DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-057, August 9, 2009 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2009 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 1472, August 5-11, 2009 Wed 0500 WRMI 9955 Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1900 WBCQ 7415 Thu 0530 WRMI 9955 Thu 1900 WBCQ 7415 Fri 0000 WBCQ 5110-CUSB Area 51 Fri 0100 WRMI 9955 Fri 1130 WRMI 9955 Fri 1900 WBCQ 7415 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 [or 2028:30] Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9510 [except first and second Sats] Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 [suspended, until mid-August?] Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Mon 2200 WBCQ 7415 Tue 1100 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Tue 1900 WBCQ 7415 Wed 0500 WRMI 9955 [or new 1473 starting here?] Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1900 WBCQ 7415 Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html or http://schedule.worldofradio.org or http://sked.worldofradio.org For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://podcast.worldofradio.org or http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** ARGENTINA. DX CONTEST --- RAE, the Foreign Service of the Argentine Public Radio, with the collaboration of the Radiolisteners Group of Argentina launches a contest for our audience in Argentina and in the world. The requirement is to send us two reception reports: one on our Spanish-language program and the other on any of the other languages broadcasts (English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese and Japanese). The contest begins on August 3, 2009 and reception reports will have to cover any of our programs until 2359 hours of August 17, a date selected to pay homage to the most important national hero of Argentina, General San Martín. "The father of the country", as we call him, died on August 17, 1850. Reception reports must be sent by e-mail to rae @ radionacional.gov.ar or by traditional mail to RAE, PO Box 555, post code: C1000WAF, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Reports will be accepted until September 30, 2009. All participants will receive a QSL cards. Among all who take part in the contest, there will be a prize draw for two Argentine music CD compilations. Thank you for joining! Kind greetings (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, Aug 9, HCDX via DXLD) There is probably a hidden agenda here, to prove that RAE has enough listeners to keep on going (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. The time of the year for 15 MHz (19m) and 17 MHz (16m) in the local late evenings? While Easy Listening tries to be more about content than frequencies, this is the time of the year to potentially catch Pacific broadcasters (such as Radio Australia and Radio New Zealand International) in local evenings if you’re in eastern North America. The programming schedules for these stations in the evening hours is different from what we normally hear in the morning hours, so you might want to take a listen. Radio Australia suggestions Weekdays at 0310 it’s “In The Loop”, a magazine and cultural program focusing on the peoples of the Pacific. The program features music and interviews, highlighting the opportunities and the challenges of the 20th Century. Isabelle Genoux and Clement Paligaru are the hosts. Weekdays at 0510 it’s “Pacific Beat – The Afternoon Edition”, a news- oriented program again focusing on the Pacific region. Leaders and newsmakers of the region are interviewed; Bruce Hill oversees the proceedings. Saturdays at 0305 it’s “Asia Review”, a weekly review of current events in the ABC’s other focus area – East Asia. This edition is a distillation of the weekday program Asia Pacific. Saturdays at 0330: “Great Southern Sounds”, a music program hosted by Kim Taylor. Saturdays at 0505: “Australian Bite”, a magazine of Australia-focused stories and music targeting an external audience; it’s the program that succeeded “Australian Express” in this genre. Heather Jarvis presents. Sundays at 0305 you’ll hear “The Philosopher’s Zone”, a unique program originating on Australia’s Radio National that focuses on logic, metaphysics, and ethics. The host is Alan Saunders, who is probably one of the brightest people I’ve ever heard on radio; he also hosts the Radio National program By Design. Sundays at 0330 it’s “Australian Country Style”, hosted by John Nutting, considered Australia’s leading country music radio personality. This program is an excerpt from the ABC Local Radio program “Saturday Night Country” and features music and interviews. Sundays 0405: “Artworks” comes from Radio National; it’s a weekly arts and cultural program featuring interviews with performers, artists, writers, critics and curators (Rich Cuff, Easy Listening, August NASWA Journal via DXLD) see also NEW ZEALAND ** AUSTRALIA. 2368.5: Not on air Aug 5th and 6th. Took a trip out to the SW transmitter site of Radio Symban in the inner Sydney suburb of Marrackville today & can happily report the following info. The transmitter site is located at: Danas Timber, Victoria Rd, Marrickville (Sydney). The antenna appears as a loaded vertical (so it's more compact in size) and is sited on the rooftop of the main timber yard building. The transmitter appears to be located on the roof in a metal shielded small air-conditioned box upon which the antenna is sited (See first image). The GE coordinates of the antenna/txer are: 33 54 30.90 S, 151 09 44.42 E approx. I've posted four images in our #05 Oceania PHOTO ALBUM on our Shortwavesites Yahoo Group. Hope you all appreciate these? Close shots of the antenna were too difficult to obtain due to the location of the winter sun and activities within the timber yard, nonetheless, the difficult-to-access camera shots didn't turn out too badly. If you are wondering if there is a small lean on the antenna, yes you are correct; almost vertical :-) Regards (Ian Baxter, Shortwavesites Yahoo Group (Aug 8) via BC-DX Aug 9 via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 2330 to 2345 7 July Florida logs: 4451.2, Radio Santa Ana, Santa Ana de Yacuma; 4699.32, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta. 73s (de Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 3309.98, Radio Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba 1000 with YL, music and good signal 8 August. 4716.19, Radio Yura, Yura 1030 1 & 6 August, seems irregular. 4781.47, Radio Tacana, Tumupasa 2320 to 2330 on 31 July. 4796.4, Radio Lípez, Uyuni fading out at 1050 on 4 August. 5952.53, Radio Pío XII, Siglo [XX], *1100 with YL en español, occasionally signs on 1030. 9 August. Narrow filter for any reception, R8 seems to do well with narrow AM. 6075, Radio Kawsachun Coca, Lauka, 1000 to 1100, mentions de palabras de dios, YL/OM format, piano music 8 August (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8 - Sony 2010 XA, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meterband dipole, Longwire, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As a follow up to Arnaldo's log of the new Peru station: Have it at 2330 to 2350 on 4888.27 with weak signal, some audio but fading. 4716.60 Bolivia, Radio Yura with music and slightly stronger signal same time (Bob Wilkner, FL, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 2380, Rádio Educadora, Limeira, 0312+, August 02, Portuguese, programme conduced by male, 25332. 4915, Rádio Daqui AM, Goiânia, GO, 1035+, August 02, Portuguese, Complete ID as: "ZYI756, Rádio Daqui AM, 1230 kHz... uma emissora...", music, 35443 (Arnaldo Slaen, in Chascomus ("the Argentina DX paradise") with the DXers Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni, Hector Goyena & Gerardo Choren, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 2379.9. Brasil, Radio Educadora de Limeira, 0940; 1000 very weak on 3, 4 & 5 August, note reports elsewhere. 3375.34, Radio Municipal São Gabriel da Cachoeira transmitter drift to .34, decent reception 4 to 8 August at 1000. 4894.95, Radio Novo Tempo, Campo Grande PR continued reception in Portuguese but weak signal 2350 on 7 August (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8 - Sony 2010 XA, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meterband dipole, Longwire, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 2330 to 2345 7 July Florida logs: 4894.91, Radio Novo Tempo, Campo Grande PR 4905.01, Radio Anhanguera, Araguaína 73s (de Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11734.9, R. Trans Mundial 1811-1838+ Aug 8. Religious vocals in Portuguese; M with occasional ID's and "Trans Mundial" jingles. Good mid-day signal (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. 9490, GERMANY, Democratic V. of Burma Wertachtal/Bible Voice BC, 0019-0035, Aug 8, listed Burmese/English. Continuous talk in listed Burmese by M & W announcer between brief music bridges; no discernible ID at 0030 s/off; seamlessly into Bible Voice Broadcasting in English at 0030 with ID, contact info & Amazing Grace; religious talk; fair-good (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CFRX update --- Hi Glenn: I just heard from Steve Canney, QSL manager for CFRX. He talked to the folks there, and got this back: "Just heard from the engineer and CFRX is indeed off the air and has been off for about a week. Apparently there was a problem with the ATU (Antenna Tuning Unit) at the base of the vertical, which in turn created a very high swr for the transmitter. This caused an issue with the new transmitter and will require some repairs. So, it may be off for a while until the transmitter gets back from the manufacturer." If you already know this, sorry about the email. Take care and thanks for all your work (Julian Smith, VA3SAJ, UT Aug 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Lunedì 3 agosto 2009: 0457, 21550 kHz, CNR 1 JAMMER vs RFA Mandarin, Segnale insufficiente- sufficiente 0505, 17880 kHz, CNR 1 JAMMER vs RFA Mandarin, Segnale insufficiente- sufficiente Lunedì 3 agosto 2009: 0846, 21705 // 17855 kHz, CNR 1 JAMMER+FIREDRAKE vs VOA Mandarin; Su 17775 solo CNR 1 Jammer. Giovedì 6 agosto 2009: 0525, 9560 kHz, PBS XINJIANG - Urumqi, Uighur, radiodrama. Segnale sufficiente-nullo Sabato 8 agosto 2009: 0848, 17855 kHz, CNR 1 JAMMER+FIREDRAKE vs VOA Mandarin. May be that the jammer amounts vary according to the current VOA/RFA programme contents? I don't believe in to a random sequence or mistakes. Domenica 9 agosto 2009: 0652, 17880 kHz, FIREDRAKE vs VOA Mandarin This morning here no CNR1 Jammer! (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. Firedrake Aug 8: at 1404, very poor on 11990, and could not hear its victim; also on 12040 mixing with VOA/CNR1 Chinese. At 1434 good on 13970. NOT found on any others of the usuals: 8400, 9000, 11300, 13500, 14430, 15150, 15600, 17470, 18320. At 1404 on 9450, two Asian languages with lo audible het; also at 1440 CNR echo jamming and het. Sound of Hope, 100 kW via Taiwan operates here at 1400-1600, and many of these Taiwan transmitters are off- frequency. Aug 8 at 1443, on 7430, Japanese music and talk, fair signal, when not much left on 40m besides WWCR 7490 and RA 7240. Is CRI at 14-15, 500 kW, 59 degrees from Jinhua site and onward toward us (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Jamming from China Mainland. Firedrake music 0700-1100 17855 kHz. Echo CNR1 program jammer 1000-1100 17750 kHz. 1100-1200 11785 11825 11990 12040 13830 15255 15375 kHz. 1600-1700 15530 kHz. 1700-1800 7260 7280 kHz. (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Aug 7, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 9 via DXLD) Firedrake music 0700-1100 17855 kHz. 0900-1100 15665 kHz. 1200-1300 12040 15150 1200-1300 17555 against VoTibet ? Firedrake music / Echo jammer combination ! 1000-1500 12040 1100-1300 15255 1100-1500 11990 1230-1500 11805 1330-1400 15405, against VoTibet 15407, + 17560/17563 Echo CNR1 program jammer 0700-1100 13610 15250 kHz. 1000-1100 17750 kHz. 1000-1700 11665 against TWN program 1100-1700 9680 against TWN program 1130-1315 11840 15795 17705 against AIR Delhi Chinese. 1200-1300 15495 1200-1400 11605 1300-1400 15265 1300-1530 15285 against BBC Mandarin 1700-1800 7260 7280 Echo CNR1 program jammer + BUZZ carrier 1100-1400 11785 15375[latter BUZZ covers 15366-15383 kHz] (Wolfgang Büschel, Aug 8, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 9 via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. China mainland ECHO jamming also against AIR Chinese program on 3 channels 11840, 15795, and 17705, 1130-1315 UT(Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, 1233 UT Aug 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 6140, Radio Habana Cuba. July 30 at 1030-1100* in Spanish. SINPO 24332. Talk with some correspondent reports. ID & IS at 1057. S/on at 0958 with IS on July 31 (Iwao Nagatani, Japan, Japan Premium Aug 7 via DXLD) One of the frequencies previously closing at 0700* but running later. I would have thought it stayed on all night straight thru. RHC still hasn`t updated their schedule at http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm which would have us believe that there are no Spanish frequencies at 15-21 or 05-11 (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. RHC check August 8: at 0517, 11760 in Spanish instead of English, poor with fades. At 0532, found Spanish also on 6140, 6120, neither very good, and just barely audible mixing with presumed Bulgaria on 6000. RHC English on 6060, but missing from 6010! At 0540 could detect some very weak Spanish talk on 6010, but could not tell whether it was Colombia or Mexico; bothered by splash from CRI Sackville 6020 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Surprised to hear RHC Spanish programming on 13740, Aug 9 at 1354, as it`s supposed to be a CRI-relay frequency only from 1400 in English, but usually on 10-15 minutes early with open carrier. That made it // RHC intentional frequencies 13680, 13760 and 13780, which with the mixing products on 13580 and 13880 make six // on 22m. Around 1357, 13740 switched to CRI musical prélude. For further anomalies after 2000 when Aló, Presidente appeared on some RHC-only frequencies, see VENEZUELA [non] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DIEGO GARCIA. 4319 (USB), AFRTS, 1327, August 7, Dr. Joy Browne call-in show; “The Osgood File” with Charles Osgood; 1332 “CBS Radio Network”; AP News Update; ID “American Forces Network”. This continues with grayline reception: my local sunrise 1317, their sunset 1311; mostly fair with solid reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The first item on CBC`s Sunday Edition, August 9 is about Diego Garcia [sic; pace Carlos, not Diogo]. Here`s the intro: I'm Helen Mann, sitting in for Michael Enright. This morning: Diego Garcia. Sounds familiar, doesn't it? But why? Ask a bunch of people; you'll likely get a bunch of answers. But no, it's not the name of that revolutionary painter who was married to the tragic Frida Kahlo. Nope, not Dora the Explorer's jungle-trekking cousin either; and no, not the leftist former president of a small Central American nation either. All right, even if you already know Diego Garcia is a strategically important U.S. military base in the Indian Ocean, you probably don't know much more. And why should you? For years, its operations have been kept highly secret with only U.S. service personnel and military contractors' staff allowed to even set foot on the island. But the story of Diego Garcia is a dark and sneaky one --- at least as far as its original residents are concerned. They live there no more, but their story is told in a new book by author David Vine. In a few moments I'll speak to him about what he calls the Island of Shame. Audio is updated on Mondays: http://www.cbc.ca/thesundayedition/listen.html#podcasts (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Re 9-056: >> ?? Previous reports were that HCJB would *not really* totally end SW from Ecuador, but instead keep going with Quichua (on 49 and 90m?) from the AM 690 site which is not being removed --- but contradicted in the above item. << Well, perhaps it is decisive how it uses the wording that "international broadcasts will cease". One could conclude that this does not concern the *domestic* broadcasts, in particular on 3220 and 6050 or 6080, that they will continue, perhaps for a few more months (no longer than until next spring) from Pifo until the reported move of shortwave equipment to the mediumwave site has been carried out. However, just a few sentences later this theory seems to fall apart: "The Pifo closure will impact Radio Station HCJB's Quichua Language Service with some programming moving from the shortwave frequencies to local AM and FM channels." This certainly does not indicate that any shortwave transmissions will continue at all. Altogether it must be considered that this new item reflects the points of view of the mission's leadership. I would say that earlier ways had been found to keep DX Partyline etc. (the German service to Europe should be mentioned here as well) in spite of the official decisions to stop the shortwave activities for North America and Europe. Thus I guess that it remains to be seen what will happen, and I would say that it remains to be seen whether there will be further shortwave transmissions from HCJB's mediumwave site in Quito or not (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA. On Aug 4th from 1610 on 7165 kHz, three signals were reported: of radio Ethiopia External Service in English; of Radio for Peace and Democracy and white noise Eritrean jammer. Till 1650 Eritrea was not on 7175 as at 1550 and at 1700 Ethiopia absented from 7110. Surely Eritrea shifted the modulation from program to white noise and probably Ethiopia is using the transmitter on 7110 for VfPaD as follows on 7165 kHz: in English to W Europe and in vernacular with eastern beam to Eritrea. (Same will be published in the DX program of radio Bulgaria, English service on Friday this week). (Rumen Pankov , Sofia, Bulgaria, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. clandestine: 15350, Voice of Meselna-Delina, 1730+, August 01, Tigrinya, IS, identification by male, music, announcement by female, news, 24432 (Arnaldo Slaen, in Chascomus ("the Argentina DX paradise") with the DXers Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni, Hector Goyena & Gerardo Choren, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15350, V. of Meselna Delina, *1730-1758* Aug 8. Opening IDs by man & woman with echo effect; "Dimts Meselna Delina"; assorted talks followed in presumed Tigrinya; off without fanfare at 1758. VG signal. Listed via Samara (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 6110, R. Fana, 0305, 8/9/09. Great local music on flute- like and stringed instruments. S4-5 signal over storm static (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Drake R8, Wellbrook 330S 1.1 Meter Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Clandestine: 17870, Gimbot 7, 1710+, August 01, Amharic, long talk by male, local song, 45444 // 15350 with 24332 (Arnaldo Slaen, in Chascomus ("the Argentina DX paradise") with the DXers Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni, Hector Goyena & Gerardo Choren, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Martedì 4 agosto 2009: 0541, 6870 kHz, PLAYBACK, Mx pop USA. Segnale insufficiente-buono. Sabato 8 agosto 2009: 2126, 3900 kHz, SKYLINE R., Olandese, mx NL e ids OM. Segnale insufficiente-sufficiente. Domenica 9 agosto 2009: 0701, 5815 kHz, ORION R. NL, Percy Faith (s/on). Segnale insufficiente-sufficiente. Tra la 'propagazione' e le decine di stazioni BC che hanno lasciato le SW negli ultimi 10-20 anni c'è da mettersi le mani nei capelli... ovviament e per chi ancora ne ha sulla testa (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Re 9-056: SWR on tonight from 2100 UT FDXA Summer meeting SWR audible with fair strength on 11720 this evening with tuning signal and announcements in English from 2052 UT. Rock music and programme in Finnish from 2101 UT on clear channel. More surprisingly, I can hear SWR also on parallel 6170 with clear fair signal from 2101 UT. Think this is the first time I've heard their 49 metre channel here in southern England (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+ longwire, 2114 UT Aug 7, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) SWR audible with fair strength on 11720 this evening with tuning signal and announcements in English from 2052 UT. Rock music and programme in Finnish from 2101 UT on clear channel. More surprisingly, I can hear SWR also on parallel 6170 with clear fair signal from 2101 UT. Think this is the first time I've heard their 49 metre channel here in southern England (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+ longwire, Aug 7, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. For the second consecutive Sunday, no RFI on WRN- English, even though it is still listed on WRN Web site schedule (Mike Cooper, GA, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re DIGITAL BROADCASTING, 9-056: Concerning 9530 from Nauen: Has somebody also bothered to ask about the azimuth? 31 metres at local midnight is no doubt aiming at some target area outside Europe. Dominican Republic, too? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DRM ** GREECE. Mercoledì 5 agosto 2009: 2114, (15630 - 9420 =) 6210 kHz, ERA VOICE OF GREECE - Avlis, Greco. tk YL. Segnale insufficiente (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 10320-USB, AFRTS Pearl Harbor, 1020 to 1030 Jazz interspersed with commentary, // 5765 [GUAM] and 5446.5 [FLORIDA], 9 August. 73s (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8 - Sony 2010 XA, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meterband dipole, Longwire, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3250, Radio Luz y Vida, San Luis noted 1035 with test tones, or transmitter problems? 9 August (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8 - Sony 2010 XA, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meterband dipole, Longwire, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1230, August 8, in English with news and sports bulletin; from 1235 to 1315 “Hot and Heavy” music program; “Listeners, you are with the North Eastern Service of All India Radio broadcasting from Shillong on shortwave 60.36 meters, corresponding to 4,970 kHz. and you are listening to Hot and Heavy"; 1315 in Hindi with English/Hindi rap song. Fair, but would have been very good except for the persistent hum. http://www.airshillong.org/air/ Have posted audio at dxldyg “Files > Station Sounds”. Shillong, known as the “Scotland of the East”, is the only AIR regional that I know of that gives frequent local IDs. The 5 minute bulletin was // 5040 (AIR Jeypore), but the other usual // 5050 (AIR Aizawl) was off the air today. Outstanding AIR reception today! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 5050, AIR Aizawl, 1230, August 6, news bulletin and sports news in English (// 4970, but not 5040, which was temporarily off the air at this time); 1235 no longer // and into EZL music; 1300 news in Hindi; usual QRM (Guangxi FBS) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 5040, AIR-Jeypore; 1212z 9 August, subcontinental music with sliding drums & vocals. Fair (Steven C. Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, (2 miles from Boca Chica Beach, GULF of MEXICO), Radio Shack DX-399, 150' center fed LW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Re: Independence Day of India 2009 --- Some of the domestic All India Radio news content is webcast, but I don't think it's webcast live. They do have a category of on-demand audio called "special broadcast" that I suspect might be relevant to this. Check out All India Radio's news content at this URL: http://newsonair.com (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, NASWA yg via DXLD) Be careful. I opened the link and my Symantec Anti-Virus detected a "risk." The website automatically tried to open a PDF file that was infected with "Bloodhound.PDF.13." Thanks & 73, (Steve N5WBI Ponder, Houston TX, ibid.) That's not good news. I haven't had a problem before with the All India radio website. Thanks for the heads-up! (Richard Cuff, ibid.) ** INDIA. Hello Friends, In connection with the Indian Independence day on August 15, The President of India, Mrs. Pratibha Devisingh Patil will be broadcasting to the nation at 1330 UT (7,00 PM IST) on 14 August 2009. All stations of AIR will relay it on MW SW & FM. The AIR regional SW stations will be on 4 MHz band then. For detailed AIR SW sked visit : http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/sw/freq.htm Look out for the rare AIR station in Kohima on 4850 on 14 & 15 August, 2009 as follows: 14 Aug 2009 1000-1600 UT approx 15 Aug 2009 0000-0415 UT approx AIR Kohima is heard now a days only on such special occasions like Independence Day August 15 & Republic Day January 26 and has been heard even by listeners in USA. To view QSL received from their New Delhi office please click: http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos/qsls/Kohima.jpg 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, dx_india via Ron Howard, DXLD) ** INDIA. QSL REPORT – July 2009 Station: - All India Radio (Bangalore) Date: - 14-01-2009 Frequency: - 15075 kHz Time: - 1620-1640 UTC Description: - QSL Card. Verifies by Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy). Tortoise rock (Group - III), Bhimbetka. Station: - All India Radio (Bangalore) Date: - 16-02-2009 Frequency: - 13710kHz Time: - 1430-1445 UTC Description: - QSL Card. Verifies by Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy). Qutb Minar, New Delhi. Station: - All India Radio (Delhi) Date: - 26-02-2009 Frequency: - 6155 kHz Time: - 0200-0230 UTC Description: - QSL Card. Verifies by Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy). Iron Pillar, Qutb Complex, New Delhi. Station: - All India Radio (National Channel) Date: - 22-01-2009 Frequency: - 9425 kHz Time: - 1430-1500 UTC Description: - QSL Card. Verifies by Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy). Man with dog, Rangmahal Roch-shelter (Group - II), Bhimbetka. Station: - All India Radio (Mumbai) Date: - 01-01-2009 Frequency: - 9870 kHz Time: - 0130-0200 UTC Description: - QSL Card. Verifies by Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy). Group of animals (Group - II), Bhimbetka. Station: - All India Radio (Chennai) Date: - 18-02-2009 Frequency: - 7360 kHz Time: - 0245-0300 UTC Description: - QSL Card. Verifies by Director (Spectrum Management & Synergy). Hand-drawn map of Qutb Complex, New Delhi (Mukesh Kumar, Aug 9, THE COSMOS CLUB, MISCOT-3, R-8, RAMNA, MUZAFFARPUR – 842002, BIHAR, INDIA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9524.88v, Voice of Indonesia, 1316, August 7, interesting historical item about the Kon-Tiki Expedition and Thor Heyerdahl. As a kid I read the book about the raft trip from Peru to Polynesia http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBa3oE_-b_k (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 9495, V. of Justice/VOIRI, 0130-0150, 8/8/09. Recitation of Kor`an, then news in English, cheesy fill music - like shortwave used to be!, good. Listed // 7235 not heard (Alan Johnson, Reno NV, Perseus SDR, Icom R9500, 90/60 mtr 1/2 wave dipole, B&W ASW-90 (T2FD), DX Engineering ARAH-1P, Wellbrook ALA-330s, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 15785v, Galei Zahal Israel missed at noon today, August 8th. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, 1233 UT Aug 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. Mercoledì 5 agosto 2009: 2124, 6518 // 6600 kHz, V OF THE PEOPLE (TO N. KOREA), Coreano, tk OM. Segnale insufficiente-sufficiente Both jammed, not only 6600. 2132, 7180 kHz, V of KOREA - Kujang (N. Korea), Musica trionfale YL. Segnale sufficiente-buono. Unica BC tra 7100 e 7200 a tale orario (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) CLANDESTINE - 3912, Voice of the People (presumed), 1143-1154 Aug 9. Korean talk by man; martial music at 1151. Heavy "roaring" jammer // 6518 and 6600, also heavily jammed. CLANDESTINE - 3985, Echo of Hope (presumed), 1207-1215 Aug 9. YL & OM in Korean talk // 6003 and 6348. All frequencies severely jammed (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 9950, North Korea Reform Radio, 1320+, August 02, Korean, Korean music, talk by female, announcement, 25442 (Arnaldo Slaen, in Chascomus ("the Argentina DX paradise") with the DXers Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni, Hector Goyena & Gerardo Choren, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 5000. Station HLA is now on reduced schedule. According to JARL, Time Signal Station HLA is now transmitting with reduced schedule. 0100-0800 UT on weekdays only. No transmission on Saturdays, Sundays, and public holidays. Frequency 5000 kHz with 2 kW. Antenna is Vertical Conical Monopole located at 36 23 N, 127 22 E (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, Aug 5, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 9 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. 11990, R. Kuwait, 1940, 8/8/09. English service. News about Kuwait and region. Music bumpers featured local music but degenerated to pop music. S5 signal on peaks (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Drake R8, Wellbrook 330S 1.1 Meter Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. 4412.60v, Houa Phanh Provincial Station, 1200-1232 Aug 8. Sam Neua presumed with music (anthem?), then scraps of talk to 1232 when suddenly went off. Seemed // to 6130 during the talk but can't be sure due to the very weak signal on 4412v. Varied slightly to 4412.58 by 1230. 6130, Lao National Radio, 1210-1311+ Aug 8. Assorted talks in presumed Lao to 1230, then Lao vocal music hosted by M. The music continued past ToH until 1306, then YL & OM in chat. Fair but gradually weakening (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** LITHUANIA. 9490, LATVIA. Radio Free Asia – Ulbroka (Probable), 0106, 8/5/09, in Uighur. Man announcer talking at length. It might not have caught my attention except I heard Bible Voice sign off a few minutes earlier. Poor (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, R-75, Winradio g313e, Eton E1, Satllit 800, Kaito 1103; 2 Flextennas, EWE, attic mounted Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Improbable it`s Ulbroka, Latvia, site closed down. It`s really Sitkunai, Lithuania, the one with the IBB relay biz (gh, DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 6134.90v, RTVM (presumed), 1420, August 6, in French with music bridges (classical piano music and after BoH, Kenny G); 1435 non-stop Hi-Li music till suddenly off at 1438; weak, but in the clear. Unable to confirm any parallel frequencies. At 1406, August 7, excited sports coverage in Malagasy; later into French; 1455* (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA/SARAWAK. 7130.52, Sarawak FM 1258-1320 Aug 6. "Sarawak FM" jingle before and after ToH, then lite vocal music. Good signal. Noted missing the day before (5 Aug). (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 7130.50, Sarawak FM via RTM. The absence of Sarawak here on August 5 was just a one day event. Heard with good signals on August 6 and 7. Their signal on 5030 continues to be heard // and in the clear with the absence of CNR-1 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, RTM Traxx FM Kajang; 1125z non-stop pop, hip-hop and local island music, finally a woman in English announcements, heard "this transmission is for MALAYSIA and the surrounding areas" Fair and quite AUDIBLE! (Steven C. Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, (2 miles from Boca Chica Beach, GULF of MEXICO), Radio Shack DX-399, 150' center fed LW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. 5995, Radiodiffusion Mailienne, 2326-2359* Aug 7, nice program of highlife vocals hosted by a woman with “Radio Mali” ID at 2329 before turning program to a man announcer with French talks and TC at 2335. After highlife vocals went in to orchestra national anthem without closedown announcements. Poor to fair (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 8 AUG 2009, 6105, XEQM Mérida; 1535-1610z apparently relaying 810-XEMQ Mayan relay "Yoól Iik" here with announcements by W in Mayan language, but reading telephone numbers and addresses in Spanish, mention of "Radio 8-10" and a slogan that sounded something like "Radio EXTEPEC? continued with ads in Spanish, local announcements in Mayan/Spanish; into a program of MEXICAN pop/cumbia music, Good DAYTIME signal (Steven C. Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, (2 miles from Boca Chica Beach, GULF of MEXICO), Radio Shack DX-399, 150' center fed LW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Mexico transmitter coordinates --- I started compiling a list of low-band stations that have more than one transmitter. I've received all of those on the list except XEZ-3 Zamorano. Jeff Kadet has IDed XEZ-3 Zamorano and XEZ-2 Querétaro. Glenn Hauser has also IDed XEZ-2 Queretaro. XEZ-2 San Miguel de Allende is the most common here. All of the XEZ stations have their own text IDs with location listed. If echoing means two different transmitters, that means XHFM-2 Veracruz has (or has had in the past) a second transmitter. I heard an echo on XHFM-2 by tropo in 1998. XHFM-2 was running local programming, ads, and IDs at the time. I've never heard the echo via Es (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport LA, WTFDA via DXLD) I think I just found proof positive of translators not listed in the SCT PDFs. I found a document containing the COFETEL decision on an application by XHBG-13 (Uruapan, Mich.) to increase power to 12 kW. In a runon sentence that would have received a big fat F in my high- school English class, it says in part: "...no se garantiza una debida proteccion al equipo complementario de zona de sombra canal 13 en La Piedad, Mich., de la estacion de television principal XHMAS-TV Canal 12 en Cerro Culiacan, Gto...." In other words, XHBG's proposal to increase power will be denied because it would interfere with XHMAS's channel 13 translator in La Piedad. The only station in the SCT PDF files in La Piedad is on channel 10 and belongs to the state of Michoacán. XHMAS is a TV Azteca station. So I think we have solid proof of one such relayer. Given the relatively small number of documents I've observed so far, I think we can reasonably assume there are many more (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) ** MONGOLIA. 4830, Mongolian Radio, 1319, August 6, noted // with 4895. Still have not confirmed what is happening to CHBC after their 1300* on 6185 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA [non]. MONGOLIA/RUSSIA: Radio Voice of Mongolia in Russian was heard via the facilities of Voice of Russia in Russian on Sunday, Aug the 9th at 1905-1915 on 7310, 11630, 12055, 1089, 1413. Probably on 612 and 1494 to Eu and 648 and 1503 to Central Asia. The program`s theme: The history of Mongolia in years 1924-1936. Site: http://www.vom.mn/ru (Rumen Pankov , Sofia, Bulgaria, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO [and non]. AUSTRALIA/MOROCCO, 15340/15341.00, Terrible heterodyne on this channel. RTM Nador in Arabic today 1 kHz odd frequency 15341.00, het HCA KNX Kununurra, Australia at 1200-1445 UT, latter which is even channel(Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, 1233 UT Aug 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Really 1 kHz off but this with an accuracy better than 0.005 kHz? Recently I saw a report that 9575, the other shortwave transmitter at Nador, increasingly suffers from technical problems as well. Makes me wonder for how long shortwave broadcasting from Morocco will continue at all (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) ** MYANMAR. 5915, Myanma Radio, 1511, August 7, in vernacular with EZL pop songs; usual CRI QRM; they continue on with their new sign-off time (1530*). Myanma Radio continues to be off the air on 9730.81v, which I check every day in the hope they will return again! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Dutch TV station forced to cancel comedy show about Jesus === 4 August 2009 11:13 | Changed: 4 August 2009 16:02 ANP The Evangelical broadcasting corporation has been forced to kill a comedy show about Jesus after complaints from viewers.The Evangelische Omroep (EO), one of many confessional TV stations in the Dutch public broadcasting system, had announced plans for a comedy show in which non-religious comedians were asked to poke fun at Jesus. But the show was cancelled before it was aired after EO viewers threatened to cancel their membership. An EO spokesperson said the station's intentions were misunderstood. "People thought we only wanted to tell jokes about God when what we really wanted was an open conversation with God." The decision to cancel was taken "because we didn't want to offend people needlessly." The show's working title was "Loopt een man over het water..." ("Man walks on water...", a play on words on "Man walks into a bar...) The spokesperson refused to say how many members cancelled their subscription. (The Dutch public broadcasting system relies on membership.) "We have had positive reactions as well, but there have been cancellations." Arie Boomsma, the show's host, said he was disappointed by the decision. "The format was a unique opportunity to challenge prejudices and to start an open and honest conversation about Jesus. It's a pity that we have been denied this opportunity," Boomsma said. EO director Arjan Lock said the station remains committed to "engaging in a conversation with people who do not know God." He said the decision to cancel was taken after "a critical re-evaluation of the format." (via Current via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. The time of the year for 15 MHz (19m) and 17 MHz (16m) in the local late evenings? While Easy Listening tries to be more about content than frequencies, this is the time of the year to potentially catch Pacific broadcasters (such as Radio Australia and Radio New Zealand International) in local evenings if you’re in eastern North America. The programming schedules for these stations in the evening hours is different from what we normally hear in the morning hours, so you might want to take a listen. Radio New Zealand International suggestions Mondays-Saturdays 0300: “Pacific Regional News” followed by “Dateline Pacific”, a daily current affairs program covering major Pacific stories accompanied by background and reaction. RNZI considers this their flagship program, and it also airs on the World Radio Network satellite service. Saturdays 0400: RNZI joins the domestic Radio New Zealand National program “Music 101”, a three-hour program focusing on the music industry and music-themed stories interviews, and documentaries beginning at 0200; the 0400 hour features a music-oriented documentary. Saturdays 0510: “Focus on Politics” also comes from RNZ National; the program looks at key parliamentary and political issues within New Zealand. Sundays 0407: “4 ‘til 8” is the title of a special-interest block of programs from RNZ National consisting of documentariesand other features. The 0400 hour specifically is a series of documentaries; current offerings include some produced by American Radioworks, the national documentary unit of Minnesota-based American Public Media. Mondays-Fridays 0408: “Afternoons with Jim Mora” comes from RNZ National; it’s a program featuring music and interviews, with a heavy dose of audience participation via music requests and phone-ins. In this hour is a segment called The Panel: Guest commentators discuss the main issues of the day with the newsmakers. Sundays 0512: “Touchstone” is a series exploring diverse spiritual, moral and ethical issues and topics in a series of four seasons each running six weeks; “Touchstone” alternates with “Spiritual Outlook”, an interview program on spiritual topics of wide interest. “Touchstone” often draws on material from the BBC World Service program “Heart and Soul”. Mondays-Fridays 0500: “Checkpoint”, RNZ National’s afternoon-drive news program, presented by Mary Wilson. Includes sports and business news, national weather, and even key traffic tieups. It’s a good way to get a sense of the news that’s important to New Zealanders. An interesting aside: Some RNZ National programming can be downloaded in the open source Ogg Vorbis format, in addition to traditional MP3 audio. It’s rare that you see the Ogg Vorbis format offered. In case propagation for either Radio New Zealand International or Radio Australia isn’t good some evenings where you are, you can catch the save programming via the live webcasts from either broadcaster. Most of these programs are also available on-demand or via podcast or download (Rich Cuff, Easy Listening, August NASWA Journal via DXLD) See also AUSTRALIA From Net-Radio/A-DX: Livestream RNZI changed. Livestream of Radio New Zealand International changed to new address: On RNZI Website and http://www.nzradioguide.co.nz/ has old URL. No changes on RNZ National and RNZ Classic (Aug 6) (BC-DX Aug 9 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 4769.971, FRCN-Kaduna, 2105 7 August, English. Surprised to find this, running Radio Nigeria news until 2128. Then into local programs with ID by a woman. Audio on the Radio Nigeria relay was somewhat over-modulated but completely readable. On the other hand, the local announcer was "whispery quiet" and the local programming was so over-modulated, as to render it almost unreadable. Still, a nice surprise. Haven't heard this one in a long time (David Sharp, NSW, Australia. Yaesu FT-950 and Sony ICF-2010, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DSWCI TB Monitor says it was last reported this May (gh, DXLD) 4770, Radio Nigeria, 0533-0550 Aug 8, noted with hip-hop vocals hosted by a man announcer with English talk, mentions of Nigeria, more pop vocals, an ID at 0544. While the music was at fair to good levels, the talk/voice modulation was very weak (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing, PA, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Found another talking house on 1670 kHz in Enid; August 8 around 2000 UT from a parking lot near the intersexion of Garriott and Cleveland, I got this spiel about how wonderful talking houses are, and this particular one, which has all the bedrooms on the third floor, etc. Never heard location mentioned other than in the Wordspring(?) Hills Addition, but did get a website, http://www.enidhomes.com and soon found a match, actually 202 Tanglewood in Whispering Hills, altho nothing mentioned there about its being a radio station! http://www.enidhomes.com/homes/684398.htm As I drove northeastward, found the signal stayed about the same, which means it was roughly at the same distance despite my motion. Ergo probably to the northwest. Yes, map finds address near the intersexion of Wheatridge and Purdue, which is roughly 3 miles north and 3 miles west of where I first heard it, or a bit more than 4 miles away. Some of these only make it out a few blox. 1670 has previously been used from other locations, shorter range (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. One of the IBOC monsters in OKC had reverted to ordinary AM, Saturday August 8 at 1954 as I started a MW bandscan --- WWLS 640, probably since they were running a silly ballgame, to do away with synch problems. I could axually hear a weak station on 630, probably KHOW Denver, as KLTT-670 Denver makes it normally on groundwave at over 700 km. 630 still had some IBOC from Plano 620. But KTOK-990-1000-1010 remained IBOC-ridden, as well as KFAQ-1160-1170- 1180 Tulsa (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3325, R. Bougainville/R. Buka, 1352, August 8, with DJ in Tok Pisin playing pop songs; 1359 usual sign-off format (children singing National Anthem; “National Broadcasting Corporation, the Voice of Papua New Guinea”; long list of frequencies; “N.B.C. wishing you good evening”; instrumental National Anthem); 1407*. RRI Palangkaraya off the air again (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3335, Radio East Sepik, Wewak, 1040 to 1050 with audio, only PNG heard this morning 9 August (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8 - Sony 2010 XA, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meterband dipole, Longwire, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PAPUA NUEVA GUINEA, 3290 Radio Central, Boroko, 1115+, August 02, Vernacular, local songs, announcements by male, 25442. 3365, Radio Milne Bay, Alotau, 1109+, August 02, Vernacular, local music, announcement, 15341. 3385, Radio East New Britain, Rabaul, 1105+, August 02, Vernacular, news or talk by male, 25432 (Arnaldo Slaen, in Chascomus ("the Argentina DX paradise") with the DXers Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni, Hector Goyena & Gerardo Choren, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3329.53, Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco noted at 1030 with yl en español, on 6 August seem irregular or not being heard here. 4790, Radio Visión Chiclayo 1000 and 2300 each day, 4-9 August. 4824.49, La Voz de la Selva, Iquitos on after 1100 on 9 August, also noted 0000. Strong signal with OA music 2340 on 7 August. 4857.47, Radio La Hora, Cusco 2310 with exotic music and OM, 6 August. 0030 on 7 August (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8 - Sony 2010 XA, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meterband dipole, Longwire, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 2330 to 2345 7 July Florida logs: 4790.10, Radio Visión Chiclayo has been back for two days, same transmitter hum as before. 73s (de Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4888.2, UNID, 1050+, August 02, Spanish, religious talk by male, Christian music, 24432 (Arnaldo Slaen, in Chascomus ("the Argentina DX paradise") with the DXers Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni, Hector Goyena & Gerardo Choren, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) As a follow up to Arnaldo's log of the new Peru station: Have it at 2330 to 2350 on 4888.27 with weak signal, some audio but fading. 4716.60 Bolivia, Radio Yura with music and slightly stronger signal same time (Bob Wilkner, FL, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9615, R. Veritas Asia, Palauig, 1127, Aug 7, Mandarin. Announcer with talk; music bit at 1130 into presumed ID; music intro followed by M & W announcers with banter; fair-good (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Lunedì 3 agosto 2009: 0511, 15170 kHz, BSKSA HOLY QURAN, Ryadh (Arabia Saudita), Segnale sufficiente-buono, No buzz (anche 15285). Martedì 4 agosto 2009: 0551, 9715v kHz, BuzzSKSA (+ WYFR), Di BSKSA si sente solo il ronzio (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. DGS/PMS on WWCR 13845 has not been constant lately as I have repeatedly observed, but Aug 8 for the first time I am hearing something else on the transmitter: Brother Scare, back on WWCR! He was banned (?) a few years ago after his own legal problems and imprisonment. Tune-in at 1400 to primitive organ music, not the sort of thing you would ever hear from The University Network. And NOT // Anguilla 11775. Brother Scare soon starts talking and 13845 is // WWRB 9385 but about two sesquiseconds behind it. Earlier at 1352 as I tuned across 9385 he was announcing frequencies for this Sabbath morning broadcast at 10 am-noon ET: 9385, 9265, 6110, 13810, 17435, 15430. Running thru them a second time he got 15420 (WBCQ) right, but again said 17435. He has been making that mistake forever: it`s really 17485 via Germany. The Last Days Prophet of God does not even know what frequencies he`s on; no mention of WWCR 13845, which must be a very recent development as WWCR`s Aug 1 online schedule still shows DGS 24/7 on 13845/5935. Furthermore, the latest DTK schedule shows 17485 for one hour only starting at 1500, not 1400. Not audible here on that, 13810, or 6110 of course. Are all of these really running BS 7 days a week? He also failed to mention 18770, the perpetual second harmonic of 9385, altho not audible here at the moment, but we know it`s there. Furthermore, WINB missing from 9265 at 1352 and 1405 chex; 13570 missing at 1352 and 1434 chex. The big news is that DGS no longer has exclusive access to one of the WWCR transmitters. Remains to be heard what happens the rest of the week. Further observations of WWCR 13845, which used to be 24/7 Doctor Gene Scott/Pastor Melissa Scott: Aug 8 around 1630 it was still Brother Stair, but at 1855 check, PMS was back on it. Changed some time in between. Aug 9 at 1307, 13845 had another screaming preacher but he was with The Overcomer Ministry as // 9385 WWRB and again out of synch by about 3 seconds. At 1414 B.S. himself was on both. Rick Barton, AZ, heard him claim he was now on 13845 until 2300, but at 1700 WWCR already switched back to PMS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Hi Glenn- I`m noticing they have DGS/University Network off. This time, they are running raspy Brother "Scare". I`m not hearing 11775 Caribbean beacon here, not sure at the moment if transmitter off, or the conditions. Stay tuned. 73 (~Rick in Arizona Barton, 1639 UT Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn - update: "Brother Scare" is now announcing that HE has the frequency 13845 days now, so University Network must be off WWCR. 73 (~rick in Arizona, 1646 UT Aug 9, ibid.) Dr. Gene off WWCR days --- Hi All - I am hearing "Brother Scare" on WWCR 13845 at this moment, announcing that he now has that frequency days until 2300 UT. I had been monitoring the situation since hearing him on a random bandscan at 1530. 73, best DX for all (~Rick Barton, Arizona, Hammarlund HQ-140-X, outdoor wire, 1659 UT Aug 9, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Update at 1700 UT: Hi Glenn - sorry to bombard you with so many messages, but it's a fluid situation on 13845. Brother Scare was announcing that he now has the 13845 WWCR frequency (days) now, but at 1700 I heard the WWCR ID by male, then programming went into lecture by Pastor Melissa Scott. Does anyone know what they are doing over there in Nashville? Regards, (~Rick Barton, 1705 UT, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. 6126, Radio Exterior de Espana – Noblejas, 0201, 8/6/09, in Spanish. Woman interviewing a man, 0205 ID, talk by announcer with remote reporter with street sounds in background. Fair. This frequency was exactly 1 kHz high. // 6055 (Noblejas) Fair. // 3350 (Cariari de Poroci, CR) Fair (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, R-75, Winradio g313e, Eton E1, Satllit 800, Kaito 1103; 2 Flextennas, EWE, attic mounted Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Strange; Cariari had a 1-kHz-off problem which lasted for months in 2008 on three other frequencies. Some seasons 6125 is from CR, but indeed currently scheduled as Noblejas. Wonder if they swapped by any chance; check for satellite delay it always has behind Noblejas (gh, DXLD) ** SPAIN. Re DX Listening Digest 9-056 /Basque EITB call signs. Euskadi Irratia: ``1197 EAJ162 Vitoria (Estíbaliz) 1386 EAJ362 Bilbao (Ganguren-Artxanda) 1476 EAJ562 San Sebastián (Biribilondo- Zubieta) Radio Euskadi: 756 EAJ462 Bilbao (Ganguren-Artxanda) 819 EAJ262 Vitoria (Estíbaliz) 963 EAJ662 San Sebastián (Biribilondo- Zubieta) ... Note the callsigns all in –62; I had not noticed this assignment method before (gh, DXLD)`` The first MW station owned by the Basque Autonomous Government was EAJ-62 Radio Vitoria. They bought the station from the bank who had the ownership of it at that time. But they still want the presence in MW of their other two stations: Radio Euskadi (in Spanish and based in Bilbao) and Euskadi Irratia (in Basque and based in San Sebastián). As the Spanish National Government did not allow more MW stations they used the "brute force" way: they put on the air some one without permission and started the usual political play: you need my votes in Madrid for approving the budgets and I will not give it to you if you do not allow me to have my wished toys (the MW stations). That form of blackmail of the nationalistic regional governments has worked always very well in Spain and they got the licenses for their stations. And why all call signs ending in 62? I don´t know for sure but as they already owned the EAJ-62 station it seems that the person in charge just decided to put an order number (from 1 to 6) before the 62 of Radio Vitoria (being this one 062 in the listings for use in computers). Saludos (Mauricio Molano, Salamanca, Spain, Aug 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And/or is 62 a significant/lucky number? (gh) ** TAIWAN. 7129.88v, RTI, 1245, August 9, in Bahasa Indonesia with a program about Mata Hari; 1257 ID. A total surprise to find this very strong signal. So they have decided that it’s all right to broadcast more hours here. Of course they have been here for some time now from 1400 to 1800, in Chinese, which has been effectively jammed by CNR-1 echo programming. Noted a slight drifting; best in LSB to get away from the het generated with Sarawak FM being on 7130.50. Sarawak is totally lost to the RTI powerhouse! What will the hams think about this new development? (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Ron, did you notice of they were on 11635 kHz? I noticed them in Japanese between 1300-1400, while 9735 kHz was empty and I think I also heard them between 1100-1200 in Japanese. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, via Howard, DXLD) Hi Mauno, Sorry, no I did not check for a parallel, but there probably is one. Will check tomorrow. Attached is an audio file. They were strong. Best regards, (Ron Howard, to Mauno, via DXLD) 7130, R. Taipei International: 1134z M&W in Japanese announcements. Strong! (Steven C. Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, (2 miles from Boca Chica Beach, GULF of MEXICO), Radio Shack DX-399, 150' center fed LW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RTI Tainan transmitter site is not usable by the damage of typhoon "MORAKOT"; 7130 kHz is replacing it temporarily. 0800-0900 Japanese (11605 kHz) 1100-1200 Japanese (9735 kHz) 1200-1300 Indonesian (1000-1100 11550 kHz) 1300-1400 Japanese (9735 kHz) (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Aug 10, ibid.) ** TURKS & CAICOS. Grand Turk [Caribbean Christian Radio, 1020] lost its towers in the hurricane last fall but there's light at the end of the tunnel for a rebuild. RVC on South Caicos is building a 900 foot long wire to replace their 480 footer that went down in the breeze. I'm interested in how it plays as it's only 25 feet off the ground. Take care (Jerry Kiefer, NM, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Jerry, Are longwires for transmitting on MW used much at all? What gauge wire would that require? How much power will they or could they use? (Glenn to Jerry, via DXLD) Hi Glenn! The RVC long wire antenna has the right length for a half wave but it's too close to the ground. To really be effective it needs to be 300-350 feet up with a ground system under it. Also the ground wave will be minimal since it's horizontal; all the signal will go straight up in the air. I'd describe it as a big dummy load. Power wise they can put full power into it (Jerry Kiefer, ibid.) 530 kHz, 40 kW listed per WRTH (gh) ** U K [and non]. Does anyone know what the shortwave frequencies are used by the BBC for listening to the BBC in the United States (dkboll, Aug 5, ptsw yg via DXLD) There are none whatsoever for several years now. The BBC does NOT want anyone in the USA to listen to them on SW. Anything you hear is overlap from transmissions to elsewhere. Consult the ptsw schedules. Regards, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Check through these...... http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/schedules/frequencies/index.shtml (Dick Richardson, ibid.) Dick, I appreciate the help but I am looking for what frequencies folks are really hearing the BBC on. They still broadcast on a lot of frequencies to a lot of places, except of course North America, and I am wondering what frequencies folks are hearing them on here on the West Coast of North America?? Glenn, Perhaps you could share with us a few of the BBC frequencies that are most commonly heard here in North America. I happen to be on the West Coast. Not sure where DK Boll is located. Thanks (Bill Krause, ibid.) I have just looked thru the entire ptsw listings for BBC at http://home.centurytel.net/danielsampson/country.txt And pick out a few I know can be heard, sometimes, or which should be heard, but generally with weaker signals than we are entitled to: 02-04 9410 & 6195 Cyprus 03-04 7255 Ascension 04-06 9410 UK 05-06 7255 Ascension 06-07 9410 Ascension 11-16 6195 & 9740 Singapore 11-18 17830 Ascension 15-21 15400 17-19 13675 UK 21-23 12095 Ascension On the west coast you can probably hear a number of the other si - Singapore channels, maybe Thailand. On the east coast, add more from Cyprus and UK. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) The BBC gave up transmitting to America some time ago. It was not cost effective. So you will have to rely on bouncing signals - if that part is in a bouncing mood. Ask people where you live what they are hearing it on. But I offered those frequencies so that you could try them. I have to rely on the BBC World Service bounces here in England for they don`t beam to Exmoor mate :- ) Not long back I could hear them all day and all night on many frequencies - but not so now; times change. So, it is suck it and see (Dick Richardson, ibid.) ** U S A [and non]. VOA Greenville, 17585, apparently lost program feed and was playing music fill Aug 8 at 1427, not // 9760 Philippines with sports segment in World News Now. At 1428:30 could hear Botswana underneath on 17585, starting sign-on routine and producing SAH of 2 Hz. At 1429:30, GB rudely cut off music and started sign-off routine. Off at 1431* clearing frequency for Botswana, now in science segment about Kepler, fish. At 1438 checked 9760 and found it not // 17585. 17585 was still about science, while 9760 was discussing international affairs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR has posted an updated program schedule dated August 1, now showing M-F 13-14 UT on 15825, 8:00A-9:00A Inspirations Across America, Burke Johnson, replacing Tony Alámo Ministries (gh, DXLD) See also SOUTH CAROLINA [non] ** U S A. WINB, which was missing from both frequencies the morning before, audible on 9265, Aug 9 at 1245 with YL preacher, not Brother Scare (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Just returned from a week of hiking in TN, NC and GA. Of course, lots of radio observations made (TIS's, licensed broadcasters, pirates). All times/dates are in GMT unless otherwise indicated. Frequencies are in kHz unless otherwise specified. DISCLAIMER FOR ALL LW/MW ITEMS, INCLUDING ALL TIS/MIS ENTRIES: No portion of the below may be reproduced in any format or redistributed by the National Radio Club without my expressed written permission, which will then be swiftly -- and we do mean swiftly -- denied. Editors receiving this directly from me are excluded, provided this entire disclaimer is included once where any of the aforementioned items are first reproduced. Logs were made while mobile on the stock radio in the 2009 Ford Focus rental unless otherwise stated. 830, GEORGIA, (TIS) WQGW543 Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, August 1, 2009. The usual strong signal from south of Atlanta on I-75. 930, TENNESSEE, WSEV "Pigeon Forge Radio" Sevierville, August 2+, 2009, 2204+. Long quasi-TIS looped format with spots for tourist- geared businesses in Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg and Sevierville mixed with area factoids. Big daytime signal from the Oconaluftee Visitor Center parking lot. FCC db lists as owned by Grand Crown NW Resorts of Pigeon Forge, LLC. 1040, GEORGIA, WPBS, Conyers. An odd one. Listed as Hindi format from sources I find online, but the format appears to be a non-Hindi Asian (Korean, I think) language. Initially heard during a bandscan at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center parking lot at 2208 August 2, 2009 with language lessons set to the lyrics of Don McLean's "Starry, Starry Nights" with the song progression paused frequently while the female repeated the lyrics in English and (Korean?). Noted daily south of Newfound Gap in the same language, seemingly a satellite feed pickup of some network. Countless top-of-hours past with no station ID for days, until finally a quick, canned "You're listening to 10-40 WPBS" at 1400 on August 5, 2009 at Balsam Mountain, NC trailhead parking lot. FCC db lists ownership as Pacificstar Media Corporation. Anyone have more information on this one? 1040, TENNESSEE, WKTI "Studio 10-40" Powell, August 3+, 2009. The dominant one north of Newfound Gap, with WPBS dominating south of. Seemingly satellite-fed programming of Adult Standards. 1150, TENNESSEE, WCRK, Morristown, August 2, 2009, 2345. Canned "Catch all the Tennessee sports on Morristown's WCRK" into early '60's pop. Good at the Oconaluftee Visitor Center parking lot. 1340, GEORGIA, WALH, Mountain City. This one is silent. I spotted the single tower while approaching on US-441 from the north, then the WALH sign on the right. Nothing on the radio. So I pulled a u-turn and drove up the gravel road to the station (a small prefab structure). No cars, blinds shut and door locked. And the tower light is burned out. Oops, don't tell the FCC. Indeed upon checking, it's listed as "licensed and silent 3/14/2009" on the FCC db. Photographed the tower and signage -- before the latter disappears -- the side of the sign facing south is falling apart. 1580, KENTUCKY, WXRA, Georgetown, August 2, 2009, 2209. Canned listener testimonial, "You're the best oldies in Lexington." This was "La Pantera 15-80" Mexican format when logged here (Oconaluftee Visitor Center) in May, 2007. Oldies soul/R&B hits, such as Earth, Wind & Fire's "Fantasy" [commonly "12th of Never" but sic]. 1600, SOUTH CAROLINA, WKZK, North Augusta, August 2, 2009, 0024. Gospel vocals, "103 point 7, WKZK" ID. Good. Logged at Gainesville, GA on the ICF-7600GR. 1610, FLORIDA, (TIS) WQGS506, Payne's Prairie State Park, Micanopy, August 1, 2009. Big signal coverage still, with the usual long interpretive loop while passing on I-75. 1610, GEORGIA, (MIS) WPKW668, Perry Area Convention and Visitor's Bureau, Perry, August 1, 2009. Still active with long loop by male, female date/time stamp inserts. Much weaker now, in fact not audible until near south Perry on I-75. 1610, GEORGIA, (MIS) US Army Corps of Engineers, Buford Dam, Lake Sidney Lanier, August 1, 2009. Still active, and like May, 2007 (when I discovered this one), it peaks on I-985 at the Exit 8 area. Poor at peak, with male loop on water level and recreation activities. 1610, GEORGIA, (MIS) WPTK859, City of Forsythe, August 1, 2009. Still active with continuous NOAA Weather Radio relay. At least the audio is fixed compared to last year when it was a mess. 1610, GEORGIA, (MIS) WPQX600, Oconee County Emergency Services, Watkinsville, August 6, 2009. Big signal when tuned to just south of Athens. Young redneck female looping, opening with "This is WPQX600, an Emergency and Information Broadcast System owned and operated by Oconee County, Georgia Emergency Management Agency, operating on a frequency of 16-10 kHz AM. Tune in to this station for emergency information, severe weather alerts, county condition [sic] and county- related activities. To access Oconee County's web page, the address is www dot oconeecounty dot com..." Also, information on burn permitting, with references to Watkinsville and Bogart, Georgia Forestry 770-868-4041 and "www dot gfc dot state dot ga dot us" website, and weather alert tips. I'v seen this one occasionally reported from several hundred miles away at night, and it's surely the one that I've heard in the early mornings a few times but could never ID (redneck female with lots of dot-dot-dots in a web address). Hard to find this one in the FCC dB, pulled only by entering the call sign. 1610, NORTH CAROLINA, (TIS) KIE718, Oconaluftee Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, August 2+, 2009. Shocked to discover this (and the Sugarlands Visitor Center) reactivated. First noticed as a weak unidentified as I neared Cherokee, NC. The reactivation is apparently coinciding with the Park's 75th anniversary this year. Other obvious projects include a resurfacing/reconfiguration of the parking lots at Oconaluftee; a new Visitor Center planned at Oconaluftee (groundbreaking next month and completion in late 2010); and refurbishing the Mountain Farm Museum structures and grounds at this site (mostly complete). Of course, none of the rangers knew anything about the 1610 transmitters. A 'tune to 1610' sign is back up just as you enter the Park northbound on US-441 via Cherokee, NC. There may be a similar sign as you near Sugarlands via Gatlinburg, TN but if so, I missed spotting one. Both Oconaluftee and Sugarlands currently run the same generic audio loop, save for the call sign insert (no ID was heard at Sugarlands, but my listening time was much shorter -- only a few minutes -- vs. several days of spot checking the Oconaluftee audio). The ID drops maybe only once an hour (not set to the top-of-the-hour). Interestingly, the calls used are the originally assigned one, and presumably KIE723 (also the original) is used at Sugarlands. The antenna at Oconaluftee is located on the roof of the existing Visitor Center, next to a satellite dish near the back of the structure and close to the restrooms. I duly photographed the antenna. I didn't bother locating the antenna at Sugarlands. Good signal that gets out well, especially to the east. The complete current looped text (male, professionally recorded) is: "This radio station broadcasts messages 24 hours a day on a special AM frequency licensed to this community by the Federal Communication Commission. In the event of an emergency, tune to this station for a live and recorded broadcast which may include public safety information, instructions and advisories affecting life, property, communications and travel. Should the NOAA Weather Radio Station for this area issue a warning, we will automatically pre-empt normal programming and will broadcast that information immediately. When emergencies are not occurring, tune to this station for timely information relating to traffic; weather conditions and forecasts; special events; directions for visitors; and helpful information regarding street repairs and construction. While you're thinking of it, consider setting a button on your radio receiver so you can find this emergency advisory radio station quickly in an emergency." I did some archival research -- painstaking -- by referencing my old TIS QSL cards from the early 1980's, and sourcing a list found online at http://www.angelfire.com/sc/scannerpost/tisfed.html (I cleaned up the typographical errors on the latter). I included the two presumably defunct Blue Ridge Parkway TIS's. Defunct I say, based on driving the BRP from the Great Smoky Mountains National Park terminus to just past Mount Pisgah earlier this week. In their heyday, most if not all of the GSMNP TIS's were active. But one-by-one, these slowly fell into disrepair and were never reactivated. I am guessing that it's been about 10 years since the last of these (the now reactivated Sugarlands, TN and Oconaluftee, NC Visitor's Center entries) were active. For the sake of historical preservation I present to you: 530, NC KID771 Deep Creek, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 530, NC KIE768 Mount Pisgah, Blue Ridge Parkway Information 1610, TN KIE722 Cades Cove, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1610, TN KIE723 Sugarlands, Sugarlands Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1610, TN KIE724 Tremont, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1610, TN KIE731 Elkmont, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1610, TN KIE732 Cosby, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1610, TN KIE793 Twin Creeks, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1610, TN KPB747 Greenbrier, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1610, NC KIE718 Oconaluftee, Oconaluftee Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1610, NC KIE730 Clingman's Dome, Great Smoky Mountains National Park 1610, NC KID773 Balsam Gap, Blue Ridge Parkway Information I am reasonably certain that, except for Sugarlands and Oconaluftee, none of the other GSMNP TIS's are reactivated. For certain, Deep Creek, Cades Cove, Clingman's Dome, Elkmont and Tremont remain inactive, as I was at these locations. The transmitter at the Roaring Fork Motor Nature Trail is also inactive. I believe it was on 530, though could it be the the 1610 Twin Creeks entry above? In any case, nothing on 530 or 1610 in this vicinity. Also, the Blue Ridge Parkway TIS's at Mt. Pisgah and Balsam Gap are not active (but see the unidentified NOAA realay entry below). 1610, NORTH CAROLINA, (MIS) unidentified, unknown location, August 4, 2009, 1300+. A threshold signal was heard at Waterrock Knob on the Blue Ridge Parkway, with the signal peaking to very strong level on the Parkway between the Balsam and Saunook overlooks. Also peaking just southeast of Waynesville on US-276. Nonstop NOAA Weather Radio relay with no local ID inserted. NOAA ID is (synthesized "man"): "This is NOAA Weather Radio WXL5-6, broadcasting from the WLOS tower on Mt. Pisgah, operating on a frequency of 1-6-2 point 4-0-0 MegaHertz. This... serves the mountains of western North Carolina..." I recall hearing a weak signal at Waterrock Knob several years ago on 1610, but with a generic North Carolina DOT loop, which may or may not be related. That one never peaked in the areas this one does. Nothing showing in the FCC db that I could locate. The signal was virtually gone near Mt. Pisgah. 1610, TENNESSEE, (TIS) KIE723, Sugarlands Visitor Center, Great Smoky Mountains National Park, August 3. Same loop as used on the Oconaluftee transmitter (see entry). Call sign presumed. Good signal that gets out well. 1620, FLORIDA, (unlicensed) "WBUL", University of South Florida, Tampa, August 1, 2009. Good signal, first audible just east of downtown and well north of Fowler and Fletcher exits while northbound on I-75. Silly babbling conversation, if you can even call it that, between three. 1640, FLORIDA, (TIS) FDOT Florida Turnpike, Wildwood MP 304, August 1, 2009. Male and female loop, weak on I-75 at Exit 329 (SR-44). 1660, NORTH CAROLINA, WFNA, Charlotte, August 4, 2009, 1445. ID, ESPN Radio programming feed. Very good at the Balsam Mountain, NC Flat Creek Trail parking lot on Heintooga Ridge Road. Surprised that WBT, Charlotte on 1110 was so weak at the same time here. 1680, FLORIDA, (TIS) FDOT, Jennings. There was a reported sign for this on southbound I-75 just across the state line (not seen, since I was northbound, and returned a different way). No trace of anything on the channel August 1. 1700, ALABAMA, WEUP, Huntsville, August 4, 2009 1650. Fair with black gospel, ID at 1653. Logged at Richard Balsam Overlook on the Blue Ridge Parkway (6053 feet elevation). 87.9 MHz, FLORIDA (unlicensed), New Raman Reti Temple ISKON of Alachua, Alachua, August 1, 2009. Surprised to find this one active (reactivated, though my first log). This one was discovered in January, 2005 by David Potter but seemingly fell silent by November of the same year per his observations. Signal rapidly popped up near Alachua while driving northbound on I-75, with Hare Krishna chanting by man. A true gem! 87.9 MHz, GEORGIA, "CDC Radio" Center for Disease Control HQ, Atlanta, August 1, 2009. As recently reported, this low power non LPFM government operation is indeed active. Audible as I punched through downtown Atlanta on I-75 northbound, first audible just south of Exit 243. Looping warnings on H1N1 (piggie flu), a short Spanish segment, and other CDC radio PSA's, including two that warn Hispanics not to smoke. Faded pretty fast, but at least I had the opportunity to log this unique thing. 87.9 MHz, GEORGIA, (pirate) unidentified, Atlanta, August 1, 2009. Briefly messing up "CDC Radio" with gangsta rap songs, presumably in roughly the same area as no trace of it once "CDC Radio" faded out while northbound on I-75, downtown Atlanta. 89.9 MHz, TENNESSEE, WDVX, Clinton, August 5, 2009, 1750. Heard at fair level at Newfound Gap, Great Smoky Mountains National Park while waiting out a sudden storm. Eclectic format of Americana, Alt Country, Folk and Bluegrass. "WDVX, Clinton, Tennessee" by female at 1803. 95.9 MHz, FLORIDA, WJRN-LP, Summerfield, August 1, 2009. Still active with Mexican Spanish format. Big signal on I-75. 96.7 MHz, FLORIDA, WZHR-LP, Dade City, August 1, 2009. Chuck Berry and other oldies. Heard on I-75. 101.5 MHz, GEORGIA, WFNG-LP, Sycamore, August 1, 2009. Satellite-fed gospel vocals, local level, parallel 102.7 WJTR-LP. Heard on I-75. 102.7 MHz, GEORGIA, WJTR-LP, Ashburn, August 1, 2009. Satellite-fed gospel vocals, break-in with promo for a local church, parallel 101.5 WFNG-LP. FCC db lists separate ownerships. Yeah, right. What a waste of LPFM bandwith. Heard on I-75. 104.7 MHz, FLORIDA, WITG-LP, Ocala, August 1, 2009. Still active with Rock 'N Roll oldies format. Heard on I-75. 105.5 MHz, FLORIDA, unidentified, August 1, 2009. Peaked a few miles south of Lake City on I-75. Dominican bachata-type Spanish vocals. Faded pretty fast, very poor once at Lake City-proper. FCC db shows WMJB-LP, Lake City but indicates it moved from 105.5 to 107.7, however nothing on the latter. Wiki claims: "WMJB-LP (107.7 FM, "Magic 107.7") is a Gospel music formatted radio station primarily serving the Lake City, Florida, area, owned by Florida Community Radio, Inc." So regardless of frequency, the format doesn't fit. Therefore, is this a pirate? (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, August 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** URUGUAY. The inauguration of the SW operation by 6045-USB, CXA61, R Sport 890, Montevideo, reported some time ago is delayed since there is current work with the MW transmitters at the site and they want to avoid RFI problems among the equipments, as said by Gustavo Cirino, Technical manager. In fact the transmitter is ready to go to air and its operation has already been authorized. Power will be 2.5 KW USB. His E-mail is cx7at(at)adinet.com.uy or cx7at(at)hotmail.com So, we can expect two more weeks before resuming broadcasts on a 24h sked (Gustavo Cirino, R Sport 890, Montevideo, Uruguay via Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Aug 7) In fact, the Sarandí 690 and Sport 890 MW transmitters are off, today local afternoon, surely undergoing maintenance. 73 (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Aug 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Interesante info, Horacito. Che, SODRE en 6125 está activa, ¿verdad? (Arnaldo Slaen, condiglist yg via DXLD) La última noticia que tengo es que no está activa en el momento la OC del SODRE. Su prioridad era atender las FMs por el momento. Tengo además noticias de otra anhelada: la onda corta de Radio Universo, Castillos, que hace años está anunciada para salir. En diferentes contactos que he tenido con su dueño, me ha dicho que había estado efectuando trasmisiones de prueba y así se consigna en el WRTH 2009 y anteriores. Hace 24 horas, esta persona, Juan Brañas ante mi nuevo requerimiento, me informa que desde el 15 de julio está trasmitiendo en 6055 desde 2100 a 2230 horas =asumo hora CX= por lo que serían 0000=0130 UT. Ayer puse oídos a la frecuencia pero no la escucho. Hay otra emisora en frecuencia y muuucho ruido en mi QTH. Pido a los colegas monitorear; que esquiva se hace esta emisora! Informo que por otra parte el Sr. Brañas es nuevo Presidente de RAMI =Red AM del Interior= uno de los gremios de emisoras del Interior del Uruguay. Tuvo que asumir por grave enfermedad de su anterior Presidente Sr. Winston Elutchanz, dueño de FM Primavera de Mercedes, Soriano. 73 (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Aug 9, ibid.) Muy pero muy interesante tu info Horacio!!!! Esta noche pruebo desde mi QTH más creo que los resultados, por las mismas razones que vos argumentas y que se advierten desde el tuyo, van a ser pobres (Arnaldo Slaen, ibid.) Like Spain already being on 6055 during that sesquihour. North Americans listening to its English broadcast might try to detect anything underneath (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VANUATU. 3945, Radio Vanuatu, Port Vila, 0939-0945, August 02, Vernacular, pops, announcements by male, 25432 (Arnaldo Slaen, in Chascomus ("the Argentina DX paradise") with the DXers Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni, Hector Goyena & Gerardo Choren, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3945, presumed R. Vanuatu, Port Vila, 0920-0933, Aug 9, unID language. Music audio with ballads noted under noise floor; announcer at 0931; back to muisc at 0932; weak-poor (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. SISTEMA DE TV DIGITAL --- Venezuela está "a punto" de adoptar el sistema digital de televisión de Japón y Brasil. El presidente venezolano, Hugo Chávez, afirmó hoy que su Gobierno está en la fase final de las negociaciones con Brasil y Japón para la adquisición del sistema de televisión digital. "Estamos a punto de cerrar el acuerdo con Japón y Brasil para instalar el sistema más avanzado de televisión digital" en Venezuela, aseguró Chávez durante su dominical programa de radio y televisión "Aló Presidente". El pasado 21 de Julio, el mandatario venezolano aseguró que su administración evaluaba además del sistema japonés (ISDB-T), la tecnología europea DVB-T (Digital Video Broadcasting), un sistema hibrido brasileño basado en el prototipo nipón, y un estándar chino. Chávez destacó entonces que la transferencia tecnológica es una condición indispensable para el acuerdo con el proveedor del sistema de televisión digital. El Gobierno venezolano planea que todas las trasmisiones de televisión se realicen en el país bajo formato digital dentro de diez años, aunque hasta 2018 el digital elegido coexistirá con el analógico. (Fuente: EPA - European Pressphoto Agency, 9 Agosto 2009, via Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA [non]. ``Aló, Presidente`` had been missing for weeks, and did not check for it soon after 1400 UT this Sunday August 9; but next bandscan at the late hour of 1854 found Hugo interacting with audience on 13750 – the A,P-only channel via CUBA, along with scheduled // 11690, 12010, 13680 and 17750. 11690 and 12010 were an echo apart from 13750; 11690 had the usual RTTY QRM; 13680 was just barely audible and weaker than BBCWS UK on the side from 13675. At 1918, still going on 13750, altho regular separate daily hour of RNV CI was also in progress on 15290. At 1920 found RHC`s 13760 on the air now and instead of own programming also // 13750 an echo apart. At 2000, 13750 still going with A,P, along with 13760, but now both muscled aside by Sportugal on 13755 which had just moved down from 15560. At 2003, when RHC is supposed to be resuming its own schedule in other languages, as Hugo briefly broke into song, found more // to the A,P service on 11760, 11770 and 11800. I wonder if RHC don`t have enough different program feed channels available; or the switching is just too complex and unpredictable to keep everything straight. Next check at 2056, found singing on 13750 // 11760, 11770, 11800, 12010, not audible on 11690 or 13680. At 2058 also on // 17750 talking about Habana, so apparently in meantime had morphed back into RHC- produced programming. 17750 also had become rather distorted, but not as bad as 11800. At 2059 they all went into RHC IS and ID. At 2100 on 13750 and 17750 introducing a cultural fill program from the RHC archives, about Ernesto Lecuona, playing Siboney. At 2102, found that 12010 and 17750 had gone off, and 17660 had come on, the latter frequency supposed to be in English at 2030-2130, but still Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA ** ZIMBABWE. 2330 to 2345 7 July Florida logs: 4828, Zimbabwe VOZ seems on, while 3396 seems off. 73s (de Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. CLANDESTINE, 5950, Zimbabwe Community Radio, Al Dhabbaya, 2030+, Vernacular, s/on, announcement by male, many announcement, news, 44444 (Arnaldo Slaen, in Chascomus ("the Argentina DX paradise") with the DXers Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni, Hector Goyena & Gerardo Choren, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. On a caradio bandscan August 8 at 1956 UT could hear a SAH of 4 Hz on 1090 kHz, an otherwise vacant daytime frequency here bearing very weak carriers. There are three possibilities: KAAY 50 kW Little Rock AR, which on non-direxional daytime supposedly has a radius out to here, but not really due to poor conductivity; KVOP Plainview TX in the Panhandle with 5 kW and a null toward KAAY, not much usward either; and KEXS Excelsior Springs MO (near KC), only 1 kW but non-direxional. Refs: NRC AM Log and Antenna Pattern Book (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 2360, Harmonic noted at 1000 on 8 August (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8 - Sony 2010 XA, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meterband dipole, Longwire, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Any clues on language at least? (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 9-056, 2720: ``It sounds like another AM harmonic on 2720 kHz, which would correspond to a base frequency of 680 or 1360 kHz. I have not caught a station ID yet due to static crashes, but did identify some of the songs. At 0443 UTC Nirvana with "I don't have a gun", followed at 0446 UTC with REM's "It's the end of the world as we know it", then some songs which I do not know.`` Tonight at 0033 UT I heard the exact same sequence of songs, including the songs before and after these two. I'm guessing this is a transmitter test, with a playlist on repeat. No idea if they ID at any point. I'm also guessing they have not done a spectral purity test yet. The signal on 2720 is about 250 Hz high, or 2720.25 kHz. (Rik Van Riel, NH, UT Aug 8, HCDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. PIRATE, 3927, UNID in English!!, 0320-0330, programme conduce by male, announce: "...Radio...", 25442, Best reception in LSB mode (Arnaldo Slaen, in Chascomus ("the Argentina DX paradise") with the DXers Enrique Wembagher, Marcelo Cornachioni, Hector Goyena & Gerardo Choren, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4800, unID weak signal at 2330 with Mexico silent on this frequency. 7 August. 4800, Mexico carrier at 1040 on 8 August. Has been silent last few days (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, NRD 535D ~ Drake R8 - Sony 2010 XA, Noise reducing antenna, 60 meterband dipole, Longwire, Aug 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe 2330 was also XERTA lo power? (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. Re 9-056: 5955, unID SPANISH ROCK MUSIC --- Sorry to say I´m currently busy between 2000 and 0000 all week long, even Saturday. But I´ll check on Sunday hoping they´ll be testing that day too. 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, Aug 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I will check again tomorrow also after 1800z. I checked today around 2000z but the neighbor had his TV on at that time so that put a terrible BUZZ on the frequency. I'm hoping that the neighbor will be gone around mid-day tomorrow so I'll have a clear frequency to check. The 5955 kHz signal strength today at 1830z was about equal to 6105 Mérida which is FAIR bur audible, which is why ANY TV or COMPUTER BUZZ will put a damper on 5955! 6010 Radio MIL was MUCH stronger today, and almost equal in strength to the DAYTIME signal from Radio HABANA Cuba which was CRANKING at 1830z on 5965 & 6000 (Steven Wiseblood/AB5GP, Brownsville, TX, ibid.) Interesting to see the 5955 log of Steve's. It would be nice if it was ELCOR back on. I will be busy but will nonetheless try to give it a check over the next three days (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, August 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 7235, UNKNOWN SITE, WYFR, 0038, Aug 8, English. Usual "Open Forum" with Harold Camping; zzzzzzzzz...; gone at 0102 re- check; fair-good; can't find this listed anywhere; tho the WYFR site has a link letting us know that Judgement Day is 5/11/2011; the Mayans say we have until 12/21/2012; go figure (Scott R. Barbour Jr., Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) As I reported July 28, 7235 is via Ascension (gh, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ AM RADIO LOG 30TH EDITION Hi all, We are now taking pre-orders for the Log and we expect to be shipping prior to September 1, 2009. http://www.nrcdxas.org 73 (Wayne Heinen, AM Radio Log Editor, Aug 8, The NRC AM mailing list via DXLD) HALLIGAN AUDIO/VIDEO/DATA IS AVAILABLE The Hallicrafters devotees, as well as other lovers of vintage rigs, have spoken. They want the material, so it is available immediately. I had eight of the original HHRP 2 DVD and 6 CD sets here in reserve for when someone requests them. So I am pulling out three of the discs and the other five are ready to ship within 48 hours of the receipt of your request by mail. After those are gone, and only one is not spoken for right now, I guess I will have to burn some more! So be it! The price is $35 plus shipping of $9. Of those who have already spoken for their set, all agreed to do the shipping via priority flat rate mail at $8.99 Hence, make the check out for $44. Please make it out to me, not to HHI! The banks no longer consider a money order safe, since technology has made it possible for a child of four with a computer and a mouse to replicate checks, money orders, cashiers checks, bank drafts and anything else that amuses their creative little minds! Everything gets a two or three day hold any more. Since about half of those who responded wanted the second DVD with the six short video clips, some by Hallicrafters and some by others, and the computer enhanced film version of the "Voice Of Victory", just add five dollars for a copy. The special Fritz Franke CD, a former Hallicrafters Chief Engineer and worldwide super marketing wizard, is not included. Nor is the Chuck Dachis audio CD presentation of his slide show of the twenty most rare or unusual Hallicrafters products. If you want them, let me know. We will figure out some inexpensive way to get them included in your package. Not to worry, as the postage "will NOT" change if we add more discs! Please write to me direct! I am good on 'qrz.com' You can read the Contents of each DVD or CD by going to the HHRP web site, Historic Halligan Radio Project, and taking a squint. Be advised! I did add some items "after" the Contents appeared on the HHRP web site! Consider them as a bonus for lovers of things that still go glow in the dark without needing Radium first! http://hhrp.w9wze.net This is not exclusively for Hallicrafters owners only, as the discs contain historical information about "radio", classified stuff we never knew before, how much of what we take for granted came to be - high frequency Coms + RIT + crystal filters + B-52 RADAR countermeasures and much more! This is not about how Hallicrafters came to be, as Dr. Max De Henseler, HB9RS of Switzerland has already told that story beautifully in "The Hallicrafters Story" available from the QCWA. This is about getting to know Bill Halligan the man before he became a legend and his love of Ham Radio. So you Collins dudes, Heathkit healers, Drake devotees, Swan solder guys etc. can enjoy this also (Duane Fischer, W8DBF - WPE8CXO, E-Mail: dfischer @ usol.com HHRP web site: http://hhrp.w9wze.net Aug 7, swl at qth.net via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ HUNTING HARMONICS WITH HAUSER --- err, HABANA AM Broadcast Band stations provide a second unique source of Dxing interest to radio hobby enthusiasts that are known as “harmonic hunters”, because what they enjoy is trying to pick up and identify the harmonics of AM broadcast band transmitters, also known by experts as part of non essential radiations. The transmitters operating between 530 and 1700 kiloHertz can generate harmonics or exact multiples of their assigned operating frequency, but they can also put on the air spurious signals that are not exact multiples of their operating frequency. Harmonic hunting fans concentrate on the exact multiples, and are sometimes of great help to transmitter engineers, when they send reports about harmonics heard at long distances. Let me give you a few examples that will describe the scenario of harmonic hunting during local daytime hours. The range that a transmitter harmonic can reach during daytime is very limited, but some harmonics can travel quite far if they are helped by the ionosphere. For example, a station operating on exactly 700 kiloHertz and running a 50 kiloWatt vacuum tube technology transmitter, may be heard locally on 1400 kiloHertz, that is the second harmonic, and it can be picked up 500 miles away on the tenth harmonic, because the exactly 7000 kiloHertz frequency, that is the tenth harmonic, is refracted from the ionosphere back to Earth and is picked up by a radio amateur living 500 miles or 800 kilometers away. The amateur radio operator sent an e-mail to the station's chief engineer, reporting the strong tenth harmonic signal, and that led to finding defective components at the transmitter's output filtering network, that were obviously damaged by a lightning impact. The fault may have gone unnoticed for a long time, if the listener had not reported the unsual tenth harmonic signal at such a long distance. Many years ago, when I started to operate on the six meters of 50 megaHertz amateur band, it was quite common to pick up Argentinean and Chilean broadcast band stations harmonics --- and those were mainly the 54th, yes, you heard it right, the 54th multiple of those station's operating frequency, traveling thousands of miles from South America to the Caribbean by means of the Trans – Equatorial Propagation mode. Harmonic hunting is a very specialized aspect of short wave radio Dxing that requires good antennas, extremely sensitive and selective receivers, excellent communications type headphones, and above all, a lot of patience to explore basically the frequency range starting at 1060, that is one thousand sixty kilohertz, that is the frequency of the second harmonic of a station operating on 530 kiloHertz, and going up to the FM broadcast band, where the 54th harmonic of a station operating on 1700 kiloHertz will appear at 91.8 megaHertz. Sí amigos, yes my friends, oui mes amis --- broadcast band stations do radiate harmonics, and picking them up is a really fascinating aspect of our radio hobby !!! (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited Aug 8 via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DTV: see VENEZUELA. IBOC: see OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM: see GERMANY PROPAGATION +++++++++++ WERE WE THERE YET? SOLAR MINIMUM by VK2ZRH » Wed Aug 05, 2009 1:08 pm By now, anyone with even a modest interest in progress of the solar cycle knows that the current period of solar minimum is the "lowest and longest" since 1913. The run of monthly sunspot numbers for the past year (indeed, 2.5 years) has led the solar science world on slow waltz to Armageddon (or so it seems), not to mention DXers, solar bloggers, climate change skeptics and other interested parties. Taking the monthly smoothed sunspot numbers from January 2007 to December 2008, you can see where they took a dip, rose again after the dip - only to plunge relentlessly downward . . . no less than three times ! See Graph 1 below. . . http://www.vklogger.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=8661. [NOTE: this URL really does have a period at the end, optional] (via ARRL Propagation Forecast Bulletin August 7, 2009 via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ###