DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-146, December 4, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1385 Thu 0700 WRMI 9955** Thu 1530 WRMI 7385 Thu 1600 KAIJ 9480 [may be previous week`s show] Fri 0030 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0730 WRMI 9955** Fri 1200 KAIJ 5755 Fri 1200 WRMI 9955** Fri 2130 WWCR1 7465 [ex-15825 for Dec-Mar] Sat 1730 WWCR3 12160 Sat 2230 WRMI 9955 Sun 0330 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0900 WRMI 9955 Sun 1200 WRMI 9955 [new] Sun 1615 WRMI 7385 Mon 0400 WBCQ 9330-CLSB [irregular?] Mon 0515 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Mon 0930 WRMI 9955** Tue 1130 WRMI 9955** Tue 1630 WRMI 7385 Wed 0830 WRMI 9955** WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL SCHEDULE: Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** ARGENTINA. Amigos de la lista: Una novedad en la saturada banda extendida de Onda Media argentina: 1630 kHz, AM SUPER SPORT es la nueva denominación de la ex Radio Cóndor de la localidad de Temperley, Pdo. de Lomas de Zamora, que había comenzado a operar en esta frecuencia para posteriormente trasladarse a los 1520 kHz, donde se reportaba inactiva desde hace algunos días. La emisora ha cambiado su estilo de programación y al parecer también de dueño (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, Dec 3, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. At 1220z Australia is coming in on 2310, 2325 and 2485 kHz in western NY, pop music // DX tuners (Jim Renfrew, Holley NY, Dec 4, IRCA via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. MYANMAR [and non]. Re 7-144; tuning in 12120 PHT Dec 2, 2325-2336, I got 54333 – no interference. Conversation in Burmese, recorded English speech, mentioning HIV/AID; VOA ID and Burmese sked on 2335 (Tony Ashar, Depok, Indonesia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. This month's cover: Although it's still off the air, as of this issue, CFRX, the shortwave outlet of Toronto's CFRB Radio at least has a new antenna. Thanks to Steve Canney for these pictures showing the old and new vertical antennas lying on the ground and then the new antenna being finished off. CFRB is planning for a new transmitter very soon. Listen on 6070 kHz! (ODXA Listening In Volume 33 Edition 385 December 2007, via DXLD) ** CANADA. Jerry Berg wrote to Harold Sellers concerning an interesting find. Harold contacted Jerry and received permission to print his question in Helping Hand. “Harold, here is a dusty little DX corner that I have run across. In an item in the Feb 1968 ASWLC bulletin, C. M. Stanbury reported that a number of quasi-legal Canadian Arctic stations were in operation. One was said to be Inuit Neepingit (the ‘Voice of the Arctic’ or the ‘Voice of the Eskimo’) at Pond Inlet, Northwest Territories, on 3750 kHz, broadcasting at 0000-0400 UTC [sic] with 100 watts. Reportedly, three hours were in ‘Eskimo’ and one was in English, and the station sometimes rebroadcast CBC programs. Similar ‘broadcast’ stations were said to be operating at Cape Dorset, Clyde River and Pangnirtung. ”Have you ever heard of this? It sounds like legitimate information, but I have never seen actual reports of reception of these kinds of stations. Maybe they were covered more on the ‘utilities’ side.” If anyone out there has ever heard any of these stations – or better yet, has a tape or a verification of one, let either Harold or I know and we’ll send on the info to Jerry. I will also mention any items here in our column (Joe Robinson, Helping Hand, Dec ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** CANADA. From Western Canada: Mike Yohnicki has been away from his regular QTH of London, Ontario lately. One of the stations he reports picking up recently is Creek FM, the Okanese First Nation’s station on 95.3 at Balcarres, Saskatchewan. Internet information about the station seems scarce but one site http://www.dhspublishing.com/_pdfs/saskindianspring04.pdf produced the following. Community Radio --- A small radio station with big dreams, 95.3 FM “The Creek”, a community initiative of the Okanese First Nation, has hit the airwaves with a First Nation flavour. On the dial they feature Powwow music, stories and educational teachings by Elders, compositions by Aboriginal artists and much more. “The Creek” should continue flooding the airwaves for years to come (via Dan Greenall, FM-TV Report, Dec ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** CANADA. Another market in CANADA is about to go FM-only. CTVglobemedia won CRTC approval last week to move CJCH (920 Halifax), that city's last remaining AM signal, to 101.3 on the FM dial, where it will operate with 100 kW. CTV will have to divest its 50% interest in CKUL (96.5), which is currently jointly owned with, and operated by, Newcap. Halifax had three AM signals as recently as a year ago. Since then, MBS Radio's CHNS (960) has moved to FM at 89.9, while Newcap's CFDR (780) will soon move to 88.9. And we'd note that CJCH's move to 101.3 will put the station on a third-adjacent channel to another 100 kW outlet, CHFX (101.9), an interesting counterexample to the claims being made by the NAB and others on the US side of the border fighting against third-adjacent spacing for low-power FM signals (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch Dec 3 via DXLD) ** CANADA [non]. GERMANY, Frequency changes of BVBN in Farsi to WeAs via DTK T-Systems 1700-1900 on 5900 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg till Nov. 22 1500-1700 NF 9480 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg from Nov. 23 1430-1630 NF 9925 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg from Dec. 01 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 4 via DXLD) ** CHINA. Dear Sir, Is it me? I like listening to China Drive (CRI) (Nov. Contact Magazine) But then I haven't much experience of 'vacuous' programmes. All day no. But an hour a day out of CRI's large transmission schedules isn't much. Man cannot live by coal & steel output news alone! (John (2543) Everitt, UK, Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) John is referring to the discussion in the DXLD pages (pages 37/38) on "Fluff programming". Perhaps over the holiday period, a re-read of that discussion would be in order, and further comment in these pages would be appreciated! Thanks, John, for your comment (Alan Roe, ibid.) ** CHINA. 7310, XPBS, Urumqi, 0056-0103 3 Dec. Noted // 5060 with M/W chat in Chinese, 5+1 pips and chimes/orchestral bridge to "Shin-zang guangbo diantai" ID. 41M signal fair & clear, 60M fair-good with static. 7195, XPBS, Urumqi (presumed) 0105-0110+ 3 Dec. M/W yak in (presumed) Uighur // 4980, 6120. 41M best of the 3, 6120 weak with QRM but definitely //. 4980 a "regular" in 0030-0130 CAs/India window; first time for 7195/6120. 7270, Nei Menggu PBS, Hohhot, 0850-0902 2 Dec. // 9750, 7210. W in (presumed) Mongolian with yak/phone chat and music. 0859: fanfare, 5+1, fanfare, W/M ID: "Mongolyn ardyn radyo", recheck 1059 with better ID "Mongolyn ardyn radyo khoroonoos (sounds like 'khor-nuzhs')" into kids' song; possibly RTM-Sarawak underneath // 7130 (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. TIPS FROM BOCCA DI MAGRA BY BERNARDINI & MONFERINI --- 5066.33, 1/12 04.00 04.15 R. CANDIP CONGO. Received today from Dario via SMS. 73'S (Francesco Cecconi, Italy, Noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. New 3380, 2340-0108* 28/29-11, Centro Radiofónico de Imbabura, Ibarra, Spanish. Very weak signal, but very mostly popular songs and animated talks. 0103 Ecuadorian songs with several versions for 8 minutes. 15111 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX Dec 2 via DXLD) So, tentative? As reported earlier by R. Rodríguez, Colombia, reactivated. No other reports of this seen yet (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR [non]. Re 7-145: ``Yesterday, Nov. 30, I tuned to Almahaba (not sure if this is correct word; didn't try to note it exactly) on 12025 [HCJB via Sackville] at about 2103. The language did not sound like Arabic to me, some Semitic sounding language, but, not Arabic (Tim Hendel)`` You are right. According to their web page http://www.akhbarmufriha.com the first fifteen minutes of the programme are in Tachelhit - a Berber dialect. Here´s the e-mail verification I got from them 3 years ago. This may help you. 9 Jan 2004 --- Dear Patrick, Thank you for your reception report. We are pleased to confirm that you listened to our station on 12025 kHz. on 29 December 2003 between 2100 and 2122 UT. At present, we do not send out QSL cards but this message confirms your reception. Thank you for listening! Our programs are usually broadcast from Skelton in the UK but at this time of year they have been transferred to Sackville, Canada. To learn more about us, go to our web site http://www.akhbarmufriha.com where you will see we are tied into our satellite station, Radio Al Mahabba. Arabic Broadcasting is a partner of ours who supplies us with four of our programs. Radio Ibrahim is a cooperating partner radio station. May you have a great day in the Lord! Blessings, Daniel Berger, Secretary E-mail: akhbarmufriha @ hotmail.com «Akhbar Mufriha», The Joyful News Station - Every day in Arabic [sic]: 2100-2230 UT - Frequency: 12025 kHz on SW - Broadcasting Site: Sackville, Canada http://www.akhbarmufriha.com and http://www.radioalmahabba.com 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Thank you for the letter from Patrick Robic, about Tachelhit. So, one of my two widely varying guesses was right! First time in my life to hear one of the Berber dialects (Tim Hendel, AL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Hi Glenn, I think it was once asked on DXLD if R. Cairo still uses "Voice of Africa" slogan in their English ID. Not at least today when they ran a bit overtime on 6225 kHz after 1900 and ID'ed in English, please listen to the attached clip. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mauno, God, that`s awful. Seems like says ``English service to Africa of Radio Cairo``, rather than Voice Of. What do you think? 73, (Glenn to Mauno, via DXLD) Glenn, yes, traditional R. Cairo modulation! Or ``English service to Africa from Radio Cairo`` but essentially the same. 73, (Mauno Ritola, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, around 0900 2 Dec with S2 and religious talks: the voice of the pastor reminds me the voice of the pastor of Brother Stair. At 0924 YL welcomes listeners to her program then again with new religious themes and songs (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. As mentioned in DXLD 7-144, V. of Meselná Delina, clandestine via WHRA, confirmed on new 12015, excellent reception here off the back of the antenna, Dec 3 at 1829 tune-in, just in time to hear a few words in presumed Tigrinya, one minute promo in English for WHR reaching the unreached, 1830 back to language, presumed the same but not certain; could not make out any program name ID. Is this reflected in the online WHRA program schedule, http://www.whr.org/index.cfm?fa=schedule&Search=Angel5 --- ? of course not! It still shows 17650 and 4 different English-language gospel-huxter programs at 1830-1900, after half an hour of VOMD, but apparently that is now extended to a full hour. Or has a companion. The VOMD website http://vodm.asmarino.com/ still gives outdated frequency if not time: Days: Monday - Friday Time: 9:00PM - 9:30PM Eritrea time Frequency 17650 kHz (16.9 meter band) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. Hi, in the recent days the Ethiopian station Voice of Tigray Revolution was heard on 5950 kHz. On 30 November, I heard them at 0358 UT with their IS(matching the one on intervalsignals.net) with information programme, SINPO 32322. No parallel found, but that doesn't mean that there is none. On 1 December, Herbert Meixner in Austria logged them at 0530 until fade-out just before 0600 UT at O=2. He logged them as UNID, just as I did initially, but my IS check fits perfectly, so I assume that Herbert heard the same station. We both checked the theoretical alternative Yemen but nothing on 9780 (for me) or not parallel to 9780 (Herbert). 73, (Eike Bierwirth, Mainz, Germany, NRD525, 10m wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Herbert Meixner wrote [A-DX]: *** begin quote *** Am SA, dem 01.12., 05.30.....bis f/out [eh klar ;-)] vor 06.00 UC, habe ich auf 5950 kHz, so nehme ich an, Yemen-Radio in Ar mit O=2 zugehoert. Keine Gleichkanalstation, nur QRM von "unten" und Rauschen. Gegenprobe auf 9779/9780 ergab kein befriedigendes Ergebnis. Schwach auf 9780 zwar auch eine in Arabisch sendende Station, aber px nicht // zu 5950 kHz. Ausserdem klang es auf 5950 mehr nach Inlands-px als auf 9780. Mit Gruss, Herbert, NRD 535DG, ARA 30 *** end quote *** (via Eike Bierwirth, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not a chance here with WYFR/RTI on 5950 thruout (gh, OK, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. Re 7-145: Hi Wolfy, I was puzzled by the suggestion of a "Friday break" in the jamming, as you yourself reported definite jamming of the DW transmissions on Friday 23 November. Regards, (Chris Greenway, England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I checked the D. Welle's 1400-1500 Amharic transmission today (Dec. 3) and all 15660 15640 15620 and 11645 were on air. Frequency 15660 was the loudest and best until drowned after a few minutes in noise. 15640 was weak and 15620 fair - both seemed un-jammed. 11645 was also fair to good with jamming which was mainly audible in the sidebands (Noel R. Green (NW England), Dec 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. Dec 3 check of DW Amharic at 1400: poor signal on 15620, no jamming audible, and no signal on 15660; 11645 had noise level slightly higher than local noise level on band. 1455 recheck, 15660 noise jamming also audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar-terrestrial indices for 02 December follow. Solar flux 73 and mid-latitude A-index 1. The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 03 December was 0 (4 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours (SWPC via DXLD) Dec 4 at 1430 check, DW OK on 15620, no jamming audible, and other frequencies not heard (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See UNIDENTIFIED 15630 Very different reception here today - 15620 was the strongest, 15640 was very weak, and 15660 was on air but weaker than on Monday. 11645 was also weak. No jamming audible during the first 15 minutes of listening (Noel Green, NW England, Dec 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: DWL Amharic, ... and Ethiopian jamming. Yes, totally agree with, regarding my place in southern Germany. Very, very weak condition today. Jamming yesterday Dec 3rd: jammed 11645, 15640, and 15660, but NOT 15620. 11637...11648, 15638...15648 much up - not on 15640 even, 15656...15664. Jamming today Dec 4th: jammed 11645, 15640, and 15660, but NOT 15620. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, ibid.) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. I monitored WHRA 11785 again Monday December 3, from tune-in 1920, and the mystery African(?) language clandestine(?) was already underway so may have started as early as 1900. Man was giving an impassioned speech, phone quality. At 1932 some music, and later in that semihour a woman talking with studio quality. Recorded, including the closing about 1956, in a 2:47 rm clip, 433 kb, with typical music before and after. It sounds somewhat familiar, but the ID at 1:00 into the clip does not. Actually it seems to be an e-mail address, like wainamradio@mabarak... but I am not at all sure of that. Later there is a www given too but marred by fade/distortion. I hope someone can recognize the language or even identify it. . . Have a listen at http://www.w4uvh.net/whra11785unid.rm Then I make another check of the WHRA online schedule, and the answer seems to appear: 1900 Mo 0200 PM 0300 PM Monday - Friday Demitse-Tewahedo Demitse Tewahedo Demitse Tewahedo 11.785 Mhz Which in WHR`s wacky way of presentation means it is on Mondays only at 1900-2000 UT, with other (English) programming shown during the same time other days. So it must be the same one still showing on the TDP schedule for A-07 http://www.airtime.be/schedule.html as: Zena Tewahedo the Ligament Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in Exile 1600-1700 15260 AM m...... Amharic Africa but which is replaced in the B-07 schedule below it by: EOTC Holy Synod Radio 1600-1700 9445 AM m...... Amharic Africa Note that EOTC matches as an abbr. for Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church The EOTC website http://exile.eotcholysynod.org/ still has them on 9445 ``due to weather conditions``, and mp3 audio files of the last few weeks` broadcasts are available for download. However, the last 3 minutes of their audio file do NOT match what I heard and recorded today on WHRA, in music or announcements, gender of announcer, including several clear Zena Tewáhedo IDs in the last few minutes. The file gives a Los Angeles address, and eotc e-mail address as on the website. A couple times during the SW broadcast I heard Louisiana mentioned. Another possibility is that they are producing two different programs for TDP and WHR, but I suspect it is not Zena Tewahedo but some other possibly related clandestine. And that which I previously reported during the same hour on Thursday, Nov 22 may also be something different. We need to check other days of the week as there may be other clandestine programs on this frequency, just as TDP once had a full schedule of several different rotating programs depending on day of week, on 15260 and now on 9445 --- or have those now been replaced by WHRA transmissions? But this may be in addition rather than in replacement: the opening announcement in their Dec 3 audio file mentions kHz and meterband twice. If they do match up, the Thursday broadcast could be EPPF Radio. I hope someone can evaluate my clip on its own merits, and also check this transmission other days of the week. José Miguel Romero suggests some possibilities, but I am not sure either is a complete match: (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos Glenn, puede tratarse de Voice of Tewahedo Ethiopian Orthodox, programa religioso emitido por New World Radio 1120 AM Washington DC. http://wust1120.com/index2.html Esta emisora emite una serie de programas religiosos, entre ellos para la comunidad Ethiope. Al descargar el audio se puede leer Demitse Tewahedo. Glenn, otra posibilidad mas factible es que se trata de Finote Selam Radio http://www.radiotewahedo.org/ Si se escucha el final del audio correspondiente al 2 de Diciembre, la música es la misma. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmm, that one has separate programs on stations in Denver (Dec 2), Washington, Atlanta. Music may be same, but announcement is different. What does Tewahedo mean? The word seems to be in the name of more than one program/station. Rechecked Tue Dec 4 from 1900, 11785 was all in English past 1930 with IRN news, gospel huxters (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS. FALKLAND ISLANDS RADIO SERVICE OPENS RENOVATED STUDIOS The Falkland Islands Radio Service opened two renovated studios last week. The station is now computer operated, allowing presenters to access music, jingles and programmes at the click of a mouse and can even link up time delayed programmes. The previous equipment was failing and creating problems on a regular basis, explained Station Controller Corina Bishop. The new system will give better audio quality, and there will be no variations between British Forces Broadcasting Service and FIRS volume levels or when switching to the local news. In the long term there will be the capability to automate the studio during unsociable hours with the effect of increasing local output, said Corina, adding that the equipment has the ability to enable digital broadcasting in the future. She added: “The BFBS engineers worked very hard to make sure that we were back on air first thing on Tuesday morning and Mario Zuvic switched the BBC World Service onto 530 mediumwave for us so that everyone still had something to listen to on that frequency.” (Source: Penguin News via Mecropress) Falkland Islands Radio Service http://www.firs.co.fk/index.php (December 3rd, 2007 - 12:56 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** FINLAND [and non]. V. of RUSSIA, 6125 IRK per Aoki / SAM per HFCC, 1854-1858 covering Mr. Camping's voice in Family Radio test POR. YL talked mentioning Petersburg, the building, and museum. At 1858 "This is Voice of Russia ending …``, http://www.ruvr.ru and email address world @ ruvr.ru, IS then off. 6130, V. of RUSSIA, MSK, 1900-1916 French? but I also heard "doswida" at the opening. Mr. Camping's voice in French [?] following POR test heard clearer mentioning: volcano several times, volcano eruption, the Bible, written by God. Checking on 1939, they're still mixed (Tony Ashar, Depok, Indonesia, Dec 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON [and non]. GABONESE PRESIDENT’S SELF-CRITICISM NOT REPORTED BY LOCAL MEDIA Even when African politicians are honest enough to admit their mistakes, their own media don’t report it. Journal Chrétien, quoting APA News, says that, in yesterday’s address to the nation on the celebration of the 40th anniversary of his rule, the Gabonese head of state, Omar Bongo Ondimba, admitted that his reign has not been flawless hitherto and pledged a more dynamic government for the steering of actions towards the development of his country. In a speech which lasted for over half an hour, the president assessed his achievements and said that “there is still much to be done. And much needs to be improved”. “I notice regretfully that we have not always done what should have been done to preserve the various achievements registered for years in the various sectors,” he said, going on to enumerate his failures. These included admitting the mismanagement of projects like the pan- African radio “Africa N 1?, taken over by Libya. Contrary to the speech of President Bongo, all the testimonies and documentaries broadcast by the two national television stations only praised the senior of African heads of state, in power since 2 December 1967 following the death of Leon Mba on 28 November 1967 in Paris, France. (Source: Journal Chrétien) December 2nd, 2007 - 12:17 UTC by Andy Andy Sennitt comments: Here we have an interesting scenario. While in many developing countries the media complain that they are being prevented from reporting truthfully, here we have a senior statesman being honest, but the media - for whatever reason - do not report it. In the West, it is normal for the text of important speeches to be released to the media 24 hours or so ahead of time, with an embargo, so that reports can be prepared for immediate transmission after the speech is delivered. Perhaps this was not done, and the media was caught by surprise. Or maybe President Bongo inserted these self-critical passages at the last minute without telling anyone. But I suspect there is also a cultural factor at work here - Heads of State are given much more respect in African countries than they are in the West, simply because of the position they hold. This was apparent in the recent visit of Queen Elizabeth II to Uganda. As such, it is perhaps too simplistic to expect the media in those countries to deliver “warts and all” reports on their leaders, even when they are simply reporting factually what was said in a speech. I think this is an interesting angle to look at when we talk of “press freedom”, because the term doesn’t necessarily mean precisely the same thing everywhere in the world (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Speaking about test tones: Anybody remembering 6115 from Königs Wusterhausen? Stimme der DDR had a standard announcement that this frequency "now leaves our program and will carry programmes from Radio Berlin International from ??? hours, until then a test tone will be carried for technical purposes". Or the test tone aired by Radio DDR 1 for many years (they abolished this practice around 1983 or so) between 3:45 and 4:00 local time, honoured by a dedicated mention in WRTH? These were generated by devices called GF73R, originating from phone equipment and adapted for the needs of broadcasting engineerung (R = Rundfunk): http://www.art-phone.de/gallerie2/pages/469-Pr%F6citronic-NF-Pegelesender-GF73R-30HZ-15KHZ.htm (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. MV Baltic Radio this Sunday 2nd December 2007, 1300 UT [- 1400 or when?], Channel 5965 KHz. The transmissions of MV Baltic Radio will be broadcast over the transmitting station Wertachtal. The transmitter power will be 100 000 Watts, and we will be using a non- directional antenna system (Quadrant antenna). Good listening (Tom Taylor, Dec 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [in advance on yg] there`s more: From January 2008, MV Baltic Radio will be broadcast on the frequency 6140 kHz at 1300 UT. In our December-transmission 2007 we give news from Mecklenburg- Western Pomerania, we present information about new bands and CDs and we remind of the wild 60's and 70's in our program "Eine kleine Beatmusik - A Small Beatmusic" MV Baltic Radio sells small souvenirs and small useful things. Our first product is a MV Baltic Radio-cup. This cup must be on every desk. For only 6 Euro and .90 Cent (inclusive sales tax, additional forwarding charges) you can buy this cup. With the purchase of this cup you help MV Baltic Radio to stay on air. Please send your order to our postal address (see below) or to our e- mail- address info @ mvbalticradio.de Picture of the MV Baltic Radio-Cup: http://www.mvbalticradio.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=321&Itemid=21 (MV Baltic Radio via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) See also ETHIOPIA [and non] From January 2008 MV Baltic Radio - European Music Radio and Radio Gloria will be broadcasting on a new frequency of 6140 KHz at 1300 UT. 73s (Tom Taylor, Dec 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Regarding the mysterious Nov 24 transmission of Radio 700 on 6005, and where was it really coming from? I have it on good authority that it was in fact Wertachtal with 100 kW (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SOUTH CAROLINA [non] ** GERMANY [non]. Additional frequency of Deutsche Welle in Amharic eff Nov. 22 1400-1457 on 15620 KIG 250 kW / 030 deg \\ 11645 KIG 250 kW / non-dir \\ 15640 TRM 250 kW / 270 deg \\ 15660 KIG 250 kW / non-dir (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 4 via DXLD) N.B.: we continue to file monitoring of this DW transmission under ETHIOPIA [and non] because of the jamming situation (gh, DXLD) ** GREECE. Glenn: Voice of Greece's "Greeks In Style" with Angeliki Timms in English was heard here on UT Monday at 0005-0105 on 7475, but 9420 and 12105 were not audible. From 0300 to 0400 UT, I listened to part of the show "It's All [Greek?] To Me" and 9420 came back up with some noise; but I did not hear any English. It seems as though 9420 does a fade-out between 2300 and 0300 UT. I wonder what sort of an antenna that Avlis 3 is using for 9420? Perhaps the engineers at VOG can give us some enlightenment on this (John Babbis, Silver Spring MD, UT Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. 15200, KTWR in Indo dialect after the IS at 0859 2/12, (Balinese per Eibi b07 listing), talks over gamelan music at 0904. At 0927 dangdut songs are played!! (though dangdut is mostly Muslim music) About S3-4, 24433 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. Frequency change of Radio Budapest Hungarian from Nov. 27: 1900-1958 NF 9895 JBR 250 kW / 075 deg to AUS, ex 9845 \\ 3975 WeEu (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 4 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. TIPS FROM BOCCA DI MAGRA BY BERNARDINI & MONFERINI 3266.43, 29/11 21.47-22.02 RRI GORONTALO .. ID ! 4874.58, 29/11 21.25-21.58 RRI SORONG ID Received today from Dario via SMS. 73'S (Francesco Cecconi, Italy, Noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. RRI Jakarta on about 11784.9 was heard at good strength all over the Chinese jamming of VOA at 1430 today Dec. 3. There was hum audible that I could confirm when the jamming et al went off at 1500, which left the RRI carrier alone on frequency. The noise is not as loud as when previously faulty. I wonder why the station can't fill the hour 1500-1600 with something instead of wasting power sending nothing at all - a selection of Indonesian music would entertain us nicely! (Noel R. Green (NW England), Dec 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11785, Voice of Indonesia in English, heard clashing at same level with CRI until this latter signed-off close to 0900. Then VOI changed to Malaysian and was in the clear. //9525 was absent. 11785, more likely coming through long path at 310º is weaker than 9525 at 30º, which must be arriving via short path. 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.) 11784.87 VOI Jakarta super signal on 25 mb: around 1440 UT in BI onwards on S=9+20 dB level on Eton E1 set. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, Dec 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. Winter B-07 for Voice of Islamic Republic of Iran, VIRI/IRIB: ALBANIAN 0630-0727 13810 15235 1830-1927 6100 7165 2030-2127 6100 9740 ARABIC 0230-0427 6065 7350 9895 0330-0427 7250 9505 "Voice of Palestine" 0430-0527 6065 7350 13800 0530-0827 13790 13800 15545 0830-1027 9885 13790 13800 15545 1030-1427 13790 13800 15545 1430-1627 15545 1630-1927 6065 1930-2027 6065 "Voice of Palestine" 2030-0227 6065 ARMENIAN 0300-0327 7255 7295 0930-0957 9695 15260 1630-1727 6185 7230 AZERI 0330-0527 9865 1430-1657 6200 BENGALI 0030-0127 5905 6185 0830-0927 11705 1430-1527 5910 7330 7380 BOSNIAN 0530-0627 13760 15235 1730-1827 5945 7295 2130-2227 5950 9710 CHINESE 1200-1257 9895 11670 13645 15150 2330-0027 7130 7325 9635 DARI 0300-0627 9875 13740 0830-1427 9940 13720 1430-1457 9940 ENGLISH 0130-0227 6120 7160 "Voice of Justice" 1030-1127 15460 17660 1530-1627 6160 7330 1930-2027 6010 6225 7320 9855 11695 GERMAN 0730-0827 15085 17590 1730-1827 6205 6265 7380 FRENCH 0630-0727*13600 15425 (*ex 13710) 1830-1927 6180 6265 7380 9565 HAUSA 0600-0657 15435 17810 1830-1927 5950 7335 HEBREW 0430-0457 9820 11925 1200-1227 13740 15390 HINDI 0230-0257 13725 15165 1430-1527 7360 9710 ITALIAN 0630-0727 7545 13620 15085 1930-1957 6205 7380 JAPANESE 1330-1427 7380 9905 2100-2127 6145 7260* (*ex 7190) KAZAKH 0130-0227 7135 7265 1300-1357 9660 11745 KURDISH 0330-0427 3945 6145 Sorrani 1330-1627 5990 Kirmanji/Sorrani/Kirmanji MALAY 1230-1327 15200 17570 2230-2327 5945 7255 PASHTO 0230-0327 6095 6140 0730-0827 11990 15440 1230-1327 6175 7170 11870 1430-1527 3945 5925* (*ex 5935) 1630-1727 6005 6015 RUSSIAN 0300-0327 6040 7125 0500-0527 12025 15530 17680 17780 1430-1527 6225 7165 9575 9735 1700-1757 3985 7170 1800-1857 6035 7305 1930-2027 3985 7205 SPANISH 0030-0227 9680 0530-0627 13710 15320 2030-2127 6225 7130 7350 SWAHILI 0330-0427 13640 15260 0830-0927 15240 17660 1730-1827 6130 7345 TAJIK 0100-0227 5955 6175 1600-1727 5945 5955 TURKISH 0430-0557 12060 13750 1600-1727 7125 7310 URDU 0130-0227 3945 6010 6190 1330-1427 6175 9790 9835 1530-1727 3945 5925* (*ex 5935) 1730-1757 6005 7160 UZBEK 0230-0257 6040 6175 1500-1557 5945 7215 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 4 via DXLD) ** ISRAEL [and non]. Hanukkah --- In 2007, Hanukkah begins at midnight on Dec 4. All Israeli stations have different programs for Jewish holidays. The more religious stations will offer programming dealing with the religious parts of the holiday. The non-religious stations just change their schedules and air special programs (not necessarily always related to that specific holiday) (Elad Benari) Elad hosts a program on Click FM, online. Check it out at http://www.clickfm.co.il/english/index.asp (Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, Dec ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 9950, program? 1258 2/12 with good signal, signed out at 1259 leaving RUI in clear. Again 1355 under RUI. RUI closed down 1358 leaving abut 15 seconds to the Korean language station (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. RE: DXLD 7-145: Korean clandestines - Dec 3 checked on a few of these. 9940 1300-1333 station noted below threshold level. By 1333 could only tell there was a YL talking, but unable to determine what language. 9950 1300-1333 not a whisper of a station here. 9955 1310-1333 heavy jamming noise, completely dominating a station that was faintly heard. Against who? Korean? (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: posted in DXLD 7-145: KOREAN CLANDESTINES AND ABDUCTION ISSUE STATION Radio Free Chosun-Jayu Joseon Bangson 1200-1300 Korean 9950 RUS 1330-1400 Korean 9950 TWN Cornerstone Ministries International-Bukhan Seongyo Bangsong 1300-1330 Korean 9940 TWN de NDXC HQ (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Dec 3, DXLD, via Howard, this DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Radio Free North Korea Dear OM, cf. DXLD 7-145. KWHR on 9930 relays R Free North Korea at 1300-1400 UT from Dec. 3. (ex. ORNK program). I received an announcement of "broadcasted three times a day" at 1355 on Dec 3. 1000-1100 9730 TWN 1300-1400 9930 KWHR (Mo-Fr) 2030-2130 9645 TWN (de S. Aoki via S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. WILL SOUTH KOREAN ELECTIONEERING WHET THE NORTH KOREANS' APPETITE FOR DEMOCRACY? "A U.S.-funded radio station was to begin broadcasting speeches and debates of leading South Korean presidential candidates into North Korea on Monday. Open Radio for North Korea said it would transmit a recently taped speech by pro- government liberal candidate Chung Dong-young for four days starting Monday evening. The station said in a statement that it would then broadcast a speech by front-runner Lee Myung-bak of the main opposition Grand National Park. ... The Seoul-based radio station also plans to air speeches of other presidential candidates to the tightly run communist state by using short-wave radio. The radio programs 'can make North Koreans have an interest in the South's election ... and North Koreans can learn how a policy decision is made in a democratic society,' the broadcaster said." AP, 3 December 2007. (kimandrewelliott.com Dec 4 via DXLD) The station is funded by recent Congressional money for VOA, RFA, and independent stations transmitting to North Korea. In the [case] of ORNK, it's via the National Endowment for Democracy. See previous post and search this site on open radio for north korea. North Koreans might more easily hear South Korean election coverage from the South Korean KBS stations on medium wave (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) Funding also from Freedom House. AFP, 4 December 2007. "Open Radio was launched in Washington in December 2005. The radio has since been transmitting programs on the situation on the Korean Peninsula and stories about separated families to North Korea on shortwave (9930? [yes, KWHR --- gh]) from 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. [1100-1200 UTC]" Chosun Ilbo, 4 December 2007 (kimandrewelliott.com Dec 4, see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=2866 for linx, via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN. 3880v, 1455-1515, CLA, 01-12, Voice of Iranian Revolution, via Northern Iraq Kurdish - anyway was away 1555. 32332. 3895-3925, 0318-0430v*, CLA, 01+02-12, R. Voice of Kurdistan, Al- Salaymanuyah´, via No. Iran [you mean Iraq??], Kurdish political comments and talk on Kurdistan comments, 0500 Farsi ann, ID, "Im Radyo Sedaye Kordestane", political talks 35/2332 (Anker Petersen, Denmark, @tividade DX Dec 2 via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. KBC will stop using 1386 kHz AM; last show is on the 29th of December 2007, starting at 2200 hours UT. The Mighty KBC will start on the first of January 2008 with a daily Show of one hour on shortwave, starting at 2200 hours UT on 6235 kHz. Monday till Friday - The Wolfman Jack Show Saturday - The Mighty KBC Rocking Over The Ocean Sunday - BIG L International 1395 & The Mighty KBC The Mighty KBC is on the air this Christmas on 6255 kHz. 25th of December: 1000-1430 UT, 11.00 - 15.30 CET With a special Wolfman Jack X-Mas Show --- 4.5 hours with the Mighty Wolf blasting out of your speakers.... 26th of December: 1000-1430 UT, 11.00 - 15.30 CET The Mighty KBC Rocking Over The Ocean Eric van Willegen (30/11-2007) http://www.mediumwave.info/news.html (via Steve Whitt, MWC via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. RTM, 7295, 1929, OM cheerfully in this late time playing Britney's "Baby One More Time" as requested by a listener in Ipoh (Tony Ashar, Depok, Indonesia, Dec 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 7130, RTM-Sarawak (tentative), 0903-0955 2 Dec. M/W in Bahasa Malaysia with warta berita, phone report and several mentions of Malaysia. FM jingle at 0916 into Malaysian pops, 0927 another FM jingle and back to music. 0955 recheck had a few "Sarawak" & "FM" mentions with OC from CNR1/Taiwan (both of whom covered 7130 at 1100). 0903-0925 had Kuala Lumpur news relay, seemed // 7270 (tough under Nei Menggu) (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOLDOVA. Re ``Radio Moldova has moved from 1494 to 1485 kHz. Heard November 23 from 2120 UTC and again November 25 from 1720 UT with "Radio Moldova Actualitatsi" - news, weather and sports. Probably this is to avoid QRM from the Russian High Power Station at Krasnyy Bor near Petersburg carrying VOR programmes on 1494 kHz (Ullmar Qvick (25/11-2007), Sweden, mediumwave.info via DXLD)`` For some time this transmitter was lingering around 1479. Now there is a blob around 1489, too distorted modulation for identification, but SEEMS to be Moldova, noted at 2200 on Dec 3 (Olle Alm, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SW: much more under PRIDNESTROVYE ** MOROCCO. The following is the current English sked for the VOA from Morocco. Log them and QSL them while you still can. Last update: Nov 5 kHz Time UTC) Days Azimuth 7200 0100-0200 1234567 67 [moved to 7205 as discussed here; see USA] 9650 1830-2000 1234567 43 9885 0430-0700 1234567 172 13615 1600-1700 1234567 148 15580 1600-2000 1234567 148 15775 1730-1800 1234567 140 (David Ross, Dec CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS ANTILLES [non]. TO NET NEW DXCC ENTITIES FOR 2008! Over the past year much discussion has been made about the possibility of new DXCC entities happening once the break-up/disbanding of the Netherlands Antilles takes effect on December 15th, 2008. This past week, the President of European DX Foundation (EUDXF), Hans, PB2T, who visited ARRL HQ in July and had a discussion about the DXCC status of Netherlands Antilles, feels after December 15th, 2008, it looks like four new entities will be added to the DXCC list in the future (Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire). (KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 Dec 3 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) New DXCC-Entities to come --- As found on the homepage of EUDXF, President of EUDXF Hans, PB2T, visited ARRL HQ in Newington July 24th. There was discussion about the DXCC status of Netherland’s Antilles after December 15th, 2008. It looks like four new entities for Curaçao, Sint Maarten, Saba, Sint Eustatius and Bonaire for future DXCC. ( DJ5AV: I remember there should be no further Deleted Entities added to the existing ARRL-DXCC list, compare DXCC Rules, Removal Criteria. ) Political Background: The association “Netherland’s Antilles” will finish with “Kingdom’s Day”, December 15th, 2008. Until late 2008 status of a new system will be set up. Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius voted for closer connection with the Netherlands, while Curaçao and Sint Maarten want an autonomous status like Aruba. [DXNL 1547, Nov 28, 2007] (QRZ? Dec ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 9690, V of Nigeria, 1030 2/12, talks about entertainment and education. OM with ID, very low audio, YL then with talks on Abuja. 1035 with external recordings/speech, 1050 a talk about Nigeria and creativity. 1057 a hilife song. Bassy audio. Poor signal, S3 max. At 1130 QRM by Urumqi (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 6047.2, R. Santa Rosa, Lima, 0110-0121 3 Dec. Spanish yak by M with "en Radio Santa Rosa" and "todos los amigos de Radio Santa Rosa", TC at 0113: "ocho con trece minutos en Radio Santa Rosa", saludos to listeners and promo for a big event in downtown Lima. Fair signal in LSB, noted while looking for XEXQ (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. Re 7-145: Walt, I wonder if I perhaps heard a "black propaganda" station claiming to be Radio PMR? Programming I heard consisted of a report on wine war (their exact words) with Russia and a Madrid conference, Moldova diplomacy and Russia. 73, (Kraig Krist, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I wonder if the translation into English was not correct. Perhaps, the words "wine war" got mistranslated? To me a "war" is a battle, etc. I don't know how a "wine war with Russia" can be interpreted as pro Russia, unless, once again, words got lost/ mistranslated. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, Grigoriopol is Pridnestrovye and you have no chance to ever log Moldova on shortwave because no SWBC transmitters exist there. The confusion may arise from the circumstance that nobody except Russia recognizes the PMR, but de facto Pridnestrovye is a separate entity. The Grigoriopol transmitter plant is located about 13 km northeast of the town, a part of the fence around the station runs along the border with the Ukraine; I'm not aware of any high power site being located as close to a border as this one. The site is also being referred to as Maiac, after a very small village nearby, and in HFCC it traditionally appears as KCH = Kichinyov (the Russian name for Chisinau). Google has pretty good ortho images: http://maps.google.de/?ie=UTF8&ll=47.277366,29.420357&spn=0.086067,0.160675&t=h&z=13&om=1 There are three transmitter hall complexes, each surrounded by cooling ponds and light halls with barrel-shape roofs. The fourth building probably houses transmitters as well, but no outcoming feedlines can be spotted. In the western part of the station are two building complexes, apparently the northern one housing three and the southern one two shortwave transmitters. To the north standard curtain antenna designs, south of them fixed dipole walls and in the southwestern corner of the station a rotatable antenna. The fixed dipole walls and the rotatable antenna should be identical to the installations at the Bulgarian Padarsko (near Plovdiv) site. The eastern side of the station houses the MW antennas. The row of a dozen towers is the Zarya directional antenna for 1548. North of it a simple mast and a much better visible ARRT antenna, the latter presumably for 999. West of the transmitter building a directional antenna, similar to the SV 4+4 design seen at Bolshakovo and the never completed site in Bulgaria, but here consisting of only four instead of eight masts. And next to the border another single mast plus the site of the former 234 longwave antenna which crashed during the nineties. During the civil war in 1992 Chisinau lost its control over the Grigoriopol transmitters, Radio Moldova had been taken off 999 and 1467 and replaced by Radio Pridnestrovye which I understand existed already before, but only as wired radio service for Tiraspol. The result was a jamming war on 999, audible even at my location although 999 was until yearend 1995 occupied by a transmitter at Hoyerswerda. At the same time 873 from Chisinau was off, so apparently this 150 kW transmitter had been used to jam 999. The resulting loss of coverage got compensated by relays of Radio Moldova via the 1000 kW transmitter in near-by Iasi in Romania on 1053. A late-night news magazine still remained on 1053 after 2000 if I recall correct, easily to distinguish from own Radio Iasi programming due to somewhat unclean audio. But meanwhile these relays are entirely gone. At some point Radio Moldova launched a foreign service, called Radio Moldova International. I don't know if it already existed when they still had access to Grigoriopol, but after 1992 the Romanian Galbeni site had been used until these relays were cancelled as well, leaving web streams as only means of distribution for Radio Moldova International. Radio Pridnestrovye for its part soon started shortwave transmissions as well, first late at night on a frequency which afterwards carried Radio Moscow programming for North America, much like they now do on 6240. Later at least German was on a dedicated frequency, erroneously announced as 6025 but by chance I discovered that they were in fact on 6205. At this time it was a weekly 30 minutes broadcast, apparently done as a one-man labour and quite interesting, much better than what they broadcast since reviving the foreign service in 2002. It remained a bit unclear why the had stopped the shortwave broadcasts earlier, rumours had it that they were a bit short of money but also got attacked for these "pirate broadcasts". So of course Radio PMR uses Grigoriopol, and of course it is the very same site than VOR on 6240/7125, RNW on 7305/13700, Denge Mezopotamya on 7590/11530 etc. The "wine war" with Russia concerns the Republic of Moldova, not Pridnestrovye. The story is that Russia banned all imports of Moldovian (and also Georgian) wine, reportedly hitting the wine-growers there quite heard. One should not get confused by the circumstance that Radio PMR also covers stories from the Republic of Moldova (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) This explains it. Also, for me, listening to talk without normal pauses was difficult. Thanks and 73, (Kraig Krist, ibid.) Just been googling this story myself using moldova wine war, Moldova is more rural than Pridnestrovye and wine making is an important part of their economy, the latest update I found says: Experts welcome the resumption of Moldovan wine supplies to the Russian market. They note a substantial improvement in Moscow-Chisinau relations in the last few months. "Moldovan wine makers are going to restore about 30% of the former wine and spirits exports to Russia." (Novosti-Moldova News Agency, November 23). "Russia has no complaints about Moldovan produce and all barriers on the way to the Russian market have been removed... In the near future, trade relations between Moldova and Russia will receive a new impetus... In 2007, bilateral trade has gone up 40% as compared with the past year." (Moldova Azi, November 23). (Mike Barraclough, England, ibid.) Re: ``This time I was waiting for Radio PMR to begin its new North American service in English, Nov 28 at 2257, when 6240 was on with intermittent tones. No doubt Olle or Kai have measured their exact pitch from the Grigoriopol site. (gh)`` It used to be 905 Hz. However, this applied only to tones generated locally at the transmitter site, and it is possible that they have changed these recently, maybe to the much-used 1000 Hz. [more: GERMANY] I think you mentioned elsewhere that you noted them referring to the "Republik Moldau" in German? That's indeed the official German name, issued not too long ago. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Pridnestrovye. Radio PMR --- I have been reading closely the recent reports on Radio PMR in DXLD. Perhaps I am repeating what has already been reported. I tuned in shortly after 1700 UT, Monday, Dec. 3 to 7370 to hear English booming in followed by French at 1715 and German at 1730 to 1745. The sequence was repeated at 1800 and 1900 with excellent signal strength. The final few minutes of news included comments on Kosovo's possible unilateral declaration of independence. I transcribed the opening and closing announcements. Opens with ticking clock and a few bars of music. "Here is Tiraspol, the capital of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic. Today is Monday the third of December, 2007. This is the next edition of the English version of the Informational Analytic Program Pridnestrovye prepared by the editorial staff of the information and political programs of the Radio PMR. Good evening. (announcers name?) Today you will hear pieces of news from Pridnestrovye, Moldova and the world. Now we pass to details." After the news, names of editing staff, translators, sound director and narrator. Then: "Our address: The Program Pridnestrovye, Radio PMR, ?? Street 10, 3300 Tiraspol, The Republic of Moldova [N.B. --- gh]. The following edition in English you'll hear on Tuesday, the fourth of December, 2007. Until then, Goodbye." Some music. Then: "The Informational Analytic Program Pridnestrovye is your guide in the ocean of politics. We relate about history and everyday life of the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic." The English transmission ends with ticking clock and accompanying few bars of music, then into French. No frequencies announced (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ont., Dec 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I may not have made my point clearly enough in my earlier posting. The only real questions I have, and they may or may not be answerable at this late date, are: Back in much earlier times, circa 1950-1980s were there SW transmitters in or near Kishinev/Chisinau, or was the one and only Moldavian transmitter site ALWAYS at Grigoriopol? If that always was the only site, then it never would have been possible to log what the NASWA list lists as Moldova (Moldavian SSR). If there was once, but no longer, a transmitting site near or at Kishinev/Chisinau, then it would be possible for some longtime DXers to have logged RM as relayed from such a Kishinev xmtr site, and thus count Moldova (Moldavian SSR). Do any of our radio historians know for sure whether there was, circa 1950-1980s, such a Kishinev area transmitting site during the USSR era and perhaps dismantled later? When did Grigoriopol go into operation? This sort of data, if it exists, might help DXers determine for themselves, as I suggested earlier, whether they will be able to count one or two countries. Do vintage WRTHs, FBIS listings, other early transmitter data have answers? (Don Jensen, WI, Dec 1, DXplorer via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) Here's the reply from well-known Swedish expert Olle Alm about Moldova sw transmitter sites. So as far as he knows, only Grigoriopol has been and is on sw. Jari ------- Yes, it is correct that the Maiac-Grigoriopol site started on SW from 1974 to 1976. MW-LW may have started a few years earlier. The SW activity started gradually over some time. Each transmitter was operated only for 12 h for the first 6 months. No other broadcast SW transmitters are known to have operated from Moldovan territory before that. For a long time it was believed that the new site was the Mykolaiv (Luch) site in the Ukraine and that the "Simferopol" site was located somehere in the Crimea. It was not until in the early 90's that the actual situation as we now it today was finally confirmed. Today the Maiac transmitters are operating at reduced powers, but they have been used with 1000 kW each. In the 80's there were plans to upgrade them to 2000 kW, but this never materialised. 73 (Olle Alm, via Jari, ibid.) Whatever may be the situation with regard to particular sites, there is evidence of SW activity from Moldova before c. 1974. The U.S. FBIS (Foreign Broadcast Info. Svc) annual books show "Kishinev" on 6035, 7255, 9660 and 11935 from 1965 through 1969, but not thereafter (last FBIS list was 1974, I believe). And the CPRV has a QSL verifying R. Moscow "via Kishinev" back in 1965 (Jerry Berg, MA, ibid.) My WRTH's 1963 to 1969 show no USSR entries on these channels from European area. 7255, 9660 and 11935 were always WELL KNOWN channels of US RADIO LIBERTY and RADIO FREE EUROPE these days, and logical subject of Russian and Bulgarian heavy jamming. Maybe jamming stations against RL and RFE set up near Kishinev in Moldavian SSR as well as in Varna, Bulgaria. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Further information of Radio PMR can be found at http://pridnestrovie.net/tvradio.html The site includes an article entitled 'Blast from the past: Shortwave radio to the world' with details of Radio PMR including QSL postal address and a You Tube video of a Sony ICF-77 receiving Radio PMR in Madrid, Spain! (Martin Cowin BDXC 1603, Brough, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria UK, Location: 54.32N 2.19W, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Hey Mick, I got mail from the Voice of Russia on Tuesday. I had sent a reception report about two months ago. Then on Tuesday at lunchtime the courier knocks on the door and drops off a big package - from VOR. There was no letter with it, no note or QSL, just a beautiful coffeetable type book called “The Fine Art of Russian Jewelry”. It features pictures and essays about jewelry making and craftsmanship over the centuries in Russia. It’s gorgeous and all the pieces are on display at the Kremlin - which means I saw some of them there! I visited Russia and spent time at Red Square. Anyway, if it was a QSL, it’s the most unusual one I’ve received! (Sue Hickey in Newfoundland, Dec CIDX Messenger via DXLD) And speaking of luck in DXing, you may recall a couple of columns back that I was going get back to sending off reception reports, especially in the hope of getting QSLs and other neat stuff. It’s paid off, big time. Not only have I been getting numerous QSLs and other things, there recently came a knock on my door – “package for you, missus!” I got the package, which was well wrapped, and it was from the Voice of Russia. I had sent them a report several weeks ago. When I opened the package, it was a huge coffee-table type book, with a gold cover, and the title: “The Fine Art of Russian Jewellery.” It was gorgeous. Beautiful pictures from inside the Kremlin, where many examples of Russian craftsmanship over the past thousand years or more are on display. There were photographs of fine adornments, like necklaces, bracelets, rings, earrings, pins, as well as ornate gilt cups, all sorts of religious articles like icons and crosses, paintings, and the beautiful Faberge eggs. The book was breathtaking. And it meant a lot to me because I had visited Russia before and toured part of the Kremlin. And this book arrived with no letter of explanation, not even a “this is a special gift for our listener in Canada” kind of thing. But two days later I did get a QSL with a picture of St. Petersburg on it (Sue Hickey, CIDX Forum, ibid.) ** RUSSIA [non]. SPUR, 9280, VOR in Arabic at 1832. Identified from the interval music between themes. S7 max, 32422, quite strong buzzer on the frequency, 3/12 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not a spur, per ADDX: 1800 1900 RUS Vo Russia 7230 7305 7510/TJK 9280/TJK [TAJIKISTAN] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. 9525, CTN (via Ascension) *0730-0759* 2 Dec. At last a weak but readable signal for most of the broadcast with English/vernacular news items, closing at 0759 with "You've been listening to the news in Krio (?) from CTN" (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE. SW Sites Revealed --- Hi folks, our member Wolfgang has kindly supplied the following information regarding the shortwave BCB transmitter sites of Singapore. Finally these sites have been revealed in a clearer detail than is viewable with Google Maps or Google Earth. Using http://www.flashearth.com with either the Microsoft VE labels or Yahoo Maps options we can now see the Radio Singapore International SW site and now the complete BBC Site, both located adjacent to each other. The coordinates are: Radio Singapore Int SW site is at: 01 25 20N 103 43 30E BBC Kranji at: 01 25 23N 103 43 57E Personally it was a revelation as just how close these shortwave transmitter sites are to each other. Regards (Ian Baxter, Dec 4, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** SINGAPORE [non]. Winter B-07 of AWR's "Wavescan" on Sunday: 1130-1200 on 15260 SDA 100 kW / 255 deg to West Indonesia 1200-1230 on 15495 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to North East India 1500-1530 on 12105 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg to South India 1530-1600 on 11675 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to Nepal and Tibet 1600-1630 on 9585 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg to South India 1600-1630 NF 12065 SDA 100 kW / 285 deg to Central India, ex 11690 1630-1700 on 11980 SDA 100 kW / 300 deg to North India 1730-1800 on 9980 SDA 100 kW / 300 deg to Middle East 2130-2200 on 9720 SDA 100 kW / 315 deg to Japan and China 2230-2300 on 15320 SDA 100 kW / 255 deg to West Indonesia (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 4 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. SSIRI, 15675 via Meyerton, Tue Dec 4 from 1400 with usual condescending English lessons with frequent bell-sounds as cues to ``interact``; ended at 1429:30 and then observed two different tones, hi and lo, alternating every 6 seconds until 1431* This appears to be typical behaviour for SENTECH and a useful clue in other cases (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And SSIRI 15675 produced a fair to good signal at 1400 too (Noel Green, NW England, Dec 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare, 13810 via ``Jew-lick``, GERMANY, Dec 4 at 1439, running about 1 second behind WWRB 9385. Quite weak on 13810 and I don`t often hear it. Currently HFCC registered as 14-16 at 115 degrees, but http://www.overcomerministry.org/SW-UTC.htm not revised since Sept 13! shows 13-15 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. REE has absolutely no class, especially during its classical music show: Dec 3 at 1455, Mozart`s beautiful ``Exsultate, Jubilate`` rudely interrupted on 17595 to NAm for irrelevant African frequency change announcement as always on weekdays. // 15585 was not interrupted, but too weak to substitute (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. SSIRI 15675: this time see SOUTH AFRICA ** TAIWAN. 15375, Fuxing at 0900 +, just a very poor carrier 2/12 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. Bali (Pali) - VOFC Taiwan Hi folks, Some of you may be aware that I visited Taiwan recently. I will cover further details of the trip at a later date, but for now here is one of my 22 pictures of the former VOFC site at Bali (known as Pali by the radio community) in Taipei County. The [non] attached photo is of the front gate on the southern side of the complex. Some time ago Mauno provided the coordinates of this site as 25 09 08N 121 24 19E. I recall looking at the location with Google Earth & thinking that this couldn't be the site due to the amount of trees & overgrowth since the site was closed in 1996. Well after visiting the site this year, I can certainly confirm that it is indeed the location. What amazed me about the site is that much of it doesn't appear to have been touched since that time, except to say that of what was of value to anyone has now gone, e.g. copper wire, wood, flooring, doors, windows etc. Given the demand for land in the area, it surprises me that the site has not been sold off for housing. Basically the whole site appears as a jungle of plants and trees, with much of the site perhaps only accessible with the assistance of a chain saw. Given the amount of rain and the humid conditions of the region I can now image how the site has been transformed from a shortwave transmitter site to a mass of plant life. The front gate shows the logo of The Voice of Free China, one of the former names of what is now Radio Taiwan International. Also seen is the address plate of the site. These designs in either green or blue are the official address plastic plates that you will see throughout Taiwan. At the front gate a military policeman would have been on guard at all times when the station was in use. What remains at the site today? Very little. The transmitter building/s are located on the eastern side of the complex where there is also another gate, from here I could see inside the main building via a former window from the side gate, but all that existed was a concrete shell of a building, no windows or doors, flooring - nothing? As for antennas, well, no masts exist and I all that hinted at a transmission site was the remnants of a solitary feeder pole at the rear of the complex. The whole complex was surrounded by a 8 foot high wall, I toured around all but the western side of the complex; that part was inaccessible. The complex measures about 150m x 180m approximately, quite small I thought. Regards (Ian Baxter, Australia, Nov 28, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. See RUSSIA [non] ** THAILAND. 12095, R. Thailand, 0037-0054 3 Dec. Business news, sports, "Radio Thailand news" followed by Bangkok Airways ads at 0039 and 0044; info on the King's 80th birthday celebrations and list of upcoming events with "Radio Thailand news, broadcasting from the Public Relations Department of the Royal Thai government" at 0047. Very nice signal with a little polar flutter (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S S R. News To Us Department: “When the Soviet Union collapsed, it stopped using shortwave. That medium is almost a thing of the past. Instead of shortwave, HCJB came out with these little suitcase FM radios, fed by satellite.” (Paul Hollinger, from http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0052/t.9923.html via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. A VOA Somali transmission was heard today (Dec. 3) first via 13580 (a weak signal) at around 1320 and on parallel 15600 (a fair signal) at around 1340 until close down at 1400. I heard mention of "Somali at VOA dot news" announced which appeared to confirm what it was (Noel R. Green (NW England), Dec 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA`s A to Z language schedule says: Somali 1300-1400 UT 13580 15600 1600-1630 UT 1431 13580 15620 1630-1800 UT 13580 15620 But there is much more here than meets the eye; inspecting HFCC for transmitter sites, we find that 13580 during the 1300 broadcast is Lampertheim 132 degrees, while at 1600-1730 it is Iranawila 267, and 1730-1800 Iranawila 271 --- why bother to move azimuth by 4 degrees in final semihour? Even more convoluted is the 15 MHz frequency. 15600 is Morocco 108 degrees; but on 15620 in the 16-18 UT transmission, four different sites are involved, changing every half hour! 1600 Botswana 10 degrees, 1630 Morocco 108, 1700 Iranawila 263, 1730 São Tomé 76 --- I wonder how smoothly the transitions go as heard in Somalia (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes of IBB: 0000-0030 NF 7205 UDO 250 kW / 324 deg, ex 7200 VOA Special English 0030-0100 NF 7205 UDO 250 kW / 154 deg, ex 7200 VOA Special English 0100-0200 NF 7205 MOR 250 kW / 067 deg, ex 7200 VOA English 0200-0300 NF 7205 IRA 250 kW / 340 deæ, ex 7200 VOA Special English 0130-0230 on 13815 IRA 250 kW / 049 deg,add.txion RFA Burmese 0130-0230 on 11795 IRA 250 kW / 049 deg,add.txion RFA Burmese 0400-0500 NF 5940 LAM 100 kW / 075 deg, ex 9430 RL Tatar-Bashkir 1300-1400 on 13580 LAM 100 kW / 132 deg,add.txion VOA Amharic 1300-1400 on 15600 MOR 250 kW / 108 deg,add.txion VOA Amharic 1330-1430 on 13815 IRA 250 kW / 049 deg,add.txion RFA Burmese 1330-1400 on 11795 IRA 250 kW / 049 deg,add.txion RFA Burmese 1400-1430 on 11795 KWT 250 kW / 094 deg,add.txion RFA Burmese 1400-1500 NF 5840 TIN 250 kW / 288 deg, ex 5855 RFA Cantonese 1600-1630 NF 3965 BIB 100 kW / 063 deg, ex 9615 RFE Romanian 1600-1700 NF 5840 TIN 250 kW / 304 deg, ex 6060 VOA Hindi 1600-1700 NF 6060 BIB 100 kW / 088 deg, ex 5840 RL Uzbek 1600-1800 NF 9310 UDO 250 kW / 305 deg, ex 11865 VOA Pashto Deewa R. 1700-1730 NF 3965 BIB 100 kW / 063 deg, ex 7180 RFE Romanian Mon-Fri 1700-1800 NF 9785 LAM 100 kW / 092 deg, ex 11840 RFE Farsi R. Farda 1800-1900 NF 7425 UDO 250 kW / 300 deg, ex 7405 VOA Urdu Aap Ki Dunyaa 1930-1945 NF 5860 MOR 250 kW / 051 deg, ex 5850 VOA Croatian 1930-2000 NF 9435 MOR 250 kW / 059 deg, ex 7115 VOA Albanian 2000-2130 NF 7375 LAM 100 kW / 104 deg, ex 9840 RFE Farsi R. Farda (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 4 via DXLD) ** U S A. Clandestines on WHRA: see ERITREA [non], ETHIOPIA [non] ** U S A. WRMI`s program grid has been updated as of Dec 1: http://www.wrmi.net/images/wrmichart.xls (Jeff White, WRMI, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Several changes concerning DX programs, on 9955 except 7385 15-17: WORLD OF RADIO: Thu 1530, Sat 0900, 2230, Sun 0900, 1615, Tue 1630 MUNDO RADIAL [soon to be canceled]: Sun 1130, Thu 2315 WAVESCAN: Sun 0930 DX PARTYLINE: Sat 1130, Sun 0015, 0500, Mon 1600, Wed 1630, Fri 1645 AVENTURA DX: Sat 1145, Sun 0515, Mon 1615, Tue 1615, Wed 0115, 1645 LA ROSA DE TOKIO: Sat & Sun 0800, Mon 2300 FRECUENCIA AL DIA: Tue 1530, Thu 2330, Sun 1230, Mon 0500 VIVA MIAMI: Tue 2300, Wed 1600, Thu 1630, Fri 1600 Plus unscheduled times in the blox M-F 0600-1000, 1100-1300 on 9955, which is jammed much of the rest of the time. N.B.: the individual program pages linked at the left of the WRMI site have NOT all been updated, so don`t rely on times shown there (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A? 6915!!!! Family radio 0820 with religious program, pastor reading chapter 42. At 0828 QRM from whistling German operator. Poor signal at S0 but 24232. At 0835 with ID and station info. Music at 0834 2/12 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. GERMANY, Frequency change of WYFR in Russian to RUS via DTK T-Systems 1700-1800 NF 9595 WER 250 kW / 060 deg, ex 5970* from Dec. 01 1800-1900 on 5970 WER 250 kW / 060 deg, ex 1700-1900 *to avoid China Radio International in German via CER (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 4 via DXLD) ** U S A. Herbert from Austria noted EWTN yesterday and today Dec 4th around 7-8 UT on nominal 5810 kHz, and on two accompanied spurious signals of 5801.6 / 5818.4 kHz. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: EWTN (Global Catholic Network) http://www.ewtn.com war am MO, 03.12., von 0715 bis 0800 UT auf der krummen Frequenz 5801.6 mit O=2 zu empfangen. Sendeschluss um 0800. Sendet laut mir vorliegenden Plaenen bis 0800 UT auf 5810 kHz. """""""""""" """"""""" """""""" Heute, DI, 04.12., naeher angehoert: Normalprogramm auf 5810 mit O=4. Jeweils versetzt um 8.4 kHz auf 5801.6 und 5818.4 auch zu empfangen. In AM, USB und LSB. Ergebnisse gleich mit NRD 535DG und AOR 7030. Mit Gruss, (Herbert Meixner, Austria, Dec 4, A-DX via Büschel, ibid.) ** U S A. IBOC on and off at KYW, WWWT: see DIGITAL BROADCASTING ** U S A. Re 7-145: 1700, KVNS, Brownsville Texas --- This is a good tip from James Niven. I also don't know when they changed this time, but they have come full circle back to an oldies format I like; guess that dates me. They are running the same oldies format as they did in June 2001 as KQXX, "Goodtime Oldies For The Valley". They were essentially on a clear channel in 2001, no competition from KKLF, and put a good signal into this area. Their TOH is "We Are Oldies Radio 1700 KVNS Brownsville and The Rio Grande Valley". During the hour they have numerous variations of the slogan "Classic R&R from the 60s and 70s" including a little "Classic Christmas Music" mixed in with the R&R (Alan Schreier, Austin TX, ABDX via DXLD) The following clip was recorded March 2004 from Marks, Mississippi (NW Corner of the state, south of Tunica) http://www.angelfire.com/pro/paulsjournal/kqxx1700brownsville.mp3 It's the old Oldies 105.5/1700 KQXX (Paul Walker, ibid.) Yes, I can confirm that KVNS is INDEED "OLDIES RADIO-1700" with ID's about every 15 minutes. Not the best AUDIO QUALITY in the world though, (Steven Wiseblood/AB5GP, Harlingen, TEXAS, ibid.) Last logged here on 24.11. with La Preciosa ID, so if the station has changed, it has done so in the last week or so. Looking back I see that the change from Newstalk 1700 “The Valley’s place to talk” to SS “La Preciosa” format occurred at around 0600 on 18.12.06, so La Preciosa didn’t even last a full year. 73 (Andrew Brade, UK, Dec 2, MWC via DXLD) Logged changing format this morning at 0600 UT, slogan "Rock and roll, oldies radio, 17 hundred KVNS" , "Non stop music for the whole state, rock 'n roll ... 17 hundred KVNS", "ABC Radio NEWS" "Rock and roll weekend". We were at our 42nd Dx-Night in Piancada (Udine-Italy) with Valter Comuzzi , Alessandro Groppazzi and Elio Fior, heard whole night with "LA PRECIOSA" Spanish format, at 0600 after a last ID suddenly change in ABC News and rock, oldies music, we ask ourselves what happened. Probably test also last night at 2240 UT, not sure, I 'll start to listen the records tomorrow. Recorded with PERSEUS SDR and SONY MD. Best regards, (Graziano Rigo, Dec 2, ibid.) OK, OK, sorry 1 million times, I speaketh too soon! I rechecked on a car radio here in the parking lot and at 2116 CST hear "OLDIES RADIO 1700 KVNS". SORRRRRY for the confusion, but I SWEAR that 3 hours ago they were "LA PRECIOSA", so the change, must have just happened around 7 pm (CST) (Steven Wiseblood, Harlingen TEXAS, Dec 2, IRCA via DXLD) Perhaps they are Spanish during the day or weekend days ? 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) It's quite possible that KVNS plays Oldies part- time. I vaguely recall this coming up before, though I could be wrong. I am cross-posting to the IRCA list. Maybe someone there knows best (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) ** U S A. Ann Fisher commentary on WVKO`s new format: READER CAN CLEAN UP WITH LIBERAL TALK RADIO http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/12/03/ann03_ART_12-03-07_B1_928LGLI.html?sid=101 (via Artie Bigley, Columbus OH, DXLD) They are apparently taking the internet feed directly from WCPT AM 820 in Chicago. This morning, on the hour, I was hearing five minutes of news and local traffic for Chicago from this station http://www.wcpt820.com/ on WVKO-AM 1580. Also, I was hearing several liners each hour for WCPT, 820-AM in Chicago. There was only one short ID for WVKO-AM each hour that was inserted into the internet feed from WCPT in Chicago. You certainly get the 'feel' that you are listing to a station from Chicago right here in Columbus. [More posts in thread]: http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,86985.0.html (Artie Bigley, OH, radio-info.com via DXLD) ** U S A. MEGA MEDIA HAS LEASE AGREEMENT FOR FM FREQUENCY 11.16.2007 http://www.radioworld.com/pages/s.0103/t.9744.html Trying to edge closer into the precious FM spectrum that serves New York City, Mega Media Group said its radio broadcast division signed a five-year lease with Island Broadcasting, giving it access to 87.88 MHz. Alex Shvarts is CEO of Mega Media, which owns Echo Broadcasting. Mega moves its audio content that had been available under an earlier lease on 87.75. Shvarts said “the increased reach of this new frequency will give Mega Media the potential to become a more viable player in the New York City radio market.” Island has a license for a low-power TV station on Channel 6 in the market on which Mega has been broadcasting Russian- language programming, audio only (Radio World Newsbyte Nov 16 via CGC Communicator via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ?? How did they come up with 87.88, rather than 87.75 or 87.9? (gh) PULSE 87.7 --- That's WNYZ-LP, the low-power TV station broadcasting from Long Island City on channel 6. As we've reported previously here on NERW, it's not WNYZ's video signal that's of interest to Star. It's the audio carrier at 87.76 MHz (which migrated, briefly and not necessarily legally, up to 87.88 MHz), right at the bottom of the FM broadcast band. The signal's been on the air for more than a year now, broadcasting in Russian. Last week, Mega Media, which is leasing WNYZ from owner Island Broadcasting, announced that it will relaunch the frequency on January 15 as "Pulse 87," an English-language top-40 station, with Star and Buc Wild and the rest of their crew in morning drive. There are plenty of unanswered questions here, beginning with the legality of a low-power TV station broadcasting as a radio station, not to mention the unusually strong reach of what's supposed to be a fairly weak, very directional signal. Even if those are resolved in WNYZ's favor, there's the question of ratings: it's Arbitron policy not to rate TV stations' audio, and that's not a policy that's likely to change, especially given the shaky relations between the ratings company and the commercial broadcasters who pay its bills right now. Then there's the analog sunset: even though WNYZ, as an LPTV license, won't be forced to go digital in 2009, when its full-power brethren switch, the FCC has said there will be an end to analog LPTV at some point fairly soon - and with no analog TV signal, there's no analog audio carrier to hear on FM radios, either (Scott Fybush, NE Radio Watch Dec 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. Of lesser consequence is the arrival of a new TIS on 1650 on Vashon Island. Very conversational; broadcast quality. Here it mixes with the Tacoma HAR which is located at the intersection of I-5 and Highway 512. I haven't listened to it long enough to get the calls accurately but think I heard a WPHK###. (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, 12225w 4719n, Dec 4, IRCA via DXLD) This has been listed on the ISS web site for some time. Probably been in the planning / construction phase for a while. Says it belongs to Vashon Island Fire Rescue. No further info (Patrick Griffith, CBT CBNT CRO, Westminster CO, ibid.) ** VATICAN. Surprised with a transmission in Italian on 9660 around 0900. At first I thought should be Vatican, but style was different. Aoki b07 doesn't show anything alike. What can it be? 73. (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, Dec 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENIING DIGEST) One thing for sure: if it`s in Italian, it can`t be Italy (gh, DXLD) At 0830-0910 UT Vatican Radio on 7250 kHz. see enclosed schedule, but subtract 1 hr, i.e. scheduled CET, means UT +1 hrs 09:30 10:10 MESSA ITALIANA 100 AM 7250 18 337 Holidays But I guess the technician at Vatican site SMG had the VR frequency 9660 kHz on technical test ? 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Thanks Wolfy, for such abundant info. Strange because that broadcast sounded rather secular than religious. They keep same style since I first tune it around 0250 and occasionally rechecked past 0325 [CST = UT -6]. 73. (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. R. Nacional de la RASD, 6300, nice listening with chanting, music, Dec 3 at 0710-0722+, and this late, no QRM de Cuba leapfrog (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar-terrestrial indices for 02 December follow. Solar flux 73 and mid-latitude A-index 1. The mid-latitude K-index at 0600 UTC on 03 December was 0 (04 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours (SWPC via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. CVC Zambia? Past Dec 1, so is CVC now finished testing, and back on the air daily as scheduled, instead of via Germany? 9430 0500-0600 46SE LUS 100 315 English ZMB CVC CVI 13590 0600-1400 46SE LUS 100 315 English ZMB CVC CVI 13590 1400-2100 46SE LUS 100 315 English ZMB CVC CVI [OR?] 13650 1400-1700 46SE LUS 100 315 English ZMB CVC CVI (Bueschel- Germany, BCDX) (Glenn Hauser, circa 1600 UT Dec 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nothing heard in Copenhagen this Monday at 1645 UT. Clear frequencies. 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, ibid.) 9430, CVC, Lusaka, 0520-0550 2 Dec. Very nice signal with "Chatback" (answering listener's letters) & Christian contempo-pop, promo for "Favorite Cricketer" contest (phone: +61 75477 2373), "Daily Planet" music news, address for comments, questions: CVC, POB 6361, Maroochy B.C., 4558, Qld, Australia (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/PAR EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CVC via assumed Zambia is on air via 13590 until 1400 (when the Sines DRM roar starts) and then heard via 13650. The signal was fair at best Dec. 4. I heard English on 13650 on Dec.3 around 1500 but didn't stay to ID. Due to weak signals from Darwin 13635, it was difficult to compare the two transmissions, but they did appear to be the same, and more or less in sync with each other (Noel Green, NW England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. re: 3880 kHz religious, I wonder if this is the new frequency for Reflections Europe? (transmitter in NW Ireland). When I checked usual 3910 on Sunday night, there was no sign at all. Any change is very recent as WMR (pirate - Scotland) is still vacating the 3910 frequency for 3945 on Sunday evenings in expectation of Reflections signing on (Tim Bucknall, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 7-145, FINLAND: Oi Glenn. Referi-me a RTM da Malaísia e não a do Marrocos. A emissora ouvida nos 5980 kHz, não é mesmo a Scandinavian Weekend. Verifiquei isso ontem pouco depois das 0200 horas UT. A emissora ouvida não transmitia em idioma europeu, mas sim em árabe. Trata-se da RTV du Maroc segundo verifiquei no EIBI B07. A RTV du Marroc transmite em árabe segundo o EIBI, das 2300 às 0400 horas UT. Segue então a correção do meu log: MARROCOS 5980 0231 01/12 RTV du Maroc, Nador??, YL/YL, talks, AA 43343 RFP 73! (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso. Bandeirantes - Paraná - Brasil. DXClubePR yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5985.82, 0006-0040, Dec 04, Bamar (? or something close to it) male & female announcers, lots of weird SEAsian songs, hets presumed WYFR 5985. Frequency and language both fit Myanmar so would this possibly be some kind of additional transmission? Checked 7185 and heard this opening as usual at 0031 with Bamar ann, sung NA? and what sounded like Buddhist devotions (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands) 5986v normally used around 1430 (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Hi Glenn, at 0900 4/12/07 I had a second station on 6915 talking under WWCR (not an echo - as WWCR were playing music); would be great if it was KNLS , but with the terrible props of late I don't dare hope (Tim Bucknall, England, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s WYFR, not WWCR; sure, why not KNLS, nothing else there, except maybe pirate (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 15240, open carrier, Dec 4 at 1434, steady and only slightly weaker than CRI via Canada on 15230. 15240 at 1430 used to be the B-season time for Sweden via Canada, moved this year to 1530, but I wonder if some change is coming at Sackville (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15630, continuous 1 kHz tone test, Dec 4 from 1355 past 1401 and past 1429 but gone at 1441 recheck. ERT Avlis, Greece is the only station registered on this frequency at any time, as alternate to 15650, but its normal programming was running at same time on 15650, and much weaker. So either they are testing another transmitter, or it`s something else, more likely the latter. Perhaps DW is looking for yet another Amharic frequency in the neighborhood (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This one was noted at my location too at S9+ peaks on the meter from around 1315. The signal was very comparable with ERT 15650 - same strength and fading patterns. All Avlis 1-2-3 were on air where they should be (9935, 15650, 9420) so an Avlis-4 ??? (Noel Green, NW England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15790-15795-15800, again hearing DRM, Dec 4 at 1440. Nothing on 17870-17875-17880. The DRM DX schedule at http://www.baseportal.com/cgi-bin/baseportal.pl?htx=/drmdx/main&sort=kHz,UTC still hasn`t been updated since Nov 26, and neither center frequency appears! Ditto for http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/media/dossiers/drm_schedule.html --- why don`t they keep them current? We know that 15795 is registered for TDF Issoudun, but this is strong enough to be Guiana French instead (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see ZAMBIA; UNIDENTIFIED 15790-15795-15800 ++++++++++++++++++++ RETURN FROM IBOCISTAN I spent the past weekend in Dearborn, MI and got quite a taste of IBOC crud: WRDT-560, WJR-760, WWJ-950, WFDF-910, WDFN-1130, WXYT-1270, and even a graveyarder WEXL-1340. And what's the point? To benefit the handful of people (probably less than 100, I would guess) in the greater Detroit area who have actually bought IBOC radios? When are the Ibiquity bozos going to get the message that John and Jane Q. Public do not give a tinker's damn about HD radio. Give this sick puppy the needle (Mike Brooker, IRCA via DXLD) The point of having all those IBOC signals in Detroit, specifically, was to persuade the auto industry that the technology was ready for prime time. That's why Ibiquity pushed that particular market so hard to do all those installs early on. (It didn't hurt that there were so many stations belonging to early AM HD proponents Crawford and CBS.) The sheer number of HD receivers that are now standard equipment in Detroit-built cars is testament to how well the strategy worked. Now pulling my tongue firmly out of my cheek (ow!), I'd suggest that the sick puppy has pretty much already been euthanized. Here's the key: at the last couple of NAB shows, there's been practically NOTHING new on the floor in the AM IBOC area. No new transmitters, no new exciters, nada. The manufacturers are very good at judging demand, and if there were any activity in new AM IBOC installations at all, we'd be seeing new transmitters on the market, just as we keep seeing with the FM system. When was the last time any of us noted a brand-new AM HD signal on the air? It's been a while, hasn't it? Combined with Citadel's decision to shut off AM IBOC at night, and Cox's decision to install the gear but not use it at all, we're seeing a technology that has a fork pretty well stuck through it. That doesn't mean the stations already using it will be turning it off right away, of course, and so it's probably not much comfort to people in areas like Detroit or Chicago or San Francisco with a lot of AM HD on the air. But for those of us in areas where it's more an annoyance than a hobby-ending disaster, my read on the situation says it's not going to get much worse than it already is, and may eventually get a little better. (FM HD is, as always, a different story; it's actually doing pretty well from the transmission side of the fence, with new products being introduced and new installs continuing at a pretty good clip. The receivers and listeners still aren't there, for the most part, but that's another story for another post.) s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, ibid.) Barry hits a home run --- Kudos to Barry McLarnon on his article in the current issue of Radio World. It goes into nice practical detail of the damage IBOC is doing to broadcasters large and small in the AM band. Couple this with the article on WYSL's David and Goliath battle with WBZ/CBS and some reader letters, and it's a great bit of evidence as to why AM IBOC should be prohibited. Barry, Thank You! (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Thanks! I hope it helps to counteract some of the BS that emanates from the AM IBOC cheerleaders. Unfortunately, Radio World did not choose to post the article on their website, but non-subscribers can read the entire issue at http://tinyurl.com/39slny ps: extra points if you can spot the slight error in the article! (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibic. [sic: I mean ibid.! -gh]) Speaking of IBOC, has anyone else in the NE noticed that KYW in Philly never did turn on their IBOC at night, even after the FCC gave the go ahead? They have always remained daytime IBOC only. I wonder why that is? Who could they be protecting? 1050 in NYC? 1070 in Indianapolis? Since they have a very tight null to the NE towards NYC, I don't think that is a factor. But, I could be wrong. 73, (Rene' F. Tetro, Lansdale, PA, USA, Dec 3, dxhub yg via DXLD) Re 7-145, ``I noticed for the first time today in a long time that WWWT 1500 (and its predecessors) has IBOC at night. Now 1490 and 1510 are wiped out even with careful tuning of the antenna.`` It looks like WWWT has turned off IBOC as of 0220 [EST] 3 December. (Bill Harms, Elkridge, Maryland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DOES HAVE ITS OWN BAND BUT IT IS DYING [CANADA] There is indeed a band in Canada dedicated to new digital broadcasting and it is at 1450 MHz in the so-called "L" Band. CBC and other broadcasters invested in transmitters on this "DAB" (Digital Audio Broadcasting) band and there was great excitement around it a few years ago but it never caught on with consumers because of poor marketing and slowness of the electronics manufacturers to supply the Canadian market with modified DAB consumer receiver equipment that would work on the unique spectrum allocated for it here. After a hopeful start, I believe DAB in Canada is now all but dead - killed mostly by the alleged success of the likes of Sirius and XM - both of which leave me mightily underwhelmed. I own a small DAB pocket radio which I have used to receive the four CBC domestic radio network signals here in Ottawa; The CHUM radio stations here and also those of Rogers had DAB licences for 1450 MHz but because Sirius and XM were licensed in Canada these big conglomerates never put their stations on the air and I guess it's only a matter of time until CBC shuts down its DAB transmitters in major centres. My little receiver will be a museum piece after only a few years of use. A sadly missed opportunity, IMHO (Mike Bryan, VE3 CGT, Stittsville, Ont., Nov 29, ODXA yg via DXLD) Michael: Was there any real variety or innovation on the part of the stations that could be found on DAB (including the CBC)? Or were they just carbon copies of what was already available via analog terrestrial stations? In the UK, the BBC supported DAB is a big way by putting on stations that could not be heard any other way (with the possible exception of the internet). But the UK is a relatively compact country geographically which limited to some extent the outlay of resources necessary to cover most of the country. Canada (and the US) do not resemble that in any way. P.S.: While I have my own concerns/disappoint ments vis-à-vis Sirius and XM, each has--to at least some extent--provided some things unavailable (and still, remarkably, unavailable) via terrestrial stations. To me, that-and the availability of low cost or no cost options for receivers-can be seen as reasons that satellite has seen some popularity (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) Good source of info at Northwest Broadcasters, for NW BC & NW WA digital radio. Check it out here: http://members.shaw.ca/nwbroadcasters/digitalradio.htm ef (Eric Flodén, BC, ibid.) Axually it`s SOUTHWEST BC. I continue to be amazed at how Canadians accept US-based geographical terminology totally misapplied to their own country. Not just Eric but the Canadian site he refers to. For those still trying to figure this out, NW Canada == Yukon, certainly not BC (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) {I mean: NW BC = the part next to Yukon, not the part next to Washington} Answering John F's question re DAB --- CBC has, or had, no original programming on its DAB signals and the same is pretty well true for the private stations - simple parallel rebroads of their FM/AM services' network feeds. I have an idea there was maybe one station that maybe even made it to the air in the huge Toronto market area that promised 'original' programming - unique to the media, which featured hi-quality digital sound and Sirius-like text labelling displayed on receivers. MB (Michael Bryan, Canada, Nov 30, ibid.) Thanks, Michael. That supports a theory that's been rolling around in my mind (sounds painful, doesn't it?) that in order for DAB (or IBOC) to succeed -- i.e.: ultimately replace analog formats -- (1) the media is [sic] going to have to provide listeners with an incentive to purchase a new (and least temporarily much more expensive) radio (when the old one(s) work perfectly fine from their owners' points of view) in the form of value-added programming; (2) digital will have to overcome the relative fragility of its signal (accomplished in Britain because of its compact nature; attempting to be accomplished in the U.S. with IBOC) and its high power consumption on the listener end (not solved anywhere to my knowledge, but seemingly a lesser barrier); OR (3) the government is going to have to step in and close down analog by a date certain as the FCC seems to be intent on doing by February 2009. [TV only --- see addendum] In short, the marketplace didn't ask for this and is not demanding it now. That demand needs to be manufactured organically (1 and 2 above) or artificially (3) somehow. The key to satellite's "relative" success (reminder: it's still hemorrhaging financially) is that it at least gave subscribers a reason (more, new and better programming options) to purchase (or -- looking at it from the negative side -- the terrestrial radio industry did with its narrow, boring, formulaic approach to programming). Satellite's promise of CD or near-CD quality sound has not really been borne out by scrutiny. Yet, the content has been compelling enough for upwards of 17 million receivers to sign on. Ironically, the kiss of death for terrestrial digital radio stateside may be that the same people pushing digital are the ones who've so badly managed (IMHO) analog. Re-reading what I wrote, I should clarify that the FCC's shutdown of analog to which I referred involves broadcast television, not radio. Sorry for any confusion. Jaf (John Figliozzi, NY, ibid.) WIND BLOWING UHF SIGNALS AROUND I have been looking into the phenomenon of wind interference of UHF signals. I found that there is a device called a UHF wind profiler that measures wind speed with *radio signals* at 912 MHz, i.e. Doppler radar. Apparently, there are eddies in the wind that reflect UHF signals, especially when the spatial size of the eddy is at 1/2 wavelength. So, it makes sense that certain winds can cause problems with UHF reception (Mike Glass, Indianapolis, WTFDA via DXLD) Re: HDTV RAIN FADE - MORE DRAWBAX ``It brings up one glaring problem with the ATSC DTV standard - it won't work unless the receiver is sitting still.`` That's quite unlike DVB-T, the standard used in Europe and most of Asia; it works perfectly also in a running car. Maybe there are also differences in the field of DX signals? Quite some catches were already made here in Germany. Trouble is, in some cases the screen remains blank despite sufficient reception because the DX catch is encrypted! And to follow-up on the closure of the E-2 transmitter at the Grünten site, kept on air for some more hours in the morning hours of Nov 27 while the UHF side had already been changed to DVB-T, possible because the complete 48 MHz gear was anyway just to be shut down and will be dismantled subsequently: After the 0400 UT newscast (16:9 video letterboxed into the 4:3 PAL signal) they switched from the program feed to their test card with mono audio of Bavarian Open Radio, as first special after a while inserting a dedicated e-mail address: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yg6ytQLpLeo Later some Powerpoint presentations about the transmitter site were shown, in between again the test card with a crawl "since today 1 AM terrestrial service for the Schwaben/Altbayern area is digital, for continued reception via antenna you need an additional set for DVB-T, does not apply to cable TV". The last thing ever broadcast was actual live video, but check this out for yourself, it's real big cinema: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KFYaR-Woqc The day before, on Nov 26, the analogue TV transmitters on the famous Säntis site in Switzerland were closed. Here is the shut-down of ch. 7, with no farewell messages (the crawl was there already since October), no test card, no nothing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NUOaIKD6sIw On the other hand TV4 Öresund in Sweden made extensive coverage of the event: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9lb_ZBdWkA (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ TOTE A GUN TO PROTECT YOUR RADIO EQUIPMENT Has anyone traveled with the Quantum Loop? I am wondering if will be a hassle getting through security at the airport. If so I'll take the 2010 and no loop (Allan Furst, TX, ABDX via DXLD) I've traveled with it, but not on an airplane. I'd suggest getting a good carrying case for it. I went whole hog and bought a big Storm Case to hold all my good gear. I think you'd be able to go with something smaller for just the Quantum Loop. One other suggestion if you intend to check it. I read this on a photography web site. Buy a starter's pistol and find a spot for it in the case holding the Quantum Loop. Starter's pistols are cheap and apparently available at most any sporting goods store. They are also classified as firearms and must be declared when traveling. When you declare that you have a firearm in your bag, a trained agent will inspect the weapon to be sure it's not loaded and will then lock and seal your bag. It will be specially tagged as containing a firearm and its journey through the baggage system will be carefully monitored. It's like slapping a special delivery sticker on the outside. It's all perfectly legal and should raise no eyebrows at all. Be sure the case is hard sided and lockable. I've not done this, but there were several professional photographers who said they never check their camera equipment any other way (Jay Heyl, FL, ibid.) A NEW TYPE OF RADIO ANTENNA RESISTS JAMMING A BRIGHT IDEA FOR SENDING AND RECEIVING RADIO WAVES by Phil Berardelli ScienceNOW Daily News 14 November 2007 http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/2007/1114/1 A new type of radio antenna resists jamming, requires little electricity, and can squeeze into compact arrays serving many frequencies, physicists report. To manage all that, the device uses a tube of ionized gas, instead of metals such as steel and chromium, to absorb and broadcast radio waves. Such antennae could be ideal for military applications and use in cellular-telephone networks, the researchers say. A metal antenna broadcasts radio waves when electrical currents slosh back and forth inside the metal. For military and other uses, the century-old technology has three weaknesses: First, to work at low frequencies, metal antennae must be big and therefore easy to see. Second, antennae that operate at higher frequencies are smaller and harder to see, but they reveal their positions by the very signals they send. Third, metal antennae are susceptible to interference or jamming. Plasma antennae neatly overcome these problems, physicist Igor Alexeff of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, reported this week at the American Physical Society’s annual meeting of its Division of Plasma Physics in Orlando, Florida. The antennae work just like their metal counterparts, except that currents flow through ionized gas, explains Theodore Anderson, Alexeff’s collaborator and a physicist at the University of Tennessee, who conceived of the concept in the mid-1990s as a way to allow submarines to communicate more easily while submerged. Because the antennae, which resemble fluorescent lighting tubes, can steer radio beams, they can function just like phased metal arrays but in much smaller packages. The devices respond to signals only at or below their operating frequency, so the high-frequency signals typically used for jamming simply pass through with no effect, Anderson says. The antennae also can be nested inside one another to serve many radio frequencies simultaneously without interference. And they can operate on a pulsed electrical current without losing signal clarity, which can reduce power requirements 1000-fold, says Anderson, whose Haleakala R&D Inc. in Brookfi eld, Massachusetts, is attempting to commercialize the technology. The plasma antennae do not reflect radar signals when they are turned off, making them “stealthy” in terms of military applications. And the lower their operating frequencies, the less detectable they are to radar, which is not the case for low-frequency metal antennae, Anderson says. It’s a promising technology that “could prove to be on the verge of maturity,” says electrical engineer Ronald Marhefka of Ohio State University, Columbus. Still, there could be tradeoffs with conventional antennae, he says. For instance, plasma antennae require more power than metal antennae, he says. So they may not revolutionize the technology for all applications, Marhefka says, but they may find important niches (via Robert Wilkner, DXplorer via Dec ODXA Listening In via DXLD) This passage makes no sense in the context of shortwave jamming: ``The devices respond to signals only at or below their operating frequency, so the high-frequency signals typically used for jamming simply pass through with no effect, Anderson says.`` To state the extremely obvious, jamming to be effective has to be on the same (or nearly the same) frequency that is being jammed. Duh! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ A COMPLETE SOLAR CYCLE There's a neat compilation of images taken by the SOHO spacecraft depicting the past solar cycle from Solar Minimum in 1996 through Solar Maximum in 2001 to Solar Minimum in 2006 at the Astronomy Picture of the Day website: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html If you're late and the site is showing another picture, just click on the < > to scroll back and forth (Mark Coady, Ont., Dec 3, ODXA yg via DXLD) ECHOES, LONG PATH? Echoes were heard Dec. 4 via 15265 (Solh) [Rampisham] which gave the music an extra beat! Also via 13855 D. Welle WOF and new 13580 VOA LAM (although this was only a poor signal). Are these signals really coming all the way around or is there another explanation for the phenomena? 73 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could also be backscatter mixing with groundwave from your nearby UK sites, at least. What you need to do is measure the exact delay, to determine whether the signal has travelled some 40 megameters the long way round at lightspeed (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Noel, It takes only about 0.13 second for a radio wave to travel all the way around the world (40/300). That is roughly 1/2 the delay for a one hop (up and down) geosynchronous satellite delay. Those are of course difficult to estimate, unless with experience and measuring devices to confirm (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ###