DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-017, February 24, 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 1449 Wed 0600 WRMI 9955 [or old 1448] Wed 1630 WRMI 9955 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 1450] Wed 1630 WRMI 9955 [or new 1450] 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 ** ALBANIA. When R. Tirana made some frequency changes in mid-Dec, 7435 at 2130-2300 in Albanian to Europe, also North America, unlike the others was specified as effective only thru Feb 28, as V. of Russia had already registered that to start March 1. However, VOR has now decided not to use it, so R. Tirana may stay there for the rest of B-08 (Glenn Hauser, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. This is what shortwave radio is all about!!! I was listening to Radio Australia at 1309 UT today on 9580. The program "Sunday Night" was replaying the National Day of Mourning observances from earlier in the day commemorating those victims of the bush fires. There were moving prayers, sombre instrumental and vocal music, and a stirring speech by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. It closed with a folksy version of "We Are Australia" with two new verses composed especially for this service. This is the kind of stuff you won't hear anywhere else. Heck, being a Radio Australia groupie...along with a Radio Netherlands groupie, Deutsche Welle groupie, BBC groupie...I heard about the bush fires at least a day or more before North American media mentioned them. Being able to tune into the world, without having to be hooked to the internet, is what shortwave radio is all about. You hear more and are better informed about the world around you. (Mark Coady, Editor, Your Reports/Listening In Magazine, Co-Moderator, ODXA Yahoogroup, Ontario DX Association, Bridgenorth, ON K0L 1H0 http://geocities.com/luckywimpy Feb 22, ODXA yg via DXLD) I caught the last 20 minutes or so of the memorial service last Saturday night via the ABC website. I was so moved when two of the survivors sang "I Am Australian". The community helped those in need beyond all expectations. One family was given the use of a caravan after they had lost their own home (Colin Miller, Canada, ibid.) I love Radio Australia too, as well as RNZI. I listen to both a great deal on my internet radio. Where else can you hear so much news about places such as Fiji, Tonga, etc., as well Australia and New Zealand? (Harold Sellers, ibid.) RNZI provides a lot of the RNZ domestic broadcasts too which gives one a different look on life down there. It has been thanks to the internet though that a whole new world of radio listening has been opened up to me thanks to the ability to hear those domestic services and programming from so many countries. But for those that travel, shortwave is still the best (Brian Smith, ibid.) Agreed. When in Air Traffic Services (FSS - Flight Service Specialist) at YXL and pulling night shift I'd usually tune in to RNZI followed by Radio Australia on our fitted Kenwood R-1000 early in the morning, CST/CDT [sic --- and he`s in BC?? O, YXL is Sioux Lookout, in the western sliver of Ontario in the CT zone, NW of Thunder Bay --- gh]. It was quite restful hearing evening music and the like as I was often heading to bed, perchance to sleep, in preparation for another night shift. I loved the start I'd get from the first pilots, in to get weather and plan or file a plan for the first flights of the day. The penny usually dropped when they'd hear a different accent during an announcement, the announced day or time would be "off" what they were subconsciously expecting or they'd hear a full on station ID. "How did you do that?!" Heh. Great fun, and good listening. Cheers es 73, (John Erskine, VA7OTC, Victoria, BC, ibid.) I love the immediacy of news on shortwave. I remember listening to Radio Free Grenada during the American invasion. The station suddenly went silent and 4 or 5 days afterward I read in the news that the station had been bombed and the announcer and engineer killed. Eerie listening. I can also remember the hours of funeral music from Radio Moscow when Brezhnev died; anyone listening knew what had had happened hours before any official announcement (Dan Murray, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA. 6020, R. Australia, Shepparton, 23 Feb, *0900-1315; a few bars of Waltzing Matilda IS into Pidgin service. English service at 1100 lasting until tune-out. Good signal throughout except during the 1228-1314 UT Vatican Radio via Philippines. No sign of R Gaúcha during the 0700-1315 UT recordings (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9660 collision: see VATICAN [and non] ** AUSTRALIA. RADIO AUSTRALIA CONNECTS WITH AUDIENCES Monday, 23 February 2009, 2:07 pm Press Release: ABC Radio National The first pan-Pacific quantitative research commissioned by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) has revealed strong figures for the ABC’s international radio and online broadcasting arm – Radio Australia. “The survey results indicate that Radio Australia is gaining support in the Pacific, and positioned as the market leader for international broadcasters. These figures show how we have re-invented ourselves by broadcasting in target centres through our 24 hour FM transmission, as opposed to 5 years ago, where we only broadcast into the Pacific via shortwave transmission,” remarked Radio Australia’s CEO Hanh Tran. Comprehensive and detailed results were gathered measuring audience response to brand awareness, listening frequency, favourite programs, listenership in the last day and listenership in the last week, means of accessing media and more. The survey figures shown below indicate audiences in each location that have listened to an ABC Radio Australia program in the last 7 days: PNG (Port Moresby & Lae) 27.3% Fiji (Suva & Nadi) 22.8% Vanuatu (Port Vila and Santo) 58.2% Solomon Islands (Honiara) 56.9% Samoa (Apia) 22.7% Conducted by Fijian based group, Tebbutt Research, the assessment was commissioned across 5 Pacific nation capitals and major urban centres to measure the local weekly audience listenership of ABC’s Radio Australia. Surveyed locations included Port Moresby and Lae in Papua New Guinea, Honiara in Solomon Islands, Port Vila and Santo in Vanuatu, Suva and Nadi in Fiji and Apia in Samoa. “Radio is a mature medium in the Pacific with numerous local services based in each region, making the range of choice for local audiences diverse. Establishing distinctive content in this important neighbouring marketplace has been a priority for us and something we have worked hard over the past 5 years at achieving,” stated John Westland, Manager of Radio Australia’s Partnerships. Local audiences in each urban centre have the ability to connect to the ABC’s international radio service through locally leased 24 hour FM transmissions, rebroadcasts on local radio stations or shortwave radio. Radio Australia continues to broadcast via shortwave but now also broadcasts via 11 FM transmitters in major urban centres throughout the Pacific, with an expected 3 more transmitters to be included in the Northern Pacific by the end of the year. Radio Australia’s Pacific FM network: PNG - Port Moresby 101.9FM & Lae 102.1FM; Solomon Islands - Honiara 107FM; Vanuatu - Port Vila & Santo 103FM; Fiji - Suva & Nadi 92.6FM; Samoa - Apia 102FM; Tonga - Nuku’alofa 103FM, Kiribati - Tarawa 90FM; Cook Islands - Rarotonga 93FM Radio Australia’s Asian FM network: Cambodia - Phnom Penh & Siem Reap 101.5FM; East Timor - Dili 1016.5FM [sic]; Laos - Vientiane 96FM (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) On a little island, one FM transmitter may do the trick, but otherwise range is likely to be extremely limited to the base city, depending on HAAT and ERP, of course, figures which are not public nor easily obtainable. Yet, with a few SW transmitters, an entire continent or ocean may be covered from one end to the other --- and not subject to the whims of local politicians, either. Yet this FMania grows on and on amongst international broadcasters. I seem to recall that some foreign FM relays were recently banned in Fiji, where they have a rather autocratic regime (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST, also posted on Media Network blog) Comments: Phil February 24th, 2009 - 6:50 UTC You’re so right, Glen[n]. FM is all well and good if a station wants to cover a few cities in times of peace, basically when international stations are least needed. The problem is when a country is at war or politically unstable or even when the country being broadcast to falls out with the country doing the broadcasting. In those cases the FM transmitters are switched off/destroyed. I have a feeling all these international stations who are switching their listeners over to FM will regret it in the long run. Not only can FM be switched off, but they are creating a generation of listeners that don’t own or know how to operate a short wave radio. If things go wrong these listeners will then be without a reliable news source. 4 Ben Sailor February 24th, 2009 - 18:08 UTC I agree completely with the preceding two comments. FM coverage in a very small country with a stable political environment will certainly have more impact than shortwave. But a large part of the developing world lack one or both of these pre-requisites, and the headlong rush by the major international broadcasters to dump shortwave in favor of FM alternatives are a symptom of their myopic view of the regions they are serving, no doubt enhanced by the need to slash operational costs. When a government gets replaced by one more hostile to having foreign radio stations operating on its soil and pulls the plug, all of the tears that will be shed by the big chiefs of the major broadcasters will be of the crocodile variety. 5 Mark February 24th, 2009 - 18:59 UTC So now they get more listeners by airing 24/7 from twelve FM transmitters --- compared to how much shortwave broadcasting? (Media Network blog comments via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6024.99v, (tentative) R. Patria Nueva, La Paz, 23 Feb, 0850-1134 fade-out; weak carrier-on at 0850, unsure if modulated. Signal slowly increasing until peaking from 1030 to 1045, coinciding with sunrise in La Paz. Threshold audio with woman speaking is possible Spanish, best in LSB to avoid R Martí mess on 6030. Fading until the carrier finally dropped below noise floor at 1134 UT. Transmitter slowly drifted downward to 6024.98 kHz at fade-out (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also GUATEMALA ** BRAZIL [and non]. 4775, 23/02 2212, BRASIL, R Congonhas, desde Congonhas MG, "Hora do Brasil" (é piada! Notícia dos 3 poderes em plena segunda-feira de carnaval, até parece que alguém produziu ou foi trabalhar nesses órgãos), 24332. 4815, 23/02 2217, R Difusora de Londrina, desde Londrina PR, "Hora do Brasil", 24332. 4905, 23/02 2220, R Anhanguera, desde Araguaina TO, "Hora do Brasil", 34333. 4915 23/02 2225, R Macapá, desde Macapá AP, inicio das nx do "Poder Judiciário", hoje com sinal muito bom, 34443 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) Per WRTH 2009 there are 3 Brazilians on 4775, two of them active, so with only a national-network program, how can you be sure which one you were hearing? Only one on 4815. Two each also on 4905 and on 4915, same question (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 5000 22/02, 0358, USA, WWV, EE, time signal, forte QRM da Brasil Central [4985] ocupando uma banda lateral maior que 10 kHz, 22322 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) 10000, 22/02 0026, USA, WWV, Colorado, EE, time signal, sem sinal de QRM do ON, 34333 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) So is Obiservatório Nacional off the air? (gh) ** BRAZIL. Espurios da RNA --- Colegas. Aqui em Feira de Santana o que consigo sintonizar em 11830 kHz é a Rádio CBN Anhanguera, sem nenhum tipo de QRM, e em 11725 Khz a R Marumby também sem nenhum tipo de QRM, pelo menos agora nesse horário as 1428 UT do dia 24/02. Me parece ser igual a situação da Globo do Rio que transmite em 11805 kHz e estava com espúrios em diversas partes da faixa dos 25 metros, especialmente entre 11950 e 11955 kHz com larga amplitude, chegando algumas vezes a tornar impossível a escuta da Bandeirantes em 11925 kHz. Esses espúrios me parecem não eram sintonizados por alguns colegas aí do Sul, portanto acho que esses sinais espúrios estão com uma propagação diferente da frequência principal, assim é escutada nos USA e não por aqui, pelo menos aqui em Feira de Santana. 73, (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia, Brasil, dxclube pr yg via DXLD) On the contrary, being only 50 kHz from the fundamental 11780, the spurs are subject to exactly the same propagation. The variable is that they are intermittent. I don`t always hear them either, but when I do, I certainly report them. Latest instance around 0630 UT Sunday happened to be when the fundamental was extremely strong, likely to make the spurs audible too, altho (let us certainly hope) they are much weaker (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. Re 9-016, SUDAN: R. Bulgaria has already deleted all its usage of 7200, in preparation for the disavailablizing of 7100-7200 for broadcasting come A-09; not sure what has replaced 7200, if anything. As 7200 will become the boundary between the ham and broadcast bands, theoretically no station of either type should use it, and keep their sidebands from crossing the line (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SUDAN in this issue ** CANADA. 6030, CFVP, Calgary, 23 Feb, 0613-0645; Barn Dance Saturday Night show, country music, a few ads, multiple "Classic Country AM 10-60". Rather weak but nicely readable and stable signal in the UT Monday morning absence of R. Martí (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re 8-016, ``GTA`` -- Glenn, you surmise correctly: GTA is a standard acronym for Greater Toronto Area. It is well-known in the region itself. Much like WNY is known among the relevant locals as "Western New York". Nonetheless, given how press releases can be globally distributed nowadays, it makes sense for copy writers to cite the first usage of any acronym unless it is globally understood (e.g. USA). (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CRI News Radio - Huanqiu zixun guangbo (900 kHz and 90.5 MHz in Beijing) in Chinese is relayed in SW on 9665 and 11790 kHz via Kashi, Xinjiang at 1200-1400 UT. First noted on Feb. 19. CRI News Radio http://newsradio.cri.cn/ de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Feb 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``News`` in the Chicom sense that it must follow the Party Line, not criticize the government, and be approved by Xinhua (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) CRI NEWSRADIO NOW ALSO ON SHORTWAVE --- My colleague Ehard Goddijn reports that China’s CRI Newsradio is now broadcasting on shortwave. Noted on 11790 and 9665 kHz at 1300 UT with English ID and programming in Chinese in parallel with the Internet audio stream. These shortwave frequencies are not listed in ILG/HFCC B08. The station also broadcasts on satellite. Related story: [Sept 27, 2005] China Radio International launches new domestic FM channel http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/china-radio-international-launches-new-domestic-fm-channel (February 23rd, 2009 - 14:46 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 3 comments so far 1 Peter Sabrie February 23rd, 2009 - 15:42 UTC You should also mention in the story that CRI, and CNR (China National Radio) put programs on shortwave as a way to jam foreign broadcasters. With the National People’s Congress coming up jamming is 5 times more than at normal times. CRI broadcasts its domestic service over shortwave in areas such as Shanghai, Shenzhen, Beijing and others. Why would you broadcast on shortwave to these cities which already have MW and FM frequencies? The purpose is to jam the Chinese broadcasts from VOA, BBC, Radio Free Asia and others. 2 Andy Sennitt February 23rd, 2009 - 16:07 UTC Yes, we are well aware of the jamming problem, and have reported it in this blog. Search on Chinese jamming. But Ehard carefully checked the usage of both 9665 and 11790 kHz, and neither has anything listed as active which the Chinese would be likely to jam. Of course we cannot be 100% sure, but it’s important not to jump to conclusions (ibid.) But 9665 of course collides with P`yongyang on 9666v. Not `of course` if you don`t keep up with what is really happening on the bands (gh) Peter Sabrie February 24th, 2009 - 3:30 UTC I know in Beijing and Shanghai you can not tune to the SW bands with out hearing either: CRI Beijing People’s Radio China National Radio Beijing Traffic Radio (why put a traffic station on shortwave?) I have some pictures of one of the jamming locations just outside the the city, in a place called Shunyi about 20 mins from the city center; there is also a one in Hunaghuacheng also just outside Beijing. At this time of year because of the upcoming National People’s Congress, they always do this. I understand I should not jump to conclusions, but I have lived in Beijing for 12 years and know all the tricks used the Ministry of Propaganda. The funniest one was last year at this time. All of a sudden on SW was Shanghai Children’s Radio. Shanghai Radio announced they would be now on shortwave. Then 2 weeks to the day the People’s Political Consultive ended so did the 12 frequencies they were using. HAAA HAAA! It was so funny. At this very moment I have my radio tuned to Beijing Traffic Radio on SW. Clear as a bell on 6 frequencies: 9545 khz 9760 khz 11540 khz 11860 khz 13520 khz 15180 khz I mean local traffic on SW? It is just too funny! (ibid.) ?? CFRX 6070 does a lot of it, and we care so much beyond the 401 (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 8400, 22/02 0032, TAIWAN, Xi Wang Zhi Sheng SOH, em Chinese, com 1 kW, interminável festival de mx folclórica chinesa, às 0034 UT OM Talk, ufa! Até que enfim uma vez eu ouvi uma locução, 35333 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) How many times have I explained about Firedrake? (gh) ** CHINA. Re 8-016, 11945: ``Say You, Say Me,`` by Phil Collins? --- Lionel Richie, though he's equally as lame as Phil Collins (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OK, so Collins never recorded it? Not that I care (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 6065. “English Evening” program via CNR-2/China Business Radio, heard Feb 24 making the announcement that they have in fact changed their schedule: Mon. through Fri. from 1330 to 1400 (9:30 PM-10:00 PM Beijing Time) and Sat. & Sun. from 1300 to 1400 (9:00 PM-10:00 PM Beijing Time), which is what I have been reporting for a while now. Audio file posted to “Station Sounds”, for a portion of today’s program (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, good signal Feb 24, enjoying nice bouncy music from Marfil Estéreo, pausing at 0700 for ID including calls HKI79, back to music which unseemed religious, but I couldn`t really understand the lyrix. Call of this SW transmitter is axually HJDH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6009.96v, La Voz de Tu Conciencia, Lomalinda, 23 Feb 0700-f/out - Programs of easy listening vocals and instrumentals, low key talks, inspirational sounding radio dramas. Nominally at equal levels as co- channel R. Mil up to almost an hour after 1110 UT sunrise in Lomalinda, although better modulation gave Conciencia the edge. Transmitter very slowly drifting between 6009.95-.97 kHz (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 6035, La Voz de Guaviare, San José del Guaviare, 23 Feb 0859-1030; transmitter cut-on at 0859 in mid song. Ballads with male announcer between songs with IDs. Full ID at 0957, also mention Radio Cadena Nacional. Young female voice at the top of the hour with a long monologue with constant mentions of Santa María. Slop from the mess on 6030 kHz began affecting readability at 1000, and station beginning to fade by 1015. Transmitter started on 6030.1 kHz and had slowly drifted down to a few Hz above 6030 by 1000 (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I assume you mean 6035.1, etc. ** CUBA [and non]. Radio República on 9810 at 0130 UT tune in, Monday February 23. Lots of music and many IDs. Good signal; very listenable; some atmospheric and/or electrical interference but no sign of jamming initially. Continued through to 0300, gradually weakening with more interference and eventually detected some jamming. I think Radio República was still there after 0300 (something was) but the jamming by now was so intense (Bernie O'Shea, Ottawa, Ontario, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Correlates with the jamming we were hearing a few days earlier. I bet it`s Sackville, and probably 2300-0400 or so as per previous usage; daily? And Jeff White says RR is ending its evening broadcast via WRMI 9955 as of Feb 27. Searching thru website http://www.directorio.org is a waste of time; nothing there about current scheduling, no hits on 9810, and only very old hits on 9955. I was bystanding, Monday Feb 23 at 2257 on 9810, when lite jamming was already in progress; 2258 jamming level stepped up, and 2259 stepped up some more. A few seconds after 2300, R. República cut on in progress with usual theme music and slogan ``con fe en la victoria``. Did not hear any frequency or schedule mentioned. RR was more or less readable despite the jamming, at least initially. Likely Sackville site. Only jamming was audible at this time on WRMI 9955. Recheck 0050 UT Feb 24: 9810 mainly jamming, could tell something else was there; meanwhile R. Canada Internal, fairly good on 9755 in English about Ukrainian-Canadians. Checking out what Radio República is doing: Feb 24 at 2237, surprised to find it unjammed via WRMI 9955 with intriguing talk about human evolution, brain size, language and music, concluding with some hypothetical Neanderthal music at 2240-2242, then ID giving only frequency 9810, 6-11 pm de lunes a domingo, i.e. the new non-WRMI relay at 2300-0400, not yet on the air at this moment, and surely Wednesday-Tuesday rather than Monday-Sunday; why don`t they just say todos los días? R.R. does have quite a bit of apolitical programming which need not be jammed, but I doubt the DentroCubans were deliberately relenting against the hated, wormy, FueraCubans. BTW, Cuba`s public venom is directed against Radio Martí, with Radio República`s existence hardly ever even acknowledged. Meanwhile, a wall of noise on 9565 against Radio Martí. 9955 had the usual het at this time of day, presumably the perpetually off- frequency Taiwan transmitter scheduled for RFI relay after 2300, but at 2253 jamming had also started to appear on 9955; by 2300 it had overwhelmed WRMI when I wanted to detect whether it was parallel 9810 --- probably not. So I was standing by for 9810 to come on; at 2257 jamming already grinding away against nothing; at 2259 Sackville DRM shifted from 9795-9800-9805 to 9785-9790-9795 for TDP`s dance music, thank you very much. Jamming increased against 9810, but I could still hear R. República cut on about 15 seconds after 2300, surely via Sackville too. Earlier at 2235, I also noted the DentroCuban Jamming Command on 11930, with at least two strong non-synchronized modulated pulses against nothing, Radio Martí having signed off that channel at 2200. The pulses periodically coincided, but mostly were offset different fraxions of a second as they were emitted at slightly different rates, deliberately to be more annoying if they had had a victim (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA. QSL Report, January: Station: - Radio Praha Date: - 12-01-2008 Frequency: - 11600 kHz Time: - 1400-1429 UT Language: - English Description: - CZECHOSLOVAK RAIL VEHICLES The 434.1100 steam locomotive first appeared on the railways of Czechoslovakia in 1920. It was the first locomotive ever made by Skoda in Plzen. Receiver: - Grundig YB 400, Antenna: - Long Wire, Location: - 26N07 85E23. Regards & 73’s (Mukesh Kumar, THE COSMOS CLUB, MUZAFFARPUR – 842002 BIHAR, INDIA, Feb 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DESECHEO. KP5, DESECHEO ISLAND DXPEDITION (News/Update) The K5D DXpedition to Desecheo Island continues to be on the air until February 26th. On February 20th, "Group #2" left the island and was replaced by "Group #3". "Group #1" will be staying during the whole K5D operation. Pictures of the groups as follows: #1 http://69.89.25.185/~trexsoft/t-rexsoftware.com/desecheo/group1.htm #2 http://69.89.25.185/~trexsoft/t-rexsoftware.com/desecheo/group2.htm #3 http://69.89.25.185/~trexsoft/t-rexsoftware.com/desecheo/group3.htm The team has fought hot weather, high winds and seas which cause them to lose several antennas on the beach due to guy-points being washed away, but the DXpedition continues to operate effectively. Plenty of new pictures are being added daily to the DXpeditions Web site and the K5D QSO count keeps climbing high. As this was being written (Sunday at 1823z), the K5D QSO count was just under 86k contacts (+41k/CW, +38k/SSB and +5k/RTTY). This count does not include QSOs being made on the satellites. Remember, online logs at available at: http://69.89.25.185/~trexsoft/t-rexsoftware.com/desecheo/lookup.htm Activity will continue on 160-6 meters using 6-8 stations on CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via N2OO. Remember for updates/logs/ pictures, visit the KP5 Web page at: http://www.kp5.us (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 897, February 23, 2009, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio), via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) See also LANGUAGE LESSONS discussing derivation of the island`s name ** ETHIOPIA. 6030, Radio Oromiya, Addis Ababa, 23 Feb, 0415-0435; vaguely Horn of Africa type music at tune in and lasting until 0430, then brief musical bridge, Radio Oromiya ID then talk by multiple speakers in presumed Oromo, possibly news. Poor to fair levels in the UT Monday morning absence of R. Martí + jammers (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. ETIOPÍA, 7165, Voice of Peace, Addis Ababa-Gedja, 0420- 0425, escuchada el 24 de febrero en tigrilla a locutor con comentarios, emisión de música folklórica local, SINPO 23332 [full name: V. of Peace and Democracy of Eritrea, i.e. clandestine for neighbor --- gh] 7210, Radio Fana, 0430-0434, escuchada el 24 de febrero en amárico con emisión de música étnica local, ritmos africanos, locutora con comentarios presentando nuevo tema musical, posible cuña de ID por locutor, locutor con comentarios, SINPO 35443 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Antena Radio Master A- 108, dxldyg via DX LISTENIING DIGEST) Hi José, is R Fana back on 7210? Lately on this frequency has been VOBME from Eritrea. 73, (Jari Savolainen, ibid.) Apparently not (gh) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 15195, 23/02 1637, RUSSIA, EOTC Holy Synod Radio, em Amharic, com 200 kW, uma tx apenas as segundas-feira, YL Talk, forte QRM de uma portadora com som de turbina de avião, QRM de jamming ou propagação? Não sei dizer, o sinal da portadora quando a QRM some é moderado com leve ruido, QRM ocupa a maior parte do tempo da tx; às 1644 mx árabe. Seu site na internet http://www.eotcholysynod.org/ indica ser do "Santo Sínodo da Igreja Etíope Ortodoxa Tewahedo no exílio"; no site existe um link para radio web onde confirmei a escuta. Às 1651 uma portadora com S=4 sem modulação entrou por uns 2 segundos e saiu do ar, 32432 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) Says this seems to be jammed, sounds like a jet engine. Then he posted an English version tnx to Google: (gh) 15195, 23/02 1637, RUSSIA, EOTC Holy Synod Radio, in Amharic, with 200 kW, a tx only on Mondays, YL talks, strong QRM from a carrier with the sound of turbine aircraft, QRM from jamming or spread? I can not say, the sign of the carrier when the QRM is moderate with some slight noise, QRM plays most of the time tx, the 1644 UT mx Arabic, his web site indicates that http://www.eotcholysynod.org/ the Holy Synod of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church in exile, the site is a link to web radio which confirmed the hearing, the 1651 UTC a carrier with S = 4 came without modulation for a 2 seconds and left the air, 32432 (Jorge Freitas - Feira de Santana Ba - Brasil, HCDX via DXLD) ** FRANCE. RFI Club 9516: 22 February 2009 --- David's guest this week Club 9516 is Mike Cooper, a prominent former radio show host in the United States who is now a respected international broadcasting analyst and a big fan of the Club! 2009-02-22 16:15 TU [25 minutes:] http://www.rfi.fr/actuen/articles/110/article_2964.asp A good rollicking conversation with one of DXLD`s valued contributors, whose wife runs a French/Alsatian restaurant in Decatur GA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Winter B-08 of Media Broadcast (ex DTK T-Systems), 2 of 4: IBC Tamil Radio: 0000-0100 on 6045 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to SoAs Tamil Voice of Russia (VOR): 0000-0100 on 11605 GUF 250 kW / 181 deg to SoAm Portuguese 0100-0300 on 13630 GUF 250 kW / 195 deg to SoAm Spanish 0200-0300 on 6155 WER 250 kW / 300 deg to NoAm Russian WS 0200-0400 on 7335 WER 500 kW / 300 deg to NoAm English WS 0400-0600 on 7335 GUF 250 kW / 318 deg to NoAm English WS 0300-0500 on 6155 WER 250 kW / 300 deg to NoAm English WS 1500-1600 on 13755 WER 100 kW / 120 deg to ME Russian "Commonwealth" 2300-2400 on 6175 WER 125 kW / 105 deg to ME Arabic Voice of Croatia in Croatian/English/Spanish: 0000-0400 on 7375 WER 100 kW / 300 deg to NEAm 0200-0600 on 7375 WER 125 kW / 325 deg to NWAm 2300-0400 on 7375 WER 100 kW / 240 deg to SoAm Gospel For Asia (GFA): 0030-0130 on 7215 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 1230-1330 on 15520 NAU 250 kW / 078 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 1330-1430 on 13750 NAU 250 kW / 088 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 1330-1500 on 15185 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 1430-1530 on 12005 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 1530-1630 on 11645 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs 2330-0030 on 7200 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to SEAs South East Asian langs Radio Free Asia (RFA): 0100-0300 on 9670 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to SEAs Tibetan Voice of America (VOA): 0230-0330 on 7205 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian 0230-0330 on 9495 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian 0500-0600 on 15225 NAU 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Kurdish 1400-1500 on 9565 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to WeAs Pashto Deewa Radio 1600-1630 on 9465 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to CeAs Georgian 1630-1930 on 5850 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian 1630-1700 on 15620 WER 250 kW / 135 deg to EaAf Somali 1700-1800 on 9770 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Dari/Pashto R. Ashna 1700-1830 on 9540 NAU 125 kW / 100 deg to WeAs Persian 1730-1800 on 9485 WER 250 kW / 135 deg to EaAf Afan Oromo Mon-Fri 1730-1800 on 11905 WER 250 kW / 150 deg to EaAf Afan Oromo Mon-Fri 1800-1900 on 9485 NAU 250 kW / 140 deg to EaAf Amharic 1800-1900 on 11905 WER 250 kW / 150 deg to EaAf Amharic 1830-1930 on 9680 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg to WeAs Persian 1900-1930 on 9485 NAU 250 kW / 140 deg to EaAf Tigrigna 1900-1930 on 9815 WER 250 kW / 150 deg to EaAf Arabic Hello Darfur 2030-2100 on 6040 NAU 250 kW / 190 deg to CeAf Hausa Mon-Fri 2030-2100 on 6040 NAU 250 kW / 190 deg to CeAf French Sat/Sun Radio Liberty (RL): 0300-0400 on 7105 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian Radio Farda 0400-0500 on 6105 WER 250 kW / 060 deg to EaEu Belorussian 0400-0500 on 9430 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian Radio Farda 0400-0600 on 6120 WER 250 kW / 060 deg to EaEu Belorussian 0600-0700 on 17675 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian Radio Farda 1230-1600 on 13680 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian Radio Farda 1400-1500 on 9595 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to CeAs Uzbek 1400-1500 on 12015 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to CeAs Uzbek 1500-1530 on 7150 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to CeAs Kyrgyz 1600-1700 on 7220 NAU 250 kW / 065 deg to CeAs Russian 1600-1700 on 9415 WER 250 kW / 060 deg to EaEu Belorussian 1600-1700 on 9485 NAU 250 kW / 103 deg to CeAs Azeri 1600-1700 on 9520 WER 250 kW / 045 deg to EaEu Russian 1600-1700 on 11605 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to CAs Avari/Chechen/Cherkessi 1800-1900 on 9595 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian Radio Farda 2000-2200 on 7165 WER 250 kW / 060 deg to EaEu Belorussian Adventist World Radio (AWR): 0300-0330 on 7280 WER 250 kW / 135 deg to EaAf Oromo 0300-0400 on 7315 WER 250 kW / 135 deg to EaAf Tigrigna/Amharic 0400-0430 on 7425 WER 250 kW / 120 deg to ME Arabic 0500-0600 on 6025 WER 100 kW / 120 deg to EaEu Bulgarian 0700-0800 on 9595 WER 100 kW / 210 deg to NoAf Arabic 0800-0830 on 11975 WER 100 kW / 210 deg to NoAf Kabyle 0800-0900 on 12010 WER 100 kW / 210 deg to NoAf French/Tachelhit 1000-1100 on 9610 NAU 100 kW / 180 deg to SoEu Italian Sun 1200-1300 on 15495 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to SoAs English/Bangla 1300-1330 on 11720 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to EaAs Chinese Mon-Fri 1300-1330 on 11720 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to EaAs Uyghur Sat/Sun 1330-1500 on 11725 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to EaAs Chinese 1500-1600 on 9665 WER 250 kW / 090 deg to SoAs Punjabi/Hindi 1500-1600 on 11675 WER 250 kW / 075 deg to SoAs Nepali/English 1630-1700 on 11905 WER 250 kW / 135 deg to EaAf Somali 1700-1730 on 9445 WER 250 kW / 120 deg to ME Arabic 1730-1800 on 9830 WER 100 kW / 210 deg to NoAf Kabyle 1730-1800 on 11795 WER 250 kW / 135 deg to EaAf Oromo 1900-2000 on 11760 WER 100 kW / 210 deg to NoAf Arabic/Tachelhit 2000-2030 on 9805 WER 100 kW / 210 deg to NoAf French 1900-2000 on 11955 NAU 100 kW / 215 deg to NoAf Arabic 2000-2030 on 7110 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian 2030-2100 on 9505 JUL 100 kW / 210 deg to NoAf Chinese Radio Japan NHK World 0430-0500 on 5980 WER 250 kW / 060 deg to RUS Russian 0830-0900 on 15190 WER 500 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Persian 1300-1345 on 15215 WER 500 kW / 075 deg to SoAs Bengali 1345-1515 on 15215 WER 500 kW / 090 deg to SoAs Hindi/Urdu Radio Dabanga 0430-0525 on 7315 WER 250 kW / 150 deg to EaAf Arabic Brother Stair/The Overcomer Ministries (TOM): 1400-1600 on 6110 JUL 100 kW / 290 deg to WeEu English 1400-1500 on 13810 NAU 100 kW / 120 deg to ME English 1500-1600 on 13810 NAU 125 kW / 120 deg to ME English 1500-1600 on 17485 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg to CeAf English 1900-2100 on 6175 WER 100 kW / 300 deg to WeEu English, ex 2000-2200 CVC International 0830-1200 on 17590 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg to SoAs Hindi DRM >>>>> from Feb. 23 [until Feb 25] 1400-1700 on 13670 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg to UKR Ukrainian 1400-1800 on 15745 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg to CeAf English 1800-2100 on 11775 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg to CeAf English IBRA Radio: 1730-1800 on 11645 JUL 100 kW / 145 deg to EaAf Swahili 1730-1800 on 9660 JUL 100 kW / 140 deg to EaAf Somali 1800-1900 on 9470 WER 250 kW / 150 deg to CeAf Arabic + local 1900-2030 on 9845 NAU 125 kW / 200 deg to WeAf Hausa/French/Bambara+local HCJB Global: 1800-1900 on 3955 JUL 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu German Lutheran World Foundation 1830 1900 on 9800 WER 500 kW / 180 deg to WCAf Fulfulde FEBA Radio 1900-1930 on 7235 WER 250 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Arabic Democratic Voice of Burma (DVOB): 2330-0030 on 5955 WER 125 kW / 075 deg to SEAs Burmese (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Feb 23 via DXLD) ** GREENLAND. Re 9-016: ``3815, KNR, Tasiilaq, 2042-2047, Jan 27, talk, very weak, 15321 (Bernard Mille, Bailleul, France, DSWCI DX Window Feb 19 via DXLD)`` I should have questioned this; anything resembling an ID? KNR is supposedly operating at 2100-2215v until DST resumes, then 2000-2115v. However, they were late shifting the sked last fall --- or was DST extended? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM [and non]. Tuned in 11850 at 2229 Feb 24 just as a formal sign-off announcement was running in English, from Adventist Broadcasting Service, 100,000 watts. Maybe Guam or KSDA was mentioned earlier, but not now until 2229:30*, the conclusion of scheduled semihour in Indonesian. Radio Free Asia [see U S A [non]] took over 11850 a few sex later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. O log: 4699.30, 2245 07/02/2009, R. Amistad, San Pedro La Laguna, SS, Om Talk ".eles necessitam de dinero.", 35333 – UG --- O dexista Ulysses Galleti, realizou esta escuta recentemente, o que a torna boa para ser analisada, visando ser parte de nosso planejamento de escutas, outro fator interessante é que a emissora foi `captada com condições relativamente favoráveis, por apresentar um SINPO 35333, onde todos os valores estão acima da média e a intensidade do sinal está no seu maior valor (S5)` (Adalberto Marques de Azevedo, Navegando Ondas Tropicais, @tividade DX Feb 22 via DXLD) This concluded a feature article about the Guatemalan station, citing previous activity a few years ago. But as I have had to point out several times, there have been NO reports of this recently in North America, where someone would surely be hearing it relatively easily due to proximity, if it were really on the air. LA-DX http://www.mcdxt.it/LASWLOGS.html still does not have a single entry for this Guatemalan either in current or archive listings, but it does have a very recent log of the Bolivian, originally reported in the DXCB itself: 4699.3v BOL # R San Miguel, Riberalta [1000/0020-0110] (89.60-99.8) Feb09 B SS (a) "Radio San Miguel, siempre con nuestra gente" / "En onda corta Radio San Miguel" The log in the @tividade DX article, not citing anything identifiable, most likely was instead the nearby Bolivian, which as a matter of fact is listed later in the same article: Eis a relação dos LOGs que compilei, dos dexistas brasileiros, na banda de 60 metros: 4700 BOLÍVIA R San Miguel 4.717 GUATEMALA R. Yatun Ayllu Yura [sic] 4717 BOLÍVIA R Yura, Yura, quechua If anyone in Brasil is going to claim hearing a long-inactive Guatemalan on 4700v, they had better rule out the Bolivian by getting an extremely definite ID! The middle entry above is another spurious one. There is no Guatemalan by that name on 4717, but just a variation of the Bolivian below it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Re 9-016, ``AIR Mumbai continues on 7190 kHz for 5th day (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India)`` : AIR Mumbai today (24 Feb 09 0330 UT) noted on 7191 (instead of 7195). 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, Hyderabad 500082, India, dxindia yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. All India Radio will also have special transmission for BES Expo. DRM transmissions will start at 0430 instead of 0900 UT Special Txn at 0430-0900 UT Regular Txn at 0900-1200 UT Service : VIVIDH BHARATI SERVICE Frequency : 6100 kHz (H 2/1/0.2) (via Khampur) Power : 50 kW (7dB below the original analog power) MODE: B (NVIS) (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Feb 22, dx_india yg via DXLD) Extended DRM transmissions by AIR on 6100 kHz at 0430-1200 UT will continue till 25th Feb, 2009 (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Feb 23, ibid.) Here are some reports on BES Expo 2009: "Digital technologies here to stay" - BES Expo http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/digital-technologies-here-stay-bes-expo Another report & photos at : http://alokeshgupta.blogspot.com/2009/02/report-on-bes-expo-2009-drm-workshop.html (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 9525.00v, Voice of Indonesia, 1318-1325 + 1413-1427, Feb 24. That’s correct, not on the usual 9525.90. Perhaps a new transmitter? At tune-in was exactly on frequency, but later noted on 9524.96. Briefly heard a strong transmitter hum, but that was quickly adjusted and not heard again. With the recent fluctuations in propagation conditions it is impossible to be certain, but the signal did tentatively seem to be stronger than usual (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Indonesia, ``the sound of dignity``, back on 9525.0 for a change instead of 9525.9, so different transmitter at Cimanggis? Feb 24 at 1445 during some great drumming and singing, 1449 IDs in Malay and English, 1450 opening English broadcast 10 minutes early! With program summary, 1451 switch to another YL with news, heavier accent and muffled mike, so harder to copy. Lead story something about compensation for Aceh tsunami victims, as repeated at news closing 1501. The clock may be off in the studio, but the transmitter site was closer, cutting this off at 1503:12* after Perspective commentary about Hillary had just started at 1502. No QRM before or after 1500, but constant self-inflicted hum (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Three different transmitters are in use in the past at Cimanggis, randomly. Two are a bit lower like xxxx.85 and xxxx.91, the third tx is higher like approx. + xxxx.90 kHz. (recently 9525, 9680, 11785, 11860, 15150) 73 wb (Wolfgang Buschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, this time it was closer than any of those to 9525.0 (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. 8122, Amigos Net on USB, Feb 24 at 1428 with Don Anderson, Oxnard, California, giving his weather forecasts, especially winds, for vessels along the western coast of Mexico, such as recommending when would be a good time for a sailboat in a particular place to `make the crossing`. 1432 various boats in contacts, 1435 net control on the Jacaranda announced QSY to 4-bravo = 4149 kHz, which I did not bother to check at this late hour, as signals were barely audible on 8 MHz, that net presumably starting at 1415, or at least that`s when Anderson joins in. There was also QRM from other SSB slightly to one side of 8122 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. "The Boat That Rocked" web site... Hi Glenn, Noticed on the trailers at the end of the Oscars last night... Wonder if this is about R Caroline, R Veronica, R London or a mashup of all of them? http://www.theboatthatrocked.com/ 73, (Norman W9VQ Wald, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Norman, I guess it`s a mashup, tho I`m sure the anoraks can figure out what parts allude to what really happened with which stations, if any. I noticed the preview on the AcAws too, and of course we have been hearing about this forthcoming movie for some time. Watched the entire trailer, and the boat/station is called ``Radio Rock`` which was never a real name, AFAIK. Also on its logos shows wavelength at 203.6(?). I went back to look at this but I keep getting a flash crash (gh, DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non]. Re: BBC’s secret war with offshore radio stations --- 11 comments so far: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/bbcs-secret-war-with-offshore-radio-stations#comments (Media Network blog as of early UT Feb 25, via DXLD) ** ITALY. STAZIONE DI RICEZIONE HF DEL CIMINO - ITALCABLE - IAR ROMA RADIO Ciao a tutti, grazie alla collaborazione di Roberto IZ0CGP sono riuscito a "scovare" un centro radio HF italiano ancora in attivita' e che era sempre sfuggito dalla mie ricerche intorno a Roma. Si tratta della stazione di ricezione onde corte del Cimino costruita dall'Italcable a partire dal 1971 e inaugurata nel 1974. Questo impianto era gestisto completamente in remoto dal centro principale di ascolto di Acilia che era l'impianto di ricezione principale della stazione HF di Roma Terranova (nominativo radio Itu IRG) utilizzata dall'Italcable nel dopoguerra per il traffico in fonia e in radiotelegrafia a lunga distanza. Con la chiusura dell'impianto di Terranova la stazione di ricezione di Acilia fu smantellata mentre l'impianto del Cimino e' passato sotto la gestione di IAR Roma Radio, la stazione costiere italiana ancora oggi attiva sulle onde corte. La stazione viene oggi utilizzata come secondo impianto di ricezione HF in alternativa alle antenne installate nel centro radio di IAR a Roma in Via della Cesarina. L'impianto del Cimino, che si trova nel territorio del Comune di Nepi e' dotato di numerose antenne HF filari che si possono vedere dalle foto satellitari collegandosi a questo indirizzo: http://tinyurl.com/ad277 Personalmente non sono mai riuscito a visitare questo impianto, se qualcuno abita nei dintorni e riesci a mandarmi qualche foto per il mio sito HF Archive la cosa e' naturalmente molto gradita, p.s. le informazioni storiche sull'Italcable sono tratte dal libro: Cara Italcable : 1921-1991 : un viaggio di settant'anni attraverso numeri e immagini / [a cura di Sergio Velitti] -- (Andrea Borgnino IW0HK - HB9EMK http://www.mediasuk.org/iw0hk http://www.mediasuk.org/archive http://www.biciurbana.org http://iwohk.tumblr.com/ Feb 23, bclnews.it via DXLD) ** JAPAN. Tokyo Volmet and JMH will change the site --- According to "Research Site of Nazaki Transmitter Site", Meteorological FAX broadcast JMH (3622.5 7795 13988.5kHz 5kW F3C) by Japan Meteorological Agency will switch both their facility and transmitter site at 0421 on March 4, from Nazaki Transmitter Site (36.10N 139.51E ) to Kagoshima Fishery Transmitting Station (31.19N 130.31E). Tokyo Volmet (2863 6679 8828 13882 kHz) will also change the transmitter site at 0440 on March 4, from Nazaki to Kagoshima. There will be no transmission from Nazaki Transmitter Site hereafter. Nazaki Transmitter Site, located in Koga City, Ibaragi prefecture, was built in 1934 for overseas shortwave broadcasting. On August 15, 1945, "Edict of Ending the War" by Emperor Hirohito was transmitted over this site. The site was used for overseas broadcasting until 1970. After that the site has been used for standard time signal (JJY/JG2AS), FAX news and meteorological broadcasts, and Volmet broadcast. Yamata transmitter site, now used for overseas broadcasting, is neighboring this site (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) "Kagoshima Test (31.19N / 130.31E)" --- Adresse: Japan Meteorological Agency JMA, Information and Telecommunication Division, Forecast Department, 1-3-4 Otemachi, Chiyodaku, Tokyo 100-8122, Japan (Patrick Robic, Austria, A-DX Dec 29, 2008 via Wolfgang Büschel, HCDX via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. QSL Report, January: Station: - KBS World Radio Date: - 03-01-2009 Frequency: - 9515 kHz Time: - 1600-1700 UT Language: - English Description: - Jang Mi-ran. “Female Hercules” and 2008 Olympic gold medalist Jang Mi-ran stunned the world by setting new world records in the snatch, with 140kg, and in the clean and jerk, with 186kg. Lifting a total 326kg, Jang set seven Olympic records and five world record. Receiver: - Grundig YB 400, Antenna: - Long Wire, Location: - 26N07 85E23. Regards & 73’s (Mukesh Kumar, THE COSMOS CLUB, MUZAFFARPUR – 842002 BIHAR, INDIA, Feb 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Himcules? ** LAOS [non]. U K. (non), Frequency change for Suab Xaa Moo Zoo (V of Hope) in Hmong via VTC: 2330-2400 NF 5890 TAC 100 kW / 131 deg to SEAs, ex 7115 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Feb 23 via DXLD) ** MALI. 7285, 23/02 0829, R Mali, em Arabic, desde Bamako I, com 50 kW, mx tipo tribal cantada por YL e mais um instrumento de percussão; às 0832 coro de crianças em mx tribal em instrumento de sopro e tambores; às 0840 UT (volto à freq.) e dessa vez mx típica africana, às 0846 OM e YL Talks em Arabic, QRM moderado de emissoras não ID, 23332 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) Jorge deliberately uses some English terms in his reports to make them more international? Such as names of languages (gh) ** MEXICO. 4800.0, XERTA, 0344-0441, Feb 24. Mostly songs in Spanish (perhaps religious and ballads) and EZL instrumental music; TCs; numerous IDs for "X-E-R-T-A” and mentions of “Mexico”. Had a good signal and would have been outstanding reception, except for that fact that R. Buenas Nuevas (4799.73) was also having extraordinary reception. Guatemala signed-off at 0433, but by then conditions had cooled off some. Have never heard these two stations so strong! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6010, XEOI, R. Mil, México D.F., 23 Feb, 0700-1315; mainly musical content, Radio Mil jingles, brief chatter. Good signal level but lack luster modulation usually gave the upper hand to co-channel Colombia until they began to fade. Transmitter stable a few Hz above 6010 kHz (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO [and non]. 9575, 23/02 0916, USA, Family Radio, PP, desde Okeechobee, com 100 kW, OM fala sobre a salvação, forte QRM da R Med [sic] 1 que quase sempre chega muito bem aqui; acho que a Family Radio deveria revisar essa freq nesse horário de forte QRM da Méd 1; as duas se alternam na freq, 42432 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) WYFR collides with Médi-1, he says, so WYFR should reconsider. Currently scheduled 0900-1200, 160 degrees toward Brasil, but you will get your wish in A-09, with 9575 no longer in use (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to Glenn's column, in A-09 on 6175 instead (Wolfgang Büschel, HCDX via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 5985.77v, Myanma Radio, fair at 1314, Feb 24, with pop music. This switching between different transmitters is becoming the norm. Checked again at 1415 to find only an open carrier here. Myanmar on 5770 had normal reception with pop music. Could not hear anything on 9730.84v, but may have just been due to conditions (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Re 9-016, negative comments about Happy Station: ``isn't it typical of South East Asia to take great European names in the field of radio (thinking of receiver manufacturers particularly) and exploit the brand but lose its essential essence, lifeblood even, of the nation where it started?`` Like all generalisations and stereotypes I would say no! Also we are talking about a Canadian broadcaster presently living in Taiwan so I don't see how he can be thought to be representative of South East Asia. I'm not sure about that; if it's a recognisable programme name that is thus associated with a particular format, the BBC Legal Department wrote to Robert Sandall and Mark Russell saying that they couldn't use the name Mixing It on Resonance FM even though they had presented the programme on Radio 3 for many years and had been told that the station had no future plans to broadcast any new programmes in the series, same thing applies to the American version of The Office and there are other examples. Asking Radio Netherlands about taking the programme name, and to some extent format, can also be seen as courtesy, there are plenty of stations who take the name of various former offshore pirates around without any connection or contact with former staff/management. I noted Bob Gardner's comments about the present Radio Caroline run by Peter Moore but am not going to be drawn into arguments about them, anyone who frequents the free radio forums will be well aware of all those. It was conceived as a one-off tribute programme but Keith Perron then thought that there was enough reaction/material to make it more regularly. There's a lot more at the Happy Station Yahoo Group, you don't have to join to read all the messages: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thehappystation My view is that these days people will listen to interesting content no matter what the station is called or what platform, traditional or digital, that it is broadcasting on either live, on-demand or via downloads/podcasts (Mike Barraclough, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. 3955 in Dutch, Feb 23 at 0620, poor signal, deep fades, but not much QRhaM at the moment. If it`s in Dutch, it can`t be from Netherlands! But surely R. Netherlands via somewhere else. This is 250 kW, 121 degrees from Skelton UK at 0600-0657 only. Per current ADDX language schedule, the only countries still broadcasting in Dutch on SW are RN and VRT, the latter only 4 hours a day, none of that direct from Belgium either. 15280, Feb 24 at 2218, VG signal in Indonesian, but deep and selective fading. What does PWBR `2009` say? Nothing. Must be RN; who else would be talking about Schipol, bits of Dutch and even English mixed in with the Indonesian, and 2220 RNW ID. But then at 2221 I notice that the audio is hiccuping, every few seconds looping back and repeating two or three times a few syllables already just heard. This is extremely annoying, especially if you really understand Indonesian. And also ruins song in English which follows at 2222. Just as bad if not worse at 2236 recheck when an IDstring ran in Dutch, English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and something else. Is anyone paying attention at Hilversum or transmitter site? I guess a satellite feed problem. 15280 is not Madagascar as first assumed. This is the 2200-2257 transmission via IBB sites, which changed from Tinang at the beginning of B-08, to Tinian for a sesquiweek, and finally to SAIPAN since 7 November. Hard to believe it is beamed due SW from there rather than NE toward US. But a refund is in order (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 9690, 21/02 1601, R. Voice of Nigéria, em Igbo, desde Ikorodu, com 250 kW, ID por YL e após YL Talk, 25332. Voltando a escuta em 23/02 às 0913 onde OM Talk em Fulfulde, com bom sinal 44444. Também escutada às 1604 de 23/02 com OM Talk e SINPO 34333 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. KEOR, 1120, Catoosa/Sperry/Tulsa, off the air again when checked around 2030 UT Feb 23, and 1700 and 2030 UT Feb 24. Maybe the days of oldies over and over and over are over, pending transfer to Catholic diocese (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Hello Glen[n], Driving home from Cheyenne, OK last evening I wanted to see if I could hear the audio of the TV show "Big Bang Theory" on my Sony Walkman MF-37V. The show appeals to the inner nerd in me. Found no audio and realized that since Channel 9 went all digital on the 17th there was no analog sound to be picked up. Channels 4 and 5 were still there, Channel 13 was not. Did find something strange however. On TV Channel 11 was a local OKC country music station 101.9 "The Twister." Checked again this morning and it was still there. I think OETA-TV used Channel 11 for broadcast up near Tulsa before they to went all digital. Are FM stations taking over unused analog frequencies anywhere else? (Steve Cross, MWC, OK, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Steve, Very interesting. Certainly not, FM stations taking over former TV frequencies. But it so happens that channel 11 audio is 203.75 MHz, so your receiver must have been picking up the second harmonic of 101.9 which would be 203.8 MHz! Whether this was actually radiated, or produced in your radio I could not say. Similar doubles of other powerful OKC FM stations should also be showing up if the receiver is doing it. KSWO ex-7 in Lawton is now digital on channel 11, and I`d think you would have been getting some interference from that. KOED in Tulsa is also back on 11 with DTV (Glenn to Steve, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks Glenn, I guess it could be in the radio, the numbers make sense, but when I am in SW OKC, I can pick up the LPTV Channel 11 Univision analog which is still on but not the FM radio. Can one overpower the other or maybe the radio actually locks on to the TV broadcast better? (Steve Cross, ibid.) I don`t know anything about that radio, but it may be designed to receive FModulated TV audio which has a different deviation (which translates to loudness) than FModulated radio. However the latter being a harmonic could throw that off. If there are two FM signals otherwise equal, the stronger one will suppress the weaker one due to the ``capture effect`` intrinsic in FM. So where you get Univisión it is probably just the stronger signal on (or near) the same frequency (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** PAKISTAN. STATE RADIO REVISES POLICY ON BROADCASTS IN LOCAL LANGUAGES | Text of report by official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) Islamabad, 20 February: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman Friday [20 February] urged Radio Pakistan to play pro- active role in informing and educating the people in the prevailing security situation in the country. "Educating and motivating the people in the current circumstances is significant and need of the hour and I think Radio Pakistan, having an access everywhere, can execute in an effective manner," she said while addressing a concluding session of three-day Station Directors Conference here at National Broadcasting House. The minister said national security is most sensitive issue and the broadcasters will have to be very careful while delivering the message to the people who are subjected to worst kind of terrorism. She said the elected government believes in dialogue, keeping in view local customs and culture, adding that Radio Pakistan has the responsibility to create awareness among the masses and help win minds and hearts of the people. Sherry Rehman said the government prefers to hold dialogue to resolve the issue of terrorism and extremism but at the same time it could not allow anyone to challenge writ of the state. Referring to role of Radio Pakistan, the minister said it has to make itself competitive organization and work hard to meet all targets set by the elected government. Radio Pakistan need to have work with great zeal to revitalize the biggest media organization and make it popular among the masses. "We are taking all possible measures to ensure freedom of media and provide mediapersons full protection, as we have decided not to impose any restriction on media, but it is their obligation to remain within certain moral limits and create awareness regarding national issues among the people," she added. Expressing concern over the marketing and sales performance of Radio Pakistan, she stressed the need for reviewing the marketing policy to generate new resources to make it a self-reliant body. She appreciated the idea of launching educational channel by Radio Pakistan and assured full support of the government in this regard. The minister also lauded enhancing ratio of local languages in radio broadcasts but emphasized to maintain standards at all costs. She lauded the Director General PBC, Murtaza Solangi, for his professional approach in running the organization and hoped that he would be able to transform it into a competitive medium. She particularly mentioned efforts for reducing budgetary deficit of the corporation and hoped that the new marketing vision would help achieve the objective. Secretary Information Ashfaq Gondal lauded contribution of Radio Pakistan in socio-economic development of the country and said it can help a lot in motivating people to play their role in national development. He said there is need to understand this role in correct perspective and then directing the right kind of message to the people. The secretary expressed the confidence that the PBC's professionals would work with passion in disseminating information, education and entertainment. In his comments, Murtaza Solangi explained decisions taken by the three days' moot and said it reviewed entire programmes and made recommendations for preparing Radio Pakistan to meet the challenges of the 21st century. He said the conference came up with a new programming vision including revision of the language policy, short term and long term up-gradation, expansion and consolidation of PBC and a new marketing strategy. The director general said the conference approved new community broadcasting vision and asked the station directors to plan new programmes focusing on the needs of the local community. He said 70 per cent of the programmes of stations would now be in local languages with a view to promote local culture. Later, talking to journalists, Murtaza Solangi said a sales conference has also been planned to devise an effective strategy to boost income of the corporation. He said employees would be associated in marketing activities and they would get 15 per cent commission on advertisements obtained by them. Replying to a question, he said regional and provincial station directors conferences would also be held and trainers would be taken to stations to impart professional training to PBC staff. Efforts are being made for technological innovations and digitization despite financial crunch being faced by the PBC, he added. He said the conference also urged all wings of the PBC to implement effective coordination and planning at the local units. Source: Associated Press of Pakistan news agency, Islamabad, in English 0923 gmt 20 Feb 09 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3325, R. Bougainville (presumed), 1302-1312*, Feb 24. News in English; public service announcement, giving phone number; pop songs; suddenly off. Mixing with RRI (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3335, Radio East Sepik – Wewak, 1240–1310, 2/20/09, in Tok Pidgin. Popular American / Australian (including a short rap piece in Tok Pidgin and “What kind of love is this?) music with woman announcer, 1246 short announcements by the woman announcer joined by a man, 1305 ID and program announcement, then back to music program, off abruptly at 1312. Fair (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, R-75, Winradio g313e, Eton E1, Satllit 800, Kaito 1103; 110’ random wire, Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** PERU. 6047.19v, (presumed), R. Santa Rosa, Lima, 23 Feb, *1111-1250 fade-out; audio only started being heard a few minutes ofter the transmitter was turned on. Decent carrier but only just slightly above threshold audio, man in possible Spanish with low-key religious sounding monologue. Much slop from booming HCJB on 6050. Transmitter steadily drifting, up to 6047.22 kHz by carrier fade-out at 1250 (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 6020, Vatican Radio, Palauig, 23 Feb, 1228-1314; sudden cut-on at 1228 with Chinese service. At times at equal levels, but usually underneath co-channel R Australia English service (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. In DXLD 9-016 is mention that NPR programming airs in Moscow --- longtime radio observer Kai Ludwig notes that "...First Berlin, now Moscow. It seems that for developed countries NPR becomes more and more the new "Voice of America ". London, too... I agree -- global audiences appear to find NPR programming more compelling than that of the VOA; much like we in the USA find CBC Radio One more interesting than RCI (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) As NPR is to VOA and CBC-1 is to RCI, I find that local radio via the internet is more interesting than network radio in general. It is as close to teletransportation as our technology currently permits. The one exception is local UK radio compared to BBC World Service. There is no better single source of world news in my opinion. Local call-in programs are an excellent way to discern how Joe Sixpack feels about current events and issues. So I will continue to wander the internet until someday possibly I'll be able to say, "Beam me over Scotty!" (Joe Buch, ibid.) The only thing that NPR doesn't broadcast in Moscow (Sergei S., ibid.) Sergei, What do you mean by your comment. Are you saying that NPR does not broadcast in Moscow? (Glenn to Sergei, via DXLD) Glenn: I guess WRN Russian isn't so good at updating their program schedule. NPR left Moscow back in January. Now WRN runs additional overnight repeats for its usual client broadcasters in Russian. (Sergei S., DX LISTENING DIGEST) As he previously reported: I don't know about NPR's endowment but I heard the one for Harvard isn't doing so well. As part of saving measures, NPR also stopped its overnight AM relays in Moscow, Russia from January 19. I wish they could take over a few hours at VoA's AM frequency as it's mostly VoA Music. But I'm sure it's impossible due to all the legal stuff on both ends (Sergei, Moscow, Jan 29, swprograms via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 15435 from 1500 Feb 23, Sawt al-Buzz, not too severe initially vs Qur`an, but steadily worsening. At least it fills up the dead-air pauses as long as half a minute at 1523, as the muezzin builds up steam for his next outburst (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ditto Feb 24 ** SOUTH AFRICA. Channel Africa, 17770, better than usual Feb 24 at 1513 with news, 1518 mentioning 9625 as only frequency during this second hour of the English broadcast. So they are still confused in the studio about what frequencies are really on the air from Meyerton (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) QSL Report, January: Station: - Channel Africa (via Sentech) Date: - 09-11-2008 Frequency: - 17770 kHz (Telefunken) Time: - 1500-1530 UT Language: - English Description: - Verification Letter verified by Kathy Otto, Broadcast Planning, Sentech. We are happy to verify these details. The transmitter, a 500 kW Telefunken, is located at the Meyerton Transmitting Station, geographical coordinates 26S35 28E08. Receiver: - Grundig YB 400, Antenna: - Long Wire, Location: - 26N07 85E23. Regards & 73’s (Mukesh Kumar, THE COSMOS CLUB, MUZAFFARPUR – 842002 BIHAR, INDIA, Feb 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. Jose Miguel and others, How strong is the "beacon spain" on around 6932 with cw mode mirror and e-mail address. Rather nice here at 1820 UTC the 24 Feb (Jari in Finland Savolainen, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos Jari, ¿seguro que es de España? Aquí no se capta nada; acabo de hablar con un radioaficionado español, que vive en el norte del país y no capta nada. Tampoco tiene conocimiento de ningún Beacon español en esa frecuencia; de todas maneras si me entero de algo te informo. Un saludo, atentamente (José Miguel Romero, ibid.) [luego:] Saludos Jari, el E-mail es: beaconhf@hotmail.com Se llama Damien y emite desde el noroeste de España: Mensaje encontrado en foro DX de utilitarias de Francia. Damien Et voici la réponse recue ce soir : Hola, gracias por tu reporte. Esta es una radiobaliza completamente homemade; transmite ocasionalmente en la banda de 40m. Power --- 25 W Antena --- dipolo invertida. Frec. 6930 kHz [sic] CW Mi situación esta en la costa mediterranea al este de Spain. Te mando una fotografia de mi equipo. BEACONHF HOTMAIL.COM (via José Miguel Romero2, ibid.) Yes, I got that e-mail on the air but so far got no reply from them. The cw mirror they're running is "cq cq cq beacon spain for dxers send report beaconhf hotmail.com qsl ok thanks"... But no QSL here yet :-[ 73, (Jari Savolainen, ibid.) Jari`s an old maritime CW op (gh) ** SUDAN. 7200, Sudan RTVC, 0305, E. African Arabic talk interspersed with Kor`anic recitation and group recitations. Wow, very strong; weakening with African local daybreak. Cheers, (Robert McEntee, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See BULGARIA above ** SYRIA. 12085, Radio Damascus, 2143-2204 Feb 21, instrumental music, woman announcer with ID at 2146 with program introduction in English Service. Feature about Syrian civilization with short music features. Vocals at 2153 until Spanish ID at 2200. Thought this was beginning of Spanish Service but when I re-tuned a few minutes later there was no signal (closedown?). Fair but // 9330 was poor (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Lowe HF-150, Eton E5; Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** THAILAND. 6040, Voice of America, Udon Thani, 23 Feb, 1157-1314; transmitter on at 1157 into Chinese programming at 1200. Weak and noisy but steadily improving to almost fair by 1314 tune-out (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Receivers: WinRadio G313e, RFSpace SDR-IQ; Antenna: ALA100 Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chicom jamming with echo dominates here when I check this frequency each morning a bit later, around 1330-1400; so are you sure you were hearing VOA and not the jamming? Evidently not both (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. BBCWS via Ascension, 27 degrees, 6005, Feb 24 at 0701 with news and off the air promptly at 0706* after ``and that`s the latest BBC news``. Certainly strange scheduling, but no accident. Evidently the transmitter is not needed immediately at 0700 for something else, so why not squeeze in a little more news? Aoki shows until 0705, but this cannot be as BBCWS news always runs until 6 past the hour so it will match up with NPR news timings. (I had also noticed previously the newsreader naming herself just before the optional cutaway at :04, another innovation.) HFCC shows until 0710 but this is also incorrect. EiBi has it right, until 0706. Is anyone aware of any other BBCWS SW transmission in English which does this? Possibly BBCWS has a commitment to feed some local African relay station the news at 0700. Before 0700, 6005 is hard to hear due to RHC on 6000, but after 0700 we get Mali clearly on 5995 and BBC on 6005 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Add Wichita, KS to the cities with 24/7 BBC World Service on HD public radio --- Poking around Kevin Kelly's Public Radio Fan website, I spotted that Wichita's KMUW features the BBC World Service on its HD3 digital audio service. It's the same news-heavy schedule that's on Sirius satellite radio. Nice feature about this KMUW stream is that it's a very pleasant 128 kbps bandwidth. URL: http://www.kmuw.org/ Click on "Listen" in the top navigation bar and then click on HD3 (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, Feb 22, swprograms via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. Re: BBC WS moving out of London --- See also this labour union release: http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=1128 "The BBC is planning to offshore all Hindi output, while London output of the Urdu and Nepali services would be halved. NUJ members working on the service say the plans would seriously jeopardise the BBC's status as an independent international broadcaster." A 24-hour strike on the South Asia service will take place on Thursday (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Feb 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. RADIO COMEDY STARTS ON ITV2 --- Radio Today. February 22, 2009 A new television series based in a fictitious London radio station starts this week on ITV2. FM follows a group of fame-hungry friends who run a daily indie-inspired radio show. The show, which starts on ITV2 this Wednesday 25th February, stars Chris O'Dowd (The IT Crowd, Under The Blue Sky) Kevin Bishop (The Kevin Bishop Show, Star Stories, Fat Pig) and Nina Sosanya (Teachers, Casanova, Love's Labours Lost). How real-to-life the programme is remains to be seen, as the show host Lindsay Carol (O'Dowd) fills his show with indie tunes and stories of his misguided personal life. The three are seen dealing with demanding managers, pushy new bands, unreliable recording artists, Dom's relentless partying and boyband past, Jane's shambolic love life, as well as Lindsay's constant failure to pull, be cool or look hot in skinny jeans. We are also treated to a stereotypical wide-eyed receptionist and "nerdy" sound engineer. (Worth a watch if only to see how true to life it might be). http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.4426 (via Mike Terry, Bournemouth, England, with thanks to David Morris for alerting me to this, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) The series is Wednesdays 10.30 p.m.; there's a lot more on the show`s extensive website including clips. What Radio Today didn't mention is that every episode features a performance from a band in the FM studio, including The Charlatans, The Wombats, Guillemots, Ladyhawke, The Subways and Sway. There are also guest appearances from the likes of Justin Hawkins, Marianne Faithfull, Toyah Wilcox, Jamie Theakston, Konnie Huq and Tim Westwood. http://www.itv.com/entertainment/comedy/fm/ (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) See also INTERNATIONAL WATERS [and non] ** U S A. MARCH 1955 WWV RECORDING UNEARTHED Hi Glenn, In light of Don Elliot Heald's recent passing, it seems somehow appropriate that this would turn up now. While listening to an old LP of ionospheric recordings, I discovered a clip of WWV recorded on March 1, 1955. This is now officially the earliest known recording of the station. After about two hours' worth of editorial wizardry, I now have a passable 30-second transcription of the 10:10 AM voice announcement. What makes this noteworthy is that Don Elliot Heald did not start his announcements on WWV until May of 1955. Hence, this is actually an original announcement by the actor George Fenneman, captured exactly two months before it was replaced by the more familiar Don Elliot announcements. Assuming George never re-recorded his initial tracks, this might actually be an example of the very first voice announcements ever implemented on WWV. (The station added voice on 1/1/1950.) Geeky indeed, but after 17 years of collecting recordings, this is quite a find. I'd also like to put interested listeners "on notice" that the set will finally be issued this summer after a long and complicated design-related delay. Another enticing addition to the set is a recording of the experimental station KC2XIO, which was a "test balloon" for the current WWV format and which some of your listeners may remember from their two-hour broadcasts just before the Colorado sunrise during 1970. Folks who would like to keep tabs on "At the Tone" and a handful of other intriguing archival shortwave projects should monitor my blog at http://www.myke.me RSS feeds are available. Take care, (Myke D Weiskopf, blog > http://www.myke.me web > http://www.mykeweiskopf.com Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Myke, Very good, but are you putting this audio on one of your websites? I have not found it. 73, (Glenn to Myke, via DXLD) Hi Glenn - Thanks for the reply. At your request, I will post the clip on my blog for one week only. I am still awaiting copyright clearance for the excerpt, so I can't leave it up for longer. Your listeners can find it at http://www.myke.me until March 1. Thanks! (MDW, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx, Myke. The one, the only --- ! (gh, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Frequency change for VOA in Georgian from Feb. 18: 1700-1800 NF 9405 LAM 100 kW / 075 deg, ex 12130 BIB 100 kW / 085 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Feb 23 via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Shortly after KSDA finished with 11850 [see GUAM], Feb 24 at *2230, a seamless transition to R. Free Asia, opening in English with Khmer to follow. At first I thought they said ``Thai`` as the name has an almost-long I, the way RFA pronounces it, as I have noticed before and must be closer to the proper pronunciation in that language itself. In next few minutes, YL announcer mentioned Malraux, Reagan and others in the same breath. Wonder what that was about. This signal, much better than KSDA had been, easily held its own against adjacent WYFR on 11855. RFA`s zero-beat open carrier was probably already on for a crash-start when I tuned in KSDA a minute earlier, suppressing its loudness but also holding off WYFR`s sideband. This is TINIAN at 278 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WINB is now streaming. Go to http://www.winb.com and click on the listen to WINB button (Hans Johnson, FL, 2/24/09, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** U S A. 3185, WWRB (Morrison, Tennessee). 0305-0325. 17 Feb 09. English. Nice program of swing music including “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” “In the Mood,” and several others. It must have been filler since there were no announcements. Standard WWRB fare after BOH. The signal quality and strength exceeded local MW stations and came close to local FM stations. Excellent (Joe Wood, Greenback TN, E1, DX 390, Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Greenback is less than 100 miles almost due east of Morrison; apparently beyond the skip zone at that low HF (gh) VARIOUS TIDBITS FROM WWRB --- We purchased another Cessna Citation Bravo : It's at the airframe modification center having various avionics upgrades such as SATCOM, secure voice / data dual HF radios, 2000 foot trailing wire antenna, long range fuel tanks, and other goodies installed. Prices for Corporate aircraft have plummeted; we are taking advantage of the recession, purchasing assets at pennies on the dollar prices. WWRB has begun streaming: We have received approval to install a Ku- band point-to-point 400 MPX/DTRXA channel microwave system; it's a 20 mile link to our other location. [Morrison/Manchester TN Right now 3185 kHz is streaming from McCaysville, GA: our HF/VHF LDOC receiver site. As soon as the microwave link is installed, then the streaming will be local. Bible on tape streaming is generated at another location. We have/are toying around with installing a 900 foot high tower here at the WWRB transmitter facility to provide high speed Internet. There is no high speed Internet for miles and miles around here: With the new 400 MPX/DTRXA channel Ku band microwave link, we can become a full service ISP, if we decide to get into that business. We have a full plate now; we may lease the 'WWRB' ISP facility to another then sit back and collect rent on the WWRB 'Access point' (AP). No decisions made yet. LYQ beacon is getting out real good, receiving lots of reception reports. Some have asked why it's not on Arnav's NAVAIDS listing. LYQ is for a government contract, so it's not part of the National Airspace System (NAS). It's a private-use NDB for all of the military helicopter and fixed wing activity going on here. ROSEANNE airport K43TN is like a beehive with airplanes and helicopters coming and going all day long! As usual, we have been accused of operating the ROSEANNE NDB beacon without FCC/FAA authorization : The FCC call letters are : WQHL966. FCC file number : 0003084236, owned by Airline Transport Communications, Inc. For those so inclined, they can view the ROSEANNE NDB beacon`s authorization on the FCC's web site. WWRB is very selective in who we will provide airtime to: We have been turning away many of our former clients; they think WWRB shortwave is going to provide them with the same level of support we gave them after Y2K (financial support vanished over night): We bent over backwards keeping them alive after Y2K fizzled out. As soon as things got better, they went to other shortwave stations. Now that the financial support is vaporising AGAIN, they want back on. They cannot understand that we no longer support them, as LOYALTY is number one at WWRB shortwave, not Money. That's all for now (Dave Frantz, WWRB, Feb 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3145, 22/02 0330, WWRB The Overcomer Ministry, EE, desde Morrison TN, com 100 kW, OM com sermão religioso, 35333. 3185, 22/02 0333, WWRB The Overcomer Ministry, EE, desde Morrison TN, com 100 kW, mx gospel, as 0335 UTC OM Talk, mesmo azimute e mesma estação em 3145 kHz com programação diferente, 35333 3215, 22/02 0338, WWRB, The Overcomer Ministry, EE, desde Nashville, com 100 kW, essa com azimute 46 e de outra cidade, apesar da diferença de azimute os sinais são iguais, programas diferentes, as 0339 OM Talk com menção a Obama, 35333 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) !! People keep getting confused by this, but it`s quite clear on the schedules. WWRB with Brother Scare changes from 3215 to 3145 at 0200, as WWCR starts 3215 at 0200, NOT with Overcomer. The 46-degree azimuth pertains to WWCR. 3185 is NOT Overcomer either until 0500, but other WWRB gospel huxters. Furthermore, WWRB is not in Nashville. In other words, WWRB with Overcomer is on 3215 until 0200, 3145 at 0200-0500, and 3185 from 0500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5920, Feb 24 at 0650 check and still 0659, nothing but a big open carrier from WBOH; I was checking whether they played the Star Spangled Banner at the same time as three nights before. Quickly switched to WTJC 9370 at 0653, which was just barely audible and not playing the SSB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Please note the following change in the WYFR B-08 Schedule effective 25 Feb 09: Delete 11855 kHz 0200-0500 UT 222 degrees Zone 11 Add 9390 kHz 0200-0500 UT 222 degrees Zone 11 (Evelyn Marcy, WYFR, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 7565, Feb 23 at 1406, self-assured preaching in S Asian language, fair and clear signal; 1408 mentioned Mary Magdalene; 1429 many mentions of Bible, and Moody Bible, continued past 1430. What does PWBR `2009` say? Nothing at all listed on this frequency! EiBi has the answer, YFR in Bengali via Moldova at 14-16. Aoki adds that it`s 300 kW, 116 degrees and started Dec 4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KRKO 1380 with to 34/50 kW --- This from finndxer. If the night pattern remains the same as with 5 kW (main lobe to northeast), this should become very easy in Europe. KRKO 1380 BROADCASTING POWER INCREASES TENFOLD KRKO's broadcasting power is set to increase tenfold on Monday, allowing the Everett-based radio station to expand its market with a new sports programing lineup. Four radio towers built last year in the Snohomish River Valley are set to start broadcasting Monday, 23rd of February, said Andy Skotdal, whose family owns KRKO-AM 1380. That's expected to boost the station's broadcasting power from 5,000 watts to 50,000 watts at night and to 34,000 watts during the day. KRKO has permission from the Federal Communications Commission to broadcast the new signal during a testing period, Skotdal said. It has yet to receive final licensing. (heraldnet.com) 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, Feb 23, mwdx yg via DXLD) Night power larger than day power? Is this really true? (Jurgen Bartels Suellwarden, N. Germany, ibid.) It can happen (gh, DXLD) Was in Victoria for two straight days of Rotary meetings this weekend. Today I noted a very loud KRKO-1380 complete with IBOC hash on either side. Not much question that they started a day early. On my drive home to NE Tacoma from Port Angeles between 6-8:15 pm PST, they did not stand out and I simply could not tell if they were on their night 50 kW rig or had their IBOC on (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, 12225w 4719n, Feb 22, IRCA via DXLD) Well, without knowing where the lobes of the new pattern point, it's hard to say for sure, but if they're really running 50 kW tonight, it sure doesn't sound like it. S-meter shows an average of s9, but a large amount of QSB makes it unpleasant to listen to. (Not that it would be my choice anyway ... sports talk shows leave me cold :O) ) Since Everett isn't very far from here, I would expect a better signal (Dave Bennett, Aldergrove, BC, Feb 23, ibid.) ** U S A. The annual homelessness marathon is underway, totalling 14 hours. This site http://homelessnessmarathon.org/2008/08/12th-annual-homelessness-marathon.html leads to a long list of stations carrying it, many of them webcasters, including KBOO, KUNM... (Glenn Hauser, UT Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tho it`s over now, you may find the website of interest ** VATICAN [and non]. 9660, Feb 24 at 0656, RA Brandon 10 kW with rock music, SAH of 3.7 Hz; what could that be? At 0658 Vatican IS started. Did not monitor further, assuming VR was about to start transmission, but checking EiBi later, found that VR, 500 kW, 200 degrees from SMG, is supposed to be ending 9660 at 0658 after English at 0630, while RA goes on until 0800 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 4828, VOZ, 0407. Strong signal with endless, joyous "1,4,5 chord" classic African pop music. Interference of unknown origin made clear copy difficult. I struggled in the 60 mb. last evening ( 2/24 00:00 > ) with some kind of broadband jamming or QRM (?) evident from around 4940 to just below Zimbabwe on 4828 and very disruptive to most signals in this range. I have precious little experience in this mb. but I've not heard so wide a swath since the woodpecker days of the 1980's. Curious if you've noticed similar at your location or if this is localized and atypical. The only jammer I found listed in this immediate freq range was on 4799.8 from an older publication. Cheers, (Robert McEntee, Feb 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Robert, You don`t describe the `jamming`, but it is probably CODAR, ocean wave radar, which consists of pulses once per second, sort of a swishing sound, covering several specific frequency ranges in and around the 60m and some other bands. 4799.8? That sounds suspiciously like Radio Buenas Nuevas, Guatemala, which maybe was also suffering from CODAR sweeps (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Glenn, And now that I've searched the recent DXLDs of course I see all the mentions of CODAR in this mb. I'd never knowingly encountered it before as this band is less visited. Thanks for the clue. CODAR, what a drag --- how many years has it been tolerated? (rm, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4800 NO ID, 1858-1907, escuchada el 23 de febrero en idioma sin identificar a locutora en conversación con invitado, no creo que se trate de la reactivación de Radio lesotho?? A pesar de la débil señal, me parece acento asiático más que de origen africano, SINPO 24422 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Been checking 4800 since around 1800 and it sounds like Indian language, AIR with extended schedule? (Jari Savolainen, Finland, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. OTH radar pulses, presumed, ranging approximately 5200- 5240 with companion 5445-5485, Feb 23 at 1402. Likely from East Asia; anyone know exactly whence? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6986, 22/02 0435, YL dizia letras e números, as letras como no alfabeto de radioamador, em AM, às 0438 UT and tx, 35333 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia, Brasil, 12º 15' 1.57" S 38º 58' 40.30" W, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros e balum 4:1 em toroide, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) language? UNIDENTIFIED. 11895, Feb 23 at 1433, good signal with soprano in Chinese, lovely song, 1436 M&W conversation over continuous chimes. What`s this? One thing for sure: it`s not VOA in Russian via Biblis, which is the only thing PWBR `2009` lists during this hour. Aoki shows BBCWS in Chinese via Singapore, 100 kW at 13 degrees, 1300-1530. That would clinch it, except it`s also *jammed, so despite hearing only one station, I can`t be sure without further info whether it was BBC or CNR1 programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) \\ 9605 SNG, 7330 THA, 6095 KOR. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) Meaning BBC is // on those frequencies --- but so would be the Chicom jamming. What one has to do is check other CNR1 frequencies to see if they are //. O, for the good old days of Firedrake everywhere, when the source was obvious --- well, not to everyone (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ I have listened to your broadcasts over the years and have always enjoyed them. Used to listen to you back on WRNO in the 80's. I just recently got back into the DX game and was pleased to see you were still doing your show. Keep up the good work. Cheers, (Ty, Billings MT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ The EiBi skeds have been updated as of 24 February: http://www.eibispace.de/dx/bc-b08.txt http://www.eibispace.de/ (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, dxldyg via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ MEANING OF `DESECHEO` Respecto al origen del nombre de la Isla Desecheo es bastante incierto, fue dado por el explorador español Núñez Avárez de Aragón en 1517, probablemente venga del americanismo Desechar, que entre otras cosas viene a significar, “Ir por el camino más corto, o Atajar”, quizás esta isla fuera un punto de referencia en los viajes de la época del descubrimiento y posterior colonización del continente americano, sirviese pues cómo punto de referencia a la falta de cartas marinas, para acortar el camino de un punto a otro, de ahí quizás el nombre de Desecheo, zona de atajo. Un saludo (José Miguel Romero, Spain, Feb 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos José Miguel: Como otros muchos topónimos, es difícil conocer su origen exacto y surgen muchas teorías. La que nos comentas creo que es algo contradictoria, pues en 1517, difícilmente podía haber americanismos, de ser americanismo sería más reciente, y de haberle puesto el nombre el conquistador español, posiblemente fuera alguna expresión castellana de la época, que habría que investigar si realmente existió o no. He consultado los diccionarios de la Real Academia Española y desde el siglo XVIII hasta hoy la palabra no está registrada. Por lo que me inclino más porque sea americanismo que a que el nombre se lo diera el conquistador español. Seguiré investigando, a ver si consigo algo. Saludos (Jorge Trinado, Spain, ibid.) Se refiere que viene de la lengua de los indios taínos, según http://www.jmarcano.com/mipais/historia/terminos/taino_c.html : Cita: Cicheo --- Según Oviedo, el nombre que daban los indios a la actual isleta Desecheo, que está al occidente de Puerto Rico. Debe ser Sikeo: tierra alta, montuosa (Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) Saludos Jorge, evidentemente es más factible el planteamiento de Horacio Nigro, que sea de origen Taíno. Respecto a los americanismos hay que diferenciar, entre palabras que sean usadas y palabras registradas en la Real Academia de la lengua, estas no recogen los nombres de los lugares, por ejemplo. Creo que los colonizadores pronto empezaron a utilizar palabras americanas, principalmente los nombres de los lugares, nombres de objetos, plantas, animales, frutos etc. Por necesidad a la hora de comunicarse, el que no se hayan registrado en Real Academia de la Lengua no significa que no se usaran. Tan solo ha sido una teoria, pero parece más plausible el origen que Horacio Nigro ha postulado. Un saludo (José Miguel Romero, ibid.) Cómo apuntaba Horacio Nigro, el nombre de la Isla de Desecheo tiene origen Taíno. http://isladelencanto.net/pueblos/Desecheo/index.htm La Isla Desecheo es una isla pequeña y montañosa, localizada (Latitud: 18.40º N Longitud: 67.55º W) 13 millas al oeste de P.R. tiene 360 acres .56 millas cuadradas, localizada entre Puerto Rico Y Santo Domingo. Taínos le dieron el nombre a la isla, fue Descubierta por Colón, el nombre se le dió por Núñez Álvarez de Aragón en 1517 (via Romero, ibid.) Hola José Miguel: Por eso me decantaba por el americanismo; lo de la Real Academia Española hace referencia a que si el origen de la palabra hubiera sido castellano, sería una expresión que seguramente estaría en el diccionario. Si no lo estuvo, induce a pensar que la palabra posiblemente era americana, que no americanismo, pues en mi humilde opinión, para que sea americanismo debe ser palabra de origen americano que se incorpora al lenguaje castellano. Los diccionarios que he consultado no sólo son los académicos, sino también la base de datos de la RAE, con más de 410 millones de palabras de todas las épocas, por lo que su origen castellano sería muy improbable. Es posible que sea palabra de origen taíno castellanizada. El mismo Colón, en los relatos de sus viajes hace referencia a los "cariba" unas veces y, con más frecuencia, "caniba", lo cual le pareció demostración de que había llegado a Catai (China), pues caniba podría significar súbitos del "Gran Can"; por cierto que caniba es el orígen de la palabra caníbal, pues hubo leyendas de que practicaban la antropofagia. Hoy los conocemos por Caribes. En fin, curiosidades de la historia y de las lenguas. Un saludo (Jorge Trinado, Spain, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ INTERNET CAR RADIO IS HERE From the March/April Issue of Technology Review: Internet radio lets listeners find or create stations that play just the music they like. A dashboard stereo from miRoamer and Blaupunkt brings that kind of control into the car. The stereo connects wirelessly, via Bluetooth, to the driver's phone, which streams music over the cell network. Users can preprogram their favorite stations and create song playlists online. The system has a built-in microphone, so that users can make and receive phone calls by pressing a button on the radio. http://www.technologyreview.com (via Mike Terry, Feb 24, dxldyg via DXLD) Glenn: What does the abbreviation SAH stand for? (John Babbis, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Acronym Definition SAH Stay At Home SAH Subarachnoid Hemorrhage SAH Society of Architectural Historians SAH Society for the Arts in Healthcare SAH Sault Area Hospital (Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada) SAH Safe At Home SAH Sample and Hold SAH SETI At Home SAH Sanaa, Yemen - International (Airport Code) SAH Salute America's Heroes SAH Snow at Home (Terriville, CT) SAH Semi Active Homing SAH Summer's Almost Here SAH Standard Allowed Hours SAH Simulated Annealing Heuristic SAH Standard Average Hour SAH Sydney Airport Hotel SAH Site Access Hours SAH Schaeffer, Amos and Hughes, LLC (Dayton, OH) (via John Babbis, MD, DXLD) Your reference, whatever it may be, is woefully deficient, John. Sub- audible heterodyne. It`s the regular fading you hear between two signals that are almost, but not quite on the same frequency (like 9420). If you count the regular fades in one minute, divide by 60, you get the difference in Hertz = cycles per second. Or in 10 seconds, divide by 10, etc. Contrasted with greater differences producing an audible heterodyne, i.e. a pitch that is within human hearing range, like 30 Hz or higher. As long as it`s not too fast, to calculate SAHs, all you need is a watch and the ability to count and divide. Yet hardly anyone else bothers to in their DX reporting, incredibly (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) IMAGE FREQUENCY QUESTION Hello, While the topic of frequency imaging is being discussed, I have one to ask. Here in Billings, MT I can pick-up our local 970, KBUL on 850 during the day. It comes in just like it was actually on 850. At night, it is no longer present and KOA Denver usually comes in like a local themselves. Any ideas why 970 images onto 850? The other locals here are 730, 790, 910, 970 and 1240. The only other imaging I have noticed locally is a faint image of 730 onto 1090. Cheers, (Ty, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) We frequently get these on SW, from two frequencies at the same transmitter site: leapfrog mixing products, in this case 970 leaping over 910 another 60 kHz further down to land on 850. Unless KOA simply wipes out the image strengthwise, probably 970 or 910 changes antenna or is off the air at night eliminating the image. Check whether 970 and 910 are at the same site, even diplexed on same antenna. Another way of calculating these is 2A minus B. 730 would leapfrog over 910 in the same way upwards to land on 1090, 180 kHz apart. If you are really close and overloaded, this could even happen without the stations being at the same site or tower. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Thanks Glen. 910 and 970 are both on 24/7. They are located about a mile apart from each other as the crow flies. They are each on their own tower. 970 is 5000 watts day and night and 910 is 1000 watts day and 64 watts night. Both sites are about 5 miles from me as the crow flies. I have just always thought it was funny to hear 970 on 850 during the day like clockwork. KOA comes booming in here during the night and as soon as they fade out in the AM, KBUL comes in as if they were on 850 transmitting. Thanks again for the info (Ty, DX LISTENING DIGEST) When I was in Billings a few years ago, many locals were ruining many frequencies. FCC didn't know? Sounds like it's at least better now than it was. 73, (George Sherman, MN, IRCA via DXLD) The locals are still bad here in Billings, George. The over modulation is way over on most of the AM's. 730 and 1240 are the worst offenders. You cant even think of tuning anything in within at least 20 steps on either side of those frequencies. Makes it hard to DX the adjacent frequencies. Cheers, (Ty, ibid.) Most likely a mixing (intermod) product with your local on 910. 2 x 910 - 970 = 850 2 x 910 - 730 = 1090, which gives you your other mixing product Here in Calgary I get a few of these from our 50 kW locals on 660, 770, 910, 960, 1010, 1060, 1140: 2 x 660 - 770 = 550 2 x 960 - 1060 = 860 2 x 1140 - 1060 = 1220 are the worst. 73, (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, Calgary AB, ibid.) Here in the Detroit Michigan area, we have at least one intermod: FM band: 98.7 + 105.9 = 204.6 / 2 = 102.3 and due to the capture effect on FM, only the stronger of the two signals (98.7) is heard. Both transmitters are approx. 5 miles apart from each other. And as a side note, back to the original request, I'd look at 730 + 970 = 1700 / 2 = 850, especially if 73 is a daytimer and if it is heard on more than radio. Good job, and 73 de (Joe, KJ8O, Troy, MI, Miller, ibid.) Ty's 730 isn't a daytimer, it is actually 5 kW Day/235 W [night] non Directional. Both 730 and 1240 spew IBOC hash and they`re on the same tower (Paul Walker, Ord NE, ibid.) Hi Paul, Noted, but going from 5 kW to 235 W would still have the intermod present, but it would be so weak that no one would be able to hear it any more (JM, MI, ibid.) There are many ways mixing spurs can appear - several formulas, some specific to the IF frequency of the receiver. Multiples may appear on one frequency, sometimes multiples including a common station. But also don't limit the thinking to daytimers when the spur disappears at night because it culd be a fulltimer which changes power, pattern or both at sunset generating something only with day facilities, or, if the mixing product ( and this is actually more frequent ) results from a source external to either station, it probably takes a certain amount of field strength at that point to create the spur, hence a reduction in power or a change in pattern could make it disappear (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see CUBA [and non]; GERMANY; INDIA ++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL HAS KILLED TV ON RADIO By Glynn Moore| Columnist Monday, February 23, 2009 As I drove home from work a week ago, I changed my radio to the low end of the FM dial so I could pick up the evening news from the ABC-TV affiliate. All I heard, though, were the sounds of silence. . . http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/02/23/moo_512393.shtml (via Kim Elliott, DXLD) Yet another ignorant writer who equates the advent of DTV with rabbit ears becoming useless. It`s not the antenna, stupid, that makes the difference. In fact, in high-signal areas, rabbit-ears can pull in too much signal, overloading, so as Scott Fybush says, try sticking a paper clip into the antenna jack instead! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) With the death of analog channel 6 nationwide, will the frequency become available where KOTV (or other stations around the country) could still broadcast their audio on that frequency? (Stan, Feb 22, radio-info.com Oklahoma board via DXLD) See also OKLAHOMA above Re: No more Channel 6 (KOTV) at 87.7 [sic] FM No. Channel 6 (82-88 MHz) is still part of the TV spectrum, and the only authorized uses of that spectrum, at least under current rules, are DTV stations (there are some on channel 6 around the country) and low-power analog TV. As convenient as it was that channel 6 analog audio could be heard on the bottom of most FM radios, it was nonetheless more a "happy accident" than any deliberate policy decision by the FCC, and it's highly unlikely that the FCC would authorize the new service category that would be required to allow stations like KOTV to reactivate their old analog audio carriers under new licenses. (Even if someone applied to do so, there would be a tremendous backlash from non-commercial FM radio interests, who have been eager to see TV channel 6 operation go away so they can expand their signals without the significant restrictions that they have to deal with in markets that have/had channel 6 stations.) (Scott Fybush, ibid.) FAILURE OF AM-HD NOT ENTIRELY FAULT OF IBIQUITY OR RADIO MANUFACTURER OK, I have been silent quite a while, lots going on here; but I feel it time to sound off with my 2 cents where it is due about Hybrid- Digital AM radio (yes, that's what HD stands for, not "high-def"). [a spirited dispute about this followed, not reproduced here --- gh] 1. News-Talk stations DO have plenty of content above 10 kHz... what do we listen to for more than 20 minutes of each hour?? Commercials. Traffic/ weather/ business/ sports bumpers. Movie trailers. Station ID's. Line-up sweepers and stingers. Many of those involve stereophonic, high-fidelity sound effects, jingles, movie trailers, etc that catch your attention --- and that's the point of those spots, right? Though it is foolish for AM music broadcasters to ignore iBOC AM, all news-talkers should upgrade their audio chain to stereo and keep the iBOC running as clean as possible. 2. For someone like myself with tinnitus, having exceptionally clear highs (as from an iBOC or wide-bandwidth analog AM talk station) helps me listen without having to crank the volume up so high (to hear if the person said "tree", "free", "see" , "Z", or "fee". Since stations have begun brick-walling highs at 5kHz for iBOC broadcasters, it has become increasingly difficult to intelligibly listen when using a non- digital radio, even if the radio itself has high-bandwidth reception. And, these broadcasters LEAVE the audio brick walled at 5kHz when they go analog at night --- when you need the best bandwidth to hear the station through a higher noise floor. 2. As a listener, I am getting VERY tired of the "ON-AGAIN-OFF-AGAIN nature specifically within the AM iBOC broadcast community. I don't see this pattern with FM iBOC broadcasters, and don't see any sense in it. Seems like for most iBOC stations, they're on one week, off the next, back on the following, etc. If you're an iBOC AM, turn on your iBOC, and LEAVE IT ON. If you're discontinuing iBOC, LEAVE IT OFF. Don't keep switching ON-OFF-ON-OFF on a weekly basis. 3. It is *VERY GOOFY* how the majority of AM iBOC broadcasters are mainly TALK. At least in this part of the country (southern California), there are a good many MUSIC AM stations, but none -EXCEPT for Radio Disney - have adopted iBOC where the higher-fidelity stereo broadcast technology would actually DO SOMETHING for the listener and the content to make the listening experience that much better. 4. All of our L.A. area iBOC AM stations feature stereo audio (except for one, which has gone dark for the past 6 months - KLAC 570). KNX, KFWB, KDIS, KABC, KBRT all have STEREO audio. However, I do not see why (outside L.A.) there are still so many iBOC AM stations that are MONAURAL --- why in tarnation would an AM broadcaster want to consider dropping hundreds of thousands in Ibiquity equipment and licensing fees, but not even bother to rewire the STL and console for stereo, most of which can be done nowadays with the click of a mouse? Digital bandwidth is cheap. I can live-stream 192 kbps stereo over my good 'ole consumer-grade DSL connection point-A to point B. Bottom-line: AM broadcasters are equally, if not, more to blame for the failure of iBOC AM technology to catch on. Far-better audio can be had from these same AM stations - in stereo and full bandwidth unlike their over-the-air iBOC signal - by listening online or on an iPhone. AM broadcasters missed the train as it was leaving the station by not gearing up properly (Darwin Long, Feb 23, ABDX via DXLD) Darwin made some very good points. My only quibble is that he makes it sound like the broadcasters are turning the IBOC off and on, while I think it's much more likely that they are having equipment failures, and they just don't get around to fixing them for a while - and why should they, when IBOC generates zero revenue? The AM IBOC I hear from KFWB and KNX is much more annoying than 5 khz analog. The highs are so "busy" and artifact-ridden that it makes it difficult for me to listen to. What makes it worse is that I might actually get used to the lousy sound, if it weren't for the fact that the poor digital coverage means that they keep falling back to analog and then re-locking in digital. FM is another matter entirely, but I don't see any future in AM IBOC. A couple of nights ago I tuned around a bit, and found that there was very little AM IBOC at all. Maybe there is some hope (Brian Leyton, Valley Village, CA, ibid.) Darwin, AM IBOC could be a success if there was a full service or music station being broadcast. You could hear everything in stereo and in better sound. We said almost all this same stuff about AM stereo and its like the station owners got stuck back in 1979. You would have thought they would learn from the mistakes of the past but apparently not (Kevin Redding, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2009 Feb 24 2151 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/weekly.html # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 16 - 22 February 2009 Solar activity was very low. No flares were observed. The visible disk was spotless. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at high levels during 16 - 18 February. Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet levels during most of the period. ACE solar wind velocities decreased from 523 to 282 km/sec during 16 - 18 February as a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream (CH HSS) subsided. Solar wind velocities gradually increased from 282 to 490 km/sec during 19 - 22 February, possibly due to a recurrent HSS. During this period, IMF Bz varied from +08 to -06 nT and IMF Bt ranged from 01 to 10 nT. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 25 FEBRUARY - 23 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 increase to high levels during 14 - 18 March. Normal flux levels are expected during the rest of the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at predominantly quiet levels during 25 February - 12 March. Activity is expected to increase to quiet to active levels during 13 - 14 March with storm periods possible at high latitudes due to a recurrent CH HSS. Activity is expected to decrease to mostly quiet levels during 15 - 23 March. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2009 Feb 24 2152 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 24 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 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 2009 Mar 10 70 5 2 2009 Mar 11 70 5 2 2009 Mar 12 70 5 2 2009 Mar 13 70 12 4 2009 Mar 14 70 10 3 2009 Mar 15 70 5 2 2009 Mar 16 70 5 2 2009 Mar 17 70 5 2 2009 Mar 18 70 5 2 2009 Mar 19 70 5 2 2009 Mar 20 70 5 2 2009 Mar 21 70 5 2 2009 Mar 22 70 5 2 2009 Mar 23 70 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1449, DXLD) ###