DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-060, August 15, 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 1473, August 12-18, 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 1430 WRMI 9955 [NEW] Fri 1900 WBCQ 7415 Fri 2028 WWCR1 15825 [15830 from Aug 21; see U S A below] Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9510 [except first Sat] Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1515 WRMI 9955 [resumed] 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 1474 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 ** ANTARCTICA. ANTARTIDA, 15476, LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, 1845-1905, 14-08, locutor: ¿Sabe Usted que Base Esperanza se encuentra a 63º 24' latitud Sur, 56º longitud Oeste, desde aquí transmite LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, por 15476 kHz, de 15 a 18 horas [= 18-21 UT], de lunes a viernes para todo el mundo", locutor: "De Esperanza al Mundo, de lunes a viernes por LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, de Esperanza al Mundo, un contraste entre la belleza de nuestros paisajes...", locutora: "Desde Base Esperanza transmite LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, por la frecuencia de 15476 kHz", canciones argentinas y comentarios. Buena señal hoy, 24322 variando a 34323 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, DSWCI-3627, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, Escuchas realizadas en casco urbano de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Watch out for the IBB DRM test next week to HFCC which was supposedly going to be on 15470-15480 after 20 UT; or have they QSYed? (gh, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15344.814, RAE, 2207, Spanish, end of news and convenient ID by man, "RAE - Radiodifusora [sic] Argentina al Exterior." Then into talk by woman. Best in USB to escape 15340 splatter, occasionally peaking to decent level but mostly weak. 14 August (David Sharp, NSW, Australia. Yaesu FT-950 and Sony ICF-2010, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. Quick check reconfirms V. of Biafra International still on 15665 via WHRI, Friday August 14 at 1927, in English mentioning Ibos. WRTH predicts that 17520 will resume for this in September, Fridays at 1900-2000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11780.000, R. Nacional da Amazônia, Portuguese, 2200, presumed with fanfare and news, very tough copy with co-channel jammer. 14 August (David Sharp, NSW, Australia. Yaesu FT-950 and Sony ICF-2010, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11815.000, R. Brasil Central - Goiania, Portuguese, 2140, surprisingly strong and in the clear with lengthy talk by man 'till 2151, then into ads or similar. Reverb throughout! 14 August (David Sharp, NSW, Australia. Yaesu FT-950 and Sony ICF-2010, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11815, 2240, Radio Brazil Central poor to fair 28/7 in Portuguese with newstalk format, phone-in reports, live sports commentary after 2305. Inaudible at 0000 recheck (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Aug NZ DX Times via DXLD) R. Brasil Central always fun to hear when the MUF attains 12 MHz in the middle of the night, such as Aug 14 at 0525 on 11815, live Brazilian-accented announcer with time check has to be this; deep fades. Too much noise on 60 m to hear // 4985; also a weaker signal on 11925, presumably Bandeirantes, another 24h, 25m Brazilian broadcaster (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re: Spurs on 980/1000 --- Tonight I'm getting a weird noise on 980 kHz - sort of sounds like part of the soundtrack from a low budget sci-fi movie. Nothing on 1000, but then 1000 kHz is plagued by 1010 WINS Dragon Hiss. IIRC correctly, CKGM years ago was on 980. Lately their signal has been pretty strong here, often shoving CBY aside (Phil Rafuse, PEI, 0011 UT Aug 14, ABDX via DXLD) Yes, CKGM was on 980 back in the day. Growing up in Montreal I never missed Ralph "How's your bird?" Lockwood (Brent Taylor, VY2HF/VE9, (working in Fredericton this week), ibid.) If you're using SSB mode, it should only be audible using USB on 980, and LSB on 1000. Sort of an unstable squawking noise, apparently linked to CKGM's modulation. The spurs seem to be centered on about +/- 8.25 kHz from 990. I suspect their night pattern is screwed up too - they shouldn't be pushing much signal towards PEI. I guess I'll send their engineering guy an email tomorrow, if they're still squawking. Probably on vacation! (Barry McLarnon, VE3JF, Ottawa, ON, ibid.) ** CHINA. 6030, 0510, CHINA/UNID RELAY SITE, China Radio International weak in English, 27/7 during Radio Martí silent period. Ident 0524 and parallel freqs found – 6190 vgd, 15350 poor, 17540 poor, 17505 poor & 17855 good. BCM Beijing site is scheduled to be running 100 kW non-direxional on 6030 22.6 hours per day, but with that kind of schedule would have assumed domestic service. Aoki says it`s CNR1 in Chinese. Of course that is shortly after local noon so heard in NZ this may indeed have been a relay elsewhere, unlisted; to be aware of when seeking something more exotic in the UT Monday Dentro/Fuera-Cuban radio war truce. Jamming? No, nothing worth ChiCom jamming known on 6030 at this time, altho Sound of Hope does use it at 13-14 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CNR Maintenance break Aug. 16; CNR-1 Re activated: 4460, 5030, 6175, 9830 kHz Off the Air: 5945, 7345, 9845, 9900, 11710 kHz CNR-2 Re activated: 7375 kHz Off the Air: 6065 kHz All Beijing transmitter site. de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Aug 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910, Marfil Estéreo ID as soon as I intuned, Aug 15 at 0545, then music. Frequent IDs certainly help. Modulation a bit distorted and carrier instability confirmed by switching on BFO. Believe this had been missing for a while, tho I have not tried to track it nightly. There were plans to somehow upgrade coverage of this frequency while downgrading coverage of LV de tu Conciencia, 6010 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5910, Marfil Estereo, Lomalinda, 0550-0640, 15-08, canciones latinoamericanas, identificación: "Marfil Estereo". 23322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, Escuchas realizadas en casco urbano de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. 6210, 1930, CONGO DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, Radio Kahuzi first noted tentatively 3/7 with French news, poor level to close 2006. After regular daily monitoring got best reception on 16/7 with VOA news in French, English & French idents at 2000, several gospel songs played and closed 2007. Listed 1 kW so extremely pleased with this log and QSL! BCM On July 3 I found a French language station on 6210 around 1930 UT at weak level to closedown at 2007. I monitored the frequency daily and finally on July 16 the signal was poor-fair with sufficient readability to extract program detail and ID’s in French/English for R. Kahuzi, Congo Kinshasa. E-QSL in two weeks from station operator Richard McDonald. Listed as 1 kW but reportedly only 800 W so this rates as one of my best logs/QSLs in 48 years of DX! (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Aug NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** CROATIA. 10 kW? On our last Stuttgart DXer meeting with Erich Bergmann, Roland Schulze and Y.T., we agreed that Croatian Radio on 3985, 6155 and 7355 kHz broadcasts on very tiny level in present 2009 year, -- like of 10 kW final power instead only (Wolfgang Büschel, BC- DX Aug 15 via DXLD)) ** ECUADOR [non]. Checking WRMI webcast, Sat Aug 15 at 1513, heard the tail end of the Aug 1 DXPL, as previously matched earlier in the week, so now they are two weeks out of date. At the end, Allen Graham mis- speaks saying the only remaining Pifo transmission after Sept 30 will be 11920 in Portuguese and Kulina at 2245-2230, instead of to -0230 -- - and Kulina comes first (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA. A little comment on recent logs: 6170, VoTR: I also heard that one evening last week. but not there the following evening. Think it was active today, Aug. 13th until 1900, but after 1800 covered by some French broadcast, only bits and pieces audible that seemed to fit // 5950. 7110, R. Ethiopia: often missing between 1630-1700/1800/1900. Does more or less fit the jamming times on 7165/7175, but not always. Maybe this one is jamming another transmitter, independent from the 7165/7175 jamming, where the jammer is obviously following Eritrea`s moves, which usually switches to 7165 but back again at 1700/1730. 9560, R. Ethiopia External Service: This doesn't seem to be the same transmitter at all times, as sometimes it sticks to 9560.0 and other times drifts around. If noise jamming is also there as some people assume, it is well possible that the reason is Eritrea also operates there. But that has never been reported. But we know that there exist two more ERI transmitters currently not reported elsewhere. But we do not know if ERI has noise jamming facilities and they co-jam external service, when ETH does have of the job itself. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, http://www.africalist.de.ms Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 9704.18, Radio Ethiopia, 2020-2100*, Aug 15, local tribal music. Amharic talk. Sign off with National Anthem at 2059. Poor to fair in noisy conditions. Better on // 7110 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Welcome back, Brian (gh) ** GERMANY. Summer A-09 Media Broadcast(ex DTK T-Systems) Part 3 of 4: Adventist World Radio (AWR): 0300-0330 6065 WER 250 kW / 135 deg Daily EaAf Tigrigna 0300-0330 9845 WER 250 kW / 135 deg Daily EaAf Oromo 0330-0400 9815 WER 250 kW / 135 deg Daily EaAf Amharic 0400-0430 7270 WER 250 kW / 120 deg Daily ME Arabic 0500-0600 6145 WER 100 kW / 120 deg Daily EaEu Bulgarian 0700-0800 11980 WER 100 kW / 210 deg Daily NoAf Arabic 0800-0830 11980 WER 100 kW / 210 deg Daily NoAf Kabyle 0800-0900 12010 WER 100 kW / 210 deg Daily NoAf French/Tachelhit 0900-1000 9790 NAU 100 kW / 180 deg Sun SoEu Italian 1200-1300 15435 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Daily SoAs English/Bangla 1300-1330 15320 NAU 250 kW / 070 deg Mon-Fri EaAs Chinese 1300-1330 15320 NAU 250 kW / 070 deg Sat/Sun EaAs Uighur 1330-1500 15320 NAU 250 kW / 070 deg Daily EaAs Chinese 1500-1600 15160 ISS 250 kW / 080 deg Daily SoAs Nepali/Hindi 1500-1530 15335 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Daily SoAs Punjabi 1530-1600 15335 WER 250 kW / 075 deg Daily SoAs English 1630-1700 17575 WER 250 kW / 135 deg Daily EaAf Somali 1700-1730 9445 WER 250 kW / 120 deg Daily ME Arabic 1730-1800 11915 WER 100 kW / 210 deg Daily NoAf Kabyle 1730-1800 17575 WER 250 kW / 135 deg Daily EaAf Oromo 1900-1930 15205 NAU 250 kW / 215 deg Daily CeAf Fulfulde 1930-2000 15205 WER 250 kW / 165 deg Daily CeAf Ibo 1900-2000 9765 WER 100 kW / 210 deg Daily NoAf Arabic/Tachelhit 2000-2030 9765 WER 100 kW / 210 deg Daily NoAf French 2000-2100 11755 WER 100 kW / 180 deg Daily WeAf French/Yoruba Radio Netherlands 0500-0555 6015 NAU 250 kW / 243 deg Daily Europe Dutch 0500-0555 9895 NAU 250 kW / 160 deg Daily Europe Dutch 0600-0655 6035 NAU 250 kW / 215 deg Daily Europe Dutch 0600-0655 9895 NAU 250 kW / 226 deg Daily Europe Dutch 0700-0755 6035 NAU 250 kW / 186 deg Daily Europe Dutch 0700-0755 6120 WER 250 kW / 300 deg Daily Europe Dutch 0700-0755 11935 WER 250 kW / 240 deg Daily Europe Dutch 0800-0955 6120 WER 250 kW / 255 deg Mon-Fri Europe Dutch 0800-0955 5955 WER 250 kW / non-dir Sat Europe Dutch -8/31* 0800-0955 9895 NAU 250 kW / 221 deg Sat Europe Dutch -8/31* 1000-1655 5955 WER 250 kW / non-dir Sun Europe Dutch *9/1- 1000-1655 5955 WER 250 kW / non-dir Daily Europe Dutch -8/31* 1000-1655 9895 WER 250 kW / 240 deg Daily Europe Dutch -8/31* 1000-1655 9895 WER 250 kW / 240 deg Sun Europe Dutch *9/1- 1500-1555 13700 NAU 500 kW / 140 deg Daily Europe Dutch 1500-1555 13700 NAU 500 kW / 230 deg Daily Europe Dutch 1500-1655 5955 WER 250 kW / non-dir Mon-Sat Europe Dutch *9/1- 1500-1655 9895 WER 250 kW / 240 deg Mon-Sat Europe Dutch *9/1- 1600-1655 13700 NAU 500 kW / 140 deg Daily Europe Dutch -8/31* 1600-1655 13700 NAU 500 kW / 230 deg Daily Europe Dutch -8/31* 1700-1725 11665 WER 500 kW / 120 deg Daily Europe Dutch 1800-1955 15535 WER 500 kW / 150 deg Daily Africa English 1900-1955 15335 NAU 500 kW / 183 deg Daily Africa English 2000-2155 6125 NAU 250 kW / 225 deg Daily Europe Dutch 2100-2125 9895 NAU 250 kW / 320 deg Daily Europe Dutch -8/31* Hamburger Lokalradio 0900-1000 6045 WER 100 kW / non-dir 1st Sun CeEu German Mecklenburg Verpommern Baltic Radio: 0900-1000 6140 WER 100 kW / non-dir 1st Sun WeEu German Blue Star Radio: 0900-1000 6140 WER 100 kW / non-dir 2nd Sun CeEu Music European Music Radio: 0900-1000 6140 WER 100 kW / non-dir 3rd Sun CeEu Music Radio Gloria International: 0900-1000 6140 WER 100 kW / non-dir 4th Sun CeEu Music Christian Science Sentinel: 0900-1000 6055 WER 100 kW / 090 deg Sun CeEu German 1800-1900 9585 WER 125 kW / 075 deg Sat EaEu Russian Evangelische Missions Gemeiden: 1030-1100 6055 WER 125 kW / non-dir Sat/Sun CeEu German 1100-1130 13710 NAU 250 kW / 020 deg Sat FE Russian 1500-1530 11955 NAU 250 kW / 087 deg Sat EaEu Russian Missionswerke Arche Stimme des Trostes 1100-1115 5945 WER 250 kW / non-dir Sun CeEu German Radio Traumland: 1300-1400 5945 WER 100 kW / non-dir Sun CeEu German Voice of Oromia Liberation Front: 1600-1630 11760 WER 500 kW / 135 deg Sun/Tue/Thu EaAf Oromo Cheetah Radio: 1600-1700 11730 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Sat SoAs English Radio Huriyo: 1630-1700 11640 NAU 100 kW / 145 deg Tue/Fri EaAf Somali Voice of Oromiya Independence: 1700-1730 13830 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Sat EaAf Oromo/Amharic Radio Oromiyaa Liberation 1730-1800 13830 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Fri EaAf Oromo/Amharic Ethiopia Adera Dimts Radio 1700-1800 13820 NAU 500 kW / 140 deg Sat EaAf Amharic Voice of Democratic Eritrea-Ethiopian Liberation Forum 1700-1730 13820 NAU 125 kW / 145 deg Thu EaAf Tigrinya 1730-1800 13820 NAU 125 kW / 145 deg Thu EaAf Arabic Voice of Ethiopian Unity-Ethiopians for Democracy: 1700-1800 13820 WER 250 kw / 135 deg Sun/Wed EaAf Amharic Voice of Oromo Liberation (Sagalee Bilisummaa Oromoo): 1700-1800 13830 JUL 125 kW / 130 deg Sun/Wed EaAf Oromo Radio Reveil Paroles de Vie: 1830-1845 15675 NAU 100 kW / 170 deg Tue/Thu CeAf French (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Aug 14 via DXLD) ** GREENLAND. 570.06, KNR Nuuk Greenland; Greenlandic studio talk. G 0400 15/08. Noted well this morning. Power increase? No sign of KNR on 650 or 700. Montreal & Toronto noted but not particularly strong signals (Barry :-) Davies, UK, MWC via DXLD) ** GUINEA. 7125, Radio Guinea, Conakry, 2315-2335, Aug 15, Tentative with local African pop music. French talk. Weak. Poor in noisy conditions. Lost in noise & HAM QRM at 2335 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4850, AIR Kohima, 1301, August 14 with today’s program schedule; talk show about rugby in English; 1315 health program in Hindi; 1327 marching music/anthem; President's address to the nation on the eve of Independence Day in Hindi, repeated in English till 1402; pop music program till tune out at 1410. Nice local IDs; slightly better than last year’s reception here. Started fading about 1350. Speech heard parallel with 4760 (AIR Port Blair); 4775 (AIR Imphal); 4835 (AIR Gangtok); 4880 (AIR Lucknow); 4895 (AIR Kurseong); 4920 (AIR Chennai); 4940 (AIR Guwahati); 4970 (AIR Shillong); 4990 (AIR Itanagar); 5010 (AIR Thiruvan.) and 5050 (AIR Aizawl). Noticeably off the air today was 5040 (AIR Jeypore). Have posted audio file at dxldyg “Files > Station Sounds” (IDs: 00:04 and better one at 01:12). Was very pleased to hear them with decent reception, on this rarely used frequency! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) AIR Special broadcast - President's address to the nation was noted on following SW channels : 14th Aug 2009 1330-1400 UT 1330-1345 - Speech in Hindi 1345-1400 - Speech in English 4760 - Leh 4775 - Imphal 4800 - Hyderabad co-channel CNR1 4810 - Bhopal (Strongest one at my location) 4820 - Kolkata co-channel PBS Xizang 4835 - Gangtok 4840 - Mumbai 4850 - Kohima 4880 - Lucknow 4895 - Kurseong 4910 - Jaipur 4920 - Chennai 4940 - Guwahati 4950 - Srinagar 4965 - Shimla 4970 - Shillong 4990 - Itanagar 5010 - T'Puram 5015 - Delhi (Kingsway) 5050 - Aizwal 4830 - Jammu - Still off air 4860 - Delhi (Kingsway) - Carrying Nepali Program 4960 - Ranchi - Still off air 5040 - Jeypore - Strangely missing - Jose Jacob also confirmed missing (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Aug 14, dx_india yg via DXLD) AIR Special broadcast - Running commentary of Independence Day celebrations & Prime Minister's address to the nation was noted on following SW channels : 15th Aug 2009 0130-0245 UT 0135-0200 - Running Commentary 0201-0240 - PM's address to nation 4760 - Leh - Hindi Commentary 4800 - Hyderabad -English Commentary 4840 - Mumbai - Hindi Commentary 4860 - Delhi (Kingsway) - English Commentary 4880 - Lucknow - Hindi Commentary 4895 - Kurseong - Hindi Commentary 4910 - Jaipur - Hindi Commentary 5040 - Jeypore - Hindi Commentary 6020 - Shimla - Hindi Commentary 6030 - Delhi (Kingsway) - Hindi Commentary 6110 - Srinagar - Hindi Commentary - co-channel PBS Xizang Tibetan 6155 - Delhi(Khampur) - Hindi Commentary 7270 - Chennai - Hindi Commentary 7290 - T'Puram - English Commentary 7340 - Mumbai - Hindi Commentary 7380 - Chennai -PM's address to nation 7420 - H'bad - PM's address to nation 7430 - Bhopal - Hindi Commentary - co-channel VOA Englist 9595 - Delhi (Kingsway) Hindi Commentary - co-channel CRI Spanish 9870 - B'lore -PM's address to nation 11620 - Aligarh - Hindi Commentary 11830 - Delhi (Kingsway) English Commentary - co-channel VOA Chinese 13620 - B'lore - English Commentary 15050 - Delhi (Khampur) - English Commentary 7210 - Kolkata - Not Heard 7335 - Imphal - Not Heard, severe co-channel 7390 - Port Blair - Not Heard 11735 - B'lore Signing on at 0213, regular Programming 11905 - Regular programming 11985 - B'lore Kannada Prog 15135 - Delhi (Kingsway) - Missing ? 15075 - B'lore Kannada Prog (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, India, Aug 15, ibid.) ** INDIA. AIR Khampur DRM transmission inauguration Here is the link of three small audio-video clips on the occasion of inauguration of Digital Radio Mondiale (DRM) transmission by All India Radio, Khampur HPT. Link 1 > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=crCpIlpQYeo Link 2 > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DxHZibWwsZw Link 3 > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhUJmWvP2Xg Still picture link - http://picasaweb.google.co.in/vu3orn/DRMTransmissionInaugurationCeremonyByAllIndiaRaioAIR 73 (Ray (VU3ORN), New Delhi, India, Aug 15, dx_india yg via DXLD) YouTube #1 not English until 6:40 in; almost 10 minutes long, so not small; total half hour? No, part 2, not a continuation of part 1, is 4+ minutes, English conversation; part 3 with musical and dance performances 8+ minutes. Amateur video going in and out of focus, unsteady camera. Why didn`t AIR/DD cover this historic occasion with professional video? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** IRELAND. Atlantic 252 day in Trim, Ireland, on 12 September 2009 A reunion to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the launch of Atlantic 252 is to be held in Trim, Ireland, on 12 September, and anyone who had any involvement in the longwave giant is invited. Organiser Enda Caldwell is hoping to get as many people from the station’s 12 year history to come along as possible, and would like to hear from you if you were involved. It was originally to be a private event. Now it is open to the general public to attend in a conference setting to see and hear and meet the people who made Atlantic 252 one of the most successful Irish based radio stations in Europe. This is what’s planned: 3pm Public reunion event begins with 100+ attending etc. as publicised on Media UK, boards.ie etc. €20 admission to pay for event fund (room booking etc) Charlie Wolf will open the day’s proceedings by making an opening address to public and media who will arrive for 3pm. 3pm - 3.45 Atlantic 252 The Launch Lineup incl Charlie Wolf confirmed… talk about the launch day memories.. there will be a panel with the opportunity for questions from the press and public near the end. 3.45 - 4pm A break for “refreshments” 4pm - 4.45pm The 91-94 days with people from that era talking about the station’s peak days, the Roadshows, music etc. 4.45- 5.15pm the 95-98 days with The Pizzaman etc to speak. 5.15 - 5.45pm 98-01 days and Enda Caldwell at the very end talking about the closedown. 5.45 pm - 8pm The Atlantic 252 Saturday Night Party with The Pizzaman plus special Guest Atlantic 252 jocks playing those Long Waves Of Nonstop Hits from 1989-2001. For more please email atlantic252reunion @ gmail.com or call +353 (0)87 6307530. (Source: Enda Caldwell via Boards.ie) Atlantic 252 official tribute site: http://www.atlantic252.com/ (August 14, 2009 1211 UT by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** ISRAEL [and non]. Galei Zahal 15785v kHz still OFF air. Aug 11-14. Hebrew or Arabic heard on 15790 recently? But 'El-Bernameg Al-Aam' Abu Zaabal Egypt is heard here on 15790 kHz usually: 15790 0700-1100 46,47 ABZ 100 250 Arabic EGY ERU Only a very tiny carrier, like 10 watt standby unit, noted here much under threshold 15784.97 kHz, Aug 14 at 1210 UT (Wolfgang Büschel,l Germany, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Aug 13-14, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6155, KBS, 0955-1000 Aut 15, Noted ordinary pop music until 0958 when a female comments in Japanese. At 0959 just before the 1000 hour, a male gives ID in English as "... KBS, Korean Radio". Signal was fair (Chuck Bolland, Watkins Johnson HF1000, 27.27N 080.56W, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is the Japanese service at 09-10 only, 250 kW non-direxional, just started Aug 1 per Aoki; so off at 1000*? (gh, DXLD) ** MEXICO. XEOI, correcciones de mi informe anterior y nueva escucha La señal de XEOI, Radio Mil en 6010 kHz continúa variable, en ocasiones interferida por Radio Habana Cuba en 6000 kHz por la mañana en español y por la noche en inglés (tal como usted me manifestó la duda de mi informe anterior), por ejemplo el día 12 de agosto a las 0300 UT, con identificación de ambas emisoras e inicio por XEOI del programa “De viaje con El Castor” con SINPO 33333 y muy pequeña interferencia de RHC. En ocasiones ligeras y esporádicas interferencias de señales telegráficas satelitales (bip’s) mismas que a veces han afectado también a XEQM 6105 kHz (de la que estoy preparando información que le enviaré espero muy pronto), envío archivos de audio con identificación de emisora y programa. http://rapidshare.com/files/267320437/SW6010KHZ-12AGO2009-0300UTC.zip.html Gracias. Atte: (Ing. Civ. Israel González Ahumada, M.I., Mérida, Yucatán, Aug 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6104.7, XEQM, RASA, Mérida, 0540-0559, 15-08, locutor, hablando con oyentes, canciones latinoamericanas. Muy débil, sólo en LSB. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, Escuchas realizadas en casco urbano de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6185, Radio Educacion, Mexico City, 0645-0715, Aug 15, local pop music. Spanish announcements. Good. // 1060 - weak under KYW-Philadelphia (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. I still keep a TV monitor running on open channel 3 or 2 much of the time, and Aug 15 finally rewarded by a late-season sporadic E opening from Mexico fading in at 2009: Spanish infomercial about some diagnostic medical device, with phone 5440-7100 in large numbers permanently at screen bottom, as `teléfono directo`. Price 13,500 pesos. On brief peaks could make out ``3tv`` bug in upper right, which means XHP Puebla. Still out and in to 2020 mention of ``No Duda Más`` seemingly title of show. Tried to look it up in TVG online for Puebla, but cable system there apparently does not carry this local station! No must-carry rules? At 2030 had brief fade-in of a PSA for IEPC TABASCO, which points to XHVIA, Villahermosa, as in http://www.w9wi.com/channels/3.html altho it is an XEW network-2 relay and I am not sure whether it would be inserting local PSA; but even less likely any other station would for Tabasco. Googling soon explains initialism: Instituto Electoral y de Participación Ciudadana. Strangely enough, if I had been relying on DX Sherlock maps for 6m Es openings, http://www.vhfdx.net/spots/map.php?Lan=E&Frec=50&Map=NA I would never have know there was anything going on, tho there were plenty of reports on http://dxworld.com/tvfmlog.html the TV-FM Skip Log. More programming from XEW-2 Canal de las Estrellas network seen on channel 3, which may or may not have been XHVIA: at 2109, saw words on screen ``La Hora del Patito``, which is part of the current XEW program ``Muévete``. 2113 Televisa promo showing music video for different way of watching, online with ``Tvolucion``. See http://www.tvolucion.com/ At 2118 back to 3TV Puebla with variety show involving dancing, Jackson imitator Moonwalking, 2125 (not very) high jump competition. 2143, from 5-network with bug in upper right, probably XHBQ Zacatecas, movie with snowy urban scene, Will Ferrell, must be Elf, yes scheduled on that net from 2030 UT, as ``El Duende``. 2155, another net-2 promo on 3, and not much after that. There was occasional activity on channel 2 itself, but mostly stayed on 3. Another peak came at 2322 to channel 4 with ``Robin Mouse``, seeming title of cartoon, but then glimpsed Fred Flintstone. At 2330 on ch 4, infomercial for Slim Night, lose 4 kilos por semana, weight loss remedy in Spanish, prices in pesos, still going at 2338 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. 15345.000, RTVM, 1442, Arabic, very good with Arabic locals, seemed to be slightly under-modulated. All alone on frequency and peaking at S9+20, even though it's 12:42am local. 14 August (David Sharp, NSW, Australia. Yaesu FT-950 and Sony ICF-2010, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI missing from AM frequency 11725, Aug 14 at 0519, and still past 0530, while usual strong DRM signal on 11670-11675- 11680 remained, so the AM transmitter was down or stuck on some other channel (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9705, August 13, 1830-1833: Local music, ID "La Voix du Sahel" + frequency announcement in French (I think 91 FM). Then local language again. Flute music. French at 1900, fair, somewhat weakish audio and a hum. Tentative also Aug. 12+13 -0700* French. So definitely back (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, http://www.africalist.de.ms Aug 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 6089.85, Radio Nigeria, Kaduna, 2145-2204+, Aug 15, vernacular talk. “Radio Nigeria” IDs at 2155 & 2159. Mentions of Kaduna. Local tribal music. Some local chants. Fair until 2204 when covered by Anguilla 6090 at their 2204 sign on (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6925, 0427, USA, HOBBY PIRATE, Wolverine Radio good & clear in USB mode 1/8 with oldies like ‘Ain’t Misbehaving’ and ‘Easy Come, Easy Go’. Ident before closing at 0450. Best strength I’ve ever heard one of these stations. BCM 6930, 0519, USA, HOBBY PIRATE, WEAK Radio, fair 26/7 in USB mode with punk rock tunes, idents and requests for emailed reports. Followed to 0559 when utility QRM made further listening difficult. Prompt QSL confirms Southeast USA location with 100 watts. Heard again 30/7 and 31/7 when on 6925 USB (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Aug NZ DX Times via DXLD) QSL illustrated: modified cheesecake cover of Pop`Tronix June 1956 proclaiming Bryan heard WEAK with a receiver of the future. Cute (gh) ** NORTHEAST NEW GUINEA. EARLY WIRELESS STATIONS IN NORTH EAST NEW GUINEA As we mentioned on a previous occasion here in "Wavescan", the north east section of the island of New Guinea was at one stage a German colony in the Pacific. In the year 1884, Germany laid claim to North East New Guinea; in 1920 the League of Nations gave North East New Guinea to Australia as a mandated territory; in 1949, North East New Guinea was combined with Papua to form Papua New Guinea; and in 1975, Papua New Guinea was granted complete independence. Back in the year 1912, a series of wireless communication stations was established in coastal areas of mainland Australia. At the same time, consideration was given to the establishment of a similar network of wireless stations in nearby island areas, including New Guinea. The first stations to be established in North East New Guinea under this plan were installed at Aitape, Madang, and Morobe, all of which were originally towns settled under the German administration. The town of Aitape was at first a mission station established in 1896 by missionaries from Germany Today, it is still a small town of around 8,000 people, situated on a rocky headland overlooking the nearby islands in an area that is located on the north coast of New Guinea, about a hundred miles from the international border with Irian Jaya. The spark wireless station, VZX, was built on a flat area between the muddy river and the beach and it was staffed originally by three operators and a mechanic, though later on, only two staff were needed to operate the station. In 1930, the station was upgraded to valve operation and the callsign was changed from VZX to VJW. This station was closed six years later, in 1936, when station VJN was opened at Wewak, further along the north coast. Next came two stations, one at Madang and another at Morobe. The town of Madang was settled originally by personnel from Germany and it is located on a small peninsula with a beautiful harbor on each side. The spark wireless station was installed in 1916 under the callsign VIV, and it was upgraded with a valve transmitter in the late 1920s. In January 1942, the station was bombed in an air raid, and a few days later the staff demolished the station and fled to Port Moresby. A completely new station was built in Madang in 1947. The Morobe station was also built in 1916. The town of Morobe is located about two thirds of the way down the north east coast of New Guinea and these days it is the administrative center for the Morobe district. The wireless station was on the air under the callsign VZK and it was closed when another station was opened at nearby Salamoa in 1927. A period of ten years goes by, and two more wireless stations were installed in North East New Guinea, at Bulolo and Salamoa. The Bulolo station was installed in 1926 to serve the new gold mining community in nearby Edie Creek. Bulolo was an isolated area with a hot steamy climate, inland from Lae. The wireless equipment for this new station was carried in by porters and it was installed for use temporarily in a tent, awaiting the construction of a new small building. Interestingly, this building was unfortunately constructed on a rich gold bearing alluvial flat, and so two years later the station was moved again. This wireless station was on the air under the callsign VJX, and when valve equipment was installed in the late 1920s it resumed service as VLT. The station was abandoned in January 1942, never to be rebuilt. The town of Salamoa is built on a narrow sand spit sandwiched on the edge of the ocean, and the wireless station was installed in 1927 when the station further south at Morobe was closed. This station, known as VJQ, was in use for a period of fifteen years before it was finally abandoned, in 1942. Give another half dozen years, and another seven wireless stations were installed throughout North East New Guinea. Known locations for these stations were Wau and Lae and Marburberg and Wewak and Edie Creek. However, two stations, VKO & VJP, were installed at locations that are now not known. The station at Wau, VJX, also served the gold mining community a day's walk from Edie Creek. Some fifteen years after the station was activated, it was damaged in a bombing air raid and so the equipment was transferred to nearby Edie Creek, in February 1942. However, one month later, this Edie Creek station was abandoned and destroyed and the station personnel walked overland to Port Moresby. You will note that the wireless stations located at Bulolo, Edie Creek and Wau, all operated under the same callsign VJX, though of course these were all in consecutive order, one after the other. The wireless station in the important town of Lae, which is located in the tail of the "Bird of Paradise" as we might say, was opened in 1933 with the callsign VLU. Lae was the last re-fuelling location for Amelia Earhart in her epic round-the-world flight before she disappeared over the Pacific in July 1937. Station VLU was closed in early 1942. Today, Lae is the second largest city in Papua New Guinea. The final station in this compendium of wireless stations in the territory that was once German North East New Guinea was located at Wewak, some two hundred miles from the border with Irian Jaya. This station was installed as VJN in 1936 when the town became an administrative center for one of the north coastal areas. This station was abandoned in December 1942 and it was re-established in 1947 by OTC, the Overseas Telecommunication Commission in Australia. So, in our program today, you have heard the story of a dozen early wireless stations, often lonely and isolated, in the extensive German territories on the island of New Guinea. On a coming occasion, we will cross over the international boundary, and tell you the story of wireless and radio in the western half of the island, Irian Jaya (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script July 21 via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Listening to NPR Weekend Edition Saturday via KOSU, 91.7, Aug 15 at 1318, break for local weather gave `forecast` for Friday night, and temperature as 109 degrees! Temps were really in the 70s. Then at 1324 program interrupted briefly by switching to USNO master clock timesignal announcement! KOSU relies heavily on automation, which must have gone haywire. But who needs humans, or even human oversight? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 15355, 0302, Radio Sultanate of Oman poor with English news 6/7. Ident 0307, then Western pop music, some possible commercial announcements. Difficult logging – some days better than others (Bryan Clark at Mangawhai, New Zealand, with AOR7030+ and Alpha Delta Sloper, EWEs to NE, E and SE, plus various 100 metre BOGs to the Americas, Aug NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** PERU. 4790, Radio Visión, 0915-0930 Aug 14, Noticed a carrier here earlier and decided to sit on it for a while to see what developed. At 0915 heard very weak audio with music and a male in Spanish language comments. As I listened, the audio improved a little, making it easier to hear the signal. My best guess is they had just flipped the switch on and the transmitter was still warming up as the signal improved. Anyway, haven't heard Radio Visión in the mornings in a couple of months, at my location. By 0925 noticed a female commenting. Typical Huaynos music being presented. At 0926 a canned ID over the music heard. Still was at a poor level when I tuned away (Chuck Bolland, Watkins Johnson HF1000, 27.27N 080.56W, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4790.1, Radio Visión, Chiclayo, 0513-0620, 15-08, canciones religiosas, locutor, español, comentario religioso, programa "La Voz de la Salvación". 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Grundig Satellit 500 y Sony ICF SW7600G, Antena de cable, 8 metros, Escuchas realizadas en casco urbano de Lugo, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. DE HÉCTOR ALVARO GUTIÉRREZ, desde Lima - Perú Qth : Lima Sur - Perú Rx : Sony Icf - Sw 7600 G Ant.: Ferrita. Barrido completo del dial enviado por nuestro colaborador peruano desde Lima --- Encendido de Onda Media de Lima-Perú Exploración de estaciones de amplitud modulada - julio 2009. 540, Radio Inca 560, Radio Oriente 580, Radio María 590, RPP, muy baja señal. 600, Radio Cora 620, Radio Ovación 640, Radio del Pacífico (Pacifico TV 41 UHF en Lima ). 660, Radio La Inolvidable 700, Radio R-700 "la grande" 730, R.P.P. 760, Radio Mar Plus 780, Radio Victoria 800, Radio La Inolvidable (señal regular ). 820, Radio Libertad 830, Radio Moderna 850, Radio Nacional 880, Radio Unión 900, Radio Felicidad 960, Radio Panamericana 990, Radio Latina 1010, Radio Cielo en FM 103.50 MHz, Lima este. 1040, Radio OBX40 1040 am 1060, Radio Éxito, baja potencia. 1080, Radio La Luz (nueva Luz TV canal 49 UHF en Lima). Aclaración como canal de TV. 1110, Radio Antarki 1130, Radio Bacan Sat 1160, Radio Onda Cero, ID "onda cero 98.1" tu radio cumbia. 1200, Radio Cadena, ID "cadena radio envangelismo total" 1250, Radio Miraflores (señal de Radio Victoria) 1300, Radio Comas 1320, Radio La Crónica (Radio Nacional) 1340, Radio Alegría, ID YL "somos alegría con cariño". ID2 "alegrando los cielos del Perú y del mundo, Radio Alegría, OAQ4Q 1340 de la amplitud modulada, Radio Alegría, un mensaje de amistad en los cielos del perú" id,s a la hora. 1360, Radio Nueva Q FM, nueva frecuencia en FM 1380, Radio Nuevo Tiempo 1400, Callao Supe Radio [Súper? Supe means ``I found out`` --- gh] 1420, Radio San Isidro, cx,s: con muy baja potencia, qrm adyacente muy notoria sintonizada en sincro lsb. Ahora en comparación con Radio Independencia, es la última en señal, muy baja con poca calidad. 1440, Radio Imperial 2 1470, C.P.N. Radio 1500, Radio Santa Rosa 1520, Radio Nueva Q FM 1530, Radio Milenia 1550, Radio Independencia, ID "Independencia 15-50" 1590, Radio Agricultura Además se escuchan otras frecuencias de algunas, estaciones mencionadas, entre otras. 790, RPP 1280, Callao Supe Radio 1520, Radio Nueva Q FM 1540, Radio Alegría Listado de emisoras de Lima realizado por el colega Héctor Álvaro Gutiérrez, desde la capital peruana. Lista de Estaciones de Vhf-Fm de Lima - Perù del 6 de junio a 7 de julio 2009. 87.85, Unid Estaciòn pirata, señal dèbil, qrm adyacente antena L invertida màs balun. 87.90, Radio Sureña (pirata) musical ID "sureña la radio del sur" activa fines de semana desde la mañana a la noche y entre diario a partir de las tardes. 88.30, Radio Telestereo 88.90, Radio Felicidad 89.30, Radio Somos? El Salvador (religiosa) musical ID "somos? el salvador 89.5 fm stereo" 7 de junio qrm adyacente. 89.70, R.P.P [Radio Programs del Perú, major network --- gh] 90.10, Radio Vacilòn (pirata) ID "vacílate, vacílate con vacilòn 90.1 fm" -- 19 de junio. 90.50, C.P.N. 90.80, Radio Panamericana (qrm adyacente) señal dèbil, antena monoparalelogramo vhf-fm 90.95, Radio Oxígeno (qrm adyacente) señal dèbilisima, primera vez escuchada aquì; antena monoparalelogramo 91.10, Radio San Borja 91.50, Radio del Sur, señal dèbil, mejora con antena. 91.90, Radio Okey 92.50, Radio Studio 92 93.10, Radio Ritmo 93.70, Radio La Inolvidable 94.30, Radio La Mega 94.90, Radio La Karibeña (nueva frequencia en fm) aùnque tambien tiene la frequencia de Lima este en 98.70 MHZ. Verificada en Lima este. 95.50, Radio Zeta -- RDS 96.10, Radio Miraflores -- RDS 96.70, Radio FM Capital (nueva estaciòn, activa hace unos meses). 97.30, Radio Moda 97.70, Radio María -- RDS 98.10, Radio Onda Cero, ID "tu radio cumbia, onda cero " 98.50, Radio Uno (pirata) 7 de junio. 98.70, inactivo 98.80, Radio Contacto? (pirata) activa regularmente. 99.10, Radio Doble Nueve 99.50, Radio Imperial II (2) 100.10, Radio La Ñ 100.50, Radio 100.5 (pirata) musical ID "escuchas 100.5 fm" ID2 "somos 100.5 la que manda en Lima sur.`` 101.10, Radio Panamericana 101.70, Radio Stereo Villa 102.10, Radio Oxígeno -- RDS 102.70, Radio Filarmonía 103.30, Radio Unión 103.50, Radio Cielo (solo para Lima este) sin señal para Lima sur. 103.90, Radio Nacional 104.30, Radio La Positiva (pirata), antes aquì Radio Huracàn, estaciòn pirata. 104.70, Radio Viva FM 105.10, Radio Santa Rosa 105.50, Radio Fiesta 105.90, Radio Excelente - señal dèbil, qrm adyacente. Antena monoparalelogramo. 106.30, Radio Mar Plus 106.70, Radio Sabor (pirata) 107.10, Radio Nueva Q FM - en simultáneo con la nueva frecuencia de Onda Media 1360 kHz (se escuchó recientemente en julio) solo en am-om es nueva la frecuencia. 107.70, Radio Planeta QTH: Lima Sur - República del Perù RX : Sony Icf -Sw 7600 G, Sony Ericcson R-300a Ant: telescopica (sin extender), Antena L invertida +Balun 9.1 Antena Bifiliar VHF-FM (en ángulo 45 grados ) Antena Papel Aluminio (interior) 2 mts. Antena MonoParalelogramo de 18 mts de VHF-FM (Conexión Digital Aug 15 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 7140.000, Radio Rossii (Program 2), Russian. Listed as "?" in DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-059, however, it's still here. Found it by accident, after powerhouse (and co-channel) Voice of Korea signed off the freq at 1250 UT. Fair at best with light instrumental music, brief comments by M, time pips at 1300 and ID by M. Still here at 1400 recheck. Presume this is 5 kW from Yakutsk? Signal strength would seem to reflect low transmitter power. Seemed to be "right on" frequency but there was a slight hum in the audio (which I first thought might have been a het). 14 August (David Sharp, NSW, Australia. Yaesu FT-950 and Sony ICF-2010, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. Radio St. Helena Day 2009 Radio St. Helena Day 2009 will be on Saturday, 14. November 2009. The "Party On-The-Air" will have the following schedule. Time in UT Target Area(s) 2000–2100 India / Southeast Asia 2100–2200 Japan / Asia 2200–2330 Europe 2330–0100 North America / Central America / Caribbean The transmission will be on 11092.5 kHz in Upper Side Band, as usual. Radio St. Helena is very pleased to announce that the newly designed RSD 2009 QSL cards will be sponsored by the highly respected Japan Short Wave Club. This good news has been reported by Mr. T. Ohtake of the JSWC. It can truly be said, that without the very generous help of the JSWC, there would not have been a RSD Revival in 2006. To get a QSL from Radio St. Helena, you must send a written and verifiable reception report by AIRMAIL and include sufficient return postage. Email-reports will be not be verified. Recordings will not be returned. In EURO-countries, please send a 5-Euro banknote. Otherwise, please send 3 or more US dollar banknotes to cover the required return postage. Radio St. Helena P. O. Box 93 Jamestown, St. Helena STHL 1ZZ South Atlantic Ocean ----------------------------- via AIRMAIL via United Kingdom & Ascension ------------------------------------------------ The last two lines of the above address are very important and should be written as shown. Be sure to use sufficient postage on your letter to RSH. Ask at your local post office for the correct AIRMAIL postage for your letter to go all the way to St. Helena. Emails and telephone calls from DXers everywhere are very welcome during the broadcasts. A special email address for RSD 2009 will, probably, be announced in October. Gary Walters and his Team at RSH wish everyone excellent listening conditions, hope that you enjoy the programming, and hope that the sunspots will be kinder to us this year. With best 73's, (Robert Kipp, Aug 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Unfortunately this clashes with the Radio Day in Amsterdam (Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** SAMOA AMERICAN. Larry Fuss from American Samoa says KJAL 580 [licenced 585] is now silent and the tower is in poor condition. He’s still struggling to get KKHJ/WVUV up and running onto AM, but is looking at options (David Ricquish, Aug NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** SERBIA. I have noticed a couple of reports that QSLs have been recently received from Radio Serbia lately. Most of them had return times of three to four years, but if they are sending them out, it might be a good time to dust off the old reception reports and try again (Joe Wood, MARE Tipsheet Aug 14 via DXLD) ** SERBIA [non]. International Radio Serbia is missing from 9675 after 0100, when it is supposedly on the air 7 days a week with the 0100- 0130 ``English-2`` broadcast to NAm, per http://glassrbije.org/E/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=21&Itemid=34 while the ``English 1`` at 0030 is daily except UT Sundays when there is a longer Serbian broadcast instead. Checked UT Friday Aug 14 at 0114, nothing on 9675, but propagation OK as VOR via Pridnestrovye was well heard on 9665. UT Saturday August 15 tuned in earlier at 0035 and found IRS in English; 0047 jazzy Balkan music; 0057 sign-off just as ``Radio Serbia`` mentioning 6100 to Europe, 9675 to North America, but not the times. IS and off by 0058:30*, and still not back on at 0110 check. They used to make an antenna change from 310 to 325 degrees, so it probably went off briefly before 0100. Now the schedule shows 310 for both transmissions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. Monitored REE`s DX program Amigos de la Onda Corta UT Sat Aug 15 0505-0530 on http://www.rtve.es/rne/audio/RNEReal.ram webcast instead of SW 6055, 5965 or 9630. Entire program devoted to interview with REE tech director José Antonio García M.--- about DRM plans. Yes, they will have one DRM transmitter going toward NAm by yearend at Cariari, COSTA RICA, and plan to add another after that, which could cover SAm or any other target. Besides the one DRM at Noblejas, plans to add three or four more DRM- capable in next few years as old transmitters are replaced, but also continue analog. That was about the only significant `news` but he and Antonio Buitrago managed to converse for 25 minutes. Also mentioned relay exchange with China. Show repeats at 0005 UT Sunday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 7200, SRTC, 0201-0429*, Aug 15, tune-in to Arabic talk. Qur`an-like chants at 0203. Local instrumental music. Arabic talk. “Huna Omdurman” IDs. Many mentions of Sudan. Time pips at 0400 & possible news. Abrupt sign off at 0429. On the air earlier than usual. Poor-weak. Stronger after 0340 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 15275, Radio Thailand, *0000-0030+, Aug 16, sign on with English opening ID announcements. “National News” at 0002. Promo for local tourism. Fair signal but dropped down to a weak threshold level at 0029 due to switching of antenna beam heading from ECNA to WCNA (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKS & CAICOS. UK IMPOSES TURKS AND CAICOS RULE The islands' administration has been suspended for up to two years http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/8202339.stm Britain has imposed direct rule on the Turks and Caicos Islands after an inquiry found evidence of government corruption and incompetence. The Caribbean islands' administration has been suspended for up to two years and power has been transferred to the British-appointed governor. Politicians are accused of selling crown land for personal gain. Turks and Caicos is a UK overseas territory and residents there have British citizenship. The British government has been threatening action for several months after an inquiry commissioned by the Foreign Office returned a damning verdict. It examined the actions of the Turks' Cabinet and Assembly and found "information in abundance pointing to a high probability of systematic corruption or serious dishonesty". It also concluded there were "clear signs of political amorality and immaturity and of a general administrative incompetence". Serious step The former premier, Michael Misick, is alleged to have built up a multi-million dollar fortune since coming to power in 2003. I know that many people in Turks and Caicos Islands will welcome this move --- Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant [caption] He has denied the allegations and said he had attracted valuable foreign investment to the islands. Foreign Office Minister Chris Bryant said: "This is a serious constitutional step which the UK government has not taken lightly, but these measures are essential in order to restore good governance and sound financial management. "It remains our intentions that elections should be held by July 2011, if not sooner. The governor and his advisors have much to do, but I know that many people in Turks and Caicos Islands will welcome this move and have high expectations for the end outcome. "I encourage them to work with the governor to rebuild stability and confidence in their territory." Turks and Caicos is a leading offshore financial centre and thousands of foreign companies are registered there. The territory is also a popular tourist destination and have a population of about 30,000. Once a dependency of Jamaica, the islands become a crown colony when Jamaica gained its independence in 1962. Gordon Wetherell took over as governor last year (via Terry Krueger, FL, DXLD) And it's all true and more. I look for criminal charges to be levied against 5 of the ministers. Development has all but stopped and a lot of the hurricane damage has never been cleaned up. Lots of crown (government) land was given to individuals for development but was sold to offshore investors with different ministers that was part of the deal getting a kiss on the back end (Jerry Kiefer, NM, DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to this website... http://www.turksandcaicos.tc/communications/index.htm the callsign for Turks & Caicos 105.5 is ZIBF (Life Radio I) and for 107.1 ZIBS (Life Radio II). New calls for your Emisoras de FM, Jim (Bill Hepburn, Ont., WTFDA via DXLD) Interesting note: Last year the Minister of communications told Radio Turks & Caicos to turn off their streaming as the station programming was so bad it was an embarrassment to the country. They brought it back up in recent months (Jerry Kiefer, NM, Aug 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Caribbean Net News: GOVERNMENT SUSPENDED IN TURKS AND CAICOS http://www.caribbeannetnews.com/news-18224--37-37--.html Published on Saturday, August 15, 2009 LONDON, England (AFP) -- The local government in the Caribbean territory of Turks and Caicos was ordered to be suspended following a long-running wrangle over alleged corruption, the British Foreign Office said. The move came five months after the premier of the eight-island tax haven resigned to make way for a unified government following a probe which found systemic corruption among the ruling elite. "After careful consideration, I have instructed the (island's British) governor to bring into force today an order in council which will suspend ministerial government and the House of Assembly for a period of up to two years," Foreign Office minister Chris Bryant said. This would "allow the governor to put the islands' affairs back in good order," he said. The suspension was imposed after London drew up legislation allowing it to strip the territory's Cabinet and elected assembly of their powers under a 2006 constitution and to put the British-appointed governor in control. A probe was launched in July 2008 into allegations of corruption in land sales, distribution of government contracts and development deals, the granting of voting rights and misuse of public funds. In March, Turks and Caicos Prime Minister Michael Misick resigned after an investigation pointed to a "high probability of systemic corruption or other serious dishonesty" among the ruling elite. Misick, who became Turks and Caicos' first prime minister in August 2006, has denied any wrongdoing. He quit [,] admitting he had lost support in parliament but blamed this on party "in-fighting". At the time, he railed against London's plans to strip the territory of its independence, saying: "This is tantamount to being re- colonized. It is a backwards step completely contrary to the whole movement of history." The British minister said suspending local government was only decided upon after all other options failed. "This is a serious constitutional step which the UK government has not taken lightly but these measures are essential in order to restore good governance and sound financial management," Bryant said. "It remains our intention that elections should be held by July 2011, if not sooner," he said. "The governor and his advisors have much to do but I know that many people in Turks and Caicos Islands will welcome this move and have high expectations for the end outcome. "I encourage them to work with the governor to rebuild stability and confidence in their territory." The islands -- which locals claim were visited by Christopher Columbus in 1492 -- have been at one point part of the Bahamas and of Jamaica but were granted their own governor in 1973. The current democratic system was set up under the 2006 constitution, which provides for an appointed governor, a cabinet made up of a premier, six ministers and an attorney general, and a majority-elected House of Assembly. About 32,000 people live in the territory, according to the Foreign Office, many of them British citizens and it derives most of its income from tourism and as a tax haven (via Jerry Kiefer, DXLD) ** U S A. Music Time in Africa, the excellent weekend show on VOA at 2000-2100 Sat & Sun, is now best heard here on 17895, since Greenville is currently the transmitter site. Of course, you need to be beyond the skip zone and/or benefiting from a closer sporadic E opening. Introduction at 2003 Aug 15 about acoustic guitars in Africa. (Too bad we have to specify `acoustic` these days, even concerning Africa.) Supposedly // are 15580 Botswana, which may suffice closer to Greenville, and 9885 which according to registrations switches from Botswana to Greenville in the middle of the hour --- but no sign of anything there at 2037 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn: Just wanted to put in a good word for the electric guitar traditions of Africa. As with other instruments adapted for use in Africa, the electric guitar has often been used to beautiful effect, particularly in Congolese soukous music, and also in extending the traditional music of Mali, and The Gambia. Much of the Delta blues guitar style is rooted in Malian music, and as in the American tradition the music easily adapts to either an acoustic or electric sound. Of course in Africa the use of electric or acoustic instruments often comes down to economics. Many musicians can't afford an electric guitar and all the equipment that goes with it, or find a reliable supply of power. 73, (David Goren, Aug 15, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. U.S. DETAINS VOICE OF AMERICA JOURNALIST FLEEING THREATS AT HOME IN PAKISTAN By N.C. Aizenman, Washington Post Staff Writer, Friday, Aug 14, 2009 U.S. immigration officials have detained a Pakistani journalist employed by the U.S.-sponsored Voice of America news service who was hoping to find refuge in the United States after Islamic militants in Pakistan destroyed his house and threatened his life. Rahman Bunairee, 33, was taken into custody Sunday afternoon upon arriving at Dulles International Airport, according to VOA officials. It is not clear why Bunairee was detained. Joan Mower, a spokeswoman for VOA, declined to comment on the particulars of Bunairee's detention other than to say: "VOA is obviously extremely concerned. We're really upset about what's happened to this guy." . . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/08/13/AR2009081302666_pf.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. US TESTS SYSTEM TO BREAK FOREIGN WEB CENSORSHIP The US government is covertly testing technology in China and Iran that lets residents break through screens set up by their governments to limit access to news on the Internet. The “feed over email” (FOE) system delivers news, podcasts and data via technology that evades web-screening protocols of restrictive regimes, said Ken Berman, head of IT at the US government’s Broadcasting Board of Governors, which is testing the system. The news feeds are sent through email accounts including those operated by Google Inc, Microsoft Corp’s Hotmail and Yahoo Inc. ”We have people testing it in China and Iran,” said Mr Berman, whose agency runs Voice of America. He provided few details on the new system, which is in the early stages of testing. He said some secrecy was important to avoid detection by the two governments. The Internet has become a powerful tool for citizens in countries where governments regularly censor news media, enabling them to learn about and react to major social and political events. Young Iranians used social networking services Facebook and Twitter as well as mobile phones to coordinate protests and report on demonstrations in the wake of the country’s disputed presidential election in June. In May, ahead of the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown, the Chinese government blocked access to Twitter and Hotmail. Sho Ho, who helped develop FOE, said in an email that the system could be tweaked easily to work on most types of mobile phones. The US government also offers a free service that allows overseas users to access virtually any site on the Internet, including those opposing the United States. “We don’t make any political statement about what people visit,” Mr Berman said. “We are trying to impart the value: ‘The more you know, the better.’ People can look for themselves.” In addition to China and Iran, targets for the FOE technology include Myanmar, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Vietnam, he said. Mr Berman, however, said there would be modest filtering of pornography on the system. “There is a limit to how much (US) taxpayers should have to pay for,” he said. (Source: Reuters)(August 14th, 2009 - 10:14 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. WESTERN INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTERS NOT SWAYED BY BIRDAMLIK PROTESTERS OR AZERBAIJANI PRESS RELEASES. "On August 11 the representatives of the Birdamlik opposition movement continued the protest in the capital of USA. Ferghana.Ru reported earlier that in the morning of August 10, 2009 the organization members started open-ended hunger strike in front of Radio Liberty headquarters in Washington (District of Columbia) with the demand to abolish the censorship of Uzbek service of Radio Liberty -- 'Radio Ozodlik' -- and offer air time for all the leaders of Uzbek political opposition, residing both in Uzbekistan and abroad. ... According to the protesters, there has been no response from the Liberty Radio management yet. 'Everyone uses back entrance, avoiding meeting us'." Sergei S., DX Listening Digest, 13 August 2009. "Bakhodir Choriev, the leader of the Birdamlik movement, [said] Martins Zvaners, the public relations deputy director of Radio Liberty, met the protesters. He promised that the protesters will be offered air time for an interview where they can voice out their demands in the extended format and answer questions raised by the management of radio station and listeners. Nevertheless, nobody showed up by last night." Ferghana.ru via Sergei S., DX Listening Digest, 11 August 2009. "Iran's large Azerbaijani minority feels disappointed and ignored by the pro-democracy movement, which has been widely praised internationally for opposing the Iranian government's attempt to rig the June 12 [2009] election. ... Azerbaijanis and other minorities have been savagely treated by Iranian authorities during the crisis - first for supporting the opposition and second for demanding the right to enjoy their own culture and language. But this has not been acknowledged by the followers of Mir Hossein Mousavi, the main opposition candidate, because they are mostly Persians and share the government's concern that minority rights would threaten Persian hegemony in Iran... . This bias extends to the Persian media, and the alternative media, which has been celebrated internationally for escaping the heavy hand of Iranian censors. ADAPP's press releases have been ignored by the Voice of America's Persian service, which is normally receptive to criticism of the Iranian government, as well as the BBC and Radio Farda." thepeoplesvoice.org, 16 July 2009 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) It is the job of good journalists and news editors to ignore some press releases and even some protesters camped out in front of the building. Or at least not to give them as much coverage as they may think is their due. Posted: 13 Aug 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) USA: ANOTHER PARTICIPANT OF THE BIRDAMLIK OPEN-ENDED HUNGER STRIKE IS PLACED IN HOSPITAL Isokzhon Zokirov, another active member of the Birdamlik opposition movement, is placed in hospital. It is worth mentioning that on August 10, the representatives of the Birdamlik opposition movement declared open-ended hunger strike, demanding the abolishment of the censorship of Uzbek service – Radio Ozodlik – and offer the tribune to all the leaders of Uzbek political opposition, residing both in Uzbekistan and abroad. The hunger strike is taking place in front of RFE/RL headquarters in Washington, DC. Bakhodir Choriev, the leader of the Birdamlik movement, informed Ferghana.RU that on the fourth day of the event Isokzhon Zokirov flaked out and at about 2 pm, local time, he was placed in hospital. Zokirov is in grave condition. This is the second member of the movement, placed in hospital. Ferghana.Ru reported earlier that on the third day of the hunger strike, the oldest participant 73-year old human rights activist Yadgar Turlibekov felt sick and the protesters had to call for ambulance. Today, Mr. Turlibekov is in one of the hospitals in DC and feels better. "So far none of RFE/RL representatives inquired about our health condition either personally or by phone. This is sad that after two participants were placed in hospital there is still no reaction from RFE/RL management – Choriev notes. – We will continue the hunger strike and whatever happens to us will be on RFE/RL's head [consciousness]". [conscience?? --- gh] Therefore, 18 protesters lost two members. The rest of them feel OK. They are going to continue the hunger strike until they requirements are met. This all looks strange, considering the fact that the administration of RFE/RL already provided official response to the claims of the protesters; furthermore, it directed the response before the faints. Responding to the inquiry of Ferghana.Ru, Julian Knapp, RFE/RL Executive Director for public relations, said: "RFE/RL takes concrete criticisms of its programming very seriously and considered the claims (hereinafter, italic text is the edited version), expressed by Uzbek opposition members. RFE/RL has not been able to corroborate any specific claims of alleged bias in the programs of Uzbek service. Working under very difficult circumstances, including threats to their lives and their families, RFE/RL's Uzbek service maintains RFE/RL's high professional standards and adheres to a strict professional code with regard to balance and tone. RFE/RL's Uzbek service is dedicated to RFE/RL's mission to provide objective and unbiased news, analysis, and discussion". The hunger strike in front of RFE/RL headquarters in Washington, DC reminds the dialogue between blind and deaf. Having the official response, indicating no bias (and, therefore, no censorship) and that RFE/RL Uzbek service adheres to strict balance and tone, it is clear that there will be no changes, bearing in mind that RFE/RL is not that type of the organizations that can be blackmailed. The internal investigation of the editorial policy is the real maximum that the protesters can count on. Now, the Birdamlik movement needs to think how to "pull back", keeping the positions and supporters. The reason is that after receiving official response the organizers of the hunger strike must take full responsibility. Ferghana.ru, 14.08.2009 14:45 msk For pictures go to: http://enews.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=1320&mode=snews (via Sergei S., Russia, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. OK, I give up. Hi GLENN- After I told you I had a pattern on the 13845 day sked, they started going all over the map. I can`t figure out what they're doing if THEY (at WWCR) don't even know. I'll keep listening, but I don`t have any illusions about figuring out what they are doing! 73 (Rick Barton, Arizona, monitoring mobile, 1C-100 (S) antenna roofmount, Sangean ATS-803A, 1932 UT Aug 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I.e. when Bro. Scare is on and when DGS/PMS are on (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WWCR 50-meter transmissions were breaking thru on 25m, Aug 14 at 0512 on 11780, Pastor Pete Peters // 5890 (no Brasil on this date), and 11870, Pastor Melissa Scott // 5935, mixing with WEWN which was weaker than usual. However, the WWCR fundamentals were extremely strong, so it`s difficult to be 100% certain whether the harmonix were receiver- or transmitter-produced. However2, other harmonix and mixing products from WWCR certainly have existed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I'm writing to mention a frequency change for WWCR and to ask for your assistance. Beginning Monday, August 17, WWCR #1 will begin testing 15830 in place of the existent 15825 frequency. The test will run (max) through A09 ending. This test is being run to examine a different frequency close by to see if a "squeal" that has been reported before on 15825 goes away. The latest edition of AskWWCR, posted the 14th, has Chief Engineer Phil Patton and Brady talking about it. Cordially (Jerry Plummer, WWCR, Aug 14, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The `squeal` I have occasionally reported on 15825 is heard only when the signal is very strong, and I am quite sure it is coming out of the WWCR transmitter, not interference from another station, so moving to 15830 should not make any difference, but we`ll be glad to check it (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I have a plasma. Yes, it is an RF menace. I do like to switch off stuff at the RF-filtered powerstrip to further reduce RF and to save electricity. But IF ONLY certain devices like my TV would use non-volatile memory so I can switch the strip back on and not have to go through the TV's setup menu every time (settings disappear every time the power goes out). Nonetheless, any real-quiet HF listening conditions here are non- existent - even with my house's power and LW beacon shut off, there is still such a high noise floor from nearby powerlines and our broadband line that only the stronger signals get through unscathed. No problems receiving KVOH 17775 / 9985, though --- after all, I can look out my window and see THAT station's transmitter (Darwin Long, CA, Aug 12, ABDX via DXLD) Do you really receive KVOH on 9985?? It has been registering 9975 for years, but AFAIK has not been using it at all, just 17775. FCC A09: 9975 0100 0800 KVOH 50 100 10,11 1234567 290309 251009 17775 1500 0100 KVOH 50 100 10-12 1234567 290309 251009 That close to it, maybe it`s a spur or receiver overload. What hours do you hear them on 9985? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I actually haven't heard them on 9975 for quite a while (might be a few years), but I thought they had been using 9985 through the 1990s, and then changed down to 9975 around 2001. Their westward signal on 9975 was even more potent than 17775 (I guess the front lobe is tighter on the higher frequency). I am actually 'behind' their directional array. BIG daytime signal still (Darwin Long, ibid.) The station on 9985 now at 1200-0200 UT is WWCR Nashville, with the Pastor Pete Peters exclusive service. Very strong signal here and I suppose in SoCal too. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** U S A [non]. Re 9-055: ``UNIDENTIFIED. USA: Family Radio in English, 7360 at 2220z. I find nothing on the Family Radio website about this channel. I'll check again on Sunday to see if it may have been a punch up error. I searched DXLD for a mention of this, perhaps one of the new broadcasts from Ascension but nothing there either (Jerry Lenamon, Waco, Texas, Drake R8B, Eton E-1, sloper, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strange. Scheduled during that hour on 7360 are both CNR Beijing in Tibetan and CRI via Moscow (gh, DXLD)`` Now we know this is via Guiana French at 22-01, 500 kW, 170 degrees, officially staring 15 August, but obviously ya (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. MISSISSIPPI TV Channel Musical Chairs. I just read this --- WLBT/Jackson, MS is now asking for its fourth channel. The former analog 3 was DTV pre-transition on 9 (and was seen here in Memphis). Then, it moved to 7. Now, it wants to move again -- to channel 30 with over 500 kW. Here's the part I don't get. As part of the same transaction, WDAM/Hattiesburg has petitioned to move back to channel 7, its former analog home. Oddly, this move was said to facilitate the WLBT move. But, isn't WDAM on 28? WDAM and WLBT are co-owned, and have asked to do this immediately via STA. And, as an aside, why is owner, Raycom, not more worried about the coverage of its low-band DTV here in Memphis? Clearly, I'm missing something here (Peter, N4LI, Baskind, J.D., LL.M., Germantown, TN, 901-624-5295, Aug 14, WTFDA via DXLD) Wild guess: They want to swap transmitters -- to send the channel 28 transmitter to Jackson, retune it to channel 30, and use it for WLBT; and send the WLBT channel 7 transmitter to Hattiesburg (Doug Smith, W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) That makes sense. Note, too, that the application for WDAM's change increases antenna height just slightly over the UHF. It seems the old VHF antenna is still top-mounted on the tower (Peter Baskind, J.D., LL.M., Germantown, TN, ibid.) ** U S A. LA engineers chance [sic; chase?] unusual pirate. The unlicensed Los Angeles signal that started popping up in the spring on 92.1 didn’t sound like the typical area pirate. It was running Jewish religious programming, and it was being heard around much of the market’s west side. With a powerful signal right next door to Clear Channel urban AC “Hot 92.3” KHHT, it didn’t take long for engineers to home in on the transmitter site ­ an Orthodox Jewish high school. FCC inspectors visited the site May 28, and issued Notices of Unlicensed Operation to both Ateret Israel, the group operating the station (its website even included a “listen live” link for “92.1 FM”) and Netan Eli Hebrew Academy, the owner of the Robertson Boulevard property (from M Street Journal, 8/14/2009 via David Alpert, CA, DXLD) We`ve had stories on this before; so has it been off the air or on the air since then? (gh, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN [non]. More on the hunger strike, now under U S A ** VENEZUELA. Re 9-059, UN LAWYER SAYS VENEZUELA’S DRAFT MEDIA LAW IS OPPRESSIVE additional comment: 4 Henrik Klemetz August 13th, 2009 - 19:10 UTC There is an English language section on the internet site of the Venezuelan (oppositional) newspaper El Universal. At http://english.eluniversal.com/2009/08/10/en_pol_esp_venezuelas-proposal_10A2604243.shtml there is un updater to this particular issue (Media Network blog via DXLD) Viz.: VENEZUELA'S PROPOSAL TO REGULATE THE MEDIA REJECTED AT UNASUR The Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo reported on Sunday that the Venezuelan delegation put forward the idea in the technical meetings held before the summit The Unasur Summit begins in Quito (Photo: EFE) [caption] Western Hemisphere --- Venezuela intends to include a paragraph on the "ethical responsibility" of the mass media in the final declaration of the Summit of the Union of South American Nations (Unasur) taking place on Monday in Quito. However, this proposal has been questioned by some countries. The Brazilian newspaper O Estado de São Paulo reported on Sunday that the Venezuelan delegation put forward the idea in the technical meetings held before the summit. Brazil's Minister of Foreign Affairs "was alarmed" by the proposal and the delegations of Uruguay and Chile strongly criticized it, according to a Brazilian diplomatic source quoted by the newspaper. "Uruguay and Chile so vehemently opposed to the proposal that Brazil had not need to intervene," said the diplomatic source quoted by the Brazilian daily. Given the opposition of these two countries, there will be no consensus on the Venezuelan proposal and the text will not be included in the final declaration of the Quito Summit, where Chile will be handing over the Pro Tempore presidency of the South American organization. The Brazilian Foreign Minister feared that Venezuela or any other South American country could impose restrictions on the freedom of the press in the future by hiding behind the Unasur declaration, said the same source. Besides, the Brazilian newspaper said that another goal of the Venezuelan delegation was to include in the Quito Declaration a paragraph on the current South American financial architecture and the global crisis. This could open the door for Unasur to adopt monetary mechanisms already approved by the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA), which has been sponsored by Venezuela. This would include the adoption of the Sucre, the common virtual currency approved by the ALBA members (Venezuela, Bolivia, Nicaragua, Honduras, Cuba and Dominica), plus Ecuador, for purposes of replacing the US dollar as the regional trade currency in the near future. Translated by Gerardo Cárdenas (via Henrik Klemetz, ibid.) ** YEMEN. 601 odd - Online Perseus captures from Greece & Finland: many off-channel stations. Hi, 601 kHz couldn't find any \\ until today. It is - Yemen. I can definitely hear it \\ 909 kHz. But no idea from which site it is, if it is a move or totally new transmitter. Certainly wasn't there last winter. It is now on 602.000 kHz. Signs off at 2300 UT. Thanks Mark for the alert. Yemen has an old ITU registration for 603 kHz, location Hizyaz (44e11/15n22) near Sana'a (Guenter Lorenz, Germany, mwoffsets Aug 13 via BC-DX Aug 15 via DXLD) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Zimbabwe Community Radio: 13 Aug at 1805 when checking 3955 there was BBC in French to Africa // 5985. The reception of ZCR tests on 3955 via MEYERTON was not too good in Zimbabwe. There may be some further testing in the 60 meterband via MEY later. They are not too happy about the poor reception of current UAE relay on 5950 (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, Aug 14, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3955 ZCR test was planned for this Mon-Tue-Wed only at 1755-1855, so Meyerton switched to BBC French the next day for some reason. It also runs YFR in Portuguese at 19-20 (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 7910-7965 approx., pulses presumably OTH radar from China, Aug 15 at 1335, higher pitched than usual, and with quick interruptions for other noises, so could be something else? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ THANK YOU GLENN !!!! I really appreciate your logs. I don't want to clog up the list with this, but I find your logs so useful! I want to let you know that your work doesn't go unappreciated!!!!!!!!! The links that you provide have been VERY useful for me too!!! Thanks again, (Mark Barnett, Aug 15) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ HFCC DOMINICAN REPUBLIC I see on Weather Channel map at 2303 Aug 15 that Tropical Storm Ana is projected to hit DR Tuesday evening with 40 mph winds. And then T.S. Bill around Thursday or Friday. Should be fun (gh, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See ANTARCTICA; INDIA; NEW ZEALAND; SPAIN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ previous issues for DRM specials to HFCC DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See also USA: MISSISSIPPI ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Re: [Tvfmdx] REALLY directional DTV stations Hello from Beijing where I can do no TV DXing but continue to read the posts until I go to North Korea next week and I definitely won't be reading any emails. Anyway, I found it of interest that a Green Bay market station wants to broadcast from a different market -- Milwaukee. KTAJ-DT 21 licensed to St. Joseph, MO has their transmitter in Kansas City, Missouri. St. Joseph is a different TV market although only one other station (KQTV) is licensed there. Before the analog cutoff KTAJ-16 transmitted from St. Joseph and KTAJ-DT 21 from Kansas City although KTAJ-DT transmitted from St. Joseph before moving to KC. Since KTAJ-DT (TBN) is not licensed to a city in the KC market they are not must-carry in KC and not on cable in the greater Kansas City area. One other station not licensed to Kansas City has a transmitter there. It is KMCI-DT 41 licensed to Lawrence, Kansas but Lawrence is in the KC market. So what's the significance of "city of license" anymore?? It doesn't mean anything today (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, Aug 15, WTFDA via DXLD) Pat Dyer, WA5IYX of San Antonio, Texas wrote about digital television vs. the old analog system and its usefulness as an indicator of VHF propagation. ''Some have had much more luck than myself at decoding DTV via Es, but here are two samples of my best, http://www.qsl.net/wa5iyx/images/wbra-dt-3.1z.jpg (1187 mi) and http://www.qsl.net/wa5iyx/images/whbf-dt-4.1z.jpg (950 mi)''. ''A vivid example of what was available on low-VHF TV for Es from here vs. now on DTV is shown on these maps http://www.qsl.net/wa5iyx/lovesavd.htm [USA maps showing active DT calls on channels 2 thru 6] A prime problem in getting DTV Es decoded stems from the system's intolerance for co-channel signals (unless one is dominant by 15 dB). Many a time the 54.310 MHz DTV pilots can be heard on my FT-847 as a mixture of signals with a 4-Hz beat rate (note how many US DTV Ch 2 stations are to my NW-N, and can come in simultaneously) . Ch 5, with the most US DTV stations of any low- VHF channel, has been occupied by ''local'' KCWX-DT-5 (23 kW ERP at c. 50 miles) since Jul 1. Rapid QSB and multipath (ghosting common on Es) also contribute to complicating any decodes. Also, unlike with NTSC, the entire 6-MHz wide channel of data needs to be in well for ATSC to work - if the Es MUF is ''sharp'' you're doomed, where with NTSC video without audio was not uncommon''. (QST de W1AW, Propagation Forecast Bulletin 33 ARLP033, From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA August 14, 2009, To all radio amateurs, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- RDS ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ RDS - Educate me I have a Toyota Prius with an RDS capable radio. This is my first long-term experience with RDS. The radio's display will show several station presets at once in two banks - FM1 and FM2. The message fields hold the last available message it received forever unless refreshed. For example: One of my presets says "Boston's" and does not refresh because the local station in my market, NYC, does not offer RDS. I noticed another field is now locked on for a 88.5 MHz preset stating "The Mix." This looks like I unknowingly received e-skip from Quincy, Illinois. This doesn't feel like DXing. This is automated logging! So, the question: Do loggings based on RDS text count as a station logging? Do you need to log the individual program codes to verify the station logged? What device do you need to use to reveal the full details of RDS data? Thanks for your help (Karl Zuk N2KZ FN31eh, Aug 15, WTFDA via DXLD) I'll comment on the logging side of it. I count RDS-only stations in my tally, including those I find after-the-fact on one of my two Sangeans. I consider it a station received. That said, you are right - it is kind of like automated logging. But it's one of many ways the DX hobby is evolving. We've had new things happen - some help us, like RDS. Others hinder us, like IBOC and the continual addition of stations to clutter the bands (making really distant tropo, for example, way more difficult than it used to be). My favourite case of automated logging is the computerized Perseus radio systems DXers are using to monitor what I understand to be every single channel of the AM band, at once, at a given time -- like, top of the hour -- recording it for later listening for anything IDable. There are devices like the Conrad RDS manager, and I have one - barely used. I'll let other speak to that end of your e-mail (Saul Chernos, Ont., ibid.) For most of us, it is a logging presuming the info is accurate. With a car radio, there probably isn't any reasonable way to capture more info. And on a meteor hit, you're only going to get partials sometimes anyway. For those of us working RDS in the main base DX shack, the best way to capture more is using a decoder such as the Conrad RDS Manager (only available used) or the KatRuud kit and RDS PC software. Most of us use the software from http://Esslinger.de (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA, 40:08:45N; 75:16:04W, Grid FN20id, FM: Yamaha T-80 w/ Conrad RDS Decoder & Onkyo T-450RDS; APS9B @ 15', ibid.) Currently I only use the RDS built into the radios I use. No extra software here. Of the 2711 stations logged, I've only received RDS on 522. And 71 of those have been identified audibly rather than RDS as it was noted as being blank, undecoded, garbled, song info or text only. One trick I have found to get more info out of the RDS on the Denon TU1500RD is when it starts to decode but does not give a station name or call letters, press the "RT" button, the "display" button, or tune off and tune back on again. It doesn't always work but it sometimes helps (Randy KW4RZ Zerr, Fort Walton Beach, FL (northwest panhandle) EM60qk http://www.geocities.com/kw4rz ibid.) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BROADBAND VIA SHORTWAVE TO THE EXCLUSION OF EVERYTHING ELSE VIA SHORTWAVE? "On the one hand you could argue that amateur radio is a long- established hobby, which the upstart powerline networking technology is beginning to wreck, where the adverse effects are almost certain to become worse in the future. ... On the other hand, you could argue that the world has moved on, that shortwave radio is a 'legacy' hobby while IP-based communication is very much tomorrow’s technology, with powerline networking forming an important part of this new world. ... Indeed, most, if not all, of the shortwave broadcast stations being blocked by un-notched HomePlug frequencies would be available (in much better quality, and not subject to atmospheric conditions) via internet streaming." Paul Ockenden, PC Pro, 10 August 2009, and comments. (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Yes, but covering the shortwave frequencies with noise to accommodate broadband is like cutting down the last virgin forest to build a Walmart. Only the shortwave frequencies allow long-distance allows long distance communications without the assistance of satellites or undersea cable. When infrastructure is disrupted by a future crisis, shortwave communications and broadcasting will be needed, but will it be audible? (Power line communications (PLC) is called Broadband over Power Line (BPL) in the United States.) See previous post about same subject. Posted: 14 Aug 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ Jonny Greenwood (born 1971) POPCORN SUPERHET RECEIVER – FOR STRING ORCHESTRA (2005, rev. 2007) first performance at the proms http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/2009/whatson/1408.shtml#plus1 For Radiohead followers, Jonny Greenwood’s music for classical performers is another world. To a traditional Proms audience, it may well sound more accessible than Radiohead. Listeners to a broad spectrum of contemporary music, on the other hand, will be fascinated to find that Popcorn Superhet Receiver inhabits an expressive climate that could shade off in either direction, with due allowance for technique and instrumentation. The piece emerged from Greenwood’s stint as associate composer with the BBC Concert Orchestra, which workshopped it during composition. There was plenty of trial and error, the composer reported later, while he researched ways of approximating the sounds he imagined. The orchestra premiered it in London on 23 April 2005, conducted by Robert Ziegler, and it went on to win the BBC Radio 3 listeners’ prize at the 2006 British Composer Awards. In 2007 part of it went into Greenwood’s score for the Paul Thomas Anderson film There Will Be Blood, and a revised, slightly shortened version was played across the USA during 2008. A superheterodyne receiver is a radio or TV that changes the frequency of the signal. One of the experiences forming the music’s soundscape is white noise, like the blast of across-the-frequencies sound that you pick up when tuning a pre-digital radio. Another is Krzysztof Penderecki’s dense sliding clusters of sound, a middle ground between noise and chords, for the 52 solo strings in his 1960 classic Threnody for the Victims of Hiroshima. More intriguingly, Greenwood wrote for a previous performance that on childhood car journeys, when the family had had enough of the available tapes, ‘I used to listen to the engine noise, and found that if I concentrated hard enough I could hear the music from the cassettes still playing somewhere in the background.’ A slow blur of rich, saturated chords starts to let through faint solo instruments, first tentative and then stronger. Later, the chords fade and wisps of inner detail are left floating. Eventually Greenwood sets up a rhythm with toneless plucks and slaps while a pizzicato tune evolves over it. Whatever the workshops may have done to fine-tune his acoustic experiments, they left the score with an impressive mastery of glissando slides, snapped ‘Bartók’ pizzicato, and a steeply shaped ‘exponential’ crescendo. But the music keeps its essential primacy of feeling over guile, an elusive quality that rock musicians can strive for without success and many contemporary composers self-consciously shun. Programme note © Robert Maycock Robert Maycock writes for ‘The Independent’ and ‘BBC Music Magazine’, among others, and has special interests in French, contemporary and world music. His book on American composer Philip Glass was published in 2002 (Sanctuary). (BBCR3 Prom 39 notes, originally broadcast August 14 at 1830 UT, and available on demand for one week http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00m36cz via DXLD) AMERICAN APEX STATIONS The era of High Fidelity radio stations in the United States was an experimental era that lasted for approximately ten years and it was the forerunner for the now widely accepted FM system. This High Fidelity experimental era was made up of two specific time periods, and two widely different broadcasting bands. Let's go back to the beginning. See, what happened was this. Back in the early 1930s, reception of radio broadcasting stations in the regular mediumwave band, stretching from 540 1500 kHz as it did in those days, was subject to the problems of static, and long distance coverage at night. In an attempt to correct these problems and to produce a better quality radio signal on the local scene, some radio stations began to experiment with a high fidelity system, which included a wider bandwidth, the usage of higher frequencies, and the installation of a very high antenna system. In this way, it was hoped, there would be less atmospheric and man-made static, and the signal would not be affected so much by the variables associated with day time and night time coverage. The two bands that were in use were the top end of the mediumwave band stretching from 1510 to 1600 kHz, and very high frequency channels usually in the 9 metre and then the 7 metre shortwave bands. The two time periods were from 1932 to 1937 before commercially made receivers were available for the Apex band, and then from 1937 to 1942 when commercially made radio receivers incorporating also the high frequency Apex band became available. The very first station to install a transmitter in the high frequency Apex band was the CBS station, W2XDV, in New York City, which was inaugurated on February 6, 1932. This station emitted just 50 watts and it was on the air experimentally and spasmodically with a relay from the mediumwave station WABC, now identified as WCBS. The transmitter was installed in the CBS headquarters building in Madison Avenue, New York City. The very first station to commence a regular broadcasting service in the high frequency Apex band was W8XH in Buffalo New York, with a relay from the well known mediumwave station WBEN. This was in the year 1934. On November 3 in the following year, 1935, the aforementioned W2XDV-WABC introduced a regular broadcasting service on the Apex channel 31600 kHz. In the following year again, 1936, station W9XAZ in Milwaukee Wisconsin was the first Apex station to originate its own specific programming in this High Fidelity broadcast band. In the year 1937, radio receivers which included the high frequency Apex band began to appear on the American market. One of the most notable of these receivers was manufactured by McMurdo Silver, and they issued innovative advertising to this effect. At this stage, the FCC allocated a total of 5 MHz bandwidth for Apex broadcasting, and this section of the radio spectrum ran from approximately 41 to 44 MHz. The station lists of this era show that twenty two Apex stations were on the air. In early 1939, the FCC issued a dozen additional licenses for Apex stations, though around this time, they advised radio broadcasting stations in the United States to consider the implementation of the alternative FM system which was far superior to the Apex High Fidelity system. On June 15, 1940, the FCC issued licenses for three more Apex stations, the last licenses that were ever issued for radio broadcasting in the Apex high frequency band. The last station to leave the Apex band and convert to the new standard FM band is believed to be station WBOE in Cleveland, Ohio and this event occurred in February 1941. At the height of its popularity in late 1938 and early 1939, there were somewhere around fifty or sixty radio stations nationwide on the air in the Apex High Fidelity high frequency bands. During the ten year period in which Apex broadcasting was in vogue, there was a total of a little more than one hundred different stations on the air at some time during this era. Many of these stations were heard at a great distance and radio magazines in Australia and New Zealand show that at least thirty of these stations were heard "down under". These stations also issued QSL cards and our records show at least a dozen. However, at the same time as High Fidelity broadcasting was taking place in the high frequency shortwave bands, a similar attempt at quality radio transmission was taking place at the top end of the mediumwave band, running from 1510 to 1600 kHz. Stations were allocated a wider band width to accommodate higher audio frequencies, and this experimental era began in 1934, just two years subsequent to the launching of experimental High Fidelity broadcasting in the ultra shortwave bands. The first four stations on the air in this section of the spectrum were:- ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Call kHz City State ---------------------------------------------------------------------- W1XBS 1530 Waterbury CT W2XR 1550 Long Island City NY W6XAI 1550 Bakersfield CA W9XBY 1530 Kansas City MO =========================================== However, the total number of broadcasting stations in this segment of the electronic spectrum is quite small, maybe just a dozen or so. These stations also issued QSL cards, many of them, to listeners. In fact one station, W9XBY in Kansas City Missouri, numbered their QSL cards, and we have seen one card with the high serial number 4027. Now, at the same time as High Fidelity broadcasting was being developed during the 1930s in the twin areas of the electronic spectrum, at the end of the mediumwave band and in the Apex shortwave bands, so also was experimental broadcasting using the FM, Frequency Modulation system. At this stage, the FCC recommended the usage of FM for high quality radio broadcasting. Thus, in 1940 and 1941, both of the earlier systems were abandoned; High Fidelity in the upper end of the mediumwave band and Apex in the ultra shortwaves. However, if you look at the radio dial of receivers manufactured in the late 1930s, you may still find a radio receiver that tuned one of the Apex bands, a symbol of a bygone era (Adrian Peterson, AWR Wavescan script Aug 2 via DXLD) APEX RADIO STATIONS WORLDWIDE On a previous occasion, we presented the story of experimental radio broadcasting on the part of Apex radio stations in the United States. On this occasion, we look at the story of Apex radio broadcasting stations in other countries around the world. The purpose of these experimental broadcasts was to determine the effectiveness of transmissions on a very high frequency from a very high antenna, hence the name Apex. It was considered that these two factors combined, high frequency and high antenna, would reduce the effect of static caused by man made electrical interference and by thunderstorms, as compared to the standard mediumwave band. Even though the United States played the most prominent part in experimental broadcasting in the Apex band, yet this experimental era began in Australia, not North America. Sometime during the year 1931, and perhaps even as early as the month of May, the AWA radio organization installed a low power transmitter in Sydney on a frequency somewhere in the 7 metre band. The programming was a relay of the Sunday broadcasts from their shortwave station, VK2ME, located at Pennant Hills an outer suburb of Sydney, in New South Wales, though no specific callsign was allocated to this 7 metre transmitter. It had long been thought that these experimental AWA broadcasts in Australia on 7 metres were in the FM mode, but a closer investigation demonstrates that instead, they were in the AM analogue mode, using a very high frequency, equivalent to the American Apex transmissions. The original series of test broadcasts, using only the Pennant Hills callsign VK2ME, lasted possibly a couple of years, but because no commercially made receivers incorporating the Apex band were available, the tests were abandoned. However, five years later, now that Apex broadcasting was catching alive in the United States, AWA re-commenced similar tests with an antenna located on top of a downtown departmental store and a transmitter under its own licensed callsign, VK2MA. Programming was again a relay from shortwave VK2ME, and at times from mediumwave stations in the Sydney area. The probable date for the last broadcast from "Apex" VK2MA was Monday morning August 28, 1939. This station was heard at times in the United States and QSL cards were issued. It is not known what card was used for this purpose, but it is probable that a regular VK2ME card was issued, with appropriate indication of the 7 metre channel. The next country to launch a broadcasting service in the Apex band was the United States, in February 1932. But that was the topic in "Wavescan" last week, so we move on to other countries that launched experimental broadcasting in what became the American Apex band. During that same year, 1932, station listings in that era would suggest that four countries engaged in experimental broadcasting on very high frequencies, and these were Canada, England, Germany and Russia. The Canadian station was the rather well known VE9GW, located at Bowmanville in Ontario. This station began life as a commercial facility, in use for radio broadcasting as well as for communication purposes. This station relayed the programming from mediumwave CKGW and it was subsequently taken over by the Canadian Radio Commission and re-designated with the callsign CRCX. Anyway, a very high frequency was registered for use by shortwave VE9GW and it was in use at times for phone communication as well as for occasional program broadcasting on 24380 kHz, in the 12 metre band. In England, the Marconi shortwave transmitter G5SW located at Chelmsford, out from London, was licensed for experimental broadcasts on a channel in the 11 metre band. In those days, the 11 metre band was not understood to be effective for international broadcasting in the era of the high sunspot count, but rather it was considered to be useful for high fidelity broadcasting in the station's primary coverage area. Little is known about the results of these test broadcasts from station G5SW in England. Other stations that were listed as on the air during the year 1932, were located in Berlin Germany, and Moscow Russia. The schedule for the German station was for a short period of time on Tuesdays and Thursdays in the 7 metre band; and the Russian station, in the 5 metre band under the callsign RW61, was simply listed as "broadcast". During the following year, 1933, the evidence would show that two more stations came on the air in this high fidelity mode in these high frequency bands. Indonesia, as it is now known, was listed with station PK4PA with experimental transmissions on 5 metres; and Italy was listed with station IAF with experimental transmissions on 10 metres. The final batch of countries, five in total, in which experimental transmissions were carried out in the very high frequency bands were located in South America, Europe and Asia, all listed in 1935. In South America, Argentina was listed with stations LQK & LQL at Monte Grande on 7 metres; and Chile with station CEC in the 13 metre band. In Europe, France was listed with station TYZ in the 8 metre band; and Madrid Spain was listed with station EDS in the 13 metre band. In Asia, station HSJ in Bangkok Thailand was shown as on the air in the 12 metre band. Interestingly, during the time when station VK2MA was on the air in Sydney Australia in the 7 metre band, a local radio monitor made the observation that no other stations anywhere in the world were on the air in these very high frequencies, apart from Australia and the United States. It is true, low power transmissions on these very high frequency bands are not likely to propagate very far, but the station listings during the 1930s show quite clearly that there were indeed numerous stations on the air in what was known in America as the Apex band. Nevertheless, the Apex concept, high frequency and a high antenna, was abandoned when FM broadcasting took over in the early and then the later 1940s. Interestingly, the FM stations these days are also transmitting at the high frequency end of the shortwave bands, and one of the major parameters in measuring the effective coverage area for an FM station is by the height of the antenna system (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script Aug 16 via DXLD) Like most of Adrian`s scripts, there are appended long lists of references, or in this case lists of Apex stations. Those interested in the details should contact him for more (gh, DXLD) ###