DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-013, February 9, 2009 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2008 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1446 Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 Tue 1630 WRMI 9955 Wed 0600 WRMI 9955 [or new 1447] Wed 1630 WRMI 9955 [or new 1447] WBCQ is also airing new or archive editions of WOR M-F 2000 on 7415 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 or http://schedule.worldofradio.org or http://sked.worldofradio.org 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://podcast.worldofradio.org or http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AFRICA. Sahel region & beyond. This past Sat. 7 Feb & Sun. 8 Feb, I tried the following during *daytime*, typically mid morning until about 02 PM [1400 UT], but no luck: 6165 TCD 7210 CAF 7120 TCD 7230 BFA 7275 NIG And in the late afternoon/evening, these were missing too: 4905 TCD (logged on Sat 7 Feb) 5005 GNE 5025 BEN 5030 BFA The active & strong ones during daytime were MTN 7245 & MLI 7284.6 (+9635 also good). (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGUILLA [and non]. 1610, The Caribbean Beacon, The Valley; 0044- 0047 February 5, 2009. The Mrs. Scott with preachtalk. Fair-to-poor under the Tampa International Airport TIS (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1610 not making it lately here around 0700 (gh, OK, DXLD) See CUBA [non] for disclaimer ** AUSTRALIA. Re 9-012: >> Three minute video with indoor shots, ends with announcement of imminent closedown (Mike Barraclough, England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Audio track is entirely recorded off- air from VNG (gh) << Note the transmitter actually cutting off at the end. Btw, during the nineties I see still a Llandilo, New South Wales VNG service listed? Moved to another site, although the announcements in this video clip certainly suggest that game will be over when Lyndhurst transmitters close? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, IIRC Llandilo did extend it but only for a while (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. CVC International in Chinese from March 1: 1200-1600 on 13685 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg to China, ex 1200-1800 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Feb 9 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. You can find compelling coverage of the bush fires on 3AW. They are streaming on their website. Just Google them. 3AW is a news talk station in Melbourne Vic Australia. Also excellent coverage on ABC 774 the local ABC station in Melbourne. Google ABC 774 (Alan Furst, Round Rock TX, Feb 8, ABDX via DXLD) a.k.a. 3LO ** BRAZIL. Re 1180 no longer a clear-channel: Glenn, It appears that the only MF "singleton" in Brasil is R. Nove de Julho in São Paulo, on 1600 kHz. I don't know why, but until the Archdiocese was licensed on 1600 (I was told as a replacement for a frequency that was "unlicensed" by the government in former, less pleasant, times) there were no Brazilian stations on this frequency. R. 9 de J. operates with 100 kW day, 20 kW night with a soft DA whose maximum is more or less northerly in orientation. Although the antenna site is quite urbanized, not the best situation for good low-angle skywave propagation, it is an efficient antenna design with tall towers. I know that the large number of signals on the higher frequencies in the MF band make DXing difficult, but I would expect to see the occasional European report about R. Nove. (We didn't design the antenna, but since it has quite high voltages on the driven tower, we did design and commission the feed system.) [Later:] I forgot about the Brasília 980 kHz - it's a singleton too (Ben Dawson, WA, Hatfield- Dawson, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL. 10000 kcs. Escuchada Estación Horaria "Observatório Nacional", indicando la hora en Brasil cada 10 segundos, Voz de una mujer identifica la estación, señal muy distorcionada, cada ciertos instantes se escuchan los Bips horarios, SINPO: 32322 (Hector Frias, Chile, Feb 9, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Tiene impresa una fuerte alterna en la portadora (Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) HORACIO; Que bueno que ratificas el problema de portadora que presenta la estación horaria, es realmente una gran interferencia. Att, (Hector Frias, ibid.) Amigos Horácio e Hector, Este problema já é antigo, desde que entrou no ar, conforme verificação geral. Um abraço, (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Barbacena-MG, ibid.) GRACIAS POR EL DATO APREZIADO ADALBERTO. Y CONFIRMA CON CARTAO QSL. DESPUES DE TODO NO SON MUCHAS LAS ESTACIONES HORARIAS SUDAMERICANAS. ATENCIOSAMENTE, (Hector Frias, ibid.) Além de estar na frequência errada, sofre de uma forte modulação parasita em FM, com mais de 900 Hz de desvio, com sinal modulante de 60 Hz !!! Uma verdadeira LASTIMA de transmissão, que interfere em WWV, BPM, etc. Eu já reportei o problema ao ON, mas ele continua, para o mundo TODO ouvir essa horrivel transmissão! O espectro está aqui, e qualquer um pode conferir: http://www.qslnet.de/member/py4zbz/on9999_fm60.GIF 73 de (Roland M. Zurmely, Brasil, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 9564.95, Súper Rádio Deus é Amor, 0125-0140, Feb 8, Portuguese preacher. Short music breaks. Poor. // 11764.96 - poor to fair. // 6060 - weak under Cuba (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Auf der Frequenz 11765 kHz ist "Super Radio Deus de Amor" fast taeglich abends zu hoeren mit religioesen Predigen, was scheinbar von der pentikostalen Kirche kommen. Die Lautstaerke ist ungewoehnlich stark in Vergleich mit anderen brasilianischen Sendern. Es kommen um die volle Stunde auch Stationsansagen bei der nebst Mittelwelle, auch die Kurzwellenfrequenzen 9565, 11765 und 6060 kHz in dieser Reihenfolge angesagt werden. Zwischen 20 und 21 Uhr habe ich dieses Programm auch \\ auf 11804.8 kHz [Globo Rio] gehoert, hier aber viel schwaecher. Um 21 Uhr kommt dann hier wie auch auf 11765 kHz das Programm "A Voz de Brazil" (Erich Bergmann, Germany, Feb 8, wwdxc BC- DX TopNews Feb 10 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11765, Super R. Deus é Amor, Curitiba PR, 1936-2009, 06 Feb, pathetic preacher before a live audience, announcements; 44444, adj. QRM until 2000. 11765 ditto, 1210-1330, 07 Feb, cf. \\ R. Globo 11804.7; 24442. 11804.7, R. Globo, Rio de Janº RJ, 1207-1245, 07 Feb, IPDA shouting preacher, Castilian version included; 15442 but deteriorating. 11815, R. Brasil Central, Goiânia GO, 1931-2015, 06 Feb, "Brasil Central - notícias", full ID at 2000, football news program; 45444 but slightly noisy audio. ditto, 1324-1530, 07 Feb, football news, music, carnaval songs at 1525; 34443. 11829.9, R. CBN Anhangüera, Goiânia GO, 1932-, 06 Feb, "Jornal da CBN" - 2ª edição"; 44444, then gone at recheck at 2000 when the channel was empty, no other station. [if you hear Portuguese on 11830 around 0600- 0700, however, it`s France via South Africa --- gh] 11855, R. Aparecida, Aparecida SP, 1933-2017, 06 Feb, news, rosary at 2000, songs; 35443. ditto, 1215-1325, 07 Feb, songs, talks; 14431, increasing QRM. 11895, R. Legião da Boa Vontade, Ptº Alegre RS, 1940-2003, 06 Feb, religious propaganda program, songs; 15432. 11915, R. Gaúcha, Ptº Alegre RS, 1942-2014, 06 Feb, advertisements, news, football news; 34433. 11925.2, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo SP, 2001-2025, 06 Feb, newscast; 44433. ditto, 1217-1313, 07 Feb, songs, warning about the crime that is using a pirate station, music program "Caçadores da Música Perdida", talks, newscast; 24432, adjacent QRM (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) gh arbitrarily skipped many more of CG`s Brasilian logs on lower frequencies; the entire report appeared in the dxldyg ** CANADA. 3330, 3.1 0715, CHU, Ottawa, ON with time signals and a message about moving to 7850, where I found them one hour later. In an email they promised to send me a new QSL card as soon as it has been printed. S 2-3. BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Feb 8 via DXLD) ** CANADA. 6160 CKZN, St. John's NF, 2009-2018, 06 Feb, CBC Radio 1 news, regional news & infos; 33442, adjacent QRM. I decided to give a try on this one and check whether it was parallel to CBG Gander, also Newfoundland, I was observing. 2008-2024, rated 33442, and was right, they were both airing the same program (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. 4905 RD. Nationale Tchadienne, Gredia, 1617-1830, 07 Feb, Vernacular, African pops, Arabic at 1700; 35433 but improved to 55444 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 9000, Firedrake jammer; 0019-0033 February 5, 2009. Very good with the usual music jammer loop. 8400, Firedrake jammer; 0019-0033 February 5, 2009. Clear but weak, same time as 9000 but didn't try to see if in perfect parallel (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, No hay señal de Marfil Estereo. 0300 UT, 8 feb 2009 6010, Sin señal de La Voz de Tu Conciencia, 0300 UT, 8 feb 2009 (Yimber Gaviría, Cali, Colombia, Sony 7600G, Ant. Kaito KA33, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Altho Yimber Gaviría in Colombia had reported no signals from Lleras on 5910 or 6010, Feb 8 at 0300, when I checked Feb 9 at 0607, Marfil Estéreo was on with songs, good signal on 5910; on 6010 a mess of hets and could not be sure LV de tu Conciencia was among them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910, Marfil Estéreo via La Voz de tu Conciencia, Lomalinda, 2333- 2354, 07 Feb, Castilian, ballads & Colombian folk songs; 45433 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. Radio Kahuzi, Bukavu, 6210, 1800 UT. Poor, African talks by male, noisy but fair. RX: Perseus and Kaz antenna, Gr (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, Feb 9, bdx mailing list via DXLD) I hope everyone is taking care not to confuse this with the Greek mixing product. That should be easy to do by being sure it is not in Greek and/or not // 9420 or 15630. As in DXLD 8-113 last October: 11 Oct, 1600 - 6210 kHz, VOICE OF GREECE, 15630 minus 9420 kHz. Segnale insufficiente-sufficiente 9420: 0000-1000 / 1100-2400 15630: 0600-1000 / 1600-1950 Il problema su 6210 dunque ci può essere solo negli orari di attività della frequenza sui 19 metri, più o meno coincidenti con quelli di R. Kahuzi. Con questo, ovviamente, non sto dicendo che il Congo non sia stato ascoltato, però esiste il problema e le due frequenze greche vengono utilizzate anche da ottobre ad aprile (Luca Botto Fiora, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, playdx yg via DXLD) Beware: Greek mixing product might be mistaken for R. Kahuzi; can happen after 0600 and 1600 when 15630 comes on, so check for // with that and/or 9420. This was discussed here previously many months ago (Glenn Hauser, DXLD 8-113, via 9-013) ** CUBA. Re 9-012: Glenn, I am astonished by some of your recent comments about Cuba. Clearly, there are technical problems at RHC but what evidence have you that this is due to staff dissatisfaction? There are technical problems at many stations, including Radio Cairo in pro-Western Egypt but you do not suggest that this is due to political dissidence. Who has given whom a hard time over the past century, the US or Cuba? When was the last time that Cuba invaded the US? When has a Cuban leader spoken of the USA as being in its 'own backyard'? Where is the Cuban Monroe Doctrine? Which country imposes a blockade on its neighbour? In view of Cuba's history, I am inclined to think that the people at RHC mean what they say when they announce that Cuba is a 'free territory in the Americas' (Roger Tidy, UK, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Roger, I value your Old Left perspectives and am glad to publish them relating to broadcasting. But I am surprised you are astonished, as this is nothing new. I did not claim to have any evidence, but expressed this as a `theory`. I would be delighted to have any rebuttal or confirmation from inside RHC, but am not holding my breath. Yet, I will continue to try to provoke them. The multiple sins of the USA against Cuba and many other countries are indisputable, but this does not give today`s Cuba any moral high ground, since they have plenty of transgressions of their own, which I should not have to enumerate. I am sad to see you apparently endorsing RHC`s accusations of `genocide` by the US, which are clearly unjustified. As for Cairo, while it is very difficult to tell what they are saying, I don`t think they are anywhere near as knee-jerk pro-American as RHC is anti-American (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. RHC Esperanto service missing, Sunday Feb 8 at 1500 check, 11760 already off the air; nor any RHC Spanish frequencies overrunning as often happens, in quick scan of 11, 13 and 15 MHz bands. A repeat of Esperanto is scheduled Sundays at 1930 on 11760, but nothing there either at 1948 check. I wonder if the Sunday 0700 and 2330 broadcasts were also absent. However, RNV CI was active on 11680 opening 1500+ in broken English with program summary, much of which would turn out to be in Spanish. This transmission has normally been missing on Sundays with transmitters tied up for Aló, Presidente, but none of those were on the air this date (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 710, Radio Rebelde, Holguín; 0050-0051 February 7, 2009. Noted the Instituto Cubano de Radio y Televisón interval signal X 1 on this and other Rebelde channels, surely the conclusion of the "Mesa Redonda" feed. 990, Radio Guamá, San Luís, Pinar del Río; 0014-0019 February 6, 2009. Strong with radionovela, parallel poor 1000 and very good 1020 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see CUBA [non] for disclaimer ** CUBA [non]. All times/dates are in GMT unless otherwise indicated. Frequencies are in kHz unless otherwise specified. DISCLAIMER FOR ALL LW/MW ITEMS: No portion of the below may be reproduced or redistributed by the National Radio Club, their editors or current members without my expressed written permission, which will then be swiftly -- and we do mean swiftly -- denied. Editors receiving this directly from me are excluded, provided this entire disclaimer is included once, where any of the below LW/MW items are first reproduced. 530, FLORIDA, AeroMartí [NOT]; The January, 2009 GAO "Broadcasting To Cuba" report at least confirms what I already knew based on my radio monitorings: the 530 kHz aircraft-based broadcasts are no longer. Also, what we in-the-know already were aware of: "[the BBG]... explored broadcasting Radio Martí to Cuba from a medium- wave (AM) station in the Caribbean and prepared all the materials and delivered the application to the proper authorities in the summer of 2005 [Turks & Caicos Islands -- TLK]. By September 2006, BBG still had not received approval, so to improve AM transmissions to Cuba, BBG pursued the leasing of time on AM transmitters from private stations in Florida." (What, no reference to WDHP, 1620 kHz from St. Croix, US Virgin Islands? The BBG is referring, of course, Radio Mambí WAQI, Miami 710 kHz and WPIK, Summerland Key at 102.5 MHz, both of which no longer relay, as the agreements terminated.) BBG also appears to be quite happy with the sole privately-contracted aircraft equipped with a single TV transmitter (channel 13) at $6- million coast per year (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DESECHEO. KP5, DESECHEO ISLAND DXPEDITION (Update). The Documentary Archive Radio Communication provides, on its Web site http://www.dokufunk.org another special (third) exclusive interview with Co-Team Leader Glenn Johnson, W0GJ, on the coverage of the upcoming K5D Desecheo (KP5) DXpedition. This interview has the latest information on the upcoming operation scheduled for February 12-26th. Listen to the interview at: http://www.dokufunk.org/desecheo Remember, for updates visit the KP5 Web page at: http://www.kp5.us Look for K5D this week. Good luck in the pile-ups! (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 895, February 9, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** EGYPT. 9250, Radio Wadi El Nile, Abu Zaabal, 2257-2300*, Feb 7, tune-in to Qur`an followed by Arabic announcements, closing music and off. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA ** ETHIOPIA. 7110, Radio Ethiopia, 2000-2102*, Feb 8, US pop music, Euro-pop music, rap music. Several Christina Aguilera tunes. Amharic talk. Sign off with National Anthem at 2100. Good signal. // 9704.19 - poor/weak. 9559.48v, Radio Ethiopia, *0659-0710, Feb 8, sign on with electronic keyboard IS. Talk in unidentified language at 0700. Horn of Africa music at 0704. On 9559.48 at sign on, drifting up to 9559.84 by 0710. // 7165 - both frequencies weak (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. 6220, Mystery R, most probably somewhere in the Sardinia, Sicily area, 1219-1310, 07 Feb, non-stop music, typically pops, and the brief station IDs in what I still believe is Italian accented English; 35433. 6870 R. Playback Int'l, site? (DF = mostly probably IRELAND), 1224- 1330, 07 Feb, English, jazz menu; 35433. They were still on at 1930 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re 9-012, DW Russian's MUZPROSVET audio links --- Yes, the links are "stable", but DW changes the links 2 or 3 times per year. These links are effective as of December 01, 2008 and are still valid. By the way, I have downloaded this week's MUZPROSVET, but unfortunately their Dalet software recorded "open carrier" only, probably just a wrong audio circuit. So, for this week's edition we must "rely" on short waves or satellite :-) Regards! (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Changes of Bible Voice Broadcasting Network via Media Broadcast: 1945-2015 7260 WER 125 kW / 210 deg WAf Mon-Fri English, additional 2000-2100 NF 5955 NAU 250 kW / 048 deg EAs Sunday Korean*, ex 7265 WER *CMI Voice of Wilderness (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Feb 9 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. I think some changes at AFN Germany noted this morning 1015 UT. On 1143 I hear at least three transmitters and two different programmes. One programme appears in delayed version too. So it is a bit tricky to decipher. However one AFN station was IDing as The Eagle with local Saturday morning programming playing music from the 80s, 90s and today. The other AFN station on 1143 was carrying the CBS Weekend Round-up. Various listings, including http://www.afneurope.net/DynamicMenu/Radio/RadioFrequencies/tabid/89/Default.aspx all put the Eagle on FM not MW. So I wonder if this is temporary/permanent change. 73 (Steve Whitt, UK, Feb 7, MWC via DXLD) I believe AFN broadcasts programs rather than programmes, but anyway ** GERMANY. [continued from USA [non], AFN] In Europe AFN was never the only network run by some armed forces, since there is also the British Forces Network, later renamed to British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS). It started in 1945 via the Osterloog transmitter (later used by the BBC until it had been shut down in 1962), soon replaced by a number of low/modest power mediumwave transmitters near the British garrisons that again where soon replaced by FM. BFN/BFBS studios in Germany were first located at Hamburg. In 1956 they were moved to Köln-Marienburg and around 1990 again to Herford. Another change is upcoming: A local newspaper reports that BFBS plans to close its Herford operations and move to Bergen/Hohne where so far they had only a small outpost. At the same time the workforce will be reduced from 27 to 15 staff members: http://www.vlothoer-anzeiger.de/va/lokales/vlotho/?sid=5c7d71553072c6cfce2810ad5176e759&cnt=2796524 This is of particular interest in light of other reports about cuts in the UK-side BFBS operations, including a possible closure of BFBS Radio 2 (note that the former BFBS Radio 1 already identifies itself simply as "BFBS Radio"): http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.4142 http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/dec/03/british-forces-broadcasting-service-redundancies Another interesting aspect are the four high power FM outlets still in use by BFBS in Germany, besides a bunch of low power transmitters at the individual garrisons. Upcoming closures of British military facilities in Germany http://www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/DefenceNews/DefencePolicyAndBusinessBritishForcesToMoveFromGermanyToUk.htm mean that within a few years no British forces will be left in the area covered by Langenberg 96.5. But it still remains to be seen if and when BFBS will give back the frequency, since they still use Braunschweig 93.0 as well although it seems that the British facilities (at least those who can be seen obviously) in this area have already been closed in 1993, and the route to Berlin is no longer of interest since 1994 as well. History: The Berlin studio of BFBS closed on July 15 1994 and the 98.8 transmitter has been shut down on Dec 12 1994. Since February 1995 the 98.8 outlet carries Kiss FM, the station that had curiously been noted abroad only (nobody in Germany itself cared for the story at all) for a show in Latin in 2007 or in last year. A few years later 98.8 as well as the BBC frequency 90.2 moved from the Olympia stadium FM mast http://fotos-b.breloehr.de/char-wil/cw-gutsm.htm to the Alexanderplatz TV tower. The Olympia stadium mast has finally been dismantled (piece by piece, simply blowing it up was not possible) in 2005 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUIANA FRENCH. Re 9-012: Hello Glen[n], You must be right about the reception on 14670 being a quirk in the radio. It must be something in the signal processing of the radio. Tried to duplicate the results on 3 other radios, another Eton, a Grundig, and a Sangean and could not pick up VOR on 14670 on any of them. Thank you always for your knowledge and insight (Steve Cross, Midwest City, OK, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. Conakry. 7125, R. Guinée, Sonfonya, 1221-fade/out 1245, 07 Feb, African pops; 15431 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7125, Radio Conakry, 0620-0645, Feb 8, Tentative with Afro-pop music. Local tribal music. French announcements. Good-strong carrier but weak modulation (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4880, *0023-0100, 05.02, AIR Lucknow, Hindi. Opening procedure, 0030 news // 4840, 5010 and 5040, 0035 local program of talks and ads, songs to Sitar and Flute 35333. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, heard recently on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 m longwire here in Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) see also SIKKIM ** INDIA. All India Radio Guwahati now on 4900 kHz instead of scheduled 4940 kHz --- till 1700 UT. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, 1226 UT Feb 8, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. 4920, AIR, Chennai; *0010-0019 February 5, 2009. Tune-in to carrier already on, then interval signal up from 0013:22, into subcontinental vocals from 0015. Clear except for CODAR, and fair 9870, AIR (Vividh Bharati network), Benguluru; 0049-0155 February 5, 2009. Mostly mid-tempo Hindi pop-ish vocals. Vividh Bharati ID 0100 by man, also at 0147. Clear and good. 9425, AIR (National Channel network), Bengaluru; *1317-1325 February 7, 2009. Carrier up at 1317, interval signal from 1318 then Hindi female at 1320 into a cappella group female subcontinental segment till 1321, back to female announcer. Listed parallel 9470 not heard. Clear and good (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. All India Radio has announced a DRM transmission to Europe at 1745-2230 UT on 9950 kHz. I've tried it a couple of times, but I have had no luck! Anybody having better results than I have had? 73, (Erik Køie, Copenhagen, Denmark, Feb 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Do you hear any trace of the DRM when tuning in analog? This frequency was formerly analog (gh, DXLD) Check this: http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1641&page=16 (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, ibid.) Lots of variation in reports, but some say very good; and this (gh): Wow, back to 20.84 kbps again! Dear AIR, do you want to reach your listeners or not? I herewith assign to AIR the "NTSC of DRM" DIGger award: "Never Twice Same Configuration". Much more chopped up, AAC+ AND 7 kHz audio, distorted and all - hum in the background as usual; this is not the way we would like to listen to Short-Wave DRM. Attached Images 9950-090201-1919-2214-HED362.png (43.7 KB, 7 views) Regards, (Terje ``Digger``, CH-Biberstein 47 25'N / 8 05'E JN47AJ, HED362 http://www.omnirep.ch/drm/ DRM DX forum via DXLD) Thanks! But again tonight, a completely clear frequency. No copy at all. 73, (Erik Køie, Denmark, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Right now, after 2100, there appears to be a slightly increased noise level around 9950. Presumably the announced DRM transmission, just on a too high frequency, since at the same time 9445 from Bangalore is not more than a faint carrier, too. At the same time Khampur comes in quite good on 7410. The audio is somewhat distorted, and apparently the transmitter is not to blame for that: http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1641&page=16 Reminds me on the first DRM tests from Taldom, which gave some German broadcasting engineers a good laugh for their original Radio Moscow sound, with neither the crude gating nor the background hum missing. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 8, ibid.) ** INDIA. To: Sarvashri Sharmaji, Vijayji, Uli ji, Wolf ji and Gopalanji; Subject: HARMFUL INTERFERENCE BY AIR ON 7066 KHZ In these days of unfavourable propagation on most of the RF bands, and fair to good propagation on 3.5 and 7 MHz bands, the amateurs around the whole world look to work Asian Stations with better signals. Hence, all spurious emissions from other services, appearing in the amateur band segment 7000-7100 in Region 3 and much broader segment of 7000-7200 in some areas, and 7000-7300 kHz in the North American Area, are CAREFULLY WATCHED and logged. Hence, the reports from Germany. We, the amateurs, do log many interesting transmissions, spurious emissions like harmonics and inter-modulation products. When the signal persists for a long time, on the amateur segment, then reporting the fact to the concerned authorities etc., starts. Many International Broadcasters like Voice of America, BBC, etc., also have such problems. They are FAST in reading our reports and taking immediate remedial measures, of course, thanking us, for our cooperation. But, there are other stations, who trash these reports, ignoring the facts, and become noted Duds among the amateurs and short wave Listeners. Many regional stations of All India Radio, which have simultaneous broadcastings on more than one SW frequency, ARE showing inter- modulation products, causing severe interference to amateur radio operators in the 40 metre band (7000 to 7100 kHz, soon to expand to 7200 kHz). This information has been notified to the concerned All India Radio, but, they still continue to create the inter-modulation products. First case is from Chennai station of All India Radio. Here, the simulcast on 7160 and 7270 kHz, around 1030 UT, creating an inter- modulation spurious emission on 7050 kHz, with both the audios coming through. (2 x 7160 - 7270 = 7050 kHz) Second case is from Mumbai station of All India Radio. Here, the simulcast on 4840 and 7195 kHz around 0230 UT creates an inter- modulation spurious emission on 7065 kHz, with both the audios coming through. (3 x 7195 - 3 x 4840 = 7065 kHz) In another interesting case of my monitoring work at Lucknow, the AIR Domestic service transmission from Tiruchchirapalli on 936 kHz, was producing its 15th harmonic on 14040 kHz, which was the fixed frequency for all "Islands on the Air- IOTA" expeditions. I did suffer this interference, for a long time, under good propagation conditions. There was a serious case of AIR Thiruvananthapuram, emitting many (almost five frequencies in the 40m amateur band) whenever they started their morning domestic service on 7290 kHz, from 0230 UT. The worst of the spurious emissions was on 7050 kHz where emergency communications for Tsunami etc., were carried out by amateur radio operators from India and Sri Lanka. After continuous exchanges through telephonic conversations, E-mails, and letters, they have done something (which they are too shy to tell us), and the problem has since subsided and we are not hearing these spurious emissions in 2008 and till now in 2009. Just out of interest, another case of harmonic emission logged at Lucknow, was from the AIR Najibabad Domestic service on 954 kHz and its 10th harmonic on 9540 kHz inside the 31 metre band, was regularly heard, with heterodyne. As this case was not inside amateur bands, this was not reported to the station, but, many SWLs enjoyed listening to the spurious transmission. [WHY NOT REPORT IT? gh] From the capital of the country and the HQ, you are in a better position to advise your regional engineering staff, to look into these HARD CORE reports from various corners, about the spurious emissions, and take suitable action in cable layout, etc., at their transmitter sites, to stop such spurious emissions. Good luck and all the best wishes to you all at A I R., DARC, and ARSI Yours sincerely, from: B. L. Manohar "Arasu" VU2UR, SWL VU-0016, VU2PE1D. Monitoring Systems Coordinator for The Amateur Radio Society of India. MIG-6, 80 Feet Road, Kengeri Upanagara, Bangalore 560060; Tel 080 2848 2680, Mob 09342667388 (via DJ8KR, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DARC MONITORING SYSTEM Intruder Watch & Spectrum Control National Coordinator: Ulrich Bihlmayer, DJ9KR, Eichhaldenstrasse 35, 72074 Tübingen, Germany Phone: .+49- 7071 – 81847 Fax: +49-7071– 82419 eMail: bandwacht@darc.de [sic] ______________________________________________________________________ All India Radio copy to:- The Coordinator of IARU- The Spectrum Manager Mr. Y.K. Sharma Monitoring System Region 3 Akashvani Bhawan, Sansad Marg Manohar Arasu VU2UR Delhi 110001, Republic of India Bangalore 560060, India 8 February 2009 --- Harmful Interference on Amateur Radio Frequencies in the 40-m-Amateur Band by All-India-Radio Spurious from 7410 kHz Dear Sir, The intermodulation product which I had reported 2 November 2007 in Band 7 is again here: Since the beginning of November 2008 many licensed Amateur Radio operators have been reporting a strong and wideband intermodulation product of All India Radio on the exclusive Amateur Radio frequency drifting between around 7060 and 7070 kHz. The signal strength is up to S 9 + 20 dB, and the signal is about 10 kHz wide. The program is very much distorted with a rocking carrier and difficult to read. It is carrying Hindi (1945–2045 UT) and the General Overseas Service (1745–1945, 2045–2230 UT s/off). I have found the fundamental on 7410 kHz with S 9 + 45 dB and a second spurious signal ("mirror") around 7751 kHz. Also on 7090 kHz there is the same program with S 9 and with clear modulation. Frequency (kHz) 7060,0 – 7070,0 Mode: A3E Date: November & December 2008, January & February 2009 Zeit (UTC): 1745-2230 sign off Call Sign of Station announcement: This is the General Overseas Service of All India Radio QSA: QSA5 (S9+ 20 dB) with a dipole antenna Country: India More info: fundamental found on 7410 kHz, another spurious transmission on 7751 kHz. (7410 kHz + / - 341 kHz) Will you please contact the engineers of the transmitter site to fix the problem. The licensed Radio Amateurs of the world have the right to use their exclusive frequencies without the harmful interference of All India Radio. Thank you very much. I should like to read your answer soon on my screen. Regards, (Ulrich Bihlmayer, DJ9KR, Coordinator of DARC-MS Intruder Watch and Spectrum Control, cc to DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 3325, RRI Palangkaraya 1358-1438 Feb 7. Calliope IS to ToH, then Indo talk, possibly regional news, to 1422, then lite vocal music to 1438 tuneout. Fair signal but tough copy through my local noise. 4790.04. RRI Fak-fak 1450-1455* Feb 7. Vocal music, then "Love Ambon" at 1453 with male voice-over and closedown announcement; transmission end at 1455, although carrier stayed on past 1500 (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9525.917, Voice of Indonesia, Cimanggis; 1258-1345 February 8, 2009. English 80's-era urban pop vocal into English female ID and music loop, then mention of "In a few moments... 9525 kHz, 15150 kHz and 11785 kHz..." and URL, mention of February 8th, then into English news by the same woman from 1303. Bad US 80's pop schlock after 1340. Clear and good. Of course, no trace of the other two channels. Frequency measured on the IC-R75, though varied slightly from 9525.915 to 9525.922 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISLE OF MAN. Manx Radio live from the Caroline North exhibition Saturday --- Manx Radio's Saturday 60's show, Carnaby Street, will be remembering Radio Caroline and broadcasting live from the Pirates of the Irish Sea exhibition, with special guests, on Saturday 14th February 0830 to 1030, listeners on the island can join them there from 0900. Carnaby Street is available on Manx Radio Listen Again, just been listening to last Saturdays show, fast moving presentation and lots of 60s adverts and Caroline promos aired. http://www.manxradio.com/listen.aspx (Mike Barraclough, England, Feb 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KALININGRAD. DRM Voice of Russia 7325 kHz: 1000-1300 6105 kHz: 2000-2300 http://kaliningrad.rtrn.ru/news.asp?view=10564 (Viktor Rutkovsky, Ekaterinburg / "open_dx" via RusDX Feb 8 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 6285, 29.1 1900, Korea with a very beautiful interval signal, followed by Arabic: “Huna Korea”. Very bad modulation. S 2-3. BEFF (Björn Fransson, Sweden, SW Bulletin Feb 8 via DXLD) Not stated as such, but this was NORTH Korea, DPRK. I`m sure neither Korea would appreciate this not being clarified (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. AUSTRALIA (JAPAN) (CLANDESTINE), 9880, Furusato no Kaze, no data email in 12 days for English email report. Email address is hai @ rachi.go.jp. Says they do not have QSL cards or letters but thanks me for my report. Full text of QSL is below: ---------------------------- Dear Mr. Albert Muick, Thank you for sending a reception report of our short wave radio program. We are very glad to receive your report from Afghanistan! Unfortunately, we do not issue any verification (SWL/QSL) cards and letters, but according to the descriptions you gave us, we can confirm it was our Japanese program "Furusato no Kaze" (broadcasting not from Tokyo Japan, but Darwin Australia, actually.) This program is sent for the Japanese people being abducted and still catpive in North Korea. If you don't mind, please access the following URL. You can see more information about the abductions of Japanese Citizens by North Korea. http://www.rachi.go.jp/en/index.html And more, you can watch the movie titled "MEGUMI" in English, which is a documentary animation on the abduction of Japanese girl by North Korea. http://www.rachi.go.jp/en/shisei/keihatsu/anime.html The Government of Japan is making its utmost effort to resolve the abduction issue and we appreciate your kind attention. Sincerely yours, Policy Planning Division Headquarters for the Abduction Issue Cabinet Secretariat Gov. of Japan 1-6-1 Nagata-cho, Chiyoda-ku Tokyo, Japan ------------------------------- 73s de (Al Muick, Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. Re 9-012, WCBC project: Hi Glenn, I also think this WCBC project's very strange. But it seems that they think the ends justify the means. Also I find it very unlikely they will make broadcasts in Portuguese from there. While Ravalomanana is in power, but with little power, situation will be more or less. A big hug and thank you for information (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Brasil, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR. 5009.93, RTV Malagasy - Antananarivo, 1/31, 1746-1821. two slow pop songs; jingle ID then continuing playing slow songs only with no talk; heard in SSB with S.9+15 of peak; moderate / fast QSB and rustle; fair; [Also] (WRTH 2009 reports Ambohidrano), 2/4, 1744- 1850*. non stop western and local pop songs and afropop; brief jingle IDs (twice) at 1822 as Radio Madagascar; and continuous non stop music program only; abrupt sign-off at 1850:55 circa, cutting off a song; heard in SSB but clearly audible in AM too; slight statics at times; slight fast QSB and rustle; fair / good (Giovanni Serra, Roma, Italy. Equipment: JRC NRD 525, Alpha Delta DX- SWL Sloper-S, RG 8 mini coaxial cable, JPS NIR 12 Noise & Interference Reducer-Dual DSP outboard audio filter, Intek PS-35 5 ampere feeder, JRC - NVA 319 external loudspeaker unit, Yaesu YH - 77 STA stereo headphones, Zoom Corp. H2 handy digital recorder MP3 & WAV files, Oregon Scientific radio controlled clock, Interkart framed wall board political world map (1: 46,400,000), the DX Edge-Xantek, Inc. (daylight-darkness desk world map) NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 5010, RD TV Malagasy, Ambohidrano, 1831-1856, 07 Feb, Vernacular, international and local music; 44433. Audio seemed to be better than in previous observations, perhaps because of a different feed and better handling via some other place now that the building was torched & looted? If so, it's ironical (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Feb 09, RNM, 5009.93, strong signal hanging on more than 1.5 hours past local sunrise at 0230z. At 0400z the terminator was over central Africa, about 1300 miles west of Antananarivo with a signal varying from S-3 to S-5 (noise floor at S-1 with the T2FD). By 0415z down to S-2 to S-3. By 0425z it had faded away completely (Jerry Lenamon, Waco TX, UT Feb 9, Eton E-1, sloper, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. Here is the direct audio address for RTM Sabah: http://www.rtmsabah.gov.my/sabah_fm.asx at 23-02 & 06-09 BM / 02-04 Murut / 04-06 Dusun condensed from the Andy Sennitt's time schedule Per my streaming investigation: The site send a stream of only 24 kbps in windows media format, i.e. relatively bad audio of AM quality. The throughput as shown in the windows task manager is mean level of 1.25 % though sinus curved in between 0 and 2.5 % of my total connection of 2 MB with some peculiar peaks to 5% or 25% every 1 minute. "Stasion radio anda sabah FM" is the ID of the station. Listening today at 1430+ the program consists of lagu melayu and western with short news at 1500. I was also impressed that after stopping the internet connection , the buffer kept program for about 40 seconds! (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MARION ISLAND. ZS8T is on! After a delay of several months ZS8T has finally appeared on the amateur radio bands! Petrus, ZS6GCM, now signing as ZS8T will be on Marion Island for over one year as expedition leader for the South African National Antarctic Program. His logistic and scientific duties have prevented him from showing up earlier. The ZS8T team would like to report that all DX posts posted on February 2 are 100% bogus. Petrus wasn’t operating that day at all. We would also like to inform the Ham Radio Community, is said in their press release, that 14300 kHz is NOT ZS8T’s operating frequency and that we will tune any other legal clean frequency to operate on 20 meters. The QSL Manager is: Emil Stoikov, LZ3HI, P. O. Box 8, 6000 Stara Zagora, Bulgaria (DX Editor Dimiter Petrov, LZ1AF, R. Bulgaria DX Feb 6 via DXLD) ** MARION ISLAND [and non]. ZS8, MARION ISLANDS [sic] (News). As warned last week, BEWARE OF PIRATE ACTIVITY! The ZS8T Web states, "The ZS8T team would like to report that all DX posts posted on Feb. 2 are 100% bogus. Petrus wasn't operating that day at all. We would also like to inform the Ham Radio Community that 14300.00 is NOT ZS8T's operating frequency, and that he will tune any other legal clean frequency to operate on 20m." Also, mentioned this week (on February 7th), (edited) "QSL cards for ZS8T are ready to be printed next week. We are proud to present the card which will be received by all stations who managed to contact Petrus on Marion Island. The card has been designed by Stan, SQ8X, and will be printed/sponsored by Emil, LZ3HI. We expect first cards to be sent as soon as mid February." The QSL can be viewed at: Front: http://zs8t.net/wp-content/uploads/zs8t front_small.jpg Back: http://zs8t.net/wp-content/uploads/zs8t_back_small.thumbnail.jpg Pictures on the QSL were taken by Nico de Buyrn (another scientist working on Marion Island) who has been generously contributing to the ZS8T site several times. For updates and official announcements of the ZS8T operation, please visit the Web site at: http://zs8t.net (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 895, February 9, 2009, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA [and non]. 783 kHz, R. Mauritanie, Nouakchott, 1219-1306 (no, UT isn't wrong nor mistyped), 08 Feb, Vernacular, sports news, French at 1300 for newscast; 44443, adjacent QRM although the main interfering station, Barcelona 50 kW, can be heard at this time conditions permitting. Other distant and not powerful stations audible at this odd time were Gold 1548 rated 35333, France Info 1494 with 4 transmitters 4-20 kW rated 35433, France Info 1404 with 5 txs 5-20 kW rated 35433, Manx R IoM 1368, and beyond other powerful French transmitters, another powerful one, DLF Heusweiler 1422 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4845, RTVM; 0035-0044 February 5, 2009. Continuous local language male unaccompanied poetry vocals through tune-out. Very good (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 9730.88, Myanma Radio (Minorities Service network); 1302- 1314 February 7, 2009. Surprised to stumble upon this one -- don't recall ever hearing it here, or at least with any audio -- with Asian language female till 1311, then orchestral fill followed by a different female briefly. Then Asian orchestral at 1313, followed by man and woman talk through tune-out. Clear and somewhat low modulation, but 100% copy. Noted in passing at 1257 the following day at about the same level. Listed as domestic minorities languages service till 1505v in WRTH-09 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. The Radio New Zealand International website has been updated to use the new Radio NZ branding. This completes the rebranding of Radio NZ websites. In the next few months we'll be working on web related projects, such as improving the Sound Archives database search and minor design updates to The Source and BRAD. Regards (Richard Hulse, Feb 5, BCDX Feb 19 via DXLD) ?? New look, but it`s still RNZ*I*, http://www.rnzi.com/index.php and I hope they improve the navigation within site (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Decision on ZLXA 3935 kHz --- Dear friends, Today came this message from the QSL Manager of ZLXA about a Board decision of making a final SW broadcast on 3935 kHz on 20-22 March for us international DX-ers. Please publish this special event. Best 73, Anker Petersen, Danish Shortwave Club International, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Dear Friends, Following a meeting of the Board of N.Z. Radio for the Print Disabled Inc. on 2 Feb 2009, below is an extract from the Secretary's reply to my letter of 26 January in which I discuss the possible closure of our shortwave service. Quote: The Board of the NZ Radio for the Print Disabled considered all the facts presented but came to the decision to cease broadcasting as ZLXA on 3935 kHz forthwith. The main reason for this decision is the state of the valves on the transmitter. We would need to renew the four valves (4/400c) at a cost of approximately $3000 also the cost of power at $400 per month and an annual licence of $700 combined makes this broadcasting service completely unfeasible. We are at this point in time trying to raise finance to replace the MW transmitter which suffered damage during last year's storm. The Board, though, has agreed to broadcast on 3935 kHz over a weekend from 5.00 pm Friday 20th March through to Monday morning 23rd March 2009, (0400 20/3 - 1900 22/3 UT), depending on the transmitter functioning for that period. This is the best that we can do to enable the many international DXers to receive our transmission for one last time. Unquote. As you will appreciate, for an organisation reliant on grants and donations to continue serving our listening community, the shortwave component is no longer viable. Therefore, RRS will maintain local broadcasts on 1602 kHz (2XA) and 107.3 MHz FM only. Kindest regards & Best DX, Kelvin Brayshaw, QSL Manager, NZ Radio Reading Service, LEVIN (via Petersen, DXLD; also via Dan Ferguson, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. U S A. Pirate, 3433 USB, WTCR, 0254-0330+, Feb 8, lite rock music. WTCR-Twentieth Century Radio IDs. Strong. Very good signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KFOR-TV, channel 4/DT 27 in OKC, which for months has been pushing Feb 17 as their DTV switch date, has chickened out. Mentioned in passing on the noon news Feb 9 was that KFOR is postponing turning off analog, but they went ahead and did another `test` with a You`re-Not-Ready slate appearing on analog, but not on digital. And again on the 5 pm news. As he pulled cables on an old-fashioned patch panel --- just pretending? --- chief engineer Bob Ablah on the news admitted there were other stations in the market going ahead Feb 17. Their website http://www.kfor.com still shows a countdown to the second to Feb 17! And I don`t find anything there to contradict it. A few days ago, KOCO-5/DT-7 announced it would keep analog on after all. This was apparently a corporate-level Hearst-Argyle decision. Keeping analog 5 on doesn`t really impact any other stations around here. KWTV-9/DT-39/permanent DT 9, had been running a crawler much of the time, affirming Feb 17, seen earlier the morning of Feb 9, but not when I checked around 1830 UT. Their website http://www.news9.com also has a countdown to Feb 17 in the lower right corner, but I can`t find anything specific there on the local OKC or KWTV situation. Ah, at 1900 UT, the crawler came back saying they would turn off analog Feb 17 at 1:00 pm (1900 UT --- same time as OETA; is 1 pm mandated as the exact time for all stations to do it, if they are doing it?) AFAIK, KETA-13/DT 32/permanent DT 13 is not delaying, but I don`t find any unequivocal info any longer on their website http://www.oeta.tv This is the only one that really matters here in Enid, as their DT 32 is blocked and we can`t wait to get OKLA 13.2. I haven`t even tried to find out what`s going on at analogs 14, 25, 34, 43 and 62. 52 already said they were delaying. Maybe everyone will FINALLY make up their mind once Pres. Obama signs the delay bill and the FCC filing date is past? What a circus (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More under DIGITAL BROADCCASTING below ** OKLAHOMA. FORMER KTOK METEOROLOGIST RICK TASETANO DIES http://www.ktok.com/cc-common/news/sections/newsarticle.html?feed=119211&article=4947342 Sad day in Oklahoma Radio (Watercooler, Feb 3, radio-info.com Oklahoma board via DXLD) Viz.: Died early today in Oklahoma City. By Jerry Bohnen, Tuesday, February 3, 2009 Former longtime KTOK meteorologist Rick Tasetano died early today. Details are not yet available and funeral services are pending. KTOK was notified of Rick's death by the family. He had been ailing in recent months. Rick was a former career Air Force man where he retired after decades as a meteorologist. He was part of the weather unit at Tinker Air Force base where much of the early tornado warning systems were developed. He was a veteran of the Korean War where he survived at least one crash of a weather plane. Rick joined KTOK in the mid-1980s and became known for such sayings as his 'full skirt alert' warnings to women on windy days. He was a native of New York City and still carried his Bronx accent as he predicted the weather and covered severe weather. Rick was notorious for bringing a cot to his small weatherroom at the KTOK studios and spending many nights monitoring severe weather and issuing alerts to the radio station listeners (KTOK as above via DXLD) We have lost a true man. I was a senior Meteorology Student at OU when I met Rick. Rick was a lead forecaster at Weatherscan International owned by Ross Dixon. After 3.5 years at OU I thought I knew everything about weather. Rick knew differently and proceeded to teach me the real world of weather forecasting. I learned more in 6 months under Rick than I had learned at OU. I got thrown out of Rex Inman's Dynamics II class after stating such fact. My fondest memory of Rick occurred when Weatherscan secured a contract to provide on-air Meteorologists to KOKH after the sale from the school board. We had to go to Norman for an audition. Rick and I drove down together and he came up with a brilliant idea. We both told Ross we did not want to work in television because, with all due respects Mr. Dixon, television is for pin heads. Rick wanted to go to the JOCK STRAP and drink beer. The logic behind this was, if we get polluted they couldn't possibly want us for TV. Boy were we wrong!!! The News Director liked my audition so much I was asked to do KOKH and Rick would become one of the meteorologists for KLTE radio. 6 months later KOKH would drop its News and Weather and I would have to uproot my lovely bride of 1 month and move to my first real TV job in Paducah, KY, truly the armpit of the world. Rick's suggestion sent me on a 24 year career in television that included 5 other cities. I would playfully remind Rick every time I called him and sent him a Christmas card. Sadly, those phone calls are now pleasant memories of a friend I will miss like a brother. But only in Oklahoma could a person from New York City become great friends with a Cajun from New Orleans and both understand each other! Rick, you are already missed but now the Good Lord has the best Meteorologist in the world at His disposal for the most comprehensive flight brief for those long business trips. Your friend always (Paul Bouchereau, ibid.) Rick was a serious meteorologist when he was put on my morning show at KLTE-FM around 1980. We were a very young and goofy bunch of guys hell bent on doing comedy. So Rick got sucked into all our bits whether he liked it or not. Fortunately Rick had a great sense of humor and approached the situation with his trademark good nature. Rick's strong New York accent made him standout and his solid, always-there weather reporting/forecasting made him an audience favorite. He fell into broadcasting fairly late in his career, but Rick took it on with gusto and made quite an impact on the market for the next several decades. Sad to see him go, but what a life (Kevin McCormick, ibid.) Tsk; I can`t say I ever heard him, as KTOK/Clear Channel`s far-right, IBOC-laden talk format is not for me, or any intelligent being (gh, Enid, DXLD) OBIT ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. Chrome 93.5 Tulsa --- 50's and 60's is on True Oldies Chrome 93.5 Tulsa. It ROCKS!!!!! (In_Tulsa Feb 7, radio- info.com Oklahoma board via DXLD) 93.5 is KQLL's translator, is authorized to provide fill-in service for 106.1. Decoding their HD-2 signal and feeding it to their translator to create a new analog voice in the market and is quite a stretch in the rules. Especially when they brand the HD-2 signal with the frequency of the translator. Before, the Commission frowned upon translators being used to originate programming. This comes damn close. Retransmitting KQLL's hd signal would be fine. Splitting off its digital only programming and rebroadcasting it in analog is another matter. Yes, it rocks. No commercials. No local content. Rock on (stacker, ibid.) The FCC has allowed it. Cumulus started it when it used a FM translator in Harrisburg PA (W237DE 95.3) to relay their urban AC AM station there. They later changed the AM station to sports. To keep the new "95.3 the Touch" on the air, WNNK 104.1 HD2 became the "originator" for the format. Since then, others, particularly group owner Saga, have launched HD2 formats to relay on analog FM translators in the market. In the Asheville NC market, Saga's WOXL 96.5 HD2's AAA format is relayed via translator W251AO 98.1 as "98.1 the River". In Ithaca NY, Saga's WYXL 97.3 HD2 launched a top 40 format called "Hits 103.3," carried on W277BS 103.3 there. In Keene NH, Saga also changed W281AU 104.1 from a relay of their AM to a simulcast of WKNE 103.7 HD2's new "Keene Classics 104.1." And W276CB 103.1 there became "Kool 103.1" off WKNE 103.7 HD3. In Manchester/Concord NH, the W231BR 94.1 and W276BJ 103.1 translators were recently flipped to a top 40 format "Hits Now" off WZID 95.7 HD2. Saga also now has translators in several other small markets -- K283AG 104.5 Sioux City, K298AV 107.5 Jonesboro, W298AP 107.5 Springfield IL -- that no doubt could follow a similar path. WAMU 88.5 Washington DC's HD bluegrass subchannel has been on a translator near Dulles as well in recent months (txchipk, ibid.) I just dialed it up when I saw this post. Hard to get in Owasso. Driving around Tulsa, it was okay. Never will be a factor. My main observation is that the music on 93.5 is better than 106.1. I like KRVT as well (Journalguy, ibid.) They need to move the 106.1 format to 93.5 and 93.5 to 106.1. I'm loving this station. In the car I got 93.5 all the way to Oologah that's good (In_Tulsa, ibid.) Is Chrome 93.5 running Scott Shannon's "True Oldies" format? Brilliant move for CC to stick on a competing station in Tulsa with Kool 106.1's ratings in the toilet. Little wonder why all these corporate broadcasters are heading quickly to bankruptcy (billyg, ibid.) Chrome is the HD2 that CC had available online for a while. It sounded like the original 106.1, with 50s and 60s music, primarily. I agree with your idea, but I think CC (and others as well) have moved to the 'classic hits' model of 70s, and 80s music, albeit with a smaller than desired playlist. I second your suggest, along with changing the calls of KQLL to KAKC and bringing back the Drake jingles and maybe even a former KAKC personality (maybe even one out of retirement - et tu, Mr. Seagraves?). (stan, ibid.) ** PALESTINE [non]. 5835, 1810-1915, CLANDESTINE, 04.02, Al-Aqsa R, Gaza, via ? Arabic songs, talks 45444, but until 1900* QRM from stronger station in Kurdish or Pasto (QSA 5), Al-Aqsa then 32332. But not heard on 5815 or 5835 on 06.02 or 07.02! AP-DNK NEW 6220.02, 1755-1915, CLANDESTINE, 04.02, Al Quds TV audio channel, Jerusalem, via ? Arabic talk, political speeches about Gaza and Israel, 35332; from *1800-2155* covered by Mystery R (presumed) with QSA 5, then Al Quds: 31331. It had disappeared at 2155 But not heard on 06.02 or 07.02! Best 73, (Anker Petersen, heard recently on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 m longwire here in Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. LISTENING IN ~ RADIO PMR with Darren Rozier listeningin @ bdxc.org.uk [original is well-illustrated; we leave the captions in here] PMR stands for Pridnestrovyan Moldavian Republic. This is a separatist region of Moldova with its own government. It is located mostly in a strip between the Dniester River and Ukraine. They want independence from Moldova and state that they never have been or ever will be a part of Moldova. However, Pridnestrovye isn't internationally recognised as an independent state, so you will find all the details about PMR under Moldova in WRTH. Pridnestrovye is also known as Transnistria and Transdniester, but for the purposes of convenience I shall refer to it as PMR. Radio PMR runs one domestic network and an external service. The external service transmits 15 minute programmes in English, French and German on shortwave. There's also 90 minutes of Russian on MW via Grigoriopol. The Radio PMR van (fischka.com) The English service is looked after by the political programmes department, so this probably accounts for the rather complicated way that they give the information out. At the end of each broadcast they give credits for who helped to make the programme. A translator is credited, so I'm guessing that the English is a translation from Russian. In my opinion, Radio PMR isn't the most exciting station in the world and the programmes are quite hard to follow. English is only broadcast during the weekdays and, on my listening journey with the station, I mainly chose to listen at 1600 UT on 7370 kHz. However, I listened to the New Year's Day Broadcast at 1430 on the same frequency at 45544. Here are my findings: I tuned in initially at 1429 and heard a broken engineering tone. At 1430 I heard what I presume was the National Anthem. At 1431 there was some high-energy dance music with the announcement "Here is Tiraspol, the capital of the Pridnestrovyan Moldavian Republic". It was then announced that the programme was produced by the Informational Analytic Programme Pridnestrovya - Information Political Programmes (try saying that with a mouthful of marshmallows!) The programme itself began with news about the New Year and that there were plenty of family parties going on. They gave congratulations to the Russian and PMR presidents who broadcast a New Year address to the people of the PMR. They said it's a traditional TV programme for the people to watch, so it must be a bit like the Queen's Speech here. They wished all us listeners a Happy New Year and hoped that we would keep a good heart! 2009 is the year of family and they hope that this will show in social policy in the PMR. They said the public opinion of family must be changed. Family breakdown hasn't been helped by the current economic crisis. The number of unruly children has increased (I wonder how they count them). Parents who abandon their children are the main culprits. They need moral values and guidance. The future of PMR depends on it. The answer is not for people to pack up and leave the republic. Workplaces need to care more for mothers. Women are sometimes sacked when they fall pregnant so companies won't have to pay the maternity leave. The next feature was on a town celebrating its 600th anniversary. I didn't catch the name of it. A landmark was erected to mark the Russian presence. Peace, happiness and well-being were re-iterated for 2009. A memorial was put up regarding an army victory some years ago. Russian soldiers were mentioned. I think they said it was against Swedish forces. The sports news focused on PMR athletes. The president thanked them for their spirit and character. He said well done for their efforts in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Preparations are now being made for the 2010 Junior Games in Singapore and they're looking forward to London 2012. The programme ended at 1444. Credits were given to the programme producers and the address was given out. They told listeners to send correspondence by regular mail. They then gave out the times and frequencies of the English broadcast. There are six opportunities in the day to hear this (see the schedule at the end of the article). Just when you thought it was all over there was an instrumental bit of ABBA's "Happy New Year." The Radio PMR editorial board gave us all good wishes. Left: headquarters of Radio PMR in Tiraspol On Monday 12th January I decided I would spend the week listening to Radio PMR's broadcast. I dropped in at 1600 on 7370 kHz where the SINPO was very good - always somewhere between 44444 and 55555. There was a bit of sideband splatter all the way from 7360 kHz, but other than that, the signal was rocking chair quality - clear and crisp with great propagation. As I said before, some of the stories were quite hard to follow. By-and- large the feel of the station is very political. It seems that Radio PMR want the voice of their people to be heard and a lot of the content focuses on the differences between the PMR and Moldova, which they are politically a part of. I shan't list every story, just a couple of the most interesting ones for each day. Monday 12 January (SINPO 54555) -Moldova's EU aspirations could threaten the speciality of the PMR. Negotiations would depend on the West's relations with Russia. The EU and the USA have previously ignored the PMR, but now they're trying to find common ground with them. -Tiraspol said that 2008 was difficult, but successful. The town treasuries have increased (the PMR's currency is Roubles). The education system is predicted to get better. Tuesday 13 January (55555) -The whole broadcast was a long feature on PMR and Moldovan relations, broken up by music stings acting as audio paragraph breaks. The gist of it was that 2008 hasn't been a better year for relations between the two states. Interestingly the PMR recognise Abkhazia, South Ossetia and Kosovo (the one Russia made a fuss about) as independent states, so they believe their independence is achievable. They believe that they can be united in will with Moldova without being united politically. The PMR has its own coat of arms along with an independent economic, social and legal system. The broadcast went on to compare Moldova's laws about the PMR which were made in 1990 and in 2005. Unless you had a degree in law you would have a hard job understanding the implications of what was broadcast. They finished by saying that Moldova haven't honoured any of the original agreements regarding the PMR from 1990 and that some were prepared to give up the fight for the PMR in favour of a quicker union with the EU. Wednesday 14 January (44444) -Today's broadcast mainly concerned the Russian/ Ukrainian gas crisis which has had a direct affect on the PMR. They said that the PMR was a hostage to this problem and they are right on the Ukrainian border. Many towns and villages don't have any gas for cooking food. Getting hot water is also a problem. A high level meeting was held and they said the key was not to panic. They said the situation was controllable. They have enough coal reserves to last them 20 to 30 days and Moldova's hydro electric station could be used as a fuel backup. There were reports of bakeries shutting down because they couldn't work without gas, but they assured us that most were working normally. Firewood was being delivered to poor people in rural areas. -The broadcast finished with a story about Georgia cutting off gas supplies to South Ossetia. They stopped supplies to this state back in August - something that Radio PMR describes as an act of aggression. Georgia is now accusing South Ossetia of siphoning off their gas. Thursday 15 January (44444) For some reason this broadcast was exactly the same as Tuesdays. I didn't listen to it all again as I felt rather tired, but it was an opportunity to go over some of the stuff about Moldovan and PMR relations which would have easily been missed first time around. Friday 16 January (54555) There were quite a few interesting stories in today's broadcast. It sounded more like a news programme rather than a political one. Here are the highlights: -Some Russian gas is now coming into the PMR via the Ukraine. The pressure is at a level where boilers can be run, but the situation still isn't looking good. Some parts of the state have been without electricity at times during the day. -The PMR government are planning meetings in February regarding energy security. -Production in a Moldovan steel factory has been greatly reduced. They're now putting out less than 30,000 tonnes of steel. -A PMR cement plant is doing very well and has fulfilled its 2008 production programme. Exports to Russia have been big. -The PMR's Ministry of State is looking for its Man of the Year. -A Wrestler from the PMR came 10th in the Beijing Olympics. So that's about all from me this month. I hope I've made this interesting for you as some of the content of Radio PMR is a bit on the dry side. Have a listen and let me know what you think. I'd also be interested to know if you've heard anything from Radio PMR's domestic network. It's 24 hours on FM in the state and in the mornings and evenings on 549 kHz (0530 - 0830 and 1800 - 2200 UTC). Don't forget, your comments are always appreciated on the e-mail address at the top of this article and if you'd like to suggest what station I could eavesdrop on for the March edition, drop me a line. 73s for now and happy listening. Darren. The PMR coat of arms Radio PMR shortwave schedule - valid until 31 March 1430-1730 on 7370 kHz to Europe (Monday-Friday): 1430-1445 English, 1445-1500 French, 1500-1515 German, 1515-1530 English, 1530-1545 French, 1545-1600 German, 1600-1615 English, 1615- 1630 French, 1630-1645 German, 1645-1700 English, 1700-1715 French, 1715-1730 German 2230-0000 on 6240 kHz to North America (Sunday-Thursday): 2230-2245 English, 2245-2300 French, 2300-2315 German, 2315-2330 English, 2330-2345 French, 2345-0000 German (Feb BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. 15105, 09/02 1349, România, R România, English, OM apresenta programa de música rock, bom rock, às 1352 ID por OM, 45444 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S, 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1, direcionada Leste/Oeste, pequena inclinação para nordeste, dxclubpr yg via DXLD) I was waiting to hear the conclusion of the 1300 English broadcast from RRI on 11970 as soon as WYFR signed off at 1345 Feb 9 – but no trace of it, while Romanian service on 11940 was audible, as was English on 15105. I again wonder if they have moved 11970 somewhere else, as they should, or if this new transmitter keeps breaking down. Schedule at http://www.rri.ro/art.shtml?lang=1&sec=20&art=15758 still shows 15105 and 11970. Anyhow, on 15105 at 1352 after rock music in English and ID, plugged their current contest THE GOLD OF THE APUSENI MOUNTAINS all about which is here: http://www.rri.ro/art.shtml?lang=1&sec=16&art=18303 Prizes are two 10-day trips for two in August, all expenses, EXCEPT you have to pay your own way to and from Romania, and get your own visas. This page does not say HOW the winners are chosen. I suspect that from all the correct entries (assuming there are any), a drawing is held, but why don`t they say so? Failure to clarify this is unethical, and makes entrants think if they get all the answers right, they are bound to win (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Feb. 07, 5920 kHz, 1730z, BBC Russian via CYPrus [250 kW/ 007 degrees] with news summary MIXING with VOR via S.P [250 kW/ 215 degrees] with music; both stations with good reception. Best regards & many 73s! (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, SERBIA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also KALININGRAD ** RUSSIA. 10105 intermodulation 1245-1300 UT at Samara site (9695/9900). 9899.9986 kHz, 9694.9996 kHz, 10104.9976 kHz. Signal strength 55 dBµV/m 30 dBµV/m 16 dBµV/m [that`s microvolts per meter] Hi Wolfy, hier das Soundfile von Voice of Russia, aufgenommen auf 9695 kHz. Das gleiche px ist auch auf 10105 kHz zu hoeren. Sendeschluss immer 1300 UT. Beginn der IM meist gegen 1245-1248, wenn die QRG 9900 kHz eingeschaltet wird (Messton). 9900 bleibt dann noch bis nach 1300 UT. Die IM war auch heute immer noch da (Uli Bihlmayer-D DJ9KR, Feb 6, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Feb 10 via DXLD) German FCC: BNA - Bundesnetzagentur started that complaint case already two weeks ago (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** SAUDI ARABIA. ARÁBIA SAUDITA – Apesar de ser um país politicamente fechado, é surpreendente encontrar um programa da estatal BS of the Kingdom que coloca no ar ouvintes por telefone. Foi o que constatei no sábado, 24, às 1125, no Tempo Universal, quando ia ao ar a programação em inglês da emissora em 15250 kHz. Conforme o Passport e o EiBi, a emissão, que vai ao ar entre 1000 e 1230, no Tempo Universal, tem como destino o centro e o este da África. Uma apresentadora faz algumas perguntas sobre amenidades para quem liga para a emissora. A potência do transmissor utilizado é de 500 kW (Célio Romais blog, Enviado em 26 de Janeiro de 2009 via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. BSKSA, 15435, Feb 8 at 1504 in Qur`an with buzz, the latter not too loud but definitely problematic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA. WEB STREAMING OF THE INTERNATIONAL RADIO SERBIA Dear all, International Radio Serbia enhanced its audio webstreaming. Instead of mono 64 kbps, from now on MP3 steam is STEREO 112 kbps: http://74.53.35.106:12000/listen.pls The stream has capability of 10.000 listeners!!! By the way, here are some Intl R Serbia DOWNLOAD links. All shows are mp3, 128 kbps. The audio is updated every day, and for some languages 2 times/day: Entire ENGLISH show for download (MP3/128kbps/44kHz/stereo) [27.5 MB]: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/engleska.mp3 SERBIAN: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/srpska.mp3 ARABIC: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/arapska.mp3 FRENCH: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/francuska.mp3 MANDARIN: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/kineska.mp3 GERMAN: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/nemacka.mp3 RUSSIAN: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/ruska.mp3 SPANISH: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/spanska.mp3 GREEK: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/grcka.mp3 ITALIAN: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/italijanska.mp3 HUNGARIAN: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/madjarska.mp3 ALBANIAN: http://www.glassrbije.org/emisije/albanska.mp3 (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, Feb 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIKKIM. 4835.00, *0100-0145 fade out, INDIA, 05.02, AIR Gangtok, Nepali opening procedure, traditional Nepali songs and music, interview, 25232. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, heard recently on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 m longwire here in Denmark, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) How do you distinguish Nepali music from Sikkimese? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SINGAPORE. 3915, BBC, Kranji relay, 2315-2329, 07 Feb, WS in English to SEAsia, sports news; 44433, adjacent utility QRM. Using, say, 5 kHz BW or even a little bit less, one can hardly hear the BBC on 3915, at least over here I mean; it's only after squeezing the bandwidth further and adjusting the PBT that one can actually get a decent signal from Kranji, and confirm it's really powerful for a [listed] 100 kW level: similar operation to what one needed to do for receiving GUYANA 3290 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. RSA, 3320, SAUK/R. Sonder Grense, Meyerton, 1835- 1929, 07 Feb, Afrikaans, opera songs, TS for 1900 followed by newscast and more music, mostly oldies in not so common arrangements; 45333. (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AMERICA. Radio Cochiguaz on air in a few hours!!! Dear friends, This evening/night (9th Feb) we will get on air with our 12 anniversary program. 1 of February 1997 was the first time activated the South American pirate band. 12 years of activity has made us friends with people from several places in the world. Fighting with technical problem from time to time we still active now and then; tonight is one of these occasions. Tune into 6307 kHz from 22 UT up to about 09 UT tomorrow. Many greetings and thanks to all from Cachito http://www.geocities.com/rcochiguaz/ email: radio_cochiguaz @ yahoo.com Casilla de correo 159; Santiago 14; Chile Estimados amigos. Hoy de 9 de febrero estaremos en el aire con nuestro programa conmemorando nuestros 12 años de actividad. El 1 de febrero de 1997 salimos al aire por primera vez y desde entonces con cierta regularidad hemos salido al aire. Durante este lapso hemos llegado a tener mucho amigos por todo el mundo. A pesar de pasar también por adversidades técnicas, continuamos. Esta noche a partir de las 22 hs UT en la frecuencia de 6307 kHz nuevamente estaremos activando la banda pirata sudamericana. [y hasta 09, dice en inglés] Saludos cordiales de Cachito http://www.geocities.com/rcochiguaz correo electrónico: radio_cochiguaz @ yahoo.com Casilla de correo 159; Santiago 14; Chile (via Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, 1905 UT Feb 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I just noted a rather weak carrier on 6307.658 kHz at 0030 UT. Perhaps R Cochiguaz, but will need a lot of enhancing before any audio would be audible. 73 (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, UT Feb 10, ibid.) ¡¡Ahora sí!! Siendo 2350 UT encontré la portadora entre 6307 y 6308 kHz (más cerca de 6308). Usando una antena activa de loop TG34 logré minimizar el ruido eléctrico local y mejorar sensiblemente la recepción. Por ahora la recepción no es muy buena, se escucha música y creo que una ID, posiblemente no fuera en español. Ampliaremos (Moisés Knochen, Cuchilla Alta, Uruguay, condiglist yg via DXLD) Bueno, confirmado, era R. Cochiguaz transmitiendo en aproximadamente 6307.5 kHz. Transmisión en AM (no SSB como yo esperaba), recepción pobre, con señal débil y un fading de 3 a 4, en pocos momentos logré tener una recepción aceptable. Luego de las 0030 la perdí. Música andina, IDs en español e inglés, dando dirección postal e e-mail. Hice una grabación, veré qué puedo rescatar de allí. Escuché una mención a R. Piraña. Rx Degen DE1103, antena activa loop TG34, dentro de casa. Imposible usar la antena larga por el ruido (Moises Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, temporalmente de vacaciones en Cuchilla Alta, 0151 UT Feb 10, ibid) Amigos: La señal de Radio Cochiguaz entra en 6307.55 siendo las 0045 UT. 1-5-3-3-1. R-5000, Dipolo "V" (Hugo López, Chile, ibid.) ** SPAIN [non]. Surprised to hear Vatican Radio in the clear on 5965, Feb 9 at 0605, English Bible lesson, no trace of REE relay via Costa Rica which normally collides. But it was back to usual mess at 0612 recheck, with Vat underneath // 7250. Meanwhile I had checked 3350, and that was also off the air --- but the latter is supposed to be off, scheduled only 0200-0600 Tue-Sat, while 5965 is 0200-0800 daily. Just as I suspected, the new program schedule effective Feb 1, at http://www.rtve.es/files/70-13363-FICHERO/Parrilla__5.pdf mentioned in DXLD 9-012, turns out to be another imaginary one! M-F at 1330-1400 UT it shows Fuero Propio – fuero means laws or privileges, so I don`t get what this is supposed to be about. But in fact, Noticias en Lenguas Co-Oficiales is still running in the 1340- 1355 slot as reconfirmed Monday Feb 9 at 1347 in Galician, talking about Mallorca, 1350 into Basque as usual, via CR on 11815, and surely on all the other frequencies relayed and direct (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. BBC SUSPENDS FM BROADCASTS VIA SLBC BBC World Service is suspending its FM programming to the Sri Lankan national broadcaster SLBC from Tuesday 10 February due to deliberate interference of its broadcasts by the Sri Lankan network. BBC programmes and individual news reports in the English, Sinhala and Tamil languages have been blocked by SLBC and have not been broadcast to listeners in Sri Lanka. The BBC noted 17 instances of interference to BBC Tamil and eight similar instances to BBC Sinhala broadcasts between 27 November 2008 and early January 2009. Sometimes whole current affairs segments of BBC programming were not broadcast on SLBC. The BBC expressed its concern directly to SLBC Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe in a series of letters and meetings throughout December and early January. The BBC made it clear to SLBC that such interference and blocking meant that BBC programming was being editorially compromised by SLBC's actions and this was contrary to the BBC's contractual agreement with SLBC. Despite the warnings, last week there were several further instances of interference to BBC programming in all three languages being broadcast on SLBC. There have been three instances of interference on BBC Tamil output, one on BBC Sinhala and two instances on the English language programming in the past 10 days. BBC World Service Director Nigel Chapman says: "We are dismayed that the BBC's programmes in the English, Sinhala and Tamil languages have been interrupted on the SLBC network. We are equally disappointed to see that our programmes continue to be interfered with even after our representations. "We have no choice but to suspend broadcasts until such time as SLBC can guarantee our programming is transmitted without interference," he says. "In order to cover news events in the most comprehensive and balanced way for our audiences, the BBC adheres to specific editorial values that include impartiality, editorial independence and seeking a relevant range of views on any topic. In this way we can meet our audiences' high expectations and maintain our reputation as the world's most trusted international broadcaster." He said: "The BBC has had a very cordial and effective partnership with the SLBC since 1998 – part of a strong relationship with listeners in that country that goes back to the 1940s. We are keen to keep this relationship going provided that SLBC adheres to the agreements we have with it. But at the heart of these agreements is the guarantee that our programmes in English, Sinhala, and Tamil are broadcast uninterrupted. If this can not be guaranteed we can not continue our relationship. "We are prepared to have further discussions to resolve this issue and will investigate any specific detailed complaint SLBC may have about BBC output. So far, no specific complaint has been raised." The BBC's services in all three languages remain in Sri Lanka via short wave; on bbc.com/news, bbcsinhala.com and bbctamil.com via the internet; and news bulletins in English are available via the Sri Lankan commercial broadcaster MBC. Notes to Editors These are the short wave frequencies and timings to hear BBC services in Sri Lanka – BBC Tamil: 1545-1615 GMT (2115-2145 Local Time); 6135 kHz (49 mb), 7205 kHz (41 mb), 9540 kHz (31 mb) BBC Sinhala: 1630-1700 GMT (2200-2230 Local Time); 7345 kHz (41 mb), 9615 kHz (31 mb) BBC World Service in English: Radio frequencies for South Asia. Mainstays of the 24-hour a day coverage (but mainly daytime) are 17790 kHz (16 mb) and 15310 kHz 19 (mb). Evenings: 11915 kHz (25 mb), 9740 kHz (31 mb), 7355 kHz (41 mb), 5975 kHz (49 mb). (BBC World Service Press Office via Mike Barraclough, Feb 9, dxldyg via DXLD) I guess no mention by the BBC of the irony of its decision to emphasize local FM relay agreements at the expense of dropping shortwave and--as a result--losing access to listeners during a time of crisis, arguably the time when BBC broadcasts are most needed? Or are there still sw frequencies in use targeting these three audiences in Sri Lanka? (John Figliozzi, ibid.) See end of article, John (Mike, ibid.) OK. In this case, I guess that speed reading course I took didn't take as well as it could have. But even if not entirely valid for this particular instance, I think the point still holds in general when speaking of the penchant the BBC, VOA and others have had for eliminating shortwave in favor of local broadcast partnerships. My point would be that at least a minimal presence on shortwave should be maintained for just these occurrences. They can always be ratcheted up if necessary. If eliminated, that task becomes exponentially harder (John Figliozzi, ibid.) However, I'm not aware of any language service of the BBC World Service that had been taken off shortwave and then got trouble with its FM rebroadcasts in the target country. Perhaps I miss something, but in all such cases I remember the BBC could refer listeners to shortwave frequencies that were already on air. It is rather RFE/RL who is the big king in cancelling shortwave and then crying out when loosing its FM outlets, even when this is simply the result of a commercial decision by their partner stations. More comments about this BBC press release: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/bbc-suspends-fm-broadcasts-via-sri-lankan-national-broadcaster-slbc-following-interference#comment-827797 (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) Viz.: Kai Ludwig February 9th, 2009 - 22:30 UTC I’m surprised about the wording “deliberate interference”. This term usually describes what is loosely known as jamming. But I understand that nothing happened to the RF signals and just something in the SLBC studio facilities, like closing the fader with the BBC signal and playing something else. This is not jamming but censorship. And it is my impression that it is quite unusual for the BBC to issue such a press release. In other cases they apparently tried to sort out trouble with FM rebroadcasts in a diplomatic manner. Most recently a BBC spokesperson commented on the situation in Azerbaijan in a way that they will try to find out if something can be done about it, rather than condemning it with strong words as the US international broadcasting organizations did. So what does it mean that the BBC choose a different approach in this case but still avoids the c-word? (Media Network blog via DXLD) Kai, You and Mike would be more knowledgeable on the details than me. Maybe I'm still smarting a bit from the BBCWS's negative response after the 9/11 attacks in NYC when it was suggested to them that a temporary revival of shortwave broadcasts to NA might be (have been) in order given that domestic terrestrial broadcasting facilities in the area were non-operational--including the WS's relays through NY public radio and television. If, apart from that judgement, the BBC has better balanced its use of platforms in other regions, making certain of alternative platforms where one might be compromised, then I stand corrected (John Figliozzi, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 7280, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, Sudan Radio Service – Dhabbaya, *0359-0433 Feb 4, open carrier to brief musical opening followed by Arabic ID and opening announcements. Another music segment followed by an English ID and Arabic talk. A woman announcer hosted news program with various remote reports. Poor to fair (Rich D'Angelo, PA, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** SYRIA. Feb. 07, 12085 kHz, 1822z, R Damascus in German via ADR, Syria [500 kW/ 340 degrees], very good signal; YL talking. I stopped listening because of the very low modulation, the talk was unreadable. Best regards & many 73s! (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, SERBIA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4974.8 kHz, V of Russia, in English, with news at 1736z Feb 9 and SINPO 44433. Per Aoki, this is Dushanbe, Yangiyul. Greetings from Portugal (José Pedro Turner, Feb 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [and non]. CHINA, 3990, Gannan PBS, Tianshui, 2312-2323, 07 Feb, Tibetan (most certainly), talks; 25331. 4905, Xizang PBS, Lhasa, Tibet, 1633-..., English, talks; 15431. Other audible parallel outlets were 4920 better, 5240 best, 7385 poor. No sign of CHAD, and an unusually weak China signal (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TRINIDAD. 101.7, 27/01 0039, TRD, Heritage Radio (tent), Port of Spain, OM with discurso em English, "My mother has died, my father has died, they are gone", mx relg hindu ambiente, 35333 99.1, 27/01 0036, TRD, Next (Soca City) 99.1, Port of Spain, ID OM "Soca City 99.1", ads de show with mx soca, OM with fala muito rápida 33322 (Marcelo Xavier Vieira, Itambé-PR, Brasil, DEGEN DE 1103, antena telescópica, @tividade DX via DXLD) Trans-equatorial propagation (gh) ** TURKEY. VOICE OF TURKEY SW CUTS --- Dear all, Effective as of February 01, 2009 VOICE OF TURKEY cancelled following transmissions on short waves: - HUNGARIAN: SW cancelled, continues on internet and satellite - ROMANIAN: SW cancelled, continues on internet and satellite - RUSSIAN: evening show cancelled on SW, continues internet, satellite -- CANCELLED ON SW: 1000-1025z 9560 kHz Romanian 1100-1125z 13770 kHz Hungarian 1800-1855z 6135 kHz Russian -- It's obvious TRT is step by step cancelling SW. Best regards, (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, Feb 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There are also reports around that Russian has been taken off shortwave completely, too. The source is unclear, but this appears to be quoted from TRT's German broadcasts. So perhaps somebody should check out whether or not Russian 1400-1500 is still on 7215. I think it also could not hurt to make sure that the scheduled shortwave frequencies are still in use for all other broadcasts to Europe. At least now, after 2100, something is on: Turkish on 5980, 6120 and 6165, French on 5990 and 6050 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Now I can answer that myself: Yes, Russian just started on 7215. Rather weak here, but still stronger than Turkish on 5980, starting at 1400 as well, meant for Europe but the frequency is way too low at this hour. At the same time English is loud and clear on 12035, appropriate for bridging 2000 km more than two hours before sunset (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 9, ibid.) Re 7215 in Russian, noted lady announcer. Despite the Emirler 20 degrees[Crimea, Krasnodar, Samara, Kazan, Perm] signal is much away of tiny remaining side-lobe to Germany at 310 degrees. I note S=8-9 in peaks also S=9+10 dB signal here in Germany, at 1415 UT. Mail from Dragan is correct, only night show at 1800 UT CANCELLED ON SW: [as above] (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** UGANDA. 4975.97, UBC, 2120-2130*, Feb 8, continuous hi-life music. Abruptly pulled plug at 2130. On late. Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. BBC suspends FM broadcasts via SLBC: see SRI LANKA ** U K [and non]. BANGLA ADDS TO WRONG FREQUENCY ANNOUNCEMENT AND CONTINUES TO BUNGLE --- BBC Bangla wrong frequency announcement appears to be incorrigible. Today Sunday 8th February 2009 the frequency announcement for the extended Sunday Broadcast 1330-1500 was wrong for both the channels. It announced 9435 and 7580 kHz while the program was being aired on 7550 kHz and 9355 kHz. The latter frequency is being wrongly announced for the past three months. 7550 kHz which recently replaced 7580 kHz joins the list of incorrect announcements. They still display old schedules in the web, do not reply to email, do not announce regular shortwave frequencies and there is no way other than by monitoring that you can find the recently added 9430 kHz for this broadcast. I was amused when the 3-month-old neighborhood University Community Radio, Radio JU 90.4 on low power FM would air at unscheduled times and did not know what a "QSL" was. I thought they needed professional operators. BBC Bangla with its incorrect frequency announcements, outdated website postings is shaking my faith on professional broadcasters. I am more peeved because on 5th Feb 2009 in the same broadcast there were two identical reports by two different correspondents - Subir Bhowmik and Amitabha Bhattasali on the same incident - violence at Jalpaiguri. It was just like a copy. Clearly an editorial lapse which adds to the list of BBC Bangla bungling (Supratik Sanatani, India, Feb 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bungling Bangla, hee hee (gh, DXLD) ** U K [non]. Canada, South Africa & UK. Between 1400 and 1500 UT are registered with emissions in English the stations CBC from Canada and Channel Africa from South Africa. Instead of them, only BBC World Service in English, Asian Stream is received with a program emitted also on 6195 kHz and other frequencies (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX Feb 6 via DXLD) WTFK??? This is obviously about 9625 kHz, where we already reported weeks ago that BBC had started via Cyprus, colliding with CBC and RSA. Seems Rumen is getting old tips from DXLD without acknowledgment (gh, DXLD) ** U K [and non]. Winter B-08 of VTCommunications Relays. Part 2 of 2: UNIDENTIFIED: 0330-0400 on 9485 DHA 250 kW / 230 deg EAf Amharic or Tigrinya/Oromo? Somali Interactive Radio Instruction Program, ex Radio Mustaqbal 0545-0615 on 15340 DHA 250 kW / 225 deg to EaAf Somali 0620-0650 on 15340 DHA 250 kW / 225 deg to EaAf Somali Southern Sudan Interactive Radio Instruction, all cancelled 0600-0630 on 15215 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg to EaAf English Mon-Fri 0600-0630 on 15750 MEY 250 kW / 005 deg to EaAf English Mon-Fri 0630-0700 on 15215 KIG 250 kW / non-dir to EaAf English Mon-Fri 0630-0700 on 15760 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg to EaAf English Mon-Fri 0630-0700 on 15360 MEY 500 kW / 005 deg to EaAf English Mon/Wed/Fri 0630-0700 on 15530 DHA 250 kW / 240 deg to EaAf English Mon/Wed/Fri 0630-0700 on 15745 MEY 250 kW / 007 deg to EaAf English Mon/Wed/Fri 1300-1330 on 12090 KIG 250 kW / non-dir to EaAf English Mon/Wed/Fri 1300-1330 on 15250 MEY 250 kW / 007 deg to EaAf English Mon/Wed/Fri 1300-1330 on 15325 MEY 250 kW / 005 deg to EaAf English Mon/Wed/Fri KBS World Radio 0700-0800 on 6045 SKN 300 kW / 110 deg to WeEu Korean 1430-1500 on 9750 WOF 035 kW / 102 deg to WeEu English Fri DRM 1800-1900 on 7235 RMP 500 kW / 062 deg to EaEu Russian 1900-2000 on 5935 SKN 300 kW / 180 deg to NoAf Arabic 2000-2100 on 3955 SKN 250 kW / 106 deg to WeEu German 2100-2200 on 3955 SKN 250 kW / 175 deg to WeEu French 2200-2230 on 3955 SKN 250 kW / 106 deg to WeEu English [what about 0600-0630 on 6045 via Sackville in Spanish to WEu? Just heard it Feb 9; not via VTC but a direct exchange with RCI?? --- gh] Star Radio 0700-0730 on 11875 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg to CeAf English/Local Cotton Tree News 0730-0800 on 11875 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg to CeAf English/Local IRIN Radio (Integrated Regional Information Network) 0830-0930 NF 17680 DHA 250 kW / 215 deg EAf Somali, ex 17695 0830-0900 Trans World Radio Africa 0830-0900 on 11985 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg to WeAf French 1300-1315 on 13745 KIG 250 kW / 030 deg to EaAf Afar Fri/Sat 1730-1800 on 9885 DHA 250 kW / 230 deg to EaAf Tigrinya Sat-Thu 1730-1800 on 9745 DHA 250 kW / 230 deg to EaAf Oromo Fri 1800-1845 on 9590 DHA 250 kW / 225 deg to EaAf Amharic Radio República 1100-1200 on 6100 SAC 250 kW / 227 deg to Cuba Spanish Mon-Fri 2200-2300 on 11835 SAC 250 kW / 227 deg to Cuba Spanish Sat/Sun 2300-2400 on 11835 SAC 250 kW / 227 deg to Cuba Spanish Daily 0000-0200 on 9785 SAC 250 kW / 227 deg to Cuba Spanish Daily 0500-0600 on 6010 RMP 500 kW / 285 deg to Cuba Spanish Sun/Mon [!these were canceled months ago [except 6100?] and 6010 never showed up --- making us wonder what else in this VTC sked is totally outdated -gh] Eternal Good News 1130-1145 on 15525 DHA 250 kW / 085 deg to SoAs English Fri Radio Taiwan International 1200-1300 on 9750 WOF 035 kW / 102 deg to WeEu English Fri DRM 1900-2000 on 3955 SKN 250 kW / 106 deg to WeEu German 1900-2000 on 3985 SKN 250 kW / 175 deg to WeEu French Democratic Voice of Burma in Burmese: 1300-1400 on 11880 T8WH100 kW / 270 deg to SEAs Burmese Radio New Zealand International 1400-1430 on 9750 WOF 035 kW / 102 deg to WeEu English Sat DRM Free North Korea Radio 1100-1200 on 7460 TAC 100 kW / 060 deg to KRE Korean 1400-1600 on 7585 TAC 100 kW / 060 deg to KRE Korean 1900-2100 on 7530 ERV 300 kW / 065 deg to KRE Korean CMI Voice of Wilderness 1200-1300 on 9320 DB 300 kW / 070 deg to KRE Korean 1300-1400 on 9830 ERV 300 kW / 065 deg to KRE Korean 1400-1500 on 9965 T8WH100 kW / 318 deg to KRE Korean 2000-2100 NF 5955 NAU 250 kW / 048 deg to KRE Korean Sun, ex 7265 Radio Free Chosun 1200-1300 on 7550 TAI 100 kW / 002 deg to KRE Korean 1200-1300 on 11560 TAC 100 kW / 060 deg to KRE Korean 1545-1615 on 9970 ERV 300 kW / 065 deg to KRE Korean North Korea Reform Radio 1300-1330 on 9965 TAI 100 kW / 002 deg to KRE Korean 1330-1400 on 9365 DB 300 kW / 070 deg to KRE Korean Voice of Free Radio 1300-1330 on 9365 DB 300 kW / 070 deg to KRE Korean 1600-1630 on 7530 TAC 100 kW / 060 deg to KRE Korean Open Radio for North Korea 1300-1400 on 7515 TAC 100 kW / 060 deg to KRE Korean 2100-2200 on 9950 ERV 300 kW / 065 deg to KRE Korean Furusato no Kaze/Wind of Hometown 1330-1400 on 9965 TAI 100 kW / 002 deg to KRE Japanese 1430-1500 on 9880 DRW 250 kW / 003 deg to KRE Japanese 1600-1630 on 9780 TAI 250 kW / 045 deg to KRE Japanese JSR Shiokaze 1400-1430 NF 5985 YAM 100 kW / 280 deg to KRE Jap/Kor/En/Ch, ex 5910 2030-2100 NF 5965 YAM 100 kW / 280 deg to KRE Jap/Kor/En/Ch, ex 6045 [is no one paying attention to DXLD? Went back to 5910 last week - gh] Nippon no Kaze 1500-1530 on 9690 DRW 250 kW / 003 deg to KRE Korean 1530-1600 on 9965 T8WH100 kW / 318 deg to KRE Korean 1700-1730 on 9820 TAI 100 kW / 002 deg to KRE Korean HCJB Global 1700-1730 on 9805 RMP 500 kW / 080 deg to EaEu Russian 2100-2145 on 12025 SAC 250 kW / 073 deg to NoAf Arabic SW Radio Africa 1700-1900 on 4880 MEY 100 kW / 005 deg to SoAf English 1800-1900 on 12035 WOF 300 kW / 152 deg to SoAf English [not 1700-?] Eglise du Christ 1900-1930 on 7260 SKN 250 kW / 175 deg to NoAf French Thu Demitse Tewahedo 1900-2000 on 13730 HRA 250 kW / 075 deg to EaAf Amharic Mon Voice of Biafra International 2000-2100 on 15665 HRI 250 kW / 087 deg to WeAf English Fri Cyprus Broadcasting Corporation 2215-2245 on 6180 CYP 250 kW / 314 deg to SEEu Greek Fri-Sun 2215-2245 on 7210 CYP 300 kW / 314 deg to SEEu Greek Fri-Sun 2215-2245 on 9760 CYP 250 kW / 315 deg to SEEu Greek Fri-Sun (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Feb 9 via DXLD) ** U K [non]. BFN/BFBS: see GERMANY ** U S A. BBG CLAIMS TITLE AS THE WORST PLACE TO WORK IN GOVERNMENT DATELINE: Washington, D.C., 01/23/09. AFGE Local 1812 has obtained a copy of the Office of Personnel Management's (OPM) ranking of government agencies which included the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) based on the results of the 2008 Human Capital Resources survey. The BBG ranked dead last on three of the four categories the OPM measures in its survey. Finishing second to last in one category prevented an atrocious clean sweep of the four categories measuring the effectiveness of management at the BBG. For the category of Leadership and Knowledge Management the BBG finished dead last. For the category of Results-Oriented Performance Culture the BBG finished dead last. For the category of Talent Management the BBG finished dead last. For the category of Job Satisfaction the BBG finished next to dead last. Congratulations to the managers and supervisors of the BBG and its entities as winners of the title of the Worst Place to Work in Government. Next the Union needs to find out how many managers and supervisors got awards and how much taxpayer money was spent giving awards to these people (AFGE Local 1812 via DXLD) ** U S A. One of the Greenville transmitters is starting to squeal, à la WEWN, probably exactly the same problem, needing replacement of modulation cards covering a certain audio frequency segment: 15330, Feb 9 at 1453 with R. Martí very strong, and jamming not a problem at the moment. So even when it can surpass jamming, R. Martí interferes with itself (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. After 17 hours on 15610 kHz was heard in Sofia a religious station in English and most likely this is the Catholic WEWN in Birmingham, USA. Its registration shows that it broadcasts programs to West Europe from 17 to 20 hours on this frequency. The station has nothing to do with Vatican Radio (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX Feb 6 via DXLD) Axually it does have something to do with VR, i.e. relaying some of their Spanish broadcasts. But M. Angelica does represent a different more conservative faxion of Catholix (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. It`s incredible how phony schedules get circulated in DX publications without question. For example, the latest Conexión Digital has a `complete` schedule of World Harvest Radio including this for one transmitter: WHRI (Angel 6) HORA UTC KHZ 0700-1300 7385 1300-2300 11785 2300-0700 5875 Yet today Sunday Feb 8, I heard 11785 go off the air as usual at 1500 as soon as Hmong Lao Radio was finished. It comes back on at some unspecified hour much later in the afternoon, whenever they have some more real paid programming. Still off at 1948 recheck (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Glenn: Re 9-012, your comment: "It`s already been known as AFN for ages": That's true, but AFN, at least here in Europe, has always identified as the "American Forces Network" and not the "Armed Forces Network". I suspect the former is what AFN will stand for worldwide. The world is well aware that the American Forces are armed :-) (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, Feb 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) After reviewing some webpages I get the impression that at some point "Armed" had been replaced by "American" without communicating this tweak, since the abbr.'s AFN and AFRTS remained the same. Anyway now it is definitely the American Forces Network, run by the American Forces Radio and Television Service (that also has some other products, in particular the free-to-air "Pentacon [sic] Channel"), cf. http://afrts.dodmedia.osd.mil In Europe AFN was never the only network run by some armed forces, since there is also the British Forces Network, later renamed to British Forces Broadcasting Service (BFBS). It started in 1945 via the Osterloog transmitter (later used by the BBC until it had been shut down in 1962), soon replaced by a number of low/modest power mediumwave transmitters near the British garrisons that again where soon replaced by FM. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Continued under GERMANY Well, AFN Europe has been identifying as "the American Forces Network, Europe" ever since I started listening about 1962 - so close on 50 years :-) Programmes (e.g. live sport) brought in from AFRTS, originally on shortwave but later via satellite, identified as "The United States Armed Forces Radio and Television Service", so both versions were already in use, but the fact that, as Kai points out, there is more than one forces network suggests that if they're going to shorten it to AFN, the A will, or at least should, stand for American (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, ibid.) ** U S A. Feb 9 at 2242 noted strong open carrier on 7505 --- no, it`s more like 7505.2. Left a receiver on there for hours, and stayed unmodulated, but weakened a great deal by 0200 Feb 10 when music was audible, the sign-on time of WRNO, which this no doubt was all along. Getting ready to expand programming from 3 hours a day? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5050 kHz, WWRB 0015z, a log already from Feb. 10 since I`ve been writing this message, hearing a superb program of "classic" orchestras from 40's/50's. SINPO 44444. Very nice !! Greetings from Portugal (José Pedro Turner, Feb 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. big band music, Dave Frantz`s favorite fill. Pray for fewer paying gospel huxters! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Re 9-012, NPR: >> Automatically joined network at 0501 --- silence. After a minute or so, non-classical fill music cut in, and then abruptly joined news in progress, voiced by Shay Stevens, http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=2101249 but there was background noise, papers rustling, she blew some lines and may have been out of breath, but doggedly kept going. One can only guess at what catastrophe had happened in the studio. Totally amateurish-sounding. Dirty little secret: some commercial network news on the hour is not live at all, but recorded a few minutes earlier to ensure there are no such problems, or if there are, then can do it over live and hope for the best. Perhaps NPR needs to adopt this tactic << --- From the description I suspect that there was no catastrophe in the studio, other than the host simply not appearing in time and then making the big mistake to run in once she realized it. Yes -- running in is definitely a bad idea in such a situation. Concerning recording the news: Should we really support such practices? But one has to admit that such things as "the optional rigid cutaway at 4 minutes past the hour" are pretty complex for a live newscast. Why do they not simply offer the "affiliates who think 3 minutes of news is plenty", thus are not so serious about timely news anyway, a separate, canned news service, perhaps pushed via FTP into their continuation systems? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 9-012, KGOW 1560: Glenn: Well, we do have choices, and the chance to offer different points of view to a subject. There's nothing wrong with that. There can be many different ways to skin a cat, I'm told. (I wouldn't try that at home. Or at work.) I certainly wouldn't want to play a broadcast policeman role either. As you pointed out, Glenn, it takes time away from other things, indeed. Stations I've worked for have been interfered with in the past and I've been successful with a well placed phone call to the offender. This was in the case of a 125 watt nondirectional station rendering a 5 millivolt field intensity meter reading at night from 300 miles away... It's worked, and I've even invited the offender to call me should something be awry with a client I've been responsible for. By the way, thanks for sharing your DX experiences with us. I enjoy reading about them. I'm not at the point in my life where I can dedicate much time to it, but really look forward to when I will in the future. 73 (Ron Gitschier, Palm Coast, FL, ABDX via DXLD) Re 9-012, KGOW`s `cheating` and whether to say so: I agree that `cheating` may imply intent, but I mean it to include negligence as well. I hold this quaint notion that every station should be totally responsible for operating according to its licensed parameters, without needing any help from the public. I am not in favor of groveling to stations, treating them with kid gloves, lest they stop QSLing or refusing to run DX tests. QSLs don`t prove anything, they are nothing but nice souvenirs, and I can take them or leave them. Mostly leave them: I know I heard the station; why do I need them to tell me so?? With a myriad of AM stations in North America, there should always be enough willing to do DX tests if anyone is willing to arrange them. And we know how many of those have failed to follow through with the promised QSLs. Note that this instance was on a Friday night, when local stupid ballgames are more likely to occur. Did anyone notice whether KGOW had such a game on earlier in the evening? ``HSFB`` is a snickering excuse for operating day facilities at night at many stations, thanks to lax FCC enforcement. If a station is capable of building a complex direxional antenna system, and running a 50 kW transmitter, it should also be capable of ensuring that such gross mistakes (even if non-deliberate) as running 50,000 instead of 100 watts at night CANNOT happen. It should be no big engineering challenge to design a fail-safe system, so if the transmitter will not power down from 50,000 to 100 watts, for some reason, the default will be to CLOSE IT DOWN, until it can be reset, either remotely or by someone going to the transmitter site if necessary. BUT NO, the default is just to let it run, so what? Maybe look at it tomorrow if anyone notices. Helps the ratings a bit and T. S. for the other stations on frequency which are being harmed. Another approach would be for an alarm system to go off, if anything is wrong with the antenna/power situation, so someone in charge will be notified immediately, and that person will be responsible for correcting it immediately. Is this too much to ask? These are private businesses with potentially lucrative licenses to exploit OUR AIRWAVES, so I have a right to express some proprietary feelings about them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) They're got some series soup! 50 kW+ from 345 degrees clockwise to 43 degrees with the peak of the lobe at 15 degrees with almost 550 kW. Presently they put their night programming on 1480 to simulcast the non-d 100 watts they are licensed for. I doubt if the directional night facility will ever be built as it's beamed into the Gulf away from their core market, Houston (Jerry Kiefer, NM, NRC-AM via DXLD) Dominant also at 0200 with "The Game" ID (Paul Logan, Lisnaskea, N. Ireland, Feb 7, MWC via DXLD) Monday February 9, 2009 1202 pm --- I did get an email back from Bill Whitehead in the Sales Dept of KGOW Bellaire, Texas confirming that the ad I heard at 1957 [EST Feb 6?] for "Gallery Furniture", was indeed KGOW (George Santulli, Lovettsville, Virginia, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. KGIL 1260 --- ANOTHER PLACE TO HEAR CLASSICAL MUSIC ON THE RADIO --- 8:00 AM, February 7, 2009 http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2009/02/another-place-t.html Classical music is returning to the AM radio dial, right where K- Mozart used to be. Starting Feb. 15, KGIL-AM (1260) will devote a four-hour block every Sunday to the New York Philharmonic and the Chicago Symphony. The orchestras' broadcasts will air back to back from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. And beginning Feb. 16, there will also be a classical music interlude from 8 to 9 on weeknights: "Exploring Music With Bill McGlaughlin." During the week, KGIL is a talk station for most of the day, the local outlet for such conservative hosts as Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage and Glenn Beck. But before it went talk and changed its call letters in October 2007, the Mt. Wilson FM Broadcasters outlet was KMZT-AM and featured an all-classical format. Now stick with us here. KMZT-AM was a bomb, which is why station owner Saul Levine abandoned it. What had been a success -- for most of its 18-year run -- was KMZT-FM (105.1). But with the audience growing older and ad revenue declining, Levine moved classical music to the AM side of the dial in February 2007, to turn the FM spot into country station KKGO. With a weaker signal and poorer fidelity, the station saw classical music fans quickly flee, much to the benefit of KUSC-FM (91.5), which became the only full-time classical game in Southern California. Now some classical fare is returning. In a news release issued late Friday afternoon, KGIL described its decision as a response to "popular demand," noting also that the two orchestras would supplement the blocks of Great American Songbook programming that is already part of the Sunday schedule. The syndicated "Exploring Music With Bill McGlaughlin" will replace "When Radio Was," another syndicated show that presented episodes of classic radio series such as "The Jack Benny Show," "The Shadow" and "Fibber McGee and Molly." McGlaughlin is a musician, composer and conductor who is perhaps best known for his long stint as host of the public radio series "Saint Paul Sunday." -- Lee Margulies Photo: Bill McGlaughlin. Credit: WFMT-FM (via Kevin Redding, TN, ABDX via DXLD) Ha, KGIL managed to find a few classical series that are not on KUSC or I suppose any other station in the LA market (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. KLOVE 90.7 will soon blanket Santa Fe & Albuquerque The FCC just granted the construction permit that will allow KSFQ Santa Fe to boost its signal to a class C from the same tower 103.3 uses. This will give Christian AC "K Love" Great coverage across the Albuquerque-Santa Fe region (Rick Rose, Jan 17, radio-info.com NM board via DXLD) Nobody cares. Do we really need another? (cue_burn, Jan 19, ibid.) K-LOVE (Educational Media Foundation) is an extremely well run, profitable radio business that has two very well programmed formats, K-LOVE and AIR-1. Over their long operating history, they have developed a formula by which they know in advance what revenue each of their formats will generate in listener contributions based on signal strength. Sandia Crest = lots of signal = more revenue. They arrived at that full Class C channel through a series of ingenious applications, moves, and swaps of signals that took many years. Keep in mind EMF operates solely from listener contributions and a few promotions to those listeners like trips, with no impact on the local advertising market whatsoever. Who cares? Enough listeners to keep EMF thriving (ABQRADIO, ibid.) Indeed, ABQ/Sandia Crest/SF already has plenty of gospel huxters infesting the ``educational`` band, from 88.3 to 91.5, and this adds another, while KSFR, public radio 90.7 in Santa Fe was persuaded to swap for 101.1 amidst the commercial rockers. We have covered the nuts & bolts of that switch previously. KSFR should have got its 90.7 site moved from SF onto Sandia Crest, but apparently that was not feasible, and 101.1 is still neither in SF, nor SC nor ABQ but attempts to serve them all from away. EMF? Ha! There`s nothing educational about gospel- huxtering, a misnomer and travesty. And then there`s Lubbock (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GOSPEL HUXTERS ON NEW FULL POWER FREQUENCY IN LUBBOCK, PLUS LOW POWER http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=119464.0 (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) KPGA 91.9 et al. ** U S A. BROADCAST MINISTRIES FEEL ECONOMIC PINCH http://www.latimes.com/features/religion/la-et-religioustv7-2009feb07,0,4907351.story From the Los Angeles Times, Religion News Service, February 7, 2009 Digital podcasts and streaming video might bring Christian audiences inspirational messages in the future, but they aren't bringing in the cash that broadcast ministries need to weather a painful economy. To make ends meet, religious broadcasters are tightening their belts and going back to basics. That means sticking with time-tested formulas, postponing innovations and counting on loyal (largely senior) audiences to keep donating even when it hurts. Whether they depend on donors, advertising dollars or a combination of the two, mass media ministries are feeling the recession squeeze: * Christian radio giant Salem Communications sold four stations, slashed 10% of its workforce and trimmed 5% off all salaries. * Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the nation's largest Christian TV network, has laid off workers and scrambled to fill programming holes as T.D. Jakes, Joyce Meyer and other ministries cut costs by producing fewer shows. * Focus on the Family, which has produced James Dobson's radio show since 1977, has eliminated about 450 jobs since 2004. "The industry is at a crossroads," says Paul Creasman, associate professor of communications at Southern Wesleyan University in Central, S.C. "The audience is dwindling, and they have to figure out what to do. But the Web is not the answer because older audiences don't use the Internet . . . and younger audiences will go to the Web for content, but they'll probably be less likely to donate." (via Kevin Redding, TN, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. ANOTHER RIGHT-WING CONSPIRACY IN WASHINGTON? Sunday, February 8, 2009; B08 If you're looking for a break from those conservative voices that dominate talk radio, take time out today to listen to local station OBAMA 1260 AM. You'll hear the progressive voices of Stephanie Miller, Ed Schultz, Lionel -- or, during morning drive, my own "Bill Press Show" -- providing welcome relief from the constant Obama-bashing by Rush Limbaugh and others. Unfortunately, today's the last day you'll be able to do so. As reported by The Post [Style, Feb. 2], Dan Snyder's Red Zebra Broadcasting Co., owner of OBAMA 1260, has announced plans to jettison all progressive talk and replace it with pre-recorded financial advice programming. The commercial use of public airwaves is supposed to reflect the diversity of the local community, but that's not how it works in Washington. On the AM dial, WMAL (630) features wall-to-wall conservative talk. So do stations WTNT (570) and WHFS (1580). For the past two years, OBAMA 1260 -- even with a weak signal that cannot be heard in downtown Washington -- was the exception. No longer. Starting tomorrow, our nation's capital, where Democrats control the House, the Senate and the White House, and where Democrats outnumber Republicans 10 to one, will have no progressive voices on the air. Or maybe one. To mollify critics, Red Zebra has said it will add Ed Schultz to its conservative lineup on 570 AM. This means Shultz will be outgunned in this market by at least 15 conservative talkers: Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Mark Levin, Chris Plante, Michael Smerconish, Michael Savage, Andy Parks, Fred Grandy, Bill Bennett, Monica Crowley, Bill O'Reilly, Dennis Miller and Lars Larsen. No matter how good Schultz is, that's not a fair contest -- nor a fair use of the public airwaves. Unfortunately, what's happening in Washington reflects what has happened in one city after another across the country. In Miami, Clear Channel recently dumped progressive talk for sports: Clear Channel stations made the same move in San Diego and Cincinnati. Sacramento abandoned progressive talk for gospel music. In fact, according to a study released by the Center for American Progress and Free Press, there are nine hours of conservative talk for every one hour of progressive talk. Why? Station owners complain they can't get good ratings or make any money with progressive talk, but that's nonsense. In Minnesota, independent owner Janet Robert has operated KTNF (950 AM) profitably for five years. In Madison, Wis., WXXM, 92.1 FM, just scored its highest ratings ever. And KPOJ in Portland, Ore., soared with progressive talk from No. 23 in market ratings to No. 1. Nationwide, progressive talkers Randi Rhodes, Ed Schultz and Stephanie Miller have proven that, given a level playing field, they can more than hold their own in ratings -- and make money for their stations. In fact, the only reason there's not more competition on American airwaves is that the handful of companies that own most radio stations do everything they can to block it. In many markets -- witness Philadelphia, Boston, Providence and Houston -- they join in providing no outlet for progressive talk. In others, as in Washington, they limit it to a weak signal, spend zero dollars on promotion and soon pull the plug. Companies are given a license to operate public airwaves -- free! -- in order to make a profit, yes, but also, according to the terms of their FCC license, "to operate in the public interest and to afford reasonable opportunity for the discussion of conflicting views of issues of public importance." Stations are not operating in the public interest when they offer only conservative talk. For years, the Fairness Doctrine prevented such abuse by requiring licensed stations to carry a mix of opinion. However, under pressure from conservatives, President Ronald Reagan's Federal Communications Commission canceled the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, insisting that in a free market, stations would automatically offer a balance in programming. That experiment has failed. There is no free market in talk radio today, only an exclusive, tightly held, conservative media conspiracy. The few holders of broadcast licenses have made it clear they will not, on their own, serve the general public. Maybe it's time to bring back the Fairness Doctrine -- and bring competition back to talk radio in Washington and elsewhere. -- Bill Press, Washington --- The writer, host of "The Bill Press Show," is working on a book about talk radio (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) There will not be any Fairness Doctrine. There is satellite TV and Radio. There is internet TV and Radio. There is cable TV. You can watch Al Jazzera. You can watch TV from Russia and China. You can watch the BBC and listen to it here on the radio. You already can hear and watch Air America, EIB, NovaM, Michael Savage, and every other moron screaming vitriol and polemics at the tops of their lungs. There are too many venues for the news to come out and too many ways to get out editorial opinion. The Fairness Doctrine was a quaint idea that worked when you only got two or three stations. Now on cable and satellite there are as many as 600 stations. On the internet there are literally hundreds of thousands of stations. Surely you don't think you can silence all that? How would you enforce the CBC broadcasts over satellite radio? How would you enforce Radio Havana Cuba over the internet? What would you do with China Radio International or Voice of Russia carried over World Radio Network? The Fairness Doctrine would be beyond impossible to enforce. How many tens or hundreds of thousands of monitors will you have hire to cover all that? If it came back, it would never make it past the courts as it was quashed the first time over first amendment rights. Anyone who ever even remotely thinks the Fairness Doctrine is feasible is brain damaged. Anyone who could ever think it will ever come back has a lower IQ than an idiot. THE DEMOCRATS ON AIR AMERICA AND NOVA M and the people at NPR and PBS surely don't want it. They have said they don't want it. Where the hell do these dumber than Neanderthals get it from to think that it`s even remotely possible to bring back the Fairness Doctrine? It`s not possible to enforce that any longer. Why the hell are Republicans so driven by fear? Is their something wrong with their psychological make up? I'd be more worried about getting hit by a meteor while sitting on the toilet while taking a crap than the Fairness Doctrine returning (Kevin Redding, TN, Feb 7, WTFDA Soundoff via DXLD) ** U S A. Kahn ISB really IS still on the air! http://www.wbdhradio.com/ Go to this URL and scroll down and you will see this.... "WBDH 580 and 1570 proudly broadcast in full independent sideband AM Stereo." All I can say is there it is on the website. They don't appear to be hiding it (Kevin Redding, TN, ABDX via DXLD) Wow, I wish I had that kind of coin to drop on MY hobbies; that's one fancy Part 15 fleapower operation! s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) But WHERE is this? Not a hint on any of their pages that I can see: just ``our community``. Maybe they do have something to hide (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) Yes, but they don't say anywhere on the web site where they are located (Robert M. Bratcher, Jr., ibid.) They're not licensed radio stations. They're a part 15 hobby operation in Chesapeake, VA, if I'm reading the website correctly. So while it's nice that they're amusing themselves by running Kahn stereo, it's not as though they're actually reaching any listeners over the air in AM stereo (or, probably, at all!) s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) That's what I got out of it. If they get out a half mile, they are doing awesome. All I know is that they have a killer setup for putting out all the old radio shows (Kevin Redding, TN, ibid.) Or maybe it`s all imaginary; can anyone within a semimile confirm on air? (gh, DXLD) ** VATICAN. See SPAIN [non]; USA: WEWN ** VENEZUELA [non]. Regular RNV CI program instead of Aló, Presidente: see CUBA ** VIETNAM. HD RADIO TRIALS IN VIETNAM THIS WEEK Radio the Voice of Vietnam (VOV) and the ABU have organised a trial of HD Radio this week. The event, with the rather unwieldy title of “HD- RADIO-VOV-ABU Digital Radio Showcase: Digital Radio Transmission Workshop and Field Measurements in MW & FM Band” takes place from 10 to 13 February. It will trial digital radio HD Radio transmissions using the In-Band On-Channel (IBOC) approach, where broadcasters are able to transmit digital signals along with analogue signals within the existing allocated spectrum. It will also demonstrate the ability to support new digital receivers while remaining backward compatible with existing analogue receivers. The principle objective of the project is to showcase the feasibility and working of the technology of HD Radio broadcasting MW and FM signals. The project aims at equipping the participants with sufficient expertise in the area of simulcasting, helping them in carrying out similar trials in their own countries. Given that the Asia-Pacific region has some of the largest mediumwave radio broadcasters, the ABU believes that successful trials and measurements will pave the way for easy and cost effective transition to digital transmissions. The Voice of Vietnam commenced AM and FM HD Radio transmissions in Hanoi in June, 2008 including multicasting, in anticipation of making HD Radio technology a standard. More information on the ABU website http://www.abu.org.my/public/compiled/p1059.htm?CFID=38382&CFTOKEN=24614564 6 comments so far: 1 Greg February 8th, 2009 - 17:06 UTC I guess that Vietnam doesn’t realize that HD Radio (IBLOCK, IBUZZ) simply doesn’t work, and there is zero consumer interest: http://hdradiofarce.blogspot.com 2 DENNIS JUNIOR February 8th, 2009 - 20:39 UTC Congrats for the trials of HD Radio in Vietnam. 3 Glenn Hauser February 8th, 2009 - 21:54 UTC Blocking and buzzing adjacent frequencies from other countries is axually helpful in information control. If it becomes The Standard, every Vietnamese `consumer` who wishes to listen to national radio will have to be `interested`. 4 Greg February 9th, 2009 - 11:47 UTC Kind of reminds one of the Cold War, where jamming was common-place. Since iBiquity is having a hard time breaking into European markets (they see through the snake-oil), they are going after the less- informed third-world markets: “Digital Radio Wobbles Around the World’ “My personal mission was to warn as many other countries away from casting their fates with iBiquity’s HD Radio platform, as it not only carries a plethora of technical risks, but it may decimate community radio stations as we know them. Fortunately, this was an easy job: the Europeans can see through the snake-oil that is HD Radio, and the general consensus of the workshop was that HD should be opposed at every step… However, this is not stopping iBiquity from trying to break into international markets… iBiquity sees these as ripe markets, where the ‘no-pain, some-gain’ mantra of HD’s biggest selling-point may sway the less-informed… But perhaps the most important thing I learned at the Budapest workshop is that many established countries, which settled upon digital radio transition plans many years before the U.S. did, are now rethinking their own initiatives. The problem is not inherent to any specific technology; it’s due to the fact that no digital radio protocol exists which does things that citizen-consumers see as important enough to upgrade their receivers for.” http://diymedia.net/archive/0608.htm#062308 5 ruud February 9th, 2009 - 12:13 UTC This Vietnamese initiative clearly shows that digital radio is only an issue for state run broadcasters; my guess is that in Vietnam they have the monopoly, no other parties allowed on the air. In more -democratic- areas such as USA, Latin America and Europe where commercial stations take the lead, the interest for HD radio is less. Internet Radio would not be a good idea for Vietnam, the option that the citizen can tune into many -free- stations is the government`s nightmare. 6 Greg February 9th, 2009 - 17:34 UTC It’s the same monopoly in the US and UK - the HD Radio Alliance owned stations in the US, and the Digital One monopoly in the UK. In the US, the smaller broadcasters are not part of the iNiquity investors, and they are being jammed off the dial. What is interesting, is that my blog has gotten over 12,000 hits in six months, yet none from Vietnam - I have even gotten visits from China, and other such countries. Vietnam must really have a lock down on unlimited Internet access - a perfect situation for iNiquity’s scam. What gets me, is how iNiquity scammed Brazil, when there are other much less costly alternatives such as FMeXtra that actually work, and don’t require confiscatory licening fees (February 8th, 2009 - 12:16 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA, 11735, R. Tanzania, Dole, 1614-1640, 08 Feb, Swahili, talks, Indian songs; 45444, audio quality seemed restored. (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. CLANDESTINE, 4880, SW R. Africa, Meyerton, AFS, 1834-1855*, 07 Feb, English to Zimbabwe, political songs, "Call Back" program, Vernacular, abrupt s/off; 54433, QRM de nrs. station + Zimbabwean jammer (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Feb 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1700, USA, unidentified; 0610-0622 February 8, 2009. Is WJCC, Miami Springs still running rock music as a placeholder when no brokered Spanish or Haitian kreyòl programming is aired? Tune-in to Steely Dan "Reeling In the Years"; The Beatles "Let It Be"; The Box Tops "The Letter"; Orleans "Still the One" before tuning out. Presumably no relation to pirate Undercover Radio which was active on 1710 and 1720 the night before (which I missed). If WJCC, they used to alternate Spanish vocals between English songs, which makes me wonder who this was. Another station weak underneath with seemingly US English language gospel/preacher (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See CUBA [non] for disclaimer ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ THE RUSSIAN WOODPECKER Glenn, did you see these pix? http://englishrussia.com/?p=1882#more-1882 Antennen är s.k. "Horisont-radar" för missil-övervakning (Lennart Deimart, swedx yg via Henrik Klemetz, DXLD) Yes, I think we had a link to this set or a very similar one some time ago, but those antennas certainly are impressive! (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) RE 9-012, VLF, JIM CREEK Jim Creek originally was on a lower frequency, but it was changed to accommodate "MSK" (minimum shift keying) operation. It has dual antennas strung from self supporting towers on ridges on either side of the valley/canyon formed by Jim Creek. There are drawings of it in at least one of the standard antenna textbooks (can't remember which right at the moment). It was originally designed to operate at or nearly at 1 megawatt, but is normally operated only at about 200 kW. VLF transmitters are currently manufactured by at least 3 companies: Rockwell-Collins, Thomson, and Transradio. There is a very interesting document on the SpaWar website about U.S. Navy solid state VLF transmitter development: http://www.spawar.navy.mil/sti/publications/pubs/td/3122/td3122.pdf (Ben Dawson, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CHANNEL MASTER response about rotors Interesting reply from Channel Master about their rotors. I give the representative credit for admitting that thousands were made with faulty parts. I would think a recall or rebate or some offer would have been nice of them. Still, nice to see them not deny that they had major problems (Bill Hepburn, Ont., Feb 9, WTFDA via DXLD) Viz.: Mr. Hepburn, Thank you for the email. I can understand your frustration. Currently concerning the CM-9521A our problems with raw material vendors is reflected in your time line of bad rotors and this is exactly why we chose to not release over 5000 made with faulty parts about 3 months ago. Since then we have secured new parts vendors and begun building the rotors again. With the rotors that will be available in April you should find the quality of which you were accustomed to years ago. Kind Regards, Adam Long, Director of Sales, Western USA [sic], Channel Master by PCT International (via Hepburn, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING IBOC: see also VIETNAM! ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM: INDIA; KALININGRAD; UK +non VTC SWITCH PUT OFF, FOR SOME DTV TRANSITION TO OCCUR JUNE 12 — BUT STATIONS CAN GO EARLIER by John Eggerton -- Multichannel News, 02/07/2009 07:00:00 AM Congress agreed to move the digital-TV transition date to June 12 last week — but that might be the only certainty in an issue where the seams are most definitely showing. According to Democrats who pushed the change through at the urging of the White House, the goal will be a seamless transition through the next four months, rather than the “bungled” one overseen by Republicans and the previous administration. President Obama is expected to sign the bill, though not before today (Feb. 9). His press secretary, Robert Gibbs, said on Jan. 30 that it was expected the Congress would move the date to June 12. “If that gets to the president’s desk, and when that happens, the president will sign that delay into law so that we might undergo a little bit better planning process to ensure no interruption for people with televisions,” said Gibbs. But hundreds of stations will likely go digital on Feb. 17 anyway, which could prompt the Federal Communications Commission to step in. In implementing the rules, the FCC has said that while stations may still ask to pull the plug on Feb. 17, the commission may deny the request if it feels it is not in the public interest — for example, if all the stations in a market with high analog-only penetration want to make the switch early. So, while the date move was billed as voluntary for stations, in practice it might not be. . . http://mobile.multichannel.com/article/173769-DTV_Switch_Put_Off_For_Some.php (via Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) I checked this morning (and rechecked a few minutes ago) and only 79 more applications have been filed since Friday. Some of them aren't February 17th signoff notices either. I'm beginning to think a LOT of stations are going to stick it out until June. I think we're seeing a bit of a domino effect: - Station wants to sign off on 2/17. - Station's post-transition DTV channel is different from its pre-transition channel. - Station must file engineering report showing its post-transition DTV operation won't interfere with anyone else's analog service or pre-transition DTV. - This condition can't be met, (the station WOULD interfere with someone) or the station is low-band VHF and the cost to keep its analog transmitter on another four months is cheaper than the cost of hiring an engineering firm to prepare the report. (or the engineering firm tells them there's no way the report could be prepared by midnight tonight...) - Other stations in the market decide they can't afford to drop their analog signal if some of their competition doesn't. I think there's also some level of fear of bad publicity if stations shut down their analogs on 2/17 after a number of consumer groups have called for an extension because of consumers not being ready. Stations are afraid they'll be called on the carpet for being stingy. -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, Feb 9, WTFDA via DXLD) Can they do this ? Switch before the extended date ? (Andy O`Brien, NY, Feb 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGST) Maybe. Perhaps. Who knows? At any rate, I think we'll know for certain by the end of this week which stations that already filed to shut off analog by next week will be permitted to do so. The stations that really want to kill it now must update the FCC before midnight tonight EST and then the FCC will review and decide which will be permitted and which will be required to continue analog operations. 73, de (Nate Bargmann, KS, ibid.) MAJOR NETWORK O&O STATIONS WON'T SHUT OFF ANALOG UNTIL JUNE 12 o "TV stations owned and operated ["O&O"] by ABC, CBS, Fox & NBC/Telemundo will not shut off their analog signals until the new June 12 DTV transition date...." (NAB Smart Brief, 2/6/09) o "All of the major network O&Os have committed to stay on through June 12, that would include KNBC/KWHY, KCBS, KABC, and KTTV/KCOP, at least [in the Los Angeles area]." (FCC source) (CGC Communicator Feb 9 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) TRACKING THE PATH TO DIGITAL TRANSITION DELAY --- GOVERNMENT EFFORT BOILS DOWN TO TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE --- By Ira Teinowitz In the end, a bad brew of poor planning and politics led Congress to delay the nation’s transition to all-digital television signals by three months to June 12. In the poor planning column: An underfunded coupon program to help pay for analog converter boxes; public outreach in some markets that raised concerns about whether the switch could be accomplished without a big disruption; and too little effort, too late by government agencies to deal with consumer confusion. . . http://www.tvweek.com/news/2009/02/tracking_the_path_to_digital_t.php (via NAB Smartbrief Feb 8 via DXLD) see also OKLAHOMA NEW ZEALAND HD RADIO RECEIVED IN AUSTRALIA Hi All, One of the Aussies has received HD radio over his Sony, much to his surprise. Curtis Sadowski [viz.:] Subject: [ICDX] NZ tropo- 8/2/09 including HD Lock! Hi all, Intense tropo to NZ noted throughout the day, peaking at approx. 1300 AEDT [0200 UT]. The following locations were received; * Kaitaia- 95.2, 96.0, 97.6, 101.2. * Whangerei- 89.0, 90.0, 91.6, 93.2, 99.2, 101.1. * Orewa- 93.0 (right next to local 92.9!) * Auckland up to 106.2, including medium powered "B-Sport Sailing" on 103.0, and 99.8 right next to super strong 99.7. (See below) * Te Aroha- 91.4, 94.6, 98.6, 101.0, 103.4 (3 bars at peak). * Hamilton- 89.8, 95.4, 97.0 (next to loud local 96.9!), 97.8. * Rotorua- 91.1, 91.9, 92.7, 94.3, 95.1, 95.9, 98.3. * New Plymouth- 90.7, 92.4. * Wanganui- 89.6 (presumed w/pops). * Palmerston North- 89.0, 91.4, 92.2, 93.8, 97.8, 101.0 (3 bars at peak) * Westport- 90.9, 93.3 (2 bars). * Greymouth- 93.1, 101.5. Now for the most intriguing part of today's DX - I received an HD lock on 98.2 Auckland. This was while it was carrying what appeared to be syndicated programming from the United States. The RDS ID at the time (just before 1300 LT, 1500 NZDT) was "RBA-FM". A quick search reveals a WRBA FM in Florida, which is the likely source of the program. But why would tuning in the Auckland station (Easy Mix 98.2) produce an HD lock? I could actually tune in the HD-2 subcarrier, which came up as a blank carrier with the XDR generating a "not available" message. My guess is that the Auckland station is taking a direct feed from WRBA, and that the HD artifacts may be preserved. Help needed on this one, from either Bryan Clark or Curtis in the US. If the program is a regular feature on 98.2, then this peculiarity should be observable from Auckland each Sunday. As far as I know, NZ doesn't even use IBOC! For the record, Auckland stations (ZM, Breeze, Classic, Live) were received with RDS at times, with ZM's scrolling song titles feature observable. This stuffed up when the signal got too weak (1 bar on the Sony), and left some peculiar displays on the radio! Certainly a massive day for tropo. Unfortunately, it's a byproduct of the foul weather that has gripped Victoria - condolences to all afflicted by this terrible event. Regards, William Renton [so where is he, exactly?] Don't forget to check out the ICDX web site for TV/Radio sites, ICDX TV/FM DX news, DX Articles, TV DX from holiday locations, 'Out and About' and 'Bytes & Bits' archive computer tips articles, The TV/FM DX FAQ, TV/Radio History (Australia/NZ) and historical sites. -go to http://www.geocities.com/icdx_australia/index.html We are also now on Myspace at the following URL: http://www.myspace.com/icdx_australia (via Curtis Sadowski, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) It seems VERY unlikely IBOC would survive relay via satellite - and I would be surprised if WRBA-FM was the source of a syndicated program. (they just don't look like a large enough station...) According to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-band_on-channel#New_Zealand the NZ Radio Broadcasters Association (RBA) has been experimenting with IBOC. It doesn't mention 98.2 (only 106.1) but it does mention a "comprehensive trial" (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Hi Doug, Great minds think alike, I turned up the same information, not from Wikipedia but a newspaper article from a year and a half ago. I sent it onto to ICDX where it will probably go missing (any post I make that distresses Todd does that). I also sent a separate message to Will, so at least he'll get the information. Many thanks! (Curtis Sadowski, ibid.) / PROPAGATION PROPAGATION / DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ GOOD TROPO OUTING, CUT SHORT BY POLICE CURIOSITY My session was cut short by a visit from a local police officer - curious of course, as to what I was doing at 3.30 am. I explained to him and he wrote my name down and checked my ID, and instead of giving me the total blank look when I described DXing, like the last officer did a few years ago, he was more curious about it. I showed him my log, but would have been far more interested in giving him a copy of Saul's article of about 10 years ago that he wrote about DXing for the paper. Since it's the off-season, I don't carry my DXing stuff with me. I could have ventured out to my more public DXing spot (the local Wal- Mart parking lot... 24 hours!), but with my hands as cold as ice, my annoyance of a police visit, and my car seemingly a minute away from its battery running out (making that I'm-gonna-crap-out-on-you-at-3- in-the-morning sputtering and humming sound when I start it while it dims the lights and barely starts), I figured it would be good to call it quits and wait for spring. Anyone else who uses a car radio get a visit from the police in recent years? (Chris Kadlec, Fremont, Mich., WTFDA via DXLD) I get checked out a lot. They used to think I was a drunk when I was doing my extreme low-speed U-turns in deserted shopping center parking lots. It`s difficult to explain directional antennas to a cop. Until November, I worked on a very hilly street near my home. There are great panoramic views of the San Francisco Bay Area from there, and because of the hills and the turns, every building parking lot has different reception characteristics. At one building, I can usually hear 150 miles to the north but only 40 to the south. At another, I can go 150 miles to the south and 100 to the north. Most have good reception to the east. Anyway, one company owns all of the buildings and they have a security guard who I will politely refer to as an imbecile. I would be parked, and he would ask me if I worked there. I said no, and he told me to get moving. This went on for weeks at just about every building. Finally one day he called a cop on me, determined to get me arrested for trespassing. Unfortunately, I was in the parking lot of the building I DID work at. I went inside to check the DX maps, and when I came out, there was a cop there telling me that I was trespassing. I used my fob to get in the building, take him into my company, and show him my desk. He now ignores the guard completely, and the guard now ignores me completely. Heh heh heh! (Mike Hawkins, CA, ibid.) ###