DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-037, March 24, 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 NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1400 Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 7385 Wed 1130 WRMI 9955 Wed 2300 WBCQ 17495-CUSB 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. 5970 and 7155 CRI German mailbox program via Cërrik relay suffered by a main power break from 1636 UT onwards, today Mar 24th. Midst on answers to German DXers Volker Willschrey and Siegbert Gerhard (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA [and non]. 15344.84, RAE interval signal continuously around 1855 till 1900 UT, Mar 24th, ahead of RTM Nador 15345 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 15525, HCJB Global at 2359 with station ID in English and then into the program Sunday Break hosted by Vicky. Good to fair at s/off 0030 UT March 22/23/08 (Mick Delmage, at Don Moman`s, AB, Icom R71A, various beverage antenna and the 4-30 MHz Log Periodic, with Don Moman and Nigel Pimblett, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHRAIN [and non]. 9744.58, UNID but seemingly R Bahrain 1900 UT till before 1930 UT. Also Chinese like program on 9745.00 even, most likely V of Han. From 1930 to 2027 also CRI Esperanto program co- channel. Mar 24th (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELGIUM [non]. TDP PROGRAM AND FREQUENCY SCHEDULE A08 PROGRAM TIME (UTC)FREQ AM/DRM DAYS LANG TARGET AREA ------------------------------------------------------------------- TDPradio 0000-0100 9790 DRM mtwtfss English America Moj Them Radio 0100-0130 15260 AM m.w.f.. Hmong Asia Haiv Hmoob Radio 0100-0130 15260 AM .t..... Hmong Asia Hmong Lao Radio 0100-0200 15260 AM ...t..s Hmong Asia Hmong W. Christian Radio 0100-0130 15260 AM .....s. Hmong Asia Denge Mezopotamya 0400-1800 11530 AM mtwtfss Kurdish Mdle East Denge Mezopotamya 1800-2000 7540 AM mtwtfss Kurdish Mdle East TDPradio 0800-0900 6015 DRM m...... English Europe TDPradio 0900-1000 6015 DRM .t..... English Europe TDPradio 1000-1100 6015 DRM ..w.... English Europe TDPradio 1100-1200 6015 DRM ...t... English Europe TDPradio 1200-1300 6015 DRM ....f.. English Europe TDPradio 1300-1400 6015 DRM .....s. English Europe TDPradio 1400-1500 6015 DRM ......s English Europe TDPradio 1500-1600 6015 DRM mtwtfss English Europe Que Huong Radio 1200-1300 15680 AM mtwtfs. Vietnamese Asia Radio Xoriyo Ogadenia 1400-1430 17875 AM .t...s. Somali Africa EOTC Holy Synod Radio 1600-1700 17875 AM m...... Amharic Africa Radio Democracy Shorayee 1700-1800 12120 AM .t.tf.s Farsi Midl East Suab Xaa Moo Zoo 2330-2400 11655 AM mtwtfss Hmong Asia Reports to : TDP c/o Ludo Maes P.O. Box 1 2310 Rijkevorsel BELGIUMTel : +32 33 14 78 00 Mob : +32 477 477 800 Fax : +32 33 14 12 12 E-mail : info @ transmitter.org Web : http://www.broadcast.be ------------------------------------- (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, March 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. Summer [sic] A-08 schedule of RADIO BULGARIA March 30- October 26, 2008 ADDR: 4, Dragan Tsankov Blvd., 1040 Sofia and P.O.Box 900, 1000 Sofia. Tel.: +359 2 933 66 33; fax.: +359 2 865 05 60; Website: http://www.bnr.bg MW: Petritch (G.C: 41N42/023E18): 747 kHz, 500 kW / non-dir Vidin (G.C: 43N49/022E40): 1224 kHz, 500 kW / 205 deg SW: P=Plovdiv (G.C: 42N10/024E42): 2 x 500 kW, 3 x 250 kW S=Sofia (G.C: 42N49/023E13): 2 x 100 kW, 2 x 050 kW V=Varna (G.C: 43N03/027E40): 2 x 100 kW ALBANIAN / e-mail: albanian @ bnr.bg 0530-0600 Mon-Fri Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224 0600-0700 Sat/Sun Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224 1100-1130 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248 1600-1630 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224, 747 1900-2000 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224, 747 BULGARIAN / e-mail: bulgarian @ bnr.bg 0000-0100 -daily- South America 7400 P250/258, 9400 P250/245 0000-0100 -daily- North America 9700 P500/306, 11700 P500/306 0430-0500 Mon-Fri Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224 0430-0500 Mon-Fri East Europe 7200 S100/030, 9400 S100/030 0430-0500 Mon-Fri West Europe 7200 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 0400-0500 Sat/Sun Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224 0400-0500 Sat/Sun East Europe 7200 S100/030, 9400 S100/030 0400-0500 Sat/Sun West Europe 7200 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 1000-1030 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248 1000-1030 -daily- East Europe 11600 S100/030, 13600 S100/030 1000-1030 -daily- West Europe 11700 P500/306, 15700 P500/306 1200-1400 -daily- Balkans 1224 1200-1400 -daily- West Europe 11700 P500/306, 15700 P500/306 1500-1600 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224 1500-1600 -daily- East Europe 7200 S100/030, 9400 S100/030 1500-1600 -daily- Middle East 13800 P500/126 1500-1600 -daily- South Africa 15700 P500/185 1800-1900 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224, 747 1800-2000 -daily- Middle East 9800 P250/140 1800-2000 -daily- West Europe 11800 P250/306 ENGLISH / e-mail: english @ bnr.bg 0200-0300 -daily- North America 9700 P500/306, 11700 P500/306 0630-0700 -daily- West Europe 7200 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 1130-1200 -daily- West Europe 11700 P500/306, 15700 P500/306 1730-1800 -daily- West Europe 7200 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 2100-2200 -daily- West Europe 5900 P500/295, 9700 P500/306 2300-2400 -daily- North America 9700 P500/306, 11700 P500/306 FRENCH / e-mail: french @ bnr.bg 0100-0200 -daily- North America 9700 P500/306, 11700 P500/306 0600-0630 -daily- West Europe 7200 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 1100-1130 -daily- West Europe 11700 P500/306, 15700 P500/306 1700-1730 -daily- West Europe 7200 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 2000-2100 -daily- West Europe 5900 P500/295, 9700 P500/306 GERMAN / e-mail: german @ bnr.bg 0530-0600 -daily- West Europe 7200 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 1030-1100 -daily- West Europe 11700 P500/306, 15700 P500/306 1630-1700 -daily- West Europe 7200 P500/295, 9400 P500/306 1900-2000 -daily- West Europe 5900 P500/295, 9700 P500/306 GREEK / e-mail: greek @ bnr.bg 0500-0530 Mon-Fri Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224 0500-0600 Sat/Sun Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224 1030-1100 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248 1630-1700 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224, 747 2000-2100 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224, 747 RUSSIAN / e-mail: russian @ bnr.bg 0300-0400 -daily- East Europe 7200 S100/030, 9400 S100/030, 1224 0500-0530 -daily- East Europe 7200 S100/030, 9400 S100/030 1030-1100 -daily- East Europe 11600 S100/030, 13600 S100/030 1400-1500 -daily- East Europe 7200 S100/030, 9400 S100/030, 1224 1400-1500 -daily- Central Asia 11700 P250/045 1600-1630 -daily- East Europe 7200 S100/030, 9400 S100/030 1800-1900 -daily- East Europe 5900 S100/030, 9400 S100/030 2300-2400 -daily- Central Asia 11600 P250/045 SERBIAN / e-mail: serbian @ bnr.bg 0600-0630 Mon-Fri Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224 0700-0800 Sat/Sun Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224 1130-1200 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248 1700-1730 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224, 747 2100-2200 -daily- Balkans 7400 P250/248, 1224, 747 SPANISH / e-mail: spanish @ bnr.bg 0100-0200 -daily- South America 7400 P250/258, 9400 P250/245 0100-0200 -daily- Central America 11600 P250/295 0600-0630 -daily- South Europe 11800 P250/260, 15800 P250/260 1100-1130 -daily- South Europe 11800 P250/260, 15800 P250/260 1630-1700 -daily- South Europe 11800 P250/260, 13800 P250/260 2100-2200 -daily- South Europe 11800 P250/260, 13800 P250/260 2300-2400 -daily- South Europe 7400 P250/258, 9400 P250/245 TURKISH / e-mail: turkish @ bnr.bg 0500-0530 -daily- Middle East 9800 P250/115, 11800 P250/140 1000-1030 -daily- Middle East 9800 P250/115, 11800 P250/140 1730-1800 -daily- Middle East 7400 P250/248, 1224, 747 RADIO VARNA 2100-2400 Sunday Black Sea 6000 V100/ND 0000-0300 Monday Black Sea 6000 V100/ND DX MIX px in Bulgarian will be on air: 1345-1400 Sun 1224 11700 15700 1945-2000 Sun 9800 11800 DX MIX px in Russian will be on air: 1440-1500 Sat 1224 7200 9400 11700 1610-1630 Sat 7200 9400 1840-1900 Sat 5900 9400 2340-2400 Sat 11600 0340-0400 Sun 1224 7200 9400 0510-0530 Sun 7200 9400 1040-1100 Sun 11600 13600 0510-0530 Mon 7200 9400 1040-1100 Wed 11600 13600 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, March 18, via DXLD) ** CANADA. RCI can`t be bothered to broadcast the National Anthem, but the CBC Northern Quebec service does, at closedown 0506-0508* March 23 on 9625; tone test for a few seconds before transmitter off. Preceding sign-off announcement by YL in French with strange accent, Inuk? Tnx to DST, this no longer collides with Bonaire which does not open until 0559 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re 8-036, CJEU Gatineau QC: 1670 kHz *NEW* --- Very legal - received CRTC approval in 2007 and all their application data is available in a zip file off the CRTC's website. With these new 75 and 85 foot fibreglass "towers", suddenly AM radio becomes affordable. Lower initial cost, no tower lighting, no tower painting, no guy wires. The AM band is dying in Canada, except for the X-band in areas where there are really no FM frequencies left (Phil Rafuse, PEI, March 22, ABDX via DXLD) That's odd - I'm less than 15 km from the transmitter site, and I didn't notice anything unusual on 1670 last night. I just checked, and there's absolutely nothing there now. So, either it wasn't them, or they're testing on an intermittent basis. Either way, it bears watching! (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) There's a new AM signal testing in Gatineau, Quebec. CJEU (1670) has been heard by some DXers with its "Radio Enfant" French-language children's format (Scott Fybush, NY, NE Radio Watch March 24 via DXLD) JEU = evokes ``plaything`` rather than ``Jew`` (gh, DXLD) I also want to see if I can dig out your airport station on 1630, which I've just become aware of. Another to try for is Montreal in mideastern languages on 1450 (Neil Kazaross, IL, ABDX via DXLD) Yep, CHYM-1630, with 99 Watts and nothing else in the same direction from you, should be a dandy target. I'm betting you'll nail it from WI before long. CHOU-1450 may actually be more difficult, but the distinctive programming will help it stand out in a crowd. On 1670 WVVM is huge here tonight with Spanish music, well over the talk on WTDY. Nothing else being heard here on the channel at the moment (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) Thx; and once again I was completely unaware of CHYW's existance. How long have they been on the air ? I guess they are bilingual with airport info? I used to be able to sometimes get Toronto's on 1280 both as airport info and when they ran lower power and as Biz Radio, but they are off air now (Neil Kazaross, IL/WI, ibid.) Yes, they alternate with EE/FF flight and parking info. They've been around quite some time now - I first logged them on May 2, 2001. However, operation seemed to be intermittent until the last year or so. I just added them to my station lookup/search web page. I don't normally include the TIS category of station, but given the power level, this one is probably worth making an exception for (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) ** CANADA. Eastern CANADA is losing one of its biggest remaining AM signals in just a few weeks. The CBC signed on CBAM (106.1 Moncton) in January, and that set the clock ticking for the end of 50,000-watt, non-directional CBA (1070 Moncton), which has long been a beacon of CBC service not only for much of the Maritimes but for the northeastern U.S. as well. We're hearing that CBA will breathe its last on the AM dial early on the morning of April 7, with the final sign-off coming at 8:30 AM ADT (7:30 AM EDT). (Scott Fybush, NY, NE Radio Watch March 24 via DXLD) 1130 UT While it may not be the case in the US, the rest of the world (especially Europe) is experiencing the same trend in MW as we are experiencing with SW. (Maybe it's just the fact that it's AM -- amplitude modulation -- in general?) This event dovetails with the today's shutdown of 567 kHz by RTE Ireland and a series of MW frequency shutdowns by broadcasters across Europe. To be sure, the crowding and lack of effective coordination of frequency usage on MW resulted in a cacaphony of signals eventually making listening a chore -- except, of course, for DXers, radiophiles -- across the continent. The reason in Canada has more to do with listening quality. FM sounds better, to put it succinctly. It's also a more local service, more easily targeted to particular geographic regions. I don't know if it ends up costing less. As much as we in the US appreciate the quality of CBC programming, the happy accident that CBA Moncton (and in the recent past, CBL Toronto and CBM Montreal) made it to at least the northeastern quadrant of the US on most nights is of no import to the CBC or Canadian taxpayers. Too bad for us. I wonder, though, other than via satellite radio subscriptions, how Canadians traveling outside the major population centers are now expected to have access to the CBC if the plan is to shut down all of the 50 kW MW transmitters (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, swprograms via DXLD) Also don't forget that many digital music players and cellphones have FM receivers built-in, but not AM, so it appears CBC Radio One is trying to make sure it doesn't get pushed out of the radio market because no-one can hear them (Ricky Leong, Calgary, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) Coverage is less than total. I recently drove from Calgary to the southern B.C. Interior. On the way, CBR [1010] gives usable coverage until about Cranbrook, B.C., about 4 hours distant. Within that service area, there is Calgary's drop-in FM repeater and a high-power rebroadcaster out of Lethbridge. Beyond that, there are significant gaps in FM coverage as the highway winds westward through the mountains (Ricky Leong, Calgary, ibid.) ** CANADA. TAB SOARS WHEN CBC BOARD FLIES EXECUTIVE By PETER ZIMONJIC, NATIONAL BUREAU http://www.ottawasun.com/News/National/2008/03/18/5034391-sun.html Board members of Canada's public broadcaster are running up sky-high travel expenses flying executive class on short haul flights inside Canada. Documents obtained through Access to Information show board members of the taxpayer-funded CBC regularly spending thousands of dollars on flights that could cost hundreds of dollars. CBC board member Edna Turpin flew the two hours and 45 minutes from St. John's, Nfld., to Toronto in executive class for $3,065 in March 2007. Economy class would have been less than a third the price. Turpin also flew from St. John's to Ottawa, then to Montreal and back to St. John's for $3,479 that same month. Air Canada's website shows the trip is about $1,100 by economy class. Executive class at Air Canada, its most expensive service, promises spacious seating, gourmet food and first-rate wine. Air Canada even boasts that the "wine cellar" for its poshest travellers is "one of the finest of any airline in the world" and that an annual blind taste testing is done by internationally renowned wine critics to choose the stock. NO TIME TO EAT But remarkably, in most of the cases revealed in documents seen by Sun Media, the flights were so short there was not enough time to serve a meal. Turpin's flight from Ottawa to Montreal was only 43 minutes. This comes one day after Sun Media revealed how senior executives at the CBC ran up bills staying at $800-plus-a-night luxury European hotels where, in some cases, guests were given their own butler. "I know of very few companies in the private sector who allow their executives to travel first class for short haul flights," said John Williamson, federal director of the Canadian Taxpayer's Federation. "This is expenditure out of control. It's time for Parliament to review the spending habits of the CBC." Yasmin Jivraj, another CBC board member, regularly flies from Edmonton to eastern Canada executive class. An Air Canada flight in January 2007 (return to Toronto) cost $2,450 and another (return to Montreal) in March 2007 cost $2,452. Air Canada's online booking system reveals the trips could have been taken for less than half the cost. FLIGHT POLICY Former board member Howard McNutt was equally comforted when, in September 2006, he flew from Halifax to Ottawa, a two hour and 45 minute flight, for $1,959 when economy regularly costs little over $500. Bill Chambers, CBC's vice-president of communications, explained that while it was possible to spend less taxpayer money flying economy, "we have a policy that our board members are allowed to fly executive class." The policy Chambers speaks of appears to contradict the CBC's own corporate policy for CBC travellers outlined on its website, which states: "The standard for air travel is economy" and flights should be for the "lowest logical airfares available" unless approved by a vice- president (Ottawa Sun March 18 via Ricky Leong, AB, DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Radio impacting thousands We have been amazed at how much has been happening through the Radio station! It has been simply amazing to see how many people talk to us about the radio station. Almost anywhere we go in the country people are asking us about the radio and anytime there is even a brief lapse in transmissions we actually get hand carried letters from far off villages asking us to PLEASE stay on the air. Many have asked me how will the people in CAR get radio's and how will they power them? Well, here is one example but as one Central African told me in the middle of nowhere.... "this is our only source of news how can we not find a way to listen?" These people enjoy not only the development programs on the ICDI station but also the Bible is taught in 4 different languages. Two on a daily basis and all four on a weekly basis. Thanks to many of you who make this possible for ICDI to impact people we have not even seen yet! (ICDI Newsletter March 2008 via Jim Hocking, DXLD) Photo shows a guy with a car battery balanced on his head, wires from it leading to a boombox held in his other hand. ONLY source of news? They should try DXing around the dial a bit, if they can. Meanwhile, DX listeners still have no luck hearing Radio ICDI, 6030, at all (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4830, China Huayi Broadcasting Company (Fuzhou) also heard here in West TN on 3/21 with a fairly good signal (SINPO 34323) 1236- 1240. Assumed it was this station, as the language was definitely Mandarin. Good to see it confirmed by others (Jim Evans, TN, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 4830, China Huayi BC, *1200-1305 tuneout 22 March. Abrupt opening, possible mention of "zhongghou huayi", quick jingle, news about Tibet protests (complete with crowd noises), then evening phone-in program mixed with jingles, pop song at 1227, more phone calls, interviews, jingles to 1300 5+1 pips, drums, canned M/W "ID" with traditional- sounding Chinese song as background. Thanks to Mark S., S. Hasegawa for the info/solid ID. CHBC's signal awfully good for listed 15 kW (in fact, only CNR1-5030 was comparable).(Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4830, China Huayi BC, 1235-1304, March 22, almost identical reception as Dan Sheedy's log of the 19th: on air phone conversations with many "ni hao" (a standard "hello" greeting), "Wei. Wei." (a traditional Chinese phone greeting also roughly meaning, "Hello. Hello.") and the distinctive "ba ba ba" (number 888) and seemed like "shi" (number 4). Assume this must be a local phone number for this program? ToH 5+1 pips. Believe Dan is correct to question if this is just 15 kW. Thanks to Mark Schiefelbein's initial tip (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 3261.03 & 3438.97, Radio Exterior España spurs, *0159- 0215+, March 23, opening Spanish ID announcements and into Spanish talk. Spurs from 3350. Between each frequency there is a 88.97 kHz separation. 3261.03-weak. 3438.97-barely audible. Thanks to Rich D`Angelo for IDing the 3261.03 spur (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 5954.1, Planned station, Guápiles, 2319-2333, 18 Mar, non-stop songs, mostly in Castilian; 54444, adjacent QRM (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CROATIA. Odd 3984.89 Croatian Radio from Deanovec at 2220 UT, Mar 23 (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. THE MYSTERIOUS ERRATIC SQUEALING CUBAN TRANSMISSIONS Ever seen this website? Funny material! http://home.earthlink.net/~haggisizing/srw-swl/RHC/index.html (Terry Krueger, FL, March 24, 2008, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ah yes, I certainly have, but not for a few years; Steve Waldee`s peripatetic magnum opus on RHC. Great reading when it periodically reappear (gh, DXLD) The youTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwTny_4AeNY (Krueger, ibid.) The same referenced here previously (gh, DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 5009.8, R. Cristal Internacional, Stº Domingo, 2335-0001*, 17 Mar, non-stop Spanish ballads followed by abrupt s/off; 35343. This is in fact the Dominican Rep. as confirmed during the following day's check (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 3279, La Voz del Napo in Spanish at 0620 with religious talk and music (had a German song to some tunes). Very Good March 22/08 (Mick Delmage, at Don Moman`s, AB, Icom R71A, various beverage antenna and the 4-30 MHz Log Periodic, with Don Moman and Nigel Pimblett, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 15295, 1715 UT/Marzo 23, HCJB, 35533, Programa especial de semana santa (español); 1730 idioma portugués, programa "DX Internacional" con Eunice Carbajal, comentando las festividades de la Semana Mayor; Información DX. Por el momento es todos, reciban saludos desde Jiutepec, Morelos México (MAGDIEL CRUZ RODRÍGUEZ, Jiutepec, Morelos (México), Sangean ATS-818, Antena "V" invertida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Neither 5005 nor 6250 were audible between Fri. 14 & Sat. 22 [March]. Due to the type of audio & signal on 5005 (cf. an earlier report from me), this transmitter is probably down awaiting repair, but Malabo 6250 should be well heard prior to Egypt getting a strong signal over here, and yet nothing was heard, just "Al-Misr." (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. 7165, OPPOSITION, V of Peace and Democracy (presumed), at 0357 on 3/21. Suddenly there with a heavy beat instrumental and M with several IDs which included mention of "democracy" in presumed Tigrigna. At 0400 ID including frequency and into brief talk, drums and longer talk going past tune-out at 0415. Very good. I don't see a site listed for this (Gerry Dexter, Lake Geneva, WI, NRD 515, NRD 545, Eaton E-l, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 7110, R. Ethiopia, 0304, 3/20/08. Choral music. Unusually clear signal was S6. Noisy atmospherics this night; additional reception 0342, 3/21/08. Better conditions than previous night. Signal reached S7 with extended vernacular chatter (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Drake R8, Perseus SDR, 70' Inverted L, Wellbrook Loop, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 7110, Radio Ethiopia, *0259-0310, March 23, IS. Opening announcements in Amharic at 0300 followed by gongs and talk. Horn of Africa music. No //s heard. Weak but readable. Some adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS [and non]. Falkland/Malvinas Islands --- On a cruise from Buenos Aires to Valparaíso. Passed west of Falklands / Malvinas last Friday. Heard 530 kHz at 1830 UT with delayed replay of BBC "Have Your Say". At 2000 UT UK news (not BBC) ending 2003. Announcer identified news as "???? Victoria". Local music to 2025 then commercials for Easter dinner/brunch at several restaurants. One had a URL ending in ".uk.fa" No official ID heard. No sign of Esperanza Base on several attempts to check at random times. Used YB-400 RX with internal antennas. Joe N2JB (Joe Buch now in Punta Arenas, Chile on the Strait of Magellan, March 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good voyage ** GABON. 7270, RD.TV Gabonaise, Melen, 1416-, 19 Mar, French, African pops; 15341. 14540, RD.TV Gabonaise, Melen, 1231-1420, 19 Mar, French, discussion about home artists, African pops; 35433, weakish audio (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4777 also not audible. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4052.5, Radio Verdad in Spanish at 0325 UT with religious programming and IDs throughout. Noted English religious programs at 0415. Fair to Good March 23/08 (Mick Delmage, at Don Moman`s, AB, Icom R71A, various beverage antenna and the 4-30 MHz Log Periodic, with Don Moman and Nigel Pimblett, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. Summer A-08 schedule of Hungarian Radio, all in Hungarian: 0000-0058 6040 JBR 250 kW / 306 deg to NoAm Radio Budapest 0100-0158 5965 JBR 250 kW / 306 deg to NoAm Radio Budapest 0300-0700 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" Mon-Sat 0300-1000 6025 JBR 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" Mon-Sat 0400-0730 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" Sun 0400-0730 7165 JBR 250 kW / 288 deg to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" Sun 0400-1000 6025 JBR 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" Sun 1000-1100 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" 1000-2200 6025 JBR 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" 1100-1158 15660 JBR 250 kW / 075 deg to AUS Radio Budapest 1400-1700 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" 1800-1858 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu Radio Budapest 1900-2000 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" 2000-2058 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu Radio Budapest 2000-2058 11695 JBR 250 kW / 306 deg to NoAm Radio Budapest 2100-2200 3975 JBR 250 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" 2100-2158 11685 JBR 250 kW / 075 deg to AUS Radio Budapest 2200-2258 9880 JBR 250 kW / 245 deg to SoAm Radio Budapest 2200-2300 6025 JBR 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu "Kosshut Radio" Sat/Sun (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, March 24 via DXLD) ?? There have been reports that they still include some IDs in various former languages, including English, right? And it`s spelt Kossuth, as I have pointed out before. Proper name, national hero. This reminds me, some sources make the same mistaxes in English / spelling over and over; I correct them over and over as part of my normal editorial duties in DXLD, and they never notice, leading me to suspect they never read DXLD, at least not with any attention. So why do I bother? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** INDIA. I found this morning i.e. March 24, 2008 AIR-Itanagar on 4990 kHz around 0105 UT and also at 0135 onwards, etc., with satisfactory signal. However no trace of AIR-Shillong on 4970 kHz. AIR-Shimla was heard perhaps on 4965 kHz around 0136 with fair signal etc. 73 & 55 Gautam Kr. Sharma Abhayapuri, Assam. (via Alokesh Gupta, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. 5040, AIR Jeypore, 3/23 via long path 0057 tune with Hindi vocal, commercials 0111.5, man 0113, at 0114 into some type of Hindu religious singing or local music with no instrumental accompaniment. Signal fading by 0130. SINPO 35533 at peak around 0115 (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3976, 1257 UT/Marzo 22, RRI Indonesia(?) 24432 idioma? Música sin definir el género, 1300 ID, que no entendí, lectura de noticias (MAGDIEL CRUZ RODRÍGUEZ, Jiutepec, Morelos (México), Sangean ATS-818, Antena "V" invertida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3976, RRI Pontianak, 1357 UT with soft pop tunes, short interval signal at 1359:50. Local RRI Pontianak ID at 1400 then into news. Fair March 22/08. 3987, RRI Manokwari, 1425 UT, soft pop tunes. S/off announcement at 1452. Good March 22/08. 4605, RRI Serui, 1455 UT soft pop tunes to ID and s/off at 1502:30. Good March 22/08 (Mick Delmage, at Don Moman`s, AB, Icom R71A, various beverage antenna and the 4-30 MHz Log Periodic, with Don Moman and Nigel Pimblett, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9524.90, VOI Jakarta in Arabic 1600-1700 UT, Spanish from 1700, German news at 1850 UT, S=9+10 dB today Mar 24th. Co- channel CRI Kashi in Russian till 1657 UT close-down (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. AWR Broadcast Schedule A08 (2008-03-30 to 2008-10- 26) --- All Regions Version 01/2008-03-04/pub Site Start Stop Language Service Area kHz m kW Days ---------------------------------------------------------- SDA 0000 0200 Mandarin NE-China 12025 25 100 1234567 SDA 0000 0200 Mandarin C/N-China 15300 19 100 1234567 SDA 0000 0030 Burmese Myanmar 15510 19 100 1234567 SDA 0030 0100 Karen Myanmar, Thailand, China 15510 19 100 1234567 SDA 0100 0200 Mandarin S-China 15615 19 100 1234567 TAI 0100 0200 Vietnamese Vietnam 15445 19 100 7 MOS 0200 0230 Urdu Pakistan 6065 49 300 1234567 MOS 0230 0300 Pushto Pakistan 6065 49 300 12345 MDC 0230 0330 Malagasy Madagascar 3215 90 50 1234567 MOS 0230 0300 Panjabi Pakistan 6065 49 300 67 SDA 0300 0330 Russian E-Russia 17645 16 100 1234567 WER 0300 0330 Oromo S-Ethiopia 9545 31 250 1234567 WER 0300 0330 Tigrinya Eritrea 5915 49 250 1234567 MOS 0330 0400 Farsi Iran 6040 49 300 1234567 WER 0330 0400 Amharic Ethiopia 9815 31 250 1234567 MOS 0400 0430 Arabic Iraq, Arab Peninsula 9735 31 300 1234567 MOS 0430 0500 French Morocco, Algeria 6135 49 300 1234567 WER 0500 0600 Bulgarian Bulgaria 6185 49 100 1234567 WER 0700 0800 Arabic Morocco, Algeria 11980 25 100 1234567 WER 0800 0830 French Morocco, Algeria 15260 19 100 1234567 WER 0800 0830 Kabyle Morocco, Algeria 11980 25 100 1234567 WER 0830 0900 Tachelhit Morocco, Algeria 15260 19 100 1234567 NAU 0900 1000 Italian Italy 9790 31 100 1 SDA 1000 1100 Mandarin S-China 15510 19 100 1234567 SDA 1000 1100 Mandarin C/N-China 15495 19 100 1234567 SDA 1030 1100 Cebuano Philippines 11925 25 100 67 SDA 1030 1100 Ilonggo Philippines 11925 25 100 45 SDA 1030 1100 Tagalog Philippines 11925 25 100 23 SDA 1030 1100 English N-China Mongolia 11780 25 100 1234567 SDA 1030 1100 Ilocano Philippines 11925 25 100 1 SDA 1100 1200 Mandarin S-China 12080 25 100 1234567 SDA 1100 1130 Indonesian W-Indonesia 15460 19 100 1234567 SDA 1100 1200 Mandarin NE-China 11775 25 100 1234567 SDA 1100 1200 Mandarin C/N-China 12105 25 100 1234567 SDA 1130 1200 English Indo'sia Mal'sia 15460 19 100 1234567 WER 1200 1230 English NE-India, B'desh 15435 19 250 1234567 SDA 1200 1300 Mandarin S-China 9720 31 100 1234567 SDA 1200 1300 Mandarin NE-China 9670 31 100 1234567 SDA 1200 1300 Korean Korea 9880 31 100 1234567 SDA 1200 1300 Mandarin C/N-China 12105 25 100 1234567 WER 1230 1300 Bangla NE-India, B'desh 15435 19 250 1234567 WER 1300 1330 Mandarin W-China 15320 19 250 23456 SDA 1300 1400 Mandarin C/N-China 12105 25 100 1234567 SDA 1300 1330 Japanese Japan 11975 25 100 1234567 MDC 1300 1400 Vietnamese Vietnam 17670 16 250 1234567 SDA 1300 1330 Japanese W-Japan 9805 31 100 1234567 SDA 1300 1330 Bangla Bangladesh 15275 19 100 1234567 WER 1300 1330 Uighur W-China 15320 19 250 1 7 WER 1330 1500 Mandarin W-China 15320 19 250 1234567 SDA 1330 1400 Khmer Cambod, Viet, Thai, Laos 11880 25 100 1 4 SDA 1330 1400 Russian E-Russia 11845 25 100 1234567 SDA 1330 1400 Assamese NE-India 15275 19 100 1 4 SDA 1330 1400 EnglishB Bangladesh 15275 19 100 23567 SDA 1400 1430 Sinhalese Sri Lanka 12130 25 100 1234567 SDA 1400 1430 Chin Myanmar 9880 31 100 1234567 MOS 1400 1430 Urdu Pakistan 15440 19 300 1234567 SDA 1400 1500 Mandarin S-China 9695 31 100 1234567 SDA 1400 1500 Mandarin C/N-China 12105 25 100 1234567 SDA 1430 1500 Burmese Myanmar 11885 25 100 1234567 MOS 1430 1500 Afar Djibouti, NE-Ethiopia, Somalia 17610 16 300 1234567 SDA 1430 1500 Karen Myanmar, Thailand, China 9725 31 100 1234567 WER 1500 1530 Panjabi N-India 15225 19 250 1234567 SDA 1500 1530 Mizo NE-India 11895 25 100 1234567 WER 1500 1530 Nepali Nepal 15160 19 250 1234567 SDA 1500 1530 Telugu S-India 9530 31 100 1234567 SDA 1500 1530 English S-India 11985 25 100 1234567 SDA 1500 1530 Tamil S-India 11870 25 100 1234567 MOS 1500 1530 Turkish Turkey 15160 19 300 1234567 WER 1530 1600 English Nepal, Tibet 15225 19 250 1234567 SDA 1530 1600 Malayalam S-India 11870 25 100 1234567 WER 1530 1600 Hindi N-India 15160 19 250 1234567 SDA 1530 1600 Hindi C-India 11905 25 100 1234567 SDA 1530 1600 Marathi C-India 11895 25 100 1234567 SDA 1530 1600 Kannada S-India 11985 25 100 1234567 MDC 1530 1628 Malagasy Madagascar 3215 90 50 1234567 MOS 1600 1630 Urdu Pakistan 15260 19 300 1234567 SDA 1600 1630 English C-India 11805 25 100 1234567 SDA 1600 1630 English S-India 11985 25 100 1234567 SDA 1600 1630 Urdu N-India 6155 49 100 1234567 SDA 1630 1700 English N-India 6155 49 100 1234567 MOS 1630 1700 Farsi Iran 15105 19 300 1234567 WER 1630 1700 Somali Somalia 17575 16 250 1234567 SDA 1700 1730 Hindi ME 11640 25 100 1234567 MEY 1700 1730 Kiswahili Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda 9600 31 250 1234567 MOS 1700 1730 Arabic Iraq, Arab Peninsula 11660 25 300 1234567 SDA 1700 1730 Cebuano ME 9980 31 100 67 SDA 1700 1730 Ilocano ME 9980 31 100 1 SDA 1700 1730 Tagalog ME 9980 31 100 23 SDA 1700 1730 Ilonggo ME 9980 31 100 45 WER 1730 1800 Oromo S-Ethiopia 17575 16 250 1234567 SDA 1730 1800 Tamil ME 11640 25 100 1234567 SDA 1730 1800 English ME 9980 31 100 1234567 MEY 1730 1800 Masai Tanzania, Kenya 9600 31 250 1234567 NAU 1730 1800 Kabyle Morocco, Algeria 11780 25 100 1234567 MOS 1800 1830 Moru S-Sudan 15315 19 300 1 MEY 1800 1830 English SW-Africa 3215 90 100 1234567 MOS 1800 1830 Juba Arabic S-Sudan 15315 19 300 3 MOS 1800 1830 Bari S-Sudan 15315 19 300 2 MOS 1800 1830 Col English S-Sudan 15315 19 300 4 MOS 1800 1830 Acholi S-Sudan 15315 19 300 7 MEY 1800 1830 English Botswana, S. Africa, Zimbabwe 3345 90 100 1234567 MOS 1800 1830 Dinka S-Sudan 15315 19 300 5 MEY 1800 1830 English E-Africa 9610 31 250 1234567 MOS 1800 1830 Zande S-Sudan 15315 19 300 6 MOS 1830 1900 Arabic Libya 15260 19 300 1234567 WER 1900 1930 Arabic Morocco, Algeria 11730 25 100 1234567 NAU 1900 1930 Fulfulde Cameroon, Ghana, (Senegal) 15205 19 100 1234567 MOS 1900 1930 Hausa Nigeria 11955 25 300 1234567 JUL 1900 2000 Arabic Morocco, Algeria 15260 19 100 1234567 MOS 1930 2000 French C-Africa 15260 19 300 1234567 WER 1930 2000 Ibo E-Nigeria 15205 19 250 1234567 WER 1930 2000 Tachelhit Morocco, Algeria 11730 25 100 1234567 MOS 2000 2030 Dyula Burk. Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali 11955 25 300 1234567 WER 2000 2030 French Cameroon, Niger 11755 25 100 1234567 MEY 2000 2030 English C-Africa 9655 31 250 1234567 WER 2000 2030 French Morocco, Algeria 11730 25 100 1234567 WER 2000 2030 Farsi Iran 9770 31 250 1234567 NAU 2030 2100 Mandarin Morocco, Algeria 9430 31 100 1234567 [below] MOS 2030 2100 French W-Africa 11955 25 300 1234567 WER 2030 2100 Yoruba Nigeria 11755 25 100 1234567 MOS 2100 2130 English W-Africa 11955 25 300 1234567 SDA 2100 2130 Japanese Japan 11980 25 100 1234567 SDA 2100 2130 Japanese W-Japan 11850 25 100 1234567 SDA 2100 2200 Mandarin C/N-China 11750 25 100 1234567 SDA 2100 2200 Korean Korea 11790 25 100 1234567 SDA 2130 2200 English W-Japan, S-China 11850 25 100 1234567 SDA 2200 2230 Indonesian W-Indonesia 15320 19 100 1234567 SDA 2200 2230 Indonesian W-Indonesia 11850 25 100 1234567 SDA 2200 2300 Mandarin C/N-China 15215 19 100 1234567 SDA 2200 2300 Mandarin NE-China 12120 25 100 1234567 SDA 2230 2300 English W-Indonesia 15320 19 100 1234567 SDA 2300 2400 Vietnamese S-Vietnam 15320 19 100 1234567 SDA 2300 2400 Mandarin C/N-China 15370 19 100 1234567 SDA 2300 2400 Mandarin NE-China 12120 25 100 1234567 AWR Frequency Management Office Sandwiesenstr. 35, 64665 Alsbach, Germany, Phone: +49 6257 9440969, Fax: +49 6257 9440985 Site: JUL = Jülich MDC = Madagascar MEY = Meyerton MOS = Moosbrunn NAU = Nauen SDA = Agat [KSDA GUAM] TAI = Taipei WER = Wertachtal Days: 1 = Sunday 2 = Monday 3 = Tuesday 4 = Wednesday 5 = Thursday 6 = Friday 7 = Saturday (Via Dr. Adrian Peterson, AWR via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dxldyg via Glenn Hauser, tidied up for DX LISTENING DIGEST) AWR schedule A08. I see Mandarin(!) scheduled from Nauen at 2030 UT to Morocco and Algeria. Hmmmm (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Mar 13 via BC- DX March 21 via DXLD) TDF-TDK Nauen 2030-2100 Mandarin Morocco, Algeria 9430 kHz 100 kW daily. This is correct even to the Chinese speaking nationals in Moslem N African target. Issue has been discussed in previous years, and at final confirmed by AWR circles (Wolfgang Büschel, Mar 14, ibid.) ** IRELAND [and non]. RTÉ Radio 1 on 567 with good signal, around 0140 folk songs, maybe religious for Easter, at 0235 recheck phone talk. Will be gone when skywave will again start to come in this evening. // 252 just barely recognizable underneath dominant Tesla powerhouse in Algeria. I must add that Tullamore is the dominant station on 567 here only since the co-channel Rimavská Sobota and Žilina transmitters had been shut down on January 13. And I suspect that all that will be uncovered with Berlin, the Slovak transmitters and now also Ireland gone will be just RNE 5. But perhaps I'm wrong and some interesting catches will be possible? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There's a ninety minute program in progress on RTE Radio 1 detailing the history of Irish radio on 567 kHz. which is to shut down at 1500 UT today. The audio is streaming at http://www.rte.ie/radio1 (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY 1340 UT March 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I just listened it on satellite. Excellent compilation, compiled and presented by someone who obviously loves radio. I presume it will be available to download later. Nice to hear the old interval signal again, and some of the programmes I remember as a boy just starting to listen to international radio (Andy Sennitt, ex-England, ibid.) And was in the first place allowed by management to do such a thing, unlike on the occasion of another 567 kHz close-down two years ago. I already believed that the transmitter had been turned off now, but at 1825 it finally faded in, with the loop already quoted by Noel, read in a monotonous voice. So it remains to be seen for how long it will stay on air. Can anybody tell what's up with the Cork transmitter on 729? Already off or carrying the same loop, perhaps shifted against 567 (which would indicate a local playout, like done in 1998 with "der Mittelwellensender Burg wird aus technischen Gründen abgeschaltet" on a MiniDisc)? Before 1825 I heard on 567 a jumble in which Bologna (// 900) stood out. I believe, but I'm not sure, that other audio was in Spanish (i.e. RTE 5) and // 810 (i.e. Strumica), and I heard also music I could not associate with any listed station. So perhaps it could be quite interesting to explore what is left on 567 once the Tullamore transmitter is silent (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And the programme brought back many memories of Radio Eireann to me too. I particularly recall their sponsored programmes at lunchtime in the early 1950's. There's still time to hear 567 as, although programmes did cease at 1500, they now carry the following message: "This service, RTE Radio One mediumwave, has been discontinued. To stay tuned to RTE Radio One, please switch to the FM band. RTE Radio One is available on FM between 88 and 90 megahertz, and is also available on the Long Wave band at 252 kilohertz. For further details please write to, the Information Office, RTE, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, or telephone 01 208 3434." (Noel R. Green (NW England), ibid.) ** ISRAEL. Someone who monitors from Europe has mentioned to me that since last year, every time he monitors Galei Tzahal, it has been on both frequencies. I emailed the IBA webmaster if the new http://www.intkolisrael.com website will have downloadable audio. He said no, but it probably will in the near future. The wrn.org website already has downloadable audio for two out of the three broadcasters (Doni Rosenzweig, March 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UNIDENTIFIED 5010 ** KUWAIT. 11990, Radio Kuwait (Kabd). 2044-2100*. 20 Mar 08. English. OM with pop music program and news. Several IDs, skeds and freq announcements. Mentions of North America service. S/off with ``You`ve been listening to Radio Kuwait,`` National anthem, and ``This is Radio Kuwait.`` S7/Fair (Joe Wood, Greenback TN, E1, DX 390; Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** LATVIA. 9290, Radio Caroline 44th Anniversary special at 1540 UT tune in playing late 60’s early 70’s pop/rock tunes. Very marginal at best. Caught Alice Cooper’s “Schools Out” at 1551 followed by BTO’s Hey You” March 23/08 (Mick Delmage, at Don Moman`s, AB, Icom R71A, various beverage antenna and the 4-30 MHz Log Periodic, with Don Moman and Nigel Pimblett, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. 9875, Radio Vilnius, 0036-0100*, March 24, English program answering listeners` letters. Program about Easter & Easter folk music. ID. Contact information. Gave the following English schedule: 2330 on 7325, 0030 on 9875 & 0930 on 9710. Good signal. Appears to be irregular. I know I checked this frequency the past several days & heard nothing (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010.20, RTV Malagasy, 0255-0305 March 24, Tuned in while African Hilife music was being presented. At 0303 a male comments briefly and then back to music. Signal was fair but with too much fading. Canned ID was heard at 0304 as, "Radio Malagasy" by a man. This was followed with a female in English comments (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 7130, Sarawak FM (via RTM), 1306-1312 22 March. Crunching the PRC pest with the end of "berita nasional (dan?) Radio RTM", and nice, clear, singing "Sarawak FM" jingle; after an hour plus of Chinese phone-calls, this was a pleasant change (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA/SARAWAK. 7130, Sarawak FM via RTM, 1305-1333, March 22, in vernacular; news, DJ with pop songs, several singing "Sarawak FM" jingles, yet another day of almost fair reception, with almost none of the usual QRM from CNR-1 & 2, even // 5030 was holding up well against CNR-1. Heard several "As-Salamu Alaykum" greetings (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 9750, Seldom guest in Europe is RTM Kajang, Malaya in BI/BM, noted ahead of RNW Nauen [latter in dead zone at my location] co-channel in 1600-1657 UT slot, and co-ch free from 1659 UT, RTM news at 1700 UT, S=9 in peaks today (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEYU, Radio UNAM, back on 9599.3v, March 24 at 2152 with classical, het, after missing a few days (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOZAMBIQUE [and non]. Re 8-034: Being young, there's a tendency to turn on a radio mostly to listen music, and that's a standard for people the world over. Consequently, that was my case too, I was happier when I began my radio listenership, and was more happy to pick up the late night transmissions from WLAC 1510 Nashville and KAAY 1090 Little Rock, but why? Well, I didn't have the music they played on local tica radio. If was for short wave, I would have been happier having more music on WRUL but VOA I found more informative and jazzy. That been said, now you can imagine why the arrival of Radio Caroline was so overwhelming from dusk to dawn. Young people finally got what the Beeb didn't offer them. I became a DJ in 1970 and suddenly I found myself married and of course, got my own receiver. I got this hi-fi Pioneer SX 410 receiver where the SW hobby increased and among the far away stations that I enjoyed then, there was this surprising LM Radio from Moçambique on 11780 that seemed to make sure that no one else kept asleep or in bed once they went on the air by 0500 UT. Just before the top of that hour they always used a hard rock track, Deep Purple alike, to blast the airwaves and immediately the ID in Portuguese and then regular pop music of the day programming. That posting I'm thanking Colin Miller, of the Matola site, provided this authentic trip into the past with that complete historical station I took as reference almost every late night, my local 11 p.m. until suddenly was raided by Frelimo and became kind of a legend after its demise. 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, March 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5040.5, R. Myanmar, 3/23 with good signal but noticeable transmitter hum – seemed to center on 5040.5. Woman in Myanma followed by man in Myanma – uninspiring programming. 3-minute gap in program at 1445, then woman still going at 1505, past 1500 nominal sign-off. SINPO 34543 (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. RE: DXLD 8-036 RNW on mediumwave --- There is nothing particularly "remarkable" about our use of 1296 kHz. This is for a daily broadcast of the new style Network Europe programme produced under the umbrella of Euranet, which has been mentioned already in DXLD. We needed to find a way to make sure that the programme is audible in Brussels, since it is financed by the European Commission. Network Europe lasts 30 minutes, and will be followed on weekdays by an edition of Newsline. Listeners in the UK unable to receive 1296 can hear the programme via our Sky service at channel 0105 and via RNW2 on the Internet, but since 1500 UT is not a suitable time for many listeners, it will also be played out by WRN Europe at 1830 UT, and at 1700 and 2100 via RNW2. Yes, as I explained in the Media Network Newsletter, Jan Peter told me there are still a few last-minute scheduling details to be confirmed. The stripped down, public version of the final schedule will be online on our main website later this week. I haven't even had time to look at Jan Peter's pages, as I have been preparing the EPG data for the Sky Service this weekend (Andy Semnitt, RNW, March 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thank you for this frank explanation. In my humble opinion it makes this mediumwave transmission especially remarkable. Hiring airtime on the Orfordness transmitter especially for the Eurocrats -- that just fits into the widespread opinion about the Euranet project, widespread at least in the UK and amongst the few who noticed it here in Germany so far. It could be interesting to hear why RNW considers this relay for Brussels as a matter of course, even to be required to run it (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Reminds me of the late DGS --- he allegedly was only interested in the SW transmissions of his own voice that he could actually pick up in Los Ángeles. One good reason Anguilla is aimed that way (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Doesn`t 1296 have good general coverage of the U K anyway and non- insular Europe? Yes, probably discussed before when it was DRM, etc., but perhaps you can refresh us (Glenn Hauser, OK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, As 1296 is beamed to Europe it`s a poor signal in most of the UK. Regards (Mike Terry, ibid.) Mike is right. 1296 is beamed at 96 degrees (I like the coincidence!), i.e. eastwards, out to sea and away from the UK. It was originally intended during the cold war mainly for reception via nighttime skywave in central-eastern Europe (Poland, Czecho, Hungary). Meanwhile, 648 has a more southerly beam (131) and was intended mainly for groundwave coverage of the Benelux, northern France and parts of W. Germany. 1296 is not audible well (or even at all) in most of the UK, except for the far southeast (Kent). A commercial station in Birmingham also uses 1296, further reducing the audibility of Orfordness within the UK. As for Orfordness being hired by (and for) the Eurocracy - no comment!! (Chris Greenway, UK, March 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1296 coverage, groundwave as well as skywave: http://www.arar93.dsl.pipex.com/mds975/masts/Orfordness/orfornessmap.jpg Transmitter site in 2001: http://www.radionationaal.nl/archive/merlin/page01.htm Picture 6: 2 x 250 kW Doherty modulation transmitters for 1296. The RNW transmissions must be run with this cute pair, since 300 kW are in use. I can't find the manufacturer of these transmitters specified, also never saw such rigs elsewhere. Perhaps Marconi? Picture 12: Probably these Optimod 9100 are no longer in use for the BBC on 648, since the audio processing has been modified some time ago, as discussed in DXLD. Otherwise not much should have changed. Picture 14: Left another 250 kW Doherty mod as aux for 648, centre the main for 648, a Telefunken S4006. Nautel NA200 (200 kW AM carrier power "only", thus the old tube rigs must be in use for 300 kW AM), used for DRM on 1296: http://www.drmradio.co.uk/html/orfordness.html (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think the coverage map sent by Kai more or less explains about how much of the UK 1296 covers from Orfordness. With a decent receiver and a directional antenna it might also be heard a bit further into the UK. Obviously a directional antenna is being used at the site. And since the arrival of XL Radio at Langley Mill (near Birmingham) on this same frequency with listed 10kW my own reception of Orfordness (in the NW of England) is more or less blocked. I could hear DRM, and occasional voice, but the signal is unusable. I suppose Wolvertem 1512 is not going to be available - that would be heard in the UK as well as Brussels (Noel R. Green, UK, March 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No: 1512 will be turned off altogether in just six days, together with the Waver/Wavre transmitter on 540 and the modest power Kuurne outlet on 1188. The Orfordness site comes out impressively on aerial images, of course due to its former military use: And something about its predecessor, the Crowborough site southeast of London: http://www.seftondelmer.co.uk/aspidistra.htm http://www.qsl.net/g0crw/Special%20Events/Aspidistra2.htm http://www.subbrit.org.uk/rsg/sites/c/crowborough/ Perhaps it's an interesting question where transmitters had been installed in underground bunkers? I'm aware of another wartime site, Novosemeykino near Samara (171/873) as well as Berlin Stallupöner Allee (567/810/1449, even BBC-related!) and Lenk in Switzerland (3985/6165) where the bunker solution had been chosen for other reasons. All these are off and gone now, though (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9705, La Voix du Sahel in French at 2140 UT. Possible religious service. Drum Interval at 2150 then possible news. 2201 nice full ID then into a pop music program. Fair-Good March 22/08 (Mick Delmage, at Don Moman`s, AB, Icom R71A, various beverage antenna and the 4-30 MHz Log Periodic, with Don Moman and Nigel Pimblett, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9704.99, LV du Sahel, Niamey, 2127-2158*, March 23, French pops / ballads. French talk. Local drums. Local music. Kor`an at 2151-2156. Choral National Anthem at 2156. Test tone at 2158 & off. Fair but some adjacent channel splatter (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. Pirate, 3430 USB, WTCR-Twentieth Century Radio, 0235-0307*, March 23, IDs, Allman Brothers music. Blues music. Belfast, NY mail drop. Strong. Very good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4826.54, 0245-0300* 24-03, R. Sicuani, Sicuani (presumed), Spanish talk and music, slight heterodyne from Zimbabwean open carrier on 4828; 24222 AP-DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, via Dario Monferini, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4826.48, Radio Sicuani, 1000-1015 March 24, Noted a male in Spanish language comments until about 1011. At that time a female comments briefly. Around 1014, music is heard. The noise is terrible this morning while the signal was threshold (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 12260 harmonic (2 x 6130), VOR Moscow in French produces an S=7 harmonic, noted on Etón E1 and SONY ICF2010, signal strength 8 of 10 diodes shining! 1700-1800 UT Mar 24 (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALILAND. Re Hargeisa new transmitter: Checked 7120 on 19 March when the frequency was "clear", 1700-1730 and 1830-1900 UT, but nothing noticed here. The tests might still be irregular (Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxing.info via DXLD) BUT, as Steve Lare also points out in DXLD, the axual latest frequency used by R. Hargeysa was 7530! How could they be so mixed up about their own frequencies? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) The last logs I saw for 7530 were in early 2006 in USB, I believe, so probably a low-powered interim transmitter. Possibly the 10120 was an acoustic misunderstanding at BBC-MS or at any other stage? Unlikely to be a typo in the script of both the newsreader and the minister? 7120 is the old frequency, listed as inactive in WRTH 1990, when the civil war (Siad Barre government against oppositional clans) was actually already ongoing in the north of the country. So this frequency choice is maybe also somewhat a symbolic step back to normality. Jari`s mail shows that I sometimes miss something important, though published in DXLD. 73 th (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, ibid.) 24 March after 1700 noted a station on approx. 7120.2 (Mauno Ritola measured the carrier 7120.18, thanks) with male talks in unID language. There was a RTTY-station about 2 kHz above, making it difficult to get clear audio. Later when the RTTY signed off, the station played HOA-like music. Then, just before 1730 the huge carrier spoiled reception. Maybe my imagination, but there might have been a mention of Hargeysa during the male speech. Worth checking further at this time of evening (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) At 1930 I'm hearing Radio Netherlands in English on 7120 and also on 17810. There is a bit of a delay between the two. Both scheduled in English from 1900-2100 per EiBi (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, ibid.) See also this and the three additional stories linked there, although there is hardly anything clandestine about this station: http://www.clandestineradio.com/intel/station.php?id=168&stn=332 Perhaps the item about a new 5 kW transmitter from 2000, to be used on the old 7120/11640 frequencies, had no substance, since it was apparently still ham-like gear they were using on 7530: http://www.dxing.info/community/viewtopic.php?p=4553 The "Baldur-Germany" source as well as the Bergheim address belong to Baldur Drobnica, a ham radio operator who also acts as consul of Somaliland in Germany: http://www.laenderkontakte.de/region/afrika/somaliland/diplomatische_konsularische_vertretungen/29890/index.html And besides Radio Hargeysa on 98.2 a second FM transmitter is reportedly on air in Hargeysa as well, carrying BBC World Service programming on 89.0: http://fmscan.org/ml.php?r=f&x=9500002 Note the mention of another 25 kW transmitter in the April 2005 item about Radio Hargeysa launching FM. It must have referred to what now in all likelihood turned out to be an Elcor SW-25 K. A German publication from 1990 mentions rumours about the transmitters of Radio Hargeysa being destroyed. Perhaps by the bombardment of Hargeysa by the Siad Barre government forces in 1988? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 24, dxdlyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: Radio Hargeysa --- History of October 2000: SOMALIA 7530 R Hargeisa - Baldur Drobnica DJ6SI: Acc to an item by Baldur Drobnica in the German ham radio magazine "Funkamateur" (Oct), R Hargeisa now uses a 5 kW tx for txions on 7120 and 11640. No times are given and there is no mention of 7530. QSLs are said to be available for detailed RRs accompanied by return postage from the representative in Germany of the "Republic of Somaliland," Zedernweg 6, D-50127 Bergheim, Germany. I know that Baldur has good contacts with official institutions in Hargeisa, so all of this is quite likely. I will check with him. We were looking for a used 100 kW tx for tropical band operation but without success so far. (Harald Kuhl-D, NU Oct 1, 2000) I am uncertain of just what "Republic of Somaliland" denotes these days. For those interested in getting into "Somaliland" more deeply, see http://www.somaliland.com/ (which includes radio links about half- way down the homepage on the left). (Jerry Berg-USA, NU, Oct 2000) [Baldur Drobnica ham radio operator which was involved in the shooting clashes on Spratly Isl. by Vietnamese or Chinese Army in late Seventies?, he took part in a ham radio expedition from SNG to Spratly Isl. and he was wounded, few other hams died, wb.] Ich habe in Friedrichshafen Baldur Drobnica DJ6SI interviewt. Das war meine letzte Aktion fuer ROI. Ich speichere zum letzten Mal eine Datei ab, fahre zum letzten Mal die Software runter. - Im Unterschied zu den anderen werde ich, der Pensionist, morgen wieder ins Funkhaus kommen, nun aber definitiv auf die andere Seite des Flures, dorthin, wo die QSL COLLECTION residiert. Ich weiss noch nicht, wie die Infrastruktur funktionieren wird (von der Eintragung im Telefonbuch bis zum Leeren der Papierkoerbe...), aber das wird sich weisen. Jedenfalls ist dies, wenngleich nur ein halber Abschied, doch einer. Ich rechne ein bisschen nach: Februar 1946 bis Juni 2003, das macht knapp 57 Jahre. Davon fast 33, mehr als mein halbes Leben, beim Auslandsdienst. Und jetzt steh ich halt so da und hab den Schluessel in der Hand und mach den Laden dicht. Denn ich bin der Letzte. Und der Letzte macht das Licht aus. Danke, Euch allen, von uns allen. 73 de Wolf (Wolf Harranth-AUT OE1WHC, ROI July 2003) SOMALIA Received a QSL today from Radio Hargeisa in the Republic of Somaliland (NASWA Country: Somali, Dem. Rep. - British) for reception on 29 Nov 2005 on 7530 kHz. V/s: Baldur Drobnica. Card states that they run 10 kW into a T-antenna. Report was sent to their German postal address with $1. Card was mailed from USA with a cover letter and the $1 was returned via an amateur radio operator in Virginia. Apparently $1 is not enough for return postage from Germany and the v/s sent my card along with his amateur radio QSL and then the Virginia op forwarded my QSL. My 217th NASWA Country verified (Steve Lare-MI, dxld Dec 14, 2005) Baldur Drobnica DJ6SI, the German ham operator, which escaped severe Vietnamese army fire on Amboyana Spratly Island, when erecting a Ham Radio expedition station on the disputed island in South Chinese Sea in 1983. DJ3NG along with his friends was on his way to Spratly DX Pedition. A night before arriving at Spratly, his boat was attacked and sunken by Vietnamese gunships. DJ6SI fortunately survived and issued this QSL to mourn DJ3NG, DJ4EI, and others killed by this incident. http://hamgallery.com/qsl/country/Fed_Rep_Germany/dj3ng.htm See http://www.geocities.com/CapeCanaveral/Hangar/4073/spratly.html Steve, I agree 100% with what you said. I NEVER have had any trouble getting cards from DJ6SI! I usually send 2 IRCs. (Joe Reisert-USA W1JR, DX News Feb 28, 2002) Nancy & Steve Lawrence wrote: I have worked Baldur from his many locations over the years. I have QSL'd direct and always received a response. I've always included sufficient return postage. I've included cards for different calls in a single envelope and gotten replies. I even got an unsolicited card for his Mt. Athos operation via the bureau! In short, I've never had a problem getting cards from Baldur. I will remind you that this is a man who almost died (one op did) in a Spratly operation of years past. And he still goes out there. It's only a hobby. (73, Steve WB6RSE, Feb 27, 2002) SOMALILAND 7530[usb?] Radio Hargeisa. Tonight there was a very weak carrier on 7530.04 kHz until 2001 UT. R Pakistan signs off a few mins after 1900 and R Tirana is on this fq between 1945-2000. (Mauno Ritola-FIN, hcdx Jan 17) Does anyone have a schedule for Radio Hargeisa broadcasts on 7530? If no time schedule is available, can anyone suggest the best/most likely times to try for them on this frequency? (J.D. Stephens-AL-USA, hcdx Jan 16, 2006) Radio Hargeisa broadcasts: 0300-0600 Somali, 0900-1200 Somali, 1500-1900 Somali, 1900-1920 Arabic, 1920-1940 English, 1940-2000 Amharic. (Via EiBi). I was able to hear them for a few days near the end of November between 1900 and 2000. QSL address: Konsularische Vertretung Somaliland Baldur Drobnica DJ6SI Zedernweg 6 D-50127 Bergheim Germany I received the QSL in 13 days from Baldur Drobnica, the v/s. (Steve Lare-MI-USA, dxld Jan 18, 2006) (ALL: via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) Re: http://www.somaliland.com/ (which includes radio links about half- way down the homepage on the left). (Jerry Berg-USA, NU, Oct 2000) URL still exists, but now merely offers webmail services etc. To answer that question in short: It is the former British Somaliland which merged with the former Italian Somaliland in 1960 but seceded from it again in 1991. Nowadays Somaliland is a de-facto entity, with a comparatively intact civil society, contrary to the remainder of what used to be sovereign territory of a failed state called Somalia. However, the area under control of Hargeysa (which is believed to be a larger and better developed town than Mogadishu now) is not identical with the territory of the former British colony, the eastern parts of it belong to another entity (Puntland) instead (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare once again audible on WBCQ 7415 far beyond the scheduled time, at 1359 UT March 23 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. 9330, R. Damascus. 2153-2213*, 3/21 in English. Close of transmission with news headlines. Fair (David Turnick, Reading PA, JRC-545, Sony 2010 & Alpha Delta DX Sloper antenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Any QRM from WBCQ 9329v? (gh, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. Re 8-036: Last day for BBC Caribbean --- Well, Glenn, the BBC was still there this morning (3/23) via WHRI on 5875 at 11 UT and 9660 from 12 UT, so I guess this really is the last day for the Caribbean beam after all, instead of yesterday. On-air and online info hadn't been completely clear about that. I didn't check 9750 via GUF. During some BBC listening late yesterday evening, 7160 doing very nicely at 0400, and 5875 booming in at 0500 and 0600. 7160 [Ascension] will likely continue to be used year round, so is a good alternative for late North American evenings. 5875 beamed to Western Russia will almost certainly change to a higher frequency for A08, so we shall see if that beam continues to provide a post-midnight option for us here in central North America. Speaking of the 5875 frequency at 0500 (Rampisham), does anyone else find the audio quality on this transmission much more harsh and compressed as compared to the usual sound of other BBC transmissions? Wonder if it is one of the newer transmitters with perhaps some sort of modulation variant from what we might be used to? (Stephen Luce, Houston, TX, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FRENCH GUIANA: BBC relay 5975 at 2200+ with broadcast to Caribbean. At 2259 announcer mentioned that this was the last broadcast to the Caribbean. 23 March. 73/Liz (Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Liz, completely different they way I heard the farewell to the Caribbean Service from the Beeb. 9525 Furman with S5 arrival but // 5975 Montsinery barely audible. 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.) BBCWS final SW broadcasts in Western Hemisphere: I was listening to 9525, as little if any signal on 5975. At 2256 March 23, Jerry Simmons, head of ME/Af division, was talking about ``retaining trust of listeners``, in yet another self-serving interview, on Over To You. Then brief announcement at 2258-2259 said shortwave transmissions to the Caribbean are closing today, as if a groundswell of listeners had demanded they broadcast on FM, internet only; WHRI ID and off. Since 9525 (and 5875, 9660 in the morning) were picked by and for BBC usage, I`ll not be surprised if WHRI goes somewhere else during the ex-BBC hours. 11675 Greenville was also on again, for the last time during the 21 UT hour; 2128 BBC theme and ID (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The very, very last BBC transmissions to the Caribbean Rough start on March 23 to the last BBCWS beam out of Greenville at 21 UT on 11675. Carrier on late at 2101:45, and at very poor level. Audio up a few moments later with strength slowly improving, as if the xmtr was being brought up to full power. Listenable level by 2104, but carrier break for a few seconds at 2105, then back much stronger. Seems what's left of VOA Greenville is having more xmtr issues these days. Solid signal via WHRI for the 22 UT hour on 9525. At 2259 there was a 30 second announcement that "BBC World Service on shortwave to the Caribbean is now closing" and that "fewer people are listening to the BBC on shortwave, particularly in the Caribbean." They advised listeners to consult the BBC website for alternate ways of listening. Last program to the Western Hemisphere on shortwave was "Over to You" which perhaps should have been "Over and Out." The end of an era. We await the cuts to East and SE Asia (Stephen Luce, Houston, TX, March 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WHRI still on 9525 during ex-BBCWS hours, March 24 at 2150 check, but playing gospel rock fill music, of which they have an endless supply. WHR online schedule still shows BBC during the 4 hours previously relayed. Hey, why not just `fill` with BBC anyway, a helluva lot better than that music, whether BBC buys the time or not. Would BBC disallow? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And re. this from the BBC to Caribbean thread: >> Speaking of the 5875 frequency at 0500 (Rampisham), does anyone else find the audio quality on this transmission much more harsh and compressed as compared to the usual sound of other BBC transmissions? Wonder if it is one of the newer transmitters with perhaps some sort of modulation variant from what we might be used to? (Stephen Luce-TX-USA, dxld Mar 23) << I noted this some time ago on another BBC transmission from Rampisham, Ukrainian if I recall correct. I suspect they simply have installed new audio processors, like for 648 at Orfordness (which sounds quite smashed and unpleasant now, as rechecked last night). Or, wait: Is the S4006 indeed still in use or has a new solid-state unit being installed for 648 now, too? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) In case you miss the Caribbean-specific programming that last aired via shortwave yesterday on the World Service, you can catch it on demand here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/caribbean/ If you feel compelled to listen to live radio, check out the following: http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgibin/program.pl?programid=352 http://www.publicradiofan.com/cgibin/program.pl?programid=2783 Those links show the stations in the area that stream these programs via the Internet (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, March 24, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K. Discussion of 1296 kHz Orfordness coverage: NETHERLANDS [non] ** U S A [non]. From DXAsia News Mar 22 --- Starting 30th March, VOA reintroduces two hours of broadcasting on SW for Urdu Service after it was discontinued from 28th January: 0100-0200 on 7145 11805. 1400-1500 on 9580 15255. This will definitely improve reception in Northern and Eastern parts of India. The MW channels 972 and 1539 kHz will continue at 1400-0200 for 12 hours (Alok Dasgupta http://www.dxasia.info via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non?]. VOA in African language at 1504 March 24 on 9605, soon confirmed with VOA jingles at 1509, to 1530* with usual non- specific sign-off. This was so strong I just about concluded it had to be Greenville, probably an early replacement for Morocco; atop some CCI which would be BBC Singapore in Chinese, jamming. However, listings show the 1500-1530 broadcast on 9605 is VOA Hausa via São Tomé, 335 degrees, so it`s azimuthally favorable for us. Greenville is used at other times for Hausa aimed east, and I would expect to see more usage, at least temporarily, of Greenville for Africa as Morocco demises (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. TV-6 protection for new NCE-FM: not over yet! Looking at many of the applications filed for new non-commercial FM stations in the recent window, it appeared many of the applicants were expecting they wouldn't be required to protect channel 6 analog TV stations from interference. After all, analog TV is going off the air in February 2009, so there won't be anything to interfere with... and it's unlikely many of these stations would be ready to go on the air by then anyway... Well, apparently the FCC isn't buying it. KFLO-89.1's (Blanchard, LA) application to increase power from 20kw to 38kw and add horizontal polarization has been denied. The station is located just south of Shreveport and must protect KTAL- 6, licensed to Texarkana. KFLO presumed that since KTAL will be moving to channel 15 in February 2009, they could ignore the need to protect the TV station as long as they agreed not to sign on the air until after KTAL moves. The FCC ruled accepting that application would be unfair to other applicants who filed specifying lower-powered facilities that would protect KTAL. It certainly would seem to me that this ruling would preclude acceptance of any of the applications for 88.5 in the Milwaukee area. (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, March 21, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 8-036, KSTP dead carrier: Glen[n], It was noted a few nights ago that KSTP 1500 St Paul seemed to have dead carriers whenever they were supposed to go to a network news feed. Sometimes maybe 2 minutes. Dead carriers seem forever. I was listening to that local station while reading your site (Steve, N0CRS, Maple Lake MN, 40 miles NW of Mpls, March 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What a comedown for a once great radio station --- no one minding the store, at the very least (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. KOOR 1010 "How Long Can This Go On" Hello, KOOR 1010 kHz (Portland, OR market) has been broadcasting the Nostalgia format for over two months now. The only commercials that I have heard are 5 seconds mentions of a commercial web-site. Kroger.com, Gyko.com [sic], etc. Maybe one per hour. On Fridays there is a Spanish program on for about an hour and Saturdays has "Liitle Vietnam Radio" for a few hours. No news, no DJ's a few PSA's. Many ID's using the Spanish radio announcers from the other Bustos Media stations. I really enjoy this station and probably listen to it from 2-3 hours a day. When they cut the power at sunset the signal is non listen-able here. Knowing nothing about the radio industry, just an avid listener, how long can a station run with a format like this? Are they planning on selling the station? Establishing a radio listener-ship? I have checked some local Radio on-line groups and no discussion on KOOR? Now they`re playing "Basin Street Blues" by the Mills Brothers, followed by "You Belong to Me" by the Duprees. Think I will turn the R-390 A on and set the selectivity setting to 16 kc (Dennis, Salmon Creek, WA, Vroomski, IRCA via DXLD) And the answer is --- your guess is as good as as it gets. Rumors abound that Bustos is getting short on cash. And with gas at $ 4.00 a gal. -- you could say the same thing about anyone that owns a business. --- But the smaller radio station groups or owners -- have always done things -- "their way". Anything that's "off the wall" -- to just downright -- dumb. KZPO -- FM -- a 300 watt -- Class "B-1" in Lindsay, California has been running the "Kings Radio" -- nostagia format for the last ten years. About 3 spots per hour. One announcer. No other staff. In fact the 84 year old salesman died two years ago. But it is the number two rated station in the Fresno Market. The FCC has forced the station to sell to a "minority" -- but the proposed sale has been put on hold -- for the last 4 years. Not only has the only sales person died -- but so has the "owner". It makes just enough cash to pay the rent and electric bills. As for the Portland 1010 -- only time will tell. Just be glad that they are playing something other than Spanish (Mike McKenna, ibid.) ** U S A. WHBC 1480 Canton, OH 3/29/08 DX Test still a go Fellow DXers, My apologies for taking so long to update everyone on this DX Test, but I wasn't able to talk with WHBC Chief Engineer Dale Lamm until today, plus I have been traveling all day and just now have made it to where I can work on e-mails. After a lengthy and informative conversation with Dale, he feels it is best that we proceed with the DX Test on the 29th as scheduled, although he will be using WHBC's standard night pattern and power. He does intend to include special test features like Morse code and sweep tones, probably inserted during some standard breaks. This should still significantly improve the chances of hearing WHBC's signal at greater distances. Thanks to Dale for conducting the test, and I know we are all grateful for him taking the time and trouble to air the special program inserted into their standard Fox Sports Channel fare. 73s, (Jim Pogue, IRCA/NRC Joint BTC Coordinator, Memphis, TN, March 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Remembering Carl Sneed http://columbiabusinesstimes.com/1138/2008/03/21/from-the-roundtable-local-housing-market-decline-alarming-but-rebound-invariable The violent explosion that destroyed a Columbia residence last week and shattered an honored family brings back a fleeting personal vignette. Along with the tragedy of death, family heartbreak and personal misery comes the obliteration of this family's memories encapsulated in all the accumulated but irreplaceable memorabilia the explosion destroyed. The late Carl Sneed was born here in Columbia in 1921 and graduated from Hickman High School in 1938. His picture appears in the Cresset, the school's yearbook, which notes he was active in organizations including Blue Triangle, French Club and the Airplane and Radio Club. Sneed is the center of attention in the photo of this last group, demonstrating a small model airplane. The roster of his classmates includes many familiar old Columbia family names, including Dr. Hugh Stephenson — a junior that year — whose physician father was vice president of the Board of Education. The 70-year-old Cresset is a remarkable icon of a simpler life in Columbia, when the community was about a sixth the size it is today. Hickman was still segregated but already offered a full range of academic and athletic activities as well as more than 40 extra- curricular clubs and organizations On a personal note, I met Dr. Sneed more than 40 years ago through a classified advertisement in one of the local newspapers. In need of some quick cash, I decided to sell my prized FM tuner that I had acquired after many hours of cutting peoples' lawns. Dr. Sneed was interested. He drove over in his VW and brought me back to the now demolished residence on McNab Drive where I met his family and we concluded the transaction. A man of almost universal interests, one of his passions was classical music, and the roof of his house was festooned with various antennae designed to capture elusive classical music broadcasts from wherever, whenever conditions allowed. Down in the basement, he pointed to an elaborate short-wave set-up that no longer worked as well as it used to, which is why he had the yen to try FM reception. We chatted for a while and discovered many common points of interest just as former colleagues and thousands of his students would attest to today. I rue the loss of people like Dr. Sneed and the bald fact that most of us never have the opportunity to meet and visit with the plethora of interesting folks who are living amongst us. Here was someone with an interesting life story and a core of memories, and now he is gone. Along with it went the memorabilia that would have helped historians re-create the life of another one of our remarkable but largely un- noticed local citizens (Al Germond, Columbia [Missouri] Business Times March 21 via Kim Elliott, DXLD) OBIT Germond himself an old-time FMDXer in the AIPA if not WTFDA (gh, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN. 9480, CVC, Tashkent, 0102-0120, March 24, tune-in to English news, sports news. CVC ID. Pop music at 0107. Poor. Weak in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. No sign of ``Aló, Presidente`` on any of the usual frequencies, Sunday March 23 at 1505 check. HCF observing Easter? However, Cuban transmitters observed at 1402: 13680 with big hum, 13760 with little hum. RNV CI via Cuba, 11680, March 24 at 1511 check had YL in English doing hard-to-follow voiceover to a Chávez pronouncement (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM. 4739.7, R. Son La, 3/23 from 1324 tune with traditional Vietnamese songs; into minorities programming at 1330 with mostly singing (typical with no instrumental accompaniment) and occasional announcements by man and woman. Probable sign-off by woman 1329.5- 1400, carrier off at 1400.5. Nice S3 signal (Bruce Churchill, Fallbrook CA, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. CLANDESTINE, 1550, Polisario Front, Rabouni, near Tindouf, Algeria, 1711-2333, 21 Mar, Arabic, prayer, Castilian program 2300; 55444; \\ 6300 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 9780.07, Yemen Radio, Sana'a in Arabic, S=9 at 1650 UT, Mar 24th (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 6165, ZNBC-R. 2, *0245 22 March. Thanks to Brian Alexander's info, Lusaka's fish-eagle IS was heard 'way in the background behind huge RNW-Bonaire in Spanish, which killed anything else from ZNBC (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 9430, CVC, Lusaka, 0504-0512 22 March. Tnx Glenn's info, heard with report on vaccine delivery in the Kathmandu Valley of Nepal, promo for special Easter program, requests for comments to http://www.cvc.tv or text SMS (one long bloody number!). (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, Radio Tanzania Zanzibar 1755 UT in Swahili with ID and IS at 1759, 5 + 1 Time pips at 1800, into English news from Spice FM to 1810 then back t local language. Very Goood March 22/08 (Mick Delmage, at Don Moman`s, AB, Icom R71A, various beverage antenna and the 4-30 MHz Log Periodic, with Don Moman and Nigel Pimblett, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 11610, Radio VoP (via Madagascar), 0436-0450 22 March. Usual vernacular yak and phone reports with "Radio V-O-P" IDs in English at 0438, 0445 (Dan Sheedy, CA, R75/EF102040, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. SW Radio Africa, 12035, March 23 during 1800 hour was fairly audible here; at 1857 retune found it colliding with REE IS until 1859, prior to their French broadcast. They should have been asked to crash-start. The REE IS is one of those which is very nice to hear once, not a dozen times in a row. Anyhow, they will no longer abut 12035 in A-08 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 2980: Spent several hours listening to this Spanish programming station. Male and female chatting between music at 0530 UT. At 0550 a very long-winded male ranted on past the hour. Returned to music program past 0620. Deep fades, very weak at times and very readable at times. Will have to go over the tapes to find any clues. Last seen this frequency reported by the late Björn Malm, as Radio Pampa, Colombia, harmonic of 1490 kHz, in DXLD July 2003 (Mick Delmage and Don Moman, at Don Moman`s, AB, Icom R71A, various beverage antenna and the 4-30 MHz Log Periodic, with Nigel Pimblett, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could easily be a US 1490 harmonic. In fact, from AB, getting past all the US harmonics could be a problem. It would only take one of the hundreds of 1490 stations to be out of whack (gh, DXLD) Harmonic on 2980 kHz --- I've uploaded 3 clips of a station we heard here in Alberta, Canada last night from when we found it at about 0600 to past 0800. It would seem to be a harmonic of a 1490 kHz station from Latin America, but we couldn't pick out any clues to narrow it down. Perhaps a Spanish speaker can pick out something to help us out. Thanks! (Nigel Pimblett, Alberta, Canada, VE6TNF, March 23, Realdx yg via DXLD) Nothing specific, I am afraid. Accent sounds Caribbean, and there are many possibilities. However, the Vida Nueva station in Barranquilla would be one of the candidates. Try for some more audio, especially when the preacher turns to his aide, or vice-versa (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, ibid.) Hi Glenn, We did hear it again last nite around 0500 UT. They were in for a long time. One guy told us it was religious talk, which we already had figured out. The one thing that points away from the US is this station had no commercials and no ID thru the TOH., or at any other time we have noticed. The one fellow did mention that they seem to have Caribbean accents, for what it's worth. 73 (Mick with Don & Nigel, March 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5010 usb+carrier, unID Israeli (?) (Galei Zahal?), 2128- 2140*, 20 Mar, Hebrew, music, advertisements (?), abrupt sign-off; 45343. 6973 not parallel (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cf previous reports of 5000-USB on March 17 (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 5054, 1141, 3/22/08. poor with Central American ranchero-style music; heard at the same time by Mark Taylor in Madison, Wisconsin; first time I've heard anything on this frequency since the days of Faro del Caribe; gone by 1203 recheck (Jim Ronda, Tulsa, OK, NRD-545, R-75, E-1 + Eavesdropper, GMDSS-2 vertical, three homebrew FlexTennas, RF Systems Mini-Windom (all of this sometimes described by my wife as "all those darn wires alongside the house!") , NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 5054, 1245, 3/22/08, in Spanish. Central American ranchero­type music. Just above the static floor. No ID audible at ToH. Poor (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, Winradio g313e, R-75, E1, 110' longwire, Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re DXLD 8-034: Further monitoring of unID carrier on 6024.94 leads me to believe this must be FRCN Enugu rather than Amanecer. Heard on several occasions lately: March 18 2300 to 2308 s/off, March 21 1835 to 2113 tune-out, March 23 0450 to 0459 when blocked by Algiers Holy Qur`an service, but only with sporadic snatches of very low audio. Have been in contact about this with Mauno Ritola who mentions that this is being heard in southern Portugal with definite English but no clear ID as yet. Had previously logged them tentatively on Dec 26 last year, so if this is indeed Enugu, must have been reactivated several months ago already? By the way, what is happening at co-channel Budapest? The only transmission I can currently hear on 6025 is from 1700 to 1800. Is this a further permanent cut back? 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Enugu formerly 0430-2310 UT, dipole, mainlobe at 90/270 degrees. Is a pity East-West direction! Jaszbereny in A08 scheduled with 100 kW only, 0300-2200, -2300 Sat/Sun. Lower signal strength noted already in A-07 season. 100 kW unit removed from former Budapest site. 3975 still with 250 kW power, 0300-0700 Mon-Sat, 0400-0730 Sun. 1000-1100, 1400- 2200 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good late evening! No, Wolfgang, 6025 is simply one of the crowed channels evenings, but I shall try not to forget this one next time I DX from the SW coast place. 7275 Abuja is also extremely tough these days, well, at least at the times other African stations are audible during my observation time which is typically between mid morning till some time after 1300 when Asian+European signals start to interfere (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, March 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, who is hearing them in ``southern Portugal`` if not Carlos? (gh, DXLD) If indeed back on it would be good news for country hunters using the NASWA list as FRCN-Enugu qualifies as Biafra. At any rate, certainly a welcome reactivation if it indeed proves to be them (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 11734.91, program underneath Zanzibar Tanzania even 11735 co-channel around 1910 UT. I guess Voice of [North] Korea is not scheduled at this time slot. Transmundial Brazil? (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ I appreciate all your radio related activities, which help feed my insatiable desire for radio related material (Kraig Krist, KG4LAC, with a gift Sony SRF-59 `ultralight`) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see BELGIUM [non]; NETHERLANDS [non] ++++++++++++++++++++ BLACK FRIDAY FOR HD RADIO http://www.hear2.com/2008/03/this-weeks-desp.html [for further linx and comments] This week's Convergence conference in San José was a terrific gathering of broadcasters and their partners who feel radio's best days might very well lay ahead. No sticks in the mud, these. Rather, folks with brains and vision and a plan, or at least the hopes of developing one. This was no place for spin doctors and conventional wisdom. So I was not surprised when Kurt Hanson spoke on radio's future with an emphasis on radio's inevitable future on the Internet. Nor was I surprised when Kurt veered left to discuss - and dismiss - HD Radio. What fascinated me was the reaction. Any room full of broadcasters is full of HD radio doubters, nowadays. But the vibe in this room was remarkable for the eye-rolling and audible snickering that greeted virtually any mention of HD. Kurt disassembled HD's premise by dividing the total number of radios now in circulation by the markets in which those radios live and other relevant assumptions (I did something like this a while back myself). He arrived at the conclusion that the average HD radio advertiser in any given market could reach more prospects by standing at the bottom of their driveway and handing out flyers. In a panel session immediately following Kurt's, the lone iBiquity spokesman filibustered on his talking points, spitting one after the next, but the effort seemed surprisingly desperate. You could almost hear the sweat forming on his brow as he reiterated his case, oblivious to the thrashing that had just occurred. Although he described himself as Kurt Hanson's "evil twin," the feeling in the room was that he was at least half right. It left me feeling that a corner had been turned. That broadcasters understood new media presented scores of new opportunities, few of which had anything to do with selling newfangled radios to consumers who don't want or need them. This should create great hope for those of us in radio: Hope that good ideas really will rise to the top. Hope that we're too smart to be taken in by pyramid schemes. Hope that those with a vested interest will be revealed for what they are. Hope that those with the interests of broadcasters and listeners and clients at heart will create the kind of future those constituencies demand and deserve. All along, HD radio was designed as the industry's counterpunch to XM and Sirius. As the satellite titans near a merger (which I do believe will happen and could come any day now) in order to save themselves, as satellite's control over one pocket in the dashboard accelerates, as another pocket opens up for all-things-Internet, HD radio will rapidly dim into obsolescence like the technological also-rans which preceded it. All technology is transitional, but some never make it to the transition. In this new media world, opportunities are actually less about "convergence" than about emergence. Chaotic storms of passion bring audiences together. Their whims and tools and discussions allow them to take the driver's seat. We are and always will be in service to them. HD radio was always about what the industry wants, not about what consumers want. That's why it was doomed to fail from the start. And, unless there's some remarkable consolation prize embedded into the satellite radio merger decision, that day shall be Black Friday for HD radio (via Marc DeLorenzo, IRCA via DXLD) This guy is saying the same things that milspec390 has been saying for years. Is milspec390 a prophet? :-) (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA, ibid.) Marc is almost always on target, another one is John Gorman in his media blog, very good read. http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/ Scroll down and you can read all the posts he gets from readers, he is and has been a very influential guy in radio for 40 years now. You can subscribe to these blogs and stay abreast of what's happening in terrestrial radio; these guys do not just write about IBOC. These guys have been in radio for years and years, especially John, he's a very interesting writer. It's too bad that detailed IBOC discussions have been discouraged (and sometimes banned) on these reflectors as many of us are missing a lot, it's moving fast. Me and a few others including Paul Z, have been very active writing to blogs about all the wonderful benefits of iBlock both AM and FM (which also interferes with first adjacents on FM as well as AM; this is not such a problem right now but iNiquity is trying to petition the FCC to allow the level of the digital in the analog signal to be raised which many in the business feel will raise the interference level to that of AM. iNiquity is also trying to strong arm the FCC into FORCING Satellite radio to include IBOC tuners into their car receivers as a condition of allowing the merger of XM and Sirius to go forward, trying to play the card of unfair competition, Satellite pays to have them put into cars, iNiquity wants to GET PAID for their lead balloon of a technology, which is pure unadulterated baloney. Many broadcasters also feel that IBOC is becoming a moot point anyway as the amount of receivers sold has been infinitesimal and despite all the insulting IBOC ads run using all the unsold ad space on radio, it has done absolutely nothing, it perhaps has raised awareness a little but this has absolutely not translated into sales. Most broadcasters are running these ads because they are forced to by the big boys who run 99% of radio nowadays by the way (run it into the ground). Digital radio is failing all over the globe and has had a 12 year head start, so you'd think our government would have perhaps done a little homework before allowing this monopoly to invade our airwaves. And the DAB of Europe, Australia and Canada are (and in some cases were) better technologies. People just plain don't want it so iNiquity in its infinite wisdom is now trying desperately to force it on us in any way it can and part of the reason they sometimes get away with it is because of public apathy which in turn is one of the reasons I try to implore DXers to do what they can, not just sit back and say, well it's so bad it will never last; that may be true but there are powers here in this country with a lot of money invested in The Titanic of the 21st century who are trying desperately to not allow that to happen. Paul Z has an open mind, knows what's going on and opens his mouth, that's all besides the fact that he's extremely intelligent and is a very good writer, very good guy to have on our side, we can use all the help we can get, hint, hint! Here's another very good blog, this guy was very influential in radio for years and still is, very widely read blog, http://insidemusicmedia.blogspot.com/2008/03/new-radio.html (Bob Young, Analog, MA, KB1OKL, NRC-AM via DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ EVENT: ANTIQUE RADIO SHOW & SWAP MEET Hosted by the Sarasota Antique Radio Club, Saturday, April 5, 2008, 8:00-11:00 a.m. [EDT = 1200-1500 UT] at the Knights of Columbus Hall, 4880 Fruitville Road, Sarasota, Florida. Admission $5, spouses free, tables $5 each. Further information: Jack Warren 941-349-4875; Gary Tayman 941-371-8924; or email Dave Hurt at manager @ findsales.com or Gary Tayman at caradio @ verizon.net This event is very small but worthy if the topic is of interest. It's held in every April, August and December (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, March 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ MOTOBRAS HAM-BAND PORTABLE Hi Glenn, Re DXLD 8-033, Motobras in Brazil makes (or at least sells) an analog multiband portable (RM-PFE71AC) that receives not the international broadcast bands, but the "80m, 40m, 20m, 15m, 11/10m" amateur bands. Yes, it has a BFO for CW and SSB reception. Unusual, but I remember seeing an ad for such a radio a few years ago. http://www.motobras.com.br/Escuta_eng.htm Also: "For our clients that require a fixed frequency radio such as a radio stations, political groups, religious organizations. Our company can custom develop a radio that tunes your station 24 hour per day, 7 days a week, with Motobras' recognized quality standard!!!" http://www.motobras.com.br/Encomenda_eng.htm North Korea might be interested. 73 (Kim Elliott, DC, March 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Solar Cycle 23 Irish Radio Transmitters Society Radio News Bulletin March 23 2008 As you already know, the first sunspot of the new solar cycle 24 took place in early January. It seems that all of the experts now agree that February 2008 marked the solar minimum. These experts are however divided on their present predictions for the intensity of the upcoming solar maximum. The low team are predicting smoothed sunspot numbers of somewhere between 75 and 105 at the peak of the cycle in August 2012 with an average of 90. This would approximate to solar flux levels of between 118 and 164 with an average of 141. The high team, on the other hand, predicts smoothed sunspot numbers of between 125 and 155 at the peak of the cycle in October 2011 with an average of 140. This would approximate to solar flux levels of between 164 and 210 with an average of 187. The average of the high and low predictions show the peak in January 2012 with a smoothed sunspot number of 113 or a solar flux of 162. No matter which prediction is taken, the good news is that solar flux levels should be pushing up to 100 by mid 2009 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) I'm in the later and smaller camp. Anecdotal evidence is pointing towards a smaller and later peak for solar cycle 24. In 2007 I predicted a solar cycle 24 peak at a (SSN) smoothed sunspot number of 105 in October 2012 and stand by that forecast. If correct solar cycle 24 will be smaller than the previous three and make for grim DXing on the higher HF bands and a cooling of the global climate. Anecdotal evidence is pointing towards another Dalton Minimum. A Dalton Minimum is a miniature version of the infamous Maunder Minimum, where the number of sunspot groups drop to a below normal level and corresponding total energy output of the Sun also drops. This would bring on a mini mini ice age for a period of 30-50 years. NOTE!!! A slow rise time in a solar cycle is indicative a relatively small maximum within the cycle, with a fast rise time indicative of a relatively large maximum within a solar cycle. As of March 24, 2008 we have seen only 8 sunspot groups since January 1st. Of those eight seven are solar cycle 23 sunspot groups. On January 4, 2008 it was declared by the NOAA SWPC that solar cycle 24 had begun based on the first reversed polarity sunspot cycle group but that was just to end the suspense. We are not at that point yet. Therefore in my professional opinion we are still at the bottom of solar cycle 23. However from an improved propagation point of view there is no difference between the bottom of solar cycle 23 and the beginning of solar cycle 24. Unfortunately there is no official definition as to when a new sunspot cycle begins. It is generally accepted that when the number of solar cycle 24 sunspot group numbers surpass the number of solar cycle 23 sunspot group numbers solar cycle 24 will be underway. This will probably not occur for afew more months or so. It's easier to look back and declare that a solar cycle is already underway then to predict when it will begin. As of this moment we still can't point to the month that the lowest smoothed sunspot number occurred, to be able to point to the arrival of the bottom of solar cycle 23, however October 2007 looks like a good candidate. 73, (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Lakeland, FL, USA, greylinedx via DXLD) ###