DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-069, June 11, 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 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 NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1362: ** tentative Tue 1030 WRMI 9955** Wed 0730 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 ** AFRICA [non]. Voice of Africa Radio launched in East London on 94.3 MHz on 23 May. This station started out as a pirate in January 2000 and later became a legal internet broadcaster. They are also on Sky Digital channel 0192. VOAR plays African music, from souk to kwaito to hi-life, as well as RnB and gospel. Programmes also include debates, community affairs, sport and talk shows. Website http://www.voiceofafricaradio.com (The Zimbabwean via Zacharias Liangas, HCDX, via UK News, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) The FM licence is for the Newham and Tower Hamlets area (Dave Kenny, ibid.) ** AGALEGA ISLAND [non]. See SAINT BRANDON ** ARGENTINA. Si usted oye la sigla RAE piensa directamente en Radio Argentina al Exterior, pero si escucha la sigla SIRA se quedará probablemente con el ceño fruncido. Pues bien, la Sra. Marcela Campos conversó en Buenos Aires con Alfonso Montealegre y ella no sólo nos contará lo que significó la sigla SIRA sino que nos hará partícipes de momentos muy lindos de su carrera de mujer de radio con la emisora internacional argentina (RNW Radio Enlace June 8 via DXLD) Notes from this interview: She thinks SW last for a few more years. The younger generation isn`t satisfied with the audio quality of SW. Thinking about putting Japanese on at 2200 for morning broadcast, instead of Spanish, but waiting to see what happens to RAE. Radio Nacional is already on internet, and hopes to have RAE on there too before too much longer, but that is not her decision. SW is still there when internet and satellites fail. A listener, not a station, invited her to visit Germany and see the latest technological developments in broadcasting, which she enjoyed very much. Has good relations with other stations, but does not have the wherewithal to work together with them. She has been in SW since 1989; before that was at a domestic station in remote Ushuaia where she would like to return some day after retirement (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 15325, Rádio Mundial, São Paulo, 1936-1945, June 05, Portuguese, ann. & ID as “Radio Mundial AM... a sua emissora”, talk by male, ID by female as: “...Rádio Mundial... o que aconteceu... nosso povo....”, 23432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ex-R. Gazeta? ** BULGARIA. The Radio Moscow relay station that never went on the air. In 1986, Soviet specialists started the construction of a 1000kW mediumwave transmitting center for Radio Moscow at Cape Kaliakra, at the Black Sea coast, NE of Varna. With 10 masts of 145-172 meters, the center was planned to transmit Radio Moscow programs towards Arabic countries. The geostrategical changes in Europe stopped the works in 1989 (only 9 masts were built). In 1993-1994, talks were held with Voice of America, BBC and Deutsche Welle about completion/leasing of the station, but gave no results. Since 2005, two of the vacant masts are used to transmit national FM programs. Google Earth coordinates: 28E25'30" / 43N23'10" . Photos of the masts and the full text in Bulgarian: http://www.predavatel.com/bg/6/kav.htm (Summary of the Bulgarian text by Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, June 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The pictures clearly show two antenna systems: A two mast antenna and a highly directional SV 4+4 antenna, the latter missing one mast. A closer look reveals that only some of the masts got their antenna radiators (wire cages) while others remained naked. So this is indeed only a rudimentary system, put on hold during its construction. I guess that the plan called or a regional service via the two mast antenna as well as a far-range shot across the Black Sea. SV 4+4 antennas are in use at Bolshakovo, see pictures at http://kaliningrad.rtrn.ru/materials.asp They indeed have a quite narrow beam and an accordingly high gain; at my location the 275 deg. beam on 1386 is considerably weaker than the straight 245 deg. shot on 1215. Probably this design had been selected for the Bulgarian project because it allows for +/- 30 deg. slew. It appears to be an interesting question under which conditions the Padarsko shortwave station had been built in the seventies. As well- known this site had been used by Radio Moscow, and photos suggest that the whole equipment at Padarsko, including the antennas, had been designed in the USSR. In the 1993/94 period Voice of America had some relays via Padarsko, but soon they stopped again (why?) and apparently not any foreign broadcaster ever used Padarsko again since then. And most likely there would be no 1323 transmitter at Wachenbrunn (Thuringia/Germany) today if its construction would have started only a few years later (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) ** CANADA. Glenn, Here’s an item from today’s Allaccess. CRTC OKs Deletion Of Vancouver Shortwave Station --- ROGERS News CKWX-A (NEWS 1130)/ VANCOUVER has won approval from the CRTC to delete its license for its shortwave relay CKFX. The shortwave facility has been silent for some time (via Alan Furst, TX; Brock Whaley, HI, June 11, DXLD) We had news of the application to delete it some weeks ago. Good thing the CRTC agreed, since it has been gone for several years (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Ontario, Oneida, ``Eagle Radio`` 89.5, format ke (classic country and ethnic), $tereo, 450 watts h,v; 46m. Due to lightning damage, it`s only 100 watts for now, but plans to go to 1000 watts this fall. It has been on three years but I have refused to list it. It has stood the test of time, and the CRTC does not regulate this station since it does not use call letters. It is similar in operation to ``CKON`` 97.3 Cornwall ON, on the NY state border. Both are first nations` stations (Bruce F. Elving, May-June FMedia! via DXLD) I don`t find any locality named Oneida in Ont in the index of three different Atlases, so where is it? (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Stereo – Or to Be $tereo, Manitoba, Winnipeg, CBW-1 *89.3, which says ``89.3 FM in Winnipeg and 990 AM in the rest of the province.`` (Bruce F. Elving, May-June FMedia! via DXLD) Not that I have heard, and I frequently listen to the CBC Radio One webcast from Winnipeg, as the only UT-5 zone feed, where instead they say ``and 990 AM in (or maybe throughout) southern Manitoba``. 990 could hardly be expected to reach the northern part of the province, daytime. BFE`s curious prioritizing filed items such as this, really a new station, under whether stereo or not (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. Still wandering around 7315 kHz --- 7312 to 7318. Checked this distorted audio station (Chad?) today June 11 again. S=7 signal noted this morning on 'unpleasant' time for European audience. 7290 kHz was free channel at 0440 UT, so I checked the 41 mb in total. But a highly distorted audio signal observed wandering in 7312 to 7318 kHz range between 0440 and 0510 UT. 7309-7314 at 0440 7311-7316 at 0455 7313-7318 at 0505 7315-7320 at 0510 UT. Hit heavily WHRI program in English on 7315 kHz, but left nearby RNW Flevo in Dutch on 7310 kHz in the clear from 0500 UT. From 0620 to 0648 UT wandered from 7316 to 7370 kHz. 0620 7316-7321 kHz 0625 7319-7326 0627 7324-7328 0629 7329-7334 0632 7332-7337 0639 7348-7354 0644 7358-7363 0648 7366-7370 As of 0535-0600 UT: Supposed to be Chadienne SW station was using 7288 to 7292 kHz range in past four weeks. But today - June 11 - observed in 7309 to 7320 kHz range again. Wandered around - moved UP from 7309 to 7315 kHz, but was on back way DOWN to 7312 kHz 'center' around 0535 to 0550 UT. And hit also RNW Flevo signal in 7310 to 7312 kHz portion then, when checked and using a 4 kHz wide filter on the rx set (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX June 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. 890, CD89, R. Nacional, Punta Arenas, MAY 17, 0840, Magnificent program of patriotic music with folk singers accompanied by Chilean harp. Motifs such as "la Patria santa... la vergüenza... la familia... el hombre." 0843 man spoke through song, "la leyenda... la memoria del pueblo..." Inspirational! 0858 ID, "Nacional de Chile," brief news. 0904 time check, "La hora en 890, las 5:04. Los titulares deportivos... en Santiago, educación física para adultos." Very good, dominant, some KLFF and WLS at times. Last heard in 1980s. Punta Arenas is the world's southernmost city and capital of Chilean Tierra del Fuego. It is south of the Falklands which gives real hope of hearing 530 FIRS (Richard Wood, Keaau HI; Icom R-75, Beverages 1800-ft east, 850-ft east/northeast, and 650-ft north/south, longwires 400-ft northeast and 300-ft east/southeast, NRC IDXD June 8 via DXLD) ** CHILE. 6089.99, Radio Esperanza, Temuco, 1220-1230, June 09, Spanish, Christian songs selection, TC & ID as: “En Radio Esperanza, las 8 de la mañana con 27 minutos”, local ads by male: “venga a... calle Rodríguez. . . en el exterior del Mercado Municipal de Temuco”, 34322 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Ayer 11 de Junio en el Programa Radio Enlace escuché que el gobierno de cuba no autorizaba la entrega de los radios ganados por aquellos cubanos que participaron en el concurso, lo cual no me asombró, pues siendo cubano y conociendo el tipo de gobierno que impera en nuestro país desde hace 48 años, donde jamás se ha vuelto a celebrar una elección para elegir de forma constitucional a un presidente, era pues la respuesta esperada. El gobierno cubano sabia perfectamente de ese concurso y simplemente se mantuvo callado, ajeno, para dar la impresión de que Cuba es como cualquier otro país donde tener un radio de onda corta (a excepción de Corea del Norte) no constituye un delito. Cuál fue el ardid del gobierno cubano? Pues dejar que la gente participara para así poder saber el estado de opinión de la población. Por si Uds. no lo saben, aunque debían saberlo, ya que incluso tiene un locutor cubano trabajando con Uds., en Cuba existen diferentes mecanismos para vigilar a la población, y uno de ellos es por medio de un aparato del estado llamado Opinión del Pueblo, donde agentes y colaboradores vestidos de civil, se dedican a oír y tomar nota de las opiniones del pueblo en cualquier parte de la ciudad, ya sea en un transporte público, en una parada de ómnibus, en un centro de trabajo, en fin, donde sea. Estas opiniones o comentarios que han sido escuchados son escritos en una especie de libreta de notas que todos ellos llevan consigo, y luego esa notas son entregadas en determinado departamento que pertenece a la Seguridad del Estado donde son analizadas y luego catalogadas estadísticamente para así saber cuantas personas piensan de determinada manera. Luego, el estado toma medidas para contrarrestar estas opiniones. El aparato represivo de Cuba conocido como la Seguridad del Estado y que es un remedo de la Gestapo Alemana tiene varias secciones que son conocidas por las letras de alfabeto, como por ejemplo, Sección J, Sección Z, Sección K, Sección Q, etc. Cada una de estas secciones se dedica a determinado trabajo ya sea el seguimiento de los ciudadanos para ver donde van, con quien hablan, la instalación de dispositivos de escucha o cámaras en embajadas, habitaciones de hoteles, casas, etc., y también la revisión de la correspondencia. La Sección Q, si mal no recuerdo, es la encargada de la correspondencia, por lo que en el caso del concurso de Radio Netherland no dudo que las cartas dirigidas a Uds. primero fueron abiertas y leídas para saber y poder luego analizar la forma de pensar de los participantes en el concurso, tener un estadística del numero de oyentes de esa emisora en Cuba, etc. Los medios de radiodifusión en Cuba fueron intervenidos a partir del año 1959 y responden en su totalidad al estado. Las opiniones vertidas son solo las dadas y controladas por los medios oficiales, como el Partido Comunista, La Unión de Jóvenes Comunistas, el DOR, etc., etc., y los locutores y presentadores de programas solo pueden decir lo que les está permitido. Las llamadas en vivo no existen para evitar que alguien diga algo inadecuado en la radio o TV. Lo que se oye como si fuera una llamada en vivo ya ha sido previamente grabado y verificado para de esta forma evitar sorpresas. La gente tampoco se atreve a expresar nada puesto que al tener el estado control sobre todas las comunicaciones, cualquier llamada puede ser seguida y su lugar de origen comprobado. De aquí que el estado siempre haya tendido gran temor a que la gente pueda saber de que existe otro mundo, de que puedan comparar, y siempre ha existido una gran censura en cuanto a libros, revistas, periódicos, etc. En Cuba en los años 70 se vendieron radios de onda corta de procedencia Rusa y los que quedan están en muy mal estado o no funcionan por falta de piezas. También hay personas que conservan viejos radios de válvulas que aun funcionan, como los Grundig , Zenith, etc. Pero aún así, las estaciones de radio de onda corta con programas que digan la verdad sobre Cuba o que expresen puntos de vista contrarias al gobierno, son inferidas y por todo el país hay cientos de estaciones de interferencia lo mismo de radio que de TV. Radio Netherland, la BBC de Londres, etc., no son interferidas sólo por una cuestión de conveniencia política y porque además estas estaciones no producen programas especialmente dedicados a Cuba con carácter político. En Cuba, en todos los edificios altos, el último piso, ya sea de un edificio civil o militar está dedicado a escuchar. Esos centros de escucha monitorean todas las estaciones de radio que entran en Cuba, incluyendo Radio Netherland y luego informan al mando superior, en este caso el Ministerio del Interior. La Internet en Cuba es restringida y solo algunos tiene acceso a ella. No se puede comprar una computadora y tener acceso a un proveedor de Internet. Lo que se puede ver en la Internet por supuesto que está controlado por el estado lo mismo. Con respecto a la recepción canales de TV extranjeros, ningún ciudadano cubano puede tener un receptor de satélite. Está prohibido entrarlos al país y aquellos que logran hacerlo, si los detectan, les decomisan el equipo y les ponen fuertes multas. Sólo los autorizados pueden entrar esos equipos, los extranjeros principalmente, pero con un permiso del gobierno. Las VCR, los DVD players son también prohibidos, aunque en estos momentos esa prohibición va a cambiar para poder cobrar grandes impuestos en dólares a aquellos que traten de pasar uno de esos equipos por la aduana de los aeropuertos. Es común ver circular carros con antenas para detectar quien tiene un receptor satelital en la casa y hasta helicópteros tomando fotos a baja altura de los techos de las casas para ver si alguien tiene un plato de satélite oculto o a simple vista. Entonces después de esta breve explicación, es natural pensar que el estado cubano no deje pasar los receptores que Uds iba a regalar a los concursantes cubanos. Quizás una camiseta con el logo de Radio Netherland la dejen pasar, quizás algún folleto sobre la programación, pero un radio, ni hablar. Un radio de onda corta puede hacer pensar, puede hacer que las personas se cuestionen sobre lo que sucede en el pais o fuera del mismo, de que se enteren de cosas que el gobierno no dice u oculta. Seria bueno que todos Uds allá en Radio Netherland lean esto e incluso que lo verifiquen para que abran los ojos con respecto a Cuba. Y por favor no usen más el argumento manido de que en Cuba no hay radios debido al bloqueo de los EE.UU. Cuba puede comprar radios donde quiera y si los Estados Unidos no se los quieren vender, entonces que los compren a cualquier otro país que los fabrica, Holanda por ejemplo. Decir que no hay radios como consecuencia del bloqueo tal como aparece en el sitio en español de Radio Netherland es una pura mentira que le hace el juego a un gobierno que los prohíbe (Ignacio Natera, 11-06- 2007 - EE.UU., RNW Radio Enlace blog June 11 via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [non]. Re 7-068: ``¿Alguien por el lado del Río de la Plata ha escuchado R. Praga en español recientemente? Yo el año pasado solía escucharlos muy bien vía Ascención, 0000 UT en 11665 kHz, pero si bien esa frecuencia sigue listada no encuentro ni rastros de ella. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, June 6, condig list via DXLD) And how about the Sackville relay at 2330 on 9685 ex-6000, anyone confirm? (gh, DXLD)`` Guess what: checked at 2357 UT June 8, nothing on 9685, but R. Prague IS still on 6000 under RHC Spanish. R. Prague was audible on 11665 at 0002 check, fair. 6000 should have moved to avoid the RHC collision, but has not. Both 6000 and 11665 show on the RP website sked; DX Mix News in Bulgaria had reported a change to 9685 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT [non]. Germany & Egypt. Radio Alpha and Omega, Station The House of Prayer is received in Sofia Monday through Saturday with a program in English from 1545 to 16 hours on 13590 kHz via a transmitter located in Germany. The QSL address is: P. O. Box 207, Assiut, Egypt (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX June 8 via DXLD) This is part of Bible Voice Broadcasting, per sked in 7-065: 13590 1540-1600 39,40 103 115 217 24 JUL 100 BVB 13590 1540-1615 39,40 103 115 217 6 JUL 100 BVB 13590 1540-1645 39,40 103 115 217 5 JUL 100 BVB 13590 1540-1800 39,40 103 115 217 3 JUL 100 BVB 13590 1545-1829 39,40 103 115 217 7 JUL 100 BVB 115 is the azimuth; CIRAF target zones 39,40 are the triangle from Turkey to Yemen to Afghanistan. QSL maniax will now be inundating it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. RUSIA, 15660, Ethiopia Voice of Unity, 1502-1506, escuchada el 10 de junio en amhárico a locutor con comentarios y segmento musical, SINPO 24232. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Hi all, I heard the new Ethiopian rebel group radio, "The Voice of Patriots", as scheduled Thursday 16-17 UT on 15260 kHz. Sound/Voice like coming from a tin can. Anybody out there having a contact address or website to watch? 73 from (Björn Fransson, the island of Gotland, Sweden, June 10, HCDX via DXLD) An audio file of their 7 June broadcast is on their website at http://www.eppf.info Their sister website at http://www.eppf.net/radio.htm refers to the broadcast in vague terms but doesn't seem to link to either the audio file or the .info website (Dave Kernick, England, ibid.) ** GHANA [non]. New SW station in Ghana? I was surfing the internet yesterday and came across this link referring to a new SW station in Ghana for AWR. This was from 2006. They seemed pretty serious about the whole venture. I don't recall hearing about this in the past: http://news.adventist.org/data/2006/02/1142603475/index.html.en (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, June 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Walt, Key word is ``studio``. Nothing about transmitter. These gospel huxters typically have produxion studios in many target countries, but use SW transmitters elsewhere. Ordinary listeners may also think they are listening to a `local` station. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) ** GREECE. UNSCHEDULED ENGLISH ON VOG --- Glenn: We had another unscheduled hour of English on The Voice of Greece. I caught the last 45 minutes of the 0200-0300 UT Monday broadcast with an interviewer (not Katerina) and I believe, the Director of the American-Hellenic Alliance based in the U.S., talking about the Cyprus situation in both English and Greek. Earlier, I caught the tail end of Greek In Style in English with Greek recordings, which is on 2305 UT Sunday to 0005 UT Monday. Suddenly, we are overwhelmed with English broadcasts on the North American Service of The Voice of Greece! Regards, (John Babbis, MD, June 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But there is a serious lack of communication, as despite your contacts with them, they will not give us any schedule of such broadcasts! Perhaps we should look for them every day after 2000 and 0200? (gh, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. KEN MACHARG VISITS MISSIONARY STATION HRVC IN HONDURAS Ken MacHarg, well-known as a former host of HCJB’s DX Partyline, recently visited HCJB’s partner station HRVC in Honduras. As a shortwave enthusiast, Ken remembered to mention the station’s shortwave frequency - 4820 kHz - in an article that we came across in The Daily Times, a newspaper serving Maryville, Tennessee where Ken met his wife. They are now grandparents, but Ken is still working as a missionary journalist, and is writing a book “From Rio to the Rio Grande, Challenges and Opportunities in Latin America.” Read the article http://www.thedailytimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070609/FAITH/70609001 (June 9th, 2007 - 10:24 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog; also via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Excerpt: ```“We also broadcast on shortwave at 4820 kHz and we can be heard worldwide on the internet at http://www.hrvc.org ” explains Jessenia Zelaya, a program producer at the station.``` Really? Been inactive for almost a year. Gospel huxters again playing loose with the truth. 4820 last mentioned in DXLD 6-077, May 21, 2006, by Raul Saavedra, in passing, under CUBA [and non]. Since it was off- frequency, searching on 4819 found the last report of it there dated 8/21/06, in DXLD 6-127 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. RE: Radio Budapest Termination --- To: nki @ radio.hu Dear Friends: I've been tuned in to RB since 1976 and enjoyed every broadcast including DX Corner which I enjoyed and will miss unless you stay on past termination date. I'll give you several reasons to not consider dropping external progamming to North America. One, we will miss news from Budapest we hardly get in domestic media. Two, once gone we lose RB and excellent programs. Three, Radio Budapest is like a breath of fresh air and losing it kills a valued friend I've enjoyed in DX'ing since 1976. I protest the closedown of MR(RB) external services in English and other languages. Swissinfo closed SRI years ago and left shortwave. I Hope the gov't puts more money into Radio Budapest to stay on shortwave beyond 30 June 2007. I will be sending a copy to Glenn Hauser for his take on this tragic situation. Thanks for many funfilled memories of Budapest. Your Friend, (Noble West, TN, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ICELAND. 12115, RUV, Reykjavík, 2306-2341*, 6/7/07. Woman announcer hosting a program of with news and features in Icelandic. Brief three minute transmission break at 2312. Retuned with more features at 2315 until instrumental music, and apparent sign off announcement at 2340. Poor to fair (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet June 10 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. Ho hum, another shuttle launch --- the Atlantis launch at 2338 UT June 8 was not covered live on any of the OKC network affiliates, since that was in valuable local syndication time (tho KFOR-4 is in local news even), nor on OETA/PBS which was also doing local news. We had to go to CNN, MSNBC, FNC. Now if there had been a police car chase, you can bet KFOR and possibly the others would have spared no expense to get their chopper up and follow it. We should be grateful that the affiliates/OTA networx were so confident there would be no launch disaster? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) STS-117 launch, Friday 8th (Updated) I heard sigs on 10780 and 5711 kHz. The latter was quite active, but very quiet, in the lead-up to the launch. It was giving 't minus' readouts every minute of so. The sigs from 5711 got much better and clearer just after the launch (typical!), and I heard Cape Radio report to Freedom Star the lat/longs of the boosters after their splash-down. I also heard sigs on 259.7 UHF AM. It was the usual 'few seconds'. and all I used was a small telescopic on top of my Yupi 7100. See, I told you it was possible. Unfortunately I didn't see it pass over the UK due to some cloud. If it had launched 10 minutes earlier it would have been perfect! (Graham Tanner, London, UK, June 9, monitoringmonthly yg via DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. CLANDESTINE, 7460, Radio Bayem E Doost, Kishinev Grigoriopol, 0230-0237, June 09, Farsi, s/on, music, announcement or ID by male, talk, 24232 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. UCRANIA, 6245, Radio Zamaneh, 1745-1755, escuchada el 11 de Junio en idioma farsi a locutor con noticias, música de sintonía, referencia a Irán, conexión telefónica con corresponsal, SINPO 45333. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. JERUSALEM POST STARTS ONLINE PETITION TO SAVE IBA ENGLISH BROADCASTS The Jerusalem Post says that "howls of protest, outrage and disbelief" from its readers around the world have greeted the threat of the imminent closure of the Israel Broadcasting Authority's English-language TV and radio news broadcasts. Ahead of a meeting of the IBA's Management Committee tomorrow, at which almost all foreign language news broadcasts are facing the axe, the Post says its readers have written in from Israel, across Europe, the US, South Africa, Australia, Asia and beyond to urge the IBA to reconsider. In a letter to the heads of the IBA, meanwhile, Professor Elihu Richter of the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine has called the plan to cut the IBA English broadcasts "a stupid exercise in self-destruction at a time when there never has been a greater need for increasing the English language service." "Imagine what would have happened in WWII had the BBC decided to cut its broadcasts to the world - broadcasting its messages to far and wide about Britain's fight against Nazi Germany - or the US had decided to cut its Radio Free Europe and Voice of America broadcasts to those living under Communist tyranny," Richter asked. "Broadcasts of Israel's message to the world are part of Israel's fight for existence at a time of unparalleled danger to the country," he stated. "The answer to the massive amount of misinformation and disinformation about Israel is a strengthened Israeli news service and programme broadcasting to the world in all languages." Readers who share The Jerusalem Post's concern at the imminent cessation of English language news broadcasts by the IBA on TV and radio are invited to use the talkback option at the end of this article to "sign" a petition, which the Post will convey to the IBA before tomorrow's meeting on the future of the state broadcaster. http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/?p=8173 (June 10th, 2007 - 10:18 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) Post' readers: Save IBA English news By JPOST.COM STAFF --- Talkbacks for this article: 22 Howls of protest, outrage and disbelief from Jerusalem Post readers around the world have greeted the threat of the imminent closure of the Israel Broadcasting Authority's English-language TV and radio news broadcasts. Ahead of a meeting of the IBA's Management Committee on Monday, at which almost all foreign language news broadcasts are facing the axe, Post readers have written in from Israel, across Europe, the US, South Africa, Australia, Asia and beyond to urge the IBA to reconsider. 'Mr. Television' has bad news for IBA workers Sign online petition to keep IBA News on the air Far from halting the broadcasts, many writers urged, the government should be expanding them as a means of getting Israel's message across. "Shooting yourselves in the foot," "madness" and "tantamount to national suicide" are some of the more succinct readers' criticisms of the planned move, which is being mooted because of financial pressures at the state broadcaster. Threats have been issued in years past to close down English news - which broadcasts three local and one global radio broadcasts and a daily TV news show - and a dozen other foreign language news services, only for last-minute reprieves to save the services. But staffing at these services has been relentlessly cut over the past two years - from 25 staffers to seven, for instance, in the English radio department. And insiders fear there may be no reprieve this time, or that further cuts would stretch the foreign language departments past the breaking point. Hebrew and Arabic news broadcasts are not under threat, but broadcasts in other languages, including Russian, French, Spanish and Amharic, are similarly facing the axe. Further adding to the insiders' concern is the sense that the IBA's management is too weak to stand up to the pressure to cut costs, and the fact that the IBA does not have a minister in government to look after its interests. Labor's Eitan Cabel, who held that responsibility, resigned following publication of the Winograd Committee's interim report. Set against this, a spokeswoman for Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is also acting finance minister, has promised that he will look into the matter. In 2000, Olmert, then the minister responsible for the IBA, pledged to ensure that the English news services were maintained. The IBA is also required by law to maintain foreign language broadcasts. In a September 2000 letter, Olmert told the Post, "I have spoken to the director of the Broadcasting Authority about this issue and have given him a directive that there is no place for a further change in the programming of the English news broadcast. I am aware of the importance of the English news broadcast for the English-speaking population in Israel and its significant listening audience." Ironically, the insiders said, Israel Radio's various services are profitable, while its TV services are not - yet it is the radio, rather than TV, that is set to bear the brunt of the new cuts. In comments to the Post, one writer asserted that the IBA's broadcasts were no less valuable than the American jet fighters Israel buys for tens of millions of dollars. In a similar vein, with added cynicism, another said, of the government: "They caused the army to lose the battle on the 'ground' last year. Why not lose the 'air' this year?" A writer from Chile said that while "guns are essential to defend Israel," it also has to "win the war of ideas. In this, the English voice of IBA is essential." "Not only will Israel lose the possibility to defend itself against the slanders that abound in English-speaking and Arab-controlled media," added a reader from Poland, "but it will cut off its friends in Europe, USA and elsewhere in the world from an essential source of unbiased information on the Middle East." The planned closure "comes only a few months after Al-Jazeera's 24/7 English programming became available for free through its Internet site," noted another Post protester. "Without an English IBA broadcast, pro-Arab images and spin will monopolize the projection of local Mideast news into English-speaking countries. Israel cannot afford any more stupid PR moves like this." "What is the government of Israel thinking?" asked one correspondent from the US. "I listen to IBA on the Internet every single day. It's the only way I get the real news from Israel. Not only that, the syndicated Middle East English broadcast Mosaic, on Link TV, features news from several Arab countries and broadcasts from Al-Jazeera and Al-Arabiya. If IBA were not on with those broadcasts, only the Arab view would be presented." A reader in South Africa echoed the theme: "The move to cancel this station would only be seriously detrimental to those that are trying to fight Israel's case abroad," she wrote. "It would be madness to abandon English broadcasts," wrote one correspondent from the UK, citing a perceived anti-Israel bias of the BBC "influencing a whole UK generation... But then madness seems to be a common malady in today's Israel." "Instead of shutting down we should be expanding this incredible resource," concluded an Israeli writer. "If there are major problems, repair them. This is our face to the world." In a letter to the heads of the IBA, meanwhile, Prof. Elihu Richter of the Hebrew University-Hadassah School of Public Health and Community Medicine called the plan to cut the IBA English broadcasts "a stupid exercise in self-destruction at a time when there never has been a greater need for increasing the English language service." "Imagine what would have happened in WWII had the BBC decided to cut its broadcasts to the world - broadcasting its messages to far and wide about Britain's fight against Nazi Germany - or the US had decided to cut its Radio Free Europe and Voice of America broadcasts to those living under Communist tyranny," Richter asked. "Broadcasts of Israel's message to the world are part of Israel's fight for existence at a time of unparalleled danger to the country," he stated. "The answer to the massive amount of misinformation and disinformation about Israel is a strengthened Israeli news service and program broadcasting to the world in all languages." In an editorial last week, the Post noted that "Israel gets too few opportunities to present its perspective overseas. For Israel to thus undercut its own obvious interest boggles the mind." It went on: "Military contests are only one facet of the challenges Israel faces. Waging a convincing battle for hearts and minds overseas is essential. In this inherently crucial conflict Israel must not lose any outlet for its voice, especially not the IBA's voice in English." Sign online petition to keep IBA News on the air Post comment | Terms (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) q.v.: http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?c=JPArticle&cid=1181228581346&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Well, there is supposed to be a 'big meeting' tomorrow, so there should be more 'real news' after that point. This is part of an editorial from Haaretz: STOP THREATENING PUBLIC RADIO --- By Haaretz Editorial http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/868832.html This is only part of the article found at the above URL: "The proposal to close or limit the activities of Israel Radio's small stations is made with seasonal regularity, in an attempt to deal with the continuing organizational and economic crisis at the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA). So far the stations have been spared shutdown, among other things due to public protest. But recently the sword of closure has once more been raised. "As reported in Haaretz, from the beginning of July, the director general of the IBA, Mordechai Sklar, wants to close down for six months Reshet Aleph; the Arabic-language station; REKA international radio, aimed at new immigrants; Reshet Moreshet, which focuses on Jewish tradition; and the classical station Kol Hamuzika. He has also proposed taking off the air television broadcasts in Arabic and the English news. This is all part of his emergency plan to deal with the IBA's deficit. The proposals are also the result of unnecessary struggles between Sklar and the chairman of the IBA executive committee and plenum, Moshe Gavish. "Each one of the stations slated for closure has clear public importance. Sklar's plan to shut them down specifically contravenes the IBA Law, which states, among other things, that broadcasts must "reflect the lives and cultural values of all groups in the population from various countries, to expand education and disseminate knowledge." The IBA must also "broadcast in the Arabic language for the needs of the Arabic-speaking population, and the broadcasts must promote understanding and peace with neighboring countries." "A study of the details of the plan shows that the operating cost of the stations are very low relative to the yearly income of the IBA, which stands at hundreds of millions of shekels. Thus, for example, the direct savings that would be achieved by closing Kol Hamuzika during the second half of the year would be NIS 291,000 and the savings from closing Reshet Moreshet for that period would be only NIS 11,000. The savings that would be gained by making all the proposed changes at Israel Radio, including stopping the work of most of the broadcast technicians, would be less than NIS 10 million, while the deficit stands at NIS 154 million. "Instead of harassing radio stations that serve minorities, Sklar should cut elsewhere, such as the bloated IBA administrative staff. It is high time to reduce the IBA work week from six days to five, as is the practice elsewhere; to considerably reduce overtime pay to senior staff and to end old and expensive contracts with various suppliers that are automatically renewed annually. "IBA chairman Gavish did say last week that he does not agree to the silencing of the radio stations, but at the same time the executive committee announced that a significant cut cannot occur without a real halt to activities and damage to public broadcasting in Israel..." (via Doni Rosenzweig, June 10, dxldyg via DXLD) IBA SHELVES PLANS FOR EMERGENCY PACKAGE OF CUTS The management of the Israel Broadcasting Authority (IBA) has shelved plans for an emergency package of cuts that would have stopped broadcasts of Israel Radio news in English, and the IBA television news in English, from 1 July. The IBA Management Committee met this afternoon and decided to shelve the cuts due to fierce opposition from the various workers’ unions. However, the management declared that significant cuts will be made elsewhere in the near future. (Source: Israel Radio)( June 11th, 2007 - 19:38 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 15615, Kol Israel, 1952-1959, escuchada el 11 de junio en español a locutora con un reportaje sobre una exposición de Picasso en Tel Aviv, ¿Nuevo servicio? Al final de la emisión no anuncian esta frecuencia, SINPO 55444 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not a new transmission but current schedule shows only: 1945-2000 11590 25 Europe + N. America 9400 31 Central Europe 9345 31 S. Europe + Latin America IBA has used 15615 before. It could replace one of the lower frequencies for midsummer tho had not been planned to do so. But it is on the current schedule, http://israelradio.org/sw.htm after 2000 only for Hebrew: 2000-2115 15615 19 Latin America --- So it seems they just turned it on a few minutes early (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. 15777.78v, Galei Zahal, 2150-2220+, June 8, US pop music by Back Street Boys & others. DJ chatter. Fair to good signal but slowly drifting up to 15777.80 by 2220. Noted on 15777.74 at 2352 check. Weak // 6971.24v with an unstable, wobbly carrier (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15785, Galei Zahal, 1915-1920, escuchada el 11 de Junio en hebreo a locutor con comentarios y música de piano de fondo en programa musical, emisión en paralelo por 6973, SINPO 45343 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JOHNSTON ISLAND. KH3, JOHNSTON ISLAND. As this was being typed, Skipper of the USSV Dharma, Susan Meckley, W7KFI, informed OPDX that she is enroute to Johnston Island and should be there by the end of of week. Activity will be on 80-10 meters on SSB and CW, usually at 036 above the bottom of the band. Susan is expected to be here for about a week before heading to Marshall Islands (3 weeks further south west). By the way, Susan is a 70 year old grandmother who has been sailing all over the Pacific. This amazing lady is an interesting story. It is highly recommend to visit the following Web pages to see where she has been, and there is a Real Audio recording of her radio interview with Art Bell. Visit the Web pages at: http://ussvdharma.net http://www.qrz.com/callsign/W7KFI ADDED NOTE: Track her ship, the USSV Dharma, by putting in her callsign W7KFI at the following Web page: http://www.shiptrak.org (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 June 11 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 9485, Shiokaze - Sea Breeze via Taiwan, *1300- 1330, June 9 (Sat.). Seems there might be the start of a pattern emerging for English, as noted over the past two weeks on Tue. and Sat. Piano IS, many ID's: "This is Shiokaze Sea Breeze, from Tokyo, Japan", YL started with details of an Oct. 1977 abduction and ended with the profile of a 1984 abduction, fair/poor, light QRM from 9480, no jamming heard (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. Yesterday I heard Radio Kuwait in Arabic from 1750 on 11990. According to their schedule that I just received this should go into an English broadcast at 1800-2100. Instead, that frequency closed at 1754 and English was never heard (Dan Malloy, ODXA via DXLD) Radio Kuwait hasn`t had English for a long time. They obviously haven`t revised their printed schedule (Harold Sellers, Jun 10, ibid.) ** LIBYA [non]. 17642.5, Sawt Al Amal, 1237-1245, June 09, Arabic, very nice songs and talk by female, 25432 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [and non]. MOLDAVIA, 17642.5, Sawt al-Amal, 1215-1220, escuchada el 9 de junio en árabe con segmento musical, locutor presentando espacio, locutora con comentarios, SINPO 44444. A las 1303 se observa: 17635 Voz de África en árabe. 17640 Voz de África en árabe en paralelo con 17635 17660 Emisora con música afro-pop. 17637.5, Sawt al-Amal, 1201-1206, escuchada el 10 de junio en árabe con sintonía, locutora con ID, canto del Cor`án; esta transmisión se prolongó hasta las 1400 en la misma frecuencia, sin rastro de las emisiones de la Voz de África, la emisora afro-pop en 17660, SINPO 44544. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. It`s counterintuitive that R. Vilnius`s two English broadcasts to NAm one semihour apart go from a lower frequency at 2330, 9875 to a higher one at 0030, 11690. On the average, later into the night, the MUF should be falling somewhat, altho not likely by as much as 1.8 MHz. Is RV aware of this, or are they deliberately going against the propagational model? Is there some other reason such as transmitter, antenna or frequency availability? Could they really be at different azimuths to different targets, justifying a band change higher over a one-hour period? No, per HFCC, both are 100 kW at 310 degrees to zones 4, 8 and 9, i.e. NAm east of the 90th meridian, and both 1234567 250307 to 281007: 9875 2300 0100 4,8,9 SIT 100 310 D 9875 LTU, Eng LTU LRT LTU 5022 11690 0000 0400 4,8,9 SIT 100 310 D 11690 LTU, Eng LTU LRT LTU 5023 However, notice that 9875 is available at both 2330 and 0030 tho currently used only until 2400. It would be interesting for us, and probably for RV to have reports comparing the quality of the two broadcasts. At mid-summer the higher frequency probably worx better in any event. Except when there is a propagational disturbance, when the lower one might get thru but not the higher one, regardless of the hour difference. So it`s good to have a choice (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. 6255, KBC Radio, Sitkhunai, 2235-2245, June 09, English, pops and many identifications: “This is KBC Radio... Holland”, ann. canned, 24332 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. 783, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 1935-1956, 09 Jun, Vernacular, talks & phone-ins; 55343 but often better than on parallel 4845! (Gonçalves) 7245, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 1233-1421, 09 Jun, Vernacular, chantings, French at 1400 for newscast; 54444, adjacent DRM QRM 7240 [Flevo]. They seem to be in the morning (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOLDOVA. R. Moldova Int, nuevo concurso del servicio en español. Sólo en Internet. A la atención de los oyentes del exterior de Radio Moldova Internacional! RMI anuncia la segunda edición del concurso : “Entérate de la Republica de Moldova” La edición del año en curso es dedicada al aniversario 15 desde la fundación de RMI. El concurso se desarrollará durante el período de entre el 14 de mayo y el 12 de julio del año 2007, fecha cuando celebraremos 15 años de existencia de RMI. A ver las condiciones del concurso . . . http://www.trm.md/rmi_sp/index.html (via José Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. Returning to the V of Mongolia schedule published in previous edition: I can't hear any Russian broadcast 30 May (Wed) at 1100 on 12085 (Mauno Ritola, Joensuu, Finland, Signal June 10 via DXLD) Might be an error in schedule: supposedly station uses 990 kHz, rather than 12085, for this broadcast (Sergey Nikishin, Moscow, Russia, ibid.) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. More on blockading SW receivers: CUBA ** NIGER. 9705, La Voix du Niger, Niamey, 1039-1217 9 Jun, vernacular, talks, French for 1200 newscast as usual, trade union info; 35433 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 4770. R. Nigeria, Kaduna, 2210-, 09 Jun, English (Tentative), African pops menu; 55333 but an extremely low audio - a useless signal. (Gonçalves) 9690, V. of Nigeria, Ikorodu, still using this frequency, e.g. 1033- 1209, English; 45444, and stronger at noon (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9690, Voice of Nigeria, *0814-0900+, June 9, Abruptly on with talk in listed Hausa. Local tribal music. Voice of Nigeria theme music at 0857. Talk in listed Fulfulde at 0900. Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9690, Voice of Nigeria, 1138-1159, escuchada el 10 de junio en inglés a locutor y locutora con comentarios, se aprecia acento africano, referencias al “..fútbol.. numbers..”, música de sintonía, fin de emisión; se aprecia mala modulación, SINPO 33432. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. The Crystal Ship - Summer 2007 Frequency Schedule Dear Glenn, Below please see proposed frequencies for The Crystal Ship for Summer 2007. This will be posted in various other places late this week, but as I've noted you've published it in the past, in appreciation for such I decided to just send it to you first this time. Thank you for your past coverage of domestic "free" or "pirate" shortwave radio. The Crystal Ship, a North American shortwave pirate radio station based in the Great Lakes region, releases its summer frequency schedule: Our primary and preferred frequency remains 6875 kHz. If we are on the air on any other frequency, we will also be on the air on this frequency; and reception and audio quality may be superior on 6875 kHz, if you can receive it. Secondary frequencies are as follows: 5386 kHz. While using the less powerful Viking II transmitter, this frequency has been relatively useful to reach nearby listeners regionally within the Great Lakes area, for whom 6875 kHz becomes blacked out ('goes long') sometime after local darkness. We will be active on this frequency throughout the summer, as a frequent parallel to 6875 kHz. 3275 kHz may be used as a parallel frequency this summer, but probably only in such cases when transmissions will run beyond 0300 UTC. Experimental frequencies: Tests on 7575 kHz, while free of QRM have proven less effective than 6875 kHz with the antennas in use. 7575 kHz may yet be used as a parallel in the future, if a new resonant antenna is erected for it. We intend to make some test transmissions around 12500 kHz, intended to reach listeners based west of the Rocky Mountains, as well as in Europe. Tests may also be done on 13 and 15 MHz. For specific frequency and program announcement information, potential listeners should ask to subscribe to our Email list, at tcsshortwave @ gmail.com Days and times of transmission: As a pirate station, naturally we have no 'official schedule' although we are likely more predictable than most others. Through the summer of 2007, likely hours of operation will extend somewhere from 2200 hours through 0400 UT on any of the aforementioned frequencies as well as on 6875 kHz. Most likely days of operation are Sunday evenings (US local time), as well as random weeknights. First-time QSL requests may be Emailed to us at tcsshortwave @ yahoo.com and we'll pick up the postage. U.S. listeners desiring additional QSLs from The Crystal Ship should send their reception reports, including three First Class stamps, to: The Crystal Ship, P. O. Box 1, Belfast, N.Y. 14711-0001 All non-U.S. reports should be mailed to the Belfast address, and should include $2 US or I.R.C.s for return postage. Sincerely, (John Poet, The Crystal Ship, June 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Tonkawa, KAYE, *90.5 fined $1500 for not timely filing, then renewed (Bruce F. Elving, May-June FMedia! via DXLD) Must be a typo; has been on 90.7 and still shown only on 90.7 in FCC FM Query. 1 kW station is masked by Wichita 90.7 just outside Tonkawa (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. We were in OKC Saturday June 9, and checked 107.1 a couple times in the afternoon and evening, from nearby the Radio Free Austin-relaying-RBN-relaying pirate`s alleged location. Nothing heard (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Re previous speculation about who is bankrolling ch 52: McClendon, Ward invest in KSBI-TV by Jerry Shottenkirk, The Journal Record, 1/9/2007 OKLAHOMA CITY – Aubrey McClendon and Tom Ward are entering the TV business. Officials of Family Broadcasting Group Inc. said on Monday the energy executives are new investors and shareholders in the company. McClendon is chairman and chief executive officer of Chesapeake Energy and Ward, who co-founded Chesapeake with McClendon, is chairman and CEO of SandRidge Energy. Family Broadcasting Group Inc. owns KSBI-TV/KSBI-DT of Oklahoma City. The amount of the investment was not disclosed. Family Broadcasting Group President and Chief Executive Officer Brady Brus said the additional funds will help the privately owned station with debt and updates, including a new broadcast facility and growth in new media. “We are delighted to have Aubrey and Tom as investors and shareholders in our company,” Brus said. “They are accomplished businessmen who are highly respected for their character and integrity as well as their abilities to build and operate successful companies.” Family Broadcasting Group consists of Brus, Angie Brus, a certified public accountant and treasurer; and Seekfirst Media LLC (Jon Bowie, managing partner). In addition to KSBI, Family Broadcasting Group owns KXOC-LP and 12 television translators across Oklahoma, north Texas and southern Kansas. In a joint statement issued Monday, McClendon and Ward said, “The outlook for Family Broadcasting Group Inc. is extremely positive as demonstrated by the growth the company has experienced the past two years in the midst of a challenging broadcast media marketplace in Oklahoma. We have been impressed with what Brady and his management team have accomplished in turning KSBI-TV into a statewide network with tremendous reach and opportunity. We have every reason to believe the additional capital and modern broadcast facilities will allow the company to pursue new broadcast and online initiatives to better serve the viewer preferences for wholesome exciting entertainment.” (via Streuli, June 7, okctalk via DXLD) see also INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** OKLAHOMA. Cox to get KOCB-34 and KOKH-25 in HD [but KOCO 5 ABC is holdout, despite poor HD coverage in The Metro OTA ch 7 since it has to protect KSWO-7 (analog) Lawton], thread: http://www.okctalk.com/art-books-film-tv-radio/10308-cox-get-kocb-34-kokh-25-hd.html (via gh, DXLD) ** PERU. 6536.06, Radiodifusora LV del Rondero, Huancabamba, 0210- 0224*, June 8, Peruvian folk music, Spanish talk. ID. Mentions of Huancabamba. Sign off with National Anthem. Weak (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. RADIO ANDINA, Huancayo, Perú --- Respecto de la confiscación de sus equipos transmisores, el último día en que fue audible aquí Radio Andina, de Huancayo, Perú, según mi nonitoreo diario nocturno, fue el 7 de junio de 2005, en los 4995.6 kcs, apenas dos años atrás. Y de paso, según mi monitoreo diario matutino, fue audible hasta mucho antes, el 30 de abril de 2004 (Emilio Pedro Povrzenic, Latinoamérica DX, Villa Diego, provincia de Santa Fe, República Argentina, June 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Listening to the programme "DX Club" of Radio Romania International in Russian language I heard about the beginning reconstruction of all SW transmitters and antennas starting in mid- June first from site Galbeni. The broadcasts to Western Europe will be moved to site Tiganesti. For two months transmissions in Russian and Chinese will be temporarily closed. Later new transmitters will be in Tiganesti and Saftica (here 2 x 100 kW). 73s (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, June 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So here we have news of two more languages affected by this business; the info only comes out piecemeal. I wanted to be sure to put the diacriticals on these names correctly, but there are none in WRTH, and furthermore, none at all in the Romanian text on this page: http://www.snr.ro/?id=274 So is there a trend in Romanian simply to dispense with them? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA [non]. Digital log: 9600, 1412 4 May, RRI, Israeli Prime Minister under pressure, English (Richard Thurlow, Ipswich, Suffolk, WR G313, AOR 7030+, DSP-599ZX/LW, Alpha Delta sloper, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Romania, of course is not doing any DRM of its own, which this is about, unspecified, but Wertachtal site, Germany scheduled in HFCC 9600 1400 1430 27 WER 60 300 0 216 1234567 250307 281007 N D WRN DTK This is a stand-alone service, not grouped with others as done by VT Communications from UK site or Sackville. No indication of reception quality, SNR, etc., so presumably ``perfect`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT BRANDON ISLANDS. 3B7 - The 3B6SP team en route to Agalega encountered serious problems with the catamaran "Josephina", which lost one engine and a sail. All on board are safe and sound, and the catamaran, towed by the fishing vessel "Covadis", reached Raphael Island, Saint Brandon (AF-015). According to the lastest information from 3B8CF, the team expects to remain there for some 12 days and to be active as 3B7SP while waiting for the "Josephina" to be repaired. [TNX SP9PT] (425 DX News June 9, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) At 11.30 pm (0330z) the ham expedition to St. Brandon island (in the Indian Ocean) 3B7SP was coming in 579 on 7021 kHz, but due LSR no longer there now, heard with just a piece of wire out into the "yard" (common area) on a TS-520 with tuner (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, UT June 10, IRCA via DXLD) Agalega default? Covadis = Quo Vadis? (gh, DXLD) 3B7, ST. BRANDON ISLANDS (Not Agalega/DXpedition Update). Dxpedition leader, Witek, SP9MRO, and his team encountered problems with their catamaran on their way to Agalega Island (3B6) and had to head to St. Brandon Island (3B7) instead. It seems their catamaran "Josephina", had lost one of two engines and a sail which was torn due to high winds and bad seas. However, all are safe and the catamaran was towed by a fishing vessel called "Covadis" to the Island of Raphael (St. Brandon Island). OPDX was told that St. Raphael Island "is like a football play ground with two buildings, one for the Coast guards and the second, a 6 room bungalow for the Meteorological services, but with no water and light, only one generator and two wideband G5RV and lots and lots of birds, this place is more beautiful than Agalega." The team has received permission to operate as 3B7SP while their catamaran is being repaired. Activity will possibly last until June 19th. QSL via SP9SX. For more possible details and updates, visit the 3B6SP Web page at: http://3b6.godx.eu/ (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 June 11 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) Are these really separate radio countries, or just part of Mauritius? Per http://www.arrl.org/awards/dxcc/dxcclist.txt 3B6 and 3B7 count as a single but separate ham radio country (gh, DXLD) ** ST. KITTS & NEVIS. QSL: 895, VON, Radio Nevis v/l, hurricane map 101d f/up#2. v/s: Desery Ottley, Radio Announcer/News Reporter Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio (Cleveland), amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** SOMALIA. VOA loses its FM outlet in Mogadishu, again. "Shabelle Media Network, Horn Afrik and IQK, a Koranic radio station, were all shut down by a Somali government decree." VOA News, 6 June 2007. Protested by Committee to Protect Journalists, 7 June 2007. The VOA story does not mention that Horn Afrik relayed VOA programs. Now VOA Somali must fall back on its medium wave relay in Djibouti, with iffy reception at the dusk transmission time, or shortwave. The best IBB shortwave site to reach the Horn of Africa was Kavala, Greece, closed last year by the BBG. Posted: 09 Jun 2007 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) THREE MOGADISHU RADIO STATIONS AUTHORISED TO RESUME OPERATIONS 10 Jun 10, 2007 - 5:29:40 PM Mogadishu-based Radio Stations of Shabelle Media Network, Radio Voice of Holy Quran and Horn Afrik Radio has been authorised to resume operations today by the Transitional Federal Government after decree ordering their closure signed by Minister of Information Madobe Nunow Mohammed was delivered to each of the three stations on 6 June 2007. Following negotiations between media managers and the Ministry of Information along with appeals and mounting pressures from National Union of Somali Journalists, National Media Council and International Community, the Minister of Information cleared the media institutions to resume operations. . . http://www.garoweonline.com/artman2/publish/Press_Releases_32/Somalia_Three_Mogadishu_Radio_Stations_Authorised_to_Resume_Operations.shtml CLOSED SOMALI RADIO STATIONS BACK ON AIR Three independent Mogadishu-based broadcasters which Somalia's transitional government ordered closed last week were back on air Sunday after four days of closure. Reports reaching here said Information Minister Modobe Nunow allowed the three radio stations -- Shabelle, HornAfrik and Radio of the Holy Quran -- to resume their operations following a meeting between him and broadcasters. . . http://english.people.com.cn/200706/11/eng20070611_382910.html (Xinhua, both via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) All FM, not SW ** SUDAN [non]. Cf DXLD 6-061: Southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruxion Program now on SW: 0603-0700 Mon/Wed/Fri 15445-Dyabbaya, UAE 1400-1430 Tue/Thu/Sat 15470-Krasnodar, Russia This broadcast is a project of International Education Systems (IES). It is funded by USAID in partnership with the Regional Economic Development Services Office for eastern and southern Africa. Address: Southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction Project, 28 Mugumo Road, P O Box 2501, Lavington, Nairobi, Kenya (Tony Rogers & Dave Kenny, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Nueva dirección Postal. Noticia facilitada por Hector Pino de FEDERACHI en Chile para Frecuencia DX: Hola a todos los amigos de RADIO TAIWAN INTERNACIONAL, desde Chile les escribo para informar lo siguiente; espero sea de vuestro agrado y que sigamos palante como se debe ok? Hasta pronto y mil gracias de antemano, Hèctor Pino. ------- --------- --------- --------- --------- --------- ------ Nueva dirección postal de RTI Estimada/o oyente: En primer lugar quisiéramos agradecerle por el apoyo mostrado a Radio Taiwán Internacional en los últimos años. Debido a cuestiones de comodidad en el recibo de la correspondencia, a partir del 1 de julio de 2007 la dirección postal de Radio Taiwán Internacional será 123-199 y el código postal será 11199 en vez de 106. Aunque nuestros amigos oyentes llevan utilizando el correo postal 24-38 desde tiempos inmemoriables, esperamos que este pequeño cambio pueda atraer a muchos más oyentes a nuestro pequeño espacio de emisión diaria en la onda corta. Esperamos vuestras cartas con el nuevo correo postal a partir del 1 de julio; no obstante, aceptamos también todas las cartas con el matasellos hasta el 31 de diciembre de 2007 cuyo correo postal sea 24- 38. Reciba un cordial saludo de la sección española de RTI Radio Taiwán Internacional Sección Española. RADIO TAIWAN INTERNACIONAL Ap. Postal: P. O. BOX, 123-199 CP. Ciudad: TAIPEI 11199 R.O.C. (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. TAJIKISTAN, 17560, Voice of Tibet, 1221-1225, escuchada el 9 de junio en idioma asiático a locutor con comentarios, fuertemente interferida por emisión de Firedrake Jamming; hay que templar a 17563 para escuchar la emisión, SINPO 33433. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. VOT transmitter engineer asleep at the switch again: June 10 at 1329 I tuned past 15450 and was still hearing the VOT IS following the English broadcast which ended at 1320-1325. Then opening in a Slavic language, but mixing with BBC [see U K]. Finally VOT cut off at 1331. This must have been Bosnian scheduled on 9655, or maybe Kyrgyz scheduled on 9575, with some Russian elements. BTW, I just saw an Armenian farce, ``Big Story in a Small City``, in which some of the characters spoke Armenian, others spoke Russian, or a mixture (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Dear Radio Listeners, TRT have been celebrating 80th birthday. In this occasion Turkish Radio and Television Corporation has preparing Radio Competition. For details http://www.trt.net.tr/80yilradyo/yarisma.html http://www.trt.gov.tr/80yilradyo/TRT%20Radio%20Competition%20Regulations.pdf Good luck to all participants (M. Cankurt, government, Turkey, June 11, HCDX via DXLD) This is really for professionals, in producing programs. Can be in other languages, but must be translated into English (never mind Turkish) (gh, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. Good reception of RUI on new 11550 kHz 28 May at 1000-1100 (Andrey Burlaka, Simferopol, Ukraine, Signal June 10 via DXLD) And I can only receive Indonesian Service of Radio Taiwan International on 11550 (Feodor Brazhnikov, Irkutsk, Russia, ibid.) The same situation in the Far East: great reception of RTI, no RUI at all (Igor Ashikhmin, Primorskiy kray, Russia, ibid.) I believe it's normal, as our broadcast is intended to Europe during these hours. Back lobe signal from Kharkiv can't travel too far. And Taiwan does not interfere us in Europe. I'd better recommend listeners in Siberia and Far East to tune into 7530 kHz after 1300 (Alexander Yegorov, RUI, Kyiv, Ukraine, ibid.) ** U K [non]. After the late closing on 15450 of TURKEY [q.v.], June 10 at 1331, heard BBC on this unusual frequency with courtesy announcement loop in English also mentioning their Arabic service, something about current programming being unavailable. But at 1334 switched into language, which was not Arabic. Per Aoki this is it, Sundays only: 15450 BBC 1330-1430 1 Bengali 200 104 Krasnodar RUS 04048E4436 BBC a07 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Attack on My Journalistic, Personal Integrity Wall Street Journal letters - June 11 issue For the fourth time since March, the Journal has published an editorial-page commentary ("Register's Last Hurrah?" by Joel Mowbray, June 4) attacking my journalistic and personal integrity. The author states, among other charges, that I am sympathetic to dictators and biased against Israel. Nothing could be further from the truth. Mr. Mowbray has assembled a smattering of unrelated "facts" -- unsourced "quotations" from unnamed former "colleagues," selected excerpts from six-year-old emails, and photos/memorabilia in my office -- to "prove" my alleged sympathies toward Middle East dictators and to paint a misleading picture of my beliefs and my professional background. As a journalist, I have seen dictators all over the world, up close and personal. I know the evil they can do. I was in Tiananmen Square when the Red Army opened fire on the pro-democracy demonstrators; and I have witnessed the mass starvation caused by North Korea 's Kim Jong Il. A friend of mine in the Israeli Defense Forces was killed by Nasrallah's Hezbollah. Having witnessed these events, I am unable to sympathize with any dictator, and I harbor no such sympathies. Also disturbing is Mr. Mowbray's statement that so-called "former colleagues" say I harbor deep biases against Israel . Who are these people? A few examples should dispel that notion. In Benjamin Netanyahu's book, "A Place Among Nations, Israel and the World," the author credits my live CNN interview with him during the 1991 Gulf War as showing the world, through maps and visual effects, Israel's sheer size disadvantage when compared with the Arab world. Mr. Netanyahu, in his book, said this one interview led many people to understand the dangers Israel faces every day. In 1996, I won a Gold Medal at the New York Film and Television Festival as executive producer of Israel in Crisis, a CNN special on Israel 's operations to get Hezbollah out of southern Lebanon. Furthermore, I have lectured several times to Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine officers at the Marine Command and Staff college in Quantico on media and the military. Examine my public body of work, not the views of anonymous "former colleagues," who, in any event, apparently were unable to provide any explanation for my rise from a writer to a vice president at CNN over the course of a 20-year career there. Since I arrived at Alhurra in November 2006, I have worked to fulfill its mission of spreading freedom and democracy through the broadcast of accurate news and information. In the last six months, Alhurra has dramatically increased its coverage of American policy and the responsible discussion of such policy, focused coverage on human rights, the rights of women, freedom of expression and democratic reform in the region. Alhurra has originated town hall meetings with Arab immigrants in Paris, Brussels and London, and expanded coverage of the democratic process by covering elections in Algeria, Mauritania and the United States. Through its provision of accurate news and information about the region and about the U.S., Alhurra provides an essential alternative to existing, and often biased, indigenous Arab networks. I do not know why Mr. Mowbray and his unnamed sources have singled me out for attack. I have never made professional decisions based on politics or ideology. Rather, at Alhurra, I am privileged to work with outstanding journalists to offer our Arabic speaking audience an important choice -- news and information guided by democracy and free speech. Larry Register Vice President of News Middle East Broadcasting Networks Springfield, Va. Having served as chief executive officer of CNN during 11 of the 20 years that Larry Register was a bureau chief, a senior international news executive, and a senior producer, I saw in him an executive who fought to provide coverage that was fair to all sides. He insisted on accuracy in CNN reporting. He demanded that the various points of view of all sides were included in coverage of controversial topics. The attacks on Larry Register's reputation are reprehensible, unfair and without merit. Every news organization should have an executive who cares as much about fairness as does Larry. Tom Johnson Chief Executive Officer CNN (1990-2001) Publisher, Los Angeles Times Los Angeles (via David Cole, OK, DXLD) same: http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/Register_to_WSJ.pdf LEADERSHIP CHANGES AT ALHURRA TELEVISION Larry Register, beleaguered VP News of Alhurra, resigns. "Daniel Nassif will take over editorial leadership at Alhurra Television, as well as continuing his duties as News Director for Radio Sawa." Middle East Broadcasting Networks Inc press release, 8 June 2007. [below] "Register's letter of resignation, dated Friday, said he had been 'professionally and personally attacked' in the media. 'In good conscience I cannot allow the personal vendettas and attacks to damage the credibility of MBN,' he wrote." AP, 9 June 2007. The 6 June NBC Nightly News story on Alhurra is available at The Raw Story, 8 June 2007. See previous post about same subject. (See http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/index.php?id=1713 for linx to stories, video) (kimandrewelliott.com June 10 via DXLD) The promised review of this episode must still take place, but now it should expand to consider the conduct of the Broadcasting Board of Governors. Did the BBG eliminate a renegade Arabist? Or did it decide the Alhurra news director must speak Arabic? Or did the BBG buckle to political pressure and abdicate, again, its most important function as firewall between U.S. international broadcasting and the U.S. government? Posted: 10 Jun 2007 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) Leadership Changes at Alhurra Television. (Springfield, Va) — The Middle East Broadcasting Networks (MBN) announced the resignation of Larry Register as MBN's Vice President of News. Effective immediately, Daniel Nassif will take over editorial leadership at Alhurra Television, as well as continuing his duties as News Director for Radio Sawa. Joaquín Blaya, Chairman of the MBN Middle East Committee, issued the following statement. It is with regret that I accept Larry Register's letter of resignation as MBN's Vice President of Network News. Larry brought to the position a wealth of experience as a broadcast journalist with extensive knowledge of the Middle East. During his time at Alhurra he made progress in increasing news content and the presentation of U.S. policy. The MBN Middle East Committee respects his decision, thanks him for his service and commitment, and wishes him and his family all the best. While Larry will be leaving MBN on June 8, he has agreed to assist in any way possible to ease the transition to new management. Effective immediately, Daniel Nassif will assume Larry Register's duties as the editorial leader of Alhurra. Daniel, a native Arabic speaker, has served with distinction over the last five years as managing director/news director for Radio Sawa. His outstanding editorial judgment and journalistic skills are responsible for making Radio Sawa one of the most popular and credible radio stations in the Middle East and North Africa. He will continue overseeing the Radio Sawa news operations. MBN is financed by the U.S. Government through a grant from the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an independent federal agency. The BBG serves oversight and as a firewall to protect the professional independence and integrity of the broadcasters (via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Andy Sennitt comments: The resignation announcement hardly comes as a surprise. Mr Register has been under great pressure since the publication last August of a highly critical report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). This report said that the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, with an annual budget of $78 million, “has not (1) convened a meeting of its internal control board to formally develop its controls and coordinate audits, (2) completed an internal control plan, (3) completed a risk assessment to address potential risks to its operation, or (4) developed a comprehensive training program for its staff.” The GAO noted that “MBN has procedures in place to help ensure its programming meets its journalistic standards. However, MBN lacks regular editorial training and has not fully implemented a comprehensive, regular program review process to determine whether its programming complies with those standards or with MBN’s mission.” These weaknesses have been the subject of a number of OpEd’s in recent weeks, including one in the New York Times by Kim Andrew Elliott, an audience research analyst at the US International Broadcasting Bureau who has written a number of articles for Media Network (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. Today drove by the VOA transmitter site in Dixon. The power lines are still connected to the sub-station inside the site. Down the road the Navy has a large transmitting site. Two large antenna towers with guys wire in three section on the tower. Guyed from the of the antenna, 2/3 up and 1/3 up the tower. Took pictures of the VOA site, need to be cropped and will send out to those interested when I get home Monday (Dennis, Vacaville, CA, Vroomski, June 9, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Re 7-059, CAYMAN: 4045 usb, CARIBBEAN WEATHER CENTER SSB NETS, Florida, Lakeland. Thanks to David Potter. Continued logs from different Bahama Islands and Cayman Islands 1100 2 June. See info below. CARIBBEAN WEATHER CENTER SSB NETS - SCHEDULE & DETAILS / Chris Parker SSB Nets operate daily, except Sundays. I will be up Sundays when Tropical or other severe weather threatens, and will announce that in advance. This schedule is subject to change as I move around and the bulk of our Sponsoring Vessels move around. I currently operate as Public Coast Station WCY, located in Lakeland, Florida. Hail me as "Bel Ami". In the event of Tropical or other severe weather, an evening update will occur on 8137 USB 6:00pm EST [sic], unless announced on a different frequency or time. * 4045 USB 6:30am EDT & AST / 1030 UTC * 8137 USB 7:00am EDT & AST / 1100 UTC (most reliable for much of Caribbean) * 4045 USB 8:00am EDT & AST / 1200 UTC * 8104 USB 8:30am EDT & AST / 1230 UTC * 12350 USB 9:00am EDT & AST / 1300 UTC * 16525 USB 9:20am EDT & AST / 1320 UTC * 6221 USB 9:30am EDT & AST / 1330 UTC (for vessels too close to Central Florida to hear me earlier) See more info at http://www.mwxc.com/cwc_ssb_more.htm (via Robert Wilkner, SW Bulletin June 10 via DXLD) Aren`t there likely to be more vessels out there on Sundays, part of a weekend, than on weekdays? So why take Sunday off, instead of say, Wednesday? Is Chris blue? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. NONCOMMERCIAL FM STATION FILING WINDOW TO START OCTOBER 12 New filing window for noncom, educational FM stations and major facilities` changes starts Oct. 12 and ends Oct. 19. Some 180 applications filed on paper and having no cut-off dates will have to be amended electronically before the window closes. Other groups yet to be resolved are applications involved in Mexican and Canadian coordination issues, or have other major problems. This is the first window for apps in the 87.9 to 91.9 part of the FM band in several years (Bruce F. Elving, May-June FMedia! via DXLD) This is absurd, filing windows. Is it because of the inadequate staffing of FCC that they won`t accept applications at any time, however long it may take to act on them? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Tests on 1360 kHz --- Hello Glenn: After a brief trip, we returned home late June 9th to find ourselves in the midst of a local power outage. Took the opportunity to listen on the AM-BCB as the local power-based noises common in suburbia had all but ceased. While tuning in the 1350-1400 kHz area, numerous sweep-tones (up) followed by a long descending sweep, and busy-phone were heard on 1360 kHz. The general reception was poor to fair, as local station WDRC was quite obvious. As such, spoken words during the period during 0401 to 0410 UT were difficult at best. I believe code was heard, but did not have the usual punch to them: it was slow and long. At the end of this period around 0409-0410 UT as station call was partially obtained 'W___ Philadelphia'. Of course this is not quite accurate according to the AMQ site and Lee Freshwater's site. However, I do note that WPPA in Pottsville, PA is situated just West of New Philadelphia, PA. SINPO = 32232 under WDRC 1360 Hartford, CT (local) with occasional static crashes. (nothing mentioned in Sunday's dxld: thought I'd better post) (Paul Shaffer, PL-200 radio (handy) Cheshire, CT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As in 7-068, this was: WNJC 1360 AM Washington Twp, NJ. It was widely heard in the NE, and as far as the Mississippi, not in TX, and tentatively by Pat Martin in OR with his Beverage antenna (gh, DXLD) So far I've been unable to confirm with Duke to see if the QRSS ran at all. The sound file used to generate the tones was quite large (over 5 meg) and though I did receive a receipt that Duke was able to receive the file, his ISP may block large sound files. It was literally a last minute addition to the test, and quite likely did not come off at all. I also agree that it will be nice to have exact times for the QRSS portion of the test. But can't guarantee that it will be possible for some tests. Even the upcoming KXTO test, for example...at present, I do not know the exact times that the QRSS portions of the test. My plan is to run a dedicated receiver (I have two) to the QRSS effort, and just let Argo run. I've set up the computer to do "screen grabs" and save them as .JPEG files. Then they can be reviewed each morning during low power test period. This is old hat to those of us who chase NDB's and/or do LF work. I suspect that short notice tests will continue to be more and more the norm. Details about specific content and timing will continue to be difficult to provide, though not for lack of trying. That is why "real time" tools such as the Starchat #MWDX will be important. A local DXer (local to the test) can easily alert everyone when QRSS tones start...and then everyone can switch over their settings. Is there anyone local to the KXTO test? 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KNX hasn't been an "all news" station in the WCBS/WBBM mold for a long time now, and in some respects it never was. It's almost always had at least a couple of hours of programming other than the news wheel during the day. At one time, it was Mystery Theater and old-time radio at night; more recently, since KNX and KFWB came under common ownership, many day and weekend hours have been filled with food talk, computer talk, money talk and such. KFWB, meanwhile, pre- empts the news wheel during baseball season for Dodgers games, resulting in some occasions when you can't get a news headline or traffic report on either station for several hours at a time. LA has never been a strong market for all news radio in the way that New York, Chicago and Philadelphia took to the format. There's probably only really room for one all-newser there, and that'll eventually be KFWB as KNX transitions to an even more talk-heavy approach. That said, the situation in LA is unusual enough that it's not likely to have much, if any, impact on the KOMOs and KYWs and WTOPs of the world. s (Scott Fybush, June 11, IRCA via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6125, Radio Uruguay (SODRE), Montevideo, 1920-1933, June 05, Spanish, announcement, communications program “Radioactividades” (on Saturday & Sunday at 14 & 0200 UT). ID as: “Radio Uruguay.....para todo el país”, local songs, 33322 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. 4939.70, Radio Amazonas, Pto. Ayacucho, Orinoco, 1033 strong signal "en musical ...La voz del pueblo" mentioned, ID? long list of telephone numbers. Use of Venceremos in second ID? 31 May. Carrier only 0250 on 1 June; 1011-1030 "Voz Popular "again mentioned, music and OM, tropical storm noise 3 June (Robert Wilkner, FL, SW Bulletin June 10 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. V. of Vietnam, 9839.95, 1515 27 April, Hanoi, English, ID, co-channel Sudan Radio Service in background noticeable at tune-in but VoV predominant, SIO 333 (Tony Rogers, England, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** VIETNAM [non]. 15680, Que Huong Radio via TDP, 1231-1236, June 09, Vietnamese, talk by male, 24332 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. ARGELIA, 6300, Radio Nacional Saharaui, 2355- 0000, escuchada el 9 de junio en español en emisión musical, fin de transmisión, SINPO 35433. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Sacañet (Castellón), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) They keep jumping the Spanish hour back and forth between 1700 and 2300. Last report we had from DX Mix was that with Spanish at 1700, they were signing off at 2300, but was this ever confirmed? We did hear them on the air an hour earlier in morning from 0600 as DX Mix reported (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CLAND. 700 kHz, Polisario Front still here on this frequency, at least on this past Sat., 9th inst., when rated 53443 at 1940-... on the SW coast, and that was parallel to 6300. Yesterday, 10th, the signal on 6300 was just noise, like the one they air prior to s/on, with the same "menu" being served on 1550 kHz, not on 700 kHz which was silent (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. [The previous version lacked two dates of the last period, my apologies] Translation from Arabic by Tarek Zeidan, Egypt, of the the summary of RASD Radio history on the website of the RASD exile government http://www.rasd-state.ws/radio.htm - the Radiostation was established on 28th of December 1975, just 2 months after the Morocco invasion of the Sahrawi state. - the station has gone through different phases: 1975 - 1978 : the transmission power was only 4 kW, transmitting hours were only from 30 min till 2 hours on daily basis. - 1979 -1987 : the transmitting power was increased to 20 kW, the broadcast also increased to 4 hours and later 6 hours with expanding the programs variety. - 1988 - 1989 : increasing the power to 400 kW, doubling the news and current affairs programs not to forget the social programs as well, we started using 2 MW frequencies 221 Meter 1355 kHz and 520 Meter [576 kHz]. -1990 - 1997 : [as published] In 2002 started transmitting of the 41 Meter Band and having a link with all the domestic networks all over the country with the usage of the internet as one of the sources for the programs. As of the 4th of December 2005 we started having a live stream on the internet, transmitting on 2 languages, Arabic and Spanish 9 hours a day. Domestic Networks: Zamla network established in 1999 transmitting on the FM band covering Laayoun area Lajwaad network established in 1999 transmitting on the FM band covering Asrad area Salwan network established in 1999 transmitting on the FM band covering al-Samara area Wad al-Dahab (the Gold Valley ) established in 1999 transmitting on the FM band covering al-Dakhla area all stations transmit from 9.00 till 13.00 Hours. [Note: this network appears to refer to the refugee camps on Algerian soil, which Algeria acknowledges as "temporary sovereign RASD territory", and which carry the names of West Saharan towns] (via Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, June 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENIING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 4828, Voice of Zimbabwe (?), Guineafowl site?, noted in the evening of 09 Jun, but just an empty carrier, albeit prior to 2300 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 12035, SW Radio Africa, *1700-1735 June 10, African music, ID & gives website, more African music, into "Through the Valley" program with Richard Allfrey, with religious talk that he tied into what is happening now in Zimbabwe, talks about the Christian Alliance helping the opposition parties, song "Oh Happy Day", poor- fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4018.98, UNID, Per Charles Bolland tip. Latin American 1035 "en la escuela nacional..." long talk by OM en español, 1100 fade out. Nothing on 2010 kHz if harmonic. Gone by 1 & 2 June (Bob Wilkner, FL, SW Bulletin June 10 via DXLD) ?? Why would you expect anything on 2010? As I already outpointed, the likely fundamental is 1340 (x3) --- and much less likely but possible, 670 (x6), which could also show up on (x3) 2010 kHz. Chuck had reported same on 4019.94 May 29, so I wonder if Bob`s report is off 1 kHz by mistake, or did it vary that much in the next two days? We will assume that neither of them could have been misled by a 2 x IF image from something on 4930- or 4920- (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Dear Glenn, I am pleased to report reception of WOR in Sirius Satellite Channel #140 this past Saturday. It was nice to catch up on what was happening while doing errands in my truck. Between the BBC WS on 141 and WOR on 140, what else could one possibly want? Best 73 (Chris Lobdell, Editor-Presenter "Pirating With Cumbre" on Marie Lamb's DXing With Cumbre every weekend on WHRI, June 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Old QSL Cards The legacy of "Old Time" Ham Radio Operators can be found in the QSL Cards they left behind. This Page is dedicated to those Old Time Radio Operators. I have a Collection of Old (US and Canadian) Ham Radio QSL Cards dating from the early 1920s. I have arranged them by call areas. A complete list of Old QSL Cards totaling over Thirteen Thousand is now available by clicking on the links. /Bob Green, W8JYZ Please take a look at this fantastic website, http://www.w8jyz.com/ You can find a lot of very interesting info and among others there also is a list of very famous ham operators with a short story as well as their QSL-cards. (/swb-editor) Just a few examples shown below like: King Hussein, Thor Heyerdahl & Patti Loveless.. (Thomas Nilsson, SW Bulletin June 10 via DXLD) EURO-AFRICAN MEDIUM WAVE GUIDE, http://www.emwg.info Herman Boel`s EMWG has again been updated. Next to the regular minor updates, there is also a new picture. This is of the Lakihegy antenna (540 kHz) which was contributed by Hungarian DXer Zoltán Tölgyesi. There are plenty of other fascinating transmitter site photos including the V. of the Maldives. If you are new to EMWG, this summary will help: ``The EMWG is a publication that provides an overview of literally all long and medium wave stations in Europe, Africa & the Middle East. it gives extensive info on each station (exact location, broadcast times, languages, parallel SW frequencies, format, address, telephone, fax, website, QSL info, and much more). On top of this it deals with DRM and also sums up the very best websites on LW and MW (Chris Brand, Webwatch, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) FMEDIA! SUSPENDS PUBLICATION; PUBLISHER TAKES SABBATICAL The May-June issue of FMedia! from which several items are quoted in this DXLD, concludes with an announcement from Bruce F. Elving that ``due to time constraints and computer problems I am closing this publication until January, 2008 at the earliest. There is only a 20 percent chance it will return under my leadership. . . No subscriptions will be refunded, with the unused subscriptions going to pay for my six-months` sabbatical.`` After a previous hiatus, renewals were re-organized so that they all expired at the end of the calendar year, I believe. Too bad his sabbatical did not in the end coincide with that (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AUDIBLE ATROCITIES ++++++++++++++++++ About 15 minutes into Hidalgo, and again later in that horse-racing movie showing on AMC cable channel, set in 1890y, about the race, Iraq is mentioned as part of the 3000-mile, surely exaggerated, route. Trouble is, there was no Iraq in 1890; this area would have been referred to as Mesopotamia, or something else. Iraq was not established by that name until after WWI. Or will this get them out of timewarp? http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/iraq/overview.htm After World War I, the Turks were driven from the area by the British. Britain then created a mandate from three former Ottoman provinces and called this new country Al Iraq (the origin), the name formerly applied to only the southern region of the province of Basra. In 1932, Britain gave independence to this mandate and Iraq became a sovereign, independent state (via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ PUTTING UP WITH DRM, AND HAS IT A FUTURE? As to the ``chaos``, reading between the lines, noting comments made by some broadcast technicians themselves, I suspect that some transmissions have come too soon. Some DRM broadcasts seem to have been coming from slightly modified existing AM transmitters and they and their operators are perhaps just not up to the task. Some are radiating outside their allotted bandwidth. This is nothing new --- there have been many badly adjusted transmitters out there on the AM bands broadcasting distorted, wide bandwidth audio over the years. It`s just that with a transmission that sounds like 100% high-energy hiss all the time, the effects are not as avoidable. I suspect that if DRM survives, we will just have to get used to the sound of this newcomer to the SW bands. Hopefully, as time goes on, the technical broadcasting of these signals will improve. I suspect also that this annoyance felt by many traditional DXers will continue for some time. Eventually, I guess, the numbers of those who remember AM broadcasting compared with the numbers that only listen to digital broadcasts will decline and a new generation of DXers will spring up who do not know anything about AM or FM and for whom this is not an issue (Andrew Tett, From Ether to Speaker, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) See also MAURITANIA; ROMANIA RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ WiTricity WIRELESS ENERGY TRANSFER Is this likely to cause radio interference problems if it becomes widespread? Wireless energy promise powers up By Jonathan Fildes, Science and technology reporter, BBC News Thursday 7 June A clean-cut vision of a future freed from the rat's nest of cables needed to power today's electronic gadgets has come one step closer to reality. US researchers have successfully tested an experimental system to deliver power to devices without the need for wires. . . Full article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6725955.stm (Mike Barraclough, England, monitoring monthly yg via DXLD) Well, they've chosen to experiment at 10 MHz and if the technology eventually gets licensed to use that part of the spectrum, the answer has to be "yes, just like PLT". Rather dread to think what a sensitive preamp on a shortwave radio front end would do when confronted with that signal in the same room! Somewhere in the reporting chain on this subject somebody obviously lost the plot about what "low frequency" means in practice. Cheers (Sparky, ibid.) It's probably safe to assume it'll wipe out short wave bands in surrounding houses. Previous BBC Wireless Power story 15th November 2006 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6129460.stm HF Radio used by Wireless Power System http://www.southgatearc.org/news/november2006/wireless_power_system.htm Times Online - Breakthrough in wireless power pulls plug on cables http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/article1901424.ece The latest issue of the IET magazine Engineering & Technology features an article on the subject. It should be available later online at http://www.theiet.org/engtechmag Daily Amateur Radio RSS News: http://www.southgatearc.org/ Email your news items to: editor at southgatearc.org News On Your Website: http://www.southgatearc.org/rss/index.htm News On Your PC: http://www.southgatearc.org/rss/newsreader.htm Upload Your News: http://www.southgatearc.org/news/your_news.htm (73 Trevor M5AKA, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ TRANS/OCEANIC/POLAR MEDIUMWAVE DX INTO FLORIDA More from Moore (May 31): This is the season for down-under (DU) here in Florida. But this morning there were a number of stations I have never heard before at this time of year. 1575 kHz was in at a 4 on the Bryant scale. I have logged Thailand many times in Dec/Jan but never a peep after Feb. In Dec this past season I heard a carrier on 1467 kHz when 1575 was coming in and assumed it might be the Thailand station listed in PAL. This morning nothing on 1467 but a good 3/4 carrier on 1476 which had never been heard before. 1566 was in at a 1 and 1557 in at a 2. Best DU station was 1503 at a 4 assumed New Zealand heard often in the past. 738 had a good carrier at 3. TP's have been peaking sharply right around local sunrise (1046Z today). A total of 13 TP carriers were noted in my run down the band but the opening was so short I can't park on any frequency and still check all my channels. Maybe you could alert some of the other west coast DXers to check the conditions out there. I'd be interested in the results. I'm getting too lazy to go out into the shop to listen every morning and now have my portable DX station sitting on my desk in the living room. It consists of a much modified 2010 with special 2.5 kHz Kiwa filter feeding a SUPER SCAF audio filter. Antenna is my 23-inch spiral loop with no preamp (Ray Moore, Ft. Myers FL; modified Sony ICF-2010, 23-in spiral loop. NRC IDXD June 8 via DXLD) As discussed before, Thailand and other east Asians are really trans- polar from FL, not DU/trans-Pacific or trans-equatorial, and thus, QRM permitting, should be even more audible further north --- unless they are coming long-path from the south (gh, DXLD) THE NOAA EDUCATION PAGE, etc. For info on understanding space weather, check out this page where it is all explained in simple terms. http://www.sec.noaa.gov/Education/ And also: http://www.space.com/spacewatch/space_weather_101.html There are other sites with plenty of complex mathematical data but these two sites explain it in everyday language (James Welsh, Propagation Report, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ###