DX LISTENING DIGEST 12-17, April 25, 2012 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 2012 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2011 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid1.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 1614 HEADLINES: *DX and station news about: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Belgium, Bhutan, Biafra non, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, East Turkistan, Ecuador, Equatorial Guinea, Ethiopia non, Europe, Georgia/Abkhazia, Guatemala, Indonesia, Libya, Mexico, Netherlands, Philippines, Russia, Sudan South non, USA, Zanzibar SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1614, April 26-May 2, 2012 Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 Thu 2100 WTWW 9479 [confirmed] Fri 0329v WWRB 5050 [confirmed] Sat 0130v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1500 WRMI 9955 Sat 1730 WRMI 9955 Sun 0400 WTWW 5755 [confirmed] Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WRMI 9955 Sun 1730 WRMI 9955 Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Mon 1130 WRMI 9955 Tue 0930 HLR 5980 Hamburger Lokal Radio Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 [or maybe 1615 if ready in time] 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://www.wrn.org/listeners/#world-of-radio WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/customize-panel/addToPlaylist/98/09:00:00UTC/English OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org DAY-BY-DAY ARCHIVE OF GLENN HAUSER`S LOG REPORTS: Unedited, uncondensed, unchanged from original version, many of them too complex, minutely researched, multi-frequency, opinionated, inconsequential, off-topic, or lengthy for some log editors to manage; and also ahead of their availability in these weekly issues: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/index.php?topic=Hauser 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/ ** ABKHAZIA. 9535: see GEORGIA ** AFGHANISTAN. Already almost two weeks or more NRA is not on the air 1515-1632 UT on 7200 kHz. By the way 7200 kHz was left from Ethiopia and Eritrea and there are heard now Sudan (0200-0400 and +1500-1700+ UT) and Myanmar +2330-0030+ UT, April 24 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, April 24, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) ** ALGERIA [non]. FRANCE [ALGERIA], 7295, After March 25 when I heard "Huna Dzezair Idaatu Kurano Kerim" at 0400 UT on 7295 kHz {via Issoudun-France 162+194deg}. I didn't found another their broadcast till today Apr 24 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. 4949.78, R Nacional de Angola, Mulenvos, 1840 22 Apr, carrier present not audible voice low music, 31111. 73 e buoni DX! :-D (Mauro - Giroletti, -Swl 1510-, -IK2GFT-, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA [and non]. ! 990 kHz --- MAR 12 Perseus files review 0100 EDT [0500 UT], 990, R. Splendid AM, Buenos Aires - with several IDs, 0059 "transmite Radio Splendid en 990 kHz", and another ID at 0100 that also mentions "La Republica Argentina". WDCX 990 went off the air suddenly at 0000. This is 5477 miles from here. NEW COUNTRY #76! The Brazilians logged on 1100 and 1220 the day before are 5011 and 5041 miles from here. Kuwait and UAE are my furthest from here. 0100 EDT, 990, CUBA, Pinar del Rio - presumed with Cuban NA at 0100:45 under Argentina. This is also new. 0101 EDT, 990, BRAZIL, UNID with impassioned preacher, one of the Pentecostal networks. Saul and I have been trying to figure this one out. The Argentine logging now allows us to look further south in Brazil for a clue about this one. not just the northeast (Jim Renfrew, Holley, NY, April 3, IRCA via DXLD) Fantastic catch. The only thing I had pointing to Argentina was clear and exact pips on 1030 matching the tone and cadence of a copy I have on tape. I'll have to check my tapes of 990 more carefully and persevere past bad WMVP slop. What I noted there I dismissed as Cuban. I missed some of this AU due to health issues. 73 KAZ Barrington IL (Neil Kazaross, ibid.) What can I say - awesome, Jim! Have you even heard this one from Newfoundland? (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) Yes, first heard in 1995 in Newfoundland (Jim Renfrew, ibid.) ** ARGENTINA. X BAND LIST, maintained by Ydun Ritz: http://www.radiodx.qsl.br/xband_arg.htm Att (Eduardo, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 11710.743, RAE Buenos Aires English service on latest sports news. S=8-9 fluttery signal at 0246 UT April 21 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) 15344.84, Radio al Exterior, Argentina; 2217, 17-Apr; Tuned in to ID into M&W with SS chit-chat program. SIO=353 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15344.82, 22/4 1910, Radio Nacional Argentina, cultural talks, Spanish, fair (Giampiero Bernardini, RX: Drake R-4C, Excalibur Pro, Elad FDM-S1, Ant: T2FD 15 meters long, QTH Milano, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASCENSION. 7305, April 23 at 0527, BBCWS with announcement loop, ``no programmmes on this channel at present``, which just might encourage ordinary listeners to tune away, but not me --- 0529 cuts to Hausa opening. Why don`t they use that biminute for something more entertaining, like B-B-C- chimes, Oranges & Lemons, or Lilliburlero? 21630, April 23 at 1212, French signal, poor with peaks to fair, the OSOB at this hour, BBC via Ascension; but see KUWAIT later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 15160 // weaker 15240, April 23 at 0531, R. Australia with item about PNG`s mineral resources, mentioning the Ok Tedi mine of Radio Fly fame, which I have barely ever heard, so this Okie finally learns how to pronounce Ok --- ``ahk`` or ``awk``, not ``oak`` or ``O-kay`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Radio Australia Media and Technology Program in A-12 downunder winter season. WED additional 1930 UT Radio Australia, "Future Tense" technology 6080 7240 9500 9580 9710 11880 kHz THURS ex1600 UT; new times: 1530 UT Radio Australia, "Future Tense" technology 5995 6080 7240 9475 9710 11660 kHz 1930 UT Radio Australia, "Future Tense" technology 6080 7240 9500 9580 9710 11880 kHz SAT delete 1830 UT R Australia "Future Tense" technology. SUN delete 0130 UT R Australia "Future Tense" technology. (Wolfgang Büschel, April 22, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. Bangladesh Betar, 4750 kHz, has revised its schedule. Now broadcasting from 0500 to 1710 UT. Earlier used to switch off at 1500. Thanks, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, April 20, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4750.00, 1655-1712*, 20-04, Bangladesh Betar, Dhaka, Bengali talk, news, report, 25232, New schedule! (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) ** BELARUS. Re: Clarification. It is written: ``BR1 is carried on 1170 kHz between 0400-1600 and on 6080 kHz between 1430v-2100 (WRTH Monitor update 5 April via DXLD)`` The 1170 kHz time has been corrected: BR1 is carried on 1170 kHz between 0400-0700 and on 6080 kHz between 1430v-2100 (Mauno Ritola , Finland) RusDX, 22 April via DXLD) ** BELGIUM [and non]. David Monson passed away --- Just to let you know. I found out today that David Monson who had hosted Brussels Calling passed away. Today I got a message from his son from his first marriage. I don't know any other details yet, but I'll be talking to him later (Keith Perron, PCJ, April 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RIP DAVID MONSON, VETERAN SHORTWAVE BROADCASTER by National Association of Shortwave Broadcasters on Thursday, April 19, 2012 at 3:48pm [with portrait] http://www.facebook.com/notes/national-association-of-shortwave-broadcasters/rip-david-monson-veteran-shortwave-broadcaster/423848517644933 David Monson, known for his charismatic hosting of the English- language program "Brussels Calling" on the Belgian Radio and Television's (BRT) international shortwave service in the 1980's, passed away a little over a year ago. We just learned of his passing from Keith Perron of PCJ Media, who writes: "I have some sad and shocking news to report. David Monson passed away in March 2011. As you may or may not know, David lived in Taiwan for a number of years, but then in 2010 he moved to Germany with wife and son. David being David was the type who didn’t always respond to email, so when I had not heard from him in a long time I didn’t think anything of it. Tonight while I was in a taxi I got a message from his son from his first marriage, Dante-Gabryell Monson, who came across PCJ and the uploads we did of a series of recordings David did that were released as an LP. He told me David passed away suddenly in March 2011 in the German countryside while he was cycling with friends." After leaving the BRT, David was a contributor to and one of the partners in a venture called Radio Earth, which broadcast English- language shortwave programs from Radio Clarin in the Dominican Republic and from U.S. shortwave stations WRNO, KCBI, and WHRI, as well as from Radio Milano International in Italy. Bob Zanotti, formerly of Swiss Radio International, comments: "David Monson was a charismatic, colorful and creative personality, who left his unique mark on international broadcasting. He was a guest in my home, and I have fond memories of our association. For me, personally, this marks the loss of yet another friend and colleague." Jeff White, NASB Secretary-Treasurer, adds: "David was a true 'shortwave personality.' He was able to present Belgium to the English-speaking world in a very unique and interesting way. In an age of script-read shortwave programming, David dared to ad-lib and speak off the cuff about his own experiences. It was a unique radio style, and shortwave listeners loved it. I remember that he and I did the first live broadcast from an ANARC (Association of North American Radio Clubs) convention in Thunder Bay, Ontario in 1981, among many other memorable programs on BRT and Radio Earth. It was a great pleasure to work with him and to have him as a friend." A native of South Africa, David also worked for a time at the South African Broadcasting Corporation and the South West Africa Broadcasting Corporation in Namibia. More recently, David produced some special programming for PCJ Media in Taiwan. Besides being a great promoter of shortwave radio, David was a lover of classical music. He produced an LP record called "Mail and Mobile Monologues" with excerpts from some of his programs on "Brussels Calling." Proceeds from the sale of the record went to the Handicapped Aid Program which promoted shortwave radio listening among the disabled. (via Jeff White, NASB, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) obit ** BELGIUM [non?]. With the sad news of David Monson, I wonder what has happened to Frans Vossen? I wonder how he's doing? Anyone know? (someone inquires) This seems to be the latest word about him, from DXLD 8-111, of Oct 9, 2008: ``You mentioned Frans Vossen in the latest DXLD, and VRT. I received an e mail from Frans Recently, he is fine, I am happy to report (Chris Lewis, England, Oct 8, 2008, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` ** BENIN. TWR Benin on 1566 kHz heard this morning (24 April) at 0340 tune-in to past 0400 UT with surprisingly strong signal, peaking over co-channel Eagle Extra (Guildford) and BBC Somerset. Talk in African language at 0340 followed by distinctive instrumental music. YL at 0358 with ID: "Your Friendly Voice in Africa - TWR" also announcing email 1566@twr.org After African choir, another ID: "Bringing Hope to the World, this is TWR" At 0400 back to programme in African language. By 0414 had faded out here. Also audible at 0416 UT on 1530 kHz was Voice of America via São Tomé including mention of "on FM in Tanzania" // 4960 kHz, peaking over co-channel Pulse, Huddersfield. Reception of both these just on my Sony 7600GR portable with its internal antenna (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, Sony 7600GR +internal ferrite antenna, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. The radio chronicles --- Radio in Bhutan has come a long way when with just a table, three chairs and a transmitter rented from a local telegraph office in Thimphu, the first radio station of Bhutan was formed by a voluntary group of youths known as the National Youth Association of Bhutan (NYAB) on 11 Nov, 1973. More at : http://www.thebhutanese.bt/the-radio-chronicles/ (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, April 23, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. 6035.05, 2325-0010 fade out, 17+18.04, BBS, Sangaygang, Thimphu testing, vernacular talk and songs without music, 0000 talk (news ?) 0003 music and choir, quickly fading out due to local sunrise. Carrier still heard at 0030, but had disappeared at 0105, 34333 to 14221, splashes from R Martí 6030. Also heard at 1615 and 1800-1915, 18+19.04, mostly Asian songs and short ann, 25332 (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) 6035.00, Bhutan BS, Thimpu, 1853-1911, April 25, non-stop indigenous songs back again after missing April 20 thru 24. Appears to have moved down from former 6035.04 to exact nominal frequency (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands (TenTec RX-340, 25m. longwire) dxldyg WORLD OF RADIO 1614, ** BIAFRA [non]. [Re 12-16:] And more information of Radio Biafra London in English. The correct time according latest MBR's changes is 2000-2100 11870 WER 125 kW / 180 deg Thu/Sat to WeCaAF, not 1900-2000 UT. And maybe from Thur April 26, not from today Sat April 21. Please check (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 21, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) Radio Biafra London today (21 April) started its transmission on 11870 kHz at 2000 UT (not 1900 as published). The signal while writing this is not too strong here in Germany, but readable. English ID and talk. http://www.radiobiafralondon.com/index.html 73 (Harald Kuhl, Germany, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Radio Biafra London in English from April 21, new via MBR: 2000-2100 on 11870 WER 125 kW / 180 deg Sat/Thu to WCAf, not 1900-2000. Confirmed on April 21, fair to good reception in BULGARIA, this is the first transmission - Sat and Thu only according to announcement. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Biafra London, heard signing on at 2000 UT - an hour later than expected - on 11870. Announcer welcomes listeners back after a long absence but still gives schedule as "8 pm Biafra time" on Saturdays (although 2000 UT is actually 9 pm in Nigeria). Later he also mentions they will be taking calls from listeners this Thursday. Indeed HFCC lists a transmission at 2000-2100 via Wertachtal on Thursdays and Saturdays. Very good signal here. 73s (Dave Kenny, Caversham Berks, AOR7030+ / 25m long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wertachtal explains the relatively low signal strength here in Germany: I am located too close to that site ;-) Is it // 94.3 FM in London? No webstream on their website found. Who is the "Biafra Media Group"? Cannot find them on the web; google just leads me to Jello Biafra (yes, the DK-singer). Maybe "Biafra Media Group" is just another name used by Radio Biafra London? 73 (Harald Kuhl, BDXC_UK yg via DXLD) The Radio Biafra London website http://radiobiafralondon.com (no www) no longer mentions 94.3 in London. Just 11870 kHz and 11.870 MHz (!). And is not currently parallel to website stream of Voice of Africa Radio (VOAR) from London (cannot hear 94.0 VOAR on FM here - too far out of London). (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, ibid.) Hello Glenn, Although I'm not doing much DXing, I do try to catch World of Radio when I can and I heard the tip about the reactivation of Radio Biafra. 11870, Radio Biafra London, 21 April, nothing heard at 1900 ("8 pm Biafra time"). Checked at 2014 and broadcast was in progress until close at 2100. Signal was quite weak and fluttery but conditions did not seem to be good generally. Several male voices heard with discussion format, the same as the previous time they were on the air. Topics included government response to death of former Biafra leader, attacks on Igbo people in the north by Boko Haram and the importance of using media (especially radio) for the Biafran cause. IDs as "Radio Biafra London" now broadcasting from East London (in 2009 they were in West London). Future transmissions will be on Thursdays and Fridays [sic; Saturdays?] at "8 pm". While this should be 1900 UT, perhaps it will be 2000 again as maybe they are confused about the time difference between UK and Nigeria which is only during winter time (currently there is no difference). (James MacDonell (Niger State, Nigeria), April 22, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Via GERMANY. 11870, Radio Biafra London, 2045-2100*, tune-in to vernacular talk. Some English talk at 2053 about Biafra conflict. Sign off with local African music. Fair to good. Listed for Thur and Sat only. April 21 (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX Listening Digest) 11870, CLANDESTINE (Nigeria), Radio Biafra London, 2031-2059*, Apr 21 [Sat], man with heavily accented English with talks about Nigeria. Nice ID and frequency announcement at 2045 followed by talks in presumed Igbo language. Seemed to mix two languages during broadcast. Fair (Rich D'Angelo, 2216 Burkey Drive, Wyomissing PA 19610, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 3309.98, R. Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba, 0920-0936 April 23 Spanish; W announcer between ballads; brief, canned announcement at 0928 though no discernible ID noted; poor-fair in ECCS-LSB. 4699.91, R. San Miguel, Riberalta, 0904-0919 April 23, Spanish; M announcer with LA ballads and religious talk between selections; mentions of "Santa Maria"; poor-fair in ECCS-LSB (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H., NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4409.793, 23/4 2335, Radio Eco, songs, talks, very weak 4699.33, 23/4 2315, Radio San Miguel, nice song, weak but clear (Giampiero Bernardini, Excalibur Pro & SDR-14 con SDR-Radio software, Ant: T2FD lunga 15 metri, QTH: Milano Noise City, Italia, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4699.30, R. San Miguel, Riberalta, 5/04 1130-1150, 22222, mx vlas [sic; clásica?] criollo ID “Radio San Miguel, 44 años haciendo historia” música en español (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Lima, April Chasqui DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 5952.46, 0040-0055, 18.04, R Pio XII, Siglo XX, Aymara, ann, native singing. No QRM! Unusual good reception! 45333 (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) Another nice night for Pio XII, the Bolivian on 5952, at 0125 onward, with yip-yipping huainos and man and woman talking over music, having a darned good time, it seems. Pio Doce almost wiped out at 0149 by huge WYFR open carrier on 5950, and into RTI EE pgming on the hour (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, UT April 21, ibid.) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.83, 0045-0110, 18.04, R Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Spanish talk with musical interludes, song, more talk, ID and ads, 44333 (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 6134.8, Radio Santa Cruz with nice solid signal, signed off 0204 with abbreviated version of the “Santa Cruz” song. This is about an hour later than the usual 0105-0108v sign off, and as noted a few days ago. Is this a new regular s/off time, or an anomaly? Programming during the final hour sounded celebratory. Perhaps on late for a festival / fiesta day in Santa Cruz? (Don Jensen, WI, 0252 UT April 19, NASWA yg via DXLD) Don, I was listening to Radio Santa Cruz past 0130 waiting for their sign off which never came. 73, (Rich D`Angelo, PA, 0321 UT, ibid.) Radio Santa Cruz 6134 [sic] --- Looks like the old 0105v s/off of this one no longer holds, as I first noted two nights ago, when heard to 0204 s/off. It is now 0117 and Radio Santa Cruz is still doing very nicely. It would seem that s/off may now be circa 0200 rather than the old nominal 0100. As anticipated, strong R. Santa Cruz 6134 continued to new s/off time, circa 0200, actually 0204 again today. Usual s/off routine, but an abbreviated ``Santa Cruz`` s/off song, with only the instrumental intro, minus the usual several verses of sung praises about the government and the people of Santa Cruz (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, UT April 21, ibid.) 6134, Radio Santa Cruz. Just when I had said it had, seemingly, extended its schedule by an hour (based on two observed 0204 s/offs this past week), Radio Santa Cruz proved me wrong tonight. Left the air after its regular s/off ritual at 0109. Unlike the later sign offs this past week, now again played the full choral version of its wrapup ``Santa Cruz`` song. This is far and away most reliable Bolivian currently (Don Jensen, UT April 22, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 4845.24, BRASIL, R. Cultura, Manaus, 18/04 2340-0010, 33333 música tropical, ID “Rádio Cultura desde Amazonas, 4845 kHz onda tropical, Manaus, Amazonas” música (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Lima, April Chasqui DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4878.53v, Rádio Roraima, 0345-0403*, Brazilian pop music. Portuguese talk. ID. Sign off with National Anthem. Still here with a distorted, wobbly, unstable signal. April 22 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BRAZIL. 4805.01, 24/4 0015, Rádio Difusora da Amazônia, Manaus, songs, fair, CODAR QRM 4814.97, 24/4 0023, Rádio Difusora Londrina, religious talks, fair 4865.03, 24/4 0041, Rádio Verdes Florestas, Cruzeiro do Sul, nice Brazilian songs, fair 4894.916, 24/4 0049, Rádio Novo Tempo (tentative), music, poor 4914.966, 24/4 0055, Rádio Difusora do Macapà, music, later talks, fair 4925.226, 24/4 0104, Rádio Educação Rural, Tefé, talks and music, weak 5970, 24/4 0122, Rádio Itatiaia, phone talks, fair 6070, 24/4 0139, Rádio Capital / Deus è Amor, Rio de Janeiro, religious talks man & woman, over CFRX, // 11765 fair 6080.035, 24/4 0148, Rádio Marumby, Curitiba, Brazil, long religious talk by woman, religious songs, fair (Giampiero Bernardini, Excalibur Pro & SDR-14 con SDR-Radio software, Ant: T2FD lunga 15 metri, QTH: Milano Noise City, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) a.k.a. R. Novas de Paz; did you hear either ID? (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL?? 9504.96, R. Record (tentative) 0913 talk by M over music then just talk alone. Soft music. Canned announcements at 0930. Language sounded Portuguese but just not strong enough to be certain. (15 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) Record recently reactivated (gh) ** BRAZIL. 9565.07, Super R. Deus é Amor, 0849 soft music, then preaching by M, // 11764.97. Both weak. This was better earlier. (15 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. QSL: Radio 9 de Julho 9820 kHz. Reply with personal letter in 44 days. Sent 1 IRC. Address: Rua Manoel de Arzao 85 - Barrio Freguesia do O - CEP-02730-030 Sao Paulo, SP. - Brasile. V/s: Padre Josè Renato Ferreira (Diretor). Roberto Pavanello (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) All accents omitted from this except one which is surely unPortuguese (gh) ** BRAZIL. Depois de +/- 4 informes de recepção enfim a Radio Brasil Central enviou o tão famoso QSL nossa! Maravilha! Confira em: http://qsldobrasil.blogspot.com.br/2012/04/radio-brasil-central.html (Rama, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11925.06, R. Bandeirantes, Apparently news. Time ticks around 0735. Getting QRM from ute on 11930 [surely Cuban pulse jamming against nothing --- gh]. A little better at 0826 with discussion by men. No ute at this time. Very fady. W at 0829, and time ticks at BoH. Siren SFX. Sounds like they quit using the cat meowing SFX. // 9645.38 at 0840. Blasted out by OC on recheck at 0852. (15 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL: 15190, ZYE522, Rádio Inconfidência; 2204-2214+, 16- Apr; M&W in Portuguese, alternating news stories; Inconfidência do Brasil at 2212+. SIO=353 with QRN but no QRM (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15191.45, Rádio Inconfidência, 2245-2310, Brazilian ballads. Portuguese talk. IDs at 2300 and 2310. Fair to good. Not usually this far off nominal 15190. Very weak // 6010. April 21 (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX Listening Digest) 15191.46, R. Inconfidência, 0010 with "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkle, then into "Mrs Robinson". Good signal this evening. Way off frequency now. (22 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) 15191.448v, Rádio Inconfidência, sport, gooooooooollllllll, IDs, jingles, good (Giampiero Bernardini, RX: Drake R-4C, Excalibur Pro, Elad FDM-S1, Ant: T2FD 15 meters long, QTH Milano, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) What was the time? (gh, ibid.) Ciao Glenn and group friends, the time was around 2130 UT (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, ibid.) 22/4? 15191.44, Rádio Inconfidência, 2120-2245, still here on the high side of nominal 15190. Portuguese talk. Fair. Weak // 6010. April 22 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) [non]. Hard to hear Rádio Inconfidência 19 mb on past days here in Europe. This morning instead: EQUAT GUINEA, 15190.0,Radio Africa Bata - tentat. -, just above threshold, male and female in English talked in quiet manner of speaking about ABORTION at 0611 UT April 23. Very tiny string seen on 15190.082 kHz - maybe Rádio Inconfidência? (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25, dxldyg via DXLD) 15190.02, Rádio Inconfidência, 2140-2205, Portuguese talk. Brazilian pop music. ID at 2200. Fair. Their frequency sure does vary a lot. They were on 15191.44 two days ago. April 24 (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX Listening Digest) 15190.050 kHz at 0925 UT, Rádio Inconfidência with very NICE GUITARRA Latin American music!! Poor in Germany at that time, only S=4-5. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. via ARMENIA. 11595, Democratic Voice of Burma, *2330- 0030*, ex-7510, sign on with local music and Burmese talk. Many mentions of Myanmar. Good. April 20-21 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** CANADA. CKMO-900 news, from Northwest Broadcasters http://members.shaw.ca/nwbroadcasters/recentnews.htm Campus radio station Village 900 CKMO Victoria was taken over yesterday by Camosun College students protesting cuts to its communications program. The 40-year-old program, which trains students in television, broadcasting, publishing and public relations, will stop taking new students in the fall. Village 900 left the public airwaves in early March in favor an Internet-only operation. link then goes to http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Camosun+students+take+over+campus+radio+station+protest+cuts/6442607/story.html Camosun College students have taken over the campus radio station to protest cuts to the college`s applied communication program. Students and alumni are taking turns on air and speaking out against plans to shut down the program and Village 900 CKMO. Protesters also put up banners around campus, established social media sites and planned to stay at the radio station overnight Wednesday. ``There`s going to be a lot of students sleeping over at the station, occupying the station and hosting shows throughout the night,`` said Marielle Moodley, a first-year communication student. ``It`s one of the ways that we`re trying to spread the message.`` Camosun president Kathryn Laurin announced last week that the college was suspending the two-year program. The 40-year-old program, which trains students in television, broadcasting, publishing and public relations, will stop taking new students in the fall. Laurin said the college needed to trim costs to erase a $2.5-million deficit and balance its budget as required by the B.C. government. The college`s funding has been frozen for three years, leaving no cash to cover inflationary costs. John Boraas, vice-president of education, said the college targeted areas that need updating and would affect the fewest students. He said applied communication had about 40 students and needed renewal. The suspension gives officials a year to consider options such as launching a digital media program. Laurin made clear Wednesday that the applied communication program in its current form is likely dead. ``I think, at this particular juncture, we`re looking to cancel the program,`` she told reporters. Dylan Wilks, a second-year applied communication student, said the decision makes little sense when the college is going to need community support. ``It just seems really near-sighted to me at a time when they`re going to need money,`` he said. ``They`re going to need positive press, and I don`t know what other programs encourage students to spend as much time out in the community as this one.`` Laurin confirmed the cuts last week. The learning skills program will also be cut, English language development will be reduced, and network electronics will be suspended. Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Camosun+students+take+over+campus+radio+station+protest+cuts/6442607/story.html#ixzz1rrMgMFgn I am not sure if this is actually going over 900 AM; I am at work and do not have a way to check this (Eric Flodén, April 12, IRCA via DXLD) There's just the open carrier (still) on 900 kHz, Eric. Ironically, a few weeks after shutting down the AM broadcasts but remaining as an internet broadcaster, the station was given notice to shut down completely due to lack of funds for the sponsoring program at Camosun College. Best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, BC, April 13, ibid.) I checked 900 after reading the posting and yes, the carrier is still there. Not an issue here, but quite strong S6 off the NE EWE. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) As of now 900 in Victoria is only running a carrier on 10 kW. The news report by the local daily paper mentions the occupation of the Camosun College radio station by the students but I don't think they are actually using the AM 900 transmitter for announcements. I think it is either the internet based station or an on site college closed circuit operation that they are using as a "Radio Station" (Bill in BC Kral, ibid.) ** CANADA. SAVE SW RADIO, STARTING WITH RCI Hi folks, I'm lifting my head up from work, painting the house, fighting Bell Aliant Fibre OP 2.0 RFI and other time consuming matters to work a bit on the fight to save RCI aka Radio Canada International. Here is a blog of supporters: http://rciaction.org/blog/ Please have a look and if you are inclined to support RCI - send an email of support to the group and to the 'powers that be'. As well, they have a facebook group, so if you are into facebook, twitter and the like, consider joining. Feel free to add your comments on RCI's own website too. http://www.rcinet.ca/english/column/the-link-s-top-stories/15-26_2012-04-05-radio-canada-international-to-fall-silent/ Thank you for your time and we now return to regularly scheduled DX programming! (Phil Rafuse, VY2PR, Stratford PEI, Canada, April 18, ABDX via DXLD) RCI SCHEDULE - LISTEN WHILE THEY ARE STILL ON THE AIR Here is RCI's current schedule page: http://www.rcinet.ca/english/schedule/ There are different kinds of schedules for different purposes - including a "technical" one that give transmitter site locations, transmitter power etc. By the way, if you are a supporter of RCI or of government international shortwave broadcasters in general, please send in comments of support. As background, Canada's federal government cut funding to the CBC. CBC then slashed funding to RCI and this slashing means that RCI will cease broadcasting on SW and will only have a paired down web presence. CBC has long viewed RCI as irrelevant and first on the chopping block. RCI supporters are appealing over the 'heads' of he CBC direct to the government. The goal is to make RCI independent of CBC funding. Perhaps this would take two forms: RCI fully independent of the CBC or, in the alternative, RCI independent of CBC for funding but related in some way to the CBC programming wise etc. Come June 25, 2012 there may be one less international SW broadcaster - so please - if you feel that SW is still relevant, offer your comments to RCI or the RCI support group. http://rciaction.org/blog/ http://www.rcinet.ca/english/column/the-link-s-top-stories/15-26_2012-04-05-radio-canada-international-to-fall-silent/ http://swling.com/blog/2012/04/rci-action-committee-what-you-can-do/ Thanks fellow ABDXers for taking the time to read this! (Phil Rafuse, VY2PR, Stratford PE Canada, April 24, ibid.) More details on impact of RCI cuts. Filed under UPDATE by Admin RCI Action on April 24, 2012 at 23:15 no comments RCI’s Director Hélène Parent met with staff today (April 24) at 1 PM to update us on the impact of the 80% cut to our budget that was announced April 4. She announced that of RCI’s 45 permanent staff, only 15 will keep their jobs. Three contractual webmasters will continue to maintain RCI’s website. Of the other contractual employees who will be let go (which include researchers, interviewers and some hosts) they would continue to be paid until the end of their contracts. Temporary staff (who fill in for permanent staff) would be informed shortly about what kind of replacement work would remain once RCI stops broadcasting programs on June 24. She said that tomorrow, Wednesday, April 25, redundancy letters would be given to employees whose positions would be abolished. And she promised to present a blueprint for the future of the service next week. She thanked employees for their professionalism in a difficult situation. When she asked for questions, there were none (RCI Action blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. 15125, April 21 at 1458, good signal with Chinese music (not Firedrake!); has to be prélude to RCI relay via Wulumuchi, EAST TURKISTAN. 1500, English `news from Radio Canada International, with Rick Svoboda` right away without any IS or sign-on! Nor explanation of why they were playing Chinese music before it. 15235, April 24 at 1918, ME music mixed with M&W Arabic talk, cut off abruptly at 1929*. It`s RCI as scheduled from Sackville, but does Arabic continue on satellite or elsewhere for rest of hour? Only other SAC frequency at this time is 17735, continuing in French. Same situation next day April 25 at 1904 with 15235 Arabic, 17735 French with lo het from Tunisia on-frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Talking SW Radio as original social media - edit http://tinyurl.com/d893vbv 5 minute snippet from the SPARK Podcast talking with the ever pleasant Nora Young - arguably (according to Eric Floden) the BEST voice in radio (Colin - dxer.ca Newell, IRCA via DXLD) ** CANADA. On 2012-04-21 5:37 AM, Hugh, Portugal wrote: ``What's a pirate doing on Ch 15, anyway; isn't your regulator interested in shutting it down?`` Canadians have lots of laws --- but no one to enforce them. I'm not sure what is going on with them. They first went on the air in 1998 with a legitimate licence as experimental station VX9AMK. The licence expired after a year, but they've still been on the air ever since. They applied for a legitimate full-time licence as a local low power station and ended up with all the high priced lawyers from the big networks show up at the hearing - so they ended up being denied a licence. They even offered to forgo "must-carry" cable status except for one neighbourhood area in Toronto. Despite being on illegally for 13 years and having a cease-and-desist order, they're still there. There's something going on here that I'm not aware off (someone has unflattering pictures of someone, ?? (; . The Channel 15 website has lots of background info... http://www.srtv.on.ca/cov.html And don't get me started on pirate CKON-FM Akwesasne, ON - I first heard them in 1982 !! The feds don't have the guts to tell these guys to get a licence. http://www.ckonfm.com/ (Bill Hepburn, Ont., WTFDA via DXLD) I think what happened with pirates run on Aboriginal reserves is that the Aboriginal groups in question decided they didn't recognize the authority of the federal government and so didn't ask their permission for a licence; and the feds decided to quietly licence them anyhow in order to avoid a confrontation. There really was no reason not to licence them, and the frequencies and other technical parameters chosen made sense - no QRM resulted. I think this is well handled on the government's part; there's an understanding here of First Nations sovereignty here with radio that hasn't extended fully yet to other aspects, say resource extraction. I think it will, over time. But these things evolve piece by piece, and I think we'll eventually reach some sort of plateau where First Nations and Canada will find a way to balance autonomy with a willingness to work with national interests and even some degree of shared governance. That said, Aboriginal-owned CHAV in Toronto (and maybe others on the network) is being hauled on the CRTC carpet for licence violations, as it's officially licenced and seeking renewal, but has violated many licence conditions. Hearing is slated for June 18 or so. CKAV, a.k.a. Aboriginal Voices, is in Toronto, and other cities, and not on reserve lands. So the status of this network of stations is different. I hope they don't lose their licence but are put on notice that they need to make some changes. The network is badly run, and IMO it doesn't even come close to properly serving the needs of urban Aboriginals (Saul Chernos, Ont., April 21, ibid.) The difference is CKAV has a licence, CKON does not. Either the rules apply to everyone or to no one. wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) I am not surprised the federal authorities don't have the courage to shut down CKON. They should at least put pressure on them to get a bonified [sic] licence. Here in Quebec, CKKI 89.9 in Kahnawake was a pirate for about two years broadcasting without a licence on 106.7 - As far as I know, the station finally asked a licence on their own decision (don't know if there were talks with the CRTC before) and they have been on the air on 89.9 since November 2011. If I was to start broadcasting from my home here, even with 10 watts, I'm convinced Industry Canada would come down on me in a flash. In French we say: "Deux poids, deux mesures" (two sets of rules). BTW, CKKI's format is country and they call themselves KKIC. http://www.kkicradio.com/ 73, (Charles Gauthier, Brossard, QC, ibid.) Rick Shaftan wrote: ``What country are they in?`` A look at St. Regis on Google Maps shows a tower adjacent to a small building. The tower appears to be about 40 m tall; the building seems large enough to house the transmitter for a 3 kW FM station (but not by much - there probably isn't much else in there). A superficial look doesn't show any other towers in the area. Admittedly, sometimes they can be hard to spot. The tower is roughly 40m south of the border -- i.e., if it's CKON, the station is in the U.S. (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) I remember reading it was right on the line. They have quite an audience in the North Country (Rick Shaftan, ibid.) According to this video and other sources, the tower would be in the Quebec portion of St-Regis. Up the CKON tower in St. Regis, QC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTltdh2cpaA 73, (Charles Gautier, Brossard, QC, ibid.) CKON is on a reserve, CKAV in Toronto and other cities is not. Legal situation is different. It's perhaps more clear with reserve members and taxes. I'm no lawyer, but my strong hunch is radio licence situation likely result of legal interpretation on what feds should do (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) ** CANADA. CY0, SABLE ISLAND. Al, VE1AWW, is once again active as CY0/VE1AWW as of April 17th, and will be there for the next three months. He is an assigned worker on the island and his schedule is 3 months ON and 3 Months OFF. His activity will be limited to his spare time. Al mentions on QRZ.com, "I need to replace the feedline for the the 40/80m antenna, but up and running on 20/17/15/12/ 10 and 6m." He was heard this past week on 15 meters SSB - 21336 kHz between 2230- 0000z. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1059, April 23, 2012, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) ** CHAD. 6164.96, RNT, 2145-2400+, wide variety of African hi-life music, Afro-pop music, Euro-pop/romantic ballads, and some local African tribal music. Local drums at 2200. Vernacular and French talk. Poor to fair. Improved to a good level by 2225. Covered by Radio Netherlands at their 2359 sign on. But still able to hear Chad under Radio Netherlands. April 22 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 6164.96, noted handprint on 6164.957 kHz at 0617 UT April 23 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 23, dxldyg via DXLD) ** CHILE. 17640, 22/4 2135, CVC, Chile, DRM good signal but voice gaps, Spanish talks, songs (Giampiero Bernardini, RX: Drake R-4C, Excalibur Pro, Elad FDM-S1, Ant: T2FD 15 meters long, QTH Milano, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Firedrake April 19, before 1300; I start late so hustle to get in a full bandscan: 12600, good at 1257; none lower 12980, good at 1257 13680, very good at 1258 14700, very good at 1258 15900, poor at 1258 15970, very good at 1258; none in the 16s 17250, fair at 1259 17450, JBA? At 1259 After 1300: 12300, good at 1321 13850, very good at 1320; none in the 14s 15450, fair at 1302 atop V. of Turkey, het on lo side, but gone at 1305: 15485, fair at 1305, het on hi side, moved up from 15450 vs Turkey 15540, fair at 1305, het on lo side 15900, poor at 1322 16100, poor at 1323 16980, very good at 1324 Before 1400: 12300, fair at 1355 13850, very good at 1355 15490, good at 1357; up from 15485 15560, good at 1357; up from 15540 16980, very good at 1357 After 1400: 15615, fair at *1403 cutting on atop WEWN vs V. of Tibet 15613 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15450, 1330 UT, Firedrake jamming music, wiping out the Voice Of Turkey until 1400. Signal fair to good (J K Johnson, Atlanta GA, April 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15900, 15800, 20/Apr 0925, Firedrake, with good signal (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake April 20 before 1300, only time to catch a couple: 15800, very good at 1259 15900, very good at 1259 After 1300: 15555, fair at 1300 with het and noise jamming. This one still going while the above cut off 15500, good at 1321 with het; none in the 16s, 14s, 13s, 12s. Most of them cut back on, circa 20 minutes past the hours Before 1400: 12300, fair at 1359; none in the 13s, 14s 15490, fair at 1353, het on lo side from V of Tibet, Tajikistan 15565, fair at 1353 with noise jamming too 15785, very good at 1353; Galei Zahal has now escaped: see ISRAEL 15900, good at 1353 16100, very good at 1357 16700, good at 1357 17100, very good at 1357 After 1430: 15800, very good at 1434 17100, very good at 1435; none in the 16s, 14s, 13s, 12s (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Steve's Firedrake logs 1200-1229 4/21/12 Hi Glenn, Today`s early Firedrake logs: 13130, 1225 Fair signal 14700, 1225 Good-excellent signal 15435, 1225 Excellent signal 15970, 1227 Fair-good 15900, 1226 Good signal 16100, 1227 Fair signal 16980, 1221 Fair 17100, 1228 Good-excellent signal Firedrake Logs 4/21/12 1230-1245 GMT: Nothing above or below. The same is true of the logs I sent you for 1200-1229 earlier today. -steve 12300, 1241 JBA signal 12600, 1241 JBA signal 13100, 1239 Excellent signal 14700, 1241 Excellent signal 14800, 1241 Good signal 15900, 1243 Good signal 15970, 1243 Good signal 16100, 1243 excellent signal 16980, 1244 fair signal 17100, 1244 Fair signal Thanks (Steve Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake April 21, before 1230: 15435, good at 1226. Hope they and V of Tibet stayed that far from V of Turkey today, just now starting up on 15450. Before 1400: 13130, fair at 1344; none in the 12s, 13s 13850, good at 1337 15490, good at 1342 15565, good at 1342 15970, good at 1337 16100, very good at 1340 17250, JBA at 1338 17450, very good at 1338; none in the 18s After 1400: 15615, good at 1410, atop WEWN English making SAH of about 6 Hz. I continue to marvel at how WEWN could jump into the Firedrake, when they should have stayed on their usual channel 15610! Their own frying pan of spurs go wherever Vandiver goes 17570, good at 1418, atop V. of Tibet/Madagascar audible under Before 1500: 14700, very good at 1459 15800, very good at 1457 15970, very good at 1457 17250, very good at 1459 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake found on these freqs between 1320-1355 22 April: 18200, 17450, 17250, 16980, 16920, 16100, 15970, 15500, 14700, 13850, 13130, 12980, 12600, 12230, 11500. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) Firedrake April 22 after 1300: 11500, poor at 1315 with flutter, seems mixing with VOR Tajikistan which is not modulating much if at all 12230, fair at 1315; none in the 13s 14700, open carrier at 1319, one word of Chinese, then Firedrake music cutting on 15500, poor at 1323, het on lo side 15570, poor at 1323 with noise jamming too 15775, poor at 1321 16100, fair at 1328 16980, fair at 1328 17250, JBA at 1329 Before 1400: 12230, fair at 1359 12980, poor at 1359: monitoring this one at closedown time 1400: stayed on the air for about 15 sex past, airing Chinese announcement starting with ``Beijing`` 13850, poor at 1359 14700, good at 1359 15490, good at 1357 15610, good at 1356 also with noise; avoiding WEWN 15615 now?? 15775, fair at 1356 15970, very good at 1356 16100, very poor at 1357 16920, good at 1357 16980, very good at 1357 17250, very poor at 1359 Firedrake April 23, after 1200: 15435, fair at 1208, het from 15437 Before 1300: 12600, good at 1258; none in the 11s, 10s 12980, very good at 1258 14700, very good at 1257 14800, good at 1257 15555, good at 1253 15900, very good at 1254 15970, very good at 1254 16100, very good at 1255 16980, very poor at 1254 17170, poor at 1255 18200, JBA? At 1256 vs local cable DTV converter box bubble jammer After 1300: 15485, poor at 1308 also with noise jamming 15555, poor at 1309 After 1330: 15490, poor at 1342; probably jumped from 15500 15500, poor at 1336-1340* 15565, poor at 1340 15750, poor at 1341 with flutter 15900, fair at 1341 15970, fair at 1341 After 1400: 15610, poor at 1407 Firedrake April 23: 13780, fair at 1727. Aoki shows target must be RFA in Chinese via Tajikistan at 17-20 (which also collides with RFI in French at 18-20, if really on). One would expect CNR1 jamming instead. No full bandscan at this time, but checked one other RFA frequency: 9455, poor at 1729, Firedrake here too. Following geomag storm with K index hitting 6, reception is generally poor if it is: hi latitude, multi-hop, or above 10 MHz. April 24: NO Firedrake found 11-18 MHz around 1340 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4-24-12 1200-1229: 12230, 1215 Good Nothing else above or below 4-24-12 1250-1259: 12230, 1255 Excellent 12980, 1256 Excellent 13970, 1256 Fair-Good nothing above or below 4-24-12 1315-1329 Unable to locate any Firedrake broadcasts (Steve Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake April 25, not a complete scan today, just noted: 15500, poor at 1342, but gone a few minutes later 16100, fair at 1340 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6115, presumed V. of the Strait, Fuzhou, 1015-1023 April 23 listed Amoy; M & W announcers with alternating talk; pop-like music at 1018; back to talk at 1023; weak and poor but relatively clear. 6165, CNR-6, V. of Shenzhou, Beijing, 1035-1050 April 23 Chinese; W with brief talks between pop like music selections; fair at tune/in; quickly fade/out by 1050 (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H., NRD- 545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also EAST TURKISTAN ** CHINA. Chinese Tropo (with clips) --- I know most people back home aren't interested in this, but apparently, there are some who enjoy hearing these tropo happenings a half a world away (yes, it surprises me too!!). Kudos to Bill Hepburn yet again for those tropo maps almost always perfectly predicting that Yellow Sea tropo. Anyway, today was our first 70 degree day here in Korea. Spring began abruptly on Saturday. Seasons here don't come gradually, but instead come in a single day, from 40 degree highs every day to 70 degree highs with flowers blooming instantly. So, needless to say, DX season has very quickly begun; and it began with a bang Sunday night. 22 stations total received from China tonight in a 4 (or so) hour opening, including the south coast of Korea and enhanced North Korea coast. Sadly, a lot was lost for the fact I had to work for the first half, including most of the lower half of the dial I couldn't fully explore, but half of the stations were new. Most were in the 275-375 mile range, but a handful were much further, including a weak 106.7 at 500 miles, and very weak 103.3 at 589 miles, all received on the MP3 player with a few coming in at ground level between apartment buildings, and all the distant stations having been heard coming in solid as a rock last spring. Nothing too terribly new about this, but for those who like a challenge, come help me ID a ton of Mandarin DX clips, eh? Luckily, I extensively researched Shandong province radio from my openings last spring... so virtually all have been IDed, thanks to many being between frequencies (such as 96.35, with another station on 96.30, etc., a lot like those TV offsets that help DXers ID). I'm in my final month in Asia, so the second shot at China is a blessing (unless you count the other 10+ openings scattered throughout last spring and summer). Three (of many) clips, these being the typical strongest of them, most of them regular tropo catches here: 93.4 (93.45) Kunyu Mountain, 292 miles - Shandong News Radio with TOH ID. http://www.beaglebass.com/Kunyushan_93_4_SD_Xinwen_Guangbo_April_09_2012.mp3 96.1 Weihai, (new - not calculated, ~315 miles), Weihai Traffic Opera Radio with radio soap opera. http://www.beaglebass.com/Weihai_Opera_96_1_April_09_2012.mp3 100.1 Kunyu Mountain, 292 miles - Shandong Economic Channel. Constantly heard with the slightest enhancement. http://www.beaglebass.com/Kunyushan_100_1_April_10_2012.mp3 (Chris Kadlec, Songtan, Korea, 9 April, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. JAMES FALLOWS IS IMPRESSED BY CCTV AMERICA, BO XILAI NOTWITHSTANDING, AND "WILL FOLLOW ITS EVOLUTION." Posted: 22 Apr 2012 The Atlantic, 18 Apr 2012, James Fallows: "Over the years in China, I watched my share (thousands of hours?) of China Central TV, CCTV, and have a very clear idea of its role as reliable presenter of the official governmental view. In the past few evenings I've started watching the launch of new programs from CCTV America. I don't know how representative the shows I've seen are, or how long this can go on -- but flipping back and forth between CCTV America and a well-known US network based in Atlanta, I've generally heard a lot more, and in a lot more detail and less tendentiously and cutesily, from, gasp, CCTV America. I'm not even comparing it with some other networks, including the one run by Roger Ailes. (For instance: right at this moment CNN is giving us an hour on 'Remembering Dick Clark.' Of course I love Dick Clark! But at the same time CCTV-America is giving us a whole bunch of world events and economics, including just now Timothy Geithner saying that China 'still has a long way to go' in liberalizing the RMB. 'Dull but worthy'? Perhaps. But closer to actual 'news'? Definitely yes. On the other hand: Yet to see any Bo Xilai updates. Still...) This is not something I expected, nor -- on the basis of a couple nights' viewing -- that I'm sure how to react to. I will follow its evolution, and I invite you to check it out for yourself. Meta-point: I have been very bearish on contemporary China's ability to exercise 'soft power,' since its efforts have so often been so Onion-like. This seems different, and for China-watchers and people in general is worth paying attention to." For live stream: english.cntv.cn/live/ (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5909.92, Alcavarán Radio, Puerto Lleras, Meta, 17/04 0710-0734, 44444, programa religioso, ID “Por Alcavarán radio``. NOTA: Reportado antes en 5909.02 (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Lima, April Chasqui DX via DXLD) 5909.94, Alcaraván R., Puerto Lleras in Spanish, 0252-0304, songs & ballads with M / DJ announcements after each song, mentioning Alcaraván; ID at 0257 as Alcaraván Radio; Time pips at 0259! and M unclear announcement; mostly unclear talks first over slow music, then continuing M talk (no much clear); heard in SSB with fast QSB and moderate rustle & crackles at times; brief utes at times in USB; at 0258 QRM strong CW at times for about 1 minute; almost fair/ poor; 4/19 (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy. Equipment: JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Zoom Corp. H2 handy digital recorder MP3 & WAV files; Oregon Scientific Radio controlled clock; Toshiba Laptop PC Windows XP2 offline (for loggings); Interkart framed wall board political world map (1: 46,400,000); the DX Edge-Xantek Inc.(daylight- darkness desk world map), DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910, Alcaraván Radio, Puerto Lleras, 0948-1002 April 23 Spanish; Two M announcers in political sounding discussion; tentative program ID "(?) do [sic] Capital" at 1001, into M & W announcers with IDs; music at 1002; fair in ECCS-USB (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H., NRD- 545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Assume off-frequency to lo side as usual (gh, DXLD) Alcaraván Radio from Puerto Lleras, booming in Montevideo at 0853 UT: http://youtu.be/pG7ZrNU2Ok4 Colombian folk music, ID at 0902. 73 de CX2ABP (Rodolfo Tizzi, Uruguay, April 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 6010.107, 24/4 0130, La Voz de tu Conciencia, slow song, talks, fair signal but some QRM (Giampiero Bernardini, Excalibur Pro & SDR-14 con SDR-Radio software, Ant: T2FD lunga 15 metri, QTH: Milano Noise City, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. 5066.3, R. Télé Candip, Bunia with an S3 signal into the same Austrian Perseus site as above on March 30 from 1745 UT tune. Man in French to 1757 UT, then into an Afro-pop song to 1759.5. Man ann in French at 1759.5 with what sounded like periodic remote reporting to 1820. Then into local Afro-pop vocals at 1821 to past 1828. Man announcement French at 1828 to tune out at 1831. Intermittent ute and het QRM. Noisy channel with some QSB. Anyone have a better address than WRTH or e-mail for this station? (Bruce Churchill-USA, DXplorer April 18, via BCDX April 25 via DXLD) ** CUBA. 530, Radio Rebelde, unknown site. 1819 April 15, 2012. Weak under Enciclopedia (the daytime house audio), the Cuban national anthem. A quick flip to 1180 confirmed the anthem in progress for the opening of a baseball game. 1620, Radio Rebelde, Guanacaboa, Ciudad de la Habana. 1238 April 22, 2012. Their Sunday morning music program of classic Cuban oldies is a frequent listen here. Today's nicest track, as identified by holding the iPhone's SoundHound app to the speaker was “La Mentira” by Felipe Pirela, and it's available on a compilation CD. Well, Felipe was a Venezuelan it appears. Per Wiki: “Felipe Pirela (1941 - 1972) was a Venezuelan singer.” Other deeper and more indigenous Cuban tracks are a FAIL on SoundHound, though. Shame (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, FL QTH with NRD-535, ICOM IC-R75 and Sangean PR-D5; 1 X roof dipole, 1 X room random wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 6060, April 20 at 0600, RHC English news of Topic 5, what else? with heavy flutter, and frequency is also wobbling. Sounds like Doppler effect during severe propagation disturbance --- but the other three frequencies 6010, 6050 and 6125 are loud and clear! Well, not loud in the case of 6125, but no such flutter or wobble on any of them. 6060 is the signal aimed furthest away from us, toward `New York` and Europe, so maybe it`s hitting some weird propagational pocket? Continued during next semihour. Certainly not in auroral conditions, as CFRX 6070 was also clear and steady, better than usual, in fact. Knowing RHC, maybe instead this anomaly is a terrible defect originating with the 6060 transmitter. FWIW, WWV reported at 0600: ``Geophysical Alert Message #Solar-terrestrial indices for 19 April follow. Solar flux 138 and estimated planetary A-index 5. The estimated planetary K-index at 0600 UTC on 20 April was 3. No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are predicted for the next 24 hours.`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glen[n] -- Their webpage is NEVER right (or updated), but RHC mentioned last night that they would email a current schedule to anyone asking. so I emailed them and lo and behold I VERY promptly got a reply with an Excel file which contained a complete schedule good until 31/October (according to what was on the sked). Here's the English portion: 0000-0100 5040 "Tropical Band" 0100-0500 6000 ECNA ("Washington") 0100-0700 6050 Central North America ("Chicago") 0500-0700 6010 WCNA ("San Francisco") 0500-0700 6060 ECNA ("New York") 0500-0700 6125 North, Central and South America 1900-2000 11760 Central America RHC also broadcasts in Spanish, French, Portugese, Arabic, Creole, Quechua and in Esperanto (!). If you'd like the excel file with their other language services, let me know and I can forward it. 73 //(Ken Zichi, MI, April 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx, but even that is not correct; the 5040 English has moved to 23-24 UT, and several other errors compared to monitoring (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) 9955, Saturday April 21 at 1150, the DentroCuban Jamming Command suffers the `Reality in Jesus` preacher on WRMI to be heard in English; after 1200, wall-of-noise vs R. Libertad. Jamming also off by 1500 when WORLD OF RADIO came on, but --- see U S A. 6010, 6050, 6060, 6125, Sunday April 22 at 0515, RHC is in English, instead of Esperanto as heard exactly one week ago during this semihour. So maybe Esp`o is still supposed to be at 0700 on only one of them. But there`s always something else anomalous:: 11750, April 22 at 1312, absent while 11760, 11850, 11690 are in `Amigos de Cuba` slanted mailbag; but at 1355, 11750 is back on. 10000, April 22 at 1329, jampulsing in the Cuban style and rate QRMing WWV, presumably stray, yet none at the moment on 9955, 9885, 9825, 9805. 11760, checking this Sunday April 22 for the scheduled weekly Esperanto broadcast at 1500-1530: at 1500, still in Spanish opening `Memorias Culturales` show and still on // 15340 at least for a bit. Kept listening and noticed 11760 abruptly switched to Esperanto in progress at 1508! Woke up. DentroCuban Jamming Command once again ignores the weekly truce Radio Martí observes by turning everything off for six hours Monday mornings: April 23 at 0455, still wall-of-noise jamming on 6030, 7405; also spur pulsing around 7230 inside the hamband. And pulse jamming against nothing at 0453 on 9725, which is not used at all in the A- seasons by R. Martí! See also USA: WRMI/WOR. 15230, April 23 at 1205, RHC has heavy long/short path echo, with flutter on one of them. Recheck at 1250, no echo. Since Habana is just over 2 megameters from here, that means the long way round is just under 38 Mm. My NGS globe shows the path: across Venezuela, Brasil, way south of Africa near Prince Edward, Crozet and Marion Is., across the Indian ocean thru Java, Borneo, Mindanao, east of Japan, along the Aleutians, and reëntering North America at Vancouver BC. Assuming the long path is 36.3 Mm longer than the short path, and the speed of radio is 298.5 Mm/sec, the delay is 0.12 second. Meanwhile, RHC on 16m at 1211 was loud and clear with no echoes on 17580, 17730. 17580 was already off at 1256 check. Claims to be on until 1500 tho seldom heard later than 1400. HCJB Australia 15340 was also audible without echo before RHC came on at 1300, similar route, but was it long or short? 6150, April 23 at 1306 RHC is still on, and this late without much CCI from the China radio war, just in time to hear it cut off late at 1306:50*. 11750, April 24 at *1255 RHC carrier comes on, but not strong enough to completely cover BBC; see UK [non]. 15340, April 24 at 1305 no signal yet from RHC, tho 15230 is on. 15340 carrier on late at *1306 and soon JIP modulation added to become the SSOB as hi-latitude paths are attenuated. At 1307, 17730 is VG but no signal on 17580 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 7210-LSB, April 24 at 1228, N4RAU in Miami and N1NR in Pennsylvania exchanging SS anti-communist and anti-socialist barbs (socialism ruined France, Spain, they say, not to mention Cuba for 53 years). Weak broadcast carrier from presumed 20 kW Kunming is not enough of a BFO. 7110-LSB at 1232 April 24 also had unID SS ham mentioning Sancti Spíritus, oblivious of blocking weak music from Myanmar (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. 5925, Cyprus Broadcasting Corp, *2216-2244:30*, sign on with local music and opening Greek announcements. Greek talk. Sign off with Greek music. Fair. Much better on // 7220, 9760. April 21. Not heard yesterday, April 20. Scheduled for Fri, Sat, Sun, but very irregular (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** CZECHIA [non]. 9955, April 20 at 0548, ``We Shall Overcome`` performed in Czech during the Spanish service of R. Praga, which still exists on SW thanks to WRMI. In the style of the New Christy Minstrels, who AFAIK never recorded WSO. No jamming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EAST TURKISTAN. Dear Glenn, This evening (April 19) at 1620-1800* I heard Urumqi, Xinjiang in Kazakh on a new frequency of 4850.00 kHz replacing the out-of-band 4330 kHz which was silent. SINPO 35333 increasing to 45434. It was // to 6015 as usual which was heard with 35433. It is expected to change to the summerfrequency 7340 within the next 2-3 weeks. Until then schedule is: 0000-0300 1156-1800. Urumqi was also heard in Uighur on 4980 and Mandarin on 5060 as usual. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4850.00, 1620-1800*, CHINA, 19.04, Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi, Kazakh, radiodrama with man talking and screaming persons, classical Asian orchestra music, Kazakh folksongs, 1700 exact time pips and more songs except for a Russian song 1715, 1759 ann and time signal. New frequency ex 4330 which was silent, 35333 improving to 45434, // 6015 (35433) 4850.00, *2330-0020, 19/20.04, Xinjiang PBS, Urumqi, Kazakh, operatic songs (with a Russian flavour), 0057 mentioning Sinkiang twice, 0000 time signal, CRN IS, ID in Kazakh by man and woman: "Sinkiang khale radyo stanshata", ex 4330; summerschedule!, 44444 // 6015 (45344) (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) Me too logged this station last night here in Kolkata and surprised to see them in this new frequency. SINPO was 45444 at 1715 UT. Now let's see if they continue in this new frequency. Thanks, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, April 20, dxldyg via DX WORLD OF RADIO 1614, LISTENING DIGEST) CHINA, Re 4850, strong signal of S=9+20dB. Similar signal strength like 4905 kHz also from western China. Could be a re-shuffled cutted antenna installation of 4330 kHz. vy73 wolfy df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, 1519 UT April 20, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4850, CHINA, Xijiang [sic] PBS, Urumqi, 2332-0000 April 21; ex-4330; Continuous, indigenous vocal music; announcer at 2353 though rough copy by then; more music at 2356; booming signal at tune/in; fade/out with increasing CODAR by ToH (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H., NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. A través de un correo electrónico personal el amigo Jeff White, a su regreso de las Islas de Galápagos y de su visita a HCJB Voz Global en Quito, me autoriza a difundir la siguiente noticia: «Todos los transmisores que estaban en Pifo ya están en Australia o en el centro de tecnología de HCJB en Indiana, excepto uno de 100 kw que está en un garage (yo lo vi) que han donado al grupo alemán de HCJB que está completamente independiente y dicen que están tratando de encontrar un terreno en Ecuador donde montar una planta y transmitir en OC a Brasil. Están vendiendo la casa de huéspedes de HCJB. Dicen que tienen menos personal ahora, y menos personas visitándolos de afuera. El hospital de HCJB en Quito en frente de la emisora parece estar funcionando normalmente.» (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, April 23, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6049.92, R. HCJB, Quito, 3/04 1130-1205, 44444, programa Noticiero, comenta sobre el contrabando y precio del balón de gas, ID “La Voz de los Andes” (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Lima, April Chasqui DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) 6049.94, HCJB. 1158-1205 April 22, 2012. Relatively poor, not sure if Spanish programming or something indigenous, though lots of Spanish words and phrases by man and kiddie, enough to make it the language of Almost Spanish at least. The distinctive HCJB time sounders (three seconds slow on final tone) top-of-hour (don't forget: they also roll time sounders bottom hour, even over programming in progress if need be). This is likely the unidentified log of Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin April 15 via DXLD, reported on 6050.932 at 2315) for which Glenn Hauser asked, “Did you mean 6049.932? Unlikely HCJB would be almost 1 kHz off.” (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, FL QTH with NRD-535, ICOM IC-R75 and Sangean PR-D5; 1 X roof dipole, 1 X room random wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 6270.00, Radio Cairo, 0215-0230 April 26. Noted two females in conversation during the period. Signal had some distortion with it. At 0222 typical music. Signal was strong. 9305.063, ERTU General Service, Presumed, 0240-0250 April 26. At tune in noted a musical program with singing by a choir. This signal seems to be distorted similar to what I heard coming from Radio Cairo when I listened earlier. Otherwise, the signal was good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, Excalibur, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sat 21/4: 11540, Cairo? / V of Arabs, 2104, YL mentioning Arabia el Kahira, an advert like S9 with bad buzzed audio (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13580, Radio Cairo Albanian program from Abu Zabaal site, scheduled 15-16 UT, noted at 1540 UT April 24 with heavy distorted broadband spurious buzzy signal from 13520 to 13655 kHz. This on remote network SDR units in Japan and many location places all over Europe (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 24, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nac - Bata, *0536-0545, sign on with Spanish talk. Weak. Poor in noisy conditions. Also heard earlier at the unusual time of 0040 thanks to Don Jensen tip. April 20 (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX Listening Digest) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, April 20 at 0544, R. Africa is again on before 0600, poor with gospel huxter; nothing from Nigeria 15120 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, Radio Africa (presumed), April 20 mixing together with IRRS till their 1515*. Was a mess! 1515-1530: “Let The Bible Speak” with Irish preacher; address: “Let the Bible Speak, Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom”; 1530 into different religious segment; audio suddenly went from good to terrible with IADs and muffled audio; decent signal strength. MP3 audio at http://www.box.com/s/4944eb0e77c3445f1922 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 15190, 22/4 2151, two religious stations in English fighting on the same frequency, both exactly in 15190v with fair signal but fading, Family Radio & Radio Africa, I find it simply crazy! (Giampiero Bernardini, RX: Drake R-4C, Excalibur Pro, Elad FDM- S1, Ant: T2FD 15 meters long, QTH Milano, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Really? Family Radio supposedly gave up this frequency which anyway was in Portuguese from 2200. Isn`t it now on 15745? I have not checked either at this hour (gh, DXLD) [later: yes, WYFR on 15745 ex-15190] Ciao Glenn and group friends, about your two stations in English on 15190 notes I hope some from other countries can try to listen to the frequency (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, ibid.) 15190.0 Radio Africa Bata - tentative -, just above threshold, male and female in English talked in quiet manner of speaking about ABORTION at 0611 UT April 23. Very tiny string seen on 15190.082 kHz - maybe Radio Inconfidência? (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 23, dxldyg via DXLD) 15190, April 24 at 1914, fair signal from R. Africa, sounds like Tony Alamo; far enough south not to be attenuated like Spain 15110, Nigeria 15120 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, April 25 at 1901 hearing Tagalog from Philippines, instead of English from R. Africa, but at 1959 now it`s Tony Alamo discussing wildfires around Los Angeles with a god; next check at 2055, already off the air today. For the latest on what the child-molesting gospel- huxter and his cultists are really up to, see http://www.tonyalamonews.com/ I suppose being able to mumble even now via PanAmerican Broadcasting means some dupes are still sending in money (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. S/on with ISs interrupted with IDs in different languages, feat[uring?]. Arabic was at 0256 UT on Apr 16 on 5945 \\ 7110 \\ 7175 \\ 7205 \\ 9720 kHz. Checking at 0420 UT I found them on 7205 kHz with ERI 1 and DRM jammers and program in Ve[rnacular?] on 5945, 7112 [sic], 7180 and (!)9705 kHz. Or on 9705 kHz there were probably Ethiopia, Eritrea 2, DRMJ, Niger and ?CNR Xinjiang INKy/Mo? (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, April 24, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) I give up: what in the world do you mean by ``INKy/Mo?``? (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. via GERMANY. 15170, Voice of Oromiya Liberation, *1600-1630*, vernacular talk. Some Horn of Africa music. Sounds of a large crowd. Poor to fair. Sun only. April 22 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** EUROPE. PIRATE. 6299.6 USB, Radio Flying Dutchman, 0110-0123*, pop music. IDs. Fair to good. April 22 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** EUROPE. WOR radio transmission --- Hi Glenn, Radio Spaceshuttle from Scandinavia will be on air next Saturday 21st April 2012. We shall transmit on 15845 kHz USB and if allowed we like to relay also latest World of Radio program of yours. WOR scheduled at 0915, 1215, 1515 and 1715 UT. Transmission will start 09 UT and ends 18 UT. Glenn, I wish there could be some High Frequency Pirate News on your program, please. Greetings, (Dick Spacewalker, April 17, WORLD OF RADIO 1613, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hope Galei Zahal, Israel, back on 15850 is too weak to bother; but LSB might be better for 15845 (gh, DXLD) It is in various region of Japan and can receive R. Spaceshuttle International now at 1000 UT on 15843.04-USB with fair (S. Hasegawa, April 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have it S9, good signal in Copenhagen. My receiver says 15843.1 kHz in USB mode. No QRM from Galai Zahal on new 15850. Heard it since 1025. Time now is 1040. Now: Love potion no. 9, followed by the address, but couldn't copy it off air. A Google search says: Reports and comment to spaceshuttleradio @ yahoo.com e-mail address. Report for posted QSL-cards to Radio Spaceshuttle International, P. O. Box 2702, 6049ZG Herten, The Netherlands http://spaceshuttleradio.freeservers.com/ 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, 1144 UT April 21, ibid.) Sabato 21 aprile 2012, 1159 - 15843v USB kHz, SPACESHUTTLE SW RADIO, Canzone heavy metal e jingle. Segnale buono-insufficiente (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova) - Italia, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) 15843-USB, April 21 at 1233, first check for today`s pre-publicized transmission of R. Spaceshuttle International from ``Scandinavia``, where ``Dick Spacewalker`` told me he wanted to play the latest WORLD OF RADIO four times between 09 and 18 UT: 0915, 1215, 1515, 1715. It`s just barely audible, with occasional peaks to barely audible. At first I hear some rock music, so no WOR. But at 1235 a familiar voice, as he has picked up WOR at the `Europe` point where I am talking about this very transmission, and some following items. At 1240 break for another voice, music, boings. 1246 it`s I again, at New Zealand; 1257 music; generally weaker after 1300; 1324 peaking a bit, 1332 talk. Last check at 1421, JBA. At first on the analog dial I assumed it was on publicized 15845-USB, but at 1333 comparing to WWCR 13845, it became obvious RSI was really on 15843, no doubt to distance itself from Galei Zahal, Israel which in the meantime had reactivated 15850 --- it was no problem at all here, zero to JBA. This was widely heard from Japan to Europe to western North America, where Walt Salmaniw had WORLD OF RADIO at 1519. Erik Køie, Denmark, found their website with contact info and some sexy QSLs: http://spaceshuttleradio.freeservers.com/ Reports and comment to spaceshuttleradio @ yahoo.com e-mail address. Report for posted QSL-cards to Radio Spaceshuttle International, P. O. Box 2702, 6049ZG Herten, The Netherlands. The site does not mention today`s transmission. It was really too weak here to make out what they were saying, but frequency and hearing myself banish any doubt (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fair reception on the west coast of North America with music at 1441 UT! I'm listening to World of Radio right now at 1519 UT at fair, even fair + reception from Europirate Space Shuttle Radio (Dutch?). All this on 15843.04 USB. Not bad at all! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15843, 1540 UT, hearing 'My Woman From Tokyo' played by Deep Purple. Poor to Fair here (it`s in and out) in the Eastern US (Buffalo NY). Have it tuned in on a DX-440, BFO 'in' and pitch dialed in, using longwire antenna oriented north/south. 1544 UT positive ID heard 'This is Radio Spaceshuttle'. (Scott M, ibid.) I'm hearing what I assume is them on 15843.04 USB at 1552. Weak talk, not quite understandable (Bruce in Seattle Portzer, ibid.) 1600 UTC, now playing disco version of 'Walking in Memphis'. Ugh! (Scott M, ibid.) Hi Everyone, R Spaceshuttle this pm 15843 USB with Glenn's WOR http://www.box.com/s/f9c055feffc6cd49dfed (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, ibid.) Clip at 1745 with WOR ending, acknowledging reports from NAm, including mine own (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) PIRATE. 15843 USB, Spaceshuttle Radio, 1655-1807*, pop music. IDs. Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio broadcast. Email address as Spaceshuttleradio@yahoo.com. Techno-pop dance music. Very weak at tune-in, but fair on peaks. Improved to a good level at 1745-1807. April 21 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** GABON. 9580, Afrique Numero Un, Moyabi, 2141-2203 April 21 French; M with brief talks between Afropops & Hi-life music selections; ID in passing at 2155; again at ToH into news; fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H., NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GAMBIA. 648 kHz Radio Gambia not heard --- During a recent trip to the Canary Islands I noticed that Radio Gambia was missing on 648 kHz, while about a year ago reception was quite strong in the evening till s/off. I suspect they are off the air or transmitting using low power on 648 kHz. 73 (Harald Kuhl, Germany, April 9, MWCircle yg via DXLD) ** GEORGIA. [ABKHAZIA], 9535, On April 23 R. Abkhazia from Sukhumi heard around 0700-0730 UT in Russian. Weak signal for East European and Caucasian listeners. Old 5 kW TX jammer unit of USSR era. Rather in Abkhazian language, now at 0738 UT Apr 23 a folkloric song by male voice. Heard in upper Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Darmstadt, Amberg, Berlin. Am besten und das cleanste Signal spielte der remote Perseus in Amberg-Nuremberg area von DL0AO mit der ALA 100 loop antenna. Apsua Radio ID at 0741 UT, interval signal. End of piano music at 0800:53 UT, then pause between 0800:53 til 0802:06 UT. Switch to Russian news program from 0802:07 UT. TX Sukhumi switch OFF midst on Russian newscast at 0804:08 UT. Listen to some snips of recording, radio jewellery of this morning, seldom heard R Abkhazia these days. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 23, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The clip was distributed as an attachment to the dxldyg (gh) 9535, Abkhazia. Wolfie, just I checked in Sofia (Sony ICF7600SW, 6 m outdoor wire antenna) on 9535 and at 0731 UT the program was in Abkhazian language and maybe earlier they were in Russian, but in 2012 they have not programs in Russian observed on 9535 and 1350 kHz. When the programs are in Russian usually they are relayed from FMs in Soukhumi, earlier Radio Rio-Rita andnow Avtoradio Soukhoumi (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, April 23, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) [Abkhazia], Apsua Radio is using two different ISs now - one at 0700 UT on 9535 kHz and another at 1700 UT on MW 1350 kHz, but IDs are the same. On 9535 kHz they are irregular on Mon, Wed and often on Fridays 0700-0800 UT in Abkhazian and in B-11 at 0800-approx 0808 UT in Russian followed by 1-2 minutes with a program of Avtoradio in Ru, according to observations in B-11 and A-12 (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, April 24, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. QSL: Hamburger Lokal Radio, Germany; Date, time & freq (7265) card in 21 days for e-report to Michael Kittner, mkittner @ freenet.de (apparently redaktion @ hamburger-lokalradio.de also works) Also included station decal. Full address on envelope is: Lokalradio- FM 96.0, Kulturzentrum LOLA, D21031, Hamburg (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7265, Hamburger Lokal Radio, *0700-0710, 22-04, music, some comments in English and German. 24322. (Méndez) 6140, Radio Gloria International, *0900-0959*, 22-04, male, identification in English: "This is Radio Gloria International, the sound of free radio". Pop music. "Radio Gloria International next program will be 27th of May" 34433. (Méndez) 9480, Radio Gloria International, 0901-0910, 2204, pop music, parallel with 6140. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Sony ICF SW 7600 G, cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. QSL Radio 6150 --- Just received a detailed e-QSL for today`s test broadcast of Radio 6150 on 6150 kHz AM, starting at 0615 UT. Picture on the front showing the transmitter. Some technical details of today´s broadcasts: Transmitter: Hagenuk HG MT 1501 (ENI1000A6k) Antenna: halfwave dipole Power: 4,5 - 6,5 kW This transmitter type (built in Germany) was formerly used on merchant ships. some details at http://www.seefunknetz.de/mt1501.htm PS: This was a quick answer to my reception report (9 hours). The first QSL I received from them took over a year (Harald Kuhl, Germany, April 21, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Some Media Broadcast changes: Radio Dardasha 7 (BVBN) in Arabic, new schedule from May 1: 0300-0330 on 7310 WER 250 kW / 120 deg to N/ME 1700-1730 on 13670 WER 125 kW / 120 deg to N/ME 0500-0530 on 11810 NAU 125 kW / 210 deg to WeAf, cancelled 1900-1930 on 13740 WER 125 kW / 180 deg to WeAf, cancelled Bible Voice Broadcasting Network (BVBN), new transmissions from May 1 0430-0445 on 9460 WER 125 kW / 120 deg to N/ME ?????? 2000-2015 on 5930 WER 250 kW / 120 deg to N/ME ?????? 0330-0400 on 9460 WER 125 kW / 105 deg to WeAs ?????? 1600-1615 on 15420 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs ?????? 0600-0615 on 11655 WER 125 kW / 180 deg to CEAf ?????? 2030-2045 on 9515 WER 250 kW / 180 deg to CEAf ?????? Mighty KBC Radio in English/Dutch, new schedule: 0800-1000 on 6095 WER 100 kW / non-dir Mon-Fri to WeEu from May 12 1000-1100 on 6095 WER 100 kW / non-dir Mon-Fri to WeEu Apr 23-May 11, noted today April 23 0900-1000 on 6095 WER 125 kW / non-dir Sat/Sun to WeEu 1000-1600 on 6095 WER 100 kW / non-dir Sat/Sun to WeEu 1600-1700 on 6095 WER 250 kW / non-dir Sat/Sun to WeEu from May 12 [Corrections, later: Transport Radio in Dutch, instead of Mighty KBC Radio in English on Apr. 24: 1000-1100 6095 WER 100 kW / non-dir Mon-Fri to WeEu April 23-May 11 0800-1000 6095 WER 100 kW / non-dir Mon-Fri to WeEu from May 12, tent. 1600-1700 6095 WER 250 kW / non-dir Sat/Sun to WeEu from May 12, tent. Mighty KBC Radio in English: 0900-1000 6095 WER 125 kW / non-dir Sat/Sun to WeEu 1000-1600 6095 WER 100 kW / non-dir Sat/Sun to WeEu 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, April 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST)] WYFR (Family Radio): 1400-1500 NF 13735 TRM 250 kW / 335 deg to CeAs in Uzbek, ex 13730 WER 2200-2400 NF 11830 GUF 500 kW / 170 deg to SoAm in Portuguese, ex 7360 Voice of Oromiyan Liberation Front in Oromo: 1600-1630 on 15170 ISS 500 kW / 130 deg Sunday to EaAf, ex WER 500 kW OGM, program-mystery via MBR from April 21: 1600-1630 on 15170 ISS 500 kW / 130 deg Tue/Sat to EaAf [later, April 24: Hi all, OGM is Radio Horiyo Ogadem(n)ia from April 3, new via MBR: 1600-1630 on 15170 ISS 500 kW / 130 deg Tue/Sat to EaAf Somali 73! Ivo Ivanov, WORLD OF RADIO 1614] Bible Voice Broadcasting Network (BVBN): 1830-1930 on 17515 ISS 100 kW / 131 deg Friday EaAf Amharic, new 1700-1730 on 13810 WER 100 kW / 120 deg Tue/Thu N/ME Arabic, ex 17-18 0030-0100 on 9490 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Mon-Thu SoAs Hindi, cancelled 0030-0100 on 9490 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Fri-Sun SoAs Engl, cancelled 1300-1330 on 15180#TRM 250 kW / 045 deg Mon-Sat EaAs Japanese, new 1300-1400 on 15180#TRM 250 kW / 045 deg Sunday EaAs Japanese, new 1500-1530 on 15275 ISS 100 kW / 090 deg Sunday SoAs English, new 1500-1515 NF 13740 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Sunday SEAs English, ex 21460 # strong co-ch VOA in Korean Pan American Broadcasting (PAB), new from April 25 till June 6 1930-2030 on 9515 NAU 250 kW / 150 deg Wed to NoAf English Radio Biafra London from April 21, new via MBR: 2000-2100 on 11870 WER 125 kW / 180 deg Thu/Sat to WCAf English+Igbo? 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, April 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, UT Saturday April 21 at 0454, R. Verdade(e), not in Spanish but Brazilian Portuguese, dramatic religious narration with music. Next check around 1155, was still audible but about to fade out, today`s Enid sunrise being 1150 UT, moving 8-9 minutes earlier per week (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Around 1940 UT, on April 22nd 2012, I ran into an AM signal with music on 28385 kHz. After listening for a while, I finally got a good ID at 2000. It is Radio Verdad, from Guatemala. The 7th(!) harmonic of 4055 kHz. This is with an 80m loop around 60ft up, in southern New Hampshire. Also heard by other listeners in New Hampshire, and one in Maryland. Considering their 7th harmonic is getting out, maybe some of their other harmonics will be audible closer to nightfall? (Rik van Riel, NH, harmonics yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) Here are the other integral multiples to look out for: 8110, 12165, 16220, 20275, 24330, 32440, 36405. 40550, 44605, 48660 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4055, Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, 0555-0609*, 22-04, identification in Spanish and in other languages, "Estación Evangélica Radio Verdad, Chiquimula, Guatemala, Centro América". Anthem and close down. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Sony ICF SW 7600 G, cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4054.917, Radio Verdad, 0203-0210 April 26, Noted a male in Spanish language comments. Possibly a religious program? Signal was fair (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, Excalibur, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Quite ** GUATEMALA [and non]. The following editorial does not mention it, but there is a strong SW radio connexion. The proto-saint in quesition was involved with the former 2390 kHz station, La Voz de Atitlán; see previous item about this, including a TV documentary, in DXLD 9-083 http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld9083.txt The Oklahoma Gazette article linked is now 404, nor are there any hits on Rother now by searching the OG website. (Damned searches keep including anything with brother in it unless you put Rother in its own quotes). (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: ROTHER DESERVES TO BE STATE'S FIRST SAINT Enid News and Eagle April 23, 2012 ENID — Heroes don’t always make headlines. The Rev. Stanley Rother, a former Oklahoma priest slain in Guatemala, is moving a step closer to sainthood, providing some positive press to the Catholic Church. Rother, an Okarche native and farmer, served parishes in Tulsa, Durant and Oklahoma City before going to Guatemala as a missionary for the impoverished, indigenous Mayan people called the Tzutujil. Three gunmen assumed to be a right-wing death squad assassinated Rother on July 28, 1981, in the parish rectory, but the unknown killers have never been brought to justice. A staff member at the U.S. Embassy in Guatemala reportedly said parishioners responded to Rother’s passing “like their God had died.” The Tzutujil even lobbied to keep their priest’s removed heart as his remains were returned to Oklahoma for burial. When Rother’s heart was relocated at the 10th anniversary of his death, two other priests reportedly claimed the blood surrounding the organ was still fresh and had not congealed. In 2006, canonization efforts commenced after the 25th anniversary of Rother’s assassination. Four years later, thousands of documents arrived at the Vatican for consideration. The Most Rev. Paul S. Coakley, archbishop of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, says the process is making progress. After a recent private meeting with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome, Coakley talked with the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to express support for Rother’s cause, according to the Sooner Catholic. “The Congregation had just affirmed the ‘juridic validity’ of the case,” Coakley wrote in the Sooner Catholic. “This is the first, but very significant, affirmation by Congregation in the continuing process that we hope will lead ultimately to the canonization of Father Stanley Rother.” Coakley wrote that the next step is developing a “positio,” a formal presentation of evidence to demonstrate that he died a faithful martyr. The positio could take a couple of years before it is presented, eventually, to the pope. If Rother is affirmed as a martyr at that stage, permission for his beatification will be granted immediately. (Beatification is the third of four canonization steps in which a person is given the “blessed” title.) Coakley wrote that a miracle received through the slain priest’s intercession will not be required for beatification if Rother is judged to have died a martyr. However, a post-beatification miracle would be necessary for him to be canonized as a saint. The archbishop asked for prayers to facilitate the process. The Rev. Marvin Leven, who once served at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Enid, was Rother’s close friend. Leven has said he knows of individuals praying for the slain priest’s intercession and experiencing extraordinary results. And he knows of miracles. We hope that Rother becomes Oklahoma’s first saint. That would be a real miracle (Enid Eagle Editorial April 24, 2012 via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Es log: 87.5 MHz, Vida Radio, unID site, 1853, 2002F 2012-04-24. Spanish gospel music at sudden good level, stayed good for most of the reception period, monophonic. 1856 Spanish W wtih wishes for buen provecho en tu almuerzo con Jesús. 1857 into cumbia-ish music. 1905 W briefly, into choral. 1910 10 minute prayer program, ``Lo que esperan a je-o-va-ja``, not sure about last word. 1920 back to music. 1927 mention ``la poderosa palabra de Dios, mentions Charles Stanley, M Spanish sermonette to 1947. 1947 cart, no ID, music to 1954 ``Vida Radio`` during upfade, mentions Guatemala. One or two other Spanish evangelical stations breaking through also, one in an Indian language; web found Sion Radio and Radio Génesis listed. Recheck 2101 had them back weakly, seemingly same station anyway, young Spanish W intently praying. 2108 faded out totally. Some weak stuff on 87.9 also. 88.7 MHz, UNID LAm, La Voz de la Esperanza, 2016 2012-04-24, Spanish W yelling, repeating local telephone number and ID, good peak. 2021 into Spanish M gospel music, YL translating lyrics into Indian language as it went along. Probably TG (David E. Crawford, Indian River City, Florida, 28.51N 80.83W, WTFDA via DXLD) ** GUYANA. 3289.9, GBC-Georgetown, April 19, in English at 0422. Poor with BBCWS relay; discussion of internal migration in west Africa; BBCWS ID at 0429 (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, NRD-545, R-75 + PAR-SWL, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** HAITI. Es log: 87.5 MHz, Radio ?Er ? Vu? phonetic, 1840 2012-04-24, Presumed site, konpa and M chatter in kreyol, into futbol game narrative, repeated mentions of Barcelona, fair peaks at best but heavily fading, covered up by sudden TG fadeups 1853, never recovered. Nothing seemingly listed anywhere (David E. Crawford, Indian River City, Florida, 28.51N 80.83W, WTFDA via DXLD) ** HONDURAS. Es log: Channel 3, NTSC, Canal 3, San Pedro Sula, 1830 2012-04-24, long interview with Juan O. Hernández, seeming congressman, 1835 Spanish W weather, good peaks. Cuba in on upper VHF hi also, 43.575. Looks like ?Hoy? bug upper left during weather, unreadable bug, maybe gold globe, lower right with temp in it. 1837 Pizza Mia de Pizza Hut ad for 198 lempiras (David E. Crawford, Indian River City, Florida, 28.51N 80.83W, WTFDA via DXLD) ** INDIA?? 4850, AIR Kohima?? Sounds like soft sub-continental vocal music from 2349. M in language at 2356. Too weak. Wiped out by 4840 [WWCR] s/on at 2359. Was still able to hear some talking by M through the splash at 0002. (21-22 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) Hi Dave, Since April 19, I have been hearing PBS Xinjiang (EAST TURKISTAN [q.v.]) on their new frequency of 4850 (ex: 4330, which is now silent), from after 1200 to about 1400 here in Calif. Thanks to Anker Petersen (Denmark) in dxldyg for the first log of this. When I first heard this on the 19th I also was thinking perhaps Kohima, but when I checked again on the 20th found the language did not seem right for India. Is scheduled to be in Kazakh (Ron Howard, April 22, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDIA. At present 1505 UT I hear a TERRIBLE BUZZY sound of AIR Shillong 4970 kHz. Perseus browser image show BUZZ peaks of plus/minus 100 200 300 400 500 and 600 Hertz. vy73 wolfy df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, 1519 UT April 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 15050, April 23 at 1206, nice to hear AIR in AM here for a change, with S Asian music, fair and fluttery, but that`s only because the Tamil service until 1215 is supposed to be in AM, while the Sinhala service from 1300 is supposed to be in DRM (but occasionally defaulting to AM). Today the DRM noise was detectable poorly already at 1249. Strangely, HFCC registrations show both in ``D`` mode meaning non-digital. Eventually everything from AIR will be in DRM to minimize listenership (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. DRM: See RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM ** INDONESIA. 4870, R.R.I., Wamena, 1155-1224, Indonesian, Western pop songs, 1159 song interrupted for fanfare music, man and woman, 1200 probable news, 1205 seemed to be more in-depth coverage of news stories by man and woman, 1219 possibly wrap-up of headlines, 1220 recorded announcement with mention of Indonesia, followed by choir, 1221 more talk by man and woman. Fair, Apr 20 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening lakeside from my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna. Editor of World English Survey and Target Listening, available at http://www.odxa.on.ca dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9526-, April 21 after 1400, no het to CRI Russian 9525.0, nor at 1406 April 22. And with frequency clear at 1253 April 22, no signal detectable, so VOI presumed not on the air at all. Ishida http://rri.jpn.org agrees, 9526 last heard until 2100* April 18, unheard at any hour April 19-22. 9526-, April 23 at 1219, after missing several days, VOI is back, in special Japanese – slowly spoken anyway by presumed non-native script reader; very undermodulated despite S9+22 signal, also het from a 9525 station. How about English after 1300? 1301 only carrier with some hum, 1304 just barely modulated, useless but no het during this hour. Nothing else is listed on 9525 before 13 to account for that het, in EiBi, Aoki or HFCC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tuned in to VOI at 1325 today. It was clearly English, but too weak to follow the content (Harold Sellers, BC, April 23, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9680.053, RRI Jakarta, 0956 end of pleasant Indo pop ballad, then nice canned "RRI" ID by M, followed by several canned promos. More pop ballads and canned announcements. Fair. (15 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) [and non]. 9680, April 25 at 1250, RRI with very heavy QRM from the China/Taiwan radio war. 1300 abated a bit as the Chi switched to tone tests, even step tones, on and off at 1302. The 9526 VOI signal was by comparison insignificant (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 13785, April 21 at 1217, Arabic talk about Israel, punxuated by bits of Beethoven symphonies {I wonder if IRIB picked Karajan performances, just to irk the Israelis?}, good signal with flutter, just about the SSOB, i.e. VIRI, 0530-1427, 500 kW, 178 degrees from Kamalabad. 17650, April 21 at 1837, news theme and ``bonsoir`` in French, i.e. IRIB at 1830-1930, 500 kW, 259 degrees from Kamalabad, having got the opening Qur`an out of the way. (Before 1800 this frequency bears Saudi Arabia in Bambara.) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. 15850, April 19 at 1933, poor signal with music, presumed Galei Tzahal finally back on this frequency to escape 15785 QRM [see also CHINA: Firedrake], first reported April 18 by Wolfgang Büschel. Could be a problem for R. Spaceshuttle from Scandinavia broadcast April 21: see EUROPE (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tentative Galei Zahal on 15850. ex-15785. At 2240-2255+. Talk and pop music. Good signal. No //s heard. April 19 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, the move was reported to me by a couple of people yesterday. Does it still seem clear to those in Europe- the target audience? Thanks (Doni Rosenzweig, UT April 20, ibid.) ** ISRAEL. 15850.00, 1650-1715, 20.04, Galei Tzahal, Lod, Hebrew conversation, ann, English song: " I wait for you, Marlene", ann "Late Summary", 1700 news, back on old frequency, ex 15785 which was silent 35343, Best 73, (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 15850, Galei Zahal, 2250-2310, ex-15785. Hebrew talk. Local pop music. No //s heard. April 20 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 6972 kHz, 0140 UT - different songs, sometimes short announcements. At 0200 male voice announced something for 3 minutes (news?), and then again music. Signal was weak, but increased with time, at 02 UT SINPO was 35322. Isn't it Israel? But very weak for Israel, earlier I had much better signal from them. But there could be the power decrease. Any other minds - that was a pirate radio, but in that case why did they talk so long after 0200? And the voice of that man wasn't similar to usual voices of pirate operators (Vitaliy Lisovskiy, Kharkiv, Ukraine, April 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL [and non]. Re: se identificó antes del cierre y pasaron dirección en Internet, 15760 kHz, SINPO 34333 (someone on condiglist re Israel`s only remaining SWBC, in Persian, via DXLD) No tendras el email de ellos para mandarle un informe? (Ernesto Paulero, ibid.) kolisrael @ pregunton.com (Enrique A. Wembagher, Argentina, ibid.) No, no tengo nada. Por lo que sé, en los últimos tiempos de la onda corta (hace ya muchos años) no verificaban nada. Me suena que mandando el mensaje a la empresa que manejaba los transmisores había cierta chance. Eso debe estar en el WRTH (no tengo ninguno reciente). De pura curiosidad traté de escuchar el microprograma en español que está colgado en el sitio web pero no sale nada. Después de varios intentos me aparece un mensaje de que me falta no sé que (lo mismo en otros idiomas). Probé con Firefox y Opera desde Windows y con Firefox desde Linux, lo mismo. Ya de paso seguí con otras emisoras que se jactan de hacer uso de las "nuevas tecnologías", como Radio Rumania [sic], Radio Eslovaquia y Radio Praga. El resultado fue el más absoluto silencio en todas ellas incluso en las que ofrecen varios formatos de audio. Welcome to this Brave New World (Moisés Knochen, Uruguay, ibid.) A mí me verificaron el año pasado, una QSL más en el 2009 y en 2010 tambien, pero no encuentro el correo (Paulero, ibid.) TAL VEZ ESTE LINK LES PUEDA AYUDAR EN ALGO. http://www.iba.org.il/ (Oscar de Céspedes, FL, ibid.) ** JAMAICA. First Cuba and now JAMAICA! 89.9, KLAS, Kingston, Jamaica 4/24 1615 [CDT = UT -5] with cricket match. Game is // to stream at http://www.klassportsradio.com/index.html/ Unbelievable but plain awesome. Two new countries on FM in one day. 1384 miles. It`s getting close to the max mathematical point for single hop skip. I'm psyched (Kevin Redding, Crump, TN, ABDX via DXLD) ** JAPAN [non]. 6140, SINGAPORE, NHK/R. Japan, Kranji, 1026-1030* April 23 Indonesian; M & W announcer in discussion; ballad at 1027, interrupted by announcer at 1029 with brief talk & "Goodbye"; promptly pulled the plug; no discernible ID noted; fair-good (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H., NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. Re 12-16: The only two SW broadcasts normally shift one UT hour earlier due to DST, so 11960 should be at 04-05 now; I have not heard it either (Glenn Hauser, April 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11960, Nothing heard from Amman this morning at 0400-0425 UT. On 11965 is V Of Russia Russian service powerhouse from Moscow at Near & Middle East service at 02-06 UT. Jordan is on DST now http://www.timeanddate.com/worldclock/city.html?n=11 HFCC file shows start time on 11960 as 0500 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) >>>11775 isn't Jordan - it's CRI in Arabic via Albania til 0657 UT. The Jordan registration on that frequency has never been used to my knowledge. >>>11960 Nothing heard from Amman this morning at 0400-0425 UT With Wolfgang's and Noel's comments I think that we can conclude that Jordan is NOT on the air in A12. None of the registered fq's heard here. Sorry about my mistake on 11775 CRI versus Jordan. I just heard Arabic; but this morning it was clear that it IS CRI in Arabic 05-07, as they carried a Chinese language lesson trying to teach the Arabs how to say 'Hello' (Ni-Hao) up to 06. 73, (Erik Koie, Copenhagen, April 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11960, April 21 at 0456, no signal here, nor at various earlier chex. (Turkey was fair on 11980). Erik Køie in Denmark and Wolfgang Büschel in Germany have also been looking for this without success, nor the 15290 broadcast at 1100. Wolfy says 11960 was last heard January 4 at 0516. So it appears that another country is totally gone from SW. For years R. Jordan had retained only two token broadcasts in Arabic, domestic relays: 0400-0500 11960 1055-1130 15290 (winter timings one hour later)(Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 2580 [sic], DPR KOREA, V of Korea. 1200 4/4. VG, with male in Korean. Haven't heard this one in a while. Very regular here, up until a couple months ago. Patriotic instrumental music before the hour (RICK BARTON, El Mirage, AZ, Panasonic RF-2200, Hallicrafters S- 77A, Hammarlund HQ-200-X, Outdoor Slinky, TROPICAL BAND DX ROUNDUP, IRCA soft DX Monitor April 14 via DXLD) Presumably meant 2850: nor have I, and wondered if it be kaput, or just poor propagation all winter (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. DPR, Voice of Korea is still on B-11 schedule - observed 15-21 April. In the past they switched on A-schedule on 1st of May or on first Monday in May (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, April 24, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) VOICE OF KOREA - STUDIO QUALITY ENGLISH MP3s --- I really had a chuckle at this comment in a logging from Glenn a few days ago: "VOK in rather amusing tuba piece with orchestra, as we envision a Great, Dear or Default Leader waddling around, looking at things, 1351 applause and outro as a recording from the 28th April Spring Festival or something like that, immediately back to equally laughable propaganda; also on // 9335 weaker with usual CCI from RFA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)" The 100 year birthday party for Kim Il Sung has been keeping everyone at The Voice of Korea very excited in recent weeks. So for anyone interested here are the direct satellite feeds of the English language service that I recorded over the celebration weekend. I guarantee that each file is full of great propaganda and I guess for many of you it will be the first time you have access to the Voice of Korea in wonderful "studio quality" mono. Each file is in MP3 format and around 35MB. Voice of Korea English 13th April 2012 files.me.com/markwilliamfahey/usozho.mp3 Voice of Korea English 14th April 2012 files.me.com/markwilliamfahey/1v1bq0.mp3 Voice of Korea English 15th April 2012 files.me.com/markwilliamfahey/de0b1v.mp3 Cheers, (Mark Fahey, Sydney, Australia, April 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumably he got these off a satellite (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. For those technical people, a question: it's the opposite now. 92.5 has a lot of extra noise and while not distorted, isn't as clear as it should be. 92.45 and 92.55 on the other hand, are much clearer than 92.50, which is the center of the signal!! (Chris Kadlec, S Korea, March 22, WTFDA via DXLD) I disagree with your statement that the audio is not distorted. I find it badly distorted and possibly the modulation is still wider rf-wise than the filters on your receiver. As to the noise (and possibly the distortion), it could be caused by poor gain structure in the audio chain ahead of the modulator (over driving an audio amplifier) allowing the noise to come through but clipping the peaks of the desired audio so it does not sound louder (Allan Dunn, K1UCY, ibid.) Allan, "Distorted" in this case would be a matter of perception I suppose. Usually Pyongyang FM signals have some serious overmodulation. When you hear it, you'll be comparing the little-bit- distorted (the clip I posted earlier) with the REALLY distorted (posted here), not to mention it gets even far more distorted than this at times -- this clip (below) is actually one the clearest I've heard before today, of about 30 hours of recordings. This is the daily sign-on complete with tones, ID, and same top-of- the-hour songs they play every hour, followed by the entire daily broadcasting schedule (signal is solid and on seek, but you can hear the static from the distortion). It's actually the first sign-on of 2012 here: http://www.beaglebass.com/Haeju/Sign_On_010112_0600_Short_Edit.mp3 Compared with this clip, today's reception is better and less distorted. I can understand everything they're saying, whereas before, much of it went into oblivion. I know the cause of the distortion, in detail actually, thanks to the guys here who really know their stuff (thank you). I'm just curious why, with their new setup, the sidebands are clearer than the initial frequency where it is almost always the other way around, even with North Korean stations. I'm guessing this also has something to do with the overmodulation, just to a lesser extent than previously. I mean, if you tuned into your location American station, let's say 97.9, and it was kinda messy on 97.9 but perfectly clear on 97.85 and 97.95, wouldn't you wonder what's causing it? (Chris Kadlec, Songtan, Korea, ibid.) As I stated in my last reply to you, the previous audio from the first clip was from excessive gain in an audio stage previous to the transmitter modulator. The buzz which should be inaudible wasn't, and the same amplifier then clipped on the louder audio. Add that to transmitter over modulation, and you have one mess. Your next clip is different. If from the same station, the earlier audio stage excessive gain has been corrected. Most, if not all, the distortion I heard this time was from over modulation. If you are using a receiver with sharp filtering skirts in the IF stage, this would sound worse than if received on one with broader cutoffs in the skirts as the lower level audio sounded reasonably good. A properly adjusted compressor/limiter ahead of the modulator would clean up this signal tremendously. In any event I would never allow that much distortion in my church's PA system back when I was responsible for it. Nor would I allow anything like that on the CD's I submitted to a local AM/MW station for broadcast. I understand your question, and do not have a satisfactory answer for you. But let me give some FM theory which may just get somebody else thinking and coming up with a good explanation. As I am sure you know, if you look at an amplitude modulated waveform with a single tone of audio on a spectrum analyzer, you would see a carrier at the center, and a sideband on each side separated in frequency by the frequency of the audio tone. The sideband amplitudes are less than 50% of that of the carrier. Do the same with a frequency modulated tone and you get a carrier (sometimes) with numerous pairs of sidebands going out relatively far from the carrier. Some of those sideband pairs will exceed the amplitude of the carrier, and at certain modulation indices the carrier may disappear altogether. Just what an FM receiver would do with all those sideband pairs that are processed when the receiver is deliberately mistuned, I do not know. Also I don't know just how the AFC of the receiver would respond. Hopefully others can comment on this (Allan, ibid.) ** KOREA SOUTH. Multipath clip & Korean TOH ID clips For those interested in things like multipath, I have an MP3 for you. Over here in Korea, I am dealing with a few frequencies with repeaters / booster stations. One of them, a military-run music frequency on 96.7, has a relatively strong signal from Seoul, 34 miles to the north (with a tower base at 840 feet). Another on the same frequency, is broadcasting from a high mountain 69 miles to the NNE (with the tower base at 4,094 feet). They're identical stations and one would presume the signals are running totally parallel to each other to the millisecond. However, when I receive them both at the same time, which is very easy to do, they bash the hell out of each other into a mess of static, echoes, and distortion, interfering with each other. Sometimes it's bad enough that it's just entirely static with some distant echoes, even while listening atop the local mountain peak. I have to assume the reason for this is some rather tall mountains between my location and Seoul, although I can't really confirm as there are no other local stations with strong enough booster stations to test out. Alone, the Seoul station is perfectly fine. Even at the highest possible elevation in my town, there is still moderate to severe multipath. To top it off, a Buddhist-run station is on the same frequency 35 miles to the southeast and hangs out in the back quite often. Anyway, here's a clip of the mess on a typical day: http://www.beaglebass.com/Friends_FM_Seoul_Hwaaksan_Multipath.mp3 The static is caused by the multipath. Both signals are strong as can be on their own. I'm curious what other people's experiences are with multipath. I recall some nice ones from the forums in the past. And for those who like TOH IDs, I'm currently recording them for ALL 118 stations I can receive at my location. Coming along slowly at a rate of 1 station per hour... An example of a Korean TOH ID -- actually this one has a lot more than most, including a little song and a gong replacing the hour tone -- can be heard here, recorded an hour ago on a local Buddhist-run station, early Monday morning: http://www.beaglebass.com/BBS_Bulgyo_101_9_TOH.mp3 And as a bonus, a sign-on for one of our local anti-North Korean propaganda stations, Jayuui Sori Bangsong ("Voice of Freedom"), which broadcasts four times a day for 3-4 hour periods from right along the border. They also play music in addition to their propaganda. The sign-offs are very similar and the transmitter is turned off entirely for the off-air periods, as short as 50 minutes. http://www.beaglebass.com/Jayuui_Sori_Hwaaksan_Sign_On.mp3 (Chris Kadlec, Songtan, Korea, 8 April, WTFDA via DXLD) Korea DTV conversion ads (Audio / Video) Here in South Korea, they have been busy preparing for the DTV deadline at the end of the year, much like many other countries in the world. The deadline is 12/31 this year (you can see the website at http://www.dtvkorea.org/ although it won't be of much interest to most). Frankly, the conversion isn't a big deal as mostly only rural Koreans use antennas, and even a lot of them have cable. Cable penetration in the Seoul metro area (about 24 mil. people) has to be around 95%, if not more. I've never met a person without cable. My old cable package of about 80 channels, including many that air mostly English movies/shows, cost me about $6 a month. There are antennas atop many buildings here, but many of them are old and rusty. Anyway, while recording TOH IDs the other day, I ran into a DTV conversion promo ad that I figured I would share. There's enough English in it to get the general idea of what's going on. http://www.beaglebass.com/DTV_Ad_94_3_Jeonju.mp3 This 9+ minute YouTube clip from the KBS network shows how to receive DTV in your apartment (how to wire your apartment, scan, etc). Some parts might be a little funny to watch for those not familiar with Korean broadcasting. The sound effects and constant extra words flashing on the screen are extremely common on Korean TV as well as strange humor. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQZHTtsm00I (Chris Kadlec, Songtan, Korea, 11 April, ibid.) ** KOREA SOUTH KOREA. 9805, KBS World, Weak IS with IDs by M and W at 0855. Ute started right on top at 0858. (15 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) You are too kind, referring to Cuban jamming as a ``ute``. R. Martí starts at 0900 on 9805; also see BRAZIL 11925.06 log (gh, DXLD) [and non]. 7275, April 21 at 1159, IS and KBS World Radio from Seoul, ROK, ID in English, 1200 into Korean. Poor signal on 250-kW non- direxional direct from Kimjae. 9650, April 21 at 1250, KBSWR via CANADA, tuned in too late to hear Kevin O`Donovan whose listening tips were just ending (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13585, UAE, KBS, Dhabbaya, *2000-2011 April 21 Arabic Sign/on announcement; M with news; several mentions of Korea & "..Korea (sam)aliyah"; music bridge at 2008 into two W announcers with brief banter; pop music at 2009; fair-good (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H., NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9650, April 25 at 1245, KBS WR via CANADA, `Songs of Korea` Wednesday featuring a handicapped poetry singer. Annoying clicking sounds matching modulation peaks, a Seoul or Sackville problem?? Similar defects heard previously. Had some CCI from Korea North until 1250. 1259, as soon as this went off after one RCI IS, hyper music and talk in Indonesian cut on, R. Nederland ID, i.e. via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, allegedly 200 degrees, but always a bigsig off-the-back here toward 20 degrees. A few sex later, Sackville cuts back on with carrier far enough apart to produce low audible het, 1300 CRI relay opening, while RNW relay switches to Dutch, to QRM the first half of the CRI English hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. VOA KURDISH GOES ON DIRECT TO HOME SATELLITE PRESS RELEASE 4/24/2012 10:06:40 AM Washington, D.C., April 23, 2012 — Voice of America’s Kurdish language radio broadcasts will be simulcast on direct-to-home satellite starting Monday, giving listeners in the Kurdish-speaking regions of Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran, a new way to hear the popular programs. VOA’s Kurdish service is the only international broadcaster that speaks to the Kurds of Iraq in their main dialects, Sorani and Kurmanji. The service, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this week, also attracts a significant audience in Syria, Turkey and Iran, all with sizable Kurdish minorities. VOA Director David Ensor, who recently introduced TV/radio simulcasts in Pakistan and Burma, says putting the Kurdish program on satellite makes sense. “VOA has a solid news team that is already broadcasting on radio to areas where direct-to-home satellite use is growing. By simply putting cameras in the studio, we can offer the satellite audience an additional way to hear and see our programs,” Ensor says. VOA Kurdish broadcasters Haider Karim, Simko Aziz, and Robin Reshvan The Kurdish satellite broadcasts go on the air daily at 5:00 PM Iraq time and are simulcast on radio and Hotbird, one of the most widely- used direct-to-home satellites in the region. VOA Kurdish radio programs are also delivered on shortwave, FM transmitters in northern and southern Iraq, and broadcast over medium wave from Kuwait. VOA’s Kurdish program lineup includes news and current affairs shows, a weekly call-in show as well as the bi-weekly Internet television program called, Kurdish Connection. The Service’s multimedia websites, with successful blogs in both major Kurdish dialects, provide comprehensive coverage of regional, international and U.S. news and links to social media sites that offer the audience a platform for informed discussion. For more information about this release contact Kyle B. King at the VOA Public Relations office at kking @ voanews.com For more about any of our language services visit the VOA English language website at http://www.voanews.com (VOA PR via DXLD) ?? According to EiBi listings, several other SW stations broadcast in Kurdish, notably V. of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and V. of Russia, which are undeniably international broadcasters, altho the dialect(s) are not specified, as well as certain regional broadcasters such as Kyrgyzstan and Armenia, and some Christian religious broadcasters. Not to mention Voice of Mesopotamia and lesser clandestines. Seems unlikely to me that the four hours a day in Kurdish from VIRI would not include the two main dialects of Iraqi Kurdistan. Altho they are not specified in WRTH or EiBI, they are in one schedule from VIRI itself, via Wolfgang Büschel: KURDISH 0330-0427 7365KAM 9715SIR Sorrani dialect 1330-1627 9490KAM Kirmanji dialect (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for writing to us Glenn. You did your homework and in retrospect we could have left that off as it wasnt the point of the release. In any case thank you for pointing it out (Kyle King, VOA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 15540, April 19 at 1902, R. Kuwait in English with news about Kuwait, mainly concerning some guy named Sabah, {not to be confused with North Borneo} (Saba-h al-Ahmad al-Ja-bir as-Saba-h, as in Wikipedia for the Emir, the extra hyphens meaning macrons over the preceding a`s), mentioning Kuwait University; interrupted by musical relief bits more than once a minute; fair signal. 1925 switch to western pop music, 1930 fade it out for `Today in History`. For a while, the daily Islamic-evangelism show in English had been appearing at 1900; is it back at 1800 now? 15540, April 20 at *1800, R. Kuwait in ``Arabic`` (per HFCC, axually English), cuts on good strength just in time for timesignal, brief national anthem by military band; 1801 opening English with frequencies 963, 93.3 (listed as the multilingual service; used to be on matching 96.3, which is now ``Easy FM``), and, after *years* on 15540, still claims to be on SW 11990! Obviously their announcers never turn on a radio to their own station, and/or are forbidden from straying from the script. Answering my own question of yesterday, yes, the Islamic evangelism show is back at 1801:30 UT after a spell at 1900; pompous/ponderous announcer seemed to give the title as `Islam Is Peace`, yawn and tuning on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, `Islam and Peace` as heard better April 21 (gh, DXLD) [and non]. 21540, April 23 at 1352, pipeline from R. Kuwait, SSOB by far with ME pop music, 1400 YL ID and akhbar now a bit weaker, no sign of Spain under, which was JBA on clear 21610. Yet Saudi 21505 was very poor with flutter; 21780 Rwanda good. 15540, April 23 at 1900, R. Kuwait, fair signal in English with ``Art of Giving`` talk, on humanitarian aid by Kuwaiti government to other countries, development projects, etc. 15540, April 25 at 1758, R. Kuwait is already on with tail of Urdu service musical prelude, instead of cutting on secret English at *1800 as happened recently; but only very poor with flutter. Somewhat better at 2000, when secret Arabic has started on 17550 with weaker signal, poor with flutter. I say ``secret`` because neither of these appear accurately in RK announcements or HFCC schedules (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. 11600, Radio Télévision Libye - Radio Libye, 1715-1804*, French talk. Lite instrumental music. French ballads. IDs. Poor to fair. April 22. Irregular (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MACAU. Re 12-16: QSL Report for Al Muick --- Radio Vila Verde (738 kHz, former Emisora Vila Verde) is a very tough "unverifier". This station seems to traditionally DISLIKE reception reports from DXers. For these 40 years I have been unsuccessful. My last reception report was in 2010, when I visited Macau, enclosing 7 pataca stamps, written in traditional Chinese. In Macau they speak Cantonese, not Mandarin Chinese, letters are written in traditional Chinese, not in simplified Chinese. The first report was ignored, the 2nd follow up by mail was also ignored, E-mail was rejected, 3rd follow up by FAX as ignored. The station is located in the 4th floor of Taipa Horse Race Course building at the north west of Taipa Island, which takes about 20 minutes from the center of Macau by taxi or bus. The only way left is to bring the reception report directly to the station. I will do so when I visit Macau next! (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, April 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks, Takahito for your insight! I am sorry to see I am not the only person who has had trouble with these guys. I appreciate the explanation about Chinese letter-writing too. Unfortunately, I don't know anyone who can translate a letter for me into traditional Chinese, so I have to resort to online machine translation into simplified Chinese. I wonder why these fellows are so against listeners? Let us know how your visit goes, if you ever go back there. I may try the same the next time I come to Hong Kong. I will take the ferry over to Macao and try to deliver my report. Thanks again! 73 (Al Muick, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See my QSL letter from Macau, which report sent from Kowloon Hyatt Hotel, using the famous SW South African Barlow Wadley receiver. [1973y] vy73 de Wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Wolfy, That's beautiful! I will get a response out of these guys, even if I have to go visit them. LOL. 73 (Al Muick, ibid.) Hi All, They used to have an office in HongKong, back in the early 90s. When I visited Hongkong I got a relative to ring the office in Hong Kong, but on that day one of the staff who spoke English was not at the office. I think they sent a QSL to the late Merv Branks back in the 60s when they were on 735 kHz, but as you say they are notorious non-verifiers. Their signal is not all that strong even in Hong Kong or Southern China during the day on 738 kHz and also having Fisheries Broadcasting in Taiwan with 100 kW on that frequency makes it quite hard to hear except during the day. Regards (Tony Magon VK2IC, Sydney, ibid.) ** MALAYSIA. Sat 21/4: 9835, RTM, 1745+ with a nice S9 signal, Sarawak FM ID at 1755 quite stronger than NHK in same frequency (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 7245, April 20 at 0554, IGIM is back with VG S9+22+ signal and chanting, still at 0630. Maybe made an effort to turn on the SW earlier than usual for Fribbath (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7245, R. Mauritanie, Blasting away here at 0017 with local stringed instrumental music, then M in Arabic (22 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) 7245, April 22 at 0513, IGIM already on in Arabish, good signal. 7245, April 25 at 0535, IGIM goes from Arabish talk to soporific wake- up chants (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. New station 4/2/12 --- While checking 750 kHz this morning to see if KSEO was audible I logged the following Mexican station. 4/2/12, 1159 UT, 750, XECSI, Culiacán, Sinaloa MEX (1 kW at 1597 km / 993 mi) heard on barefoot Sony SRF-T615. Himno nacional de México at 1159, followed by the state anthem of Sinaloa at 1201, and several announcements from 1206. Fading signal peaking at fair strength, eventually covered by KMMJ at 1209. Sideband splash from KRMG 740. ULR station #993 (barefoot #982) and Mexico #177. Following a competition the current Sinaloa anthem was adopted last December. It was composed by Faustino López Osuña, the former director of the Mazatlán Art Museum. A recording of the anthem is on YouTube. All of México [except Sonora] is on daylight saving time as of 4/1/12. Buen DX (Richard Allen, 36?22'51"N / 97?26'35"W, (near Perry OK USA), April 2, IRCA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 730, XEHB, Radio Viva Villa, Hidalgo de Parral, Chihuahua. 1058 April 15, 2012. Tune-in to male canned ID, “Radio Viva Villa, Viva Villa” into Tejano vocal. 890, XEBY, Radio Fórmula, Tuxpán, Veracruz. 1056 April 22, 2012. Tune- in to Mexican anthem in progress, followed by the Veracruz state anthem (choral). No ID pulled, but this one by default since it's the only Veracruz station on 890. Been tracking this since April 16 as an unidentified. 900, unidentified. 1100 April 22, 2012. Someone weak here and way under the big “W” Mexicans with anthem, usually a minute or so after “W” airs the anthem. 1140, XEMR, M-R Deportes, Monterrey, Nuevo León. 1102 April 23, 2012. End of Mexican anthem, ID, seeming sports talk as slogan would imply, quickly lost in the jumble of Cubans. 1570, XERF, Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, 1105 April 22, 2012. Worthy of noting only because they play the Coahuila state anthem after the Mexican anthem at this time (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, FL QTH with NRD-535, ICOM IC-R75 and Sangean PR-D5; 1 X roof dipole, 1 X room random wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. 6185, further attempts to hear XEPPM: 0516 April 19, JBA carrier under huge splash from 6190 CRI Sackville. Next check at 1045, when R. Educación is supposed to be on (until 1100), nothing but a very weak probably E Asian signal. Per Aoki could be VOK in English, or 15 kW China Huayi. 6185, April 20 at 0559, right after China/Canada quit 6190, no signal here from XEPPM. Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, has had further contact with Srta. Pilar Cruz at the station, who now confirms that according to the engineers, 6185 is on the air from 14 to 05 UT only, duplicating MW 1060 from 22 to 05; so implying that separate SW programming is now at 14 to 22 = daytime only. Formerly SW was on during night only, 6 pm to 6 am local, which now during DST would be 23-11 UT. While the additional daytime span should be good for single-hop covering much of Mexico beyond the 100 kW MW groundwave range, it`s no good further away. At 1407 April 20 I could only detect a carrier on 6185 in the noise level. Julián and I would like them to resume broadcasting overnight beyond 0600, when propagation is best and interference is least. He also suggests that if they take a 3-hour ``rest``, it should be at midday 17-20 UT, and be on the air at 11-14 when propagation is still funxioning better. The severe undermodulation on 6185 before 0500 has not been addressed, so if that`s always the case, this is all an exercise in futility. 1060 is a rare almost-clear channel in Mexico, only one other station listed by IRCA, XETF, 1 kW in Veracruz, R. Formula, ex-1250, but is XEEP really 100 kW at night? IRCA Log, Cantú and WRTH all show it reduced to 20 kW. We can still hear it sometimes, but with plenty of QRM: April 20 at 0608 had some Spanish, and at 0615 S Asian music, likely XEEP in its eclectic format; mixed with a Brother Scare psychophant from WLNO New Orleans, more or less nullable. Furthermore, only IRCA has that Veracruz station on 1060. WRTH and Cantú still show it on 1250. But Cantú strangely crosses the border to add this one instead: ``1060 KXPL Radio NET 1060 Cd. Juárez, Chih. (El Paso, TX) 10,000 D`` It`s the only El Paso station he includes, tho I have not searched the entire list for any other trans-border outlets (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Asunto: Horario de transmision XEPPM 6185 kHz Apreciables amigos de Radio Educación: desde hace un mes he podido escuchar la señal de XEPPM Radio Educación onda corta 6185 kHz durante las horas de la mañana y tarde. Es un gusto saber que han extendido el horario de transmisiones, sin embargo me llama la atención que salen del aire de las 06:00 a las 09:00 (Hora del Centro de México, 11:00 a 14:00 UTC). Considerando la propagación de la banda de los 49 m. en donde bien saben se encuentran los 6185 kHz, sugeriría que esas tres horas de "descanso" se den entre las 12:00 y las 15:00 (Horas del Centro de México 17:00 a 20:00 UTC) que es el horario en el que la propagación es mucho menor para esta banda y reactivar el horario de las 06:00 a las 09:00 del Centro de México, horario en el que aún hay muy buena propagación en los 49 m. Radio Educación es sin duda quien mantiene el estandarte de la onda corta mexicana, por lo que les deseo lo mejor en sus esfuerzos por mantener esta frecuencia. Reciben un gran abrazo, Su escucha, (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, 17 April, to Pilar Cruz, et al., at R. Educación, cc to DXLD) Hola Glenn: esto me acaba de enviar Pilar Cruz; ahora queda claro que ya no están emitiendo a partir de las 00:00 -Central Time- lo cual considero un grave error; le he hecho ver que reconsideren y vuelvan a transmitir por la madrugada -central time- Saludos, (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, April 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Subject: RE: Horario de transmision XEPPM 6185 kHz Date: Thu, 19 Apr 2012 12:36:08 -0500 Buenas tardes Dr.: Muchas gracias por sus observaciones y por el interés que tiene por la transmisión de nuestra frecuencia de Onda Corta. Seguramente en el transcurso de la semana, nuestros ingenieros le responderán a su inquietud. Con respecto al nuevo horario tiempo de la Ciudad de México es 9:00 – 17:00 se transmite la señal del 1060 y de 17:00 a 00:00 la señal del 6185. Es por ello que durante la madrugada no nos escuchan. Saludos. Pilar Cruz (via Jusadiez, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1614) 6184.99, 24/4 0204, Radio Educación, "Información", fair (Giampiero Bernardini, Excalibur Pro & SDR-14 con SDR-Radio software, Ant: T2FD lunga 15 metri, QTH: Milano Noise City, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) How was the modulation? (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. ORGANIZACIONES INDÍGENAS AHORA PUEDEN ADQUIRIR RADIODIFUSORAS --- by gruporadioescuchaargentino La Cámara de Diputados federal autorizó que las comunidades indígenas del país puedan adquirir, operar y administrar medios de comunicación. La reforma a la Ley Federal de Radio y Televisión aprobada establece que "los solicitantes de permisos para estaciones indígenas deberán presentar una constancia de pueblo o comunidad indígena expedida para efectos de la solicitud de mérito por la Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas, en términos del artículo 2 de la Ley de la Comisión Nacional para el Desarrollo de los Pueblos Indígenas". Además precisa que "dos o más estaciones podrán ser operadas bajo la figura de red o cadena, ya sea regional o nacional". A su vez, explica en qué consiste la figura de "red o cadena", que se refiere al enlace o a la retransmisión del contenido programático que se origine en la estación que, para tal efecto, sea designada como la estación de origen, mediante la notificación correspondiente a la comisión". En la iniciativa se establece que la radio y la televisión comunitarias deberán promover la cultura de la justicia, la no violencia, el respeto por los derechos humanos, la igualdad y la no discriminación. Legisladores federales establecieron también que las estaciones de radio y de televisión promueva una alimentación nutritiva y equilibrada. El dictamen busca que la radio y la televisión ayuden a promover el conocimiento y respeto de todos los derechos humanos con la finalidad de abatir los estereotipos que fomenten la discriminación y la violencia; que reflejen la dignidad y diversidad cultural y eviten la difusión de propaganda de discriminación racial o étnica, además de que sean un medio para combatir los problemas de sobrepeso y obesidad, que se puede observar cada vez más en menores de edad. Los diputados federales reconocieron que las radiodifusoras indigenistas han ganado radioescuchas, ya que locutores, operadores, músicos, intérpretes, danzantes, compositores, narradores, corresponsales y muchos indígenas más han hecho suyo este espacio de comunicación. El 10 de marzo de 1979 el entonces Instituto Nacional Indigenista inicio las transmisiones de la radiodifusora XEZV "La Voz de la Montaña", en Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero, siendo el inicio de lo que hoy es el Sistema de Radiodifusoras Culturales Indigenistas (Noticias net.mx) (via GRA blog via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Had been looking for some analog Es on TV since yesterday`s big opening between SE USA and Caribbean+ up thru FM band, when nothing made it quite this far NW. Turning on TV April 25 at 1405 UT, there`s Mexico on 2, `f` bug in lower left during news program, looks like facebook, but really net-4, foro tv. Peaks SSW, not SSE, so not Mérida. Then fades out, and in, mostly out, with other CCI. http://www.w9wi.com/channels/2.html shows the only XHTV relay on ch 2 is XEFE, Nuevo Laredo, Tamps., but there could be others at times, and this one also relays XHGC 5. 6m Es map shows NO contacts from Mexico, but over SW quadrant of USA, including paths centered not far from here in NW OK, a patch which could not be responsible for what I am getting. 1450 UT, ch 2 fades back in, now with `hoy` programazo, its bug in lower left, from net-2, too many possibilities. 1455, Lucha Libre goons in full regalia are running thru the studio audience, ``scaring`` the ladies; how infantile. 1458 tease upcoming kitchen segment. 1501 ad for Six Flags --- is there one in Mexico? There sure is, Mexico City where the very name would seem to be off-topic. Hoy still in on 2 at 1516 as traces of signals are starting to show on ch 3 and 4. 1517, CCI on 2, now audio with promo for Aguascalientes, but could be on a national network. Then hoy resumes dominance. Digital clock in LL is on CDT. 1530 on 4, brief video-only peak with Azteca-13 bug in UR, for which there are nine possible sources. 1543 on 2, after all the Spanish, suddenly analog audio in English, about women being submissive. Must be XHRIO Matamoros = Brownsville; video soon shows `Access Hollywood` show which matches their online schedule http://www.foxrio2.com/programming/ I have bookmarked for 10:30 am. 1552 on 2, XEFE full local ID at this odd time, giving station phone numbers, cable channels 7 and 99 (the latter apparently on the US side), ``televisión con emoción`` slogan. Nuevo Laredo. Not seen too often here, in the 600-700 mile range. 1556 on 4, Azteca-13 bug in UR, some audio, live interview on street 1558 on 2, M&M discussion show titled VOZON or something like that. No, stupid Google, I did NOT mean ``Verizon``! 1601 on 2, f bug in LL, i.e. net-4 relay 1604 on 3, movie? Circular bug in UR with 11:04 clock, not net-5 with its italic number. Also CCI from a novela. 1606 a better look at it, a 3 inside the circle. There are only a few originating local 3s in Mexico, not Mexicali, Culiacán or Puebla, and tnx to Danny Oglethorpe`s display at http://tvdxtips.com/mexlogosch3.html this 3 is from XHPN, Piedras Negras, Coahuila, another rare one here. 1606 on 3, canal 5 promo, CCI from XHPN; 1610 Smurfs toon 1611 on 4, CCI beat bars of about 15 kHz 1640 on 4, CCI with Smurfs dominating from net-5 1703 on 4, still Smurfs, CCI, stuff on 3 and 2 too 1725 on 3, talk show with leaning 3 bug in UR, i.e. XHQ Culiacán, Sin.; CCI from net-5 Smurfs; talk show at 1727 has 3 YLs and an OM in a row 1750 on 5, weak video signal now up to this MUF. I start tuning FM but no Mexicans heard past 1800 1835 on 2, still some video CCI, as opening is gradually dying out (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. FM Es logs: 90.1, Hits FM, XHSAT, Villahermosa, Tabasco, 2047 2012-04-24, p/f with techo to 2051 cart ``...en 90.1... las noventas..`` into ``You're Beautiful``, through unID domestic. 2055 ads include mentions of Villahermosa, lots of 800 numbers. However, ad for Universitaria de Puebla 2058. 2059 finally YL ID and callsign, then buried by other briefly, Grupo ACIR ad. 97.7, La Ley, XHRPO, Oaxaca, 2111, 2012-04-24, Tentative, weak and fading heavily with jazzy instrumental of ``Power in the Blood``, 2115 adstring including ``Doctor Carmen de la Cruz Sánchez``, mentions Oaxaca, fade, 2117 ad for ``Jinagua`` whatever that is, another mention of Oaxaca. Maybe one mention of La Ley during adstring, not sure. 91.7, CORTV, XHPLU, Pluma Hidalgo, Oaxaca, 2121 2012-04-24, tentative, maybe more than one station on channel also, M talk re población, 2126 carts with ID ``desde la capital...``followed by something not Oaxaca (turned out to be Veracruz station saying that), but then clear mention ``en Oaxaca`` in next sentence. Weak, fading. 88.7, CORTV, ``O AM``, XHLOM, Oaxaca, 2140 2012-04-24, no tentative on this one, bachata song into M ID cart ``Tu AM 680 en amplitud modulada, la radio O AM``, into Shakira live ballad. 2144 cart ID again. 2150 another ID, adstring incl ``Oaxaca, tu Mexico`` and full ID as ``Corporación Oaxaqueña de Radio y Televisión``, then ``Cor-TV Radio`` ID, into Gloria Estefan snappy song ``now I've lost my feet`` or similar. F/g peaks but fading and multipathing heavily. 2155 into 80s English/Spanish rap/disco ``ay ay ay, let it rain over me`` or similar. 2158 another M cart ID, into truncated W vocal. 2200 ToH sharp, music cut and ID cart with callsign by M and W, into Spanish M news. Still going 2208 with YL time check (las 5...) and phone number, cart ID again, Veracruzzy sounding suca suca or similar. 89.5, ``89-punto-5``, XHFTI, Córdoba, Veracruz, 2217 2012-04-24, Strong peaks over WFIT, Lady Gag-gag, 2219 unreadable M ID into rock M vocal, 2223 readable ID with Grupo Radial de Veracruz or similar, to adstring with multiple mentions of Córdoba, 2226 YL TC for seis con 27, chatter about desayuno. Another 90s station in mix also. 91.3, Alfa 91.3, XHFAJ, DF, 2230 2012-04-24, long adstring mostly buried by Texan, including Secretaría de Salud, lots of credit card ads incl Banco de Walmart, Sams Club plug also, 2237 M ID into Rihanna or similar thump, good peaks. Another ID 2241 into English W C&Wish vocal. 91.7, Amor 91.7, XHOZ, Xalapa, Veracruz, 2243 2012-04-24, M vocal to 2246 Spanish W ID ``Amor 91.7, música romántica``, into Shakira ``No se puede morir`` or similar, good peaks. 2250 M vocal ``La Vida sin tu Amor``. 97.7, La Máquina 97.7, XHOT, Xalapa, Veracruz, 2258 2012-04-24 ad, ID cart with ?...OT? callsign heard, ``en la capital del estado de Veracruz...`` La Maquina 97.7, into adstring including concert for Los Tigres del Norte, more ads, good peaks, co-channel UNID. 2301 ad for group Godzilla. 97.7, XERC, DF, 2302 2012-04-24, quick ID and site squeaked through Veracruz, fair peak, briefly, mostly buried. 106.5, Radio Televisión de Veracruz, XHZUL, Cerro Azul, Veracruz, 2305 2345+ 2012-04-24, tune/in to 2 M chatting about merengue and bachata, mostly chat over rechecks during period, some ads, 2330 ``Julio Martínez, 6 con 30 minutos``, more ads, more chat, 2341 finally RTV Veracruz ID. Good but heavy fading at start, weak and heavy fading by finish. 107.1, Lo Mejor, XHHTY, Martínez de la Torre, Veracruz, 2352, 2354 2012-04-24, brief WAOA break let thru vocal music, quick ``Lo Mejor`` ID; two sites listed, presume Veracruz per band opening, good peaks. 105.5, MEXICO, UNID, 2357 2012-04-24, Old vocal ``Las Casas de Cancún`` or similar, 2359 a capella kiddie sung national anthem, but not in Spanish. Started very strong, nosedived during anthem. Will guess La Voz de los Campesinos in Huayacocotla, Veracruz, bringing back memories of 2390 kHz. 97.3, La Ley, XHGF, Gutiérrez Zamora, Veracruz, 0014, 0040+ 2012-04- 25, Spanish young W continuous yak to 0018 M cart ID giving both 97.3 and 740, very good peaks, alone on channel, only mild fading. RDBS ``LA LEY`` in also (David E. Crawford, Indian River City, Florida, 28.51N 80.83W, WTFDA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Last night`s Gulf tropo to Veracruz, 24 APRIL 2012: 1933, 90.7, XHQO, Veracruz, Cosamaloapan; "980 y 90.7, El Corazón de tu Radio", música romántica, LAm/Spanish pop music; political PSA's, ad for a Doctors office, ID for // 980, XEQO. 600 miles 2009, 104.5, XEHU, Veracruz, Martínez de La Torre; M DJ with reverb- echo playing romantic/mariachi songs, 405 miles 2011, 97.3, XHGF, Veracruz, Gutiérrez Zamora; "La Ley 97.3 y 740-AM", TC "8 y 24 minutos", W in Spanish greeting listeners. announced // XEGF-740. 390 miles 2033, 89.3, XHRRR, Papantla-Poza Rica; "Grupo Radiorama Papantla, 1270 XERRR, 89.3 XHRRR, con la música que quiere escuchar - Música Romántica". 390 miles (Steven Wiseblood, Harlingen, TEXAS, 26:12N, 97:45W, Roadmaster VRCD400-SDU AM/FM$ car stereo, Winegard 8-element FM YAGI HD6055P at 18 feet, times in CDT [UT -5], April 25, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. First Mexico FM catch of the year --- Good morning Glenn! Late yesterday morning (4-25) around 10:40 local time [CDT = 1540 UT] I was pulling into my driveway with the radio set on 88.5. Some echoed Spanish quickly rose up (the only word I caught was "punto") and was gone in 3-4 seconds. The RDS, however, caught "XHDI-FM"...so a new one for me from Chihuahua. Checked the Es map and there was some bubbling around 60 MHz to the Southwest as MUF so looks like I got right place, right exact time. No other Es activity heard through the late morning. Thank you as always! (Eric Loy, Catlin, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA. 4755.42, presumed V6MP The Cross, Pohnpei, 1009-1041 English; M preacher with US-style, brokered religious program; could make out a few phrases referring to the Bible & Christ; different announcer at 1025 with drop in audio level and presumed contact info and phone number; "You are listening to..." at 1029, couldn't tell if program or station ID; ballads until announcer at 1039, at which point the signal was pretty much unusable; back to music at 1041; poor, but still better than the few, tentative logs I copied over the past winter (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, April 16 or 17, NRD- 545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. 15349.138, 22/4 1915, SNRT, Nador, Morocco, talks in Arabic, good (Giampiero Bernardini, RX: Drake R-4C, Excalibur Pro, Elad FDM-S1, Ant: T2FD 15 meters long, QTH Milano, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 15349.1, April 23 at 1251, IMM has a weak het from 15350, presumably Gospel for Asia via Wertachtal, GERMANY, scheduled 1230- 1530 daily in a huge variety of languages ripe for conversion. Mondays during this quarter-hour, it`s Punjabi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 7110, Thazin Radio via Pyin U Lwin, 1430-1501*, April 21. Start of English segment; theme music; normal recorded intro; “Good evening dear listeners. You are tuned to Thazin Radio, Pyin U Lwin and thank you very much. We are broadcasting the third English transmission on the air again. Radiating on 639 kilohertz and 7 point 11 megahertz”; they have dropped the wishes for a “very happy Thingyan and a special Happy Myanmar New Year” as the New Year’s holiday is over; pop songs. 1444-1450: Said something like – Hello and welcome to our program Myanmar (Traditions and Customs?); “Through this program you will be able to find out more about Myanmar and its people”; information about Myanmar lacquerware; two types (resin lacquer and shellac) and six kinds (plain lacquerware, incised lacquerware, gilt lacquerware, relief molded lacquerware, glass mosaic/gilt lacquerware and dry lacquer Buddha images). About 3 weeks ago I had fairly good reception here, but too much daylight now, so was only fair to poor with light ham QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. DUTCH GOVERNMENT COLLAPSE EFFECT ON RADIO NETHERLANDS? With the collapse of the Dutch government and fresh elections on the way, does anyone think that the closure of the RNW Dutch service could possibly be delayed past May 11? Maybe not, but it will be rather awkward for the Dutch service to close in the middle of an election campaign. Perhaps the staff layoffs have reached a point where any extension would be impractical. However, I think it is safe to say a new Dutch government won't be restoring any funding to RNW. The new administration will have the same budget pressures, and maintaining an international broadcast service is probably at the bottom of any politician's priority list. The next government might even make further cuts, or axe RNW completely. Perhaps the domestic Dutch public broadcasters might provide programming to fill the gap? (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, April 23, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi all, the budget of the Dutch international broadcaster RNW was 46 million EUR to EUR 14 million slashed. 270 employees (of 350 in total) be dismissed. Since it is surprising that the probably retiring chief of the Transmitter, Jan Hoek, a severance ("golden handshake") of no should receive less than EUR 1 million. At least, cites the RNW website a report of the NRC Handelsblad: http://www.rnw.nl/english/bulletin/million-euro-golden-handshake-rnw-director or: (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz., with portrait: MILLION-EURO GOLDEN HANDSHAKE FOR RNW DIRECTOR? Published on 20 April 2012 - 7:44pm Dutch daily NRC Handelsblad reports that Radio Netherlands Worldwide General Director Jan Hoek could receive a golden handshake worth over one million euros when he leaves the international public broadcaster. The cabinet has cut the RNW budget from 46 million euros to just 14 million as part of a raft of austerity measures. The unions have agreed a redundancy package for the 270 employees – out of a total of 350 – who will be dismissed. A new slimmed-down RNW is due to begin operating in January 2013. Jan Hoek has indicated that he does not intend to stay on in the new organisation. Under the terms of the general redundancy agreement, he would be entitled to a lump sum of about 450,000 euros. That amount could rise considerably, however, because of an arrangement he made with the board of commissioners when he was appointed director general. The arrangement entitles him to a premium if he were forced to leave. In response to the NRC report, Fons van Westerloo, a member of RNW’s board of commissioners, says the general director is prepared to accept smaller redundancy package – of between 450,000 and one million euros. Mr Van Westerloo says Mr Hoek could, according to his contract, insist on being paid in excess of one million euros. The same contract, however, states that the amount has to be approved by Culture Minister Marja van Bijsterveldt. Agreements Jan Hoek has neither confirmed nor denied the size of the amount. He told NRC that “if agreements were concluded in the past which could lead to entitlements in the future, then whether or not these entitlements are claimed also lies in the future." Chairman of the board of commissioners, former foreign minister Ben Bot, has refused to comment. The cabinet has put forward legislation to cap golden handshakes for executives in the public sector following strong pressure from parliament. However, the new Standardisation of Top Incomes bill is still being considered by the Council of State, the government’s most senior advisory body - and in any case would only affect new agreements. Free speech The new, slimmed-down, Radio Netherlands will under the foreign ministry as of next year and will focus exclusively on providing impartial information to countries without a free press. Read more RNW news (gsh/mw) © Radio Netherlands Worldwide (via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) RADIO NETHERLANDS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF QUITS OVER "INSURMOUNTABLE DOUBTS" | Text of report in English by Radio Netherlands website on 20 April Radio Netherlands Worldwide's editor-in-chief Rik Rensen and his deputy, Ardi Bouwers, are to leave the organization. They say they will not serve as part of the new slimmed-down RNW which is to become operational from 1 January 2013. RNW's annual government subsidy of 46m euros was slashed last year to just 14m. Earlier this week, Rensen and Bouwers wrote to RNW's board of commissioners, saying they had "serious worries about the lack of vision and urgency" in turning RNW into a more flexible and market- orientated company. The board failed to answer the letter and this has lead to Rensen and Bouwers' decision to leave RNW. A statement to staff explains: "Rik Rensen and Ardi Bouwers have unfortunately decided not to put themselves forward for positions in the new RNW and also to resign from the steering group - which is overseeing the restructuring process. They will remain in their posts as editors-in-chief until replacements can be found." The statement says that Rensen and Bouwers have "insurmountable doubts" about how the preparations for the new company are going. They are most worried about the lack of explicit guarantees of journalistic independence, the tempo of building up the new organization, and its eventual make-up. They also believe that issues including the development of new programme formats, the search for additional funds - besides government subsidies - and clinching contracts with media partners should now be addressed with urgency. The editors of all editorial departments at RNW say they share the criticism. In a letter written a fortnight ago, the editors brought the crisis within the company to the attention of the board of commissioners. The board has still not replied to this letter. The departure of the editors-in-chief has led to RNW's Editorial Council losing confidence in the steering group. "We believe journalistic independence is no longer sufficiently guaranteed - neither in the 'new' RNW, nor in the steering group which has to shape the new company." The council is also critical of the board of commissioners: "So far, it has showed too little understanding of the worries of RNW staff." Source: Radio Netherlands website, Hilversum, in English 20 Apr 12 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) Radio Netherlands Worldwide, 22 Apr 2012: "Ben Bot, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Radio Netherlands Worldwide, has issued a statement in response to recent developments in the drastic restructuring of the organisation. ... In his statement, Mr Bot points out that the Netherlands’ international broadcaster is facing the most turbulent period in its 65-year history. The prospect of 70 percent budget cuts has prompted emotions and given rise to painful and difficult choices. ... After stating that the Supervisory Board, like the Works Council, wishes to distance itself from inaccurate reports, Mr Bot’s response concludes by emphasising that most of the staff at Radio Netherlands Worldwide are working hard to bring the organisation in its current form to a fitting end and to ensure that the new slimmed-down RNW gets off to a good start." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. 7440-DRM, April 21 at 1158, noise from 7435 to 7445, no doubt RNZI as now scheduled ex-7285; recheck at 1201, 7445 is now in AM! Good signal with NZ news in English, but cut off abruptly at 1202*. Today`s schedule at http://www.rnzi.com/pages/listen.php still shows DRM *off* 7440 between 1158 and 1551, but AM from 1159 to 1258 is supposed to be on 9655. Could not hear it there by 1207, tho that signal is never good here as it`s only on the NW antenna toward Timor, Bougainville, PNG. Was this hour also on some other frequency today? Re RNZI heard April 21 until 1202* on 7440 in AM, but not on 9655, Adrian Sainsbury explains: ``The DRM service on 7440 was switched to AM mode in the process of rescheduling it to run on 6170 to cover for the AM transmitter on 9655 which had developed a fault. Because of this the usual 9655 transmission was cancelled`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15720, 22/4 1928, Radio New Zealand International, DRM, Interview, English, good signal and good audio (SNR around 22 dB) (Giampiero Bernardini, RX: Drake R-4C, Excalibur Pro, Elad FDM-S1, Ant: T2FD 15 meters long, QTH Milano, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 9655, April 25 until 1258* musical standards playing, presumably RNZI with poor signal, cut off without any ID or QSY announcement to 6170, which they often make prior to frequency changes; why not now?? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NICARAGUA. 8989-USB, "Pescador Preacher" Nicaragua, recently sending greetings to Guatemala, on now 2340 to 2350. 73 (Bob Wilkner, South Florida, April 21, cumbredx via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 15120, V. Nigeria with African drums & pipe music (cool!) & YL ID, run-down of today's programming, then into News at ToH. Not bad 4+54+4+3+ with a NASTY hum in the modulation that really cut into intelligibility and made the music less pleasant to listen to! 0450- 0515 16/Apr The logs from the 15th and 16th were all using the DX-150A at the lake. It is amazing how well that old beastie continues to work. Still a bit drifty (it always was) and the microphonics issues are still there (again always were) but with the outboard Q Multiplier it performs really well. I just wish the frequency readout was better and the IF filters were a bit narrower (and it didn’t have image issues), but for a basic single conversion, analog, general coverage radio that is over 40 years old (Ken Zichi, MI [which lake??], MARE Tipsheet 20 Apr via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 15115-15120-15125, April 23 at 1858, can`t hear any DRM from VON until I turn on the BFO, revealing its noise weakly. 15115-15120-15125, April 24 at 1914, VON DRM is very poor, noise audible with BFO. 15115-15120-15125, April 25 at 1832, VON DRM is very poorly audible with BFO; signals from Africa still much depressed, e.g. 15580 AM, VOA Botswana very poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. Timtron talks more about his involvement with Radio Clandestine at 34:30 minutes into this show: http://radionewyorkinternational.com/archives/timtron/2012-0414%20radio%20timtron%20worldwide.mp3 (Artie Bigley, April 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. QSL: Pirate Undercover Radio; F/D! mobile unit card #595 for reception on 1710 kHz on 2/5/09! Postmark conveniently illegible (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow- tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. [Pirates]. 6924.90, Captain Morgan Shortwave, 0155- 0223*, oldies Rock & Roll music. IDs. Clips of Dick Clark and American Bandstand. Talk about American Bandstand. Good. April 21. 6925 USB, Radio Ga Ga, 0045-0105, IDs. Music by Sly and The Family Stone, Bob Dylan, and others. Poor to fair in noisy conditions. April 21. 6899.60, Radio Strange Outpost 7, 2313-2316*, electronic music. Coded messages. IDs. Sign off with “transmission complete” announcement. Fair. April 21. 6924.85, Captain Morgan Shortwave, 0300-0326*, rock music by The Hooters, Dr. John, Jimi Hendrix, and others. ID. Email address. Very good. April 22. 6925 USB, Wolverine Radio, 0130-0140, oldies music of the 30’s-40’s- 50’s. ID. Good. April 22. 6925, Undercover Radio, 0330-0345, rock music. ID. Email address. Talk by Dr. Benway. Taking music request. Rock music by Steppenwolf and others. Good. April 22. 6935, Undercover Radio, 2305-2350, rock music. Lite rock music. IDs. Email address. Talk by Dr. Benway. Shoutouts. Very strong. Really booming in. April 21. 6949.92, Radio Strange Outpost 7, 2350-0005*, electronic music. IDs. Sign off with “transmission complete” announcement. Fair. April 21-22. 6950, Radio True North, 0345-0420, ID. Music by Golden Earring, Queen, Roy Orbison, Jan & Dean, George Thorogood, and others. Poor. Weak in noisy conditions. April 22. 6925, Radio Vixen International, *0000-0019*, oldies music. IDs. Good. April 25 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6935-USB, April 23 at 0503 tune-in to frequency mention, missed any ID, but acknowledging reports from Beantown and Kauai, Lihue? The operator says he has been there. Very good and clear S9+20 signal with what he says is over 100 watts from his Yoshi transmitter with ``dipole hanging from the yardarm``, live timecheck for 0505 UTC, back to music. 0520 retune, Red Mercury Labs ID, time to sign-off or as he puts it, ``release the frequency``, 73 and off at 0522* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. SENATE ALLOWS CONTINUED EXISTENCE OF OETA The Enid News and Eagle, Enid, OK April 25, 2012 By Sean Murphy From The Associated Press OKLAHOMA CITY — Sesame Street and other educational programs will continue to air on Oklahoma's state television network, at least for now, after the Senate approved a bill on Wednesday allowing the agency to continue operating. Under the bill the Senate approved 38-7, the Oklahoma Educational Television Authority, or OETA, would be able to continue to exist as a state agency until 2014. The measure passed despite objections from some conservative Republicans who think the state should cut off funding. The bill now returns to the House for consideration. "I don't think it's a core government function to fund entities that are entertaining people and news programs that are in direct competition with similar private alternatives," said Sen. Greg Treat, R-Edmond, who supports a plan to phase out state funding for OETA. Treat is among a growing number of conservative Republicans who oppose the network, which provides free educational programming to residents across the state. The agency has had its budget slashed by more than $1 million in recent years and received about $3.8 million in state funding last year, which is about 40 percent of its overall budget, said OETA's Executive Director John McCarroll. McCarroll said the bill's passage is a victory for OETA and prevents the agency from being forced to shut down towers and transmitters that help send the network's signal to some of the most rural sections of the state. If the bill is not passed into law, McCarroll said the network would cease to exist on July 1, because the state is the holder of the station's broadcast license. Lawmakers still have not hammered out a budget agreement to determine how much state funding OETA will receive for the upcoming fiscal year, but McCarroll said it's likely if state funding were cut off that the network would cease operating in rural Oklahoma. "That would be the first thing, I believe, that our board would vote to go away," McCarroll said. "We would no longer have a state function." Sen. Cliff Aldridge, who sponsored the bill to allow the agency to exist for two more years, said he wants to study the issue before deciding whether to eliminate state funding altogether. The bill initially would have extended the agency through 2016, but Aldridge amended it to give the agency just two more years before lawmakers must reconsider the agency. "I'm not trying to kill OETA. I'm trying to decide whether they should be an arm of government," said Aldridge, R-Midwest City. "It's just one of those things I don't believe is a core function of government." (Enid Eagle April 26 via DXLD) Glenn, We are working to keep OETA on the air as there are some that would want us to go away. We have to do a job to get rid of the Sunset Bill for OETA. No other state funded agency is on this Sunset process, it was set up for boards and commissions not state appropriated agencies. We have to get this killed next year or we will be in the middle of the same thing in 2014. We are well supported by over 20,000 members but with 1.8 million weekly viewers we need 50,000 members. If we get that number funding will not be as big an issue. We will have to do business different in the future but I see no political ads on OETA unless the courts force us to air them. You will likely see more underwriting but that is better than no OETA. It has not been a fun week. And we will have to survive the bill going back to the house and then our final funding appropriation for this year. I know you comment a lot about our programs and we really do not mind our viewers commenting. That makes us better at what we do. It is when we are forced off the air that we all will lose and we cannot let this happen. (Mark Norman, Deputy Director Oklahoma Educational Television Authority 7403 N. Kelley Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73113-4160 405-841-9246, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GUATEMALA: OK angle ** OKLAHOMA. 1020, April 22 at 1238 UT, dead air/open carrier from nearby KOKP Perry, with Spanish from Nebraska audible underneath, especially with KOKP nulled. Sister station KOKB 1580, Blackwell, also seems deadairish at 1248, with 2 or 3 other stations still skywaving in almost an hour after sunrise. I had also noticed 1020 sometime during the afternoon April 21 on caradio with deadair. At 1532 UT April 22: yes, both 1020 and 1580 are still unmodulated! Maybe they will come to life if there is a stupid ballgame Sunday afternoon? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. FCC info in the May VHF-UHF Digest has a couple of items of local interest: 93.3, Enid translator (of KIMY 93.9 Watonga) K227AT is changing frequency and calls to K226BR on 93.1, why? But as of April 24 it`s still on 93.3. 90.5, KGVV Goltry is listed to be ``on`` as ``My Praise FM`` so I monitor April 25 from 1350 UT: AFR anti-Liberal network programming, yet another gospel huxter satellator, but ID 1359 as KAYM Weatherford. That`s some distance away, not noted before and there is some tropo enhancement this morning, also replacing KCSC 90.1 with Radio Kansas. KAYM is 2.7 kW, while KGVV is 3 kW, licensed to The Love Station, i.e. KLVV 88.7 Ponca City which already has overlapping relays. The site is near Carrier OK which is about halfway between Goltry and Enid, both of which it barely reaches with 60 dbu contour --- but obviously not really on the air, yet. 90.5, April 25 at 1801 UT as I was looking for Mexican DX as sporadic E was up to ch 5 TV, full ID for the Oasis Network, from KNYD Tulsa, plus all the other full-power outlets, some out of state, then separate ID string for OK translators. This is the primary occupant of 90.5 here, yet weak enough to make it one of my `most open` DX frequencies --- with a little enhancement, KNYD will QRM KGVV Goltry which is allegedly on the air, but not really, and KGVV will occupy 90.5 in Enid ending its DX status (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Until April 28] ** OKLAHOMA. 97.1, April 25 at 1804 UT, ``The Sports Animal``, joint ID with AM 1550, and not // 98.1 WWLS. Fmlist/Fmscan has no such slogan, but must be KYAL Sapulpa, http://sportsanimaltulsa.com/site/ which confirms it`s ``also heard on AM 1550 Sapulpa and AM 1490 Muskogee``. Seems 97.1 is new – at least new to me (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15140, 22/4 1900, Radio Sultanate Oman, news, in Arabic, low modulation, fair (Giampiero Bernardini, RX: Drake R-4C, Excalibur Pro, Elad FDM-S1, Ant: T2FD 15 meters long, QTH Milano, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 15725, April 22 at 0508, very poor signal, something talking. Per HFCC and Aoki, nothing but: R. Pakistan, 05-07 in Urdu, 100 kW, 282 degrees from Islamabad API-9 transmitter; also used for 0800-1104 Urdu at 313 degrees, the transmission including token 4-5 minute English newscasts now at 0905 and 1100 per EiBi. There is disagreement over the second broadcast: HFCC shows starting at 0800, 313 degrees, while Aoki shows from 0830, 233 degrees. EiBI also shows it starting at 0830 now. 15540, April 22 at 1322, poor signal with whine with some modulation; no specific carrier, but likely another of the ailing Islamabad transmitters, API-3 as in Aoki, also in HFCC: 1230-1300 Sinhali, 1300- 1330 Tamil, 100 kW, 147 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re gh report above: The current PBC transmitter schedule for A-12 shows that External Service for Gulf & M.E. on 15725 at 0500-0700 UT is via API-5 (one of the two 250 kW units) and is via 282 degrees. The parallel channel is via the other 250 kW unit API-6 on 17830 at 282-30 = 252 degrees. External Service for West Europe starts at 0830 (confirmed) and continues until about 1104 after English news. API-5 remains on 15725 and API-6 moves to 17720, both via 313 degrees. The external service at 0500-0700 was listed to utilise API-9 a year or two back, but the current schedule for this 100 kW transmitter is now listed as 0045-0430 and 1330-1815 on 3975, and 0900-1215 on 7265 using a Quadrant antenna, and carrying the Rawalpindi (Pindi) - III programme. If it is still on air, the clandestine Voice of Jammu and Kashmir Freedom Movement is thought to utilise this transmitter too, although the transmission never appears in the PBC schedules. 73 (Noel R. Green, NW England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 1725 kHz, GA, PNG beacon first heard this year, poor/weak 1312 UT April 13. Very slow keying, several seconds per character. Best on N/S wire (Steve Ratzlaff, NE Oregon, R75, 1600' E/W and 400' N/S longwires, IRCA via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3205, NBC Sandaun, Vanimo, 1150-1155, two PNG politicians speaking in parliament, one in English, other in Tok Pisin, frequently mentioning Sandaun Province and business topics. Very good, Apr 20. (Sellers-BC) 3275, NBC Southern Highlands, Mendi, 1229, some English, mostly Tok Pisin, seemed to be a politician speaking, but not parallel to what I was hearing on 3205, 1235 announcer with time check, into music. Fair, Apr 20. (Sellers-BC) 3305, NBC Western, Daru, 1233 Tok Pisin, pop PNG music, male announcer, 1237 time check, 1242 greetings to listeners. Fair, Apr 20. (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening lakeside from my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna. Editor of World English Survey and Target Listening, available at http://www.odxa.on.ca dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3205, NBC Sandaun, 1224-1307*, April 20. Very similar reception as to that reported by Harold Sellers from British Columbia. In Tok Pisin with DJ playing pop Pacific Island pop songs; 1243: “Friday night . . . N-B-C Sandaun shortwave . . . 17 till 11”; 1256: usual full ID with “3,205 kHz. . . . 90.7 MHz.”; 1302: “News Roundup” in English; item: groundbreaking ceremony for new housing project, etc.; suddenly off the air just at the end of the “News Roundup”; better than recently heard. 3915, Radio Fly (presumed), 1357-1428, April 20. Non-stop music; Pacific Island pop, C&W (“Now That I Found You”), jazz instrumental, etc.; have not heard this recently; poor with usual QRM from 3912 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7325, presumed Wantok Radio Light Port Moresby 0953-1000 April 16; Wailing preacher in unID language; couldn't discern much more than that; wiped out by CRI s/on at 1000; very weak in ECCS-LSB (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. CHASQUI DX PFA – ABRIL 2012 --- CQ, CQ, CQ…Aquí Pedro F. Arrunátegui para compartir algo con los que disfrutan y aman el DX latinoamericano, todas las horas son UTC, desde la tierra de los incas, les informo mediante este Quipus lo siguiente: 4747.10, R. Huanta, Huanta, Ayacucho, 10/04 1315-1405, 44444, programa Noticiero Huanta 2000, news en español y quechua, ID “Por Radio Huanta 2000, trasmitiendo desde la perla de los Andes, Huanta”. 4774.95, R. Tarma, 17/04 1155-1240, 44444, ID “En Radio Tarma Internacional” programa `Noticiero El Demoledor` news. ``Estamos celebrando nuestro 54 aniversario de inicio de nuestras trasmisiones gracias a nuestros fundadores Néstor e Irma Monteverde.`` Slogan: “OC4J [sic] 1510 kHz Onda Media, OC4E [sic] 4775 Onda Corta tropical, banda de 60 metros en Amplitud Modulada y OCW4A 99.3 MHz FM Stereo, trasmite Radio Tarma desde Tarma, Perú en América del Sur” 4955.00, R. Cultural Amauta, Huanta, Ayacucho, 18/04 1215-1306, 44444, programa en quechua, ID “Radio Cultural Amauta” (en quechua y español), ID “Gracias a Radio Amauta” ads. La recepción la he efectuado del 26/03 al 21/04 en compañía de mi sabueso Icom IC R72 acompañado del Mizuho KX-3, una grabadora Alesis Palm Track, una antena de hilo largo de 15 metros y una antena loop. Muchos 128´s PFA (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Lima, April Chasqui DX via DXLD) additional MW logs are in his full report in the dxldyg (gh) ** PERU. Great Latin night, as I don’t remember since so many time. It was a pity to be here in Milan Noise City with elevators moving and jamming always in the wrong minutes. It would be very nice to be in Bocca di Magra. Some images on SW blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.it/ 4747.08, 23/4 2324, Radio Huanta 2000, long emphatic talks in Spanish, weak, frequency slowly drifting till 4747.093 4774.95, 23/4 2344, Radio Tarma, sport live, commercials, later songs, fair/good (observed another carrier on 4775) 4789.87, 24/4 0005, Radio Visión, Chiclayo, Andean style songs, weak 4824.476, 24/4 0032, La Voz de la Selva, Iquitos, songs, weak, better USB 6173, 24/4 0155, Radio Tawantisuyo, Perù, nice music, later talks, weak (Giampiero Bernardini, Excalibur Pro & SDR-14 con SDR-Radio software, Ant: T2FD lunga 15 metri, QTH: Milano Noise City, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 15190, R. Pilipinas, Tinang, 1747-1802 April 21 listed Tagalog/English; W announcer noted under co-channel R. Africa-Eq. Guinea; R. Africa with carrier only at 1758 leaving Pilipinas in the clear with talk and M announcer with solid ID at 1800 "Radio Pilipinas-The Voice of the Philippines" and again in presumed Tagalog; bit of martial/anthem-like music, into M & W announcers with another full ID in passing; talk over music at 1802 when R. Africa returned with crash-start into US brokered religious program; fair in ECCS-LSB; would have been easy copy without R. Africa; very pleased with this as it's been years since I last last logged R. Pilipinas (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H., NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, 22/4 1845, Radio Pilipinas, Philippines, Talks in Tagalog, pop songs, great ID, also in English, at 1855. Good (Giampiero Bernardini, RX: Drake R-4C, Excalibur Pro, Elad FDM-S1, Ant: T2FD 15 meters long, QTH Milano, Italia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11720, April 25 at 1807 as I am hunting for Zanzibar 11735 (nothing yet), a surprisingly good signal here in Tagalog, mixing in lots of English such as ``sustainable agricultural productivity``, a concept too complex for Tagalog? Or just too lazy to attempt to translate it. So must be the 1730-1930 broadcast from V. of Philippines. Then checked // 15190 and also audible there, but much weaker, and no R. Africa at the moment (some other times the two can be heard mixing before 1930). Third VOP frequency 9395 is inaudible in noise level. 11720 is certainly the SSOB if not the OSOB from Asia. Still in at 1832 but weaker, 1901 very poor, but now 15190 is still there with Tagalog, so not R. Africa in English; see EQUATORIAL GUINEA (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. MOLDOVA, 9430, Voice of Russia, Russian WS from Grigoriopol Maiac relay site in Moldova. Rubrika "Accente..." at 0239 UT April 21. Transmission suffers heavily by BUZZ signals of plus/minus 50, 100, 150, 200 Hertz tones (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC- DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Re: Changes of NEXUS IBA IRRS Shortwave via Saftica site: Free Speech Radio News (FSRN), instead of Radio City: 0800-0900 9510 TIG 100 kW 290 deg to WeEUR/NoEUR German, 3rd Sat (DX Re Mix News via BC-DX) On Apr 21st it's still Radio City broadcasted at 0800 UT on 9510 kHz. (Patrick Robic, Austria, A-DX April 21 via BC-DX April 25 via DXLD) Like I said, FSRN is some of the default programming on IRRS when scheduled program is missing (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. 15700, IRRS, 1620-1700*, English religious talk by Brother Stair and another preacher. IRRS ID and contact information at 1659. Listed for Saturday only. Fair. April 21 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. END OF DIGITAL DRM PLANS. DIGITAL RADIO IS LEFT WITHOUT SUPPORT. Ministry of Communications plans to cut the state program of development of the broadcasting. Read more: Federal authorities in the near future are going to turn a program to develop a network of digital broadcasting. Liberated money to spend on television. Ministry of Communications has prepared a new amendment to the Federal Program "Development of Broadcasting in the Russian Federation in 2009-2015". All advertised events this year to implement broadcasting in DRM standard will soon be lifted. As explained in the department, a program developed in 2008, did not fully take into account the latest technological advances. Over the past few years, the use of DRM in the world has significantly decreased, while broadcasters are still satisfied with the work in the VHF range and wait for the emergence of new hybrid technologies. At the event "radio broadcast of the program" in the budget was included 13.9 billion rubles, which was planned to learn in four years. Now all the money will be spent on the development of television. Until now, standard DRM in Russia are tested at three sites: near Moscow, St. Petersburg and Sochi. At the same time in a digital format was broadcast only one radio station "Vesti FM», included in the "All-Russian State Broadcasting Company". Director, GRK "Lighthouse" Sergei Kurokhtin told that he had heard about the initiative and hopes that soon it will be approved as proposed performance standards did not cause excitement within the company. In the Ministry of Communications also confirmed dissatisfaction with broadcasters. Just the opposite position is shared by other market participants. According to the chairman of the consortium "Digital broadcasting technology platform," Andrew Bryksenkova, there is no alternative for DRM to date there is: the format using the long-wave transmitters for maximum coverage - about 250 km with the fact that broadcasting in the VHF range may be no more than 70 miles. The expert recalled that the format was finalized two years ago, as the only option and change the decision now is inappropriate. "As part of implementing the new format, a state program assumed technological modernization of the entire radio network - now, this project may be postponed indefinitely. If the problem is DRM, you could just upgrade the analog transmitters, and now people are just left without a signal of quality ", - says Bryksenkov. Express dissatisfaction with the organization, and instrument-making. Thus, in Omsk Production Association "Irtysh" report that has already started buying and testing the equipment. All projects now have to cancel. A similar position is held at the "Sarapul radio factory." Proposal Telecommunications Ministry is now at the stage of the project. Before the adoption of the document must undergo approval by the Scientific-Research Institute of Radio. The organization said that until all objects are DRM, and comment on their fate yet. Do not know anything about the project and the responsible Federal State Unitary Enterprise "Russian Television Broadcasting Network." In the Ministry of Communications has not yet developed a strategy for further development of digital broadcasting, but it shows that the work will be done soon. ( Izvestia, April 20 via Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) RUSSIA WILL DROP DRM DIGITAL RADIO. Posted: 22 Apr 2012 Izvestia, 17 Apr 2012, as Google-translated from Russian: "Ministry of Communications has prepared a new amendment to the Federal Program 'Development of Broadcasting in the Russian Federation in 2009-2015'. All advertised events this year to implement broadcasting in DRM standard will soon be lifted. As explained in the department, a program developed in 2008, did not fully take into account the latest technological advances. Over the past few years, the use of DRM in the world has significantly decreased, while broadcasters are still satisfied with the work in the VHF range and wait for the emergence of new hybrid technologies. At the event 'radio broadcast of the program' in the budget was included 3.9 billion rubles, which was planned to learn in four years. Now all the money will be spent on the development of television." – (kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) The reader comments are also interesting and worth Google-translating. This appears to pertain to domestic medium wave in Russia. Does it also mean that Voice of Russia will discontinue its DRM shortwave transmissions for international audiences? In any case, the DRM consortium appears to have lost an important member (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** RUSSIA. GTRK "Buryatia" (Radio Buryatia) verified my reception report in Russian with 1 IRC by PFC QSL (in Russian) after 66 days via registered air mail. QSL was officially stamped and signed by Ms. Lyudmila Moiseeva, chief of radio broadcasting. She also sent me the previous notice by E-mail. The station broadcasts regional programs in Russian and Buryat on 279/6195 kHz as follows (Time UT); Sun-Thu 2110-2200 News in Buryat and Russian "Morning Buryatia", interview program "Radio studio - Birakan River" 2210-2300 News in Buryat and Russian "Morning Buryatia", interview program "Radio studio - Birakan River" Mon-Fri 0210-0230 News in Buryat and Russian 0410-0425 Daytime News 0425-0500 Literary and Art program 1010-1025 Evening News in Russian and Buryat 1025-1100 Russian Orthodox program "Native Earth" Sat/Sun 0010-0100 Weekly News Note evening local broadcast is now 1 hour earlier than listed in WRTH 2012. Local Time in Ulan-Ude = UT +9 hours, all the year round. Address: ul. Erbanova 7A, Ulan-Ude, Buryat Republic, Russia 670000 TEL/FAX: +7 3012 21 23 10 URL: http://www.bgtrk.ru/ (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, April 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA [and non]. ST. HELENA TO GET 15 DIGITAL TV CHANNELS 23 March 2012 Digital Terrestrial Television Project Cable & Wireless In October 2011 we promised that we would provide an update on the new digital TV service for St Helena – 2nd Generation Terrestrial (DVB-T2) television service – which will allow us to rebroadcast 15 uninterrupted channels. Much progress has been made over the last months: • C&W Networks staff has continued to install network equipment in preparation for the visit of the systems integrator who will commission the network. This is scheduled for April 12. • The central control and distribution equipment to be located at The Briars has now completed in-factory integration testing and is being shipped to St Helena. • We are in the final stages of concluding our agreement with our Content Service Provider. Once the final agreement has been signed we will be able to provide customers with exact details of programme content and indicative subscription costs. • As part of the DVB-T2 project we plan to extend the television signal coverage to Rosemary Plain, Guinea Grass, Trap Cott and Southerns areas. We are currently seeking planning permission approval at the best optimum site to install network equipment at Rosemary Plain and maximise on coverage. Customers may be pleased to know that all UK standard PAL-I television screens will be compatible with the new digital system. Although it will now only be possible to watch a single channel at any one time, customers with existing coax distribution cabling will still be able to enjoy television viewing of the same channel at all of their existing television distribution outlets. The new digital system also offers a Parental Control facility. This gives parents and guardians direct ownership for the programmes that their children view. We will be keeping our customers informed of the progress of the project via the local media and our website www.cwi.sh as we approach the implementation and launch of the new DVB-T2 system. Hensil O'Bey Chief Executive, St Helena Cable & Wireless South Atlantic Ltd Registered in the Falkland Islands No. 13482 Registered Office, Ross Road Stanley, Falkland Islands FIQQ 1ZZ Cable & Wireless South Atlantic Ltd and Cable & Wireless Communications are part of the global Cable & Wireless Communications Group, operating in 38 countries around the world. From web site http://www.shbc.sh/L2_news.html (via Joe Buch FL USA, April 21, DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 15489.970, BSKSA Riyadh General service program in Arabic, scheduled 09-12 UT, logged on fair signal S=7 level only, here in western Germany. At 1540 noted both channels of Call of Islam from Riyadh 15-17 UT, 15224.975 S=9+15dB, 15434.983 much stronger on S=9+30dB. April 25. (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) ** SPAIN. 15110, April 24 at 1914, REE is JBA instead of usual huge signal, as propagation is still terribly attenuated after geomag storm. 15110, April 25 at 1901, REE with fútbol, recovered to very good signal after yesterday`s wipeout, but not enough to audiblize the spurs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 9770.201, SLBC carrying woman`s chorus at 0225 UT April 21, S=6 poor signal into Germany. Via old transmitter site Ekala. 15744.985, Sri Lanka BC via Ekala site, US English male religious gospel prayer at 0312 UT April 21. S=8 into Europe (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 7200.045, Sudan RTVC, Presumed, 02:228[sic]-0235 April 26, In here with African type music as males singing with drums. At 0230 a deep voiced male comments. Can't Identify the language. Signal was fair to poor with deep fades (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, 26N 081W, Excalibur, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN SOUTH [non]. UNIDENTIFIED. 15725. ¿Escucho mal o dice "The Voice of Southern Sudan" a los 4 minutos y 23 segundos? No hay nada listado en Eibi o en Aoki a esa hora y en esa frecuencia. Escuchada al menos desde 1820 UT en adelante. Obviamente que no es Radio Pakistán, la habitual en esa frecuencia. http://youtu.be/5_oC52R4cQc Reception of unID station on 15725 kHz by CX2ABP in Montevideo, Uruguay (GF15wc). April 19, 2012 at 1833 UT. 73 de CX2ABP (Rodolfo Tizzi, condiglist yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) Not in English until, yes, around 4:30 sounds like ``Voice of South Sudan Revolutionary (?) Radio . . . stands for Freedom, Justice, Equality, and (Liberal Arts? unlikely) mixing in some Morse code for effect? Doesn`t make sense to me. New clandestine? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not a log of mine (yet) but a hot tip about an apparent new clandestine: 15725, April 19 at 1833 UT, Rodolfo Tizzi, Uruguay on the condig list reported with a clip at http://youtu.be/5_oC52R4cQc a station in Arabish with an English ID at 1837, sounding like ``Voice of South Sudan Revolutionary (?) Radio . . . stands for Freedom, Justice, Equality, and (Liberal Arts? unlikely) mixing in some Morse code for effect? Doesn`t make sense to me. Chris Greenway replies, ``"... Justice, Equality, and Human Rights" The "Morse code" is whistles. The style is reminiscent of Radio SPLA in the 1980s. Good catch!`` Source and site unknown yet, nor the start time; better monitor from 1800 if not earlier; daily? Googling on `Voice of South Sudan` leads to two logs under that name in the April 2010 issue of WWDXC DX Magazine, both from Michael Frese in Germany: 5975 0300 111 RRW English 15 March 9840 1740 111 UAE English 15 March The 2012, 2011 and 2010 WRTHs do not have any station by that name in the Target Broadcasts sexions. No hits on that name in the last decade of DXLDs. Could this now be sponsored by (north) Sudan? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) An Arabic-speaking colleague has listened to the recording. It's pro- Khartoum and anti-Juba, broadcasting in support of the Khartoum-backed South Sudan Liberation Army (not to be confused with the Sudan People's Liberation Army, which is now the government army of South Sudan). Although on the same frequency, this station is very unlikely to have anything to do with Radio Dabanga. Probably from Sudan itself, rather than a hired site. They've chosen too high a frequency for getting from Sudan to South Sudan in mid-evening, but perhaps they thought it would be a good idea to be on the same frequency as used by Dabanga (Chris Greenway, UK, April 23, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have monitored a few minutes around 1800, 1830 and 1900 UT today, but not even a carrier on 15725. Is anyone hearing it today? (Glenn Hauser, April 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tried the same time but nothing here in Cairo, Egypt. I tried 7200 kHz and I can hear Idhaat Alsalaam (Peace Radio) from 1830 UT with program in Arabic and vernacular targeting South Sudan (Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, ibid.) 7200 i.e. the overt Khartoum government station (gh) I checked 15725 kHz around 1825-1835 UT, both on a local (UK) receiver and on a remote rx in South Africa - nothing traced (David Kernick, England, ibid.) 15725, looking for V. of South Sudan, new clandestine first reported after 1830 April 19 by Rodolfo Tizzi, Uruguay, as quoted in my previous report: April 23 around 1730, 1800, 1830, 1900, monitored a few minutes each before and after these hours, and absolutely nothing audible, not even a carrier. Others further east heard it neither, including Chris Greenway, UK: ``Same result in Caversham yesterday (23 April) - nil on 15725 at 1830. Given that the tension continues (yesterday, President Bashir visited a contested border region and told his troops that the only language South Sudan's government understood was guns and bullets) we should assume that the station is still active, but has moved to a different time and/or frequency.`` Or maybe not scheduled every day. When and where will it be rediscovered? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15725, April 24 at 1916, nothing audible from V. of South Sudan clandestine. AFAIK, no one has heard it since initial report April 19 by Rodolfo Tizzi, Uruguay with his clip. Chris Greenway thinx it`s from inside Sudan, too close for skip to S Sudan, and probably picked frequency to be same as R. Dabanga earlier. Likely to continue due to heightened hostilities between the Sudans, but maybe on different frequencies and times. We need to search all over for it around 1830. Or could be the broadcast is not daily and will be back on this Thursday. There was however some DRM noise from RNZI 15715-15720-15725, which is now allegedly scheduled 1851-2150, after which RNZI switches to AM on 15720. 15725, April 25 at 1758, 1832, 1902, 2000, 2055 chex, no sign of V. of South Sudan clandestine. The first and only report of it was April 19 at 1833 from Rodolfo Tizzi in Uruguay, so be sure to recheck for it this Thursday, in case it`s weekly or not daily (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN SOUTH [non]. 17745, Sudan Radio Service via Woofferton, 1502- 1524, April 21. The latest breaking news in English about the conflict between S. Sudan and Sudan over contested border areas; South Sudan announced today the army was withdrawing from the disputed oil field; PSA about road accidents and gave road safety tips. MP3 audio at http://www.box.com/s/e91b52153d34484d89ed (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. 15359.654, TWR Manzini in Urdu service 1400-1415 UT, S=4 poor signal here in Germany. Heard website and snail mail address at Lahore, Pakistan at 1412 UT. Subcontinental music 1413 til 1415:10, followed by TWR Interval signal, ID at 1415:45, transmitter switch off at 1416:12 (Wolfgang Büschel, April 19, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) Wow, 346 Hz off-frequency (gh) ** TAIWAN. Martedì 17 aprile 2012 1502 - 7625 kHz, SOUND OF HOPE - Yangi Yul (Tajikistan), Cinese, parlato OM. Segnale sufficiente- insufficiente, CNR1 Jammer o Firedrake non ascoltati (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova) - Italia, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 13970, Sound of Hope, 1208-1215, April 21. In Chinese with news items and music bridges; 1211: “w-w-w-s-o-u-n-d-o-f-h-o-p-e-o-r- g” followed by “Sound of Hope” in English over soft religious song. MP3 audio at http://www.box.com/s/aa2b324dfa7ac2f6e301 Poor; CODAR QRM, but no Firedrake (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. 11570, Taipei- TWN, Suab Xaa Mon Zoo (V of Hope), 1132 22/04/2012, Noticias Lidas Por OM e Depois Curtos Trechos de Musicas Locais, 34433, Á.R. QRA: (Álex Robert SWL: PR7006 QTH: Duas Estradas, PB, Brasil RX: Tecsun DR 920 ANT: Long Wire 15mts Web: http://lex-dx.blogspot.com radioescutas via DXLD) No doubt referencing Aoki, so not to be confused with Sound of Hope: ``11570 Suab Xaa Moo Zoo (V of Hope) 1130-1200 1234567 Hmong-Blue/Njua 100 250 Taipei TWN 12124E2509N HCM TDP a12`` (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 11500, April 21 at 1210, just hum on fair carrier, from the Orzu relay of V. of Russia in English to S Asia; and probably the same for the next two sesquihours, Hindi and English scheduled until 1500, a perpetual problem. Sometimes also colliding with Firedrake as required by Sound of Hope (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN [and non]. 15558, Voice of Tibet in Tibetan from Yangi Yul-TJK at 1332-1400 UT April 19. Firedrake music jammer on 15560 kHz next channel. From 1400 UT IRIB Tehran in Japanese on 15555 kHz S=7 in Western Europe. On April 25: V of Tibet on 15487 kHz around 1330-1400 UT April 25, started undisturbed so far, but at 1344 UT another station catched them on next even 15490 kHz channel, with carrying Firedrake music jamming crash start. 12109.970, Voice of Russia Moscow in Arabic heard via Dushanbe TJK relay at 1800-1900 UT April 20. S=8-9 strength, from TJK towards Near and Middle East (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) ** TIBET [and non]. TAJIKISTAN, 15558, Voice of Tibet in Tibetan from Yangi Yul-TJK at 1332-1400 UT April 19. Firedrake music jammer on 15560 kHz next channel. From 1400 UT IRIB Tehran in Japanese on 15555 kHz S=7 in Western Europe (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 19, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. 15450, April 21 at 1226, VOT IS and IDs in English, good signal. At one point there was a glitch/bad edit as the first few notes were repeated, or switching feed source? Accurate timesignal at 1230 and opening English with program summary, including `Anatolian Legends` rather than `DX Corner` for which this is an off-week. Firedrake was on 15435 and hope it stayed that far away. 15520, April 23 until 1724* tuned across just in time to hear the VOT IS once on poor signal, and off. This means the 1630 English broadcast might be listenable here tho aimed eastward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. 4750, Dunamis SW as monitored last 3 days from Perseus network Austria: briefly heard on April 19 from 1741 UT tune to abrupt off at 1752 UT - signal much weaker than on April 18, S2 at best. No signal detected in this time frame on either April 20 at 1745 UT or this morning at 1750 UT check. Obviously there are transmitter issues going on at the site, not to mention the typical irregular schedule. The good signals on April 18 have not been duplicated since and now more convinced that day was a test transmission (Bruce W. Churchill-CA-USA, DXplorer April 20 via BC-DX April 25 via DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Re: "UKRAINE [and non]. RUS/CIS/UKR, DRM MW negotiations, now result in changes on ITU Genève mediumwave list of Febr 7th / April 3rd ... So which of those are not in Ukraine? We are not familiar with all those cities (gh, DXLD)". All those cities and villages are in Ukraine. However, it seems that Russia and Ukraine will give up DRM soon (Aleksandr Diadischev, Ukraine, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [and non]. 15180, April 21 at 1802, French with strange accent caught my ear; during news from BBC, this semihour only, 300 kW, 170 degrees via Woofferton. 17795, Saturday April 21 at 1840, BBCWS `Science in Action`, about studying neurology by stimulating and monitoring insect brains; counting penguin populations in Antarctica by satellite imagery: one penguin = one pixel, hi contrast black on white, then multiply by density factor. This has become a reliable transmission to hear BBCWS here, 18-20, 250 kW, 170 degrees from Woofferton, which per HFCC started 14 April, in addition to the 16-18 via Ascension. Fortunately, the Cuban leapfrog onto 17795 does not start until 2100. 11750, April 23 at 1240, BBCWS Newshour is originating today from WBUR in Boston, Robin Lustig with discussion of the wealth gap in America, how Massachusetts politicians don`t connect well with the rest of the country, being too well-educated, well-off and stand-offish by nature. Back to London tomorrow. This hour only is via THAILAND, 25 degrees also USward. RHC carrier came on at *1255 but BBC still audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBCWS Newshour will be from Philadelphia on Apr 27th, San Diego May 1st and Houston May 5th, in all cases with partner stations (Chris Greenway UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. BBC TWO SWITCHED OFF FOR SWITCHOVER SWITCH === Gary Cutlack - Another TV milestone has been achieved by the BBC today, with BBC Two the first channel to disappear entirely from the analogue spectrum for telly watchers who live in London. The move, designed to free up space in the sky for mobile phones to use for Twitter all day, means the only way to watch the channel in the capital is now through a digital box or TV. The plus side for Londoners is this has already enabled the Freeview digital system to increase its coverage, bringing digital television and all its late night joys to some 400,000 additional viewers. The second phase of the switchover will kick in on April 18, when all analogue signals will cease across London. The sky will look slightly bluer as a result. [Techradar] . . [for linx:] http://www.gizmodo.co.uk/2012/04/bbc-two-switched-off-for-switchover-switch/ (via Mike Bugaj, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A [and non?] 10000/AM WWV & WWVH with strong hiss centering about 10002; 1248, 13-Apr (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. BROADCASTING BOARD OF GOVERNORS "FORGES AHEAD WITH CHINA STRATEGY" BY MAINTAINING THE STATUS QUO. Posted: 22 Apr 2012 Broadcasting Board of Governors press release, 20 Apr 2012: "The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) today announced a renewed strategy for broadcasting to China that will be reflected in the ongoing dialogue with Congress about the Agency’s proposed FY 2013 budget. 'China’s highly competitive media market and its government’s aggressive jamming of BBG content are long-standing challenges,' said BBG board member Michael Meehan. 'Beijing blocks media of many kinds and aggressively stifles free expression, especially in regions where dissent continues to arise in the open, such as Tibet. While the Board understands the reality of the current budget environment, it also perceives a pressing need for the news and information that we provide to be seen and heard across China and Tibet.' In response to inquiries from Congress and other stake- holders, the Agency is developing alternatives that take into account the roles of Radio Free Asia (RFA) and Voice of America (VOA) Tibetan Radio, along with VOA Cantonese TV programming and VOA satellite TV capability in China. At the April meeting of the BBG Strategy and Budget Committee, the Board asked that key senior staff form a working group to devise a holistic solution for reaching audiences throughout China, including Tibet." Committee for US International Broadcasting press release, 21 Apr 2012: "The Committee for U.S. International Broadcasting (CUSIB) has been vindicated by the action of Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) who approved a plan to restore funding in the FY 2013 budget request that the BBG proposed to cut earlier this year for U.S. international broadcasting to China and Tibet. CUSIB applauds efforts by its members to bring this important issue to the attention of the American public. We are also deeply grateful to Mrs. Annette Lantos, a Holocaust survivor and human rights campaigner, who made a powerful plea to the Broadcasting Board of Governors in defense of Voice of America programs to China, Tibet, and Russia. CUSIB also thanks its Advisory Board members Reggie Littlejohn, founder and president of Women’s Rights Without Frontiers, and Jing Zhang, founder and president of Women’s Rights in China, for their efforts to show how VOA and Radio Free Asia (RFA) radio and television broadcasts help women in China who are victims of human rights abuses." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) KIM`s COMMENTS: CUSIB is justified in taking credit for the preservation of the VOA Mandarin and Tibetan radio services. Its efforts seem to have brought pressure on the BBG to delay its previous decision about broadcasting to China and Tibet. The victory, however, is pyrrhic. It is very difficult to get reliable news out of China and Tibet, and to get that news back into China and Tibet. Furthermore, most Chinese have hundreds channels of entertainment and information via video and internet media. In this challenging environment, US international broadcasting is attempting to succeed with two entities that split scarce money, resources, and talent, while duplicating their efforts. Just three days ago, in this website, we saw an example of this duplication. RFA Tibetan and VOA Tibetan both sent people to shoot video of the Dalai Lama's visit to the United States. In San Diego, "[a]mong the 50 or more media members waiting to cover the talk were Tibetan-born, Washington, D.C.-based reporters for the Voice of America's Tibetan Service and Radio Free Asia." That video was used for RFA's and VOA's separate Tibetan broadcasts and websites. The Obama Administration has announced its intention to reduce duplication in the US government. The pervasive duplication in US international broadcasting being such an obvious target, it is only a matter of time before the BBG comes under the scrutiny of the OMB. The BBG, however, did not create the duplication. Congress did, most egregiously in 1994 by establishing Radio Free Asia based on the entirely false premise that VOA did not broadcast news about its target countries. (They somehow forgot VOA's extensive coverage of the Tiananmen Square protests, just five years earlier.) The BBG might try to eliminate the duplication by ordering the USIB entities to adhere to their oft-stated but mostly unobserved mandates. The Radio Free stations would broadcast news about the target countries. VOA would broadcast US and general world news -- and lose most of its audience, because people mostly want to hear about what's happening in their own countries. In the competitive global media environment, however, audiences will not put up with the inconvenience of having to tune to two US broadcasting services to get complete news coverage. They will not pay this price to keep the USIB entities intact. No matter how you slice or dice the "many brands" strategy of US international broadcasting, the outcome is unsatisfactory, both for the audiences and for the US taxpayers. The Board has "asked that key senior staff form a working group to devise a holistic solution for reaching audiences throughout China, including Tibet." They haven't asked for this already? In any case, I, as non-key junior staff, formed a working group of one, mostly working on the Metro during my commute home, resulting in this holistic strategy for US broadcasting to China, published in May 2011 by the Public Diplomacy Council. http://www.publicdiplomacycouncil.org/commentaries/america-calling-china-strategy-international-broadcasting (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) VICTOR ASHE OFFERS HIS EMAIL ADDRESS FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS ON U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING === By BBGWatcher on 23 April 2012 Often referred to as a senior Republican member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), Ambassador Victor Ashe has invited the public, including BBG employees and contractors, to send comments to his personal email address, Send an e-mail to BBG member Victor Ashe, on the controversial plan to merge BBG-managed Radio Free Asia (RFA), Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL), and Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) into a single administrative unit. Ashe has become a champion of transparency and raising employee morale at the federal agency which oversees U.S. international broadcasting. He is one of nine members serving on the bipartisan Board. In the absence of Michael Lynton, the BBG’s interim presiding governor, the meeting in Miami was presided over by Governor Dennis Mulhaupt. Governor Dana Perino was also absent. Both Lynton and Perino have a poor attendance record at BBG meetings. Lynton is a Democrat. Mulhaupt and Perino are Republicans. While the open meeting of the Board on Friday at the headquarters of Radio and TV Marti in Miami was chaired by Governor Mulhaupt, Governors Victor Ashe and Michael Meehan clearly dominated the discussion. On-demand video and audio from the meeting is available on the BBG official website. Ashe, who in addition to serving as U.S. ambassador to Poland was earlier the mayor of Knoxville, TN and is the most experienced public official on the Board, called attention to a number of unresolved issues in the proposal to merge the publicly funded surrogate broadcasters who get their grants from Congress through the BBG. He expressed concerns about the lack of information on the selection and the authority of the CEO for the merged entity. Ashe warned that rushing to implement the plan in its current form may damage U.S. international broadcasting and said that he would oppose the idea of selecting the CEO for the proposed entity as early as next month. At one point Ashe was interrupted by another Republican member S. Enders Wimbush with whom he has had disagreements on various BBG issues. Ashe managed to introduce a parliamentary maneuver to divide the merger proposal motion into three separate questions and voted against an early selection of outside contractors to help implement the plan which has not yet been fully discussed and approved. He explained why he voted “no” by saying “I’m not comfortable with this, and I just don’t have enough information.” Ashe asked for a complete documentation of how the proposed merger can produce $10 million in savings. He also disclosed that the heads of broadcasting entities have reservations about the Global News Network. The network functioning as a news agency aggregating news content from all BBG entities was an idea of the former BBG chairman Walter Isaacson who suddenly resigned earlier this year. Critics have described the Global News Network as redundant and lacking a target audience. Also raising reservations at the meeting in Miami about the proposed merger was BBG Democratic member Michael Meehan. Meehan is not opposed to streamlining BBG administrative operations, but he expressed concerns that a partial merger will only divert resources from other urgent BBG business without achieving desired results. Meehan believes that these resources would be better used for a comprehensive merger of U.S. international broadcasting operations involving all BBG entities. Another BBG Democratic member Susan McCue disagreed with Meehan on proceeding with only the partial merger. She is working on a legislative proposal which she described as “U.S. Broadcasting Innovation Act.” She said that the proposed administrative merger of the three grantee organizations would help with the passage of the proposed legislation. She has not disclosed any details of her legislative proposal and has not invited public comments. Meehan supported Ashe on the reversal of the proposed elimination of Voice of America (VOA) radio broadcasts to China, the closing down in FY 2013 of the VOA Cantonese Service providing radio, TV and Internet content, and reductions in Radio Free Asia broadcasts. At the BBG meeting in Miami, Meehan announced the decision to reject the earlier recommendations of the BBG executive staff on cuts in broadcasting to China by VOA and RFA. It is believed that S. Enders Wimbush, a strong supporter of ending Voice of America radio and television broadcasts in Mandarin and Cantonese to China, helped to push through the earlier staff recommendations which were rejected at the meeting in Miami. After a storm of criticism from human rights organizations and members of Congress, some BBG governors claimed that their executive staff did not brief them sufficiently on the FY2013 budget proposal for China and did not provide adequate public input. Victor Ashe spoke at length at the meeting about the benefits of involving the public and major stakeholders in the discussions and cited President Obama’s statement in support of transparency in government. He urged BBG members not to rush major decisions on issues such as broadcasting to China and Tibet and the merger of the surrogate broadcasters. He suggested that the Board allocate more time for discussion and questions at future meetings. Critics of the merger plan worry that if implemented in its current form it would undermine independence and effectiveness of the surrogate broadcasters as well diminish public and Congressional scrutiny over U.S. international broadcasting. They also fear that area experts and other professionals currently running these broadcasters will be replaced by International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) bureaucrats who have devised the merger plan and made recommendations to limit broadcasting to Tibet, China and other countries without free media. Some critics have described the merger plan as a power grab by BBG and IBB executives who don’t like Congressional oversight. Referring to the interim report on the proposed merger, which was prepared by an inside working group led by MBN head Brian Conniff, Victor Ashe said that he looks forward to hearing comments from the public when the document is posted on the official BBG website. It was suggested at the meeting that the report will be posted by May 1, but an unofficial copy of the interim report is already available online. At the open meeting in Miami, Ashe said that Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy Tara Sonenshine, who has been recently confirmed by the Senate and represents Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at BBG meetings, made valuable suggestions to BBG members about the importance of public input into government decision-making process. Ashe asked the public to share their suggestions with him by sending them to his personal email address: “I would encourage everyone who is listening, talk to your friends and share this among them once it goes on the website. It is an official document. It’s not a bootleg document. And share your ideas with us. If you want to share them personally with me, my email is: vhashe @ aol.com I’m more than happy to hear from you. I’m only one member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. My views only reflect myself. But if you want me to share whatever you send to me with my colleagues, I will more than happily do it. But again, we want this process to be open, transparent — all the stakeholders at the table. And if we do that in good faith, in good conscience, at the end of the day — whatever the outcome is, wherever the vote falls — we will have a better product. We will have more of buying-in by the process than if we don’t.” To demonstrate his commitment to transparency, Ashe disclosed at the open meeting the cost of his recent trip to Asia (between $7,000 and $7,500), during which he visited BBG radio transmission facilities and held discussions with U.S. embassy personnel and government officials in Laos, Cambodia, and Thailand. He said that he was the first BBG member visiting Laos in an official capacity. Laos has a communist-run government and government-controlled media. Ashe, who supports continued VOA and RFA shortwave radio broadcasts to Laos, noted the extensive Chinese economic presence and influence in the country. Ashe also spoke about an unprecedented meeting the BBG’s Governance Committee had in March with representatives of the employee unions and contractors. Ashe was an early supporter of establishing this kind of dialogue to improve employee morale at the BBG, which is among the worst in the entire federal government. He has met personally with a number of employee groups. Speaking about the March meeting with the unions and contractors, Ashe said that it was difficult: “We heard things we did not want to hear, but we heard things that we all agree we should hear. And I think that the result of it is that now a number of these issues are now on the table. It’s no longer hidden. It’s not in the closet. And we’re discussing them openly.” Annette Lantos with her husband Congressman Tom Lantos Ashe also paid tribute to Annette Lantos, a Holocaust survivor, whose recent plea in defense of Voice of America broadcasts to China, Tibet and Russia may have contributed to the BBG’s reversal of some of the broadcasting cuts. He recalled that in 2005 as U.S. Ambassador to Poland he accompanied the late Democratic Congressman Tom Lantos and his wife Annette Lantos when they visited the site of the former Nazi death camp in Auschwitz to mark the 60th anniversary of the camp’s liberation. Ashe also announced that Edward R. Murrow’s only son, Charles Casey Murrow, will participate in the rededication ceremony at the BBG Edward R. Murrow Transmitting Station in Greenville, North Carolina, in honor of the renowned broadcaster and director of the USIA (1961- 1964) and in recognition of World Press Freedom Day. Ashe and Congressman Walter Jones (R – NC) also plan to attend the event. The BBG and IBB executive staff wanted to close down the facility, but Ashe insisted that the only remaining shortwave transmitting station on U.S. territory remain open. During the meeting in Miami, BBG governors also stressed the importance of U.S. broadcasting to Latin America, but it is not clear what they plan to do about their FY 2013 budget proposal to eliminate several positions in the Voice of America Spanish Service. There was no mention at the open meeting about the FY 2013 budget proposal to eliminate dozens of VOA newsroom and English broadcasting positions and cuts and reductions in other VOA programs, including VOA Georgian, Turkish, and Greek broadcasts (BBGwatcher blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) PASSIVE AGGRESSIVE BBG STAFF? By BBGWatcher on 25 April 2012 in Featured News, Hot Tub Blog with 1 Comment BBG Watch Commentary Is it only us, or was Lynne Weil engaging in a bit of passive aggressive behavior at the recent Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) meeting in Miami? The BBG’s Director of Communications and External Affairs Lynne Weil gave a very professional report on on media and Congressional outreach activities. Fine and Good. But then something strange happened. Frankly, we were surprised because Lynne Weil is a highly respected and experienced public relations specialist who before joining the BBG was the Press Director and Spokeswoman for the U.S. Agency for International Development, a Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary of State for Public Diplomacy and Public Affairs, the Press Secretary for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Communications Director for the House Foreign Affairs Committee. What struck us as very strange was the way Lynne Weil described BBG Governor Victor Ashe’s efforts to restore the Edward R. Murrow name to the BBG shortwave radio transmitting facility in Greenville, NC. Ashe with the help of North Carolina Congressman Walter Jones saved the station from being closed down by the Broadcasting Board of Governors and International Broadcasting Bureau executive staff. These staffers deeply resent Ashe’s active engagement and second guessing of their decisions. Most recently, he convinced other BBG members to discard the staff’s earlier recommendation to end Voice of America shortwave radio broadcasts to Tibet and to close down the VOA Cantonese Service. Edward R. Murrow Transmitting StationIt’s not that Lynne Weil was silent about Ashe’s efforts to save the Greenville station and to restore its name. On the contrary, her presentation was so full of accolades that after a while it began to sound farcical, at least to us, and perhaps also to Ashe and other BBG members in the room. Lynne Weil also volunteered information that the placing of Edward R. Murrow signs near and on the station and the planned rededication ceremony that is to take place on May 2, will cost $10,000. A really strange move by a public relations professional. Victor Ashe has been know to question extensive foreign travels and other extravagant expenditures like the $50,000,000 audience research contract with Gallup approved by BBG and IBB executives who protect their jobs and perks while proposing to eliminate broadcasts and fire hundreds of journalists and other broadcasting professionals. Ashe refuses to have his public comments cleared by the IBB staff and invites input from BBG rank-and-file employee. To the horror of the executive staff, he made his personal email address public and asked for public comments on important U.S. international broadcasting issues. Rep. Walter B. Jones Those viewing or listening to the proceedings of the Miami meeting could have easily concluded from Lynne Weil’s presentation that Ashe and Congressman Jones are only interested in the placing of new signs around the station and the rededication ceremony. In reality, this is an effort by distinguished public servants (Ashe is a former mayor of Knoxville, TN and former U.S. Ambassador to Poland) to ensure that Broadcasting Board of Governors and International Broadcasting Bureau government bureaucrats will have a more difficult time in the future trying to close down this only remaining shortwave radio transmitting facility on U.S. territory, which is operated by American workers and fully controlled by the U.S. government. Ashe announced at the meeting that in addition to Congressman Jones, Casey Murrow, son of Edward R. Murrow, will participate in the rededication ceremony, which will also honor World Press Freedom Day. Edward R. Murrow, after whom the Greenville station was named, was the renowned broadcaster and director of the United States Information Agency, USIA (1961-1964). The Greenville station was dedicated by President John F. Kennedy in 1963. It’s a well known fact that BBG/IBB executive staff wants to end shortwave radio broadcasts, especially by the Voice of America, even to countries without free media. Their now rejected recommendation to eliminate VOA radio to Tibet and China is a proof of their bureaucratic vision. They ignore the fact that the Chinese authorities censor and block Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and other Western news websites but they can never fully jam shortwave radio broadcasts. Did Lynne Weil get carried away by her enthusiasm of being new in this job or was there another agenda? I guess we will never know for sure. You can check it out yourself by viewing the on-demand video from meeting or listening to a MP3 file HERE. Lynne Weil’s presentation is at the very end of the file (BBGWatch blog via DXLD) ** U S A. AGENCY ABUSE OF J-1 VISA Posted: Friday, Apr 20, 2012 Every so often there is case that so perfectly illustrates the mistreatment of employees committed by the BBG/IBB/VOA management that it needs to be told. The way this management has mistreated people that they brought into this country via the inappropriate use of the J-1 Visa process (known for good reason as the “nanny visa”) is appalling. Unfortunately the example below is not a singular case. There have been others that this management has sent packing in a similar manner. These former employees now have a very low opinion of the United States Government; if not America itself (although it needs to be pointed out that Sumaira has not indicated any ill will towards anyone at this point). I believe that the BBG/IBB/VOA management, by treating their J-1 Visa holders the way they do, turn these once enthusiastic promoters of America and our values into less than enthusiastic admirers of this country. In this way the management under the BBG undermines the Voice of America’s purpose, at least to the extent that we are supposed to promote good will towards this country and our ideals. I cannot vouch for everything she states but I can state that when the head of the H.R. office was asked what would have happened if Sumaira left the country when she was first informed that her visa had expired, she me told that there would not have been a reconsideration appeal because the Agency would not sponsor her to bring her back. In addition, the deciding official who heard Sumaira’s appeal did not sign the decision letter. One has to wonder why. I was a witness to Sumaira’s appeal and believe a third party decision maker would have thrown out the Agency’s allegations completely. Read Sumaira’s account by clicking on the title of this story. http://www.afge1812.org/SaveStory.cfm?newID=190 (AFGE Local 1812 via DXLD) Must read: Urdu language journalist gets grossly mistreated for not kowtowing to Pakistan (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. 15180, April 21 at 1340, ``Mona Lisa``, sounds like Nat King Cole, i.e. VOA Korean service which plays a lot from The American Songbook, but 1341 fade him out to `I Love English` lessons with Jennifer Yu, who is satisfied with her apartment location, convenient for commuting, etc. At 1347 found same on weaker 11940 but not synchronized while 15180 and 7225 were in synch. Sites: 7225 and 15180 both Tinang, PHILIPPINES --- O o, 11940 not in HFCC, must be another new frequency not yet making it into the registry? No, it`s listed as 11935 TINIAN, also by Aoki, EiBi. I could have sworn it was 10, not 5 kHz above the open carrier on 11930, presumed R. Martí warming up for *1400, but did not pin the frequency down for sure. 11935, April 22 at 1255, CRI Russian is signing off, 37 degrees from SZG site so also USward; next check 1300, VOA Korean has taken over 11935 [not 11940 as thought yesterday] with news, 1303 insert ID in English. This via TINIAN, NMI is running about 3 sex behind 7225 via Tinang, PHILIPPINES --- which also switches to Tinian for another hour 14-15. 15730, April 23 at *1902 open carrier comes on, no doubt VOA Greenville setting up for the 2000 broadcast in French. The aging equipment is subject to unexpected breakdowns, so they need to be sure everything is ready to go each day well before the time needed. BTW, supply of QSL cards has been restocked for reports direct to transmitter site, this time with VOA logo in red, white and blue (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 25910/FM, WQGY434 Fort Worth TX (Dallas transmitter); studio relay for 820 WBAP; 1500, 19-Apr; "96.7FMWBAP.com Fort Worth- Dallas...a Cumulus station.", WBAP News Time. Good (better than 25990). Last heard 3/15/12. An e-mail to WBAP requesting verification of the xmtr location has not been answered. Gone at 1643 check. 25990/FM, Fort Worth TX (Dallas transmitter); studio relay for 570 KLIF; 1459, 19-Apr; Information 5-70 KLIF, into ABC News. Fair. Last heard 3/15/12. Gone at 1643 check (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9955, WRMI Miami FL (presumed); 1507, 14-Apr [Sat]; Can barely hear Glenn Hauser in LSB on World of Radio. Strong buzz-roar centering about 9957, making AM impossible. (Frodge-MI) 9955, PCJ Radio via WRN via WRMI Miami FL; 2215-2230, 14-Apr; English feature on South Sudan; 2122 PCJ ID; mention of SWL Winterfest; played 8 ISs for a contest & gave current solar data. Gave 44 country code phone # which is U.K. Web page http://www.pcjmedia.com implies it's Taiwan-based but gives the 44 code phone #. BoH PCJ/WRN spot to WRMI English & Spanish IDs. SIO=353- with occasional short peaks to 454; no jamming. Very QRNy & QSBy (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1613: first airing presumed on WRMI 9955 UT Thursday April 19 at 0330; remaining: Sat 0800, 1500, 1730, Sun 0800, 1530, 1730, Mon 0500, 1130. On WTWW: Thu 2100 on 9479, UT Sun 0400 on 5755 On WWRB: UT Fri 0330v on 5050 On WBCQ Area 51: UT Sat 0130v on 5110v-CUSB/LSB WORLD OF RADIO 1613 monitoring: confirmed on Area 51 via WBCQ 5110v- CUSB/LSB, UT Saturday April 21 from 0132.5; followed the `International Radio Report` from CKUT, latest episode with guest Wojtek Gwiazda about the RCI situation. IRR had been on A51 for several months on UT Mondays just before WOR, so is this a new regular slot? It`s on the worldmicroscope schedule this week for 0100, but if `Allan Weiner Worldwide` runs way over that will also bump WOR later than 0130 (which is OK with us for more nightside propagation, but when?). WOR 1613 also confirmed on WRMI 9955, Saturday April 21 at 1501, no jamming but nevertheless just barely audible, and bothered by splatter all the way from 9980 WWCR Brother Scare. Repeats on 9955: Saturday 1730, Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730, Monday 0500, 1130. On WTWW: UT Sunday 0400 on 5755. See also EUROPE: R. Spaceshuttle International. WORLD OF RADIO 1613 monitoring: confirmed excellent signal at 0400 UT Sunday April 22 on WTWW 5755. Repeats on WRMI 9955: Sunday 1530, 1730, Monday 0500, 1130. Checking 9955 at 1531: JBA carrier, traces of me, no jamming anyway. We continue to hope that 99% of the 50 kW signal is providing good reception in the intended direxion, 160 degrees toward Caribbean and S America. WORLD OF RADIO 1613 monitoring: 9955, UT Monday April 23 at 0508, sufficient signal from WRMI and no jamming for a change (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. THE B MOVIE “BOB” PROJECT Posted: under Archives, Music, Slack. Tags: b-movie-bob http://www.worldmicroscope.com/?p=2445 Some of you may know about my exploits involving WBCQ, a strange and wonderful radio station broadcasting on shortwave from the farthest reaches of northern Maine. Part of my work with WBCQ is taking their huge audio archive and making it available to all. They’ve been on the air since 1998 and are owned by a crazy bunch of pack rats who never throw away anything. Just about everything that any poor slob who’s ever had a program on the station has left behind some tape or CD or wire recording that was sitting in an old trailer with no windows until I happened along and volunteered to rescue it. I filled up an entire truckload with CDs, cassettes, VHSs and even the complete record collection from an earlier WBCQ that was a low power FM community station run by hippies in the 80s and brought it here to my cave for exploitation and preservation. This past weekend I started recording the archives of a show called “The B Movie Bob Show,” which is exactly what it says, a guy named “Bob” playing the audio from old B movies and crap. This stuff is absolutely priceless. A representative show is from August 1, 2000, featuring music from “giant movies” such as The Village of the Giants, War of the Colossal Beast, Attack of the 50 Foot Woman, The Cyclops, etc. Here we hear a couple of semi-rare Beau Brummels songs and some Jack Nitzche and other weirdo stuff. B Movie “Bob” did about 25-30 weekly half hour shows for WBCQ before fading into obscurity. Eventually I will try and get them all ripped off hissette [sic] and posted. For your amusement you can sample this crap here http://www.radionewyorkinternational.com/archives/index.php?path=b-movie-bob/ and feel free to sniff around the rest of the stuff on this site. (Area 51 website April 16 via DXLD) ** U S A. 15420-CUSB, April 21 at 1359, ``WBCQ, The Planet`` IDs and fanfare IS loop, 1400 JIP BS in Sabbath hymn; fair signal so far. Normally on air this early only on Saturdays. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9955, April 25 at 0528, M&W talking about different smells of human sweat, outro as `Moment of Science` from Indiana University. Must have been filler from WRN after Channel Africa, as a WRN promo following was faded out for WRMI ID, and into R. Praga in Spanish. Good signal for a change and no jamming audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CZECHIA [non] ** U S A. New Google Earth images update of April 17 KJES Vado, TX [sic: it`s New Mexico! gh], best image of 16 May 2005. 32 08 02.63 N 106 35 46.50 W and count the antenna elements JHR 5920 kHz Oak Manor Drive, Milton FL 32570, USA 12 antenna elements of 4 Jan 2012 30 39 03.16 N 87 05 21.50 W (Wolfgang Büschel, April 17, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) 5920? WJHR has always been on 15550-USB. Maybe you were thinking of defunct WBOH which was always on 5920 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 11520, April 19 at 1253, very poor signal presumed WEWN English as now scheduled; Spanish 12050 was equally poor, while 7555 was very good, before upshifting to 11550 after 1300. 15615, supposed to take over from 11520 at 1300: can`t hear it at first, but propagation is poor. I think it may not have come up promptly, as before 1324 a carrier seemed to be on and off, and at 1324 still very poor, may have aired a ``join in progress`` announcement. By 1357, 15615 has built up to fair level, so I keep listening to hear when it gets hit by Firedrake. By 1402, there is a het from 15613, i.e. V. of Tibet, and at *1403 sharp, Firedrake cuts on 15615, blotting WEWN. Tsk2. 12050 still has squealing spurs, but the English frequencies are too weak to tell. At 1527, now back on 15610, I try to hear them on 15601 and 15619, but cannot, altho 15610 is not a big solid signal like it can be with some sporadic E help. No het audible against stronger 15620 FEBC Philippines playing ``Jesus Saves`` IS, about to conclude Indonesian (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. 17690, April 23 at 1722 good umlauty signal in Türkish, i.e. YFR via Woofferton UK, 17-19, which went into effect April 14 per HFCC. Come on, Protestants, millennialists in Turkey? Surely if they want to be Christian they would be Orthodox. 15745, April 24 at 2210, WYFR Portuguese confirmed on new frequency ex-15190, open for Brasil and earlier Equatorial Guinea, not audible now (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Yes, indeed, KCEG-780 Pueblo is on the air (though they ID as Fountain which is a suburb here of Colorado Springs). I'm in Colorado Springs; their night pattern is north/south with nulls to protect WBBM and KKOH, as well as KAZM, 1900 watts days, 700 watts night (approximately), classic country and bluegrass format, uses "The Ranch" ID's, ID's as "KCEG, Fountain", and has ads for the Old Country Church on Florida and Pierce in Lakewood, CO often, as the licensee (Mike Cutforth) is a member of the band that plays at the church, I believe. No ads heard otherwise. Love their format! They may still be in 'test' mode a bit; their signal blankets Colorado Springs here just fine day and night, do get a bit of distortion on east side of town where I live. Obviously I'm more in the null towards WBBM at my home locale. Their transmitter is located a coupla miles south of Fountain along east side of I-25, with a 6-tower array. Pretty good they made it all the way to Nebraska and South Dakota per some recent ABDX postings, those locations are almost in their null! Don't think station is 24 hour yet, I was told by Mr. Cutforth they will run 6 AM-10 PM each day, but were on well past that time Thursday night 4/19, so who knows at this point. Don't know if/when the sister station, KJME-890 will be coming on the air (Robert Wien, Colorado Springs, CO, April 20, ABDX via DXLD) Doesn't sound like they`re testing per se, but they could be, I actually have heard some more ads on the station including an ad for a diner in Lakewood, CO as well. Btw, the owner is Tim Cutforth, not Mike, my mistake. Their night signal here in east CoS is very good, virtually unnullable. They are signing off, didn't notice them on at midnight last night, they were on past 10:30 PM on Thursday night. I'm still monitoring them, they do use a slogan "The 1900 watt blowtorch of Colorado", and "The Ranch" ID's as well. Their studios are on Thatcher Ave. in Pueblo with transmitter about 1/2 way between Pueblo and Fountain on east side of I-25, 6-tower array (Robert Wien, Colorado Springs, CO, April 21, ibid.) ** U S A. UNID on 1110 AM - Radio Dhanak??? The last couple of mornings in the Jeep on my way to work (7 am MDT) I have been hearing Indian-sounding music on 1110 am. I was thinking I might be picking up KWDB which just changed to KRPA from Oak Harbor, Washington. But then this morning I heard them mention a 972 area code/ phone number and "Dallas" in their announcements with an obviously Indian-sounding accent. I looked up Indian Music on Google earth and was lead to Radio Dhanak in ...you guessed it...Dallas and area code 972. They have websites, facebook etc and claim they broadcast from 7 am to 7 pm, and they are Pakistani; accent sounds similar. I find nothing on the FCC website. What is going on with this? Is this a Dallas area pirate? They are in several places the web and quite a few places mention they broadcast on 1110. Note: there is also an Australian Radio Dhanak on 107.X FM, definitely not them, obviously. ;') Anyone in the Dallas area know what the deal is? What power do they broadcast? (John ];'), Lakewood, Colorado Tecsun PL-380 Hammarlund SP-600 JX-37 Rycom 1307A-GR W1VLF LPF Quantum Phaser 7.5" Loopstick 30' Low-noise vertical 26' vertical on 35' mast 12' helical wound vertical on 15' mast, April 4, mwdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) KVTT Mineral Wells, TX (Paul B Walker, Jr., ibid.) They are supposedly off the air and/or in transition for the last year or so. Format is/was supposedly Country or Tejano music. Maybe they are selling air time to Radio Dhanak to keep the license open? (John ];'), ibid.) This is KVTT Mineral Wells, TX. I can get them here in IL via sunset switch sometimes. There must be some mis-info out there about this station (common for ethnic formats). They moved to 1110 from 1120 in 2008 and have been Pakistani for nearly a year. 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1614) Thank you, Neil, That explains why I never heard them before the last few days as I almost exclusively listen from sunset to late evening / early morning. I rarely ever listen at sunrise except for in the Jeep. The signal was so strong yesterday I brought my PL-380 with me this morning and could barely hear them on it when the loopstick was facing southeast'ish. This was from my 5th floor office in Golden. Everything I could find about KVTT was that they are a defunct Christian station that changed to country and then Tejano back in 2010. After that I find almost nothing. It being the KVTT transmitter explains why I can get them coming in over KFAB at times. KVTT would be on their 50 kW daytime power at 7 am my time (MDT) and certainly could fade in strongly at sunrise/greyline. Thanks, again! (John ];'), ibid.) 100000watts.com has all the info for this station. Like you, I DX almost exclusively at sunset and don't DX nearly enough at sunrise. Early Apr can be a decent time for domestic SS/SR DX. I have to try more SR DX before SR becomes really early. I haven't been very active since the March AU ended due to a variety of health issues made worse by horrendous allergies with this early spring here in the midwest. With as much time as I spend on DX, I find it worthwhile to spend the 90 bucks to subscribe to 100000watts.com. They aren't perfect, especially for ethnic stations, but they're very well kept up. I do have to write them to tell than that WPBS 1040 GA has been Korean for at least a couple of years. http://www.atlantaradiokorea.com/ 73 KAZ (Kazaross, ibid.) Possibly interesting development on this. Before I saw you reply I e- mailed the contact listed on their website: http://www.1110radio.com/ (Which by the way is now down - also interesting) and asked if they were in fact KVTT and using their broadcast transmitters as I could hear them up here in Denver. Explained I was a DX'er, etc. I never got a reply but this morning I heard absolutely nothing fading in under KFAB on 1110. I heard something every time I listened from last Thursday, until yesterday as I went to work trying to figure out who it was under KFAB. I am speculating of course, but maybe they were not supposed to be on full power before 8 am their time? Their FCC page says 50 kW (39 kW during critical hours. I did not hear a peep today (John ];'), Lakewood, Colorado, ibid.) ** U S A. WINK, 1200 in Ft. Myers [FL] is upgrading to 50 kW days in a week or so. Right now they are operating at 500 W non-directional while work is being done on their tower array. Expect that power to change to (probably) 2 kW. The 50 kW beam will be NNE. Their final power will be 50 kW-D, 2.2 kW-N (Phil Beckman, one of the guys working on the project, 22 March, IRCA via DXLD) WINK is licensed for 1 kW nights and that`s what the CP calls for, but I doubt 1 kW and 2.2 will make much difference (Paul B Walker, Jr., ibid.) WINK 1200 KC Power Increase?! Doing a band scan on Monday April 23, 2012 I discovered that WINK 1200 kc Pine Island Center (Fort Myers), FL now has a stronger signal. The past three band scans saw an S meter reading of S8 but today it's S9+21, so I presume that their CP U4 50/1 kw is now done. Their jingle is "News Voice of SW Florida". 73 & GUD DX, (Thomas F. Giella, NZ4O, Lakeland, FL, USA, MWCircle yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) ** U S A. Re 12-16: [NRC-AM] WFNY Equipment Test --- Rather than call the FCC here, we might consider that the full weight of the law is wholly unsuited to their proper rehabilitation. These young kids display an entrepreneurial spirit and technically-gifted intellect that may be beneficial to the hobby. Why punish them when they could do the bidding of the DX clubs by, say, dismantling transmitters that are an annoyance to us all. Or wreaking havoc with IBOC systems. Or laying out BOGs and longwires and other antennae in the depths of the snow-bound or swampy scrub-brush of rural Newfoundland or the Outback of Australia. It's not that I don't think they should be taught an important lesson. I agree wholeheartedly that they should learn that small mom and pop stations like WFNY, while DX pests for those within proscribed coverage areas, are not the enemy. The real enemy, as we experienced DXers know, is the 50,000 watt clear channel station that used to sign off every Monday morning. Happy times could be here again with the help of today's younger generation! Imagine the possibilities - furnish them with recordings of morse code and sweep tones, and a few good skeleton keys, and I'm sure they'll figure out where to go and what needs to be done. Next week I'll discuss new course offerings for recalcitrant station engineers and management, with sections such as Sunset and Sunrise Times 101, What Is This Switch For 103, and Legal ID 200 (Saul Chernos, Ont., Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2012 06:17:10 -0700, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. 1540 WDCD Albany NY to go silent! This from the NRC:- 1540, WDCD, NY, Albany – Will be going silent “due to lack of programming”, after moving their Christian programs to FM. “WDCD will suspend operations for a period during which it will develop and prepare to deploy a new program format and reposition its voice and identity in the community.” From web site http://radioinsight.com/blog/headlines/56023/1540-wdcd-albany-goes-dark/ (MKB ON) Best wishes (via Barry : -) (Carlisle UK, PERSEUS, 3.7m x 10m Flag + FLG100 amp) Davies, MWCircle yg via DXLD) WDCD was heard here this morning with “Focus on the Family” and FM station IDs only. I note that the STA to go silent was granted by the FCC on 29th March, valid until 25th September 2012, and that the application states a start date for going silent of tomorrow, 1st April (Andrew Brade, UK, March 31, ibid.) ** U S A. WQEW IBOC Off --- WQEW's IBOC has been off now straight for two weeks; a lot of Disney stations have been shutting it off lately. (Bob Young, Millbury, MA, March 27, IRCA via DXLD) 1560 NYC Their IBOC has been off at least since the 13th, I don't listen to it either but they sound much better than before (Bob Young, Millbury, MA, 25 March, NRC-AM via DXLD) This is welcome news. Which Disneys have shut off IBOC? (Saul Chernos, Ont., IRCA via DXLD) Had Disney pulled the plug permanently on AM IBOC? I did note that is wasn't on Chicago's 1300 this morning and I don't think Milwaukee's 1640 had it either. 73 and ty. KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL/WI, April 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Still running IBOC here in Boston on 1260; at night too! (Keith McGinnis, Hingham MA, April 3, ibid.) And, now the bad news: it's back [on WQEW], once again jamming the adjacent channels. There oughta be a law (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, 0325 UT April 19, IRCA via DXLD) I'm getting hash from 1533 to 1587, worse than it was before (Bob Young, Millbury, MA, 0349 UT 19 April, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. San Diego pirate on 1600 kHz --- Have been meaning to post this for a week. I logged this station while driving across town last Saturday afternoon tending to a family medical emergency: 1600, Pirate, CA, "San Ysidro" (which is actually just part of San Diego) - 4/14 1530 PDT [2230 UT] - New Spanish language religious pirate on 1600 with Spanish contemporary Christian music, ID "transmitiendo desde San Ysidro, California, Radio Amor y Fe." Gets out pretty well. Audio quality is not great. New (Tim R Hall, CA, April 21, ABDX via DXLD) How does their signal compare with the 1620 TIS? Right now 1600 is a jumble here and 1620 TIS is mixing with and under Sacramento. Also have been wondering who a Spanish religious station not far from the greyhound station in San Bernardino is on 1630 that I've heard over the last several months when I've been there. Their signal, I think, is faintly audible at noon outside the Loma Linda dental school. I just haven't had the opportunity / time to try DFing it yet (Stephen Airy?, ibid.) 1620 TIS is enormous as always. 1600 is a bit fadey and muddy, nowhere near as solid as 1620. 73 Tim Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry (Tim Hall, ibid.) ** U S A. Strange use for a TIS - Directing truck traffic into shipping port --- Anyone around locations with shipping ports ever hear a TIS used to broadcast a computerized voice to direct truck traffic into the port? Here in the New Orleans area, there are two TIS-type stations (not TIS's in the true sense, but same transmitter and power) operated by Ports America, one on 1630 and one on 1660, using callsign WP1X975 (IDing every 10 minutes). Both get out 40 or so miles. An automated announcement calls out trucks by their ID number when their load is ready. The automated announcement is "Truck 12345... 12345... If you are here for Ports America, come forward. You have X minutes to enter. If you have an associate, please stand by." There might be 20 or more trucks in that loop in the middle of the day on weekdays, and this message is repeated for each truck waiting to drop or pick up a load after contacting the port until they either enter the port, or their time runs out to get in (Darwin Long, Buras, LA, April 25, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. AMBASSADORS PREP TAKES TO THE AIRWAVES http://galvestondailynews.com/ GALVESTON — If you live within a mile of Ambassadors Preparatory Academy in Galveston, you can hear students broadcasting messages about the coastal environment on KAPA-AM 1640, “The Reef.” The radio station at Ambassadors Prep is one of three in Galveston County operated through a program managed by the Artist Boat, a nonprofit organization that promotes education about the coastal environment. Odyssey Academy in Galveston and Crenshaw school on Bolivar Peninsula also operate the low-power stations, which are provided through Science + Action = Gulf Coast Literacy, funded by the NOAA Bay and Watershed Education Training about the ocean environment. The stations are similar to those at parks and airports. They broadcast recorded messages in a loop to people in a limited area. Dr. Patricia Williams, superintendent at Ambassadors, said the school’s radio station had all the students excited. Children learn a variety of skills by doing, she said. The students will learn science as they research their scripts. But they’ll also learn about writing and speech as they work on the scripts and the broadcasts. Also, to get repeated broadcasts into production, they’ll have to learn some real-world skills: how to do research, how to solve problems, how to overcome technical difficulties, how to work with others. Ambassadors has set up its own broadcast booth, where eighth graders Carlos Dominguez, Christen Momie, Bileah Brown, Jerusha Robinson, Kayla DeJesus and Quinshawn Allen were discussing ideas for programs. “It’s a good way to help others understand about the ocean,” DeJesus said. Momie said: “This is a good way to help our community.” The class has two teachers: Lowie Paz, who teaches language arts, and Jay Tiangco, who teaches technology. Paz said while the eighth-grade class is producing the messages, they’re recruiting younger students as readers and actors. The whole school is involved, he said. Everyone wants to be on the air. Karla Klay, executive director of The Artist Boat, said the program encourages students to learn about the ocean environment and then to teach others through the broadcasts (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) It seems the real KAPA is an FM station in Hawaii, or TV? (gh) ** U S A. 1660, KQWB, ND, West Fargo, 04/22 0400 UT. Good signals with Oldies music. This is a new format that started on Friday. No more ESPN radio. IDs as True Oldies 1660 AM. COMMENTS: The band has been terrible here for about 4-5 weeks now. Sounds more like summer than spring. 73 Best of DX (Shawn Axelrod, VE4DX1SMA, VEPC4SWL, Winnipeg MB, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** U S A. 1710, KWO35, Upton, NY Getting weather info as early as about 0755 with mentions of "coastal", winds in "knots", water temps, New York City. Was lucky to get the best peak right at the ID in the loop by mechanical male voice at 0801 as "You are listening to NOAA weather radio station KWO35 in New York City. This broadcast originates from the National Weather Service forecast office located on the grounds of ?? Laboratory in Upton NY. Station KWO35 broadcasts on a frequency 152.55 MHz. Return time is ?? Eastern Daylight Time". Used the Wellbrook. Another strong peak at 0822 with weather by W better on the T2FD. Not a bad signal for a few watts and the distance. Mixing with Hispanic programming of station on same freq. (15 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) ** U S A. No More New Translators? If an LPFM typically covers a 5-10 mile radius, and an existing translator covers 25 or more, one could argue that it'd be a good trade-off if LPFM's eventually dumped most of the translators which exist today, although I'm not sure that's contemplated (Russ Edmunds, WTFDA via DXLD) The Commission regards translators as of equal priority to LPFMs. They aren't going to force any existing translators off in favor of LPFM. What they *are* going to do is dismiss currently-pending applications for *new* translators if those translators would preclude new LPFM service. The article estimates 6,000 translator *applications* will be dismissed. That doesn't necessarily represent 6,000 potential *stations*. Many are mutually-exclusive (for example, there are six applications pending for translators on 101.3 in the greater Milwaukee area. It may be possible to grant more than one, but they can't grant all six) – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, March 31, WTFDA via DXLD) What the FCC did was to block off a grid, 31 minutes of latitude/longitude on a side, centered on the center city of the market (what they did in hyphenated markets like Milwaukee-Racine I have no idea...) They counted off how many LPFMs would be possible at each grid intersection. If there were at least 5/6/7/8 LPFMs possible (depending on the size of the market) they tagged it a "spectrum available" market & will process (though not necessarily grant) all the translator applications in that market. If that many LPFMs were *not* possible, they tagged it a "spectrum limited" market and will dismiss all pending translator applications. 31 x 31 grids don't cover the entire geographic extent of most markets. Translators outside the grid won't be processed unless they can show they won't preclude LPFM service at that site (Doug Smith, April 1, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Re: [Tvfmdx] Impossible to label FM station! Burlington [VT] is absolutely the best place in the country for variety on the radio dial and has been for a long time. You've got your Cornwall stations (the Mohawk station from Akwesasne for example), Ottawa, Montreal, Sherbrooke, and Trois Rivieres stations, which include everything from French talk (98.5) and pop (RockDétente), French folk/oldies (Boom FM), and French and English language public broadcasting (Première Chaîne, Espace Musique, VPR, NCPR, and Northeast Public Radio) to your required 20% Canadian content on Ontario stations, some fine classical music stations (VPR and WCVT), folk and Americana music station "Farm Fresh Radio" http://www.wmud.org - interesting site, and you can listen online, and now Wireless 107.1 as well. Plus, there are the college stations that dot Northern Vermont that add to the variety with indie music and total lack of commercialism. I pass through now and then while visiting family and have done bandscan work there a few times in the past as well. The bandscans (some of which have been affected by format changes and such in the meantime), can be found here >> http://www.beaglebass.com/dx/dx_bandscan_montreal.htm From the land where the Green Party actually can win local elections, socialism isn't considered a bad thing, Wal-Mart was once nearly banned and only had one or two stores in the whole state, and backpackers with dirt on their face can walk straight out of the woods and into a town without a second look, radio is still alive! Apparently while most cities are heading into a downward spiral of radio death, Burlington and Plattsburgh manage to still add NEW quality stations year after year (Chris Kadlec, Songtan, Korea, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. The End of the World? Tune in to "End Times Chronicles", for Dr. Fruchtenbaum's take on last day's events, each Sunday from 6 to 7 pm on KSKQ, 89.5 FM in Ashland or on line at: http://www.KSKQ.org Cruisin' with Lenny Tone, two hours of vintage Rhythm & Blues, Soul & Doo-Wop from the "Golden Age", Wednesdays from 7 to 9 pm on KSKQ, 89.5 FM in Ashland or on line at: http://www.KSKQ,org (Add 3 hours for east coast time!) [UT Mon 01-02; UT Thu 02-03] I have HD radio in my car. Only the local NPR stations broadcast in HD, with no HD-2 signals. Occasionally when I drive over the hill into California I'll pick up a station with sidebands. On another topic, please note I'm still alive, although fairly ill. But looks like I'll make it for another season of Es. Please call me if you're receiving the Pacific NW, especially if you're receiving KSKQ 89.5 (18 watts). (Lenny Goldberg, Ashland, OR, (541) 621-9041 (cell), (888) 813-8555 (toll-free at work) April 25, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Here are some articles from the KPFT website taken from other media in the area. http://www.chron.com/default/article/KPFT-returns-to-air-after-two-day-outage-3492853.php http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Antenna-damage-knocks-KPFT-off-air-3492173.php?cmpid=emailarticle&cmpid=emailarticle (Old Chicago, April 21, radio-info.com Houston forum via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** VATICAN. 3974.93, 1735-1825, CVA, 19+20.04, Vatican R, Santa Maria di Galeria, Czech/Slovak/Polish/German religious news, 1759 "Laudetur Jesus Christus", ID, best heard in USB, Not scheduled frequency // 6075 (45444)!, 35333 (Anker Petersen, on the AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 15570, April 21 at 1806, somewhat muffled Portuguese with bits of Brazilian music, 1810 talking about Evangelista Lucas, 1812 Matéu, so suspect it`s a religious station --- yes, VR at 1800-1830, 250 kW, 229 degrees from SMG to CIRAF 46 = W Africa, where the only Portuguese- speaking/understanding area is little (but not tiny) Guinea-Bissau, altho this beam should carry right on to Brasil (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, You forgot to mention Cape Verde, which is almost 100% Roman Catholic. In Portuguese, Matthew is spelled Mateus. Greetings (Fernando de Sousa Ribeiro, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [and non]. JAMMERSTAN: 9920, 1250, 13-Apr; Siren jammer about equal to M in [unknown language]; only find FEBC Philippines sked at this time. USB takes out the siren (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) MARIANA ISL/SAIPAN, 13640.040, RFA Vietnamese 14-15 UT, started at 14 UT on both frequencies, odd plus 40 Hertz frequency, and also "Whistle Buoy" and bassy buzz tone interference. But 5 minutes later both signals RFA and jammer joined on +40 Hz "together in unity" (Wolfgang Büschel, April 19, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. The following 4 Vietnamese coastal radio stations recently verified my reception reports in English, enclosing $1 and PFC. Ho Chi Minh Radio (call XVS, power 5 kW, 0105 1305 7906/8924 kHz USB) verified by PFC QSL after 22 days, unsigned and unstamped Address: 432-436 Ngyen Tat Thanh Street, Ward 18, District 4, Ho Chi Minh City E-mail: hcminh_radio @ vishipel.com.vn Tel: +84-8-39404148/38222973 Fax: +84-8-39404581 Danang Radio (call XVT, power 1 kW, 0035 1235 7906/8924 kHz USB) verified by PFC QSL after 17 days, officially stamped and signed by Le Bien Dung, station director Address: 216 Nguyen Van Linh Street, Da Nang E-mail: dnang_radio @ vishipel.com.vn Tel: +84-511-3655960 Fax: +84-511-3650177 Can Tho Radio (call XVU, power 1 kW, 0205 1405 7906 kHz USB) verified by PFC QSL after 24 days, unstamped, signed by Tran Thi Thu Dung, $1 was returned Address: 14/11 Le Hong Phong Street, Binh Thuy, Can Tho E-mail: ctho_radio @ vishipel.com.vn Tel/Fax: +84-71-3841240 Phan Yeng Radio (Power 1 kW, 2320 1120 7906 kHz USB) verified by PFC QSL after 31 days, officially stamped, signed by Le Thi Tuyet Dung Address: Le Duan Street, Ward 7, Tuy Hoa City, Phu Yen Province E-mail: phyen_radio @ vishipel.com.vn Tel: +84-75-3842681 Fax: +84-75-3842680 Also E-QSLs were sent from these 2 coastal stations Phan Rang Radio (0135 1335 7906 USB) phrang_radio @ vishipel.com.vn Mon Cai Radio (0120 1320 7906 USB) mcai_radio @ vishipel.com.vn "Coastal Radio Station" in Vietnamese is "dai thong tin duyen hai", abbreviated as "dai TTDH". General station identification is as "Day la dai thong tin duyen hai Da Nang" (This is Danang coastal radio station). (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, April 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 13590, CVC Lusaka, 1934-2000* April 21 English; KickStart program with devotional; religious pop music and new artist featurette re musician Dan Wakefield; I had to step away for personal phone call at 1945; returned for 1958 re-check with pop music and frequency change announcement "Attention OneAfrica shortwave listeners..." requesting switch to 9505; fair-good (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H., NRD-545, MLB-1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. Thanks to this timely tip via Rodolfo Tizzi, on condiglist: BACK ON 11735 NOW --- La Voz de Tanzania, Zanzíbar, escuchada por un amigo japonés de Youtube. http://youtu.be/cffc3En6wlM Aquí no creo que tengamos suerte, con Rádio Transmundial de Santa Maria, Brasil, pero quizás pueda escuchársela a otra hora. 73 de CX2ABP (Rodolfo Tizzi, Uruguay, April 23, condiglist yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) Clip label says: ``11735 kHz Voice of Tanzania Zanzibar ZBC Radio 2012 Apr 23 1808 UT`` It used to stay on until 2100 --- I distributed this to the DXLD yg right away at 2003 April 23 and then started to hunt for it myself. At 2007, a very poor and heavily fluttered signal is probably this rather than Brasil, bolstered by the carrier going off at 2101:12*. Rodolfo did get it and later put up his own clip, 2046-2051 April 23: http://youtu.be/BpVkJcCxB24 Hope it improves here on other days, and stays on unlike the brief reactivation last February. It was much better heard in the UK by Mark Davies and Alan Roe, and `` all over Europe`` by Wolfgang Buschel. Old info in Aoki shows 15-21 in Swahili, except for English at 1800- 1810 except on Thursdays and Saturdays, 50 kW, non-direxional from Dole. WRTH has the 11735 time starting at 1400v, and the English at 1800 as irregular. HFCC A-12 shows nothing else on 11735 during these hours. Aoki also has R. Transmundial, Brasil at 08-02; Likewise EiBi except hours for that also ending at 21! From 08-. Brasil, of course, refuses to participate in HFCC, despite all its SW stations on 6, 9, 11 and 15 MHz bands. Ron Howard in California reports the other frequency 6015 was still absent when it should have propagated around 0300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No me dio tiempo a subir el link antes, pero esto es La Voz de Tanzania captada en Montevideo, Uruguay, por 11735 kHz. http://youtu.be/BpVkJcCxB24 Escuchada primero por dos japoneses y dos rusos en Youtube y luego por Ernesto Paulero en Argentina, y luego por otro amigo en Alemania. Tres continentes en menos de una hora. Nada mal. Esta emisora segun pude saber, estaba inactiva desde 2006. Esto demuestra el valor de estar en una comunidad y como todos nos apoyamos con todos. Juntos, podemos más (Tizzi, condiglist via DXLD) All over Europe S=9+15dB signal. So, two case scenarios thinkable: - either the main power submarine cable from Tanzania mainland has been repaired and boosted again. - or the Chinese technician visited Zanzibar island and repaired the unit. Last report from Japanese DXer noted on Febr 17, 2012. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) viz.: TANZANIA, UnID, 11735 kHz. African station thought to be the re- activated of Zanzibar was received at past 2030 UT on Febr 17 by some Japanese DXer. The ID of this station is not confirmed. by Pancho in Japan (Sei-ichi Hasegawa-JPN, NDXC HQ / dxld Febr 18) First time I heard that the Zanzibar Dole 11735 outlet was repaired again. Was 26 months out of service. 6015 kHz outlet appeared after 9 months again. Electricity supply, carried from the mainland by submarine cable, broke down Dec 10, 2009. So main power break lasted - probably - til Sept 14, 2010? Chinese made antennas 11735 kHz / 6015 kHz 06 06 01.54 S 39 15 31.52 E TZA Zanzibar Dole SW 11735 / 6015 kHz 50 kW. two curtains, left 25mb, right 49mb antenna, 6 masts at 06 06 07.13 S 39 15 27.60 E (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Febr 19, 2012, via dxldyg via DXLD) Finally it was until 1526 UT on Feb. 19 that it was received in Japan. Japanese DXer which live in Hokkaido confirmed it at 1532-1601* UT on Apr. 23. http://youtu.be/wD9w0GYib-U by Nakanaka in Hokkaido It seemed to operate again at about 1745 on Apr. 23 and was received in various region of Japan at past 1800. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZDVMkABP8A by XYZ in Akita at 1900UT English News untill 1808UT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cffc3En6wlM&feature=youtu.be by DFS in Shimane (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sobre la escucha de voz de Tanzania --- escuchando la grabación de youtube la musica que se escucha al final es muy parecida a la que esta en el aire en este momento 2022 UTC por 11735 KHz. Voz de Tanzania en shawilli bastante buena señal por aca (Paulero, 2035 UT April 23, ibid.) Cerró emision a las 2101 UT, 11735 KHz (Paulero, ibid.) Voice of Tanzania Zanzibar. With the reactivation of 11735, I had hoped to find 6015 also reactivation, but not so. April 24 checked from 0256 to 0320 and heard nothing on this clear frequency, even with good timing for Greyline reception; Monterey sunset at 0249 and Zanzibar sunrise at 0324. Bill Bingham (South Africa) and I last heard them on 6015 back in September (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good here from tune in at 1700 thru to 1800. Drum beat interval signal with time pips on the hour. In Swahili with lots of mention of Zanzibar. Signal spoilt at 1800 with splatter from Romania on 11740 kHz but still audible. Regards & 73s (John Hoadd, Faversham Kent, NRD515 / ALA1530, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Tuned in today [April 24] to 11735 at 1757 to hear some music and woman in Swahili. Signal had fair strength but the band was very noisy, so generally poor reception. 1759 pause in audio and then drums leading up to time pips to top of the hour. At 1800 a man IDed as Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation and launched into news in English, with headlines first. Another ID at 1804. At 1807 woman speaker and I think it was again in Swahili, but reception was even poorer by now. 1808 some music as I tuned away (Harold Sellers, Vernon, BC, Editor of World English Survey and Target Listening, available at http://www.odxa.on.ca dxldyg via DXLD) English news used to come from Spice FM --- is that still announced? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Hi Everyone, Following on from last night and reports tonight: 11735, V. of Tanzania, Dole, 1800-1810, news in English as per previous schedule http://www.box.com/s/3ef3266f45d98b1456dd (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ciao, also in Italy 11735 Zanzibar at 1800 UT with African drums, ID as Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation and news in English. The signal was good, over 9 (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, April 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ciao la Tanzania / Zanzibar è tornata attiva su 11735 kHz come segnalato in Giappone e non solo. 11735, 24/4 1800, Zanzibar Bc Corporation, Tanzania, African drums, ID and news in English ``The news from Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation``, good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) Tuned in today to 11735 at 1757 to hear some music and woman in Swahili. Signal had fair strength but the band was very noisy, so generally poor reception. 1759 pause in audio and then drums leading up to time pips to top of the hour. At 1800 a man IDed as Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation and launched into news in English, with headlines first. Another ID at 1804. At 1807 woman speaker and I think it was again in Swahili, but reception was even poorer by now. 1808 some music as I tuned away (Harold Sellers, Vernon, BC, April 24, ODXA yg via DXLD) Very good signal from Zanzibar this evening too here in Romania (Tudor Vedeanu, (Gura Humorului, Romania), 1951 UT April 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11735, TANZANIA-ZANIBAR, Radio Tanzania Zanzibar at 2011 in Swahili with Middle Eastern female vocals and a woman with talk from 2022 to 2025 with a mention of "Zanzibar" then Middle Eastern male vocals to 2040 and a woman with talk with a mention of "Africa" to 2044 and into a Middle Eastern female chorus - Very Good Apr 24 (Mark Coady, Ont., Cumbre DX via DXLD) Poor here in Massachusetts. I could only hear a little music and some announcements at 2056. To much noise to get an ID or even confirm language. Off at 2059 (Stephen Wood, Harwich, Mass., WPC1SCW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Zanzibar on 11735, 2045-2059 24th April 2012 --- 11735, Radio Tanzania 2045 to close at 2059 male commentary & closing music. signal S9 + 20dB but audio low & muffled with QRM – (Tony Molloy, nr Winter Hill, UK, SD639114, 53.6 N 2.55 W, IO83ro, CCW SDR-4+ http://www.crosscountrywireless.net/sdr-4.htm Slinky dipole running N/S, Twitter @swlistener http://swlistener.wordpress.com dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11735, Voice of Tanzania, Zanzibar, 2020-2059*, local Middle-Eastern style music. Talk in listed Swahili. Short National Anthem at 2059 sign off. Fair to good. April 24 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11735, TANZANIA-ZANIBAR, Radio Tanzania Zanzibar at 2011 in Swahili with Middle Eastern female vocals and a woman with talk from 2022 to 2025 with a mention of "Zanzibar" then Middle Eastern male vocals to 2040 and a woman with talk with a mention of "Africa" to 2044 and into a Middle Eastern female chorus - Very Good Apr 24 (Mark Coady, Ont., NASWA yg via DXLD) Poor here in Massachusetts. I could only hear a little music and some announcements at 2056. To much noise to get an ID or even confirm language. Off at 2059 (Stephen Wood, Harwich, Mass., WPC1SCW, ibid.) Very poor at 1930 check but booming in at 2040 recheck til 2059+ s/off with anthem (Don Jensen, WI, ibid.) Also here 2045-2059*, off with brief anthem. Very good. Nice to have this one back (John Herkimer, Rochester NY, April 24, ibid.) 11735, April 24 at 1916 nothing audible, not surprising with pitiful propagation over hi-latitude paths, altho it is still being heard further east until 2100, including English news at 1800, which used to come from Spice FM; is that mentioned any more? S. Hasegawa says that on April 23, Japanese DXers reported a break between 1601* and *1745. English from Romania 11740 can be a problem at 17-18, but at least it`s no longer on 11735 too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Tanzania Zanzibar. 6015 Dole. April 25, 2012. Wednesday. 0250- ?? on now. Something there at 0255, but below noise level and unreadable. Gradually faded in to Koran at 0306, then at 0308 an OM talking Arabic, quickly changed to Swahili. Kept fading below noise level, but at 0317 a YL singing Arabic song then ID "Zanzibar". Into OM making speech, with crowd applause, mentioned "Tanzania" at 0320, then other mentions of "Tanzania" and "East Africa" after that. "Dar es Salaam" at 0324, YL singing again 0324-0329 then another YL talking. Still on air as I send this, with id "Tanzania Zanzibar" at 0341. Very poor. Jo'burg sunrise 0429 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11735 kHz s/on at 1458 UT on Apr. 25. Fair to Good. Dear Glenn, An announcement of Spice FM is asked with the file of Echigoya of Japanese DXer of Apr. 23, but cannot understand me for Swahili. http://go-ya.webdeki-bbs.com/data/go-ya/img/891_59f3f1185f.mp3 (S. Hasegawa, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Sei-ichi, http://www.go-ya.webdeki-bbs.com/data/go-ya/img/891_59f3f1185f.mp3 Does mention "Spice FM". Could only play audio on Firefox (Ron Howard, CA, ibid.) Note the following 2009 posting: ``ZANZIBAR. R. Tanzania Zanzibar is no more relaying the English news from "Spice FM". They are coming now from the own house from "Voice of Tanzania, Zanzibar" as it is announced. The time is 1800- 810. I observed the English news on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Sunday. There were no English news broadcasted on Thursday and Saturday (Erich, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews June 5, 2009 via DXLD)`` (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, USA, ibid.) It was s/off after ID of "Spice FM" this morning. As ID "Spice FM, Huna Idaat al Spice FM" in Arabic. Does the program relay Spice FM? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlAs7U79DPw&feature=youtu.be by Rakuta in Tokyo (S. Hasegawa, Japan, April 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yesterday, 25 April, on 11735, right after the Anthem, at least two canned ID's as "Spice FM, Spice FM" were noted by a deep voiced announcer, then off (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, ibid.) c. 2100 UT presumably (gh, DXLD) Zanzibar heard from s/on just before 1500 UT today with ID and news in Swahili. Fair to good reception here until past 1700. On recheck at 1800 UTC the transmitter is off the air - so no news in English today. Enjoyed listening to Mark's audio clip of yesterday's news in English at 1800 and noted the station now IDs as Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation. The confirms a Media Network report in March that Zanzibar TV and Voice of Tanzania-Zanzibar had been merged into a new organisation called Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) in 2010. As 11735 has been off the air for much of the past 3 years its only now been possible to confirm this new station ID. 73s (Dave Kenny, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+ 25m long wire, April 25, bdxc-uk yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISITENING DIGEST) RTZ being heard here at good level at 2040 on 11735. Good to have them back with their interesting music. 25 April (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No sign of it in Burnaby, BC at 1800 Wed 25 Apr, but surprised during a quick check ~2050 that it was making it though poorly. Middle Eastern-styled music with OM in Swahili -- drums at 2055 and into presumed news -- more drums at 2059 but couldn't decipher any audio after that. Carrier was killed pretty much on the stroke of 2100. Audio had a faint "hollow" quality to it: wonder what the path would have been? Vancouver's antipodes are roughly somewhat south of Madagascar. Good to hear an old regular domestic back (Theo Donnelly, ptsw yg via DXLD) 11735, trying again for ZBC April 25 from 1758, nothing yet or at 1832, but I learn later from Bruce Portzer that it was off the air 1714-1844. 1901 JBA carrier with high noise level. 1959 something modulating; 2055 a little better, brief break at 2055:35, back on with music going to talk, very poor with flutter, 2059 music presumed anthem, off at 2100:15*. Bill Bingham, RSA and Ron Howard, CA, say the other frequency 6015 was also reactivated from April 25 around 0300, heard too by Portzer (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I made a point of recording 11735 all day today while I was at work. Here's what a few spot checks revealed: 1458 - weak carrier came on, it remained weak with occasional traces of audio but became slightly stronger over time 1714 - carrier went off 1844 - it came back on with a much better signal, not sure if it was because of something they did or if propagation improved during their absence. Interesting African pop music until ToH, drums 1859:30 at fair level, then time pips and news which ran until 1915. Mostly pop music after that. 2000 - time pips and news, weaker than the previous hour, then more music 2055 - talk, noticeably weaker, caught mention of Tanzania just before NA at 2059, then off 2100 I also checked 6015 last evening (my time). There was a fair carrier from 0250 tune in, which gradually faded over the next couple of hours. It was still there just before 0500. Maybe a few bits of audio now and then, but there was too much splash from CRI on 6020. Zanzibar is the only thing listed that makes sense at that time, so perhaps they've resumed the early morning broadcast as well. A carrier just now appeared on 6015 at 0253 again tonight, so the frequency bears watching (Bruce in Seattle Portzer, Winradio Excalibur, K9AY antenna, 0158 UT April 26, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Tanzania Zanzibar. With the reactivation of 11735, I had hoped to find 6015 also reactivated, but not so. April 24 checked from 0256 to 0320 and heard nothing on this clear frequency, even with good timing for Greyline reception; Monterey sunset at 0249 and Zanzibar sunrise at 0324. Bill Bingham (South Africa) and I last heard them on 6015 back in September. Surely April 25 was their first day of reactivation on 6015! [as Bill Bingham reported above] April 26 – After receiving Bill’s email yesterday, I checked again today. Heard transmitter turned on with test tone on 6015 at 0252. 0257-0259: end of test tone and start of repetitive xylophone or marimba sounding IS. 0300: OM, but too weak to make out language. 0301-0308: Qur’an. 0308-0315: OM monologue. 0315: some type of music. 0316: OM monologue. Very nice to be able to hear them again on this frequency! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Tanzania Zanzibar. 6015 Dole. April 26, 2012. Thursday. 0353- 0416. Woke up later today, but found Zanzibar there again, more readable today but quite QRN'y (atmospheric noise). YL and OM talking in swahili. From 0358, various snippets of afro and arabic music, followed by 5+1 time pips at 0400 then YL talking, sounded newsy. Menetioned "Pemba" at 0404, "Tanzania" at 0408. OM shouts "Zanzibar" at 0410, now sounds like brief snippet of politician talking with crowd response, then back to studio YL. Reception now fading as our local dawn approaches. ID at 0416 "Radio Tanzania (Zanzibar ??)". Better propagation than yesterday, but still noisy and hence with little entertainment value. Jo'burg sunrise 0430 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1640, Weather TIS Peaking at 0938 with temps for Ithaca, Rome. Another TIS coming in from about 350 miles distant. (15 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD-535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5035.03, approximately at this frequency, 2354-0003 local song; unclear talking by W & M; heard better in LSB without and with Nir 12 trying to avoid very strong QRM splats by R. Habana in 5040; mild QRN; barely audible; 4/21-4/22 (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy. Equipment: JRC NRD 525; Alpha Delta DX-SWL Sloper-S; RG 8 mini coaxial cable; JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter; Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder; JRC – NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit; Yaesu YH – 77 STA stereo headphones; Zoom Corp. H2 handy digital recorder MP3 & WAV files; Oregon Scientific Radio controlled clock; Toshiba Laptop PC Windows XP2 offline (for loggings); Interkart framed wall board political world map (1: 46,400,000); the DX Edge-Xantek Inc.(daylight-darkness desk world map), DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6173.91, Tawantinsuyo?? 1009+. Getting QRM from presUMED China on 6175 and way too much splatter QRM from 6170 New Zealand National. (15 April) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR, NRD- 535D, T2FD and Wellbrook ALA1530 HCDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Low-Powered Africans and UNID. 6210 believed at first to be R. Kahuzi, Congo DR with an S3 signal into the Perseus network site in Austria on April 18 from 1906 UT tune with news by man at 1907-1912? (their nominal s/off is 2012 UT). However, lately R Kahuzi has had an earlier s/off at 1705 UT. And, after the news (originally thought to be in French, but could have been another language), the following programming was Greek with a man announcement and what sounded like Greek vocals to past 2010. Definitely not R. Kahuzi programming. Noisy channel with some intermittent ute QRM. Noticeable QSB on this signal, varying from S2 to S3. Just a shade below Dunamis in overall merit. No other station listed on this channel in WRTH and did not have spur characteristics typical of some SDR's (Icom's ICR-1000/1500/2500) in the 49 mb. Is this a new station? Someone moved from another channel? Would be a better channel for R. Bayrak than 6150! (Bruce Churchill- USA, DXplorer April 18 via BC-DX April 25 via DXLD) In last decade we had suffer always intermodulation from transmitter site ERT/ERA Avlis Greece, formula 15630 minus 9420 = 6210 kHz. 6210 signal prop characteristic is always stronger in Austria, and southern Germany, than northern European part, like England, Scandinavia, Russia or Ukraine (Wolfgang Büschel, April 18, wwdxc BC- DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) The Greek 6210 mixing product vis-à-vis R. Kahuzi has been reported over and over in DXLD but Bruce does not avail himself of that (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 9591.102, Odd frequency broadcast at 0230 UT April 21, poor S=5-6 signal, ?Myanmar Radio? (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 25 via DXLD) Or the variable Brasilian? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 12061 approx., April 22 at 0505, rapid pulsing, sounds like there is program modulation when the pulses are on. Could be ute, or out-of-order ARMENIA transmitter of V. of Russia Spanish service ending at 0500. Was it OK before 0500? UNIDENTIFIED. 12061, April 23 at 0507, the ``chattering`` pulsing I was hearing 24 hours earlier. Still need to try before 0500 to see if it`s the V. of Russia transmitter doing this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15165, BVB mentioned address, S=9 religious program signal in EUR at 1830-1900 UT. Speech to the crowd. Was heard like an African Arabic accent (Sudan/Somali). After "Africa" ID stopped sharp tx off at 1900:02 UT. From TRINCOMALEE towards North East AFRICA? or via Issoudun? 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe something that is hidden here: http://bvbroadcasting.org/listings/central-africa 73, Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) ``Access denied`` ! Altho neighboring sexions E & W Africa are not denied (gh, DXLD) The correct name is Badr Broadcasting Network (BBN), according IBB monitoring system see also TDP Badr Radio in Amharic, first noted on April 20 with very good signal in BULgaria 1830-1900 UT 15165 Fri-Sun to EaAF, probably via SAM or KCH, not TRM or ISS (Ivo Ivanov-BUL, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 21 via DXLD) First one autolaunches bandwidth-hogging audio, subtitled ``Voice of Ethiopian Muslims``, i.e. proto-apostates, killing candidates (gh, DXLD) http://www.badrradio.com/ https://sites.google.com/site/masmattt/BBN%20Radio%20SHort%20wave.mp3 http://www.awoliya.com/3/post/2012/04/bbn-to-start-shortwave-radio-service-to-ethiopia.html http://blog.ethiopianmuslims.net/?p=1993 http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/1/prweb9104739.htm (via Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 15280: As I was logging Family Radio’s 2200 Spanish broadcast via Montsinéry, French Guiana, on 15280 on April 22, a man spoke, apparently a sermon, mentioning Israel many times. At 2212:30 a very strong station suddenly appeared on the frequency with a man also speaking in Spanish. It sounded like the same man as on the FR broadcast and he also mentioned Israel several times. At first I suspected the transmitter power had suddenly been increased — or perhaps re-beamed toward the center of North America. But I could still hear the FR broadcast under the interfering station, and the speaker on that station mentioned Cuba several times. At 2220 it went off suddenly leaving FR in the clear (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village KS, DXplorer via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Media Broadcast entries: WYFR (Family Radio): 2200-2357 NF15280 GUF 500 kW 215 deg to SoAM in Spanish (DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov-BUL, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews April 23) Yes, but he was hearing a second station: or could it have been double audio on the FR transmission, or even intentional voice-over translation? SW stations should not do this! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15455, April 23 at 1252 open carrier only, about equal strength to Turkey 15450. Kept listening past 1300, 1307 with some flutter, and never heard any modulation. 1315 I thought it went off, but as soon as I flipped on BFO, it was back, and stayed until cut off at 1328:10, just as if it were an intentional modulated transmission, only neglecting to do that. What is scheduled? In HFCC, disregarding an imaginary Avlis, nothing. Zilch in Aoki and EiBi too. Another great mystery. Maybe a standby Firedrake? (Glenn Hasuer, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15660, April 23 at 1407, modulation cutting on and off, maybe Portuguese and bits of music, carrier off at 1408*. All three schedules show this is during a one-hour break after KSDA in Malay until 1400, and before Channel Africa in Swahili from 1500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 21640, April 23 at 1313 open carrier with fair signal, but went right off. HFCC has BSKSA here at 12-15, but never really heard. Maybe Kamalabad turned 21640 back on by mistake after the 1030- 1130 VIRI English before retuning it somewhere else (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 21750, April 21 at 1814, open carrier, hum and off, weaker than 21780 Rwanda. Nothing scheduled now, but 21750 is one of the many frequencies planned for the big farewell blast only in Dutch from R. Nederland, via Bonaire, May 11 at 13-20, 250 kW, 50 degrees. HFCC shows end-date as 120512, but supposed to be May 11 only and over. So maybe it was Bonaire testing now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Sporadic E opening: 26350 kHz = 26.35 MHz, NFM, USA, UNID IFB, 2317 2012-04-24, W TV weather through moron XE CBers, fair readable peaks through QRM. 2321 mention ``America's Bank``, ``Jacks weather is sponsored by...`` (surely not Jax FL) and at 2322 ``visit your super Chevy dealer``, otherwise buried, some CB quiet periods revealed open carrier, so only using feed when actively needed, it seems. 26.35 is a persistent mystery. Other things heard via Es, not specifically logged: 44.8 MHz taxi dispatcher in Veracruz; all VHF-low was full of Cuban stations from 33.475 up through 45 or so; Puerto Rico 49.52; Dominican Republic mutant FM repeater probably the one up and down weakly on 27.62. TV had LAm analog signals up through US channel 6, most channels with 2-3 stations (David E. Crawford, Indian River City, Florida, 28.51N 80.83W, 1830-2440 UT April 24, WTFDA via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ACKNOWLEDGED ON WORLD OF RADIO 1614: Attached is my first contribution to support your media news activities. I plan on making more in the future, on a monthly or quarterly basis. Like some other recent contributors, I am working my way back into the hobby after a long absence. While there are many disappointing aspects of shortwave radio these days (No BBC, RN, Moscow, VOA on dozens of frequencies; the demise of RCI; no Passport; few booming Latins in the tropical bands; too many American religious broadcasters; RHC everywhere), I was pleased to find you still doing your great work to support the hobby. Over the past month or so, downloading the latest WOR and DXLD has become a highlight of my weekends. Thanks for all you do (Dustin Brann, Carmel, IN, with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED ON FUTURE EDITIONS OF WOR: Thanks to Chuck Ermatinger, St Louis, for a contribution via PayPal Tnx to Will Martin, check in the mail to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 Hi Glenn, Thanks for all your ``all-killah, no-fillah`` DXLD work; the info in `LD has given me a lotta new loggings over the years --- & belated congratulations on DXLD`s 8th anniversary --- may there be many more (easy for me to say --- you do all the work!). Continued success with DXLD, good listening & happy Spring (with not so many tornados, ya?) Alla best from Encinitas (Dan Sheedy, with a check to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702) Tnx, Dan. Just to be clear, it`s the yahoogroup which passed eight years this month; the DXLD publication has been around a lot longer (gh) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ RADIO NETHERLANDS: THE MEDIA NETWORK YEARS Media Network, which covered international broadcasting developments, recently ended a 30-year run on RNW. In a series of four articles, Andy Sennitt mentions some of the highlights, and then looks ahead to how international broadcasting might develop in the next ten years. First of four articles, part two published May 1: http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/media-network-years-1980s (via Mike Barraclouogh, April 24, dxldyg via DXLD) CHANNEL 2-6 MAPS Reminder for skip season, my ch 2-6 maps: http://dxinfocentre.com/tv-nam.htm Dots = Analog Bulls-Eyes = Digital. -- (William R Hepburn (VEM3ONT22) Grimsby ON CAN 43 10 59.5 -79 33 34.3 DX PIX : http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ AUTOLOG : http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/logs/dxtv.htm TWITTER : http://www.twitter.com/vem3ont22 WTFDA via DXLD) BETA: SIGNIFICANT UPGRADE FOR W9WI.COM http://www.w9wi.com/web Firstly, there's been a major upgrade in the database. Not all that visible to users, but it makes it a LOT easier to keep the programming info updated. Mostly what you'll see is the ability to deal with minor virtual channels greater than 6, and with LPTV stations whose analog and .1 digital channels don't simulcast. Still need another minor change to handle the situation where one transmitter uses more than one major virtual channel... The BIG change, though, are the Google Maps. You can opt to pull up FM or TV data on Google maps. For each service, you can either call up all stations licensed to a given state, or all stations on a given frequency. Each station gets a blue marker; click on the marker for all the same information you see in the traditional w9wi.com listings -- call letters, city, programming streams, power, antenna height. And, you have all the features of Google Maps -- the ability to zoom in & see the terrain around the transmitter, the roads surrounding it, etc. This is the first day for the upgrade, so I don't rule out the possibility something isn't working properly. The old site will remain up (and will continue to be updated) for at least a month while I make sure everything is working with the new one. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, April 12, WTFDA via DXLD) Doug; The Google Maps for FM are EXCELLENT!!!! I was just trying to figure out how to make polar plots by frequency from the Excel lists on dxfm.com for this summers FM DX trip is to The Quiet Zone of West Virginia. I no longer need to do that and this is 100 times better!!! One feature request. When doing the FM Google Map display by state, would it be possible to display more than one state at once. For this summers trip I'd love to be able to display WV and all of the bordering states at the same time. Thank you so much for this !!! (Bill Nollman, Farmington, CT, ibid.) MW DXING IN THE MARITIMES GREAT piece in the latest Radio World newsmagazine by Saul Chernos on DX-ing in the Maritimes. Well done! (Kaz looks a bit sleepy) Regards, (Mark Durenberger, April 23, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) Thanks, Mark. The article kind of wrote itself. When you're with a great crew, in a great location, and the conditions - well, okay, they were good, with a few great spots - the story writes itself. The only thing we missed this year were TPs. No Japan, no Korea. I am convinced the cx will one day be just right for TP down under, as the cycle climbs further perhaps - without looking at all my saved e-mails , I think there's been the suspicion of possible Tahiti on 738. But it's nice to have targets and new possibilities to loook forward to. I have a feeling the next few years could be good for South America and Africa. I have yet to log Peru and Chile even though others have (Saul, ibid.) MUSEA +++++ THREE-LETTER CALLSIGNS Here's a great article providing information regarding nearly every surviving three-letter callsign on the air today: http://www.musicradio77.com/apple/applemain.html Enjoy! (Karl Zuk, N2KZ, IRCA via DXLD) ANZAC [VETERANS] BROADCASTING MEMORIES Radio Heritage Foundation http://www.radioheritage.com April 25 2012 ANZAC Day 2012 [Veterans Day] Lest We Forget ______________ On April 25, Australia and New Zealand jointly commemorate ANZAC Day, a day of remembrance for those who fell or served in war, and a series of features at the Radio Heritage Foundation website http://www.radioheritage.com reflects fascinating aspects of military broadcasting. 'Fighting Voices from Downunder' http://www.radioheritage.net/story197.asp is an important review of Australian and New Zealand military radio covering the conflicts from World War 2 through to Vietnam. 'ANZAC Day Salute' http://www.radioheritage.net/story105.asp features some of the broadcasters and stations familiar to Australian and New Zealand forces. 'Australian WWII Pacific Radio' http://www.radioheritage.net/story69.asp takes a detailed look at the network of radio stations across the western Pacific, Papua and New Guinea, Netherlands East Indies and the Straits Settlements that broadcast entertainment and information for Australian forces. 'This is Station WLKT Miho' http://www.radioheritage.net/story246.asp is a rare recollection of broadcasting in occupied Japan from one of the mobile radio trucks that was shipped from Australia in late 1945. The US Armed Forces Radio stations played a major role in introducing radio broadcasting to much of the Pacific and a large collection of features about AFRS stations can be found at http://www.radioheritage.com as well. AFRS broadcasts were also heard from 1ZM Auckland [NZ] and 4QR Brisbane [Australia] during World War 2 and both Australian [WLKS Kure] and New Zealand [AKAA Yamaguchi] were amongst the ANZAC military stations broadcasting in occupied Japan in close co-operation with AFRS. On this day of reflection, the Radio Heritage Foundation thanks all those who have contributed their personal stories, photos and audio collections from times of conflict so that they can be remembered at http://www.radioheritage.com Radio Heritage Foundation is a non-profit organization supported by public donation. It connects radio, popular culture, heritage and history from its website http://www.radioheritage.com You can also support our continuing work by donating $25 as a regular supporter for 2012. Thanks to all those who help us. Publisher: Australian Radio Guide, NZLPFM Radio Guide, Pacific Travellers Guides, Pacific Asian Listener Guides at http://www.radioheritage.com (David Ricquish, NZ, RHF, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ ARRL HAMFEST CALENDAR As you may know (and I can say this from experience-EiC [editor-in- chief]), a Hamfest is a great place to find good deals on new and used receivers, wires and cables for antenna projects, and other hobby- related needs. The American Radio Relay League has a Web page to help you find a Hamfest near your home QTH or while you’re traveling to other parts of the country. You can search by Zip Code, select from Hamfests within 25, 50, 100 and 250 miles of your home QTH, as well as city and state. (Searching by ARRL division and section is only for the Ham-savvy, hi.) To find a Hamfest in near your home QTH, visit http://www.arrl.org/hamfests-and-conventions-calendar and plug in your location or Zip Code. You’ll be able to find upcoming Hamfests in your local area (IRCA soft DX Monitor April 13 via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV see also UK: BBC2 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OFF-AIR TV VIEWING IN U S A? I'm guessing it's a lot higher that 1.7% also -- maybe 10% or more. Our family got rid of Direct TV in 2010, and now we only watch over the air TV. I know of many regular folks who watch off-air like we do -- often and every day – for morning news and evening news & programs Unless you really are into sports or some special programs that cable or satellite TV have, AND, if you are near a metro area, off the air digital is fine. With the sub channels available the selection is much better than analog was. We live between the Hartford, CT & Springfield, MA markets and recieve channels from both cities. Off-air users in the US may be a lot higher in number than we think. I know of 3 or 4, non-technical, friends of mine that have dumped cable or sat. and now watch only off-air digital. And they are not necessarily less affluent or older folks either. Many in the younger crowd are doing the netflix and/or internet+off-air shuffle, and also dumping cable or satellite. With the THIS, ME, MY, BOUNCE, ANTENNA, and music networks, 24 hr weather, and 3 or 4 PBS channels to choose from, off-air ain't bad. I just hope enough folks watch the sub-channel networks so they can continue. (Hartford & Springfield are still waiting for one of our channels to pick up the ME network) Too bad the digital coverage is not as good. All the stations left on VHF hi-band, and even some of the UHF's need to increase power, like the FCC let some LA stations, and many others, do already. Co-channel interference is rare and the newer tuners are much better than first generation --- so let 'em increase power. 73 (Mark K1MAP, Hampden, MA, April 5, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) CONDITION OF CBC ANALOG TELEVISION --- THE ANALOG ERA IS OVER Another big cost savings will come from shutting down more than 600 analog television transmitters across the country. In an effort to serve Canadians in even the most remote of communities, the CBC has retransmitters for its English and French television services all over the country. Many of them are low-power, transmitting just a few watts of power to cover a community of a few hundred people. For example, here's a list of the 40+ retransmitters just of CBC Montreal television, from Îles de la Madeleine to Blanc Sablon to Salluit at the northern end of Québec. All of them will be shut down, leaving only the digital transmitter on Mount Royal. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CBMT#Transmitters After July 31, only existing digital transmitters will remain in operation. There are 27 of them for the two networks, along with those run by privately-owned affiliates. It's not just tiny villages that will lose over-the-air television. Québec City, Sherbrooke, Trois Rivières and other cities in Québec will no longer have retransmitters of CBC Montréal, which will mean, for example, that audiences without cable or satellite television in those areas will no longer get to watch Canadiens games on Saturday nights. The CRTC gave a one-year extension on the mandatory digital transition for a bunch of transmitters in mandatory markets. Affected were transmitters for stations that did not produce any original local programming but were in markets large enough to require the transition. When I spoke to the CBC, it said it would probably just ask for another extension once that one ran out, and that it didn't see ever converting all or even most of its analog transmitters into digital. With budget cuts, the hand is forced and these transmitters are going to be shut down. That will mean, for example, that APTN will be the only over-the-air television transmitters in northern Canada. It will mean that Québec will have no over-the-air English television outside of Montréal, Gatineau and the two Global Montréal retransmitters in Quebec City and Sherbrooke. It will mean no Radio-Canada transmitter in Calgary and many other markets where you'd think they should have one. One can hope that the CBC will mitigate the damage somewhat by providing second-language service as a subchannel in some markets where it has digital transmitters for one language but not the other. That would mean it could at least provide a standard-definition feed of CBC television in Quebec City to people with digital receivers. Otherwise, this is really the beginning of the end of over-the-air television. (From http://www.fagstein.com via Mike Bugaj, April 6, WTFDA via DXLD) Many of the folks in the Arctic will no longer have any television unless they subscribe to satellite. Expensive when you are living a subsidence living. Having lived in several Arctic communities - Resolute, Coral Harbour, Hall Beach - this will not be good. Like I said, many families will have to go without television - and news (other than radio). wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) The common sense solution would be for CBC to put Radio-Canada as subchannels in areas without a stand-alone R-C transmitter. Also for CBC English to be a sub on Radio-Canada stations in Québec. But apparently a silly Canadian regulation discourages subchannels. If a podunk US market in Ada OK, Sherman TX can squeeze 6 networks on 2 transmitters then surely the CBC could have gotten a waiver from the CRTC to get those rural and /or outlying markets some OTA CBC/R-C service. – (Fritze H. Prentice, Jr, KC5KBV, Star City AR EM43aw, http://twitter.com/fritzehp ibid.) Finally stations here in Topeka are starting to use their multicast channels to maintain their major network programming when special events are aired on the primary channel. This has happened a couple of times recently during severe weather. WIBW-TV (13.1 and 13.2) has moved CBS programming to channel 13.2 and replaced regularly scheduled MyTV programming. Announcements are made that CBS is moving to MyTV during the weather alert. On-screen emergency announcements are still shown on channel 13.2 when warranted. With tornado warnings now being very precise as to where the tornadoes actually (down to neighborhoods in some cases) it is not necessary to provide these alerts to all viewers. A good use of multicast in my opinion. Before I retired from KTWU, on many occasions I moved regularly scheduled PBS programming to digital channel 23 when auctions, pledge drives, etc. preempted regular programming. However, that was before the transition and not very many viewers had the ability to view KTWU- DT over-the-air and it was not on local cable. KSNT, NBC here on channel 27, has also done some similar things. However, what they do is different in that they operate KTMJ-43 (LPTV) Fox and KTKA-49 (ABC). They often have the same weather alerts on all three channels but on occasion limit it to KSNT or KTKA keeping NBC, Fox or ABC programming as is, but alerting viewers to the availability of weather information on channel 27. Some of the best local weather information comes from the Kansas City stations (especially KMBC-29) which has more sophisticated weather and on occasion has a plane flying as far west as Topeka to show storms. Weather moves from west to east and severe weather here is often moving towards the Kansas City area about 100 km east. I know football in big in Arkansas as it is elsewhere, but it seems like overkill to disrupt that much programming for information about a football coach (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, April 11, WTFDA via DXLD) GENACHOWSKI ON THE UPCOMING TV SPECTRUM AUCTION FCC chairman Genachowski's prepared remarks for the NAB Show indicate that television broadcasters will have various options in the planned TV spectrum auction/s. Those options are: (a) keep your 6 MHz bandwidth (although you may be assigned a new RF channel), (b) channel share (your must-carry rights will be preserved), (c) move from UHF to VHF or (d) sell your entire 6 MHz channel. We'll have to wait for the details. Genachowski says the FCC will "make all reasonable efforts to preserve broadcaster coverage." A $1.75 billion re-packing fund will "pay moving costs of broadcasters who don't participate as well as other incumbents." http://tinyurl.com/GenachowskiPreparedRemarks PERHAPS BROADCASTERS WILL BID ON TV SPECTRUM Perhaps broadcasters will be allowed to bid on vacated TV spectrum in future incentive auctions designed to re-designate TV channels for wireless purposes. "The rules haven't been written, but I don't see why not," said Bill Lake, chief of the FCC's Media Bureau. http://tinyurl.com/Acquiring-MoreSpectrumForTV (CGC Communicator April 23 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See also USA: Disney +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re: [Tvfmdx] ``Let's hope and pray that HD radio becomes a dead horse. Goes bankrupt.`` "Go bankrupt?" Sometimes we need to realize there is a difference between a hobby and people providing for their families (Adam Rivers, Chicopee, MA, WTFDA via DXLD) He has a radio, job but only in HD? (gh) Not too many folks providing for their families as blacksmiths or TV repairmen these days; times change. The time for HD Radio came & went (or maybe never existed). IMO, it was a solution for a non-existent problem. And IMO, iBiquity is not exactly a model company. I personally don't like how they operate and personally do wish the company goes under. I do feel for the innocent workers; though they might be better off working somewhere else. I do NOT feel sorry for the CEO's. wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) I can't see the market for it. Anyone who would want that has XM/Sirius (Rick Shaftan, NJ, ibid.) HD as we know it doesn't seem to me to have legs for much longer. That said, there will be all sorts of temporary platforms and systems for awhile yet. Their diversification will continue until economics, regulation and technological development lead to some form of streamlining. Right now, it seems that for every platform that's choking, one or two are springing up. The trick for a successful media company first and foremost is to offer compelling content tailored to individual platforms/systems, and to cross-brand; and to be agile enough to drop and add technologies as things evolve, and to make the content suitable or appropriate for the medium transmitting or carrying it. Not cheap. Best achieved through strategic partnerships. A radio station must be many things more than a radio station, centred around content, but with multiple facets extending to video, text, live-in-place, mobile, etc. (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) Outside of the impact of HD on DXing, we love HD radio. Our local NPR station (KANU 91.5) airs classical music during the day and jazz at night. There are times when I like to listen to both (but not at the same time), but prefer public affairs programming from NPR, APR, BBC, etc. So does my wife who has no interest in jazz or classical. If the formats were switched and public affairs was on 91.5 and the music on 91.5-2 or there was another station which provided what we like to listen to I would also probably have a different view of HD radio. We have three of the Accurian table HD radios and tried to order one for a new Subaru last summer with no luck. KSKA 91.1 in Anchorage does provide a lot more of what were looking for so we have not missed it there (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) HD RADIO IS A DEAD HORSE. LEAVES LISTENERS BANKRUPT. Another perspective on HD Radio: This was simply a way for a group of people to make more money. Creating jobs for people raising families? Oh, please! Give me a break. This is just an extension of the unbridled greed that has killed the radio we all love. All concerned were already part of large conglomerates. It made no difference if this project was successful or not. They created a product, created supporting hype and necessitated a 'need.' How much money has been spent on HD Radio worldwide? Did anyone churn even a dime of profit from this nonsense? It is highly doubtful! What separates this project from the rest? The system had no respect for listeners and no respect for smaller station owners who were trying to survive. The insult continued when they pleaded with us to buy new hardware just to hear this nonsense. Bruce Elving would be proud to hear me say that I honestly believe that SCA services had more to offer than anything ever presented on HD Radio. Is SCA still on the air anywhere? In any case, I echo those who have already commented. I can't wait for this nonsense to fade away. The silencing of the Radio Disney IBOCs is a good sign. When WOR pulls it off, let's have a party. I'll buy the beer! (Karl Zuk, N2KZ, April 3, ibid.) I think HD Radio was designed to protect incumbent broadcasters from competition. The technology certainly existed to switch to digital audio broadcasting. It was already being implemented overseas, using the Eureka system. The problem with the Eureka system, was that it equalized AM stations. If every existing analog station received a Eureka channel with similar daytime coverage, then AM stations that had little or no nighttime signal would suddenly cover just as well at night as they do during the day. Not only that, but existing broadcasters, both AM and FM, could launch as many as five additional stations on their Eureka signals, with coverage and audio quality equal to that of their main station. One could tell from the vigor with which LPFM was fought, that incumbent broadcasters wouldn't stand for anything that created that many newly-competitive signals. HD Radio addressed those fears. A station's HD signal is fully conformed to its analog coverage area -- including any nighttime reductions in coverage for AM stations. That pesky little AM daytimer? - with IBOC it remains a daytimer & 108.1 Big FM doesn't have to worry about it siphoning off any nighttime audience. It also addresses the split-channel thing. AM HD doesn't allow for any of those annoying subchannels at all, and FM is limited to four programs at the most (assuming you're willing to run two of them at greatly limited technical quality). In the end, incumbent broadcasters really don't care whether HD succeeds. They probably need to try to keep it going long enough to depreciate the gear off the books, and to avoid making it too totally obvious the purpose of HD was to block other digital schemes. I would imagine most stations will continue to repair trivial problems with their HD gear, but major failures will probably go unaddressed. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, April 3, ibid.) Well argued, sir. I would add that among the biggest early supporters of HD were some very well-meaning but less than technically proficient station owners who understood that the world was going "digital" but lacked a coherent concept of what that really meant in practice. Some of the smaller AM stations that were early adopters were essentially sold a bill of goods that they'd be able to broadcast in "FM quality" - and in fairness, few even within the engineering community understood how badly the AM HD system would function in the real world. I would also add that the law of unintended consequences came into play pretty quickly. When HD was approved, nobody anticipated the use of subchannels (that came along later, at the behest of public broadcasters who saw an opportunity), and thus nobody could have anticipated that some creative broadcasters would get the FCC to declare that an HD subchannel could be translated on an analog translator. And so nobody could have foreseen that in markets like Olean and Binghamton, clever smaller broadcasters could take one or two class A signals and create translator-based clusters of four or five "stations," or that in Atlanta and Kansas City and other bigger markets, Cumulus and others would create quasi-class A signals out of high-power translators fed by HD2s. It's funny how the market finds ways of working around almost any regulatory attempts to restrain it, isn't it? I will be very interested to see how much HD gear is on the floor when I go to the National Association of Broadcasters convention in Las Vegas in a couple of weeks. It's been a while since I've seen broadcast equipment makers unveil much new HD stuff. Especially telling will be the Ibiquity booth, where they've traditionally had a pretty extensive display of all the receivers that are at least notionally "available." That's become very slim pickings lately, as anyone who's actually tried to buy an HD receiver knows. (At WXXI, as many of you know, we've been hopeful about using our 91.5-HD2 to fill in some very significant nighttime signal holes in our NPR news coverage on AM 1370 - but that's hard to do when we simply can't find receivers that are consistently available to would- be member/listeners.) I think that when the retrospective history is written, one thing that will stand out is how needlessly afraid terrestrial broadcasters were of XM and Sirius at the beginning. I think that fear was part of why broadcasters were so quick to adopt the Ibiquity system. But I argued early on that the better approach might have been for the big broadcast groups to try to find opportunities to partner with satellite radio, providing broadcast content for national distribution over the satellite platforms, selling local ads on satellite content and using the existing marketing power of terrestrial radio to sell new radios with both satellite and HD reception capability. Instead, terrestrial radio spent a bunch of wasted time fighting a satellite radio industry that turned out to be more of a niche than a mass-market threat, and in the meantime the satellite radio companies paid their way into the distribution chain (automakers, big box stores, etc.), squeezing out the rather inept efforts of the HD forces. A lot of people lost, and not many won in the end, save perhaps for Howard Stern. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I fully agree with what Karl said. When TV went from black and white to color, FM to stereo, and AM originally to stereo there was no license fee from the inventors of the procedures. The HD Radio people should *never* have charged for it. Further, the signal should never have been beyond the frequency channel. In Band On Channel is a lie. > Is SCA still on the air anywhere? WBRU-95.5 in Providence, RI has SCA carrying blind audio reading. None of my clients have SCA. I think Clear Channel sticks a traffic info on SCA for some of their FM stations (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) There are still numerous SCA broadcasters in New York City. One thing about HD radio is they failed to market it to listeners. I have informally polled radio listeners (non-hobbyists or professionals) through the years and have never encountered anyone who knows anything about HD radio. Also, commercial stations have failed to program anything that might attract an audience. HD radio is a better fit for non-commercial broadcasters who have often juggled multiple formats on one station and now can have news and information on the main channel, and move classical to 2, and perhaps have a BBC stream on 3. That's the only place I see HD getting any traction. Speaking of SCA, here in New York City there are a few HD channels which play a similar role; I've encountered a South Indian, and a Caribbean gospel stream (David Goren, ibid.) SCA is alive & well in Toronto; mainly used for ethnic broadcasts with listeners using special radios. Elevator music is gone though. (My best SCA receiver is a semi-retired JRC NRD-535D. Almost no crosstalk at all.) CIRV 88.9-67 Tieng Noi Viet Nam (VV) CIUT 89.5-67 Sur Saagar Radio (Punjabi) CIUT 89.5-92 ?-FM (KK) CJRT 91.1-67 MZR (Urdu) CJRT 91.1-92 Global Tamil Radio (Tamil) CHAY 93.1-67 -silent carrier- CBL 94.1-67 Canal 2 (PP) - also on relay xmtrs CFMZ 96.3-67 CTBC (Tamil) CFMZ 96.3-92 Radio Seda-Ye Itan (Persian) CBLA 99.1-67 Canal 2 (SS) - also on relay xmtrs CKFM 99.9-67 CIPE (CC) CHIN 100.7-67 Radio Maria (II) CHIN 100.7-92 Canadian Thamil Radio (Tamil) CFCA 105.3-67 -silent carrier- CFCA 105.3-92 CKKW-FM 99.5 CHRE 105.7-67 CKTB 610 CKAV 106.5-67 VOA (East Asian) CKAV 106.5-92 ? (South Asian) CILQ 107.1-92 CFMJ 640 Bill H. (William Hepburn, Grimsby Ont., ibid.) IMO, Craig summed it all up in just 7 words. In Band On Channel is a lie. If it weren't for those seven words, nobody would care. If it were on channel as intended, we wouldn't be talking about this. But ibiquity couldn't accomplish that. ibquity lied and the FCC looked away. One set of rules for ibiquity; another set of rules for everybody else. When WTIC and WBZ pull it off --- big party!!! But I think FM is ruined for good. I may end as an AM DXer, just like I started in the early '60s (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.) I agree as to public stations having made better use of their HD streams. With commercial stations, there were already too many of them in many markets, to the point that larger markets have 3 or more each (including rim-shot stations) running essentially the same format. Then you have the redundancy of formats and programming by multiple translators in the same market and it's no wonder they haven't utilized the additional streams. They're geared to popular formats, and don't want to run niche formats even on the HD's because "nobody listens to those". In many markets, including this one, even the commercial TV stations haven't begun to effectively use their extra channels. I also agree with those who have said that HD radio was a solution without a problem. In most cases the same is true for TV, given the competition from and high usership of cable. They tried to sell HD radio as being markedly better in quality, which remains questionable, and they tried to sell program diversity they couldn't or wouldn't offer. The equipment is expensive and isn't paying for itself, and the same is true with the license fees. It's dead - it just doesn't realize it (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, 15 mi NW of Philadelphia, Grid FN20id, ibid.) Actually, though I can't find it tonight, I do have a magazine from about 1961 with a short article "GE owns FM stereo", which did detail license fees for the use of the system - but I'm sure they were far smaller, adjusted to inflation, than what is charged for IP licensing on technology these days (IIRC, 50? per receiver and a one-time fee of $1,000 per station - EFM stations exempt, I could be wrong). AM stereo also was rife with fees, and power plays. One company actually made transmitters and tried to get its system on the air to force receiver manufacturers to use their system, another actually made analog ICs and succeeded in getting their system in the radios so stations were compelled to use theirs. Meanwhile the other systems that were more straightforward faded into the dust. Never mind the fact that AM stereo was demonstrated in 1960 but had lost its purpose by the time it was not illegal - more than 20 years later! Still, I can't really approve of HD radio. The FM side of the system has been delivered with the strange mandate that might as well say "it must not improve radio" (I could elaborate on this, but it would be very wordy and OT). The AM IBOC, in contrast, is a disaster, a hastily rigged "me-too" system to answer a potential criticism that AMs would be "left out". A ten-year-old child could tell that it's a mistake. It causes stations to produce interference not only to other stations, but even to themselves. It makes a mockery of the practice of protecting the nighttime skywave contour of class A AM stations from new stations whilst their skywave signals are not protected from the interference IBOC produces. Minnie Pearl and Patsy Cline would be turning in their graves if they knew that the Grand Old Opry now sounds like it has been moved from the Ryman Auditorium to Cumberland Falls. The FM system should have been either truly on-channel (AMing the main carrier, perhaps?) or, better yet, out of band completely (it would not have taken much spectrum at all). For AM, they should have sent their programs over FM IBOC channels (or out-of-band), with the AM station sending a subsonic subcarrier telling the digital receiver where to find the digital signal, but no, that could have improved radio and shaken the speculators' boat (Rob Grant, ibid.) Rob, Not sure that I follow you on your Grand Ol Opry analogy - WSM AM doesn't use IBOC. Maybe I'm missing something - could be, I've done that before, lol (Dave in Indy Hascall, ibid.) Radio World: FM HDS PUSH ‘UNEVEN’ DIGITAL POWER HIKE WASHINGTON — Should the FCC allow stations to increase HD Radio power “asymmetrically”? If it does, as many observers expect, the change would come at what could be an important juncture for U.S. digital radio. In a separate but related development, iBiquity Digital, Intel, Emmis Communications and BIA/Kelsey, backed by NAB funding, have collaborated on a prototype cellphone with an enabled FM HD Radio chip. It will be demoed at the NAB Show. . . http://www.radioworld.com/article/fm-hds-push-%E2%80%98uneven%E2%80%99-digital-power-hike/213049 (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Hi Kevin, Am I reading this right? If I am, the radio industry basically says that if the industry says a rule doesn't apply to it because it's common industry practice to skirt the interference rules, that more interference should be allowed. And who determines what's acceptable interference anyway? The industry? If I would otherwise have the ability to hear an adjacent signal except for interference from HD, the language and methodology used to justify it shouldn't matter; it's still interference. A station on 94.7, for example, should only be allowed to operate on 94.7, not on adjacent channels. Anything else constitutes potential interference to other stations. If I occupy a house on 601 Main Street, I'm not allowed to extend my property to 603 Main Street either because no one is living there or because in my opinion I can make better use of 603 Main Street than another occupant. Why can't this same common-sense approach be applied to radio? I know, because the folks with the bucks spin it the way they want to, and the FCC only listens to the industry, (as if the industry is the only entity that pays tax dollars.) At this point, changing the rules to create more interference still won't make the public care about this flawed system; it'll just make the system more flawed. Sorry for the rant, Kevin, but this just drives me nuts. I get 22 FM HD stations, but 64 other frequencies are jammed, even though very few people listen to the technology that produces the jamming interference. Unlike the situation when HD was developed, broadcasters can now provide as many channels as they want online or via mobile apps; they don't need any more spectrum than they were originally given before the HD scheme was implemented. And how inefficient is this? An HD receiver for mobile phones? Forget the receiver and the chip; Folks can hear the HD station online on mobile phones with more reliability anyway. All of this is a solution for a problem that never existed. – (Rick Lewis, ibid.) Some of us were fighting this battle ten years ago. Industry pressure swayed a corrupt FCC to allow the adjacent channel interference. Now we are stuck with it. Prominent radio station engineers gave away our right to clean adjacents by pushing the idea that it was never the intention of the FCC to guarantee access to first adjacents (Bruce Carter, TX, ibid.) You can see all the documents on 99-325 for digital IBOC and my name is all over it with many letters against. All the work was useless. (Kevin Redding, Crump, TN, ibid.) FM HDs Push `Uneven` Digital Power Hike, one side higher and one side lower [same article as above] http://www.radioworld.com/article/fm-hds-push-%E2%80%98uneven%E2%80%99-digital-power-hike/213049 (via Mike Bugaj, CT, 25 April, WTFDA via DXLD) Why don't go even further and have 2 or 3 sidebands on both sides and ruin 0.8+ MHz of spectrum (he says sarcastically). Has anyone ever told them they should have ** 0 ** sidebands, since their channel is only 0.2 MHz wide!! wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) Just like the original IBOC concept, this is a solution in search of a problem. Why? Because terrestrial radio's ills aren't issues of coverage nor digital vs. analog. Terrestrial radio as we have known it has problems of pursuing programming options which are ratings-driven, and which encourage stations to rework the same formats and rotate them within a market. Less mass-popular formats haven't emerged on the additional channels of commercial FM's - instead they replicate existing formats in the market or rebroadcast other stations - AM or FM - in the market. It doesn't make sense to continue tinkering with "new science" engineering solutions which don't address that issue, which exchange one coverage problem for another, and which in the big picture still fail to be able to compete with internet-based content and/or personal devices which are programmed by the user - such as mp3 players and other technologies. Terrestrial radio seems to be trying to fix the leak in the boat by rotating the boat as fast as possible (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, 15 mi NW of Philadelphia, ibid.) Does anyone listen to HD Radio? Does anyone not on this list even know what it is? (Rick Shaftan, NJ, ibid.) NPR fans like me know about it. Of course, NPR stations are usually the only ones doing anything interesting with IBOC. - (Trip Ericson, http://www.rabbitears.info ibid.) I listen to HD radio; here in NYC there are a few subchannels worth listening to, mostly on the public radio side of things. WBGO has a continuous jazz stream on HD-2, which is nice to turn to during pitch times. WKCR has WWFM on HD-2 so it's nice to have an extra classical. There are a few other interesting bits here and there --- Caribbean Gospel, and and South Asian. But I have never met anyone outside of a radio hobbyist who knows or owns an HD radio (David Goren, ibid.) Exactly. Some others do know about it, but none buy it. If it were standard in cars, it would be different (Rick Shaftan, ibid.) If it were standard in cars, the HD-2 and HD-3 dropouts were drive people crazy rather quickly (at least in most areas). wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) So true (Rick Shaftan, Mountaintop Media, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See CHILE; ERITREA; INDIA; NEW ZEALAND; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NIGERIA; RUSSIA; UKRAINE; R.E.F: INDIA RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ AN IN-DEPTH LOOK AT WORLDWIDE HF RADARS Wolfgang Hadel, DK2OM, has made available a report documenting High Frequency Over The Horizon Radar Systems used around the world. Included are Ionosphere and Troposphere Diagnostic Radars as well as Ocean Wave and Coastal Radars. All of these radiating devices can interfere with amateur radio and shortwave listening. Also included are explanations of how some of these systems work. There are photographs, maps and other technical details. The 36 page (9.5 MB) report is free. (Tip from Amateur Radio Newsline.) http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/radar-2012.pdf (CGC Communicator April 23 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) EXCELLENT TOWER TUTORIAL In March 2011, WEAU-TV's 2000 foot tower in Eau Claire, Wisconsin collapsed during a winter storm. The station's news and engineering departments then produced an outstanding TV news documentary covering the reconstruction efforts. This is one of those "must see" videos. It's long, but it is fascinating from both engineering and management perspectives. The video shows everything that happened from the Stainless factory floor, through hot dip galvanizing, through tower erection to the ERI UHF-TV antenna that crowned the new structure. http://tinyurl.com/WEAU-Tower-Reconstruction (CGC Communicator April 23 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) COST TO RUN 100 KW? Going back about 40 years plus, a lot of MW stations shut down in the evening as their signals were distorted by the darkness and no doubt to save money. This suited an apparent loony like me who searched for MW stations on the other side of the Atlantic hi! I wonder what it costs to run 100 kW+ these days on MW? Best wishes (Barry : -) (Carlisle UK, PERSEUS, 3.7m x 10m Flag + FLG100 amp) Davies, 23 March, MWCircle yg via DXLD) The power would be about 8 pence per kWh. A 100 kW transmitter probably consumes about 1.3 million kWh in a year costing around £100,000. (Or about £12/hour). Double that for depreciation on equipment, add in rent and other site costs and so on... 73 (Steve Whitt, ibid.) 36 MULTIPLE-USER SDRs German ham Toni Umlandt, DD3EO mentioned another resource in response to our mention in last week's bulletin ARLP015 of a public remotely controlled SDR radio receiver in Walla Walla, Washington that anyone can use via the internet. He said to check http://www.websdr.org/ This lists 36 SDR receivers, and I think all of them can be used simultaneously by multiple users. (Propagation Forecast Bulletin 16 ARLP016 From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA April 20, 2012, To all radio amateurs, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ALL INDIA RADIO CHOOSES LBA GROUP ANTENNA TUNING UNITS IN MASSIVE 5- YEAR DIGITAL UPGRADE ---- Greenville, NC (PRWEB) April 24, 2012 LBA Group Inc. has shipped to the Republic of India six custom- engineered antenna tuning units, the first shipment in a five-year project to digitally upgrade All India Radio facilities across the subcontinent. All India Radio (AIR) is the official broadcast department of the Indian government. Working through project partner Arraycom, Ltd., LBA Group was designated preferred supplier for the AIR transmission system overhaul. The upgrade will include converting all AIR broadcast facilities, AM/FM radio, shortwave, and television systems to handle digital transmission of program material. Arraycom is a 20-year-old, privately held Indian company, and a leading manufacturer in India of semiconductor components and materials. Two Arraycom executives traveled to LBA’s Greenville headquarters to meet LBA executives and engineers and plan future shipments. They watched as the first six DRM digital-ready, 20-kilowatt, medium- wave tuning units left the fabrication center. K.G. Vyas, the company’s lead technical representative in the field, said he was “impressed with the measured performance of the systems.” He said the initial batch of units was to be operational by July. Also visiting Greenville was Arraycom Vice President Nitin R. Deodhar. Following discussions with LBA CEO Lawrence Behr, President Jerry Brown, and other project engineers, Deodhar expressed delight “with the depth of experience and knowledge of the LBA Group.” Brown began talking to Arraycom executives three years ago about LBA supplying the special-engineered units for the upgrade. “We’ve enjoyed working with Arraycom on these initial units and look forward to helping it meet the future digital needs of All India Radio,” he said. A common practice in India is for multiple medium-wave services to share one site, imposing difficult requirements on antenna tuning systems. The LBA antenna tuning units are fitted with high performance, specialized filters to permit simultaneous operation with nearby transmission towers. LBA tower systems have been shipped to sites on continents around the world, as well as across the U.S. The company has a pervasive presence in the broadcast industry of Mexico. About LBA Group, Inc. LBA Group, Inc., has more than 45 years experience in providing support for infrastructure assets of the wireless telecommunications industry. It is comprised of LBA Technology, Inc., a leading manufacturer and integrator of radio frequency systems, components and test equipment for broadcast, industrial and government users worldwide, and engineering consultancy Lawrence Behr Associates, Inc. The companies are based in Greenville, N.C. http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/4/prweb9430567.htm (via Alokesh Gupta, dx_India yg via DXLD) Is it just coincidence that the VOA plant is nearby? (gh, DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ MF PROPAGATION OVERVIEW Medium frequencies encompass 300 to 3000. The simplest way to look at medium frequencies with respect to propagation issues from a layman's point of view, is to accept the fact propagation is poor the majority of the time. (See definition #6. Electron Gyro Frequency Absorption), especially past approximately 1250 miles (one refraction off of the E-layer), with occasional short-lived good periods as far as 3200 miles. Medium frequency radio waves possess elliptical polarization, with the signal splitting into ordinary and extra-ordinary rays. These rays can propagate in or out of phase, mainly out of phase. The out of phase extra-ordinary ray represents a 50% power loss on the receive end of a path. b.) Why? D-layer absorption! At daytime the D-layer, which is at an approximate height of 30-60 miles in the mesosphere, totally absorbs medium frequency RF signals most of the time. **I say most of the time because at high latitudes, during the winter season and especially at the low part of a sunspot cycle, daytime penetration of RF signals through the weakened D-layer and then refraction via the E-layer does occur.** Another issue is the fact that the D-layer does not totally disappear at night. Many books that deal with wave propagation erroneously state that the D and E-layers disappear after sunset, totally incorrect thanks to Galactic X-Rays and Cosmic Rays. c.) Background electromagnetic radiation in the 1 to 10 Angstrom range (Hard X-Rays) is the main source of ionization of the day time D- layer, with our Sun as the source of Cosmic Rays, also playing a role. The following paragraph was contributed by Carl Luetzelschwab K9LA. A couple years ago I was playing with Proplab Pro on a one-hop 936 km path on 160m during daylight. I plotted absorption versus sunspot number. I expected a nice monotonic increase as the sunspot number increased. But the plot showed that absorption started at about 60 dB at zero sunspots and was constant out to a sunspot number of about 50. Then it started climbing, reaching 100 dB at a sunspot number of 150. This suggested that there was something other than hard x-rays and cosmic rays as the source of daytime D region absorption. So I dug into Davies 1990 (page 61), Hunsucker and Hargreaves (page 31), and Brekke (page 233). They all seem to point to the Lyman-alpha line of the solar spectrum at 1215 Angstroms ionizing NO as the main source of the quiet daytime D region. So in terms of my absorption versus sunspot number plot, the flat portion up to a sunspot number of 50 is probably due to the Lyman-alpha line ionizing NO. Then above a sunspot number of 50 the hard x-rays start contributing as the Sun becomes more active (via MV-eko 19 March via DXLD) This was merely a citation within a much longer article in Swedish (gh, DXLD) GEOMAGNETIC SUMMARY MARCH 1 2012 THROUGH MARCH 31 2012 Tabulated from email status daily. Flux A K Space Wx 1 103 14 4 no storms 2 108 10 2 minor 3 116 8 2 no storms 4 120 12 2 minor 5 132 8 3 strong 6 138 8 2 minor 7 136 44 3 strong G2/S3* 8 140 24 4 strong G1/S3* 9 146 68 2 strong G3/S3* 10 149 18 3 moderate G1/S2 11 131 8 3 moderate S2* 12 115 28 3 moderate G2/S1 13 141 10 2 moderate S2* 14 119 8 2 moderate S2* 15 111 30 4 moderate G2/S1 16 99 20 3 no storms 17 102 20 4 minor 18 102 10 2 no storms 19 102 10 2 no storms 20 100 4 2 no storms 21 100 4 1 no storms 22 102 6 3 no storms 23 105 6 1 minor 24 103 10 2 no storms 25 101 4 0 no storms 26 102 4 1 no storms 27 106 12 4 no storms 28 107 12 1 no storms 29 112 4 2 no storms 30 111 6 1 no storms 31 110 4 1 no storms * Geo storm (G)/Rad Storm (S) The super special auroral conditions (3/7-3/15), which allowed many DXers to hear Latin American stations on frequencies usually dominated by domestics, were caused by exceptional solar activity. Things appear to have returned to “normal” now (IRCA DX Monitor April 28 via DXLD) SOLAR CYCLE 24 PROGRESS --- K9LA's report: Monday, April 16 gave us moderate solar activity, which was due to an M1.7 X-ray flare from Region 1458 around 1745 UTC. But since then, solar activity has continued at low levels. The daily 10.7 cm solar flux is expected to slightly increase to around 120 during the next several days. There is an extremely small chance of X-Class flares (1%) and a somewhat greater chance of M-Class flares (around 15%). With solar activity continuing at low levels, the ascent of Cycle 24 noticeably slowed in the past couple months. For example, after a monthly mean 10.7 cm solar flux peak in November 2011 of 153, the next three months saw ever-decreasing monthly means -- 141, 133, and 107 for December, January, and February, respectively. March (last month) recovered a bit with a monthly mean of 115, but April so far appears to be headed for another low monthly mean (through April 18, the 10.7 cm solar flux monthly mean is hovering around 102). As a side note, these up-and-downs in the monthly mean solar flux are typical of a solar cycle. But these recent low monthly means have taken their toll on the smoothed 10.7 cm solar flux. Since early 2009, the smoothed 10.7 cm solar flux rose nicely. The recent low monthly means have resulted in the smoothed value pretty much leveling off in the past two months at around 118. This smoothed value is borderline for good worldwide 10-Meter openings (especially East-West), so 10-Meters will be at the mercy of the day-to-day variation of the F2 region. Does this mean we've reached Cycle 24's peak? Not necessarily -- other Cycles have had similar slow-downs, but then the solar activity picked up again in terms of the monthly means to continue the increase of the smoothed value. The monthly means during the next several months will be interesting to observe, and may give us an early clue as to how high Cycle 24 will ultimately go. Regardless of what happens with Cycle 24, the time is now to get on the higher bands (especially 12-Meters and 10-Meters) to take advantage of F2 region propagation. If Cycle 24 performs to the nominal prediction from the Marshall Space Flight Center http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/predict.shtml we're pretty much there -- and we're not likely to have much mid latitude 50 MHz F2 propagation during this solar cycle (but watch for sporadic E links to the equatorial ionosphere for Trans-Equatorial Propagation). If Cycle 24 performs more to the nominal prediction of the International Space Environment Service http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/ then we should have somewhat better propagation on the higher bands in the next year or so (QST de W1AW (Propagation Forecast Bulletin 16 ARLP016, From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA April 20, 2012, To all radio amateurs, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) SOLAR-ACTIVITY FORECAST FOR THE PERIOD APR 20 - 26, 2012 Activity level: predominantly low Radio flux (10.7 cm): a fluctuation in the range 95-135 f.u. Flares: weak (1-15/day), middle (0-3/period) Relative sunspot number: in the range 70-130 Astronomical Institute, Solar Dept., Ondrejov, Czech Republic e-mail: sunwatch(at)asu.cas.cz (RWC Prague via Dario Monferini, April 19, DXLD) P.I.G. BULLETIN 120422 Solar and flare activity will be low to moderate. Solar radio flux (10.7 cm) is expected 130 - 160 f.u. Geomagnetic field will be: Mostly quiet on April May 3 Quiet to unsettled on April 25 - 27, May 6 - 7 Mostly unsettled on April 22, 28 - 30, May 1 - 2, 4 - 5 Unsettled to active on April 23 - 24, May 8 - 9 High probability of changes in solar wind which may cause changes in magnetosphere and ionosphere is expected on April 23 - 24, May 8 - 9 Petr Kolman, OK1MGW, Czech Propagation Interest Group (OK1HH & OK1MGW) e-mail: kolmanp(at)razdva.cz (via Dario Monferini, DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity was mostly quiet, with brief intermittent periods of unsettled and active levels on several days due to nighttime effects and southward Bz. A solar sector boundary crossing was observed on 20 April, and a weak glancing blow CME occurred on 21 April, again producing unsettled to active periods briefly. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 23 APRIL - 19 MAY 2012 Solar activity is expected to be at very low to low levels with the slight chance for M-class flares during the period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal to moderate levels from the beginning of the period on 23 April, and persist through 10 May. Flux values are forecast to increase to high levels from 11-14 May due to a coronal hole (CH) high speed stream. From 15 May through the end of the period on the 19th, values are expected to return to moderate or lower levels. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to begin the period at unsettled and active levels, as the result of a few weak CMEs along with effects from a negative polarity CH. Conditions should settle to mostly quiet levels from 26 April through 08 May, before increasing to active levels with the chance for a minor storm on 09-11 May. Mostly active conditions are expected 14-15 May. The increases in activity are expected from a pair of negative polarity coronal holes. Mostly quiet levels are expected in between the two features on 12 and 13 May, and again from 16-19 May to close out the period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2012 Apr 23 1405 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 2012-04-23 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2012 Apr 23 145 10 4 2012 Apr 24 145 10 4 2012 Apr 25 140 7 2 2012 Apr 26 130 5 2 2012 Apr 27 125 5 2 2012 Apr 28 120 5 2 2012 Apr 29 115 5 2 2012 Apr 30 110 5 2 2012 May 01 105 5 2 2012 May 02 105 5 2 2012 May 03 105 5 2 2012 May 04 105 5 2 2012 May 05 110 5 2 2012 May 06 110 5 2 2012 May 07 115 5 2 2012 May 08 115 5 2 2012 May 09 120 15 5 2012 May 10 130 15 5 2012 May 11 130 8 4 2012 May 12 130 5 2 2012 May 13 135 5 2 2012 May 14 140 8 3 2012 May 15 140 8 3 2012 May 16 140 5 2 2012 May 17 140 5 2 2012 May 18 135 5 2 2012 May 19 135 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1614, DXLD) NZ4O MF/HF/6M RADIOWAVE PROPAGATION FORECAST #2012-18 The NZ4O MF/HF/6M (600-6 Meters) Radiowave Propagation Forecast #2012- 18 has been published at 0000 UTC on Friday April 27, 2012, valid 0000 UTC Saturday April 28, 2012 through 2359 UTC Friday May 04, 2012. This condensed forecast can also be found on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/SolarCycle24org/139198369462931 The complete MF/HF/6M forecast can be found at http://www.solarcycle24.org and http://www.wcflunatall.com/propagation.htm Note! This forecast is based upon quiet solar, space and geomagnetic weather conditions. Geomagnetic storming Kp-5> and energetic proton storms >10 MeV (10+0) can at times render the forecast temporarily inaccurate. FORECASTED NORTHERN HEMISPHERE GLOBAL HF CONDITIONS- Low Latitude- Normal Mid Latitude- Normal High Latitude- Normal FORECASTED SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE GLOBAL HF CONDITIONS- Low Latitude- Normal Mid Latitude- Normal High Latitude- Normal NORTHERN HEMISPHERE 80, 60, 40, 30 METERS- East -> West To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good West -> East To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good North -> South To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good South -> North To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 80, 60, 40, 30 METERS- East -> West To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good West -> East To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good South -> North To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good North -> South To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good NORTHERN HEMISPHERE 20, 17, 15 METERS- East -> West To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good West -> East To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good North -> South To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good South -> North To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 20, 17, 15 METERS- East -> West To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good West -> East To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good South -> North To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good North -> South To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good NORTHERN HEMISPHERE 12, 10 METERS- East -> West To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good West -> East To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good North -> South To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good South -> North To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Fair To Good SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE 12, 10 METERS- East -> West To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good West -> East To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good South -> North To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good North -> South To 2000 Mi/3200 km- Good HF Propagation Forecast Scale- Excellent S9+1 Or Better Good S7-S9 Fair S4-S6 Poor S1-S3 None S0 From the Northern Hemisphere- (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross Equatorial HF propagation conditions greater than 2000 mi/3200 km will be FAIR TO GOOD on 80, 60, 40 and 30 meters, FAIR TO GOOD on 20, 17, 15 and FAIR on 12 and 10 meters. From the Southern Hemisphere- (TA) Trans Atlantic, (TI) Trans Indian, (TP) Trans Pacific and cross Equatorial HF propagation conditions greater than 2000 mi/3200 km will be GOOD on 80, 60, 40 and 30 meters, GOOD on 20, 17, 15 and GOOD on 12 and 10 meters. GLOBAL 50-54 MC (6 Meters) PROPAGATION MODES EXPECTED FORECAST- F2- None Sporadic E (Es)- Yes Aurora E High Latitude- Yes Aurora E Mid Latitude- No Troposphere Ducting- Yes Trans Equatorial (TE) F2/F3- Yes Meteor Scatter- No, excluding random meteors, lightning bolt plasma channels, space junk and alien spacecraft Meter Band Equivalents Ham SWL 160 90 80 75 60 60 40 49, 41 30 31, 25 20 22, 19 17 16, 15 15 13 12, 10 11 Standard Disclaimer- Note! I use error prone RAW public domain data from the NOAA Space Environment Center, as well as other U.S. government organizations, to produce my propagation forecasts. This data is gathered and made public by the U.S. Government using taxpayer $$$. However the propagation forecast that I produce from the RAW public domain data is my personal intellectual property. Therefore this propagation forecast contained herein is copyrighted © 1988-2012 by Thomas F. Giella, NZ4O. Reproduction of and distribution of the propagation forecast herein is allowed without advanced permission as long as proper credit is given. Also space weather forecasting is still an inexact science. The forecasts are not official but for hobby related purposes only and are subject to human error and acts of God, therefore no guarantee or warranty implied. 73 & GUD DX, Thomas F. Giella, NZ4O, Lakeland, FL, USA thomasfgiella @ tampabay.rr.com NZ4O MF/HF/6M (600-6 Meters) Radiowave Propagation Forecast: http://www.solarcycle24.org NZ4O Solar Space Weather & Geomagnetic Data Archive: http://www.wcflunatall.com/nz4o1.htm NZ4O Solar Space Weather & Geomagnetic Data Dashboard: http://www.wcflunatall.com/nz4o2.htm NZ4O Solar Cycle 24 Forecast Discussion & Archive: http://www.wcflunatall.com/nz4o4.htm NZ4O 160 Meter (MF) Radio Propagation Theory Notes: http://www.wcflunatall.com/nz4o5.htm NZ4O Solar Space Weather & Geomagnetic Raw Forecast Data Links: http://www.wcflunatall.com/nz4o6.htm (Giella for dxldyg April 26, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CELESTIAL LIGHTS is a new HD video starring the magnificent aurora borealis: http://vimeo.com/40555466 (CGC Communicator April 23 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) SECRETS OF THE SUN, ON NOVA Having managed to miss all the playbacks of this week`s Nova on OETA, I am forced to watch it online, and you may want to too: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/space/secrets-sun.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###