DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-014, February 11, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1447 Thu 0630 WRMI 9955 Thu 1630 WRMI 9955 Fri 0030 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0200 WRMI 9955 Fri 1230 WRMI 9955 Fri 2030 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Fri 2129 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0000 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 [irregular] Sat 0900 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9510 [exc first Sat] Sat 0900 WRMI 9955 Sat 1730 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0330 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0900 WRMI 9955 Sun 1615 WRMI 9955 Mon 0600 WRMI 9955 Mon 2300 WBCQ 7415 [confirmed Feb 9] Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 Tue 1630 WRMI 9955 Wed 0600 WRMI 9955 [or new 1448] Wed 1630 WRMI 9955 [or new 1448] 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 ** ARGENTINA. 15345.00, RAE; 2236-2256*, Feb 11; in Spanish with EZL orchestra music and some tango music; 2255 IS and IDs before off; mostly fair. 11710.77-.84v, RAE (presumed); 2305-2325, Feb 11; in Portuguese with LA pop songs and tango music; best in USB, poor due to Firedrake/music jamming and assume jamming by CNR-1 programming on 11710.0 (vs. Taiwan); drifted up quickly and settled on about .84. Checked after 15345 signed-off but didn't hear anything here till re-checked at 2305 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. This editorial appeared in the national broadsheet 'The Australian' today praising the role of publicly-funded ABC Radio for its coverage of the bushfire disaster. (The Australian is Rupert Murdoch's flagship title in Australia) "The ABC helped save lives in Victoria on the weekend. We will never know how many, nor will we ever know the comfort the broadcaster provided for people in peril from the fires. But there is no doubting ABC radio, broadcasting from Melbourne and across the state, provided information for people who would not have known what to do as the fearsome fires approached, using its range and resources to receive and pass on intelligence from people on the firefronts. Russell Broadbent, bushfire fighter and the Member for McMillan, rightly paid tribute in parliament yesterday to ABC radio in Melbourne and Gippsland. It was a role the corporation is almost uniquely equipped to play and has filled before. On Christmas Day 2001, ABC radio in Sydney broadcast live coverage of the fires. In contrast, two commercial stations in the city, with audiences in fire-exposed areas were broadcasting pre-recorded programs, and had nobody on duty to advise their audience there was trouble on the wind. The ABC's achievement demonstrates the enduring power of old media. It was radio, a technology nearly a century old, being received on battery-powered transistors that kept a big audience informed -- without an iPod or BlackBerry in sight. Critics sometimes dismiss the ABC as "Aunty", but when the corporation sticks to community service, there is lots of life in it yet." (Matt Francis, Sydney, Australia, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. 17610, extremely repetitious HOA music, 6 notes + 6 notes over and over, Feb 11 at 1455-1458:45*. My guess was Amharic, but Eibi lists this as AWR Moosbrunn in Afar. I wonder how many Afari Adventists they have accumulated so far? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4845.2, R. Ondas Tropicais, 0150-0157*, 8 Feb. Tentatively them with a large group, like a church congregation, singing with comments by man in Portuguese over top. Program cut off suddenly and short formal ID with frequencies, but stomped by ute QRM. Re-check on 9 Feb yielded nothing. They were back on 10 Feb with similar program and same s/off this time hearing a tentative mention of "ondas tropicais" but not sure if that's just part of the frequency announcement! Weak (Paul Brouillette, Geneva, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Real name of this station in Manáus is supposedly Rádio Cultura, with ondas tropicais just being added on to the ID as a slogan or clarification (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CANADA. Hi Glenn, Today's Globe & Mail has a story about CBC considering commercial content on radio. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090210.wcbc0211/BNStory/Entertainment/home (Dale Rothert, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: CBC RADIO ADS NOT RULED OUT: HERITAGE MINISTER Comments (69) GUY DIXON AND JAMES BRADSHAW From Wednesday's Globe and Mail February 10, 2009 at 5:15 PM EST The federal Heritage Minister says he'd consider allowing advertising on CBC Radio to help the broadcaster deal with revenue issues, but the CBC itself denies it has plans to place commercials on its radio services. “Airing ads on CBC Radio is not being currently considered,” CBC corporate spokesman Marco Dubé said yesterday, adding the CBC expects to have a balanced budget for the 2008-09 fiscal year ending March 31. However, speaking to the Heritage Subcommittee on Monday, Heritage Minister James Moore acknowledged during questioning that he isn't ruling out any option that could help the CBC or any other broadcasters, all of which are facing challenging economic times. During the meeting, Moore appeared open to the idea of ads on CBC Radio if the CBC were to show interest, but he made it clear the issue has yet to be raised. “It has not been discussed with CBC and Radio Canada. It's not something that we are looking at doing but we are very conscious of the needs of the CBC, the pressures that they're facing and I would certainly work with them on any option that they think would work to best serve their mandate in serving Canadians,” Moore said. NDP Heritage critic Charlie Angus, who raised the question about ads and CBC Radio during the committee meeting, said yesterday that he is surprised by Moore's comments. “He revealed his government's inclination to support the introduction of commercials on CBC Radio. But he also talked about the financial troubles that the CBC is in,” Angus said. “What are those financial troubles? We know that CBC English television has done some unusual program buying. They have purchased some very big name, very expensive American programs in the hopes of getting advertising return on those.” Angus argued that the hoped-for “advertising golden egg has not panned out.” It's not a problem solely at the CBC. All broadcasters have suffered during the current economic downturn. Speculation among Ottawa insiders is that the shortfall from costly programming and lower advertising revenue at CBC-TV could be as high as $100-million. On the flip side, the extra revenue which the CBC could gain from ads across all of its English and French radio services is estimated to be roughly $95-million. But the consensus among CBC watchers is that radio commercials would spark a listener outcry. Angus noted that CBC had asked during its last license renewal for permission to at least look at the option to place advertisements on CBC Radio. According to Angus, the regulators rejected this, but the question now is whether the government could push regulators to approve this option if the CBC were to ask for it again. “Given the kind of ideology behind the [Conservative government], given the massive drop in revenue that I think the CBC is going to have to admit to, because of the downturn, are they looking to move into commercial radio?” Angus asked. As Heritage Minister, Moore has previously come under fire from Opposition MPs over the Conservatives' much-publicized $44.8-million in programs cut from the government's arts and culture portfolio last fall (Globe & Mail via Rothert, DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. 6070, CFRX, 2358-2404, 8 Feb. Briefly very strong atop CVC Chile. Ads for alternative health products, Chevy dealer, CFRB ID and news at TOH. Although over CVC, this is picking up significant splash from Cuba all the way over on 6060 which is so splashy that it really wrecks an otherwise perfect signal from Spain on 6055 in EG at this hour. This also reminds me that RCI's nominal English to USA on 9755 which has not been heard here since the start of B08 is finally showing itself as a weak carrier. That is the best it's done all season! (Paul Brouillette, Geneva, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CFRX 6070 audible on the west coast --- Just a heads-up that I'm hearing CFRX from Toronto at fair level under CVC Chile. Full ID for CFRB 1010 at 0431 UT. Not often heard anymore. I measured CVC on 6070.012 and CFRX on 6069.987 on my Perseus SDR. If not for CVC, it would be an easy catch! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, UT Feb 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4940, Voice of Strait (News Channel), 1430-1455, Feb 10; usually would have heard AIR QRM here, but today Guwhati was on 4900; during this limited time period was clearly parallel with VOS on 4900. I have found this parallel segment to be a regular feature. 6065, CNR-2/China Business Radio, 1330-1400, Feb 9; "English Evening" program, which has recently been observed with a shortened program (in the past was always 1300-1400); mostly in English explaining about today's Chinese Lantern Festival, also known as the Yuan-Xiao Festival and is the last day of the Chinese New Year's Festival. Perhaps the shortened programs have been the result of these holidays? Business news and program "Studio Classroom Worldwide"; fair. Feb 10 continued with abbreviated program, 1330-1400. 6175. CRI, 0144-0149, Feb 9; in English; mixing with Voice of Vietnam via Sackville. Firedrake/music jamming, 1315, Feb 9; on both 8400 & 9000. Firedrake, along with strong jamming via CNR-1 (//5030) programming on 9530 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 5050, Guangxi Broadcasting Station, (Presumed), Feb 11 2327- 0009 Feb 12, With a decent signal at tune-in, noted a female in possibly Vietnamese language comments. She continued during the period until the station began to fade at 2347. From that point until 0009, all that I could hear was the carrier. According to WRTH, the Voice of the Strait is supposed to be here also during the 2300-2359 hour and to sine off at 2359, while Guangxi stays on the air. The carrier of the station stayed on the air even beyond 0009, suggesting that this was not the Voice of the Strait by its schedule. Checked for parallels and couldn't hear any for either station. Signal went from fair to nil heard for audio (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. Re 9-013, 6210 possible mixing product from Greece: Dear Glenn, I hear 300% Radio Kahuzi; the Perseus and the super Kaz antenna make no mixing product, and the male that talks was vernacular; I know the voice from Africa. My first wife was from Africa so --- Most Gr (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OK, but others should still look out for Greece. BTW, that mixing product is `made` by the ERT transmitters, not anyone`s receiver. A highly direxional antenna toward Congo DR and not Greece could also help to avoid the latter, of course (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Looking at the 6105 listings in PWBR `2009`, as I was hearing the het presumably from XEQM, I found an entry for R. Universidad, irregular, 2 kW, 1300-0600. I`ll say it`s irregular! Like not heard for many years. I can`t find any log of TIUCR in my DXLD archive; what does LADX say? http://www.mcdxt.it/LASWLOGS.html Has a Dec 07 Cumbre log on 6105 of University Network at 0700, but that must have been a typo for 6150! And no `current` logs of it. In the inactive/archive sexion we find only this: 6105.02 CTR * R Universidad de Costa Rica, San José [*1200-1430/2115- 0400] Mar04 X (irr) See DXLDs 4-187 and 4-188 for reports of it having been logged in July 2003 and confirmed later. So it has been off the air for at least 5 years. WRTH 2009 also has it as inactive but possibly occasionally reactivated. Much as I hate to let go of a university station, I am afraid it is time to do so (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. IRCA Crew, It seems that today at 1200 local time 2/9/08 [1700 UT] I heard CMDC-570 programming Radio Enciclopedia Popular. However, at 1830 local time, that I heard CMDC with its Radio Reloj (RR ._. ._.) programming. So maybe it was an operation error as we called at the VOA (Charles WD4INP Taylor, NC, IRCA via DXLD) Many Cuban stations broadcast parts of their broadcast day from one network and part from another. Also, unless you heard a call ID both times, this could be two different transmitters each running its own network. So far as I know there are no real details on most of the Cuban stations in terms of calls, locations, powers, patterns and network affiliations readily available to the hobby community to validate such things (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], ibid.) I wouldn't believe for a moment that is was an "operation error." If a communist government says it, I wouldn't believe. Concerning the 570 frequency, I have heard three different network announcements at one time. All, one after another. I would guess that they run well over 100 kW on the 570 spot. That is a well educated guess, not guess work [sic]. To me, they are just another pest. Charles, I would believe that hear as many Cubans as I do here [sic]. Too many on the AM dial. (Willis Monk, Old Fort TN, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) ** CUBA. Re 9-012: Glenn, Thanks for your measured and polite response to my comments. I didn't mention the question of 'genocide' in my message because, if RHC used that word, they were obviously mangling the English language (as propagandists on all sides do on many occasions). However my observations about the history of US/Cuban relations are correct and I'm glad that you too admit that the US, or rather the US government, has committed 'multiple sins' against Cuba. I'm also, by the way, against the multiple sins that the British government has committed over the years against Third World peoples, either by itself or jointly with the US (i.e. the overthrow of Mossadegh and support for the, frankly, hated Shah of Iran). In my defence of Cuba I could also have mentioned its top-notch healthcare system, one of the best in the world, and the fact that nobody in Cuba is denied the best possible medical treatment on the basis of the size of their bank balance. On that point, at least, the US could learn from Cuba. I honestly feel that the world is at a turning point. Capitalism isn't working and the old model of socialism, as practised in the Soviet Union, etc. is clearly not a viable alternative. Capitalist countries need to become more socialist and socialist ones, such as Cuba and China, need more democracy. I think this is happening, but it's a slow, incremental process, just as it took many years for the US to turn from being a democracy in name only to a real democracy, i.e. that gave civil rights to all of its people. It was nice to hear from you personally. I always read your website and appreciate the work you are doing (Roger Tidy, UK, Feb 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You are too kind about dentroCubans using ``genocidal`` by mistake. Axually I hear this in Spanish, where it seems you can`t say one word without the other, as ``el genocida bloqueo``, and am not sure if I have heard it much in English. Hmmm, my Random House Latin American Spanish/English dixionary does not even have the word or its derivatives in either language. How pleasant (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Re 9-012: ..."When was the last time that Cuba invaded the US?..." (Roger Tidy, UK, Feb 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The answer, Mr. Tidy, is between April 15 and October 31, 1980 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. Radio y TV Martí lucha por sobrevivir pese a las interferencias cubanas http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/02/11/comunicacion/1234351466.html El Gobierno de los Castro neutraliza su señal, pero los disidentes cubanos claman por la pervivencia de la cadena de una cadena incómoda. Los defensores de radio y televisión Martí han reiterado la petición al Gobierno de Estados Unidos de que mantenga la transmisión de radio y televisión Martí, consideradas una agresión por las autoridades comunistas de la isla. La efectividad de Radio y TV Martí, creadas para apoyar a la oposición en Cuba y bautizadas con el nombre del héroe de la independencia José Martí, ha sido cuestionada por la Oficina General de Contabilidad de Estados Unidos. La Oficina ha recalcado que menos del 1% de las personas encuestadas el año pasado en la isla habían sintonizado Radio Martí, que las autoridades cubanas bloquean con interferencias. "Hay que asegurar que continúen estas importantes transmisiones a Cuba, con efectividad", ha manifestado a periodistas en La Habana la disidente Martha Beatriz Roque, de la Agenda Para la Transición, una plataforma de oposición. De otro lado, Cuba acusa a Estados Unidos de violar con sus transmisiones las leyes internacionales y su soberanía nacional. Mientras que Radio Martí puede ser escuchada ocasionalmente a pesar de las interferencias, TV Martí no ha logrado esquivarlas. "Es imprescindible también ser efectivos en eludir o contrarrestar las interferencias del régimen", ha explicado Roque. Los disidentes no son reconocidos por el Gobierno cubano, que los considera mercenarios a sueldo de su enemigo Estados Unidos. Opositores como Roque se han quejado porque, dicen, Radio Martí ya no refleja sus puntos de vista. Radio Martí fue creada en 1985 y TV Martí en la década de 1990. Su presupuesto anual supera los 30 millones de dólares, financiadas con dinero de los contribuyentes (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) CUBAN DISSIDENTS URGE U.S. TO KEEP RADIO, TV MARTI Wed Feb 11, 2009 12:55am GMT http://uk.reuters.com/article/mediaNews/idUKN1032742620090211?sp=true HAVANA, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Cuban dissidents on Tuesday urged the United States to continue beaming Radio and TV Marti [sic, never accented in this article] to the communist-run island, despite recent U.S. criticism that the broadcasts reach few Cubans and have questionable journalistic standards. They said the two outlets, which are directed by the Miami-based Office of Cuba Broadcasting agency and aimed at supporting opposition to the Cuban government, provided a useful voice in a country where the media is state-run. "It has to be assured that these important transmissions to Cuba continue," leading dissident Marta Beatriz Roque said in a press conference in the Cuban capital. "It is also indispensable that they be effective in eluding or counteracting interference by the (Cuban) regime," she said. A recent report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office said surveys had found that in the past year only 1 percent of Cuba's 11 million people had seen or heard the broadcasts, which are jammed by the Cuban government. While Radio Marti can be heard occasionally despite the blocking, TV Marti is virtually unseen on the island. Radio Marti was established by President Ronald Reagan in 1983, while TV Marti began transmitting in 1990. The Office of Cuba Broadcasting has an annual budget of $34 million. The two are named after Jose Marti, a 19th century Cuban hero of independence. The Cuban government considers the broadcasts a violation of international laws and an attack on Cuban sovereignty. The United States has said they provide objective programming not found in Cuban media. The GAO found some Marti programs wanting in journalistic standards of balance and objectivity and that news programming included unsubstantiated stories from Cuba. Cuban dissidents, who are considered U.S. mercenaries by the Cuban government, have sometimes complained that Radio Marti does not reflect their own views. (Reporting by Rosa Tania Valdes; Editing by Jeff Franks and Eric Walsh) (via Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. Santiago San Gil, Venezuela, forwards a 5.7 MB powerpoint presentation in Spanish about the terrible situation the people of this country are in after decades of dictatorship since independence from Spain. I`ll be glad to forward it to any reader on request. Something to bring you back to reality when listening to 5005, 6250 or 15190 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. VOICE OF THE BROAD MASSES OF ERITREA Tem aparecido nos nossos diais, a Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, que é hoje a radio official da Eritréia, baseada em Asmará, mas no passado, quando surgiu, era uma emissora clandestina, que apoiava os grupos de oposição e principalmente a Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF), até a derrota do governo, ocorrida em 1991. As transmissões desta emissora, atualmente, são efetuadas com algumas variações na freqüência, para evitar o Jamming que lhe é aplicado por emissora Etíope, e ela, em sua programação, mantém seu caráter revolucionário, apresentando oposição hostil á Etiópia e ao atual governo Somali. O sítio emissor está localizado em Asmara/Selea Daro e o seu endereço postal é Ministry of Information, Radio Division, PO Box 872, Asmara, Eritrea. Ela realiza duas programações paralelas de emissões, dentro do seguinte esquema: De 0355 ás 0630 UTC, diariamente, em Tigrina e Vernacular, em 7.100 kHz ou 7.220 kHz De 0930 ás 1100 UTC, diariamente, em Tigrina e Vernacular, em 7.100 kHz ou 7.220 kHz De 1400 ás 1830 UTC, diariamente, em Tigrina e Vernacular, em 7.100 kHz ou 7.220 kHz De 0355 ás 0700 UTC, diariamente, em Árabe, Amharic e Oromo, em 7.175 kHz ou 7.220 kHz De 0930 ás 1100 UTC, diariamente, em Árabe, Amharic e Oromo, em 7.175 kHz ou 7.220 kHz De 1400 ás 1800 UTC, diariamente, em Árabe, Amharic e Oromo, em 7.175 kHz ou 7.220 kHz Boa leitura a todos (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Barbacena - MG - Brasil, via Samuel Cássio, @tividade DX via DXLD) ** ERITREA [non]. ERITREAN OPPOSITION GROUP TO START SHORTWAVE BROADCASTS ON 16 FEBRUARY Dave Kernick writes: Eritrean opposition website Asena currently carries the following announcement: “Voice of ASENA will start broadcasting to Eritrea beginning Monday 16th of February 2009, with a frequency 9610 kHz and 31 meter band. The trial radio programme, which will have the Eritrean people and army as its target audience runs three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8:30 to 9:00 PM Eritrean time [1730-1800 UTC]“. This broadcast appears to be courtesy of Belgian transmitter airtime broker TDP, as the same frequency is used for other Eritrean and Ethiopian opposition broadcasts around this time on other days - details here. (Source: Dave Kernick) 1 comment so far 1 Dave Kernick February 10th, 2009 - 16:12 UTC Confirmed that this broadcast is brokered by TDP as it’s now appeared on TDP’s website schedule, so presumably it will be via the same 250 kW transmitter in Samara (Russia) as is used for other Eritrean and Ethiopian opposition broadcasts on that frequency (February 10th, 2009 - 14:10 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR Guwahati was noted on the wrong frequency of 4900 instead of 4940 for the evening broadcast of 8th Feb 09 & morning broadcast of 9th Feb 09. On 9th Feb 09 evening AIR Guwahati was noted back on the original frequency of 4940. However AIR Guwahati again noted on wrong frequency of 4900 instead of 4940 just now 1330 UT of 10 Feb 2009. It is expected on the wrong frequency till 1700 UT till sign off of the night broadcast, if the technicians don`t notice it. If the morning shift technicians don`t check it properly, tomorrow also they may use the wrong frequency for the broadcast at 0000-0415 UT (Jose Jacob,VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Jose, Feb 10, from 1430 to 1455, noted two stations on 4900; assume one was AIR Guwahati (I did hear some subcontinent music) and the dominant one was the Voice of Strait, which during this limited time period was clearly parallel with 4940 (Voice of Strait - News Channel). I have found this parallel segment to be a regular feature. The nice thing about having AIR here is it clears up 4940 for much better reception and would be especially helpful if AIR continued to be on 4900 during the Sunday VOS's "Focus on China" program on 4940 from 1500 to 1525, as usually AIR is a negative factor in the reception of "Focus on China". Jose, thank you for your timely updates from India! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, USA, ibid.) 4900, AIR Guwahati (presumed), 1430-1455, Feb 10; thanks to tip from Jose Jacob (Hyderabad, India), noted under Voice of Strait; off their usual frequency of 4940. 6155, AIR New Delhi (presumed), 0150-0200, Feb 9; subcontinent music and singing, lost after about 0200. Not often I hear them here (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4920, AIR Chennai, 1430-1532, Feb 11; with the absence today of Tibet (Xizang PBS), which is normally fairly strong here, I was able to enjoy Channai in the clear; at 1430 was the strongest AIR on 60m (usually Shillong on 4970 is the best); "All India Radio" IDs at 1430, 1500 and 1530; in vernacular with radio drama; subcontinent music; 1515 seemed to be local news (clearly not New Delhi programming); 1530 switched over to the New Delhi programming ("News at nine"). 4940, AIR Guwahati, 1440-1532, Feb 11; returned to their regular frequency after being on 4900 for several days; QRM for the much stronger Voice of Strait (News Channel). At 1530 switched over to the New Delhi programming ("News at nine"). 4970, AIR Shillong, 1450-1532, Feb 11; DJ in vernacular with call-in show with dedications for subcontinent music; 1512 the usual change over to carrying New Delhi programming (ads, news in vernacular and English); poor-fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Re: AIR DRM 9950 --- Hi all, Tried again last night (Feb. 9) to hear the DRM on 9950, but there was nothing but my usual noise level at S5 on my JRC NRD-535. Despite the first reports, I wonder if the transmitter is on the air? Also heard the 'Faithfully Yours' show, but NO reports about DRM. 73, (Erik Køie, CPH, Denmark, Feb 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: All India Radio Khampur on 9950 kHz --- Hi Alokesh, Sorry, are you with AIR? Yes, today the reception was very good despite the high bitrate. At the beginning there was no audio, so I set my Plotter to watch for Mode changes. When the audio came on, the bitrate seems to have been lower than 20.84, but from then on the reception was great. I enclose two logs; one zoomed log from approximately when the audio came on and the other with Label and other information. Best regards, (Terje Isberg, HED 362, OMNI 73, DIGger, Switzerland, via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4790.02, RRI Fak Fak; 1444-1453*, Feb 9; in BI with pop Indonesian songs; several minutes of nice kroncong music before sign- off. Feb 10, checked here at 1310 to find them already off the air (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 13800, ME music, Feb 11 at 1406; this is VIRI Arabic service via Zahedan, fair signal, much better than Brother Scare via Germany on 13810. Then checked 15545 Sirjan and that was barely audible but seemed // 13800 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. UZBEKISTAN, (NORTH KOREA/CLANDESTINE), Free North Korea Radio, 7585 via Uzbekistan, no data thank you letter with history of their station and the movement via email in 64 days for email report in English. V/S: Min Jae Oh, mjoh6701 @ naver.com Text of letter is below: ----------------------------- Dear Albert Muick, Thank you so much for your kind and detailed reception report. Please have all our staffs thanks and appreciation! Free North Korea Radio is a non-profit organization which is consisted of NK defectors and has been devoted for the dissemination of the idea of freedom and democracy to North Koreans who are deprived of basic human rights, and to raise awareness of the North Korean human rights situation in South Korea and the international community. FNKR started its internet broadcasting toward North Koreans at December, 2003 and now expanded its activity to short wave radio broadcasting for 5 hours per day. FNK Network is consisted of 'Free NK Radio' which delivers democracy and latest news from the world, 'NK Information Center' which provides NK related confidential information, 'NK defectors Rescue Center' which is committed to rescue the NK defectors from repatriation to NK and 'Voice of Freedom Radio' which delivers Gospel to NK people. FNKR will continue to encourage North Korean people to establish for themselves a democratic, sovereign and liberal government. And in order to achieve this historical goal, FNK Network will strive to broadcast more influential, relevant and practical programs and to provide NK's hidden truth as well. Many thanks again. With Best Regards, Min Jae Oh mjoh6701 @ naver.com ------------------------------------------ 73s de (Al Muick in Kabul, Feb 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN. OUTLAWED PKK THREATENS TRT’S KURDISH TV EMPLOYEES http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=166446 The future of the state-owned Kurdish language station, TRT 6, which began broadcasting on Jan. 1, is being threatened by the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK), which has become increasingly vocal about its objections to the new channel. It has recently been revealed that the PKK has threatened Kurdish performers, intellectuals and other individuals seeking employment with the station. The PKK has been conducting propaganda efforts to discourage people from watching TRT 6, which has already become the most popular television station in the predominantly Kurdish Southeast; however, every single employee at the channel has received threats from the PKK, police intelligence has revealed. The same problem was experienced in Europe, where the Kurdish channel is now available via the Türksat 3A satellite. The PKK terrorist organization has released a statement in European countries in which it said watching the channel was an act of “betrayal.” “No Kurd who sees himself as a Kurd and takes pride in this should take part in this channel or serve it in any way,” the statement said. According to various accounts, the PKK has been threatening Kurdish performers who have made plans to host programs on the channel. It has been successful in forcing some performers to back out of their plans, but not everyone has submitted to their demands. Popular Kurdish singer Rojin announced that she had received threats but that she had decided to go ahead and host a show as planned after consulting with her mother. The PKK has been trying to intimidate Kurdish performers, threatening to prevent them from putting on concerts in Europe if they appear on TRT 6. The channel has been unable to find any performers other than Rojin and Nilüfer Akbal to host programs due to these threats. In addition to artists and performers, the PKK has declared Kurdish intellectuals supporting TRT 6, including Servet Kocakaya, Muhsin Kizilkaya, Mehmet Metiner and Ümit Firat, "the Kurds of the state." One of the leaders of the PKK, Cemil Bayik, threatened: "Now those like Mehmet Metiner and Ümit Firat are mumbling something. Just sit where you are, know your place and immediately give up doing what you are doing." The PKK says in its statements that the Kurdish channel is a form of "special warfare" being used by the government and calls on Turkey's Kurds not to watch its shows. PKK chief operative Murat Karayilan, in a similar call to the people of the Southeast, said Kurdish broadcasts were "an obvious game of juggling." In a recent statement, the PKK also said two planned Kurdish studies departments for the University of Diyarbakir and Mardin Artuklu University were also tools of psychological warfare. TRT 6, which has not yet begun broadcasting any live programming, has struggled to hire personnel. Station head Sinan Ilhan told Today's Zaman that this problem has now been "solved, for the most part." It has mostly hired Kurdish-speaking employees from other TRT channels. Heavy criticism from DTP Despite its initial welcoming response to the launch of the station, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) has also begun to express suspicion about the new channel following the PKK's reaction. DTP Mus deputy Sirri Sakik, highlighting the difficulties TRT 6 was having finding employees, said: "They are looking for Kurds with no criminal record to hire for Kurdish TV. A Kurd who does not have a criminal record does not have anything to do with being a Kurd; he doesn't have such a demand [for Kurdish-language television]." He dismissed TRT 6 as a tool of state manipulation. Hasip Kaplan, the DTP's Sirnak deputy, said the Kurdish channel was only an investment for the upcoming municipal elections. Kaplan also said the channel was a failure because it started its broadcasts without consulting with any Kurdish organizations or institutions. 10 February 2009, Tuesday ERCAN YAVUZ ANKARA (Zaman via DXLD) ** LATVIA. RADIO PÚBLICA DE LETONIA DESPIDE A 50 DE SUS 330 TRABAJADORES EN PLANTILLA La Radio Pública de Letonia (RL) anunció hoy que debido a la grave crisis económica que vive este país báltico se ve obligada a despedir a 50 de sus 330 trabajadores de plantilla. Según el director general en funciones de RL, Dzintars Kolats, la reducción de plantilla permitirá un ahorro de 250.000 lates (cerca de 500.000 dólares), informó la agencia RIA-Nóvosti. Debido a la grave situación económica, el ente, financiado por los presupuestos del Estado, se encuentra al borde de la bancarrota. . . http://actualidad.terra.es/nacional/articulo/radio-publica-letonia-3063675.htm (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 5009.9, R. Madagascar, 0205-0235, 10 Feb. With recent reports in DXLD, thought I would make a point to check on this one. Presume this is them, with continuous music. Mostly lite piano instrumentals, and lite vocals. Very much soft jazz or EZL style. No announcements noted. Very weak (Paul Brouillette, Geneva, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5009.9, Radio Nasionaly Malagasy, (presumed), 0232-0310 Feb 10. Sat on this for the rest of the hour waiting for some kind of ID or even a snippet of talk to ID the language, but to no avail. I just heard music during the period. No break on the hour, just steady music until after 0300. Signal was fair however (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5009.92v, RNM, 1458-1514, Feb 10; as many others have observed and commented on, since they have returned to the air their signal has improved a lot; non-stop EZL singing and instrumental music; best in LSB (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA [and non]. Finally something more than just a het around 6050, Feb 10 at 1400, timesignal and ID as R. Suara Islam; it sounded like the next word was Indonesia, but must have been Kuala Lumpur per frequent logs by Ron Howard, California. The het was still there and presumably this audio was axually on 6049.60 as he has measured it. Then only the het and seemingly open carrier for next few minutes as no further modulation audible. Ron says this transmitter switches from the Asyik FM program to the Suara Islam program at 1400, and the transmitter is on the air only irregularly as late as 1540. Per WRTH this is the Kajang site, near Kuala Lumpur in West Malaysia, 100 kW, but consulting Aoki, on 6050 you find only the East Malaysian station listed, 10 kW RTM Sibu, Sarawak, and nothing about KL, very misleading, as Sibu is apparently inactive. This confusion is not helped by RTM keeping registering them both, with Kajang as only 50 kW. Listings agree that the only other transmitters on 6050 at 1400 are Lhasa beamed WNW, and HCJB, neither very likely here that late, but HCJB is certainly dominant earlier in the morning (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, As luck would have it, I was also listening today (Feb. 10) at the same time. Heard the following on 6049.60: Asyik FM via RTM at 1356 with DJ in vernacular ending his show ("Bye") with a pop song; ToH 2 prominent pips, which were heard just after the faint pips from the het/QRM on 6050.0, which was PBS Xizang/Tibet, per DXLD 8-013; played the RTM signature music; full ID for "Radio Suara Islam, Kuala Lumpur" and listed frequencies; started Islamic singing, but suddenly off at 1401 and was still not heard at 1415. Believe the Aoki listings to be wrong, as Sibu (Sarawak) is scheduled for only 2200-0100 and 0400-0700 per Alan Davies http://www.asiawaves.net/malaysia-radio.htm It has been a while since I last heard this change over from Asyik FM to R. Suara Islam, but had certainly expected to hear the usual choral Anthem (Negaraku - Lagu Kebangsaan Malaysia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crY3muiGERs that was always played at 1400 and just before sign-off at 1700, but not heard today (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. Hello again, I am today sending this message via web mail. Yesterday I continued listening to the RTM Sabah [webcast] with several interruptions until I think 2000. The station continued streaming its program for all the time with its general program in bahasa Malaysia. Therefore it seems that they are using now their stream in 24 h basis (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. Slightly wavering het on 6105 in Russian, Feb 10 at 1522, presumably from XEQM Mérida around 6104.8, and thus with a slightly unstable carrier. 6105.0 is CRI via Shijiazhuang site, 500 kW, 315 degrees, but during this semihour IBB Tinian is also listed with VOA Uzbek, 250 kW, 305 degrees. Unfortunately, there is lots more Eurasian usage of 6105 during the rest of the day. So far, this is about as good as it gets for XEQM reception here; hard to believe it`s even 250 watts (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Hola a todo, Les comento que el servicio privado de streaming, esta con intermitencias, por lo que no se puede sintonizar a Radio México Internaional, adecuadamente de momento por la pagina oficial, por lo que de nuevo he reactivado el servicio anterior, y este esta funciononando correctamente, de momento RMI, esta emitiendo a ambos servidores, por lo que les agradecere momitorear la señal de ambos y reportar sus comentarios, en cuanto se reestablezca apropiadamente el servicio en el servidor de la pagina oficial, detendre el envio al servicio anterior, por lo que de momento pueden escuchar en: http://rmi.es.mn http://pepina.listen2myradio.com Gracias a todos por el apoyo. Saludos Fraternos (Ing. José Antonio Martínez Sánchez, XE1A, 1616 UT Feb 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. 5985.0, Myanma Radio, 1424 + 1443, Feb 9; totally covered by heavy jamming intended for Shiokaze; sounded like the pulsating noise type of jamming from N. Korea; is fortunate that Shiokaze moved away from this frequency recently, but is unfortunate for Myanmar; jamming was turned off sometime before 1507. Feb 10 Myanma R. heard in the clear again (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9730.84, Myanma R, Yangon, 1205-1220 Feb 10; I've been sitting on this frequency for the last hour, since 1100, and thought I heard a very, very weak signal earlier? However, at 1205 a definite signal started to fade in with a female in unknown language comments. She continued talking during the listening period while the signal continued to improve from threshold to poor. At about 1213, background music was heard briefly with a second female commenting over music. Finally at 1215 steady music is heard and by then the signal is almost at a fair level here. Inspired by Terry K. (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston, Florida, NRD545, WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. OPEN HOUSE 6 !!! Hi everyone, While we may not so easily travel through that miserable Dutch weather to visit Tom at home, we can take a ride into the past and visit with him at an "Open House." Yes, finally, after so much discussion about Happy Station's classic "Open House" shows, we can now hear one in its entirety - from 37 years ago! During the early 1970's, Tom produced these magnificent variety shows on the last Sunday of each month (in front of a studio audience) - and "what a show!" each one was. Backed by a studio orchestra, Tom interviewed special guests, presented sketches, and of course, sang! I very well remember this particular show when it was first broadcast (in fact, I think I still have a partial recording of it). You are certain to enjoy Tom's special chemistry with the English actress and singer, Sheila Bernette. Especially noteworthy is their duet, "Anything you can do, I can do better," backed by the Piet Zonneveld Orchestra. You'll also get a kick from the sketch he did with Ruth Taylor, who specialized in creating children's voices. They don't make 'em like this anymore... BTW, we should especially thank Martien Sleutjes (RNW Historical Audio Archives), since he is the person credited for making this "audio treasure," as well as many, many others, available to us online. To listen, click here: Open House VI If the link doesn't work, cut and paste the following address: http://content1a.omroep.nl/87cf8a5c926c2308df30385286f99d7c/497dd93a/rnw/mp3/haa/B311897.A1%20Open%20House%20Show%20Happy%20Station%20%201972-02-04.mp3 All the best (Mark Vosmeier, N9IWF, Jan 26, thehappystation yg via DXLD) Many thanks Mark for posting the link to Open House 6. For those of us who are experiencing the cold and often miserable winter weather of the Northern parts of the world just now the Show comes as a very welcome relief. It was indeed really great to hear the Show which I am sure will cheer many who listen to it. I know, it did cheer me. Best wishes to you Mark and all HS Group Members, (Alan Lott, Devon UK, ibid.) What a hoot! I'm assuming that this was recorded on the 27th of Feb. 1972 -- which is about five years before I started listening to the show. But I think they must have aired the duet between Sheila and Tom at another time, because I think I remember that. You're absolutely right, Mark. They don't make it like this anymore. Thanks so much for sharing! (Gregory A. McVey-Russell, ibid.) Hi friends, you can't believe how much I liked it. Amazing to remember the good old times we are taking part in dozens of Happy Stations, from studio 11, from Utrecht, Openluichtmuseum in Osterbeek, ARTIS-zoo in Amsterdam, the Pulitzer in Amsterdam and also the "tea-house" show (once it was on January 2nd)... And off course, this kind of family- feeling and good radio-shows you will never have again... what a pity :-( Thanks again for this lovely recording, putting old memories back (Gerhard Cierpka, Herne/Germany, ibid.) Dear Friends, Really Great. To put it Wodehouse way, CAPITAL. The recordings have brought back the wonderful years of Happy Station and the recordings are with such clarity it adds to the enjoyment of listening to Tom (VU3KTB, SIVARAMAPRASAD KAPPAGANTU FROM MUMBAI, INDIA, ibid.) Hi again, I am glad everybody enjoyed the "Open House" recording. I think that Sivaramaprasad "says it all" by describing it as "CAPITAL." These great recordings by Tom do indeed bring back some wonderful memories. Thank you, Gerhard, for your remarks regarding this "lovely recording" - glad you enjoyed it so much. Did you get to hear him in all those places? If so, WOW!!! Hey, GAR, I think that you have the correct air date for this show, which I believe was recorded closer to the beginning of that month. And I'm sure Tom made good use of that duet by using it on other shows... it was so good. I trust we may soon get a few more recordings from Martien at the RNW archives. I'll keep my eye out for them. All the best! (Mark Vosmeier, ibid.) HAPPY STATION TRIBUTE PROGRAM Just to let you all know I'm putting together a special happy station tribute program presented by myself. If you would like to get a mention in it email me your name and where you live and if you want to give out a message or something. My email is kperron@... [truncated]. Looking forward to hear from you all (Keith Perron, Feb 9, ibid.) Dear Sirs, It`s a great idea that one of the members doing a tribute Programme in the memory of Happy Station. Please go ahead and let`s know where we can hear it (SIVARAMAPRASAD KAPPAGANTU, FROM MUMBAI, INDIA, ibid.) I was thinking if enough people get interested I can do it as a weekly program. Maybe after almost 15 years after it left the airwaves it's time to return. Tell me what you think? I am planning to start the week after this and will upload a stereo MP3 version on a radio site that people can download or listen live on Itunes (Keith Perron, ibid.) Just to let you all know I started a Happy Station facebook page. It's called The New Happy Station (Perron, ibid.) I was very surprised after I put the word out here and on some other sites about shortwave at how many people are interested. So I asked people to send some greetings that I will use on the program. now to provide more time the debut date will be Sunday February 22, 2009. So far confirmed are former listeners from: India 1 Cuba 2 UK 2 South Africa 1 Canada 2 USA 2 Brazil 1 Hong Kong 1 and Switzerland 1 (Keith Perron, Feb 10, ibid.) Restarting the Happy Station Program on a modern sending medium is a remarkably wonderful idea. Essential to the plan is that sunny, cheerfulness that pervaded every show. Have Tom Meijer on the Inaugural Program. Boy, do I miss his broadcasts. His middle name is Cheerful. This is brilliant (Greg from Vermont Kayne, ibid.) Dear Keith, I am quite happy about the overwhelming response you got from your innovative initiative in Happy Station Yahoo Group, to make a Happy Station Tribute Programme. I am waiting with bated breath to hear what you are concocting!!! Ask Tom Mayer to speak a few minutes in the inaugural programme. Please do take care of copy rights of any music you are planning to play! Don't get caught up by the commercial vultures. Regards, (C-VA OR ESSAR BOON, FORMERLY KNOWN AS SIVARAMAPRASAD KAPPAGANTU (before Keith knew me) FROM MUMBAI, INDIA, ibid.) Keith Perron is the peripatetic radio guy who has worked for broadcasters starting with C: RCI, RHC, CNR, and now? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. The February 8th episode of Ragnar Daneskjold's the Pirates Week podcast has a recording of Dr. Benway of Undercover Radio broadcasting on 1720 usb. The recording of the broadcast is about 17:15 in to the mp3. http://shortwavepirate.info/pw/wordpress/2009/02/08/piratesweek-020809/ In the broadcast Dr. Benway mentions 1720 but Ragnar says 1710 when he introduces the clip. After emailing Ragnar he tells me the clip is from 1720, but later on the Doc tried 1710. He also sent me the full clip, 5:46 and about 4 megabytes. If any one like to listen to it, here is the link... http://petestl.com/audio/020609UCR1720.mp3 Ragnar also let me know there are other recordings at http://www.frn.net in the loggings section in The Vines (message boards), look for Undercover Radio on 1720 (Pete Dernbach, St. Louis, MO, IRCA via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KSWO TO STICK TO ORIGINAL DTV TRANSITION DATE Posted: Feb 6, 2009 11:01 PM http://www.kswo.com/Global/story.asp?s=9803807 Featured Videos [linked] KSWO to stick to original DTV transition date Lawton _ You have probably seen the announcements and text running across the bottom of the screen on your 7News programming for more than a year - television broadcasters are switching to digital. After much debate, this week, Congress voted to move the deadline for final switch-off for old fashioned analog broadcasting to June 12. However, many television stations - including all of Texoma's stations - will stick to the original transition date. That means that your 7News station will have our final analog broadcast on February 17 - one week from next Tuesday. 7News sat down with our station management team to talk about why we're going ahead with the switch, and why we're not waiting until June. They say it's because we're ready now, and holding off actually would cause more problems such as coordinating with cable companies, satellite providers, and more. According to a recent survey, more than 99% of our viewers are ready for the switch. KSWO has had its digital transmitter since 2005, and the station is ready to shut down the analog. "We're going to go ahead and transition on the original date, because that's when everything is planned," said General Manager Larry Patton. "The cable systems, the satellite folks, the people at home - for two years we've been telling them it's February 17th, and we think it's time to go." February 17 was the drop-dead date, but stations actually could end analog broadcasting earlier. KSWO is sticking to the original plan. "We're going to turn the transmitter off at 11:59 pm on the 17th of February," said Director of Engineering Joe Bartnik. "At that time - if they're on an antenna - they need to have a set top box." The ‘set top boxes' are available at many local electronics shops if you have an older TV set that is not digital. If you have cable you won't need a converter. If you have cable and are not on an antenna and you have problems, contact your television service provider. "If they're on satellite, and they're on Dish Network, then it's a Dish Network problem," said Bartnik. "If they're on DirecTV then technically they're still on antenna, and they haven't made the provisions to cover them." The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is okay with KSWO switching to digital, but on Friday came out with a new mandate about alerts to consumers and viewers. "For the first five days, we have to run a crawl five minutes of every hour - the same crawl that people have been watching the last month," said Patton. "They're going to get to see that crawl for five minutes every hour, and the last two days before the transition they're going to get to see that crawl for 10 minutes, every hour of the day, all day long." 7News apologizes in advance for any inconvenience the crawl may cause, and if you have complaints or comments, please contact the FCC at 1- 888-CALL-FCC or 1-888-225-5322. If you have further questions about the digital conversion, visit http://www.kswo.com and click on the Digital Wizard icon (KSWO website still posted Feb 10, via DXLD) WTFK? Channel 11 for KSWO-DT, already and forever. Much more under DIGITAL BROADCASTING below (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. For the record, KEOR 1120 Catoosa/Sperry/Tulsa is still `testing` daytimes with automated oldies, limited playlist at check around 1930 UT Feb 11. No doubt the new Catholic owner will do away with that ASAP, but it may be a while till the deal be finalised. Ave, Maria (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. "AGGRESSIVE" RADIO CAMPAIGN TO FOLLOW JAMMING OF ILLEGAL FM CHANNELS | Text of report by official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) Islamabad, 10 February: Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman Tuesday [10 February] called for intensifying government's public outreach and strategic communication efforts to counter extremist propaganda and prevent terrorism. "Pakistan is confronted with a war of ideas - between tolerance and extremism, and between democracy and anarchy," she said while chairing a high-level public outreach and communications meeting held here at the Information Ministry to assess the government's counter-terrorism communications strategy. The meeting was attended by senior officials of ministry, PTV [state- run Pakistan TV], Radio Pakistan, PEMRA [Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority], ISPR [Inter-Services Public Relations], ISI [Inter-Services Intelligence] Media Wing, APPC [Associated Press of Pakistan Corporation] and PID [Press Information Department]. It reviewed government's ongoing public diplomacy responses to the war on terror, conflicts in Swat and FATA [Federally-Administered Tribal Areas], and fallout of the Mumbai terror attacks. "In this war for hearts and minds, Pakistan's vulnerable population segments are exposed to terrorists' message," said the minister. "Our poor and uneducated youth become hapless recruits to their (terrorists') sinister recruiting techniques. Only a well-coordinated and synchronized national and international framework of public outreach and strategic communications undertaken by government departments and agencies will counter and thwart extremist propaganda that represents a major challenge to our country today," she added. During the meeting, officials from ISPR, PEMRA and Radio Pakistan informed the minister about government's ongoing efforts to procure equipment for jamming illegal radio transmissions in Swat and FATA. Sherry Rehman was informed that the necessary equipment will be procured and installed in the sensitive regions in the next two weeks, followed by launch of an elaborate and aggressive FM radio campaign in the region to counter extremists' transmissions. Officials of PTV and Radio Pakistan briefed the minister of their news and current affairs programming plans, specifically focusing on counter-terrorism. They informed the minister of its plans to launch a year-long public campaign for peace in partnership with civil society actors, public intellectuals and culture ambassadors in Pakistan, India, Afghanistan, Middle East, UK and USA. While stressing the need to establish active and regular liaison of all ministries and government functionaries with the media, Sherry Rehman directed to hold communications meeting every week at the ministry where government-wide public outreach efforts will be reviewed and chalked out. The information minister directed constituting a Core Working Group of the meeting, which will be tasked with the specific objective of designing and implementing government's counter-terrorism public outreach agenda. She also directed the streamlining of press sections in Pakistan's Missions abroad to proactively present Pakistan's perspective and position in the international media. Source: Associated Press of Pakistan news agency, Islamabad, in English 1627 gmt 10 Feb 09 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Repeating my finding of a few weeks ago: yes, RRI`s 11970 frequency is on the air for the English broadcast at 1300. Even tho I could not hear it at all the day before, Feb 11 at 1348 it was just barely audible with folk music, and English announcement. But why was the Romanian language service on 11940 incomparably stronger, and despite the DentroCuban Jamming bleeding over from 11930? 11940 is Galbeni, 300 kW at 285 degrees to France 11970 is Tiganesti, 300 kW at 307 degrees to British Isles So 11970 ought to be putting in a better signal here than 11940, as we are much closer to 307 degrees; yet, it`s just the opposite. Is there some unknown disparity between the two transmitter sites, their new antennas, or the real power of the transmitters, both supposedly new ones? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Información recibida de Antonio Buitrago desde REE, con los horarios y frecuencias de emisión del programa Amigos de la Onda Corta (José Bueno, Córdoba, España, Feb 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Puesto al habla con la secretaría técnica de REE me comunican que han programado un espacio antes de Radio Nacional de España "Juntos paso a paso" que se alarga hasta las 6:00. Los horarios y frecuencias son los siguientes: Sábado: 0605 UT: Europa 12035/ Oriente Medio 12890/ Europa DRM 9780/ America del Sur (Cariari) 5965 Khz Domingo: 0005 UT: América del Sur 11680 y 9620; desde Cariari 9765/ América Central y Sur 6125/ América Central y Norte 9535 Khz. Gracias y hasta la próxima, Antonio Buitrago (via José Bueno, ibid.) ** SRI LANKA. Re 9-013: BBC suspends World Service FM shows on Sri Lanka national radio --- Other links (from Google news) http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/businessline/blnus/10101061.htm http://in.reuters.com/article/southAsiaNews/idINIndia-37926220090209 http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2009/02/09/europe/EU-Britain-BBC-Sri-Lanka.php http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7879743.stm http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5glTctwxfjoh42KI5wr5Lc7id40XQ http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/bbc-stops-fm-broadcasts-lankan-broadcaster-slbc (Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?sectionName=NLetter&id=b8a481c5-e288-4350-a8d4-52100811e38e&&Headline=BBC%2Bhalts%2Bradio%2Bservices%2Bto%2BSri%2BLanka%27s%2Bstate-run%2Bbroadcaster (via Dale Park, HI, DXLD) SRI LANKA DEFENDS SELECTIVE USE OF BBC PROGRAMMING ON SLBC Sri Lanka’s government today defended selective use of BBC programming on state radio stations. Yesterday the BBC said it would no longer provide FM radio programming to the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation (SLBC). SLBC Chairman Hudson Samarasinghe said he had received no formal notice of the suspension, which the BBC said would remain until its programmes were aired without what it called interference. But he said SLBC had the right to do as it wished after paying for programming from outside sources. "This is the voice of the nation," Samarasinghe told Reuters. "I don’t have the freedom to air the voice of Prabhakaran who wants to divide the country." He was referring to BBC broadcasts in November that included Tamil Tigers leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran’s annual address, which state media are prohibited from broadcasting. (Source: Reuters) (February 10th, 2009 - 15:25 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** SWEDEN [and non]. SWEDISH MEDIUMWAVE TRANSMITTER ON 1179 CURRENTLY OFF AIR --- Radio Sweden’s website carries the following announcement: “Unfortunately we’re experiencing technical difficulties with our medium wave transmitter in Sölvesborg on 1179 kHz. Broadcasts were interrupted Sunday evening. Repairs are underway and we hope the transmitter will be on the air again as soon as possible.” (February 9th, 2009 - 13:56 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 4 comments so far 1 Dave Kernick February 9th, 2009 - 15:20 UTC Still off as of 1515 UTC. I thought I spied an opportunity for some nice mediumwave DX on that frequency, but all I can hear via the Global Tuners receiver in Hano Bay is a thumping great signal from Radio Romania Actualitati! 2 Kai Ludwig February 9th, 2009 - 23:03 UTC You think there are also other stations than Sölvesborg and Galbeni on 1179 kHz, besides the tiny Heusweiler daytimer…? And no emergency service with 10 kW this time, as it had been done in the past when the 600 kW transmitter was down? Sölvesborg has (or had?) an old 10 kW Marconi transmitter as aux, brought in from another, now closed site in Sweden. 3 ruud February 10th, 2009 - 13:30 UTC I know an almost brand new 300 kW Nautel, state of the art and energy efficient, for sale somewhere in Europe. Maybe the old 600 kW must be replaced, 300 kW can do the job. The investment will be paid back by the energy bill. 4 Anthony February 10th, 2009 - 14:27 UTC Yes, Ruud, BUT the 600 kW power on MW 1179 kHz that SR Radio Sweden International uses at night is needed to get a good reach into most of Europe; RTL/bce at Marnarch Luxembourg Europe uses 300 kW erp (not the full 600 kW erp) for WRN’s China Radio International transmissions in French, German & English and it gives poorer reception at night over many parts of Europe with a worse deeper Luxy 208 fade but worse than 600 kW erp marring it and spoiling it (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** SYRIA. 9330 kHz, R. Damascus, Adra, at 2230-2250 UT Feb 10, in Spanish with fair carrier and weak audio, but, despite weak, fairly intelligible. SINPO 44433. Greetings from Portugal (José Turner, Gondomar, Feb 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 4905, Xizang PBS – Lhasa, 1430-1532, Feb 11; fair reception with the usual mushy audio; parallel to 5240 (poor), 6110 (poor) and 7385 (poor); noticeably absent today was Tibet on both 4920 and 6200 (both of which are normally well heard every day) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ditto here 11 Feb at 1700 UT (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, ibid.) ** TURKEY. The TRT webcasting link for VOT World, including the English radio broadcasts, http://www.trt.net.tr/Canli/anasayfa.aspx?kanal=RDVOT now defaults to TRT1 television, even if you reclick on TRT WORLD. What`s with that? I find my old bookmark on WM player still brings up VOT as wanted: mms://212.156.63.102/RDVOT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. ARE THE DAYS OF ALHURRA NUMBERED? "The days of Alhurra, the United States-based and government-funded Arabic satellite TV channel, might be numbered. The first major sign of terminal decline came when US President Barak Obama chose the rival Saudi-owned Al-Arabiya to give his first interview to the Arab world. ... So who really runs the network? Public diplomacy, which includes broadcasting in foreign languages, fell under the supervision of the US Information Agency (USIA) until its dissolution in 1999, when the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) replaced it in overseeing a number of Voice of America (VOA) services in several languages, including Arabic. VOA used federal employees. Thus, the process of recruitment, employment, promotion and termination was up to federal standards. For Alhurra, the BBG created the Middle East Television Network (MTN), which became a recipient of a federal grant from Congress. Free from the scrutiny of the federal government, Alhurra recruited staff randomly as contractors, not federal employees. Terms of employment, promotion and termination to this day remain vague – hardly a blueprint for a competent working environment. Months later, Radio Sawa, which had replaced the VOA Arabic Service, lost its federal status and joined Alhurra. MTN was changed into the Middle East Broadcasting Network (MBN) and today runs both entities." Hussain Abdul-Hussain, Now Lebanon, 8 February 2009 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) I don't understand why the "scrutiny of the federal government" is a good thing for a news organization that depends on credibility to attract an audience. In this previous post, I wrote about the advantages of an independent statutory corporation for government- funded international broadcasting. Posted: 10 Feb 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) TOWARD THE FORCED MARRIAGE OF NEWS AND PROPAGANDA "Independent observers have concluded that al-Hurra has failed. A study by the University of Southern California in 2008, for example, found al-Hurra’s journalism was weak, lacked relevance to the audience, and was perceived to be biased propaganda. In the past, U.S. Government broadcasting faced the fundamental question of how to balance policy advocacy with good journalism. Effective public diplomacy should always be truthful to be credible, as Edward R. Murrow famously argued, but as a government-sponsored instrument it also has an obligation to help disseminate and explain U.S. policies. The VOA managed successfully to combine those two goals." William A. Rugh, Arab Media & Society, Winter 2009 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Ambassador Rugh cites, in his list of Alhurra's failures, that it is perceived to be "biased propaganda." In the very next sentences, he calls for US international broadcasting to combine advocacy with reportage. He has found the problem, and the problem is the model of international broadcasting that he advocates. Some US public diplomacy experts do not understand how international broadcasting works. The audience for international broadcasting does understand how international broadcasting works. They are seeking the antidote to the propaganda they get from their state controlled domestic media. The audience offers this proposition to international broadcasters: give us independent, objective, balanced, credible news, and we will listen to your station or watch your channel. Try to mix news with propaganda, like our own media do, and we will tune elsewhere. Posted: 10 Feb 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) VOA AS DESCRIBED BY THE PRESIDENT OF RFE/RL "We’d like to take up what we consider the tired old shibboleth of what VOA is supposed to be about. You may have heard it in one form or another. It goes something like this: one international broadcaster claims to focus on local news inside a particular country or group of countries. Another international broadcaster, it is argued, reports on the whole world. VOA, meanwhile, is alleged to report mainly on America and U.S. policy and not much else. What bothers us about this portrait is that it is utterly false and misleading. VOA broadcasts on local news in countries around the world --- and it reports on global developments. Yes, it reports on America and U.S. policy (like other international news organizations) but that represents just a portion of what VOA offers to its audiences." Alex Belida, VOA News Blog, 5 February 2009 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Hmm, I thought, what set Alex off to lob such a mortar shell of a blog post? My first suspect was Jeffrey Gedmin, president of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Inc, who has a history of pigeonholing VOA in such fashion. I knew that Gedmin recently spoke to a meeting at the American Enterprise Institute. I never got around to reading the speech, in part because I suspected he might have said this about VOA again, and I am already suffering sufficiently from dyspepsia. And, so, reluctantly, I looked up Gedmin's speech. Yep... "I think it’s terribly important that BBC does what it does and in my view BBC Persian for its Iranian audience offers a vital window on the world. I think it’s important that Voice of America does what it does. If BBC provides a window on the world, Voice of America provides an American perspective – a U.S. perspective that apparently Iranians want and need. And then there’s what we do – Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and our Persian-language station called Radio Farda – we’re not a window but we’re a kind of mirror and we try our best to focus on domestic news and developments that Iranians wouldn’t need if they had a fully fair, free and independent media." Of course, VOA is more than an "American perspective." VOA also provides world news and target-country news, to Iran, and to all of the nations to which it broadcasts. VOA would not have an audience otherwise. Gedmin also insults BBC World Service by categorizing it as a "window on the world." BBC is also an essential source of news about its target countries, including Iran. BBC World Service is (though it never uses the term) the most important "surrogate" broadcaster in that in provides more news, to more people, about those people's own countries, that those people's domestic media are not reporting, than any other station. In 32 years of international broadcasting audience research, I have never seen a survey in which audiences did not want a mix of news about their own country, about the world, and about the broadcaster's country. Market based international broadcasting provides all the news from the convenience of one station. Only in a centrally planned morass would people have to tune to three different stations to get a complete newscast. BBC has the advantage in that it is the only mentioned station with the stated mission of providing that complete news service. VOA succeeds by ignoring the way it is constantly described and providing as comprehensive a news service as possible. Gedmin also does his own station, RFE/RL, no favors by saying "we try our best to focus on domestic news and developments." In other words, he proclaims the fact that RFE/RL is deficient in world news and does not provide the complete news service that its audiences want. Even if accurately described, US international broadcasting is, unfortunately, still dysfunctional. Its entities have overlapping content, and they compete among themselves for budget, frequencies, transmitters, talent, scoops, and audience. This is one of the main reasons British international broadcasting has a larger audience than US international broadcasting, even though the former has a smaller budget than the latter. Posted: 10 Feb 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) Kim keeps flogging this POV on his blog, and we can only hope some of the new PTBs will pay attention (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRNO`s open carrier was running again on off-frequency 7505.2, Feb 10 at 1515 check, and still at 1704 recheck --- tho it`s supposedly authorized on this frequency only between 23 and 16 UT. But that did not stop them before when ``testing`` 24 hours. Maybe they are `burning in` a new component. Only other stations currently listed on 7505 are: 14-16, YFR via Moldova, 300 kW, 116 degrees, but I am not sure this is really in use; 1630-1730 IBB Tinian, RFA Burmese 250 kW, 279 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. PUBLIC RADIO STATION PLANS TO PUT THE 'D' BACK IN WDET 101.9 Susan Whitall / The Detroit News, Monday, February 9, 2009 Detroit Public Radio WDET-FM (101.9) today will announce changes in programming that will bring back veteran music host Ann Delisi and infuse the station with more Detroit music and attitude. The changes will go into effect the week of Feb. 23. At a time when commercial stations like Clear Channel's WDFN-AM (1130) "The Fan" are replacing local air personalities with syndicated programming that lacks the flavor of the city, WDET general manager J. Mikel Ellcessor says his station is choosing a different path. "When more of Detroit's radio is coming out of town, WDET is drilling deeper into the city," Ellcessor said. "At a time when so much of the world is talking about Detroit, and Detroit is absent from that conversation, the people in the city who are being talked about are like props in a play. It's vital to get their voices back up into that national dialogue." Delisi, who was a popular WDET host from 1983-1995, will once again bring Detroiters a diverse playlist, with local sounds high up in the mix. "There will be music from somebody living and working and making music in Detroit every single hour that she is on the air," Ellcessor said. "That's a promise." For the past five years, WDET and its listeners have been roiled by changes in programming. For years the station served as a refreshing counterpoint to Detroit's tightly formatted commercial radio, with the rootsier sounds of jazz, blues, folk and alternative music filling its airwaves. In 2004 several of those roots music shows were canceled and the station adopted a slicker "adult alternative" format. Then in December 2005, general manager Michael Coleman fired longtime music host Martin Bandyke and accepted the resignation of longtime program director and host Judy Adams. Coleman dumped the music programming and replaced it with syndicated National Public Radio programs. Outraged fans held a protest march and filed a class-action lawsuit in January 2006. While initially WDET's Arbitron ratings perked up a bit after the music died -- the audience increased from a 1.3 share of the listening audience in fall 2005 to a 1.5 share in winter 2006 -- the local economy hasn't helped and ratings have slipped ever since. A Nov. 13- Dec. 10 Arbitron People Meter rating shows that WDET drew a .9 share in that period, compared with Michigan Radio's WUOM-FM (91.7) which drew a 1.4. Last week, public relations manager/former broadcaster Matt Friedman criticized Clear Channel for cutting all local programming on WDFN on a widely circulated media blog at http://tannerfriedman.com/blog While Friedman believes southeastern Michigan's wealth of public radio stations offers more local content than other markets, he would welcome any return of an Ann Delisi-style playlist of music to the mix. "If you look at the music you hear on commercial radio today, it's very predictable and well-tested," Friedman said. "If it's a new artist, especially a local artist who hasn't been on the radio before, chances are they won't be on the radio at all." Ellcessor, who was named WDET general manager in November, started out as a music host himself. Most recently, he worked as executive director of Milwaukee's nonprofit "Radio for Milwaukee" service, where music and "community engagement" were used in tandem to draw in new audiences. Similarly, while the return of Delisi means more music, WDET is not turning the clock back to an all-music format. Ellcessor plans a mix of music and news that he feels is forward-looking and suited to Detroit. Delisi will be part of that. "Ann has changed and evolved over the years, as we all have," Ellcessor said. "She's coming back to WDET because we're going to create opportunities to both guide people through today's contemporary music and to get more people engaged in the WDET conversation." Ellcessor sees the change as an economic stimulus as well. When the station deleted its music programs, many festivals and smaller concert venues lost the only broadcast outlet that played or promoted such music. "Arts and culture can do a lot to help a region to thrive," he said. "For artists to develop a local base of support, they need meaningful exposure. This is one of the many ways you support a region." Other changes to be announced today include a new program that will allow nonprofit arts organizations to get their news on the air, and a switch of some of the current NPR content to programs that will allow more live interaction with Detroit listeners. Find this article at: http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090209/ENT10/902090379 (via Kevin Redding, TN, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. POWER FAILURES TAKE TOLL ON RADIO STATIONS BY BILL BOWDEN Posted on Monday, February 9, 2009 FAYETTEVILLE - Last fall, KUAF invested $70,000 in a new propane- powered electric generator for its transmitter and tower on Stout Mountain east of Brentwood. It was supposed to keep the National Public Radio station on the air through any type of emergency. But on Jan. 26, when an ice storm began knocking out electricity to 157,000 people in Northwest Arkansas, the 100,000-watt Cummins generator ran for a day before it blew a turbocharger, spewing oil from the engine. KUAF-FM 91.3 was off the air from Jan. 27 until a 6,500-watt portable generator was installed at the 1,000-foot tower Feb. 2. "It's very disheartening," said Rick Stockdell, general manager of KUAF, which is affiliated with the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. "It's very frustrating when you're off the air and there's nothing you can do about it." . . . URL: http://www.nwanews.com/adg/News/251914/ (via Kevin Redding, TN, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 9-013, Part 15 stations, WBDH 570 and 1580: I know the guy personally that runs this operation. Quite a setup. The photos online just doesn't even touch the tip of the iceberg. Its even nice having your own movie theater in your own home --- outfitted with rows of theater seats, popcorn machine and candy machine! The oldtime radio can be heard over licensed broadcaster WHRO-FM in southeast VA over WHRO-FM's HD sub channels (Bob Carter - KC4QLP - WQJK414, MidAtlantic Engineering Service http://www.midatlanticengineeringservice.com ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. WHAT CONSPIRACY? TALK RADIO'S ROAR, FROM RIGHT & LEFT Bill Press is a smart and thoughtful liberal who has had a long and successful career in the TV and radio punditry biz. Yet there he was in Sunday's Post bemoaning the loss of "Obama 1260," the left-leaning Washington talk radio station that morphed into an all-financial advice outlet this week. The way Press tells it, the loss of that format on WWRC, which had so few listeners it sometimes didn't register at all in the Arbitron ratings, amounts to an unfair allocation of the public airwaves, even a conspiracy to silence voices from the left. Press is so exercised about this--his syndicated show was, after all, the morning drivetime programming on the station--that he's even calling for the return of the Fairness Doctrine, the long-discarded regulatory scheme by which the federal government prevented radio and TV stations from airing much in the way of controversial political programming. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/story/2009/02/10/ST2009021002129.html (Marc Fisher, Raw Fisher, Washington Post via via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** ZAMBIA [and non]. CVC, 13590 Lusaka, inbooming Feb 11 at 1353 with hyper British-accented DJs (are they really Africans? Does this really originate from studio in South Africa?), discussing hyper-inflation in Zimbabwe, then rap music to abrupt off at 1358:50. Now what? Your casual listener is not going to know to switch to 13650, as I did a few sex later and it had already resumed with same music continuing. 1400 1Africa jingle, hyped-up ``24 hour news brought to you by CVC Media Africa``, axually just headlines by YL with constant music bed, starting with cholera spreading from Zimbabwe to other countries; 1403 a semi-minute of sports by OM including a US basketball score; IDs, URL; 1404 starting show seemingly called ``Ebon-Edge``. Then at 1409 I checked 15745, the CVC frequency via Jülich, GERMANY, and found the same rap crap, frantic DJs, except not // --- well, almost. Turns out to be running about 10 seconds ahead of 13650; 1415 seeking affiliates in Africa who can get CVC programming free with unspecified benefits! Such a deal. 15745, however, was marred by constant OTH radar pulses, centered on this frequency; see UNIDENTIFIED (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. On 549, where two DLF transmitters from Germany normally dominate, there was a second transmission at almost equal strength. The language at 0800 sounded to be a Balkan language - maybe Romanian or similar, which might mean it was the listed 150kW Maiac transmitter in the PMR (local time there was 10hrs). I read that the UKR stations on 549 have gone off air. There's also a 10 kW transmitter listed in Pristina-Kosovo which is slightly closer to my location, but less powerful. Can anyone verify what language is aired via R. Pridnestrovya at 0800 UT? So far I've not succeeded in doing so (Noel R. Green (NW England), Feb 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Possible RTTY/utility signal on 11690.0 kHz --- Does anyone know of either an RTTY or utility signal at or near 11690.0 kHz? I listen to Deutsche Welle via their Rwanda Africa relay every day at 2100 UT and hear this signal on the lower sideband. Could anyone else please please verify this for me? Could it possibly be an image from my receiver? I am using a Drake SW8 with a 48 foot wire antenna. Any help would be greatly appreciated (Denny Dollahon, location unknown, Feb 11, primetimeshortwave yg via DXLD) More like 11687.5. It`s really there, not an image. We have discussed this at some length recently in DXLD with several theories but nothing certain about its source. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 15730-15760, presumed OTH radar, Feb 11 at 1415, causing heavy interference to 1Africa, CVC via Germany 15745, right at the center of the pulsing. Kept thinking OTH would move on, but still going at 1446. The 30-kHz-wide OTHR has been heard at many different spots on 15 MHz, so it`s surprising they would pick one colliding so directly with a broadcaster (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ CONVENTION & CONFERENCES ++++++++++++++++++++++++ FILM ABOUT THE HFCC/ASBU B08 CONFERENCE NOW AVAILABLE ONLINE The General Radio Frequency Centre of the Russian Federation has produced a 7 minute film report about last summer’s HFCC/ASBU B08 Conference held in August in Moscow. The film is available with English subtitles, and shows many of the people who attended the Conference, including colleagues from RNW. You can see the video on this page. http://www.grfc.ru/grfc/grfc/press-center/video-old/index.htm Thanks to my colleague Jan Peter Werkman for passing on the information (February 11th, 2009 - 14:05 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see INDIA; SPAIN ++++++++++++++++++++ IBOC CARRIER PRECISION I know there are some real IBOC experts on the lists and have a question. Are most, if not all, IBOC stations precisely on-frequency? I believe I read that IBOC required extreme frequency precision of the carrier frequency? I am looking for MW stations to help in accurate calibration of SDR receivers in order to measure frequency offsets, and am hoping my memory regarding this is accurate. On a positive note, I calibrated the G313e to IBOC WLAC 1510 kHz, and was then pleased to note that IBOC KMOX's carrier measured exactly 1120.0000 kHz (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, IRCA via DXLD) There are actually two levels of precision specified in the AM IBOC standard. Level I ("network synchronized") assumes the use of GPS synchronization, and specifies that the carrier frequency be accurate to within +/- 0.02 Hz. Level II ("non-network synchronized"), on the other hand, requires only +/- 2.0 Hz accuracy. The standard recommends that Level I precision be used "to support numerous advanced system features", but it is not a requirement. The majority of AM IBOC stations appear to meet the Level I spec and are therefore good frequency references, but there are exceptions. One notable exception is WQEW-1560, which is on 1559.9983 or thereabouts (Barry McLarnon VE3JF Ottawa, ON, ibid.) DTV TRANSITION Re 9-013, OKLAHOMA: ``is 1 pm mandated as the exact time for all stations to do it, if they are doing it?`` Before the DTV Delay Act passed, the absolute deadline was midnight Eastern on the night of the 17th (it is, to be honest, unclear to me whether it was midnight local time at each station, or if stations in California had to go off at 9:00). If stations choose to go off early, I don't see that it matters what time they choose to go off. It was never specified in any of the documents/applications. The filing deadline has passed, and the only two stations in Oklahoma to file were Tulsa's KWHB-47 and KGEB-53. I however have my doubts that what we're seeing on CDBS is final. I suspect there are a bunch of further applications in the queue. As of right now, only 92 applications of all kinds have been filed by full-power TV stations since Thursday -- and a handful of those were NOT February 17th signoff notices. – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, Feb 9, WTFDA via DXLD) see also OKLAHOMA: KSWO Lawton We had some area tropo enhancement the morning of Feb 10, and with the UHF antenna pointed SE, rather than SSE directly toward OKC, in order to favor Tulsa a bit which is N of ESE, the best DTV signal from there, and the only one with a solid lock, was KJRH-DT-56, but could not get enough signal from KOTV-DT-55. On adjacent channels, gain of receiving antenna is surely not to blame. Same situation has been noted previously, leading one to believe KOTV-DT is running much less power than KJRH, even tho from exactly the same coordinates (and therefore tower), as per http://www.w9wi.com/dtvch/dtvch-ok.html But that listing shows the DTV power for KOTV as 840 kW, and for KJRH as only 18.2 kW! Not made clear, but I guess these powers refer to the ultimate DTV channel, rather than the temporary one. KJRH will be on VHF 8, while KOTV will stay on UHF 55. And that means KJRH cannot fire up DTV on 8 until KTUL fires down analog on 8 (its temp and permanent DTV being 10). I fail to see the rationale of Channel 2 moving permanently to 8, the channel of one of its longtime rivals. Of course if everybody adhered to the same date, it would all work out neatly in the end. But that plan has been ruined. The NEW W9WI site with complete listings http://www.w9wi.com/newweb/states/OK.html shows KOTV-DT-55 with STA of only 300 kW instead of licensed 970 kW, while KJRH-DT-56 is 800 kW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BobSmith007, (2/6/2009 8:34:14 AM): What's up with KTUL. Their digital signal basically doesn't work and they are always guarded about comments. I know they are on the VHS side and the signal is different than everyone else`s, but they seem unwilling to acknowledge they have a big problem. Whirled Peas, (2/6/2009 9:44:51 AM): KTUL's digital signal is reduced because the channel they are temporarily using is also being used by another station in Kansas [KAKE 10 Wichita], so they weren`t expected to be up to full power till Feb. 17. Now if that other station delays its move, KTUL is screwed and has to keep transmitting its weak signal. KTUL's viewers also include a lot of poorer rural folks who may be among the last to get converters, antennas, a new TV or switch to satellite, so that's another problem for them (Tulsa World forum via DXLD) This is why we have channel mapping, of course. While KJRH will indeed be using the same slice of RF spectrum that KTUL has used for half a century, viewers will never know it; "channel 8" to Tulsa viewers will be 192-198 MHz (RF "channel 10"), while "channel 2" will be 180-186 MHz. Since 99.9999% of viewers never knew that their TV was, in a sense, already "mapping" channel 2 to 54-60 MHz and channel 8 to 192-198 MHz, there's really no confusion to them - only to the few of us who have reason to care about the underlying RF channel. (Full credit to Doug Smith for first laying out this argument in an interminable thread on radio-info.com a few months back...) s (Scott Fybush, WTFDA via DXLD) Yes, it really doesn't matter much to the average viewer with virtual channels. If you tune to channel 2 and actually get channel 56 it all looks the same. However, it does cause some problems when you are trying to get channel 56 with a channel 2 antenna. I know when KTWU on analog channel 11 turned on KTWU-DT on channel 23 I talked to a couple of viewers in the Kansas City area who were trying to get channel 23 with a channel 11 antenna. It was the only Topeka station they were interested in and they weren't set up to receive Topeka UHF stations. Otherwise it is business as usual. When Topeka stations drop analog on the 17th and go back to their analog channels in digital there should not be a problem in the fringe area as both KTWU and WIBW-TV will be back on channels 11 and 13 in digital and the UHFs will still be on UHF. KSNT-DT 28 has a crawl running saying viewers will need to rescan on the 18th. I will rescan for my wife and daughter but they, like me, normally select stations by channel number and they should remap OK. It will be interesting to see how it all works out. KMBC-TV in Kansas City which is analog channel 9 and the only KC DTV channel on VHF (channel 7) is now simulcasting their programming on channel 31 along with their co-owned KCWE-DT. According to Aaron Barnhart, KC STAR TV editor, KMBC-TV is doing that to have a signal on UHF as apparently viewers are now putting up UHF only antennas to get the digital channels. KMBC-DT will ultimately be on channel 29 which was the analog frequency for KCWE-TV which is now off-the-air. KJRH-DT 56 must be using higher power than KOTV-DT 55 as it is not rare to see KJRH-DT and not KOTV-DT. However channel 55 has been seen several times. KTUL-DT 10 has only made it in once and that was a very brief showing. KAKE-10 was in as well so it had to overcome KAKE-TV. Since channel 55 is out of core, KOTV-DT can't stay there and must move back to channel 6 or more likely another channel. KCTV today announced that they would continue analog operation on channel 5 until June 12. With WDAF-4 staying on that's two low bands that will be on that I was hoping would be gone next week. I haven't heard about KQTV-2 but my guess is they will continue to annoy me for another few months as well. The Topeka stations are still on schedule to drop analog on February 17. Well, I guess I will at least pick up four new digitals next week and have four open channels (23, 28, 44 and 48) to try to pick up some new stations this spring (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I think I was getting a weak DTV signal on 55 which I assumed was KOTV, but I see in Doug`s new list that KOTV is destined for channel 45, which I did not check in case they are really operating there already. {Axually, 45 is blocked by a local analog translator.} However, I don`t see any lower channels for KSBI-51 and KOPX-50, so aren`t those out of core too? What`s the deadline for vacating those? 73, (Glenn Hauser, WTFDA via DXLD) Core is 2-51, so KSBI and KOPX are safe where they are. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Hi Glenn, The highest channel after the transition will be channel 51. Why they selected it I'm not sure. I wish they would have kept a few more channels in the TV band as they are sure crowding them into a small number of channels particularly when channels 2-6 aren't used very much. Channel 45 will be a little busy here with stations in Omaha, Wichita and Tulsa. I think there could be a lot of interference between KOTV-DT and KSNT-DT. I have problems now with DTV channels 21 in Kansas City and Wichita. DTV channel 19 in Wichita often puts pretty heavy snow on KCPT-DT 19 in Kansas City (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) Hi Dave; I had a discussion with this same topic two weeks ago with Steve Rich. I also was sort of concerned that broadcasters were not being as upfront concerning DTV RF channels. Steve stated that he felt Indianapolis (the market we both live in, obviously) was a VHF/UHF city, so most with antennas were already covered. The more that I thought about it, I'm not sure how much I continue to agree with that. My parents in Fortville had a mono-band (VHF) antenna, as did most neighbors. Yes, Indy had UHF stations but my folks (and most others) were keyed on 4, 6, 8 and 13 (particularly 4, as their tower was way South of Indy and Fortville was NE of Indy). If we got 20 and 40, well okay we got 20 and 40. 20 is PBS and the folks didn't spend lots of time there nor did I (I was in school, same kinda stuff is what I thought at the time and I still don't watch much PBS). 40 was Religious . . . I lived next to a church. :) So not lots of time was spent on 40 but we did watch it, we were only 8 miles from their tower (at that time). Now 4, 6 and 13 DTV's are UHF. If someone reconnects their old VHF antenna, they may be disappointed. Steve noted (very correctly) that a city that is totally an analog UHF town and has some VHF DTV's, that may be a problem and I agree. 73, (Dave in Indy Hascall, WTFDA via DXLD) TORNADO BLOWS OFF DIGITAL TV, NOT ANALOG; OH, OH The tornado outbreak across northern Oklahoma City the afternoon of Feb 10, and the consequent wall-to-wall coverage of the emergency by OKC TV stations led me to monitor closely what was happening on their analog and digital channels. Fortunately, Enid only got a brief thunderstorm and a bit of rain at the edge of the axion. At 2049 UT, KFOR-DT-27, KOCO-DT-7, and KWTV-DT-39 all lost their DTV transmissions. Nothing received off the air, while Suddenlink cable in Enid, which picks them up off the air somewhere and converts them to SD, displayed freeze-frames of the last bit of video received. KOCO-DT-7 was back shortly as received on antenna, but KFOR-DT-27 was not back until 2057 UT, and KWTV-DT-39 not until 2058 UT. These were critical minutes as the tornado was touching down in heavily populated NW OKC. Guess what: their analog channels which I get off my antenna as well as I have for sesquidecades, continued without interruption! I could still get KFOR-4, KOCO-5 and KWTV-9 just fine. Suddenlink was not so quick to recover; it lost KWTV-39/9 again from 2102 to 2108, and KOCO-7/5 was often without audio, and/or locking up, while at the very same time I confirmed I was getting audio and video fine on my antenna, via KOCO-DT-7. This was still happening as late as 2345 UT when the worst of the storms had long passed. At some point both KFOR and KOCO started duplicating their main channel continuous weather coverage on their weather subchannels 4.2 and 5.2. At first it was ludicrous to see them going on with their usual loops of highly irrelevant weather info recorded earlier. Since people were being urged to take cover underground, the TV stations also promoted relays by FM stations, the Citadel cluster in the case of KOCO, and Renda in the case of KFOR (or was it KWTV?). That leaves Clear Channel for the other one, but not confirmed. KFOR was the only station with live chopper video of the big tornado as it swept across NW OKC and into Edmond, doing lots of damage. KOKH- 25/DT 24, and KSBI-52/DT 51 were also doing continuous tornado coverage, but I can only monitor so many stations at once. THE LESSON HERE IS, getting back to the DTV outages above: analog is more robust, for whatever reason, when there are high winds and/or power outages. The tornado track was a few miles away from the NE OKC antenna farm and studios of the big 3 stations. Not only cannot people receive DTV on battery-portables, but the DTV stations are liable to be interrupted in such situations. Hey, another very good reason for them all to put off the transitions until June 12, toward the end one more year`s tornado season, but which got a very early start this year. KWTV remains the one committed to turning off analog Feb 17, but they may be having second thoughts (Glenn Hauser, Enid, WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hey, that was an excellent report on the tornado damages and the differences in robustness of analog vs. digital. You must be the only other person in the club who believes analog should be hung onto as long as possible! I have been especially concerned about the loss of Channel 6 audio on 87.75 FM for car radios and the loss of audio for TV-audio radios, as well as the losses of the SAP and Pro Channels. I don't think any digital scheme provides for the equivalent of SAP and the Pro Channel, and you make a good point about no portable TVs for digital reception. I have a five inch black and white TV-boombox converted to digital. It plays next to the computer and gets no interference. I must be a minority of one to have converted a B & W to digital! I look forward to the converter boxes coming down in price after the coupon program goes away, and then I will convert two or three more sets. 73ily, (Bruce Elving, MN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn; Tornado alley, Texas to Ohio does not need DTV to go down at critical moments. Is it just bad luck or something more troubling? Do you all think that this is the norm, to lose DTV in the height of a storm? What would make DTV more susceptible to failure than analog? I'm hoping that it's just that these stations didn't have a DTV backup transmitter but that could be bad. A few months ago (maybe 1-2 years ago) I suggested that Homeland Security pay for one analog, low band V in each market for emergencies. During non-emergency times, it would have a loop of canned programming (DTV transition info, PSA's and such) and in emergencies live updates could be co-transmitted. Each month a local station would be responsible as the broadcaster to co- broadcast with. I love my idea, regardless! :) PS: Maybe years after transition, sellers would make a reverse STB to convert the old analog signal to DTV. :) 73, (Dave in Indy Hascall, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Torrential downpours can weaken TV signals, especially UHF. In the analog world, it would normally mean a bit of extra snow for folks in the Grade B zone, with digital it will mean "bye bye". Don't forget that lightning static that we normally see confined to lowband-VHF can affect highband and even UHF when the lightning is particularly intense and close by. In this case, noisy analog, broken up digital. "The tornad.......heading towar......immediate action requir..........pecially in the towns I just ment...." My advice is to get a NOAA Weather Radio if you don't already have one! Not too many battery-operated DTV's around - and could most people get DTV with a whip huddled in the basement 50 miles out anyway, I doubt it. Last year, at least a snowy black & white analog would probably still be received...or at least TV audio on one of those handcrank radios with TV audio. More DTV power is needed !!!!!! Are you listening, Washington? (Bill Hepburn, meteorologist, WTFDA via DXLD) From my own experience, torrential downpours will wipe out my satellite (only when the storms are ten miles out, and the signal has to cut straight through the storm), but I've never lost my digital OTA stations and I'm nowhere near my market's transmitters. I don't recall even having lightning static issues. If someone needs a TV in a safe room or basement, just add a coax drop that can be used for emergencies. Although, if it's a tornado baring down, the antenna is probably gone anyway. I use a weather radio, which always beats the TV and radio to the punch. Usually I'll put it on "stand-by" so it only activates when a new alert is issued, which I will probably be doing later today. (Jeff Kitsko, Latrobe, PA, ibid.) FCC ISSUES NATIONWIDE ANALOG SHUTOFF LISTS This URL below explains two just-released FCC lists: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-221A1.doc The next URLs give two different ways of viewing the best list published (because it's comprehensive with the stations switching by February 17 shown in red): http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-221A5.pdf http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-221A5.xls Our thanks to FCC staff who worked at lightning speed to publish this information on such short order. Job well done! (CGC Communicator Feb 11, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DXLD) An associated .doc file says 190 stations have already ceased analog operations or will do so before the 17th; 491 have notified of intent to go off next Tuesday (Doug Smith, WTFDA via DXLD) INTERMOD ALLEY Regarding the DTV channel plan below, I believe the Los Angeles market will have the only six, first-adjacent UHF DTV channels in the country: 31 - KTLA 32 - KDOC 33 - KTBN 34 - KMEX 35 - KRCA 36 - KNBC KTBN was recently granted permission to switch to CH-33 completing the "six-pack" channel cluster shown above. For those that follow, or attempt to follow, Charles Rhoads' articles in TV Technology magazine, where he has calculated and demonstrated the intermod problems with three adjacent carriers in a non-linear receiving device (i.e., an overloaded consumer tuner or preamplifier), the intermod possibilities of six adjacent carriers are staggering to imagine. (Name withheld) (CGC Communicator Feb 11, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) FIXING DTV COVERAGE PROBLEMS --- by Doug Lung, 02.10.2009 In December the FCC released maps comparing stations' analog coverage with their DTV coverage. They also offered some tools for filling in any holes in DTV coverage. These include distributed transmission systems (rules adopted in November) and a proposed rulemaking for replacement digital low-power TV translator stations, released on Dec. 23, the same day as the maps. This month, I'll discuss how to read the maps and then look at some of the options for filling in any holes in DTV coverage. READING THE MAPS The maps show the analog Grade B contour and the DTV service area contour. You can find the maps at www.fcc.gov/dtv/markets. The DTV studies are based on approved DTV construction permits for post- transition operation or existing licenses, if they will be used post- transition. The maps use symbols to show cells of population that were not predicted to receive the analog signal but are predicted to receive the DTV signal (green dots), cells where the DTV signal is lost but the same network is available from another DTV station (orange diamonds), and cells predicted to receive the analog signal, but no DTV signal and no other service by the same network (red triangles). Note that many stations have applications to expand DTV coverage still pending at the FCC and the impact of these applications is not shown. The maps are based on the horizontal plane antenna azimuth pattern in the Consolidated Database System (CDBS) and the default elevation pattern. This means the actual coverage of stations using mechanical beam tilt from high elevation antenna sites like Mount Wilson, north of Los Angeles, is likely to be different from what is shown in these maps. The maps ignore Longley-Rice Error Code 3. The OET-69 treatment of Error Code 3 considers cells as having sufficient signal and receiving no interference, even though the actual signal level may be too low or the interference too high to allow reception. Hammett and Edison have demonstrated in FCC filings that ignoring Error Code 3 improves accuracy. As with OET-69, no coverage is assumed beyond service area contours. . . http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/74366 (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ HOLES IN HEAVEN? HAARP AND ADVANCES IN TESLA TECHNOLOGY I found an interesting Documentary Film web site. You can view many of them on line. Here's one on a topic that we are familiar with, H.A.A.R.P. http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/holes-in-heaven/ (Pete Costello, Feb 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ SHORTWAVE INTERFERENCE The British DX Club (BDXC-UK) website at http://www.bdxc.org.uk/ has a page devoted to shortwave interference - click on link "Shortwave Interference from BT Vision Adaptors". The UK QRM group offers advice and campaigns against these devices. "There is a new and deadly threat to our hobby of Shortwave DXing and Listening and it comes in the form of a little device designed to distribute broadband and television signals through the mains wiring. Severe interference across the shortwave band from 3-30 MHz is the effect of these units known as "Power Line Modems" or "Power Line Adaptors". One model in particular currently being supplied to BT Vision customers in the UK seems to be causing the most concern. The models in question are usually made by Comtrend - model DH-10PF. The interference, in the form of a high pitched digital noise, has been noted from such devices 24 hours a day over a wide area, often exceeding 100m... There is also a link to sign the "Save Shortwave Petition" on the Prime Minister's website (UK citizens and UK residents only). (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Deadline for signing the petition is February 11, 3518 signatures so far: http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/SaveShortwave/ (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) The number of videos on YouTube showing the interference that 'Homeplug' type devices cause to peoples' enjoyment of radio listening continues to grow. Below are a selection of some recent YouTube postings. See these at http://www.southgatearc.org/news/february2009/new_plt_interference_videos.htm PLC HomePlug interference to shortwave radio part 1 PLC HomePlug interference to shortwave radio part 2 PLC HomePlug interference to shortwave radio part 3 Related URL's: UKQRM is a group fighting this radio interference http://www.ukqrm.org/ UKQRM Yahoo Group http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/UKQRM/ (Southgate http://www.southgatearc.org/news/february2009/new_plt_interference_videos.htm via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ LUX EFFECT While tuning the low end of the MW band at around 0800UTC on Feb.11 I heard BBC World Service in English on 576 with the same programme as broadcast via Orfordness on 648. The usual signal from the Stuttgart area of Germany was dominating, but the BBC was clearly audible "below". I don't know of any BBC relay on 576, so I assume this was ionospheric cross-modulation (otherwise known as the Luxembourg effect). It hasn't been noted on 576 previously, but on checking my maps I see the signal from Germany would pass over, or very close to, Orfordness. But there was no trace of a BBC signal on 594, where the two transmitters in the Frankfurt area of Germany are normally heard, so I assume their signal path to me is not passing close enough to Orfordness for cross-modulation to occur (Noel R. Green (NW England), Feb 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) GEOMAGNETIC SUMMARY JANUARY 1 2009 THROUGH FEBRUARY 10 2009 Tabulated from email status daily. Date Flux A K Space Wx January 1 69 12 1 no storms 2 69 8 1 no storms 3 70 3 1 no storms 4 70 10 1 no storms 5 69 4 1 no storms 6 69 5 2 no storms 7 69 4 1 no storms 8 69 2 1 no storms 9 69 3 1 no storms 10 70 4 1 no storms 11 71 2 1 no storms 12 70 2 0 no storms 13 69 0 0 no storms 14 71 2 1 no storms 15 71 7 1 no storms 16 71 7 3 no storms 17 71 2 1 no storms 18 72 4 2 no storms 19 71 2 1 no storms 20 71 10 2 no storms 21 70 3 1 no storms 22 69 3 1 no storms 23 69 1 1 no storms 24 70 1 1 no storms 25 69 1 1 no storms 26 70 1 2 no storms 27 70 12 1 no storms 28 70 4 2 no storms 29 70 3 1 no storms 30 69 4 1 no storms 31 69 3 2 no storms February 1 69 8 2 no storms 2 70 2 1 no storms 3 69 1 1 no storms 4 69 3 3 no storms 5 70 15 2 no storms 6 70 7 2 no storms 7 70 2 2 no storms 8 71 2 0 no storms 9 71 0 0 no storms 10 71 0 0 no storms (Phil Bytheway, IRCA DX Monitor Feb 14 via DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels on 02 February. A sudden impulse of 10 nT was observed at the Boulder magnetometer at 2014 UTC on 03 February, following a discontinuity in the solar wind signature observed at the ACE satellite. Quiet to minor storm conditions, with major storm levels at high latitudes, were observed from late on 03 February to early on 04 February. During this period, solar wind signatures from the ACE satellite were consistent with a possible CME. Activity decreased to quiet conditions for the rest of the period. During the summary period, ACE solar wind velocities ranged from a high of 405 km/s at 04/0050 UTC to a low of 298 km/s at 06/1750 UTC. The Bz component of the IMF ranged primarily between -3.5 nT and +3.8nT. However, between 03/1912 UTC and 05/0155 UTC, Bz varied between -10 nT and +10 nT. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 11 FEBRUARY - 09 MARCH 2009 Solar activity is expected to be at very low levels. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal levels. The geomagnetic field is expected to be at quiet levels 11-14 February. Activity is expected to increase to quiet to unsettled levels, with isolated active conditions, on 15 February due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream (CH HSS). Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels during 16-21 February as the HSS subsides. Activity is expected to increase to quiet to unsettled levels, with isolated active levels, on 22 February due to another CH HSS. Isolated minor to major storm conditions are possible at high latitudes during this period. Activity is expected to decrease to mostly quiet levels from 23 February - 09 March. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2009 Feb 10 2052 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2009 Feb 10 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2009 Feb 11 70 5 2 2009 Feb 12 70 5 2 2009 Feb 13 70 5 2 2009 Feb 14 70 5 2 2009 Feb 15 70 8 3 2009 Feb 16 70 5 2 2009 Feb 17 70 5 2 2009 Feb 18 70 5 2 2009 Feb 19 70 5 2 2009 Feb 20 70 5 2 2009 Feb 21 70 5 2 2009 Feb 22 70 8 3 2009 Feb 23 70 5 2 2009 Feb 24 70 5 2 2009 Feb 25 70 5 2 2009 Feb 26 70 5 2 2009 Feb 27 70 5 2 2009 Feb 28 70 5 2 2009 Mar 01 70 5 2 2009 Mar 02 70 5 2 2009 Mar 03 70 5 2 2009 Mar 04 70 5 2 2009 Mar 05 70 5 2 2009 Mar 06 70 5 2 2009 Mar 07 70 5 2 2009 Mar 08 70 5 2 2009 Mar 09 70 5 2 (SWPC Feb 10 via WORLD OF RADIO 1447, DXLD) ###