DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-058, May 9, 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 1407 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB [irregular, time varies] Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1130 WRMI 9955 Wed 2300 WBCQ 17495-CUSB [or 15420 by then?] 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 ** ALASKA. Re 8-057 et al., DRM SW test using surplus OTHR transmitters: Glenn, If you look at this link, you will find a $4 million earmark for the Alaska DRM matter. Interestingly enough, when you pull up the application in the FCC OET database, they do not reference an actual Federal contract. I suspect they won't get an authorization until there is a specific Federal grant document or contract provided as an exhibit to OET. Look at line 306 on the spreadsheet for the earmark. http://www.taxpayer.net/budget/fy08earmarks/databases/sdefense.xls For a private experimental authorization, as contrasted with one under Federal grant or contract, all one has to do is provide a technical description of the activity proposed, but it does have to have some sort of vague scientific validity (Benjamin Dawson, WA, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: $4,000,000 JET-Digital Aurora Radio Technology Program RDTE Defense- Wide Joint Electromagnetic Technology (JET) Program Stevens R AK (via gh, DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Re Eurovision Song Contest entry: I just now searched in http://www.rtsh.al and found that you may listen to our song at: http://www.eurovision.tv/mediaplayer/2008/player.html and you already have its lyric translated in English by Ullmar, but absolutely it sounds much better in Albanian, especially the line: Or' e perkryer nje zemer jo kurre nuk mund te jete that translated in English word by word should look like that: A perfect clock a heart no never can be There should be added a virgule [comma] after jo (no), otherwise the meaning of this line become a positive statement and not negative like sounds in its song pronunciation! That line of the song is not so powerful in Ullmar's translation: A perfect clock But it could not possibly be a heart The thoughtful mourning and lovely human 'battle' in this song and its philosophic video-clip. . . All the best from lovely sunny, beautiful blue-sky, cool Tirana, (Drita Çiço, R. Tirana Monitoring, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. Re 8-057, QSLs: The new one: http://www.agdx.de/rthk/html/sonderqsl_15_jahre.html (gh, DXLD) This the special QSL for celebrating 15 years of existence of the German speaking Radio Tirana listeners club. The set of new 4 QSL, showing monuments in Tirana is this: http://www.agdx.de/rthk/html/farbqsl-serie_c.html All these kindly produced and offered by the German speaking listener club, and to my knowledge they are used for QSLing the German broadcasts (Dr. Anton Kuchelmeister, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And only German broadcasts, presumably (gh, DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Re: Currently listening to a "local" [e.g. via Sackville NB] China Radio International broadcast on 9570, with the R-390A set to 16 KC bandwidth. Static free, fade free, interference free. In over 20 minutes of listening, not one single blip of a fade (Phil Rafuse, PEI, UT May 9, ABDX via DXLD) Hate to tell you this, Phil, but if by ``currently`` you meant around 0030 UT, that was not Sackville, but Cërrik, Albania, relaying CRI in English on 9570 at 0000-0200. Even if it was not during that time, Sackville is not scheduled to relay CRI at any time on 9570 (in the mornings it`s Habana). Sure would appreciate it if everyone would give specific times and specify the zone or UT offset if not UT, rather than having to figure it out from message timestamps. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I just assumed it was Sackville by the signal strength - Albania is much, much more impressive. Yes, you are correct on the time. Normally I would have posted the time, but since I assumed it was out of Sackville, I just assumed it to be of no DX interest. The sole rationale for the post was the perfect signal quality - intensely strong, hi-fidelity, fade free. It sounded like a local FM station. Had I known this local quality hifi signal was coming from Albania, I sure would have noted the time! :) Thanks for the info Glenn! (Phil Rafuse, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA. It was nice to hear the morning broadcast to SE Asia back with a readable signal in Europe. Sudden switch-on (crashing into the news) just after 2201. 33243 with fading. Heard 2201-2240. 11840 DRW 317 2200-2400 -- 73's (Dan Goldfarb, Brentwood, England, May 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. R. Australia via CVC, not CVC itself. 317 is the Azimuth. Log presumably on May 8 (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4732, Radio Universitaria, Cobija, Pando noted 1105 and 2350 to 0000 on 8 May and is presently broadcasting at 0005 mixing with the usual RTTY. 73s (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, May 8, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. MP URGES RESIDENTS TO KEEP UP CBC FIGHT By Alex Browne - Peace Arch News - May 08, 2008 MP Russ Hiebert has added his voice to a chorus of dismay on the Semiahmoo Peninsula in reaction to the scrapping of the CBC Radio Orchestra, as well as programming changes that critics say are marginalizing classical music on CBC Radio 2. “I, too, was disappointed when I heard about the changes,” Hiebert (Surrey-White Rock) said this week from Ottawa. Former CBC orchestra member George Zukerman – an internationally noted bassoonist and Order of Canada member – has been among those spearheading local protest against CBC policy, which has raised hackles of classical musical lovers nation-wide. . . http://www.bclocalnews.com/surrey_area/peacearchnews/news/18782944.html (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** CANADA. Re ´´I'm sure more accurate information comes from RCI themselves but I thought it was interesting this appeared in the same place as notice of changes to regular domestic AM/FM/TV stations. I don't recall ever seeing RCI notices here before.´´ --- Isn't CBC Northern Service / North Quebec / whatever (no such thing exists on their website, or it's buried somewhere) just that, a regular domestic service? The CRTC announcement does not refer to Radio Canada Internal, just the CBC in general (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, but 7310 and 7325 have already been used for RCI, 7310 in B and 7325 now in A, and I suppose 7345 is going to be; not CBCNQ which has been stuck on the single frequency 9625 for decades (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Kai, guess you'll have to look for CBC Radio One. I've seen myself in that obligation, despite Glenn considers that 9625 one the most decrepit Canadian transmitters, and pointing in a Northerly direction, is listenable here in Tiqucia from time to time. But when is Saturday, and SW propagation is terrible, I go to the web for Randy's Vinyl Tap at 2300, or The Saturday Night Blues Special, Holger Peterson's one of a kind show at 0200 Sunday. Regards (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Vintage 1978 RCI television promo --- Is the guy in the commercial an RCI announcer? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kCd7ZTY7-NY 73, (Ricky Leong, Calgary, May 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Boy, the voice sounds familiar. Nice clip, Ricky! 73 de (memory- impaired Anne Fanelli in Elma NY, ibid.) ** CANADA. I received a very nice QSL and verification letter from CBA 1070 Moncton today, 8 May. 1070: QSL for CBA Moncton (CBC 1), received 8 May for broadcast on 6 April 2008. Front says CBC Moncton and CBC Radio 1. Back is partial data-time not mentioned. CBA written on back. 50 kW. Signed on 29 April 2008 by Laurie Ginn. The letter included with the QSL also contained partial/data information. (The power was not mentioned). The time was 8-10 pm AST/2300-0100 UT (actually I only listened to the first hour of Randy Bachman's Vinyl tap at 2300-2400). This was also signed by Ms. Ginn, who mentioned that it was the last broadcast. She also hoped that the letter and card would make a nice addition to my collection-I must agree. Info about the closing of 1070 can be found at: http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningmoncton/events.html Shortwave Obsession: http://www.geocities.com/alera1/ Radioblonde Blog: http://radioblonde.blogspot.com/ 73/Liz (Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. FM rebroadcasters approved for both CBE-1550 and CBEF-540 Windsor ON The applications by the CBC for "nested" FM stations to rebroadcast CBE-1550 and CBEF-540 in Windsor ON have been approved by the CRTC. The AM stations will continue to operate as they do, but CBE will also be on FM at 102.3 MHz (690 watts), and CBEF will also be heard at 105.5 MHz (506 watts). It was noted that as there are no suitable frequencies available for high power FM stations in Windsor, the AM stations will remain on the air to serve listeners outside the central Windsor market. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2008/db2008-102.htm CBE and CBEF Windsor – New transmitters at Windsor The Commission approves applications by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation to amend the broadcasting licences for CBE and CBEF Windsor in order to operate nested FM rebroadcasting transmitters at Windsor. The applications: 1. The Commission received applications by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) to amend the broadcasting licences for the AM radio programming undertakings CBE and CBEF Windsor in order to operate nested1 FM rebroadcasting transmitters at Windsor. 2. The CBC indicated that the proposed FM transmitter for CBE would operate at 102.3 MHz (channel 272A) with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 690 watts, and that the proposed FM transmitter for CBEF would operate at 105.5 MHz (channel 288A) with an average ERP of 620 watts. 3. The proposed transmitter of the English-language radio station CBE would rebroadcast the programming of the CBC’s national, English- language network service Radio One. The proposed transmitter of the French-language radio station CBEF would rebroadcast the programming of the CBC’s national, French-language network service La Première Chaîne. 15. The FM transmitter for CBE will operate at 102.3 MHz (channel 272A) with an average ERP of 690 watts. The Department has advised the Commission that, while the application for this transmitter is conditionally technically acceptable, it will only issue a broadcasting certificate when it has determined that the proposed technical parameters will not create any unacceptable interference with aeronautical NAV/COM services. 16. The FM transmitter for CBEF will operate at 105.5 MHz (channel 288A). The Department has advised the Commission that the application for this transmitter will only be technically acceptable once the CBC submits a revised technical brief indicating a decrease in the transmitter’s maximum ERP from 2,940 watts to 2,400 watts and the resulting decrease in its average ERP from 620 watts to 506 watts. Further, the Department has advised the Commission that it will only issue a broadcasting certificate for that transmitter when it has determined that the revised technical parameters will not create any unacceptable interference with aeronautical NAV/COM services. 73, (via Deane McIntyre, VE6BPO, May 9, DXLD) ** CANADA. CFGT-1270 Alma Quebec has reapplied to the CRTC to move to FM (97.7 MHz, 50 kW, 77.6 metres). The hearing to consider this previously (March 13, 2008) published application had been postponed. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Hearings/2008/n2008-6.htm#17 17. Alma, Quebec, Application No. 2008-0098-9 Application by Groupe Radio Antenne 6 inc. to convert commercial radio station CFGT Alma from the AM band to the FM band. The new station would operate on frequency 97.7 MHz (channel 249B) with an average effective radiated power of 50,000 watts (non- directional antenna/antenna height of 77.6 metres). The applicant is requesting permission to simulcast the programming of the new FM station on CFGT-AM for a period of 3 months from the date of implementation of the new station. The applicant is also requesting, pursuant to sections 9(1)(e) and 24(1) of the Broadcasting Act, the revocation of the licence of CFGT effective at the end of the simulcast period. This application was first scheduled to be heard at a public hearing on 13 May 2008 (Notice of Public Hearing CRTC 2008-1, 14 March 2008) but was withdrawn to be rescheduled at a later date. 73, (via Deane McIntyre, VE6BPO, May 9, DXLD) ** CANADA. THE CBC IS IGNORANT OF ITS OWN SNOBBERY William Neville Updated: May 9 at 12:50 AM CDT http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/subscriber/columnists/top3/story/4171152p-4759306c.html There is little reason to suppose that recent protests against the CBC's plan for Radio 2, here and elsewhere, will ultimately make any difference in what the CBC does. Yet, weeks after two columns on the subject in this space, I continue to hear from readers and unhappy CBC listeners. Their responses uniformly express anger, frustration and dismay about what they perceive as a patronizing attitude from CBC senior management, which seems in the end to come down to "we know what's best for you." Not only do many CBC listeners dispute that, they increasingly question whether CBC management even knows what's best for the CBC. This unhappiness is reflected in a range of concerns but tends to focus on three overlapping issues: mandate, content and process. There is a deepening concern about the character of the CBC and its role in the country it was created to serve. A frequently expressed view is that the public broadcaster, as a national institution, should be seen as no less important than other great offices or departments of state which exist to preserve, promote and protect the nation and the national interest. Over the last 30 years, other departments of government, often for reasons of prestige, glory or political advantage, have expended hundreds of millions of dollars with relatively little -- even by those standards -- to show for it. During the same period, as one writer put it, Ottawa "thinks nothing of 'blowing' several hundred million dollars on hosting the G-8 summit and what do we get? Communiques and photo-ops." In the meantime, of course the CBC has been "nickelled and dimed" to death with resources, particularly at the regional level, greatly constrained. The result, inevitably, is to whittle away what little remains of the broadcaster's mandate for public service. In such circumstances it is not surprising that the CBC has been hamstrung in many ways. What is more remarkable is that, especially in radio, it has continued to do so much and so well. A striking illustration of this is provided by the experience of many Canadians when travelling to other parts of the country: Until now, wherever one was, one could experience the pleasure of finding local CBC radio stations, and with its familiar and characteristic programming, the feeling of still being at home. These days, they have greater difficulty finding CBC stations while travelling since so much of CBC programming now sounds indistinguishable from that of the private stations. And the greater the pressure to be "competitive" with private radio, also undercuts the CBC's role as a public service. The notion of competing with private broadcasters is intelligible even if destructive, but there is another problem, less intelligible and, potentially, more destructive. As a recent Free Press feature story on Chris Boyce, CBC's new director of English language programming makes clear, we are dealing with a new set of programmers at the CBC with their own cultural ideology, and who see themselves as omniscient when it comes to deciding what CBC needs and will broadcast. Boyce, for example, has no particular problem with those CBC listeners who oppose the reduced time given to classical music. He simply dismisses them as "elitist." He doesn't "buy" into the argument that "one kind of music is inherently better or smarter than other kinds." As the new voice of CBC radio, he could hardly be clearer. Nonetheless, being unable to recognize the difference in sophistication, breadth, depth, emotional force and staying power between, say, Beethoven's 9th Symphony and a Paris Hilton song to be forgotten this time next year, or Shakespeare's Hamlet and graffiti spray-painted on a wall, suggests a failure to in anyway appreciate the qualities which have, over centuries, distinguished great art, architecture, music and literature. Among those qualities has been their ability to speak to increasingly diverse populations over hundreds of years and, in the case of music -- until the early 20th Century -- with neither recordings or broadcasting to keep them alive. That the director of programming for CBC does not get or "buy" into that distinction is an astonishing commentary. As a personal opinion -- though it smacks of inverse snobbery -- he's entitled to it, but foisting it as a policy on the public broadcaster without prior public discussion or debate is something else. And when you're at three per cent of the listening audience, as in the Winnipeg area, dismissing classical music as no more significant than any other music is hardly the true blue of audio democracy. Given that the CBC operates at arm's length from parliament and is free, rightly, from direct political interference and direction, and given that the senior management of the CBC is beyond reconsidering its present course and is manifestly impervious to public criticism, one might fairly ask: Who constitutes the elite in this situation? wnwfp @ mts.net (Winnipeg Free Press via Kim Elliott, DXLD) ** CHINA. 4830, China Huayi BC (presumed), 1321-1333, May 9, in Chinese, with on-air phone conversations, fair (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. RCI en français à 50 ans --- Le 5 juin 2008, le service français de Radio Chine Internationale va fêter son cinquantième anniversaire, et nous tenions à cette occasion à vous adresser nos sincères remerciements pour votre fidélité, vos encouragements, ainsi que vos messages de sympathie qui nous parviennent de temps en temps. En espérant que les liens qui nous unissent se poursuivront. Cordialement. P.S : Un concours de connaissance sera organisé à cette occasion, à suivre (Service français de Radio Chine Internationale, May 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA [and non]. EMISORAS CLANDESTINAS DE LA GUERRILLA EN LA MIRA DEL GOBIERNO Bogota, 8 de mayo, (www.elpaisvallenato.com) El informe que arrojan las investigaciones de los organismos de inteligencia del Estado, que es se han detectado 47 emisoras de radio clandestinas al servicio de las Farc. Así lo informó la ministra de Comunicaciones, Maria del Rosario Guerra, quien habló de estas emisoras intermitentes de la guerrilla, denunciando que las Farc están emitiendo señales de radio a través de frecuencias ilegales desde Venezuela. De ahí que es muy difícil bloquear la propaganda que hace las Farc a través de esos medios, explicó la funcionaria. Los lugares donde se han ubicado estas señales clandestinas es en los departamentos de Arauca y Putumayo, regiones donde las Farc tienen equipos de radiodifusión para emisoras móviles, dijo la jefe de la cartera de Comunicaciones. Fuente: El País Vallenato (via Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, May 9, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Hi Raul, If you get this before 2200 --- any sign of ELCOR 5954 or spurs? (Glenn to Raúl Saavedra, May 8, via DXLD) Nothing at all, Glenn. I should have sent a message upon this, but that Guápiles ELCOR have been absent for more than two weeks now. I use to check most everyday with no positive results. You can be sure you'll be the first one to learn about is as soon as I have any info Regards (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) --- On Thu, 5/8/08, Glenn Hauser wrote: ** CROATIA [and non]. V. of Croatia. Re DXLD 8-056, Is 9925 really on? Yes it is. Heard here recently but usually with poor reception. But good for English, Thursday, May 8, 0200 to 0215 UT. Parallel 7285 was excellent and 3985 to Europe was very good. At end of English transmission, "This is Croatian Radio the Voice of Croatia. Join us again for 'Croatia Today' bringing you news and current affairs....." Explained how to listen on satellite and the internet. Also read out the frequencies for various target areas but did not give times. Had heard previously that because of poor reception on 9925, 7285 had been added but would operate only until May 15. Their website lists 7285 as on from April 24 to May 15; 2200-0300 to S. Am. 2300-0300 to N. Am. East 0100-0500 to N. Am. West (same for 9925) See WRTH Update for Croatia A-08 schedule (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So a big improvement in 9 MHz propagation is expected May 10 or 15. Yeah, sure (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Surprised to find an unID language on 11705 (not 17705), fair to good signal, May 9 at 1939 --- soon became obvious it`s RHC with mentions of ``Viva la Revolución``, into a song; and 1942 talk mentioning Cuba and Habana. Modulation stopped abruptly at 1944 and carrier off less than a minute later. Some kind of test; this is during the 5-hour break when RHC is supposedly not doing any broadcasting of its own between 1500 and 2000, (Sunday 1530-), just some Venezuela relays. Unless it`s something brand-new, must have been Guarani or Quechua, which are not on the schedule until 2230 and 0000 respectively, on 17705 (not 11705). 11705 is not on RHC`s current schedule at all tho unlike RNV, we know it is used for the Venezuela relay at 1200-1300+. We also know it`s useless to Ask Arnie to explain such things, which at any other station would not be top-secret. Back-dated transmission schedule page supposedly expiring in March, http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/frecuencia/frecuencias-espanol.htm continues to lag behind what we axually hear. 11680, added in late March, shows at 00-05 only in Spanish, but May 9 at 2137 there it was too in French with VG strength; French at 2130 is listed on 11760 only, where there was no signal. Meanwhile 9505 was in Creole, 11750, 11800 and 9550 in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA. Radio Prague, 13580, heard well here at 1300 with their program in English directed to Western Europe. Radio Prague, 11600, heard here at 2000 in English directed to Oceania. The preceding half hour in Czech had a slightly better signal though there is no beam change (080) at 2000. So, it looks as though there are several opportunities to hear them here during the daytime on the 18th for that special 85th Anniversary QSL. I received my first Radio Prague QSL in 1967 and remember their broadcasts from 1968 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, May 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA [and non]. Re 8-057: Hi Marty, I wonder if the Praga announcement included the Miami relays at 2330 and 0630 M-F, the ones which have not been on the published schedules? (Glenn to Marty Delfín, via DXLD) The Radio Praga announcement was at the beginning of their Spanish broadcast at 2300 UT on 7345. I was lying down listening so I didn't take down any notes on which ones the announcer read off the list that were from Miami and Sackville, but I recall they were a few. I haven´t heard the relays being announced in the English service. Cheers, (Marty Delfín, Madrid, Spain, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Re 21455: ´´They used to run more power here; wasn`t it 10 kW?´´ --- To my knowledge the situation was such that HCJB got two old 30 kW utility transmitters (Siemens) from a Swiss surplus source. In the mid-nineties they ran these on 17490 and 21455. Later they had been shut down, reactivating them for the DRM experiments first required to reconnect them to the antenna system (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So 21455 now seems like just a ham transmitter of 500 to 1000 watts; and does it gain something with a big antenna? Unseems, as it`s bi- direxional, likely just a dipole (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. R. Africa is back, on 15190.0, after a three- week absence, last heard April 17. Now heard May 8 at 1958 with ratchety-voiced US preacher rattling off the usual catch-phrases, no break for ID at 2000 but none needed. Only fair with deep fades, but most of the signals on 19m were degraded. Joined at 2000 by Harold Camping YFR via Ascension 15195. Apparently correlates with the other Bata transmitter 5005 also reported back on the air a few days ago (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, Radio Africa (Bata) (presumed), 2003-2045, 5/8/2008, English. Back again. Recorded fundamentalist religious talk program, the first one lasting until 2040. I believe this was Brother Jerry with an address in Sterling Heights, MI. Good signal with audio somewhat overmodulated (SINPO 44333). At 2040 the next program began, this one with horrible audio and clipping so bad that only about 10% was readable. Heard a schedule of services and a phone number, but couldn't determine the name of the ministry. Tuned out at 2045. Signal strength had also declined somewhat by this time (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, TenTec RX-340, RF Space SDR-14, 90' Random Wire, Eavesdropper Dipole, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Thanks for the tip. May 8, at 2047 heard decent strength open carrier, assume it's them, but with no audio (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15190, Radio Africa. 2047 & 2158-2210, May 8. Heard back on the air again, thanks to tip from Glenn. At 2047 heard decent strength open carrier, but with no audio. From 2158 to 2210 religious program in English heard with decent audio, fair reception even with WYFR QRM. (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NASWA yg via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Hi Ron: I was about to make my report when I found out you were ahead of me. Looking for LRA 36 and nothing as almost always, checked for RNA 15345 and was coming well. Suddenly I remembered about Radio Africa-Bata, and there they were. Good signal with little splatter from WYFR 15195, but terrible audio at 2100. 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tho it was back May 8, R. Africa gone again from 15190 May 9 at 1938, 2128 chex; but tuning around at the earlier time I did discover something new from CUBA, q.v., so thank you, Bata (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY / RUSSIA [non]. Re. ´´603 included Castilian but they couldn`t hear it in Castile´´ --- Could be that it's still included on 693, which simply replaced 603, now running plain AM. But perhaps this transmitter goes off overnight, like the other VOR mediumwave outlets in Germany; at least I heard only the BBC underneath the DRM racket from Siziano (Milano) when checking after 2200. In fact another one of the German VOR outlets has indeed been designed to serve Spain as well. It's the original and designated one (as opposed to all the Megaradio relics) on 1323, which in 1988/1989 got the currently used directional antenna at Wachenbrunn. But for whatever reason Radio Moscow never used 1323 this way and put only French on air there, besides German and English. And while we're on the subject of mediumwave in Germany: Bayerischer Rundfunk has renamed the new Bavarian Open Radio into on3radio ("Onn Drei Radio"), effective May 5. And today the Bavarian media authority licenced a very similar project for the FM frequencies of Radio Melodie which closed down on March 31, as if they wanted to take revenge for the launch of on3radio. Bayerischer Rundfunk was able to let it be more than some digital stuff only by way of the proven trick to simply put it on mediumwave, just as it was done by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk 16 years ago to keep the unwanted DT64 alive (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA [non]. From "Radio Truth", Chiquimula, Guatemala, To all our good friends and listeners: Did you know that you can see, read and listen the new "Estación Latina" (Latino Station, in Spanish), from Los Angeles, California, with our friend Maribel Collens? And, as a first "show", she is presenting and interview with myself, which may be interesting for you to listen. I am writing hereafter the instructions for tuning the "Estación Latina" (Latino Station in Spanish), and you can listen to the interview, which was recorded yesterday noon: Address for Internet: http://www.bigmediausa.com/ You will get the "Latino Radio", in English. Look to the menu, on left side, and make click on "Estación Latina". Find where it says: "Científico Polefacético" (Polifacético; dismiss the error) and make click. You will get a small picture of mine. Then, make click where it says: Dr. Édgar Amílcar Madrid: You will get a bigger picture of mine, with some information. Seek on the lower left side, and make click in the place where it says: LISTEN MP3. [direct link to launch page: http://www.bigmediausa.com/archive.asp?aid=11799 --- gh] Immediately, you will hear an interview about myself, of about 50 minutes. If you want to download it, make click on the sign: DOWNLOAD MP3, on the right of LISTEN mp3. Now, you can enjoy reading, seeing and listening to "Estación Latina", with our friend Maribel Collens. If you get to listen to it, please send me a report to radioverdad5 @ yahoo.com You should report it to "Estación Latina" also (open: Contáctenos, or Contact us.) (Édgar Amílcar Madrid, Manager and Director of "Radio Truth", Chiquimula, Guatemala, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUIANA FRENCH. It appears that the ALLISS rotatable antennas at Montsinéry are very direxional, without much on side- or backlobes, unlike so many other sites. May 9 until 2130*, 17630 with music concluding RFI Spanish semi-hour to C America was extremely strong, while right next to it, 17620, French to W Africa which continued, was barely audible --- despite the fact that 17620 per HFCC is running 500 kW vs 250 kW on 17630, and the respective azimuths are 75 and 295 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. A fine levied against JMK Communications for $4,000 will stand. The Honolulu AM station had allegedly caused interference on a ham frequency. The penalty is for failure to ensure that emissions more than 75 kHz from KREA’s fundamental frequency of 1540 kHz were attenuated 80 dB below the unmodulated carrier level. In April 2007, the FCC’s Honolulu office received a complaint alleging that spurious emissions from a station on 1540 were causing interference on 1810, a frequency authorized for primary use by amateur radio. Honolulu agents inspected the station using a spectrum analyzer and an external antenna to measure spurious emissions from KREA on 1810, attenuated –60 dB referenced to the carrier on 1540. JMK acknowledged the spurious emissions and said it had fixed the problem; it then received a Notice of Violation. Two subsequent investigations revealed KREA was still producing spurious emissions on 1810 kHz, attenuated –59 dB, and –55 dB, respectively, the FCC said. A station contract engineer said installed filtering had failed and repairs were pending. FCC rules require that KREA (AM) emissions on 1810 kHz must be attenuated 80 dB. That August the agency issued a Notice of Apparent Liability for $4,000. JMK argued that it wasn’t responsible for the violation but that it would be willing to work with the Honolulu office to resolve the issue. After doing so for four days in October, JMK reiterated its arguments but supplied new, and conflicting, engineering data and information, according to the commission. The FCC said a station contract engineer told an inspector the installed filtering had failed and repairs were pending. The owner argued the filter did not fail “but rather that the 1810 kHz signal is originating from some other unrelated source” and that the station’s “own equipment is not the source, but only a passive contributor.” In troubleshooting the problem, the JMK engineer determined that KREA’s transmitter might have played a role in the interference and subsequently concluded that the “diplexing filters need to be redesigned to provide better isolation than what was required by the previous tube-type transmitter used at KREA.” The FCC found JMK responsible for the spurious emissions on 1810 kHz, noting that JMK previously told the commission “the emission on 1810 kHz is apparently a ‘mixing product’ caused by KREA’s second harmonic (3080 kHz) and operations by KNDI on 1270 kHz. However, while KNDI may have passively contributed to the resulting emissions on 1810 kHz, given the frequencies and harmonics involved, KREA acknowledges that the offending signal on 1810 kHz ‘only goes away when the [KREA] transmitter AC power is disconnected or the [KREA] ATU is disconnected from the tower.’” JMK asked for the fine to be cancelled or reduced, noting “highly responsive and responsible efforts and extraordinary expense” it took to remedy the problem. While the FCC commended those efforts and particularly “the diligence of its engineer in trying to resolve the spurious emissions,” it said licensees are expected to correct problems brought to their attention and a correction is not grounds to have a fine reduced. It upheld the fine and said payment is due within 30 days (Radio World News Bytes 4 Apr via DXWW II, IRCA DX Monitor May 10 via DXLD) Such external mixing is not so unusual; surprised this required such detective work (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. A visit to AIR, Alappuzha - Jose Jacob, VU2JOS Alappuzha is a coastal district HQ of Kerala State in South India. It is known as Venice of the East and is a backwater tourist centre. Alappuzha earlier called Alleppey is famous for its boat races, houseboat holidays, beaches, marine products, and coir industry. In this district, there is a place called Kuttanad, the Rice Bowl of Kerala, which is one of the few places in the world where farming is done below the sea level. Alappuzha is about 85 km south of my native place in Kerala which I visit from time to time. During my recent trip to attend a Hamfair in the nearby District in April 2008, I took the opportunity to visit the All India Radio station at Alappuzha with prior appointment. I visited them with a local ham friend. The station is located about 7 km away from the town on the highway. First we were asked to go to the AIR office at Patirapally, a couple of km near the transmitter site. There we met the AIR official who wanted to know the purpose of our visit as visitors are not normally allowed there now days. Seeing our interest and several of my old QSL letters from their station, he understood that we were genuine listeners and gave us permission to visit his station. The official went in his official car while we followed in my friend’s car. As usual there was a security at the gate but we were let in without any security checks. The transmitter site is located at Kalavoor in 13 hectares of land. The station set up consists of 2 numbers of 100 kW BEL HMB 140 transmitters made by Bharat Electronics Ltd, Bangalore operating on 576 kHz with a power of 200 kW. It is known as High Power Transmitter and is the most powerful station in Kerala State. Transmitter 1 is named as Lakshmi while Transmitter 2 is named as Parvathi. During the time of my visit, the first transmitter was running at about 95 kW while the second one was running at about 105 kW of power! These transmitters were commissioned on 15 April 1999. There is a small emergency studio near the transmitters. The antenna is a self radiating mast 175 Meters high. The station covers the central districts of Kerala State about 70 km radius. It is a full time relay station, relaying AIR Thiruvanathapuram which operates on 1161 kHz, 5010 & 7290 kHz. Most of the programs are in Malayalam, the local language (my mother tongue). The program feed is received via satellite. Their monthly electricity bill now comes to Rs.9.5 Lakhs! All India Radio Alappuzha first started on July 17, 1971 with a 100 kW NEC MB 121 B transmitter which operated on 580 kHz. This frequency was changed to 576 kHz in the MW frequency reshuffle on 23 November 1978. This transmitter was replaced by the 2 new transmitters presently in use. The old transmitter which was in another part of the building has now been dismantled. Due to staff shortage, at present there is no Station / Superintending Engineer at this station; an Asst. Station Engineer is the head of the station now. The broadcast schedule of the station is: (in Indian Time [UT +5.5]) Transmission I : 5.50 am to 10.00 am (Sat, Sun up to 11.10 pm) Transmission II : 12.00 pm to 3.30 pm (Weekdays) Transmission III : 5.00 pm to 11.10 pm (Weekdays) As Radio Nepal, Myanmar and other stations use the same frequency of this station, it may not be very easy to pick up this station outside South India. The address of the station is All India Radio, Pathirapally, Alappuzha 688521, Kerala. Its email id is airalpy @ rediffmail.com and Tel Nos are 0477-2258397, 2258611. I have received several verifications in the past from the station. A copy one is available at: http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/qsls/allapuzha.jpg The map of AIR stations in Kerala showing Alappuzha is available at: http://www.airtvm.com/stations.html Transmitter details summary: 17 Jul 71: NEC MB 121 B 580 kHz 100 kW 23 Nov 78: Frequency changed to 576 kHz 15 Apr 99: HEL HMB 140 2 x 100 kW (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6020, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze (JSR) via Yamata, Japan, 1409-1430*, May 9, returned here again (ex: 6005 – there for about 9 days), in Korean, played several songs, recorded interview, format very different from their usual non-stop talking, fair-good reception, no jamming. Sent COMJAN an email pointing out the interference on 6005 with Echo of Hope on 6003 (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. Relays this weekend on 9290 kHz Sat May 10th Latvia Today 0900-1000 UT Sun May 11th Latvia Today 1500-1600 UT (Tom Taylor, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 5965, Klasik Nasional FM via RTM, 1334-1400, May 9, in vernacular, DJs playing many ballads by the same singer, on-air phone conversations, before ToH IDs "RTM Kuala Lumpur" and singing "Kasik Nasional" jingle, fair to good, strong QRM after 1400 (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. MÉXICO: INDÍGENAS COLOCAN SEÑAL EN LA WEB 5.08.2008 http://www.radioworld.com/pages/s.0179/t.13374.html El presidente Felipe Calderón puso en marcha un sistema mediante el cual 10 radiodifusoras indígenas tendrán su señal en Internet. Al encabezar el Día Internacional de la Lengua Materna, el 20 de febrero, Calderón dijo que es importante conservar las diversas culturas con las que cuenta México y especialmente la lengua de cada una de ellas. De ahí la importancia de lanzar el nuevo servicio en Internet mediante el Sistema de Radiodifusoras Culturales Indiogenistas [sic] http://www.cdi.gob.mx/index.php?id_seccion=23 “Ponemos en marcha este programa de ecos indígenas para que las radios indígenas o comunitarias se oigan en todo el mundo y que incluso los mexicanos que viven en Estados Unidos, por ejemplo, puedan oír sus canciones en nuestra lengua, las voces y el diálogo”, dijo Calderón (Noticiero de Radio World América Latina :: Informe sobre el Mercado via Santiago San Gil, DXLD) At above site, it appears that there are programs from only three stations at the moment, not live streams. Full list of participants, each with its own distinctive logo, q.v. --- Mexico is a great place for graphic art, unlike DXLD.txt! Original AM or FM frequencies not mentioned, but some of these are familiar to DXers such as XETAR on 870! Viz.: EMISORAS DEL SISTEMA DE RADIODIFUSORAS XEQIN La Voz del Valle San Quintín, Baja California XEXPUJ La Voz del Corazón de la Selva X'pujil, Calakmul, Campeche XECOPA La Voz de los Vientos Copainalá, Chiapas XEVFS La Voz de la Frontera Sur Las Margaritas, Chiapas XETAR La Voz de la Sierra Tarahumara Guachochi, Chihuahua XEZV La Voz de la Montaña Tlapa de Comonfort, Guerrero XECARH La Voz del Pueblo Ñha-ñhu Cardonal, Hidalgo XETUMI La Voz Mazahua Otomí Zitácuaro-Morelia, Michoacán XEPUR La Voz de los P'urhepechas Cherán, Michoacán XEJMN La Voz de los Cuatro Pueblos Jesús María, El Nayar, Nayarit XEGLO La Voz de la Sierra Juárez Guelatao de Juárez, Oaxaca XEOJN La Voz de la Chinantla San Lucas Ojitlán, Oaxaca XEJAM La Voz de la Costa Chica Santiago Jamiltepec, Oaxaca XETLA La Voz de la Mixteca Tlaxiaco, Oaxaca XECTZ La Voz de la Sierra Norte Cuetzalan, Puebla XENKA La Voz del Gran Pueblo Felipe Carrillo Puerto, QR XEANT La Voz de las Huastecas Tancanhuitz de Santos, SLP XEETCH La Voz de los Tres Ríos Etchojoa, Sonora XEZON La Voz de la Sierra de Zongolica Zongolica, Veracruz XEPET La Voz de los Mayas Peto, Yucatán (CDI via DXLD) ** MICRONESIA. Micronesia shortwave [Pacific Missionary Aviation, 4755] --- This is a message I received from this station a couple of days ago. "Thanks for your email, Marcelo. We are still waiting for parts and are not on the air yet. Kind Regards, Sylvia Kalau" Therefore, if you are wondering why you can't catch this station it is because they are not on the air at the moment (Marcelo Toníolo, Auckland, New Zealand, May 9, dxing.info via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. Fair signal S9+18 on 15345.0, but barely perceptible modulation, and could not be certain of language, mostly talk, May 9 at 2146-2202*. This is typical sign-off time for Nador site of R. Marocaine, as WRTH calls it, and no sign of variable Argentina this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR/BURMA. 5985, Myanma Radio, 1348-1405, May 8, first day that they have resumed broadcasting after not being hear for several days. Before the cyclone the format at this time would usually be EZL pop songs, but today of course was different, non-stop talking in vernacular and naturally many mentions of Myanmar, mostly fair reception till 1400, after that was poor due to 5980 signing-on with a strong signal. E-mails sent to Myanmar have recently not gone through, but have not failed, just "temporarily delayed", as I assume the power has been off there (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5980? Must be BBC Thailand per EiBi. Can`t hear any of this here on the dayside (gh, OK, DXLD) Myanmar back on limited SW operation. Heard yesterday May 8th 0755- 0900 UT sign-off, nothing after that. This morning 0030 UT on 7185 kHz in progress (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK, May 9, DXplorer via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) Lately noted on 5040, 5915, 5985, 7185, and 9731 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) What was the frequency at 0755-0900? 9731? (gh, DXLD) MYANMAR SHORTWAVE TRANSMITTERS BACK ON THE AIR Victor Goonetilleke reported from Colombo, Sri Lanka on 7 May: Cyclone hit Yangon and power is down and vast destruction reported. So obviously Myanmar is running on emergency power, so shortwave transmitters are off the air. I can’t hear any mediumwave stations here. All three Yangon based TXers are off the air at 1245 on 7 May, viz 5040, 5915, 5985. However Defense Forces Station on 5770 is going on as usual. Morning 5915 5985 and 7185 are also off the air. Surely the midday 9730 kHz is also off the air. Watching 594 and 576 mediumwave channels for any programmes. Update 9 May: I heard last afternoon (8 May) first broadcast at 0730 UT on 9730 and nothing after that till this morning 0030 s/on on 7185. On the evening of 9 May noted 5985 kHz is also back on the air but s/off at 1430 UT, earlier than regular s/off time 1600 UT (Source: Victor Goonetilleke/DXAsia) May 9th, 2008 - 17:10 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) 4 comments so far: 1 ruud May 9th, 2008 - 14:41 UTC Of course the Army station is (the only one) still on air. It is clear now that the Birmese people is suffering more from this military regime than the cyclone. The least we can do is avoid the name Myanmar, introduced by this bad junta, and use Birma (same with Yangon-Rangoon) BBC and NOS also use Birma. 2 Andy May 9th, 2008 - 14:56 UTC Well, if the BBC uses the name Birma it’s a spelling mistake, as the English name is Burma You have a point, but in this blog I have to be consistent with the names used elsewhere at RNW. The country is listed under the United Nations as Myanmar, which is the current name given to it by the military regime. If and when that regime is toppled, I expect the country will revert to its original name. A detailed explanation for the BBC’s use of the name Burma is given on the BBC website http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7389525.stm If RNW decides to change its designation, I will also do it, and edit all items in this Weblog accordingly. Until then, I’m afraid it will stay as it is, regardless of any personal opinions I may have. 3 Kai Ludwig May 9th, 2008 - 20:33 UTC The vast majority of the German media uses Birma as well, which is considered as a German version of the name. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung always called it Burma, Spiegel used to call it Myanmar but abolished the official name in favour of Burma after taking a deeper look into the matter. What’s the rationale behind RNW’s decision to use Myanmar? Just political correctness? 4 Andy May 9th, 2008 - 20:46 UTC I can’t answer that question because I do not attend the meetings where this kind of thing is discussed. I will try to find out and let you know. But the salient point is that simply referring to the country by a different name isn’t going to make any difference to the situation there http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/most-myanmar-shortwave-transmitters-off-the-air#comments (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** MYANMAR [and non]. First Lady mentions RFA, VOA weather warnings to Burma Laura Bush on Cyclone Nargis: "It's troubling that many of the Burmese people learned of this impending disaster only when foreign outlets -- such as Radio Free Asia and Voice of America -- sounded the alarm. Although they were aware of the threat, Burma's state-run media failed to issue a timely warning to citizens in the storm's path." White House transcript, 5 May 2008. "A full 48 hours before the storm crashed ashore, Burmese officials were provided with computer-generated plots of the storm's likely route that accurately predicted its landfall, trajectory and strength. Yet nothing was done to warn or to evacuate people from the path of a cyclone packing winds of 200 kilo-metres an hour with a three-metre- high storm surge. Even as traumatized Burmese began counting thousands of dead Sunday morning, the state-controlled television aired its regular lineup of soap operas. ... Burmese radio and television carried vague warnings, with little information about the approaching storm, and offered no instructions on how people should cope when it struck." National Post, 8 May 2008 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Burma's government-owned broadcasting monopoly has no incentive to be competitive. Private broadcasters in the United States must be competitive, and they know that good weather reporting contributes to their appeal. This is because people are interested in weather, especially impending severe weather. It would be interesting to know to what extent the major Burmese- language international radio services provided the warnings about Cyclone Nargis missing from Burma's domestic broadcasting. (In Burma, 27% of adults listen to BBC weekly, 22% to VOA, 12% to RFA.) "Satellite images of the Bay of Bengal show a cyclone on track for Burma." VOA News, 1 May 2008. This story was probably used by VOA Burmese, which devours any VOA Central Newsroom stories about Burma. See also "Will international broadcasting sound the warning -- next time?," Radio Netherlands Media Network, 6 January 2005. Posted: 08 May 2008 (Kim Andrew Elliott, see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=3959 for linx, via DXLD) I`d say there is something a bit more evil here than ``a lack of incentive to be competitive``. The junta is obviously scared to death that this disaster could lead to the regime`s own downfall. What a golden opportunity, with a little nudging (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. I am pleased to confirm that Deborah Rey and Dody Cowan are indeed one and the same person. The Cowans divorced in 1990. Dody/Deborah remarried and moved to France. Jerry is back in Canada, and he contacted us last year at the time of our 60th birthday celebrations. I must admit that I didn't know Dody/Deborah was still alive, but very pleased to know that she has a new career as an author. If anyone was misinformed in the past by someone at RNW (it may even have been me) I apologise (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST, which gh also posted on the happystation yg) OMG; I about darn near choked on my morning coffee when I read this. I was told by TWO reliable sources (someone at RNW the other a close SWL friend of mine) that Dody had died of cancer years ago. It's good to know she's still alive --- but how can two reliable people (one from RNW and I can't remember who it was from there who told me, Andy Sennitt I am sure it was *not* you) can get it SO wrong?!? PS: Anyone in touch with their daughter Samantha? (Maryanne/Atlanta, GA, Kehoe, happystation yg via DXLD) Dody is alive and well! There has been a bit of commotion on the Happy Station Yahoo! Group this week. Someone joined in and revealed their true identity - and was rewarded with an insulting message claiming she was not who she claimed to be. Embarrassingly for me, I was named as the source of the information that led to this insulting message. Well, the lady concerned called me up this afternoon, and I can confirm that writer Deborah Rey really is one and the same person as Dody Cowan, who used to broadcast on Radio Netherlands. Together with her then husband Jerry, they presented the 'His and Hers' programme for many years. But they divorced in 1990. Jerry continued working here for a few years, then retired to his native Canada. Dody remarried, moved to France and pursued her career as a writer. You can read more about her work in her blog at http://www.rachelsarai.blogspot.com/ and on her website at http://www.deborahrey.com/ So why did I tell someone that she had died? Well, because that's what a colleague here told me, and Dody did explain that (for reasons I cannot go into) that story was circulating within Radio Netherlands. So my colleague innocently told me, and I innocently passed on this information to someone who enquired. I am pleased to set the record straight - she's not only alive, but sounds very lively! Dody also pointed out that our personnel department knows who's still alive as they pay their pensions every month. So next time someone tells me a former colleague has died, I will not pass that information on to anyone outside the organisation without checking first (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter May 8 via DXLD) Similar story on the Media Network blog and illustrated: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/files/2008/05/deborahrey-publicity.gif (via DXLD) I made a passing reference to Dody's reported death on the blog of the radio program I did a few years ago; that post is found at http://ultimajock.blogspot.com/2003_10_26_archive.html in the graph for "Poppa Joe" by The Sweet. I have been sent two messages in the last few months asking for information about Dody Cowan citing that blog reference. I had spoken with Dody (and her daughter Samantha) via telephone a few times in 1989, and her voice sounded identical to that which I heard on the "His & Hers" program for those many years. The author Deborah Rey has posted about this list and discussion on http://rachelsarai.blogspot.com/ her personal blog; in http://rachelsarai.blogspot.com/2008/04/happy-birthday-rachel-sarai.html an older post on that blog, a YouTube video appears of Deborah herself, and I have trouble matching the voice and accent up with what I recall of my previous contacts with Dody Cowan. http://bluechromeblog.blogspot.com/2008/04/deborah-rey-author-outing-herself.html is another blog post, from a week ago or so, relating to this issue (King Daevid MacKenzie (a.k.a. Dave Machen) KPHX Phoenix http://1480kphx.com May 2, happystation yg via DXLD) Dear Mark, dear One and All, I cannot tell you how honoured I am by this warm and loving welcome and by saying this, I hope you now know that I am still quite alive, still crazy after all those years (thank G-d, I hate normal people) and quite happy (make that: very) in my new profession as a writer. I have always written, but most of it was 'work', or 'business'. Now, I write for the love of the written word and am also a renowned, feared, hated, adored editor :^) I send you all my warmest and sunniest regards from France, (Deborah Rey, May 1, happystation yg via DXLD) Well, I suppose it is official now: I am alive! What a relief. I was really beginning to worry. Super gesture of Andy Sennitt to make it official. I hope you will be kind enough to send a big, warm HELLO to those who were wondering about His and Hers. Let it be known that, whatever happened in the past, I still hold THEM in very high esteem and do remember many of them. Sunny regards from France, (Deborah Rey a.k.a. Dody ex-Cowan, May 9, ibid.) ** OKLAHOMA [non?]. New FM stations granted: Colorado, Campo, *91.9, 12000 watts v, 69 m, d-a with 53% power 180 degrees, Educational Communications of Colorado Springs, Inc. Its site is NW of Guymon OK, from which a signal with a 28 km primary radius will emanate (May FMedia! via DXLD) So in which state is site? As one would suspect from Colorado Springs, this is really a gospel huxter thinly disguised, home station KTLF, Keeping The Lord First! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KTLF There is nothing at all ``Educational`` about it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Lao-like language, May 8 at 1308 on 9625 with a low het, no doubt 70 Hz from off-frequency CBC. Close: per listings this is White Hmong from FEBC, Manila. More transmissions from here: see TIBET [non] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Out of curiosity, why do you think Hmong is Lao-like? As far as English IDs. This got me thinking about various stations and their English IDs. I wonder why stations, particularly SW, don't have linguistics programs. Just a thought. 73/Liz (Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DXLD) Because when I was listening to it, it sounded rather like Lao/Thai. True, Hmong as heard on WHRI and in print on their webpage isn`t much like Lao. Maybe this was an axual Lao segment in the White Hmong transmission. Are you going to say Hmong is not really related to Lao? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, that's what I'm going to say although some linguists believe that Hmong is actually related to either the Tai and/or the Austronesian families. 73/Liz (Cameron, MI, ibid.) See Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hmong-Mien_languages http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lao_language http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tai_languages wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. I just checked 6040, and at 2244 I caught the start of German: "This is the programme for Monday, the 17th of December 2007" !!! What's this; do they just play out whatever old stuff if no new material is at hand? Unclean audio with distortion on sibilants, sharp gating like in the old USSR days in use (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Another shortwave site to go: Samara --- Well-placed sources hint that the Russian transmitter operator RTRS intends to close down his shortwave facilities at Samara, perhaps by the end of the current A08 season. If so it would be the third shut-down of a major shortwave site in the former Soviet Union, after Brovary (Ukraine) and Yekaterinburg. And it would be by no means a surprise. Just compare the amount of installed capacity with the remaining demand for airtime, if not for Samara in particular for the facilities in European Russia altogether. It does not appear to be an exaggeration to call the situation precarious. I took this as an opportunity to check out the long-established Samara relay of CRI French, 2030-2130, now on 7320: Still the old phone- quality feed, as for English via Taldom, and the transmission was accompanied by a nasty hiss, as if the equipment has now noticeably started to deteriorate. I suspect the development companies already work on plans for here: http://maps.google.de/?ie=UTF8&ll=53.277173,50.242882&spn=0.037414,0.080338&t=k&z=14 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some days ago I read the news that electricity price in Russia will gradually rise remarkably during the following several years. That will also affect the costs of operating big transmitter sites (Jari Savolainen, Finland, ibid.) The Samara site is surrounded by suburbs and dadsha [dacha] areas. So the property and building construction firms be waiting in the wings. Samara site outlets were always in bad sound quality in past decade, and broadcast will be easily take over by Amarvir Krasnodar capacity. Maybe the next center to be ceased will be Moscow Lesnoy suburb: http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=56.064564&lon=37.943867&z=16.1&r=0&src=ggl http://www.rustocks.com/put.phtml/afkk_013106.pdf page 61 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Whew, 385 pages total, Valuation Advisory as of 2006y (gh, DXLD) The imminent closure of Samara will surely mean an end to the strange anomaly of Radio Tatarstan. Where will the 50 minute broadcasts at 0410, 0610, and 0810 (summer timings) come from? Samara is near but not within the Tatar Republic. Use of Armavir would be less logical. The end of yet another SW broadcaster? Did anyone listen anyway?? (Dan Goldfarb, Brentwood, England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Na Volne Tatarstana to 3 targets: Russian Siberia in East Asia at 0400, Central Asia at 0600, and Scandinavia/W Europe at 0800. 15110 0400-0500 32 SAM 250 60 32 Mongolia & USSR south of 60 deg N & between 90-110 deg E up to Chita-Hailar 9690 0545-0700 30 SAM 250 60 30 USSR south of 60 deg N & between 50-75 deg E up to Surgut, Omsk-Novosibirsk, Almaty. 11925 0800-0900 18,27-29 SAM 100 310 Target is all Europe westwards, the strong Russian community. Zones 18 Scandinavia 27 UK, France, Benelux 28 Central & Eastern Europe, not Baltics 29 Baltics, USSR south of 60 deg N & west of 50 deg E 11, 13, and 15 MHz will also work mornings from Armavir. But I guess in this time slot they have usual maintenance break, and maybe 45 to 60 degrees antennas are rather available on Moscow centres. Na Volne Tatarstana belongs to Radio Rossii during registration process (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Another check of 13590 to see how 1Africa/CVC Zambia is doing vs the collisions, May 9 at 1310 and immediately heard ``Soviet Hymn``, an odd time to be playing it, but must be VOR as scheduled 12-14 via Novosibirsk at 110 degrees in Mongolian for Mongolia and China, per Eibi and HFCC. And it was mixing with a weaker station, producing SAH, no doubt CVC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ZAMBIA [and non] ** SPAIN [non]. One more check of the Co-Official [read: token] Languages segment on REE, Thu May 8 on 15170 via CR. Tuned in at 1241 and found Catalan underway, so did start at 1240; at 1245 to Galician, and 1250 Basque but really in Castilian, 1255 music fill. So that appears to be the real schedule; now if only they can get the Basque language itself back into the mix (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. REE`s new service to Brasil, May 9 at 2130 on 17595, with W&W discussing Espanha in Portuguese with Brazilian accent; 2142 Spanish lesson frequently interrupted by tone cues. 17595 signal was poor, but better than a weaker co-channel producing a slow SAH, and not // 15110 REE main stream in Spanish which was as usual extremely strong direct from Spain and expanding into sidebands making 15105 and 15115 useless. 15110 is 250 kW from Noblejas at 302 degrees. 17595 is 250 kW at 248 degrees, and it collides with WEWN in English - -- I won`t guess at the real power, 85 degrees, at 1900-2200, part of which collides with Spain. It must be pretty bad in the Caribbean area, and WEWN`s W Africa target, maybe not so bad in Brasil. You will not find Portuguese on REE`s schedule in the WRTH May Update, and not even 17595 on the air at this time, since it says M-F 10-19, Sat-Sun 12-22, and this was a Friday, all to America, not specified whether N, C or S, so maybe means all of them. EiBi, however, has the Portuguese hours: 17595 1800-1900 Mo-Fr E Radio Exterior España P SAm 17595 2100-2200 Mo-Fr E Radio Exterior España P SAm And nothing on M-F 1900-2100, so apparently REE just comes back on at 21 for the repeat hour in Brazilian, reducing the collision with WEWN to one hour on weekdays. And 17595 is the only frequency opting out for the Brazilian service. Aoki does not show the Portuguese at all. This apparently official sked, tho posted on an unofficial site, does show the 10 hours of Portuguese per week as in EiBi: http://telefonica.net/web2/radioescuchadx/reea08.pdf (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Re 8-057: So how do you hear Justin Coe? How well do the 11, 9 or 6 MHz English frequencies come in, presumably in a skip zone, maybe by ground wave from Noblejas? 73, (Glenn to Marty Delfín, Madrid, via DXLD) I sometimes listen to REE in English on the broadcast to Europe at 2100 on Sundays at 9840. I can also pick them up at 0000 on 6055 but that is too late for me here in Madrid. Yes, the signal isn't great. Maybe on some good nights SIO 333, a lot of static but audible. For some reason, Spanish to Europe has better reception on 13720 around 0700 UT. Cheers (Marty Delfín, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TATARSTAN. See RUSSIA ** TIBET [non]. 11605, May 8 at 1258 with synthesized Asian music, 1300 ID in English as R. Free Asia, and into Tibetan service. Listened until 1303 but no sign of any jamming! SINPO 35443. Per Aoki this is Tinian at 309 degrees and it is certainly jammed, just not audible here, as higher-latitude paths were not propagating so well. BTW, at 1200-1229 it`s the Amdo dialect of Tibetan, 1229-1300 the Khams dialect, and 1300-1400 regular Tibetan. I wonder if the English IDs go into such details? A station on 9890 with a solo vocalist accompanied by a rustic plucked instrument, May 8 at 1305 per Aoki also turns out to be Khams Tibetan from FEBC Bocaue, Philippines, 100 kW at 305 degrees, and not jammed. On 31m the jammers had a better chance, but VOA Mandarin via Philippines on 9845 was still well over Firedrake at 1306; also at 1354 with chinese@voanews.com address. And VOA English from Philippines, 9760 at 1315 was VG, much better than heard in a long time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. See TIBET [non] ** U S A. Despite continued listings at 2115 UT for Frecuencia al Día, Mondays and Fridays on WWCR 7465, as in the May-updated sked at http://wwcr.com/program-guides/WWCR_Program_Guide.html we have reconfirmed May 9 that the semihour program axually starts just after the frequency change at 2100 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WPKN’S HARRY MINOT TO STEP DOWN AS STATION MANAGER April 22, 2008, Contact: David Golden (press@wpkn.net) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Harry Minot announced his resignation as WPKN’s General Manager on April 15th to create a freeform music service on satellite radio. His last day will be May 31st. Minot, only the second station manager in WPKN’s 45-year history, also announced that he will be making a large financial donation to help the listener-supported radio station. “I'll always love WPKN, and I'll always support it in one way or another,” Minot said. “I'm proud and grateful to have been its General Manager for almost thirty years.” Minot’s gravel-voiced delivery and stunning vocabulary were no more in evidence than during the station’s on-air pledge drives, when Minot would talk himself hoarse while persuading listeners to donate to the community station. Speaking for the WPKN, Inc. board of directors, Suesan Patton said “We're ecstatic for Harry and wish him heroic proportions of success! We're looking forward to having Harry as our benefactor too, and, of course, he'll continue to do radio shows for our listeners.” “Harry’s influence can be felt on everything around here,” said David Golden, WPKN’s Press & Publicity Coordinator. “He will be missed, but I’m sure the astute listener will recognize his unique style when he pops up on the air as a fill-in host.” Harry Minot joined WPKN in 1972 as a volunteer programmer, and in 1978 succeeded the late Jeff Tellis as General Manager. During his tenure he guided the station through its transition from a university-funded department to a 100% listener-supported community radio station. In 1992, after almost three years of listener support, Minot negotiated a license transfer from the University of Bridgeport to the non-profit WPKN, Inc. More recently, he set up a second frequency in Montauk, New York, making WPKN a regional station with a signal ranging from Stamford to Rhode Island. WPKN is heard on 89.5 FM in Bridgeport and New Haven, and 88.7 in New London, Westerly and Montauk, NY. WPKN provides some of the most creative and progressive freeform broadcast radio on the dial. ### (WPKN via DXLD) WPKN has been a WORLD OF RADIO affiliate for many years, tnx to Harry. We wish him well on his next venture (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Denver DTV's this weekend --- IF you've been following any of the news stories about DTV broadcasting in Denver, Colorado, this should be of interest to you. With the exception of anything going wrong, KCNC-DT 4 (35), KUSA-DT 9 (16), and KTVD-DT 20 (19) will all flip the switch ON at 12:00pm this coming Sunday, May 11th, from the new Lookout Mountain digital tower. Its supposed to be a *big party atmosphere* in the Denver television community, as those stations are calling it. DTV DX: Insignia NS-DXA1 & CM 4228 @ 20' FTA Satellite DX: Pansat 2500A ku band & Fortec 31" w/USALS motor Become an FCC authorized DTV Deputy! Pass the test - http://www.dtv.gov/dtvquiz.html (Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Milliken, Colorado, (40 miles north of Denver) 40 18.642'N, 104 52.566'W, WTFDA via DXLD) ** U S A. Attention DXers: Format And Call Letter Change in Orlando, Florida --- There was a call swap between Rama Communications` two Orlando area stations On May 6th, 1600 WOKB became WLAA and 1680 WLAA became WOKB. "The All New Smooth Sounds Of Gospel... on 1680 AM..." is a liner I just heard on 1680 AM, and the Legal ID at the top of the hour is "WOKB Winter Garden Orlando and WKIQ Eustis Leesburg". So 1240 and 1680 are simulcasting, as they were doing when WOKB was on 1600. Que Buena 1680 WLAA's website at http://www.quebuenaorlando.com doesn't indicate they've moved to 1600AM, so I`m assuming they're off the airwaves. Don't know why though, as the programming on WLAA was a lease deal with outside programmers, and reportedly the licensee was getting upwards of $40,000 a month! WOKB's website at http://www.wokbradio.com indicated they have moved, and they do stream as well. I mention this because 1600 and 1680 are NOTORIOUS for not powering down and not only have I heard/proved that personally, others have as well. I wonder if 1680 ever fixed their remote control that got zapped by lightning and was causing them not to drop power? Oh well, have fun with the new "WLAA" and new "WOKB" -- Sincerely, (Paul B. Walker, Jr., SC, May 8, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. TARPON SPRINGS TIS RESURRECTION PLANS http://www.tampabay.com/news/localgovernment/article493723.ece Budget shortfall douses Tarpon Springs fireworks By Rita Farlow, Times Staff Writer, Thursday, May 8, 2008 TARPON SPRINGS — The skies over Fred Howard Park will be dark this Independence Day. City commissioners decided Tuesday that money earmarked for the annual fireworks display could be better spent. Specifically, commissioners agreed the $22,500 budgeted for the display should go toward replacing the city's AM 1610 radio station, which relays emergency information to residents and has been broken since late last summer. The damage to the equipment is irreparable and it needs to be replaced, said interim City Manager Mark LeCouris. Initial estimates show a new radio system would cost between $20,000 and $25,000 for equipment and installation — roughly the same amount as the pyrotechnics, said city spokeswoman Judy Staley. If the city immediately puts the money toward a new system, it could be up and running by June 1, the start of hurricane season, LeCouris said. "This is an opportunity right now to get started on it," he said. . . (via Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W Visit my "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" at: http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html or: http://www.geocities.com/geigertree/flortis.html DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. LISTENERS SAY PIRATE RADIO STATION INVADING ORANGE COUNTY AIRWAVES WITH PROFANITY POSTED: 7:23 am EDT May 7, 2008 UPDATED: 9:08 am EDT May 7, 2008 ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. -- It is hip-hop, it is hardcore and it is illegal. Channel 9 uncovered an underground radio station with a strong signal that is broadcasting over the Orange County airwaves without a license. . . http://www.wftv.com/news/16184442/detail.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Only ID for the station is on video of an RDS display, 93.5 fm Clientell Radio (gh, DXLD) "Channel 9 uncovered..."? Oh boy, here we go again with another fine example of quality journalism. They never went to my site http://home.earthlink.net/~tocobagadx/flortis.html and looked at 91.7 and 93.5 entries (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: 93.5 MHz (LPR) “Downtown Radio/Underground Radio”, Orlando; using both slogans. Remains active, per C. Cook, January, 2007, who reports that signal is strong in downtown Orlando west to Pine Hills, east to about Hwy. 50 and the East-West Expressway. Also heard by the editor in February, 2007. They had a web site through December 28, 2006, but it is down now. And, in November, 2006: reported by D. Crawford with hardcore/porn rap, no live announcements noted, some ads for a gangsta fest at the Orlando Fairgrounds, etc, best signal in west-central Orlando. One mention of “Clientele Productions” or similar; recall the same outfit being associated with previous Orlando rappers. Also heard by D. Crawford, January, 2007 on FL-417 east side only (Florida Low Power Radio Stations, May 8 via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA [and non]. May 8 at 1252, two stations mixing on 13590 with SAH, not just 1Africa, CVC. According to EiBi there are two other stations at this time besides CVC: DW in French to NAf via Portugal, and VOR in Mandarin to FE via Novosibirsk. The two I was hearing most likely Portugal and Zambia (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also RUSSIA UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Tonight 7th May 2320 UT I'm hearing for the first time a very strong carrier on 595 kHz apparently from the SW of the UK. (Portugal or Maroc?) Germany is still clearly on 594 kHz. 73s (Steve Whitt, MWC via DXLD) Very strong here too --- stronger than Germany. But very very low modulation. I think I'm hearing Arabic, certainly doesn't sound Portuguese. Now it's playing music, sounds // 612 (Mark Hattam, ibid.) Portugal & Germany mixing on 594 now (Mark Hattam, ibid.) When is NOW?? Time stamp on message in MWC digest is May 7 2008 7:26 PM --- what zone? (gh, DXLD) Steve and Mark, I heard this signal already in the second half of April starting (fade-in) before our local SS. Daily reception but hardly with peaks allowing ID. But I can confirm Arabic-like talk. (Karel Honzik, CZECHIA, ibid.) Perhaps Iran? They are active on both 594 and 612 kHz (Herman Boel, Belgium, EMWG, ibid.) Iran is not SW of the UK. Steve uses a direxional MW antenna, but it seems a lot of European DXers do not, so they have no idea what direxion a signal is coming from (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Glenn, I think this answers the question: MOROCCO. 595, RTM Oujda, 2117-, 07 May, Arabic, talks; weak modulation, // 540; 33443, QRM de Portugal local 594, phased. Elevated K9AY + Quantum Phaser with 9 m counter inductive helical vertical. They've been on & off 595 for, say, almost 2 months now, sometimes stronger than usual, this is not new. 73, (Carlos, Gonçalves, Portugal, May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ CBC'S DISPATCHES LOOKS AT ESPERANTO IN CHINA, INCLUDING AT CRI Of note is that the story includes both excerpts from and interviews with staffers from China Radio International's Esperanto service: Esperanto: alive and well in China. "In many places in China, there were temples of the Dragon King." Or, if you were to say it in Esperanto, as some Chinese do: En multaj lokoj de Cinio estis temploj de drako-rego. [I think there should be a circumflex on g of rego -gh] Esperanto is partially derived from the languages of western Europe. Its creator hoped it would eventually become the world's lingua franca, though that has yet to happen. Some states have dropped it, but Esperanto does have a very powerful champion in China, of all places. Beijing however, has its own reasons for keeping the language alive. As we hear now from Dispatches contributor Yuen Chan. Realaudio link to the segment: http://www.cbc.ca/dispatches/media/080505_chan.ram Webpage: http://www.cbc.ca/dispatches (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HMONG vs LAO: see PHILIPPINES MYANMAR vs BURMA vs BIRMA: see MYANMAR RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ HISTORY CHANNEL SHOW TO FEATURE NIKOLA TESLA ON MAY 14 (May 7, 2008) -- Modern Marvels, a series on The History Channel, will feature electricity pioneer Nikola Tesla in an episode scheduled to air May 14. Helping out with the program was Bob "Loby" Lobenstein, WA2AXZ; Lobenstein is General Superintendent, Power Operations for New York City's subway system. "We did 8 hours of taping interviews at my 1904 power substation," Lobenstein said. "In addition to the action scenes of me throwing the 100 year old switches and demonstrating the use of power, I did a 'Mr Wizard' talk, showing the various things that 'Mr T' envisioned and invented. Of course, radio had a part and I just had to put the D-104 mic with our club's K2IRT shield into view!" According to The History Channel, Tesla's "...bizarre vision of the future brought him failure, but his genius electrified the world. Travel to Niagara Falls, where in 1893, Tesla installed his new system of Alternating Electrical Current known as AC -- the same power we use today. Uncover the forgotten ruins of Tesla's dream experiment -- a huge tower on Long Island Sound he hoped would wirelessly power the world. Radar, death rays, invisibility devices and earthquake machines: Tesla claimed to have created them all. More than 100 years ago Tesla foresaw the need for alternative energies like geothermal and solar." Check the The History Channel Web site for show times. Link to this item (Amateur Radio News, ARRL, in http://www.arrl.org/?artid=8169 via Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Apr 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Per zap2it.com listings this will be at 0000 & 0400 UT Thu May 15, and also at 2300 UT Sat May 17. These timings are on the feed we get in OK; there may be another one delayed 2 or 3 hours for west coast USA. Is this visible in Uruguay? It is flagged as `new` (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) We watch Spanish translated, don't know if this will be simultaneously released in Spanish (Horacio Nigro, ibid.) HARRIS CORP. MAY PUT ITSELF UP FOR SALE Electronics and defense company Harris Corp. has begun exploring its strategic options, which could include eventually selling itself, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. By Staff Harris Corp. is exploring its options and could eventually choose to put itself on the market, according to a story in the Wall Street Journal. The story, written by Matthew Karnitschnig and Dennis K. Berman, says that the process could end a long run of independence for the 113- year-old company, which supplies technical infrastructure used in everything from HDTV broadcast systems to air traffic control systems and jet fighter radios. [AND SHORTWAVE BROADCAST TRANMITTERS – gh] The company has a market cap of $7.3 billion and has seen its share price quadruple over the past four years, thanks largely to defense needs in Iraq and Afghanistan. Sources warn that the Melbourne, FL-based company is only in the early stages of exploration about its future. Harris is expected to receive interest from defense and general industrial companies that could include Raytheon, BAE Systems, and Northrup Grumman, the WSJ story says. A challenge for the defense contractor, the story says, would be whether to keep Harris' civil sector business, in particular, its TV broadcast technology unit. WSJ Online subscribers may read the full story here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121030638187980279.html (TVNEWSDAY, May. 9, 8:04 AM ET via DXLD) It would be ironic if Harris got sold to BAE, since BAE is actually the successor to Marconi, and since it was essentially Harris' success internationally that drove Marconi out of the broadcast transmission system business (although they certainly had other problems as well). In fact Marconi transmitters are regarded by some engineers as POS (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OTHR WITHIN THE 30M BAND Hello my friends, What a shame... an S6-7 OTHR signal killing the 30m band... Any known reasons for that? 10140 kHz USB, 1304 UT, OTHR signal S6-S7 in Crete, Greece using an Icom R75 and PAR EF-SWL antenna. Cheers, (Manolis Petrakis, Crete, May 6, UDXF yg via DXLD) From CYPRUS? (gh) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see also ALASKA; ECUADOR; GERMANY ++++++++++++++++++++ Info sulle trasmissioni DRM della VT ricevute via email da Giovanni Lorenzi STAZIONE RADIOAMATORIALE ITALIANA IT9TZZ ESCLUSIVAMENTE IN TELEGRAFIA INTELLIGENTI PAUCA Hi, I'm Giovanni Lorenzi and I'm a amateur radio. I've made by myself a down converter and I'm trying to receiver the DRM broadcasting station. I've tuned the broadcast of Radio Prague on 9750 kHz from 1330 to 1400 UT using a receiver Yaesu FRG-7000 and an antenna dipole. The signal received was very good and stable, the DRM reception was excellent. I include in this mail the image of reception as generated by DREAM software. I hope to helpfull. I wish to receive some information about your DRM service and other. I'm looking forward to next report. 73 de Giovanni, IT9TZZ From: Briggs, James To: GIOVANNI LORENZI Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 4:26 PM Subject: RE: DRM reception Hi Giovanni, many thanks for the report, seems reception conditions were very stable and you got a good signal. I did have some reports that the audio levels were not set up properly last week. The company I work for, VT Communications, carry out many DRM broadcasts for Radio stations, so we are a service provider. Normally the DRM service comes from one of our UK sites, Woofferton, Rampisham or Skelton (this is DW only on 3995 kHz). We also operate a MF freq (1296) for BBC World Service. I have an article published in Radio World about 1 year ago that I can email you if you are interested. At the moment I am working on DVB-T in the UK, we are going to use a lot of Italian equipment the TV transposers are made by Screen. Would be nice if you can put the results the forum at http://www.drmrx.org Kind regards, James (via Lorenzi via Roberto Scaglione, shortwave yg May 8 via DXLD) DTV MUSINGS A few comments on various DTV-related postings in 8-057; hope it's not too long-winded: About ignorant sales clerks -- yeah, I've run into those as well, as have friends of mine. All the coupon-eligible vendors SUPPOSEDLY were given training materials and FAQ sheets to handle customers' questions, but clearly those were cheerfully ignored at many stores. What I wonder is how many folks will buy a converter now, then not even bother trying it out until analog shutoff. Setting up for DTV often requires some tweaking of the antenna set-up/placement, etc., and there are going to be a lot of pissed-off people come February 2009. And if they get a defective unit, or just one that performs poorly in comparison to others, it will probably be too late by then to return it. About KTWO's bad-mouthing the notion of subchannels: the whole notion of SD subchannels somehow "degrading" the HDTV channel mystifies me. There is enough bandwidth available to broadcast a full 1080i HD channel and several subchannels at the same time -- my area PBS affiliates (three of them) each have an HD channel and 3-4 SD subchannels, and I've never seen any pixelation or degradation to the HD signal. Yes, LPTVs and translators will be screwed come 2009 unless they convert to DTV, and while many of them do not have the resources (i.e., money) to do so easily, others are just dragging their feet. (It's amazing how well we human animals can procrastinate when given what seems like a far-off deadline.) To me, it was a grave mistake to not require LPTVs to meet the same deadline as the full-powers. Around here, LPTVs are a useless mix of home shopping and religious wackos, but in many small rural markets people depend on LPTVs and/or translators for some of their basic network signals. There is movement afoot by the LPTV trade group to force analog pass-thru on the CECBs and/or delay the digital transition, both of which have about as much chance of happening as snow in Fiji. No way are they going to "recall" millions of converter boxes, nor are they going to delay the transition when so much money is at stake. About that emergency management facility and its DTV woes -- this is going to be a very common problem. Digital is so picky that if the antenna isn't securely mounted, if there is even a little play or wiggle, you could easily have dropouts during storm winds. Heavy rain doesn't help, either. One of the pernicious myths perpetrated about the transition is that most people should be able to just hook up a DTV receiver to whatever antenna they were using for analog and get the same stations just as consistently -- horse hockey. Almost all the postings I've read online show that a large proportion of folks (most especially those in fringe areas) are going to have to significantly upgrade or replace their antennas to maintain the same number of receivable stations -- even then, they may never replicate their analog results. (There's one poor soul who bitches all the time on the DTV forums who lives between markets, and uses a large log-periodic to pick up as many as 30 stations from all directions, many of those signals watchable if not perfect. With the same setup, he gets maybe 5 or 6 digitals.) This is the BIG drawback to digital. Many fringe and rural OTA viewers are used to imperfections in their TV signals -- a little snow, a ghost or two, some signal strength variations -- but have learned to live with them. DTV will be a nightmare for these folks. ATSC signals provide a better quality picture -- when you can resolve it -- but lack the robustness and forgiving nature of analog signals. I've heard many comment "better a snowy but watchable analog signal than a non- existent digital one!" Me, I live in a mobile home under 20 miles from most area transmitters, and have just an indoor antenna on a window sill. Provides great signals from most market stations, but there are 2 or 3 (lower power or slightly more distant) for which moving the antenna even an inch in any direction DRASTICALLY changes the results, as does opening or closing the window. There's one station that I want to watch to pick up Tampa Bay Rays BB games, and it is ONLY usable if the window is partially open to a certain very narrow spot! This sort of thing was NEVER an issue with analog. Granted, the signals I DO get are far superior to analog -- solid, crisp and clear, no ghosting -- but the inability or inconvenience of trying to resolve those few shakier signals negates the advantages of DTV. But for all our complaints, keep in mind that the transition to digital was NEVER intended to be for the benefit of viewers. Better picture? Yes, but mitigated by the reception DISadvantages outlined above. Multicasting? Well, maybe that will blossom in the future, but right now in a market where there are about 20-25 subchannels currently operating, there is only one of any substance and/or interest to me. (That would be the "Retro Television Network" or RTN - - this 50-year old enjoys the nostalgia.) No, the whole point was to free up spectrum so the government would reap a mutli-billion dollar windfall auctioning it off, and business interests would reap their own profits using said spectrum for their wireless networks. Not to mention the huge boon to those who make transmitters, antennas, towers, and assorted digital studio/editing equipment, plus the consumer TV set manufacturers who can now sell their HDTVs for many times what they charged for analog sets. (And also cable and satellite companies wringing their hands in glee at signing up the most frustrated viewers who ultimately give up on OTA -- that is, those that can actually AFFORD another $50-100 monthly bill.) It was all calculated to put money in THEIR pockets -- the guvmint and the big companies -- and take it out of ours. Just like most things the government cooks up, huh? (Stan Jones, Orlando FL, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DTV misinformation (was DTV musings) I stumbled upon this article last night: http://www.muscatinejournal.com/articles/2004/04/03/news/news4.txt Ed Madison owner of Channel One Video, a store that specializes in installing DirecTV systems, admits that people have a choice between cable, satellite, and free OTA TV. However, he predicts "There won't be any 'free TV' in about ten years." He adds, "With the eventual elimination of analog TVs and the development of digital and high- definition sets, the business model is being geared for pay TV, regardless of whether it's from satellite or cable." (via Jeff Kitsko, WTFDA via DXLD) Recently I was talking to the engineer for Denver's LeSea Broadcasting affiliate (KWHD-53) and he mentioned something similar to this. He said that in 15 to 20 years, all local terrestrial TV stations, rather than broadcasting an OTA signal, will uplink their signal to a satellite. From that point, it will be available to cable operators and satellite signal providers. The signals will be *spot beamed* to the region of the United States, where they would be considered a local signal, similar to what the Dish network does now. If you are an FTA satellite viewer at that time, most likely you will have to pay for a subscription to view your local channels. If this holds true, DXing TV isn't going to be around a whole lot longer (JimThomas, Colorado, WTFDA via DXLD) He signs as JimT, just like Jim Tonne, who remains in Oak Ridge TN, AFAIK; I believe I may have expanded the one in Colorado incorrectly to the one in TN previously (gh) DTV DISCUSSION THIS AFTERNOON ON NPR I just heard a promo on KANU (actually on HD 91.5-2) for "Science Friday" this afternoon which will include a discussion on the DTV transition. I won't be able to listen but perhaps some of you can tune into your local (or even better distant) NPR station for the program. (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, WTFDA via DXLD) According to the Science Friday web site it will run from 2-4 PM EDT today. The DTV discussion will be on during the first hour. I will be listening thru the KQED web site. http://www.kqed.org/listen/live/wm/kqedradio.asx (Mike Glass, Indy, ibid.) There are a great many other stations carrying it on webcast, 1806- 1900 UT Friday, and the show should be available ondemand indefinitely http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90289705 It`s only the first segment of four, not the whole hour, 12 minutes and pretty superficial. Guest is a real booster, refers to ``terrible, fuzzy, analog`` compared to ``crystal clear digital``. The few callers who got in did bring up the usual problems with DTV reception. See also: http://www.sciencefriday.com/ Guest: Megan Pollock, Senior Manager, Communications, Consumer Electronics Association, Washington, DC (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DTV MEANS THE END OF AUDIBLE ANALOG TV AUDIO ON RADIOS Bruce Elving wrote the guest editorial for February 2008 at the Audiophile Audition site. The article concerns digital TV and the impending loss of TV audio services, such as the ability to tune in Channel 6 at 87.7 on an FM radio, the soon demise of the SAP and Pro channels, and the loss of TV sound from TV audio radios. The audaud website is run by John Sunier. Elving and Sunier were students together at the University of Iowa in the late 1950s. The article is still viewable at http://www.audaud.com/article.php?ArticleID=3760 (May FMedia! via DXLD) DENVER DTV: see U S A NYC IBOC DECODED IN PEI History made tonight??? Quite possibly the first time in the History of PEI??? Radio reception in HD Radio. 660 WFAN NYC NY in HD. Yes, the flashing blue LED on the Radiosophy went steady, there was a second or two delay, suddenly the hockey game went into stereo with better top end. I pressed the "enter" button on the HD-100 and I got scrolling info, WFAN 660 HD, New York, pressed enter again and got a scrolling telephone number. WFAN stayed in HD for about 10 minutes, then dropped out and back to analogue. I must say, it did sound good. Just seconds ago, it did a little dance, X1J or something like that flashed up, and it`s back in HD. You can imagine my surprise as I have been trying for this since September 2007. This morning IBOC the Dragon was doing cartwheels in the car. The kids just thought iBiquity's spokesdragon had too much coffee. I'm assuming that this is a PEI first because very few Islanders would be nutty enough to import an HD radio and fewer still would go to the trouble of impedance matching the radio so it would work with a pretty amazing antenna. With the exception of the fact that it is limited to 10 KHz spacing, the HD-100 is a very hot receiver with this setup. The sound quality had a slight digital artifacts ring to it. I'm sure most of the under 30 population would associate that sound with "hi- tech". Other than that, the sound quality was outstanding and the stereo separation was extremely impressive. I thought I was at the game. 880 WCBS got close to locking, as did 710 WOR and 1030 WBZ. Tom Ray needs to start sprinkling used coffee grounds around the WOR transmitter site. I suspect to see that in an upcoming edition of "Everyday with Tom Ray" magazine. I did change my antenna setup slightly very recently. When I got my LF Engineering M601C, I got the BNC connector option. Recently I installed a ground rod directly underneath with a wire and a clip leading up to the antenna - the clip clips on over the BNC connection. I applied DeOxit to all contacts and this is all hidden in the shed. The result - a reduction in powerline distributed noise of about 2 S units, not bad. And, an increase in weak daytime groundwave coverage of about 2 S units - referenced to 250 watt CFGN Port-aux-basques NL at well over 200 miles away. Well worth the effort. I have rigged up a more permanent grounding cable featuring 6 guage insulated wire and a big honking battery charger type alligator clip, to replace the temporary 14 gauge wire (Phil Rafuse, VY2PR, Stratford PEI, Canada, May 8, ABDX via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Good riddance BPL BROADBAND SERVICE OVER POWER LINES IN TEXAS TO SHUT DOWN May 7, 4:47 PM (ET) By PETER SVENSSON NEW YORK (AP) - Goodbye, broadband over power lines. We hardly knew you. Once touted as a possible third option for home broadband that could compete with phone and cable companies, the idea of providing Internet service over power lines now looks like it has died in infancy. A Texas utility company said last week that it is taking control of the equipment that was to be used in the largest planned U.S. deployment of broadband over power lines, or BPL - and won't be using it to provide Internet service. Oncor Electric Delivery Co., the Dallas-based distribution arm of former TXU Corp., said it will buy the network from BPL technology provider Current Group LLC of Germantown, Md. The network was to offer Internet service to 2 million electricity customers through their wall outlets. Instead, Oncor will use the data capabilities of the network to monitor the electric grid. "Our business is delivering electricity, not being an Internet provider or a television provider," said Oncor spokesman Chris Schein. Other BPL trials have met with similar fates, though a few are still in operation. Compared to coaxial cables and copper phone lines, power lines are poor conduits for data. Some deployments also met fierce legal resistance from ham radio operators, who found that BPL created radio interference. The Federal Communications Commission was a booster of BPL. FCC commissioner - now chairman - Kevin Martin said in 2004 that the technology had the potential to become an Internet solution "throughout the United States." Yet the FCC found only 4,776 BPL subscribers in the country at the end of 2006, the latest figures it has published (via Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, May 8, WTFDA via DXLD) ###