DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-130, October 28, 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 1379 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB [confirmed Oct 15] Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies to 0500] Mon 0830 WRMI 9955 Tue 1030 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 7385 Wed 0730 WRMI 9955 Wed 2300 WBCQ 18910-CLSB 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 DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS has been updated for B-07; correxions welcome. http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. R. Solh, confirmed on B-season channel as previously, 15265, ex-17700, via Rampisham UK, Oct 28 at 1355 with usual music. But this only runs until 1500 per schedule. 15265 should be more reliable here than 17700 which depended on a higher MUF coöperating (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. At 0030 Oct 28, Cuba still jamming 6110, just vacated by VOA, so probably really jamming Tirana, unless they hadn`t made the QSY yet; could not tell. 6110 is now scheduled 0000-0130 daily in Albanian, 0130-0145 & 0330-0400 exc Mon in English. Note that Tirana evening broadcasts to NAm are now on one frequency at once, but different times. 7425 is now at 0245-0300 & 0430-0500 in English exc Mondays, unchecked yet, and 0000-0130 daily in Albanian. Radio Tirana, I am pleased to note, was doing well on its new 6110, in English at 0330 as I tuned in during transmission schedule announcement at 0332. Good modulation; must be punching it up again. SINPO 25443. No co- or adjacent-channel QRM, just what we were aiming for. Comparable signal level to Cërrik relay of China on 6020 No sign of R. Tirana, on new 13640 for new 1530-1600 broadcast in English to NAm, Sunday Oct 28 at 1537 check. Is Sunday now the day off for this ex-Monday at 1300 on 13750? Next one to check: 2100-2130 on new 9915 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: Nothing audible on 9915 at 2100 Sunday Oct 28; must be day off (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Radio Österreich 1 B-07 --- Esquema de programación del 28 de octubre de 2007 al 29 de marzo de 2008 Todos los programas en Onda Corta --- Horario en UTC (MEZ - horario de Europa Central = UTC/Tiempo Universal Coordinado más 1 hora) EUROPA POR SATÉLITE 00:00-24.00 MEZ a través de satélite ASTRA 1H Frecuencia 12,66275 GHz, Transpondedor 115 Polarización horizontal Velocidad de símbolo 22.000 MS, FEC 5/6 EUROPA - ONDA MEDIA Noticiero de Austria 22:55-23:00 MEZ 1476 kHz EUROPA Y AFRICA - ONDA CORTA 05:00-23:08 UTC 6155 kHz 05:00-18:30 UTC 13730 kHz 18:30-23:08 UTC 5945 kHz MUNDO ENTERO - ONDA CORTA Oriente Próximo 06:00-07:00 UTC 17870 kHz América este 00:30-01:00 UTC 7325 kHz América oeste 16:00-17:00 UTC 13675 kHz [via CANADA!] América central 00:00-00:30 UTC 7325 kHz América sur 23:30-00:00 UTC 9870 kHz Asia / Australia 13:00-14:00 UTC 17855 kHz (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) Not all in Spanish, of course; in fact, I think the other Spanish segments are only 5 minutes each, which they should have specified (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. TDP SHORTWAVE TRANSMITTER AIRTIME PROGRAM AND FREQUENCY SCHEDULE B07 PROGRAM TIME(UTC) kHz AM/DRM DAYS LANGUAGE TARGET TDPradio 0000-0100 9790 DRM mtwtfss English America Moj Them Radio 0100-0130 15260 AM m.w.f.. Hmong Asia Denge Mezopotamya 0500-1500 11530 AM mtwtfss Kurdish M East Denge Mezopotamya 1500-2100 7540 AM mtwtfss Kurdish M East Que Huong Radio 1200-1300 15680 AM mtwtfs. Vietnamese Asia TDPradio 0800-0900 6015 DRM m...... English Europe TDPradio 0900-1000 6015 DRM .t..... English Europe TDPradio 1000-1100 6015 DRM ..w.... English Europe TDPradio 1100-1200 6015 DRM ...t... English Europe TDPradio 1200-1300 6015 DRM ....f.. English Europe TDPradio 1300-1400 6015 DRM .....s. English Europe TDPradio 1400-1500 6015 DRM ......s English Europe TDPradio 1500-1600 6015 DRM mtwtfss English Europe Tensae Ethiopia Voice of Unity 1500-1600 11900 AM mtwtfss Amharic Africa EOTC Holy Synod Radio 1600-1700 9445 AM m...... Amharic Africa Radio Xoriyo Ogadenia 1600-1630 9445 AM .t...s. Somali Africa Andenet Ledemocracy 1600-1700 9445 AM ..w.f.s Amharic Africa EPPF Radio 1600-1700 9445 AM ...t... Amharic Africa Voice of Delina 1700-1730 7335 AM mtwtf.. English Africa Radio Democracy Shorayee 1700-1800 7470 AM .t.tf.s Farsi M East Suab Xaa Moo Zoo 2330-2400 11655 AM mtwtfss Hmong Asia (via José Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DXLD) As usual the Transmitter Documentation Project neglects to Document the sites it uses (gh) ** BHUTAN. Monks chanting and Burmese-sounding language on 6035 after midnight could be Bhutan, but neither Thimpu nor Bhutan appear in IDs (maybe their language names for these are not so easily recognizable - like Magyaroszag = Hungarian for Hungary!). (Derek Lynch, Ireland, Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6134.79, Radio Santa Cruz, 0930-0945 Oct 27. Initially noted a religious comments until 0934. At that canned full ID ("Santa Cruz") and ID jingle. This followed with promos and announcements. Signal was good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9645.28, Radio Bandeirantes, 0900-0915 Oct 27. Noted a male and female in Portuguese comments during the period. Many mentions of "São Paulo". Signal didn't remain readable long. By 0920, it had faded from fair to threshold (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4915, Radiodifusora Macapá, Macapá, 0525-0620, 28-10, programa de canciones brasileñas, identificación: "En Macapá, 2 horas e 30 minutos", "Radiodifusora Macapá AM". 34333. 4935, Radio Capixaba, Vitoria, 0522-0534, 28-10, portugués, locutor, programa religioso. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 31m had been pretty dead earlier in the evening, but was now picking up. At 0349 Oct 28 on 9665, Chinese music, strong but distorted, and flutter, then Spanish with Chinese accent. Must be usual CRI relay via Brasília. Several other Brazilians were coming thru on 31 and 25m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRUNEI. The website for the 4-18 November V8FWP-V8FDM- V8FWU DXpedition to Brunei [425DXN 853] can be found at http://www.v8.pa7fm.nl/ On-line logs will be uploaded if the local Internet access allows this during the operation, otherwise they will be available after the expedition (425 DX News via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. UT Oct 28, several chex between 0030 and 0400 found CHU still in the clear on 7335, well almost, except for Vatican in background; no WHRI. The WHRI collision in the 0600-1100 period should also be gone for B-07 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 7335: In my opinion one should admit that INMS and/or Industry Canada are cheating here as well, or is this broadcasting service authorized by the CRTC? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6150, Firedrake, 0930-1015 Oct 27. Noted Chinese flute, drum and symbol music which blocked University Radio (good) and other incidental transmissions (bad) on this frequency. Firedrake was Good (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Will be interesting to see if Firedrake remains here in B-07, as KNLS English at 1000 is to move to 6150, along with Singapore too (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 4900, Voice of Strait (presumed), Fuzhou, 1336-1407, Oct 27, assume in Amoy and Chinese, played a variety of music (traditional, pop, ballads, etc.), weak. Per their website http://www.vos.com.cn/introduction/gbpl.htm their current SW frequencies are: Channel 1 - News & Public Affairs on 4940 & 11590 kHz Channel 2 - Lifestyle & Entertainment on 5050 & 7280 kHz Channel 3 - Fujianese-dialect programs on 4900 & 6115 kHz (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. CRI via Canada on new 15230 at 1355 Oct 28, usual theme music wrapping up English broadcast (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also BRAZIL ** CHINA. THE SHIP OF STATE SHALL NOT ROCK 'N' ROLL SHANGHAI MEMO By Howard W. French Published: October 24, 2007 SHANGHAI: A song often heard on the radio these days begins with a light and upbeat melody, and lyrics that are even bubblier. "Don't care about loneliness," croons the lead singer. "I don't think it really matters." Another much played song tries even harder to soothe. "Ah, little man, ah, succeed quickly," it counsels. "Enjoy being poor but happy every day." Marxists once referred to religion as the opium [sic] of the people, but in today's China it is the music promoted on state-monopolized radio that increasingly claims that role. China's leader, Hu Jintao, has talked since he assumed power five years ago about "building a harmonious society," an ambiguous phrase subject to countless interpretations. But Chinese musicians, cultural critics and fans say that in entertainment, the government's thrust seems clear: Harmonious means blandly homogeneous, with virtually all contemporary music on the radio consisting of gentle love songs and uplifting ballads. . . http://www.iht.com/articles/2007/10/25/asia/25shanghai.php?page=1 (via Gerald T. Pollard, DXLD) More on the `fluff` angle (gh) ** CONGO DR [non]. Made a point of looking for R. Okapi on new 9635, and there it was, quite good in French with news about Bush, Congo at 0402 Oct 28; had some ACI from REE/CR 9630 despite the latter being badly undermodulated. Okapi is via Meyerton, South Africa. Channel Africa also good before 0400 on 7390 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA [non]. CROATIA & GERMANY PRETEND NOT TO INVADE OUR 40M HAMBAND --- Re 7-129: ``V. of Croatia via Germany, B-07: 7285 2300-0400 55,59 240 216 WER 100 HRT SoAM 7285 0000-0400 17 300 217 WER 100 HRT NoAM East 7285 0200-0600 17 320 216 NAU 125 HRT NoAM West 9470 0500-0759 55,59 240 216 WER 100 HRT New Zealand 11690 0600-1000 58,59 270 217 WER 125 HRT Australia (DTK T-Systems Juelich, Oct 19, via wwdxc http://www.wwdxc.de via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) So at 0000-0200 three transmitters at once from two sites, let us hope all synchronized; 0200-0400 from two different sites (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` And for yet another winter season, HRT and T-Systems thumb their noses at the Region 2 exclusive hamband. Any hams who want to sacrifice their signals to `jam` 7285 would be totally justified in doing so. O, I forgot: CIRAF 17 is ICELAND, which is considered part of Europe!! For all the Croatians there! If we are `lucky`, Iceland won`t block those signals on the way to NAm. Beyond this, the CIRAF zones and stated target areas don`t match up. 55,59 for the 2300 broadcast means all of AUSTRALIA except WA, another way of pretending it isn`t really for South America where this is also an exclusive hamband; 58,59 means all of Australia except NT and Qsld, not NZ at all, which is CIRAF 60. Whom do they think they are fooling? Not us; maybe co-conspirators in HFCC? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is another historic example of why listening to Shortwave in North America can be difficult. For years I have tried to listen to European broadcasters on 41 metres all the while trying to avoid the interference from hams. It is regrettable that this situation exists but the fact is Europeans can only reach North America in the evenings on the lower frequencies. Unfortunately, not everyone can fit into 49 metres (especially now with those k%^(*& so called religious stations), and there is no other international band available (Andy Reid, Ont., dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There IS, however 7300 and up, which is a defacto broadcast band! HRT/DTK could find a frequency there --- but not 7335!! Or in the 5750-5900 range (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Finding a frequency is one thing, but getting its use authorized is another. Here in Germany such an authorization is necessary for any new frequency, although some possibilities to simplify these procedures exists, otherwise special transmissions and short-term additions would simply be impossible. And obviously Bundesnetzagentur (as the telcom regulation authority of Germany is called nowadays) is very reluctant to authorize frequencies outside the official broadcasting bands. Anything above 9900 is taboo, years ago resulting in extensive reshuffelings when it became necessary to substitute for Swiss Radio International transmissions from Montsinéry, with the Swiss ending up running 9905 from Sottens because neither Issoudun nor Jülich were able to do such bad things. Anything below 5900 is a problem as well, somehow they got years ago 5850 authorized but the attempts to relay HCJB German somewhere around 5800 failed. From hearsaying they were not allowed to transmit there out of consideration of military users in the Middle East. And remember 3945 which they first got authorized but received soon a Verbot to continue using it, from hearsaying because some military users (or rather non-users, just allocation holders) had protested, resulting in a despaired use for a usable frequency in the crammed 75 metres band, this ridiculous 50 kHz shred of spectrum (speaking about Europe). And the range above 7300 (or now 7350) is apparently taboo as well, otherwise some transmission would have certainly popped up there. Now put this in context with the recent reports about the attempts to get further spectrum in the 4...10 MHz range for broadcasting. In my opinion the result should be a rather good representation of what's going on, away from the question why things that are impossible here in Germany are no problem in Norway, Sweden or Lithuania, not to speak about the CIS. Btw, since this year the regulation authorities of Bulgaria maintain the same restrictive policy than the German Bundesnetzagentur, resulting in the sudden elimination of OOB frequencies for Radio Bulgaria and IRRS transmissions. They blamed the European Union, but the mentioned examples prove that this can't be a mere matter of being an EU member state (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, 9925 is no longer taboo as HRT via DTK has been there all summer, and for several seasons before (gh, DXLD) ** CROATIA. New 3984.83, 0256-0340, HRV, 26-10, Hrvatski R, Deanovec. Croatian ID's "Glas Hrvatski" and "Hrvatski Radio" on new frequency (ex 6165 at night ?), modern orchestra and songs, 0300 TS, interview about Dubrovnik, Mostar and Split, phone-in to "Radio Mostar" about Croatia and Bosnia-Hercegovina, Croatian pop songs 55544, not heard on 6165, but heard // but one second later on Zadar 1134 MW (54554) (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire out in my garden here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, DXLD) Surely not a German relay in this case (gh) ** CUBA. Altho earlier in Oct, timeanddate.com was showing Cuba as reverting from UT-4 to UT-5 on Nov 4, same date as imperialismo yanqui, rechecked Oct 27 it shows Cuba changedate as Oct 28, along with Mexico (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CAMBIO DE HORARIO EN CUBA ESTE DOMINGO Tomado de: http://www.granma.co.cu/2007/10/27/nacional/artic03.html El cambio resulta imprescindible pues ya por esta fecha del año empieza a amanecer cada vez más tarde y de mantenerse el actual Horario de Verano, las familias y los centros estatales comenzarían sus labores cuando todavía no ha aclarado el día, ello significaría más gasto de luz eléctrica en esas horas tempranas e inconvenientes en las rutinas personales, pues, por ejemplo, marcharíamos para el trabajo o para los planteles educacionales cuando todavía hay oscuridad. Además, al hacerse los días más cortos pierde su efecto el adelantamiento de una hora en los relojes como es práctica durante el verano para aprovechar al máximo la luz solar en las jornadas vespertinas. Aunque las ventajas sociales del próximo cambio de horario resultan incuestionables, debe sopesarse también que el oscurecimiento más temprano incrementará de manera sostenida tanto la demanda como el consumo de electricidad en el horario pico, debido al mayor uso de la iluminación artificial en hogares y establecimientos estatales y al empleo de los módulos de cocción eléctrica, entregados masivamente a la población (via Ing. Yandys Cervantes Rodríguez, WebMaster. Sede Universitaria Municipal. Buey Arriba. Granma. Cuba, Oct 27, Noticias DX yg via DXLD) I.e., UT -5 ex UT -4. Should not affect RHC scheduling, but R. Rebelde et al. See also MEXICO ** CUBA. After missing for two or three weeks, RHC`s weekly Esperanto service was back, Sunday Oct 28 at 1500 with NA, opening Radío Havano Kubo, and giving full schedule for Esperanto, Sundays: NAm 0700 6000; 1500 & 1930 11760; CAm 2330 6140, SAm 9600. This matches schedule on website! In web address, individual letters, being nouns, the consonants anyway, must end in -o, so ``hc`` is pronounced ``ho tso`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. R. Martí has made some seasonal schedule changes. 15330 is back in business, very strong here Oct 28 at 15330 and no jamming audible; instead, the DentroCuban Jamming Command was still active on vacated 11845. RM also audible but jammed on // 13820 and 11930. http://www.martinoticias.com/frequencies.htm still hasn`t been updated since summer 2006, tho it resembled summer 2007! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. Cuban jamming on 6100 at 0227 Oct 28, no República audible. If RR has a new schedule, we will have to find it out by monitoring since it`s not published anywhere. 6100, by 0331 there was some music audible under the jamming, so apparently R. República is still there. The latter built up to a better level in Spanish before 0400* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED ** CUBA. Saludos a todos, Gracias a todos los que se preocuparon por mi seguridad en estos días, les diré que no había escrito pues tuve que viajar por cuestiones de trabajo, sobre la noticia de los arrestos en mi provincia por poseer radios de onda corta les diré que eso tiene varias aristas, el hecho en sí no debe ser por poseer un radio de onda corta, sino por lo que se dice también en el mensaje: "Promotores de la Corriente Martiana". Eso es una organización ilegal y más adelante también dice: "acusaron a los promotores de poseer propaganda subversiva". Lo que sucede es que entonces le deben haber decomizado los radios de ondas cortas porque es la única forma de escuchar Radio Martí aquí. No se preocupen, yo espero que a pesar de todo, en Cuba no sea un delito poseer un radio de ondas cortas. Mi radio es aun el que me regaló en amigo José Miguel Romero. Acabo de recibir un pullover de Radio Nederland y Radio Canadá Internacional y lo usaré con mucho orgullo donde quiera que valla [sic], que todo el mundo sepa que soy radioescucha. Gracias a todos por su preocupación. Un fuerte abrazo (Ing. Yandys Cervantes Rodríguez, WebMaster. Sede Universitaria Municipal, Buey Arriba, Granma, Oct 27, Noticias DX yg via DXLD) ** CZECHIA. NEW RADIO PRAGUE FEATURE UNEARTHS CZECH RADIO GEMS 26.10.2007 - Current Affairs - Ruth Frankova Starting next Thursday, our colleague David Vaughan will be introducing new series entitled From the Archives. As the name suggest he'll be dusting off some of the many unique recordings to be found in the archives of the Czech Radio. I asked David what drew him to explore the archives in the first place. . . http://www.radio.cz/en/article/96888 (via Harry Brooks, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Been enjoying the 60m dipole that I strung up Friday. In a word, WOW! It really digs out the signals that are barely noticeable on my NW Beverage and MLB-1 antennas. Already thinking about building one for the 49m band. 5009.7, presumed R. Cristal, 2224-2234*, Oct 27, Spanish. OM with music and talk, cut-off at 2234. Nothing else heard during several re- checks. Fair. [beware of Madagascar --- gh] 6025.08, R. Amanecer Int'l, 2358-0012, Oct 23, Spanish. Various announcers and music bits thru ToH. Solid ID at 0003. Talk from 0005. Poor with adjacent channel QRM (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB-1,200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. B-07 Radio Cairo 6140 0045-0200 12,13NW ABS 250 282 Sp 6225 1600-1800 29,39N ABS 250 5 Turk 6225 1800-1900 29 ABS 250 0 Ru 6250 1500-2245 27,28 ABS 250 325 Ar?, It, Alb, Ge, Fre, Eng 6270 1600-1800 40 ABZ 250 90 Urdu 6290 0000-0300 7-9,27,28 ABS 250 325 Ar 6290 1100-2400 7-9,27,28 ABZ 250 315 Ar 7270 0045-0330 7-9 ABZ 250 330 Sp, En 7325 2000-2200 55,59 ABZ 250 90 Ar 9345 2030-2230 46,47 ABS 250 241 Fr 9360 2215-2330 13,15 ABZ 250 270 Por 9360 2330-0200 13-15 ABZ 250 270 Ar, Sp 9420 1800-2100 46,47 ABS 250 241 Hausa 9465 2300-0430 6,7 ABZ 250 330 Ar 9600 0045-0200 12,13NW ABS 250 252 Sp 9735 2330-0045 13 ABS 250 241 Ar 9960 1900-0030 48,53 ABZ 100 160 Ar 11540 1500-1600 30 ABZ 250 50 Ozbaki [Uzbek] 11560 1330-1530 30S,40N ABZ 100 70 Persian 11620 1430-1600 40NE ABZ 250 61 Pashto 11740 1600-1900 47,52,57 ABZ 150 180 En 13815 1500-1600 30 ABZ 250 50 Ozbaki [Uzbek] 15115 0700-1100 46,47 ABZ 100 250 Ar 15155 1600-1900 48,53 ABZ 100 160 Somali 15170 1015-1215 39 ABZ 250 90 Ar 15285 1300-1600 46,47,52 ABS 250 241 Ar 15375 1900-2030 46,47,52 ABZ 100 250 En 15810 1230-1400 49,54 ABS 250 106 Indian [Indonesian, really] 17810 1530-1730 48,53 ABZ 100 170 Swahili 17835 1215-1330 41,49 ABZ 250 90 En (Oct 19) (via BC-DX Oct 26 via DXLD) There are some significant changes here. No more 12050 for Arabic, which has been a mainstay for long hours daily. Apparently its replacement is 9960, and/or 6290, maintaining its band-edge tradition. Cairo is not at all reluctant to invade the maritime band above 6200 with no less than four frequencies adding up to almost 28 hours a day. English to Europe moves down from 9990 to 6250, at 2115-2245, as well as all the other languages earlier. The first English to NAm at 2300- 2430 is missing! However, I suspect it is really on 9465, then Arabic at 0030-0430. Second English to NAm at 0200-0330 remains on 7270. Spanish at 0045-0200 shifts from 6135 to 6140. This is a very dirty transmitter, which will involve a new interference situation. // 9600 is likely to collide with Habana [not in HFCC] unless something changes, not to mention XEYU 9599.3v if and when it reactivates (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Cairo B07 Dopo anni di 9988 / 9990 kHz, radicale cambiamento di frequenza per la trasmissione in lingua italiana di Radio Cairo. A partire da domani, sarà diffusa sulla nuova frequenza dei 6250 Khz. (Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, bclnews.it via DXLD) Cairo`s new 6290 is making it thru with awful distortion in Arabic, at 0035, and also around 0210 Oct 28. Cairo fair on 7270 at 0211 with Arab music, 0216 news in English. More ham QRM than usual with the contest in progress. Standard remark about broadcasters invading our hamband (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6290 strong here, and the audio is mutilated to an extend that it is impossible to tell the language. Why do they not just turn off this nonsense which will definitely not have a single listener? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0143 UT Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Group, checking some number stations today I found R.Cairo's General program booming in on 6290 around 1200 UT. It's matching with 819 MW and FM 104.7. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Seems to be scheduled here in Arabic 1100-2400 (ex. 12050??) Also strong in Copenhagen. 73, (Erik Køie, ibid.) No, 6290 runs until 0300, and I already reported it last night. However, there is a site/beam change at 0000. It was very distorted when I heard it, from ABS. Was the modulation OK when it was from ABZ? (gh, ibid.) Here at 1550 UT 6290 (ex-12050? which is silent) AND 6250 (ex. 9990? which is silent) from Cairo are strong, but with low, undistorted audio. 73, (Erik Køie, ibid.) The signal on 6290 is peaking to 20 dB over 9 at 1545. The audio quality is good and clean, but under-modulated for such a strong signal. And 6250 is now on air too via ABS peaking 10 dB over 9 and with similar clean audio, but also under-modulated. Appears to be their Albanian programme (Noel R. Green (NW England), Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. To cap off the evening, found a jamming pileup on 7220, variable-pitch tones, as carrier swept up and down, sirens, machine-gun, motor-boating sounds, at 0407 Oct 28; tuned away and when came back at 0409, 7220 was vacant; quickly looked around for another frequency with the jamming, but at 0410 it all resumed. This must be the Ethiopians attacking V. of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, Program 2, nominal 7175, where it was not heard during the brief time I was monitoring, nor was it audible under the heavy 7220 jamming. Others have reported the 7175 transmitter jumping around trying to escape the jamming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. New 15645, *1500-1510, CLA, Wed 24-10, Tensae Ethiopia Voice of Unity Radio (tentative). Warm-up tones, HOA flute and ID in Amharic (presumed) which included the word "..Democrasi. ..". Jamming started before the transmission itself! 33433. At 1557* the jammer signed off and the transmitter itself had already left the air. Ex 15660 ? (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire out in my garden here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, DXLD) A reseñar ahora que en la escucha de Tensae Ethiopia ha sido imposible librarse del Jamming desde el primer momento de la emisión, un Jamming tipo burbuja bastante desagradable. 15645.0, 1500, RUSSIA, Tensae Ethiopia V of Unity, Krasnodar. Jamming intenso casi tapando la señal 27/10, Amharic, 32432. Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez Losa, Spain, RX: GRUNDIG SATELLIT 700, SONY ICF SW7600GR, ICOM IC-R2, DEGEN 1103, playdx yg via DXLD) Moved to 11900, and jamming too? See BELGIUM [non] ** GERMANY. R. Gloria International this Sunday: The new channel will be 5965 and the time will be 1300-1400 UT. Good listening (Tom Taylor, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Technically and legally relayed by MV Baltic Radio which leased this slot for every Sunday. This is Wertachtal, same antenna than 6055 until 1215 but most likely a different transmitter (ex-Jülich S4001 instead of S4005), and it carries 1230-1300 Polskie Radio in German which means that in this period Wertachtal is on air simultaneously on 5955, 5965 and 5975. This Radio Gloria International appears to be a Dresden-based operation. More recently an own post-office box had been given for it http://www.mvbalticradio.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=340&Itemid=21 but earlier mail was supposed to be sent to the non-commercial Coloradio, so probably these programmes are (or were for some time) produced in the Coloradio studios. http://www.mvbalticradio.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=331&Itemid=21 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ALEMANIA, 5965, Radio Gloria Int, 1300-1310, escuchada el 28 de octubre a locutor en alemán con ID “Radio Gloria”, programa de música pop rock y disco dance, locutor con comentarios presentando los temas “Alexandra..”, SINPO 45333 (José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Somehow I was thinking that Evangeliums-Rundfunk used to be on shortwave at 2 PM local time, so I went on to 7160, but not so. Instead there was a German-speaking (maybe Swiss?) ham, closing a QSO with lengthy explanations that he has to leave now because etc., etc. But indeed they were on shortwave for a last time 1330-1400. Both 7160 and much weaker 6230 were already on with TWR IS at 1327. At 1330 audio switched to ongoing ERF programming, as often heard into the last notes of fill music before opener at 1330. I went away afterwards, nothing special beyond a brief notice about this shortwave relay being cancelled as of tomorrow was to be expected anyway (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also NETHERLANDS [non] The Euro 40m ham band is being extended upwards, but we still see plenty of broadcasters sharing the lower part (gh, DXLD) ** GREECE. V. of Greece, 7475, checked at 0346 UT Sun Oct 28, was playing music rather than interviewing someone in English, but didn`t listen long enough to be sure Hellenes Around the World was not on at expected winter timing of 0300+; this could have been just a music break in it. BTW, last week it started about 10 minutes late, so don`t give up at hourtop (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GRECIA, 11645, Voz de Grecia, 0900-0903, escuchada el 28 de octubre en español, sintonía, ID, locutora con titulares, segmento musical, sin señal en 12105, SINPO 24232 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Idem with the French programme which was on 11645 (12105 expected). They announced 15630 kHz and 0700 UTC (it was 0800 UT) (Jean-Michel Aubier, France, ibid.) Aside from that, exactly as per schedule (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. Dear OM, I receive AIR on 4700 kHz now at 1530 UT on Oct 27, with English News. I cannot copy the local ID. Where will a location be? (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yet another frequency error from some AIR station, I expect (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. New 4895, 2350-0038* and *0055-0100 (fade out), 17/18-10, AIR Kurseong. Nepali (presumed) announcement and native Asian songs in a very early broadcast, hymn by man and choir, flute, Indian recitations, 0035 talk, carrier stayed on the air 0038-0055 when the usual AIR IS and Indian hymn were heard. 33333, QRM Mongolia (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire out in my garden here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Re: ``Israel Radio / satellite http://israelradio.org/sw.htm it mentions that Persian ONLY is broadcast on: Eutelsat Hotbird 7 at 13 East (digital) 12.597 GHz horizontal DVB SR=27500 FEC=3/4 channel GBTS1`` Appears to be true; a quick check around 1530 confirmed some programming in presumed Persian on this channel. And this channel on Hotbird 6 (rather than 7) is a quite interesting one. Apparently Globecast at London leases airtime there on an hour-to-hour basis to interested broadcasters, in a fashion similar to WRN, just without all the periphery, only the plain Hotbird audio channel. Feeding Google with the designator of this channel immediately leads to old friends: http://www.pdki.org/articles.php?article_id=17&cat_id=&lang=1 [Radio Voice of Iranian Kurdistan] http://www.radiobarabari.org/kistim.htm Perhaps there are even more, I just picked out the obvious hits. As if this GBTS1 channel, which carried at 2330 recheck just a continuous 1 kHz tone, is kind of a "Globecast Persian and Kurdish to Iran and Kurdistan". The same transponder contains also a GBTS2, at 2330 check carrying tone bursts every second (like a time signal, just continuous). Interesting things could be on air here as well (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. From a Word document received from IRIB, here's Iran's B07 English schedule (FM and satellite times omitted): IRIB ENGLISH RADIO BROADCASTING SCHEDULE (B2007) 1030-1130 15460, 17660 Indian Subcontinent, Pakistan & Kashmir 1030-1130 702 Republic of Azerbaijan, 765 Pakistan 1530-1630 6160, 7330 Indian Subcontinent 1930-2030 6225 Central Europe [via LITHUANIA] 1930-2030 6010, 7320 Europe 1930-2030 9855, 11695 South Africa 0130-0230 6120, 7160 North America [V. of Justice] Please mail your correspondence to IRIB English service, P. O. Box No: 19395-6767, Tehran I.R of Iran E-Mail:: Englishradio @ irib.ir (via Mark Schiefelbein, MO, Oct 28, dxldyg via DXLD) Voz de la Rep. Isl. de Irán B-07, Español. 2030 - 2130 EUROPA 49 M 6225 KHZ [via LITHUANIA??] 2030 - 2130 ESPAÑA 41 M 7130 KHZ 41 M 7350 KHZ 0030 - 0130 CAm y SAm 31 M 9680 KHZ 41 M 7225 KHZ 0230 - 0330 SAm 41 M 7225 KHZ 0130 - 0230 SAm 31 M 9905 KHZ 31 M 9655 KHZ 0530 - 0630 ESPAÑA 22 M 13710 KHZ 0530 - 0630 ESPAÑA 19 M 15320 KHZ 0530 - 0630 EUROPA 41 M 7545 KHZ (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) 13710.0, 0555, IRN LVRII-Kalamabad, Com, // 15320, 28/10, Esp, 45444 (Tomás Méndez, Spain, playdx yg via DXLD) IRAN?? 6265 Voz de la Rep Isl de Irán, 19:12-19:20, escuchada el 28 de octubre en francés, locutor y locutora con boletín de noticias, emisión en paralelo por Internet, probablemente emisión vía Lituania, SINPO 44333 (José Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Re B-07 schedule: No Arabic (Reshet Dalet) on 5915 kHz anymore? If so this cancellation is quite remarkable because the mediumwave coverage of Reshet Dalet is nowadays limited to two frequencies with a mere 50 kW each since the 1200 kW transmitter on 738 kHz had been shut down some years ago. From a North American point of view it might sound strange to consider 50 kW as modest power, but in the Middle East transmitters of up to 2000 kW are the standard. A collection of aerial views of some of them: http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,536298,536298,sv=1#msg-536298 And should Hebrew 1600-1625 Fri/Sat only as a fill for Persian not be on 13630 rather than 15760? Otherwise they would have to switch from 13630 to 15760 at 1600 and back to 13630 after just 25 minutes, and this appears to be quite unlikely (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7545 with pop music, Hebrew service at 0214 Oct 28; WEWN Spanish 7540 not strong enough to bother. This may not always be the case; and in fact a sesquihour later WEWN was bothering 7545 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN. 3926.14, 0252-0310, CLA, 26-10, R Voice of Kurdistan, No. Iraq. Kurdish ann, Kurdish folksong, 0302 Martial song, 0305 clear Kurdish ID: "Era Radyo Dangi Kurdistana", fanfare and political talk 45434 until *0258 when Iranian jamming started, then 42432 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire out in my garden here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. UNIDENTIFIED. 7540, NO ID, 1900-1910, escuchada el 28 de octubre probablemente en idioma árabe a locutor con comentarios y emisión musical, SINPO 45343 73 (José Miguel Romero. Burjasot (Valencia) España Sangean ATS 909 Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe the new "Voice of Tajik" ??? See http://www.bnr.bg/RadioBulgaria/Emission_English/Theme_DX_Programme/Material/dx296.htm (Jean-Michel Aubier, France, ibid.) This was in the new TDP schedule JMR2 sent around... Denge Mezopotamya 1500-2100 7540 AM mtwtfss Kurdish M East Most or all of those V. of Tajik frequencies have not been confirmed. (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Lo que me ha desconcertado es el típo de música, no me recuerda a la que suelo escuchar en 11530; esta música parece más occidental y en algunos casos más arábiga, no me recuerda a la kurda. 73 JM (José Miguel Romero, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA [non] / SIERRA LEONE [non], via ASCENSION. 9525 NF, Star Radio-Cotton Tree News, 0703-0800*, Oct 28, ex-13760, English news about Liberia. Star Radio IDs. "Star Weekly Review" news program. ID as "CTN News" at 0735 with English news. IDs as "CTN". News in local languages at 0737-0800. Very good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. V. of Africa, Oct 28 at 1400 on 17725 in English with monotone M announcer; 1402 YL ID. At 1404 checked // 21695 not expecting to hear it, but there it was with music, at least as strong as 17725, both with same big hum, so an audio problem (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17725 NF, Voice of Africa, 1400-1515+, Oct 28, ex-17870, the usual English programming with IDs, local music, news, commentary. // 21695 - both frequencies with fair reception (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. Foreign service on 15295 in the European mornings appears once a year or less. If you want to hear English, best bet is DS on 7295 around 1700 UT. There is a narrow window here when China and Iran (Balkan) are not on (Derek Lynch, Ireland, Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA. 4755.2, all days, often For anyone who wonders: No, Micronesia will not be heard on Gotland. S 0. (Björn Fransson, Sweden, Shortwave Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson, for DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4755.25, 17.10 1525, The Cross came through with religious music, very weak but audible, doesn't seem to be on air every day. 1 (Leif Råhäll, ibid.) 4753.3, 15/10 1440, Micronesia but without ID. Gospel song and at 1500 YL talk. Faded between QSA 0 and 2 (Olle Bjurström, ibid.) 4753.3, 16/10 1430, no signal when checking (Olle Bjurström, ibid.) 4753.3, 17/10 1425, Gospelsong until 1505 with a break of 11 minutes. At 1433 only carrier. 1-3 (Olle Bjurström, ibid.) 4753.3, The program scheme from 16 Oct found at their website indicates that close down is at at 1300 UT. Probably you have to wait for more darkness to be able to log them again (Olle Bjurström, ibid.) 4753.3, 18/10 1425, Gospelsong and one song identified. 1-3. No signal at this time after Oct 18 (Olle Bjurström, ibid.) Note the freq drift ** MONGOLIA. 7260.0, *2300-2330, 17-10, Mongoliin R-2, Khonkhor, Ulaanbaatar. Mongolian announcement after opening Horn music, talk (news ?) by man and woman, jingles, not // R-1 on 4830 // 4895, heard best in USB 22322 but QRM CRI in Spanish on 7250 and from *2330 CRI in Sinhala on 7260 // 6100. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire out in my garden here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. I'm about to go out and possibly return only after darkfall, so I made a point of tuning into 5955 from Flevo just before 1200. Strong signal, wrapping up a program which according the closure announcement is broadcast also by VRT's Radio Klara network. Then "dit is Radio Nederland Wereldomroep", three pips and news. Still going strong at 1615 recheck, during its last hour. And at 1330 it had the announced outside broadcast from Amsterdam, a good four seconds ahead of // Orfordness 1296, heard by yours truly with an AM signal for the first time in more than two years. Btw, RNW's program distribution department and TSMB give contradictory info about the antenna to be used for 5955 in the 0900-1600 period from Wertachtal as of tomorrow. RNW shows a directional one, aiming at 210 degrees, while TSMB shows a non-directional one, if I'm correct the very one which put out 6075 until 10 months ago (this is a special HQ design). And one more Flevo-related note: I understand that so far RNW was in regard of broadcasting regulation the only party authorized to handle shortwave broadcasting from the Netherlands; furthermore they obviously did the whole frequency management. So it appears that quite a lot of paperwork would be necessary to use the Flevo plant otherwise, perhaps similar to the hassle Digita has in Finland, presumably still not done with founding a subsidiary (Digita Wave) only for obtaining a broadcasting licence to put other parties on air at Pori (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RNW -- the day after; Wertachtal 6055 kHz --- And today at 1045 I found a completely different situation: 5955 via Wertachtal almost three seconds behind 6035 from Hörby which was first, a third of a second ahead of 1296. When comparing this with the situation yesterday, with Zeewolde presumably running an undelayed (audio circuits like J.41, J.57 etc.) or only slightly delayed (MPEG circuit) terrestrial feed from Hilversum, the finding is that the Wertachtal transmission is delayed by not less than seven seconds. Apparently another signal source is in use for Orfordness and Hörby, presumably the same one picked up at London and Stockholm, respectively, with the internal distribution being responsible for the slight delay between them. A comparison around 1140 showed 5955 on about a par, perhaps a little bit weaker, with co-located 6055 (Evangelische Missionsgemeinden, monotonous preacher talk in German with added reverb to fake a public address) with 3 db less signal level (125 vs. 250 kW) into a similar ND antenna, a result which should be more or less what can be expected. The audio processing for 5955 appears to be optimized for speech intelligibility without any compromise, with the bass range completely suppressed, almost reminiscent to a phone connection. To my taste 6035 from Hörby sounds much better, definitely on music but also on speech, although it tends to the other extreme, being a bit too bassy. 5955 sounds also a bit soft, lacking that kind of punch that is otherwise typical for TSMB transmissions. At 1200 the antenna characteristics for 6055 had been switched (from 930 type, shown as 14/226, to type 926, shown as plain 226) and the power raised to 250 kW in a carrier break of about a half minute, resulting in the signal being stronger here by just a little bit. The Missionswerk Arche programming now on air here is really terrible stuff: The whole thing is accompanied by a continuous whine (it's definitely not the transmitter since the whine erupted only after some seconds, apparently when the playout had been started) and each individual cut of mic audio has another kind of awful hum which gets even louder during any pause, possibly already in their original production. I can't imagine any real radio station accepting such material. Or is it deliberate, like "we're amateurs, we have to sound bad" (I indeed already heard such an opinion)? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Detalles sobre la nueva programación en nuestra página web: http://www.informarn.nl Desafortunadamente sin Radio-Enlace. Luego de 37 años de fomentar el Diexismo y las radiotelecomunicaci ones (y más de 1.500 horas de producción) Radio Nederland pone término al programa más antiguo del Departamento Español y el más veterano de este género en la radiodifusión internacional en nuestro idioma. Queremos agradecer a todos los amigos los mensajes de afecto enviados, su escucha y lealtad durante todos estos años de trabajo que hemos realizado en Radio Nederland. Hasta siempre. Alfonso y Jaime --- Jaime Báguena García, Director Artístico, Departamento Español, RADIO NEDERLAND WERELDOMROEP (via Tomás Méndez, Spain, playdx yg via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. R Reading Service ? Op dit moment (0650) hoor ik iets op 3935.07 (toch). De draaggolf is goed zichtbaar op zowel de 303 als de SDR-IQ maar m.u.v. enkele flarden muziek ontvang ik niets bruikbaars, net zoals enkele Duitse luisteraars vorige week. Heeft iemand anders meer geluk? (Alexander, Delft, Oct 27, BDX via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. Pirate, 6850.9, MAC Radio, 1640-1745*, Oct 27, Dr. Who Halloween show with IDs. Halloween oriented music. Sign off with National Anthem. Good. Strong. Pirate, 6899.1, The Crystal Ship, 1508-1550, Oct 27, pop/rock music of the Eagles, Twisted Sister, Fleetwood Mac and others. Ghostbusters music. IDs, E-mail address & Belfast, NY mail drop address. Fair to good. Pirate, 6925 USB, WTPR-Tire Pressure Radio, 1758- , Oct 26, Twilight Zone music. IDs. Good. Pirate, 6925, Northwoods Radio, 2145-2155, Oct 27, ID, yahoo.com address. Said they were playing "Gypsy Punk" music. Good. Pirate, 6925, WBNY, 1900- , Oct 28, Commander Bunny for President announcements. Belfast, NY mail drop. IDs. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. The imposition of Urdu: see LANGUAGE LESSONS ** PAKISTAN/PHILIPPINES. Pakistan keeps swapping between 9375 and 9380 around 1730. Threatens to spoil PBS 9380, a better winter frequency for the Philippines than 11720 (which does not propagate any more). (Derek Lynch, Ireland, Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7325, 21/10, 1215, Wantok Light Radio med gospel musik. 3-4. OB (Olle Bjurström, Sweden? SW Bulletin via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Terrible signals of crackling hiss with unidentifiable program audio (different one on each frequency) underneath are on 6040 and 6145. Romania, in particular Galbeni? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0143 UT Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. RTRS (the Russian transmitter operator) is already on the winter schedule. The faulty signal of VOR in Portuguese and Spanish has moved from 7400 to 5900, as predicted by Olle Alm. "5900" means a carrier warbling around 5900.9 now. It's not even obvious when listening in plain AM mode, somewhat covered by an additional hum which plagues this transmission as well. And it is the only strong signal I have on 49 metres right now. "Strong" of course refers to European standards, thus means *really* strong (a powerhouse, a blowtorch, is more such slang around?). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0053 UT Oct 28, ibid.) ** RUSSIA [and non]. 6155, VOR via Wertachtal, fairly good in Russian, not English at 0209 Oct 28. 6240 had a much weaker signal, via Moldova. 7350, VOR via Vatican in Russian at 0230 did not seem // 6155. VOR, 6155 via Germany to NAm, which was in Russian earlier, switched to English and was well heard at the odd time of 0339 beginning the program ``Songs from Russia`` introduced by ``Carl Watts``; 0400 news in English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Russia (presumably: and non): Shortly before 0100 I stumbled over a very strong carrier on 6240. At 0100 they faded up (i.e. not switched abruptly on) a feed of VOR in Spanish. Excellent modulation, audio an estimated 0.7 seconds second behind // 5900.9. What's this, somehow I seem to associate this frequency with the Ukrainian Kopani site? Other // are 5945 and 6195, with a shorter delay against 5900.9 and more or less in synch with each other, and 7330 which is a full two seconds behind 5900.9. And I see that this ominous 6240 is supposed to carry VOR English 0200-0400 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0143 UT Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also noted V of Russia on 6240 (excellent signal, probably to NAm?) ending at 0500 // 6155 & 7150. Regards (JM Aubier, France, Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. VOICE OF RUSSIA. Russian World Service B07 28 October 2007 - 29 March 2008 To Europa 0200-0300 - 603, 936 kHz 0300-0400 - 936 kHz 1300-1400 - 936, 999, 1548 kHz + DRM 11615 kHz 1300-1400 - 738 kHz (Moscow) 1400-1500 - 558 kHz (London) + DRM 5905 & 11615 kHz 1800-1900 - 603, 630, 693, 1431, 1575, 7290 kHz 2000-2100 - 1215, 7230, 7290 kHz 2000-2100 - 612 kHz 2100-2200 - 999, 1215, 7170 kHz + DRM 6105 kHz To Australia, New Zealand 1300-1500 - 9800 kHz To North America 0200-0300 - 6155, 7150, 7350, 12010, 12030 kHz 0300-0400 - 7150, 12010, 12030 kHz To Latin America 0200-0300 - 6195, 7260 kHz 0300-0400 - 7170, 7260 kHz To Asia 0200-0400 - 9550, 12090, 13580, 15455, 15530, 15765, 17695, 17840 kHz + DRM 15735 kHz 1300-1400 - 1143, 6170, 9800, 12025 kHz + (11630 kHz from 01 March 2008, 15460 kHz from 02 March 2008) 1400-1500 - 1251, 5940, 6170, 6180, 7110, 9800, 9885, 11500, 12055 kHz + (11630 kHz till 01 March 2008, 15460 kHz from 02 March 2008) 1600-1700 - 1251, 7110, 9885 kHz To South-East Asia 1300-1500 - 7260, 9800 kHz + (11630 kHz till 01 March 2008, 15460 kHz from 02 March 2008) 1400-1500 - 11500 kHz To Near and Middle East 0200-0300 - 648, 1503 kHz 0200-0400 - 972, 1314 kHz 1300-1400 - 1143, 1431, 15150 kHz 1400-1500 - 7110, 15150 kHz 1600-1700 - 1251, 6005, 7110 kHz 1800-1900 - 5985 kHz 2000-2200 - 7285 kHz To Baltic countries 2000-2100 - 1215, 5940, 7290 kHz 2100-2200 - 1215, 7170 kHz To Belarus 2000-2100 - 5940 kHz 2100-2200 - 6105 kHz DRM To Ukraine and Moldavia 1300-1400 - 936, 999, 1431, 1548 kHz 2100-2200 - 999 kHz + DRM 6105 kHz To Central Asia (countries of CIS) 0200-0300 - 648, 1503 kHz 0200-0400 - 972 kHz 1300-1400 - 1143, 12025 kHz + 11630 kHz till 02 March 2008, 15460 kHz from 02 March 2008 1400-1500 - 1251 kHz + 11630 kHz till 01 March 2008, 15460 kHz from 02 March 2008 To Caucasian region (countries of CIS) 0200-0400 - 1314 kHz 2000-2200 - 7285 kHz VOR - Kanal Sodruzhestvo. Russian. To Europa 1000-1100 - 738 khz (Moscow) 2200-2300 - 603, 630, 693, 1431, 1575 kHz , DRM 6105 kHz 2200-2300 (Mon-Tue, Thu-Sun) - 1323 kHz 2200-2300 - 612 kHz (Moscow) To Baltic countries 0700-1500 - 1215, 1494 kHz 0800-1000 & 1100-1600 - 1170 kHz 1000-1400 - 612 kHz 1500-1530 - 1215 kHz; 1500-1600 & 1900-2000 - 1494 kHz 1500-1700 - 6045 kHz 1900-2000 - 5940 kHz To Belarus 0800-1000, 1100-1600 - 1170 kHz 1500-1700 - 6045 kHz 1900-2000 - 5940 kHz. To Ukraine and Moldavia 0700-1300, 1400-1800 & 2100-2200 - 936 kHz 1200-1300 & 1400-1700 - 1431 kHz 1400-1600 - 999, 1548 kHz 1500-1700 - 6045 kHz 1900-2000 - 5940 kHz 2200-2300 - 6105 kHz DRM. To Central Asia (countries of CIS) 0700-0900 - 648, 1377 kHz 0700-1000 - 801 kHz 1000-1300 - 972 kHz 1300-1400 - 1026, 1503, 6185, 7135 kHz 1400-1500 - 1026, 1143, 1503, 5945, 6185, 7135 kHz 1500-1600 - 1026, 1503, 5995, 6185, 7135 kHz 1600-1700 - 6185 kHz 1600-1900 - 1026, 1503, 5995 kHz 1800-2100 - 648 kHz 1900-2000 - 1026 kHz 1900-2200 - 1503 kHz To Caucasian region (countries of CIS) 0700-0900 - 1089, 1377 kHz 0900-2100 - 1089 kHz 1500-2000 - 7285 kHz 2000-2200 - 1170 kHz VOR, Russkoe Mezhdunarodnoye Radio. Russian. To Europa 0000-0600 - 7125 kHz 0100-0500 - 1170 kHz 0400-0700 - 936 kHz 0500-0700 - 1215, 1494 kHz 0500-0900 - 1548 kHz 0800-0900 - 11635 kHz 1000-1100 - 1170 kHz 1300-1600 - 603, 630, 693, 1323, 1431, 1575 kHz 1600-1800 - 1494 kHz 1800-1900 - 7310 kHz 1900-2000 - 7175 kHz 1900-2100 - 936, 7310 kHz 2000-2100 - 1494, 7170 kHz 2000-2200 - 603, 630, 693, 1431, 1575 kHz 2200-0000 - 999, 1215 kHz To North America 0000-0600 - 7125 kHz 0300-0400 - 7250 kHz To Near and Middle East 0200-0500 - 1377 kHz 0200-0700 - 801 kHz 0300-0400 - 1503 kHz 0300-0500 - 648 kHz 0400-0500 - 1314 kHz 0400-0600 - 1170 kHz 1100-1300 - 1323 kHz 1200-1300 & 1500-1830 - 801 kHz 1500-1600 - 13755 kHz 1500-1800 - 5945, 5985 kHz 1700-1800 - 1377 kHz 1900-2200 - 1143, 1314 kHz 2200-2300 - 1170, 1314 khz To Baltic countries 0100-0500 - 1170 kHz 0500-0700 - 1215, 1494 kHz 0800-1000 - 612 kHz 1000-1100 - 1170 kHz; 1300-1800 & 1900-2200 - 1143 kHz 1400-1600 - 612 kHz 1600-1800 & 2000-2100 - 1494 kHz 2000-2100 - 7170 kHz 2200-0000 - 1215 kHz To Belarus 0100-0500 & 1000-1100 - 1170 kHz 1300-1800 & 1900-2200 - 1143 kHz To Ukraine and Moldavia 0400-0700 & 1900-2100 - 936 kHz 0500-0900 - 1548 kHz 2200-0000 - 999 kHz To Central Asia (countries of CIS) 0000-0300 - 1026 kHz 0200-0500 - 801, 1377 kHz 0300-0400 - 1503 kHz 0300-0500 - 648 kHz 0500-0700 - 801 kHz 1100-1300 - 1323 kHz 1200-1300 - 648 kHz 1200-1300 & 1500-1830 - 801 kHz 1500-1600 - 12025 kHz 1500-1800 - 5945 kHz 1900-2000 - 1323 kHz 1900-2300 - 1143 kHz To Caucasian region (countries of CIS) 0200-0500 - 1377 kHz 0300-0700 - 1089 kHz 0400-0500 - 1314 kHz 0400-0600 - 1170 kHz 1500-1800 - 5985 kHz 1700-1800 - 1377 kHz 1900-1930 - 1170 kHz 2000-2300 - 1314 kHz; 2200-2300 - 1170 kHz. Programme 'Klub DX". Russian. VOR - Sun 2140, Mon 0240, Wed 1340 VOR-Sodruzhestvo - Tue 2220. (Vadim Alexeyev, Moscow / "open_dx" via Rus-DX via DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. FEBA RADIO BROADCAST SCHEDULE, WINTER B07 28th October 2007 to 30th March 2008 Tx Site Codes - ARM Armavir Russia MOS Moosbrunn Austria ASC Ascension Island MSK Moscow Russia DHA Dhabayya NVS Novosibirsk Russia ERV Yerevan Armenia SAM Samara Russia KIG Kigali Rwanda TAC Tashkent Uzbekistan MEY Meyerton S.Africa WER Wertachtal Germany Day 1 = Sunday (ITU Convention) Days Frequency Metre Site Time UTC 1234567 Languages kHz band code NORTH INDIA, NEPAL, TIBET - B07 winter Schedule ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0015-0030 smtwtfs BANGLA rural 7375 41 TAC 0030-0100 s...... HINDI 7375 41 TAC 0030-0045 .mtwt.. BANGLA 7375 41 TAC 0030-0045 .....fs BHOJPURI 7375 41 TAC 0100-0115 smtwtfs HINDI 7110 41 NVS 0115-0130 smtwtfs MARATHI 7110 41 NVS 1200-1230 smtwtfs TIBETAN 15205 19 DHA 1300-1315 s.t.... NEPALI 11675 25 DHA 1300-1315 .m..t.. ORIYA 11675 25 DHA 1300-1315 ...w... SANTHALI 11675 25 DHA 1300-1315 .....f. MUNDARI 11675 25 DHA 1300-1315 ......s CHATTISGARHI 11675 25 DHA 1315-1330 ...w... CHATTISGARHI 11675 25 DHA 1315-1330 smt..fs BANGLA 11675 25 DHA 1315-1330 ....t.. MAITHILI 11675 25 DHA 1330-1345 s..wt.. PUNJABI 11675 25 DHA 1330-1345 .m..... KANGRI 11675 25 DHA 1330-1345 ..t.... BHILI 11675 25 DHA 1330-1345 .....f. BRIJ BASHA 11675 25 DHA 1330-1345 ......s MARWARI 11675 25 DHA 1345-1400 smt.... GUJARATI 11675 25 DHA 1345-1400 ...wtfs KASHMIRI 11675 25 DHA 1400-1415 smtwt.. URDU 7365 41 TAC 1400-1415 .....fs HINDI 7365 41 TAC 1415-1500 smtwtfs HINDI 7365 41 TAC 1500-1530 smtwtfs BANGLA rural 7370 41 TAC SOUTH INDIA - B07 winter Schedule ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0100-0130 smtwtfs TAMIL 5940 49 ERV 0130-0200 smtwtfs TELUGU 6140 49 DHA 1400-1430 s.twtfs MALAYALAM 12045 25 DHA 1400-1415 .m..... MALAYALAM 12045 25 DHA 1415-1445 .m..... ENGLISH 12045 25 DHA 1430-1445 ..tw.f. ENGLISH 12045 25 DHA 1430-1445 ....t.. LAMBADI 12045 25 DHA 1430-1445 ......s KONKANI 12045 25 DHA 1430-1500 s...... KANNADA 12045 25 DHA 1445-1500 .mt.tfs KANNADA 12045 25 DHA 1445-1500 ...w... TULU 12045 25 DHA PAKISTAN, AFGHANISTAN, IRAN - B07 Winter Schedule ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0200-0300 s...... URDU 9875 31 NVS 0200-0230 .mtwtfs URDU 9875 31 NVS 0230-0300 .mtwtfs MIXED LANGUAGES 9875 31 NVS 0200-0230 smtwtfs PASHTO 6125 49 DHA 0230-0300 smtwtfs DARI 6125 49 DHA 0230-0300 smtwtfs DARI 7220 41 SAM 0230-0245 smtwtfs PASHTO 6185 49 DHA 0245-0300 s.t.... BALUCHI 6185 49 DHA 0245-0300 .m...fs BALUCHI Iran 6185 49 DHA 0245-0300 ...wt.. SINDHI 6185 49 DHA 0300-0330 smtwtfs PASHTO 11995 25 ARM 1400-1445 smtwtfs URDU 7150 41 NVS 1445-1500 smtwtfs MIXED LANGUAGES 7150 41 NVS 1430-1500 smtwtfs PASHTO 7250 41 ARM 1500-1530 smtwtfs DARI 7250 41 ARM 1530-1545 smtwtfs HAZARAGI 7250 41 ARM 1545-1600 smtwtfs MIXED LANGUAGES 7250 41 ARM 1630-1700 smtwtfs PERSIAN 7345 41 MSK AFRICA, ETHIOPIA, SUDAN - B07 winter Schedule ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1530-1545 smtwtfs AMHARIC 12125 25 MEY 1545-1600 smtwtfs MAKONDE 12125 25 MEY 1600-1630 s...tfs AMHARIC 12125 25 MEY 1600-1630 .mtw... GURAGENA 12125 25 MEY 1630-1700 smtwtfs AMHARIC 12125 25 MEY 1600-1630 smtwtfs AFAR 11875 25 KIG 1630-1700 smtw... TIGRINYA 9850 31 DHA 1630-1700 ....tfs AMHARIC 9850 31 DHA 1700-1730 smtwtfs SOMALI 9850 31 KIG 1730-1757 smtwtfs TIGRINYA 9850 31 KIG 1700-1730 smtwtfs OROMINYA 6180 49 DHA 1830-1900 smtwtfs FRENCH (Cent+West Af) 7160 41 MEY 2145-2215 ....tf. HASSINYA/PULAAR (WAf) 11985 25 ASC MIDDLE EAST - B07 winter Schedule ------------------------------------------------------------------- 0800-0845 smtwtfs ARABIC 15220 19 MOS 0600-0645 .....f. MALAYALAM 6125 49 DHA 0645-0730 .....f. TAMIL 6125 49 DHA 1900-1930 smtwtfs ARABIC 7235 41 WER 1900-2030 smtwtfs ARABIC 9550 31 KIG ------------------------------------------------------------------- Schedule Engineer, FEBA Radio, Ivy Arch Road, WORTHING BN14 8BX, UK WEBSITE: http://www.febaradio.info B07bs03 dated 26.10.07 rww (via José Miguel Romero, dxld yg via DXLD) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. See LIBERIA [non] Cotton Tree back on 9525! ** SOUTH AFRICA. 7215 had some African music at 0344 Oct 28, good signal. But when I went back at 0347 it was gone. That would be TWR via Meyerton in Amharic, or something, scheduled 0300-0345. Heard no announcements (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Hola Glenn: Relacionado con la noticia acerca de emisones de la radio doméstica española en USB (dxld 7-129 y anteriores), te puedo comentar que renombrados diexistas como Mauricio Molano o Manolo Carbonell sintonizaron emisiones de RNE en 4395.3 USB y AM en días posteriores. Por eso, no acabo de estar muy de acuerdo con la tesis de José Miguel Romero ya que me extraña que un pesquero estuviese 48 horas conectado a una emisora comercial española para escuchar un partido de fútbol cuando por SW lo puede escuchar hasta la saciedad vía REE. Aproximadamente dentro de un mes uno de mis hermanos irá destinado a Sarajevo en misiones logísticas, de modo que le preguntaré si hay planes de emisiones para el Ejército a través de ese modo y en esas frecuencias. Paz y Dx (Ignacio Sotomayor, Sta.Mª la Real de Nieva, Segovia, Castilla, España, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. REE opening ``La Hora de Asia`` at 1405 Sunday Oct 28 on 21610, 21570, both stronger than // 21540. Great to have 13m opening up again, but it may not last (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 9735, *0500-0510, CLA, 23-10, Darfur Salaam, via Moosbrunn, Austria Arabic ID, mentioned BBC, jingle 35333 heard // 12015 (15222) Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire out in my garden here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, DXLD) Pre-B07, so changed now? (gh) ** SUDAN [and non]. Wondering what Miraya means? Apparently it`s Mirror, making us suspect it`s just a corruption of the English word. See this year-old orphan page we had bookmarked: http://www.unmis.org/English/radio-news.htm (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New 9825, 1350-1600*, CLA, 26+27-10 Miraya FM to Sudan relayed from unknown, powerful transmitter. English/Sudanese Arabic news, political comments and interviews, several ID's, many African pop songs in Sudanese Arabic and English, announced "9825 at 6 to 9 evenings Sudanese time", but that is 1500-1800 UT! But it may well be true on their FM-transmitter. 55555. Best 73 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire out in my garden here in Skovlunde, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, DXLD) Hola: Efectivamente yo también estoy escuchando Radio Miraya desde Barcelona, con un sinpo de 35433. Existe el debate sobre el lugar de emisión, si ayer se hablaba de una emisión desde Bulgaria, esta mañana he leído un mensaje que lo desmiente, el mismo colega Aoki en su listado ya ha incluido esta emisión pero no se aventura a poner el radiopais y lugar de transmisión. Cordialmente (Tomás Méndez, Spain, Oct 26, playdx yg via DXLD) En cuanto a R Miraya todavía sin saber el lugar de emisión. 9825.0 1359 - R MIRAYA-? Mx afro+Comentarios+ 26/10 ara/ing 35343 9825.0 1446 - R MIRAYA-? Mx étnica+ 27/10 ara 35433 Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez Losa, Spain, RX: GRUNDIG SATELLIT 700, SONY ICF SW7600GR, ICOM IC-R2, DEGEN 1103, playdx yg via DXLD) And still running earlier than *1500 as supposedly scheduled (gh, DXLD) ** SWEDEN [non]. R. Sweden confirmed Oct 28 at new later time of 1530 in English to NAm via Canada, on 15240; VG here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND [and non]. Early B-07 monitoring, UT Oct 28: As in the new VOA schedule, Spanish at 0030-0200 is on new 5890 --- that knocks out the relay of R. Thailand via Greenville. So is the latter now on 12095 direct from Thailand? Monitors in Asia, please check. Nothing audible here. Propagation conditions are quite poor tonight. Question also remains whether Thailand relay at 0200-0330 will be on 5890 from Greenville now instead of Delano (or neither?). If not, try direct frequency 15275 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There appears to be a very faint carrier on 12095, but I'm not even sure if it is not something local instead. See also the just posted note for IBB's past practice to keep their old schedules for some more hours, so it would be especially interesting if there is evidence for another practice this time (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0143 UT Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [later:] R. Thailand relay was still on 5890, presumably Delano, UT Oct 28 at 0205 check in English news; 0223 recheck during talk feature audio abruptly stopped. I had been hearing some noise underneath, had not decided if it was new Cuban jamming left over, but then heard `machine-gun` blasts periodically, perhaps on the audio feed from Thailand lacking normal modulation. 0229 was back with bells IS, but 0230 modulation stopped again when hour of Thai was supposed to start. Another monitoring session in time to hear the last few words from Delano, which were in Thai, on 5890. The audio cut off, on and then off again for good at 0327. The carrier was turned off with no further audio at 0329:20. No ID, no formal VOA sign-off, no ``goodbye, job well done``, no nothing. And no closing for R. Thailand. The audio interruptions may have been RT`s fault, not VOA`s, or neither`s. However, you`d think they would have worked out the bugs in this by now. It may not matter any more. BTW, if you are uncertain of the gender of a person heard speaking Thai, you can easily tell with which gender they identify --- I hesitate to say which gender they *are* --- by the polite particles appended to the end of many sentences. `Males` say `krap` [high tone], `females` say `ka` [falling tone, IIRC], and as for what intermediate, homosexual, or cross-gender persons say, I am not at all sure. Wouldn`t it be handy if we had particles like this in English? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. "The Tibet Connection" is a monthly 55-minute radio magazine about events connected with Tibet. Each month, the program features news stories, interviews, documentaries and helpful insights, seeking out notable and intriguing guests and stories and providing an informative and engaging forum for discussion. The independent producers of the program hope "The Tibet Connection" helps listeners to understand the unique experience and legacy of Tibet and to provide a conduit between Tibet and the rest of the world. The program airs on KPFK, Santa Barbara, CA and is also available via streaming audio and podcast. It looks to be a reasonably slick production. Check out http://www.thetibetconnection.org/ (Source: program website) (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Swprograms mailing list, Oct 26 via DXLD) ``Airing 9AM PST the last SUNDAY of each month on KPFK 90.7 FM Los Angeles 98.7 FM Santa Barbara & streaming live at kpfk.org``. KPFK of course originates in LÁ. Probably means 9 AM PDT/PST, i.e. 1600 UT this week, 1700 UT in Nov, Dec, Jan, Feb (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY [and non]. Checked for V. of Turkey on new winter frequency 6020 for NAm at new time of 0400 Oct 28, and what did I hear? CRI in English with Aussie doing ``news``. No sign of VOT. What`s going on? CRI via Albania 6020 is supposed to stop at 0400 just in time for Turkey. VOT not audible on 7240 either. Maybe they were waiting another 24 hours to go B-07. Jean-Michel Aubier in France, however, says he did hear Turkey around 0415. Maybe the Albanian transmitter did not get turned off at the proper time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Glenn, I could hear VOT on 6020 with an excellent signal here in France this morning. I don't remember the exact time but it was approx. at 0415 (JM Aubier France, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. Still no sign of Ukraine at any time during the evening UT Oct 28 on 7530 (or 7440). So NAm service is still suspended (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. At 0335 Oct 28, found an interview on 6145 by a Brit, of an American jazz musician. Oops, it`s Al Greenspan talking about his book and his early years. I figured it was BBCWS, and yes, BBC promotion before 0359*. Looked up later, this is now scheduled only at 0300-0400 from Ascension at 114 degrees, but quite a useful clear signal here in CNAm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Delano Obit? Dear DX Brotherhood, if I'm not mistaken and everything remains as has been announced for the demise oF VOA's Delano site, we're about to experience its last transmission this late afternoon 1830 PST, 0130 UT, on 13740, unless a late minute hold back. That's only part of the transition we began to see for the last decade of the final curtain closing over our beloved and dynamic medium of short wave. So, let's enjoy it while we can! 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, UT Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA Special English 0130-0200 is on air only Mon-Fri (Thu-Sat UT), i.e. the last transmission on 13740 was already yesterday. I understand that IBB does the schedule changes around 2 AM local time in Washington, i.e. at 0700 UT or so. This means that the last shift at Delano should stick it out to the end, with VOA Spanish on 9560 until 0200, followed by Radio Thailand on 5890 until the bitter end at 0330 [see THAILAND]. But that's really something for you guys over there, I never heard Delano here. Despite this I just tried 9560, but all that can be heard here in Central Europe right now is presumed CRI from Beijing area transmitters, trying to reach South America. But it's only a faint signal already here, after just half of the way (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 0053 UT Oct 28, ibid.) ** U S A. Early B-07 monitoring, UT Oct 28: As in the new VOA schedule, Spanish at 0030-0200 is on new 5890 --- that knocks out the relay of R. Thailand [q.v.] via Greenville. VOA 5890 was // 5940 (late coming on after YD at 0029, went off again), and much stonger on // 9560 = Delano`s last gasp. It`s Ventana a Cuba the 0030 half-hour, which means it must be jammed as soon as the DCJC figures out the new frequencies. Still jamming 6110, just vacated by VOA, so probably really jamming Tirana, unless they haven`t made the QSY yet; can`t tell (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Monitored the expected final airing of Buenas Noches América on VOA Spanish, UT Oct 27 until 0158 via 9560 Delano. Mercedes and the co- announcer wrapped it up but did not say anything about it being the final broadcast. VOA plans to reduce the evening service in Spanish from Nov 5 after the DST shift. The first hour at 0030-0130 will remain daily, but will extend to 0200 only on UT Mon, Wed and Sat; all on Greenville 5890 at 190 degrees, 5940 at 225, and 9885 at 183. Also from Nov 5, some new 15-minute broadcasts are planned, language as yet unknown: 1400-1415 M-F on 11840, Greenville 250 kW, 183 degrees 17565, Greenville 125 kW, 174 degrees 2300-2315 M-F on 5890, Greenville 125 kW, 189 degrees 9885, Greenville 250 kW, 183 degrees Note that the frequencies at 2300 are the same as for Spanish at 0030. 11840 at 1400 is the same as for Spanish at 1100-1230, and 17565 is the same as for Creole at 1730-1800 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VOA B-07 Afan Oromo 1730-1800 9320 9860 11675 11905 13870 Monday-Friday only Albanian 0600-0630 6035 1700-1730 11675 1930-2000 7115 Amharic 1800-1900 9320 9860 11675 11905 13870 Arabic (Radio Sawa) 0000-0400 990 1170 1431 1548 0400-1645 990 1170 1548 1645-2400 990 1170 1431 1548 Azerbaijani 1830-1900 9750 9800 12025 Bangla 0130-0200 11500 15205 1600-1700 7280 11500 Burmese 1130-1230 11965 15550 17850 1430-1500 1575 9325 11965 12120 1500-1530 9325 11965 12120 1500-1530 1575 Saturday & Sunday only 1530-1630 1575 2300-2400 7430 11840 12120 Cantonese 1300-1500 1170 7390 9705 Chinese (Mandarin) 0000-0200 7190 9545 11925 15385 17645 21580 0200-0300 11925 15385 17645 21580 0700-0800 9845 11855 11965 13650 13765 15515 0800-0900 9845 11665 11855 11965 13650 13765 15515 0900-1030 9845 9855 11665 11855 11965 13650 13765 15515 1030-1100 9845 9855 11665 11785 11965 13650 13765 15515 1100-1200 1170 6160 9530 9680 11665 11785 12040 1200-1300 6040 6160 9530 9680 11785 12040 1300-1400 6040 6160 7295 9680 11785 11995 12040 1400-1500 6040 6160 7295 9680 9825 11785 2200-2300 6045 7140 9545 9755 9875 11655 Creole (28 Oct. - 3 Nov.) 1130-1200 15390 Monday-Friday only 1630-1700 15390 17565 2100-2130 11895 13725 15390 Creole (4 Nov. - 29 March 2008) [no, back to DST 2nd Sunday in Mar] 1230-1300 11890 15390 Monday-Friday only 1730-1800 15390 17565 2200-2230 11895 13725 15390 Croatian 0530-0600 7315 1930-1945 5850 6135 English to Europe, Middle East, and North Africa 0100-0130 1593 1400-1500 9865 15205 1500-1600 9865 11765 English to Africa 0300-0400 909 1530 4930 6080 9885 15580 0400-0430 909 1530 4930 4960 6080 9885 15580 0430-0500 909 4930 4960 6080 9885 15580 0500-0600 909 4930 5855 6080 9885 15580 0600-0700 909 1530 6080 9885 15580 1400-1600 4930 6080 15580 17715 17895 1600-1700 909 1530 4930 6080 15580 17715 17895 1700-1800 6080 13710 15580 1700-1800 909 17895 Saturday & Sunday only 1800-1830 6080 11975 13710 15580 17895 1800-1830 909 4930 Saturday & Sunday only 1830-1900 909 4930 6080 11975 13710 15580 17895 1900-2000 909 4930 4940 6080 11975 13710 15580 17895 2000-2030 909 1530 4930 4940 6080 11975 13710 2030-2100 909 1530 4930 6080 11975 13710 2030-2100 4940 Saturday & Sunday only 2100-2200 1530 6080 15580 English to Zimbabwe 1730-1800 909 4930 12080 15775 Monday-Friday only 1720-1740 909 4930 12080 15775 Saturday & Sunday only English to Afghanistan 0000-0030 1296 7405 2030-2130 1296 7595 2130-2400 1296 7405 English to Far East Asia, South Asia, and Oceania 0100-0200 7200 9865 11705 1100-1130 1575 Saturday & Sunday only 1130-1200 1575 1200-1300 1170 9640 9760 11705 11730 15190 1300-1400 9640 9760 11705 1400-1500 7125 9760 11885 12150 1500-1600 7125 9520 11510 12150 13735 2200-2300 5910 7120 7220 7425 9490 11725 2230-2400 1575 Friday & Saturday only 2300-2400 5910 7120 7220 9490 11725 15185 English-Special 0000-0030 1575 1593 0030-0100 1575 1593 7200 7405 9620 11695 11705 11805 12005 15185 15205 0130-0200 1593 5960 7405 Tuesday-Saturday only 1430-1500 6105 7225 9715 15130 1500-1530 6105 7175 9760 15460 1530-1600 6105 7175 9760 15460 1600-1700 13600 13615 15445 1600-1700 1170 Monday-Friday only 1830-1900 6105 6150 7220 9650 1900-1930 9785 12020 1930-2000 6105 6150 7220 9650 9785 12020 2230-2300 7230 9780 15445 2300-2330 1593 6180 7205 15150 2330-2400 1593 6180 7205 11655 13640 15150 French to Africa 0530-0600 1530 4960 6015 7265 9480 9505 Monday-Friday only 0600-0630 4960 6015 7265 9480 9505 Monday-Friday only 1830-2000 1530 9815 12080 13735 15225 17580 2000-2030 9780 9815 12080 13735 15220 2030-2100 9780 9815 11775 12080 15225 Saturday & Sunday only 2100-2130 5985 9680 9780 9815 Monday-Friday only Hausa 0500-0530 1530 4960 6045 9600 0700-0730 4960 11785 17490 1500-1530 7155 9605 11705 2030-2100 4940 9780 9815 11775 12080 15185 Monday-Friday only Hindi 1600-1700 6060 9760 Indonesian 0000-0030 9620 11805 15205 1130-1230 7255 9725 15165 1400-1500 11985 13660 2200-2400 9620 11805 15205 Khmer 1330-1430 1575 9325 11965 2200-2230 1575 6060 7260 13640 Kinyarwanda/Kirundi 0330-0430 7340 9540 11915 1600-1630 11750 11965 17785 Saturday only Korean 1200-1300 5890 7235 9555 1300-1400 648 5890 7235 9555 1400-1500 5890 7235 9555 1900-2100 6060 7110 7135 Kurdish 0500-0600 5995 7115 9690 1400-1500 1593 13740 15530 17750 1700-1800 7550 9650 9815 1900-2000 7475 9590 9690 2000-2100 1593 Laotian 1230-1300 1575 7205 11930 Mandarin (Chinese) [original duplicated entries under C!] Ndebele 1800-1830 909 4930 12080 15775 Monday-Friday only 1740-1800 909 4930 12080 15775 Saturday & Sunday only Pashto (Radio Ashna) 0030-0130 1296 7595 9335 1430-1500 1296 9335 11575 11840 1530-1630 1296 9335 11575 11840 1730-1800 1296 9335 9445 9770 1830-1930 1296 5750 7595 Pashto (Deewa Radio) 1300-1500 9390 9565 11510 1500-1700 7455 11525 11865 1700-1800 5835 7455 11865 1800-1900 5835 7455 9310 Persian 0230-0330 1593 7200 9495 17740 1530-1630 1593 9565 9980 11705 1630-1730 1593 5850 9685 12110 1730-1800 1593 5850 9495 9680 1800-1830 648 1593 5850 9495 9680 1830-1900 648 5850 9680 9980 1900-1930 5860 9680 9980 1930-2030 5835 9680 9980 Persian (Radio Farda) 0000-0030 1575 0030-0230 1575 5860 6115 9795 0230-0300 1575 6115 7105 15690 0300-0400 1575 7105 9585 15690 0400-0600 1575 9585 12015 15690 0600-0830 1575 9585 15690 17675 0830-1230 1575 5860 15690 21715 1230-1400 1575 5860 13680 15690 1400-1600 1575 11750 13680 15410 1600-1700 1575 7580 9320 15410 1700-1800 1575 7520 7580 11840 1800-1900 1575 7520 7580 9595 1900-2000 1575 7580 9335 9570 2000-2130 1575 7580 9335 9840 2130-2400 1575 Portuguese to Africa 0430-0500 1530 9480 9675 1000-1030 17740 21590 Saturday & Sunday only 1700-1730 1530 11775 15545 1730-1800 1530 9565 9805 11775 1800-1830 1530 7290 9805 Monday-Friday only Russian 1400-1430 6105 7225 9715 15130 1800-1830 6105 6150 7220 9650 1900-1930 6105 6150 7220 9650 Serbian 0630-0645 6035 2030-2100 6040 2200-2230 7125 Monday-Friday only Shona 1700-1730 909 4930 12080 15775 Monday-Friday only 1700-1720 909 4930 12080 15775 Saturday & Sunday only Somali 1600-1630 1431 13580 15620 1630-1800 13580 15620 Spanish 0030-0200 5890 5940 9885 1100-1230 9535 9885 11840 Swahili 1630-1700 9565 13865 15730 1700-1730 9565 13865 15730 Monday-Friday only Tibetan 0000-0100 7255 7480 9645 0400-0600 15545 17665 21570 1400-1500 7115 7255 12040 Tigrigna 1900-1930 9320 9860 11675 11905 13870 Monday-Friday only Turkish 0430-0500 7130 Monday-Friday only 1145-1200 9555 15205 Monday-Friday only 1930-2000 7235 9640 Monday-Friday only Ukrainian 2100-2115 7145 9585 2115-2130 7145 9585 Monday-Friday only Urdu (Radio Aap ki Dunyaa) 0000-0100 972 1539 0100-0200 972 1539 7145 9740 1400-1500 972 1539 9510 11705 1500-1700 972 1539 1700-1800 972 1539 7260 11500 1800-2400 972 1539 Uzbek 1500-1530 801 6140 9450 11630 15390 Vietnamese 1300-1330 1575 9325 11695 1500-1600 1170 5955 9485 9725 2230-2330 6060 13640 (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, DX Listening Digest Yahoo group via Mike Barraclough, worlddxclub yg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WEWN, 5810, signal had built up so that at 0342 Oct 28, I could hear its spiky splatter out to 5785/5835, plus/minus 25 kHz. Europeans considering getting any closer to 5810, beware. WEWN never got around to correcting the ``5010`` entry on its A-07 frequency schedule, but they did install a link on that page to the B- 07, http://www.ewtn.org/radio/freq10282007.htm which maybe, just maybe, is correct? I expect the new sked will soon replace the old one on the main URL http://www.ewtn.org/radio/freq.htm EWTN Global Catholic Radio Shortwave Frequency Guide Effective October 28 2007 - March 30 2008 Horario vigente el 28 octubre 2007 al 30 marzo 2008 [Note that ET/UT are shown as 5 hours apart, even tho for another week it`s only 4 hours! Which are we to believe in the Week of Confusion?] ET North America English Latin America Spanish Eu/Africa English UTC 7 PM 5810 11870/7540 5810 0000 8 PM 5810 11870/7540 5810 0100 9 PM 5810 11870/7540 5810 0200 10 PM 5810 11870/7540 5810 0300 11 PM 5810 11870/7540 5810 0400 12 AM 5850 11870/7540 5810 0500 1 AM 5850 11870/7540 5810 0600 2 AM 5850 11870/7540 5810 0700 3 AM 5850 11870/7540 Off Air 0800 4 AM 5850 11870/7540 Off Air 0900 5 AM 5850 11870/7540 Off Air 1000 6 AM 5850 11875/7540 Off Air 1100 7 AM 5850 11875/7540 Off Air 1200 8 AM 5850 11875/7540 Off Air 1300 9 AM 5850 11875/7540 Off Air 1400 10 AM 11530 17510/11550 Off Air 1500 11 AM 11530 17510/11550 15785 1600 12 PM 11530 17510/11550 15785 1700 1 PM 11530 17510/11550 15785 1800 2 PM 11530 17510/11550 15785 1900 3 PM 11530 15745/11550 17595 2000 4 PM 11530 15745/11550 17595 2100 5 PM 9975 15745/11550 7560 2200 6 PM 9975 15745/11550 7560 2300 (WEWN website via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. For a look at the fires` impact on radio and TV in San Diego, not just KPBS, peruse http://sdradio.net/ (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KLAA 830 kHz Anaheim, CA DX Test --- Date: Saturday morning (late Friday night), Dec. 15, 2007. Time: 1–2 a.m. Pacific Time, 0900–1000 UT. 20,000 watts using nighttime directional antenna pattern. Morse code IDs inserted into regular programming. Reception reports may be sent to Mr. Brian Clark, Director of Engineering, KLAA Radio, 2000 Gene Autry Way, Anaheim, CA 92806. No eQSL service is being offered for this test. Recordings on disk or via e-mail in .mp3 or .wav format will be accepted as proof of reception. Address for e-mails is bclark@am830klaa.com NOTE: All requests for postal verifications must be accompanied by return postage in order to receive a reply. Brian says he would love to run the test using KLAA`s daytime antenna pattern which would better favor the east but cannot because he must protect other stations on 830 kHz. Our sincere thanks to him for agreeing to conduct this test. It should be a good one for the folks to the west, and who knows how far east they may get if conditions are good? (Jim Pogue – KH2AR@comcast.net http://www.dxtests.info IRCA/NRC Joint BTC Coordinator, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WUMS: THE GRANDDADDY OF ALL PIRATE RADIO STATIONS by Harry Helms W5HLH When I first got interested in DXing back in 1963, pirate radio was almost unknown in the United States. Potential radio miscreants of all sorts feared the FCC the same way ancient Greeks feared the wrath of Zeus. As I studied for my Novice license back then, I trembled as I read a 1964 edition of The Radio Amateur’s License Manual and saw the penalty for a willful violation of the Communications Act: A fine of $10,000! Imprisonment for two years! Or both! I had visions of failing to identify my ham radio station properly, or accidentally emitting an out-of-band harmonic. . . . . . my door comes crashing down, G-Men storm in with guns drawn, and it’s off to Leavenworth for me! (Fortunately, I was able to suppress my fear long enough to earn my Novice and call sign of WN4EOX.) I wasn’t alone in my fears (or delusions?). The FCC genuinely was more active in monitoring the shortwave bands then, and a lot hams—as well as coastal, fixed, and aeronautical users of the shortwave spectrum— found themselves receiving citations from the FCC, often for minor rules infractions. No one wanted to receive a “pink ticket” (so named for the paper color of the citations) from the FCC. And it was assumed that any unlicensed operation would be swiftly found by the FCC and the hapless unlicensed operator would certainly be packed off to a federal penitentiary. But a handful of people weren’t intimidated by the FCC, and perhaps the most remarkable was Dave Thomas of Proctorville, Ohio, operator of pirate station WUMS (“we’re unknown mysterious station”). WUMS took to the air in 1925 and continued to operate until at least 1970 or so. The FCC tried its best to shoot down Dave, twice taking him to court. Both times he dodged the bullet. . . http://docs.google.com/View?docid=ddjvh9j7_25frq9js (via ACE via FRW via DXLD) ** U S A. DAILY SHOW ARCHIVE OPENS - I got quite a few private e-mails either agreeing or taking me to task about a comment I made back in September about VOA and the Daily Show (which we see in Europe on the web or in an edited form at rather odd hours on CNN International). Now it seems Comedy Central has opened up the entire archive of the Daily Show on line for gratis, using either a time line (if you remember the show date) or a tag search. The NY Times media blog reports that 13,000 videos have gone on line with the spinoff show "The Colbert Report" due to go up soon. Still maintain more English speakers outside the US get a clearer understanding of US politics by watching the comedy than hearing the news from US government networks. It is funny, memorable - and now much easier to access. The only other thing they need to do is to put the collection in context with today. Compare today's show with a year ago, 5 years ago, or here's all the shows about a specific theme. Yes, that is possible as a "pull" search. But archives get used more if certain collections are also "pushed" to the public. Posted by Jonathan Marks at 10/20/2007 06:52:00 (Critical Distance blog via DXLD) ** VATICAN. VATICANO, 7250, Radio Vaticano, 2121-2130, escuchada el 28 de octubre en español, locutora con presentación, emisión de las palabras del Papa con motivo de la Beatificación de 498 mártires españoles hoy en el Vaticano, emisión en paralelo por 1530 de MW y 5885, SINPO 55544. Este servicio se anunció de 2220 a 2240. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909 Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2220 being Vatican time (gh, DXLD) see also RUSSIA ** VENEZUELA [non]. Apparently Hugo Chávez Frías still has his cold, or some other excuse for missing another ``Aló, Presidente`` date. Sunday Oct 28 at 1503, the RHC introductory fill program ``Mundo 7`` was wrapping up on 11670, 11875, 13750, 17750, all good, but with 17750 and 13750 an echo apart from 11875. This is normally when they finally join RNV for A,P, but when I tuned back in at 1508, all were in open carrier. Left a receiver on 17750 to see if program would come back, but still open until finally turned off at 1527*. Think of how many undernourished Cubans the cost of all these wasted kW could have fed? Who cares? Billed to the oil-rich Venzies, anyway (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CHÁVEZ, ENFERMO CANCELÓ POR SEGUNDA SEMANA SU PROGRAMA DE RADIO Y TV http://www.lacapital.com.ar/2007/10/28/mundo/noticia_424656.shtml (via José Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. "ALGERIA/W.SAHARA", 6300, RASD, 2344-0001*, Oct 27, Spanish/Arabic. OM /w SP talk b/w up-beat AR music. ID/NA at s/off. Good though 6290-Egypt splatter at ToH (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB-1,200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Via Madagascar. 9765, Radio Voice of the People, *0400-0455*, Oct 27, Sign on with local music & multi-lingual ID announcements. Talk in vernacular at 0401. Covered by a strong music loop jammer at 0403 making reception pretty much impossible, but was able to hear some English later in broadcast (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But the next night it moved to 11610, per RNW B-07 Sked: 0400 0500 MDC 11610 265 250 RVP Mul 1234567 eAF D (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5954 still has weak signal, presumably República, around 0035 UT Oct 28 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5996.44, 0945-1000 Oct 27. Noted a weak signal here of male in Spanish comments. Sometimes brief music heard too. Tried to compare this with Radio Melodía [PERU] on 5939.23 and at times thought they were the same, and at other times, I wasn't too sure? Both signals are threshold. A good band opening is necessary to confirm any ID on this, it seems (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. A `bonker` was blasting away centered about 6134 at 0209 Oct 28, and later. Bothered from 6130 up past 6135. Just what we need in the crowded exclusive SWBC band of 49m (Glenn Hauser, UT Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ NUEVO LISTADO DE EMISIONES EN ESPAÑOL Hola: Ya está disponible en la web de la Asociación DX Barcelona (ADXB) el nuevo listado de emisiones en español para el período de invierno, B07. Dicha lista se puede consultar por frecuencias, horarios, emisoras, etc. También se puede descargar completamente para disponer de ella localmente. Este servicio es fruto del trabajo de nuestro colega Antonio Madrid, y de algunos otros colaboradores. Tan solo es necesario visitar la Web a través del siguiente enlace. http://lista.adxb.org/ Espero que os sea útil igual que lo está siendo para mi. Antes de imprimir este mensaje, asegúrese de que es necesario. El medio ambiente está en nuestra mano (Tomás Méndez Losa, Spain, Oct 27, dxld yg via DXLD) ACE ONLINE Kirk Baxter has set up a web page that archives information on pirate and free radio. The URL is : http://www.theaceonline.com/ One can find back issues of the FRW there as well as the ACE. Please check it out. A big Thank You to Kirk, who took the time to do this. Here is the information that Kirk gave me: "George Zeller put a small plug for the website in his MT column, and certainly I would like to invite all the FRW readers/contributors to use the site. Not only are the old FRW issues archived for everyone's use, but with the forum section, anyone can leave current loggings for the group to use. The forum is available to anyone after just registering. It's not a closed system, and the registration just sends an email back to confirm that a real person is trying to leave messages, rather than having 'bots post messages." (Greg Majewski, Free Radio Weekly Oct 27 via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see BELGIUM [non]; RUSSIA ++++++++++++++++++++ WORLD OF HOROLOGY see also CUBA; MEXICO +++++++++++++++++ CIEN MILLONES DE RELOJES CAMBIARON AUTOMÁTICAMENTE SU HORARIO BERLIN.- Más de cien millones de relojes, muchos de ellos oficiales y científicos de precisión, cambiaron esta madrugada de hora en Europa de manera automática para adaptarse al nuevo horario de invierno que rige en el viejo continente. Esos relojes, dotados de un sistema de radiocontrol, recibieron a las 03.00 horas la orden automática de retrasar sus horarios una hora desde el centro de control de la empresa T-Systems en la localidad de Mainflingen, junto a la ciudad alemana de Francfort. La empresa T-Systems obtiene el tiempo de referencia oficial del Instituto Federal Físico-Técnico alemán, que lo controla mediante varios relojes atómicos en Maiflingen y Braunschweig con un margen de error de un segundo cada dos millones de años. A través de una antena situada en las cercanías de Fráncfort, T-Systems transmite con la emisora de onda larga DCF77 y una frecuencia de 77,5 kilohercios la señal horaria en un radio de 2.000 kilómetros. La precisión horaria, incluso en la aguja del segundero, es necesaria para el funcionamiento exacto de aeropuertos, empresas de ferrocarril y cadenas de radio y televisión, pero también para numerosas empresas, los mercados financieros y numerosas instituciones científicas. LISTIN DIARIO.COM_EFE - 10/28/2007 (via Dino Bloise / EEUU, dxldyg via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS see also CUBA (Esperanto); THAILAND ++++++++++++++++ IMPOSITION OF URDU UPON PAKISTAN Hi Glenn, Successive Pakistani governments are known for their irrational decisions since creation of the country in 1947. But adoption of Urdu as national language, which was mother tongue of less than 3% of the poulation in 1947, has been one of the weirdest decisions. Urdu language has foreign origin in Northern Indian states of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and was not the mother tongue of any linguistic group prior to 1947 in the areas now comprising Pakistan. It is hard to find any such country in the world where a minority and foreign language could have been given such an unfair advantage over the local languages. The insistance of the Pakistani bureaucracy, dominated by Urdu-speaking immigrants from Uttar Pradesh, to impose Urdu on the Bengali speaking population of East Pakistan was one of the major factors leading to break up of the country in 1971 and creation of Bangla-Desh but the bureaucracy failed to learn any lessons. In the remaining territory of Pakistan (former West Pakistan), on one hand Punjabi language which is mother tongue of more than 70% of the Pakistani population has not been given its due share in the broadcasting; on the other, the Urdu-speaking conspirational bureaucracy has been plotting to promote the dialects of Punjabi like Seriaki, Hindko, Gojri, etc., as independent languages to create divisions among the Punjabi speaking population. Their efforts to create divisions among speakers of various dialects have succeeded to some extent as Seriaki, Hindko and Gojri dialects of Punjabi are being enumerated in the national census as independent languages. Whereas functionally these dialects are not much different from Punjabi. Ironically most of the Chief Executive Officers (DGs) of Radio Pakistan(PBC) have been Urdu-speaking and migrants of India origin. Taking advantage of their position they made policies to ensure that Urdu gets far more share in broadcasting than it deserves. An analysis of the total broadcast time reveals that most of Radio Pakistan stations broadcast only up to 15% of total time in local languages and the rest of broadcasts are in Urdu. Keeping in view the literacy level in rural areas, Urdu is as foreign to most of the listeners as a foreign language could be. Especially in Baluchistan and NWF provinces and interior of Sindh province and southern Punjab a very large segment of population just switch off the Radios on commencement of Urdu broadcast because they do not feel affiliated to it. It has been observed that those programmes of Radio Pakistan which were in local languages like Punjabi, Baluchi, Pushto, etc., succeeded in developing large listenership as compared to Urdu broadcasts. Declining radio listenership on medium wave was a worldwide phenomenon after the extension of television services. But in Pakistan the decline in listenership on medium wave was so sharp that during the period 1985 to 1999, i.e. till introduction of FM broadcasts, it became hard to find such households in urban areas where Radio Pakistan broadcasts were listened to. Radio Pakistan`s insistence on Urdu broadcasting resulted in failure to develop loyal listenership and after the advent of television, Radio Pakistan was completely forgotten. Since Radio Pakistan was not known for any the quality and content of news coverage, its listeners were primarily those interested in entertainment programmes. After the development of television network they switched to PTV. While in rural areas the radio programmes in local languages succeeded to some extent in maintaining listenership. Radio Pakistan authorities are not bothered about their listenership and just want to run it in complete disregard to the local aspirations and insistence on the blind imposition of Urdu. They are least concerned which segment of the society they are targetting. Otherwise keeping in view the portability of the transistor sets in rural areas, the community broadcasts could be of great help. It was witnessed during the earthquake in October 2005 in Northern Pakistan and Kashmir that radio proved to be the most useful medium in earthquake stricken areas. It is time that Radio Pakistan reduce its broadcasts in Urdu language and increase the time for local languages to inject fresh life to Radio Pakistan on medium wave; otherwise it is on the path of extinction (Aslam Javaid, Lahore Pakistan, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And your native language is??? Punjabi, perhaps? Looking at stats in the 2002 World Almanac, Urdu is spoken by at least 60 megapersons worldwide, while it is the first language in 21 countries (?? Pakistan/India plus significant numbers of immigrants in 19, I guess). The population of Pakistan in same reference was 144+ mega, so 60/144 = 42 percent, but within Pakistan the percentage must be considerably smaller, since the 60 figure includes everywhere. English is equally an official language in Pakistan, so there`s your compromise! I have always wondered how close Urdu is to Hindi. Could someone provide a percentage of identicality, i.e. same vocabulary, mutual intelligibility when spoken, even if different script? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Now here is item one of today’s program, the extended period of extremely low solar activity that has totally changed the previous analysis by scientists about the present solar cycle minimum. Comparisons between this cycle 23 and the previous one, cycle 22 that went through its period of minimum activity during part of 1996. Scientists are now puzzled with what is happening, as they didn’t expect that the average number of sunspots went as low as it has gone during the extended minimum of cycle 23. More about the November of 2007 solar forecast and how it had to be changed later here at the weekend edition of Dxers Unlimited. Yes amigos, solar minimum is very much with us at this moment --- many, many days without a single sunspot; many, many days of a blank Sun with the microwave solar flux measurements reaching bottom low figures that were not seen by scientists in many years, and as a matter of fact some solar researchers now believe that something is really changing 93 million miles away from Earth --- as solar cycle 23’s minimum has already reached rock bottom low levels with the average number of sunspots going down to around 5. Yes, you heard it right ZERO FIVE, and that is half the number of sunspots registered during the minimum of previous solar cycle 22 during 1996. This solar minimum may open up the question of the possible beginning of yet another Maunder Minimum; that’s the name given to a long period of extremely low solar activity that happened between the years 1645 and 1715, a period of a bit more than 70 years, or the duration of roughly six consecutive solar cycles that have an average duration of 11.1 years. Astronomer Edward W. Maunder born in 1851 and who died in 1928, was the discoverer of that extended period of extremely low solar activity when he analyzed the records of solar optical observations. Maunder found out that during one 30 year long period within the a bit more than 70 years of very low activity, solar astronomers were able to count only about 50 sunspots, while the normal count for three typical consecutive solar cycles is within the range of forty to fifty thousand sunspots --- a one thousand to one ratio. One outstanding characteristic of the Maunder Minimum was that the sunspot activity was then concentrated in the southern hemisphere of the Sun, except for the last cycle when the sunspots appeared in the northern hemisphere too. According to Spörer's law, at the start of a cycle spots appear at ever lower latitudes, until they average at about lat. 15 at solar maximum. The average then continues to drift lower to about 7 and after that, while spots of the old cycle fade, new cycle spots start appearing again at high latitudes. The Maunder Minimum coincided with the middle — and coldest part — of the so-called little ice age, during which both Europe and North America, and perhaps much of the rest of the world, were subjected to bitterly cold winters. Whether there is a causal connection between low sunspot activity and cold winters is the subject of ongoing debate connected to the effects of global warming. So amigos, for us radio hobby enthusiasts that are dependent on solar activity in order to be able to enjoy short wave propagation conditions that open up the higher frequency bands, that is those above 20 megaHertz, the current solar minimum has already had significant effects, with extended periods of very poor propagation, with the nightime maximum useable frequencies some days not even reaching above 7 megaHertz; and the maximum useable daytime frequencies not going above seventeen or eighteen megaHertz for brief periods. Scientists have already studied other historical sunspot minima [that] have been also detected either directly or by the analysis of carbon- 14 in ice cores or tree rings; these include the Sporer Minimum (1450– 1540), and less markedly the Dalton Minimum (1790–1820). In total there seem to have been 18 periods of sunspot minima in the last 8,000 years, and studies indicate that the sun currently spends up to a quarter of its time in these minima. And now my friends, here is ARNIE CORO’S DXERS UNLIMITED’S PROPAGATION UPDATE AND FORECAST… Expect more days of zero sunspots Zero, zero, zero sunspots for almost 20 days in a row now. A single small sunspot appeared briefly October 6-7, then no sunspots for four days prior, one sunspot for the final few days of September, and none for the three whole weeks prior to that. Until recently, solar scientists were believing that the solar cycle minimum had occurred in March of this year, something that the present period of zero sunspots has proven to be wrong. With such a long period of so few sunspots, at the beginning of November we might see a much lower 3-month average. This is because the sum of all the daily sunspot numbers from August 1 until now is only 492, and if we still see no sunspots through next Wednesday, when November begins, that total divided by the number of days for August-September- October (92) is only 5.4.a much lower figure than the September of 1996 minimum of 8.7 sunspots (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited Oct 27, ODXA via DXLD) Extraordinary AM band reception continues, best since 1997/98, confirming solar cycle relevance. Not only big NA signals but also Urumqi 1521 (Russian), 1566 India (Nagpur), 1503 Bushehr (nuclear site!, Iran) - Farsi and 1080 Abadan (Iran Arabic //6025). 1575 and 1170 UAE are also strong at times (Farda/Sawa). (Derek Lynch, Ireland, Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###