DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-061, August 19, 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 1474, August 20-26, 2009 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 Fri 1900 WBCQ 7415 Fri 2028 WWCR1 15825 [or 15820 or 15830; see U S A] 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 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 1475 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 ** AFGHANISTAN. Hello Glenn, I thought you'd find the linked article of interest regarding state department plans to counter propaganda in Pakistan and Afghanistan with their own on local FM stations. Of course, they say it's about the people communicating, rather than State Department propagandizing. They want to improve cell phone service, too. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/16/world/asia/16policy.html?_r=1 73, (John Wesley Smith, KC0HSB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) US TO FIGHT TALIBAN WITH FM RADIO, CELL PHONES Afghanistan News.Net Monday 17th August, 2009 (ANI) Lahore, Aug.17 : The United States is setting up a new unit in the State Department to counter militant propaganda in Afghanistan and Pakistan, the New York Times has reported. According to the NYT report, the team may get up to 150 million dollars a year to spend on local FM radio stations and on expanded cell phone service in the area. . . http://www.afghanistannews.net/story/531839 cheers, (via David Norcross, DXLD) TALEBAN RULE AIRWAVES IN GHAZNI --- A MUDDLED PICTURE IN AFGHANISTAN http://www.iwpr.net/EN-arr-f-355240 (Institute for War and Peace Reporting, UK via David Norcross, Aug 18, DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. ANTÁRTIDA, 15476, LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel --- recibo el siguiente mail de la emisora conteniendo archivo con carta de confirmación QSL. Tardaron en contestar 3 días. "Hola Manuel, con que alegría recibimos noticias tuyas; te cuento que estuvimos varios días sin Internet, porque aquí en la Base estuvimos con temporal, tuvimos vientos de 200 km por hora, y la temperatura llego a -35º con sensación térmica de -65º aproximadamente. Que envidia saber que Uds. están en verano. Bueno, aquí te envió el certificado de recepción; si no es demasiada molestia confírmame si lo recibiste. Te manda un fuerte abrazo todo el equipo de LRA 36. Saludos cordiales." (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, España, Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nice certificate with sello, photo of the entire base, and text: CERTIFICADO DE RECEPCION En Base Esperanza, Antártida Argentina a los 14 días del mes agosto de 2009, por la presente certifico que, la Estación receptora perteneciente a Manuel Méndez, ha brindado testimonio de la escucha de nuestra emisora “LRA 36 Radio Nacional Arcángel “SAN GABRIEL”, del programa “ De Esperanza al Mundo”. Asimismo, hago propicia la ocasión para agradecer vuestro contacto e invitarlo a seguir escuchando muestra emisión en la frecuencia de 15.476 Khz, de lunes a viernes de 18:00 a 21:00 UTC. Nuestra dirección electrónica lra36 @ infovia.com.ar Nuestros teléfonos: 0810-2220770 (desde nuestro país) 00(54) 297-4445304/09/14/19 (desde el exterior) ESTACION RECEPTORA ESTACION EMISORA Fecha 14 de Agosto de 2009 14 de Agosto de 2009 Frecuencia 15.476 Khz. 15.476 Khz. Hora UTC 18:45 a 19:15 UTC 18:00 a 21:00 UTC Equipo Grundig 500 CCA – 10 Kwz SINPO Antena 10 metros Rómbica de tres planos línea abierta Operador Mario GALLARDO Locutoras Sra Sandra FERNANDEZ y Sra Ofelia BOTTAZZI Base Esperanza fue fundada el 17 diciembre de 1952, ubicada en Bahía Esperanza, aquí invernan año tras año, familias con sus niños, contando con una escuela, la única en el continente blanco. En caso de desear más información, por favor solicitarla por correo electrónico a la dirección anteriormente mencionada. Sin otro particular me despido de Usted, atentamente. José Maria Gomez, Director LRA 36 (via Manuel Méndez, Spain, gh reformatted from pdf, DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. T-storms kept developing right over Enid all evening, UT Aug 17, so computers and antennas unplugged, leaving us nothing else to do but monitor SW in primetime when we usually do not, with inside antennas only, pretty long wrapped around the ceiling several times, and presumably less direxional than the usual E-W longwire. T-storm noise was heavy, but less human-made QRN than usual and propagation not too bad. More storms the next morning kept us off the outside wires. All the logs in this report [dated Aug 17] are without external antenna, still with the FRG-7, and YB-400 as backup. Or in some cases quick checks in the yard with DX-398 portable, whip. Pleased to hear the RAE IS on 15344.0 or so as early as 1648 Aug 17; thought I heard them say ``atención`` once, but constant het from 15345, which must be Morocco. I was trying to measure 15344 more closely on the ATS-909 but at 1657 it had shifted much closer to 15345, but still a lower-pitched het. 1700 6-pip timesignal and talk in unID language, but too much hash from TV swish. By now I am not sure whether I am hearing Morocco in Arabic or Argentina in its extra German broadcast, but one of them went off anyway at 1702, or at least there was no further het. I also had been distracted by a signal on 15340; see ETHIOPIA [non] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Surprisingly RAE not anymore odd 15344v, but close to Morocco 15345.00, only 30 to 40 Hertz away each other (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Aug 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASIA [non]. RADIO FREE ASIA RELEASES THIRD RADIO PIONEER QSL CARD JULY 2009 Radio Free Asia announces the release of the third QSL card in its Radio Pioneer series. The card honors Serbian-born American physicist, Nikola Tesla. Tesla was a pioneer in many fields. The Tesla coil, which he invented in 1891, is widely used today in electronic equipment. Nikola Tesla patented the basic system of radio in 1896. Tesla’s schematic diagrams describing the basic elements of a radio transmitter were later used by Marconi. In 1896 Tesla constructed an instrument to receive radio waves. He experimented with this device and transmitted radio waves from his New York laboratory. The radio device clearly establishes Nikola Tesla as a radio pioneer. In Colorado Springs, where he stayed from May 1899 until 1900, Tesla made what he regarded as his most important discovery -- terrestrial stationary waves. By this discovery Tesla proved the Earth could be used as a conductor and would be as responsive as a tuning fork to electrical vibrations of a certain frequency. He also lighted 200 lamps without wires from a distance of 25 miles (40 kilometers) and created man-made lightning. The QSL card below will be issued for all valid RFA reception reports from July 1 – August 31, 2009 (from pdf via Juan Franco Crespo, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. After 0700 UT Aug 17, 17820: I assume to have been CVC via Darwin in Indonesian, but poor - and there was loud DRM on 17750- 17755-17760 (maximum S-4 on meter) which I assume was TDP via DRW (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Very good transmitter dusk/dawn enhancement noted recently. (Tentative) 4835, ABC Northern Territory, Alice Springs, 0805-0830*, Aug 17 - threshold audio beginning 0805 and slowly improving to poor levels. Pop vocals, talk by man and woman then promptly off at 0830. Alice Springs sunset is 0850. No sign of 4910 Tennant Creek. 5994.98, R Australia, Brandon, *0758, Aug 17 - Waltzing Matilda interval signal, English ID and TC by woman, directly into news. Good signal, 0800 UT Brandon sunrise (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA100 + ALA330S, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA. 15595, Aug 18 at 1506 hymn in English ``I will trust in you``, into language talk. Umlauts reminded me of Hungarian, so I did not think it was Turkish, but so listed in Aoki as AWR at 1500-1530 only via Moosbrunn. Careful: at 1530 Vatican ecumenically takes over 15595 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. Radio Bangladesh is noted back on 4750 (from 15 Aug 2009) in the mornings and evenings (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, India, Aug 19, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. 6035, BBS (presumed), 1355, August 17 with indigenous singing (under PBS); ToH into assume news; later just talking; QRM from adjacent splatter and also heavy QRM from PBS Yunnan till 1430*; could barely tell was in English; pop song; more talking; 1454 heard a BBS signature musical selection they often play; suddenly off at 1459. Believe I am safe in calling this presumed. Is worth monitoring this one again (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see CHINA ** BOLIVIA. 4409.8, RADIO ECO. Reyes. 0041-0050 ago 16. Presentando comentario locales en el programa de la Casa de la Cultura y municipalidad de Reyes. 4781.8, RADIO TACANA. Tumupasa. 0014-0026 ago 16. Presentando mensajes y comunicados acompañados de música folclórica. "...Radio Tacana Presenta..." Luego a las 0055* con cierre de emisiones. 4796.6, RADIO LIPEZ. Uyuni. 2354-0010* ago 16. Baja señal, locutora con menciones al Bolivia. Fuera del aire a las 0010 (Rafael Rodriguez R., Bogotá, Colombia, Aug 18, JRC NRD-525, Winradio G303I, Hilos de varios metros y longitudes, condiglist yg via DXLD) 6155.25, Radio Fides, La Paz, 0140-0202*, Aug 16, ID. Spanish talk. Spanish pop music. Closing announcements over lite instrumental music at 0200 & off at 0202. Weak. Poor in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 4805, RD AMAZONAS. Manaos, 1030-1050 ago 16. Presentando el programa: Amazonas verde oliva. Luego de las 1045 con programa noticioso Jornal da Manhã 4885, RD ACREANA. Rio Branco, 1115-1125 ago 16. Parcial ID: "...4885 kHz, onda tropicais, Radiodifusora Acreana a voz da selva, uma emissora do sistema público de comunicação do Acre..." 4925.2, RÁDIO EDUCAÇÃO RURAL. Tefé, 0200-0210 ago 16. Al dar la hora: "..informado para você a hora certa 22 horas e 1 minuto... a Rádio Educaçao Rural de Tefé, onda média ZYF 282 1270 Khz, ondas tropicais ZYF 261, 4925 Khz em 60 metros; uma emissora da Fundação - - - Tefe, Amazonas, Brasil..." 4935, unID en portugués, con pobre señal a las 0430, Rádio Capìxaba??? 5035, RADIO APARECIDA, Aparecida, 0136-0145 ago 16, Rezo del Rosario, con los oyentes via telefónica, varias menciones a "Rádio Aparecida" en // con los 6135 kHz. 9695, RADIO RIO MAR. Manaos, 1640-1730 ago 16, Tremenda señal de esta emisora en // con los 6160. Programa Falando de sobriedade. "...fundação Rio Mar é uma instituição da Arquidiócesis de Manaus com ojetivo de anunciar Jesuscristo a través dos médios de comunicaçao... Fundação Rio Mar, evangelizando a través dos médios de comunicação..." Mencionan 1290 AM (Rafael Rodriguez R., Bogotá, Colombia, Aug 18, JRC NRD-525, Winradio G303I, Hilos de varios metros y longitudes, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. 9755 with unexpected program in English, Aug 17 at 0052, lofi mix including classical music; 0057 outro as ``Inside the Music`` from CBC Radio 1 --- Has RCI finally come to its senses and put CBCR1 back on shortwave?! Not exactly. At 0059 Radio-Canada ID, then CBC ID in unknown language, mentioning 9625 more than once, 0100 CBC News. OMG, it`s the CBC NQ service on wrong frequency! Nothing on 9625; S9+20 on 9755, stronger than 9625 usually attains, so on wrong antenna too? But squeezed by RFI 9750 GUF carrier and Spanish news modulation from 0100. 9755 is the frequency used by RCI English to USA in the winter, despite lower MUFs, and is not supposed to be on at this hour in summer. So what`s on 6100? At 0101, RCI harmonica fill music, undermodulated with hum, 0103 RCI ID mentioning The Link. 0104 Mandarin as scheduled. 9755 reception declining, but 0105 into another CBC program, probably In the Key of Charles. (BTW, there was no Outfront at 0045 as online CBC schedule claims even on local Sundays.) 0151 recheck, 9755 still in music show, but now a fast SAH from open carrier? 0158, CBCNQ ID again as ``9625``, and same in Inuktituk. 0200 sharp, RCI Spanish starts suddenly stronger on 9755, as scheduled for this hour, but still with something under. After news at 0206 gave three frequencies, but the only one I caught was on the 31m band, 9640, certainly incorrect --- not used since B-08 season and at 0000 only! Geez, are they screwed up in multiple ways. Then El Castor Mensajero (The Messenger Beaver, i.e. mailbag show, featuring Cubans). BTW, 6100 also has Spanish this hour but 5 minutes offset, and different Internal show anyway? Did not check. 9755 wrapping up ECM at 0258, still with fast SAH from co-channel interference, then 0259 RCI off leaving weak signal, 0300 CBC News signature! So not only was the CBCNQ service on the wrong frequency, but another transmitter in the hall at Sackville was on the SAME frequency during this hour, a really close collision! NQ probably stayed on 9755 till 0505* but unchecked later. After 0200, 9625 would have been badly squeezed between Spain on 9620 and Spain/Costa Rica on 9630. I did check the next morning and at 1325 nothing on 9755, but usual ripple SAH on 9625 indicating the always slightly-off-frequency CBCNQ was back, with Hmong dominant from FEBC Manila; see PHILIPPINES. To be sure, another check after FEBC off at 1400: Yes, weak CBC news in English. Also next evening UT Aug 18 at 0037 check, nothing on 9755, but weak signal on 9625. I did not notify Sackville about having NQ on 9755 the night before (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 9625 with BBCWS at 0458 Aug 18, ID and promos, but it`s really the end of the first hour of CBC Overnight as then mentioned in outro, now being carried on the NQ service, but no such ID before 0500 CBC news, just as CBC Radio 1. Anyhow, back on 9625 for sure ex-9755 excursion (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or should this be UK [non]? Radio Canada International heard testing today, Aug. 19th on 9625 kHz, from about 0845 on. Interval signal followed by identification in English (female voice) and French (male voice) continuously. Still on at 0912. Normal sign-on time here is 1100 for the Northern Quebec Service heard almost daily (Robert Foerster, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Re: Spurs on 980/1000 from CKGM 990 Montreal: On Thursday 13 August 2009 23:27, Barry McLarnon wrote: ``I guess I'll send their engineering guy an email tomorrow, if they're still squawking. Probably on vacation!`` I did send him an email on Friday; never got a response, but the problem seems to be fixed tonight (Barry McLarnon VE3JF Ottawa, ON, Aug 18, ABDX via DXLD) I just tried 980, 990 and 1000. The noises from Neptune are gone! Thanks, Barry, for helping to clean up the AM band! (Phil Rafuse, PEI, ibid.) ** CHILE. MAPU RADIO ONLINE Por Equipo de Comunicación de Kona - Comunicación Mapuche Desde tiempos inmemoriales, los diversos Pueblos Originarios se comunican con todas las vidas de la naturaleza. Es por ello, que poseen una relación estrecha basada en la hermandad con las diversas fuerzas naturales, y saben interpretar los mensajes de cada ser que habita en sus territorios. La concepción de la vida para los Pueblos Originarios, en general, y el Pueblo Mapuche en particular, se basa precisamente en la vida del territorio, el cual es entendido como una totalidad, que posee su propio ordenamiento natural, mediante el cual produce normas y valores de vida que regulan todas las fuerzas existentes en el universo. . . Esta nueva herramienta que nace al servicio de las necesidades de comunicación del Pueblo Mapuche, se llama “MAPURADIO: noticiero cultural mapuche”, y se transmite en formato radial todos los domingos de 14 a 15 horas por Radio Universidad Calf de Neuquen Capital, y se puede escuchar tambien por Internet en: http//www.fm1037online.com [much more] Fuente: Mapuexpress, CHL, 16 Agosto 2009) http://www.mapuexpress.net/?act=publications&id=2642 Escuchar: http://www.fm1037online.com/reproductor/player.php Domingos 13:00 horas (Chile) - 14:00 (Argentina) 17:00 UTC Gracias a Gabriel Ivan Barrera, Argentina (via Yimber Gaviria, Noticias de la Radio, DXLD) ** CHINA. 6937, Yunnan PBS, 1212-1233+ Aug 15. Pop and regional vocals to BoH, then YL in language. The music came thru at fair level but could not make much out of the talk. 7270, Nei Menggu PBS, 1300-1315+ Aug 15. Pips, 5+1, to ToH, then possible ID, a bit of chat, then into assorted vocal music with YL announcer hosting. Good signal, atop Kuching today. Parallel to 9750, which was good over NHK (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R- 8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** CHINA. 5030 CHINA CNR-1 heard again: 16 AUG 2009, 5030, CNR-1 PBS Beijing; 1120z W in Chinese announcements, then occasional M announcements. Very Good signal. 5050, Guangxi FBS; 1129z, 16 Aug, East Asian vocal ballads, talk by W in Vietnamese, // 9820 but much weaker (Steven C. Wiseblood, Brownsville TX, (2 miles from Boca Chica Beach, GULF of MEXICO), Radio Shack DX-399, 150' center fed LW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. MALAYSIA - SARAWAK. (tentative) 5030, RTM Sarawak FM, Kuching, 1028, Aug 17 - slowly strengthening from 1000 UT s/on, threshold audio first heard beginning 1028, pop vocals, instrumentals, talks by man and woman, jingles. Pronounced transmitter sunset enhancement at 1048, long monologue by woman then fading, 5+1 time pips at the top of hour. USB required to avoid massive Rebelde signal as much as possible (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA100 + ALA330S, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Brandon, Think you perhaps just missed hearing Sarawak! I say this for a number of reasons. First, it is CNR-1 that signs on at 1000. Second, it is CNR-1 that would have 5+1 pips (Sarawak has 1 + 1 pips at ToH). It should be noted that from August 4 through August 16, CNR- 1 was totally off the air on 5030, leaving Sarawak a clear frequency. In fact I did hear them on a daily basis with a fair signal. Not the case on August 17! CNR-1 is back with a very strong signal on 5030. I could not hear anything from Sarawak underneath them today. Any chance you could check for Sarawak FM on 7130.00, from 1000 to 1100? Believe that is a good time to hear them, as it is between times for the powerhouse signal of RTI. Wish you good listening! Best regards, (Ron Howard, CA, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Correxion: Many thanks to Ron Howard for his observations quoted below. This one was definitely 1000 UT s/on and 5+1 time pips at 1100, so is much more likely to have been CHINA CNR-1 via Beijing. There was a definite peak at 1048 UT, which would have corresponded to Kuching sunrise, and Beijing sunrise was over 20 minutes later at 1109. This signal had significantly faded by 1100 UTC, thus throwing me off the track. Thanks Ron! (Brandon Jordan, ibid.) 5030, CNR One, (presumed) 1037-1045 Aug 18, Noted a male and female in Chinese language comments. Tuned over this earlier and the signal was barely audible. Now it's at a fair level (Chuck Bolland, Watkins Johnson HF1000, FL, 26.37N, 081.05W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Jamming. 7185, 1218 Aug 17, noted nice clear frequency here without RTI or CNR-1 echo jamming, but at 1303 a strong CNR-1 (no echo) was indeed here. They were gone by 1337. Guess they were not sure what had happened here! 5000, BPM, 1227-1230, August 16, distinct sound of being out of sync; BPM UT1 'pips/'beeps'' along with WWVH and WWV UTC 'tics'. Morse code (CW) and spoken ID. Thanks to Jari Savolainen of Finland for ID’ing the audio I sent him and his comments: “I think BPM announces every H+29 and H+59. First ten times BPM in morse, then female voice three times BPM and the time announcement”. 6035, PBS Yunnan, 1400, August 17. Was finally able to duplicate Dennis Allen’s (Australia) log in DXLD 9-050. Clear ID for “The Voice of Shangri-La”; into news in Chinese; Chinese songs; 1430*; both spurs also heard on 6027 and 6043. Light QRM from assume Bhutan/BBS also on 6035, but at times heavy QRM from adjacent splatter. Audio of ID posted at dxldyg “Files > Station Sounds”. 6035, PBS Yunnan, 1300 + 1400, August 18. IDs: “This is the Voice of Shangri-La”; seemed this was followed by a few more words in English, but unable to clearly make them out; guess it might have been “presented by . . .”, but will need more monitoring to confirm just what was said. Today Bhutan/BBS below threshold level (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 7935, CNR-8, in Uighur (per Aoki), Lingshi, with presumed interview, at 1650. 35332 2009/08/17 9170, CNR-6, Beijing, in Amoy, with "pop" songs, at 1655. At 1700 ID by YL. 35322 2009/08/17. Greetings (from Gondomar, Portugal, Pedro Turner, CT2KET, Aug 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 10 Aug, 0947 - 17855 kHz, FIREDRAKE vs VOA Mandarin, Segnale insufficiente-sufficiente (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DXLD) Aug 17 after 0700: 17850 RFI via ISS had splash from Farda 17845 (good via Iranawila) and Firedrake 17855 undoubtedly meant for VOA Mandarin. 17860, Deutsche Welle in German via Kigali was fair but with Firedrake QRM 17855 and CRI strong via Urumchi 17865 in French. 73 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yay, heard one Firedrake music-only jamming frequency once again, tho only poorly, this time on 15755, Aug 18 at 1453 and still at 1506. Nothing heard on any of the previous/usual channels between 8 and 19 MHz. 15755 must be the latest jump of Sound of Hope via Tajikistan in the 15.7 MHz range. I wonder if the lack of Firedrakes also means that many other SOH transmissions have disappeared? However, times do not match the Aug 18 0400 edition of Aoki showing: 15750*Xi Wang Zhi Sheng SOH 1230-1300 1234567 Chinese 100 131 Dushanbe-Yangiyul TJK 06848E3829N SOH a09 May 25- 15720 15750*Xi Wang Zhi Sheng SOH 1400-1430 1234567 Chinese 100 131 Dushanbe-Yangiyul TJK 06848E3829N SOH a09 May 25- 15740 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. COLOMBIAN RADIO TECHNICAL PLAN Friend and Chief Editor of the NZ DX Times Mark Nicholls has discovered an interesting document at the Colombian Government Radio website, dated 17 May 2009. It lists current and projected operations on AM and on Shortwave from Colombia. Assigned SW operations: HJTF, Turbo, Antioquia 6085 kHz 5 kw. Bogotá stations on 9635 (HJGG), 9700 (HJGR), 11795 (HJGT), 15335 (HJGV) and 17865 (HJGY), all 20 kw. HJOY San Juan Guaviare, 6035 kHz 5 kw. Villavicencio with 5 kw on HJHZ 5975 kHz and HJKW 5955 kHz. Puerto Lleras with 5 kw on HJDH 6010 and HJDH 5910 kHz. HJOW Tumaco, Nariño on 6015 kHz with 5 kw. Projected SW operations: HJAO Bahía Solono, Chocó 6105 kHz 5 kw. From my own observations, only the Puerto Lleras stations are being heard here (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, Aug 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Bryan, Yes, I believe we have found that before, and most of the stations are long gone, but still in the database. The Bogotá ones are of course Rdif. Nacional which has been gone for sesquidecades. See DXLD 8-113. Rodríguez also commented that most of them would never be on the air, 8-114. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** CONGO. 6115.000, Radio Congo. Presumed the one here for the past several days, 1820+ UT with a woman in French. Possibly news after 1830. Have only had a chance to briefly listen, as I'm getting ready for work at this time. But it's been readable for the past week, all alone and no co-channel QRM. Will listen more on the weekend when I have more time and also confirm if it's exactly on-frequency. August 14, 15, 16, 17 (David Sharp, NSW, Australia. Yaesu FT-950 and Sony ICF-2010, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Until then, should not report it as .000, implying more significant digits than justified (gh, DXLD) 6115.000, Radio Congo, 1808, French. Decided to get up for work early and chase this a little closer. Really good today with news magazine program, with stories occasionally alternated by male and female announcers. ID by man as "Radio Congo" at 1811, then into a story by a woman. Several mentions of "Congolaise" but not just national news - also heard mentions of "Niger" and "Mauritanie." Brief music bridges between segments. Very familiar to how I remember the station in the early-to-mid 1970's (when they ID'ed as "La Voix de la Révolution"). 18 August (David Sharp, NSW Australia, FT-950 and ICF-2010, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. DR Congo officials warn local radios over RFI rebroadcasts | Text of report in English by Paris-based media freedom organization Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) on 17 August Reporters Without Borders is worried by the National Intelligence Agency's warning to the managers of three local radio stations in the eastern province of Nord-Kivu that their stations will be closed down unless they stop retransmitting the programmes of French public broadcaster Radio France Internationale (RFI). "This threat is unacceptable," Reporters Without Borders said. "It confirms that the government is determined to hound both RFI and local media and suggests a move towards authoritarianism. The population has already been denied access to independent news and information since RFI's local broadcasts were suspended on 26 July. Media freedom in its entirety is in danger if local radio stations are now being threatened with closure." The press freedom organization added: "The National Intelligence Agency does not have the power to suspend a news media. Only a court can do that. We urge the central government in Kinshasa to put a stop to this kind of intimidation. We also reiterate our desire for RFI to be allowed to resume local broadcasting without delay." Kennedy Wema of Radio Tele Graben, Rochereau Kambakamba of Radio Liberte and John Tchipenda of Radio Scolaire went to the National Intelligence Agency's local office on 12 August in response to a summons received the previous day and were told during the ensuing interview that they could be closed down if they did not stop retransmitting RFI. In fact, according to the information available to Reporters Without Borders, the only station currently retransmitting RFI is Radio Tele Graben. Wema, its manager, told Reporters Without Borders that the station would definitely continue to broadcast RFI until it received official notification in writing. A total of 27 local radio stations are RFI's partners in Democratic Republic of Congo. Its local signal was suspended after it broadcast information provided by the UN Mission in Democratic Republic of Congo (MONUC) explaining why certain former rebel units decided to desert from the Congolese army, into which they had recently been incorporated. Source: Reporters Sans Frontieres press release, Paris, in English 17 Aug 09 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. RADIO EXTERIOR DE ESPAÑA EMITIRÁ EN DRM PARA TODA AMÉRICA From: RNE AMIGOS DE LA ONDA CORTA Hola Yimber, no sé si has podido escuchar el programa de este fin de semana ("Amigos de la Onda Corta") pero realicé una entrevista al director técnico de RNE encargado de las transmisiones de todas las emisoras de Radio Nacional de España y por tanto de Radio Exterior de España. Fue con motivo d ela noticia de las próximas emisiones de REE en DRM hacia América del Norte. Pues bien, me ratificó dichas emisiones para el mes de enero y apuntó que se ha comprado un nuevo transmisor DRM para colocarlo en Cariari y poder emitir hacia centro y sur de América en DRM. Al margen de esas informaciones, apuesta porque el DRM sea un complemento a las emisiones analógicas, pero no las sustituirá. Creo que es importante la información que suministra. Te envío el enlace donde poder escucharlo. http://www.rtve.es/FRONT_PROGRAMAS?go=111b735a516af85ccdc4135d9df82c2e123009d61eb00f778b60af793b191c31b7b7ed5ecbd55d0c6c7f56ba23d3686b14579a9794e2016ffd7b3015ebbd040a064448eefdc68427a9281c76f1221217 Un saludo, Antonio Buitrago, Corporación RTVE - http://www.rtve.es El pasado mes de junio se dio a conocer una noticia que adelantaba un proyecto de Radio Exterior de España para América. En concreto, las futuras transmisiones digitales en DRM desde el Centro Emisor de Cariari, en Costa Rica, hacia América del Norte. El despacho informativo eran unas breves líneas que daba a conocer el plan. Transcurrido un tiempo, necesario para que se perfilaran las líneas estratégicas y se cerraran algunos flecos existentes. En “Amigos de la Onda Corta” hemos conversado con uno de los responsables técnicos de esta futura transmisión. José Antonio García Merino, director técnico de Radio Nacional de España. Les aconsejamos que estén a la escucha porque entre otras cosas anticipa no solo la transmisión en DRM para America del Norte sino también para Centro y Sur de América, así como la apuesta de Radio Nacional de España y por ello de Radio Exterior de España por la Onda Corta, sea de un modo analógico o digital. fuente: Antonio Buitrago, Amigos de la Onda Corta (via Yimber Gaviria, Noticias de la Radio, DXLD) ** CROATIA. 9925 via Germany, kept an ear on VOC Aug 17 from 0207 looking for the English half-hour as per EiBi and Aoki, but only heard pop music, presumably in Croatian until 0230 when opened Voz de Croacia in Spanish. Maybe there was a quick English newscast at 0200 I already missed? Or just forget it for Sundays; or August holidays. Why does everyone in Europe think they have to go on holidays in August? Wouldn`t it be less disruptive to stagger absences from May thru September at least? WRTH A-09 update does not attempt to break down foreign language times; it`s all just Croatian/Other (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mebbe, just mebbe, they go on vacation in August because they want to? And they really could give a fig about the musings from someone outside their sphere? The World doesn't revolve around Enid, OK (Theo Donnelly, BC?, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nor you. I know that any e-mail from you will be a criticism, nothing constructive or useful (gh to Theo, via DXLD) Unlike: In most of Europe, August is the month when the schools are on holiday, and if parents want to take their children on holiday with them, August is the time to do it. It's also to do with the weather - August is regarded as the best month for dry, hot and sunny weather. I agree that it's a pain when so many people go away at the same time. I never have time off in the summer, as I don't have a family to consider, and that means I'm available to fill in for absent colleagues. But often I have to fill in for 2-3 people. RNW, at least the Dutch department, is actually busiest during the summer months as we have additional transmissions for vacationers in Europe (Andy Sennitt, Netherlands, ODXA yg via DXLD) In my line of work, we deal with businesspeople across Europe; August is most certainly the time when the largest percentage are on holiday. We've learned to accommodate that tendency in our planning --- it' s just the way it is. Meanwhile, in Australia and New Zealand, mid-December to mid-January is the time when most go away. This is very noticeable in the radio schedules for ABC Radio National and Radio Australia for that period, plus Radio New Zealand National and, by inference, RNZI. The USA is particularly odd versus the rest of the business world in its attitudes towards vacations and holidays. We tend to take far less time off than workers in most other "civilized" countries. Unfortunately I believe our Canadian brothers and sisters are similarly afflicted. So perhaps a better question is why don't *we* take August off too? (Richard "working hardly" Cuff, Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) Boy, has Glenn hit the nail right on the head. Those Europeans are so annoying, all going on vacation in August, disrupting things for us. And most of 'em can't even talk good English. Did ya ever notice that? Like talking about August like it was a holiday. A holiday is a DAY, like New Year's Day or Halloween. If it's a week or more it's a VACATION, folks! Duh! And so many of them have funny names with z's and k's and things. And the French don't even pronounce all the letters in a word. If you go over there they treat you like you're dumb or something. In the stores they mark the prices in E's, not dollars and do it on purpose so they can cheat you more easily. Geez I could go on and on. Their bread isn't sliced. It comes in funny sizes and gets stale right away. They eat things like snails and wurst. . . boy did they get that name right. And the toilet paper is rough. They don't have any good programs on TV -- if you can even understand the sound -- no American Idol? Oh they have some imitation of Idol, but the winner is frumpy old lady, not some hot young babe who can sing something you can recognize. Didn't mean to go on so long, but did want to second Glenn on that August thing. Why can't Europeans just do like US? dnj (Don Jensen, WI, ODXA yg via DXLD) Hmm, seems Don has some simmering resentment against something which has just erupted. As a multilingual, I would hardly fit the stereotype of a typical(?) ugly American in Europe, nor is my suggestion about staggering vacations/holidays especially American; it just makes sense (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** CUBA. Will RHC ever resume its first English broadcast of the day at 2030? Not yet; Aug 16 at 2055 check, just Spanish on 11760 // 11770 et al. Could not hear 17660. Blame the Honduran oligarchy. RHC check at 0117 Aug 17, found 13790 and 13760 the only signals audible on 22m. At 0120: Spanish on 5965, 6060, 6120, 6140, 9600 11760 and an echo away on 13760, at the moment talking about the Wizard of Oz; weak signal with different music in Spanish on 6000, presumably the only English-service channel running, useless. En Contacto, the DX program ran from 0136 past 0151 UT Monday and I listened to most of it on 9600 which was strong but somewhat distorted. Featured monthly report from Pedro Sedano of AER with items including WRTH update, RRI Enescu contest, CyBC, Turquía. He takes a lot of time and trouble to spell out unfamiliar addresses, apparently assuming people will want to write to the stations. 13880 mixing product stronger than usual, Aug 17 at 1348 in talk about Barbados, 13680 leaping over 13780, both extremely strong; while leapfrog the other way on 13580 was JBA. Secret RHC midday service reconfirmed Aug 17 at 1547 on 11760, 11800 distorted, 11690; barely audible on 5965, and 6000 which were the only stations audible on 49-50m, not even WBOH 5920. RHC check Aug 18 at 1459 found 11760 already off as was 13780 just in time to clear 13775 for Austria via Canada. Still on with RHC IS were 13760 and much stronger 13680 aimed usward from the other site. RHC check Aug 19 at 0520: Spanish on 11760, 6120; English on 6010, 6060 and 6140, the latter sometimes in Spanish instead. 6000 too weak in storm noise to evaluate (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Havana Times: see INTERNATIONAL WATERS ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC [and non]. Pleased NOT to hear DRM test on 15470-15475-15476-15480 as previously scheduled by IBB/HCJB Greenville starting Aug 17 for HFCC, when checked at 2025, nor anywhere else on 19m (tho ANTARCTICA was not making it either, its unique low-power frequency should be respected!). Nor Aug 18-19: see U S A 11700-11705-11710, HCJB DRM at 1546 Aug 17. Kim Elliott says this is a feeder to affiliates in Brasil. I wonder how many are really using it and how many ordinary DRM listeners there are? Also noted 15275-15280- 15285 HCJB DRM around 2030 as usual. 17865-17870-17875, big DRM signal Aug 17 at 1622, TDF testing from Guiana French to HFCC in Dominican Republic. These tests do not appear on the DRM/DX schedule, but are mentioned on linked fora, supposed to be Aug 18-20 at 16-18, Aug 21 at 16-21, but already going Aug 17! A reminder that Jeff White is reactivating his Radio Discovery from Punta Cana HFCC this week Aug 17-22 on 4730 with only 100 watts to a half-wave dipole, testing WinDRM, SSB and AM. See details on DXLD 9- 055. On the afternoon of Aug 17, Jeff told me they were just setting it up, ``We could be on tonight, but I`m not sure yet``. I`ve urged him to let it run all night. This should be quite a challenge to DX anywhere, especially here around all the T-storm noise. Do they manage to evade CODAR, and military ute SSBs on both sides? BTW, the tropstorms and hurricane in the area did not cause any of the delegations to cancel, Jeff says (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Tropstorms coming: Wonder how many delegations chickened out or had flights canceled? Has 4730 been on the air yet? No chance last night here with big T-storm noise. Hope you will run it all night when it has best chance of getting out. 73, (Glenn to Jeff at Punta Cana, Aug 17, via DXLD) Glenn: No one cancelled! We're setting up 4730 as I write this. Rudy Espinal sends his greetings. We could be on tonight, but I`m not sure yet (Jeff White, DR, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO DISCOVERY, 4730 IS ON --- Glenn: We're on the air in AM mode until at least 0400 UT tonight (Jeff White, 0103 UT Aug 19, Punta Cana, Dominican Republic, DX LISTENING DIGEST via dxldyg 0215 UT, WORLD OF RADIO 1474) Presumed Punta Cana at 0245 UT on 4730.57v with a decent carrier, but only threshold audio so far. Drifting downward. 73, (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Later:] Axually [sic] the AM signal went QRT at 0303:30 UT, and unfortunately didn't produce more than occasional barely threshold audio. No SSB or DRM signals noted afterwards. The frequency is in the clear except for some weak but annoying UTE QRM on the upper side band. CODAR free. I wonder what the chance is of Jeff leaving this on all night. 73, (Brandon Jordan, Memphis TN USA, Perseus SDR - Wellbrook ALA100 + ALA330S, ibid.) ** EAST TURKISTAN. CHINA. Mercoledì 12 agosto 2009, 0657* - 17515 kHz, R. CINA INT. - Kashi, Italiano, talk YL e brutale s/off!!! Segnale sufficiente-buono (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) Brutal? Perhaps meaning abrupt (gh, DXLD) ** EAST TURKISTAN. Not much making it on 16m, Aug 19 at 0517, but second only to RFA Saipan on 17880 was 17720, music and then German talk, fading and some flutter. Per Aoki, this is CRI at 05-07, 500 kW, 308 degrees to Europe via Kashgar (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Giovedì 13 agosto 2009, 0445 - 3810 LSB kHz, HD210A - Guayaquil (Ecuador), T/s e annunci OM SS. Segnale insufficiente- sufficiente (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) Yet another report which gets the callsign wrong instead of HD2IOA with one number in it, not three; I wish I had kept track of the number of times I have had to point out such a correxion. But a good catch (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 3200.00, HCJB, (SPAR) 0932-1000 Aug 16, With a very weak signal. Noted music until 0935 when a male talks in Spanish briefly. At 0937 sounds like canned promos presented. Music again at 0938. This format of music and comments continues. Noted a female in comments at 0950. Signal is too weak to understand any details from the comments. I was treating this as an unID until 0955 when I realized it was a SPAR from HCJB on 3220 kHz (Chuck Bolland, Watkins Johnson, HF1000, Correction: 26.27.34.65N 081.05.34.19W, FL, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SPAR, as in a sidetrack? But we usually call these spurs, short for spurious emissions (gh, DXLD) ** ECUADOR [and non]. DRM tests: see DOMINICAN REPUBLIC; USA ** EGYPT. Awful modulation from R. Cairo continues: 9915, Aug 17 at 0050, level S9+20 but extremely distorted yet muffled audio, useless, supposedly Spanish at 0045-0200 only. 6290, distorted muezzin, audio also cutting out at 0118, better modulation than 9915, but not by much. 6290 still on and audible with distorted Arabic news at 0402. In fact Aoki shows it`s continuous 1900-0700, 250 kW, 315 degrees from Abis; targets Eu and NAm thruout tho possible span here is shorter in summer. Aoki also titles this service 'El-Bernameg Al-Aam' --- which means? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Which means "General Program" :-) 73, (Dmitry Mezin, Kazan, Russia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Still very distorted signals from Radio Cairo in Arabic to West Africa 0700-1100 on 15790. The 100 kW invested in this broadcast are, on most days, a waste of precious energy. Today, Aug. 17th, heard with quite a strong signal but almost unreadable modulation at 0917. About a week ago, there was almost no modulation at all. 73 & good DX (Robert Foerster, Germany, Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional, Bata, 0530-0600, Aug 16, tune-in to Afro-pop music. Spanish announcements. Weak but readable. 6250 not heard (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, Aug 17 at 1554 with revival music, undermod talk in English, has to be R. Africa, the home away from home for convict Tony Alamo (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6110, R. Fana, Addis Ababa, *0258, Aug 17 - on with interval signal, ID by woman then man, and directly into news bulletin read by man. Good signal (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA100 + ALA330S, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6170, Voice of Tigray Revolution, *0257-0310, Aug 16, sign on with IS. Vernacular talk at 0300. Horn of Africa music. Poor. Weak with strong adjacent channel splatter. 6170 not heard very often. // 5950 - weak under Okeechobee. 5980 not heard (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. While monitoring Argentina on 15344, Aug 17 at 1643, noticed flute music, unID language talk on poor 15340, 1656 HOA(?) singing, but off by 1658. Since Morocco is on 15345 at this hour, must be something else. Looked up later in Aoki, it`s the Monday-only 1600-1700 broadcast of EOTC Holy Synod Radio, clandestine to Ethiopia in Amharic, via Samara, Russia, 200 kW, 188 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FAROE ISLANDS. Faroese Broadcasting Corporation/Kringvarp Föroya observed with a weather report in English at 0750-0752 UTC 19 Aug 09 on 531 kHz, within their "Summarmorgun" (summer morning) breakfast show. This is aired around this time daily (or possibly weekdays only) for four months of the summer, I first noted it on 3 June this year. Monitored with good reception (34444) via a Global Tuners receiver situated on the north coast of Northern Ireland, which gives an almost complete seapath to the Faroes. Looking at the programme guide on their website http://kringvarp.fo this station must have the longest "overnight" programme in the world - on Sundays their "Náttarrásin" (night ?trip) show starts at 18.12 local time and goes right through to 0730 the following day! Regards (Dave Kernick, Interval Signals Online, Aug 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But not much night that far north summerly (gh) ** FRANCE. 17850, thought I had something exotic with Horn of Africa vocal music Aug 17 at 1636, but 1637 into French amid crowd noises, poor signal, 1641 hilife music. It`s just RFI`s service via Issoudun to Africa at 16-18 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also DOMINICAN REPUBLIC [non] ** GEORGIA. Abkhaz Radio again heard today, Aug. 19th until 0814 signing off. The s/off tune is usually "Ballade pour Adeline" by Richard Clayderman from the late 70s. Transmtter is slightly over- modulated and has hum on the carrier. 73s & good DX (Robert Foerster, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTFK? probably 9495v, maybe 9535v (gh) see also LANGUAGE LESSONS ** GERMANY [and non]. A-09 Media Broadcast (ex DTK T-Systems). Part 4 of 4 [continued from previous issues]: Bible Voice Broadcasting Network (BVBN): 0700-0815 5945 WER 100 kW / 300 deg Sat WeEu English 0700-0730 5945 WER 100 kW / 300 deg Sun WeEu English 1800-1830 6130 WER 125 kW / 055 deg Tue EaEu Russian 1800-1815 6130 WER 125 kW / 055 deg Fri EaEu Russian 1800-1815 6130 WER 125 kW / 055 deg Thu EaEu Ukrainian 1800-1845 6130 WER 125 kW / 055 deg Sat EaEu English 1800-1900 6130 WER 125 kW / 055 deg Sun EaEu English 1800-1830 9435 NAU 125 kW / 230 deg Sun SoEu Spanish 0900-1000 17535 WER 125 kW / 135 deg Fri NoAf Arabic 1930-2000 11830 JUL 100 kW / 175 deg Sat WeAf French/Ajda 1830-1845 11830 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sun CeAf Swahili 1845-2000 11830 JUL 100 kW / 160 deg Sun CeAf English 0430-0530 11865 WER 250 kW / 120 deg Mon-Thu EaAf Arabic 0430-0515 11865 WER 250 kW / 120 deg Fri EaAf Arabic, ex till 0545 0430-0530 11635 WER 125 kW / 135 deg Sat EaAf Amharic 0430-0500 11635 WER 125 kW / 135 deg Sun EaAf Amharic 1630-1800 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Mon/Tue/Fri EaAf Amharic/Tigrinya/Amharic 1600-1800 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Wed EaAf Amharic 1630-1800 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Thu EaAf Amharic 1800-1900 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Fri EaAf Somali/Amharic 1600-1630 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Sat-Mon EaAf Oromo 1630-1800 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Sat EaAf Amharic 1800-1830 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Sat EaAf Somali 1630-1800 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Sun EaAf Amharic 1800-1900 13810 JUL 100 kW / 130 deg Sun EaAf Somali/Amharic 1630-1730 15495 WER 100 kW / 150 deg Daily EaAf Nuer/Dinka 1730-1745 15495 WER 100 kW / 150 deg Fri EaAf Fur 1545-1700 9430 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Mon/Wed ME Arabic 1615-1630 9430 JUL 100 kW / 115 deg Fri ME Arabic 1700-1800 9430 WER 100 kW / 120 deg Sat ME English 1730-1800 9430 WER 100 kW / 120 deg Sun ME English 1830-1900 9430 WER 250 kW / 120 deg Fri ME English 1800-1900 9430 WER 250 kW / 120 deg Sat ME English 1815-1845 9430 WER 250 kW / 120 deg Sun ME English 1530-1545 11955 WER 250 kW / 105 deg Sun ME English/Persian 1800-1830 11970 NAU 100 kW / 105 deg Mon/Wed/Fri ME Persian 1800-1900 11970 NAU 100 kW / 105 deg Tue/Thu ME Persian 1830-1900 11970 NAU 100 kW / 105 deg Sun ME Persian 1800-1815 11970 NAU 100 kW / 105 deg Sat ME English 1530-1730 12140 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Daily ME Persian 1625-1715 13580 ISS 250 kW / 115 deg Mo/Tu/Th/Fr ME Arabic 1625-1730 13580 ISS 250 kW / 115 deg Wed ME Arabic 1545-1600 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Mon/Wed ME English 1545-1700 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Tue ME English 1700-1800 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Tue ME Hebrew/English 1545-1645 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Thu ME English 1545-1615 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Fri ME English 1730-1800 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Fri ME English 1545-1730 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Sat ME English 1730-1800 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Sat ME Tagalog/Hebrew 1800-1830 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Sat ME English 1530-1815 13590 NAU 100 kW / 125 deg Sun ME English 1200-1230 15610 NAU 250 kW / 070 deg Mon-Fri CeAs Uyghur 0030-0100 9490 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Mon-Thu SoAs Hindi 0030-0100 9490 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Fri-Sun SoAs English 1530-1600 15295 ISS 250 kW / 077 deg Mon/Tue SoAs Tamil 1515-1600 15295 ISS 250 kW / 077 deg Wed SoAs Telugu 1500-1600 15295 ISS 250 kW / 077 deg Thu/Fri SoAs Hindi 1500-1530 15295 ISS 250 kW / 077 deg Sat/Sun SoAs Bengali 1400-1500 17805 WER 250 kW / 090 deg Sat/Sun SoAs English 1500-1600 15680 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Tue SoAs Urdu 1515-1600 15680 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Wed SoAs Urdu 1515-1530 15680 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Thu SoAs Urdu 1515-1530 15680 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Fri SoAs Punjabi 1530-1600 15680 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Fri/Sun SoAs Urdu 1530-1600 15680 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Thu/Sat SoAs English 1500-1515 15680 NAU 250 kW / 083 deg Sun SoEaAs English Trans World Radio (TWR): 0645-0820 6105 NAU 100 kW / 285 deg Sun NoEu English 0715-0750 6105 NAU 100 kW / 285 deg Sat NoEu English 0700-0750 6105 NAU 100 kW / 285 deg Mon-Fri NoEu English 1400-1430 7220 WER 100 kW / 060 deg Mon EaEu Belarussian 1400-1430 7220 WER 100 kW / 060 deg Tue-Sun EaEu Russian 1430-1500 7220 WER 100 kW / 060 deg Daily EaEu Russian 1530-1600 9440 WER 100 kW / 105 deg Sat EaEu Romanian 1530-1600 9440 WER 100 kW / 090 deg Mon-Fri CeAs Armenian 1630-1700 9505 WER 100 kW / 090 deg Daily CeAs Persian Pan American Broadcasting (PAB): 1930-2030 9515 WER 250 kW / 150 deg Sat NoAf English 1930-2015 9515 WER 250 kW / 150 deg Sun NoAf English 0030-0045 9640 WER 100 kW / 090 deg Sun SoAs English 1400-1430 15205 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Sun SoAs English 1415-1430 15205 JUL 100 kW / 090 deg Mon-Sat SoAs English 1430-1445 15205 ISS 250 kW / 083 deg Sun SoAs English 1600-1630 13830 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Thu WeAs Persian 1600-1630 13830 JUL 100 kW / 100 deg Sun WeAs English Media Broadcast, last minute changes: WYFR Family Radio, additional from Aug. 15 2200-0100 7360 GUF 250 kW / 170 deg Daily SoAm Portuguese Bible Voice Broadcasting Network (BVBN), additional from Aug. 3 1930-1945 11830 WER 100 kW / 225 deg Mon-Thu NoAf Arabic DRM from Aug. 15 till Sep. 6 1905-1955 11955 NAU 200 kW / 335 deg Daily NoAm ??????? (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Aug 18 via DXLD) ** GUIANA FRENCH. DRM transmissions will be performed from TDF Montsinéry (French Guiana) to Santo Domingo on the occasion of HFCC Conference 18 to 21 August 2009: Code: Tuesday 18 to Thursday 20 August 2009: 16.00-18.00 UTC Friday 21 August 2009: 1600-2100 UTC Frequency = 17870 kHz DRM parameters: Mode B Bandwidth = 10 kHz MSC = 64 QAM CR = 0,6 Audio Encoding = AAC+SBR Power = 150 kW Audio content = local Pictures will be transmitted for viewing on a Uniwave receiver Please post results or comments here. Thanks, (Simone, Germany, DRMDX forum via DXLD) Already heard August 17. The DRM folx sure have a hard time adhering to their own schedules (gh, DXLD) ** HAWAII. KUMU 1500 has changed format to a simulcast of KUMU-FM, and is playing AC music and IDing as "Light 94 point 7 FM." They have 10 kW from a very short tower near the Honolulu airport. They often suffer from selective sideband fading at sunrise and sunset just 10 miles from their transmitter. Their music format may stand out amongst the talk jumble on 1500 on the mainland. They run the syndicated "Delilah" program during the evening path to North America. Their audio bandwidth is limited by phone line delivery. They have weak processing, and rarely modulate over 90% (Brock Whaley, Kailua, Oahu HI for DX Listening Digest) ** HAWAII. TV STATIONS' PACT DRAWS FIRE OFFICIALS SAY DWINDLING REVENUE PROMPTED A SHARING AGREEMENT By Erika Engle POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Aug 19, 2009 http://www.starbulletin.com/business/20090819_TV_stations_pact_draws_fire.html The shared-services agreement between KGMB-TV and KHNL/KFVE-TV to keep all three stations operating in the throes of the revenue-crippling recession was met with fear and loathing yesterday. Advertising revenue for Honolulu's five major TV stations, which is projected to plummet to $48 million this year from $68 million in 2006, prompted the stations to find a creative solution to keep operating, officials said at a news conference. KGMB is owned by Virginia-based MCG Capital Corp. and is its only TV station, while KHNL/KFVE is owned by Alabama-based Raycom Media Inc., which owns or operates stations in 36 markets in 18 states. KGMB is a CBS affiliate, while KHNL is an NBC affiliate and KFVE is an independent station that airs University of Hawaii sports. The programming arrangements will remain in place, though the KGMB and KFVE call letters will be swapped by MCG and Raycom in a pending filing with the Federal Communications Commission. KGMB and KHNL will be led by Rick Blangiardi, and John Fink will head KFVE, each as vice president and general manager. When KGMB, which sold its property at 1534 Kapiolani Blvd. in January 2008, moves in to KHNL/KFVE's facility at 420 Waiakamilo Road in two months, the stations' news, marketing, engineering and possibly other departments will be consolidated, leading to layoffs of 68 people, up to 34 percent of the stations' combined work force of 198 full-time employees. Paul McTear, Raycom president and chief executive officer, would not discuss layoff numbers at the news conference and later disputed the figure that was reported by KGMB and other news outlets, saying there was no official layoff tally. KGMB employees received 60-day termination notices yesterday, and those who remain will become Raycom employees. All employees will be interviewed to determine both the faces that viewers will see delivering the news and the employees who will keep their off-camera jobs. "Layoffs are possible at all three stations," said McTear, adding that Raycom will honor all contracts. A KHNL reporter, who asked not to be identified, said a staff meeting confirmed rumors that had been swirling for months. "For me personally, I'm single," the reporter said. "I can go back home, live with my parents. I'm really worried for people who have made their lives here." It was announced today that KGMB will merge operations with KHNL and K5. The KHNL reporter said fellow employees are worried that KGMB management is calling the shots. "We're going to be one team, but it's going to be a divided team," the reporter said. McTear said in a meeting with the Star-Bulletin that the stations had "done some research." "We're going to base a lot of our (employee retention) decisions based on what people want," McTear said. The consolidation is "a sign of the times," said Joe McNamara, president and general manager of KHON-TV, Honolulu's Fox affiliate. "It gives us more of an opportunity, with one less voice in the marketplace. ... I'm sure we stand to gain from this." KHON parent NV Broadcasting LLC, based in Atlanta, is in the process of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding. It is too early to tell how the arrangement will affect the competitive environment, said Mike Rosenberg, president and general manager of KITV, an ABC affiliate. Its owner, Hearst Corp., has declined to enter news-sharing agreements in several mainland markets, because "we want to be an independent voice in our community, and we're strong enough that we don't have to do that." "When the economy rebounds, we'll be in a better position," Rosenberg said. The agreement and the melding of two newsrooms into one to supply newscasts, some to be simulcast across multiple stations, is troublesome to Media Council Hawaii, formerly the Honolulu Community- Media Council. "It just seems intentionally to avoid the FCC's ... ownership rules, and the consequences are already becoming clear," said President Chris Conybeare. "There are layoffs and less people covering the news, so diversity of opinion is lost." He added, "I think the holders of (broadcast licenses) are supposed to serve the local market and not offshore corporate interests. There might very well be antitrust implications." ——— Star-Bulletin reporter Leila Fujimori contributed to this report. KGMB-TV » 1952: Signed on by the Hawaii Broadcasting System » 1960: Purchased by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin » 1965: Purchased by local broadcaster Cec Heftel » 1977: Purchased by Iowa-based Lee Enterprises Inc. » 2000: Purchased by Indiana-based Emmis Communications Corp. » 2007: Purchased by Virginia-based MCG Capital Corp. subsidiary HITV Operating Co. Inc. » 2009: Entered into a shared-services agreement with KHNL/KFVE-TV owner Raycom National Inc., based in Alabama. Source: Honolulu Star-Bulletin KHNL-TV » 1962: Signed on as KTRG-TV, licensed to Watumull Broadcasting Co. » 1966: Purchased by Ohio-based Friendly Broadcasting Co. and United Broadcasting Co. of Maryland. » 1967: Call letters changed to KIKU; Japanese programming increased. » 1979: Purchased by Mid-Pacific Television Associates. » 1984: Call letters changed to KHNL under new General Manager Rick Blangiardi, former sales manager of KGMB. » 1986: Purchased by King Broadcasting Co. of Seattle. » 1992: King Broadcasting purchased by Providence Journal Broadcasting Corp. and Kelso & Co. » 1993: KHNL began operating KFVE-TV through one of the first local marketing agreements in the U.S. (KFVE first signed on in 1988 under a partnership between Southern Cross and Lee Holmes.) » 1997: Texas-based A. H. Belo Corp. completed the acquisition of Providence Journal Co. » 1999: Alabama-based Raycom Media Inc. purchased KHNL and the local marketing agreement with KFVE, of which it completed an acquisition the same year. Source: KHNL (Aug. 19, 2009 via Brock Whaley, HI, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. 3250.03, R Luz y Vida, San Luís, 0304-0354*, Aug 12 - poor signal, soft spoken religious talk by male in Spanish, partial ID noted just before 0354 s/off (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA100 + ALA330S, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. LAS RADIOS AMERICANAS SE QUEJAN POR LA CENSURA INFORMATIVA EN HONDURAS La Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias-America Latina y Caribe (AMARC-ALC), con sede en Chile, ha denunciado que las libertades de expresión y de información están siendo violadas en Honduras. Las quejas hacen referencia a la censura ejercida por el Gobierno de facto de Roberto Micheletti, la cual se ve agravada, según este colectivo, por la actitud cómplice de los grandes medios de comunicación. Una delegación de AMARC-ALC ha visitado Honduras, donde ha constatado las violaciones que se están produciendo a las libertades ciudadanas, entre ellas la de expresión. El informe que ha elaborado junto con otras ONG ha sido entregado al presidente depuesto del país centroamericano, Manuel Zelaya, de visita en Chile. Asimismo, AMARC- ALC ha ofrecido hacer llegar el informe a las radios comunitarias de Honduras para que informen de su contenido. En una carta remitida a Zelaya, la asociación panamericana afirma que está trabajando para conseguir la ‘inmediata restitución de la democracia en Honduras, que solo será posible - se dice en la misiva - con su retorno'. (Fuente: PR Noticias, España, 14 Agosto 2009) http://www.prnoticias.es/index.php/prlatam/132/10037415 Gracias a Gabriel Iván Barrera, Argentina (via Yimber Gaviria, Noticias de la Radio, DXLD) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1230, August 16, in English with news and sports bulletin; from 1235 to 1315 “Country Roads” Sunday evening music program (C&W songs); many local IDs; songs by Elvis (“Guitar Man”, that I had never heard before!), John Denver, etc.; recently have noted a good number of PSA spots regarding swine flu (H1N1), about its history, symptoms, etc.; 1315 health show in Hindi; mostly fair. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1245, August 18, in English with EZL love songs (“You are still with us for our evening western music program, Heart to Heart”; local IDs; 1354 in English, reading a folk tale; 1415 into Hindi and program of subcontinent music. Superb AIR reception here and on 5040 (Jeypore) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9524.88, Voice of Indonesia, 1502, August 16, with schedule for upcoming English programs; news (amusing item about Dutch grandfather who intended to fly to Sydney, Australia, but landed at Sydney, CANADA, etc); “News From Across the County”; “Today in History”; “Highlight of the Week”; 1525*; fair with light hum (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4749.95, RRI Makassar, 1232-1256 Aug 14. Indo vocal music hosted by M announcer; sounded like ads or program notes at 1238; tuned out at 1256. Fair signal (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 4749.94, RRI Makassar, 1002-1134 Aug 17, Noted a female in Indonesian language comments with mentions of "Indonesia". At 1006 music presented. At 1009 the Qur`an is heard until 1014 when more music is presented. Signal starts to fade by 1023 from a fair (1102) to a threshold at 1034 (Chuck Bolland, Watkins Johnson HF1000, 26.37N, 081.05W, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. C JOY: I need to bring you up-to-date. Hi Glen[n], hope all is well with you. First of all, the station had a major computer crash which limited the station to just music only. Because of Vista, we had streaming problems of which I now got a way around them. I will be making other changes to the program line-up. I am taking you off run-of-station and putting you in a fixed slot. 7:00 Eastern, 6:00 Central. You will be sandwiched in between two ministries. I hope that this fine with you. My new computer will be in hopefully by Thursday. I am presently using a laptop to stream and I am not thrilled with it. I will let you know when everything is in place (Pastor Darryl Breffe, http://www.cjoyinternetradio.com Aug 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Darryl, Sorry to hear of your computer problems. I have managed to avoid Vista so far, fortunately. OK on the schedule change. Do you mean at those two times every day, or certain days? (Glenn to Darryl, via DXLD) Hi Glen[n], Just Saturday at 7:00 P.M. Eastern, 6:00 P.M. Central [2300 UT]. Thank you for understanding. I will let you know when this will happen. Should be the first Saturday in September (Darryl, CJOY, ibid.) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. BBCWS on XM: see UK [non] ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Bill is the first hurricane of the season in the Atlantic-Caribbean region. The US National Hurricane Center provides up-to-date information on the storm. See their site at: http://www.nhc.noaa.gov Also visit the highly reliable Cuban Meteorological Institute site (in Spanish). http://www.insmet.cu/asp/genesis.asp?TB0=PLANTILLAS&TB1=INICIAL http://www.havanatimes.org:80/?p=12710 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Havana Times is a new dentroCuban but seemingly non-confrontational publication; nevertheless, The 5 Heroes get their due. See About Us, featuring younger blogger-types (gh) ** IRAN. 15326.6-15329.9, Bubble jammer against R Farda in Persian on 15330 kHz, at 1330-1500 UT, fair signal level in central Europe, Aug 19 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. 11595, Kol Israel, in Persian, at 1420 with news. 44444 2009/08/17 6973v, Galei Tsahal, in Hebrew, at 1545, with OM announcer. Presumed commentary. 34342 2209/08/17. Greetings (from Gondomar, Portugal, Pedro Turner, CT2KET, Aug 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. Test transmissions are often heard these days on 7550 kHz, e. g. around midday UT on Aug. 12th. They consist of non-stop music and come from Radio Amica, http://www.radioamica.splinder.com Signals sometimes quite strong, but suffers interference from a utility station near its frequency. 73 & good DX (Robert Foerster, Germany, Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Pirate ** JAPAN. 774, JOUB Akita (NHK-2), 1213, August 18, in English and Japanese (language lesson: “I don’t know what the word for Bonsai is”); 1215 the audio suddenly ended, with just open carrier (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [and non]. Re 9-060, The Sunday programme on NHK World Radio Japan - (I tuned in to the 1400 UT broadcast on 13630 via Rampisham with a fair to good signal). Whilst it may have been a repeat, the NHKWNRJ webpages imply that it's a new production: "Listening Library -- Special Edition: Radio drama production 'The Face of Jizo'(Chi Chi to Kuraseba) Part-one --- To mark the 64th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, NHK WORLD, Radio Japan presents, "The Face of Jizo", a radio drama based on the play by Hisashi Inoue. (Translated and adapted by Roger Pulvers.)" (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JORDAN. Aug 17: 11960 is still being heard here, usually at good strength in Arabic // weaker 11810. Close down is around 0715 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. I received that an English language lesson program in Chinese of VOA was relayed at 1800-1900 on Aug. 17 by FEBC-HLAZ Jeju, S. Korea on 1566 kHz (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Japan, Aug 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. 6155.00, KBS, 0900-1000 Aug 16, Just thought I'd follow up on this to see if it was a regular because my current copy of AOKI said this Japanese broadcast by KBS was from 0800 to 0900. Noted a female in Japanese language comments at tune. Signal was threshold at tune in, and it would be easy to miss if one were just tuning up the band. At 0922 noted music presented. Signal remained threshold (Chuck Bolland, Watkins Johnson, HF1000, Correction: 26.27.34.65N, 081.05.34.19W, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chuck, As I pointed out in DXLD with your previous log, Aoki says it`s at 09-10 since August 1. The `current` issue is dated Aug 16. It`s updated almost every day without fail, so one really ought to check it online, rather than download a copy which is not `current` one day later. 6155 KBS WORLD RADIO 0900-1000 1234567 Japanese 250 ND Kimjae KOR 12650E3550N KBS a09 Aug. 1 73, (Glenn to Chuck, via DXLD) Glenn, I got the impression that you weren't sure in your comment. [continued under PUBLICATIONS discussing Aoki updating] I appreciate your correction however. By the way, loggings are so scarce around here in Florida, I got to log just about everything that's readable. A few years ago I would not even consider Korea as DX. Now it's a must report. Keep up the good work (Chuck Bolland, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chuck, What I wasn`t sure about was whether it signed off right after you first heard it since you didn`t say (Glenn to Chuck, via DXLD) Glenn, Okay - I will keep that in mind from now on. And yes they went off the air. I should have mentioned that, but sometimes in the morning I ain't thinking too clearly until after I walk the dogs. Thanks (Chuck Bolland, ibid.) ** KUWAIT. Aug 17: 11675, I haven't been able to hear Kuwait on this frequency over the last few days - and no trace today, neither before nor after 0700. But 13650 was on air as usual. Instead there was DRM which I suppose came via Rangitaiki, NZ - off just before 0700 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. 17725, English talk about Africa fading out and in, Aug 18 at 1445; only poor at best, but certainly V. of Africa as scheduled, and seldom heard. W and M with heavy accent. A little help from the solar flux would certainly audiblize it better, but no signs of that. Perhaps approaching seasonal equinoxial conditions will assist instead. A few minutes later checked for // 21695, but nothing audible on 13m. At 1502, 17725 had declined to a JBA carrier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. SARAWAK, 7130, Sarawak FM, 1229-1245 Aug 11. Been on this frequency all week, down from 7130.52. Signal does not seem quite as strong, and is QRM'ed by strong Taiwan on 7129.87, who this week turned on their carrier anywhere from 1244 to 1301 for the 1300 Japanese transmission (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNID, 7130.00, Aug 17, 1532, weakish carrier noted here to 1600:20 off. Unfortunately I could not detect any definite audio, but frequency was clear after CNR-1 jammer had shut up (for good?) about an hour earlier at 1438. Aoki lists only Sarawak FM left here to 1600 close. This wouldn't be them by any chance? Thank you to Sei-ichi Hasegawa for initially reporting on CBS having finally moved. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Martien, More than a "chance" that you were listening to the Sarawak FM carrier, is almost a certainty! I hear them daily and have reported them on a few occasions (please see below). Have attached a recent audio clip (MP3) when they were still on 7130.50. As you can see in DXLD 9-059, they changed to 7130.00 on August 12. Hope conditions will improve so that you may also enjoy their audio. Best regards, (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, USA, ibid.) 7130.00, Sarawak FM, 1542, Aug 18, tune-in to westernized pop song, male presenter in vernacular which to me sounded akin to Bah Malaysia. Annoying ham QRM, lost audio, carrier appeared to have gone at 1557 check so missed actual s/off. Reception obviously a lot better than yesterday, very pleased to hear this! 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, ibid.) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, Traxx FM, 1416, August 16, in English with pop songs on the Sunday evening request show at “16 past 11. Thank you for tuning in to 90.3 FM in Klang Valley, of course this is the Travel N’ Music station, Traxx FM”; fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. The 50 kW Kajang transmitter used by The Voice of Malaysia for the transmission in Chinese 1000 until 1200 is apparently a bit off frequency. As PBS Xinjiang is only a few Hertz away from nominal 11885 kHz, this results in a heterodyne of about 500 Hz heard regularly, e. g. today, August 17th, at about 1010. The frequency for the Voice of Malaysia appears to be 11884.5 kHz. 73 & good DX (Robert Foerster, Germany, Aug 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. 5995, R Mali, Bamako, *0557, Aug 17 - amazing transmitter dawn enhancement, rising from just threshold audio beginning 0611 UT to good level by 0621 Bamako sunrise. Tribal vocal with drum accompaniment, then monologue by female speaker in French until 0635 UTC. More nice music, female singer accompanied by stringed instrument as signal slowly began to slowly fading (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA100 + ALA330S, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Mali missing on 9635 kHz, yet good propagation to Africa. The parallel 41 m - frequency is on (Robert Foerster, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 6104.8, CANDELA FM. Mérida. 0057-0115 ago 17. Noticias deportivas en el programa Marcador Final. "...aquí cadena RASA.." anuncios comerciales de Salones Versalles, Cerveza Superior, Cablemax. "...Candela, la que más suena..." Luego música tropical y grupera. 6185, RADIO EDUCACION, Ciudad de México, 0451-0508* ago 17. Programa Aprendiendo en Familia. Cierre a las 0501 "...procuramos - - - como de voz y contenido, les damos las gracias por permanecer en nuestra compañía; la selección de programación para la señal de Radio Educación onda corta XEPPM, 6185 kHz en la banda internacional de 49 metros, llega a su fin; pero continúe sintonizando hasta las 6 de la mañana tiempo de la ciudad de Mexico, la señal Radio Educacion XEEP 106 [sic] en amplitud modulada; se despide de usted Mari Carmen García..." Luego el mismo texto pero el idioma inglés (Rafael Rodriguez R., Bogotá, Colombia, Aug 18, JRC NRD-525, Winradio G303I, Hilos de varios metros y longitudes, condiglist yg via DXLD) 6185, XEPPM. R. Educación noted in the clear Aug 17 at 0119 with talk in Spanish, but not enough signal vs the T-storm noise level. Current listings show `ADM` UAE until 0100*, then open window until Vatican at *0205; or is UAE really on 6185 at all? Not per Aoki and EiBi (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Re 9-061, gh`s Televisa on channel 3 with Tabasco PSA: XHVIZ-3 does insert local ads and PSAs, as well as supered text IDs. You had XHVIZ. Today's TV Es --- IDs from: XHFM-2 tele ver XHTV-4 4tv XHP-3 3tv XEWO-2 TVT XHGV-4 rtv XHG-4 time/temp bar upper right XHAJ-5 tele ver XHCGA-6 blocks logo upper left XHDI-5 text ID upper left 1738, 1808 XHDRG-2 text ID upper left 1748 XHBC-3 logo lower right XEFB-2 Teleactiva XHWX-4 text ID upper left XHCH-2 Chihuahua ads XEPM-2 tucanal (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, Aug 15, WTFDA via DXLD) ** NAURU. C2, NAURU. By the time you read this, the C21TI DXpedition by Dani, EA4ATI/9M2TI, should be on the air until August 23rd. According to his Web page, Dani seems to be alone on this operation. The Web page states he will be staying at the "OD-N Aiwo Hotel", were previous DXpeditions have operated from, and he asks for patience, especially on CW where he is not an expert. There is a chance he may meet C21RK. Activity will be on all HF bands including 60m and 6m. The suggested frequencies mentioned (as of now) are: CW - 1825.5, 3505, 7005, 10110, 14025, 18075, 21025, 24895 and 28025 SSB - 1825.5, 3799, 7065, 14195, 18145, 21295, 24945 and 28495 kHz 60m - 5403.05 (SSB) 6m - 50.115 MHz (CW/SSB) QSL via EA4ATI (see details on QRZ.com or the Web below). Look for possible updates on: http://c21ti.madrono.net/index.html (Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 921, August 17, 2009, Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. Meant to mention that altho RNZI was absent from analog 11725, Aug 14 after 0500, it was back the next night and every night since including Aug 17 check at 0524 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. Sabato 15 agosto 2009, 0658 - 9705 kHz, LV DU SAHEL - Niamey, French, talk OM e musica locale. Segnale insufficiente- sufficiente. Notata già il 12 agosto. Solito battimento con R. Ethiopia 9704.2 (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DXLD) 9704.99, LV du Sahel, Niamey, 2120-2159*, Aug 16, Tentative. Weak signal with lite US pop music. French/vernacular talk. Sign off at 2159 but unable to hear many program details after 2150 due to a high noise level. (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Aug 17 at 1825 checked 9705 and it's Niger, with "La Voix du Sahel" id. A bit humming audio (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9705.000, ORTN, 1825, French. Talk by a woman, nice Sahel flute music at 1827, then into vocals. Readable, despite bad audio hum. Had to use USB to escape Ethiopia low-side. Peaking at about S9+20. 18 August (David Sharp, NSW Australia, FT-950 and ICF-2010, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 10 Aug, 0959 - 9690 kHz, V of NIGERIA - Ikorodu, English, IDs YL. Segnale buono (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. I beg your indulgence, dear reader, but am filing here a few items of local interest only, not likely hearable elsewhere. 11370, Aug 18 at 1545, mix of WWCR-9980 and local KCRC-1390, the sum of their frequencies. External mixing, or entirely in-receiver? The FRG-7 picks up some local images, apparently from VHF. Possibly interaxion with first IF: 15515, brief transmission at 1609 Aug 17, YL seemed to concern railroad, AM? No, slope detexion, and center frequency of NBFM was about 15514. Could not hear it on the YB-400. Nothing further heard by 1618. There are plenty of railroads thru Enid, once a major hub, most of them diagonal, and with only a handful of over/underpasses, so trains often delay road traffic. Some of the roughest crossings were finally fixed a year or two ago. 25915 approx., Aug 18 at 1511, as I tuned thru 11m not expecting to hear anything, brief transmission sounded like ``Hello Duke, Congress Especial``. No skip seemed to be in play on CB 27 MHz. Another image from VHF? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4735.42, Radio Maranon, 1103-1115 Aug 19, Noted music until 1107, then a male and female comment in Spanish language live. Signal was fair at this time (Chuck Bolland, Watkins Johnson HF1000, 26.37N 081.05W, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I guess you meant 4835.42. BTW, there is not only a ~ tilde on the n, but an accent on the o in Marañón. EVERYONE leaves the latter off, even WRTH and native SS writing in Spanish, but it is absolutely required as the name is stressed on the last syllable. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** PERU. 4835.4, RADIO MARAÑÓN. Jaén, 0248-0254* ago 16. Notada con Full S/off: "... Desde Jaén en el nororiente del Perú, transmitió Radio Marañón, la voz y el sentir de nuestros pueblos; 580 amplitud modulada y 95.9 FM señal satelital [sic]; estamos ubicados en Orellana 343, Jaén; teléfonos 076 431147, 432168, Telefax 432580. Dirreción electronica http://www.radiomaranon.org.pe Estamos afiliados a la Asociación Latinoiamericana de Educación Radiofónica, ALER; a la Asociación Mundial de Radios Comunitarias, AMARC y a la Coordinadora Nacional de Radio, CNR... Radio Marañón es una emisora del vicariato apostólico San Francisco Javier... que la alegría de Jesús resucitado nos acompañe en esta noche, muy buenas noches..." 4888.2, unID peruana no operó durante este fin de semana, chequeada en diferentes días y horarios. 4950.1, RADIO MADRE DE DIOS. Puerto Maldonado, 0140-0150* Ago 17. Pobre señal y baja modulación. Música tecnocumbia, con cierre a las 0147, parcial cierre: "... Perú, ha llegado a la parte final de su programación - - - acompañándoles con nuestra programación musical, deportiva, informativa y religiosa; desde la ciudad portuaria más importante del departamento de Madre de Dios, transmitimos - - - a través de los 4950 de la onda corta, 92.5 frecuencia modulada - - - - locutores, periodistas - - - de Radio Madre de Dios, agradecemos a todos y cada uno de ustedes - - - estaremos retornando mañana a partir de las 5 horas - - - amigo y amigas de Madre de Dios, del Perú y el mundo, que tengan un sueño reparador y un feliz despertar..." Luego himno nacional. PERUANAS EN 60 METROS A LAS 1400 UT Domingo Agosto 16: 4824.4, Radio La Voz de la Selva retrasmitiendo señal de FM, ID como "LVS Digital" 4835.4, Radio Marañón [sic, with accent already!], programa religioso 4940, Radio San Antonio con misa dominical 4955, Radio Cultural Amauta con programación de Alas HCJB 5024.8, Radio Quillabamba, fuera del aire Rebelde [CUBA]; con programación y música en vernacular, baja señal 5120.3, Ondas del Suroriente. Programa con noticias locales 9675, PACIFICO RADIO. Lima, 1558-1640 ago 16. Anuncios de charlas y conferencias evangelísticas al dar la hora: "...en Pacífico Radio 640 AM... ésta es la hora exacta, son las 11... si nos escuchas, es por que nos prefieres, somos Pacífico Radio 640 amplitud modulada..." Luego program Familia con Propósito (Rafael Rodriguez R., Bogotá, Colombia, Aug 18, JRC NRD-525, Winradio G303I, Hilos de varios metros y longitudes, condiglist yg via DXLD) So not Radio Pacífico (gh) ** PHILIPPINES. Checking 9625 to see whether CBCNQ was back from its excursion to 9755 the night before, see CANADA, Aug 17 at 1326 heard its rippling SAH against dominant signal in Hmong, which is FEBC Manila, confirmed as such with announcer giving P and E-mail addresses, http://www.hmongradio.febc.com --- then 1331 Jesus Saves IS on chimes/vibes several times, 1332 song. Scheduled to go from Hmong to Khmu at 1330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. RRI, 9580, UT Mon Aug 17 at 0051 with birdlike vocalizations by human singer, into Romanian Rhapsody tune. Maybe Skylark show; love their folk music. Also ran across another Tiganeshti broadcast, 9645, at 0223 during classical violin/piano music, het de perpetual Brazilian spoiler Bandeirantes, 0226 Spanish announcement from RRI. 9645 also used for 0300 English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 5920.00, Radio Rossii, 1013-1036 Aug 18, Noted two males in Russian language comments. This is mixing with WBOH, but because WBOH is off frequency at about 4 Hertz at 5919.96, Rossii is readable. Checked 5940 for a parallel on Rossii and noted an even weaker signal there. Rossii on 5920 was fair to good (Chuck Bolland, Watkins Johnson HF1000, FL, 26.37N, 081.05W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That would be 40 Hz, but how is even that enough to make a station more readable? (gh, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 7345, Radio Rossii via Yakutsk, 1357, August 16. Queen with “We Are The Champions”; // 7200 and 7140. With CNR-1 being temporarily off the air here for maintenance, this was in the clear (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. Lunedì 10 agosto 2009, 0944 - 17805 kHz, SuperBuzzSKSA - Ryadh (A. Saudita), Musica locale. Segnale sufficiente - 'buono' (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) 17560, poor with non-buzzing muezzins (two of them, or multitracked?) at 1623 Aug 17, 1635 Arabic talk; bothered by stronger but not very strong carrier on 17565 from Greenville about to start Creole at 1630. PWBR ‘2009` says 17560 is BSKSA Holy Qur`an Station, and per Aoki that is still correct, 1600-1755 at 270 degrees. Also noticed better signal on non-buzzing 15205 was already muezzening at 1655, in case one wants to nap before noon. Probably // but not confirmed as such. Meanwhile Sawt al-Buzz much stronger at 1555 on 15435 // no buzz on 15225 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. SAUDI RADIO TO START BROADCASTING IN TURKISH 22 AUGUST | Text of report in English by Saudi state-owned official news agency SPA website Riyadh, 17 August: The Minister of Culture and Information, Dr Abdulaziz bin Mohieddin Khojah has approved that Saudi Radio starts broadcasting in Turkish language next Saturday [August 22]. In a statement to the Saudi Press Agency (SPA), the Assistant Undersecretary of the Ministry for Radio Affairs Ibrahim bin Ahmed Al- Saqa'ob pointed out that the 9675 kHz frequency transmission will be launched from Jedda Radio for three hours daily starting from 9:00 p.m. until midnight, noting that the transmission will be directed to Turkey, northern Iraq, northern Syria, Greece and Cyprus. Source: SPA news agency website, Riyadh, in English 0000 gmt 17 Aug 09 (via BBCM via DXLD) UT +3? = 1800-2100 UT (gh, DXLD) This is a resumption of the service terminated in 2007, albeit it’ll now be aired in the local evening rather than morning. MN item re closure here: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/saudi-radio-ends-turkish-language-broadcast#more-7142 (Dave Kernick August 18th, 2009 - 14:12 UTC, Media Network blog comment via DXLD) ** SERBIA [non]. Since IRS had been confirmed on 9675 the last few days before 0100, I expected to hear it again UT Monday August 17 --- but nothing there at 0035 when the 6-daily 0030 English should have appeared. Propagation OK as VOR 9665 Pridnestrovye was fine next door. So is IRS phasing itself out, gone, or just sporadic? 24 hours later, UT Aug 18 at 0030 check, 9675 still vacant, unlike VOR 9665. So is anyone still hearing IRS any time on 9675 to NAm, scheduled 0000-0130, or 6100 to Europe between 1800 and 2130? They have hinted at closing down the SW service permanently, staying on Internet and satellite (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, I think that your non-reception of IRS was probably just a propagation issue. Shortwave from BIJeljina WILL CONTINUE till the end of this year, for sure. The webpage mentioned few weeks ago was just a wrong translation from Serbian to English. The correct translation is THE ONLY SW STATION OF SERBIA WILL ALSO (!!!) CONTINUE BROADCASTING THRU SATELLITE AND THE INTERNET I checked the frequency of 6100 kHz this evening, 18. August 2009: 1752:40z OPEN CARRIER STARTED [Bulgaria] 1759:40z R BULGARIA I.S. 1800:00z IRS I.S. & R BUL jingle 1800:20z IRS with YL in Russian & R BUL with OM in Bulgarian Both stations received with excellent signal but the MIXTURE is terrible! 73 (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, SERBIA, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dragan, Good, but there was really absolutely no signal on 9675 the past nights after 0030 (or maybe before), while VOR/Pridnestrovye was well audible on 9665, so I don`t think it was propagation. Perhaps IRS was off for some other reason, as frequently happens. Maybe you can find out. 73, (Glenn, ibid.) In Moscow it's usually no trace of IRS [6100], just R. Bulgaria in Bulgarian. As a result it's not uncommon to see Russian DXers' reports that IRS is broadcasting in Serbian instead of Russian ;) (Sergei S. Russia, ibid.) Missing the last few evenings from 9675, IRS was back UT Aug 19 at 0030 check with IS (changed for the worse, no longer as catchy?), opening English. Also at 0037 check UT August 20, altho it and VOR 9665 were much weaker with K=2. SW service had seemed in limbo, but Dragan Lekic reports that a bad English translation on their website was the problem. In fact, it should say ``THE ONLY SHORTWAVE STATION OF SERBIA WILL ALSO (!!!) CONTINUE BROADCASTING THRU SATELLITE AND THE INTERNET``, i.e. still on SW at least thru yearend. But it`s not unusual for Bijeljina, Bosnia site to break down for one reason or another (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare monitoring Aug 17: at 1542 on 17485 (which he thinx is 17435) via Germany, running 6 seconds behind 13845 WWCR. Recheck at 1703, 13845 had changed to Pastor Melissa Scott, but when next I noticed scarcely 2 minutes later at 1704, it was B.S. again! Unfortunately, I missed the axual transition. Just as Rick Barton, AZ, has previously monitored, for some reason at 1700 they change to PMS for a few minutes, then back to BS for another hour(?) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 7190.05, SLBC, 1221, August 17. First time I have heard them here. Subcontinent type music and singing; BoH pips; choral Anthem; 1232*; weak (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 7200, SRTC, *0232-0405+, Aug 16, abruptly on with Qur`an. Arabic talk at 0252. Local pop music. “Huna Omdurman” IDs. Local chants. Chirping birds. Fair to good but some HAM QRM. Much stronger than yesterday (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. 3200, Trans World Radio, Manzini, 0304-0325*, Aug 12 - poor signal, religious talk and instrumental music. Listed in the Bantu tribal language of Ndebele. Promptly off at listed 0320 UT. 3240, Trans World Radio, Manzini, 0304-0320*, Aug 12 - generally poor signal in static, but better than 3200 kHz. Religious talk, musical bridges. Listed in the Bantu tribal languages of Shona and Ndau. Promptly off at listed 0320 UT, occasional ute QRM on the LSB (Brandon Jordan - Memphis, TN, USA, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook ALA100 + ALA330S, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [and non]. TAIWAN STATION MOVED FROM THE HAM BAND The RTI-CBS Chinese for Mainland on 7185 moved to 7385 kHz from Aug 15 at 1000-1700 UT. And RTI-CBS 2nd confirmed that it moved Aug. 16 at 1400 UT to 6075 kHz from 7130. // 6145. Clearing it can receive 6075 kHz non-jamming. 7130 kHz can receive only CNR-1 of the jamming. To be a plan is to Aug. 18, the RTI- Japanese service on 7130 kHz returns to the Tainan transmitter site from Aug. 19. [and thus back to 9735? -- gh] de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Aug 16, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also MALAYSIA/SARAWAK La RTI-CBS da Taiwan lascia la banda radioamatoriale Continua lo spostamento dei trasmettitori oggi in banda radioamatoriale dopo la destinazione a questi ultimi della porzione di frequenze comprese tra i 7100 e i 7200 khz; questa volta tocca alla RTI-CBS in cinese che ha riposizionato i suoi 7185 a 7385 Khz. Anche l'altra frequenza, quella dei 7130 dove è ancora possibile ascoltare la CNR-1 che era utilizzata come jamming nei confronti del trasmettitore di Taiwan, è stata riposizionata su una frequenza consentita, quella dei 6075 Khz. Quest'ultima trasmissione è in parallelo con i 6145 khz (S. Hasegawa, NDXC via dxld ml, translated by Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, playdx yg via DXLD)) 7130 (nom.), Radio Taiwan International, 1245 8/16 with open carrier at 1245. At first I thought RTI was on in progress and undermodulated but later I realized they were transmitting open carrier, muting unID station in Asian language underneath. S/on at 1300 and opening broadcast in Japanese language (Rick Barton, Arizona, Hammarlund HQ- 140-X, outdoor r.w., ABDX via DXLD) ** THAILAND. I can`t believe how many anomalies I run across by random tuning (and knowing what is supposed to happen). On 9455, Aug 17 at 1333, heard news by YL in English, accented, Thai? 1335 on to global news about Nigeria, Obama; 1337 break for OM canned ID ``This is Radio Thailand, English language service``, then feature ``Perspective``. Fair and clear signal --- but wait a minute, English on 9455 is supposed to be at 1400, and after a beam switch when seldom audible here. 1330-1400 is supposed to be in Thai on 54 degree beam toward Japan, which is close to same as for NAm. A nice surprise, but probably a tape mixup or something. 1357 cut to open carrier, 1358 announcements really in Thai, 1359:30 cut carrier, 1400 back on much weaker, 132 degrees. So what language then, English again, or Thai makeup swap? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 7350, CNR-11 (Tibetan Service), 1430, August 16. “China National Radio. Welcome to our English program ‘Holy Tibet’. Hello friends”; “Tourism of Tibet”, interview with American visiting Lhasa (have heard this same interview here about 3 times before today); Tibetan singing; almost fair; // 6010. 7350, CNR-11 (Tibetan Service), 1430, August 18. Have posted an audio file of the introduction and news from the “Holy Tibet” program in English at dxldyg “Files > Station Sounds”. Is one of my favorite shows! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY [non]. At least Sackville managed to get the right program on 7325 [cf. CANADA; unlike the entire month of March], VOT in English, UT Monday Aug 17 at 0325, VG signal with YL lecturing on circumcision, how the Turx make a big deal out of it as a coming-of- age public family ceremony for boys, rather than getting it over with as infants, if at all. How barbaric. Appropriately paused frequently for sad, wailing music. It seems high season for this is spring, and preferred days of week are Thu, Sat and Sun. 0329 ending this feature ``Our Culture,`` into next one, ``Blue Voyage``, a travelog about some bay, with OM Sedef, and that would have been more pleasant to listen to if I had time. Did recheck at 0350 sign-off, but stays on air with multiple plays of VOT IS variations on piano, something I enjoy hearing in full occasionally; 0356 started interspersing French-only La Voix de la Turquie IDs as if that language were about to start --- but not of course, on this or any SW frequency, off at 0358* uncovering weak B-B- C chimes from Rampisham starting Arabic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [non]. Aug 17: 12015, although initially listed for 12105, the BBC has remained with this frequency from Meyerton, RSA for their English to Africa service at 0600-0700. This is parallel with Ascension frequencies 6005 (poor/fair), 9410 (good) and 11765 (very poor at first, but improving). I did check to see if 9860, 0600-1400 53SW,57N MEY 100 15 was audible, but it wasn't (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17640 with BBCWS news in English Aug 18 at 1503. Only fair and not always audible, but BBC-famished North Americans may add this to possible frequencies: now scheduled as Ascension at 13-17, 114 degrees (and before at 08-13, 17640 is Seychelles, 270 degrees) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CANADA; UNIDENTIFIED 11890 ** U K. NORTH CAROLINA'S METRO MAGAZINE: "BANISH THE BBC" http://www.metronc.com/article/?id=1947 While the writer does appear to be infected with some bombast himself, nonetheless he raises some interesting points regarding how the World Service has evolved over the years. – (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, swprograms via DXLD) No one will ever accuse me of worshipping the ground the BBC walks on. So when I say that Mr. Reeves appears to have much more of a political agenda than what he accuses the BBC of having, I think I can say it with some measure of objectivity. Mr. Reeves apparently lost his (on this subject at least) some time ago. After a while his rant was hurting my ears and I was only reading it. My advice to him would be to direct his ire more toward Fox, CNN, ABC, NBC and CBS. The BBC has some prodigious faults, but it covers more of the world (and more dispassionately) than any of these (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon NY, ibid.) ** U K [non]. Is BBC WS on XM satellite the real BBC WS? I am contemplating switching from Sirius Satellite Radio to XM because XM reportedly carries the BBC World Service in full versus Sirius' "BBC World News" stripped down version. However, when I checked XM's schedule on line, it was not clear to me that this is indeed the real BBC World Service, it still looked like a stripped down version. Any one know? (Andy O`Brien, NY, ex-UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [and non]. GUY BURGESS 'EXPLOITED BBC EXPENSES TO MAKE HIMSELF A BETTER SPY' Guy Burgess abused the BBC`s expenses system by insisting on travelling first class, running up large bar bills and spending most of his time meeting contacts who could have helped his spying career, according to documents made public by the corporation. Burgess, one of the Cambridge Five group of traitors who passed British secrets to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, worked for the BBC as a producer in the late 1930s and early 1940s. His love of the high life and his drunken exploits, reported in 24 memos, make recent disclosures about BBC expenses --- such as a claim by Mark Thompson, the DirectorGeneral, for a £100 bottle of champagne for Bruce Forsyth`s 80th birthday --- seem quite tame. <...> [M]anagers at the BBC appeared reluctant to let him go when the Foreign Office sought to poach him in 1944. Nobody guessed that he was secretly working for the Soviet Union, and the mask did not slip until 1951, when Burgess defected to the Soviet Union with Donald Maclean. The defection was an embarrassment to the BBC. It was eventually admitted that the corporation regarded his departure as a ``loss to the Talks Department`` but not, as the memos recorded it at the time, a ``serious loss``. The documents can be viewed at http://www.bbc.co.uk/archive Source: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6799648.ece (via Sergei S., Russia, dxldyg via DXLD) See also: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8206413.stm (via Jaisakthivel, Chennai, India, ibid.) ** U K. Absolute CTRL testing on DAB http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2009/aug/18/absolute-radio-digital-live-music-station-ctrl (via Jaisakthivel, Chennai, India, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.: A story in today's Media Guardian has solved the mystery of a new tenant on the DAB multiplexes in Greater London. For the last couple of weeks, I've noticed a station labelled CTRL. It appeared to be transmitting a very strange-sounding continuous beat, which sounded like a cross between a train on tracks, and the roar of the crowd at a massive stadium. Whatever the sound atually is, the stadium roar would be the most appropriate, it seems: "Absolute Radio is to launch a new live-music digital radio station with the working name of Absolute CTRL. The station has begun test transmissions on DAB in London. Absolute CTRL will play a "selection of live recordings of rock and pop music aimed at a broad adult audience interested in live music". Absolute, owned by the Times of India Group, already runs two digital- only stations, Absolute Radio Classic Rock and Absolute Radio Xtreme. The station's test recordings are currently sharing the same DAB slot as the children's radio station Fun Kids. The children's station airs between 6am and 7pm, with Absolute CTRL broadcasting between 7pm and 6am. Absolute CTRL's broadcast licence was approved by the media regulator, Ofcom, earlier this month. Absolute Radio's brand director, Chris Lawson, said it was the first of a number of new products the station wanted to unveil before its first anniversary in September (via Mark Savage, Aug 19, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Next channel to be named ``PAUSE BREAK`` (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Re 9-060: If you missed MUSIC TIME IN AFRICA on short wave, and you really like the show, you can download it. Here are the links. Music Time in Africa, Saturdays at 0900z (downloadable from 1005z) [RM/20kbps/44kHz/mono]: ftp://8475.ftp.storage.akadns.net/real/voa/africa/engl/engl0900aSAT.rm Music Time in Africa, Sundays at 0900z (downloadable from 1005z) [RM/20kbps/44kHz/mono]: ftp://8475.ftp.storage.akadns.net/real/voa/africa/engl/engl0900aSUN.rm Regards (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, Aug 16, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. VOA/IBB Greenville has finally followed my advice to cease interfering with itself by overlapping with Botswana at 1430 on 17585. Aug 18 at 1428 This Day in History segment was allowed to finish and then dropped carrier immediately at 1430:00* without any YDD signoff routine. Botswana takeup to continue same English hour should also have crash-started at *1430:00 but not audible here as it occasionally is. I think they are warming up on 17575 instead (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Launch of HCJB/IBB DRM trial broadcasts on August 17 The HCJB Global Technology Center, based in Elkhart, IN, USA in cooperation with the International Broadcasting Bureau, will begin a series of digital broadcast test transmissions on shortwave starting on August 17. The demonstration broadcasts are using IBB transmission facilities on the east coast of the USA and a DRM exciter and content server developed by the HCJB Global Technology Center. The broadcasts are operating at an average DRM power of approximately 8 kW using a rhombic antenna aimed at 45 degrees on 15475 kHz from 2000 to 2200 UT for reception in Europe and a log periodic antenna aimed at 306 degrees on 9405 kHz from 0000 to 0400 UT for reception in North America. The broadcasts are expected to continue for at least several weeks. Reception reports can be emailed to ibbhcjb@gmail.com Please visit http://www.hcjb.org/tech for more information on the work of the HCJB Global Technology Center (Charlie Jacobson, HCJB Global Technology Center, drmna yg via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Aug 16, dxldyg via DXLD) ALERT - SCHEDULE CHANGE: Due to some personnel limitations in Greenville the trail broadcast will not begin until Tuesday, August 18. Just trying build anticipation (Charles Jacobson via drmna yg via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Aug 17, dxldyg via DXLD) The IBB/HCJB DRM tests from Greenville supposed to start Aug 17 were reported delayed until Aug 18. The only chance I had to check 15475 Aug 18 was around 2130, however, and no DRM heard. At 0030 Aug 19, the other test on 9400-9405-9410 was inblasting. Also Aug 19 at 2030 check, no DRM heard around 15475 nor anywhere else on 19m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 15460 with unID language, several speakers, Aug 18 at 1450. Rather than guess, I will look it up later: R. Liberty in Georgian at 14-15; Aoki says Biblis, HFCC says Lampertheim, GERMANY anyway. I haven`t yet figured out how to recognize Georgian right away; any tips with common words, phrases or characteristic phonemes? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR announced from Aug 17 it would test 15830 instead of 15825 because of `squeal` problem, but several chex here that day found it always on 15825: at 1351 music at S9+10, not enough to overcome nearby T-storm crashes; 1407 with preacher; VG signal at 1646, no squeal audible but some hum, also at 1703. Final check at 2025, sporadic E-enhancement was over and just barely audible, still on 15825 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SOUTH CAROLINA [non] WWCR shows up on a different new frequency, 15820: announced plans to test 15830 this week instead of 15825, but there it was really on 15820 instead, Aug 18 at 1408, VG S9+20 signal in preaching. Still 15820 at 1505 check. Trace of squeal possibly at imagination-level, but not really a problem. Anyhow, I don`t think shifting 5 kHz up or down will have any effect on the possible squealing. No other broadcasters are scheduled on 15820 or 15830 at any time, so it seems WWCR may experiment freely. I have yet to hear the `current` edition of Ask WWCR, which discusses this, as the file is Not Found: http://www.wwcr.com/ask-wwcr_299.mp3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On August 19 I heard WWCR at 1300 UT on new 15820 kHz (Christer Brunström, Halmstad, Sweden, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15820, WWCR just barely audible here with no sporadic E enhancement Aug 19 at 1410, testing instead of 15825. Christer Brunström in Sweden agrees it was on 15820 at 1300. Also on 15820 JBA at 2030 check. So when Friday 2028:30 comes with WORLD OF RADIO, I revise my advisory to check 15830 too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 9-060: ``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, ABDX via DXLD)`` Oops, I got mixed up too. WWCR is now on 9980 at 12-02, but used to be on 9985, and still uses that for another transmitter at 09-11 only. WYFR now uses 9985 also, at 03-08. 73, (Glenn Hauser, Aug 18, ibid.) ** U S A. WWRB, 18770 = 2 x 9385 with Brother Scare, Aug 18 at 1447. I was still on the inside antenna and could hear it even there, tho certainly stronger at 1510 check on outside antenna. I am still looking for anyone else to report DXing this. HF sporadic E assistance once again in play, as evidenced also by WWCR 15820, WWV well heard on 20000. WWV is only 500 miles away, and simply will not be heard here on 20000 without Es (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Seems WRNO is still running only 3 hours a day, and mostly rock music instead of preaching, which is fine with me, but it seems slow to reach its potential after a year back on the air, and never on reserved daytime channel 15590. Aug 17 at 0114, 7505 with good music modulation, steady S9+22, 0116 ID as WRNO Worldwide, gospel rock with refrain sounding like ``You Are God``, which would seem somewhat blasphemous, and nothing about grokking mentioned. Signal had faded down a lot by 0400 sign-off, carrier to 0401:30* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WTJC, 9370v, still putting out spurs, Aug 17 at 1343, weak on approx. 9345 but // 9370 matching Scourby modulation peaks; also a trace on 9395, but too much splash from WWRB 9385. The weaker spurs correlate with a weaker fundamental at the moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. ATTORNEY: FBI TRAINED NJ BLOGGER TO INCITE OTHERS By KATIE NELSON Aug 18, 3:45 PM EDT Associated Press Writer HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) -- A New Jersey blogger facing charges in two states for allegedly making threats against lawmakers and judges was trained by the FBI on how to be deliberately provocative, his attorney said Tuesday. Hal Turner worked for the FBI from 2002 to 2007 as an "agent provocateur" and was taught by the agency "what he could say that wouldn't be crossing the line," defense attorney Michael Orozco said. "His job was basically to publish information which would cause other parties to act in a manner which would lead to their arrest," Orozco said. Prosecutors have acknowledged that Turner was an informant who spied on radical right-wing organizations, but the defense has said Turner was not working for the FBI when he allegedly made threats against Connecticut legislators and wrote that three federal judges in Illinois deserved to die. . . http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CT_BLOGGER_LAWMAKER_THREATS_CTOL-?SITE=RIPRJ&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2009-08-18-08-32-13 (Providence Journal via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. The convicted Tony Alámo still going on WINB, as I tuned by 13570, Aug 17 at 1543, interfering with CODAR as WINB faded in and out (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Usually inaudible when jammed and on Caribeam, WRMI 9955 becomes audible when switches to NW antenna toward us, such as happens Sunday evenings only, UT Mondays 0200-0430 with two hours of Wire Light infomercials, and then a semihour of La Biblia Explicada, as per current sked, as heard Aug 17 at 0219 over jamming two YLs discussing metrics, what`s hot; 0406 preaching about agentes satánicos. Still jammed at both times, despite non-exile content, but atop it. WRMI was supposedly going to be more active on 9955 with WRN afternoon relays during the HFCC week, but could not detect it here Aug 19 around 1730 or 2030 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi GLENN - WEWN was off today Aug 17 from 1608 to 1900. I was mobile and was checking the bands and ran into WEWN on 15610 with the transmitter going off and on the air. At 1607 announcer said they were having technical problems and would go off the air until they got it corrected. I found them back on at 19 (Rick Barton, Arizona, Sangean ATS-803A, New-Tronics 1C-100 (S), roofmount antenna, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Aug 17: 11520, no trace of WEWN today at 0645 UT, but using LSB (to avoid a digital ute on about 7557) I could hear 7555 at good strength // weak 11870 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. So, can anyone confirm that 1540 Albany (WDCD) was in fact off the air? Sure sounds like it. And that would be VERY welcome news here if it lasted. WDCD (ex-WPTR) is very loud here and has owned the channel for decades (Mark DeLorenzo, MA, Aug 15, WTFDA-AM via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DXLD) It might have been off last night but I'm listening to it right now and it's strong (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, Aug 16, ibid.) OK, thanks Mike. Christian music-1540 loud & clear here as usual at 1925 EDT so no doubt WDCD - darn! (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, Cape Cod, Mass. http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?t=228 ibid.) WDCD signs off every night anywhere from 10 pm to midnight [0200/0400 UT], depending on if the timeslot is sold. Ironically, I also logged WXEX-NH (ESPN sports) last night with an old Superadio 1 - but did catch a clear TOH ID under CHIN and a little bit of KXEL (Andrew MacKenzie, Ballston Lake NY, ibid.) Yikes! A 50kw station that signs off every night? Incredible! I'm going to check 1540 for the first time in years! Thanks for the info Andrew! (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, Cape Cod, Mass., ibid.) What a coincidence follows, or is the infexion spreading first in Albany? (gh, DXLD) SIGN OFF, AND SAVE SOME MONEY Paul Thurst, director of engineering for Pamal Broadcasting Ltd. in Albany, N.Y., posted an article 8/13/09 at http://www.rwonline.com/article/85412 Opening line: "A few years ago I was tasked with finding out what was wrong with our night coverage on 1420 WLNA(AM)." Closing line: "It is time that we broadcasters started cleaning up our act, stop wasting energy and start saving a little money in this time of tight budgets. Besides, it might make the AM band almost listenable again overnight." Interesting reading for DXers! (Fred Schroyer, Freelance Science Writer / Editorial Consultant, Waynesburg, PA 15370, (40 air miles S of Pittsburgh, 20 N of Morgantown, WV), IRCA via DXLD; also via Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) Signing off at night is a common thought among broadcasters. At one of my clients, that did come up recently. Management didn't want to sign off for a couple of reasons. First, they considered that being off would result in a button press on a radio. That way when the radio was turned back on, it would not be tuned to their station. Second is a technical reason that I agree with. When a station goes off, it can be a failure point when it's restarted. Many years ago I worked at stations that sign off, and it was an occasional problem at sign-on. A few places where I work do not have heat in their transmitter buildings. In winter the room will drop temperature down to the point where condensation will happen. Moisture can cause serious deterioration over time. At what was then WJAR-920 the building heat failed. The older RCA transmitter was needed and the condensation in the high voltage power supply caused the plate transformer to be destroyed. Took literally months to get the right replacement. Another client is a daytimer with no heat at the transmitter site. Sign on in winter is occasionally an issue. On the rare, severely cold nights all they do is cut audio and leave the transmitter on. There is a possibility that the failures and resultant loss of air time and repair costs would completely eat up the power savings. The AM band would be *far* better off if there was compliance with the FCC Part 15 regulations. Way too many sources (besides IBOC) have brought the noise floor up many decibels. RF interference from other stations is an issue, but broadband noise is at least as bad. TVs, internet and computer equipment, wall wart power supplies, and even traffic lights all contribute to this. These parts should not be allowed if they cause this. Even high quality equipment can be an issue. My wife has an expensive Mac laptop and it makes a series of buzz noises every 100 kHz from LW right through the SW bands. It's even a problem on a small antenna at the top of my tower, so it has quite a bit of range. As we've seen, there are significant numbers of stations that don't seem to switch to their licensed night facilities. The FCC doesn't seem to search these out, so they are becoming more common. That has been a thread in this list where some folks think that it shouldn't be mentioned. Personally, I think posting a comment here when a station is suspected of this isn't a bad idea. Reporting to the FCC is not something I'd do myself unless it affected one of my clients. In that situation it's just business. Hobby-wise would I like to see sign-off policies back where they were fifty-plus years ago? Oyez... (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, IRCA via DXLD) You bring up some good points, but, at the risk of stating the obvious, wouldn't a $50 space heater resolve the cold and condensation issues? I once had a very nice oil-filled electric radiator that kept the bedroom nice and toasty for just pennies a night. It might not be able to maintain "toasty" in an uninsulated block wall building when it's -20F outside, but I'm sure it would keep stuff from freezing. (Jay Heyl, ABDX via DXLD) In one place the owner won't allow that. In another, the room is just too large and drafty. I do have a plug-in heater at one location just for that purpose. It's a backup for a heat pump unit. The place where the owner isn't co-operative also has a leaky roof. He won't bother to get that fixed either. I stopped working for them last winter (Craig Healy, Providence, RI, ibid.) I believe the old saying, "Penny wise, pound foolish," applies here. It sounds like you made a good move when you stopped working for them. (Jay Heyl, ibid.) Now THAT'S a story - this guy's right-on-spot. I'm surprised that his station even GOT complaints about interference - if I were a Fox Sports nut (not), I'd just flip over to some 50 kW all-nighter on another frequency carrying FS and be happy --- but he made that point indirectly, too (Darwin Long, ibid.) Back in the old days, 900 CKDH used to leave an open carrier at night in winter so the transmitter wouldn't freeze. Gets pretty cold at night in mid January on the Tantramar Marshes! The widespread adoption of Nautels in these parts led to the installation of baseboard electric heating units and, over time, better practices in terms of the routing of coax. Putting coax through the attic = bad idea. 25KW going through frozen coax yields major trouble and major egg on face (Phil Rafuse, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 9-060: KFWB goes talk --- I don't know who initiated the change between KFI & Dr Laura but Dr Laura's production company, "Take on the Day", just announced a new agreement with Talk Radio Network (Laura Ingraham, Michael Savage, etc) for affiliate representation replacing Premiere Radio, owned by Clear Channel, which is also the owner of KFI. Clear Channel made money on the syndication side as well as on the local station side. But now they have less of a stake in Dr Laura so they will probably replace her with someone from their own stable so they can again make money on both sides of the deal. Premiere is now the syndicator for Sean Hannity so he will probably be moving to KFI soon. (Isn't he on KABC?) Also, Dr Laura's primary audience is female which may have been at odds with KFI's primary demo (Jerry Lenamon, Aug 15, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. MORE ON FATE OF CLASSICAL STATION KFUO IN ST. LOUIS, MO We have had some discussion of this in past months. Here is a St. Louis Post-Dispatch article about more details on the possible sale of our only classical-music station. Note the references to two other lower-powered FM stations and the HD channel that may replace it. http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/entertainment/stories.nsf/stage/story/16BC2C4471FEC1BE86257613000F650B?OpenDocument 73, (via Will Martin, MO, Artie Bigley, OH, Aug 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) poll-can-st-louis-afford-to-lose-kfuo-fm/ http://www.stltoday.com/blogzone/culture-club/culture-club/2009/08/poll-can-st-louis-afford-to-lose-kfuo-fm/ (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. An awesome QSL --- Who says station owners are too busy to answer DXers' queries? Well, one of you did, and I quietly agreed at the time, but I've just had a call returned that has changed my mind. Back on July 29, during a monster skip opening, I heard what sounded like B-105.5 on 105.5, and a promo for its Comedy Corner program. Well, there are no B-105.5s, or even B-105s, that I can find. But, there is a V-105.5 - WVGB in Vicksburg MS. I called the station earlier today, left a message, and pretty well forgot about it. I mean, I've been ignored before by busy station staff, and can certainly understand they've got lots going on, especially these days with downsizing and such. Well, it wouldn't have been more than a couple hours later that I got a call. The caller? Mark Jones, station owner (who also owns 1490 WVGB), who started out by telling me he has been to Toronto a few times, including an organized sidetrip during a DX convention in Batavia three years ago (which I think must have been one of the twinned NRC-WTFDA ones). While here, he recalled, he visited a couple transmitter sites (I think CHUM and CHWO) before heading back to Batavia in a car driven by someone named Gary from Boston (methinks Garrett Wollman). He is or was a member of DXAS and has DXed since the 70s. He isn't doing much DXing these days, as his time is taken up with other things. The two stations, by the way, are located in his basement! Anyhow, we had a lovely chat about DX, he confirmed my reception -- Comedy Corner runs in the morning, and I heard a promo for it -- and says he'll send me a QSL in the mail in a few days. But it's that surprise and very friendly call, from one DXer to another, and not a piece of paper or even the DX reception itself that is the prize from this catch. Even though this is a new catch for me, and 105.5 is hard to work at Burnt River because of nearby Huntsville ON. As I continue to work on my unIDs, my next 10 calls may go unanswered. But there's no question, in my opinion, that the effort is worth it. Made my day! (Saul Chernos, Ont., Aug 18, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** U S A. Harry Shearer on the unplanned "Unwigged" DVD, the "shocking" cease-and-desist letter from Lego and his musical influences: http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2009/08/harry.html Behind the "Unwigged" DVD: "It shouldn't be a surprise how well they play, but for most fans it is a revelation" http://blogs.kansascity.com/tvbarn/2009/08/unwigged.html (via tom roche himself, DXLD) ** U S A. DALJIT DHALIWAL WILL BECOME ANCHOR OF WORLDFOCUS "Worldfocus, public television's weeknightly international newscast, will make adjustments to its nightly anchor lineup. Martin Savidge, who has anchored Worldfocus since its debut, will become a special correspondent in the field. Daljit Dhaliwal, who has been a contributing correspondent and occasional substitute for Savidge, will become anchor. The changes will begin August 31, 2009. ... Dhaliwal is a seasoned broadcaster who has worked for some of the world's most respected news organizations, including CNN International and BBC News." WNET press release via SAJA Forum, 17 August 2009 (kimandfrewelliott.com via DXLD) Dhaliwal was first known to US television viewers as anchor of UK- based ITN World News, seen on US public television stations until 2001. Posted: 18 Aug 2009 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) Savidge sure is a smoothie. Wonder if he really wants to get out of anchoring and back on the beat. Dhaliwal has recently been presenting ``Foreign Exchange``, another good weekly show seen here Sunday nights on OKLA; only trouble with both FE and WF is that they waste too much time promoting other PBS shows, like Wide Angle, with advance clips, which we are going to watch anyway (gh, DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN [non]. Re 9-060: UZBEK RL/RFE HUNGER STRIKE UPDATE ENDED According to the Russian-language report on Ferghana.ru dated August 15, the protesters ended their hunger strike "voluntarily" on August 14. No English version of this report is available yet. The protesters say that they finished their action after reaching an agreement with RL's leadership. Bakhodir Choriev, Birdamlik movement's leader reported to «Ferghana.Ru» by telephone from Washington, DC: - We again held talks with the the representative or RL's leadership Martin Zvanersom, during which he promised that all our concerns and demands will be reviewed once again. He also expressed hope for fruitful and close cooperation with our movement. We hope that this promise will be fulfilled. Therefore, on 14 August at 1:30 pm Washington time we stopped our hunger strike. Full Russian report: http://www.ferghana.ru/news.php?id=12719&mode=snews (Sergei S., Russia, Aug 16, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA. SEÑAL BAJO AMENAZA ¿Está Unión Radio en la mira de Conatel? Los rumores son muchos, pero en el grupo aseguran que tienen sus papeles y solicitudes en orden, incluyendo la renovación de concesión de La Mega. En el grupo Unión Radio confían en haber cumplido a tiempo con los detalles legales de las emisoras, pero hace años que Conatel no responde (GABRIELA PULIDO) Cuando el ministro Diosdado Cabello abrió la boca para condenar la existencia de 240 emisoras y lanzar su propuesta contra los circuitos radiales, parecía estar hablando de Unión Radio sin nombrarla: una gran red que enlaza el dial en casi todo el país con una enorme y reconocida capacidad para transmitir información y opinión y un equipo en el que conviven algunas de las figuras más célebres del medio y también algunas de las más incómodas para un gobierno que cada día se torna más sensible a la crítica. Estaba cantado: el asunto era con ellos. . . [much more] Fuente: El Universal http://deportes.eluniversal.com/2009/08/16/pol_art_senal-bajo-amenaza_1522521.shtml 0832 horas UTC 16 agosto 2009 (via Yimber Gaviria, Noticias de la Radio, DXLD) Diosdado == God-given, what a monicker (gh, DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Incertidumbre en FM --- Quien sea asiduo oyente de La Mega habrá percibido el cambio: la emisora, juvenil y aparentemente despreocupada, se está tomando las cosas en serio. "Mi equipo y yo sentimos como una nube negra desde que salió Diosdado hablando de una lista que nadie ha visto", acepta Karima Urdaneta, gerente de Producción de ese circuito. . . Fuente: El Universal http://www.eluniversal.com/2009/08/16/pol_art_incertidumbre-en-fm_1522523.shtml (via Yimber Gaviria, Noticias de la Radio, DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 6065, R. Christian Voice/CVC (tentative), 1527, August 16, with EZL songs; too weak to ID the language. With CNR-2/CBR being temporarily off the air here, this was heard in the clear (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 6015.00, Voice of Tanzania, 0400-0420, Aug 19, Swahili news (?) fading out on clear frequency after co-channel BBC had left 0359. Presumed the one here, heard daily but still no positive ID. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 4828.05, Voice of Zimbabwe (presumed), 2307-2330 Aug 17, Tuned in hearing African Hilife music. Music continues. Checked for a parallel on 5975 and nothing heard there. Signal stays at a fair to good level (Chuck Bolland, FL, Watkins Johnson HF1000, 26.37N 081.05W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. [non]. via Madagascar. 9895, Radio Voice of the People, *0400-0455*, Aug 16, sign on with Afro-pop music & multi-lingual ID announcements followed by vernacular talk. Short breaks of African music. Into English at 0441 with talk about human rights in Zimbabwe. IDs and contact information at 0454. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re numerous OTH radar (?) segments logged Aug 16: Good Morning Glenn, Hope all is well in Enid. Please listen to the attached audio file (MP3) and compare it with what you have heard. A quick check found very approximate ranges of: 5745-5870; 6530-6590 and 6790-7000. On the audio file: 5860: OTH radar from 00:00 to 00:15, at 1219 UT. 5770: Myanmar + OTH radar mixing together, from 00:15 to 01:00, at 1221 UT. Assume the sounds we are hearing are similar? Best regards, (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, to gh, via DXLD) Ron, Yes, I think so, altho here it is much weaker and softer, rarely bothering any broadcasts. But I don`t hear 5770 anyway. Thanks for checking. 73, (Glenn to Ron, via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5894.98, R Peace? [SUDAN], 0350, Aug 18, carrier in the clear to 0411:46 off, again Aug 19 to 0415:42 off. Have been hearing this regularly for the past week or so, never any definite audio. Tentative, can anyone else confirm? 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Aug 15, 0726 - 9400 kHz, Musica soft stile America Latina. Segnale sufficiente-nullo. Pirata o tests tx dall'America? (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, playdx yg via DXLD) Possibly the WTJC-9370 spur? But is distorted (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 9870, besides AIR Vividh Bharati service via Bangalore with Indian music at 0048 Aug 17, there was co-channel QRM from something else. Altho it does collide with various other stations later, such as Turkey in Spanish after 0100, nothing listed before then in HFCC, Aoki, EiBi, WRTH A-09 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 11890, surprised to hear news in English at 1404 August 19, and as soon as ``BBC News`` IDed, cut off the air at 1406*. Figured it was a regular transmission prolonged another 6 minutes for a bit more news as BBCWS has been caught doing elsewhen, but --- no BBC at all scheduled on 11890 in any of the current online references. There is, however, in once source not including WRTH, SLBC supposedly in Sinhala or Hindi, so possibly Ekala, but I think that is really on 11905 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ COMBINED SCHEDULE FILE Hi, I thought you might be interested in seeing the spreadsheet I build containing several schedule lists all combined in a single sheet. You can find it at http://www.hfskeds.com/A09_Combined_090817.zip Regards, (Dan Ferguson, North American Shortwave Association, Web: http://www.naswa.net Aug 17, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wish you would not zip it (gh, DXLD) IS AOKI REALLY UPDATED EVERY DAY? AOKI's update, date seems to change every day 'automatically' when a new day begins which causes me to not believe it. I believe the information is accurate, but I don't believe it's updated daily without fail. Anyway a while ago I 'sent an email' concerning that and never got an answer from AOKI. Consequently, I stick with EIBI as my source for up to date info and he lists KBS in Japanese [see KOREA SOUTH] from 0800 to 0900. His database was updated the 12th of July as you probably already know (Chuck Bolland, FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, html or fancier websites with auto date changes can mislead, but Aoki is just a text file, and also specifies a UTC, in this case Aug 16 at 1400 [and that stix, not depending on any computer clock], so I really think it`s manually changed. Also in the current file if you search on Aug.15 (no space) you will find a number of entries with that change date mentioned at the right, and also Aug.16. I suppose one could keep doing that to verify whether there were really any changes from one day to the next. In any event, the old Aoki info you referred to must have been from before Aug 1 or whenever they entered the change. 73, (Glenn to Chuck, Aug 16, via DXLD) If Aoki is really updated [almost] every day, so should be the combined schedules issued by Dan and Chuck (gh, DXLD) Latest ITU Monitoring Data Files: For the period 1st July 09 to 18th Aug 09 http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/monitoring/files/pdffiles/323.pdf For the period 1st Apr 09 to 30th June 09 http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/monitoring/files/pdffiles/322.pdf For the period 1st Jan 09 to 31st Mar 09 http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/monitoring/files/pdffiles/321.pdf (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ GEORGIAN RE: I haven`t yet figured out how to recognize Georgian right away; any tips with common words, phrases or characteristic phonemes? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SEE IF THIS WILL HELP. http://ggdavid.tripod.com/georgia/language/gphrases.htm (JOHN BABBIS, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Handy, with wave file pronouncers, tho excludes ``here is the news`` or ``this is ---`` (gh) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ CAN RADIO GET NOISE FLOOR ISSUES UNDER CONTROL? by Charles W. Kelly Jr., 08.17.2009 Among technical presentations that grabbed the most interest at the most recent NAB Broadcast Engineering Conference was one by Chuck Kelly, director of sales for Nautel Ltd., about radio´s noise floor. Here, Kelly provides a synopsis of his paper. The proliferation of high-frequency devices in the home, workplace and car has led to a dramatic increase in noise floor levels to the detriment of AM and FM broadcasting. Data about current noise levels, both theoretical and anecdotal, is available and can help broadcasters make changes to maintain their coverage area. Noise in the radio frequency bands has been with us since the beginning of broadcasting. There are reports of Marconi complaining about ignition noise from early cars. While natural sources of noise, including atmospheric noise and cosmic noise, have remained relatively stable over the last century, man-made noise has increased due to the proliferation of unintentional radiators such as microprocessor controlled devices, fluorescent lighting, RF lighting, dimmers, switched-mode power supplies and remote-control devices. . . http://www.rwonline.com/article/85518 (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) I was just reading that article the other day. I think the situation is much more serious, based on the amount of trouble I had to go through to eliminate noise sources in my house to get a quiet RF environment for DX. A good example is the "iHome" iPod dock my daughter just bought. Noisy as heck, even without the iPod on top!!! iPods are portable RF noise generators. Home wireless internet networks are awful. I think they also underestimate the effect of noise on AM HD. I think the noise level on the AM band doomed it from the start. The sidebands have to be very quiet to allow HD lock - any adjacent station at all, or any noise at all, and the lock is lost immediately. I've never had any luck at night with AM HD, not even on strong local stations. Definitely at the first sign of lightning, fluorescent light, or TV, etc. - lock is lost immediately (Bruce Carter, ibid.) I read this article last week in the latest issue of Radio World. It is very telling, and reinforces what we have been seeing in recent years. I know that for our stations, WNTP and WFIL in Philadelphia, this has become real problem. Even though studies have shown that our signal is substantially the same as it always has been (NOTE: WNTP increased the signal off the back of its daytime directional array in 2007), reception has worsened - particularly in suburban areas. The noise levels have, however, gone through the roof. It has become a very real issue for broadcasters. Man-made noise is particularly offensive, but increased co-channel signals from other stations has also increased dramatically at night as more stations have come on the air. Even formerly daytime stations that now operate with just a few watts at night are an issue. For example, on 990 at night I can regularly pull in WNTW in Somerset, PA with WNTP nulled. WNTW operates with just 100 watts at night. Even worse on 990 is CKGM in Montreal, which is readily heard underneath WNTP at night. CKGM once operated on 980, and switched to 990 several years ago. 73, (Rene' Tetro, Director of Engineering, WNTP-WFIL, Philadelphia, PA, ibid.) This is an area where broadcasters, DXers and environmentalists [I'm speaking of the reasonable folks here] need to work together. RF noise is pollution, plain and simple. It is impossible to eliminate, but very possible to reduce. Some modern high tech devices are big contributors, but others are pretty good. Good filtration, good electrical grounding etc. can help - in some cases a lot. The move to cable/satellite TV and FM radio has left average Joe and Jane really unaware. What used to be "everyone's TVI problem" is now just a problem for a few radio geeks and hams. Or is it? The right attitude is important too. A "we want to take away your plasma TV" approach won't get anywhere. A "we want to make sure your plasma TV is well filtered for the best picture and a clean RFI environment" approach might work. I suppose if I won Lotto 6/49 I could get a big quantity buy on some tripplite isoblocks and give them away door to door in my 'hood. Maybe we gotta get the girl guides and boy scouts selling good, reasonably priced power filters door to door :) And, good light dimmers. Round up the evil ones and crush 'em! No more touch lamps! (Phil Rafuse, PEI, ibid.) MW is so, almost magical. The fickleness of ground conductivity, skywave, the sun, weather, time of year etc. together make "an interpretive ether dance" of both predictability and unpredictability. No wonder early radio pioneers often waxed about the 'ether' as some kind of magical force. Listen to Rush's "Spirit of Radio" while doing this dance. Now, try to put a coded set of 0s and 1s into the interpretive ether dance and have it actually work. But then, SW, LW, VHF etc. also have a magical element too. FM has Es and trop. Not to mention meteor pings, etc. (Phil Rafuse, ibid.) PS - I will not, I repeat, will not perform any ether dance rituals at Priest Pond 2009. Nor will I sacrifice a Drake R8 under the wheels of someone's pickup truck in the hopes of obtaining outstanding DX. A balun winding festival might be another story (Phil Rafuse, ibid.) DXING STLs, ALTHO ILLEGAL I seem to be getting STL's now as far away as full power stations !! 455.02 MHz IDed as WWSE 93.3 Jamestown NY. Another unlicensed station? Also rcvd VAZ-826 407.2875 MHz Windsor, ON - 186 miles - STL for VAZ- 533 162.475 Weatheradio Canada (William R Hepburn, Grimsby ON CAN 43 10 59.4 -79 33 34.5, http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ Aug 16, WTFDA via DXLD) Probably an Interruptible Fold Back or IFB where a station feeds instructions and cues to somebody remote in the field such as a news reporter or a traffic service. Some stations operate on a delay in order to edit out inappropriate comments. And IBOC itself introduces a delay. Field personnel need undelayed programming for their cues. It is a good thing you live in Canada. Here in the United States it is illegal to listen to STL's. The Electronic Communication Privacy Act of 1986 in the 2004 amendment banned this. Why, I don't know. The statute also bans listening to the 450 and 455 MHz ENG feeds if I remember correctly. Our tax dollars at work (Allan Dunn, K1UCY, ibid.) I think his point is this station cannot be found in the FCC Wireless Telecommunications Bureau database. I can't find it either. None of the listings for 455.02 with a licensee address in either New York or Ohio (where WWSE's licensee has its mailing address) match.) (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) As I think you already know, Broadcast Auxiliary Services are very informally licensed. If a broadcaster has a license for anywhere in the U.S. they might be found launching a signal nearly any place they care to where they don't already see an obvious carrier. In many markets, the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) serves as the authority by providing frequency co-ordination services to keep things straight. Large broadcast groups, especially roaming network news or sports trucks, are especially guilty of informal operating. Matching unknown broadcasts to the FCC database is very difficult, at best (Karl Zuk N2KZ, ibid.) That's just plain dumb. If they don't want anyone to listen to them, then they should encrypt them. When I was a teenager, I used to like listening to my local CJRN-710 on 450 MHz instead, because the fidelity was better - the music had much more treble in FM mode. I did find a licence for KIK 485 Jamestown on 455.01, but I picked this up again last night and is definitely on 455.02 (William R Hepburn, Grimsby ON CAN 43 10 59.4 -79 33 34.5, http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ ibid.) I'll bet it was KIK485 anyway. The licensee name matches WWSE's. The cited transmit location (Hallock & Jones and Gifford Ave. in Jamestown) does NOT appear to be the WWSE studios but it does appear to be downtown & I'd bet it's a music venue or something like that. (bizarrely, "Jones and Gifford Ave." is NOT the intersection of Jones Ave. and Gifford Ave.. It's one street with a compound name....) (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) It's the WJTN-1240 transmitter site (William R Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) Thought I'd try for some too. First attempt logged one on 450.350 MHz for CJBQ AM 800 in Belleville, Ont. about 88 miles on a 2 degree heading. Also on 455.550 MHz for WHEC-DT in Rochester, NY on a heading of around 330 degrees -- don't know where it's located (WHEC-DT Pinnicle Hill transmitter is 294 degrees - disappeared when pointed there). Pretty neat. Used Winegard PR-9032ant/PA-4975 amp (Jim Pizzi, 15m ese of Rochester, NY, ibid.) Now you're hooked, Jim! 450.35 is CJZ-203 at 440926 772242. 455.55 is KPK-536 Brighton at 430807 773501. Licences can be found at.. USA : http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/General_Menu_Reports/engineering_search.cfm?accessible=NO CAN : http://www.ic.gc.ca/eic/site/sd-sd.nsf/eng/h_00025.html wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB See U K ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See also AUSTRALIA; COSTA RICA; DOMINICAN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ REPUBLIC; ECUADOR; GERMANY; GUIANA FRENCH; KUWAIT; USA Re: [dxld] IBB and HCJB testing DRM shortwave via Greenville I must be missing something, outdated, I mean. What will the standard listener will be able to get? DRM receivers are finally available? Please give me a hint. 73. (Raúl Saavedra. Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Who needs receivers? The point is to be on the cutting-edge of `new technology`! Anything digital has to be better than analog (Glenn, ibid.) COPY DIGITAL RADIO MONDALE (DRM) USING DREAM, VAC AND SDR-IQ As a ham radio operator, and shortwave enthusiast, it is not unusual to pursue copying digital and analog signal modes. Frequently when I get asked about Digital Radio Mondale, I find my self in a series of emails about how I copy DRM at this station in South Bend, Indiana USA. Many find a variety of challenges all at once trying to get DRM up and running. XP and Vista systems computers have been used successfully here. The following information is part of what I find my self sharing. Would appreciate feedback from one and all for corrections, updates, and of course their experience on how they are 'doing it'. Assuming a computer with out the needed software, and owning a software defined receiver, such as the SDR-IQ: First you need to install SpectraVue Version 3.01 http://www.moetronix.com/svdownload.htm Plug in your SDR-IQ and get it working and get familiar with operating it using SpectraVue. The same page where you downloaded the program, there is the document file that can be printed out. Its big, I know it, but well worth printing it! I have used other programs to run the SDR-IQ and interface it to Dream, but lets stay with just one program for the IQ, the one that comes with it. Install your DRM program. http://janucha.ovh.org/dream.zip This download is a runnable version 1.10.6.cvs If you install on XP, most systems will allow you to get the audio in to the Dream program using the audio mixer options / settings. However that is not always the case, depending on the audio system type your computer has. In that case, install the Virtual Audio Program (VAC). You will have to install VAC on a Vista machine, or its equivalent. Otherwise you will not get audio from the digital side of the SDR-IQ in to the DRM program when in Vista. Install Virtual Audio Cable 4.09 (with Vista support) http://www.ntonyx.com/vac.htm With Vista 64 bit, VAC will not work if you don't bypass the a program 'signed' issue they have with Microsoft. Power on the computer, while it is booting, start tapping F8 until you get to the menu. Then select the 'Disable Driver Signature Enforcement:' option. This method and one other are described in the VAC help files. The settings below work fine here. What you are interfacing with might require some adjustments in the settings. Input on others experience with this program are solicited. Configure VAC: ---------------- Driver Parameters Cables set to 1 Cable Parameters SR 22050 .. 4800 Format range BPS 8 .. 16 NC 1 .. 2 Max inst 20 Ms per int 1 Stream fmt Cable range Volume control box is checked Connected source lines Line is checked Clock corr % is set to 100.00 Click on the Set button to make the settings active. Should now show: Cable Max Instances MS per int SR range BPS range 1 20 1 22050..4800 8..16 2 20 1 22050..4800 8..16 Cable ....... Stream fmt limit Volume ctl 1 Cable range Enabled 1 Cable range Enabled Rest of the areas are blank. ---------------- VAC has to have been installed and configured before starting SpectraVue and Dream, otherwise the Line One option tie in will not be available for selection in SpectraVue and Dream programs. You might need to do a computer restart after the VAC is installed. After that, the lines are available even with out starting the VAC program manually. Start SpectraVue and the SDR-IQ. Choose the 'Combo' display, it will be very useful to find DRM signals. Make sure your input device is the SDR-IQ. In the 'Output Setup' on the SDR-IQ panel, you want to check the Output To Sound Card box. For the SoundCard option, choose Line One (Virtual Audio Cable), or what ever other line number you have created in VAC. As a result of this setting, you will no longer have sound out your speakers from the SDR-IQ.... unless you put the option back in the soundcard option to speakers. Once Dream is running, you can put Dream into AM analog mode, and you will have audio out your speakers for tuning around. But you really don't need to that, as once you recognize the wide flat squarish looking of a DRM waveform, you will not need to hear the white noise pattern of it to know it is a DRM signal. Start your Dream program. Under Settings, Sound Card Selection, Sound In, choose the Line 1 (Virtual Audio Cable) option. Sound Out should already be defaulted to your Speakers. Select your View options in Dream. Active all the options - Evaluation Dialog, Multimedia Dialog, Stations Dialog, Live Schedule Dialog, Programme Guide.... size them and move them around to fit on your screen. The two key ones (along with the main dream panel of course) are the Evaluation Dialog and the Stations Dialog. But all of them have usage depending on the DRM station mode you have tuned to. Note: in the Stations Dialog, there is an Update option. Click on it and follow the directions to get an updated station schedule frequency guide downloaded off the internet to your Dream program. It will help a lot in finding DRM stations. However I do find DRM stations not on this listing, or fitting the schedule. Another great source for DRM station information is at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drmna/ and http://groups.yahoo.com/group/DRM-L/ In SpectraView 3.01 version, choose the WUSB mode, and set the bandwidth to 12 kHz to get started. I frequently use 10.8 hHz. Tune in a known frequency for a DRM station. When you have a known DRM station tuned in, using the listed frequency in the guide while the SpectraVue frequency selection is in the 'Center Frequency' option, your ready to make the fine tuning adjustment. When you change the frequency display to Demod Frequency (toggle the bar above the frequency display), you can now tune the VFO bandpass to be centered over the DRM displayed pattern. When in 'Center Frequency' mode and you tune around, the whole band moves up and down the display, with the VFO bandpass section staying put in the center of the display. When in 'Demod Frequency' option, when you tune around, the display stays fixed and your moving the VFO bandpass segment around. This way when you put the SpectraView program into Record mode, the recording file name will include the actual frequency of the tuned in DRM station, and not the several kilo hertz shift in frequency you have to offset to put the bandpass of the VFO centered over the actual DRM signal. If all is going well, and you have DRM in digital mode, you should see some effort to decode the signal in the Evaluation Dialog panel. When it does decode, you will have the audio output, and information about the station in the main Dream panel. While tuning the signal monitor the DC Frequency Offset: Hz display. It will be around 7000 plus or minus 2000 or so to get a good decode of the DRM signal. You will see the I/O Interface through MSC CRC vertical column climb with green boxes as the decode takes place. The faster the better the result. On the Dream panel the Scanning portion will display information on the tuned in DRM signal, as well as entries below that. If you have problems after the above, lets look into what DRM program you are using. Be patient, I can not decode all known DRM stations I tune in, regardless of signal strength .... hi hi Let me know how that works out for you. If it does, maybe we can clean up this info with your input, and share with others. If you are having any problems with the SDR-IQ running smooth, stuttering or shutting down, you might need a faster computer, more ram, or a better video card. Some ways to improve computer performance is: Turn off all program auto updates. Microsoft Windows, and any other programs that want to do auto updates. They have to checking sites on the internet taking up resources and timing, even if your not connected to the internet in many cases. Turn off all other program auto updates. Turn off all program search and find auto routines. Turn off all those programs running in the lower right part of your screen on the taskbar (except those you need to protect you while on the internet if your connected to the internet while doing the DRM activity) Force network to use G mode when wireless accessing the SDR-IQ, its a faster mode. Defrag the hard drive. Try adjusting priority of programs running SpectraVue, Dream and VAC for networking (task manager, select program, right click and set program priority and insure it has access to all cpu's). The biggie turned out to be: Turning on Hard Drive write caching. 73 from (Bill - WD8ARZ [Stamps], http://hflink.net/qso/ swl at qth.net via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [side thread to the one under RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM above:] Can Radio Get Noise Floor Issues Under Control? ``I think they also underestimate the effect of noise on AM HD. I think the noise level on the AM band doomed it from the start. The sidebands have to be very quiet to allow HD lock - any adjacent station at all, or any noise at all, and the lock is lost immediately. I've never had any luck at night with AM HD, not even on strong local stations. Definitely at the first sign of lightning, flourescent light, or TV, etc - lock is lost immediately.`` Gosh, I wonder if Tom Ray can explain that away with smoke and mirrors! (Chris Black, Cape Cod, ABDX via DXLD) Yes - Tom's big selling point as I recall was that IBOC AM could provide noise free signal penetration deep within the urban jungle. So the WOR folks could listen in the corporate boardroom and listeners could drive through Times Square listening. I think HD on FM may have a future. But on AM its time to pull the digital plug. And, for music AM [and talk if you like], plug back in CQUAM. CQUAM never hurt anyone and it performs pretty well. And, it can sound great. AM is at its best for widespread rural coverage, frequency, ground conductivity, power and pattern permitting (Phil Rafuse, ibid.) I am afraid Tom is a nice guy whose credibility and engineering judgment is about to go down with HD AM. Hitching hope onto that frail HD lock in today's RF interference anarchy is really foolish. Adding insult to injury - HD sidebands from adjacent stations hundreds or even thousands of miles away at night only add to the problem of HD lock on local stations. The friendly, lauding praise of HD AM abruptly stopped when he had to contend with WOR and WLW both broadcasting HD at night. I doubt listeners in either Cincy or NYC can get HD lock on their respective local at night unless they are right by the tower! (Bruce Carter, ibid.) Roger that. I think that his myopia is not that unusual and has happened in other situations as well. I think he is so wrapped up in the technical nuances of the technology that he has lost sight of what this is all about: How do we best serve our listening public? And I am not just talking about us hobbyists. On paper, this technology may look good, but at the end of the day, it isn't delivering (Chris Black, Cape Cod, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ OVERVIEW OF THE VHF-TO-UHF MIGRATION IN THE DTV ARENA: http://tvtechnology.com/article/85436 (CGC Communicator Aug 17 via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) DTV CONVERTER BOXES BECOMING SCARCE Hello all, this may NOT be the place to put this post, but here it goes anyway. I have been to three Walmarts in two counties. Both had no DTV converter boxes. Neither one of them are carrying or continuing to have the DTV converter boxes anymore. I asked both Walmart electronics supervisors today and their answer is "they were deleted from our inventory", which means they won't be available in Walmart anymore. I did manage to go to two Sears stores. Each store had only ONE left, which two were all that I needed. Sears's clerks were not even sure if they were going to get any more since there only was one left. Sears, as everyone else, always had a constant stock. So, being only one left in each of two stores, they MAY be discoed too. I considered going to "The Shack", but since I did not need a cell phone or information pertaining to a cell phone or wanted to wait in line while someone else bought a cell phone --- yeaaaaahh. Just passing along my experience today (Steve Price, Johnstown, PA, Aug 16, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Steve, Being that this list is Ontario Canada based, what area are you speaking of in your post? In Canada the DTV drop-dead date is now just 2 years away, August 31, 2011, and there's been no mad rush up here to stock those boxes. I helped a friend track one down a couple of months back and we actually found one that gave him real HD component output to feed a three year old "HD Ready" Bravia (Bob Wylie(?), ODXA yg via DXLD) Hello Bob, I am in central Pennsylvania, USA (Steve, ibid.) Thanks for clarifying, Steve. Maybe sales of HD sets are strong enough that they figure who will buy the box when they can get an ATSC set for $300-400 or so now? (Bob, ibid.) Hello again Bob, we do have a government coupon that one can apply for. With this coupon the boxes are $40 off the original price. The run-of-the-mill department store electronics box costs $50 and with the coupon, it costs $10. Believe me, they are only "worth" $10 based on the quality of the tuners and cheapness of the design, ergonomics, buttons, remote, and construction. That is just my opinion. Better boxes from places like solidsignal.com with more features, better sensitive tuners, etc., do cost more. The coupon may or may not work with them. I never looked into it. My Sony Bravia's tuner is much more sensitive compared to the tuners in those 'regular' boxes -- with the same antenna system (Steve, ibid.) Re: DTV Converter Boxes Phase Out?? If this is the case the interesting thing is the seemingly short period in which the converters appear to have been readily available in the US. For those interested, there was a federally funded partial rebate/sponsorship/ coupon program in the US to the tune of two converters per household. Mostly to ensure enough of the population might tune in to off-air signals. Dissemination of info and all that. One of the key features in the comparison tables was the inclusion of pass through switching. Mostly to allow easy on going reception of all the stations that aren't or won't be changed changing over to HDTV. That means there will still be some analogue stations left to DX or use for VHF propagation info. Cheers, John (J.D. Erskine, Victoria, BC VA7OTC, ibid.) Keep in mind that the only US TV stations that are allowed to remain in analog mode are specifically-licensed Low Power TV (LPTV) stations and translators, which themselves are low powered. All USA full-power TV stations are now exclusively digital. See http://www.broadcastlawblog.com/2009/06/articles/digital-television/analog-television-not-dead-yet-not-all-lptv-stations-are-digital/ or http://snipurl.com/qcj7p That suggests to me that any analog DX will be rare indeed! I believe folks on this list have reported DTV DXing with some success (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) Interesting. Up here in Canada, retailers have barely even started carrying them yet. I had to visit Durham Radio in Whitby to find one. None of the big box electronic retailers were carrying them yet (Greg Shoom, ibid.) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Geomagnetic field activity was at predominantly quiet levels during the period. Isolated periods of unsettled to active levels were observed at high latitudes on 12-13 August. Solar wind velocities at ACE ranged from 398 to 264 km/s during the period. Interplanetary magnetic field activity showed intermittent periods of southward Bz (maximum of -5 nT at 12/1151 UTC). FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 19 AUG - 14 SEPT 2009 Solar activity is expected to be very low. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels during 22-23 August. Normal to moderate flux levels are expected during the rest of the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at unsettled to active levels, with a slight chance for minor storm levels on 19 August due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream (CH HSS). Quiet to unsettled levels are expected on 20 August as the CH effects continue. Activity is expected to decrease to predominantly quiet levels during 21 August - 14 September, with isolated unsettled periods on 02 September and 09 - 10 September due to recurrent effects. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2009 Aug 18 2051 UTC # Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center # Product description and SWPC contact on the Web # http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/wwire.html # # 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table # Issued 2009 Aug 18 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2009 Aug 19 68 12 4 2009 Aug 20 68 7 3 2009 Aug 21 68 5 2 2009 Aug 22 68 5 2 2009 Aug 23 68 5 2 2009 Aug 24 68 5 2 2009 Aug 25 68 5 2 2009 Aug 26 68 5 2 2009 Aug 27 68 5 2 2009 Aug 28 68 5 2 2009 Aug 29 68 5 2 2009 Aug 30 68 5 2 2009 Aug 31 68 5 2 2009 Sep 01 68 5 2 2009 Sep 02 68 7 3 2009 Sep 03 68 5 2 2009 Sep 04 68 5 2 2009 Sep 05 68 7 3 2009 Sep 06 68 7 2 2009 Sep 07 68 5 2 2009 Sep 08 68 5 2 2009 Sep 09 68 5 2 2009 Sep 10 68 5 2 2009 Sep 11 68 5 2 2009 Sep 12 68 5 2 2009 Sep 13 68 5 2 2009 Sep 14 68 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1474, DXLD) ###