DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-103, September 15, 2008 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2008 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1425 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. 9494.8, C+LSB, Abkhaz Radio, 0747 with classic music, operas with short voice ins[erts?] as descriptions, before the music item. At 0800 with news; signal 14431 5/8/8. 9495, Abkhaz Radio, 1447 with classical music. Tuned in again at 1454 but signed off. 28/7/8 (Zacharias Liangas, Fourka, Chalkidiki, Greece, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Welcome back, Zach, and hope your family`s health problems are resolved (gh, DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [and non]. UK TRIES RADIO TO QUELL VIOLENCE. "On August 21, Gordon Brown signalled that the British government is taking one new initiative seriously - establishing dialogue with local people through radio funded by the UK's Department for International Development. The objective is ultimately to convince Afghans that the future lies not with violence but with negotiated settlements to the myriad of problems which are fuelling the current conflict. ... Will this approach win heart and minds? The precedents are encouraging: Voice of America, broadcasting to the lawless North West Frontier of Pakistan, has transformed its listening figures with a daily phone-in programme. After centuries of being marginalised through oppressive social and political structures, the Pakistani Pashtuns can at last speak their minds on a range of topics in the safety of anonymity - and they have seized it with enthusiasm. ... And in Afghanistan, the evaluation of the BBC soap opera New Home New Life's long-running story on the landmine dangers showed that non- listeners were twice as likely to be injured or killed by landmines than listeners." Gordon Adam, Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 14 September 2008. Posted: 14 Sep 2008 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** ANDORRA. THE HISTORY OF RADIO ANDORRA http://f5nsl.free.fr/andorre/amenuen.html This page is available in English and French (Sheldon Harvey, Sept Radio HF Internet Newsletter via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. 4949.7, RNA-Canal "A", Mulenvos, 2246-2309, 04 Sep, Portuguese, songs, news at 2300; 45343 but worse, quite worse on the following days, earlier or at the same observasion time. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. LRA36, Arcángel, 15476.020 kHz, 1959 (best time). Full ID, by male and female. Gr (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, Sept 15, bdx mailing list via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 6214.2, R. Baluarte, Ptº Iguazú, 2218-2229, 10 Sep, Portuguese, talks; 24331, splatter de pirate station Mystery R on 6220. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Walt Salmaniw, DXing from British Columbia has heard a Chinese language station on 1656 kHz. According to John Smith of Brisbane, reporting to the MWOZ newsgroup on 14 August, a new Chinese radio station had just come on air at Sunnybank on 1656. Their licence came into effect on 13th August 2008 till 2012. From a Google search, I have found the following additional data: AM 1656 is at 223 Calam Road, Sunnybank Hills, Queensland - this is on the southern outskirts of Brisbane City. It is licenced to Yuan Hua International Pty Ltd at 26 Gagarra Street, Eight Mile Plains (where the licence was originally located at). A Chinese language station, its transmitter site is at the southern end of the concentration of Asian population, which would be Sunnybank (Bryan Clark & Ray Crawford, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. While PNG was in on 90m, PNG and Indonesia on 75m, and Indonesia on 60m, I dared to check 2485 and could hear a bit of weak talk at 1253 Sept 15, presumably VL8K. Could only detect some very weak carriers on 2310 and 2325 kHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. ??? 15515, CVC, 0702 `cvc with the music`, 0702 and musical news. fair, 15//8/8 ??? 15515, CVC on 0711 with program scribe and nice pop song. A young lady speaker (ca20?) in English telling `you are listing to skype' and asking listeners to email to cvc. Was that time looking for RA (Zacharias Liangas, 29/7/8, Fourka, Chalkidiki, Greece, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unfortunately, there is a 4-hour conflict on 15515 per current listings, RA Shep at 02-07, and CVC Tashkent at 03-09. Strines vs Strines! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD) ** BAHRAIN. 9745, R Bahrain, 0826 with Arabic songs. Many fadeouts to the signal. Poor at maximum. 500 Hz carrier. Zero signal at 0828; at 1124 listenable with Arabic version of `La Vie en Rose', 28/7/8 (Zacharias Liangas, Fourka, Chalkidiki, Greece, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BENIN. 5025, ORTB, Parakou, 1705-, 07 Sep, French, talks; 35343 but extremely low modulation. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4498.337, 1.9 2220, Tent Radio Estambul, Guayaramerín tillbaka på sin gamla frekvens. Sändarproblem. På en kvart drev den från 4498.337 till 4498.235 och hade börjat driva uppåt igen. Usel modulation som hjälpligt gick fram i AM-läge (JE, SW Bulletin Sept 14 via DXLD) 4498.337, 1.9 2220, Tentative, Radio Estambul, Guayaramerín back on its old frequency. Transmitter problems. During 15 minutes drifting from 4498.337 to 4498.235 starting to drift upwards again. Lousy modulation just understandable in AM-mode. JE (Jan Edh, Sweden, SW Bulletin, translated by editor Thomas Nilsson for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4865, R Logos, Santa Cruz. September 13, Spanish, 2224 religious talks by OM "Jesús es la imagen del Dios", musical bridge, OM talks on music, 2230 YL "noticiero" with only ecumenical content news "crecimiento de las iglesias no registradas", 2234 musical bridge. Slow improvement, partially readable 23322. 6075, Bolivia, Unidentified. September 14, 1000 maybe local romantic pop selections, canned announcements: 1022 male "Bolivia independiente, soberana!", 1031 male "planos separatistas de fascistas", 1038 male "con gobierno Evo Morales, Bolivia unida...", 1055 male live outside "tomarán el control de toda la ciudad", 1104 after many unlistenable ID`s, OM "Radio Mensage Coca" (but this must be a special temporary nomination or a program name). Het, 32333. 73 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil - Sony ICF SW40 - dipole 18m, 32m, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Anyhow, it looks like the 6075 transmitter is inspired by all the separatist strife in Bolivia (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Unident, 6075, 1025-1035 Sept 14. Noted a series of canned promos and music. At 1030 heard an ID but missed or couldn't get it out of the mud. Have sent two recorded cuts to the internet for analysis by anyone who wants to try and translate the ID. You can find them at: http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com/IMAGE61.HTML There are two wav files to click on. I think the second one is the best to get an ID from. Please send me an email if you can get it? (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Certainly the same station as reported by Rafael and Lúcio. Near start of first clip they are also talking about ``fascistas``. I can`t make out the words after ``radio`` if that is an ID, maybe non-Spanish. In the second clip they are giving frequencies ---.7 FM, 740 AM, 6075 OC. Definitely not 6025. WRTH 2008 shows NO Bolivians on 740, so that is new too. Since the opposition are called ``fascists`` this outlet must be pro-Morales, in addition to the state-run 6025 station (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6075 kHz, RADIO CAUSAUKI COCA - Cochabamba, Bolivia Hola Colegas, Continuando con la información sobre la señal boliviana en 6075, se trata de una nueva emisora denominada RADIO CAUSAKI COCA, (bueno, es lo que yo entiendo) pero puede ser RADIO CASACHUN COCA, que significa "VIVA LA COCA". Ayer en la noche con transmisión especial por el aniversario de Cochabamba en directo desde el Concejo Municipal con la participación del Presidente Evo Morales, en voz femenina "..estás en compañía de Radio Causaki Coca..." luego de las 0200 con programacion normal e ID: "...Transmite Radio Causaki Coca con instalaciones en lau - - federación de productores de coca del trópico de Cochabamba, emite su señal en 95.7 frecuencia modulada, 740 amplitud modulada y muy pronto en 6075 kHz onda corta banda de 49 metros señal internacional. .." Continuó con comunicados para varios sindicatos y promo para un programa sobre la verdad del Conalde y la Media Luna (organizaciones autonomistas) que han provocado los desórdenes y muertos en Pando. Con cierre hacia las 0230, antes con un poema en honor a la "hoja sagrada del Tawantisuyo". En el cierre se mencionan como "la voz" de la Revolución Democrática Cultural de Evo Morales. No es claro el lugar exacto desde dónde transmiten pero es en la región de Cochabamba. Adjunto archivo de audio por si pueden identificar el lugar (Rafael Rodriguez R., Colombia, via Dario Monferini, playdx, DXLD) Hola Amigo y Colega Rafael! Gracias por tu información, Su eslogan completo es: «Casachun coca, wañuchun narcotráfico» ¡Viva la coca, muerte el narcotráfico! Esta aclaración es muy importante!!! La emisora es totalmente contra el tráfico de los narcotraficantes!!!!!! Esta información del enero 2008 es reportada en la WEB de otra emisora --- desde Nicaragua http://www.radiolaprimerisima.com/noticias/1123 [about the slogan, but nothing about any other radio station in above article, published by La Primerísima, 680 AM, 91.7 FM -- gh] Puede ser la reactivación de Radio Nacional Cochabamba 5975 kHz?? Cerrada en el 2000, con nuevo nombre?? http://www.cne.org.bo/proces_electoral/generales2005/comunicacion/medios_comunicacion.pdf Esto elenco oficial del 2005 no reporta nada en los 95.7 MHz y 740 kHz Si quieren noticias directas de lo que se pasa diáriamente en Bolivia: Prensa a favor del Gubierno http://www.lostiempos.com/ Prensa local del grupo LIDER de Bolivia Pagina WEB contra el Gobierno http://www.nacioncamba.net/editorial/EL%20ESTADO%20CANALLA.htm Radio Pio XII, emisora oficial de los pueblos mineros http://www.radiopio12.org/ Radio Fides, información imparcial http://www.radiofides.com/default.asp Radio Patria Nueva, la voz oficial del Gobierno Boliviano http://abi.bo/index.php?i=patria-nueva&j=patria-nueva/indice.html La verdadera historia de Quochapampa http://www.lostiempos.com/cochabamba/14-09-06his/index.php Documentacion alternativa de INDYMEDIA de Bolivia http://bolivia.indymedia.org/node/1278 Cordiales saludos! (Dario Monferini, Italy, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rafael y amigos, También escuché por acá a esta emisora boliviana em 6075 kHz; me parece también que es Causaki Coca; sigue un audio de la 0100 UT de 15 de Septiembre de 2008. En la identificación solamente el nombre y la frecuencia en FM 99.7 MHz. Saludos (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos-SP, Brasil, condiglist yg via DXLD) Bolivia, 6075, Radio Causauki Coca, Cochabamba, (presumed) 1000-1040 Sept 15. Caught the opening remarks and at sign on (1000) which was exactly on the hour. Unfortunately, they seemed to have come on the air from a cold start. It took their transmitter about 15 minutes before it was at a poor level of audio. The entire format seemed to be political comments while different individuals spoke - all in Spanish. At about 1017 a break for a canned ID/Announcement where the station details were given. Heard the above ID or at least about 60 percent of it anyway. After that, the live comments continue. Heard place names also: Bolivia, Santa Cruz etc. Signal was poor during the period and started to fade by 1040. Reception was much better on September 14, 2008 during this time period. I uploaded two new audio wav files to the following page if anyone wants to listen: http://www.orchidcitysoftware.com/IMAGE61.HTML (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Causachun Coca recording: I have uploaded Rafael Rodríguez´s recording of the station´s sign off. The clip has been relayed to me by Dario Monferini. Thanks guys. Incidentally, the spelling above is definite, it has been confirmed by Bolivian DXer Angel Oquendo, who is living in Stockholm. The absence of tilde means that the stress is on the middle "a" of the first word. The translation is "que viva la coca", "long live coca", says Angel. (There are two Radio Enlace interviews with Angel, some of them containing actual Bolivian recordings, on the Radio Netherlands home site. Look for "angel oquendo + radio enlace" which should work ok). http://www.box.net/shared/n7fg1dcqnu [Later:] I´m afraid Google won´t find the program with the search cue I´ve just given. For the second release of Jaime Báguena´s interview with Angel Oquendo, and those old recordings from Siglo XX, try this link: http://www.informarn.nl/programas/programassemanales/programa_Cartasatrn/argentinabrasilbolivia/argbrasbol_20 (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENIING DIGEST) Uploaded where? Are you sure it starts with C in view of the below which says K-? But the info below can`t decide whether to spell Lauka or Lauca, either (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola Don Dario, Buscando también en la página de la Red Patria Nueva aparece listada una emisora que hace parte de la Red de Radios de los Pueblos Originarios operando desde Cochabamba/Trópico con el nombre de KAUSACHUN COCA en 99.9 MHz y aunque no concuerda con la frecuencia mencionada; me inclino a pensar que se trata de la misma emisora. Falta por establecer la localidad exacta. http://www.patrianueva.bo/seccion.php?n=radioscom Un saludo y buen DX (Rafael Rodríguez R., Colombia, Sept 15, playdx yg via DXLD) Hola Colega Rafael! Gracias por tu importantísimo detalle!!! Ahora es todo muy llarito, Morales està a favor de los Cocaleros por controlar la producción de Coca y contra los EEUU y sus "amigos" narcotraficantes que importan desde la area del Tropico Cochabambino montones de Coca. La emisora RADIO KAUSACHUN COCA efectivamente opera desde la localidad de Lauka Ñ, Provincia de Tiraque, Región Trópico, Depto. de Cochabamba. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Provincia_Tiraque Esta localidad tiene muchas fábricas que producen Coca! http://www.comunicadoresindigenas.org/2007/04/30/bolivia-hoy-nace-el-sistema-de-radios-de-los-pueblos-originarios-para-democratizar-la-voz/ Esta WEB tiene detalles de la Emisora, 30 Abril 2007 Bolivia: Hoy nace el Sistema de Radios de los Pueblos Originarios para democratizar la voz. Cerca de medio centenar de emisoras serán parte de esta red de medios de comunicación auto sostenibles y administrados por las comunidades indígenas. La primera emisión del sistema se transmitirá desde Lauka Ñ, en el trópico de Cochabamba. Se anuncia la presencia del presidente Evo Morales. La Paz, 28 abril (ABI)- El 1 de mayo en homenaje al Día del Trabajador y el primer año de la nacionalización de los hidrocarburos, en la localidad de Lauca Ñ nacerá “La Voz de la Verdad”, el Sistema de Radios de los Pueblos Originarios. Esta red será similar a las cadenas radiales Erbol y Fides, pero con la gran diferencia de que los programas serán una tribuna libre gratuita para los indígenas y originarios de las tierras altas y bajas, sectores históricamente privados del derecho a la libre expresión. Medio centenar emisoras estarán en red vía satélite democratizando la revolución de la comunicación en Bolivia y dando voz a los que fueron olvidados. Este sistema estará interconectado con la Red Patria Nueva que encabeza la estatal Radio Illimani en La Paz. El acto del nacimiento del Sistema de Radios de los Pueblos Originarios se realizará en Lauca Ñ y al que fue invitado el presidente de la República, Evo Morales Ayma. El director Ejecutivo de la Dirección Nacional de Comunicación (Dinacon), Gastón Núñez, considera indispensable la presencia del Jefe de Estado, el primer Presidente indígena, para que baje la bandera a cuadros de la puesta en marcha de la red, en esa población del trópico de Cochabamba a 161 kilómetros de la capital del departamento. “Se va a trabajar a nivel del Sistema Nacional de las Radios de los Pueblos Originarios desde Cochabamba, en la localidad de Lauca Ñ, del trópico, desde el mes de mayo, tal como anunció el Presidente de la República”, declaró “El sistema tiene como finalidad posicionar un discurso que sea fundamentalmente el que plantee sobre las demandas de los pueblos originarios y para decir la verdad”, remarcó Núñez. Medio centenar de emisoras La red arrancará con radioemisoras que ya emiten su señal como Lauca Ñ, en la Provincia Tiraque, Cochabamba; San Ignacio de Moxos, provincia Moxos, Beni; Puerto Suárez, provincia Germán Busch, Santa Cruz; Achacachi, provincia Omasuyos, La Paz; Filadelfia, provincia Mnuripi, Pando; Pipini, provincia Ingavi, La Paz; San Julián, provincia Ñuflo de Chávez, Santa Cruz; y Colquechaca, provincia José María Linares, Potosí. También integran la red las radioemisoras Caiza D, provincia Chayanta, Potosí; Sabaya, provincia Sabaya, Oruro; Orinoca, provincia Sud Carangas, Oruro; Qaqachaca, provincia Avaroa, Oruro; Riberalta, provincia Vaca Diez, Beni, Independencia, provincia Ayopaya, Cochabamba; Mojocoya, provincia Sudanés, Chuquisaca; Tarabuco, provincia Yamparaez, Chuquisaca; y Caranavi, provincia Caranavi, La Paz. En las próximas semanas se sumarán a la red las radios La Asunta, provincia Sud Yungas, La Paz; San José de Chiquitos, provincia Chuiquitos, Santa Cruz; Camiri, provincia Cordillera, Santa Cruz; y Rurrenabaque, provincia Ballivián, Beni. Falta por instalar las radios Puerto Rico, provincia Manuripi, Pando; Villamontes, provincia Gran Chaco, Tarija; y Bermejo, provincia Aniceto Arce, Tarija, entre otras que se sumarán al sistema a futuro. La iniciativa de crear el sistema de Radios de los Pueblos Originarios nació en el Primer Encuentro Nacional de Comunicadores del Sistema Nacional de Radios de los Pueblos Originarios (RPO) que aprobó la conformación de la Red Nacional de Radios de los Pueblos Originarios. Esa decisión fue asumida el 14 de abril pasado luego de analizar, reflexionar y evaluar la coyuntura social, económica y política del país, así como la situación actual de los medios de comunicación, habiendo unánimemente resaltado la importancia de la radio como instrumento de la comunidad para aportar a la construcción del cambio. Programación del sistema Los participantes se comprometieron a coadyuvar en todas las tareas que demande esta actividad, así como a respetar la siguiente programación central: Mañanas, entre las 06.00 y 07.00 Red Nacional de RPO, entre las 07.00 y las 08.30 se sumarán a la Red Patria Nueva (RPN) y a partir de esta hora difundirán su programación local. En las tardes, entre las 12.00 y las 13.00 entablarán cadena con RPN, al igual que en las noches entre las 18.00 y las 19.00, para luego entre las 19.00 y las 20.00 reasumir la cadena de las Radios de los Pueblos Indígenas. A partir de esta hora difundirán programación local. . . (all via Dario Monferini, Italy, DXLD) + much more ** BOLIVIA. DECLARACIÓN DE ALER SOBRE LA SITUACIÓN EN BOLIVIA ALER - [ 13.09.08 - 12:00 ] En este escenario, radios asociadas a ERBOL y ALER han sido atacadas o amenazadas. Tenemos bajo amenaza a nuestros compañeros de Radio Alternativa de Santa Cruz; Radio San Miguel de Riberalta, Beni; Radio Aclo de Tarija; Radio Ichilo, provincia Yapacani, Santa Cruz. En nombre de la Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica, ALER, la Junta Directiva declara: A pocos días del Referéndum Revocatorio que dio amplio respaldo popular al gobierno constitucional del Presidente Evo Morales, grupos de poder económico asociados a mezquinos intereses políticos de locales y del imperio norteamericano arrastran a Bolivia a la violencia descontrolada para truncar el proceso de cambios emprendido en ese país. La situación se ha agravado en las últimas horas, especialmente en las zonas gobernadas por Prefectos que lideran reclamos separatistas, donde bandas armadas escondidas bajo el nombre de "comités cívicos", han desatado violentos ataques contra diversas instituciones, las que han sido objeto de saqueo, destrucción e incendios provocando ya varias muertes. Utilizando el racismo como una herramienta para defender sus intereses lesionados y tratar de recuperar el poder que están perdiendo gracias al proceso de cambios, los ataques están dirigidos especialmente contra los pueblos indígenas, sus organizaciones y las instituciones que trabajan con ellos. En este escenario, radios asociadas a ERBOL y ALER han sido atacadas o amenazadas. Tenemos bajo amenaza a nuestros compañeros de Radio Alternativa de Santa Cruz; Radio San Miguel de Riberalta, Beni; Radio Aclo de Tarija; Radio Ichilo, provincia Yapacani, Santa Cruz. Frente a estos graves hechos, la Asociación Latinoamericana de Educación Radiofónica, ALER, manifiesta: 1. El dolor por la pérdida de vidas humanas y la más activa solidaridad con el pueblo de Bolivia y su voluntad, con el gobierno constitucional del Presidente Evo Morales Ayma, la nueva Constitución de ese país y en, general, el proceso de cambios allí emprendido. 2. El apoyo y acompañamiento fraterno y solidario a la Red ERBOL, Escuelas Radiofónicas de Bolivia y sus Radios Asociadas, especialmente a las comunicadoras y los comunicadores amenazados y a las radios silenciadas. 3. Advertimos sobre la gravedad que significa el silenciamiento de medios de comunicación que siempre han estado al servicio de la convivencia en paz, la justicia y los derechos de la población especialmente de los pueblos indígenas y sus organizaciones. 4. Repudiamos el racismo, las agresiones y la violencia en todas sus formas, contra el pueblo boliviano y su Gobierno. 5. Reclamamos al gobierno de Estados Unidos, para que cese su descarada intervención en Bolivia. 6. Solicitamos a los Gobiernos de la región y a los Organismos internacionales a pronunciarse de inmediato en defensa del orden constitucional y el derecho de Bolivia a decidir su propio destino y a dar pleno respaldo al gobierno legítimamente electo por la voluntad popular . 7. Ofrecemos, desde la Asociación y cada una de las radios afiliadas en todo el continente, nuestra colaboración en todo lo que sea posible para erradicar la violencia, buscar formas de entendimiento a fin de encauzar los reclamos que hubieren y lograr el respeto de los derechos del pueblo boliviano. Quito, 11 de septiembre de 2008, a 35 años del golpe contra el Gobierno Constitucional de Salvador Allende en Chile. Junta Directiva ALER Presidente Gerardo Lombardi Vicepresidente Néstor Busso Directora Liliana Berta Director Mario Maida Director Guillermo Siles (from http://www.radiopio12.org/articulo.php?p=1270&more=1&c=1 via Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, condiglist yg via DXLD) Hey, the USA, the North American empire, is being blamed for ``intervening`` in Bolivia! We sure don`t hear much about that here. Is it true? History suggests it certainly could be, but such charges are easy to throw around without any proof, and risk becoming just another Big Lie on RHC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9585, 0349, Radio CBN, São Paulo good with excited evangelist in Portuguese. Measured frequency 9584.82 hetting 9585. Lengthy ID at 0400 including network stations & website. Audible past 0520, 29/8 (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE and E, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. RÁDIO 9 DE JULHO NOVAMENTE EM ONDAS CURTAS Enviado em 14 de Setembro de 2008, Publicado por Romais A Rádio 9 de Julho, de São Paulo (SP), está de volta ao mundo das ondas curtas desde o dia 11 de setembro, pela freqüência de 9820 kHz, em 31 metros. Foi notada, primeiramente, em São Paulo (SP), pelo Maurício Dignani. Também foi sintonizada, com bom sinal, no mesmo dia, entre 13h e 17h, na hora de Brasília, [= 16-20 UT] em Novo Hamburgo (RS), pelo Édison Bocorny Júnior. O sinal da emissora também chegou a Buenos Aires, na Argentina, onde o Arnaldo Slaen a captou, em 13 de setembro, às 10h45min, [Brasília time too? Then 1345 UT] quando estava no ar o programa católico A Caminho do Reino. Na verdade, a presença da Rádio 9 de Julho nas ondas curtas não é novidade. Na década de 1970, a emissora teve sua licença cassada pela ditadura militar, quando também emitia na faixa de 31 metros. Na década de 70, Jorge Paulo Nogueira apresentava um programa sobre músicas nordestinas que, graças às ondas curtas, chegava a todo o país, o que determinou a sua eleição para deputado federal. Quando teve sua concessão devolvida pelo ex-presidente Fernando Henrique Cardoso, na metade dos anos 90, a 9 de Julho voltou a emitir apenas em 1600 kHz, em ondas médias. Em 14 de setembro, captei a emissora, aqui em Porto Alegre (RS), com bom sinal, a partir das 11h40min [1440 UT], quando irradiava o programa Heróis do Mar, com anúncios comerciais de vários estabelecimentos de São Paulo (SP), especialmente de padarias, uma vez que o segmento era apresentado por um português, Martins Araújo. Portanto, a emissora não tem apenas programação religiosa, abrindo espaço para outros temas (Célio Romais blog via DXLD) Re: What happened on 9 July, anyway, and in what year? (gh, DXLD) July 9, 1932. At http://www.coisasdosanduba.com/brasil/2008/07/09/feriado-de-9-de-julho-no-estado-de-sao-paulo/ the following is found: Segundo informações obtidas na Wikipedia e no Brasil Escola, foi nesta data que iniciou a luta armada de São Paulo, e alguns aliados, contra o governo de Getúlio Vargas. Os objetivos eram a elaboração de uma nova constituinte e fazer com que os paulistas, retomassem o poder e a influência, que haviam perdida desde a tomada do poder por Getúlio Vargas, quando ele extinguiu o Congresso Nacional, as Assembléias estaduais e depos os governos estaduais. “Reivindicando o fim do Governo Provisório, a nomeação de um novo presidente da república, a autonomia estadual e, principalmente, uma reconstitucionalização do país, estoura, a 9 de julho de 1932, a Revolução Constitucionalista.” Para homenagear os quatro estudantes que foram mortos durante os confrontos da greve geral, que reuniu 200 mil pessoas, foi criado o Obelisco no Parque do Ibirapuera. O nome dos quatro jovens estudantes eram: Martins, Miragaia, Dráuzio e Camargo, dando origem a sigla M.M.D.C que foi um importante símbolo da revolução (via Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MMDC also = 2600 in Roman numerals (gh) Hi Glenn, 9 July is the day of start of fights for a REPUBLICA in Brazil against President Getúlio Vargas in 1932 in São Paulo! http://www.historianet.com.br/conteudo/default.aspx?codigo=340 Durante todo o ano de 1932 organizou-se intensa propaganda contra o governo Vargas, que estimulou a organização de associações civis constitucionalistas, formada principalmente por estudantes e profissionais liberais, integrantes de uma camada média que repudiava a política ditatorial adotada. No entanto, essa camada não possuía organização política própria, ou mesmo um projeto político específico, para ela a luta seria contra a ditadura e a favor de uma Constituição. A classe operária, ainda pequena, encontrava-se desorganizada em virtude da política trabalhista de Vargas, que havia eliminado os setores mais organizados do movimento, os imigrantes italianos e suas tendências anarquistas e cooptava uma parte dessa classe com sua legislação inicial, paternalista e pelega. Dessa forma é que as elites acabaram por comandar o movimento. No dia 23 de maio de 1932, manifestações contra Getúlio Vargas eclodiam pela capital paulista, em um clima crescente de revolta. Um grupo tentou invadir a Liga Revolucionária - organização favorável ao regime situada nas proximidades da praça da República -, dando origem a um episódio que impulsionou o movimento. MMDC - Os governistas resistiram a bala e acabaram matando os jovens Mário Martins de Almeida, Euclides Miragaia, Dráusio Marcondes de Sousa e Antônio Camargo de Andrade. Havia três mortos e dois feridos, que acabaram morrendo depois. O quinto ferido era o estudante Orlando de Oliveira Alvarenga. As iniciais de Martins, Miragaia, Dráusio e Camargo serviram para formar o MMDC. A sigla representava uma organização civil clandestina, que, entre outras atividades, oferecia treinamento militar. Apesar de terem declarado a intenção de apoiar o movimento que nascia em São Paulo, os governos de Minas Gerais e Rio Grande do Sul acabaram recuando. O único apoio veio do Mato Grosso. Percebendo a dificil situação em que se encontrava, iniciou-se em São Paulo uma intensa campanha de alistamento voluntário, a 10 de julho, em diversos postos distribuidos pelo estado. Na Faculdade de Direito do largo São Francisco formou-se o Batalhão Universitário. Ao mesmo tempo a FIESP comanda um esforço de guerra, a aprtir do qual muitas fábricas passam a produzir material bélico ou de campanha, criando inclusive uma Milícia Industrial. As rádios paulistas são utilizadas como instrumentos de propaganda. O locutor César Ladeira da Rádio Record, ficou conhecido como " a voz da Revolução" (via Dario Monferini, DXLD) Caro Glenn, Sobre a data de 9 de Julho, por favor veja abaixo. É a data cívica mais importante do meu estado (São Paulo). http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revolu%C3%A7%C3%A3o_Constitucionalista_de_1932 (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos SP, Brasil, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Much, much, more, illustrated. Tnx to all for enlightening us! (gh) ** BRAZIL. 4885, R.Difª Acreana, Rio Branco AC, 2223-2230, 04 Sep, talks, seemingly some religious propaganda program; 23341, QRM de R.Club do Pará. 4885, R. Club do Pará, Belém PA, 2224-2238, 04 Sep, A Voz do Brasil, part 2; 44343, QRM de R.Difusora do Acre. RCBelém usually fades in around 1945. 4915, R.Difª, Macapá AP, 2209-2221, 07 Sep, international pops (for a change); 33432, QRM de R. CBN Anhangüera. This is via the Central American Beverage to attenuate the QRM source. 4915, R. CBN Anhangüera, Goiânia GO, 2210-2221, 07 Sep, religious propaganda program; 44433, QRM de R. Difusora de Macapá. 5035, R. Educação Rural, Coari AM, 2308-2317, 04 Sep, messages & infos; 34343, adjacent QRM de BFA 5030. 5035, R. Aparecida, Aparecida SP, 2311-, 04 Sep, talks; 22341, QRM de R. Educação Rural, Brazil, & BFA 5030. 6104.7, R. Cultura Filadélfia, Foz do Iguaçu PR, 2117-, 5 Sep, preacher; 22441. No ID heard, but it was not R. Canção Nova as I checked it against the latter's 9675 outlet. 9584.8, R. Globo, Rio de Janº RJ, 2104-2118, 08 Sep, political campaign; 34443, increasing adjacent QRM. 9645.2, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo SP, 044-1430 [sic], 05 Sep, ads, talks, music, etc., news & ads heard at 1415; 25432. 9694.9, R. Rio Mar, Manaus AM, 2052-2059*, 05 Sep, songs, ID, station slogan, frequency announcement prior to s/off on HF (remains active on 1290 kHz); 44433, adjacent QRM. 9694.9, ditto, 1025-1315, 06 Sep, policital party campaign, songs; 24432. 11734.9, R. Transmundial, Stª Mª RS, 1030-1259, 11 Sep, sudden s/on, Bible program, political campaign; 34443. 11735, ditto, 1917-1935, 07 Sep [Sunday], DX program "Amigos do rádio" followed by "O Mundo Verde", a feature about ecosystems for a greener world; 44433, QRM de TZA+UNID on 11730. 11804.6, R. Globo, Rio de Janº RJ, 2042-, 08 Sep, IPDA (presumed) preacher; 24432, undermodulated & noisy, adjacent QRM. 11815, R. Brasil Central, Goiânia GO, 1013-1330, 07 Sep, Brazilian folksong program "Goiás Caboclo" (if I'm not mistaken, "caboclo" is a rural or farm worker), talks about f/ball heard at 1315; 35444, het. with REE via CTR still on 11814. 11815, ditto, 2135-2155, 07 Sep, music program "Brasil Central - Sucessos"; 44433, QRM de REE 11814 via CTR; good on \\ 4985. 11829.9, R. CBN Anhangüera, Goiânia GO, 1257-1412, 11 Sep, talks about home politics, regional news till 1400 followed by a regular newscast at 1400; 24443, stronger co-channel QRM as from 1400 onwards. 11915.1, R. Gaúcha, Ptº Alegre RS, 2147-2212, 07 Sep, advertisements, political campaign, newscast; 35433. 11925.2, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo SP, 128-1315 [sic], 07 Sep, music dedication program "Arquivo Musical", sports at 1300; 25443. 11925.1, ditto, 2150-2214, 07 Sep, music, ads, election commission info, all in news feature "Bandeirantes acontece"; 33432. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Selected items from CG`s full report in the dxldyg (gh) ** BRAZIL. O fim de uma era -- A emissora B2, primeira de Curitiba, passa a reproduzir sinal de rádio paulista e deixa saudades entre os paranaenses . . . 1973 – Os padres Paulinos, já com emissoras em São Paulo, adquirem a Rádio Clube Paranaense. Para administrá-la, cria-se a Fundação Nossa Senhora do Rocio – homenagem à padroeira do Paraná. 1986 – Com apelo popular, a B2 volta a obter grande audiência. São destaques o programa policial das manhãs e as jornadas esportivas sob o comando de Lombardi Júnior. 1992 – A B2 passa a integrar o grupo Lúmen, que também gerencia as tevês Lúmen e Futura e as rádios Lúmen FM e Clube FM. 2008 – A rádio deixa de produzir conteúdo próprio e passa a retransmitir integralmente o sinal da rádio Eldorado AM de São Paulo, emissora integrante do Grupo Estado. Oitenta e quatro anos e dois meses depois, foram demitidos oito funcionários (entre jornalistas, assistentes, auxiliares de produção e apresentadores) contratados pela Fundação Nossa Senhora do Rocio – mantenedora da rádio desde outubro de 1973. A programação produzida em Curitiba foi extinta e a parceria com a rádio Eldorado, que por sua vez pertence ao Grupo Estado, foi reforçada. Para os que fizeram carreira na emissora, uma lástima. Uma pena imensurável. Para o grupo Lúmen, do qual a Rádio Clube é integrante desde 1992, a medida é uma forma de manter a rádio viva. “Temos um carinho muito grande por esta rádio e queremos deixar claro que ela não acabou. Nós tentamos várias alternativas na programação, mas não deu certo. Então fizemos uma parceria para ganharmos em conteúdo e economizarmos em estrutura”, disse o diretor do grupo Lúmen, Armando Celi Júnior. . . [much more chronology, history] Fonte: http://portal.rpc.com.br/gazetadopovo/cadernog/conteudo.phtml?tl=1&id=807473&tit=O-fim-de-uma-era (via Marcelo Bedene, PR, dxclubepr yg via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. 6000, Radio Varna, 2110-2210, Sept 14, local pops / ballads. IDs. Talk in listed Bulgarian. Time pips & possible news at 2200. Poor with co-channel QRM from a weak unidentified station which signed off at 2129. (Possibly Voice of Russia). Noisy conditions but in the clear after 2129 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. Democratic V. of Burma has started relays via KHBN PALAU, a.k.a. T8BZ, which already broadcasts Radio Free Asia: 1300- 1400 on 12095, 100 kW at 270 degrees, Mon, Tue and Wed only. There is another new relay of something via KHBN under VTC auspices, Mon, Tue and Wed at 1530-1600 on 9965, 100 kW at 345 degrees. Looks like that should be for Korea North. Perhaps experimental as otherwise would be daily (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CHU FREQUENCY CHANGE --- Just received email from Raymond Pelletier with the Canadian Institute for National Measurement Standards, which operates CHU. The time station has been planning to move from 7335 kHz to 7850 kHz. He said "There are no set plans as to when the change of frequency will take place. It won't be for a while yet." He said an announcement will be broadcast on all three CHU frequencies (3330, 7335 and 14670) at least one month before the switch takes place. Stay tuned (Bruce Barker, Broomall, PA, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6030, Calgary - CFVP relaying CKMX (AM 1060), 0354-0404, Sept 15, DJ playing C&W/Bluegrass songs, IDs "Classic Country", in the clear (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cf. USA [and non], VOA also on 6030 by mistake? (gh) ** CANADA. CFRX 6070 is back, though currently inaudible here due CVC La Voz from Chile obliterating the frequency (Bryan Clark and/or David Ricquish, Mailbag, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) 6069.966, CFRX, 1910-1925, Sept 14, measured precisely on this frequency. Seems to be drifting down over the past week. Program about global warming. Poor to fair signal strength (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also NEWFOUNDLAND ** CANADA. Re 8-102: That is interesting about 540 kHz. Here in Eugene, CBK is fairly regular, and it has been coming in better, lately, as the days get shorter. Sometimes I hear CBK signing on with 'O Canada" at 4:30 AM PDT. On the other hand, I have never heard XEW from here on 540 kHz. (Totally different propagation than where you are.) The Radio One station that is regular here is 690 kHz. Vancouver. 860 Prince Rupert and 1010 Calgary can also be heard. I am trying to get an ID for 1340 which I presume to be Yellowknife. The thing about Radio One is there are not always local IDs or news late at night and of course the WRN relays have no local information. The WRN programs are timed to the local time zone, so at any given time you will hear one program from Calgary and another from Vancouver. I have not heard CBW Winnipeg (David Walcutt, OR, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``Signing on`` at 1130 UT must just be a formality, as already on air all night with WRN (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. PROMO: WAR AND MUSIC Duration: 00:16:34 --- At the Ron Paul fest last week in St. Paul, more than 6,000 libertarians - who think the Republicans are just too left-wing - stomped their feet, clapped their hands and sang along at the top of their lungs to the tunes of some old protest songs. The lyrics were re-written. There was an ultra-patriotic take on the anti-war standard "Universal Soldier". And a "take no prisoners" version of Alice's Restaurant. The so called war on terror may have found some fresh anthems. A new radio documentary series called The Nerve - music and the human experience - is now airing on Saturdays and Sundays on CBC Radio, hosted by Jowi Taylor. Next weekend, it looks at the relationship between music and war, from the trumpets that brought down the walls of Jericho to the chilling ways music is used by the military today. We play an excerpt, a look at music and the U.S. war in Iraq. The Nerve is a 6-hour documentary series about music and human consciousness now running on CBC Radio 1 & 2. It's produced by Chris Brookes and Paolo Pietropaolo. You can catch the series Sundays at 8 pm (9 AT, 9.30 NT) on Radio One, and Saturdays at noon (1 AT, 1.30 NT) on Radio Two. And you can find all the details, and listen to the show online: http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/features/theNerve/ (Sunday Edition, Sept 14, CBC via DXLD) So times are really after 5 minutes of news? UT Monday 0005 +1/2/3 hours on timezone-shifted webcasts on Radio 1, and Saturdays 1605 +1/2/3 hours on Radio 2?? Should also be at noon AT, i.e. starting at 1505 UT +1/2/3/4 hours (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CHAD. 4905, RD. Nationale Tchadienne, Grevia, 1700- 07 Sep, Arabic, news; gone at 1835 but resumed transmission later, rated 55444 at 2130; 35343. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAGOS ARCHIPELAGO. 4319-usb, AFN, Diogo Garcia, BIOT, 2132-2144, 09 Sep, report on Iraq and on terrorism; 33241, adjacent utility QRM - does anyone know what utility station this is? 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Previous logs of this are mostly filed under DIEGO GARCIA; as CG points out, misspelt by the British imperialists, even tho that is its preferred spelling currently by the American imperialists (gh, DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. TIRWR, the so-called University Network relay in Cahuita, has been off the air for several weeks, and we doubt it will ever come back, as the land it`s on is probably more valuable for development without the SW site in the way. The old frequency list, in case a last gasp recurs: 5030, 6150, 7375, 9725, 11870, 13750, 15460 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Radio Habana Cuba-RHC, 13760, 2230, Spanish, 444, Sept 7, YL with comments plus an OM at 2232. //11880 [333], 11750 [444] and 9550 [333]. (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The news here is 11880, which would be ex-11800 as I recently found it missing during the previous hour; unless there was a typo (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. The DentroCuban Jamming Command also blox QSO with Ted Randall, via WRMI, checked Sunday Sept 14 at 1830, and nothing but jamming heard on 9955. Show confirmed on webcast, a repeat of the Ronnie Milsap interview, scheduled Sundays 1800-2000. On RHC`s Despertar Con Cuba, Sept 15 around 1350 on 12000, Arnie Coro filed a report about how a portable satellite receiving truck had been used to get networks (radio and TV?) back on the air in eastern Cuba after normal linx (terrestrial microwave?) had been disrupted by Ike. Also, a transmission tower on Isla de la Juventud designed to withstand 250 km/hour winds was blown down, as those must have reached 300 km/hour at ground level, even higher aloft. I was still monitoring RHC on 12000 at 1401 Sept 15 when live YL announcer, whose name I think is Bárbara, read the frequency info, for the first time deleting 9550 and 11805 which were dropped weeks ago, but she still didn`t get it completely right: started with 15120 and 1,360 [mil trescientos sesenta, missing the 5], not realizing that 1360 could not possibly be a SW frequency instead of 15360. 9600 was still on the list altho off at 1300. In Voces de la Revolución, old tirades by Castro et al., at 1407, the 12000 modulation was growing more and more distorted tho // 11760 remained OK. Wiggle that patchcord! Ho hum, another egregious discrepancy to report about, if not to, RHC. Sept 15 at 2310 check, 11680 modulation was cutting off and on, more off than on, every second or two. During the pauses REE Spain could be heard clearly, including an ID from it. Perhaps this is the first step in getting RHC off the frequency completely, which it started a few months ago in total disregard of REE`s occupancy already, causing a 3- hour collision (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Cuba? 9490, 1007 many mentions of Cuba, trabajadores, a guitar lead song, Juan Carlos Jerera mentioned at 1054 29/7/8 (Zacharias Liangas, Fourka, Chalkidiki, Greece, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s R. República via RMI via Sackville (gh, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, RNGE/"R. Bata", Bata, 2206-2219, 04 Sep, vernacular/Castilian and even bits of French (!), chatter, African pops; 55343; s/off at 2300. 6250, RNGE/"R. Malabo", Malabo, 1721-1740, 09 Sep, Vernacular, talks; 44232, adjacent utility QRM. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 9569.9, R. Ethiopia, Geja Jawe, 1431-1641, 07 Sep, Arabic [not Amharic?], local songs, English at 1600, news; 35433, adjacent QRM from 1600 onwards. 9704.2, R. Ethiopia, Geja Dera, 1050-1235, 10 Sep, Vernacular, talks, local pops, traditional music heard at 1230; 25342. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND [non]. IBB relays via Pori, planned to start Sept 15, have been canceled: they would have been at 14-16 on 15460, 1530-16 on 11780, 16-1630 on 13740, 18-19 on 6050. Check these just in case (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On Sep 15 from 1400 to 1431 on 15460 tune out I heard broadcast which I did not know the language. YL with opening followed by OM 5 minutes talk mentioning democrate, teritoria, Itartass, Sergei Lavrov, program and conference. Another talk followed including interview mentioning Ukraine, Germany, Moscow, Bucharest, and also recorded English speech (Tony Ashar, Depok, Indonesia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Aoki and Eibi say that is VOA in Georgian via Biblis, Germany, 1400- 1500 on 15460. Tnx for checking (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** GERMANY [non]. Re: DXLD 8-102; DW, Online Translators For online translations from one language into another I suggest using two websites and then comparing the translations. For Russian-English http://www.promt.com/service/online_translation/ seems to work the best. But it's still good to use http://babelfish.yahoo.com/ as a backup. At times, Promt.com doesn't pick up on some very simple things even though it's superior to BabelFish in difficult cases. Muzprospvet is a short for music enlightenment. In the Soviet times the word "kultprosvet" (cultural enlightenment) was used quite often, esp. under Stalin. So, there is an ironic word play that alludes to or makes fun of the Soviet period. But Russians under 30 most likely wouldn't get it. DW has run Muzprosvet for quite a few years already. It's hosted by a guy who is very passionate about the music he plays. He even runs a site for his program and wrote a book back in 2004 with the same title, Muzprosvet. Enjoy the program while you can. DW Russian announced a major "program reform". Quite a few features are slated to go - probably in the end of this broadcast cycle. So far the Russian service has been silent on what programs will be shut down. I won't be surprised if Muzprosvet is one of them (Sergei S., IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re: UNIDENTIFIED, odd CW 1324.745: ``Have heard this "CHRISTUS" cw earlier but can't remember exactly which station it was. I recall it being German religious broadcaster Radio Santec. Maybe they're using 1323 Wachenbrunn at that hour (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland)`` Yes, they do, and perhaps this would be easier to find out without Perseus by just listening to program audio with an ordinary radio, if you allow me a polemic comment. Cf. http://www.radio-santec.com/cms/index.php?id=frequenzen&L=3%22onfocus%3D%22blurLink%28this%29 Voice of Russia broadcasts daily at 0445 a 15 minute program of Radio Santec on 1323 only. During the afternoon there are three more ones, embedded in the German service but probably removed from the separate feed for the 630/693/1431/1575 transmitters, judging from this webpage. Will have to check this out. More than ten years ago Voice of Russia (or still Radio Moscow International at this time) got in trouble for these Radio Santec relays, and for some time they removed the noon broadcast of their German service from the Wachenbrunn feed and left English on instead, after being told that they should better take the Radio Santec stuff off this transmitter. It saw grossly exaggerated reports of this story, claiming that German authorities had shut down Wachenbrunn-1323 temporarily, but this was never the case. Soon afterwards Thüringer Landesmedienanstalt gave up objecting to the Radio Santec relays, so they reappeared on 1323. Later Radio Santec was also allowed to use the Jülich transmitters; they since have been abandoned again. And at present Thüringer Landesmedienanstalt does a nice farce: They put 1323 on tender, specifying that the broadcaster who will get the frequency as of 1 Jan 2009 for ten years shall use it for programming in at least two European languages, including German: http://www.tlm.de/tlm/aktuelles_service/ausschreibungen/Wachenbrunn/index.php Wonder why they run this farce now, after 16 years (the current system of broadcasting regulation came in force in 1992)? Perhaps for the fee of 2,500 Euro they demand for processing the applications, which have to be submitted in 26 copies? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4780, Radio Cultural Coatán, San Sebastián, has been off for last ten days or more (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach FL, Sept 15, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** GUINEA-Conakry. 1386.2 (not 1385.9 this time) R. Rurale, Labé, 2138-2149, 04 Sep, vernacular, talks; 45343. 7125, R. Guinée, Sonfonya, 1007-1307, 07 Sep, French, talks, more talks heard later at 1300 (news?); 15432 but weak modulation; otherwise readability would have been better. 7125 ditto, 2224-2246, 10 Sep, French, news magazine, African pops, vernacular at 2234, talks; 44433, adjacent QRM. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR Gorakhpur on 3935 instead of 3945 --- Yesterday (13 Sept 2008, Saturday) from my tune in at around 1600 UT, I monitored your AIR Gorakhpur on 3935 kHz instead of the normal 3945 kHz. There was a classical recital followed by Urdu news at 9.45 pm [1615 UT]. The Signal was very good. No signal was noted on 3945 kHz. Another "punching error"! Today, Sunday 14 Sept 2008, for morning transmission it was noted on 3945 kHz itself (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Sept 14, dx_india yg via DXLD) AIR Guwahati 7420 also off air? AIR Guwahati External Services also not heard on 7420 kHz lately. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad 500082, India, 0438 UT Sept 14, dx_india yg via DXLD) Here's an audio file for AIR Guwahati in Assamese on 4940 kHz at 1559 UT on 12th Sept http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/airguwahati_4940_1559utc_12sep2008.mp3 Didn`t check on 13th, 14th was again off air, 15th mor [?] was also noted off air. 7280 still off air. Regds (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dx_india yg via DXLD) AIR Guwahati on 4940 & 7280 kHz Latest Update September 13, 2008 (Sat) : I heard loud & clear signal AIR-Guwahati on 4940 kHz in the morning during my several checkings, i.e. 0033, 0126 & 0158 UT, etc. But I couldn't find any signal of AIR-Guwahati on the late noon & afternoon frequency, i.e. 7280 kHz during my several checkings on Saturday. Again the evening around 1226, 1326 & 1335 UT, etc., I found signal of AIR-Guwahati on 4940 kHz. But during the night, i.e. 1530 UT onwards perhaps, the signal couldn't be heard. Not sure whether for poor propagation or no transmission. I don't know what's happening in AIR- Guwahati Transmitter Site. September 14, 2008 (Sun) : There was no signal of All India Radio Guwahati on 4940 in the morning during my several monitoring right from its signing on time, perhaps 0025 UT, onwards. Also the signal of the AIR Guwahati was found on 729 kHz MW during the morning time. I found signal of AIR-Shillong on 4970kHz as usual. Also no transmission detected during my monitoring times in the at noon & afternoon on 7280 kHz either via my Philips Analog Rx on batteries of AIR-Guwahati. There was power cut, perhaps for repair/maintenance works, from 0430 to 1010 UT on Sunday Sept.14 here. There was no transmission noted on 4940 kHz in the evening & night also. September 15, 2008 (Mon) : There was no signal on 4940 kHz this Monday morning also from AIR-Guwahati during my several checkings from 0045 UT at different time, i.e. 0057, 0107, 0127, 0137, 0210 UT. And AIR- Shillong is as usual on the air on 4970 kHz. Around 0210 airing Jagjit Singh's song. 73 & 55 (Gautam K.Sharma, Abhayapuri, Assam via Alokesh Gupta, ibid.) ** INDONESIA. Sept 15 was a good Indonesian morning, as I started checking at 1239. K-index at 1200 and 1500 was 4. SF = 67 Sept 14. 3995, RRI Kendari, 1244 Sept 15, Indo talk by YL, sounded much like 4750, but not //; QRM zero-beat from SSB hams who take this as a BFO rather than a DX catch on its own merits, merely a broadcaster. 1245 into music. Too much QRM on 3976 to detect any RRI. 4605, RRI Serui presumed, barely audible with a song at 1239. Traces still at 1304. 4750, RRI Makassar, YL in Indo talk, much stronger than 4605 at 1240 Sept 15; at first thought it was over some co-channel, but then decided it was background noise from the venue transmitted; it would surge during brief pauses tnx to excessive limiter setting. Mentioned berita a couple times. 1304 recheck in music; 1325 M&W dialog, 1344 still audible, stronger than 4790. 4790, RRI Fak2, Sept 15 at 1240 with OM, what else, reciting Qur`an, unlike all the other Indos heard this and other mornings. What`s with this one anyway, fancying itself more Islamic than the others? Still Qur`aning at 1304 recheck. Nothing audible on 4870, 4920 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also PAPUA NEW GUINEA ** INTERNATIONAL. BROADCASTERS SET TO QSY September 14, 2008 By Jim Linton VK3PC In six months time, powerful shortwave broadcast stations are to migrate from the band 7100 to 7200 kilohertz as that spectrum fully reverts to the Amateur Radio Service. Before 1938 there was an exclusive amateur allocation of 7 to 7.3 MHz. But due to world unrest 7.2 to 7.3 MHz was taken away to accommodate propaganda broadcasting in the lead up to World War II. It had been thought the band would be returned to the Amateur Service, but it continued due to Cold War, and in fact broadcasting increased the size of its primary allocation. While in some parts of the world radio amateurs managed to retain 7 to 7.3 only the bottom third was amateur exclusive and the remainder shared with broadcasters. The International Amateur Radio Union mounted a campaign for the 40m band to be return globally to the Amateur Service. Its case stated that such as change would ensure effective communications support particularly in the event of natural disasters. The IARU pursued the issue at the World Radiocommunications Conference in 2003 gaining 7.1 to 7.2 MHz worldwide for the Amateur Service, adding an extra 100 kHz on the exclusive allocation, while sharing between 7.2 and 7.3 MHz continues. Source: Wireless Institute of Australia via Southgate http://www.southgatearc.org/news/september2008/broadcasters_set_to_qsy.htm (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Meanwhile, it seems that 7100-7200 will continue to be heavily occupied by broadcasters thru the B-08 season until Marchend, 2009. It will be interesting to see how many of them linger beyond that, and if they immediately become targets of DARC/IARU Intruder Watch vigilance (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. NASWA AND EDXC COUNTRY LISTS DIFFER A LOT The exchange of views in DXLD 8-099 and 8-100 is indicative of a difference in how the veries are counted in Europe and in the USA. The NASWA country list http://www.naswa.net/list/ is probably as little known in Europe as the EDXC list in the US. And they differ a lot. While the European list http://www.dswci.org/news/2007/0707/edxc_landlist.pdf embraces SW, MW, LW (and FM), the NASWA list only considers SW. Somewhat surprisingly, the NASWA list dissects the UK and Northern Ireland into five radio countries (including the Channel Islands) based on "occasional pirate activity". More reasonably so, Indonesia becomes half a dozen countries. The EDXC list seems to include "F. Pl." as it includes territories without any broadcast history at all. When restricting its scope to SW only, the NASWA list appears to be missing out on some territories that have had SW after 1945, Ceuta, Macau, the enclave of Cabinda, Pitcairn Island to mention a few. The NASWA list includes "satellite stations in the space", but no hints relating to their geographical location [International Vacuum, of course! -- gh]. The NASWA list seems to come in handy for newcomers, but oldtimers may have to think twice before finding the appropriate box to tick. Where would you place ZNB, Bechuanaland, or VUNC, the Voice of the United Nations Command? (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Newcomers too find it confusing, with its arcane way of extending the life of ``politically extinct`` radio countries beyond their own history. For example, if when there were indisputably separate countries North and South Vietnam, to give them their informal names, you heard SWBC stations in both, you could certainly count two countries, but now if you hear Buon Me Thuot on 6020 or 7210, if it is really active, you still have South Vietnam, rather than just Vietnam like all the other SWBC transmitters there now in the North. Well, ZNB was in Mafeking, as I recall, which appears to be across the border in RSA today, rather than Botswana, and I guess it wasn`t really in Bechuanaland then either. Extra-territorial transmitter sites are a separate issue, e.g. St.-Louis, Sénégal for Mauritania. VUNC was in South Korea (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. RUSSIAN-LANGUAGE RADIO BEAMS ISLAMIC, ANTI-WESTERN MESSAGE After celebrating 60 years of broadcasting in Russian, Iran's state broadcasters have said they intend to take an Islamic anti-Western message to their audiences. The celebrations were held in the form of a virtual programme where the senior broadcasters spoke about their future plans, ISNA news agency reported. Iran's Russian-language radio started in 1948 in the city of Tabriz, near the borders of the former Soviet Union, with 15 minutes of daily programmes. The service celebrated its 60 birthday earlier this month. It currently has 1.5 hours of programmes a day, which are then repeated at different times. The head of the Russian service, Siavash Marzdani, said one of the main objectives of the radio is to promote the true Islamic culture and civilization. He also said the radio aimed to broadcast fair news about the region and the "aggressive, mercenary and false policies" of America and the West. He said hundreds of Muslims have received free religious books provided by seminaries through the station. However, the radio officials complained about the lack of field research into audience ratings. There are an estimated 72 million Muslims in Russia and the former Soviet republics, according to the report. Source: ISNA website, Tehran, in Persian 1200 gmt 11 Sep 08 (via BBCM via DXLD) BTW, this is also on SW which you would never know from above. WRTH 2008 shows two half-hours in the mornings in Russian, and four full hours in the evenings, each on several frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND. EUROPirate, 3910, Reflections Europe, IRL, 1909-, 07 Sep, English, canned religious propaganda programs; 45333; \\ 6295, not audible on the other annoounced frequency of 12255. Pirate: 6295, Reflections Europe, IRL, 1911-..., 07 Sep, cf. \\ 3910; 53443, adjacent QRM de Polisario Front 6300 & EGY 6290. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. They just redesigned the REKA website. Mostly, it makes getting to the audio and time schedules simpler. One thing which I don't recall seeing before, is they have on-demand links, directly to the four (remaining) weekly English radio programs aired during the English news (without the news surrounding the show). The shows are: Weekend Report, Sunday Edition, Culture Report and Face to Face As previously mentioned, Kol Israel has migrated their URLs to have the network after a slash, instead of in the beginning of the URL: http://www.iba.org.il/reka/ Also, while the website information is still in Hebrew, the IBA Spokesperson's website URL is now "spokesman" instead of "dover" (the Hebrew word): http://www.iba.org.il/spokesman/ (Doni Rosenzweig, Sept 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. 5990, 0427, ITALY, IRRS Milan, Good in English religion (Tip-off courtesy KAB) – KVB 12/8 (Kelvin Brayshaw, Levin, NZ, Eton E-5, Indoor HF Loop, Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) Viz.: 5990, 0458, ITALY, IRRS Milan. First heard 11/8 good in English with religious program, no ID after 30 minutes. On 13/8 0425 IS at 0429 then ID 0430 then into religious program from the World Pastor Tony ??, good in English. Thanks to Kelvin Brayshaw for help IDing station. – KAB 13/8 (Ken Baird, Christchurch, 8051, NZ, Kenwood R5000, R1000, 18m Wire, SW Eavesdropper, ibid.) via SLOVAKIA, don`t they know? (gh) ** JAPAN. JOZ, R. Nikkei, 3925 at 1250 Sept 15 with Switched-on Bach, which they always seem to play around this time on 6055 and 9595 as well. 3925 signal is the main one from Asia on 75m even when others are not making it, but this date also had 3905 from PNG and 3995 from Indonesia, qq. vv. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN. 3928.35, 0223-0320, CLANDESTINE, 13.09, R Voice of Kurdistan, No. Iraq. Kurdish announcement, martial song, early program during Ramadan, jammed by Iran, at 0230 jumped to 3934.04 while the jammer continued on 3928, Kurdish songs heard well in USB: 45444. On recheck at 0320 the station was on 3937.50 with talk in Kurdish and no jamming 35343. 4864.72, 0250-0330, CLANDESTINE, 13.09, Voice of Iranian Kurdistan, Al-Sulaymaniyah [IRAQ]. Kurdish talk, jammed by Iran 32432 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. 15110 0525-0605 KWT 03.09 R Kuwait, Kabd English pop songs, English ann, 0559 Toyota ad, ID, news 45444 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** LIBERIA (?). 6070, ELWA (?), Monrovia, 2219-, 08 Sep, English, light songs, religious propaganda; 43432, QRM de Belarus + adjacent channels. Liberia is "caught in the middle" between my S American Beverage and Central African Beverage, so at least with those tools I could establish whether it comes from Africa or from S Am (CVC Chile, which uses this frequency, is being considered), but the signal was roughly the same, so my doubt goes on. I tried earlier & mornings too, but no signal was detected. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Someone heard the Lib NA at 2300* (gh) ** MEXICO. JOHN DURHAM of Tauranga has only three reports out during August but he did get an E-Mail from Teófilo Huerta Moreno at Radio UNAM 9599 kHz. Translated, it said that a QSL plus some discs have been posted but to have patience as the mail is rather slow! (Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. 819, RTM-"A", 1033- 05 Sep, Arabic, modern Moroccan music; 55555 *but* terribly distorted, really useless for their audience. 1640 - this keeps airing this strange, FM like signal, now parallel to major outlets, e.g. 207, 540, most of the day. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. Saludos Glenn, en el programa DX de Radio Bulgaria comentan la reactivación de Myanmar en SW --- ``Tras los devastadores terremotos y los daños causados a las instalaciones radiales de ese país sus emisoras vuelven a transmitir en onda corta. En los últimos días viene siendo captada en Sofía Radio Myanmar en la frecuencia de 5985 kilohercios, después de las 1345 y hasta el final del programa a las 1600 cuando resuena el himno nacional de ese país. A las 1530 la emisora inicia un noticiero en idioma inglés. Otra emisora de Myanmar es la del ejército que se escucha hasta el final de su programa, a las 1530, en la frecuencia de 5770 kilohercios.`` 73 (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) Earthquake in Myanmar? Missed that one (gh) ** NETHERLANDS. DISMANTLING OF THE TRANSMITTERS, RNW FLEVO TRANSMITTERSITE Dear Glenn, On October 27 2007, Radio Netherlands stopped using the transmitters in Flevo owned by KPN Broadcast. The last few months KPN Broadcast in cooperation with a company is in the process of dismantling the four 500 kW AEG Transmitters In Flevo. The future for the transmitterbuilding and antenna’s is not known at the moment. All the transmitterparts will be used as spare for (as it states) a German shortwave station (perhaps Nauen, Jülich or Wertachtal) Pictures can be seen at http://www.omroepzendermuseum.nl/ Regards, (Jan Oosterveen, Netherlands, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Two RNW channels on the 49 meter band have appeared with good signals as autumn approaches (along with shorter daylight): At 2050 heard Dutch talk on Kishniev-6040 (500 kW) and Nauen-6125 (now 250 kW as of 9/1 after 500 kW in Jul-Aug period), both with good level on the Grundig G5 on Sept. 14 (Joe Hanlon, NJ, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Bluestarradio is on this Sunday On the 14th of September 2008 at 1159 UT on 6140 kHz. Bluestarradio is on the air from the transmitting station in Wertachtal. We will be using a non- directional antenna system (Quadrant antenna). Good Listening 73s (Tom Taylor, BDXC-UK via DXLD) Until? (gh) BLUESTAR RADIO via een zender in Wertachtal, Germany, 6140 kHz, 1254 UT, 14-9-2008, SINPO 55444. Rock music, announcements. Geeft adres Postbus 1104, 8001 BC Zwolle. Sign off 1300 UT (Ary Boender, Netherlands, Sept 14, bdx mailing list via DXLD) Hallo Ary en andere luisteraars, Was ook in Delfzijl te horen met een hard signaal. URL is: http://www.bluestarradio.com (John Märsylä, ibid.) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. CANADA, 6160, CKZN, St. John's NF, 2127-2143, 05 Sep, short story, CBC's The World at Six, prgr announcements and As It Happens at 2130; 34433 - a lot better than on 09 Sep at 2235 when CBN 640 was logged and checked against \\ CKZN. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9705, La Voix du Sahel, Niamey, 1026-1435, 06 Sep, French, program "Mémoirs du Niger", chantings, vernacular, religious program, French, Kor`anic program; 35433. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Did you really listen for four+ hours, or a timetypo? (gh, DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 756, UNID (3 stations listed) 2230-2246, 08 Sep, Vernacular, Gospel-like songs which may then help identifying this one; 34422. 917, R. Gotel (presumed), Yola, 2243-2251, 08 Sep, Vernacular, talks; 24342, adjacent QRM. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. RADIO DISNEY TO HELP PEOPLE GET PREPARED FOR LOCAL EMERGENCIES Wal-Mart Supercenter will host Radio Disney AM 1380 as part of Ready Oklahoma`s Emergency Preparedness Weekend Friday through Sept. 21. The statewide event is a partnership between Oklahoma Office of Homeland Security, Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, Oklahoma State Department of Health, Oklahoma Medical Reserve Corps and Radio Disney to encourage people to take steps to prepare for emergencies in their homes, business and schools. Communicating emergency preparedness information to families is an important component of this year`s National Preparedness Month campaign. To help communicate this message, Radio Disney will host a 90-minute ``Rock Out With Radio Disney`` show 2-3:30 pm Saturday at Wal-Mart. The appearance is designed to re-create the energy, music and excitement kids hear on Radio Disney, including interactive activities [sic], music, contests, games and give-aways. Wal-Mart wll display emergency preparedness kits and provide preparedness information throughout the weekend (Enid Eagle Sept 14 via gh, DXLD) ??? This story was in the Sunday paper, but can`t find it on the website Monday. Maybe they realized it was misleading. I did a double- take, since there is no R. Disney in Enid on 1380 or any other frequency. Has our local KCRC-1390 suddenly switched to Disney, and they got the frequency wrong? No, a quick check finds that still in stupid sports-talk, and on 1390 as usual. Note that there is no local reference to Enid anywhere in the story, er, press puff release. It so happens there is a Radio Disney affiliate in OK, KMUS-1380, originally Muskogee so they didn`t have to change the calls to keep the `Mouse` connotation, now COL Sperry to put it into the Tulsa market, but quite inaudible here even if KCRC were not splashing onto 1380. Readers must be wondering what the hell they are talking about in this story. Per 2007 NRC AM Log, 1380 Disney is either Sperry OK, or St. Petersburg, FL, which IIRC was once a great station. Maybe it was picked up from another CNHI newspaper closer to Muskogee/Sperry/Tulsa as there are bound to be Wal-Marts over there, and several of them, unlike Enid which has but one. So would any R. Disney station be where you tune first for emergency info? I think not. That would really not be advisable, as they are constantly plugged into their national network. But *preparedness* is another matter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. After finding Indonesians on 60m, since the local noise level was lower than usual, the morning of Sept 15 at 1247 I went down to 75, 90 and 120m, see also AUSTRALIA and JAPAN, and found lots of signals on frequencies matching PNG outlets, but I could not keep up with all of them: 3205, 3235, 3325, 3335, 3345, 3365, 3385, 3905. Some details: 3205: 1247 music; 1303 choral music 3235: 1247 different music than 3205; 1302 string music 3325: 1248 music with hi-pitched singing 3335: 1248 music; 1301 open carrier, then talk resuming 3345: 1248 carrier 3365: 1249 carrier 3385: 1249 music, best signal of the lot, R. East New Britain, Rabaul; 1258 YL announcement in Pidgin; 1300 sounds of seabirds, 1301 news by OM, S9+10 with flutter; 1318 the only one left, YL talk. 3905: 1250 music, SSB ham QRM. K-index was 4, and solar flux for the day before was the usual 67. But on Sept 15, higher bands were useless, nothing beyond the strongest signals from the Americas on 11, 13, 15 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3173v, Radio Municipal, Panao seems off the air! (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach FL, Sept 15, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** PERU. 4746.8, R. Huanta 2000, Huanta, 2209-2221, 10 Sep, Castilian, Indian songs, announcements, ads; 35231. 4775, R. Tarma, Tarma, 2206-2224, 07 Sep, Castilian, Indian songs; 35332. 4955, R. Cultural Amauta, Huanta, 2220-2232, 07 Sep, Castilian, f/ball match report from Cumaná's municipal field (I was unable to catch the teams` names); 34343, adjacent utility QRM. [Cumaná is a city in Venezuela; Perú too? --- gh] 4991, R. Manantial (presumed), Chilca, 2227-2235, 07 Sep, Castilian, match report (?); 24331, splatter de Brasil 4985. 6019.4, R. Victoria, Lima, 2255-2307, 04 Sep, Castilian, religious propaganda, info about gatherings, TCs, songs; 45343. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. On about 6019.4 was a fairly good signal at 0630 too, but also with a RTTY type signal more or less co-channel spoiling readability. I guess this one will be Radio Victoria, and their 9720 frequency also propagates fairly well some mornings at this same time - but not today. The other one (Santa Rosa?) which operated on about 6045 hasn't been heard for some weeks at this same hour. I really miss the sobbing preacher! (Noel R. Green (NW England), Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL [and non]. In DXLD 8-101, 11/9: ``IBERIA. Both REE in Spanish on 15110 and RDPI in Portuguese on 15295 were sending overblown coverage of some silly ballgame, Sept 10 at 2123. I wonder if it was the same game, but don`t really care (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` To my (very limited) knowledge of these things sport, particularly f/ball, it would not be the same (was it f/ball?) game, but rather matches between home teams of either country. Glenn, Is this not the very same equivalent as regular US stations that broadcast reports on games popular in NAm such as baseball, ice hockey, etc.?! 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Our sports announcers can get pretty enthusiastic, but I think it`s fair to say they are calm compared to the ones in Latin countries. For example, one does not hear the word ``goal`` stretched out over 30 seconds. And even if some did, I consider them all ``overblown`` and ``silly`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Re: Major Changes on Russian Radio Dial: ``No reports on what is being relayed on R. Rossii's SW [...] frequencies as of yet.`` To follow up on this: The 250 kW transmitter at Taldom, beaming westwards, still carries Radio Rossii, as confirmed today around 1200 on 13665. But an interesting story are now the shortwave transmitters still in use for domestic coverage in European Russia. These are Monchegorsk on 5930, Koskovo on 6160 and low power transmitters on various frequencies at Perm. So far they were // the Radio Rossii mediumwave frequencies in the respective regions, i.e. 657, 918 and 585, respectively. The latter two ones have already been confirmed as carrying Vesti FM now, only the case of 657 is still unclear. It is not possible to regularly pull in any of these frequencies here, so I have to leave this to other observers: Do they still carry Radio Rossii, or is probably Vesti FM on air now instead (in particular on 6160, which is co-located with the 918 kHz transmitter), or has the plug being pulled altogether? And if still Radio Rossii is heard it would further be necessary to make sure whether or not the program windows of GTRK Murman, GTRK Pomorye and Permskaya GTRK, respectively, are still included (as it is otherwise the case only on OIRT-FM now) or if perhaps a plain Radio Rossii feed has been plugged in instead (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6160 and 5930 kHz carry R. Rossii, I don't know if 6150 kHz is on the air any more; at least I can't hear it (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) I can confirm that both Archangelsk 918 and Murmansk 657 run Vesti FM. I should have noted earlier, since 657 is as local as it gets and I use it a lot for signal level comparisons (Bjarne Mjelde, http://arcticdx.blogspot.com Sept 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Very good piece by David Remnick on the Moscow radio station "Echo of Moscow" in the current issue of the New Yorker: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/09/22/080922fa_fact_remnick (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAMOA. RADIO 2AP SAMOA RETURNS --- With the privitization of the SBC FM station [89.1] and Televise Samoa to Quality Broadcasting Samoa Ltd in July, the government of Samoa has relaunched the former 'AM540' station of the old Samoa Broadcasting Corporation and reverted to the original call-sign of 2AP. Radio 2AP operates on 540 AM [limited educational broadcasts on 747], and now has a very small staff of just 4 announcers and 1 engineer. It now forms part of the Ministry of Communications, Information & Technology and is being kept in government hands to provide national coverage. Radio 2AP celebrates 60 years on air 1948-2008 and several articles and images about 2AP can be seen at http://www.radioheritage.net (David Ricquish, NZ, Radio Heritage Foundation, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAMOA AMERICAN. RADIO WVUV AMERICAN SAMOA RETURNS --- Another South Pacific heritage callsign returns, as WVUV FM in Pago Pago, American Samoa comes on air. Known locally as V103 'The People's Station' and operating at 103.1 FM, WVUV FM broadcasts Samoan and Polynesian favorites and streams live worldwide from http://www.wvuv.com The owner of WVUV FM is also bringing back WVUV AM after a lot of paperwork with the FCC and several false starts. A renewal of license has been granted as well as a move along the dial to 720 AM from 648 AM. The new frequency conveniently reaches both US and Pacific car radio dials as 720 AM is common to both. There's still a new tower to be built and other engineering work needed, but hopefully, it won't be too long before WVUV AM joins sister stations WVUV FM and KKHJ FM serving American Samoa. You can see several articles as well as images about WVUV including the story of how the station was started in WWII [WVUV Radio Romance] all at our website http://www.radioheritage.net (David Ricquish, NZ. Sept 15, Radio Heritage Foundation, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. 9525, ASCENSION ISLAND, Cotton Tree News, 0745- 0800* Sep 12, English language interview with a doctor about local diseases and infections and related treatments. Although male host provided program name, there was no station ID as the top of the hour approached. The conversation just continued until the transmitter carrier was terminated in mid-sentence. Fair signal (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing, PA 19610, U.S.A. Equipment: Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Lowe HF-150, Eton E5; Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini- Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** SINGAPORE. A big parcel from Radio Singapore International with letter about their closing down on the 1st of August 2008 with lots of souvenirs; stickers, mouse-pads, fridge-magnets and finally 8 QSL cards for RSI on 6080 and 6150! Terry NIELSEN of Oxford in Canterbury had tried to get an answer from RSI for 3 years without any luck, but they have certainly compensated for their tardiness! (Sept NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Re: Radio Slovakia Int. Listener's Tribune Program --- I just finished listening to today's Listener's Tribune from RSI website (1915 UT) and RSI's Chief Editor gave his response (translated from Slovak). "First of all, I would like to thank you for listening to RSI. Over the past week we have received several letters asking why the latest Listener's Tribune was not presented by Pete Miller and Kat Korchek. Working in our organization involves situations which please no one, but nevertheless which need to be solved, even if they entail unpopular measures. In this case it primarily comes down to finance as we have been forced to reduce our cooperation with external contributors. And not just in the English Section of RSI. I'm convinced that my colleagues who took over from Pete are preparing no less interesting programs and that Listener's Tribune will continue to be your favourite program. Thank you." So it's official: Pete and Katerina are gone. QSL cards will still be sent, but stamps will only be exchanged through direct contact with Pete (though no contact address was given). They did, however, mention they would pass some stamps I included in a reception report over to Pete. 73, (Jon Pukila (Thunder Bay, ON, Canada), Sept 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is a shame. Both Pete and Katarina made for enjoyable listening. IMO, they gave R. Slovakia Int a personal and a human feeling. Both Pete and Katarina made the listeners feel as if we were part of the RSI family. During the Christmas holiday, Pete and Katarina would call, on the telephone, listeners around the world. This too made for enjoyable listening. Now, the RSI team sounds impersonal, unemotional and robotic. I know the only thing constant is change. Even knowing it, this doesn't mean I have to like the RSI change. Pete and Katarina are already missed. They made enjoyable listening for me and I hope others too. I really looked forward listening to RSI on Sunday evening (Monday UT) and hearing them. Pete and Katarina, take care. Wishing them the best in their new endeavors. Hope to have the pleasure of hearing them both again. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, VA, USA, ibid.) ** SPAIN. La Bañera de Ulises, the Mediterranean music and culture show which we used to enjoy when on REE, and then on RNE Radio 3 when webcast at a convenient hour, aired its final show at the end of June. Hunting thru the RNE website, I found this link to a 53.1 MB 128/48 audio file, part I: http://www.rtve.es/resources/mp3/1/9/1215015508491.mp3 and a part II of similar size, as it had expanded to two hours: http://www.rtve.es/resources/mp3/1/3/1215016109531.mp3 No telling how long these will remain. It`s a rather moving and eloquent finale by Emilio Garrido, after 6 years, starting with a bit of a catch in his voice tho he said it would not be lachrymose. Took a lot of call-ins, not so much music. Mentioned website which survives: http://labaneradeulises.org/ and also has link to this audio, and an audio archive of all(?!) the previous shows, hosted by, of all things, the Communist Party of Madrid, plus a blog including a photo of the skipper, who was thinking about resuming the program on internet (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. 1107.1, RNE-R.5 TD, 5 transmitters listed on 1107, 2158- 2206, 06 Sep, Castilian, jazz, news at 2200; one transmitter of the listed ones is off channel, 1107.13 to be precise, and they were not fully synchronized either. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN [non]. R. Sweden`s Monday Sept 15 show in the last half was about Belarus and how little Swedes know about that nearby country, even still calling it White Russia contrary to UN requirements. Most inhabitants speak Russian rather than Belarusian, but broadcasts from abroad can help keep the native language alive; also about the need for Sweden to provide freedom of information to Europe`s last dictatorship. Heard here on 15240 via Sackville at 1445; worth listening to on later repeats or ondemand for a month (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWITZERLAND. Hi Glenn. This is let you know that Bob Thomann turns 80 on September 24th. To commemorate the event, Switzerland in Sound will feature an interview with him, which I hope to have up on the SIS website by next weekend. The item will be under "The Two Bobs" section. 73, (Bob Zanotti, Switzerland, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Happy birthday, One Bob! (gh) ** TAIWAN. 9745, V of Han, 2235 nice piano play. YL with Han .ping [?] and mentioning fanlunging [Falun Gong?] 2301 with music style Cleyderman, talks in Amoy. Fair. Underneath HCJB with folk songs 5/8/8 (Zacharias Liangas, Fourka, Chalkidiki, Greece, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN? 4965 // 4975 VoR at 1552 with jazz piano music, fair but QRMed, 28/7/8 (Zacharias Liangas, Fourka, Chalkidiki, Greece, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TATARSTAN. 11925, V of Tatarstan, 0848 YL with traditional song and flute `Tatar .nda' [?] talks by OM and YL `aitil sahastaenda`. This all comes from a live public performance, presenting artists. Heard together with my wife! Slightly overloaded, 43434, 28/7/8 (Zacharias Liangas, Fourka, Chalkidiki, Greece, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKS & CAICOS. RVC update: It might be a while before Radio Visión Cristiana-530 is heard. They lost their 480 foot tower during hurricane Ike. It might be a while before a new one is stacked as power is not expected to be restored at the site on South Caicos for 7 to 8 weeks (Jerry Kiefer, NM, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. On short waves it is possible to listen the 1-program of Ukrainian Radio now. A transmitter works from Brovar with power of 100 kW. A signal in Saint Petersburg has a high level (9+40 db), but quality of reception of SINPO - xxxx3. In the morning strong hindrances from Radio Vatican on nearby frequency (5965). In the evening China works on the same frequency (5970), and later - Familyradio (Vladimir. Kharitonov / "open_dx" via Rus-DX dated Sept 7 but not posted until Sept 14, via DXLD) ** U K. On the Run: London pirate stations 1967-1973 documentary --- Frank on the Garry Stevens messageboard spotted that this 90 minute documentary has now been put online for streaming or download; I remember buying this on cassette at the time: http://www.transdiffusion.org/rmc/features/on_the_run_the.php (Mike Barraclough, England, WDXC yg via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. For those looking to hear CFVP this Monday morning (the 15th) on 6030, it might have been a surprise to hear VOA in English instead. I found it on air at 0630 in parallel with Greenville 6180 (which is sched from 0500 to 0700), although the whole English session starts at 0300 via São Tomé, Botswana and maybe elsewhere. I couldn't positively hear any jamming on 6030, but there was something else which sounded suspiciously like a ute. I heard the usual VOA style of closing procedure at 0700, but by then a strong RNW signal had appeared on 6035, so if there were any frequency announcements I couldn't copy them. Unfortunately I forgot to check 7405. I moved down to 5980 to check if that one would come up with any programming at 0700 [R. Martí scheduled except Mondays], but I was dismayed to find that DRM was back on 5990, and effectively blocking 5970 - 6010 with its residual and on-frequency noise. I assume this is LUX again (Noel R. Green (NW England), Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ha, believe I tuned past 6030 sometime in the 0500 UT Monday hour and heard country music, assumed it was CFVP doing very well. VOA is normally on 6080 at 0300-0700 from São Tomé // 6180 Greenville after 0500; was that missing? Perhaps a punchup error (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CANADA ** U S A. SE TEXAS FM STATIONS CARRYING NEWS TALK PROGRAMMING NORMALLY ON AM --- For all practical purposes, there is no electricity in Southeast Texas, following Hurricane Ike. People with battery-powered radios can follow the continuing coverage provided by the staff of KLVI 560 AM, the news talk station for the Golden Triangle owned by Clear Channel. But KLVI 560 AM is off the air, so the continuous coverage is being broadcast on all of Clear Channel’s local FM stations: Cool 92.5, Kicker 95.1, Mix 104.5 and Big Dog 106. (Source: The Examiner Online) KLVI website http://www.klvi.com/main.html (September 15th, 2008 - 10:30 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. SF PIRATE IN NY TIMES, HAS OWN WEB SITE I was reading "36 Hours in San Francisco" in today's NY Times travel section, and saw a mention of "Pirate Cat Radio," which apparently has its own cafe! I went to the URL in the Times story: http://www.piratecatradio.com/ Click on the "About" link at the URL to read the following little claim: "Thanks to George Bush for declaring the 'War Against Terrorism' and U.S. Code of Federal Regulations title 47 section 73.3542, it is now technically legal to operate a radio transmitter without a formal license." (Harry Helms W5HLH, Corpus Christi, TX EL17, http://harryhelmsblog.blogspot.com/ Sept 14, ABDX via DXLD) I don't believe the FCC or any judge with a brain would interpret that section in the manner stated. It says licenses may be granted without a formal APPLICATION. It says nothing about operating without a license. OTOH, this is a place in the Bay area, so the judge with a brain thing is probably the weak link in the chain here (Jay Heyl, FL, ibid.) ** VIETNAM [non]. Tony Ashar, Indonesia, forwards an e-mail reply from Little Saigon Radio in response to a follow-up reminder of Sept 13, about his reception report of last 22 Feb at 1507 on 7390 (gh) From: "Joe Duong Dinh" Hello Tony, QSL card will be mailed to you in regard to this report. Thank you, Joe Dinh, LITTLE SAIGON RADIO 15781 Brookhurst St., Suite 101 Westminster, CA 92683 USA (via Tony Ashar, Sept 15, DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [and non]. PAUTAS ESQUECIDAS PELA IMPRENSA: A REPÚBLICA ÁRABE SAARAUÍ DEMOCRÁTICA Enviado em 14 de Setembro de 2008, Publicado por Romais Em seu livro Cem Quilos de Ouro e Outras Histórias de um Repórter, Fernando Morais conta como visitou a República Árabe Saarauí Democrática, no ano de 1987, para escrever a reportagem República Fantasma. Ele relata que o povo saarauí, uma mistura de árabes, mauritanos, berberes e tuaregues, luta com todas as forças para que a República, cuja independência foi proclamada na década de 1970, seja um país de fato, em que pese ser reconhecida pela Liga das Nações Africanas e Nações Unidas. As terras dos saarauís, que já tiveram, no mapa, o nome de Río de Oro, Saara Espanhol e Saara Ocidental, foram disputadas, pela força, pelo Marrocos. Após a passagem de Morais pela cidade de Bir Lehlu, na RASD, poucos avanços foram verificados. Um plebiscito foi marcado pela ONU para decidir sobre o status que o novo país iria ocupar. Entretanto, nem o governo do Marrocos, nem a Frente Polisário – grupo de resistência que luta pela libertação do país – chegaram a um acordo sobre quem realmente deverá votar. Faltam vontade política e flexibilidade para que um acordo seja selado entre Marrocos e República Árabe Saaraí Democrática, no entender do presidente do governo espanhol, José Luis Zapatero Rodríguez. A Espanha, aliás, colonizou a região em 1884 e entregou dois terços da colônia ao Marrocos na década de 1970. Ao discursar, em junho passado, durante as comemorações pela passagem dos 30 anos da RASD, o presidente daquele país, Mohademed Abdelaziz, afirmou que, por ter se retirado da região, “a Espanha continua a ser a responsável legal e política pelo sofrimento do povo saarauí”. Uma das fontes de informação daquela jovem nação é a Rádio Nacional da República Árabe Saarauí http://web.jet.es/rasd/radionacional.htm que transmite, em ondas curtas, usando um transmissor escondido em algum lugar da Argélia. A emissora, por vezes, muda de freqüência, fugindo de alguma interferência proposital. Nos últimos tempos, podia ser ouvida em 6300 kHz, com emissões em árabe e em espanhol. Alguns colegas radioescutas da América do Sul já captaram a emissora ao entardecer. A luta, o sofrimento e a vida do povo da República Árabe Saarauí Democrática é uma pauta esquecida pela imprensa ocidental. Em foto do Blog TRAB EL BIDAN el Sàhara i la llibertat dels sahrauís, o arco-íris em território saarauí http://storico.blogspot.com/ (Célio Romais blog via DXLD) ** YEMEN. 6135, Radio Yemen, 1418 with semitraditional Arabic song `nafahatum amania' with mention of Palestine then with OM with intense talks, rituals? and closed the program with `al jais .aida' [?] hymn at 1429 song, at 1434 ID by YL silently! Then song, 45444, 3/8/8 (Zacharias Liangas, Fourka, Chalkidiki, Greece, Sept 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar, 1757-1830, Sept 14, tune- in to local vocal music. Drums at 1759. Time pips, English “Spice FM” ID & English news at 1800. Spice FM ID at 1809 & into Swahili talk. Qur`an at 1825. In the clear with a fair to good signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re DXLD 8-102, UNID odd CW 1324.745 --- Have heard this "CHRISTUS" cw earlier but can't remember exactly which station it was. I recall it being German religious broadcaster Radio Santec. Maybe they're using 1323 Wachenbrunn at that hour (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Answer: GERMANY UNIDENTIFIED. 5980 with a weak het, Sept 15 around 1430, apparently from two carriers, at least one of them off-frequency. What could this be? Before I pinned it down, figured it could be Burma/Myanmar on 5985/5986. PWBR 2007 showed Kota Kinabalu, Sabah on 5979v, but in DXLD 8-068 Alan Davies thought that had died in 2004y, or 2005 at the latest. The major signal to be expected on 5980 is BBCWS, via Thailand at 25 degrees toward us, but almost gone by this hour, so what was the other one? I hope it is more interesting than a remnant of a Cuban jammer against R. Martí which sometimes lingers past 1300 despite RM 1230* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Unknown station, 7380, 0310, Spanish, 333, Sept 12, OM interviewing an OM. Washington DC was mentioned often. YL with comments at 0312 (Stewart MacKenzie, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Only thing scheduled here is VOA via Botswana in Swahili, M-F at 0300- 0330. I suppose Swahili could sound a bit like Spanish on a weak signal if you don`t know either language. I looked this up right away in EiBi and Aoki, which agree, but Stewart doesn`t want to do this (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 8-102, 9415: Could this be one of the digital signals that I - and others - report hearing in the bc bands from time to time? At first hearing they do sound similar to DRM, but as Glenn points out, the signal is not wide enough, and the noise is not quite the same. Who or what they are - your guess is a good as mine (Noel R. Green (NW England), Sept 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. I came across what at first I thought was "Afro pop" songs on 9630 today (Sunday Sept. 14) at 0640 tune in, but soon realised that the music and song was actually of a religious nature - very nice though! There were no announcements, and the transmitter dropped off air slightly after 0700. The signal was fair strength with no interference from a weaker RNW Bonaire 9625. Anyone else hear this? I tune this band most mornings but haven't heard anything using 9630 (not even the Brazilian) in recent times (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Noel, here is a selection, I guess rather REE with AfroPop. 9630 0200-0600 7,8,10,11 CRI 100kW 340 deg SP REE 9630 0300-0600 39,47,48 AKA 100 170 JOR JRT (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Extension of REE via Costa Rica occurred to me too. Trying to remember whether I have heard it past 0600. I certainly have before 0600 as one of the few 31m signals usually holding up that late, next to NZ on 9615. If you hear it again, see if it is // 5964 and 3350, muffled audio compared to Noblejas (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks Wolfy and Glenn for your suggestions re 9630 - not audible when tried at the same time this Monday morning (Sept.15). However, I haven't heard REE broadcasting a programme like that in their Spanish services at this hour. Costa Rica on 5965 (or 5964 as it still appears to be) seems (I'll check again) to be parallel Noblejas 9710 (this goes off just before 0700 usually), and this latter frequency is mostly talk during the last half hour. All I heard were religious songs played and sung in a typically upbeat African style. I should have mentioned that the language (of the songs) used was not recognised. And as far as I'm aware, Jordan only has one transmitter currently in use, and it's on 11810 til 0715. 73 from (Noel R.Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS / PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ++++++++++++ EIBI GOING WEST Glenn, from 1 October, I will work at a new job - in Boulder, Colorado. No, not at NOAA, but at the University of Colorado. I am quite busy dissolving my flat etc. here in Germany, and I'm looking forward to the experience of a new country. DX-wise as well as with all other respects! My visa is valid for 3 years, don't know, however, for how long I will actually stay. I hope to be able to go travelling around every now and then. Just wanted to let you know that soon we'll almost be neighbours :) I will continue with the compilations, as I do now as time permits. Just finished my PhD so know I have again quite a pile of DXLD issues to read for the next update! Thanks again for this great and reliable work! All the best, (Eike Bierwirth, Germany, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Welcome! (gh) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ NDXC audio site under (re)construction The Nagoya DXers Circle's audio file site http://newswire.ndxc.org is undergoing a redo, and all the old SW audio files are not available at present; however audio of AM DXing in Chicago and San Francisco appears now. I'm sure the old files will reappear when the site reconstruction is complete. Another ID/IS site that is affected, along with Dave Kernick's IS page. It's not fun if no ID archives for those new to the hobby aren't available to them on the web (Joe Hanlon, NJ, Sept 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ Translating Russian: see GERMANY [non] in this issue and 8-102 DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see also USA [non] 6030+; UNIDENTIFIED 9415 ++++++++++++++++++++ DW AND BBC JOIN FORCES ON DRM Deutsche Welle Press Release, Bonn, Sept.12, 2008 http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3640845,00.html Deutsche Welle and BBC to create new stream with a mix of global news and current affairs all in clear, digital quality on Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) Shortwave. Two of the world’s major international broadcasters, BBC World Service and Deutsche Welle, have just announced plans to launch a joint radio service to Europe on DRM Shortwave. The new stream, which will be entirely in English, is expected to go live in early 2009. Broadcast in clear digital quality, it will be available from early morning till late at night targeting Western and Central Europe and a potential audience of 170 million listeners with global news and current affairs and a rich mix of in-depth analysis, documentaries and cultural programs. The service will provide a multimedia offer of audio and text, the latter coming automatically from the BBC News website. Erik Bettermann, Director General at Deutsche Welle, said: “It is great that two of the world’s most established broadcasters can work together on a project of this scale. This is an exciting venture that will offer European listeners top class content and provides the perfect opportunity to reintroduce listeners to DRM.” September 12, 2008 For more information on DRM, please contact: Fanny Podworny, DRM Consortium E-mail: pressoffice @ drm.org (via Dragan Lekic, Serbia, dxldyg via DXLD) I can't quite figure out the "point" of this, aside from saving a Euro or two. I will assume they will simply re-broadcast BBC and DW programmes rather than have original content (Andy O`Brien, NY, ibid.) Vague as usual as to details, but since both stations already have fully funxional news departments, why wait until 2009 to do it? And if BBC provides the text, does that mean DW only will be providing the audio? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This isn't about 'saving a euro or two'. It is an attempt by the two largest international broadcasters that were involved in the development of DRM to kick-start some interest in the platform by developing something that isn't available in AM. Neither station broadcasts in English on shortwave to Europe at the moment. There may have been some pressure from one or more of the receiver manufacturers to show some real intent on the broadcasters' side before they will commit to producing DRM receivers on a commercial scale. Note that the service "is expected" to go live in early 2009, suggesting it is contingent on other things being in place. If it were just a question of rebroadcasting existing news and current affairs material in DRM mode, it could start tomorrow! There's also the fact that DRM has been omitted from the pan-European digital radio profiles announced recently. Obviously, the existence of a pan-European DRM service will strengthen the DRM Consortium's hand in getting DRM included in the final version. If it isn't, DRM is dead in this part of the world (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) Expected by the DRM consortium? Consider that they issued this press release. Deutsche Welle just put it on the English section of their website but did so far not release any own announcements. And nothing about this from the BBC's press office either. To me this suggests that the matter is of priority only at the organizational level dealing with DRM at both DW and BBC. And I assume that "joining forces" basically means that the available airtime contingent (which depends on the available budget and has at the BBC already been cut back quite heavily, compared to the situation three years ago) will be put together, thus allowing to have something on air throughout the day. Or do I miss anything that would indicate the allocation of additional money for the DRM project at DW and/or the BBC? A potential audience of 170 million listeners? How much of them outside the UK and Ireland are interested in English-language programming to an extent that it would even be an argument to purchase a new radio for a three-digit Euro price tag? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) much more discussion at Media Network ``HD RADIO NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME`` Isn't this sort of like the AM stereo debacle? Some manufacturers are waiting until a lot more stations are in HD. A lot of the listeners don't know what it is. If they do many don't know if any of their favorite stations are in HD and they're still waiting for the prices to come down. At last year's IRCA convention in Salt Lake City the group got a great tour of the KSL AM/FM/TV studios. The Chief Engineer took us into a conference room where they had an HD radio. He put it on KSL-AM to demonstrate HD but couldn't get enough signal from his 50 kW station to make it work (Dennis Gibson, CA, WB6TNB, Sept 14, ABDX via DXLD) I live about 35 miles as the crow flies from the KSL transmitter and do get a useable HD signal. It's mono but sounds pretty good. The building the studio is in has a lot of steel in it and I'm surprised that John was able to get any signal at all in there (RC, ibid.) Surprised he didn`t verify it would work before the demo (gh, DXLD) I just checked Zip Code Signal at the station's address. It was 108.78 mVm. A 2-transistor radio would play loudly under this signal. My local station produces 31 mVm at my location and my 2-transistor radio plays with fair volume even so. Just how much signal does HD radio require? If they were in a building shielded by steel, seems like he would have put the receiver near a window for the demonstration (Bob Smoak, Bamberg, S. C., ABDX via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ ANOTHER SONY XDR-F1HD REVIEW Well, I finally bought one of these famous XDR-F1HD's. I even got my $50 iBiquity refund in 3 weeks! This is the most amazing 50 bucks I've ever spent on a radio. Since this was such an interesting tuner, I did some tests and wrote a review on it. Also, there's some references to the antenna input thread that's been on this list between Bob Cooper and others. You can click to it from the WTFDA website at http://www.wtfda.org or here's a direct link: http://www.beveragestuff.net/4mcveystestin/dadstuff/Sony_review.htm If anyone sees something incorrect, or wants additional tests done, please write me off-list (Tim McVey, Stafford, VA, WTFDA via DXLD) [After putting it thru its paces, his bottom lines]: The tuner is a delight to use, though it has some foibles. It doesn't allow direct entry of frequency (which is kind of silly since the remote control has a keypad). The S-meter is useless. And the display doesn't display all the RDS info a DX'er might want to see (but it is perfectly adequate for any normal usage). That power transformer runs very hot --- it seems almost dangerous. I like the 100 kHz steps, and I set a preset for every 1 MHz to allow for quick movement up or down the dial. The angle over which the remote works is very limited. But these are trivial quibbles that pale in comparison to the marvelous technology inside the box. This tuner represents state-of-the art; the technology inside is amazing. $99 buys an FM tuner that is as good as any FM tuner ever made, for purposes of DX'ing. The unit is small enough to be made portable. You could power it off an inverter in your car, or hack it to run off batteries (the board requires only 5.0 and 10.0V unregulated DC power). I recommend that every DX'er purchase one. Every other radio or tuner in existence you can buy for $100 probably has lousy DX performance (especially in the areas of ACS and overload rejection). To keep up with the performance of the XDR-F1HD, you must find (and align) one of the very best of the 70's or early 80's era tuners. If you already have an excellent tuner, it might still be good to buy one of these XDR-F1HD's and keep it around as a backup in case your vintage equipment falls in need of repair. Our club should probably hoard a few of these for future loaners or auctions. Yes, it is that good. It is not perfect, but it comes close (via DXLD) A MILESTONE IN MW DXING: PERSEUS SDR RECEIVER CAN NOW RECORD/PLAYBACK ENTIRE MW BAND Recently I've had the pleasure of using a preliminary copy of a soon to be released software version for the Perseus SDR receiver. The major new feature in this version of Perseus is its ability to record and play back a full, uninterrupted swath of 1600 kHz of spectrum (anywhere in the receiver's 10 kHz - 30 MHz range). For MW DXers in particular, this is quite a first. The entire medium wave band (including longwave from 100 kHz upwards if desired) can be stored on a PC's hard drive for DXing, analysis, and listening later. Because Perseus is a "direct sampling" receiver, an exact representation of the entire band is stored in digitized form. The DXer can "rewind" the band over and over, using any combination of modes, filter bandwidths, AGC settings, notch, passband tuning, etc. as much as desired to catch the DX that this innovative receiver has captured and archived with the help of computer technology. Details on this advancement in the hobby can be found on my blog: http://perseus-sdr.blogspot.com/2008/09/first-look-perseus-version-11c-delivers.html 73, (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA, Sept 15, IRCA via DXLD) Looks good, and I am duly impressed. It looks like it takes a good amount of PC power to work, and a lot of disk space to record. But that aside, I like it (Bill Harms, MD, ibid.) Hi Bill, By today's standards, a 2 GHz dual core PC is a basic computer and reasonably priced. For instance, my 2 GHz Core 2 Duo HP laptop was only $700 a few months ago, and it is loaded with features and not a stripped down model. Hard drive space is also at an all time low. My 1 TB hard drives, at $120 each, were 12 cents per megabyte. 73, (Guy Atkins, ibid.) CIAORADIO H102 USDR RECEIVER If you are interested you can find on my blog http://radiodxinfo.blogspot.com/ a post about new Ultimate Software Defined Radio receiver, CiaoRadio HF102 that I could test; it shows great performances on LW and MW. The post is written in Italian. You can try to use Google free web translator. Have nice time, (Giampiero Bernardini, Italy, Sept 15, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###