DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-023, February 21, 2008 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 2008 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 1396 Thu 0630 WRMI 9955 Thu 1530 WRMI 7385 Thu 2300 WRMI 9955 [NEW] Fri 0030 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0900 WRMI 9955 Fri 2130 WWCR1 15825 Fri 2330 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Sat 0900 WRMI 9955 Sat 1730 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0330 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0900 WRMI 9955 Sun 1615 WRMI 7385 Mon 0400 WBCQ 9330-CLSB [irregular] Mon 0515 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 Tue 1630 WRMI 7385 Wed 1230 WRMI 9955 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: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** ALBANIA. Another contributor pleased with some QSL cards recently is Gunter Jacob, Passau, Germany who writes: ‘I had in my collection, seven QSLs from Radio Tirana on SW [which took 16 letters and postcards and followups] but since 1968, I couldn’t get anyone to verify my reports properly. They sent greetings cards at Christmas and New Year, or even short notes saying ‘please keep listening and sending reception reports’ and some QSLs arrived but never with complete details. When I sent these back requesting full data, they never replied again. No replies to countless emails, letters with IRCs, registered letters etc and I’ve had to be satisfied with ‘Albania’ cards from TWR or CRI. On January 1 2008 I contacted them again, and Drito Cico, Head of the Monitoring Center duly signed my prepared cards and stamped them ‘Republika e Shqiperise, Drejtoria e Radio-Tiranes, Tirane’ so I can now report QSLs from 11745, 11855 [1968 report], 9530 [1992], 9755, 7185 [1999], 7210 [2000] and 6115 [2002].’ Patience rewarded but in these times, any acknowledgement from a station can be considered a QSL. In fact, some stations may find requests for the ‘perfect’ QSL complete in all data respects as too demanding and beyond their resources. They may actually be counter- productive to the DX hobby, as station personnel then ignore other DXers reports. In my opinion, returning a QSL card because it doesn’t suit comes close to insulting the station staff who took the time to reply and spend their scarce time and funds. We all need to be conscious of the resource demands on the ever declining number of SW stations these days (eds. Bryan Clark and/or David Ricquish, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. 13640, Radio Tirana; *1530-1544+, 20-Feb; OC up at 1525, IS tune on at 1527 alternating in various instruments; 1530 start English program. W gave English sked as: 1945-2000 on 6135 & 7440; 2100-2130 on 7430; 1530-1600 on 13640; 2100-2130 on 9915; 0115-0145 on 6110; 0245-0300 on 7425; 0330- 0400 on 6110; 0430-0500 on 7425. M with news to 1540 then Albanian Daily Press Review -- needless to say, much on Kosovo. SIO=3+44-, QRM sounds like random tones. Tnx Glenn Hauser (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Some mistakes in that announced sked: 1945 is on 7465, not 7440. 0130- 0145 on 6110, not 0115-0145 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA. 4950, at 1802, Rádio Nacional making one of its rarely readable appearances 29/1 with ident and news in Portuguese. Lively format, fair at best, blocked by Asian fishing boat comms at 1815 but clear again at 1827 retune (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWE to NE and various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. To: A J Janitschek. Subject: Question about my reception report --- Dear Sir, Last month, I had sent my reception report on your Vietnamese broadcast on December 30, 2007 at 2330-2347 UT on 11605 kHz. I sent my report to your email address at qsl@rfa.org. Have you received my previous email and sent your QSL card for confirmation on my report? Please inform me about my report, I am afraid that my email could not reach your email inbox. In this email, I would re-write my report, just in case my previous email has failed to reach your email inbox, here is my report: . . . (Akbar Indra Gunawan, Feb, 20, via HCDX via DXLD) Hello Akbar: wonderful to hear from you again. Hope you are having a happy New Year. Thank you for your reception report below; we're happy to report that it is confirmed and that we will send you our 11th Anniversary QSL later today. I apologize for not sending a reply to your previous report but it was never delivered. During January, there were some problems with emails sent to qsl@rfa.org as this account is an alias for my personal INBOX at aj@rfa.org. For some reason, our IT department decided that my personal account must be changed to janitscheka@rfa.org to match RFA's long-standing naming convention for email accounts. It was not until January 25th that we realized the problem and corrected it. While all is working properly now, it seems that many reception reports sent to qsl@rfa.org, or to aj@rfa.org were simply not received. If you know of anyone else that is also missing confirmations from RFA, pls ask them to write directly to me or to qsl@rfa.org again so we can work on confirming their outstanding reports, no matter how old the report is. Thank you again for your email; it's always a pleasure to hear from you. 73s. AJ (AJ Janitschek, Radio Free Asia, via Gunawan, ibid.) see also EAST TURKISTAN [non] ** AUSTRALIA. VL8T, TENNANT CREEK, 4910, partial-data friendly personal letter from Theresa Regen, Administration Officer, in 8 months. 4910 was on late for a football game, and she said one of the teams, the West Coast Eagles, is her favorite team. Also enclosed was a Northern Territory Frequency Guide card and 6 bumper stickers from Northern Territory stations in various cities. Report sent to: ABC Northern Territory Shortwave Service, Box 9994, GPO Darwin NT 0801 (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village, Kansas, USA, Feb 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. R. Australia, 7240, 50 degrees from Shepparton to Pacific, is a good reliable signal here after 1400, and usually hams avoid it, but Feb 20 at 1519 I was hearing a QSO precisely on frequency, so they could give their BFOs a rest, but I should think it would have been tough to talk with RA mixing in. Were they QRMing it deliberately? One of the calls was N5MUF, using the obvious fonetix, who per ARRL lookup is: BRUMFIELD, THOMAS R, N5MUF (General), Pearl, MS 39208 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. KOJE [?] has the following note. 1320-1 CKEC New Glasgow NS has now moved to FM-94.1 and is silent here. -Pogue via NRC-AM 19.02.08 (Barry Davies, UK, ABDX via DXLD) Re 1320 CKEC has gone! Not quite yet! 94.1 has been on the air since December, but I'm listening to them right now as I type this - on 1320 KHz on my R-390A set on 16 kHz, complete with deep bass and sparkly, sizzly highs! Expect another 3 to 4 weeks of 1320, then they will leave the air forever. I contacted them back in December, heaping on well deserved kudos and suggesting a DX test. Haven't heard "boo" back. Maybe someone else would have better luck! (Phil Rafuse, Stratford PEI Canada, 40 miles or less as the crow flies over salt water from CKEC's 25 kW circa 1989 transmitter site - (2) 1/4 wavelength wideband towers, Nautel transmitter - of course, ibid.) See DXLD 8-018 (gh, ibid.) Yes, they used to play a small amount of C&W music - perhaps 3 or 4 hours per day. However, ever since they switched to FM with the East Coast FM "brand" I haven't heard any country - other than say George Canyon - who is a Pictou County native, or some crossover stuff. And, of course they play lots of INXS as the lead singer grew up in Pictou county. Anyone trying to DX them and ID them on the basis of C&W will be seriously misled! "He says this will be an extremely good time to hear the station, particularly the final week". Perhaps this means that for the last week they will run omni at night (Phil Rafuse, PEI, Feb 20, ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. TOD MAFFIN TAKES YOU ON A TOUR OF MASTER CONTROL AT CBC RADIO IN VANCOUVER. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbG10Q6IDJU 73, (Ricky Leong, Calgary AB, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CANADIAN RADIO PIONEER FESSENDEN COMMEMORATED WITH $1.25 MILLION GIFT --- McGill alum Dr. John Blachford honours his great- uncle, inventor of audio radio February 20, 2008 Dr. John Blachford, BEng’59, PhD’63, president of the custom manufacturing firm H. L. Blachford Ltd., has donated $1.25 million to McGill University to create the Fessenden Professorship in Science Innovation. The Professorship will encourage the commercialization of research by allowing world-class scholars in the Faculty of Science to develop the commercial viability of their ideas. The Professorship honours Dr. Blachford’s great-uncle, Reginald Aubrey Fessenden, a Quebec-born trailblazer in the field of radio technology, who in his early career worked with Thomas Edison. Dr. Fessenden was the first to transmit speech wirelessly, in 1900, one year before Gugliemo Marconi’s famous transatlantic broadcast of Morse code dots and dashes. On Christmas Eve 1906, Fessenden surprised ship radio operators in the Atlantic with the first-ever public broadcast of speech and music. Only a few days before, he had sent the world’s first two-way transatlantic radio transmission. “The Fessenden Professorship in Science Innovation is the first of its type in North America,” said Professor Martin Grant, Dean of the Faculty of Science. “John Blachford’s extremely generous decision to make this gift to McGill and the Faculty not only honours his great- uncle. His visionary thinking also helps us ensure that McGill can produce the Fessendens of the future.” Dr. Blachford’s gift, together with an earlier $750,000 donation from a fellow alumnus, will form a $2-million endowment for the Fessenden Professorship. Dr. Blachford, who received two degrees from McGill, a Bachelor of Engineering in 1959 and a PhD in 1963, has maintained a close relationship with his alma mater, including serving on the Graduate Studies' Faculty Advisory Board and on the Chancellor's Committee. The gift was officially presented to the university on February 18 at Applause 2008, a gala celebrating major awards won by groundbreaking McGill researchers, held at le Centre des Sciences de Montréal. Contact: Mark Shainblum Media Relations Office McGill University 514-398-2189 (via Meir Weiss, radioinmontreal yg via Sheldon Harvey, DXLD) ** CHAD. RNT, 4905, still having problems. Fairly good carrier at 0608 Feb 20, but talk barely modulated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Firedrake: (Chinese music without ID), presently audible in UK 0800 UT on 14390 and 14600. Winradio 313i and Datong Active vertical aerial (David Towers, G8SZX, Glenfield, Leicester, IO92jp, webpage http://www.g8szx.mediumwaveradio.org dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Both likely hangouts for Sound of Hope (gh, DXLD) see also INDONESIA [and non] ** COLOMBIA. HJDH MARFIL ESTÉREO, PUERTO LLERAS, 5910, full-data card with personal note and VCD with station photos & Christian music in 1 year. Return address: Colombia para Cristo, c/o Rafael Rodríguez R., Ap. A. #67751, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia. Report sent to Sr. Rodríguez at Calle 44 No. 13-67 (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village, Kansas, USA, Feb 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 5954.11, unidentified "ELCOR transmitter" station; 2304-2330 18 February, 2008. Finally logged here! Tune-in to nonstop soft Spanish female vocals (Sarah McLaughlin-like, only in Spanish), all seemingly non-Christian. Seriously squished from 5955, but decent copy on the JRC NRD-535 with passband and notch deployed, whereas it was barely audible in the slop on the ICOM R75. Still there at 2330, but virtually impossible to copy by then (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5954, UNIDENTIFIED, 2251-2328*, Feb 20, Spanish. Mystery station noted here with continuous live music and crowd noise as reported by Raul Saavedra in DXLD. Pulled the plug at 2328. No ID or announcements. Fair at best with splatter, heavy at times, via 5950-Okeechobee (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Tuned in to RHC English for the DX'ers show on 11760 around 2045 UT today. Had to tolerate a lot of adjacent interference from WHRA on 11765. (Have e-mailed WHRA about this but no answer so far). DX'ers started at 2058 and went on for about 45 seconds when it was abruptly interrupted by the TOH music, ID, and a five minute news bulletin at 2100. The show started over at 2105, but was interrupted here by some strong local interference. Checking back for RHC at 0100 UT on 6180, there was no signal to be heard. There was interference from adjacent channels and it got so bad that by 0114, V of Viet Nam [Sackville 6175] was covering 6171-6180. 6000 was running an SIO of 322 at 0100 but faded to 111 also due to adjacent interference. Out of curiosity I checked 9820 at 0100 just to see if I could find RHC in English somewhere and low and behold found a strong signal running 444. By the time the DX'er show came on at 0138, 6180 was up and running 444, 9820 was gone and 6000 was buried by Radio Sweden on 6005 out of Sackville. Isn't the combination of propagation and frequency management just wonderful? (Steve Cross, Del City, OK, Eaton E-5, wire antenna and tuner combo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Listen to RHC it will be interesting today, for sure. Listen to Radio Havana today if you get a chance since Fidel Castro stepped down. You will get to hear some stuff about how great he was and all that stuff. It will be a real trip down memory lane to the 1960s. Here is the frequencies to Radio Havana as I am sure it will be very interesting: http://www.radiohc.org/Distributions/freqtable.html (Kevin Redding, Feb 19, ABDX via DXLD) Hey, what a pretty table, I was unaware of. Too bad it is several years out of date. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Rather than complain, Glenn, how about letting us know where we can get the latest frequencies. I know many of us would appreciate that (Kevin Redding, ibid.) I ain't Glenn, but here is the new list of Freqs from RHC: http://www.rhc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuencias-espanol.htm (Kevin Possum Hunter, ibid.) The one from Mr. Hunter is better, bearing current dates, but as I have pointed out before, is not completely accurate, omitting for example, the English broadcast at 2030-2130 on 11760, 9505! My `complaint` was directed at the person who put up and left up the outdated info, without even bothering to date it, not at Kevin for finding it. I believe I have referred people several times before to these sources for more accurate, up-to-date SW schedule info: http://www.susi-und-strolch.de/eibi/dx/freq-b07.txt also in time order: http://www.susi-und-strolch.de/eibi/dx/bc-b07.txt http://www.geocities.jp/binewsjp/bib07.txt 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** CUBA. RHC, the UT day after Fidel finally resigned, Feb 20 at 0610- 0625 or so, checked 6060 and heard nothing at all about that, not even mentioning Fidel. Did not rate among top three news headlines, starting with something about US forces in Iraq. Perhaps instruxions on just how to play this somewhat momentous story were slow to trickle down, so they just said nothing. Wait till he really dies --- maybe then RHC will pull out all the stops, tho it may take a while to find out, following their Soviet models. 0611 topic: sister cities Quito and Cienfuegos (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I did hear one newscast from my sickbed, with a reading of Mr. Castro's resignation letter; but otherwise, it does indeed look like they are either downplaying it, or they are scrambling behind the scenes to come up with how to handle it (Rick Barton, AZ, Feb 21, ABDX via DXLD) ** CUBA. The bullet theory usually doesn't work, but there are exceptions. "Growing up in the Cold War years, I was taught to hate both Fidel Castro and the Cuban Revolution. Government, media, the church, and my schooling combined to incessantly vilify 'communist Cuba.' ... Our family moved into a different home, with furnishings included. Among them was a console short-wave radio. I quickly discovered that Radio Havana’s English language broadcast always came in clearly. I began listening on a regular basis. Almost immediately, I recognized, through the obviously sincere devotion of announcers and guests to poor people’s needs, that I’d been lied to about what Cuba actually represented." Dennis Rahkonen, Dissident Voice, 20 February 2008. 1 January 1959: "Castro decided to find a radio station so he could broadcast a message. About 11 a.m., Castro arrived in the town of Palma Soriano, where he found Radio Rebelde set up in a small house. The 'station' was a table-model 120-watt Collins shortwave transmitter, but it was strong enough to send a signal throughout Cuba." Miami Herald, 19 February 2008. Posted: 20 Feb 2008 (for linx see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=3373 at kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** CUBA [non]. As Fidel exits, the Martís are in the news (and comment) (updated). "Among those who heard the news early was Esther, a retired teacher who listens regularly to her favourite station, Radio Martí." The Independent, 20 February 2008. "Every time Congress tightened the embargo - or souped up the signal at anti-Castro Radio Martí - the Cuban president would make another rousing speech against yanqui imperialism - and a toss a few dozen more political prisoners in jail." Ellis Henican, Newsday, 20 February 2008. "Crackpot Radio Marti propaganda broadcasts." Pat Murphy, Idaho Mountain Express, 20 February 2008. More about Obama and Clinton voting differently about TV Martí funding. John Nichols, The Nation, 20 February 2008. Update: "The U.S. government is expanding its political broadcasts into Cuba, in light of Fidel Castro's resignation. TV and Radio Marti, a Miami-based federal government broadcast agency, is offering what one manager calls 'wall-to-wall' coverage of the Castro resignation. ... To overcome the Castros' efforts to jam the Marti broadcast signal, the U.S. government relies on military planes to relay the signal into Cuba from airspace above the water offshore." Story is accompanied by a slideshow and videos showing TV Martí operations. WJAC-TV (Johnstown PA), 20 February 2008. (for linx see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=3374 via DXLD) It's just one airplane, a 1960s-vintage Gulfstream G-1 propjet owned by IBB. And it flies not "offshore," but above the Florida Keys, within U.S. territory (Kim Andrew Elliott, Posted: 21 Feb 2008, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) {In WHAT way is it ``expanded``? Have not noticed any additional SW frequencies -- gh} ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC [and non]. DENUNCIAN CANCELACIONES MASIVAS DE PASTORES DOMINICANOS EN RADIO VISIÓN CRISTIANA. http://elnuevodiario.com.do/app/article.aspx?id=91188 NUEVA YORK. _ La radio emisora evangélica Radio Visión Cristiana está llevando a cabo cancelaciones masivas de pastores dominicanos que tienen espacios en la poderosa estación con sede principal en el vecino estado de New Jersey. Más de cuarenta dominicanos fueron despedidos la semana anterior tanto de posiciones administrativas como de programas que estaban en el aire, denunció a este reportero el reverendo doctor Feliciano Espaillat quien dijo que los despidos, tienen su única razón en el anti dominicanismo de los señores Milton Donato y su asistente Bob Rodríguez, este último traído desde Puerto Rico para que se encargara de ejecutar las cancelaciones contra los criollos. Espaillat dijo que en Puerto Rico, “Rodríguez, hizo un trabajo de baja estirpe cristiana” y acusó a los responsables de la emisora que se escucha en varios países de América Latina incluyendo a la República Dominicana de llevar a cabo la realización de “los sueños nazis anti dominicanos”. El denunciante en una nota enviada vía e-mail a este redactor sostiene que tanto Rodríguez como otros que se han prestado a apoyar la decisión de las cancelaciones, serán declarados personas no gratas en tierra dominicana por el mal trato contra los líderes religiosos de la diáspora. “Entre otras funciones, este señor se ha dedicado a una caza de brujas tratando de recopilar informaciones falsas y pidiendo cartas a personas para que escriban cosas que perjudiquen a los reverendos dominicanos que han realizado una amplia labor en su comunidad”, añade la denuncia. Dice Espaillat que la práctica, se viene realizando desde la llegada del señor Donato como presidente a la emisora de radio y el que se ha hecho co partícipe en el mal trato y humillaciones contra los líderes dominicanos que trabajan en el área metropolitana “a pesar de que tuvo que renunciar a su trabajo anterior por rumores que se extendieron por doquier y que no han sido aclarados”. La estación, la más escuchada por las congregaciones cristianas de Nueva York, New Jersey, Connecticut y la Zona de Nueva Inglaterra, posee dos emisoras en la República Dominicana, que hacen de repetidoras de la señal desde los Estados Unidos en las frecuencias de 660 y 1330 AM, las que Espaillat dice que violan las leyes dominicanas de tele comunicaciones, porque no ha abierto espacios para el 50% de productores nativos, como está legalmente establecido. Espaillat recuerda que la ley también exige a propietarios extranjeros poner en el aire un 50% de música dominicana y prohíbe la repatriación ilegal del dinero recaudado en territorio nacional, especialmente cuando se evade el pago de los impuestos al estado dominicano. Denuncia también que la llamada “ofrenda de amor” que Radio Visión Cristiana “pide” a sus programadores, consiste en el pago de $1,330 dólares por espacio y quienes no pueden asumir la cuota, son sacados del aire, debido a que es una “ofrenda de amor” compulsiva a pesar de que la emisora se declara como una organización sin fines de lucro. Espaillat indicó que el presidente de la emisora habría asegurado que “la participación de los dominicanos en Radio Visión Cristiana no es grata, porque estos no saben hablar”. Y agrega que ni Donato, ni Rodríguez, simpatizan con el gobierno de Leonel Fernández, pero sí respaldaron al de Hipólito Mejía. Entre los pastores cancelados figuran Domingo Rodríguez de la Asamblea de Iglesias Cristianas, Julio César Cabrera, quien según Espaillat, fue cancelado de manera humillante después de una década trabajando para la emisora, el propio Espaillat quien realizaba el programa de salud “Hablemos” y después de cinco ediciones en el aire, fue despedido, además de que no pudo paga la “ofrenda de amor”, Héctor Anderson director del periódico “El Ministro” que denunció hace algún tiempo prácticas ilegales en la radio estación y puso en entredicho la moral de algunos ejecutivos. También han sido cancelados los reverendos Ricardo Guzmán de la iglesia Jehova Shalom, Favio Jiménez y uno de apellido Acosta. De igual modo fueron sacados del aire el programa de la Asociación de Músicos y Cantantes Cristianos de Nueva York que dirigía la reverenda Felicia Valera-Espaillat, medida que afectó de igual modo a los cantantes Carlos Richardson, Josue de Jesús y Abraham Rodríguez, así como a otros 20 intérpretes de música cristiana. El doctor Feliciano Espaillat es el presidente de la Federación Internacional de Cristianos Progresistas que dirige la entidad junto al reverendo y sicólogo Angel Salvador Sánchez, que dirige en la República Dominicana la entidad, además de presidir la Unidad Nacional de Fuerzas Sociales que cuenta con más de 53 organizaciones satélites entre estas la Pastoral de Derechos Humanos (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) Whew! There`s really bad blood between the Dominican and New York gospel huxter faxions, over money and national pride; accusations of violating Dominican broadcasting law about local content (gh, DXLD) ** EAST TURKESTAN [non]. What is RFA telling the Uyghurs? "'We love the United States!' one man told me. 'They will come help us kick out China.' The largest Uyghur independence group, the ETIM, seeks the recreation of the free Republic of East Turkestan declared by earlier Uyghur rebels. The Home of East Turkestan Youth, known as 'Xinjiang’s Hamas,' has two thousand members. 'I listen to Radio Free Asia,' added an older guy knowingly. Radio Free Asia aired broadcasts in the Uyghur language. 'America is coming to give us our freedom, we know that, but when exactly?'" Gary Palast, Pacific Free Press, 21 February 2008 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) As the only useful external station broadcasting in Uighur, RFA has a sizeable audience in that region. I assume RFA is not leading its Uyghur audience to mistaken conclusions, à la RFE Hungarian in 1956 (Kim Andrew Elliott, Posted: 21 Feb 2008, ibid.) Hmm, or should I say TURKESTAN EAST? ** EGYPT. 9250, R. Wadi el Nile, 2135-2203, Feb 19, Arabic. OM and YL with talks between contemporary and traditional Arabic music. Instrumental filler loop from 2157 to 2202 followed by "..al Kahira.." and "Kahira wen Khartum" ID. Fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 6250, at 0605, Radio Malabo at good strength 28/1 with highlife music then news in PP [sic], frequent idents, time checks. Good easy listening when frequency is clear of utility interference, but half the time it is difficult! Starts fading after 0635. On ensuing days have tried to track sign-on time – was about 0524 on 29/1 and 0516 on 30/1. Excited to finally hear this after trying for more than 40 years! 6250.07, UNIDENTIFIED Arabic language station heard opening at 0630 29/1, possibly Cairo? Strong carrier but weak audio (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWE to NE and various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** FINLAND. See SOUTH CAROLINA [non] ** GERMANY [non]. DEUTSCHE WELLE: 9380 via EREVAN, ARMENIA, full-data Stuttgart Scholssplatz card in 10 days. Also on 9380 via LVIV, UKRAINE full-data Stuttgart Staatstheater card in 10 days. 9865 via WHRI, CYPRESS CREEK, SOUTH CAROLINA, USA, full-data card in 10 days. I think this season is the first time DW has used these 3 sites (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village, Kansas, USA, Feb 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. R. Verdad, 4052.4 (or at least a smidgen below 4052.5), Feb 20, 0550 playing Johnny Cash`s Were You There? slow hymn, joined by a soprano harmonizing, June? 0553 dead air; 0554 Lord`s Prayer in English; 0555 sign-off until 5 AM (1100 UT), ``good night from your speaker (preacher?), Edgar Madrid``, then hymn to waltz beat, 0557:30 YL Spanish sign-off, 0558 National Anthem by band and choir running several verses to 0602:30 and carrier stayed on a while longer. Rated S9+12 on my E-W longwire to FRG-7, or SINPO 35333. Modulation was somewhat muffled, fuzzy thruout. One should really monitor TGAV and report on their exact eighth anniversary, Feb 25 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Radio Verdad is celebrating its eighth anniversary. This prompted me to retrieve our original report of it from http://www.angelfire.com/ok/worldofradio/dxld0040.txt and then from subsequent issues in the next few weeks, sic. It later emerged that they had begun transmitting on Feb 25, 2000, but we are aware of no reports in the DX press of it before this, some three weeks later. Note that some of the initial guesses based only on monitoring were clarified when the QSL finally came (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-022) DX LISTENING DIGEST 00-40, March 17, 2000 edited by Glenn Hauser {Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only providing full credit be maintained at all stages} ** GUATEMALA. I have just discovered a brand new SW station here! Bandscanning March 17 at 1136 UT I came upon some music on 4052.5 kHz, or a tad below that (no, not a typo, not in the 60 meter band and not an image) -- ``I’ve Been Working on the Railroad`` on the banjo, then vocal hymns in Spanish. ID at 1145: ``Radio Verdad, en la frecuencia de 4.05 megahercios en la banda de 75 metros, TGW-1 (??), desde Monterrey(?), Chiquimula, Guatemala, Centroamerica.`` At 1147 and 1150 mentioned having received a report yesterday through the Sistema Internacional de Radioaficionados that they had been heard in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Cuba, Republica Dominicana. Invited more reports to Apartado Postal 5, Chiquimula, Guatemala. ``Radio Verdad, la emisora educativa y evangelica`` was frequently mentioned; ``exact`` timechecks were 2 minutes slow. At 1200 concluded ``El Tren del Evangelio Nocturno`` show with same banjo theme as earlier. 1202 into chimes and ID as above but also mentioned ``...de la gloria, en Chiquimula...``. 1204 something about ``an~o 2000``, cuckoo twice and Big-Ben-type melody on piano. 1206 another ID, prayer, but fading audio as much as carrier. 1208 reading a versiculo, 1215 just a carrier, 1217 music but fading and 2-way QRM on high side increasing. 1222-1226 talk was unintelligible as fading out; sunrise at Enid was 1240. Earlier reception was good, SINPO 34443. I only heard the TG callsign mentioned once, and it seems unlikely, so coupled with the out-of-band frequency, the legality of this station is questionable. If there have been any other reports of this in the DX press, I have not yet seen them; this report is based solely on my own monitoring ((C) Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ** GUATEMALA. [Cf DXLD 00-40] No sign here of R. Verdad, 4052.5, the following evening, UT March 18 after 0000, tho something could have been there beneath my high noise level; nor the next morning when frequently checked in the 1130-1230 period. Nor was anything unusual found in a scan from 3900 to 5100. In case you suspect I was dreaming, I`ll have a tape of the March 17 reception on the next WORLD OF RADIO 1029 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. [Cf DXLD 00-40 and update in 00-41]. The new R. Verdad, Chiquimula, which I discovered Friday morning, March 17, was not to be heard morning or evening on Saturday and Sunday, but was back on Monday morning, March 20, so apparently operates M-F mornings only. Awake at 1023 UT, I found an open carrier on 4053.0, so rolled a tape, but nothing happened until another carrier *1111 on 4052.5, producing a heterodyne which never diminished. (The ATS-909 and YB- 400 have no notch filters! 4053.0 amounted to a spoiler, and it was not there on March 17.) Finally at 1125 on 4052.5 the Guatemalan national anthem began in a choral version. 1129:30 canned patriotic lecture on the history of the himno nacional from 1896 in the days of Pres. Barrios, and different lyrics through the years. 1133 chimes, ID as before mentioning 4.05 MHz, cuckoo twice, Big Ben melody; 1135 birdchirps, promo ``An~o dos mil ... para vivir en tranquilidad``. 1136 same program as Friday morning with banjo theme, ``El Tren del Evangelio``, with occasional 2-minute slow timechecks, but more hymns, less talk. Het getting worse as 4052.5 was fading, but not 4053.0, by 1153 ID and another at 1200. Unintelligible by 1205, also with 2-way SSB on low side, and the continuous bonker was always on the high side as well. BTW, in case it could be a deliberate harmonic, I see nothing in the 1998 WRTH for Chiquimula around 1350, 1013, 810, 675, 579 and no R. Verdad anywhere ((C) Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ** GUATEMALA. Just heard an OUTRAGEOUS signal from Radio Verdad on 4052.48 kHz at 1153 tune-in. Right where Glenn said it would be. EASILY the best signal from 60 to 90 meters. Just turned on the tape when a perfect ID, freq, mb, QTH and time was given. I didn't catch any call letters but, I will go back through the tape later. Faded quickly by 1215. ID's, freqs, etc. were mentioned frequently. The banjo and cuckoo were heard at the ToH. CA/SA's not easily heard in the Pac. NW as they were in MN. Using AR-7030 w/ 100 m long wire, non- terminated, N/S. (Terry, KC7LDP, hard-core-dx March 20 via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. Our further checks of the new R. Verdad, 4052.5, Chiquimula: Tuesday, March 21: only checked briefly at 1205 when the habitual ``An~o 2000 Jubileo`` promo was running, ID in passing; relieved that Monday`s 4053.0 carrier was gone and not heard subsequently either. Losing out to T-storm and local noise level by 1215. Wednesday, March 22: Carrier came on late at *1144, joining music at 1145, with no anthem. This day, T-storm noise increasing, and signal also weaker and choppy. Love song, chimes (maybe vibes but does not sound like marimba), 1150 ID with details, 1159 outro Tren show with banjo theme; 1201 chimes, ID, mostly talk until fadeout. Thursday, March 23: 1128 tune in, NA in progress, 1130 repeat of the anthem history talk heard before. ID at 1133 has some location words I have not been able to make out completely, just before he says Chiquimula, but sounds something like ‘`Desde Monte Oron de la Gloria...`` and another time like ``Ministerio de la Gloria`` See if you can tell on the tape I include on this weekend`s Radio-Enlace on R. Nederland. A callsign starting with TG- was again mumbled in the 1149 announcement. 1201 outro to Tren del Evangelio show ``con himnos espirituales`` credits somebody (for the records?) in el mercado central de Chiquimula. Cuckoo, Big Ben, time check and talk, probably bible reading mentioning ``capitulo``, ``Jeova``; gone into noise level by 1208 ((C) Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Radio Verdad [4052.5]: Thanks Hauser tip, who first reported this new one. 2359 start of several IDs by man and slow talk in Spanish. Plenty of QRN today, but seemed to be on an equal level to other Guatemalan stations. Christian instrumentals after 0000, pulled plug at 0020. Not heard during the weekend, but heard again on 20 March *1125 with long anthem till 1129, then formal five minute talk by man, then IDs. Program of Christian religious music followed. Fade out by 1210. Heard again at 0020 on 21 Mar (Hans Johnson, FL, Mar 17- 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) So they do run until approximate local sunset weekdays. I continue to hear it weekday mornings only before 1200 (gh, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. R. Verdad, 4052.5, March 30 checked at 1155 when announcer was talking continuously, giving their street address, and something about reporting everything heard during a 1-minute period; after 1201 into hymns and fading out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. R. Verdad, 4052.5, April 3 1137 acknowledging a report from Washington State, but could not catch the name. Perhaps someone with a secret surname, anyway (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. Hopefully me as the one from Washington state mentioned on R. Verdad per GH in DXLD as I did send a report to Ap. 5, Chiquimula, on 20 March. This could be a good sign! Not being able to understand the name hardly surprises me as it's difficult enough in printed form; much less bouncing 2500 miles through static crashes and such. (Terry PALMERSHEIM, KC7LDP See!, DX LISTENING DIGEST) They mentioned Washington again the next morning; informal mailbag seems to be around 1135 (gh) ** GUATEMALA. Listening over and over to one of my tapes of R. Verdad, which is included on MUNDO RADIAL, it sounds like they are giving their location as Monte Orion, en la Sierra de la Gloria, but I am still not positive of the words Orion and Sierra. Was late coming on April 13 on 4052.5, anthem at 1134, skipped the history-of- the-anthem lecture, 1137 vibes and s/on, 1139 banjo theme. See also UNIDENTIFIED at bottom (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Checking for R. Verdad, 4052.5 around 1130, I am hearing a very weak signal on 4050 before the TG overcomes it, such as April 11, 13; could really be a 3 x 1350 harmonic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. R. Verdad, 4052.5, Chiquimula: I received today a very nice no-data color QSL card, full-data letter in EG from v/s: Dr. Édgar Amilcar Madrid Morales, Manager; and (get this) a bright red felt covered pressboard in the shape of a house w/ raised lettering inscribed "Dios bendiga este hogar" (God Bless this house). It's about 6x9 inches with a picture hook. All this in 1 month for $1 (w/ receipt from station). The full name of the station is 'Estación Educativa Evangélica Radio Verdad'. They are using 800 watts into a bi-pole full wave oriented NE/SW. Sched is 1125-0120 UTC. Power goes out all of the time and they are not using a compressor so they are purposely overmodulating to compensate. What Glenn and I heard in reference to their call letters TGW-1 is actually SW-1 or 'Short Wave One'. When they get their call letters they will probably be TGAV. I quote "Now, you have won a prize, which we offered to the person who would report Radio Truth from the farthest away area" referring to the felt-board. They have been reported in Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, Cuba, DR and (apparently) I was the first from the USA. Address is: Apartado 5, Chiquimula, Guatemala. (Terry Palmersheim, KC7LDP/FOØPAM, hard- core- dx April 25 via DXLD 0-059) END OF SPECIAL HISTORICAL SEXION FROM Y2K ---------------------------- ** GUATEMALA. 4780, R. Cultural Coatan, *1030-1047, Feb 18, Spanish. Sign-on with choral music, ID at 1034, brief OM at 1035 followed by ballads and up-beat music. More OM at 1042, back to ballads by tune- out. Poor/fair (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. Pick of the Commonwealth Podcast --- One thing that I particularly enjoyed doing on the old Media Network radio show was profiles of broadcasters around the world. Towards the end of the 1990's that was almost a monthly feature as we developed the Media Network Safaris series. Although all that has now ceased, I see that the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association has a series of monthly podcasts that include interviews with their member broadcasters. I enjoyed listening to programme 56 http://www.cba.org.uk/audio/pick/2008_02_pick_commonwealth_prog_56kbps.mp3 in which producer Robin White travels to Guyana, right on the equator [sic]. The climate is hot and sticky --- and so is the local politics. The population is a mixture of black descendants of African slaves imported by the Dutch, descendants of Indian workers brought in by the British, and Guyana's original Amerindians, who have been marginalized. Robin's guide in Georgetown is Julie Lewis, a famous broadcaster on the state run radio station. Julie has been blind since she was a child. She talks to Robin about her job on the national radio network, and shows him what it's like to get round Georgetown when you can't see. Posted by Jonathan Marks at 2/20/2008 02:03:00 PM (Critical Distance blog via DXLD) ** HAWAII. For some real mellow traditional Hawaiian Music from KKNE 940 go to http://am940hawaii.com/ and check it out. It makes me think of the years I lived on Oahu (Kevin, Gilbert, AZ, Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** HAWAII. New AM stations --- Honaunau, Hawaii: 1340 kHz: Permit granted for new station 10,000 watts fulltime, non-directional. Tower at 19-31-13N/155-55-04W. This would be the only station in the U.S. on a local channel running more than 1,000 watts (local channels are 1230, 1240, 1340, 1400, 1450, and 1490 kHz). (Doug Smith, American Bandscan blog Feb 21 via DXLD) ** HONG KONG. ROYAL HONG KONG YACHT CLUB ON SHORTWAVE It looks as though the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club will be back with weather on shortwave next month. http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/rolexchinasearace.htm ROLEX CHINA SEA RACE 2008 Starts 1200hrs Thursday 20 March 2008, Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong A 565nm, Category 1 Offshore Race from Hong Kong, China to Subic Bay in the Philippines. A PDF of the Sailing Instructions http://www.rhkyc.org.hk/chinasearace/downloads/2008SIs.pdf contains this. Times are presumably local, a.k.a. UT +8: "25.1 All boats shall report their positions when called in alphabetical order by the radio control boat on SSB 4060 kHz. The frequency 2638 kHz may be used by the radio control boat as a backup in the event that boats are unable to communicate on 4060 kHz. In addition to the radio control boat, the race committee will designate at least one other boat to help relay positions to the radio control boat. Boats retiring are required to continue radio reporting until reaching port. 25.2 Boats shall report their 0800 hours position to the radio control boat when called in alphabetical order beginning at 0803 hours for the morning schedule, and their 1800 hours position beginning at 1803 hours for the evening schedule. All boats are requested to listen out for the positions of other boats and to help the radio control boat if there are reception or transmission difficulties. 25.3 Weather reports will be sent by Sat Com to the radio control yacht(s) and broadcast to the race fleet at 0903 [0103 UTC] and 1903 [1103 UTC] hours respectively." [WTFK!?!?!] The race officially ends at 1800 [1000 UT] on 24 March, so presumably the weather broadcasts will be from 1903 UT 20 March to perhaps 0903 UT 24 March (or maybe just til the 23rd). I've sent an email off to try and gather further information (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA [and non]. RRI, 9680, with gamelan orchestra at 1430 Feb 21, rather like the loop they used to play on VOI 9525 after 1530. But as always on 9680, with co-channel QRM, in Chinese: Per EiBi we have a four-way collision here: 9680 2200-1500 INS Radio Rep. Indonesia 4 IN SEA 9680 1100-1800 TWN Radio Taiwan Int. M FE 9680 1100-1500 USA Voice of America M FE /PHL The fourth being mandatory Chicom jamming against RTI and/or VOA! A somewhat different timespan pixure emerges from Aoki, all 1234567: 9680*CBS TAIWAN 1100-1800 Chinese 100 352 Taipei TWN 12124E2509 CBSC b07 9680 RRI Jakarta 2200-1300 Indonesian 250 316 Jakarta-Cimanggis INS 10651E0612 RRI 9680*VOICE OF AMERICA 1100-1500 Chinese 250 349 Tinang PHL 12037E1521 IBB b07 This showing RRI off at 1300, not the case per my log today. And the * meaning both CBS and VOA are jammed. This multi-collision is a no-win situation for all concerned. I bet they haven`t worked it out either at the latest HFCC in Malaysia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET [non]. BUT WILL YOU BE ABLE TO HEAR ANYTHING ON THAT SHORTWAVE RADIO? Article describes five techniques to overcome internet censorship, concluding: "If none of these techniques gain you access the outside world, throw away your computer and get a shortwave radio." Foreign Policy website, February 2008 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) The reference to shortwave radio, probably meant as a humorous riff, is actually valid. When the internet is blocked, or during a time of crisis or disaster, the internet, along with cell phone networks, and other local communications and broadcasting systems, may be unavailable, at least temporarily. So you will turn to your shortwave radio for news and information. However, we have recently been reading about the many international broadcasters reducing or eliminating their shortwave output, most recently the BBC to Europe. When shortwave is needed, will shortwave transmitters be on the air? Will audiences still have working shortwave radios? Posted: 20 Feb 2008 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** IRAN. 6067.744, Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Sirjan; 2330-2355 18 February, 2008. Arabic, mostly talk with some presumed Iranian filler music. Pretty good via USB and using the passband, in fact actually better audio on the R75 vs. the NRD-535. Thanks Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb. 16 harmonics yg, via DXLD 8-021 (who then measured to 6067.45). (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. KOREA NORTH. 7580, Voice of Korea (tentative); 2052- 2104+, 20-Feb; M&W in FF (not FF in Passport); didn't hear an ID, but mentioned Pyongyang; 2100-04 tune sounding like Mid-East headbanger! Copy got tougher, but sounded like FF continued at 2104. Fair at best; need USB to take out hiss QRM (Harold Frodge, MI, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Checking Aoki, VOK is supposed to be in Japanese on 7580 at 2100-2350 (also 0700-1250). By FF do you mean Farsi? ``Mid-East headbanging music`` certainly points to R. Farda, also on 7580, 315 degrees via Sri Lanka at 1600-2130 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Definitely French! (Harold Frodge, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So here`s another theory: VOK is scheduled for French until 2057 on 7570, then English from 2100. Perhaps they got the feed reversed with 7580? (Glenn Hauser, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Also seems I have heard some music in French, and other Latin languages, on Radio Farda (gh, DXLD) I'll take another shot at it tomorrow afternoon. – HF (Harold Frodge, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: I'll stick with this to see if it can be pinned down. Nothing at all before 1900 & got first het [carrier] about 1900. First detectable audio (unloggable) about 1930. It's now just before 2000 and almost to the point where I might take a stab at a language. Seems to be a mix of talk & music so far, and not very North-Korea-sounding, so Farda would be the leading candidate at the moment. Stay tuned... God, I love this "job"! [later:] Hallelujah! Replace above with: SRI LANKA: 7580 Radio Farda (presumed), 2052-2104+, 20-Feb; M&W in French; didn't hear an ID, but mentioned Pyongyang so possibly North Korea; 2100-04 tune sounding like Mid-East headbanger! -- not something likely from North Korea, so maybe Radio Farda from Sri Lanka. Copy got tougher, but sounded like French continued at 2104. Fair at best; need USB to take out hiss QRM. 7580, Radio Farda, 1900-2103+, 21-Feb; Nothing detectable before 1900, then heard first weak het; first audio detectable (unloggable) about 1930; seems to be a mix of talk & music. M&W announcers with Arabic- style & pop tunes. M probably news at 2030-33 to Woman commentary. 2038-50 M&W alternating with remotes. Announcers sure sound like French again -- some of the remotes were not in French. "Radio Farda" ID at 2100 with headbanger tune! Tnx Glenn Hauser (Harold Frodge, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good, but I really don`t think R. Farda would be speaking French instead of Persian. You could also have tried // to other Farda frequencies, per EiBi after 1900: 19-20 9570 Thailand; 19-2130 9335 Sri Lanka; 2000-2130 7375 Germany-Lampertheim (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND. VALENTIA ISLAND PROTESTS RADIO CLOSURE Monday, 18 February 2008 19:45 Kerry County Council has unanimously decided to oppose the closure of Valentia Island's coastal radio station, in support of a campaign by islanders. The councillors described the move to close the station as 'anti rural thuggery by Dublin-based bureaucrats'. The Coast Guard and the Department of Transport are proposing to close Valentia's coastal radio station as well as Malin Head radio station, and then combine both in a new station at an urban location. . . http://www.rte.ie/news/2008/0218/valentia.html DONEGAL AND KERRY COUNCILS TO LOBBY DEMPSEY ON COASTGUARD PLAN Feb 18, 1:41 pm http://www.highlandradio.com/news.php?articleid=000001686 The Donegal County Manager is to be asked to join his counterpart in Kerry on a joint deputation to lobby Transport Minister Noel Dempsey for the retention of the coastguard radio stations at Malin Head and Valentia. At present senior coastguard managers are seeking the centralisation of coastguard communications to one location, possibly Shannon Airport. However, there is widespread opposition in both Donegal and Kerry to such a move. Today, the Save our Station campaign on Valentia Island met with Kerry County Council, which voted unanimously to seek a joint deputation. Campaign spokesperson Richard Foran says the current proposal is a slur on the entire western seaboard. WTFK? 1752 kHz, EJK, photos and recordings: http://www.coastalradio.org.uk/valentia.htm (all via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. "KOREA (REP)", 9940, CMI Voice of Wilderness- Tianan [sic], *1300-1314, Feb 19, Korean. Music and brief announcer at sign-on; talk and ballads from 1303. Ballad at 1308 with exotic, wailing vocals; sounded prayer-like at times. Lost the signal under increasing band noise at 1314. Poor (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m Dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tainan = city and transmitter site in Taiwan, not to be confused with Tinian, IBB site in Northern Marianas, or Tinang, IBB site in Philippines (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. "'Voice of Korea' of the Korean Broadcasting System (KBS), South Korea’s public service broadcaster, has to create more radio programs targeting North Korean audience. In addition, more support should be provided for private radio stations dedicated to North Korean audience such as Radio Free Chosun, Free North Korea Radio and Open Radio for North Korea, all of which have been run without support from government. In fact, most private radio stations have been operating with no support from the government, and that is why they use foreign radio frequencies and transmitters. Even worse, they cannot provide radio programs with a high sound quality for their North Korean audience since they use a low radio transmitting power. Private radio stations targeting North Korea should be allowed to use domestic frequencies and transmitters." Lee Kwang Baek, The Daily NK, 21 February 2008 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Boy, is he mixed up. Voice of Korea is the name of the North Korean external service, not South Korea`s (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. KBS Radio One-HLKA QSY'ed to 6155 kHz (ex-3930). 6155 KBS R. One 0300-0100 1234567 Korean 10 ND Hwasong KOR 12647E3713 KBS 1 Feb. 20- de S. Aoki (S. Hasegawa, NDXC-HQ, Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not enough to bother Austria? (gh, DXLD) ** MACEDONIA [non?]. UN PROPOSES FIVE NEW NAMES FOR MACEDONIA - MEDIA A UN envoy has proposed five possible new names for Macedonia, the Balkan country that Greece has threatened to block from NATO and EU membership because of its name, Greek media said today. Greece has rejected the name Macedonia since the state broke from Yugoslavia in 1991, saying it implies territorial ambitions against Greece’s own northern province of Macedonia, birthplace of Alexander the Great. Several Greek newspapers said the suggested names included: Democratic Republic of Macedonia, Constitutional Republic of Macedonia, Independent Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Upper Macedonia and Republic of New Macedonia. UN mediator Matthew Nimetz launched his latest effort on Tuesday to try to resolve the dispute. A Greek source close to the negotiations said the names in the Greek media sounded similar to those proposed by Nimetz. “But the two parties are not limited to these names. They can come up with their own proposals,” the source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters. Macedonia, which hopes for an invitation to join NATO this spring, uses its name in bilateral ties with the United States, Russia, China and Canada, but at the United Nations it is called “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.” NATO and the EU also use the acronym FYROM. Macedonian Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski said his country would accept only a name serving its national interests. “Any solution for the name of Macedonia can be decided only by the people, not by politicians,” he said, indicating the government would favour a referendum. Protesters stoned the Greek representative office in Skopje yesterday, hours after the meeting in Athens between Nimetz and the two negotiators, but no damage was reported. (Source: Reuters) February 20th, 2008 - 17:23 UTC by Andy 1 comment so far --- Efthyvoulos Pantoleon Feb 21, 2008 at 4:13 pm They are all wasting their time! It is ridiculous to carry on using a name like FYROM ; since this part of the world was known as Vardarska before and Greece has accepted a composite name with one part as “Macedonia” to describe its geographical region in order to differentiate it from its own region also called Macedonia, why don’t the Americans tell the government of FYROM to call themselves VARDAROMACEDONIA, give them a generous package for their development and invite them to join NATO and the EU and call it a day ? The Americans created an independent Kosovo, surely they can resolve a small problem like this ! (Media Network blog via DXLD) That`s it! (gh) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, carrier+USB Radio Madagasikara; 0004-0213 19 February, 2008. Malagasy male and female announcers, local and also almost South African-sounding highlife, along with local pop vocals. Excellent. I wonder why they're running overnight here now? Regardless, good listening and I hope it continues (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Typhoon approaching, suggests Victor Goonetilleke (gh) ** MALAYSIA/SARAWAK. 7270, Wai FM via RTM, Kuching, 1021-1109, Feb 21, YL DJ in vernacular, playing pop songs, their usual singing "Wai FM" jingle, no news at ToH, decent signal against PBS Nei Menggu, not too hard to differentiate the two stations, fairly rare for me to hear Wai FM at this level, clearly parallel with live streaming at http://www.radiokitai.com/portal/ (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANIA. ORTM, 4845, which I had heard a couple recent nights, was missing again Feb 20 at 0607; just the constant utility pulsing on same frequency (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEYU, Radio Unam, 9599.3, quite good with continuous classical music, `cello et al., Feb 20 from 2235 until at *2311:30 hit by Vatican Radio on 9600.0 joining program in progress, then IS at 2314, producing a bad het making both unlistenable (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 20TH --- CHARLATAN Do you ever get those e-mails for cheap Viagra or remedies that will bring back your "youth", so to speak? Think these "miracle" remedies are new? They're most definitely not. Tonight, we’ll talk to Pope Brock who has just written Charlatan, the story of a man that Brock describes as America’s most dangerous huckster. Apparently, this con- man was well ahead of his time, selling worthless remedies all across America, and eventually making quite a name for himself by implanting goat testicles under the skin of thousands of Americans, to improve their "virility". (WGN Extension 720 previews, 9:05 pm CST = UT Thursday Feb 21 0305-0500 via DXLD) Must be Dr Brinkley --- yes, per synopsis linked at Barnes & Noble: (gh) In 1917, after years of selling worthless patent remedies throughout the Southeast, John R. Brinkley -- America’s most brazen young con man -- arrived in the tiny town of Milford, Kansas. He set up a medical practice and introduced an outlandish surgical method using goat glands to restore the fading virility of local farmers. It was all nonsense, of course, but thousands of paying customers quickly turned "Dr." Brinkley into America’s richest and most famous surgeon. His notoriety captured the attention of the great quackbuster Morris Fishbein, who vowed to put the country’s "most daring and dangerous" charlatan out of business. Their cat-and-mouse game lasted throughout the 1920s and ’30s, but despite Fishbein’s efforts Brinkley prospered wildly. When he ran for governor of Kansas, he invented campaigning techniques still used in modern politics. Thumbing his nose at American regulators, he built the world’s most powerful radio transmitter just across the Rio Grande to offer sundry cures, and killed or maimed patients by the score, yet his warped genius produced innovations in broadcasting that endure to this day. By introducing country music and blues to the nation, Brinkley also became a seminal force in rock ’n’ roll. In short, he is the most creative criminal this country has ever produced. Culminating in a decisive courtroom confrontation that pitted Brinkley against his nemesis Fishbein, Charlatan is a marvelous portrait of a boundlessly audacious rogue on the loose in an America that was ripe for the bamboozling (via DXLD) Should be available ondemand (gh) ** MOLDOVA/PRIDNESTROVYE/TRANSNISTRIA. RADIO PMR, GRIGORIOPOL, 6240 full-data sheet in English including frequency schedule and photos of antennas & building and with maps of Pridnestrovya and data in Russian on the back. This and a note apologizing for the delay are signed by Vlad Butuk, “Engineer of Technician Servis”, in 10 weeks. Address on the letter and envelope is: ul. Rozy Lyuksemburg 10, MD 3300 Tirasapol, Moldova. No mention of Pridnestrovya in the address. I also reported 7370, but it wasn’t mentioned on the verie (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village, Kansas, USA, Feb 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. The Crystal Ship On Air Sun 2/17 *2130- Good afternoon, pirate radio addicts! The Crystal Ship is going on the air this afternoon/evening, on 6700 kHz and on 5385 kHz. Program commencing around 2130 UT, will be featuring music from the 80s. Cheers! -- 73s and FIGHT for FREE RADIO! The Poet, The Crystal Ship (via Will Martin, Feb 21, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 1580.05, KOKB presumed, Blackwell. 2/11 0806 EST. Stillwater ads, Oklahoma mentions, CST time checks. Presumed KOKB based on this data, plus the fact they were heard on this frequency last year (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge CO, DDXD-West, NRC DX News Feb 25 via DXLD) That explains the rumble I hear on this frequency at night, 50 Hz het with 49 watts; dominant in daytime, 1000 watts (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: Homelessness Marathon, KEIF ** OKLAHOMA. TV'S DIGITAL WAR PERSISTS, STATE CAUGHT IN CROSSFIRE By Jim Stafford Business News Writer http://newsok.com/article/3199496/1201839752 Similar to the way German and British troops in World War I observed Christmas with a truce, opposing sides in a digital broadcasting battle in northwestern Oklahoma have declared a temporary peace. Woodward low-power television station KOMI will turn off its transmitter Sunday afternoon to allow viewers in the area to watch a high definition broadcast of the Super Bowl via the digital signal from Oklahoma City's KOKH-25. "We're going to do some repair work on our transmitter on Sunday afternoon following the Baptist Church service,” said KOMI owner Doug Williams. "That will allow them to pick up the (KOKH) HD signal.” The truce will end after the Super Bowl, but the temporary peace will allow cable operators like Glenn Gore of Taloga to provide the HD signal to their subscribers. Gore said the lack of a digital broadcast signal from KOKH has become an issue for his subscribers who bought expensive HD-capable televisions especially for big events such as the Super Bowl. KOMI decided on the repair work after consulting with officials from the Federal Communications Commission. "The FCC does not have any rules and regulations governing the situation,” Williams said. "So they asked me if I would turn my station off during the Super Bowl for repairs.” When the KOMI transmitter goes down Sunday, viewers with high definition televisions and cable connections or an over-the-air antenna will be able to watch the Super Bowl broadcast in HD. KOMI recently increased the power of its transmitter from 160 watts to 15,000, which had knocked the KOKH broadcast off over a wide area of northwestern Oklahoma. "We're not concerned about KOKH,” Williams said. "We're concerned about our friends in Taloga. The cable operator in Taloga, a mom-and- pop operation, he's been there for years. And he's lost some customers as a result of not being able carry the digital broadcast of the Super Bowl.” Still, it's only a temporary reprieve for viewers, said John Rossi, KOKH general manager. "It still hasn't been resolved,” Rossi said. "It will be fine for Sunday so that people will get the digital broadcast of the game, which is great. The problem is, effective Feb. 17, 2009, everything is going to be on digital and those people aren't going to get the signal, period.” Taloga cable operator Gore also was looking past Sunday's Super Bowl, which begins shortly after 5 p.m. "This is good news for my customers, but there still exists the situation of February 2009 when the analog cutoff occurs and KOKH turns off their analog signal,” Gore said. "Since KOMI overrides KOKH's digital signal, there will be no way for viewers out here to watch KOKH at all.” Williams said the obvious answer to resolving the situation would be to change the frequency on which KOMI broadcasts. But adjacent frequencies are taken by Oklahoma City television stations and it would cost thousands of dollars to buy new equipment to allow a change to other frequencies. "It's not as simple as that solution sounds,” Williams said. (Daily Oklahoman Feb 1 via Kevin Sherrard, HDTV in Oklahoma via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 5050 kHz, 1320-1349 UT, Radio Pakistan Pushto service was monitored today. The audio was distorted, transmitter howl very loud. The program content was news in Pushto at 1325 followed by news comment on elections results. During the broadcast, Pusthto songs were also played. Urdu transmission of world service of R. Pakistan was being heard simultaneously in the background due to some tech error. Absence of female broadcaster has been noticed in Pushto Service. Since Pushto is a native language, it would not have been difficult to find female Pushto speakers in Islamabad. Perhaps R. Pakistan wants to please Taliban and Usama Bin Laden (Aslam Javaid, Lahore, Pakistan, Feb 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7325, at 0727 17/1, R. Wantok Light, Poor/Fair in English, FA [female announcer] personal messages, religious music. ID (Kelvin Brayshaw, Levin, New Zealand, R1000, horizontal delta loop, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. NBC sign-on 1974 --- I'm listening to the Papua New Guinea NBC sign on that is on Ian McFarland's collection of Interval Signals. It's starts with a jingle that goes like this. Papua New Guinea, your day has begun. Nations are watching the rise of your sun, And now (can't figure out this line), So Papua New Guinea, your day it has begun, Papua New Guinea, your day has begun. Can anyone fill in the third line? There's too much distortion for me to be able to decipher it (David Goren, HCDX via DXLD) ** POLAND [non]. And I do mean non! Checking 9660, scheduled for PRES 2200-2300 back to Europe via GUIANA FRENCH, 250 kW, 40 degrees, analog, all I heard was an unmodulated carrier at various chex between 2210 and 2235. Something must really be wrong at Montsinéry, as a number of other transmissions were moved away from there, and it seems this one should be, or has been? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Polskie Radio dla zagranicy - The end of public radio on SW? 20.02.2008 Listen 19,54 MB After the BBC announced ending its shortwave broadcasts in Europe, will Polish Radio and other broadcasters do the same? Presented by Slawek Szefs. That and the usual DX reports. . . http://www.polskieradio.pl/zagranica/news/artykul76316.html (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Despite the above teaser, this goes to the audio file of the Multimedia show, http://www.polskieradio.pl/_admin/cm/polonia/_Sekcja163/_audio/2008022004351794.mp3 wherein nothing is said about this until the very end, after reading several reception reports, cryptically --- ``I hope that reception to the tune of 4s and 5s will continue, altho lately, unfortunately I have been receiving signals via e-mails that unfortunately the good times are slowly but steadily coming to an end.`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. KAMCHATKA RYBATSKAYA via PETROPAVLOVSK-KAMCHATSKIY RADIO via YELIZOVO/PETROPAVLOVSK-KANCHATSKIY, 11975, full-data P-K Radio card rubber stamped Kamchatka Rybatskaya, along with a variety of stickers, in 13 months. I received this a few weeks ago but think I failed to report it (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village, Kansas, USA, Feb 21, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Another service I think has vanished (gh) ** SAMOA. SALE OF SAMOA’S PUBLIC BROADCASTER HITS SNAG A bid by Samoa Quality Broadcasting to buy the Samoa Broadcasting Corporation (SBC) has hit problems, reports Radio New Zealand International. The Samoa Observer reports that the snag is over who will pay for the redundancy packages of the more than 50 employees at the SBC. The minister responsible for the SBC told a meeting that it is the cabinet’s understanding that the redundancy pay will be settled by the SBC. However the CEO of the corporation, who also heads the company wanting to buy SBC, Galumalemana Faiesea Lei Sam Matafeo, has said it does not have enough money to pay for the redundancies. The company, Samoa Quality Broadcasting, includes 17 employees of SBC. The shareholders were banking on paying their shares with their redundancy pay from the treasury. But since the treasury is not paying, some are likely to withdraw from the deal. (Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union) Related stories: More delays in sell-off of Samoa Broadcasting Corporation One bidder remains for Samoan public broadcaster to be privatised http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/sale-of-samoas-public-broadcaster-hits-snag (February 21st, 2008 - 11:00 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** SAMOA AMERICAN. Larry Fuss has an EMPIRE out in American Samoa. He's got, as you know, KKHJ-FM 93.1 Pago Pago (Pronounced Pango Pango) He's rebuilding WVUV-AM and moving it from 648 to 720 kHz He's going to be building a new AM, KKHJ-900 He's reportedly buying a full powered FM Construction Permit He's got an LPTV station on Channel 30 He's got two cable TV channels; one is music videos and one is local information He's opening a BBQ Restaurant in Pago pago. Oh, and here's something you might like: http://www.walkerbroadcasting.com/kkhj.mp3 It's a Dual Station Legal ID that Larry sent me sometime ago. Can you spot the second ID? (Paul B Walker, Jr, SC, ABDX via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Just checked the web receiver in Italy again and noted excellent signal of Brother Stair via ex-YLE Pori site on 9595 at 1535 2/20; he's seeking reports from listeners on the two new broadcasts via his US phone number (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New 9595 kHz & 6060 kHz Finland Shortwave --- 20 February 2008 http://www.overcomerministry.org/content/view/334/95/ "Starting February 20, 2008 the Overcomer will be testing a new shortwave station from the city of Pori in Finland. This station has been dark from some time and has been reactivated for use by the ministry. Once a cold war propaganda tool for Radio Finland, now we are going to utilize it for the preaching of the end time gospel. The station's unique location in Finland allows for a strong winter time coverage of Europe. The schedule for this months testing is: To Europe - 6060 kHz 18.59-20.59 UTC 2pm to 4 pm Eastern Standard Time 8 to 10 pm Central European time 250 kW Transmitter To Near-East / Middle East - 9595 kHz 14.59-16.59 UTC 10 am to 12 noon EST 5 to 7 pm Israel time 250 kW Transmitter" (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ``Cold war propaganda tool``? It`s hard to think of any SW station less involved in the Cold War. Which side does B.S. think Finland was on, anyway? Those of us who remember the real Radio Finland in its heyday may shed another tear (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 4750, at 1736, Radio Peace fair with English preacher alternating with Arabic translation 29/1. Concluded 1758 with mailing address in Monte Carlo. English identification at 1800 then another religious program followed. Actual frequency 4749.96. Missing when rechecked at 1830 and not audible following day (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWE to NE and various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** SYRIA [and non]. Tuning around after 2255 UT Feb 19: 783, Mauritania good as 780 CFDR with talk, also a little of Syria with talk at 782 (OLD ROY [Barstow] FROM OLD CAPE COD, SDR-IQ, also R- 75 with A-B switch, FLAG 63 Degree antenna, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Last report we had was that Syria had shifted again, to 781, but here we have it back on 782. Was the 781 report a mistake? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [non]. Hola colegas: Hoy por fin ha llegado una escueta respuesta por parte de R. Taiwán Internacional sobre la pregunta de que está pasando con la emisión en 3965. Espero, a la vista de lo que dice, que logren averiguar pronto con la parte francesa y se pongan de acuerdo para solucionarlo. Cordialmente (Tomás Méndez, Spain, Feb 21, logsderadio yg via DXLD) Viz.: Hola Tomás, Estamos averiguando con Radio Francia sobre el problema con 3965 kHz, esperando poder solucionar pronto. Saludos, (Patricia Lin, RTI, via Méndez, ibid.) Saludos cordiales, hoy 21 de febrero y tras muchos días sin emisión, se está escuchando el servicio en español de Radio Taiwán en 3965 kHz vía Francia, a las 2010 UT con un SINPO 45554 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also INDONESIA [and non] ** THAILAND. Radio Thailand, 9680, 0020 Feb 18, English, 333. YL and OM on Kosovo declaring its Independence. YL with comments on Obama's popularity in the presidential race in the USA. OM IDs as Radio Thailand News at 0027. YL with Travel News to Thailand at 0028. Suddenly off the air at 0029 BUT back on the air on 12095 at 0030 with Business News by an OM (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Suspected to be a continuous 1-hour (at least) transmission in the morning home service, chopped up into these two parts for the SW external service. Tuning in at 0030 you feel like you are in the middle of a program and you probably are! The 0000-0030 on 9680 is for Africa, and seldom reported from NAm. Now, why would they broadcast to Africa after local midnight? CIRAF targets are 48, 53 and 57 which means E to S Africa, from Sudan to Madagascar to Namibia where local time ranges from 1 to 3:30 am. Azimuth is 256 degrees from Udorn (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY [non]. 7205# at 0143 09/02, Voice of Turkey (Ankara). English. OM/YL with discussion about the degree of freedom in Turkey compared to other Islamic countries. S7/Good (Joe Wood, Greenback, TN USA, Eton E1, Radio Shack DX 390, Grundig Mini 100 PE. FlexTenna, 7 metre random wire, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) Turkey does not have English at this hour. Axually VOA via Morocco. Just because the subject is Turkey doesn`t mean it`s Turkey (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. "The end of public radio on shortwave?" In light of the BBC World Service decision to close the last of its shortwave transmissions to Europe, the subject is discussed on the Multimedia Show of the English External Service of Polish Radio, 20 February 2008 [hardly --- see POLAND]. "It became immediately evident to interested observers that the BBG considers high-powered shortwave as something from medieval times. Neither did they appreciate, nor understand the technical properties, capabilities, and value of mainstay shortwave facilities. The Board began eliminating stations almost immediately, and started re- allocating associated funding to create technology with which they were more familiar." Jack Quinn and Nick Olguín, Radio World, via OregonGuy blog, 19 February 2008 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. Sledding as shortwave metaphor? (As in downhill, fast.) The sledding hill at the former VOA shortwave transmitting site at Bethany, Ohio, is covered by WCPO-TV (Cincinnaiti), 20 February 2008. -- Cincinnati Enquirer, 20 February 2008. -- Hamilton Journal-News, 20 February 2008. Posted: 21 Feb 2008 (for linx, http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=3381 via DXLD) ** U S A. Hi Jeff, Just listened on webcast to Encontro DX, Wed 1600- 1630. Do you plan to keep running that, at which predictable times? An hour earlier I strained all my resources to hear any signal of yours on 7385. Was it really on the air, and I wonder with how much power? 73, (Glenn Hauser to Jeff White, Feb 20, via DXLD) Glenn: Encontro DX is currently running in some Viva Miami time slots. We have nine editions of the program that Cassiano Macedo sent us. When we finish airing them, Viva Miami will be back in those slots (Jeff White, WRMI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s the DX program originally on R. Aparecida, Brasil, Saturdays (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. February 21, 2008 --- Schedule changes effective immediately: The Jean Shepherd Show moves from Sunday 3-4pm ET to Sunday 2-3pm ET on 7415. [1900-2000 UT] The Last Roundup moves from Sunday 4-5pm ET to Sunday 3-4pm ET on 7415. [2000-2100 UT] This Week In Amateur Radio International moves from Saturday 4-5pm ET to Sunday 4-5pm ET on 7415. [2100-2200 UT] New program, Antenna 4, starts Saturday 3-6 PM ET on 7415. [2000-2300 UT] (Annotated WBCQ Program Guide http://www.zappahead.net/wbcq/anomaly.php via DXLD) So what`s Antenna 4 about? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Re 8-021, NY Radio not off: Glenn -- If you look at that report of mine again, you will see that I report that it is back on the air as of Feb 14. If WAS OFF from at least Feb 6 to 13 with no explanation, and Gander Radio was on as usual during that period. You may need to clarify that statement. Apparently it was also off in October but I missed that (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, Feb 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OK, now I find the logs in a separate place from the above comments: 3455/u New York Radio ATC working a/c and many ac calling for NY R 0615-0625 (at least their ATC is up and running even if the VOLMET is down!) 8/Feb--Zichi MI 3485/u Gander R (VFG) w/VOLMET wx in EE--NY Radio has been off the air for some time now and still not on as of this reception on 7/Feb 0655-0700. Lots of static SIO 3+53--Zichi MI 3485/u Gander R (VFG) again no NY Radio following 0625-0630 8/Feb --Zichi MI 6604/u Gander R (VFG) VOLMET SIO 1+51+ also just barely in but clearly //3485 0450-0500 11/Feb--Still no NY Radio at 0500! --how long they been off? --Zichi MI 6604/u New York Radio (WSY70)!!!! finally back w/VOLMET weather SIO 2+53 //3485 sio 454 0132-0140 14/Feb--Zichi MI (MARE Tipsheet Feb 15 via DXLD) ** U S A. Robotic female voice on 4396-SSB, Feb 20 at 0605, weather for Gulf of Alaska. Audio was choppy with clix; also, she ignorantly transformed 4:00 pm into ``four hundred PM``, at least twice. Can`t they do better than this? I see numerous logs on this frequency in UDXF forums of WLO Mobile AL, tho more likely geographically I would expect its robotic sister station KLB in Kent WA. Their website http://www.shipcom.com/frequencies.html does not match what I heard. It shows WLO, not KLB on 4396, and at 0600 is supposed to be for the Caribbean; offshore Alaska supposed to be at 0800, apparently meaning direct from WLO, with no specific schedule given for KLB which is ``Enhanced Coverage of the Pacific and Alaskan waters`` and might have been relaying [I should say: simulcasting] if I had checked 4405 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KOPT-1600 goes public --- According to my 100000watts.com change report tonight, KOPT 1600 in Eugene has flipped from progressive talk to public radio, with Oregon Public Broadcasting buying the station from Churchill. This extends OPB's reach to the south - it's currently heard in Portland, Corvallis (KOAC 550) and most of eastern Oregon, but public radio in southwestern Oregon comes from Eugene's KLCC 89.7 and KWAX 91.1, and from the Jefferson Public Radio chain based in Medford that includes KRVM 1280 in Eugene --- which means Eugene will now be the only city (that I know of, anyway) with two public radio stations on the AM dial! s (Scott Fybush, NY, Feb 20, ABDX via DXLD) Scott, I tune by KOPT often and I missed this one. Thanks. Both stations in the Valley now have dropped Progressive Talk (Albany 990 and now Eugene 1600). A shame. KPOJ-620-Portland still is. One of the first Air America stations. KOAC gets into Eugene "Very" well with their low frequency and 5 kW. They cover with near local signal Portland & Eugene. Why OPB needs 1600 in beyond me. I hope they don't go IBOC. So far no OPB AMers are IBOC, but the Jefferson Public stations on AM are mostly IBOC (at least 1490-Yreka, 1230-Talent, 950- Roseburg). So far 1280 Eugene isn't. Now Eugene will have two NPR type stations on AM. At one time 1600 Eugene was a top rated Top 40 Rocker as "KASH". How times have changed. But so was 950 Roseburg (KYES). 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside, IRCA via DXLD) Jefferson Public Radio takes themselves quite seriously. They have AM & FM stations all over Southern Oregon & Northern (Superior) California. The other day on KRVM-Eugene I heard them give the weather report 'for the State of Jefferson'. They've been pushing, half facetiously-half seriously for a state of Jefferson for 70 years or more (Don Kaskey. S.F. CA, ibid.) JPR has been around that long? (gh) Also Southern Oregon College has lots of money to afford to do what they want (Patrick Martin, ibid.) I doubt that's much of a change, at least in political outlook. NPR is the chief reason Air America is superfluous and will probably never fly very well. 73's (David Faulkner, ibid.) Ha, another who thinx NPR is ``liberal`` rather than centrist (gh) ** U S A. The annual Homelessness Marathon is underway until 1400 UT Thursday. I have been hearing it on KBOO Portland webcast, with local cutaway at 0600. Originates at WRFN Nashville. Also on KUNM and other stations. Details: http://www.homelessnessmarathon.org/ 73, (Glenn Hauser, UT Feb 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) One station on the list is KEIF-LP, ``The Rocket``, 104.7 here in Enid, but just playing music when I checked it a few minutes later (gh) ** U S A. ALL THE GLORY, NONE OF THE STRUGGLE: COYOTE RADIO INVITES GUEST DJ'S --- by Andrew Johnson-Schmit http://www.readitnews.com/content/view/696/10001/ If you controlled the airwaves, what would you play? Earth-conscious folk crooning? Dubbed out Jamacian riddim? Rockabilly ravers (but only those recorded in Northern Mississippi between 1953 and 1958)? Or maybe something else? March is "DJ for a Day" Month at KYXS, Coyote Radio - AM 1670 on your dial. Here's the deal: Click here to sign up for a half hour shift in Studio A at The Raven Cafe. You pick the time. Choose from songs in our digital archive in all formats from alt rock to opera or bring your own CD's. Too shy-shy? Sign up with a friend and make great music together! Our engineers take care of the technical stuff, you get to introduce your tunes to Prescott. Brilliance ensues! The finished show hits the airwaves later that week. Your friends are amazed! At no cost to you, by the way, although any donation to our non-profit community radio station is deeply appreciated. Coyote Radio members can burn off a soundcheck CD to take home as a memento. What are you waiting for? Stardom awaits! Sign up now! To hear what's on Coyote Radio already, click here. When you sign up, Coyote Radio will confirm your reserved airtime and email you a list of songs in our library to choose from, if you don't want to bring your own CD's. KYXS-Coyote Radio, Prescott's non-profit community radio station, at AM 1670, http://www.coyoteradio.org and http://www.theravencafe.blogspot.com (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) It's probably Part 15! (Paul B. Walker, ibid.) ** U S A. FCC PLAN TO LET AM STATIONS TO USE FM AT NIGHT CONTROVERSIAL Almost everyone has signaled thumbs up on a Federal Communications Commission plan that would allow AM radio stations in the US to duplicate their programming on FM translators. The formal comment period for the proceeding has concluded, but filings keep arriving. The latest came in on 8 February from Rep Wayne Gilchrest (R-MD), endorsing the remarks of his constituent, Richard Gelfman, owner of Chestertown AM oldies station WCTR, “The Town.” “We strongly urged the Federal Communications Commission to adopt new rules which would allow daytime only stations such as ourselves to better serve local communities by granting the right to use FM translators (or any other means) to operate at night. As a matter of fact, without this ability, I do not believe that daytime AM stations can continue to survive.” Over 200 comments have been filed in this proceeding, most of them in favour of the idea. But several media reform groups have raised questions about the proposal, especially its impact on communities that hope to build Low Power FM (LPFM) stations in their area. Read the story from http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080216-fcc-plan-to-let-am-stations-to-use-fm-at-night-controversial.html (February 20th, 2008 - 12:38 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 8-020: CNN International has not yet returned to CNN "Several tipsters have inquired about where Your World Today has gone, the show that brings an hour of CNN International programming to the CNN U.S. airwaves. TVNewser reported last month that the NoonET show was slated to return after Super Tuesday, but the program has yet to come back." Media Bistro, 20 February 2008. Also noticed by Joe Hanlon, reporting to DX Listening Digest, 15 February 2008 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) What we get instead is not even where the candidates stand on the issues, but which candidates are moving up, and which are moving down. It is incessant and boring. Posted: 21 Feb 2008 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** VANUATU. 7260 at 1804 18/1, ?? R. Vanuatu (presumed), Fair with BBC news in English on death of Bobby Fisher (Kelvin Brayshaw, Levin, New Zealand, R1000, horizontal delta loop, Feb NZ DX Times via DXLD) Has been inactive, and this is their day frequency not normally on air at this hour, altho sometimes they have exceeded day or night schedules. But BBC itself via Thailand is in HFCC at 1800-1830 only, on 7260 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS US. NBN: USVI streaming audio WDHP Christiansted with Island music: http://www.reefbroadcasting.com/ Caribbean gospel music WEVI-FM St. Thomas: http://www.wevifm.org/ WIUJ St. Thomas: http://nyc01.egihosting.com/9876 WJKC Christiansted: http://www.isle95.com/ WMNG Christiansted classic rock: http://www.mongoose1049.com/ WVIQ Christiansted Adult Contemporary: http://www.sunny995.com/ WSTX Christiansted: http://www.wstxam.com/ Get your Caribbean Islands fix! (Kevin, Gilbert, AZ, Redding, ABDX via DXLD) Nuttin` But Nets = NBN I've definitely listened to WDHP [1620] before --- and laughed at just how wrong their legal ID was. Then again, if they don't power down all the way, I doub't they're worried about a pesky little legal ID! (It's been said over the years they only drop to 4 kW instead of 1 kW at night) (Paul B. Walker, Jr., SC, Feb 20, ABDX via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar, 1800-1809:30, Feb 20, drums, 5+1 pips, "9:00 East Africa Time", Spice FM news in English ("This news comes to you from Spice FM"), fair-poor (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 3396, R. Zimbabwe, 0252-0306, Feb 21, in vernacular, African high-life music/singing, 0300:00 the usual format for their four minute English ID (drums for about a minute, "This is the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation, Radio Zimbabwe shortwave", drums again, repeat of ID, list of cities and frequencies, back into vernacular, fair-poor. On 4828, from 0307-0317 heard soul/gospel singing in vernacular, fair, not parallel to 3396 (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Not having checked 8GAL for several days, I did so Feb 21 at 1400 on 6074. Usual VVV/CQ CQ CQ marker started up immediately on CW after Russian timesignal on 6075 and as I switched on BFO to keep hearing it. But the marker stopped before DE. This was about the same time the Russian carrier went off. Several seconds later, 8 dits came over two or three times, which means ``error``, and then the marker started over to completion, ending about 1401:30. First time I have heard this happening: implies it is actually done manually rather than automatically (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9000, looking for Firedrake/Sound of Hope as reported, Feb 20 did not hear that, but instead something odd with the BFO on: ``siren`` sound, oscillating carrier would come on about every five minutes for half a minute or so, but not precisely every five minutes; in between, no sign of SOH or any broadcaster. Heard at 1355, 1401, 1406, 1411, 1415, 1420, 1424, 1434; again 1504, 1514, 1519 Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHORTWAVE MUSIC +++++++++++++++ Myke Weiskopf has been busy adding new clips. Check out: http://shortwavemusic.blogspot.com/ (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ DISUSED U-S OVER-THE-HORIZON RADAR SITE COULD BECOME ENERGY HUB As it was conceived in the 1980s, the Over-the-Horizon Backscatter Radar array near Christmas Valley would have been a vital piece in the US defence against the Soviet Union, spotting low-flying cruise missiles invisible to other radar systems. A technological marvel, the system was said to be so precise, it could see waves breaking in the ocean. But by the time the radar was complete, in 1990, the USSR was on the verge of collapse. Less than six months after it was activated, the US Air Force mothballed the $275 million transmitter for good. Now, in a potential swords-to-plowshares makeover, local leaders and federal officials are collaborating to redevelop the Cold War relic into a hub for solar and geothermal energy. Read the story in the The Bulletin, Oregon http://www.bendbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080220/NEWS0107/802200388 Andy Sennitt comments: Younger readers may not understand the significance of a story on over-the-horizon radar in a media blog, but those who were shortwave listeners in the 1980’s will recall the Woodpecker, the annoying rapid pulse interference generated by the Soviet version of over-the-horizon radar, that sometimes even interfered with reception of Radio Moscow’s international service. The Americans developed their own system, which may well have been technically superior but, as it turned out, too late to be of any practical use (February 21st, 2008 - 12:16 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) BBC SW TO EUROPE BITES THE DUST, II It has been interesting to see the short-wave die-hards trying to justify against the decision with facts plucked out of the air. They assume that shortwave transmitters are 100% efficient and that a 500 kW transmitter just takes 500 kW's from the grid. Sorry. Nearer a Megawatt. The older transmitters are more like 30% efficient. Yes, it is true, there are countries where SW is still the only way of getting a signal into a country. But that is not Western Europe. And I am amazed at how die-hard radio listeners ignore the shows available on BBC World TV. Click is much better than many of the technology shows on BBC World Service radio. And it has almost as many people working on it. Face the facts guys, radio has become too wrapped up in its own routine and has not woken up to the fact that great content must be findable/searchable. The worst human interface ever is the old SW radio dial with a 1000 stations crammed into a few mm's marked as the 49 metre band. DRM's mistake was not being ready to pick up where SW analogue radio left off, i.e. not only with transmissions but a range of interesting programmes and cheap sets in the shops. It is a different story for parts of Africa, though even there the growth of FM is eating into traditional SW audiences. That's because local radio does local languages, adding information gleaned from international networks or grabbed from the web. Posted by Jonathan Marks at 2/19/2008 08:14:00 PM (Critical Distance blog via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see also just above; HDTV: OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM IS DOOD De digitale omroep op de kortegolf is dood verklaard, maar het officiële overlijdensbericht laat nog even op zich wachten. Tijdens de recente HFCC-vergadering in Malaysia coördineerden internationale kortegolfstations hun zendschema’s voor de komende zomerperiode. De delegaties waren het er over eens, dat het DRM-zendsysteem de experimentele fase nooit zal overstijgen. Dat betekent dat een aantal zenders veel heeft uit te leggen aan hun subsidieverstrekkers. Er zijn immers aanzienlijke sommen geld geïnvesteerd in de aanschaf van DRM- zenders. Geplaatst op 21 februari 2008 (Michael Schaay, http://kortegolf.web-log.nl/ blog via DXLD) HD/IBOC TRY TO SURVIVE ON SATELLITE COATTAILS INSIDE MUSIC MEDIA™ The XM+Sirius+HD Radio Posted: 20 Feb 2008 01:02 AM CST By Jerry Del Colliano Inside Radio is reporting that at least one analyst (Blair Levin of Stifel Nicolaus) thinks the FCC may mandate radios that include HD plus satellite stations as a condition of winning approval for the XM- Sirius merger. The HD Radio Alliance and iBiquity (the folks who brought you radio’s version of digital radio) have been lobbying for it. Consumers have consistently voted down HD radio but radio’s self- appointed "super delegates" are pushing to influence the outcome in spite of what the marketplace is telling them. HD by every standard has been a dismal failure. Consumers won’t buy HD radios at any price and broadcasters refuse to load HD stations up with new and appealing content. In some markets where big box stores like Best Buy sells HD radios there is virtually nothing to listen to once the consumer takes the radio out of the box. Imagine buying an iPod and not having iTunes to derive content. Radio is treading on dangerous ground again in its desperation to force the HD issue. The industry is drinking iBiquity’s Kool-Aid, but if they, along with public interest groups like Media Access Project, get their way and force the merged satellite companies to include HD on future satellite radios they are opening the door to something more devastating. Wouldn’t it then be fair and in the public interest for satellite operators to be granted permission to use their repeaters as local radio stations? That’s what I would argue if the HD proponents ultimately win the day on combination receivers. Satellite radio is sitting on top of hundreds of transmitters called repeaters. The NAB claims the satellite operators haven’t constructed them where they are supposed to be and allege some are operating at excessive power. Satellite interests have supposedly outspent the NAB by ten times in lobbying, advertising and hiring lawyers according to Inside Radio’s article -- all over the merger issue. From all indications, the merger will likely win DOJ approval. Hell, the DOJ approves just about everything. It will just throw a few conditions in and say they are acting in the public interest. This oddball and ill-conceived maneuver by HD proponents to mandate HD- satellite radios could be one of them. Satellite radio customers don’t want – and I argue don’t need – a radio that receives HD sub channels. After all, they are consenting consumers knowingly opening their wallets for the expressed purpose of paying for content. They want satellite radio not HD. If they wanted HD, they'd buy HD radios -- which they are not doing. In a few more years it all won’t matter. As the next generation continues to come of age – the very young people radio folks make fun of and don’t understand will be showing the radio industry what happens when you fixate on technology instead of content. Radio broadcasters are lost in what they think is the transmitter and tower business. That’s why these properties are often valued at hundreds of millions of dollars. To them, that's what radio is. Satellite broadcasters sell hardware and offer programming that is less irritating (no commercials) and slightly more interesting than their terrestrial radio counterparts. They're in the consumer electronics business, but their value isn't in individual towers and transmitters. Again and again traditional media comes up with technological “solutions” that are outdated and out of favor. So when XM and Sirius finally win approval to merge (which they should) and HD proponents win the mandate to get access to satellite radio (which they may), don’t be surprised if satellite operators come back and lobby for use of their repeaters as local radio stations. After all, what’s fair is fair (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2008 Feb 19 2153 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/weekly.html # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 11 - 17 February 2008 Solar activity was very low with no flares were detected. The disk was spotless throughout the summary period. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit reached high levels during the entire summary period. The geomagnetic field was at quiet to active levels at middle latitudes during 11 - 15 February. During the same period, high latitudes observed mostly unsettled to minor storm levels with isolated major storm periods. This activity was due to a recurrent coronal hole high speed stream that became geoeffective on 10 February. By midday on 15 February, activity decreased to mostly quiet levels at middle latitudes, and quiet to active levels at high latitudes. ACE solar wind measurements (764 km/s at 11/1029 UTC) and density (4.3 p/cc at 11/0159 UTC) both peaked early in the period. Significant changes in the IMF were also observed early in the period including increased Bt (peak 7 nT at 11/0156 UTC) and intermittent periods of southward Bz (minimum -5 nT at 11/0306 UTC). The high-speed stream began decaying early on 16 February and ended the summary period with velocities near 470 km/s. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 20 FEBRUARY - 17 MARCH 2008 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 20 - 27 February, 29 February - 07 March, and 09 - 17 March. The geomagnetic field is expected to be mostly quiet to unsettled during 20 - 27 February. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled to active levels during 28 February - 02 March due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected during 03 - 07 March as the high-speed stream subsides. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled to active levels during 08 - 13 March with minor to major storm periods possible at high latitudes due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected during 14 - 17 March as the high-speed stream subsides. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2008 Feb 19 2153 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 2008 Feb 19 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2008 Feb 20 72 8 3 2008 Feb 21 72 12 3 2008 Feb 22 72 5 2 2008 Feb 23 72 5 2 2008 Feb 24 72 5 2 2008 Feb 25 72 5 2 2008 Feb 26 72 5 2 2008 Feb 27 72 5 2 2008 Feb 28 72 15 4 2008 Feb 29 72 15 4 2008 Mar 01 72 12 3 2008 Mar 02 72 10 3 2008 Mar 03 72 8 3 2008 Mar 04 72 5 2 2008 Mar 05 72 5 2 2008 Mar 06 72 8 3 2008 Mar 07 72 8 3 2008 Mar 08 72 15 4 2008 Mar 09 72 15 4 2008 Mar 10 72 10 3 2008 Mar 11 72 12 3 2008 Mar 12 72 15 4 2008 Mar 13 72 10 3 2008 Mar 14 72 5 2 2008 Mar 15 72 5 2 2008 Mar 16 72 10 3 2008 Mar 17 72 10 3 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1396, DXLD) ###