DX LISTENING DIGEST 18-06, February 6, 2018 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 2018 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html [also linx to previous years] 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 1916 contents: Armenia, Australia, Bonaire, Bougainville, Bouvet, Brasil, China and non, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia and non, France, India, Indonesia, Korea North, Korea South, Kurdistan non, New Zealand, Nigeria non, Papua New Guinea, South Carolina non, Taiwan, UK, USA, Vatican non, Zambia, Zimbabwe non; and the propagation outlook. Ready for first broadcasts Feb 7: SHORTWAVE AIRINGS of WORLD OF RADIO 1916, February 6-13, 2018 Tue 2030 WRMI 9455 7780 [1915 replayed] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 [1915 replayed] Wed 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [1915 replayed? inaudible] Wed 1030 WRMI 9455 Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v [confirmed start but then dead air] Thu 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [Brother Scare instead] Thu 2230 WRMI 5850 [confirmed] Fri 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [confirmed] Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not audible, off? transmitter may be down indefinitely] Sat 0730 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [Bulgaria confirmed] Sat 1531 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [England confirmed] Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [not on air] Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 [confirmed] Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 [confirmed] Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM [confirmed from 0421] Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [Bulgaria confirmed] Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v-AM Area 51 Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 9455 Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 Tue 2030 WRMI 9455, 7780 [or #1917?] 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 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: Tnx to Dr Harald Gabler and the Rhein-Main Radio Club. http://www.rmrc.de/index.php/rmrc-audio-plattform/podcast/glenn-hauser-wor ALTERNATIVE PODCASTS, tnx Stephen Cooper: http://shortwave.am/wor.xml ANOTHER PODCAST ALTERNATIVE, tnx to Keith Weston: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GlennHausersWorldOfRadio NOW tnx to Keith Weston, also Podcasts via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/glenn-hausers-world-of-radio/id1123369861 AND via Google Play Music: http://bit.ly/worldofradio 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 IMPORTANT NOTICE!!!! WOR IO GROUP: Effective Feb 4, 2018, DXLD yg archive and members have been migrated to this group: https://groups.io/g/WOR [there was already an unrelated group at io named dxld!, so new name] From now on, the io group is primary, where all posts should go. One may apply for membership, subscribe via the above site. DXLD YAHOOGROUP: remains in existence, and members are free to COPY same info to it, as backup, but no posts should go to it only. They may want to change delivery settings to no e-mail, and/or no digest. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ The change was necessary due to increasing outages, long delays in posts appearing, and search failures at the yg. Why wait for DXLD issues? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our io group without delay. ** ALASKA. 6110, KNLS religious broadcast, January 30, 2018, 1544–1555 in Russian. SIO 555. OM anchor, slight, shallow QSB, otherwise a strong, clear signal. Pop music in English with M vocals. Listed language is Mandarin, but this broadcast is in Russian. ID at 1550, followed by contact information. More pop music, F vocalist (Vince Henley, Anacortes, WA, U. S. A. Equipment in use: WiNRADiO G39DDCe SDR, ICOM IC-R8600, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R8B, TECSUN PL-380, TECSUN PL-660, TECSUN PL-880. Antennas: whips on PL-380, PL-660, PL-880 and Alpha-Delta DX-Ultra installed broadside east west at 30 feet, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) ** ALGERIA. Hello, Following last email about the languages of RADIO ALGERIAN: The national stations are differentiated by the language in which they are broadcast. Chaîne 1 is mainly in Arabic, Chaîne 2 is mainly in Berber languages (TAMAZIGHT), and Chaîne 3 is mainly in French. The local stations are mostly in Arabic (with some French), but there are stations with a significant proportion of programming in Algeria's various local Berber (TAMAZIGHT) dialects. These include Radio Soummam, Radio Batna, Radio Bouira, Radio Ouargla, Radio Adrar, Radio Ghardaïa, Radio Illizi, and Radio Tamanrasset. Best regards, FERHANE Amine, Feb 5, DX LISTENNG DIGEST) ** ALGERIA [non]. FRANCE, Telediffusion d'Algerie with Holy Qur`an Service via TDF Issoudun Feb 2-3, no more French & National Chaîne 1 2100-2159 on 5905 ISS 500 kW / 194 deg to NWAf Arabic 2100-2159 on 5940 ISS 500 kW / 160 deg to CEAf Arabic 0600-0659 on 6105 ISS 500 kW / 198 deg to NWAf Arabic Updated winter B-17 of TDA Telediffusion d'Algerie via TDF Issoudun can be found here http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/10/telediffusion-dalgerie.html http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/telediffusion-dalgerie-only-with-holy.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 2-3, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.: Tuesday, October 31, 2017 [original date, but have been changed] Telediffusion d'Algerie FRANCE, Winter B17 of Telediffusion d'Algerie via TDF Issoudun 0400-0459 on 6060 ISS 500 kW / 160 deg to CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px 0500-0559 on 6060 ISS 500 kW / 160 deg to CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px 0500-0559 on 6105 ISS 500 kW / 198 deg to NWAf Arabic Holy Quran px 0600-0659 on 6105 ISS 500 kW / 198 deg to NWAf Arabic Holy Quran px 1800-1859 on 7375 ISS 500 kW / 155 deg to CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px 1900-1959 on 5905 ISS 500 kW / 194 deg to NWAf Arabic Holy Quran px 1900-1959 on 7375 ISS 500 kW / 155 deg to CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px 2000-2059 on 5905 ISS 500 kW / 194 deg to NWAf Arabic Holy Quran px 2000-2059 on 5940 ISS 500 kW / 160 deg to CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px 2100-2159 on 5905 ISS 500 kW / 194 deg to NWAf Arabic Holy Quran px 2100-2159 on 5940 ISS 500 kW / 160 deg to CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px 2200-2259 on 5905 ISS 500 kW / 194 deg to NWAf Arabic Holy Quran px (via DXLD) ** ANGUILLA. 6090, Caribbean Beacon, "unidentified woman" talking about sin, 1/24 at 0227 (Vitali, MI, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) Mike says 'it didn't sound like Barbi' but I've never heard any other female preacher on University Network. Maybe just an OLD tape of her? --kvz (Kenneth Vito Zichi, ed., ibid.) 11775, University Network; 1556-1600+, 1/29; Robustly Bountiful Rev. Barbie Regaling Bible Revelations & Boldly Requesting Bepewing Reservations; “Get on the phone” spot to ToH into Dead Dr. Gene Doggedly Delivering Gospel Despite (being) Definitely Gone. S9+ Not on next 3 days (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, - ---- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Be-pewing --- I added a hyphen to your made-up word -- I was scratching my head on that one a lot, but I do like it! ;) –kvz (Kenneth Vito Zichi, ed., MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) Like be-seating, except on pews? (gh, DXLD) 6090, Feb 3 at 0143, no signal from CB; and I believe 11775 was not heard either during random daytime chex Feb 2. 11775, Feb 4 at 1355, PMS is on again. 6090 was not to be heard the night before. 6090, Feb 5 at 0446 check, DGS is on again. 6090, Feb 6 at 0724, TUN/DGS/PMS/CB is off again. Also at 0358 Feb 7, audiblizing ETHIOPIA, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11775, ANGUILLA (reported by others via this site) The Caribbean Beacon at 1855, Religious lecture with PMS. So, the on-again-off-again Caribbean Beacon is on today. Signal Fair to Good, with a lot of noise on the channel. Feb. 4 (Rick Barton, AZ, Unless otherwise stated, all with 750 Satellit, "Trans Oceanic" Royal R-7000, HQ-200, and my RS SW- 2000629. Antennas - various outdoor wires and the 9' "tomato stake" vertical, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6090, University Network at 2206 with the still very dead Dr. Gene Scott preaching – Very Good Feb 4 11775, University Network at 1902 with upbeat pop and country Christian vocals – Good Feb 4 – It has been confirmed by WWCR, as reported by Glenn Hauser, that this is indeed via Anguilla, as is the 6090 frequency, and that programs are being aired as storm recovery conditions on the island allow. Until the infrastructure has been restored their schedule will be sporadic at best (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) [non]. 4840, USA. WWCR – Nashville, 2/4, 1025 [sic]. Discussion of Caribbean Beacon and attempts to get back on air. Apparently, a rebroadcast of 1/25 show. ID 1100 by female. Good to excellent (George Herr, CA, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) So what exactly did they say about the Beacon?? What show is this? 4840 is not a WWCR frequency carrying the so-called University Network. Scheduled Sundays at 1000-1030 on 4840 is ``A Call To Worship with Bernie Timmerman``. I would have suspected `Ask WWCR` but that is supposedly not until 1045-1100. Next time mentioned is 1100, so maybe first time supposed to be 1052? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. X-BAND REPORT === Updated X-Band listing from Marcello A. Cornachioni in Buenos Aires: 1610, Radio Santa Fe-(FM tuning) (Canning, BA) 1610, Radio Comunitaria Regionale (Laboulaye, Córdoba) 1620, AM 16-20 la radio (Mar del Plata, BA) 1620, Radio Vita “Rete di vita” (Monte Grande, BA) 1620, Radio Sentires (Parco San Martino, BA) 1620, Radio Italia (Villa Martelli, BA) 1630, Radio Unità (Alejandro Korn, BA) [inactive] 1630, LRI234 AM America (San Giuseppe) 1630, AM restauro (William C. Morris, BA) 1640, Radio Osanna (Isidro Casanova, BA) 1650, Radio le Stelle (Longchamps, BA) 1650, LRI227 Antares AM 1650 (Pilastro, BA) [inactive] 1650, Radio Il Messaggero (Raffaello Castello, BA) 1660, Radio Rivivere (Gregorio di Laferrere, BA) 1660, LRI232 AM Città di Nogoyá (Nogoyá) 1670, Radio Bethel (Banfield Ovest, BA) 1690, RADIO CLS-(Cristo la Solucion)-(San Giusto, BA) [inactive] 1700, LRI236 Radio Fantastico (Tigre, BA) [inactive] 1710, AM Selva (Gonzalez Catan, BA) (Play-DX Italy via WRTH Fb 1/18) 1610, Radio Santa Fe, Canning (BA261) – ex 1680 (Argentina en AM y FM) 1650, Radio Las Estrellas, Longchamps (BA239) – ex Radio20 de Agosto. Calle Carlos Diehl Nr 2196, Longchamps, Buenos Aires. Web: http://radiolasestrellas.com.ar Email: radio@radiolasestrellas.com.ar (Argentina en AM y FM via ARC) (via Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) Here`s a more authentic version without spurious machine translations of names to Italian! (gh) ESCUCHAS DESDE AMERICA --- Nómina actualizada de estaciones de Amplitud Modulada de todo el país, que se encontraban operando en Banda Ampliada: 1610, RADIO SANTA FE -(FM SINTONIA)- (Canning, BA) 1610, RADIO COMUNITARIA REGIONAL (Laboulaye, Córdoba) 1620, AM 16-20 LA RADIO (Mar del Plata, BA) 1620, RADIO VIDA "Red de Vida" (Monte Grande, BA) 1620, RADIO SENTIRES (Parque San Martín, BA) 1620, RADIO ITALIA (Villa Martelli, BA) 1630, RADIO UNIDAD (Alejandro Korn, BA) [*] 1630, LRI234 AM AMERICA (San José, Entre Ríos) 1630, AM RESTAURACIÓN (William C. Morris, BA) 1640, RADIO HOSANNA (Isidro Casanova, BA) 1650, RADIO LAS ESTRELLAS (Longchamps, BA) 1650, LRI227ANTARES AM 1650 (Pilar, BA) [*] 1650, RADIO EL MENSAJERO (Rafael Castillo, BA) 1660, RADIO REVIVIR (Gregorio de Laferrere, BA) 1660, LRI232 AM CIUDAD DE NOGOYA (Nogoyá, Entre Ríos) 1670, RADIO BETHEL (Banfield Oeste, BA) 1690, RADIO CLS -(Cristo la Solución)- (San Justo, BA) [*] 1700, LRI236 RADIO FANTASTICO (Tigre, BA) [*] 1710, AM SELVA (González Catán, BA) Nota: [*] Reportada inactiva (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Buenos Aires, Argentina) (tomada de Argentina en AM y FM via Feb Conexión Digital via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6973, PIRATE, Lupo R. Found with LA and Tango music again from 0223. 0231, 0234, 0244 same W announcer as heard before, but too weak to copy. Still going at 0246 tune-out. 30 Jan. Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Unfortunately, the short wave schedules published for RAE Buenos Aires never seemed to match the actual transmissions. So, I turned to the internet and tried to establish a schedule of their online stream. For many hours, http://vmf.edge-apps.net/embed/live.php?streamname=sc_rad35-100131&autoplay=true is silent except for time pips on the full or half hour. Yesterday and today I heard the following programmes: Tuesday [30 Jan] 1800: silence 1900: Italian 2000: French. 2030 Portuguese (half hour!) 2100: German (programme for 31 January 2018) 2200: Spanish (for 31 January 2018) (half hour!) 2230: multi-language ID 2235: silence Wednesday [31 Jan] 0500 0700 0830 0930: silence 1000: Chinese 1100: Japanese 1200: Portuguese (full hour!) 1300: Spanish (for 1 February 2018) (full hour!) 1400: silence Perhaps someone will like to cross-check the information and fill the gaps (Dr Hansjoerg Biener 1 February 2018, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA [non]. 9455 // 9955, Jan 31 at 1252, it seems that another RAE relay via WRMI is MIA: Portuguese at 12-13 M-F. Instead I am hearing praise music by YL in English, ``We will join the angels when they sing``; 1254 cut incomplete to another song by same. I think the RAE hours do run a bit short, like 55 minutes, so there could be some fill afterwards, but unlikely this early. Need to check what happen at 1200, a time I am rarely awake. Only tnx to the lunar eclipse am I up by now today. BTW, the just published WRTH Updater includes incorrect info for RAE/WRMI, including overlooking 9455 for this, if and when it exist: currently whatever is on 9955 between 12 and 15 is duplicated on 9455 (and also same pair at some other times as I have pointed out weeks ago). 9395, Jan 31 at 1945, WRMI with World Music yet again, instead of RAE relay in German; 7780 // 9455 with other music, presumably Oldies. 9395, Feb 1 at 0206 check, RAE Argentina-to-the-World confirmed in English news about Argentina, with music bed, S9 via WRMI. Glad this is propagating for a change. 9395, Feb 1 at 1917, no RAE but gospel music, // JBA 7780, and not // 9455. 9395 at 1959 past hourtop 2001 with song in Portuguese, while 9455 has started VORW. 9455, Friday February 2 at 0907 check, ``tango argentino`` and Japanese announcement, so confirmed is RAE relay via WRMI this hour only, this frequency only M-F; very good signal. Is there any news at the start? If so, must be brief. See USA: WRMI for Portuguese, German, Italian. 9395, Feb 5 at 1910 check, still music fill instead of RAE in German via WRMI; also circa 2045 check when RAE Italian is supposed to be on. Thus begins a *second month* of such non-broadcasts. Of course, instead of mis-programming, it`s conceivable that these languages have been canceled, and simply failed to be removed from the WRMI online schedules: http://www.tinyurl.com/WRMIfqs but they do also appear on the RAE German and Italian pages along with the rest of the languages ``effective January 8``: http://www.radionacional.com.ar/rae-aleman/ http://www.radionacional.com.ar/rae-italiano/ So it may be news to RAE that these broadcasts are going literally nowhere. Still AWOL Feb 6 at 1932 with Spanish song about dios as there is increasing praise music interspersed with `World Music`; and at 2034 the Portuguese fado (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. Reception of Trans World Radio India via Yerevan on Feb 1 1435-1450 9745 ERV 300 kW / 100 deg to SoAs English Mon-Fri, strong: Continues wrong frequency announcement A17 9410 kHz, instead of 9745 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-trans-world-radio-india.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 1-2, dxldyg via DXLD) Like I said, Jan 29 as in DXLD 18-05 (gh, DXLD) ** ARMENIA. Voice of Armenia & Dengê Welat via Yerevan, Feb 3: Voice of Armenia 1630-1700 on 4810 ERV 050 kW / non-dir to N/ME Yezidi, very good Dengê Welat [see also KURDISTAN [non]] from 1616 on 1395 ERV 500 kW / ??? deg to WeAs Kurdish, very good from 1616 on 7320 ERV 300 kW / 280 deg to WeAs Kurdish, very good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/very-good-signal-of-voice-of-armenia.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 3-4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. LOSS OF SERVICE BIG BLOW Centralian Advocate (Alice Springs, Australia) Friday, February 2, 2018, page 5 By Davie Lornie It's been a year since the ABC scrapped their shortwave radio service, but some rural Centralians still feel "abandoned" by the move, which has limited their access to emergency warnings. The short-wave service allowed bush residents to easily tune into ABC radio when they were on the move in rural areas. After nearly a century of service it was removed, and the funds saved from the cut were reinvested in digital radio. David Hewitt, who has worked in remote communities for five decades, said people in rural NT were still missing short-wave. "It's certainly been missed by a lot of people who depend on that medium for receiving weather information and road condition reports," he said. "It was used by people in stock camps and road construction camps, as well as tourists just travelling around." Mr Hewitt said the replacement digital service had been little use for bush residents. "It's not worked - they promised us a vast communications system, but this works through satellites and you had to have a fixed dish," he said. "For someone travelling around the bush or working on a tractor all day, that was useless." Mr Hewitt said he'd recently been driving through the country and had spent four days without a weather report in the middle of Wet season. "I saw the stormclouds coming in and knew ABC radio would be giving reports, but even though my car had a radio we just didn't know what was going on," he said (via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 5045, Ozy Radio at 1138 with pop songs, 1202-1207 mostly woman, some man speaking, heard “www” at 1206, followed by some Waltzing Matilda music, mention of Ozy Radio, back to music at 1208. - Poor, Feb. 6 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia. Listening in my car on a quiet country road. CommRadio CR-1a and Sony AN-1 active whip on car roof, WOR iog via DXLD) 5045, Ozy Radio, 1502, Feb 6. Best in LSB; start of the local Melbourne news; police charge two men, one 20 year old and also a 18 year old, in connection with an armed robbery at a local gun shop, etc.; at times was semi-readable; reception well above the norm (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 4KZ, 5055, confirmed first day reception (20 Dec 2017) from Bay of Islands NZ [SDR] with full data QSL card in 39 days. Verie signer was Al Kirton, GM (Bruce Churchill, CA, Feb 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4KZ's shortwave operation on 5055 kHz from Innisfail in North Queensland is heard here at poor to fair level in our local evening. General Manager Al Kirton has advised me today that he hopes "to be on 1 kW later in the week". Cheers, (Bryan Clark, New Zealand, Feb 4, WOR iog via DXLD) 5055, Radio 4KZ, 1350-1403*, Feb 5. Best in USB; pop songs (The Carpenters - "Top Of The World," etc.); 1400 start of the news; cut off before completed (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5055, Radio 4KZ presumed at various checks 1146-1210, could only discern music or talk, no specifics. - Very weak, Feb. 6 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia. Listening in my car on a quiet country road. CommRadio CR-1a and Sony AN-1 active whip on car roof, WOR iog via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Good signal of Reach Beyond Australia RBA on Jan 30-31: 1116-1131 on 15575 KNX 100 kW / 315 deg to SEAs English Mon-Wed/Fri 1245-1300 on 11865 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs English Daily 1315-1330 on 11865 KNX 100 kW / 320 deg to SoAs English Mon/Wed/Fri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/good-signal-of-reach-beyond-australia.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, January 30-31, dxldyg via DXLD) Strong signal of Reach Beyond Australia, Feb 4: 1300-1330 on 9610 KNX 100 kW / 305 deg to SoAs English Sun http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/strong-signal-of-reach-beyond-australia.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 4-5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BAHRAIN. 9745, 02.01.18 1533-1541, R. Bahrain, Aby Hayan, Arab Pop Songs, 24322 AN 9745, 27.01.18 1528-1548, R.Bahrain, Abu Hayan, Arab and Western Pop Songs. 33322 (Antonello Napolitano in Taranto (Italy). RX: ICOM IC R70, Sony ICF 2001, Elad FM1 (SDR), ANT: 10 metre outdoor wire. Tecsun AN-200 Medium Wave Tunable Loop antenna, Jan DX Fanzine, published Feb 1, via DXLD) [non]. 9745, Jan 31 at 1411, S Asian music, from TWR India via ARMENIA; not a hint of R. Bahrain, nor anywhen for me, supposedly on here 24h in CUSB. If you have only one SW frequency and one transmitter, better make it a good clear one. Too many stations have no clue about frequency management for their own benefit (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM. Just to update the information regarding Vivacité on AM 1125. Installation of DAB+ antennas are in process at present time on the tower. This is why the transmitter is off. For the time being, no plan to switch-off AM 1125 nor AM 621; at least until all south part of Belgium is well-covered by DAB+ signals (Denis via Mediumwave.Info via Feb MW News via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. 14180-USB, Feb 2 at 1457, looking for Bouvet, here is OT4A calling QRZ or CQ20, callsign always fonetik, and making very quick contacts with RS as if this is a DX contest; only additional info with every contact, mostly US stations, is ``name is T-H-E-O``. QRZ.com --: OT4A Belgium flag THEO BEMELMANS BETONWEG 56 3670 MEEUWEN-GRUITRODE Belgium And he`s a.k.a. ON4AEK. Apparently a lot of hams get secondary calls for DX/contest purposes with different prefices for the benefit of WPX hunters, even while operating from same home QTH. But don`t try to QSL him direct. Lots of photos of his antennas (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST){also, extra calls must be shorter, 4 characters max or even 3, to save precious microseconds in competition} ** BIAFRA [non]. WRMI (RAE) webcast, Feb 5 at 0515 is still carrying Radio Biafra, immediately recognizable at quick check as the YL is reciting their text number. Unfortunately, audio is distorted as it was earlier during WOR 9955, which signs off at 0500, and Biafra is not on any WRMI frequency now. Maybe it is still on 7240 via France, unchecked, as that appears in Ivo`s clandestine schedule dated Jan 29, but nowhere at 1900. If this be a feed to Issoudun, it too would come out distorted (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6024.96, Red Patria Nueva: From 1026 tune-in with M and W hosts with apparent “Bolivia Informa” news program. Many remote phoned-in reports. 1029-1035 ad/promo block including ID at 1032:25 several nice IDs in promo at 1033:10. Fortunately the Cuban jammer went off at this time. 6030 OC came on 1045 causing some QRM. Then someone on 6020 blasted it out at 1058. 30 Jan. Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard- Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** BONAIRE. 800, Radio Trans Mundial, Kralendijk. 0210 January 31, 2018. First evening after the new transmitter dedication ceremony. Spanish preacher and vocals, multiple IDs at 0252. Very good to sometimes excellent, even on the junk bedside portable. Oddly though, no trace of them 0925+ (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Frequencies in kc/s unless otherwise stated, Clearwater FL, IC-R75, NRD-535, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Assunto: 440 kW [sic] towards Brazil on power up tonight --- Rudolf, At the end of the dedication ceremony this afternoon, we will sign on at 440 kW on the South Pattern at 2130 UT. I am curious if anyone in Brazil hears us at that time tonight. Have you heard any reports of Uruguayan or Argentinean reception these days? Blessings, (Dave Pedersen, TWR, Jan 30, via Rudolf Grimm, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Caríssimos, Hoje a TWR 800 kHz Bonaire estará inaugurando o novo transmissor de ondas médias com 440 kW. Já tem sido feitos alguns testes e verificou-se nestes que o sinal chegou razoavelmente bem no sul do Brasil. Consequentemente existe uma expectativa de que também chegue bem em outras regiões e também em outros países sul-americanos. Vejam a nota abaixo, quando se divulga que após a cerimônia de dedicação (2130 UTC) estarão acionando o referido transmissor com a potência divulgada. Gustavo Guaita ouviu bem os sinais da TWR com a nova configuração cujo vídeo está em https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Un6K0LU-cHE&t=24s Hoje cedo, tivemos notícias que os sinais chegaram bem em receptor automotivo nas imediações da cidade de São Paulo. Também com um sinal muito bom novamente em Londrina com portáteis. Marcos Rodriguez (Argentina), você poderia checar o sinal no norte da Argentina? Também, você, Rodolfo Tizzi (no Uruguay), Hector Frias (no Chile), Cezar Dioses (no Peru), Rafael Rodriguez (na Colombia) e Rogildo Aragão (em Cochabamba, Bolivia)? Vocês podem repassar esta nota para colegas de seu país, por favor? Será uma noite memorável!!!!! Seria bastante oportuno divulgarmos alguns vídeos no YouTube sobre estas recepções. A potência do transmissor por certo nos reservará surpresas. 73, (Rudolf Grimm, ibid.) Rudolf, eu fiz uma tentativa de escuta nesta madrugada mas vai ser muito difícil; na nossa região domina a MEC Rio de Janeiro, mesmo assim fiquei posicionando minha antena de forma que anulasse a MEC, tinha uma emissora bem fraca que aparecia e desaparecia que tocava música clássica, tipo Orquestra Filarmônica, diferente da MEC Rio que tocava música popular brasileira. Quando foi por volta de 5 da madrugada ou 7 UT o sinal da emissora de música clássica ficou muito forte, passou uns 15 minutos e nada de identificação até que apareceu um locutor identificando MEC FM. Só isso, não deu frequência de FM, então tem 2 emissoras MEC atrapalhando o sinal da TWR, a MEC Rio, e essa outra MEC que de madrugada retransmite a MEC FM que não identificou o local, OK? 73's (Fran - São Paulo SP, Enviado do Yahoo Mail no Android, Feb 1, ibid.) Prezados Rudolf e Fran Jr: A segunda emissora em 800 kHz é a MEC de Brasília, que retransmite a MEC FM do Rio de Janeiro. Sou ouvinte assíduo dela, pelo alto nível da programação. Saudações, (Alexandre, ibid.) Fiquei ouvindo mais ou menos das 01:30 até 02:00 desta noite mas a FM MEC do R.Janeiro estava com sinal bem forte, chegando bem aqui em SP zona norte. (J.Carlos PY2-255SWL, Call Sign PU2OLT, RX Morphy Richards 27024, Avion DRM, RX/TX YAESU FT817D, RX/TX YAESU FT897D, Blog: http://qsldobrasil.blogspot.com ibid.) Essa MEC FM é de Brasilia. Opera em AM na mesma frequência que a do RJ. Eu consegui ouvir aqui na Bahia. Aqui em Itiruçu na noite desta quarta, também chegava as duas MECs, mas hoje as 5:20 da manhã chegou muito bem o sinal da Transmundial, desde Bonaire em 800 kHz. Vou gravar depois e postar aqui (Ed Santos, locutor, ibid.) Hola Rudolf, Saludos desde Colombia, acá en Bogotá la señal de TWR en 800 kHz siempre ha sido un reto por la presencia de Caracol Bogotá en 810 (60 kW, antes 100 kW), ademas de RCN Bucaramanga en 800 KHz y con 100 kW. Aunque tengo la seguridad que otros lugares de mi país la señal de TWR Bonaire debe estar llegando bien. Voy a probar en el horario luego de las 0500 UT que generalmente es cuando logra "colarse" hasta mis receptores. Te envío un "screen" de mi SDR en la sintonía de los 800 kHz, siendo las 0045 UT (Rafael Rodriguez R., ibid.) [and non]. 800, (PJB), Netherlands Antilles, 0025 01-Feb. Heard J Vernon McGee - Thru the Bible program over Windsor Spitfire Hockey game. At BoH OM IDed 800 Trans World Radio Bonaire. Using SDRPlay & PA0RDT heard in real time (--Vance, MI, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) Do they still use those call letters? (--kvz, ed, ibid.) Not only thru the bible, but thru CKLW there in Michigan! (gh, DXLD)) 800, Feb 1 at 0001 UT, I am looking for PJB via its new 450 kW transmitter at the hour it is supposed to switch beams toward Cuba. As always KQCV OKC dominates on groundwave, but when I null it, I again hear CKLW ``AM 800`` with C&F temps, EST timecheck in news. Slow SAH. But when I am avoiding CKLW, not nulling KQCV I am also getting a third station with choral hymn, but seems English, and definitely English follows. PJB was previously running English until 0030, but the WRTH Update shows until 0000. ID is now supposed to be ``Que Brille 800 AM Bonaire``, but I`ve seen no reports yet of anyone axually hearing that; why not keep the well-established name Radio Transmundial? They may well have been testing the 450 kW during the biweek before official inauguration evening of Jan 30. Nigel Pimblett in Dunmore, Alberta reported to IRCA earlier that UT day Jan 30: ``Good signal with "Radio Trans Mundial" ID at 0200 UT, so am guessing they're on with 450 kW power now.`` Jon Pearkins, IRCA DX Monitor via ARC said, ``The latest report on TWR’s web site, dated January 17th, indicates that the 9 person launch team was doing final testing last week. TWR web site graphics show a four tower array and a Figure 8 directional pattern with lobes NNW and SSE. The one to the North is directly at Florida and Cuba`` I assume NNW and North are rough approximations. On my globe I check out the real bearings more accurately: if it`s really NNW, 337.5 degrees, that would miss Cuba, to the east and hit North America at South Carolina, across to Wisconsin, Saskatchewan, northern Alberta, Yukon, northern Alaska. If they really are aiming at Cuba, a better azimuth would be about 320 degrees, right between Santiago and La Habana up the the length of the Antille, and this would also carry on thru LA, TX, just missing OK`s SW corner, but close enough to us. 315 would be exactly NW. Habana is about 1300 miles from Bonaire, which is a bit much for regular single-hop coverage, thus the brute force to compensate. Stgo. is only 800. Schedule here http://www.twrbonaire.com/broadcast_schedule/ shows English to Caribbean until 0030, then Spanish to the ``North``. I don`t find anything on that website about antenna details. FCC AM Query contains data as far away as Bonaire, where it`s listed at PJB3, but very old info when they were still 500 kW ND. Now the question is, whether part of the time for the Caribbean they still operate ND, just reversing the direxional during the hours in Portuguese for Brasil. I`m not really hot to hear PJB, as it wasn`t that hard with 100 kW, more interested in how much more damage it may cause now to North American stations. Replying to my previous report, I also got this Jan 30 from my successor as WTFDA Statistics editor: ``Hi Glenn, Would you believe a couple (Dave & Shirley Smith - long time friends from Syracuse NY years) are staying overnight at our house here in Moncks Corner SC. They just came back from Bonaire where Dave and others helped with the final electrical touches of TWR Bonaire upgrades - I'll give him a copy of your email report - Fred Nordquist`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CANADA Re: TWR Bonaire - New 800 AM Transmitter Launch --- I was trying the frequency this morning (JAN31) between 0600 – 0700 but heard nothing. Probably not in regular operation yet? Or was it too late because they switched off earlier? (Karel Honzík, Czechia, Jan 31, mwdx yg via DXLD) Hi Karel, They are using only 100 kW ND between 0500-0800. 440 kW is between 0000-0300, but it is towards Cuba, so quite a bit away from us. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid., WORLD OF RADIO 1916) Mauno, thank you very much (Karel, ibid.) I was hoping there would be some trans Pacific reception; it would have been interesting to see what effect they had on the occupiers of 801 kHz here in New Zealand. A heterodyne is audible most nights on 1180 kHz when Martí clashes with a station in Auckland on 1179 kHz (Paul, ibid.) This morning (FEB01) I was listening on a remote SDR in Florida and I heard a start of the TWR Portuguese program for Brazil at 0800. At the beginning there was a long list of stations in Brazil that relay TWR for their areas. The signal was quite weak in Florida but intelligible. Here in the middle of Europe I hear VOWR from Newfoundland on 800 kHz, no TWR from Bonaire (Karel Honzík, Czechia, mwcircle yg via DXLD) 800, Feb 3 at 0126 UT, nulling KQCV OKC from the SSE, I would normally hear CKLW, but even at that angle, Spanish is atop it, mentions La Habana and dios, so likely PJB. XEROK originally would be dominant, but has receded into QRP and hardly hear it any more --- maybe around sunrise. SAH of about 40/minute = 0.67 Hz, not clear between which two of the three or four. MW Offset list shows: http://www.mwlist.org/mwoffset.php?khz=800 799.9983 BES PJB Shine 800 AM (Trans World Radio) (Kralendijk) [-799.999] 2017-12-30 799.9985 MEX XEROK-AM Radio Cañón (Ciudad Juárez) [799.9985-800.0002] 2017-09-12 799.9999 USA KQCV (Oklahoma City, OK) 2018-01-23 800.0015 CAN CKLW (Windsor, ON) [799.998-] 2014-01-03 Plenty of other LA stations now must cope with the superpower Bonairean: WRTH shows 7 other Mexicans on 800; also one each: Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Honduras (2), Nicaragua, Panamá, El Salvador. There are also Colombians, Ecuadorians, deeper South Americans, but no Venezuelans (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checked 3 SDR remotes in central Florida, Detroit Michigan and Rochester NY in 04-05 UT slot on Febr 3. 799.916 poor and tiny 799.972 799.9965 799.998 799.9995 strongest in Florida noted as Spanish language at 0410 UT 800.002, which is an Ontarion CAN one, many mentions on Ontario matter, strongest in Detroit S=9+50dB CKLW ? 800.008 800.0145 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 800 kHz; nothing heard --- Glenn, I’ve been checking 800 kHz every couple of nights, especially after the latest WOR. Usually check some time between 0100 and 0300 UT. Tonight, happened to be up at about 0900. So far, nothing heard from Bonaire, just hash. I do imagine I should hear some kind of strong signal here in North Alabama once the transmitter comes on. 73, (Tim Hendel, Huntsville AL, Feb 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wolfi, Glenn, I see some carping in the latest WWDXC regarding the recently implemented new antenna and transmit power of TWR Bonaire. I have attached the internationally notified information regarding the Bonaire 800 kHz operation, which predates the RJ-81 Agreement. This datasheet is from the ITU RJ-81 database as of half an hour ago. [unfortunately, the pdf will not copy accurately --- gh] The antenna description is actually a bit confusing, but the originally notified antenna was a single driven element with 3 different parasitic elements which could be configured for radiation maxima in several directions, depending upon intended audience. The antenna was designed by the late Carl Smith (probably with some help from his brother-in-law, Dan Hutton). As you can see from the "augmented" data, the maxima are substantially greater than the omnidirectional radiation from a single tower would be. At 325 degrees true, for example, the 14680 mV/m/km value is almost twice the listed omni value, or equivalent to nearly 2 MW. What this means internationally is that some stations which have not experienced relatively high levels of co-channel interference in the past have just been the beneficiaries of chance. And TWR is on RJ-81 list B which means that US stations do not include it in their computations of nighttime interfering signal. Ben -- (Benj. F. Dawson III, P.E. Hatfield & Dawson Consulting Engineers, LLC 9500 Greenwood Avenue North Seattle, WA 98103 USA 206 783 9151 206 789 9834 Facsimile dawson@hatdaw.com UT Feb 4, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) When in doubt, contact the source. I wrote the station and here are the results: ``Hi Pete, Thank you for your interest in hearing the Bonaire TWR transmitter on 800 kHz. We commissioned the new 440 kW transmitter last week. While we broadcast to the northwest from 0000 to 0300 UT, our beam is centered on Havana and not on the USA. I would be very surprised if our signal makes it at appreciable strength across the western USA. As the USA is not our ministry focus, the antenna was not optimized for good coverage into the USA. The station also uses a Caribbean pattern at 225 kW, and a southern pattern is used beaming SE across Venezuela to northern Brazil. The SE pattern transmissions vary in power from 50 to 440 kW depending how far the distance is to the intended audience. The original tower from the mid-60s was a 5/8 wave compared to the four 3/8 wave towers we have since 1999. The old tower had a lower angle of radiation than the newer ones so we do not expect the same range that was sometimes reported on the old antenna system. Hope that helps. Best regards, Dave Pedersen, TWR Bonaire`` (via Pete Taylor, Tacoma WA, Feb 5, nrc-am gg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) There has been numerous reports that it's been heard like a local, albiet temporarily, in Indiana and a fellow Twin Cities DXer has heard it but weak amongst a CHAB/CKLW/WDUX/KQCV/KXIC QRM. I have not heard of any reports from the western great plains on west. Their main lobe does go NNW. I would suspect they will be a super pest during auroral condiitons as they were when they had 500 kW back in the 80s. I haven't tried too hard because I do not need them and the night that I did try, WDUX was ravaging the frequency (Todd Skaine, MN, Feb 6, IRCA via DXLD) Been checking AM 800 in early morning hours and so far haven't heard a peep from them here in SE US, just a jumble of low power radio station signals. Could be their three-pattern radio broadcast transmission system has a null in my direction? Using a Walkman SRF M37V. Just had a visit by a couple who just came back from Bonaire who helped with the upgrade. Also saw the live streaming of the dedication service (Fred Nordquist - Moncks Corner SC - FM03af, Feb 6 IRCA via DXLD) Ben, TWR says, ``Not optimized for coverage into USA``. But if they are aiming all that power at Habana, what`s to keep it from further bounces into North America? Vertical angle of radiation? How would they change if it they were trying to reach western USA? (Glenn to Ben Dawson, via DXLD) Glenn, Of course a pattern with its maximum directed toward Havana from Bonaire (not far from the ITU notified 325 degree "augmentation") will have signal into the US. But I have no idea of the radiation pattern of the present antennas. The present tower arrangement is a 4 tower parallelogram, so (unlike an in-line array) there's no way to determine the direction of the maxima for sure without more numerical data. From the orientation (from Google Earth) it looks like it's a wide-by-narrow configuration, which could be used to produce a maximum at about 315 degrees true, at right angles to the wide-spaced pairs of towers, pretty much right toward Cuba. And such a pattern could be perfectly consistent with the ITU notification. The ITU data is so unusual for this old notified pattern, a single tower radiator and 3 augmentations, that none of our programs will plot it up correctly, or I'd send you a graph. But based on the geometry of the towers on the Google Earth map, it appears that there is a reasonable chance that the present operation that is (inelegantly) described in the e-mail is consistent with the old ITU notified pattern. The FCC CDBS database does not include the augmentations, by the way. And the other thing to remember is that if XEROK were really using their authorized 150 kW, they would tear up signal in the USA SE from Bonaire. And of course limit the daylights out of night coverage by US stations all by themselves. So as I have noted, stations that have enjoyed significant nighttime service on 800 kHz in a lot of the US have just been living on the vagaries of fate, and have no real basis for complaint (ben to Glenn, ibid.) TWR Bonaire new schedule effective 5th February: 0000 – 0300 Northwest 440 kW Spanish (that is beamed to Cuba, BC) 0300 – 0500 Caribbean 225 kW Spanish 0500 – 0800 Caribbean 100 kW Spanish 0800 - 1000 Brazil 440 kW Portuguese 1000 - 1100 Caribbean 225 kW Spanish 1100 – 1200 Caribbean 100 kW Spanish 1200 – 1230 Caribbean 50 kW Spanish (Mauno Ritola, WRTH Facebook Page via Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** BOUGAINVILLE. 3325, NBC Bougainville, 1101-1139*, on Jan 31. Not on the air every day! Monologue in Pidgin and pop songs; moderate RRI QRM; suddenly cut off. 3325, NBC Bougainville,? 1059-1145*, Feb 3. DJ in Pidgin with dedications and playing pop songs; several "NBC Bougainville" promos; cut off in mid-song; very light RRI QRM. 3325, NBC Bougainville, 1110-1156*, Feb 4. As it was Sunday, impassioned sermon alternately by OM & YL in Pidgin; station promo with musical montage ("country" music with brief clip of John Denver with " "Take Me Home, Country Roads"); 1125 into segment of pop songs played by DJ; Michael Jackson - "Heal the World," etc; suddenly off. 3325, NBC Bougainville, 1100-1200*, Feb 5. Long interview in English dealing with the economy; "Plowing money back into the country . . national government and regional government . . to raise revenues"; perhaps was Secretary Brenda Tohiana of the Bougainville Department of Treasury and Finance; 1133-1200* DJ in Pidgin with pop songs; suddenly off. (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also PNG: Madang 3260 off ** BOUVET ISLAND [non]. All USB, 14187, 14188, 14189, 14186, 14185, Feb 1 from 1940, pileups on each, of hams uttering nothing but their own callsigns, obviously try to work some hot DX, still Kosovo? No one *ever* mentions 3Y0Z or any call of the station sought. Some of the calls I copy in the next few minutes: 14185, XE1IM, K6KZM, N1RIU QSY to here, success 14186, W7WLL, XE1IM QSY to here, successful contact exchanging RS 14187, N2JF, N1RIU 14188, K3OXL 14189, KE7JNT Where is the DX station? presumably a few kHz lower but I don`t hear it, 14180-14184. On 14175 and 14181 are some non-DX QSOs. Intermittent AM carrier spoilers near 14187. On 14197 at 1955, an unID ham tells news about the 3Y0: they are still on the boat, anchored on the east side of Bouvet; due to heavy seas, it`s not safe to launch choppers; boat is rocking and some are sea- sick; 15-20 foot swells 2-3 days ago. Bands will really be mess in a day or two. Refers to the 3Y0Z website for this info, i.e.: http://www.bouvetdx.org/news-and-updates/ ``February 1, 2018, 1300 UTC: Our ship is still at anchor off the east side of Bouvet. Winds are 35 to 40 knots, and the ship is pitching and rolling up to 30 degrees. This makes flying and a landing attempt impossible today. The temperature is hovering at around 0 degrees C. Visibility has improved. We are poised and ready when a weather window opens. We had our maritime mobile station up for a few hours, but had to take it down again to avoid damage caused by the extreme motion of the ship. 1445 UTC: Winds have increased to 45 knots. Unsecured items are again sliding across floors and tables. Some team members are again feeling seasick. The barometer has risen, slightly. We are anxiously awaiting calmer conditions. Hang in there with us! Ralph, KØIR`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Though it sounds strange when you happen upon it, such is the custom, to transmit just your own call sign in a DX pileup (and in many contest situations as well). Can you imagine what further craziness would ensue if all those hundreds of hopefuls doubled or almost tripled their transmission time by calling "3Y0Z, this is ..." in addition to signing their own call letters? <<< Where is the DX station? presumably a few kHz lower but I don`t hear it, 14180-14184. On 14175 and 14181 are some non-DX QSOs. Intermittent AM carrier spoilers near 14187. >>>> You can usually get the frequency (or frequencies) of the DX station in question by going to one of the many online "DX clusters", where stations hearing or having contacted DX stations currently on the air will post the DX stations' frequencies for the benefit of other hams. Best, (Saul Broudy (W3WHK), Philadelphia, PA USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, but if everyone were *required* to utter station called, everything would still be equal. No need to say ``this is``, just say station called first, station calling second. {or ``from``} (Glenn, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Per ARRL at 2000z 3 Feb, the Bouvet operation has been aborted due to weather and engine failure of some kind. Everyone is safe. Very unfortunate. Regards, (George, NJ3H, Stein, Redmond, Oregon USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGESET) From their website: February 3, 2018, 2000 UTC: During the last 72 hours, we continued to experience the high winds, low clouds, fog and rough seas that have prevented helicopter operations since our arrival at Bouvet. No improvement was predicted in the weather forecast for the next four days. Then, last night, an issue developed in one of the ship’s engines. This morning, the captain of the vessel declared it unsafe to continue with our project and aborted the DXpedition. We are now on our long voyage back to Punta Arenas. As you might imagine, the team is deeply disappointed, but safe. There is already talk about rescheduling the DXpedition, Bob, K4UEE Ralph, KØIR Erling, LA6VM (via gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) This was on the homepage : A Message From the DXpedition Team --- Our Commitment to You A DXpedition to Bouvet is not to be taken lightly. Bouvet is a serious and dangerous place that demands attention to safety, serious planning, physical and mental endurance, time to allow for storms and rough seas and a team with the right balance of size, experience, talent, emotional stability and sense of purpose. We feel we have met these criteria, but when we arrive at Bouvet, we also need to attend to our obligations to you, our financial supporters and DX audience. How we meet those obligations and expectations will define us as a team. It is our belief that, given the rarity of this entity, we must pull out all the stops. We must utilize maximum legal power, the best antennas, world class transceivers, propagation studies, the best location on the island, a safe vessel and crew, highly qualified helicopter pilots and the complimentary resources of our team. We will need near real-time information flowing to us through our extensive pilot system, so that we can maximize our primary purpose — providing QSOs. We have a conscience. We will not do this just for the sake of doing it and end up using a compromised location, less than 24/7 coverage of all open bands, limited power, inefficient antennas and insufficient time at the island. We want to do this right, and give everyone the best possible chance of making the QSOs they desire, be they on 160, the WARC bands, SSB, CW, RTTY or 6 and 2 meter EME. Rest assured that we will do our very best for you! No shortcuts or compromises! The 3YØZ Bouvet Island DXpedition Team (via gh, DXLD) [non]. And I do mean non. The 3Y0Z ham DX-pedition had to be aborted. See [as above] http://www.bouvetdx.org/news-and-updates/ Maybe one can hear/work their maritime mobile 3G9A/MM which they referred to on the way in (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bouvet_Island Amateur Radio DX-pedition --- Several amateur radio DX-peditions have been conducted to the island.[40][41] An international group organized and initiated a DX-pedition that arrived at Bouvet on January 31, 2018. On February 3, 2018, the DX-pedition was cancelled due to poor weather conditions and trouble with the ship's engines.[42][43] (via A. Burnette, Feb 5, DXLD) Plus lots more info on Bouvet (gh) ** BRAZIL. Brazil continues in the migration process of AM stations to FM. The website tudoradio.com has prepared an exclusive section with update details. The tendency is for this process to evolve more apidly in the coming weeks. https://tudoradio.com/conteudo/ver/41-o-radio-migracao-das-ams-para-a-faixa-fm (Samuel Cássio Martins, dxing.info fb group via mediumwave.info 26/11/17 via IRCA via Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) The Brazilian government announced a deadline for the shutdown of a mediumwave station after the change to FM: 180 days (Rudolf Grimm, ARC via IRCA, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 4774.9, Rádio Congonhas, 2228-2258, Jan 31. man announcer with Portuguese language talks hosting nice pop music program. Nice station ID by announcer followed by jingle station ID at 2233 before several songs. Another station ID by male announcer at 2252. Poor to fair signal. Thanks to Dave Valko for the tip alert about this Brazilian station (Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4875.26, ZYG810, R Roraima, Boa Vista, with pop/rock oldies such as “Let’s Twist Again” and “Hey Jude” (Beatles) among others. ID in Portuguese at 0354 as R Roraima with both “Onda Média” and “Onda Tropical” frequencies. Anthem/hymn leading up to the ToH and then s/off. Not bad reception! 3+53+43+ ALMOST a O-4 -- occasional blips up to S9 signal. 0340-0400* 28/Jan SDRplay, +SDRuno, +randomwire (Ken Zichi, Pt Hope MI2, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) 4875.26, R. Difusora Roraima. Tremendous signal like a local at 0256 with Portuguese contemporary music. 0259 jingle and TC, then full canned ID by M, and into Clapton’s acoustic version of his “Layla”. 31 Jan. Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5939.773 kHz, much lower frequency this morning, R Voz Missionária, sermon prayer, S=6 here in Germany, 0724 UT. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Jan 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. [Re 18-05:] Glenn, Since I did much of the design and did the implementation of the MF operation of Itatiaia, I was curious if this report was valid. (I had nothing to do with the HF, although the antenna was partly constructed while I was working on site.) The answer below is from the head of the engineering services firm we worked with on that project, who is in a position to know the facts. ``Benjamin, Despite of many complains from remote listeners Rádio Itatiaia is no longer broadcasting the 5970 kHz signal. All the best, Carlos`` (Ben Dawson, Hatfield-Dawson, WA, Feb 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Sex, 2 de Fev de 2018 9:43 am. Emissora em 8000 kHz com excelente sinal em MG, aúdio e programação. Só toca músicas. A única locução é quando a pessoa anúncia a frequência de transmissão ("João Ricardo Bergamini" py4tw, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11735, Rádio Transmundial, Santa María, 1346-1450, 04-02, Portuguese, religious comments, ID “transmundial.com.br, transmitindo em direito dos seus estúdios de São Paulo”, at 1435 program “História das Missões”. 23322. The program is on air, according to its website all Mondays at 1115 (1315 UT), Wednesdays at 0630 (0830 UT) and 2015 (2215 UT), Fridays at 0115 (0315 UT) and 1630 (1830 UT), Saturdays at 1115 (1315 UT) and Sundays at 1130 (1330 UT) and 2345 (0145 UT), but Sunday 04-02 heard one hour later, at 1435 UT (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol and Lugo, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DST in the states of Brasil where it has been observed, ends at the start of Sunday February 18, and resumes on November 4, 2018, per timeanddate.com. So all the above will soon be one UT hour later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11780. Fev 1, 2018. 1330-1408, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, Brasilia-DF, em Português. Apresentadora Sula(*) conduz o programa "Ponto de Encontro": atende os ouvintes em suas solicitações e recados, via telefone, e-mail e pelo whatsapp; A canção "Felicidade pra Você" a pedido de uma ouvinte; 1400 ID, e a seguir, os locutores Gilson e Glaucia apresentam as notícias, no espaço Repórter Nacional. RNA com muito boa difusão nesta manhã, rara em minha área, com avaliação SINPO 45544. (*) Apresentadora Sula Sevilles, com voz e dicção excelentes! (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier. Local da escuta: Cabedelo-PB, Brasil. Receptor: Sony 7600GR, Antena: Longwire, Hard- Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) 11780, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia at 2138 in Portuguese with a woman with a possible news magazine with correspondent reports and sound bytes and a man with a “Rádio Nacional” ID at 2141 and into a sports report – Fair Feb 5 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipole, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. Re: BBC in Amharic/Oromo/Tigrinya Mon-Fri to North East Africa --- Azimuths via Secretbrod are 015/195 deg, 090/270 deg and 126/306 deg, no antenna with 156 deg (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) So is a lie that Babcock FMO frequency management organization, sells to the BBC London Ethiopian section service? An ITU antenna type of '216' at 195 degrees covers approximately +/- 30degrees properly, so 165degr western part of ETH covered, 195deg azimuth main lobe cross Pyrgos Greece location, Bengazi Libya, Chad and Cameroun, latter distance 2700 kilometers west of Addis Ababa capital and 225degr is Ivory Coast and Liberia. 73 wb (Büschel, ibid.) ITU antenna type and HFCC registration are one, but situation in Secretbrod is other and also txs are as follows 1x100 kW, 1x50+50 kW in parallel and 2x50 kW,nothing 200 or 250 kW(Ivo, ibid.) and immediately obvious at https://goo.gl/maps/etCZY8WPKy92 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) translate with google to English http://www.predavatel.com/bg/1/kostinbrod#rps [photo gallery, inside and out] Kai, we discussed the REAL azimuths out of Kostinbrod already on 03 Febr 2006 when dimly visible on google earth, but better images appeared on 10 June 2007 and perfect images on 17 July 2009. At that time, SPC delivery, rent airtime by IRRS Milano Tom Taylor / and WRN U.K. on shortwave, and a lot of others for example towards clandestine opposite Maldives, R Miraya East Africa, to evangile Nigeria West Africa. BNR 1st program in DRM in 2011. HARMONICS Report of the 13-14 UT slot Oct 18, 2011. Both 7400 and 9400 kHz produce harmonics on 14800 and 18800 kHz today. ... and and and via SpaceLine Ltd. Bulgaria from 2005: Georgiev Ventsislav Mr. Dimitar Todorov LZ1AX, General Manager, Spaceline Ltd. WRTH 2006, p447, see tiny SPACELINE LTD Broker entry. Or order to Vladimir Rangelov Late R Sofia SW Kostinbrod schedules showed only 030degr towards Russia and 306degr towards western Europe and N America. A few years later, another Russian shortwave station was constructed at Kostinbrod, ten miles northwest from Sofia, and the original installation contained four transmitters at 50 kW and one at 100 kW. Work at this station was underway during the years 1961 and 1962. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CAMBODIA [non]. 9325, Feb 3 at 2230, weak talk in unknown language, something new here noticed as I am checking WOR on 9330 WBCQ. Fortunately, not enough to bother WBCQ. Latest HFCC of Jan 29 has nothing on 9325 except: 1230-1330 IBB Tinian in Khmer; 1500-1615, something new via Tashkent; 1800-2100 Egypt in Hausa. Nothing in Aoki/NDXC either. But EiBi has it: ``9325 2230-2330 USA Radio Free Asia KHmer SEA /MRA-t`` = Tinian No doubt an addition due to Cambodia`s persecution/prosecution of RFA staff in the country (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. ND beacons, MCW IDs per http;//www.dxinfocentre.com/ndb --- 317, Feb 2 at 0705 UT, VC and dash, from La Ronge, Saskatchewan, 2158 km = 1341 st mi in N Central Sask 332, Feb 2 at 0707 UT, QT and dash, from Thunder Bay, Ontario --- seems like negative keying, maybe the way I am off/tuned? 395, Feb 2 at 0713 UT, YL and dash, Lynn Lake, Manitoba, 2289 km = 1423 st mi, even further N than La Ronge (also relog of 388, GLY, Clinton-Golden Valley, Missouri at 0712; I`ll try to avoid relogs of nearby domestix) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. (Last minute from Jon Pearkins) 600, BC, Vancouver, no call yet. Sher-E-Punjab Radio’s proposed Richmond transmitter site has been sold and the new owners are applying for rezoning for commercial development. They propose sharing towers with CKNW-980, with similar day and night patterns, but the South Surrey location requires an increase to 50,000 watts day and 20,000 watts night to deliver the same level of signal to most of their ethnic audience (IRCA DX Monitor Feb 10, published Feb 6, via DXLD) ** CANADA. 740, CFZM, Toronto, Ontario. 1123 February 1, 2018. Conclusion of "Teach Your Children" by CSN, auto insurance ad, mention of "Zoomer Radio" into "Lost Together" by Blue Rodeo, then traffic report by Captain Frank. Parallel website stream and song playlist text display (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Frequencies in kc/s unless otherwise stated, Clearwater FL, IC-R75, NRD-535, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 800, Jan 31 at 0638 UT, string of promos with non-IDs only as ``AM 800``, duh, we already know the frequency! One has a 519-area code, which chex for Windsor, i.e. CKLW, and back to C2CAM. Not hard to get this past KQCV OKC at right angle, really looking for the new 450 kW from PJB Bonaire [q.v.]. Supposed to be on NNW beam toward Cuba and Florida at 0000-0300 only (Glenn Hauser, oK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Several stations owned by Corus in Canada have rebranded themselves “Global News Radio”. Those affected include: 640, CFMJ Toronto, Ontario 680, CJOB Winnipeg, Manitoba 770, CHQR Calgary, Alberta 900, CHML Hamilton, Ontario 980, CFPL London, Ontario 980, CKNW Vancouver, British Columbia (Corus Entertainment web site via Feb MW News via DXLD) CANADIAN RADIO NEWS --- FORMAT / SLOGAN CHANGES 640, CFMJ Richmond Hill, ON “Global News Radio” 680, CJOB Winnipeg, MB “Global News Radio” 770, CHQR Calgary, AB “Global News Radio” 980, CKNW New Westminster, BC “Global News Radio” 1140, CHRB High River, AB “Connecting Communities” 1280, CFMB Montréal, QC Adds Classical to ethnic format (Feb MW News via DXLD) ** CANADA [non]. 11875, Feb 1 at 1631, instrumental gospel tune, S3- S5; 1632 announcement over music, 1633 HoA string music joined by singing. HFCC shows 1630-1700 daily, MBR, Nauen, multilingual, 100 kW, 145 degrees, but what is it, really? EiBi shows Bible Voice at 1630-1700, language unknown via Nauen, GERMANY to E Africa. But Aoki says Bible Voice in Nuer, 250 kW, 140 degrees via Issoudun, FRANCE. Back to EiBi for info about Nuer: spoken by 800K in Sudan, 200K in Ethiopia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4940, Voice of Strait, 1503, Feb 3. The Saturday only "Focus on China" program in English; singing "Voice of Strait, Focus on China" jingle; program with audio feed from the CCTV/CNTV "Roof of the World" episode 4, "Water of Great Good" about the Qinghai Tibet Plateau; 1530 usual ID in English - "This is the Voice of Taiwan Strait News Radio." Tibet video at http://goo.gl/SzmYfe (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 5050, Beibu Bay Radio. On Feb 1, from 1500 to 1525, with Chinese and English; American mother talking about how she taught her kids from an early age to learn Chinese; the movie "Greatest Showman" being released today across China; sound bites from the movie along with song from the movie "Never Enough." Jan 30, BBR, 1505-1525. In Chinese, but playing Bobby Darin - "Mack the Knife," Frank Sinatra - "Fly Me To The Moon," Ray Charles - "Georgia On My Mind" and Chubby Checker - "Let's Twist Again"; fair; always ending this segment with "See you next time." (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5050, Beibu Bay Radio, 1517, Feb 3 (Saturday), heard a repeat of the Jan 30 (Tue.) show; all pop songs in English ("Ray Charles - "Georgia On My Mind" and Chubby Checker - "Let's Twist Again"); fair. Probably on the weekend they just run repeat shows 1500-1525. 5050, Beibu Bay Radio, 1510, Feb 4. Yes, on Sat. & Sun. they repeat shows from earlier in the week. Today with a repeat of the the Feb 1 show that I heard 1500 to 1525, in both English and Chinese. Also a brief segment in English at 1232, about business (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6035, PBS Yunnan (Voice of Shangri-la), 1143-1200*, Jan 31. In Chinese. Their normal format is playing a variety of music, not just Chinese songs; most commonly cuts off at 1201*, as I have often reported. BBS (Bhutan) on the other hand from 1100 to 1200 is in English and 1130+ normally plays pop hit songs in English. No BBS heard today (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6145, CNR1, January 30, 2018, 1603–1612, in Chinese. SIO 555. Strong signal. OM anchor. Music with M vocals. This signal is obviously intended to block RTI on the same frequencies. // 7300, 7365 [+ same frequency], February 3, 2018, 1604–1610, in Chinese. SIO 555. CNR domestic broadcast and/or jamming. Popular music, OM announcer. Listed target is Far East. // 7300 (Vince Henley, Anacortes, WA, U. S. A. Equipment in use: WiNRADiO G39DDCe SDR, ICOM IC-R8600, Ten-Tec RX- 340, Drake R8B, TECSUN PL-380, TECSUN PL-660, TECSUN PL-880. Antennas: whips on PL-380, PL-660, PL-880 and Alpha-Delta DX-Ultra installed broadside east west at 30 feet, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) ** CHINA. 6165, Voice of Shenzhou – Beijing, 1153-1219, Jan 31. woman vocals followed by a woman talking in the Chinese language. Music fanfare at 1200 followed by news. Vocal selections after the news. Poor to fair (Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park, PA, Ten-Tec RX- 340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) A.k.a. CNR-6. WRTH 2018 page 161 says V. of Shenzhou (6th Program Shenzhou Easy R.), from Beijing in Chinese, Amoy, Hakka, for Fuzhou/Xiamen. What does Shenzhou mean? It`s the name of a city in Hebei Province; a spacecraft/space program; and a hotel/resort. Of course these could be totally different words when dealing with toneless Romanized spellings! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. COLISÃO. CRI em Francês e CRI em Albanês - uma briga doméstica. 7385. Fev 1, 2018. 1900-1910, Radio Internacional da China, Cerrik-ALBANIA, em Francês e Radio Internacional da China, Kashgar-CHN [EAST TURKISTAN], em Albanês). Locutora fala em francês e locutor fala em albanês. Uma verdadeira colisão (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier. Local da escuta: Cabedelo-PB, Brasil. Receptor: Sony 7600GR, Antena: Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) Maybe a scheduler was being too cute about Albania. Figuring the broadcast in French out of Albania would be skipping over that country, so they could hit Albania from outside on same frequency without too much of a problem. But what is the groundwave range of Cërrik on 7 MHz band? (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) ** CHINA. 7445, CNR ! at 1230. Used as jammer over co-channel RTI Chinese service. Traditional Chinese music, M announcer. this could have been mistaken for Firedragon station but the Chinese opera music had vocals and there was a male announcer rather than non stop music. Very Good, solid S9-Feb. 4 (Rick Barton, AZ, Unless otherwise stated, all with 750 Satellit, "Trans Oceanic" Royal R-7000, HQ-200, and my RS SW-2000629. Antennas - various outdoor wires and the 9' "tomato stake" vertical, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Such music is regular for CNR1 on Sunday evenings (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 7445, CNR1 at 2202 in Mandarin jamming RTI in Mandarin with a man and woman with excited talk then a promo at 2203 – Good Feb 5 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipole, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** CHINA. EAST JAMMERSTAN: 9455, Crash & Bang Music Jammer; 2010, 1/28; over weaker audio; Radio Free Asia via Marianas & WRMI listed; audio probably WRMI (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 12045, CNR1 at 1157 in Mandarin jamming the VOA in Mandarin via the Philippines with light instrumentals and a man with excited talk to 5+1 time pips at 1200 and off – Weak Feb 4 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. 15700, CUBA. CRI via RHC, January 30, 2018, 1556–1602 in English. SIO 545. Chinese popular culture program. Pure propaganda. Touting the Chinese government control of the internet as a good thing. Restrictions on behavior are considered to be beneficial. Listed target is Western N America. Periodic steep QSB, otherwise a strong and clear signal. Dead air at top of hour, with carrier on, but no audio programming. [+ same] CRI via RHC, February 3, 2018, 1531–1600 in English. SIO 555. Discussion of the Chinese version of “critical thinking” while positing that some thoughts are forbidden if they lead to the “wrong” conclusion. It seems as if Chinese critical thinking is an oxymoron. Two YL and one OM in discussion. “Today” show from CRI via Havana. Chinese popular culture program. Excellent signal. “News Talk Radio.CN.” Off air at 1600 (Vince Henley, Anacortes, WA, U. S. A. Equipment in use: WiNRADiO G39DDCe SDR, ICOM IC-R8600, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R8B, TECSUN PL-380, TECSUN PL-660, TECSUN PL-880. Antennas: whips on PL-380, PL-660, PL-880 and Alpha-Delta DX-Ultra installed broadside east west at 30 feet, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. 17540, 0140, N. MARIANA ISL, Rad. Free Asia, gd in Uyghur, with firedrake in background, 31/12 (Phil van de Paverd Coopers Beach, New Zealand, R-71E, AOR-7030+, GR31DDC. Flag antennae N/NE, NE, 200m longwire, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. A new network started operations at the end of last year, operating on the north coast of Colombia and using frequencies belonging to CARACOL. A group of investors have set up the Sistema Radial Cardenal, which also 2 FM frequencies. Stations: 1010 HJOP ex - W Radio, Barranquilla 1050 HJBB ex - Caracol, Valledupar 1360 HJUO ex - Oxígeno, Cartagena 1580 HJRM ex - Caracol, Sincelejo The name Cardenal refers to the representative bird of the department of la Guajira (Rafael Rodríguez, CADENA DX via Mauno Ritola, WRTH Facebook Page via Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD)) 1580, HJRM Sistema Cardenal, Sincelejo. New station network playing Vallenato music for Caribbean Colombia. Ex Caracol. Here with a local announcement for Sincelejo 1580 AM. Other stations in the chain: 1010 Barranquilla, 1050 Valledupar and 1360 Cartagena. E-mail: coordinadorcomercial@gamezeditores.com (Fredrik Dourén, ARC via IRCA via Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD)) (ed: TL) Sistema Cardenal is a new network playing Vallenato music for Caribbean Colombia. Stations in the chain: 1010 Barranquilla, 1050 Valledupar, 1360 Cartagena and 1580 Sincelejo. ID: “En tu barrio, se oye el Sistema Cardenal" ?: Cra. 53 # 74 - 56, Edificio Torre Banco de Occidente, Oficina 905, Barranquilla. E-mail: coordinadorcomerical@gamezeditores.com https://www.facebook.com/SistemaCardenal (Fredrik Dourén, ARC, Tetsuya Hirahara and Rafael Rodríguez via Mauno Ritola, WRTH via Feb MW News via DXLD) ** CUBA. 860, Radio Reloj, Bolondrón, Matanzas. 0952 January 31, 2018. Weak under my local WGUL. Site listed with no power, formerly listed as Jovellanos, Matanzas (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Frequencies in kc/s unless otherwise stated, Clearwater FL, IC-R75, NRD-535, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 6060, RHC with the English Hour (not usually heard here at this time -- a whoops or change?) English news, commentary and political talk including a rehash of the normalization of relations between Cuba and the US which was begun under Obama. 4+4544 -- better modulation than any other frequency at this time, and actually 'good' for a change! 0204-0234 26/Jan, SDRplay, +SDRuno +ANC-4 +randomwire antenna (Ken Zichi, Pt Hope MI2, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) This happens occasionally as I have also reported, oops (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. 15579, 15510, 15440, 15301, 15232, 15165, 15096, 15029, 14961, Jan 31 at 1402, approx. centers of RHC-FM spurblobs out of 15370-AM, which has just signed on. Before then 19mb was clean but not much propagating yet. 14-16 is the schedule for this mess, today about 68-69 kHz intervals, the closer ones demodulating OK in FM always with the F# tone. 15781, 15712, 15644, 15575, 15507, 15438, 15303, 15235, 15167, 15099, 15032, 14964, 14880, Feb 1 at 1536, very approx. centers of RHC-FM extremely distorted spurblobs out of 15370-AM transmitter. Average intervals today circa 67.5 kHz. Closer ones quite readable in FM mode, further ones detectable at least by the F# tone accompanying. Something`s always wrong at RHC. 15233, 15302, 15439, 15508, Feb 2 at 1453 check, the worst of the RHC- FM spurblobs out of 15370-AM are on today around these peaks. 13670, Feb 3 at 1352, RHC, a rather obscure frequency and not an outstanding one, // -2.000 MHz much stronger 11670, which now serves as fulcrum for leapfrog mixing product of 11950 landing on 11390 barely audible, and in reverse likewise on 12230 at 280 kHz intervals. 15033, 15100, 15167, 15234, 15302, 15438, Feb 3 at 1507, approx. centers of RHC-FM spurblobs out of 15370-AM, about 67.5 kHz intervals, all with F# tone, but the next one up, 15506 is much weaker. 15030, 15098, 15167, 15234, 15302, 15438 approx., Feb 4 at 1402, main spurblobs of RHC-FM out of AM 15370. Program audio quite readable if tuned in FM. As I tuned up, was first hearing the mess at 15022; but very little audible on 15506 or higher. 5040, Feb 5 at 0442, RHC Spanish is suptorted during music; wiggle that patchcord. Likewise 6000 // 6165 in English service. 15.03, 15.10, 15.165, 15.235, 15.30, 15.44, 15.505, 15.57, 15.64, 15.71 MHz, Feb 5 at 1519 check, RHC-FM with `Sonido Cubano` music. This time I am tuning FM mode on 5 kHz steps and hear it best at these approx. spots. Best of all is 15.30 which spreads plus and minus .05 MHz. All emanate from the hugely defective 15.37-AM transmitter. 15370-AM, Feb 6 at 1534 check, RHC WITHOUT all the 10 or 12 FM spurblobs on 19m, just its own real weaker AM // 15230. The band seems so vacant without them. But shows they *do not* have to be there. I bet they`re back tomorrow and 86% of the ensuing morns (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. COOL CUBAN MARKET DTMB-T TUNERS [DTV] All, The prospect of obtaining a Cuban DTT STB gets better each year. I have found several DTMB-T STB's for the Cuban market on wholesale market websites and sent multiple requests to Chinese manufactures in various electronic markets. The STB could be purchased wholesale on average for $35 per unit. The setback is the supplier requires a minimum order of 500 units or more, which would be $17,500 on up. One automobile vendor replied indicated they have a model that matched my specifications. This vendor has a lower minimum order rate. The sales contact person will get back to me at a later date with unit pricing, shipping, taxes, import fees, customs fees, port fees, ect. In the meantime, how many members of the WTFDA would like to have a DTMB-T tuner? As for the total price, I would suspect > $70. If you are interested on obtaining a unit(s), send a reply under this thread. Happy DX (GACTVDX, Easton PA, Feb 3, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Cuba TDT DTMB Assignments IF you are close enough to Cuba for tropo and might be contemplating a DTMB tuner/set top box but not really sure what is available on the Cuban dial for DTV television to make it worth having one of those STB's, I put together an easy reference PDF of the TDT assignments in Cuba. The maps in the PDF are courtesy Radiocuba. Attached Files File Type: pdf Radiocuba TDT.pdf (4.73 MB, 12 views) http://forums.wtfda.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=21287&d=1517838919 (Jim Thomas, Springfield, MO, Ozark Mountain DTV dxing Daredevil, Feb 5, ibid.) ** CUBA. A LAND OF CONTRADICTION Report with Steve Whitt [illustrated] Last summer my wife, in cahoots with my children, booked a secret vacation to Cuba for my birthday with her. Everybody except me knew of the planned trip! We were very fortunate to get two whole weeks away from our business and a chance to explore this fascinating country. We flew direct to Havana from London on Christmas Day. The author monitoring in old Havana [caption] I initially hesitated taking a radio but luckily I decided to pack a Tecsun PL-380 ultra-light receiver modified with a supersized ferrite rod and gifted to me by Gary deBock – thanks a lot Gary for making the radio side of the trip possible! Itinerary This was not going to be a beach holiday as were planning to stay with hosts in Cuban family homes known as casas particulares. Also we would be travelling by bus or taxi colectivo rather than by hire car. So DXing opportunities might be restricted to certain times and to “noisy” urban locations. Our journey took in Havana in the north, Viñales in the west and Cienfuegos, Trinidad and Santa Clara in the centre of the island – going further east was just not practical in the time available. Listening Opportunities Amongst the sight-seeing, travelling and socialising, I did manage to find time slots for band scanning rather than real DXing. I was without WRTH (for weight/space reasons), internet access (technical and cost reasons). And if I’m honest, my Spanish is embarrassingly basic so identifying stations was harder than it might have been. I was listening mainly indoors, on rooftops, or balconies and in one location the electrical noise was so bad I had to walk about 2km out of town to see what clean reception might be like. I stuck to MW reception but looked for FM parallels and also monitored the jamming of Radio Marti. I wanted to understand the Cuban broadcast network and also see what Cubans might make of US radio that they heard. Impact of Cuban radio on Cuba The Cuban radio networks have changed little over years on MW (dominated by R Rebelde, R Reloj and R Progreso). There are a few local/specialist stations but unsurprisingly no independent radio. I could not gauge the popularity of these stations but every Cuban I interacted with was listening to music – not from the radio, and definitely not streamed online (much too costly) – but from flash drives. Every car radio I saw had USB sticks plugged in instead of CDs or tapes. There’s a certain contradiction seeing modern Panasonic or Samsung in-car-entertainment installed in time-warped Chevrolets, Plymouths and other antediluvian American vehicles still cruising Cuban roads. As for radio, the one occasion that I encountered a Cuban listening to the radio it was to Radio Reloj. In the absence of widespread internet access, the literate population seems to still be a big consumer of print; newspapers and books (libraries and book-shops were prevalent). Observations on Cuban Radio Networks There is widespread reuse of frequencies in Cuba sometimes by other networks or otherwise with several transmitters all carrying the same network. At no time did I notice the effect of co-channel transmitters – probably because the networks were designed to put mutual interference zones in rural areas. I didn’t notice sub-audible heterodynes or perceive audio delay echoes. Perhaps the transmitters and audio feeds are well synchronised. I did however notice that the received audio varies greatly from transmitter to transmitter. Some transmitters are over-modulated, others under-modulated. And some sound like the audio has come down a sub-3 kHz wide phone line. A few sound really crisp and clear as if they have modern dynamic modulation/compression control. There were a few instances where one transmitter seemed to swap between networks, or the transmitter was temporarily off air. For example R Reloj was absent from 950kHz in Havana on 8th January though evident after Christmas. Meanwhile in Vinales on Saturday 6th January at mid-day Radio Guama 710 kHz was carrying audio from Rebelde ( // 670 kHz) but with audio delayed at least a second and sounding “thin” as if the audio was fed down a phone line. By 2145 UT the two stations were carrying separate programming. Without the flexibility of a hire car I was only able to see a few MW broadcast installations. Those I saw were single vertical masts – presumably omnidirectional. The masts I saw appeared to be under 214m high (assuming Cuba uses the same mast painting regulations as the FAA in the USA). It seems likely that multiple channels were being diplexed. For example, 2 km south of Trinidad on the coastal plain, there are two masts about 1 km apart, both of similar height yet there are five local low power transmitters in use; 610, 850, 970, 1190, and 1280. I couldn’t detect any other masts on the skyline. The Tecsun wasn’t the tool to determine which signal was coming from which mast and I might have attracted the wrong sort of attention if I had tried to investigate more closely. ? A seemingly unused office in Viñales [caption] The prize for the busiest channel must go to 1180kHz where a Radio Rebelde transmitter is serving every significant city in Cuba to block reception of VOA from Marathon FL. I didn’t hear Marathon because I was in urban areas served by Rebelde. Oddly WRTH lists a couple of other Cuban stations sharing 1180kHz with Rebelde – how they do that without domestic co-channel interference I don’t know. Cuba is well known for its historic architecture, however it was interesting to see Radio Ciudad del Mar in one of the finest buildings in Cienfuegos (see photo gallery). The 1140 kHz transmitter mast was just two blocks further south on the Malecón, in otherwords overlooking the ocean. (This station omits 1140 kHz from its website listing only 1340 & 1350 kHz). [and non] Impact of US radio on Cuba Cubans generally have limited and costly internet access; 1 CUC per hour for public wi-fi equates to roughly a dollar an hour. So for access to external media people need to turn to the radio or an underground network of information passed around on flash drives. US radio splits into two; domestic radio on MW and Radio Marti (plus a few religious stations) on SW. The former is easily heard without jamming, mostly in English but some Spanish from Florida. During daylight hours WINZ 940 Miami, WFFG 1300 in Marathon and WKWF in Key West are clear (oddly no sign of WKIZ 1500 from Key West). At night skywave propagation brings in signals from up to 2000 km away, mostly 50 kW clear channel stations. What might Cubans make of US radio? Well they’ll certainly get a fair share of news stations, dosed with a good helping of right-wing talk radio or Christian evangelism. And of course a huge amount of college football and other sport – but remember in Cuba baseball is king. Any Cuban learning English via the radio might end up with the style of Michael Savage or Colin Cowherd or the bombastic style of a televangelist! On the other hand, the controversial Radio Marti continues to broadcast via shortwave into Cuba. In all the urban centres we were listening, these signals were jammed. I don’t know if this is effective in rural areas but if one is determined enough, reception of Marti is possible. DX Observations I heard many US stations with the farthest being WBBM 780 at 2295 km distant. None really surprised me except for WNIS 790 from Norfolk VA (because 790 is used in Cuba). I failed to identify much from Mexico apart from XEB La Grande on 1220 kHz. From South America the only ID came from RCN Colombia on 1000 kHz. ZNS Bahamas 1540 was present but not a good signal, Caribbean Beacon 1610 not heard (presumed silent), 1400 Harbour Light not heard either. A few suspected Haitian stations heard in French but not identified (e.g. 1360 kHz heard whilst in Trinidad). Puerto Rico was identified only on 1660 kHz (WGIT). Radio TransMundial Bonaire, Antilles Hollandaise (a.k.a. PJB 800) heard regularly with “RTM” IDs but not strong – prior to planned power boost. USA stations heard: 560 WQAM; 570 WTBN; 610 WIOD; 620 WDAE; 640 WMEN (p); 700 WLW; 750 WSB; 770 WJBX; 780 WBBM; 790 WAXY (p); 790 WNIS; 840 WHAS; 850 WRUF; 860 WGUL (p); 870 WWL; 880 WCBS; 920 WDMC ?; 940 WINZ; 970 WFLA (p); 1010 WINS; 1030 WBZ; 1060 WIXC; 1100 WTAM; 1110 WBT; 1130 WBBR; 1150 WTMP; 1200 WOAI (p); 1250 WHNZ; 1260 WSUA (p); 1270 WNOG (p); 1290 WJNO; 1300 WFFG; 1320 UNID Bloomberg R.; 1380 WWMI; 1510 WWBC; 1580 WSRF; 1600 WKWF; 1600 WPOM (?); 1640 WTNI (p); 1670 WMGE (p); 1700 WJCC. (p) = presumed based on programming/adverts without confirmed ID Listening conditions: It was quite clear that the most interesting time to listen was around Cuban sunset as one could follow a grey line north into the USA. One could presumably easily exploit the variation of this grey line over the seasons to catch many US station closing down or reducing power at their local transmitter sunset time. The other interesting factor affecting DXing from Cuba is the question of man-made electrical noise. I was astonished that I could DX from indoors in the heart of central/old Havana without too much in the way of man-made electrical QRN. Yes there was some, mostly due to widespread florescent light or low energy CFL lights. But Cuba does not have flat screen TVs in every room, nor is there any ADSL delivery of the internet via phone lines. Furthermore digital noise from home computer networks is minimal because most people who do use the internet do so using smart phones and wi-fi hotspots in public places. A surprising additional source of noise affected my listening. Cuban cities are inherently noisy places. Cars are nearly all diesel engined, many without silencers, the city streets are echo chambers and the Cuban people love to live out on the street and love to be heard - a block away! So radio listening from a first floor balcony overlooking a Havana street is difficult even with in ear bud earphones! Observations on listening locations If you are interested in signals from the North (America) then Havana is a good location apart from urban electrical noise. One could easily walk to the Malecón (the famous seafront) and listen with a portable radio and ear bud earphones to signals arriving via the sea-path from Florida and further afield. In contrast Cienfuegos and Trinidad face south towards Latin America. Trinidad has sizable hills behind it that help block signals from the north and it has a beautiful 16 km long beach (Playa Ancón) facing south and west. There is just one large beach hotel that could cause local QRM and a short walk to an isolated stretch of sand could open the door to signals from far away, particularly from Central America. Santa Clara is inland and one is more dependent on skywave signals here. Finally, Viñales is in a complex location, a combination of valleys with moist soils set amongst giant limestone outcrops called Mogotes. Amazing scenery and countryside here – including the second largest cave system in the Americas. The electrical interference on MW was unusually high for such a small town – much worse than Havana. I wondered if this was deliberate jamming but I suspect it is probably just an electrical supply system in need of some decent maintenance. Walking 2 km or so leaves the overhead electric lines and street lighting behind and decent low noise reception is possible. However over a few km, daytime reception can vary significantly, possibly due to the very uneven surrounding terrain. For example at mid-day on 770 kHz it was possible to separate WJBX Fort Myers from co-channel Cuban Radio Artemisa by walking less than a km with my radio in a shoulder bag. Jamming As mentioned previously, in all five locations I noticed intensive jamming of Radio Martí. I suspect that urban areas area must have local ground wave jamming which implies many co-channel jamming transmitters. The jamming goes off air at the same time as Martí leaves a particular frequency. Jammed frequencies I noticed (there probably were more): 11930, 9570 [9565 – gh], 9490, 7435, 7355, 6030 kHz; the jamming was very strong in every city and broad bandwidth so measuring the exact centre frequency with the Tecsun was not always easy. I was able to partially null the jammers using the Tescun by varying the length and position of the whip aerial and using my hand on the end of the whip as some sort of hand capacitance. This technique worked well on certain frequencies and times but not in every situation. Given that jamming transmitter need local ground wave coverage, one way to achieve that might be with a near vertical incidence signal bounced up to the ionosphere and back down to earth. Alternatively a broadband omnidirectional antenna with low angle radiation might be useful. By strange coincidence in one location less than 1 km from my accommodation there was a military building located in the town centre in an otherwise residential area which seemed to have no purpose other than to support what looked like a HF discone antenna covering the whole building. For a military building it had insignificant space, no security fencing and no vehicles and just one guard relaxing in a lounger, and it was immediate neighbours with residential property and a public children’s playground. I wonder if it was the source of local jamming? [caption:] A slightly discrete image of a suspected HF discone jamming antenna. Country of Contradictions: 1) The dual currency system means that the nation is dividing into “the haves” who have access to convertible currency via tourism, and the “have nots” who live in the peso economy. For a European tourist Cuba is not a cheap foreign destination. 2) The Cubans are highly educated but sadly many cannot use their free education; I met an electrical engineer, an IT graduate, a history professor and an architect, all working in the tourist sector where they earn much more money and meet people from around the world, but don’t apply their specific education/training. 3) Cubans like to use social media to contact each other on their smart phones but are actually forced to gather together to access social media via wi-fi hotspots due to lack of home internet access. 4) Cuba has some of the most fabulous architecture and style anywhere but slowly new monolithic concrete and glass hotels are being built in Havana that really could be anywhere in the world. 5) Cuba is stuck in the grip of a cold war argument with the USA that remains oddly frozen in time and this still manifests itself in the “need” for radio jamming – itself largely a relic of the cold war. (Medium Wave News 63/09 14 February 2018 via DXLD) I would like to thank Steve Whitt for his excellent report from Cuba including pictures. Everything was included: local reception, long distance reception, nature, local people, acoustic noise in the streets spoiling reception even with headphones Everybody knows now how to prepare themselves for a trip to Cuba with their radio. (Karel Honzík, Czechia, MWCircle yg via DXLD) Hi Karel, Hi everyone, A fascinating article indeed. I'd like to make a few comments: Steve mentions the quality of modulation. Well, I only know Cuban radio stations through their online presence and there is one characteristic of these streams: it seems Cuban sound-engineers have never heard of stereo balance. It is probably not just the online stream but the whole production chain that is affected. At the moment I am listening to Habana Radio at http://media.ohc.cu/habanaradio which is about the only station that streams with a modern technology. The right channel dominates. This is not much of a problem for speech, but for music it is catastrophic. I haven't listened to Radio Rebelde of late, but that one uses a technology that next to nobody in the world uses these days, and last time I listened the right channel was totally absent. Added to a low bitrate, you can imagine what it sounded like. Anyway, if one likes Cuban music, I can only recommend trying to find stations online. There is some fabulous music to be heard. But take care: not all online streams that claim they come from Cuba do really originate on the island. I once came across a stream supposed to come from there, but it turned out that it actually emanated from the city of Ajaccio, Corsica. Regarding "real" radio, I have never been able to pick up a Cuban on MW, but I check RHC on 6 MHz almost every morning, as it gives a good idea of what propagation will be like during the day. I use a simple PL-380 for that. Frequencies: 6000, 6060, 6100 and 6145/6165 (depending on the season). Reception is sometimes surprisingly good, especially on 6000 and 6060. Regarding jamming. In the morning R. Martí is also heard on 5980 and 6030 kHz, and it's jammed of course. However there are some things I can't explain. On some days RHC comes in very badly or not at all, and yet the jamming against Martí comes in like a ton of bricks. If the jamming signal reaches Europe, then it stands to good reason that broadcasts on neighbouring channels that originate more or less from the same place should as well. So I doubt (all) the jammers are located on the island of Cuba. Thinking in political terms, Venezuela might be a place to consider -- - but there are also other possibilities, on which I'd rather not comment, as I don't want to be accused of propagating conspiracy theories. Regards, (Rémy Friess, Germany, ibid.) ** EAST TURKISTAN. Hansjoerg Biener kirjoitti 4.2.2018 klo 20:08: China - When watching 1521 kHz for other reasons on 4 February, I noted a definite sign-on of Radio Kitaya in Russian. Before 1700 h UTC, I heard a mishmash with Arabic dominating. After 1700 h, I heard additional Russian, the characteristic audio design of CRI’s external service and off course Chinese music. Irrespective of the fading, China Radio International remained dominant. At 1800 h it ruled the channel. According to the recent frequency list of CRI Russian at http://russian.cri.cn/data/608/20171029/12691.html 1521 kHz is used 0800-1000 and 1900-0400 h Beijing Time (UTC+8). That would be 0000-0200 and 1100-2000 h UTC. This schedule was published before. I find it in my files at the time of the reactivation of the frequency on 1 November 2016. Unfortunately, this schedule does not match with my observations. The WRTH 2018 is not of much help, because a CRI schedule for 1521 kHz seems to be missing (Dr Hansjoerg Biener 4 February 2018, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Hansjörg, Please recheck page 463; you should find these: Russian Days Area kHz 0000-0200 daily CAs 1521uru 1100-2000 daily CAs 1521uru 1521 kHz was off the air for some weeks in autumn 2016, but otherwise it has been on with this schedule for a very long time. At some hour they change beam and are off between :57 - :00 minutes. 73, (Mauno Ritola, ibid.) Prof. Dr. Hansjoerg Biener - Neulichtenhofstr. 7 - DE-90461 Nuernberg Dear experts. first of all, my apologies to the WRTH team. They do list a schedule for 1521 kHz as Mauno Ritola pointed out. I was not careful enough when looking up the schedule. For the past week, I have been trying to back up my observation, at least when at home. Way before 1700, I have Arabic dominating the channel and no trace of China, but then obviously a carrier comes on. I seem to have mis-interpreted this as a sign on, while Mauno Ritola says it is to be interpreted as a beam-change. If you like, you can listen to two recordings. For your convenience, I do not send them with this e-mail. I have uploaded the file to my website. I have checked them and both loaded into my Chrome browser. Better reception of today http://www.biener-media.de/1521cn-websdr_recording_start_2018-02-08T16_57_39Z_1521.0kHz.wav Situation on Monday http://www.biener-media.de/1521cn-websdr_recording_start_2018-02-05T16_59_21Z_1521.0kHz.wav Kind regards, (Hj., Feb 8, ibid.) ** EGYPT. Reception of Radio Cairo with fair modulation on Jan 31 1700-1900 9974.6 ABS 250 kW / 005 deg to N/ME Turkish, fair to good 1800-1900 9540.0 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu Italian, fair to good 1900-2000 9570.0 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu German, good signal 2000-2115 9570.0*ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu French, instead of 9900 2115-2245 9570.0*ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu English instead of 9900 * open carrier / dead air only http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-radio-cairo-with-fair.html (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) ** EGYPT. Reception of Radio Cairo with fair modulation, Feb 4 2115-2245 on 9899.6 ABS 200 kW / 325 deg to WeEu English http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-radio-cairo-in-english.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 4-5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) Radio Cairo HFCC registered B-17: 9325 1800 2100 46,47NW ABS 250 241 218 Hausa EGY ERU 9420 0045 0200 13,15 ABS 250 241 218 Spa EGY ERU 9420 1900 2000 29 ABS 250 5 146 Rus EGY ERU 9480 0400 0600 48S,53 ABS 250 166 218 Swa EGY ERU 9540 1800 1900 28 ABS 200 325 211 Ita EGY ERU 9570 1900 2000 27,28 ABS 200 325 211 German EGY ERU 9575 1500 1600 28 ABS 250 315 216 Alban EGY ERU 9900 1700 1900 29,39N ABS 250 5 146 Turk EGY ERU 9900 2000 2115 27,28 ABS 200 325 211 French EGY ERU 9900 2115 2245 27,28 ABS 200 325 211 Eng EGY ERU 9975 1700 1900 29,39N ABS 250 5 146 Turk EGY ERU 12005 2215 0045 13,15 ABS 250 241 218 PorAra EGY ERU 12045 1400 1600 40NE ABS 250 61 218 Pashto EGY ERU 15285 1700 1900 48,53 ABZ 100 160 146 SomAmh EGY ERU 15290 1900 2030 46,47,52 ABZ 100 250 211 Eng EGY ERU 15450 1600 1700 48,53 ABZ 100 160 146 Afar EGY ERU 15630 1300 1400 40NE ABS 250 61 219 Pers EGY ERU 15660 1600 1800 48S,53 ABS 250 181 219 Swah EGY ERU (via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial, Bata, *0529-0640, 04-02, open with African songs, at 0550 female announcing the news program: “Radio Bata, en conexión con Radio Malabo, presenta todos los días el boletín informativo, será a las 7 horas la actualidad informativa de Radio Bata, en conexión con Radio Malabo”, more African songs, at 0600 news bulletin, female: “El programa de lucha contra el paludismo”, “El gobierno de la nación”, “Los miembros del ejecutivo se reunieron...”, at 0640 the bulletin news and the signal became inaudible. 15331 and for moments 25332 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. Good signal of VOBME 2 Dimtsi Hafash on Jan 30: from 0650 on 7181.6 ASM 100 kW / non-dir to EaAf Amharic http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/good-signal-of-vobme-2-dimtsi-hafash-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, January 30-31, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ERITREA. 7140.020, Asmara at S=9+20dB level at 0513 UT. 7181.5545 ERI Asmara much stronger than 7141, S=9+30dB at 0516 UT. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 7182, 23.01.18, 1317-1333, V of Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara, vernacular: Test tone+IS+ID, 23342. NB: Program started at 1330. Ethiopia started jamming at 1333 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia (Bulgaria). RX: Sony ICF2001D. ANT: Folded Marconi antenna own made, Jan DX Fanzine, published Feb 1, via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. In Doha Qatar remote SDR server observed Somalia, Ethiopians and Eritrea Asmara transmissions: 5949.998, ETH Tigray S=9+10dB 6030even, ETH Oromia S=9 6089.9995, ETH Amhara S=8-9 6109.996, ETH Fana S=8-9 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. /FRANCE, R. Deegaanka Soomaalida & Telediffusion d'Algerie on 5940 kHz, Feb 1 Radio Deegaanka Soomaalida Itoobiya from 1947 5940 JJG 100 kW / non-dir EaAf Somali, extended till 2200 UT Telediffusion d'Algerie 2000-2058 5940 ISS 500 kW / 160 deg CEAf Arabic Holy Quran px 2100-2158 5940 ISS 500 kW / 160 deg CEAf Arabic Nat. Chaine 1 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/rdeegaanka-soomaalida-telediffusion.html (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) Reception of Radio Deegaanka Soomaalida Itoobiya on Feb 2 from 1947 on 5940 JJG 100 kW / non-dir to EaAf Somali, fair to good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-radio-deegaanka-soomaalida.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 2-3, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 11600, Feb 1 at 1626, presumed Oromo, S4-S6 with considerable QRDRM jamming, as it`s the new Radio OMN, Oromia Media Network, 1628 into HoA music. Aoki shows this is an IRRS client, 15-16 M-F, 100 kW, 195 degrees via Sofia, BULGARIA. Ivo said this is also on // 11575 with 50 kW, but 11575 is only a JBA carrier here, far weaker than it should be, everything else being equal, with half the power (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11600, Radio OMN (Oromia Media Network), 1601 till tune out at 1611, Feb 4. Surprised to find no jamming of this frequency; good reception. Did jamming take a Sunday off? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. SECRETLAND, Reception of Radio OMN via SPL Secretbrod Feb 4 1600-1700 on 11575 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Oromo, weak signal 1600-1700 on 11600 SCB 100 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Oromo, poor+jamming http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-radio-omn-via-spl.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 4-5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. GERMANY, Reception of Voice of Oromo Liberation via MBR Nauen, Jan 31: 1700-1800 11810 NAU 100 kW / 144 deg EaAf Afar Oromo/Amharic Wed, good From 1705 jammed by Ethiopia with digital white noise http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-voice-of-oromo-liberation.html Reception of Voice of Oromo Liberation via MBR Nauen on Feb 4 1700-1730 11810 NAU 100 kW / 144 deg EaAf Afar Oromo Wed/Fri/Sun, good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-voice-of-oromo-liberation_5.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 4-5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Radio Voice of Independent Oromiya via TDF Issoudun Feb 4 1600-1630 17850 ISS 250 kW / 130 deg EaAf Oromo Sun, poor & weak http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/brb-radio-voice-of-independent-oromiya.html Reception of BRB Voice of Amara Radio via TDF Issoudun on Feb 4 1700-1800 15360 ISS 250 kW / 120 deg EaAf Amharic Mon/Wed/Sat/Sun good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/brb-voice-of-amara-radio-via-tdf.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 4-5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS. FIRS Port Stanley --- For the first time in my life, I logged FIRS Port Stanley (Puerto Argentino, Malvinas Is.) on 530 kHz, at my home in Northern Buenos Aires, today at 0144. Quite affected by the mess on 540 (R. Nacional Santa Fe clashing with some UNID station) but till managed to listen to some of the English chatter taken from the BBC World Service feed. To be honest, I'm surprised this station still exists, considering FM should be enough to cover the island. Does anyone know how much power do they use? (bionicpanda1, Feb 5, WOR iog via DXLD) Hi all, According to 2018 WRTH it is 15 kW - I have heard it occasionally on a remote rx in Brazil, but not very strong. 73 (Tony Magon VK2IC, ibid.) Used to be blocked by R. Madre, 530, 25/5 kW, 24h in Bs. As., still as in WRTH 2018; no longer on air, or partially? (gh, DXLD) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS [non]. Radio Atlántico del Sur --- I've continued to add posts to my blog about Radio Atlántico del Sur. Recent subjects include the reminiscences of a member of Radio Atlántico del Sur's staff and my attempts to reconstruct the exact schedule of all four of the Ascension transmitters in May 1982. Those posts and many more are at https://radioatlanticodelsur.blogspot.co.uk/ (Chris Greenway, Feb 5, WOR iog via DXLD) ** FIJI. 558, Radio Fiji One (presumed), 1211-1221, on Feb 3. A rare day with audio above threshold level; was already Sunday in Suva, so mostly religious songs with some chatting in language that sounded right to be Fiji; poor due to the normally strong San Francisco QRM from 560 (KSFO). My poor quality audio at http://goo.gl/sB62CK (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Scandinavian Weekend Radio (SWR) have removed the winter covers from their transmitters and will be on air tonight (2nd Feb) and tomorrow (3rd Feb) with their regular monthly broadcast from Virrat, central Finland. Programme details with freqs at: http://www.swradio.net/schedule.htm Frequencies: (times UT) 49 metres 2200 – 0600 (Fri-Sat) 6170 0600 – 0900 (Sat) 5980 0900 – 1500 (Sat) 6170 1500 – 1900 (Sat) 5980 1900 – 2200 (Sat) 6170 25 metres 2200 - 2300 (Fri) 11720 2300 – 0800 (Fri-Sat) 11690 0800 – 1400 (Sat) 11720 1400 – 1700 (Sat) 11690 1700 – 1900 (Sat) 11720 1900 – 2200 (Sat) 11690 (also locally on 1602 kHz and 94.9 FM) Postal address: SWR Hollitie 1025 FI-34930 LIEDENPOHJA Finland Posted by: (Alan Pennington, 1800 UT Feb 2, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) [and non]. 6170, Sat Feb 3 at 0140, not even a JBA carrier from Scandinavian Weekend Radio, supposed to be on now with its monthly broadcast. At least it is a clear frequency. // 11690 not expected either, and 25mb is almost dead except for weak 11520 WEWN; how is 49mb propagation? 6130 RRI is S9+30 talking about golf; 6180 has some Spanish, which is Iran at 0020-0320; I hope no one is mistaking that for Brasil in Portuguese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Very good signal of Radio France Inter[nationale] on Feb 5 0600-0700 on 9735 ISS 500 kW / 170 deg to WCAf English [ONLY English] http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/very-good-signal-of-radio-france-int-in.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 4-5, dxldyg via DXLD) Radio France International in French on wrong freq. 5935 kHz on Feb 2: 1800-1835 on 5935*ISS 500 kW / 055 deg to EaEu French, instead of registered at same time 9810 ISS 500 kW / 200 deg to NWAf French in B-17 schedule of RFI *1700-1800 on 5935 ISS 500 kW / 055 deg to EaEu Russian R.Taiwan International http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/radio-france-international-in-french-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 2-3, dxldyg via DXLD) ** FRANCE. The next transmission from Studio52 on shortwave for Europe run on 09.februar 2018 from 1500 to 1600 UT via Issoudun / France on 5970 kHz. Furter information see on the website: https://studio52radiogroup.jimdo.com Posted by: "Radio Strike" [Roberto Scaglione, Sicilia] Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Fair signal of New Shortwave Radio via Winsen, Jan 30 from 2155 on 3975 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/fair-signal-of-new-shortwave-radio-via.html Fair signal of New Shortwave Radio via Winsen, Feb 1: from 1400 on 6160 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/fair-signal-of-new-shortwave-radio-via_2.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #1056 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, Feb 2, 2018 via DXLD) Weak signal of New Shortwave Radio to Europe on Feb 5 1400-1600 on 6160 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/weak-signal-of-new-shortwave-radio-to.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. From the Isle of Music, February 4-10, 2018 For our second anniversary episode, our special guest will be singer/composer/guitarist William Vivanco. We will be conversing in English and Spanish as well as listening to some great music. Also, some Habana Abierta. 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in most of the Eastern Hemisphere (including parts of East Asia and Oceania) with 100 kW, Sunday 1500-1600 UT on SpaceLine, 9400, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK) 2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0100-0200 UT on WBCQ, 7490 from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9 PM EST in the US). This is running on a backup transmitter due to a recent fire. 3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UT and Saturday 1200-1300 UT on Channel 292, 6070 from Rohrbach, Germany (Bill Tilford, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Reception of Voice of Greece on 9420 kHz, Jan.30-31: from 0752 on 9420 AVL 170 kW / 323 deg to WeEu Greek*tx#3 from 1900 on 9420 AVL 170 kW / 323 deg to WeEu Greek tx#3 NO SIGNAL on 9935 AVL 100 kW / 285 deg to WeEu Greek tx#1 * news in Arabic/Serbian at 0752-0759 UT & off air at 0803! http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-voice-of-greece-on-9420.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, January 30-31, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GUAM. 7510, Feb 5 at 1431 as I am bandscanning for missing 7390 RNZI, here`s a song by YL, maybe religious, S9 but VP and vs splatter from 7490 WWCR. It`s KTWR in Korean, 1435 M&W discussion (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. [Re 18-05:] Commando Solo --- ``In that situation, their emergency broadcast service quickly sprang into action (2010) and they sent their plane to fly lazy circles above the ocean just off the coast of Haiti. Programming was broadcast on three channels; mediumwave 1030 kHz, and FM 92.5 & 104.1 MHz. The mediumwave antenna was a 264 ft wire hanging from the plane with this time a ¼ ton weight at the end. Programming from the 1030 kHz channel was heard by several listeners in Europe. As a part of the earthquake relief project, the American military delivered 50,000 portable radio receivers that gain their power from solar energy and the hand crank mechanism (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan Jan 28 via DXLD)`` This is incorrect. The transmission was on 1035 kHz, the former split channel 4VEH used. It was easily heard here in Clearwater, and was verified in person when the aircraft was briefly at MacDill Air Force Base, Tampa. My QSL includes the frequency and is signed by [then] Lt. Col. Jim Zambo, Pennsylvania Air National Guard, for a July 16, 1994 reception (Terry Krueger, FL, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. 690 KHNR Honolulu new slogan: “The Answer AM 690 94.3 FM”. (IRCA) 760 KGU Honolulu has new slogan: “The Reason AM 760-95.1 6-27-17FM”. (IRCA) 1040 KLHT Honolulu granted STA extension, temporary tower. (NRC) 1060 KIPA Hilo has changed format from Hawaiian to Adult Contemporary, with new slogan “The Beach” (IRCA) 1240 KEWE Kahului has changed to Ethnic format from Contemporary Christian. 1500 KHKA Honolulu STA extended from temporary tower, 5 kW day & night U1. (NRC) (via Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 15000, WWVH at 1933 with female time announcements 15 seconds before each minute – Very weak but audible under WWV Feb 4 – I really long for the days when reception of this one was a beacon for conditions to the South Pacific and I would start looking for the Solomon Islands on 31 meters (9 MHz) and the Cook Islands on 25 meters (11 MHz) and Tahiti on 19 meters (15 MHz). (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) 9545, 11760, 15170/11825 (gh) ** HONG KONG. 6215-USB. VRC Marine Rescue R. (ute) 1030 just caught end of English ID by M as I tuned in. Unfortunately I wasn’t recording. Readable signal much like VMW on 6230 above. Heard another transmission at 1233-1234 with M sounding like weather with mention of numbers and possibly “visibility”. Too weak at this time. 31 Jan. Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** INDIA. 5010, AIR Thiruvananthapuram // 5040, AIR Jeypore, 1327+, Feb 1. Again with live coverage of the India vs RSA cricket match from South Africa; in English and Hindi; mostly fair reception both frequencies (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 5040, AIR Jeypore, 1159+, Feb 4. Phone-in segment with callers discussing the India vs RSA cricket match; in English and Hindi; mostly fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5040, AIR Jeypore, at 1530, on Feb 6. The strongest AIR regional station heard; Delhi audio feed; ID and into the "news at nine"; police searching for terrorists in the attack outside a hospital in Srinagar, etc.; very readable. My audio at http://goo.gl/93wcTm (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In the job market? AIR Jeypore might be hiring ... "The station is having three transmitters like 50 kW short wave transmitter, 100 kW medium wave transmitter and a 1 kW FM transmitter ... "According to reports, many of the departments are lying vacant like there is a need of one Station Director, 14 transmitter executives, eight musicians, two composers and two assistant station directors, etc." http://www.dailypioneer.com/state-editions/bhubaneswar/air-jeypore-station-reels-under-staff-crunch.html (Kim Elliott, VA, Feb 6, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) ** INDIA. 7550, AIR (Bengaluru) at 2200 // 9445 with a woman with “All India Radio News” to 2210 and ID and a woman with “Mid-day Rendezvous” - Fair to Good Feb 5 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipole, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** INDIA. TRAI RELEASES RECOMMENDATIONS ON ISSUES RELATED TO DIGITAL RADIO BROADCASTING IN INDIA http://www.trai.gov.in/notific ations/press-release/trai-releases-recommendations-issues-related-digital-radio-broadcasting Direct link to download TRAI recommendation on digital radio http://trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/Recommendation_Digital_Radio_01022018.pdf ----- (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Feb 1, dx_india yg via DXLD) = Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Chapter 2 is of particular interest, CHAPTER 2 DIGITAL RADIO BROADCASTING TECHNOLOGIES AND INTERNATIONAL SCENARIO --- comparing the four different systems, and two of them split into two subsystems. But most of the 48 pages tries to justify converting VHF to some form of DRB (gh, DXLD) DRM ** INDONESIA. 3325, Pro 1 RRI Palangkaraya, 1443+, Jan 30. Paul McCartney & Stevie Wonder - "Ebony and Ivory," Billy Joel - "Just the Way You Are," Diana Ross & Lionel Richie - "Endless Love," Stevie Wonder - "I Just Called To Say I Love You" (unusual segment!); in Bahasa Indonesia; 1504 "RRI Palangkaraya" ID and ad for iPhone; fair. Still is the only active Indonesian SW station (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. 133.0 W, Galaxy-15, 3.789-H/11936 Msps. EWTN Shortwave English/Spanish with stereo feeds (Right channel SS, Left in EE) // to SW feed on 11520 with “Register Radio” talx re Pope Francis’s “apologies” for the sex abuse scandal in Chile. Into a ‘prayer’ from Father Joseph that was essentially brow beating women who are considering an abortion. Then EWTN ID. 59% and steady, 0020- 0030 28/Jan (Ken Zichi, MI, for Satellite logs: Manhattan DJ-1997 FTA receiver +96" movable dish, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [and non]. SiriusXM Canada is currently Free on iOS, Web and More Until February 7th IC By Gary Ng February 2, 2018 http://www.iphoneincanada.ca/news/siriusxm-free-ios-web-feb-7/ SiriusXM is currently offering free streaming for all listeners until February 7th, applicable across all platforms such as the web, iOS, Android and more. What makes this trial great is no registration is required—just load up their website http://www.siriusxm.ca/ or app and you’ll be able to listen to 200+ channels for free, including concerts. SiriusXM Currently Free on iOS, Web and More Until February 7th If you want to check out SiriusXM, they’re offering free listening until February 7th. Listening in the UK on a laptop so widely available. Posted by: (Mike Terry, Feb 3, dxldyg via DXLD) They have only one purely classical music channel! (gh, DXLD) ** IRAN. 11675, Feb 3 at 1358, S9-S6, YL in Russian keeps talking thru hourtop 1402+ and fading. That`s because it`s hourbottom for VIRI at 1320-1420, 500 kW, 322 degrees from Sirjan, so carrying on well to far America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also FINLAND [and non] ** IRELAND. Irish News --- Future of RTE 252 kHz 2 February, 2018 === RTE 1 on 252 kHz LW have a date to Close on 30th June 2019. Power using and for sometime as many has said that the power is not as good as it used to be, it is at 150 kW (Max), & 60 kW at night. Until 2014 power was 300 / 100 kW, and in the old days of Atlantic 252 power was 500 / 100 kW. Anyone remember last year it was set to close on 1st May 2017 but with protests to keep 252 was granted and will continue for another 2 years (Adam Birchenall via FB group, Feb MW News via DXLD) ** IRELAND [non]. Yes Glenn, Radio OMN Oromia Media Network is IRRS client, ID at 1659 on 11575 SCB. This IRRS Italian Radio Relay Service and, etc. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Feb 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See ETHIOPIA [non] IRSS/Nexus, on air 7290 kHz, 1900-1940, 02-02, on air with good signal, commencing with non stop music, at 1910 non stop comments and news in English, but nothing from European Music Radio (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Feb 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nothing at 1900 on 7290 via Romania (Ivo Ivanov, 2017 UT Feb 2, ibid.) ** IRELAND [non]. ROMANIA, IRRS with non stop music via ROU RadioCom on Sat, Feb 3 0900-1000 on 9510*SAF 100 kW / 300 deg to WeEu, weak, nothing of EMR! * co-ch same 9510 URU 050 kW / non-dir to EaAs Mongolian PBS Xinjiang http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/irrs-with-non-stop-music-instead-of-emr.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 2-3, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ITALY. A new low power Italian local station [Media Radio Castellana] from Castel San Pietro Terme (Bologna province). Active on 1098 kHz; 711 kHz authorized but not on the air for the time being. (Fabrizio Magrone, Feb MW News via DXLD) Is that a real authorisation? (Mauno Ritola, ibid.) Yes, Mauno, it's an official authorisation. In these weeks the Ministry for Communications is releasing the first authorisations, so in the coming future the MW spectrum in Italy is going to change. I'll keep you all informed about these new stations (Fabrizio Magrone, ibid.) ** JAPAN [non-log]. 5006, HFD Radio Station JG2XA. For a long time now (since early last year?) this frequency has been silent of their CW broadcasting. Recently noted 8006 is also silent now of CW. Must not be on SW any longer? Seems their former website is also no longer active. In the past these low powered stations (200 watts) carried out the HF-Doppler (HFD) Project and were heard almost daily by me here on the west coast. So the project has been completed or they ran out of funds? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. 5960, FRANCE. NHK World Radio Japan, 2/3, 0320-0400, in Japanese. I had suspected that I was listening to a simulcast of a TV show when tuning in to this frequnecy. A close look at NHK's web site shows that it could possibly be the highly acclaimed TV variety show entitled "AKB48 Show!", produced by NHK in Japan and has aired weekly since Oct. 2013. The show features songs, comedy skits, and short dramas performed by AKB48 and sister groups. It apparently airs 12 noon local time. But, is this accurate? Maybe an even deeper search needed for a program schedule? I can't find anything yet. SIO 333 (Ronald Sives, South Plainfield, NJ, ETON field radio and 66 ft. random wire, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) 5960, FRANCE, NHK World/R Japan (via French relay Issoudun) at 0430. J-Pop tunes and, as I began to report this, Bonnie Tyler. Japanese girl presenter in Japanese. Excellent reception on Satellit and outdoor Slinky antenna. Feb. 5 (Rick Barton, AZ, Unless otherwise stated, all with 750 Satellit, "Trans Oceanic" Royal R-7000, HQ-200, and my RS SW-2000629. Antennas - various outdoor wires and the 9' "tomato stake" vertical, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KIRITIMATI. 846, 0800, CHRISTMAS ISLAND, Radio Kiribati continues with slightly irregular schedule on measured 845.996 kHz. Missing 2 & 3 January, 8 & 9 January but with solid signals when monitored on 1/1 and 10/1 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, WinRadio G33DDC and AOR7030+ receivers, EWEs to North, Central & South America, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Voice of (North) Korea - Shortwave? Good Day from Boston! Has anyone been able to catch the Voice of Korea on shortwave? I am on the East Coast of the US, so I would imagine it's not an easy catch. What time/frequency show I try to get something in English? Thank you! D (B-T-M, Feb 4, dxldyg via DXLD) [gh cited entire English sked from below on WORLD OF RADIO 1916:] KOREA DPR, The B17 schedule for Voice of Korea shows the time in GMT (UTC), the language, the frequencies in kilohertz (kHz) and the target area of the broadcast. Korean-language programs are from the domestic Korea Central Broadcasting Station (KCBS) and Pyongyang Broadcasting Station (PBS). First the schedule sorted by time, then by language. 0330 Chinese 13650, 15105 Southeast Asia 0330 Spanish 11735, 13760, 15180 Central & South America 0330 Korean (PBS) 7220, 9445, 9730 Northeast Asia 0430 English 7220, 9445, 9730 Northeast Asia <<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 0430 English 11735, 13760, 15180 Central & South America 0430 French 13650, 15105 Southeast Asia 0530 Chinese 7220, 9445, 9730 Northeast Asia 0530 English 13650, 15105 Southeast Asia 0530 Spanish 11735, 13760, 15180 Central & South America 0630 Chinese 13650, 15105 Southeast Asia 0630 English 7140, 9445, 9730 Northeast Asia <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 0630 French 11735, 13760, 15180 Central & South America 0730 Japanese 621, 3250, 7580, 9650 Japan 0730 Russian 9875, 11735 Far East 0730 Russian 13760, 15245 Europe 0730 Korean (PBS) 7220, 9445 Northeast Asia 0830 Chinese 7220, 9435 Northeast Asia 0830 Japanese 621, 3250, 7580, 9650 Japan 0830 Russian 9875, 11735 Far East 0830 Russian 13760, 15245 Europe 0930 Japanese 621, 3250, 6070, 7580, 9650 Japan 0930 Korean (KCBS) 7220, 9435 Northeast China 0930 Korean (PBS) 13760, 15425 Europe 0930 Korean (PBS) 9875, 11735 Far East 1030 English 6170, 9435 Central & South America<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 1030 English 6185, 9850 Southeast Asia 1030 Japanese 621, 3250, 6070, 7580, 9650 Japan 1030 Korean (PBS) 7220, 9445 Northeast Asia 1130 Chinese 7220, 9435 China 1130 French 6170, 9435 Central & South America 1130 French 6185, 9850 Southeast Asia 1130 Japanese 621, 3250, 6070, 7580, 9650 Japan 1230 Japanese 621, 3250, 6070, 7580, 9650 Japan 1230 Korean (KCBS) 6185, 9850 Southeast Asia 1230 Korean (KCBS) 6170, 9435 Central & South America 1230 Korean (PBS) 7220, 9445 Northeast Asia 1330 Chinese 6185, 9850 Southeast Asia 1330 English 9435, 11710 North America <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 1330 English 7570, 12015 Western Europe 1330 Korean (PBS) 6170, 9425 Europe 1430 French 9435, 11710 North America 1430 French 7570, 12015 Western Europe 1430 Korean (KCBS) 6185, 9850 Southeast Asia 1430 Russian 6170, 9425 Europe 1530 Arabic 9890, 11645 Near & Middle East; North Africa 1530 English 9435, 11710 North America <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< 1530 English 7570, 12015 Western Europe 1530 Russian 6170, 9425 Europe 1630 English 9890, 11645 Near & Middle East; North Africa 1630 French 9435, 11710 North America 1630 French 7570, 12015 Western Europe 1630 German 6170, 9425 Western Europe 1730 Arabic 9890, 11645 Near & Middle East; North Africa 1730 Korean (KCBS) 9435, 11710 North America 1730 Korean (KCBS) 7570, 12015 Western Europe 1730 Russian 6170, 9425 Europe 1830 English 7570, 12015 Western Europe 1830 French 7210, 11910 Southern Africa 1830 French 9875, 11635 Near & Middle East; North Africa 1830 German 6170, 9425 Europe 1930 English 7210, 11910 Southern Africa 1930 English 9875, 11635 Near & Middle East; North Africa 1930 German 6170, 9425 Europe 1930 Spanish 7570, 12015 Western Europe 2030 French 7570, 12015 Western Europe 2030 Korean (KCBS) 7210, 11910 Southern Africa 2030 Korean (KCBS) 6170, 9425 Europe 2030 Korean (KCBS) 9875, 11635 Near & Middle East; North Africa 2130 Chinese 7235, 9435 Northeast Asia 2130 Chinese 9875, 11635 China 2130 English 7570, 12015 Western Europe 2130 Japanese 621, 3250, 7580, 9650 Japan 2230 Chinese 7235, 9435 Northeast China 2230 Chinese 9875, 11635 China 2230 Japanese 621, 3250, 7580, 9650 Japan 2230 Spanish 7570, 12015 Western Europe 2330 Japanese 621, 3250, 7580, 9650 Japan 2330 Korean (KCBS) 7235, 9435 Northeast China 2330 Korean (KCBS) 9875, 11635 China 2330 Korean (KCBS) 7570, 12015 Western Europe (Arnulf Pointek, Berlin, Germany, B17 via Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH. Re: [WOR] Monitoring Voice of Korea & clandestine Voice of the People Voice of Korea is still operating on shortwave. I monitored the bands from 1115 to 1156 UT according to the actual VOK schedule (see post of Wolfgang Bueschel): receiver: PerseusSDR antenna: Bony-Whip, long-wire (20 meters SW to NE) location: outside Pyeoungchang, South Korea Voice of Korea broadcast segments 1030-1125 621 kHz Japanese at 1115: very poor signal with typical NK military music // 6070, 7580 (?), 9650 3250 kHz Japanese at 1115: no signal detected 6070 kHz Japanese at 1116: very poor signal with NK military music // 621, 7580 (?), 9650 7580 kHz Japanese at 1116: only very strong North Korean noise jamming against whom...? 9650 kHz Japanese at 1117: very poor signal, heavy interference from CRI Cantonese on 9645 kHz (-1157) // 621, 6070, 7580 (?), 9650 7220 kHz Korean at 1118: not heard, only Voice of Vietnam in Mandarin (-1128) 9435 kHz Korean at 1118: not heard, too much noise 6185 kHz English at 1119: strong humming, something in the background that may sound like English 9850 kHz English at 1119: poor to very poor signal, nothing to identify 6170 kHz English at 1122: nothing heard of VOK 9435 kHz English at 1125: ID "This is the Voice of Korea" followed by English programmes schedule Voice of Korea broadcast segments 1130-1225 621 kHz Japanese at 1136: very poor signal with typical NK military music (song played after song of General Kim Il- sung) // 6070 3250 kHz Japanese at 1129: no signal detected recheck at 1145: still no signal [see below] 6070 kHz Japanese at 1136: very poor signal with NK military music // 621 7580 kHz Japanese at 1129: VOK ID heard twice, a strong signal followed by ID in Japanese and a second VOK ID with NK noise jamming in the background, approx. 2-3 seconds ahead of foreground signal, NK noise jamming against... whom...? recheck at 1152: very strong VOK signal of Japanese service; nothing heard in the background, maybe because of strong foreground VOK signal, still jamming 9650 kHz Japanese at 1152: same music as on all VOK frequencies at that time, later Japanese // 621, 6070, 7580 kHz, weak signal 7220 kHz Chinese at 1135: song of General Kim Il-sung, followed by ID in Mandarin, followed by second NK military song. poor to fair signal 9445 kHz Chinese please note that the Chinese service was heard on 9445 kHz, not 9435 kHz, 9435 carries French at 1130-1225! at 1135: poor signal, same as // 7220 kHz 6185 kHz French at 1129: strong humming, ID-signal of VOK, followed by nat. anthem at 1130 and their "standard songs" // 9850 kHz, recheck at 1150: good signal, another NK military song 9850 kHz French at 1129: ID-signal of VOK, followed by nat. anthem at 1130 and their "standard songs" // 6185 kHz, poor to very poor signal 6170 kHz French at 1128: ID-signal of VOK, followed by nat. anthem at 1130 and their "standard songs" // 9435 kHz 9435 kHz French at 1128: same as // 6170 kHz, both 6170 & 9435 kHz // 6185 & 9850 kHz, Chinese heard on 9445 not 9435 Each programme of VOK starts with the national anthem, an identification in the respective language, followed by two NK military songs (first song of General Kim Il-sung and the one that usually follows it [I've forgotten its name] - you may find them under Youtube searching for "North Korea Propaganda"). After that I also monitored other services on the Korean peninsula 3480 kHz Voice of the People at 1139: very strong signal, nearly no jamming audible 3910 kHz Voice of the People at 1140: very strong signal, only slight NK noise jamming 3930 kHz Voice of the People at 1140: strong signal, a bit more NK noise jamming than on // 3910 4450 kHz Voice of the People at 1141: weak to fair signal, moderate NK noise jamming 5830 khz ??? at 1142: strong to very strong NK noise jamming, but against whom...? frequency change of another clandestine broadcasting to NK? Korean Central Broadcasting Station from Pyongyang monitored between 1155 and 1156: 2850 kHz at 1155: fair to good signal, but humming, NK "folk" song (no military song) // 6100, 9665, 11680 6100 kHz at 1155: poor to fair signal, but humming, NK "folk" song (no military song) // 2850, 9665,11680 9665 kHz at 1156: very poor signal but NK music audible, QRM Radio Taiwan International on 9660 kHz (no Chinese jamming) // 2850, 6100, 11680 11680 kHz at 1156: poor sognal, same programme as // 2850, 6100, 9665 As many other signals in East Asia were weaker than usual, it might be from propagation issues lasting until around 1145 UT. Later many signals became stronger except NK stations. Due to the cold winter weather here on the Korean peninsula NK may suffer from power shortages. 73, (Manfred R. Reiff, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST Hi Manfred, Korea, on 3250, has been off the air for a while now. Not sure just how many days gone, but for sure is silent now during my normal monitoring times (1115+). (Ron Howard, California, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH/SOUTH. 6250, on Jan 26, at 1229. More diplomacy in action? No jamming from the north! Sign on of Echo of Unification with distinctive IS; stronger than Echo of Hope - Voice of Hope. My audio at http://goo.gl/xAx6SJ Very nice to finally hear EOU's IS for the first time, as normally the jamming from the north totally covers it! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks very much to Amano-san for the following translation of the EOU ID heard on my recording. So the fairly new frequency of 3945 is not announced yet. http://radio.chobi.net/DX/bbs/?res:2898#3026 "Hello! Ron-san, Hiroyuki and everyone. Below, a nice catch! Ron-san. KOREA NORTH/SOUTH. 6250, on Jan 26, at 1229. EOU/VOH. Ron-san's audio - http://goo.gl/xAx6SJ *** This audio commentary *** 00:00 Female : "Tong-il-e meali bangsong-ibnida." (This is EOU) 00:04 IS : "Ulideul-eun Hana" 00:26 Female : "Tong-il-e meali bangsong-ibnida." (This is EOU) 00:29 IS : "Ulideul-eun Hana" 00:53 Time Signal 00:56 Opening Music : "Ulideul-eun Hana" *Reference - https://youtu.be/ytCHWTTyJks Song name is "Ulideul-eun Hana". English translation is "We Are one" or "Korea is one". 02:03 "Yeoleobun, annyeonghasibnikka?" (Hello, everyone!) 02:06 "Tong-il-ui meali bangsong-eun" (EOU is) 02:08 Broadcast Schedule: "Everyday, 0700-0900, 1300-1500, 2100-2300 PST)" 02:17 Freq SKD on SW : "6250 kHz, 5905 kHz and 3970 kHz." 02:25 Freq SKD on FM : "97.c" [sic] 02:26* *Back female voice is VOH. I listened to this recording and I understood that I had not announced 3945 kHz yet. TNX! Ron-san. Thank you always from California!" (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 5920, Voice of Freedom, 1506, Jan 31. Ends their audio; keeps transmitter on till starting audio again about 1552; strong carrier. This is their daily format of not turning off transmitter (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. [Re 18-05]. Why does FEBC need a third MW transmitter site? The HLKX transmitter site has been increasingly compromised by urban development in the area surrounding it, and FEBC Korea have been searching for a new site for several years (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. Hello Mr. Anatoly Klepov, Thank you for submitting your reception. I hope you are enjoying the new year in your home in Russia. Please accept the eQSL below for what you do. God bless you! Sincerely, Chung Soo Kim, Manager of International Relations Far East Broadcasting Company - Korea Mail: MPO Box 88, Seoul 04067, South Korea Loc.: 56 Wausan-ro, Mapo-gu, Seoul 04067 Frequency: 1566 kHz Language: Russian Name: Anatoly Klepov Date: 29 January 2018 Time: 01:31 - 02:00 (KST) (KST-9 = UTC) (Anatoly Klepov, Moscow, Russia, QSL World, Rus DX Feb 4 via DXLD) January 5, 2018 received from HLAZ electronic confirmation of the report for 2016. I once again asked (and previously asked last year) about printed QSL. But apparently there will be no answer. Dear Dmitry, Thank you so much for your reception reports! I regret that the first two files are in the audible and the last part of the third. Below is a QSL Card for the third file. Thank you again! Chung Soo QSL Card for Reception Report Frequency: 1566 kHz Language: ? Name: Dmitry Elagin Date: 23 November 2016 Time: 03:30 a.m. KST (KST-9 = UTC) Thank you for your reception report! (Dmitry Elagin, Saratov, Russia / "deneb-radio-dx", ibid.) ** KOSOVO [and non]. Hi Glenn and everyone, For your information: The ARRL has just recognized Kosovo (Z6) as a DXCC entity. Z60A is now active on the ham bands. 14205 has been an active SSB frequency for them. For the most part, the seem to prefer CW and have been spotted on 160, 80, 40 and 20 Meters. Finally Guinea-Bissau (J52EC) and Comoros (D68I) have been also active. Best place to find them generally has been 14200 +/- 10 kHz. (Art Jackson KA5DWI/7, NC Arizona, Feb 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. an observation to be credited to Alexander Busneag: Dengê Kurdistanê no longer exists, it has been renamed Dengê Welat, effective 1 Oct, so together with the complete change of their transmission arrangement. They simply pulled the plug on the old denge-kurdistane.com website. The new http://denge-welat.org so far contains a live stream only. {also going at 0205 UT Feb 5 before SW starts -- gh} What remained unchanged is the Hotbird satellite transmission arrangement. Reminds of the previous Dengê Mezopotamya -> Dengê Kurdistanê metamorphosis in 2012, on which they also changed the shortwave frequency but left the Hotbird transmission untouched. Back then it was the result of the closure of Roj TV. Now they had been attached to Swedish-licenced Newroz TV, which closed down in last year for completely unclear reasons (or has there been reporting of this story? I have not seen any). Seems that the relaunch of the radio service was related to this again (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Jan 31, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Google translate renders Denge Welat (without any accents) from Kurmanji Kurdish into English as ``vote country``. But reverse arrows make it ``welatê deng bidin``. If you start with the accented: dengê welat you get ``voice country``. welatê dengê = country voice (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) ARMENIA, Dengê Welat is a new name of former Dengê Kurdistan, Feb 2 [like Kai Ludwig said above] from 1100 7520 ERV 300 kW / 192 deg to WeAs Kurdish, very good signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/denge-welat-is-new-name-of-former-denge.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 2, dxldyg via DXLD) Dengê Welat via Yerevan, Feb 3: from 1616 on 1395 ERV 500 kW / ??? deg to WeAs Kurdish, very good from 1616 on 7320 ERV 300 kW / 280 deg to WeAs Kurdish, very good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/very-good-signal-of-voice-of-armenia.html (Ivo Ivanov, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) 1616 was tune-in? ** KUWAIT. Good signal of Radio Kuwait General Service, Feb 2 from 0624 on 15515 KBD 250 kW / 059 deg to EaAs Arabic. For a second day Feb 1-2 no signal of MOI Radio Kuwait: 0800-1000 on 7250vKBD 250 kW / non-dir to WeAs Persian http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/good-signal-of-radio-kuwait-general-sce.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 1-2, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. KYRGYZ REPUBLIC, 4010.148 kHz, Birinchi R, from Krasnaya Rechka, Bishkek, at 1625 UT on Feb 4. S=7 signal. Nothing on 5130v kHz TWR AFG, despite but rather army digital 5 kHz wide signal bursts seen/heard there. 73 wb [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb 4), WOR iog via DXLD) ** LIBERIA [and non]. Abandoned Radio Stations - 4 [continued from USA: WJCR/WJIE] --- ELWA, VOA Let’s cross over to Africa now and we pick up the story of three shortwave stations that were at one stage in active usage, though they were subsequently abandoned. These three stations were located on the west coast of Africa in Liberia and Sao Thome [sic]. In 1952, work began on a jungle property 11 miles south of the national capital Monrovia for the installation of a new shortwave station that would be operated under the aegis of SIM, the Sudan Interior Mission. The new radio station ELWA (EL for Liberia and WA for West Africa, though subsequently and informally Eternal Love for West Africa) was inaugurated in a special ceremony on January 18, 1954, though their first transmitter was a 1 kW mediumwave unit on 710 kHz, not shortwave. One year later (1955) the first shortwave transmitter was taken into regular service, a 10 kW Gates unit Model HF10A. Then during the next dozen years, an additional three shortwave transmitters were installed, 1 @ 10 kW and 2 @ 50 kW. In the meantime, the American government took out a lease for a VOA relay station on 1300 acres of land near Careysburg, some 10 miles distant from both the city of Monrovia and from the now already established ELWA. While the station was under construction, a transportable station with 3 shortwave transmitters at 50 kW each was flown in from the United States and taken into service in 1959. At its full level of operation, VOA Monrovia contained 2 Gates transmitters at 50 kW and 6 GE transmitters at 250 kW. Once the main station was operational, the transportable station was removed and reinstalled at the large VOA station at Point Poro in the Philippines. In August 1990 during the civil war insurrection, both ELWA Monrovia and VOA Careysburg were attacked and destroyed. Foreign staff had already been evacuated. Some 4,000 Africans fled onto the VOA compound, hoping for protection from the murderous onslaughts. The most massive destruction at the VOA station occurred on September 17 (1990), when the station was attacked and looted, and in reality, just totally destroyed. Meanwhile over at the ELWA compound, many Africans there also fled onto the property as refugees seeking protection. However, insurgent militia took over the station and forced the remaining local staff to broadcast a (false) message stating that the government had been overthrown. As a result, government forces attacked the station with artillery shells. Even though ELWA was virtually totally destroyed in the 1990 insurgency, yet the station was partially rebuilt three years later with a 10 kW Collins transmitter that had been rebuilt by Armstrong Electronics in New York and that was on air at only 5 kW. Subsequently, a more than 44 year old 50 kW from the original KGEI in San Francisco was also installed at ELWA. However give one more year (1996), and insurgents again attacked the station, once more totally destroying it. Now in the meantime, the Voice of America sought a new and safe location for the installation of another new shortwave station, and a location on a peninsula just 3 miles south of the coastal city Sao Thome, on the island of Sao Thome was offered to them. Interestingly, this location was itself at the time an abandoned shortwave station which had previously been in use by Radio Nacional for a period of some sixty years. At the time of the initial VOA inspection in 1992, the 10 kW shortwave transmitter (4807.5 kHz) was still in location, though it was obviously no longer usable. Radio broadcasts from this new VOA station on Sao Thome Island began in May 1993. Now what about the two damaged and destroyed shortwave stations located near Monrovia in Liberia? The ex-VOA station is now in use as an American military base for the training of local army personnel in Liberia. The main highway to the military encampment, Camp Sandee S. Ware, is no more than a sloppy mud track through an undeveloped country area. The ELWA station was twice destroyed (1990 & 1996) and twice somewhat temporarily abandoned. However to their credit, the station has again been rebuilt and it is now on the air shortwave with a 1 kW transmitter on 6050 kHz, together with a modern hospital facility and a village of modern staff housing (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan Feb 4 via DXLD) 6050, 0556, ELWA Monrovia now signing on 30 minutes later. Tuning signal & opening announcements, religious programs, poor at best 28/1 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, WinRadio G33DDC and AOR7030+ receivers, EWEs to North, Central & South America, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. Weak/fair signal of RTM Wai/Limbang FM on Feb 4 from 1445 on 11665 KAJ 100 kW / 093 deg to SEAs Malaysian: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/weakfair-signal-of-rtm-wailimbang-fm-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 4-5, dxldyg via DXLD) FYI ``from 1445 on 11665 KAJ 100 kW / 093 deg to SEAs Malaysian:`` https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPcPAxZPRI0&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1erafEw6vWk&feature=youtu.be <<<<<<<< blocked (Ron Howard, Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. 5995, RTV du Mali at 2213 in French with a man with talk with mentions of “Bamako” and “Mali” – Great signal low level audio best pulled out in USB Feb 4 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this week [including DTV] Clearing the Metro Permit Backlog The December 19 IFT meeting had the most interesting set of radio concession award resolutions I've seen in a long time. Not only were the markets large cities, but they were also being handled in a comparative style to clear a years-long backlog of applications for permits. The IFT tackled Zacatecas, Los Mochis, Hermosillo and Cancún at the time. We still don't know all of who got radio stations, particularly in Zacatecas and Cancún. It appears likely, judging from what we know about Adolfo Cuevas Teja and the fact his concurring opinions are our only clue at this time, that these will be new broadcasters. Here's a wrap-up of those: Zacatecas: New broadcaster?; Universidad Autónoma de Durango. 3 applications not awarded Los Mochis: New broadcaster, maybe?; Universidad Autónoma de Durango; Universidad Autónoma de Sinaloa; Sinaloa, Arte y Gloria Hermosillo: Secretaría de Cultura; Universidad Autónoma de Durango; Democracia y Deliberación Desértica; Organiden Cancún: 2 new broadcasters This new strategy may point the way forward for new types of comparative management of permit applications, especially in major cities. In some of these areas, awards could not have been made without 400 kHz station spacing. A case in point is Culiacán. In April 2016, the IFT shelved five separate resolutions to award radio stations in Sinaloa's capital. The applicants in Culiacán were Fundación Garza Limón; Fundación Ecoforestal; Valores y Tradiciones de mi Tierra; Universidad Autónoma de Durango; and Suma Radio. We don't know much about two of these applicants, the third makes sense (the award of this station would now give it coverage of all three of Sinaloa's large metros, as they already had a Mazatlán outlet and they just got one in Mochis), and the other two are known wolves. Other large metros with multiple unresolved permit applications include: Morelia. I put Morelia here because one of the permit applications here is related to one that was granted in Hermosillo. When Radio Educación, then under the SEP, applied for its first repeaters, it selected Mérida, Hermosillo and Morelia for its first sites. Mérida was awarded at the time. It took until now to get Hermosillo. Morelia would complete the mix. Querétaro. It might be an open question whether there's even room here for more stations, but there were at least two applicants for a station here. I'm sure there are more. With 400 kHz spacing, some of these can finally be handled. There are also a number of applications in Tijuana, where there are available frequencies the IFT is for some reason reluctant to award (such as 97.7). (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, Feb 3, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) So if you've been reading me lately, you'll know that I've been baffled by the rise of Grupo Acustik more than almost anything I've ever seen in Mexican broadcasting. I've been attempting to grapple with the question, "How do you go from a pirate radio station and a questionable social wolf in Cancún to Brozo, Javier Solórzano, and a national network in two years?". The firepower of their on-air talent is extremely high. In all of this, I've struggled to put the final piece of the puzzle into place. A project of this size in Mexican broadcasting requires not only financial resources, but connections. Especially political ones. We'd heard reporting that connected Acustik to a former PRI governor of Quintana Roo, Joaquín Hendricks Díaz. A column today out of SDP Noticias https://www.sdpnoticias.com/nacional/2018/02/04/brozo-y-solorzano-en-el-canal-de-tv-en-el-que-moreno-valle-lava-dinero-con-el-rojo-arandia might have some of these answers. It's from Federico Arreola. The title is "Brozo y Solórzano en el canal de TV en el que Moreno Valle lava dinero con El Rojo Arandia". Now, I'm not expecting you to know who those last two people are, so we're going to break this one down nice and slow. The first part of this dropped from Reforma today (summary; Reforma has a paywall). http://www.elpopular.mx/2018/02/04/local/lavo-juan-vergara-dinero-a-rafael-moreno-valle-175784 This story connects Juan Vergara, the former Quintana Roo state treasurer, to Rafael Moreno Valle, who was the PAN governor of Puebla between 2010 and 2016 and comes from one of Mexico's most important political families. According to the report, Vergara, who was arrested this past Thursday, created a network of 17 businesses in order to launder funds from the governments of Chiapas, Puebla, Quintana Roo and Veracruz. Among these operations was México Travel Channel, a cable network with programming about tourism. In return for Moreno Valle funding the campaign of PAN-PRD gubernatorial candidate Carlos Joaquín González two years ago, Vergara was named the state treasurer, according to a businessman who was deposed by the PGR. Additionally, Mimenza mentioned that some of the Vergara businesses were partly owned by Verónica Acacio, a justice on the Quintana Roo state supreme court, as well as Joaquín Hendricks Díaz and his son, Edgar Hendricks Rubio. Until Vergara's arrest, he was looking to be a candidate for public office under the PAN-PRD-MC banner in Quintana Roo this summer. You might recognize México Travel Channel. Its parent company, LiveNetwork, was acquired by Acustik last year. Arreola extends this reporting and points out that the strategic investment made to acquire LiveNetwork was made by Roberto Arandia Gutiérrez. Arandia did pretty well when Rafael Moreno Valle was the governor of Puebla. (There are links in the SDP Noticias piece to additional stories in this area.) Not only that, but Arandia is also a strategic investor in Upscale Media Group, which owns La Neta Noticias. Upscale has cozied really quickly to Acustik and is rebroadcasting programming such as Informe Brozo. According to Arreola, its director is another morenovallista, Benjamín Paz. Moreno Valle had attempted for years to put himself in the public limelight in order to pave the way for a potential presidential bid. That did not happen, but in order for Ricardo Anaya, the Por México al Frente candidate, to keep Moreno Valle on his side, he handed over the Puebla gubernatorial candidacy to Moreno Valle's wife, Martha Erika Alonso. There's yet another tidbit in this article that raises eyebrows about the personalities Acustik could still potentially attract. Some of Acustik's advisors have allegedly made noise that they are in talks, which have progressed, with Carmen Aristegui, to bring one of the country's most popular journalists to Acustik and La Neta. This would be a massive coup for a media empire that two years ago did not exist. Essentially, the allegations raised this weekend note that behind the acquisition of LiveNetwork and México Travel Channel (now Acustik TV), the creation of Acustik at a time when there was political business to be made in Quintana Roo, and the expensive national expansion that the company has embarked on in the last year, there are most definitely political dealings and money laundering. It certainly explains how a company like Acustik has been able to sustain such tremendous growth (Raymie, Feb 4, ibid.) The number of IFT-4 sign-ons is yet to seriously take off, but XHPTLA- FM 104.7 has taken flight in San Andrés Tuxtla, Veracruz. Programs began on Friday, February 2, for this 6 kW station. Mezkla FM is just the third commercial radio station in the Tuxtlas. Meanwhile, tower installation has begun for the other Grupo Vox (La Voz del Viento) radio station from IFT-4, XHPTAC-FM 94.5 Tacámbaro, Mich. https://www.facebook.com/arturo.herreracornejo/posts/1949991171983148 (Raymie, Feb 5, ibid.) At long last, some clarity on the permit "MX groups" I mentioned above. It appears as if in Zacatecas, only the UAD station was approved, and in Cancún, they almost didn't give anyone a station. In Mochis, only three stations are being authorized. Additionally, the IFT will not select social wolves here, saying that if the social applicant is related to commercial stations, it will not be continued. Zacatecas The IFT shut the door on the fifth mystery applicant, which was Arnoldo Rodríguez Zermeño. Sheesh! Los Mochis The applicant turned away was Música de Mis Recuerdos, A.C. (I believe this is related to Impulso a la Música Mexicana.) Cancún The oldest application was to La Voz del Padre Pío, which apparently was a wolf with connections even to commercial stations. The next oldest application is a private school: Instituto Americano Leonardo da Vinci, http://www.davinci.edu.mx/ S.C. Some of the reticence to assign more stations came from IFT-4, where Cancún showed up as one of the most hotly contested cities. There was a ton of discussion on this, and da Vinci actually came out of the fray with a frequency — the only one they awarded! (Raymie, Feb 6, ibid.) The Tecnoradio saga lit up again this week with a new dispute between the IFT and one of the country's most well-known journalists. Joaquín López-Dóriga accused the IFT of providing his name http://www.proceso.com.mx/521487/revive-el-escandalo-de-tecnoradio-por-presunto-citatorio-lopez-doriga-y-abogado-de-televisa and that of El Universal columnist Javier Tejado Dondé as witnesses, even providing the PGR with their work addresses. (Tejado, you might recall, wrote the column that revealed a ton of information on Tecnoradio in May.) López-Dóriga warned that the IFT was going after journalists instead of those who were responsible for the actual fraud. ——— Ever wanted to see the view from a brand new FM radio tower atop a high mountain? Well, you're in luck... https://www.facebook.com/radiotexmexfm/videos/2047673455506707/ ——— Too small for its own post, but the Rate Cultural y Educativa station in Puerto Vallarta will broadcast on 88.7 MHz. Last edited by Raymie; 02-08-2018 at 04:52 PM (Raymie, Feb 7, ibid.) How do you celebrate 50 years of broadcasting? Of course, you change the channel number! http://www.multimedios.com/programas/cantadisimo/canal-12-convierte-1.html IFT-6 is over now, and that means television virtual channel 6 is up for grabs. Multimedios Televisión is taking it right away, abandoning its longtime 12 on February 24, the 50th anniversary of XHAW signing on the air. There are a couple of practical reasons. The first has to do with the distribution of commercial TV stations. The double-digit numbers seem to be becoming a no-man's-land with a high concentration of public and noncommercial broadcasters, plus a handful of locals. Moving to 6 puts MMTV right in the center of the action especially in these new markets and precludes new broadcasters, like Telsusa (with which MM will overlap in Puebla), from taking that high-demand dial position. The other has to do with IFT-6 in its own way. Multimedios will be entering the Durango market, which has a local 12, and its new VHF TV station in Mexico City may have partial overlap with the signals of the Hidalgo state network, also using VC 12 (Raymie, Feb 8, ibid.) Another Pleno meeting, more to digest: http://www.ift.org.mx/conocenos/pleno/sesiones/iii-ordinaria-del-pleno-31-de-enero-de-2018 Foro TV's national advance continues with Morelia (XHMOW), Guadalajara (XHG) and Puebla (XHP), as well as San Luis Potosí (XHSLT). Morelia is the first C5 + Foro combo. SLP is the first C5 + Gala + Foro combo. The Culiacán forest is cleared. Nearly two years after they were tabled at the IFT, Culiacán's permit backlog is resolved. As might have been predicted, the wolves were kept at bay, and only the Universidad Autónoma de Durango was cleared. They now have 7 stations and coverage in all three major cities in the state. Other new stations included Municipio de Tlatlaya, México (public FM); Consuelo Valle Hernández (Mapastepec, Chiapas; social FM); Enlace Social Akumal, A.C. (Akumal, Q. Roo; social FM); Fundación Cultural para la Sociedad Mexicana, A.C. (Guasave, Sinaloa; Zamora, Michoacán; all social FM); and Fundación Radiodifusoras Capital Jalisco, A.C. (Culiacán, Sin.; social FM). [tagline:] Este programa es público, ajeno a cualquier partido político. Queda prohibido el uso para fines distintos a los establecidos en el programa (Raymie, Feb 9, ibid.) ** MONACO. Hi Glen[n]. I wanted to let you know Dick saunders passed in January. He was one of TWR`s Montecarlo evangelists, broadcasting to Europe on MW during the 1980s and on SW until 2004 according to the source: http://www.countiesuk.org/latest-news/he-lived-to-bring-souls-to-christ-remembering-dick-saunders-1930-2018 He was still on TWR in 2012 as far as I recall but it may have been reruns. Bye for now, (Joseph McTaggart, Scotland, Feb 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) obit ** MOROCCO [and non]. 936, SNRT-Berber channel, Agadir, noted today with a very strong signal. It's a sign they reactivated this outlet, but I can't say when exactly. Then I checked // 711v El A(a)iún, but all I could find was what I think was Egypt and also Iran. Maybe SNRT El Aiún was there, but they're often at a much reduced modulation level, so it's easy to miss when the channel is offering other stations. Other active SNRT outlets are 612, 595 and 540 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, via Mediumwave.Info via Feb MW News via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5985, Myanmar Radio, 1253, on Wednesday, Jan 31. Language lesson "Say It In English"; a nervous "Tom" meets his future in-laws and knocks over a coffee table, etc.; mostly fair. Also on Jan 31, VOA special English program "Top Technology Stories of 2017," at 1544; audio streaming and transcript at http://goo.gl/kqKfFF A repeat of last Wed. show. 5985, Myanmar Radio, 1530, Feb 4. Intro to segment in English; "Good evening dear listeners. This is Myanmar Radio. . . . our final transmission for today, radiating on 5985 kHz., 50.13 meters, 576 kHz, 520 meters and 594 kHz, 505 meters. Now you can hear the news"; today's activities of Vice President Henry Van Thio, etc. and the weather. My audio of ID at http://goo.gl/mpwCJF 5985, Myanmar Radio, 1212-1225, Feb 5. The Monday edition of the language lesson "Say It In English"; for the first time today they are recycling these series of dialogues; first heard today's repeated show back on Aug 7, 2017. Will be repeated again this Wednesday. In DXLD 17-32: "5985, Myanmar Radio, on Aug 7, tuned in at 1215, to hear the Monday edition of the English language lesson ("Say It In English") already in progress; program will be repeated on Wed.; dialogue between "Mr. Harris" and "Tom," who wants Tom to take the morning 7:00 train to Manchester; "The meeting is very important. Don't miss the train"; Tom works for a company that "makes some of the finest clocks and watches in the world," but he is "never on time for anything"; he missed the train and then rushes to take a taxi to the airport to catch the 8:00 plane to Manchester; 1227 end of "Say It In English"; fairly readable . . . (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST)" ** NEW ZEALAND. 7390, Feb 5 at 1427, no signal from RNZI. So I start looking for it from 5900 upwards with special attention to other known/previous RNZI frequencies. Nothing on 6, 7 MHz bands, no 9700, but finally I find it: 9890 at 1441 Feb 5, poor S5-S9, conversation with author, appropriate S Pacific accents, mentions ``All-Blacks in the summer``, an NZ clue, also says anti-depressants did not help him. Reads a bit from opus at closing, barely time to mention that he`s an Aussie, 1500 timesignal and news starting with terrorist in Europe; 1505 promo a world-music show on RNZ-National ID in passing, and then usual post-news weather forecasts. So what`s it doing on 9890? Well, that is the latest QSY for the 11-13 UT segment, so maybe failed to make the switch, or is it deliberate? Yesterday I had noticed 7390 was weaker than usual. No, sked shows still supposed to be on 7390: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/listen [and non] 7390, Feb 6 at 1450, RNZI/RNZP back on proper frequency with music, 1500 5+1 TS and RNZ News; yesterday was on 9890 by mistake not having QSYed from there at 1259. Now there is still a JBA carrier on 9890, presumably CNR 13, 1100-1805 in Uyghur, 100 kW, 286 degrees from Lingshi 725 site, as in NDXC/Aoki (VOK starts Arabic at 1530, maybe more of a challenge to overcome). On Feb 5 I did not hear any CCI to NZ (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. Reception of Voice of Nigeria in English via Abuja Feb 1-2 0800-0900 on 7254.9 AJA 250 kW / 248 deg WCAf English, weak to fair http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-voice-of-nigeria-in.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 1-2, dxldyg via DXLD) 15120/DRM, V of Nigeria with English feature programming including a LONG discussion about drug abuse in Nigeria. In well, mostly 18-20 dB S/N ratio and steady audio decode. This is pretty much the ONLY DRM signal I’ve found that provides steady decode! I’ll have to try Romania later to see if that one works in a quiet location! Using Wiener time and frequency estimation for the channel, and ‘modified metrics QRM rejection’ in the DReaM software. 1810-1830 27/Jan SDRplay, +SDRuno, +DReaM software +randomwire antenna (Ken Zichi, Pt Hope MI2, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. 11530, Feb 2 at 1930, R. Herwa International via WRMI is on again, usual good signal. This broadcast has been quite reliable, unlike the morning one at 0700, let alone the apparently canceled R. Biafra. Ivo Ivanov reported: ``Radio Herwa International via TDF and WRMI, Jan 21 1930-2000 on 9580 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri, fair 1930-2000 on 11530 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri, weak Radio Herwa International - no signal on Jan 25-27 0700-0730 on 13710 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri Also nothing 11530 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg to WeAf of WRMI tx#9 Radio Herwa International, inactive at present as of Jan 29 0700-0730 on 11530 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri 0700-0730 on 13710 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri Radio Herwa International [not inactive as of Jan 29] 1930-2000 on 9580 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri 1930-2000 on 11530 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri Radio Biafra [only entry for this in his clandestine schedule] 0500-0530 on 7240 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg to WeAf English [sic]`` Need to recheck whether Biafra is still on 9955 WRMI/`RAE` webcast at 0500, after 9955 is off SW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Herwa International via WRMI and TDF, Jan 31: 1930-2000 on 9580 ISS 100 kW / 170 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri, fair 1930-2000 on 11530 YFR 100 kW / 087 deg to WeAf Hausa/Kanuri, weak http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-radio-herwa-international.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, January 30-31, dxldyg via DXLD) 11530, Feb 3 at 1930 and 1956 chex, no signal from R. Herwa International via WRMI, which I had said was reliable. Now what? Takes Saturdays off or sporadic? Will it show on Sunday Feb 4? 11530, Feb 4 at 1947 check, R. Herwa International again missing from WRMI, so now neither Saturday nor Sunday; how about Monday? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11530, Mon Feb 5 at 1945 check, and Tue Feb 6 at 1932, R. Herwa International is back on via WRMI, usual good signal, after absence on Feb 3-4, Sat-Sun, so intentionally M-F only, or just sporadic? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) {active Sat Feb 10} ** NIGERIA [non]. Re: English on IPOB Radio Nigeria Hausa Service [16-17, 15110 via Bulgaria] ``The first approximately 10 minutes of the broadcast yesterday (Sunday, 21 January) had a discussion / interview (with an echo like a poor Internet Skype connection) in English! No signature tune starting the broadcast on this day; in fact, the broadcast started in mid-sentence. During this English segment, the speaker mentioned the incorrect 7 to 8 p.m. time of the broadcast. And at the end of the segment, the speaker said "I will now hand you over to our radio station." It was then that the signature tune began followed by the usual Hausa programming.`` There was also a brief English segment on yesterday's broadcast (31 January) in the audible second half hour (-- Richard Langley, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORFOLK ISLAND. R. Norfolk, VL2NI, 1566 KHz noted from KiwiSDR site in Bay of Islands NZ on 31 Jan 0751 tune to past 0835 with relay of RNZ National Service. Heavy adjacent channel splash QRM from a local NZ station on 1557 getting worse after 0800. Folk tune with female vocalist, African highlife music and at 0758 announcement by woman that RNZI would be closing down and please retune to 9765 kHz. Then followed the familiar Kiwi bird [sic] IS until 0800 when time pips and announcement by man "RNZ news at 9" (NZ Summer Time is UT +13). Then followed a short news and weather bulletin and a feature program that sounded like a talk show of some type. VL2NI relays RNZ National Service (but for some reason this satellite feed uses RNZI ID and IS at 0800) during the local evening hours 1630 to 0700 (0500 to 1930 UT). Darlene Buffet (station manager) confirms the RNZ all-night relay. WRTH says transmitter is 100 watts but other sources say 50 watts - in any case, not a powerhouse! Studio is in the Island Library building in Burnt Pine, near the center of the island (Bruce Churchill, CA, Feb 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s not a Kiwi but a Bellbird, a common misassumption (gh, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Pirate: RADIO MUSEUM STATION: 6770.06/AM, 2330- 2335+, 1/31; Big Band music into The Red Skelton Show. Occasional peak above the QRN; first audio heard from this in several months (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -- ---, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. Friday, February 2, 2018, 2333, 6940 usb. Clever Name Radio with modern rock music. s7. (Will-MD) Thursday, February 1, 2018, 1951, 6930 usb. Music by U2, "With or without you." ID at 2219, "Yeti Radio International - rock for old jocks." Heavy hum at 2221 and into sweep tone and more heavy AC noise, followed by bits and pieces of songs, and back into U2 at 2224. Very good signal, s5/s7. (Will-MD) Sunday, January 28, 2018, 1951, 6925.7 am. Yeah Man Radio. Music by Steely Dan, "Deacon Blues." ID at 1952, "live on a Sunday." Fair to good signal, s7, with some utility interference. (Will-MD) (Larry Will, 28723 Ridge Road, Mount Airy, MD 21771, radio@zappahead.net Icom IC-R75 with G5RV, Tecsun PL-880, random wires, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. unID, 6940-USB, Feb 3 at 0146, ``Pretty Woman`` at S9+10, but interrupted, cut off air at 0148*. I would have guessed Wolverine Radio, and earlier in the 0100 hour no pirates were audible. NO logs of this in HFU, so probably only briefly on air (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But another log at almost same time and frequency which was IDed: 6940-USB, PIRATE (No. Am.) Clever Name Radio, 0140, 2/3/18. Rock music segued, eventually an ID by usual synth female voice. Good (Mark Taylor, Madison, Wisconsin, Perseus, Airspy HF+, SDRPlay RSP1; ICOM R75, Tecsun PL 880, and various other portables; 42 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, W6LVP loop, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) ** NORWAY. Better reception tonight of R. Northern Star (2300 UT 1/2) on 1611 kHz. Full ID and frequencies plus sung IDs. Seems to be above the noise tonight. Still weak but slightly easier to copy. 73s (Nick. Buxton. Rank. UK. Sony ICF2001D, MW loops. Sent from Samsung Mobile on O2, Feb 1, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) IIRC that`s Norway: nothing about this on pp 307-308 of WRTH 2018, but the only 1611 kHz listing in the Eu/Af/ME MW frequency roster on page 529 is: 0.18 kW NOR Bergen Kringkaster, Bergen Erdal. O, since also has a SW frequency 5895, it qualifies as INTERNATIONAL, on page 483 with a full entry, a.k.a. The Ferry for religious programs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Once again, searching the entire Feb issue of Mediumwave News, including the latest Sheigra DX-pedition report, hundreds of logs of US MW stations by all members, from OK there are only a couple, i.e. of KOKC 1520 (Feb MW News via DXLD) ** OMAN. Sultanate of: 15140, R Sultanate of Oman with English language lesson to learn Arabic, and mention of the 20th annual Muscat festival “Right here on the nation’s station” non ID and into pop music. English “Don’t go away” promo, and then into Arabic. 3+5454 but weakening to 25342+ by ToH, 1445-1510 28/Jan, Eton Field radio, +randomwire antenna (Ken Zichi, Pt Hope MI2, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) According to amamzingoman.net, it`s almost over: ``Muscat Festival – Oman’s annual cultural and entertainment event. Muscat Festival 2018 dates have been announced by Muscat Municipality, this mega event will be held from 18 January 2018 to 10 February 2018 – for 24 Days`` (gh, DXLD) 15140, Radio Sultanate of Oman at 1403 in Arabic with Middle Eastern male vocals to 1407 and a man with news with Middle Eastern music bridges and sound bytes – Fair Feb 3 – This is supposed to be their English hour (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) ** PALAU. Updated schedules of World Harvest Radio Inter T8WH Angel 3 & T8WH Angel 4: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/very-good-signal-of-world-harvest-radio.html Updated schedule of World Harvest Radio International T8WH Angel 5 is follows http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/fairgood-signal-of-of-world-harvest.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 4-5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. BTW - NBC Madang (3260) off the air Feb 3 (1059+) BTW - NBC Madang (3260) off the air again on Feb 4, at 1144 check BTW - NBC Madang (3260) off the air again on Feb 5, at 1142 & 1200 checking. 3260, NBC Madang, 1211*, Feb 6. Back on the air today after a short absence (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) cf BOUGAINVILLE ** PERU. 4775, PERÚ. Radio Tarma - Tarma, 0002-0201*, Jan 31. man announcer with Spanish language talk and station IDs with plenty of OA music. Music program continued to 0158 when a man gave nice station ID and frequency announcements closing broadcast. Instrumental music followed until carrier terminated. Poor at first but steadily improving to fair (Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) ** PERU. 4810, PERÚ. Radio Logos - Chazuta, 1055-1137, Jan 31. man announcer with religious talks followed by choir vocals. Another talk but fading by tune out. Fair signal but marred by loud pulsating noise; needed LSB while tuning. Again, *1102-1121 Feb 1, on a little later this morning with group singing at opening followed by a man announcer in Spanish with station ID and shouting followed by a female vocal selection. Poor (Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B and an Eton E1, 500-foot wire essentially north for the RX-340 and 250-foot wire essentially northeast for the R-8B and a whip antenna for the E1, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. Frequency changes of Radio Veritas Asia Jan 31 1330-1357 NF 11730 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg to SoAs Zomi-Chin, ex 11870 1400-1427 NF 11730 PUG 250 kW / 300 deg to SoAs Bengali, ex 11880 to avoid CRI Eng 1430-1457 on 11730 PUG 250 kW / 280 deg to SoAs Telugu, but announcing wrong 11870 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/frequency-changes-of-radio-veritas-asia.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, January 30-31, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES. 9795, FEBC (presumed the one) at 2300, long talk by man in listed Mon (Burma Thailand). Soft vocal music by male vocalist, talk by man then more vocal music. Clearly some traditional Asian music, not usual Pop-Pap played by other stations in the region. Good- Feb. 4 (Rick Barton, AZ, Unless otherwise stated, all with 750 Satellit, "Trans Oceanic" Royal R-7000, HQ-200, and my RS SW-2000629. Antennas - various outdoor wires and the 9' "tomato stake" vertical, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PUERTO RICO [non]. Satellite-Television: 99.0 W, Galaxy-16, 3.811- H/8030 Msps. Fox Puerto Rico WSJX (PR1 of four streams) with ”Person of Interest”. Good episode where they try to recover an autographed baseball that was part of a money laundering scheme, and the con man gets out-conned by his girlfriend! English programming and ads for the most part, but a lot of Spanish language ads too, including dubbed audio ones for mail order products as well as PSAs about the Zika virus and safety measures to take. 63% and steady, QPSK/H.264 720p HD. 0400-0500 28/Jan (Ken Zichi, MI, for Satellite logs: Manhattan DJ-1997 FTA receiver +96" movable dish, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. 6130, R. Romania International, 1/29 [UT Mon], 0115-0145, in English. The History Show discussed architecture in Bucharest which had gone through several stages of development beginning in the mid 19th century, and the Cooking Show featured an extraordinary recipe for tripe soup. SIO 311 (+) 1/30 [UT Tue], 0100-0155; Business Club, Romanian folk music, and the segment People and Places were just part of this particular show. SINFO 43333 (+) 1/31 [UT Wed], 0100-0140, also in English; In Society Today, reporter Christine Lescu reveals a Romanian foundation is running a campaign concerning the reserved parking spaces for people with disabilities. 44333 (+) 2/1 [UT Thu], 0135-0150; the latest edition of Partners in a Changing World. SIO 322 (+) 2/2 [UT Fri], 0115-0145; the segment "The Future Starts Today" explores the fake news phenomenon which has grown exponentially in recent years, mainly online and in social media. SIO 312 (+) 2/3, [UT Sat] 0105-0145; World of Culture examines a new stage in the activity of the National Dance Center of Bucharest as it prepares to move to a new location in 2019. Music feature as always is "All That Jazz". 44333 (Ronald Sives, South Plainfield, NJ, ETON field radio and 66 ft. random wire, NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) It would be helpful when citing particular programs to mention the day of the week, which I have had to insert (gh, DXLD) DRM mode RRI Galbeni Romanian at 0505 UT --- RRI Romanian 05-06 UT noted 6145 kHz 10.6 kHz wideband in DRM mode! Scheduled in AM instead from Galbeni site, also \\ 7220 kHz Galbeni in AM mode (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. UTILITY, Reception of Rostov Volmet on Feb 3 from 1326 on 11297 USB mode in Russian, good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-rostov-volmet-on-feb3.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 3-4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Fair to good signal of GTRK Adygeya - Adygeyan Radio Feb 5 1800-1900 6000 ARM 100 kW / 188 deg CAs Adygeyan/Arabic/Turkish Mon *co-ch same 6000 BEI 100 kW / non-dir EAs Chinese CNR-1 till 1805 UT http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/fair-to-good-signal-of-gtrk-adygeya.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 7345, Radio Sakha, via Yakutsk. Feb 3 (Saturday), noted on the air before 0300; at 0500 time pips and ended audio, with transmitter off 0503. Weekend schedule 0000-0500, while weekdays is 0300-0500 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 9996-CW, Feb 4 at 1417, time pips, prolonged at ToM, and some of them doubled, of course from RWM Taldom near Moskva. WRTH 2018 page 669 has no `program schedule` for this, but IIRC the CW IDs occur at 9 past the hour, too late for them now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAO TOME. See LIBERIA [and non]: VOA ** SAUDI ARABIA. Reception of BSKSA Radio Riyadh Holy Quran on Jan 30 from 0710 on 9719.9 RIY 100 kW / non-dir to N/ME Arabic, fair/good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-bsksa-radio-riyadh-holy.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, January 30-31, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SERBIA. 14186.9-USB, Feb 3 at 1510, YT1A working simplex in contest, 59/28s to contacts. QRZ.com page with his grandkids and tennas: YT1A Serbia flag Serbia Vladan Curlic Cerska 14 36000 Kraljevo PAK:561126 Serbia There`s a hook over the first C of Curlic; is that Romanized Serbian, or Croatian? Why not re-spell it Churlitz if non-Cyrillic? Of course, I was looking for Bouvet; still nothing, nor pileups just above 14187. Their website has no update since last one I quoted over 48 hours ago, not yet landed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Karel Honzík, Czechia, replies: Glenn, in fact it is "Churlitch", see: http://callbook.yu1srs.org.rs/search/YT1A VLADAN CURLIC --- with a hook over the first C and an acute accent over the last C. The IPA rendering of the latter is a /t/ plus a symbol resembling the figure /6/, which corresponds to the Russian ``shch``, so in that rendering the name would become ``Churlitshch``. Since he left the acute off the final c on his qrz.com page, I assumed it was a mere unaccented c = ts or tz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5020, 1923, SIBC now opening later, carrier & music on abruptly, announcements in English & Pidgin 1928, theme bamboo pipes and “news from SIBC, The Voice of the Nation” at 1930, fair but fading 26/1 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, WinRadio G33DDC and AOR7030+ receivers, EWEs to North, Central & South America, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** SOMALILAND. 7119.997, at 0510 UT S=8 LOW MODULATION. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 1485, Radio Today 1485. Marks Park (Jo'burg). Feb 5, 2018 Monday. 0057-0502. Nothing heard at 0057, 0252, 0324 and 0414, no carrier so no overnight BBCWS relay. As of 0502 there is a carrier with lots of clicking noises, so presumably a transmitter fault. Jo’burg sunrise 0346. Came back on air at 0708, just after I sent my last post. They say their studio in Parktown North has been without electricity since Saturday, Feb 3, and gave a full story of the drama trying to contact Jo'burg City Power to report the problem (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg RSA. Drake R8E, Sony ICF2001D. WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. U.S.A.: 5935, WWCR Nashville TN (presumed); 2331-2338+, 1/30; Bro. HyStairical, the recently incarcerated Overfondler, said he was in the “Pits of Hell” for 31 days & talked about his iniquities, going astray & repenting his sins. Sounded like he’s rationalized it all away; very low-key for the usually bombastic B.S. S30+ (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST 9980, WWRB, Manchester TN (presumed); 2208-2215+, 1/28; Olde gravel- voice Bro. HyStairical the Overfondler telling me how God is going to come for me; ran a long series of post-incarceration, supportive phone calls; all obviously in denial. One was sobbing & one said that Satan took over the airwaves after he went off the air. (What a total load of crap!) SIO=3+53+ +++ [same], 2026-2033+, 1/31; Post-incarceration Bro. Not-so- HyStairical, the Last Days Overfondler reading supportive letters (Wonder how many of the other kind he’s gotten?) 2030 abruptly segued into anotherhuxter & 2030:20 abruptly segued into huxtermusic; 2032 back to B.S. talking about Passover. B.S. definitely sounds a tad subdued since his time in “the Pits of Hell”. S20+ (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Are you sure this is new, contemporary to latest gaoling? And 9980 is WWCR, NOT WWRB! (gh, DXLD) 7490, WBCQ, with Bible bumper ragging on 'false messangers' like yes, wait for it, Brother Swear, who he did not mention by name but mentioned the 'peodophile in South Carolina on that filthy farm' so I'm PRETTY sure that is who he was talking about! This was a Yahweh preacher; programme name is "The Remnant Ministry" and it is NOT the Las Vegas church, but can be found at http://theremnantministry.com At ToH WBCQ ID, and the signal is getting really rough. They are supposed to go into Brother Sparechange the Overfeeler at 2300 and it SOUNDS like this may be him, but the reception has pretty much tanked, and I couldn't say for sure it was him even! Started out 3+4443+ down to 22331+ by end. 2230-2304 29/Jan, SPR-4 +ANC-4 +randomwire antenna (Ken Zichi, Pt Hope MI2, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) 9980, WWCR with a NEW Overcomer -- BS is talking in circles around his recent incarceration, and repeating his begging from yesterday to ‘send me a million dollars, “I don’t need it; all I need is to be able to speak the truth” but send it anyway. Mentioning an email he got from the Philippines begging him to continue to broadcast, etc. He also talked about ‘Satan’s legal system’ and similar jabs against the civil authorities. He even broke into ‘chanting’ some religious song lyrics. This was a PARTICULARLY disjointed and rambling bit. Hard to summarize beyond saying ‘woe is me rambling’. He did talk about something that will add another name for him though. He talked about ‘like a snare!’ --- Brother Snare. It has a ring about it, no? 3+5443+ kind of weak, and deepish fades down to S2 making this less than ‘armchair’. 1510-1525 28/Jan SDRplay, +SDRuno, +randomwire antenna (Ken Zichi, Pt Hope MI2, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) 9980, WWCR, Recheck and there was a WWCR ‘drop in’ ID at the ToH, and then back to more Brother Snare talking about his tribulations and mentioning that last year someone gave him a million dollars and he spent it within a few weeks to buy air time and didn’t buy himself a new car or anything. Then a BUNCH of people who called in and left a message some of them actually CRYING about how he’s been treated after he sexually assaulted little girls. Weep for the world if people think he’s being ‘persecuted’ because of his beliefs and not because of what he did. Sigh. Just before I tuned out, he said that his disappearance from the airwaves would be one of the signs of the end times. But this isn’t about him! ;) 3+5444 getting better, but still occasional deep fades where the band noise picks up. 1558-1628 28/Jan SDRplay, +SDRuno +randomwire antenna (Ken Zichi, Pt Hope MI2, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) 97.0 W, Galaxy-19, 11.966-H/22000 Msps, Overcomer Ministry with a CURRENT Brother Snare talking about, yes, this is the end times, and his recent “tribulation” (Which he can’t seem to pronounce correctly, but still) and mentioning that ‘for 31 days I’ve been isolated’ and how he only had God to talk to, and that now God has restored him a ‘limited voice’. His ranting is a bit disjointed, as if the recent incarceration has thrown him a bit. And he broke for some recorded music at 2349. At 2353 he’s back to ranting. The reports were that he had a bond hearing late this week as noted in the TipSheet news, but that he’d returned to jail. Obviously, he’s made bail and accepted the conditions (which included no contact with anyone under 18, and electronic tether, forfeiting his passport and having no contact with the victims. Apparently he wasn’t released immediately because they had to work out the details of his tether, but he got out on Thursday, and was in the radio room Saturday at least. Now inquiring minds want to know. He was arrested on December 18, and if you add 31 to that, you come to January 18th, but his hearing was on the 24th and he was released on the 25th. If he can’t count, why should we believe what he says on more speculative stuff? Asking for a friend! ;) 49% good with occasional blip. QPSK/MPEG2 2340-2355 27/Jan (Ken Zichi, MI, for Satellite logs: Manhattan DJ-1997 FTA receiver +96" movable dish, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) ** SPAIN. 15500, REE, 1551, Feb 4 (Sunday). Weekend "Futbol" coverage; very excited announcers; good reception, with strong signal (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now at 1940 UT on Febr 4: all f o u r REE Noblejas transmissions on air, Football live coverage on 9690, 11685 (suffers by ute signal pips here in Germany), 15390, and 15500 kHz. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. 15105, Feb 1 at 1621, S3-S5 in unknown language, with heavy flutter. Listed as TWR Manzini in Kirundi, 1557-1627 M-F, 100 kW, 13 degrees. Would not expect such flutter on a trans-equatorial path (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. February edition of Communication arrived this morning, as usual a wonderfully informative read, thanks to all involved. I noted with interest that Tony Rogers had logged what he presumed to be Taiwan on 1557kHz, i can confirm that it was most definitely Taiwan as I have received it here in Faversham for the last three afternoons from around 15:00UTC with at times amazing peaks,and managed to match it to their Mandarin on-line Stream. I am wondering if they have increased their power, listed in WRTH 2018 as 300 kW. 73's (John, Faversham Kent UK, Hoad, JRC NRD-525 + Wellbrook ALA1530LF, Feb 2, BDXC_UK yg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 15870, 0115, Sound of Hope, fair/gd in Chinese, // 15940, 15970 best, 16250 best [sic], 31/12. 16100, 0520, Sound of Hope, gd in Chinese, // 16300, 17440, 5/1 (Phil van de Paverd Coopers Beach, New Zealand, R-71E, AOR-7030+, GR31DDC. Flag antennae N/NE, NE, 200m longwire, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [and non]. Radio Taiwan to cancel SW broadcasts? The French team of RTI has announced the end of the SW transmissions from March 25. They didn't mention if this decision will affect other languages but it seems that French and Spanish will be affected. Regards (Jean- Michel Aubier, France, Feb 3, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD Seems like they've been downsizing for years: see this article from 2013, for example: https://www.theepochtimes.com/taiwan-responds-on-shortwave-tower-takedown_147703.html It could be a continuation of same. You can always check http://french.rti.org.tw/ --- or in the other languages you can link to from the top of the page) to see if they say anything more about any schedule changes. I note that there were schedule changes in 2015 around this same time of the year (as listed on the French Facebook page, https://www.facebook.com/RTI.francais/ Therefore, this may be nothing more than usual end of March changes to a Spring Schedule. If you hear (or see) any more about it, be sure to let us know ASAP. Thanks! (Shawn From Flushing NY Fahrer, Feb 4, WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4765even kHz. Tajik Radio from Dushanbe Yangi-Yul TJ_1 programm is back on their usual TX equipment. S=7 here in southern Germany, female native singer folk song at 1630 UT on Feb 4. Since Dec 5, 2017, had been on very odd frequency of reserve TX unit on 4765.061 kHz, 61 Hz away on reserve TX. Test broadcast on sign-on time noted always with test tone procedure alignment of 971 Hertz tone, either side peaks visible [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb 4, WOR iog via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. Re: TAJIKISTAN [TIBET CHINA target], 7493 kHz, Jan 30 at 2328-2330+ UT, JBA carrier, enough to make a het if one listen carefully against BS via WBCQ 7489.94 kHz. It's Voice of Tibet via TAJIKISTAN, quite coincidentally here, as reported by Ivo Ivanov: 2300-2305 7493 DB 100 kW 131 deg to CeAs Tibetan 2305-2330 7487 DB 100 kW 131 deg to CeAs Tibetan * 7493 on Jan 31, wb. 2330-2335 7493 DB 100 kW 131 deg to CeAs Tibetan * 7493 on Jan 31, wb. 2335-2345 7487 DB 100 kW 131 deg to CeAs Tibetan # 7487 on Jan 31, wb. 2345-2400 7488 DB 100 kW 131 deg to CeAs Tibetan $ 7488 on Jan 31, wb. Very subject to change in the exact switchover times, as not on 7487 kHz when first heard, or to a totally different group of frequencies. ChiCom jamming could stay on 7490 kHz for these, but no close het heard to WBCQ; nor 7485 kHz, 7495 kHz, depending on proximity. (Glenn Hauser-OK-USA, hcdx and dxld Jan 30) * S=9+10dB signal from Dushanbe-TJK in Tibetan observed in Doha Qatar at 2315 UT, China mainland jammer stn stayed still on 7485-7489 kHz. # S=9+10dB signal from Dushanbe-TJK in Tibetan observed in Doha Qatar at 2335 UT. $ S=9+10dB signal from Dushanbe-TJK in Tibetan observed in Doha Qatar at 2345:22 UT switched 1 kHz higher to 7488 kHz. Strange signal opened late at 2321 UT on 7495 kHz, latter scheduled CNR1 spoken Mandarin jamming in \\ to CNR1 SCRATCHING WIDEBAND type on 7482-7493 kHz - which seems is local jamming on various provinces / in capital in China. CNR1 spoken Jamming still kept on 7495 kHz too at 2340 UT, but moved late to 7385 kHz at 2352 UT, S=6 -85dBm signal, tiny compared to VoTibet signal from Dushanbe (Wolfgang Büschel, Jan 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) TAJIKISTAN, Good signal of Voice of Tibet on Feb 3 1316-1330 on 11637 DB 100 kW / 095 deg to EaAs Chinese: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/good-signal-of-voice-of-tibet-without.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 3-4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TURKEY [non]. International Vacuum: 97.0 W, Galaxy-19, 11.960- V/22000 Msps. V Turkey English programming, with ”Economy and Politics” talx re Davos Switzerland conference and income inequality (were they cribbing from the BBC?) Then Question of the Month (Where was St Nicholas born?) and then into Turkish music. 48% and a little ‘skippy’ but in OK for the most part. QPSK/MPEG2 and in stereo 2320- 2335 27/Jan (Ken Zichi, MI, for Satellite logs: Manhattan DJ-1997 FTA receiver +96" movable dish, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) ** TURKEY. 5960.07, Voice of Turkey; 2324-2331+, 1/30; English feature on the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul. SIO=4+33+ with hiss QRM; LSB helped (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hiss de 5980 RRI DRM?? (gh) 6125, Feb 5 at 0445, VOT concluding with schedule of English broadcasts, which is the far-outdated one for the A-17 season! including ``0300 on 9515 to Europe and USA, 6165`` to elsewhere. Yet disclaimer follows that news on two broadcasts is ``pre-recorded, 23- 24 and 04-05``, which are the correct current times. Announcer hasn`t noticed that this is a contradixion right in front of him. 0445 into IS; good S9+10 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Re: BBC in Amharic/Oromo/Tigrinya Mon-Fri to North East Africa: See BULGARIA, discussion of antennas ** U K [non]. ASCENSION: 15490, BBC (presumed); 1815-1829:30*, 1/31; Reggae & Afro-pop tunes; off abruptly without announcement. SIO=3+53. A weaker station in an Afro-language came up after a brief DA (no OC); nothing listed in Aoki/EiBi after 1830. 15490 does not appear anywhere on http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/2x9tqt6mc05vB2S37j8MWMJ/global-short-wave-frequencies (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Harold, it`s the new BBC HOA service, per Ivo Observer: 1830-1930 15490 ASC 250 kW 70 deg EaAF Amharic/Oromo/Tigrinya Mon-Fri But not before 1830. Maybe they were testing from another site. The same programs are at 1730-1830 on other frequencies (Glenn to Harold, via DXLD) They definitely went off the air for a second or two between. hf (Harold Frodge, ibid.) BBC with a very good signal and modulation on my location this afternoon, on 15490 kHz relay Ascension_G in Amharic end Oromo languages, 45544. 15490. Jan 31, 2018. 1831-1840, BBC, Ascensão-G, em Amárico. Locutor e locutora falam as notícias, provavelmente, com um breve espaço musical entre elas; ID. BBC com muito boa difusão, 45544. 15490. Jan 31, 2018. 1900-1910, BBC, Ascensão-G, em Oromo. Locutores (homem e mulher) apresentam o noticiário, suponho; 1905 Aula de Inglês: Hello! My name, what´s your name?, etc... Sinal e modulação muito bons, 45544 (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier, Local da escuta: Cabedelo-PB, Brasil (UTC-3), Receptor (es): Sony 7600GR, Antena: Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** U K. TOM TAYLOR --- Mark Stafford wrote on Facebook yesterday RIP TOM TAYLOR/ BARRY STEPHENS A SHORT WAVE PIRATE RADIO LEGEND. Just got some very bad news, Barry Stephens (Tom Taylor) of European Music Radio fame has died. To many of us learning the art of Pirate Radio Broadcasting in the South East of England in the 1970's, Tom was "The Governor".EMR was a class station, probably the best Short Wave Pirate in the late 70's. Barry and his colleague Roger Tate were legends. Tom/Barry was also a really nice guy who helped us so much. He fixed our transmitters so many times for us and taught us how important good modulation was. Tom used to tell us "you have got to have hissing sidebands, mate"! By that he meant, lots of top end so that it cut through the noise and splashed audio on the next door channel! Tom had a famous three wheeler Reliant Robin that the he took the EMR gear out into the woods with! We will all remember that. Posted by: (Mike Terry, Jan 31, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See 18-05, ITALY [non] obit With great sadness we report the death of European Music Radio's founder and short wave legend Tom Taylor, to many also known as Barry Stephens. For many dedicated SW free radio enthusiasts, E.M.R. was thé station in the late 1970s and 1980. As from 1980 onwards E.M.R. and FRS became sister stations. Within a few days a Memorial with some personal memories will be put on the FRS site. We will inform you via mail when it will be on-line. All of us at FRS are shocked by Tom's death. He indeed was a short wave legend. May he rest in peace. Peter Verbruggen (on behalf of the FRS Team) (via Roberto Scaglione, Sicilia, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) Sad news. In the 70s and 80s EMR were one if the leading 48/41m stations. Many happy hours were spent listening to them. All slowly going now (Stuart, Sent from my iPad, Satnipper, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) That is a crying shame. I remember listening to EMR when I was younger on my SX-73. Godspeed Mr. Taylor. Posted by: (gobuxfla, dxldyg via DXLD) So sorry to hear of Tom Taylor's passing. He was indeed a legend in European broadcasting and I was personally appreciative of his "heads- up" e-mails for upcoming weekend pirate/free radio schedules. Tom was always prompt in replying to my questions about EMR and related broadcasters. May Tom continue to provide great music in his new home! (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook, CA, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What happened? No EMR on 7290 kHz 1900-2000? (Mauno Ritola, Feb 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mauno, There has been a glitch in the programming of Friday night broadcast that could not be corrected at the last moment. All other repeats were scheduled OK. 73s, (Alfredo Cotroneo, IRRS, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FALLECIÓ TOM TAYLOR Acabo de enterarme, con profundo pesar, a través de Hard Core DX, del fallecimiento de Tom Taylor, el cual se encontraba gravemente enfermo desde hacía aproximadamente un año. Tom Taylor fue el fundador de la emisora European Music Radio, presentando, además, la mayoría de los programas. Hace unos meses informó que EMR dejaba de transmitir debido a su enfermedad, pero que espera volver en 2018. Además era gran aficionado al DX-ismo y todas las semanas nos informaba, vía mail, de las emisoras de fin de semana que estaban en el aire. Siempre contestaba a los mails que se enviaban a la emisora y así como los informes de recepción con la correspondiente tarjeta QSL. En la página web de la emisora: http://www.europeanmusicradio.com/ se puede ver una foto de él en septiembre de 2017, y así anunciaba, a través del correio y de esa misma página web, que se retiraba, temporalmente debido a su enfermedad: "Due to my Cancer Condition (Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma) that was diagnosed in February 2017, i regret to tell you that EMR will be off air until further notice. I hope to return EMR to the air at some point in 2018!" Descanse en paz, el amigo Tom (Manuel Ménzez, Lugo, España, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) Tributes to Tom here and link to Mark Stafford`s public Facebook timeline where there are more. https://shortwavedx.blogspot.co.uk/2018/01/rip-tom-taylor-of-emr.html Final EMR broadcast that Tom made scheduled on IRRS this weekend https://shortwavedx.blogspot.co.uk/2018/02/final-broadcast-from-european-music.html Herbert Visser will be dedicating the next 3rd Sunday shortwave broadcast he has, 6070 kHz, 8-9 GMT, Sunday February 18th, to EMR and Tom (Mike Barraclough, Feb 1, BDXC-UK yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) Memories Tom Taylor on-line Dear FRS/ E.M.R.Friends, It doesn't happen that often that I forward two messages on the same evening. But no need to explain; you will all know the reason. I have just uploaded my personal Tom Taylor/ E.M.R. memories. Special thanks goes out to Ian Biggar! Surf to http://www.frsholland.nl/20-latest-news/116-in-memory-of-tom-taylor-and-e-m-r.html Just for your information: There will be a Tribute on SW late February. Many radio people who know Tom from past and present will participate. Of course you will be informed about time and frequency. Apart from that (and before I heard about this great initiative from Herbert Visser) I had already decided there will be a tribute from us at FRS as well. Hopefully in February. Soon I hope to publish a number of reactions I have been receiving in recent days from both radio people as well as listeners. Feel free to share your personal Tom Taylor/ Barry Stephens/ E.M.R. memories. We appreciate any contribution! For now, have a good weekend! 73s from (all at FRSH, Peter Verbruggen, Feb 3, via Roberto Scaglione, Sicilia, shortwave yg via DXLD) Tom Taylor / Barry Stephens tribute being planned for broadcast on 18 February --- Mark Stafford wrote on Facebook February 3 2018: TOM TAYLOR / BARRY STEPHENS - EMR TRIBUTE Plans are now well under way for a one off Tribute Programme for Tom. It will be broadcast on Sunday 18th February 2018, the symbolic 3rd Sunday of the month. It will go out via a High Power [AUSTRIA?] Short Wave Relay on 6070 kHz, In addition it will then be streamed for the next three days on a special EMR Tribute Stream. We have so far got guaranteed contributions from many people from the radio world who knew Tom well and who worked with him or were fellow pirate radio operators. To many of us, Tom was very generous with his time and help and I think it is fair to say that if you were involved in running a short- wave pirate station (as I was) in its late 70's heyday, then you would have had some help and a lot of advice from Tom. I certainly did. There was no Pirate Radio Academy to attend, for us that was a visit to Tom's house! The Short Wave broadcast will be funded by Herbert Visser and narrated by Steve Silby, I will be providing the streaming side of things and doing the production work on the tribute. So far we have guaranteed contributions from: Cliff Osbourne Pat Edison Mark Dezzani Peter Verbruggen Stuart Clark Steve Silby Herbie Visser Ian Biggar Ian Harling Mark Stafford Plus we are very likely to have contributions from... Nick Catford (Mike Knight) the man behind Radio Jackie. Andy Green and Paul Graham Mark adds: Good news, we now have an audio contribution from AJ Bierens. RNI Legend AJ did shows on European Music Radio in the first few years it was on the air. Posted by: (Mike Terry, Feb 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) ** U S A. 7200-AM, Feb 6 at 0720, K1KW in QSO with much weaker station, switches from LSB to AM just for a demonstration. Huge signal in both modes; wonder how much power he runs? ARRL/FCC lookup shows: O [no apostrophe] NEAL III, CHARLES D, K1KW, PO Box: 369, BOLTON, MA 01740 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 13565-CW, Feb 5 at 1526, K6FRC HIFER beacon is JBA from Patterson CA, vs CODAR. I check almost every morning, and other times without hearing it or any other (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VOA: See ZIMBABWE [non] ** U S A [and non]. 9455, WRMI, Radio Miami Int’l; 2043-2100+, 1/30; Glenn Hauser’s World of Radio #19?? to 2059 music bumper & Bob Zanotti WRMI spot. SIO=3+32 with Crash & Bang music jammer QRM; WoR mainly uncopiable & C&B winning (Tnx a lot Jinping!) (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 185' RW, ----- All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time & without the aid of a computer! -----, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1915 monitoring: confirmed Wednesday January 31 at 1056 toward the end of the 1030 on WRMI 9455, and it`s VG, S9+10. This is before sunrise; yet 9455 is often JBA just after sunset. Also confirmed Wed Jan 31 at 2200 on WBCQ 7489.963v, fair. Yet when checked circa 2115 it was on the plus side, about 7490.06. Frequency wavers slightly as I try to measure it to the Hz. Also confirmed but poorly, UT Thu Feb 1 at 0030 on WBCQ 9329.95v-CUSB. Next: Thu 2230.5 WRMI 5850 to NW Fri 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0729 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 1531 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE, 9455 to WNW Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1915?] Full WOR schedule via all media, podcast access: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html The next WORLD OF RADIO 1915 broadcast, Thursday February 1 at 2230.5 on WRMI 5850, should provide good reception across North America WORLD OF RADIO 1915 monitoring: confirmed Thursday February 1 at 2230.5 on WRMI 5850 VG S9 to S9+10. Also confirmed, UT Fri Feb 2 at 0030 on WBCQ, 9330.0v-CUSB, VP S2. Next: Fri 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0729 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 1531 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE, 9455 to WNW Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1916?] WORLD OF RADIO 1915 monitoring: confirmed UT Saturday February 3 at 0041, the 0030 on WBCQ, 9330.049v-CUSB, JBA with a trace of me, on the Icom. Recheck 0059 on the JRC, better S5-S7 at 9330.036v-CUSB. Confirmed by Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria: GERMANY, Reception of World of Radio via HLR on 6190 CUSB, Feb 3, 0730-0800 on 6190 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sat, weak/fair http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-world-of-radio1915-via-hlr.html Hi Glenn, I can confirm that World of Radio was audible on 6190 kHz at 1530 UT today via HLR, but it was battling it out with the distant station throughout much of the broadcast again. 73 for now, (Alan Gale, England, Sat Feb 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST Confirmed by me, Sat Feb 3 at 1531 on HLR 6190-CUSB, via UTwente SDR, but just barely, losing under Chinese CCI. A few minutes earlier, `Media Network` Minus --- no prop from me --- was still readable. By 1557, no WOR detectable at all. At least no heavy ACI from 6195 BBC as registered from 1500 effective Feb 1, but by 1559 that is on, 335 degrees from Oman in Farsi. Next: Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE, 9455 to WNW Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1916?] WORLD OF RADIO 1915 monitoring: confirmed Saturday February 3 at 2230 on WBCQ, 9330.047v-CUSB, very poor S3-S5. Also confirmed Sat Feb 3 at 2300 on WRMI 7780, good S9+10; By 0200 Feb 4, 7780 is a JBA carrier. Someone assumed this was // 9395, but that signal completely gone. Also confirmed UT Sun Feb 4 at 0425 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, MO, at the PJB schedule 4 minutes into show so started circa 0421. Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, reports: ``GERMANY, World of Radio #1915 on 9485 CUSB via HLR on Feb 4: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/world-of-radio1915-on-9485-cusb-via-hlr.html 1131-1200 on 9485 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sun, weak`` Next: Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE, 9455 to WNW Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1916?] WORLD OF RADIO 1915 monitoring: not confirmed UT Monday February 5 at 0030 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB: no signal, off? Confirmed UT Mon Feb 5 from 0400 on Area 51 webcast, but NOT confirmed on WBCQ 5130-, no signal. Normally this can at least be detected if on; John Carver, IN, says it was not on the air at all this evening. Confirmed UT Mon Feb 5 at 0430 on WRMIs, very good S9+10 on 9455, good enough on // 9955, but with some deep fades. However, the WRMI (RAE) webcast audio is distorted. And its ``service unavailable ICY 401`` at 1726 recheck. Next: Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW [always reliable and strong here] Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1916?] WORLD OF RADIO 1915 monitoring: not confirmed UT Tuesday February 6 at 0030 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB: no signal audible. But VG at same time on WRMI 7730. Confirmed Tue Feb 6 at 2030 on WRMI 7780 // 9455, about equal fair reception this time; and at 2130 on 9455 only. Produxion of WOR 1916 delayed by yahoo mail outages, not ready until 0136 UT Feb 7; so 1915 replayed one more time, UT Wed Feb 7 at 0030 on WBCQ 9330.1v-CUSB --- except, not on air at 0030; cuts on in progress at 0031, off again. At least a fair-good signal while on, but I`m still finishing 1916 and broadcast of 1915 has already been ruined, maybe with more intermittence I`d prefer not to hear. WORLD OF RADIO 1916 contents: Armenia, Australia, Bonaire, Bougainville, Bouvet, Brasil, China and non, Cuba, Egypt, Ethiopia and non, France, India, Indonesia, Korea North, Korea South, Kurdistan non, New Zealand, Nigeria non, Papua New Guinea, South Carolina non, Taiwan, UK, USA, Vatican non, Zambia, Zimbabwe non; and the propagation outlook. Ready for first broadcasts Feb 7: Wed 1030 WRMI 9455 to WNW Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW Thu 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Thu 2230.5 WRMI 5850 to NW Fri 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0729 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 1531 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 7780 to NE Sun 0410v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1130 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Mon 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0400v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE, 9455 to WNW Tue 0030 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Tue 2030 WRMI 7780 to NE, 9455 to WNW [or #1917?] Full WOR schedule via all media, podcast access: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9395 // 7780, Wed Jan 31 at 1357, WRMI ID by Biermann, and starting VOA News relay. I have a sense of foreboding, and sure enough, it`s cut off for a repeat of the BB ID at 1359.5, 1400 rejoining `The Power Hour` replay from yesterday afternoon. To point out the obvious? You should not start a VOA newscast unless you can stay with it for the full 5 minutes; and I hope VOA would be uncomfortable associating with the wackos at TPH, if they knew about it. TPH had been running earlier in the 13+ hour in a tuneby; scheduled 13-15 M-F. The original live broadcast of TPH is still not getting on the WRMI air completely. Jan 31 at 2115, 7780 // 9395 are in Oldies instead of TPH, which may have started briefly at 2100. I find the program so off-putting that I just can`t listen continually to hear when it dump off, if at the same time each day per automation? Would-be live callers are out of luck. Has anyone complained to the program? 9455, meanwhile, Wed Jan 31 at 2115 starts `Viva Miami`, Jeff y Thaïs in Spanish recorded at a resort outside Kuala Lumpur in Malasia following last week`s HFCC. Not sure if this is the same ep I heard earlier referring to a Hawaii visit on the way back; and reception now is poor, so hope to catch one of the dozens of further repeats. See also ARGENTINA [non] 9455 // 9955, Feb 2 at 1202, I`m awake to check out RAE`s Portuguese hour via WRMI. Altho 9455 was quite strong 3 hours earlier for Japanese [See ARGENTINA non], now both are JBA, S1-S2 and at first I can`t determine the language. At 1220, 9455 suddenly fades up to S9+10! Must be when enough insolation heats the ionosphere between there and here. 9955 is not quite as strong, and by 1224 bothered by Cuban pulse jamming as if they should care whether Argentina speak to Brasil! A good way to make friends for Cuba? Now that I can hear it, a long narration about a singer from the 1930s, with ancient recordings. At 1240 both are good with song; 1245 talk feature but with continuous music bed, faded up to full periodically, about San Juan province and some geological national park. YL speaks Porteñuguês, i.e. Brazuguese with an Argentine Spanish accent; of course, many place names are pronounced in original Spanish, or Porteñol. 1251 about comidas in that region; 1252 the pulse jam on 9955 is JBA, seems to mention ``O base de la Luna``?, 1253 outroduxion credits with program name mentioned once but I don`t copy it. Also mentions ``quarta-feira``, implying that this is the Wednesday broadcast, not even Thursday`s, now on Friday. Also explains why no Friday `Atualidade DX` segment heard today. Maybe Tuesday? Yes, program schedule here http://www.radionacional.com.ar/rae-portugues/ shows the 4-feira travelog feature title I was hearing: `Rotas Argentinas`. And the earlier feature could have been `A Conversação`. 1254 finished and plays RAE multi-lingual ID loop twice; 1257 to Polynesian fill music from WRMI. So this service is anyhow confirmed, altho previously it was not lasting until :57 past the hour. BUT, RAE in German & Italian now complete their fourth week of imaginary broadcasts at the new scheduled times of 19-21 UT M-F and new WRMI frequency 9395: Feb 2 at 2045 check, 9395 with World Music fill, that jaunty sax tune. Se vuoi ascoltare l`italiano, tune to 9455 // 7780 at 2045 Friday altho `AWR Wavescan` is scheduled at 2030-2100. However, today, `The Power Hour` is still running on 9395 // 7780, resuming at 2135 Feb 2 after break with a hard-sell adstring for the paranoid; instead of defaulting to World Music fill on these a few minutes after 2100 as I had been logging repeatedly. 9395, Sat Feb 3 at 1414, tune-in to WRMI with VOA News in progress, mid-ID, and allowed to complete at 1417, back to Oldies. // 7780 JBA; both instead of `Power Hour` replay on weekdays. 7780 // 9395 // 9455, Sunday February 4 at 1852, all three WRMI`s are playing ``Puff, the Magic Dragon`` during Oldies. 7780, Feb 6 at 0029, WRMI with canned announcement about all programming on 11580 going to change to 7780 from Jan 8 (as if it were still pending). About time to retire that one. And as it turned out, NOT ``all``. See also ARGENTINA [non], NIGERIA [non] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. [OKLAHOMA non]. USofA: 5850, WRMI with end of Broad Spectrum Radio with MFSK 16 digidata at about 900 Hz (it wandered from 900- 915!) including a photo that didn’t QUITE come through properly, and a web page which did. (I assume the 'wandering' audio frequency was what did the photo in!) At ToH into SW Radiogram after a voice ID, with the usual mix of digi- text and photos with stories about: Crows craft hooked tools; Glow keeps growing after neutron stars collide and then a 'series of 'tests' of various types of Olivia transmissions of a story about Deep sea mining starting with the rather slow, Olivia 64-2000 and continuing with Olivia 32-2000; 16-2000; 8-2000 and 4-2000, which were all progressively faster, but 'less robust' -- although reception was so good that there were no issues with any of them, and concluding with an MFSK 32 photo of the "Wally" deep sea 'robot': Into AWR Wavescan after ID at BoH. 4+54+4+4+ with pretty much 100% text copy, and great quality photos as shown. 0745-0830 29/Jan SDRplay, +SDRuno, +FLDigi for the digital bits, and +randomwire antenna (Ken Zichi, Pt Hope MI2, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) ** U S A. 5130.82, UT Sat Feb 3 at 0111, WBCQ with `Allan Weiner Worldwide`, 30 second delay behind 7489.90v, very poor, and was not on at 0100 when first checked. Latter is S8-S9, helped with ECSS. From Deland of Fla, rather interesting different topic for a change, long monolog about his experiences in the searchlight business --- with huge 5-foot mirrors, rented out for attracting attention to nighttime events, but something for which there is no longer much demand. Explains the technical aspects of these devices. Original purpose of this military surplus equipment was anti-aircraft tracking in early WWII, before radar. Finally takes call from Norm at 0139; Norm seems to be the main/only caller these days. Here`s John Carver`s report on same: ``Listening on 7490 this evening as it's coming in for some reason tonight. Show started about thirty seconds late after some dead air. Allan and Angela in the studio in FLA. Today they went to a surplus store looking for parts for a searchlight that Allan is working on. A few deep fades on 7490. Talk about his experience with and fascination with searchlights. Moved to 5130 at 0130 as 7490 was getting difficult to listen to and Allan is still talking about searchlights. Signal on 5130 is not much better. Talk eventually moves to the expected lifetime of new radios and the electronics in new cars. First phone call at 0140 from Mr. Transistor, Norm. Phone call lasted until 0155. Time to read one email and partially read another before the closing prayer. Show was off the air at 0200. John, Mid-North Indiana`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saturday evening, UT SUN, 5130 was approximately twenty-two minutes late signing on and out of the five hours of programming offered only about an hour and twenty minutes were legible here and the rest was atmospheric mush. Sunday evening, UT MON, 5130 never signed on. As of 0315 all one can hear is the little bit of SSB traffic and a small amount of CODAR under the frequency (John, Mid-North Indiana, 0318 UT Feb 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 17775, Feb 3 at 1700, JBA carrier from presumed KVOH, now scheduled Saturdays in English from 1600; and `Wavescan` would have been at 1630. See also ZAMBIA 17775, Feb 4 at 1859 and 1956, still JBA carrier only, from presumed KVOH on new Saturday in English transmission. Wolfgang Büschel reported at 1942 UT Feb 3: ``17774.990 kHz KVOH noted as S=8-9 in remote Detroit Michigan SDR unit. MX program heard`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9475, Feb 3 at 2116, WTWW-1 is hiccuping, rapid carrier dropouts at the rate of 212/minute. Also Feb 4 at 1421 timed at 224/minute, maybe both within margin of error. A really sick transmitter; hasn`t Ted noticed? Unlistenable. However, I did not hear this happening while on night frequency 5830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 3215, UT Sun Feb 4 at 0157, WWRB S9+30 with lo-fi paranoid conversation, interrupted by live Dave saying retune to 3185, ``give me a few minutes to retune the transmitter`` and off at 0158:20* to make way for *WWCR within a minute (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR: I think these old radio dramas are taken from the USA News feed, which last time I checked had some low budget programming aside of news (Eduardo Peralta, Buenos Aires, dxldyg via DXLD) 12160, WWCR at 2010. Alex Jones Show host saying train hitting trash truck was part of a conspiracy. As with most modern conspiracy theories, the host has no clue who the conspirators were, what they would have to gain, or what hey were trying to accomplish by hitting the trash truck. But it MUST be part of a conspiracy. Just because. Feb. 1 (Rick Barton, AZ, Unless otherwise stated, all with 750 Satellit, "Trans Oceanic" Royal R-7000, HQ-200, and my RS SW-2000629. Antennas - various outdoor wires and the 9' "tomato stake" vertical, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) That sums up the tremendous disservice WWCR and all other affiliates are doing to the public by broadcasting this nonsense (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WEWN: See INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** U S A. Abandoned Radio Stations - 4 - WJCR/WJIE/WPBN, KENTUCKY SW On three previous occasions here in Wavescan, we have presented the story of abandoned radio stations; and so in our program today, we take another look at the story associated with some more abandoned radio stations; this time four shortwave stations located in the United States and in Africa. We begin with the long time silent shortwave station located near Upton in Kentucky. It was back in March 1986 that an application for a new shortwave station was lodged with the FCC on behalf of FM station WJCR which is located in a country area some 65 miles south of Louisville in Kentucky. The radio station property, with its 200 acres of land, is situated adjacent to the Molin River a little west of the small town of Millerstown, some 9 miles west of Upton. Six years later on March 15, 1992, the first test broadcasts went on the air from the new shortwave WJCR on 7490 kHz at a temporarily reduced power. This was a gala occasion for station owner Don Powell with more than a hundred supporters coming in for the event. Two years later (1994), WJCR shortwave was on the air with three used 50 kW RCA transmitters, each converted from mediumwave by the Armstrong Transmitter Corporation in Marcellus New York. There were just two shortwave antenna systems in use, both rhombics, for coverage of the Americas, Africa and Europe; thus only two transmitters were on the air at any one time. A fourth RCA 50 kW mediumwave transmitter was also installed in the transmitter building, though conversion to shortwave was never completed. Four years later (1998), WJCR bought two 100 kW Continental transmitters from the recently silent VOA shortwave station at Bethany Ohio and these 20 year old units replaced all four of the converted RCA units. The shortwave station was sold to Bob Rogers at FM station WJIE in Louisville in April 2002, and they began programming the shortwave transmitters by subcarrier at 9:00 am on April 28. However, the WJIE usage of the shortwave station was intermittent and irregular, and even a year later, it was stated that the paper work for the change of shortwave callsign from WJCR to WJIE had not been completed. Just a few of the previous WJCR QSL cards were issued to verify the programming relay from WJIE. Three years later (2005) shortwave WJCR-(WJIE?) was declared silent, and ownership was transferred to new owners with a new callsign WPBN. However, with the aged transmitters deteriorating, it was probable that they were never activated under this new callsign. At the time of the last known visit to shortwave station WJCR-WJIE- WPBN by an international radio monitor some years ago, the silent electronic equipment was still in place, though it was no longer considered to be of any use in international radio broadcasting (Adrian Peterson, IN, script for AWR Wavescan Feb 4 via DXLD) Continued at LIBERIA [and non] ** U S A. Received word from Rick Shaftan via the NRC Facebook group that WRCS Ahoskie, North Carolina is currently transmitting off- frequency at 970.124 kilohertz. Noted with Black Gospel music several nights late January (Bruce Conti in MW Offsets Yahoo Group via Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** U S A. 1330, FLORIDA, WJNX, Ft. Pierce. 1201 January 25, 2018. Still oddly picking up CBS News in English top of the hours, otherwise Spanish with brief chatter, into Mexi-tune from 1108 (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Frequencies in kc/s unless otherwise stated, Clearwater FL, IC-R75, NRD-535, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KQV history/fan page: http://user.pa.net/~ejjeff/jeffkqv2.html (Medium Wave News 63/09 8 February 2018 via DXLD) KQV 1410 Pittsburgh to be resurrected and WATCH: Engineers Reenact KQV Transmitter Shutdown WATCH: Engineers Reenact KQV Transmitter Shutdown Radio magazine-Jan 30, 2018 Self-described “transmitter guru” Roy Humphrey of WPGH(TV) shares this Youtube video (above), in which he discusses KQV Radio's history with Bob Sterling as part of a ceremonial reenactment of the transmitter's New Year's Eve shutdown. In an email, Humphrey explained that the station was owned by ... http://www.radiomagonline.com/industry/0003/watch-engineers-reenact-kqv-transmitter-shutdown/39542 KQV 1410 Pittsburgh to be resurrected; application to diplex tower on the one for 810 in McKeesport https://radioinsight.com/headlines/122829/kqv-to-be-resurrected/ raccoonradio Participant (both via Artie Bigley, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) One month after taking News 1410 KQV Pittsburgh silent, Calvary Inc. has agreed to sell some of the station?s assets to Bob & Ashley Stevens? Broadcast Communications Inc. Broadcast Communications will acquire the KQV license and all equipment and documents connected to the operation of the station for $55,000. As the station?s current tower site will not be included in the sale, an application will be filed to diplex KQV on the tower of the buyer?s 810 WEDO McKeesport. Broadcast Communications owns Talk/Oldies 620 WKHB Irwin, Talk/Oldies 770 WKFB Jeannette, Brokered Ethnic 810 WEDO McKeesport, AC 1570 WQTW Latrobe, Classic Rock 103.1 WKVE Mount Pleasant, and AC 103.9 WKHB-FM Scottdale in the Pittsburgh market as well as additional stations in Southwestern Pennsylvania and Western Maryland (via Dennis Gibson, IRCA via DXLD) Hi All: Interesting. Can't imagine them coming back with their full 5 kw, especially with only one tower. Probably less than 5 kw D and rather low power at night. Should take awhile to get it back on anyway. 73 (David Faulkner, ibid.) Yippie! Even if KQV returns with very low power as an ND, that is better than letting a heritage station with a 3 letter call disappear. 73, (Kit W5KAT, CO, ABDXyg via DXLD) I would not count on their keeping the call: DXers tend to appreciate heritage stuff a lot more than station owners with their own branding ideas (gh, DXLD) It's coming back. "The husband-and-wife team who just bought Pittsburgh's oldest news radio station aims to get KQV back on the airwaves this fall." More: http://triblive.com/local/allegheny/13266883-74/new-owners-of-kqv-radio-station-hope-to-keep-the-all-news-format (-- Richard Langley, Feb 6 WOR iog via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) ** U S A. 1710, PIRATE, R. Retén lo que Tienes. Agonizingly long religious-like song to 0830, then caught one of the Spanish IDs at 0830:40 when the Hudson Co. TIS finally faded. On the web receiver in Kingwood TX, there were a ton of IDs in succession from 0830 past 0831, some giving their website, and AM and FM frequencies. When I checked back at 0841, they were airing the usual live impassioned preaching. Heard on the Wellbrook but not on the Delta Loop, oddly enough. 31 Jan. Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** VATICAN. 13765, Vatican Radio s/on with their ‘new’(ish) “Brady Bunch” signature tune ID and into church news including a detailed report about Francis’ homily at church this morning. Mention of “world Leprosy Day” (the feature on KVOH now makes more sense!) Into feature about ‘the family’ featuring talk re Gender, mutual respect, love and marriage at 1637. Then into talk re Synods in the Catholic Church (that is a term I’ve only associated with Lutherans -- something new for the Vatican?) S/off with another ID and then a blip of the IS. Then beam change (from 150 to 170 per Aoki) and a MUCH weaker signal continuing with IS and into French at ToH. 454+4+4, USB Sync got rid of a small het. QRN only noticeable during fades. 1630- 1702 28/Jan SDRplay, +SDRuno, +rwire (Ken Zichi, Pt Hope MI2, MARE Tipsheet Feb 2 via DXLD) ** VATICAN [non]. 9610, Feb 2 at 1226, S5-S2 open carrier, typical Greenville warmup could have been going already 10 minutes earlier. 1230 JIP (join in progress), Vatican News IS and ID pronounced in mandatory inglés, sign-on in Spanish with `Informativo matutino` for 2 de febrero. So was it recorded earlier? It`s already tarde in Roma, the center of the universe. 1245* cuts off modulation abruptly in mid- word, with no despedida, carrier off a few seconds later. Not a trace of any VOA ID or IS before or after, as if they are ashamed to be violating Separation of Church & State, so casual listeners would have no idea whence this really radiate. Anyhow, confirms as I suspected, that like the 0145 UT broadcast on 7305, also violating Separation of Church & State, this too has been curtailed to only 15 minutes, ex-45 in that case, ex-30 in this case. The WRTH B17 updater missed these changes. The RCC should also explain why they need to use secular VOA Greenville when they have their own WEWN Radio Católica Mundial which is also relaying Vatican News in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PHILIPPINES, Reception of Vatican Radio via IBB Tinang on Feb 2 1230-1300 on 7330 PHT 250 kW / 332 deg to FERu Russian, weak to fair 1230-1300 on 9695 PHT 250 kW / 332 deg to FERu Russian, fair to good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-vatican-radio-via-ibb.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 2, dxldyg via DXLD) VOSOCAS! Reception of Vatican Radio via IBB Tinang on Feb 3: 1230-1315 on 7485 PHT 250 kW / 332 deg to EaAs Chinese Mass Sat, good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2018/02/reception-of-vatican-radio-in-chinese.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 3-4, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA [non-log]. 5915, ZNBC/Radio One. As of Feb 3, recently not heard while checking 0300+. Already gone again? (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ron Howard reported that ZNBC1 on 5915 was missing again on February 3. I'm just confirming that it was still missing on Feb 5 at several checks - 0252, 0303, 0414, and 0510 (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg RSA. Drake R8E, Sony ICF2001D. WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5915, Zambia NBC Radio 1, Lusaka, 1845-1940, 05-02, vernacular, comments, male, female, African songs. 13321. Previous days out of air (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol and Lugo, Tecsun S-8800, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) After missing it the past few evenings, ZNBC 5915 is back tonight. Judging from the beginning of news in English at 1800, modulation is improved. 73 Thorsten Hallmann, Germany, 1802 UT Feb 5, WOR iog via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ZNBC1 is back, fair signal but difficult to read at times due to local lightning around Jo'burg. 5915 Zambia, ZNBC1, Lusaka. Feb 5, 2018 Monday. 1754-1804. Brass band at tune in, then Afro music at 1755. Sax and piano at 1758, ad for high speed internet at 1759, followed by fish eagles. At 1800, “Time is 20 hours, One Zambia One Nation. This is the Zambia Broadcasting Corporation” and into the news in English. Jo’burg sunset 1657 (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg RSA. Drake R8E, Sony ICF2001D. WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 13680, Voice of Hope Africa at 1303 with jazz piano instrumentals and a male preacher named “Pat” talking about Jesus and more jazz piano instrumentals at 1307 and back to the male preacher at 1313 – Weak but audible Feb 3 (Mark Coady, Selwyn, Ontario, Kenwood TS440S or Ten-Tec Argonaut II and 40 and 80 meter off centre-fed dipoles, ODXA iog via DXLD) 13680, Sat Feb 3 at 1344, really wild jazz stands out, S4-S6; 1346 announced as Oscar Peterson et al., and right into Jesus stuff. It`s Pat Conrad`s `Jazz Session`, which used to be on KVOH 9975, an excuse to proselytize; does he avoid playing non-Christian jazz artists? Must be plenty of Jews, who might not appreciate the juxtaposition. 1349 Voice of Hope contact info including California PO Box. Yes, now on the just updated Jan 29 sked: http://www.voiceofhope.com/schedule/voh-africa_program_grid.pdf Sat 1300-1400, // 9680 non-direxional unchecked. No such program is to be found on the KVOH sked now, SW or webstream: http://www.voiceofhope.com/schedule/kvoh_program_grid.pdf (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 6015, ZBC Radio, Dole. Feb 5, 2018 Monday. 0254-0303. Mandarin talk at 0254, it was QRM from CRI to North America on 6020. ID “China Radio International” at 0257, then off air. ZBC Radio came on late, missing the time pips, straight into an OM talking Swahili. Koran at 0301, tune out at 0303. Fair. Jo’burg sunrise 0346 (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg RSA. Drake R8E, Sony ICF2001D. DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 6175, Feb 5 at 0443, something new, African language reeling off frequencies pronounced more or less in English but I`m not ready to copy them all; good S9+10/20. Suspect it`s VOA. Nothing in latest Aoki of Feb 3, nor HFCC of Jan 29. But EiBi of Feb 4 has it: ``6175 0400-0500 Mo-Fr USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /BOT``` His only // is 9825/STP but I heard some more frequencies mentioned on higher bands, 15 and 17 MHz. WRTH Updater also adds those two only, in English/Shona/Ndebele (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BOTSWANA/KUWAIT/SAO TOME, til Thursday Febr 1st / Friday Febr 2nd 909 1800-1900 USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /BOT 4930 /BOT 13860 /SAO 15460 /SAO 15580 /BOT 909 1900-2000 USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /BOT 4930 /BOT 15580 /BOT 15460 1930-2000 USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /SAO 909 2000-2100 USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /BOT 4930 /BOT 6195 /BOT 15580 /BOT 909 2100-0300 USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /BOT 4930 /BOT 909 0400-0500 USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /BOT 4930 /BOT 6080 /SAO 6175 /BOT 9825 /SAO 15580 /KWT 909 0500-0700 USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /BOT 4930 /BOT 6080 /SAO 15580 /SAO from Saturday Febr 3rd 6175 0400-0500 USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /BOT 9825 /SAO 909 1700-1800 USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /BOT 4930 /BOT 13860 /SAO 15460 /SAO 13860 1800-1900 Mo-Fr USA Voice of America ZWE ZWE /SAO 15460 /SAO 18-19 UT azimuth of São Tomé, 124 resp. 126degr azimuth to ITU zones 53 and 57, not favourable to European or N American DXer ears. Only heard S=6 -86dBm signal on both channels in remote SDR at Aberdeen NJ- US state, today at 1835 UT Febr 6th. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, WOR iog via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. For the last several nights, there have been carriers heard in Victoria, BC on various British frequencies, sometimes before my local sunset (never developing into audio), Unfortunately, I'm usually not monitoring by 0730 UT, so can't tell if there is a peak, at least from live listening. I do have some rough signal strength recordings of 1215 kHz on another system that I should check. best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria, BC, Canada, Jan 31, mwcircle yg via DXLD) Trans-Atlantic JBA MW carrier search, 0636-0647 UT January 31: 549, 585, 612, 639, 666, 684 [despite WSCR IBOC], 693, 729, 747, 774*, 783, 801, 837, [no 846 not even Kiritimati], 855, 873, 882, 909, 936, 999, 1044(2 beating), 1053, 1089, 1098, 1116, 1125, 1215, 1269, 1305(2 beating), 1341, 1521, 1539. Trans-Atlantic JBA MW carrier search, 0100-0115 UT February 2: this time with the NRD-545 and ALA-330S oriented E/W. I usually prefer the R75 where it`s easy to set 9 kHz steps from any starting point. In this case I have to tune 1 kHz away from each 9-kHz plan frequency on SSB. For some reason, it`s mostly midband, nothing at low end and only one at high end: 882, 909, 936, 1044, 1053, 1089, 1098, 1116, 1125, 1134, 1152, 1161, 1179, 1197, 1521. February 2 at 0648-0702 UT, back on the R75 with E/W longwire. This time I am tuning 1 kHz above with LSB, which could alter the results. Ideally I should do both LSB and USB with the close frequencies. 531, 549, 558, 567, 585, 621, 639, 693, 711(seems off frequency plus), 729, 774, 783, 801, 855, 882*, 909, 936, 954, 999, 1044(2), 1053, 1089, 1116, 1125, 1152, 1197, 1215*, 1251. *strongest ones, maybe a bit of audio on 882. 711+ is signature of this per Bruce Conti, NH, NRC: ``711 WESTERN SAHARA SNRT Laâyoune JAN 26 2200 - Presumed this at 711.12 kHz in het party with 711.02 Iran and 711 Spain`` I also try LW but only sign of anything is 198 at 0703. Trans-Atlantic JBA MW carrier search, Feb 3 at 0121 on the JRC: only 684, 612. Tuning on up with nothing, I quit at 1215. TA JBA MW carrier search, Feb 3 at 0650-0701 on the Icom: 603, 612, 639, 693, 729, 756, 774*, 837, 855, 873, 882*, 909, 954, 999, 1008, 1035, 1044*, 1053*, 1089, 1098, 1116, 1125, 1152, 1161, 1197, 1215*, 1296, 1305, 1521. *the stronger ones but still no audio. Trans-Atlantic JBA MW carrier search, Feb 5 at 0624-0633 on the R75: 693*, 774, 873, 882*, 909, 1017, 1044*, 1089, 1116, 1125, 1152, 1197, 1215*. *being the stronger ones but still not enough for audio. I do this only when convenient at bedtime, but some suggest there may be sunrise enhancement in Europe (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And occasional tiny audio on the NHP NetSDR with northern Flag. In some ways it's a surprise to have any sign of TA's at all (several other British carriers also appearing) given somewhat unsettled geomagnetism, but annoying that the numerous carriers having been heard over the last few weeks haven't really developed into anything. best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, BC, 0643 UT 5 Feb, IRCA via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 700, 1153 February 1, 2018. Someone here in the co- channel, pointing WNW, seemingly Christian talk, soft vocals, but too week and with pieces of WLW. No Mexican anthem across the 1200 hour, so maybe domestic. Is KHSE, Wylie, TX Spanish Gospel, or Asian? If the former, maybe it's them. Signal gone by 1234 daylight (Terry L. Krueger, All times/dates GMT, Frequencies in kc/s unless otherwise stated, Clearwater FL, IC-R75, NRD-535, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1710.01, PIRATE (NA) UNID. Came on at 2201:15 with "The One" by Elton John already in progress. You could see the tell-tale sign of the 'hook' as the carrier came on. Started out on 1710.02 and drifted down. The audio was brought up and lowered several times over the following 2 minutes or so. Definitely not QSB. Surprised to hear an announcement at 2206 in which a M seemed to mention "...free radio...". Too much Flight 93 TIS QRM to copy more. Song by The Carpenters at 2209 followed by a EST TC and song announcement at 2210. 2218 another song announcement and TC as "...going home time is 5:18". So definitely live. All but one song changeover was down in the mud. Finally went off at 2300:40. 29 Jan. Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6040.3-USB, Feb 2 at 0134, weak 2-way in Spanish INTRUDERS; nothing on 6040.0 at the moment, but het from BRAZIL 6040.67 must not bother them, nor the possibility of a spurblob from HJDH 6010v showing up in the area again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6540.79, PIRATE?? Weak signal rock music with an occasional metal and punk song from 0804 tune-in. Short apparent song announcements by M in (non-UK) English at 0810 and 0820. Too weak to copy. Only recognized a remake of "Green Tambourine" at 0844 and went off suddenly at 0847:03. Was also getting audio on web receiver in Uniontown PA, Alberta Canada, Miami, FL, and Warrenton VA, the latter being the best. Also had the signal without any audio in Washington state, and Michigan, and I believe 2 receivers in the UK. Thought at first it might be a EuroPirate, but it shouldn’t have been heard with audio as far west as Alberta. Then thought a possible spur, but no //’s found anywhere. Only possibilities are a NA pirate or harmonic of 1090. If a NA Pirate, is a strange time/day for one. Not heard the next morning. 30 Jan. Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S loop antenna. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. RE: Thorsten Hallmann, 24.1.2018 klo 21:23: >After quite a long time I caught a transmission on 7700 again, tonight -1901*, very little modulation, but apparently closing with a song. 73 Thorsten Also today weak carrier and hardly any audio on 7699.97 kHz. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, 1804 Feb 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks! I tried to catch some more audio by checking a dozen or so of online SDRs - best results on some locations in Switzerland and Italy - far better than via famous Twente receiver. Nothing observed via South Africa. Some lively talk in unknown language until 1852, followed by quran verses until 1858* approx. A few days ago a noted the signal disappearing around 1852. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, 1307 UT Feb 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ACKNOWLEDGED ON WORLD OF RADIO 1916: CQ Glenn. Again, thank you for all of your dedicated SWL works; also to your other supporters. You make SWL more fun and always informative. Tnx n 73 fer now Bob HNJ (Robert Zerilli with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED FUTURELY: Financial contribution to DXLD (Geoffrey Wolfe, NSW, via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) Hey Glenn: All the best for 2018 - really appreciate the great radio related information you provide throughout the year! 73, (Mike Beu KD5DSQ Austin, Texas, with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) For your hard work (John Spicer, with contribution via paypal to woradio at yahoo.com) One may also contribute by MO or check in US funds on a US bank to: Glenn Hauser, PO Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 I streamed this week’s WOR with no problem. You do a great job, and I always enjoy your podcasts. 73, (Art Peterson) Glenn and listeners, I`ve been battling cancer for a little more than a year. This leaves me away from the receiver. Sometimes I get to do something that pertains, like copying circuit diagrams, but for the most part there`s just the horror that I never get to listen to Marion`s Attic and listeners mail, your show, Allan Weiner Worldwide; 160, 80 and 40 metres, and so on. If someone is willing to go pen-paling, I`m willing to write back. Of course, if someone has a battery or small shortwave to donate, that would connect me directly. PS: Glenn, why don`t you post some home-buildable receiver circuits regularly so that people get in the habit of building shortwave receiver kits [and encloses a diagram, receiver for UX26 or UV200 tube] (Fred Jodry, Sutton Park, 31 Lockwood Ave, Apt 405, New Rochelle NY 10801, 28 January, [by p-mail only], typed by gh, via WORLD OF RADIO 1916) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WRTH 2018 B17 UPDATES Dear WRTH reader, We have uploaded a pdf of updates to the B17 schedules in the International section of WRTH 2018. Visit Updates http://www.wrth.com/_shop/?page_id=444 and click the "International Updates" link http://www.wrth.com/_shop to download the file from the WRTH store. If you haven't yet got your copy of WRTH 2018 then buy one NOW using this link. [35 pounds] http://www.wrth.com/_shop/?product=wrth-2018 Readers in North America can also order copies from Amazon.com. Please take a few minutes to give us your thoughts about WRTH on the 2018 Questionnaire. http://app.surveymethods.com/EndUser.aspx?91B5D9C196D7CCCB92 I hope you find the update useful (Nicholas Hardyman, Publisher, Feb 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) STATION LISTS FOR THE BLIND Glenn, As a blind DXer, printed reference material is no longer easy for me to use, so I have collected good digital references for domestic MW, Asia/Pacific MW/SW, Mexican MW that I can use very easily with the help of a screen reader. However, I have only fragmentary information for CA and SA MW/SW stations. I have a WRTH, but it is impossible for me to use by myself without asking a sighted person to look things up for me, something I don’t have on a daily basis, and nobody near me is savvy about radio subjects. I do download the list from Germany which is pretty good for SW, but that list is virtually silent about Latin America MW. Any help you can give me would be most appreciated. I have enjoyed DXing for almost 60 years, and since it relies on hearing rather than sight for the most part, it is still the best hobby for me even after losing my eyesight. I always have fond memories of blind Kiwi DXer Arthur Cushen who did not have the benefit of today’s technology like I do. Can you direct me to a website where I could download such a list, or if you do not know of one, who I could ask for such a reference? In the past I had e-mailed the editor of the WRTH to see if they had an electronic version, but, at least at that time, they did not have such a resource. Actually just the by-frequency station lists would be sufficient. Since I don’t QSL anymore, I don’t need station addresses, etc. (Art Peterson, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Art, I believe this is what you are looking for. I have not been using it myself (maybe I should!) and can`t say how up to date it is: South America: http://www.mwlist.org/mwlist_quick_and_easy.php?area=4&kHz=0 North, Central America, Caribbean: http://www.mwlist.org/mwlist_quick_and_easy.php?area=3&kHz=0 You can click on any frequency and get a list of stations on it. These originate from homepage with lists for other parts of the world http://www.mwlist.org/ul_login.php I don`t think you have to log in for basic use. Including shortwave which it seems comes from the Aoki and EiBi lists. Let me know how this works for you (Glenn to Art, via DXLD) ECCO CHI TRASMETTE IN ITALIANO - Ultimo aggiornamento orari e frequenze by Roberto Pavanello https://playdxblog.blogspot.it/2018/01/le-radio-che-trasmettono-in-italiano.html (Giampiero Bernardini, Jan 31, playdx yg via DXLD) EMPIRE OF THE AIR, PBS DOCUMENTARY Once upon a time, before dinosaurs and rock'n'roll, I remember borrowing the club VHS copy of this documentary from Harold Sellers. Here's a link so that you can watch it via YouTube: https://swling.com/blog/2018/01/empire-of-the-air-a-history-of-radio-broadcasting Released in 1990; still relevant and interesting (Brian, va3bah, ODXA iog via DXLD) MUSEA +++++ WA3KEY VIRTUAL COLLINS RADIO MUSEUM Here is an interesting site for fans of Collins equipment http://www.wa3key.com/collins.html (Via Brian Jeffrey, Carp, Ontario, via Sheldon Harvey`s Radio HF Internet Newsletter, Feb, via DXLD) THE JAPAN RADIO MUSEUM --- By Nick Hall-Patch A visit to the city of Matsumoto on a recent visit to Japan led to a serendipitous discovery. Matsumoto is a bit off the beaten track, especially for the first time tourist in Japan, but is well known for its historical black castle. In fact, there are many other reasons to go there: the train ride up from Nagoya is very scenic in itself and the town is situated in a valley with views of Japan Alps. Although a couple of the better known museums involve a short train ride out of town (trains are easy to come by in Japan), it is otherwise a pleasantly walkable city. Photo 1 – an autumn view from (as it turned out) the front of the Japan Radio Museum. Photo 2 – the Japan Radio Museum On my way to meet friends Hiroo Nakagawa, Hiroyuki Okamura, and Fumiaki Minematsu for a DXpedition on the Japan Sea, I stopped in Matsumoto for a couple of days. I was lucky enough to be there as the autumn leaves were changing, and on a morning walk in town came across the Yohashira shrine, surrounded by trees in full autumn color. So, out came the camera. The shrine is bordered on one side by a small river, Metoba-gawa, and one last photo was of the trees and the gate leading to the shrine taken from the narrow street on the other side of the river (photo 1). The roads alongside the river are interesting enough in themselves, but, as I turned around, I discovered just how interesting, for there was the Japan Radio Museum (photo 2). No, it’s not in the English language guidebooks, although I found later that there are brochures for it in the tourist office in the train station. But it is only open from 1 to 5 pm, so I went off on other tourist related missions until then. Upon returning that afternoon, I paid the admission fee of 500yen (about US$5) and was able to meet the museum’s curator Tadanobu Okabe. Fortunately, Okabe-san speaks English considerably better than I speak Japanese, so I was able to ask him about some of the exhibits. The Japan Radio Museum is a small building with two floors, containing mostly consumer electronic equipment from the 1920’s through to the 1970’s. Although it is crowded with exhibits, these are apparently only a small portion of what is in the collection. There are a total of 1500 tube radios, 400 transistor radios, 100 radio phonographs through to later audio equipment, 60 TV receivers, and even home appliances, mostly in storage. This collection, allows one to see the progress from the early years when vacuum tube receiver designs from other parts of the world were adapted for the Japanese market, up through the period when Japan began to lead the world in new designs. Outside of early imported technology, you will see primarily Japan’s contributions to the march of technology. The museum regards the 20 years from 1935 to 1955 as the golden era of Japanese radio, but there are also exhibits from later years as technological development moved away from vacuum tube AM radios. The days of transistor radios, a worldwide market established by the Japanese, are well represented. On the first floor there is the permanent exhibition with radios dating from 1924 through to 1976, while on the second floor there are held special exhibitions taken from the larger collection. At the time I was there the second floor was showing equipment from 1918 through to about 1930, of both imported and Japanese radio gear. I am sorry that I was not able to read Japanese, as much of the brochure for the special exhibition and the signage itself were in Japanese only. Often, Japanese radios would have their trade name marked in English lettering, and I was a little surprised to see a couple of National radios from the 30’s in an area otherwise dominated by Japanese equipment. Then it was explained to me that “National” was a trade name of the Matsushita Corporation, later to identify as Panasonic, and, as some might remember, sometimes combined with the National name. Although I took many photographs, I discovered later that the very detailed website http://www.japanradiomuseum.jp/index-e.html has much better photography, and is worth a visit in itself even if you can’t get to Matsumoto. There is a great deal of Japanese radio history written up, as well as the photographs, plus it references the entire collection, not just what is out on display, so it is a very informative site. Portions of the site are principally in Japanese, but with the photos and with bits of English scattered throughout, you can get quite an accurate idea of what the museum is all about. One photo I could not find on the web site was that of a fine box loop antenna, so I’ll include one that I took, incongruously placed against a display of miniature television sets (photo 3). I especially liked the information found at http://www.japanradiomuseum.jp/tousen-e.html which describes how in the early 1930’s, Japanese broadcasters needed a “high quality and low priced radio set”. Tokyo Central Broadcast Station (JOAK) held a contest, specifying an AC set design of two tubes exclusive of the rectifier tube. A second contest was held in 1931, and a couple of the winners of that competition are in the museum’s collection. JOAK still exists today, and is heard in many parts of the world by DXers, who are now often using software designed radios, so the technology used by its listeners has come a long way from those early contests. The museum displays a poster of JOAK from 1925, complete with a schedule from that era (photo 4). There are also cards from JONK, the NHK1 station that still broadcasts from nearby Nagano. Of course, Japanese inventiveness in developing radio circuitry did not end in the ‘70s, as DXers’ can attest from their familiarity with such now historic radios as Panasonic’s RF-2200, and Sony’s ICF2010, along with the cleverly designed SRF-59 series of Walkmans. I understood that these radios are beyond the museum’s present time frame. We’ll have to see what happens as time moves on. Directions for getting to the museum are in a Japanese-only map on the website. However, although the museum may not be known to the average passer-by in Matsumoto, the nearby Yohashira shrine will be, and that is clearly marked in Japanese on the map. The tourist office in the train station has English speaking staff, and will also be able to help. If you are adventurous enough to visit Matsumoto, then it will not be too much of a challenge to find it. Both the city and the museum are well worth a visit (IRCA DX Monitor Feb 10, published Feb 6, via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 14TH GLOBAL SHORTWAVE CO-ORDINATION CONFERENCE IN KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA --- ABU http://www.abu.org.my/Latest_News-@-14th_Global_Shortwave_Co-ordination_Conference_in_Kuala_Lumpur_Malaysia_.aspx The High Frequency Coordination Conference (HFCC), the Arab States Broadcasting Union (ASBU) and the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) jointly held the 14th Global Shortwave Co-ordination Conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from 22-26 January 2018. The conference was hosted by the ABU. Eighty five participants from the three coordination groups, representing global shortwave broadcasters and related stakeholders from all over the world from 84 countries coordinated schedules for the coming transmission season. The objective of the conference was to coordinate shortwave frequency schedules for the A-18. Shortwave broadcasting has a unique position in that the radio channels used by international stations are not assigned, but regularly coordinated for two seasons each year. The frequency channel situation for shortwave radio is always changing because of the 11 year solar cycle and seasonal effects, as well as because of new or changed frequencies of shortwave broadcasters around the globe. Co- ordination methods were started by broadcasters with support from the broadcasting unions. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) set up a special task group that studied the emerging co-ordination procedures in the 1990s and concluded that the system should become an integral part of shortwave spectrum management. The principles were incorporated in Article 12 of the International Radio Regulations in 1997. The Coordination Conference provides delegates and their organisations with a valuable opportunity to coordinate their frequencies directly with the frequency managers of other broadcasters and prevent interference occurring in their radio services. The ABU is delighted to place on record the positive feedback and response of the delegates who participated in this A-18 conference. Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ FRENCH CREEK STATE PARK, PA, DX-PEDITION --- From Rich D’Angelo: Our final DXpedition of the season was held at French Creek State Park on January 30, 31 and February 1, 2018. Winter weather greeted us with an inch or two of snow on the ground by the time we arrived making antenna work all the more fun. I began setting up my 500 feet of wire enjoying snow drippings along the way. The afternoon DX session was fairly good with possible reception of RRI Palangkaraya on 3325 kHz being the highlight. Later saw a slew of Ethiopian stations making appearances including Radio Amhara and Voice of Peace and Democracy. Also, Radio One from Zambia was heard with the great Fish Eagle interval signal. The next morning brought Radio Logos from Chazuta, Perú as an opening act. A target of mine was the new Radio Nigeria – IPOB outlet on 15110 kHz which opened at 1600 with a Hausa language program. I started the afternoon with one of Ralph Perry’s religious broadcaster targets, AWR Nairobi, broadcasting from Madagascar. Late afternoon I logged Radio Congonhas in Brazil on 4775 kHz thanks to a Dave Valko tip. Also, a Euro pirate made an appearance on 6205 kHz but as I was starting dinner I couldn’t stay with it. I continued to monitor the Euro pirate in the evening but it was never strong enough to identify. Our final morning was pretty good with Radio Cultural Amauta finally showing up. I heard Radio Logos open its morning program at 1102 UTC. It was good to finally hear two All India Radio 60-meter band outlets with English news at 1230 UTC; AIR – Chennai (4920 kHz) and AIR – Thiruvananthapuram (5010 kHz). A fairly productive DXpedition overall. However, two mild disappointments were no clear sign of Radio Deegaanka Soomaalida – Jijiga in Ethiopia (5940 kHz) which was buried under Rádio Voz Missionária or Radio Apintie - Paramaribo in Suriname (4990 kHz). Nothing from Papua New Guinea (Madang or Bougainville). Another no show was Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation – Dole (6015 kHz). Although not logged, I believe I spotted Al-Azm Radio – Jeddah (11745 kHz) from Saudi Arabia operating seemingly on a twenty-four hour schedule (NASWA Flashsheet Feb 4 via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS See also ALGERIA; SERBIA ++++++++++++++++ HEAR THE UNTOLD STORY OF A CANADIAN CODE TALKER FROM WORLD WAR II -- Short Film Showcase: This is fascinating. During World War II, Charles “Checker” Tomkins fought the enemy with a different kind of weapon. As a code talker in the Canadian military, he used his knowledge of the native Cree language to help develop a top-secret communication system to defeat the Germans. Tomkins worked closely with the U.S. Air Force and his coded messages were vital to the success of their combat missions. Sworn to secrecy, he did not speak about his efforts until more than fifty years later after being approached by the Smithsonian Institute. Tomkin’s brother and friend remember his story in this poetic short film by Alexandra Lazarowich … https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzkEsMYxhFM&feature=youtu.be (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See BULGARIA; ETHIOPIA; INDIA!; NIGERIA; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ROMANIA; TURKEY DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB See BELGIUM ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See UNIDENTIFED: TA carrier search +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See also CUBA!; MEXICO ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ ATSC 3.0 What’s ATSC 3.0? All you need to know about the next era in broadcast TV https://www.digitaltrends.com/home-theater/atsc-3-0-ota-broadcast-standard-4k-dolby-atmos/ ATSC 3.0 ROLLOUT CAN BEGIN NEXT MONTH http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/atsc-30-rollout-can-begin-next-month/171487 (both via amfmtvdtvbrla, Feb 4, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) ATSC 3.0 ROLLOUT CAN BEGIN NEXT MONTH http://www.multichannel.com/news/fcc/atsc-30-rollout-can-begin-next-month/417861 The future of TV DXing will be here in March (David Slate, TN, ABDX via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ EQUIPMENT IN VILLAGE PATRESHKO, NEAR TROYAN, BULGARIA http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/p/equipment.html (Ivo Ivanov, SWLDXBulgaria News, February 3-4, dxldyg via DXLD) GUIDELINES FOR BATTERIES ON AIRCRAFT While doing some online shopping for battery chargers, I came across this valuable link containing FAA guidelines for batteries and chargers: important stuff to be aware of for those of us carrying radios and other things on trips https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ash/ash_programs/hazmat/passenger_info/media/Airline_passengers_and_batteries.pdf (Dan Robinson, Potomoc, Maryland, via Sheldon Harvey`s Radio HF Internet Newsletter, Feb, via DXLD) WIRELESS POWER TRANSMISSION, EXPERIMENTAL STATION Experiment authorized by FCC: WJ2XGB, 1800 kHz https://apps.fcc.gov/els/GetAtt.html?id=202374&x= Our Texzon Wireless Power™ system allows the Earth itself to be used for clean, safe and efficient transfer of power between any two points on the globe, wirelessly. The system represents a paradigm shift in the science of electromagnetics. http://www.texzontechnologies.com/ (via Bennett Kobb, IEEE, Feb 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) This is rather astounding, science fixion? If true, then we can only wonder what kind of RF interference it might produce, everywhere. Range axually 1710-1900 kHz (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Viz.: 1 Texzon Technologies, LLC Request for Part 5 Experimental License ELS File No. 0924-EX-CN-2017 NARRATIVE STATEMENT Pursuant to Sections 5.203 of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. § 5.203 (2016), Texzon Technologies, LLC (“Texzon”) hereby respectfully requests experimental license from January 17, 2018 to January 17, 2020, to operate in the 1800 kHz spectrum band. This experimental license will allow Texzon to continue the experimental testing done under experimental special temporary authority (call sign: WL9XKQ). Texzon is developing systems for the excitation of terrestrial electromagnetic surface waves (Zenneck surface waves, not Norton ground waves) with the ultimate intent of more efficient broadcast signaling without the current issues associated with ionosphere skip interference. The equipment to be used is experimental and proprietary and is entirely of a prototype nature. Testing will be done under the control of the General Radiotelephone Operator License (GROL) held by: Kenneth Corum FRN: 0003674447 Granted 03-18-2009 File Number:0003778069 Serial Number: PG00026528 As well as under the control of Amateur licensee: Michael Paul Taylor FRN: 0024766438 General Class Amateur License call sign KG5IUC A. Purpose of Operation and Need for STA: Texzon is a startup technology company focused in the fields of energy storage and distribution. Texzon will be recording precise field strength measurements at the requested frequency ranges using low frequency spectrum analyzers and calibrated antennas. The purpose of the test is to determine the efficiency of design of the prototype and validate the science of the terrestrial EM surface wave for use in signaling. Importantly, Texzon believes such testing will be non- radiating – which will limit the interference effects to any other party in the spectrum bands under test. The system under test will be used to demonstrate the science and applications of Zenneck surface waves and is a precursor to a larger demonstration of this new signaling technology. The experimental license is needed to tune and test the demonstration apparatus. 2 B. Location of Proposed Operation: Texzon proposes to conduct its experimental testing at its facilities in Texas. The approximate reference coordinates (in Datum: NAD83) of the fixed location is: Approx. 32 9' 24"N, 96 56' 22"W {circa Dallas --- gh} C. Technical Specifications: 1. Frequencies Desired Texzon will be conducting the testing and tuning in the frequency range 1710-1900 kHz. To conduct a series of measurements over a frequency range, Texzon requests authorization to use a continuous wave (CW) transmission with a 3 dB bandwidth of less than 10 Hertz (Hz). 2. Effective Radiated Power Texzon anticipates that the demonstrations will be non-radiating. To conduct the demonstrations, the RF power necessary to maintain the voltage to produce local fields required to launch a high velocity propagating surface wave will be utilized. The testing will not exceed 50 kW of RF input power to the surface wave launching probe at 1710 kHz. The intent is to produce a surface wave without producing any Norton ground wave radiation. Texzon believes that the EIRP will be limited to 1000 watts. Texzon will conduct other testing in the spectrum range from 1710 kHz to 1900 kHz but the input power will be less than 5 kW for those tests with EIRP limited to 100 watts or less for that testing. 3. Modulation and Emissions Texzon proposes to utilize a continuous wave signal with less than 10 Hertz of bandwidth. The emission designator would be H10N0N. 4. Antenna Information While the testing should be non-radiating, the surface wave launching probe will not exceed 35 feet above ground level for the 1800 kHz testing and tuning. No probes will be mounted in a fashion that will require approval under FAA and FCC rules and regulations. 5. Equipment To Be Used Texzon expects to conduct its demonstration with a single test probe at the above referenced fixed location. The surface wave structure is entirely custom built and proprietary to Texzon Technologies. The transmitter used to produce and drive the signal is a Nautel NX 50 broadcast transmitter with modifications made. Texzon will limit the power, area of operation, and transmitting times to the minimum necessary to gather the needed scientific measurements of this new technology. D. Protection Against Causing Interference: Texzon has requested authority to operate in the 1800 kHz band. The 1800 kHz band is a primary Amateur Radio Service as well as a primary band for fixed, mobile, and radiolocation services. Texzon understands that it must accept any interference from any users of this band and that all operations by Texzon will be on a secondary basis. Texzon has established a point of contact identified below with “kill switch” authority should any interference occur to primary licensed services. Should interference occur, Texzon will take immediate steps to resolve the interference, including, if necessary, arranging for the discontinuance of operation. E. Restrictions on Operation: Texzon is not seeking authority to perform a market study under the requested experimental license. Moreover, no fees will be charged to entities using the equipment during this test. Entities will be advised in accordance with Section 2.803 of the Commission’s rules, 47 C.F.R. §2.803, that any unapproved devices which have not been authorized as required by the FCC are not being offered for sale or lease, or sold or leased, until authorization is obtained. F. Public Interest: Texzon submits that issuance of an experimental license as requested is in the public interest, convenience, and necessity. Grant of an STA will help Texzon to develop and test innovative equipment that will allow for more effective and efficient power management and distribution. G. Contact Information: Technical Contact and “Stop Buzzer/Kill Switch:” Michael P. Taylor Texzon Technologies, LLC Telephone: 979-255-8502 mtaylor@texzont.com FCC Legal Counsel/Contact: Tom Dombrowsky Senior Engineering Advisor DLA Piper LLP 500 8th Street, NW Washington, DC 20004 Telephone: 202.799.4039 Thomas.Dombrowsky@dlapiper.com (excerpts via DXLD) HIGHER FM POWER IN NEW CLASS OF STATIONS? http://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/0002/fcc-will-consider-creating-a-new-fm-class/341154 (via Todd Skaine, MN, Feb 6, ABDX via DXLD) THE AIRSPY HF+ © Bjarne Mjelde, January 2018, Arcticdx.blogspot.com The fourth, and so far, the last, inexpensive SDR to enter the “Area 51” of MW test facilities in Kongsfjord is the Airspy HF+. Those who follow my blog may remember the previous three: The ColibriNANO (quite OK, but high internal noise level), the Airspy R2+Spyverter (no, not really) and the SDRPlay RSP1A (surprisingly good but failed at the high signal level test at Smøla island). After months of deliberate teasing, The HF+ was released a couple of weeks before Christmas 2017. I got mine in early January. You don’t find much info about Airspy, the manufacturer. The front figure is Youssef Touil, based in Paris [caption?] The hardware is closely connected with the development of the SDR# (pronounced SDR Sharp) software. Their present range of SDRs are the Airspy Mini, the Airspy R2 (which has been evaluated here earlier), and now the Airspy HF+. . . https://app.box.com/s/d2dni57dzrsxgs38gxbbfz9gm26brqpk (via Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC INDICES – Compiled by: Phil Bytheway E-mail: phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary January 1 2018 through January 31 2018 Tabulated from status daily (K @ 0000 UTC). Flux A K Space Wx 1 69 11 1 no storms 2 70 5 1 no storms 3 71 4 1 no storms 4 70 4 1 no storms 5 69 5 2 no storms 6 69 3 0 no storms 7 70 3 1 no storms 8 70 9 2 no storms 9 71 9 2 no storms 10 70 5 0 no storms 11 71 2 1 no storms 12 71 4 0 no storms 13 71 7 2 no storms 14 71 14 2 minor, G1 15 70 9 2 no storms 16 71 4 1 no storms 17 71 3 1 no storms 18 71 2 1 no storms 19 71 8 2 no storms 20 70 8 1 no storms 21 69 10 3 no storms 22 70 12 3 no storms 23 71 4 0 no storms 24 70 8 4 no storms 25 70 10 2 no storms 26 70 8 2 no storms 27 69 6 1 no storms 28 69 4 2 no storms 29 68 4 1 no storms 30 69 5 1 no storms 31 69 6 3 no storms Gx – Geomagnetic Storm Level Rx – Radio Blackouts Level Sx – Solar Radiation Storm Level (IRCA DX Monitor Feb 10, published Feb 6, via DXLD) :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2018 Feb 05 0144 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/products/weekly-highlights-and-27-day-forecast # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 29 Jan - 04 Feb 2018 Solar activity was at very low levels from 29 Jan - 03 Feb. Low levels were observed on 04 Feb as new Region 2699 (S04, L=171, class/area Hsx/080 on 04 Feb) produced a C1 flare at 04/2024 UTC. The region also produced numerous B-class flares after rotating onto the disk. No Earth-directed CME activity was observed during the period. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at moderate levels on 29 Jan with a peak flux of 130 pfu observed at 29/0005 UTC. Normal levels were observed from 30 Jan - 04 Feb. Geomagnetic field activity was at mostly quiet levels with isolated unsettled intervals observed early on 30 Jan and again late on 31 Jan. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 05 FEBRUARY - 03 MARCH 2018 Solar activity is expected to be to be at mostly very low levels with a slight chance for low activity through 16 Feb due to the emergence of Region 2699. Very low levels are anticipated from 17-28 Feb after the departure of Region 2699. A slight chance for low levels is possible from 01-03 Mar due to the return of old Region 2699. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal levels from 05-14 Feb and again from 26 Feb-03 Mar. Moderate levels are likely from 15-25 Feb due to influence from recurrent CH HSSs. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels on 05 Feb, 15-17 Feb and 20-22 Feb, with isolated active periods likley on 16 Feb. This activity is due to influence from recurrent CH HSSs. Mostly quiet conditions are expected for the remainder of the outlook period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2018 Feb 05 0144 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 2018-02-05 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2018 Feb 05 69 8 3 2018 Feb 06 70 5 2 2018 Feb 07 70 5 2 2018 Feb 08 70 5 2 2018 Feb 09 70 5 2 2018 Feb 10 70 5 2 2018 Feb 11 70 5 2 2018 Feb 12 70 5 2 2018 Feb 13 70 5 2 2018 Feb 14 70 5 2 2018 Feb 15 70 8 3 2018 Feb 16 70 12 4 2018 Feb 17 70 8 3 2018 Feb 18 70 10 3 2018 Feb 19 70 5 2 2018 Feb 20 70 8 3 2018 Feb 21 70 10 3 2018 Feb 22 70 8 3 2018 Feb 23 69 5 2 2018 Feb 24 69 5 2 2018 Feb 25 69 5 2 2018 Feb 26 69 5 2 2018 Feb 27 69 5 2 2018 Feb 28 69 5 2 2018 Mar 01 69 5 2 2018 Mar 02 69 5 2 2018 Mar 03 69 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1916, DXLD) A SOLAR MINIMUM SUNSPOT Southgate February 6, 2018 With Solar Minimum right around the corner, sunspot counts are at an almost 10-year low. So it came as a surprise yesterday when a relatively large sunspot emerged near the sun's eastern limb. AR2699 has a primary dark core larger than Earth with many smaller magnetic condensations trailing behind it, in all stretching more than 75,000 km across the sun's surface. Rare "solar minimum sunspots" are capable of intense explosions just like sunspots during more active phases of the solar cycle. Visit Spaceweather.com for more information and updates. http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2018/february/a-solar-minimum-sunspot.htm#.Wno3xqhl_IU (via Mike Terry, WOR iog via DXLD) ###