DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-051, May 1, 2007 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 2007 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2006 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid6.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1357: ** tentative Wed 2200 WOR WBCQ 7415 [first airing of each edition] Wed 2300 WOR WBCQ 17495-CLSB Thu 1430 WOR WRMI 7385 Thu 1500 WOR KAIJ 9480 Fri 0630 WOR WRMI 9955** Fri 1030 WOR KAIJ 5755 Fri 1100 WOR WRMI 9955** Fri 2030 WOR WWCR1 15825 Sat 1630 WOR WWCR3 12160 [irregular] Sat 2130 WOR WRMI 9955 Sun 0230 WOR WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WOR WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WOR WRMI 9955 Sun 1500 WOR WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WOR WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WOR WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Mon 0530 WOR WRMI 9955** Mon 0930 WOR WRMI 9955** Tue 1030 WOR WRMI 9955** Wed 0730 WOR WRMI 9955** WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL SCHEDULE: 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 For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AFGHANISTAN. FIRST PRIVATE RADIO STATION GOES LIVE ON THE WEB BBC Monitoring observes that Afghanistan's first private radio station, Arman FM, is now available on a live audio stream from their website at http://www.arman.fm The station broadcasts on 98.1 MHz FM in Kabul and five provincial cities - Ghazni, Herat, Jalalabad, Kandahar and Mazar-e Sharif. It is also available on the Express AM22 satellite at 53 degrees east, frequency 11682 MHz, vertical polarization, symbol rate 5000, FEC 3/4. This transponder also carries associated television channels Tolo TV and Lemar TV. When it was launched on 16 April 2003 Arman FM was the country's first-ever private radio station, broadcasting a mix of information, entertainment and education presented in Dari and Pashto. Arman FM and its associated television channels are operated by Afghan-Australian media group Moby Capital Partners, which has a website at http://www.mobycapital.com Source: BBC Monitoring research 1 May 07 (via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. After its Monday break, R. Tirana at 1300 to NAm on 13750 on May 1 was JBA (just barely audible), not enough signal to combat my neighbor`s TV swish QRM, and at 1324 recheck not audible at all. One would expect better results with solar flux grown to 87 from a low of 69 recently, and K-index at only 1. Clearly there are other factors (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar-terrestrial indices for 30 April follow. Solar flux 87 and mid- latitude A-index 21. The mid-latitude K-index at 1200 UTC on 01 May was 1 (5 nT). The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 01 May was 1 (8 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours (SEC via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. The new outlet for English at 2000 on 13720 came in only with a weak signal here, but Germany is not the target area anyway. However, // 7465 (yes, 7465 and 13720 carried the same program tonight) was quite weak, too, with lots of fading. At 2030 the second transmitter moved to 9390, which now arrives here at roughly the same level than 7465. Both English and Albanian suffer from a loud hum and distortion on mic audio, probably caused within the studio since both problems did not show up during German until 2000 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA. Rádio Nacional was heard at various times between 0001 and 0030 April 14, 15, 16 and 17 on 7216.7, too weak to copy after 0030. Programme was easy listening songs and music with brief announcements. Best reception April 17 from 0001, SINPO 23211, language Portuguese, same programme heard on 4950 at 0015, also very weak. 7245 was blocked by a powerful station so couldn't check whether that frequency was also in use (Arthur Miller, Wales, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476.10, LRA 36 Radio Arcángel San Gabriel, 1942 - 1946, Apr 23, Spanish, comments by female announcer, Argentine folk music, 24332 (Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, Lat: 34º34'49S, Long: 58º32'26W, Villa Lynch, Prov. Buenos Aires, Argentina, April 29, WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476.1, LRA36, 2001-2059:35*, 4/24/07. Lively ballads and folk music noted at tune-in with OM announcer between selections. Early on was at S3 level on peaks and would fade briefly to near inaudibility. Some t- storm static noted. By 2020 the signal leveled out with less severe fades and was aS6 on peaks. Clear mention of Esperanza at 2020. Continued music program until sign-off announcement began at 2057. Clear/ full ID at 2058:30. One more ballad but pulled audio plug at 2059:35 and transmitter was off at 2102. Best reception ever here (Jerry Strawman, IA, NASWA Flashsheet via WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. I can't recall having heard of Radio Continental prior to reading about it in Glenn Hauser's column last month, not in WRTH but found it in my 2005 DSWCI Domestic Broadcast Survey. Heard with decent signal on 15820 LSB at 1958 April 20, talk, time pips, time check for Buenos Aires, discussion and music. SINPO 34422, deep fading, identification 2035, still there at 2100 (Arthur Miller, Wales, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) However, on another date one may well hear some other Bs As station being relayed at same time on same frequency (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 6230U, VMW, Wiluna, Western Australia & 6507U, VMC, Charlieville [sic], Queensland. Two full data Bureau of Meteorology QSL cards (nicely laminated) . Also received an information letter with web site info for HF transmissions; in 33 days, mailed from Singapore. Address used: Bureau of Meteorology, Communication Section, 700 Collins Street Docklands, 3008 Australia This for CD MP3 Report (sent PPC's-not used) v/s: Mike Dalakis (A/SRTE) (Edward Kusalik- Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Singapore?! A bulk mail trans- shipment hub, I think. Also a printing hub, conveniently (gh) ** BOLIVIA. The R. Yura, 4716+ log in 7-049 should have been under BOLIVIA, not PERU! I had to check to make sure I had it under the right country when I heard it a few days later (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. 6030, Calgary - CFVP relaying CKMX (AM 1060), 0520 April 30, this is their usual Monday in the clear (Martí and jammer are off). C&W songs, ID for "Classic Country 1060 AM", reception about the best I have ever heard for this one, fair and at times almost good (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [non]. Re 7-050, USA: WCFE: Glenn, you said: "I think this is how the Montréal area gets PBS. Question arises whether there would be any point in rebuilding their analog service which will have to be closed down in 22 months anyway. (gh, DXLD)" Montreal-area viewers can also receive PBS from Vermont Public Television over the air via WETK-33, Burlington, VT. In the neighbourhood where my parents live, WCFE-57 gave superior reception. (In fact, Channel 57 had a better analog signal than some lower- powered Montreal television stations.) I think both channels are carried by Quebec and Ontario cable operators. Both channels rely heavily on Canadian viewers during their funding drives, and WCFE's current transmitter problems coincide with their annual Arts Auction, one of their most successful fundraising activities. 73, (Ricky Leong, Calgary, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A VERMONT commercial station is helping Plattsburgh's WCFE-TV (Channel 57) get a signal back on the air after the collapse of its tower on Lyon Mountain April 18. WCAX-TV (Channel 3) in Burlington announced Tuesday that it's allowing "Mountain Lake PBS" to broadcast over one of the subchannels of WCAX-DT (Channel 53) until WCFE can rebuild its own tower later this summer. The WCFE subchannel will apparently appear as "57.1" on DTV tuners, and more importantly, will resume the feed of WCFE's signal to cable companies in Vermont, Quebec and northeastern New York. WCAX quickly rounded up some loaned microwave equipment to get the WCFE signal across the lake to its transmitter on Mount Mansfield. (And when you look up the definition of "broadcasting in the public interest," that should be a WCAX logo you see...) WCFE is also getting some help from its Plattsburgh neighbor, Hearst- Argyle's WPTZ (Channel 5), which donated video streaming to help WCFE get its big "Arts Auction" out to as many viewers as possible (Northeast Radio Watch April 30, http://www.fybush.com/support.html via DXLD) ** CANADA. New CBC chairman Timothy Casgrain admits his broadcasting knowledge is limited, but says he has a love of the CBC. --- Different world for new CBC boss TIMOTHY CASGRAIN --- Lack of broadcasting background irks critics OTTAWA, KEITH BONNELL CANWEST NEWS SERVICE Timothy Casgrain remembers spending nights trying to tune into the sounds of home on CBC radio while he worked at a trading house in the West Indies more than 30 years ago. . . http://groups.yahoo.com/group/radioinmontreal/message/13129 (via DXLD) ** CHINA. Re: Question about Chinese jamming To add some more details: This Firedrake is a loop, I seem to recall a duration of about 50 minutes but could be wrong about this. [I believe it was 62 minutes --- gh] I think a Japanese website even offered a recording of the complete loop, but I can't find it again (as far as I remember this had been mentioned in DXLD). For some time Firedrake was // on all Chinese jamming outlets, but recently (in December 2006) up to three different play-outs of this "special programming" were observed. Firedrake has apparently replaced the older Chinese jamming techniques, documented at http://monitor.ibb.gov/jamming/ In particular the Growlers apparently vanished altogether, I assume as a result of old transmitters being replaced by new facilities (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. RHC, 9550, UT Monday April 30 at 0520 had an interview about increased USG travel restrixions to Cuba; high-school students in Albuquerque are in trouble for going. This originated with ``Wakeup Call``, which is the morning talk show on WBAI, Pacifica, NYC, whose blog is: http://wakeupcallradio.blogspot.com/ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. It`s a big day in Habana, the 46th anniversary of RHC, and oh yes, something about workers. RHC was combined with at least half a dozen domestic networks for live coverage by Ninochka, from Plaza de la Revolución, May 1 at 1331 on 11760 // 11655 and many other frequencies not including 15370. Can`t let two minutes go by without blathering about Terrorist Posada Carriles, who ought to be extradited to Cuba, and the five Cuban political prisoners in US jails; never a word about the great many more Cuban political prisoners in Cuban jails. ``Cuba --- Último Territorio Esclavo en América --- patria o suerte, ¡pensaremos!`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Hi Glenn, Did a quick buzz around AM at about 12:30 AM CT this (Monday) morning and found Radio Rebelde on 530 with a steady signal, coming out of news into their "A Esta Hora" (sp?) music program. I'd heard Radio Cadena Habana here before I believe. I do enjoy the music on that show when I'm at home overnight listening to 5025, but I didn't have a shortwave set handy to check for //. Take care! (Eric Loy, DWS Sportsnight, WDWS Radio, Champaign IL, April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 530/1180/5025, Radio Rebelde (AM + FM network streams?); 1946+ 30 April, 2007. For my first time, 1180 normal synchro's not in parallel. The strongest 1180 was parallel 5025 with telco audio baseball coverage (a Cuban vs. Venezuelan team), generic "Rebelde" canned ID's. Underneath, a much weaker non-parallel Rebelde with Cuban pop vocals which was parallel 530. 20000 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. Ultimas escuchas: NO IDENTIFICADA, 5930 kHz, 28-04-07, 2218-2230 UT. Música folklórica de algún país del este y entrevista, parece en idioma ruso. SINPO 55433 (Javier Robledillo Jaen, Spain, Noticias DX via DXLD) Hola Javier, Es muy posible que la estación en 5930 kHz era CyBC de Chipre. Transmite aquí los viernes, sábados y domingos a las 2215 - 2245 UT. Puedes comprobar las paralelas: 7210 y 9760 kHz. Saludos desde (Rusia, Dmitry Mezin, WORLD OF RADIO 1357, ibid.) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Re 7-050, x-band stations: Glenn, look here http://www.dominicanaonline.org/Portal/espanol/txt_radio_am.html Lists phone numbers for x-band stations. Good chance they exist even if they are not yet on air! I just found Indotel & clearly this website has merely reproduced their info! (73 Steve Whitt, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 7210, R. Fana, 0338, 4/29/07. Fair-poor in noisy band conditions with man talking in Amharic; into distinctive HoF vocals at 0340; ID at 0345 and back to vocals (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** FRANCE. 15180, Radio Saa via Issoudun. Full data (including power, antenna type; transmitter site) Alliss rotatable antenna in Issoudun, France QSL card, in 15 days. This for a CD MP3 report / English & French report, PPC (not used). Address for reports: TDF-Radio Business Unit, Short-wave Department, 10, rud'Oradour sur Glane, 75732 Paris CEDEX 15, France. Tnx to Wendel for opening a route for this one! (Edward Kusalik-Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Summary of May 1 changes for DW English broadcasts as the remaining Nauen, Germany site is abandoned; times rounded off, not including beam changes on same frequency, site: 0300-0400 13770 UAE to 13810 1600-1700 15640 from Nauen to Rampisham 1900-1930 15620 Nauen dropped 17820 Trincomalee to Sines 2000-2100 11795 Nauen to Trincomalee 2100-2200 9735 Nauen to Rampisham (from http://www.dw-world.de/popups/popup_pdf/0,,2091088,00.pdf via Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. Yesterday around noon DW German on 9545 was still a weak short-skip signal from Nauen here. Now it originates from the UK sites, coming in strong during daytime and very strong during the evening. Quite unpleasant, metallic-sounding modulation though. Nauen on the day after: Around 2000 a strong signal on 6175, Bro. S. talking over a ridiculously loud noise, a computer fan or whatever it is. Listed as 100 kW, so this is the former RBI antenna. I really don't know what I should think about this (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. RE: IBB HF Station in Greece Dear Friends, I would like to inform you about a very unique opportunity with regard to the IBB station in Greece. I am hoping that some of you might have some interest in broadcasting your program from that location. I will outline certain facts relating to this matter. The IBB Kavala station in Greece is located on one of the most beautiful beaches in Northern Greece between the cities of Kavala and Xanthi. The station went into operation in the spring of 1973. It have ten 250 KW HF transmitters, Power plant with over 10 Meg of generators power, switch matrix, and over thirty curtain antennas. I consider its location to be the best anywhere for serving Eastern Europe and Russia. Many of the antennas are pointed in that direction. It can also serve Africa and many other places. The IBB closed this station in March of this year, and handed it back to the Greek Government. There is a special desire to reopen the station because of its excellent location. A long time fellow broadcaster Mr. Darrel Duckworth, who is retired from the IBB, has been appointed to chair this effort so as to come up with a business package that would make it possible to reopen the station. Darrel is trying to find interested parties who would like to lease air time on the station. So Far, one major world broadcaster has committed to purchase air time. If enough customers are found, Darrel will finalize all necessary arrangements with the Greek Ministry, and will himself had the operation of the station. Remember that there are ten transmitters and many antennas. That mean you can have your choice of frequencies as well as the hour of broadcast. There are enough transmitters to serve many of you. If enough broadcasters are interested, Darrel and I talked about installing new 100 KW DRM transmitters in the near future to supplement the operation. I asked Darrel to try and attend the NASB meeting so as to meet most of you and make a brief presentation. At the same time, if any of you are interested in leasing air time at a very cheap rate, please contact Darrel directly at Dduckworth6 @ hotmail.com You may also contact me and I will put you in touch with Darrel. By the way, I was the project engineer for building that station back in the early seventies, and there is where I met my wife. I know the station and the area very well. Have a pleasant weekend; I hope to see you at Elkhart, Regards, [unsigned as received] (April 26 via Adrian Peterson, AWR, via Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DXLD) ** GUIANA FRENCH [and non]. No sign of TDF DRM at 1328 May 1 on 17870- 17875-17880. Could be they have been persuaded to hold off until 1400 or so, since in its absence I was able to hear on 17870 Japan in Swahili via Ascension, and on 17880 CRI in French via Mali (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. AM frequency change in Hawaii Honolulu, Hawaii: 880 kHz: KHNR has moved from 870 to 880. 2,000 watts fulltime, non-directional, 21-17-41/157-51-49 posted by Doug Smith @ 12:27 PM (American bandscan blog April 30 via DXLD) So their California station on 870 can power up (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DXLD) ** INDIA. Re: The DRM Consortium, All India Radio (AIR) and the ABU are organising a trial of DRM transmissions in the medium wave band using the Single Channel Simulcast and Multi-Channel Simulcast technologies. It will also trial local DRM radio transmissions in the 26 MHz band, Near Vertical Incidence transmissions and DRM shortwave radio transmissions. (ABU via Zacharias Liangas) Single Channel Simulcast is the mode that needs at least a 13.5/15 kHz bandwidth, preferably 18/20 Khz so it can be used in Asia but not in Europe unless perhaps you use two low power channels such as 1278 or 1287, which may well not be suitable nighttimes anyway. With 18/20 kHz bandwidth you can have the same programme using 9/10 kHz for AM and 9 /10khz for DRM or different ones in AM and DRM (Mike Barraclough, UK, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** IRAN. 15235, IRIB Kamalabad in Albanian, 0630-0730, 500 kW 298 degrees, produces two symmetrical spurs on 15163.8-15167.3 and 15302- 15306.6 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Apr 30, harmonics yg via DXLD) ** IRELAND. The Broadcasting Commission of Ireland has awarded the licence for a new national AM service to Spirit Radio. They have purchased their own site south of Athlone and plan to use a new 100 kW DRM capable transmitter on 612 plus FM relays in Dublin, Cork, Limerick and Waterford (Mike Barraclough, England, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) see also LUXEMBOURG [and non] ** ISLE OF MAN [and non]. LW 279: see LUXEMBOURG ** JAPAN. Re 7-050: NHK R Japan --- So here is full sked for World Interactive: Sat 0510 5975 6110 7230 15195 17810 21755 Sat 1010 6120 9695 11730 11890 17585 17720 Sat 1410 7200 11730 11840 Sat 1710 9535 11970 15355 Sun 0010 6145 Sun 0110 5960 11780 11935 15235 15325 17560 [17685 regional service] 17810 17825 17845 Sun 0530 5975 6110 7230 15195 17810 21755 Sun 1030 6120 9695 11730 11890 17585 17720 Sun 1430 7200 11730 11840 Sun 1730 9535 11970 15355 Mon 0030 6145 Mon 0130 5960 11780 11935 15235 15325 17560 17685 17810 17825 17845 Thu 0540 5975 6110 7230 15195 17810 21755 Thu 1040 6120 9695 11730 11890 17585 17720 (Wolfgang Büschel, May 1, WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I had missed those unexpected Thursday repeats (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. D.P.R.K., North Korea. Radio Voice of Korea has announced that as of May 7 it will move to its summer schedule with changed frequencies (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX April 27 via WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 9485, Shiokaze - Sea Breeze via Taiwan, *1300- 1305, May 1 (Tue.), in English, YL with sign-on announcements ("This is Shiokaze, Sea Breeze, from Tokyo, Japan"), poor/QRM from 9480 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LUXEMBOURG [and non]. Apologies if I'm reporting something that's not news, but I see from the current ITU notification of proposed new LF/MF registrations that Luxembourg is seeking to use 279 longwave (250 kW day, 150 kW night). Anyone know any more about this? The registration document is dated 6 March 2007 and comments must be submitted by 26 June. The document does not indicate any coordination required with other users of 279 (it does do so for some other new LF registrations that are being requested by Russia) so presumably the registration will be granted. Has Luxembourg slipped in with this bid, knowing that Isle of Man 279 is now definitely off? If Luxembourg gets the channel, this would presumably block any future attempted registration of the frequency by the UK or the Isle of Man. The ITU document is at: http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/files/ge75/2007/GE75_115.pdf (Chris Greenway, UK, April 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think Luxembourg's request for 279 kHz LW, along with 567, 783 and 1098 kHz MW, first appeared in the ITU documents a couple of years ago, but I'm not sure what the current status of these proposals is, regarding co-ordination etc. Apparently RTL wants to use the frequencies for DRM transmissions. Apart from the UK's existing registration for 279 kHz for use on the Isle of Man (if that project ever materialises), RTE on 567 kHz could also be subject to severe interference if Luxembourg goes ahead with DRM on that frequency. [?? 2 x 279 = 558 kHz --- gh] Does anyone know whether the UK, Irish or any other administrations have raised any objections to RTE's proposals? (Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK via DXLD) LUX 279 appeared already in 2539/ 08.03.2005 Section Spéciale No Special Section No Sección Especial No GE75/112 http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/publications/brific-ter/files/ge75/2005/GE75_112.pdf 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The status of the coordination process can be seen in the columns "Coord_A" (countries affected by the coordination) and "Coord_B" (countries with which a coordination is required) in the pdf-file. If "Coord_B" is blank, this means that the data was approved by the countries involved. This is now the case with the LUX registrations for e.g. 279, 783 and 1098 (the countries these entries needed to be coordinated with were published in the file GE75_112). It is perhaps not so widely known what are the coordinated characteristics of the Isle of Man registration on 279 (registered 1999): it is 500 kW day (0600-1800) and 10 kW night (1800-0600). (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Actually "Coord_A" means "coordination effected". So I understand that a country designator should move from "Coord_B" to "Coord_A" rather than just vanishing to indicate that the coordination has been approved, and they would appear in the AMS column as PLN rather than ADD. Or do I misunderstand something here? Compare GE75_112 with GE75_115: Apparently 279 fell through with 300 kW, next attempt now are 250 kW day and 150 kW night. 567 fell through with 250 kW, next attempt are 230 kW day and 50 kW night. 783 fell through with 250 kW day and night, next attempt now is reduced power 63 kW for nighttime operation. 1098 fell through with 250 kW, so next attempt now are 120 kW day and 60 kW night. There are also changes in the antenna characteristics. It appears that in GE75_112 no country did appear as "Coord_B" if in the respective direction a gain reduction of at least 20 db had been proposed (like Slovakia for 567 and Germany for 783; in the latter one case the concept was apparently that MDR has not to provide a service to areas south of Sachsen and Thüringen). Some of the current proposals are quite different to the original ones from two years ago. 279 is now supposed to have during daytime at least 25 db suppression between 270 and 360 degrees, apparently protecting the whole area served by a 500 kW IOM station. At night only a -10 db in the 300...320 degrees segment shows up, apparently covering the area served by a 10 kW transmitter on the IOM. But at the same time they introduce two other nulls: -10 db towards 50...90 degrees (to protect Belarus) and up to -15 db towards 130...180 degrees (why?). 567: Proposal for daytime is now about -15 db in the 40...70 and 180...190 deg. segments, further tightening in between (-30 db towards 110...160 deg.), protecting both Germany and Slovakia. A slight -4 db null is proposed to protect Ireland (290...310 deg.). The plan for nighttime operation with reduced power is to split the gain reduction towards Germany and Slovakia into two separate nulls of only -12 db towards 40...90 and 130...170 deg. while the protection of Ireland is to be tightened to -13 db. 783: For daytime operation a broad gain reduction is proposed, with about -10 db towards 310 and 140 degrees and a max. null of -30 db towards 20...80 deg. At night it is proposed to loosen it to -25 db towards 40...70 degrees only (that's almost exactly Sachsen, Sachsen- Anhalt and Thüringen). 1098: Same pattern for day and night is proposed in this case, with a broad gain reduction, at least -10 db between 20 and 210 deg., especially tight with -30 db between 90 and 130 deg. (i.e. towards Slovakia). It appears to be an interesting question how these patterns could be put into reality, especially since these coordinations are meant for DRM operation, requiring a linear behaviour of the antenna system throughout the whole 9 kHz bandwidth. I assume that the 279, 567 and 783 proposals would require really elaborated, thus expensive antenna designs. Is this realistic? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Re: Luxembourg on 279? Many thanks to Bernd and Dave for their replies on this. I suspected that this was only news to me (though it has definitely not been widely publicized). As Kai Ludwig has pointed out on the DXLD yahoo group, Luxembourg has scaled back its original registration bid, which was for 300 kW, and is now asking for 250 kW day and 150 kW night. Similarly, they have cut back their power requests for the proposed 567, 783 and 1098 registrations. Also, the 279 registration bid now specifies a very significant null in the daytime beam towards the northwest (i.e. the UK) and a smaller null towards the east (i.e. Belarus). From what I read elsewhere, DRM requires a strong signal and has very little tolerance of fading or interference, so if it's going to work anywhere, then LW is probably the place (Chris Greenway, UK, BDXC-UK via DXLD) I understand that RTE May be proposing to vacate 567 by about the end of 2008, it may be that these registrations, if they take place, may not be effective until 2009 and may be conditional, by then the situation regarding IOM 279, should be 100% Clear (Ken Fletcher, UK, ibid.) ** MADAGASCAR. On April 20 and 21 after AIR signed off at 1740 on 5010 I heard a station in vernacular; presume this is RTV Malagasy which I have heard many times but I cannot detect a lower sideband, only a carrier and USB, none of the programmes that I heard were in French which makes me wonder if this really is Malagasy or a different station (Arthur Miller, Wales, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) It's Madagascar; Giovanni Carboni, Italy in Jihad DX logged them April 21 2040 to 2103 with music and songs, National Anthem and off 2104. He also noted that the station suppresses the lower sideband. The language you heard could have been Malagasy (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, Traxx FM (RTM), 1421-1528 May 1, in English, Maya and other DJs present their "Jazz Selecta" program (scheduled for Tuesdays, 1415-1700), numerous IDs: "Traxx FM, experience the excitement" & "Jazz Selecta", played EZL jazz instrumentals and vocals ("Cry Me a River", etc.), ToH "News roundup at 11, from Kuala Lumpur", TCs ("14 past 11"), poor-fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Probably the fate of the Dutch commercial station Radio 10 Gold has not been discussed in DXLD at all, but anyway: The 1008 transmitter is still on air, despite all reports about it being due for closure in April. I admit that I had the recording running a month ago and again last night, only to find that they did not cut the carrier in either case. Some German observers suspect that these new developments could be the reason why Talpa (the Radio 10 Gold owner) now hesitates from abandoning 1008: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/?p=7762 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9703.99, LV du Sahel, Niamey, 2100-2200*, April 29, French & vernacular talk. Variety of Afro-pops, French pops, local tribal music & even a US pop tune. Koran at 2153. Sign off with choral National Anthem. Fair signal. Covered by WYFR on 9705 at 2000-2100*. Niger heard on 9705 lately but today I found them on 9703.99. Normal sign off time is 2300, but on Sundays they sign off at 2200 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. V. of Nigeria, 15120, at tune-in April 30 at 2005 putting out noises, pause, then lo-fi talk in English, perhaps news. One would have to be much more motivated than I to try to keep listening to a signal with such lousy audio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. PIRATE USA, QSL: 6925, Sunshine Radio (via Grasscutter Radio transmitter). Received a nice package, which consisted of sunset/beach/palm trees QSL sheet, along with a sheet (to fill in) for Grasscutter Radio, and finally a photo QSL sheet of the Yaesu FT-757GX (100 watt) transmitter. Besides, this the operator sent me a nice CD of Grasscutter and Sunshine Radio programming. Reply in 12 days for posting of report to: grasscutter @ yahoo.com (Edward Kusalik-Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Another FM move-in. Maybe. I couldn't find any mention on the board, but it happened back in January: KNID 99.7 Alva applied to change their COL to Mustang. Although they'd be downgrading to a Class C2 (running 21,000 watts ERP at 777 feet) their city-grade (70dBu) signal would cover a fair portion of the Oklahoma City market: http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?exhibit_id=466430 Kinda looks like the coverage map for KTUZ. Obviously that's better than some others we've seen, but is it enough? And of course, the big question, I suppose: is this really necessary? (jd, April 19, radio- info.com Oklahoma board via DXLD) The former KTSH [99.7] in Tishomingo was going to move into the Oklahoma City metro but lost its license after the FCC decided something to the effect of it filed a fraudulent application. KNID, I seem to recall, was one of the biggest protesters of the move. About 10-15 years ago, it would have been sad to see KNID leave Enid. However, it hasn't superserved Enid for quite some time, and I suspect it will stay around on a lesser stick as that's what happened the first time it was moved into OKC! It looks like it may be a little less than KTUZ's signal, but, like you said, it's relatively comparable. KTUZ apparently makes decent money for what it is, and 99.7 should definitely be more competitive than KOJK and KINB. As for whether or not its necessary, your guess is as good as mine. OKC has fewer stations than most cities of its size, but some would say other markets its size are a little overradioed (Kent, April 19, ibid.) One little check on an app stating antenna failure and a call to some pretty powerful people complements of Mr. Clean/Dr. Evil and there was hell to pay. KNID, I seem to recall, was one of the biggest protesters of the move. About 10-15 years ago, it would have been sad to see KNID leave Enid. However, it hasn't superserved Enid for quite some time, and I suspect it will stay around on a lesser stick as that's what happened the first time it was moved into OKC! [on 96.9 site moved to near Crescent] Mr. Clean/Dr. Evil serves himself. Forget the market. He has. MUCH better than K-Joke or the hairdryer on half speed from the northern banjolands. As for whether or not its necessary, your guess is as good as mine. After we hear whatever pathetic format Mr. Clean/Dr. Evil parks on it while searching for his next sucker to pay Brink's Truck payments each month for its use we'll know how unnecessary the move truly is. Don't look for anything compelling to show up at 99.7. I have faith in how pathetic this market's players program. Those willing to pay Mr. Clean/Dr. Evil's ransom for it won't program it worth a damn. That's a given. One more signal of rot... Oh JOY! (OKCRadioguy April 22, ibid.) It's a shame that Hirem [Hiram Champlin, owner of KNID] is NOT a TRUE broadcaster. The station in Tishomingo -- same frequency -- was on its way to move to the same area. Hirem -- owner of KNID -- sent engineer after engineer to Tishomingo to explore possible problems with the site. A site that is in the middle of BFE [?]. Needless to say, Hirem has NO credibility with the OAB or other broadcasters that are in the business for the love of radio. It is a matter of time until he gets the move-in. [EDIT-inflammatory] « Last Edit: April 28, 2007, 12:41:32 pm by Board Editor 1 » (Givers, ibid.) ** PERU. 6089.2, 1232 UT May 01, R. Universal, Cusco, SS, "por Radio Universal...", nxs OM, ads. http://www.radiouniversalcusco.com/ (Rogildo Aragão, Quillacollo, Bolivia, 2001D - LW30m, HCDX via DXLD) ** POLAND [non] Re 7-050: POLAND / GERMANY --- Polish Radio English service is still on ONCE registered frequencies for A07 season: 9525 Wertachtal and 11850 Nauen site, at 1200-1300 UT. Nauen site is 2 seconds behind 9525 from WER. Frequencies on website of Polish Radio are the old faulty one from B06 winter season. UNBELIEVABLE. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, April 29-30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. Radio St Helena QSL arrived this morning, along with a letter from the Station Manager, Laura Lawrence. It came bearing a pretty 30p stamp featuring a flower that I don't recognise. Well worth waiting for! They are planning another HF broadcast, though the letter doesn't say when this will be, and advises to check the website http://www.news.co.sh (Mark Palmer, UK, May 1, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Re 7-050, 1521 kHz: However, acc. WRTH 2007 this transmitter is supposed to be off air between 2300 and 0300, for lack of overnight programming. Or do they leave an open carrier on air, burning several megawatts for nothing? Somebody has just posted an annotated satellite image of the 1521 site, located in the northwestern corner of Saudi-Arabia: http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,494085 The transmitter plant is not located at the town of Duba but instead 15 km northwest of it. It runs two 2000 kW outlets of Radio Riyadh main program on 594 and 1521, the latter being off air during daytime (0600-1500). The antennas for both frequencies, in the picture marked "1" (594) and "2" (1521), aim at Cairo, so North America is in the direction of the main beam. Each antenna system consists of six free standing towers with a triangular shape. The height of these towers appears to be a bit more than half wavelength, i.e. about 275 and 110 metres, respectively. The second tower from the right is being fed, the one to the right of it acts as reflector, the four ones to the left of it as directors. There are also two single towers for ND transmissions, the one marked "6" and another, somewhat taller one out of frame to the south. They should belong to the 40 kW on 702. The purpose of three other antenna systems, marked "3", "4" and "5", remains unclear, but it seems that they are back-up antennas for 594 and 1521. Here in Germany Duba is the dominating station on 1521, it would be quite listenable without the co-channel interference. The modulation is almost the same than on the Riyadh shortwave transmitters, there is only a very slight if any delay between 1521 and 9870 as well. Right now, around 2200, they carry a call-in programme, apparently of a casual late-at-night style as far as one can tell without understanding a single word of it (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Kai, It`s not unusual for this to be reported from NAm on 24h schedule not only carrier but programming. NRC International DX Digest: 1521, SAUDI ARABIA, BSKSA, Duba (27 20'N 35 45'E) MAR 10 0230 - Excellent; man speaking in Arabic, 0240 Kor`an, same as http://www.saudiradio.net radio-ch1 streaming audio, apparently still on 24 hour schedule. 0250 man in Arabic, now parallel 594 [Conti-NH] MAR 14 2045 - Already clobbering 1520 WIZZ two hours before sunset. At 2135 parallel 9555 and 9870 with Arabic news; loud, local-like [Connelly*R-MA] And the latest issue has another report from Conti of man in Arabic at 0145 March 30, excellent, S9+20. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) I'm still awake, and indeed 1521 is still on air with programming, meanwhile beyond 0030. In light of more such reports it is certainly an educated guess that Radio Riyadh 1st program has abolished the four hours break at night and now runs overnight programming routinely. Good night! (Kai Ludwig, Germany ibid.) 1521 | SAUDI ARABIA | BSKSA, Duba, APR 21 2342 - fast Arabic talk in interview; over Spain. Stronger than adjacent WIZZ/WWKB. [Connelly*B- MA] + APR 24 2254 - man & woman in Arabic; local-like. [Connelly*R-MA] (Mark Connelly, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) 9:30 pm [0130 UT May 1], Duba is giving WWKB a run for the money. It's 20 db with chanting, and creating quite a het, as usual. Meanwhile, WDCD 1540 seems to have its IBOC still on, with lots of hash on 1530 and 1550 (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, Kenwood R2000, Quantum phaser and two longwires and a 2' box loop, April 30, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** SCARBOROUGH REEF. BS7. A team of 18 operators left for Scarborough Reef at 0600z, April 25th, from Hong Kong and arrived at the Reef on the North side just as the sun was setting on April 28th. The trip was slower than expected because of extreme rough seas. As this bulletin was being written, the team reportedly (as of 0300z, April 29th - Local time at Scarborough Reef was 1100 hours in the morning) "has made entry into the lagoon area and are starting to build the operating positions. They are proceeding as quickly as possible under the conditions that are present. The weather is now perfect and for the time being should not hinder work activities as the day moves on." Currently, all the DXers world-wide wait patiently to work the most wanted DXCC entity. By the time you read this, they should be on the air and active for 9 days. This operation has been in the planning stages for 5 years. We were told that the International Team is led by Bob/W6RGG and includes James/9V1YC, Chen/BA1HAM, Fan/BA1RB, David/BA4RF, Chen/BA4RC, Terry/BA7NQ, Ko/BV6HJ, Eddie/DU1EV, Jun/DU1BA, Tom/ND2T, Joe/AA4NN, Paul/K4UJ, Mike/N6MZ, Mike/K9AJ, Martti/OH2BH, Massimo/I8NHJ and Christian/DL3MBG. The support staff include Tom/N4XP, Don/N1DG, Sam/K5YY, Paul/BV4FH and Jose/DU1JMG. According to their press release: "Scarborough Reef has unique and dangerous attributes and as such we will not have online logs or pilots. All efforts are on keeping our team safe so they can provide a new one to as many hams as possible." OPDX wishes the team best of luck and a safe operation and safe trip back from BS7. QSL via KU9C. For updates, visit the BS7H Web Page at: http://www.bs7h.com NEWS FLASH (Just before going to print!): PRESS RELEASE #9 (14:00 UTC 29 April): "The BS7H team worked throughout the day in setting up the stations and managed to get one station operational as darkness fell. The first QSO was made at 13:47 UTC. The dangerous environment prohibits any work in darkness, and they were unable to fully provision the one station that is operating. As a result, the CW station now on 14024 does not have enough gas to last the evening, so when you hear them QRT do not panic. At daybreak they will resupply the station as well as complete adding the other stations. We expect the team to be fully operational with all stations by darkness tomorrow N4XP and N1DG for the BS7H (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 April 30 WORLD OF RADIO 1357, via DXLD) ** SERBIA. International Radio Serbia, 7240, fair signal here 1905 in Spanish April 30, interference from CRI on 7245 (Mike Barraclough, England, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** SPAIN. REE, at 2005 April 30 opening ``Españoles en la Mar``, ``desde las Islas`` so presumably still originating from Tenerife, VG on 15110, // 15345 much weaker and with a very heavy SAH due to almost equal mix with Morocco in Arabic; no het from Argentina audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [and non]. 30 Apr 2007 at 1800 UT noted Radio Peace, Southern Sudan on 4750 kHz with rather strong signal. Actually the best signal from them I've heard for a long long time. There was no co-channel interference. Where is Dunamis Shortwave [UGANDA] now? I think Radio Peace have upgraded or increased the transmitter power on 4750 kHz now. Radio Peace signed off around 1840. There was a tiny carrier left on the frequency, going off around 1901 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. This month`s edition of Whole World on the Radio Dial from RUI, April 21, is all about reception of RUI, mainly in NAm, now that they have changed transmitter site: http://www.dxing.ru/content/view/563/85/ (Glenn Hauser, April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. COMMENTARY --- Mad TV --- By JOEL MOWBRAY May 1, 2007; P A21 Testifying under oath recently, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice misled Congress in her strong defense of Al-Hurra, the taxpayer financed Arab TV network. It was unwitting, though. She herself was misled. . . [available only up to 7 days] http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB117798728329887774-lMyQjAxMDE3NzA3MTkwODE3Wj.html (via David Cole, OK, May 1, DXLD) ** U S A. The well known DX Program “World of Radio” of Glen[n] Hauser was received at 2030 hours on 15825 kHz for the first time in many months (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX April 27 via DXLD) Friday, that is, on WWCR; how about the other emissions? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WRMI Reception [and non] --- Hi Jeff, Since 7385 is still barely audible as a carrier if at all, such as today at 1403, I wonder if you have not yet made any progress in getting its antenna back to normal? 9955 is often inaudible as well, even around 0500. It was weakly audible last night. I wonder if the lack of jamming at some times when there ought to be is because the DCJC can`t hear it either? Of course, especially in the summer, trying to broadcast on 7 MHz midday is contrary to basic propagation. Is there any chance of your going to much higher frequency, such as 11 or 13 MHz? Those ought to work here as to skip distance. 73, (Glenn to Jeff White, via DXLD) Glenn: I think the 7385 kHz antenna manufacturer is back in the US now, and we're trying to get him to come down and work on the antenna as soon as possible. Unfortunately, our equipment isn't very frequency-agile, so we don't feel comfortable operating on more than two frequencies. 7385 is important to us for the evening transmissions, and the only reason we're not on 9955 from 1400-1600 is because WEWN is there. So it's best for us to stick with 7385 as our second frequency. We're extremely happy with the performance of 9955 in the Caribbean and all of Latin America, which has historically been our most important target market. Those overnight hours are doing very well on 9955 deep into South America, with SINPOs of 4 and 5 in Chile and Argentina. I wish we could give better and more service to North America, but as an economic question it's not as important to us as going south. Plus I guess we could say like everyone else these days that listeners in North America are more capable of listening to us on the Internet than those in Latin America (Jeff White, WRMI, May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Wonder of all wonders, WBOH was exactly on frequency at 0235 on 29 April. Trace only // 9370, so I could not tell if that was on freq or not. At 2051 same date, they were both off freq. WBOH was on 5919.99 and WTJC was on 9369.91. My guess is that the 0235 b'cast was a fluke. 73/Liz (Liz Cameron, Metro Detroit, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWV; it's been months if not longer since I've logged WWV here on 20000. I know sunspots, MUF, DXing from Florida etc. influence, but it's odd I never hear them, despite the regular announcement still referencing 20 MHz. Anyone able to confirm they are still here? And, any of you semi-old timers remember when they were also on 25 MHz? (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes to remember 25; I don`t expect to hear 20 normally, being too close, tho Es should bring it in, and we had a report a few weeks ago of 20 making it somewhere eastward in the nightmiddle by Es (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. May is another Orgy month at WHRB, Harvard, which webcasts. I heard them mentioning that May 1 would start off with Warhorses, and then from May 2 at 1700 UT, a Johannes Brahms Orgy --- the composer`s complete works in chronological order. Unfortunately as of 1815 UT May 1, WHRB still hasn`t put up their detailed Orgy/Program schedule, which when it becomes available should be at http://www.whrb.org/pg/MayJune2007.pdf There used to be an html version too, but it seems they never got around to putting that up for March-April (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NOTES FROM THE PROGRAM DIRECTOR [of WUOT] About ten years ago, a distressing trend began to affect both the major musical organizations of the United States and the radio stations which broadcast their concerts. Longtime sponsors and underwriters began discontinuing their associations with these arts groups. One by one, many of the major symphonies and opera companies disappeared from the airwaves. This sea change affected American opera companies in particular. The San Francisco Opera ceased broadcasting over a decade ago. Five years ago, Lyric Opera of Chicago followed San Francisco into radio oblivion. The Metropolitan Opera managed to continue on the airwaves in spite of the departure of Texaco. Radio is a business which has always operated in cycles. Thankfully, this cycle is finally reversing itself. WFMT in Chicago, one of the leading classical music radio stations in the country and the longtime producer of Lyric Opera of Chicago broadcasts, has lured its old client back to the airwaves this month. Beginning on Saturday, May 12, Lyric Opera returns with a season of eight broadcasts, beginning with Puccini's Turandot, and continuing Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride, Strauss' Salome, Verdi's Il Trovatore, Gounod's Romeo et Juliette, Johann Strauss Jr.'s Die Fledermaus, Mozart's Così Fan Tutte and Poulenc's Dialogues of the Carmelites. And that is not all. Following the Lyric Opera of Chicago season, WFMT will continue with full broadcast seasons by the Los Angeles Opera, Houston Grand Opera, and, after more than a decade's absence, the San Francisco Opera. These will take us up to the next Metropolitan Opera broadcast season, which begins on December 8. American opera companies are alive and well after all, and will be heard on WUOT each Saturday afternoon at 1:30 PM [1730 UT]. I hope you will join us (Daniel T. Berry, Program Director, WUOT, May E-Notes via WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DXLD) Should also apply to many other classical public radio stations (gh) ** U S A. An unusual radio fundraising campaign in MASSACHUSETTS has wrapped up with an early declaration of success. As we've amply chronicled over the years, WJIB (740 Cambridge) is a most unusual commercial station, operated as a one-man venture by owner Bob Bittner, who's run the station for the last decade and a half with no commercial spots at all, just some leased-time programming and a lot of standards, soft AC, oldies and good old- fashioned "beautiful music." Two financial blows to WJIB almost put that operation in jeopardy this spring: first, the loss of Radio France International's contract to lease two hours of morning drive, and second, WJIB's ratings spike that put it in danger of owing a much larger ASCAP/BMI bill than it's enjoyed over the years with ratings below 1.0. So Bob decided to ask his audience for their support. Six weeks ago, he began airing occasional messages gently asking for voluntary donations to keep WJIB going past his self-imposed June 30 deadline. It turns out, as Bob put it in his on-air announcements last Wednesday, that June 30th came early - and that he's already made his $88,000 goal after just six weeks of occasional on-air fundraising announcements. "I am impressed with your generosity, and your deep commitment to keep WJIB playing this great music that we're known for," Bittner said in his announcement. "And I feel really good too; that all of my work over the years selecting and putting this music together has been validated." Bittner says the over 2,400 contributions he received - not tax- deductible, by the way - ranged from $5 to two $1,000 checks, and that not a single check bounced. (Two, however, sent in checks made out to "WGBH"!) And he says his experience proves that "a smaller commercially- licensed station has another alternative than to scratch for limited advertising dollars," providing another possible path for niche music formats like his to succeed. (Northeast Radio Watch April 30, http://www.fybush.com/support.html via DXLD) See also CANADA [non] ** U S A. While waiting for SEC to come through with its new propagation bulletin on Tuesdays so I can finish recording WORLD OF RADIO, I may tune to The Andean Hour on KOOP in Austin TX, Tuesdays 2030-2130 UT via webcast; program page: http://www.koop.org/?page=schedule§ion=andeanhour Unfortunately, on May 1 the webcast is at a low level and unbalanced, but if you crank the volume controls all the way up (and be careful when changing stations later!) it sounds OK, much better than via your average Andean SW station. Host Gilka Cespedes [sic] is obviously a native speaker altho she alternates with English. I have been somewhat uncertain about the pronunciation of huayno, which is not in my Random House dixionary, and which SS DXers often spell just like that. But she pronounced it WIGH-nyoh, which means it does have a tilde: huayño. I must remember that, and English-eaking DXers should too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. 9620.71, RDN-SODRE, 2206-2253, Apr 30, Spanish. 2 YLs with talks; one sounding like via phone; nice acoustic ballads and presumed ads/promos. Solid "...Radio Difusión Nacional SODRE" ID announcements at 2245 and 2247. Wiped out at 2253 by 9620-REE carrier. Poor at tune- in though much improved by 2245. C/H:#166 --- pleased to log this one (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverages, MLB-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENZUELA. Estimado Don Guillermo, Ante todo reciba un cordial y caluroso saludo, esperando que tanto a Ud., como el resto de los suyos se encuentre muy bien. El motivo de la presente a la vez de saludarle, es para solicitarle derecho a replica frente a un artículo publicado por Ud. en su prestigiosa revista electrónica DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-050, April 29, 2007, cuya autoría es el compatriota venezolano Adan González de Catia la Mar, Venezuela. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- En este sentido es lógico que la fuente del artículo arriba mencionado proviene del Diario Oficialista VEA, El Canal del Gobierno Venezolana de Televisión y de la página web chavista Aporrea.org. Como se puede - notar el colega González pues simpatiza con el gobierno de Hugo Chávez, y que tiene todo el derecho en difundir su pensamiento e ideas en cualquier medio y que Ud. le ha dada su debida oportunidad. Sin embargo, y como dice el colega Adan González y como es la línea de propaganda oficialista en cuanto al manejo comunicacional sobre el asunto de la posible suspensión de RCTV, se trata de dirigir las baterías de odio contra uno de los principales gerentes de RCTV, Marcel Granier, haciendo ver el problema como un simple problema de suspensión de señal abierta de un canal de televisión como lo es RCTV, y Conatel que es el ente regulador de las comunicaciones por parte del gobierno. Hay que recordarle al colega Adan González que en RCTV desde hace muchísimos años existe un solo sindicato llamado: Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria Radio-Televisiva Coraven-Rctv, conocida por sus siglas (Sinatraincoractel), y donde todos los trabajadores del canal se encuentran afiliados. En otras palabras es una burda mentira comunicacional que el gobierno hace frente a este conflicto, y que reiteramente el Presidente Chávez lo politizó cuando desde Diciembre pasado ordenó su cierre por ser "Un Canal golpista". La razón del cierre es meramente política y nada más. En cuanto a la posición de Venevisión, el otro canal privado de nuestro país, pues me parece triste, ya que seguramente brincaría de felicidad si su eterno competidor por la sintonía televisiva RCTV, fuese borrado de la faz de la tierra. En este sentido Don Guillermo, y solicitando mi derecho a replica yo le agradecería que publicase en su prestigiosa revista electrónica, un artículo que me hizó llegar el colega Dino Bloise y que muestra la solidaridad internacional frente al cierre de RCTV. ¡Muchas Gracias! (FIP/IFEX) - Lo que sigue es un informe de prensa de la FIP, con fecha del 24 de abril de 2007: LA FIP EMITE NUEVA ADVERTENCIA SOBRE LA AMENAZA DE CIERRE DE MEDIO EN VENEZUELA: La Federación Internacional de Periodistas (FIP) dijo hoy que la decisión del Presidente Hugo Chávez de cerrar una estación televisiva que ha sido crítica a su gobierno y sus recientes comentarios cuestionando el futuro de la libertad sindical señala un desarrollo preocupante para el pluralismo en los medios y para los derechos sindicales en Venezuela. "Porque para que haya verdadera libertad de medios en Venezuela, debe haber una pluralidad de voces, tanto en las ondas aéreas, como en las salas de prensa", dijo el Secretario General de la FIP, Aidan White. "Cerrar un estación sin el debido proceso, y amenazar con restringir la libertad sindical podría conducir a más ataques a los derechos fundamentales". El domingo, Chávez afirmó de nuevo que no renovará la licencia a la planta de televisión privada Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV) el 27 de mayo cuando vence su actual licencia. Esta decisión significará pérdida de empleos para cerca de 2.000 trabajadores directa o indirectamente afectados y el silenciamiento de una de las más antiguas emisoras de Venezuela. Al mismo tiempo, Chávez ha estado llamando a cuestionar el futuro de los sindicatos libres. La FIP está apoyando las protestas de su afiliado venezolano, el Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa (SNTP), contra el cierre de RCTV y las amenazas contra los sindicatos independientes. La FIP dice que las amenazas a las libertades fundamentales pueden socavar el apoyo a la redistribución de (ingresos) y a las ambiciones del gobierno de Chávez de terminar con la pobreza y las privaciones sociales. En una carta a Chávez, White urge al presidente a "dejar claro el compromiso continuo de Venezuela con sus obligaciones bajo la ley internacional relativa a la libertad sindical y a reasegurar a los periodistas y trabajadores de medios en su país que su derecho a organizarse está y continuará protegido". El SNTP y la FIP temen que la declaración pública de Chávez, del 24 de marzo, en la que enfáticamente declaró que en el contexto de la revolución "los sindicatos deben desaparecer", conducirá a un ataque contra los sindicatos independientes. Este es un parecer que preocupa a los periodistas y trabajadores de los medios de Venezuela y causa igual preocupación a los 500.000 periodistas miembros de la FIP". La libre asociación y los derechos sindicales están garantizados por la Convención Internacional Sobre Derechos Humanos, las Convenciones de 89 y 98 de la ILO y son la piedra angular de la sociedad democrática. La FIP advirtió que los planes de cerrar RCTV, la cual ha sido acerbamente crítica hacia el presidente, mientras refuerza la influencia y el control del gobierno sobre más de 200 medios, es una potencial "catástrofe para el pluralismo y los derechos sociales". El presidente Chávez acusa a la red, y otros medios independientes, de estar involucrados en el fallido atentado para derrocar su gobierno en Abril de 2002. RCTV y otros jugaron un papel altamente controversial en estos eventos - lo cual condujo a la protesta y la crítica, y que la misma FIP apoyó en su informe, Vínculo Perdido en la Crisis Política Venezolana (2002). "No ha habido advertencia ni consulta con la fuerza laboral, lo cual sugiere que el cierre de RCTV, sin escrutinio independiente de sus acciones, será un desastre para la libertad de prensa, así como para miles de trabajadores de este medio y sus familias", dijo White. "La protesta por esta acción por parte de los sindicatos muestra por qué los sindicatos son vitales para los medios venezolanos y la sociedad como un todo". La FIP representa a cerca de 500.000 periodistas en más de 100 países en todo el mundo. Para mayor información, comunicarse con la FIJ, teléf: +32 2 235 2207 Gregorio Salazar, la Oficina Regional de la FIP en América Latina, Casa Nacional del Periodista, Ala B, piso 2, Oficina B-23, Avenida Andrés Bello, entre Las Palmas y La Salle, Los Caobos, Caracas, Venezuela, telefax: +58 212 793 2883 / 793 1996, celular: +58 212 14 236 4660 / 372 6205, correo electrónico: fip@unete.com.ve Fuente: http://www.ifex.org/es/content/view/full/82817/ Sin más Don Guillermo, y esperando su grata atención. Cordiales 73´s (Jorge García. Barinas, Venezuela, May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. Re 7-050, YVTO: but did you correct the Wiki entry as well as complain? Wiki is only as accurate as what people enter into it - there is no mysterious "they" doing that for us. 73s (Steve Whitt, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Per a tip from ukdxer on shortwavedx, R. Nacional SADR heard Monday Apr. 30 2349 UT on 6378.1 in Spanish with talks and ID. Bothered by Ute QRM, but good signal. Had been on 6300 for awhile; wonder how long this frequency will last, hi! (Alex Vranes, Jr., Harpers Ferry, WV, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 9779.8, Rep. of Yemen Radio, 2150-2204*, Apr 30, Arabic. Brief bits of OM speech between Arabic musical selections. ID and presumed schedule at 2202 then talk until cut-off at 2204. Good (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R75, 200' Beverages, MLB-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar, 1800-1820, April 29, Looking for English news at 1800 but only heard Hindi-style music. Swahili talk at 1809. Afro-pops. Fair signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. Has anybody heard the announced foreign service by now, or have at least the ZBH announced frequencies for it in the meantime? The lack of any such reports lets me suspect that this "News 24/7" is just a phantom (Kai Ludwig, Germany, April 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW Radio Africa noted on new 9615 at 1658 tune in, parallel 4880 plus 11810 fair reception and 11775, 12035 both poor. Not sure of site for 9615 (Edwin Southwell, UK, April 28, May World DX Club Contact via DXLD) 9615 April 30 at 1700 just has strong Voice of Russia in Polish. Good reception on all the 25 metre band frequencies (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) Probably a feed mixup in Russia, or possibly a test (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DXLD) Another try for SW Radio Africa, Monday April 30, this time when they should be on the air, 1728 UT, but nothing audible on 12035, 11975, 11810, and 11775 blocked as always by Defunct Gene Scott, Anguilla. BTW, in WDXC Contact, Edwin Southwell in England reported SWRA on 9615, opening at 1658 April 28 // 4880, 11775, 11810 and 12035. --- but two days later, editor Mike Barraclough heard instead at 1700 VOR in Polish. Probably 9615 was a feed mixup in Russia, but worth further checking (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As expected, SW Radio Africa made some changes today (1 May). The website now just lists 4880, 11775 and 11810 at 1700-1900. In other words 12035 (Rampisham) has been dropped. Here in southern England 11775 is completely blocked by co-channel CRI but reception is fair on 11810 (Chris Greenway, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Chris, May 1 was the first time I have been able to have any reception of SWRA on 11775, heard at 1716, seemed to be a phone interview with YL in Zimbabwe (used equal amounts of English and vernacular), BoH seemed to be news, fair at tune-in but went down hill quickly, also seemed to have a noise jammer. Nothing heard on 11810 nor their test frequency of 11975 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. UT Monday April 30 at 0512, the extremely distorted spur on approx. 7312 was still audible in the form of QRM to WHRI 7315, altho the latter was much stronger than the night before. Thorsten Hallmann suggests it may be a major broadcaster due to strength and non-African-accented French. I agree this is possible, altho I have never heard any recognizable IS or ID during various monitoring including around hourtops (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7312v, extremely distorted spur, May 1 after 0500 was overriding RN Flevo 7310, which was audible but weaker this date. Spur was mostly talk in French, but at 0513 a bit of music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Noted the distorted audio unID French station (from Bangui? CAF 5035, 6100, 7220 ?) today again around [0445]0530-0636 fade-out, May 1st. Strongest in Synchronous USB mode on 7311.68 to 7311.88 kHz. Total range of the French station at 7308.2 to 7311.9 kHz Co-channel RNW off at 0557:30 UT, then DWL interval signal [via Portugal], latter less, tiny S=3 only. 0629:30 UT DWL Sines off. 0636 UT fade out of French distorted signal. No answer from DWL monitoring and direction finding station YET, but we have a long holiday weekend from Friday to Tuesday now, so let's wait (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi, after listening yesterday from 2101 to 2210 I wouldn't suggest that it is a major international broadcaster anymore. Mainly lively music with few announcements in French, News in French at 2200, but unintelligible due to CRI on 7315; not RFI as on // 7160/7315, still there at 2210, already off at 2250 re-check. Very strong. Signal strength, broadcasting times, program format - everything would fit to Chad. So, maybe in the US you should check 0425 for sign-on and we here in Europe 2230 for sign-off. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Germany, May 1, dxing.info via DXLD) Dear Wolfgang, Glenn had already referred to the 7311 case which I haven't commented on earlier due to lack of proper observation. All I could observe so far was on 27 Apr prior to 0600, and the feeble signal was too distorted and disturbed by adjacent QRM. Maybe I can get a better signal of it here at home before proper observation is made on the SW coast, which won't be sooner than Friday evening 11 May (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wolfgang sent a Geoclock image of the terminator at 0636 UT when it fades out in Germany. The terminator is just off the western edge of Africa. Of course, 7+ MHz signals hold up for a considerable period after local sunrise, but I suppose this means it is more likely to be further west than Chad (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ THE BDXC AFRICA ON SHORTWAVE LIST has been updated May 2007. http://www.bdxc.org.uk/ Click on 'Articles Index Page' --- UK on Shortwave and DX and Media Programme Guide have been updated as well (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, May 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC in TPA Hi all, I went to the FCC public hearing in Tampa today, and here is a brief synopsis. It was at the Ferguson Hall at TBPAC, and I'd estimate the crowd around 400 during the peak hours around 5 PM, which filled the room about halfway. All 5 commissioner sat at one table and there was a panel of 12 invited guests. The commissioners took turns with an opening statement, of which Copps (a St Pete native) was by far the friendliest to the audience, which was overwhelmingly in favor of media diversity. After all 5 spoke, the panelists had 5 minutes each, then audience members, who were pre-signed up earlier (at a table at the entrance) had 2 minutes each. After about 45 of them spoke. there was a break from 7.30 to 8 pm, and then a second panel met, and the process was repeated, with a projected end time of 11 PM. So, as I write this from the comfort of home, they still have a half hour to go. When I left, 9.30-ish, the audience had dropped by about half. Best news was that the parking booth closed by 9.30 and no one collected our stubs so I (and all else were still there) parked for free. I frankly was ready to go home when the 2nd panel was underway. One fellow from Immokalee, involved with an LPFM there spoke in Spanish. I could actually understand almost all of it! Five or so spoke in sequence from Sarasota's WSLP low power with references to 3rd adjacent protection etc. Obviously greek to the august body assembled before us. They had lots of video, a big screen with closed captioning, and 2 signing ladies for those with hearing issues, so it was a technically well done job, well mic'ed etc. There was the usual mix of Media General business types, who were running the company line, the WMNF listeners, just plain people reminiscing about their childhood TV shows, and a couple of "persons of interest" who were attacking Cheney and blaming 9/11 on the US, etc. And, one guy was passing out DVDs of conspiracy theories, in the Michael Moore genre, and another was a lawyer representing four candidates who lost recent local elections, all complaining of vote fraud, and pointing out that it's getting no media coverage. The audience was well behaved, no booing or catcalls, which was good because the FCC probably were thinking they were in neanderthal country. They said they would stay until everyone got to speak, then someone else said the theater closes at 11, and I was hoping someone would holler "reconvene at the Mons Venus!" If anyone thought of it, it'll forever be a secret. Besides, the chairman seriously looks too young to be of legal age to enter that establishment. I kept waiting for someone named "Z" to speak. No such luck. Only one passing reference to HD when Copps said "what will you do with all this digital technology we are giving you?" But the meeting was all about media consolidation and they came here because Media General has the Trib, Channel 8 and tbo.com all under one roof, sort of an idea incubator if you will. (The Trib and 8 were grandfathered under current media rules, which the FCC wants to relax). I met someone I had long wanted to, John Sipos who has been doing long form interviews in this area for years, after I heard him say a reference to CBS, and it turns out he is part of an old timers radio social meetup and I am invited to the next one! All people who used to work in NY broadcasting. I met John in the lobby and we talked for 30 minutes while he was waiting for his freelance cameraman to arrive. John's work appears on various local stations typically early Sunday mornings. This was a big media event and a lot of 'wheels' were there. Just think if someone could have gotten the hiss of an unsquelched 174 MHz wireless mic into the audio, we could have blamed it on "HD". The very small sampling of people I mentioned HD to had no idea of what it is. What a cool hack that could have been. Anyone want a list of the panelists? If so I'll make up another email. Maybe the Trib will cover tomorrow. One of the best was Patrick Manteiga, the publisher of La Gaceta. Many of the panelists were quite interesting, and had lots in common as some being representatives of minority voices, as is the tri-lingual paper La Gaceta, who face being marginalized out of existence. It is a serious issue (Bob Foxworth, Tampa, May 1, ABDX via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM: see also GREECE; GUIANA FRENCH; INDIA; IRELAND; LUXEMBOURG FIRST PROGRAMS IN NASB DRM SERIES As you know, the NASB is doing a special series of DRM broadcasts via CBC-Sackville from May 1-12 at 2200-2230 UTC daily on 9800 kHz. The first three programs in the series will be from the following organization: May 1 - WMLK May 2 - Good Friends Radio Network (Radio Weather program) May 3 - FEBC (Jeff White, FL, April 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HD RADIO: KILLING THE AM BAND Coming very soon: HDRadio on the AM band at night. The FCC has granted full time use of the “In Band, On Channel” digital radio broadcast after sunset on the AM band — and that will essentially kill long- distance AM listening at night. No more picking up WOAI, KOA, and KOKC at night. Those 50,000 watt stations could have their signals jammed by stations close by on the dial. The promise of HDRadio plays best on the FM band, and on AM, a HDRadio signal of AM is iffy. Where I live, I can listen to KNX-AM 1070 with HDRadio. Sure, it’s impressive, but “Traffic on the Six” is still … a traffic report on the LA mess. While driving, going near a power line or under a bridge, KNX looses the HD portion of the signal. . . http://sdradio.net/2007/04/29/hdradio-killing-the-am-band/ (via DXLD) U.S. AUTOMAKERS NOT JUMPING INTO HD RADIO -- April 26, 2007 8:46 PM ET LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Radio broadcasters, facing increased competition from iPods and satellite radio, are pushing a new digital format called HD Radio that has so far failed to win over U.S. carmakers. Hyundai Corp., BMW AG, and Ford Motor Co.-owned, Britain-based Jaguar plan to offer HD Radio, and other carmakers are also set to announce deals. Because of the amount of time people spend listening to the radio in their cars, striking such deals will be critical if the technology is going to take off. But officials from General Motors Corp. and Chrysler Group said they were not rushing to commit to the devices, which would cost the struggling Big Three U.S. automakers as much as an estimated $600 million annually to install. . . http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/printarticle.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20070426&id=6807502 (via Bill Harms, MD, dxldyg via DXLD) What does this mean to HD Radio? (Bill Harms, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ COMPACT FLUORESCENTS, GOOD OR BAD FOR DX? Another data point in the CFL discussion (was: CFB (Compact Florescent Blubs)) [a very long thread I have not attempted to transfer here -gh] OK, I admit I was skeptical of CFL's after this thread got started. I too had heard lots of bad things concerning their RF noisiness, and had bad experiences over the years in hotels where they were used. So, I went to Walmart today and bought two different models of these lights to see whether they are the bane of DXers or not. The two lamps I purchased were the Philips 14 watt Soft White A19 and the GE 13 watt Energy Smart. Both claimed light output similar to 60 watt incandescent bulbs. Both were less than $4.00 US each. Each claim ~ 7000-8000 hour life, roughly 7-8 times a normal incandescent light life. The Philips light was shaped like a traditional incandescent bulb, which means it will work with lampshades that clamp directly onto the bulb. Both lamps became uncomfortably warm to the touch after using them for a period of one hour. Both packages contained a notice that the lamp contains mercury and should be "managed in accordance with disposal laws." Both gave the following web address for more information: www.lamprecycle.org. While both lamps had references to being compliant with FCC Part 18 Rules, the GE lamp had an extensive disclaimer that it might cause interference to radios and TVs, and that it should not be used near communications equipment operating between .45-30 MHz. [Push the pause button for a moment: If the manufacturer's own instructions are to specifically avoid using the product near navigation, communication or maritime safety equipment, I do not see how the government can outright ban all incandescent lighting since to do so would violate these instructions! What would we do for lighting in those situations??] On to the test. My setup was a RadioShack DX-398 portable with the telescopic whip fully extended. The radio was located about 2 feet from a desk lamp which contained the bulb. I checked a number of frequencies in the LW and MW bands from 198 - 1700 kHz. While there were a number of buzzes and noises on the radio throughout the scans, none of them were attributable to the CFL. As a matter of fact, even with the antenna touching the bulb, there was no additional noise when the lamp was turned on. Nada. One thing I did notice was that, if I cupped the bulb in my hand, the radio picked up a rather nasty buzz - I presume that I was becoming a big antenna for what noise did exist in this case. If I placed the radio where it actually was touching the bulb, it also would pick up a very loud buzz. But the buzz fell away to the point it was non- existent about 3 inches away. I'm an electrical engineer by training, and I feel pretty convinced that these bulbs are not a great danger to the radio listening community (at least on LW and MW). While I don't particularly care for the color of the lighting, I imagine that after a day or two you would get used to it. I plan on leaving the two bulbs in use in my radio room for the foreseeable future for further analysis and testing. If I do find out anything negative, you can be sure I will report it here (Brett Saylor, Central PA, April 30, IRCA via DXLD) I had heard several reports of these types of low-energy-using bulbs causing RFI and was really reluctant to install any in my house. However, when there was a local "light up the night" push for all homeowners to keep their porch lights on all night, and there was a limited distribution of such bulbs free, I went ahead and put two in my porch lights. I've checked out the ones I have, and the spiral ones my neighbor has, and can report that they DO put out some RFI on HF, but it is only hearable if I hold the whip antenna of an SW radio near the operating bulb. A few feet away, there is no detectable interference. I still don't think I'd use one in my bedside lamp that would be on all the time I'm listening to SW on various portable and table-model radios, but the current crop seems safe to use in further- away fixtures. Of course, such RF noise IS cumulative; if a situation develops where such bulbs become the default and are used all around you (such as in areas where regular incandescent bulbs become banned in favor of these types, like Australia and some US locales), the total RF background noise may become obtrusive. ("They'll have to pry my remaining incandescent bulbs out of my cold dead fingers..." :-) A black market in illegal incandescents develops amongst DXers... :-) If the LED versions ever drop enough in price to become prevalent, that should fix the problem -- I don't think they have any RF-emitting capability (Will Martin, MO, May 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ARE CELLPHONES TO BLAME FOR A DECLINE IN THE NUMBER OF BEES? Bees are essential to agriculture in California and elsewhere, so the recent disappearance of large numbers of bees is alarming. Now, researchers at Landau University have found that honey bees won't return to their hives when cellphones are located nearby, and suggest that the widespread use of wireless devices could be the cause of "Colony Collapse Disorder" (CCD). Of course, the disappearance of bees may yet be linked to some other far more mundane phenomenon, but the Landau report is colorful. . . http://news.independent.co.uk/environment/wildlife/article2449968.ece http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070424/news_1n24bees.html (CGC Communicator April 30 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) SAME RADIO, DIFFERENT COSMETICS & PRICE Hi, all! Was just poking around and happened to notice this interesting discrepancy: Same radio with different cosmetics has a wildly different price: http://www.radios4you.com/sangean-U1-LG.html http://www.sportsmansguide.com/cb/cb.asp?a=335291&pn=1 I don't know if I actually *want* one; it's sort of a specialized toy, and I certainly don't need one, but it's interesting to see a $100 + $20 shipping price on the Kaito vs. the $30 clearance (+ whatever share of the total-order shipping you'd count) on the Sportsman's Guide one. For what it's worth, the Kaito also comes in a digital readout model for $130 + $20 ship: http://www.radios4you.com/sangean-U3.html There's always some way to waste money, isn't there? :-) 73, (Will Martin, MO, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Glenn, Sorry to comment on so many items from latest DXLD 7-050 but I couldn't pass up this comment from Thomas Giella: ``In science you cannot have a consensus. Something either is or isn't. The statement points to how politics has entered the world of Science whether it be forecasting a solar cycle or global warming.`` I don`t think this can go unchallenged! Forecasting solar cycles / global warming (and even weather) is not precise because no-one has an exact model that will give an exact answer. If such a model existed and it had all the necessary data it would give the same output if run by different people. However the same output doesn't necessarily mean it will predict accurately what will happen - viz. chaos theory. In the case of solar cycle modelling I believe the panel of scientists trying to find a prediction are using different ways of modelling or giving differing weights to different parameters. So their predictions will inevitably differ. There might however be a central pattern around which their predictions are clustered and this might prove to be the most likely outcome. (note my use of words like "might" - despite this being science the outcome isn't certain!) 73 (Steve Whitt, UK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BASIC PROPAGATION EXPLAINED Glenn, In your opinion, and based on your experience, what is the best web-site you know of for learning the solar-indices and jargon. For years I've ignored it and now is a good time to learn it. Thanks for any help. 73s (Konnie Rychalsky, Connecticut to gh, via DXLD) Konnie, I can`t say I am familiar with all the propagation sites in order to pick ``the best``. Here`s one which has a brief explanation under ``General Guidelines``: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm Also lots of material here: http://www.hfradio.org/ and be sure to read the `special notice`. Hope that helps. 73, (Glenn to Konnie, via DXLD) The geomagnetic field was at active to minor storm levels until 23/0900 UTC, then decreased to quiet levels at all latitudes for the remainder of the day. ACE solar wind data indicated the 23 April disturbance was the result of a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream with a peak velocity of 548 km/sec at 23/1133 UTC, a peak total IMF field intensity of 14 nT at 23/0325 UTC, and a minimum southward IMF Bz of -11 nT at 23/0413 UTC. Quiet to unsettled conditions prevailed during 24 - 26 April. Field activity increased to quiet to active levels on 27 April. A further increase to unsettled to minor storm levels occurred on 28 April with a brief period of major to severe storm levels detected at high latitudes. Activity decreased to quiet to minor storm levels on 29 April. ACE solar wind data indicated the 27 - 29 April disturbance was due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream with a peak velocity of 717 km/sec at 29/2307 UTC, a peak total IMF field intensity of 10 nT at 27/1738 UTC, and a minimum southward IMF Bz of -09 nT at 27/1718 UTC. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 02 - 28 MAY 2007 Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels during 02 - 07 May. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels through 19 May. A recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream is expected to disturb the field during 20 May. Unsettled to active levels are expected during the disturbance. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected during 2l - 24 May. Another round of coronal hole effects is expected during 25 - 26 May with unsettled to minor storm conditions expected. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected during 27 - 28 May. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2007 May 01 2153 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Environment Center # Product description and SEC contact on the Web # http://www.sec.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2007 May 01 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2007 May 02 85 5 2 2007 May 03 85 5 2 2007 May 04 80 5 2 2007 May 05 80 5 2 2007 May 06 80 8 3 2007 May 07 80 8 3 2007 May 08 70 5 2 2007 May 09 70 5 2 2007 May 10 70 5 2 2007 May 11 70 5 2 2007 May 12 70 5 2 2007 May 13 70 5 2 2007 May 14 70 5 2 2007 May 15 70 5 2 2007 May 16 70 5 2 2007 May 17 70 5 2 2007 May 18 70 5 2 2007 May 19 70 10 3 2007 May 20 70 15 4 2007 May 21 75 8 3 2007 May 22 80 5 2 2007 May 23 85 5 2 2007 May 24 85 10 3 2007 May 25 85 25 5 2007 May 26 85 15 4 2007 May 27 85 10 3 2007 May 28 85 8 3 (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/radio via WORLD OF RADIO 1357, DXLD) ###