DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-147, December 5, 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 ** ALASKA [and non]. KNLS presumed on 6890, the weak station in English, Dec 5 at 1323, but then in Chinese at 1325. Current FCC listings show WWRB on at same time, 1200-1500, but no sign of it, as usual over-scheduled; while KNLS is on 6890 during this one hour only, in Chinese. 6890 has WYFR also listed at 09-13 and WWRB also at 22-05 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. R. Tirana, 13640 check Dec 5: 1529, IS and opening theme, S9+10 but local hi noise level; SINPO 35343 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA. 4950 RNA-Canal "A", Mulenvos, 1905-1939, 01 Dec, Portuguese, newscast, sports news towards the half hour; 44333, noisy audio and sporadic utility QRM. The audio got better later in the evening (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 1620 kHz, R Italia, 28.11, 0047, S, interview, ID; O=2-3 (Michael Schnitzer, 19th Bavarian DX-Camp. Participants: Thomas Berner, Erwin Duldner, Walter Fürstenhöfer, Roland Höller, Rudi Schneeberger, Michael Schnitzer, Wolfgang Seyfried Location: 45km north east of Nuremberg, Germany; Antennas: 7 Beverages up to 300m to all relevant DX-directions. More information and some pictures can be found on my website: http://home.arcor.de/mschnitzer/ HCDX via DXLD) ** AZORES. It's simply not common to receive a 1 kWer at this time, but albeit very low powered, this is simply the Açores outlet I can receive with unusually strong signals here on mainland together with the FLO ndb on 270 kHz also in the same island, Flores: 828, RDP Açores, Monte das Cruzes, Flores island, 1134-f/out 1220, 02 Dec, relay Lisboa for Antena 1 newscast followed by a lengthy report from UEFA HQ, news again at 1200; 23442, adjacent QRM de E[spaña] 837. (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BENIN. 5025 ORTB, Parakou, 1120-1515, 01 Dec, French, phone-ins, Afr. Pops; interview in progress at 1406, Vernacular at 1515 when rated 35443; 25332 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4650.2, R. Santa Ana, Stª Ana del Yacuma, 2210-2221, 01 Dec, local songs; 24331 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Morning band scan on 49 meters in the Americas. 12/04/2007 1700-1730 UT: (Presumed)- 6122.100 kc. R. Globo, São Paulo. Subaudible carrier only. (Presumed) - 6060.800 kc. R. Tupi, Curitiba. Subaudible carrier only. (Presumed) - 6000.000 kc. R. Guaíba, Porto Alegre. Subaudible carrier only (Thomas F, Giella, KN4LF, Lakeland, FL, USA, Antenna 90-11 meter fan dipole up at 35 feet, Rig - Icom IC-746 Pro, Dec 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Even from FL, any signal at all from southern Brazil at hi noon on 6 MHz would be remarkable, and slightly lower sun angle near solstice should not make much difference southwards. Should check precise frequencies above at night to see if they match. Don`t recall any other reports of Globo on 6122+; is this listed somewhere? PWBR and LADX do have it as 6120v, but PWBR 2007 shows it daytime only at 11-19 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CANADA. Re 7-136, Fybush on Halifax: If I recall, Canadian FM stations on third adjacent channels are only authorized when both parties agree (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Dec 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. Wrens in WW2 --- Stumbled onto this fascinating discussion about radio warfare. Its a segment from the CBC Radio One regional phone-in show "Ontario Today", hosted by Rita Celli (one of my fav CBC hosts, in spite of the fact she mixes up which war this story took place in) Wrens in WW2 --- Those dames were so much more. Coming up this half hour, a woman who had a top secret assignment. She kept mum for decades, but she is going to tell us just what she was up to in the Second World War. Listen to the Item [Runs 16:36] Its an interview with a lady who served in the WRENs during World War II at "a secret radio station near Ottawa" (designated HMCS Bytown). She monitored traffic between U-Boats and their bases. http://www.cbc.ca/ontariotoday/story_archive.html Scroll down to Friday, November 9, 2007, which is incorrectly labelled November 19. These segments are posted for 30 days so check it out soon (Fred Waterer, Ont., Dec 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 7220, R. Centrafricaine, Bimbo, 1127- 1150, 01 Dec, Vernacular (?), talks; 15331 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO, BIO [British Indian Ocean Territory]. 4319-usb, AFN, Diogo Garcia, 1850-1911, 01 Dec, English, music, newsbulletin at 1900; 33342, adjacent utility QRM. Does anyone know where the utility station is? (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CRI-Award --- Recently I got a registered envelope from China Radio International. To my surprise I find a nice a ladies bag made of Chinese Silk. There was also a certificate enclosed with the bag stating that I have won the third price in the Sichuan knowledge. I gifted that bag to my wife. The top prize of this contest was a free trip to Sichuan province of China (T. R. RAJEESH, Report from India, Nov WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. CRI, 9450, collided with Poland [q.v.] via Germany, Dec 5 from *1357 musical prélude mixing with Poland`s rock music. CRI`s préludes should be dispensable to avoid such conflicts, and instead crash-start at hourtop, but hey, we know what a ``good neighbor`` CRI is. Ironically, Poland had just been talking about its severe trade imbalance and hoping for Chinese aid to railways. This CRI broadcast is in Russian at 1400, 37 degrees from Shijiazhuang, which means it`s also aimed at North America. And even more ironically, it then had QRM from Firedrake --- Chicoms vs Chicoms! This is because Sound of Hope also starts 9450 at 1400; per Aoki it`s 100 kW at 335 degrees from Yunlin, Taiwan, which must have been the third station in the mix. More Firedrake on 9930, VG and in the clear, Dec 5 at 1424, not a trace of anything else on frequency even during pauses, but the jamming is also there because Sound of Hope is scheduled on KWHR 9930, M-F at 14-17. Is it really on or have they pulled a fast one, QSY to somewhere else? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. The Chinese 'Firecracker' continues to pop up on different frequencies, not as much as earlier this year though. Latest 'new' frequency has been 21900 some mornings for a while and suddenly going off-air (Des Walsh, Ireland? Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) Regarding the 13 metre band I notice that REE Spain and a number of Arabic transmitters [likely SAUDI ARABIA plus mixing products – gh] can be very strong at times whilst others transmitters in the band can be much less in strength. No interesting DX though. Reception of other than S8/9 signals is often marred by the OTH pulse interference when continues off and on. This Chinese over the horizon radar is on-air about half the days I listen out, usually over three bands of frequencies as usual: 7.3 to 9.5 MHz, 12 to 15 MHz and strongest over 19 to about 25 MHz. Whilst in Spain in October I heard it on the higher spread of frequencies most hours of the day when it was on, including at night, There was too much local noise on the lower frequencies to notice it, the results of all the modern switched-mode power supplies in everything from mobile-phone chargers, CFL bulbs, satellite receivers, LCD TVs and goodness knows what else. We don't need data over electric power lines to interfere with HF reception, it's already suffering. (Des Walsh, Ireland? Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** CUBA. 5025, R. Rebelde, Bauta, 1037-f/out 1145 (!), 01 Dec, Spanish, "cultura en Haciendo Radio", music, TCs, newscast; 35433. Check USA WWCR 5070 f/out time (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Todo Música is now 0330-0800 UT Sats on 5025. Hecho en Cuba [another music show], is now 1730-1800 M-F on 15370 (Bill Tilford, Easy Listening, Dec NASWA Journal via DXLD) Plus 2 or 3 other frequencies at 1730 (gh, DXLD) ** DENMARK. CUTS ON 1062 --- Effective today DR is now longer airing a weather forecast (at 2145-2200 UT) and the news (at 2200-2205 UT) on 1062 kHz. The weather forecasts at 0445, 0745, 1045 and 1645 UT remain on the air. So do the newscasts at 0500, 0800 and 1100, as well as the navigational warnings at 1700 and the gymnastics programme at 0730. Besides these few short broadcasts the 250 kW transmitter on 1062 kHz in Kalundborg remains silent for most of the day. More info (in Danish): http://www.radionyt.com/artikel/default.asp?id=14567 Best 73s (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, Dec 3, MWC via DXLD) Does 1062 run an open carrier when it is not broadcasting, or is it completely off the air? Thanks (Nick Hall-Patch, Victoria, B.C., Canada, ibid.) Hi all; At least in the afternoon I have noted it starting sometimes before the weather, otherwise the channel is open for DX. That is why stations like the Philippino (DZEC) is now heard around 1300-1530. 73 (Tarmio Kontro, Finland, ibid.) ** DIEGO GARCIA. See CHAGOS ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Morning band scan on 49 meters in the Americas. 12/04/2007 1700-1730 UT: 6025.095 kc. R. Amanecer, Int. Santo Domingo. SIO 454. Programming in Spanish. AARP ad. Distorted audio (Thomas F, Giella, KN4LF, Lakeland, FL, USA, Antenna 90-11 meter fan dipole up at 35 feet, Rig - Icom IC-746 Pro, Dec 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, RNGE, Bata, 1917-1956, 01 Dec, Spanish, African pops, Spanish songs and international music; news at 2000; 55333, audio not that good. The recently reported, reactivated outlet of 6250 was not audible (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, R. Africa Network, 1149-1205, Dec 4, English. Religious program thru 1200 followed with R. Africa Network ID with URL/contact info. Same for Pan American Broadcasting. Radio drama at 1203. Fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. NF 7560 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg to EAf, ex 9445 as follows: Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church/ Holy Synod Radio in Amharic: 1600-1700 Mon Radio Xoriyo Ogadenia in Somali: 1600-1630 Tue/Sat Andenet Le Democracy in Amharic: 1600-1700 Wed/Fri/Sun Ethiopian People's Patriotic Front (EPPF) in Amharic: 1600-1700 Thu 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Clandestina: 11900, Tensae Ethiopia Voice of Unity, 1500-1505, escuchada el 5 de diciembre en ahmárico; comienza emisión con música de flauta, locutor con ID, comentarios, segmento musical, otra vez el fragmento musical interpretado por flauta, SINPO 43343 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), Spain, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is the one hit by jamming on its previous 19m frequency; so is 11900 also jammed or something else accounting for I = 3? (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. Dec 5 check of DW Amharic: at 1430 fair and clear on Rwanda 15620, but only noise on 15660; even more so at 1456 recheck. Greece 15650 also had some tones on it briefly around 1430 so wondered if some jamming was mistuned. No tone test on 15630 this day (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. From the VOA Horn-of-Africa file. Committee to Protect Journalists reminds Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice of Ethiopia's jamming of VOA and DW, and Ethiopia's "contempt for independent media," on eve of her visit to Addis Ababa. CPJ, 4 December 2007. No specific mention of jamming in Rice's statement after her meeting with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. "State Department, 5 December 2007. See previous post about same subject. Posted: 05 Dec (kimandrewelliott.com see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=2884 for linx, via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Re WHRA 11785, Monday 19-20, 7-146, what does Tewahedo mean? Saludos Glenn, adjunto significado de la palabra Tewahedo: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eritrean_Orthodox_Tewahdo_Church Tewahedo (Ge'ez ???? tawahido) is a Ge'ez word meaning "being made one"; it is related to the Arabic word ????? tawhid, meaning "monotheism", or more literally "unification". This refers to the Oriental Orthodox belief in the one single unique Nature of Christ (i.e., a belief that a complete, natural union of the Divine and Human Natures into One is self-evident in order to accomplish the divine salvation of humankind), as opposed to the "two Natures of Christ" belief (unmixed, separated Divine and Human Natures, called the Hypostatic Union) promoted by today's Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches. According to the Catholic Encyclopedia article on the Henoticon [1]: the Patriarchs of Alexandria, Antioch, and Jerusalem, and many others, all refused to accept the "two natures" doctrine decreed by the Byzantine Emperor Marcian's Council of Chalcedon in 451, thus separating them from the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox. The Oriental Orthodox Churches, which today include the Coptic Orthodox Church, the Armenian Apostolic Church, the Syriac Orthodox Church, the Malankara Orthodox Church of India, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church, are referred to as "Non- Chalcedonian", and, sometimes by outsiders as "monophysite" (meaning "One Nature", in reference to Christ; a rough translation of the name Tewahido). However, these Churches themselves describe their Christology as miaphysite. The Ethiopian Church claims its origins from Philip the Evangelist (Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 8). It became the established church of the Ethiopian Axumite Kingdom under king Ezana in the 4th century through the efforts of a Syrian Greek named Frumentius, known in Ethiopia as Abba Selama, Kesaté Birhan ("Father of Peace, Revealer of Light"). As a boy, Frumentius had been shipwrecked with his brother Aedesius on the Eritrean coast. The brothers managed to be brought to the royal court, where they rose to positions of influence and converted Emperor Ezana to Christianity, causing him to be baptised. Ezana sent Frumentius to Alexandria to ask the Patriarch, St. Athanasius, to appoint a bishop for Ethiopia. Athanasius appointed Frumentius himself, who returned to Ethiopia as Bishop with the name of Abune Selama. For centuries afterward, the Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria always named a Copt (an Egyptian) to be Abuna or Metropolitan Archbishop of the Ethiopian Church (via Jose Miguel Romero, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GABON. 4777, RD. TV Gabonaise, Melen, 1612-1646, 02 Dec, French, live report on a traditional mask festival; 55444. 7270, RD. TV Gabonaise, Melen, 1129-1217, 01 Dec, French, talks followed by newscast at 1200; 24342 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. At nighttime in Spain [in October] I notice a lot of pirate transmitters between 1600 and 1700 kiloHertz coming not from Italy but Greece. There could be 5 or 6 of them on at any given time but their audiences must be very limited with few receivers these days tuning those frequencies (except for the expanded US medium wave!). (Des Walsh, Ireland? Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** GUINEA. 7125, R. Guinée, Sonfonya, 1040-1220, 01 Dec, French, talks on imports followed by African pops; 34433, sporadic amateur QRM; this outlet does seem to be somewhat irregular (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. AIR VBS, 9870, VG except for polar flutter, Dec 5 at 1414, music splashing over VOA 9865 report on how caste problems detract from educational opportunities in India. VOA is 108 degrees from Lampertheim, which means an even bigger clash in the Middle East (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Solar-terrestrial indices for 04 December follow. Solar flux 74 and mid-latitude A-index 1. The mid-latitude K-index at 1500 UTC on 05 December was 1 (8 nT). No space weather storms were observed for the past 24 hours. No space weather storms are expected for the next 24 hours (SWPC via DXLD) ** INDIA. Feedback --- I always read the fellow listeners comments and letters with great interest. In the September edition of Radio Topics David Crystal mentioned that IRCs can be sent to any country in an unregistered letter without risk except India. I wonder from where Mr. Crystal got this information? Perhaps from PWBR address section; I guess. In reality there is not that much risk in sending an article to India. In my experience I have been receiving letters and parcels from Radio stations since 1997. I got many valuables but never remember an incident of losing something in the post (except postal delays!). But of course, twice I find letters from my Swedish friend carefully opened and glued again. But the contents, few philatelic items and postcards, were inside the envelope. It is illegal to send or receive currency through post in India, so the authorities might have checked for the contents. Many years ago DXers, especially in some North Indian states, used to report the loss of valuables received from foreign radio stations . But in South Indian states postal theft used to be a rare incident as the authorities used to take very strict disciplinary action. Many postmen or mail carriers in the Postal department used to be temporary workers called E. D. (extra department employees) with very nominal wages far below the salaries of the permanent employees. This may explain the real cause for occasional theft reported by DXers in North India. Nowadays due to the strengthening of private sector and reduced postal mails the reported thefts are extremely rare. So don't feel fear to send an IRC to India in an unregistered letter! (R E P O R T F R O M I N D I A, news, views and comment presented by T. R. RAJEESH, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** INDIA. Press clipping about early radio in India: The first Radio Sangeet Sammelan on All India Radio was held in 1957. Over 20 years before that a professor of psychology was trying to get his then nine-year-old son to sing something into the microphone to inaugurate the professor's private radio station in Mysore. The boy forgot his lines and started crying. That particular sammelan may not have taken off but Professor M V Gopalaswamy nurtured his passion for radio transmission and achieved something immortal - he set up India's first private radio station, in Mysore. He is recognised as the first person to have used the work 'Akashvani' for a radio transmission. Akashvani was adopted as the official name of All India Radio in 1957, exactly 50 years ago. The professor was caught by the romance of airwaves when he came across an unused 50-watt transmitter. Prof Gopalaswamy set to work on it and in September 1935, his room in 'Vithala Vihar' in Mysore's Vontikoppal area became a radio station. He called the station 'Akashvani'. He invited singers to come to his house and in return for music rendered the artistes were sent off with tambula and respect. Gopalaswamy, then serving under the Maharaja of Mysore, also invited his brother-in-law to give a talk on radio. The young man used this opportunity to vent his discontent against the Maharaja. So livid was the professor that he threw the relative out of the house! And it took six-months of conciliatory efforts on the part of the family to get the speaker back into the house. Gopalaswamy soon imported a 250-watt transmitter. The station continued with support from the public and the Mysore Municipality till it was taken over by the Mysore State in 1941. The enterprising Dr Gopalaswamy had also established the department of Psychology at the University of Mysore in 1924 after obtaining his Ph D in London under psychologist Dr Charles Spearman. The department is recognised as being the second oldest department of psychology in the country. "During the early years of radio transmission in Mysore the station had fixed loudspeakers outside the building. People sitting in the park nearby would run across to the station and request that a particular music be played. The very next minute, the air would be filled with the requested piece of music," recounts retired AIR Station Director Dr Jyotsna Kamat. "According to family lore, my uncle used to sit across the station and listen to the music being played. His favourite song was the Tamil hit 'Meen Pudippoma'. He used to keep requesting the station to play this song!" says media person Bharathi Ghanshyam, granddaughter of Gopalaswamy. It is debatable whether this is what Mahatma Gandhi meant when he called All India Radio 'A medium of unparalleled immediacy, intimacy and power'! Known for its emphasis on reliability, credibility and clear aim to educate and entertain, AIR remained a popular mass medium until television wooed away its audience. But with the advent of FM channels, radio has regained its popularity. Says radio jockey-cum-model Pavithra Ghanshyam, "the corridors of Akashvani in Mysore intimidated and awed me. Radio is a fantastic medium. On my shows I get calls from city slickers as well as from people calling themselves Balehannu Puttuswamy! Somewhere in my mind, the fact that my great grandfather Gopalaswamy was a pioneer in the field of radio has always drawn me to the media. Radio is not what it was in his time, as there is a constant need to reinvent," says the young RJ. AIR has grown. Today it has a network of 223 broadcasting centres with 143 medium frequency (MW), 54 high frequency (SW) and 161 FM transmitters. Even as the reach, range and style of mass media changes every day, channels and one word continues to instil a sense of continuity and patriotism - 'Ye hay Akashvani...' The beauty is that the word for 'voice from the air' is the same in almost all Indian languages (from the Deccan Herald via R E P O R T F R O M I N D I A, news, views and comment presented by T. R. RAJEESH, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** INDIA [and non]. What do readers think about All India Radio 'Faithfully Yours' giving out full name and address while reading reception reports. They don't seem very security conscious (G. Skinner, British Isles, Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) Ah, a vestige of the good ole days. Now it can be told: I used to monitor such mailbag programs, notably Radio Australia`s, copy down and send off the addresses to NASWA so unclubbed listeners could be approached for membership, perhaps with a free sample bulletin. Hmm, was I a spammer without knowing it? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. MY COLD WAR NIGHTS TWIDDLING THE DIAL Award winning journalist Robert Fisk, writing in The Independent October 6 of his interest in shortwave broadcast stations: "A hobby in which we Kentish schoolboys once indulged in was the sending of reception reports to Eastern European radio stations during the Cold War. It didn't matter to us that we were helping the communist serpent spread its venom into the living rooms of England. We would listen with rapt attention to the English language service of Radio Moscow or Radio Prague or Radio Warsaw or Radio Sofia - occasionally, incredibly, even to Radio Tirana - and then send off a postcard to the Communist Beast to report on the audibility of some tedious programme about Bulgarian steelworking, Polish agronomy or Soviet collective farm production. Was there too much static? A little distortion perhaps? Or was this nonsense crossing the Iron Curtain with pristine clarity on Thursday night? In return, the producers of these awful fictions would send us heaps of books and magazines, most of them groaning with statistics, or photographs of gaily smiling farmers and industrial slaves or beaming autocrats. Few were those of us who did not know the much loved features of Todor Zhivkov or Walter Ulbricht or, indeed, the entire central presidium of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. Pity the postmen of the Warsaw Pact. The Polish literature came by the double whammy, volumes heavy with grainy wartime photographs of the destruction of Warsaw which linked the villainy of Nazism to the supposedly fascist government of Adenauer and other western lackeys. The Czechs were by far the smartest; they sent out quite well-produced books on the masterpieces of Prague's art galleries. Of course, we self-important schoolboys believed that our reports were being discussed at the plenary session of every local party headquarters. Perhaps they were - and heaven knows what MI5 made of this mass conspiracy by the pupils of Kent's richest schools. I fondly imagined how - from Potsdam to the Urals - legions of Stakhanovite workers were clambering up massive transmitters under pale blue Eastern European skies, copies of my reports in hand, of course, to tamper with the giant cross-pylons and beacons that were sending their socialist message to the world. I once even sent off a report to dear old Radio Eireann in Dublin - only to receive back a black-and-white postcard of De Valerian bleakness, informing me that I need send no more. The Irish, of course, had got the point: the whole fandango was a complete waste of time - just as the entire billion-dollar propaganda radio system of Eastern Europe converted not a single capitalist to the cause of world revolution. The entire thing was a sham, dreamed up by communist bureaucrats to keep other communist bureaucrats happy." Full article at http://news.independent.co.uk/fisk/article3033368.ece (via Mike Barraclough, Nov WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL. Clandestinas B-07, recopilado de EiBi. BC B07 - The comprehensive shortwave broadcasting schedule ========================================================== TIME VERSION http://www.eibi.de.vu/ Valid October 28, 2007 - March 30, 2008 Free to copy + distribute. Days, if in numbers: 1-Monday etc. For country, language and target-area codes please refer to readme.txt on my website. Last update: Nov 29, 2007 Time(UTC) Days ITU Station Lang. Target Frequencies ====================================================================== [the original post of this started at 0230, but surely there are some before then, notably R. República. I searched that portion of EiBi and found these, but did not search the rest to find any others that may be missing; however, the list looks a bit too short to me. I see it doesn`t include WHRA clands between 18 and 20 on 12015, 11785 --- gh] 0000 0200 CLA Radio Republica S CUB 6155 0100 0130 135 CLA Moj Them Radio HM SEA 15260/TWN 0200 0400 CLA Radio Republica S CUB 6100 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 0230 0315 CLA Radio Payam-e Doost FS IRN 7460/MDA 0230 0330 CLA Radio Sadaye Kashmir UR SAs 6100/IND-d 0230 0400 CLA VoJammu-Kashmir Freedom E SAs 5990 3975/PAK 0250 0500 CLA R.Voice of Kurdistan KU ME 3930 0300 0500 CLA Echo of Hope K KRE 6348 3985 6003 0300 0700 CLA Voice of the People K KRE 6600 6518 0400 0500 CLA V.o.Peace and Democracy TIG ERI 7165 9560 0400 0500 CLA Voice of the People E ZWE 11610/MDG 0400 0530 CLA Voice of Free Kurdistan KU ME 4670 0500 1500 CLA Denge Mezopotamia KU ME 11530/MDA 0545 0615 Mo-We CLA Radio Mustaqbal SO ETH 15400/AFS 0600 0800 CLA Nat.R. of Saharan ADR A NAf 6300/ALG 0630 0700 135 CLA Radio Mustaqbal SO ETH 15675/AFS 0700 0900 CLA Nat.R. of Saharan ADR A NAf 1550/ALG 700/ALG 0730 0830 CLA Radio Sadaye Kashmir UR SAs 9890/IND-d 0745 0845 CLA VoJammu-Kashmir Freedom E SAs 3975/PAK 7230 1000 1100 CLA Free North Korea Radio K KRE 9730/TWN 1100 1520 CLA Voice of Tibet TB FE 7425/TJK 1100 1900 CLA Echo of Hope K KRE 3985 6348 1100 2100 CLA Voice of the People K KRE 3912 1130 1200 CLA Voice of Tibet TB FE 11560/TWN 1200 1300 Mo-Sa CLA Que Huong Radio VN SEA 15680/TJK 1200 1300 CLA Radio Free Chosun K KRE 9950/RUS 1205 1235 126 CLA Radio Mustaqbal SO ETH 17660/AFS 1300 1330 CLA CMI Voice of Wilderness K KRE 9940/TWN 1300 1330 Th CLA Degar Voice VN SEA 7195/RUS-c 1300 1330 Sa CLA Degar Voice VN SEA 7115/RUS-c 1300 1330 Tu CLA Degar Voice VN SEA 7125/RUS-c 1300 1330 CLA Open Radio North Korea K KRE 9950/RUS 1300 1430 CLA VoJammu-Kashmir Freedom E SAs 5102 3975/PAK 1300 1530 CLA R.Voice of Kurdistan KU ME 3930 1330 1400 CLA Radio Free Chosun K KRE 9950/TWN 1400 1430 CLA Voice of Tibet TB SAs 17550/MDG 1400 1500 CLA Radio Free North Korea K KRE 9950/RUS 1430 1530 CLA Dem.Voice of Burma BR SEA 17495/MDG 9415/ARM 1430 1530 CLA Radio Sadaye Kashmir UR SAs 6100/IND-d 1430 1530 CLA Vo.Iranian Rev.,R.Komala FS IRN 3880 4366 1500 1530 CLA Little Saigon Radio VN SEA 7390/TWN 1500 1600 CLA Tensae Ethiopia Vo.Unity AH EAf 11900/RUS-a 1500 1600 CLA V.o.Dem.Alliance Vn ERI 7165/ETH 9560/ETH 1500 2200 CLA Denge Mezopotamia KU ME 7540/MDA 1530 1600 CLA Voice of Sudan A EAf 8000 1530 1600 CLA Voice of Tibet TB SAs 17550/MDG 1600 1630 CLA Furusato no Kaze J KRE 9780/TWN 1600 1630 Tu,Sa CLA Radio Huriyo Ogadenia SO EAf 9445/RUS-s 1600 1700 We,Su CLA Andenet Ledemocracy AH EAf 7560/MDA 1600 1700 Th CLA EPPF-Ye Arbenyoch Dimts AH EAf 9445/RUS-s 1600 1700 Mo CLA Eth.Orthodox Church AH EAf 9445/RUS-s 1630 1700 Tu,Fr CLA Radio Huriyo Ogadenia SO EAf 9820/D-j 1630 1740 CLA V.o.Comm.Party Iran FS IRN 4366 3880 1630 1800 CLA R.Voice of Kurdistan KU ME 3930 1700 1730 CLA Furusato no Kaze K KRE 9820/TWN 1700 1730 Sa CLA V.o.Oromia Independence OO EAf 9820/D-w 1700 1730 Tu-Su CLA V.o.Oromo Liberation OO EAf 9485/D-n 1700 1730 Mo-Fr CLA Voice of Delina TIG EAf 7335/RUS-a 1700 1730 Th CLA Voice of Dem.Eritrea TIG EAf 9820/D-w 1700 1800 2457 CLA R. Democracy Shorayee FS ME 7470 1700 1800 CLA Voice of the People E ZWE 11610/MDG 1700 1900 CLA SW Radio Africa E ZWE 15180/RUS-m [see ZIMBABWE below] 4880/AFS 6050/RUS-a 7125/G-w 1700 2300 CLA Nat.R. of Saharan ADR A NAf 700/ALG 1550/ALG 1730 1800 Tu-Su CLA V.o.Oromo Liberation AH EAf 9485/D-n 1730 1800 Th CLA Voice of Dem.Eritrea A EAf 9820/D-w 1800 1845 CLA Radio Payam-e Doost FS IRN 7480/MDA 1800 2300 CLA Nat.R. of Saharan ADR A NAf 6300/ALG 1900 2000 357 CLA V.o.Dem.Path Eth.Unity AH EAf 9620/D-j 2000 2030 CLA CMI Voice of Wilderness K KRE 9795/TWN 2030 2130 CLA Free North Korea Radio K KRE 9645/TWN 2200 2400 CLA Radio Republica S CUB 6135/G-r 2300 0100 CLA Voice of the People K KRE 6600 2300 2400 CLA Nat.R. of Saharan ADR S NAf 700/ALG 1550/ALG 6300/ALG 2330 0030 CLA Dem.Voice of Burma BR SEA 5955/D-w (EiBi, via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Re 7-146, Worldspace Afristar 1 to continue some services (unencrypted?) Thought this sounded too good to be true. They are still encrypted (Gareth Foster, UK, Dec 5, BDXC-UK via DXLD) This morning (5 Dec) I did a beam seek on the Hitachi and found 14 stations in the clear but 7 still showing as "coded" (encrypted). Stations in the clear in English: Bloomberg WRN-1 Radio Caroline TalkSport NPR Fox Sports BBC Africa Other stations in the clear: WRN-2 (German) BFM (French) Europe 1 (French) Esperance (French) Marine (French) RFI-1 (French) RMC Info (French) But still displaying as coded: Sunrise, Virgin UK, 40 on 40, FSR, Upop, CNN, BBC World. So maybe this is work in progress? (Alan Pennington, ibid.) ** ISRAEL [and non]. One minor thing about a previous posting. Similar to other Jewish holidays, Hanukkah began at sundown on Dec 4, not midnight (Doni Rosenzweig, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Of course ** ITALY. Conditions on higher frequencies are still variable, some days I hear Radio Maria 26000 in AM for a couple of hours around midday, nothing much else in the 11 metre band (Des Walsh, Ireland? Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) Yes, we must not forget them, making Italy still an SWBC country despite Rai`s closedown, IRRS` otherness, and Vatican`s extra-territoriality (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 2850, KCBS, Pyongyang, 2236-2241, 01 Dec, Korean, exhalted speech, choir and march tunes; 35342; \\ 3481, 3959.9, 4450. 3481, KCBS, Wonsan, 2253-..., 01 Dec, Korean, cf. my other reported parallel outlets; 15331 and very weak audio. 3959.9, KCBS, Kanggye, 2249-..., 01 Dec, Korean, marches, patriotic songs; 14331; \\ 2850, 3481, 4450. 4450, KCBS, Pyongyang, 2238-2252, 01 Dec, Korean, patriotic songs; 45343; \\ 2850, 3481, 3959.9 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Heard on a [new] Etón E1XM with whip: 2850, Pyongyang 1145 with KK radio drama. Fair and steady. 3320, Pyongyang 1151 KK choral music. Fair. 4450, Pyongyang 1156 KK radio drama with jammer from hell atop. Poor (Kevin Redding, Gilbert, AZ, ABDX via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. Radio Kuwait now verifying with a QSL certificate from frequency management. English is from 0500 to 0800 on 15110 and 1800- 2100 on 11990. Address is Radio Kuwait, Ministry of Information, Department of Frequency Management, P. O. Box 967, Safat - Code No 13010 Safat, Kuwait (Allen Dean, UK, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG [and non]. I checked on several evenings last month and the Radio Luxembourg DRM transmissions on 5990 and 6095 were off the air, closing between 1700 and 1800, return as early as 0000, close down and sign on pattern is variable. 6095 not only had problems with Belarus but also China Radio International on 6100. This has meant that I have been able to hear Mali on 5995 some evenings around 2300 on a clear channel (Mike Barraclough, Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, R. Nasionaly Malagasy, Ambohidrano, 1929-1952, 01 Dec, Malagasy, local and international pops; 45333 but deteriorating of course (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5010, R. Madagascar, 28.11, 1800, vernacular, African music, talk, ID as "Radio Madagascar" and not Radio Malagasy as noted in the WRTH; O=4 (Michael Schnitzer, 19th Bavarian DX-Camp [as under ARGENTINA], HCDX via DXLD) ** MALI. 4835v & 7285v have been inaudible, so most likely inactive. 11960, R. Mali, Kati, 1449-..., 02 Dec, Vernacular, talks; 45444; sole audible outlet at this time. The evening outlet of 5995 has been heard (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA [non]. 4845.2, R. Cultura Ondas Tropicais, Manaus AM, Brasil, 2130-2151, 01 Dec, ID+fq announcement, local songs; 44333, QRM de B (t) [tentatively another Brasililan], not MTN 4845 which was off (ditto on 7245 though not on 783). (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Morning band scan on 49 meters in the Americas. 12/04/2007 1700-1730 UT: 6010.000 kc. R Mil, Mexico City. SIO 354. Programming in Spanish. 6044.940 kc. R. Universidad, San Luís Potosí. SIO 454. Programming in Spanish (Thomas F, Giella, KN4LF, Lakeland, FL, USA, Antenna 90-11 meter fan dipole up at 35 feet, Rig - Icom IC-746 Pro, Dec 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So it`s 60 Hz off; the SAH I sometimes hear at 0600-0630 vs KBS Sackville is not that much, so maybe that is also off to the low side, lessening the difference (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. 9599.26, R. UNAM, 0902-0934, Dec 3, Spanish. Continuous, classical-like piano music. Female announcer at 0932; no discernible ID noted; then right back to music. Fair at best with deep fades (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. No sign of XEYU, 9599+, Dec 5 around 0635; possibly long-skip propagation instead as ANO 9580 was better than usual. But at 1338, XEYU was loud and clear with RFI news relay; in fact, much better than RA on 9580 and 9590 which were barely audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA. Hello Glenn, Thought you might be interested in the following e-mail verie I received today from "The Cross" in Micronesia, for a report with mp3 clip I'd e-mailed them in October. My reception was on 19 October. I was sure they'd been off, as I'd heard no trace of them, even with favourable conditions and a good antenna, and their message confirms that. 73, (Nigel Pimblett, Dunmore, Alberta, Canada, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Dear Mr. Pimblett, Thank you very much for your reception report. That is indeed our station. But for the last 6 weeks, we have been off the air with our SW, because we're changing the antenna. Thank you and have a great day, Roland Weibel Pacific Missionary Aviation The Cross Radio Station P.O. Box 517 Pohnpei, FM 96941 Federated States of Micronesia Tel: 691-320-1122 Email: radio@pmapacific.org Web: http://www.pmapacific.org | http://radio.pmapacific.org (via Nigel Pimblett, Alberta, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. VOM, excellent in English at 0930 on 12085 (John Durham, Tauranga NZ, DX News on RNZI Mailbox Nov 26 via DXLD) Ex-1000 (gh) ** MOROCCO. 1079.9, RTM-"B"/"Q", unlisted site, 02 Dec, 1126-..., Arabic, discussion, talks; 45454. 1188, RTM-"C", Casablanca (correct site?), 02 Dec, 1120-..., Berber, talks songs; 45454. WRTH lists it with both 1 & 5 kW: which is true? 1635~1637 kHz, RTM was probably dropped as not audible on 30 Nov, 01 Dec or 02 Dec. 4176, RTM-"C", Sébaa-Aioun, 1135-..., 01 Dec, Berber, talks, traditional music and songs; 15341; 4th harmonic of 1044. 7308, RTM-"C", Sébaa-Aioun, 1132-..., 01 Dec, Berber, talks, traditional music and songs; 25342; 7th harmonic of 1044 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9705, La Voix du Sahel, 2122-2140, Dec 3, French. Male announcer hosting phone-in program. ID in passing at 2131. Fair/poor. (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 9690, V. of Nigeria, 1127-1137, Dec 4, English. Poor signal; fading in-out. Not much to work with but was able to make out an ID and UT at 1130 (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORWAY. A SHORT HISTORY OF RADIO NORWAY INTERNATIONAL Radio Norway started broadcasting on shortwave in the late thirties with a 5 kW transmitter at Larobertseter, Oslo, but transmissions were discontinued during the German occupation of Norway between 1940 and 1945. However during the war years transmissions to occupied Norway continued from the BBC and WRUL in Boston, USA. After the war, a shortwave station was built at Fredrikstad, in the south-eastern part of the country, transmitting solely to the North Atlantic and North America with programmes aimed at Norwegian sailors, Norway traditionally being a major maritime nation. Later as new transmitters were added and services expanded a weekly half hour programme in English was added to make further use of the possibilities of shortwave broadcasting. Under the new name of Radio Norway International a 350 kW transmitter was commissioned at the original Fredrikstad site, but environmental considerations meant that two extra 500 kW transmitters had to be built at Kvitsoy and a further 500 kW at Sveio. By this time around 16 people were employed at Radio Norway International, a part of NRK, the national public service radio and TV network of Norway. The studios were in broadcasting house, Oslo, and programmes were relayed to the main transmitter at Kvitsoy and Kvitsoy was responsible for further distribution to the transmitters. The newsroom was manned from 05.45 am to 00.30, although transmissions were at 24 hours. The control room and the studio were fully automated. The weekly half hour in English was produced by the regular staff who also produced the Norwegian programming. The budget was around 1 million $US annually. Radio Norway International did QSL listeners reports, but only if sent direct to the station and not to a Norwegian embassy or consulate, and they only QSL'ed once in each frequency period. They also accepted cassettes which were returned. Edited from a Radio Norway International station handout of February 1992 sent to Edwin by Stig Lindholm (via Edwin Southwell, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) OBIT ** OKLAHOMA. OKC`s WKY Radio, once the premier station in Oklahoma, now ranks dead last in listeners – 0.5% of the audience. Tops is KOMA with classic hits (Observerscope, Oklahoma Observer Nov 25 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Wantok Light Radio [sic], 7325, fair reception though somewhat muffled [with clip recorded at 1100] (John Durham, Tauranga NZ, DX News on RNZI Mailbox Nov 26 via DXLD) Hardly ever reported from NAm on its recently changed frequency. Are people trying? I keep seeing/hearing this referred to as ``Wantok Light Radio``, while it`s supposed to be Wantok Radio Light, and indeed the latter was on the clip`s ID. Does the station also mix up the name, or is it just DXers? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Estimados Amigos DX: Reactivada alrededor de las 1200 UT, capté en los 6047.0 Radio Santa Rosa. Cordiales 73. DXSPACEMASTER (ALFREDO BENJAMIN CAÑOTE BUENO, Lima, Dec 5, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. PRES, 9450 via Germany, Dec 5 at 1343, best yet heard here, 35433, and actually listenable, so I did for a while: report on Polish health care system, with speakers in Polish, voice-overs in English; 1347 mentioned 10:1 trade imbalance with China, and hopes to get Chinese aid for railway. 1351 ID in old style, which I greatly prefer, as ``Polish Radio, Warsaw``, but later in passing said ``Polish Radio External Service``. Plugged Multimedia show on Wednesday (but, this *is* Wednesday), goodbyes but no formal sign-off, and just played high-intensity rock music until 1359* --- no Chopin or Szymanowski here! However, CRI musical prélude collided co-channel from *1357 for two-minute overlap, 1400 opening in Russian, more at CHINA; should be crash-starting or at least waiting until 1359 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PRIDNESTROVYE-MOLDOVA. 6240, Radio PMR, *0000-0015, Dec 4, English. IS/ID, "Here is Tirisapol from the Pridnestrovian Moldovian [sic] Republic" followed by s/on announcement, news items re Moldovian/ Serbian delegations and settlement with UK re delivery of Moldovian goods to EU. Credits, contact info at 0013. Filler music and ID as noted at s/on." French service at 0015. Fair using ECCS-LSB (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio PMR. Times and frequencies were announced today, Wednesday, Dec. 5, at the end of the 1800 UT transmission in English on 7370. "The following edition in English you'll hear on Thursday, the sixth of December, 2007 at 3, 4, 5 and 6 pm GMT on frequency of 7370 kHz. At 7 pm GMT on frequency of 7375 kHz and at 11 and 12 pm GMT on frequency of 6240 kHz." Note the slight change of frequency at 7 pm GMT (1900) to 7375 (ex 7370). I will try to check tomorrow to see if this is so. Re the address reported by me in DXLD 7-146. The street name I could not make out. Today it sounded like Luxembourg Street 10. Checked PWBR 2008 and sure enough there it is listed as Rozy Lyuksemburg 10. Interesting that the address is given as in the Republic of Moldova from which the Pridnestrovye Moldavian Republic (with the capital Tiraspol) is separated. Since the PMR is not recognized by any other countries (except Russia) nor presumably by the Universal Postal Union, I theorize that in order to get international mail into and out of the PMR they have to use the postal facilities of the Republic of Moldova. I understand that they do issue their own stamps though (and currency for sure). (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The street is named for Rosa Luxembourg, quite an interesting historical character who apparently has not fallen out of favour in the PMR: Rosa Luxemburg --- From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (Pol: Róza Luksemburg) (March 5, 1870/71 – January 15, 1919), was a Polish Marxist theorist, socialist philosopher, and revolutionary for the Social Democratic Party of the Kingdom of Poland, the German SPD, and the Independent Social Democratic Party of Germany. She founded the The Red Flag (Die Rote Fahne) journal. After the SPD's supporting German participation in World War I, she co-founded, with Karl Liebknecht, the revolutionary Spartacist League (Ger: Spartakusbund) that later became the Communist Party of Germany. The Spartacist League participated in the unsuccessful Berlin revolution of January 1919. Luxemburg's propaganda supported the revolt, which was jointly crushed by the Freikorps (the monarchist army remnants and right-wing freelance militias collectively). Luxemburg and hundreds of left-wing revolutionaries were captured, tortured, and killed. Since their deaths, Rosa Luxemburg and Karl Liebknecht achieved great symbolic status amongst democratic socialists and Marxists (Wikipedia, via gh, DXLD) ** ROMANIA [and non]. RRI, 7180, Dec 5 at 0646 in English with contest info, then report on real estate market in Romania; undermodulated but enough carrier to make it listenable; no comparison in loudness, however, to neighboring Tunisia 7190 with its usual great music. At least, no roar on this RRI transmission (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SENEGAL [non]. U.K., 11975, no program of West African Democracy Radio noted today Dec 5th. Registered at 0700-0800 UT via Skelton Cumbria, 300 kW 180 degrees. Endless recording loop of `cello music from Merlin VTC control room heard over and over gain during that hour today (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SINGAPORE. 3915, BBC, 2155-2205, Dec 4, English/Vernacular. English talk re Africa followed by BBC promos. Announcer in language at 2200 mentioning BBC Indonesia followed by pips. News in language with English soundbites. Poor, audible using ECCS-USB (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Stair has changed to 3955 kHz and 12160 kHz at 2000 UT for five hours as of October 28, 2007 (G. Skinner, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) 12160: Not exactly; the Dec WWCR online schedule shows for him: Sat only 1900-2200 12160, 2200-2400 5070; also Thu 2100-2200 on 12160 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. One thing that annoys me when listening to a programme on the shortwave bands is when they cut off in mid-sentence in the middle of a feature or towards the end. Programme cut short and transmitter cut off for tuning to another frequency I suppose. This is especially annoying when you are trying to ID a station or an interested in a topic covered. A few others mention this in letters sent along with contributions to logbook. I find this happens with Radio Ukraine International and Radio Bulgaria especially to name a few stations. But on the other hand it is good to hear V of Turkey, Radio Slovakia International and Radio Prague with very good close down announcements. Although we have sadly lost a few stations on the shortwave bands recently such as RAI, Italy and cutbacks at Radio Japan and the closure of Radio Budapest's foreign language service this gives us a chance to log other stations on the bands which have been very difficult to hear previously (Edwin Southwell, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** THAILAND [and non]. R. Thailand, 9725 to SEAs/Au, in the clear Dec 5 at 1405 thanks to absence of TIRWR; SINPO 35523 with flutter. In World News mainly about king`s birthday celebration to be in Nakhon Ratchasima at 19 hours tonight (but it`s already after 21 local! --- more stale news?). 1411 into feature about how H.M. is such a sportsman in many different fields (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTNEING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Hello, I am Seref Isler and I am writing to you on behalf of the English Desk of the TRT Voice of Turkey, broadcasting from Ankara, Turkey. We recently came across the DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-119 October 1, 2007. In the section under Turkey, we saw that David Crystal of Israel wrote an entry about us. Last night we picked up on this and even mentioned it on air. The entry shocked us to say the least. Except for a few factual points regarding names, the entry was a fiction of Mr. Crystal's imagination. We saw him as a loyal listener of ours, until we started to realise that in his mind he was starting to believe that he was working in our station with us. It is hard to assemble the words to express how incorrect that information was. None of us are married to influential people or spies. None of us have a son, actually all of us are single. Mr. Crystal's comments would make a good script for a soap opera; however, in this case it interferes with our work as his entry shouldn't represent the voice of our legitimate listeners. If you could delete it, we would be very grateful. Thanks (Seref Isler, TRT, Dec 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Apparently Crystal lost touch with reality. Since the item, originally from WDXC Contact, has been posted for more than two months, I thought it would be better to insert this objection as well as publishing it now (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U K. The reception of BBC World Service here pains me to hear such drastic cutbacks over the last few years. Most of the good old reliable frequencies are now silent (of the BBC that is) and other than satellite access I have to hop around many frequencies during the day to follow. No doubt more 'improvements' will be made next year (Des Walsh, Ireland? Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) see also SINGAPORE ** U K [non]. BBCWS via KCPW 1010 Salt Lake: see U S A ** U S A. From the VOA Horn-of-Africa file. VOA adds transmission in Somali. "The new program, broadcast to the Horn of Africa region at 4:00pm local time (1300 UTC) is paired with VOA's Somali-language "Evening Edition" at 7:00pm (1600 UTC) that is also repeated at 8:00pm (1700 UTC) for FM partner stations." http://www.voanews.com/english/About/2007-12-05-somali-increase.cfm (Voice of America press release, 5 December 2007 kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) We already news about the new 1300 broadcast from Dec 3 in 7-146. See also ETHIOPIA [and non] (gh) ** U S A. Somehow in 7-146 I omitted the new WORLD OF RADIO time on WRMI: Sunday at 1200 on 9955. Previous sked had Wavescan at this time. Reminder that only WRMI offers a special QSL for WORLD OF RADIO (and about to disappear MUNDO RADIAL), for reports sent directly to them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Morning band scan on 49 meters in the Americas. 12/04/2007 1700-1730 UT: 5920.000 kc. WBOH, Newport, NC. SIO 555. Religious programming in English. Distorted audio with strange rumbling echo sound (Thomas F, Giella, KN4LF, Lakeland, FL, USA, Antenna 90-11 meter fan dipole up at 35 feet, Rig - Icom IC-746 Pro, Dec 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Spurs: 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 (Dec 4). WEWN 5810 noted again on two spurious emissions today Dec 5th 0000-0800 UT. Around 0640-0700 UT on 5801.65 and 5818.35 kHz. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I also looked for these, but 5810 was so strong and wide that I could not detect the spurs separately, even with BFO (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. KAIJ, 9480, Dec 5 at 1404 check, inaudible, and not even a trace of a carrier. Tho in skip zone, it`s usually detectable, so wonder if off the air. Same results at rechecks 1446 and 1608, when I did confirm their webcast was running. Yet Harold Camping was audible at 1404 on 9485, which is Irkutsk aimed due south (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5070, WWCR, Nashville TN, 1125-f/out 1155, 01 Dec, English, religious propaganda; 35332. Check CUBA 5025 fade out time. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WVKO, 1580, Columbus OH, site, leading to program schedule (mostly from Air America), live stream, etc.: http://www.wvko1580.com/ (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. World Service 24 hours on AM to Salt Lake City -- no digital radio required (updated). KCPW parent "Community Wireless has attempted to sell the AM license, so far unsuccessfully. KCPW-AM 'has always [been] and still is, for sale at a price that will produce a profit for Wireless contributors,' [KCPW President Blair] Feulner said... . The AM band simulcasts the same programming as KCPW-FM, but that soon will change. ... The move has angered some listeners, judging from comments on KCPW's Web site. 'Forget the BBC, ...let's keep that local news accessible to those who reside or travel out of the Salt Lake Valley,' said one listener. ... In the e-mail, Feulner said listeners rate BBC very highly. 'We think that change will be very positive.'" More: http://www.sltrib.com/business/ci_7637343 (Salt Lake Tribune, 5 December 2007. Posted: 05 Dec 2007, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) So BBCWS is just a filler till they can sell KCPW (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. LOU DOBBS HEARS RADIO CALLING By JACQUES STEINBERG December 5, 2007 Arts [sic], Briefly, New York Times The way Lou Dobbs sees it, people shouldn't need basic cable to hear him sound off at length on issues like immigration and free trade. Mr. Dobbs, right, said yesterday that he was creating a daily three- hour talk radio show that would run in the afternoons and conclude an hour before his nightly program on CNN, which begins at 7 p.m. on the East Coast. "My interest is in bringing a voice of reason, rather than the partisan and ideological poles that define talk radio right now," he said in a telephone interview. Mr. Dobbs vowed that neither the right nor the left would be able to lay claim to him, with some conservatives who support his hard-line take against illegal immigrants breaking ranks with his opposition to free trade. "I consider both political parties to be tragic failures," Mr. Dobbs said. United Stations Radio Networks, a private company that syndicates one-minute financial updates by Mr. Dobbs, is producing the program. Asked if any station had committed to carry it, a company spokeswoman said that it was only now starting its outreach (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. NY Times - HOUSE COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN ORDERS FCC INQUIRY Today's NY Times, in an AP wire story, says that John Dingell-D-MI who heads the House Energy and Commerce Committee, says that the FCC has suffered an "apparent breakdown in an open and transparent regulatory process". He is "losing confidence that the commission has been conducting its affairs in an appropriate manner", and has ordered an inquiry. The investigation will be conducted by Rep. Bart Stupak, D- MI, who has received "several complaints about the way that (Kevin) Martin has conducted business" that include claims of an "abuse of power and an attempt to keep fellow commissioners in the dark". The terms "selectively withholding data" and "short-circuiting procedural norms" also appear in the AP story's allegations, among others. End excerpts from the AP story. The following are from me. Perhaps someone will advise Rep. Stupak of the academic interest of examining the ways in which the Commission came to its decisions on the BPL issue, and the IBOC issue, both of which seem to me to have striking similarities, among which are deliberately ignoring technical information that would suggest not adopting the positions that were subsequently taken. Should be interesting (Bob Foxworth, Tampa FL, Dec 4, ABDX via DXLD) It`s about time. I know I am sick of what has happened to us since 1996. Both Republicans and Democrats both have let the corporations have their way and what we have is CHAOS. It took far too long to get to this point. This is something that should have been done decades ago. What will be the outcome? Nothing, of course. Seems to me the lawyers ought to be tossed out and engineers who know about RF and physics ought to be given their jobs. I think that might straighten out some of the mess that has been foisted upon us for quite some time. If this is really done and done right, you are right, it could be very interesting (Kevin Redding, AZ, ibid.) ** U S A. AN URGENT UPDATE ON NCE-FM Last month, we reported on the successful submission of 225 applications for FM stations by the CRA on behalf of Catholic organizations. Although we realized that our work was not done, insofaras we would be assisting these apostolates over the next few years as they prepare to operate Catholic radio, we had no idea more work would be sent our way rather urgently by the FCC. Let me explain. On Nov. 8, 2007 the FCC released a public notice announcing a window opened to expedite the grant of new NCE-FM station construction permits, and announced that the Bureau will accept settlements and technical amendments. Applicants are urged to enter into and file settlement agreements and to submit technical amendments to expedite the grant of applications filed in the NCE-FM window. The deadline is January 7, 2008. Applicants who do not work out agreements run the risk of having their application involved in long MX chains from which the FCC will only issue one license, even though multiple licenses on different channels could be awarded! This is a first! Generally the FCC accepts applications in a window, sorts through competing ones, and then awards licenses to the winners. Instead, the FCC got so many applications (over 4,000) that it decided to throw the ball back to the applicants and have them complete what’s called an MX study—which stands for “mutual exclusivity”—and file a settlement agreement. So between Nov. 8 and January 7, 2008, the CRA will be completing these MX studies, making contact with competing applicants, negotiating resolutions, writing up settlement agreements, and filing all of this paperwork with the FCC. Fortunately, we do not have to do this for ALL of the applications that we filed. In fact, several are singletons, i.e., they have no competition, and are ready to move on to the next stage of getting on the air. Some of these are: - Dodge city, KS — Diocese of Dodge City - Hopedale, OH — Franciscan University of Steubenville - Ebensburg, PA - Ash Grove/Springfield, MO - Dexter/Sikeston, MO We ask for your prayers in the ongoing efforts of the CRA to bring Catholic radio to as many souls as possible. The CRA intends to complete as much paperwork for as many applicants as possible. The more we do, the better our chances of being awarded licenses. And the more licenses we win, the more people will have a chance to experience the life-changing power of Catholic radio. Thank you for your ongoing support of our efforts at the CRA. Ad majorem Dei gloriam! Stephen Gajdosik, President CORRESPONDENCE: CRA MESSENGER GIVES AN UPDATE ON FCC PROCEEDINGS In last month’s newsletter, we briefed the issue of the FCC Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on AM use of FM translators. The FCC’s NPRM has been published in the Federal Register as of Nov. 6, 2007. The deadline to file Comments for this proceeding is on January 7, 2008. We have already filed our Comments in the NPRM in opposition to the proposal in its current form. We suggest that you consider filing comments in opposition as well. We have posted our Comments on the website so you can see a sample format. We urge you to consider this NPRM in light of the bigger picture. We recap here our belief that in the long term such cross-usage will harm Catholic radio. As media ownership is concentrated in the hands of fewer and fewer companies, true diversity of opinion and the number of voices in a community become less. Smaller commercial companies and noncommercial entities like Catholic radio will not have the resources to compete with the major commercial players in a market for the translators. CRA suggests as an alternative that the FCC finish the LPFM issue before issuing translators to AM stations. Giving LPFMs a priority in the spectrum over translators being used by AM broadcasters and chains will serve the ends of localism and diversity and provide more opportunities for Catholic programming (Dec Radioactive Messenger, Catholic Radio Association via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 4939.85, presumed R. Amazonas, 0951-1005, Dec 3, Spanish. Badly distorted, noisy signal with music and talk. Announcer from 1001. One day activation for Venezuelan election? (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, NH-USA, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. CLANDESTINE: 1550, Polisario Front, Rabouni [ALGERIA] (is it really?), seems to be the most regular outlet of the existing two; \\ 6300 is simply off at times (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. On December 3 CVC transmissions monitored from 1025 on 13590, poor strength on clear channel, improved to fair by 1230, 1440 recheck found them on 13650, presume via new Zambian transmitters (Mike Barraclough, England, Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 1700 1900 CLA SW Radio Africa E ZWE 15180/RUS-m 4880/AFS 6050/RUS-a 7125/G-w (EiBi, via José Miguel Romero, Dec 5, dxldyg via DXLD) Had not noticed that EiBi listing. Last we heard, SWRA were only on 4880 and 7125; can 6050 and 15180 be confirmed? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHORTWAVE MUSIC +++++++++++++++ MUSICAL MEMORIES, Part 3 MOUNTAIN MUSIC FROM the land of the huayño! The music of the Andean world is centred on the countries of Peru and Bolivia, especially the former. This is the territory of the Indian races of Latin America - well, at least the Indian tribes of these countries - speaking the typical native tongues of the Aymara and Quechua peoples. One may occasionally encounter vocal items in their musical repertoire in these tongues, although the vast majority of the songs are in Spanish. Quechua is the language of the Incas and has a long history, but is not often heard in song form. There are, of course, many other local dialects and languages in Latin America, such as Guarani (Paraguay especially), but these are not found in the Andean regions. As has been previously mentioned, the high altitude areas are where the Indian peoples are found, and typically, they have "barrel-shaped" chests to accommodate the large sized lungs they need to cope with the low oxygen levels found in the mountains. The "altiplano" is a dry, plateau-like region between 9,000 and 16,000 feet a.s.l., where many people live and work. This is on the western side of Bolivia and in southern Peru, with the famous Lake Titicaca straddling the border of the two nations. In former days there was a Bolivian station on 60 metres, CP38 La Voz del Altiplano, which was heard occasionally. I must say, however, that I associate this style of music more especially with Peru, not the least for the typical melody and dance known as the huayño. Once you have heard the characteristic "yipping" sound of the performers, you will easily recognize the melodic music. Andean music is so VERY DIFFERENT from the coastal "música tropical" that they might almost be from different continents! Personally I enjoy both, but each type has its own fans. To western ears, the Andean music can be described as "haunting", or even sad, but it is certainly beautiful. One English pop song - I can't remember the title - was popularized by the Swedish group ABBA. It is widely known as El Condor Pasa, characterizing the flight of the huge Andean eagle of that name. Today it is easier to hear Andean music than the tropical type, because there is no shortage of Peruvian stations (but they come and go like mushrooms!) and quite a few Bolivians. Probably the most famous and beloved of the Peruvians was Radio Quillabamba, located in the town of that name and a target for DXers because of its beautiful music and lovely pennant. Frequently - at least in the past - they broadcast many huayños. Radio Cuzco is another one with frequent examples of this music style. Bolivian stations also may be a source of these melodies, but in my experience, their musical fare is more varied. If you become addicted, be aware that it is not easy to find genuine huayño music on CDs. There seems to be a tendency among the marketers of such folk music, to think that it is too "countrified" or "peasant music", so they try to "jazz it up", adding instruments that are not part of the culture, or including political themes in the vocals. It is still easiest to hear the real folk music on shortwave. Good listening! <<<<>>>> Sound Sample - if you are reading this on your computer, click the link below to hear Huayños music - probably both authentic and some less so. http://yumusica.com/,huaynos.html (Tom Williamson, Looking Back [illustrated with QSLs], Dec ODXA Listening In via DXLD) Also linx to many other musical styles. Correct with the oddly-placed comma. Launches music immediately, so beware if you are listening to something else --- and disregard the bathing beauties. Those Andeans! All huaynos changed to huayños (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ WHAT DOES TEWAHEDO MEAN? See ETHIOPIA [and non] FIRMA RADIO UNAM DOCUMENTO PARA INTEGRARSE A DECLARACIÓN DE MADRID Establece como norma el uso del Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas para contribuir al mejoramiento del dominio de la lengua española Notimex, El Universal, Ciudad de México, 04 de diciembre de 2007 18:14 La emisora universitaria Radio UNAM acogió el compromiso de establecer como norma básica el Diccionario Panhispánico de Dudas, cuyo propósito es que éste sirva como instrumento eficaz para mejorar el conocimiento y dominio de la lengua española. . . http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/notas/465547.html (via Jose Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) CANADA, WHERE SOUTHWEST IS NORTHWEST Re 7-146: ``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} Glenn, good comment -- wonder if anyone will chime in? I agree with you, and think of my part of BC (or Canada) as SW BC (or Canada). (I also do not wish to cede the use of the term 'American' solely to USA types, you know the3 argument, we in NA & SA are all Americans, etc.). I cannot comment on how the webmaster came up with the NW Broadcasters name, but perhaps he feels he is dealing with a part of NW North America??? cheers ef (Eric Flodén, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ SOFTWARE DEFINED RADIO VS. CONVENTIONAL RECEIVERS Steve mentioned the Perseus SDR in the latest MWN. If you're interested, you might like to join the Yahoo group at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/perseus_SDR More info at http://www.cqdx.it/woodbox/Perseus_uk.html and http://www.microtelecom.it/perseus/ The UK agent is ML&S http://www.hamradio.co.uk/ This piece of kit is getting some very good reviews for MW DXing, and convinced me to take the plunge - mine is on order! 73s (Martin A. Hall, Clashmore, Scotland. NRD-545, RPA-1 preamp, MFJ-1026 phaser (modified), beverages: 513m at 233 degrees, unterminated; 475m at 262 degrees, terminated; 506m at 279 degrees, terminated; 550m at 338 degrees, terminated; 50m at 321 degrees, unterminated. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/clashmoreradio/ Associate websites: http://www.gorrell.co.uk http://www.achardholidaylets.co.uk Dec 5, Mediumwave Circle via DXLD) You are not the only one who has taken an interest in this. I am considering one myself. There is a Yahoo Group dedicated to the Perseus SDR. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/perseus_SDR Maybe there are other groups too - I would be interested to discover any other groups dedicated to SDRs in general (John Faulkner, ibid.) Perhaps, and -mind you- this is not (!) out of ill feeling, we should make a distinction in the various logs of the various DX clubs between 'ordinary' or 'normal' catches on the one hand (i.e. made with a receiver and antenna), and catches made with special software on the other hand (Herman Boel, http://www.emwg.info ibid.) Curious why you should suggest this Herman. Is the DX potential of an SDR receiver superior to that of a traditional receiver? ;0) It seems to me that the potential of SDRs could make receivers like the AR7030 'almost' redundant. Especially when you consider the IF recording possibilities and superior DSP filtering. Time will tell. (John Faulkner, ibid.) Herman, I'm not sure I understand. I have been using SDRs (Winradio G303, Winradio G313, RFspace SDR-14 and Flex-Radio SDR-1000) for several years now and most of my MWDX loggings have been made with them, especially the G313 which I use a lot on MW. I consider my loggings to be quite normal and they're certainly made with a receiver and an antenna (Wellbrook ALA100 or ALA1530 in my case). I do think that SDRs have a great deal to offer but, just like other receivers, some are good and some less good. You still need a good antenna, lots of patience and skill to get the best results. The software doesn't magically suck DX out of the ether and present it to you with its ID already logged when you get up in the morning. It is true that some SDRs offer the ability to capture enough spectrum to contain several potential DX channels, but this is no different in principle to someone recording several single-channel receivers and then listening back to them. The techniques that are used in SDRs are increasingly being employed in many receivers that look more traditional and I think that within a few years only SDRs will be made - they're more economical, more flexible and potentially more powerful. But they are not fundamentally very different - they still need good filters, low noise oscillators, wide-dynamic range and all the other factors that are required to make a good all-hardware receiver. Best regards, (Jack Weber, ibid.) We have had this discussion here in Sweden too, because people fear that SDR owners are going to start produce of receptionreports like machines and the DXers that use ordinary receivers would not have a chance against the SDR owners.... But a "normal" DXer, with a SDR do not get with the buying, the extra time to drown the stations with receptionreports, listen thru thousands and thousands of hours of RF files and so on. Here in Sweden and the other Nordic countries it is now very popular to DX with one or more SDR receivers, often combined with a normal receiver. Almost every DXpedition in Norway/Sweden/Finland make use of these SDRs now and when you spend your money and vacationtime on a DXtrip often more that thousand kilometers away up to the north you do try to get most out of it! When you have good conditions you choose a spectrum of interesting frequencies and start RF recording of them with the SDR and then continue to DX with the standard receiver. With this new way of DXing you often get more out of the short openings at sunrise for example, but you still have to know when and where to record and which antenna to choose (and to have the time to DX from the RF File many more hours...) I have been an SDR-IQ owner since February and use it with dipoles and beverageantennas. It is no better as a receiver than the other popular receivers as NRD, AOR and Drake. Often can these normal receivers pick out a weak signal from the mud of interferences a little bit better, but the with the RF recordings you get a lot more chances to get that signal who came out of the mud a few minutes. Another fascinating thing is to see the signals and the interference signals on the spectrum. It is much more easy now to "tune" the filters for the best possible audio. A secondary effect of being a SDR owner that myself and others here in Sweden have felt is that you´re sending fewer receptionreports! It is often more exciting to hunt around in the RF files from that good opening than to write the reports, and with the Perseus ability to RF record a 400 kHz wide spectrum will produce many more hours of listening thru these recordings. I have gone a step further and put my SDR-IQ together with a remote steered antennaselectorbox and a computer in my DX cabin where I have a few beverageantennas, longwires and dipoles. The computer is connected with internet so I can DX with these nice antennas from home or wherever I am with an internetconnected computer. 73´s (Bernt-Ivan Holmberg, Möklinta, Sweden, NRD545, SDR-IQ, ibid.) Hello Herman, I have put some more questions to Jack. If I get the right answers I will most likely switch to SDR and put my AR7030 in moth balls. I did not realize my radio hadn't been updated for 10 years hi! Would the question of equipment type appear at the end of the DX Loggings against the contributor? (Barry Davies, ibid.) Hi Jack, Many thanks for your wonderful explanation. Should be published. Anyway, I would like to draw the attention to your following words: "It's just like the difference between a CD player and a vinyl record player or between film and a digital camera." This is exactly my point. What is the difference in value between receiving a weak, near or distant station when received with an "ordinary" receiver (Sony, Kenwood, AOR, TenTec, etc.) on the one hand and when received with an SDR on the other hand? This is why I would propose to make a distinction between both methods of reception. I can imagine 'normal' DXers to become very discouraged when they see all those loggings from the SDR people intermixed with their own catches of seemingly less value. Is this not also the reason why DX Camp loggings are usually published separately from other loggings? Anyway, don't get me wrong. I don't have anything against the use of SDR's, but somehow it doesn't seem fair to have those logs treated the same way as conventionally made logs. 73 (Herman Boel, ibid.) Barry, Whatever equipment is used will be listed in DX Loggings, there's no change. For more background to the clear explanation Jack's just provided, you could go back and re-read his excellent articles on SDR's in the November and December 2006 issues of Medium Wave News. MW DXing has evolved over the years. It's very different now from when I bought my first decent receiver in the 1960's - a valve (tube) AR88D. An excellent receiver, which would hold its own today in terms of RF performance; but it had poor frequency accuracy, so I needed a BC-221M frequency meter to set it accurately on channel, which slowed down DXing somewhat. Today's conventional receivers are much more convenient to use, and improve our chances of catching DX, though I suspect that the AOR-7030 and NRD-545 are the last of this generation, and that all future receivers will be SDRs, as the A/D, memory and computing technology and speeds now enable them to be implemented quite cheaply. Our style of DXing will change to take advantage of the newly available facilities of SDRs, just as it did when we moved from simple but effective valve receivers through the early poor performance transistorised equipment, to the modern conventional receivers. Herman and Bernt-Ivan have raised some of the practical issues associated with moving to SDRs that will record chunks of the MW band - but at the end of the day we will be limited by how much time we are able to devote to DXing in our daily schedule. After a long DXing session just listening to one frequency at a time it can take me several hours to check my recordings and write up my log. I expect that any recordings of 400 kHz of MW spectrum I make will be just over the top of the hour, only when conditions are exceptionally good, simply because I won't have time to check any more - but we'll have to wait and see what emerges in the light of experience! 73s, (Martin A. Hall, Scotland, ibid.) So where does this leave things like "contests" ... anyone with an SDR can "listen" to multiple channels simultaneously by "after the event" tuning of the "recording". Which leaves anyone with a traditional receiver at a complete and utter disadvantage (Mark Hattam, ibid.) Hello Jack, Does this mean my AR7030 is obsolete and hence the lack of DX? Have I got hold of the wrong end of stick? I have looked at the link but must confess it goes over my head. Can you summarise SDRs in simple English in two or less short paragraphs for a none technical old timer (Barry Davies, ibid.) Hi Barry, I think your AR7030 is just fine. I have one too, it's an excellent receiver and still very hard to beat in terms of, for example, dynamic range. But it's also an excellent receiver that's been around for 11 years, so it's not surprising that technology has moved on since then. The basic principle of an SDR really is very simple and in most (not all) cases it has the same basic structure as a normal superhet like the AR7030. The big difference is that an SDR digitises the received signal and then does its bandwidth filtering, noise reduction, notch filtering, tone controls, sometimes AGC, etc by using appropriate software to modify the digitised signal. It's just like the difference between a CD player and a vinyl record player or between film and a digital camera. In a radio receiver, if you want to switch from receiving in AM to USB, for example, you could do this by switching physical circuits in and out of the signal path. Or you could digitise the signal and then change over from running a bit of software that does AM demodulation to one that does USB demodulation. The same for filters and so on. Doing it this way is cheaper, more flexible and potentially more powerful because you can get better results than you could with an equally expensive analogue circuit. Obviously, it doesn't always work out so well, digital can sound harsher and can be plain bad if it's not done well, but the results so far are very impressive, especially considering that this is relatively new technology. One simple example of how it can be very useful is that on my AR7030, for example, I have a small number of crystal filters to set the IF bandwidth. On my G313 I have a smoothly varying filter that I can slide to whatever bandwidth I want. Instead of worrying that 3 kHz is too wide and 2.4 kHz is too narrow, I can simply find the optimum setting and not care if it turns out to be 2.738 kHz. One big distinction between different SDRs is whether they digitise the RF that comes in from the antenna, or whether they use a normal hardware circuit to get this down to an IF and then digitise that. The latter is cheaper and can avoid some problems of overload, intermodulation etc, while the former helps if you want to observe a wider chunk of spectrum. One thing that several SDRs allow you to do is to record, not just a narrow bandwidth containing one broadcast channel, but a broader section of spectrum that may contain several channels. Each of these can then be tuned-in and listened to independently when you play back the recording. This is where SDRs become controversial for some people because one day, not too long from now, you'll be able to record the whole of MW overnight and then tune around at your leisure. While this means that you needn't miss any rare DX, it also requires a vast amount of time because you can still only listen to one channel at a time. In practice I rarely do this. My SDR-14 can record up to 190 kHz, which is quite a big piece of MW - 18 TA channels, but it doesn't have the ability to retrieve audio as well as it might so I generally use my G313 and record just one or two channels. However, even here, the big advantage is that you can tune in the signal as if you were receiving it live when you playback the recording. So, if the local splatter shifts from being upper to lower sideband, I'm not stuck with how I set the receiver up the previous evening, I can change sidebands, shift the passband, add a notch or do whatever else is needed to receive the signal as best I can. The new Perseus receiver that got this all started is one of those that digitises the RF directly and, those who've used it, say it works very well on MW. I haven't had a chance to try one yet, but it does look very tempting. Let's not forget that performance isn't everything. The fun of using a receiver is also valuable and some traditional radios provide more of that. That's why I still have my AR7030, and a bunch of older valve and solid state radios. They're fun to use, but if you really want to get the more difficult DX then my money is on the SDR way of doing it. Regards, (Jack Weber, ibid.) Hello Jack, So with an SDR receiver you can: - Record a bunch of frequencies simultaneously You can choose one frequency to play back. You can play with that frequency as though at the dial. You can switch side bands of the station as though you are sat at the dial. You cannot remove QRN other than you reduce on AR7030 now. You can thus check several channels when 1000 KOMO is on. You need an antenna and earth rod. Does this summarise an SDR receiver? Do you hear audio on an SDR receiver? Can that audio be recorded on cassette recorder? If all above is correct why would you need an AR7030? If all above correct how much is an SDR radio? (Barry Davies, ibid.) Yes, or more accurately, you can record a block of spectrum. With my SDR-14 the maximum I can record is 190 kHz, with the Perseus you can record up to 400 kHz. This has to be a single contiguous block - for example 1000 to 1190 or 850 to 1250, etc. It's just an ordinary radio. You can tune it to any frequency and listen to that frequency just as you would with any other radio. In the case of the SDR-14 it actually has two demodulators so you can listen to any two frequencies simultaneously (provided they're within 190 kHz of each other and your ears are ambidextrous). I'm not sure if the Perseus lets you do that or not. But anyway, it's not particularly useful. The important point is that you tune and listen exactly as you would with any other radio. Except, of course, there isn't a physical front panel - the controls are on your computer screen and you use a mouse and keyboard for everything (you can buy an add-on tuning knob that works with many, but not all, SDRs). ``You can play with that frequency as though at the dial.`` Yes ``You can switch side bands of the station as though you are sat at the dial.`` Yes ``You cannot remove QRN other than you reduce on AR7030 now.`` Yes and no. The AR7030 has no noise reduction other than IF filters, a notch filter (in the AR7030+) and a noise blanker. Some modern receivers additionally provide digital noise reduction which can help with QRN, but not all do, and anyway there's a limit to how much you can remove. If you're listening in real time you can only listen to one (or at most two, see above) channels at a time. If you're playing back a recorded block of spectrum then you can check everything within its 190 or 400 or whatever kHz span, but again only one at a time. Then you'd go back and listen on another channel and so on. That's why spectrum recording is ultimately self-limiting because it takes forever to check. However, once you've got over the initial excitement you do as Martin was suggesting and just check multiple channels at the toh. Where this could be useful though is on a really good DX night when there is simply more coming in than you could ever hope to catch in real time. It may take you a week to check it all, but it will be worth it. You certainly need an antenna or you won't receive anything. An earth rod may help or may not as with any other radio. It all depends on your particular receiver, antenna, mains etc. ``Do you hear audio on an SDR receiver?``Yes, if you provide powered speakers of the sort that are used with PCs, or use headphones. ``Can that audio be recorded on cassette recorder?`` Yes, but I can't imagine why you'd want to. Since the radio operates inside your PC and records onto the hard disk, that's infinitely more convenient. ``If all above is correct why would you need an AR7030?`` Because it's a very nice radio that's a delight to operate. Anyway, no one radio will always be best for everything. The AR7030 has superb audio - the best you can get - so it's very nice to listen to if reception conditions don't demand anything more complex. ``If all above correct how much is an SDR radio?`` Between about £500 and £1500. Check prices on the websites of Waters & Stanton, Martin Lynch & Sons, Radixon and RFspace Inc. For general use, much like a conventional radio only better, I like the Winradio G313. It does spectrum recording of two adjacent channels at most. For wider spectrum recording, you need an RFspace SDR-14 or a Perseus. Don't sell your AR7030 until you've tried an SDR. Some people hate operating via a computer. You'll get more DX with a radio you're comfortable using than one you're not, even if in principle it can do a lot more (Jack Weber, UK, ibid.) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ UTC ATOMIC CLOCK Recently purchased a wireless weather station that also automatically sets the time using WWVB. Got me thinking I'd like a UTC atomic clock in my radio shack. Unfortunately I'm difficulty locating a GMT/UTC atomic clock. I can find 12/24 hour clocks, but they use North American time zones. Any suggestions? 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, Dec 2, dxldyg via DXLD) Are you sure? How does WWV know where you clock is located? (Andy K3UK O`Brien, NY, ibid.) Andy, During the weather station/clock setup I selected the time zone. Unfortunately, time zones are only for North America. Purchased weather station at Kohls. 73, (Kraig, ibid.) I was thinking of getting this type of clock, I will have to keep the UTC issue in mind. Did you see the one at http://cgi.ebay.com/Lacrosse-WS-8248-Aluminum-Atomic-Ham-Radio-Clock-UTC_W0QQite\mZ130157018174QQcmdZViewItem (Andy O`Brien, ibid.) MFJ Enterprises offers a variety of clocks. I just looked as was surprised to see that their 12/24 hour large analog "atomic" clock also only supports US time zones and not UTC. What good is an "atomic" clock in a radio shack that doesn't allow setting to UTC? They appear to have some other models that do have a UTC display as well, but seem to be LCD models. What is the WWVB format? I would assume it's UTC. 73, de (Nate Bargmann, N0NB, ibid.) Nate, Yes, WWVB is UTC. However, the clock will provide zones for setting. If zone 0 (meaning GMT) is available, then the clock will work as UTC/GMT clock. However, must, at least for me, be able to also set clock to 24 hour. Andy, Thanks for the link. I will take a look. Shame the weather station and clock from Kohls doesn't do what I want. The clock supports time zones 0 to -12 (I'm in zone -5), so I would set it to UTC/GMT. Unfortunately, 24 hour is not provided :( 73, (Kraig Krist, ibid.) Most "Global Atomic" (both terms are misnomers) clocks support world- wide time zone selection and most probably support 24 hour time too. I picked up a Centrios travel (pocket sized) clock at Circuit City a few years ago which supports world wide time zone selection and 24 hour clock (Doni Rosenzweig, ibid.) This is usual for most Atomic clocks. I have a Radio Shack one with big large numbers, including seconds. It's set to my local Pacific time. Above it, I purchased an Ikea old fashioned big round clock with a sweep second had that I set for UTC. It's accurate to within a few seconds every month. I just look at the Atomic clock for exact seconds. More recently I purchased a lovely Casio eco-drive clock with dual time, which I obviously set for UTC and local time. It's an aviation watch which cost me $309 including shipping on Ebay (Walt Salmaniw, BC, ibid.) I use La Crosse Technology's Model WS-6003U which can be set to UTC. I see on there web site that model is no longer available but the new WS-8318U works in UTC. Looked it up in manual. Web page is http://www.lacrossetechnology.com/8318/index.php (Peter W Hansen, ibid.) You can use this as an excuse to buy another radio... (Xmas is coming... :-) The Eton E1 has a big time display that you can switch to UTC or any other time zone, and it shows this in large characters when turned off but using external power. It monitors WWV (the HF signals, NOT the VLF) automatically and corrects the time that way (again, you can set it to do that or not). I was awake at the last DST timechange 2 AM locally and saw it change back the one hour exactly on time. With the various deals on this radio, it's cheaper than that high-end watch just mentioned, so you get a fancy radio for "free", right? Just tell the wife that... 73 & Happy Holidays! (Will Martin, MO, ibid.) Will, Thanks for the idea. Both my Sony and Grundig portables have UTC clocks. However, I'd still like a nice wall UTC/GMT clock in my radio shack. 73, (Kraig Krist, VA, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM [see also LUXEMBOURG] They are still experimenting and causing considerable interference to conventional AM reception over many channels in the bands. Some of the DRM transmissions are a disgrace in that the noise sidebands can spread up to 20 kHz either side of the DRM channel and mar weak AM signals. Does anyone think that they (DRM) have missed the boat and that with the deliberate downgrading of SW radio in general that neither the manufacturers nor the listeners are in the long term interested in DRM? After all compatible SSB of yesteryear was another experiment that died a death. I'm off to Stuttgart on a course for work soon and will be looking around the shops to see what electronic goodies are on offer. Conrad Electronic seem to be like Maplin so they will be visited! Interesting to see if any DRM receivers are on sale (Des Walsh, Ireland? Dec WDXC Contact via DXLD) DAB DIGITAL RADIO WORKING GROUP The Department of Culture, Media and Sport has set up a new taskforce to discuss the future of digital radio in the UK. The expert and consumer working group will look at how to promote digital radio and increase the numbers of people listening to it. Currently just over 20 per cent of people in the UK live in a DAB household with more than 5.5 million sets having been sold by the end of September 2007. Many more listen via digital TV or the internet but with an ever increasing selection of stations, the Government wants to encourage more people to listen to digital radio. The Digital Radio Working Group, made up of key stakeholders including Ofcom, the BBC, commercial radio and consumer representatives has been tasked with considering: Under what conditions would digital listening become the norm? What are the barriers to growth? How can those barriers be tackled? Culture Secretary James Purnell said: "Digital radio offers more choice to consumers and the British radio industry is leading the world in the transition to digital. There would be great advantages for both consumers and business to completing that transition, but there are also a number of obstacles. I have asked the group to develop a consensus about whether, how and when those obstacles could be overcome." The Digital Radio Working Group will be holding meetings throughout next year and will report back in late 2008. The group will include representatives from the government, Ofcom, the BBC, Channel 4, commercial radio, community radio, manufacturers, transmission operators and consumer representatives. Ofcom had previously proposed reviews of AM and FM in 2009 and 2012 respectively, these proposals have now been withdrawn. Ofcom will now re-award any commercial radio licences, which are due to expire, under existing statutory legislation for a five-year period or with an expiry date of 31 December 2015 (whichever constitutes a longer period). (via Mike Barraclough, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) The UK is likely to be stuck with an inferior digital radio system for many years because Digital Audio Broadcasting sets bought by more than five million people are incompatible with the latest technology. Many European countries are poised to take up the more efficient DAB+ format, but Britain is unlikely to do so, to avoid damaging the industry. A spokesman for industry regulator Ofcom said there were no plans to Switch to DAB+ because too many consumers had DAB radios. "DAB+ does have more capacity so you can have more services and better sound quality", she said. "But then there is always something new around the corner. We will keep DAB+ under review.`` Figures released last August suggest that 12 million people tune into digital broadcasts (Edwin Southwell, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) WORLD`S FIRST DRM+ TESTS START IN GERMANY The first DRM+ field trial was launched on 20 November in Hanover and will run until the 29 February 2008. The DRM+ broadcasting trial is being carried out by the DRM Associate Members the German State Media Authority of Lower Saxony (NLM) and the Leibniz University of Hanover who designed and built up the first DRM+ transmitter. The results of the DRM+ broadcast measurements will provide a basis for the new DRM+ system standardization of which is planned in 2008. The DRM+ trial in Hanover is in line with the field trials scheduled in Germany on HD-Radio and DRM+. Both systems allow digital radio transmission in FM band. With reference to the final report from the DRM Associate Member University of Applied Sciences Kaiserslautern and the German State Media Authority of Rhineland-Palatinate (LMK) about the interference potential of DRM+ and HD-Radio, the German Federal Network Agency has settled licences for forthcoming field trials at an assigned time. The DRM+ field trial in Hanover will be until 29 February 2008, the HD-Radio field trial is in Heidelburg until 29 February 2008 and there will also be a DRM+ field trial in Kaiserslautern from 1 March to 31 May 2008. DRM+ is a narrow band digital radio system and could gradually replace the analogue FM radio in the future. The specification on the DRM consortium website has a channel width of 50 to 100 kHz. DRM+ is appropriate for the transmission of local and sub-regional single programme offerings although it can obviously be extended to a bigger up to a nationwide coverage as a single-frequency network. HD-Radio is another digital radio system currently in use in the United States in both the AM and FM bands presently in hybrid digital mode so that a station is carrying analogue and digital programming on the same frequency. One problem HD Radio may have in the crowded European FM bands is its channel width as low level digital sidebands are added to each side of the existing analogue signal (via Mike Barraclough, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ The geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled during 26 - 27 November. Activity decreased to quiet levels for the rest of the period. ACE solar wind measurements indicated a gradual decrease in velocities during 26 - 30 November as a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream subsided. Peak solar wind velocity was 655 km/sec at 26/0517 UTC. Velocities decreased to as low as 310 km/sec by the end of the period. Minor IMF variations occurred during the period with Bt in the 01 to 06 nT range and Bz in the +5 to -4 nT range. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 05 - 31 DECEMBER 2007 Solar activity is expected to be very low. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels during 19 - 31 December. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at mostly quiet levels during 05 - 16 December. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled to active levels during 17 - 19 December due to recurrent coronal hole effects. Minor storm levels are also expected on 17 December. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet to unsettled levels during 20 - 23 December as coronal hole effects subside. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels for the balance of the period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2007 Dec 04 1954 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2007 Dec 04 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2007 Dec 05 73 5 2 2007 Dec 06 73 5 2 2007 Dec 07 73 5 2 2007 Dec 08 73 5 2 2007 Dec 09 73 5 2 2007 Dec 10 72 5 2 2007 Dec 11 72 10 3 2007 Dec 12 72 5 2 2007 Dec 13 72 5 2 2007 Dec 14 70 5 2 2007 Dec 15 70 5 2 2007 Dec 16 70 5 2 2007 Dec 17 70 20 5 2007 Dec 18 70 15 4 2007 Dec 19 70 15 4 2007 Dec 20 70 10 3 2007 Dec 21 70 10 3 2007 Dec 22 70 10 3 2007 Dec 23 70 8 3 2007 Dec 24 70 5 2 2007 Dec 25 70 5 2 2007 Dec 26 70 5 2 2007 Dec 27 72 5 2 2007 Dec 28 72 5 2 2007 Dec 29 72 5 2 2007 Dec 30 72 5 2 2007 Dec 31 72 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1385, DXLD) ###