters, well there are two alternatives: Scrapyard or for sale. Teracom don't want them and doesn't seem to be so keen of finding a new partner or someone that wants to buy the equipment. I hope Teracom won't be so brutal against the mediumwave station in Soelvesborg (/Chris Stödberg, ibid.) ** TAIWAN. 10300, April 7 at 1209, Chinese talk, very poor but no Firedrake, and not // CNR1 11990 et al., so presumed Sound of Hope once again suffered by the ChiCom to be in the clear. Firedrake was on 10300 by 1249 check, plus many others; see CHINA. BTW, Falun Gong`s Epoch Times reports that two men in Vietnam have been arrested for transmitting SOH from their homes on SW, after diplomatic pressure from China; WTFK for those?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [and non]. Tune in to RTI in April to hear a number of brand-new programs! Our new features will be available beginning on the week of April 11. In Occidental Tourist, Wesley Holzer takes you on a journey through life in Taiwan -- everything from night markets to indie bands. (Thursday) Wesley will also be profiling a variety of Taiwan's proudest creations and achievements in a series called Made in Taiwan. (Sunday) Sound Postcards is a series of short programs by Andrew Ryan, which will feature many of the sounds he has collected throughout Taiwan over the last decade. Each postcard uses sounds as a starting point for telling a story.(Friday) Shortwave listeners will also be able to hear two programs which were previously internet exclusives -- In Mystical Taiwan and Soft Power. Jonathan Seidman is your guide for all things spiritual and fantastical in the program In Mystical Taiwan. (Sunday) And in Soft Power, Jonathan takes on Taiwan's global interactions from all angles: overseas aid, NGOs, foreign missions, as well as cultural diplomacy. (Saturday) Source: http://bit.ly/hBXT81 (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, April 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. Vasily comes back to HSS this week --- Comrade Vasily [Strelnikov] returned back to Moscow from Siberia after a long holiday. This week comes on Happy Station to talk about From Moscow With Love and the weird crazy things happening at VOR. I.E music in news. Da! (Keith Perron, Taiwan, PCJ Radio, April 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. 13760, April 7 at 1203 W&W talking about Türkei in German which fits nicely for listed VOT in German at 1130-1230, 500 kW, 310 degrees from Emirler. OK here but was better on a good day in B-10 an hour later on 17755. 15450, VOT English, poor April 8 at 1323 concluding with a few headlines, then YL still thinks she is on two 25m frequencies as in B- 10 at 1330+, and into IS. I listen to all the repeats, and they are indeed identical, on some keyboard. We so miss the subtle variations in the old version on a real piano. There was time to play it 15 times, plus 21 of the 26 notes for a sixteenth before cut off the air later than usual at 1328* [and non]. V of Turkey, UT Sunday April 10 at 0313-0332, `DX Corner`, listened on webcast. Started with radio news items, none of which mentioned SW frequencies – R. Nepal at 61, new Sudan opposition station by youth, VOA via Maputo FM, Bangladesh gets Thomson SW transmitter, Egypt broadcasting officials sacked, H20/shower radio --- look familiar? We`ve seen them all somewhere in the last two weeks; it seems that at least four of them appeared on the Media Network blog. Is that one of never-credited sources? After annoying pop music break, read a bunch of reception reports starting with Dario Gabrielli in Italy. The last one asked that scripts of the radio news be posted on website in case one missed the program. Can`t do that, she said, too understaffed, but will add `DX Corner` to seven available podcasts. She also invited suggestions on how to improve the program, adding or subtracting features. How about some real and attributed DX news to justify calling it `DX Corner`?? And can the reading of reception reports, of no interest to other listeners. Also publish or even spell her name instead of mumbling it, so I don`t have to refer just to ``she/her`` as host/ess. BTW, elsewhen on VOT I still hear the familiar voice of Sheref Isler, who supposedly left the station last year, or was it 2009, and requested us to remove all previous references to his name in DXLD. Is he back, or are we only hearing old continuity announcements and program reruns? Finally found the podcast page: http://www.trt-world.com/trtworld/Galeri/Podcast.aspx?dil=en and it looks like there are 18 of them, with DX Corner now at the top of the list. In fact, all eight fortnightly editions so far this year are available. But I`d rather pick up some of the feature shows. At 0343 I check the SW frequency 9515 and find it with a quite good signal during the music fill portion of the broadcast. // 6165 eastward of course is totally blocked here by RNW Bonaire. Are TRT quite confident none of that signal will mar reception in its own target area? IIRC, 9515 is the frequency R. Ankara was using when I first heard it in the late 1950s or early 1960s; quite nostalgic. BTW, during this very same hour on UT Sundays, and lasting until 0700 UT, is an excellent world music show on KALW San Francisco, `Tangents`, webcasting via http://www.kalw.org/listen.html Its host Dore Stein is partial to Turkey, having led several musical tours there, but taking a break this year, instead bringing Turkish musicians to the Bay Area. More at http://www.tangents.com/ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Fw: der Intruder auf 14210 kHz stammt aus der Tuerkei. Neben den HOL Dudelsendern im Piratenbereich gibt es jetzt auch eine tuerkische Variante, ich nehme mal an, mit Amateurfunksendern, denn die Frequenzbelegung ist danach ... die Meldungen mehren sich seit 2 Wochen (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 12) 2 Turkish BCs: 10110 kHz and 14210 kHz. Dear Fellow Intruder Busters, since some days there are 2 (two!) BC stations active from near Ankara, Turkey: 1st Station 1. QRG 10110 kHz 2. Mode: A3E, AM 3. Time: starting at 1848 UT 4. Program: Turkish music 5. Signal Strength: S=9+20dB 2nd Station 1. QRG: 14210 kHz 2. Mode: A3E, AM 3. Time: starting 1723 UT 4. Program: Soccer game in Turkish voice 5. Signal Strength: S=9+30dB Will you please also listen on the 2 QRGs and report to your national telecoms. authorities. Pse ask them to send an International Complaint to the Turkish telecoms. authorities. Thank you very much! Intruder, 08.04.2011 1730 UTC 14210 kHz AM. QDM ca 120deg 59 +35dB. RX K3 8ele LPA 25m. Male Voice obviously presenting live coverage of soccer game in Turkish - listen to recording. (IARU Intruder Alert, April 8/9) Der Intruder auf 14210 kHz stammt aus der Tuerkei. Hallo, lieber Alex, danke fuer den Bericht. Auch heute war der Sender wieder auf 14210 kHz, Sendebeginn war mitten im tuerkisch-sprachigen Programm um 1723 UTC, also kein Traeger oder Messton vor Sendebeginn. Die Signalstaerke war bei mir S=9+30dB mit einem 3-Element-Beam. Es wurde, wie gestern, wieder ein Fussballspiel uebertragen. Senderstandort ist nw von Ankara. So ist es sicher TRT Ankara. Die deutsche Fernmeldebehoerde ist unterrichtet und wird wohl eine International Meldung nach Ankara senden, falls die Aussendungen anhalten. Ach ja, Wolf Hadel ist ueber einen weiteren Sender in tuerkischer Sprache gestolpert, das war letzten Mittwoch. Sendefrequenz 10110 kHz, Sendezeit ab 1848 UT, RS S=9+20dB. Der Sender war auch Do, Fr und heute zu hoeren. Wir haben die deutsche Fernmeldebehoerde informiert. Koenntest Du, bitte, wegen 14210 und 10110 kHz die oesterreichische Fernmeldebehoerde informieren, damit diese ebenfalls Beschwerden gegen die beiden Sender loslaess? Mni tnx! Freundliche Gruesse und weiterhin "froehliches Hoeren" (Uli Bihlmayer DJ9KR, IARU Intruder Alert, April 8/9) (all via BCDX 13 Apr via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) Solution must wait for WOR 1561: Gestern war die störende Aussendung auf 10110 kHz wieder in der Zeit von 1830-1930 UT auf 10110 kHz zoa. Eine Recherche im Internet unter dem "Ankara A-11 schedule" von Wolfgang Büschel gibt Infos über die Sendezeiten von TRT Ankara: 9785 kHz: 1830-1930 UTC Sprache: Englisch 9460 kHz: 1600-2100 UTC Sprache: Türkisch Mit diesen Sendern wäre eine IKM möglich: 2 x 9785 - 9460 = 10110 kHz Da die 9460 kHz in der IKM-Bildung nur einfach vertreten ist muss dessen Signalkomponente in der IKM stärker vertreten sein. Dies würde bestätigen, dass man die Türkische Sprache mit QSA4 und die zweite Sprache nur mit QSA1 in der IKM empfängt. Report from Uli DJ9KR - IARU bandwatch monitoring, and German State Frequ Control BNetzA TURKEY, Intermodulations 10110 and 14210 kHz, Emirler bc-center. Apr 13 TRT Ankara 1830-1927 UT 10110 kHz very strong again. Fundamentals 9460 and 9785 kHz, on 10110 Turkish sce modulated. In background underneath very tiny programm in English language. Programme: 10110: Turkish powerful, English tiny, but 100% x-checked 9460: Turkish powerful 9785: English most powerful. Vielen Dank ebenfalls an Wolf DF5SX für die Lieferung des "Strickmusters" der IM auf 10100 kHz! *** 9785 x 2 - 9460 = 10110 kHz PS 1730-1827 UT: *** 2 x 11835 - 9460 = 14210 kHz 9460 1600-2100 EMR 500 310 TURKISH EUR 11835 1730-1830 EMR 500 310 GERMAN EUR (Wolfgang Büschel, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** TURKMENISTAN. 5015, Turkmen Radio, Ashgabat (presumed) in local language 04/09 & 04/10 2351-0018 local chants with man DJ brief announcements after each song; slow music pause; time pips at 0000 & brief YL announcement (presumed time check); man announcement over local instrumental music (mentioning Radio....); then local instrumental music sound (pinched or beaten strings & bows) with brief man announcements at times; best heard in LSB with inter audio filter; strong static crashes; poor (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy, JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. ASCENSION: 9410, BBC World Service in English s/on with pips and news at ToH but Meyerton was not yet off, and the two were about a sesquisecond different leading to a HORRENDOUS echo for the first minute of the transmission making things essentially unlistenable. Meyerton off finally at :01 and then SIO 353+. 0600-0615 1/Apr (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) 17885, April 8 at 1940 and still at 2004, fluttery African language with hum, i.e. BBC in Hausa, 250 kW, 55 degrees from ASCENSION at 1930-2030, as registered by BaBCock (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. BBC on 7600 from April 11: Hindi 1400-1500 delete 7600 NAK 250 kW / 280 deg, please check others 9685, 11795, 15470, 15520 Urdu 1500-1545 delete 7600 NAK 250 kW / 305 deg, please check others 9510, 11745, 15470 Will continue 7600 NAK 250 kW / 255 deg 1545-1615 in Tamil and 1630- 1700 in Sinhala (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, April 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency changes of BBC from April 11: 1400-1500 NF 7565 NAK 250 kW / 280 deg, ex 7600 in Hindi 1500-1545 NF 7565 NAK 250 kW / 305 deg, ex 7600 in Urdu From April 18 BBC in Chinese again on SW: 1300-1530 on 6095 KIM 250 kW / 290 deg 9605 NAK 250 kW / 020 deg 11920 SNG 100 kW / 013 deg 15285 SNG 100 kW / 013 deg 2200-2300 on 7325 SLA 250 kW / 063 deg 9580 KIM 250 kW / 285 deg 9610 NAK 250 kW / 020 deg 9855 SLA 250 kW / 060 deg 11795 SNG 250 kW / 013 deg 11980 NAK 250 kW / 025 deg From April 18 BBC in Hindi again on SW: 0100-0130 on 6065 SLA 250 kW / 060 deg 9425 SLA 250 kW / 060 deg 11995 SNG 250 kW / 315 deg 13745 TAC 200 kW / 131 deg 15510 NAK 250 kW / 280 deg 0230-0300 on 11995 SLA 250 kW / 100 deg 15660 NAK 250 kW / 305 deg 17510 NAK 250 kW / 300 deg 17655 NVS 250 kW / 195 deg 1700-1730 on 5910 SLA 250 kW / 060 deg 7460 NAK 250 kW / 280 deg 9605 CYP 250 kW / 090 deg 11740 NAK 250 kW / 275 deg (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, April 13, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC WILL LOSE TWO LAYERS OF MANAGEMENT - BUT SEVEN WILL REMAIN Telegraph.co.uk 8 April 2011 The BBC is to eliminate two entire layers of management in a drive for simplicity and efficiency - but has admitted that seven tiers will still remain. The efficiency drive is designed to generate £1.3 billion over four years from 2013 to pay for additional commitments, such as funding the World Service and S4C, which the BBC took on as part of the licence fee settlement. Full article at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/8435906/BBC-will-lose-two-layers-of-management-but-seven-will-remain.html (Opportunity for reader comment) (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) The only way to really save the BBC WS would be to cut more than half of the management (Keith Perron, Taiwan, ibid.) ** U K. IMPLICATIONS OF THE BBC WORLD SERVICE CUTS House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee - Written evidence http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201011/cmselect/cmfaff/writev/849/849.pdf (via Mike Terry, UK, April 10, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) BBC World Service 'should not be cut' --- This subject was discussed on the BBC Radio 4 "Today" programme at 05:40 and there will be an interview about half an hour later. BBC News 13 April 2011 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-13049816 The full report can be browsed as a text or downloaded as a pdf. The BBC's World Service is too valuable to the corporation's reputation for its funding to be cut, a government watchdog has said. The Foreign Affairs Select Committee said the proposed 16% budget cuts for the service should be reversed. In January the BBC said it would close five of its language services because of the Foreign Office funding cuts. It said it welcomed the "support" of the report, and was committed to the long-term future of the World Service. Committee chairman Richard Ottaway said going ahead with the budget cuts would be a "false economy". "The value of the World Service in promoting the UK across the globe, by providing a widely-respected and trusted news service, far outweighs its relatively small cost," he added. "The recent dramatic events in North Africa and the Middle East have shown the 'soft power' wielded through the World Service could bring even more benefits to the UK in the future than it has in the past." Foreign Secretary William Hague said the World Service performed an "invaluable" role. "However, in line with all other publicly-funded bodies, it must play its part in reducing the deficit," he said. "The BBC has been clear that the transfer of funds from the licence fee in 2014/15 will not make the World Service's funding less secure." Last October the government reduced the World Service's £237 million annual budget by 16% and announced the BBC would take over the cost of running it from the Foreign Office from 2014. The committee's report said "the decision was essentially financial" and "taken at very short notice, albeit with the full agreement of BBC top management". The report suggests using part of the Department for International Development's budget to make up the shortfall. It also questions whether World Service funding will be secure when the BBC funds it outright, citing "risk of a gradual diversion of resources to fund other BBC activities". In a statement, the BBC said: "The cuts being made to the World Service are a consequence of last autumn's spending review and the BBC regrets the scale and pace of cuts that have been necessary. "If, in the light of the report, the government is prepared to re-open aspects of the spending review settlement, the BBC will be pleased to engage with them constructively. The BBC is committed to the long-term future of the World Service and hopes to reinvest when responsibility for funding transfers to the licence fee in 2014." The BBC World Service is currently funded by the UK government through parliamentary grant-in-aid, administered by the Foreign Office. In January, the World Service also announced that programmes in another seven languages would be reduced. "We clearly needed to make choices," Peter Horrocks, director of the World Service, told the Foreign Affairs Committee last month. (via Mike Terry, April 13, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) Part of Keith Perron's evidence is specifically quoted in the section on BBC China: http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/foreign-affairs-committee/publications/ (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) BBC WORLD SERVICE CUTS ‘WILL DAMAGE UK’ London Evening Standard/London http://www.gulf-times.com/site/topics/article.asp?cu_no=2&item_no=427950&version=1&template_id=38&parent_id=20 Planned spending cuts to the BBC World Service would damage Britain’s global standing and should not go ahead, a parliamentary watchdog warned yesterday. The broadcaster’s performance during the wave of uprisings across the Middle East and north Africa highlighted its “soft power” and proved that cuts would be a false economy, the panel of lawmakers said. The Foreign Affairs Select Committee launched an inquiry after the World Service announced in January the closure of five of its language services and that it was ending radio services for another seven languages with the loss of 650 jobs. The cuts to the publicly funded broadcaster are part of government efforts to rein in spending. “The value of the World Service in promoting the UK across the globe, by providing a widely respected and trusted news service, far outweighs its relatively small cost,” said committee chairman Richard Ottaway. “The recent dramatic events in north Africa and the Middle East have shown the ‘soft power’ wielded through the World Service could bring even more benefits to the UK in the future than it has in the past,” he said. Ottaway concluded that “to proceed with the planned cuts to the World Service would be a false economy.” The committee is tasked with scrutinising the work of the Foreign Office and its associated bodies. The World Service is still paid for by the foreign ministry but from 2014 the duty to fund it passes to the BBC itself as the government seeks to slash public spending. The broadcaster is seeking to cut its budget by 16% in line with the government’s austerity measures. The World Service plans to close the Albanian, Macedonian, Portuguese for Africa, Serbian and English for the Caribbean language services. Radio services to be cut include Mandarin Chinese and Vietnamese. The BBC estimated more than 30mn listeners would be affected, a sixth of its global audience of 180mn. The parliamentary committee also criticised the decision to transfer funding from the foreign ministry. It said a decision should be postponed until “satisfactory safeguards have been put in place to prevent any risk of long-term erosion of the World Service’s funding and of parliament’s right to oversee its work.” The report suggested switching part of the department for international development’s budget to fund the World Service. The department’s budget is one of those that has been protected from the public spending cuts (London Evening Standard via Gulf Times, Qatar, via Richard Cuff, internetradio yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) The problem is, every other entity that receives government funding is going to make similar arguments about how valuable its service is. This doesn't escape the fact that the British government (and governments everywhere) are running huge budget deficits, and cuts have to be made. There is not an endless pile of money to work with. Anyone been following the debt crisis in Greece/Ireland/Portugal? And other countries are in the same boat. The days of extensive international services on multiple frequencies to all parts of the world are over. Careful consideration must be made to what is really needed and what works best for those needs. (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, dxldyg via DXLD) Not to make this political, but isn't a discussion of priorities germane to any consideration of budgeting? It's also reasonable to question whether all of the remedy for debt needs to be found solely in cuts. Enhancing revenue could be part of the picture as well if an examination of priorities calls for it. Otherwise, we're just making decisions on faith or ideology, rather than reason or logic. Sent from my iPhone (John Figliozzi, ibid.) ** U K. BBC WORLD SERVICE CUTS MUST BE REVERSED, SAY MPS An influential cross-party committee of MPs has called for the cuts to the BBC World Service to be reversed to protect its global reputation. The Commons foreign affairs select committee said the 16% budget cut imposed on the service as part of the government’s comprehensive spending review had “long-term ramifications” for the broadcaster and called for its future funding to be ringfenced. MPs on the committee called for the World Service budget to be protected to “prevent any risk of long-term erosion of the World Service’s funding and of parliament’s right to oversee its work”. They also questioned whether the government’s decision to shift responsibility for funding the World Service from the Foreign Office to the BBC licence fee by 2014 would make its budget more secure. Read more from The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/apr/13/bbc-world-service-cuts-mps (April 13th, 2011 - 9:49 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) ** U K. THE END OF THE ROAD FOR THE BBC WORLD SERVICE DRAMA ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: SAVE BBC WORLD DRAMA Date: Fri, Apr 8, 2011 at 12:53 PM Despite our humble petition campaign’s efforts to save the BBC World Service Drama from being cut, we were unable to change the course of events in this regards and the BBC World Service has now stopped the scheduling of regular drama output on its English Language Network as of 31st March 2011. Our endeavours were well meaning and we would like to say a big thank you for your kind gesture in support of the petition and the campaign’s efforts. We would also like to use this opportunity to extend to you the appended farewell message we recently received from Marion Nancarrow (BBC World Service Executive Producer, Audio Drama) in summing up of what became of the of the BBC World Service Drama. Thank you once again for your kind support, very much appreciated. Warmest of regards from us. Archie Graham & Linda Bergin Petition Organizers Save The BBC World Drama ============================ From: Marion Nancarrow Sent: 01 April 2011 14:01 Subject: World Service Drama (sadly not an April Fool) Dear Friends, From midnight last night, after 79 years of broadcasting on the network, World Service's regular drama slot came to an end and the team was disbanded. In its heydey, Drama transmitted 2.5 hours a week. Voices heard across those years included Donald Wolfit, John Gielgud, Rex Harrison, Peggy Ashcroft, Paul Scofield, Trevor Howard, Ian Holm, Judi Dench, Tom Conti, Penelope Wilton, John Kani, Winston Ntshona, Archie Panjabi, Juliet Stevenson, Keeley Hawes, Toby Stephens, Sophie Okonedo, David Suchet, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Bill Nighy, Meera Syal, Ed Asner and Calista Flockhart. Kenneth Branagh, Daniel Day Lewis and Ewan McGregor did their first radio for the World Service! Plays by Stoppard, Soyinka, Tremain, Beckett, Bennett, Rushdie, Naipaul, Atta Aidoo, Dove, Oda, Agboluaje, Baldwin and Shakespeare have been heard, winning countless Sonys. The hugely popular - and only global - soap, Westway, attracted a diversity of writing and acting talent and won the CRE Award for Best Soap in 2000 (beating Coronation Street!). The entire 7 years of broadcast was repeated on Radio 7. Recent judges for the international playwriting competition, now in its 22nd year, included Doris Lessing, Lennie James and Kwame Kwei- Armah. Recent collaborations have been with Shakespeare’s Globe, the Royal Court, King’s College, The Slade School of Fine Art and, of course, the British Council. Directors Gordon House and David Hitchinson became household names and the department has always shared its expertise with new writers, directors and actors. Westway became a training ground for writers and producers moving on to Eastenders, Casualty and beyond and the department gave advice, support and training for drama projects set up by the WS Trust, including Rruga Me Pisha in Albania, Story Story in Nigeria and Thabyegone Ywa in Burma, as well as to the Asian network soap, Silver Street. We ran writing and acting workshops in Ghana, Cameroon, Kenya, Zimbabwe, across South Africa, Malawi and the Middle East. We co-founded "Worldplay", an annual season of international collaborations with English-speaking Radio Drama Producers across the world. With the British Council and African Productions, the first ever 2nd language radio writing residency was set up in London. Writers who attended went on to win the Caine Prize, to be shortlisted for the Asian Booker and to have plays premiered off Broadway and at the Royal Court. And World Drama became the place for new voices – from the Sony Gold winner Michael Philip Edwards’ one man show Runt, about being Jamaican in America, to plays by 10 year olds from Ghana, Kosovo, Singapore and Bangladesh in Generation Next; from 12 Royal Court Young Writers in 12 countries writing online about water in We Are Water, to young people living with disabilities in Uganda in Beautiful Only at Night. Our last 2 regular broadcasts were a play inspired by the work of a theatre company in Malawi who use drama to change attitudes to HIV/AIDS and a Russian playwright's first commission about climate change, written in the Artic! In this way, the network gave a platform and an opportunity to celebrate the diversity, imagination and universality of every country of which its audience was comprised. Of course, we continue to run the BBC/British Council International Playwriting Competition and that is a wonderful and genuine way to continue to bring new voices to the network. And some ad hoc drama will hopefully continue. I'm incredibly proud of what we've been able to achieve - and lament what our audience and the upcoming generation of talent will lose - but I'm also acutely aware that none of this would have happened without you - our fantastic contributors and supporters, who gave so much to ensure that only the best work was heard on air. And that really is the point of this long email: I can't thank you enough. I hope we will find other ways to bring those stories to the world. In the meantime, my warmest wishes, as ever, Marion MARION NANCARROW Executive Producer, Audio Drama (via Alokesh Gupta, India, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. I'm pleased to read that Radio Player works well in the US. As well as live radio from most UK stations, the player also has a powerful search engine, which helps listeners explore UK radio by station, programme, location, presenter or topic. On-demand programmes, 'listen again' and commercial radio podcasts are also be searchable, with live output or 'just broadcast' listed higher than older programming. Here's a recent article entitled "Radioplayer: radio's digital future" http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/8415999/Radioplayer-radios-digital-future.html (Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. 17820, VOA Portuguese to Africa is now here for A-11, ex- 17740, VG signal April 7 at 1813 except the announceress is speaking with a pronounced Brazilian accent, a country VOA abandoned years ago, something about debating technical problems in Rio. It`s 94 degrees from Greenville, daily at 1700-1800, extended weekdays to 1830. Is it also a de-facto Brazilian service now, altho unaptly timed? Wondering what other usage of Greenville remains, I check HFCC A-11: 17820 is the highest and only 16mb frequency on the current schedule. On 19m, I hit a strange entry, same 94 heading to Africa, but in English on 28-29 March only, at 2330-2430 on 15210. Since it`s split into two different segments, both dated 28-29 March, not clear if it was really on for two days or just one. What for? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, there are other frequencies also listed for that broadcast; first noticed it after seeing them in IBB Monitoring files. Have no idea what was broadcast (Peter W Hansen, April 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I do now --- it was Pres. Obama`s speech on Libya, starting March 28 at 2330 UT (altho finished before 2400). HFCC also had it on multiple other frequencies --- keep these in mind in case there be another special event VOA might cover at that time: 4930 Botswana, 4940 Sao Tome, 5895 Philippines, 6080 Botswana, 6155 Sri Lanka, 7325 Lampertheim, 7575 Philippines, 11670 Sao Tome, 15210 Greenville But was there any advance publicity about where to tune for it? I`m on the VOA press release mailing list, zilch. 17545, VOA news in English, fair with deep fades April 8 at 1452. Listed 100 kW, 350 degrees from BOTSWANA during this hour only. 17545, April 11 at 1421, good signal, better than usual, hard-driving beat, VOA Music Mix promo, and more until 1430 cut to ``From Studio 23 in Washington, VOA`s International Edition``. Until then, Africans were prevented from hearing news about Asia, who cares? 17545 is 100 kW, 350 degrees from BOTSWANA during this hour only 15580, April 11 at 0553, poor signal with golf score in English: must be VOA, at the moment SSOB, better than Australia. Altho no Nigeria, 15120, I figured VOA site would be Botswana, but HFCC shows Iranawila, SRI LANKA at 03-07, 250 kW, 263 degrees toward Africa from the other side; unusual opening. 15580, April 14 at 0532, VOA news in English about Libya. Tho listed as Iranawila, Sri Lanka site, until 0700, there is no flutter on this, just normal lite fading, so I suspect IBB has changed to another site. They are always fiddling with sites. Ahá, latest IBB schedule at http://hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A11&broadc=IBB indeed shows Sri Lanka from 0300, switching to BOTSWANA at 0500 since April 8, 100 kW, 350 degrees. See my previous log April 11, when I also thought it should be Botswana, and in fact it was. Today this was much better than Nigeria on 15120, worse than Australia on 15160, 15240 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also RUSSIA [non] ** U S A [non]. 15320, 12/4 1153, Radio Mashaal, via Kuwait, interview, news on the hour, fair // 15360 (Giampiero Bernardini, Milan, Italy, Collins 51S-1; Perseus - Ant: T2FD, http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Instead of ERT ERA Avlis program on 11645 kHz noted Radio SAWA most modern Arabic music floor at 0558 UT instead. In 0600-0700 UT slot noted 11645 S=9 level, 1/2 second feed behind IBB/VOA Kuwait? 17880 kHz S=9 in \\. Few minutes 0655-0659 UT two bc stations noted on 11645, hit each other. From 0700-0800 UT Radio Sawa on 17880 kHz, and programm feed a 1 second behind both on 11830 kHz S=9, and 13575 S=9+15dB level. 73 wb In 08-09 UT slot Radio SAWA VOA in Arabic noted again on 17880 kHz S=9+10dB, but also additional in \\ 11725 kHz S=9+20dB, and 15775 kHz S=9+20dB. Latter two are a single second behind of 17880 feed. (15775 suffers by fluttery poor like internet audio feed...) (Wolfgang Büschel, April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) New 0600-1100 UT SAWA shortwave block. Yes, 1100-1330 UT is ceased now (Büschel, April 9 DXLD) See also LIBYA: Sawa via Commando Solo on FM 13575, April 9 at 0607 ``Sawa`` ID in passing during music, good signal over CODAR, but slightly unstable carrier compared to CVC Zambia 13590. 0616 news in Arabic, also mentions Sawa. Yet another new frequency in constantly-changing revived SW schedule of R. Sawa. Ivo Ivanov says this one is 06-08 via Lampertheim, GERMANY (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13575 later deleted; see below ** U S A [non]. VOA [sic] corrections: {with later comments by Kai Ludwig interspersed} Arabic to Libya, Tunis, Egypt "Radio Sawa", not listed in VOA Broadcast Frequency Schedules {KL: Of course not, since VOA has nothing to do with this. Radio Sawa is produced by yet another US international broadcasting entity, called Middle East Broadcasting Networks to which VOA had to surrender all Arabic-language activities after this entity had been founded in 2002. The by far most important product of MBN is nowadays the Al Hurra (or Alhurra) TV service, launched in 2004. It appears to be suitable to call Radio Sawa the radio offshoot of Al Hurra nowadays. Studios/offices of Al Hurra and Radio Sawa are located in an industrial area in a Washington suburb called Springfield (like at least a dozen other towns in the USA), in a building leased from Boeing if I recall correct. What makes the whole affair completely silly is the circumstance that Persian is still alive at VOA. They were supposed to surrender it to RFE/RL when Radio Farda had been created but kept some own radio broadcasts and finally launched a Persian TV service, called VOA PNN} 0400-0600 on 990 1170 1548 0600-0700 on 990 1170 1548 11645 13575 17880 0700-0800 on 990 1170 1548 11830 13575 17880 0800-1000 on 990 1170 1548 11725 15775 17880 1000-1100 on 990 1170 1548 11680 15775 17880, updated SW schedule 1100-1630 on 990 1170 1548 1630-0400 on 990 1170 1431 1548 {KL: Beware, there are different program versions of Radio Sawa. What is carried on shortwave again since March 22, with a new schedule every second day or so (are these transmissions meant for real listeners or just to impress some bosses?), could be a feed labelled on the Hotbird 8 satellite as "Sawa N. Africa". I have not checked out so far for how much of the time the various program streams, different ones also on the various mediumwave outlets, break away from each other, but I think they should not be listed as parallel transmissions. If not seen yet: 17880 is Kuwait, its two //s are Lampertheim each} [further update below] Arabic to Sudan "Hello Darfur", not listed in VOA Broadcast Frequency Schedules {KL: Same story: Not a VOA production at all} 0300-0330 on 5945 7330 9815 1800-1830 on 9815(11665)11745, (ex 11670 to avoid AIR English) 1900-1930 on 9745 9800 11830 Dari, not listed "Radio Ashna" {KL: "Radio Ashna" is the current product name of VOA radio services for general audiences in Afghanistan. So these transmissions may be listed as "VOA Dari" and "VOA Pashto" as well, but beware of "Deewa Radio", see below.} 0130-0230 on 1296 9335 11565 1530-1630 on 1296 9335 15090 15380 1730-1830 on 1296 9335 11565 11580 1930-2030 on 1296 7555 9335 English to Zimbabwe, not listed in VOA Broadcast Frequency Schedules {KL: On-air brand in all languages is "VOA Studio 7". Perhaps it has some special organizational status within VOA, which would explain why it slipped by the compilation of the frequency schedule} 1730-1800 on 909 4930 12130 15730 Mon-Thu 1810-1820 on 909 4930 12130 15730 Fri 1720-1740 on 909 4930 12130 15730 Fri-Sun Ndebele to Zimbabwe, not listed in VOA Broadcast Frequency Schedules 1800-1830 on 909 4930 12130 15730 Mon-Thu 1820-1830 on 909 4930 12130 15730 Fri 1740-1800 on 909 4930 12130 15730 Fri-Sun Pashto, not listed "Radio Ashna" 0030-0130 on 1296 7555 9335 1430-1530 on 1296 9335 15090 15380 1630-1730 on 1296 9335 11565 11580 1830-1930 on 1296 7555 9335 Pashto "Deewa Radio", not listed in VOA Broadcast Frequency Schedules {KL: Maybe for reasons similar to the case of Studio 7? This is a separate VOA service for the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistan} 0100-0400 on 621 9390 11535 12015 1300-1900 on 621 7495 9310 9380 9780 Persian/Farsi, not Pashtun in VOA Broadcast Frequency Schedules 0230-0330 on 5970 6095 7345, not 0130-0230 on 5970, 6105, 7345 1530-1630 on 1593 7295 9390 11780 1630-1700 on 1593 6040 9390 11780 1700-1730 on 1593 6040 9370 11780 1730-1800 on 1593 6040 7455 9370 1800-1830 on 648 1593 6040 7455 9370 1830-1900 on 648 6040 7455 9370 1900-1930 on 6040 7455 9370 Shona to Zimbabwe, not listed in VOA Broadcast Frequency Schedules 1700-1730 on 909 4930 12130 15730 Mon-Thu 1800-1810 on 909 4930 12130 15730 Fri 1700-1720 on 909 4930 12130 15730 Fri-Sun Tibetan 0000-0100 on 7250 9480 9855 0300-0600 on 15265 15490 17735 1400-1500 on 7465 11510 11595 15180*Sun/Tue/Thu/Sat 1400-1500 on 7465 11510 11595 15530*Mon/Thu/Fri 1600-1700 on 7330 9565 17670 *LAM 100 kW / 077 deg - what is the meaning of this change? jamming 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, April 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. VOA's [sic] "Radio Sawa" in Arabic to LBY, TUN, EGY from April 7: 0600-0700 on 11645 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, new 0600-0800 on 13575 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, new 0800-1000 on 11725 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg 0800-1100 on 15775 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, ex 0800-1330 1000-1100 on 11680 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, ex 1000-1200 0600-1100 on 17880 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg, ex 0800-1100 1200-1330 on 11890 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, cancelled 1100-1330 on 17840 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg, cancelled (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 11 April via DXLD) BUT ==== Hi all, here new schedule of VOA's [sic] "Radio Sawa" in Arabic to LBY, TUN, EGY from today April 12: 0600-0700 on 11645 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, cancelled 0700-0800 on 11830 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, cancelled 0600-0800 on 13575 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, cancelled 0800-1300 on 15775 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, ex 0800-1100 0800-1000 on 11725 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg 1000-1200 on 11680 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, ex 1000-1100 1200-1300 on 11890 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg, new 0600-1100 on 17880 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg, ex 0800-1100 1100-1300 on 17840 KWT 250 kW / 285 deg, new (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, DX LISETENING DIGEST) Re SAWA, endless HIDDEN PLAY, since yesterday 6-8 UT totally disappeared again, both Lampertheim channels as well as even the 17880 Kuwait channel. I guess, IBB organization is a 'madhouse' (Wolfgang Büschel, April 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Wednesday I was listening to the Glenn Beck program over WBCQ 7415. I don't know if Allan was ever aware of it. Might you look into it and cover the reason over your show soon? (John David, location unknown, April 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What times? Was it live, same as on AM stations? (Glenn to John, ibid.) Wednesday April 6, 2011 after 9 am eastern time [1300 UT], I planned to leave the radio on memory channel 9 WBCQ 7415 (channel 10 is 5110 kHz). I regularly listen to the Power Hour on 7490 until after 9 am as my mornings are busy after that. I just tuned from memory 1 of WWCR 7490 (memory 2 is 13845 WWCR-also a Power Hour channel) to memory channel 9 WBCQ 7415 as to be ready when I come back later in the day and catch programming from Maine. Well, much to my surprise - there was clear (with slight occasional fading) and solid copy of a simulcast station I believe was 1390 kHz or so. The commercials were shops and programming of the Fox network for Presque Isle, Maine. It was really neat to hear the Glenn Beck program I used to hear over WOR 710 in New York - They ended the broadcast of Glenn Beck in January of this year. Glenn, Stew and Pat at their funniest as usual. That is one reason why I used to listen. So, to hear the regular airing was great. Much more stable even on shortwave than is the direct stream from Fox. That stream breaks up horribly and the talk is way too choppy. Just one day after I tried the Fox stream on line, I stumble on Glenn Beck over 7415. I stayed with it as long as I could to hear station ID, commercials and any announcements for locale. It was all local to Maine and one commercial about New England (of which I was a former resident). I used a Kenwood R-2000 communications receiver to tune in shortwave at home. I stayed tuned until after 11 am when I had to leave. I took my jwin $9.98 portable with me in hopes to stay longer with the broadcast on my walk. It was too weak. I got weak audio and couldn't hear the dialog outside and decided not to waste the batteries. I hoped to hear it the next day - Thursday 4/7/11. The signal was totally missing. Every so often at home the next day during the commercials on The Power Hour, I would memory jump to WBCQ. Dead. Only white noise. No more Glenn Beck. During my free trial of Sirius/XM, I could tune in Sirius Patriate radio and hear The Glenn Beck show clearly and drop free. I just have to lug my dad's older note book computer to our public library every day to tune in. Activate yet another email account for free trials of Sirius/XM and kill time listening. Life throws some wild curves. That, in the long form is basically what I have gone through since tuning in the surprise airing of the Glenn Beck show. P.S. for car shortwave I have at the ready an MFJ-308 World Explorer II Mobile Shortwave Converter (covers 13, 16, 19, 25, 31, 41, 49 & 60 meters) and the Sony XR-4950X indash am, fm, sw cassette car stereo (don't confuse the Sony XR-4950X with shortwave which I own with the Sony XR-4950X having NO shortwave designed in. The Sony XR-4950X service manual available as a pdf is the model without shortwave). Anything else? Just ask. Ciao. Cheers (John David, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, ibid.) Must be one of those WBCQ anomalies. WEGP 1390 Presque Isle is indeed a Beck affiliate, and the WEGP website says somewhat cryptically: ``Now you can also listen on 780 AM WXME in Houlton. Programming between 8am to 9am on WXME is not originated by WEGP``. WXME is of course the AM side of WBCQ, so WEGP audio feed is surely available right on the WBCQ mixer. Or WBCQ was axually simulcasting WXME at a time 7415 is normally off the air, but it is registered for 24 hours if desired (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I was wishfully thinking that someone servicing the transmitter at that time was simulcasting 1390 to keep an audio check and play the program at the same time. This might have meant more of the same on other days but that wasn't forthcoming. Anyway, it was a rare, cool catch I think. I try to catch your show every week (John David, ibid.) 7415, WBCQ (tentative) only 'empty' carrier signal of S=9+15dBm on Vancouver Isl., 0945 UT Apr. 6 (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 13 via DXLD) I`ve also noted 7415 OC late at night (gh, DXLD) 9330-CUSB, April 7 at 0616, WBCQ with gospel huxter, good signal. Staying on late (how late? All night?) with GFRN/Radio 2:11 seems to be the rule now rather than the exception (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 11-14: 9330-CUSB, WBCQ again on later than scheduled with Radio 2:11, April 5 at 0524 with prayer requests to 877-942-4253. Who needs intercession by strangers?? If I want to contact God, I`ll do it myself. But then He is apparently subject to democratic influence, toting up the votes. Of course certain strangers believe they are more ept at getting thru, which is anti-democratic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So that's who it was - and still audible here in the local noise level at around 0645 UT. The signal was much weaker than regular WTJC 9370 and WYFR in French on 9355 and 9385 same time (Noel R. Green (NW England), April 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Allan Weiner tells me that as of April 1, the Good Friends Radio Network is running 24x7 on WBCQ 9330, except for Monday through Friday 2200-2300 when Jim Cedarstrom's "Money Talk" is simulcast with 7415. Regards, Lw (Larry Will, April 8, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WBCQ 5110, 7415 Saturday schedule changes Here are some late schedule changes for Saturday's broadcast schedule on WBCQ, effective today, Saturday, April 9. The Area 51 block (expanded below) is now an hour earlier, from Saturday 2100 to Sunday 0200. The Human Food Factor, was Saturday 2100-2300 on 7415, is gone. Radio Timtron Worldwide, was Saturday 2300-0000 on 7415 and 2300-0100 on 5110, moves to Saturday 2100-2200 on 7415 and 5110. The Eric Dolphy Mystery Hour, was Sunday 0200-0300 on 5110, moves to Sunday 0000-0100 on 5110. The QSO Radio Show, was Sunday 0000-0400 on 7415, expands to Saturday 2200-0400 [into UT Sunday] on 7415. The Best of Area 51 is now Saturday 2300-0000 on 5110. Regards, Lw (Larry Will, MD, April 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1559 monitoring: first airing Thursday April 7 at 1500 on WRMI 9955, JBA but confirmed on webcast. Next ones are: Thu 2100, Fri 1430, Sat 0800, 1400, 1730, Sun 0800, 1530, 1730. On WWRB: UT Fri 0330 on 2390 and maybe also 5050 like last week. On WWCR: Fri 2030 on 15825, Sat 1600 on 12160, Sun 0630 on 3215. On IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS-IBA: Sat 1800 on 7290, 1566, 1368. See full updated schedule including more webcasts at http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html or access to years of audio including latest at http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1559 monitoring: confirmed on WWRB 2390 and 5050, UT Friday April 8 at 0330. Checking the webstream, the one usually carrying WOR http://24.159.87.174:8000/stream.mp3.m3u has The King James Bible instead. This page linx to the four different streams: http://www.wwrb.org/wwrbonline.php We find WOR is axually running on Global stream 2: http://www.wwrb.org:8000/stream2.mp3.m3u While KJV is on both 1 and 3, the one labeled KJV 9955, WRMI, April 8 at 1405 has no jamming during RFI English relay but with considerable CCI, and lo het, which per Aoki is KTWR in Cantonese (HFCC says ``Yue``), during this semihour only M-F. TWR itself calls it Cantonese with `Thru the Bible`: http://www.twr.org/schedule/?language=Cantonese&country=&site=&program_name= Aoki`s WRMI listings are one hour late, showing RFI at 1500, still not shifted for DST! WORLD OF RADIO lucks out at 1430 Friday on WRMI as that`s in a break between KTWR and *1500 YFR Russian via Taiwan. Checked toward the end at 1457, poor with fair peaks, perhaps some sporadic-E help, no broadcast QRM but some irregular noise bursts, not jamming? On Saturday, WOR is at 1400, so should also luck out on a KTWR day- off. Other upcoming WRMI times for WORLD OF RADIO are: Sat 0800, 1730; Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730. On WWCR: Friday 2030 on 15825; Saturday 1600 on 12160; Sunday 0630 on 3215. On IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS-IBA: Saturday 1800 on 7290, 1566, 1368. How is reception around Europe now on WWCR, IPAR? WOR also confirmed on ACB Radio Mainstream webcast after 1500 Friday, to repeat every odd-UT Friday hour thru 2330 via http://www.acbradio.org/mainstream (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1559 monitoring: 15825, WWCR-1 still inbooming April 8 at 2014, at least S9+25 with sporadic-E enhancement, and held up past 2030 when WORLD OF RADIO 1559 started this Friday. Also VG Saturday April 9 at 1600 on 12160. Next: 0630 Sunday on 3215. On WRMI 9955: As expected, fairly readable with no co-channel QRM Saturday April 9 at 1411, just some bleedover from 9965 jamming, overload from Brother Scare on 9980, and escapable from constant RTTY around 9960. Next airings are Sat 1730, Sun 0800, 1530, 1730. On IPAR/NEXUS-IBA/IRRS, Saturday 1800 on 7290 via Slovakia, 1566 and 1368 via Italy. How is 7290 around Europe now? WORLD OF RADIO 1560 monitoring: confirmed on first airings, via WRMI 9955 webcast, UT Thursday April 14 at 0330 and 1500. Next: Thu 2100, Fri 1430, Sat 0800, 1400 {not: canceled}, 1730, Sun 0800, 1530, 1730. On WWRB: Fri 0330 on 2390 (and probably 5050 as last two weeks). On WWCR: Fri 2030 on 15825, Sat 1600 on 12160, Sun 0630 on 3215. On IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS-IBA: Sat 1800 on 7290 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7190, April 7 at 1143, the dulcet tones of Brother Scare are just barely audible, but still there when fully attenuated, fading in and out, with some QRhaM, and // 5890 synchronized, so spur from WWCR +++ plus WNQM, 1300 kHz higher. There could be another one, 1300 kHz lower on 4590. 13845, WWCR, April 7 at 1406 unlike a few minutes earlier, surged to VG signal during cross-breed holsters ad (just what I need!! Or was it Holsteins?), in sudden sporadic-E enhancement on HF, but not reaching their next frequency, 15825, still weak. Anyway, a hopeful sign for the oncoming spring/summer Es season into VHF. I figured 13845 would fade down to usual poor level, but it did not: still inbooming while 15825 was not, at further chex 1812, 2045. Could normal propagation have improved to the point that Es is not necessary to get 13 MHz in here at only one megameter skip distance? 13845, WWCR VG signal April 8 at 1306, much better than 15825 as we again have enhanced propagation below 15 MHz. At 1448, however, 15825 is also VG, indicating HF sporadic E has hit --- so good that I could hear the squeal and detect the #1 transmitter`s spurs on 15840.6 and 15810.4. Now if Es will only build up into VHF beyond 54 MHz for what`s left of analog TVDX. It would also be nice if the Es enhancement last thru 2100 for WORLD OF RADIO on 15825 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 13570, WINB still making sporadic appearances: not there before 1200 April 7, but at 1205 VG with gospel huxter in English. Gone again at 1329 check and still silent at 1430. Not on 9265 either at these times. 13570, I noticed WINB was on air with strong signal around 1258 April 11, but gone again at 1322, so no QRM to CODAR. Has the WINB program schedule been updated since March 13 to show it`s nowhere near 24/7 any more? http://www.winb.com/schedule.htm Of course not! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9370-, slightly on low side as usual compared to 1370 stations, WTJC continues to enjoy good modulation for a while, but April 14 at 0541 during hymn, also has spurs around 9335 and 9405, +/- 35 kHz. One might guess the latter were WINB, but now an ex-frequency for it. Unlike previous spur outbreaks, these are not distorted but also with good modulation, but much weaker, fading in and out. With BFO I can tell that 9405 is somewhat wobbly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. 7555, April 8 at 0133, VG open carrier, no modulation detectable, but usual ute hash from France on the hi side. Must be KJES, in another pointless transmission, now scheduled 0100- 0230 on this frequency. Supposed to rotate from 335 to 20 degrees at 0200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Rechecking 15670, which was ChiCom-jammed earlier vs V. of Tibet, April 8 at 1310, the Firedrake is gone and instead some weak unjammed talk. HFCC shows it`s YFR in Hindi via Nauen at 1400- 1600. Strangely, from 2 to 25 July the same service is to switch to Issoudun, France site, then back to Nauen, GERMANY. Something to do with higher transmission priorities, RNW and the Tour de France? Very likely, as this year`s Tour runs July 2-24, tho RNW has other holiday deviations in Dutch (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 15155, station IDed as R Arkotiv 10 April at 1732 mentioning Oromo, there was an ID that could not catch, then a HoA song. At 1750 with talks, many sentences ending with –tif (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) HFCC shows AWR in Oromo via Nauen, GERMANY, 250 kW, 140 degrees, but AIR GOS via Aligarh colliding (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. From the National Radio Club: KSAZ-580, Marana AZ, will test on Sunday morning, April 24, 0000-0300 PDT (0300-0600 EDT). [07-10 UT] From Oregon DXer Patrick Martin relays word from Paul Lotsof. The station is known as Radio Ebineezer, programs religion in Spanish, and will be running regular programming but at its 5,000-watt non- directional day pattern. English IDs are anticipated on the hour. KSAZ transmits from an array just west of I-10, about 15 miles NW of Tucson. Paul Lotsof says the station (another individual made the decision) will not be running tones or code, so anyone who thinks they have the station is welcome to call him (Paul) at 520-290-9797 and he can confirm it by playing it into the telephone. Saul Chernos for the IRCA-NRC DX TEST COMMITTEE http://www.nrcdxas.org/ (via Mike Terry, April 9, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) ** U S A. VOICE OF RUSSIA ON MW IN WASHINGTON DC AND NEW YORK 1390 WZHF VA Arlington 4/2/2011 1806 UT. Local so no big deal, right? Well, it is a big deal as 1390 now has Voice of Russia 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Program "Rushing for Success in Russia" interviewing "Creative Catering" business owner. Never did hear an ID. However, VOR website http://english.ruvr.ru/2010/10/01/23541245.html has info (also lacking mention of ID). 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, April 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 11-14: Struggles of an AM station --- Thanks to Thomas Witherspoon for posting this interesting article highlighting the struggles of a modern US AM station: http://www.kansascity.com/2011/04/04/2776002/can-am-radio-survive-by-serving.html (via Swlfest mailing list via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) It`s really about KMBZ which is no longer `just` an AM station (gh) ** U S A. HEAR THE NEWS? CHICAGO’S NO. 1 STATION ‘FINALLY GETTING ITS PROPS’ April 11th, 2011 @ 12:00 am feder.04.11 The hottest radio station in Chicago never plays any music. It boasts no wacky disc jockeys, no larger-than-life personalities, and no incendiary talk show hosts. It generally steers clear of hype, controversy or drama. In fact, it’s been churning out the same type of programming day in and day out — delivered by some of the same voices — for more than 40 years. And yet as measured by both ratings and revenue, the undisputed No. 1 radio station in town is WBBM-AM (780), the CBS Radio all-news outlet. While that may come as a surprise to some, it’s been the case for quite a while. It just hasn’t been widely acknowledged until now. Newsradio 780, as it’s known, is in its third year as the consistently top-rated station among all listeners age 12 and older, according to Arbitron Co. And in revenue figures for 2010 recently published by media analysts BIA/Kelsey, WBBM led the market (and ranked seventh in the country) with $42.5 million. With rare exception, it’s been the top biller locally since 2003. No other Chicago station finished among the top ten nationally last year. “It’s been a great station for a long time,” said Rod Zimmerman, senior vice president and general manager of the 50,000-watt AM powerhouse, and chief of CBS Radio’s seven-station Chicago cluster. “It’s nice to know it’s finally getting its props.” . . . [much more] http://feder.blogs.chicago.timeout.com/2011/04/11/hear-the-news-chicagos-no-1-station-finally-getting-its-props/ (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) Plus lots of comments; see especially #28 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO DISNEY ISN`T SO BAD --- > Still they need to go off the air or better yet just shut off the IBOC they use. I talked to the head of the network several years ago and warned her that IBOC would be a disaster for Radio Disney, it doesn't really work as advertised, etc. This was when they were headquartered in Dallas. I even suggested a Disney deal with Audiocubes to sell cheap Disney branded C-Quam radios for $25. I complimented her on the splendid daytime footprint of Radio Disney's outlet in Dallas, and told her there was even a handful of fans in Lubbock, who alternated between 60 in the daytime, the 1160 signal from San Antonio, and the Denver signal. She was impressed by this, and it even spurred a visit by Radio Disney to listeners in Abilene - of course there were a lot more of them there since it was almost as strong as a local there. > Do kids really listen to Radio Disney? Absolutely - for the kids I know it has been an introduction to radio at a young age, and a springboard where they eventually transition to regular top-40. But more importantly - it makes kids aware of AM, and as I mentioned there was a following in Lubbock. Kids who came up to me when I used a GE SR-3 tuned to Radio Disney at a pool in my father's neighborhood. Either they, or their parents wanting to know where they could get a GE Superadio 3. I have to admit I listen myself - there are some really talented kids on there you don't hear anywhere else. And let's not forget they are introducing new artists to top-40 right and left - Miley Cyrus, Justin Beiber, I could argue even Taylor Swift. Certainly Selena Gómez, after they get popular on Radio Disney, the influential top-40 stations like KIIS take notice, interview them, and start playing them. Ryan Seacrest interviews a Radio Disney discovery at least once or twice a month. And Disney is influential enough to stymie the careers of Nickelodeon artists like Victoria Justice. > To me it's just a waste of good airspace but then they could switch the signal to an FM station & I wouldn't care..... I'd rather have them on FM than half the stations in Houston. Long since I've been either streaming or satellite here - and never looked back. Radio Disney on satellite is on my favorites. Good music from a lot of talented artists. I'll hear them first on Radio Disney. I think they really have stumbled on something viable there. To me, though, kids growing up knowing that AM is on their radios is really nice. At a time when a lot of adults have written it off, they will know it is there and use it (Bruce Carter, TX, April 1, ABDX via DXLD) Midland in the late 60's and early 70's. Once somebody found out I was able to get FM from Dallas - even though I was the farthest thing from "cool" or "popular", I nevertheless soon had a lot of kids my age asking about how to DX. In the oil rich suburbs - deep fringe FM antennas sprouted up all over the place as the word spread, and rich parents could afford to buy a lot of really good receivers and tuners for their kids. Subdivision pool in Lubbock, TX. I carried in a GE SR3 so my daughter could hear KMKI 620 Dallas. They played songs she liked. Another parent soon noticed a Disney song, as did her 11 year old daughter. The 11 year old "how do you do that?" As another popular song played, I suddenly had half a dozen kids asking the same question. Young AM DX'ers - in the making. My next trip to the pool was almost 2 years later - the same girl - now 13 - her GE Superadio 3 was playing Radio Disney from 330 miles away. I stopped by to tell her about the San Antonio outlet on 1160 and the Denver outlet on 1690 to fill in the late afternoon and nighttime gaps. She told me that at least a dozen kids were listening on a variety of good radios, and a lot were discovering other out of town stations that were better. My 18 year old semi-adopted daughter in Palm Bay, FL. Upset that the antenna I put up outside her window was not going to be connected to a vintage Kenwood receiver I loaned her. She needed better reception on 101.9 from Orlando. At those distances - DX. From then on - it was "please put narrow filters in my car radio" and "will that new stereo get FM from 100 miles away?" None of these new DX'ers could give a hoot about QSL's or logging their catches - it is about the music, music not available in their local communities. I'm 56 and still at it --- now it is oldies and Christian rock not available in Houston, but available with difficulty by DX, but a lot easier with satellite and streaming. Two things I wish I had in the previous decades when arrogance and short sightedness in station owners ruled the airwaves in various places I lived (Bruce Carter, April 6, ibid.) ** U S A. FCC shutdown contingencies The FCC says it will man the HFDF directing finding system during the FCC shutdown: http://www.fcc.gov/FCC-Shutdown-Plan.pdf They say the FCC will shut down all pirates that receive complaints http://www.spiceislander.com/?p=4579 [see next item] If the FCC shuts down: http://thehill.com/blogs/hillicon-valley/technology/154613-fcc-overwhelmingly-halted-if-government-shuts-down they will still man this: http://www.fcc.gov/pshs/about-us/high_frequency_finding_center.html (via Artie Bigley, April 8, DXLD) ** U S A. FCC SHUT DOWN BROOKLYN PIRATE RADIO STATION Spiceislander.com April 8, 2011 http://www.spiceislander.com/?p=4579 The FCC raided an FM gospel radio station operating in Brooklyn, New York. The station has been illegally operating for almost one year providing 24 hours of gospel programming. The FCC is planning to respond to every single complaint about a pirate station. Working with law enforcement, they will be raiding every pirate station and seizing all broadcasting equipment. Owners will be fined $10,000 which will automatically be deducted from bank accounts, and they will be immediately arrested. The airwaves in places like Newark, Brooklyn, Boston, Miami, etc will have a lot less interference. The mass raid will most likely take place in a span of only 24 hours. Obviously, they’re not going to announce when the raid will be, but it will be sometime soon. After the mass raid, the FCC will revamp their infrastructure to speed up the shutdown of pirates in the future. Within 24 hours of any complaint, field agents will determine the source of the pirate broadcast and immediately summon the police to raid the station. Raids will happen at any time, even at 3:00 AM on a Sunday night. (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) WTFK? This reads too `good` (and too vague) to be true. Sure it wasn`t April 1? I would want to see something about this from the FCC itself, or at least a US source rather than Grenada (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) At a time when every government agency is cost-cutting, I'd highly question a 24-hour response time to any pirate that was not causing direct interference with emergency or aircraft channels (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, ibid.) see also OKLAHOMA ** U S A. Several weeks ago, pirate WEAK, which had been quite active, broadcast a notice that the FCC was shutting it down. But was it faked? The matter remained disputed among pirate fans. Artie Bigley has kept on this story, and finally has contacted the FCC agent involved, confirming that it was real (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: To: Doug Miller Subject: Mr. Miller, Recording of you closing down down WEAK radio Mr Miller, Please refer to me email yesterday. At about 9:50 seconds into this DX show, they have a a alleged recording of you closing down "W-E-A-K" radio: http://shortwavepirate.info/RFPrograms/wordpress/?p=1808 Can you confirm this is an authentic recording and/or if WEAK was actually visited by the Atlanta office of the FCC? Thank you in advanced for your time and trouble. Thanks, Artie Yes, WEAK was an unlicensed station that was taken off the air and an announcement to that effect was made (Doug Miller, FCC, Atlanta, April 13, via Artie Bigley, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MR. Miller, Thank you VERY MUCH for your time and trouble in answering this email. Artie (via DXLD) But where was it, exactly? (gh) ** U S A. AN APPALACHIAN RADIO VOICE THREATENED FROM AFAR [WMMT, http://appalshop.org/wmmt/ Whitesburg KY] When I read an article like this, it's hard not to have mixed feelings about the country we live in. Pride because of the efforts of a Jim Webb and people like him; disappointment and shame for the unneeded, unsubstantiated and vitriolic pressure their most worthy and demonstrably valuable efforts are put under. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/12/us/12radio.html?src=recg (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, April 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLIC BROADCASTING'S FEDERAL FUNDING STAYS SAME Washington Post By Paul Farhi April 12, 2011 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/12/MNVE1IVCEN.DTL Despite Republican-led calls to strip funding from National Public Radio, public broadcasting emerged largely unscathed in the federal budget compromise hammered out in Congress over the past week. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which passes federal funds to public radio and TV stations, will receive $445 million from Congress - essentially the same amount it received in its last appropriation, according to details of the continuing federal budget resolution released Tuesday. The proposed funding is a huge victory for public broadcasters, particularly NPR, which has suffered through a series of public- relations disasters that have strengthened conservatives who want to eliminate its federal support. Washington-based NPR fired commentator Juan Williams in October, and Chief Executive Vivian Schiller resigned last month after an embarrassing video "sting" by a conservative activist that captured two of NPR's top fundraisers making disparaging remarks about Republicans and Tea Party members. In a further victory for public radio, the proposed budget places no restrictions on how the public broadcasting corporation doles out federal funds to stations. House Republicans, led by Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colo., had sought such restrictions, but Democrats killed the provision. NPR receives less than 2 percent of its operating funds directly from Washington; the bulk of its funding comes from hundreds of public stations, including radio station KQED-FM in San Francisco, which pay fees in exchange for NPR-produced programs such as "All Things Considered." PBS is also largely funded this way by public TV stations. "We feel the (continuing resolution) recognizes that public radio is providing an essential public service and that continued federal funding is critical to keeping public radio strong," said Anna Christopher, an NPR spokeswoman. In March, the House voted 228-192 to bar NPR from receiving federal money, but Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and the White House opposed that measure. Congress will vote this week on the budget, which will keep the government operating thro ugh the end of the fiscal year in September (via Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) ** VATICAN [and non]. 13730, NF for VR relay via CANADA, ex-9865, April 7 at 1154 in Spanish, 1204 in English with news of Libya, Q`Daffy considering Obama his `son` and endorsing him for 2012! What a generous and sneaky guy! No hard feelings? Lite CCI from an understation, which HFCC reveals must be DW in French, 250 kW, 110 degrees via PORTUGAL at 12-13 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15595, April 9 at 0543, sounds like a pope reciting stuff in Latin, responses by group, presumably mass from Vatican Radio, VG signal here in the nightmiddle; 0609 recheck, news in Italian. 250 kW, 121 degrees direct from SMG (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4005.5, Vatican Radio; 0438, 1-Apr; German close with ID, IS & into French. SIO=3+23 in USB, needed due to ute on 4005. (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by ear, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. UNIDENTIFIED: For 5 April, 15290 unIDed at 1925 with talks by man in Spanish, S1 only. Strong splatter by RFI on 15300, mentioning freqs ‘e trenta kHZ‘ 1930 with Andean style LA songs. Who is? (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, HCDX via DXLD) It`s R. Nacional de Venezuela, relayed by Cuba at 19-20, as has been for many years, excellent here, for ``San Francisco``. It`s been here on 15290 for about six years. The broadcast started out on 13740, and by the end of 2004 that was already out of date, but ever since they keep announcing 13740 and other totally outdated frequencies. See http://www.worldofradio.com/dxld4071.txt where this was first being reported 7 years ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA [and non] ** VIETNAM. 12019.36, V of Vietnam, 1130 really nice signal with IDs at the start of the English program, then into news (9 April) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Hard-Core-DX via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. Re 11-14: Two Vietnamese Falungong practitioners will face trial, accused of unauthorized shortwave broadcasts into China. [4 stories linked on Sound of Hope; trial postponed] Posted: 11 Apr 2011 (see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11070 via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. CLANDESTINA, 1550 Polisario Front, Rabouni, ALGERIA, 1145-1300*, 10 Apr, Arabic, songs, talks, news at 1200,..., anthem at closure; 15241; \\ 6297.15 good. Still sole frequency used evenings. 6297.15 ditto, 1147-1300*, 10 Apr, same as 1550 kHz above; 45444. This HF outlet is not being used evenings (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, April 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 9780.15, Republic of Yemen Radio (San'a), 0350-0435, 4/13/2011, Arabic. Man with short talk segements alternating with Arabic bells and drums. At 0355, traditional Arabic music with occasional short announcements by a man and a woman. Talk by a different man at 0420, then back to music at 0423. "Yemen" was mentioned by a man at 0427 followed by their national anthem. Announcements by a man at 0430, apparently beginning a new program. Short Koran recitation and religious sounding talk to 0435 tune out. Moderate signal strength with good audio with some fading prior to 0430, when the audio went down to much lower level (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, Tecsun PL-660, whip antenna (with some help from the RX-340 and the 90' wire, to determine the exact frequency) Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 9320, very strong S9+22 open carrier, April 11 at 0559 past 0600, better than WBCQ, WYFR and WTJC just up the band. Occasional barely audible digital beeps, so maybe ute, Cuban spy station. No broadcasters scheduled here between 0030 and 1430 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9340, R?, 0409 11 April with international news in English, ID in Arabic. A song that seems Slavic. Person ‘kabaye Saat‘ with talks in Arabic I supposed as R Prague due to the song. For 12.4 9340 is off (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Nothing on 9340 at any time in HFCC or Aoki; a typo? Prague?? I don`t think so; they are gone from SW except WRMI (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 9855, Distorted signal at 1108 tune/in with what sounded like an IS, talk by W in possibly Asian language over music, 3+1 time ticks. 1116 W in English, "You're listening to.". Couldn't really copy anything after that. 1122 soft ballad by W. CRI came on at 1200. Weak. Certainly seems to be an Asian. (10 April) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, Hard-Core-DX via DXLD) Why not the only thing listed in HFCC, FEBC, Iba, PHILIPPINES, in Vietnamese at 11-12, 50 kW, 270 degrees (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 10000, station at 1545 10 April with Turkish or Kurdish songs. At 1551 with ID ??? (very poor signal mixed with Chinese time station) Seems 1559* There is a recording http://www.mediafire.com/?q41lizee9yb60yc (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 14579-SSB, April 14 at 1347, 2-way in colloquial Spanish, hardly any of it understandable; in fact, at first I thought it was Greek. One station had engine noise background, the other breaking up severely (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 17904-USB, air traffic control, April 9 at 0547, contacting flights discussing ETAs, flight levels, but could not catch ID on very poor signal. Brandon in CA was reporting San Francisco and Honolulu on this frequency April 7, and earlier reports in UDXF also mention Auckland, so somewhere around the Pacific. Language? The international one, English, it goes without saying (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 27125, 3/28, 1950. Not to go too far off topic, but this could help me or others better ID language from broadcasters? Checking HF band up to CB band to see how higher frequencies were propagating, found two-way contact with cupola stations in unID language that sounded like mix of French and German but was neither. all the rest of the signals were coming from the Carolinas stateside. Anyone know a Caribbean language that could sound like a German speaking French, or other times, like someone speaking German with a French accent? Heard refs many times to "shipping". Don`t know if actual shipping, or a foreign word that sounds like that. Was pretty interesting until f/out after 2000. Similar tfc briefly heard after that on 27065 (Rick Barton, El Mirage AZ, listening from my car and tent, at Lake Pleasant, AZ, Sangean ATS-803A, RadioShack DX-375, 9' Garden Stake helical Wilson CB antenna, ABDX via DXLD) Rick, The island of St. Martin/Maarten is half French/half Dutch. Tho English is also widely spoken especially on the Dutch side. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Glenn, enclosed is a token of my appreciation for your continuing efforts to enhance a hobby we all love. Happy spring and *very* 73 de (Anne Fanelli (and Socks, who endores bad reception of CJBC-FM in the barn), Elma NY, with a check in the mail to Glenn Hauser, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702) Socks = horse portrayed on accompanying card (acknowledged on WORLD OF RADIO 1560) I listen to your broadcast on 7.415 MHz, WBCQ. WORLD OF RADIO is the best show on Short Wave!! (Dave Strong, Beamsville, Ontario, Canada) Many tnx also to Will Martin for a check in the mail to Glenn Hauser, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 (to be acknowledged on WOR 1561) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ HFCC SCHEDULES BY BROADCASTER and FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT ORGANISATION Tnx to a tip from Ken Fletcher, BDXC-UK (see RUSSIA), HFCC now availablizes updated A-11 schedules for each individual broadcaster OR FMO via: http://hfcc.org/data/a11/index.phtml Some are not found in either list, like BVB. But note that not all are listed in alfabetical order, e.g. CHW between HRT and IBB! (Glenn Hauser, OK, April 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AOKI A-11 AOKI .zip format file contains a "very rare circulated" xlsx Excel format, should be transformed manually to .prn format, and further re- named to pure .txt file. Or to XLS format of 2003 or 2000year. AOKI A- 11 is a little consumptive yet, small size. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, April 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello DXers, Aoki just corrected it with .xlsx file. the normal file we used to get as usual. B.Rgds (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, ibid.) Bar Graph Viewer program of Aoki's List was released. This program is an add-in program of Excel. DownLoad https://sites.google.com/site/babooshka3264/download by baboshka Sample https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=sites&srcid=ZGVmYXVsdGRvbWFpbnxiYWJvb3Noa2EzMjY0fGd4OjdmN2ZmOTcyNjMxODc3ZTA blog by baboshka in Japanese http://babooshka-innerjourneys.blogspot.com/ (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, April 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Is there not going to be a plain-text version like http://www.geocities.jp/binewsjp/bib10.txt which is much clearer and easier to consult?? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) SHORTWAVE RADIO STORY Hello all: I've been lurking in the background for a while, and I thought it was high time to share my radio story on shortwave. I produced it for CBC Radio's (Canada) pop culture program "Definitely Not The Opera" a few years ago. You can find the MP3 version here: http://www.box.net/shared/iy143zf8ma Enjoy! -- WEB - Borderfilms.com TWITTER - @borderfilms GUA - San Pedro la Laguna, Guatemala +502 469 76 220 YVR - Vancouver, BC, Canada +1.604.210.1776 SEA - Seattle, WA, USA +1.206.333.0220 Contributor to: Toronto Star, South China Morning Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Chicago Tribune, Baltic Times, Malaysia Star, Irish Examiner, (Vancouver) Georgia Straight, National Geographic, CBC Radio, San Jose Mercury News, CTV News, CBC News, Oakland Tribune, Contra Costa Times, Western Mail (Wales), NewsRadio Ireland, Word Magazine, National Post, Lonely Planet, Yukon News, Gibraltar Panorama, Helsinki Times, T-Mobile USA, Gadling, etc. Books (Photography): Weird Washington, Media Discourse and the Yugoslav Conflicts Author: Tropical Depression - Doomsday in Paradise (due 2012) More about.me! http://about.me/dougmurray (Doug Murray, sounds+images+words, Currently in Guatemala, April 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1 HOUR OF OLD JINGLES YOU MAY LISTEN TO JINGLES TAPED IN THE PERIOD 75's to 80's THEY ARE ALL FREE TO YOU JUST VISIT MY BLOG HERE: http://blog.libero.it/radioascolto/10096989.html 73''s (Francesco Cecconi, Italy, April 9, condiglist yg via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ DXPEDITION IN SOUTH AFRICA, SEEFONTEIN 9, MARCH 28-31, 2011 Another great DXpedition to our Atlantic Ocean Seefontein site. Great logs and great cameradie. Some nice tropical band catches as well. see: http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/seefontein_2011_03.dx I was bitterly disappointed with my Perseus SDR - feel like throwing it in the trash can (John Plimmer, Montagu, Cape Province, South Africa, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY See ISRAEL +++++++++++++++++ LANGUAGE LESSONS See EAST TURKISTAN ++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See also BOTSWANA; CYPRUS non; INDIA; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MADAGASCAR; MONGOLIA; POLAND non; ROMANIA; RUSSIA; SPAIN non; SRI LANKA DRM IN THE 15700-15800 KHZ RANGE DRM was discussed at a meeting of the Frequency Management Organisations (FMOs) at the HFCC conference in Prague on 16 February. It was proposed that preference should be given to DRM broadcasts in small area of the SW spectrum. The frequencies from 15750 to 15800 was identified and agreed. This informal agreement made between the FMOs stated that although both analogue and DRM broadcasts could be scheduled in this part of the spectrum, preference would be given to DRM. On 17 February I presented an update on the latest DRM receiver news to the Plenary Meeting of the HFCC. This was very well received and the meeting went on to discuss and approve the previous day`s FMO agreement to give preference to DRM broadcasts in the 15750-15800 range (Ludo Maes, DRM Consortium, DX News, April BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) OK, DRM should be totally segregated from analog on all bands, not just 19m, or preferably kept completely outside the SWBC bands if not at edges. But A-11 HFCC shows zero DRM in that 50-kHz range (gh, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ IT'S HARD TO BUY A RADIO! Today I am in Kuala Lumpur and needed to get hold of a FM portable to take to the Formula One track at Sepang. I know they broadcast the commentary on 102.1 via a low power FM transmitter at the circuit for distribution around the track. I searched for over 2 hours in the Kuala Lumpur CBD [central business district? = downtown] and found plenty of Internet radios for sale but not even one AM & FM portable! Those who know me well will know I am a big fan of digital distribution and rarely consume analog media, the one time I want to listen in I can't even find a radio to buy unless I want to install it in a car. It seems Internet and satellite radio (Astro Radio) are the mainstay here in Malaysia for home or office listening. Cheers, (Mark Fahey, NSW, Sent from my iPad, April 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO SHACK AM/FM PORTABLES OF THE PAST Interesting history of portables aimed at the DX market, but cost reduced to the point of uselessness. Specifically, the size of the ferrite bar and the number of IF stages. From memory - at least the ones I own: 12-675 - came with a six inch ferrite bar, tuned RF stage, four IF stages. Way more than later models. Actually pretty decent for DX'ing, well worth picking up at a garage sale or thrift shop. I really don't have too much negative to say about it, but it desperately needs a bigger ferrite bar. 12-655 - incredibly sensitive radio. FET tuned RF stage, this one is amazing at picking out weak signals. It came with a pretty big ferrite bar, an even longer one helps a lot. It is very hampered, though, by only having one ceramic filter and two IF stages. They also had a real problem packaging - the size of the PC board interferes with having a better speaker. Really no way to put a better speaker in the cabinet. 12-650 - almost as sensitive as the 12-655, but still has a the same IF structure. It is in a large case, though, and can have a really large speaker. It's tuned RF stage I believe is bipolar and not FET, but is really good. There is some sort of funny AVC in it that mutes the station for a split second when tuning from weak to very strong signals. It also has FM, but incredibly strong AFC that makes real selectivity impossible. Narrow FM filter helps considerably. A bigger ferrite bar also helps AM, although stock it was pretty big. A decent radio if you can find one. 12-603 and 12-903. Varactor tuned cost reduced redesign of the GE SR- 3. If you find one, it is worth secondhand prices because with a larger ferrite bar it is actually pretty sensitive, and even has decent, but not great selectivity. Still - selectivity is on a par with the SR-3, which isn't that great either compared to the (1) and 2. FM reception is probably a bit better than FM on an SR-3, obviously where they put their money. Curiously, there is no FM trim cap for high, but still really decent on FM. If they would get out of the mold of cost reduction, just spend the money on a decent ferrite bar antenna and IF section, and add maybe $10 to the cost of the radio to make it up - they could have had a string of real winners as good as anything GE was putting out (Bruce Carter, TX, April 6, ABDX via DXLD) AFTERMARKET CAR RADIOS http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ABDX/messages/49942?threaded=1&m=e&var=1&tidx=1 Long ABDX thread in open archives; later threads titled car radio and car radio how good; see also related thread on noise (gh, DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BBC R&D REPORT INTO POTENTIAL INTERFERENCE TO BROADCAST RECEPTION White Paper 195 : VHF emissions from PLT devices - First investigation of potential interference to broadcast reception Mark Waddell and Jonathan Stott, March 2011 The paper describes tests on powerline adaptors that have been recently introduced using the VHF spectrum, 50 to 300 MHz, for home networking. It was asked for by the European Broadcasting Union. Tests were conducted in two homes and in the laboratory. Operation of the PLAs caused interference to indoor-portable reception of both FM and DAB broadcasts, in varying degrees from no effect to total disruption. They also disturbed reception of FM using an external antenna at one of the homes. The document is at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/rd/publications/whitepaper195.shtml (Mike Barraclough, April 12, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) REPORT: UK REGULATOR WON'T RESTRICT POWER LINE TELECOMMUNICATIONS DEVICES DESPITE EVIDENCE OF SHORTWAVE INTERFERENCE. http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11076 (Posted: 13 Apr 2011, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MONTHLY PROPAGATION CHARTS Between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at http://arrl.org/propagation (QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 14 ARLP014 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA April 8, 2011, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) Charts show MUF, OWF and LUHF hour by hour (gh, DXLD) GEOMAGNETIC STORM ON APRIL 12 Space Weather News for April 12, 2010 http://spaceweather.com GEOMAGNETIC STORM: A solar wind stream hit Earth's magnetic field on April 12th, sparking Northern Lights as far south as Michigan and Minnesota in the USA. At the time of this alert (April 12 @ 1600 UT), the G1-class event is still underway. Images and updates are available at http://spaceweather.com (via Mark Coady, Editor Shortwave Loggings, ODXA yg via DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to major storm levels. The period began at unsettled to active levels in the midst of a coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). The CME observed at 02/2347 UTC arrived at the ACE spacecraft at approximately 06/0854 UTC. A sudden impulse of 24 nT was observed at Boulder at 06/0942 UTC. Solar wind speeds at ACE jumped from 494 to 559 km/s, then climbed to a peak of 591 km/s at 06/1700 UTC. The Interplanetary Magnetic Field (IMF Bt) initially rose from +07 to +14 nT following the shock and peaked at +17 nT at 06/1030 UTC. The IMF Bz turned southward following shock passage and remained mostly southward until approximately 06/2000 UTC. A maximum southward deflection of -11 nT was observed at 06/1213 UTC. The geomagnetic field was at quiet to unsettled levels in the days prior to the CME arrival (04 - 06 April). Activity increased to unsettled to major storm levels once the CME arrived. Active to minor storm levels were recorded at Boulder and minor to major storm levels detected at high latitudes. Activity decreased to mostly unsettled levels after 06/1800 UTC as Bt decreased and Bz became variable at +03 to -03 nT. Geomagnetic activity returned to quiet to unsettled levels for the remainder of the week. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 13 APRIL - 09 MAY 2011 Solar activity is expected to be at predominantly low levels for the entire period, with a slight chance for an M-class event when old Region 1176 returns on 17 April. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to begin the period at high levels following the increased windspeeds associated with the CH HSS. A return to normal to moderate levels is expected from 17 April until 01 May. High levels are expected to return from 02 - 05 May following a second CH HSS. Normal to moderate levels are expected for the remainder of the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at predominantly quiet levels from 12 April until a CH HSS arrives on 17 April. Three days of unsettled to active conditions are anticipated, with a return to mostly quiet conditions on 20 April. Quiet to unsettled conditions with isolated active and minor storm periods are expected from 28 April - 01 May due to a second recurrent CH HSS becoming geoeffective. Quiet conditions are expected to return and persist until 07 May. Unsettled to active conditions with a chance for isolated minor storm periods are expected from 08 - 09 May as a third CH HSS rotates into a geoeffective position. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2011 Apr 12 1823 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 2011-04-12 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2011 Apr 13 100 5 2 2011 Apr 14 105 5 2 2011 Apr 15 110 5 2 2011 Apr 16 110 5 2 2011 Apr 17 110 7 2 2011 Apr 18 110 7 2 2011 Apr 19 105 7 2 2011 Apr 20 105 5 2 2011 Apr 21 110 5 2 2011 Apr 22 115 5 2 2011 Apr 23 115 5 2 2011 Apr 24 120 5 2 2011 Apr 25 120 5 2 2011 Apr 26 120 5 2 2011 Apr 27 115 5 2 2011 Apr 28 110 7 2 2011 Apr 29 110 15 3 2011 Apr 30 115 12 3 2011 May 01 115 8 3 2011 May 02 120 5 2 2011 May 03 120 5 2 2011 May 04 120 5 2 2011 May 05 110 5 2 2011 May 06 105 5 2 2011 May 07 105 5 2 2011 May 08 105 8 3 2011 May 09 100 15 3 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1560, DXLD) ###