DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-38, September 21, 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 1583 HEADLINES: *DX and station news about: Albania, Antarctica, Australia, Austria, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia non, China +non, Costa Rica, Diego Garcia, France, Germany, Indonesia, Iran, Kuwait, Libya, Madagascar, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Romania, Russia, Sikkim, Spain, UK, USA SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1583, September 22-28, 2011 Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 [jammed, confirmed on webcast] Thu 1500 WRMI 9955 Thu 2100 WRMI 9955 [confirmed, not jammed] Thu 2100 WTWW 9479 [confirmed] Thu 2130 WBCQ 7415 [confirmed] Fri 0330 WWRB 5051 [ever to move to 3195??] 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 0300v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB 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/ ** AFGHANISTAN. It was back in the year 1925 that the first tentative plans were laid for the introduction of radio broadcasting in Afghanistan. Two mediumwave transmitters from Telefunken in Germany were imported with the intent of establishing one in Kabul and the other in Kandahar. These transmitters lay unused for three years, due to the lack of technical expertise in the country, and also to the fact that there were very few receivers in Afghanistan anyway. In 1928, one transmitter was installed in the King’s Palace in Kabul, and spasmodic program broadcasting began on the standard mediumwave channel 360 m, 833 kHz. Initially, 30 crystal set receivers were distributed around the capital city area, and soon afterwards, another 1,000 were distributed in the surrounding country areas. However, due to a local uprising during the following year, this new radio station together with the primitive studio were destroyed. The other transmitter was never installed at Kandahar due to local disturbances down there. However, two years later, a new king made arrangements for the purchase of a 100 kW Telefunken-Siemens mediumwave transmitter from Germany. This unit actually rated at 25 kW, was installed in cages on the 2nd floor of a new transmitter building on the eastern edge of Kabul at Yakatut, on the north side of the highway running towards the famed Khyber Pass. In the latter part of its life, it was on the air on 660 kHz for 5 hours each Thursday evening only, with a power output of just 15 kW. An additional 20 kW mediumwave transmitter was ordered from Telefunken in Germany during the year 1938. This equipment was transported via British India, arriving in Kabul by camel caravan in December 1939, four months after the outbreak of World War 2. This new unit was installed on the ground floor of the same transmitter building at Yukatut. Initially, three different low end mediumwave channels were tried, and eventually it was considered that 675 kHz gave the best reception. The new Radio Kabul was officially inaugurated from their new downtown studios by the king at 7:30 am on August 28, 1940, their national day. On this occasion, 500 crystal set receivers were sold to listeners in Kabul, with subsequent distribution in country areas. In addition, community receivers with loud speakers were installed in local bazaars and in country villages. In 1964, a new set of studios and offices in a new two storey building were inaugurated at Ansari Watt, on the short highway running out to the airport, and the downtown studio building was turned into a training center for Radio Afghanistan. A 3rd mediumwave transmitter, a 25 kW unit from BBC Switzerland, was installed on the ground floor in the transmitter building at Yakatut, replacing the 30 year old German unit. During the Russian invasion, beginning in 1979, it appears that each of the units in the radio broadcasting system in Afghanistan was either damaged or destroyed. However, comes the month of March in the year 1994, and it appears that all three radio buildings, the original downtown studios, the new studio building at Ansari Watt, and the transmitter building at Yakatut, were destroyed in fighting during the early part of the Russian invasion. When we take up the Afghanistan story again, we will present the information regarding early shortwave broadcasting in that troubled country. * Music of the World - Afghanistan: Internet Bakhtar Radio, instrumental & vocal * National Anthem - Afghanistan: Brass & choir (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for Sept 18 via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN. Re: Rebuilding of the Radio Afhganistan. 2.9.2011 7:01, levlytovchenko kirjoitti: > Here are some photos of the Radio Afghanistan antenna mast > and the towers in Kabul, district Yakatut in process of > construction (coordinates 34- 32- 23.59N and 69-12-41.82E). > I suppose that by the end of construction the biggest tower started > to to look a bit strange (you can compare it with the second image > on #1932 ). I thought that the newer site was on the southern side of Awali May Rd, but maybe not so? > Are these masts and the tower just for the MW only > or for the SW as well (6102 kHz) ??? MW should be at Pol-e Charkhi. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Sept 16, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** ALASKA. KNLS: See also C&C: HFCC REPORT ** ALASKA. [follow-up to RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM below re MDCL] Alaska Public Broadcasting, which has conducted the first U.S. domestic tests of MDCL methods under Special Temporary Authority, is continuing to implement its use, most recently at KSKO(AM), McGrath last week. At least one of the major transmitter vendors reports that, subsequent to the FCC public notice early last week, (we) "have been absolutely deluged by requests for Carrier Control information." (Ben Dawson, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KSKO = 10 kW U1 on 870, NPR (gh) ** ALBANIA. We lost our oldest son Parid at age 29 on 7 September 2011 around 1930 LT (Drita Çiço, Radio Tirana, Friday, September 16, 2011 1942 UT, to gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What terrible news. That explains why we had not heard from Drita lately. Perhaps she can eventually tell us what happened. Our deepest condolences. Meanwhile, R. Tirana continues absent from SW, rechecked Monday Sept 19 at 1449, nothing on 13625 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also C&C: HFCC REPORT Checked also the MW outlets of the MW Fllakë site on Sept 11-13. At present R Tirana is erecting a new feeder network from broadcasting house control room to the various transmitter sites at SW-Shijak and MW-Fllake. Break of feed during construction time. Since July 31 SW tx #1 was down, and since mid August all R Tirana shortwave broadcasts are down and out of service. Same happens also to the Albanian domestic service on 1458 kHz 0630-0800, 0801-0900 on 1395 kHz, as well as in the afternoon at 1400-1530 UT on 1458 kHz. 1215.098 kHz, Noted only CRI English broadcast via Fllakë relay at 0600-0800 UT, S=9+20dB signal heard in Forlì Italy, via remote SDR rx unit. 1215.066 kHz, At 15-20 UT noted CRI Albanian, Esperanto, Romanian, transmitter on air early around 1455 UT. S=9+15dB in northern Italy. 1457.797, At 16-18 UT noted CRI Fllakë in Bulgarian and Italian segments, at 1612 UT Sept 13 (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 11-13, wwdxc BC- DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) [non]. 9860, Sept 21 at 0030-0033* open carrier but with some lite noises – could it be R. Tirana back on the air?? No, it`s just too strong and steady, and later matching the WHRI signal at 0057, 0059 sign-on. If R. Tirana had been on, it would have had heavy QRM from this pre-transmission LeSEA test; the risk a station runs by suspending a service, we hope only temporarily (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No RT service on SW today Sept 21 Italian/French language, on 17-18 UT on 7465 kHz ... Only CRI mediumwave relay of CRI Beijing via Fllake Albania relay: 1215.0 EVEN! frequency outlet in Romanian. 1457.793 kHz odd CRI Italian service 17-18 UT, hit by co-channel London-UK Asian emigrants radio. Both S=9+30dB signals in southern Germany. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALGERIA. 890.973, Odd frequency - an Arabic song noted here at 0507 UT Sept 14. RTA Algier at Oulet Fayet registered here - but not included on EMWG Boel list anymore. But not as strong as in the past, 600/300 seemingly decreased down to 50/100 kW level? Program \\ 531 kHz F'kirina Wilaya d'Oum El Bouaghi ALG. Checked again against Algier's 531 and 549 kHz powerhouses, on Sept 14 at 2200 UT again same Algiers program monitored near Bologna and Rimini remote SDR units. On ALG program no.1 531/549 kHz, and odd frequency ALG 1 on 890.973 kHz, and Holland even 891 kHz underneath. Also at 0136 UT Sept 15 noted Algiers on 890.973 kHz, \\ 531, 549 kHz - on various remote Perseus units in Greece and Italy (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 14/15, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) See also C&C: HFCC REPORT ** ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS. 4760.00, *2354-2400, INDIA, 10.09, AIR Port Blair, AIR IS, Hindi ann, "Vande Mataram", Vande Mataram hymn 25222 (Anker Petersen, my latest DX-loggings heard on an AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD): ** ANGOLA. Angola on HF: "9530 kHz" in DXLD 11-37. Glenn, You're absolutely right, RNA is off 31 m for many years. Check this http://www.rna.ao/emissores_outro.htm where you'll find the current (?) status of the Mulenvos site HF txs. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shows these are out of service, 100 kW on 11955, 9720, 9535, 7245; but not * as out of service: 50 kW on 7245, 15 kW on 7215, 4950 (gh, DXLD) 4950, at 1927, Rádio Nacional usually only present as a regular carrier on 4949.76 but on 22/8 signal was improved to reveal male speaker in Portuguese (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, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) 4949.767, measured against 4960 VOA next door. Just above threshold. Very, very poor signal at 0526 UT Sept 11. R Nacional de Angola, Mulenvos, Portuguese talks. Poor, unreadable, low modulation (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) 15/09/2011, 2002, 4948.8, R. Nacional de Angola - Luanda, px locale in P - bassa modulazione (Mauro - Giroletti, -Swl 1510-, -IK2GFT-, JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150-, Filter PAR Electronics - BCST-LPF + BCST-HPF- DSP 9, -Eavesdropper SWL Sloper 11mt to 120mt Band- Loop ALA 100 M, - Lat. 45 25'0"N Long. 9 7'0"E -Locator grid. Jn 45 Nk, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ANGUILLA. 11775, CariBeacon absent again, Sept 21 at 1429 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Back on Sept 22. See also CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES: HFCC REPORT ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, Sept 14 and 15, I was not in a position to pull in such a weak signal if it were on. But another absence noted Friday Sept 16 at 1305. Here`s why I did hear it on previous Tuesday and Thursday, but not other weekdays, from Roberto Scaglione, Sicily: ``Hi Glenn, three photos from LRA36. In one of these we can understand why it was inactive: a storm broke through the windows and the snow came on the transmitter. Now reactivated only on Tue and Thu``. The first shows the 5 kW CCA AM transmitter in fine condition, the next a close-up, and finally all covered with snow: http://www.w4uvh.net/LRA36a.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/LRA36b.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/LRA36c.jpg (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, That 3rd picture says it all. The storms down there are really nasty. Can see why it took quite a while to get back on the air. Thanks for the great reports on all bands. I'm not DXing much these days (problems, problems, problems) but I enjoy reading what the others are hearing. 73 (Don Kaskey, San Francisco CA, ABDX via DXLD) 15476, it`s Tuesday, so must be Base Esperanza? Not this week. No sign of a signal at Sept 20 chex 1232, 1249, 1318, 1328, 1406, 1446. Latest info was that LRA36 were on Tue & Thu only, after unsnowing the transmitter. 15476, no trace of LRA36, Sept 21 at 1238, 1246 and some more chex past 1400. Possibly they will be back on Thursday 22, tho they were also missing on Tuesday 20 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA [and non]. ANTARCTIC FLIGHTS ON 9032 FOR SUMMER 2011/12 Night Flights by a USAF “Globe master” carrying out landings in total darkness in minus 38 degrees where successful on the “Pegasus White Ice” runway in McMurdo Sound in front of Scott Base, (carried out on Sunday night August 21st, NZT). -- Unfortunately due to the Cuts by US and NZ Govt’s, a situation has arisen to the “US Antarctic Program”, as they along with the “National Silence [sic] Foundation” are still trying to find a replacement “Ice Breaker” so that fuel supplies can be shipped in to Scott Base and McMurdo. In the meantime “Antarctica NZ” states all research programs, that use “Helo” or “Fixed Wing” aircraft in the Antarctic have been canned (according to Lou Sanson CEO “Antarctica NZ”). This will affect the summer day “Ice” flights, from NZ to Scott Base, if no fuel is available for the Return leg to NZ (via Dallas McKenzie from dxdialog group, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 11710.682, RAE Buenos Aires with some nice songs in Spanish of the 40ties and 50ties. RAE ID carillon and ID in Spanish by lady announcer. Two terrible [QRM] peaks on channel at 11709.932 and 11710.005 kHz, which could be notched-out with Perseus remote unit browser software. 11710.005 kHz was IRIB Sirjan in Hindi, which ended at 0257 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 15, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) Radio Argentina Exterior-RAE, 15345, 2122 GMT, Spanish, 333, Sept 13, OM with comments and also a YL at times (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sept 13 was a Tuesday, so RAE should have been in German during this hour, not Spanish as on weekends it would be carrying R. Nacional, or after 2200 weekdays too. Another log of his on 15345 which does not match scheduling (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA [and non]. 16/09/2011 2029, 13363.5, Argentina Armed Forces, px relay ID "Continental" + pubb [ads] 15/09/2011 2020, 13362, AFRTS-Barrigada GUAM, px relay (Mauro - Giroletti, -Swl 1510-, -IK2GFT-, -JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150-, Filter PAR Electronics - BCST-LPF + BCST-HPF- DSP 9, -Eavesdropper SWL Sloper 11mt to 120mt Band- Loop ALA 100 M, -Lat. 45 25'0"N Long. 9 7'0"E - Locator grid. Jn 45 Nk, playdx yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2485, AUSTRALIA (non), ABC-NT S. (Katherine) Sept. 15, 1130, frequency covered by loud ute station; some sort of digital transmission. Nothing heard on //s 2310 (Alice), 2325 (Tenant Cr.). 2310, VL8-A, Alice Springs Sept. 18, 1300. poor, with female announcer. Only a trace heard of VL8-T on 2325 (Tenant Creek). Katherine (VL8-K) 2485 completely covered yet again by a digital sound from an apparent ute station (unID). Made a note of this, haven`t heard more than a trace of the Australian NT-domestics for a cupola weeks now (Rick Barton, AZ, Sept 19, ABDX via DXLD) AUSTRÁLIA: 2310, VL8A, Alice Springs NT, 2124-2129*, 18/9, English, songs, (unreadable) talks; 24331, adj. uty. QRM. I was unable to get any trace of the other NT stns, VL8T 2325 & VL8K 2485. 4835, VL8A, Alice Springs NT, *2130-2144, 18/9, English, announcements immediately followed by the news, then talks; 3432, but deteriorating rapidly. 4910, VL8T, Tennant Creek NT, 2132-2149, 16/9, English, news till 2140, songs; 35332, and deteriorating rapidly. VL8A on 4835 was simply too bad this evening, and VL8K on 5025 was poor and getting a fair amount of QRM de CUBA which, however, has not been the case this Summer. 4910 ditto, 0758-f/out, 0815, 17/9, English, (unreadable) talks; 14321, CODAR QRM. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB GLOBAL AUSTRALIA EXPANDS AT NEW BROADCAST SITE Enormous development continues on our new broadcast site. Technical project leader, Steve Sutherland, is confident we will be broadcasting from it by November. Three towers were erected this year; the long- awaited high tension power line was installed and connected in July. Next project? Antenna Curtain screens, assembled on the ground with the aid of work-gloves and lashings of sunscreen. By November, four of the planned seven antennas will be completed and at least one transmitter will shift to its new operational home. This means that hopefully all the completed antennas and transmitters can be connected and working this year! Kununurra staff and volunteers pushed to get as much outdoor work as possible finished during the cool, dry winter months. Volunteers visiting at this time of year are invaluable, not only in the work they accomplish, but as surrogate grandparents for children on site. A third 100 kW transmitter undergoing refurbishment at the HCJB Technology Centre in Elkhart, Indiana, USA, is expected to be delivered in the first quarter of 2012 and will be capable of both analogue and digital shortwave broadcasting (HCJB Voice & Hands Newsletter via Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) MOROCCO/AUSTRALIA, 15341.138, SNRT RTV Marocaine Nador, Morocco, S=7 only, and hit heavily by 148 Hertz interference tone - of much stronger HCA Kununurra odd-15339.990 kHz in Hindi, at 1340 UT Sept 15, ID by lady at 1343 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. 11945, Sept 21 at 1240, R. Australia with this-day-in-history feature starting with birth of Gustav Holst, composer of ``The Planets``. Only fair signal, seldom heard here or needed compared to bigsigs on 31m channels, but scheduled at 07-13, 100 kW, 329 degrees from Shepparton. 9965, Sept 21 at *1300, WHR theme from T8WH PALAU, right into RA theme, opening Chinese, scheduled 1300-1430, 318 degrees from Koror; audible despite DentroCuban jamming against Radio República. See also CAMBODIA [non] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 19000, Radio Australia will use in 15 mb exact 19000 kHz towards Pacific at 70 degrees. At 0000-0200 UT from Shepparton in down under summer season B-11 (HFCC Sept 15 via Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Frequency change of Radio Oesterreich Int`l in German from Sep. 20: 0000-0030 NF 9830*MOS 300 kW / 245 deg SoAM Tue-Sat, ex 9820 0100-0130 0030-0100 NF 9830*MOS 300 kW / 305 deg NoAM Tue-Sat, ex 9820 same time 0000-0030 on 9820 MOS 300 kW / 285 deg CeAM Tue-Sat, cancelled/deleted * co-ch CNR-1 in Chinese (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 19 Sept via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) 9830, Sept 21 at *0030 RÖI on abruptly in Austro-German; I was checking this and 9820 before 0030 but only a weak something on 9820. DX Mix News reported that Austria was moving from 9820 to 9830 on Sept 20, and also moving the Tue-Sat 0100-0130 SAm broadcast to 0000-0030, along with 0030-0100 to NAm --- but not heard before 0030 and not checked after 0100; the 245 degree beam to SAm, if on, should have been detectable as well as the 305 to NAm. Also listened around 0045 to confirm there is still no English or French, just Ö-Deutsch. And 9830 to open carrier at 0055-0057*. Perhaps the shift was to avoid the off-frequency Brazilian het from below 9820 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 18910, ORF Vienna will use in 15 mb this channel via LONG PATH towards Pacific, AUS/NZL at 265 degrees. At 0900-0935 UT Mon-Sat only, from ORS center Moosbrunn in down under summer season B-11 (HFCC Sept 15, via Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) Will it work?? ** BAHRAIN. 9744.996, Radio Bahrain, Abu Hayan, Holy Qur`an morning prayer at 0230 UT Sept 15, like USB mode signal, Perseus browser showed some audio peaks of the Bahrain signal, on plus x.140, x.155, x.305, x.360, x.430, x.480, and 9745.590 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 4750, Bangladesh Betar, 1403, Sept 19. Have not heard this one in awhile; distinctive bagpipes; subcontinent music; 1405 news in what sound like Bengali; holding its own against RRI and CNR1 QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS. 6130, Belaruskaje R-1, 1525-1602, Sept 16, Belarusian, mostly talk, leapfrog mixing product ruining any chance of hearing co- channel Laos (if still active?) Xizang PBS still off here, as also on 6050, allowing reception of RTM Kajang noted in the clear to sudden s/off 1601 on 6050.02 same day. Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands /TenTec RX -340, 30 m. longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or: 6130, 16.9 1522, Belaruskaje R.-1, Belarusian, mostly talk spoiling any chances of hearing LNR Vientiane here (if still active?). Leapfrog mixing product of 6010 jumping over 6070. Tried again at 2205 but BLR still there, very annoying! Xizang PBS still off here as well (Martien Groot, Netherlands, Shortwave Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) ** BELARUS. FOLLOWING THE LEAD OF RUSSIA TO STAY ON D S T http://delo.ua/world/belarus-reshila-otmenit-perehod-na-zimnee-vremja-164603/ The Belarusian Authorities decided to follow the example of Russia and abolished the transition on seasonal time. The Government of Belarus decided to cancel the transition to a seasonal time. The corresponding resolution of the Council of ministers was approved yesterday, 15 September. As the press-service of the state standard of the country, from now on calculation of time on the territory of Belarus will be held from using the international system time zones, daylight time plus one hour without the translation of arrows on the seasonal time. This decision was taken in order to ensure a coordinated states of the participants of the Customs union calculation of time. As it was reported earlier, in Russia in 2011 were also abolished the transition to winter time (Sergei Popov / "open_dx")(via RusDX Sept 18 via DXLD) ??? I suppose this means that Belarus, which has been on summer time of UT +3, will stay on that all year instead of reverting to UT +2 for winter; while Moscow and all of western Russia except Kaliningrad will stay on UT +4, as previously reported. Belarus` external broadcasts have been making one-hour shifts by UT so presumably will cease doing so (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4716.19, Radio Yura, Yura, 1015 to 1040, 15 September, noted morning activation during fortnight, good music, usual yl dj with velvet voice. 14 September [Wilkner + XM Cedar Key] 4700 seems silent during group DXing scans. rlcw 4716.62, Radio Yura, Yura, 0000 to 0055 into CP music, "amigos oyentes by yl, enjoyable programming, good strong signal (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4795.87, Radio Lípez, Uyuni, noted 1000 to 1040 for last week, reactivated after fortnight off [Wilkner + XM] (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Date? BOLÍVIA: 4796, R. Lípez, Uyuni, 2205-2217, 15/9, Castilian, talks; 24341. Unclear audio, too much on the bass side, adj. QRM de CHINA on 4800. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4795.937, Radio Lípez, 0955-1005 Sept 20, Noted a female in Spanish language comments only periodically as the signal was very weak. They seemed to be having problems this morning (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4865, R. Logos, St.ª Cruz de la Sierra, 2229-2242, 17/9, Castlian, end of some rlgs. propag. prgr, then news at 2230; 34342, CODAR QRM. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.36, R Pío XII, Siglo XX, Llallagua, Potosí, om en español, into music bridge, date and time given, announcements, two announcers, yl at 1041, good signal 16 September (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) BOLÍVIA: 5952.5, R. Pío XII, Siglo XX, 2158-2209, 16/9, Quechua, talks, communiqué in Castilian, sung ID followed by prgr Manos a Obra at 2201, in Quechua; 43442, but less (adj.) QRM after 2200 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5952.46, Radio Pio Doce, 0120-0152, Spanish talk. Some Spanish pop music. Weak but readable. Best in ECSS-LSB to avoid Radio República jammer on approximately 5955. But covered by WYFR open carrier on 5950 when they came on the air at 0152. Sept 17 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 5952.376, Emisoras Pio XII, 1025-1035 Sept 20, With a fair signal in the clear, noted two males presenting the World news in Spanish language. However, after I mentioned it, the second individual never returned. Heard a number of place names like the USA. Signal was fair. (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. See UNIDENTIFIED 6075v ** BOLIVIA. 6134.824, Radio Santa Cruz, 0020-0100 Sept 15, At tune in not much of a signal heard over the noise, but by 0038 UT the signal had improved to almost solid and listenable. At 0040 noted live Spanish comments along with a live ID as, "Radio Santa Cruz ...". 6134.762, Radio Santa Cruz, 0053-0105 Sept 16, Just sitting here waiting for Radio Santa Cruz to fade in for the evening when I realized that I had been listening to it for the last half hour without noticing it was up. That 's what I get for trying to do three things at once. Anyway the station was broadcasting just steady popular music for the last half hour. At 0105 noted a canned ID using echo effect by a male. When finished, flute music is presented. Signal is fair now. 6134.787, Radio Santa Cruz, 0106-0115 Sept 18, At tune in noted a song about "Santa Cruz" being sung. Unfortunately it was song intended to be for the sign off, because following it at 0108 UT, nothing but dead air followed. While still on the air however, Santa Cruz was at a good level. 6134.795, Radio Santa Cruz, 1016-1030 Sept 20, Noted a female giving a lesson of some kind as she recites instructions or letters. She is joined by a male who also recites instructions. Signal is good compared to what it was 45 minutes ago which was poor (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BONAIRE. RNW plans: See also C&C: HFCC REPORT ** BRAZIL. BRASIL: MW stations (still) audible as early as 2130; ditto for Argentinian stations. 4775, R. Congonhas (presumed), Congonhas MG, 2132-2145, 16/9, rosary during mass; 25321. This station has been reported as evangelical, so unless this one is not R. Congonhas at all, they have either changed or simply accept any (silly) source of revenue they can get. 4825, R. Canção Nova, Cachoeira Paulista SP, 2218-2231, 15/9, A Voz do Brasil; 24331. Rated 35332 on 16/9, at 2220, when airing the rosary. What about their 9675v outlet? 4915, R. Daqui, Goiânia GO, 2117-2129, 16/9, rlgs. songs during some rlgs. propag. prgr; 45343. It's now usually stronger than R. Club do Pará 4885 or R. Brasil Central 4985. 4985, R. Brasil Central, Goiânia GO, 2130-2146, 18/9, talks on f/ball, advertisements; 35332, simply not the usual good signal; parallel to 11815 fair~good. 5045, R. Guarujá (?), Guarujá Paulista SP, 2146-, 16/9, (unreadable) talks; 15331, meaning they're still stuck with the back up tx or then at very low power. 5939.9, R. Voz Missionária, Camboriú SC, 2134-2148, 16/9, news magazine Radiofactos, slogan "Radiofactos - a força da informação"; 45333. Now, if one simply ignores the ç in "força", one ends up with the word meaning gallows, hanging, viz. forca. 5969.95, R. Itatiaia, Belo Horizonte MG, 2142-2156, 16/9, sports prgr Bate Bola, advertisements; 43432, splatter de CRI in English on 5960. 6010, R. Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte MG, 2202-2213, 16/9, national newz magazine A Voz do Brasil; 34432, co-channel QRM de 2 stations. 6020, R. Gaúcha, Pt.º Alegre RS, 2114-2126, 17/9, f/ball match report Vasco da Gama vs. Grémio, advertisements; 34322, adj. DRM QRM. Parallel to 11915 (see below). 6070, R. Capital, Rio de Jan.º RJ, 2132-..., 17/9, SRDA prgr parallel to SRDA fqs; 22431, adj. QRM de DW via G on 6075 + DRM signal on 6065 (see ARG 6060). 6080, R. Marumby, Curitiba PR, 2206-2216, 16/9, A Voz do Brasil; 34432, QRM de CHINA. 6090, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo SP, 2143-2156, 15/9, phone-ins about f/ball; 24431, splatter de adj. channels. 6090 ditto, 2214-..., 16/9, talks about f/ball; 23431, QRM de University Network via AIA. Better on 17/9, at 2130. 6120, SRDA, São Paulo SP, 2148-2157, 16/9, rlgs. propag. with sentences being translated into Castilian, address announcement and finally a song; 33431, adj. QRM. 9515, R. Marumby, Curitiba PR, 2137-2148, 15/9, rlgs. propag.; 35433. 9565.92, SRDA, Curitiba PR, 2100-2109, 18/9, ID+fq list announcement, music; 23441, QRM de de R. Martí plus its Cuban "counterpart" in the always interesting form of jamming. 9629.9, R. Aparecida, Aparecida SP, 2141-..., 15/9, songs; extremely weak modulation, truly a uselss signal; 44433, adj. QRM which most probably would simply remain unnoticed, if the modulation levels were adequate. 9645.4, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo SP, 2142-2153, 15/9, ads, phone-ins on f/ball; 43442, adj. QRM de CRI in Castilian on 9640. 9665.1, R.Voz Missionária, Camboriú SC, 2110-2123, 16/9, rlgs. propaganda for some Christmas fund raising, phone-ins; 44433. 9819.8, R. 9 de Julho, São Paulo SP, 2146-2159, 15/9, Jornal da Comunidade, A Voz do Brasil at 2200; 54433, adj. QRM de CHN on 9820. 11749.95, R. Voz Missionária, Camboriú SC, 2120-2136, 15/9, rlgs. propaganda & own advertisements for rlgs. stuff; 44433. 11765, SDRA, Curitiba PR, 2101-2118, 15/9, full list of fqs announcement, stn slogans followed by rlgs. propag. songs and then the usual pathetic preacher they've got; 45444. 11815, R. Brasil Central, Goiânia GO, 2107-2126, 18/9, f/ball prgr; 44433, adj. QRM de ARS. Parallel to 4985 (featured in the previous report). 11854.94, (they usually stick to 11855) R. Aparecida, Aparecida SP, 2122-2143, 15/9, rlgs. propag. & songs to match, then prgr A Igreja somos nós at 2131; 45433. The modulation is not that weak, but not as good as usual. 11915, R. Gaúcha, Pt.º Alegre RS, 2109-2117, 17/9, f/ball match report; 32431, QRM de ARS. Paallel to 6020 (see above). 15189.95, R. Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte MG, 2133-2155, 15/9, prgr A Hora do Fazendeiro, with music & infos including the feature Nutrição e Saúde; 45433. A Voz do Brasil followed at 2200. 15190 ditto, 1423-..., 18/9, chatter, songs; 25432 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4805, Brasil, Rádio Difusora do Amazonas, Manaus, 0900 to 0950 om music, good signal fading by 0950, 15 September. Seems irregular (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4865.02, tentatively R Alvorada, Londrina: my previous unID from July, heard much better today, is definitely a Brazilian (was hoping Logos! [Bolivia]). Noted poor to fair signal again this morning, 9/13, from 0946 to 0957 with very under-modulated signal and usual program of OM narrating or preaching in lengthy monologue, punctuated by bursts of orchestral or hymn-like music. At this point, still unreadable insofar as useful program detail, even language (Spanish or Portuguese?). But with 60 meters staying alive later now, with the impending Fall, was able to recheck at 1020. Still there and with a signal had peaked substantially. Much more readable, tho still low modulation. 100 pct clearly Portuguese and time/checks matching Brazil, also. At this time, a studio news magazine program was in progress, with phone-ins from listeners and live reports from remote correspondents. Still good at 1035 but still no clear ID. Anticipate most likely will be the familiar R Alvorada, Londrina, although must be aware that there were also reports (confirmed?) in June out of Europe of a R Verdes Florestas, Cruz[eiro] do Sul, on this same frequency (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer, Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408, Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4865.024, 13.9 2359, Rádio Verdes Florestas mentioning several stations after A Voz do Brazil and then their own ID “R Verdes Florestas, onda corta …. Onda tropical … 4865 kHz, R Verdes Florestas, Cruzeiro do Sul, Acre, Brasil“. Earlier it has been very difficult to get an ID from this station. On the low side, on 4864.978 you find R Logos [BOLIVIA]. Ralph Perry had an UNID here on Sept 12 (see DXLD message #55417), in which he thought this one could be R Alvorada. I have checked this frequency for a few months now but I haven’t noticed any trace of R Alvorada lately. I was very curious to know what they say in the ID so I sent the recording to Carlos Gonçalves who is very familiar with Brazilian stations and of course the language. Here are his comments: ``As to the R. Verdes Florestas audio clip, well, I was unable to understand many words of what they say, but did hear a few refs. to public stations, e.g. R N Amazónia, prior to their own fq announcement + ID + location. Voz do Brasil, de segunda a sextafeira, às dezanove horas, ..., emissoras ... da EBC: (list of stations, check http://www.ebc.com.br/ where you'll find them, though not exactly in the same order as heard in the ann.). EBC stands for Empresa Brasil de Comunicação. The 60 m band fq is announced as "quatro mil, oitocentos e sessenta e cinco", not setenta (70), but I admit it's not clear. You may also find a bit strange that Brazilians often refer to "meia dúzia" when mentioning figure 6 - don't ask me why, it's just a [silly] habit among many of their other strange habits when speaking! This expression is more applied when the call signs are announced. I can't understand why on earth they do that because "seis", 6, is hardly confused with another figure, I mean it doesn't sound like any other, except perhaps if saying "dezasseis", 16.`` Carlos, thanks a lot for taking the time to listen and for your comments (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, Shortwave Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) Axually, Brazilian-speakers habitually use ``meia`` instead of ``seis`` all the time, without the ``dúzia``. It of course is short for half a dozen. It`s like if we were to say just ``half`` instead of six, totally nonsensical (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Mercoledì 21 settembre 2011, 2130 - 5990 kHz, RADIO SENADO FEDERAL (Brasile) non è attiva. Una sera l'ho sentita, un'altra no. Avranno problemi al trasmettitore, oppure lo usano soltanto per le sedute del Parlamento (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova) - Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 6010.02, Radio Inconfidência, 0115-0130, local Brazilian ballads. Portuguese announcements. Poor. Weak in noisy conditions. Better on // 15189.96. Sept 17. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BRAZIL. 6079.957, 5.9 0100, R Marumby with a very clear and “big” ID. Strong signal. Also mentioning “Communicação servício de Deus …. A Emissora da Paz” or something like that. No trace of R Daqui (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, Shortwave Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9695.67, R. Rio Mar (presumed), OC or deadair at 1102, then soft W vocal song at 1103. More soft religious sounding music. No audio at 1112, then another song. 1115 M shouting and sounding like a live religious music concert. Tough with Japan here. Mostly in the clear between 1130-1155 while Japan was off. M in language at 1130, then religious sounding music with W vocal. Haven't heard Rio Mar in years. (18 Sept.) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, NRD-535D and Perseus, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Radio 9 de Julho, 9819.8? See UNIDENTIFIED; AUSTRIA ** BRAZIL. Súper Rádio Deus é Amor has graced us with its presence tonight at 2330 on 11765 here at my QTH. Station is from Curitiba in Paraná. I don't know whether it is testing or what, however there are a lot of full station IDs and many PSAs/IDs being played at the same time which amount to a jumble. Right now there is a male with the typical dramatic intonations and a woman speaking in between his sentences. Of course in Portuguese. A bit down in the dirt here, but maybe better for others. 73 (Al Muick, Whitehall, PA USA, WinRadio G303e / 100m longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Ondas curtas da Rádio Aparecida --- O que sucede com as ondas curtas da Rádio Aparecida em 49m 6135 kHz e de 31 metros 9630 kHz e de 25 metros, não sei como anda, pois nunca há propagação pelas bandas em que moro. As ondas tropicais de 62 metros, 5035 kHz até que está funcionando a contento. Outrora a Rádio Aparecida era o ícone das ondas curtas. Bem calibradas, com áudio impecável. Hoje, com advento de novas tecnologias da comunicação, parece que não se interessam mais por elas. A de 31 metros tem o sinal baixo, e a de 49 metros quase inexiste. Se é para funcionar assim, ou não querem investir nas ondas curtas, que as tirem do ar. Simples. O mesmo acontece com as ondas tropicais de 120 metros - 2380 kHz da Rádio Educadora de Limeira. Funciona mal e ninguém se habilita a arrumar. É o fim. 73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, 21-9-2011, Limeira sp, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 15/09/2011 1944, 15190.2, R. Inco[n]fidência, 444, Belo Horizonte - programma locale talk (Mauro - Giroletti, -Swl 1510-, - IK2GFT-, -JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150-, Filter PAR Electronics - BCST-LPF + BCST-HPF- DSP 9, -Eavesdropper SWL Sloper 11mt to 120mt Band- Loop ALA 100 M, -Lat. 45 25'0"N Long. 9 7'0"E -Locator grid. Jn 45 Nk, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 29090 kHz FM - Radio Rio Mar - Manaus AM --- Sinais recebidos de um provável link interno da Rádio Rio Mar de Manaus, Amazonas, 1290 Khz AM em 12/09/2011 às 17:00 PY [2000 UT] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2aVg9VIcNc http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c7gIKGdCCG8 73´s (Fran G Jr - Itapecerica da Serra SP, Sept 14, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) So intrudes into 10m hamband (gh) ** BULGARIA. Sept 18 around 0515 I start monitoring 11600 to find out when R. Bulgaria carrier would come on before the 0530 German service: with BFO on 11599, the het starts at *0521:20. Then I tune to 9599, and the 9600 carrier does not come on until *0527:30. Since the warmup lasts less than 10 minutes on each, they have my blessing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CAMBODIA [non]. 9960, Wed Sept 21 at 1234 W in Khmer holding her own against constant RTTY co-channel, and DentroCuban Jamming command on both adjacents; improved a bit by 1251, M&M in Khmer; 1259 cut off for quick ``T8WH Palau`` ID, open carrier off, and on from another below. Tnx to tip from Ludo Maes of TDP in person last week at HFCC Dallas, this is the first day of reactivated Khmer Post Radio which was on air briefly last year, based in Long Beach. New schedule is Wed/Thu/Fri only at 1200-1300 on 9960 via PALAU. Don`t forget the `the` when you try to see http://www.thekhmerpost.com Ludo says another Cambodian clandestine also based in California, at Fresno, already started Sept 17 at the same time and frequency on Saturdays only, KPPM Radio. See http://www.kppmradio.org where we learn what it means: Khmer People Power Movement (not a US callsign!). They also announced this on their Facebook Sept 3: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Khmer-Power-Movement-KPM/276670769252 ``Khmer Power Movement (KPM) KPPM Radio live its program broadcasting to Cambodia throug short wave air, please listen KPPM Radio in Cambodia on every Saturday, from 7:00PM to 8:00PM at AM or SW through frequencies: 9960 kHz, 31 meter.`` I missed checking for that on its début. Something weaker continued on 9960 at 1300, per Aoki, not HFCC! a quick shift to YFR in Vietnamese via TAIWAN; and also at 1300, T8WH made a quick shift to 9965 where we heard the WHR theme briefly, then R. Australia in Chinese, amid Cuban jamming intended for R. República, which we haven`t traced in ages on 9965; is it still really there daytimes? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6030, Calgary - CFVP relaying CKMX (AM 1060). A clear Monday (UT), Sept 19, with no R. Martí and no Cuban jamming; 0308 “The Lone Ranger Rides Again, Hi-ho, Silver! Away!” radio drama, complete with Rossini’s William Tell Overture (as a kid, my first experience with classical music!); brief QRM from Radio Oromiya (Ethiopia) with their IS sign on at 0326; at 0337 start of “Gunsmoke” cowboy drama. 0441 nice ID “Southern Alberta’s hometown radio station Classic Country AM ten sixty”; “Somebody’s Knockin” Terri Gibbs, “Sundown” Gordon Lightfoot, etc.; decent signal coming through the QRN with 100 watts; MP3 audio of ID and song http://www.box.net/shared/dx0gllv3soifctn3g0jv (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. QSL Report: CFRX 6070, f/d logo card in 19 days for English report via airmail and US $2.00 V/s illegible. CHU 7850, f/d Sandford Fleming painting card in 14 days for English report via airmail and US $2.00. Interesting note on the Canadian QSLs. The CFRX envelope arrived without *ANY* postage on it, or evidence that there had ever been any on it (cancellation mark, residue, etc.). The CHU envelope arrived from New York, where it had been metered with US postage. 73 (Al Muick, Whitehall, Pennsylvania USA, Sept 17, HCDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. Un emisora de radio canadiense propone un concurso donde el premio es «ganar un bebé» http://bit.ly/qgrXzO Sitio Web: http://www.hot899.com/ Listen: http://www.hot899.com/mediaplayer/player.asp FOR RULES AND REGULATIONS: http://www.hot899.com/inside.asp?mn=2&id=5950&f=1 (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) Hot 89.9 is in Ottawa, listed in FM Atlas with real callsign CIHT. This is axually a female-only contest to win 12 months of fertility treatments worth $35K; is this going too far? (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. SATIRICAL 22 MINUTES BACK FOR 19TH SEASON By Tara Bradbury, Postmedia News September 12, 2011 The cast of This Hour Has 22 Minutes -- Mark Critch, Geri Hall, Cathy Jones, and Shaun Majumder -- savagely satirize Canadian politics and daily events --- Photograph by: Handout, Files [caption] Even after 18 seasons on the air, there are politicians who just don't get the humour of CBC's satirical TV series, 22 Minutes. Jean Chretien gets it. Jack Layton got it. Danny Williams gets it in a big way. Peter McKay gets it --- sort of. Stephen Harper? Not so much. "He's got the majority, but he's not a guy you're going to invite over to your barbecue," said show star, Mark Critch. "I don't think he knows who he is; he doesn't have a public persona and there's nothing spontaneous about this guy. Everything he does is controlled and the only time (Harper's officials) want to do something is if you have it scripted and have it sent in and they approve it." Harper was a much cooler guy before he became prime minister and everything was clamped down, apparently. He was also eager to poke fun at himself, to the point where Critch says he found himself doing "pity interviews" with him. "I'd do them because he'd ask if I wanted them," he said. "When he was opposition, he used to stand off to the side when I was interviewing someone else and he used to wave me over like, 'Hey Mark, do you want to do an interview with me?' I'd be like, 'Uh, OK.'" The Gemini-winning 22 Minutes first aired in 1993 (originally called This Hour Has 22 Minutes, referring to the actual length of a half- hour TV program, minus commercials) as a weekly parody and sketch comedy show with a focus on Canadian politics. The original all-Newfoundlander cast consisted of Mary Walsh, Cathy Jones, Rick Mercer and Greg Thomey, although Jones is the only original member who remains. Mercer left in 2001 and eventually created a similar show, Rick Mercer Report; Walsh left to concentrate on her film career in 2004; and Thomey left in 2005 and has generally been unheard of since, until now: He and Walsh have filmed guest spots for episodes to air this season. Today's cast also features Critch and Geri Hall as regular anchors. Gavin Crawford, a regular cast member since 2003, left the show after last season; Shaun Majumder --- a former anchor who left last year to star on the now cancelled Detroit 187 --- is back on the news desk, instead, dividing his time between 22 Minutes and NBC's The Firm, which will shoot in Toronto. "I'm going to be juggling some schedules, but my goal is to give both shows as much time as I can, and I'm hoping that I can do both with no hiccups," Majumder said. The characters developed by the show over the years have become legendary, from Walsh's Marg Delahunty and Jones' Babe Bennett to Crawford's acne-riddled teen, Mark Jackson, and Majumder's sweaty, nerdy sports reporter, Raj Binder. But it's the cast members' impersonations that garner perhaps the most laughs. Crawford's spot-on portrayal of political journalist Chantal Hebert has been met with Hebert's own approval, and Critch's impression of Williams sparked viral YouTube clips, recurring cameos on the show by the former Newfoundland and Labrador premier, as well as a real-life friendship between the two. Critch said he has actually developed good relationships with a few politicians over the years, allowing him cheeky access where other people might be turned away. "I like to do my own thing and not have as much stuff written. I make it more conversational, or try to find comedy in the moment. It's not about character assassination," Critch explained, adding politicians' participation on the show often endears them to audience members. "The Conservatives are still really tough --- they'll try and block your access --- but McKay's good for it. One time, when he and Belinda Stronach were dating or splitting up or something, there was all this press and he was trying to avoid it. I called one of the parliamentary pages over and I wrote on a note, 'McKay, it's Critch, b'y. Don't be such a friggin' sook.' The page brought it to him and he came out, saying, 'OK, OK.'" 22 Minutes had been leaning more toward the sketch comedy side in recent years, Critch said, something they're planning to steer away from a bit this season, and will head back to the current events side of things. The show is also going overseas: Over the summer, Critch travelled to the U.K., filming bits in London, on the set of Coronation Street in Manchester, and in Dublin, where he toured the Guinness brewery and met with Lord Mayor Andrew Montague for a St. Patrick's Day episode. Last week, the White House even let 22 Minutes' crew in for a second time. "We were down there, covering the oil protests, and we found out there was an open press thing, just to take video of Obama leaving to go to Camp David in the chopper. We put in our CBC press credentials. They don't know what 22 Minutes is, so the next thing you know, we're in there. They put us all into the press briefing room and then they said, 'OK, outside,' and we're outside on the lawn by the rose garden. Out he comes, and gets into the chopper." Though the president wasn't formally taking questions, Critch did manage to get one hilariously bold one in. This weekend, Critch is in Toronto to film with recently retired veteran CTV news anchor Lloyd Robertson, taking him to a job bank for seniors and helping try out new jobs like Wal-Mart greeter and Tim Hortons drive-thru server. Critch and Majumder both feel it's 22 Minutes' brave, poking-fun style and ability to go where mainstream media won't that has allowed it to stick around so long. "There's so much going on with the show, so many flavours within a half hour of TV that's so entertaining, you can't get bored," Majumder said. "It's what Canada does best: making fun of ourselves, and I think Canadians feel connected to it because it's about Canada, for Canadians, and it's funny." Majumder would like to see the show get even edgier in seasons to come, and has ideas on where to start. "I'd like to see our show have a bit more edge to it and go after people more and not be afraid to take more risks. We can write it, but whether the CBC would approve it or not, I don't know," he said, laughing. "How's (new Newfoundland premier) Kathy 'Blunderdale' doing, by the way? There's no spice to her. We need to give her some hot sauce or something." 22 Minutes premieres on CBC Tuesday at 8:30 ET/PT. Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Satirical+Minutes+back+19th+season/5389202/story.html#ixzz1Y8a4F38I (via Dan Say, alt.tv.networks.cbc via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** CHAD. 6164.96, RNT, 2220-2230*, French talk. Afro-pop music. Sign off with National Anthem. Fair. Irregular lately. Slightly off frequency. Sept 14, 15 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 6164.959, Odd signal from RNT N'Djamena in French, boring endless talk, fade out at 0557 UT Sept 11. S=6-7 signal (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** CHINA. [INTRUDER ALERT] CHN 12m OTHR revisited I finally had a chance to do a better plot of the bearings I took a few years ago from VR & 9M6 of the OTHR from my country on 12m. I did not realize it was that close - double-digits from 2500-3000 km away seems possible. Credits: eye, ear, brain, compass, wire-on-a- stick. ;^) 73, ex-VR2BG/p (Brett Graham, Hong Kong, Sept 13, intruder alert mailing list at IARU via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/news2011/news1108.pdf http://www.iaru-r3.org/ms/ http://www.iaru-r3.org/ms/r3ms-2011-07.pdf 12m-chn-othr.GIF12m-chn-othr.GIF Most likely transmitter plant close to CHN Over Horizon Radar ? - 8 masts at Google Earth 27 46'58.78"N 120 45'55.16"E http://maps.google.de/maps?q=27%C2%B046%2758.78%22N++120%C2%B045%2755.16%22E&hl=de&ie=UTF8&ll=27.783105,120.765352&spn=0.001799,0.003484&sll=51.151786,10.415039&sspn=20.953177,57.084961&vpsrc=6&t=f&z=19&ecpose=27.7829491,120.76535234,309.46,0.002,3.252,0 vy73 wolfy df5sx P11 germany (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) gif plot shows near Wenzhou on the coast (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 6035, PBS Yunnan/Voice of Shangri-La, 1253, Sept 17. In Vietnamese; ToH good to hear they still have the distinctive “This is the Voice of Shangri-La, brought to you by Yunnan Radio”; then into Chinese programming; better than heard during the summer, but still adjacent QRM. This year not even a hint of BBS/Bhutan. MP3 audio at http://www.box.net/shared/17atqrjtqsxhx04rqisu , tough to copy through adjacent QRM, but English ID is there (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 9749.979, Odd frequency signal, shrill lady training performer with 'morning gymnastics' program, given in Mongolian language. NMRB PBS Nei Menggu started daylight program at 2200 UT, S=8-9 on Osaka SDR remote unit (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 12, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** CHINA. CNR1 heard from 1200 on 9875 kHz. It's 9860x2-9845 according to Hiroshi. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, 0833 UT Sept 16, harmonics yg via DXLD) So this was on Sept 15? ** CHINA. 7970, Firedrake music. Sept. 13, 1020. Crash boom bang! Noted //s on 13300, 12500, 11500. None as good as 7970 in signal strength. (Barton-AZ) 12270, Firedrake, 1030. Good. Stayed on after TOH and heard at 1130, but // 7970 off at 1100. Other //s not heard. Not sure if due only to conditions or not. The other bands were weak this session [no date, same as above?? -- gh] 13130, Firedrake music, Sep. 16, 1030, VG, with //s on 7980, 12270. Firedrake, Sept. 19, 1030. Solid on 10300, with good // on 7970, fair on 11500 (Rick Barton, AZ, Sept 19, ABDX via DXLD) ** CHINA. Steve Handler's Sept 14 Firedrake Logs, Searched 7900-18200 10300, Weak 1254 nothing heard lower 13920, Strong 1256 14950, Strong 1256 15445, Weak 1258 15900, Strong 1258 16980, Weak 1259 nothing heard higher 14720, Strong 1346 nothing heard lower 15430, Good 1346 with buzzing jammer also on freq 15525, Weak-Fair 1347 15780, Strong 1347 nothing heard higher 14720, Strong 1458 15770, Strong 1457 s/off 1500 Good DX (Steve Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake Sept 14 and 15: not checked as I was away to Dallas (gh) Steve Handler's Sept 15 Firedrake Loggings, Searched 7900-18200 12270, Good 1256 (nothing lower) 12500, Strong 1256 12600, Strong 1256 13850, Strong 1257 14900, Strong 1257 (nothing higher) Good DX (Steve Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TAJIKISTAN/CHINA mainland --- Cat and Mouse play ... Today heard FIREDRAKE transmission from China mainland with the 'very special 60 Hz buzzy' jamming transmitter on 15285 kHz {latter has a wide band buzzy signal coverage on 15269 to 15301 kHz} at 1300-1330 UT on Sept 15 against V of Tibet, but strangely enough V of Tibet started much later at 1331-1400 UT on 15277.0 kHz via Dushanbe Yangi Yul site, a time slot when the Chinese jamming management was not aware and had stopped jamming on adjacent 15285 kHz already, and was on 15430 kHz - INSTEAD - with very same buzzy jamming tx !!! And at 1350 UT VoTibet is on 15537 kHz in Chinese ? language- and jamming still on 15430 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 15 via DXLD) Steven Handler's Firedrake Log 9-16-11 7970, JBA-Weak 1129, 1132 12600, Weak 1133 13920, JBA 1134 (Steve Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake Sept 16, only a few showing here and there: 7970 and 10300, not heard at any chex starting with 1250 11500, no FD either, just the big open carrier hum from presumed VOR [non] via TAJIKISTAN, at 1253 and 1343 12270, very good at 1255, which means many others should have been audible if on the air 13950, good at 1423; no others above or below at this hour 14720, poor at 1341; none lower 15285, poor with buzz jammer too at 1307; was not there before 1300 15430, poor at 1306 vs VOT het on 15432 which also hetted RRI 15435 15545, very poor not positively FD at 1258 but mixing with something else, and a het on the lo side. No others up to 18 MHz by 1300 15900, fair at 1336, none in the 16s, 17s or 18s (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Steve Handler's 9/17/11 Firedrake log -- Very little time today spent searching 7900-18200 but the 14800 frequency was an interesting catch. Firedrake heard 1227-1230 as follows 13850, Good 1228 Nothing lower 13920, Strong 1228 14800, Good 1228 16100, Good 1229 16980, Fair 1229 nothing higher Good DX (Steve Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake September 17; before 1300 it`s hit-and miss as a T-storm makes me use the DX-398 with inside random wire rather than the continuously tuning FRG-7: 10300, JBA at 1259 13920, fair with flutter at 1258 16100, JBA at 1258 16980, JBA at 1258 Before 1400, back with FRG-7 and longwire, full scan: 13920, very poor at 1341 12980, fair with heavy flutter at 1343 12600, poor with heavy flutter at 1342 12270, good but heavy flutter at 1342 11500, poor at 1344; earlier before and after 1300 it was just the open carrier from presumed TAJIKISTAN failing to modulate V. of Russia 10300, very poor at 1345 Firedrake Sept 18: 10300, fair with flutter at 1241; very poor at 1323 11500, poor at 1244 underneath vocal music, presumably Tajikistan modulating VOR relay for a change 12270, fair-good at 1245 with flutter 13130, fair at 1245 with flutter; last logged here on Sept 3 14900, poor at 1247; not logged here since June 4 15900, very poor at 1248; none higher (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake, 0347-0358, Sept 19. 13850, fair. 14400, poor. 14899.87, fair. A first for me to find one off frequency; assume against SOH. 16120, fair. 16980, fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar, Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I never stop to check`em for off-frequencyness (gh) Hi Glenn, Sept 19: most interesting Firedrake frequency was 13990. 7970, Fair 1128 10300, Fair 1128 and 1223 11500, Weak 1129 12270, Strong 1225 12980, Fair 1225 13920, Fair 1225 13990, Strong 1226 and 1258 15900, Strong 1228 16100, Fair 1228 Good DX (Steve Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake Sept 19, before 1300: 10300, very good at 1250 11500, good at 1250 with CCI, presumably VOR via Tajikistan 12270, very good at 1250 13920, poor at 1254 13990, good at 1254, unusual frequency, likely to bother MARS. Was listening again at 1259-1300* when a few *words* of Chinese were heard mentioning Beijing before cut off the air 14800, fair at 1256, another unusual one; no 14700 or 14720 15900, very good at 1256 with flutter; none higher by 1300 Before 1400: 14800, poor at 1338 13920, very poor at 1338; none in the 12s, 11s 11500, at 1342, open carrier with flutter, trace of modulation, no FD 10300, fair at 1343 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Not much time to monitor Firedrake this morning Sept 20. Although 1000-1130 had alot of stations from China CNR, CRI etc., almost no Firedrake could be heard. Checked 7900-17000 7970, Weak 1116, nothing herd above or below 10300, JBA 1038 Good DX (Steve Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake Sept 20, before 1300: 7970, fair with flutter at 1231 10300, very good with flutter at 1242 11500, good at 1242 with CCI, lo het presumably de VOR Tajikistan 12500, fair at 1245 13920, fair at 1247 14800, very good at 1247 15545, expected FD here at 1255, but JBM OC so not sure, vs 15543 het which went off a few sex past 1300*. See TIBET [non] 16100, very poor at 1253 Later chex found only: 15900, very poor at 1330 Firedrake Sept 21, before 1300: 7970, fair with flutter at 1237 10300, very good with flutter at 1238 11500, fair at 1241 with heavy CCI, lo het, VOR via Tajikistan 12600, very poor at 1242 13850, good at 1243, equalling the next two: 13920, good at 1243 13960, good at 1243; none in the 14s 15900, very good with flutter at 1245 16100, good at 1246; none higher After 1300: 12025, very poor at 1308 under CNR1 jamming Before 1400, not a full scan: 15435, fair with buzz jamming too at 1359-1400*, not usual 15430 Circa 1430: 15970, very good at 1430 15780, good with flutter at 1429 15770, poor at 1430 and 15780 is still on too 10300, very poor at 1437 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 21 Sep 2011, 1452-1456 UT, Eton E5 receiver with Degen DE31 active loop antenna: I stored known frequencies for Firedrake from past DXLD issues into my radio's memories, so I can quickly check for Firedrake when I only have a few minutes. 7970, very weak, lots of fading (sky is fully bright now) 10300, weak but clear 11560, very weak Another check of recent Firedrake frequencies between 1500-1505 revealed nothing (Eric Weatherall, San Francisco, CA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 21590, Sept 19 at 1301 I am hearing a very weak signal on a frequency which is normally vacant. 13m propagation is looking up. Fades up a bit and sounds Chinese, but cannot make it // 9840 or 11990 CNR, mixing with algo. Uplooked later, the answer in Aoki is that this is a BBCWS Uzbek frequency at 1300-1330, via Cyprus, which Must Be Jammed by the ChiCom, interfering in the internal affairs of Uzbekistan, whatever jamming source they may be using (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. HOUSE BILL WOULD ALLOW US TO ISSUE NO MORE VISAS TO CHINESE "STATE-MEDIA WORKERS" THAN CHINA ISSUES TO BBG (updated). Posted: 20 Sep 2011 Rep Dana Rohrabacher press release, 13 Sept 2011: "Today, Reps. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), Randy Forbes (R-VA), and Ted Poe (R-TX) introduced H.R. 2899, the Chinese Media Reciprocity Act of 2011. The bill would require the Department of State to issue the same number of visas to Chinese state-media workers as China issues to American journalists working for the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG). During Fiscal Year 2010 approximately 650 Chinese citizens entered the United States on I Visas (international journalist visas), compared to only two American BBG journalists granted permission to be stationed in mainland China. 'There is a very alarming disparity between the number of Chinese state media workers whom we grant visas to and the number of visas the Chinese grant to their American counterparts,' said Rohrabacher. ... H.R. 2899 would amend the Immigration and Nationality Act to ensure open and free journalism access in China by enforcing the established reciprocal relationship between the number of visas issued to state media workers from each country. The bill would also require revocation of a sufficient number of I visas issued to Chinese state media workers 30 days after its enactment in order to reach parity with the number of visas issued by China for BBG employees seeking entry to China. Rep. Rohrabacher offered a similar amendment to the FY 2012 U.S. Department of State Authorization Bill, which passed during the full committee markup over the summer." (kimandrewlliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) -- If passed, this could have a bizarre outcome: China challenging the law in US federal courts on First Amendment grounds. Whatever the result of such a legal action, it would publicize the lack of reciprocity, which is one of the tenets in my strategy for US international broadcasting to China (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) Update: New Tang Dynasty Television, 19 Sept 2011: Zhao Yan, a 'former New York Times news assistant thinks the bill is excellent, but should include more. 'Phoenix TV and CCTV are available on US TV cable networks, including Chinese-language TV … However, can we watch American CNN, Colombia TV, and Fox TV, as well as ABC, NBC, and other media, including VOA and Free Asia? Can they be openly aired or published in China? No, [we] can’t find them in China.'" (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. The only transmitter registered outside the above mentioned countries and continents is found in Macheta, Colombia, and transmits on 150 kHz with a capacity of 1 kW (from ``Radio DXing on long waves``, R. Bulgaria DX Program Sept 16 via Yimber Gaviría, Colombia, DXLD) ??? Surely there is no broadcast station in Colombia on 150 kHz; some obscure ITU registration, or an image from MW someone once reported? Or a typo for 1500? Yes!! WRTH 2011 page 162 includes among many other 1500 stations in frequency list: CU16 HKT71 150 1 Macheta --- obviously?????? a typo omitting one of the zeroes. Perhaps the author considers WRTH infallible? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Colombian AM radio --- I came across this site listing AM stations with web sites in Colombia. http://www.fm88-108.nl/radio/?colombia-am&search= I have put it on favourites as we come into the Colombia season. Best wishes (Barry :-) (Carlisle UK, PERSEUS) Davies, Sept 16, MWC yg via DXLD) Apparently AM is considered a subset of FM (gh, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Sept 21 at 0559, Alcaraván Radio ID, and surprisingly, automatic multi-pip timesignal mixed with music at 0600 which ended one second late compared to WWV one minute later. No time announced, but they used to be habitually several minutes off. Circa now, this HJDH is usually QRM-free with its nice music, unlike the other one on 6010 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. CONGO-Brazzaville. [NO, it`s -Kinshasa --- gh] 5066.3 R. Télé Candip, Bunia, 1848-1901*, 16/9, (unreadable) talks, presumably in French; 25331. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA [and non]. We have reported several times that the off- frequency 5954.2v transmitter of ELCOR, carrying Radio República, produces a het with R. Nederland which is properly on 5955 starting at 0500 for Europe. Of course, RR also draws Cuban jamming around 5955. I heard that RN has attempted to get Elcor back on frequency by supplying them a new crystal, but they haven`t got around to installing it. Altho this is a frustrating episode, other big stations should be so proactive in trying to get rid of Latin hets if not Latin transmitters on the same channels (Glenn Hauser, HFCC Dallas report via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5954.97 tentative, Radio República, 0000 noted under jamming 13 September (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) If so, means they have installed new crystal donated by RNW to get them `on` frequency, remove het against 5955, so would now be only a 30 Hz SAH amid the jamming (gh, DXLD) Later: NO, STILL a het. A signal on 5955.0 at 0000 could be VOA Thailand in Burmese, and/or China (gh) ** COSTA RICA. More DRM from REE: See also C&C: HFCC REPORT ** CUBA. 730, Radio Progreso, Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud. 1010 September 19, 2011. Audio about two seconds behind flagship 640 kHz (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Abridged pile of junk: JRC NRD-535; ICOM IC-R75; Hammarlund HQ-180A; Aqua Guide 705 Radio Direction Finder; Sangean PR-D5; Sony ICF-7600GR; GE SuperRadio III; RadioShack DX-399; 1 X roof dipole; 1 X in-room random wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1550, Radio Rebelde, unknown site. 1802 September 16, 2011. Fair when WAMA Tampa and WRHC Coral Gables (both Spanish) nulled. Listed Nuevitas, Camagüey site is incorrect. This one is approximately 188- degrees on the Benmar RDF unit when compared to other known station sites to the east east and west, likely from Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud. Also interestingly, audio was about a second behind the strongest of the 1180 transmitters. [MANA] (Terry L Krueger, FL, Logs appended [MANA] were made at Manasota Key, Florida with Paul V Zecchino and Gerry Bishop during early local afternoon, using Paul's vintage Benmar RDF, and Sony ICF-2010 coupled to a RadioShack non- active portable loop with lazy susan, and morally supported by a small iguana that I spotted, crawling down a cabbage palm and on to the sand where he watched us for a few minutes! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Summer A-11 of Radio Havana Cuba: [NOTE: the editor obviously has failed note our reports that since July ALL VENEZUELAN RELAYS HAVE BEEN MISSING. Furthermore the Sunday Aló Presidente broadcasts have been missing longer than that, never started as early as 1400, more like 1530, when they existed!! And the only frequency closing early at 1400 on Sundays has been 13680, even with no Venezuela following. Will anyone else republishing this schedule bother to clarify? -- gh] 2100-2300 on 5040 in Spanish 2300-2400 on 5040 in English 0000-0100 on 5040 in Creole/French 0100-0500 on 5040 in Spanish 1100-1300 on 6000 in Spanish 2300-0100 on 6000 in Spanish >>> Mesa Redonda Mon-Fri 0100-0500 on 6000 in English 0500-0700 on 6010 in English 0700-0730 on 6010 in Esperanto Mon 0100-0700 on 6050 in English 0000-0500 on 6060 in Spanish 0500-0700 on 6060 in English 1100-1200 on 6060 in Spanish >>> Radio Nacional de Venezuela 0700-1300 on 6095 in Spanish 2300-0500 on 6120 in Spanish 1100-1300 on 6140 in Spanish 0500-0700 on 6150 in English 1100-1300 on 6150 in Spanish 1000-1100 on 6180 in Spanish >>> Radio Nacional de Venezuela 1100-1300 on 9550 in Spanish 2300-0400 on 9620 in Spanish 2300-0100 on 9640 in Spanish >>> Mesa Redonda Mon-Fri 2100-2300 on 9710 in Spanish 2200-2300 on 11670 in Spanish >>> Radio Nacional de Venezuela 1500-1600 on 11680 in Spanish >>> Radio Nacional de Venezuela 1100-1500 on 11690 in Spanish Sun till 1400 1400-1800 on 11690 in Spanish >>> Alo Presidente Sun 1200-1300 on 11705 in Spanish >>> Radio Nacional de Venezuela 1100-1300 on 11730 in Spanish 1100-1500 on 11760 in Spanish 1500-1530 on 11760 in Esperanto Sun 1900-2000 on 11760 in English 2000-2030 on 11760 in French 2100-0400 on 11760 in Spanish 1100-1500 on 11830 in Spanish Sun till 1400 2100-0500 on 12020 in Spanish 1100-1500 on 12040 in Spanish Sun till 1400 2100-0500 on 12040 in Spanish 2100-0400 on 13670 in Spanish 1300-1500 on 13680 in Spanish Sun till 1400 1400-1800 on 13680 in Spanish >>> Alo Presidente Sun 2300-2400 on 13680 in Spanish >>> Radio Nacional de Venezuela 1400-1800 on 13750 in Spanish >>> Alo Presidente Sun 1300-1500 on 13780 in Spanish Sun till 1400 1100-1400 on 15120 in Spanish 1100-1500 on 15230 in Spanish Sun till 1400 2200-2300 on 15230 in Portuguese 2300-0400 on 15230 in Spanish 2300-2400 on 15250 in Spanish >>> Radio Nacional de Venezuela 1900-2000 on 15290 in Spanish >>> Radio Nacional de Venezuela 1100-1500 on 15360 in Spanish Sun till 1400 1400-1800 on 15370 in Spanish >>> Alo Presidente Sun 2230-2300 on 15370 in French Mon-Sat/Esperanto Sun 2300-0030 on 15370 in Creole/Portuguese/Quechua 1930-2100 on 17560 in French/Portuguese/Arabic 2100-2300 on 17560 in Spanish 2000-2100 on 17705 in Spanish >>> Radio Nacional de Venezuela 1400-1800 on 17750 in Spanish >>> Alo Presidente Sun (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 19 Sept via DXLD) ** CUBA. 12000, Sept 16 at 0610, DCJC pulses against nothing, since VOA Spanish really uses 12000 only for an hour or two around 0000. But the paranoid Cuban Commies can`t be too careful. Same pulsing at 0622 on 11775, another out-of-schedule jammer, hours after Radio Martí quits, but this one was bothering a collateral damagee, listed as CRI Arabic via Albania at 05-07 --- Commies via non-Commies vs Commies! 11435.0, Sept 16 at 0619, S9+18 with digital noises, then silent carrier for a while from the Cuban spy station, much stronger than the jammers. 13820, Sept 18 at 0523, DentroCuban Jamming Command pulsing against nothing, this being a daytime-only frequency of R. Martí. A few minutes later, heard the same on 11930, ditto. Standard remark about Cubans going hungry to pay for this wastage, etc. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 24892 [not 24982 originally typoed], Sept 18 at 2046 as soon as I heard some CW, said to self, ``I bet it`s CO8LY``. Indeed it was, automated CQ marker, and the only station audible on the 12m hamband, CW or SSB. Apparently he is a big fan of this band. We were checking since sunspots, solar flux and F2 MUFs have recently soared. I`ve logged him four other times in the last 11 months on 12m, sometimes in SSB. QRZ.com says CO8LY is: Eduardo Somoano Cremati, P.O. Box 104, Santiago de Cuba, 90100 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. 17755-17780, Sept 16 at 1418, OTH radar pulsing presumed from here, and fortunately not bothering any audible broadcasters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [non]. 11810, Sept 17 at 0527, flutish Arabic music and mentions of Allah, but certainly not Qur`an; 0529 cut to modern Arabic music, gmail address, SMS number, W&M conclude announcement with dardasha7.com and off at 0530* --- so it`s R. Dardasha 7, the Christian program based in Cyprus, 125 kW, 185 degrees via Nauen, GERMANY per HFCC. What I usually hear is the colliding listing for RRI DRM in French during the same semihour, 300 kW, 285 degrees from Galbeni, but did not notice any QRDRM this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS NORTH. /AUSTRIA, 6150.036, Tentative, Radio Bayrak program from northern Cyprus. Low modulation, noted from 0450 UT Sept 11. Weak signal, reception suffered by powerful 6155 signal next door. Latter AWR Moosbrunn at 0430-0500 UT in French to West Africa target. Discussion about sexual life and puberty. 6150.036 noted also when checked at 0204 UT Sept 15 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** CZECHIA. See C&C: HFCC REPORT ** DIEGO GARCIA. AFN still AWOL: see GUAM, but: AFN Diego Garcia back on air after being off air for more than a month, 1640z on 4319-USB with heavily distorted audio (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, Sept 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also check DG day frequency 12759 (gh, ibid.) At 0110z AFN Diego Garcia on 12759-USB with distorted audio (Gupta, UT Sept 22, ibid.) ** DJIBOUTI. 4780, Radio Djibouti, *0300-0340, sign on with National Anthem followed by Arabic announcements. Some local flute music. Qur`an at 0302-0314. Arabic talk at 0314. Local Horn of Africa style music. Fair. Sept 17. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ECUADOR. 17/09/2011 0410, 3810, HD2IOA Ist. Ocean. Armada - Guayaquil EQA Bip...Bip..time signal. 73 good DX (Mauro - Giroletti, - Swl 1510-, -IK2GFT-, -JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150-, Filter PAR Electronics - BCST-LPF + BCST-HPF- DSP 9, -Eavesdropper SWL Sloper 11mt to 120mt Band- Loop ALA 100 M, -Lat. 45 25'0"N Long. 9 7'0"E -Locator grid. Jn 45 Nk, playdx yg via DXLD) ** EGYPT. Re 11-37: After strong DW via Kigali closed 15275 around 1857 I could hear a much weaker signal on 15270 which sounded very much like the sort Cairo usually puts out. I could not trace anything on 17625 - as you thought - nor on 11555. I think the transmission was signing on when I heard them. 73 from (Noel Green, England, Seept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Entry in coming B-11 season: 17625 kHz 1845-2000 UT, zone 46 Abu Zabaal transmitter site, 200 kW 245 degrees, Fulfulde EGY ERU. Ex 11555 kHz? Spoken in Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gambia, Chad, Sierra Leone, Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Sudan, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Togo, Liberia, Gabon. Maybe an antenna check at Abu Zabaal broadcasting TX center has been worked out? before HFCC conference starts in Dallas USA from today Sept 12? (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 11, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** ERITREA. ERITREIA, 7175, Voice of the Broad Masses (of Eritrea), Selai Dairo, 1744-1801*, 17/9, Arabic, talks, local pops, then a son in Arabic prior to a their ID followed by the natl. anthem at 1759 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 9705, R. Ethiopia, HoA music 1942-1950. 1950 M in presumed Amharic. Rock music theme and news intro by W, then news read by M to 2004. More HoA music. 2008 W again. M with break in music program at 2036. W with possible final news brief at 2056. Canned M with closing announcement with mention of "radio" and "radio program", then vocal NA at 2059-2100. Deadair and off at 2102. Great signal but had to listen in USB to avoid QRM below (5 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, NRD-535D and Perseus, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 9560-, Sept 19 at 1408, het pitch wavering a bit, less than 1 kHz below 9560.0 KSDA in Chinese, presumed R. Ethiopia back close to nominal via longpath; no longer a carrier on 9568 instead, and I never heard from anyone to confirm my theory that too was Ethiopia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 9705, Radio Ethiopia, 2050-2100:40*, local Horn of Africa style pop music. Amharic talk. Sign off with National Anthem at 2059. Fair to good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) Date? Radio Ethiopia. 9705 Addis Ababa (Aoki), Geja Dera (EiBi). No HFCC listing. Sept 15, 2011. Thursday 0355-0403. Local music to 0358, then OM talking , gave frequency announcement. Then gong jingle at 0400 I but couldn't make out the id. After a few seconds talk, more local music. Fair, Jo'burg sunrise 0406. Next morning, Friday Sept 16, from 0338 to 0350, Amharic, OM's talking, sounds like news / current affairs with canned interviewees. Talking about Libya and Gadhaffi. Brief Ethiopian music and jingles at 0345 followed by OM singing at 0347. Fair, Jo'burg sunrise 0405. On Saturday Sept 17, 2011, from 0355-0430, Amharic, OM's talking, "Horn of Africa" music. Couldn't make out TOH id, assuming that's what the talk was. Fair - poor, and deteriorating with sunrise. Almost gone by 0430, Jo'burg sunrise 0404. Targetted to East Africa (Bill Bingham, RSA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Ethiopia national service is currently booming in here in the clear on 9705 kHz with their very distinctive style of music, heard from tune-in at 2030 UT. Sign off is scheduled at 2100. 73s (Dave Kenny, Caversham, England, AOR7030 + 25m long wire. Sept 17, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. E-SAT in Amharic test on Sep. 13: 1630-1800 on 11510 KCH 300 kW / 170 deg // 15750 from 1700 Please check today. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No signal 11510 1630-1700 today, I guess RTC is scheduled on 3 channels in parallel 15-16 UT 15710 15730 15790 17-18 UT 11510 15750 15760 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 14, via Mauno Ritola, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nothing after 1700, either. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Sept 15, ibid.) Yesterday 17-18 UT 15750 kHz contained a VERY STRONG HoA like program, MOST PROBABLY YFR in Amharic via Wertachtal: 15750 1600-1800 47,48 WER 500 150 AmharicSwahili YFR MBR 17828 - - - Today Sept 15, 12-13 UT heard YFR with English program tests: 15559.900 (always minus 100 Hz outlet!) Almaty KAZ, S=6 only in EUR 17520.0 Tashkent UZB S=8 in EUR 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Transmissions of E-SAT Radio are now closed: 1500-1600 15730 KCH 300 kW / 170 deg EaAF // test freqs 15710 & 15790 1700-1800 15750 KCH 300 kW / 170 deg EaAF // test freqs 15760 & 15770 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. 6940, 0554 (IRELAND?), Laser Hot Hits finally gave sufficient audio for a DX report on 2/9 after regular monitoring throughout August. Mainly rock music but played Bic Runga song at 0600, presumably for antipodean audience! Has since moved frequencies to 6920 and 6945 (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, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Long Live Radio Tests --- Next tests of Long Live Radio planned to 21.09.2011 and 23.09.2011: 1630-1830 UT on 5820 or 5815 kHz! Reception reports and recordings are welcome! (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, Sept 21, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Woe is RFI [gh`s headline; or Whoa?] Union groups have issued a statement complaining about plans for the "fusion-liquidation" of RFI and Monte Carlo Doualiya, the Arabic affiliate of RFI. They say the idea is "empty of any credible editorial content and doesn't convince anyone..." They claim RFI and MDC are being "pillaged" for the France 24 television channel. "The notion of public service and a guarantee of editorial independence is being totally diluted," the unions say. The labor groups contend that putting RFI in the same organization as France 24 jeopardizes the missions and existence of RFI and MCD. "Look what happened at MCD, where the famous 'synergies' with France 24 serve no other purpose than the progressive extinction of radio for the sole benefit of television," the union statement says. At MCD, the "relaunch plan" is summed up by the "heresy" of broadcasting France 24 audio on the radio. "When we will hear the sound of France 24 on RFI? Don't be fooled, the idea is included in the 'reorganization project' presented by our sorcerer's-apprentice directors." According to a report in the Communist daily Humanite, the planned move of RFI from Paris to suburban Issy-les-Moulneaux will be "rejected by 92 percent of employees." Unions say the "useless" move could cost more than $50 million. In addition, the unions allege that RFI has been paying France 24's costs and salaries for the last two years without being compensated. They also contend there are numerous faults with the proposed new location, including health and safety issues (Mike Cooper, GA, Sept 16, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GAMBIA. GÂMBIA, 648, GRTS, Bonto, 2207-2220, 18/9, African pops; 44433, QRM de SPAIN. Usually with very good, punching audio, but not this day and the previous one (when weaker): too distorted. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 5980, Hamburger Lokalradio - Start of weekly English service towards central Europe, on Tuesday Oct 4. Every Tuesday summer season 09-10 UT - winter season 10-11 UT, via shortwave 5980 kHz Kall- Germany 1 kW. Ich arbeite seit laengerer Zeit ehrenamtlich mit den Kollegen vom Hamburger Lokalradio zusammen, die sich immer wieder mit Sendungen fuer die DX-Community hervortun. Fuer die naechste Zeit sind mehrstuendige Sondersendungen auf KW sowie ein woechentlicher Sendeplatz in englischer Sprache vorgesehen (u.a. mit Glenn Hausers "World of Radio"). Hamburger Lokalradio mit Sondersendungen auf Kurzwelle. Am ersten Wochenende im Oktober sowie am Tag der Deutschen Einheit strahlt das Hamburger Lokalradio (HLR) ein mehrstuendiges Sonderprogramm auf Kurzwelle aus. Uebertragen werden Hoehepunkte aus dem eigenen Programmarchiv sowie ausgewaehlte Beitraege von Partnerstationen und externen Produzenten. Die detaillierte Programmfolge wird auf der Webseite des Senders bekanntgegeben. Sendezeiten und Frequenz: Samstag, 1. Oktober, Sonntag, 2. Oktober, und Montag, 3. Oktober 2011, jeweils von 06.00 bis 16.00 UT auf 5980 kHz. Rueckmeldungen und Kommentare zu den Ausstrahlungen sind willkommen. Korrekte Empfangsberichte werden mit einer Sonder-QSL-Karte bestaetigt. Adresse: Hamburger Lokalradio Kulturzentrum LOLA Lohbruegger Landstr. 8 D-21031 Hamburg, Germany. Please return postage. Um Beilage von Rueckporto wird gebeten. Das Hamburger Lokalradio ist als Kultur-Spartensender lizenziert und strahlt seine Sendungen in Hamburg auf UKW und im Kabel aus. Darueber hinaus laufen Sendungen fuer eine internationale Hoererschaft im Programm von WRN Deutsch (woechentlich), ueber einen KW-Sender von MediaBroadcast (monatlich) sowie seit Dezember 2009 ueber einen Low- Power-Sender der Sendestelle Kall (taeglich 0900-1000 UT, 5980 kHz). Regelmaessige Englischprogramme beim Hamburger Lokalradio. Am Dienstag, 4. Oktober 2011, startet das Hamburger Lokalradio einen woechentlichen Englischdienst auf Kurzwelle. Er wird jeden Dienstag von 0900-1000 UT (im Winter von 1000-1100 UT) auf 5980 kHz mit einer Leistung von 1 Kilowatt ausgestrahlt. In der ersten halben Sendestunde laeuft die Uebernahme der in Kansas City (USA) produzierten Literatur-Talkshow "New Letters on the Air". In der zweiten halben Stunde uebernimmt das HLR das DX-Programm "World of Radio" des bekannten US-amerikanischen Produzenten Glenn Hauser. Mit der Aufnahme dieser Fremdsprachensendungen macht das HLR seinen Hoerern im nicht-deutschsprachigen Ausland, die die Ausstrahlungen auf 5980 kHz empfangen koennen, ein Programmangebot. An den uebrigen sechs Wochentagen laufen zur gleichen Sendezeit weiterhin deutschsprachige Sendungen aus dem Archiv des Hamburger Lokalradios (Thomas Voelkner-D, via Dr. Hansjoerg Biener-D, Sept 11, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) NOTE: WORLD OF RADIO will be broadcast on HLR from October 4, Tuesdays at 0930-1000 on 5980 with 1 kW (From Nov, 1030-1100) !! (gh, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Re: ``Please check Sunday 18th: Internal name - MSM in English, please check Sept 18, 09-10 UT: 0900-1000 6045kHz WER 100 kW non-dir to WeEUR 3rd Sun, new from Aug 21 (R BULGARIA DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 12)`` 6045, Broadcast on 3rd Sunday only is XCRB Radio, started with 6 tone interval signals from 0900-0901 UT Sept 18. Then followed by Rock'n Roll concert. S=9+15 to +20dBm in Germany and Netherlands. TX on from 0857 UT. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good reception in Bulgaria SINPO 45544 73! (Ivo Ivanov, ibid.) It's XVRB - "The Music Museum" see http://www.xvrb.org/ Strong here about S9 but with a lot of fading. 73s (Dave Kenny, England, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, ibid.) Viz.: ``Home Reception reports XVRB profile Your timezone DX websites Welcome to XVRB.org. Our next one-hour programme on shortwave will be at 6045 kHz on [third] Sunday, October 16, 0900-1000 UT. If you like to send us an e-mail, please send it to xvrbradio @ gmail.com Thanks for visiting this website! The XVRB team`` (via gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) It was just a row of oldies with few announcements in English thrown in. These announcements basically left the operation anonymous, referred to "our little playground" and did, for the part I listened to (because that's not my scene), not reveal more than the announced webpage http://www.xvrb.org So it still remains a mystery who is this "MSM", but it appears to be a pure hobby operation from enthusiasts. By the way, it was funny how in the 0900-1000 hour the 49 mB was close to an exclusive Media Broadcast affair here. There were three strong signals, Nauen running its accordingly equipped ALLISS unit in 2/2 configuration with RNW on 5955 as well as Wertachtal, running its two ex-Jülich transmitters on HQ antennas on the 6045 in question and also with the scheduled EMR on 6140. The rest was weaker Rampisham on 6075 and Berlin-Britz on 6190 and even weaker, no longer sufficient for regular listening, Santa Maria di Galeria on 5965 and Krekel on 6005. And meanwhile one can go through the 49 mB again without having to mind the blasting roar that used to appear on certain frequencies. I'm not joking, it is really annoying to come accross a DRM signal while, in old fashion, turning the dial (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Puzzlement amongst DXers europeanwide, next to real XVRB ID, -- came out XGRB, XCRB, XBRB, IDs (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So do the letters mean something? (gh) Credits for this have to go to Roger from greater Leipzig/Halle area, who had the idea to do a simple Whois lookup of the URL: MSM = MS Media, a Rotterdam-based media agency or perhaps just a single freelancer. Core business appears to be text-based stuff, but the references also mention radio commercials, so production facilities should be already at hand for them/him. http://www.msmedia.nl The whole thing reminded me immediately of what at present goes intermittently out on 531 from Burg. So it is indeed an outcome of the Dutch Anorak scene as well (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) Homepage signed by: *Marcel *Strücker, MS Media Rotterdam (gh, ibid.) XVRB Radio - The Music Museum in English Sep. 18 via MBR: 0900-1000 on 6045 WER 100 kW / non-dir WeEU 3rd Sun. Good signal in BUL (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 19 Sept via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 6140, 0920-1000* Sunday 18.09, European Music R, via Wertachtal. English ann "From Europe to Europe", "It's European Music Radio on 6140 and also on 9480", "This is EMR", Tom Taylor with pop music, 0930 Mike Taylor with mailbox mentioning reports e.g. from DSWCI members: Manuel Méndez and Arturo Fernandez Llorella (Spain), Claës-W. Englund (Sweden) and Erik Koie (Denmark), 55544 // 9480 not audible (Anker Petersen, my latest DX-loggings heard on an AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD): ** GERMANY [and non]. Bezugnehmend zur Meldung im RBB Medienmagazin ueber das Restprogramm der DW ab Ende Oktober 2011 frage ich mal nach dem Deutschen Dienst. Bleibt da noch etwas uebrig, z.B. fuer Afrika, oder wird das komplett eingestellt!? Link zum Medienmagazin: (Jan Balzer-D, A-DX Sept 14 via BC-DX Sept 16 via DXLD) Frage zu Deutsche Welle in der Saison B-11. Auszug aus einer Pressemitteilung der DW vom Mai 2011: Reduktion der Kurzwellenausstrahlung. Zum 1. November 2011 stellt die DW die Kurzwellenuebertragung auf Deutsch, Russisch, Farsi und Indonesisch ein. Fuer das Englische Programm wird die KW-Ausstrahlung auf Afrika begrenzt, die Sendezeit des Chinesischen Programms wird von 120 Minuten auf 60 Minuten reduziert. Auch in diesen Sprachen verstaerkt die DW ihre Online-, Video- /Audio-on-demand- und Mobilangebote. Wo immer sinnvoll ergaenzen radiophone Produktionen zur Verbreitung ueber Partner dieses Portfolio. Von November 2011 an strahlt die DW dann noch in folgenden Sprachen Radioinhalte via Kurzwelle aus: Amharisch, Chinesisch, Dari, Englisch und Franzoesisch fuer Afrika, Haussa, Kisuaheli, Paschtu, Portugiesisch fuer Afrika und Urdu. - (via Herbert Meixner, Austria, A-DX Sept 14 via BC-DX Sept 16 via DXLD) Scantily rest of shortwave transmission of Deutsche Welle, Bonn, Germany, in B-11 season, registrations of Sept 15, 2011. 5925 0300-0400 KIG 250 180 Swa RRW 6145 1930-1957 KIG 250 170 Por RRW 6155 0500-0530 KIG 250 0 Eng RRW 6175 0300-0400 KIG 250 0 Swa RRW 6180 0400-0500 KIG 250 0 Eng RRW 7300 1500-1557 KIG 250 0 Swa RRW 7350 0400-0500 KIG 250 295 Eng RRW 9655 2000-2100 KIG 250 295 Eng RRW 9655 2100-2200 KIG 250 295 Eng RRW 9715 1800-1857 KIG 250 310 Hau RRW 9735 1900-1930 KIG 250 210 Eng RRW 9735 1930-2000 KIG 250 210 Por RRW 9735 2000-2100 KIG 250 210 Eng RRW 9795 1700-1757 KIG 250 0 Fre RRW 9800 0300-0400 ASC 250 85 Swa G 9800 0500-0527 KIG 250 0 Eng RRW 9800 0530-0557 KIG 250 210 Por RRW 9800 1000-1100 KIG 250 0 Swa RRW 9800 1200-1300 KIG 250 0 Fre RRW 9800 1500-1557 KIG 250 265 Swa RRW 9855 0300-0400 DHA 250 225 Swa UAE 9855 0400-0500 KIG 250 0 Eng RRW 9855 0500-0530 KIG 250 295 Eng RRW 11600 1300-1330 SNG 250 13 Chn SNG 11865 2100-2200 KIG 250 295 Eng RRW 11895 1600-1658 KIG 250 0 Amh RRW 11945 1300-1330 DHA 250 58 Chn UAE 11945 1330-1400 DHA 250 58 Chn UAE 12045 0500-0530 KIG 250 180 Eng RRW 12045 0530-0557 KIG 250 180 Por RRW 12045 0600-0630 KIG 250 280 Eng RRW 12045 0630-0700 KIG 250 295 Hau RRW 12045 1000-1100 KIG 250 265 Swa RRW 12045 1430-1500 ARM 250 110 Urd RUS 12045 1900-1928 KIG 250 30 Eng RRW 12070 1500-1557 KIG 250 180 Swa RRW 12070 1600-1657 KIG 250 30 Amh RRW 12070 1700-1759 KIG 250 295 Fre RRW 12070 1800-1900 RMP 500 160 Hau G 12070 1900-1930 KIG 250 0 Eng RRW 12070 1930-2000 KIG 250 0 Por RRW 12070 2000-2100 KIG 250 0 Eng RRW 12070 2100-2200 KIG 250 0 Eng RRW 13780 1700-1800 WOF 250 152 Fre G 15275 1200-1257 KIG 250 0 Fre RRW 15275 1330-1400 KIG 250 30 Dari RRW 15275 1400-1430 KIG 250 30 Pash RRW 15275 1430-1500 KIG 300 30 Urd RRW 15275 1600-1657 KIG 250 0 Amh RRW 15275 1700-1759 KIG 250 295 Fre RRW 15440 0600-0630 KIG 250 295 Eng RRW 15440 0630-0700 KIG 250 295 Hau RRW 15440 1000-1100 KIG 250 180 Swa RRW 15440 1200-1259 KIG 250 325 Fre RRW 15440 1300-1357 KIG 250 310 Hau RRW 15640 0800-0830 DHA 250 45 Pash UAE 15640 0830-0900 DHA 250 45 Dari UAE 15640 1330-1400 SNG 250 315 Dari SNG 15640 1400-1430 SNG 250 315 Pash SNG 15640 1430-1500 SNG 250 315 Urd SNG 17520 1200-1300 RMP 500 168 Fre G 17710 0800-0830 KIG 250 30 Pash RRW 17710 0830-0858 KIG 250 30 Dari RRW 17800 0600-0630 KIG 250 295 Eng RRW 17800 1200-1300 KIG 250 295 Fre RRW 17800 1300-1400 KIG 250 295 Hau RRW 17800 1800-1857 MDC 250 305 Hau MDG 17860 1330-1400 ARM 200 104 Dari RUS 17860 1400-1430 ARM 200 104 Pash RUS 21550 1300-1400 KIG 250 295 Hau RRW HISTORY - 12.03.1973 --- "Es ruft der Bruder seine Brueder ..." - Wie rein klingt Deutschlands Stimme? SPIEGEL-Report ueber den Bonner Auslands-Rundfunk "Deutsche Welle". Mit jaehrlich 120 Millionen Mark aus Bonns Innenministerium, doch von keiner Regierungsstelle kontrolliert, ruft die Deutsche Welle die Voelker der Welt - in 33 Sprachen - , darunter Dari, Pashto und Sanskrit. Deutsche Kalte Krieger und griechische Emigranten unter den 1200 Mitarbeitern der "Stimme der Bundesrepublik Deutschland" loesten internationale Proteste aus. Jetzt will sich das Kanzleramt mit dem Koelner Sender beschaeftigen. Rest des Artikels unter (via Herbert Meixner, Austria, A-DX Sept 11 via BC-DX via DXLD) 15595, Sept 20 at 1329 tones on and off catch my ear, what will it be? 1330 DW jingle and ID to Afghanistan. Aoki shows 1330-1400 Dari & 1400-1430 Pashto, 200 kW, 104 degrees from Krasnodar, RUSSIA; HFCC disagrees: 250 kW, 110 degrees from Armavir (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GIBRALTAR. 1458, R. Gibraltar, Maida Vale, 0935-1212, 19/9, English, advertisements, prgr What's On,..., BBC news at 1000,..., Castlian prgr at 1200 starting off with a news bulletin; 45454. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. 11645, Sept 17 at 0526, BBC sports report in English, good signal with flutter. So this UT Saturday, ERA`s R. Filia service has English from BBCWS on at the moment; recheck at 0531 I heard a bit of French, whence? And then Greek songs to 0550* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. RENOVATE THE OLD VOA KAVALA, GREECE, SITE FOR DRM DIGITAL SHORTWAVE? Posted: 20 Sep 2011 Radio World, 12 Sept 2011, letter from Adil Mina, vice president, Continental Electronics: "Although I helped design and build many VOA facilities worldwide, the finest ever built was constructed in Kavala, Greece, with 12 each CEC 250 kW HF transmitters, a 500 kW CEC medium- wave transmitter, two 50 kW HF communication transmitters, power plant, curtain antennas (more than 36), houses, etc. That station was closed about six years ago and turned over to the Greek government; it is now dormant. I am doing my best to find somebody who is willing to renovate it and start operation with DRM [Digital Radio Mondiale digial shortwave]. Its location is ideal for Europe, North Africa, Asia and other targets." See previous post with photos of the Kavala site (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) originally in DXLD ** GUAM. 5765-USB, Sept 16 at 1241, AFN gone again despite absence of any QRM from 5755 WTWW which QSYed earlier to 9479. That will help when Guam resumes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 13362-USB, AFN, 0729-0740, Sept 13 with a repeat of the July 22 PBS show of Tavis Smiley interviewing opera singer Jessye Norman. Checked at 0804 to find they switched over to 5765-USB. Still not hearing AFN-Diego Garcia on 4319-USB (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 16/09/2011 2029, 13363.5, Argentina Armed Forces, px relay ID "Continental" + pubb [ads] 15/09/2011 2020, 13362, AFRTS-Barrigada GUM, px relay (Mauro Giroletti, -Swl 1510-, -IK2GFT-, -JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150-, Filter PAR Electronics - BCST-LPF + BCST-HPF- DSP 9, -Eavesdropper SWL Sloper 11mt to 120mt Band- Loop ALA 100 M, -Lat. 45 25'0"N Long. 9 7'0"E - Locator grid. Jn 45 Nk, playdx yg via DXLD) 5765-USB, AFN. Sept 16 off the air; Sept 17 heard 1223 and 1307 with good reception; Sept 18 was fine at 1157; Sept 19 fair at 1154. Still not hearing AFN-Diego Garcia on 4319-USB (Ron Howard, California, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5765-USB, Sept 19 at 1237, AFN relaying NBC-TV `Today` show report on two 51-year-old heiresses to political families both dying young, altho that news is a couple days old by now, catching up on the weekend, even tho Today is also on air Sat & Sun (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM [and non]. 9880, KSDA, AWR Agat Guam, Korean language program daily 12-13 UT, noted at 1240 UT Sept 11, + North Korean heavy jammer, buzz noise type in wide range between 9866 and 9893 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 11, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** GUAM. KTWR Guam DRM Test: 0000-0030 UT on 15260 kHz on 15th & 16th Sept, 2011 --- (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Sept 15, dxldyg via DXLD) Re: KTWR 9910 posts --- Glenn, I noticed a surprising number of posts related to KTWR on 9910 with DRM. That transmission was just a one- time deal to check out the content server. The time of day was chosen so that no one would be likely to hear it. Any subsequent noises or DRM signals on that frequency are not coming from KTWR, hopefully. KTWR still uses that frequency for analog broadcasts. There were two official DRM test broadcasts on 15260 at 0000 UT on Sept. 15th and 16th. That signal was 75 kW beamed toward India. No further DRM tests are planned. P.S. I remember listening to your DX info on the radio when I was a teenager (35 years ago). My SWL hobby grew into ham radio and SW broadcasting (Mike Sabin, Guam, Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mike, Tnx for clearing that up. I was beginning to have my doubts, but there has certainly been some DRM-like noise around the frequency, maybe really a ute. Hope you`ll let me know of any further developments at KTWR (Glenn to Mike, KTWR Manager and CE, via DXLD) Glenn, We have planned a 30-minute DRM test for Friday [Sept 23] at 0000 UT. It will be on 15260 kHz. The heading will be at 320, toward northeast China and EU. We will run either 32 or 75 kW. We don’t expect many listeners to pick that up at that time of day, but that is the only time the FCC has given us. The purpose of this test is to verify that our audio breaks caused by our content server and exciter settings have been cured. 73, (Mike Sabin, KTWR, Sept 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, Radio Verdad, heard 21 September starting at 0350 GMT when I rolled across it. Playing light piano religious music (even heard Amazing Grace) into ID on the hour and more music. Annoying het started at 0403 and made the listening unbearable. Just a carrier, no modulation, so causing difficulties. 73 (Al Muick, Whitehall PA USA, WinRadio G303e / 100m longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Which side the het, WTFK? (gh) ** GUYANA. 3290, Voice of Guyana, Sparendaam, at 0510 UT on Sept 11. Underneath, but covered by digital ute signal on 3285 to 3293 kHz range (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) 3290, Voice of Guyana, 0850 with mention of E. R. Braithwaite.... wrote "To Sir, with Love" 13 September; "Happy Birthday greetings to ...", "...with a very good morning", Indian Subcontinental music followed by Zombies ' http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5IRI4oHKNU into religious message of "Trusting in the word of Jesus, You are Blessed", eclectic programme. Dave Brubeck "Take Five", 15 September (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDIA. 4775, AIR Imphal, 1350, September 19. One of their best receptions; interview; subcontinent music; series of ads; ToH news in Hindi; CODAR QRM. Unfortunately the other Northeast India station at Shillong on 4970 was off the air today. MP3 audio has ads at http://www.box.net/shared/yv49yob6yoagdagz98sp (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4880.00, *0023-0115 17.09, AIR Lucknow, AIR IS, ann "Vande Mataram", Vande Mataram hymn, Indian sitar and drums, 0030 time signal, ID: "Yeh Akashvani", news in Hindi, ad, 0036 talks with musical interlude, 0046 ann flute and drums music with men`s choir, 45344, deteriorating after 0100 AP-DNK 4920.00, 1640-1742* 17.09, AIR Chennai, Hindi and English ann, "National programme of music" with sitar and drums, Debasish (?) Shanka playing sitar 1700-1730, then English "This is All India Radio. The News", 1735 news in Hindi, 45344 (Anker Petersen, my latest DX- loggings heard on an AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR Shimla QSL --- Received a nice friendly QSL Letter fromDirector Engineering of All India Radio Shimla for an email report for the freq 4965 kHz with in 14 days for email report. He requests for reports from Dxers to be emailed to : shimla at air.org.in and offers prompt QSL reply. So grab this opportunity. Rajeesh Ramachandran posted in Indian DX Club International facebook group (via Alokesh Gupta, Sept 22, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. 5010, AIR Thiruvananthapuram, 1254-1308 Sep 15. Usual talks in presumed Hindi; speech excerpt at 1300; tuned out at 1308 as signal started going downhill. "Fair minus" here, which is better than usual. ^^ QSL ^^ INDIA - 5010 AIR Thiruvananthapuram. A second QSL card received for a 2010 reception. This one, a "Shore Temple, Mahabalipuram" card, presumably replying to May 2011 f/up (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) See also SIKKIM; KASHMIR [and non]. 5010, 17.9 1740, AIR very strong with English news until sign off at 1745. When switching to the African antenna, another station turns up, most likely R Madagasikara back from 4910, also this one with good strength (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, Shortwave Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) ** INDIA. All India Radio, National Channel. 9470, Aligarh. 2011/09/11 Sunday. 1628-1703 Karnatic classical vocal music, YL in Hindi introduces a short classical raga (vocal with instrumental backing) which starts at 1629, ends 1632. More talk, then another classical vocal by YL, accompanied by violin and mridangam (a type of drum). All wiped out by Chinese music and talk as CRI (Xi`an) comes on air at 1659. Damn them; I like Chinese classical and folk music, but I like Indian classical music more. Fair. To South Asia (EiBi). Jo'burg sunset 1600 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 15050, Sept 16 at 1330, AIR with South Asian music, best heard in months; must be an equinoxial thing --- good enough for a tolerant SWL to enjoy listening to, fluttery with S9+10 peaks, enabling me to detect a slightly wavering het on both sides circa 4 kHz, which implies it`s self-inflicted. Is that obvious, or more annoying to closer listeners? This is the Sinhala service, 250 kW, 174 degrees from Delhi at 1300-1500, so it`s hard to say whether it is reaching here by long path direct or short path off the back. 15050, Sept 20 at 1333, AIR Sinhala service with nice music, marred by hets on both sides varying slightly as they beat against central carrier, somewhere between 1 and 2 kHz away; more obvious when switched to talk at 1335. At 1410 I guesstimate it around one sesquikHz. Presumed self-inflicted from an AIR transmitter. Aoki shows site Delhi (Khampur). I was disappointed to find that DX Asia http://dxasia.info/india-frequency not only doesn`t deal with sites, let alone sub-sites, but is still showing A-10 info! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 10TH ANNIVERSARY OF DX INDIA - CONTEST DX India is a email based group of radio hobbyists specializing on broadcasting in India. It was founded on October 1, 2011. Several activities are scheduled to celebrate the 10th anniversary of DX India. DX India Contest --- The details of the contest are as follows: Contest Period: From 0000 UT 1 October 2011 to 2359 UT 10 October 2011. Monitor as many SW stations of All India Radio (AIR) as possible. Prepare Reception Reports for each AIR station on separate sheets. Download the reception report format here : http://tinyurl.com/43o2mwk Points are calculated depending upon the location of the DXer as follows: Asia/Oceania : 1 point per AIR station Europe & Africa : 2 Points per AIR station North & South America : 3 points per AIR station Prizes: Awards for Top scoring Three Entries - World Radio TV Handbook 2012 for top scoring entry from South Asia - Danish SW Club Intl's Domestic Broadcasting Survey-13 - Book "This is All India Radio" by U.L.Baruah - Joe Carr's Antenna Handbook - DX India 10th Anniversary T-Shirts - Special Postal covers from India on Communication - Rare special cover on platinum jubilee of All India Radio - Other prizes to be announced soon In addition a Participation Certificate will be issued to all those who send entries. The Reception reports received will be forwarded to All India Radio for possible QSL'ing. Send the entries by post/email postmarked before 31st October 2011 Email: dxindia10@gmail.com Address: DX India 10th Anni. Contest, PO Box 4914, New Delhi 110029, India. Results will be declared in December 2011. Note: Out of 29 AIR SW stations, 25 are currently active. The detailed schedules are available at: http://qsl.net/vu2jos/sw/loc.htm http://qsl.net/vu2jos/sw/freq.htm http://qsl.net/vu2jos/es/time.htm Sponsors : - World Radio TV Handbook http://www.wrth.com - The Danish Shortwave Club International http://www.dswci.org - DX India http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos - Radioactivity http://alokeshgupta.blogspot.com DX India special broadcast via AWR Wavescan In the AWR Wavescan program to be broadcast on 2nd October 2011, there will be a special segment about 10th Anniversary of DX India. The schedule of AWR Wavescan is: 1200-1230 UTC 17535 Wertachtal 1330-1400 UTC 11880 Guam 1430-1500 UTC 11720 Guam 1500-1530 UTC 11720 Guam 1530-1600 UTC 15255 Wertachtal 1600-1630 UTC 11805 Guam, 12035 Guam 1630-1700 UTC 11740 Guam Also via WRMI. Special QSL Cards will be issued for the same. Send your reception report at: DX India 10th Anni. QSL, PO Box 4914, New Delhi 110029, India. Email: dxindia10@gmail.com DX India special via Amateur Radio BCDXers who are hams are requested to be on band for a friendly meeting on air on 1st October 2011, Saturday (10th anniversary of DX India) and contact / monitor VU2JOS as follows. 0130-0200 UT (7.00 am to 7.30 am IST) : 7073 kHz LSB 1230-1300 UT (6.00 pm to 6.30 pm IST) : 14160 kHz USB Special QSL Cards will be issued for the same. Send your reception report at: DX India 10th Anni. QSL, PO Box 4914, New Delhi 110029, India. Email: dxindia10@gmail.com Looking forward to your participation ! Jose Jacob & Alokesh Gupta, DX India YG http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dx_india/ (Alokesh Gupta, Sept 19, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. PRASAR BHARATI STRENGTHENS MONITORING SYSTEM FOR EXPANSION PROJECTS By BB NAGPAL, Indiantelevision.com Team (19 September 2011 6:55 pm) http://www.indiantelevision.com/headlines/y2k11/sep/sep151.php NEW DELHI: Even as it denies any delay in implementation of projects, Prasar Bharati has admitted to several projects that were earmarked in the Tenth Plan but are being continued in the Eleventh Plan in both television and radio. Prasar Bharati sources admitted that three Doordarshan projects and 47 radio stations were still to be completed, though approved in the Tenth Plan. The sources said that a high-level committee had been constituted under the chairmanship of the chief executive officer for project monitoring and implementation to speed up the work. An Empowered Committee of Finance has also been set up to resolve all issues related to finance. In addition, Project Monitoring Committee has been set up under the chairmanship of the Director General to strengthen the monitoring mechanism for their projects. Nodal officers have been nominated for the schemes included in the Result Framework Document. A time schedule has been drawn up for procurement and all major activities of a project has been drawn and the progress is being monitored. In another move, the financial power of the Director General has been restored to Rs 200 million. The three DD projects include a studio centre at Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh for which the studio building has been constructed and major equipment procured. The project will be completed during the current financial year. For the second project - a High Power Transmitter at Mehboobnagar in Andhra Pradesh - the building has been constructed and orders placed for transmitter equipment and tower. The project will be completed in the year 2012-13. The third project is the setting up of a very lower power transmitter at Jogindernagar in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands which will be completed in 2012. A total of 149 radio stations had been approved for AIR in November 2007, of which 102 have been completed and work is in progress at the remaining 47 places. In addition, new FM transmitters have been approved under the 11th Plan (130 under the digitalisation scheme and eight places under the Jammu and Kashmir Special Scheme). Of these, the set-up has been completed in only one place. The sources admitted that the major reasons for the delays were the delay by the state in offering a suitable site, delay in completion of building because of local problems, and delay in procurement of 10 KW FM transmitters due to litigation. At present there are 1415 DD transmitters functioning in the country (214 HPT, 812 LPT and 389 VLPT) and these are functioning satisfactorily. However, the sources admitted that delays were also caused in attending to complaints relating to unmanned VLPTs as staff had to be sent from other stations. The country has 396 AIR transmitters (149 Medium Wave, 193 FM, and 54 Short Wave) which were functional in 252 stations. Of the 313 cities where the Government has approved FM expansion in the Third Phase, AIR already has FM in 153 or these are in the pipeline. Of the remaining 160 cities, AIR is planning 100 Watt FM transmitters in 50 of the remaining 160 cities in the 11th Plan. In addition, the old transmitters at 34 places were being replaced by new FM transmitters. A project is also being readied for production facilities at all the 160 cities, for approval under the 12th Plan. An amount of Rs 1.42 billion had been sanctioned for AIR FM expansion under the Eleventh Plan. State governments in 19 states had been asked to allocate land free of cost to AIR for setting up the AIR FM channels (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, Sept 19, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya, 1200, Sept 14 with clear ID; normally would have switched over to the relay of the Jakarta news at this time, but not today; OM and YL chatting; audio level varying; not // to 4750 and 9680 (both with CNR1 QRM) which were both carrying the usual Jakarta news relay (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Observed since yesterday 15th September Evangelical US English preaching with immediate Indonesian translation, phrase by phrase on RRI Palankaraya 1230-1320 or so, 3325. I guess RRI must be getting some money for this to keep their SW running. – (G. Victor A. Goonetilleke 4S7VK, "Shangri-la"' 298 Madapatha Road, Piliyandala. Sri Lanka, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3325, RRI Palangkaraya. Thanks to an alert from Victor Goonetilleke (Sri Lanka), was able to hear a very unique program which started at 1233 and ended at 1330 on Sept 16; gospel Christian preaching by an impassioned African-American in English with a running translation into Bahasa Indonesia; outdoor event held in a field locally in Palangkaraya; “I am reading from God’s book. This is God speaking to Palangkaraya”, “Tomorrow night and Sunday night let all of Palangkaraya come together”, etc.; Christian songs; almost fair with adjacent QRM from Korea on 3320. Perhaps was an audio feed from TV coverage? Fascinating to hear this from Palangkaraya! Seems this programming may again be broadcast on September 17 and 18 at the same time. Have edited a small portion as a MP3 audio file at http://www.box.net/shared/40szirkk6pakkic7cxxh (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ron, fascinating info, thanks for reporting this. When I lived in Malaysia, in the 1980s, it was actually illegal for other religions (= Christian) to proselytize Muslims. Conversions were only allowed to go one way, hi. And Malaysia has always paralleled its brother nation, Indonesia, in many ways; and has even often been a bit more progressive, in my view, than Indonesia. Therefore, to hear that a unit of the Indonesian national govt's radio system was (probably) rented for purposes of publicizing a Christian missionary's impassioned live speech at a gathering in Palangkaraya -- - well, that's stunning. (Not saying good or bad, just stunning. hi). The broadcast of an English preacher is a surprise, but what surprises me even more was that the English-language preaching was being translated into Bahasa Indonesia and thereby being made more accessible to the Indo masses. Interesting times! (Ralph W Perry, NASWA yg via DXLD) Hi Ralph, Thank you very much for your first hand comments. Most helpful in understanding the true distinctiveness of this event and broadcast of it. The preacher in fact was clever enough to include a segment that was a type of disclaimer: "He loves Palangkaraya. I give you this promise. I am not here to lift up a religion. I don't say that one religion is better than the other religions. I am not here to talk about religion. I have nothing to say about religion. I have come to preach the person Jesus Christ. He is the healer. My Moslem friends do know that. My Christian friends do know that . . ." Edited MP3 audio file of that segment and a few others, posted at http://www.box.net/shared/a3d2sshzxtfubyus6xgy (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NASWA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) 3325, Sept 19 at 1235, only signal on 90m band is here, some audio losing out to accursèd high local noise level. I am confident it`s RRI Palangkaraya, as Ron Howard affirms that the PNG station on 3325 has been inactive for two years. 3325+, Sept 20 at 1236, presumed RRI Palangkaraya [interior S Kalimantan], unreadable but detectable signal in hi local noise level, better than anything else on 90m. Since I am frustrated from really hearing it, I amuse myself with BFO comparing to 7325 CRI Japanese, and find that 3325 is slightly on the hi side compared to 7325 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NBC BUKA vs. RRI PALANGKARAYA Hi Glenn, Recently I have been noticing more logs being reported for NBC Buka on 3325, some not even listed as tentative or presumed. I am not the definitive expert on this matter and can of course only report on what I have heard here at my west coast location, but I respectfully suggest that RRI Palangkaraya might be an alternate possibility (probability?). J-Peace (Japan) http://www.peace-j.net/ like myself, is a regular monitor of Asian/Pacific/Oceania stations. His site is regularly being updated with new recordings. His last recordings for NBC Buka are back in early 2009. That corresponds to and confirms my observations. During my monitoring during the 1200 UT time period, I always hear RRI Palangkaraya. For those who wonder about the quality of my reception and how I can be sure I am in fact hearing Palangkaraya, I refer you to the recent reception in English, with several clear references to Palangkaraya: http://www.box.net/shared/40szirkk6pakkic7cxxh and please also listen to this series of IDs in Bahasa Indonesia: http://www.box.net/shared/veu1umb8rb5y985kpgs0 I present this as something to think about and it is not intended as a criticism of anyone. My goal is to help improve the quality of our reporting. Good listening to all! (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Sept 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4749.95, RRI Makassar, 1303-1341 Sep 15. Pop vocals to 1315, then man & woman in dialogue to BoH; one pop song was followed by more chat in Bahasa Indonesia; tuned out at 1341. Good signal today. This is now the best low-band Indo here in western USA (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4749.966, RRI Makassar, 0947-1000 Sept 20, Noted a male in comments for a few moments then music heard. After one tune, a female joins in with the male in comments. Language sounded like Indonesian. Lots of noise this morning as the signal was poor (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 7289.95, RRI Nabire. Sept 13 went to the beach early (0735 onward) just to check on this, as it was on the air yesterday per Atsumori, but it was off the air today. He has been reporting this with an erratic schedule (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9525-, Sept 20 at 1301, since it`s Tuesday, I attempt to comprehend VOI, maybe 50% at best; poor signal but initially in the clear, Banjarmasin guy heard right away saying no rain today, temps 29-32, very nice weather. More gab including only one SW frequency mentioned, now-correct 9525, and FM 95.something in Banj. 1304 begins news with jingle, first from Jak about drought likely to last until rainy season in Oct. Alternates with items from Banj announcers, first about a university; 1320 `Commentary` about some government doing. 1324 mentions `Exotic Indonesia`, but hit by ACI from 9520 music [see PHILIPPINES], causing me to give up on VOI which also continued to weaken (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA [and non]. 9680.064, RRI Jakarta, 1055-1130 Sept 16, noted Jakarta with a fair signal presenting music and Indo comments by a female. Also noted mixing in is Taiwan and another station continually presenting music of "Anchors Away" [sic]. Anchors Away has been playing for 20 minutes at this writing. Still Jakarta is audible with a fair signal. Help me! (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [and non]. ROMANIA vs IRAN. See C&C: HFCC report, WORLD OF RADIO 1583 ** IRAN. 9780 kHz, VOIRI, from 1958 UT, SINPO 34333. A strongly anti- Israeli interview, then talk on role of Iranian women in sciences, 50% of Iranian university students are women, ID as “This is Iran, the Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” into flute and reeds with orchestra, an apparent change in antenna beam during this at 2029, after which it was much weaker, noisier, September 7. All the loggings were made about 30 miles south of Portland at Wells Beach, Maine, about 1/4 mile from the ocean on the sand bar situated between the ocean and a 1/2 mile wide salt marsh. Receiver was a SONY ICF 2010 on battery with whip antenna only (Roger Chambers, Utica NY, Sept 14, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** IRAN. SW radio issues --- Hello Glenn. I don't know if this might be of interest of you, but just a while ago I was listening to Voz de la República Islámica de Irán on 9905 and it started to suffer from audio cuts at 0110 UT. It first started with one or two seconds cuts (though the carrier was still present) until the broadcast just stopped at 0112 while the host was in mid-sentence, though it seemed like the carrier was still present. Still no sound at 0118. Is it the first time such audio problems happen at this station or are they frequent? (Eduardo Peralta, UT Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, that is of interest. I don`t recall seeing reports of such problems before regarding Iran and I hardly ever monitor them myself (Glenn to Eduardo, ibid.) See also LITHUANIA ** IRAN [non]. MOLDOVA, New time for Radyo-e Rahoya Iran in Farsi from Oct. 21: 1700-1830 on 5810 KCH 100 kW / 100 deg WeAS, ex 1600-1700 Mo-Fr on same (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 19 Sept via DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. Ireland football final on SW now --- A reminder, in case anyone is interested, that the second of RTE`s two annual SW specials should now be underway on Sunday Sept 18; full details in DXLD 11-36, http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld1136.txt under IRELAND [non]. SHORTWAVE FREQUENCIES FOR AFRICA Both Finals throw in at 3.30 pm Irish Time [1430 UT] Coverage area Frequencies -- Time (Irish) [UT +1, tho west of Paris] Southern Africa 7480 kHz 2pm to 6pm [1300-1700 UT; sites? South Africa] East Africa 17880 kHz 2pm to 6pm West Africa 17500 kHz 2pm to 6pm (Glenn Hauser, 1445 UT Sept 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1400z onwards : 7480 - Not heard 17500 - Weak, can hardly copy anything.... 17880 - 45444 Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, Sept 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) At 1518-1525 Sunday 18 September, 7480 nothing, 17880 very poor, 17500 very good signal with only occasional fading. There is however some humming noise on the broadcast but not enough to spoil listening (Harry Brooks, North East England, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Random check at 1555z 7480 - 35333 17500 - S=2 17880 - Faded out by 1545z Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, ibid.) SOUTH AFRICA, 17500 / 17880, Better signals in Netherlands, Germany and Austria heard on 17880 kHz, around 1550 UT live sports final coverage. S=7-8 in U.K., S=9+10dB signal noted in Austria and Germany. On 17500 kHz little weaker signal, S=6-7 in U.K., S=8-9 in Austria and Germany. 7480 kHz outlet from Meyerton-AFS to southern Africa did not propagate that long path into Europe. I presume the signal is better this afternoon on All Ireland Football Final, compared to rather weaker signal on GAA All Ireland Hurling Final at Sunday, 4 September. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Coming in here in Whitehall, Pennsylvania at only about S3 on 17500. 17880 barely audible. This at 1635 UT on 18 September (Al Muick, WinRadio G303e / 100m longwire, Whitehall, Pennsylvania USA, ibid.) 17500, Sept 18 at 1535, poor signal with sillyballgame play-by-play, even worse on // 17880, but at least there`s no QRDRM this time on the latter. This is the second of RTÉ`s two annual sporting specials on SW, via SOUTH AFRICA, scheduled 1300-1700 this time for a football final (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good signal here on 17500 and 17880 kHz from 1630 tune-in with RTE All-Ireland football final - in parallel with LW 252 kHz. Should continue until 1700 UT. 73s (Dave Kenny, Sept 18, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) 17500, 1630-1645, AFS, Sunday 18.09, RTE, Dublin, via Meyerton, English commentaries about the result of the All-Ireland Football Final with Dublin celebrating the difficult game, 45344 // 17880 (5 seconds behind with 35323). 7480 not heard (Anker Petersen, my latest DX-loggings heard on an AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) SOUTH AFRICA [Ireland non], RTE Dublin in English via 100 kW unit in Meyerton-AFS, at 000 degree azimuth towards all Africa in {southern summer season} B-11 will move to 5820 kHz at 1930-2030. Transmission is WRN brokered (HFCC, Sept 15 via Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via DXLD) ** ITALY. A new video on ham radio -- Hi folks, read about this new sixteen minutes video here: http://fromdctodaylight.splinder.com/post/25559929/om-stars-on-video Ciao, (Chris - IX1CKN - Diemoz, Italy, Sept 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KASHMIR [non]. AIR ALLAHABAD WEBSITE HACKED --- Dear Glenn, Just now I was reading the latest edition of DXLD on my Kindle, and I noted a mention of program downloads on AIR Allahabad's website. Interested, I get on my computer and Google it. http://air.iiita.ac.in/ has been hacked by "Hacked By ZHC TarGeT & Milan Milo - ZCompany Hacking Crew - [ZHC] " in the name of Kashmir; manifesto is on the site, etc. etc. Warning if you go to the site: some sound automatically starts playing in the background when you open the page. Thank you for reading this, and please have a good day (April Yamane, 1451 UT Sept 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg ASAP) The sound was a child`s voice looping a similar spiel. I also posted the above to the dx_india yg, as it was certainly pertinent; there were zero replies, taboo? Next time I checked the link at 2155 UT Sept 19, it had been dehacked, but I copied this sic while it was taken over: (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ``ZHCBanner Hacked By ZHC TarGeT & Milan Milo - ZCompany Hacking Crew - [ZHC] Free Kashmir .. Freedom is our goal..// End the Occupation. . . . This institutionalized impunity with which the killings of civilians by military and police forces in Jammu and Kashmir continues should be a source of shame for India which propagates to be a democracy! Kashmir does not want militarized governance - STOP killing children, raping women and imprisoning the men! They just want freedom! Freedom from the evil of the Indian Military! You will never kill the Kashmiri spirit and remember one thing India; Ghandi himself said - Freedom is never dear at any price. It is the breath of life. What would a man not pay for living? Everyday 100s of innocent people are abused, raped and even killed in kashmir by the indian army, a third of the deaths are children, - we dont want war, take back your men, your tanks and your guns and go back to where you came from, all we ask is for freedom, you can kill us but you cant kill us all, we shall not give up, giving up is not an option. who are the real soldiers? the children holding stones or the Army men holding guns?`` (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN. 15559.900, YFR English religious program via Almaty-KAZ relay, always exact minus 100 Hertz frequency on Almaty tx unit. 11-12 UT Sept 12. Boring stuff (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. KOREA D.P.R., 9665.372 kHz, KCBS Pyongyang in Korean language, Kanggye-KRE at 1120 UT Sept 12. S=9+10dB, soldiers chorus, martial men`s chorus song. 3959.015, KCBS Pyongyang in Korean language, Kanggye-KRE site, S=9+15dB at remote SDR unit in Tokyo. Brass band music and martial soldier chorus at 1205 UT Sept 12. 4556.977, Korean National Democratic Front, from Haeju, KNDF relay via PBS, logged at 1210 UT Sept 12, S=8-9 strength. Korean political talk on Pakistan and Africa theme matter. 15179.974, V of Korea, Pyongyang in French, from Kujang-KRE, at 1145 UT Sept 12 S=8. Shrill ladies singer chorus. 6250.268, KCBS Pyongyang in Korean heard at 2130 UT Sept 12. S=9+15dB strength noted in Tokyo remote unit. 11679.832, continuously wandering frequency up to x.846, ... and down again to x.816 kHz. KCBS Pyongyang in Korean language, Kanggye-KRE site, at 2218 UT Sep 12, S=8-9. \\ 6398.736 kHz same program, fluttery at S=9 up to S=9+15dB level. 9974.966, Voice of Korea Pyongyang Kujang, S=9+10dB in Chinese language, \\ 11535.012, S=8-9 at 2208 UT. 13760.026, V of Korea Pyongyang in Spanish from Kujang-KRE, at 2230- 2234 UT Sept 12, S=7-8. \\ 15244.970 kHz. 15244.970, V of Korea Pyongyang in English, from Kujang-KRE, at 1315 UT Sept 15 S=8 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) Do the Juche guys go out of their way to operate off-channel? Seems that by pure chance one of them would land on-channel (gh, DXLD) And tentative harmonic, Voice of Korea Korean service broadcast from Kujang on 14440 (2 x 7220) kHz 0700-0750 UT Sept 14 (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 14/15, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Clandestines? to North Korea --- Both broadcasts heard were right around the time I awoke at 1500 UT and no IDs were heard in the time I listened (5 or 10 minutes total radio time while bandscanning). However the language on both sounded Korean and would not be unreasonable reception for this time of day at my QTH. From my understanding, these two are often jammed, but they were totally in the clear around 1500. So, as listed online, what I believe I heard: 3480 - from S. Korea - Voice of the People -- Very serious sounding announcer and only talk, fair quality with no fading. In fact this was the only station below 5 MHz I heard this morning locally 7590 - from Tashkent, Uzbekistan - N. Korea Reform Radio -- Very good quality with light fading, booming in as a lot of Asian stations do at that time of day here (someone in Anchorage AK who keeps posting anonymously, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Forgot once again to list who I am and where I am, so without further ado, log above received by --- (Daniel -- Anchorage, AK listening in on Grundig Satellit 750 with 40m random wire atop 5 ft. high fence, ibid.) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. 6600 and 6518, Sept 19 at 1239, V. of the People audible with YL in urgent Korean, holding own against noise jamming from the North. Usually, all we hear is the jamming. Same noise on 6348 atop Echo of Hope, and just jamming on 6230 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 11530, Sept 19 at 1342, presumed Kurdish music, very poor with flutter, V. of Mesopotamia beginning to show again, but now using the Mikolayiv, UKRAINE site we cannot expect much improvement to listenable levels here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OTOH: 11530, OPPOSITION, Denge Mezopotamya (Targeting Kurdistan/Iraq) via Ukraine, 1306-1352, Kurdish. Several Kurdish songs followed at 1324 by chanting. More songs at 1331 followed by more chanting at 1345 and then more songs. Good signals. 9/15/11 (Steven Handler, Buffalo Grove IL, Icom IC-7200 and Tecsun PL-660 using wire antennas, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 18 via DXLD) See also C&C: HFCC REPORT 11530, OPPOSITION, Denge Mezopotamia – Mykolaiv, 1339, 9/17/11, in Kurdish. Announcer with a poem. Fair. 9/17/11 (Mark Taylor, Madison, Wisconsin, WinRadio G313e, Eton e1, Satellit 800, Grundig G5, Kaito 1103; Flextenna, EWE, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 18 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT [and non]. 21540, Sept 16 at 1301, RK in Arabic well atop co-channel REE in Spanish; 1302 Kuwait ID, still the same at 1416. I mentioned this collision to REE`s frequency manager Fernando Almarza at HFCC Dallas, and he replied that it had been resolved, but must have been referring to the B-11 season, when Kuwait is optimistically registering 25725 at 0105-1500, 500 kW, 310 degrees to western Europe, apparently in replacement of 21540. That raises my eyebrows, but should be interesting, maybe propagating sometimes with a day path, if they really use it (Glenn Hauser, OK, see C&C: HFCC Report, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15540, Sept 17 at 2050, R. Kuwait poor with English news headlines by YL, so it seems the 1800-2100 broadcast remains in English instead of registered Arabic; but reception is worsening as that block gets further into the night at the origin. Nothing audible on the Arabic to C&W NAm channel 17550, which rivaled 15540 in the summer. [However:] 17550, Sept 18 at 2054, R. Kuwait is audible again in Arabic tnx to SF boost, but splatter from much stronger RHC Arabic on 17560. 15540 English service checked at 2059, usual sign-off imagining they are on 11990, 2100 cut to Arabic news // 17550 until 15540 off at 2105* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 25725, Radio Kuwait in Arabic plans this 11 mb usage in winter season B-11. Registered at 0105-1500 UT towards 310 degrees. {At least the 0100-0600 UT slot will only work on back lobe direction of PAC/AUS/NZL/INS/MLA/SNG/SoEAS target. wb.} (HFCC Sept 15 via Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4795.00, *0000-0010 13.09, Kyrgyz R 1, Krasnaya Rechka, tones before sign on, opening ann in Kyrgyz with low voice modulation, national hymn, 0003 instrumental folkmusic with good modulation, 45333 // 4010 (42332 CW QRM) (Anker Petersen, my latest DX-loggings heard on an AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD): ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4009v, Noted a strong dittering like jamming signal - probably from N Korea? against whom? - but co-channel Kyrgyz Radio One from Bishkek heard underneath approx 4009.974 kHz. 1750 UT Sept 11, tx switch off at 1800 UT. 4009.980 at 0144 UT Sept 15. 4050.085, Radio Rossii schedule from Bishkek tx site one hour extended to 1900 UT. S=5-6 on remote SDR post in Japan. Low modulation. 4050.079 at 0144 UT Sept 15 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** LIBYA. Libya 1251 kHz reactivated. Hello DXers, I have been monitoring 1251 kHz from Libya for the past 3 days. That frequency has been silent for a while, but on 15/9 around 1900 I noticed that it went back on the air once again with a new ID (Shabakat radio wa television Libya, Radio Libya min taraplos el a'sema), the Libyan Radio and TV Network, Radio Libya from Tripoli the capital. First time to hear such ID. but sounds like it's gonna be the official ID from now on. On the other hand, 1053 was really having different programs on the same day, with Libya FM as an ID! but on 16/9 they got back to the normal ID of Radio Libya 96.6, so sounds like that frequency will be having a carrier of FM stations. here's the ID mentioned on 1251. http://soundcloud.com/su1tz/1251-radio-libya More to come. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Sept 18 WORLD OF RADIO 1583, What may be on air now at Tripoli, besides the mediumwave outlets? WRTH 2011 lists besides 96.6 no less than six more FM frequencies. No idea how reliable the sources were, but it appears to be quite likely that there are more than two transmitters. http://www.npr.org/2011/09/12/140400407/arab-spring-blooms-on-libyan-radio This report should not be weight to well, to say the least (to me in general its graceful, sweet, emotional style not really suggests reliable, "hard" journalism -- a typical example of differing Anglo- American and German cultures), but it suggests that one FM transmitter in Tripoli now carries RFI/MCD. It is pretty likely that BBC WS has likewise been put on another frequency, since this has already been done at Benghazi and Misrata. What makes this NPR article most interesting is the first ever glimpse of the studio facilities in Tripoli. What can be recognized are a rather recent Studer console and Neumann TLM 103 mics, at some point installed in earlier built rooms it seems. And what is running on the TFT screen, looks like Dalet to me? And what about TV? No further updates to http://de.kingofsat.net/sat-rascom1r.php so far (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Audio excerpts from the Libyan FM band (still presumably controlled by the old regime, since they all come from the Western part of the country) can be heard on my small collection of distant FM signals received via tropo ducting in the small Sicilian island of Favignana during my holidays there last August: http://soundcloud.com/lawendel/sets/tropo-from-libya/ I don't know how reliable WRTH 2011 can be, but informations assembled by http://www.fmlist.org thanks to extended cooperation among DXers and local monitors usually are. Its LBY section lists all stations I was able to hear and it's much more than six frequencies. 73s (Andy Lawendel, Italy, ibid.) Most WRTH listings concerning FM are selective, not complete, and also the case for MW in some countries, while on SW they do attempt to be exhaustive (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) The NPR report looks muddled to me. Reference to: "There's news from Radio France International. Announcers yell in Italian. A station in Tunisian Arabic can be heard. Shakira is singing in Spanish and English" could in some cases simply mean that the reporter was hearing FM stations from Tunisia and Italy (good long-distance tropospheric FM reception is common in the Mediterranean) rather than anything from within Libya. I also query the next sentence: "In the past, the government jammed all these broadcasts." Yes, in the past the Gaddafi government did jam some SW broadcasts. But in the recent crisis I was not aware of any confirmed jamming, apart from that aimed at the so-called psyop transmissions (and some satellite jamming). The reference to Al-Libiyah radio is intriguing. This was an FM station set up in recent years by Gaddafi's son Sayf-al-Islam and was a separate station to the "Great Jamahiriya Radio" we used to hear on MW (and, in former years, on SW). There was also an Al-Libiyah TV, also run separately to the main state TV channel. If the article is to be believed, the new Radio Libya may be coming from the studios of the former Al-Libiyah FM. That could explain why - as Kai points out - the studio looks more modern than one might expect (Chris Greenway, Caversham, England, 1634 UT Sept 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This story does not quite add up. The Gadhafi regime jammed all foreign station audible in Libya? Unlikely. And what "airwaves" are "filled with broadcasts from across the Mediterranean"? If it's the FM band, the broadcasts are for the most part from within Libya. RFI already has an FM station in Banghazi, on 105.5 MHz. BBC World Service also has FM relays in the country. The Radio Sawa frequency list does not show any FM outlets in Libya (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non?]. NATO/USAF PSYOPS Call for Duty 19 September 2011 on 10404 --- PSYOPS message to the Libyan Air Force and Seaport authorities, all support staff turn up for work. This message was broadcasted on 10404.0 kHz in clear text by USAF Command Solo EC-130J tail nr 98-1932 on September 19th 2011 at 13:00 UTC to the Libyan people. http://audioboo.fm/boos/474856-nato-usaf-psyops-call-for-duty-19-september-2011 Thanks to Jonathan Marks on Facebook for the link (Mike Barraclough, Sept 18, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Same:] 10404.00 kHz USB, 1430 UT, have cut some of the Arabic http://www.box.net/shared/6ln79m39u6n1gobbi1cf (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, Sept 18, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA [and non]. 5940, at 1926, VOIRI via Sitikuni relay closing in French, then theme orchestral till English opens at 1927, fair // Iranian transmitters on 6205 vgd, 9780 good, 5900 & 7215 both mixed (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, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** MACEDONIA. 2430, 9.9 2020, Radio Skopje, 3rd harmonic of the (810 khz) External service (Giampaolo Galassi, Savignano, Italy, SW Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) Thus Macedonia could be a ``SWBC Country`` ** MADAGASCAR. 4910, R. Madagasikara. Notice Aoki now lists this frequency; ex-5010 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Sept 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, Radio Madagasikara, 0235-0255, back on this frequency, ex-4910. Carrier + USB. Malagasy talk. African choral music. Afro-pop music. Weak. Poor in noisy conditions at tune-in. Improved to a fair level by 0245. Sept 17 (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX Listening Digest) Hi Brian, Indeed they are again broadcasting on 5010. Heard Sept 17 from 1410 to 1454. Moderate QRM from AIR; sounded like regular AM (both sidebands heard), but would like to confirm that when there is less QRM so I can be sure. Was interested to hear a fair signal on 4910, with just an open carrier. Also Madagascar? Needs more monitoring. Thanks for reporting the change! (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Everyone, AIR 5010 coming in nicely this pm 1740 UT with English news; after sign off at 1745 what I can only presume to be Madagascar back on usual frequency AIR http://www.box.net/shared/4sil1iamxlo6t2dj3fxy Madagascar (Pres) http://www.box.net/shared/qoad19vakvcab3fy9ehf (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, Sept 17, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MADAGÁSCAR: 5010 usb, R. Madagasikara, Ambohidrano, 1751-1827, 17/9, Malagasy, radioplay, a few announcements (presumed) at 1800, then music; 35343. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5010, Radio Madagasikara, 0231-0250, carrier + USB. tune-in to IS and choral National Anthem at 0231. African choral music. Malagasy talk. Weak. Poor in noisy conditions. Sept 18 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** MADAGASCAR [and non]. Had a nice conversation with Kevin Chambers, Director of Engineering at World Christian Broadcasting. Target for Madagascar World Voice to start up is now toward the end of the B-11 season. A test schedule has been registered effective as early as 1 February 2012. But we saw the transmitters still in the Continental factory. They are almost complete but obviously have not been shipped yet. Antennas are as wind-resistant as they can afford to build them, but cyclones periodically hit the area, even on the NW coast of the island, and are bound to batter the station at some point. He says sometimes the storms head up the Mozambique channel, sometimes loop around from the north. As for KNLS Alaska, they continue to have problems getting needed parts for one of the old transmitters, but still hope to have the second one back on the air during the B-11 season. Kevin agreed that they need to watch out for unregistered Taiwan/China jamming on KNLS frequencies. He does rely on a few reception reports from dentro- China. They expect to reach southern China better from Madagascar than they can now from the other side via Alaska, and are also looking forward to serving Latin America from Madagascar, altho propagation predictions are not too favorable. I told him that the other Madagascar station, the RNW relay, enjoys good reception even here regardless of the azimuth, as we are close to antipodal, so MWV should also do well. Did not seem to think that the RNW facilities, soon up for grabs, would have been suitable for WCB needs [See also C&C: HFCC REPORT]. WCB is already broadcasting in Spanish via WRMI; WCB operates out of Nashville to its very remote SW site(s), and they invited me to visit should I be in TN (Glenn Hauser at HFCC Dallas, Sept 15, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MADAGASCAR WORLD VOICE: http://www.worldchristian.org/Updates/LatestNews/updates.php see powerpoint presentation http://www.worldchristian.org/WCBC4MinutePresentation/TheWorldIsWaiting_4MinuteSlildeShow2010.pps http://www.worldchristian.org/WCBC4MinutePresentation/TheWorldIsWaiting.wmv (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New religious Madagascar station MWV registered test schedule from February 1st, 2012, of WCBC organisation at Mahajanga, Madagascar 3 x 100 kW shortwave transmitter, 3 curtain antennas on 4 masts, at 265/325/025 degrees azimuth. somewhere close to location 15 43 00.00 S, 46 25 60.00 E 7355 0600-0630 53,52,57 MWV 100 265 MDG WCB 9565 0630-0700 53,52,57 MWV 100 265 MDG WCB 9565 0800-0830 53,48,47,38,37,28 MWV 100 325 MDG WCB 9585 1030-1100 39,40,41,42,31,32 MWV 100 025 MDG WCB 11870 0700-0730 53,52,57 MWV 100 265 MDG WCB 11870 0830-0900 53,48,47,38,37,28 MWV 100 325 MDG WCB 11870 1100-1130 39,40,41,42,31,32 MWV 100 025 MDG WCB 13630 0900-0930 53,48,47,38,37,28 MWV 100 325 MDG WCB 13635 0730-0800 53,52,57 MWV 100 265 MDG WCB 13650 1130-1200 39,40,41,42,31,32 MWV 100 025 MDG WCB 15660 0930-1000 53,48,47,38,37,28 MWV 100 325 MDG WCB 15660 1200-1230 39,40,41,42,31,32 MWV 100 025 MDG WCB 17660 1000-1030 53,48,47,38,37,28 MWV 100 325 MDG WCB 17660 1230-1300 39,40,41,42,31,32 MWV 100 025 MDG WCB (HFCC via Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX via DXLD) See also HFCC Report ** MADEIRA. 1530. PEF, Poiso (near Chão dos Balcões), 1101-1228, 18/9, advertisements, station jingle prior to news from RFM at 1103,..., music; 45454. The old Harris valve tx still seems to be in a good shape. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. This year’s Malaysia Day (Independence Day), was disappointing on September 16. 5964.6v, Klasik Nasional, at times off the air (1145) or with just open carrier; by 1332 did have audio, with a speech in vernacular followed by on air phone calls. 6050.02v, Asyik FM with no special programming. 7295, Traxx FM off the air 1134 and subsequently. 9835, Sarawak FM at 1018 noted with just an open carrier, whereas earlier I had heard clear audio; by 1145 was off the air and still off at 1218, so no special programming in any language heard this year. (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 7245, Sept 14 at 0421 check, IGIM is not on the air, no carrier between the 7240 and 7250 stations. 7245 on at next check 50 hours later, Sept 16 at 0628, while Guinea was not on 7125 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7245, ORTM, *0601-0610, abrupt sign on with Qur`an. Good. Strong. Sept 17. 7245, ORTM, *0607-0615, abrupt sign on with Qur`an. Good. Strong. Sept 18 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) MAURITÂNIA, 7245, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 1100-1203, 19/9, Arabic, news,..., news again at noon; 35443. Still remains their sole HF outlet, parallel to 783 (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7245, Sept 21 at 0607, IGIM good signal with soporific wake-up chanting; had not been on at earlier check around 0550 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Sunrise MW DX Sept 18: 620, Sept 18 at 1205, orchestral NA ends and XEBU sign-on from Chihuahua. Per Cantú: 620 XEBU La Norteñita Chihuahua, Chih. 5,000 1,000 730, Sept 18 at 1209, XEHB ID with 50,000 watts from Parral, also street address by super-hype locutor. Cantú: 730 XEHB Radio Viva Villa Hidalgo del Parral, Chih. 50,000 1,000 760, Sept 18 at 1210, martial tune, maybe an unknown state song, 1213 lo-key sign-on sounds like XENG, then announcer plugs the saint for tomorrow; 1215 `Domingo [illegible] del Recuerdo` show. Closest match fonetically in Cantú is: 760 XENY Radio Geny Nogales, Son. 5,000 100 Tried to check the website linked from Fred`s by-state page, http://www.xenygenial.com/pagina/index.php but it`s ``temporarily unavailable, cannot link to server`` At least we know the derivation of the callsign Sunrise MWDX Sept 19, our LSR now 1217 UT: 970, at 1221 UT Sept 19, avoiding splat from local KGWA 960 by nulling it and sidetuning to 972: YL DJ affirms date is 19 de septiembre, slogan ``La Mejor, 9-70``, but that`s all I got. Oh oh, Cantú shows two named that on 970: 970 XEMF La Mejor Monclova, Coah. 1,000 500 970 XEEZ La Mejor Caborca, Son. 5,000 250 But at this late hour I would certainly lean toward the latter altho it`s a bit further. 990, at 1159 UT Sept 19, NA until 1202 a passionate speech, apparently a soldier`s creed of loyalty to the flag; 1205 finally ID as XEER, ``Estéreo Romance 990 AM, 5000 vatios, desde nuevos estudios en [street address], Ciudad Cuauhtémoc, Chihuahua, una emisora más del Grupo BN [? or fonetically similar] Radio``; 1206 live DJ takes over. Yes, an AM station has `Stereo` in its very name, so is it C-Quam or mere hype? In his Chihua2 sexion, Cantú has a streaming link, but no logo or website and gives its slogan instead as ``Radio Familia``; but in his by-frequency listing, yet a third slogan! --- 990 XEER Radio Lobo Cd. Cuauhtémoc, Chih. 5,000 250 Truly a station in flux, or with multiple personalities. 1030, at 1208 UT Sept 19, Telefórmula opening with plug for its multiple platforms, including specific satellite channel numbers on Sky, Dish from Florida to Washington State [but how about Maine?], cable system channels in Mexico and US. Obviously this is a TV soundtrack. Per Cantú once again the only Radio Fórmula on 1030 is: 1030 XEYC Radio Fórmula Cd. Juárez, Chih. 5,000 500 1030, at 1223 UT Sept 19, giving phone numbers ``aquí en la cabina``, including 3-34-10-30, also mentioned ``aquí en Baja California``, plus website .info and hotmail address I could not copy. So it`s surely: 1030 XESDD La Tremenda Tijuana, B.C. 5,000 5,000 Strangely, Kirk Allen in Ponca City OK, who also chases Mexican MW DX, says he heard XESDD Sept 16 at 1140-1200 on *920*, altho IDing as "XESDD, La Tremenda en 10-30 AM." There were no mentions of 9-20. He has it as a reactivation from Ensenada, with many local mentions, but Cantú and WRTH do not show any BC stations on 920, the closest ones being in Sonora and Sinaloa; a relay? NRC AM Log shows three Alta Californians on 920, none near the border. One suspects the SDD call alludes to San Diego. I can`t get a google match on the phone number, maybe miscopied, but do find this rudimentary website which autolaunches audio: http://www.latremenda1030am.com/ Sunrise DX September 20: woke too late for the 1200 NAs. 1040, Sept 20 at 1223, singing ID as Radio Vida, 90.1. No, they must have sung ``Radio Visa``, as per Cantú link to the station: http://radiovisa.com.mx/guaymas/ 1040 XEGYS La Primera + FM 90.1 Guaymas, Son. 5,000 250 Sunrise MW DX Sept 21: 540, Sept 21 at 1158 UT, ``radio noticias`` and ``14 grados en la capital potosina`` so XEWA: 540 XEWA W Radio + FM 103.9 San Luis Potosi, S.L.P. 150,000 150,000 550, Sept 21 at 1203 UT, after NA, ``XEPL, La Súper Estación, 5000 watts, Cuauhtémoc, 24 horas`` all mentioned, so: 550 XEPL La Super Estación Cd. Cuauhtémoc, Chih. 5,000 150 580, Sept 21 at 1157 UT, birthday greeting to someone ``allá en Unión, Coahuila``, and it`s now 22 degrees. Untimed SAH of approx 2 Hz with WIBW. I don`t find a plain Unión, but there is a Villa Unión between Piedras Negras and Sabinas, so per Cantú: 580 XEMU La Rancherita del Aire Piedras Negras, Coah. 5,000 2,500 720, Sept 21 at 1159 UT, phone numbers 4-33-01 y 4-33-02, but only partial ID as ``7-20``. No hits on phones, but likely this: 720 XEJCC Extremo 7-20 Cd. Juárez, Chih. 1,000 1,0000 [sic] 880, Sept 21 at 1208 UT, promo for an afternoon program on a frequency in the 1500s, so apparently a sibling station? mentioned Fórmula, so presumably XEV in Chihuahua, but there are no 1500s in that city: 880 XEV Radio Fórmula Chihuahua, Chih. 5,000 250 900, Sept 21 at 1217 UT, Radio Vida ID, 6:17 timecheck. Cantú has no 900s with that name, but the only one from probable target area is: 900 XEDT La Reina Cd. Cuauhtemoc, Chih. 5,000 1,500 and its website http://www.lareina900.com/ still calls it La Reina. Could it be a US station in MDT zone? There aren`t any in TX, NM, AZ, CO, UT 1030, Sept 21 at 1226 UT, ``aquí en Baja California``, announcer greeting people in lots of cities including Ensenada, San Quintín, Tecate, Tijuana, refers to BC as ``Estado 29`` --- its admission number? 1229 `Noticiero La Tremenda``, so: 1030 XESDD La Tremenda Tijuana, B.C. 5,000 5,000 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XESDD Active Again on 920 --- Hi Glenn, This morning held a nice DX surprise here. This station has reportedly been inactive on 920 for 2 or 3 years, but this morning's reception proved that to be no longer the case. Logged this on the E-100 Slider plus my cheater Select-a-Tenna. 920, XESDD, Ensenada, BCN, 1140 UT, 9/16/11, mostly all talk with a few very brief musical interludes. A full ID was heard at 1200, "XESDD, La Tremenda en 10-30 AM." There were no mentions of 9-20. They're also now using a slogan that I think might be new, "La Voz de la Noche, la Súper Estación." Local ads with many mentions of Baja California and Ensenada. Right now in Oklahoma, the XE stations are peaking very close to 1200 which is fun; it sure increases the chances of hearing IDs. (LAm station #172 heard on ultralight radios) A few more fun DX catches received here recently: 1010, UNID XE, 1120 UT, 9/16/11, heard an ID that was either XEXN (Sonora) or XEFM (Veracruz). I couldn't tell which it was. Something to check again asap. 610, XEGS, Guasave, Sinaloa, 1152-1215 UT, 9/14/11, tuned in to a VG signal carrying bandera music with tubas running out your ears, ha ha. Excellent copy of a full ID at the TOH including the station's telephone number. Lots of "La G-S" mentions were heard. Long local ad string then all talk after 1200. A weaker XE was heard under this one with mentions of "Grupo Fórmula", so that might be another new one here. There's a XEJA in Veracruz listed here that is affiliated with the Fórmula net. 830, XEVQ, Culiacán, Sinaloa, 1208 UT, 9/14/11, a booming signal at first with clear local ads and ID as "La Grande" and "La Grande de Sinaloa." 830, XETLX, Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca, 1215 UT, 9/14/11, this one slowly melded into XEVQ and them dominated till a rapid fade out began circa 1220 UT. Mostly all talk. Clear call letter ID by a W and M also mentioning "La Poderosa". 920, XEVV, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Chiapas, 0800-0830+, 9/12/11, Listened on and off to these guys for well over 30 minutes, and I must say they're not too stingy with their IDs. This one was using "Radio Fórmula" IDs as well as "La Poderosa." Heard almost every morning since this original logging. 73 from PC, (Kirk Allen, Ponca City OK, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 560, MÉXICO, XEXZ, Ke Buena, Zacatecas, Zacatecas. 1118 September 19, 2011. End of Mexi-tune, "¡Ke Buena!" by male, mention of México, back to Mexi-tunes. Slowly overtaken by Miami sports talk WQAM, and gone by 1132. 700, MÉXICO, XERV (XHRVI "Yo Radio" simulcast), Villahermosa, Tabasco. 1058 September 11, 2011. Tune-in to Spanish CHR format vocals, 1103 male canned ID, "XHRVI, 106.3 FM... México... Yo FM" and back to vocal. XERV calls were probably in there too, but not caught. Female, "Yo FM, Yo FM" at 1106. Very good and alone on the channel, until XEVC came up at 1111, then poor underneath. Listed as 2500/500 watts. Fred Cantú's online list confirms "Yo" is simulcast here. No anthem at 1100, so I wondered if it's not a requirement on FM. I posed the question to Fred. His response: "It varies by station. Some 24-hour stations broadcast the national anthem at 5:00 a.m. or 6:00 a.m. local time [whichever] they consider the start of their broadcast day." And later: "Oh, some will broadcast the anthem at midnight if they consider that the start of their broadcast day." So, apparently 6 a.m. local is not set in stone, though obviously the most common time. 700, MÉXICO, XEVC, Córdoba, Veracruz. 1111 September 11, 2011. Possibly signing on or coinciding with power bump-up, as no trace of until the vocal anthem began at 1111, followed by male XEVC ID (no listed "Ke Buena" slogan noted) and immediately into the Veracruz state anthem, followed by another XEVC ID and into Mexi-tunes. Fairly good, over XERV until both faded out by 1125. The only Veracruz station on 700 per Fred Cantú's online list. Listed as 2500/1000 watts. 780, MÉXICO, unidentified. 1103 September 18, 2011. Choral anthem poking though but nothing else (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Abridged pile of junk: JRC NRD-535; ICOM IC-R75; Hammarlund HQ-180A; Aqua Guide 705 Radio Direction Finder; Sangean PR-D5; Sony ICF-7600GR; GE SuperRadio III; RadioShack DX-399; 1 X roof dipole; 1 X in-room random wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 810, MÉXICO, XEMQ, Mérida, Yucatán. 1729 September 16, 2011. Spanish ballads, definite Spanish announcer, co-channel ZNS3, Freeport, Grand Bahama. Both very poor. No ID, and currently listed as W Radio or FM 90.9 on Fred Cantú's website, which would at least match no longer being in indigenous Mayan dialects/Spanish Radio Yóol Iik, when last logged as such mid-day up the coast at Ft. DeSoto a couple of years ago. México and the Bahamas on the same channel mid-day: it doesn't get much better than this. [MANA] (Terry L Krueger, FL, Logs appended [MANA] were made at Manasota Key, Florida with Paul V Zecchino and Gerry Bishop during early local afternoon, using Paul's vintage Benmar RDF, and Sony ICF-2010 coupled to a RadioShack non-active portable loop with lazy susan, and morally supported by a small iguana that I spotted, crawling down a cabbage palm and on to the sand where he watched us for a few minutes! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA. 4755.44, Pohnpei, The Cross, 0805 on 13 September, 1000 other days [Wilkner + XM ] (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. Harmonic, tentative 14520 kHz of Mongolian Radio Ulan Bataar 2 x 7260 kHz, at 0718 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 14/15, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. 595, SNRT-"A", Oujda, Arabic, talks; off channel again; 54444, adj. QRM only. 711.1, SNRT-"R", El Aiún, 0929-1207, 19/9, Arabic, talks,..., parallel to "A" network at 1200; 45353, but weak modulation. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. MOROCCO/AUSTRALIA, 15341.138, SNRT RTV Marocaine Nador, Morocco, S=7 only, and hit heavily by 148 Hertz interference tone - of much stronger HCA Kununurra odd-15339.990 kHz in Hindi, at 1340 UT Sept 15, ID by lady at 1343 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** MOZAMBIQUE. Emissor Provincial de Nampula. 765 Nampula, // 738 E. Nacional, 810 E.P.Gaza, 873 Del. de Beira, 1008 E.I. Maputo e Gaza, 1179 E.P. Zambézia, 1206 E. Nacional, 1224 E.P. de Cabo Delgado. Sept 16, 2011. Friday. 1851-1910. Portuguese, live sports (football ?) commentary. Commentators are very excited and keep shouting "Moçambique" in synch with the crowd's applause, so presumably Mozambique is winning. Must be an important match; it seems there is nothing else on any MW radio station in Mozambique tonight. (Later: According to BBC WS sports news on 3255 there is an international basketball match taking place at the 10th All Africa Games in Maputo. I don't know if that's what I was hearing, it sounded more like a football crowd. I didn't even know these games were happening, the media here in South Africa is so pre-occupied with the rugby in New Zealand and whether the Springboks will win against Fiji on Saturday). A quick Google search surprised me; it seems Mozambique is internationally famous in basketball circles. Who would have thought it? Just goes to show, there's always something new to learn c/o shortwave or, in this case, MW. Good reception of Nampula; I don't usually get Nampula, haven't logged it since March 2011. Interesting that just before receiving Nampula I picked up Blantyre (Malawi) on 756 kHz, also much better than usual (see Malawi log). All the other Mozambique //'s listed above are routine here, albeit with variable reception quality. Jo'burg sunset 1602 (Bill Bingham, RSA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 7185.66v, Myanma Radio 1100 to 1120, tnx Victor G, several mornings (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Date? 7185.84, Myanma Radio, back here again after being on 7200.05 for less than a week; Sept 13 at 1014 and 1106. Sept 14 running well past their semi-regular 1220*, with a sign off today at 1300. 7200.05, Myanma Radio, still here on Sept 12 at 1125. 9730.81, Myanma Radio, 0941-1000*, Sept 13. Has been a while since I last checked on this frequency; weak but slowly improving; in vernacular with EZL pop songs (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. NO EVIDENCE OF CRIMINAL INVOLVEMENT IN MAST FIRE The remains of the Hoogersmilde mast. Photo © ANP The police announced today that they have found no evidence of culpable crimes in connection with the fire that destroyed the transmitting mast at Hoogersmilde in Drenthe on 15 July. The police investigation is now closed. However, the technical investigation is continuing, as the exact cause of the fire that resulted in the collapse of the 200 metre high mast has still not been identified. Meanwhile, a report into the cause of the fire at the Lopik transmitter site is due tomorrow. The municipality of IJsselstein had given tower owner Alticom until 21 September to produce the report, otherwise it had threatened to fine Alticom. However, the municipality said yesterday that Alticom had reacted positively and that fire prevention measures have been taken and temperature sensors placed in the tower. The municipality is therefore satisfied that the safety of nearby residents is guaranteed. (Sources: ANP/Radiofreak.nl)(September 20th, 2011 - 11:57 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9650, 1300, PHILIPPINES. RNW via Tinang. Poor in Dutch. Mixed CRI via Sackville - 19/8 (Ian Cattermole, Blenheim, New Zealand, JRC NRD-535, ICOM IC-746Pro. Antenna EWE, T2FD, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) See! A collision not just in OK (gh, OK, DXLD) Radio Nederland on 10000 and 14040 kHz --- Dear Friends, Yesterday 15 Sept 2011 from tune in around 1400 UT I heard clear signals of Radio Nederland English on exactly 10.000 MHz. It was parallel to 9800 kHz. Also at the same time a mix up signal (?) of Radio Nederland English and Deutsche Welle in unidentified language was heard on 14040 Amateur Band. 10000 kHz & 14040 were gone by 1530. -- Thanking you, Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 50082, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9800 is RNW via Trincomalee, SRI LANKA, quite near to you. Another Trinco transmission carrying DW at 1400 in Pashto is on 13840. Both of these are exactly 200 kHz below the frequencies you heard. So perhaps Trinco transmitters have become subject to putting out +200 kHz spurs? 9800 is on a 345 degree antenna; 13840 on another 345 antenna slewed - 10 degrees to 335. I don`t see how these could be simply mixing products of the usual sort (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Glenn, Many thanks for info. It was observed only once by me. May be it was a one day problem. Thanks for clearing the mystery. 73 (Jose Jacob, ibid.) ** NIGER. 9705, La Voix du Sahel, 2235 lively Afro music, then M in French taking phone call with mentions of FM, internationale, Abidjan, and back to music. Another brief call at 2240 with ment of Congolaise. Another song and tried unsuccessfully to take another call at 2243. Great Hi-life music. Brief deadair at 2249 and more music. Immediately into Koran at 2254 to 2257. 2258 closing by M ending with "Au revoir", flute IS they've used for decades, then choral NA by children until blasted out by adjacent station at 2300. Good and clear at tune/in but fading. (8 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, NRD-535D and Perseus, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) 9704.989, Surprisingly odd frequency, ORTN Voix du Sahel, Niamey, in French 0550 UT Sept 13, S=8-9 signal. Another weak signal S=4-5 of an ERI/ETH station and HoA music noted underneath on nearly exact 9705.0 kHz. In the past ERI/ETH HoA were on odd frequency 9704v contrarily (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) 9704.99, LV du Sahel, 2235-2257*, variety of Euro-pop, Afro-pop and Reggae style music. French announcements. Indigenous vocals. Flute IS and National Anthem at 2255. Six second test tone and off at 2257. Fair. Irregular. Sept 14. Also heard Sept 15 signing off at 2259. Sept 15 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) NÍGER, 9704, La Voix du Sahel, Goudel, 2145-2207, 15/9, French, tribal songs & modern music, then prgr Musique sans Frontières at 2201; 55433. 9705 ditto, 1259-1440, 16/9, French, obituary,..., tks in Vernacular at 1420; 25442. (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So was it really 1 kHz off again at the first log? (gh, DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 15120, at 0622, Voice of Nigeria, Lagos strong in English with sports news over co-channel Chinese. Transmitter has annoying hum – 28/8 (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, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) 15120, Sept 16 at 0614, VON English with YL news about fighting in Sudan, peaking S9+12, with hum, but no CCCCI audible [Chinese co- channel interference, a.k.a. 401] 15120, Sept 21 at 0546, this time VON is the SSOB, unusually better than weakened Australia on 15160, 15240. But that`s not saying much, fading S5 to S9+8 peaks. Usual hum and distortion and from echoey venue, then much better copy from studio announcer in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. AM & FM monitoring on the road to and from Dallas: See C&C: HFCC REPORT about KROU, KGOU, KOSU, KCSC, KLCU ** OKLAHOMA. 780, Sept 19 at 1232 UT, KSPI Stillwater, dead air with occasional glitchy noises; earlier in the hour the audio was cutting off and on. This station is really a mess, can`t even operate normally with its 250 watts, also longstanding spurs on 776 and 784 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 1020, semilocal KOKP, Perry OK, normally blox anything else, but Sept 17 at 1250 UT I found KOKP had relented by ceasing to modulate, unlike its sister station 1580 KOKB Blackwell, which was sports-talking as usual, tho last year had extensive hours/days of dead air itself. When nulled, this allowed me to detect a weak signal with Mexican music. Rather than referring to Cantú for a genuine XE, at this late hour I suspect KCKN Roswell NM, which per 2011 NRC AM Log besides C&W and religion has ``some Spanish programs``. Let`s take a look at their program schedule, at http://kckn1020.com/ --- what program schedule? I don`t see any sign of one, and everything is in English leading you to believe it`s nothin` but kickin` country! (During the following hour, 7-8 am Saturdays, is `Red Steagall`s Cowboy Corner`, linked to http://www.cowboycorner.com/ --- I remember reporting that months ago on another affiliate.) So how about it, Jerry, do you have Mexican music on the air Saturdays before 7 am MDT? There is no [old] Mexican north or west of this unlikely one in Cantú: 1020 XEPIC Radio Hits Tepic, Nay. 1,000 1,000 FCC AM Query shows Official Sunrise for KCKN during September is 1245 UT, (October: 1300), so KCKN would have just switched from DA-night pattern to DA-day, both 50 kW. Day pattern is quite unfavorable for us, with big nulls to the NE & SW, major lobes to the NW and SE, but night pattern has an even deeper null toward KDKA, as if they cared anymore with KOKP et al. in between (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. While parked in a store lot near West O.K. Garriott & Cleveland in western Enid, I performed FM and AM bandscans between 1920 and 1930 UT September 19. Of note, mostly on the local scene: 87.9, open carrier [quieting] at first, no doubt some other car`s unused RF feeder, gone at 1929 recheck. (OK, not really of note) 92.1, open carrier and hum from KAMG-LP Enid. This has been the case more often that not for at least the past week. Station seems to have been abandoned by whoever bought it from its once enthusiastic latino preacher-founder 93.3, big distorted hum spreading to adjacent channels, bit of C&W music audible. This is the translator K227AT of KIMY 93.9 Watonga, and just the latest of SNAFUs affecting it. Another one without adequate supervision. Who cares? 97.7, ``WECS`` at Emmanuel Christian School, just a block away, definitely off the air, as it has been since July or August. This is the Part 15 which used to feature kids doing a rote loop of birthday greetings, day in history, Bible verses, altho when last heard an adult teacher was wrapping up the school year and anticipating the next one. We can still see its presumed vertical antenna atop the Baptist kilo-church [bigger than average, but less than a mega- church]. I wanted to scan entire band from in-range in case it had moved; unfound 99.9, GCN Pirate in S Enid is still missing, nor found on any other frequency either 530, robotic YL weather presumably NWS relayed by KTA [Kansas Turnpike Authority] in S Kansas [nearest spot of multiple outlets: South Haven], very weak but monitoring in low-noise pocket; and with SAH from another HAR/TIS 1050, lo het dominated by music: KKRX Lawton OK is still off-frequency vs KGTO Tulsa 1120, KEOR Catoosa is still silent as it has been for many months now 1640, local KFXY which I last reported as undermodulated, is now back up to full modulation and adjacent splash. Whee! BTW, it does put a local-like signal into OKC daytime, tnx to 10 kW direxional figure-8 1670, Talking House JBA at this location, no doubt the same one in NW Enid as heard for months since the owner and realtor forget about it, wasting milliwatts, not enough to feed hungry Cubans (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15355, R. Sultanate of Oman (as per ID), 0302 on 09/17. World news in English by W in progress. ID at 0305. News end at 0308; musical bridge; headlines with music to 0310; extract of military march, then modern music followed by African song by female performer. At 0319, weaker signal, M noted in English, then instrumental music 0320. At 0334 recheck signal had completely faded out (Victor C. Jaar, Longueuil QC, ICOM-R75, long-wire antenna, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 18 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA [non]. NBC Buka vs. RRI Palangkaraya on 3325: see INDONESIA (WORLD OF RADIO 1583) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Friday, Sept 16 PNG will celebrate their Independence Day. Look for special programming, as was noted today. Sept 14 highlights from 0948 to 1238. Unique propagation today favoring some stations, but harming others. NBC Sandaun on 3205. 1006 news in English; weather; // 3275 till 1011. From 1013 to 1043 special speech in English about PNG education that was critical of the government; very readable; “Let’s go back to the drawing board”, “Too many people illiterate”, “Education is the only way to escape from poverty”, etc.; 1043-1101 in Tok Pisin with schedule of events for “Cultural Day”; NBC Sandaun phone numbers given; 1101 birdcall and news in Tok Pisin. At 1114 detailed schedule of events for “celebration of Independence Day” and list of dignitaries attending; well above normal reception. NBC Milne Bay on 3365 was below threshold level; unusual for them. NBC East New Britain on 3385; fair till 1224*. NBC New Ireland on 3905 was off the air. Radio Fly on 5960 at 1154 was mentioning “special programming tomorrow morning” regarding Independence Day. Independence Day on Sept 16 was well covered, unlike Malaysia. Highlights from 0958 to 1337. 3205, NBC Sandaun, 0958 with Independence Day speech in English; “A nation that plays together, stays together”; 1001 NBC National News and weather in English (// 3275 and 3385); island pop songs; 1018 interview in Tok Pisin; tuned out 1216. BTW – off the air Sept 19. 3385, NBC East New Britain, 1105 had no National News today; many announcements for “Special Independence Day Program”; all in Tok Pisin. 5960, R. Fly. This was not one of their better days; 1054 the normal coverage by two Australian sports announcers of the Warriors vs. Tigers rugby match (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5960, Radio Fly 1040 to 1100 with fair to good signal number of mornings Fades up 14 and 15 September [Wilkner] (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Radio Fly - staff turnover === Hello, all - James Kaltobie at Radio Fly has informed me that he is no longer with the radio station, although he still has the e-mail address at Ok-Tedi and I believe he still has a position there. He says that future correspondence on Radio Fly may be directed to Francis Tekei and Winnie Monouluk at their e-mails and Sad to see so many good people in radio come and go. Best of fortune James, and welcome Francis and Winnie! 73, (Bruce Jensen, California, USA, Sept 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yep, all the best to James. Hopefully he has posted the bunch of Fly-QSLs he was talking about several weeks ago. Nothing yet arrived here (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) Status of R. Fly QSL cards - Mine was postmarked back on July 11 and I received it on the 28th. Per Aug 7 generic email from James Kaltobie to the other folks that had sent in reception reports: “As of this email you should be expecting a card in the next one or two weeks.” That was over five weeks ago. Looks as if that mailing has been seriously delayed (cancelled?) by his change of position within Ok Tedi Mining Limited, as reported by Bruce Jensen in dxldyg. Guess the only course of action left is for people to continue to keep emailing Francis Tekei and Winnie Monouluk with requests for their QSL card. I do know the station had 300 cards printed and had received a little over 40 reception reports. So far I have not seen any other report, other than mine, that a R. Fly QSL card has been received. A sad state of affairs for all the listeners around the world anxiously waiting for this unique card (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. HCJB press release about Wantok Radio Light does not even mention it as a SW station, just adding more FM --- might as well just turn off 7325 if they are going to ignore it themselves: http://www.hcjb.org/HCJB-Global-News/15000-text-messages-per-month-sent-to-partner-network-in-papua-new-guinea.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7324.952, Wantok Radio Light, from Port Moresby, noted with Gospel Song Hour program via remote SDR unit in Japan. Operated by Life R Ministries and HCJB. Scheduled English/Tok Pisin/Motu, NBC news in English: 2200-2210, 0330-0400, and 0900-0910 UT, according dswci DomBcingSurvey file. S=6 signal strength, heavily hit on adjacent channels by 7320 R Rossii [Magadan] Arman Radujnyi relay S=9+25dB, and CRI Portuguese on 7335 kHz S=9+30dB powerhouse from Jinhua-Youbu 500 kW (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 11, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) 7325, Wantok Radio Light, 0908-0915, 17-September-2011, English. Male announcer with religious talk, poor reception (Ed Wlodarski, N2ED, New Jersey, Ten Tec RX340 & 100 Ft Long Wire, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 18 via DXLD) ** PERU. TAKING THE DX INITIATIVE --- Way back in 1959, TONY KING heard a test transmission from Radio Juliaca, Juliaca, Perú on 5015, reported it and Keith Glover subsequently highlighted the arrival of this new station in his Mailbag programme on Radio Australia. This was the era of the reel to reel recorder and Tony taped the test. The test included the address of the station so he sent off a report. He never heard from the station, but had the tape translated by a DX friend in Chile. In an idle hour last month, Tony took to Google, typed in Radio Juliaca, and found their site --- to discover on their history page that they opened in 1959, and their 52nd birthday was coming up very shortly. Tony sent Radio Juliaca a 2-minute soundbyte of that 1959 transmission with its station calls and address and the uncharacteristic music that was played, including “Tavern in the Town” and the “Can Can Polka”. (It would be amazing to get a QSL response after 59 years, Tony! Members [ONLY!] can check out the old recording for themselves in the Files section in the League’s Yahoo Newsgroup dxdialog (Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** PERU. 3360, at 0905, Radio JPJ, new station fair steady 28/8 with Latin vocals past 0943. Occasional promotional announcements but no clear ident heard. Also noted 31/8 at 0746. Power increase likely as I’ve previously only detected a carrier in our evenings (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, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** PERU. 3329.512, Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco, 1030 to 1040, long talk by om: yl and om to 1041, CHU not heard, 12 September [Wilkner] 3360 Peru, carrier here 0900 to 1100 on some days, excellent log by Dave Valko of this, never heard it well here [Wilkner] 5039.24, Radio Libertad, Junín, 1010 to 1040 música linda de Perú, announcer with time, 10, 12, 16 September [Wilkner] 5120.38 tentative, Ondas del Suroriente, Quillabamba 0053 noted 12 September [Wilkner] 5459.973, Radio Bolívar, Cd. Bolívar, 0010 noted with music 13 September [Wilkner] 6173.9, Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cusco, 1000 on with ID, 16 September, noted by several South Florida dxers 16 September [Wilkner] also noted 0000 on 13 September rlcw (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** PERU. 5039.20, R. Libertad de Junín OC and Campo music starting at 1022. Nice Huayno at 1029. Full canned ID by M at 1031:10. (10 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, NRD-535D and Perseus, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) ** PERU. 6047.05v, R. Santa Rosa (presumed), 1147, Sept 14. Repeating of a Catholic rosary; too weak to ID; rather a low frequency for them as last heard on .15 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU [and non]. ANDES BANDSCAN - Hurray, finally a relatively decent opening into the Andes on 60 meters this morning, 9/13, hopefully signalling the start to a nice LA DX season for us in the USA. 5039.18, R. Libertad de Junín, Perú, with fair to good QSA at 1036, deejay talking over mellow musical background. 4814.98, R. El Buen Pastor [ECUADOR] with a nice signal at 1049 tune- by, fetching sanjuanito in progress. 4789++ presumed R Visión, Chiclayo, decent signal but het and QRM underneath ute at 1051. Didn't notice other usual suspects like R Tarma or R Huanta 2000, which were my 'markers' for decent Andes openings last winter. Already making plans for tomorrow morning and lining up better OA/HC/CP targets! (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer, Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408, Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4774.925, Radio Tarma, 1033-1045 Sept 20, Noted a program of music with a male commenting between selections in Spanish. Couldn't catch what the comments were unfortunately. Signal remained poor. 6173.962, Radio Tawantinsuyo, 1020-1030 Sept 20, Noted a very poor signal here with a male in Spanish language comments. The signal is covered by a couple of strong stations that are making it impossible to hear any real details, but Tawantinsuyo is definitely in there (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9520, Sept 20 at *1324 music splash ruins reception from Indonesia on 9525-, a love song (for Jesus?), outroed as ``Just for You``, 1327 IS and R. Veritas Asia ID in English, ``Sinhala service on 9.520 MHz to begin at 1330 hours UTC`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Radio Philipinas is strong on unannounced 17700 kHz which runs parallel to 15285 kHz (strong) and 11880 kHz (weak) in English, 0200-0330 UT. In A11 they have been announcing 15510 kHz which has never been used (Supratik Sanatani, Kolkata, India, 0225 UT Sept 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not heard Pilipinas on 17700 by anyone before? 17700 0200-0330 39,40 PHT 250 315 PHL PBS IBB on HFCC scheduled since March 31. In WRTH Update May 13: RADIO PILIPINAS OVERSEAS (Gov) Summer Schedule 2011 kHz: 9395, 11720, 11880, 15190, 15285, 17700 English Days Area kHz 0200-0330 daily ME 11880pht, 15285pht, 17700pht Filipino Days Area kHz 1730-1930 daily ME 9395pht, 11720pht, 15190pht (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Hi Wolfy, Yes, has been reported (please see the following log), but sorry I have not posted some of my more recent receptions on 17700, which is usually better than 15285. It is routinely heard (Ron Howard, CA, ibid.) - - - DXLD 11-30: ** 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) ** POLAND [non]. From 30 October changing our broadcast schedule. To our great regret, we have will be less than broadcast on short waves. Remain of our programs at 1300 and in 1430 UT, i.e. at the same time, as it is now. They will be available and of course on satellite communications. And two more transfer - repetitions, you can to hear only by means of satellite communication and it's in a different time than before now at 0630 and 0830 ITC [sic]. I.e. in general, we will be in the air 4 times in day - to 0630. 0830. at 1300 and 1430 UT, when the evening transfer to the short waves. Will develop our internet proposal - our site will become richer. We hope that you will continue to listen to us and we still write (Dmitry Kutuzov, Ryazan, from the site of the station / "deneb-radio-dx" via RusDX Sept 18 via DXLD) And what about English?? ** PORTUGAL. RDP Intl, 9455, 1743 GMT, Portuguese, 333, Sept 6, OM with comments (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think not. RDPI has been off SW (except for one other transmission via Sines), for months. Assuming the frequency and time above are correctly reported, and *something* was heard, HFCC shows the only occupant of 9455 at 17-21 is IBB Mandarin via Saipan. AAMOF, RDPI did use 9455 previously, but only in the evenings to NAm. SMK apparently makes wild extrapolations if he finds something in his database at a different time. You just can`t do that (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PRIDNESTROVYE [and non]. Re 11-37: GLENN - I did listen to Moldova last night (13th) and heard them on air via 9665 at 1800 in French co- channel with REE also in French. Moldova was at enormous strength (40+db over 9) and easily dominating the frequency. I didn't stay with it to check all of the languages but I heard "Govorit Tiraspol" announced in Russian at 1900, when REE had English, and again at 2100 when Moldova seemed to be clear on channel. Spain must think no one is listening to them, but they should check their channel from time to time. 73 from (Noel Green, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio PMR: Probably 1700-1800 UT 7440 kHz, 2100-2300 UT 6015 kHz in B- 11 season? (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Sept 16 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Collision with IRAN: See also C&C: HFCC REPORT ** RUSSIA. UVB-76 in the news again ... http://www.4x4ham.com/showthread.php?1289-ENIGMA From October 2011 Wired Magazine ... "For decades, a shortwave radio station somewhere in Russia has broadcast mysterious patterns of beeps, buzzes, and hums. Why? No one knows. But thousands of people listen in. Most observers believe that UVB-76 is an idiosyncratic example of what is called a numbers station, used to communicate to spies or other agents. Estonian Andrus Aalaid runs an internet relay for UVB-76 out of his attic office. Its frequency of 4625 kHz, its main 20-kilowatt transmitter and its horizontal dipole antenna points to conventional military use." Ho hum. Are the Russians doing anything more than holding down a frequency? I'm supposed to get excited? We're talking about the "Buzzer" frequency, right? (Franklin, KC0ISV, Sept 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Russia TV: See C&C: HFCC REPORT ** RUSSIA. VOR buying more transmitters: See C&C: HFCC REPORT ** RUSSIA. 5930, “Radio Rossii Kamchatka” (GTRK Kamchatka) via Petropavlovsk-Kamchatka, 0733-0800, Sept 13. Scheduled 0710-0800; several nice “Radio Rossii Kamchatka” IDs; not // 5940 and 7315 (both fair), so was their local/regional programming. Local news; many items about “Kamchatka”; “Kamchatka” phone number given; OM and two YL chatting; 0800 became // 5940 and 7315; pips and Radio Rossii news (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. SW test from Samara 15 Sep --- Hi group, Radio Center in Samara, Russia, is testing low power SW transmitters today, in order to set up regional broadcasting in near future. First test is already complete; transmitter was on from 1000 to 1020 UT on 4400 kHz with 20 kW power. I heard it with SINPO 43343 to 44444 on telescopic antenna here in Kazan, 300 km from the transmitter location. Evening test is scheduled at 1800-1820 UT on 6510 kHz, power is 10 kW. Non-directional antenna is used. Both transmissions consist of the following: xx00-xx01 1000 Hz test tone xx01-xx20 relay of Radio Mayak (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, Sept 15, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In both cases will be applied guitar aerial [???] of zenith radiation. Manual radio center is interested in receiving reports about the reception of the Samara and the surrounding areas. You can according to the system of SIMPO or in your own words. Also it is desirable to specify the location of the reception, the type of the receiver and the antenna. Publish them can be in this thread. * Reception in Moscow at 1800 - SINPO - 35443 (editor) (Rus DX Sept 18 via DXLD) 6510 booming in here as reported in DXLD. Recording so will post a clip (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, 0906 UT Sept 16, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ? but the times do not match (gh, DXLD) Unclear if ``radio center`` is a generic term, or the name of a station to be capitalised; there is a Radio Tsentr (gh, DXLD) Very strange frequency selection ... but radioscanner.ru mentioned 6500 kHz instead. (wb.) Spezielle KW-Tests aus Samara-RUS: Wenn der Bereich 6.5 MHz hier ungestoert ist, muesste man in Euroland bestimmt etwas hoeren. (wb) 6510, War hier mit puenktlichen s/on und s/off mit SINPO 34333 zu hoeren. Ist eine Kontaktadresse bekannt ? (Patrick Robic-AUT, A-DX Sept 15 via BC-DX via DXLD) Address from 2007 year: Radio Mayak Samara, Sovetskoy armii street 146, Samara 443090, Russia (Fritz-Walter Adam-D, A-DX Sept 15, ibid.) ** RUSSIA. A local Adygean Radio was heard on September 5th from 1700 to 1800 h on 7325 KHz with program in three languages simultaneously, Adygean, Turkish and Arabic (Compiled by Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX Program Sept 16 via Yimber Gaviría, DXLD) Wow, what a cacophony that must be! (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 17625.030, S=9+10dB slight 'buzzy' signal of Holy Qur`an program towards SoAS - and at same strong level on 17895 kHz, 15379.978 kHz S=9+25dB latter two towards EUR/NoAM. News at 1300 UT, and \\ 17615.0 kHz towards East and All Africa (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 15, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) 17625, Sept 19 at 1331, BSKSA Arabic has an audible hum/buzz here, unlike // 17615, flanking France (Glenn Hauser,, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIKKIM. I wonder how AIR Gangtok is doing as I received a notification that they had a fairly large earthquake in the area today (Steve Lare, Holland, MI http://holland.org/sections/217-pure-michigan USA, Sept 18, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A 6.8 Magnitude earth quake is reported from 43 miles SW of Gangtok in Sikkim, India. More details are in http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc0005wg6.php Upon checking, AIR Gangtok is noted as usual on 4835 kHz. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, Sept 18, dx_india yg via DXLD) 4835.0, AIR Gangtok, 1305-1330, Sept 19. Non-descriptive segment; after 1330 series of on air phone calls (reports on yesterday`s strong earthquake?); poor with QRN; normally this is just about threshold level, so today’s reception was exceptional. MP3 audio file posted at http://www.box.net/shared/q1jms7z24sj1oifjjub7 Seems the station is still operating normally after the quake (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) September 20 noted AIR Gangtok (4835.0) at 1323 was off the air, whereas had heard them earlier. By 1340 heard them broadcasting again, so perhaps they are dealing with some problems as the result of the quake, e.g., power outages? Also found AIR Shillong (4970) in the Northeast of India continues off the air for a second day (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 15610, Saturday Sept 17 at 1354, IRRS via ROMANIA with Brother Scare, another day with no KQED substitute; at 1358 usual collision between IRRS signing off and WEWN prélude of Regina Cœli, about to sign-on. This is just as BS is ramping up his super Sabbath service live, tsk. But one can tune over to 15420-CUSB where WBCQ sign-on cuts off the ``CQ`` to join BS in progress. It`s fun trying to tune the BFO just right so the Hammond organ sounds more or less normal. Whatever reference carrier is left is not enough to hear under the music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. REE Madrid had a very fine program, “Face to Face” repeated on (local evening) Saturday from earlier in the week, on de Tocqueville and Democracy in America with a renowned expert from San Pablo University in Madrid. This reminded me of just how fine some of their programs were (or rather still are) to those that tune into their shortwave broadcasts at 0000 UT on 6055 kHz. All the loggings were made about 30 miles south of Portland at Wells Beach, Maine, about 1/4 mile from the ocean on the sand bar situated between the ocean and a 1/2 mile wide salt marsh. Receiver was a SONY ICF 2010 on battery with whip antenna only (Roger Chambers, Utica NY, Sept 14, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** SPAIN. Still spurs on Sept 15, scratching audio peaks approx. 15465 to 15660 kHz: Yes, REE Noblejas 15585 kHz at 1418 UT Aug 28th has two symmetric sideband splatter on 15558 to 15579 and 15593 to 15614 kHz Noted on various remote SDR rxs in Holland, Germany and Austria (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 28/Sept 15 via DXLD) Collision with KUWAIT 21540: See also C&C: HFCC REPORT ** SPAIN. Playa de Pals, Radio Liberty. Referring to all former SW transmitter sites of the Cold War Era, VOA and R. Liberty at Kavala, Raret-Gloria, Delano, Playa de Pals, I would like to cite some paragraphs from a book published in 2010 , - "Cold War Broadcasting" ( p. 65 ): "The Radio Liberty (later RFE/RL ) station at Playa de Pals, Spain, was located in an optimal location on Costa Brava with all its antennas pointed toward Moscow. Some were designed for one-hop coverage of the Moscow region. Playa de Pals was in such a unique location that, in addition to one-hop coverage of Moscow, all the higher hops also fell on Soviet territory, reaching as far as the Soviet Far East in two, three or four hops. The "Group D" antenna shown above at the left of the photo, the farthest north up the coastline, was the only US-owned and operated antenna with an eight stack of di-pole elements, yielding a take-off angle of 4.3 degrees above the horizon - an unmatched low take-off angle. The same "Group D" antenna was arranged so that four 250 kW transmitters could be fed into it at the same time, yielding the equivalent of one million watts of transmitter power - the only antenna in the US government arsenal of shortwave broadcasting antennas to have such capacity." [Pals, Spain, Former RL. 9] http://www.flickr.com/photos/55577274@N05/6164123547/ (Lev Lytovchenko, Sept 19, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Again thanks for the info, the question is did the excellent antenna and possible transmitter power actually get through the jamming? (Dave G4OYX Porter, Woofferton, ibid.) Thanks everyone trying to revive the memories of this fantastic technical milestone from the cold war. In 1975 I visited the the studio's of the former offshore station Radio Mi-Amigo. These were located in Playa de Aro. During this trip I also went to Playa de Pals. Made a lot of photos there. But on my way back to the Netherlands It seemed that my camera was x-rayed by the Spanish customs. Coming home I found to my regrets that no picture was on the film anymore. For some years now I have a link of the Pals Museum in my favorites, which I want to share with you. The link is : http://www.radioliberty.org/introang.html Here you find a lot of articles, stories, pictures of the antennas and transmitters. Actually it is really too much to mention. Have fun, Regards (Jan Oosterveen, Netherlands, Sept 20, ibid.) In addition to my previous message i have a video link for you from TV Catallunia. The film is 54 minutes and is called Adeu Liberty. It handles the history of RL from Pals until the destruction of the station. The link : http://www.tv3.cat/ptv3/tv3Video.jsp?idint=288799 Enjoy! (Jan, ibid.) Hi Jan, This is terrific! Thank you for bringing this video to our attention. With my very slow broadband I only managed to get through the opening 9 minutes of the video (after an hour of downloading) - but really enjoyed it. I would appreciate if some of you (with fast broadband) could save a copy of the video as a file so that we have a copy for future reference. Again, it's great that a film company saw the value in producing a video of this length devoted an historical account of this important shortwave broadcaster - wish there was more of it. All the best (Ian Baxter, ibid.) ** SRI LANKA. Spurs from Trinco: see NETHERLANDS [non] ** SUDAN [non]. UK. IBRA RADIO (Radio Ibrahim). 12070 Skelton (Aoki), Woofferton (EiBi) ?? 2011/09/12 Monday. 1835-1904 Fur [? see below]. OM and YL in conversation. Several mentions of "Ibrahim" in passing, but not a formal ID. Also heard several very short jingles resembling, and apparently serving the same purpose as, the one used by Radio Dabanga to separate items. At 1900 various addresses, including web "www.?????ibrahim.com", but missed most of them because of the racket caused by cats suddenly fighting ouside. That's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. Good - fair. To Sudan (EiBi). Jo'burg sunset 1600 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 13620, Sept 17 at 0519, R. Dabanga, via MADAGASCAR, poor with SAH and 1000 Hz tone jamming is again audible. 13620, Sept 18 at 0525, the 1000-Hz tone jammer is weakly audible again, and so is R. Dabanga, unlike its usual good signal via MADAGASCAR. Only standout signals on 22m were Australia on 13630, weaker 13690, with silly ballgame (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN SOUTH. NPR article about ham expedition to South Sudan Go to onthemedia.org then click on home-on the media then go to the gray bar and click on the old radio right of center, on right end of bar the words "hams travel to south sudan" will appear, click on white arrow in red box to hear article. (William Hassig, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ST0R DXPEDITION TO THE SOUTH SUDAN (Press Release #6). "During the ST0R DXpedition to Juba, South Sudan, Team Co-Leader Paul Ewing, N6PSE, gave an on-air interview to WNYC Radio in New York City about ST0R and the team's experience in South Sudan. You can hear a recording of that interview at: http://www.onthemedia.org/2011/sep/16/hams-travel-south-sudan In addition, our QSL cards are currently being printed and we anticipate having the first batch in the mail in mid-October. We will upload to LoTW later in 2012. Our official website is: http://www.dxfriends.com/SouthernSudan2011 Thank you, The Intrepid-DX Group and The DX Friends." (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1028, September 19, 2011, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** SUDAN SOUTH. THE WORLD’S NEWEST COUNTRY: THE RADIO STORY IN THE NEW SOUTH SUDAN - Part 2 The world’s newest independent country is just 10 weeks old. It is a landlocked country in Africa surrounded by six other countries, and it has no coastal seaport of its own. This new country, currently known as South Sudan, was formed from the southern part of what was previously the combined country of Sudan. The northern and central areas of South Sudan are described as wide sweeping plains, merging into tropical jungle regions in the south, with also a very large area of marshy swamplands. This new nation is divided into ten states within three major historic regions. The total population of the new South Sudan is estimated at around 8 million, with somewhere around 200 different ethnic groups, with just about as many different languages. Their capital city is Juba, which is also their largest city, and it was previously the capital for the state of Equatoria under the combined Sudan. It is stated that African tribes were already established in south Sudan a thousand years ago. European intervention began in 1896 when a colonial expedition from Belgium claimed regency in a major part of the area. However, three years later, England & Egypt claimed control of the total Sudan, and six years later again, Belgium transferred control of her claimed area to the British. Then it was just 10 weeks ago, on Saturday July 9, that the southern areas of Sudan were split off from the parent country, and this area became its own independent entity as South Sudan. The earliest wireless stations in south Sudan were established a little before, and after, the international events of World War 1. At least four spark wireless stations were installed during that era: station WWR at Wau, AKR at Adobo, MLR at Malakal, and MGR at Mongalla. The first radio broadcasting service for south Sudan began in 1961 as a series of radio programs that were on the air from the head office of the national broadcasting service in the northern twin cities, Khartoum/Omdurman. This daily series of radio programming was on the air for an hour each afternoon under the title in English, Program Service for South Sudan. At the time, no broadcasting stations were on the air in the territory now known as South Sudan, and in order to give coverage in the south, existing mediumwave and shortwave stations in the north carried this program relay. The first known radio broadcasting station in the south was inaugurated as a regional station in January 1964, in the Equatoria state capital, Juba. According to the noted Arthur Cushen in New Zealand, this was a shortwave station with a rated output of just 1 kW, and it was assigned the 49 metre band channel 6075 kHz. Radio Juba shortwave was on the air for just one hour daily in Arabic & English, with extra programming on Fridays & Sundays. Apparently this station survived for only a very short life span, as there are no known logging reports on the part of international radio monitors, and the station was never listed in the World Radio TV Handbook. Beginning in the year 1990, the first of a total of at least nine irregular and clandestine radio broadcasting stations took to the air. Some of these stations were located in the area of south Sudan or nearby, whereas others were on the air as a relay service from some of the large and well known international shortwave stations. Several of these clandestine stations are known to have changed their names on more than one occasion. The first irregular station for south Sudan was inaugurated in the year 1990 and it was on the air under the identification announcement, the Voice of Sudan. This station pretended to be located at Kassala in south Sudan, whereas in reality it was actually located at Asmara in nearby Eritrea. This was a 10 kW transmitter heard on several channels over a period of time, usually in the 6 & 7 MHz region of the shortwave spectrum. This station has been off the air now for half a dozen years. Interestingly, two different shortwave stations were located near Narus, in the Nuba Mountains of south Sudan. These two stations were located at less than one mile apart. Station Radio Peace was inaugurated in January 2003 with two shortwave transmitters; a 1 kW unit, and another running at 4 kW. This station was closed six years later for transfer into the new national capital, Juba. The other shortwave station near Narus in the Nubia Mountains was a political station known as the Voice of the New Sudan. A 50 kW Elcor transmitter from Costa Rica was installed and a three day series of test broadcasts was radiated with just 7 kW on 9310 kHz, beginning on July 19, 2004. However, a strike of lightning permanently disabled the station, though local personnel subsequently maintained the transmitter for possible future usage. Beginning in November of the year 2000, a total of half a dozen international shortwave broadcasters have been on the air with programming beamed into what are now the two Sudans. The head office location of these stations has been in the United States, London, Holland & Kenya. The transmitter sites for these relay broadcasts have been Rimavska Sobota in Slovakia, on the island of Madagascar, and also from BBC shortwave transmitters in England and elsewhere. Two of these program sources have been provided by USAID in the United States, two from the BBC in London, one from the United Nations, and another from a Christian organization in Holland. During the past eleven years, these program relays have been on the air shortwave for a few hours each day under station identifications, such as Radio Nile, Sudan Radio Service, and Radio Darfur & Radio Dabanga. Another radio service which is very popular in Sudan on FM, and which has also been on the air shortwave, is Radio Miraya; and the name Miraya means mirror in the local Arabic language. Current Radio Scene in South Sudan Now that South Sudan is independent, the question remains: What radio stations are actually on the air in this newly independent country in Africa? Various sources have made various statements in this matter, and some statements contain what appears to be incorrect information. In analyzing and checking various references, this is what appears to be the current radio situation in South Sudan. * On Shortwave: Currently, it appears that there are no shortwave stations on the air in South Sudan. It is probable that the South Sudan government is giving serious consideration to the installation of a shortwave service from their capital city, Juba. That being said, we should remember that Peace Radio was previously on the air shortwave at Narus in South Sudan, and they have moved their equipment to the capital city, Juba. Perhaps they will re-inaugurate a shortwave service at this new location. * On Mediumwave: Currently, it is understood, there are four mediumwave stations on the air in South Sudan, and these are:- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- City State kHz kW Began Information ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Juba Central Equatoria 829 10 1977 Now at 100 kW Malakal Upper Nile 909 5 2005 Wau Western Bahr 1071 5 2005 Bentiu Unity Details not known * On FM: The World Radio TV Handbook states that there are FM stations on the air in most of the ten state capitals. * QSLs: Not too much is known about the situation regarding QSLs from the radio stations that are actually on the air within the territory of South Sudan, and there appears to be no known QSLs up until the present time (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for Sept 18 via DXLD) ** SURINAME. 4989.983, Radio Apintie, Paramaribo. Weak S=7 signal}, but very low modulation {at same time R Rebelde Cuba 5025 on S=9+20dB powerful signal. 0534 UT Sept 11 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) 4990, Radio Apintie, Paramaribo, 1000 fading out on 14 September, noted 0900 on 12 September (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Sometimes --- complaining (politely) can bring unexpected results: http://fromdctodaylight.splinder.com/post/25550596/somebody-southeast-there-reads-me Ciao to everybody, (Chris Diemoz, Italy, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: giovedì, 15 settembre 2011 Somebody south-east there reads me? RTI 2 QSL Last 24th August, I posted a blog complaining about how Radio Taiwan International answered a reception report (sent via their website form) with a QSL left completely blank on the data fields. Yesterday, postmaster delivered a yellow hardpaper envelope, with chinese idioms on it, and a Republic of China address in latin alphabet. Pretty curious, as it was impossible to me to identify the exact sender (although I'd love to learn Mandarin), I opened it, and... it revealed a second QSL card from RTI, this time duly completed, and showing, on its front, the Hsinchu Railway Station. According to the very responsive policy of this station it contained also a nice set of cards commemorative of R.O.C. 100th anniversary. I might be superb, but I like to think my blog entry has gotten to someone at the station (also because the stamp on the envelope dates of 30th August 2011, so after my post), who realized sending a blank card was a nonsense. I'm not someone used to complain, but I think that when there is a reason you have to put it out. Obviously, with a polite style. That said, I would like to acknowledge, by this post, the behaviour of the station. Admitting, and repairing, an error witnesses an intelligent attitude. Thanks a lot, folks at Radio Taiwan International! If I thought complaining was a good idea is just because I don't see a bright future for shortwave radio, and starting to play switching off the light isn't the best option. 73, Chris Diemoz P.S. Here is a scan of the writings on the envelope. If someone can give me a translation for the Chinese part, I'd be really grateful (also because the address in latin alphabet looks different from the station "official" one on the card). (via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 11714.900, CBSD/RTI Taipei programm logged at 1230 Sept 11, registered in Akoy/Hokkein acc Aoki list, fair signal at S=8-9 level. 11914.859, CBSD/RTI Taipei programm via Tainan tx site logged at 1220 Sept 11, registered in Cantonese language acc Aoki list, fair signal at S=8 level. 11549.849, R Australia Indonesian service on odd channel via Tainan- TWN relay site. At 2210 UT Sept 12, S=9+15dB level in JPN. 15240.123, R Australia English service, on odd frequency via Tainan- TWN relay site at 2245 UT S=9+15dB. 11605.081, R Taiwan International via Tainan site in Japanese 22-23 UT Sept 12, S=9+20dB, nx 2200-2213 UT. 13849.955, Probably SoH in Mandarin, from Taiwan, heard on poor S=4-5 level at 2237 UT, \\ 13920 kHz. Different flute mx program noted on 13969.975 kHz at same time in 20 mb (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 11/12 via DXLD) TAIWAN/CHINA, SOH - Sound of Hope transmissions in Mandarin, and Firedrake music jamming on Sept 14 at 07-08 UT slot. SOH 12160 12500 12600 12900 13270 13920 13970 14900 15070 15800 15970 17920 kHz. Firedrake music 10300 11500+SOH 12270 12900 13130 13920 14720 15900 16100 16980 17170 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 14/15, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 2321.94, 15.9 1904*, Tajik Radio mentioning a short “Dushanbe” at 1858. Normally cd between 1859 & 1902. This is the second hamonic of 1160.97. Audible most days from about 18 o’clock and improving until closedown (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, Shortwave Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4765.050, Tajik Radio from Dushanbe Yangi Yul, in Tajik, vernacular singer. 1814 UT Sept 11. Weak signal, ute CW QRM (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN [non]. 15110, Tatarstan Wave/GTRK Tatarstan, via Samara, *0410, Sept 19. Carrier on long before sign on; starts with IS and two IDs (one in Tatar and the usual one in Russian: "V efirye programa na volnye Tatarstana"). Played traditional songs that I am always fond of hearing; for the last 2-3 weeks this has been fairly good, so both Daniel Hostetler (Alaska) and I have been enjoying them while the nice reception lasts (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Question-answer on the internet : "from deneb-radio-dx". Question - Tell me, please, confirm whether the Radio Tatarstan now reports? And what do you need for this - before, like, a return envelope it was necessary to invest? (Victor Varzin) The Answer Is Confirmation of the reports remains with Ildus Ibatullin. But it should be noted that Ildus is not a staff member of the station and makes it free from work time, so a quick answer now is not guaranteed. Address: Ildus Ibatullin, P. Box 134, Kazan, 420136, Russia. (this is a personal and/I Idus [sic], therefore, please, do not write in the address nothing superfluous type "Radio of Tatarstan", etc.!) For Russia require a signed and paid envelope; for countries -- 2 IRC or $1. (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan) (via RusDX Sept 18 via DXLD) ** TIBET [and non]. Cat and Mouse. Also heard with the 'very special 45 Hz buzzy' jamming transmitter on 15285 kHz {latter has a wide band buzzy signal frequency coverage on 15269 to 15301 kHz} at 1300-1330 UT on Sept 15 against VoTibet, but strange enough VoTibet started much later at 1331-1400 UT on 15277.0 kHz via Dushanbe Yangi Yul site, a time slot when the Chinese jamming management was not aware and had stopped jamming on adjacent 15285 kHz already, and was on 15430 kHz with very same buzzy tx !!! Sept 15 at 1350 V of Tibet is on 15537 kHz instead, in Chinese? language instead of Tibetan - and CHN mainland jamming still on 15430 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 14/15, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) 15543, Sept 20 at 1258-1300:10* very weak signal hetting another weak one on 15545, presumed V. of Tibet in typical split-frequency behavior vs ChiCom jamming which keeps to multiples of 5. Latest Aoki of September 20, 2011 at 0600 UT does not include 15543, but exact times and frequencies are liable to change every day. Is Dushanbe-Yangiyul, TAJIKISTAN site, which in the 15.5-15.6 MHz range Aoki lists as: 1200-1212 15553 1212-1230 15517 1238-1301 15553 1328-1337 15527 1337-1400 15537 1401-1430 15557 Note how they all end in -3 or -7. All shown as Chinese, 100 kW, 95 degrees, except: 1238-1301 on 15553, 1401-1430 on 15557, 100 kW, 131 degrees in Tibetan; why different azimuths per language? And how does Aoki know all this? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC World Service announces ‘Newshour’ guest presenters. This will be an interesting change of pace, I'd think... http://www.atvtoday.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2153:bbc-world-service-announces-newshour-guest-presenters&catid=1:tv-media&Itemid=3 (Richard cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) Including Christiane Amanpour, Thu (gh) I never respond but this one really intrigues me. In particular Redi Thlabi who does excellent radio on Talk Radio 702 in Joburg. Also like Amanpour. I've always respected her journalistic chops (Paul Demsky, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. Frequency changes of BBC from Sep. 12: 0000-0100 NF 9410 NAK 250 kW / 290 deg SoAS in English, ex 12095 0000-0100 NF 12095 SNG 100 kW / 340 deg SoAS in English, ex 11955 0500-0600 NF 7325 RMP 250 kW / 168 deg NoAF in Arabic, ex 11680 0500-0600 NF 7255 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg WeAF in English, ex 11755 RMP 0530-0600 NF 9440 SKN 300 kW / 180 deg WeAF in Hausa, ex 11800 WOF 0600-0700 NF 7365 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg WeAF in English, ex 15105 SKN 2000-2100 NF 9850 SKN 300 kW / 180 deg WeAF in English, ex 13710 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 19 Sept via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) ** U S A. AFN/AFRS, 12133.5 usb, 9-18-11, 0140 UT, good S5 max with S2 noise floor, light jazz, at 0145 extreme far right Huckabee Report, health report on smoking, anti child abuse ad, Air Force radio news about base closings, AFN news about celebrities, soldiers radio news about Afghanistan, gardening tips about flowers, All Hands radio news about navy official at Milwaukee Brewers game, AP radio news at 0200 (20 sec ahead of local am820 station), heard again 9-18-11 2340 with talk of jobs & technology & taxes; I don't know where this is from. [Saddlebunch Keys FL --- gh] Note: when I was in the USAF in the late 60's, Armed Forces Radio was right of center but nothing like the way it is now. The Huckabee Report I heard was appalling (William Hassig, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also DIEGO GARCIA; GUAM ** U S A [and non]. BBG CONDEMNS THREATS TO PRESS FREEDOM AND FURTHERS REFORM EFFORTS At today's Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) meeting, the Board discussed and advanced plans to carry out a comprehensive reform for U.S. international broadcasting. The Board also called public attention to a string of disturbing incidents of repression and intimidation perpetrated against BBG journalists in recent months in Nepal, Azerbaijan, Cambodia, Burma and elsewhere. The Board decried the longstanding interference with media freedom in Iran and Board Chairman Walter Isaacson noted that, "Taken together, these practices amount to the construction of an ‘electronic curtain’ isolating the Iranian people from the rest of the world." The Board's full statement on recent threats to its journalists can be found online here. The Board adopted revised grant agreements with Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, Radio Free Asia, and the Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) for consistency across the networks, to better reflect operational realities and to foster increased cooperation among U.S. international broadcasting. In addition, the Board voted and passed the Agency’s FY 2013 proposed budget to OMB. The BBG also agreed to establish an Internet Freedom committee to advise the Board on global Internet freedom and censorship circumvention strategies. Governor Dana Perino announced the launch of the Innovation Commission that will meet on September 22 in New York City to foster ongoing technical developments across U.S. international broadcasting. The Commission brings together leaders who have proven success in digital media. At the meeting VOA’s new Director David Ensor highlighted the documentary “Hope Town” which was jointly produced with MBN and showcases religious tolerance in Teaneak, N.J., as well as an innovative and highly popular VOA Mandarin webcast “OMG! Meiyu” that engages a young Chinese audience eager to learn colloquial American English. MBN President Brian Conniff shared noteworthy Alhurra TV coverage of events in Libya as well as the eyewitness reporting by a Radio Sawa correspondent of gunshots being fired at journalists outside of Bani Walid. A webcast of the meeting is available at http://www.bbg.gov (BBG press release Sept 15 via Clara Listensprechen, DXLD) ** U S A. VOA director David Ensor tells newsroom staff: "There are going to be some RIFs." Posted: 17 Sep 2011 BBG Watch, blog, 15 Sept 2011, BBGWatcher: "Here are some more quotes from VOA director David Ensor from his meeting with staff of the Central News Division, as reported to us by some of the participants. A RIF (Reduction in Force) will happen. 'There are going to be some RIFS. I don’t think it is constructive to put a number out when the numbers have to go through about five different other groups, now it goes to the Board in a few days time, then it has to go to (OMB Director) Jack Lew, then it goes to subcommittees on the Hill.' ... 'I’m going to fight like hell' to minimize cuts, Ensor said. On the BBG’s plan to end VOA Chinese broadcasts, which members of Congress are working to block, Ensor suggested that he is in favor of expanding satellite television transmissions which were to be eliminated under the BBG plan. 'I would like to have a proposal in a matter of weeks on an expansion in the number of hours of satellite television, I would like to see some ideas, let’s come up with a smart idea because I think we need to move some of the money we are spending on Mandarin shortwave.' ... "February will be a key month as the BBG is forced to make 'a whole series of decisions' about consolidation. 'The BBG currently told the RFA (Radio Free Asia), RFE (Radio Free Europe)and MBN [Middle East Broadcast Network, which runs the U.S. government's al-Hurra television] to combine into one.' For the time being, Ensor said, VOA will remain a federal organization. ... Steve Redisch, VOA’s Executive Editor who was acting director before Ensor arrived to take up his political appointment, said the massive restructuring would not eliminate 'brands' such as Alhurra television for the Middle East, Radio Sawa which broadcasts to the Mideast, or TV Ashna, a relatively new VOA TV operation for Afghanistan. ... "Responding to one employee who asked how long he expects to remain in his position, Ensor said he hopes to remain for at least two years. 'I have already had to threaten to quit once. I think in this kind of a job, I am a political appointee, you have to be ready to walk. In order to stand for the things that you believe are essential for the organization. An organization like this needs a boss who is willing to walk on principle in order to get the things that the organization needs to go forward. ... I am not a civil servant, I am a political appointee, and I am going to try and stand for this organization with a certain backbone." See also BBG Watch blog, 14 Sept 2011. (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Actually, Mr. Ensor is not a political appointee. He is a civil servant. He really should know this. One of the main reasons for the International Broadcasting Act of 1994 was to depoliticize the hiring of the VOA director. Formerly the VOA director was appointed by the president, sometimes with Senate consent. Now that position is filled by the bipartisan Broadcasting Board of Governors. The only political appointees now in USIB are the BBG members and the IBB director (who refrains from decisions affecting content). BBG Watch is a new, clandestine website "launched and maintained by former and current BBG and VOA employees and their supporters." It is anti-BBG and appears to be pro-VOA in the internecine rivalry among the entities of US international broadcasting http://www.usgbroadcasts.com/bbgwatch/ (Kim Andrew Elliott, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, ibid.) e.g.: NEW DIRECTOR SEEMS UNAWARE OF BBG PLANS FOR VOA By BBGWatcher on 08 September 2011 in Featured News, Hot Tub Blog, Media Reports with No Comments VOA Director David Ensor In a NPR interview, new VOA director David Ensor seemed unaware that in addition to terminating VOA radio to China, the BBG also plans to terminate all VOA satellite television news broadcasts in Chinese. This plan is in line with the BBG’s strategy in recent years to deprive VOA of most of its broadcasting capabilities. Ensor suggested that VOA should be broadcasting TV programs to China on satellite. The BBG had already eliminated all VOA Arabic content and terminated VOA Russian radio and TV broadcasts just before Russia’s military attack on the Republic of Georgia in 2008. BBG executives, who have an uncanny ability to announce wrong decisions at the wrong time, proposed to end VOA radio and TV to China just before the unfolding of the Jasmine Revolution. Ensor would be wise to learn that BBG executives will stop at nothing to secure broadcasting capabilities only for their semi-private entities, thus ensuring their survival by taking these capabilities away from VOA despite the waste and the duplication that this approach entails. . . http://www.usgbroadcasts.com/bbgwatch/2011/09/08/new-director-seem-unaware-of-bbg-plans-for-voa/ (BBG Watch via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) BBG's Michael Meehan: "I could just resign and go home and move on to other things." Posted: 17 Sep 2011 http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=12048 Broadcasting Board of Governors, 15 Sept 2011, video stream of the BBG meeting on the same day: Member of the BBG Michael Meehan discussing the June 2011 trip to Africa by him and by BBG members Susan McCue and Dana Perino: "I just wanted to go on the record to anyone in the sound of my voice that to understand that we're here to protect the journalistic mission of this place, and if not I could just resign and go home and move on to other things. It's not essential for me to be here. But I just want to go on the record to say that now that management has taken the actions that they have taken, to be clear that we stand foursquare on the side of journalists and that we will stand up to the people who will impede the freedom of journalists to do their work around the world." (Listen to audio, mp3, 1 min 35 sec.) (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Mr. Meehan refers to the situation (see previous post) in which the VOA Horn of Africa chief was suspended and later reassigned to the VOA central newsroom after he revealed, in an interview on a VOA Amharic broadcast, some specifics about the BBG's meeting (which he also attended) with the Ethiopian communications minister. Will the former VOA Horn of Africa chief now also be able to go on the record to anyone within the sound of his voice to provide his version of events? I don't know much about the specifics of this case, but I do know that language service chief is the most difficult and grueling job in US international broadcasting. Service chiefs should, whenever possible, be treated with appropriate forbearance. After Mr. Meehan's statement, the new VOA director David Ensor said: (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) "May I just thank the governor and the governors who went to Africa for their dedication and the the hard work that went into that. ... Your interest is just priceless. Thank you for the effort." Also noteworthy from the 15 September BBG meeting... --Approval of the merger of BBG and IBB staffs under the IBB director. And approval of revised grant agreements (no specifics given) with the grantee organizations (RFE/RL, RFA, and MBN). --The BBG has created a Commission on Innovation, with members including James Montgomery of BBC Global News. --An FM relay (presumably for Radio Sawa) will be set up in Benghazi, Libya, after the transmitter was held up for three weeks by Egyptian customs. An FM relay transmitter in Tripoli, Libya, will follow. --A "direct-to-home" satellite feed for VOA and RFA Mandarin will be established on Telstar 18, the "number one ranked" satellite in China. The feed will consist of audio and still visuals, some of which will display the URLs of proxy servers to allow access to the VOA and RFA websites. --USIB news bureaus will be consolidated. This includes VOA and MBN in New York, London, Cairo, and Jerusalem. VOA and RFE/RL "are working towards" co-locating in Moscow in 2012. VOA and RFA "are working towards co-locating in places such as Bangkok." Governor Victor Ashe mentioned that RFA was subject to a drive-by shooting in Phnom Penh, and the VOA office in Phnom Penh, a mile away, knew nothing about it. --A consultant will look into the consolidation of USIB. --MBN president Brian Coniff reported that a new survey in Egypt shows the Alhurra audience has doubled to nearly eight million (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. NEW YORK TIMES IS DEVELOPING A MANDARIN LANGUAGE WEBSITE. OTHER LANGUAGES MAY FOLLOW. WHITHER USIB? Posted: 14 Sep 2011 Capital, 13 Sept 2011, Joe Pompeo: Joe Kahn takes charge of the foreign news desk at the New York Times. "The foreign desk is ... involved in an initiative at the Times to develop news sites in foreign countries. When they are up and running and the business side is figured out, the foreign desk will be deeply involved in their development. The first, rolled out earlier this month, is India Ink, the Times' first country-specific blog, which now falls under his purview. And the foreign desk is likewise involved in at least one 'big additional initiative' that will add a foreign language component to the Times’ content strategy, said Kahn. The plan is to launch an online editorial product for China, where the paper already maintains its largest foreign bureau (Kahn worked in that bureau, as well as The Wall Street Journal’s, before becoming deputy foreign editor in 2008), within the year. 'If things go well, I expect we’ll see The New York Times producing a pretty robust product in Mandarin Chinese before long,' Kahn said, though he declined to go into detail. ... More such foreign-language sites could pop up over the next couple of years. About the Chinese product, asked whether reporting from that site might make its way into the main Times news report translated into English, Kahn said he hadn't worked that out yet. 'But most likely we would not have a substantial reverse-translation operation,' he said. Instead: 'Most of the writers, even those who produce original stories in another language, would be able to produce stories in English as well.'" (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) -- The International Broadcasting Act of 1994 stipulates that US government funded international broadcasting shall "[n]ot duplicate the activities of private United States broadcasters." Will this be the end of the VOA and RFA Mandarin services? And of USIB services in other languages that the Times takes on? See previous post (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** U S A. EarthSky on VOA http://www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=http://earthsky.org/press/voice-of-america-listeners-in-asia-to-hear-earthsky-three-times-daily People who listen to Voice of America's popular broadcasts throughout the world are now also hearing EarthSky's 90-second podcasts. EarthSky airs in Asia on VOA via shortwave, medium wave, and local broadcast affiliates throughout the world on Daybreak Asia / International Edition at 2255 UT (6:55 p.m. EDT), 2355 UT (7:55 p.m. EDT) and 0155 UT (9:55 p.m. EDT) Sunday-Thursday EarthSky airs in Asia on VOA via shortwave, medium wave, and local broadcast affiliates throughout the world on Crossroads Asia / International Edition at 1255 UT (8:55 a.m. EDT), and 1355 UT (9:55 a.m. EDT) and 1455 UT (10:55 a.m. EDT) Monday-Friday How do I translate UTC to my time? EarthSky 90-second podcasts can also be heard streaming live at the EDT time above at VOA's website and via VOA podcasts and iTunes (scroll down to find VOA Daybreak Asia and VOA Crossroads Asia) The EarthSky 90-second podcasts have a long history with Voice of America, having aired on its most popular news program, VOA News Now, for over a decade. The EarthSky promise: "To bring the ideas, strategies, and research results of scientists to people around the world, with the goal of illuminating pathways to a sustainable future." By: EarthSky (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. GOOD TURNOUT MAY MEAN MORE TOURS AT VOA MUSEUM An encouraging weekend turnout might keep the National Voice of America Museum of Broadcasting open to the public more frequently, at least for occasional tours, while the building undergoes more renovation. Closed for two years, the VOA Museum was open for three hours Saturday for tours, and about 100 people showed up. It will close again soon for more outside renovation and a new roof. “It was a great turnout,” said Ken Rieser, National VOA Museum of Broadcasting board chairman. “We weren’t sure what to expect, but we were really happy with how things turned out.” The Museum board may decide at its next meeting on 5 October to have tours at the museum every other Saturday for the next few months. In order to open the museum full-time, the former Voice of America Bethany Relay Station must undergo numerous restorations and approximately $12 million in funds must be raised. Grants have covered much of the work done so far. Read more at http://news.cincinnati.com/article/20110919/NEWS01/109200306/Turnout-may-mean-tours-VOA-Museum (September 20th, 2011 - 12:43 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 9872, Sept 16 at 0624, VOA-GB French with big signal on 9880, but also noisy spur around here, in apparent envelope of main signal, but not so much on the other side. The first half of this M-F 0530-0630 broadcast on 9880 is via Botswana, the second half Greenville, which tunes up prior to 0600 on 9870 or thereabouts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re the item above - I can daily hear something on about 9872 which sounds very much like a digital type of transmission, although it is not strongly received here. I hear it after VOA leaves 9880 - yes, it's a big signal here too - but it is very difficult to tell where it might be coming from. Glenn may be hearing something entirely different though. WOLFY - can you hear anything on 9872 at your location? 73 from (Noel Green, UK, ibid.) 15185, Sept 17 at 2030, S9+10 signal but still only poor with fading, American language lesson in English for French; at 2037 found same on incomparably stronger 15730 an echo ahead of 15185, but modulation on 15730 is distorted, especially the musical background. HFCC shows 15185 is BOTSWANA, Sat & Sun only at 2030-2100 for VOA French, 100 kW at 10 degrees; while 15730 is the Sat & Sun extension for another semihour of the 2000 VOA French, 250 kW, 94 degrees from Greenville (plus gobs off the back). I was tuning around 15190 to see if there was any sign of R. Africa: no, nor R. Inconfidência, Brasil, but it was tight squeeze between VOA and YFR/Ascension 15195. 17820, Sept 20 at 1337* and *1338 large open carrier, once again Greenville testing long prior to Portuguese at 1700 on same to Africa; during less than the minute off, weak signal from DW Hausa uncovered, via PORTUGAL; checked // 17800 which is normally much stronger, via RWANDA, aimed USward, but it was even weaker! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 12099.972, WTWW Lebanon-TN-USA, male sermon prayer logged in NJ-USA at 0556 UT Sept 14. S=3-4 just above threshold signal level. Little stronger at S=7 level noted on Melbourne-AUS post at 0650 UT. "Glory of the Lord ..." - inflation of the word 'Lord' over and over again (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) 12100, Sept 16 at 0618, JBA carrier presumably WTWW-3 which recently resumed 24-hour operation. George McClintock feels it will be audible further afield such as in Australia, if not here overnight. Next check at 1245, it`s strong with Arabic, vs previous *1300v; unusually heard a few notes of music before resuming Christian Bible readings. WTWW-1 9479 with PPP/SFAW was also on already and 5755 off, apparently changing earlier than 1300v now. George is putting the finishing touches on WTWW-2 which is planned to operate on 9990 days/5080 nights aimed southward; he may have another full-time client for it, but undecided yet. 12100, Sept 17 at 0520, WTWW is VG now with Bible in English, while 23 hours earlier it was JBA, in widely variable propagation conditions 12100, Sept 18 at 0522, nothing audible from WTWW, unlike 24 hours earlier, and also unlike 47 hours earlier when it was JBA. Wildly varying propagation and/or operation? WTWW: altho recently was switching from 5755 to 9479 well before 1300 UT, Sept 19 at 1238, 5755 is still on; so I put a receiver BFO on 9480 to notify me when that comes up: *1259:45 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also C&C: HFCC REPORT ** U S A. Tom Lucey of FCC revealed that altho KVOH failed to renew its license, and thus has been off the air for several months, now they have done so, and presumably will be returning; 17775 was their only frequency, and only in the daytime but not daily. Nothing was mentioned about a fine (Glenn Hauser at HFCC Dallas, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also C&C: HFCC on KTMI ** U S A. 13562, 13571, 13589, 13598, Sept 16 at 1310, the plus/minus 9 and 18 kHz squishy spurs from WEWN`s English transmitter on 13580. Also one of the Spanish senders on 12050 had its usual less disruptive squealing audible on main carrier. I met Glen Tapley at HFCC in Dallas but did not have a chance to discuss this with him; he must be aware of these from my numerous previous reports, apparently insoluble problems. I should urge Tom Lucey at FCC to disallow anyone from broadcasting 10 or 20 kHz from the squishy transmitter, for their own good. Glen did explain that WEWN`s few days off the air in August were for annual maintenance, i.e. mowing the antenna field and checking out or repairing the grounding system, when of course everything must be turned off. WEWN seems to be expanding its squishy spur service. First they were always plus and minus 9 kHz from the English transmitter; then they started showing up slightly weaker additionally at plus and minus 18 kHz. Now, add an even weaker pair at plus and minus 27 kHz! (These multiples of 9 are approximate; hard to pin down with no specific carrier.) Sept 17 at 2034 they are obviously on 15592, 15601, 15619 and 15628 from the 15610 transmitter at S9+25 or so, the same modulation detectable with heavy distortion, but also I find them around 15583 beating against VOA 15580, and a bit on 15637 to match. The 15628 was also beating against poor Voice of Greece 15630. Mother Angelica, have you no shame? Victimae, how much longer are you going to take this? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11550, Sept 21 at 1435, open carrier from WEWN Spanish, which was OK on // 12050; and English plus squishy spurs from 15610 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7504.43, 7535.57, WWCR Spurs, 0130-0159*, WWCR spurs from 7520. Spurs +/- 15.57 kHz away from 7520. Both spurs in at fair to good levels. Sept 17. 3199.44, 3230.56, WWCR Spurs, *0159-0210, weak WWCR spurs from 3215. Spurs +/- 15.56 kHz away from 3215. Sept 17 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTEINING DIGEST) 12160 kHz, WWCR, from 1720 UT with usual right wing-nut programs, announcing web sites, hideyourguns.com and infowars.com, SINPO 45444 but with poor, muddy modulation, September 7. All the loggings were made about 30 miles south of Portland at Wells Beach, Maine, about 1/4 mile from the ocean on the sand bar situated between the ocean and a 1/2 mile wide salt marsh. Receiver was a SONY ICF 2010 on battery with whip antenna only (Roger Chambers, Utica NY, Sept 14, ODXA yg via DXLD) See also C&C: HFCC REPORT ** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1582 monitoring: first airing earlier than usual this week, Wednesday Sept 14 at 1530 on WRMI 9955. I stopped on the road back from Dallas in southern OK to check Thursday Sept 15 at 2100, confirmed on VG WTWW 9479 and also audible even on the portable with whip from WRMI 9955, a few seconds apart. Besides many more WRMI repeats, further airings this weekend: UT Sunday 0400 on WTWW 5755; UT Monday 0300v on WBCQ Area 51 5110v-CUSB. On WRN via SiriusXM 120: Sat & Sun 1730, Sun 0830 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGESET) WRMI, 9955 --- Reception still good at 0800 UT with Glenn Hauser's World of Radio, fading has quickened but still a good signal this morning. Signal is 7 to 8 s. points on the AOR 7030+ and 60 ft long wire (Russ Cummings, UK, 0817 UT Sat Sept 17, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) WORLD OF RADIO 1582 monitoring: UT Sunday Sept 18 after 0400 confirmed on WTWW-1 webcast, presumably also 5755. Next airings are: Sunday 1530 [confirmed with my voice recognizable at peaks], 1730 on WRMI 9955; UT Monday 0300v on Area 51 WBCQ 5110v-CUSB, all webcast too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9479, at 2103, WTWW fair with Glenn Hauser’s “World of Radio” feature Fridays [UT Thursdays!], 25/8 (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, Sept NZ DX Times via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) ** U S A. 3184.992, WWRB The Overcomer Ministry, Morrison TN, heard at level S=9+10dB on remote SDR unit in MA-USA, Sept 11 at 0503 UT. English sermon the devil. Same program on 3215 kHz via WWCR Nashville, S=9+20dB more powerful. 0508 UT Sept 11 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) 3185, WWRB, Sept. 15, 1015. Piano music, bunch of people singing off key. Likely an Overcomer program. Even tube audio couldn't "overcome" the bad sound and singing (Rick Barton, AZ, Sept 19, ABDX via DXLD) 9385, Sept 21 at 1438, tuning across WWRB, Brother Scare has a quick echo on him; swiftly I compared to 9980 WWCR, found anechoic; back to 9385 and no more echo. Possibly brief reception by long as well as short-path, which would be quite unusual, and unexpected over a 39- megameter route; or just a feed anomaly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9954.954, Eva Srilinkova Gypsy singer festival report, R Prague program in English via WRMI Florida. At 0608 UT Sept 12, S=8-9 more than fair signal on remote SDR unit in NJ-USA. Also heard on remote SDR unit in Melbourne-AUS at 0632 UT Sept 14 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) ** U S A. 9369.892, WTJC Morehead City, mens religious chorus, talk about Lord's wonderful way. Stronger than WBCQ on S=7 level at 1104 UT on Sept 12. Both logged on remote SDR unit in Australia (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) ** U S A. 9330.020, WBCQ, The Planet from Monticello in English, radio related program talk about shortwave and internet [`Radio Weather`], later about volcano and earth quake, at 1045 UT Sept 12. USB like mode. Poor and noisy S=4-5, just readable, best to understand content in USB-mode (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews via DXLD) ** U S A. 15385.32, NEW MEXICO, KJES, Vado. 1858 September 11, 2011. Typical weird, warbling kiddies with sing-song bible chants, musically-unaccompanied, into (live?) pre-pubescent genderless child semi-ID at 1900, then into slightly older kiddies instrumentally- unaccompanied warbling. This (was) a Sunday, for what it's worth, as previously reported by others. Creepy. In the clear, but weak, and in local QRM. One must wonder what all happens on that ranch. FCC doesn't care. They won't even ask 'em to stay on an even channel (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Abridged pile of junk: JRC NRD-535; ICOM IC-R75; Hammarlund HQ-180A; Aqua Guide 705 Radio Direction Finder; Sangean PR-D5; Sony ICF-7600GR; GE SuperRadio III; RadioShack DX-399; 1 X roof dipole; 1 X in-room random wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11715, (NM), KJES, Sept. 15, 1540. VG signal today with modulation worthy of the carrier, which is also stronger than usual of late. Acoustic guitar, singing, pleasant to listen to - IMO. Not what some DXers term as "robo kids" or "zombie kids" usually heard here. I wonder, tho, if the people using such terms are familiar with Mexican culture? What is referred to as "zombie" like is really typical of Catholic worship with many Mexicans ("Mexican" - either culturally or as a nationality). 11715, New Mexico (non), KJES, Sept. 18, 1510. After VG reception the last cupola days, nix nay heard here this morning. not a trace (Rick Barton, AZ, Sept 19, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. YFR on Test in English English to SoEaAS 1200-1300 on 17520 UNID tx, test from Sep. 12 English to SoAS 1500-1600 on 17650 UNID tx ,test from Sep. 8 - Wertachtal tx. (R BULGARIA Ivo Ivanov, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 13) KAZAKHSTAN/UZBEKISTAN, Now Sept 14 at 12-13 UT noted YFR with English test outlets on 15559.896 kHz odd frequency from Almaty KAZ. S=7 signal on remote Perseus in Greece. 17520 kHz via Tashkent UZB, S=5 on remote Perseus in Greece. Tentat. also test on 17880 kHz at 14-15 UT. vy73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Additional changes of WYFR English to EaAS 1000-1100 on 12115 A-A?, test from Sep. 15, (future plan in Japanese) 1200-1300 on 17880 DHA, test from Sep. 8, (future plan in Thai) Oriya to SoAS 1400-1500 NF 15570 NAU, ex 15565 NAU 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Additional transmissions of WYFR Family Radio: 1200-1300 15560 A-A 300 kW / 094 deg EaAS in English 1200-1300 17520 TAC 200 kW / 131 deg SEAS in English 1200-1300 17880 DHA 250 kW / 095 deg EaAS in English, future plan Thai 1500-1600 NF 13690 DHA 250 kW / 100 deg SoAS in Marathi, ex 11655 ARM (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 19 Sept via DXLD) ** U S A. Altho identified here merely as ``a blogger``, Hal Turner was also a broadcaster on SW, such as WBCQ. There have been periodic press reports about his prosecution for a few years (gh, DXLD) NJ BLOGGER ACQUITTED OF THREATS TO CONN. OFFICIALS By DAVE COLLINS Associated Press Sep 16, 7:27 PM EDT http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_BLOGGER_THREATS_CTOL-?SITE=AP HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A blogger was acquitted Friday of charges that he threatened state officials when he urged readers to "take up arms" and suggested that government leaders "obey the Constitution or die." Harold "Hal" Turner, of North Bergen, N.J., was found not guilty of felony inciting injury to people and misdemeanor threatening by a Hartford jury that deliberated less than three hours. He could have faced a decade in prison if convicted of the felony charge. Turner, who will be returned to a federal prison in Indiana to complete a nearly three-year sentence for threatening judges in Illinois, hugged family members after the verdict was announced. "I am very pleased," he said, as he was led away by correction officers. Turner, who represented himself, argued that no one was hurt and there was no evidence that his words led to any violence. He also cited his First Amendment right to free speech. Turner wrote a blog posting in June 2009 in response to state legislation, withdrawn three months earlier, that would have given lay people of Roman Catholic churches more control over parish finances. Turner, 49, believed the legislation flew in the face of the constitutional doctrine of separation of church and state. He suggested that Catholics "take up arms and put down this tyranny by force," said government leaders should "obey the Constitution or die" and said he would post officials' home addresses. He also wrote that if authorities tried to stop his cause, "I suspect we have enough bullets to put them down too." Three of the six jurors said in interviews after the verdict that they didn't like what Turner did. They said his words were "outrageous" and wrong but they had to focus on the specifics of state law and didn't believe the prosecution proved all the elements of the charges. "We all felt he was guilty of certain aspects," juror Ann Parise said. "Although we found him not guilty, we don't feel he was innocent." Prosecutor Thomas Garcia said he was disappointed with the verdict and declined further comment. Two state officials testified that they had received unrelated threats before because of their jobs, but they said Turner's comments went above and beyond those previous remarks. The trial began Thursday morning, and both sides rested their cases Thursday afternoon. Turner didn't testify or present any witnesses, saying the state hadn't proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt. Turner's mother, Kathy Diamond, said she was grateful and happy for the acquittal. "I think the state of Connecticut ought to be ashamed of themselves, and this was nothing but a political witch hunt," she said. During his closing argument Friday, Turner said, "Ladies and gentlemen, this case is a fraud. I said some nasty things about politicians, and they're trying to use the power of the state to throw me in jail," he said. "These are the kinds of things we heard about in the former Soviet Union." But Garcia said Turner's targets testified that they were truly concerned about their safety and Turner's words were meant to incite violence. "Words have power. We know that from our daily lives," Garcia said. "They can have the power to inspire people to do good. They also have the power to inspire fear and incite others to violence. That's the central issue and in many ways the only issue in this case." He accused Turner of twisting the facts and putting on a "performance" for the jury. He also reminded the jury of random acts of violence on public officials without mentioning any names. "This isn't a battle between big, bad government and poor, little Hal Turner," Garcia told the jury. "Hal Turner's the bully here." On Thursday, Andrew McDonald, who was a state senator at the time of the blog post, told the jury Turner's posting "was an extraordinary document that far exceeded any other threat I had ever received." "I thought that this was a very real threat," said McDonald, who is now Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's general counsel. McDonald said Friday that he respected the jury's verdict but didn't agree with it. "I try not to dwell on Mr. Turner," he said. "Somebody who is filled with that kind of rage is not somebody I'm going to preoccupy myself with. He seems to be erratic, and I hope he will use his remaining time in prison to deal with his aggressive predisposition." State Ethics Enforcement Officer Thomas Jones added in his testimony, "I interpreted this as people were going to be coming to my house within 24 hours with bullets and guns. ... This was real. This was tangible. This was electric." State Capitol Police said Turner's targets were McDonald, Jones and Michael Lawlor, a state representative at the time who is now the governor's undersecretary for criminal justice planning. McDonald and Lawlor were co-chairmen of the legislature's Judiciary Committee, which proposed the legislation but later withdrew it amid public opposition. Turner alleged during the trial that McDonald used the church finances bill to retaliate against the church for opposing gay marriage rights, which McDonald denied. Prosecutors say Jones was targeted because he had written to Catholic Church officials, saying some of their activities at the state Capitol could possibly be considered lobbying and they weren't registered as lobbyists. The federal case for which Turner is serving a prison sentence stemmed from his online criticism after a 2009 ruling in which a federal appeals court dismissed lawsuits challenging handgun bans in Chicago and Oak Park, Ill. Turner said: "These judges must die." (c) 2011 The Associated Press. (via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) BLOGGER ACQUITTAL BRINGS MIXED REACTION IN CONN. Sep 16, 9:14 PM EDT http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CT_BLOGGER_THREATS_REAX_CTOL-?SITE=AP HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- While relatives of a blogger acquitted of threatening Connecticut officials say they're happy with the verdict, the prosecutor and a target of the blog posting say they're disappointed. Harold "Hal" Turner of North Bergen, N.J., was found not guilty Friday of inciting violence and threatening. He was arrested in 2009 shortly after urging readers to "take up arms" against officials and suggesting that government leaders "obey the constitution or die." He's already serving a three-year prison sentence for threatening judges in Illinois. Prosecutor Thomas Garcia would only say that he was disappointed with the verdict. Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's general counsel, Andrew McDonald, was a target of Turner's comments. He says he disagrees with jurors, and hopes Turner will use his remaining prison time to deal with his "aggressive predisposition." (c) 2011 The Associated Press. (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. Metroplex monitoring of KHSE, KFCD, KNIT, KERA, WRR-FM: See C&C: HFCC REPORT ** U S A. 880, Sept 20 at 1215 UT, song about Jesus in unknown language, east-west in KRVN null. Previously had skipped over religion here, assuming merely 50 kW Arkansawyer KLRG, but 1218 talk in Navajo! With some English words such as ``satisfied``, ``illegal``. 1219 another hymn, 1221 gone. Therefore it`s KHAC Tse Bonito NM, a.k.a. Window Rock AZ on the border, non-direxional 50 kW day, 430 watts night. Time was around sunrise in Enid, long before in Tse/Rock = Window/Bonito but NRC AM Log shows schedule as 12-06 UT; nothing about a PSRA, so which power was it? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) XEV, Chihuahua, was clearly audible until wiped out by KHAC at 1200, 09/20/11, with ID "This is KHAC, Tse Bonita, New Mexico", followed by hymn sang in Navajo. (FCC indicates local sunrise for September as 0600 MST/1200 UTC.) Heard 25 miles east of Enid OK on barefoot Sony SRF-T615. (? 2011 Richard N. Allen) (Richard Allen, 36?22'51N / 97?25'35"W, (near Perry OK USA), IRCA via DXLD) Yes, except 0600 MST = 0700 MDT = 1300 UT. FCC SR/SS tables are always in Standard time, which despite being clearly stated leads some stations to do their thing an hour off. Just as there is an increasingly ignorant trend in society in general, even from people who should know better, to refer to time zones as `S` instead of `D` in the summer. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A. WBZ ANNIVERSARY SPECIALS TONIGHT --- Hi Glenn, If you haven't already heard, WBZ is going to do special anniversary programming next week. One of the regular World Of Radio correspondents, Scott Fybush is scheduled to be on from Midnight to 2 AM [EDT] on Sunday-Monday and Monday-Tuesday. Although not as easily heard outside the New England area there are also apparently going to be special segments during the daytime. I hear WBZ-1030 here in Ohio quite easily at night. I'm still without shortwave since my Icom R-75 was destroyed in a lightning incident. I do have a Sony 2010 and need to have it's front end transistor replaced, it's an early model which is among those with that infamous issue (Dale Rothert, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Radio history on the radio this weekend at WBZ Those of you in the fabled "38 states and half of Canada" served by WBZ might want to spend some time on 1030 in the next few days. It's WBZ's 90th anniversary on Monday, and they'll be celebrating the occasion with a number of special guests on their talk shows. Some guy named Fybush who apparently worked there for a while will be Steve LeVeille's guest starting at midnight ET Sunday-into-Monday; the following night at midnight, it will be the legendary Dr. Donna Halper's turn to share her much more extensive research on broadcast history. (The show goes until 5 AM both nights; I don't know yet how long Donna or I will be invited to stay on the air.) [3 hours each?] There's also a special hour-long anniversary broadcast Monday night at 8 on Dan Rea's "Nightside" show. It should be a good time for all involved! The last time I did Steve's show, it was during the 2002 NRC convention in Lima, and it was fun to hear from a bunch of the DXers in Ohio, since I couldn't make it to that one. If you're inclined to call in, WBZ finally has a toll-free number. I believe it's 888-WBZ-1030/888-929-1030. Maybe I can even persuade my friends in the engineering department to whip up some special anniversary QSLs... s WBZ 1992-97 They do stream, at http://cbsboston.com or http://radio.com --- but that's no fun! :) s (Scott Fybush, Sept 17, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. 1030, Sept 19 at 1230 UT, still hoping for Mexicans, instead heard CDT, ID in passing from KCWJ, which is 5 kW from Blue Springs MO, near Independence, near Kansas City (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1500, Sept 19 at 1211 UT, `Osgood File` from CBS, 1213 local announcer talking about K-Jim getting a DX report from Finland, with mp3, explaining that this is possible on AM with very long antennas, not FM; then relays lo-fi robotic NWS local weather forecast. KJIM is in Sherman TX, address in Denison; I often enjoy its nostalgic music around sunrise or sunset. NRC AM Log shows it as a 1000 watt daytimer plus PSRA of 500 watts from 0700 [meaning ET, presumably] and off at sunset. So if someone just got it in Finland, it would have to be just before sunset here, which is 0030 UT in Sept, 0000 in Oct, surpassing 50 kW KSTP et al. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. A few more fun DX catches received here recently: 1050, KTBL, Los Ranchos, NM, 1136 UT, 9/15/11, some sort of talk show was going on here. Noted three clear call letter IDs and some local ads. They had a PSA "to strengthen our community." 920, KVEC, San Luís Obispo, CA, 1125 UT, 9/14/11, Heard this ID right after tuning in, "...KVEC, 920..." Local ads followed. One mentioned "the tri-county" area. I believe they also mentioned "Newstalk 920..." // online stream. (This was my 800th station logged on ultralight radios.) 750, KHWG, Fallon, NV, 1145 UT, 9/14/11, logged tnx to a tip from Richard Allen! Playing classic C&W music. VG signal. ID was clear and also mentioned 100.1 FM. 1050, KSIS, Sedalia, MO, 1238 UT, 9/14/11, M reading "this day in history." Local weather report, current temp of 70 F degrees. University of Missouri, Columbia, ad/promo. G signal. 920, WTCW, Madisonville, KY, 0530 UT, 9/12/11, very QRM-filled frequency overnight. I think this station was playing country music, but I'm not sure. Noted several ads that mentioned both Kentucky and Madisonville. One call letter ID was heard. 920, KLMR, Lamar, CO, 1230 UT, fairly good sig for a few minutes with clear IDs and newstalk that lost me from "the get-go". Have tried to catch this one many many times before. As you can see, 920 has been one helluva good frequency to park on during the past week or so [see also MEXICO]. 73 from PC, (Kirk Allen, Ponca City OK, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1640, FLORIDA, (HAR), Florida DoT, Charlotte County. 1850 UT September 16, 2011. Generic loop by female, "You are listening to... 1640 AM... provided by the Florida Dept. of Transportation... please tune to this station..." This was noted in November, 2010, then using calls WQMQ746, and may still actually be a series of sych'ed transmitters in the I-75 construction zone, Charlotte County. Poor overall in WTNI co-channel. [MANA] 1640, MISSISSIPPI, WTNI, Biloxi. 1850 September 16, 2011. Poor, but with ESPN programming poking through with the FL DoT HAR station from Charlotte County slightly stronger co-channel. [MANA] (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Florida Low Power Radio Stations: http://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/ Logs appended [MANA] were made at Manasota Key, Florida with Paul V Zecchino and Gerry Bishop during early local afternoon, using Paul's vintage Benmar RDF, and Sony ICF-2010 coupled to a RadioShack non- active portable loop with lazy susan, and morally supported by a small iguana that I spotted, crawling down a cabbage palm and on to the sand where he watched us for a few minutes! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FCC COMMISSIONER COPPS COMMENTS ON CUMULUS-CITADEL MERGER http://transition.fcc.gov/Daily_Releases/Daily_Business/2011/db0914/DOC-309613A1.txt STATEMENT OF COMMISSIONER MICHAEL J. COPPS ON THE MEDIA BUREAU APPROVAL OF THE CUMULUS-CITADEL MERGER "The wheels of media consolidation spin on. Today the Media Bureau approves the combination of Cumulus and Citadel, the number two and number three radio companies in the country, creating a media giant that will own more than 560 stations. Earlier this year we had the huge Comcast-NBCU transaction. Last week we learned of another large company buying up seven additional media outlets. "Time after time and in market after market, there are fewer independent options and fewer local voices. To pass FCC and DOJ muster, Cumulus-Citadel needs to divest only 14 stations. Applicants will put these stations in a trust pending sale to, hopefully, women and minority owners. But too often such stations just languish, unsold, in a trust. Just this month, in another proceeding, a petition to deny was filed as licenses in such a trust were being renewed after three-and-a-half years without being sold. "Applicants also claim this merger will lead to additional funding for programming to serve local audiences, but chances are we won't hold their feet to the fire if they fall short. So round and round we go. If the Commission is intent on continuing to bless consolidated control of more and more of our broadcasting outlets by fewer and fewer big interests, isn't it time to ensure that we have some public interest guidelines so that consumers and citizens can be assured of at least some level of local programming, real news about real issues, independent production, and coverage of issues of interest to the diverse populations that make up local communities?" - FCC - (via Benn Kobb, DXLD) ** U S A. LETTERS: TRANSITION OF WXEL-FM LEAVES LOCAL INFO VOID http://www.palmbeachpost.com/opinion/letters/letters-transition-of-wxel-fm-leaves-local-info-1860954.html?cxtype=rss_letters By Letters to the Editor for Friday, Sept. 16 Posted: 7:53 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 15, 2011 And so the drama ends. Public radio station WXEL-FM 90.7 ceased to exist, as its call letters changed and it became a full-time classical music station. Its new owner gives lip service to creating an "all-news" format on its lower-power translator - at 101.9 FM - that will reach a fraction of the market formerly served by WXEL. According to a recent article in The Post, "all news" means no local news. It means a rebroadcast of the day's schedule from National Public Radio services in Washington, D.C. It means a void in dissemination of community information regarding events, news of charities and not-for-profit groups, local school and education items of interest, local programming for children as well as health care and features and interviews with local persons of interest. It is safe to predict that the low-power local news station, which will share its call letters - WPBI-FM - with the classical music partner, will be ignored by most listeners within its limited range, thereby becoming a total waste of a valuable broadcast frequency that could serve the community. The two FM stations will be programmed in Washington and St. Paul, Minn. Barry University and American Public Media have torn apart public broadcasting for the Palm Beaches and the Treasure Coast. As a result of the split of WXEL's TV and radio stations, it becomes doubtful that the television station can make it on its own, and that could be another loss. MURRAY GREEN Palm Beach Gardens Editor's note: Murray Green, formerly general manager of WFLX-Channel 29, is president of the Community Broadcasting Foundation of Palm Beach and the Treasure Coast (via Kevin Redding, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** U S A. KUSF LICENSE SALE AWAITS FCC APPROVAL Ben Fong-Torres Sunday, September 18, 2011 Any day now, listeners of KDFC, the classical music station that moved from an A-OK signal to an inferior one in January, may be able to hear the station more clearly. A transmitter upgrade is in the works, with a move to Marin County promising stronger reception in Marin, San Francisco, Berkeley and Oakland. Just one catch. Eight months after the deal that moved KDFC from 102.1 to 90.3 FM, which long had been home to iconic college station KUSF, the sale is still awaiting Federal Communications Commission approval. The delay may be due, at least in part, to the protests that began soon after KUSF was unplugged. . . http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/18/PK5Q1L1CAA.DTL&type=printable (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** VATICAN [and non]. Madagascar ?? Vatican Radio. 9660, Talata Volonondry ?? Sept 15, 2011. Thursday. 0403-0420. Amharic. OM's talking, with occasional ethiopian music. ID at 0411 "Vatican Radio", then talk about Sudan. EiBi says it`s coming from Madagascar at this time, but Aoki and HFCC disagree, saying it's from Santa Maria. Good reception quality makes me think EiBi is correct. Jo'burg sunrise 0406. Next morning, Friday Sept 16, 2011, from 0350-0358*, Swahili. YL presenter with what sounds like a request programme. She mentions various people by name in a wide range of far-flung African towns, interspersed with songs by an African choir. Sounds like another YL talking from 0355, several "Jesus Christus" at 0356, Vatican interval signal at 0358, and carrier suddenly cut off. Came back at 0359 with Vatican interval signal, having switched to Santa Maria (Aoki, HFCC - See Vatican City log). The Madagascar signal up to 0358* was good, but it deteriorated to just fair after *0359 with the change to Santa Maria. Yesterday after 0400 was much better; could be a propagation thing, or maybe Vatican Radio switched transmitter for a day? (Pure speculation on my part!) All transmissions to East Africa (EiBi). Jo'burg sunrise 0405. Vatican Radio. 9660 Santa Maria. Sept 16, 2011. Friday *0359-0404 Amharic. OM's talking. Fair, to East Africa (EiBi). Nowhere near as good as this time slot yesterday, September 15, I still suspect yesterday's was coming via Madagascar (purely my speculation). Jo'burg sunrise 0405 (Bill Bingham, RSA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. VATICAN STATE VISIT TO GERMANY, SEPT 22 - 25, 2011 Information about various Vatican Radio special live broadcasts: http://www.radiovaticana.org/it1/trasm_spec.asp?cod=txs_2011_09_22_ita.asp http://www.radiovaticana.org/it1/trasm_spec.asp?cod=txs_2011_09_23_ita.asp http://www.radiovaticana.org/it1/trasm_spec.asp?cod=txs_2011_09_24_ita.asp http://www.radiovaticana.org/it1/trasm_spec.asp?cod=txs_2011_09_25_ita.asp 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Sept 22, dxldyg via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 9839.885, Voice of Vietnam, via Son Tay tramsitter site, scheduled Japanese service at 1100-1130 UT, but program ended sooner at 1127 UT, when ID given in Japanese at end of program. S=9+25dB observed on remote SDR unit in Osaka, Japan. Hit heavily by VOA Mandarin on 9845 kHz from Tinang, Philippines relay {wrongly Tinian- MRA entry in Aoki list}, plus various CHINA mainland ECHO type jammer co-channel. \\ 12019.323 Followed by English service of VOV Hanoi at 1130 UT, S=9+10dB, news on Tripoli Libya, news on Tanzania Zanzibar Island ferry accident. 9839.877, Voice of Vietnam, via Son Tay tx site, scheduled Japanese service at 2200-2227 UT, noted at 2206 UT S=9+15dB. \\ 12019.323, S=9 at 2225 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Sept 12, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 16 via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 16/09/2011 2053, 1550, RADIO NACIONAL DE LA RASD, ALGERIA, Rabouni - programma in locale better USB (Mauro - Giroletti, -Swl 1510-, -IK2GFT-, -JRC525Nrd - Lowe HF150-, Filter PAR Electronics - BCST-LPF + BCST-HPF- DSP 9, -Eavesdropper SWL Sloper 11mt to 120mt Band- Loop ALA 100 M, -Lat. 45 25'0"N Long. 9 7'0"E - Locator grid. Jn 45 Nk, playdx yg via DXLD) ESTAÇÕES CLANDESTINAS: 1550, Polisario Front, Rabouni, ALG, 1804-2307, 17/9, Castilian (!), but solely for a short news bulletin after which they announced the usual 2300-2330 (formerly one full hour) program, then continued in Arabic; the program in Castilian started at 2301 with some Spanish songs; 55444. Just in case you're still looking for their HF outlet, it's off mornings and evenings. [6297.1v] On 18/9, 1011-..., 25342. I was interested in observing the time at which their signal would fade out, but forgot the whole thing, though I'd not be at all surprised, if the signal does hold till closure at 1200 as it did happen on several occasions back in July & August. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 4965, CVC International in English from Makeni ranch, located 35 km west of Lusaka Zambia. S=4-5 signal just above threshold, strong modulation. 15 32 18.89 S 28 00 09.83 E 13590, Surprisingly strong on remote SDR unit post in Melbourne-AUS, observed around 0655 UT Sept 14 on S=8-9 signal (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 11/14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 5915, ZNBC-1, Lusaka. 0245-0300 September 10, 2011. Fish eagle interval signal poking through decently, but way too much QRM -- mostly from 5910, and some on the other side -- to hear any programming from 0300 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Abridged pile of junk: JRC NRD-535; ICOM IC- R75; Hammarlund HQ-180A; Aqua Guide 705 Radio Direction Finder; Sangean PR-D5; Sony ICF-7600GR; GE SuperRadio III; RadioShack DX-399; 1 X roof dipole; 1 X in-room random wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ZNBC1. 5915, Lusaka. 2011/09/11 Sunday. 1920-1923 African choir singing. Fair - poor. Jo'burg sunset 1600. ZNBC1. 5915, Lusaka. 2011/09/13 Tuesday. 0250-0307 Missing today. Aoki and EiBi say they should be on air by now, EiBi adding that they are targetted to Southern Africa. But not there today. Still not there at later quickcheck, 0326-0331, but present and correct, although only fair, at 0350. Contrast with September 2, when it was excellent reception. Jo'burg sunrise 0409. Next morning, Wednesday 2011/09/14 from 0354-0354 [sic], on air with Afro music at quickcheck. Good, but still way down on strength and quality of September 2. Jo'burg sunrise 0407. ZNBC2. 6165, Lusaka. 2011/09/11 Sunday. 0431-0436 Afro music and quick news summary. Fair-poor. Jo'burg sunrise 0411. [and non] ZNBC2. 6165, Lusaka. 2011/09/13 Tuesday. 0250-0307 Missing today. Aoki and EiBi say they should be on air by now, EiBi adding that they are targetted to Southern Africa. But not there today. At later quickcheck, 0320-0325, Voice of Turkey was on the frequency (but poor), with news in English. Mentions of "Ankara" and then brief Turkish music. Turkey signs off at 0354*, leaving ZNBC2 JBA. Afro music from 0357, but gone again by 0415. What a contrast to September 2. Jo'burg sunrise 0409. Next morning, Wednesday 2011/09/14, stomped upon Voice of Turkey from 0346-0402. On with local news, several mentions of Zambia. At 0356 "This has been ???? at 5:45". Western popular song at 0356. ID at 0400 "This is the Zambian National Broadcaster", followed by news. Then at 0405, several "Radio Two"s. Faded in quickly from 0346, displacing Voice of Turkey, good by 0350, but still way below strength and quality of September 2. Jo'burg sunrise 0407 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. Tanzania. Radio Tanzania Zanzibar. 6015 Dole. 2011/09/11 Sunday. 0335-0345 All present and correct, ID at 0340 "Zanzibar". Fair. Jo'burg sunrise 0411. Tanzania. Radio Tanzania Zanzibar. 6015 Dole. Sept 15, 2011. Thursday. 0325-0325 Swahili, all present and correct at quickcheck. OM doing his monologue. Fair, Jo'burg sunrise 0406. Next morning, Friday Sept 16, from 0245-0308: At 0245, just a very strong open but hummy carrier, by 0255 it has changed to a very good 1kHz sine wave tone. Marimba interval signal 0258-0300, then back to hum and brass-band anthem, time pips at 0301 (a minute late by my computer clock which was synchronised with time.windows.com ten hours ago), then Swahili and ID "Zanzibar", straight into Koran. Good strong signal this morning, slight atmospheric QRN. Jo'burg sunrise 0405. And again on Saturday Sept 17, from 0330-0345. Swahili, all present and correct. Mentioned "Zanzibar" several times between 0338 and 0344. Fair, Jo'burg sunrise 0404. All local transmissions to East Africa (Bill Bingham, RSA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6015, Radio Tanzania Zanzibar again off the air on Sept 19; checking before 0300 and subsequently. As Bill Bingham (S. Africa) has commented, seems now we have to say this has an irregular schedule. Another power outage? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non?]. 570 with utility signal --- Since a couple of weeks I noticed a utility signal on 570 kHz. Initially I thought it to be a local noise, but last night when using a Finnish Perseus server I saw the same signal there also. It is strongest on my 220 antenna aiming at Spain. It is a FSK with +/- 100 Hz deviation, looks like RTTY. Right now at 1900z it is there. Also at 0400z, but not later. Any ideas what it is? [later:] Lennart Deimert reports this --- "With 99% probability it is The Russian Navy in Kaliningrad who have contact with their fleet somewhere in Northern Europe. If you try to decode the signal you should notice an address with three letter as well a sender with three letters." Bearing here with a frame antenna indicates the same direction. You can hear it evenings on a few Perseus servers in N. Germany and East- Anglia (Jurgen Bartels Suellwarden, N. Germany, Sept 20, MW: 90m bev 220 , 30 x 4m EWE 320 with JB-terminator, Winradio & Perseus http://dx.3sdesign.de/tv_offset_list.htm http://zeiterfassung.3sdesign.de/station_list.htm http://fewo.3sdesign.de - Vacation home: DX right at the Northsea coast, MWDX yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 990 Code Challenge --- While listening to KRMO 990 on 9/16 I noted five occurrences of "code" at top of hour and the half hour. I hesitate to use the word "Morse Code" because the code character is not a known alpha/numeric or punctuation mark or other character that I am aware of. The code heard is .._.. (dit dit dah dit dit) sent at very high speed. You need to slow it down to hear the individual dits and the dah. Does anyone know the source or the purpose?? At the same time the code was heard, CKGM was strong, CBW was there but nulled, KRMO was in/out and, WGSO was also heard. The character heard is not the same as the familiar Cuban RR. I can send anyone interested in hearing this a short audio clip (Tom Jasinski, Joliet, IL, 20 Sept, IRCA via DXLD) Tom, Two questions. -Could it have been .. _ _ .. and were there small gaps between the .. and - or was the whole thing run together? I will try to listen tonight if I can hear them in Iowa. (Steve Hawkins NG0G, 73 49 111 01001001, ibid.) I've gone through the International Morse Code guide, and it has to be two characters that are being put together when transmitted. Going by what Tom's describing, the only combos I can come up with are "EL", "ID", "UI", and "FE". Something else to think about – if it was being broadcast at JUST the top and bottom of the hour, it may be part of a news network's sounder, so it may not even be a station at all. 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska, ibid.) Was KRMO carrying syndicated programming at the time? Some of the "robot" controllers use a Morse-like code to tell the controller things like "Place commercial here" and time synching. They're supposed to mute the codes but maybe the controller was down or malfunctioning (Tim Hills, Sioux Falls, SD, ibid.) No automation system in radio I know of uses morse code to tell an automation what to do. Rather, in the old days, 25/35 Hz tones were sent to fire off commercials. Now, spots are hard timed or triggered by the satellite; however, I`ve heard stations where the triggers to fire off something local were audible even though they weren't supposed to be. That being said, an inaudible satellite cue that mistakenly becomes audible is usually a very deep sounding thud/thump, is one quick tone or sounds like touchtones form a phone, not morse code (Paul Walker, ibid.) Paul, I said "Morse-like".... A short series of short and long tones that might sound like Morse to someone who didn't know code. SDPR used to use something like that to cue TOH IDs, EBS tests, etc. We were linked through microwave relays rather than satellite with the NPR feed in Vermillion then fed through the microwave relays. I don't recall the name of the system and since I worked on the TV side I didn't deal with it anyway. If I recall correctly it was sent in the SCA but since MW has no SCA channel it may be bleeding through a faulty controller. On the State TV network we sent the control signals in the vertical interval of the video but I got out of broadcasting many Moons before HDTV (Tim Hills, Sioux Falls, SD, ibid.) There are a number of programs or stations where a series of tones are broadcast at or near TOH, usually just before an ID. I hear these routinely on some of the GY channels. They aren't rapid-fire as Tom initially described, nor are they code. My hunch has been that these are part of the satellite feed to make the break for the local ID, and that they may be intended to be suppressed, but that isn't happening. That may or may not be what's happening here, as I haven't heard the recording (Russ Edmunds, 15 mi NNW of Philadelphia, ibid.) Russ, What you're hearing is usually the cue to open up the satelitte channel for TOH News. Since most networks feed silence the channel is opened up right before it's actually needed. But, this however, isn't limited to just graveyard channels (Paul Walker, ibid.) I realize it isn't - but that happens to be where 90+% of my AM DX'ing happens.? ;-} (Russ Edmunds, 15 mi NNW of Philadelphia, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4779.87, 7.9 2315, unID Latin American (Cf. DX-Window no. 436) Spanish talk, heterodyne from carrier on 4780.00, 12111, AP- DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Shortwave Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) 4779.902, 0000 to 0030, per log Anker P, not enough audio here, on several days 12, 13 September (Bob Wilkner, NRD 535D Gilfer - Drake R8 - Icom 746Pro D L, noise reducing antenna, Pómpano Beach, South Flórida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4781.6? Two male announcers with lengthy Spanish talk, sounds like an interview of sorts, at 2342 here in northern N.H. Anyone else getting this? If so, any guesses whom it may be? LADX site lists R. Oriental, Ecuador last logged March 2010 on this frequency. Whoever it was just pulled the plug at 0004 (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, N.H. USA, Sept 20-UT 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) In dswci DBS list: 4780 GTM R Cultural Coatán, San Sebastian JAN09 4781.5 BOL R Tacana, Tumupasa, Inturralde, La Paz MAR10 4781.6 EQA R Oriental, Tena, Napo MAR10 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4910, unknown mysterious radio networking on only this date 9/9 1945+, with a sport type program though audio is very low. Found to be // 5040 and // 4810 (slightly better audio, language seems Portuguese, and possibly simulcast to all) (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Would that fit for AIR cricket special? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Maybe this has been commented already, but; sounds like All India Radio extended sports program (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, HCDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6045.00, 0243-0334, Sept 14, carrier only, also noted Sept 15 & 16 in same time period. Seems this might be ZBC Gweru reactivated? Last time I heard them on this frequency was July 2010 with similar low modulation (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, TenTec RX-340, 30 m longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6050, Sept 19 at 1240 started to listen to music, poor signal, presumed RTMalaysia, but cut off the air at 1241*, breakdown? Or could it have been Lhasa? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6075.732, 8.9 0111*, Still unID. Didn’t manage to get an ID this night either - the transmitter was switched off in the middle of the music at 0111. Just as always a weak signal and even weaker audio. Not heard at all the following days. Noted them back again on Sept 12 just to vanish already at 2235. Again heard on Sept. 17 with an ID at 0112 where you can hear a clear “Radio . “. Also managed to catch a weak ID on Sept. 05 at 0056. Henrik Klemetz and Fredrik Dourén have listened to this recording and in their opinion the ID (this time in Spanish), “could” sound like Radio Kawsachun Coca. But they are far from convinced due to the mix of Portuguese and Spanish in the programming. Another recording in Portuguese from Aug. 23 was sent to Carlos Gonçalves but he couldn’t tell what it was other than maybe a drifting Brasilian. The RKC webstream has been down most nights during the end of August and thus has not been of any help. Thanks to Henrik Klemetz, Fredrik Dourén, Carlos Gonçalves and Mauno Ritola for taking their time to listen and comment the recordings. On Sept 17 at 2317 I was at last able to check the webstream audio and the station at the same time (now on 6075.42). The RKC webstream had several minutes of talk and at the same time the station had music. If the audio streams are // the delay would be max 10-30 seconds or so?? But definitely not in parallel at least at this time. The RKC webstream music was very Bolivian stylish and the music on 6075 was of completely different style. The mystery continuesas, it seems (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, Shortwave Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) I'm very curious to know if anyone has come any nearer to identifying the mystery station on 6075.72v. I have been doing some monitoring these past few days and found what must be the same UNID on slightly higher 6075.75 this morning (Sept 17) from 0249 on whereas they were definitely missing at around the same time on Sept. 14, 15 & 16. You must have read Glen[n] Hauser's comment in DXLD suggesting that this might be "an unknown Brazilian". Is it, after all? 6075.75, 17.9 0249, R Kawsachun Coca?, carrier only, random checks to 0326 tune out. Assume same station as previously reported on 6075.72v but appeared to have crept up very slightly. Was definitely missing on 14, 15 & 16.9 in same time period (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, SW Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [and non]. 6104.74, Carrier here again at 1015. Definitely has that Asian sound to it. Not there after 1100. (10 Sept.) CHINA/TAIWAN, 6105, CRI *1000 tone and usual CRI melody with announcements by M and W. No sign of 6104.74 signal. Did indeed find 6104.74 on the air at 1007. Much too weak and too much 6105 QRM to get any audio. May be a spur. Have observed the signal on the NRD-535D, Eton E-1, and Perseus. (18 Sept.) (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, NRD-535D and Perseus, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) Could not hear it today via Japanese or Australian remote receivers. 73, (Mauno Ritola, 1040 Sept 19, Cumbre DX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 9740, 1318 September 17, 2011. Seemingly non-Arabic Islamic vocals, announcer at 1328, talk until 1337 vocals. Clear, fair. Maybe Iran, though I can't seem to find where they are currently on this channel at this time (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Abridged pile of junk: JRC NRD-535; ICOM IC-R75; Hammarlund HQ-180A; Aqua Guide 705 Radio Direction Finder; Sangean PR-D5; Sony ICF-7600GR; GE SuperRadio III; RadioShack DX-399; 1 X roof dipole; 1 X in-room random wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Radio 9 de Julho, Brazil, 9819.8? There was an unidentified station heard at my QTH at 2358, 19 September on 9819.8. Very weak, and definitely not Chinese. ORF came on at 0000 and has been in an endless loop of Blue Danube and multilingual IDs without any programming. The Happy Habsburgs stomped all over that little signal and I hope it's still there when they march off. Just a heads up for this possible 2nd Brazilian rarity from Sao Paulo. 73 (Al Muick, Whitehall PA USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmmm, Austria was about to shift to 9830, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 9818.773 kHz - noted in Melbourne-AUS at 0620 UT Sept 14, most tentatively ZYR96 Radio 9-Nove de Julho, São Paulo-SP religious Portuguese, Rádio Catolica, registered in dswci DBS list as 9818.7 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 14, dxldyg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 9860-USB, Sept 19 at 1346, intruder, 2-way conversation atop very weak AM carrier, in SE Asian language, Vietnamese or similar. One side much stronger than the other, still going at 1406. The AM would be CNR1 or BSKSA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 11510, Mystery station. Hi Glenn, I heard this one last night. I don't know if I've missed something, or if it's a new station: 11510 Location?? Sept 15, 2011. Thursday. 1733-1800* Distinctive "Horn of Africa" type music. Aoki, EiBi and WRTH Updates only list VOA in Tibetan via Thailand, jammed by CNR1; this sounds like neither. Noted from DXLD 11-14 that Radio Sawa used this frequency for three days in March 2011 (27, 28, 29), but no mention since that I can find; and the music heard tonight is not Arabic. Music all the way to sign off at 1800*, but I couldn't catch the language or ID; it didn't sound Arabic. Poor, but would have been readable to someone who understood the language. Jo'burg sunset 1601 (Bill Bingham, RSA, Sept 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Two days later, Saturday Sept 17, listened from 1720 to 1845. No sign of the mysterious "Horn of Africa" station tonight. Not there. Jo'burg sunset 1602. (LATER 18/9/11: Just read in DXLD 11-37 about the new VOA drought transmissions to the Horn of Africa. But it seems they are all talk, whereas this one is all music). (Bingham, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. Now there is a new UNIDentified transmission: 1700-1740 on 12130 KCH 100 kW / 180 deg to EaAF Sunday only, noted on Sep. 18. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Sept 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Mercoledì 21 settembre 2011 (E5), 0909, 15155 Int/sig VTC-BABCOCK - Tests? - MB [molto bene]. I segnali c'erano un po' di più, ma sbalzavano ancora in modo instabile, a blocchi di 10-15 minuti!!! Per avere un'idea della situazione dei giorni scorsi basta dare un'occhiata ai diagrammi GOES della propagazione: sembrava impazzita, tutta zig-zag su e giù. Con una situazione così bisognerebbe stare 24 ore su 24 con la radio accesa, tipo E-sporadico. (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova) - Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Still a mystery. Gentlemen, during the 1970s there was a French speaking station on 19m; I think it was on 15345, that used to play rock tracks with a rich bassy sound, and at 2200 used an ID by male chorus with the letters "WLJM", or something alike. Does anybody remember that one. 73s. (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, Sept 16, 2011, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The closest to this that I have in my log book is Radio Luxembourg on 15350. My earliest log on this frequency was in February 1980, in French from 2045-2115. The only slogan I have in my log was the famous “RTL” jingle. The only log I have from that period on 15345 near that time frame was Radio Kuwait in English, from 2030-2100* (--Larry Cunningham, ibid.) Thx Larry. In fact the closest thing I had in mind was RL. But that ID I heard at TOH sounded to me too American in a french service. 73s. (Raúl Saavedra, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 15520, Sept 19 at 1336, open carrier with flutter. Nothing listed now, but HFCC and Aoki show the next occupant is YFR via UAE from 1400 in Hindi, and Aoki also has Firedrake on 15520 from 12 to 13 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 16317-AM, Sept 19 at 1333-1340*, 6-note ``interval signal`` repeating. Nothing to explain it in Klingenfuss 2002y, nor EiBi who includes various utilities now. Of the 36,158 posts so far in the UDXF yg, not a single hit, searching on 16317 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 16850.5-USB, Sept 17 at 2039-2050+, talk about horses in Luso Portuguese catches my ear; at first it sounds like a broadcast, the fellow is so glib and well-modulated, a feeder? No, eventually he pauses and hear a response from a much weaker signal. Klingenfuss 2002 SW Frequency guide shows 16850.5 not as SSB but as a digital channel 89 for coast stations. Of the 36,133 posts so far in the UDXF yg, searching on 16850, 16850.5 and messing with the decimal positioning does not get a single hit (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 17505, Sept 19 at 1329-1330* VTC/BaBCock music loop, testing from somewhere? Nothing scheduled in HFCC, Aoki or EiBi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 21680-SSB, Sept 19 at 1411 very weak traces of 2-way here, frequency approximate, but in any event an intruder (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Glenn; I am a lapsed SWL just getting back into active listening, and so glad to see WOR is still going strong. I was a RIB subscriber in the 80s and active WOR listener as well. I remember eagerly checking the mailbox when it was RIB time! Hope you are well. Best regards, (Brian (Scott) Gamble, with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com WORLD OF RADIO 1583) Hang in there, old sport (Gerald T Pollard, Raleich NC, with an equinoxial check to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702) [to be acknoledged next week] CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ HFCC B-11 DALLAS, GLENN HAUSER`S REPORT I was pleased to drop in on the B-11 HFCC meeting in Dallas TX, this time jointly with the ASBU, drawing in several delegates from Africa and the Middle East, September 12-16. It was a 600-mile round trip I could drive in only five hours each, perhaps a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to attend an HFCC without flying overseas to Kuala Lumpur or somewhere; but since I was paying my own way [would any SW station like to retain me as a paid frequency consultant??], I could only spend 24 hours there, Wednesday-Thursday Sept 14-15, and managed to meet many of the almost 100 delegates, but not all of them. Name tags were worn around the neck, which means they were often out of sight, or flipped backwards, and it`s rather gauche to ask people to fish them out so you can identify them, rather than sneaking a peek at name tags firmly and boldly planted on the breast. I was too busy to take notes most of the time, so I began writing as soon as I got back, and added further recollexions the following week. Non-alfabetical country headings are inserted here in DXLD style for ease of reference, and are also cross-referenced in this issue, in some cases duplicated. Portions were summarized on WORLD OF RADIO 1583. All photos by gh except those of gh. Some were from the HFCC meeting room at the hotel, some from the dinner at the Mexican restaurant, and others from the Continental Electronics factory tour. We are greatly indebted to Adil Mina of Continental Electronics Corp., http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc07.jpg for sponsoring the meeting, including tour of their factory and dinner following. ** ANGUILLA, U S A. At short notice, George McClintock invited me to join the CBB (Caribbean Beacon) delegation, i.e. him, for my visit to HFCC. http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc32.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc21.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc22.jpg (As George was inspecting a large tube-holder) Many thanks; it was nice being an Anguillan for a while. Fortunately, there was not too much coördinating for him to be concerned about as 6090 only has a couple of possible problems on adjacent frequencies, but not really. (Co-channels from Nigeria, Brasil, neither participating, are another matter.) He`s also looking after his own WTWW, of course. George was taking a much needed break from `25-hour- a-day` work installing WTWW #2 back in Tennessee, and brought back an unneeded part to return to Continental. Looks like it will be on air before too much longer. At the same time I was an Anguillan, http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc40.jpg I was also an Albanian, or so it seemed from the red and black ALBANIA cap that Drita Çiço gave me. http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc42.jpg ** ALBANIA. Unfortunately she could not attend. (We later learned that Drita`s eldest son had just died!) (And R. Tirana remains off the air at the moment, but coördination for the B-11 season continues on the assumption it will be back once the studio-transmitter-linx are replaced). Not Alabama[i]an as someone misread the cap at a glance, wondering why an Oklahoman would wear that! ** INTERNATIONAL. Jeff White, organizer of the meeting, facilitated our attendance, many thanks, along with his wife Thaïs and her sister Johanna Silva, and Juan Elías Tobia who came up from Venezuela. http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc41.jpg Doug Garlinger was there, former engineer of WHRI, now working for the ABC-TV station in Indianapolis, but still very interested in SW. He said he had appreciated my work (I might have replied, too bad that Joe Hill didn`t); and I appreciate his, such as his QSL gallery at http://www.garlinger.com I was also gratified to hear directly from several other people there that they read and appreciate DXLD! It was also nice to meet Glen Tapley of WEWN; Jeff Cohen again of WRN along with his new colleague James Serpell; Mathias Svensson and colleague of CVC La Voz; Walter Brodowsky of MBR, http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc36.jpg the well-known verie-signer but who is primarily frequency manager of this very large and complex operation; Bernd Friedewald, independent frequency manager (BFM); Giuseppe Cirillo of AWR, who built the later deleted Forlì, Italy station; Graham Baker of FEBC, who is still raving about what a beautiful place Saipan is (or was, as far as FEBC is concerned), along with Chris Cooper, [behind gh] http://w4uvh.net/hfcc40.jpg who mentioned that FEBC had done some brief DRM tests, but I am not sure from which site; Gérald Théoret of RCI à Montréal who laments that Sackville SW usage is declining. I also snapped the Ukrainians across the restaurant: http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc33.jpg ** CZECHIA. It was also great to see Oldrich Cip, head of the HFCC, who reminded me that we had met once before at the EDXC conference I attended in Vienna --- sometimes in the 70s, we think. He said he was `escorted` by a minder from the then Communist government of Czechoslovakia which made him very uneasy at the time, unbeknownst to us. Oldrich`s airname was Peter Skala when R. Prague had a DX program. ** U S A. Tom Lucey of FCC http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc31.jpg revealed that altho KVOH failed to renew its license, and thus has been off the air for several months, now they have done so, and presumably will be returning; 17775 was their only frequency, and only in the daytime but not daily. Nothing was mentioned about a fine. What about KTMI? No sign they are making any progress in Oregon or even constructing, tho they keep registering a SW schedule, even tho their CP has now expired, but hey, registering an imaginary SW schedule does no harm as long as no one believes it (gh`s comment). ** CAMBODIA [non]. Hot news direct from Ludo Maes of TDP in person. (With his much shorter TDP companion Mireya Martínez). http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc16.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc18.jpg Remember Khmer Post Radio which was on air briefly last year? Based in Long Beach. They are coming back starting Sept 21, on Wed/Thu/Fri only at 1200-1300 on 9960 via PALAU. Don`t forget the `the` when you try to see http://www.thekhmerpost.com And another Cambodian clandestine also based in California, at Fresno, is starting up at the same time and frequency on Saturdays only, from Sept 17, KPPM Radio. See http://www.kppmradio.org where we learn what it means: Khmer People Power Movement (not a US callsign!). They also announced this on their Facebook Sept 3: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Khmer-Power-Movement-KPM/276670769252 ``Khmer Power Movement (KPM) --- KPPM Radio live its program broadcasting to Cambodia throug short wave air, please listen KPPM Radio in Cambodia on every Saturday, from 7:00PM to 8:00PM at AM or SW through frequencies: 9960 kHz, 31 meter.`` I should have asked Ludo if he can round up a few more Cambodian dissidents to fill out the week? He made a presentation earlier in the meeting promoting DRM as he sees the future going exclusively digital in whatever media. He confessed to me that disco/dance music is not his personal favorite, but that`s what TDP Radio wants to carry. I suggest they might spur more interest in DRM with broader musical options, even classical. After all, imperfect analog is the excuse not to carry much classical on SW. ** KURDISTAN [non]. TDP had registered a frequency change for V. of Mesopotamia starting early September, 7460 instead of 7540, via Ukraine at 16-20. But it stayed on 7540, after concerns from R. Tirana that 7460 would QRM some of its broadcasts on 7465. Ludo Maes told me that had agreed not to make the change, but the client still needs a frequency below 7540 to accommodate some receivers among its audience which will not tune above 7.5 MHz. ** KUWAIT. I had a chance to ask the delegate from the MOI, Ghadeer Alkhabaz, to give the correct English schedule to the announcers in that language. 15540 at 1800-2100 continues to be registered as Arabic instead of the English which we hear but they claim it is on 11990, long-abandoned; and the 05-08 on 15110 has been off the air for years. I hope this leads to fixing the announcements rather than the real language on the frequency. ** ALGERIA [non]. She (not pictured) and a young woman from TDA (Algeria), Amel Djenane, http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc10.jpg were both dressed in formally modest Arab attire, but not covering their faces. ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Rocus deJoode of RNW confirmed that Bonaire is set to close down at the end of the A-12 season. It does not look like anyone else is interested in taking it over, as there is not that much demand for SW services in the Americas any more, but they are open to inquiries. Madagascar`s fate is not quite so certain yet. Along with him was a colleague from the Talata transmitters, Tovonirina Razananaivo. He must have travelled the greatest distance to get to Dallas, via Paris, Amsterdam and then direct to DFW. He was seated next to me for the Wednesday evening dinner at a Mexican restaurant, the Blue Mesa Grill, featuring the Mariachi Michoacán de Mario Fernández band which he really enjoyed. They were very good, playing almost continuously for 2+ hours. http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc30.jpg They got a brief break when Radu Ianculescu from Romania borrowed a violin to play a tune. One of the octet was quite nimble on the harp, not illustrated on their business card, http://www.mariachimichoacan.com I would have enjoyed the music even more had I remembered to bring my earplugs as the trumpets were a bit blaring within the confines of the restaurant. I can`t imagine how people seated right up front next to them could take it, and yet people all over were apparently carrying out conversations. At this meal, breakfast, lunch and coffee breaks, we were always very well-fed, from buffets. ** MADAGASCAR. Had a nice conversation with Kevin Chambers, Director of Engineering at World Christian Broadcasting. Target for Madagascar World Voice to start up is now toward the end of the B-11 season. A test schedule has been registered effective as early as 1 February 2012. But we saw the transmitters still in the Continental factory. They are almost complete but obviously have not been shipped yet. Antennas are as wind-resistant as they can afford to build them, but cyclones periodically hit the area, even on the NW coast of the island, and are bound to batter the station at some point. He says sometimes the storms head up the Mozambique channel, sometimes loop around from the north. ** ALASKA. As for KNLS Alaska, WCB continue to have problems getting needed parts for one of the old transmitters, but still hope to have the second one back on the air during the B-11 season. Kevin agreed that they need to watch out for unregistered Taiwan/China jamming on KNLS frequencies. He does rely on a few reception reports from dentro- China. They expect to reach southern China better from Madagascar than they can now from the other side via Alaska, and are also looking forward to serving Latin America from Madagascar, altho propagation predictions are not too favorable. I told him that the other Madagascar station, the RNW relay, enjoys good reception even here regardless of the azimuth, as we are close to antipodal, so MWV should also do well. Did not seem to think that the RNW facilities, soon up for grabs, would have been suitable for WCB needs. WCB is already broadcasting in Spanish via WRMI; WCB operates out of Nashville to its very remote SW site(s), and they invited me to visit should I be in TN. ** U S A. The Big Three of WWCR were there, but strangely enough, our paths never crossed. I guess they were not ready to apologize for throwing me off their air. It seemed they spent most of the time standing just outside the totally no-smoking hotel to indulge their addixions. Tsk3. Another reason not to get anywhere near them. ** ROMANIA vs IRAN. I talked to the delegates from both countries about the collision at 0400-0430 on 11920 (yes, just reconfirmed at 0420 Sept 16 and 0400 Sept 22). I don`t know if they ever got together about it, but Gabriel Stanciu indicated Romania seemed willing to move. (Altho it was caused by Iran precipitously moving its ``Voice of Justice`` English hour to North America two hours later than when the season started without being sure the same frequency would still be clear.) Yes, Iran --- two delegates attending this first HFCC inside the USA, a nice example of international cooperation, visas accepted, despite no diplomatic relations. Amirhoushang Akbarpour and Alireza Sharifi of IRIB were also on the Continental tour and seemed quite interested; maybe Iran is looking for some new transmitters? One of them is in the red shirt: http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc13.jpg Unfortunately we had a hard time finding a common language to communicate in, also the case with some of the other delegates. But their main job is crunching numbers, consulting propagation programs, heading off collisions on their laptops plugged into the HFCC intranet. See below for visa discussion from Jeff White. ** RUSSIA [and non]. Overheard at lunch, (but he knew I was at the table), Adil Mina of CEC revealed that Russia is expected to start ordering a lot of SW transmitters from CEC, and Thomson, starting in January. It seems Russia requires that they be finally assembled in- country, so they will be shipped slightly incomplete as a `kit` with a few final things to be done. He was hoping to persuade some Romanians familiar with their Continentals to go help the Russians with the last steps. Mr Mina, who also speaks Arabic, is quite the enthusiastic salesman for his transmitters. He said that they keep building 100 kW ones as there is always a market demand for them, but only make 250s to order; and 500s are really too big and not worth it (tho, if you really want to pay the price, well…) ** SPAIN [and non]. Fernando Almarza of REE tells me that they plan to start a second DRM transmission soon via COSTA RICA, to Brasil, presumably on 11815. The total transmission-hours at Noblejas are set, so if something is added there, something else must be removed, but this does not apply to the CR relay. This may explain some of the odd scheduling, like certain transmissions missing one day of the week to accommodate silly ballgames at other times on weekends. Fernando http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc34.jpg insisted on flashing a V = victory salute when I aimed my camera at him (as did someone else behind his head…) http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc35.jpg ** COSTA RICA [and non]. We have reported several times that the off- frequency 5954.2v transmitter of ELCOR, carrying Radio República, produces a het with R. Nederland which is properly on 5955 starting at 0500 for Europe. Of course, RR also draws Cuban jamming around 5955. I heard that RN has attempted to get Elcor back on frequency by supplying them a new crystal, but they haven`t got around to installing it. Altho this is a frustrating episode, other big stations should be so proactive in trying to get rid of Latin hets if not Latin transmitters on the same channels. AT THE CEC FACTORY: http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc28.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc25.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc27.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc04.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc05.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc09.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc08.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc20.jpg we saw several high-power SW transmitters in various stages of construxion, including two destined for Madagascar World Voice http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc19.jpg and a DRM one running into a dummy load, with a display of the DRM waveform, quite unlike analog modulation. http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc12.jpg http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc17.jpg Dan Dickey, President/CEO of Continental Electronics http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc15.jpg confirmed that they do not have any antennas on the site, so they don`t have to worry about licensing transmissions, and the dummy loads allow them all they need to do in order to test and tweak the transmitters. They even have trouble picking up the DL inside the building. Upon departing we were each given a red gift bag http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc23.jpg containing a curved plexiglass thingie inscribed with HFCC and CEC logos; a combination flashlight and screwdriver with multiple heads; and a paperweight(?) on a cord with a clip. On the way *out* we spotted an inconspicuous sign on the wall that not only are guns prohibited but so are cameras, http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc26.jpg including those in phones, etc. Fortunately many of us had been snapping lots of shots with no objexions. IN THE HOTEL ROOM: The Sheraton North Dallas hotel`s TV system had some 40 channels, not including essential ones like Comedy Central (but with MSNBC on low- tier channel 8; is that anything like cable in Dallas?). It also featured RUSSIA TODAY, my first opportunity to view that on a TV screen. News seemed rather repetitious; saw same stories more than once in the hour or so I watched in the morning. Some stories involving the US had a rather negative spin, but maybe that`s to be expected from a non-US source. RT has blonde anchorettes with strange British rather than Russian accents, and I snapped a couple. http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc37.jpg And a skipped blurrier photo of the second one had her name: Kate Partridge: http://www.w4uvh.net/hfcc39.jpg The only other foreign channel was NHK WORLD, nice to have full access to that rather than a semihour daily we get thru OKLA subchannel of OETA in OK. On some of the channels, many of the local commercial breaks were occupied rather roughly by promotion for Sheraton`s in- hotel pay-movies. (Glenn Hauser at HFCC B-11 Dallas, Sept 14-15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [If quoting any excerpts, you must add the final credit line just above to each item!] Later on I had a question for Jeff White: ``Hi Jeff, I was wondering about the visas. Not knowing much about how this works, was it a task to get the Iranians, for example, into the country? Or is lack of diplomatic relations etc., not such an obstacle as one would think? Glenn`` ``Glenn: Oh yes, helping people get visas is one of the biggest tasks, and it starts months ahead of time of course. We send them personal letters of invitation, letters confirming hotel reservations and other documentation they might need to get a visa. We've done this for the conferences in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Switzerland before the Dallas conference. Each country is different of course. A lot of countries don't have a Dominican embassy, so we were able to make special arrangements for most people (even the Chinese; the DR recognizes Taiwan). We also had special arrangements with the Mexican immigration authorities to get visas for conference participants. Switzerland was a little easier, since they have embassies almost everywhere. A handful of people were not able to get visas for the Dallas conference, but in most cases it was because they didn't start early enough. Visa processing times can take up to a few months or so in some cases. The most challenging were the Iranian visas, because there is no US embassy in Iran. The Iranians have to go to Dubai or Ankara normally in person to apply, and again to get their passports stamped if the visa is approved. And the appointments are normally limited to one day a month and have to be made a month in advance. It's really hard to get appointments for the Iranians. In the end, we were able to get special appointments for the Iranian delegates to HFCC Dallas at the US embassy in Azerbaijan, and the visas were approved relatively quickly. The IBB was of help during part of this procedure, and we appreciate their assistance. Jeff`` I visited Dallas TX Sept 14-15 for the HFCC meeting. An intense 24 hours, no time for local monitoring, but I did note a few things: 700, on the way back in southern OK evening of Sept 15, I was surprised to find KHSE Wylie (= The Metroplex) in English, including DJ introducing S Asian music after adstring in English of numerous Asian businesses. Usually it`s not in English when heard in Enid. 990, KFCD Farmersville (= The Metroplex), at 2348 UT Sept 15 in southern OK, with ad/promo for http://www.radioexitosfm.net música de los 70s y 80s --- not clear immediately whether this was the service we were really listening to on 990. Ha, the website says 80s y 90s, moving forward? Just try to figure out from the website where this is physically located?! Galería de fotos includes two shots of XHSG-FM 99.9, Crystal FM, in Piedras Negras, Radiorama, which could be a hint. Some of the linx are dead, but not Facebook, which includes this: Radio Exitos FM 99.3 o 98.5 -- 106.7 o 107.9 FM Culaquier Frequencia [sic], AM o FM Programación Para Tu radio 24 Horas. Con Soporte técnico a Control remoto e Imagen Personalisada para tu radio am o fm, llámanos, para más información al tel 214-628-5742. Cámbiate a un Formato de Exitos Comprobado Radio Exitos FM e-mail dagoberto@radioexitosfm.com September 14 at 6:00pm Like Comment So the area code on that is back in Dallas. and this: Radio Exitos escúchanos en http://www.radioexitos.us Radio Exitos.us Ahora En Tu Celular http://www.tunein.com radioexitosfm http://www.radioexitos.us LLévanos Contigo Y Disfruta de Exitos de Los 80's y 90,s En Radio Exitos FM Desde Texas Hasta Tu Celular Inteligente en Vivo Live Radio Saturday at 9:26pm Like Comment Which merely leads back to the original homepage I heard announced. I took the liberty of fixing up their Spanish with accents, not spelling, mayusculación or grammar. 1480, KNIT Dallas is definitely still off the air, as it has been since July to put in a new ground system, Paul Walker reported. This also helps make KQAM Wichita easier to hear back in Enid, less QRM (Glenn Hauser, TX & OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. FM observations on the way to and from Dallas - Google maps showed only a few minutes difference in some alternative routes in the Enid-OKC leg, so I followed my usual route on US 81, SH 3, I-44 to I-240 to I-35 in OKC, and I-35 all the way to Dallas, I- 35E, to I-635 loop. On the way down in the morning of Sept 14, I wanted to follow the NPR news/talk stations KOSU and KGOU, with some respite from classical KCSC. KOSU and KCSC lasted farther than I expected into southern OK, not quite to the Red River border with Baja Oclajoma. These are from recollexion a week later as I was driving sólo and not taking copious notes (or any notes). KROU 105.7, the KGOU relay in northern OKC is getting out better toward Enid now that it has moved to the KFOR tower; more solid signal, not much dropoutting or picketfencing anymore; we can pick it up from Hennessey onward, once the 105.5 translator in Enid is out of the way. After KGOU 106.3 Norman faded out, I didn`t expect anything further from them, but found // on 91.9 for a while, which must be KOUA in Ada, a relayer recently started of only one sesquikilowatt, but only about 30 miles away from I-35 at the closest point near Pauls Valley, sufficient. (It`s co-channel to another public radio relay in the next town eastward, KBCW McAlester, which KCSC is always jointly IDing, but KBCW is even less of a force, only 700 watts.) Around Ardmore we have to rely on 90.3 KLCU, which is a full-time relayer of KCCU out of Lawton, classical instead of news/talk, and KLCU is one of the KCCU satellites with IBOC, which wipes out anything left of 90.1 KCSC-FM (and 90.5), and also means you won`t get KERA Dallas until further into TX. KERA has a shorter range anyway than some of the commercial FMs there, e.g. WRR 101.1, commercial classical which we could still hear into southern OK on the way up, but there`s a gap on 90.1 between KCSC and KERA, worsened by the 90.3 IBOC. FM Atlas shows not much difference in primary coverage radius, KERA 79 vs WRR 87 km. Didn`t care much for KERA`s recently acquired substation on 91.7, mostly jazz. (KERA is off the hook for classical tnx to WRR, a vanishing species.) (Glenn Hauser, OK-TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) EURORADIO 2011 Next weekend on Saturday September 24th this EURORADIO 2011 will take place in CALAIS (North of France). For more details visit http://www.offshoreechos.com R.W.I's will join the party there! Peter HILLS & Philippe Now listen to us on the net via http://www.pirateradionetwork.com/ RADIO WAVES INTERNATIONAL http://go.to/rwi (Sept 18 via Roberto Scaglione, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ RADIO STATION MAGNET COLLECTOR You mentioned the Italian guys going to Peru and collecting stickers. I collect magnets and would love some from more radio stations. Thanks! (Jack Smith, NC, purpleman420 @ hotmail.com http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/ Stulti rident linguam Latinam, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MUSEA +++++ BBC - RADIO 4 - IN OUR TIME - EXTENSIVE ONLINE ARCHIVES NOW AVAILABLE The entire audio archive of the BBC Radio 4 Melvyn Bragg series "In Our Time", which focuses on the "History of Ideas", is now available for download / podcast, even here in the USA. The series is organized thematically; a quick inspection yields audio available dating back to 1998 http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/in-our-time/podcasts/ I also enjoy the series "More Or Less" -- it's a look at numbers and statistics and how they're used and mis-used. Audio archives dating back to 2003 are available for this program - see http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/more_or_less/8704152.stm for archives from 2003 through June 2010; newer programs are in the newer (and more spartan, I'd say) content management format, available here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qshd/episodes/player Have a great weekend! (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, internetradio via DXLD) ANNOUNCE: ShortWaveMusic 2011 Hi Glenn: I'm writing in to announce the imminent launch of the sixth season of my ionospheric music blog, ShortWaveMusic http://www.myke.me This season's crop was recorded over two weeks traversing the United Arab Emirates. Beginning 1 October 2011, I'll be presenting new music from a few familiar faces (China Radio International, All India Radio, Voice of Turkey) and some gorgeous new catches (Radio Payam-e-Doost, Radyo Dengi Kurdistana, Radio Fana). There’s an influx of Kurdish and African music (particularly from Eritrea) and a significant cross- section of regional Iranian stations (including Zanjan, Ardabil, and Hormozgan). A complete list of broadcasters and a few sneak preview clips can be found online, http://www.myke.me Readers can also find ShortWaveMusic on Facebook and receive occasional updates, and downloads. Thanks for your time! All best, (Myke D Weiskopf, Sept 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DokuFunk --- Vienna’s Dokumentationsarchiv Funk – The Documentary Archives Radio Communications --- By Wolf Harranth, Curator DSWCI is one of the many Supporting Members of Viennabased “DokuFunk”, has indeed been a great supporter for many years. So it is about time to introduce ourselves – and to invite you to join our ranks, and to perhaps convince you that your personal collection might, some day, be added to the appr. 1.500 we care for, so far. It is true. Our full name is not that easy to remember: "Documentary Archive for the History of Radio Communication and Electronic Media". But it explains in one sentence exactly who we are, what we do, our aims and ambitions. We’re passionate about radio. We’re also passionate about ensuring that great radio stories are preserved for future generations. Thanks to global support, we’ve managed to create a unique place where radio history comes alive. It is an active collection, in constant use. . . http://www.dswci.org/specials/misc/201109_dokufunk.pdf (DSWCI via DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY See BELARUS +++++++++++++++++ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ CONTINENTAL ELECTRONIC CORP. FACTORY VISIT: See also C&C: HFCC REPORT MEDIA BUREAU TO PERMIT USE OF ENERGY-SAVING TRANSMITTER TECHNOLOGY BY AM STATIONS PUBLIC NOTICE Federal Communications Commission 445 12th St., S.W. Washington, D.C. 20554 News Media Information 202 / 418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov TTY: 1-888-835-5322 DA 11-1535 September 13, 2011 By this Public Notice, the Media Bureau (Bureau) announces that it will permit AM stations to use transmitter technologies that reduce power consumption while maintaining both audio quality and licensed coverage areas. Such technologies, known generally as Modulation Dependent Carrier Level (“MDCL”) control technologies or algorithms, have long been used by international broadcasters operating high- powered AM transmitters. Easier implementation of MDCL algorithms and higher energy costs have recently made these techniques more attractive to domestic broadcasters. Use of MDCL technologies requires a waiver of Section 73.1560(a) of the Commission’s Rules,1 which sets upper and lower limits for an AM station’s operating power. We hereby establish procedures for AM broadcasters to seek a rule waiver in order to use energy-saving MDCL technologies. . . http://www.fcc.gov/document/media-bureau-permit-use-energy-saving-transmitter-technology (via Ben Dawson, DXLD) Glenn, This has been in the works now for about 3 or 4 years, based originally on the really high electrical costs in rural Alaska. However, it's proven to be so successful that FCC staff have issued the attached Public Notice (Ben Dawson, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See ALASKA Radio Items in "OnThe Media" Hi, Glenn! Do you listen to the NPR program "On The Media"? It's one of my favorites, and I try to hear it every week. Unfortunately, locally it's broadcast at 5 PM Sunday, which means a conflict with the TV news broadcasts and with going out for Sunday evening events. But it IS available on-line. Anyway, this week there were a couple very good radio-related segments, one on hams & dxpeditions and the new radio country of South Sudan, and another on electromagnetic quiet zones and medical issues related to those. Here's the on-line link: http://www.onthemedia.org/2011/sep/16/ 73, (Will Martin, MO, Sept 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: A lot of Perseus SDRs for sale Let's be honest about it: Perseus is a terrible thing. It receives too much, making us slave on large recordings to uncover obscure signals and identifications. And as if this wasn't enough, it makes you connect to other Perseus on the other side of the planet to do even more of the same. It makes you a slave of your listening habit. With it you can listen (and re-listen) twenty four hours a day and not be finished yet. I wonder how many Perseus widows there are out there. Maybe it is they who should start a separate group. But as most of you know, listening is only the tip of the iceberg: what about all the connections it forces you to use to decode this and that on your computer? Is there anything it doesn't make you listen to? What about all those programs and the interfaces it forces you to use? Just put the DLL in the right place, you think, and I'm done. Wrong: it's a never-ending road, with programs good at this and good at that, new versions and features - you can spend endless hours discovering new things. And if you are any good in programming and the like, then you are definitely hooked: everything you see and you don't see is an invitation to make something in any way you can. Be warned: other SDRs are as bad. I have another couple of these and they cause the same problems too. It takes ages to learn how to use one of them for the things you want and then you can't let go - or, even worse, you try to do the same with the others. Your life is gone, it has become a bottomless pit of new opportunities and challenges. I guess that's what they call hell on earth. I guess we were much happier many years ago when all we had to wrestle with were wires, soldering irons and - I almost forgot - overpriced, mediocre receivers. Ah, the good old times. The only positive side to Perseus and its ilk is that they allow you to make proper use of your computer: solve hardware problems, identify software conflicts, learn how to install stuff under new operating systems. But, to be brutally honest, text processors, spreadsheets, internet browsers and other common, general purpose software (not to mention computers, pads, smartphones, routers etc.) perform the same useful function. So join the Perseus Liberation Front and get rid of your SDRs for as low a price as you can in order to undermine the devious developers. For my part, I would welcome a second Perseus and an FM+ for peanuts. Yours in admiration (Alexander Koutamanis via Perseus YG, via Shortwave Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) Hallo - for some weeks I do use Winradio's ExcaliburPRO, recording up to 4 MHz of HF. I produced some screencasts, among them e.g. one example to listen in parallel to All India Radio in two different modes (DRM/AM) on two different bands. There is a short paper with some information and links to the videos on You Tube: http://web.me.com/nils.schiffhauer/Website/Monitoring/Monitoring.html (first entry). Have fun! -- 73, (Nils DK8OK Schiffhauer, Excalibur, SDR-IP/GPS, Perseus, 2 x 20 m active quad loop (90 ), 42 m windom, DX- One prof, Sept 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DEFINING S#'S WITHOUT AN S-METER? Hi all. I was wondering how you would define/interpret S# signal strengths if you didn't have an S-meter, or the radio you were using didn't have one? Would you base it in part on the quality of the received signal, for example? I don't have that type of S-meter (the PL-380 and PL-606 use different scales). I usually base my interpretations on the "S" definitions of the RST scales, like follows... S0 "no reception" (not on scale) - self-explanatory, not even a carrier trace S1 "faint signal, barely perceptible" - anything from a carrier trace to copyable audio with extreme difficulty, requiring a quiet area, good quality headphones, and a channel free of QRM from other stations S2 "very weak signal" - readable with some possible difficulty, but still very noisy & weak. Desensed PL-606 signals reading 50/00 would be rated here at best, even if they might otherwise be S6 or S7 without the desense. S3 "weak signal" - easily readable, but still at a reduced volume with some noise. Also signals that would be stronger on the PL-606 but are desensed (for example 50/15) would be rated here or below. S4 "fair signal" - about the weakest a scan will stop or a tuning indicator will be lit. Also this is approximately where the perceived volume of the signal audio is near its maximum. Weaker signals often sound "quieter", with the noise level staying the same, or below S2 or so the noise AND signal both get quieter. Stronger signals sound just as loud with a reduction in background noise. S5 "fairly good signal" - some noticeable noise with the signal, but quieter than with S4. My reception of 640 KFI, 740 KBRT daytime and 1070 KNX is about here on some radios. On my PL-606 they indicate around mid to upper 40s dBu or so. S6 "good signal" - there may be a little background noise noticeable between talk beds in a quiet environment with good headphones. Music or road noise in a car would mask that noise however. Typical PL-606 readings are approx. 52-58 dBu or so. S7 "moderately strong signal" - with very few exceptions, there is virtually no background noise audible with the signal. (My PL-606 is one exception, as it seems to have some noise even with S9 signals.) On a radio with poor selectivity like the SRF-M37W, the first-adjacent splash will sound just as loud as if not louder than the main channel. PL-606 readings are typically in the 60s dBu range. S8 "strong signal" - Loud splash on poorly-selective radios extends to ?2 or 3 channels. PL-606 on-channel readings typically range from about 70-82 dBu or so, with 2nd-adjacent desense typically 39/00 or 41/00 up to 47/00. S9 "extremely strong signal" - if a station has audible intermods at other spots on the dial, chances are it's an S9. Loud splash on poorly-selective radios extends ?4 or more channels, with the weaker splash in extreme cases audible over much of the band. On some radios the first-adjacent splash sounds different with a reduced volume - for example the Sangean DT-400W within 1/2 mile of a 50 kW transmitter. PL-606 signals are typically 83-93 dBu with 2nd-adjacent desense approximately 49/00 or 50/00 (in extreme cases spreading as wide as or wider than FM stations for the 50/00 and across much of the band for 49/00). I currently have no stations rated this high, but when the KCBQ site was in Santee (50 kW @ 6 mi daytime) I rated them here. S10 "overload" (not on scale) - signal is overloading the audio stage and sounds distorted on-channel. On the PL-606 this starts around 95 dBu and is well underway by max scale at 98 dBu. Usually I have to be within 80 to several hundred feet of the tower depending on power. In somewhat severe cases occasional blips of unintelligible modulation is heard, then stronger ones sound like an open carrier. This happened within 10 feet of one of 2.5 kW 590 KTIE's tower, for example, where I'd guess the field was a few hundred or so volts/meter. In extreme cases distorted audio is heard all the time, even when the radio would be otherwise muted like when switching bands or first powering it on. (This probably would happen less than a few inches from a 50kW tower.) As you can see my scale doesn't have S9+xx dB readings - the next is S10. So how do you interpret the numbers and definitions? (Stephen Airy, Sept 16, IRCA via DXLD) THE LONELY DX'ERS ANTHEM Ain't misbehavin`, just me and my radio Eternal love it is, that's true Women, oh women, they come and go But sincerely, I say to you Ain't misbehavin', my true love is you My true love is you, my beloved radio http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Wwhe9Hx_w&feature=player_detailpage Conveyed by Mr Rapid (Ullmar Qvick via NORDX, via Shortwave Bulletin Sept 18 via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See C&C: HFCC REPORT; BRAZIL; COSTA RICA; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ CYPRUS; GERMANY; GREECE; GUAM; IRELAND DRM RECEIVERS A HUGE DRAW AT AT IBC 2011 At DRM’s strongest ever presence at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam, participants were given a unique opportunity to take part in a digital journey with DRM including practical demonstrations highlighting its benefits and features. Three events were held on the 10th, 11th and 12th of September at the booths of Transradio, Nautel and Fraunhofer IIS (all DRM members) respectively which were well attended and well-received. The new receiver solutions presented at these events were a huge attraction that made these events a success. More at : http://www.drm.org/news_item/DRM_receivers_a_huge_draw_at_at_IBC_2011 (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, dxldyg via DXLD) puff (gh) Now, let's get an independent assessment of just how successful DRM is and not be subjected to one of their media releases, which would (as expected) show positive results! Digital radio is slow to catch-on in many areas and a recent article suggests "HD radio" in the United States "may be dead." (Will post that article if I can find it.) 73s (David Sharp, Australia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4 Comments on “DRM receivers a huge draw at at IBC 2011” #1 Keith Perron on Sep 19th, 2011 at 14:24 All this talk about DRM means nothing is there are no receivers on the market. #2 Jonathan Marks on Sep 19th, 2011 at 14:36 I wandered around the IBC Trade show and came to the conclusion that DRM doesn\’t really matter. 15 years after launch it doesn\’t seem to be the solution to most content providers problems. #3 lou josephs on Sep 19th, 2011 at 20:09 Like AM Stereo before it and IBOC HD Radio in the US. Dead on arrival. Nothing to listen to anymore but static…lol…two many stations have pulled the plug. #4 Keith Perron on Sep 20th, 2011 at 03:57 Exactly 15 years and nothing has happened. But they make a bit announcement with some cheesy disco station goes on air with 4 listeners. I think DRM should not be called Digital Radio Mondiale it should be Digital Radio Morons. All I have been hearing is talk and them doing tests over and over. My question is where are the receivers. I wonder when someone will just say enough is enough and just pull the plug (Media Network blog comments via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DTV DEADLINE FOR LPTV, TRANSLATORS The FCC's deadline for LPTVs and TV translators to go all-digital is September 1, 2015. That hard date has caused licensees to take a hard look at their transition plans: http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/124178 (CGC Communicator Sept 19 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ CHANNEL A2 F2 TVDX, SOUTH TO NORTH AMERICA, et al. Mike Schaffer of Tampa, Florida (EL87) monitors television broadcasts across Central America via sporadic-E. On September 10 he wrote, "This morning at 1436 UTC I received a analog NTSC broadcast from Televisora Nacional, TVN-2, HOU in Panama City, Republic of Panama via sporadic-E at a distance of 1,320 air miles." On September 9 Mike wrote, "At 2110 UTC on Friday, September 9, 2011 F2 propagation was noticed on NTSC analog channel 2 coming from due south from South America. "The first thing I noticed was what appeared to be a out of phase sporadic-E taken place but the video would not sync lock even though the signal was at moderate signal levels with only light fading. Then the video appeared with warped diagonal, horizontal and vertical scroll bars. "The audio was almost non existent to weak with multi-path distortion that produced a fair amount of scatter reflections. The audio was so muffled that the TV mono speaker was not good enough. To correct this effect stereo headphones were used. "What struck me was that the Spanish audio dialect was not the normal that I am accustomed to hearing from other DX propagation modes from Mexico, Central America countries or northern coast of South America. "At 2135 UTC the F2 storm had peaked at my location. At this point a manual channel scan was performed on all VHF low, high, and UHF 14, 15 and 16 channels. The results indicated the maximum usable frequency did not exceed the audio carrier at 59.75 MHz. "At 2203 the storm declined to a moderate state. It was at this time a weak Spanish black & white video program appeared lasting perhaps five seconds in duration. "I would suspect that it was either coming from Quito, Ecuador at 1,950 miles or Lima, Peru at 2,779 miles distance because the bearing to both cities from my QTH is at 171 degrees in azimuth. "Minimum F2 single-hop paths can start roughly 2,000 miles and reach a maximum of to 3,000 miles. "At 2223 the F2 geomagnetic storm rapidly faded back to normal conditions." (QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 37 ARLP037 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA September 16, 2011 To all radio amateurs, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) Ondrejov: Weekly Forecasts Bulletin Geomagnetic activity forecast Enviado por: "Dario Monferini" dario.monferini@playdx.com playdx2003 Jue, 15 de Sep, 2011 3:37 pm ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _ Solar-activity forecast for the period Sep 16 - 22, 2011 Activity level: low to moderate Radio flux (10.7 cm): a fluctuation in the range 115-155 f.u. Flares: weak (numerous), middle (1-4/pariod) Relative sunspot number: in the range 130-180 Astronomical Institute, Solar Dept., Ondrejov, Czech Republic e-mail: sunwatch(at) asu.cas.cz (RWC Prague) ____________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _________ _ Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period Sep 16 to Sep 22, 2011 quiet: Sep 16, 17, 21 and 22 quiet to unsettled: Sep 18 and 20 unsettled: 0 active: Sep 19 minor storm: 0 major storm: 0 severe storm: 0 Geomagnetic activity summary: geomagnetic field was quiet on Sep 8 and 14, unsettled on Sep 11 and 13, active on Sep 9, 10 and 12. 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: quiet: Sep 25 - 27, Oct 3, 9 - 11 mostly quiet: Sep 20 - 21 quiet to unsettled: Sep 16, 19, 22 - 24, 28 - 29 quiet to active: Oct 2 quiet to minor storm: Sep 30, Oct 4 quiet to major storm: Oct 1 mostly unsettled: Oct 6 - 8 unsettled to active: Sep 17 - 18 unsettled to minor storm: Oct 5 minor to major storm: - Survey: quiet: Sep 8, 14 mostly quiet: - quiet to unsettled: Sep 7 quiet to active: - quiet to minor storm: Sep 11, 13 quiet to major storm: Sep 9 - 10 mostly unsettled: - unsettled to active: - unsettled to minor storm: Sep 12 minor to major storm: Sep 10 Notices: High probability of changes in solar wind which may caused changes in magnetosphere and ionosphere is expected about Sep 18 - 19, 23 - 24, 29, Oct 1 - 2, 5 - 6. Days in brackets refer to a lower probability of possible activity enhancements depending on previous development on the Sun. F. K. Janda (OK1HH), Czech Propagation Interested Group e-mail: ok1hh(at)rsys. cz (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) The geomagnetic field ranged from quiet to active levels at mid latitudes and briefly reached severe storm levels at high latitudes. The week began with unsettled to active levels at middle latitudes with active to major storm conditions at higher latitudes as the geomagnetic field continued to be influenced by a geoeffective coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Disturbed conditions continued until mid day on the 13 September. By 14 September, the geomagnetic field had returned to quiet levels as the effects of the high speed stream waned. Quiet conditions persisted until 17 September when the CME from 13 September arrived at earth. The CME passage was first observed at the ACE spacecraft at 17/0256 UTC followed by a 21 nT sudden impulse at the Boulder magnetometer. The geomagnetic field reacted with unsettled to active conditions at mid latitudes and periods of major to severe storm levels at high latitudes. Mostly quiet conditions returned by 18 September with two active periods observed mid-day at high latitudes. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels 12-17 September. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 21 SEPT-17 OCT 2011 Solar activity is expected to be at low to moderate levels from 21 - 23 September. On 24 September - 08 October, activity is expected to increase to moderate levels with a slight chance for major flare activity as old Region 1283 (N14, L=226) rotates onto the visible disk. Solar activity is expected to return to predominantly low to moderate levels for the remainder of the period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit until 23 September. There is a slight chance for a proton enhancement from 24 September until 08 October as old Region 1283 returns to the visible disk. No proton events are expected from 09 October until the end of the period. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at mostly normal to moderate levels. High levels are expected on 26 - 28 September and again on 02-03, 11-13 October due to influences from coronal hole high speed streams. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be mostly from 21 - 25 of September. Unsettled conditions are expected on 25 and 27 September due to CH HSS activity. On 30 September to October 01, a recurrent CH- HSS is expected to bring unsettled to occasionally active periods of geomagnetic activity. Mostly quiet conditions are expected again until 08 October when another recurrent CH HSS is expected to become geoeffective. Unsettled to Active conditions are expected with minor storm periods possible at high latitudes until 11 October. Mostly quiet conditions are expected from 12 October through the end of the period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2011 Sep 20 2026 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 2011-09-20 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2011 Sep 21 140 5 2 2011 Sep 22 140 5 2 2011 Sep 23 135 5 2 2011 Sep 24 135 5 2 2011 Sep 25 130 8 3 2011 Sep 26 130 5 2 2011 Sep 27 130 8 3 2011 Sep 28 130 5 2 2011 Sep 29 130 5 2 2011 Sep 30 130 15 4 2011 Oct 01 130 8 3 2011 Oct 02 135 5 2 2011 Oct 03 135 5 2 2011 Oct 04 135 5 2 2011 Oct 05 135 5 2 2011 Oct 06 140 5 2 2011 Oct 07 140 5 2 2011 Oct 08 145 8 3 2011 Oct 09 145 15 4 2011 Oct 10 145 12 3 2011 Oct 11 140 8 3 2011 Oct 12 140 5 2 2011 Oct 13 140 5 2 2011 Oct 14 140 5 2 2011 Oct 15 140 5 2 2011 Oct 16 140 5 2 2011 Oct 17 140 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1583, DXLD) ###