DX LISTENING DIGEST 8-125, December 2, 2008 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2008 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1437 Wed 0630 WRMI 9955 [or old 1436] Wed 1230 WRMI 9955 [or old 1436] Wed 2200 WBCQ 15420-CUSB Thu 0630 WRMI 9955 Thu 1530 WRMI 9955 Fri 0030 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0200 WRMI 9955 Fri 0900 WRMI 9955 Fri 2030 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Fri 2130 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0000 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 Sat 0900 WRMI 9955 Sat 1730 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0330 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0900 WRMI 9955 Sun 1615 WRMI 9955 Mon 2300 WBCQ 7415 [December 1] Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 Tue 1630 WRMI 9955 Wed 0630 WRMI 9955 [or new 1438] Wed 1230 WRMI 9955 [or new 1438] Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** ALASKA. Station KNLS would love to have a reception report from your part of the world. Most shortwave stations begin each broadcast by playing a station theme song or sound for several minutes. This special signal helps listeners find or "tune" the station even when reception is poor. To encourage you to file a report, we offer a special QSL card at the beginning of each broadcast season. Only 200 special cards are awarded each season. Each card is individually numbered and features a full colour photo of Alaska. To qualify for the station verification QSL a report must include the following: . the date and time (UTC only) of the transmission . the approximate frequency, . and as many program details as you can supply. KNLS will provide ONLY ONE QSL for each report, regardless of the number of entries and they DO NOT provide QSLs for other transmitter operators who may air World Christian Broadcasting programs. Send reports to: Station KNLS, Anchor Point, AK 99556, USA. Fax: (615)371- 8791, Email: KNLS @ aol.com (subject reception report) (an edited extract from the latest KNLS handout - via MICHAEL BEESLEY Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Comment: generally a station would like more precise details than those that KNLS ask for, but their experience probably favours an "approximate frequency" as the general listener in their target areas possibly has no more than a vintage analogue readout receiver and the chance of quoting anywhere near the frequency being used would be remote. However, it would be unwise to state an approximate frequency on a report to most other international broadcasters as this would surely lead to a non-response (Arthur Ward, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. Dear Drita, Hello from the USA. Recent shortwave listening observations of Radio Tirana. In summary, the audio is awful! November 27, 2008 0130 UTC 9345 kHz Sign on announcement OK. However, program audio so low I can not hear/understand. SIO 252. November 27, 2008 1527 UTC 13720 kHz. Ident signal, sign on by YL, News, economic news. SIO 454. Best yet. November 28, 2008 1943 UTC 11645 kHz. Ident signal, sign on by YL. Low audio or hearing nothing? Barely hearing faint music. SIO 353. 7465 kHz barely heard. November 28, 2008 2158 UTC 7510 kHz. Ident signal, sign on by YL with OK audio. OM speaking, difficult to tell, as audio is low or gone. Barely hearing music. SIO 454. Same on 9345 kHz. November 29, 2008 0130 UTC 9345 kHz barely heard, useless. SIO 151. November 29, 2008 0245 UTC 7390 kHz Audio OK with YL "This is Radio Tirana", time and frequencies given. Then not hearing anything. Barely hearing someone speaking. SIO 242. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Manassas, Virginia, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Drita, being back in Germany, I'd like to thank you for your precious help and friendship during our visit in Tirana. I've listened several times to the RT internet-stream the last days; obviously the audio volume needs some adjustments. The transmission between 0730- 0900 UT was much too loud, from 0901 to 1000 the quality was perfect. I already mailed Astrit about that issue, hoping we can find a solution. I've heard also that the too high volume during some parts of the day is also audible on short- and mediumwave. Perhaps its worth thinking about installing an audiolimiter into the internetoutlet? Thanks again and speak you soon. Best regards, (Christian Milling, Germany, Radio 700, via Drita Çiço, R. Tirana, DXLD) Dear Christian, I appreciate your kind thankful message. Yes, I agree with you to install ASAP an audiolimiter into the internetoutlet, because... please read below the email with listener complaints for awful Radio Tirana audio after you installed the internetoutlet in Radio Tirana in the evening of 26 Nov. All the best from lovely pretty Tirana, (Drita, ibid.) Yes indeed - Kraig is correct about the low audio levels currently being experienced on most transmissions that I have listened to recently. I'm tuned to 13720 at 1530 UT as I type this, and I find much better - although distorted - audio level. But propagation is poor today, and the signal is varying from poor to fair only. And now the transmitter appears to have gone off air at 1542 during a musical interlude. Greetings from a cold and frosty Blackpool (Noel Green, England, via Drita, ibid.) FUNKHAUS EUSKIRCHEN BRINGT RADIO TIRANA INS INTERNET deutschsprachige Sendungen aus Albanien jetzt via http://www.radio700.info hörbar Tirana / Euskirchen, 27. November 2008 Pünktlich zum 70sten Geburtstag von Radio Tirana kann das deutschsprachige Auslandsradioprogramm des albanischen Rundfunks nun auch weltweit und zu jeder Zeit über das Internet empfangen werden. Die Sendungen aus der Hauptstadt Albaniens bestehen aus einem aktuellen Nachrichtenüberblick, informieren über die politische Situation des Landes und stellen die Kulturlandschaft vor. Die werktäglichen 30 Minütigen Programme in deutscher Sprache richten sich an Albanien interessierte Hörer. Bisher konnten diese Sendungen nur über die traditionelle Kurz- und Mittelwelle in Europa empfangen werden. Ab heute besteht nun die Möglichkeit, die Sendungen live oder als Aufzeichnung (Podcast) über die Internetplattform www.radio700.info zu hören. Bernd Frinken, Intendant des Funkhauses Euskirchen ist erfreut über den neu dazugewonnen Partner in Südosteuropa: „Nun besteht eine weitere Möglichkeit, sich über das Geschehen in einem europäischen Land, was lange einen weissen Fleck auf der Landkarte darstellte, ausführlich zu informieren. Wichtig ist für dabei, dass Sprachbarrieren den Hörer nicht daran hindern, sich mit der aktuellen Politik und Kultur in Albanien auseinandersetzen zu können. Ich halte es für sehr wichtig, bei der Sprachenvielfalt in Europa dafür zu sorgen, dass zumindest in den in vielen Ländern gesprochenen Sprachen, wie z.B. Englisch, Französisch, Deutsch und Russisch die Möglichkeit besteht, sich tagesaktuell zu informieren, ohne zuerst die Sprache des anderen Landes erlernen zu müssen. Radio 700.info bietet dabei eine zentrale Anlaufstelle sich momentan über 18 Länder in deutscher Sprache informieren zu können. Ziel ist es, auf Radio 700.info alle im Ausland ansässigen Hörfunkprogramme, die Sendungen in deutscher Sprache produzieren, für den Hörer zu bündeln“. Die Idee einer Zusammenarbeit zwischen dem Albanischen Rundfunk und dem Funkhaus Euskirchen besteht schon seit knapp einem Jahr. Bedingt durch technische Hürden war es erst jetzt möglich, eine geeignete Technik in Tirana zu installieren, die das Programm weltweit über das Internet hörbar macht. Christian Milling, technischer Leiter aus Euskirchen: „Nach telefonischen Vorgesprächen mit den Kollegen in Tirana konnten wir uns auf eine Lösung verständigen. Trotz der vielen unwägbaren Faktoren, die das Projekt hätten gefährden können, gelang es uns innerhalb von nur 2 Tagen alle rechtlichen und technischen Probleme aus dem Weg zu schaffen. Dank des Engagements von Astrit Ibro aus der deutschsprachigen Abteilung, sowie IT- und Audioabteilung des albanischen Rundfunks und des Knowhows und der eingesetzten Produkte der Firmen BARIX AG und SOHARD AG aus der Schweiz war eine sehr schnelle Umsetzung möglich.“ Auch Zamira Koleci, Intendantin von Radio Tirana freut sich über das Engagement aus Deutschland: „Die Initiative kommt für uns zu sehr wichtigen Zeitpunkt, dem 70sten Geburtstag von Radio Tirana, zudem sich nun die Perspektive einer guten Deutsch-Albanischen Zusammenarbeit ergibt und so Albanien in den deutschsprachigen Ländern noch bekannter werden kann.“ Die Internetplattform Radio 700.info ist unter http://www.radio700.info im Internet zu finden. Die deutschsprachigen Sendungen des albanischen Rundfunks laufen montags bis samstags zwischen 20 Uhr und 20 Uhr 30 Mitteleuropäischer Zeit. Bei Rückfragen: Funkhaus Euskirchen, Herr Bernd Frinken, Telefon: 0172-3412176, Mail: info @ funkhaus-euskirchen.de RTSH, Radio Tirana, deutschsprachiges Programm, Herr Astrit Ibro, Mail: aibro @ albaniaonline.net (via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** ANGOLA. 945 kHz, RNA-Serviço Internacional, Mulenvos, 2248-2321, 29 Nov, Vernaculars, Afr. pops, Angolan songs; 33432, QRM de F (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHRAIN. 9745-usb, R. Bahrain at 1852 UT. Middle Eastern vocal, brief announcement in Arabic by woman, then enthusiastic man and woman swapping mic in what sounded like ads. Into another vocal at 1855 UT with local instruments featuring heavy drums. Seemed pips at 1900 UT followed by talk, but too fady and noisy to read. This one seems to operate on an extremely irregular sked, to say the least (Bob Hill, MA, DXplorer Nov 25 via BC-DX Dec 2 via DXLD) ** BANGLADESH. 4750, Bangladesh Betar, Khabirpur, 1658-1712*, 29 Nov, Bengali, music, TS, ID, newscast, freq. announcement at 1711, s/off in mid song; 35433 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6155.25, Radio Fides, 1030-1045 Dec 2. From tune in, noted steady news presented by various males in Spanish Language. At 1032, a series of ads or promos presented. One thing I like about Bolivian radio stations, especially those on shortwave, is the fact that they all are a few Hertz off frequency. As far as I can tell, that's the case with each station. I suppose this may be an intentional condition that they possibly feel allows their station to be heard by their listeners or possibly their transmitter is not precise enough to tune down to the nearest Hertz easily? Regardless, it makes tuning in Bolivian stations a lot easier, especially if one has a good notch filter on his receiver. Getting back to Radio Fides, the talk continued during the period while the signal faded from a fair to poor (Chuck Bolland, December 2, 2008, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am sure such off-frequencies are not deliberate, but the closest they can manage (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Re Observatório Nacional, 9999v: Tenho escutado o ON quase que diariamente. Chega com excelente sinal. As vezes, tem radio- operadores, conversando em espanhol. Não chega a atrapalhar. Sinal é muito bom. Escuto no Drake R8A com antena dipolo de 25 mts de cada lado. Canguaretama fica uns 100 KM ao sul de Natal. Barreira do Inferno, uns 20 km (Karl Leite, PS7KM, Nov 30, dxclubepr yg via DXLD) ON em 9999 kHz: Após levantamentos feitos com um IC725 + SDRZero, antena dipolo para 20m, e softwares SpectraVue e CoolEdit, observei que o padrão de transmissão é o seguinte: Portadora modulada em AM-USB pelos "tics" de segundos e voz, sendo: - tics 1 a 8 e 15 a 57, com duração de 5 milisegundos de um tom de 1000 Hz (5 ciclos do sinal de 1000 Hz). - tics 9 a 14, duplos de 5 ms separados por 100 ms, sendo o primeiro no segundo exato, como os demais. - tics 58, 59 e 0 (zero) com 200 ms de duração em 1000 Hz. - do segundo 52 ao 57, voz, juntos com os tics, informando: "Observatorio Nacional, x horas, y minutos, zero segundos". A precisão do sinal horário é melhor que 1 segundo, comparada com WWV e BPM, e com quaquer servidor NTP de tempo como por exemplo http://time.nist.gov ou http://ntp.cais.rnp.br A portadora ainda é modulada em AM-DSB por um forte ronco de 60 Hz, que pode ser causado pela fonte do transmissor ou por indução na linha de audio do mesmo, etc... e que evidentemente não deveria existir. 73 de (Roland M. Zurmely, PY4ZBZ, Dec 1, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9820, BRASIL Rádio 9 de Julho, São Paulo - SP, PP, 1824, 27/11, OM atendendo pedidos musicais 45333. 12020, BRASIL, Rádio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte - G, PP, 1832, 29/11, menção à campanha para arrecadar dinheiro para as vítimas das enchentes em SC (camisas de Sorín autografadas que serão colocadas à venda), tx do primeiro tempo do jogo Flamengo X Cruzeiro, música com Benito de Paula, id YL 45333 (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso; Bandeirantes - Paraná - Brasil, Receptor: Degen DE1103. Antena: LW do Degen DE1103 com aproximadamente 10,62 metros, dxclubepr yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1437 via DXLD) 2 x 6010 (gh) ** CANADA. The 1 kW shortwave station located near Toronto in Ontario has recently been renovated and re-activated. With a new transmitter and a new antenna system, this station CFRX can be heard again on its familiar channel 6070 kHz, with a relay from the parent mediumwave station, CFRB on 1010 kHz. However, monitoring observations at our location in Indianapolis, 550 miles southwest of Toronto, indicate that the new antenna system is apparently oriented more for Canadian coverage rather than omni-directional coverage as it was in years gone by. The signal in Indiana is quite poor and unreliable, though it can be heard occasionally with a readable signal (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan via DXLD) I think you are too kind in explaining the poor signal (gh) ** CANADA. RIP Ted Rogers --- More famous as owner of the Toronto Blue Jays baseball team, Ted Rogers Jr of Rogers Communications passed away this morning at 75. If you listen to radio, you can thank his father, who was a true radio pioneer: "In the early 1920s, radio transmitters and receivers ran on large and expensive batteries to provide the high voltages needed for the vacuum tubes used. Early attempts at producing a radio receiver to operate on household alternating current were unsuccessful, since tubes designed for the direct current supply from batteries were unsatisfactory when operated on 25- or 60-hertz alternating current. The batteries were also extremely large. "In April 1924 Rogers travelled to the United States and saw experimental AC receiving tubes at the laboratories of Westinghouse in Pittsburgh. He purchased the patent rights to the experimental alternating current tubes of Frederick S. McCullogh. After further development Rogers produced a design of vacuum tube that would operate on alternating current. By 1925 Rogers had introduced not only a complete radio receiver using the new tubes, but had also produced a "battery eliminator" (power supply) that could be used with other manufacturers receivers to eliminate the expensive batteries. By August 1925 the Rogers Batteryless radio was in commercial sales, the first radio receiver in the world to operate from household current. At a time when a schoolteacher might earn $1000 per year, the top-of-the-line Rogers radio sold for $370. Rogers formed the company "Standard Radio Manufacturing" (later Rogers Vacuum Tube Company) to produce radio receivers using the new design of vacuum tubes. "In 1927, he founded CFRB (Canada’s First Rogers Batteryless) radio station." (Ted Sr, on a personal note, nearly put my grandfather out of business. My grandfather was a "batteryman". Thank goodness for Henry Ford or he would have had no work at all.) Ted Jr was a pioneer in FM radio, founding CHFI, and built a cable, wireless and media empire in his own right. Interesting interview by the late Peter Gzowski of Ted Jr in 1989 can be heard here: http://archives.cbc.ca/economy_business/the_media/clips/15672/ (Fred Waterer, Ont., Dec 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) obit ** CANADA. The use of 100.5 MHz at 5 kW by CKRU-980 Peterborough ON when they move to FM has been approved by the CRTC. The move to FM was previously approved by the CRTC subject to the condition that a suitable frequency be found Use of the frequency 100.5 MHz by the new FM station in Peterborough The Commission approves the application by 591989 B.C. Ltd., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment Inc., to operate the new English- language commercial FM radio station in Peterborough at 100.5 MHz (channel 263B1) with an average effective radiated power of 5,000 watts. The implementation of this station is subject to the notification by the Department of Industry that its technical requirements have been met and that a broadcasting certificate will be issued. Introduction 1. The Commission received an application by 591989 B.C. Ltd., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment Inc. (Corus), to operate the new English-language FM radio programming undertaking in Peterborough at 100.5 MHz (channel 263B1) with an average effective radiated power of 5,000 watts. 2. Corus filed this application further to the Commission's direction in Licensing of new radio stations to serve Peterborough and the City of Kawartha Lakes, Broadcasting Decision CRTC 2008-98, 8 May 2008 (Broadcasting Decision 2008-98). In that decision, the Commission approved Corus's application for a broadcasting licence to operate a new English-language FM radio station in Peterborough to replace its AM station CKRU Peterborough but denied the proposed technical parameters. The Commission stated that it would only issue a broadcasting licence for the new FM station at such time as the licensee submitted an amendment to its application proposing new technical parameters acceptable both to the Commission and to the Department of Industry (the Department). Commission's analysis and determination 5. The Commission notes that Corus filed the present application proposing the use of 100.5 MHz in replacement for the originally proposed frequency 96.7 MHz on 8 August 2008, within the three-month period and pursuant to the Commission's direction as set out in Broadcasting Decision 2008-98. MBC filed its application to obtain a new commercial FM radio station to serve the town of Brighton using 100.9 MHz on 30 September 2008. The Commission is of the view that it would be unreasonable to further delay the implementation of Corus's FM station pending the consideration of the application by MBC. The Commission also notes that it will not impose a condition of licence requiring Corus to accommodate the proposed Brighton station should it eventually be licensed. 6. Accordingly, the Commission approves the application by 591989 B.C. Ltd., a subsidiary of Corus Entertainment Inc., to operate its new English-language commercial FM radio undertaking in Peterborough at 100.5 MHz (channel 263B1) with an average effective radiated power of 5,000 watts. The implementation of this station is subject to the notification by the Department of Industry discussed in paragraph 7. Simulcast period and revocation of AM licence 8. The licensee is authorized, by condition of licence, to simulcast the programming of the new FM station on CKRU for a transition period of three months following the commencement of operations of the FM station. Pursuant to sections 9(1)(e) and 24(1) of the Broadcasting Act and consistent with the licensee's request, the Commission revokes the licence for CKRU effective at the end of the simulcast period. 73, (via Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, Dec 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. 6165, R D Nationale Tchadienne, Gredia, 0955-1244, 01 Dec, French, tribal songs, then light music & songs, chatter; 25442. It is only some time after the end of this observation time that TCD gets QRM. It is silent on 4905 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 5240, 30-11 2124, R Free Asia, Tinian Island in Chinese, 32322 (Aparecido Francisco Morato, PY5AAP, gg46qp, Cornelio Procopio PR, Brasil, Radio kenwoold [sic] ts 570D, antena dipolu 40 metros, dxclube pr yg via DXLD) That would be most unusual, RFA out-of-band in that area. If it were, how would you know it`s Tinian site? It so happens that I also heard Firedrake on that frequency at a different time. 5240 is a well- known(?) frequency of PBS Xizang (Tibet), per Aoki between 2050 and 1805. Could RFA have decided to collide with it head-on? 5240, I rarely hear Tibet here, but maybe I should check this far OOB more often; Dec 2 at 1404 mixing with CODAR was weak Firedrake, I think, but did not seem // also weak 9000. Note this would have been during the top-of-hour 5-minute monitoring break when Firedrake usually pauses against Sound of Hope. Some 7 hours later and a few days earlier, a Brazilian DXer reported R. Free Asia in Chinese on 5240, which seems unlikely unless they have decided to collide directly with the long-established Xizang OOB frequency, which is on the air about 22 hours a day, causing the Chicom to jam themselves? It is also conceivable that Firedrake-like music could appear occasionally as legitimate programming on Chinese stations. More monitoring needed! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. As you may have noticed, I have tried to avoid monitoring RHC and all its SNAFUs lately, but caught one anyway Dec 2 at 1501 on 13760 when Bárbara Betancourt was introducing herself and opening Despertar con Cuba, also on 11760 but an echo apart. Both went off a few seconds apart at 1502*. Another case of the 1100 UT program being played back at 1500 and being put on the air by mistake (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. OK to take SW radio to Cuba? Has anyone on the forum taken a KA/DE-1103 or other portable shortwave radio to Cuba? Had any problem with it being confiscated on entry? Would like to hear either way. Canadian government travel advisory says "Articles prohibited from entry into Cuba include drugs, explosives, pornographic material, literature considered subversive, perishable food items, radio transmission equipment, wireless microphones, radio and TV receivers differing from household model,..." ref: http://www.voyage.gc.ca/dest/report-en.asp?country=69000 Is an 1103 a "radio receiver ... differing from household model"? (Tom Holden, VE3MEO, Nov 30, ODXA yg via DXLD) Never had any problem taking radio/tape recorders to Cuba. Also take items such as baseball caps, clothing, soaps, etc,m to leave behind with the many friendly Cubans you will meet,even outside the tourist areas. 73 (Mick Delmage, VE6IDX, ibid.) Thanks, Mick. I had initially posted this question on a couple of other forums and then it hit me that ODXA was probably the best place to ask it. I thought it should be no problem because I had searched the internet extensively before asking and could find no report of SW radios being confiscated from foreign tourists while there are a couple of references to such from citizens suspected of anti- government activity. We are bringing extra articles as you suggest. 73, (Tom Holden, ibid.) Hi, Never had a problem on my many trips to Cuba. My little SW radio was barely noticed by the customs officers. I agree, take down lots of little extras to give out, especially outside the tourist areas! 73 de (Ted VA3TSG Grisley, ibid.) Hi Tom, Haven't been there since the 1990's, but never ever had any kind of problem. In fact I've never had a problem anywhere I've travelled. The only places I've heard of anyone having any problems are certain African countries where poorly paid and sometimes corrupt officials may confiscate electronic items. BTW, shortwave receivers have been in Cuba for a very long time; used to be a fair number of Soviet made "VEF" receivers around and I understand a Cuban built version called the "Siboney". 73 (de Bob VE3SRE, Chandler, ibid.) Canadian tourists may be treated well, but the poor oppressed Cuban people are not --- never forget that when RNW tried to GIVE AWAY SW radios to Cubans they were prevented from doing so (gh, ibid.) ** CZECHIA [non]. 7275, ASCENSION ISLAND, Rádio Praga, via Ilha de Ascenção, SS, 0006, 23/11, px "Panorama Tcheco", YL/OM 45333 (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso; Bandeirantes - Paraná - Brasil, Receptor: Degen DE1103, Antena: LW do Degen DE1103 com aproximadamente 10,62 metros, Escutas realizadas em Goierê/PR, dxclube PR yg via DXLD) ?? I thought this had moved to 7420, where I heard it already Nov 6 as in DXLD 8-116. Did they move back to 7275, or both? (gh, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005 RNGE/"R. Bata", Bata, 2214-..., 28 Nov, African pops; 45433 but terribly distorted audio (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. 7220, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, *0355-0400 Nov 24, interval signal with ID by a man. Opening in Amharic with ID and announcements before being swamped by powerhouse. Fair while clear and non-existent from 0400 (Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park DX- Pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Don Jensen thinx this is what moved less than a week later to 7205, escaping jamming (gh) Viz.: Reference, below, under Eritrea, to 6175 should be 7175: ERITREA - 7205, while not fully identified, seems like VoBME here 11/30. Last repted on 7219.98 where it was repted blocked by Ethiopian jamming xmsn soon after s/on. If this indeed is VoBME, as it seems, the Ethiopian failed to find it as no jamming. No signal at 0400 check. No usual IS. But at 0403 retune already into pgming with nx by man, later HoA type mx. Pgm pattern and lang. seemed same as previously noted from VoBME when on 7100. Also as in past, signal faded out early, by 0415. 6175 much weaker, and different service (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 9704.2, R. Ethiopia, Geja Dera, 1126-1210, 01 Dec, Vernacular, talks, newscast in English at noon; 24432, adj. QRM de NGR on 9705 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 15215, R. Mustaqbal via Dhabayya. Educational program with teacher and children in Somali language. Reported to close at 0630 and switch to 15530 but continued on this frequency and not heard on 15530, 0622 25/11 (Charles Jones, Castle Hill NSW, Sony 2001D with 7m vertical and Yaesu FRG8800 with 50m long wire, but DXpeditioning at Ellalong, Hunter Valley NSW, [probably without same antennas if not same receivers], Dec Australian DX News via DXLD) ** GERMANY. Statements concerning DW's Chinese service, issued in this press release http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3839193,00.html Valentin Schmidt, head of the DW council: The accusations are unfounded and can not be accepted. The checks brought no any evidence for a one-sided coverage in favour of the Chinese government, either in radio broadcasts or online. Thus the DW council concluded unanimously that the editorial staff of the Chinese service violated neither the DW act nor DW's program guidelines. One has to be surprised about the dynamics and the personal component the public discussion has reached. It appears that the journalistic principle to get the facts first before coming to any conclusions is not being applied here. This is not helpful and dangerous, especially in the internet age where also unconfirmed conjectures spread fast. It is the highest value of Germany's foreign broadcasting that its coverage is trustworth. Sweeping suspicions against DW's head as well as all staff members are absolutely inappropriate, even taboo in light of DW's importance for Germany and the high regard it enjoys all over the world. The council did not go into unconfirmed suspicions but instead checked the accusations in depth, with care and the necessary responsibility. Hans-Uwe Erichsen, committee for programming of DW's council: An external company has been contracted for translating pieces about the Chinese parliament, the Olympic Games, the earthquake and Tibet. Furthermore the quotations that got criticized by Deutschlandfunk have been compared with the original and the external translation in detail. The committee concluded that Deutschlandfunk's programme caused misunderstandings by selecting quotations and letting out words or complementary passages. Erik Bettermann, DW director: The heads of department speak German as their mother tongue and in addition also at least one language of the target areas they are responsible for. The heads of the 30 language services for their part are either native speakers of German and know their service language very good, or they are native speakers of their service language and speak German very good. The four eyes principle and continuous program reviews are standards of the editorial work, including occasional translations back to German. I rely on the self-control and responsibility of the editorial staff very much. Dispute belongs to DW's culture, but the muzzle does not. Another press release about DW's plannings for the 2010-2013 period, approved by the council: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3838914,00.html Some points: DW will focus on audiences that are open for various points of view, use the media intensively and have great influence on the public opinion in their country. These audiences prefer services in either their mother tongue or English as "lingua franca", thus it's of great importance to broadcast in many languages. The German- language offerings serve in the first place the purpose to present Germany and promote the German language. Germans travelling abroad are instead being referred to the increasing possibilities to use domestic German media worldwide. Radio will rely on "modern modules" suitable for FM rebroadcasts and podcasting. Shortwave will be kept only where it is "still relevant for the target audiences". DW TV to be expanded, details omitted here. Probably more coverage will appear, these press releases actually refer to a news conference DW held today. So far the only report I saw was just an obvious summary of these releases by somebody who did not attend either (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Dec 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Report on Deutschlandradio Kultur tonight: Transcript; http://www.dradio.de/dkultur/sendungen/fazit/884572/ Audio http://ondemand-mp3.dradio.de/file/dradio/2008/12/01/drk_20081201_2317_78a9b2c2.mp3 Some statements (other than already given in DW press release): Reporter: It must be doubted if all the 59 signers of a protest letter against DW's Chinese service really knew what they were complaining about. Head of DW council: Due to this cause we intend to take a look at other language services, too. A candidate for a critical look at could be Russian. Reporter: Still a stale smack remains, since Zhang Danhong was remarkable for the very positive statements about the human rights situation in China she repeatedly made in talkshows. Despite this the DW director does not want to do without her and keeps her in the Chinese service, although no longer as its semi-head. DW director: Western international stations always attract dictatorships, one party systems, military broadcasting services, because they of course want to send their points of view back into their countries with the reputation of the western station. This applies not only to us but also to the BBC or Radio France Internationale. The problem how to deal with this situation concerns not only Chinese but also all of our other 29 language services. Reporter: Bettermann relies on the six eyes principle, i.e. all reports will be checked by at least two other editors. [Contradicts the DW press release.] For the time being the criticized pieces will stay in the web archive. DW requests an additional 78 millions Euro until 2013, but it remains to be seen if the Bundestag will approve this. DW director: Most important is a discussion with states and the federal authorities about what they want as presentation of Germany. And then we can start to calculate. We calculated this number (78 m.), but perhaps this will not be the result. I'm not a dreamer and aware of the state the public budgets are in at present (via Kai Ludwig, ibid.) ** GERMANY [non]. BBC and DWL DRM test. Seit heute [Nov 25] laufen die gemeinsamen DRM-Testsendungen von BBC und DW nach folgendem Sendeplan (laut DRM-EPG): AFS Live Schedule BBC & DW Test Frequency kHz Time UT 3995 DRM 0500-0700 1296 DRM 0500-0700 6130 DRM 0700-0800 5995 DRM 0700-0800 9610 DRM 0800-1000 13810 DRM 0803-1400 9545 DRM 1000-1600 13590 DRM 1400-1600 5895 DRM 1600-1700 3995 DRM 1600-2300 1296 DRM 1700-2300 (Michael Bethge-D, wwdxc Nov 25 via BC-DX Dec 2 via DXLD) What does AFS mean? Certainly not RSA. I guess all these are via UK sites (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ICELAND. Glenn: I put up a new long wave antenna the other day, and have been hearing broadcast stations nightly. I do not know if conditions are good or poor or if the antenna is effective or not since I have no other antenna to compare it to. The antenna is a vertical 100 foot loop with 4 turns, so it has 400 ft of wire which is between about 1/10th and 1/15th of a wavelength in the 150-250 kHz range. It receives off the ends rather than broadside (in that frequency range) and I have it pointed Northeast/Southwest. Iceland, 189, National Radio (Rikisutvarpið), 0420, Dec 02, Heard some Christmas music including the Icelandic version of "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" then made the ID with a canned "Ras 2" announcement. Ras 2, or channel 2, is the popular music channel. Channel 1 plays classical music and has cultural programing. I've heard both channels on this longwave relay recently. At 0430 there was an extended report on weather conditions around the island. It is very nice to hear this programming again, its sounds much the same as it did 15 years ago when I was tending sheep and cattle on a farm near the south coast about 30 km from the town of Vik (David Hodgson, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [and non]. Winter B-08 for VOIROI/IRIB ALBANIAN 0630-0727 on 13810 15235 1830-1927 on 6100 7165 2030-2127 on 6100 9740 ARABIC 0230-0527 on 6065 7350 9895 0330-0427 on 7250 9505 "Voice of Palestine" 0530-0827 on 13790 13800 15545 0830-1027 on 9895 13800 15545 1030-1427 on 13790 13800 15545 1430-1627 on 15545 1630-0227 on 6065 ARMENIAN 0300-0327 on 7255 7295 0930-0957 on 9695 15260 1630-1727 on 6185 7230 AZERI 0330-0527 on 9865 1430-1657 on 6200 BENGALI 0030-0127 on 5905 6185 0830-0927 on 11705 1430-1527 on 5910 7330 7380 BOSNIAN 0530-0627 on 13760 15235 1730-1827 on 5945 7295 2130-2227 on 5950 9710 CHINESE 1200-1257 on 9895 11670 13645 15150 2330-0027 on 7130 7325 9635 DARI 0300-0627 on 9875 13740 0830-1427 on 9940 13720 1430-1457 on 9940 ENGLISH 0130-0227 on 6120 7160 "Voice of Justice" 1030-1127 on 15460 17660 1530-1627 on 6160 7330 1930-2027 on 6010 #6115 7320 9855 11695 GERMAN 0730-0827 on 15085 17590 1730-1827 on #6180 6205 7380 FRENCH 0630-0727 on 13600 15425 1830-1927 on #6115 6180 7380 9565 HAUSA 0600-0657 on 15435 17810 1830-1927 on 5950 7335 HEBREW 0430-0457 on 9820 11925 1200-1227 on 13740 15390 HINDI 0230-0257 on 13725 15165 1430-1527 on 7360 9710 INDONESIAN 1230-1327 on 15200 17570 2230-2327 on 5945 7255 ITALIAN 0630-0727 on #9770 13620 15085 1930-1957 on 5890 7380 JAPANESE 1330-1427 on 7380 9905 2100-2157 on 6145 7260 KAZAKH 0130-0227 on 7105 7265 1300-1357 on 9660 11750 KURDISH 0330-0427 on 3945 6145 Sorrani dialect 1330-1427 on 5990 Kirmanji dialect 1430-1527 on 5990 Sorrani dialect 1530-1627 on 5990 Kirmanji dialect PASHTO 0230-0327 on 6095 6140 0730-0827 on 11990 15440 1230-1327 on 6200 7170 1430-1527 on 5890 1630-1727 on 6005 6015 RUSSIAN 0300-0327 on 6040 7125 0500-0527 on 12025 15530 17680 17780 1430-1527 on #3960 7165 9575 9735 1700-1757 on 3985 7170 1800-1857 on 6035 7305 1930-2027 on 3985 7205 SPANISH 0030-0227 on 7225 9680 0230-0327 on 7225 0530-0627 on 13710 15320 2030-2127 on #6055 7130 7350 SWAHILI 0400-0457 on 13640 15260, ex 0330-0427 0830-0927 on 15240 17660 1730-1827 on 6130 7345 TAJIK 0100-0227 on 5955 6175 1600-1727 on 5945 5955 TURKISH 0430-0557 on 12060 13750 1600-1727 on 7125 7310 URDU 0130-0227 on 3945 6010 6190 1300-1427 on 6175 9790 9835 1530-1727 on 5890 UZBEK 0230-0257 on 6040 6175 1500-1557 on 5945 7215 # Sitkunai, Lithuania (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 2 via DXLD) ** IRAN. VOIRI, 9575, Dec 2 at 1429 caught my ear with some nice music on a fairly good signal; 1430 ID and opening in Russian, Qur`an but quite brief, becoming pro-forma? Already 1433 news theme and into newscast. This is 330 degrees from Sirjan, i.e. to western Russia, and also favors North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 15410, Dec 1 at 1505, enjoying R. Farda music almost completely obliterating co-channel Chile, but a SAH was detected at 1509, and Farda off at 1529*. Schedule is 1400-1530 via Woofferton UK, 105 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND. I don`t know if this would be of interest. The Comreg (Ireland) Frequency Registration Allocation Plan, including Broadcasting. http://www.comreg.ie/fileupload/publications/ComReg0781R2.pdf (Ken Fletcher, BDXC-UK via DXLD) 235 pages, last updated July 2008 ** KOREA NORTH. 2850, KCBS Pyongyang, 1315, 12/02/08. Typical NK-style communist opera with female vocals, not // to 3250/3320 which were also audible at this time. Fair to good but fading rapidly by 1330 recheck. 3250/3320, PBS Pyongyang, 1319, 12/02/08, presumed Korean. Female and male announcers with a rather impassioned-sounding diatribe. Both frequencies were parallel to each other, but not the same program as 2850. 3250 weaker than 3320, both mostly poor. 9665.56, KCBS Pyongyang, 2327, 12/02/08. More revolutionary opera, which aside from the source is actually fairly pleasant to listen to, seemed to flow from piece to piece without any announcer commentary. Best in USB due to a big het from something right on 9665, but unsure what - several possibilities listed. First time heard here at this hour. Poor (Mark Schiefelbein, MO, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 11990, R. Kuwait. English s/on with the short NA at 1800, followed by Islamic program and r'n'roll songs from the 50s on 15/11. 0500-0800 on 15110 seems to be ceased in B-08 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Sony ICF-2001, Marconi, Dec Australian DX News via DXLD) 15110, at 1440 Dec 2, Arabic music, 1442 mentioning Kuwait, which is scheduled here 1315-1800 at 100 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. 4760 ELWA (?), Monrovia, 1654-1700*, 29 Nov, Vernacular, talks; 24432, QRM de INDIA (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No, TWR Manzini, SWAZILAND is on 4760 at 1545-1700 only, in vernax. 4760 seems to be inactive, just 6090 for ELWA (gh, DXLD) ** LIBERIA [non]. U.K. (non) Frequency change of VT Communications Relays: Star Radio/Cotton Tree News: 0700-0800 NF 11875 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg to CeAf English/French/Local, ex 9525 DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 2 via DXLD) as already in DXLD ** LITHUANIA. Sitkunai is now relaying R. Racja and its relay of Iran on 3960 kHz. Dave Kenny suggested using this band for Radio Racja broadcasts to Belarus when we visited the Sitkunai transmitter site in September, so they obviously heeded his advice! (Alan Pennington, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) See also IRAN [and non] ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, Radio Madagascar, 0207-0310 Nov 24, program of local vocals with applause hosted by a woman announcer with Malagasy talks, ID at 0230. Booming signal but broadcasting just upper side band carrier, no lower side band carrier (Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-Pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) The carrier is what is in the middle, not on the sidebands. I wonder if this is deliberate, or they are using an old utility transmitter? (gh, DXLD) 5010, MADAGASCAR, RTV Malagasy, 0253 11/24/08, poor, with occasional peaks to fair with woman speaking; at 0301 into a long music selection featuring whistling; program continued past 0310 with woman announcer and short music selections; rapidly fading after 0315 (Jim Ronda Tulsa, OK, NRD-545, R-75, E-1 + RF Systems Mini-Windom, GMDSS-2 vertical, several FlexTennas, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) see SUDAN non ** MEXICO. 6105, Candela FM, Mérida, again this week at 0560 [sic] 11/24. Strong, with Spanish vocals and nice accompaniments. Mentioned '"Can-dela", some kind of anthem-like thing at 0558 and more announcements. Lots of production using SFX and multi-voice announcements. As strong or better than Educación-6185 (Gerry Dexter, Lake Geneva WI, NASWA Flashsheeet via DXLD) The ``some kind of anthem-like thing`` may very well have been THE Mexican national anthem, which all stations are required to play at local midnight; one should become quite familiar with it (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. Desde la XERTA, QSL's en camino!!! Saludos amigos Dxistas! Como resultado de una reciente visita a la XERTA, Radio Transcontinental de América, que transmite por los 4800 kHz desde la Cd. de México; pude junto con la persona encargada de responder a la correspondencia, darle una plática de lo que significan los reportes de recepción, cuál es su finalidad y la importancia para el diexista, que envió dicho reporte. El uso del porte pagado o ayuda económica para garantizar una respuesta de parte de la emisora, en fin, pude constatar y constatar el envío de QSL's de los siguientes amigos y colegas; espero que su carta no haya demorado mucho en ser contestada, pero sus QSL's ya van en camino a sus hogares!!! Luis C. Camarillo, El Paso, TX, USA. Ing. Rafael Grajeda Rosado, Veracruz, México Patrick Cody, Tipperary, Ireland. Adolf Schwegeler, Erftstadt, Germany Marlin A. Field, Hillsdale, MI Jorge Raúl Ocegueda Robles, Xalisco, Nayarit, México Rune Haaland, Egersund, Noruega Günter Rahn, Lubeck, Germany Felicidades, lograron su propósito!!!! 73's desde México, y para quienes desconocen la nueva QTH de XERTA; es ésta: Lic. Rubén Castañeda Espíndola, Director General -XERTA- Calle Gabriel Guerra 13 Col. Zona Escolar 07230 México, D.F. info_xerta @ yahoo.com.mx Saludos de su amigo, (Magdiel desde Jiutepec, Morelos -México- quienes les invita al XV Encuentro de Diexismo en Cuernavaca 2009 http://dx15mexico.super-red.es/cuernavaca2009.htm playdx yg via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, V. of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. Program with speaker in Japanese. Audio very distorted on speech, less so on music – can the fault be with the microphone circuit? 0949 24/11 (Charles Jones, Castle Hill NSW, Sony 2001D with 7m vertical. and Yaesu FRG8800 with 50m long wire, but DXpeditioning at Ellalong, Hunter Valley NSW, [probably without same antennas if not same receivers], Dec Australian DX News via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA [non]. 13600, Voice of Mongolia is resuming broadcasts in Russian via Voice of Russia. Reported on 19/11 in Russian at 1334 with program "Club DX" of Voice of Russia and V of Mongolia with news in Russian from 1349 to 1359 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Sony ICF- 2001, Marconi, Dec Australian DX News via DXLD) The transmission with a buzz on it, but not heard lately here (gh, OK, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. BURMA (?), 5985 Myanma R, Yegu, 1403-1421, 29 Nov, Burmese (p), light songs; 14431, adj. QRM. 9730.76, Myanma R, Yegu, 1356-1407, 29 Nov, percussion instrument tunes; 15431, adj. QRM de stn in Mandarin (p) on 9730 s/on at 1400. (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Happened on RNZI in French, 17675, UT Monday Dec 1 at 2148, speech about Pres. Sarkozy, mentioning Polynésie Française. 2151 back to English with 9 to 11 timecheck. This is not on the RNZI program grid http://www.rnzi.com/pages/schedules.php but instead RNZI Feature UT Mon-Thu 2140-2200 tho there is a Pacific Press Review in French scheduled from 2115 UT Sundays (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 917 R. Benue (?), Makurdi, 1914-1932, 3O Nov, Vernacular, talks; 24442, adj. QRM de E (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On 917 is the new R. Gotel, Yola station as per lots of reports, including from you, or do you think that Benue has moved from 918 to 917 to eliminate the het? (gh, DXLD) 4770 R. Nigeria, Kaduna, 1225-1355 (again, this is not a mistake about the observed time), 29 Nov, talks, music; 15441 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 11565, Radio Pakistan, Islamabad. News and comment in English, 1600-1614 and this frequency was the only one with undermodulated sound on 15/11 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Sony ICF-2001, Marconi, Dec Australian DX News via DXLD) ** PALAU [and non]. Does anyone know the approximate date World Harvest Radio moved transmissions from Hawaii to Palau? (Wendel Craighead, Prairie Village KS, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) In August, I think (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) My impression is that it was phased over some weeks, not an abrupt change (gh, DXLD) ** ROMANIA. RRI continue to issue a different QSL card every month. One from January 2005 features a snowy view of the Retezat National Park in Transylvania. The Romanian government has obviously been investing a large amount of money in SW, as RRI has improved quite remarkably in audibility terms recently following their new transmitter installations. They also have some interesting programmes – do have a listen if you haven`t tuned in recently; it`s much easier to hear now (Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. V. of Russia, I November 16 1531 UT on 6130 – The Christian Message from Moscow, an interesting programme. It usually focuses on the orthodox denomination. It attempts to broadcast inspiring spiritual stories. Today`s was a reading of a book by an orthodox author called ``What Colour is Pain``. A woman called Narissa is cheated on by her husband. One day his mistress turns up on her door wanting to speed up the process of the divorce that the husband promised her. A fracas ensues and the mistress is killed by Narissa. She goes on the run and ends up living in an Orthodox church. She meets a man called Nikolai with whom she ends up living with and falling pregnant by. However, she eventually confesses to him the full truth of her story. He gets drunk and has a mini breakdown while the net closes in on Narissa. She ends up being caught and going to prison where she gives birth to her baby. Quite a sad story really! (Darren Rozier, Listening In, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SERBIA [and non]. Winter B-08 of International Radio Serbia: 1100-1358 on 7200 BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Serbian 1400-1428 on 7200 BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu English 1430-1458 on 7200 BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Serbian 1500-1528 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Spanish 1530-1558 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Arabic 1600-1628 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Russian 1630-1658 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu French 1700-1728 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu German 1730-1743 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Chinese 1745-1758 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Albanian 1800-1813 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Hungarian 1815-1828 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Greek 1830-1858 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Italian 1900-1928 on 6100#BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to WeEu Russian 1900-1928 on 7200 BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Russian 1930-1958 on 6100#BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to WeEu English 1930-1958 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu English 2000-2028 on 6100#BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to WeEu Spanish 2000-2028 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Spanish 2030-2058 on 6100#BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to WeEu Serbian Sun-Fri 2030-2058 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Serbian Sun-Fri 2030-2128 on 6100#BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to WeEu Serbian Sat 2030-2128 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu Serbian Sat 2100-2128 on 6100#BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to WeEu German Sun-Fri 2100-2128 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu German Sun-Fri 2130-2158 on 6100#BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to WeEu French 2130-2158 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu French 2200-2228 on 6100#BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to WeEu English 2200-2228 on 7200*BEO 010 kW / non-dir to WeEu English 0030-0058 on 6190 BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to NoAm Serbian Mon-Sat 0030-0128 on 6190 BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to NoAm Serbian Sun 0100-0128 on 6190 BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to NoAm English Mon-Sat 0200-0228 on 6190 BIJ 250 kW / 310 deg to NoAm English *co-ch 1500-1800 Radio Bulgaria in Russian/Bulgarian/Russian/Spanish 1930-2000 China Radio Int. in Romanian 2030-2230 China Radio Int. in French #co-ch 1900-2230 China Radio Int. in Russian/Arabic/Arabic/Chinese (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 2 via DXLD) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. FEBA Radio U.K. (non) Frequency change of VT Communications 1700-1730 NF 11655 KIG 250 kW / 030 deg to EaAf Somali, ex 11785 1730-1800 NF 11655 KIG 250 kW / 030 deg to EaAf Tigrinya, ex 11785 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 2 via DXLD) as already in DXLD My Tigrinya is worse than poor but --- In the recording after Korean segments one can hear (excuse the spelling) at least following: 01.58 www....net 02.44 ..eza Radio Feba...Dimtsi Selamna... 03.00 ...Dimtsi Selamna...Feba...kHz... 03.57 ...eza Radio Feba...Dimtsi Selamna... 04.17 ...www.selamna.org... 04.31 ...voiceofselamna @ yahoo.com... (Jari Savolainen-FIN, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Nov 29 via DXLD) Re UNID Korean on 11655: Yes, this was a wrong feed of Ilbon-e- Baram/Furusato no Kaze as identified by a Korean speaker (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Nov 30, ibid.) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. U.K. (non) Frequency change of VT Communications Relays: Star Radio/Cotton Tree News: 0700-0800 NF 11875 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg to CeAf English/French/Local, ex 9525 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Dec 2 via DXLD) as already in DXLD ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. Local Shops Help SIBC -- Tuesday, 25 November 2008 THREE local furniture shops yesterday donated 12 new chairs to the Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation (SIBC). The three, Hocking construction, SA and Sons Enterprises and Tropical Quality Furniture are members of the Solomon Islands Manufacturers. The donation was made in response to a request from the national broadcaster. The chairs will be placed in SIBC’s recording studios and programme office, which were without chairs. Chairman of the association, David Irofulaga said the donation was a small token of appreciation towards SIBC (Solomon Star via Craig Seager, Dec ADXN via WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DXLD) The SIBC’s electricity was cut off in early August as well, due to unpaid accounts (Craig Seager, ibid.) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. Hi Glenn: 9541.53, 0645-0710, SIBC Honiara Dec 1. Pop music and island tunes, to ID at 0700 and into news read by male and female. Very weak signal about an hour before Honiara sunset, occasionally dropping back into the noise. Hopefully the signal will improve in the next hour. Thanks to Craig Seager for tip. SIBC is reportedly drifting from 9540 to 9542 kHz. Good to find them on 31 meters again! (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, http://www.perseus-sdr.blogspot.com WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also widely heard in Europe; DRM 9540-9545-9550 weekdays only? (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Dec 2 via WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DXLD) Viz.: Hier ist ein Traeger auf 9541.40 im Moment mit leichter Abwaertsbewegung ca. 12 dB unter Hoerbarkeit zu sehen (Wolf-Dieter Behnke-D, A-DX Nov 30) Hier 9541.505 kHz, leicht aufwaerts wandernd, etwa 10 Hz in 5 Minuten. 0840 UT, Signalstaerke -104 dBm (Martin Elbe-D, http://home.wolfsburg.de/elbe/ A-DX Nov 30) 9541.497 kHz, 0939 UT bei mir mit -103 bis -100dB (S4-5) auf der Nord- Sued Loop mit starkem QSB und unverstaendlich aufgrund des 9540.0 Signals aus Taiwan. Fuer Audio waere der Traeger stark genug, theoretisch jedenfalls :( 9541.505 kHz um 1034 UT immer noch -102 bis -97dB (knapp ueber S5 Peaks) Audio in Fetzen hoerbar ... Sprache nicht zu Identifizieren dafuer reichen die Fetzen nicht, hoert einer mehr? 9541.512 kHz um 1130 UT wieder deutlich schwaecher geworden nur noch bei - 110 bis -102 dB nachdem um 1100 UT nach QRT von Taiwan leise Nachrichten zu vernehmen waren die von einer Frau gesprochen wurden. Sprache war leider nicht zu identifizieren Spitze war hier gegen Mittag mit bis zu S6 und recht wenig Fading. (Dirk Nees-D, A-DX Nov 30) Die Signalstaerke des vermuteten Salomonen Signals in Salzburg: -96 dBm, gar nicht uebel. Momentan auf 9541.475 kHz (Christoph Ratzer-AUT OE2CRM, A-DX Nov 30) Und eben, 1145 UTC ist immer noch der Traeger zu sehen 9541.524 kHz (Martin Elbe-D, A-DX Nov 30) Heute wieder live am Perseus: jetzt 0800 UT kommt SIBC recht appetitlich (243 at best, je nach DW-Pest) auf 9541.523 kHz. Besser mit der Windom als mit der Loop (die ich natuerlich bei der gestrigen und noch abzuhoerenden Aufnahme aufgeschaltet hatte ...). (Nils Schiffhauer-D DK8OK A-DX Dec 2) Muy buenas, seit 1025 UT auf freier QRG 9541.41v mit O=2. (Saludos, Enzio Gehrig, Spain, A-DX Dec 2, all via BC-DX via DXLD) ILHAS SALOMÃO: 9541.52, 01/12 0840-0930, SIBC, Honiara, inglês pidgin, 34433. Emissora reativada nesta frequencia depois de muito tempo. 73 (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos SP, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DXLD) ** SPAIN. REE, English to Europe, 1900-2000 M-F observed on 9665 (ex 9690) // 9605, still announcing 9690 but not heard on this frequency, observed 6-10 November (Edwin Southwell, England, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. 9770, SLBC, Ekala. Evangelic programs in English compiled in USA and giving addresses in USA on 16/11 (seems it is only on Sundays; earlier was till 0600 UT) 0430-0530 close/down, but program "Morning Show" of SLBC in English was till 0430. Annouonced also 6005 and 15745 but no signals were here (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Sony ICF-2001, Marconi, Dec Australian DX News via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. 4960, SAO TOME, Aafiyah Darfur/Hello Darfur via VOA, 0318 11/24/08 fair with man and woman speaking in Arabic; short music bridges between conversation; occasional longer music selection; off at 0329 with VOA ID in English (Jim Ronda Tulsa, OK, NRD-545, R-75, E- 1 + RF Systems Mini-Windom, GMDSS-2 vertical, several FlexTennas, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. INDEPENDENT RADIO STATION STARTS BROADCASTING TO DARFUR --- Friday 21 November 2008 November 20, 2008 (KHARTOUM) – A new radio station went on air Saturday, said reporters of Radio Dabanga, who pledged to report from inside Sudan as well as abroad. News and information programmes will commence on December 1st. The journalists will broadcast in three vernacular languages --- soon to be expanded to four --- and said they will produce “independent news and relevant information for all Darfuri: city folk, villagers and herdsmen, IDPs, refugees, Darfuri abroad and in Sudan.” Radio Dabanga is a project of the Radio Darfur Network, a coalition of Sudanese journalists and international media development organizations, supported by a consortium of international donors, humanitarian community organizations and local NGOs. The radio station is operated by Press Now in the Netherlands. The station is named for a type of large storage vessel called dabanga (also sometimes written damanga or dabunga), which are used by Sudanese farmers to preserve food. Farmers tend to hide their valuables at the bottom of these containers, making them both precious and delicate. Thus there is an Arabic adage, “life is brittle as dabanga; roll it slowly.” The radio station commented, “the message of this proverb is that diplomacy is needed in life to solve problems.” The station broadcasts on shortwave radio at 07:30-08:30 Sudan time [0430-0530 UT] on 7315 kHz, 41 meter band, or 13800 kHz, 22 meter band (Sudan Tribune via Craig Seager, NSW, Dec Australian DX News via WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DXLD) It`s *and*, not or. 7315 - Wertachtal, 13800 Madagascar (gh, DXLD) Saludos Cordiales Amigos Radioescuchas y Diexistas! Radio Dabanga, fue captada anoche 01-12-2008 por Jorge García Rangel con transmisiones para Sudán desde los transmisores de Radio Nederland en la Isla de Madagascar; en su primer día de emisiones, abriendo a las 0430 UT en la frecuencia de los 7315 kHz con una señal de aceptable a buena 35333. La grabación la pueden escuchar en nuestro blog http://diexismovenezolano.blogspot.com Al final de la nota de prensa de sus transmisiones. Jorge utilizó un radio receptor Marca Degen 1103 (o Kaito como también se le conoce comercialmente) y una antena de hilo largo. Por mi parte utilicé un receptor Grundig Mini 300 con su antena telescópica pero con señal mas baja 25222, pero audible. A eso de las 0453 pude escuchar una señal leve en los 13800 kHz, pero no puedo asegurar que se trate de Radio Dabanga que utilizaba esa frecuencia en paralelo con los 7315 kHz y que quizás por razones de propagación no se sintonizó a las 0430 UT al inicio de la transmisión. Finalmente deseo preguntarles si saben por casualidad alguno de ustedes, a donde debemos remitir nuestros informes de recepción, para recibir la Tarjeta QSL.. Mucho les agradezco si nos facilitan ese dato. Gracias! Desde Venezuela, 32 Años…Escuchando Al Mundo ¡!! CLUB DIEXISTAS DE LA AMISTAD (Santiago San Gil González, Editor de Blog, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola Santiago, La frecuencia de 7315 no es via Madagascar, sino Wertachtal, Alemania. Era el primer día oficial de emisiones, pero hubo pruebas desde hace algunas semanas en ambas frecuencias. 73, (Glenn Hauser to SSGG, via DXLD) Gracias Glenn por la corrección a nuestro reporte sobre Radio Dabanga.Siempre estamos atentos a tus informaciones. A todas éstas no se sabe de alguna dirección física o electrónica para enviar los informes para obtener la QSL? Desde Venezuela, 32 Años, escuchando Al Mundo !!!! CLUB DIEXISTAS DE LA AMISTAD (Santiago San Gil, ibid.) GERMANY, 7315, QSL Radio Dabanga via Wertachtal [to Sudan] verified a report to the radiodabanga @ yahoo.com e-mail address is 8 hours from Leon Willems who replied using willems @ pressnow.nl Leon's e-mail stated "Please find attached additional information regarding Dabanga. Thanks very much for your report. We do not have a fixed QSL yet. But I hope this information is helpful to you." The three documents attached to the e-mail were: (1) How to receive Radio Dabanga, (2) Radio Dabanga On Air!, and (3) The meaning of Dabanga: life is changeable for good or bad. Press No states that "Radio Dabanga is a project of the Radio Darfur Network a coalition of Sudanese journalists and international (media) development organizations, supported by a consortium of international donors, humanitarian community organizations and NGO's. Radio Dabanga is conceived, operated and facilitated by Press Now in The Netherlands." The third document notes that Dabanga is a large storage vessel used by Sudanese farmers to preserve food. Also, from the third document comes the following: "Dabanga is a small village near El Fasher (North Darfur). It is also a well in the Wilayat area in South-Darfur 528 meters above sea level. In December 2007 over thousand people were displaced from this area due to insecurity in the area and lack of humanitarian assistance." (Rich D'Angelo, PA, Nov 30, BC-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DXLD) ** SURINAME. 4990, Radio Apintie, 0450-0517 Nov 25, several romantic vocals with man announcer with Radio Apintie ID at 0459 before continuing music program. Poor (Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-Pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** SYRIA. Re R. Damascus now webcasting in English: Das blaue Lautsprecher-Symbol auf der Webseite mit den arabischen Schriftzeichen http://www.rtv.gov.sy/index.php?m=541 zeigt auf und dort laeuft soeben 1350 UT English, ab 1400 UT Arabisch. Auf PC, Firefox sowie auch IE, mit WMP V11.0. Started nach hoechstens 2 Sekunden (wb, Nov 27) Radio Damaskus mit QSL-Karten-Serie "1968-2008" 40 Jahre deutschsprachiges Programm Radio Damaskus (sinnigerweise mit engl. Beschreibungen) The oldest musical score from Ugarit The Rosa Damascena Syrian Money The Alphabet of Ugarit Statue of Urnina from Mari Phillip the Arab A Princess from Ugarit Mosaice from the Omayyad Mosque (Paul Gager, Austria, A-DX Nov 27, all via BC-DX via DXLD) ** TATARSTAN [non]. 15105. V. of Tatarstan, Samara. News in Russian 0710-0835 (seems it is only on Tuesdays -other times in Tatar?) on 11/11 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Sony ICF-2001, Marconi, Dec Australian DX News via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 9810, Radio Thailand, 1234-1259* Nov 25, man and woman in English with news, ID (“You are listening to Radio Thailand news”), promos from tourist bureau and off in mid-sentence. Gave TC for 14 minutes past hour at 1244 saying live but suspect this was a replay of a previously live program. Fair to good (Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-Pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) R. Thailand, 9725, poor with flutter but no QRM, during English semihour to SE Asia, Dec 2 at 1410 with talk on the king`s birthday festivities, then detailed info on how tourists may obtain VAT refund --- one requirement being departure via an international airport, not so easy at the moment! It`s incredible that there are many transmissions from the IBB Udorn relay which carry on with very good signals to NAm, while R. Thailand in axually targetting NAm fails to succeed by insisting on prime time direct on 12, 15 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 6200, Xizang PBS – Lhasa, 1630-1700, Dec 1, "Holy Tibet" program in English, mostly Tibetan music and songs, repeat of the canned promo heard yesterday for medical massage clinics in Lhasa, man and woman saying together: "Come to our clinic to receive one hour medical massage", directions given for the clinics in Lhasa, "for appointment please contact us at [phone numbers], we would welcome your visit to the medical message clinic", tells about their training, "cost of one massage . . . for local people about 55 Renminbi and it takes one hour", "Holy Tibet is the window into the life of Tibet". Still rough listening but have temporarily posted (under "Holy Tibet") an audio clip to "Station Sounds" to give people an idea of what they sound like (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CHINA 5240 ** TURKEY. For several years I have been sending reception reports to the Voice of Turkey and recently I received an unusual letter and a diploma from them. As you can see these radio stations do appreciate our interest in their programmes. The text of the letter reads: Dear Richard G Read, We would like to express our happiness over the close interest you have shown in our radio station and broadcasts and consider it an obligation to sincerely thank you with a diploma enclosed in this letter. It is our hope that this togetherness will continue for many years to come. Osman DILEKÇÍ On behalf of the TRT Director General External Service Director (via Richard Read, Dec World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** UGANDA. 4976, Radio Uganda, 2155-2256 Nov 23, program of tribal vocals, jingles and man announcer in local language. Running very late for some reason. Carrier cut in mid-song. Poor to fair (Rich D’Angelo, French Creek State Park DX-Pedition, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** U K. Vladimir (’Vova’) Rubinstein MBE R.I.P. I have just learned that my first boss, Vladimir (’Vova’) Rubinstein, has died at the age of 91. Vova was Head of the Reception Department when I worked at the BBC Monitoring Service (as it was then called) from 1974-78. I grew very fond of him, and I always got on well with him. He did occasionally have a temper, but only when something went wrong or he felt that members of staff were not performing to the high standards that he set. But he was always ready to praise someone when he thought they deserved it. Most of all, everyone on the staff respected him. Vova was very proud of ‘his’ Monitoring Service, and was never slow to tell visitors some of his favourite stories of what BBCMS had accomplished. His favourite was what happened as the 1962 Cuban missile crisis reached its climax. Russian president Nikita Khrushchev broadcast his effective capitulation on a domestic radio channel in the early hours of the morning Moscow time. Vova was convinced that Khrushchev knew that it would be monitored by the BBC. The message was relayed instantly to the White House, which thanked BBCMS and said it had not yet received the official communication via diplomatic channels. A full obituary, giving an account of Vova’s earlier life and work, is in the Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/3540388/Vladimir-Rubinstein.html It’s strange, but even though I left the Monitoring Service 34 years ago, I feel as if I have lost a friend. R.I.P. (December 2nd, 2008 - 19:40 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) OBIT ** U K. BBC RADIO 3 IS SERVING UP A SELECTION OF FESTIVE TREATS THIS CHRISTMAS. Radio 3 films its first red button programme for Christmas: Britten's cantata St Nicolas from Lancing College, Sussex – the very institution which commissioned this work 60 years ago and the location of its world premiere. With the BBC Singers, Choristers of St Paul's and the BBC Concert Orchestra, the performance is live on Radio 3 on 18 December. Music lovers who have satellite or digital TV can press their TV red button to watch this specially recorded performance for seven days from 19 December. The BBC Singers, with their Chief Conductor David Hill, record 12 carols especially for Breakfast, to go out every day at 7.35am from 20 to 31 December. On the menu are Walton's What Cheer (New Year's Eve); Bob Chilcott's beautifully wrought The Shepherd's Carol, now a modern classic with many choirs (Boxing Day), Grace Rossiter's arrangement of the familiar tune The Angel Gabriel (21 December), and other contemporary carols from Christopher Brown (23 December), Gabriel Jackson (27 December), Ronald Corp (29 December) and Richard Rodney Bennett (30 December). Bringing a different flavour are Christmas songs which represent the seasonal and festive traditions of other countries, such as Vic Nees' touching arrangement of an old Flemish carol (20 December), a haunting piece by the Icelandic composer þorkell Sigurbjörnsson (Christmas Eve), and a jubilant setting, by Karsten Gundermann, of an old German tune which depicts the Christmas bells ringing (28 December). Radio 3 marks the 150th anniversary of Puccini's birth in December with a series of programmes including a Music Matters special (20 December), in which Tom Service is joined by musicologist and authority on Italian opera, Roger Parker, in Tuscany as he visits the locations where Puccini lived and worked. Composer Of The Week explores his life and work (22–26 December), while in Afternoon On 3, Louise Fryer presents a historic performance of the ever-popular Tosca from the Metropolitan Opera New York radio archives, featuring leading Puccini singers of the time including soprano Renata Tebaldi as Tosca, tenor Richard Tucker as Mario Cavaradossi and baritone Leonard Warren as Baron Scarpia. There are four Puccini operas: La Fanciulla del West from the Royal Opera House (27 December); a second chance to hear Il Tabarro from the 2008 BBC Proms (29 December) and La Bohème and La Rondine both live from the Met (3 and 10 January respectively). Christmas worship on Radio 3 bega with A Service For Advent With Carols live from the Chapel of St John's College, Cambridge at 4.00pm on Sunday 30 November (just edited this as the press release was put out December 1st and said begins!). Every year cathedrals, churches and college chapels up and down the land are packed for Advent carol services in preparation for the season of Christmas. Perhaps most renowned of all is this service live from St John's College Cambridge which includes this year James MacMillan's A New Song and the first performance of John McCabe's The Last And Greatest Herald, specially commissioned for this occasion. Choral Evensong continues live on Wednesdays at 4.00pm, with a repeat on Sunday throughout December, from Lichfield Cathedral (3 December), St Edmundsbury Cathedral (10 December) and Christ Church Cathedral, Dublin (17 December). There's no broadcast on Christmas Eve but the following Sunday (28 December) the choir of Clare College Cambridge sings for the first time on radio a new sequence of Christmas carols by John Tavener, commissioned by the choir and called Ex Maria Virgine. The sequence is dedicated to the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall in joyful celebration of their marriage. On Christmas Day itself at 2.00pm, there's a repeat of the previous day's Festival Of Nine Lessons And Carols from King's College Cambridge (the commissioned carol this year is by Dominic Muldowney) and on the last Wednesday of 2008 (31 December, New Year's Eve) Choral Evensong is live from Douai Abbey near Reading, sung by the Rodolfus Choir and featuring seasonal music by Herbert Howells. And a week later, there's a special Service for Epiphany sung by the choir of King's College London and featuring a complete performance of Britten's A Boy Was Born, interspersed with readings. In the lead-up to Christmas on Performance On 3, John Eliot Gardiner conducts The Monteverdi Choir and The English Baroque Soloists in three all-Bach programmes recorded at Hawksmoor's glorious Christ Church as part of the Spitalfields Winter Festival. Each features one of the cantatas that make up the Christmas Oratorio, as well as one of the Motets and a Brandenburg Concerto (22–24 December). Christmas Across Europe And Beyond is a musical celebration of Christmas with one-hour concert performances from seven countries across Europe...and beyond – including the USA, Sweden, Austria, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic and Norway. Radio 3 joins an international network of radio stations for a seasonal selection of choral and orchestral music (21 December). It's not just the music – a number of features exploring Christmas past, present and future is included in the day. Historian Judith Flanders talks about how today's Christmas customs find their roots in the Victorian imagination. Aled Jones reveals the hidden history of Christmas carols. And in these financially stricken times there will even be an exploration of the part Christmas plays on the balance sheet! Louise Fryer presents extracts from the large-scale ballet works of Prokofiev and Tchaikovsky in Afternoon On 3, culminating on Boxing Day with another chance to hear the complete Sleeping Beauty from BBC Proms 2008, performed by Valery Gergiev and the London Symphony Orchestra. Other ballets include: Cinderella with music by Prokofiev, performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra under Sir Andrew Davis, with narration by Deborah Bull (22 December); the BBC Philharmonic perform Act 3 of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake, conducted by Alexander Titov (23 December); Act 2 of Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker, conducted by Vassily Sinaisky (25 December); and Prokofiev's Romeo And Juliet from the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Thierry Fischer (24 December). Brian Kay presents the New Year's Day Concert 2009 live from Vienna. The Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra perform the annual celebratory concert of waltzes, polkas and marches, conducted for the first time by Argentinean-Israeli pianist and conductor Daniel Barenboim. Live on Christmas morning, much-loved Breakfast presenters Rob Cowan and Sara Mohr-Pietsch share the microphone for the first time to present a special Christmas Breakfast. Their festive choices include the Hallelujah Chorus from Handel's Messiah, Haydn's exuberant Symphony No. 1 in D major, a selection of Peter Cornelius's Christmas Carols sung by both Angelika Kirchschlager and Hermann Prey, plus the latest instalment of Bach Dances and a specially recorded carol by Howard Skempton, sung by the BBC Singers (Via BBC Press Office via Mike Barraclough, uk-radio-listeners yg via Rich Cuff, PA, DXLD) ** U S A. INFORMATION WARFARE AND VOA --- There has been much discussion in recent months about improving U.S. public diplomacy. Officials, analysts and commentators routinely talk about “the battle of ideas” or “the struggle for hearts and minds” or “information warfare.” Often the Voice of America gets dragged into these discussions in a way that leaves us a little uncomfortable. Just this week, writing in the Wall Street Journal Asia, two State Department officials triggered such disquiet with an item headlined “Information Warfare Matters.” The article by Christian Whiton and Kristofer Harrison, expressing their personal opinions, argues the U.S. government needs to create a new agency to manage what they call the “nonviolent practice of political warfare” – specifically to confront jihadist ideology. And here is where they got our attention. They believe, as they put it, that “U.S. government-supported broadcasting, such as the Voice of America, should be adapted to this mission.” The problem with this proposal is the same we have had with many others in the past: they are based on the premise that VOA is some sort of U.S. government mouthpiece. So let us repeat a few observations. First, it is true that VOA is financed by the US government. But look at VOA’s Journalistic Code. The Code says specifically: “VOA reporters and broadcasters must strive for accuracy and objectivity in all their work. They do not speak for the U.S. government.” Similarly, the notion that any government agency can tell VOA what to say is false. As the VOA Charter says, “VOA will represent America, not any single segment of American society…” Yes, VOA offers news about the United States and US government policies. But so do other international broadcasters. Why? The answer is obvious: the United States is a global power with global interests that no responsible news organization, American or non-American, can ignore. Our research also shows many of our audiences want to hear about American culture, life, history, youth and more. But our emphasis will always remain on offering reliable and authoritative news --- that is, credible news. If our audience perceives we are more interested in pursuing a political or ideological agenda and not playing it straight in our reporting or in our selection of news items, we will lose our credibility. And soon thereafter we will lose the audience itself (Alex Belida, Dec 1, VOA News blog via DXLD) More on this: http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=5345 (via gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Glen[n] Hauser: This is Al Parker from Danbury CT. I am pleased to report that WRNO is back on the air. Signal 5 over 9 with minor skip. Thought you like to know. 07505 kHz at 0200 UT (Al Parker Danbury CT, UT Dec 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. At least on Monday Dec 1, WBCQ filled the open hour on 7415 at 2200 with Jean Shepherd, streamofconciousness classic radio on the subject of boring jobs. Audio a bit lofi especially during opening theme music; signal OK until starting to fade down at 2240; show ended at 2245 with a commercial, could not decide whether classic or contemporary, and fill music. 2300 still running WORLD OF RADIO on Monday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 13570v, WINB, 1503 Tuesday Dec 2, Musical Memories show put on by a `housewife` who revels in now being heard around the world, as she sits at her piano playing mostly religious music and singing. Not exactly a pro or of operatic quality, but she may have escaped from a choir. Included Jingle Bells with some clever new lyrix. Offered a free 60-minute CD of her Xmas music oeuvre, on request from P O Box 907, Oak Park IL 60303. Her husband`s name is George and she finally IDed herself as Martha Reed (sp?) Garvin. As for her SW outlet, could not have picked a worse one to convey music, WINB with its distortion and wobbly carrier. Also scheduled there UT Monday 0330 on 9265. Per the outdated Oct WWCR program schedule, times adjusted, she is also on Saturdays 1030 on 5070, Saturdays 1530 on 15825, Sundays 1100 on 5070, Mondays 2100 on 15825 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi, all! What's going on with the WWCR website, and especially the "Ask WWCR" sub-section? What with the poor evening reception here in St. Louis on most recent Saturday evenings, I haven 't heard a clear "Ask WWCR" program in many weeks, and what I *did* hear sounded very strange, not like the traditional variety. So I finally get a chance to go to hear it online, and discover that there hasn't been any update there since August! Other stuff on the site seems out-of-date, too. No recent dates shown in the homepage list of latest revisions. 73, (Will Martin, MO, Dec 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. WYFR / YFR B08 Shortwave Frequency list FREQ UTC Language Pow Azi Location ADM 3230 1900-2000 English 100 5 Meyerton AFS 3955 1900-2000 Portuguese100 76 Meyerton AFS 3955 1600-1700 German 100 ND Wertachtal excSat D 3955 0500-0600 German 250 106 Skelton G 3955 1700-1800 English 250 106 Skelton G 5745 0500-0600 Russian 100 222 Okeechobee USA 5745 0600-0700 English 100 44 Okeechobee USA 5745 0700-0745 English 100 44 Okeechobee USA 5745 0800-0945 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 5745 2000-2045 English 100 44 Okeechobee USA 5820 1900-2000 German 250 284 Samara RUS 5820 1800-1900 Polish 200 311 Tashkent UZB 5865 1400-1500 Hindi 100 135 Dushanbe-Yangiyul TJK 5865 1500-1600 Hindi 100 135 Dushanbe-Yangiyul TJK 5865 1600-1700 Hindi 100 135 Dushanbe-Yangiyul TJK 5900 1100-1200 Filipino 250 152 Irkutsk RUS 5910 1200-1300 Filipino 250 220 Vladivostok-Rasdolnoy RUS 5950 2100-2200 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 5950 2200-2400 English 100 285 Okeechobee USA 5950 0000-0100 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 5950 0100-0200 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 5950 0400-0500 English 100 285 Okeechobee USA 5950 0500-0600 English 100 285 Okeechobee USA 5950 0800-1145 English 100 285 Okeechobee USA 5950 2100-0200 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 5955 2030-2130 French 500 180 Rampisham G 5960 2000-2100 Arabic 250 210 Wertachtal D 5960 2100-2200 Arabic 250 210 Wertachtal D 5960 2200-2300 Arabic 250 210 Wertachtal D Nov 11- 5965 1900-2000 Arabic 300 110 Rampisham G 5970 1400-1500 Kannada 250 140 Samara RUS 5970 1700-1900 Russian 250 65 Nauen D 5985 2000-0200 Spanish 50 181 Okeechobee USA 5985 0200-0300 English 50 181 Okeechobee USA 5985 0300-0445 Spanish 50 181 Okeechobee USA 5985 0500-0600 Chinese 100 315 Okeechobee USA 5985 0600-0645 Cantonese 100 315 Okeechobee USA 5995 1100-1200 Chinese 250 244 Petropavlovsk-KamchatsRUS 5995 1200-1300 Chinese 250 244 Petropavlovsk-KamchatsRUS 5995 1300-1400 Chinese 250 244 Petropavlovsk-KamchatsRUS 5995 1400-1500 English 250 244 Petropavlovsk-KamchatsRUS 6000 1900-2000 Italian 250 240 Moskva RUS 6000 0500-0600 Spanish 50 181 Okeechobee USA 6000 0600-0700 English 50 181 Okeechobee USA 6000 0700-0945 Spanish 50 181 Okeechobee USA 6000 1000-1100 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 6000 1100-1145 English 100 160 Okeechobee USA 6005 1200-1300 Korean 250 213 Komsomolsk-na-Amur RUS 6010 2200-2300 French 500 195 Wertachtal D 6020 1400-1500 Telugu 250 140 Samara RUS 6020 1900-2100 English 50 255 Talata-Volondry MDG 6045 1700-1800 Amharic 250 225 Dhabbaya UAE 6045 1800-1900 English 100 15 Meyerton AFS 6050 1800-1900 Romanian 100 100 Juelich D 6070 1600-1700 Punjabi 300 110 Krasnodar RUS 6085 2300-2400 French 100 355 Okeechobee USA 6085 0000-0100 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 6085 1000-1600 Spanish 100 181 Okeechobee USA 6085 1600-1700 English 100 181 Okeechobee USA 6085 1700-1900 Spanish 100 181 Okeechobee USA 6085 1900-1945 English 100 181 Okeechobee USA 6090 1400-1500 Punjabi 250 117 Samara RUS 6090 1500-1600 Punjabi 250 117 Samara RUS 6100 1900-2000 Portuguese100 330 Meyerton AFS 6105 0800-1045 Portuguese100 142 Okeechobee USA 6105 1700-1800 Persian 500 105 Nauen D 6120 1800-1900 Spanish 250 230 Nauen D 6120 2000-2100 Spanish 250 230 Nauen D 6175 1900-2000 Arabic 250 120 Wertachtal D Jan 1- 6225 1400-1500 English 200 131 Tashkent UZB 6230 2200-2400 Chinese 100 310 BauJong TWN 6240 1100-1600 Chinese 100 310 BauJong TWN Jan 8 6240 2000-2100 English 500 309 Kishinev-Grigoriopol MDA 6240 2100-2200 English 500 309 Kishinev-Grigoriopol MDA 6280 1500-1600 English 300 285 Tanshui TWN 6280 1600-1700 Hindi 300 285 Tanshui TWN 6890 0900-1000 Spanish 100 355 Okeechobee USA 6890 1000-1245 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 6915 0304-0400 Spanish 100 355 Okeechobee USA 6915 0400-0600 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 6915 0600-0700 Spanish 100 355 Okeechobee USA 6915 0700-1100 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 6915 1100-1145 Spanish 100 355 Okeechobee USA 6915 2000-2145 English 100 44 Okeechobee USA 7150 1000-1100 Japanese 250 85 Novosibirsk RUS 7160 1900-2000 English 250 330 Dhabbaya UAE 7165 1100-1400 Chinese 250 263 Petropavlovsk-KamchatsRUS 7165 1400-1500 English 250 263 Petropavlovsk-KamchatsRUS 7175 1200-1300 Vietnamese250 180 Irkutsk RUS 7175 1300-1400 Vietnamese250 180 Irkutsk RUS 7175 1400-1500 Urdu 250 110 Krasnodar RUS 7175 1500-1600 Urdu 250 110 Krasnodar RUS 7210 1900-2000 Spanish 250 295 Novosibirsk RUS 7220 1900-2000 Arabic 250 120 Wertachtal D Jan 1- 7240 1800-1900 Turkish 300 110 Skelton G 7295 1600-1700 Urdu 250 195 Novosibirsk RUS 7300 1900-2000 French 250 290 Krasnodar RUS 7300 2000-2100 French 250 290 Krasnodar RUS 7305 2100-2200 French 500 180 Wertachtal D 7305 2200-2300 English 500 180 Wertachtal D 7340 1400-1500 Nepali 250 224 Irkutsk RUS 7340 1500-1600 Marathi 250 224 Irkutsk RUS 7345 1800-1900 English 250 188 Samara RUS 7345 1900-2000 Arabic 250 188 Samara RUS 7395 1800-1900 English 250 320 Talata-Volondry MDG 7395 1900-2000 English 250 320 Talata-Volondry MDG 7435 1700-1800 Russian 200 311 Tashkent UZB 7435 1800-1900 Russian 200 311 Tashkent UZB 7455 0100-0445 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 7455 0700-1100 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 7455 1100-1345 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 7460 1200-1300 Vietnamese100 225 Yunlin TWN 7475 1400-1500 Tamil 100 137 Dushanbe-Yangiyul TJK 7485 1600-1700 Persian 250 131 Simferopol UKR 7485 1700-1800 Persian 250 131 Simferopol UKR 7490 1800-1900 German 300 305 Yerevan-Gavar ARM 7490 1900-2000 German 300 305 Yerevan-Gavar ARM 7520 0100-0345 Portuguese100 142 Okeechobee USA 7520 0400-0500 Russian 100 44 Okeechobee USA 7520 0500-0600 Arabic 100 44 Okeechobee USA 7520 0600-0700 French 100 44 Okeechobee USA 7520 0700-0745 Spanish 100 44 Okeechobee USA 7535 1300-1400 Chinese 500 94 Almaty-Nikolayevka KAZ 7535 1400-1500 English 500 94 Almaty-Nikolayevka KAZ 7560 1200-1300 Filipino 200 132 Almaty-Nikolayevka KAZ 7560 1300-1400 English 200 132 Almaty-Nikolayevka KAZ 7560 1400-1500 English 500 121 Almaty-Nikolayevka KAZ 7570 0100-0345 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 7730 0304-0445 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 7730 0500-0600 German 100 44 Okeechobee USA 7730 0600-0700 Romanian 100 44 Okeechobee USA 7730 0700-0745 Polish 100 44 Okeechobee USA 9280 1100-1600 Chinese 100 335 Yunlin TWN 9280 2100-2400 Chinese 100 335 Yunlin TWN 9300 1400-1500 Bengali 200 131 Tashkent UZB 9300 1500-1600 Bengali 200 131 Tashkent UZB 9310 1300-1400 Burmese 200 132 Almaty-Nikolayevka KAZ 9355 1400-1500 Nepali 300 116 Kishinev-Grigoriopol MDA 9355 0404-0445 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 9355 0500-0600 Spanish 100 44 Okeechobee USA 9355 0600-0700 Italian 100 44 Okeechobee USA 9355 0700-0745 Portuguese100 44 Okeechobee USA 9355 1900-2000 Russian 100 44 Okeechobee USA 9355 2000-2100 Romanian 100 44 Okeechobee USA 9355 2100-2200 Spanish 100 44 Okeechobee USA 9365 1100-1200 English 100 71 Dushanbe-Orzu TJK 9365 1200-1300 Russian 100 24 Dushanbe-Orzu TJK 9405 1600-1700 Hindi 500 90 Wertachtal D 9430 1700-1800 Turkish 300 110 Skelton G 9430 2300-2400 English 100 160 Okeechobee USA 9430 0000-0045 Portuguese100 160 Okeechobee USA 9435 1700-1800 Arabic 500 120 Wertachtal D 9435 1800-1900 English 500 150 Wertachtal D Jan 3 9450 1200-1300 Lao 200 155 Novosibirsk RUS 9455 1000-1100 Vietnamese100 267 Tainan TWN 9455 1300-1400 Vietnamese100 267 Tainan TWN 9460 0900-1100 English 250 110 Irkutsk RUS 9460 1100-1200 Korean 250 110 Irkutsk RUS 9465 0900-1000 English 100 180 Paochung TWN 9465 1000-1100 English 100 180 Paochung TWN 9465 1800-1900 Arabic 500 183 Nauen D 9465 1900-2000 Arabic 500 183 Nauen D 9465 2000-2100 Arabic 500 150 Wertachtal D 9480 1900-2200 English 500 180 Wertachtal D 9485 1600-1700 Urdu 500 75 Wertachtal D Jan 15 9485 1200-1300 Indonesian500 180 Irkutsk RUS 9485 1300-1400 Indonesian500 180 Irkutsk RUS 9485 1400-1500 English 500 180 Irkutsk RUS 9495 0500-0700 Spanish 100 222 Okeechobee USA 9495 0700-0800 English 100 222 Okeechobee USA 9495 0800-0945 Spanish 100 222 Okeechobee USA 9500 1900-2000 Arabic 500 150 Wertachtal D 9505 0000-0445 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 9515 2000-2100 French 100 195 Wertachtal D 9525 0100-0200 Spanish 50 285 Okeechobee USA 9525 0200-0300 English 50 285 Okeechobee USA 9525 0300-0345 Spanish 50 285 Okeechobee USA 9530 1700-1800 Arabic 500 105 Rampisham G 9545 0900-1000 Chinese TWN Nov - 9545 1000-1100 Chinese TWN Nov - 9555 0800-1345 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 9575 0900-1100 Portuguese100 160 Okeechobee USA 9575 1100-1145 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 9585 1400-1500 Vietnamese100 225 Paochung TWN 9585 1500-1600 Tamil 500 95 Nauen D Nov 15- 9590 1600-1700 Swahili 250 320 Talata-Volondry MDG 9595 2000-2100 French 500 165 Wertachtal D 9605 0800-1045 Portuguese100 142 Okeechobee USA 9605 1100-1245 Spanish 100 222 Okeechobee USA 9650 1600-1700 Persian 500 105 Wertachtal D 9660 1800-1900 Arabic 300 140 Skelton G 9660 1900-2000 Swahili 250 19 Meyerton AFS 9665 1500-1600 Punjabi 500 75 Wertachtal D 9680 0300-0400 Spanish 100 315 Okeechobee USA 9680 0400-0500 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 9680 0500-0600 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 9680 0600-0700 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 9680 0700-0745 Spanish 100 315 Okeechobee USA 9680 0800-1000 Portuguese100 140 Okeechobee USA 9680 1000-1045 French 100 140 Okeechobee USA 9685 1900-2000 Hausa 250 260 Dhabbaya UAE 9690 2200-2300 Portuguese100 142 Okeechobee USA 9690 0000-0045 Portuguese100 142 Okeechobee USA 9695 1900-2000 French 500 210 Wertachtal D 9705 1700-1800 Urdu 500 75 Wertachtal D Jan 15 9715 0000-0045 English 50 285 Okeechobee USA 9715 0400-0700 Spanish 50 285 Okeechobee USA 9715 0700-0800 English 50 285 Okeechobee USA 9715 0800-1245 Spanish 50 285 Okeechobee USA 9760 1600-1700 Arabic 250 120 Wertachtal D 9770 1800-1900 Amharic 500 135 Wertachtal D 9770 1900-2000 French 500 180 Wertachtal D 9785 1800-1900 English 300 110 Skelton G 9800 1500-1600 Gujarati 500 95 Nauen D 9845 1800-1900 English 250 150 Wertachtal D 9850 1700-1800 Swahili 250 120 Wertachtal D 9855 1400-1500 Marathi 250 105 Dhabbaya UAE 9885 1900-2000 English 250 210 Dhabbaya UAE 9895 1800-1900 English 250 230 Dhabbaya UAE 9925 1700-1900 Turkish 100 115 Juelich D 9955 1500-1700 Russian 250 352 Tainan TWN 9985 0100-0300 Spanish 100 151 Okeechobee USA 9985 0300-0400 English 100 151 Okeechobee USA 9985 0400-0445 Spanish 100 151 Okeechobee USA 9985 0500-0600 Arabic 100 87 Okeechobee USA 9985 0600-0700 French 100 87 Okeechobee USA 9985 0700-0845 English 100 87 Okeechobee USA 11510 1100-1200 Filipino 200 132 Almaty-Nikolayevka KAZ 11520 1100-1200 Filipino 100 180 Paochung TWN 11520 1200-1300 Indonesian100 180 Paochung TWN 11520 1300-1400 English 100 180 Paochung TWN 11520 1400-1500 Indonesian100 180 Paochung TWN 11530 0500-0600 French 100 44 Okeechobee USA 11530 0600-0700 English 100 44 Okeechobee USA 11530 0700-0745 Italian 100 44 Okeechobee USA 11530 1200-1300 English 100 160 Okeechobee USA 11530 1300-1345 Portuguese100 160 Okeechobee USA 11550 1100-1200 Indonesian300 205 Taipei TWN 11560 1200-1300 Burmese 100 265 Hu Wei TWN 11560 1300-1400 English 100 285 Hu Wei TWN 11560 1400-1500 English 100 285 Hu Wei TWN 11560 1500-1600 Hindi 100 285 Hu Wei TWN 11565 1400-1645 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 11565 2000-2100 German 100 44 Okeechobee USA 11565 2100-2145 Polish 100 44 Okeechobee USA 11580 0400-0500 Portuguese100 87 Okeechobee USA 11580 0500-0600 French 100 87 Okeechobee USA 11580 0600-0700 English 100 87 Okeechobee USA 11580 0700-0800 Arabic 100 87 Okeechobee USA 11580 0800-0845 French 100 87 Okeechobee USA 11580 2200-2245 Spanish 100 142 Okeechobee USA 11630 0000-0100 Vietnamese100 225 Paochung TWN 11665 1800-1900 Arabic 500 165 Wertachtal D 11665 2000-2100 Polish 100 44 Okeechobee USA 11665 2100-2145 Arabic 100 44 Okeechobee USA 11665 2200-2245 Spanish 100 151 Okeechobee USA 11685 1700-1800 Arabic 100 180 Wertachtal D 11700 2100-2245 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 11720 0100-0145 Portuguese100 142 Okeechobee USA 11720 0000-0100 English 100 142 Okeechobee USA 11720 2300-2400 Portuguese100 142 Okeechobee USA 11725 1100-1200 English 100 222 Okeechobee USA 11725 1200-1545 Spanish 100 222 Okeechobee USA 11740 0800-1000 Spanish 100 151 Okeechobee USA 11740 1000-1100 French 100 151 Okeechobee USA 11740 1100-1300 Spanish 100 151 Okeechobee USA 11740 1300-1400 French 100 151 Okeechobee USA 11740 1400-1545 Spanish 100 151 Okeechobee USA 11740 1600-1700 English 250 90 Dhabbaya UAE 11740 2200-2345 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 11825 0100-0200 Portuguese100 160 Okeechobee USA 11830 1100-1200 English 100 140 Okeechobee USA 11830 1200-1245 Portuguese100 140 Okeechobee USA 11830 1300-1400 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 11830 1400-1500 Spanish 100 315 Okeechobee USA 11830 1500-1600 Chinese 100 315 Okeechobee USA 11830 1600-1645 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 11830 1500-1600 Kannada 500 90 Wertachtal D 11830 1600-1700 Urdu 500 90 Wertachtal D Jan 1- 11830 1700-1800 Urdu 500 90 Wertachtal D Jan 1- 11845 1600-1700 English 500 135 Wertachtal D Jan 1- 11855 0200-0300 English 100 222 Okeechobee USA 11855 0300-0400 Spanish 100 222 Okeechobee USA 11855 1300-1600 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 11855 1600-1645 French 100 355 Okeechobee USA 11855 2000-0200 Spanish 100 222 Okeechobee USA 11865 0000-0100 Indonesian100 180 Paochung TWN 11885 0000-0100 Portuguese100 140 Okeechobee USA 11885 0100-0145 Spanish 100 140 Okeechobee USA 11895 0800-0900 Korean 100 2 Taipei TWN 11955 1600-1700 Punjabi 500 90 Wertachtal D 11955 1700-1800 Punjabi 500 90 Wertachtal D 11970 1200-1345 English 100 285 Okeechobee USA 12010 1230-1330 Bengali 250 85 Dhabbaya UAE 12015 1500-1600 English 250 90 Dhabbaya UAE 12150 1100-1200 Chinese 500 94 Almaty-Nikolayevka KAZ 12150 1200-1300 Chinese 500 94 Almaty-Nikolayevka KAZ 13600 1400-1500 Uzbek 250 75 Wertachtal D 13615 0200-0300 Spanish 100 222 Okeechobee USA 13615 0300-0400 English 100 222 Okeechobee USA 13615 1200-1545 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 13615 2304-0045 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 13655 1500-1600 Tamil 500 95 Wertachtal D 13660 1600-1800 Amharic 500 155 Nauen D 13660 1800-1900 Hausa 500 155 Nauen D 13695 1200-1300 French 100 355 Okeechobee USA 13695 1300-1400 Chinese 100 355 Okeechobee USA 13695 1400-1500 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 13695 1500-1600 Spanish 100 355 Okeechobee USA 13695 1600-2000 English 100 355 Okeechobee USA 13695 2000-2045 Spanish 100 355 Okeechobee USA 13700 1300-1400 English 500 90 Wertachtal D 13700 1400-1500 Hindi 500 90 Wertachtal D 13700 1500-1600 Hindi 500 90 Wertachtal D 13820 1300-1400 Bengali 500 84 Nauen D 13820 1400-1500 Bengali 500 84 Nauen D 13840 1400-1500 Pashto 250 100 Dhabbaya UAE 15115 1700-1800 French 100 87 Okeechobee USA 15115 1800-2200 English 100 87 Okeechobee USA 15115 2200-2245 Arabic 100 87 Okeechobee USA 15130 1300-2000 Spanish 50 285 Okeechobee USA 15130 2000-2345 Spanish 50 285 Okeechobee USA 15195 2000-2100 English 250 65 Ascension ASC 15195 2100-2200 English 250 65 Ascension ASC 15195 0000-0100 Hindi 300 295 Taipei TWN 15195 0100-0200 English 300 295 Taipei TWN 15210 1400-1500 Portuguese100 160 Okeechobee USA 15210 1500-1545 English 100 160 Okeechobee USA 15215 2300-0200 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 15325 1600-1700 English 500 165 Wertachtal D Jan 1- 15355 1300-1345 Spanish 100 222 Okeechobee USA 15355 1400-1500 Spanish 100 142 Okeechobee USA 15355 1500-1545 Portuguese100 142 Okeechobee USA 15400 2300-2400 English 100 151 Okeechobee USA 15400 0000-0045 French 100 151 Okeechobee USA 15440 2200-2400 English 100 285 Okeechobee USA 15440 0000-0200 English 100 285 Okeechobee USA 15520 1400-1500 Hindi 250 90 Dhabbaya UAE 15565 1800-1900 French 100 44 Okeechobee USA 15565 1900-1945 English 100 44 Okeechobee USA 15690 1400-1500 Pashto 500 105 Wertachtal D 15770 1300-1400 Marathi 500 95 Nauen D Jan 1- 15770 1400-1500 Marathi 500 95 Nauen D Jan 1- 15785 1600-1645 Arabic 100 44 Okeechobee USA 17535 1700-1800 Spanish 100 315 Okeechobee USA 17535 1800-2145 English 100 315 Okeechobee USA 17555 1400-1500 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 17555 1500-1545 Spanish 100 160 Okeechobee USA 17555 1700-2145 English 100 285 Okeechobee USA 17575 1700-2000 Portuguese100 140 Okeechobee USA 17575 2000-2100 English 100 140 Okeechobee USA 17575 2100-2200 French 100 140 Okeechobee USA 17575 2200-2245 Portuguese100 140 Okeechobee USA 17660 1830-1930 French 250 85 Ascension ASC 17690 1600-1700 English 100 87 Okeechobee USA 17690 1700-1800 Portuguese100 87 Okeechobee USA 17690 1800-2000 French 100 87 Okeechobee USA 17690 2000-2100 Arabic 100 87 Okeechobee USA 17690 2100-2200 Portuguese100 87 Okeechobee USA 17690 2200-2245 English 100 87 Okeechobee USA 17735 1300-1400 Kannada 250 100 Dhabbaya UAE 17760 1400-1645 English 100 285 Okeechobee USA 17760 1700-1800 German 100 44 Okeechobee USA 17760 1800-1900 Italian 100 44 Okeechobee USA 17760 1900-1945 Arabic 100 44 Okeechobee USA 17810 1300-1400 Telugu 250 100 Dhabbaya UAE 18930 1600-1700 Italian 100 44 Okeechobee USA 18930 1700-1900 Spanish 100 44 Okeechobee USA 18930 1900-1945 Russian 100 44 Okeechobee USA 18980 1600-1800 English 100 44 Okeechobee USA 18980 1800-1945 English 100 44 Okeechobee USA 21455 1600-1800 English 100 44 Okeechobee USA 21455 1800-1900 German 100 44 Okeechobee USA 21455 1900-1945 French 100 44 Okeechobee USA 21680 1700-1800 English 250 85 Ascension ASC 21745 1600-1745 Russian 100 44 Okeechobee USA (Nagoya DXers Circle, Aoki list website, Nov 27 via BC-DX Dec 2 via DXLD) ** U S A. There is a non-holiday change about which I would like to write a few words. It actually began in late November, and concerns the starting time for the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts. When the Met went on the air with live broadcasts Christmas Day, 1931, the usual starting time for matinee performances in the New York theatre was 2:00 p.m. Aside from the occasional early start for long operas (principally the works of Wagner), the Met stayed with that schedule until about 20 years ago, when it moved its usual matinee curtain time to 1:30 p.m. This season, the Met has revised its curtain time again, and the usual Saturday matinee now begins at 1:00 p.m. That is both good and bad for radio network affiliates. The good news is that these live broadcasts will rarely run into the “All Things Considered” timeslot. The bad news concerns those performances that must begin early. Operas that begin at 12:00 p.m. or 12:30 p.m. infringe on one of our most popular programs, “This American Life.” Between now and the end of April, this will happen seven times: four now and three when Wagner’s “Ring” is heard in April. Over the past few years, we have shifted TAL to Saturday evenings at 10:00 p.m., and that is what we will usually do in December. The one exception will be on Dec. 20, when the opera ends so early that we will have time to broadcast TAL at 4:00 p.m. In April, we may experiment with a different day and time. Whenever TAL is scheduled, we will do our best to keep you advised of the time. It is one of the jewels of public radio and a program to which we all look forward each week. There is one other problematic Saturday: Dec. 6. The Met’s performance of Wagner’s masterwork “Tristan und Isolde” will start at the unprecedented time of 11:00 a.m.! I spoke with Ellen Godfrey at the Met, and she explained that it takes more than four hours to break down the set for “Tristan” and set up for Tchaikovsky’s “The Queen of Spades,” which is scheduled for that evening! Judging from the reactions of fellow public radio stations nationwide, the Met will think long and hard about creating such a schedule again next year. But that is the reality of our situation this season. It means we will have to find another time for “Wait! Wait! Don’t Tell Me” that weekend. It will be heard at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 7, just after “Sound and Spirit.” Every year when the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts interfere with our usual schedule, I can count on hearing from one or two listeners who believe that I pre-empt programming just to vex them. Please be aware of three stipulations in our contract with the Met. First, when we contract to air the Metropolitan Opera broadcasts, we agree to air them ALL. Secondly, all Met broadcasts must be carried live; no delayed broadcasts are allowed. And lastly, the Met broadcasts must be aired in their entirety. As a well-run business and a part of the University of Tennessee, WUOT honors the letter and spirit of its contracts. The Metropolitan Opera Saturday broadcasts also attract about 1,500 listeners each weekend who love the music and look forward to showtime. These broadcasts are also among the jewels of public radio. Sometimes there are just too many jewels to go around. So, this holiday season, rejoice in the broadcast riches available to us (Daniel T. Berry, Program Director, WUOT http://wuot.org/h/E-NotesDanDec08.html via DXLD) Later: IMPORTANT INFO REGARDING PROGRAMMING TIME CHANGE: Over the Thanksgiving holiday, WUOT was notified by the Metropolitan Opera that stations would be allowed to start the broadcast of the Dec. 6 opera, “Tristan und Isolde,” at noon EST on a one-hour tape delay. Starting the opera at noon means that “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me” will air at its REGULAR TIME on Saturday rather than having to be delayed as we announced in the December issue of “E-notes.” However, “This American Life” will still be delayed until 10:00 p.m. Saturday. We regret any confusion these changes may have caused. Public stations have been discussing the difficulties of early start-times with the Met for years. We were not notified about this “one-time delay” in a timely fashion and are just now able to let you know about the Dec. 6 broadcast schedule. We appreciate your continuing patience (WUOT mailing list Dec 1 via DXLD) Also applies to many other stns? (gh) ** U S A. And now an interesting old item of news as our final item in this edition of American DX Report; and we take you to Chicago, Illinois, on the edge of the Great Lakes. Back three quarters of a century ago, the mediumwave station WLS in Chicago reported that they received a total of 1,051,041 letters from listeners in the year 1934 (Adrian Peterson, AWR Wavescan via DXLD) ** U S A. IBOC on WGN-AM?? We did not drop it. We just have it turned off for now while we are evaluating some processing changes that we made. I do not know how long we will have it off but it will probably be turned back on some time in the future (James J. Carollo, Director of Engineering, WGN Radio, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago, IL 60611; Office: 312-222-4701 Fax: 312-222-4192 jcarollo @ tribune.com replying to an inquiry Dec 1 from Artie Bigley, OH, WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well of course they're going to turn it back on, they wouldn't want to disappoint all three of their listeners who are waiting by their respective IBOC radios with baited [sic] breath (Bob Young, Analog, MA, IRCA via DXLD) Hey Glenn; Bob raises an interesting point and *I* don't want to start a flame war with Mr. Carollo but could someone ask him how many complaints they have received about IBOC being off? PS: Speaking of IBOC, does anyone know if WBAA-IN 920 is running IBOC? I *think* that I heard IBOC on 910 and 930 over the weekend, from Indianapolis. Curtis? 73, (Dave in Indy Hascall, WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Regarding those folks you mentioned who are suffering from IBOC splatter, KSL is really doing a number to my reception here in Alberta of stations on 1150 and 1170 kHz. There are a few other stations who cause interference but KSL is the strongest and most disruptive. 73, (Bruce Atchison, WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 8-124, Bill Drake Dies at 71 --- Some correction is needed here: K-Earth-101 predates K100 by nearly two years; sometime in mid-1971, KHJ-FM/101.1 became KRTH, taking the "K-Earth" slogan we hear to this day. K-Earth was originally intended to be a "Progressive Rock" FM outlet, competing with KLOS (which had just itself switched from KABC-FM)and KMET. K100 came along in Spring 1973; the actual call letters were KIQQ, formerly the all-Mono KFOX- FM. There was and is absolutely NO relation between the two stations, except for being 800 kHz apart from each other on the FM Dial.(This has also been sent, verbatim, to the OC Register's online comment section.) (GREG HARDISON, flailing about in L.A., DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. DISNEY ACCUSED BY CATHOLIC CLERIC OF CORRUPTING CHILDREN'S MINDS --- A leading Catholic cleric has launched a fierce attack on Disney, claiming it has corrupted children and encouraged greed. By Jonathan Wynne-Jones, Religious Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 9:21PM GMT 29 Nov 2008 Christopher Jamison believes films such as Sleeping Beauty and 101 Dalmatians encourage consumerism among young children Photo: DISNEY Christopher Jamison, the Abbot of Worth in West Sussex, has accused the corporation of "exploiting spirituality" to sell its products and of turning Disneyland into a modern day pilgrimage site. He argues that it pretends to provide stories with a moral message, but has actually helped to create a more materialistic culture. . . http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/3534960/Disney-accused-by-Catholic-cleric-of-corrupting-childrens-minds.html (via Greg Hardison, DXLD) Glenn: -- At last, an organized religionist who's making some modicum of sense (GREG HARDISON, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1640, WKSH (Disney, Wisconsin) has had an open carrier (+IBOC) for the past few hours. Could help folks in the east hear something from the west; unfortunately, conditions seem a bit shaky at the moment, though I have heard a bit of Spanish at times (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, 0054 UT Dec 1, IRCA via DXLD) All Disney stations recently changed satellite receiver types. The newer XDS satellite receiver has been known to drop off on occasion. Something to watch if a Disney outlet is a local pest. Too bad IBOC doesn't come in by satellite (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) Just before 9 pm Eastern, I got: "You're listening to Rockland County's ..??..station 1640 AM. Keeping Rockland County informed". I thought it might be a TIS of some sort, but I didn't do very well with the "friendly" FCC site. I found a link purporting to be for TIS stations but there was no way to get a list. I tried a direct query for New York (the only Rockland county I could find), but no joy. Anybody have an idea on this? (Chris Black, Cape Cod, UT Dec 1, ABDX via DXLD) New Jersey if I recall correctly. 73 (Tim Hall, CA, ibid.) Still puzzled. FCC shows nothing in New Jersey or New York on 1640. (Chris Black, N1CP, ibid.) Check it out, Chris. Looks to be just like the story sent to the list about the one going on the air in Skokie, IL. I'm pretty sure this is what you were hearing: http://www.co.rockland.ny.us/ Right there on the left hand side of the page (Michael n Wyo Richard, ibid.) Yes, indeed! I logged this one way back in 2000. There are actually 8 transmitter sites for this one in Rockland County NY (Hudson Valley, north of NYC). For some reason, the callsign is WQBN316 for six of them, and WQBN317 for the other two, so take your pick. :-) You *can* look them up on the FCC site, but the TIS search page is quite awkward to use. I set the frequency to 1640 and then used the "Point Radius" search with a radius of 300 km. To make sure it captured the right area, I set the Lat/Lon to the transmitter site coordinates of WRCR-1300, which is in Rockland County. It turns out there are several other 1640 TIS stations in eastern NY, in addition to the Rockland ones. And now you have the rest of the story (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) Thanks, Michael and Barry! I knew the "Big Guns" would ride to the rescue (Chris Black, Cape Cod, ibid.) I see they bill the station as a "Resident Information Station." Seems to be lots of these local government owned micro-stations going up under TIS licensing but for purposes other that TISing. Our local TIS has information about how to apply for a county job and how to avoid getting the flu in winter, and other such non TIS stuff. (Mesa Mike, N6KUY, WDX6O, Westfall, LA de NM (DM65uv) http://mesamike.org ibid.) Are all of these that are popping up following the TIS "specs"? I think I recall that they're limited to certain power, they are limited to like 3 kHz - which is why they always sound like they are phone- fed. And honestly I think most of them ARE phone-fed. Just call in to them and punch a few keys to update the information in them. Anyways, I don't know for sure. We have one at 1610 here operated by the Wyoming Dept of Transportation. It's a HAR and functions as so, although WYDOT could certainly make a lot better use of it than they do. I've seen days the last 2 winters where Interstate 80 was closed and the HAR mentioned nothing about it. On a related note, I was also told recently by one of the county commissioners in Rich County, UT (a small sparsely populated county just north of here) that they were going to be getting one and it sounded a lot like the ones we've been discussing that are run by the county for information purposes. I told him it was actually a good thing. There are a couple of radio stations licensed to the 2 communities of Randolph and Woodruff, however they do nothing for those communities because they are nothing more than Salt Lake market rimshots (even though they are 70 or so air miles away from Salt Lake) so those little communities could certainly use some sort of service to get emergency info and stuff like that (Michael n Wyo Richard, Evanston, ibid.) We have quite a few HAR/TIS stations here in Southern California. There seem to be a few different types. 1. HAR run by CALTRANS, the highway department, with road construction information. They have signs along the freeways to tune in when lights are flashing so they do update for traffic conditions. 2. TIS run by parks 3. Emergency Information stations run by cities and even UCLA giving various information 4. Parking information, like LAX airport and Cal State Long Beach. It's a mixed bag but I do think that they provide a valuable service. I just wish I could hear more of them (Martin Foltz, ibid.) This is a double CME, X-Band and tube radio over 20 years old (I've owned it for almost 30 years). 1620, WPMW407, San Juan Capistrano, CA, CALTRANS HAR with loop by woman about the construction on Ortega Hwy (74), ID during each loop. 12/1 11:53 AM PST. 1630, XEUT, Tijuana, BC, Mexico, Classical music pgm, ID at ToH, into news in Spanish. 12/1 11:56 AM PST 1640, WPKA209, Irvine, CA, City of Irvine Emergency Broadcast Radio System with loop covering local information by a man, ID during each loop. 12/1 11:55 AM PST. (These guys are Hams and sent a QSL card in 2005!) 1650, (KFOX), Torrance, CA, Korean talk, sounded like news. No ID heard. 12/1 12:01 PM PST 1670, (KHPY), Moreno Valley, CA, Spanish with mentions of the El Sembrador website and Radio Católica IDs. Into music pgm. 12/1/ 12:02 PM PST 1700, (XEPE), Tecate, BC, Mexico, English ads, "San Diego's 1700" slogan, into business talk pgm. 12/1 12:05 PM PST Parenthesis means I didn't hear the call letters (Martin Foltz, CA, Hammarlund HQ-180A, ibid.) ** VATICAN [non]. POLAND. While scanning the LW band on Sunday 9 November tuned into Polish R1 on 225 kHz and at 1651 noted the Vatican Radio interval signal and ID in Polish. Checked next day but no VR. Perhaps Vatican Radio is carried Sundays only via PR1? (Edwin Southwell, England, Dec BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Re 8-124, 4880: Apart from the wrong time, on which you remarked, you could also have pointed out that SWRA does not broadcast in Afrikaans. They don't speak Afrikaans in Zimbabwe :-) (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Spanish - Cuba? on 711 kHz. I have at least two carriers with mushy audio on 711. It could be Rebelde but the audio is not that clear. I have heard Rebelde off-frequency in the past, so this is nothing new. It is creating a loud het on 710. 1018 z 12/2. Anyone else hear this? I am recording with my SDR right now and will look at it this afternoon when I get home from work. I have to go to work now, and I will have my wife shut off the recording after the top of the hour. BTW, Rebelde is on 710 also (Bill Harms, Elkridge MD, The NRC AM mailing list, via mwdx yg via DXLD) On 711 kHz heard strong het this morning at 1145 UT tune in to an abrupt shutoff at 1204 UT? Too much IBOC trash from ?WLW at this time for any audio (Tom Jasinski, Shorewood, IL, IRCA via DXLD) 1230Z - Looked at 710. Heard at least two Rebeldes, one slightly behind other but no het. z DX-398 barefoot, Benmar 555-A RDF, 51J-4 & 150' E-W axis wire (pv zecchino manarevolucion key, fl, IRCA via DXLD) May have just temporarily knocked one of their transmitters one kHz off to bother `wacky` WAQI more. Or could it be HLKA or one of the other superpower Asians? Bill has been looking for such on the east coast; but HLKA would not be going off at 1204 (gh, DXLD) Bill, What a monster and distracting het that was. I had it and it was STRONG. Sure wish I knew who it was (Kevin Redding, Crump TN, ABDX via DXLD) Hi Bill, It appears to be Rebelde off frequency as I get definite SS and // on 610 and 5025 (Chris Black, N1CP, Cape Cod MA, ABDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6074, 8GAL V/CQ marker was quite audible Dec 2, starting a few sex before the R. Rossii timesignal at 1400 and mixing with it briefly (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 17740, open carrier, Dec 2 at 1445 and still going past 1500. Nothing scheduled here anywhere near this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ BDXC WEB SITE / BROADCASTS IN ENGLISH The various frequency guides which are maintained by Tony Rogers on the British DX Club web site have all been updated for the B08 schedule period: *Africa on Shortwave *Middle & Near East on Shortwave *South Asia on the Tropical Bands *UK on Shortwave http://www.bdxc.org.uk - see Articles Index The B08 (Winter) edition of Broadcasts in English is also now available from the club. As usual this 32-page booklet lists all known external broadcasts in English on shortwave in a handy hour-by-hour order. New in this edition is a guide to external services in English available on the internet. See http://www.bdxc.org.uk - Home Page for ordering details (Dave Kenny, BDXC-UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) "MAKING WAVES: RADIO ON THE VERGE" by Mark Ramsey Arguing that radio is on the "cusp of a new renaissance," industry expert Mark Ramsey has released a new book called Making Waves: Radio on the Verge, featuring a foreward by Greater Media Chairman Peter Smyth. Ramsey calls his book "an action plan for the future." The book is based on original material from Ramsey and interviews with Seth Godin, Douglas Rushkoff, Joe Jaffe, and more. More at http://thebook.hear2.com/ (via Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) Appears to be American, not British angle. Nice cover (gh, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ INVITATION TO EDXC CONFERENCE 2009, DUBLIN, IRELAND Dear DX-Friends, Shortwave Listeners all over the World ! The EDXC (European DX Council, the umbrella organisation of shortwave clubs, DX-clubs in Europe) cordially invites you all to the next EDXC Conference, August 28--30, 2009, in Dublin / Ireland. We kindly ask you to make your hotel reservations already NOW ! Venue of the Conference : Grand Canal Hotel, Grand Canal Street, Ballsbridge, Dublin 4, Ireland. Phone : + 353 1 646 1000. Fax: + 353 1 646 1001. E-Mail: reservations@grandcanalhotel.com Home-page: http://www.grandcanalhotel.com Please observe: This is a 3 / three / star hotel. Prices: Single-room EUR 115,-- / room and night, Double-room EUR 115,--/room and night. If sharing the Double-room you only pay EUR 57,50 per person. This hotel accepts the following credit cards: VISA, MASTER CARD, AMERICAN EXPRESS and DINERS CARD. PLEASE MAKE YOUR OWN RESERVATION NOW! First you write: The special password for this reservation: EDXC CONFERENCE 2009. Then you write your family name, your christian name, your arrival date at the hotel, your departure date from the hotel. The hotel needs your credit card number at the time of reservation to be able to confirm your room. The Irish DX Club, Edward Dunne and the EDXC, Tibor Szilagyi are working on the programme of the Conference. What we know now: There will be interesting lectures about our hobby, sightseeing tour in Dublin by bus with English speaking guide and a visit at the Ye Olde Hurdy-Gurdy Museum of Vintage Radio in Howth, Dublin North. The traditional Banquet Dinner will take place at our Conference Hotel on Saturday evening, August 29. Please do allow me to come back to you with more detailed information about the programme, as soon as w know more about it. THE CONFERENCE FEE YOU WILL PAY DIRECTLY TO ME UPON ARRIVAL. The Conference Fee: EUR 115,-- per person includes: Use of the Conference Room, relevant papers like Conference Covers, Name-Tags, Lunch on Saturday, Sightseeing Tour in Dublin, visit at the Museum of Vintage Radio. Furthermore the Conference Fee includes the Banquet Dinner. What you consume as drinks during the Banquet Dinner, you will pay extra to the hotel staff. For further information you may contact: Tibor Szilagyi, Sweden. Phone: +46 8 500 264 83. E -- Mail: tiszi2035 @ yahoo.com and Edward Dunne, Ireland: E--Mail : edunne @ iol.ie edxc2009 @ live.ie Written in Sweden on Sunday, November 30, 2008 at 04:55 UT (via bclnews.it yg via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: GERMANY; SOLOMON ISLANDS ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC: USA: WGN, KSL RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ GRAPHIC SIGNS ON WATERFALL SPECTRUM VIEW Visiting the SDR online short-wave receiver located at the amateur radio club ETGD at the University of Twente on http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8901/ I have seen at 0140, today Dec 1, that centered on 3590 (the 80 meter portion of the receiver, somebody has been transmitting signals that appear as drawings in the waterfall view of the spectrum being shown - -- Mona Lisa, a butterfly, etc., and a complete phrase ("www.radioscanner.ru"), "travelling" upwards. They look like phantoms :) How is this done? Haven't seen this before! I have posted a screen capture of the received drawing at: http://i33.tinypic.com/10ylz89.jpg (Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Dec 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ SOLAR STORMS CONCERN December 01, 2008 --- Part of an article from AccuWeather: The increase in solar activity related to the new solar cycle has brought about concerns regarding levels of intensity. Solar activity can be anything from sunspots to flares to the solar wind streams that buffet Earth regularly, resulting in auroras. We have been keeping track of this activity for over 400 years, so we know that strong solar activity "storms" are of biggest concern because we know they can seriously affect or damage communication equipment here on Earth. One of the first events in which such damage occurred was in 1859 when people all over the North American continent saw auroras and thought their respective cities were on fire. The instruments that were being used to record the event "went off their scales", and telegraph systems malfunctioned as a large surge in voltage occurred. Back then we of course didn't have the evolved technology that we have today; if such an event would occur now, the results would be catastrophic. Such an event only occurs about once in 500 years; however, events half that size occur every 50 years or so, with the last taking place in 1960. This event seriously affected the operation of radio stations. The American continent is close to the northern magnetic pole, and are therefore trying to push for improved spaceweather forecasts and power grid rescue plans. Even small-scale activity can have a damaging effect on satellites; each year, it costs 100 million dollars to fix the damage caused by solar activity. GPS systems, particularly space-based versions, are also vulnerable. http://www.accuweather.com/mt-news-blogs.asp?partner=accuweather&blog=Astronomy&pgurl=/mtweb/content/Astronomy/archives/2008/12/endeavour_returns_solar_storm_concerns_1.asp (via MIke Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) But DX should be VERY interesting LONG HAUL TRANS-EQUATORIAL FM DX, CARIBBEAN TO SOUTHERN BRASIL 97.3, SAINT LUCIA Radio Saint Lucia, Castries, EE, 0204, 27/11, YL, nxs 32332 96.7, SAINT VINCENT & GRENADINES Nice FM, Kingstown, EE, 0003, 28/11, OM, mx caribenha 43343 97.0, GUADALOUPE RFO, Basse-Terre, FF, 0005, 28/11, OM/YL, talks 33343 98.1, BARBADOS Liberty FM, Bridgetown, EE, 0008, 28/11, YL, nxs 32342 107.9, Unid (Prov. Kairi FM - DMA [DOMINICA]), mx de Ano Novo em EE (aquela que diz: Adeus Ano Velho, feliz Ano Novo, que tudo se realize- ------) 43343 97.0, GUADALOUPE, RFO, Basse-Terre, FF, 2343, 29/11, YL, nxs 34333 (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso; Bandeirantes - Paraná - Brasil, Receptor: Degen DE1103. Antena: LW do Degen DE1103 com aproximadamente 10,62 metros, dxclube PR yg via DXLD) Pessoal, Ontem mais uma vez pude ouvir com excelente sinal a CBC Barbados em 94.7, Como sempre a polarização da antena foi determinante para encontrar o melhor sinal, coisa que acontece com a antena na horizontal. 94.7, 01/12 2320 CBC, Barbados, YL w/ Id EE "...CBC, nine four seven FM..." 35333 Rx Icom IC R 7000, antena plano terra para VHF aeronáutico (caseira) (Marcio Martins Pontes, Registro - SP, Membro DXCB, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity was at mostly quiet levels on 24 November. On 25 and 26 November, activity increased to quiet to active levels, with isolated minor storm periods at high latitudes observed on the 25th. This period of activity was due to a recurrent coronal hole that rotated into a geoeffective position. By early on 27 November, activity decayed to quiet levels and remained so through the balance of the summary period. The period began with ACE solar wind velocities at about 270 km/s. These velocities persisted through late on 24 November when wind speed jumped abruptly to about 600 km/s by midday on the 25th. During this timeframe, the Bz component of the IMF varied from a high of +18 nT (25/0543Z) to a low of -15 nT (25/0406Z) with a Bt max of 24 nT (25/0342Z), all associated with the onset of the coronal high speed stream. Wind speeds reached a maximum of 658 km/s by late on 26 November and gradually decayed to, and ended the period at about 360 km/s. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 03 - 29 DECEMBER 2008 Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to reach high levels during 03 December and 06 - 12 December. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at mostly quiet levels on 03 December. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled to active levels during 04 - 06 December due to a recurrent CH HSS. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels during 07 - 21 December. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled levels on 22 - 24 December due to another recurrent CH HSS. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels during 25 - 29 December. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2008 Dec 02 2352 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2008 Dec 02 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2008 Dec 03 70 5 2 2008 Dec 04 70 8 3 2008 Dec 05 70 15 4 2008 Dec 06 70 10 3 2008 Dec 07 70 5 2 2008 Dec 08 70 5 2 2008 Dec 09 70 5 2 2008 Dec 10 69 5 2 2008 Dec 11 69 5 2 2008 Dec 12 68 5 2 2008 Dec 13 68 5 2 2008 Dec 14 68 5 2 2008 Dec 15 68 5 2 2008 Dec 16 68 5 2 2008 Dec 17 68 5 2 2008 Dec 18 68 5 2 2008 Dec 19 68 5 2 2008 Dec 20 68 5 2 2008 Dec 21 68 5 2 2008 Dec 22 68 10 3 2008 Dec 23 68 8 3 2008 Dec 24 68 8 3 2008 Dec 25 68 5 2 2008 Dec 26 69 5 2 2008 Dec 27 69 5 2 2008 Dec 28 69 5 2 2008 Dec 29 70 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1437, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###