DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-097, September 3, 2008 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2008 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1424 Wed 0530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1130 WRMI 9955 Wed 2100 WBCQ 15420-CUSB Thu 0530 WRMI 9955 Thu 1430 WRMI 9955 Thu 2330 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0100 WRMI 9955 Fri 0800 WRMI 9955 Fri 1930 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Fri 2300 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 [NEW] Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sat 2000 WRMI 9955 [NEW] Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 Sun 2030 WRMI 9955 [NEW] Mon 2200 WBCQ 7415 [temporary, heard Sept 1] Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** ABKHAZIA & SOUTH OSSETIA. Abkhazia Radio Sukhumi 9495.45 ... .60 kHz. ex-Georgia, oder noch immer? Was 'sieht' man den bei den Perseus- Juengern im Bereich 9495.45 ... .60? Ich hoere leidlich Abkhazia Radio Sukhumi, aber mir kommt das Signal auch mit der SYNC Funktion wie auf zwei ueberlappende Traeger aufgepfropft vor. Aug 29, 1600-1620 UT (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 29) Auf der abchasischen Frequenz 9494.8 kHz wird ab 0500 UTC (auch noch um 0600 hoerbar) wieder Radio Rossi uebertragen, bis dann scheint das Programm aus Abchasien zu kommen (Erich Bergmann-D, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 1) Apsua Radio war in Russisch auf 9494.76 kHz um 1400 UTC mit ID "Apsua Radio" & "Radio Respublika Abchasiya", Schlagzeilen, diversen kurzen Beitraegen und Folklore zu hoeren. SINPO 23432 (Patrick Robic-AUT, A- DX Aug 30) 9494.74 - Heute 30. Aug. um 1540-1600 UT gehoert: R Abkhasia Sukhumi in Russisch, staerker als gestern, und mit anderem Sender? auf ueblicher QRG, etwas unterhalb 9495 kHz. Ob die QSL Route funktioniert: Abkhazia via Sochi, Russia ?? (wb, Aug 30) QSL routing. From yesterday German FIRST TV program: in an interview Prime Minister Putin denied that Abkhazia and South Ossetia will become part of Russia - like til 1918 year .... only Russian troops will still occupy these Georgian areas for security reason and protect Russian nationals which settled there. Russian goal is to withdraw gambler hasardeur Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili soon ... Probably QSL routing Try Abkhazia: via Sochi, Russia Try Southern Ossetia: via Vladikavkaz, Northern Ossetia, Russia (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 30, all via DXLD) ** ALGERIA. Re 8-096, ENRS transmitter at Tipaza has moved from 252 to 250 kHz, first noted yesterday, as reported at http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,616859 Maybe a temporary crystal control problem during summer heat up to 40 C in Algeria, but back on 252 kHz exact on Sept 3rd (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, BC-DX via DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. USA(non) Updated A-08 of Radio Free Asia: BURMESE 0030-0130 13820 13865 17835 0300-0400 11605 17830 1230-1330 7390 9320 13675 1330-1400 7390 9320 11540 1400-1430 7390 9320 1630-1730 7505 9305 1730-1830 7505 9300 CANTONESE 1400-1500 7280 11595 2200-2300 9355 11715 11785 KHMER 1230-1330 12140 15525 2230-2330 7580 13740 12075 KOREAN 1500-1700 1350 5870 7210 7490 1700-1800 1350 5870 7465 9370 1800-1900 1350 5870 7210 7465 2100-2200 1350 7460 9385 9770 12075 LAOTIAN 0000-0100 15545 15690 1100-1200 9355 15560 MANDARIN 0300-0600 13760 15130 15635 15680 17615 17880 21550 21690 0600-0700 13760 15165 15635 15680 17615 17880 21550 1500-1600 9455 9905 11540 12005 12025 13675 15495 1600-1700 9455 9905 11540 11795 12025 13675 15530 1700-1800 7260 7280 9355 9455 9540 9905 11540 11795 13625 1800-1900 7280 7355 9355 9455 9540 9865 11540 11700 13625 1900-2000 1098 7260 7355 9355 9455 9850 9865 9905 11700 11785 13625 15510 2000-2100 1098 7260 7355 9355 9455 9850 9905 11700 11740 11785 13625 2100-2200 1098 7105 7355 9850 9905 11740 11935 13625 2300-2400 7540 11760 11785 15430 15485 15585 TIBETAN 0100-0300 9365 11695 11975 15225 17730 0600-0700 17510 17780 21500 21690 1000-1100 15460 17750 21510 1100-1200 7470 13830 15375 17750 1200-1400 7470 11590 11605 13830 15375 1500-1600 9370 11550 11585 11795 2200-2300 5865 7500 9880 2300-2400 7470 7500 9805 9875 UIGHUR 0100-0200 9350 9490 11895 11945 17640 1600-1700 9350 9370 9555 11750 VIETNAMESE 1400-1430 1503 9455 9715 11605 11680 12140 1430-1500 9455 9715 11605 11680 12140 2330-2400 7520 11580 11605 13740 15535 15560 0000-0030 7525 11580 11605 13740 15535 15560 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 3 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. Hola Amigos! Gracias al PC del amigo Simo Soininen localizado en su habitacion desde Kajaani a 500 km al norte desde Helsinki puedo informar de lo siguente: La escucha desde su casita muy bonita, localizada a 19 km al este de Kajaani ofrecen fantásticas cazas en la Onda Media, para mi "TERUN" diexista de Italia, utilizando un GRUNDIG SATELITE 500 Internacional y filo de rame de 200 metros dirección ESTE. Aquí unos exemplos de las cazas más interesantes para mi personal opinion: 02 september 1620, 0235-0255, AM 690 Mar del Plata, news reportero del día asunto dedicado a Rodolfo Galimberti y abusos sexuales 1630, 0245-0310, AM RESTAURACION, HURLINGHAM, "Una radio con mucho amor", IDs, programación religiosa 1660, 0255-0315, Radio HOSANNA AM, Ezeiza, Música religiosa, rare IDs. 1690, 0305-0310, AM APOCALIPSIS II, San Justo, 1 kW, locuras en Castellano 1669.5, 0308-0320, Radio BETHEL, Banfield, religious messages 1640, 0312-0317, VERY BAD MODULTATION, presumed Radio Bolivia, B. Aires, talks in Castellano 1666, 0322-0327, UNID Argentina, religious talks no stop. All with QRK 2-3 except 1620 kHz QRK 3-4 !!!!!!!! A verdadera abiertura a la area de LA PLATA con Solar flux 66 !!!!! Arnaldito, puedes revisar estas emisoras si son correctamente reportadas?? Gracias Arnaldito!!! Muy buenas cazas DXs! (Dario Monferini & Simo Soininen desde la Selva de Kajani, Finlandia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA, HAWAII, JAPAN. Sept 2 at 1313 I ran across some VOLMET = aviation weather broadcasts on SSB, first on 6679 including Narita, by a YL robot, until 1314* with ``Tokyo, out``. Recheck at 1328, some VOLMET had returned to frequency, but weaker and not sure if same station, as several rotate each semihour on same frequency. 6676 nearby had more VOLMET, 1332 about Adelaide, Darwin, by another YL voice, stronger than 6679. 1333 think I heard ``Sydney, VOLMET out.`` Then at 1334 back on 6679 there was a male voice who did not sound like a robot --- if so, much better done than the others; included Honolulu and at 1335 ``All stations, this is Honolulu Radio.`` The log at http://www.shortwavemonitor.com/05-10.htm is not too helpful, since it does not include Tokyo or Honolulu on 6679, just Auckland and Hong Kong; but does have Sydney on 6676 as VJN385, along with Bangkok and Singapore. That site tho lengthy is not meant to be a comprehensive reference, but rather depends on what someone actually logged in Jan-Feb-March of this year. I have not tried to hunt up complete VOLMET schedules (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. Re 8-096: ORF and other relays via Moosbrunn remain regular on air again Sept 3rd. Due of annual maintenance on the antennas with truck-mounted cranes, which contain sensitive electronic control circuits, the whole site was switched off for safety on Sept 1st/2nd (Herbert Meixner, Austria, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 3 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Lunedì 4 agosto era il giorno del tour radiofonico di Vienna. Già alle 9.30 del mattino era davanti alla palazzina sede del Documentation Center dell'ORF – Osterreich Rundfunk, l'ente radiotelevisivo di stato austriaco, situato a non più di 400 metri dal mio hotel. Avevo fissato un appuntamento col suo curatore Wolf Harranth il quale mi riceveva con straordinaria cordialità e illustrava l'enorme quantità di documentazione radiofonica li raccolta; si và dalle QSL radioamatoriali degli anni '20 e '30, alle QSL di Radio Milano International firmate da Dario Monferini, dai WRTH degli anni '50 alle raccolte di CQ Elettronica degli anni '70. Ed ogni giorno giungono nuovi materiali da classificare, archiviare e conservare. Al termine della visita lo stesso Wolf mi accompagnava agli studi radiofonici dell' ORF situati proprio in fronte al Documentation Center. L'ORF attiva 4 programmi nazionali, O1, O3, FM4 e Radio 1476, i primi tre in modulazione di frequenza e l'ultimo, durante le ore serali, sull'onda media di 1476 kHz ove può essere sintonizzato senza problemi anche in Italia. Oltre ai programmi nazionali vi sono anche 9 programmi regionali unicamente in FM ed un servizio per l'estero, Radio Austria Internazionale sulle onde corte che oggi è unicamente una ritrasmissione di O1 con anche brevi notiziari in inglese e spagnolo. La frequenza che durante le ore diurne e serali nè permette una perfetta ricezione anche in Italia è quella di 6155 kHz nella banda dei 49 metri. Al termine della visita agli studi andavo al vicino Shop dell´ORF ove acquistavo una T-shirt di FM4 e mi facevo omaggiare di un po' di adesivi (Roberto Pavanello, with Dario Monferini, from an extensive report on a trip from Italy to the Arctic Circle, visiting mostly MW and FM stations, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. RADIO BOTSWANA RE-BRANDING --- By Kehumile Kgosisejo http://www.mcst.gov.bw/dailynews/newsdetails.php?id=10183 GABORONE - Branding of the state-owned Radio Botswana is expected to commence on September 1, 2008. The branding is aimed at strengthening the station's programmes to put it in a better position to effectively compete with other radio stations. Speaking in an interview, Radio Botswana Station Manager, Mrs Margaret Modise said the station had enjoyed monopoly of the airwaves for several years and therefore there was need for branding to help it compete with upcoming stations. She said this was not the first time the station is branded, except that this time the branding would be applied to continuity programming to make the radio station more interesting. "At least if one has a presenter of his/her choice she/he will be able to listen or follow her at all times", she said. She said the changes include having one presenter per shift, phasing out the schools broadcast in the afternoon and changing slots for other programmes. She further said the change in slots was prompted by the mini programmes review that they have done. Despite the high demand by the business community to buy airtime, Mrs Modise said there was no way they could sell airtime because Radio Botswana is a public entity and its mandate is to serve the public for free. "RB 2 our sister station is available to sell airtime", she said. She said they have made the necessary preparations for this branding. She said they have selected their core presenters and producers to be in charge of the branding. She also said they have carried along their stakeholders so everyone was aware of such an arrangement. However, Mrs Modise said they were faced with several challenges such as shortage of staff and the upcoming general elections. "We also know we will be having some presenters going on leave and sick offs in between which is normal though and this might hamper our endeavor but it is our passion to maintain this branding for ever", she said. Radio Botswana started as Radio Bechuanaland in 1965 before it got its current name on September 30, 1966. RB 2 was introduced in April 1992 to cater for the youth and business sector. -- (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, DXLD) Phew, I smell the spoor of a consultant. If they were really dedicated to public service non-commercial broadcasting, they wouldn`t be worried about ``branding``, the precise definition of which in this sense is not really clear (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CKXR-580 Salmon Arm BC silent? The CRTC announced today that on May 8 of this year it had extended the simulcast period on AM of CKXR-580 Salmon Arm BC, which moved to FM some time ago, to August 27 2008. See Item 5, Appendix 2: In theory this means that CKXR should now be silent, in fact I have not heard them for some time (they often came in well here in Calgary in the null of CKUA). Can anyone confirm that they are in fact off for good? 73, (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, Sept 3, IRCA via DXLD) Yes, see DXLD 8-095 (gh, ibid.) CKXR used to be a regular here, but now I hear CKUA [Edmonton], so I presume they are indeed gone. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks to Wayne Heinen and Glenn Hauser who responded to my question - yes, it seems that CKXR is gone for good on AM, effective August 27. Now that they and CKY are gone, CKUA will have 580 to themselves in western Canada, with the exception of the low power special event station in Winnipeg. Some years ago CKUA was silent for a few months while they got their affairs in order and KMJ was one of the stations heard well here in Calgary - they were 5 kW-U ND in those days. 73, (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO Calgary AB, (wondering what he will log in the null of CKUA now), IRCA via DXLD) ** CANADA. CJLO 1690 news --- From the AM blog on station's website: "Our test started off just as we expected it would. The transmitter was left online for a 24-hour period and did not catch fire or explode once. The very first stage of the test was to find out what effect the long-term activity would have on the transmitter. We found that it ran hot, but within acceptable levels. We also found that there was some minor interference with the second harmonic. In very basic terms, the second harmonic is a frequency that is mathematically related to 1690 AM, and as such, we broadcast on that frequency as well. Since we don't have CRTC permission to do so, we must take steps at the transmitter level to cancel out this secondary signal. Our initial early pre-tests showed that it was within acceptable levels of quietness (around -80 dB), but after a day of being on, the transmitter got a little loose with the 2nd harmonic. Right now, our AM guy is adding some new capacitors and other electronic gear to create a "trap" for this second harmonic signal in order to definitely bring the output down below -80 dB. It should be done today, but we have to wait for Industry Canada to confirm that our changes work properly before we can go back on the air for a continued period of time. Check back on Tuesday to hear more 1690AM in Montreal and environs." It is now 3:25 on Tuesday afternoon and they are back on again. Very good signal in Ottawa. Some fading, but this is the best signal I've heard yet. Let's see if they'll actually leave it on the air overnight (J. Nielsen, neofoodog, ABDX via DXLD) So, go after their harmonic on 3380, in case not adequately suppressed! Were there any unIDs there already? (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake Sept 3 at 1343 on 13710, a new frequency. I suspect it responds to another unpredictable jump by a tiny Sound of Hope transmitter in Taiwan, formerly on 13750, where there was no FD now. Unfortunately, 13710 is already occupied by AIR GOS via Bangalore in English to SE Asia, and even by CRI via Kashi in French to Europe, as listed by Aoki which as of this date has not yet inserted SOH/FD on 13710, but who knows, it may be gone by tomorrow (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. R. Rebelde 710 vs WOR, IBOC: see U S A ** CUBA. 13680: Twenty-three days after we first discovered RHC`s new 19 mb frequencies in the mornings, 15360 and 15120, Sept 3 at 1400, live announcer, the woman, this time, is still in the dark and keeps announcing the abandoned ones, 9550 and 11805 instead, in the regular frequency listing which varies a minute or two around this hour, and we know it`s live because an accurate UT -4 timecheck immediately follows. And this is despite the fact that Arnie confirmed the new frequencies just one day later, Aug 12 on DXers Unlimited. Scenario: there are hidden layers of bureaucracy at RHC, so Arnie or some other tech in the know can`t just tell the announcers to change the script immediately. It has to be approved by this gal and that guy, including the censors, who must vet every word ultimately read on the air, and the announcers are not allowed to deviate, even if they know something is inaccurate. Or possibly they just don`t give a damn (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also ROMANIA ** CZECHOSLOVAKIA. RADIO DURING AND FOLLOWING THE SOVIET INVASION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA IN 1968 Special Feature: Compiled by MIKE BARRACLOUGH =================================================== The August 1968 edition of Contact included these loggings of Radio Free Prague on shortwave which was on the air following the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia on August 21: . 6043 at 2025 August 22, Italian news, jammed, announcing 6043 . 6050 at 1030 August 25 in various languages . 6070 at 2020 August 22, Czech talk, jammer, also on 6055 . 11990 at 0200 August 23 with Czech identification The medium wave logbook had these logs: . Radio Pilsen with talk in Czech on 272 at 2045 August 21 heard in Germany . Unidentified Czech stations on 638 at 2055 and on 701 at 2150 August 24 heard in Germany, the one on 638 with classical music as well as Czech talk, 701 just had Czech talk. The same programme as 638 was also carried on 1097 and 1232. 1286 was in parallel to 701, Radio Moscow noted on the same frequency. . Radio Free Moravia on 953 at 2345 August 25 heard in Rochdale, SINPO 54444 with programme in English . 3 Czech stations noted in Germany on 953 from 2015 August 23, one probably Radio Free Budejovice . Radio Prague heard on 1286 in Rochdale August 21 at 1925 with news in English, German and Russian. On August 23 the same reporter, John Coates, heard them announcing as Czech Free Radio at 2300 with SINPO 53443. A heavy over-modulated jamming transmitter was broadcasting Radio Moscow on the same channel. The club had an active Czech member and the following was published in Contact: Many members are in touch with Jan Petrzilka, our member in Prague. News was recently received that Jan would be grateful if those members in contact with him would be patient, and wait until they hear from Jan before getting in touch with him again. DX News for September had a report from an anonymous reporter, presumably Jan, that Radio Vltava, believed located in East Germany, was operating on 1430 in Czech with Warsaw Pact propaganda programming, also since September 11 Radio Moscow's Mayak programming was being relayed on 1250 from a transmitter located near Prague. It also reported on Radio Station of the Polish People's Army on the territory of Czechoslovakia, BBC World Radio Club reported this station in Polish 0600 to 0830 and then in Czech/Slovak to 0900 and again in Czech/Slovak 1930-2000 on 7280, located in Poland. Communications World scripts from February 2001 have some listener memories: Jim Gordon in Dundee, Scotland tuned in to Radio Prague on 1232 kilohertz medium wave: Back in 1968, both my radio and tape recorder were in such poor condition that I have only memories rather than recordings from that era. I remember that from the mid-1960s, Radio Prague had a lighter, more personal sound than the external services of the other European Communist countries. I was not surprised, then, when country began liberalizing its own Communist system. On August 20th, 1968, Warsaw Pact forces invaded Czechoslovakia. That evening, UTC August 21st, at one Universal Time, I tuned to the English Service of Radio Prague. Instead of that usual "Forward Left" interval signal, I heard a march tune in the minutes before the broadcast. The broadcast itself made no mention of the invasion. It must have been recorded before the invasion began. The next evening, and for several days afterwards, Radio Prague did not broadcast, at least not on shortwave frequencies that I was able to hear. Eventually, the English Service did resume. The announcers thanked listeners for their messages of concern and support. And they said that the Warsaw Pact forces were not invited. After a few more days, I heard new voices on the English Service of Radio Prague. The content returned to the old, dull, hardline Communist rhetoric. Klaus Nindel was in the Army of East Germany back in 1968. In the GDR, the 7th armored division, based in Dresden (in which I was a reserve signal corps officer) and the 11th motorized infantry division, based in Halle, were ordered to staging areas. The Soviet 20th Guard armored division, based near Dresden, took a position near the Czechoslovak border. This movement I will not forget, because the tanks were driven during the night through Dresden. This Soviet tank division crossed the Czechoslovak border at August 20th between 22.30 and midnight local time. But, unexpectedly, thank God, there was no action command for the GDR troops! We remained in our staging area many weeks after the invasion. Klaus sent in an audio clip of the special station Radio Moldau, known in Czech-Slovak as "Vlatava," which transmitted from East Germany to Czechoslovakia from April 21st, 1968, to February 12th 1969. It broadcast on 1431 kilohertz, using a 250 kilowatt transmitter that usually operated on 1044 kilohertz. Jim Gordon said in that next edition that he enjoyed listening to the audio clip and remembered listening during that time to Radio Free Prague, which described itself as "The Legitimate Voice Coming from Occupied Czechoslovakia." Radio Free Prague said that Radio Vlatava broadcast in very bad Czech-Slovak, and that nobody listened. Jim's listening to international radio in 1968 encouraged him to pursue a degree in East European studies and to study Russian. Paul David in London was 15 at the time of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968. He remembers hearing Radio Prague on 1286 kilohertz on August 21st, the day of the invasion, and the anxious tone of the English-language announcers. Don Moore had an article published in Monitoring Times in August 1993 about the 1968 events in Prague. He said that Soviet troops surrounded the Prague Radio station building Vinohrodska Street at 8 a.m. Local residents set up barricades but the troops smashed through the barricades at 11 a.m and the station went off the air. A few of the station staff, including Director Karel Hrabal, stayed at the microphone until they were arrested; however most of the technicians, announcers and reporters slipped away and within half an hour of Radio Prague's closedown a clandestine anti-Soviet broadcaster came on the air. Gradually many more followed in other parts of the country. They provided moral support for the resistance and as they became more organised, began to orchestrate it. Surprisingly the Soviets concentrated on closing down Czechoslovak radio studios and did not occupy key long and medium wave transmitter sites. Radio technicians set up make-shift studios and connected them to the usual high powered transmitters on normal frequencies thus allowing BBC Caversham to record almost all of the key output of the first few days of the invasion. The transmitter sites were occupied a few days later. The clandestine stations began using amateur transmitters and ones from the Czech military. A clandestine network was formed with up to 19 stations broadcasting for fifteen minutes at a time on the same frequency with messages for the resistance. Numbered codes were given at the end of each broadcast so that the next station could be ready to come on the air. The transmitters were moved to new sites between each broadcast. The network operated 24 hours a day; in some cases they made live broadcasts from streets or parks with watchful citizens looking out for Soviet troops. The clandestine stations also aimed broadcasts at listeners abroad with broadcasts in Russian, Polish, Ruthenian, Hungarian, Romany, German, French, and English. When appeals in Russian for the soldiers to go home were broadcast, listeners took their transistor radios out into the streets and held them up so that the soldiers could hear. Most of the broadcasts were on medium wave but some including Radio Bratislava were on shortwave. Radio Prague 7345 and 11990 frequencies were taken over by Radio Free Prague with lower power clandestine equipment. Don confirms that just hours after the invasion, Radio Vltava came on 210 meters, claiming to be a Czechoslovak station and justifying the invasion as the will of the Czechoslovak people. The broadcasts, however, were in Russian-accented Czech and broken Slovak. The free radios announced Radio Vltava's frequency to their listeners and invited them to listen to it for amusement. Radio Vltava was actually located in East Germany, and eventually its frequency was taken over by Radio Berlin International. Roger Tidy reported to Clandestine Radio Watch that it took over the frequency of OPS Berlin. I found an article by Lea Sevcik in the Concord Review stating that the Russians tried to broadcast Radio Vlatava over loudspeakers in Wenceslas Square, each time it was drowned out by whistling, a very public failure. Don Moore says that at least three other Soviet operated clandestines broadcast briefly to Czechoslovakia; one was a black station, Vysilac Zare (Dawn Transmitter), which pretended to be pro-Dubcek but was spreading disinformation. He says that the Soviets attempted to shut the clandestine stations down but found it difficult to trace them as they had no direction finding equipment. They then tried to bring jamming transmitters from Poland to Prague; the resistance found out and Czech engineers refused to run the trains bringing the equipment in from the border. When compliant engineers were found, someone cut the electric line powering the train, delaying it still more. They then found a government list of registered hams and began shutting them down one by one; several had been relaying the broadcasts. Direction finding equipment arrived, they began to shut down stations and several closed of their own accord. The last station on 950 kHz near the Austrian border was closed on August 29. Much more detail and analysis in the full article at: http://tinyurl.com/634g6j I found two articles in the Times archive about clandestine radio during this period:. On August 24 they reported that the radios were being slowly silenced. Some of the clandestine transmitters were probably in vans and always on the move. A station calling itself Ruzyne, transmitting a weak and muffled voice, broadcast a long list of Czechoslovaks who, it said, were collaborating with Russian authorities. A personal message by the last broadcaster heard from the station warned the people of Prague to expect a big round-up. Now everybody must think for himself ", the voice said. Minutes later the station died away. Confirming Don Moore's article, one monitored in Vienna appealed to Czechoslovak railwaymen to delay a Russian train carrying radar and tracking equipment near Olomouc, a garrison town, 100 miles east of Prague, and appeared to have had an immediate success. The station's first message, describing the position of the train and the nature of its cargo, said: " It stands to reason, and we say this to all our railwaymen, that the longer this train takes the better. I repeat: in the direction towards Olomouc, or perhaps already in the Olomouc area, there is a train loaded with target finding equipment and radio transmitters and radar. There is no interest in the free passage, or accelerated passage, of this train." Some time later the radio station said: "The train, No. 5599, which is travelling in the direction of Prague, has stopped and is stationary near Ceska Trebova. It has been reported to us by the railwaymen at Hradec Kralove, and it means that the railwaymen have done a good job. We thank you, comrades." Amateur radio operators in Britain had received several radio messages for Czechoslovak students in this country from their families in Czechoslovakia. An official of the Radio Society of Great Britain, said: "We are passing all these messages to the police or Red Cross, as we are not allowed to relay them ourselves." The Times on August 27 ran an article starting "This is Radio Free Prague, broadcasting from occupied Czechoslovakia. This is the sixth day of occupation." You could hear these words yesterday corning in clear as a bell in central London on an ordinary radio in the 49 metre band (short wave) --- in English on 10 minutes past the hour and in Spanish, French, German, Italian and Russian as well, at different times. They were followed by a newscast each time. A score of Czech and Slovak stations could also be heard in this country on medium wave. There was nothing clandestine about the quality of these broadcasts. All had a normal, strong professional signal. How could they continue for so long in a tightly occupied country ?" It went on to report that two Radio Moscow correspondents had described in great details a station in Nitra. They claimed that the door was cut inconspicuously in a hillside somewhere in the country which opened into an armoured tunnel; beyond the tunnel a corridor led into a huge ball. In there was a spacious modern transmitting studio, a large record library and a recreation area. The transmitting gear was mostly foreign and some West German in origin. The journalists said that this was proof that the whole installation had been set up by counter revolutionaries with Western aid in preparation for the recent events. As The Times commented it would hardly have been possible to build the radio centre during the few months Dubcek was in power and that the description suggested that it was an emergency station designed to withstand a nuclear attack. The Russians may have come across this station by chance, the Radio Moscow correspondents reported sadly that all the broadcasters had escaped through another secret tunnel in the hillside. In the House of Lords debate August 26, Earl Jellicoe praised "the skill by which the Czechs have managed to keep their internal radio transmissions going." Lord Bethel said that: "Last Friday night I heard an appeal on Radio Free Prague asking trade unionists to boycott all Soviet means of transport." And that he was "surprised to learn to-day that the BBC has done very little in the way of stepping up its broadcasts to Eastern Europe. We broadcast four hours a day to the Soviet Union, and in the past week we have not increased this time. Our broadcasts to Czechoslovakia have been increased by three-quarters of an hour per day. Some of your Lordships may feel that this is not enough, and some of you may also feel that the BBC should be better equipped to deal with this sort of emergency. In recent years there has been a run-down on the BBC's external services; the money that is given to the external services is begrudged because there is no palpable financial return on the money provided. We cannot, of course, estimate what good the BBC external service broadcasts do to our reputation, but I would suggest that it is considerably larger than some of us may imagine." Radio Prague on August 19 had a feature on August 17 entitled An illusion of normality: Liz Skelton remembers Radio Prague after the invasion. Liz Skelton, a 24 year old English woman, joined the staff of Radio Prague just days after the invasion. She says; "Well, it was a little impulsive. I had a friend in England who was half Czech and half English, and when the Russians invaded in August of 1968, he had to make a significant decision, which was whether to come back to live in Czechoslovakia, with the risk that he couldn't leave again, or stay in England. He decided to come back and I decided to come with him, not knowing how long I would end up staying. I thought I might be here for a few weeks. It was impulsive, but it turned out to be a very interesting time. I ended up staying for nearly two years." Her boyfriend, Pavel, had worked part time at the radio and wanted to continue. Liz had no broadcasting experience but there was a vacancy at the English section and she was given a job following a microphone test. If any club members have recordings of Radio Prague from 1968 and 1969 and come across Liz Skelton's voice Radio Prague would be delighted if you could send them a copy. The feature can be listened to or read as text at http://www.radio.cz/en/article/107142 The feature started with an identification from Radio Prague at the time: "This is Radio Prague Czechoslovakia broadcasting continuously in English, French, German and Italian as well as Czech and bringing you late news bulletins and reports as we receive them of the situation here in occupied Czechoslovakia". There has been much information and memories of the events posted online last month, these from the DX Listening Digest Yahoo group: Roger Tidy, UK --- We are approaching the fortieth anniversary of the day that Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia, a day that I can remember as if it were yesterday. I was in those days a regular listener to Radio Prague's English service for Britain as well as its (slicker) North American Service and, occasionally, its Afro-Asian Service. I had followed the events of the Prague Spring with great interest. In particular I can remember a daily feature that ran all through the late spring and early summer entitled "What's Going on in Czechoslovakia?". When Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia it was as if I had been attacked personally. I can remember even now the first news I heard of the event, at 07.00 BST, when the BBC announced as the first headline of its morning bulletin that "Russian troops have invaded Czechoslovakia". I spent as much time as I could that day trying to hear everything that was coming out of Czechoslovakia. In the evening, on Radio Prague's regular medium-wave channel (which in those days was used for the service to the UK) I heard one of the station's regular announcers, George Hara, translating live reports he was receiving from CTK, the official news agency. He was obviously broadcasting from a makeshift studio and the normal language schedule had been scrapped in favour of short segments in many of Radio Prague's languages. I later read that they had been using emergency facilities that had been created in case of a war with the West but I do not know if this was indeed the case. The next day George was off the air and a number of his colleagues took over, this time on shortwave from low-power transmitters but on the normal Prague frequencies. I recognised one of the voices as being that of Radio Prague's American-accented science correspondent Milan Brod. At one point, the low-powered transmitter was blotted out by the main Radio Prague transmitter coming back on the air with the announcement "This is Prague, Czechoslovakia testing" along with the normal Prague interval signal. There was also Soviet-bloc jamming on some of the Prague frequencies. But perhaps my strongest memory is of an urgent appeal by the station for listeners to pass on a message to the CTK office in London, which I can still remember said, probably in some sort of code, that "At home and at Yikars everything is OK'. I duly passed on this message, via Scotland Yard, and was later visited by a police officer who thanked me for doing so. The occupation of Czechoslovakia, I remember, led to many changes at Radio Prague. For one thing, its newly created Swahili service was scrapped and, as far as I know, never returned and many familiar voices disappeared from the English services, among them Karl Greggor, an excellent announcer in the North American Service. But it took some time for the station to be fully 'normalised', to use a buzzword of the time. One year later, on August 21, 1969 an as-yet unpurged host of the programme beamed to Britain made a point of opening the programme by giving the date, something which was never done normally. In such ways, while they were still able, many of the announcers continued to drop hints about their feelings concerning what was happening to their country. These memories and feelings will stay with me for the rest of my life. Chris, WDX3HLB --- I was listening to Radio Prague the night that it happened, and I wish I had had my tape recorder running at the time. The announcer stated that Warsaw Pact forces had crossed the border. Then they played the national anthem, and after that the carrier went dead. Jari Savolainen, Finland --- There were several clandestine stations operating for a few days on shortwave in Czechoslovakia. I scanned the bands and managed to hear some. These were low-powered, broadcast mainly in Czech and were mostly jammed. Frequencies (variable) 7330 and 12000 were used among others. Sergei Sosedkin, Illinois --- Those might have been coming from outside of the country with Czechoslovak troops as intended audience. Some recordings I heard were in Czech-accented Russian, addressing the "Soviet officers and soldiers." The intelligence services and military from various countries were heavily involved in those events. As a brief excursus, here's what I learned from Radio Liberty broadcasts. In 1956, Radio Liberation actively used military frequencies to address the Soviet troops in Hungary. Also, the station would carry relays of the Russian programmes prepared by the clandestine radio allegedly from Hungary. Before the realpolitik times, FRG-based Radio Free Russia carried similar broadcasts targeting the Soviet military personnel in GDR (also on various military frequencies). In the fall of 1962, during a Cuban crisis, CIA arranged for an AM station somewhere in North or South Carolina to carry special Russian programmes for the "Soviet troops" in Cuba. When Radio Liberty turned 40, it carried excerpts from those broadcasts and even gave a call-sign for an affiliate station. Now I can't remember what was it but it wasn't a clear channel station nor was it Florida-based. There might have been shortwave frequencies, as well. On its site Hoover Institution simply states that Radio Liberty "prepared to broadcast Russian-language newscasts to Cuba in the hope of reaching Soviet civilians and military personnel stationed there." [WBT 1110 Charlotte comes to mind --- gh] Kai Ludwig, Germany --- I have a recording of an East German report at the time. It starts with a recording of some West German broadcast and says: "This is the voice of counterrevolution". and continues "At 12 AM an announcer of a so-called Czechoslovak Station Northern Bohemia Two was on air in the 41 metre band. After he had closed down the American station Radio Free Europe broadcast at 13:30 on exactly the same frequency news in Czech language." I also have a recording of Radio Vltava on 1430 which starts with a clear mention of "German Democratic Republic", appearing to be an open announcement of the station's location. The announcer struggles with the Czech (or Slovak) language. I also have recordings of two Radio Prague announcements. The first one says that "we're broadcasting alternately in German, English, French and Italian language to report about the developments in our country, stay tuned". The second one, apparently later and maybe no longer from the Vinohradska studios, reads "This is Radio Prague, the free, legitimate station of Czechoslovak radio; we broadcast continuously in German, English, French, Russian, Italian, Spanish and Czech alternately in the shortwave range from 49 to 51 metres, that's 6100 to 5800 kHz". Sergei Sosedkin, Illinois --- The Vltava recording says: "from German Democratic Republic. We are broadcasting daily on the wave of 210 meters or 1430 kHz at 5 in the morning and 18:30 in Slovak language and at 5:30 and 18 in Czech language. This is radio broadcasting station Vltava calling! This is radio broadcasting station Vltava calling! We are broadcasting on the wave of 210 meters or 1430 kHz in Czech and Slovak language." Jari Savolainen, Finland --- The West German weekly magazine, Stern, under the headline, Voices out of the Dark, said in its September 8 edition that the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) were suspected of being involved in the Czech stations. A West German TV reporter in Prague has paid a visit to a children`s hospital which, according to one of the clandestine stations, had been destroyed by gunfire. He had found the hospital undamaged. It was thought the radio station was being operated by the Bundeswehr within West Germany. Two days after the invasion, Neues Deutschland carried a report saying that a "reinforced company for psychological warfare and units of the "Andernach Radio Battalion" were broadcasting, since August 21, faked programs and appeals to the population of Czechoslovakia; the Bundeswehr did not issue a denial but kept silent. A query by the Stern to the Federal Ministry of Defence did not serve to dispel doubts as to whether or not the Federal Army was involved. A high ranking official of the ministry declared: "Please do understand - no comment". The Andernach battalion, the mission of which, up to 5 years earlier, was a state secret, comprised of three "LF companies" (leaflets and Radio-Funk) - and a mobile radio station mounted on two trucks with antennas operated hydraulically. In case of war, the Bundeswehr was permitted to operate a radio station consisting of one medium wave and three short wave stations in order to "carry out special measures of strategic psychology", according to the Andernach officers. Up until then now, the battalion has proven its usefulness only by distributing several hundred million leaflets which, in gas-filled balloons, in fair winds were sent over to the GDR. On the weekend after the invasion, twelve and perhaps more broadcasting stations were busy on Czechoslovak wavelengths but, amazingly enough, out of them, ten could be heard in the Federal Republic and only a few in Austria. Along with stations using city names like Pilsen or Budovice, a "Free Radio Czechoslovakia", a "Free Radio northern Bohemia" and a "Radio Number Seven" could be heard. Czech patriots operated those radio stations broadcasting news and information which could be checked and verified; for example: the listing of license plate, numbers of cars used by Soviet police detachments carrying out arrests, direct coverage of the CPCS party congress in progress at a secret meeting place. However, of a more doubtful kind were those secret stations broadcasting news which proved false. Chancellor Kiesinger, in an interview with Sudwestfunk, took pains to pacify his people about the role played by the Bundeswehr, in answering questions by simply saying that he had tried to prevent "blockheaded interference" and idiotic fraternization attempts." Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria via Wolfgang Bueschel --- 40 years ago on my tube receiver "Symphony 10" I listened on 9505 to the following "Here is radio Hradec-Kralove". "Don't support the invaders. Change the tables of the street's names" etc. The signal with SINPO=55555 and the name Hradec Kralove was used to upset the occupation plans; later archives showed that the studio was illegal and connected via military line to the transmitter. [original version below] Wolfgang Bueschel, Germany --- I heard the endless bass drum tones and also the Smetana motif "Vltava" approximately five days before the occupation / invasion took place, on 1430 when driving home from work in Frankfurt around 1700. I stopped my car at the next telephone box and informed the then very popular German radio station Europawelle Saar news department about the Vltava transmission, and the possible interference to their transmission on the adjacent channel, 1421. When I arrived him I used my medium wave receivers with ferrite rod aerials, the transmissions were definitely coming from Dresden and not the Berlin Koepenick Uhlenhorst (RBI) site. Kai Ludwig, Germany --- They were broadcasting on a known RBI frequency, 1430, and they moved the Berlin-Köpenick transmitter to Wilsdruff for groundwave coverage into Czechoslovakia. The transmissions usually originated in studio K4, an especially hard dynamic compression had been carefully set up. In the main control room engineers could tell that it was the Vltava feed by looking at the levels, because on Vltava it looked as if the light marker got stuck, trembling in a small window of two, three Decibels. It was painfully obvious that no native speaker of Czech or Slovak was involved. The grammar of the scripts were quite correct, but they were read out with a horrible German accent, probably purely phonetically, i.e. with the announcer not understanding a single word of what he was articulating. This deprived Vltava from any chances to be taken seriously from the start. On the Media Network blog, JONATHAN MARKS posted a recording of a 1988 Media Network feature about the events. This included a recording of the Radio Moscow English service stating that "Russian noble assistance had been requested". He also reported that in the early 1960's the Soviets had supervised the construction of a clandestine broadcasting network throughout Czechoslovakia. They thought West Germany might invade and so a network of mobile standby transmitters was set up and given to the Czech army to maintain. Once the Soviet army turned up, these were handed over to the Czech resistance. One year later however, when Radio Prague looked back at the event, they stated that it was not an invasion but engineered by Western anti- socialist forces. Andy Sennitt in the Media Network blog commented: Listening to this documentary still makes me very emotional. I remember at the time, as an 18-year-old, feeling terribly sad. Radio Prague was one of my favourite stations during the Prague Spring, and suddenly it all changed. I can remember listening to two versions of Radio Prague on the same evening - the 'official' one that was censored by the Russians, and the one broadcasting from mobile transmitters, the voices of its announcers sometimes quavering with emotion. I remember the announcer on the newly-censored Radio Prague, who paused and coughed slightly every time he read the phrase "fraternal assistance". I hoped the Russians wouldn't spot it, and I still don't know whether they did. I can also remember receiving a programme schedule from Radio Prague in early 1969. It was some months after the invasion, but I was astonished to read the last sentence in an article about the birthday of Radio Prague. It said "We thought we would have every reason to celebrate, but the August events have left a bitter taste in the mouth". It showed that evading censorship was still going on months after the story had left the international news headlines. Wolf Harranth, Austria said: I remember those days very well. I was a young editor working for ORF, the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation - and a keen DXer, recording whatever I could pick up on the airwaves. Czechoslovakia was/is at our doorsteps. All of a sudden we became the most important source for news content and we provided footage for practically the whole world. I remember for example that an Austrian returning from Bratislava, just 40 km from Vienna, came to us and handed over a video cassette that somebody had thrown into his car asking: Bring this to your TV station. It was footage of the Soviet tanks entering Bratislava, recorded secretly by a member of Slovak TV. And I am still proud to learn that much of the sounds you listen to in all those special programmes aired today originates from my/our recordings, now kept at our Documentary Archives. Radio 4 broadcast a programme from Prague in its ``1968 A Year of Revolutions`` series hosted by Sir John Tusa. Among those interviewed was Dora Slaba who was working at the Radio Prague English service. She had been on the air as a newscaster the day before the invasion; the secretary telephoned her to say that the Russians had come. There were tanks round the radio building and she couldn't go back to work. After staying in Prague for a few days her family got into the car and went to the country. Have any club members memories of listening to Czech radio broadcasts during this period? If so please share them through the pages of Contact (Sept World DX Club Contact via DXLD) [thanks to Mike Barraclough for amassing the material from dxldyg, saving us the trouble, altho not in DXLD style, as well as other sources; more material delayed by our vacation. Here is additional material, mostly not duplicated above --- gh] PRAGUE 1968 - TRUTH SHALL PREVAIL - FROM THE MEDIA NETWORK AUDIO ARCHIVE Jonathan Marks writes in the Critical Distance Weblog: I’m thinking of Prague at the moment, partly because there are all kinds of archive programmes on BBC Radio 4 looking back at the night of 20th August 1968 when the Russians invaded what was then Czechoslovakia. Radio Prague has a nice page up at the moment too. In August 1988 I met a Czech writer Jana Beranova, then living in Rotterdam, and we looked back on the events 20 years before, little knowing how quickly things were about to change with the Velvet revolution. Jana was one of those dream interviewees - she was able to give the background to a bunch of recordings I found in the Dutch broadcast archives and those sent in by Media Network reporters. You might be interested in an audio extract from that documentary, which we re-broadcast by request in one of the last radio editions of Media Network. It’s an MP3 file and lasts about 14 minutes. Hope you enjoy it. Andy Sennitt comments: [as above, plus:] When I went to university, I did Czechoslovak Studies as one of my subjects, because the events of 1968 had left such a deep impression on me. My Head of Department was Professor Sir Cecil Parrot, who had been the British Ambassador in Prague from 1960-1966. He was named by Pravda as one of the brains behind the Prague Spring. A lovely man, he regaled us with many tales of life in the embassy, and told us that he held regular parties, and senior members of the Czechoslovak politburo were coming in and out of the embassy like old friends. He was just being hospitable, but I have often wondered just how these parties were interpreted by the Russians. And when working for the World Radio TV Handbook, I finally got to meet Peter Skala, whose real name is Oldrich Cip. As Radio Prague’s Frequency Manager, he presented a weekly programme for DXers, except for a few years after 1968 when he was not allowed to broadcast. It was his idea to set up the High Frequency Coordination Conference, which meets twice a year - and ironically will be held next week in Moscow. Despite all that, I have never personally been to the Czech Republic, but that’s one of the things I may get to do when I eventually retire. It’s funny that I have such an affection for somewhere I’ve never been to. Tonight the England football team play the Czech Republic at Wembley in a friendly match. I doubt that the vast majority of the English crowd will be aware of just how significant the date is. But those of us who followed events on the radio will never forget (August 20th, 2008 - 16:24 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 5 comments so far 1 SRG August 20th, 2008 - 17:47 UTC. Jonathan, formally, those were the Warsaw Pact troops or the Soviet troops if you wish but not the “Russians “. Andy, you should have learned in your Czechoslovak Studies class that there was no such a thing as “Czech politburo“. There was a Czechoslovak politburo, though 2 Andy Sennitt August 20th, 2008 - 18:28 UTC --- I think it’s a bit late to start criticising a programme that was made 20 years ago In fact, the term “Russians” was used in the British media at the time when referring to the Warsaw Pact troops. Everyone knew who was really in charge Similarly, the Soviet Union was frequently referred to as Russia, which used to annoy the Ukrainians in particular. We Brits like to be politically incorrect 3 Bruce Barker August 21st, 2008 - 19:51 UTC --- I was 22 in 1968 and remember being horrified at the events. Reading this synopsis and listening to the Radio Netherlands archive recordings made me shudder. Thank you for publishing it. 5 Jonathan Marks August 22nd, 2008 - 10:30 UTC --- Wolf is right. Many of the Radio Prague recordings in the NOS archives were part of news reports, and (although the origins are not mentioned) I suspect came from/via ORF. Wolf has every reason to be proud of the unique work they have done in Vienna to preserve the history of international broadcasting - not just German language material - the whole lot. It is one of the most important archiving projects on the planet. It was my pleasure and honour to work with Wolf in Vienna in 1976, and we later swapped material and ideas when he hosted KW Panorama and I was running Media Network. It was a great example of working in the public interest (Media Network blog comments via DXLD) CZECHOSLOVAKIA. 40 years ago on my tube receiver "Symphony 10" I listened to 9505 kHz the following: "Here is radio Hradec-Kralove". "Don't support the invadors. Change the tables of the street's names" etc. with different instructions versus the occupators from USSR, PRP, GDR, PRH and PRBulgaria of course against the Praha Spring Time. The signal with SINPO=55555 and the name Hradec Kralove was used to upsets the occupator plans and the studio was ilegal conected via military line to the tx (it is known from later opened archives)." (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 19 via DXLD) As the Czech Republic approaches the 40th anniversary of the night of August 20-21 1968, when Soviet tanks rolled into the capital to mark the end of the "Prague Spring", Radio Prague talks to Liz Skelton, who joined the staff of the station just a few days after the invasion. She was a 24 year old Englishwoman. Liz would like to find a recording of herself, but unfortunately Radio Prague doesn't have anything. It's asking listeners who happen to have recordings of its broadcasts from late 1968 or 1969 at home, to check whether Liz Skelton's voice is on any of them, and if so to send a copy to the station. Read/listen to David Vaughan's interview: http://www.radio.cz/en/article/107142 (RNW MN via BDXC-UK Aug 19 via BC-DX via DXLD) History **** 1323 Wachenbrunn - One of the better recollections of 1322(3) [via Leipzig Wiederau site] was when it was used to broadcast Radio Vltava during the Czech "uprising". I believe I still have a reel-to-reel tape of it somewhere, as well as of the "real" Radio Prague and other unknown Czech broadcasters (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Sep 11, 2004) Hi Noel, would be very nice to have a mp3 or Real Player file of this 'dx diamond' ... 1431 kHz Wilsdruff - MW transmitting centre Dresden, former GDR. Radio GDR, Berliner Rundfunk, Radio Vltava, communist propaganda radio of Warsaw treaty states, during occupation in CSSR 1968-1969. (wb) I've found Vltava 1322 (at 2359 on Aug. 24 1968) on tape - and others I wrote down as Free Legal Czech Radio on 7080 at 2215, 7345 at 2230, 1286 at 2330 & 2336 with speech of Hijek to UN), 1115 at 2342 relaying BBC/VOA, 1286 (R. Pilsen?) and 953, as well as Free Radio Prague 5930 in German at 1624 and English 1805. All were noted as recorded on Aug. 23, 24 & 25 in 1968. Now, all I have to do is find a way to put them into the computer, hi! I have several cords but none seem to match what I need to connect. So I think I should consult with the PC people for their advice on what I need to do. My reel-to-reel only has DIN (5 connections) in/output but the cassette has DIN (also 5 connections) and twin wire plugs. These are different type to what those on the computer (Noel R. Green-UK, BC-DX Sept 14, 2004) Prager Fruehling 1968. Dies habe ich in meinem Compuserve Archiv gefunden. HISTORY **** Mediumwave Clandestine station Radio Vltava (Radio Moldau) 1430 kHz, 250 kW, Wilsdruff Dresden im August 1968 bis in den Winter [November?] 1968. History of Compuserve Mail 1998: Hi Karel, remarks on your comment about R Vltava in August 1968. Here below you will read my original text in German language. I try to translate it into English. Yes I visited Prague in July 1968. When I came back I used to use two well doing portabel radio sets: Schaub Lorenz 49 to 13 mb, and the very latest GRUNDIG Satellit type 208, which included the 75 mb, and fine tuning knob, 150 kHz continues to 26100 kHz, and FM 87-104 MHz. BUT for the first time I heard the endless bass drum tones and also the Smetana motif "Vltava" approx. five days b e f o r e the occupation / invasion took place, on the freq 1430 when drove home from my duty in the Frankfurt/Main downtown city. Using the built in BLAUPUNKT car radio, which included LW, SW 49 - 31 mbs, MW, and FM. It was about the Tuesday before the invasion took place, around 1700 hrs local time near the Frankfurt horse racing stadium on the gateway southwards to the Super highway Wuerzburg - Cologne. I stopped my car on the next telephone box and informed the then very popular German radio station EUROPAWELLE Saar [adjacent 1421 kHz] news department, about the Vltava transmission, and the possible interference to the Saarebruck transmission. At that time very few people had a private telephone access. We have got our private phone later in the year 1971. Between 1965 and 1970, Europawelle Saar was the top radio station in Germany with a wide audience. After 20 minutes drive when arrived at home, I used both sets and their ferrit road antennas for direction finding, giving this result: the transmission was definitely 100% coming from D r e s d e n area, and n o t from Berlin Koepenick Uhlenhorst (RBI). All other details you mentioned in the letter to Kai Ludwig are 100% correct, in other words I made the same observations these days, but 500 kms westerly. 73 Wolfy DF5SX (Wolfgang Bueschel, via CompuServe 25.08.1998) KL: Da waere dann auch von Radio Vltava die Rede, der aus dem Raum Dresden gen CSSR spuckte. WB: Ja, ich hatte noch im Juli 1998 Prag und auch das Funkhaus besucht. Nach der Rueckkehr, ich hatte zwei ganz gute Portabelempfaenger: Schaub Lorenz 49 bis 13 mb, sowie ganz frisch den Grundig Satellit 208 mit 75 mb! sooo schoen chromverziert. Aber die endlosen Pauktoene und auch das Motiv von Smetana "Die Moldau" so etwa 5 Tage v o r dem Einmarsch auf der Frequenz 1430 hoerte ich im Blaupunkt Autoradio zum ersten Mal nach der Arbeit auf der Heimfahrt gegen 1700 Uhr an der Frankfurt Niederraeder Pferderennbahn. Ich habe dann gleich die Europawelle Saar angerufen, von der Telefonzelle, ganz wenige Leute hatten ein privates Telefon. Europawelle Saar das war deeeer Info- und Musik-Sender damals zwischen 1965 und 1970 und die News dem Nachrichtenredakteur dort in Saarbruecken berichtet. Dann ging die Meldung ueber den Vlatava Sender gleich ueber alle Kanaele. Zuhause mit beiden Geraeten und den Ferritantennen ausgenullt, ergab das eindeutig die Richtung Dresden Wilsdruff, n i c h t Berlin Uhlenhorst. Ja, wenn die KPD/SED ihr Archiv im Internet haette, koennte man das alles nachlesen, oder bei den CIA-Yankees in ex-Dahlem oder gleich in Pullach beim B.N.D. 73 WB - Wolfgang W. Bueschel-D, via CompuServe 25.08.1998 -- Theme [Spooks] Czech HF sites: Hi Spooks, My friend in Czech Republic described the following shortwave transmitting sites near Prague: DREVCICE, 10 km North/North-East from Prague - "unknown facility, perhaps for some military use"; at least 1 log-periodic and a few dipole antennas; nichts zu entdecken. Nur zwei Areale ausserhalb des Dorfes. ELENEC, 7 km North-East from Prague - "top secret centre equipped with log-periodic antennas, H-[T-?] dipoles and rhombics, belonging to the ministry of Foreign affairs"; HRADESIN, 12 km East/South East from Prague - "a mystery centre from which originate countings (50, 51, 52, ...59) on 1122 kHz; God knows what station it is". Any comments, especially from our Czech colleagues? Photographs, radio monitoring data/audio recordings? Regards, Rimantas (Rimantas Pleikys- LTU, spooks via CompuServe 16.06.1999) (all via BC-DX Aug 22 via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, R. Nacional, Bata. September 2, 2215-2232 Spanish hip hop selections, around 30 seconds silent, hi life music until 2238. 34433 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. Observed on August 31st the following on 8000 kHz: s/on at 1454 with IS and ID in Ti[grigna] and news from 1500 UT. The ID by lady was: "Redio end televizhun Ertran". Same procedure with news of two minutes and same ID was heard at 1600 and 1700 UT. The main was observed on Aug 30th and on 31st also: around 1510 UT and until around 1650 UT on same 8000 kHz is rising powerhouse signal and underground male voice says "Tiny Ertran" (down under left the program of Eritrea which for both days was \\ 7210 kHz!) and the program is with rap songs in presumed Amharic language. Checked the Ethiopia frequencies: used at these times heard on 7110, 7175, 9704 Home Service 7175, 9704 7165, 9560 Foreign Service 9560 So I think one of the transmitters is used on 8000 kHz - here Eritrea is not jumping on different frequencies as in 41 m.b. By the way Eritrea 1 was on 7210 and 8000 kHz and Eritrea 2 on 7220 kHz at 0400 UT. On Sept 1st at 0429 UT two signals were again on 8000 kHz - original RTVE and "clandestine" Tiny Ertran (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC- DX TopNews Sept 4 via DXLD) ** ERITREA. 7100, V. of the Broad Masses of Eritrea 1943 UT. Energetic, fast-paced HoA-style vocals, some with flute and/or drum accompaniment; occasional brief announcements by man and woman in presumed Tigrinya. Around 2030 went into soft, almost Oriental- sounding instrumentals. Off at 2100 after rousing choral rendition of Eritrean national anthem. Band noise and constant QSB made reception less than ideal. Listed s/off is 1800 (some sources give 1830), so this might have been special occasion. Not there today (Aug. 30) at 1940 check (Bob Hill, MA, DXplorer Aug 29 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Radio Fana was on 5940 and 5950 kHz at 0400 UT and at 1600 UT when it was checked on 30 & 31 Aug (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 4 via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Subject: Deutsche Welle QSLs --- A few days ago I reported my 40th DW transmitter site verified. I’ve received some questions about the sites, so here is my list. All have been verified by DW cards. Jülich Wertachtal Konigswusterhausen Leipzig Nauen Kigali Sines Malta Antigua Montserrat Trincomalee Sierra Leone Philippines (Radio Veritas) Sackville Brasília Shigulovsk [a,k,a, Zhigulëvsk, but wasn`t this a phony location? gh] Irkutsk Novosibirsk Samara Chita Krasnodar Vladivostok Moscow Petropavlovsk Komsomolsk-on-Amur Khabarovsk Erevan Lvov Almaty Meyerton Talata Bonaire Kranji Ascension Rampisham Skelton Woofferton Dhabayya WHRA, Cypress Creek, SC Moosbrunn And 2 early cards were simply marked “Germany”. These were probably Julich. Also I have a QSL for Deutschlandfunk via point-to-point DFF97 in Frankfurt on 6975. Based on club bulletins in the 1970s, as well as the Internet today, this was a DW transmitter. I was fortunate in getting a QSL for Sierra Leone as I don’t think DW used that site very long. My QSL is for a test broadcast logged on 5980 from 0612 to 0632 on January 28, 1975. The test was in English, included the transmitter site, and requested reception reports, giving DW address. There were also brief news items and music as well as ids in German and French. Did DW have any regular broadcasts from Sierra Leone? The 1975 WRTH lists only 10 kw for Sierra Leone; the ’76 edition shows 10/250 kw for 3316, 5980, & 9630 and states “Deutsche Welle irregularly testing via SLBS facilities”; while in ’78 (I can’t find my ’77 edition) it shows 10/250 on 5980 only and there is no mention of DW. I’m sure I’ve missed getting QSLs from some of the sites DW has used over the years. I’d be interested to learn of any additional sites anyone has verified—or that DW has used (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village, Kansas, USA, Sept 3, Cumbre DX via DXLD)) DWL used also Norden Osterloog site in about 1953-1959 before Juelich site built up, and German PTT Elmshorn 6140 kHz in the 90ties too, latter when Frankfurt Usingen-Merzhausen ceased SW operations. In the sixties German PTT DFF97 Frankfurt Bonames {and then via new Frankfurt Usingen-Merzhausen site instead} 6975 kHz was used as SSB feeder or RTTY operating matter via Deutsche Bundespost {German PTT} point-to-point station towards Sines Portugal site. Later on in about 1970 DWL/PTT set up their own UTE 20 kW transmitter at Juelich site, like SSB feeder to Portugal and Malta on 4590, 4882.5, 5195, 6975, 7675 kHz, and 21757 news ssb+rtty towards {and reply from] Kigali Rwanda. Sines Portugal staff replied on 7917ssb and received on Monitoring station Bockhacken Germany. PTT Juelich LP 406 log-periodic revolving antenna was used for ssb & rtty services to Rwanda, Malta, Sines, Montserrat (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** HAWAII. VOLMET, Honolulu Radio: see AUSTRALIA ** INDIA. Re 8-096: Dear Glenn, The broadcasts on 15185 from All India Radio in English etc. is their Home Service. Details of AIR HS News timing and frequencies is available at: http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/nt/hstime.htm (Jose Jacob, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also KASHMIR AIR Delhi (Khampur 250 kW) just now (1355 UT, 3 Sept 08) noted on 6045 instead of scheduled 6165 in Sindhi at 1230-1500 Sindh & Baluchi at 1500-1600 beamed to Pakistan. Another punching error! By the way 6045 is also scheduled as follows to Pakistan in Urdu at 1430-1930! (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Anybody hearing Voice of Indonesia's web stream as described in DXLD 8-095? (Erik Køie, Denmark, Sept 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) not here (gh) Seems that the domain for Voice of Indonesia has expired, see http://www.voi.co.id/ Temporarily? (Ydun Ritz, ibid.) Erik and Ydun, I listen often on this stream -- also Mauno in Finland too - to check the VOI schedule, in // 11784.85. That disappearance often happened also in the past; the stream was totally disconnected one day. Then the next day realtime stream re-appeared again... Domain expired? But when Google searched today, I've got Domain expired.id www.voi.co.id Nama Domain ini telah habis masa berlakunya dikarenakan hal-hal berikut: [. . .] Ramadan slows all men`s action now. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) ** IRAN [and non]. Iran Qur`an, in Arabic of course, Sept 3 at 1350 on 15150, fair signal but with intermittent SSB QRM on hi side, 15152 or 15153, probably poachers or narcotraffickers in Spanish who encroach onto the broadcast bands with impunity (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. NHKWNRJ, 11705 via Sackville, Sept 3 at 1416 after a 2-minute music break, announced a new weekly feature on Wednesdays this month, answering questions from listeners if sent to What`s Up, Japan? No pre-echo from Yamata this date, a welcome respite (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. VOLMET, Tokyo Radio: see AUSTRALIA ** KASHMIR. Re 8-096: Regarding Special Ramzan broadcasts from Radio Kashmir, Srinagar, today also only MW 1116 kHz heard. Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, India, UT Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Kashmir, Srinagar was noted today also with special Ramzan broadcast on only MW 1116. 4950 was missing today also. They sign on at 2230 (4.00 am). After 15 days they change it to 2245 UT. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, dx_india via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. USA (non). New schedule of Radio Liberty in Kazakh from Sep. 1: KAZAKH 0100-0200 7215 9750 1300-1400 9465 12005 0200-0400 9615 15660, cancelled 0000-0100 5945 9765, cancelled 1200-1300 11520 15120, cancelled 1400-1600 7170 9815, cancelled (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Sept 3 via DXLD) See also ASIA [non], RFA sked ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Assertive Korean talk, Sept 2 at 1319 on 6518. Is PWBR `2008` by my radio any help? Of course not; it sure isn`t Perú! Fortunately we know that this is V. of People, clandestine from S to N, and // 6600, the latter jammed. 6518 does appear for this in WRTH 2008 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. 6070.00, ELWA, Monrovia, 2225-2301*, Sep 02. Small talk in English by man and woman between many religious hymns by choir, 2300 closing announcement and orchestral Liberian National Anthem, SINPO 33323, QRM Deutsche Welle 6075. Thanks a lot to Bob Hill for the tips! (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DXplorer Sept 3 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. Logs all on 6055.00 of KBC in English, by an enthusiast who specializes in pirate or pseudo-pirate logs only (gh): 1808 2145 rock, Wolfman Jack Show, jingle. John Denver, K-po promo, Corina, Corina, 35443 1908 2130 jingle, Wolfman Jack Show, KBC improt, Hold the line by Toto, funky, K-po promo 34443 2008 2145 rock, Wolfman Jack Show, pop, You talk too much, jingle, KBC import, Bute Hotel 34443 2108 2140 ID,jingle, Wolfman Jack Show, Part time love, girl calling, Look at me, Bute Hotel prom 35443 2208 2130 jingle, KBC import, Wolfman Jack Show, instrumental, pops, My bel ami, Bee Gees 34443 2308 2140 Doo wop, Wolfman Jack Show, K-po promo, Simon&Garfunkel, Tom Jones 35443 2408 2130 KBC+Big L, jingle, k-po promo, David Hamilton show, The Supremes, Mel Carter, Stevie Wonder 35443 2508 2130 jingle, Wolfman Jack show, funky, ABBA, K-po promo, Easy, Simon&Garfunkel 35443 2608 2130 jingle, Wolfman Jack show, Simon&Garfunkel: Mrs Robinson, Fly like an Eagle, funky 35443 2708 2200 rock&roll, Wolfman Jack Show, KBC import, QTH Ede, Pop Music, Do you love me, 35543 2808 2130 ID, jingle, WJShow, KBC import, Express yourself, funky, K- po promo, Doo Wop, 35443 2908 2200 The Turtles: So happy together, jingle, Wolfman Jack Show, calls, QTH Ede, Bute hot 45444 3008 2200 rock and roll, jingles R. Mi Amigo, promos, pop, jingles R.N.I.K-po promo, Guitar man 35443 3108 2130 KBC+Big L, jingle, ID, David Hamilton show, Hot Chocolate, Sony and Cher, Connie Francis 35443 (Silveri Gomez, FRAGA, CATALUNYA DEL NORTE, R-2000 & ATS 909, via Dario Monferini, Finland, Sept 2, playdx yg via DXLD) 6055 R. KBC (Netherlands) Relay 2132 UT. Bewildering, almost indescribable melange of DJ shouting (mostly in American English, at least once in UK English, several times in Dutch), endless jingle IDs, mention of R. Caroline and what sounded like R. Atlantic, snippets of generic rock music, high-tech sound effects a classic dog's breakfast. Nearly impossible to get more than a word or two here and there because the signal was so incredibly choppy. Did manage to catch "We are the mighty KBC" at 2152 and "All over Europe ... the might KBC" at 2202, when I finally tuned out, suffering from severe audio fatigue. Sked is *2130-2230* per EiBi (Bob Hill, MA, DXplorer Aug 30 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 5030, RTM Sarawak Kuching. Another that has come back after some weeks of inactivity 5030 mixing with China. 1200-1500 UT Malay of course (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 4S7VK, DXplorer Aug 31 via BC-DX via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA [and non]. Hola: Tomado del Blog de Silveri Gómez: http://franjadx.blogspot.com/ comentando las últimas noticias que ha recibido del Sr. Barretina (Impulsor de Radio Barretina, emisora pirata catalana que fue clausurada por las autoridades de telecomunicaciones hace unos meses.) Silveri Gómez dice: Acabo de rebre noticies del sr. Barretina. Es troba de vacances a l'Illa de Fuerteventura. Està fruint del sol, els vents alisis i del plaer del dxisme des del seu hotel ( Hi ha una foto aquí a la vora). No té massa possibilitats de dxisme pirata en Ona curta, però si moltes d'escoltar FM local (pirata?). Anuncia una propera visita a les costes de Mauritània per tal de localitzar el futur possible enclavament del nou emissor. Silveri Gómez wrote: Just received some news from Mr. Barretina. He is spending some holidays in Fuerteventura Island, enjoying the sun, the winds and the pleasure of the dxing. You can se the logs above. A lot of UNIDs, and I suspect about the possibility of harmonics at all. Not too much SW pirates stuff, but a lot of local FM pirates, of course. Also, he informed me about the next trip to Mauritanian coast serarching for the new tx site. Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez, QTH: El Prat de Llobregat-Barcelona España, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEXQ, R. Universidad de San Luís Potosí, 6045, is appearing more reliably now: Sept 2 at 1322 classical music audible with no strain, but lo het from Asian 6045.0 station; also Sept 3 around 1310. It should be better to monitor XEXQ in the 1200 UT hour before Vladivostok comes on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. TP's 09-03-08 (1737 KUT info) --- Good Morning: 1737 kHz, KUT PNG beacon? LSB a tone was repeated every 3 seconds, fair at 1115-1120 (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, Ewe NW JRC 545, IRCA via DXLD) Hi Dennis, Just a comment on 1737 KUT. It can only be heard in USB mode with a wider IF filter; it has no lower sideband ident. It's using nominal +400 Hz modulation of its 1737 kHz carrier. It has a steady carrier a few Hz below 1737.000 that can be heard in CW mode with a narrow audio filter. There is also garbage heard around 1737, unrelated to KUT, possibly what you heard, if you heard something in LSB mode. (With a narrow audio filter, KUT's ident can be precisely heard on 1737.373.) I heard it at very poor level, only with the narrow (6 Hz bandwidth) audio filter this morning, 1308 UT. Today was not a good morning for KUT, at least in NE Oregon, though the Indonesian beacon on 375 was heard (Steve Ratzlaff, ibid.) Hi Steve, Thanks for the information on KUT. I will give 1737.373 a try this coming morning on USB and will have the BWC control on the JRC 545 set to a very narrow bandwidth. The tone that I did hear, was not heard later in the morning after trying a few times (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) Hi Dennis, I was probably too wordy. To hear KUT with a regular receiver that has SSB mode, simply tune to 1737.0 and use USB mode (It's a standard frequency, if using 9 kHz tuning steps, too.) To hear KUT in CW mode, tune to 1737.373 and use the narrowest CW IF filter you have, and if you have an external narrow audio filter, switch it in too. It fades in and out, so usually sitting on the frequency is needed. 1725 GA, PNG beacon is a normal nominal +/- 1020 Hz offset beacon; usually the lower sideband is heard better, when GA is heard at all. For an SSB radio, tuning to either USB or LSB could be used when tuned to 1725.0; in CW mode with a narrow audio filter, I hear it on -1030 and +1010 Hz offsets from 1725.000 (Steve Ratzlaff, ibid.) Hi Steve, I'll try two methods using 1737 USB and 1737.373 in CW mode with a narrow filter. I have been listening to amateurs on the 75-80 meters lately and their on LSB; out of habit I hit LSB button this morning. I remember that in earlier postings USB was used. Hope that I can hear them, that's quite a distant with low power. Thanks Steve for the help (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, ibid.) ** POLAND. Alle 7 [agosto] del giorno successivo già ero in Varsavia. La città non è certamente fra le mete più ambite del turismo europeo ma a me è molto cara dato che fu proprio Varsavia la prima città visitata del primo viaggio all'estero della mia vita, quello effettuato nell'ormai lontanissimo 1979 in qualità di vincitore di un concorso dell'allora servizio italiano dell'allora Radio Varsavia ed è quindi sempre con un po' di emozione che torno ad essa. Il programma del giorno prevedeva un revival di quanto già fatto con Dario Monferini durante il Baltic Tour 1999, un giro delle emittenti varsaviesi. Appena arrivato in stazione facevo un paio di prenotazioni per i giorni successivi e poi una volta depositate le valigie in hotel attaccavo coi lavori. Subito raggiungevo il mostruoso Palazzo della Cultura e li prendevo la nuovissima metropolitana cittadina, opera non ancora in attività nel 1999, a destinazione della Polskie Radio. L'emittente governativa polacca attiva 4 canali nazionali, uno di trasmissione diretta delle sedute parlamentari, vari servizi regionali ed un servizio per l'estero, Radio Polonia [sic], sulle onde corte attivo in polacco, russo, bielorusso, ucraino, tedesco, inglese ed esperanto, la lingua " artificiale " creata da un linguista polacco. Fino al 1989 era attivo anche il servizio in lingua italiana ma subito dopo la caduta del comunismo esso è stato soppresso. L'ascolto sulle onde corte di Radio Polonia non presenta difficoltà (frequenze ed orari cercatele nella web riportata al termine di questo articolo ) ma esso non può essere considerato un ascolto "polacco" in quanto Radio Polonia affitta trasmettitori posti al di fuori del paese (in Germania, Francia e Guyana Francese), se quindi si vuole confermare la Polonia fra i paesi ascoltati occorre rivolgere le proprie attenzioni alla frequenza di onde lunghe di 225 kHz ove è possibile, nelle ore serali, anche con un semplice portatile, la ricezione del primo canale del servizio nazionale della Polskie Radio. Logicamente i programmi sono unicamente in polacco e quindi ben poco comprensibili. Non avevo chiesto di visitare le installazioni in quanto l'avevo già fatto sia nel 1979 che nel 1999 e poi il tempo a disposizione non era moltissimo ma volevo dare un'occhiata alla boutique per vedere se era possibile acquistare una nuova T-shirt e raccogliere qualche adesivo. E invece no, la boutique non esiste più. Raggiungevo la reception ma di adesivi non ne avevano. Peccato (Roberto Pavanello, with Dario Monferini, from an extensive report on a trip from Italy to the Arctic Circle, visiting mostly MW and FM stations, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Re CUBA announcing wrong frequencies, above: The RRI Bucharest lady announcer of German service tells the world 9515 kHz as QRG in past five months since A-08 season appeared. Really Galbeni on 9525 instead (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Re this item: ``9625, 1519-, VORWS Aug 31 Excellent reception of English to Europe. Thanks to Wolfgang B. for pointing me to this other frequency. Mailbag program claiming the pro Georgian media in the west. // to 12040 also very good. Wolfy mentions 11985 as well, but I'm getting just a very strong station in Russian with a woman calling into a program inviting people to visit. Then into a Russian folk song, and then another caller from Ukraine. Golos Rossii ID at 1600 (Salmaniw, Masset, BC)`` According to (source) MIDXB 594 (Aug.19 2008) via Radonezh and DXLD (unfortunately I didn't note which DXLD) changes have been made: >Additional broadcasts of VoR's Sodruzhestvo/Commonwealth Radio Service for Georgia in Russian starting Aug. 13. 1200-1500 9555 (beam change from C. Asia to the Caucasus); 9475 1400-1700; 11985 1400-1700; 11610 1600-1900 and 9835 1600-1900 (this from Aug. 17) plus MW 1089 and 1170. Resulting service cancellations included 1400-1500 Turkish and 1500-1700 English to Africa & ME both via Moscow on 11985.< So 11985 will be Sodruzhestvo now, and maybe still via one of the Moscow transmitters. It's audible here at fair strength too (Noel R. Green (NW England), Sept 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 14040, intermodulation/spurious. Zu der IM auf 14040 kHz (erreicht maximal S8 an einem 3-ele-Beam: Ich habe heute Abend nochmal reingehoert und beide "Quell"-signale gehoert: Beteiligt sind bei Voice of Russia... 1. der Tx-er auf 13670 kHz (S9+20dB) 2. der Tx-er auf 13855 kHz (S9+20dB) Strickmuster: 13855 kHz x 2 minus 13670 kHz ergibt 14040 kHz. Host mi! Auf 14040 kHz hoert man auch beide Programme: Heute Abend war es arabische Sprache mit Pianomusik vom anderen Tx-er. Ich habe beide bzw. alle drei Signale um 1720 gehoert. Sendeschluss ist um 1800 UT (Uli Bihlmayer-D, DARC/IARU Band Watch Aug 31 via BCDX via DXLD) Im Maerz begann Moskau in Arabisch 1600-1800 UTC auf 13730 kHz, bewegte sich dann aber - ab 15. Juni - auf die neue Frequenz 13670 kHz. Die Angabe "200 kW" deutet auf eine aeltere Anlage hin; Lesnoy ? Some changes for Voice of Russia effective June 15: 1600-1800 NF 13670 MSK 250 kW / 169 deg, x13730*in Arabic <<<<<< *to avoid Radio Austria Int. in German till 1700 (R BULGARIA DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov, via wwdxc BC-DX June 24, 2008) 13670 1600-1800 MSK=Moskau 250kW 190Grad RUS VOR GFC 13855 1400-1800 MSK 200 190 RUS VOR GFC 1400 Turkish, 1500 Arabic, 1600-1800 English. 38 Libya, Egypt 39 Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Arabian Pen. 48 East Africa (wb, Aug 31) Google Earth imagery. Some low level resolution place, and unfortunately covered by clouds in Yahoo Maps and MS Virtual Earth. Thanks Victor see excellent image in http://beta-maps.yandex.ru/ (all BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [non]. Re 8-096: Andre Malakhov, September 2, 2008, 1:02 <...> BTW since September 1 you can not watch Russia Today in USA (or it's only Manhattan?)- Time Warner has put frame "Lao Star TV USA coming soon..." instead. Sanctions in action? Source: RussiaToday.com No. It's something called "market demand," expressed through something called "viewer ratings." If a program can't pull viewers (and advertisers), it's dropped in favor of something that might do better. (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks, Harry. But when it comes to a foreign English-language TV channel in the US, it's not just economics. Livestation says "viewing figures for its Russia Today live streaming service increased ten fold during the two weeks of fighting in South Ossetia". I guess it's safe to assume a major increase in RT's cable viewrship, as well. That's why timing for such a termination looks somewhat suspicious. I wonder, however, if this loss of RT in Manhattan had anything to do with channel's "new broadcasting parameters". Both events happened on the same day (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, ibid.) ** SAINT HELENA. Dear Glenn, I just received this from Robert Kipp in Germany: Hello Everyone, Radio St. Helena : ------------------------------ Miss Laura Lawrence resigns as station-manager ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Effective Friday, 05. September 2008, Miss Laura Lawrence has resigned as Station Manager of Radio St. Helena. Miss Lawrence will pursue a career in teaching. The new Acting-Station-Manager of RSH will be Mr. Gary Walters. His email address is radio.sthelena(at)helanta.sh Radio listeners around the world surely will join me in thanking Laura for her very hard work for RSH and concerning the successful Radio St. Helena Day Project. We would also like to wish Laura, Gary, and Radio St. Helena all possible success in future. ------------------------- ----------------- ---------------- IMPORTANT: If YOU want to thank Laura by email, then do it QUICKLY !! -------------------- ----------------- ----------------- ------ With best greetings, Robert Kipp (via Anker Petersen, Denmark, Sept 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Mistaken or new frequency was on Aug 30th at 1100 UT with ID Kor`an Kerim on 9640 kHz, \\ 11935, 17615, 21495 kHz. At same time their programs were heard as usually: Second program on 11855, English 15250, Indonesian 21670 etc. On Aug 31st at 0400 UT 2nd program was on 9580JED \\ 9675 heard, and at 0610 UT on 9675 \\ 11855JED for example (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Sept 4 via DXLD) 9640 was a maintenance check ON AIR by the engineer for the Turkistani service check later in the afternoon 9640 at 1500-1800 UT to zones 23- 26,30-35,40,42-45 RIY 500kW 40 deg. I guess they have now eight powerful 500 kWs to their disposal at Riyadh site (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Sept 4 via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Armageddon Log --- 1540, KXEL Waterloo IA; 0242-0301+, 3-Sep; Bro. Scare, sez the U.S. has magnetic machines that can create earthquakes & hurricanes & that Russian Intelligence says that the U.S. is preparing to unleash World War 3 & that they will use their earthquake & hurricane machines on us. What a complete idiot! 0300 ID; News-Talk 15-40 KXEL Waterloo, Iowa. Overcomer stupidity continued. Good over sub-continental music -- probably CHIN (Harold Frodge, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WRNO ** SWEDEN [non]. Despite the impression given by advance notice on website, the R. Sweden 70th anniversary special show in English did air on the Sackville relay, 15240, Sept 3 at 1430. I had missed the original direct broadcast at 1230. An enjoyable show which one should hear ondemand if not onshortwave. At 1449 George Wood briefly mentioned how Sweden Calling DXers was such a pioneer in using the internet, but failed to mention how he deliberately downgraded it from a SW DX news source to Mediascan with news of internet, and primarily satellites, and then let it peter out to almost nothing, the last item posted at http://www.sr.se/cgi-bin/International/nyhetssidor/index.asp?nyheter=1&ProgramID=2408 dated 2008-06-27. Of course, running an active media blog would largely duplicate RNW`s Media Network, among others. At 1500, 15240 continued in Swedish, and sounded like it was also the anniversary show, or part of it. BTW, on this occasion before 1500 there was more adjacent QRM than usual, 15235 being SMG Vatican in Hindi/Tamil, and 15245 being BBC Woofferton in Russian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. One of the 250 kW units at Çakirlar site produces distorted signals often. Today noted TRT Romanian on 9560.00 with a 'clean' signal, crash start starts late signing on at 0900:15 UT. But \\ 11955 kHz CAK signal in Turkish to NE/ME 0700-1300 UT started again and again, but only fragments of a second, and was switched off automatically by the protective device. 7295 CAK TRT Greek at 1030-1057 UT towards 205 degree azimuth noted only very TINY here in Germany, just above threshold, due of bad propagation condition today? (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 30 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. Re 8-096, FRANCE [non] --- Glenn: Back to normal this morning. RFI off of 13640 as usual. I tried tuning in 11860 to see [about BBC Mundo Radio in Spanish] reception, but it is completely swamped by China(?) [via Sackville] on 11855. And 9410 [via WHRI] is a poor signal here, not really listenable (Mike Cooper, GA, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I checked the BBC Spanish feed on PanAmSat-9 this morning. At 1130 UT, there was the "no programming announcement." I checked again about 1245 and heard, basically, classical fill music // 11860. At 1300, there was a BBC Spanish newscast. And after short Spanish newscast at 1300, we're back to "no programming" announcement at 1303 I'll check a little more frequently. While this transponder had been running Spanish 24 hours a day (there had been a schedule posted on BBC Spanish Web site), it seemed to the "no programming" announcement all the time after Spanish was cut back a few months ago. I assumed, based on comments about fill-music on SW, that there was no more BBC Spanish programming, so I'm surprised to find some programming on the Spanish channel (Mike Cooper, GA, Sept 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Checking all the alleged frequencies for VOA special live coverage of the Republic Con, as in DXLD 8-095, UT Sept 3 around 0115, the only one I could hear, I think, was 9780, as it was poor but sounded like the same speaker at the moment on live TV coverage, but not synchronized. This was supposed to be Sri Lanka, not starting until 0200. Axually 9780 was already on the regular schedule at 01-02 only, so 02-03 is just a temporary extension (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRNO, 7505, New Orleans, was still missing around 0355 check UT September 3. Hmmm, I wonder if Hannah will ever hit Walterboro? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. The following is the Final 26 October 2008 to 29 March 2009 High Frequency Schedule for Family Stations, Inc., WYFR. [Okeechobee site only] Freq (kHz) Time (UTC) Az(Degrees) Zone(s) Power 5745 0500-0600 222 11 100 5745 0600-0800 44 27 100 5745 0800-1000 160 14 100 5745 2000-2100 44 27 100 5950 0300-1200 285 10 100 5950 2100-0300 355 4,5,9 100 5985 0445-0700 315 2 100 5985 2000-0445 181 11 50 6000 0500-1000 181 11 50 6000 1000-1200 160 14 100 6085 2245-0100 355 4,5,9 100 6085 0945-2000 181 11 100 6105 0800-1100 142 15 100 6890 0900-1300 355 4,5,9 100 6915 0300-1200 355 4,5,9 100 6915 1945-2200 44 27 100 7455 0100-0445 355 4,5,9 100 7455 0700-1345 315 2 100 7520 0100-0400 142 13 100 7520 0400-0800 44 27 100 7570 0045-0400 160 15 100 7730 0300-0500 160 15 100 7730 0500-0745 44 27 100 9355 0400-0500 160 14 100 9355 0500-0800 44 27 100 9355 1945-2300 44 27 100 9430 2245-0045 160 15 100 9495 0500-1000 222 11 100 9505 0000-0445 315 2 100 9525 0100-0400 285 10 50 9555 0800-1400 160 16 100 9575 0900-1200 160 15 100 9605 0800-1100 142 13 100 9605 1100-1300 222 12 100 9680 0145-0800 315 2 100 9680 0800-1100 140 13 100 9690 2145-0045 142 13 100 9715 2345-0100 285 10 50 9715 0400-1245 285 10 50 9985 0100-0500 151 15 100 9985 0500-0900 87 46 100 11530 0500-0800 44 27 100 11530 1200-1400 160 13 100 11565 1345-1700 315 2 100 11565 2000-2145 44 27 100 11580 0400-0900 87 46 100 11580 2200-2300 142 15 100 11665 1945-2200 44 27 100 11665 2200-2300 151 15 100 11700 2100-2300 160 14 100 11720 2245-0145 142 13 100 11725 1100-1600 222 11 100 11740 2145-2345 315 2 100 11740 0800-1600 151 15 100 11825 0045-0300 160 14 100 11830 1100-1300 140 13 100 11830 1300-1700 315 2 100 11855 1300-1700 355 4,5,9 100 11855 2000-0500 222 11 100 11885 2300-0145 140 13 100 11970 1145-1345 285 10 100 13615 0145-0500 222 11 100 13615 1200-1600 160 15 100 13615 2300-0045 160 14 100 13695 1200-2100 355 4,5,9 100 15115 1700-2245 87 46 100 15130 1245-2345 285 10 50 15210 1400-1600 160 14 100 15215 2300-0400 160 16 100 15355 1245-1400 222 12 100 15355 1400-1600 142 13 100 15400 2300-0100 151 15 100 15440 2145-0300 285 10 100 15565 1800-1945 44 27 100 15785 1600-1700 44 27 100 17535 1700-2200 315 2 100 17555 1400-1600 160 13 100 17555 1700-2145 285 10 100 17575 1700-2245 140 13 100 17690 1600-2245 87 46 100 17760 1345-1700 285 10 100 17760 1700-2000 44 28 100 18930 1600-1945 44 27 100 18980 1600-1945 44 28 100 21455 1600-2000 44 28 100 21745 1600-1745 44 27 100 (Evelyn Marcy, Sept 3, WYFR Okeechobee, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 710 + Cuba + IBOC = Mess --- WOR's Tom Ray is complaining about interference from Cuba. Has anyone heard this station? Is it using the Rebelde xmtr or is Rebelde still being heard? Don't the Cuban authorities know that 710 and neighbouring frequencies are pretty much a dog's breakfast even without their help? For full story: http://www.rwonline.com/rwi_news >From Radio World International Newsbytes ... IS CUBA INTERFERING WITH U.S. BROADCASTS? 8.19.2008 >From last week's "The Leslie Report" WOR's Tom Ray says a Cuban station on 710 kHz is shooting a powerful nighttime signal up the eastern seaboard and interfering with his New York AM station and possibly others. The Cuban station is broadcasting American music, with a Spanish-speaking DJ and no ID, says Tom, who is also a Radio World contributor. How does he know where the signal originates? The FCC used monitoring stations around the country, and located the source of the transmitter in Cuba, according to Ray. In Utica, N.Y., this Cuban station had a local-grade signal. An FCC source told Tom he estimated the station is pushing at least 500,000 watts (and possibly up to a million) up the coast. Ray also believes the agency's hands are tied on this one by the State Department. ... story continues, click on link above. (Saul Chernos, Aug 24, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Why does he pick now to complain? Cuba has been messing up the 710 kHz frequency (and others) for years. WOR is almost never clear up here at night and it's only 100 miles or so, and I'd imagine it's even nastier down along the coast. There's no way he just found out about this. I doubt Cuba cares (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.) It has nothing to do with WOR, but with the fact that Miami's WAQI, also on 710, has a pattern which puts in a potent signal all over Cuba. In recent years WAQI has broadcast entirely in Spanish, with much of the broadcast material originated by anti-Castro Cuban exiles. It is said that VOA's Radio Martí also leases WAQI for one hour each evening. The powerful Cuban broadcast signal is an effort by the Cuban administration to interfere with the WAQI signal so that Cuban listeners will find it unpleasant to try to listen to WAQI. Many years ago when I worked in the Dominican Republic, WAQI's predecessor WGBS was the most powerful US signal on the AM BC band down there. Regards, (Fred Laun, Temple Hills, MD, ibid.) There've been at least two Cubans on 710 for years, one of which has been heard here in the past without much difficulty, and has been heard regularly at Long Beach Island. Estimates on power have ranged between 1 kW and 10 kW in the past. The idea that Cuba's antiquated power system could support even 100 kW on AM stretches the imagination. And given some of Tom Ray's prior statements on IBOC, I'd have to guess there's some intentional exaggeration going on there (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) Saul and group, Quite a rough situation, but the report has the wrong night power for WQAM; they're non-D and run 5 kW-D, 1 kW-N. I'm thinking that the report really means WAQI 710 in Miami; they're 50 kW DA-2, with e night pattern aimed right at Cuba. Just goes to show what happens when people with little or no technical knowledge of radio report on it, without prior fact-checking (Dave Gardiner, NRC-AM via DXLD) Unless there has been a call-sign swap in Miami recently, this article is in error. It mentions that the State Department is leasing time for broadcasts to Cuba on a Miami station on 710 that the article identifies as WQAM. The article claims that the Cubans are jamming these transmissions with a powerful signal of their own on 710. AFAIK, the Miami station on 710 is WAQI, which normally broadcasts in Spanish, though probably does not broadcast propaganda of the kind that the State Department would aim at Cuba. WQAM, which AFAIK is still programmed in English, is on 560 (licensed for 5 kW-D/1 kW-N ND-U but, like many Florida AMs, may well use higher power under a long-standing STA because of interference from Cuba). Unlike WAQI, WQAM is not licensed for directional operation at night although it may use a DA under the STA to protect co-channel US stations if it is using power higher than that for which it is licensed. Someone in South Florida will have to tell us what facilities WQAM 560 actually uses (Dan Strassberg dan.strassberg @ att.net eFax 1-707-215-6367 Aug 24, ibid.) Dan & all, WQAM remains 5 kW day and 1 kW night at 560; they at one time had a Cuban interference STA to run 10 kW which they may or may not still be using. WAQI at 710 does run 50 kW day/night with a Spanish talk format. During the day they throw no more than 50 kW towards Havana and about 120 kW over eastern Cuba. At night their major lobe pumps 360 kW to the SSE which does a tremendous job into east Cuba. This pattern has been in place for years. The communications ministry in Cuba has been out of control for years; maybe it's 710's time in the barrel (Jerry Kiefer, NM, ibid.) In the 2007 WRTV Handbook there are 4 stations listed from Cuba; one is listed at 150 kW and the other is listed at 50 kW. This is nothing new; conditions have been good lately and I feel no sympathy for WOR after all they iBlock 700 and 720 nightly up and down the eastern seaboard. They call that Karma, don't they? (Bob Young, Analog, mA KB1OKL, ibid.) I'd have to question those powers if only because Cuban info is so messy to begin with and WRTH's Cuba info has historically been poor at best. I'd also have to question the ability of the antiquated Cuban electrical system to support a 150 kW transmitter on AM. Besides, isn't local AM coverage area now only supposed to be 25-30 miles ? (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) So that everyone understands the issue here (besides hearing only from those few here who have huge attitudes and "know it all" - they really make the rest of you look bad and give you zero credibility with the broadcast professionals) - 1) This has nothing to do with IBOC, so please get off that high horse. 2) It has been occurring since pre-IBOC days, so it's not a new issue and has no relation whatsoever to IBOC. 3) This has to do with interference within the nighttime interference free coverage area of a licensed US Class A station. And it can easily happen to others. Now the facts: This interference occurs well inside the WOR 5mV contour, and is strong enough to be a local transmitter. The FCC has performed direction finding, has located the station, and "conservatively" estimates the power level at 500 kW to 1 MW. And yes, Cuba can generate that kind of juice for a government sponsored program. The Commission says they can't do anything as their hands are tied by the Department of State. Very simply, if I had a complaint from someone in, say, Virginia that they were hearing this Cuban station, it wouldn't be a big issue. But it is since it's inside our normal coverage area, that is another story. If you know of other stations on other frequencies who may be experiencing the same issue, please drop me a note at tomray @ wor710.com If you're going to email me your anti-IBOC rhetoric, your message will immediately be deleted without being read, and you will not even get the courtesy of a reply. This can easily turn into a much larger issue - and it has been going on far too long. If the affected stations band together, we may be able to get some assistance from our government who is presently turning a deaf ear. You can help clear this up. Or, you can come up with smart ass answers relating it to IBOC and continue to be part of the problem (Thomas R. Ray, III CPBE, Vice President/Corporate Director of Engineering, Buckley Radio, WOR News Talk Radio 710 HD, New York City, 212-642-4462, phax: 212- 921-4751, Ham call: W2TRR, Aug 24, NRC-AM via DXLD) If there were a 500 to 1000 kW transmitter in Cuba roughly 1500 miles away on 710 aimed this way toward NY it would absolutely kill WOR over most of the Eastern seaboard; the only place it wouldn't jam would be within a certain radius around WOR's transmitters and you don't have to be an engineer to figure that out. There is nothing new here. I have to phase out WOR to even hear any Spanish at all. I think someone whose station has been jamming two different frequencies at night now for over a year may be trying to turn the tables and garner some sympathy; many politicians are great at this. I hope they turn up the heat if it is intentional which I see absolutely no evidence of. WOR comes in here in MA nightly and wipes out 695 to 725 (Bob Young, Analog, MA, KB1OKL, ibid.) Tom, First of all, IBOC or no IBOC, the Cuban government could care less about QRMing our stations, or for that matter any stations. They have for years, QRM'd any frequency they care to. I remember back in the 80s when they decided to run high power on 1160 and even got into the West Coast to QRM powerhouse KSL Salt Lake City. KSL has one monster signal in the West. HUGE! I get it here groundwave year around at 700 miles! I have no idea how much power the 1160 Cuban was running, but it must have been 100 kW or more. Then they were on 1180 and QRM'd that for a while too. I doubt they care about international rules on frequencies, period. Maybe, if the U.S. ever gets relations with Cuba in the future, we may have some bargaining power. I guess we are lucky that Cuba doesn't put a 100 kW ND station on every frequency. I know that have never been happy with Radio Martí on 1180. But one side comment about the HD hash on 700 and 720, if that hash QRM's Cuban stations, then Cuba may be upset with it. But I have no clue, if that is a factor or not. Maybe they are QRMing Miami 710 too? I believe they are Spanish. Just my 2 cents worth. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Cuba could care less about WOR. Cuba could care less about WOR's IBOC. They do care about WAQI, which is the real target of this. Not much different than years ago when the went after Miami on 1140 and WRVA had to suffer. Most likely both the FCC and Department of State also know that Cuba could care less about them either (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) You're right on target. Up and down the dial stations have had to bare the brunt of Cuba's harassment. Closer to home, Cuba is blasting away on 1550 to impede the signal of shyt stirrer WRHC out of Miami. As a result, WNZF in Flagler county is getting jammed too. Yes, Cuba does have the power; the old huffer puffer Czech plate modulated boxes have been replaced with high power solid state Chinese boxes. Plus there is proof of several directional arrays on the island. If you broadcast in Spanish and your signal penetrates the workers paradise, you can count on your frequency getting jammed sooner or later, be it a wobbler or one of the Cuban network repeaters. (Jerry Kiefer, PG-19-12805, (proud to have zero creditability with broadcast professionals), ibid.) Ah, you have plenty of credibility with broadcast professionals, Jerry --- because you are one of them ;) (Paul B Walker, NE, ibid._) Does Ray's gaseous diatribe exemplify Playing the Victim Card? Poor, Tom "I have balls!!!" Ray now whines like a lil' puppy with a weak bladder that evil nasty ol' Rebelde 710 be's jammin' his history- maker. Spare us, Tom. Spare yourself further embarrassment. Sound like Ray's playing Victim card in hope of wheedling yet more undue favor from a lapdog FCC? WQAM 50 kW? Rebelde 500 kW? Right. And don fido's also quit the bag. Meanwhile, Strooble now tells everyone to pay no attention to bloggers who say unkind albeit true things about State-Sponsored jamming euphemistically known as iBLOC. Why? If bloggers are fulla prunes why not encourage 'em, use it against them? Stroobs has a gift for making our point but he's not original - see affixed post-script. As for 710 jamming WOR? Please. Isn't HD immune to interference? The Law of Unintended Consequences has a codicil attached: 'what goes around comes around.' Don't say we told ya so, Tommy Boy-o. Yeah, I know. Bad form, kick 'em as their outhouse a' cards collapses. z "Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain! The great and powerful Oz has spoken!" - The Wizard of Oz, "The Wizard of Oz", c. 1939, MGM "You've got to get them down and kick them in the nxxx." - Col. Jaime Ramírez Gomes, legendary hero, Colombian National Police, 1939 - 1986 AR (PV Zecchino, Manalog Key, FL, IRCA via DXLD) ``WOR's Tom Ray is complaining about interference from Cuba. Has anyone heard this station? Is it using the Rebelde xmtr or is Rebelde still being heard? Don't the Cuban authorities know that 710 and neighbouring frequencies are pretty much a dog's breakfast even without their help?`` [lost source prompting reply below:] Oh, this is rich. A guy who has a station that interferes with 700 and 720 and refuses to even accept that there is interference complains about a station 1500+ miles away? Ha! Talk about irony! Yes, the Cuban often overrides WOR here in the Providence area. While I normally am not happy about the overpowering Cubans, this is one that I don't especially mind. Frankly I hope they turn the wick up even more. I hope they cause as much pain to WOR as WOR causes to its adjacent neighbors. I used to like to listen to 700 and 720 in occasion. It hasn't been possible in any comfortable level since the IBOC monster started hissing away at night. To quote Nelson... HA HA!!! (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Their target is WAQI in Miami which covers Cuba well, so they're trying to block it. Old news. The 500,000 watt estimate isn't realistic but more for effect. The likelihood that Cuba's antiquated electrical system could power even a 100 kW AM transmitter is a stretch. The Cubans heard in past seasons there are estimated by most to be in the 1-10 kW range and routinely tear up WOR here because WOR's nighttime signal goes mostly East. And what happened to the Tom Ray who insisted that a station's local area was a radius of about 35 miles? (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], ibid.) I have heard some Spanish by phasing out WOR for a few seconds here and there but haven't IDed the station but it certainly isn't anywhere near 500 kW; to put this into perspective, I have also heard CJRN Niagara falls AM 710 at 3.5 kW on 710 with WOR phased at approx. the same strength. On the other hand, if it is intentional I hope they turn it up and really blow WOR off the map. This is called Karma if they do (Bob Young, Analog, MA, KB1OKL, ibid.) ** U S A. History of Westinghouse Broadcasting amdxer@core.com wrote: I happened upon this web site (below) while researching Westinghouse Electric. Here is a good history of their involvement in broadcasting. http://encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com/Westinghouse+Broadcasting Two notes on this: First of all, that "encyclopedia.thefreedictionary.com" site is kind of scuzzy - it's one of a whole bunch of sites that simply cut and paste Wikipedia content in order to show up on search engines and sell advertising. Whenever you see a link like this, substitute "en.wikipedia.org/wiki/" for the domain name and you'll get the real Wikipedia page, complete with the most recent updates and edits: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westinghouse+Broadcasting Second, it's a Wikipedia page, and thus subject to all the usual problems that plague Wikipedia entries - a somewhat myopic focus (is it really true that "The Westinghouse stations are best known for using a distinctive font (closely, but not accurately mimicked in Ray Larabie's freeware font "Anklepants") for their logos and on-air imaging"? I'm not sure most people would rank that among the group's highest achievements!) and accuracy that's only as good as the contributors. (For instance, I know WBZA-FM in Springfield started on a frequency other than the 102.1 shown in this history.) And it says WBZ signed on in October 1921. Not so. I'm also suspicious of any history of Westinghouse Broadcasting in which the name "Don McGannon" fails to appear. That would be like a history of the American Revolution that never mentions "George Washington." Oddly, I don't think anyone has ever written a really comprehensive history of the Big Red W. Perhaps someday... s (A proud ex-Group W'er, 1992-The End.) (Scott Fybush, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. Re On the Road, Santa Rosa NM: KIVA 95.9 has a CP to go from 1500 W/118 ft to 50 kW/79 feet. The station is owned by broadcast engineer Don Davis who also owns KQNM 1550 and KRKE 1600 Albuquerque along with KKJY 110 Milan, NM (Paul Walker, NE, NRC-AM via DXLD) That`s remarkable, 50 kW at only 79 feet, axually lower than the old sesquikilowatt. Most stations running that much power would also have a much higher antenna. Could be RF hazard. The KIVA callsign has also visited many places in the Southwest over the years, but I don`t know of any kivas in Santa Rosa, and for that matter not a significant Indian population, mostly Hispanic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some years ago, Jerry Starr wrote a humor piece about a station who filed for a CP. "Request permission to raise power to one million watts, lower antenna height to one foot, and to stand back." (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, IRCA via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. 4940, R. Amazonas, Puerto Ayacucho. September 2, 2315 Spanish romantic selections, short YL announcements returning same kind of selections, 2324 s/off. Was some noise presumed from its transmitter, so audio was difficult to evaluate its usual distortion, but seemed low 23422. 73 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 6390, 8-095: At 0225z on Sep 03 (local Tue) I have a utility station with multiplex teletype on 6390 LSB, but 6390 USB has very faint broadcast audio. By 0300z I was able to identify a //. The audio is R Japan (via Sackville) on 5960 in Japanese (0200z- 0500z). It must be another Sackville mixing product, resulting from 5960 + 215 = 6175 + 215 = 6390. 6175 is Voice of Vietnam via Sackville (0100z-0530z). I don't see Spanish on 5960 at 0100z , but CRI is listed with English at 0000-0100z from Sackville (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, Drake R8B with T2FD, Sept 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) We came to just the same conclusion in 8-096 (gh) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ AN AREA IN DOWNTOWN TAMPA MAKES SOME CAR SYSTEMS GO HAYWIRE By Emily Nipps, Times Staff Writer http://www.tampabay.com/news/bizarre/article792608.ece Published Monday, September 1, 2008 7:27 PM TAMPA — A mysterious problem that has plagued downtown Tampa for the last couple of years finally has an explanation. Sort of. Within a concentrated area of downtown's core — mainly from Franklin Street to Ashley Drive and from Polk to Twiggs streets — people have been noticing that their car alarms either can't be activated, or can't be deactivated, sometimes disabling their engines. Downtown guides, police and tow truck drivers often must help push the cars out of the strange zone. Sometimes, the alarms set themselves off, sending shrill chirps into the air. After the St. Petersburg Times began looking into the phenomenon in April, the Federal Communication Commission also investigated. The Times recently obtained the results. According to the FCC, one of the radio antennas on top of the Colonial Bank building at 400 Tampa St. broadcasts oldies station WRBQ-FM 104.7. It uses a radio frequency that emits a harmonic, which is a byproduct of the main radio signal that occurs at a higher frequency. That harmonic might match the frequency that some car alarms use. The FCC's measurements concluded that the harmonic falls below the FCC's limits for frequencies, so the station isn't violating any rules. [WTFK? So are we talking about the second harmonic 209.4 or what?] "WRBQ is not in violation," the FCC case report said, "and the car alarms in question are required to be designed to accept/reject (the interfering frequency)." In other words, car alarms are overruled by radio stations, should the two cross paths. The FCC closed the investigation in May, concluding that the station wasn't doing anything wrong. Charlie Ochs, senior vice president and Tampa Bay market manager for CBS Radio (which owns WRBQ), declined to comment. However, the problems persist, and some may or may not have anything to do with WRBQ or harmonics. After the Times reported the situation in April, several readers wrote in or called to share their stories. Some offered theories as to what could be interfering with their car alarms in downtown. Pinellas County sheriff's Deputy Al Squitieri pointed out that mobile transmitters used by deputies' in-car computers have been known to set off car alarms when the deputies drive through parking lots, so perhaps Tampa police are unknowingly causing the problem. Another man said his Lexus dealer told him that Verizon Wireless uses the same radio frequency as Lexus remote systems do. Then there were others who had completely different problems. Staci Backauskas doesn't know what takes over her 1997 Nissan Pathfinder when she drives through downtown. Every time she enters a certain zone — between Tampa Street and Florida Avenue, from about Twiggs Street to Kennedy — her brake and battery lights flicker on and off. She senses some kind electrical current running through her vehicle, but the dealer detected nothing out of the ordinary. "At this point, I just kind of roll my eyes and go, 'Whatever,'" Backauskas said. At least one other reader besides Backauskas reported that his 2004 Volkswagen Toureg's electrical system goes haywire — air conditioner blasts, electronic compass flashes — as he drives through downtown. Three people wrote in and said their key fobs don't work in the parking lot of the new Kohl's and Total Wine stores in Clearwater, across the street from Countryside Mall. Others pointed out similar experiences in New Hampshire, Canada and New Jersey. A few posed a legitimate question: Could something powerful enough to zap cars' electrical systems or block keyless remote radio frequencies also be harmful to humans? It's very possible, said Vicki Warren, an electrical engineer who works for a Tennessee nonprofit organization that educates people and employers about building and environmental dangers. Along with dangerous chemicals and materials that could affect people's health, radio frequency signals are among one of the dangers Warren targets when she visits homes or teaches seminars through her group, Wings of Eagles Healthy Living. The group has taught seminars in Clearwater, where it measured the atmosphere's radio frequency energy and was alarmed by the findings, which may or may not have been caused by the WRBQ antenna. "There's an extremely strong signal in the Tampa Bay area," Warren said. "We thought it was from a radar. We believe it could cause an extreme biological risk." Tom Weller, an electrical engineering professor at University of South Florida , didn't disagree, knowing of studies from respected research groups, some of which find links to specific diseases such as Alzheimer's. He would like to see more conclusive studies on whether or not radio signals harm people, though. "It's not way out there," Weller said. "But it's still a controversial issue. For every study that comes out, there's another that says the results were flawed in that one." Weller was intrigued by the car alarm phenomenon in downtown Tampa and was curious to know more. His students will choose their semester research projects over the next couple weeks, and he plans to suggest the subject as a possible project for someone to tackle (via Brock Whaley, HI, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING +++++++++++++++++++++ FIRST DIGITAL TV MARKET TO GO LIVE NEXT WEEK News - Digital Media - CNET News Hello All, The Wilmington analog shut down is happening soon. Here's an article dealing with it: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10030198-93.html (Curtis Sadowski, WTFDA via DXLD) With the threat of Hurricane Hannah having an impact on that region would this delay the test from the occurring as scheduled ? (Jeff Rostron, Springfield MA, ibid.) Very possibly. There's been some discussion of a delay in the trade publications today... s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) WILMINGTON, N.C., READY FOR SWITCH TO DIGITAL TV Paul Stephen / For The Times --- Dan Ulmer, an engineer with Wilmington, N.C., station WECT, gives Rupert Worthington a demonstration on how to hook up a digital converter box at one of the many events held to prepare the area's residents for the upcoming switch from analog TV. [caption] The FCC has swarmed Wilmington to prepare it for next week's roll-out, but February's nationwide changeover looms as a much larger task. By Jim Puzzanghera, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer, September 3, 2008 WILMINGTON, N.C. -- The future of broadcast television is set to premiere in this quaint seaside city next week. And the federal government is working hard -- too hard, some say -- to make sure it's a hit here. At noon on Monday, Wilmington's five commercial broadcast stations are scheduled to become the nation's first to permanently switch to all- digital signals, serving as a test of the government-mandated transition that other stations across the country will make in February. "It's like landing on the moon," said Constance Henley Knox, general manager of CBS affiliate WILM. "We're making history." . . . http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-digital3-2008sep03,0,3659779,full.story (via Curtis Sadowski, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) Stations That Have Shut off HD Radio Is there a list of stations that have shut off HD Radio permanently or indefinitely? Thanks (Tim Kridel, IRCA via DXLD) Tim, Yes, that information is contained in Barry McLarnon's IBOC/AM HD list which can be found here: http://topazdesigns.com/iboc/station-list.html The stations listed in green currently have IBOC turned off. If only the whole world were green :-) (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA http://hometown.aol.com/midcapemarc/myhomepage/profile.html ibid.) Keep the faith, the whole will turn green; many licensees` contracts are running out in approx one year, no one`s buying the receivers, everything that iBiquity does turns to mud, it's a goner, they just haven't called the code off yet (Bob Young, Analog, MA, KB1OKL, ibid.) Noticed on the list that WSB [750 Atlanta] reportedly ditched HD because of complaints. Anybody have further info? I like to listen to WSB during insomnia bouts on Saturday mornings. There's a hook and bullet show followed by gardening. I enjoy both (Gil Stacy, ibid.) Beautiful thoughts by which to start this day. But TeamBLOC say, 'once people realize what a terrific data pipe HD is, sales will pick up', something to that effect. Yeah. Right. Tha's why we turn onna radio, ain' it? To lissen, data pipe? The other night while awaiting latest wx briefs onna tv, caught a feature on young engineering grads. They were handed a length of wire, a battery, and a bulb and acksed to light the bulb. They couldn't. They were smart, well credentialed and on their way to good jobs with allegedly fine companies. Nonetheless they were missing fundamentals. Might this explain some of HD's problems? In addition to good old fashioned greed, corruption, lies, cronyism, sleaziness, and general mayhem, I mean? Z (Paul Vincent Zecchino, FL, ibid.) There could be something wrong with it, and it could be off temporarily, but I believe WGAC, 580, Augusta, GA, is not transmitting IBOC today. I first noticed that CBS news was coming in right on the zero second of my "atomic" clock instead of 8 seconds later. This could be a major development if it is off for good because WGAC is a Beasley Broadcasting Station which was one of the promoters of IBOC. I went to their website and asked the computer to find "HD" and it said "text not found". (Bob Smoak, Bamberg, SC, Sept 2, ABDX via DXLD) The HD exciters are somewhat cranky and crassssssh (Powell E. Way III w4opw, ibid.) I was trolling the Goodwill's on Labor Day and in the glass case (where the fancier stuff is stashed), I saw the glaring HD radio logo. They were the VR3 HD Receiver, which is actually a 12 volt HD tuner, which is meant to be piped into your car stereo. They were new overstocks from Target and quite overpriced at $52.99. Another example of HD Radios not selling and retailers being forced to close / clear them out. They had 3. I passed as $52 for a tuner is not as good as my $6 used Accurian (Dave Hascall, Indianapolis, IN, Sept 3, WTFDA via DXLD) IBOC: see also WOR/Cuba thread under USA ###