DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-30, July 28, 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 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 1575 HEADLINES: *DX and station new from: Andaman Islands, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Denmark, Europe, Georgia, Germany, India, International Vacuum, Morocco, Netherlands Antilles non, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Peru, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia non, Somalia non, Sudan South, UK, USA, Venezuela and non SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1575, July 28-August 3, 2011 Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 [confirmed on webcast] Thu 1500 WRMI 9955 Thu 2100 WRMI 9955 [not jammed but JBA; confirmed on webcast] Thu 2100 WTWW 9479 [confirmed and also webcast now working] Thu 2130 WBCQ 7415 [JBA, confirmed] Fri 0330 WWRB 5051 Fri 0500 WRMI 9955 Fri 1430 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1500 WRMI 9955 Sat 1730 WRMI 9955 Sun 0400 WTWW 5755 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WRMI 9955 Sun 1730 WRMI 9955 Mon 0300 WBCQ 5110v-CUSB [time varies later] Mon 1130 WRMI 9955 Mon 1530 WRMI 9955 Mon 2130 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1530 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/ ** ALBANIA. Radio Tirana, Shijak transmitter site, 9860 kHz, 0030 UT July 21, 44434. Station ID an newscast by man in English at 0030. "Press Review" - Talk about the May 8 local elections and European Union at 0040. Music until end of program and interval signal at 0042. Good signal, Bad modulation S-9. Radio Tirana, Shijak transmitter site, 13735 kHz. 2000 UT July 23, 44334, Interval signal at 1959, followed by station ID and transmission times and frequencies by woman in English at 2000. Talk by woman about the Balkans at 2002. Albanian(?) March type song by chorus at 2020. Good signal S-8. Radio Tirana Shijak transmitter site 7245 [sic] kHz. 0345 July 24 45544 Woman with talk in English about the history of Albania at 0345. Albanian National Anthem at 0350. Albanian music until 0357, then station ID, interval signal and off the air at 0358. Good signal S-9 (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwire - 40 feet high, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. Re 11-28: AIR Port Blair was noted with good signals yesterday 22 July 2011 from tune in around 1405 UT on 4760. They were not heard for some days. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, dx_india yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) ** ANGUILLA. 11775, July 22 at 1352, noticed no signal from here; am pretty sure Dead Gene Scott was audible earlier this morning as I tuned across. 6090, July 28 at 0525, no signal, just T-storm noise (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See BRAZIL ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, I have been surreptitiously checking most mornings sometime between 1230 and 1400 for even a trace of a carrier from LRA36; still nothing July 22 at 1247 altho Turkey 15450 and China 15480 were audible. Last date heard by me, and I think by anyone, was June 16, as in DXLD 11-24 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 15344.05v, R. Nacional, 0109, July 25. In Spanish; ID; presentation of a drama till 0220; mostly fair; eight minute MP3 audio at < http://www.box.net/shared/47szx8dm6ocv27kzz5p6 >; very noticeable drifting (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 2368.5, Radio Symban, 1241-1310, July 25. Without the QRN would have been solid fair reception; 5 minute MP3 audio http://www.box.net/shared/kauo0hznb8o0fc9sdkti of their typical Greek music (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2368.5, Radio Symban, 1159 July 22. Man in Greek and Greek music at 1201. Good signal but a noisy band. Poor. (Sellers-BC) 2485, AUSTRALIA, VL8K Katherine, 1151 July 22. Sports play-by-play, one team from Adelaide, continued through top of the hour. Fair, // 2325 poor, 2310 off the air or inaudible (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car with Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna. Editor of World English Survey and Target Listening, available at http://www.odxa.on.ca dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. RA 9580 vs CRI 9570 --- Gentlemen, I want to bring you up to date regarding the situation with RA 9580/9590 and CRI via Cuba on 9570 [12-14 UT]. For about the last 4 months, things have been - - - perfect! 9570 was transmitting within spec. No interference was encountered on 9580 or 9590 other that 10 kHz audio splash. Things were so good, 9560 was also listenable. I was almost prepared to forgive CRI. I thought they must have installed one of the new transmitters that were rumoured to be shipped to Cuba. Is the problem over!?!?!?? or were they transmitting from a different site? But.... Things are now back to the way they were. A mountain of white noise again surrounds 9570. 9560 is unusable and 9580 makes it through because of its strength [it will suffer this winter]. I think there is some noise under 9590 as well. Nigel, I don't know if you have a channel open with CRI, but this problem is fix-able. Hopefully RA can convince them of this. Regards (Andy Reid, Ont., July 24, to Nigel Holmes, RA, and DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15240, 15160, 13690, 13630, July 28 at 0516, no signals from R. Australia, usually well audible. Suspect Shep is off the air at the moment. However, NZ on 11725 and DRM 11670-11680 were weaker than usual, so maybe propagation. At 0600 UT, WWV reported by e-mail, ``Space weather for the past 24 hours has been minor. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level occurred`` and that was also announced at 1218 on 10000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. AUSTRALIAN STATES ON SHORTWAVE - 3: VICTORIA In the Australian radio world, the initial number of the mediumwave callsign indicates the state in which the station is located, and the number 3 indicates Victoria. This pattern of identification for radio stations followed the European pattern that was established in the early days of radio broadcasting. A total of three different commercial radio stations in Melbourne experimented with the concept of shortwave broadcasting as an increase in coverage area during the early years, and the first was 3LO in 1927. Even though the AWA shortwave station at Pennant Hills near Sydney in New South Wales subsequently became more prominent, yet the early 3LO broadcasts from their own transmitter at Braybrook were a significant milestone in the Australian scene of international radio broadcasting. At the time, station 3LO was commercially operated during the era before it was taken over by the federal government as a national broadcasting station. The shortwave broadcasts from 3LO created an interest both within Australia and in overseas countries, and their international broadcasts were relayed to local listeners by radio stations and networks in England and the United States, and occasionally in other countries. Initially the shortwave broadcasts from 3LO were radiated at night from their own lower powered shortwave transmitter that was on the air under the callsign VK3ME, but subsequently, relays were taken out via the 10 kW AWA transmitter at Ballan. The 3LO shortwave broadcasts ended in 1929 at the time when 3LO & 3AR were amalgamated and taken over by the government for what became the nationwide ABC radio service. However, at that stage, AWA continued producing their own programming for broadcast over the same two shortwave transmitters at Braybrook & Ballan. Then it was that another commercial station in Melbourne, 3DB, took out a relay via VK3ME five years later for the Melbourne Centenary Celebrations, a relay that lasted for a period of three weeks. The programming content in this shortwave relay to the world was taken from the regular evening broadcasts of the mediumwave station 3DB. The other commercial station in Melbourne that was heard on shortwave during this era was 3UZ, the Oliver Nielsen station in the capital city. Their chief engineer constructed a 150 watt shortwave transmitter that was noted on air for two short periods of time, in 1930 and again in 1931. We can remember also the ABC shortwave station located at Lyndhurst out in the country, with its several transmitters and several program streams. Experimental transmitter VK3LR began its life as a low power PMG facility for experimental development in a galvanized iron shed near Lyndhurst. As time went by, the building was rebuilt, renovated, and re- renovated; and transmitter VK3LR became VLR, and subsequently additional transmitters were installed, and these took to the air mainly under the callsigns VLG, VLH, & VNG. Programming was provided by the ABC Home Service and also by Radio Australia; and VNG carried the chronohertz time and frequency service. The Lyndhurst station, with its bevy of 10 kW transmitters, was closed down at the end of the year 1987 at the conclusion of around 60 years of international on air service. Then too, the other major shortwave station for Radio Australia in Victoria is the facility near Shepparton which was inaugurated with a 50 kW RCA transmitter in mid 1944. Still on the air to this day, Shepparton was on the air internationally with callsigns VLA VLB, etc running down to VLF, all rated at either 50 kW or 100 kW. There was also a 10 kW transmitter at Shepparton under the callsign VLY during that era. We can also remember that the studios for Radio Australia are located in Melbourne, and this programming has been fed to their transmitter sites located in five states, as well as in overseas countries. Finally, we look at two program broadcasting stations that were on the air carrying programming for army personnel. In 1955, Radio Puckapunyal was noted in New Zealand and Australia with just one broadcast of an hour duration each week. This station was located in an army camp out from Melbourne, and it was active on shortwave for just a few weeks. The other army station was located at another army encampment, known as Digger’s Rest, a little further out from Melbourne. This station was on the air with live programming for army personnel under the callsign VMA. It was noted at two different time periods, 1982 & 1987, and the programs were intended for army personnel on service overseas. Thus, in the Australian state of Victoria, we have seen that a total of more than a dozen shortwave transmitters at more than half a dozen locations have broadcast regular and special radio programming during the past more than 80 years. Every one of these stations issued QSL cards, some of which are now rare collector’s items. The colorful QSL cards issued by Radio Australia for their broadcasts over Shepparton & Lyndhurst are well known, and the ABC cards for Lyndhurst are also well known, as are also the VNG double sized cards. Occasionally, cards for VK3ME are offered on Ebay, and also for 3LO & 3UZ. The two army stations also issued QSL cards for their unique broadcasts. However, there are no known QSL cards issued by 3DB for the three week period of broadcasts during the centenary celebrations in 1934. However, it is known that 3DB issued a QSL card for their mediumwave station during that era, and we would presume that they issued the same card for their shortwave broadcasts also. Next month, we will look at the shortwave scene in another state, Queensland, with the initial number 4 (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for April 10 via DXLD) ** BAHRAIN [and non]. 9745, 19/7 1854, Radio Bahrain, western songs non stop, talks in Arabic on the hour, fair but some QRM from a co- channel station in Chinese. Could be Voice of Hope? (Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, in Tuscany (Pescia, 60 km west from Florence), RFspace SDR-14; ant 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS. 7360, 19/7 2124, Radio Belarus, in English, language lesson, web address, songs, fair // 7390 (Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, in Tuscany (Pescia, 60 km west from Florence), RFspace SDR-14; ant 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM. Re 11-29: Radio Vlaanderen Internationaal, of Belgium's Dutch-speaking community, will close. Posted: 21 Jul 2011 The English service of RVI, which closed in 2005, included some of the most talented and popular international radio broadcasters, such as David Monson and Frans Vossen. RVI dropped shortwave in 2009, continuing on internet and satellite since then. Flanders thus follows the Netherlands in discontinuing a dedicated radio service for Dutch- speaking countrypersons abroad (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Jonathan Marks adds: "I think you'll find that RVI in Dutch has been simply a relay of domestic channels for some years with very little of their own production. What I find significant is that they will pull out of BVN. RNW has grabbed quite a lot of material from domestic radio sources but still hired presenters and newsreaders to put into a different form. None of that is needed now." -- BVN is an international Dutch-language television, a joint project of Dutch and Flemish public broadcasters, including Radio Netherlands. Flandersnews, 16 July 2011: "The Flemish public broadcaster [announced a] new policy agreement for the VRT [Vlaamse Radio en Televisieomroep, public broadcaster of the Dutch-speaking community in Belgium] which will apply for a five-year period, from 2012 to 2016. ... The policy agreement also contains a specific goal linked to foreigners living and working in Flanders. The VRT wants to make sure that they are well informed about what's happening in Flanders. The focus will be on news and culture, but concrete plans still have to be worked out. The aim is to have this ready by the end of next year. There will be talks about the feasibility of such programmes on different channels: online, TV and radio." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) -- Flandersnews is an English-language service of VRT, demonstrating that English continues from VRT even six years after the demise of the RVI English service (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** BOLIVIA. 4865.01-.03v, tentatively Radio Logos, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, with a fair signal and slightly wandering fqy many mornings, lately. Heard as early as 0930 on 7/20 on 4865.01, but more often showing up closer to 1000 GMT. Signal can hold up as late as 1030+ some days. Noted Jul 9, 12, 19, 20, 21, 22. Programming fairly consistent: Mellow and nondescript canciones -- instrumentals but more frequently SS vocalists (possibly Christian Spanish pops) with organ + bass or else other sparse instrumentation. Many tunes seguéd. OM announcer occasionally between songs, mike is very muffled and undermodulated, extremely difficult to read. Typical snippets like OM mentioning of "la música . . . siempre por todos . . . la Biblia . . . onda corta . . ." Can't hear an actual s/on or NA which would really help, but everything consistent with past profile for R Logos and propagation seems to // performance of other E Bolivians like R. Santa Cruz on 49 mb (when one good, the others doing okay, also). Usually a het and best heard in ECSS-LSB + notch (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PT-2 + Palomar P-408 Quantum Phaser Unit; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA [and non]. 4699.95, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta, 7/20 0920- 0940 tune/out, tropical rhythms and fair QSA above the noise. Deep voiced OM at 0924, cranking up the modulation, "Muy buenos días . . . las cinco de la mañana con 24 minutos . . .: Guitar strumming and OM singing balada next. Frequent time/checks and more guitar vocals. Also nice signal 7/21 at 1000 with SS OM IDing at ToH. Fair signal 7/22 past 1000. 60 meter band starting to come to life again in the mornings, as the daylight comes later to the central USA --- starting to note the familiar Andean transmitters like 4815 HC, 4790 and 4747 and 4825 OA, etc. New DX season on the way (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PT-2 + Palomar P-408 Quantum Phaser Unit; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED 6025 4700, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta noted at 0930+ carrier on, no signal several mornings, 1003 Latin pops with om dj, good signal 21 July (Robert Wilkner, NRD 535D - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro modified, Pompano Beach, South Florida U S, HCDX via DXLD) 5952.39, Pio XII, Siglo Veinte, om yl with good signal 1100 to 1110, 22 July; 1050 to 1100 yl and om en español, good synchro lock on R8 and NRD 535D; on 18 July, 1045 cochannel murdering the signal (Robert Wilkner, NRD 535D - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro modified, Pompano Beach, South Florida U S, HCDX via DXLD) 5955 [sic], 24/07 0230, Emisoras Pio XII - Encerramento da transmissão, tendo ao fundo a música "Colonel Bogey March" (aquela famosa música assoviada da "Ponte do rio que cai") 73 a todos! (Fabricio Andrade Silva, PP5002SWL, Tubarão - SC Brazil, Sony ICF sw 7600 GR, Antena Loop Blindada, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Interesting to know the title of ``Bridge on the River Kwai`` in Portuguese, so it rhymes, altho cai means ``falls`` (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6155, R. Fides? See UNIDENTIFIED ** BOTSWANA. OIG INSPECTS THE IBB BOTSWANA RELAY STATION AND DETERMINES THAT IT IS "WELL RUN." Posted: 21 Jul 2011 Twitter, 20 July 2011, State OIG @StateOIG: "OIG posts @StateOIG @BBGgov Inspection of International Broadcasting Bureau Botswana Transmitting Station." US Department of State and Broadcasting Board of Governors Office of Inspector General, June 2011 (pdf), http://oig.state.gov/documents/organization/169045.pdf "The Botswana Transmitting Station (BTS) is well run. The station manager has improved station operations and cut costs. He has renovated and repaired station facilities, and implemented energy- saving initiatives to offset increased energy costs." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) This MW + SW relay station is an important facility for USIB, transmitting to a large audience in Zimbabwe, and to still-large shortwave audiences through Africa (Kim Andfrew Elliott, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 4815, 18.7 2327, R Dif. Londrina med körsång. Var först inne på att det var Equadorianen med tanke på det formatet, men annonseringar på PP runt kl 0000 avgjorde saken. Q2. HR 4815, 18.07 2327, R Dif. Londrina with choral singing. At first I thought it was Ecuadorian station due to the format, but the advertisements in Portuguese at around 0000 settled it. Q2 (Hans Östnell, Biri, Norway, SW Bulletin July 24, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Recordando a Rádio Relógio Enviado em 18 de Julho de 2011 Publicado por Romais MilagreNaoRepete - MilagreNaoRepete [caption] Os entusiastas das ondas curtas certamente lembram da Rádio Relógio Federal, do Rio de Janeiro (RJ), transmitindo na freqüência de 4905 kHz, na faixa de 62 metros. A estação foi descontinuada na década de 1990 e vendida para uma seita religiosa. Entretanto, o sinal característico, os anúncios comerciais e o tradicional “Você Sabia?” jamais sairá de nossas mentes. É por isso que indicamos o documentário do diretor Leonardo Souza, intitulado “O minuto é um milagre que não se repete”. Veja o vídeo aqui e boas lembranças! http://www.curtadoc.tv/curta/index.php?id=597 (Célio Romais blog via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4915 Brazilian blaring in 0922-0940, beautiful signal, best in band, OM announcements interspersed with guitar+xylo music (cranked up and down by announcer). Hymnlike selections next and at 0932, horn version of "What A Friend We Have in Jesus" (like the old interval signal for, what was it, Trans World Radio?) Stayed with it but station refused to ID! Dunno if Macapá or Daqui? (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PT-2 + Palomar P-408 Quantum Phaser Unit; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. A Rádio Guarujá Paulista, de Guarujá (SP), pretende voltar a retransmitir em ondas curtas dentro em breve. A emissora pretende reativar a freqüência de 5045 kHz, conforme informações de seu diretor, jornalista Orivaldo Rampazo. (Sintonizando Ondas Curtas, Célio Romais blog http://romais.jor.br/blog/ July 27 via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) That will conflict with R. Cultura do Pará on 5045, making another Brazilian SW frequency with two or more stations (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5970, Radio Itatiaia, Belo Horizonte, channel clear at 0900 when noted with recorded ad string in progress and then live announcer at 0905 in Portuguese, "Bom dia! Transmite Rádio Itatiaia . . .com a música que você ama!" Long live announcement by OM in Portuguese. Good opening to Brazil 7/21, also noting presumed Rádio Congonhas at 0915 with mellow orchestrals (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PT-2 + Palomar P-408 Quantum Phaser Unit; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. ALGUEM SABE o endereço da RADIO SENADO? Hoje sintonizei de manhã na freq. 5990 kHz 49m, e gostaria me mandar um informe de recepção, mas não achei o endereço. Quero mandar por carta; é melhor por email, nem tenho assim um formulário exemplo. Obrigado a todos (J. C. do Limão, July 24, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Caro, Segue: Via N2 - Anexo II - Bloco B - Térreo Senado Federal Brasília DF CEP 70.165-900 email: radio @ senado. gov.br Eu mandei por carta, recebi QSL, material impresso sobre o Senado e uma carta simpática. Não sei se eles respondem QSL por email, devem responder. 73's (Arthur Antonio Raimundo, Goiânia GO Brasil, ibid.) Caro J.C, Não encontrei o endereço físico da Rádio Senado no site da emissora. De toda forma, já recebi QSLs de lá confirmando escuta em 5990 kHz; quem assinou foi a Srta. Marcela Diniz, Coordenadora da rádio em OC. Acredito que se escrever para ela no e-mail ondascurtas @ senado.gov.br terá uma resposta. Só não deixe de colocar seu endereço para correspondências. Eu enviei na época um informe eletrónicamente e tive sucesso da mesma forma. Caso faça questão de enviar por carta, então tente remeter ao Senado Federal / Rádio Senado. A Rádio Senado seria administrada de forma independente da Empresa Brasil de Comunicação - EBC? realmente não sei. O cartão deles é simples, mas foi o primeiro que recebi desde que comecei a praticar o hobby, motivo pelo qual tenho muito carinho. 73, (Rodrigo de Araujo, SWARL PY4004SWL, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil, ibid.) BRASIL, 5990, Rádio Senado, Brasília, 2150-2203*, 19-07, music, male and female, comments, Portuguese, "6 y 52". 34433. Also 2130-2200*. 21-07, male, comments: "Rádio Senado, Senado Federal, female, music. At 2159: "Rádio Senado, Brasília, ondas curtas 5990 kHz, faixa de 49 metros, finaliza as suas transmissões, voltaremos manhã às 7 horas". At 2200: "Está no ar a Voz do Brasil, a sua voz" and a few minutes later close down. 34433 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Lugo, Cantabrian Sea coast, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 6079.97, 0046-0108, R. Marumby, Curitiba, 21/07, Portuguese, OM/YL religious talk, slow songs, tentative ID and frequency ann at 0059'16 - fair and even better with local noise, // http://radioevangelismo.com/radionline.htm with 45 seconds delay (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Drake R8A and 30 meters long wire, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 6090, 0109-0116, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo, 21/07, Portuguese, OM live reportage about Paraguay-Venezuela game of Copa América - poor-weak under Caribbean Beacon + slight het, also weak carrier on 11925.23 [q.v.] at the same time (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint- Petersburg, Russia, Drake R8A and 30 meters long wire, HCDX via DXLD) 6089.95, Radio Bandeirantes, 0115-0130, July 28, audible with Anguilla off the air. Futebol coverage. Jingles. Sound effects. Weak. Poor in noisy conditions. // 9645.38 - fair to good. // 11925.22 - threshold signal. Anguilla 6090 noted off the air the past several days (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BRAZIL. 9819.82, 2032-2043, R. 9 de Julho, São Paulo, 20/07, Portuguese, OM cathedral sermon with short fragments of choral singing, 2040'05 religious choral song - fair-poor with local noise (very strong periodically) (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Drake R8A and 30 meters long wire, HCDX via DXLD) QSLs: Brasile: RADIO 9 DE JULHO, São Paulo 9820 kHz, E-mail senza dati con E-card allegata jpg in 7 giorni da radio @ radio9dejulho.com RP: 1$. QTH: Rua Manoel de Arzão 85 - São Paulo 02730-030. Inviato CD MP3. (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11925.2, 2050-2058, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo, 20/07, Portuguese, OM/YL talks, music - poor due to heterodyne with CNR1 and splashes from 11930 (ARS) (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Drake R8A and 30 meters long wire, HCDX via DXLD) A Rádio Bandeirantes, de São Paulo (SP), também tem valorizado bastante as ondas curtas. Suas três frequências sempre estão no ar 24 horas por dia. O que atrapalha a emissora, no entanto, são as interferências. A partir do final de tarde no Brasil, tanto 9645 quanto 11925 kHz recebem uma carga muito grande de interferência da Rádio Internacional da China. Em 26 de julho, o apresentador do programa Manhã Bandeirantes, Paulo Galvão, leu e-mail deste blogueiro abordando a importância das transmissões em ondas curtas (Sintonizando Ondas Curtas, Célio Romais blog http://romais.jor.br/blog/ July 27 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 15189.96, 2018-2042, R. Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, 16/07, Portuguese, OM talks, Brazilian songs - fair with local noise (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Drake R8A and 30 meters long wire, HCDX via DXLD) 15190, Rádio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, 1934-2100, 17-07, soccer, match between Brazil and Paraguay, Copa América, identification: "Rádio Inconfidência, 880 AM, a rádio do futebol". 24322. Also 2112-2140, 22-07, male: "6 e 17, A Hora do Fazendeiro, 75 anos no ar", "Integração de Estado Mineiros, Jornal Integração, de segunda a sábado às 7 da manhã", "Inconfidência apresentando A Hora do Fazendeiro, com Cristiano Batista", "Previsão do tempo". 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Lugo, Cantabrian Sea coast, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Uma emissora que tem valorizado as ondas curtas nos últimos tempos é a Rádio Inconfidência, de Belo Horizonte (MG). Sua freqüência de 15190 kHz, na faixa de 19 metros, tem sido captada, com bom sinal, durante boa parte do dia, em todo o Brasil (Sintonizando Ondas Curtas, Célio Romais blog http://romais.jor.br/blog/ July 27 via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) QSL: RÁDIO INCONFIDÊNCIA, Belo Horizonte, 15190v kHz, Cartolina QSL in 53 giorni. RP: 1$. QTH: Av. Raja Gabaglia 1666 - Luxemburgo - Belo Horizonte - Minas Gerais 30441-194. V/s: Marcus Starling - Diretor Tecnico. Inviato CD MP3 (arrivato rotto). (1700th stazione BC confermata) QSLs AM-FM (1983-2011) Emittenti di Radiodiffusione EUROPA: 674 AFRICA: 116 ASIA: 193 AMERICA: 122 OCEANIA: 32 CLANDESTINE: 65 PIRATA: 336 FM ITALIA: 171 ---------- --- TOTALE: 1709 (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Identificação emissoras IPDA --- Caros, Com certeza a maioria sofre quando tem de identificar emissoras ligadas à IPDA. Segue a lista dessas emissoras: http://www.ipda.com.br/nova/frequencia/index.html Para informação e atualização das listas, seguem as emissoras da IPDA em SW: Vitória: Rádio Capixaba - OT 4935 kHz Curitiba: Super Deus É Amor - OC 25 MT 11765 kHz Curitiba: Super Deus É Amor - OC 31 MT 9565 kHz Curitiba: Super Deus É Amor - OC 49 MT 6060 kHz RJ: Rádio Capital - OC 49 MT 6070 KHz RJ: Rádio Novo Milênio - OC 49 MT 6030 KHz RJ: Rádio Novo Milênio - OC 25 MT 11805 KHz São Paulo: Rádio 880 - OC 31 MT 9585 kHz São Paulo: Rádio 880 - OC 49 MT 6120 kHz 73's (Arthur Antonio Raimundo, Goiânia GO Brasil, July 23, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Arthur, Note que a fonte informativa das denominações das emissoras divulgadas pela IPDA é o nome de registro destas, e não o nome de fantasia. É comum as emissoras terem estes dois registros diferenciados. Exemplo (fictício): Nome de registro: Associação de Radio e TV Planalto; nome de fantasia (o que é divulgado no ar): Radio Brasil Novo. Podem coincidir as duas informações, mas a maioria não. As freqüências não mudam. Por isso as discrepâncias nos nomes de várias emissoras na tabela no anexo. Mas foi um bom achado esse seu. Ouvimos sinais da IPDA e não sabemos a sua procedência. Se não é de todo, mas a tabela serve de um bom referencial. 73, (Rudolf Grimm, PY2-81502 SWL GG66rg, São Bernardo, SP, BRASIL http://dxways-br.blogspot.com DX Clube do Brasil http://www.ondascurtas.com ibid.) Rudolf, É verdade. Não citei esse fato porque por tratar-se da programação monotemática da IPDA, basta ouvir a voz de Davi Miranda, checar a frequência com o local e pronto... Essa informação consta do próprio site da Igreja. Verifiquei que faltam algumas emissoras, como a Caraíba AM 930 kHz, de Aparecida de Goiânia (GO). Sugiro a quem tiver registros de outras emissoras da IPDA que não constem da lista, me informarem. Pelo menos para mim vai ter muita utilidade. 73's (Arthur Antonio Raimundo, Goiânia GO Brasil, ibid.) Arthur, Está corretíssimo de sua parte. Eu ouço a IPDA em várias emissoras de fora e qualquer emissora que a IPDA ou outras redes chegam, sempre despertam à atenção. 73, (Rudolf Grimm, ibid.) ** CAMBODIA [and non]. CAMBODIAN PRIME MINISTER CRITICIZES VOA, RADIO FREE ASIA http://www.voanews.com/khmer-english/news/Cambodian-Prime-Minister-Criticizes-VOA-Radio-Free-Asia-126033973.html http://www.newsday.com/news/cambodian-pm-denounces-us-funded-radio-as-unfair-1.3044494 http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/other/2011/07/24/310867/Cambodian-PM.htm Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday sharply criticized Voice of America and Radio Free Asia, saying their news reports are "very inferior." He accused the two broadcasters, both funded by the U.S. government under the Broadcasting Board of Governors, of distorting information, or containing "zero" information. The prime minister made the comments in response to a question by a VOA Khmer Service journalist at a news conference in Cambodia. The question was about the Khmer Rouge tribunal, and Mr. Hun Sen said it was not among the topics to be covered by the news conference, which followed a meeting of his cabinet and was chiefly dominated by questions about Cambodia's border dispute with Thailand. Mr. Hun Sen praised Radio France International and offered to hire Cambodian staff at VOA and RFA to work at Cambodian news stations. VOA responded to the prime minister's comments by saying, "VOA journalists around the world, including those covering developments in Cambodia, adhere to the highest journalistic standards of accuracy and objectivity, standards mandated by U.S. law." The Cambodian government has opposed increasing the number of cases heard by the Khmer Rouge tribunal, a joint Cambodia and international court that is trying leaders of the Khmer Rouge, which ruled the country in the late 1970s. More than a million people died under the Khmer Rouge - many of them starved or worked to death, and others executed. One person has been convicted by the tribunal and four others are being prosecuted. The government says adding more cases could be harmful to national stability (via Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DXLD) VOA and RFA broadcast via domestic FM radio stations in Cambodia. RFI has its own full-time FM transmitter in Phnom Penh (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) So our relays endangered? (gh) ** CANADA [and non]. 6030, Calgary - CFVP relaying CKMX (AM 1060). Monday (UT) with no R. Martí, but with strong Cuban jamming being present and even noted by Glenn two hours later, so they just did not bother to turn it off at all; also QRM from Radio Oromiya (Ethiopia) at their *0322. July 25 from 0312 to 0348; radio western (The Lone Ranger) till 0335; ID, ads and C&W songs; jamming made for poor reception; much better last Monday of course without the jamming (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: 6030, UT Monday July 25 at 0548, DentroCuban pulse jamming is still going despite R. Martí silent period, but not being wall-of-noise, another broadcaster is audible underneath. It and jam fade independently, so I can tell the station is in an English adstring, with that faux-sense of urgency we also hear on CFRX 6070, as if vital info were being conveyed, so out-of-place on SW. Must be 100-watt CFVP Calgary here; 0551 mentions rodeo, I think. Also has splash from 6020- CRI via Sackville. Canadians should protect their private low-power stations much better from ACI and CCI (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. The two proposed relayers of CKVR-DT are intended to insure “simsub” protection of CKVR programs in the Hamilton/St. Catharines / Niagara Falls area. Canadian TV stations are allowed to demand “simsubbing” in areas where their over-the-air signal reaches. This is the practice of requiring cable & satellite services to replace the signal of a U.S. station with that of a Canadian station if both stations are airing the same program at the same time. It greatly increases viewership of the Canadian station, and as a result, greatly increases advertising revenue. Being licensed to – and having its transmitter located in – Barrie, well north of Toronto, CKVR's signal doesn't reach the populous “Golden Horseshoe” area south of Toronto. Thus, cable/satellite operators are not required to simsub the CKVR signal for viewers in these areas. Adding the two transmitters will change this situation. It may be worth noting that simsubbing is rather unpopular among viewers. The exotic special commercials aired during the Super Bowl are generally not seen in Canada – as they're simsubbed with “regular” commercials aired by the Canadian station carrying the game. Switching errors and last-minute schedule changes also irk viewers (Doug Smith, July WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD) ** CANADA. The news from CANADA is all about brand extensions: Rogers Media, owner of Toronto's CITY-TV (Channel 57) and all-news CFTR (680), will launch a new "CityNews" TV channel in October, using resources from both of its broadcast partners. Over at competitor CTV, the "A" branding is finally disappearing from the company's secondary TV network, which includes outlets in Barrie (CKVR-TV), London (CFPL-TV) and Windsor/Wingham (CHWI-TV). CTV says it will relaunch "A" this fall as "CTV2," retaining local news in each of its markets and upgrading its signals to high- definition. CTV says it's also applying to the CRTC to add a new over- the-air relay of CKVR's signal to serve viewers in Toronto and Hamilton, though we haven't seen any filings yet (Scott Fybush, NY, Northeast [sic] Radio [sic] Watch June 6 via DXLD) ** CANADA. CBC/RADIO-CANADA BUNGLES TRANSITION TO DIGITAL OVER-THE-AIR TV In a little more than a month, television in Canada’s biggest cities will be changing drastically. As you’ve heard in all those public service announcements, your service may be affected if you use an antenna to watch TV. Television is most of urban Canada will be switching from analog service to digital service. It will happen as late as Aug. 31, but some stations have stated they are switching earlier. CFKM in Trois-Rivières, for example, has already turned off analog service in favour of digital. Still others have been running the digital TV services alongside their analog service for some time. In short, if you’ve got an older tube TV or a flat-screen TV with only an analog tuner, you’ll need a converter box to keep getting a signal. This isn’t your grandma’s antenna TV — the picture quality for digital antenna TV is simply stunning compared with any kind of analog service. It’s technically superior to any digital signal you get from cable or satellite providers. (To avoid clogging up this post with too much technical stuff, please see more on the DTV transition on the discussion boards at Digital Home Canada.) http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=41102 Although Canada’s private broadcasters are going ahead full-bore with the DTV transition, CBC/Radio-Canada’s version of the DTV switch-over can only be described as a disaster. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/info_sht/bdt14.htm Here are the cities were the CRTC has mandated DTV transition for Aug. 31, 2011: Victoria, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Lethbridge, Lloydminster, Regina, Saskatoon, Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, Windsor, London, Kitchener, Toronto/Hamilton/Barrie, Ottawa/Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec, Saguenay, Sherbrooke, Rivière-du-Loup, Rouyn/Val-d’Or, Fredericton, Saint John, Moncton, Charlottetown, Halifax and St. John’s. But CBC/Radio-Canada is only doing a DTV transition for stations where it makes original programming — a list that excludes repeater stations, so it is much shorter than the CRTC’s list. This means huge swaths of Quebec and New Brunswick (including Quebec, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Trois-Rivières, Moncton) will lose CBC service and huge swathes of Canada outside Quebec (including Calgary, Windsor, Fredericton, Saint John, Halifax, Charlottetown and St. John’s) will lose Radio-Canada service. In the worst cases, in places such as London and Saskatoon, people will lose both English and French television altogether. Management at CBC/Radio-Canada has been repeating a mantra about Canadians migrating away from tradition television toward online / mobile technologies and that no one uses antenna television anyway. They constantly cite a meaningless statistic, that only 8% of Canadians use antenna television, in hopes that repeating a lie will somehow make it true. You see, the 8% statistic only represents the number of Canadians who use OTA exclusively as a means of capturing TV signals. If you use cable or satellite in your family room but use antenna TV in the kitchen and in your bedroom, you’re not being counted as an antenna TV viewer. And frankly, even if that statistic is true, 8% of 34 million Canadians is still almost 3 million people. That’s a huge chunk of the Canadian population who are paying taxes that subsidize CBC services but will be soon unable to watch it. Another curious part of the CBC/Radio-Canada’s transmission strategy is that they are maintaining a huge analog TV broadcast network, reaching sparsely populated, far-flung parts of Canada where satellite services are arguably more efficient to deliver service. Meanwhile, they are abandoning antenna TV in some of Canada’s densest areas. That dichotomy doesn’t make sense. More things to consider: Canadians might not have embraced analog antenna television given its relatively poor picture quality. That doesn’t mean we will do the same with over-the-air DTV, which is superior to analog OTA in almost every way. Not all Canadians are able to afford a subscription to television services via cable or satellite. CBC/Radio-Canada has been pushing Canada’s cable and satellite systems to offer a low-cost “skinny local” service — but cheap is not free. CBC/Radio-Canada has been pushing their online/mobile services, yet many parts of Canada are still without reliable high-speed Internet. And in those places that do have good high-speed Internet, most major service providers are generally a lot for bandwidth. Some of Canada’s smallest broadcasters are doing their all to convert to DTV. Consider eastern Quebec, where the transition is not mandatory, yet local networks are switching to DTV anyway. CBC/Radio-Canada, like every other broadcaster in the country, knew years ahead of time the DTV transition was coming. Perhaps it was unable to budget the money required to convert its transmitters as per CRTC rules, so it chose to turn off a number of urban transmitters instead. Perhaps it shifted its DTV strategy mid-stream, choosing deliberately to eliminate antenna TV service to so many parts of the country. There are signs CBC/Radio-Canada has suddenly realized Canadians won’t just accept the Mother Corp.’s DTV transition plan without asking questions and pushing back. After the CRTC turned down CBC’s application to turn off their transmitter serving Saint John and Fredericton, to be replaced with service only to Fredericton, CBC came back with a plan to retain analog service to Saint John, even after the mandatory transition deadline. There are rumours surfacing about the same sort of thing happening elsewhere. All this reeks of poor planning and poor management at CBC/Radio- Canada. Not only must the corporation correct the omissions from its DTV transition plan by implementing DTV service in all urban areas as mandated by the CRTC, it also must be taken to task for bungling the transition in the first place (Ricky Leong, Yellow Journalist blog July 15, 2011 via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) Viz.: It appears the CBC filed on the 14th for authority to maintain *analog* transmitters in certain mandatory markets, where the CRTC had indicated digital conversion would be required. The transmitters in question: - CBJET (58) Saguenay, Quebec (wishes to remain on channel 58 but reduce ERP from 12,000 watts to 595 watts) - CBEFT (54) Windsor, Ontario (wishes to move to channel 35 and reduce power from 144 kilowatts to 36) - CBLN-TV (40) London, Ontario (wishes to move to channel 23 and reduce power from 1,678 kilowatts to 24) Again, these transmitters wish to remain *analog*, even though they're in mandatory markets. These are the ones that appeared on notice today, I can't be sure we won't be seeing more. Whether the CRTC will go for it is yet to be determined; and they don't have a whole lot of time to think about it (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, July 20, WTFDA via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) CBC/SRC change of mind! Well it looks like CBC/SRC have listened to the many complaints from the public about closing down second language transmitters, in mandatory markets at least. They are asking the CRTC to let them operate analog transmitters in those markets. Here's the example of Quebec City: July 21, 2011 --- Appended is an application by CBC/Radio-Canada to amend the licence of television programming undertaking CBMT Montreal in order to change the technical parameters of its transmitter CBVE-TV in Quebec City. This technical amendment is being submitted subsequent to the Corporation`s request filed on July 14, 2011, for authority to maintain certain analogue transmitters in mandatory markets. The application reflects a change of channel from 5 to 11, an increase in average effective radiated power from 13,850 watts to 33,000 watts (maximum effective radiated power from 13,850 to 84,000 watts), and an increase in EHAAT from 140.2 to 500.1 metres. It is proposed that the parameters for CBVE-TV will be modified from the existing authorized parameters by changing the channel, increasing the ERP, increasing the EHAAT and relocating to a different site. CBVE-TV will operate at the existing CBVT?s broadcasting site at Mont B?lair, and will use the existing transmitting facilities of CBVT. At the DTV conversion date, CBVT will operate on channel 12 which is its existing transition period digital channel. ------------------------------------- There is also a request for Trois-Rivières, CBC would move from 28 to 13. In the Saguenay area, they would keep channel 58 but at a fraction of the power they're using now. Another example is the SRC station in Windsor ON, CBEFT that they wanna keep operating. Don't have the details for this one yet though. I'm glad they came to their senses, although I don't understand why they don't use sub-channels for those markets. 73, (Charles Gauthier, Brossard, QC, July 22, WTFDA via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) I just sent them an e-mail asking exactly that (using CBET-DT as an example). wrh (Bill Hepburn, Grimsby Ont., ibid.) My rather vague understanding of the matter is that they believe that a DTV subchannel should be licensed as a completely separate "station" or "transmitter" (which are *not* the same thing in the Canadian regulatory scheme...right, Doug?) and that they're not ready to start doing that yet. There's certainly no technical reason why they couldn't, though, and it seems to me it would be a very cost-efficient way to retain alternate-language service in a lot of markets that stand to lose it right now. s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, ibid.) I believe Scott's understanding is correct, that the CRTC believes a subchannel is a separate "station" or "transmitter" and would require a separate licence. I do have to wonder why we haven't seen that happen yet. The CRTC themselves have suggested that "doubling up" -- transmitting two different stations as separate subchannels on the same transmitter -- might be a solution to the expense of the digital conversion. And certainly it would make sense for many licencees -- especially the CBC -- who may have two analog transmitters with very similar coverage. The situation would be a lot thornier if we were talking about separately-owned stations sharing a transmitter (something the FCC is still working on here in the States). - Absolutely, there's no technical bar, beyond the possibly reduced picture quality for HD broadcasts. - My understanding is that a Canadian "station" can have one *or more* "transmitters". For example, the often-DXed Global channel 2 in Manitoba is NOT a TV station. It's a *transmitter* of CKND-TV Winnipeg (the other "transmitter" of station CKND-TV being on channel 9 just outside Winnipeg) Actually, this is a place where U.S. practice has recently caught up with the Canadians. South of the border, we call them "Digital Replacement Translators" or "Distributed Transmission Systems" (depending on whether the additional transmitters operate on the same frequency or a different frequency). An example might be WUNC-TV in North Carolina, which has three transmitters: channel 25 with 1,000,000 watts at Chapel Hill; channel 30 with 500 watts at Raleigh; and channel 46 with 600 watts at Oxford. They have in the last couple of days placed on file applications to remain in analog in: ON Kitchener (ch. 29, moving from 56 & reducing power to 60 kw) ON London (ch. 23, moving from 40 & reducing power to 24 kw) ON Windsor (ch. 35, moving from 54 & reducing power to 36 kw) QC Chicoutimi (ch. 58, reducing power to 595 watts, making it a LPRT not subject to mandatory evacuation of a channel above 51) QC Quebec (ch. 11, taking over French-language station CBVT's transmitter but reducing power to 84 kw. CBVT is going digital on 12.) QC Trois-Riv. (ch. 13, taking over French-language station CKTM's transmitter but reducing power to 90kw. CKTM is going digital on CBC English's ch. 28. The English station was to go digital on ch. 40.) Kitchener & London are majority-language stations (English in an English-speaking province). The rest are minority-language (French in Ontario, or English in Quebec). (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) ** CANADA. CKNDTV-2 ch 2 Canada, religious programming Paid religious programming (Global via CKNDTV-2) as confirmed on peak signal by VCR tuner's RDS-like data) on ch2 at 0931 CDT with "crossroads.ca" url given during a DVD offer then a male presenter seated with an email address in an on-screen bug LLC. Radio-Canada en FF on unid 2 with lifestyle show in cooking segment, letterboxed content fighting with CKNDTV-2 Minnedosa MB. Logged at 0943 CDT. – (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, July 27, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CANADA. Sporadic E analog video on channel 2 begins to show before 1530 UT July 27; antenna south and I wait for Spanish to develop, but at 1537 it`s clearly English with WorldVision infomercial, sponsor-a- child, so rotate to north, and signal is much stronger. Soon obviously Canadian-orientated per mentions, website worldvision.ca and phone 1- 800-307-8183. Checking zap2it program listings, not Regina, but fits for CKND in Manitoba, a full hour of World Vision at 10-11 am CDT. By 1547, also weaker signals up to channel 5; the rest to be in my next report. The sporadic-E TVDX opening from Manitoba to Alberta which was just starting in my last report continued on July 27, UT: 1550 on 3, kidvid in English, animated, voices with Canadian accents. Zap2it schedules show CBC (only) with kidvid on weekdays until local noon. I never could match listed program titles or character names, however. One of two in southern Saskatchewan. 1558 on 5, kidvid // 3 so CBC 1600 on 3, more animated kidvid in English (so not CBWFT Winnipeg) 1606 on 2, `Hospital for Sick Kids` show as listed for CKND2 Manitoba 1700 on 4, celebrity gossip show, captioned BERGERON --- it`s `The View` from the NW, i.e. CTV net, i.e. CFCN Calgary AB, for which time fits, not CTV in Manitoba, CKYB. 1723 on 6, soap opera? Close-ups of actors 1732 on 4, CBC kidvid; offset plus or minus due to narrow beat bars. There are two CBC in Sask, offset plus and minus 1744 on 6, CTV program promo for a Dance show. There are two in Sask. 1756 on 3, French audio mixing with CCI; likely CBWFT but there are others in Manitoba, Saskatchewan 1800 on 2, `The Talk`, CBS`s answer to ABC`s `The View`; 1824 ad/PSA for Parks Canada in Manitoba. Again CKND2 as scheduled. Almost // to KWTV-39 OKC; 1842 still `The Talk` 1825, still weak CCI up to channel 6, peaking NNW 1832 on 4, CBC news 1846 on 2, Global, PSA on big switch to digital August 31; consult http://shaw.ca/dtv Likely CKND2 again rather than CICT in AB. None of these signals were very strong, but since MUF kept reaching channel 6, I started checking FM and got one good catch on 88.1; see separate entry 1935, MUF has dropped to ch 3, and by 1940 below channel 2 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Sporadic E TVDX had been incoming a few hours from prairie provinces occasionally up to channel 6, so altho never very strong, tried FM`s lowest channel 88.1, clear here except for ACI from YFR translator on 88.3, and: 1912 UT, fade-in bits of talk neither in English nor French! But first English word coming thru was a troubling one, heroin; then mentioned Public Safety Commission, Canada Border Services Agency, SUVs; 1916 Jimmy`s Cultural Camp, jimmyscamp.com [but could not find it nor .ca nor spelling variants]; 1917 played some rustic dance music, otherwise hard to describe, [but like the intro music autolaunching on website]; 1920 mentioned La Ronge, so now I know what it is. 88.1 in Sask is CJLR-FM-3 in Prince Albert; FM Atlas says only 250 watts! Then country music in English. Soon found website http://www.mbcradio.com/index3.html and also live stream http://tunein.com/tuner/?StationId=7393& which matched a few seconds apart. MBC is Missinipi Broadcasting Corp. Website also has map of Sask and separate list of frequencies by town, which do not all match. Map has Prince Albert on 88.1, but not the list, outdated? Map even shows a ``99.8`` in Uranium City, which if true would be a standout DX catch from the far north. But the community list has MBC there on 101.1. FM Atlas does not have any MBC frequency in that town. Nor does W9WI.com, where we see that the base station of MBC in La Ronge on 89.9, CJLR itself, is only 216 watts. MBC must really be into lots of low-power transmitters, all over the province except the south where only in Saskatoon and Regina. Map does not show one in Yorkton, but community list and streamer at top of homepage do, on 92.9. Clicking on Languages at mbcradio.com gets to two separate pages; Does this mean the rest of the schedule of MBC is fully in English? Despite all the stuff on the website there is no complete program schedule grid (that I can find). ``ACHIMOWIN PROGRAM 1 to 3 p.m. Weekdays on MBC The "Achimowin" program is the first level of information services to the Cree listeners of northern & central Saskatchewan. It covers national, regional, and local news; in-depth discussions; phone-in- shows; remote broadcasts; sports; weather; and special programs on the environment, holistic healing, education, etc. The "Achimowin" program reflects what the community is thinking, saying and feeling. It covers issues that are totally relevant to northern people. This is all done in the context of serving the Cree speaking people of northern Saskatchewan. The Achimowin Show has been a major part of MBC broadcasts since 1984. It should be noted that the Achimowin Show compliments Cree language retention endeavors that are undertaken by educational institutions/bands/agencies. It goes as far as laying new ground in terms of "inventing" new & contemporary terminology! Contact: Harry Opikokew at harry@mbcradio.com or Abel Charles at abel@mbcradio.com Listen Monday to Friday from 1:00 to 3:00 for the Missinipi Achimowin Program!`` And: ``DENE HONI PROGRAM 2 to 3 p.m. weekdays broadcasting live to 9 Saskatchewan Dene Communities 3 to 4 p.m. weekdays on the full MBC Radio Network The Dene Honi program focuses on happenings in and around the Dene communities of northern Saskatchewan. We provide timely information and tell stories in the Dene language covering topics as diverse as current affairs, political issues, past stories, the history of politics, and Dene peoples' traditions & customs. The Honi program which has been a part of the airwaves at MBC since 1985 features international, national and local news, weather (long term and current), the people of the North that we interview, native, non-native country music, call-in Shows, elders' views and opinions, etc. The importance of this Dene Honi program is to keep our traditions and culture alive for the future generations and to keep our listeners up to date of what is happening around them in their very own language. Contact Kevin Fontaine at kevin@mbcradio.com Listen for the Dene Honi 2pm to 4pm Monday to Friday on MBC !`` Since I was listening between 1 and 2 pm CST, it must have been the Cree ACHIMOWIN PROGRAM. Opening lasted a little longer: at 1924, mentioned several events August 8-12; 88.1 fading now, so I listen a bit longer to the webstream: 1933 brief English ID mentioning one of their dozens of frequencies, 92.7 somewhere. 1934, Gold Eagle Casino ad with SFX of slot machines(?); another GEC ad came over a few minutes later. OK: this is not a non-commercial band in Canada. Before 88.1 faded, I tried the other Prince Albert FM frequencies in FM Atlas, but nothing made it: 90.1 and 92.5 collide with OK stations, nor 99.1, 101.5. Seems the MUF barely entered the FM band. I taped some of it off 88.1, and was prepared to ask the Real DXers if they could ID the language, but unfortunately that is not necessary. Clip of the DX here anyway: http://www.w4uvh.net/CJLR3.rm It`s 1.1 MB, 7+ minutes combining 4 clips at fade-ins; ID as MBC and mentioning Lac La Ronge is at 2:12. I wanted to sign their guest book that I had picked up MBC direct thru the ionosphere way off in OK, but it took a long time to load. Finally used max 255 characters to say: ``Enjoyed listening to CJLR-3 88.1 in Prince Albert. You may find this hard to believe but I heard it in Enid, Oklahoma, direct thru the sporadic-E layer of the ionosphere, 1965 km away during an opening from 1:12 to 1:25 pm July 27 during the Cree show.`` Clicked SEND tho and nothing happened. Sure enough it doesn`t show when you go back and look at the entries, last one in April. So I try sending it once more. Listed at http://www.w9wi.com/fmchannels/201.html --- Prince Albert, SK CJLR-FM-3 0.249/0.249 21.00/21.00 53-11-40.00N 105- 46-44.00W CA-OP CJLR (MBC aboriginal) which means only 249 watts H&V (ERP or not?) at 21 meters above average terrain. Looking thru the FM Atlas listings, it appears that almost all entries have powers rounded off so they end in -0! Geo coordinates make the distance to Enid 1965 km = 1220 statute miles. Of course, the propagation path was somewhat longer, going up to the E-layer and back; the midpoint over central South Dakota. Surface miles per watt = 4.90 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. 6165, 1923-1946, R. N'Djamena, 20/07, French, news program with YL talk, then OM talks with two short musical pauses - very strong signal, but not so good audio quality due to bad modulation (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Drake R8A and 30 meters long wire, HCDX via DXLD) Radio Nationale Chadienne, Ndjamena transmitter site, 6165 kHz. 0430 UT July 23, 33333, Interval signal after Radio Netherlands signed off at 0427, then national anthem followed by man with talk in French. African style drum and singing music at 0434. Weak but audible, S-4 (Been trying to ID this one for a couple of weeks, finally heard the national anthem tonight). (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwire - 40 feet high, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake July 22; before 1200: 7990, JBA at 1142 in absence of bonker 11500, poor at 1153 12600, very poor at 1154 Only weak signals from anywhere propagating this early above 12 MHz Before 1300: 11500, fair at 1242 12600, fair at 1242 13130, poor at 1239; none higher yet 15900, JBA at 1245 15785, good at 1246, 1253-1300*. Current Aoki has nothing on 15785 to be targeted, but Sound of Hope has been on numerous frequencies above and below 15.8 MHz Before 1400: 9920, poor at 1355 barely detecting // 15900 while mixing with another signal, Chinese, with vocal music. Uplooked later, to my surprise, the victim is KNLS Alaska during this hour. I must not be 100% positive Firedrake was really here. See also GUAM [and non] 9910 11500, fair at 1352; none heard in the 10`s for a couple weeks 12600, very good with flutter after pause 15795, poor at 1311; this one is vs All India Radio in Chinese until 1315, usually with CNR1 jamming at least; 15785 FD before 1300 was much stronger 15900, very good with flutter at 1350 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Multiple Full Band Sweeps for Firedrake July 22, 2011 between 1300-1400 GMT. Conditions good but not much heard- 11500, Fair 1327 Weak-Fair 1351 12600, Fair-Good 1328, Fair 1352 15565, Fair 1323 15900, Good 1325 and 1350 15970, Good 1325 JBA 1350 16100, Fair 1326 (S. Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake July 23: 11500, good at 1237 12980, fair at 1238 13130, very good at 1243 13920, fair-good at 1236; poor at 1258 14700, fair-good at 1244 14950, fair-good at 1244 15900, fair-good at 1244 CNR1 jamming (among many other usuals), July 23: 15330, poor at 1301. Blocking BBC Uzbek via Oman; standard remark about China interfering in internal affairs of other countries, etc. 15230, poor at 1301, CNR1 mixing with RHC. No target known to Aoki, EiBi, HFCC or me, but anyway, it`s Commies vs Commies! 13650, July 23 at 1240, CRI English via ALBANIA // 13790 via Wulumuchi, EAST TURKISTAN, but 13650 is mixed with something producing a rumbling SAH. In HFCC you would not find any collision, but you sure would in Aoki: V. of Korea on here for many hours, including this hour in Korean, to be followed at 1300 by --- Chinese! Commies vs Commies again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15760.0, 2011-07-23 1315, Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, (Sound of Hope), via Dushanbe, Tajikistan USA, Talk in Chinese, SIO 242. Buoni ascolti! (Roberto Rizzardi, SWL I/0216/GR, Porto S. Stefano (GR) Italy, Lat 42N43 - Long 11E12 - Locator grid JN52NK. Receivers: ICOM IC-R71E, Sangean ATS909 with 2x80kHz Murata filters in FM. Antennas: 15 meters outdoor random wire with RF System; Magnetic Longwire Balun; Loop Grahn ML-1-S with GS2 controller; Telescopic and 7 meters indoor long wire antenna Website: http://diarioradio.blogspot.com/ Skype: robybenjy, playdx yg via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. More and more frequency changes of Radio Free Asia Chinese 0300-0330 NF 15775 TIN 250 kW / 304 deg to EaAs, ex 21845, re-ex 21550 0330-0400 NF 15765 TIN 250 kW / 304 deg to EaAs, ex 21845, re-ex 21550 0400-0500 NF 15660 TIN 250 kW / 304 deg to EaAs, ex 21845, re-ex 21550 0500-0600 NF 15660 TIN 250 kW / 304 deg to EaAs, ex 21655, re-ex 21550 0600-0700 NF 15250 TIN 250 kW / 304 deg to EaAs, ex 21645, re-ex 21550 Tibetan 0100-0300 NF 7530 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg to CeAs, ex 9365 0600-0700 NF 17655 TIN 250 kW / 297 deg to CeAs, ex 21770, re-ex 21500 1000-1100 NF 13680 KWT 250 kW / 078 deg to CeAs, ex 13775, re-ex 15330, re-re 17840 1000-1100 NF 17495 TIN 250 kW / 295 deg to CeAs, ex 21530 1100-1200 NF 17495 DHA 250 kW / 075 deg to CeAs, ex 15670 1100-1200 NF 17675 KWT 250 kW / 078 deg to CeAs, ex 17850, re-ex 11640, re-re 17815 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, July 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More changes of RFA in Tibetan July 23 1200-1300 NF 13795 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg to CeAs, ex 19000, re-ex 13840, re-re 17545 1300-1400 NF 13795 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg to CeAs, ex 15230, re-ex 11520, re-re 12025 (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ex? 12025 still being jammed July 24, as below. Perhaps RFA has started making random changes to evade jamming, hard for us to keep up with too (gh, DXLD) Schwaecheln die Sonnenflecken mal wieder ? Die Amis nehmen wieder niedere Frequenzen in Beschlag, oder ist das nur ein Beschaeftigungsmanoever fuer die Chinesenjammer ? 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX July 25 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Firedrake July 24; before 1300: 10300, good at 1235. Had not heard this one since July 9, altho S. Handler had it on July 10. 11500, good at 1235 12900, good at 1240 14700, very good at 1242; none in the 13s 14950, good at 1242; none in the 15`s 16100, poor-fair at 1245 16980, very poor at 1245 After 1300: 16980, very poor at 1323 16100, JBA at 1324 15670, poor at 1304 mixed with CNR1 jamming; no TOH break here! 15565, poor at 1325 15545, very poor at 1325; unusual to have two at once, nearby 15565 14700, very good at 1327 13920, very good at 1328 12025, poor at 1313, mixed with CNR1 jamming, probably // 15670; very poor at 1328 11500, poor at 1328 10300, poor at 1329 See also CUBA [and non] Firedrake July 25: 11500, good at 1313 12900, very good at 1315 14700, JBA at 1319 15565, fair at 1323 None higher or lower heard in full scan from below 8 MHz to above 17. S. Handler also reports 12900 as a new frequency today, altho I also had it on July 7 and 24 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, July 25th Firedrake Log 1217-1359 10300, Fair 1252 11500, 1217 s/on Fair, 1253 Fair. 1353 Weak. 12900, Good 1318. New frequency for Firedrake. Not sure if they punched up the wrong freq or Sound of Hope has a new freq. Also 1354 Good 13920, Good 1256 14700, Fair 1256 Weak 1326 and 1342 14950, Strong None higher at 1257-1259 15285, Fair 1346. Fair. Not seen this freq reported since 2010. 15565, Good 1327 (S. Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Some Firedrake monitoring for July 26th, 2011 10300, Weak JBA 1125, 1142-Weak. Nothing lower either time. 11500, Good 1124, 1143, 1223, 1250 12900, Good 1127, 1144, 1223 and 1251 13130, Fair 1127, 1145, 1224 and 1252 13920, Strong 1225, 1253 14700, JBA 1146 JBA nothing higher. Good 1226. Fair 1255 14950, Good-Strong 1226, 1249 and 1255 15550, Fair 1256 15800, Fair 1228 and 1257. Nothing higher 16980, JBA 1257. Nothing higher (S. Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake, July 26: local noon-hour: 16980, very poor at 0455; no others found 19-12 MHz Before 1300: all checked were // and if unchecked still sounded //. 16100, just barely audible at 1251 15800, very poor at 1248; meanwhile only CNR1 on 15795 vs India 15550, fair at 1248 14950, very good at 1255 14700, poor at 1255 13920, good at 1254 13130, fair at 1254 12900, good at 1254 11500, good at 1257; none in the 10`s After 1300: 11500, poor at 1333; no 12`s except 12025 or 13`s at 1319 or later 12025, very poor at 1311 under CNR1 jamming which is // 11990, 12040. 12025 probably stayed on at hourtop as previously observed. The question is whether RFA Tibetan via Kuwait was really there. As of July 23, Ivo Ivanov had that on new 13795, frequency-hopping instead of 15230, 11520, 12025 previously. 14400, good at 1314 and 1333 14700, very poor at 1314, 1333 15285, poor at 1345 15445, good at 1314, well over weak Turkey 15450, but off at 1330. Same behaviour as previous appearances on 15430 tho not daily, presumably vs V. of Tibet via UAE as in Aoki, which however used to start rather than stop at 1330. VOT on 15445 today? Aoki dated July 26 at 0200 does not yet have FD or any target on 15445. 15525, fair at 1342; was not on at 1331 when checking the next two: 15545, poor at 1315; off at 1331 check 15565, good at 1315, off at 1331 check Firedrake July 27: Sixteen! at once in axion before 1300; is something extra-sensitive in the news currently? 7470, poor with flutter at 1242. Rarely heard here: I previously logged last October 8 and Feb 28 around same time. Target must still be RFA Tibetan via Mongolia per Aoki. Never in HFCC are RFA transmissions via that confidential country! Might upset neighbors. Being a `free` country already, Mongolian language itself would be off-topic on RFA. 11500, poor at 1249 // 7470; none in between 11990, fair at 1254, mixing with CNR1 jamming, // 11500. 11990 is vs VOA Chinese via Saipan, which is also on 12040 via Tinang, but only CNR1 jamming audible there, plus RHC, Commies vs Commies! 12270, poor at 1255 13130, very good at 1257 13830, fair at 1257 13920, very good at 1257 14700, very good at 1257 14950, poor at 1257 15545, poor at 1258 15970, very good at 1258 16100, very good at 1258 16980, very good at 1258 17170, JBA at 1259 18180, JBA at 1259 After 1300: 7470, very poor at 1308; see above; suspect stayed on thru hourtop 11990, see above; now CNR1 echo-jamming only; VOA now via Novosibirsk 12025, poor at 1310 mixing with some talk; Tibetan via Kuwait? 13830, fair at 1312 15445, good at 1315, ruining much weaker neighbor Turkey 15450 15565, fair at 1315 Before 1400 (may have missed some weaker ones due to TVI on now): 15900, fair at 1352; none higher 15525, poor at 1352 14700, fair at 1354 13920, very good at 1354 13830, poor at 1354 13130, very good at 1354 11500, poor at 1357 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Today, July 27th was a great day for Firedrake reception. See my list below. 11500, Good 1135, Fair 1252, 1347 11990, Good 1228 and 1253 along with CNR-1 Mandarin Targeting VOA 12900, Weak at 1136, Good at 1229, 1250 13130, Good 1255, Fair-Good 1349 13830, Good 1139 with CNR-1 jamming RFA but RFA not heard. At 1256 and 1349 fair and only Firedrake there no RFA or CNR-1. 13920, Good 1140, 1257, 1350 14700, Good 1141, Strong 1258, 1351, 1425, Good 1442 14950, Weak 1258, 1424, 1443 15525, Fair 1352 15545, JBA 1259 15550, Fair 1256. 15565, Good 1327 15670, Good 1142 along with CNR-1 Mandarin targeting RFA 15770, Fair 1445 15900, Fair 1353 15970, Weak 1144 16100, Weak 1144, 1227, 1354 17170, Weak-JBA 1355 (S. Handler, IL, July 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake July 28; before 1200: 10300, good at 1133 11500, fair at 1133 12600, good at 1136 14700, good at 1142 14970, fair at 1141 15670, poor at 1144 under CNR1 jamming 15800, fair at 1144 After 1200: 15670, at 1202 FD is off, only CNR1 heard with funny music, ID, kids voices --- seems to be an 8 pm staple in China before kids` bedtime? Even the children speak Chinese! 11500, fair at 1213 10300, good at 1215 After 1300: 15760, very good at 1328-1330* 15670, poor under CNR1 at 1328-1330* 15565, very poor at 1328-1330* 15545, fair at 1328-1330* 15445, very good at 1329-1330* After 1330: 14700, very good at 1332 14950, good at 1332; none in the 12, 13s 16100, fair at 1333 16980, very good at 1333; none in the 17s or 18s (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Below are July 28th's loggings of the Firedrake musical jammer. Thirteen of them today from 1100-1300 GMT. Today as well as the last few days there has been a high amount of Firedrake activity. I am uncertain as to the reason. Good DX, Steve Handler 10300, Weak 1124, 1158, 1218, 1237 11500, Good 1125, 1158, 1217, 1238 12500, Strong 1219, Good-Strong 1239 12600, Good 1127, Good-strong 1159 13850, Fair 1221 14700, Strong 1128, 1159, Fair 1240 14970, Good 1128, 1159 15545, Weak 1246 15670, Firedrake Strong 1154 apparently jamming RFA's Tibetan language broadcast which I could not hear. However after 1200 only CNR-1 heard on this frequency no more Firedrake at least through 1300 when I stopped listening. 15800, Fair 1128 16100, Fair 1224, 1240 16500, Good-strong 1241 16980, Weak 1224, 1241 (S. Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Speaking of jamming, once again VOA and RFA were being jammed this morning by China's CNR-1 Mandarin program. 11605, CHINA CNR-1 in Mandarin 1225-1228 July 25 apparently jamming RFA’s Tibetan language frequency (Via Tinian, N. Mariana Islds) very faint signal underneath, unable to confirm if it was RFA. CNR-1’s Mandarin program using to jam RFA was slightly less than a second ahead of the CNR-1 program used to jam Radio Taiwan on 11665 Khz. 11665, CHINA CNR-1 1229 July 25 apparently jamming Radio Taiwan’s unheard Mandarin broadcast. Interesting that CNR-1’s program was slightly less than a second behind the CNR-1’s Mandarin broadcast being used to jam RFA on 11605 KHz. 11785, PHILIPPINES/CHINA VOA 1244-1246 July 25 via Tinang in Mandarin on top with CNR-1 in Mandarin apparently jamming underneath. Both Fair. 11825, PHILIPPINES/CHINA VOA 1244-1250 July 25 via Tinang in Mandarin underneath CNR-1 in Mandarin apparently jamming underneath. CNR-1 Good. VOA Fair. 11990, CHINA/RUSSIA 1309 July 25 CNR-1 in Mandarin on top apparently jamming VOA in Mandarin underneath. VOA listed HFCC as via Novosibirsk Russia. At 1309 via played an EE bound bite then back into Mandarin. 12040, PHILIPPINES/CHINA VOA 1315-1316 July 25 via Tinang in Mandarin on top with CNR-1 in Mandarin apparently jamming underneath. Both Fair. 13830, CHINA CNR-1 in Mandarin 1340-1341 July 25 apparently jamming RFA’s unheard Tibetan language frequency. Het but no RFA audio heard. 15115, CHINA/THAILAND 1344-1345 July 25 CNR-1 in Mandarin on top apparently jamming VOA in Mandarin underneath. VOA listed HFCC as via Udorn. 15670, CHINA CNR-1 in Mandarin 1329-1330 July 25 apparently jamming RFA’s unheard Tibetan language frequency (S. Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Other assorted CNR-1 jamming heard July 26th: 11625, CHINA CNR-1 in Mandarin 1106-1108 with M & F ancrs in Mandarin apparently jamming Radio Taiwan’s Mandarin broadcast which was not heard. Interesting that CNR-1 was a full second behind and out of sync with CNR-1’s broadcast being used to jam the VOA on 11990 KHz. Fair. // 11665 11785, THAILAND/CHINA VOA 1119-1121 via Udorn in Mandarin on top with CNR-1 in Mandarin apparently jamming underneath. Both Fair. 12040, PHILIPPINES/CHINA VOA 1136-1138 via Tinang in Mandarin underneath CNR-1 in Mandarin apparently jamming. Both Fair. 12040, CUBA/CHINA Radio Habana 1225 on top with M&F presenters in Spanish. CNR-1 in Mandarin underneath, apparently jamming the VOA’s Mandarin broadcast which could not be heard. Both Fair (S. Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Re 11-29: Dear Glenn, Regarding my log (COLOMBIA. 6070, 0134-0211, Voz de la Resistencia): July 20 was the Independence Day of Colombia, that's why they were on air at this strange time, as I suppose. Thanks and 73! (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint Petersburg, Russia, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. La radio en Colombia --- Por JAIME GARCÍA CHADID Según algunas informaciones, entre otras la del periodista Mike Urueta, se atribuye a Barranquilla el haber sido la cuna de la radiodifusión comercial en Colombia, ya que para 1949 el gobierno presidido por Miguel Abadía Méndez y siendo su ministro de Correos y Telégrafos el barranquillero Francisco Carbonell González se otorgó licencia de funcionamiento a la emisora "La Voz de Barranquilla" (HKD) propiedad de Elías Pellet Buitrago, ingeniero e hijo de un norteamericano residenciado en "La Arenosa". La trasmisión inicial fue casi toda en vivo, salvo la reproducción de una pasta de 78 r.p.m. del sello Columbia, enviado desde Panamá con la canción "Tóqueme el trigémino doctor", según afirmaciones del escritor Julio Oñate. En 1935, del mismo Pellet, y casi el mismo nombre y que a no dudar fue el antecedente próximo de esa primera estación comercial existía las "Estaciones Radiodifusoras La Voz de Barranquilla", trasmitían al mismo tiempo con las siguientes características técnicas : HJ1ABB en 6447.2 kcs y con una potencia de 300 vatios, lo que garantizaba una audiencia a miles de kilómetros y HJ1ABA en1330 kcs con150 vatios, suficiente esa pequeña potencia para cubrir a la Barranquilla de entonces. Por otro lado y en la relacionado a Sincelejo se ha dicho y así lo creo que la primera emisora comercial con licencia del Ministerio de Comunicaciones fue "Radio Sincelejo" la que ha conservado tanto sus indicativos como su frecuencia originales : HJAL y 1460 kilociclos. Pero hace algún tiempo encontré una publicación hecha en 1935, denominada "Short wave Station List", la que en sus páginas 226 y 227 relaciona una serie de emisoras en Colombia y el resto del mundo que trasmitían en onda corta, pero que eran reconocidas oficialmente y con base a convenios internacionales sobre la materia, que aún hoy rigen sin mayores variaciones en cuanto a la asignación de indicativos se refiere. Para el caso de Sincelejo se registra la estación HJ1ABE, la que trasmitía en 7100 kilociclos (kcs) y no sé si corresponda a la que se conoció como "La Voz de Sincelejo" propiedad del señor Víctor Angulo. En otra fuente también se menciona a otra del periodista Eugenio Quintero Acosta. No preciso datos al respecto. En la Costa Caribe funcionaban también la HJ1ABD de Cartagena (La Voz de los Laboratorios Fuentes) con frecuencia de 7281 kcs, la HJ1ABJ de Santa Marta en la frecuencia de 6006 kcs . Aparte de Barranquilla, Cartagena, Santa Marta y Sincelejo solo figura la ciudad de Ciénaga, la HJ1 ABH en 6225 kcs. En el resto del territorio nacional también existían en Bogotá,( La Voz de Colombia) HJ3ABX, Manizales (Ecos de Occidente), Cali, Tunja, Medellín (Ecos de la Montaña, con un trasmisor Collins para onda corta de 100 vatios) y otra en Cúcuta. El haber estado en esa lista equivalía a una especie de cuadro de honor pues en el mundo de esos tiempos no eran muy numerosas las ciudades que poseían radiodifusoras entre las que menciono a Moscú, New York, Montreal, Caracas, Nagasaki, Viena, El Vaticano. Autor JAIME GARCÍA CHADID FUENTE: La radio en Colombia http://bit.ly/qdYFqL Cualquier comentario adicional, muy agradecido en dxreport @ yahoo.com (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** CONGO DR. 5066.398v, 18/7 1845-1903* Radio Candip, nice slow music and talks by woman in French, fair, low modulation while speaking. Off at 1903 (Giampiero Bernardini, RFspace SDR-14; ant 30 m long wire, Pescia, Tuscany, Italy, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 5954.25, Radio República, 1045-1050 numerous IDs over ineffective jamming, clear signal 21 July (Robert Wilkner, NRD 535D - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro modified, Pompano Beach, South Florida U S, HCDX via DXLD) See also CUBA [non] ** CUBA. 990, Radio Guamá, San Luís, Pinar del Río. 1047 July 23, 2011. Very good with woman reading local events calendar, several IDs, José Martí quote-of-the-day at 1103. It's worth noting that Radio Guamá is in fact still active. I recently saw a report -- forget where -- that all Radio Guamá channels migrated to Radio Artemisa with the provincial split. This is simply incorrect. 1000 / 1020, Radio Artemisa, Artemisa. 1255 July 21, 2011. Cuban vocals, ID, abruptly patched into Noticiero Nacional de Radio just after 1300 mid-speak. A minor level CRFU. 1140, Radio Mayabeque, la Salud, Mayabeque. 1200 July 23, 2011. Male ID over at least a couple of other Cubans on the channel, then into open carrier only for several minutes at least. Recheck 1133, back up with vocals. A medium level CRFU (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. CUBAN "AIR DEFENSE" STRATEGIES We have long noted that the Cubans are trying to block certain unwanted signals from Florida, WRHC, WQBA and a few other stations run by Cuban emigrés. This is why Radio Rebelde can be found on numerous channels, including frequencies assigned to other stations. It now appears that Rebelde is just one piece in a system where local, provincial and national services are combined to keep as many channels as possible alive 24/7 by sharing transmitter facilities. Arguably the first example of this was noted two years ago on 1350, where Radio Libertad, was relaying the provincial service of Radio Victoria at night. Last winter, Arnstein Bue, in Norway, was surprised to hear Radio Rebelde sign off on 980 at 1000. However, after the playing of the National Anthem, the frequency was released to the listed COCO El Periódico del Aire. In November 2010, Arnstein noticed another anomaly, a Cuban on 1470 carrying Radio Victoria programming. In an interesting reply from this station, one now learns that the transmitter site is Puerto Padre, Las Tunas, the power 1 kW, and that the channel is actually assigned to Radio Chaparra (hitherto listed only on 90.9 FM), a local station at Jesús Menéndez. In the afternoon, the municipal station Radio Libertad carries on, and at night, Radio Victoria. The schedule for the 1470 operation is given as 1100-1600 Radio Chaparra, 1600-0200 Radio Libertad, and 0200-1100 Radio Victoria (Henrik Klemetz, July 8, Arctic Radio Club blog http://arcticradioclub.blogspot.com/ via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. 9530, July 23 at 1231, RHC // 9550, apparent mix with CRI Chinese relay on 9570. In such leapfrogs one normally hears mostly audio from the further frequency, not the fulcrum, but 9570 is as always very undermodulated altho strong in strength. 9530 remains audible with max attenuation, aside weak Indonesia 9526-. See also CHINA, jamming Cuba 15230, July 24 at 1307, mixing with CNR1 causing SAH, Commies vs Commies; again no listing or reason for CNR1 to be here. During ``En Contacto`` DX program from 1335, RHC briefly off the air at 1341-1343 clearing 15230 for China. Quick check of other RHC frequencies found 13680 and 13780 were still on but without modulation during this disruption amid another opus in the series ``¿Qué le ha traído a Vd. el Diexismo?`` -- What has DXing done for you? This one written but not read by Luís Cristián Alonso, Córdoba, Argentina. See also VENEZUELA [non] One RHC transmitter must be down: July 25 at 0547, 6010 English is missing, and not on 11760 either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CANADA [and non] ** CUBA. RADIO HAVANA CUBA IS 50 --- A LOOK BACK AT ITS HISTORY by Alan Pennington Listeners to Radio Havana Cuba (RHC) will not have failed to realise that the station has been celebrating its founding, fifty years ago on 1st May 1961. The anniversary has been marked with listener competitions in RHC’s ‘Mailbag’, ‘World of Stamps’ and sports programmes, a song was written to celebrate the anniversary and Cuba issued a commemorative postage stamp to mark the occasion. There have also been celebrations in Havana itself including an event at the Jose Martí memorial attended by Radio Havana Cuba founders, and workers past and present. When Fidel Castro’s Revolutionary government gained power in Cuba in January 1959, overthrowing the dictator Batista’s regime, they already had a successful radio voice in Radio Rebelde which had started transmitting from the Sierra Maestra mountains in the south east of the island in February 1958. However, the leaders of the Revolution, in particular Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara and the Communications Minister, Enrique Oltaksi, saw the need for an international voice to counter the broadcasts being orchestrated by the USA and Cuban exile groups who were trying to undermine the social and economic changes taking place on the island. They also knew there would soon be attempts to overthrow their Revolution and realised having an international shortwave radio station on air could keep the world informed about what was really happening on the island. So in 1959 a budget of 1.7 million pesos was approved by the Revolutionary government for the establishment of a shortwave station to carry its message to the Latin American region and other parts of the world. Later in 1959, Cuba was one of the 87 countries attending the ITU Administrative Radio Conference in Geneva. Whilst in Switzerland the Cuban delegation received a cable from Havana asking them to investigate the possibilities of starting an international short wave radio station. Realising that right there in Switzerland was the world famous transmitter factory of Brown Boveri, they contacted the company and learnt that four shortwave transmitters, originally destined for an African country, had become available when that country refused delivery. By the end of 1959, a deal to buy the two 100 kW and two 10 kW transmitters, together with antenna systems from Brown Boveri was finalised. During 1960, the war of words against the new regime in Cuba had intensified. As well as broadcasts by Cuban exile groups on US medium wave stations, shortwave station WRUL in Scituate, Massachusetts (later to change calls to WNYW in 1966 then WYFR in 1973) had begun broadcasting to Cuba, including programmes featuring Cuban-exile “Havana Rose”. And on 17th May 1960, Radio Swan took to the air on mediumwave and shortwave from Great Swan Island off the coast of Honduras. Radio Swan had been set up by the CIA as part of US President Eisenhower’s covert action programme for regime change in Cuba. By the end of 1960 the first Cuban transmitter site was under construction. The place chosen for the site (Bauta, 30 km west of Havana) “was practically a lake. So the first towers were installed inside the water” according to Ignacio Canel who worked for Radio Havana for 50 years, starting in 1959 at the age of 19. By early January 1961, the first Brown Boveri 10 kW transmitter was installed in a small temporary shed at Bauta along with a 1 kW American Gates transmitter that had been used previously in Havana. The steel lattice towers for the antennas had not arrived from Switzerland, so wooden poles were obtained from the local ‘Empresa Eléctrica’ electricity company to support antenna wires. There was also no link to the Radio Progreso building in Havana where the new station had been given some space for studios, so a tape recorder was installed next to the transmitter. Tests began in the first two weeks of February 1961 and on 24th February “Onda Corta Experimental Cubana” (Cuban Experimental Shortwave) went on the air with an hour long Spanish programme, repeated several times during the evening. The station was soon on the air on two frequencies (still used today): 6000 kHz (1 kW) and 11760 kHz (10 kW) using as its interval signal, the opening bars of “La Marcha del 26 de Julio” (named after Fidel Castro’s revolutionary group which in turn took its name from the date of the failed attack on the Moncada Barracks in Santiago de Cuba on 26th July 1953). The original interval signal was played on a xylophone in Studio 5 of Radio Progreso. Radio Havana Cuba still uses a version of the same tune as its interval signal today. All of those involved in putting the station on air (including then 18 year old Arnie Coro, now presenter of ‘DXers Unlimited’ on RHC) were delighted when reception reports came in from Latin America, Canada and the United States. Work continued apace to install a third transmitter at the Bauta site, one of the 100 kW Brown Boveri units, quite a challenge for the team of engineers and technicians who had not worked with such a high- powered transmitter before. On 15th April 1961, CIA sponsored Cuban exile bombers attacked three Cuban airfields. At the funeral the following day of Cubans killed in the attacks, Fidel Castro denounced the raids and proclaimed the socialist nature of the Cuban Revolution. And at the same time he announced that Cuba now had an international radio station: “And do they think they can hide this from the world? No! Cuba has a radio station that is already transmitting throughout Latin America and is heard by countless brothers and sisters in Latin America and the rest of the world. We are in the age of radio and the truth can travel far & wide!” On the 17th April, ‘Brigade 2506’ of CIA trained and supplied Cuban exiles landed at Playa Giron (Bay of Pigs) in southern Cuba in an attempt to invade the island and overthrow the Revolutionary government. Throughout the attempted invasion, the new experimental shortwave station was on the air 24 hours. The 100 kW transmitter at Bauta was ready to operate just a few days before the invasion so was able to help relay events in the Zapata swamp to the world. The mercenary invaders were repelled and defeated within 72 hours. A few days later, on 1st May 1961, as Cuba celebrated its victory at the Bay of Pigs, the new shortwave station went on the air for the first time using the name Radio Havana Cuba, broadcasting the victory parade. Above: Cuban postage stamp issued in 1971 to mark the tenth anniversary of Radio Havana Cuba. [caption] Prior to the 1959 Revolution, Cuba had a well-established radio scene, including shortwave. In 1958 one in five Cuban inhabitants had a set and the island had 160 radio stations operating (source: A History of Cuban Broadcasting – Manuel A. Álvarez). The 1947 1st edition of World Radio Handbook lists nineteen shortwave stations (three of which were inactive). By the 1958 edition, there were twenty shortwave stations listed (though thirteen were now marked as inactive). All of these, apart from two, were commercial, not government stations. During the Revolution, ‘pirate’ Radio Rebelde broadcast on shortwave 20 and 40 metres. But before the 100 kW Brown Boveri transmitter went on air in April 1959, the most powerful transmitters were 50 kW Westinghouse units used by CMBC Radio Progreso and CMQ. A few months following Fidel’s success at the Bay of Pigs, the remaining two Brown Boveri transmitters were on air from the Bauta site. Having failed to militarily overthrow the new regime, US President John F. Kennedy ordered the economic, commercial and financial blockade of Cuba in February 1962, a blockade that has continued to this day. As a result, the Soviet Union stepped in to support Cuba economically and militarily so the next two 100 kW transmitters acquired by Cuba would be Soviet SNEG units. The 1963 WRTH schedule for RHC as well as 18 hours of Spanish (including 1.5 hours to Europe) shows half an hour of Arabic, 2 hours 40 minutes of English (with 20 minutes to Europe), 2 hours 20 minutes of French and 45 minutes of Portuguese. Radio Havana Cuba was already reaching out to the world, as well as to its surrounding region. By 1965, three additional languages had been added: Creole, Quechua and Guarani, making eight languages in total. (A ninth language service, Esperanto was added in 1988). Havana also broadcast other programmes to the USA – Radio Free Dixie, a weekly programme in support of Afro-Americans fighting segregation in the southern USA was broadcast between 1962 and 1965. And during the final years of the Vietnam War (1971-1975), Radio Havana Cuba broadcast some English programmes from the Voice of Vietnam in Hanoi. 1962 QSL featuring “the glorious battle of Education, to the elimination of illiteracy by the end of 1961” [caption] A second transmitter site was built close to Bauta at Bejucal with Soviet help and a reciprocal arrangement was made, with Radio Moscow broadcasts to North America being relayed from Cuba (and in return Radio Havana broadcasts to Europe being relayed from the Soviet Union). The World Radio TV Handbook lists this Radio Moscow relay for the first time in its 1980 edition (under Cuba). As well as Radio Moscow relays, the 1984 edition of the WRTH also lists relays of the USSR Home Service ‘Mayak’ for Soviet citizens in Central America from the Cuban site on 3345 or 4765 kHz (this latter relay listed as ‘All Union Radio’ on 4765 kHz only in the 1986 to 1991 editions of WRTH). The end of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 resulted in a period of economic depression in Cuba known as the “Special Period” as the island had lost its main trading partner. Technical support and lack of spares for Radio Havana Cuba’s Soviet transmitters became a problem. [Moscow relay was on 11840 in daytime – gh] In contrast Cuba’s relations with China improved and in 2003 credits granted by China to Cuba allowed for the automation of six transmitters at transmitter site No 1 (Bauta). A seventh 50 kW transmitter was also installed for Radio Rebelde. Improvements were also made at transmitter site No 2 (Bejucal) and at a third site, No 3 Titán (Quivicán). In October 2004, Arnie Coro announced on “DXers Unlimited” that six new 100 kW transmitters were being tested at Bauta and six new high curtain curtain antenna arrays plus three omnidirectional would be completed within a few months. RadioCuba technical director Justo Moreno García (Granma April 2004) had described the situation in the transmission centres prior to these improvements as critical. The equipment was “very old and inefficient,” and the antenna systems and buildings were “very deteriorated.” As well as deterioration with age, the transmitter sites also suffered damage from Hurricanes. As a result of the Sino-Cuban cooperation, some China Radio International programmes in Spanish, Portuguese, Mandarin and English to the Americas are now relayed from Cuba. You can watch a short video from 2010 about Chinese-Cuban cooperation in TV & radio transmission, including a shortwave site (Bauta according to the Spanish commentary) on the Chinese CNTV Espanol site: http://espanol.cntv.cn/program/BizChina/20101009/101947.shtml Today, 50 years after it officially launched, Radio Havana Cuba still has a major shortwave presence, broadcasting in eight languages: Spanish, English, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Quechua, Creole & Esperanto. (Its programme in Guarani was dropped last year). It also broadcasts “Mesa Redonda” (“Round Table” TV & radio programme) and “Aló Presidente” (Venezuelan leader Hugo Chávez’ radio & TV programme - broadcast occasionally on Sundays) both in Spanish. It is also possible to listen online via its recently redesigned website http://www.radiohc.cu (where the ‘CH 2’ speaker icon carries English). Shortwave transmissions from RHC primarily target Central, North and South America and the Caribbean – there are a couple of evening UTC hours targeting Europe, but not in English. Best frequencies currently for English here in the UK are 6000 kHz (0100-0500 UTC) or 6060 kHz (0500-0700 UTC). (The 5040 kHz English broadcast 2300-0000 UTC is quite weak here at present). RHC’s studios are located in central Havana in the Avenida Infanta in the same building as two other national stations: Radio Progreso and CMBF Radio Musical Nacional (see photo on right). Its Correspondence department (who seem to keep copies of every letter sent to them!) occupies a different building nearby. They receive enough correspondence to put out two ‘Mailbag’ programmes each week. RHC’s postal address is: PO Box 6240 Havana, Cuba though the quickest way to contact RHC is via email: radiohc@enet.cu (Information for this article is from the RHC website http://www.radiohc.cu (where there is a 50th anniversary section) and scripts from various editions of Arnie Coro’s ‘DXers Unlimited’ programme on RHC) (July BDXC-UK Communication via Alan Pennington, DXLD) That explains why there was nothing critical in the article, tho there is plenty to be negative about, such as the very dark side of Cuban ``broadcasting``, jamming; daily SNAFUs of an amazing variety of sorts, harmonix, spurs, monomaniacal propaganda agendas; incompetent and irresponsible SW frequency ``management``, etc. (gh) ** CUBA. [Tvfmdx] ES : CUB->ON --- weak 2 Havana in. Frequency measurement amazingly matches my last measurement from last year, 55239.96. MUF 3 (William R Hepburn (VEM3ONT22), Grimsby ON CAN 43 10 59.4 -79 33 34.5, http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ 1401 UT 23 July, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. DEATH OF ERNESTO BETANCOURT, CASTRO ALLY WHO LATER BECAME DIRECTOR OF RADIO MARTÍ. Posted: 21 Jul 2011 Washington Post, 19 July 2011, T. Rees Shapiro: "Ernesto F. Betancourt, 83, a Cuban-born former ally of Fidel Castro who quickly became disenchanted with the autocratic leader and led a decades-long publicity campaign against him, died June 20 at his home in Bethesda after a heart attack. As a Castro opponent, Mr. Betancourt found his greatest platform as director of Radio Marti, a federal government station that broadcasts to Cuba and is named for Cuban independence seeker Jose Marti. Mr. Betancourt joined the radio station in 1985, shortly after its inception, and served as its director until 1990. Later, he co-hosted a biweekly program on Radio Marti and wrote scores of newspaper opinion essays assailing Castro’s leadership." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) obit ** CUBA [non]. 5954.22, R. República, 0958, July 24. In Spanish; some songs; 1001 clear ID and back to chatting; perhaps very faint jamming which was not a problem; MP3 audio with ID posted at http://www.box.net/shared/5p7o0ympt84thylxzb0f Website: http://www.radiorepublica.org/Radio_Republica/La_voz_de_la_amistad_entre_los_cubanos%21.html (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. Limassol, Cyprus updated schedule A11 - Summer 2011 - LIMASSOL, CYPRUS July 21, 2011 FREQ STA BTIM ETIM LANGUAGE DAYS TARGET PWR AZI ===== === ==== ==== ========== ======= ========== === === 639 BBC 0300 0329 English s...... CYP 500 180 639 BBC 0300 0329 English .mtwtfs CYP 500 180 639 BBC 0329 0330 Arabic smtwtfs CYP 500 180 639 BBC 0330 2100 Arabic smtwtfs CYP 500 180 720 BBC 0300 2100 Arabic smtwtfs 720 CYP 500 110 1323 BBC 0200 0729 English .mtwtf. CYP 200 150 1323 BBC 0200 2300 English s.....s CYP 200 150 1323 BBC 0900 2300 English .mtwtf. CYP 200 150 5875 BBC 0030 0100 Dari smtwtfs WAs 300 077 5875 BBC 0100 0130 Pashto smtwtfs WAs 300 077 5875 BBC 0130 0200 Dari smtwtfs WAs 300 077 5875 BBC 1700 1800 Arabic smtwtfs Arabian Gu 300 101 5875 BBC 1800 1900 English smtwtfs Gulf 300 090 5875 BBC 1900 2000 English smtwtfs Gulf 300 090 5925 BBC 2215 2245 Greek s....fs W.Eur 250 314 6155 BBC 1700 1730 Dari smtwtfs WAs 300 077 6155 BBC 1730 1800 Pashto smtwtfs WAs 300 077 6195 BBC 0130 0200 Dari smtwtfs WAs 250 077 6195 BBC 0200 0300 English smtwtfs Gulf 250 090 7220 BBC 2215 2245 Greek s....fs W.Eur 300 314 7375 BBC 0500 0600 Arabic smtwtfs E.Med. 300 173 7375 BBC 0600 0700 Arabic smtwtfs E.Med. 300 173 7375 BBC 1700 1900 Arabic smtwtfs NE Af 300 173 7375 BBC 1900 2100 Arabic smtwtfs NE Af 300 173 7395 BBC 0000 0100 English smtwtfs SAs 300 090 7395 BBC 0100 0200 English smtwtfs CAs 300 064 7445 BBC 0030 0100 Dari smtwtfs WAs 300 081 7445 BBC 0100 0130 Pashto smtwtfs WAs 300 081 7445 BBC 0130 0200 Dari smtwtfs WAs 300 081 7445 BBC 0200 0230 Pashto smtwtfs WAs 300 081 7445 BBC 0230 0300 Dari smtwtfs WAs 300 081 9440 BBC 0300 0400 Arabic smtwtfs Arabian Gu 300 117 9480 BBC 0130 0200 Urdu smtwtfs WAs 250 077 9760 BBC 2215 2245 Greek s....fs W.Eur 300 317 9895 BBC 0200 0230 Pashto smtwtfs WAs 300 077 9895 BBC 0230 0300 Dari smtwtfs WAs 300 077 9895 BBC 0300 0330 Pashto smtwtfs WAs 300 077 9915 BBC 0300 0400 Arabic smtwtfs NE Af 300 173 9915 BBC 2000 2100 Arabic smtwtfs NAf 250 280 12035 BBC 0300 0400 English smtwtfs EAf 250 173 12035 BBC 0400 0500 English smtwtfs EAf 250 173 12095 BBC 0300 0400 English smtwtfs CAs 250 077 12095 BBC 0400 0500 English smtwtfs Gulf 250 077 12095 BBC 0500 0600 English smtwtfs Gulf 250 090 12095 BBC 0600 0700 English smtwtfs Gulf 250 090 12095 BBC 1900 2100 English smtwtfs SAf 250 177 13660 BBC 1500 1600 Pashto smtwtf. WAs 300 081 13820 BBC 1400 1500 English smtwtfs Gulf 300 090 13820 BBC 1500 1700 English smtwtfs Gulf 300 090 15180 BBC 0700 0800 Arabic smtwtfs NAf 250 280 15530 BBC 1100 1130 Somali smtwtfs EAf 300 160 17640 BBC 0700 0800 English .mtwtf. EAf 300 177 17680 BBC 1300 1400 Somali ......s EAf 300 160 17680 BBC 1400 1500 Somali ......s EAf 300 160 17680 BBC 1400 1500 Somali smtwtf. EAf 300 160 17680 BBC 1500 1600 Somali ......s EAf 300 160 17780 BBC 1100 1130 Somali smtwtfs EAf 300 160 21470 BBC 1400 1700 English smtwtfs EAf 250 175 21590 BBC 1300 1330 Uzbek smtwtfs CAs 300 057 (via Dan Ferguson, North American Shortwave Assn: http://www.naswa.net Combined SWBC skeds .xls & TEXT - updated July 21 at 1500 GMT: http://www.hfskeds.com/skeds/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shortwave-radio #swl on Starchat.net IRC, July 21, dxldyg via DXLD) To grant more broadcast hours now from Zygi site again, as from July 18/19, wb. (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX July 25 via DXLD) ** CYPRUS. Found picture of Famagusta British military base, Eastern Sovereign Base Area (UK) on UN Buffer Zone, close to the OHR receiving station at CYP/GB Over Horizont_Radar RX stn; Ayios Nikolaos in Famagusta District 35 04 57.43 N 33 54 03.21 E (Wolfgang Büschel, July 19, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 25 via DXLD) 16925-16950, July 28 at 0514, lo-pitched OTH radar pulses presumed from here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK [and non?]. World Music Radio, Denmark/Albania? Hello! This morning I received a QSL card from World Music Radio, posted in Albania to acknowledge a report for a broadcast heard on 5815 kHz, October 17, 2004 or 2007 (handwritten date)! Has someone news about this station once situated in Denmark? The address is still in Denmark: PO Box 112, DK 8960 Randers SO but no e-mail. Best regards, (Max Bénard (France), July 21, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It stopped a few years ago, when the owner of the land, where the antenna was located, died. I'll ask the owner of ex-WMR about this. 73, (Erik Koie, Copenhagen, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL arrivata dopo 2622 giorni! World Music R. 15810 KHz – P.O. Box 112 – 8960 Randers SO – Danimarca con QSL in 2622 (non è un errore di battitura) giorni. Si 1 IRC. Roberto Pavanello (via Dario Monferini, July 23, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) = 7.18 anni (gh) Here is the explanation: The owner of the former World Music Radio, Stig Hartvig Nielsen, had some QSLs printed before he went on vacation in Albania, and he wrote as many QSLs as time permitted, and sent them from Albania, as the postage from there is only about 20 euro-cents, while it here in Denmark costs € 1.45! The station was active during week-ends in 2004. He is trying to get his http://www.wmr.dk activated again. 73, (Erik Koie, Copenhagen, July 25, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WMR Denmark QSL after 6 years and 9 months! Dear Friends, During 2004 and 2005 World Music Radio was broadcasting from IIsok in Karup, Denmark. They used to broadcast on 5815 kHz (7 kW) and 15810 kHz (0.8 kW) on shortwave. I used to hear them on 5815 in early mornings of October 2004 with various type of Western music. Subsequently I mailed a reception report during the same month. But nothing heard from them in reply. I tried with email follow-up reports to Stig Hartvig Nielsen directly and through Anker Petersen. But there was no positive reply from the station regarding verification policy and I forgot about them! Yesterday I got a large size QSL in mail from WMR which took 6 years and 9 months to verify! Indeed my longest awaited QSL from any station. Further, this is my 35th European country and Denmark is 122nd country to be verified (Radio Denmark used the transmitter facilities of Radio Norway-Sveio and Kvitsoy). The Postal authorities handled this treasure QSL without care and got damaged! Here's the scanned copy of the QSL: http://tinyurl.com/3enskgt (T. R. Rajeesh, Kerala, India, via Alokesh Gupta, July 27, cumbredx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) Don't worry, I also received a week ago the Qsl card of WMR like confirmation of my reception report of the emission of 2004. Bye (Dario (North of Italy) Gabrielli, ibid.) ** DIEGO GARCIA. AFRTS 12579 / 4319 kHz --- I know it's very unlikely, but has ANYONE logged AFRTS 12579/4319 from Diego Garcia, a British Indian Ocean Territory? Anyone have any idea what kind of power output, transmitter or transmitting mast they're using? (Paul Walker, PA, 25 July, NRC-AM via DXLD) Hi Paul, They are probably using SSB specifically upper sideband. There are a few AFRTS stations that still relay the programming via hf ssb. I am not sure about power levels or antennas. I've heard their feeds but I am not sure if they were from the site you mentioned. Individual sites don't seem to be identified on the SSB feeder frequencies (Dave Marthouse, VA? July 26, ibid.) The Diego Garcia AFN site tends to get logged most often on the West Coast -- see Glenn Hauser's World of Radio website: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html. Don't know how "very unlikely" I'd call it. I know not everybody here prowls the SW bands, but a lot of folks do (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, ibid.) Randy, Well, I figured that Diego Garcia's AFRTS wans't running extremely high power or anything, therefore. .that's what would make it not so likely heard :) (Paul Walker, ibid.) I've logged and QSL'ed it from western NY (Jim Renfrew, Connected by DROID on Verizon Wireless, ibid.) According to the WRTH 2011 the power on both frequencies is 3 kW (H?kan Sundman, Helsinki, Finland, ibid.) Jim: How well can you hear it form your location? What kind of programming is on the Shortwave outlets? Hakan: Thanks for the information! I need to get me a Shortwave radio one of these days, I keep talking about it, but haven't done it yet. (Paul Walker, ibid.) They are regularly heard in Finland. The programming is all AFN- relays, no local programming (H?kan, ibid.) Hakan: Is it news/talk type programming as one would expect on "AM" or is it music? (Paul Walker, ibid.) Paul, 4319U is quite easy to hear in the early morning on the west coast. I personally haven't heard the 12 MHz (their daytime frequency) for a few years now, but this might be due to the poor solar cycle, and weak MUFs. During our winters, 4319 propagates quite well during our late afternoon/early evening as well. Power, I'm not at home where I'd have that info, but I suspect 1 kW? Certainly less than 10 kW. Cheers, (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, IRCA via DXLD) On the other hand, I heard 12759 a few times last spring and was able to QSL it, but I have yet to hear 4319! I believe the power is 3 kW, but not 100% sure (Bruce Portzer, WA, ibid.) Bruce is correct. 3 kW listed in the sources I've checked. PS: Bruce, when are you hearing 12 Megs? (Walt, ibid.) More the type of programming you would expect for soldiers and mariners serving in the Armed Forces, i.e. sports/news/music (H?kan Sundman, NRC-AM via DXLD) I have logged the AFRTS station on 4319 kHz here in Winnipeg MB. At 3,000 watts using USB they are not an easy catch but the frequency does help due to less interference. They are supposedly on 42 hours a day in English. 73 Best of DX (Shawn Axelrod, VE4DX1SMA, Winnipeg MB, ibid.) Don'tcha love typos?? Actually, they COULD theoretically be on 42 hours a day (or up to 48) on the same frequency if they did that VOA- feeder thing and ran separate programming on LSB and USB! (Ducking as shoes, portable radios, frying pans etc. come flying toward my head from all directions...) (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, ibid.) They have been off for long periods in the past and then suddenly back. Couldn't hear them yesterday on 4319 kHz and today they are off also on 12579 kHz. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, IRCA via DXLD) Walt, I heard it a couple of times in late March around 0200-0300 UT. I haven't checked lately to see if that's still a viable time frame (Bruce, ibid.) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Pre 11-29] 6025.07, Radio Amanecer? 0150-0240, July 23, tentative with Spanish religious music. Spanish announcements. Weak. Poor with adjacent channel splatter. In the past I have heard Amanecer anywhere between 6025.07-6025.11 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) See UNIDENTIFIED 6025 6025.64, Radio Amanecer, Santo Domingo. 2130 July 23, 2011. Noting Ralph Perry's unidentified (he indicated Amanecer is on 6026.13 and thus what he was hearing may be something else), but unlikely, as Amanecer is measured here, clear and fair with Spanish gospel vocals, rare Spanish male announcer at times. Wounded (even when switching to LSB) from 2158 by splash from multiple Cuban jammers that came up within seconds of each other on 6030, intended for Radio Martí (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [and non]. 6050, July 22 at 1126, weak Spanish with fast SAH, but no AH, i.e. MALAYSIA has just corrected its 6049.6v off- frequency, says Ron Howard. 1129 I can make out an HCJB ID, and 6--- frequency; 1130 3+1 auto-timesignal, then a bit of Morse code presumably HCJB introducing its morning newscast. Note that the recalcitrant Arnie Coro still has RHC blocking HCJB in the evenings on 6050 at 0100v-0700, until HCJB closes just after 0500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GERMANY; MALAYSIA Well, I gave 6050 a check in the 1130 range today, only to find it blocked by RHC in Spanish. Sweet (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, July 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fluke? Not there when I checked around 1230 on July 24, or later dates in 1100 hour (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** EGYPT. 9990, 18/7 1745, Radio Cairo, Egypt, Arabic songs, really distorted audio with S 9+30 (Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, in Tuscany (Pescia, 60 km west from Florence), RFspace SDR-14; ant 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Cairo, Abu Zaabal transmitter site, 6270 kHz. 2315 UT July 21, 44444 Woman reading news stories in English. Station ID by woman in English at 2321. Music program hosted by woman in English at 2324. Severe QRM from tone or het S-9 (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwire - 40 feet high, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) ** ERITREA. Heard on: July 3rd 1700, 7120, 7180 and jammers on 7110 & 7175 kHz 7th 1535, 7110, 7165 8th 0345, 7130, 7175 and another program 7205 9th 1756, 7110, 7175, 9730 10th 0254 s/on IS & ID in 4 languages (feat[ured?] in Arabic) on 7175, 7205, 9730 kHz and no other signal in range 7100-7200 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, July 19, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 25 via DXLD) 7179.99 NF, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, 0313-0345, July 23, new frequency. ex-7175. Presumed with vernacular talk. Horn of Africa music. Fair. No //s heard (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 9730.03, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, 0325-0340, July 27, vernacular talk. Horn of Africa music. Very weak. Fair signal on // 7174.99 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ERITREA [non]. via Ethiopia, 7235, Voice of Eritrea, *0358-0431*, July 23, sign on with Horn of Africa music. Talk in listed Tigrinya at 0401. Horn of Africa music. Poor with adjacent channel splatter. Weak // 9559.50v - drifting up to 9559.62. Tues, Thur, Sat only (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ETHIOPIA. 6030, Radio Oromiya, *0323-0329, July 25 (Monday). On with repetitive xylophone sounding IS till 0329; very poor due to QRM from both Calgary and Cuban jamming (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Laser Hot Hits Free Radio --- Last night Laser moved to 6940 kHz. The other 4015 kHz channel is still on air in the European evening and night (Gary Drew, UK, July 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Martedì 26 luglio 2011, 2122 - 6940 kHz, pres. LASER HOT HITS, Inglese, annuncio OM "six-nine-four-five"! Segnale sufficiente-buono. Ex 6945? Errore? Test nuova frequenza? (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova) - Italia, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) English Pirate Laser Hot Hits now on 6940 --- Laser Hot Hits 6940 pretty nice at 0332 with pops, this was on 6946 until recently. They are also on 4015, unheard here (Chris Lobdell, Tewksbury, Massachusetts, UT July 27, NASWA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Glenn: I don't think RFI is still transmitting on 15300 from 04 to 20 UT as you state (DXLD 11-29). I used to hear RFI on this frequency fairly regularly, but now it is rare that I hear any signal. No idea if tone was from Issoudun, however (Mike Cooper, GA, Jul 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio France International, Issoudun transmitter site, 15300 kHz. 1900 UT July 21, 33333. Station ID by woman in French, then newscast read by man and woman in French. Faded below static from nearby thunderstorm at 1925. Weak signal S-4 (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwire - 40 feet high, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) ** GABON [and non]. 9580, 19/7 1815, Radio Africa 1, Gabon, in French, ID "Radio Africa 1, la Radio Africaine" and reports, good signal, some QRM from Medì 1 9575 [MOROCCO], fair/good (Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, in Tuscany (Pescia, 60 km west from Florence), RFspace SDR-14; ant 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Africa Number One, Moyabi transmitter site, 9580 kHz. 2200 UT July 21, 34433. Time pips and station ID (Africa Numero Une) at 2200, followed by newscast by man in French. Another French ID at 2206. Weak signal but in the clear and audible. S-5. Signal up to S- by 2245 (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwire - 40 feet high, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. Apsua Radio / Abkhaz Radio observed on 8, 13 and 18 of July at 0700-v0807 UT plus some minutes of Avto Radio in Russian: 0700-0800 UT in Abkhazian and some ?Georgian? and news in Russian from 0800 (they said it's noon time/polden in Russian). Also noted for some minutes interfering with REE in Spanish from 0445-to close/down of REE at 0456 UT and Abkhaz Radio cl/d at 0458 UT when starts Algeria on 17 July Sunday. All above on {even} 9535 kHz observed (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, July 18, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 25 via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) ** GERMANY. 21.07.2011 13:41 --- Test License. KBC has received a test license for 531 kHz in Burg Germany. We keep you informed when we start testing. We are also talking for a few options in other countries. Also check http://www.kbcradio.eu http://www.1395.eu/index.php?dir=news/detail&id=194 Does anyone know the current power of the 531 Burg transmitter please? (Mike Barraclough, England, July 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This site of course has a very interesting history, having been a key site during the days of the GDR, but has been unused since 2008 following the closure of Truck Radio. It has a 10 kW transmitter which can also transmit in DRM mode at 2.7 kW, and a 190 metre antenna mast. (Media Network via Mike Barraclough, ibid.) The one that has been used between 2006 and 2008 is or was a 10 kW, cf. http://www.waniewski.de/LW/Burg_I/id498.htm (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. TYSKLAND: I Ostfriesland planeras en ny station på kortvåg. Den skall sända på 3995 kHz med 3 kW (kan senare möjligen ökas till 10 kW. Kristna program från bl.a. HCJB. Planeras komma igång med testsändningar i augusti. Allt enligt HCJBs tyska avdelning (Christer Brunström) GERMANY: In East Friesland, a new station on short wave is planned. It will transmit on 3995 kHz 3 kW, maybe later possibly an increase to 10 kW. Christian programs from among others HCJB. Planned to get started with test broadcasts in August. Everything according to HCJB`s German department (Christer Brunström, Sweden, SW Bulletin July 24, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3995 HCA/HCJ - new from August 1. HCA - ist das Stephan Schaa mit HCJB Deutsch / Englisch ? HCA ist normalerweise KNX Kununurra WA AUS 3995 kHz 0400-2200 UT 18,27,28 BRE 10kW 700ant 0108-301011 HCA BRE = Bremen, alter SFB/Radio Bremen Eintrag. Wenn keine Location passt, nimmt man immer die naechst-passende, z.B. frueher JUL Juelich fuer Kall, oder jetzt MUN Muenchen fuer 6150 Ingolstadt usw. Antenne #700 Type 4: 700 - 749 Curtain antenna, arrays of horizontal half-wave dipoles, centre fed, without reflector. Designation: CH m/n/h m = number of half-wave dipoles in each horizontal row n = number of // rows spaced half a wavelength apart h = height above the ground in wavelengths. Possible slew and the design frequency are entered in separate requirement fields. Antenne #700 CH 1/1/0.3 (Wolfgang Büschel, July 16, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 25 via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) Re HCJ 3995 via Bremen/North Sea coastal area. Wow, das kam ja fix zur Liste durch. Der Eintrag ist - fast - richtig, genaue Location wird noch nachgereicht und aus dem HCA muss noch ein HCJ werden. :-) Ist noch einiges an Arbeit zu machen in den kommenden Wochen, wuerden das aber gerne zuegig in der Luft haben. 73, Stephan (Schaa-D, July 16, ibid.) Re HCJ. Ab August sollen auch aus Ostfriesland Kurzwellensendungen von der "Stimme der Anden" ausgestrahlt werden. (Douglas Kaehler-D, July 18, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 25, via DXLD) More registrations Rohrbach/Ingolstadt ist auch fuer den Winter gelistet: 6150 0715-1300 18,27,28 ROB 6kW non-dir 700 1234567 DEU D R48 FNA ex MUC, now ROB R48 - 6150 kHz Rohrbach near Ingolstadt. Euskirchen now KLL = Kall 5980 6005 6085 kHz 20 kW. but 6005 kHz maximum 100 kW 6005 0600 2200 18,19,27,28,29,37N KLL 100kW non-dir 975 RSH FNA und 22-6 UT mit 5 kW 9480 0800-1600 18,19,27,28,29,37N GOH 1kW 230deg 700 MVB FNA GOH Gohren near Schwerin MVB 9480 kHz 1 kW (Wolfgang Büschel, July 16, ibid.) There was an unID on 3990 in DRM, heard by the same guys, in DXLD 11- 29; unrelated? (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6005, Radio Gloria International via R 700 Kall-Krekel, 0857-0910, 24-07, at 0857 male comments in German, identification: "Radio Sieben Hundert". At 0900 Radio Gloria International program: male with identification and comments in English: "Radio Gloria International", frequencies, pop music. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Reinante, Lugo, Cantabrian Sea coast. Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6005.00, 0925-1000* Sun 24.07, R Gloria International, via Kall- Krekel. English/German ID, ann address, pop music 25232. Not heard on 9480, but on website radio700.eu which however was not synchronized with 6005 (Anker Petersen, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 17755, July 25 at 1328, rock music on defective transmitter, pumping as carrier level also seems to shift, in very deep fades not correlating with modulation peaks. 1330 3+1 timesignal, ID, YL talking with presumed news in Persian, during which the pumping is less noticeable. 1340 definite R. Farda ID and back to music, still breaking up. HFCC says it`s 100 kW, 77 degrees from Lampertheim at 12- 14 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GOA. India, 11775, All India Radio GOS. Panaji. 2011/07/17 sun 1305-1331. Tibetan music, OM singing with stringed instrument. OM's talking from 1315, back to music at 1326 (Aoki says it should end at 1315*, but EiBi says it continues until change of language at 1330. ID at 1330 "General Overseas Service of All India Radio". Poor. Jo'burg sunset 1535 (Bill Bingham, RSA, July 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``GOS`` refers only to English broadcasts, such as starting at 1330 on three other frequencies. We have also heard the Tibetan(?) just before 1330 on 9690; sloppy switching (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. 11645, July 22 at 0516, Greek(?) songs on R. Filia service. They keep changing language segments and never heard any announcements to ascertain now. Not // definitely Greek talk on main ERA5 service, 9420 and 15630, not 15650 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE [and non]. 3410, 21/7 2206, Greek Pirate in LSB, NOT 2x harmonic from MW, Greek folk songs, fair; 3413, 21/7 2209, Shannon Volmet, usual meteo airports info, fair/good Ciao (Giampiero Bernardini, Tuscany (Pescia, province of Pistoia) Italy, RFSpace SDR-14, 30 meters long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. 5765-USB, July 22 at 1134, AFN interview about community service, not // NPR displaced via KOSU. 5765 has splash from 5755 WTWW but being on USB helps a little (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM [and non]. 9910, July 22 at 1150, station in Chinese has continuous het of less than 1 kHz from carrier on hi side. It`s KTWR at 1100-1230. Are the ChiCom starting to jam Christian religious broadcasters too? See also CHINA, 9920 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, July 22 at 1126 I tried to hear R. Verdad`s Chinese segment again, but no signal by 1132. Lots of noise on band, but should have been able to detect it if on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Verdad escuchada con señal regular hoy 26 de julio a las 1240 UT en Mérida, Yucatán, con música religiosa. Envío enlace a archivo de audio. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=5216IZFM Atte.: (Ing. Civ. Israel González Ahumada, M.I., DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4055, July 28 at 1116, R. Truth is already on with English ID by OM, contact info asking for reports; followed by YL in German, OM in Italian, YL in ??, OM in Japanese, OM in vernacular; 1121 hymn (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3290, Voice of Guyana, 0930 to 0950, "Good Morning to You. from... " eclectic programs of religion, subcontinent music, jazz, etc. from Guyana losing .05% of population each year. 17 July - noted mornings same time with the regular email net [Wilkner, SYT- Plantation] (Robert Wilkner, NRD 535D - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro modified, Pompano Beach, South Florida U S, HCDX via DXLD) What`s SYT? What e-mail net? .05%, so what? Did you mean 5%? (gh, DXLD) ** GUYANA. JUNGLE RADIO IN SOUTH AMERICA: THE TERRY-HOLDEN EXPEDITION VP3THE The South American country of Guyana is located at the top of the continent. It is just a small tropical country, 400 miles long and 300 miles wide, with a total population of less than one million, half of whom trace their origins back to India, over there in Asia. The capital city is Georgetown, with its unique floating bridge more than one mile long. If only the noted Charles Darwin had visited this country now called Guyana in South America, he would have discovered a multitude of unique varieties there, more than he did in his famous expedition to the Galapagos Islands during the 1830s. It is stated that Guyana has 4,000 plants that are not found anywhere else in the world, as well as many unique animal species, including the Golden Frog. In ancient times, Guyana was inhabited by Indians of three different tribes; the Arawak, Carib & Warrau. It was Christopher Columbus who sailed along the coast line of Guyana as the first European visitor to the area in 1498. Almost a century later, the Dutch established the first European settlement, but they ceded the area to England in 1814. The British colony of British Guiana was formally established in 1831. In 1966 British Guiana gained its independence as Guyana; and four years later, this new country became a republic. Guyana became a center of international interest in the terrible events associated with what is known as the Jonestown Massacre when nearly 1,000 people committed suicide. Back in the year 1937, a group of six American explorers left the United States for a season of exploration in the northern jungle areas of South America on behalf of the American Museum of Natural History in New York. This expedition, known as the Terry-Holden Expedition, arrived at Georgetown; and they then departed from Bartica, at the mouth of a confluence of local river systems on September 29, 1937 in flat bottom boats for a 500 mile journey inland. Three weeks later, the expedition established a base camp in the foothills of the Sierra Akarai Mountains near the border with Brazil. Here, they installed a 200 watt RCA shortwave transmitter in a grass hut; this unit was allotted the callsign VP3THE, with the letters THE in the callsign identifying the Terry-Holden Expedition. An advance party travelled a further 200 miles on horse back, and they took a small 50 watt Collins mobile transmitter with them for regular contact with the base camp. It was on October 13, 1937, that the expedition station VP3THE was first heard in the United States, on 13900 kHz. On this occasion, VP3THE was in contact with amateur station VP3BG in Georgetown; and interestingly, as the years went by, VP3BG & neighboring VP3MR grew into a commercial broadcasting station with a regularized callsign. One month after the first test transmission, the expedition station VP3THE was officially inaugurated with the broadcast of a weekly radio report back to the United States for nationwide coverage in the NBC Red & Blue networks. Sometimes the program relay was made via VP3BG & VP3MR in Georgetown Guyana, and sometimes the relay was carried out direct with the RCA station at Rocky Point on Long Island. Three months after the initial test broadcast, the expedition station VP3THE left the air, never to return again. The final broadcast was made early in the new year, on January 15, 1938. The operator, Orison Hungerford, arrived back in New York three months later, during the month of April. Two very different QSL cards were issued to verify reception reports of the Terry-Holden Expedition. One was the familiar duplicated plain text card with a hand drawn microphone issued by NBC in New York. These cards were non-specific regarding the information in the QSL text. The other card was a large folder card, containing three photos of the station out in the jungle, and brief details of the expedition, as well as full QSL details (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for July 17 via DXLD) ** INDIA. MANDARMONI DXPEDITION II - Supratik Sanatani This time our temp QTH was 'Samudra Bilas' which we had selected during our 2008 visit. It is built around a large fishing pond which is locally called "Bheri". Some 250 m away from the sea beach this location offered us plenty of casuarina trees all around to string antennas as we liked but the facilities were bare. The grounds were sparkless clean and brightly painted for the winter season with well groomed trees and plants. We had booked well in advance and had planned the DXped on weekdays to avoid the weekend rush of winter travelers. Even then we could not get the compact ten bedded accommodation which we had targeted; we had to settle for two double bedded rooms and one four bedded room with one long verandah and a shade in front which allowed us to sit out and talk DX! We managed to reach just before sunset on 15th Dec 2010 but soon we had three beverages up and running. The rooms were rather crammed and this time we were overflowing with gear. There were four ICOM R75, one ICOM R71, one Drake R8, one SDR IQ & one Tentec 320D SDR besides a number of portables including Pradip Kindu's brand new Anjan DTS. We had set up one room as a shack for four DXers and the four other members had to DX on the bed. The DXers --- We had two newcomers to our DXpedition team, C. K. Raman, VU3DJQ from New Delhi who is a professional radio monitor and a radio amateur. He was there with all his professional as well as amateur radio experience, from Tripura Pradip Kundu whose QSL collection is envious was joining the DXped too. He was taking delivery of his recently acquired receiver, an Anjan DTS. The remaining others had been member in the past DXpeds: Babul Gupta, Sudipta Ghose, Alokesh Gupta, Swopan Chakraborty, Partha Sarathi Goswami and I (Supratik Sanatani). Location --- Mandarmani, a small sleepy beach town on the east coast of India is located some 180 km from Kolkata. [map: southwest of Kolkata, so pirates were probably within West Bengal, not East --- gh] Bengal Pirates on the MW ! This was undoubtedly the best find of this DXped. No far away DX station but Bengal MW pirates in Bay of Bengal. After the first night of DX just as we were relaxing after breakfast on 16th December morning, around 0500 UTC Alokesh while checking the bands stumbled upon a whole lot of Bengali pirate stations in the MW. The modulation was rough and the tone suggested rural Bengali accent. The programming was similar in all the pirates with announcement of local "Jatra" program. "Jatra" is typical Bengali theater performance which is held in open stage with audience seated on three sides. The stations were also playing requests and announcing mobile contact numbers. However, when tried to ring we drew blank. There were even job advertisements. One station switched on to a radio play. The tone of the announcements was like what you would hear in a village fair. The only location which we could make out was "Nandigram" in East Midnapore district. We tried direction finding using the ferrite antenna of portables. It suggested the signals to be coming from the sea, which suggested coastal locations around Sagar Island in the Bay of Bengal. In our forays to the local sea beach resort Digha we enquired about how to get in touch with these MW pirates. We were directed to the local market but we gave up the lead. Bengal pirates on FM have been reported. But we fail to guess why will the pirates use the MW bands? It needs bigger antenna and more power but probably the lower frequency tuning is easier in the MW bands (DXERS GUIDE, Ardic DX Club, January-March 2011, via Jaisakthivel via Drita Cico, DXLD) All the pirate logs were made in the local mornings after sunrise, circa 0300 UT, mid-December 2010, with songs and sometimes talk in Bengali: 1044, 1116, 1130, 1137, 1147, 1152, 1167, 1188, 1215, 1224, 1251, 1254, 1269, 1278, 1305, 1413 kHz. Note that many of these are on split frequencies, outside the 9-kHz bandplan. It is unlikely they would all be on exact 1-kHz steps, but despite receivers capable of exact measurement, no decimals were published. Searching on `pirate` in the long MW log list we find a few in other languages, also heard in local daytime (times appear to be UT but not specified as such): Oriya on 1350, 1359 Hindi on 1548 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1244-1303, July 21. YL DJ in English playing pop songs (Joe Cocker “You Are So Beautiful To Me”, etc.); local IDs; poor with the usual light hum. 5015, AIR Delhi (Kingsway) – presumed. 1312-1316, July 21. The hum is again heard, but was cutting in and out; some audio heard with subcontinent music underneath; hum seemed to vary in strength; nothing like yesterday’s hum-free reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. All India Radio, Bangaluru transmitter site, 11670 kHz. 2130 UT July 23, 44434. Station ID by woman in English at 2130, followed by discussion about National Institute of Fashion Technology [sic]. Another English station ID by woman at 2150, followed by Indian(?) Pop music song by man singer. Good signal S-8 (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwire - 40 feet high, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) See also GOA ** INDIA. RELAY HUNGER STRIKE BY AKASHVANI, DD STAFF --- By a Reporter http://www.sentinelassam.com/meghalaya/story.php?sec=2&subsec=8&id=83084&dtP=2011-07-22&ppr=1 SHILLONG, July 21: Over 20,000 members of the Akashvani and Doordarshan Administrative Staff Association today staged a relay hunger protest in Shillong and sent e-mails and telegrams to all its zonal offices as a part of its agitation in support of their eight- point charter of demands. The association said that it would intensify its agitation if the management failed to stop discrimination against them. Lary P Warjri, convener of Sanyukta Sanghrash Samiti (SSS), while speaking to reporters said that the employees of AIR and DD, Shillong unit, had been placed at an “inconvenient position” while elaborating on their charter of demands. The SSS also threatened to boycott duty across the country on August 9, 2011 onwards if the authorities did not pay any heed to their demands, said Warjri. He alleged that the management was adopting a divide-and-rule policy by granting higher pay scales to certain categories of employees leaving others in the lurch (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, July 21, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. Excerpts from Government of India, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting, Strategic Plan 2011-2017: All India Radio All India Radio will embark upon a sweeping modernization programme during 2011-16 that will see it broadcasting to the entire country with State-of-the-Art technology. Having already covered 99% of the population and area under the analogue mode, AIR has made detailed plans of increasing the coverage to 100% under the digital mode. 100% coverage would strengthen broadcasting to all strategic border areas as well. Within this 100% coverage on the primary grade signal (MW & SW), coverage by FM signal will increase from 37% to 90% of the population. This would entail digital broadcast in FM band from 50 places in the country including all State capitals and major cities. The digitalization of the entire network including studios, transmission and connectivity would include replacement of old/obsolete equipment. In addition, strengthening of related civil infrastructure would also be taken up, particularly for imparting training to staff in the field of digital technology and intensifying related R & D programmes. Staff productivity will be further enhanced through implementation of ACP scheme for existing staff and induction of fresh talent. Investment in E-Governance will be made for ensuring efficient management of the vast AIR network. Digitalization will enable AIR make its broadcast available on alternate platforms such as webcasting / Podcasting / SMS / Mobile services. In respect of content, a 24 hour AIR news channel will be introduced on a 2nd channel besides a speech quality programme. The entertainment programme will be broadcast on the main channel to compete with the best in the industry. Introduction of Value added Services like Interactive Text Transmission, Multimedia Object Transfer (MOT), disaster warning, etc has also been planned. In respect of content generation, AIR will be organizing Radio workshops, Akashwani Sangeet Sammalen concerts, Akashwani Annual Awards, Kisan Vani, Special poetic symposia and Spring Music Festival Concerts. Further, special activities like music concerts will also be organized and broadcast. Increased coverage of important International and National events will be undertaken along with news activities like production of flagship programmes. ALL INDIA RADIO (A) CURRENT SCENARIO All India Radio has become one of the largest broadcasting networks in the world. The Five Year Plans have given impetus to the growth of broadcasting resulting in a phenomenal expansion. At the time of independence, there were six radio stations located at Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Lucknow and Tiruchirapalli with a total compliment of 18 transmitters (6 Medium Wave & 12 Short Wave), which covered 11% population and 2.5 % area of the country. The network has now grown to 237 AIR stations with a total of 380 transmitters (149 MW, 54 SW & 177 FM). The primary grade total coverage is 91.85% (by area) and 99.18% (by population) and coverage by FM signal is about 37% by population and about 25% by area. Therefore, in order to provide digital quality radio broadcasts in the country, digitalization of complete network and services is the primary aspiration and the following vision & purpose has been identified as part of the strategy to be pursued for digitalization of AIR network in the next five years (2011-16): (B) OBJECTIVES • Complete digitalization of studios, transmission and connectivity in the next five years (by the year 2017). • Expansion of FM coverage from existing 37% to about 90% of the population mostly in semi-urban and rural areas in analogue mode since while formulating XI Plan, digital technology in FM band was not matured. Digital Technology in the FM band has now matured and standards have been finalized. Therefore, during the next five years, Digital broadcast in FM band is proposed to be started from about 50 places including all State capitals & major cities. • Strengthening of coverage in strategic border areas. • External Services will be strengthened so as to enhance the quality of AIR External Services Broadcasts through digitalization of Shortwave transmitters. • To make available AIR broadcasts on alternate Platforms like Webcasting / Podcasting /SMS/Mobile services including availability of Content on request by SMS & email and also on i-phones etc. and to provide more channels in the DTH service. • Introduction of 24 hour AIR news Channel: In addition to the main channel which has excellent audio quality , an additional speech quality programme can be broadcast simultaneously on the DRM Transmitters operating in digital mode. The reach of the existing national channel is proposed to be extended to the whole of the country and is also proposed to convert it in DRM mode, using SFN (Single Frequency Network). The entertainment programme will be broadcast on the main channel and the 2nd channel is proposed for 24 hour news broadcast. • Consolidation of Network: In order to ensure efficiency and quality of broadcasts, replacement of old/obsolete equipment & improvement of facilities is necessary. Schemes like Refurbishing of studios, replacement of AC plants, provision of UPS systems & Diesel generators, strengthening of infrastructure facilities like office accommodation, staff quarters, community centres, holiday homes, etc. will be included. Old equipment, which have served their life, will be replaced. • Introduction of E-Governance to facilitate faster dissemination of information to media units by providing network based on-line management systems. ERP solutions are proposed to be provided for efficient management of the vast network of AIR. • Strengthening of infrastructure for training of staff and Research & Development activities particularly in the field of digital technology. • Introduction of Value added Services like Interactive Text Transmission, Multimedia Object Transfer (MOT), disaster warning, etc. • Staff- Assured Career Progression for existing staff and induction of fresh talent to meet the challenge posed by private broadcasters. (C) IMPLEMENTATION PLAN: (1) Digitalization of Production facilities- (a) Studios (i) Present state of Digitalization of Studios: • NBH (New Broadcasting House) studio at Delhi is fully digital • 137 studio centres have been partially digitalized by providing hard disc based systems (ii) Schemes under implementation & proposed : • There are at present 215 studio centres in the AIR network. • Digitalization of 98 Studios will be achieved in XI Plan. • The remaining Studios are proposed to be digitalized during the next five years & targeted to be achieved by 2017. These studios will have provision for stereo recording, production & transmission, all in the digital domain. (b) RNUs (Regional News Units) (i) Present state of Digitalization of RNUs: Nil (ii) Schemes under implementation & proposed : • Augmentation of 44 existing Regional News Units and creation of 7 new regional units. (c) News -on -Phone Service (NOP Service) (i) Present state of Digitalization of NOP Service. • NOP Service already digitalized at Delhi (ii) Schemes under implementation & proposed : • Augmentation of existing 13 NOP Centres • Introduction of NOP Service at 16 places (d) Digitalization of Archives: (i) Present state of Digitalization. Most of the Central Archives at Delhi has been digitalized. However, refurbishing is to be done. Content in Regional archives is to be digitalized / refurbished. (ii) Schemes under implementation & proposed : • Digitalization of existing Archives and creation of digital Archival facilities at 4 places. ** *(2) Digitalization of Transmitters- There are 380 Transmitters in the A.I.R. Network consisting of 149 Medium Wave, 54 Short Wave & 177 FM Transmitters. (i) Present state of Digitalization of Transmitters: • One 250 KW Short Wave Transmitter at Delhi has been converted to Digital mode and has been operational since January 2009. (ii) Schemes under implementation & proposed : • 78 MW (Medium Wave) Transmitters including 6 Mobile Transmitters are being digitalized as part of the XI Plan Digitalization schemes. Remaining MW 49 Transmitters in the network are proposed to be digitalized during next five years & targeted to be achieved by 2017. • 9 SW (Short Wave) Transmitters (4 in Delhi, 4 in Aligarh & 1 in Bangalore) are being digitalized as a part of the Digitalization Schemes inXI Plan. Remaining Shortwave Transmitters are proposed to be digitalized during next five years & targeted to be achieved by 2017. [WORLD OF RADIO 1575] • As digital technology in the FM band has matured recently, digitalization in the FM band was not proposed in XI plan. However, digital compatible FM Transmitters are being provided in the network during XI Plan. This includes 124 digital compatible FM Transmitters (including 100 numbers of 100 Watt FM Transmitters) at existing AIR/Doordarshan Sites & replacement of existing FM/MW Transmitters at 40 places. During next five years, digital broadcast in FM band is proposed to be started from about 50 places including all State capitals & major cities. * (3) Digitalization of Networking & Connectivity – (i) Present state of Digitalization of Networking & Connectivity: • Digital Uplink facility at 32 Centres • All the downlink facilities digitalized except at 44 places. • Digital Studio Transmitter links at 20 places. • 4 Nos. of DSNG Systems (Digital News Gathering Systems) are available. (ii) Schemes under implementation & proposed : • 115 Studio Transmitter links are being digitalized. • 5 new Digital Captive Earth Stations are being set up (32 are already available), • 44 down link facilities are being digitalized. • 98 Studio Centres being digitalized in XI Plan are being networked to a Central Data Server System for exchange of programme. Disaster Management site is also envisaged in the XI Plan. The remaining Studios, which are proposed to be digitalized by 2017 in XII Plan, will be connected to the Central Server. • 3 Nos. of DSNG systems (Digital News Gathering Systems) are being procured. With this Complete digitalization of networking & connectivity will be achieved. (4) AIR broadcasts are also proposed to be made available on alternate Platforms like Webcasting / Podcasting / SMS/Mobile services and to provide more channels in the DTH service. AIR Programmes are presently available through terrestrial mode and DTH. As part of XI Plan, following schemes are under implementation: • 20 AIR channels are proposed to be made available through Webcasting/Podcasting with a view to use the internet platform to serve listeners having internet connectivity. • There are presently 21 Radio Channels available on the Ku band DTH platform of Prasar Bharati (DD+). In XI Plan it is proposed to consolidate the DTH service. During Next five years, It is proposed to expand the reach and impact of AIR broadcasts through alternate platforms including availability of Content on request by SMS & email and also on i-phones etc. Channels on DTH will also be increased. (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, India, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. FIRST TRIBAL COMMUNITY RADIO STATION TO GO ON AIR AT BHABHRA ON JULY 23 World's first Tribal Community Radio Station will go on air at Bhabhara (Alirajpur district) in Madhya Pradesh. The radio station set up with the assistance of Vanya and Tribal Welfare Department will broadcast programmes in 'Bhili' dialect by tribals. The function to launch the radio station will be held on July 23, 2011 at 11 am at Bhabhra, the birthplace of Amar Shaheed Chandrashekhar Azad. BJP national president Nitin Gadkari will be the chief guest of the function, which will be presided over by Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. The Guests of Honour will include former Union Minister and MP Kantilal Bhuria, MP and State BJP president Prabhat Jha, SC, ST Welfare Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah, Minister of State for Public Health and Family Welfare and minister incharge of the district Mahendra Hardia, Alirajpur MLA Nagar Singh Chauhan and Jobat MLA Smt. Sulochna Rawat. The Bhabhra Radio Station will broadcast programmes for two hours daily, which can be heard at 90.4 megahertz frequency within 20 km radius. The radio station will be run by the local tribal community. The programmes prepared locally will be broadcast in their Bhili dialect. The radio station will play an important role in disseminating information about various welfare schemes on the one hand and on the other hand will also serve as a bridge between the people and the government. It is perhaps first occasion in the world that a Community Radio Station is being launched in tribals' own dialect in the wake of the State Government's efforts to ensure tribals' participation in administration. http://www.centralchronicle.com/viewnews.asp?articleID=64225 Related Links : First Tribal Radio Centre Of World To Be Launched At Bhabra On July 23 http://www.mpinfo.org/mpinfonew/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=110719N24&flag1=1 First Tribal Community Radio Station to go on air at Bhabhra July 23 http://www.mpinfo.org/mpinfonew/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=110721N9&flag1=1 Madhya Pradesh tribals can now hear radio in their dialects http://www.mpinfo.org/mpinfonew/newsdetails.aspx?newsid=110722N16&flag1=1 Vanya Radio Video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=707Jn8o3-gQ Sajan Venniyoor comments via cr-india list : First things first: this is not, by any stretch of the imagination, the "first tribal community radio station" in the world. It is probably not even the first in India. There are literally hundreds of tribal community radio stations in Latin America and North America, in New Zealand, Australia, PNG and the Asia Pacific in general, and no doubt dozens more in East Asia. Secondly, this is not a community radio station. It is owned and run by Vanya (a govt-run 'society') and the Tribal Welfare Dept. of Madhya Pradesh. As one can see from the YouTube video, it seems to be run entirely by non-tribals. The announcer speaks chaste Hindi. The station starts the day's broadcast with 'Vande Mataram', that well known tribal song. It is commendable that at least some of the programmes broadcast by Vanya Radio are in Bhili, a tribal dialect, but that does not make it a tribal radio station. AIR broadcasts in dozens of tribal dialects in central India and in the North East, where it also runs five 'community radio stations'. That does not make AIR a tribal or community broadcaster. According to the news story, "the radio station will play an important role in disseminating information about various welfare schemes". That is what state-run radio stations do. AIR has done that for nearly 65 years now, at immense expense, without any marked success (Sajan Venniyoor via cr-india list, http://www.crforum.in ) Regards, (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, http://alokeshgupta.blogspot.com/ dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3325, 2134-2146, RRI Palangkaraya (tentative), 16/07, Indonesian, YL (mostly)/OM talks, short musical fragments - poor under local noise, then weak due to propagation, http://www.rripalangkaraya.co.id/index.php (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Drake R8A and 30 meters long wire, HCDX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9526-, July 26 at 1305, it`s Tuesday, so I struggle to hear very poor VOI signal and whether they are still doing the RRI Banjarmasin hookup. Dead air at first, then beeps as in phone busy signal; 1306 a bit of music and talk, very poor and it`s either in Indonesian or heavily-accented English. Not worth any further effort to understand. 9526-, July 27 at 1245, VOI with improved signal to S9+18, such that intermittent audio dropouts (IADs) during music could still be observed, then Special Japanese announcement. By 1304 in English had faded considerably, reading S9+15 but tough copy due to undermodulation, fading, noise level, accent. Unseemed news but a discourse on the Dutch colonial era, too long either to have been `Today in History` segment normally appearing after the news (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. South Herts Radio web update Hi Everyone, Updated today - SHR listen again http://www.southhertsradio.com/again.html New programmes added. SHR is relaying Laser Hot Hits when we are off air. The next intended live stream is on Sunday 31st July from 1100 to 1900 UT / 12.00-20.00 BST. 73 Gary. Join Gary Drew on a radio near you! http://www.laserhothits.co.uk - Europe`s hottest shortwave free radio station. http://www.southhertsradio.com - SHR: International Radio with community programming for South Hertfordshire (Gary Drew, July 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. PCJ MEDIA LAUNCHES COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE ON WRN PCJ Media has announced that its weekly communications magazine is coming to the World Radio Network from 30 July. The programme will be broadcast at the following times: Saturday to Africa & Asia at 1000-1030 UT Saturday to Europe at 1300-1330 UT Saturday to North America at 2100-2130 UT Below is the satellite tuning information for each region: North America Galaxy 19 at 97º West Transponder 27, 12.177 GHz Vertical polarisation Symbol Rate 23,000 Msym/s FEC 3/4 DVB MPEG2, Choose Audio Channel: WRN1 (English), Service-ID: 13. WRN is also available on channel 120 on both Sirius and XM. For further information on subscribing to Sirius Satellite Radio in the USA, please visit the website: http://siriusxm.com Europe Sky Digital, Channel 0122 (Eurobird 1, 28.5º East) Transponder C2, 11.224 GHz Vertical polarisation Symbol Rate 27.500 Mbaud FEC 2/3 MPEG2 DVB audio stream. Select WRN Europe from audio menu. Eutelsat Hot Bird 6, 13º East Transponder 94 12.597 GHz, Vertical Symbol Rate 27.500 Mbaud FEC 3/4 MPEG2 DVB audio stream. Select WRN English from audio menu. Asia/Pacific Intelsat 10 at 68.5 degrees east Transponder: 14 (C band), downlink frequency: 3808 MHz Vertical polarization Symbol rate: 10.340 Msym/sec FEC: 3/4. Africa Intelsat 10 at 68.5 degrees east Transponder: 14 (C band), downlink frequency: 3805.5 MHz Vertical polarization Symbol rate: 6.670 Msym/sec FEC: 3/4. You can also receive WRN via DStv. For details contact DSTV on +27 11 289 2222, Fax +27 11 577 4901, E-mail: enquiries @ multichoice.co.za or visit the DSTV website at http://www.dstv.com (Source: PCJ Media)(July 26th, 2011 - 9:20 UT by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. The Thames Offshore Forts --- A superb video completed last month, now posted to You Tube. Included are clips from sixties offshore stations. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-p-MjmFTac&feature=share (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Yavne - Panoramio image. First photo seen of site: http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/35434780.jpg Regards (Ian Baxter, NSW, July 24, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 9235 / 15850, Galei Zahal. 2317 July 21, 2011. As is often the case, all over the place with Beyoncé, James Brown's "I Feel Good" into a Jerry Lee Lewis song, then "The Shadow Of Your Smile" by Tony Bennett, Hebrew vocal, unidentified Prog Rock and then an Echo and the Bunneymen track. 15850 very good, 9235 fair (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9235, Galei Zahal, 2300-2350, July 27, Hebrew talk. Local pop music. // 15850 - both frequencies fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ITALY [non]. SPECIAL PROGRAMME FROM THE ARCTIC RADIO CLUB On Saturday, July 23 and Sunday, July 24 at 1100 UTC (1300 CET) a 15 minute special programme made by the Arctic Radio Club will be aired by IRRS over a transmitter in Romania on 9510 kHz. The programme has been produced by ARC members Ronny Forslund, a/k/a Ronny B Goode, and Christer Brunström, chairman of the ARC. We are sitting in for Stephen who usually runs his programme 39 Dover Street at this time but as he is moving house he asked us to fill his airtime. A webstream is also available on http://www.nexus.org/ Happy listening! (Ronny Forslund, from Arctic Radio Club (ARC) blogspot via Alan Pennington, July 22, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Heard it, but no QSL address was given? 73, (Erik Koie, Copenhagen, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ARC Arctic Radio Club - 9510 via Tiganesti 300 kW performance, 9.5 kHz wide signal at 1130 UT July 24. 337 degrees noted at S=9+20 to +30 dB level in Belgium, Holland, and England. Here is the SW schedule: (Wolfgang Büschel, July 24, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 25 via DXLD) Update: Arctic Radio Club special programme over IRRS According to current information the programme will go out at 1130 UT (1330 CET) on Sunday, July 24 on 9510 kHz and it will be repeated the following weekend at 0845 UT (1045 CET) on Saturday, July 30 and at 1130 UT (1330 CET) on Sunday, July 31. Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE New Delhi, http://alokeshgupta.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DXLD) 9510, 1058-1147, ROMANIA, Sunday 24.07, IRRS programmes via Tiganeshti in English: 1058 religious talk, 1100 IRRS ID and Milano address, 1101 conversation about the late Billy Graham, song, 1130 IRRS ID and Milano address, 1130 Special DX programme from Arctic R Club with Ronny Forslund and Christer Brunström, 1145 IRRS ID and Milano address, United Nations programme about Somalia and Congo; 45344. Best 73 (Anker Petersen, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** JAPAN [and non]. 6120, July 28 at 1221, R. Japan, NHK World via Sackville to NAm is JBA; yet 9695 direct to Asia is very good! Something is amiss with RJ`s frequency planning. Item about instant curry with voice-over clips from Portuguese, which apparently has become the #3 language in Japan; then on whether to put ice in beer like they do in Vietnam; 1228 outro as `Radio Japan Focus`, which is the weekday magazine; 1230 Sakura, and opening in Thai (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9650, KBSWR in English via CANADA, July 24 at 1248 is about equal level with VOK direct in Japanese, producing SAH of about 5 Hz. KBS doggedly stix to this frequency, unnecessarily clashing with the other side. I daresay Sackville is no problem for VOK reception in Japan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. Google Earth imagery. Some high resolution place. VE Update - Google Earth historical image. Panoramio MW Umm Al-Rimam (New!) New GE imagery of the new MW ant & tx building at the IBB site of Umm Al-Rimam site in Kuwait. 29 31 16 N 47 41 16 E (Ian Baxter, Australia, SW TXsite July 19 via BC-DX July 25 via DXLD) Okay, this MW unit was expected on air in August 2008, but delayed of 2.5 years, due of financial crash by the antenna firm. Is this on MW 1386 kHz now? KWT IBB MW Radio Farda Kuwait new 600 kW 3-mast. But still miss the new Thales-Thomcast revolving SW antenna, which was visible on the extended IBB Kuwait video a year ago: KWT IBB KUWAIT Thomson rotatable 1 km feeder line, 2 x 250 kW approx. 29 31 20.94 N 47 40 23.12 E still old image of 29 Oct 2004 visible. KWT Receiving and monitoring station; old destroyed Radio Kuwait radio station 29 20 58.22 N 47 46 23.15 E (Wolfgang Büschel, July 29, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 25 via DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG. Installation of a 1500 kW LW Solid State Transmitter in Luxemburg --- http://www.broadcast-transradio.com 11 July 2011 Since mid of June the new TRANSRADIO TRAM/P 1500 LS in Beidweiler, Luxembourg, is in daily operation for RTL replacing an old tube-type transmitter. BCE, the network operator for RTL, upgraded this transmitter to the latest solid-state technology from TRANSRADIO to reduce operational costs and to increase the reliability of this important transmitter, which is broadcasting the French RTL program towards Paris using a directional antenna with three 290 m masts. The TRANSRADIO TRAM/P 1500 LS consisting of two single TRAM 750 LS transmitters and a paralleling unit (PU) for the loss-free coupling of both transmitters, offers an efficiency of approx. 90%, the outstanding redundancy of the TRAM-line transmitters with its small power modules (576 identical modules in this transmitter!) and the fall-back to operate with -3 dB in case of maintenance work or the unlikely event of a serious problem with one of the transmitters. The excellent performance and quality of the installed transmission system resulted in a impressive DRM performance with a output spectrum nearly 10 dB better than the ITU requirement and a MER of 36 dB at 400 kW DRM average output power. More details about this very successful project can be found in an artikel written from our senior engineer for AM transmitters, Harald Zank, in the Radio World International 06/2011 in the "Buyers Guide" section. A PDF version of the article can be downloaded here. Some more pictures of the site can be found in our References section. See: http://www.broadcast-transradio.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=133%3A15-mw-lw-tube-to-solid-state-upgrade-in-luxembourg&catid=1%3Aaktuelle-nachrichten&Itemid=79&lang=en (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Puff ** MACQUARIE ISLAND. WIRELESS HILL HF TRANSMITTER SITE 100TH ANNIVERSARY --- Historical radio buffs in the group may be interested in this story from ABC TV (Australia) on 'The 7.30 Report' regarding the remote location of Wireless Hill, Macquarie Island once used for HF transmissions. The broadcast was on Wednesday 13th of July. http://www.abc.net.au/iview/?series=2186770#/index/0-9 Transcript here: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3268909.htm Further info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wireless_Hill & Google :-) I guess the site was somewhere around here: -54.494419 158.942221 (re GE coordinates). A couple of other masts are seen faintly (different to above story) e.g. -54.496561 158.941899 ALSO: Plenty of photos & text here: http://www.mawsonshuts.aq/macquarie-island/wireless-relay/contact.html Enjoy. 73's (Ian Baxter, NSW, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ARRL considers this a DXCC radio country, entity #153. I knew it was off Australia, but finding it in an atlas was a challenge. Some of them mix in Mc and Mac alfabetically tho this unseems either prefix. I had to go thru seven of them in random order from my collexion before I found it in the index of the Readers Digest Bartholomew of 1983. It`s way off toward Antarctica about 55 south, forming a triangle with Tasmania and S New Zealand (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Due to the ABC's stupid "copyright" policy, the show can only be viewed in Australia. I haven't tried the transcript yet, maybe the same applies there (Colin Miller, Ont., VE3CMT, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) I saw the transcript (gh, USA) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, 1846-1907'10*, Radio Nasionaly Malagasy, Antananarivo, 20/07, Malagasy, slow pop songs, 1858 news in brief with short musical pauses, then OM talks including by phone and sudden close down without any final ann - strong signal, but fair only due to high level of local noise (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Drake R8A and 30 meters long wire, HCDX via DXLD) AM? SSB? ** MADAGASCAR. MADAGASCAR WORLD VOICE ON TRACK by National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters on Saturday, June 25, 2011 at 12:55pm by Rob Scobey, World Christian Broadcasting http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=237415482954905 The staff at Embassy Suites in Franklin/Cool Springs, Tennessee was excited. It was the largest crowd to ever attend an event there. The crowd of some 750 people attending the 2011 benefit dinner was excited, because World Christian Broadcasting had that kind of news to share. And they were excited to hear from Brad McCoy, father of 2009 Heisman runner-up and now Cleveland Browns quarterback, Colt McCoy. This excitement has become typical over the years at World Christian Broadcasting's annual dinners. Vice President Andy Baker came to the podium and delivered the news. The funds for the final payment for the transmitters for the new Madagascar radio station have been raised. And the transmitters will soon be on their way from Texas to Madagascar. If things continue to go as planned, the Madagascar station will begin broadcasting by the end of the year. The crowd stood and cheered the news. The audience viewed "Hope in the Storms of Life," a video featuring the six senior producers for programming. The Madagascar station will double the number of language services. Currently, KNLS [in Alaska] broadcasts in Chinese, English and Russian. The new Madagascar station will add services for Africa, the Arabic Middle East and Latin America. Each producer described the typical listeners in their area of the world, and the storms of life faces by each. Also on the video, World Christian Broadcasting's President/CEO Charles Caudill noted especially the timing of the new Arabic language broadcast, which comes as the young Middle East population is demanding freedom and democracy. [This video was also shown by WCB's Kok Hai Tan at the 2011 NASB annual meeting.] (NASB Facebook via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 5964.87, RTM “Klasik Nasional”, 1238 July 22. Malaysian pop music, 1244 Koran reading, 1245 man and woman followed by Islamic call to prayer. Poor (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car with Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 6050.0, Asyik FM, 1320, July 21. Fair to good; in vernacular; many IDs; reference to “central Kuala Lumpur”; YL DJ playing heavy rock music; later checks after 1408 found no audio for the R. Suara Islam segment; only strong open carrier. Perhaps it's my imagination, but the audio now seems a little bit clearer than on ex- 6049.6. Evidence of a new transmitter? MP3 audio http://www.box.net/shared/243cjhmji2kxa9yts5ir What was said at 01:24? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6050-, RTM must have resumed its off-frequency transmitter for I am again hearing the het upon HCJB, and seems about the same pitch as before, July 28 at 1123. On July 20 and 21, Ron Howard had them on exactly 6050.0 instead of 6049.6. Apparently temporarily with a different transmitter capable of better accuracy (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nice catch, Glenn, as Asyik FM via RTM was indeed via their old transmitter on 6049.6v (ex-6050.0); heard from 1205 to 1242 on July 28, with YL DJ in vernacular playing pop songs; audio not as sharp and crisp as heard via 6050.0 transmitter. Is difficult to keep up with the latest Malaysian developments, as there seems to daily be some changes. 5030 and 7270v continue to be absent as of July 28 and for at least three days now 9835 has been off the air too. No change for 5964.7v, with nice "Radio Malaysia Klasik Nasional" ID at 1333, July 28. No change for 11665 (Wai FM). (Ron Howard, California, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS. AN EXOTIC BRITISH & AMERICAN RADIO BROADCASTING STATION ON A LONELY ISLAND IN THE INDIAN OCEAN: THE STORY OF RADIO GAN Some time back, the well known Victor Goonetilleke in Colombo, Sri Lanka, asked a question. He queried: Do we happen to know when the BFBS station on the island of Gan was closed? OK, Victor, after a spate of interesting research; yes, we do have an approximate answer. This is the story. The island of Gan forms part of the most southerly atoll in the Maldive Islands. If you take a look at a map showing the the land and ocean areas of the Indian sub-continent, you will note a chain of small islands running south, off the west coast of India. The northern half of this chain of islands belong to India and are known as the Lakshwadeep Islands, and the southern half of this chain of islands form an independent country, the Maldives. All of these islands are in fact the tops of an underwater range of mountains, rising up from the floor of the Arabian Sea, and the Maldive section of this island chain is more like a double chain of coral atolls nearly 500 miles long. The Maldives is made up of nearly 2,000 islands, most very small, and only 200 are inhabited. The total combined area of all of the islands is only 115 square miles, the average height above sea level is less than 6 ft, and the highest hill stands at just 80 ft. The total population in the Maldive Islands is around 1/3rd million, and around 2/3rd million tourists flock into the holiday islands each year. The December 2004 tsunami from Indonesia washed over the islands, devastating the entire nation. Only 9 islands escaped damage; 6 islands were destroyed, and a further 14 have been totally evacuated. With the slowly rising ocean waters due to global warming, the Maldive government has given consideration to buying a massive property in Sri Lanka, or India or Australia, though nothing tangible has been implemented thus far. The first settlers in the Maldives came from Sri Lanka and India more than 2000 years ago. They have been ruled by the Portuguese, Dutch & English, and they achieved independence in 1968. The capital city is Male which occupies all of one small island. The island of Gan itself is situated in the most southerly atoll, it is also the largest island in the Maldives, and it is linked by roadways & bridges to other islands in the atoll. The population in the area is around 25,000. In 1941, the British Royal Navy established a base at Gan, and they also constructed the nation’s first airstrip. Sixteen years later, the British base was transferred from navy control to the air force. At the height of its operations, there was a total of 600 air force personnel on the island; and in 1972, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth of Great Britain made a royal visit to the island. In 1976, when the British no longer needed the base, it was handed over to the Maldivian authorities, and it has now been developed into an international tourist facility known as Equator Village. In order to provide entertainment and information to the base personnel, a small and apparently very low powered volunteer radio station was installed on Gan Island in mid 1963. This station seemed to escape the attention of international radio monitors who were scanning the radio broadcasting bands at their locations in surrounding countries for a period of some 7 years. In 1970, BFBS the British Forces Broadcasting Service in London, took a look at the entertainment needs of their personnel on Gan, and recommended that they be provided with access to TV programming, though nothing came of this recommendation. During the following year though, an experienced radio broadcaster was transferred from Singapore to Gan for the purpose of upgrading the volunteer station into a fully fledged official BFBS radio broadcasting station. Quite soon, BFBS Gan was morphed into a regular radio station, with 250 watts on 1215 kHz. According to monitoring entries in radio magazines of that era, it was Victor Goonetilleke himself who first drew international attention to this upgraded BFBS station. Three years later, the station equipment was again upgraded, and it was now on the air with 600 watts using a modified 2½ kW transmitter on 1560 kHz, or as monitoring reports indicated 1561 kHz. BFBS Gan was now heard more widely, throughout the Maldive Islands, and in Sri Lanka & India, and occasionally further afield. An FM outlet on 88 MHz was added around the same time, though with the very low power of just 24 watts. However, with changes in political attitudes, and changes in the areas of international diplomacy, the British no longer needed their base on Gan, and the entire facility was transferred to the Maldivian government on March 29, 1976. Around this same time, the exotic little BFBS radio broadcasting station was also closed, and gone for ever, at the end of its 16 year tenure as a radio broadcasting station; a volunteer station at first and then an official BFBS station. Over the years, a handful of QSLs were issued to listeners who were actually able to hear the station. One lonely QSL card, a prepared card, signed, rubber stamped and postmarked, is lodged in the Indianapolis Collection. This card verifies the reception of BFBS Gan as heard in Male in the Maldives itself in 1974, and also in Colombo in 1975. Though this radio broadcasting station is looked upon as an entirely British operated station in its two phases of operation, volunteer & then official BFBS, yet, this is not exactly the case. During the three year period running from 1971 to 1973, the American Air Force was also involved with the British Royal Air Force in the operation of the air force base on Gan. According to the entries in the World Radio TV Handbook, the BFBS radio station on Gan island was actually a joint operation between personnel from the air force of both countries, British & American, during the three year period extending from 1971 through 1973. Thus Radio Gan is seen as a joint AFRS & BFBS operation during this specific time period. As far as is known at the present time, only one other forces radio broadcasting station was a joint operation between two countries, and that was the mediumwave station 9PA in Port Moresby, New Guinea back in the year 1944. At one stage, it was a joint operation between Australian & American personnel (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for July 24 via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA. 7245, 0607, Radio Mauritanie audible nightly since 6 June with Qur`an from around 0600 variable, good strength. Flute music & ident 0700 27/6 then Arabic news. Audible as late as 0855 some days (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, July NZ DX Times via DXLD) ``Since``, but as of when? (gh) 7245, 1812-1844, 0010-0012* R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 20-21/07, French, OM(mostly)/YL talks including tentative ID at 1834'42 and some mentions of Mauritanie, local singing and fragments of tidinit[?]-like music - poor with splashes from 7250 (CVA) at the beginning, then fair (starting from 1835-1840), fair at 0010 in Arabic (Mikhail Timofeyev, Saint-Petersburg, Russia, Drake R8A and 30 meters long wire, HCDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 990, XET "La T Grande" Monterrey, Nuevo León. 1058 July 23, 2011. Faded up shortly after my local sunrise for a moment with local signal over Radio Guamá, with slogan ID into choral anthem at 1059. Faded down as fast as it appeared (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6010, Radio Mil, México D. F., 0608-0620, 25-07, Latin American songs, identification by male: "Radio Mil", song "Vuela, vuela", singer, Kate Ryan. Very weak and slight interference from La Voz de tu Conciencia. Best in LSB. Radio Habana Cuba seems to be out of air today. 13321 (Manuel Méndez, Logs in Reinante, Lugo, Cantabrian Sea coast, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. MEXICO UNDERGOING MASSIVE PUBCASTING EXPANSION Mexico is planning a $45.5 million boost to public broadcasting, to rough triple national coverage from 2010 to 2012, Variety reports. http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118039955 That initial investment for 2011-2012 will mainly fund 19 new repeater substations to help boost signals across the nation. An additional $3 million yearly will go to operations through 2020. The government hopes to improve the coverage of Once (Spanish for 11) TV, the largest educational broadcast network (owned by Instituto Politécnico Nacional, or the National Polytechnic Institute), http://oncetv-ipn.net/ from 50.7 percent to 76.8 percent of the country, an additional 26.9 million viewers. Its goal is to reach more than 91 million viewers by 2020. Some 79 percent of television sets in Mexico rely solely on over-the-air broadcasting (Current July 18 via DXLD) Full Variety story: Posted: Sat., Jul. 16, 2011, 4:00am PT MEXICO ADDS JUICE TO PUBLIC BROADCASTERS NATION BOOSTS REACH AS ALTERNATIVE TO TELEVISA, TV AZTACA [sic] By James Young 'Soy tu fan' [caption:] Canana's 'Soy tu fan' (I'm Your Fan) preemed in April 2010 on Once TV. Campeche state governor Fernando Ortega Bernes, second from left, and Canana's Diego Luna, second from right, kick off production of 'Holy Child.' MEXICO CITY -- Mexico is planning a $45.5 million expansion of pubcasters as a nationwide alternative to commercial giants Televisa and TV Azteca. Once TV, the largest public web, will see more upscale programming, with "Holy Child" from Pablo Cruz's Canana, skedded to air this year on the pubcaster, an example of the content it intends to support. The move comes as Mexico takes steps to dramatically expand public television, roughly tripling national coverage from 2010 to 2012. The national pubcaster expansion began quietly in March 2010 with the creation of a new department within the Interior Secretariat, dubbed the OPMA, charged with planning and executing a plan to promote the production and distribution of cultural programming via public media outlets. The project will be injected with an initial investment of $45.5 million for 2011-2012, mostly funding 19 new repeater substations strategically placed to help boost signals across the nation; three such stations that broke ground in 2010 will be completed. Investment also includes an additional $3 million devoted to yearly operations through 2020, according to the OPMA's recently approved expansion plan. Mexico hopes to improve Once TV's coverage from 50.7% to 76.8% of the nation this year, which will enable it to reach an additional 26.9 million viewers, with a goal of reaching more than 91 million viewers by 2020. Once TV, operated by the National Polytechnic Institute, launched in 2010 with a reach of just 28% of the nation's population. Known also as Canal 11 in Mexico City, the pubcaster will continue to be the principal focus of the national growth plan; others that will benefit include National Arts and Culture Channel Canal 22; and TV-UNAM, run by Mexico City's massive public university UNAM. According to the OPMA plan, the expansion has a mission to develop a diverse and solid "industry of content" and to generate better competition in the over-the-air television market, via increased national coverage. Unable to access customized content on cable or satellite, 79% of television sets in Mexico rely solely on over-the-air broadcasting. Commercial webs TV Azteca and Televisa command a whopping market share of between 92% and 95%. A recent poll of TV viewers showed that 40% indicate that commercial TV did not provide an acceptable range of programming for young people. They also complained of unbalanced news coverage, a lack of high-quality content and a plague of reality talent competitions on the commercial broadcasters. OPMA stressed that many rural areas lack access to the pubcasters. This year, Once TV is launching "Holy Child," the first episode in a short-run skein created by Canana prexy Cruz and penned by Mauricio Katz (Cannes hit "Miss Bala") and Pedro Peirano (Sundance preem "The Maid"). Now shooting on location in the jungles of Campeche, installments will topline Mexican indie regulars, including Gabino Rodríguez ("Perpetuum Mobile") and Dagoberto Gama ("Amores Perros"). "Child" is the second foray into broadcast TV for Gael García Bernal's and Diego Luna's Canana, with "I'm Your Fan" (Soy tu fan) kicking off in April 2010 on Once TV. Boosted by the star power of Ana Claudia Talancon, the program was a critical success and fared relatively well in its timeslot; however, given the web's limited reach, many of Mexico's 110 million residents never even knew about it. Beyond "Fan," the channel had already begun to win kudos for provocative series like "XY" and "Bienes Raíces," both of which broached socially taboo topics, with no fear of flashing flesh. That said, the new wave of Once's skeins are going head-to-head with the twin idols of Mexican TV -- soccer and telenovelas. With soccer rights divided between Televisa and TV Azteca, and Once's dedication to offer programming with substance, the success of the expansion will depend on the pubcaster's ability to successfully tune in to the demands of those viewers who crave more from their TV than sports and skin. An OPMA spokesperson confirmed that some money will flow to develop original programming; however, she was unable to produce a specific budget figure for production, and the budget outlay document obtained by Variety was non-specific. Now entering its second season, "Fan" will run along with "Child"; however, Canana promises that the new series will be a stark departure from standard over-the-air fare, offering no-holds-barred consideration of themes like faith and science with a level of production not usually seen in Mexican TV production. Time alone will tell if the avowed quality of these new programs -- and the massive expansion of coverage will truly give Televisa and TV Azteca something to worry about, and result in a real shakeup in Mexican broadcasting (via DXLD) Glenn, Thank you for the link to the Variety article. Doug thought the two low-band stations (in Mérida and Oaxaca) were supposed to be on the air this year. Maybe they will be on next year. Unless plans have changed, those stations would be DX targets, as the channel 2 in Oaxaca is listed at 41 kW and channel 5 in Merida at 90 kW. Unfortunately, channel 5 in Cancún already runs many programs from Once, so the one in Merida will be a difficult ID if they continue in the tradition of other non-local-IDing Once stastions. As you know, the channels in Mexico are already saturated (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, July 25, Mexico TV DX Tips http://www.tvdxtips.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Glenn, Your TV DX reports continue to hold my interest. I think XHBC-3 has dropped the XHBC/Tu Canal logo and replaced it with a "Televisa Mexicali" ID. That Televisa logo on the XEW programs actually has Mexicali written in tiny letters below Televisa. They were using the new logo upper right Monday, but the 60th anniversary part of the XEW logo was not covered. Tuesday the new logo had been moved upper left. Needless to say, this new logo is not DXer- friendly. Pictures are attached (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, Mexico TV DX Tips http://www.tvdxtips.com July 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And presumably will update: http://www.tvdxtips.com/mexlogosch3.html ** MEXICO. Bits of signals from south appeared now and then mostly on channel 2, all evening July 22 from 2232 into UT July 23, but nothing developed. The sporadic E season normally is starting to decline by late July, but it has been plenty heavy earlier in July and June. Turn-on and tune-in at 1437 UT July 23 found heavy Es CCI from south on 2, 3, less so on 4; 1440 peaked to ch 5, net 5 with Smurfs, then also on 3 but weakening; 1513 on 2, net-5 more Smurfs, but MUF drops below 2 by 1530. Not much Es TVDX but MUF briefly poked up to channel 2 around 0400 UT July 24, Spanish from the south. Some more sporadic-E analog TV DX, July 24, UT: 1832 on 4, fades in with soccer from SW, 10 kHz CCI; net-2. Also weak signals on 2, 3, 5 1837 on 5, net-2 with soccer // 4 1912 on 2, scenes from a rodeo, I think, rather than a bullfight, with soft-spoken narration; shortly see oval-2 bug UR with XHI-TV calls beneath. Plus a streamer across screentop, maybe additional relay IDs? Only a glimpse before faded. Ciudad Obregón, Sonora 1929 on 4, soccer from SSW, net-13. So two nets are running fútbol on a Sunday afternoon, but the big one is on net-2. 4 still in at 1949 1949 on 6, béisbol, reminding me how seldom we see BB any more on the air in USA rather than cable. Has an unfamiliar circular bug in UR; still at 2002 2001 on 4, the net-2 fútbol is Copa América from Argentina, with Uruguay one of the teams 2024 on 2, net-2 fútbol is dominating the QRM 2045 on 2, only this is left, net-2 FB from SW 2225 on 2-6, weak signals, mostly FB 2234 on 4, fútbol here much stronger than the other channels, indicating there is not a 2 at same location 2242 on 4, some non-football, think I see an f bug = net-4 2354 on 3, game show, carrying people around studio; still at 2359 with round bug UR. After big Canadian opening earlier July 27, just bits of Mexican TV DX appeared UT July 28: 0105 on 2, some Spanish from the south 1405 on 2, tune-in to lite CCI, 1413 identifiable as net-2 bug UR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO [and non]. 15341.14, 20/7 1340, SNRT Morocco, Arabic talks, songs, weak/fair fading 15344.16, 19/7 1917, RAE, Argentina, in Italian, talks and songs, in LSB to avoid QRM Morocco. Fair 15345.18, 18/7 1815, SNRT, Morocco, talks in Arabic, off channel as usual, good signal but some QRM from RAE carrier. Have nice time (Giampiero Bernardini, Pescia, Tuscany, SDR-14, 30 meters long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15345v, July 26 at 2059-2101* Arabic singing from IMM, modulation cut at 2100 sharp, and carrier off at 2101*. Had het on lo side from Argentina, then left in the clear with very weak signal. As it precesses earlier and earlier by the Western calendar, Ramadan is nigh. This will lead to schedule changes on some SW services. Morocco`s SW broadcasts, being relays of domestic service, shift one hour as DST comes and goes. This summer, 15345 has been closing around 2100 instead of 2200 UT, but we may soon find it lasting again until 2200: ``Morocco will probably end DST before the start of Ramadan in 2011. Ramadan begins on August 1, 2011. Morocco’s daylight saving schedule ended before the start of Ramadan in 2009 and 2010. timeanddate.com will provide updates on DST in Morocco when information becomes available.`` Says http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/morocco-start-dst-2011.html Also listing July 31 as the last day of UT+1 there (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR [non?]. [see INDIA for details of DX-pedition in Dec 2010] 711 - 16-Dec-10 - 1200 - 43433 - BURMESE - PADAUK MYAY RADIO, MYANMAR - ANTI GOVT TALK, QRM from AIR MW [times presumably UT, not specified] 711 - 16-Dec-10 - 1355 - 24422 - BURMESE - MYANMA RADIO - TALK BY YL Babul Gupta gives insight into Myanmar 711 kHz. Through our antennas, Myanmar unofficial radio 711 kHz was coming on loud and clear. Babul Gupta who is fluent in Burmese because of his childhood days spent in Burma took some time to listen to the station and came up with this find: the Burmese rap songs on 711 kHz had lyrics based on pro democracy issues. This means that 711 kHz is probably based in neighboring Thailand and broadcasting to Myanmar. It is unlikely to be a pro democracy station based in Myanmarese soil (DXERS GUIDE, Ardic DX Club, January-March 2011, via Jaisakthivel via Drita Çiço, DXLD) NOTE: WRTH shows a 400 kW outlet on 711 kHz, of the official MRTV, in the new capital Nay Pyi Taw with the ``Padauk Myay`` music program in Burmese, at 2300-0130, 0730-1000, 1130-1530. Possibly a pirate could occupy the gaps, but logs above are during the 1130-1530 transmission. So it would appear despite the seeming pro-democracy content of the songs, it was really the hi-power government outlet (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 7185.75, Myanma Radio, 1220-1221:55*, July 21. Their signature theme music (indigenous) with assume sign off announcement in vernacular followed by EZL music till off (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7185.741, Myanma Radio noted July 20 at 12.10 UT, S=8 on SDR remote unit in Australia. Light Asian singer music program. But little disturbed by DRM digital like white noise outlet at S=7 level, peak at 7189.5 and bandwidth around 7188 to 7192 kHz, but could be rather also a ham radio digital operation. 73 wb (wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) 7185.75, Myanmar Radio, 1115 to 1130 fade out, very good signal at first, YL in between music, 22 July Thanks Victor G.for correction fb :-) (Robert Wilkner, NRD 535D - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro modified, Pompano Beach, South Florida U S, HCDX via DXLD) 7185.75, Myanma Radio, 1210-1239:27*, July 25. In vernacular; pop indigenous songs; 1220 signature theme music (indigenous); more pop songs; they seem to have no set sign off time (for a while was 1220* and before that 1330*); now just very flexible timing; fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. [Re 11-29] CLEANUP AROUND COLLAPSED TOWER WILL TAKE SEVERAL WEEKS It is expected to take three or four weeks for all debris from the collapsed transmission tower in Hoogersmilde to be cleared, according to a spokesman for the contractor. Today the dismantling of the mast, which partially collapsed on 15 July following a fire, commenced. The cleanup is being carried out with cranes and from within the tower itself. Because there are many cables and debris that could come down, the operation is proceeding with great care. It is still unclear what will happen to the mast at Hoogersmilde once everything has been tidied up. Removing all the debris is the first priority for now, said the spokesman. Reception of the public radio stations in various locations in the north of the country is still not satisfactory. The emergency mast in Assen has gone into service, but at least for the the next few days it will not provide an optimum signal. Meanwhile the tower in Lopik is only providing a limited signal for safety reasons, say the public broadcasters. Several other transmission sites are operating at reduced power until the cause(s) of the fires at Lopik and Hoogersmilde can be ascertained. (Source: RadioWereld.NL) (July 25th, 2011 - 14:19 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) RADIO 5 ON THE AIR ON 1251 KHZ FROM LIMBURG Dutch public network Radio 5 is back on mediumwave via the 10 kW transmitter at Hulsberg on 1251 kHz. This transmitter, which serves the province of Limburg in the south of the Netherlands, had been carrying Radio 1 in parallel with 747 kHz since the collapse of the mast at Hoogersmilde in the north of the country two weeks ago. But since FM reception of Radio 1 in Limburg is good, there is no need to use mediumwave as well. However the main mediumwave transmitter on 747 kHz will continue to carry Radio 1 instead of Radio 5 for as long as necessary to serve parts of the provinces of Gelderland, North Brabant and South Holland where FM reception is patchy. It isn’t yet clear how long this situation will last (July 28th, 2011 - 9:32 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9840, 9865, 9895, RNW in Dutch on three frequencies within 55 kHz, July 21 at 0510, overkill?. 9865 was best, followed by weaker 9840 delayed about 1 second, and equally weaker 9895 delayed about 4 seconds. At 0534, 9865 had gone away, and 9840, 9895 remained. But they are for quite diverse targets, not US. Per http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/rnw-frequency-schedule-summer-2011 9865 is 300 kW, 230 degrees from BONAIRE to New Zealand 9840 is 500 kW, 40 degrees from FRANCE to the Baltic 9895 is 500 kW, 120 degrees from Wertachtal, GERMANY to SE Europe 5955, 250 kW, 40 degrees from PORTUGAL to W/C/E Europe also detectable as het to R. República 5954.3v under the DentroCuban Jamming Command. That`s not all; RNW schedule also shows: 6165, 250 kW, 315 degrees from BONAIRE to W N America, until 0527 6125, 250 kW, 114 degrees from VATICAN to Greece and Turkey 6015, 300 kW, 245 degrees from AUSTRIA to France/Spain/Portugal For a total of seven frequencies from six sites. Yet RNW can`t justify one frequency from one site for English. {According to some estimates, English is spoken by 72 times as many worldpeople as Dutch --- including nearly everyone who speaks Dutch as a first language.} (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Venerdì 22 luglio 2011, 0110 - 6190 kHz, R. NEDERLAND - Greenville-NC (USA), Olandese, commenti sportivi OMs. Segnale sufficiente- insufficiente, Co-ch Deutschlandfunk (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova) - Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) Per HFCC, this is the only RNW relay currently via Greenville, 0100-0127 (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Confirmação recebida_KBC, Sitkunai-Lituânia 6055 kHz - KBC the Mighty, Holanda (via Sitkunai, Lituânia) Recebido Cartão QSL, 36 dias após 3º follow up. V/S: Eric W. IR enviado por e-mail: info @ k-po.com Obs.: A escuta e o relatório são de agosto de 2009. Nas vezes anteriores, o verificador diz ter me enviado o cartão, que na verdade nunca havia chegado. Eu já estava perdendo as esperanças. Hoje, felizmente, chegou. O DX tem dessas coisas! Visualização estará disponível em breve no http://pqslfabricio.blogspot.com/ 73 (Fabricio Andrade Silva, PP5002SWL, Tubarão, SC, 26 July, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES [non!]. Some changes to the ITU country list to reflect the new status of the islands of the former Netherlands Antilles (no South Sudan yet). Curacao and St Maarten have gained an autonomous status, just like Aruba has had since 1985/86, while Bonaire, St Eustatius and Saba are now integral parts of the Netherlands. http://www.itu.int/cgi-bin/htsh/mm/scripts/generic.list?_n=COUNTRIES&_foto=y&_foto_del=y ATN - Netherlands Antilles - DELETED BES - Netherlands Caribbean (Bonaire - St Eustatius - Saba) CUW - Curacao SXM - Sint Maarten (Dutch part of the island) in addition to MAF - St Martin (French part of the island) ABW - Aruba 73, (Eike Bierwirth, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW CALEDONIA. July 12-18 Oregon Beach MW DXpedition Logs Hello All, The one-week trip to the Oregon beach this month was an excellent opportunity to test the compact new Ferrite Sleeve Loop antennas (8" diameter MW and 6.5" diameter LW) in weak-signal international DXing for the first time. They had both been tested prior to the trip (against 3' and 4' sided air-core tuned passive loops in fringe daytime DX) and had demonstrated superior weak-signal capability, so their excellent beach performance was no surprise. The Longwave model provided an inductive coupling boost to a Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight radio to receive the Samoan 1,000 watt beacon 270-FA at over 5,000 miles, providing the first Ultralight trans-equatorial NDB DX. Despite spotty propagation, on medium wave the 8" FSL received signals from more DU-DX countries than during any other summer Ultralight DXpedition I've ever conducted, including the new country of 666-New Caledonia. The loggings are posted below, with the MP3 links showing the time and date of reception for the recordings. All the following receptions were made with a stock Tecsun PL-380 Ultralight radio with an inductive coupling boost provided by an 8? diameter tuned Ferrite Sleeve Loop antenna composed of 63 Russian surplus 200mm x 10mm ferrite bars wrapped by a single coil of 660/46 Litz wire. Times are in UT. Sincere thanks is given to Walt Salmaniw, Chuck Hutton, Bruce Portzer, Patrick Martin, Nick Hall-Patch and Guy Atkins for their suggestions on unknown station identities after the past three DXpeditions. 666, Nouméa, New Caledonia --- Signals from this French-language station were significantly stronger than during last July`s trip, finally allowing the confirmation of parallel (France International) programming with 738-Tahiti. Popular French vocal music was common, as in this MP3 from 1257 on 7-13 http://www.mediafire.com/?5m5clydj88rql4c The parallel check with 738 was made at 1233 on 7-13, matching the French-speaking YL?s voice on 666 http://www.mediafire.com/?hp0jd6jpljcaxye (headphones recommended) with the French-speaking YL`s voice on 738 (mixing with 2NR, headphones recommended) http://www.mediafire.com/?cr54l2p3o3w9sn0 New Caledonia was an all-time new Ultralight DX country, never having produced a trace for John Bryant or me at Grayland. 73 and Good DX, (Gary DeBock (back in Puyallup, WA, USA), IRCA via DXLD) Plus many other Pacific logs. IRCA has open archives at http://www.mail-archive.com/irca@hard-core-dx.com/maillist.html This post specifically at http://www.mail-archive.com/irca@hard-core-dx.com/msg50942.html (gh, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Radio New Zealand noted not switching to 9655 at 1100. Remaining on 6170, and still there at 1215. 24 July (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6170, RNZI on July 24 at 1132 with a man hosting a program of 50's and other oldies - Fair on my Alinco DX-R8T and a loaded inverted vee. The problem here is that RNZI did not make the switch to 9655 at 1100. Still on 6170 through 1200 but getting weaker. Their sked shows going back to 6170 at 1258 (Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, cumbredx via DXLD) 6170, July 24 at 1229, RNZI is on in program about the première of Verdi`s Aïda in Egypt in 1871y; nothing on 9655 where RNZI is supposed to be at this hour. 1231 on to interview with a film director and more cultural items. 6170 is supposed to resume at 1300, so I monitored closely before then: amid old movie music, 1257:30 cut to dead air for a minute; unaware of reality in the studio, automation at 1258:30 ran QSY announcement from ``this frequency`` to 6170! ``This is New Zealand``, bell bird IS, no carrier breaks, and 1300 news. Must be another case of misprogrammed automation. Some other monitors noted that 6170 did not change to 9655 at 1100 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9704.99, LV du Sahel, 2237-2256*, July 27, rustic local music. Indigenous vocal music. Qur`an at 2249. Short flute IS and National Anthem at 2254. Five second test tone at 2256 and off. Good signal. Best signal I have heard from these guys in quite a while (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** NIGERIA [non]. via Wertachtal, Germany, 11945, Hamada Radio International, *1930-2000*, July 28, sign on with local music and opening announcements in listed Hausa. Talk and short breaks of local music. ID. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6925, 0509, USA, HOBBY PIRATE, Radio Free Mars at poor strength 24/6 with pops, ident with email address at 0522. Measured freq 6924.65. Gone at 0600 recheck. BCM 6925, 0610, USA [sic], HOBBY PIRATE, Radio True North at poor to fair level 26/6 with unusual music mix including ‘My Boomerang Won’t Come Back’. Gave email address for reception reports. Measured freq 6924.7 so suspect same transmitter as Radio Free Mars heard 24/6. Audible past 0700 (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, July NZ DX Times via DXLD) see also CANADA ** NORTH AMERICA. [Pirate]. 6924.86, Captain Morgan Shortwave, 0129- 0145, July 22, blues music. Theme music from Mission Impossible TV show. R&B mx. ID. Wild Cherry’s Play That Funky Music. Fair to good but ID announcement distorted as usual. Everytime I hear these guys their announcements are distorted. They really should fix their transmitter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** NORTH AMERICA. [Pirate]. 6930 USB, unidentified, 0215-0305*, July 22, country music. Fake ads. R-rated country mx. SSTV at 0301-0305*. No ID heard. Fair to good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** NORTH AMERICA. [Pirate]. 6930.12, Radio Ronin Shortwave, 0000-0015, July 22, wide variety of country music, blues, oldies pop music and Big Band music. Harry Belafonte’s Banana Boat song. ID. Fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Equipment: Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) A SW pirate in Lansing MI busted by FCC, apparently The Crystal Ship: see U S A, since North American ambiguity is no longer necessary ** OKLAHOMA. Oklahoma County Transmitter Update --- The plans to move the KROU transmitter serving Oklahoma County are on schedule, and if everything goes as planned, we'll begin the process in mid-August, moving the 105.7 FM transmitter to a different site and installing a new antenna on a differnet tower. Stay tuned for on-air and online updates about brief signal outages related to this project -- we hope to keep them to a minimum. More info about this: http://kgou.org/index.php?moving-krou-105-7-fm As far as funding for the move is concerned, donors have given about $20,000 for the project, to go with the $75,000 previously set aside for the move. The total cost will probably be close to $160,000 for this project, and we'll need help from our listeners to pay for it. A big "thank you" goes to those of you who have already contributed. Our online pledge forms have a Capital Campaign designation so that you can specify that your gift is for the KROU move (KGOU newsletter July 28 via DXLD) Driving from Enid to OKC down US 81 and SH 3, the KROU 105.7 signal is usually adequate beyond Hennessey, with a bit of dropping out around Kingfisher-Okarche, but our latest voyage July 21 found lots of picket-fencing all the way, so I was wondering if the site move had already happened (altho coverage is supposed to be virtually identical in that direxion). Maybe the old site was reduced power or somehow degraded prior to dismantlement. See a previous DXLD about the real story why the move is necessary (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. VOICE TRACKING --- WHO DOES IT IN TULSA? http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=194446.0 (via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Have been reading some of the radio-info.com message boards this evening and found a few items of interest: KNIT-1480 has been reported as silent for about 3-4 weeks while upgrading to 50 kW. I can't vouch for the accuracy of these reports but wanted to pass them along as points of interest (Bruce Winkelman AA5CO, Tulsa, OK, July 26, NRC-AM via DXLD) For KNIT to go 50 kW, AM 1470 in Pauls Valley OK had to be bought, then taken silent and the license turned in (Paul B Walker, Jr., IL, ibid.) KVLH has been off for years. NRC AM Log 2010-2011 shows KNIT Dallas TX with 24h NSP Spanish gospel format; God help us. Remember when it was rocker KBOX? (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to someone connected to KNIT: " KNIT will be off for a while. Putting in the new ground system and coax feeds first, project will take a while." (Paul Walker, PA, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 15725 minus 443 kHz, unID peak on 15282 kHz. Probably from Islamabad area in Pakistan originate a distorted UTE signal like in FM mode on super wide 15273 to 15299 kHz, modulated by R Pakistan Urdu service program of // 15725 and 17830 kHz at very same time. Noted on various remote SDR receivers all over Europe, from approx. 0520 till switch off at 0542 UT. Also the 17830 kHz noted on wide band 17816 to 17847 kHz. On 15725 plus 443 kHz = 16168 kHz another ute service noted (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 27, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Re 11-29: 1 Comment on “Radio Pakistan launches new website” #1 Sheldon Harvey on Jul 24th, 2011 at 12:21 I checked out the new Radio Pakistan webpage after reading this article. It has a lot of information, no doubt. However, when I went to the section on frequencies, the listings under the Shortwave, World Service and External Service all show their broadcast schedules that expired at the end of March 2011! Time for another update perhaps??? (Media Network blog comment via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. RADIO PAKISTAN BEING REVAMPED ON MODERN LINES: Dr. Firdous http://ftpapp.app.com.pk/en_/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=145478&Itemid=1 LAHORE, July 20 (APP): Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan said here on Wednesday that Radio Pakistan is being revamped on modern lines to improve its performance. Addressing the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) employees during her first visit to Radio Pakistan Station , the minister said that Radio Pakistan's website had also been launched to ensure its easy access to information technology. The Minister said that PPP's philosophy was the stability of institutions, citing, the present government was taking effective measures for re-structuring and re- building of institutions, while taking forward the mission and vision of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. She said that efforts were being put in order to improve financial strength of the PBC through public-private partnership. The government would provide Rs 700 million to the PBC, while the same amount would be generated through partnership with private sector to run the annual expenditures of Radio Pakistan, she added. Dr. Firdous assured that PBC lands would be retrieved from the land grabbers, which help further enhance its fiscal resources.Federal Information Minister Dr. Firdous Ashiq Awan said that PPP never resort to snatch livelihood from the common man but always provided them with jobs, adding the PPP-led government was taking steps for a residential colony of the PBC employees; enhancing their salaries as well as regularization of the service of contract employees. The Minister directed the PBC Director General Ghulam Murtaza Solangi, who was also present there, to review the problems of the employees, while taking the PBC Union office-bearers on board so as to ensure early rectification of those problems. Dr. Firdous said that government would make every effort to restore the importance and popularity of the Radio Pakistan, which can also play a key role in taking forward the mission and vision of Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed. She advised the PBC employees to perform their official duties with utmost devotion and hardwork. Lahore Station Director Khalid Waqar, the PBC Union office-bearers and a large number of employees were present on the arrival of the minister (via Alokesh Gupta, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN [non]. RADIO MASHAAL'S GUIDE TO HUMOR IN PAKISTAN'S PASHTO-SPEAKING TRIBAL AREAS. Posted: 22 Jul 2011 RFE/RL, 19 July 2011: "On the face of it, there's nothing funny about suicide bombings and the Taliban. But members of RFE/RL's Radio Mashaal find humor in the daily realities of life in Pakistan's Pashto-speaking tribal areas." With video produced by Margot Buff and Daisy Sindelar. Part of RFE/RL's Inside Joke section. http://www.rferl.org/archive/Inside_Joke/latest/3410/3410.html (kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) Plus IJ`s for other target areas! ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3205, NBC Sandaun (West Sepik) continues to be off the air through July 25. 3290, NBC Central with relay of Radio Gadona 95.5 FM, 1312-1322, July 25. Almost fair; OM DJ in Tok Pisin with pop island songs; ID: “Radio Gadona 95.5 FM”. 3275, NBC Southern Highlands, 1330-1344, July 25. DJ in English with dedications for C&W songs (“Them Old Cottonfields Back Home”, etc.); almost fair. 3365, NBC Milne Bay, 1345-1402*, July 25. OM DJ in English, but hard to understand with mushy audio; pop island songs; 1400 ID “National Broadcasting Corporation, Papua New Guinea”; schedule; National Anthem; poor (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 5960, Radio Fly via Kiunga, 1007, July 24. Several montages of brief audio bits from Beatles, etc. with the “Radio Fly” ID; YL DJ in Tok Pisin playing pop island songs; 1044 tuned out; 3915 off the air. Thanks to Walt Salmaniw, who has already reported that 3915 continues to be off the air (DXLD 11-29). Received an explanation from James Kaltobie: “Thanks Ron for your continual input. We have been experiencing some technical problems in that regard after our Radio Technician left and we are yet to find a replacement. Have you received the QSL card that I sent you? [Not yet, but hope to get it this week!] Let me know when you do. Best regards, James.” So let us hope they are able to fill Roseanne (“Rosie”) Kulupi’s position, which she left vacant about a month ago. Otherwise there seems little likelihood of 3915 coming back on line. Fortunately 5960 seems to be trouble free (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3915 and 5960, Radio Fly QSL card received after being mailed out by Ok Tedi Mining Limited, P.O. Box 1, Tabubil, Western Province, PNG on July 11; nice stamps on envelope; one for “China-PNG Diplomatic Ties - 25th Anniversary 1976-2001”; somewhat disappointed that no data was filled in regarding my reception (a do-it-yourself card?); I need to email James Kaltobie and gently explain that listeners would appreciate having the reception data filled in. Pictures at dxldyg “Photos”; “PNG Radio Fly” album; click on album, then click on individual picture; best viewed as “Large”. As nice as it is to now have their QSL card, I value much more the insightful correspondence I have had with various members of the Radio Fly staff during the past five months (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, July 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. [sic] Sr.Thomas Nilsson.le saludo muy cordialmente alavez quedo de ud .muy agradecido por haber sintonizado mi emisora radial radiojpj halla en esas ciudades tan lejanas pero me siento muy contento de su persona me gustaria conversar personalmente un dia aui en peru yo le invito a que me visite esta emisora .a partir sera tambien una emisora que ud .puede contar para la cualquier sintonia .es una historia tan linda como se inicio para su transmision aqui en peru en dificil sacr una resolucion para una emisora radial inverti toda mi ahorrito pero aun me falta algunas cositas mas inclusive microfonos me gustaria contar con equipos de generacion modernas e exclusivas para una emisora conto con equipos nacionales casi artesanales asi como dice en su pagina el sr. arrunategui pero gracias a dios todo sera posible pero me siento muy orgulloso dela sintonia a nivelinternacional ud me pida que musica lo transmitiremos pero sabe estamos ya terminendo de instalar la antena y desde este lunes 25 estamos saliendo al aire a nivel internacional y contare con su sintonia y de sus amigos no estav en el aire casi un mes y medio porque estabamos dando los ultimos toques pero ya ahora estaremos al aire.le agradesco muy personalmente a ud por esa preocupacion de aberme enviado a buscarme con el sr.arrunategui muy gentil el y su comitiva me encontraron y combersamos amenamente mimeta de esta radio es ayudar en el peru comunicarse con pueblos donde no entra fluido electrico ni emisosra radial pues asi al menos darles noticias com cultura y musica amis paisanos de nuestra comunidad peruana asi conocer ala comunidad que hay alguien se preocupa por ellos.yporque no decir tendre amigos en el mundo como ud.que sintonicen radio jpj del peru mi telefono es de oficina 4848379 celular 991903217. a ud y todos sus amigos mis cordiales saludos y un agradecimiento a cada uno de usd.ojala un dia me visiten al peru todos ustedes para el aniuversario poder conversar muchas cosas e intercambiar nuestras culturas de nuestro pais.y le felicito que ud habla espanol espero no cansarle desde un saludo amical dr.jesus parraga jimenez. [gh is not going to attempt to correct that stream of consciousness, but Henrik Klemetz summarized it to Swedish, and Thomas Nilsson translated to English:] Mailade Henrik Klemetz och bad honom att översätta detta lite kort till svenska och HK svarar så här: Hoppsan! Du världsetta!! Grattis! Jag har delat upp brevet i bitar så det blir mera läsligt. Det är inte första gången jag ser någon skriva så här. Det finns dom som bara använder stora bokstäver i stället för små. Han borde kanske på telegrafiskt manér skriva "stop" i stället för att slänga in en liten punkt här och var. Det som är nytt är att han läst Arrunáteguis artikel och sett att han talat om att utrustningen inte var den mest moderna. Han bjuder dig att komma å hälsa på. Och tackar dig för att du drivit på sr. Arrunátegui att komma på besök(!) "Vi hade en mycket trevligt samtal", säger han. Betr. önskemusiken så är det först den 25 som han sätter igång sändaren igen, efter att ha varit off the air 1,5 månad. (Där har du en nyhet att publicera i morgondagens bulle!). Då hoppas han du lyssnar. (=Den 26:e på morgonen?) Han är mycket glad över det internationella intresset. Tanken är att låta folk som inte har el kunna nås av radion (batteriapparater förstås) med nyheter och meddelanden. Sådana områden i landet finns. Det var inte lätt att få licens och han har satsat alla sina besparingar, men som sagt, ändå fattas en del saker i utrustningsväg. Ett stort tack till HK som gjorde denna verifikation möjlig, inte minst via kompisen Pedro F. Arrunátegui, vars artikel jag bifogade i rapporten (se längre fram). Det var ju också HK som såg till att Pedro Arrunátegui kom på besök och inte jag! Kolla in HK:s inlägg om denna station: Så här var det med JPJ: Oid rapporteras av Karel H., ingen inspelning läggs ut samma station fångas av Hasse M., som skickar mig en inspelning där jag får fram "Radio JPJ, la fuerza de la música peruana". Jag skickar bollen vidare till Alfredo Cañote i Lima och föreslår att här har vi en station vars ägare har initialerna JPJ. Den skulle kunna vara 2 x 1680, eftersom det nu finns ett antal X-band- stationer i landet. Alfredo bekräftar inte utan viss förvåning att stationsnamnet jag föreslår måste vara OK för det finns en alldeles ny och legal station omnämnd i "El Peruano" (Perus motsvarighet till våra Post- och Inrikes Tidningar) och licenstagaren heter Jesús Párraga Jiménez > Juha Vehmas + två för mig okända och onämnda finnar hör stationen på Åland, jag får höra en inspelning som Juha delvis har koll på, i varje fall de båda "J" rapport till DXLD du själv hakar på och plockar stationen något senare, efter två timmars Skype-samtal med Paco Arrunátegui - vi har inte haft kontakt på 10 år nästan - kom idén att Paco kanske kunde söka upp stationen. Hans bil var på reparation så det tog en vecka extra innan han kom igång. Jag har sedan fått inspelning från Karel. På den hade man inte kunnat få fram ID. /Henrik Klemetz Re 3360 Radio JPJ --- I sent a mail to Henrik Klemetz asking him to translate the email from R JPJ to Swedish (in short) and HK responds like this: Oops! You are world number one! Congratulations! I have divided up the letter into pieces so it will be more legible. It is not the first time I see someone write like this. There are those who only use capital letters instead of small. He ought perhaps to use the telegraph style type "stop" instead of throwing in a little paragraph here and there. What is new is that he has read Arrunátegui’s article and found that he had spoken about the equipment that was not the most modern. He invites you to come and visit. And also thank you for pushing sr. Arrunátegui to come and see (!). "We had a very pleasant conversation, "he says. Regarding the request music it is not until July 25 that he starts the transmitter again, after having been off the air for 1,5 months. (There you have a news to publish in tomorrow's bulletin!). Then, he hopes you're listening. (= the 26th in the morning?) He is very happy about the international interest. The idea is to let people who do not have electricity receive his radio (battery sets of course) with news and announcements. There are such areas in the country. It was not easy to get a license and he has invested all his savings, but still some equipment is missing. Many thanks to HK that made this verification possible, not least through his friend Pedro F. Arrunátegui’s article (Chasqui DX) I enclosed in my report. It was also HK who made sure that Pedro Arrunátegui came to visit and not me! /Thomas Nilsson HK's post to TN: This is what happened regarding JPJ: UNID station reported by Karel Honzik, Czechia, no recording posted. The same station caught by Hasse Mattisson Sweden, who sent me a recording where I get the "Radio JPJ, la fuerza de la música Peruana". I send the ball to Alfredo Cañote in Lima and suggests that here we have a station whose owner has the initials JPJ. It would be possible with 2 x 1680, because there are now a number of X-band stations in the country. Alfredo confirms not without some surprise that the station name I propose must be OK because there's a brand new and legal station mentioned in "El Peruano" (Peruvian counterpart to our Post and Domestic Newspapers) and the licensee named Jesús Jiménez Párraga. Juha Vehmas + two for me unknown and unnamed Finnish DX-ers hear the station in Åland, I hear a recording that Juha only has partial check on, at least the two "J". Report to DXLD. you receive the station a little later, after two hours of Skype calls with Paco Arrunátegui - we have not had contact in 10 years almost - got the idea that Paco might look up the station. His car was on repair so it took an extra week before he got started. I have later got the recording from Karel. In that he had been unable to obtain an ID. / Henrik Klemetz (all: Shortwave Bulletin July 24, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3329.68, Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco noted with variety of programming after 1010 to fade out 1040, 18, 20, 21 July [Wilkner, SYT-Plantation] 4824.40, La Voz de la Selva, Iquitos, 1050 +, excellent signal with OA music 21 July and other days same time [Wilkner] 5039.21, Radio Libertad, Junín, 1030-1045, IDs by om en español, armchair signal, 21 July (Robert Wilkner, NRD 535D - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro modified, Pompano Beach, South Florida U S, HCDX via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES [and non]. Glenn, the unidentified station on 12095 heard by Ullmar Qvick July 18th has been around for a few days at weekends still. It is bad enough trying to follow the much emaciated BBC World Service (They could not leave even a couple of 5/10 kW transmitters on-air to serve Europe for us old fogies who like to listen to ‘that terrible crackly unreliable short wave radio’ in the garden, on the beach, in the mountains, even in the car; long may it be so. Well I did hear the other signal under BBC 12095 when I tuned in ca 2245z Sat night as a tape loop identifying as a transmission from FEBC, the Philippines and going into an unidentified (Asian?) language at 2300. Must listen out again in the next few days. Regards, (Des Walsh, Dublin, Ireland, July 25 2011, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 15285, R. Pilipinas/VOP, 0303, July 25. “The Philippines Today”; IDs; tourist information; on past 0307, but // 17700 went off at 0307; both fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 12150, July 28 at 1208, VOA news in English with report from State Dept correspondent on what to do about North Korea; accompanied by a pulsing buzz, one might have guessed was jamming, but I think it was transmitter or modulation defect. Next item at 1211 on train crash in China had less or no buzz. Site is Tinang, PHILIPPINES, 250 kW due west (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. Assunto: ARLA/CLUSTER: TRABALHADORES DA RTP QUEREM REPOSIÇÃO IMEDIATA DE EMISSÕES EM ONDA CURTA A comissão de trabalhadores da RTP pediu à administração da empresa para repor de imediato as emissões em onda curta, argumentando que a decisão impede o acesso à informação e à língua portuguesa de milhares de portugueses. O pedido foi anunciado hoje na sequência de uma reunião com o conselho de administração realizado na terça-feira, na qual o presidente da estação confirmou aos trabalhadores ter recebido autorização para suspender a onda curta pelo anterior ministro dos Assuntos Parlamentares, Jorge Lacão. Considerando tratar-se de uma "atitude inconstitucional, ilegítima, extemporânea e irresponsável" , a comissão de trabalhadores defende, em comunicado hoje divulgado, que a onda curta é uma "opção estratégica da difusão da língua portuguesa". Fonte: Site RTP http://tv1.rtp.pt/noticias/index.php?t=Trabalhadores-da-RTP-querem-reposicao-imediata-de-emissoes-em-onda-curta.rtp&article=462623&layout=10&visual=3&tm=8 via Pedro Ribeiro // Callsign: CR7ABP // GRID Locator: IM58mr QTH: São Francisco, Alcochete, Portugal Homepage: http://www.qrz.com/db/CR7ABP (via João Gonçalves Costa, Portugal, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. 17507.3, 20/7 1130, Radio Romania International, in English, culture & classical music, off frequency (nominal 17510), good // 17670, Heard in Tuscany with a SDR-14 and 30 meters wire, ciao, (Giampiero Bernardini; if you are interested you can also visit my SW blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Romania International, Tiganesti [sic] transmitter site, 13798 kHz. 2030 UT July 21, 55444. Newscast by man and woman in English at 2030. Station ID by man in English at 2038. "Traveler's Guide" - program about important places in Romania at 2044. Website info by man in English, Interval signal, and transmitter off at 2056. Good Signal S-9 (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwire - 40 feet high, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) People keep spelling this site as above, but there is a sedilla under the S making it an SH sound, which is how it should be respelt when writing in English: Tiganeshti. Unless you can axually produce a sedilla-S and that will not get garbled. I will keep changing it to that, and people will keep ignoring me (gh, DXLD) Hi Glenn, Just noticed the following: 23/7/11, 1745 gmt, Radio Bucharest International [sic] with a full ID in English on 11733 kHz, YES, 11733 kHz on my Perseus SDR fed by longwire and balun. Also heard by my DX buddy Mark Davies in Anglesey, Wales using his 7030 rx. They have just signed off at 1755 gmt with int sig (Steve Calver, Hertfordshire UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Romania International, Tiganeshti transmitter site, 11950 kHz. 1630 UT, July 23, 44434. Right on frequency today. Station ID by woman in French with jingle type music played on chimes at 1630 UTC. Unknown show begins at 1635 with song on flute, then man and woman in French. Fair signal S-6 (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwire - 40 feet high, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) ROU odd frequency failure rectificated now --- After complaint to Radiocom via HFCC headquarters the odd frequency failure of one of three Tiganeshti site 300 kW transmitter units seemingly to be rectificated now on July 26. Odd frequency broadcasts observed from RRI Bucharest up to minus 3 kHz. First reported by Ron Howard in CA on July 9th. > One of the Tiganesti transmitters has "an even crystal oscillator > failure"... noted first on July 9th ! > [also copied to officials at Radiocom.ro authority] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, July 27, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17510, July 28 at 1145, raucous Romanian folk music. Now I`m awake! // weaker 15210; 1147 English announcement, introducing ``from Radio Romania`s golden tape library, a wooing song`` on `The Skylark` weekly show on Thursdays. Another short song before cut at 1152 to `Football Flash`: Romania is ranked #53 by FIFA, congrats! Both frequencies are 300 kW, 307 degrees from TIG toward UK, and consequently USward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. MR. TITOV PASSED AWAY --- by National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters on Tuesday, July 19, 2011 at 1:11am Dear colleagues! With great regret we have to inform you that our friend and colleague Mr. Anatoly Titov passed away on July 17, 2011 in his 71st year. Sincerely yours, Anatoly Batyushkin, Radioagency-M [For many years, Anatoly Titov was the head of Russian/CIS shortwave frequency planning. It was always a pleasure to see his smile at the High Frequency Coordination Conferences. His presence will be greatly missed. In recent years, his son Alexey has been working with Radioagency-M. Our sincere sympathies go to Mr. Titov's family and colleagues.] (NASB Facebook via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) obit ** RUSSIA. 12065, July 26 at 1252, weak station in English with a het on the hi side; Aoki shows only V. of Russia on 12065, via Chita, but supposed to be in Vietnamese at 12-13, English at 11-12 and 13-14 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Re 11-29: Changes in the DRM-broadcast "Voice of Russia" [what is WGD? gh] --- Seems that this is google translated abbreviation RGRK (Russian State Radio Company). [what is MDI? gh] --- Multiplex Distribution Interface. "The DRM Consortium has produced a very successful standard for the distribution of DRM multiplex signals to transmitters. This is called the DRM Multiplex Distribution Interface or MDI. The MDI carries the separate components to be broadcast in their own parts of the message, but integrated into a single message every DRM frame (400 ms) for error protection and synchronization purposes". http://tech.ebu.ch/docs/techreview/trev_306-drm_bbc.pdf (Aleksandr Diadischev, Ukraine, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [non]. 9685, UT Wed July 27 at 0059, IRS IS variations, VG signal, 0100 Serbian announcement mentioning three kHz-frequencies (must be merging different times, as really only one at a time), and unlike last week`s extended broadcast, continues modulating instead of dead air, rechecked at 0112, 0123 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE. Keith Perron on Facebook: Media Network Plus will be recording two shows from Singapore in the first week of August. We will be visiting the BBC [sic] Far East Relay Station for one of them (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, SIBC, 1153 July 22. Island music, man in English, woman with devotional leading up to normal s/off just after 1200. Poor (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car with Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA [non]. IRIN RADIO FOR SOMALIA RELAUNCHED AS RADIO ERGO The IRIN radio service for Somalia has taken on a new name – Radio ERGO – as of 1 July 2011, as the service has been taken over by IMS Productions Aps, a non-profit organization with headquarters in Copenhagen, Denmark. A branch office of IMS Productions Aps has been opened in Nairobi, Kenya, to support and administer Radio ERGO. The radio will continue to broadcast daily humanitarian news and information in Somali. The word Ergo has great significance in the Somali language. It carries the essential meaning of mediators or envoys in the interest of people in need, and can also refer to those who mediate in conflicts. Until Radio Ergo’s website is up and running, IRIN will continue to host the programmes online. A recent survey said the station is listened to by 70% of the Somalis, and despite its difficult working conditions in a country without a central government for two decades, project manager Louise Tunbridge highlights how trusted the service has become: “Over the years the radio service achieved a reputation of independence. We are apolitical, and people trust us. Our service has a reputation of credibility, balance and fairness in a very difficult context.” The one-hour daily broadcasts of Radio ERGO are heard across Somalia and the region, including the Kenyan refugee camps on shortwave [0830- 0930 UTC on 13685 kHz via Dhabayya], and are rebroadcast by seven local FM stations. (Source: IRIN, IMS Productions Aps)(July 25th, 2011 - 12:08 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) ** SOMALIA [non]. via Woofferton, England, 11740, Radio Damal, *1830- 1929*, July 28, sign on with about one minute of Qur`an followed by some local instrumental music. Talk in listed Somali at 1831. More Qur`an at 1833-1844. Talk at 1844. Local pop music. Local Arabic style pop music. ID. Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot long wires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 3185 and 3245, Adventist World Radio - spurs from Meyerton. 2011/07/16 sat 1810-1828. Badly distorted spurs of AWR (3215), 6 channels below and above, heard on Drake R8 and Hallicrafters SX122. Same +/- 6 channel spacing as reported on May 15th for early morning (0609-0754*) Sonder Grense on 7285, also ex Meyerton. Maybe the same transmitter? Very distorted. 3215, Adventist World Radio, Meyerton. 2011/07/16 sat 1815-1828, ID at 1827 "AWR Adventist World Radio". Very good, s9+20, but giving strong spurs on 3185 and 3245. Jo'burg sunset 1534 (Bill Bingham, RSA, July 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [non]. [Cf 11-29]. La Pirenaica es la radio del exilio español o, para ser precisos, la del PCE, que es el que impulsa y gestiona la emisora. --- Javier Cervera Gil. [PCE = Spanish Communist Party] Desde los años treinta, la radio se considera un eficacísimo medio de propaganda porque, entre otras cosas, no entiende de fronteras. Los exiliados republicanos antifranquistas, muchos instalados en Francia, lo saben. Cuando desde junio de 1941 la URSS cambia de bando, al producirse la invasión nazi, los comunistas del mundo y, cómo no, los españoles exiliados intensifican sus actitudes y acciones contra el nazismo, el fascismo y sus aliados… como la España franquista. Así, un mes después de la operación Barbarroja comienza sus emisiones Radio España Independiente, conocida como La Pirenaica, al estar en el entorno de esa cordillera. Es la radio del exilio español o, para ser precisos, la del PCE, que es el que impulsa y gestiona la emisora. Hasta el 14 de julio de 1977 habría 108.000 emisiones. Hubo otras emisoras – como La Voz de América para España o Radio Moscú -, pero La Pirenaica es la que se mitificó entre las emisoras antifranquistas. Se constituyen en el medio de acceso al exterior de los opositores del interior de España y referencia para los exiliados. Además, desde 1944 con la liberación de Francia, en la que tan importante papel, especialmente en el área de los Pirineos, tiene el exilio, las posibilidades de actuación e influencia de La Pirenaica se incrementan. De hecho, las autoridades españolas lo saben y la Delegación Nacional de Propaganda franquista encarga – y se reciben – no pocos informes de sus delegados provinciales repartidos por la piel de toro en los que se denuncia la escucha de estas emisiones. Es más, el Gobierno franquista intenta detener los ataques de esas emisiones con protestas ante la representación francesa en Madrid, que, habitualmente, se ignoran. Y al final, se decide que RNE se encargue de la propaganda hacia el exterior para contrarrestar la que hace la radio del exilio: la emisora oficial franquista inicia unas emisiones en lengua extranjera dirigidas hacia el extranjero. FUENTE: http://bit.ly/mTfrtb (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** SPRATLY ISLANDS. SPRATLY ISLANDERS FIGHT BOREDOM, NOT CHINA WORRIES Thursday, July 21, 2011 PAG-ASA ISLAND, South China Sea -- This speck of a sun-splashed island in the turquoise South China Sea has little sign of the tensions that have consumed politicians and diplomats in distant Asian capitals. Six different nations are pressing their stake to all or part of these potentially oil- and gas-rich waters teeming with fish. Most recently, the Philippines and Vietnam have been wrangling with China in a noisy territorial dispute that is dominating this week's Asian security forum in Bali. And yet, here on Pag-asa, the only sounds are the waves slapping the shore and the wind whistling in the ears. At high noon, fighting off sleep is a struggle. . . http://www.baynews9.com/article/news/ap/july/282872/Spratly-islanders-fight-boredom-not-China-worries (via Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, DXLD) Nothing about radio here, but we know Spratly has been the site of some hazardous ham DXpeditions. AFAIK, there have never been any broadcast stations here, let alone on SW (gh, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. 12130, R. Mashaal-Iranawila, 1149 7/19/11, fair-poor with songs in Pashto; talk at 1151 by two men with many mentions of Pakistan; chant-like song at 1200 and into talk by woman; a report in English and translated into Pashto at 1215. Checked live streaming on website to be sure of identification (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) see also PAKISTAN [non] ** SUDAN [and non]. 13620, July 22 at 0530*, the tone jammer goes off clearing R. Dabanga via GERMANY, as al-Bashir`s blockers still haven`t realized that since July 18, RD is staying on this frequency after Madagascar relay finishes at 0527, which as usual was stronger here. 13620, July 24 at 0525, R. Dabanga via MADAGASCAR, and no tone-jamming for a change; after jingle ID, off at 0527:30* leaving only weak carrier and no modulation audible from next site, Nauen, GERMANY. 13620, July 26 at 0458, R. Dabanga via MADAGASCAR, again has the continuous tone jammer underneath. BTW, Ivo Ivanov reports that this week, July 25-29 there is a special additional transmission, which he heard at 1651 July 25: ``1630-1725 on 11555 MDC 250 kW / 000 deg to EaAf Mon-Fri`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Additional transmission of Radio Dabanga in Arabic July 25-29 only 1630-1725 on 11555 MDC 250 kW / 000 deg to EaAf Mon-Fri 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, July 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Dabanga in Arabic 1630-1725 on 11555 only on July 25. From July 26 RNW in English. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, July 28, ibid.) Website needs Update ... http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/rnw-frequency-schedule-summer-2011 yes, was RNW English service today from 1630 UT, heard // on RNW LiveRadio Internet streaming web, which was 13 seconds behind the Madagascar SW 11555 outlet. Contained programs about sexuality, taken from ABC Australia. S=9+25dB signal strength. TX had a break OFF the air at 1650:17, but just after 3 seconds came back on full service. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) So was putting RNW on a feed error? (gh, DXLD) GERMANY/MADAGASCAR/UAE: Radio Dabanga to Sudan report July 27. 13620 via Madgascar at 0505 UT on S=9+20dB level, accompanied by 1000 Hertz tone jamming, originate on both 13619 and 13621 kHz. // 15550 from Al Dhabbaya-UAE which is NOT disturbed by jamming. 13620 kHz in use from M&B site Nauen in Germany at 0530 to 0557 UT. 13730 comes from Madagascar at 0430-0459 UT, followed by Wertachtal Germany outlet of S=9+30dB at 0500-0557 UT. Station identification sung by man at 0511 UT. This broadcast channel suffer by some klanking "metal drum audio" like noise, July 27. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. 13730 Dhabbaya carrying Radio Dabanga in sorta- Arabic to Darfur 0520-0600 on 7/28 (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. Arabish. I also heard it a bit there (gh) ** SUDAN [non]. 9800, 19/7 1903, Afia Darfur Radio, via Vatican transmitter, reports in Arabic, mentioning many times Darfur. Fair/good (Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, in Tuscany (Pescia, 60 km west from Florence), RFspace SDR-14; ant 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. Lunedì 25 luglio 2011, 0430 - 11560 kHz, MIRAYA FM - Kopani (Ucraina), Arabo/Inglese, nxs OM e mx afropop. Segnale sufficiente-insufficiente (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova) - Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** SUDAN SOUTH. SOUTH SUDAN ---> The Intrepid-DX Group/DX Friends advance team was expected to arrive in Juba, South Sudan on 20 July with a list of tasks to perform in advance of the main team. "As the ITU has not yet issued a new prefix for South Sudan", N6PSE said on 19 July, "our license that was issued in March has the call-sign of ST0R (Sierra Tango Zero Romeo). That will be our call for the DXpedition unless the ITU issues a new prefix which will require that we amend our license". According to the expedition website http://www.dxfriends.com/SouthernSudan2011/ the team plans to be QRV on all bands and mode with at least five stations between 25 July and 10 August. QSL via EA5RM (23 July 2011 A.R.I. DX Bulletin, No 1055, a.k.a. 425 DX News, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ST0, SOUTH SUDAN (Update). Amateur radio is now active in the South Sudan, the world's newest country, as well as the 193rd member of the United Nations and new DXCC entity. First signals were heard on July 22nd. Co-leader Paul, N6PSE, reported on July 23rd, that the teams arrived in Juba on July 22nd. He states (edited), "We have now been QRV for 23 hours on CW and SSB. We are putting more antennas and stations on the air today. Our hotel's internet is broken so it is difficult to communicate to the outside world at this time other than via radio. More information to follow. All stations should be QRV tomorrow (July 24th) until August 10th. They hope to have five stations on the air operating simultaneously in the coming days. They announced on the 24th that the a new TX frequency for 20 meters is 14145 kHz, RX from 14200 kHz and up. For more details and updates watch: http://www.dxfriends.com/SouthernSudan2011 As this was being prepared, their logs showed (at 1112z, July 24th): 9695 QSOs with 4796 unique callsigns. QSL via EA5RM direct. Their OQRS will be activated after the DXpedition. Online log is available on the Web page. (The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster, DX Bulletin No. 1020, July 25, 2011, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) [non] 14204, 24/07 0200, USA, Radioamador K4KZZ (Raleigh, NC) insistentemente chamando no pile-up de ST0R (Sudão do Sul), sem sucesso no período ouvido. 73 a todos! (Fabricio Andrade Silva, PP5002SWL, Tubarão - SC Brazil, Sony ICF sw 7600 GR, Antena Loop Blindada, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) Glenn, please, find here a taste of how they're being received in Europe in this very moment: http://fromdctodaylight.splinder.com/post/25255041/voices-from-south-sudan Ciao, (Chris Diemoz, IX1CKN, 2035 UT July 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz:: lunedì, 25 luglio 2011, Voices from South Sudan We don't know if we'll ever hear (again, as something did exist in the past) a shortwave broadcasting station from South Sudan. However, ham radio operators did want to celebrate, since the beginning, the journey of the 193rd Country of the world, born on last 9th July. So, a mixed team from the Intrepid-DX group and the DX-friends (including Fabrizio, IN3NZR, from our land), after obtaining a license from the governmental authorities, did embark for Juba (the capital of the new State) and began HF operations from there, during the afternoon of Friday 22nd July 2011, under the callsign ST0R. Please, read here my first story on this subject for DXCoffee.com (in Italian), http://www.dxcoffee.com/ita/2011/07/15/sabato-9-luglio-il-primo-vagito-del-south-sudan/ and follow the DXpedition on its dedicated website. http://www.dxfriends.com/SouthernSudan2011/ Most of all, however, witness, thanks to the video below (recorded a while ago, on 14145 kHz, from my QTH), the operations. The guys there are demonstrating once more radio is a wonderful way to mark history, and they're putting out a wonderful signal to Italy (but, judging from their QSOs, to a lot of other places too). Way to go, ST0R! [with 6 minute clip] (via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) ** SWAN ISLAND. NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC EXPEDITION TO SWAN ISLAND RECALLS THE RADIO STATION THAT BROADCAST FROM THERE TO CUBA. National Geographic News Watch, 20 July 2011, Andrew Howley, describing day three of an expedition to Swan Island: "Hiking along the island’s air strip gave us perspective on the island’s history, as we could see the foundations of cement buildings and the extended runway gave us visions of an island bustling with activity during World War II and for a brief time with the CIA’s Radio Free America broadcasts. But now most of the island has fallen into disrepair and decay, with only seven [Honduran] soldiers assigned to the island." (Posted: 22 Jul 2011, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) The station was called Radio Swan, later Radio Américas, and it broadcast mainly to Cuba from 1960 to 1968. I remember hearing the station on 6000 kHz shortwave and on the medium wave split channel of 1165 kHz (it was nominally on 1160 kHz). See the Swan Island DX Association web page http://www.qsl.net/sidxa/history.html and the station's Wikipedia entry. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pirate_radio_in_Central_America_and_Caribbean_Sea (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** SWITZERLAND. More transmitter masts are [to be] blown up. ... wird gesprengt ... Weiterleitung einer Email von Hubert Kubiak aus dem Muehlviertel.Servus, es geht ja munter weiter: MW-Sender Beromuenster: Kleiner Turm wird gesprengt (am 19.August) [Radioforum Schweiz] [WTFK?] (Herbert Meixner-AUT, July 22, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 25 via DXLD) ** SYRIA. 9330, 19/7 1827, Radio Damascus, Siria, Arabic songs, very strong signal 9+40 but low modulation (Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, in Tuscany (Pescia, 60 km west from Florence), RFspace SDR-14; ant 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. I'm informed that Radio Taiwan International's NEW website should be up & running on August 1st. I think it's been several years in the planning (Ian Baxter, NSW, July 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. Seems I have Uganda on 4976 kHz at 1940 gmt. Weaker tonight but last night 23/7/11 a little later it was a very good sig. Could not believe my ears!! (Steve Calver, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S S R. PCJ Media Archives --- Another program from the PCJ Media Archives uploaded. This one is from Radio Moscow. A studio copy of History Of The USSR. http://www.pcjmedia.com/archives (Keith Perron) (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K [non]. 17640, July 25 at 1343, BBCWS much better than usual and sufficiently listenable with report on opposition to wind power in NIMBY Wales. S9+15 signal, and occasional quick lite echo during deep fades, presumably long-path from Ascension if Seychelles stopped at 1300 as scheduled. Also has lite generator(?) hum so typical of ASCENSION. 1350 goes from `One Planet` to `From Our Own Correspondent`, fascinating report about Berlin by Steve Evans. Listened until 1430 with `World Briefing`. Thus was thwarted BBC`s sad attempt to prevent us from listening on SW in North America. Latest HFCC shows this BBCWS usage of 17640, all in English: 05-07, 300 kW, 135 degrees from Woofferton UK since 12 July 07-08, 300 kW, 177 degrees from Cyprus since 19 July 07-13, 250 kW, 270 degrees from Seychelles (note overlap if correct) 13-17, 250 kW, 114 degrees from Ascension (no second site overlap) 17760, July 28 at 1154, almost sufficient reception of BBCWS `From Our Own Correspondent` with report from very remote Rodrigues Island, then about the Hutterite sect on the prairies of Canada, originally from Tyrol. Seems a lot of the women have bald spots they cover with buns. Cut off the air at 1159:30*. I certainly was not expecting the site to be THAILAND, as uplooked later in HFCC: 250 kW, 25 degrees so it is also USward, at 09-12. Thus the propagation gods thwart BBC`s attempts once again to remain unlistenable in North America on SW. And, I cannot recommend `FOOC` highly enough; now scattered thruout the schedule at :50 past certain hours, as other programmmes have been cut to less than 20 minutes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. SIX-DAY STRIKE AT BBC ARABIC SERVICE STARTS SATURDAY National Union of Journalists (NUJ) members working at the BBC Arabic service are to stage a six day strike starting on Saturday, the union has announced. The strike is in addition to the BBC-wide action happening on 1 August, which now includes an indefinite work to rule. It will begin at midnight on Friday 29 July and end on midnight on Thursday 4 August. A work to rule is also being applied. The industrial action at the Arabic service comes as a result of a dispute over working conditions and the implementation of a new rota system. In a statement, the BBC said they were ‘disappointed’ with the decision to strike and apologised for any disruption to services caused. It continued: ‘Following significant cuts to the central Government grants that support the World Service, all departments are being asked to make changes and the BBC considers this strike action to be unjustified.’ ‘The BBC announced proposals for BBC Arabic in June 2010 with aim of driving efficiencies to allow more investment on programming. The proposals included changes to working conditions and rotas which are comparable with staff working on other news outlets in the BBC.’ NUJ general secretary Michelle Stanistreet said: ‘No consideration has been given to the need for adequate staffing levels balanced against meet the needs of output, so that the number of anti-social and unsafe shift times would be vastly increased. This will drastically disrupt people’s lives and will lead to dramatically increased levels of work- related stress and sickness.’ She added: ‘Journalists at the Arabic service are particularly concerned at the vagueness of duties and how management plans will leave staff vulnerable to exploitation and favouritism.’ Both parties said they were open to further discussion. NUJ members at the service previously went on strike for 48 hours in January over a dispute involving rota changes. (Source: Ariel)(July 28th, 2011 - 14:21 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U K. NEXT BBC JOURNALISTS’ STRIKE ON MONDAY 1 AUGUST The National Union of Journalists has re-scheduled a strike due to be held by its BBC members on Friday. The action will now take place on Monday, 1 August. The union says it changed the date following representations from members. BBC journalists are taking action over a number of compulsory redundancies at World Service and Monitoring. News output was hit when journalists struck on Friday, 15 July, with some news programmes off air, and national and regional bulletins truncated to five minutes. (Source: Ariel) Further disruption is expected as journalists have been told in an internal memo that “an indefinite work to rule will begin across the BBC from 00.01 on Tuesday August 2nd immediately following the 24 hour strike”. Read more from The Guardian http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/jul/26/bbc-journalists-work-to-rule (July 26th, 2011 - 10:54 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) ** U K. Subject: [Knight Science Journalism Tracker Blog Archive --- BBC: We asked a professor to see how we do at science. First, our response.] http://ksjtracker.mit.edu/2011/07/20/bbc-we-asked-a-professor-to-see-how-we-do-at-science-first-our-response/ This is kind of fun, although I've only skimmed through it at warp speed (which is speed so fast it warps objectivity and reason). The BBC, incessantly under scrutiny by its audience, by many critics, and by the government that once held it in tight rein, recently commissioned an academic team to review its science coverage and to draw up some recommendations. The leader of that project, Professor Steve Jones, an emeritus in genetics at University College London, found much to admire and not a lot of factual errors in the BBC's radio and TV handling of science, it appears. But his review also found plenty to criticise - seeing for example too little coordination between radio and TV, and a skewed distribution of coverage compared to where the real action is in science. Too much astronomy, anthropology, geosciences, ecology, evolution, he said. Gad, one thinks, those are all fun ones. Yep, let's ramp up coverage on mantle plumes in the Archaean, attosecond imagery of metabolic catalysis, and cross-specific mimicry among lyre birds! It's a remarkable report, seriously done. Also remarkable is that the BBC presents it upside down. Usually, at least in my impression of the usual, when one releases the results of an independent report that one has commissioned, the format is to release a preface that says thank you, then the report, and the inhouse rejoinders and reactions added at the end - as appendices perhaps. But the Beeb staples it so that first one sees the rebuttal (and in many places to be sure, concurrence), followed by the argument. So one gets the BBC Trust's paraphrase and response to the report, then the BBC's executive department paraphrase and markedly defensive response, and third the report on which the paraphrases and responses turn. Here it is: [18] BBC Trust review of impartiality and accuracy of the BBC's coverage of science ; http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbctrust/assets/files/pdf/our_work/science_impartiality/science_impartiality.pdf As I say, I just skimmed. But among other observations by the outside reviewers are that two thirds of the stories concerned news in which press releases were involved (implying a low level of enterprise), that most of the stories concerned news in which a journal publication was involved but unless they were Nature, Lancet, or the British Medical Journal, they weren't named, and that it is particularly striking how rarely the US journal Science gets mention. And how come mental disorder in the UK is a far more common burden on people than is cancer, but cancer gets so much more BBC attention? It asks why so many reports are "cool and emotionless" whereas "Science is as full of hope and despair as any other endeavour." Hmmm. Maybe I'm wrong, but seems like scientists tend to think their neighborhood's public scriveners are TOO heavy on hope and despair, and way short of respect for the logic and statistical coolness of science. There is also, natch, lengthy discussion of due weight and balance when it comes to science and controversial policy predicaments, as with climate change, or genetically modified food. The section seemed a bit murky as it blurred by, but one passage from the professor's team regarding reporting of diverse points of view jumps out: Even so, every scientist, perhaps without realising it, accepts Cromwell's entreaty that "in the bowels of Christ, think it possible you may be mistaken"; they are, when faced with evidence, and however reluctantly, willing to change their minds. That ruling does not apply to many other fields, from politics to the arts or to sport where immovable and contradictory opinion is widespread and even welcome. For science, in contrast, for most of the time, and in most of the subject, there is a wide acceptance of a body of scrutinised fact, interrupted by rare moments when ideas change. Constantly to call in external voices unwilling to accept that principle is not to engage in debate but in meaningless polemic. That's on p. 56, should you want to see its context. Who cannot enjoy invocation of Cromwell and the bowels of Christ? On page 59 is a diverting passage on the propriety of a scientist remarking, during a BBC program, that astrology is rubbish. Drum roll! When complaints occurred the scientist was asked to respond to those offended. He did: "I apologize to the Astrology Community for not making myself clear. I should have said that this new age drivel is undermining the very fabric of our civilization." Other than that fabric and undermining are not gracefully married in metaphor, that's a winner. Serious thinkers on the nature of news and its coverage should read this a lot more carefully than I just did. I know I shall do so. - Charlie Petit This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 20th, 2011 at 2:21 pm and is filed under About Journalism. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) ** U K. BBC World Service audience figures Hello Kim, Regarding your comment: "After 35 years of international broadcasting audience research, I've learned that it takes about a year before shifts in broadcasting output are reflected in audience surveys." which I had noted via DXLD 11-28. This letter and response has been printed in the BBC Staff magazine Ariel, I'll cut and paste it as the online latest letters page is frequently changed: When cuts count Last week's article headed 'Tumultuous time at Bush' was simply inaccurate. It opened with this statement: 'The World Service global audience has fallen as big budget cuts begin to bite. The estimated weekly global audience across all platforms is 14.1m down to 166m for the last financial year.' This is not true. The real position for the last financial year is presented in the Annual Report. Audiences were up by a modest, but still respectable 4 million from 180 to 184 million.This was discounted in the Report with this explanation: 'Where services have closed, wholly or in part, or it is planned that they will do so shortly, their audiences have not been counted in this year's global estimate.' No reason for this backdated discounting was given. This sleight of hand was ignored in the article, so that cuts taking place now are presented as if they took place in the previous financial year. Why has this happened? Martin Plaut, Africa editor, BBC World Service Ann Barnsdale, head of audience insight, Global News, replies: BBC World Service's Global Audience Estimate for this year was announced as 166m. This is the estimated figure that reflects distribution. The cuts to World Service language services and platforms were announced on 26 January this year and these changes were enacted before the end of the financial year. In the interests of transparency we published both the current figure and what the figure would have been without the cuts, with an explanation of what each included. However, it would have been odd to have claimed audiences for services that had already stopped broadcasting, or whose reduction or closure we'd already announced. So we felt on balance that the most appropriate headline number was the one that most closely reflected the estimated impact of the cuts that had been made. Our aim has been to provide the most appropriate figures for audiences and to be transparent in explaining them. Presently online at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ariel/14291515 Ariel has only been online for a few months (Mike Barraclough, July 27, to kimandrewelliott, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. Re 11-29: Part 2 of BBC Radio 4 documentary Soft Power Hard News discusses China, BBC World Service, etc. Posted: 21 Jul 2011 BBC Radio 4, 18 July 2011, Soft Power Hard News, Part 2: Includes discussion of China's soft power, BBC World Service, etc. – http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b012l0cm (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Recommended listening. Interesting discussion of the importance of independence and credibility. See previous post about part 1 of the series (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** U K [and non]. BBC PROMPTS DEBATE ON AMERICANISMS, AND WHY? Speaking of British English, the BBC recently invited its audience to share "Americanisms" that get under their skin. Boy howdy, did they respond! The BBC's list of 50 peeves about Americans' speech included "alphabetize," "gotten," "and "train station." http://wywd.us/happyjuly4 Lynne Murphy, an American linguist living in the UK, is not amused. Read the takedown in her blog, "Separated by a Common Language." http://wywd.us/takethatpeevers Stay tuned for more responses to this linguistic shot across the pond! (A Way With Words mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. REP. ROHRABACHER AMENDMENT WOULD MAINTAIN FUNDING FOR VOA CHINESE, KEEPING IT ON RADIO AND TV. Posted: 24 Jul 2011 http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11716 Taipei Times, 24 July 2011, J. Michael Cole: "The battle to keep Voice of America’s (VOA) Mandarin and Cantonese radio and TV broadcasts to China alive continued in the US House Committee on Foreign Affairs on Wednesday with a unanimous vote for a proposal that would secure money for the embattled China unit. The authorization bill, sponsored by US Representative Dana Rohrabacher during a markup hearing, reserves US$13.76 million from the total budget for government-sponsored broadcasting next year to be strictly used for Mandarin and Cantonese radio and TV broadcasts. That amount is equal to this year’s operational budget for VOA’s China unit. ... The BBG in February announced cost-cutting measures that would cancel VOA radio and TV broadcasts to China from October next year, while expanding other digital media efforts. That measure, which sparked accusations that US President Barack Obama’s administration was seeking to remove irritants to Beijing, is expected to cost about 40 jobs at the VOA China unit." See also the text of the amendment (pdf). And another Rohrabacher amendment (pdf) that would issue Chinese media no more US visas than the number China grants to reporters of US international broadcasting. (kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) -- The House Appropriations Committee is next to decide on these funding issues, with a State and foreign operations markup scheduled for 27 July at 10:00 AM EDT (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** U S A. ETHIOPIAN EXILE MEDIA KEEP UP HEAT ON VOA HORN OF AFRICA CONTROVERSY. RALLY MONDAY IN FRONT OF VOA HQ. Posted: 24 Jul 2011 [five stories excerpted and linked:] http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11715 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) It would be helpful for news organizations outside of the partisan Ethiopian exile press to have a look at this controversy. Is VOA really backing off of hard news to facilitate its growing NGO-type activities? (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) See also CAMBODIA [and non] ETHIOPIAN-AMERICANS STAGE NOISY RALLY AT VOA, EXPRESSING THEIR CONCERNS RE VOA HORN OF AFRICA CONTROVERSY. Posted: 26 Jul 2011 http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11724 -- If VOA is a source of "good news" -- presumably meaning good- quality news -- then it is very much a "force for change, freedom and democracy." Advocacy for freedom and democracy is also a commendable activity, but it and good journalism don't really mix. They should be done by separate organizations from separate buildings (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** U S A. SHOCKER: SENATOR'S REPORT FINDS THAT THE NINE BBG MEMBERS HAVE ACCESS TO 53 SUVS. Posted: 21 Jul 2011 Senator Tom Coburn website, 18 July 2011, "Back in Black: A Deficit Reduction Plan": "Since 2006, the federal vehicle fleet has grown by five percent. Meanwhile, the cost of maintaining and servicing those vehicles has grown over 25 percent, to $4.6 billion.33 It is unclear why some agencies need many of the vehicles they own. For example, the National Science Foundation, which issues grants and does no outdoor field research and the Broadcasting Board of Governors, which counts only nine members, each have 53 SUVs." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Somebody on Senator Coburn's staff apparently thinks the Broadcasting Board of Governors consists only of the nine members of the board, rather than five entities with 3,791 employees. As discussed in a previous post, http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/?id=11553 the SUVs are probably used mostly at transmitter sites. Other than that, Senator Coburn's plan to save $9 trillion in federal spending leaves US international broadcasting remarkably unscathed, even though there are obvious opportunities http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/opinion/13elliott.html for greater efficiency. On the other hand, his report takes particular aim at every agency, entity, and facet of US domestic public broadcasting (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) See also BOTSWANA; PAKISTAN; PHILIPPINES; SRI LANKA ** U S A [and non]. 17820, July 22 [not 20 as typoed in original report!] at 1313, S9+12 open carrier, then at 1314 fading in tone, after a few sex cut tone, and cut carrier, uncovering DW Hausa via PORTUGAL. This is typical tune-up behavior for IBB Greenville. Meanwhile I compared 17820 to 17800, DW Hausa via RWANDA, which was much stronger than Portugal, but much weaker than the IBB signal. 17820 will not really be used by VOA until Portuguese to Africa at 1700-1830 (Sat/Sun -1800), 250 kW, 94 degrees from Greenville. Carrier on for good already at 1650 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Have been on holiday in Ardnamurchan, Scotland (one of these wonderful remote places that has no mobile 'phone reception and so difficult to access internet!). Excellent reception there of WoR on 5051 kHz at 0330 UT 15-July on my Sony 7600GR with its telescopic though! 73s (Alan Pennington, UK, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1574 monitoring: confirmed on ACB Radio Mainstream webcast, UT Friday July 22 after 0300. Since there are normally 12 playbacks at 2-hour intervals UT Fridays, and since last week`s 1573 was pre-empted due to ACB convention coverage, I asked them to alternate playbacks of 1573 and 1574 this week, but that is not yet confirmed. Checking after 1500 UT, all the broadband webstreams were malfunxioning, either not connecting or playing only occasional snippets of noise. But modem-quality was OK with 1574; via http://www.acbradio.org WWRB: sole broadcast of WOR 1574, UT Friday July 22 at 0330, confirmed on 5051, but corresponding webcast not funxioning. WRMI 9955: UT Friday 0506 check, WOR 1574 audible mixed with pulsing Cuban jamming and still the same at 0529 conclusion. Tnx a lot, Arnie! Or am I supposed to be grateful it was not full-bore jamming? WOR was mostly readable if one put up with the QRM. Numerous further playbacks pending on WRMI + webcasts as previously enumerated. Other SW times upcoming: UT Sunday 0400 on WTWW 5755; UT Monday 0300 on WBCQ Area 51 5110v-CUSB. WORLD OF RADIO 1574 monitoring: reconfirmed on WTWW-1, 5755, UT Sunday July 24 from 0400:42, VG reception here. Seems this is always preceded by talk about sorcery on the streets of Washington DC, break for WTWW ID, something from SFAW about gun control, then WOR. Standard disclaimer! Remaining airings this week: on 9955 WRMI, Sunday 1530, 1730 (also on WRN via SiriusXM 120); Monday 1130, 1530, 2130; Tuesday & Wednesday 1530. On Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v-CUSB: UT Monday 0300. WORLD OF RADIO 1574 monitoring: UT Monday July 25 at 0300, Area 51 on WBCQ 5110v-CUSB and webcast, RNI gives way to Radio Jennifer, not on schedule for this date, so WOR starts late about 0309. Please stay tuned if you don`t hear WOR at the scheduled time! (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5109.77, 0005-0015 Sun 24.07, WBCQ, Monticello. English ann, pop music 35333 (Anker Petersen, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1575 monitoring: First airing confirmed on WRMI 9955 webcast, 0330 UT Thursday July 28. Next ones: Thu 1500, 2100, Fri 0500, 1430, Sat 0800, 1500, 1730, Sun 0800, 1530, 1730. On WTWW: Thu 2100 on 9479, UT Sun 0400 on 5755 On WBCQ: Thu 2130 on 7415, UT Mon 0300v on 5110v-CUSB On WWRB: UT Fri 0330 on 5051 On WRN via SiriusXM 120: Sat & Sun 1730, Sun 0830 [The Wed 2130 on WBCQ 7415 was replaced July 27 by an unknown amateur hymn-singing show, apparently]. Thursday July 28 at 21-22 UT: Confirmed at 2100 on WTWW 9479, and the WTWW-1 webcast is also working now; JBA on 9955 WRMI even tho no jamming; JBA on 7415 WBCQ at 2155 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Having caught up with Firedrake for the time being, July 22 at 1250 I turned attention to 12100 and when WTWW would come on the air: nothing yet, between weak Asia-Pacific signals on 12095-FEBC, 12105-KSDA. At this time, WWCR was VG on 9980 but not 13845 so MUF from TN somewhere in between. Then WTWW-3 made multiple attempts to start up, with a couple syllables of Arabic, but dumping right back off the air in a few seconds, at these times noted to within a couple of seconds: 1254:12, 1254:42, 1301:29, 1301:44, 1301:58, 1302:45, 1303:34, 1306:03. After eight tries, gave up and nothing further heard; still not on at 1347 or 1430 or 1650 chex. The pause between 1255 and 1301 was when the operator was occupied with changing frequency of WTWW-1: 5755 still on at 1255; 1259 QSY announcement to ``9480``; off at 1259:34* and it took only nine seconds to come back up on 9479 at *1259:43, right into IRN-USA Radio ``news`` without ID or sign-on announcement. 12100, after July 22`s problems getting WTWW-3 to stay on the air, checked again July 23 at 1250: not yet on. But at next check 1254 it had come on and stayed on, in Arabic. Recently has been missing after 0500, but July 24 still on at 0530, Bible in English. I think the reader mispronounced learnèd as ``learned`` in the context. Off again at 1239 check, but by 1254 it was going again, in Arabic. 12100, July 26 at 0459, good signal from WTWW-3 in Portuguese Bible readings, declining to fair at 0515, poor at 0530 English ID and switch to Bible in English. Now there is something strange interfering: six rising tones, repeating over and over, from carrier about 12102. With BFO tuned slightly above it, I hear six descending tones. As I start to time how many times per minute, they stop abruptly after three of them at 0533:10*. (Altho CODAR also infests the area, this was not that.) And altho fade-down of WTWW signal during that semihour indicates it might have stayed on all night but becoming inaudible, when 12100 checked next at 1251, not on. Kept a receiver on frequency and it cut on at *1304 without sign-on, joining Arabic Bible in progress. 12100, July 27 at 1256 tuneby in Firedrake search, WTWW was on in Arabic Bible, somewhat distorted, but at next pass 1310 it was off, clearing frequency for CODAR pulses. Still or again off at 1356 check. 12100, WTWW missing, July 28 at 1325 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5845, July 22 at 1139, very poor signal with mix of WWCR DGS 5935 and BS 5890, another 45 kHz lower. The fundamentals were very strong, but 5845 would not go away even with maximum receiver attenuation, so I think it`s a transmitted spur. Leapfrog the other way on 5980 is blocked by the DentroCuban Jamming Command and R. Martí, but at hours before those are on, have also heard the WWCR mix on 5980. 15825, July 27 at 1314, WWCR-1 is VG with Es-enhancement, splattering above and below, and weak modulation on 15810, 15840 spurs also audible, but no distorted spur field further down or up the band. Let`s hope those have been permanently fixed, as they interfered with many other stations (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR Huckster Indicted in $194 million fraud http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/94085/former-financial-talker-indicted-in-ponzi-scheme-c FORMER FINANCIAL TALKER INDICTED IN PONZI SCHEME CASE July 21, 2011 at 5:02 AM (PT) Charges have been filed against a financial talk show host whose program aired on the shortwave WORLDWIDE CHRISTIAN RADIO network, HUBBARD Talk (now Sports)KSTP-A/ST. PAUL-MINNEAPOLIS, and several other stations in what federal authorities call a Ponzi scheme. The MINNEAPOLIS STAR-TRIBUNE reports that PAT KILEY was one of three associates of convicted money manager TREVOR COOK to be indicted as part of the $194 million fraud that affected over 700 investors. KILEY has said that when he said in sports [spots?] on his "FOLLOW THE MONEY" show that he was a senior financial adviser to COOK, he was reading from a script and was not in reality a manager; he said he believed in COOK's investment program, but the grand jury charged him, along with JASON BO BECKMAN and GERALD DURAND, with conspiracy, mail fraud and money laundering counts (via Kevin Redding, July 21, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) Does ANYBODY actually believe the BS that is broadcast on that station??? Or WWRB as far as that goes! At least WBCQ is fun to listen to on the Weekends. 73 (Kevin Raper, KJ4HYD, CE WCKI WQIZ WLTQ, ibid.) ** U S A. 9370, after a spate of out-of-whackiness for several days, WTJC is in whack again, July 22 at 0513, S9+22 on fundamental, good modulation except for occasional crackles --- and NO spurs. But we KNOW it won`t last. 9370, July 23 at 0550, WTJC out of whack again; respite as in last report was far too brief. Not only is the S9+18 fundamental very distorted, but spurs cover the 9340-9400 range. Even worse at 1233 July 23: 9370 extremely distorted, and strong spurs from 9335 to 9400; one peak around 9385 where WWRB has not yet signed on. Apparently nobody at the FCC, let alone FBN, cares about this POS polluting the SW spectrum (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9330, 9350, and 9370 KHz. --- Getting interference up and down the 93xx band. Appears to be coming from 9370 WTJC. Sounds like they got a bad tube in their TX (Lou KF4EON, Atlanta, GA, 1741 UT July 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9370, WTJC continues to be a blight on the band: July 24 at 0540 check, distorted and spurring out to plus/minus 25 kHz. 1222 very distorted on fundamental and even bothering very strong WHRI 9410 which is on the air Sundays only; blocking WBCQ on 9330, QRMing YFR Taiwan 9280, and spurs audible down to 9265 where there is no WINB. Worse peaks around 9350 and 9390. Hurry up, Jesus! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Exceptionally broad this morning, slop is audible down below 9330 to 9400+++. Audio on the carrier is quite distorted. 1039 UT 7-24-11 (Robert LaFore, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 9635, July 23 at 1229, CVC La Voz, Miami via CHILE, promoting some sort of contest for a $1000 prize based on guessing who wins the Copa América sillyballgames. Seems the good Christians at Vision have plenty of dough to regale and no qualms about games of chance. But only if you listen in Spanish. In fact their homepage http://cvclavoz.com has Copa América as wallpaper; what has that to do with evangelism?? Details from http://cvclavoz.com/concursos/ --- ``Tema del Concurso --- Viviendo la emoción deportiva del fútbol, CVC la voz presenta su concurso ¡Copa América en CVC! Mientras crece la expectativa en cada juego, los oyentes tendrán la oportunidad de participar apostando a su equipo favorito. Hay $1.000 de premio que se dividirán en dos partes. El día 13 de julio se escogerá a una persona de nuestra audiencia entre quienes hayan contestado la siguiente pregunta: ¿Cuál será el primer equipo de cada grupo? ``¿Qué puedo ganar? El ganador recibirá $500 y podrá seguir participando para responder a la siguiente pregunta: ¿Quién ganará “La Copa América”?. El día 23 de julio se seleccionará un correo electrónico entre los que hayan acertado con su respuesta y el oyente recibirá $500.`` --- So it`s a drawing among correct answers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 13580, July 23 at 1241 as I tune in WEWN, nothing but loud hum/squeal, apparently during pause in snail-paced live mass designed for TV. Then cuts intermittently to OK modulation during sung passages. As always, accompanied by constant squishy spurs plus and minus 9 kHz which will disrupt any fellow broadcasters foolish enough to schedule themselves only 10 kHz from this mess of a mass (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 13570, July 23 at 1244, WINB escaped the spur from WEWN 13580 by not being on the air, nor on its only other frequency 9265. WINB used to be active in mornings, especially Saturdays. Still nothing on either at 1412. WINB left its long-outdated March 13 program schedule up for 3+ months at http://www.winb.com/schedule.htm claiming 24/7 which didn`t last long after Rod Hembree discovered that all-night broadcasts on WBCQ 9330 were far more effective; but when I wasn`t looking, WINB has put up a newer one dated July 3. Headed by reduced frequency schedule in EDT: 13570 kHz, 1415 - 1659 [1815-2059 UT] 9265 kHz, 1700 - 2230 [2100-0230 UT] So start at 2100 to look for 9265 x 2 on 18530. Yet the program timings below would produce this UT schedule; length of final programs never displayed, so we just add a plus to 0200. Sun 1300-0200+ Mon-Thu 1815-0200+ Fri 1845-0200+ Sat 1900-0200+ No more relays of Fámily Radio, no surprise there, nor anything in Spanish. 13570, July 24 at 1309, WINB is on in the mornings now Sundays only; usual unstable carrier with BFO, and now also hit by WEWN 13580 squishy spur. WINB airing off-key hymn-singing with piano, ``What a Friend`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. ASCENSION: 12060, Family Radio; 2018-2030+, 27-July; Post 5/21 and pre-stroke program, or is he back?! Laughing Stock Camping on Open Forum. Caller asked about 10/21/11; H sed "There will be a complete end to God's Earth". Next caller commented about 5/21/11, saying he spread the word, and was not mad -- H mumbled a bit. OF/FR spots 2027-29 and back to OF. SIO=2+53- These folks are stuck to this like a tick with superglue. Not // 15195 also via Ascension with English Bible reading, SIO=2+53. Listed 9610 via Germany not heard (Harold Frodge, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CARY GRANT SINGS FCC REGULATIONS http://www.dinosaurgardens.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/Cary_Grant_-_FCC_Station_Identification_Regulations.mp3 http://www.dinosaurgardens.com/archives/175 Yes, this *is* exactly what the message subject says it is: a link to a MP3 recording of Cary Grant singing the 1939 legal ID regulations over the NBC network (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, NRC-AM via DXLD) I think I'll use it, along with the singing EBS test on the DX Audio Service (Frederick R. Vobbe, OH, ibid.) I did use the singing EBS test on CCBS a couple of years back...if it's the same one...where the tone goes "Mary had a Little Lamb" (Mark Durenberger, Mobile, ibid.) The cut I would really like to find is the WGR pre-filing announcement for license renewal where the guy read it, and sounded like Groucho Marx. It was a CLASSIC! To my knowledge, there isn't anything in the rules disallowing it. But I know of at least one station that ran the singing test and received a call saying it was not in their "best interest" to mess with EAS (Vobbe, ibid.) If we're going to let this thread bunny-trail over to celebrity voice impersonations, there is a spot for Adams Motor Company of Denison, Iowa running right now on Fort Dodge's KWMT, and the guy reading it is so much of a dead ringer for the late Paul Harvey, it's scary. I mean, he has EVERY nuance of Harvey's voice nailed down. If you get lucky, you might even run into it on KWMT's streaming audio. 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska, ibid.) ** U S A. EDITORIAL -- FCC ACKNOWLEDGES POLICE INVOLVEMENT The case of alleged pirate broadcaster Christopher M. Myers of Lauderhill, Florida is unusually interesting. As many of you know, pirate broadcasting is a third degree felony in Florida and police can incarcerate pirates without FCC intervention. These facts notwithstanding, the FCC has traditionally been hesitant to mention police involvement in Florida in order to propagate the image that the FCC has exclusive jurisdiction to deal with pirates and resolve interference. The Myers case is unusual in that the FCC openly and repeatedly mentions police involvement, starting in paragraph 5 and spreading to the footnotes. This change, we believe, is healthy. Florida is overrun with pirates and the FCC needs all the help it can get. As soon as the FCC or police knock down one pirate, another one pops up, sometimes openly selling advertising in competition with licensed stations. Florida's felony law and police involvement discourage pirates and help prevent them from obliterating the radio dial. FCC MO&O on the Christopher M. Myers case: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-11-1217A1.doc CGC #768 (Nov. 2006, see the first Letter to the Editor): http://www.bext.com/_CGC/2006/cgc768.htm CGC #857 (Sept. 2008, see the fourth story, "Another pirate incarcerated in Florida"): http://www.bext.com/_CGC/2008/cgc857.htm (CGC Communicator July 25 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Pirate squabbles: Commander Bunny Says "POET IS FCC SNITCH" Over Anonymous Blog Comment, And Other REALLY Crazy Stuff That We Won't Print Here... today... http://www.tcsshortwave.com/2011/07/commander-bunny-says-poet-is-fcc-snitch.html (via Artie Bigley, July 25, DXLD) A Pirate Dxer sent this to me: http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/FieldNotices/2003/DOC-308562A1.html What call/slogan is this radio station using? [Later:] Glenn, They are saying WBNY was busted: http://shortwavepirate.info/WBNY/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/POETSBUST (Artie Bigley, OH, July 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Both linx have same FCC notice, but the FCC does not condescend to publish the *name* of the pirate station: (gh) Viz.: FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION ENFORCEMENT BUREAU Northeast Region Detroit Office 24897 Hathaway St. Farmington Hills, MI 48335-1552 July 21, 2011 (Sent via Certified Return Receipt Requested and First Class US Mail) Gregory D. Brown Lansing, Michigan NOTICE OF UNLICENSED OPERATION Case Number: EB-10-DT-0327 Document Number: W201132360007 The Detroit Office received information that an unlicensed broadcast radio station on 6815 kHz was allegedly operating in Lansing, Michigan. On May 8, 2011 and May 22, 2011, an agent from this office confirmed by direction finding techniques that radio signals on frequency 6815 kHz and frequency 6960.6 kHz were emanating from your residence in Lansing, Michigan. The Commission's records show that no license was issued for operation of a broadcast station on 6815 kHz or 6960.6 kHz at this location in Lansing, Michigan. Radio stations must be licensed by the FCC pursuant to 47 U.S.C. S: 301. The only exception to this licensing requirement is for certain transmitters using or operating at a power level or mode of operation that complies with the standards established in Part 15 of the Commission's rules, 47 C.F.R. S:S: 15.1 et seq. The field strength of the signal on frequency 6815 kHz and 6960.6 kHz exceeds the maximum permitted established in Section 15.209 of the Rules (See 47 C.F.R. S: 15.209(a)) given the distance the signal could be received in radio direction finding vehicles and FCC fixed High Frequency receiving sites. Thus, this station is operating in violation of 47 U.S.C. S: 301. You are hereby warned that operation of radio transmitting equipment without a valid radio station authorization constitutes a violation of the Federal laws cited above and could subject the operator to severe penalties, including, but not limited to, substantial monetary fines, in rem arrest action against the offending radio equipment, and criminal sanctions including imprisonment. (see 47 U.S.C. S:S: 401, 501, 503 and 510). UNLICENSED OPERATION OF THIS RADIO STATION MUST BE DISCONTINUED IMMEDIATELY. You have ten (10) days from the date of this notice to respond with any evidence that you have authority to operate granted by the FCC. Your response should be sent to the address in the letterhead and reference the listed case and document number. Under the Privacy Act of 1974, 5 U.S.C. S: 552a(e)(3), we are informing you that the Commission's staff will use all relevant material information before it to determine what, if any, enforcement action is required to ensure your compliance with FCC Rules. This will include any information that you disclose in your reply. You may contact this office if you have any questions. James A. Bridgewater District Director Detroit Office Attachments: Excerpts from the Communications Act of 1934, As Amended Enforcement Bureau, "Inspection Fact Sheet", March 2005 (FCC via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) I'm betting my DXing skills/reputation it was TCS busted. But some people may not want to believe it because of the feud between Commander Bunny and John the Poet. I QSLed them in early 83. On the air for almost thirty years. Also, fond this: http://www.hfunderpants.com/wiki/The_Crystal_Ship So, you believe it's TCS?? (Artie Bigley to Chris Lobdell, July 26, cc to DXLD) Yes, I do. They were broadcasting on 6815 on May 8th (Chris Lobdell to Artie, via DXLD) I have heard TCS on a a number of occasions; here's a couple of recordings I have: http://www.archive.org/download/ShortwavePirateRadio/TheCrystalShip6854_2Am0001z-0219z08-06-07.mp3 http://www.archive.org/download/ShortwavePirateRadio/TheCrystalShip7575_1Am0316z-0346z05-29-08.mp3 Cheers, (Sealord, July 26, 2011 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Artie points out that Greg Majewski`s column in the August 2007 CIDX Messenger carried this: This month, I like to highlight a station, The Crystal Ship. John Poet is the operator. The Crystal Ship plays good music, political commentary and experiments with different frequencies. It is one of the more frequently heard stations. I contacted the Poet by electronic mail to ask him about his station. Here is what he had to say: THE HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF THE CRYSTAL SHIP BY JOHN “THE POET” The partnership which would become The Crystal Ship was formed in June 1982. Three nineteen-year-olds were finishing up a term of college when John ‘The Poet’ (that’s me) came up with the bright idea of creating a pirate radio station. Of course my compatriots were all for the idea. My partners, “The Radical” and “The Unknown Soldier” and I shared an affinity for the music of The Doors, The Who, Blue Oyster Cult and The Rolling Stones, among other things. The station was eventually named ‘The Crystal Ship’ after the tune of the same name from the first Doors album, which we would use to open each broadcast. Later, our shows would close with ‘We want the Airwaves’ by The Ramones (and still do). I had been an SWL in the late 70s as a young teen, and was exposed to pirate radio through articles about the ‘Voice of the Voyageur’ station which were published in NASWA’s FRENDX club bulletin. As such I had a good general idea of how it could be done, but without any knowledge of the specific problems which could crop up. Locating an amateur shortwave transmitter was much more difficult in those days, particularly to purchase one without having to answer a lot of silly questions. I eventually located an aging Knight T-150 through a weekly ad paper, and purchased it with a story about how ‘It’s a gift for my father who collects older equipment.’ We also managed to throw together a motley collection of consumer audio equipment for the ‘studio.’ along with a very crude homemade mixer. We first attempted to operate in a ‘fixed mobile’ mode out of a van, but were unable to meet the power requirements of the equipment. We eventually settled on operations out of two alternating fixed locations about fifty miles apart, to help evade any authorities. Interestingly, not yet being aware of the ‘standard pirate frequency’ which was 7425 kHz at that time, but knowing enough to stay out of the amateur bands, we initially operated around 6965 kHz, which is within the frequency range most often used now by North American pirate stations. About this time I became aware of the new Association of Clandestine Enthusiasts pirate SWL club with their ACE bulletin. I formed a friendship with the club founder, Darren Leno, and arranged to use them as a mail drop at Box 452, Moorhead Minnesota. Leno became the first listener to log the station in August 1982. He convinced us to switch to the “pirate frequency” of 7425 kHz. Numerous listeners began logging the station through the fall of 1982. Being totally inexperienced with how our signal should sound through a monitor, I mistakenly attributed distortion to receiver overload from the proximity of the transmitter. It turned out that the transmitter had severe problems, including but not limited to wiring mistakes by the original builder, aging components, and severe RF feedback from our studio. At times it was reported to be transmitting in the FM mode, which is a problem for an AM transmitter. Through the use of loop phone lines, we became acquainted with the operator of the AM /shortwave pirate WART, in New York. (He called our loop line announced during a show. Shortly after, I heard WART on shortwave, called his announced loop line and recognized his voice as our previous caller --- gave him quite a scare at first.) He convinced us to suspend operations, and send our transmitter to him for an overhaul; and explained how to modify our other equipment to kill the RF feedback motor-boat. We spent the downtime creating our format, writing a poetic call to arms, recording various station promo spots and an interval signal (a ‘crowd’ of five yelling “We want the world and we want it now” recorded inside the natural echo chamber of a parking ramp stairway). We hit the airwaves again in April 1983, and were well-received with our now-clean signal and more organized programming. Political content consisted of much criticism of the Reagan administration, particularly their policies in Central America and their prosecutions of draft registration resisters. Soon we became characterized as a ‘socialist station,’ probably because of ‘The Radical’s repetitive use of the phrase “Socialism forever, Socialism for everyone” in our editorial program ‘On Deck’. Relishing the reputation, we did what we could to feed it --- although we were actually liberal Democratic Party activists. Regular operations continued for a number of months, until it became clear by August 1983, through various grapevine sources who had actual contacts with various F.C.C. employees, that the agency was hot on our trail. “They are #1 on our ‘hit list’!” an agent at the Fort Lauderdale monitoring station reportedly told one listener. Often operating every weekend, often two days in a row, it’s a wonder that we were not caught. I attribute their failure to our use of multiple locations confusing their long-range triangulation. They were close enough to each other to appear to be coming from the same general area, but would have temporarily prevented a definitive “fix” on our locales which would have allowed the mobile enforcement units to go to work on the problem but informed sources soon told me they were ready to spring the trap on The Crystal Ship. As luck would have it, transmitter problems forced us off the air at that very time in August 1983. At the same time, it was reported to me that a “suspicious van” had been noted parking down the street from our primary location. If the FCC had us tracked down to the very street, we would have been easy to spot -- shortwave antennas were visible from the street. We remained inactive for the remainder of 1983. In early 1984, a relay was arranged and a number of programs were anonymously broadcast by one of the former operators of the famous ‘Voice of the Voyager’. They had been shut down for the second time in 1982 and were paying fines on an installment plan, but one operator was able to make these relays of taped programming from a new location far from Minnesota. One of these programs contained our endorsement of Jesse Jackson for the 1984 presidential nomination, pushing the Democratic Party to do “more than just giving lip service to Black Americans.” In June of 1984, I managed to get our own transmitter back on the air one last time, (or maybe a couple times), doing little more than playing whole album sides. I only recall one report of it -- a taped report of ‘Yes’ from our furthest reporter ever, located in Medicine Hat, Alberta, Canada -- a distance of over 1300 miles. Due to continued transmitter difficulties and other interests, The Crystal Ship then drifted into pirate radio history, having operated sporadically for almost two years, and having issued approximately 30 QSL cards. The problem equipment was sold off and that was that. We all went on with our lives. Twenty years later in 2004, I was doing some business research on Google. Just for yucks, I was inspired to type in the name of the station, not really expecting to find anything. Naturally I was shocked to find several different references to our station on the internet, including a missing QSL graphic, as we had been inactive for twenty years, and our existence pre-dated the internet by a good number of years. This knowledge began to eat at me. To realize that what we had done as teenagers had not been totally forgotten by the world after all this time, gave me a huge feeling of immortality, history and Deja Vu. At the very same time, I was intensely frustrated with the mechanizations [sic] of the Bush administration, the GOP Congress and the war in Iraq and felt the need to strike back in some way. In other words, the stars were in perfect alignment for The Crystal Ship to arise from its ashes and rise from the dead. The emergence of the internet and eBay made vintage equipment readily available, and easy anonymous communication and information sharing with other pirates as well as amateur radio operators possible. By late September 2004, The Crystal Ship made its reappearance on the airwaves, the voices of ‘The Poet’ and ‘The Radical’ being broadcast through a fresh Knight T-150A acquired off of eBay... (I initially chose to buy another T-150 as I was already familiar with its operation and some of its likely failures from the first time around. As luck would have it, I had managed to keep most of the audio equipment, as well as original recorded spots and QSLs safe for all those years in-between, though other equipment was lost. Thus the QSLs we have been issuing are from the original printing run in 1983; they are just a tad aged.) The reemergence of the station created quite a stir in the pirate radio listener community, particularly among the few still around who had previously logged us in the early 1980s. The Crystal Ship has just entered its third year of operation since its ‘second coming,’ now utilizing Johnson plate modulated transmitters, Valiants and a Viking 2. Due to easier Email communication with listeners we have now issued well over 100 QSL packages. We have been reported from all four corners of the United States, by numerous Canadians, as well as confirmed overseas reports from Venezuela and France. We now maintain an Email list of about 150 potential listeners, whom we sometimes tip off to broadcasts and frequencies. Potential listeners may join the list at tcsshortwave@gmail.com (Free Radio Scene, August 2007 CIDX Messenger via DXLD) Email from the International Radio Report to me: "he answered and is neither confirming or denying. He says to watch his blog for a statement in the next few days. I`ll wait to see what he says on his blog. Let me know when you see it" (Artie Bigley, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I'm now 100% sure it was The Crystal Ship that was busted. Note this email from my friend WEAK RADIO, who was shut down a few months ago: (Artie Bigley, OH, July 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Hi Artie, I'm just now catching up with emails. I really hate to see another pirate bust has taken place. Going by the dates indicated on the FCC link you sent and matching them to the FRN loggings, the station would be The Crystal Ship and the DJ goes by John Poet. FRN posts matching FCC dates & frequencies of the bust: http://www.frn.net/vines/Forum4/HTML/020041.html http://www.frn.net/vines/Forum4/HTML/020087.html WEAK (via Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. Just a reminder to those in earshot of Chicago that Q101 (101.1) flipped to AC earlier this week and Fresh 105.9 flipped to WBBM 780 simulcast, which is probably one of the few smart moves anyone in Chicago radio has managed to pull off, seeing as though it's a #1 ranked station in the market on AM (still #1 when adding in FM ratings). (Chris Kadlec, South Korea, WTFDA via DXLD) Unless they move it ahead, the WCFS 105.9 flip to // 780 doesn't happen until August 1. And by then, we may find out what the real format on 101.1 will be - the current "FM New" hot AC thing that's running on 101.1 and on 101.9 in NYC is just a stunt. There are new calls on both those stations, too - WKQX 101.1 is now WWWN and WRXP 101.9 is now WEMP, as of last night. s (Scott Fybush, NY, July 22, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. WFAN and WCBS went silent --- About 2140 EDT Suddenly both 880 WCBS (Yankees baseball) and 660 WFAN (Mets baseball) went silent. At 2145 EDT WCBS was on weakly, maybe running 10% power IMHO. Distance to both sticks from my house is 62 mi/100 km. Both are usually quite strong here. Recheck at 2200 EDT indicates resumption of broadcasting. (Paul S. in CT at 41N 28' 20" by 72W 54' 47", using Tecsun PL-200 UL- RX barefoot, July 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sounds like a rolling blackout; we experienced our first one here in the Buffalo area (though I suspect not our last) today (July 23) from about 0220-0240--also 20 minutes. The roots of some of my basil plants have been cauterized by the morning sun heating the metal planter, which in turn heated the soil. Guess this is the shape of things to come. 73 de (Anne Fanelli in sticky Elma NY, ibid.) ** U S A. I was pretty much DONE with Christian radio over 15 years ago, when I was treated like scum by the owner - simply because I was playing Christian rock instead of his bland praise and worship format. It was Daytona Beach, not a retirement home - and it didn't matter to him that I was reaching young people in droves. Christian rock was frowned upon by him and his key investors (a bunch of old fogies on church boards in the area). So - no matter how many young people were getting saved and changing lives - we were wrong because we didn't fit their concept of what Christian music should be. They are still there, playing their bland praise and worship, and dollar for holler tapes from local pastors of dubious spirituality. And to no listeners. Waste of a frequency. Christian artists who play anything creative like Christian rock - unheard. The tragedy of Christians like Katy Perry - who had to go secular to have any chance of making a living. Our local station KSBJ plays to the church, and even rates in the top five. But it reaches nobody who isn't a Christian. No kids (the future of the church) listen to the thing. WPOZ Orlando - which plays Christian CHR and DOES reach kids - just placed on the top of the Orlando ratings, above every secular station. You play up tempo Christian CHR and Christian rock, and you CAN make money while reaching young people. WPOZ is proof of that (Bruce Carter, TX, July 21, ABDX via DXLD) Tsk2. Splitting hairs; who wants to waste time with *any* genre of Christian music [except great classical]? A hot-button topic for Bruce. Item about Ponzi scheme on WWCR somehow set him off on this rant (gh, DXLD) I was burned BAD by Sira-Pack Radio WCKI and Antelope Broadcasting WPJM in Greer and I was DONE with Christian Radio, but now I will have to say that Mediatrix Radio WCKI, WQIZ, & WLTQ has treated me FAR better than anybody I have ever worked for in and out of the Radio Biz. It is truly wonderful to work for Christians who actually practice what they Preach on the Radio. 73, (Kevin Raper, KJ4HYD, CE, WCKI WQIZ WLTQ, ABDX via DXLD) There is no limitation to the fidelity of AM radio. From a mathematical standpoint, AM does better in frequency response than FM. - Leonard Kahn (Raper`s tagline, ibid.) ** U S A. NEW INDIAN RADIO PROGRAM IN PHOENIX AREA I see a lot of complaining on various lists about the dearth of music on the MW/AM band, as well as a lack of community-based programming. I feel very blessed to live in Arizona - uh - at least in one regard. There are a number of stations with locally produced and oriented programs such as "Trades and Sales" on 1420 KMOG, Payson; surely a precursor to "Craig's List" and the like. A number of excellent stations in Tucson play "oldies". Not just the usual stuff, mind you, but "adult standards" from the 40s-60s. After all, many stations across the band play Jerry Lee Lewis, Three Dog Night, or The Beach Boys, for example, but not early Dean Martin, Keeley Smith, or recording artists from before 1955. Over the past year, "NBC 1260" in Phoenix/Apache Junction and 1440 KAZG (Scottsdale) have been mixing the network programming with totally local (non-political) programs. The latest edition to all this is "Khushi Radio", heard on KAZG, that runs during the afternoon drive time (4-6 PM [2300-0100 UT). It is a program for the local Indian community. not "Indian" as you might expect in Arizona (i.e., Pima, Hopi, Navajo), but as in India! I caught the show during a recent commute and was struck right away that music that made me think I was getting A-I-R on MW. They give a local phone number, take phone calls over the air, and play a lot of requests. I find this a very enjoyable broadcast to listen to, and feel this to be a welcome change from the usual talk-radio drivel - ESPECIALLY at that time of day - from other stations in this market. I wanted to report this to the ABDX list 2 weeks ago, but I could not figure out the spelling of "Khushi" until today. In fact, over the air, it sounded to me like they were saying "pushy" . below is a link to their website. http://www.radiokhushi.com/phoenix/ [Telugu and Hindi, also in Dallas on 1110] Regards from El Mirage, AZ (Rick Barton, July 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 11-29: ex-KBSU 730 Boise, jazz: Impact Radio Group launching NewsRadio AM730 KINF Home | Radio News | RADIO PROGRAMMING The Boise-based radio group will launch of “NewsRadio AM730 KINF” by Friday 7/22. To do this, the company bought non-comm Idaho State Board of Education’s (Boise State University) KBSU-AM (NPR, jazz and news). An LMA kicked in 6/24. As part of the mix, Impact is using TRN’s America’s Morning News America’s Radio News Network for long-form news. Impact Manager Darrell Calton commented, “We are ecstatic about the launch of “NewsRadio AM730 KINF”. Our local team of reporters, anchors and partners will create a true radio news station designed for the Treasure Valley. We should be technically ready by Friday if not before.” Each weekday, NewsRadio AM730 KINF will deliver ten hours of prime time coverage featuring Idaho’s NewsFirst Team, America’s Morning News, America’s Radio News Network and the Associated Press. The station is partnering with the Idaho Statesman for expanded coverage in the news room, and (another example of a big trend we recently mentioned) KTRV-TV Channel 12 for meteorological expertise and news room muscle and Boise Traffic. The station will also feature TRN talkers Laura Ingraham, Rusty Humphries, and Phil Hendrie among others. Idaho’s NewsFirst team will be headed by newly hired PD Rick Worthington. Worthington’s 18 year career includes hard core news experience with KFBK in Sacramento and a five year stint as News Director for the News/Talk juggernaut 780 KKOH in Reno. Jay Howell has been appointed News Director. Howell’s stops include WFLA/Tampa, WSM- AM/Nashville, KARN/Little Rock, and KBOI here in Boise. Rounding out anchor and reporter duties are Kimberly James and Mike Sharp. James brings 25 years of journalism and Anchor skills with a history of work at ABC News, ABC International, and in the markets of Los Angeles, Dallas, San Diego, San Antonio and at KBOI-AM in Boise. Impact also O&Os Adult Hits KSRV-FM (Bob-FM), Rhythmic Top 40 KWYD (Wild 101), Alternative KQLZ (V99.1), Regional Mexican KPDA (La Poderosa), Talk/Sports KSRV-AM/Ontario, OR and KMHI/Mountain Home, ID AM 1240 (source? via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. BROWN STUDENT RADIO STATION BSR TO GO ONLINE-ONLY AUGUST 1 All of a sudden Providence, Rhode Island is ground zero for the latest round of changes regarding terrestrial college radio stations. Earlier this summer it was announced that Bryant University was taking its student station, WJMF, off of the FM airwaves in order to allow WGBH to use the frequency for a simulcast of its classical public radio station WCRB 99.5 All Classical (I’ll have more on that story later this week). And now, Brown University’s student radio station BSR has announced that it will be losing its FM home of 14 years on WELH 88.1 FM. Brown Student and Community Radio (BSR), will go online-only as of August 1, 2011 after losing its contract with WELH’s license holder, The Wheeler School. Interestingly, WELH recently boosted their power to 4000 watts, potentially making their frequency more attractive to potential well-heeled radio suitors. . . http://www.radiosurvivor.com/2011/07/25/brown-student-radio-station-bsr-to-go-online-only-august-1/ (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. DR. DEMENTO CONNECTED THE LINK BETWEEN SILLY AND SERIOUS http://houston.culturemap.com/newsdetail/07-23-11-rare-birds-column-fm-meets-dementia/ No static at all: On FM radio, Dr. Demento connected the link between silly and serious “I miss FM radio!” — Graffiti inside KTRU studio “Me too!” — More graffiti inside KTRU studio I’m always going to remember my adolescence as a period where I was forever changed by FM radio. When MTV dropped in 1981, my family didn’t have cable television. Yes, you read that correctly, no cable television. I’ll wait if you need a moment to recover. So in my teens instead of “music television,” FM radio was my primary resource for an education in creative music. My perception of what music even “was” was broadened considerably during those teenage years, thanks in part to a “perfectly normal” yet nearly hermetic lifestyle I embraced, armed only with a pair of headphones clamped tightly to my skull. I spent a lot of time alone listening to truly smart DJs like Dr. Demento, whose so-called novelty music radio show, “The Dr. Demento Show,” broadcast weekly on Sunday nights via QFM 96 (“WE ROCK COLUMBUS!”). Yes, that’s right. The two-hour Dr. Demento Show came on at 9 p.m. on a school night, and I tuned in religiously and, thanks to the aforementioned headphones, surreptitiously. Needless to say, I spent most of my daylight hours in junior high school trying hard not to fall asleep. As I’m typing, Microsoft Word’s “spell check” is dutifully flagging — with a red squiggly underline — the word “Demento," which just goes to show you how sick our society truly is. What is “wrong,” such as a “wrong” note or a “wrong” use of grammar, is also quite often deemed “silly.” And silly is suspect; a waste of time. Or at best, a “novelty” that provides only temporary amusement before one grows up and learns to take life seriously. Dr. Demento instilled in me the belief that “silly” is good. The medium of radio broadcasting presented “silly” as a transcendent experience, while cluing me in to some tricks and techniques that eventually found their way into my own musical output. Especially when it came to creative recording and mixing. As a budding electronic / experimental / avant-garde composer, was I digging Stockhausen, Varèse and Boulez? Nope. I was taping and analyzing “Fish Heads,” “Pencil Neck Geek,” and “They’re Coming To Take Me Away – Ha Haaa!” songs I would not have heard otherwise if it weren’t for Dr. Demento, one of our country’s great ethnomusicologists. In each of the good doctor’s broadcasts, there were so many profound cultural signifiers running through what on the surface sounded like two hours of lunatics raving on the radio. Great Jewish comedians connected to instrumental virtuosos leading inevitably into polkas only to be transformed into garage and punk rock (“Punk Polka” by The Toons is a great example of what I’m describing). But honestly, as a (sleepy) teenager, all of this heady subtext went over my head. It would be years later, after I’d become a fan of great musicologists like Alan Lomax, Ned Sublette, Robert Palmer, and Amiri Baraka before I would understand the profundity of what I had listened to alone in my bedroom. As opposed to our current “on demand” age where most people are now conditioned to expect anything and everything as a high-speed download, there was a whole ritual that surrounded radio broadcasts and the time and space one had to create to listen. You had to tune in at a specific time in order to hear all of this weird music. Put on a set of headphones in a darkened room, and the experience is intensely transcendent. If you closed your eyes, you forgot you were in your bedroom or on planet Earth. Along with artists like Stan Freberg, Tom Lehrer, Allen Sherman and Spike Jones, Dr. Demento played lo-fi to completely homemade cassette recordings by his loyal “dementions and dementites,” including the first ever parody songs by one “Weird Al” Yankovic whose accordion fueled send up of The Knack’s hit “My Sharona,” retitled “My Bologna,” was first aired on the show. (By the way, have you visited the Texas Polka Museum?) The leap from “silly” to so-called “serious” music, be it electronic composition, musique concrète or whatever you call music that didn’t extol the virtues of fish heads or dead puppies, isn’t a big one. And in fact, Dr. Demento made this explicit by dedicating an entire show to the music of American composer Frank Zappa shortly after his passing. And once in a while, the doctor would even drop some of the then new avant-pop music like “Pocket Calculator” by the ground breaking German band Kraftwerk. That’s how I first heard of them. Come to think of it, I also first heard avant-garde composer and performance artist Laurie Anderson’s “O Superman” on the Dr. Demento show. Years later, at my audition for the composition program at Capital University’s Conservatory of Music, the man who would become my composition professor told me after I’d mentioned I liked Laurie Anderson, that he considered “O Superman” to be one of the great art songs of the 20th century. Ding! I knew I had found my people. Or at least a composition professor who would have some patience for my unorthodox pre- collegiate music education. So what’s Dr. Demento up to now? Check out his lively website. He’s still demented. Here’s a track from my CD Saints & Devils that was created as a sort of homage to the ritual and magic of radio listening. The voice you hear is the mysterious Sister Leisha, “God’s healer and messenger,” who ran her business out of a brown mobile home behind a correctional facility (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) I have fond memories of Dr. Demento. In the mid 70's in Midland, TX, I had to wait until an Odessa 97.9 shut down before I could get KZEW from Dallas - and I think Dr. Demento was a staple on that, or perhaps on another distant Dallas station KERA 90.1. Hard to remember after this long which station it was. Both were tremendously good, a rock import show was my introduction to Kraftwerk and other European artists. It was KERA that had a heavy soul and mellow jazz show. As word began to spread, and more people secured the necessary equipment - a small but loyal following started for those and other Dallas stations - with deep fringe antennas popping up in neighborhoods all over town (Bruce Carter, TX, ibid.) Two people in the past 48 hours who reminded me of Dr. Demento, who I heard for years on 95X in Syracuse, and from Rochester during my college years before that. First, on Facebook, British cultural commentator Norman Lebrecht posted a link to a George Formby video; Formby was often heard on Dr. D's shows, of course! And now, this article...thanks so much! I'll be kind and give that video link, too-- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mBms2hwK9n0&feature=related (Marie Lamb, Syracuse NY, ibid.) ** U S A. Es question: Do LPFMs have commercial breaks? Need help IDing a station --- During today's Es, I heard an ad on 96.7 FM for Bullock Toyota, which is located in Louisville, MS (per search on Toyota's website). The closest 96.7 to Louisville is WNNN-LP Noxapater, MS, 73 watts at 8 miles from Louisville. Normally, I'd be assured I logged WNNN due to the local ad, but the fact that it is an LPFM has me wondering if they can, legally, run local advertisements for companies (save for announcements from nonprofit clubs/organizations)? The closest 96.7 FM to Bullock Toyota is 78 miles away (in Pontotoc, MS), and there are 5 Toyota dealerships within a 70-mile radius to that station, 1 only 17 miles away. Therefore, the chances of that station airing Bullock's advertisement is probably slim to none. There seems to be enough dealerships in MS to a point where a station would not air a very distant dealership's ad. I think I'm going to log it as WNNN, unless someone says that there's no chance WNNN could've aired a spot for a local car dealership 8 miles away per FCC rules or something! Something else to consider, I got 107.1 WLSM from Louisville, MS in the same opening, from the same market as WNNN is, so this almost solidifies the 'what ifs' in my mind with logging WNNN. I just thought I'd ask in case this raises a red flag with someone in regard to LPFMs and advertisements (David Pierce, July 24, WTFDA via DXLD) A LPFM (96.7 in Ashaway, RI) that is co-owned with a commercial AM that gets bought by car dealerships my radio station does business with, airs advertisements --- but without specific prices. I am guessing that WNNN was what you heard (Adam Rivers, ibid.) Thanks for the quick reply, Adam! That seals it -- I'm logging it as WNNN. Pretty cool -- it's my 2nd LPFM via Es. I suspect that I also nabbed a translator today, but I haven't gotten to going over the recordings yet. The opening here (into MS/LA/TX) was pretty strong, causing an LA station to obliterate my local blowtorch 50kw on 95.5 FM, the 2nd station to do so in 12 years of DXing. Log report/website updates to come soon on the list (David Pierce, Woodbridge, VA FM18, http://fmradiodx.wordpress.com/ ibid.) I could send you a recording of a different portion of today's reception of WTQT-LP-94.9-LA in which they ran 3. The only other LP I have logged however didn't run any - it was strictly community and public service (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, 15 mi NW of Philadelphia PA, ibid.) The rules say LPFMs are noncommercial and must therefore abide by the same underwriting rules as other noncommercial stations - no mention of prices, no comparatives ("we have the best Toyota lineup in town"), no calls to action ("come on down to West 99th Street"). In practice, not all LPFMs (or all full-power noncomms, for that matter) comply with the rules, which are vague at best. s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) WCKK/Walnut Grove, MS? It's a C2, and I know it's on. I have heard it while in Central Mississippi. Country. WNNN-LP has filed to move to 95.7 (Peter, N4LI, Baskind, TN, ibid.) Drats! Found out on LPFMDatabase.com that WNNN-LP 96.7 has been silent since 5/21/11. It probably was WCKK, a relog only 38 miles from the aforementioned Toyota dealership, even though 2 are closer (but only by a few miles in different directions). Even with this disappointment, I can still revel in logging a new translator today via Es. Thanks for your help Peter and everyone on the list (David Pierce, Woodbridge, VA FM18, ibid.) David, Yes, WCKK it is. 44 kW. Their transmitter is actually north of Walnut Grove, and roughly 20 miles from Louisville, MS, and Louisville is within the 60db (1 mv/m) contour. I logged WCKK (a.k.a. Kicks 96) here in Poughkeepsie, NY June 25th (Chris, ibid.) ** U S A. 940, FLORIDA, WLQH, Chiefland. 1656 July 21, 2011. Surprised to hear this one, barely squeaking through mostly nulled WINZ, Miami with the Beatles "Things We Said Today" and slogan "The New WZCC" (the 1240 station simulcast here). Listed as 779 watts on day power (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Florida DX News and "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" are at: http://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BROADCASTERS BACK TO THE NEW WORLD TRADE CENTER? Once upon a time in an earlier incarnation as WPIX-FM, 101.9 was among the first FM stations to move its transmitter to the World Trade Center - and later, as WQCD, 101.9 became the first FM to return from the Trade Center to the Empire State Building to escape some of the multipath problems that existed with FM from Manhattan's southern tip. It has, of course, been almost a decade since the remaining FMs at the Trade Center were so abruptly and tragically forced to move their sites elsewhere, but now one of those FMs is at least talking about coming back. In a New York Times article last week, managers at Columbia University's WKCR (89.9) raised the possibility that they might look at moving their transmitter from its current home at Four Times Square down to the new 1 World Trade Center skyscraper when it's completed soon. We hadn't heard much talk about broadcast operations from the new 1WTC since the early stages of planning, when it appeared that the city's TV stations (working under the Metropolitan Television Alliance banner) were planning to build a new master DTV site there to replace the somewhat makeshift DTV facilities that were built at the Empire State Building in the years after 9/11. But the MTVA's plans had become hazy in more recent years; building a new master DTV site is an expensive proposition, after all, in an era when most New Yorkers get local TV from cable or satellite and when the Empire facilities, if not perfect, seemed to be functioning well enough. There had been little talk at all about a new master FM operation at 1WTC. Commercial broadcasters were well aware that the signals that had been at WTC before 9/11 had experienced reception problems in parts of midtown Manhattan, and the cost of building a new master FM facility to replace or supplement the excellent facilities at Empire (and backups at Four Times Square) would have been prohibitive. The cost of a new standalone FM facility for WKCR would surely be quite high, too, and WKCR's managers tell the Times they still haven't done all the research to determine whether the move would be financially possible. And so for now, we'll file away WKCR's talk of a move as an interesting possibility that appears to be a long way from reality (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch July 25 via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 3945, Radio Vanuatu, 1210 July 22. Presumed a devotional ending with “God bless” at 1215, followed by music and announcements til 1217 anthem to close. Poor, occasional QRM from weather ham net (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car with Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna. Editor of World English Survey and Target Listening, available at http://www.odxa.on.ca dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. *Novo** esquema de transmissões em ondas curtas da Rádio Vaticano* *em**esperanto* [asterisked sic] A Rádio Vaticano divulgou seu novo esquema de transmissões em esperanto em ondas curtas. Os programas vão ao ar às quartas, quintas e domingos, às 16:20 (Brasília) ou 1920 (UT). Às quartas e quintas, as freqüências são 5980 e 7360 kHz. Aos domingos as emissões são feitas em 4005, 5885, 7250, 9645 e 13765 kHz. A produção e a apresentação estão a cargo do esperantista italiano Carlo Sarandrea. Informou: (Fabiano Henrique, Niterói - RJ, 25 July, radioescutas yg via DXLD) I.e. Wed & Thu 1920 on 5980 and 7360; Sunday 1920 on 4005, 5885, 7250, 9645, 13765 We compare this to the A-11 printed schedule of VR, which we are still receiving direct in the P-mail with some delay: Deciphered, it says: 1920 until French at 1930 on same frequencies. These are all for Europe and Mediterranean, altho the higher ones might make it to Rio. Esperanto news on Sundays and Holy Days at 1920 on same as above plus 1530 and 93.3; Esperanto non-news on Wed & Thu on same as above plus 1260, 1611. In other words, the above schedule is NOT new (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Futuro Centro de Ondas Cortas Simón Bolívar (COCSB) de Radio Nacional de Venezuela --- They are coming soon ---- Noticias más concretas sobre el proyecto. Escucha los audios. 73 http://diexismovenezolano.blogspot.com/2011/07/venezuela-detalles-sobre-la.html (via Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: VENEZUELA: Detalles sobre la programación de Centro Ondas Cortas Simón Bolívar de Radio Nacional de Venezuela. sábado 23 de julio de 2011 IMAGEN: MAQUETA DE LO QUE SERA EL CENTRO DE ONDAS CORTAS SIMON BOLIVAR (COCSB) DE RADIO NACIONAL DE VENEZUELA, QUE DIFUNDIRA EL CANAL INTERNACIONAL. [caption of architect`s model] Jean Carlos Pereira en su programa INNOVAMUNDO RADIO que se emite por el canal RNV MUSICAL 880 kHz en Caracas, entrevistó a Daniel Peralta, Jefe del Canal Internacional de Radio Nacional de Venezuela. Entre los anuncios resalta: que para finales de Octubre o principios de Noviembre debe estar listo el centro de transmisores y antenas ubicado en el Estado Guárico, conocido como CENTRO DE ONDAS CORTAS SIMON BOLIVAR (COCSB). Los programas serán producidos en Caracas y vía satélite serán enviados a dicho centro. Las transmisiones en ondas cortas tendrán: un programa diario en español de 2 horas de duración que serán emitidos varias veces al día y un programa en idioma inglés, el cual tendrá una duración de media hora e igualmente se transmitiran en varios horarios. En una primera etapa tendrán 6 ejes de transmision: 3 para Norteamérica y 3 para Sudamérica. En un futuro se tienen planes de emitir en Portugués, Francés y posiblemente en Quéchua y Guanari. [sic] En la programación en español se emitirá diariamente una revista informativa, 20 minutos con discurso del Presidente Chavéz y programas musicales de media hora alternandos con música del caribe, latinoamérica y venezolana. Fuente: http://innovamundoradio.jimdo.com/ Este es el audio de la entrevista del programa Innovamundo. del 13/07/2011: VENEZUELA: Imágenes captadas con Google Earth del Centro Simón Bolívar de Ondas Cortas de Radio Nacional de Venezuela en Las Mercedes Estado Guárico. http://diexismovenezolano.blogspot.com/2010/06/venezuela-imagenes-captadas-con-google.html (via Horacio Nigro, dxldyg via DXLD) Note: those are over a year old The audio is very low on both clips via embedded players, so I had to put on headset and turn the volume all the way up. My summary translations: First one is 10 minutes from 13 July 2011, interview with Daniel Peralta, chief of RNV Canal Internacional; The new station is in response to ``systematic attacks on our country``. Model is RHC, which went 24 hours after the Honduran coup, as the `only source` for the Honduran people on what was really happening. Everything should be ready to go by the end of October or beginning of November 2011. Programming will be fed live via satellite from Caracas. There will be a 2-hour program in Spanish repeated several times, including one hour of news, 20 minutes daily of speeches by Chávez, and 30 minutes of music: 2 days a week from Caribbean, 2 days from Venezuela, and 2 days from the rest of Latin America. Also half an hour daily in English, repeated several times. Later Portuguese and French, and later still Quechua and Guarani like RHC. [so at last English will no longer be mixed in with Spanish!] Three antenna beams each toward the north and the south. Will cover all of N, C and S America, and reach DXers everywhere else. Earlier 18-minute interview of 28 June last year, 2010, with Jhon [sic] Paez, in charge of the construxion: Mostly explaining what SW is. There will be four 100 kW transmitters covering 6-21 MHz. There is room for six. Antennas will cover 6-11 or 11-21 MHz. Plans to add tropical band too for closer coverage. Mentions 3 x 50 kW for that. China supplied all the equipment; Cubans are helping install it. There are 30 construxion workers and seven maintenance personnel on site. Big building of 2,600 square somethings. The site covers 100 hectares, needs lots of room for antennas, whose towers are 100m tall and 100m apart. There will be 15 fixed antennas, aimed at such places as Los Ángeles, San Francisco, New York, Brasília, Santiago, Buenos Aires. Frequencies will vary, not selected yet. Project began in 2005 or 2006, should be all ready by the beginning of 2012y (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) If this isn't just smoke, could it be the source of the carrier tests? Or is it still believed to be from an ex-Yugo xmtr manufacturer? (Terry Krueger, FL, July 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Propagationally, those didn`t ``feel`` to me like they were coming from South America. I suspect RNV aren`t that far along yet (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** VENEZUELA [non!]. 11705, July 24 at 1237, RNV via CUBA missing, maybe because it`s Sunday? But not required due to transmitter usage. RHC audible as usual on 6000, 6150, 9550, 11690, 11760, 11830, 12040, 15120, 15230, 15360. Latest news from Venezuela is that their own site should be on the air by the end of this year, a couple years late. 11705, July 26 at 1257, RNV via CUBA again missing; might have just signed off but normally runs late rather than early. How about the next broadcast at 1500 on 11680? NO, not there either July 26 at 1504 --- just some North Korean operatic singing. Now we need to confirm whether any of the other RNV transmissions are still on the air. During its entire existence, RNV has NEVER been willing or able to publish or announce its own schedule accurately! Instead it was assembled by monitoring by yours truly, and subsequently published by WRTH and other references, including the WRTH A-11 update v.2; the nominal schedule has really not changed at all in many years, and regardless of season: ``Summer Schedule 2011 Spanish/English Days Area kHz 1000-1100 daily Am 6180hab 1100-1200 daily Am 6060hab 1200-1300 daily Am 11705hab 1500-1600 daily Am 11680hab [this one was always missing on Sundays] 1900-2000 daily Am 15290hab 2000-2100 daily Am 17705hab 2200-2300 daily Am 11670hab 2300-2400 daily Am 13680hab, 15250hab`` Re my previous report, RNV via CUBA missing: we have checked most of the scheduled broadcasts and they are all missing: ``Summer Schedule 2011 Spanish/English Days Area kHz 1000-1100 daily Am 6180hab – not on July 27 at 1043 1100-1200 daily Am 6060hab - not on July 27 at 1147 1200-1300 daily Am 11705hab - not on July 27 at 1250 1500-1600 daily Am 11680hab - not on July 26 at 1504, July 27 at 1524 1900-2000 daily Am 15290hab - not checked yet [see below: not either] 2000-2100 daily Am 17705hab - not on July 26 at 2054, tho RHC was on 17560, Arabic with squeal 2200-2300 daily Am 11670hab - not on July 26 at 2259 2300-2400 daily Am 13680hab, 15250hab`` -- not on July 26 at 2330, tho RHC itself was on 13670, et al. We can only speculate on the reason: agreement/contract expired? El Hugazo applied cost instead to medical bills in Cuba? RHC transmitter(s) down and this lowest-priority service is suspended? (Even tho RHC runs half-a-dozen simultaneously for itself.) Installing new transmitters/antennas so some old ones have to be turned off? Program produxion in Caracas suspended for some reason? Just summer vacations? Saving up for expenses of own new site under construxion in Calabozo? Will Arnie Coro explain what`s happening on DXers Unlimited? Of course not! He finally posted a new script on his blog for July 19, having missed every twice-a-week since November 28, except May 8, pleading ``require valuable time required for many other duties to be used for updating it...`` --- http://dxersunlimited.blogspot.com/ Since he keeps writing (or recycling) scripts for all the broadcasts, merely posting them should not be that time-consuming (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RNV transmissions via CUBA still AWOL July 28: 6060 at 1138, just a weak something else, in Indonesian? No, must be the `Filipino` service of CRI as listed in Aoki. 11705 at 1231, zilch. Finally checked the last remaining broadcast, 1900 on 15290, and it too was absent at 1920 July 28 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. ALGERIAS [sic], Polisario Front on 6297.15 at 1550 UTC in Arabic, heard parallel on 1550 AM kHz (Gayle Van Horn, July NZ DX Times via DXLD) ??? Neither frequency possibly audible in North Carolina at that hour. Such a log would most likely have originated with Carlos Gonçalves in Portugal, DXLD (gh, DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 5915, ZNBC/Radio 1, *0241-0254, July 25. 0239 open carrier; on with African Fish Eagle IS; choral Anthem; Hi-Life music; almost fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 4895 16.7 1850 Zimbabwe Community Radio. Gick starkt och fint. C/d 1856. WRTH säger att man sänder via Meyerton, och i själv annonserar de "...from studios in the United Arab Emirates". Bägge kan ju vara riktigt, förstås... HR 4895, 16.7 1850, Zimbabwe Community Radio. Strong and fine. close/down 1856. WRTH says they broadcast via Meyerton, and in their own advertise they say "... from studios in the United Arab Emirates ". Both may well be true, of course (Hans Östnell, Biri, Norway, SW Bulletin July 24, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6025.06, unid Latin. Noted 7/21 at 0045-0120 tune/out on ECSS-LSB, very bad splatter from both side channels (6020/6030). Mellow pops / baladas, romantic canciones seguéd to ToH. Splatter crescendoed at 0056 thru 0100 and lost; back again 0102 with more seguéd instrumentals. 0112 OM with muffled announcements in Spanish. Don't believe R Amanecer as that one has held to a signature exact frequency of 6025.13 and is usually much stronger. Suspected a possible Radio Patria Nueva, La Paz, Bolivia, reported here, but this station not // the CP's web streaming bcst, for whatever that's worth. An interesting puzzle to work on (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PT-2 + Palomar P- 408 Quantum Phaser Unit; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) But see DOMINICAN REPUBLIC UNIDENTIFIED. 6154.92, 2357-0012, July 23 /24, carrier only, in the clear between co-channel REE off and AIR on again. Was on the exact same frequency as previously reported in DXLD 11-16. I am aware that R Fides is listed on 6155 but still haven't come across any definite proof this is really them. Anyone? 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. I'm picking up a distorted mess on 7660 at 2300 UT. Sounds like Chinese (Gary Drew, South Herts., July 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15370, July 23 at 1301 station in French news, 1302 a clip in English mentioning al-Shabab; poor with splash from Cuba 15360. Only thing scheduled here is BBC; HFCC and EiBi say Somali via Cyprus; Aoki says English via South Africa. All agree it`s on Saturdays only at 1300-1600. I think I can tell French from Somali! BBC is not scheduled on any frequency for French at this hour. Searching latest DXLD 11-29 on 15370 gets no hits, including the drastic site and schedule changes prompted by the Iranian armsdump explosion on Cyprus destroying the power station and curtailing the BBC relays. Hmmm, maybe it was really English service and the French I heard first was the clip. Should have listened longer (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {Or, since the subject at the moment was Somalia, maybe it was the Somali language service, with clips in French, and English; need to check another Saturday --gh} UNIDENTIFIED. 17715, 1250-1437 July 23, 2011. Big open carrier the entire time. No 1000 cycle tones, just a carrier. Recheck around 1900, presumed REE in Spanish here, and with about the same signal. REE, or was this mystery carrier/tones station? Not on the following day in the same time range (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks for the great work (Daniel VE4XWA Gillet, with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com, WORLD OF RADIO 1575) Good day Glen[n]; hope everything is OK on your side. You know, I always say that if one day you decide to take a vacation to Puerto Rico, I would like to have the honor to meet you and share our very good Puerto Rico Coffee with you. The work you do for our hobby is just amazing. Down here is a very good or I rather say, very selected group of short wave listeners that take pride on such things as vintage equipment (the old Hallicrafters, the Hammarlunds, the Chinese Radios) you name it, as well as folks that are always testing new antennas or modeling new antennas. You be amazed. Thumbs up for you Glenn; keep the good work. Best 73s (Hector NP4FW Pérez, PR, July 28) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ PRE-ORDERS FOR THE 32ND AM RADIO LOG Hi all, I got the printing estimates and we are happy to not have to increase prices on the NRC's 32nd Edition of the AM Radio Log! We are now accepting pre-orders for on or about September 1 mailing: via Pay Pal at nrcdxas.org or check or Money Order to PO Box 473251, Aurora, CO 80047-3251. The prices are below... NRC AM Radio Log to Member USA $19.95 Non-Member USA $25.95 Member Canada $26.00 Non-Member Canada $30.00 Overseas airmail to Western Europe & Australia New Zealand and Japan, $34.00. All others contact us for prices. USA orders add $3.50 for Priority Mail. Canadian orders that use Overseas ordering will be mailed International Priority Mail. 73 (Wayne Heinen, AM Radio Log Editor, July 22, NRC-AM via DXLD) LEE FRESHWATER'S AM LOGBOOK Until the new NRC AM Logbook comes out, try this website: http://www.amlogbook.com/amlog.htm (Mark Coady, July 23, ODXA yg via DXLD) CALL HISTORY QUESTIONS A quick note on these sites - whether it's FCC.gov (the official FCC site) or FCCinfo.com (an unofficial front end to the official FCC data), they're not perfect, either: the callsign records don't generally go back earlier than the early 1980s, and there's a stretch in the mid-80s where the call change data was evidently never imported, so some call changes are missing from the "official" records. s (Scott Fybush, WTFDA via DXLD) CURRENT PUBLIC DIPLOMACY MAGAZINE This issue contains several articles of interest to DXers. A number of perspectives on International Broadcasting are offered. http://publicdiplomacymagazine.com/ (Mike Gorniak, Braham, MN, July 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO ID'S ON PRÓXIMA ESTACIÓN: ESPERANZA? It is perhaps an old topic, but I am wondering about the many radio station sound bites on Manu Chao's Próxima Estación: Esperanza album. This is an old favourite of mine and I am wondering if any SWLs have "ID'd" the stations on the album? Perhaps they are studio created, not air checks. On the PBS TV show Austin City Limits in 2008, even his live show had the radio checks. Here are a few links to the album, the whole album has snippets of radio. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4mzhgPjXAlI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ko_cJIeEUAA http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcwNkLSvbKA For those that want the whole album, you can stream it via Spotify (free) Even earlier (2006) is the La Primavera & Radio Bemba (LIVE) in Brooklyn, but other than the Radio Bemba reference there are no actual air checks. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoV-Dy1TRsg (Andy O`Brien, K3UK, NY, July 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS See UK: BBC PROMPTS DEBATE ON AMERICANISMS ++++++++++++++++ WORLD OF HOROLOGY Ramadan: see MOROCCO +++++++++++++++++ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ "XVII ENCUENTRO DIEXISTA MEXICANO" - 30 y 31 de Julio - Jalpan, Querétaro. TERTULIAS DX CON EL ENCUENTRO DIEXISTA MEXICANO - SABADO: 30 JULIO 17.OO UTC VIA SKYPE Que tal amigos del Club Diexista de la Amistad, El presente es para poner a su disposición el contacto de Skype por el cual mantendremos la Tertulia Diexista el próximo 30 de julio La cuenta es: encuentro.diexista.mexicano.2011 envien sus solicitudes para incorporarlos y poder dar seguimiento a nuestra reunión. Esperamos comunicarnos y poder estrechar lazos de amistad con todo el mundo. Gracias y muchos saludos, René Mendoza (via Santiago San Gil G., Venezuela, July 23, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See CANADA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See AUSTRALIA; GERMANY; INDIA; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LUXEMBOURG; MYUANMAR; RUSSIA RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ WIDEBAND LOW LEVEL SLOW 5-PER-SECOND PULSES, 6.8 TO 26 MHZ Still hearing after 5/6 years all the wideband low level slow pulses right across HF from ca 6.8 to over 26 MHz, with the characteristic 5 pulse per second chuff-chuff-chuff. Sometimes more like a horse trotting, suspect multi-path or RWE round-the world-echoes. Cannot get local ham societies IRTS or RSGB to take me seriously, though I have complained to their interference sections! But I was at a friend’s house a few weeks ago helping him with antennae and lo and behold there were the same pulses loud and clear. In fact his reception of them went up to the receiver limit of 32 MHz which surprised me as I hear them falling off at about 26/27 MHz, but I guess he has a lower noise location than mine. No one in the last 5/6 years has been able to explain to me anything about these strange low level slow pulses. They are NOT HF radar, I well know what those intermittent narrow band (20 to 100 kHz) signals sound like. Exception was the multi-megawatt French NOSTRADAMUS 1 MHz+ wide thing that appeared briefly ca 9.8 and 13.9 MHz in June ’09. Again, VERY few heard it or commented on it. But the mystery of the slow rate wideband pulsed transmissions (with a strange spectrum of peaks about 39.5 kHz apart with max/min variation of about 6dB fascinates me, and I reckon from a SE direction DX, probably China (Hainan?). Above might be some interest to you. Regards, (Des Walsh, Dublin, Ireland, July 25 2011, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Quite a mystery, but China is not southeast from you. The question is whether this could be of nearby origin around Dublin, hence not heard elsewhere in Europe?? Have you looked for it further away? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) MY ANTENNA REPLACEMENT DOCUMENTATION I made up a small webpage describing my adventures with my fallen antennas this spring/summer and their resurrection, along with some pix and 1 video. Enjoy! http://dxinfocentre.com/etc/antenna/AntennaProject.html Bill Hepburn. (William R Hepburn (VEM3ONT22), Grimsby ON CAN 43 10 59.4 -79 33 34.5, http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ July 20, WTFDA via DXLD) PIRATE RADIO TOWER MADE FROM A RECYCLED SHIPPING CONTAINER! http://inhabitat.com By Lori Zimmer July 18, 2011 Even the radio world is taking to recycling! Take a look at this radio tower made from a recycled shipping: http://fb.me/T1goYbVi (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) in Australia WIRE THEFT This is a news story from our website - pertains to theft of telephone wire, but for those who have longwires or especially Beverages up, is copper-wire theft as much of a problem in your part of the world as it is in southern Missouri? http://ksmu.org/article/phone-line-suddenly-dead-contact-authorities-asap (Randy Stewart, Arts Producer, KSMU, 901 S. National, Springfield MO 65897, July 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, this has always been a concern of mine, but so far out here, no problems with copper wire theft. The weight of the copper-clad stuff I use after melting the insulation off the wire would not add up to much money. The big heavier cables are worth so much more (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Up here in Mid-Missouri, copper thieves have been taking down phone lines 200 feet at a stretch. They're also targeting warehouses and even agricultural irrigation systems for $15,000-$30,000 worth of pipe and wire at a time (Tim Kridel, IRCA via DXLD) METHOD OF MOMENTS? A question for the engineering gurus AM STATION APPLICATIONS FOR MODIFICATION OF LICENSE GRANTED P 680 KHZ MO, ST. JOSEPH MO BMML-20110511AHO KFEQ 34419 EAGLE COMMUNICATIONS, INC. Method of Moments Here KFEQ 680 is asking for an application to be granted to qualify something called Method of Moments. I have never heard of this and would love to have one of you radio engineers to explain it to me (Kevin Redding, Crump. TN, ABDX via DXLD) Very, very short-form answer: the classic way of putting a new directional AM signal on the air involved a laborious process of "proofing," requiring hundreds of measurements to be taken on the signal to make sure it matches the designed parameters. The new way of putting a directional AM signal on the air is to use computer modeling. This has been possible at the design stage for years, but it's only in the last couple of years that the FCC has allowed stations to be built and certified according to computer modeling, eliminating the need for the old "full proof." You'll be seeing an increasing number of these "method of moments" applications being filed, reflecting the relative ease of computer modeling versus the laborious old way of doing things. (And as you can see in the case of KFEQ, it's possible to model an existing array and relicense it using computer modeling; it doesn't have to apply only to new arrays.) s (Scott Fybush, WXXI NY, ibid.) A GREAT GOOGLE EARTH FEATURE: SHOW ELEVATION PROFILE Here's a great feature of Google Earth worthy of mentioning. And also before I forget how to use it :-) It would be of interest to FM/TV (VHF/UHF) dxers & probably SW DXers too, given that most intended long distance SW transmissions arrive at a low angle of elevation. The feature is called: 'Show Elevation Profile'. You'll find it under the EDIT menu in GE. To use it you have to follow this procedure. 1. Using the Ruler Function. Draw a line between two points. Preferably for test purposes, between a mountain range. Then Save that Line. 2. Now click on: 'Show Elevation Profile' under the EDIT menu. 3. A new window opens within Google Earth showing elevation heights across the marked line length. 4. Simply move the mouse across the Elevation Window to show the height data across the marked line length. Enjoy (Ian Baxter, NSW, July 27, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) NOV 9 2011 - USA NATIONAL EAS TEST DAY 2 PM EST November 9th might be an interesting radio day. According to this page on the FCC site http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/emergency-alert-system-nationwide-test ...a nationwide test of the US "Emergency Alert System" will take place on Wednesday, November 9th 2011. The test will issue a message from the president through a combination of entry through a combination of Primary Entry Point stations and a satellite feed through NPR. A more technical explanation is located here... http://radiomagonline.com/studio_audio/EAS/eas_national_test_details_0623/ Just posting this as something to mark in your calendars. 73 (Sean, VE3OZL, ODXA yg via DXLD) SHORTWAVE BECOMING OBSOLETE Sorry, had to share this article as it mentions Shortwave (and a lot of other technologies) becoming basically obsolete. A lot of Yahoo's 'news' is garbage anyway, but it confirms what I believe is what the 'average' person, at least in the US, sees as trends. Shortwave is mostly dead here in the US, but I'm only 32 and am trying to pass it on to my little girls also. I'm pretty sure most of my generation is disinterested, and most of my children's generation will be too, but hopefully we'll keep it alive anyway. The interesting thing about shortwave 'dying' is that it's really moreso in the more economically wealthy nations that this seems to be the case. In my opinion, this shows the disconnect between us and those who rely on long distance, over-the-air communications. I'd much rather get news and programming from the source, rather than through the lens of someone else. Though imperfect as a source, shortwave does provide one less layer of someones opinion. Instead of hearing only Yahoo's or Faux News, or Reuters interpretation of an international event, with shortwave I get the opportunity to hear something closer to the source of an event, or at least another point of view. As an example, I like to hear N. Korea's propagandistic view or Voice of Russia's on Libya (as of late), not because I agree, but because it's different. I get a chance to hear what the opposition is saying from them, as opposed to from the lens of some news agency. Anyway, as everyone can tell, I could ramble on.... but if you've made it this far, you deserve to have me at least share the link, FWIW http://shopping.yahoo.com/articles/yshoppingarticles/648/100-things-your-kids-may-never-know-about/ (therealisttruest, dxldyg via DXLD) I do share your point of view though my foreign listening is usually ABC or RNZI at 3 to 6 AM EDT. Not much interesting let alone pertinent media in the US at that time unless I go out for the local paper at 5 AM (sigh) (Paul S. in CT, ibid.) NEW FORD AUTO RADIOS-THE FUTURE? I just heard on the news that Ford will be dropping their CD players for only internet radios, Ipods, etc. I wonder how long it will be until AM or FM gets dropped? Things are changing. The cassette lasted a long time in car radios, and now a shorter time for CDs. CDs aren't selling all that well any longer either as most people download their music off the internet. Even with AM & FM included in car radios, how many people will continue to listen to regular radio? I know of several people now that never listen to radio. They download everything at home, in the car, and at the office (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, KGED QSL Manager, NRC-AM via DXLD) I'm waiting for an auto radio with a USB port in it. Or is that already available? (Mark Durenberger, ibid.) I thought I saw one on a HD radio a few years back. If they're going to leave the CD player out they'd darned well better provide a port for a USB stick. Gas is expensive enough, if I have to pay $60/mo. for a mobile broadband subscription for the car radio to work I'm going to have to think about a second job! -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) This could be a bonus if the buyer could convince them to knock some money off the car for NO radio, and then install an aftermarket. Speaking of aftermarket, a long time ago, when this list was first started, there was a discussion about Blaupunkt Car Radios. In specific, one that had LW, AM, and SW on it. I always regret not getting one when they were available. I would have been cool to have that in the dash. Oh well. GM has an 1/8" stereo for connecting your iPod INTO the radio, so you can listen to the iPod on the car speakers. They also have RCA jacks on the back which are suppose to be used for feeding a large amp. Since I don't like loud systems, I used mine for recording off the radio. But I agree, a USB would be cool. And you wonder with Onstar, when they will feature internet connectivity in vehicles. Or is that why I have to give up channels 34 to 51 next? :) (Fred Vobbe, Lima OH, ibid.) My Honda Odyssey has one of those 1/8th inch jacks also. I have my 2 meter radio plugged into it. Especially useful to tune into the National WX Service when you can't wait for the local news channel. 73 de (Joe Miller KJ8O Troy Michigan, ibid.) Yes, the new Fords will or do have that USB port. They showed it on TV (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) MUSEA +++++ LAST CALL TO SAVE WORLD'S BEST RADIO QTH Fellow Hams, We are in danger of losing perhaps the world's best radio location QTH - old WOO Ocean Gate, NJ AT&T Long Lines transmitting site. Just brief outline. The site is on the mouth of Toms River flowing into the Barnegat Bay, just below of town of Toms River. It is peninsula about 175 acres, surrounded by another about 200 acres of salty marshes. Channels supply salt water to flood the plain. Absolutely quiet, no man made noise. See the photos at http://www.teslaradio.org/site.htm Two story building, like a fortress was housing 10 and 50 kW transmitters that fed some 45 Rhombics, 5 Discones, two wire LP on 100' towers, with 1 5/8 heliax. Building has about 2 acre fenced off area. Building and antenna fields were designated historical sites. There will be no residential or industrial developments there. The site was leased to Tesla Radio Foundation and Museum by the township, for two years, and then extended for five years. More info about the project is at www.TeslaRadio.org web site. We were trying to have the AT&T and Tesla Museum, Club house and competitive M/M station there. I was not able to devote planned time and resources to get the project off the ground due to family and business problems and commitments. There was some vandalism done to the site. Township is getting concerned that not much was done to preserve the site and is looking for more reassurances that project will be progressing. What I have done so far, we have registered NFP Foundation 501 (c)3, have a bank account, PO Box 9, calls N2EE and NT1E. Now with my involvement with MountainView Resort and getting up in the age, I will not be able to devote as much time as I was hoping for (retiring there). We are trying to solicit more members and work with other Tesla groups, but more hands and heads are needed. This is perhaps last call trying to save this magnificent and historical site and build world best radioclub station. I can see some possibilities: 1. Expand the club with active members, solicit donations. 2. Group or club take over, perhaps Curacao style (shares). 3. Someone purchase the building and site. 4. ??? I am willing to help in any way I can, especially in the technical aspects, antenna and station design, logistics, etc. I have rigs and hardware to equip MM. We also have nice, historical beach house around the corner from the site, which we would consider selling. Perfect place for contester to retire and dominate the bands. If you are interested and can help, please come to our Tesla Radiofest BBQ this Saturday, July 23, at MountainView Resort in Glen Spey, NY http://www.MVmanor.com and lets try to figure out how to save this Radio Jewell. Yuri Blanarovich, K3BU, President Tesla RC, cell 973 220 0087 (From Topband list, July 21, via Nick Hall-Patch, BC, IRCA via DXLD) DAVENTRY ARTS FESTIVAL CELEBRATES THE HISTORY OF BBC WORLD SERVICE IN THE TOWN --- A new exhibition about the World Service in Daventry is at the iCon Environmental Innovation Centre. Northampton Chronicle & Echo 24 July 2011 http://www.northamptonchron.co.uk/news/daventry_arts_festival_celebrates_the_history_of_bbc_world_service_in_the_town_1_2895913 “Radio gave us the power to get under a cell door and get to someone who had literally disappeared for years,” says broadcaster John Waite, discussing his historic broadcast on the World Service for his cousin Terry Waite while he was held in captivity in Beirut. John, Terry and Sir John Tusa, who was managing director of the BBC’s World Service from (1986 to 1992), visited the iCon Centre in Daventry, for a special event celebrating the history of the World Service in town this week, as part of Daventry’s first Arts Festival to celebrate the Cultural Olympiad. The service has a long history in the town starting as the BBC Empire Service (now the BBC World Service) in 1932, where broadcasts were transmitted from Borough Hill until 1992, having been chosen for its central location in the country. The radio announcement of “Daventry calling” made Daventry familiar to millions of listeners across the world, especially during the Second World War, where crucial information was broadcast. It was also visited by humanitarian Terry Waite, following his release after years in captivity between 1987 and 1991, to thank staff working for the World Service. While spending 1,763 days captivity he was kept in solitary confinement, tortured and endured mock executions, his only lifeline to the outside world was the World Service. “I got a radio in the last few weeks but I spent most of the time prior to that in silence. “You long to know what is happening,” he said. “You learn to live from within, I wrote my first book in my head in those years. “But I was given information from the World Service before that, as we [fellow hostages John McCarthy and Brian Keenan] used to communicate by tapping on the wall in Morse Code and they used to tap news from the World Service to me through the wall. “The first time they spelled out their name and I spelled mine back, at the time I regretted the first letters of my names were so far down the alphabet. “I heard about the end of apartheid and about the Berlin Wall coming down through them. “We need to remember never to get too depressed about situations because enormous changes can take place, who would have thought the Murdoch empire would be challenged in such a dramatic way?” It was also through the World Service that Terry was able to hear a special broadcast from his cousin John, bringing him news of his family. John Waite said: “When we learned from his fellow captives that he was alive and could hear the World Service, we were able to get the message his mother was fine and some information about his children and played some of his favourite music. “We couldn’t be too obvious in case his captors heard. I will never forget it, it was the high point of my career.” Terry said: “I didn’t want my mother to die while I was in captivity, and it was important to me to hear my children had gone to university. I didn’t want them to suffer because I was away and wanted them to go to university and get their degrees.” Radio also meant it was John’s voice that Terry heard when he was freed. John said: “Apparently when the door opened and the guard came to say you are going home he was listening to me, so that was amazing. “The World Service is literally a life saver it saved Terry’s life and it saved Aung San Suu Kyi. We tend to forget in this country that there are millions of people in the world to which it provides a lifeline of truth and reliable information. We can sometimes be blasè about the amount information we can access but for some people that is not the case.” Terry also continues to hold the World Service in high regard. “We looked to the World Service as the most reliable service to find out what was going on in the world, “ he said. “The big tragedy today is that the World Service is suffering enormous cuts. “It is trusted and does important work around the world, both Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi listened to it while they were in captivity.” Sir John Tusa, said: “People need to know what is going on in the world and the World Service does that correctly and fairly. Daventry has an important part of the World Service’s history, and is one of those historic names which will always be associated with it.” The End THE last broadcast from Borough Hill took place at 12.30 pm on Sunday, March 29 in 1992 and now only one of the radio masts remains, reminding many of the landmark historical events entwined with it. Among these was the discovery of radar. In February 1935 the radio station was used for the first-ever practical demonstration of radar, by its inventor Robert Watson-Watt and Arnold Frederic Wilkins, who used a radio receiver installed in a trailer at Stowe Nine Churches south of Weedon Bec to receive signals bounced off a metal-clad Handley Page Heyford bomber flying across the radio transmissions. It was from Daventry that George VI’s first speech to the nation, in 1932, was broadcast after it was recorded in Windsor, recently remembered in film The King’s Speech. It also formed part of the character of the town for many years. Engineers David Adams and Rod Viveash, from 1960s to 1995, both aged 67 spent much of their careers working at Borough Hill. Rod: “At the peak there were about 15 or so different transmitters all being changed at different times. The transmitter never went down for long because there were other stations in the country that could be used if there was a problem. Over the years we had to extend our knowledge base and the manual work changed.” David said: “In the 30s, 40s, 50s there were probably around 200 people, including maintenance staff working there. There was a BBC club in town and it was a training station as well so it had a big turnover of people. There were enough staff to run a bus up and down the hill for 24 hour shifts. It was a part of the town and a lot of people who came to work there stayed in the town even after it had closed.” The former antenna field is now open grassland. The Birth of Uwinese [sic]: FORMER Long Buckby resident, Stanley Unwin achieved worldwide fame as an entertainer; chiefly through his invention of a new comedy language, known as Unwinese. But it was at Borough Hill that where Mr Unwin, who died aged 90 and would have been 100 in June, took his first steps into joining the world of entertainment. His daughters Marion Gilbert and Lois Johnston, both attended the event to celebrate the site, which their father also visited when it closed in 1992. Marion said: “He joined the BBC at Borough Hill having moved from Essex in 1939. He saw an advert in a newspaper advertising for engineers looking for wireless operators and that was how he got into the BBC and that’s what started his career. He stayed there until 1944 when he applied to be a BBC war correspondent.” Lois said: “He came back when it closed in 1992 I think he was nostalgic when it closed rather than sad, people in those born in that time didn’t have time for sadness after living through two world wars. The Unwinese started when he was a teenager and developed when he made up stories for his children and he used it to entertain the troops abroad. “When he was a BBC engineer he would do Unwinese to entertain people. That’s when started getting serious about it, before then it was just for the family. He was brought up in a children’s home and started talking nonsense to see if people actually listened to him. He had the most wacky sense of humour.” (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) REPUBLICA DOMINICANA: CENTRO CULTURAL DE LAS TELECOMUNICACIONES FUENTE: http://goo.gl/w6DnZ (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, July 24, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) TINY TRAP +++++++++ Now it`s NORWAY ``This tiny nation shaken to its core,`` asserts Miguel Márquez, parachuted in to cover the story for ABC-TV, on World News Tonight, 2209 UT July 24. That`s what we get for not having any resident correspondents abroad or even stringers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENIG DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Hi Glenn, Here is the BDXC propagation report for August 2011: Propagation Summary --- According to the forecast at http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ftpdir/weekly/WKHF.txt solar activity is expected to be very low. However, there is a chance that new, rapidly emerging flux regions could increase activity to moderate levels at any time during the outlook period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at background or moderate levels for most of the outlook interval. However, increases to high levels are expected for 6-9 August in response to recurrent high speed streams. Geomagnetic field activity was unsettled on 20-22 July due to a coronal hole. An increase to unsettled levels is expected on 27 July to 2 August due to another recurrent coronal hole. Quiet levels are expected for 3 August followed by another increase to unsettled levels for 04-10 August due to recurrence. 11-13 August is expected to be quiet and an increase to unsettled is expected for 14-15 August, again due to recurrence. The Sunspot trend chart at http://www.solarham.com/sunspots.htm shows a sharp drop in sunspot activity which would suggest that the estimated peak forecast for the first quarter of 2013 will be well below the estimated number of 90. Perseid Meteor Shower Peak August 12, 2011. Good news for Meteor Shower DX'ers. The maximum of the Perseid activity in 2011 is expected during the night of the 12th August. The Perseids is the name of a prolific meteor shower. The shower is visible from mid-July each year, with the peak in activity being between August 9 and 14, depending on the particular location of the stream. During the peak, the rate of meteors reaches 60 or more per hour. http://earthsky.org/astronomy-essentials/earthskys-meteor-shower-guide Understanding Propagation. Here is a very useful article about Propagation modes. "Hop length is the ground distance covered by RF after it has been reflected once from the Ionosphere and returned to Earth. Maximum hop length is set by the height of the Ionosphere and curvature of the earth. The maximum hop length shown assumes antenna radiation of 4 degrees and the E and F layer heights as specified." It is in PDF format and can be viewed, downloaded or printed from: http://www.hamqsl.com/Understanding%20Propagation.pdf Space Weather Forecasting at the UK Met. Office The UK Meteorological Office is developing a Space Weather forecasting system. The key aims are to produce near real-time space weather 'nowcasts' and short-range forecasts by developing existing empirical analysis and modelling techniques as well as research with more sophisticated space weather models and to build an upgraded forecasting system. More details at: http://www.metoffice.gov.uk/ Direct links to these articles can be found at: http://www.jameswelsh.org.uk (James Welsh, UK, July 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SUN SPOTS OR NOT? There has been quite a bit of news about a predicted grand minima in solar activity. We recently reported on a conference in which three lines of evidence were presented which seemed to point to a future disappearance of sunspots, perhaps like the dreaded Maunder Minimum. I am not unbiased in this regard, and like most amateur radio operators yearn for high solar activity. Alas, a return of cycle 19, the granddaddy of them all, seems elusive. But there is some dissent regarding these predictions of no sunspots, which gives us hope. On Wednesday I spoke with Dr. Douglas Biesecker, an astrophysicist at the NOAA Space Environment Center in Boulder. He was mentioned in ARLP024. See http://www.arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive/ARLP024/2011 as dissenting from the assertion that evidence points toward sunspots disappearing or another Maunder Minimum in our future. He mentioned something called a Gleissberg Cycle. What happens when we do a really long smoothing of sunspot numbers? The smoothed sunspot numbers we are familiar with, the data used in those nice graphs of sunspot cycles, average data over 13 months. So every place you look on the graph doesn't show the variation that occurred during that month, but instead averages data over more than a year, to smooth out all the noise of daily variations. But what would happen if you smoothed the numbers over a much longer period, say 11 years? Could you find some periodicity that would suggest a cycle of cycles, or perhaps predict clusters of decades with low or high solar activity? Gleissberg cycles suggest a periodicity of about 87 years, and some have studied these to try to predict general levels of solar activity over multiple decades. But if a cycle is 87 years long, and we only have about 256 years of directly observed solar data, the most we could look at would be less than three cycles. That isn't enough data to make even crude speculative projections. Doug mentioned what he referred to as an "old NASA axiom", that goes something like this: If you can't see something happen seven times, it isn't real. Doug said he is attending SHINE workshops, and SHINE is an acronym for Solar Heliospheric and Interplanetary Environment --- see http://shinecon.org/ At these meetings participants have been hashing out the evidence for or against a "no cycle 25" scenario, and discovering some problems with the three lines of evidence pointing toward a disappearance of sunspots. They haven't reached a consensus, but he believes that positions may be moving away from predicting another Maunder Minimum. On this topic, take a look at this website: http://www.thesuntoday.org/current-observations/solar-hibernation-much-ado-about-nothing/ A new issue of WorldRadio is available on the twentieth of each month, and on July 20 the August 2011 issue was out. You can get one at http://www.worldradiomagazine.com/ and on page 20 you'll find the monthly Propagation column by Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA. This time it is titled "Here's Some Help to Explain Those Unusual QSOs". Carl looks at propagation that doesn't seem to be supported by the MUF or general level of solar activity at the time, and offers some interesting ideas on what might really be going on (Propagation Forecast Bulletin 29 ARLP029, From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA July 22, 2011, To all radio amateurs, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY FORECAST FOR THE PERIOD OF ONE SOLAR RORATION [new edition each Friday]: http://www.asu.cas.cz/~sunwatch/forecasts.html ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _ Solar-activity forecast for the period Jul 22 - 28, 2011 Activity level: very low to low Radio flux (10.7 cm): a fluctuation in the range 90-110 f.u. Flares: weak (4-15/day) Relative sunspot number: in the range 55-90 Astronomical Institute, Solar Dept., Ondrejov, Czech Republic e-mail: sunwatch(at) asu.cas.cz (RWC Prague) ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _ Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period Jul 22 to Jul 28, 2011 quiet: Jul 24, 25 and 28 quiet to unsettled: Jul 23, 26 and 27 unsettled: Jul 22 active: 0 minor storm: 0 major storm: 0 severe storm: 0 Geomagnetic activity summary: geomagnetic field was quiet on Jul 13 and from Jul 15 to 18, quiet to unsettled on Jul 14, unsettled on Jul 11,12, 19 and 20. RWC Prague, Geophysical Institute Prague, Geomagnetic Dept, Czech Republic e-mail: geom(at)ig.cas. cz ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _ Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period of one solar rotation Geomagnetic field during the following solar rotation should be: mostly quiet: July 24 - 26, Aug 11 - 13 quiet to unsettled: Aug 14 - 15 mostly unsettled: July 22 - 23, 27, Aug 2 - 4, 8 - 10 unsettled to active: July 28 - 31, Aug 1, 5 - 7, 16 - 17 Survey: mostly quiet: July 16 - 17 quiet to unsettled: July 14 - 15, 18 unsettled to active: July 19 - 20 Notices: High probability of changes in solar wind which may caused changes in magnetosphere and ionosphere is expected about July 28 - 31, Aug 1, 10 - 12 Petr Kolman OK1MGW, Czech Propagation Interested Group e-mail: kolmanp(at)razdva. cz (via Dario Monferini, 23 July, playdx yg via DXLD) PROPAGATION ABOVE 22 MHZ Very slow improvement in conditions at the higher HF above 22/23 MHz. R. Maria in Italian [26000] around local noon some days, and CB beginning to open up. Boy, are those CBers spreading out over the frequencies now. Well into Amateur 28 MHz (usually up to 28.5) with AM and FM from what sounds like major Russian cities, small Taxicab operators by the sound of them, not hobbyists. Below 27 MHz I hear all modes from CBers, even will into the 11m BC band, down to about 25.7 MHz at times. Lots of digital/data in the 26.1 to 26.9 MHz region i.e. on 26200 and 26350 kHz, multitude of tones/data transmissions, whatever they are. Regards, (Des Walsh, Dublin, Ireland, July 25 2011, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOACAP/itshfbc latest version I just noticed that a new version of the itshfbc propagation package (VOACAP and ICEPAC) was posted earlier this month at http://www.greg-hand.com/hfwin32.html (Dan Ferguson, July 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENNG DIGEST) Geomagnetic activity ranged during the period between quiet to minor storm levels, with a few isolated major storms occuring at high latitudes due to coronal hole high-speed stream effects. Early on 18 July, quiet to unsettled levels were observed due to a solar sector boundary crossing (SSBC), as the Earth moved from a positive to a negative polarity region of the IMF. On 19 July, measurements from the ACE spacecraft indicated the onset of another CH HSS while geomagnetic levels also increased to mostly active coniditions at mid latitudes. On 20 July, quiet to active levels were again observed with an isolated major storm period occuring at high latitudes between 0900-1200Z. Conditions on 21 and 22 July were also observed at quiet to unsettled levels on both days. On 22 July, conditions included a major storm period observed at high latitudes. A return to quiet to unsettled levels was observed on 23-24 July, as effects of the CH HSS finally diminished. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 27 JULY - 22 AUGUST 2011 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels during the forecast period. However, there is a chance that new, rapidly emerging flux regions could increase activity to moderate levels at any time during the outlook period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to start the period at moderate to normal levels on 27 - 30 July, before increasing to high flux levels on 31 July - 02 August, as the result of elevated solar winds from a CH HSS. Moderate to normal levels are expected from 03-06 August after solar winds subside. A return to moderate to high levels is expected 07-13 August and once again from 16- 22 August as the result of two solar wind speed increases from two more coronal holes. Geomagnetic activity is expected to be at quiet levels on 25 July. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected from 26 - 27 July as another CH HSS becomes geoeffective. A return to mostly quiet conditions is expected on 28 July. Quiet to unsettled levels are forecast on 29-31 July as a northern polar CH HSS extension moves into a geoeffective position. Afterwards, quiet levels are expected to prevail between 01 and 04 August. Conditions are expected to increase again, ranging from quiet to active levels 04-11 August as another recurrent CH HSS is expected. Mostly quiet conditions should return 12-14 August before the next CH HSS is expected 15-19 August, when unsettled to active conditions return. A brief retreat to mostly quiet levels is expected on 20 August before the period finally ending with mostly unsettled to active conditions as yet another recurrent CH HSS becoming geoeffective 21-22 August. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2011 Jul 26 1731 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 2011-07-26 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2011 Jul 27 90 5 2 2011 Jul 28 90 12 3 2011 Jul 29 90 10 3 2011 Jul 30 90 10 3 2011 Jul 31 90 8 3 2011 Aug 01 90 5 2 2011 Aug 02 90 5 2 2011 Aug 03 95 5 2 2011 Aug 04 95 8 3 2011 Aug 05 95 12 3 2011 Aug 06 95 12 4 2011 Aug 07 95 12 3 2011 Aug 08 98 8 3 2011 Aug 09 100 8 3 2011 Aug 10 100 8 3 2011 Aug 11 100 8 3 2011 Aug 12 100 5 2 2011 Aug 13 100 5 2 2011 Aug 14 100 8 3 2011 Aug 15 100 10 3 2011 Aug 16 100 15 4 2011 Aug 17 98 12 4 2011 Aug 18 95 10 3 2011 Aug 19 92 8 3 2011 Aug 20 88 5 2 2011 Aug 21 88 12 3 2011 Aug 22 88 10 3 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1575, DXLD) ###