DX LISTENING DIGEST 9-079, November 4, 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 AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1485, November 5-11, 2009 [this time since all the changes, the full list, not just shortwave] Thu 0630 WRMI 9955 [sometimes first airing] Thu 0905 World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.5 Thu 1300 WRMI 9955 Thu 2000 WBCQ 7415 Thu 2130 Global Voice Thu 2200 World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.5 Fri 0100 WBCQ Area 51 5110-CUSB Fri 0100 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 0200 WRMI 9955 Fri 0300 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 0500 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 0630 Global Voice Fri 0700 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 0900 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 1100 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 1230 WRMI 9955 Fri 1300 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 1500 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 1530 WRMI 9955 Fri 1700 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 1900 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 2005 World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.5 Fri 2100 ACB Radio Mainstream Fri 2130 WWCR1 7465 Fri 2300 ACB Radio Mainstream Sat 0500 VoiceCorps Reading Service, WOSU-FM subcarrier, cable Sat 0900 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 9510 [exc 1, 3 Sat] Sat 0900 WRMI 9955 Sat 0900 WRN to Eu, Au, NZ, WorldSpace AfriStar, AsiaStar, Intelsat 10 3808 Sat 0955 WNQM Nashville TN 1300 Sat 1230 Global Voice Sat 1300 Breezy Radio Sat 1430 WRMI 9955 Sat 1730 WWCR3 12160 Sat 1832 WRN1 to North America also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP [+Sirius Satellite Radio 140 subject to pre-emption] Sat 1832 World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.5 [from WRN] Sat 1900 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 Sat 1900 Radio for Life Sat 2000 WRMI 9955 Sat 2305 World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.5 Sun 0000 C-JOY Sun 0330 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0730 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0900 WRMI 9955 Sun 0932 WRN to North America, also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP [including Sirius Satellite Radio channel 140] Sun 0932 KSFC Spokane WA 91.9 Sun 0932 WXPR Rhinelander WI 91.7 91.9 100.9 Sun 0932 KXOT Puget Sound WA 91.7 Sun 1100 Global Voice Sun 1230 South Herts Radio 5835 Sun 1400 KRFP-LP Moscow ID 92.5 Sun 1615 WRMI 9955 Sun 1832 WRN1 to North America also WLIO-TV Lima OH SAP [+Sirius Satellite Radio 140 subject to pre-emption] Sun 1832 World FM, Tawa, Wellington, New Zealand 88.5 [from WRN] Sun 2000 WRMI 9955 Mon 0600 WRMI 9955 Mon 2300 WBCQ 7415 Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 Tue 1630 WRMI 9955 Tue 2000 WBCQ 7415 Wed 0800 WRMI 9955 [sometimes first airing] Wed 1630 WRMI 9955 Wed 1930 South Herts Radio 3935 Wed 2000 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 EDITOR`S NOTE: Due to all the seasonal changes and other reasons, a large amount of monitoring activity, including by yours truly, taking up a lot of time for the monitoring itself and then the report- compiling, I have been unable to keep caught up with all the material coming in that I would normally like to put in DXLD. This explains the much larger, but less often issues lately. If I ever do get caught up satisfactorily at a certain point, I would close a smaller issue and send it out. Instead, I have kept putting more and more info into the next issue under construxion. This issue has an arbitrary cut-off of November 4, even tho I am just completing editing it late November 6. As a result, the latest info cannot be included, and my own logs since that date are not included either but held for the next issue. Those, of course, have already been distributed on their own, once or twice a day to the dxldyg and several other lists. There is really no way out of this, with equally bad alternatives: 1, spend 24 hours a day compiling and editing, hoping for more hours 2, give up on ever getting in material from a certain span of dates 3, no longer try to do compiled DX Listening Digest issues at all In the meantime, I recommend that those valued original contributors who only send me their material directly, in order to avoid further delays in getting it out to everyone else, start posting it on the DXLD yahoogroup, so gh is not a blockage due to being overwhelmed. DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD, which seems to be coming out less frequently? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg without delay. When applying, please identify yourself with your real name and location. Those who do not, unless I recognize them, will be prompted once to do so and no action will be taken otherwise. Here`s where to sign up: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** ALASKA [and non]. KNLS on new 6150 for B-09, Oct 29 at 1235 with prayer in English to God we are allowed to eavesdrop upon (or is it vice versa? It would be presumptuous to assume God is an SWL), but co- channel QRM from music underneath. They add up to S9+15. Then KNLS plays some Duran2. // 6915 tho reading S9+10 is much weaker-sounding, undermodulated but no QRM, no comparison to its loud and clear neighbor WYFR on 6890 until 1245. 6915 also barely escaped ChiCom OTH radar spanning 6860-6910. Next talk feature on KNLS at 1240: Larry Sowter (sp? I don`t find him on the website as a staff or contributor), Sowter and Friends, about fried pies in the South and how they are not microwave-compatible. The 6150 QRM seems to be in Chinese but soft-spoken, unseems CNR1; maybe it is really R. Taiwan International in Chinese, as in Aoki, but supposed to be jammed. KNLS has a penchant for picking frequencies also occupied by China and/or Taiwan (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. Dear Drita: Here is my report no. 3. A QSL would be appreciated for my collection. October 26th 2009, 1530-1600 hours Radio Tirana 13640 kHz heard here. SINPO 45534 at the beginning, heavy fading, later SINPO 55555 and also excellent audio! Enjoyed the news broadcast (especially good from the democratic aspect are comments like "the opposition regards the Berisha government as the most corrupted in our history". This is frank, open and democratic broadcasting - I wish more broadcasters would act in the same way, instead of being "His Master's Voice" By giving voice to various opinions, right or wrong as they may be, Radio Tirana fulfills its mission as a modern medium.) Also, Albania in a Week is interesting and at the end there was some lovely Albanian music. So I feel very pleased to send this report! More to follow later on. My kind regards to you Drita and to all collaborators at Radio Tirana! Ullmar in Sweden (ULLMAR QVICK, NORRKÖPING, SWEDEN, via Drita Çiço, R. Tirana monitoring, DXLD) > At 0130, English sign-on audible on 7425, but very poor signal. Tonight very faint here in Germany as well, almost wiped out by very strong Gavar (Armenia) with VOR's Mezhdunarodnoye Russkoye Radio on 7430, exhibiting a singing transmitter noise, very reminiscent to the famous Ukrainian samovar (Kai Ludwig, Germany, UT OCT 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA [and non]. Another check of R. Tirana`s English at 2100- 2130, Oct 28: this time 9895 is making it better, fair signal in the clear at 2115 on the portable DX-398 in the yard. 7520 still has subaudible heterodyne between Tirana and Farda from Sri Lanka. R. Tirana Oct 29 for the 2100 English broadcast: at 2105, nothing audible on 9895, and the SAH with Farda on 7520; things improved considerably by 2122, when 9895 was audible poorly in the clear; but now it is in music fill until 2126:30 closing and theme to 2128*. 7520 had also improved to RT slightly on top of Farda. Once Tirana was off at 2128, Farda from Sri Lanka was clearly audible by itself. Checking the Albanian sesquihour from 2130, 7435 was poorly audible at 2135. The next Albanian sesquihour, from 0000 for North America, is hit by heavy Cuban jamming on 6110 when checked at 0055 Oct 30, and presumably for the entire hour, but jamming off at 0100 clearing Tirana. Nothing is scheduled worth jamming on 6110 now, so suspect it is Radio República whose schedule is never published anywhere. More under CUBA [non]. If this keeps up, Tirana will need to move, tnx a lot, Arnie! [no, not República, not anything; see later] Also checked 7425 for R. Tirana, Albanian at 0000-0130 // 6110. 7425 was poor, and seemed to have some weak co-channel QRM after 0100. Nothing else scheduled now, but CRI English southward from Kashgar is at 0000-0100, so perhaps running over? R. Tirana still blocked by DentroCuban jamming against nothing(?) on 6110 between *0000 and 0100* Oct 31; see CUBA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6110, R. Tirana Shijak, 0111-0127, Nov 1, listed Albanian. Dramatic M announcer with echo fx; piano & lite jazz music; more talk; music from 1116 thru NA-like music at tune/out; fair; // 7425-fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Tirana monitoring Nov 1 into UT Nov 2: At 2258, just caught the last few notes of anthem as 7435 was closing daily Albanian sesquihour to Europe and North America. Very good S9+20 signal, but poor audio on worn-out (?) recording. Open carrier remained on past 2300. Next broadcast is 0000-0130 in Albanian to NAm on 7425; and on 6110, which has been getting jammed by Cuba. At 2355, Tirana`s open carrier already on 6110 and in the clear, but at 2358 jamming appeared and ramped up steadily to full force as Tirana started modulating at 0000 Nov 2. But tonight, Albania`s signal is strong enough to fight the jamming, at least a more than equal mix, if not overcoming it completely. That`s gratifying, but RT should not have to cope with any jamming whatsoever on what would otherwise be a free frequency, and as we found most nights in previous week, the jamming was totally on top. 6110 was quite a bit stronger than // 7425 which also had adjacents squeezing both sides, Ascension and Sri Lanka and/or Armenia listed. RT was playing music until abrupt stop at 0028, then a talk feature, apparently a hookup with the Radio Kosova studio in Pristina for an historical discussion. 13640, R. Tirana, English to NAm, Nov 3 at 1532 going from transmission schedule to news, good signal and absolutely no interference on channel or from the sides. CODAR (``ocean wave radar``) swishing pulses did not extend above 13575 at this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Tirana 2100-2130 English check Nov 3: at 2111 very poor signal on 9895, just noise on 7520. Propagation conditions had degraded. At 2346, during Tirana`s one-hour break before resuming in Albanian on 7425, I found that frequency bearing something in Chinese, and furthermore jamming noise underneath, the latter probably spurious from the barrage against Martí on 7405, as there were similar sounds on otherwise open 7385, 20 kHz on the opposite side. Chinese is now scheduled as CRI via Kunming, 500 kW at 177 degrees, but CRI is also scheduled during the following hour on 7425, 00-01 in English via Kashgar, East Turkistan, 100 kW at 174 degrees, and that explains the weak co-channel or SAH that has been heard when R. Tirana to NAm is quite weak after 0000. One needs to hear it on 7425 since: The other RT frequency, 6110 from 0000, is still occupied by RHC but the two could be heard mixing at 0052 Nov 4, plus DentroCuban bubble jamming underneath. R. Tirana check Nov 4 at 1555 on 13640: Good S9+18 signal and good modulation in song a few minutes before closing. Catch this 1530 Mon- Sat broadcast if you can for best propagation and lack of interference (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGUILLA [and non]. 11775 missing Nov 5 at 1438 and later after 1500, when University Network is also missing from WWCR 13845, leaving PMS voiceless on SW. If she really cared about being heard 24/7, she would have kept the Cahuita, Costa Rica facility operational for additional redundancy (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, 29/10 1857, ANTARCTIC MAINLAND, LRA-36, desde San Gabriel, com 10 kW, tango argentino, forte rajada de QRM da RDP em 15465 kHz com 300 kW com larga amplitude, às 1901 ID por YL e curta fala, volta mx mas dessa vez tipo estilo andino, sinal degradando, 22332 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana Bahia - Brasil, HCDX via DXLD) San Gabriel is not a location. It`s at Base Esperanza. Have not seen any reports of this lately from NAm; anyone hearing it? Must admit I myself have not tried in a couple weeks (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ANTARTICA (Argentina), 15476, LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Antartic Esperanza Base, 2042-2100, October 30, `Spanish, Talk about the ex president Italo Argentino Luder, national songs, ID as: "Desde la Base Esperanza, Antártida Argentina, transmite LRA36 Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel --- para todo el Mundo", Nice song dedicated to Antartida. Very strong signal. Nice reception!! 45444 ANTARTIDA ARGENTINA, 15476, LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Antártica Argentina, 2042-2100, Octubre 30, Español, Comentario sobre el fallecido ex-presidente don Italo Argentino Luder. Identificación completa: "Desde la Base Esperanza, Antártida Argentina, transmite LRA36, Radio Nacional Arcángel, San Gabriel --- para todo el Mundo", Hermosísima canción dedicada a nuestra Antártida Argentina. Señal muy fuerte, 45444 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorry, Antarctica belongs to all mankind (gh) 15476, presumed LRA36 RN San Gabriel, 2053-2102*, Nov 2, Spanish. Lite pop music; brief M & W announcer at 2056; pop-like chorus at 2057 into announcer over music at 2059; music bridge & brief M at ToH followed by open-carrier until 2102*; no discernible ID noted; clear sig; fair at best (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. Does anybody know when Argentina changes to summertime, which probably is UT minus 2? Guess that also RAE then changes their UT times? 73, (Erik Koie, Copenhagen, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Erik, Everything I find on the web indicates no DST. “Argentina will not observe daylight saving time (DST) on October 18, 2009. Federal Planning Minister Julio De Vido confirmed that Argentina would not observe DST at the moment because there was no need for it. This decision is made in light of at least 20 provinces expressing opposition to daylight saving time”, per http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/argentina-dst-2009-2010.html (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, USA, ibid.) This was also covered already in DXLD 9-077 (gh) ** ASCENSION. BBCWS on 17640 now provides quite good reception in NAm, contrary to their best efforts to cut us off from SW. Nov 3 at 1435 during Newshour, it was good enough to audiblize a bit of continuous hum in the background, attributable to the generators? I wonder if the sound will change once windpower is up and running, if not dashed by the financial crisis on the island, and what about the danger to protected birds? Now scheduled 1300-1700, 250 kW at 114 degrees for C&SAf, but excluding South Africa and Magagascar, where I bet this can be heard too anyway (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. The dangers of dipping in and out of domestic radio relays: On R. Australia, 9580 and 9590, Friday Oct 30 at 1259 they were plugging what would be on in the following hour after the news: Book Reading, and Sound Quality. 1300 into ABC (not RA) newscast. What about R. Australia`s own programming, Asia-Pacific at 1305, and World Football Weekly at 1330? as at http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/programguide/universal.htm I neglected to recheck at 1305, but at 1355 the frequencies were in a sports discussion on referees, so the ABC previews were misguided, or rather totally wrong as far as shortwave was concerned (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11550.5, TAIWAN. Radio Australia (Tainan), 2301-2311, 10/29/2009, Indonesian. Woman talking, joined by man at 2307. Occasional short musical bridges. Moderate signal at tune-in, degrading badly over time. Down into the noise at 2311 (Jim Evans, Germantown TN, RX-340, Random Wires, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11980, Radio Australia; 1609-1638+, 30-Oct; English, Aussie news feature program; spots for Radio National & ABC; RA promo at 1639. SIO=323, strong high-pitched bubbler jammer? Leftover from A09? LSB takes it out (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow- tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENIG DIGEST) Probably a spur from DCJC on 11930 against Martí, I`ve also heard (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. HCJB GLOBAL VOICE RELAY STATION The Oct 2009 HCA KNX Australia newsletter "Voice & Hands" #134 may be downloaded from http://www.hcjb.org.au/docs/134_Aus_Oct09.pdf HCJB is going through many changes locally and globally. The rapid closure of HCJB's shortwave facility in Ecuador means plans for the arrival of a third HC 100 transmitter sometime in 2010 are underway. ...maintain our current broadcast commitment of 15 hours each day in 21 languages. ... Some things were a surprise and others were just plain awe inspiring _ like standing at the bottom of a 96 metre tower and looking up. ...96-metre towers ready for the curtain antenna next year. ...designed the air-conditioning system for our new transmitter hall. ...mission staff construct a 5.5 metre high structure alongside the new transmitter building to house the "antenna switching matrix._ This consists of 14 large switchers, built by Murray Graham in Melbourne, which enable the transmitters to connect to different antennas. HCJB AUSTRALIA P. O. Box 291, Kilsyth, Victoria 3137, Australia Phone: (03) 8720 8000 Fax: (03) 8720 8020 Email: HCA KNX Kununurra B-09 winter schedule Broadcast Schedule 25 October 2009 to 27 March 2010 11750 50 kW 120 degr 0730-0930 South Pacific Evening 15340 100 kW 307 degr 1145-1300 South East Asia Evening 15340 100 kW 307 degr 1300-1530 South Asia Evening 15400 100 kW 307 degr 2345-0100 South East Asia Morning 15400 100 kW 307 degr 0100-0300 South Asia Morning 15400 100 kW 340 degr 1030-1430 East Asia Evening 15525 100 kW 340 degr 2200-0030 East Asia Morning Akha Days Area kHz 1145-1200 daily SAs 15340knx Bhojpuri Days Area kHz 0115-0130 ...t... SAs 15400knx 1315-1330 ...t... SAs 15340knx Chhattisgarhi Days Area kHz 0200-0215 ....fss SAs 15400knx 1430-1445 ....fss SAs 15340knx English Days Area kHz 0245-0300 daily SAs 15400knx 0730-0930 daily As 11750knx 0730-0930 daily Pac 11750knx 1200-1330 daily EAs 15400knx 1445-1530 daily SAs 15340knx 2200-2230 daily EAs 15525knx Fujian Days Area kHz 0000-0030 daily EAs 15525knx 1130-1200 mtwtf.. EAs 15400knx Gujarati Days Area kHz 0115-0130 m...... SAs 15400knx 1315-1330 m...... SAs 15340knx Hindi Days Area kHz 0215-0245 daily SAs 15400knx 1330-1400 daily SAs 15340knx Hmar Days Area kHz 0230-0245 ....f.. SAs 15400knx 1430-1445 ....f.. SAs 15340knx Bahasa Indonesian Days Area kHz 0000-0030 mtwtfs. SAs 15400knx 1200-1230 daily SAs 15340knx 2345-0000 daily SAs 15400knx Japanese Days Area kHz 2230-2300 .....ss EAs 15525knx Kuruk Days Area kHz 0200-0215 m..t... SAs 15400knx 1430-1445 m..t... SAs 15340knx Malay Days Area kHz 1200-1230 ......s SEA 15340knx Malayalam Days Area kHz 0115-0130 ......s SAs 15400knx 1315-1330 ......s SAs 15340knx Mandarin Days Area kHz 0000-0030 ......s EAs 15400knx 1030-1130 daily EAs 15400knx 1330-1430 daily EAs 15400knx 2230-2300 mtwtf.. EAs 15525knx 2300-2359 daily EAs 15525knx Marathi Days Area kHz 0115-0130 ..w.... SAs 15400knx 1315-1330 ..w.... SAs 15340knx Marwari Days Area kHz 0200-0215 .t..... SAs 15400knx 1430-1445 .t..... SAs 15340knx Nepali Days Area kHz 0100-0115 daily SAs 15400knx 1300-1315 daily SAs 15340knx Punjabi Days Area kHz 0115-0130 ....f.. SAs 15400knx 1315-1330 ....f.. SAs 15340knx Rawang Days Area kHz 0030-0100 daily SEA 15400knx 1230-1300 daily SEA 15340knx Tamil Days Area kHz 0115-0130 .....s. SAs 15400knx 1315-1330 .....s. SAs 15340knx Telugu Days Area kHz 0200-0215 ..w.... SAs 15400knx 1430-1445 ..w.... SAs 15340knx Urdu Days Area kHz 0115-0130 .t..... SAs 15400knx 0130-0200 daily SAs 15400knx 1315-1330 .t..... SAs 15340knx 1400-1430 daily SAs 15340knx (HCA KNX, Oct 25, via BC-DX Oct 30 via DXLD) 15340 collides with 15341, see MOROCCO (gh) ** AUSTRALIA. B-09 for CVC International via DRW=Darwin: Chinese to China 2200-2300 on 9585 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 2300-0200 on 15170 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 0400-0600 on 15250 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 0600-1200 on 17635 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg 1200-1800 on 13685 DRW 250 kW / 340 deg English to India 0930-1230 on 15535 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg 1230-1830 on 13635 DRW 250 kW / 303 deg Indonesian to Indonesia 2300-0200 on 15250 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 0400-1000 on 17820 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 1000-1300 on 9890 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg 1300-1700 on 11925 DRW 250 kW / 290 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Nov 3 via DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. Dear Yimber, Homepage of http://oe1.orf.at is now actualized, but date indicated is only until 31st Dec 2009. I asked again, why. Answer will follow. I think, this is the reason, cause of the ORS will no more transmit the programme of oe1 over SW without getting money from the ORF. It is a strange situation; the ORF-Technic Dpt was separated from the ORF as "ORS" as own company some years ago. The ORS now is responsible for All the Austrian transmitters which carry ORF-programmes, also the SW-programme. vy 73 (Harald Süss, via Yimber Gaviría, Colombia, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRIA [and non]. I did not get around to checking ORF`s Canada relay on B-09 schedule until Nov 3, and guess what? It`s gone. Tho planned for 16-17 on 13675, nothing there at 1615 check, nor on possible alternative 13775. I was wanting to confirm whether the token 3-minute local news in English from 0708 UT M-F on 6155 was still being played back in the middle of the German external broadcasts, in this case circa 1613. Maybe it still is, along with French, if the direct transmissions to Americas still exist, 0000-0100 on 7325, 0100- 0130 on 9840. Another check for R. Austria International`s scheduled relay via Canada on 13675: Nov 4 at 1559* ending CRI relay, and nothing further. Still need to confirm whether Austria`s direct transmissions to the Americas still exist, 00-01 on 7325, 01-0130 on 9840 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. 4750, Bangladesh Betar, 1437, Nov. 1. In English; local news and sports news (“This is Bangladesh Betar with the news”); “The next bulletin of the news will be at 10 PM”; followed by “News Commentary”; 1445 series of speeches by politicians; 1500-1600 in assume Bengali with program of subcontinent songs; 1600 news in English; poor, but after 1500 almost fair till poor again by 1608 tune out; very light RRI and CNR-1 QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Interesting to see Ron's log of Bangladesh on 4750 on air later than usual. That reminds me, has anyone heard the Bangladesh Betar external service recently on 7250 kHz? I don't recall seeing any logs of it for several months. Bangladesh changed its time zone in June from UTC+6 to UTC+7 hours so it may or may not be one hour later than in the past. 73s (Dave Kenny, UK, ibid.) Hi Dave, Yes, they have in fact changed their schedule. Formerly I had noted their sign off at 1400, but now clearly they are running much later. Their program format for the extended time is fairly consistent and is nice to catch their news in English. Best regards, (Ron Howard, ibid.) ** BELARUS. 7280 kHz now heard regularly all day long. Weak signal indicates use of 5 kW transmitter. About S 3 at 0858 when suffering QRM from the CRI relay in Albania, e. g. on October 26th. 73s & good dx (Robert Foerster, Germany, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7360, RS Belarus Minsk, 2106-2116, Nov 1, English. M announcer with news re Belarus politics; ID; schedule & contact info at 2113; fair; // 6155 battling for dominance with co-channel Austria; // 7390- poor/weak (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. V. of Biafra International still on 15665 in B-09, Oct 30: 1859 WHRI sign-on, 1900 to VOBI theme music. Poor signal here with fading, heavy echo probably backscatter rather than long/short path. Fridays only 19-20. Local time change next week probably won`t affect this, but still need to reconfirm then. Or rather, reconfirm every week, as you never know what they will do next (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4409.852, Radio Eco, Reyes, 2312-2330 with music, om ments of Radio Eco in passing but not ID? 27 & 29 October. 4451.14, Radio Santa Ana, Santa Ana de Yacuma 2315- 2330+ with om, fair signal noted 28, 29, 30 Oct. 4700, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta, best Bolivia on 60 meter band 0950 and 0000 everyday. Also 4717 & 4796 Bolivia (Bob Wilkner, FL, 10/31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 6155.20, Radio Fides, 0123-0210, Nov. 1. In Spanish; running late; excited coverage of fútbol game (assume the scheduled La Paz FC vs. San José Oruro); only ID heard sounded like: “la Voz Católica de Bolivia”; best in USB; weak (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. A surprisingly good signal in Chicagoland for almost an hour now (from about 2350 UT) on 5045 kHz with just a telescopic antenna on my SONY ICF-2010. Confirmed it against RÁDIO CULTURA's live stream at: http://www.portalcultura.com.br/?site=11?=54 (click "Rádio ao vivo" on the left). Very pleasant music selection! (Sergei S., IL, Nov 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9564.96, Rádio Tupi (Curitiba), 1517-1522, 10/28/2009, Portuguese. Súper Rádio Deus é Amor programming. Man and woman talking. Poor signal with fading. 9665, Rádio Voz Missionária (Florianópolis), 0402-0417, 10/30/2009, Portuguese. Súper Rádio Deus é Amor programming. Excited and rather strange sounding preacher with occasional religious music. Very poor signal. Sounded like the same preacher and same style program on 9565 at this time, but not in parallel. 9819.8, Rádio Nove de Julho (São Paulo), 0422-0430, 10/30/2009, Portuguese. Man talking, occasionally joined by woman. A few bars of easy listening style and/or music every couple of minutes, especially after 0426. Poor signal with little fading (Jim Evans, Germantown TN, RX-340, Random Wires, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11815, distorted Brazilian music, song sounded like a round, Nov 1 at 2339; good signal and blessedly free of the plus-one RHC spur from 11760 during this hour circa 11812 since that transmitter was on 19m: see CUBA. Identity of 11815 quickly confirmed as Rádio Brasil Central, Goiânia, by // 4985 now, which I was already hearing around 2300 as the best SAm signal on 60m, no contest compared to 5045, 4885, tho 5045 is usually best later at night (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURKINA FASO. Ragazzi, proprio ora segnale su 5030, non è Cina dal tipo di modulazione secondo me, ed è anche disturbato. Sembrerebbe africano, può aver riattivato il Burkina? (Leonardo Bolli - Italy AppuntiDx Radio Blog: http://appuntidx.blogspot.com 2 de Nov, 2009 8:51 pm [CET?], playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DXLD) Se provate adesso c'è la Cina, ma l'africana si sente un pò sotto (Bolli, Lun, 2 de Nov, 2009 8:57 pm ibid.) 3 Nov at 1745 noted Burkina back on 5030 after being silent for a long time (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not only Mauritania, but Ouagadougou 5030 was also reactivated Nov 3, says Jari Savolainen, Finland, heard at 1745. This one is not so easy with powerful Rebelde next door. Nov 4 at 0628 there was certainly a carrier on 5030.0 and lo modulation amid Cuban splash. WRTH 2009 shows sked as 0530-0800 and 1700-2400, with daytime frequency 7230 0800- 1700; is that reactivated too? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. Frequency change for Democratic Voice of Burma in Burmese via TRW: 1430-1530 NF 9430*ERV 300 kW / 100 deg to SEAs, ex 9415 in B-08 *strong co-ch China Radio International in Chinese till 1500 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Nov 3 via DXLD) ERV = Gavar, ARMENIA ** CANADA. 7310 at 1326 Nov 2 with Spanish report about dogs, 1329 listing numerous phone numbers, presumably toll-free, from countries all over the Americas to contact Radio Canada Immigration, including a 1-877 one from the USA. Show titled ``Canadá y las Américas``. Ex- 7325, which all during A-09 collided heavily with CRI in Japanese, but nobody cared (because nobody was listening?). The Spanish hour has just shifted from 1205-1304 to 1305-1404 UT. 11865, some nice oud music on VG signal, Nov 3 at 2039. This frequency-hour now occupied by RCI Arabic service, 73 degrees from Sackville (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Hi, Glenn! I wanted to also ask you something: For at least months (& what seems like years, now) I have had a radio on overnight tuned to 990 AM for CBC Radio One in Winnipeg, which comes in reasonably well here in StL at night, with of course periodic fading. Most of that time I am asleep, and listen to it after hitting the can every couple hours as I get back to sleep. What I've been listening to over the wee hours has been that CBC Overnight service with the group of half-hours of different international broadcasters. With the reduction of SW to NA, this has actually been my major path to hearing their programming. I believe that this is from World Radio Network, right? Just in the past few days, that is not on. After the midnight "As It Happens", they're now transmitting "The World" from PRI & the BBC (which I can hear here on NPR at 3 PM in the afternoon) and then some other programming. I just checked by Googling "CBC Overnight" and "CBC 990 Winnipeg" to see if there was any announcement of programming changes or the elimination of that international-broadcasters programming. It seems like the program still exists but it isn't listed on the schedule of the Winnipeg station. Is it a general CBC-wide change or just this specific station? Can you point me to any info on the change(s)? Does it have something to do with the B09 seasonal change? Thanks for your help! 73, (Will Martin, MO, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Replaced by mostly BBC, nothing to do with B-09 shortwave schedules. This was before he could see the discussion about it in last DXLD (gh) CBC REPEAT-O-RAMA CONTINUES Hi Glenn, I flicked onto CBC Radio One after getting home from work tonight to find Promo Guy promoting a repeat of The House after the news at midnight MDT. (The schedule on the CBC's website indicates this will be a recurring event.) Right after the news, there was about a minute of filler (part of a Mozart horn concerto) followed by a sports report for about another minute. It was not a repeat, as it contained results from late National Hockey League and Canadian Football League games. If memory serves, CBC Radio hasn't had post- news national sports report in years -- only sports reports within the confines of its local/regional shows. 73, (Ricky Leong, AB, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Move of CFWH-570 Whitehorse YT to FM approved by CRTC with three year simulcast period. The application of CBC Radio One station CFWH-570 Whitehorse, Yukon Territory, to move to FM (94.5 MHz, 3.3 kW) has been approved by the CRTC, despite concerns that there would be a loss of coverage. Instead of the usual 90 day simulcast period, the AM station will be allowed to simulcast for three years. Glad that I have three more years in order to attempt to add this station to my log :) http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2009/2009-673.htm CFWH Whitehorse - Conversion to FM band The Commission approves the application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for a broadcasting licence to operate a new English- language FM radio programming undertaking in Whitehorse to replace its AM station CFWH. The new FM station will continue to offer CBC’s programming on the following existing rebroadcasting transmitters: CBDB Watson Lake, CBDC Mayo, CBDD Elsa, CBDK Teslin, CBDM Beaver Creek, CBDX Swift River, CBQF Carmacks, CBQJ Ross River, CBUA-FM Atlin, CBQK-FM Faro, CBDL-FM Destruction Bay, CBDF-FM Haines Junction and CBDN Dawson City. Introduction 1. The Commission received an application by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) for a broadcasting licence to operate an English- language FM radio programming undertaking in Whitehorse to replace its existing AM station CFWH. The new station would operate at 94.5 MHz (channel 233C1) with an average effective radiated power of 3,300 watts. 2. CFWH broadcasts programming received from the CBC’s national Radio One network as well as some local and regional programming. The CBC confirmed that the new FM station would maintain the current format and that it would continue to offer programming on the following existing rebroadcasting transmitters: CBDB Watson Lake, CBDC Mayo, CBDD Elsa, CBDK Teslin, CBDM Beaver Creek, CBDX Swift River, CBQF Carmacks, CBQJ Ross River, CBUA-FM Atlin, CBQK-FM Faro, CBDL-FM Destruction Bay, CBDF-FM Haines Junction and CBDN Dawson City. 9. The CBC requested authorization to simulcast the programming of the new FM station on the AM band for a transition period of three months following commencement of operations of the FM station. In light of the concerns raised by the interveners and the extension of the lease agreement on the AM transmitter site, the Commission determines that it is appropriate to grant the CBC authorization to simulcast the programming of the new FM station on the AM band for a transition period of three years. Pursuant to sections 9(1)(e) and 24(1) of the Broadcasting Act, and consistent with the licensee’s request, the Commission revokes the licence for CFWH at the end of the simulcast period. 10. The Commission is prepared to consider an application by the CBC for an extension of the time period in which it is authorized to simulcast the programming of the FM station on the AM band. 73, (via Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, Oct 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See this from CRTC: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2009/2009-673.htm Oddly, the Commission noted many people who were afraid of losing their local AM service were actually served by a low-power AM re- transmitter. 73, (Ricky Leong, Calgary, ibid.) ** CANADA. RICK SALUTIN --- CBC'S NEW NEWS IS SCAAARY PETER MANSBRIDGE, anchor, CBC's The National: “Yes, because I have become convinced that the risk of taking it is less than the risk of not taking it.” Christopher Wahl/CBC [caption] This is all about talking down to viewers with weak attention spans Published on Thursday, Oct. 29, 2009 6:46PM EDT Last updated on Tuesday, Nov. 03, 2009 4:13AM EST I abandoned all hope for CBC's news makeover Tuesday morning when host Anne-Marie Mediwake was on the phone with the dad who'd just lost his 13-year-old son to H1N1. He was losing control and sobbing but she wouldn't leave him any dignity or privacy. “I'm going to give you a chance to tell us how you want him remembered,” she said, or something close. He dissolved further. Then a swift shift to cheery chat with a reporter about coffee. Hm. Being shallow and exploitative isn't as easy as it looks at the U.S. cable networks on which CBC's new format is modelled. They'd have known to at least fake some sympathy, conceal the egomania (“I'm going to give you a chance”) and break for an ad or somehow transition to the vacuous coffee item. If it isn't your game, you really shouldn't play it. . . This is in today's Globe & Mail. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/opinions/cbcs-new-news-is-scaaary/article1344349/ It is an opinion piece that I haven't yet read. (via Dale Rothert, OH, DXLD) + 257+ comments by those who have ** CHAD [and non]. With a sense of foreboding, I came upon hilife music on 6165, Oct 31 at 0554, then undermodulated French announcement, clinching that RNT was on this frequency today. But I knew that RNW would soon blast Bonaire on at *0559 in Dutch, and so it did. In the meantime, a second weak signal became audible at 0558, no doubt Croatia which is scheduled to start at 0600 too. Wow, three continents in three minutes on one frequency! (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6165, RNT, 2220-2231*, Nov 1, Afro-pop music. French announcements. Sign off with National Anthem. Weak. Poor. Mixing with several other stations on frequency (Brian Alexander, PA, ibid.) ** CHILE. B-09 for Voz Cristã / La Voz via SGO=Santiago: Portuguese to Brasil 1800-2000 on 17860 SGO 015 kW / 045 deg DRM Sun-Thu Spanish to Northern South America 1100-1200 on 9780 SGO 100 kW / non-dir till March 13 1200-0100 on 17680 SGO 100 kW / non-dir till March 13 1200-0200 on 17680 SGO 100 kW / non-dir from March 14 Spanish to Southern South America 1100-2200 on 9635 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg till March 13 1200-2200 on 9635 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg from March 14 2200-0100 on 9745 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg till March 13 2200-0200 on 9745 SGO 100 kW / 030 deg from March 14 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Nov 3 via DXLD) ** CHINA. OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, Oct 29 at 1238 on 6860-6910 and a stronger set 6775-6825 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Subject: [INTRUDER ALERT] CHN OTH --- QRG: 7030 - 7080 kHz - date: 28.10.2009 at 1500 UT. Chinese OTH-Radar with 43 pulses/sec. 7 MHz open to far-east! 73 from (Wolf, DK2OM, IARU intruderalert list via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) OHR everywhere, British Cyprus, Iran, France, new Russia, Australia, and China too (Wolfgang Büschel ,ibid.) 5780-5820, OTH radar pulsing presumed from here, at 1323 Nov 2. Firedrake Oct 29 at 1243: 8400 good with flutter, a bit weaker on 9000 and a bit weaker still on 10210. Firedrake Oct 30 at 1247, fair on 8400 and 9000, poor on 10210. Firedrake Oct 31: at 1258, nothing on 8400, JBA on 9000; 1312, poor with flutter on 10210; but at 1353, fair on both 8400 and 9000. Firedrake Nov 1 at 1419: good on 10210, poor on 9000, null on 8400. Firedrake November 1 at 2306: poor with heavy flutter on 10210, just barely audible on 9000; at 2307 poor on 8400, but not // 10210, so must be the 6-minute displaced playback. Same frequencies we hear just about every morning (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake, 0020-0033, Nov. 2. 13970 // 15140 fair, this pair not // with: 14800 (new frequency) // 17470, also fair (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake Nov 2: at 1352, nothing on 10210 or 9000, but good on 8400. Firedrake Nov 3 at 1341: zero on 8400, poor on 9000, fair on 10210. Firedrake Nov 4 at 1429: nothing on 8400, 9000; JBA on 10210 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6060, PBS-2 Sichuan, 1508, Oct. 29. Non-stop EZL pop songs; 1515*; // 7225, with 1516*; both fair; both off in mid-song (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ron and others. Is this the same station I am hearing at 1100 with an English program in co-operation with CRI, yet seems to be a repeat from their local morning. The program is "China Drive" with one Brit expatriate together with several female presenters. The program does start with a short English news bulletin from CRI but is not in parallel. It is also heard on 6040 but much weaker but haven't heard it on any other channel (Robin Harwood VK7RH, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, Radio Monitor SWLR-KS001, ibid.) Hi Robin, Nice log, as I don’t see this reported all that often! The “China Drive” program you heard is a domestic program, mostly in English, with IDs for “CRI Easy FM”. Is broadcast twice a day, Monday to Friday. So what you heard was CRI via Beijing with a 500 kW transmitter, per Aoki’s list. Take a look at their website http://english.cri.cn/ce_easyfm/program-chinadrive.htm [WAIT: below] PBS-2 Sichuan on the other hand broadcasts from Sichuan province, in southwestern China, via a transmitter of supposedly 10 kW (per Aoki), although I often wonder if this is right, as I regularly hear them with fairly decent reception. They broadcast in a variety of languages, but not in English. The only English I have ever heard from them was just an ID for one of their programs: “This is the Voice of Golden Bridge” (known as their Life, Travel and City Service program), but the program itself was in Chinese. Hope this helps (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, USA, ibid.) Be very wary clicking on Chinese webpages. I nearly had a cardiac arrest. Clicking on to the webpage completely locked out Outlook Express and I spent the next 90 minutes fruitlessly trying to get my offline Webmail instead of monitoring. It is amazing when software fails you lose all track of everything else. Actually it must be a filler because the program only lasted 30 minutes from 1100 to 1130 and was immediately followed by a program in Tagalog or similar dialect which also lasted 30 minutes. The latter came from CRI. Then it went QRT at 1155. A much weaker signal was then heard which maybe is PBS-2 Sichuan. I deleted the weblink. When clicking onto same, it immediately started downloading a patch for OE6 for Chinese characters. Then all hell broke lose and OE6 froze. I spent the next 90 minutes mumbling all the nasty words I could remember in German and French. The ones in strine were just not adequate :) (Robin Harwood VK7RH, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, Radio Monitor, SWLR-KS001, ibid.) Hi Robin, Sorry you had such a bad experience! Yesterday and today when I used that site nothing strange happened. Was just a normal website for me. Just used it again now and everything was routine (Ron Howard, ibid.) I often get prompted for Chinese, Japanese, etc. text support when visiting such pages, annoying, but settings should be such that you have to OK them, rather than their installing automatically (gh) Also I can confirm that the 6060 signal at 1100 indeed does revert to CRI English at weekends instead of "China Drive", although the latter is a co-production between CRI and another unknown Chinese broadcaster. I didn't check to see if Tagalog was on between 1130 and 1155 at weekends yet at 1200 CRI came on 6040 at identical strength and obviously from the same sender that just signed off 6060 (Robin Harwood VK7RH, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, Radio Monitor SWLR-KS001, Nov 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [non]. 6185, China Huayi BC, 1234, Oct. 31. Now is totally blocked here by the new schedule of Korea, till CHBC signs off at 1300. Am still not sure about their switching over to 4830 after sign off. Korea // 6285 (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. CRI Cantonese via Sackville, 9560 running a couple of characters ahead of // via Habana 9570, Oct 29 at 1248, neither with very good modulation. 13670 with news in French at 1402 Nov 1, with severe QRM from CRI English via Canada on 13675. Strangely, the news in French was all chinoiserie too: yes, it`s CRI via Albania, 240 degrees to W Africa, ChiComs vs ChiComs! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also EAST TURKISTAN 9730, Nov 2 at 1353, CRI English hour upwrapping by playing the old CRI IS, and multilingual IDs, so I quickly retuned to much stronger Sackville relay on 15230, but it was over. CNR1 with operatic singing Nov 2 at 1433 on 7525 and 7535, the latter jamming something co-channel in Chinese, and CNR1 also // on 7385, 7365 and 7295. 7535 is BBC Chinese via Thailand, while 7525 is VOA Chinese via Thailand, both of which must not be allowed to enter China unscathed. More of the same on 9785 and 9825 at 1438, both of which are successfully blocking VOA Chinese via Tinang. Why does IBB take this lying down? Even kindly informing the ChiCom of all the latest schedule changes thru HFCC (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. ENTREVISTA A RAFAEL RODRIGUEZ QSL MANAGER EMISORAS COLOMBIA PARA CRISTO Estimados Colegas: Está disponible a partir del día de hoy en nuestro blog "Diexismo Colombiano" la entrevista realizada a Rafael Rodríguez - QSL Mánager de las dos únicas emisoras colombianas en la onda corta: Marfil Estéreo y La Voz de tu Conciencia. Rodríguez nos habla sobre sus inicios en la radio y su trabajo como QSL Manager. Esta entrevista está disponible en: http://diexismocolombiano.blogspot.com Atentamente, (César Augusto Rodríguez, Omar Ortiz, Editores Blog "Diexismo Colombiano", Bogotá, Colombia, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) Audio in two parts. I start it playing but hear nothing (gh, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. Hola colegas, Les envío un enlace a un blog dedicado a Radio Sutatenza que encontré navegando por la red; por lo que se ve parece producido por ex-trabajadores de la emisora y de la ACPO. Disfrútenlo. http://radiofonicasutatenza.blogspot.com/ Buen DX (Rafael Rodriguez R., Bogotá D.C. - COLOMBIA, Oct 29, playdx yg via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. Re 9-078: Rumbo/Sinfonola. Carlos Lafuente Fernández, my longtime friend and former-employer radio entrepeneur from Cartago Province, some 23 km east of San José, had an old-fashioned so-to- name-it point of view for radio transmissions. In the early 80s while I was working for Radio Rumbo (and before moving myself to Radio Impacto) he purchased this 10 kW transmitter from Elcor, which he christianized as "Mazinger" (for the Japanese cartoon) and left an old 2 kW Gates for second hand use, mainly at night. Carlos never believed in F.M. radio. In fact he once got rid of 90.3 MHz concession to Radio Centro's owner Roberto Hernández. Once he retrieved it, Radio Rumbo gained great near-national coverage from the skirts of Volcán Irazú. As he always believed in Latin oldies format, he changed that RR to Radio Sinfonola, which stands for Radio Juke- box. The thing is that in Costa Rica, people know these gadgets as Rock-olas, because all bars and cantinas were mostly from the Wülitzer brand. You could tell the name Radio Rumbo is history by now. If in the past 90.3 was simulcasting 530, is completely the other way nowadays. But 530 is not regularly on the air. They separate transmission at 0100 UT for "El Santo Rosario", because people in Cartago keep their Catholic tradition, and the city is the site for la Virgen de Los Ángeles, patrona de Costa Rica. 73 (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Hello Glenn: Just tuning around on the low AM band when I notice that Reloj on 570 under WMCA actually corrected their timing and IS. Matches up very well with CHU 3330. There were embarrassingly large differences of anywhere from 5 to 30 seconds recently (this year). So for now they're on time for a change. 2-2-3-3-2.5 Weak under WMCA with local QRN: worse RX than usual (Paul S. in CT, 0252 UT Oct 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Like so much in Cuba, Radio Reloj reveals itself to be nothing but window-dressing, a sham. No doubt the masses believed the wrong time marks every minute, proud of the scientific precision their country is capable of, but the station is not really serious about its seeming prime purpose. All it had to do was turn on WWV or CHU to calibrate. Even Arnie could show them how to do that. Sorry, YVTO has been missing for months (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. Dear Mr Hauser, I visited RHC one afternoon and met Ed Newman. He is from the Kansas City area. Without any prior notice, I walked in to the rundown building and met a guard. He called someone and I was escorted via creaky elevator into the rundown building. There I met several RHC staff. I was shown around their library, radio rooms and was made to feel at home. Ed Newman was very kind. Later I was in D.C. area, and uninvited, tried to visit VOA, and could not get into the building! Armed guards told me I must have written permission to come into the building! So much for our freedom! Cuba was a great place for me to visit. I have had a shortwave receiver for over 50 years. I now have a Satellit 800 from Grundig and enjoy it almost daily! Thank you for all you do! (Will Marshall, New Bloomfield MO, Oct 31, harndritten by P- mail, typed by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Hi Glenn, Radio Habana Cuba heard October 24th at 0859 with interval-signal and usual sign on in Spanish on unlisted 11710 kHz, followed by news broadcast. Carrier slightly distorted so maybe some sort of mixing product. 73s & good dx (Robert Foerster, Germany, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Robert, Probably a spur from 11760 I have been reporting at many other times of day. Was it on exactly 11710 or really somewhere around 11708-11709? Did you notice whether 11760 fundamental was also coming in? There should have been a matching one around 11811-11812 plus multiples further out. As 11760 is really running continuously 00-22 UT, probably was really on before 0859 (Glenn to Robert, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, with distorted carriers, it is difficult for me to measure exact frequencies as a correct "null" can sometimes not be found. The presence of several carriers on 11710 kHz doesn't make things easier, either. So, it might have well been the case that hte actual signal centered at 1 kHz higher or lower; if my memory is right, it was rather below than above 11710 kHz. Strangely enough, the nominal 11760 kHz were not heard, I checked this frequency as it's the only one I knew active on this band at that time. I will check both frequencies on other occasions. 73s & good DX, good week-end (Robert Foerster, Oct 29, ibid.) Hi Glenn, The distorted RHC signal heard again today, November 3rd at 1154 on measured 11707.8 kHz. As I said before, it is not easy to measure such a distorted carrier, and it took some time to get something reasonable out of it. I checked the program content against 9600 kHz and found it to be in parallel. 11750 kHz is blocked by D/QRM. 11710 kHz carries CNR 1, no trace of RAE today (Robert Forster, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Spur came from 11760, not 11750 (gh) ** CUBA [and non]. R. Martí, 5980 at 1232 Oct 29, VG signal over DentroCuban jamming, much stronger signal than on 5745. Jamming still running on 6030 and not sure if RM is on there at this hour tho scheduled, and also mixed with jamming on 7405. How to explain the disparity between 5745 and 5980? Both are 250 kW from Greenville, but 5745 is on a type 101 antenna at 174 degrees, while 5980 is a type 701 antenna at 190 degrees. We are closer to being off the side of 5745. 9545 with residual DCJC pulses, Oct 29 at 1247, because R. República had been using it in the A-09 evenings, but are they still? RHC 11760 spurs checked Oct 29 at 1253-1257: primary one measured on 11812.4, and the giveaway whine could also be detected up to 12336.4 and down to 11183.6, i.e. plus and minus 11 steps of 52.4 kHz each. RHC missing from 6010, Oct 30 at 0559, allowing Colombia / Mexico [q.v.] to be heard. Probably an anomaly rather than a deliberate B-09 change, but time will tell. RHC usually waits a couple weeks after season change dates to see how things pan out, before making its own changes, since as an outlaw nation, Cuba refuses to participate in HFCC itself. However, since public HFCC is already available, frequency manager Arnie Coro might not wait much longer. Other 49m frequencies were nominal at 0602 check, Spanish on 6000, 6120; English on 6060, 6140. Looking for Radio República, Oct 30 at 0055, do not find it or jamming on 6160, as I previously suspected, just CBC vs CBC. Instead there was very heavy DentroCuban noise jamming on 6110 (ruining Radio Tirana Albanian to NAm from 0000, which was entitled to think this was a clear frequency in B-09), but jamming went off at 0100 clearing frequency for Tirana. See ALBANIA So the jamming could be there because Radio República is now using 6110 until 0100; OR the DCJC is totally confused and still jamming a frequency used in A-09 for VOA Spanish (NOT Martí) but at the earlier hour of 2300-2400 (but meanwhile Cuba has gone off DST, not USA). Cuba jams VOA Spanish out of spite, even tho it is for Latin America in general, not just Cuba. This merits American retaliation jamming of RHC in English, but that will never happen as the USA does NOT jam, nice guys finishing last in the international radio wars. VOA`s 23-24 Spanish broadcast is currently scheduled on 5890, 5940 and 9885, likely jammed but have not checked. This and/or the morning broadcasts may or may not make a time change when Wáshington resumes standard time Nov 1. They have done so previously for the convenience of Washingtonians, not listeners abroad. See also USA re Creole 15390. Meanwhile, 9545, the A-09 Radio República frequency starting at 2300, is still jammed not only in the evening but much later, so is RR really still there? Need to check right at 2300 to see if it`s audible before buried by jamming. After 6110 jamming off at 0100, I searched the 49m band for another unexpectedly jammed channel but did not find one. Jamming still audible on 9545 at 0142. Trying to track down Radio República, Oct 30: at 2300 found heavy jamming on 9810, a frequency they have used before, but nothing audible under the jamming, nor at 2357. Kept checking periodically, and at 0058 Oct 31, the Radio República ID and theme music was audible briefly over the jamming, both still going past 0101. By 0223 it was again jamming only to be heard. So it looks like República is on 9810 at least from 23 to 02, possibly all the way to 0400, their previous span. Lately they have been on only one frequency at a time, but not necessarily. There is also heavy DentroCuban jamming noise on 6110. No jamming at first check 2300 Oct 30, but it started at 2359 just as R. Tirana was about to open Albanian sesquihoiur to NAm with weak signal, and jamming quickly built up force, ruining Tirana reception. Nothing else audible during following hour, and jamming completely off at 0100, clearing frequency for Tirana. Possibly there is something else on 6110 really `needing` jamming by the Cubans, but more likely they are totally confused, jamming a former frequency of VOA Spanish an hour later than they were using it in A-09. The VOA Spanish hour is now 23-24 on 5890, 5940 and 9885, so checked those for jamming Oct 30 shortly after 2300: 5890 heavily jammed tho VOA is strong too, but no jamming audible on 5940 or 9885. By the end of the hour at 2357, jamming had overtaken VOA on 5890. The other two VOA signals had weakened, but still could not hear any jamming on them. Just after 2300, there was the usual lite residual/standby jamming pulsing on 9545, where it is often to be heard far beyond the hours República ever used the frequency. At 0005 Oct 31, jamming on 9545 was heavier, roughly equal to that on 9810 and against Martí on 9565, 9825. Now is RR 9810 via Sackville, or UK??? Since RHC runs 11760 22 hours a day (and the same transmitter elsewhere during the break), it`s logical to assume that the two dozen spurs around it will also be heard at many times other than when I am usually monitoring in the local mornings. And so they are. Oct 31 at 0006 UT I measure -1 circa 11708.4 but don`t take time to search out all the rest, which are certainly outgoing. How many make it depends entirely on how well propagation is holding up on that band from Cuba. At 0224 it and its +1 mate circa 11811.6 are audible but poorly. Next check at 0547 propagation is excellent from Cuba with +1 on about 11811.9, the whines almost every 52 kHz up and down the band, as far as 12382.8 and 11137.2 (computed, not measured exactly), i.e. 12 steps each. Not just the whine, but audio audible as far as on +11, 12330.9, unusual. Keep fingers crossed that one does not land on Radio Saint Helena`s frequency, I find it strange that no one else seems to be reporting these multiple spurs, altho there have been a few logs of RHC around 11710 as if that were an intentional frequency. Apparently people skip past and just ignore the extra noise out of Cuba. Don`t take it lying down, raise hell about it, if you care about shortwave. With all its transmitters, RHC can spare only one for English to NAm during prime time, 01-05 on 6000, as noted Oct 31 at 0219 with poor signal; while Spanish was on 5965, 6060(best), 6120(vs Iran), 6140, plus 9600, 11760 and its 24 spurs. 5-digit Spanish YL spy numbers on 5762.5, Oct 31 at 0221, only fair signal. Seemed to be USB + LSB but with carrier reduced, an odd mode. Another spur check around 11760 at 1303 Oct 31, found them as low as 11453 and as high as 12275, approximately. More precisely at 1324 estimated the first ones at 11708.3 and 11811.7. At 1309, RHC 13680 and 13760 were normal, but 13780 just a big open carrier. They could not modulate it, but kept it on as the fulcrum to make 13680 leap over to 13880, clearly audible mixing product. At 1334 found weak 15360 also unmodulated unlike strong 15120; and at 1401, 13780 was still OC only. DCJC jamming against nothing (except innocent victim R. Tirana), on 6110, Nov 1 at 0000-0100, then jamming level quickly fades audiblizing Albania for the final semihour of its Albanian broadcast to NAm. 9810, checking for R. República vs jamming: Nov 1 at 0030, RR was axually atop the jamming, less so around 0100, and just jamming heard at 0130. The jamming was still audible at 0355, so that may mean RR is on too until 0400. See also U S A for R. Martí/VOA mixup RHC 15360 still on at 1502 Nov 1, but just as I intuned, modulation cut, and open carrier for a bit until off, ditto 15120. Then tuned to 11760 to reconfirm Esperanto scheduled Sundays only at 1500 --- no, it is still in Spanish, but 1504 cut into Esperanto opening giving usual sked of a semi-dozen transmissions contrary to the imaginary RHC website sked. By really being on the 11760 transmitter, Esperanto also gets the bonus of 24 spurs, altho none were announced! These were radiating as usual at earlier 1346 check, in the 11.2-12.3 MHz range, but did not take time to measure them yet again. At 1505 as expected nothing showing on the listed Aló, Presidente channels 13750 or 12010. Still nothing at 1730 on 17750, 13750, 13680, 12010. Regular RHC was going on 13760, 11800 distorted, 11760+spurs, 11690, presumably also on inaudible 6000, 5965. Observations in the 2253-0039 period Nov 1-2, a time when I am not monitoring SW every day: At 2253, 17660 with S9+18 signal but distorted during music from RHC Spanish service, // 13790 synchronized, and an echo apart from 13760, 11800. The other RHC 16m frequency at this time, 17705 was just as strong, in French. While tracking RHC and DCJC, also tried 9810 for R. República, but this time could hear nothing but jamming at several chex Nov 1 at 2302 and during the following sesquihour, unlike the night before. RHC`s English hour at 2300 existed Nov 1 on 13790; at 2319 bitching about the blockade; at 2334 ``Ed Newman`` with mailbag letter from Tom Power in Canada. ``Tom Power`` sounds even more pseudonymous. Now we know where they put the transmitter with two dozen spurs during the bihour it is not on 11760: previously heard at 22-23 spurring from 11670 with Venezuela relay; and at 23-24 it is on 15250, making the 19mb band a mess instead of 25. At 2320 Nov 1 found RNV with a statement in Spanish about Honduras, outroed in English. Fundamental is S9+20 but with hum and somewhat undermodulated. Analog-tuning across 19m, we heard the same modulation and a whine every 50+ kHz, further out just the whine, same pattern as on 25m. 15250 was a smidgin on the hi side, but ignoring that, spur minus 1 we put at 15198.9 with plenty of audio, i.e. 51.1 kHz displacement, so the others are multiples of that, detectable down eight steps to 14841.2 and nine steps up to 15709.9. Along the way, more mushy QRM blobs centered on 14994.5 and 15556.6 bothered WWVH which was IDing on 15000 at 2329 and Radio Australia in English on 15560. And what became of the other frequency for RNV at 23-24, 13680? No sign of it any time during the hour. This is the only RNV daily hour which had been running on two frequencies. But then, the 17 spurs from 15250, potentially 24, more than compensate for it. I am amazed that apparently no one else has noticed or reported these, which must have been happening since at least October 10 when we first found all the spurs surrounding 11760. At 2340 I went looking for RHC`s Esperanto service, supposedly scheduled during this semihour on Sundays only. Instead heard uncharacteristically soft choral music and eventually Spanish announcements in // on 5965, 6120, 9600, 11690. Nothing audible on 9640, 6000 or any other RHC frequency I could think of. Contrary to the wacky transmission schedule presented in Spanish, this one presented in Esperanto shows the frekvencoj for 2330-2400 as 5965, 6120 and 9600: http://www.radiohc.cu/esperanto/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm Esperanto did make an appearance earlier today at 1504 on 11760. R. Prague, English on 5930 at 2341 Nov 1, bothered by clix, probably spur from heavy Cuban jamming on 5890. More on Cuban jamming: see ALBANIA; USA: VOA, WRMI DentroCuban Jamming Command doesn`t want you to hear WORLD OF RADIO. Please direct complaints to Arnie Coro. Another time on WRMI 9955 ruined by heavy two-tone pulse jamming, altho not a wall of noise, UT Monday Nov 2 at 0620 during the new shifted time of 0600, which I had first confirmed by webcast as airing then (following R. Prague`s irrelevant SW schedule announcement in Czech just before 0600). R. Prague relay, however, now shifted to 1500 was loud and clear of jamming Nov 2 at 1513. [but see Nov 3 report: still jammed] A week after the official start of B-09, and the dust is starting to settle, after refusing to coördinate in advance with any other station at HFCC, as an outlaw broadcaster, RHC makes its own changes. UT Nov 2 found on several new frequencies: 6110, 6150, 11730, 13770. Our preliminary monitoring shows: At 0633 on new 6150 in Spanish // 6140 and the as usual distorted 6120. Separate music in English service heard on 6060 only. At first I was not hearing RHC English on 6010; nor Spanish on 6000, just WYFR English. At 0643, RHC English became audible on 6010, much weaker than before, mixing with Mexico/Colombia. 6150 had a somewhat stronger signal than // 6140, but lower modulation. Nothing to or from the western hemisphere was scheduled on 6150 between 0400 and 0800, but if RHC is on before 0400 it will collide with Tirana in English, and after 0800 with KNLS Alaska in English. As for programming, the Spanish service was concluding El Mundo de la Filatelia at 0635, starting En Contacto, the DX program at 0636, which is another new additional time for it. Among other things they played a clip of the old Radio Taíno with English ID, ``tourist radio``; that occupied MW 1180 for a while a number of years ago to block Radio Martí. I wonder why they did not keep it going? Apparently it is long gone, not found on any MW frequency in the WRTH 2009, or survives it on FM? There could be more changes in the 11-13 period which I am yet to be awake to monitor. Are any of these showing yet on the RHC website schedule in Spanish? Of course not! Resumed monitoring at 1320 and found RHC on another new one, 6110, ending ``Figuras en la Historia`` segment about cinema during Despertar con Cuba. This is now the only RHC signal audible on 49m, no longer 5965 and 6000. At 1400 a weak het on 6110. Schedules indicate it is more or less clear at this time, but will be unwelcome in México [q.v.] as QRM to nearby Mérida 6105v. At 1332 I find another new RHC frequency, 11730. This only adds to the mess on 25m provided by the 11760 transmitter with its two dozen spurs ranging from 11190 to 12330, approximately. 11760 is also putting out closer noise-only spurs circa 11745 and 11775, the latter bothering Anguilla. At 1352, Poland via Austria 11675 is also getting some hash, likely from the widespread crap as Habana is infesting the 25m band with CubaRM. I keep bandscanning, now up to 22m, and what new frequency will I find from RHC there? 13770 ex-13760. 13680, 13780 and 13880 are still on as usual. As are on 19m the 15360 and 15120 pair, the latter much stronger here. At 1341 I confirm that 13770 and 13780 are an echo apart from different sites, just as 13760 and 13780 had been. I make sure to monitor the frequency announcement at 1400: with some hesitation, Tony has a modified script to read, in the usual jumbled order: 15120, 15360, 13760(?), 13680, 13780, 11760, 11730, 11800, 6110. I am not positive he was still saying 13760 instead of 13770, as 60 and 70 are very hard to tell apart in Spanish. But they did get in the other new ones, 11730 and 6110. Preparing for the next frequency announcement at 1500, which should be different for the midday broadcast, at 1455 I found several of the earlier channels already off the air: 11760, 13680, 13780, 15120, while these were still running: 6110, 11730, 11800, 13770, 15360. At 1500 on 13770, these were announced: 13770(? or 13760), 11730, 11780, 11800, 6110. BUT 11760 is now back on, and nothing on 11780 now or later. I suspect 11780 was a typo for the usual 11690! Where there was open carrier vs RTTY at 1501, and which by 1515 was in RHC programming // 11730, 11760, 11800 and weakening 6110. Meanwhile, RNV relay was still on 11680, opening in English at 1501. At 1501, since 11760 was back on, so were its spurs, and I measured the closest blob pairs centered about 11708.4 and 11811.6 = plus and minus 51.6 kHz, with the usual panoply covering a MHz or more. The shift from 13760 to 13770 means the leapfrog mixing product with CRI relay on 13740 at 14-16 also shifts, from 13720 to 13710, and now at 1517 I hear it mixing with Qur`an from Saudi Arabia! BSKSA is at least on top but hardly deserves such QubaRM. Weak noise jamming around 11490, Nov 2 at 1347, perhaps a spur from the main 25m channel being jammed, 11930. To be a leapfrog, there would have to be a fulcrum on 11710, close to the RHC spur on 11708v. As I finish compiling this report which took the rest of the morning and then some, at 1825 I check RHC frequencies again on the DX-398 portable in the yard. 6110 is just barely audible, no more 6000 or 5965; also 11690 but with RTTY and heavy co-channel from DW in Hausa via Rwanda at 295 degrees USward. 11760 relatively weak and even more so its spurs but 11708v still detectable; 11800 fading in and out; and 13770. They have been running five intentional frequencies at midday, so there they are now. Just for DXLD groupies, I will make one minor update to my latest behemoth: My final check for Cuban frequencies overlooked one of the new ones: 11730. Yes, it is also on mid-day, at 1910. So make it six. It`s so easy to overlook stuff with these dang direct-entry tuners. RHC is running new 6110 all day and into the night, replacing 5965. Nov 2 it was still on the air at 2330 and at next check 0005 Nov 3, atop DentroCuban jamming! Which had been occupying 6110 needlessly at 0000-0100 as we have been observing. Now it`s Cuban Commies vs Cuban Commies! Tho the appearance of RHC should encourage the DCJC to finally get off this frequency. RHC usage of 6110 appears to be in retaliation for our complaints about the jamming, on behalf of R. Tirana, which expected this to be clear in B-09 for their Albanian sesquihour to NAm at 0000. Now R. Tirana is still in the mix, causing a fast SAH with RHC at fadeups. By 0058 I was not hearing any jamming but RHC on top of Tirana. So RHC is in Spanish on 49m, 6060 strongest, then 6110, then distorted 6120. What about 6140? Carrier there did not come on until 0101, and at next check 0106 was fitfully modulating Spanish, audio fading in, then cutting out and in --- but at 0107 suddenly switched to English feed // 6000, but not much better. So not only after 0500, but after 0100 is RHC terribly indecisive about which language to put on 6140. Still in English at 0250, 0350 and 0452 chex. By 0250, RHC Spanish on 6110 had weakened somewhat and could still hear some bubble jamming. 6120 had a SAH of a few Hz from Iran and some of its modulation under. At 0515, 6110 had switched to 6150 for RHC in Spanish, avoiding NHK via Canada which has been on 6110 for sesquiyears at 0500-0530. RHC remained // in Spanish on 6120, and possibly 6000, too weak to tell, while English was now on 6060 and 6140, not any more on 6010. Backing up before 2400 on Nov 2, the DCJC was busy on 5890, jamming nothing at 2320 check, but still jamming after VOA Spanish began at 0000 Nov 3. At the start of the hour, the jamming was on top here, but at 0058 VOA was atop as it ended a USG editorial, 0100 Yankee Doodle sign-off. Meanwhile, nothing audible on the only scheduled //, 9885 -- - off the air or simply not propagating from Greenville? No jamming heard there either. A quick check of 19m, Nov 2 at 2321 confirmed that the RNV relay from Cuba on 15250 was still accompanied by those detestable spurblobs every 51 kHz or so, at least down to 14842 and also upward. RHC check Nov 3 at 0713 finds them still on the air: Spanish on 6150, 6140, 6120, and weak 6000. English on 6060; nothing on 6010. Evidently 6010 after 0500 has been abandoned, good news so the Colombians and Mexicans can get back to fighting over it. Would those awake after 0800 check whether RHC is still on 6150 then, blocking KNLS English? The RHC 11760 spurblob generator was especially efficient Nov 3 at 1352 when the whine could be detected down to 11140.8. Usually the lowest one I can hear is 11192.4. These calculations based on measuring the closest pair this date at 1350 on 11708.4 and 11811.6, or 51.6 kHz displaced. So 11140.8 is the twelfth one down. If there were one more it would be on 11089.2, perilously close to the Radio Saint Helena Day frequency 11092.5 coming up the evening of Saturday Nov 14. If the spur displacement were to vary to 51.346 kHz, it would land right on RSH. However, by sheer luck, the 2200-2400 portion of the broadcast should be safe, as during those two hours only, RHC puts the offending transmitter on 11670, then 15250 for Venezuela relays. I monitored the RHC frequency announcements again Nov 3 at 1401 and 1500, both given by some announcer other than Tony. Once again they had been updated, but not accurately. At 1401 on 13780 he said: 15120, 15360, 13760(definitely), 13680, 13780, 11760, 11730, 11800, 6110, i.e. to be used during the following hour. Yet 13760 has been replaced by 13770, as reconfirmed at 1359 altho it was weak getting splash from much stronger RHC 13780, Cuban Commies vs Cuban Commies! And also bothered from 13765 by Vatican IS. At 1500 he said: 13770, 11730, 11780, 11800, 6110. Once again, 11780 is obviously a typo for the real channel, 11690. How long before that gets corrected? Altho 11760 was off at the moment for an antenna change, it and its two dozen spurs came right back on at 1501, despite having been omitted from the announcement! Into program featuring trovas. Meanwhile, the website schedule still has not been updated to show any such changes as of Nov 3 at 1700, even tho current date autodisplays: http://www.radiohc.cu/espanol/c_frecuencia/frecuencias.htm Furthermore, both 11760 and new 11730 have co-channel interference. At 1350 I was hearing something under 11760 in English: it`s CRI via Kunming at 135 degrees, 1200-1400 to Australia, ChiComs vs CubComs! And at 1459, 11730 had something under with a timesignal at 1500, and worse mixing at 1530, in Arabic. That`s RRI to the Mideast, 140 degrees from Galbeni at 15-16 daily; but the timesignal may have come from BBC Russian via Rampisham, also at 15-16 M-F on 11730: those two must make quite a collision in Europe/ME, quite aside from having Habana in addition. I monitored RHC periodically the afternoon and evening of Nov 3 to determine what they are really doing since Nov 2, whether there are any further new surprise frequencies, etc. Chex were made for a few minutes within almost every semihour period between 2016 Nov 3 and 0140 UT Nov 4 RHC Spanish was audible: 13790 at 2107, 2134, 2202, 2234 13770 at 2016, 2037 with CCI, SAH; 2107, 2134, 2202, 2234 11800 at 2016, 2037, 2107, 2134, 2202, 2234, 2307, 2342 11770 at 2107, 2134, 2202, 2234, 2307; OFF at 2342 11760 at 2016; at 2036 was on but two dozen spurs missing temporarily; 2107 plus spurs back, 2134 11730 at 2037, 2107, 2134, 2202, 2234, 2307; OFF at 2342 11690 not heard at 2016; it probably went off at 1900 or 2000; back on at 2307, 2342 By 0052, 11, 13 MHz and higher bands are dead, so can`t be sure if some of those frequencies are still running 9600 at 0052 6140 at 0140, undermodulated. Night before it was in English 6120 at 0052, 0140 6110 at 2016, 2047, 2107, 2134, 2202, 2234, 2307, 2342; 0052 mixed with Tirana and Cuban bubble jamming, 0140 6060 at 0052, 0140 RHC Mesa Redonda, separate programming: 9640 and 6000 at 2342, not on during previous semihour. Probably started at 2330 and explains 11730 and 11770 going off by then RHC Portuguese: 11770 at 2016 13770 at 2307, 2342 RHC Arabic: 11770 at 2036 RHC English Not found on any frequency between 2030 and 2130; no 17660 audible 13790 at 2307, 2342 with DXers Unlimited RHC in ??? 17705 at 2205, weak carrier, either open or undermodulated 5965 no longer heard at any time, but still may have missed some language transmissions previously scheduled Venezuela relays: 17705, trace of something at 2018, maybe this; 2042 Chávez audible not // RHC 15250, at 2307, plus spurs 15198, 15302, etc.; 2342 all weakening 13680, missing 24 hours earlier, on at 2307 with better mod and no spurs unlike // 15250; 2342 11670, at 2203 plus spurs 11618 etc.; 2234 plus spurs 11722 etc. Summarizing, with presumed approximate on/off times: 17705, 20-21 RNV, 22-? Algo 15250+spurs, 23-24 RNV 13790, 21-23 Spanish, 23-24 English 13770, +20-23 Spanish, 23-24 Portuguese 13680, 23-24 RNV // 15250 11800, +20-24 Spanish 11770, 20-2030 Portuguese, 2030-21 Arabic, 21-2330 Spanish 11760+spurs, -22 Spanish 11730, +2030-2330 Spanish 11690, 23- Spanish 11670+spurs, 22-23 RNV 9640, 2330- Spanish/MR 9600, 00- Spanish 6140, 01- Spanish 6120, 00- Spanish 6110, +20-02+ Spanish 6060, 00- Spanish 6000, 2330- Spanish/MR Also, the jamming against non-existent VOA Spanish on 5890, Nov 3 at 2342 was only lite, so some of the DentroCuban jammer sites may be getting word that they don`t `need` to go full-bore until 0000. Missing the last few nights, 6010 with RHC in English was back Nov 4 - -- tough luck, Conciencia and Mil, presumably from 0500, found at 0629 in English, Ann(e) Sullivan with news on the half-hour // 6060 and this time 6140 is in English too. She has a peculiar accent I am trying to place. Is she new with RHC? 0636 over to Ed Newman with weekly Focus on Africa, about African influence in Cuban music. RHC Spanish at 0635 on 6150, 6120; and just barely audible // 11760 at 0642. DentroCuban Jamming Command pulsing on 9955, Nov 4 at 0640 underneath VG signal from WRMI with Wire Light infomercial. Since it`s UT Wednesday, WRMI is on their NW antenna at this time. Nov 4 at 1439 started checking for spurs from 11760, but there aren`t any! Yet 11760 is on; seems they have either fixed them, or more likely swapped transmitters, as this one has no underlying whine either, and 15120 is missing at 1445 check, while 15360 is still running. Also on // 11730, distorted 11800. In case the bad unit has been put somewhere else, checked 13 and 15 MHz bands but no RHC spurs there either. I am not foolish enough to imagine this problem be gone for good. New 11730 being run long hours is not exactly clear for RHC. At 1459 heard RRI IS mixing and opening in Arabic; then Russian too, with RHC the #3 signal beneath these. During this one hour only, RRI via Galbeni at 140 degrees and BBC via Rampisham at 62 degrees are already colliding. Welcome aboard, RHC! At 1559, RHC again with 11730 to itself. At 1500, non-Tony RHC announcer on 11760 listed these frequencies: 13770 (correct!), 11730, 11760, 11800, 6110. But he did not say ``11780`` this time even tho the real frequency that represented, 11690, was up and running by 1507 with usual RTTY QRM. At 1501 we find RHC 11800 even more distorted than usual, and audio breaking up. 11760 carrier is cutting off and on, and modulation cutting off and on during the periods carrier is on; breakups not synchronized with 11800. At 1507, 11760 is mostly off, 1510 back with open carrier; 1523 staying on with modulation. The poor Venezuelans also get messed up by the incompetent Cubans, but hey, they`re co-religionists, so give them a pass, and keep shipping the oil. RNV relay supposed to be on 11680 at 15-16, but nothing there at 1504, except something else weak in Arabic, i.e. BBC via Rampisham. Finally at *1505:30 on comes the Cuban transmitter joining program in progress, but modulation cutting off and on --- oops, it`s RHC // 11730 and 11800. Finally at 1507 cut over to RNV programming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. R MARTI B09 frequency schedule, all via Greenville: ------------------------- 0000-0300 6030 7365 9825 0300-0500 6030 7365 7405 [Tu-Su] 0500-0700 6030 7405 [Tu-Su] 0700-0900 5980 6030 [Tu-Su] 0900-1100 5980 6030 1100-1200 5745 5980 6030 1200-1300 5745 5980 7405 1300-1400 5745 7405 11930 1400-2000 11930 13820 15330 2000-2200 9565 11930 13820 2200-2400 6030 7405 9565 73 (Dragan Lekic Serbia, Nov 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS. OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, Nov 1 at 1343 upon one of its favorite haunts spanning 16 MHz, i.e. approx. 15990-16015 kHz, where it can do no harm against broadcasters --- Unlike some stronger pulsing of same type 13637-13662 at 1413, bad for the gospel station on 13645; see U S A [non]. If still on at 1530-1600 will also degrade R. Tirana 13640 Mon-Sat in English to NAm. 18790-18815, OTH radar pulses presumed from here, tho could be elsewhere in Europe, Nov 2 at 1340. 10940-10965, OTH radar, Nov 3 at 1348, presumed from here, bothering some kind of ute carrier around 10945. Strong OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, Nov 4 at 1443 covering 14900-14930. Also at 1525, 11432-11460 approximately (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA. RADIO PRAGUE INTERNATIONAL VOICE TO BE CLOSED ON JAN 7, 2010? http://followthemedia.com/radiopage/radio24102009.htm Cut, cut, cut. [c.f. BC-DX TopNews #935] === Radio Prague, the Czech international broadcasting service, may relinquish short-wave for the internet. The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which funds Radio Prague, wants the budget cut by 20%, says IDNES.cz (October 16). A Radio Prague spokesperson confirmed receiving a letter from the Ministry, with a suggested cut off date of January 7, 2010. Several international broadcasters of modest means - nonetheless well respected - have abandoned short-wave broadcasting for other means. A few years ago Swiss Radio International (SRI) dropped its short-wave services and morphed into Swissinfo on the Web. High transmission costs and questions about listener impact were cited (JMH, Follow the Media via Mike Terry-UK, BrDXC-Uk ng, Oct 23 via BC-DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.04, Radio Amanecer, 2340-2358, Oct 31, religious music. Spanish talk. Poor in noisy conditions. Covered by adjacent channel splatter at 2358 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) I checked the HFCC and Aoki frequency lists for the new season and 6025 should be clear in Europe 0000-0300 (Mike Barraclough, Nov World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** EAST TURKISTAN. 9460 in English, Nov 1 at 1421, sounds like CRI style: yes, // Canadian relay 15230 but a few sex behind it. 9460 suffers from AIR blobhash (see INDIA), and also has a wavering het on it. All this QRM serves the jamming SOBs from China right, and we can only hope it is even more bothersome in their zone-41 target area, i.e. S Asia, on this 212 degree aim from Urumqi site, now under control of ChiCom imperialism (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. Hi Glenn, I recall from one of your recent loggings that you were looking for the HD2IOA (Ecuador) time signal on 3810. It has been unheard here for what seems like a good number of weeks during my morning checks. Not sure when they went off (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Oct 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I could not hear then during the past two nights at various checks between 0200-0400 or so. This has never been a nightly catch but it seems that if they're on air, I would be able to hear them at least one out of two nights. 73/Liz (Cameron, MI, Oct 31, ibid.) ** ECUADOR [and non]. Following changes in HCJB transmissions will take place: German (including Lower German material), at present 1800-1900 via Issoudun on 6140 and destroyed by DRM from Bolshakovo on 6145, will be replaced by 1700-1800 via Wertachtal on 3975 as of Nov 2. At the end of November the current transmission contract with Media Broadcast runs out; then German will as of Dec 1 be transmit via Sitkunai 1630-1730 on 3955. The Russian programme on Sundays will move to 1530-1630 where it actually was supposed to be from the start. This Russian broadcast is now again run by HCJB Global / New Life Radio after the HCJB office in Germany arranged this less expensive solution (as opposed to the former Rampisham transmissions). As of Nov 2 German 2300-2400 via Calera de Tango will move from 9865 to 9835. The new Sitkunai transmissions are remarkable in as far as this slot used to be reserved for Radio Racja, which still was supposed to return to shortwave and perhaps even mediumwave once new funds have been found. But apparently all these hopes meanwhile went out of the window, since IRIB and HCJB will now occupy the Sitkunai transmitter throughout the day from 1430 to 2130 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [non]. 12025, Oct 29 at 2107, VTC vamping with its fill music loop, still the same at 2123 and 2139 chex, off before 2148. This is the ``HCJB Arabic`` broadcast at 2100-2145 via Sackville, 250 kW at 73 degrees, which is really from some other ministry and includes a portion in a north African dialect, and which in the A- seasons is on same frequency and time via UK site instead. But now there is no feed getting thru to Sackville (or rather not even to London VTC master control), hence the music and total waste of resources. Perhaps the Christian crusaders have paid for the time anyway, so out it goes, programming or not. At 2202, 12025 was back on, now with DW German via Rwanda. 12025, Nov 3 at 2109 with VTC fill music loop. They still haven`t figured out how to get HCJB`s Arabic service into the modulator of this Sackville transmitter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Hi All, Radio Cairo is being heard off and on on 6270 kHz with a signal varying from poor to fair. Particularly better transmission heard is the Urdu transmission directed towards India/Pak from 1600 onwards for 2 hours. The later 2115 UT English transmission is barely audible here. 73s, (Harjot Singh, Punjab, Oct 30, GRDXC via DXLD) I heard Radio Cairo, Abis Egypt today between 2000 and 2100 on 9990; I am not sure what the language was because even though the signal strength was good, the audio was absolutely terrible, low volume and excessive distortion, a typical trademark of Cairo I believe! A bit like Radio Pakistan with some of their transmissions, terrible audio distortion! Best regards from Australia! (Michael Stevenson, Oct 30, ibid.) The transmission you heard is "Hausa language" service of Radio Cairo. My experience shows that Radio Cairo has one transmitter which delivers distorted while the other transmitter gives a clear signal. My Observations : 17870 1215-1330 English {Clear non distorted signal} 6270 1600-1800 Urdu {Clear non distorted signal} 9990 1800-2100 Hausa {Distorted signal} 15710 1230-1400 Indonesian {Distorted signal} Rest have not been monitored yet. 73s, (Harjot Singh, ibid.) Where`s Radio Cairo? For the third night in a row, there has been no sign of Radio Cairo at 0200 on its usual frequency of 7540 kHz. And the info I've seen for the new B09 schedule shows this frequency as well. Does anyone know if they're on a different frequency at this time? Or just off the air? No problem in hearing them at 0200 on 6290 and 7580 kHz - (Bruce Fisher, NY / Palstar R30CC; 50 ft. longwire), UT Oct 29, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later: Radio Cairo's English service at 0200 has been found! It's now on 6270 kHz (Bruce Fisher, 0204 UT Oct 30, ibid.) Thanks for a tip, Bruce! Good reception in Chicagoland with just a telescopic antenna (Sergei S., ibid.) R. Cairo, English to NAm on unexpected 6270, Oct 31 at 0212, explaining a bit o` Qur`an in English, then recitation in Arabic. Roughly same signal level as Arabic service on 6290, lower modulation on 6270 but sufficient. Until, that is, the news which followed, checked at 0217 when the YL caster was hard to make out. 6270 is the same frequency used for English to Europe at 2115-2245, so we wondered it if was a mistake at 0200-0330. Perhaps not, once they realized winter nitepath MUF would not hold up to 7540, originally planned to continue from A-09 usage. R. Cairo, English to WNAm on 7580 with good signal Sunday Nov 1 at 2350, YL concluding ``Life in Egypt`` segment with credits; modulation level good at the moment but audio muffled on mike, good on music. 2352 next show ``Questions & Answers``, starting with birdwatching, a pastime which is ``in its infancy`` in Egypt, but a good location on migratory routes between Europe and Africa (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Cairo, 6270 at 0101 Nov 3, dead air into news theme, low modulation. Then checked 7580 and found same news theme, but not //. 6270 is in Spanish at this hour, instead of planned 7540, and 7580 in Arabic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [and non]. 6250, RNGE had been missing for several weeks, but Nov 4 at 0631 there is something in Spanish on 6250.0, ute QRM. Checked RHC on 49m to be sure not a // mixing product. 0632 seems into music, but fading and soon gone or off. Used to cut on irregularly sometime between 0530 and 0600. Polisario in as usual on 6297, and it holds up later being far to the NW of Malabo. A banner day for African reactivations, along with Burkina Faso and Mauritania, qq.vv. (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. RADIO FRANCE INTERNATIONALE, B09 CHINESE 5900 0930 1030 43,44 IRK 500 152 7325 0930-1030 Tainan 100 352 11875 0930-1030 Tainan 100 352 1503 1200-1300 Fangliano 600 247 747 2200-2400 Minhsiung 300 1098 2200-2300 Kouhu 300 7350 2200 2300 43N,44N NVS 200 111 9955 2300-2400 Tainan 250 352 11665 2300-2400 Tainan 100 352 ENGLISH [mornings are all MO-FR] 7315 0400 0430 48S,52E,53,57E ISS 500 135 9805 0400 0430 38E,47E,48,53 ISS 500 135 7425 0500 0530 38E,47E,48,53 ISS 500 135 251009 280210 9805 0500 0530 38E,47E,48,53 ISS 500 135 11995 0500 0530 38E,47E,48,53,68 ISS 500 135 280210 280310 7315 0600 0630 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 500 170 251009 280210 9765 0600 0630 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 500 170 280210 280310 11995 0600 0630 38E,47E,48,53 ISS 500 135 251009 280210 13680 0600 0630 38E,47E,48,53,68 ISS 500 135 15160 0600 0630 38E,47E,48,53,68 ISS 500 135 280210 280310 11725 0700 0730 37E,38W,46E,47 ISS 500 170 251009 280210 15605 0700 0730 37S,46,47S ISS 500 170 280210 280310 [daily:] 21620 1200 1230 38E,47E,48,53,68 ISS 500 130 15605 1600 1700 38E,47E,48,53,68 ISS 500 135 15605 1600 1700 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 500 170 280210 280310 [English portion until March via WORLD OF RADIO 1485] FRENCH 5925 0400 0500 38S,47E,48,52NE,53NW ISS 500 140 251009 280210 7215 0400 0500 38S,39S,47E,48,52NE ISS 500 130 9790 0400 0500 38SE,39S,47,48,52E,53NW ISS 500 140 280210 280310 7340 0500 0600 37E,38W,46E,47,52 ISS 500 160 251009 280210 9790 0500 0600 37E,38W,47,52 ISS 500 150 11700 0500 0600 37E,38W,47,52,57 ISS 500 155 280210 280310 11605 0500 0700 46SE,47,52 MEY 100 345 5925 0600 0700 37,46 ISS 500 204 251009 280210 7340 0600 0700 37W,46W ISS 500 204 280210 280310 7340 0600 0700 37S,46 ISS 500 185 251009 280210 9790 0600 0700 37S,38SW,46E,47 ISS 500 170 11700 0600 0700 37S,46 ISS 500 190 280210 280310 11700 0600 0700 37E,38W,47,52,57 ISS 500 155 9790 0700 0800 37W,46W ISS 500 204 251009 280210 11700 0700 0800 37,46 ISS 500 185 251009 280210 11700 0700 0800 37W,46W ISS 500 204 280210 280310 13695 0700 0800 37,46 ISS 500 185 13695 0700 0800 37E,38W,47,48W,52 ISS 500 150 251009 280210 13695 0700 0800 37E,38W,47,48W,52 ISS 500 150 15170 0700 0800 46SE,47SW,52 MEY 250 328 15300 0700 0800 37,46 ISS 500 185 280210 280310 15300 0700 0800 37E,38W,47,52,57 ISS 500 155 17850 0700 0800 37E,38W,47,48W,52 ISS 500 155 280210 280310 17850 0800 0900 37E,38W,47,48W,52 ISS 500 155 13695 0800 1000 37W,46W ISS 500 204 17620 0800 1600 37,46 ISS 500 185 15300 0800 1700 37,46 ISS 500 195 17850 0900 1000 37S,38SW,46E,47 ISS 500 170 6175 1130 1200 27 ISS 500 270 Meteo Marine 13640 1130 1200 7,8,10E,11W GUF 250 320 Meteo Marine 17610 1130 1200 7S,8S,10E,11,12N ISS 500 270 Meteo Marine 747 1200-1300 Minhsiung 300 17660 1200 1300 46SE,47,52N MEY 250 335 280210 280310 21580 1200 1330 47,48,52,53,57 ISS 500 155 684 1300-1400 Dongfang Hainan 300 1296 1600-1700 Kunming 300 17850 1600 1700 37E,38W,46E,47,52 ISS 500 170 15300 1600 1800 37E,38W,47,52,57 ISS 500 155 11995 1700 1800 37,46 ISS 500 200 251009 280210 13695 1700 1800 37,46 ISS 500 185 15300 1700 1800 37,46 ISS 500 185 280210 280310 11705 1700 2000 37E,38W,47,52,57 ISS 500 155 21690 1700 2200 37,46 GUF 500 75 9790 1800 1900 37E,38W,46E,47,52 ISS 500 155 251009 280210 9790 1800 1900 37W,46W ISS 500 204 251009 280210 11995 1800 1900 37W,46W ISS 500 204 280210 280310 11995 1800 1900 37,46 ISS 500 185 251009 280210 15300 1800 1900 37E,38W,47,52,57 ISS 500 155 280210 280310 13695 1800 2000 37,46 ISS 500 185 280210 280310 6175 1900 2000 37W,46W ISS 500 204 251009 280210 9790 1900 2000 37E,38W,47,48W,52 ISS 500 155 9790 1900 2000 37W,46W ISS 500 204 280210 280310 9790 1900 2000 37,46 ISS 500 185 251009 280210 9790 2000 2100 37,46 ISS 500 185 6175 2000 2200 37W,46W ISS 500 204 7205 2000 2200 36SE,37,38W,46,47SW,52NW ISS 500 185 HAUSA 6145 0600 0630 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 500 170 251009 280210 7220 0600 0630 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 500 170 9805 0600 0630 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 500 170 280210 280310 9805 0700 0730 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 500 170 251009 280210 11830 0700 0730 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 500 170 15315 0700 0730 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 250 170 280210 280310 11700 1600 1700 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 500 170 251009 280210 15315 1600 1700 37E,38W,46E,47W,52N ISS 250 170 PERSIAN 13690 1430 1500 28S,29S,39N,40 ISS 500 80 15360 1430 1500 28S,29S,39N,40 ISS 500 80 7335 1700 1800 28S,29N,39N,40 ISS 500 85 251009 280210 9795 1700 1800 28S,29S,39N,40 ISS 500 85 280210 280310 PORTUGUESE TO AFRICA 11830 0600 0700 46S,47S,52 MEY 250 330 12015 1700 1800 46,47,52,57N ISS 500 160 251009 280210 12015 1700 1800 37W,46W ISS 500 204 251009 280210 15530 1700 1800 46,47,52,57N ISS 500 204 280210 280310 15530 1700 1800 37W,46W ISS 500 160 280210 280310 RUSSIAN 11860 1400 1430 18S,28N,29N ISS 500 55 15605 1400 1430 28W,29S,30W,39N ISS 500 80 7290 1600 1630 18S,28N,29N ISS 500 55 251009 280210 9800 1600 1630 18S,28N,29N ISS 500 55 280210 280310 9800 1600 1630 28S,29S,30W,39N ISS 500 80 251009 280210 11670 1600 1630 28S,29S,30W,39N ISS 500 80 280210 280310 5905 1900 2000 18S,28,29 ISS 500 55 7425 1900 2000 28W,29S,30W,39N ISS 500 80 SPANISH TO LATIN AMERICA 5995 0100 0130 10,11,12N GUF 250 305 5960 1000 1030 7S,8S,10,11S,12N GUF 250 265 9825 1000 1030 10,11,12N GUF 250 305 15515 1200 1230 7S,8S,10,11S,12N GUF 250 300 17630 2100 2130 7S,8S,10,11S,12N GUF 250 295 VIETNAMESE 7380 1400-1500 Tainan 100 250 1296 1500-1600 Kunming 300 9565 1500-1600 Tanshui 100 250 73 (via Dragan Lekic, Serbia, Nov 1, dxldyg via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Protest of DARC Ham Radio Bandwatch against use of 7200 kHz frequency by Gospel for Asia via Issoudun daily at 2330-0030 UT was successful. GFA / TDF / DTK Media Broadcast will replace 7200 by 7240 kHz as from November 2nd, 2009. Old transmission on 7200 kHz will last ultimately in parallel til November 8th 2009, in order to inform the audience on Indian subcontinent about that frequency change. According World Radio TV Handbook the GFA language transmissions last mostly 15 mins, on this slots are in Bantawa, Boro, Chakma, Chin, Gurung, Ho, Karbi, Khurukh, Limbu, Lungelimagar, Mising, Santhali, Sherpa, and Tibetan. (via Ulrich Bihlmayer DJ9KR, Leiter der Bandwacht des Deutschen Amateur-Radio-Clubs e. V., und Stellv. Leiter aller Bandwachten in der Region 1 der IARU / ITU Genf, URL: http://www.iarums-r1.org and http://www.iaru-r1.org click MONITORING SYSTEM Oct 30 via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GEORGIA [non]. Radio Ekho Kavkaza on SW and Online --- The first news bulletin of this newest service from RFE/RL can be heard here: MP3: http://realaudio.rferl.org/GR/news/news_GR.mp3 RealAudio: http://realaudio.rferl.org/GR/news/news_GR.rm Windows Media: mms://realaudio.rferl.org/GR/news/news_GR.wma First, you hear English announcement "Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty." And then Russian ID: "You are listening to Echo of Caucasus Radio." The station's website: http://www.ekhokavkaza.com/ Everything is in Russian there. Here's the schedule: http://www.ekhokavkaza.com/HowToListen.aspx The SW frequencies are 9525 and 9780. VHF (FM) is mentioned, too but without exact frequencies. Must be that semi-clandestime Radio Green Wave set up by Tbilisi. Time is given as 1900 to 2000 Sukhumi and Tskhinvali time. I assume that is 1600 to 1700 UT. All other times you see throughout the website are CET (Prague time). Rather confusing! The news bulletin seems to be surprisingly balanced. I'd say sound more like BBC and not like your typical RL broadcast. The fact that this new "station" is not part of RL's Georgian Service has already led to friction with "some people in Tbilisi", acc. to RL Russian (Sergei S., IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Right now I see at http://www.ekhokavkaza.com/HowToListen.aspx the "broadcasting time" specified as 2100-2200, like at rferl.org where it is explicitly mentioned as local time. And I think the Caucasus region is UT +4 hours? Also interesting the detailed instructions how to delete the traces of visiting this website: http://www.ekhokavkaza.com/info/technical_help/935.html Can such a page be found on other RFE/RL websites as well? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) On the following page: http://www.ekhokavkaza.com/ondemand/latest.html you can see it's 2100-2200 MOSCOW TIME (1800-1900 UT). (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, ibid.) Dragan, I think you are right. Kai, it seems that local time in both republics is MSK. As a real clandestine REK went out of its way to confuse its listeners about the time of its broadcasts :) OK, the station should be on the air in about 20 min. from now. Can someone in the area check if it's on? (Sergei S., 1740 UT, ibid.) The service's live online channel is http://www.rferl.org/realaudio/c4.ram The program is live right now. Many on-air mistakes - long pauses, constant reading errors, wrong "local time" announcements, brand confusion (Radio Svoboda, Ekho Kavkaza), etc. Some reports seem to be borrowed from RL Russian. The station announces 9525 and 9780 for 2100-2200 local Abkhaz / S. Ossetian time which is 1800 to 1900 UT (Sergei S., 1837 UT, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Some Media Broadcast changes effective Nov. 2: WYFR Family Radio in English 1600-1700 on 9870 NAU 500 kW / 150 deg EaAf, additional txion HCJB Global in German 1700-1800 NF 3975 WER 100 kW / non-dir WeEu, ex 1800-1900 on 6140 ISS Gospel For Asia in various South East Asian langs 2330-0030 NF 7240 WER 250 kW / 075 deg SEAs, ex 7200 ISS (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Nov 3 via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. Add another 13m channel now propagating, altho poorly, 21780, Oct 29 at 1313, DW jingle during Hausa hour via Portugal. DWL also uses 21780 09-13 via Sri Lanka, Woofferton, UAE in English, Swahili, French (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Douglas from Germany heard DRM on 17650 at 1330 UT to cargo ship fleet. Nauen mit zwei Datendiensten seit 1330 UTC (vorher Echo des Tages). QRG: 17650 kHz 1) Nachrichten Data: Journaline 11.52 kbps "DRM News Service for Tsingtao Express" (ein Hapag-Frachtschiff) WAZ-Nachrichten und DW-Top News 2) DRM Service B Data: MOT WebSite 11.52 kbps ...wird noch dekodiert... SNR ist immer so um 10-12 dB (via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** GERMANY EAST. Re: Happy Station Going BACK TO THE USSR > The Soviet DXers would routinely struggle with lack of written > responses from RMWS. Just the same with Radio Berlin International. Domestic services from Berlin followed a policy to not support these activities, too. Not so in the regional studios, they answered reception reports without hesitation, no matter from where they came. > I called Vasiliy a few times during his "hot lines". Well, come > to think - exactly 20 years ago I was excited to hear myself in > Vasiliy's Weekend speaking heavy accented English, wishing good > luck to Egon Krenz's perestroika and even requesting a song for > him. I guess only Kai would recall that name today ;) Bwahaha, there is this cute article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egon_Krenz Did you also congratulate him on Oct 18 1989, when Erich Honecker had been told that "it does not work any longer" (i.e. forced to resign)? At least he immediately had been congratulated by "the mass medium TV": http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rRiaPuKzi-0 This is my favourite photo of him, on Nov 8 1989, talking to demonstrating SED members in front of the central committee building, not satisfied by the just taken decision to eliminate the Politbüro: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1989-1108-038,_Berlin,_Demonstration_von_SED-Mitgliedern,_Krenz.jpg And five days later, on the parliament session where Erich Mielke explained that he loves all people, Egon Krenz was under steady observation as well: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-1989-1113-024,_Berlin,_11._Volkskammertagung.jpg (Kai Ludwig, Germany eastern, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Radio Filia English programme 0700-0800 now heard on 12105 followed by an hour of French (Mike Barraclough, Nov WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** GREECE. VOG, 15650, clashing with Miraya FM, Sudan via Slovakia, early in the 1500 UT hour Nov 4, so when will Athens get off the frequency? At 1553 still mixing with music, but off at 1554*, and a minute later *1555 comes up in mid-song on 15630, clearing 15650 for IRRS. Now why couldn`t they do this 55 minutes earlier, to everyone`s benefit? Besides, ERT has registered Avlis on 15630 for 23 hours a day anyway, much of which is wooden. IRRS will not protest to ERA about it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. Without even trying, confirmed at least one AWR Wavescan time is unchanged via KSDA, UT Sunday 2230 on 15320. As I bandscanned across the channel Nov 1 at 2252, there was the JSWC YL`s voice recognizable despite the flutter and echoes on poor signal here. On the assumption that the same English broadcasts on Sundays as previously still carry that program, those have been included in my DX/SWL/Media programs reference with frequencies changed for B-09 at http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA: WRMI ** GUINEA. 7125, Radio Conakry, 1940-2020*, Nov 1, vernacular and French talk. Some Afro-pop music. Abruptly off at 2020. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 7125, RTG or Radio Conakry, Nov 1 at 2309 in hilife music, fair signal with fading, and good modulation. I have not had any luck hearing it from nominal sign-on 0600; the nominal sign-off is 2400. Brian Alexander had heard them go off abruptly at 2020* this day, but they certainly came back; a holdout in the mostly evacuated hamband (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7125, 28/10 2215, R Conakry, em French, desde Conakry-Sofon, com 100 kW, OMs parecem apresentar nx. A propagação se comporta de modo muito interessante com essa emissora, some, aparece de repente somente a portadora e ainda de repente, como hoje, abre o áudio, 45433 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana Bahia - Brasil, HCDX via DXLD) ** HAWAII. 10320 (U), AFN Pearl Harbor. 0154, Nov. 2. Their music format is now firmly established, as opposed to the usual AFN SW programming of mostly talk shows. Heard the “Z Rock” show; ToH “AP Radio News”; “Sporting Flash”; military PSA; 0206 into C&W songs; good reception (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. Altho English has long since been banished, Radio Budapest holds on for dear life, with one hour in Hungarian still on the air to NAm, 0200-0300 on 6100. Fair signal at 0216 Oct 31, considerably weaker a semihour later. There had been signs in previous seasons that MR would switch to an external relay site, but this is still registered as JBR in Hungary itself (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HUNGARY. Slager and Danubius Radio s/off --- MEDIA REGULATOR CHAIRMAN CRIES FOUL AS LEADING RADIO NETWORKS LOSE LICENSES --- By MTI [I assume Slager = from German Schlager, and pronounced like that -gh] Hungary's national body in charge of awarding frequencies, ORTT has rejected bids by incumbent pop-music stations Slager Radio and Danubius Radio to operate for the next seven years, ORTT announced on Wednesday. It has awarded the two key frequencies to a consortium called FM1 and to Advenio Zrt, it said. The decision was unanimous, but the delegate of the liberal opposition Free Democrats did not participate in the vote. Chairman of the ORTT Laszlo Majtenyi, of the ruling Socialist party, said he did not support Advenio and FM1's bids and would have favoured their rejection on formal grounds as well as for what he insisted were weak business and financial plans. The chairman cannot vote according to ORTT rules. He added that the liberal member Janos Timar shared his view and declined to participate in the vote. "I don't think the case is closed; I think this is just the start of a scandal," Majtenyi told MTI, adding that the winners can be sued for the rights to the frequencies. Managing director of Juventus Radio Endre Laczko described the ORTT's decision as "pathetic" and said it lacked any professional reasoning. There will be a vacuum left after the two large stations that have been systematically developed in 12 years, he added. Slager Radio said on its homepage that it would use all legal means to stay on the air and said it would sue the body. "A political decision has been made, which means that Hungary's democracy and press freedom has suffered a serious blow," the station's owner said. ---------------------------------------------- NUMBER OF DIGITAL RADIO STATIONS IN HUNGARY UP TO 13 People living in Budapest and its environs can now listen to 13 digital radio stations, since leading commercial stations Danubius Rádió and Juventus Rádió have both announced they are including their programs in the test run of the ground-wave digital radio broadcast service. Broadcaster Antenna Hungária estimates that three million people in Hungary have access to the free testing service, writes IT news portal hwsw.hu. The selection of stations includes four Hungarian public service stations, six commercial stations and three Swiss stations. 73 and good DX, (via István Kiss, Hungary, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1417, Oct. 30. In English; dramatization of a folk tale; promo for AIR; BoH “Weekender” program of requested western music and acknowledged letters from listeners in Shillong, Nagaland, etc.; TC (8:01); 1445 “News headlines” (two moderate earthquakes rocked portions of the Northeast; item about new rail lines and mentioned “Railway Minister Ms. Mamta Banerjee”; Nagaland declared to be the “Land of Festivals”, etc.); 1512 switches over to Delhi programming. Some hum noted, but close to fair reception. After 1512 was noted // with 4880 and 5050 (China QRM). No hint of AIR Itanagar on 4990 (only China). Audio at dxldyg “Files > Station Sounds” (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR Jeypore SW 5040 off air --- AIR Jeypore (Orissa) SW service (5040/6040 kHz) has been off air for last 5~6 days. A couple of days ago I called up the station and an official from engg dept confirmed that indeed the SW transmitter was down. As of this morning the SW service remains suspended. Thanks and best regards (Ashok Satpathy, Jamshedpur, Jharkhand, India, via Alokesh Gupta, Oct 31, dx_india yg via DXLD) 5040, AIR Jeypore at 1327, Oct. 31. Back on the air again with special coverage of the ODI (One Day International) cricket match between India and Australia; intermittent advertisements; 1345 news in Hindi; 1400 back to cricket; alternating coverage in Hindi and English; sounds of the crowd in the background; almost fair till tuned out at 1427. At times was parallel with 4880 and 5010. Clearly not parallel with 4760 and 4990 (heard Itanagar with their local news in English at 1421, under China QRM) (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not quite sure that it is still off. I heard a good signal on 5040 last evening 30th October and checking as I write 6040 kHz is carrying India Australia cricket coverage. 73 \ Regards (Victor Goonetilleke, Colombo, 1349 UT Oct 31, both via Alokesh Gupta, dx_india yg via DXLD) It is definitely on now, 5040 also normal strong signal near Colombo (Victor, 1410 UT, ibid.) Both 6040 & 5040 were noted on air today. 5040 is on air right now with cricket commentary. Regards (Alokesh Gupta, 1413 UT, ibid.) I can also hear Jeypore now at 1430-1440 on 5040 fading in with cricket commentary in Hindi, tentatively. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, ibid.) AIR Cricket coverage noted on following channels when I checked in today at 1457 UT : 4810 - Bhopal 4880 - Lucknow 4910 - Jaipur 5010 - T'puram 5040 - Jeypore Regards (Alokesh Gupta, Oct 31, ibid.) Hi Glenn, Today I heard the following announcement on the news in English on 9425, at 0039 UT (November 2), regarding the 4th ODI cricket match between India and Australia, being held at Mohali: “All India Radio will broadcast live commentary on the match from 2 PM onward” (onward from 0830 UT, November 2). (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CRICKET COMMENTARY SCHEDULE ON AIR All India Radio will broadcast live commentary alternately in Hindi & English of the India vs Australia ODI Cricket series - 2009 in India as per following schedule : Date & Day Venue Timings 25th Oct, 2009 (Sun) - 1st ODI at Reliance Stadium, Vadodra 0830 to 1700 hrs IST * 28th Oct, 2009 (Wed) - 2nd ODI at Vidarbha Cricket Assn Stadium, Nagpur 1400 to 2230 hrs IST* 31st Oct, 2009 (Sat) - 3rd ODI at Ferozshah Kotla Stadium, Delhi 1400 to 2230 hrs IST* 2nd Nov, 2009 (Mon) - 4th ODI at PCAS, Mohali, Chandigarh 1400 to 2230 hrs IST* 5th Nov, 2009 (Thurs) - 5th ODI at Rajiv Gandhi Intl Stadium, Uppal, Hyderabad1 400 to 2230 hrs IST* 8th Nov, 2009 (Sun) - 6th ODI at Nehru Stadium, Guwahati 0830 to 1700 hrs IST* 11th Nov, 2009 (Wed) - 7th ODI at D. Y. Patil Sports Complex Stadium Nerul, Mumbai 1400 to 2230 hrs IST* * or till end of the commentary Live commentary will be available on selected SW, 66 MW & on all FM Gold channels. There will be half hourly updates on FM Rainbow channels (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, dx_india, Nov 1, via DXLD) 5040, AIR Jeypore, 1337, Nov. 2. Live coverage of the 4th ODI (One Day International) cricket match between India and Australia; frequent single advertisements; 1345-1355 news in Hindi, then back to the match; alternating coverage in Hindi and English; sounds of the crowd in the background. Poorer reception today than for the last match; finally able to confirm both 4880 and 5010 all parallel by 1418. 6155, AIR Delhi (Kingsway) (presumed), 0058 + 0126, Nov. 2. Assume in scheduled Urdu; playing a lot of subcontinent music; weak, but clear. 7270, AIR Chennai (Madras) (presumed), 0048-0115*, Nov. 2. Assume in scheduled Sinhala; playing a lot of subcontinent music; weak, but clear. 9425, AIR Bengaluru, 1435-1501, Nov. 2 (Monday). National Channel ID; “Vividha” program in English; totally devoted to the teachings and biography of Guru Nanak, whose birthday is being celebrated today. I find these shows that provide information about the many facets of today’s Indian society to be fascinating! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. 9470, All India Radio (Aligarh), 1332-1343, 10/26/2009, Hindi. Woman talking. Theme at 1335 followed by talk by man. Woman talking again at 1341. Good signal with no sign of distortion (Jim Evans, Germantown TN, RX-340, Random Wires, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AIR 9470 Aligarh is still blobbing away, its fixes only sporadic and temporary. Oct 29 at 1318 extremely distorted spreading 9465-9485 but peaking around 9470 with AIR IS, then Vande Mataram // clear Bengaluru 9425 and not quite synchronized. Some days they whack the beast and the blob clears up, but today still unfixed at 1330. At least they seem to be keeping it closer to 9470 instead of jumping around over a 300-kHz range. AIR Aligarh blobcheck Oct 30: not audible, not even a carrier on 9470 at 1323, tho Bengaluru was fairly good on 9425. Nor could I find a distorted blob shifted elsewhere between 9300 and 9500, so suspect it was off the air. AIR National Channel, 9425 via Bengaluru, Oct 31 opening at 1318 good with IS and Vande Mataram, so where is the Aligarh 9470 blob today? Just above, centered about 9440 with // audio, but a lot weaker. At 1356, 9425 had some quick audio dropouts during music, how annoying; by then just some noise on 9440 and could not be sure it was still the blob; however, the DRM from Irkutsk on 9440-9445-9450 got out of the area in B-09. Recheck at 1431, 9425 had news in English by YL starting with US relations, 1435 back to Hindi. Meanwhile the VBS on 9870 from before 1318 had stronger signal with music and commercials. AIR Aligarh blob has *not* been fixed, as supposedly promised for the B-09. A week into season on Nov 1 at 1326 we find its extreme wideband distortion centered about 9465 and extending 9455-9470, so at least not bothering Australia today on 9475; but instead CRI on 9460 later; see EAST TURKISTAN The AIR Aligarh blob which has been infesting the mornings circa nominal 9470 is also audible in the evenings here. It`s the National Channel`s all-night service scheduled straight through from 1318 to 0040 UT. Nov 1 at 2304 there was the mushy blob covering 9460-9470 and mixing with Spanish preaching at center 9465: YFR via GUIANA FRENCH at 22-24, 500 kW, 215 degrees, tsk2. The AIR Aligarh blob shifted a bit higher on Nov 2 than Nov 1: at 1327 it covered 9475-9485, worst on 9480. At 1510 its edge was bothering VOA on 9485, 49 degrees via Sri Lanka, trying to announce something about a contest, apparently during Border Crossings show. At 1356 I was hearing the same kind and pitch of noise circa 9540, a further spur? Or DRM from BBC Woofferton as scheduled 10-15 on 9540-9545-9550. AIR Aligarh blob shifted upwards from position the previous two days: Nov 3 at 1343 centred approximately 9497, covering 9490-9505, so RA clear on 9475, but something getting creamed on 9500: scheduled as CVC via Tashkent at 11-14 in, heh heh, Hindi! (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AIR National Channel, 9425 with news in English at 1431 Nov 4; so where is the Aligarh blob today? Weak signals, but seems mushy centered around 9460 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Bad SW conditions tonight, the tentative AIR B-09 schedule table is not very helpful though. My monitoring tonight here in Germany showed only: 1730-1945 Arabic 6280(B) Middle East 1745-1945 English 6180(B) 7410(B) 7550(??unknown) UK&WeEurope 1745-1945 English 9445(B) We.NoWeAfrica 1945-2030 French 6280(B) 7410(B) We.NoWeAfrica 1945-2030 Hindi 6180(B) 7550(??unknown) UK&WeEurope (Wolfgang Büschel, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There was no trace of Pakistan at 1700-1800 on either 7485 or 6280 on the 29th. AIR carrier came on at about 1720 and transmission started with a lengthy (about 12 minutes) rendition of the Koran followed by Arabic programming. The signal was fair improving to good. Listed // 9905 was buried under a "pile up" of others - perhaps jamming against RFA Mandarin. I didn't stay to find out or sure. Pyongyang was putting in some very good signals on 9325, 7570 and 6285 - the latter causing some splash onto 6280. But these fade down after 1800. 6180 was doing okay until some other appeared on frequency at around 1800, and another at around 1830, but AIR stayed generally on top. Condx did deteriorate after 'dark', and the higher bands began to fade out. 73 (Noel Green, England, ibid.) I am hearing All India Radio today (2 Nov) with its 2045-2230 English broadcast to Europe on: 6180, 7550, 9445 and 9950. 9950 is supposed to be in DRM, but today, (at least) it's in AM and coming in very strong. A nice programme of Indian Film music was heard from 2145 tune-in up to the News at 2200. The frequencies to Australia & NZ (listed as 9910 11620 and 11715) were not audible here (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Some B-09 frequency changes of All India Radio, effective Oct. 28: to WeAs 1615-1730 NF 6130+DEL 250 kW / 282 deg Persian, ex 11585 1730-1945 NF 6280@BGL 500 kW / 300 deg Arabic, ex 7550(13620 B-08) 1730-1945 NF 7305^ALG 250 kW / 282 deg Arabic, ex 11585 +co-ch 1615-1730 Voice of Russia in English/French @co-ch 1700-1800 Radio Pakistan in Persian ^co-ch 1745-1945 Voice of Russia in Arabic/English/Russian 1800-1900 VOIRI in Russian from 1900 China Radio International in Romanian/Czech to EaAf 1745-1945 NF 7400%DEL 250 kW / 245 deg English, ex 15075 1745-1945 NF 9415 DEL 250 kW / 245 deg English, ex 17670 %co-ch 1745-1945 Radio Bulgaria in German/French/English/Russian 1745-1800 China Radio International in Swahili to No/WeAf 1745-1945 NF 6120&BGL 500 kW / 280 deg English, ex 13605 1745-1945 NF 7410$ALG 250 kW / 282 deg English, ex 15155 1945-2030 NF 6280 BGL 500 kW / 300 deg French, ex 7550(13620 B-08) 1945-2030 NF 7410 BGL 500 kW / 280 deg French, ex 13605 &co-ch 1745-1800 Radio Taiwan International in Russian 1745-1945 TRT/VOT in Turkish 1800-1900 WYFR Family Radio in Spanish 1900-1945 Voice of Russia in French $co-ch 1745-1800 China Radio International in Russian+English!!! to WeEu 1745-1945 NF 6180*BGL 500 kW / 320 deg in English, ex 7410 1745-1945 NF 7550#BGL 500 kW / 310 deg in English, ex 11620 1945-2045 NF 6180*BGL 500 kW / 320 deg in Hindi, ex 7410 1945-2045 NF 7550#BGL 500 kW / 310 deg in Hindi, ex 11620 2045-2230 NF 6180*BGL 500 kW / 320 deg in English, ex 7410 2045-2230 NF 7550#BGL 500 kW / 310 deg in English, ex 11620 *co-ch 1830-1930 VOIRI in French 1930-2000 PRW in Ukrainian 2000-2100 DWL in Russian 2215-2230 Cyprus BC in Greek Fri-Sun #co-ch Sat & Sun Radio Amica in Italian 1745-1800 VOA in Kurdish 1800-1900 BBC in Dari to EaAs/SoEaAs 2245-0045 NF 6055$BGL 500 kW / 060 deg in English, ex 11620 2245-0045 NF 7305!BGL 500 kW / 090 deg in English, ex 13605 $co-ch 2300-0045 REE in French/English !co-ch 2245-2300 WYFR Family Radio in English 0030-0045 Vatican Radio in Portuguese (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Nov 3 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. VOI English missing from both 9524.9 and 9525.9 at 1326 November 1, as occasionally happens. Hope this does not mean they have switched unpredictably to another of their always-announced frequencies, 11785, since that has the usual blockage; see LAOS [non]. No VOI heard either during the 1400 hour in Malay. VOI missing for the second day from 9525v/9526v, no carrier even at 1328 check Nov 2. Could it be on alternate 11785v? At 1402 all I could hear was Chinese, fluttery with tones, evidently cues in language lesson from CRI via East Turkistan. VOI missing for the third day in a row from 9525v/9526v, no trace even of a carrier at 1344 Nov 3, so we lack our weekly Tuesday Banjarmasin fix on the Exotic Indonesia excursion. Not that we could make out what they are saying if it were on the air. Again, no sign of it on 11785v either. We are beginning to get worried. Is VOI being heard at any other times, anywhere else, around 9525, 11785 or 15150? VOI still missing from 9525v/9526v for the fourth day, Nov 4 at 1432 check. 11785? See SAUDI ARABIA (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. Re 9-078, INTERNATIONAL VACUUM: WRN launches new website --- The WRN web portal has been completely redesigned and brought up to date with many new features. Visit : http://www.wrn.org (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Now, not only do they allow you to stream or download their broadcasters' audio, but the individual broadcasters are available in Podcast/RSS form as well. Previously, only a select few broadcasters were available via Podcast on the WRN site. At this point, downloads are mp3 or mp4 at various bandwidths and streams are mp4 and a couple of bandwidths. They no longer have Real Audio/Windows Media (Doni Rosenzweig, Oct 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. Hi Glenn, We are still running WORLD OF RADIO. PJR didn't grab a listener base as an internet station, as I had hoped. My results were probably pretty much in line with what RFPI found with their internet stream. But, we do still run the program on Saturday mornings at 8:00 (Local Time) [EST/EDT, currently 1300 UT]. We took the most listened to programs on PJR and incorporated them into three blocks: 6AM-10AM Sat mornings, 6AM-10AM Sun Mornings, and 6PM-12AM Sun Evenings. All of these programs are run on Breezy Radio. Here are some links for you: -Link to Breezy Radio Main Page: http://www.breezyradio.org -Link to Breezy Radio's Peace and Justice Programming Page: http://www.radioveronica.us/pjrmain.htm (This is also linked from the main page. -Direct Link to Breezy Radio's Stream: mms://wma1.viastreaming.net/wpcr-2?SWMEXt=.wma That stream will play on Windows Media Player, Real Player, or Winamp. Hope this helps. 73, (Rene' Tetro, PA, Oct 30, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [and non]. They sure know how to pick `em at VIRI! Both English frequencies of `V of Justice` to NAm in B-09 are under collisions, 7250 and 6120 at 0130-0230. Oct 31 at 0102 I find VOR WS in English on 7250, somewhat weaker than // Moldova 6240. 7250 is `Armavir` site all evening USward, so why in the world did Iran pick that? Yes, at 0214 check, VORWS is atop Iran with SAH, and 6120 is of course under Cuba, which as an outlaw nation refuses to participate in HFCC, so the Iranians could claim not to know about their usage of 6120, but what good does that do? Somebody, move! Qur`an with long, pregnant pauses, in // on 13790 and 13800, Nov 3 at 1357, both fair but somewhat stronger on the former. IRIB Arabic service from two different sites, both scheduled at 0530-1430: 13790, 178 degrees from Kamalabad; and 13800, 289 degrees from Zahedan. A bit more frequency diversity would be prudent. Despite the diversity in azimuths, both are for same targets from Libya to Turkey to Iraq to Oman to Yemen and everywhere in between (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL [and non]. 11595, OM public-speaking emphatically in Persian, Nov 4 at 1526, interspersed with calm comments by studio YL. If it`s in Persian, can`t be Iran, since they modestly refuse to broadcast their own language on SW, except I suppose for clips quickly translated. Instead this is the only remaining external service from Kol Israel, 1500-1630, 250 kW, 27 degrees. Modulation is a bit rough, and bothered by Praga from 11600 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Galei Zahal, Oct 31 at 1326, poor with music measured on 15786.8, nothing to het yet (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) After some days of difficulties with the BBC now using 15790 kHz during the local mornings, Galei Tsahal is now off the air completely on 19 metres, noted today, November 2nd. When I last heard them during the week-end, they were on 15786.4 kHz, still with a slightly distorted carrier but strong signal and nice music. 73s and good DX (Robert Foerster, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Galei Zahal has been missing lately from 15786v: Nov 3 at 1406 nothing there aside 15790, BBC Arabic via Cyprus (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, JAPAN, Shiokaze Sea-breeze at 1408 in English (Aoki lists English on Saturdays only and Japanese on Wednesday, which this date was) with woman reading names and descriptions of Japanese women who went missing in the 50s and early 60s, suspected of being abducted to North Korea. Gave birthdates, ages, heights, weights, other features, occupations and dates of disappearance. 1425 ID “Shiokaze Sea-breeze from Tokyo, Japan.” Closing down to 1430 s/off. Fair Oct 28 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, BC, DXing portable with Eton E-1 and AN-1 antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5985, Shiokaze - Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1406, Oct. 30 (Fri.). In English; mixing with N. Korea jamming and Myanma R. (which was holding up fairly well against both of them); “Today’s News Flash”. Significant change in jamming pattern. On ex: 5910 they were only randomly jammed, but here it is every day (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Shiokaze, 5985 via Japan, still well-heard here with no jamming or Myanmar audible, Monday Nov 2 at 1403 in Japanese; 1414 YL singing sad solo, presumably a lament for the lost (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. Quickly scanning 60m, the only readable signal below 5 MHz was on 4900, Nov 3 at 1336, just in time to hear a few Korean numbers by no-nonsense YL until 1337*, (faux?) spy transmission as previously caught on several higher channels such as 6730 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. KBS World Radio Available on 1440 kHz at 0100 CET for European Listeners from November 1 We have an exciting announcement about a new medium wave frequency available for KBS World Radio in European. As of Nov. 1, KBS World Radio's one-hour programming is now available on 1440 kHz at 0100 CET for European listeners in England, Germany, France, Denmark and the Netherlands. The programming will be also simulcast at http://www.rtl1440.com If you miss that slot, don't worry. You can listen to us again at 2100 CET through the internet audio stream at http://www.rtl1440.com Enjoy listening. http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/radio/notice/notice_read.htm?No=16 (via Mike Terry, Nov 2, dxldyg via DXLD) Another version with an addendum: You can listen to us again at 2100 CET through the internet audio stream at http://www.rtl1440.com Please let me know how clear the signal is. We're going to send out a small souvenir to every one who sends us reception report. Enjoy listening. English @ kbs.co.kr 73, (via Paul Gager, Austria, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Yupp, 1440 carried fill music until 2400 UT, then standard announcement "Hier ist RTL-Radio. Im Rahmen einer Kooperation übertragen wir ein Programm von KBS World." for such leased-out slots, read by an unexperienced announcer. Then KBS English started. In 2008 KBS already run an abridged 30 minutes version of their German programme on 1440, at 1730 UT, but again stopped after some months. Now English on such an extreme slot, still after midnight in the UK and Ireland. Reminds me on RCI and RNW via Sölvesborg, where Radio Sweden provided such extremely late slots within their airtime exchange arrangements. In both cases these overnight relays ceased after some time, apparently for lack of listeners (Kai Ludwig, Nov 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. In contrast to the more traditional Qur`aning on 13790/13800 [see IRAN], different rendition on 15110, Nov 3 at 1403, voice almost sounds like a female, but maybe just a boy, as surely Kuwait is not that liberal; then 1404 into equally reverent but non- musical talk in Arabic. Kabd transmitter site, 500 kW at 100 degrees to S Asia, poor-fair signal here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. Checking Sunday Nov 1 for Hmong Lao Radio, via WHRI, expected to be one hour later now to stay at the same Central Time in Hminnesota: 11785 already on at 1333 with gospel music. At 1400, HLR indeed starting, so that should also apply to Saturdays now: 14-15 Sat & Sun (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. 17725, V. of Africa Sabrata, 1410-1425, Nov 2, English. W announcer with "[World?] Religion" program; hi-lighting religions` role in the Great Jamahirya i.e., education; infrastructure, etc.; also extolling virtues of a "great leader"; Islam & Qadhafi not mentioned by name tho what/who else would they be refering to?; fair- poor (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MADAGASCAR [non]. MOLDOVA(non [sic]) New time & frequency for Radio Mada International in French 1530-1600 on 15640*KCH 300 kW / 160 deg to MDC Sat/Sun till Oct. 18 1530-1600 on 15670 KCH 300 kW / 160 deg to MDC Sat/Sun from Oct. 24 *strong co-ch BBC/DW English in DRM mode (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Nov 3 via DXLD) As originally in DXLD Did anyone try and/or have any luck hearing Radio Mada this weekend, 1530-1600 Sat/Sun on 15670 via Pridnestrovye? I have yet to see any firm reports of its full broadcasts successfully aired since it started a few weeks ago. All I have been able to hear is a trace of a signal on 15670 (Glenn Hauser, OK, Nov 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15670, 01/11 1528, MOLDAVA, Radio Mada Internationale, in French, from Kishinev-Grigoriopol, with 300 kW, sgnal ID and at 1530 UT ID by OM, after what seems an interview in the studio, improving signal, probably the ousted president of Madagascar Marc Ravalomanana, see information http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/radio-mada-internationale-back-on-shortwave At 1547 UT a telephone interview, music in the background, several references to Madagascar and France, end of the tx 1600, recorded, 35433 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia - Brasil, Degen 1103, Antena Dipolo de 16 metros Balun 4:1, Direção Leste/Oeste, HCDX via DXLD) ** MALI. Best times for Mali here are evenings on 5995. 9635 occasionally produces a morning trace but has Chinese language QRM. 4835 and 7285 just don't exist here any more (4835 seems off air). (Derek Lynch, Eire, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MAURITANINA. 3 Nov at 1735, noted Mauritania back on 4845 after being off for some time (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You sure Mauritania isn't back? UNKNOWNISTAN: 4845, 2233-2324+, 3-Nov; Long Arabic-sounding chant with string & drum -- no wind; 2301 brief announcement into Arabic news with many remotes; heard many mentions of what sounded like Mauria, but nothing like Mauritania. 2318 commentary in Arabic about America/Israel/Obama after bumper; 2323 same chanting continued. SIO=4+33, QRM is ute pulses & clatter plus occasional OTH bleed; LSB takes out the worst of it (Harold Frodge, MI, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Caught a definite Mauritaniya after a bumper between cmtrys today. 2250 Nov 4 (Frodge, ibid.) Jari Savolainen in Finland heard ORTM reactivated on 4845, Nov 3 at 1735, and Harold Frodge, MI, was also getting something in Arabic there at 2233-2324+ with ute QRM. So was I at 0143 Nov 4, but should be better around sunrise; WRTH 2009 said nominal span on 4845 was 1700-0800, then 7245. ORTM, reactivated on 4845 after several weeks` silence, Nov 4 at 0625 with usual undermodulated low-key chanting, which seems designed to put listeners to sleep rather than awaken them; ute QRM on hi side evitable by tuning to lo side. At the very western tip of Africa, 4845 can hold up amazingly long in Nov-Jan with latest sunrises, all the way to 0800 or whenever they switch to daytime frequency 7245; has that been reactivated too? Revival of 4845 all-night will again facilitate MW DXers` identifying MW // 783. Tnx to Jari Savolainen who first reported 4845 resumed at 1740 Nov 3. Ron Howard says 4845 was off by 0111 Nov 4, so apparently not really all-night, and what I heard at 0143 may have been Brasil instead (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO [and non]. 6010, lacking Habana for a change, audiblized R. Mil, Oct 30 at 0559, and 0603 with jingle ID (not the 4-note whistle of yore mimicking a car horn denoting ``es-ra-dio-Mil`` --- do they ever use that any more?), but low het mixing with praise music, presumably the reduced signal from La Voz de tu Conciencia, COLOMBIA. 6185, R. Educación at 0602 Oct 30 with XE music, no co-channel from Vatican audible, probably due to depressed propagation from Europe, or possibly it was off; supposed to run until 0620 now as heard previous nights mixing with XEPPM. Here`s the SW program schedule, latest one available as of September, http://www.radioeducacion.edu.mx/onda_corta_septiembre.pdf --- times local when they were UT -5, but now applicable as UT -6. This covers only 18-24 local = 00-06 UT when SW programming is separate from MW 1060 and from this you`d never know they stay on 6185 another six hours duplicating 1060. The MW program grid is here, but with contradictory dates and hardly any detail after midnight! What`s with that? http://www.radioeducacion.edu.mx/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1319&Itemid=254 XEPPM, Radio Educación with 10 kW on 6185, is still getting blown away by Brasília with 250 kW whenever the latter is on. Oct 31 at 0102, RNA was way atop the XE, ditto at 0218 check. Not sure what the current span of RNA is, but Aoki shows it 0700-0300, 250 kW at 344 degrees, plenty close to USward and Mexicoward, altho on the wrong frequency, 6180 where RNA used to shift occasionally. I wish they would again and stay there, as XEPPM is incapable of coping with this itself. Then by 0300, Vatican Radio is taking over the frequency, leaving essentially zero QRM-free time in the evening for XEPPM. At 0601 Oct 31 I tuned to 6185 again and found an open carrier, then XEPPM joining the national anthem in progress. This was probably a late switch from the SW programming to become // MW. Now it was making a rippling SAH with Vatican which fortunately this date was relatively weak. Live DJ gave ID for 1060 only (is he even aware SW is still on??), from the ``cabina Vasconcelos`` (name of the studio) in Colonia del Valle (neighborhood location), sending out abrazos to listeners called ``educaditos`` (or was it educativos?), asserting that station transmits 24/365, then into album ``Siempre Son``. With lack of minute-by-minute program schedules any more, I am beginning to think it`s just free-form after midnight. It looks like XEPPM has only one half-hour at most clear of co-channel QRM from Vatican or Brasília on 6185. Nov 2 at 0651 I found RNA already on the air at 4:51 am BDT, // 11780 and blocking Radio Educación on 6185. That had been in the clear around 0630, after Vatican closed at 0620. Brasil is also on before XEPPM signs on at 0000, and one or the other remains on 6185 all evening. Brasil may fade out sometime before XEPPM sign-off 1200, but I am not listening then to find out if there is anything else in the way. XEQM, Mérida, makes its presence known by hetting 6105 at 1430 Nov 2 as Chinese inserted a VOA jingle. That`s Tinang 332 degrees during this hour, and of course despite CNR1 jamming. Now XEQM is abutted on 6110 by CUBA, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UNIDENTIFIED 9600.4 XEQM 6105 KHz en Mérida, Yucatán, el día 30 de octubre a las 1315 UTC en un receptor Radio Shack 20-125 (digital) con interferencia de Family Radio escuchada mejor en 6110 KHz. A las 1330 UTC en un Radio Shack 12-472 (analógico) en 6105 sin interferencia y mejor selectividad que el anterior. Envío archivos de audio. http://rapidshare.com/files/300038493/SW6105KHZ-30OCT2009-1315UTC.WAV.html http://rapidshare.com/files/300039385/SW6105KHZ-30OCT2009-1330UTC.WAV.html Atte: (Ing. Civ. Israel González Ahumada, M.I., DX LISTENING DIGEST) Never mind my previous comment that XEPPM 6185 had only a half-hour in the clear around 0620-0650. Nov 4 at 0635, Brasília is already on and way on top, but always with rumbling lo het since Mexico is off- frequency. RNA sign-on // 11780 apparently varies, so one really needs to sit on 6185 in the 06-07 period and see what happen (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO [and non]. 15341, RTVM keeps to its off-frequency, Arabic music at 1441 Nov 2 causing het with something weaker on 15340, i.e. HCJB Australia which is now on there 1145-1530, 307 degrees from Kununurra in many S Asian languages, some of them quite obscure, but gotta evangelize `em! And capped by English during the final semisesquihour. By 1507 Morocco had switched to 15345 (why not 15346?) with more music but not enough signal to copy HCJB even tho de-hetted. Why does RTVM do that? It certainly is to no one`s advantage to run one kHz off. Perhaps the transmitter tuning program originally had a typo in it and no one noticed or cared, like happened at REE Cariari, Costa Rica for months and months too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR [and non]. Re 9-078: Yes the BBC does indeed come on 9730 from Singapore, just 1 kHz down on 9731v from Burma (Myanmar) at 1100- 1130 but weekdays only. That makes it easier to hear the Burmese on Saturdays and Sundays. The signal only seems to get in around 1045 at this location and once Kranji comes up, wipes the Burmese out completely. 9730 1100-1130 .mtwtf. BBC Singapore 100 330 Burmese SE AS (Robin Harwood VK7RH, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, Radio Monitor, SWLR- KS001, Oct 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5915, Myanma Radio, 1242-1304, Oct. 31. In vernacular with a lecture; this Educational Service - Distance Learning program ended at 1300; into pop music program; mixing with CRI, but heard better than most days (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ron and others. I was glad I did hear Myanmar completely in the clear from 1045 till 1130 on 9730.9. Weekdays the BBC from Singapore completely wipes it out also in Burmese. However I think Myanmar may have been in various dialects. The music also was not very Asian at all if anything sounded like American C&W. Does Myanmar QSY to the channel underneath or to 5770? (Robin Harwood VK7RH, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, Radio Monitor SWLR-KS001, Nov 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Subject: 15850 kHz --- Dear Wolfgang, On Sundays 5955 and 9895 are both coming from Hörby. 5955+9895 gives 15850 kHz and that's what you heard! Regards and thanks for the info via WWDXC top news (Someone at RN? Via Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DXLD) RNW`s Dutch via Tinang is no longer at 1300 on 9650, despite Sackville taking that hour off so it would have been in the clear. Instead heard Dutch, which means it can`t be direct from Holland, on 9670 at 1253 Oct 30, closing with satellite transmission info, 1256 national anthem, 1257 cut to English show in progress about Hebrew school, but cut off the air at 1258*. So now instead of a full two-sesquiminute secret English broadcast there is only one uniminute! This 9670 transmission in the clear is from 1230, supposedly ending at 1257, 250 kW, 267 degrees via TINIAN. 11655, RNW in Spanish, announcing frequencies at odd time of 2336 UT Sunday Nov 1, then mailbag/DX show Cartas Arroba RN with Jaime Báguena. Fair signal but QRM under sounded like Spe-cial Eng-lish. Guess what: both of these are IBB signals, so they should know about each other: RN via Greenville, 250 kW, 160 degrees at 2300-2357; and VOA via Thailand, 250 kW, 30 degrees USward at 2330-2400. RN`s English hour 20-21 UT well audible via Bonaire 21525 and Madagascar [not South Africa as I said in original report] 11655, Nov 3 at 2017 discussing health care (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Happy Station time changes --- A message from Keith Perron: 28 October 2009 Hi Everyone, Just to let you know that starting next week Happy Station Show will be heard an hour later due to the time change in the US. Last week I made a mistake thinking it was this week, but that was Europe. Sorry! So 0100 UT will be 0200 UT and 1500 UT will be 1600 UT next week. Regards, Keith (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) The new WRMI xls schedule grid (uploaded to the files of the dxldyg) effective Nov 1 with the one-hour time shift also makes some further changes, including additional repeats of Happy Station: UT Wed 0100, Thu 0200, 1600, Fri 0800, 1400, Sat 1900, Sun 1900. I assume that on weekends due to other paid programming, SW 9955 will probably be on the air during the afternoons, unlike weekdays with WRN filler. This could get rather confusing, as Keith only mentions the original two on UT Thursdays, and sometimes they are the same, sometimes different, sometimes partly the same, so what about the others? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just to let you know the special Happy Station with Vasiliy Strelnikov is now uploaded. To download the show go to http://www.pcjmedia.com the click on archive shows you will then be directed to the all the recent shows. The show with Vasiliy is that of October 29, 2009. The site is work in progress, so more is coming soon. There are now seven different sections (Keith Perron, Taiwan, Oct 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Great show and a very timely releaze. Well worth a listen. After enjoying it I decided to share a few of my Vasiliy-related memories. The Soviet DXers would routinely struggle with lack of written responses from RMWS. But Vasiliy was always kind (or brave) enough to send RMWS's schedules and QSLs to local listeners. I got his letters, too. Once he misspelled my address. But the post office forwarded his very official looking letter to the so called passport desk. There the police would keep a list of all people registered in the district. They found my name and carefully forwarded Vasiliy's letter to me. I guess they thought it was something really important. It actually contained RMWS's program schedule and Vasily's personal response to me. I called Vasiliy a few times during his "hot lines". Well, come to think - exactly 20 years ago I was excited to hear myself in Vasiliy's Weekend speaking heavy accented English, wishing good luck to Egon Krenz's perestroika and even requesting a song for him. I guess only Kai would recall that name today ;) I still remember the song I requested was "We Are Together" by the Soviet rock group Alisa. Later, both Vasiliy and I worked as part-timers at Echo of Moscow Radio. So we would run into each other from time to time. When Vasiliy started working at FM station Radio 7 he provided a series of public announcements for the Third annual Moscow DX- gathering. It was the late spring of 1992. Before that we used to advertise through Russian DX-program of R.Sweden, personal letters and phone calls. We'd have a good groups of maybe 30 to 50 people. But after Vasiliy's promotion we got almost a hundred participants. That was great. But very soon we discovered that most newcomers had no idea what DXing was. All they wanted to discuss was a local FM-scene. Since then Moscow DXers have never advertised their activities on local FM stations :) Cheers, (Sergei S., IL, ibid.) I`ve always wondered if he is a real Russian (ancestry) or another American who took a Russian name. They did not discuss that. Said he was born in Washington and grew up in New York, I believe (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) He said he returned to Moscow when his parents returned to Russia. Parents were Russian (Keith Perron, ibid.) Judging by his last name, Vasily is an ethnic Russian. As I recall, his parents were Soviet diplomats. First they worked at the consulate in NYC, then were transfered to the Soviet Embassy in DC. Vasily's spoken Russian is perfect, better than that of Vladimir Pozner who slightly mispronounces Russian "R". But his written Russian wasn't good enough to get him into the Soviet university. (Written Russian is quite difficult and those entrance essays used to be really tough.) That's why Vasily started working from 18 (Sergei S., IL, ibid.) My god you mentioned a name of someone I have not thought about in year Vladimir Pozner. He is a real SOB. I hope I never have the chance to meet him again (Keith Perron, ibid.) Pozner made a name for himself in Russia. Many consider him to be the best Russian journalist. I don't know him personally but he sure acts as a big shot. In my opinion in his countless TV appearances he doesn't come across as a warm, gracious person. In his interview to BBC Russian yesterday he said that RMWS had 1.5 (one and a half, no zeros) listener in N.America. Acc. to him, only radio amateurs listened to RMSW so the whole enterprise was the waste of funds, time and efforts. In my opinion his words sounded very disparaging towards listeners. Not that RMWS had a huge audience in the US but still those were real human beings, you can't just dismiss them under the rubric of "radio amateurs." One would never hear anything like that from late Joe Adamov or Vasily Strelnikov (Sergei S., ibid.) Happy Station this week Dody, David, and Eddy --- This week`s shows are jammed packed. 0200 UT - A very rare recording made for Radio Canada International in the mid 1970s for the transcription service. 1600 UT - The first song introduced by Eddy Startz. A short teaser of the Dody Cowan interview and a excerpt of Belgium Radio International's Brussels Calling with David Monson as a promo for his upcoming interview. BTW, Glenn, do you remember a record album released in 1980 by David? The liner notes have a small message from you inside. The typos and pages will be fixed in the next few days on the website http://www.pcjmedia.com (Keith Perron, Taiwan, Nov 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes (gh) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI, 6170, Oct 31 at 1346 with island music, and no co-channel from Russia audible. Ron Howard found that missing yesterday, but back today before 1300. 6170, RNZI at 1318 Nov 1, with het presumably from DZRM on 6170.4 which had not been audible for several days. Could not hear any Chlash from Khabarovsk, so not sure if that is still on 6170, or just too far north to propagate today (however, Pet/Kam motorboat was audible on 6075 tho underneath Thailand, BBC Indonesian, during this semihour). As I tuned in, RNZI had interesting report about how the ``New Methodists`` were favored by the police force, supposedly helping reduce crime rate, at the expense of the out-of-favor (old) Methodists, thus an unfortunate church/state problem; trouble is, the island concerned was never mentioned even as the item wrapped up; Tonga?? It`s one of the Maori-titled shows tho presented in NZEnglish, and on to next topic, the Marshall Islands parliament. DRM noise on 9865-9870-9875 at 0709 Nov 3; must be RNZI on new schedule, ex-11675. Yes, accompanied by loud and clear analog RNZI on 9765, and I prefer to listen to the latter. At 1332, 6170 is the only frequency for RNZI, but on Nov 3 it has heavy co-channel QRM in Chinese from VOR even tho that is allegedly aimed due west from Khabarovsk (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Strange things happen when RNZI changes frequency from 9765 kHz to 13660 kHz at 1058 e. g. today, November 2nd. A recorded announcement says: "This is the Pacific Service of Radio New Zealand International. We are now closing on this frequency. Our transmission will continue in a few moments on 13660 kHz in the 21 metre band. Retune now to 13660 kHz in the 21 metre band. This is New Zealand." This is followed by the familiar signature tune. When following the advice, a moment later, a carrier comes on on 13660 kHz, with signature tune and time signal but then: nothing... they just go off the air exactly at the top of the hour. Signal on both frequencies is, by the way, quite good. I have noticed this procedure before, in the last winter season. 73s and good DX (Robert Foerster, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Robert, Perhaps their automation timer is set incorrectly, and/or confused by local summer time shift. Besides changing frequency, they are also making an antenna azimuth change at that time, perhaps adding to the problem. I am also forwarding this to Adrian Sainsbury at RNZI. Comments? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hi Glenn, that might well be the case. I can imagine that they change QRG and azimuth automatically at RNZI. I haven't found the log concerning a similar observation when they QSY'd to 13840 kHz last year. But anyway, I'd be glad if they fixed this problem because, even in presence of the QRM from CRI on 13665 kHz, the signal would get through almost as on 9765 kHz. Thanks a lot & 73s (Robert Foerster, ibid.) No reply from Adrian, but: 13660 problem fixed! Hi Glenn, that was a quick reaction. While I am writing this (November 3rd, 1131), RNZI is on 13660 kHz after QSY from 9765 kHz. I must say thanks a lot, and when I think of BSKSA, AIR and others, one would be glad to have such fast reactions in other cases as well. But I was a bit optimistic concerning the QRM situation. CRI comes in 13665 kHz with 90 dB and very strong modulation. 13840 kHz, as last year, would have probably been a better choice as there is nobody between the DRM QRM on 13810 and Radio Cairo on 13860 kHz. But maybe in the target area the situation is different. Anyway, thanks again and 73s, good dx (Robert Forster, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. New SW site in Nigeria --- Bodo Fritsche, 5N0OCH (DL3OCH in Deutschland), builts up the new SW station of Voice of Nigeria at present, in duty til end of November 2009. More under http://www.qrz.com put in " 5N0OCH " on the upper left corner, click "search" Two exciting antennas of Thalès Thomcast company[Grass Valley] at Mannheim Germany. Two 16 stacked dipols curtain, one true north, the other to westerly diection. 9 - 19 MHz. Also an ALLISS antenna The picture above shows my new toy which I am using since 17th of October. Its a fully rotatable curtain antenna with 32 stocked dipoles. Each 16 for lowbands (6... 16 MHz) and highbands (16...26 MHz). Key features: 80m high, more than 20dBi gain on each band, weight 280 tons, rotated by 20 kW motors, completely remote controlled. 73 (via Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. The station hijacked from Atoka to `Catoosa` OK, axually closer to Sperry in the woods on the N side of Tulsa, and moved to 1120 in order to free 1110 to cram yet another AM station into The Metroplex, and now pending a large power increase for that -- - had not been heard since March. I have been checking 1120 every day or two, whenever I`m in the car in the daytime, with a handy preset (must not call them pushbuttons any more). Never heard until Oct 30 at 2014 UT, same music-only fill format as before, pauses between cuts, from CD player at site? Never any announcements, and no legal ID in a few minutes either side of hourtops I made sure to monitor around 2100 and 2200 UT. By 2200 heavy SAH of about 4 Hz from KMOX, which is gaining the upper hand. KEOR should go off NLT LSS, who knows? Which will change on November 1, of course. FCC data for this 2 kW daytimer http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/srsstime?dlat=36&mlat=18&slat=31.00&dlon=95&mlon=58&slon=25.00&tzone=B shows Oct SR/SS is 1230-2345 UT; November SR/SS is 1300-2315 UT I assume they are back on the air just to keep the license active, so may not last long. Unless they have a new buyer they are warming up for. Last transfer approved at http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/app_det.pl?Application_id=1290309 was to the Catholic Diocese of Tulsa as of 3/17/09, but as we found out from Bruce Winkelman a couple months later, that deal fell thru: http://www.w4uvh.net/dxld9044.txt The next morning, Oct 31, Bruce heard 1120 IDing as "Hot 13-40 The Groove" at 1414 UT. Playing non-stop R&B/UC music. He says, A "google" shows 1340 KJMU Sand Springs OK uses that slogan. Perhaps a clue to new owner? Not // 1340 KJMU at 1430 tho (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks, Glenn. 1120 had dropped off my radar. Listened this morning 31OCT09 from 1330 to 1430 UT while doing paperwork/email and heard an "ID" as "Hot 13-40 The Groove" at 1414. Playing non-stop R&B/UC music. A "google" shows 1340 KJMU Sand Springs uses that slogan. Perhaps a clue to new owner? Not // 1340 KJMU at present (1430) tho (Bruce Winkelman, Tulsa, OK, ibid.) KEOR, 1120, Sperry OK, missing again, the next time I look for them since last report, Nov 2 around 1930 UT (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The metroplex AM mess: KVTT-FM has been sold to KERA and KERA-FM (Dallas PBS and NPR stations), the "new" 1110 was Mineral Wells KJSA, which has now become the new KVTT, bought by the former owners of the FM station. The AM station had previously been on 1140 and 1120 in the Dallas area from Cleburne, TX, southwest of Fort Worth. Mineral Wells is northwest of Cleburne, putting the station somewhat northwest of Fort Worth (David R. Block, Oct 31, ptswyg via DXLD ** OKLAHOMA. Late nights and early mornings I often step thru the UHF band on analog TV to see if anything is left besides my local KXOK-32. Nothing seen lately until Oct 31 around 1515 UT when the LPTVs in OKC and/or Stillwater still did come thru on channels 17, 19, and 21, but gone at next check a semihour later after some minor area tropo offburned as a frigid morning was warming up fast (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. 17632.39 Radio Oman Thumrait, on odd channel noted here with medium interference whistle in past two weeks ... tx wandered this morning from x.38 ... x.40 kHz ... til 0820 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Nov 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. PAKISTAN BANS BBC BROADCASTS ON FM STATIONS By: RnM Team 30 Oct 09 11:18 IST http://www.radioandmusic.com/content/editorial/news/pakistan-bans-bbc-broadcasts-fm-stations MUMBAI: Pakistan has banned BBC news broadcasts on private FM radio stations across the country. BBC confirmed that their broadcast was banned yesterday according to PTI reports. According to BBC, this ban has affected over 50 per cent of its daily transmissions on private FM radio stations. BBC has been airing five- minute news bulletins on several FM stations over the past year but the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) banned the broadcasts a few days ago. In a letter, PEMRA asked FM stations to provide details of their agreement with the BBC and to file applications for permission to broadcast BBC news. The FM stations had sought a few days time to comply with the instructions but authorities did not give them time and banned the transmissions, the BBC said. It said the radio channels provided the required documents to PEMRA today but permission had not yet been granted. The BBC said it had tried to contact PEMRA but could not succeed in doing so. Military authorities have denied issuing any instructions to PEMRA in this regard. Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira has promised to get the transmissions restored after contacting PEMRA but there is no progress, the BBC said. Principal Information Officer Chaudhry Rashid said he had asked PEMRA to seek documents of the agreement between BBC and radio stations but had not asked for the transmissions to be banned. The BBC has been formally registered in Pakistan and the organisation is called BBC Pakistan. Its employees are following Pakistani rules and pay taxes (via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg via DXLD) ** PERU. 6173.887, Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cusco, 2320 to 2330 improved signal with om chatter, 29 Oct per Charles Bolland Logs. "Cut Stones and Crossroads" by Ronald Wright [1984 Viking Press] on page 137 has a description of a visit to Radio Tawantinsuyo. Book a gift from David Potter. 73s de (Bob Wilkner, Pompano Beach, Florida, US, Drake R 8, Icom 746Pro DL, NRD535D, Drake R7, noise reducing antenna, 60 meter band dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9520, Oct 30 at 1345 with cute children`s songs in Sinhala (or so they seemed to me), good reception from RVA, 250 kW, 280 degrees from Palauig-Zambales, at 1330-1357, much better quality for music than VOI on 9525.9 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. V. of Indonesia forces us not to listen to its English hour at 1300, by failing to apply adequate modulation to the carrier on 9525.9, so what else is there? Polish Radio, now with good signal and modulation via, of all places, Austria at 13-14 on 11675. Listened a while on Friday Oct 30, from 1302 with news; 1320-1322 Slawek Szefs with a press roundup; 1324 other features, Business Week, arts talk, 1340 something about boxing (as in battering other humans, not preparing gifts). At some point they mentioned that Poland is among the 15 richest countries, congrats! But that means more responsibility for foreign aid. We were also noticing one or two quick chirps, two or three times a minute, not clear if on the audio feed or some kind of QRM. Transmission ended in music two or three minutes before 1400, tho supposedly scheduled all the way until 1400 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Glenn, Hope all is well. Last evening heard for the very first time the External Service of Polish Radio on 11860 at 1300 in English. Loud and clear. At first doubted whether it was radio Prague. The audio, voice coming through all looked like Prague. But clear identification proved it to be Polish radio. News about Europe (Romania, Czech and other countries) and music. Check it out again today. Bye (Manikant Lodaya, South India, Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11860 is transmitted eastward from UK, whilst we get it much better on 11675 NWward from Austria. We too thought the modulation, etc., sounds a lot like Prague. Maybe Kai can explain the mikes, studio ambience each has to explain this. 11675, via AUSTRIA, Nov 1 at 1336 Slawek Szefs giving an ID as ``Polish Radio Warsaw`` so I guess that is still kosher, if not official; or should it be with a comma, ``Polish Radio, Warsaw``? Anyhow, next ID I heard from someone else at 1353 more conventionally said ``Polish Radio External Service``. Ditto, comma question. Just don`t call them ``Radio Polonia``! This is harder for Spanish speakers to avoid, since Polonia is the name of the country in that language. Look for and please confirm their Multimedia show which should now appear Thursdays around 1323-1345, also on // 11860 eastward from UK (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good news and bad news --- First the good news. I a pleased I can now hear Polish Radio clearly in the morn at 13 UT on 11675. It has been a long time since your station put a listenable signal into North America. I shall try to listen most weekends. Now the bad news: you may not be aware that CBC has pulled your station and many other International Broadcasters from their overnight schedule. I am very upset by this change and have sent them a note to this regard (Andy Reid, Peterborough, CANADA, Oct 31 to PR, via DXLD) We are receiving lots of emails at the moment about the Canadian overnight broadcast. It is indeed a great shame and we had some loyal listeners from there who were supportive with their letters and emails. Thank you for your comments and please follow us online at http://www.polishradio.pl (Peter Gentle, thenews @ polskieradio.pl via Reid, DXLD) ** PORTUGAL [and non]. Only on weekends can we depend on a good signal from RDPI to NAm on 15560: Sat Oct 31 at 1335 strong enough to audiblize a lite whine of slightly varying pitch, like we hear on certain other transmitters such as WWCR, WEWN. Lo fi interview on phone, 1338 song by Antônio Braga with guitar, drums, refrain ``todo o mundo é composto de mudanças``, but not sure of that last word. Then at 1412 found RDPI also on // 17590, show seems named ``Hotel Internacional`` as mentioned a few times, but squashed by the sideband of powerful REE on 17595. Portugal and Spain are inextricably nestled together in Iberia, but that doesn`t mean they have to land 5 kHz apart on the 16m band with plenty of open space! 17590 is aimed 144 degrees from Lisbon, and supposedly on the air every day except Saturday per HFCC, but this *was* Saturday! More accurate schedule in DXLD 9-077 shows 17590 is Sat and Sun only, to Africa, i.e. Mozambiqueward (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some fantastically exciting sporting event must have been going on, as RDPI was frantically yelling about it on 12040, Nov 3 at 2110. This is one of those frequencies that is fired up at this time on weekdays, only if there is some special event, 300 kW and 300 degrees. Daily program schedule, which lagged more than a week behind in realigning Lisboa time with UT, shows: ``19:30 19:30 FUTEBOL - LIGA DOS CAMPEÕES - Fase de Grupos APOEL NICOSIA / FC PORTO [até] 22:00 22:00``. Similar coverage in Spanish from REE on 9640 at same time must have been some other game. Then at 0136 Nov 4, Brazilian music on 9455, same Lisboa parameters, scheduled weekdays only. DRM on 13805-13810-13815, Nov 2 at 1345. These frequencies are scheduled for extensive DRM in B-09, 08-14 the DW/BBC service in English via Sines, and available 16-24 for R. Bulgaria, but not on their current schedule; with Brother Scare analog from Nauen in between (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. Radio PMR is on winter frequency of 6240, where I expected it to be since that`s the site for Voice of Russia to NAm after 2300 on same, ex-9665 in A-09. Nov 1 at 2311 intermittent tones in typical Russian site tune-up style, 2315 ``This is Tiráspol``, actually pronounced Radio DMR this time, and into usual stilted propaganda in English. At 2354 tuneby even more stilted in German, and presumably in stilted French betwixt. This 2315-2400 service is M-F in local terms, i.e. UT Sunday-Thursday (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio PMR noted with excellent reception at 2345 October 26 on 6240, identification followed by news items in German. Per the Aoki online frequency schedule these broadcasts are 2230-2400 Sunday to Thursday, English 2230 and 2315, French 2245 and 2330, German 2300 and 2345. (Mike Barraclough, England, Nov WDXC Contact via DXLD) I don`t think so. As in log above they were not really starting until 2315, each langauge once, no repeats any more (gh, DXLD) ** QATAR. Hello DXers, Celebrating the 3rd anniversary for Aljazeera English. it will start broadcasting on FM band in Doha Qatar starting today on 101.7 FM. according to Alraya Alqatareya newspaper, Aljazeera is thinking of broadcasting the audio feed of the Arabic and English TV station in different parts of the Arab world. So after having the BBC, Radio Sawa, RMC and DW on FM band, here comes a newcomer to the Arab FM Band. Also Aljazeera in Arabic is on MW frequency 945 from Qatar covering the Middle East area. Aljazeera Arabic is picked up on the FM band as well in Gaza starting 2009. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Aalborg, Denmark, Nov 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) about time ** ROMANIA [and non]. Only on Saturday mornings is REE Costa Rica taking a break from 15170 (why?), allowing RRI to come thru unscathed in the 13-15 Romanian broadcast to Europe, 290 degrees from Galbeni, so also USward. If only it were still English. At 1313 Oct 31 I found it odd to hear Romanian being spoken with an Italian accent, but apropos, as they were talking about spaghetti and other peninsular cuisine. 15235 in Arabic, Nov 2 at 1508, VG signal kept talking about Romania, so I suspect it is RRI, as who else would be so obsessed with that country? Yes, scheduled 15-16, 247 degrees from Tiganeshti to W Africa. If only RRI would put on some English in our mornings; aimed anywhere we would probably get it. 5910, Nov 3 at 0106 poor signal in Romanian, so what could it be but RRI? Yes, now scheduled from Tiganeshti to ENAm at 01-03, 307 degrees; appropriately right next door to Bulgaria on 5900 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As of October the 25th 2009 listeners in Japan can listen to the English language programs broadcast by RRI between 2300 and 0000 hours UT on 5915 and 7300 kHz. We are looking forward to receiving reception reports from the area! Source: http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=174904666813 (via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. RT REPORTS ON VOR'S 80TH ANNIVERSARY You can watch a report here: http://russiatoday.com/Top_News/2009-10-29/russia-first-world-radio.html Make sure to wait for some time so that the file downloads fully. Otherwise your video will be choppy. There's a brief interview with Estelle Winters there and a quote from Ullmar Qvick from Sweden whose name used to appear in DXLD. Hopefully RT will put this report on Youtube soon, as Youtube often provides for a more convenient viewing. The video isn't there yet. But I see recent reports about the US kids being indoctrinated to sing praises to Obama, sheepish American media and the US as a failed state. In recent months RT has turned into a perfect mirror reflection of R. Liberty's Russian service! (Sergei S., IL, Oct 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Another TV Report on VoR's Anniversary --- Here's a video report on VoR's anniversary by Russian TV Vesti. It's in Russian. http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=323282&cid=7 It shows VoR building and some historic pictures. There are sound bites from Igor Kudrin from Latin American Service, Valentin Zorin and VoR's boss Andrei Bystritsky. Those who filed this TV report seem to be somewhat confused of the nature of external broadcasting. Kudrin only talks about preparing reports for Soviet TV. And Zorin is described only as a TV personality (which he was in the past when he worked as a Soviet TV corresponded in the past). I think that reel-to-reel shot in the end is just for TV viewers. From what I know reel-to-reel hasn't been used by VoR for some time now. There's a full transcript under the video that you can try translating with Google Translator if interested (Sergei S., IL, Oct 30, ibid.) Nice to see this excerpt from TV news in the USSR days. The sequence at the end of course shows an old studio, probably kept deliberately as a museum piece. If so: Very good. Note also all the other details like the door, the announcer room with its typical equipment and the "mikrofon vklyutchen" sign. And certainly Keith will particularly like to see this Mechlabor tape machine ;-) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Just watched it. I have to admit I find it a little depressing. Does anyone under the age of 60 work there? (Keith Perron, Taiwan, ibid.) What`s wrong with that? (gh, DXLD) I have to agree with you, Keith. I mean there are still a few young people at VoR - for instance, some cute girls in German and Italian services. But it's more of an exception today. As Vasily explained in his interview, VoR's salaries are minuscule. So the older generation is still there. Many of them are devoted to radio as a medium or even art form. And they don't care that much is a pay is low. But the younger Russians are not as altruistic. They are looking for better opportunities. I guess if you have to be in Russia's external media service, RT is the only way to go. That's where the young, gifted and beautiful people congregate these days: http://rt.com/About_Us/On_Air_Talent.html And there are no major budgetary constrains at RT. That's how it used to be at Radio Moscow back in the 1980s. BTW, VoR Russian unveiled a new website at http://rus.ruvr.ru/ Looks much better than before. Live streaming is still coming from Germany. I guess it will take some time to update all the other languages (Sergei S., IL, ibid.) "Radio Moscow" in WWII. Watching a You Tube clip of the 'Ukraine's Got Talent' winner, I was somewhat startled when 1'27" in there began a recording of what I knew as the Radio Moscow interval signal of old, followed by a brief programme excerpt! This was part of the accompaniment to the sand animation being shown, and was presumably of 'Great Patriotic War' vintage. Could any Russian-speakers here shed any more light on it? For instance, what is the excerpted programme saying (is it about the Nazi invasion?), and what was the main domestic service of Soviet radio called in those days? The clip is at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo (Dave Kernick, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ?? We already discussed this several weeks ago (gh, DXLD) Yes, it's a very famous video clip that includes an even more famous Soviet Radio war announcement by Yuri Levitan. The tears in the audience are genuine, as it is still a very emotional topic in the Slavic parts of the former Soviet Union. The radio announcement goes as: "Attention! This is Moscow speaking. Citizens of the Soviet Union, today on June 22, 1941 at 4am, without the declaration of war, the German forces attacked our country. They ambushed our border in many areas and bombed our cities: Zhitomir, Kiev, Sevastopol..." Initially the interval signal was used for both local and external broadcasting. But later it was reserved for External service. These days you can occasionally hear it on R. Russia on June 22 or May 9. Once I heard it before Putin's live interview. I'm not sure if Ukrainian radio would ever carry this interval signal. Both songs used are Soviet war-time songs in Russian. In the end the girl writes in Russian. These things are very significant in today's Ukraine (Sergei S., ibid.) Thanks for that very full explanation Sergei! What was the Soviet domestic radio known as in those days - simply 'Radio Moscow'? (David Kernick, ibid.) I believe formally the domestic radio structure was known as The All- Union Radio Committee. I guess the common onair announcement would be just "Govorit Moskva!", literally "Moscow is speaking." Later, the Russian radio services from the socialist countries relayed on Soviet domestic radio were known as "Govorit Sofia!" or "Govorit Berlin!", etc. (Sergei S., IL, ibid.) It was the Soyuzno-Respublikanskiy gosudarstvennyy komitet po televideniyu i radioveshchaniyu, usually referred to as Gostelradio. The GDR took this as model and only diverged by setting up different organizations for radio and TV, Staatliches Komitee für Rundfunk and Staatliches Komitee für Fernsehen, respectively. Here the committees have been scrapped in late 1989 and the organizations became simply Rundfunk der DDR and Fernsehen der DDR, the latter in December 1989 reverting to its original name Deutscher Fernsehfunk. In Moscow the whole story was more complex it seems. Concerning on-air announcements: Wasn't it "v efire Radio Odin", "v efire Mayak" etc.? And these Russian programmes from abroad were considered as replacement for direct transmissions on shortwave. One could believe that no international broadcasting between Warsaw Pact countries took place, but this is too much of a simplification. Could it be that Gostelradio no longer relayed the Russian programme from Berlin in 1990? During its last months RBI added Russian as another shortwave service or intended to do so. Test transmissions took place, but I don't know if a regular service started before RBI had been "integrated into Deutsche Welle" by eliminating it (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) [some items in this thread may be missing] This suggests that the programmes in Russian had been produced by Radio DDR, i.e. one of the domestic stations, with RBI not being involved at all. This because every GDR radio network (Radio DDR, Berliner Rundfunk, Deutschlandsender / Stimme der DDR, RBI and later also DT64) had its own interval signal. However, it could be that RBI was still involved but an emphazis had been put on separating these programmes from the foreign service on shortwave. I would not be surprised if the whole thing really broke down in autumn 1989. Of course not on the engineering side, which I presume were tape feeds, i.e. at a scheduled time an audio circuit to Moscow had been connected, the tape played out in Berlin and the incoming feed been recorded in Moscow. The break-down must instead have concerned the coordination. Did the editorial offices ever get in touch? I suspect that only the bosses had real contacts to Moscow. Now these old bosses had been forced away and all the cooperation went out of the window. And it is my experience that people socialized in the USSR are extremely reservated in regard to contacts to foreigners. Thus I believe that there was simply no chance to discuss a continued cooperation between GDR radio and Ostankino. The same also concerns the "sense of betrayal". Was it perhaps about the circumstance that the radio correspondent in Berlin did not get to know about the planned Russian broadcasts? I understand that Yuri Igrinyov, who passed away about five years ago, was such a correspondent, with an office in the Nalepastraße radio compound. Later he worked at the German service in Moscow and made no secret about being a communist (perhaps the obvious should be mentioned: which in Putin's Russia means belonging to the opposition). And time and again he played one of the records he brought home from Berlin. I was surprised as well to learn from the referenced Voice of Russia piece about the special GDR service of Radio Moscow, launched in 1986. I would have expected them to especially address also listeners in the GDR once the Sputnik magazine had been banned. And this could be considered as betrayal only by the senile hardliners. Still I'm surprised that it got as far as setting up a complete "language service", German-East, in addition to German-West, so to speak. Later, in the nineties, Nikolay Yolkin produced special broadcasts for Austria. But after 1995 they ceased and Yolkin went over to "general" programmes, known for demonstrating how much is possible at Voice of Russia. Quite a lot, considering that he still works there. Unforgettable for me is a news magazine he presented. It started with commentary about Chechnya from the central editorial office, the kind of stuff that sounded like in the USSR days. Then Yolkin: "This was the official opinion, but there are other ones, too...", followed by a report about criticism on the war. "The medium is the message", and here the message from Moscow was really not that bad. I understand that things are quite different at VOR's English service? And what the editors of the GDR service in Moscow say is quite similar to the experience of many East German radio people. It is not politically correct to say this, but in the end it makes to difference if political censorship or format fascists (not my wording) make appropriate reporting impossible. And a lack of budgets is a known problem here as well. Finally I found this: http://www.tvmuseum.ru/catalog.asp?ob_no=12 Also contains photos of radio studios, amongst others on the first page for the eighties from the production of the pioneer's magazine that can be found in the NDXC collection. Anticipatory: No, the childrens did not sit in pioneer's dress in the studio. So much for now ... > And acc. to now open CIA documents, official Bucharest employed > RFE/RL for carrying its message into other Warsaw Agreement > countries. How about RIAS, their only chance to send a message into the GDR with American help? > Sometime in 1991 Bulgarians shut down their Russian department and > re-created a new Russian SW service from scratch in 1995. The newly > hired staff were convinced that they were the pioneers of Russian > broadcasting from Bulgaria... Wasn't it the same when Radio Prague launched a Russian service? > I was told that the Russian dept. of Polish radio used trains to > send the prerecorded programs to Moscow. Another question: Were these productions stereo or mono? Perhaps there was no need for stereo, since I understand that Radio-1 never was stereo on any frequency, not even in Moscow, or is this not correct? In the case of Berlin the RBI studios were indeed mono-only, with ancient equipment, known as 200 series, until the bitter end. Only the domestic service studios got new equipment, known as 700 series, later. I put a photo album on the Yahoo group (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) Re: Golosa Druzey > Then it is noteworthy that the programme from Berlin starts with the interval signal of Radio DDR. All All-Union Radio relays from Berlin, Budapest, Prague, Sofia and Warsaw featured non-external service interval signals. Sure enough, only R.Bucharest would use the usual melody from its external broadcast: http://users.onwire.org/dxing/cgi/playlist.cgi?d=ussr_a1&f=A1_B21.mp3 Moreover, Romanians wouldn't say "Govorit Bukharest!" but rather "A Broadcast from Bucharest." Well, starting from 1975 they also run SW service in Russian. And acc. to now open CIA documents, official Bucharest employed RFE/RL for carrying its message into other Warsaw Agreement countries. I wrote to "Govorit Berlin!" once. If I remember correctly their Russian materials featured RBI logo. The Bulgarian broadcast in Russian recorded by NDXC in 1980 mentions that it's prepared by the Friendship Editorial Office. Sometime in 1991 Bulgarians shut down their Russian department and re-created a new Russian SW service from scratch in 1995. The newly hired staff were convinced that they were the pioneers of Russian broadcasting from Bulgaria... I visited the Russian Dept. of R.Polonia in the summer of 1991. They immediately found my letter that I wrote to them in 1984! At that time the Polish relays on All-Union Radio were over and the Russian service had to switch to infamous Lescinka SW facility. Everyone was depressed about that. The in-house joke was that those antennas were so old that they would beam the signal depending on the wind direction. In 1991 R. Moscow's Polish Service still managed to place some music programs on the First Program of Polish Radio during the late night hours. I was told that the Russian dept. of Polish radio used trains to send the prerecorded programs to Moscow. The way I understood it, the Russian dept. was always a part of the External service - just like the Czechoslovak service of R. Polonia. But, of course, they didn't use SW (Sergei S., Nov 2, ibid.) ** RUSSIA. Moscow ------------- VOICE of RUSSIA. the WORLD RUSSIAN SERVICE. October, 25 2009 - March, 27 2010 In a direction of Australia and New Zealand: 0600-0800 and 1100-1200 - 17650 kHz; 1300-1500 - 9800 kHz. In a direction of Asia: 0200-0400 - 15240, 15735 (DRM) kHz; 1300-1500 - 1143, 7260, 7295, 9800 kHz; 1400-1500 - 1251, 5900, 6005, 7240 kHz. In a direction of Southeast Asia: 1300-1500 - 7260, 9840 kHz. In a direction of Central America: 2300-0400 - 7260 kHz; 0000-0400 - 7220 kHz. In a direction of South America: 2300-0400 - 7260 kHz; 0200-0300 - 6185 kHz. In a direction of the countries Near and Middle East: 0200-0400 - 1548 kHz; 0200-0500 - 648 kHz; 1300-1500 - 1143, 7205 kHz; 1400-1500 - 9470 kHz; 1600-1700 - 1251, 5900 kHz; 1800-1900 - 5985 kHz; 2000-2200 - 7270 kHz; 2000-2300 - 1170 kHz. In a direction of Europe: 0600-1600 - 612 kHz; 0700-1600, 1700-1900 and 2100-0000 - 999 kHz; 0800-1600 and 1800-2000 - 1170 kHz; 0900-1100 and 1300-1400 - 7325 (DRM) kHz; 1400-1500 - 5905 (DRM) and 9675 (DRM) kHz; 1700-2100 - 7230 kHz; 1800-1900 - 630, 1431, 7290 kHz; 1900-2000 - 1494 kHz; 2000-2100 - 7290 kHz; 2100-2200 - 7300 kHz; 2200-2300 - 630, 693, 1431 kHz. For Moscow and the Moscow area: 2000-2100 and 2200-2300 - 612 kHz. In a direction of Ukraine and Moldova: 0700-1600, 1700-1900 and 2100-0000 - 999 kHz; 1300-1600 - 1548 kHz; 1900-2000 - 1413 kHz. In a direction of Byelorussia: 0800-1600 and 1800-2000 - 1170. In a direction of the Baltics: 1900-2000 - 1494 kHz; 2100-2200 - 7300 kHz. In a direction of the countries of the CIS in Central Asia: 0200-0400, 0600-0800 and 1000-1300 - 972 kHz; 0200-0400 and 1300-2200 - 1503 kHz; 0200-0500, 0700-0900, 1200-1300 and 1800-2100 - 648 kHz; 0300-0400 - 7305 kHz; 1300-1500 - 1143 kHz; 1400-1500 and 1600-1700 - 1251 kHz; 1400-1600 - 5945 kHz; 1500-1800 - 5995 kHz; 1700-2000 - 1026 kHz; 2000-2200 - 7270 kHz. In a direction of the countries of the CIS on Caucasus: 0400-1600 - 1377 kHz; 1300-1600 - 7205 kHz; 1400-2300 - 1089 kHz; 1700-1900 and 2000-2300 - 1170 kHz; 1900-2000 - 7305 kHz. The International Russian Radio. In a direction of Central America: 0000-0400 - 7270 kHz; 0400-0500 - 7250 kHz. In a direction Near and Middle East: 0200-1000, 1200-1300 and 1500-1800 - 801 kHz; 0400-0600 - 1170 kHz; 0400-1300, 1500-1600 and 2100-2300 - 1314 kHz; 1100-1300 and 1900-2000 - 1323 kHz; 1500-1700 - 6140 kHz; 1700-1800 - 5985 kHz; 1900-2300 - 1143. In a direction of Europe: 0100-0300 - 1170 kHz; 0900-1100 - 1215 kHz; 1300-1600 - 630, 693, 1323,1431 kHz; 1600-1700 - 6145 (DRM) kHz; 1600-1900 - 1494 kHz; 1900-2000 - 6155 kHz; 2000-2100 - 7300 kHz; 2000-2200 - 630, 693, 1431 kHz. In a direction of Ukraine and Moldova: 0500-2300 - 621 kHz; 1500-1700 and 2000-2100 - 5940 kHz. In a direction of Byelorussia: 0100-0500 - 1170 kHz; 1300-1800 and 1900-2200 - 1143 kHz; 1900-2000 - 5940 kHz. In a direction of the Baltics: 0900-1100 - 1215 kHz; 1300-1800 and 1900-2200 - 1143 kHz; 1600-1900 - 1494 kHz; 2000-2100 - 7300 kHz. In a direction of the countries of the CIS in Central Asia: 0000-0300 - 1026 kHz; 0200-1000, 1200-1300, 1500-1800 - 801 kHz; 1100-1300 and 1900-2000 - 1323 kHz; 1900-2300 - 1143 kHz. In a direction of the countries of the CIS on Caucasus: 0300-0500 - 1089 kHz; 0400-0600 - 1170 kHz; 0400-1300, 1500-1600 and 2100-2300 - 1314 kHz; 1500-1600 and 1700-1800 - 7215 kHz; 1500-1700 - 6140 kHz. The program for radio fans "Club DX" will leave in an ether on waves of Russian service of the Voice of Russia on Sun 0645 and 2145, Mon 0245, except for it the reduced version of the program will be broadcast in Tue 2045 and Wed 1645. Time is given provisional, all releases of the program leave in an ether in last quarter ???????????? hour. In connection with planned change of a grid of an announcement of Russian service the schedule of an output(exit) in an ether of the program "Club DX" can be changed. Watch(keep up) announcements in the program. http://www.dxing.ru (via RusDX Nov 1 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. RUVR B-09: the Polish Service: 1800-1900 on 693 1143 5940 7300 kHz http://polish.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=pol&w=90 RUVR B-09: the Arabic Service: 1600-2100 on 9360 9480 9820 7215 7305 7345 7400 5920 5935 5945 5965 5975 6020 6060 1314 kHz 2300-2400 on 1377 kHz http://arabic.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=arb&w=49&p= ------ 73! (Alexey Zinevich: a DXer from Minsk, Belarus, Oct 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Caution - Voice of Russia frequency schedules. I've just had a quick look at the Europe frequency schedule in the Word file at http://www.ruvr.ru/files/File/WORLD_SERVICE/2009_10_FREQUENCY_SCHEDULE.doc and the Europe schedule on the web page at http://english.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&w=129&p= and both contain numerous discrepancies. For example, the web page shows nothing for 0700-0900 while the Word file does. The Word file shows nothing for 0900-1000 while the web page does. There are quite a few more discrepancies than those 2 examples so neither of these schedules should be relied upon as being correct (Harry Brooks, North East England, UK, Oct 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Winter B-09 schedule of Tatarstan Wave in Tatar/Russian: 0510-0600 on 15105 SAM 160 kW / 065 deg to FE 0710-0800 on 9860 SAM 250 kW / 058 deg to RUS 0910-1000 on 11915 SAM 250 kW / 305 deg to WeEu Winter B-09 of Radio Rossii in Russian: 0500-0800 on 9840 MSK 250 kW / 260 deg to WeEu 0825-1300 on 12075 MSK 250 kW / 260 deg to WeEu 1325-1600 on 7310 MSK 250 kW / 260 deg to WeEu 1625-2200 on 5905*MSK 250 kW / 260 deg to WeEu *strong co-ch 1900-2000 RFI in Russian Winter B-09 for Voice of Russia in DRM mode: 0200-0600 on 15735 K/A 090 kW / 213 deg to SoAs Ru/Ru/En/En 0700-0900 on 11635 MSK 035 kW / 260 deg to WeEu En/Ru 0900-1400 on 7325 KLG 015 kW / 220 deg to WeEu Ru/Ru/Ge/Ge/Ru 1400-1600 on 5905 MSK 035 kW / 260 deg to WeEu Ru/En 1400-1800 on 9675 MSK 035 kW / 260 deg to WeEu Ru/En/Ge/Fr 1600-1900 on 6145 KLG 015 kW / 220 deg to WeEu Ru/Fr/It 2000-2300 on 6105 KLG 015 kW / 220 deg to WeEu Fr/Fr/Ru (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Nov 3 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 6075, Radio Rossii, Petropavlovsk/Kamchatsky, Oct 31 at 1348, baroque music would have been nice were it not for the motorboating carrier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6170, VOR, 1344, Oct. 30. Russia was not here today. Have they really moved away? Where? Heard RNZI with good reception, best in LSB (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Yesterday VOR was absent from 6170, but was heard today (Oct. 31) with a good signal at 1242. At 1300 started mixing with a weaker RNZI. Had hoped for a chance for a clear frequency to check out 6170.4 (PBS/R. Magasin - DZRM), but looks as if I missed my chance yesterday. 6170, VOR, 1305 + 1350, Nov. 1. Glenn, VOR did propagate to my QTH. Heard mixing with a stronger RNZI (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6170, 1235 tune in to 1305, Nov. 2. This one is propagating to suburban Cleveland and is // 7295, in Chinese. 6170 covered by RNZI at 1300, and 7295 had sporadic ham communication throughout (Greg Neide, Euclid, OH, Grundig YB 400 and 35' outdoor wire antenna) ** RUSSIA [and non]. RUSSIA/ARMENIA/MOLDOVA. This night Nov 1st at 0100-0200 UT noted extreme superb SW AUDIO signals in 49 to 31 band here in southern Germany, even from stations on short -- to 2000 km skip distance. Clean audio even heard from RUS/CIS stations like a local AM station, from MSK, SAM, ARM, ERV, GRI. The final stage tubes on their Russian made transmitter gear is now in perfect fine condition mostly. Some 10 years ago most Russian SW facilities suffered by bad audio level. 6185 S.P VoRUS Sp noted in 0000-0400 slot. 6225 GRI DWL German Bundeslige football coverage 0000-0200 6240 GRI VoRUS En 0000-0600 7210 MSK VoRUS Por/Sp 0000-0600 7220 GRI VoRUS Ru 0000-0400 7225 SAM VoRUS Sp 0000-0400 7250 ARM VoRUS En 2300-0500 7260 MSK VoRUS Ru 2300-0400 7280 ARM VoRUS Sp 0100-0400 7285 Unid Russian, most likely via Kopani Mykolaiev Ukraine? noted 0000-0200 very strong ... 7290 SAM VoRUS Port/Sp 0000-0300 UT 7430 ERV VoRUS Ru 0000-0400 but TJK VoRUS Sp on 6135 kHz in muffled audio quality (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Tatarstan heard on 11915 at 0935 tune in November 1, talk in Tatar, seemingly book or play reading, off 1000 following announcements over music. Per Aoki online frequency schedule they now broadcast 0510-0600 on 15105, 0710-0800 on 9860 and 0910-1000 on 11915 (Mike Barraclough, Nov WDXC Contact via DXLD) ** SAINT HELENA. Hello Radio Clubs and DXers around the world, PLEASE NOTE below the CORRECT special email address for Radio St. Helena Day 2009. >>>> radio.announcements4669(at)msn.com The email address MUST be ALL in LOWER case letters. Apparently, uppercase letters will not work. This error, on my part, was spotted today by Gary Walters, RSH. This is how to to contact the RSH studio during the RSD 2009 broadcasts. With best greetings and best wishes for good listening, (Robert Kipp, Gary Walters, Radio St. Helena, Station Manager, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I always thought e-mail addresses were never case-sensitive, very much unlike URLs after a / -- but do it anyway (gh, ibid.) ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. 11785 with weak Saudi-style buzz, Nov 4 at 1440 as I was searching for missing Indonesia. Current schedules do not show BSKSA there, but the B-08 in WRTH 2009 does! 250 kW Riyadh at 10-17. So it seems this has been resumed in B-09. 13m was not open so could not hear if it was still buzzy on 21505 too. The huge buzz on 15435, bothering BBC as far away as 15420, was there after 1500, but no sign of it at 1552. The abuzzy // 15225, was OK with Qur`an earlier but it too missing at 1552; both scheduled until 1800 with first program, so power failure, schedule change, or big propagational dropout? Farda was still in well on 15410 from Skelton. With Cuba missing from 15120, Nov 4 at 1445 could hear weak Qur`an, then talk in presumed Bengali as BSKSA scheduled here at 12-16, 500 kW, 70 degrees from Riyadh. As best as I could tell, it was on 15120.0, which would not account for the audible het previously heard vs Habana (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA [non]. 6100, BOSNIA, Int'l Radio of Serbia, Bijelina, 1926- 1936, Oct 30, Russian/English. W announcer with talk over folk music; ID & URL at 1929 into English service with Serbian political news and EU relations; IDs; fair (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tonight here in Germany there is just a very faint carrier on 6190. Seems rather to be something else. Next to it is a not too powerful but still much stronger signal from Krasny Bor on 6185, carrying Voice of Russia in Spanish, with way too low audio level and rather obvious hum (Kai Ludwig, UT Oct 29, ibid.) Now it`s certain that International Radio Serbia not only is still on the air, but using its A-09 instead of B-09 frequency for North America at 01-02: Oct 30 at 0102, still zilch on 6190, but Serbian on 9675, mentioning Beograd, Srbske, etc. Fairly good signal making it this date, unlike previously. At 0142 YL in English, sounds rather like bleary-eyed OL, tho surely not broadcasting live at 2:42 am local. Furthermore, there is some very weak co-channel QRM, possibly Brasil which does not appear in HFCC, but seems zero-beat, unlikely for them, so more likely an ubiquitous CNR1 Beijing outlet. IRS still missing from scheduled 6190 for NAm at 01-02, instead very poor signal detectable on prolonged A-09 channel 9675, UT Sat Oct 31 at 0102. Listen for English at 0130 except UT Sundays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BOSNIA [SERBIA non], 9675, Before I went to bed I noted unusual strong deep night signals on both 41 and 31 mb even from close-by stations like Wertachtal and Lampertheim, some 120 km away from my location. On 9675 kHz was International Radio Serbia from Bijeljina, Bosnia on air with typical and very lovely Serbian (yugoslav) folk music in 0100-0200 UT time slot Nov 1st. Powerful S=9+20dB and excellent audio from the Swiss made transmitter - sure it was the former 500 kW beast - but seemingly reduced to 200- 250 kW level. Deep and very fast fluttery though. ID "Belgradu Serbia" in Serbian noted at 0110 UT. Commentary then "Balkanske ... Serbia integratia ... Europske..." . News in Serbian at 0157-0159 UT by female. At 0200 UT end of program with some "technical" sentence in Serbian. TX switched off at exact 0200:52 UT. Adjacent Iran in Spanish on 9680 kHz was very poor, S=6 level. Adjacent 9670 kHz channel content a mixture of both US Tibetan program from Wertachtal and China mainland jamming at S=9+10dB level, 0100- 0300 UT, but not annoying (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Nov 1, ibid.) Dear DXers, thanks to tips from Glenn and Wolfgang, today (Nov. 02) I called Intl R Serbia's technical director and told him they are still using the summer freq 9675 kHz at this winter season, instead of scheduled 6190 kHz at 0100-0200z via BIJeljina, Bosnia at 310 degrees to North America. He told me that technician at BIJ station was instructed to change the automated frequency tuning on the transmitter to 6190 kHz from Oct. 26, 2009, but obviously forgot it, so he will phone the BIJ station to correct this, so AS OF 0100 UTC, NOVEMBER 03 THE IRS FREQUENCY FOR NORTH AMERICA WILL BE SWITCHED TO 6190 kHz, AS SCHEDULED! To Glenn and Wolfgang go all the thanks for the tip! 73 (Dragan Lekic from Subotica, SERBIA, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I would prefer rather a 40 mb frequency around 7.45 MHz, 6 MHz is too low in Midwest? (Büschel, ibid.) No, the MUF really falls over dark winter paths (gh, DXLD) Thanks, Dragan! Let's hope the transmitter guy won't forget it this time. He's probably sick and tired of those semiannual frequency changes ;) Cheers, (Sergei S., IL, ibid.) The transmitter operator at Bijeljina failed to follow orders and change from 9675 to 6190 for the N American service at 0100-0200 from the start of B-09, Dragan Lekic found out as he notified management of the discrepancy we have been reporting, which they said would be rectified starting UT Nov 3. And so it was: at 0058 carrier on 6190, and the IRS IS, 0100 opening in Serbian, good signal on 6190, nothing on 9675. English no doubt followed at 0130 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. RSI, 7230, at 0104 Oct 31 with Slovakia Today, doing fairly well on their only NAm frequency as // 9440 is 245 degrees for SAm, CIRAF zones 13-15. But 7230 is an illegal channel in the exclusive 40m hamband thruout the Western Hemisphere, so hams are free to QRM it however they wish. The Slovax blatantly register 7230 for zones 7-10, 150 kW at 305 degrees, not even pretending like the Croatians did when they were using 40m via Germany, that it is for Iceland! And this is the only English broadcast to NAm from RSI, for which we must still be grateful, but it should be outside the hamband. Where are ARRL`s intruder-watchers? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also IRAN ** SOUTH AFRICA. 11640 in English, African-accented preacher obsessed with Jesus Christ, Oct 30 at 0612. Good reception and not surprising since this is TWR via Meyerton at 0600-0645, 500 kW, 320 degrees, as once used for the Radio RSA North American service. What a comedown (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Oct 29 checking for Brother Scare on WWCR, or not? At 1259, 13845 had Pastor Melissa Scott // synchronized Anguilla 11775, but QRM underneath 13845 from fanfare and BBCWS opening in language, listed as Kyrgyz via Thailand for a semihour. Checked 13845 again at 1359 and caught announcement by WWCR saying they were now switching to The Overcomer Ministry, which is scheduled 7 am - noon weekdays = 12-17 UT, and 7 am - 1 pm on Sundays = 12-18 UT (? Or did they say Saturdays?). Trouble is, this is really starting two hours later than the announced time! And no doubt there will be another confusing one-hour shift once DST is over Nov 1. Then did join B.S., talking about how President Obama is the anti-Christ, the man in whom Satan will dwell. What crap. So WWCR does acknowledge they are carrying B.S., just not on their published program schedules such as the one dated Oct 1 at http://www.wwcr.com/program-guides/WWCR_Program_Guide.pdf which still claims nothing but Dr Gene Scott 24/7 on 13845/5935. Meanwhile B.S. via WWRB was already blasting its bignal on 9385 at 1331, while the day before did not get upswitched from 3185 until an hour later as Dave had hit the snooze alarm. Not having copied accurately WWCR`s surprise announcement about switching from PMS to BS the day before, I was all set Saturday Oct 31 at 1359 on 13845: they said WWCR-2 carries The Overcomer Ministry Mon- Sat 7 am-1 pm Central = 12-18 UT, Sunday 7 am-noon = 12-17 UT. Of course it`s still wrong, as this was really happening two hours later, and at 1400 sharp, switching to the BS feed. Unless updated, it will become even more wrong Nov 1 with the one-hour timeshift in all programming post-DST. See also USA for more on WWCR In October, Brother Scare was appearing again on WWCR-2 13845 part- time, after the transition from Pastor Scott at 1400. Now with standard time the switch is apparently at 1500, as at 1401 Nov 1 I was still hearing PMS // Anguilla 11775, but at 1507 it was BS on 13845. Need to monitor WWCR`s announcement just before 1500 to see if the times are still wrong. But the new Nov 1 WWCR program schedule finally shows B.S. at 1500-1900 daily on #2, all other times Dr Gene Scott (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. After several years the medium wave DRM broadcast of RNE (Arganda 1359) has passed its testing phase and has become a regular one on the air 24 hours a day. The ID is "E7C238" and the program is labeled as "RNE DRM Arganda". I think the power is the same: 10 kW (Mauricio Molano, Salamanca, Spain, Nov 3, DXLDyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. 7275, REE Noblejas, 1943-2000, Oct 30, Spanish/English. While bandscanning, was very surprised to stumble across heavy metal mx from my youth, Iron Maiden! Must have been the music programs featured artist as M announcer; between songs with Spanish talk; played several selections until 1955; then Spanish hard- rock music into ToH ID; fair. REE rocks! (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I was listening to RHC`s En Contacto DX program on 15360, Sunday Nov 1 at 1346 as they coincidentally mentioned Antonio Buitrago and their counterpart on REE, Amigos de la Onda Corta, which reminded me that Sunday 1330 is the new time for the latter, and immediately found it running on 15170 via CR, a phrase ahead on 17595 direct; and furthermore on 15125 via CR, too close to bigger signal from RHC again, on 15120! Too bad those two DX programs now conflict not only in frequency but in time! Way to go, REE, with your nonsensical schedule jumbling. REE Emisión Sefarad, 15385, Monday Nov 2 at 1440 with ladino song, and more nice music to sign-off announcement at 1453. The YL STILL thinx she is on 15325, just as wrong as during the entire A-09 season, in sked announcement for 1425, also giving 11780 to SAm Tuesdays at 0115, and 9690 to NAm Tuesdays at 0415. Besides getting the frequencies right, she really ought to make clear to her non-DX audience, that by ``Tuesday`` she really means Monday nights in the target areas. Contact sefarad @ rtve.es Meanwhile, something else is really now on 15325, Nov 2 at 1442, seems S Asian language, but heavy splatter from Martí 15330. Yes, it is YFR in Oriya via Wertachtal (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 11905, SLBC Colombo, 1154-1213, Oct 30, vernacular. Hindi music and brief talk by announcers; three pips at ToH; ID and choral-like music; M announcer from 1202 with presumed news; fair at best (Scott R. Barbour Jr. Intervale, N.H. USA, NRD-545, RX-350D, MLB1, 200' Beverages, 60m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 15650, Nov 1 at 1501 found heavy clash with subaudible het between Greece and Miraya FM via IRRS Milan via IPAR Slovakia; one of them had a timesignal 74 seconds late, and I`m sure it wasn`t Greece (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also GREECE ** SUDAN [non]. The muffled CRI English relay signal via CUBA on 13740 at 14-16 is normally big enough to blot out anything else, but Nov 4 just before it closes at 1556 with vamp music, I notice it mixing with something Arabish. Bears more attention another day, as uplooked later, this has to be: R. Dabanga via Wertachtal 500 kW, 150 degrees for Sudan at 1530-1627 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENINGN DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 11615 03/11 1825 SÃO TOME AND PRINCIPE, Affia Darfur/Hello Darfur, em árabe, desde Pinheira, com 100 kW, YL com ID, após uma entrevista pelo telefone, às 1829 UT inicio de nx por OM e YL com diversas menções a Darfur, às 1830 UT saiu do ar abruptamente enquanto se transmitia nx (na verdade a tx é listada até 1830 UT), 35433 (Jorge Freitas, SWL1023B, Feira de Santana Bahia - Brasil, HCDX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. RADIO SWEDEN ENGLISH FREQUENCY CHANGE Due to interference from another radio station, we are being forced to change our broadcast frequency to East Asia at 1330 UT on 7465 kHz. The new frequency will be 7405. The change comes into effect as of the 4th of November. (Radio Sweden) (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Nov 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I don`t see anything else on 7465; must be referring to R Free Asia in Tibetan via Mongolia, on 7470, natch jammed by the ChiCom, per Aoki. Axually R. Sweden conspires to keep North Americans from overhearing any of their morning English broadcasts since new 7405 will be blocked by the DCJC and R Martí until 1400 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RTI`s Japanese service on 9735 is usually OK, sometimes puts audible spurs on 9730 and 9740 as I have occasionally noted, but Oct 30 at 1357 just as I tuned in, found very distorted and splattering signal with music ruining BBC on 9740. Fortunately RTI went off at 1357:30. You won`t find RTI entries in HFCC, since the ChiCom force Taiwan not to participate, meanwhile themselves being the world`s premier jammer hardly in line with the spirit of HFCC coöperation; but Aoki shows this in A-09 as 13-14 via Tainan, 250 kW, 45 degrees toward Tokyo and thus also USward, likely the same in B-09. RTI 9735 Japanese service Oct 30 was very distorted, so how is it Oct 31? At 1322, good modulation but splattering just a tad above and below. Certainly an ailing unreliable transmitter like others upon Taiwan; even RA found itself off-frequency tnx to Taiwan`s relay circa 11550 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. 7245, Voice of Tajik, 1301 - 1314, Nov 03, English opening ID, freq announcement, then into 8-minute news. About equal strength to co-channel CNR -2. Aoki wrongly lists Tajik 1000 - 1400. 73, (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands. Dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DXLD) ** THAILAND [and non]. R. Thailand`s SE Asian English broadcasts in our mornings may be our best chance to hear them, rather than the `US` service in the evenings when propagation is problematical: Oct 29 at 1248, very poor with flutter on 9720; better at 1413 on 9725. At least 9725 is clear unlike previous seasons, since Costa Rica is kaput, altho primetimeshortwave has yet to catch up with that reality. Even Aoki has deleted it tho retaining many other long-inactive Latin Americans. R. Thailand, English to SE Asia on 9720, fairly good with flutter, Oct 30 at 1249, W&M with Thai accent in world news (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [and non]. 7350, CNR-11, 1430-1500, Oct. 29. The “Holy Tibet” program in English now has heavy QRM from assume VOR. The Aoki list has a gap from 1400-1500, but that does not seem right. Think QRM is VOR due to references heard to “Moscow University”, but no clear ID, with language sounding like Hindi or something similar. Pre-B09 schedule I heard “Holy Tibet” completely in the clear here. “Holy Tibet” was // 6010, which was poor due to the jamming of Echo of Hope (VOH) on 6003. This jamming of course also has an adverse effect on VOR, on their new schedule for 6005, in Russian (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6200, Xizang PBS-Lhasa, 1630-1700, Nov. 1. In English; “This is China Tibet Broadcasting English program, Holy Tibet. Holy Tibet will take you to visit the roof of the world. Holy Tibet is the window into life in Tibet"; usual recorded promo for medical massage clinics in Lhasa. This recording that they use so often is many years old and the prices quoted must be very out of date. Played a lot of Tibetan music; poor to fair; // 6110. In another month I should have good reception of this! (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. VOT English on 15300, Oct 31 at 1329 with IS barely audible under RFI French making a fast SAH with it, contrary to VOT Turkish music with VG signal on clear 15350; not surprising, judging from relative azimuths (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Çakirlar site refurbished. TRT site Çakirlar used some very old 250 kW units, and had terrible audio transmissions in 2006-2007. But now in previous months the audio quality was excellent and transmission frequency was very stable. Now I see in the latest HFCC public table of B-09 season, that Çakirlar uses even 5 x 500 kW units in the 1500-1600 UT time slot. This Turkish radio installation uses also a rotatable Thomson Thalès antenna, like in Kuwait, Emirler, Turkey and Sines, Portugal (Wolfgang Büschel, Oct 28, BC-DX via DXLD) ** TURKS & CAICOS. Re 9-078: ``Unless RVC can find another tower site it might be a long time before 530 cranks up again.`` You would be amazed what a short 100-200 ft tower with a guywire tophat going 1/3 of the way down to insulators does for coverage, especially with a good ground nearby like the sea. A setup like that can easily rival a full quarter wave at a fraction of the cost and effort (Darwin Long, Simi Valley, CA, ABDX via DXLD) CVC [sic, must mean RVC] is back on 530. I got a little bit from them under R. Enciclopedia (Kevin Redding, Crump TN, 0230 UT Oct 28, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DXLD) Radio Visión Cristiana está en el aire en los 530 kHz. Saludos cordiales, queridos amigos diexistas diexistas del mundo. Espero se encuentren muy bien. Queridos amigos, por medio de este correo quiero ratificar que Radio Visión Cristiana en los 530 kHz está en el aire. La acabo de sintonizar con señal baja y pude oir parte de su programación y también pude copiar en forma clara y muy entendible su identificación. La señal es muy baja pero la pude copiar y entender todo lo que decían. Por tal motivo, quiero felicitar a mi colega diexista Yoel Pericaguan, porque fue el primero que me dió noticias de esta radio hace aproximadamente una semana y de allí las preguntas que hice en las listas para saber de Radio Visión Cristiana. Entonces Radio Visión Cristiana 530 kHz, está en el aire; el receptor que he utilizado para hacer esta escucha es el sensacional SRF-M37, la captación fue a las 0003 UT. Un abrazo para todos (José Elías, 0024 UT Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) En efecto, amigo José Elías, ya te había comentado anteriormente que había escuchado una señal con comentarios de índole religiosa, aunque no puede verificar si en verdad era Radio Visión, pero no podía haber tanta coincidencia. Más tarde me extrañó el aporte de nuestro maestro Glenn, quien habia recibido un informe en la cual dice que dicha radio ya no estaba emitiendo. Ojalá pudieras compartir con nosotros alguna grabación si la tuvieras? Así quedaría despejada la duda en torno a su transmisión. 73, (Dino Bloise, FL, noticiasdx yg via DXLD Jerry, he says they are on the air, has just got an ID as did someone else last week (Glenn to Jerry, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, This is turning into one of life's great mysteries. I have a call into my buddy with the power company on South Caicos who is contacting the sole employee on island of RVC. Possibly they are running low power into the horizontal long wire which would only give them high angle skip but no ground wave. As for Darwin's comments, I concur but a quarter wave on 530 is 480 feet and they have no tower. Now possibly they have a temporary tower somewhere else. I can offer this observation, at present I'm in Puerto Plata on the north coast of the Dominican Republic; I just tried 530 and get some barely audible Spanish with heavy fade, both music and voice. Could be Havana; if it's from the Turks, it has no power and I'm 110 salt water path miles away. WPTF-680 [Raleigh NC] has about 5 times the signal. Stay tuned (Jerry Kiefer, DR, 0145 UT Nov 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Possibly they have a new affiliate also on 530 elsewhere in LAm? They already have three on 1330, plus New York City (Glenn to Jerry, via DXLD) Glenn, Here's the scoop. RVC is operating at low power into their low slung horizontal long wire antenna. Almost non-existent last night at my QTH on the north coast of the Dominican Republic, today about .2 mv, barely listenable on a car radio. The audio parallels the RVC facility on 660 in Santiago 45 miles inland. Word is that RVC has come to terms with the government and owner of the transmitter site; funny what some money can do. But there's more, a new 100 kW transmitter (I assume Nautel) is allegedly on the way and the quarter wave tower will be replaced. Stay tuned, this should make for a great "pissing match" in the future with Havana's new 530, Radio Encyclopedia (Jerry Kiefer, DR, 2031 UT Nov 1, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I could hear something underneath Enciclopedia 530 last night, and at one point Enciclopedia was under some Spanish religion, but I never got an ID (Juan Gualda, Fort Pierce, FL, Nov 1, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DXLD) RVC 530 kHz. 2300Z 1 Nov 09 (just now) Clear ID in English, where the YL gave their other callsigns first, finishing with "British West Indies." My location is about 27.1 N 80.1 W (Jim Kearman, KR1S, FL, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DXLD) 530 RF, Radio Visión Cristiana. 0016-0100 November 3, 2009. Anyone really read the reports that Radio Visión Cristiana is REALLY back on the air recently... well, it's true. Mixing at times equally with my baby Enciclopedia. But I can tell you the signal is way stronger than the early reports. They have done something big since the early reports, be it power and/or antenna. Why, oh why do they not move to a different channel? How can they not get it? Loss of night-time Enci will probably require anti-depression drugs on a permanent basis for me. Aah, Enci just played an instrumental cover of "Dust In the Wind" which is so appropriate. Clear, canned ID string 0050, URL and other blather. So sad. DISCLAIMER FOR ANY LW/MW ITEMS, INCLUDING ALL TIS; MIS; PIRATE; AND LPAM ENTRIES, OR ANYTHING THAT CAN BE LINKED BACK TO A LW/MW REFERENCE: No portion of the below may be reproduced in any format and/or redistributed by the National Radio Club and/or their editors without my expressed written permission, which will then be swiftly -- and we do mean swiftly -- denied. Editors receiving this directly from me are excluded, provided this entire disclaimer is included once where any of the aforementioned items are first reproduced (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. 4976, R. Uganda, Kampala, 1814- 31 Oct, English, talks; very weak modulation; 23431, adjacent QRM de V of Russia via Tajikistan 4975. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S S R [non]. Vasily Strelnikov, ex Radio Moscow, interviewed on Happy Station: see NETHERLANDS [non] ** U K [and non]. The monitored schedule of BBC Bangla for B09 2330-2400 5890, 7490 0030-0100 6065, 5905 1230-1300 5845, 7550 1400-1500 Sun only 7550, 11915 1530-1600 9505, 11915 BBC Website http://www.bbc.co.uk/bengali/institutional/frequencies.shtml lists the one year old B09 frequencies. The website does not mention time of broadcast. VT Communication published schedule of B09 does not list BBC frequencies. HFCC.org list for BBC Bangla is confusing because it lists a second set of frequencies corresponding to the old time schedule of the period before BBC Bangla advanced programming by one hour to adjust to the changed Bangladesh Local time. This change was to have reverted back in September / October but has not done so. BBC Bangla normally does not announce the shortwave frequencies. Multiple emails over the past one year to BBC pointing out their website anomaly have not been answered. Where does that leave a BBC Bangla shortwave listener? From an amused and confused BBC Bangla listener of 30 years (Supratik Sanatani, India, Nov 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Though both lists are somewhat different, 25 entries in total. wb BBC 5845 1230-1300 smtwtfs BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 325 Bengali S AS 5845 1330-1400 smtwtfs BBC Duchanbe TJK 200 135 Bengali S AS 5890 2330-2400 smtwtfs BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 325 Bengali S AS 6065 0030-0100 smtwtfs BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 325 Bengali S AS 6155 1630-1700 smtwtfs BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 325 Bengali S AS 6175 1530-1600 smtwtfs BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 325 Bengali S AS 7205 1630-1700 smtwtfs BBC Singapore 100 340 Bengali S AS 7225 1330-1400 smtwtfs BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 305 Bengali S AS 7550 1230-1300 smtwtfs BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 325 Bengali S AS 7550 1330-1500 s...... BBC Tashkent 100 131 Bengali S AS 7490 2330-2400 smtwtfs BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 325 Bengali S AS 9440 0330-0430 .mt.... BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 300 Bengali S AS 9505 1530-1600 smtwtfs BBC Singapore 250 340 Bengali S AS 9510 0030-0100 smtwtfs BBC Singapore 250 340 Bengali S AS 9510 0130-0200 smtwtfs BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 325 Bengali S AS 9605 1630-1700 smtwtfs BBC Singapore 250 340 Bengali S AS 11750 0030-0100 smtwtfs BBC Singapore 250 330 Bengali S AS 11750 2330-2400 smtwtfs BBC Singapore 100 330 Bengali S AS 11915 1330-1400 smtwtfs BBC Singapore 250 330 Bengali S AS 11915 1400-1500 s...... BBC Singapore 250 330 Bengali S AS 11915 1530-1600 smtwtfs BBC Singapore 100 340 Bengali S AS 11995 0130-0200 smtwtfs BBC Singapore 250 330 Bengali S AS 11995 0330-0430 .mt.... BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 305 Bengali S AS 13790 0330-0430 .mt.... BBC Nakhon Sawan 250 300 Bengali S AS 17615 1230-1300 smtwtfs BBC A'Seela 250 80 Bengali S AS FEBA 7370 0015-0100 smtwtfs FEB Tashkent 100 131 Bangla S AS 7370 1500-1530 smtwtfs FEB Tashkent 100 131 Bangla S AS (via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. New timings for VOA Urdu Service - Thu 29 Oct 2009 Effective 1st November Pakistan will go back to normal time, i.e. UT +5.00 hours and VOA URDU SERVICE will use the following schedule: MW 972 1539 kHz is available at 1400-0200 instead of 1300-0100. SW service 0100-0200 (ex 0000-0100) on 9520(Sri Lanka) 9765(Thailand) SW service 1400-1500 (ex 1300-1400) on 7440(Thailand) 9390(Germany) (Alok Dasgupta, Kolkata via http://dxasia.info/news/ via Alokesh Gupta, dxldyg via DXLD) The VOA Music Mix strip at 21-22 UT is now on Greenville 15580, meaning excellent reception back in the central USA, such as Thursday Oct 29 during the Top 20 Countdown at 2130 pausing for news headlines. Signal was equivalent to Greenville 15390 closing Creole at that hour, soon to be shifted one UT hour later despite no DST/ST timechange in Haiti. See also CUBA [non] about VOA timeshifts. Program title confirmed here: http://author.voanews.com/english/Entertainment/musicmix-schedule-thursday.cfm except these schedules claim Top 20 Countdown and its siblings are all one hour later at 2200 UT! Are they confused about timezones, DST, or are they really an hour later on the satellite feed? Anyhow, there`s a different genre each day during this hour, whenever it is: Sunday, Fusion Monday, American Gold Tuesday, Roots & Branches Wednesday, Classic Rock Thursday, Top 20 Countdown Friday, Country Hits Saturday, Ray MacDonald Show (who occupies many other hours on other days). VOA uses 15580 from many different sites in English during the day, Botswana, Meyerton, São Tomé, Dhabayya, Iranawila and only at 21-22 from Greenville. The previous hour 20-21 on 15580 which contains Music Time in Africa Sat/Sun is currently via Sri Lanka, not much use in NAm. For that we must make do with Botswana 13710 or probably best on Bonaire 11975 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA Korean service, Oct 31 at 1349 on 7235 startled me with a stereo effect on my mono headphones, then found it to be underneath open carrier with tone tests on and off, fast SAH. At 1400 this 12-15 transmission is supposed to switch from IBB TINIAN to TINANG, Philippines site, so maybe that explains it, but why QRM itself? Just ask the guys in Greenville and Botswana, who in B-09 no longer have to cope with a VOA English handover at 1430 on 17585. Then checked the other VOA Korean outlets: 5890 which is Tinian thruout, was running a couple seconds behind 7235, and 9555, which switched from Saipan to Tinang at 1300, was a couple sex ahead of 7235. On 9360, Oct 31 at 1437 wailing YL with rock song in English, S9+18, whence? Answer at 1441, Indonesian announcement. Cut off air at 1459:30 during some Michael Jackson, uncovering JBA IS from Radio Sweden. At 14-15 Fri/Sat/Sun only on 9360 it is VOA Indonesian, supposedly only the old 50 kW transmitter in Philippines aimed 220 degrees, VG here for that. R. Sweden is starting a Swedish broadcast, 125 degrees from Hörby plus English at 1530. 11710, Nov 1 at 0525 something in African language, bothered by RHC spur circa 11708 --- fundamental 11760 not very strong at this hour, but enough to carry with it at least the closer spurs circa 52 kHz away. 0530 VOA sign-off. It`s Hausa via Botswana daily at 0500-0530. On the first day of standard time, one expects some SNAFUs at VOA, which would never happen if it operated strictly on the worldwide standard of UT, regardless of local clock changes. The morning VOA Spanish service has been running an hour later when Wáshington is off DST, even tho that is irrelevant for Latin América. So at 1325 Nov 1 I find that 9885 is still on the air in Spanish, with PSA about US immigration policy, promos for several programs including `` Las Noticias Como Son`` [is that a play on words, alluding to singing the news?] --- wait a minute! Those are Radio Martí shows, not VOA, and sure enough, this frequency is carrying RM instead of usual VOA. The feeds are mixed up, a sure way to encourage even more unjustified jamming against VOA! However, the DentroCubans had not caught this one yet. Radio Martí IDs around 1330 and shortly into their periodismo.com show. At 1332 check, 9885 was // real Martí frequency 13820. At 1359 the RM QSY announcement ``en algunos minutos`` barely got out ``11930`` before it was cut off and then to Voice of America sign-off in English, something which is never supposed to happen on RM channels. The letter-by-letter VOA language schedule still shows on Nov 1: Spanish 1130-1200 UTC 9885 13715 15590 1200-1300 UTC 9885 13715 15590 2300-0000 UTC 5890 5940 9885 So I check the other two morning frequencies which were supposed to quit at 1300: 13715 is also still on, really carrying VOA Spanish, and at 1329 there is a VOA sign-off announcement in English. But it keeps right on going, ``Music Country`` with songs in English, presented in Spanish. Both it and // 15590 still going at 1343-1344, presumably really closing at 1400. So does the morning show really start at 1230 now? We won`t be surprised if the evening broadcast also shifts to 0000-0100, yanking listeners around who have no use for DST. From what happened in the morning of Nov 1, VOA Spanish appearing contrary to its own initial B-09 schedule, I was expecting more contradixions in the evening, and was not to be disappointed. It had been at 2300-2400 UT on 9885, 5940 and 5890. At 2255, there was an open carrier on 9885, but off at 2257. At 2300, 5890 had no trace of VOA, just DentroCuban jamming, which still expected VOA to be there. No VOA or jamming on the third frequency, 5940. 9885 remained unoccupied. Obviously the Spanish hour was not going to show up between 23 and 24 as it had through October. So I start looking again before 2400. At 2355, 5890 is still heavily jammed, but the open carrier is back on 9885. At 0000 Nov 2, instead of VOA Spanish programming we get fill music in // on those two, still nothing on 5940. The jamming level on 5890 is decreasing, or at least the VOA non-programming is achieving an S/N advantage at the outset. Final check at 0037 found no signal on 5890, so Greenville apparently concluded by then that they were wasting watts with fill music. Perhaps from Monday there will axually be some Spanish programming, if Wáshington and Greenville can get coördinated. Meanwhile, Dragan Lekic in Serbia found an updated VOA Spanish schedule, effective Nov 1, all Greenville, with azimuths, confirming the one-hour-later timeshifts for convenience only of Washingtonians: SPANISH 0000-0100 5890/174 9885/183 1230-1300 9885/205 13715/176 15590/164 [MO-FR] 1300-1400 9885/205 13715/176 15590/164 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tuning in 9885 at 1330 Monday Nov 2, heard ``Welcome to the Voice of America in Spanish``, then Buenos Días América, news magazine unlike music fill heard on Sunday; 8:30 am timecheck, and // 13715, 15590. This has moved one UT hour later due to Wáshington going off DST, even tho that is irrelevant in Latin America. Altho it was pretending to sign on, VOA Spanish on weekdays axually starts on same triad at 1230, including the Andean service. BTW, there have been vague reports that the administration is having VOA beef up its Andean broadcasts to counter hostile left-leaning governments` increasing media control. Will that mean more on SW?? No more VOA on 17585 Greenville/Botswana 14-15 now that B-09 is in effect, but did find weakish VOA English Nov 2 at 1445 on 17650 mentioning stox in Asia, // 17715. These are São Tomé and Botswana respectively (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. EE.UU: LA VOZ DE LAS AMÉRICAS [sic] SE EXPANDE / USARÁ INSTALACIONES DE RADIO Y TV MARTÍ EN MIAMI Un locutor atiende a una llamada de la audiencia durante un programa en una de las instalaciones de la radioemisora La Voz de las Américas en Washington, el 16 de septiembre del 2009. Mandel Ngan / AFP/Getty Images --- Por JUAN O. TAMAYO Enfrentando a varios presidentes que critican a Washington a viva voz, la Voz de las Américas [sic] (VOA) está expandiendo su penetración en Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador y Nicaragua, según funcionarios de la emisora del gobierno de los Estados Unidos. La división en español de la VOA aumentará también el uso de las instalaciones de Radio y TV Martí en Miami debido a presiones presupuestarias, añadieron los funcionarios. El esfuerzo de la VOA por aumentar su audiencia en América Latina ocurre en momentos que el gobierno del presidente Barack Obama trata de responder a las críticas a las políticas estadounidenses por parte de varios presidentes de la región: Hugo Chávez en Venezuela; Evo Morales, Bolivia, Rafael Correa, Ecuador y Daniel Ortega, Nicaragua. "Estamos dando una atención especial a la región andina debido a lo que ocurre allí'', expresó el director de la División en Español, Alberto Mascaró. "Nuestra segunda prioridad es Centroamérica, especialmente Nicaragua y Honduras''. La región andina incluye a Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia, Colombia y Perú. El presidente hondureño Manuel Zelaya, aliado de Chávez, fue depuesto en julio y está tratando de regresar al poder. La VOA transmite sus reportajes por onda corta, estaciones locales afiliadas de FM y televisión por satélite, así como sus páginas de internet. Financiada por el gobierno, la VOA está obligada a observar normas de "exactitud, equilibrio, carácter abarcador y objetividad''. "Tenemos que contribuir a un diálogo con información'' en la zona andina y en Centroamérica, declaró a El Nuevo Herald Joan Mower, directora de Relaciones Públicas y Fomento de la VOA, en entrevista telefónica desde Washington. Mower indicó que la VOA cuenta con 319 estaciones radiales afiliadas en la región de los Andes que trasmiten sus programas gratis, --199 en Bolivia, 77 en Colombia, 7 en Ecuador y Perú, respectivamente--. La entidad tiene además 95 televisoras afiliadas, de las cuales el mayor número, 23, está en Colombia. La división en español tiene 21 empleados y un presupuesto de $3.1 millones para el 2009. La Junta Directiva de Transmisiones de la VOA decidió aumentar el alcance de la estación en los Andes y Centroamérica después que tres miembros de la junta viajaron por esas regiones este verano, explicó Mower. La estación planea contratar a un especialista de mercadeo para aumentar el número de afiliados; completó recientemente una importante modernización de su página de internet en español, y el mes pasado reunió en Washington a 17 periodistas independientes latinoamericanos para capacitarlos, agregó Mower. A partir del mes próximo la VOA dictará talleres de capacitación para periodistas en Bolivia, Argentina, Panamá y Haití sobre cómo cubrir la epidemia de la gripe porcina. También esta trabajando para ofrecer a los afiliados un mayor acceso en internet a materiales de audio y video de alta calidad para su transmisión. Los sondeos más recientes de la VOA en los cinco países del área andina y Cuba mostraron una audiencia total de 1.9 millones de adultos: 1.4 millones en la radio, 500,000 en la televisión y 200,000 en internet, indicó Mower. Mascaró afirmó que el aumento del uso de los estudios de Radio/TV Martí en Miami es el resultado de presiones presupuestarias en ambas estaciones. "En un momento de presupuestos apretados tenemos necesidad de usar los recursos al máximo y la Oficina de Transmisiones a Cuba (OCB) tiene una excelente infraestructura'', señaló Mascaró, un cubanoamericano que fue jefe de despacho de la OCB, a cargo de las operaciones de Radio y TV Martí. Mascaró fue contratado en agosto por la VOA. Radio y TV Martí tienen unos 170 empleados y un presupuesto para el 2009 de $34.8 millones, pero el plan de gastos del 2010 ha sido criticado en el Congreso por legisladores que aducen que el bloqueo de la señal por parte del gobierno cubano prácticamente impiden que TV Martí sea vista en la isla. En agosto, Radio y TV Martí comenzaron a eliminar a 35 empleados en medio de expectativas de que el Congreso reduciría $4.2 millones de su propuesta de presupuesto para el 2010. Una medida reciente presentada en el Senado plantea una reducción de $15 millones, que en la práctica eliminaría por completo a TV Martí. La contratación de Mascaró por parte de la VOA y los planes de usar las instalaciones de producción de Radio y TV Martí han alimentado especulaciones de que las estaciones Martí acabarán pasando a formar parte de la VOA, y que tal vez la División en Español se mude de Washington a Miami. Mascaró y Mower indicaron que no podían hacer comentario alguno sobre tales especulaciones, y señalaron que la propuesta de presupuesto de la VOA para el 2010 no incluye ningún traslado de personal a Miami. Fuente: http://www.elnuevoherald.com/noticias/ultimas-noticias/story/576169.html (Miami Herald Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, Oct 28, DXLD) Retimed VOA Creole from Nov. 01, 2009: [ALL via Greenville] 1230-1300 9660/160 [MO-FR] 1730-1800 15390/174 17565/174 1800-1830 15390/174 17565/174 [WE] 2200-2230 11905/168 13725/183 15390/174 73 (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA in Kriyol to Haïti has been shifted one UT hour later, even tho it is Washington, not Port-au-Prince which just changed local clock time: now heard with VG signals from Greenville at 2204 Nov 3 on 13725, 15390 and 11905 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Dear Valued Listeners of Marion's Attic, I would like to inform you that Marion's Attic is moving to a new time slot on WBCQ, 7415 starting November 1, 2009. The new time is Sundays at 5pm ET. This new time slot is more convenient for Mr. Allan Weiner, the owner and operator of WBCQ, and will be a benefit to Marion's Attic as well. Our show will follow a popular Amateur Radio show so we will have a much better lead-in. I hope this new time will be convenient for all of you. Please feel free to send us reception reports for the new time slot. Thank you. Lovingly, (Marion, Kristina, Electra, Nov 1, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glenn, Beginning next week, dropping WOR Fridays 3pm-3:30 eastern. That hour going to The Last Roundup (Allan Weiner, Oct 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) i.e. 2000-2030 UT, so we retain Tue/Wed/Thu then (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Schedule Changes on WBCQ 7415. We are re-arranging some of our programming in order to save costs at WBCQ. This impacts the air times of many programs in our weekend blocks on WBCQ 7415. Here are the schedule changes, effective Sunday, November 1, 2009: [ADD FIVE HOURS and change day of week if required, for UT] - Marion's Attic moves from Saturday 5 PM eastern time on 7415 to Sunday 5 PM eastern time on 7415 - WGOD Presents moves from Saturday 6 PM eastern time on 7415 to Sunday 6 PM eastern time on 7415 - The Lumpy Gravy Radio Show moves from Saturday 7 PM eastern time on 7415 to Monday 7 PM eastern time on 7.415 (Note that Lumpy Gravy will remain on Saturday 7 PM on 5110 only.) - Radio Timtron Worldwide moves from Saturday 8 PM eastern time on 7415 to Tuesday 7 PM eastern time on 7415 - Radio Short Bus moves from Saturday 4 PM eastern time on 7415 to Sunday 2 PM on 7415 - The Last Roundup moves from Sunday 6 PM on 7415 to Friday 3 PM on 7415. This displaces World of Radio and Amos And Andy that was previously in this time slot. Note that these schedule changes will result in WBCQ 7415 being dark on Saturdays, with the exception of The Overcomer Ministry, which remains on from 9 PM to 11 PM. One more programming change of note: - The Secular Bible Study has ended its run on WBCQ. Its time slot, Monday 9-10 PM eastern time, is being taken by The Overcomer Ministry. The comprehensive schedule for all the WBCQ services is found at http://schedule.wbcq.com Area 51 programming and schedules is found at http://worldmicroscope.com Best regards, (Larry Will, Mount Airy, Maryland, Nov 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WBCQ is making numerous programming changes this week on 7415, basically to clear everything off the Saturday schedule except two hours of Brother Scare, UT Sundays. Among the moveouts is Marion`s Attic, which had been at 2100 UT Saturdays, but we heard the Oct 31 edition announce that it is moving to 5 pm EST Sundays in November. We thought this might mean already Nov 1, but no, as Allan Weiner Worldwide was still occupying the 22-23 UT hour as heard upwrapping at 2258. Signal getting fluttery already, after dark in Monticello. Shortly afterward, Area 51 on 5110v was more solid with an oldtime radio SF drama at 2313. Per this week`s sked at http://www.worldmicroscope.com/?p=1423 it was X Minus One from 8/11/1955, ``Almost Human`` episode. It seems that Area 51 now starts at 2300 on Sat & Sun, 0100 UT Tue-Sat, commencing on UT Fridays with WORLD OF RADIO (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The timeshifted WORLD OF RADIO airing now at 2300 UT Mondays on WBCQ 7415 has escaped adjacent-channel interference, good and clear Nov 2 at 2320 check (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. 9955 WRMI 10/28 0020-0056 UT [sic; really one hour later --- gh], The Happy Station Show with interview of an ex-Radio Moscow announcer. Here is what I received for an email reception report: Thanks very much for your report, Martin. We will certainly send you a WRMI QSL card. We are currently transmitting towards the west coast (Vancouver) on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights, experimentally, from 0000-0800 UTC to see how late the signal gets into the west coast. So you heard the first hour of that transmission. Possibly the signal strength gets better during the following hours, although at a certain point it may drop off because of 9955 kHz being above the maximum usable frequency. Your observations are very much appreciated and welcome. Sincerely, Jeff White, General Manager, WRMI Radio Miami International 175 Fontainebleau Blvd., Suite 1N4 Miami, Florida 33172 USA Tel +1-305-559-9764 Fax +1-305-559-8186 Cell +1-786-942-4205 http://www.wrmi.net (via Martin Foltz, CA? ABDX via DXLD) WRMI, 9955 with DX Partyline Thu Oct 29 at 1250 in JSWC report about Radio Saint Helena Day, mixed with DentroCuban jamming pulses, but readable instead of totally buried (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WOR tonight show ---- Hi, FYI, tonight in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada, WRMI (9955) SINPO improved to 55444 at 9:00 EDT / 0100 UT from 42532 at 8:50 EDT / 0050 UT. JFB (J F Brulotte, UT Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The 0100 UT Friday broadcast of WORLD OF RADIO 1484 on WRMI, with good signal on 9955 Oct 30, since WRMI has been using the NW antenna on UT Fridays unlike most other nights. Should be the same from November at 0200 instead. 9955 still very good S9+20 at next check 0606 with rock music during a Wire Light show on the NW antenna. In fact, I would have to rate it as SSOB ``strongest signal on band``, better than WYFR 9680/9715! WRMI sked effective Nov 1 shows a great many DX program repeat times, with WORLD OF RADIO at: Wed 0800, 1630; Thu 0630, 1300; Fri 0200, 1230, 1530; Sat 0900, 1430, 2000; Sun 0900, 1615, 2000; Mon 0600; Tue 1200, 1630 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: I guess it's a lot better to be an SSOB than and SOB! Seriously, that's good news. As of next week, we will be going north on local Tuesday and Friday nights, but not on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. We have a new soccer program at 0100-0115 UT Friday. See details below (Jeff White, WRMI, Oct 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Radio Program: Eat Soccer! (Come del Fútbol!) Program Description: Hosted by international soccer player, blogger and ambassador, Qiana, Eat Soccer! serves up her latest dish of news, events, interviews and motivation to soccer players around the globe. Blog: http://eatsoccer.blogspot.com Email: eatsoccer @ gmail.com (via Jeff White, ibid.) Looking over WRMI`s latest schedule grid as of November 1, which is available in the archives of the DXLD yg, I compute only 4 hours and 15 minutes out of the 168 hours in a week that WRMI is currently carrying Cuban exile programming in Spanish. And it is all on Saturday and Sunday evenings. No more large blocks of Radio República or Radio Cuba Libre, nor have there been for months. Yet there is extensive, altho not continuous DentroCuban jamming of 9955, every day, making it difficult to hear most of the English and other Spanish programming which has nothing to do with Cuba. Let that be a lesson: you will be punished if you ever get involved with FueraCuban broadcasting! Complaints should be directed to Arnie Coro, a `false friend` and meanwhile you might want to tell him you are boycotting RHC not only because of all the jamming, but all the spurs they put out, lately polluting the entire 25 meter band and beyond. Back to WRMI. When on the NW antenna, and the MUF holds up, 9955 can still arrive excellently with or without jamming. Such was the case, S9+22, UT Sat Oct 31 at 0551 toward the end of La Rosa de Tokio, playing a clip of Yemen 9780. At 1300 Saturday, about equal to jamming level with repeat of PCJ Media`s special on Faith the Dog, or rather ``The Faith Train`` instead of scheduled Wavescan and World of Radio which we hope will be back next week at timeshifted 1400 and 1430. PCJ had gained a bit over the jamming at wrapup time 1354, then WRMI QSL offer, 1400 Prague relay, 1430 Zion Fellowship, still jammed. 1500 DX Partyline doing better vs jamming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA [and non] On several chex starting at 0000 UT Nov 1, nothing audible on 9955, no WRMI, no jamming, and was wondering if they were on, or did the MUF just drop out? But at 0532, WRMI had fair signal, no jamming audible, in Jeff White`s filler of eclectic world music. Wire Light (so-called Cheetah Radio) was supposed to run on the NW antenna at 0200-0400 UT while DST was still in effect. Perhaps the music fill was just to occupy the extra hour being gained by clock change, which officially did not happen in the ET zone until 0600 UT, 2 am EDT becoming 1 am EST. Afterwards, R. Praga relay is supposed to occupy 0530-0600 UT daily. Not only was AWR Wavescan on KSDA [see GUAM] but at the same time on originating station WRMI, Sunday Nov 1 at 2256, altho I can`t be sure it was the same edition, wrapup giving P-address in Indianapolis, voice sounded like Allen Graham, but this was no DX Partyline(?). Fair signal on 9955, no jamming. Next check a few minutes later at 2300, nothing but jamming and no WRMI audible. For once the DentroCuban Jamming Command is coördinated on when to start jamming as the 2300 program is Voz de la Coordinadora. WRMI has a few other exile programs until 0300 UT Monday, but mostly not and partly in English. Are they all getting jammed, anyway? WRMI, 9955 during scheduled R. Prague relay in English, Nov 3 at 1520 and for the next few minutes I monitored, just open carrier, modulation missing. This did allow us to detect that DentroCuban jamming *was still running* underneath; but when WRMI is modulating in the mornings on their NW antenna, can suppress it. Happy Station heard at one of its new bonus repeat times, UT Wed Nov 4 at 0134 on 9955, sounded like familiar Strelnikov interview from last week. Poor signal now but no jamming audible (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRNO seems drifting further off 7505.0 --- Oct 31 at 0225 by counting the 40-Hz clix on the DX-398 fine tuning, we came to their carrier on 7505.5 or so. Still no sign of expanded schedule beyond 0200-0500 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Checking WWCR-2, 13845, Oct 31 at 1310, had fair signal from Pastor Melissa Scott, but co-channel QRM which as noted before could only be BBC Thailand in Kyrgyz; At 1357 some HF sporadic E had kicked in to push the WWCR signal up to a very good level, such that the squeal on the transmitter became audible. Asserted ``you are watching the University Network``, which as an SWL I always find offensive. 1- 800 number, and // 11775 Anguilla. I was standing by for the transition to Brother Scare: see SOUTH CAROLINA [non] The past two Saturday nights (early UT Suns) WWCR was caught on 4755 instead of 3215 at various times between 0300 and 0600, but on Nov 1 stayed on 3215 at 0400 for IRN/USA network `news`, and a few other chex until 0600. WWCR has put up their new frequency schedule as of November 1, and we are pleased to see that unlike the last few winters, WWCR-1 is switching from 15825 to 7465 at 2100 UT instead of 2200, which means the Friday airing of WORLD OF RADIO, now one UT hour later at 2130v, will once again be on 7465, with much better coverage of North America and beyond. Another novelty is new 3230 at 2300-0200, since WWRB beat them to 3215 at 2100-0200 and WWCR did not want to stay on 7465 past 2300 in the B- season. Here`s the full sked in CST and UT at http://www.wwcr.com/transmitter-sched.html WWCR B09 Schedule November 1, 2009 to March 7,2010 Transmitter #1 - 100 KW - 46 Degrees 12:00 AM-04:00 AM 0600-1000 3.215 MHz 04:00 AM-06:00 AM 1000-1200 9.985 MHz 06:00 AM-03:00 PM 1200-2100 15.825 MHz 03:00 PM-05:00 PM 2100-2300 7.465 MHz 05:00 PM-08:00 PM 2300-0200 3.230 MHz 08:00 PM-12:00 AM 0200-0600 3.215 MHz Transmitter #2 - 100 KW - 85 Degrees 12:00 AM-07:00 AM 0600-1300 5.935 MHz 07:00 AM-07:00 PM 1300-0100 13.845 MHz 07:00 PM-12:00 AM 0100-0600 5.935 MHz Transmitter #3 - 100 KW - 40 Degrees 12:00 AM-06:00 AM 0600-1200 5.070 MHz 06:00 AM-11:00 AM 1200-1700 7.490 MHz 11:00 AM-05:00 PM 1700-2300 12.160 MHz 05:00 PM-12:00 AM 2300-0600 5.070 MHz Transmitter #4 - 100 KW - 90 Degrees 12:00 AM-06:00 AM 0600-1200 5.890 MHz 06:00 AM-08:00 PM 1200-0200 9.980 MHz 08:00 PM-12:00 AM 0200-0600 5.890 MHz WWCR`s program schedule has also been updated promptly as of Nov 1, not accessible in text, but pdf: http://www.wwcr.com/program-guides/WWCR_Program_Guide.pdf WWCR-1 confirmed on new 3230, from *2300 Nov 1, quick change from 7465 which announced the QSY a minute before. It seems we aren`t hearing much steel drumming any more for the transitions. VG signal on both, while WWRB is already on 3215, the WWCR frequency it previously usurped, but WWCR still gets to use that after 0200. WWCR on 3230 may be bad news for Radio El Sol de los Andes, Juliaca, Perú, still listed in Aoki, and in WRTH 2009 as irregular with 1 kW. But I haven`t seen any reports of it for ages. WRTH gives callsign as OBX72, which can`t be correct as the last character is always a letter, probably should be Z. It doesn`t even appear in the archive of http://www.mcdxt.it/LASWLOGS.html tho a 3230v Brazilian does, from over five years ago. Fortunately Cuba`s 1500 frequency announcement came a few sex later than WWCR`s switch from DGS to Brother Scare announcement on 13845, so I was able to tell Nov 2 that they were still playing the out of date recording with the wrong times for him, Mon-Sat 7 am-1 pm = 12-18 UT when on CDT, and Sundays 7 am-noon = 12-17 UT, ditto (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWCR PROGRAM HUCKSTERS INVESTIGATED FOR FRAUD [K. Redding] FEDS HAD EARLY CLUES IN CURRENCY CASE http://www.startribune.com/business/65826247.html?page=5&c=y Conservative radio show host Pat Kiley, left, with Oxford Global Partners managing partner Trevor Cook. Court records indicate that the men are the focus of a federal grand jury investigation into a currency investment program that went awry. [caption] Agencies received complaints about a currency investment program for months before a group of investors filed suit in July. By DAN BROWNING, Star Tribune Last update: October 28, 2009 - 8:04 AM Investors scattered across the United States, Canada, Europe and Latin America were shocked to learn in July that a supposedly safe currency investment program promoted by some Twin Cities money managers had gone awry. There may have been less surprise within some federal watchdog agencies. Since at least last November, complaints have flowed into federal authorities about the suspect currency investment program and the people pushing it, according to investors, their attorneys and court documents. However, no public steps were taken to intervene on behalf of investors, many of whom thought they'd found a safe harbor from Wall Street's turmoil. The situation became public only when nine Ohioans filed suit in a Minneapolis federal court in July, demanding repayment of the nearly $5 million they'd invested. It remains unclear whether authorities were still trying to determine the scope of the program before the Ohio investors filed suit or if they simply failed to foresee the investment program was headed for collapse. Since this summer, however, authorities have been moving quickly on the case. The Securities and Exchange Commission has issued subpoenas, lawsuits have ensued and a federal grand jury has begun a criminal investigation. Meanwhile, many investors are trying to pursue their own leads, chasing tips that their money may have wound up in Panama, Switzerland, Great Britain, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Cyprus and Belize. Christopher Bebel, a former SEC attorney and federal prosecutor whose Houston law practice specializes in securities cases, said the Department of Justice simply lacks enough experienced staff members to pursue such complex cases before they come to a head. "There's tons of gun and drug experience, and there's precious little experience in this area that's so time intensive, and as a result the system fails," he said. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., agrees. After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, Klobuchar said, the FBI shifted 1,800 of its agents to counterterrorism and intelligence issues, which hampered the bureau's ability to go after white-collar crimes. "This is a perfect example of why we passed the recent Fraud Enforcement and Recovery Act," which was signed into law this summer, Klobuchar said. The law provides $165 million a year for the Justice Department to hire 190 additional FBI agents and 200 forensic analysts and staff for white-collar investigations, she said. The Commodities and Futures Trading Commission appears to have been the first federal agency to look into the currency investment program. It was promoted by Minneapolis money manager Trevor Cook, Burnsville radio talk show host Pat Kiley and their associates at a number of Twin Cities business entities that have Oxford, Universal Brokerage or the initials UB in their names. CFTC requests documents According to Minneapolis attorney Jim Langdon, a CFTC staff attorney called him Oct. 17, 2008, and asked for documents related to a client of Langdon's who alleged that he had lost nearly $400,000 in an investment promoted by Cook and Kiley through a company called Universal Brokerage Services. It's unclear when the CFTC opened an investigation, or how it proceeded. But one agency source referred a reporter to an enforcement agent in Washington, D.C., said to be overseeing the "Universal Brokerage" case. The reporter's call was referred to an agency spokesman who said the CFTC neither confirms nor denies the existence of investigations. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Federal Bureau of Investigation got involved late last fall. That's when Mike Thompson said he came close to making a substantial investment in the currency program, which he had learned about through the Worldwide Christian Radio shortwave network. A friend did a quick Internet search and found that Jerry Watkins, the Forest Lake man who had pitched the investment on his "Your Money Matters" program, was awaiting sentencing in Minneapolis at the time in connection with an unrelated scheme that had bilked $20 million from investors. Thompson, of Delaware, Ohio, also found complaints on the Internet from currency traders who reported difficulty in withdrawing money from the investment program. "Watkins was in court at the time that I was talking to him and he was still scamming while he was being prosecuted," Thompson said in a recent interview. "I don't know, for some reason my hackles got up." He called U.S. Postal Inspector Mary Agnew in St. Paul, who sent him a note dated Dec. 8 asking him to send any documents that Watkins had provided him. Within two weeks, Thompson said, the FBI was at his door. An investor from Hamburg, Pa., said Watkins handled his first deposit into the currency investment in October 2006 -- just two months before a federal grand jury indicted Watkins on fraud charges in an investment scheme run by Forest Lake preacher Neulan Midkiff. (The investor, who asked not to be identified, said he didn't know about those charges until a reporter mentioned them.) Watkins gave the investor a business card that listed his radio program and identified him as a chief financial strategist, technical analyst and an independent agent for Oxford Global Advisors, a firm that Cook and some associates operated from the Van Dusen mansion in Minneapolis. The investor said Watkins handled his account until September 2008, when Cook took it over because Watkins couldn't answer all of his questions. All told, the investor said he sunk $955,000 into the program. Thompson said when FBI agents showed up at his motorcycle and key shop in Ohio last December they gave him a list of questions to ask Watkins during a tape-recorded phone call. The agents wanted Thompson to ask Watkins about his relationship to Cook. And they also wanted him to ask about Kyle Garman, who's listed on a social networking site as an Oxford Global Partners senior adviser and manager. "Unfortunately, when Jerry Watkins went away, I kind of got forced on all of his clients," Garman said in a brief interview recently. "Now, since everything went to hell, I'm still kind of stuck servicing all of his clients." Garman referred other questions to his attorney, John Brink, who declined to comment. The FBI also wanted to know who owns and operates Universal Brokerage, a company associated with Kiley, whose radio program, "Follow the Money," also was carried on WWCR as well as on stations nationwide. FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson declined to comment. But the bureau's initial inquiries about Watkins apparently found nothing troubling. After a vague discussion of the matter at a pre-sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge Michael Davis allowed Watkins to remain free pending his sentencing Feb. 24. Davis declined to comment, citing the pending litigation. Watkins began serving a two-year sentence in a federal prison camp in Duluth this year. Through prison officials, he declined to discuss the currency investment program. SEC tipped in March The SEC got a complaint about the currency investment program in March from a Washington money manager. "I alerted the SEC's office in Chicago on March 19th of 2009 there might be a Ponzi scam being run in Minnesota," Yolanda Holtzee, a well-known investment fraud watchdog, wrote in an e-mail to staff members of Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson, R-Texas. Hutchinson took part in a recent Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee hearing into why the SEC failed to detect the mammoth Ponzi scheme orchestrated by New York investment manager Bernard Madoff. Holtzee said she grew suspicious of the currency investment program after a reporter she knew raised questions on TheArbitrageRoom.com website. The site was linked to an associate of Cook's named Marc Trimble of St. Paul. Trimble said Thursday that he's a Web developer and he had created the site to try to market the currency investment, but it wasn't very successful. He said he also had done marketing through UBFX. The CFTC subpoenaed his records several months ago, Trimble said. "I gave them everything. I said here's every domain name, here's every site, here's every registration, here's all the articles written for marketing purposes. I haven't heard anything from those guys to date." The SEC's investigation of Cook and what it calls the "Universal Brokerage FX" formally began May 27 -- just over a month before the Ohio investors filed suit. It focuses on Universal Brokerage FX Inc. of Eagan and Oxford Private Client Group and Oxford Global Partners in Minneapolis. An agency spokesman declined to comment but an SEC attorney said in a court hearing Thursday that its investigation is moving expeditiously. That will come as welcome news to investors in the currency strategy, many of whom said they had no money to pursue a lawsuit and were depending on the government to help recover their money. Nearly 200 investors or their representatives have contacted the Star Tribune since Oxford Global and Universal Brokerage notified them in mid-July that they could neither make deposits nor withdrawals from their accounts, due in part to the liquidation of Crown Forex SA by Swiss regulators on May 19. Many complained that their state's attorney general would refer them to the SEC, but when they called, they were told the commission doesn't handle complaints involving foreign currencies. "Steering investors away, that's unconscionable," said Bebel, the former SEC attorney. "I'd have to say that this case is especially appalling because it's an affinity fraud in the sense that it focuses on investors who have their guard down because of the trusting environment ... the Christian radio network that was utilized." Bebel said many people who hear about such cases give up on investing. "That hurts the economy as a whole -- that's the bottom line," he said (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. The bells of St. Peters (VAT) were heard via 9390 at 1200 on the 26th, and this turns out to be WEWN. Today (Oct. 28) their signal was booming in at 20dB over 9 soon after 0900, and it's still a similar signal at 1115 UTC, but there appears to be a little more QSB now. On their schedule I see that it is intended for SEA (South East Asia I assume) and being sent at 250kW via 335 degrees from Vandivar to Ciraf 43 and 44 according to their registration. The reverse beam off the back of their antenna would I think be 155 degrees, and that's hardly towards Europe. So I assume this transmission is coming via long path (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WEWN on new 9390 in B-09, Oct 29 at 1236 with organ music, and this is the transmitter with the parasites plus and minus 10 kHz, making slushy mush on FEBC Chinese 9400, and also detectable with BFO on 9380. 7555, Oct 31 at 1255 in Spanish announced that frequency was about to close, to be on 11550 and 12050 next hour. However, at 1307 nothing audible on 12050, tho 11550 was strong with kidsongs in Spanish plus SAH from something under. Must be R. Sweden aimed east this semihour only as scheduled; Taiwan transmitter produces an audible heterodyne later in the morning (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I also tried to hear 12050 on the 31st but didn't succeed either. And 9390 has not been heard for the last three days (at least) between 0900 and 1300 UT. So is this one also off air? I don't think propagation is the problem as WTJC 9370 is audible at varying strengths, but nothing else identified at this time from North America on 9 MHz (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Hi Glenn: We would like to make a public announcement on WOR if you do not mind: ALL commercial programming on WWRB shortwave is $ 240.00 per hour paid in advance : NO EXCEPTIONS : Commercial programming is defined on the WWRB shortwave web page http://www.wwrb.org under purchase airtime navigation button. We do NOT provide any 'verbal quotes' for airtime to ANY commercial programmers. The $ 240.00 per broadcast hour is a FIXED price for this type of airtime. PERIOD! (Dave Frantz, WWRB, TN, Oct 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I don`t think such an announcement is appropriate for WORLD OF RADIO, nor I suspect would the SW stations which do carry us think so either, but I have no problem putting it here (gh, DXLD) 3145, WWRB Manchester TN; Brother Scare with talks from him (& other preachers) re Bible prophecy, the end times & anti-Obama psychotic riffing including the intriguing question: Do we have to obey if he isn’t qualified to be President? Amazing & bizarro stuff. WWRB ID slipped in at 0158 -- not listed in new HFCC sked despite the fact this channel has been in use for some time. Not //3185 (which was also in well) SIO 444 0150-0205 28/Oct (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) 3185, WWRB playing Dave`s favorite fill music, big band, with ``Chattanooga Choo-Choo``, UT Wed Nov 4 at 0144, while the next transmitter was occupied with Brother Scare on 3215. With such a choice, how could one possibly pick one over the other to listen to? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9265, no signal from WINB at 1435 Nov 2, tho it was on the air before 1400 with convicted child-sex-molesting evangelist Tony Alámo. On Sunday Nov 1, however, I had noticed WINB was still on 9265 past 1400 and it is now FCC-registered as available until 1500. It depends. Double dose of convicted child-marrying/sex-molesting evangelist Tony Alamo, courtesy WINB, Nov 3: his mind-numbing ramblings were ongoing around 1342 when I tuned across 9265; and again 1615 on 13570 as I was looking for Austria via Canada on 22m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In bandscan of 16m, unlike some days inbooming before 1430, no trace of KVOH on 17775, Nov 3 at 1535. Is their transmission irregular, or are we totally at the mercy of HF sporadic-E `short- skip` enhancement in order to hear KVOH at all, from less than 2 Megameters away? Lots of signals on 16m at the time, but all from points eastward. This was well after sunrise on Rancho Simi. Tho inaudible in the morning, KVOH 17775 with fair signal at 2017 check Nov 3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. [ARMENIA, ASCENSION ISL, FRENCH GUIANA, GERMANY, KAZAKHSTAN, LESOTHO, MADAGASCAR, MOLDOVA, RUSSIA, SOUTH AFRICA, TAIWAN, TAJIKISTAN, TURKEY, UAE, U.K., UZBEKISTAN] Family Radio - B-09 schedule. October 25, 2009 - March 28, 2010 Amharic to Ethiopia 1600-1700 11955WER 1700-1800 6045UAE Arabic to Near East, Middle East, and No Africa, Sahara 0500-0600 7520 0500-0600 11580 0700-0800 9985 1600-1700 9430WER, 15785 1700-1800 9530RMP 1800-1900 7220WER, 9660SKN, 9845WER 1900-2000 5745 2000-2045 17690 2000-2100 9465WER 2000-2200 5960NAU 2100-2145 11665 2200-2300 5960NAU, 15115 Bengali to Bangladesh & India 1300-1500 13820NAU Burmese to Myanmar in South East Asia 1100-1200 6220HUW 1200-1300 11570HUW 1300-1400 7560A-A 1800-1900 1503FAN Chinese to North America 0500-0600 5985 0600-0700 5985 1300-1400 13695 1500-1600 11830 Chinese to East and South East Asia 0000-0200 1503FAN, 1557KOU 0200-0300 1557KOU 0500-0700 1503FAN 0800-1000 1503FAN, 1557KOU 1000-1400 1557KOU 1700-1900 1359FAN 1700-1900 1557KOU 1900-2000 1359FAN 2200-2400 1359FAN Chinese to China and Taiwan 0900-1000 11565TAI 0900-1100 9545TAI, 9855YUN 1000-1100 9920TAI 1100-1200 9720NVS 1100-1400 5995P.K, 6115P.K 1100-1600 6240BAJ 9280YUN 1200-1300 11535YUN 1400-1500 5995P.K, 6115P.K [program E = ? English ?] 2100-2400 9280YUN 2200-2400 6230BAJ 2300-2400 9540TAI Czech to The Czech Republic 1800-1900 6090ARM English to Canada & Mexico 0000-0100 5950, 6085, 9505, 15440 0100-0200 7455, 9505, 15440 0200-0300 7455, 9505, 9525 0300-0400 7455, 9505 0400-0500 6915, 7455, 9505, 9680, 9715 0500-0600 6915, 9680 0600-0700 9860 0700-0800 5950, 6915, 7455 0800-1000 5950, 6915, 7455 1000-1100 5950, 6890, 6915, 7455 1100-1200 5950, 6890, 7455 1200-1300 6890, 7455, 11970 1300-1400 7455, 11830, 11855, 11970 1400-1500 11565, 11855, 13695, 17760 1500-1600 11565, 11855, 17760 1600-1700 11565, 11830, 13695, 17760 1700-1800 13695, 17555 1800-2000 13695, 17555, 17535 2000-2200 17535, 17555 2100-2200 5950 2200-2400 5950, 11740, 15440 English to Central and South America and The Caribbean 0000-0100 7360, 11720 0100-0200 6100 0200-0300 5930, 6885 0300-0400 9930, 9985 0600-0700 6000 0700-0800 9495 1100-1200 6000, 11725, 11830 1200-1300 11530 1500-1600 15210 1600-1700 6085 1900-2000 6085 2000-2100 17575 2300-2400 9430, 15400 English to Europe and Middle East 0600-0700 5745, 11530 0700-0800 5745 1600-1800 18980, 21455 1700-1800 21455 1800-2200 6915 1900-2000 15585 2000-2100 5745 2100-2200 6240MDA English to Africa 0600-0700 9985 0700-0900 11580 1600-1700 17690 1700-1800 21680 1800-1900 6045MEY, 7395MDG, 9895UAE, 15115 1900-2000 3230MEY, 6020MDG, 7395MDG, 9885UAE, 15115 1900-2200 9480NAU, 15115 2100-2200 15195ASC 2200-2300 17690 English to Southern Africa 0300-0500 1197MAS 1600-1900 1197MAS 2000-2300 1197MAS English to India 1500-1600 6280TAC, 9495UAE, 12015UAE 1600-1700 11740UAE English to Southeast Asia 0900-1100 9465PAO 1300-1400 9310A-A, 11520PAO 1300-1500 7560A-A, 11560HUW 1400-1500 6225UZB, 9485IRK 1600-1900 1359FAN 2000-2200 1503FAN English to East and South East Asia 1400-1600 1557KOU 1600-1700 1359FAN, 1557KOU 1700-1900 1359FAN 1900-2000 1557KOU 2000-2200 1503FAN, 1557KOU English to Korea/Japan/Asia 1000-1100 9460IRK Farsi to Middle East 1600-1700 9880NAU 1700-1800 6105NAU French Français Vers L'Europe et L'Afrique 0500-0600 9985, 11530 0600-0700 7520, 11580 0800-0900 9985 1700-1800 15115 1800-1900 15565, 17690 1830-1930 17760 1900-2000 9695WER, 17690, 21455 2000-2100 6240/7300MDA, 9595WER 2100-2200 7305WER 2200-2300 9355 Français Vers Le Canada 1200-1300 13695 1600-1700 11855 2300-2400 6085 Français Vers Les Antilles 0000-0100 15400 2100-2200 17575 1000-1100 9680, 11740 1300-1400 11740 German Deutsch nach Europa und Nord-Afrika 0500-0600 7730 0700-0800 11530 1700-1800 17760 1800-1900 7490ERV, 21455 1900-2000 7490ERV 2000-2100 11565 Gujarati to India 1500-1600 11610NAU Hausa Zuwa Afrika 1800-1900 9465NAU 1900-2000 9685UAE Hindi to India 1400-1500 13700NAU, 15520UAE 1500-1600 13700NAU 1600-1700 6280TWN, 9405WER Hungarian to Hungary, Magyar Nyelven 1800-1900 3975WER Igbo N'Afrika 1900-2000 11875ASC Indonesian Bahasa Indonesia to South East Asia 0000-0100 11865PAO 1100-1200 11550TAI 1200-1300 11520PAO 1200-1400 9485IRK 1400-1500 1359FAN 2200-2300 1359FAN Italiano In Europa E Nordafrika 0600-0700 9355 1700-1800 18930 1800-1900 17760 1900-2000 6000MSK Japanese to Japan 1000-1100 7265NVS Kannada to Karnataka 1300-1400 17735UAE 1500-1600 13655WER Korean to Korea 0800-0900 11895TAI 1100-1200 9460IRK 1200-1300 6005K-A Malayalam to India 1400-1500 17670WER Marathi to India 1400-1500 9855UAE 1500-1600 5825ERV Nepali to Nepal 1400-1500 5825UZB Philippine Tagalog to Southeast Asia 1000-1100 1359FAN 1100-1200 11520PAO 1200-1300 1359FAN, 9310A-A 2100-2200 1359FAN Cebuano to Philippines in South East Asia 1000-1100 1359FAN 1200-1300 5910VLD Ilocano to Philippines in South East Asia 1100-1200 1359FAN, 5900IRK Polish to Poland Europe Jezyk Polski W Europie 0700-0800 9355 1800-1900 5820ERV 2000-2100 11665 Português Para Europa 0700-0800 9355 2100-2145 11565 Português Para Brasil 0000-0100 7360GUF, 9430, 9690, 11885 0100-0200 7520, 9930, 11825 0200-0300 7520 0300-0400 7520, 7730 0800-0900 6105, 9605, 9680 0900-1000 6105, 9605, 9575, 9680 1000-1100 6105, 9575, 9605 1200-1300 11830 1300-1400 11530 1400-1500 15210 1500-1600 15355 1700-2000 17575 2200-2400 7360GUF, 9690, 17575 Português Para A Africa Ocidental 0400-0500 11580 1700-1800 17690 1900-2000 3955MEY, 6100MEY 2100-2200 17690 Punjabi to India & Pakistan 1400-1600 6150ARM 1600-1700 6070ARM Romanian To Romania 0600-0700 7730 1800-1900 6050WER 2000-2100 9355 Russian to Russia 0400-0500 7520 1200-1300 9320TJK 1500-1600 9955 1600-1700 9955, 21745 1700-1800 9885WER, 21745 1800-1900 5965WER 1900-2000 18930 Family Radio can be heard in English in Moscow on Radio Center 1503 kHz from 1100pm-1230am, 0430pm-0600pm local time. Sindhi to Pakistan 1400-1500 13655WER Spanish Español Para Europa 0500-0600 9355 0700-0800 7520 1600-1700 18930 1800-1900 6120NAU, 18930 2100-2200 9355 Español Para América del Sur y El Caribe 0000-0100 5980?, 5985, 9355, 13615 0100-0200 5985, 7570, 9355, 9985, 11885 0200-0300 9355, 9985, 11825 0300-0400 5985, 7570, 9355 0400-0500 5985, 7730, 9355, 9985 0500-0600 6000 0700-0800 6000 0800-1000 5745, 6000, 9555, 11740 1000-1100 6000, 6085, 9555 1100-1200 6085, 9555, 9575, 11740 1200-1300 6085, 9555, 11740, 13615 1300-1400 6085, 9555, 13615 1400-1500 6085, 11740, 13615, 15355, 17555 1500-1600 6085, 11740, 13615, 17555 1700-1900 6085 2000-2300 5985 2100-2300 11700 2200-2300 9935, 11580, 11665 2300-2400 5985, 9355, 9935, 13615 Español Para México, América Central Y Canadá 0000-0100 11855, 15440 0100-0200 9525, 11855 0200-0300 13615 0300-0400 6855, 9525, 9680, 11855 0400-0500 11855 0500-0600 9545, 9715 0600-0700 6855, 9545, 9715 0700-0800 9680 0800-0900 9495, 9715 0900-1000 6890, 9495, 9715 1100-1200 6855, 9605, 9705 1200-1300 9605, 9705, 11725 1300-1400 11725, 15135, 15355 1400-1500 11725, 11830, 15135 1500-1600 11725, 13695, 15130 1600-1700 15130 1700-1800 15130, 17535 1800-2000 15130 2000-2400 11855, 15130 Srpski za Srbiju - Serbian To Serbia 1900-2000 3975WER Swahili - Kiswahili Kwa Afrika 1600-1700 9590MDG 1700-1800 11955WER 1900-2000 9660MEY Tamil to India 1400-1500 17810UAE 1500-1600 11935NAU Telugu to India 1300-1400 17810UAE Thai to Thailand in South East Asia [oh, *that* Thailand] 1200-1300 9450NVS 1900-2000 1503FAN Turkish to Turkey 1700-1800 9430WER 1800-1900 7240SKN FM Radio Muejde, Istanbul Turkey, times in Yerelsaat 0400-0500 Arabic, 0500-0600 En, 0600-0800 Turkish 1500-1600 Ge, 1700-1800 En, 1800-2000 Turkish 2000-2200 En, 2200-2300 Fr Urdu to Pakistan & India 1400-1600 7565MDA 1600-1700 7295NVS Vietnamese to South East Asia 0000-0100 11630PAO 1000-1100 9455TAI 1200-1300 7340IRK, 7460PAO 1300-1400 1359FAN, 7260TAI, 9960TAI 1500-1600 1359FAN 1700-1800 1503FAN 2000-2100 1359FAN 2300-2400 1503FAN Yoruba to Africa 1900-2000 11665ASC (YFR, via ADDX Andreas Volk-D, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Oct 20 via DXLD) Re: 5820, Tentatively noted two different Russian language programs co-channel at 1800-1900 UT, US Radio Liberty Russian from Lampertheim and YFR program from Gavar Armenia. Any ideas ? YFR leaflet shows a change from A09 to winter season B-09 as follows 3975 YFR "Magyar Nyelven" to Hungarians in Hungary at 1800-1900 UT via Wertachtal, 250 kW non-directional. Followed by YFR "Srpski za Srbiju - Serbian To Serbia" to Serbian audience in Europe, 1900-2000 UT. YFR Polish service changed to Gavar, Yerevan Armenia site. Polish to Poland Europe Jezyk Polski W Europie 0700-0800 9355 1800-1900 5820ERV 2000-2100 11665 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9555 with WYFR Spanish Nov 3 until sign-off at 1345*, uncovering VOA Korean, but not soon enough. These two US stations are colliding on 9555 from 1200 when VOA starts Korean via Saipan, and 1300 via Tinang, Philippines. WYFR is registered until 1400 but TG for small favors, like so many of its transmissions ends a quarter-hour earlier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 13645, Nov 1 1412, preacher in American with Boston address, heavy OTH radar QRM, hymn, prayer, then introducing Pastor Rockwood on the Book of Ruth. 13645 at 1400-1445 is on the MB/DTK schedule as carrying brokered shows from Panamerican Broadcasting in Cupertino CA, 85 degrees via Nauen, GERMANY and doubling power from 125 to 250 kW for whatever follows Sundays only at 1430 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 17610, Nov 1 at 1449 with HOA music, seemingly secular, and so repetitive it could be a loop, but is it obviously Adventist if you are Afar? What does PWBR `2009` say? AWR via Austria to E Africa --- and it is still correct per B-09 skeds, 1430-1500 daily! 1452 segué to similar music but different rhythm and key, 1455 announcement and off before 1459. 17610, AWR Afar service via Austria, Nov 4 at 1448 with up-and-down, up-and-down music of only a few notes over and over, which could have been a loop, somehow going to convert the Djiboutians to Adventism? Perhaps by hypnosis. 1458 cut to more melodic music by combo until 1459* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NMN, USCG Chesapeake VA, heard in SSB // on 12778 and 13089 at 2331 Nov 1 with robot feigning human male voice in frequency announcement already in progress, about a change in schedule I wish I could have copied from the outset. Mentioned other NM- callsigns. 13089, heard first, was quite distorted, and I wondered if it were a spur. Halfway between the two would be 12933.5, but did not check that in time before they went off with `end` (English for ``final``) at 2333 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Air Force MARS net, 7457-SSB, Nov 4 at 1424; strongest signal from AAF4EL, not sure if NCS, several others barely audible, checking in with no traffic, long pauses. Still going at 1446. Google search on that callsign, certain as given phonetically, gets only two false hits (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. ON AIR: Update: "Pulse" back on in New York. New York's dance-formatted "Pulse 87" WNYZ-LP (87.7) has returned to the air after telling listeners technical troubles knocked the station off the air in late October. The TV-on-FM signal has seen success building an audience -- 831,000 last month according to Arbitron's PPM. But Mega sought Chapter 11 protection in August. (Bruce Elving, MN, Oct 27, FMedia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. AUSTIN [TX]: 4_spanish_radio_stations_switch to ENGLISH!! http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/music/entries/2009/10/30/4_spanish_radio_stations_switc.html (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) ** U S A. 1690, NF, FLORIDA, WPTI814, Pinellas County Emergency Management, Largo. 1522+ November 1, 2009. Massive white noise signal. Suddenly, white noise ceased and a male "You're listening to WPTI814 940 AM" then abruptly back to white noise. This is the old opening announcement on the Pinellas County Emergency Management MIS on 940 -- the one that's been silent for several months -- located on Ulmerton Road across from the Largo Mall in Largo (near the QTH). Tuning to 940, absolutely nothing except WINZ and another weak domestic. So, this is not spurious. Guessing they are reactivating and moving (intentionally?) to 1690. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd drive down there and see what's up, if anyone is around the thing or if it's malfunctioning on autopilot (since it's Sunday, the latter I suspect). Anyone outside of the immediate Tampa Bay area able to pull this noise? Still there mid-morning local check on November 2 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See TURKS & CAICOS for his disclaimer ** UZBEKISTAN. B-09 for CVC International via TAC=Tashkent: English to India 0030-0230 on 7395 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 0230-0630 on 11970 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 0630-0930 on 15700 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg Hindi to India 0100-0400 on 9425 TAC 100 kW / 131 deg [chosen to steal AIR listeners ending a few minutes earlier] 0000-0400 on 6260 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 0400-1100 on 13630 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg 1100-1400 on 9500 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg [vs the Aligargh variblob] 1400-2000 on 6260 TAC 100 kW / 153 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Nov 3 via DXLD) ** VANUATU. 3945, R. Vanuatu, 1217, Oct. 31. Pop song; usual “Radio Vanuatu” sign off announcement; Anthem; 1222*; weak with ham QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. CUBA: 11620, Radio Nacional de Venezuela; 2212- 2228+, 28-Oct; M in Spanish sounding a lot like a preacher; ID at 2227+. SIO=422, strong buzz QRM originating at about 11617 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not exactly: both the RNV audio and the strong buzz are part of one of those multiple spurs every 52 kHz or so from the Cuban transmitter on 11670 during this hour only, on 15250 in the following hour, and on 11760 the other 22 hours per day, as I have been reporting at great length. You would surely have heard many more like it further below 11620, and above 11670. See CUBA for RNV on 15250 plus spurs, not 13680, and more (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. B-09 of CVC International via LUS=Lusaka: English to West Africa and Nigeria 0400-0700 on 9430 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg 0700-1400 on 13590 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg 1400-1700 on 13650 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg 1700-2000 on 13590 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg 2000-2200 on 9505 LUS 100 kW / 315 deg B-09 for Christian Voice via LUS=Lusaka: English to South and Central Africa 0600-1700 on 6065 LUS 100 kW / non-dir 1700-0600 on 4965 LUS 100 kW / non-dir (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Nov 3 via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, TANZANIA (ZANZIBAR), Radio Tanzania. 1948-2040 November 1, 2009. Despite line noise, in the clear and with Muslim vocals, 5 (slow) plus 1 (fast), if I counted correctly, time sounders a few seconds prior to 2000. Filler music, presumed Swahili female, probably Dar-fed newscast a little after 2000. Cool highlife after 2008 (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. Re 9-078: Zimbabwe Community Radio has been on 3955 since the end of September 1755-1855. And every time I've been listening there, the id is as it used to be. That Sentech mention of R Dialogue is rather a name of the parent organization for ZCR, just like Hirondelle for Okapi. 73, (Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. I tuned across a station on 5045 buried on the low side under WWRB 5050 last night from about 0130z past 0230. Using synchro LSB I was able to get a fairly good signal. Content was mostly music (not pop or rock, more like album oriented AC) with a few jingles and a little talk. I couldn't get a positive ID, even across the top of the hour. On a different receiver I conducted a bandscan on 49 & 31 meters to check for parallels, no luck. I assume it was R Guarujá Paulista since nothing else is listed on 5045. Is there anything else on 5045 ? (Jerry Lenamon, Waco Texas, Eton E-1, Vertical, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, R. Cultura, Pará, Brasil has recently reappeared on 5045 and widely reported, all night; see recent issues (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. After Bonaire was finished with 6165, Nov 2 at 0640 I was hearing a het of approx. 0.3 kHz between two weak signals, most likely between Croatia and Chad, one or both of which must be off- frequency, and the dominant one sounded Slavic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6940.2, must be a pirate, seems like on AM, Nov 1 at 2344 with an old song from the 20s or 30s; by next check at 2348 it had faded to JBA, as I checked the sidebands and found upper and lower about equal along with what was left of the carrier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7235, Man saying - BBC, There are no programs on this channel at present. Details at BBC World.com (Dean Wayman, KA 2100 barefoot, North central Nebraska, Thur. Oct 29 9:37-10:16 PM central, ABDX via DXLD) Sometime around 0300 UT Oct 30. BBC Swahili via Meyerton, South Africa is scheduled 0300-0330, 500 kW, 20 degrees (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. Circa 7259, ratchety noise, sounds like somebody`s spur, Oct 31 at 0235, but could not find a match above or below. It was bothering a weak signal on 7260, presumably VOR to Latin America as scheduled from Moscow site, but I don`t think it was coming from that transmitter; could evade it by offtuning upward. Could be just some deliberate QRhaM against the Russian intruder (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 8001, Nov 4 at 1418, regular CW pulses like time signals, except there are 74 of them per minute. Is this the Japanese propagation research station? Previously clocked at 80 per minute (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. I hate to mention this again, as I have had absolutely no response previously, but I am still hearing that very weak carrier on approx. 9600.4 hetting 9600 stations, such as Nov 2 at 1513. During this semihour, the only thing scheduled on 9600 is CRI in Persian via Kashgar, East Turkistan, and I continue to hope that 9600.4 is XEYU, but will settle for any other definite ID anyone can extract (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 11789.9, the 25m-intruding Asian-language 2-way SSB communicators are still at it on apparent regular daily schedule, Nov 3 at 1502, which should make them easy to pinpoint with professional DF equipment, if anybody cared. 11789.9-USB, 2-way Asian language intruders frequently heard in the mornings, also conversing at 2037 Nov 3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15390 with strong open carrier, Oct 31 until 1330* Likely Greenville testing prior to usage much later for Creole, but why do they keep doing this? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Noted an intermodulation of RNW Dutch again this time 15500 kHz at 8-9 UT, but no formula so far, 5955 + 9545 doesn't fit with RNW. Last Sunday noted on 15850 kHz mixture, i.e. 9895 + 5955 kHz from Hoerby, Sweden site, - thanks to RN Technical dept information. (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Nov 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 15850.00 UNID Station parked a sender here. Program of R Nederland. 0830 UT. No formula of intermodulation, spurious etc. Also still at 0918 UT. Noted on 3 different receivers. In sync with \\ 9895 Hoerby Sweden, 5955 Nauen Germany, 6120 Wertachtal Germany, 6035 via Vatican radio relay site at Santa Maria de Galeria etc. (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX 30 Oct via DXLD) Later: On Sundays both 5955 and 9895 are via Sweden, and they add up to 15850 (wb, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 17650.06, spurious signal? At 0640 UT noted another program underneath Kashi China co-channel 17650.00, like African language. ?? Sabratha Libya; Saudi Arabia Bambara new morning service? São Tomé on txt test? (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Nov 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 17750, Oct 29 at 1316 unID music, with wavering het cutting on and off, but from what happened later may have all been out of one transmitter. Nothing at all is scheduled here after 1100 per Aoki and HFCC. At 1321 the music was gone and was only hearing tone tests on and off, and then continuous. At 1329 tone stops, and 1330 music starts: it`s weird sampling of something Mideast-sounding with pseudo-random repetitions every few seconds. Signal is now very good; pause for a semiminute at 1339, resumed; at 1345 changed to full pieces of music rather than sampling, but voice-processing in order to sound inhuman, an approach I have yet to appreciate. Off abruptly at 1353:30*, never any announcements. Someone testing with this stuff for reasons unknown from location unknown. Band was certainly open from Europe and probably Greenville (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [and non]. Only signals making it on 13m, Nov 2 at 1448 were Libya 21695 with heavy-handed leader-of-the-revolution stuff in English, which no intelligent listener could take seriously; and beside it a strong but fading open carrier on 21690 which went off at 1449* Suspect that was TDF GUIANA FRENCH testing, as it`s the only site registered on the frequency at any time, 17-22 with RFI to Africa; however David Hodgson, TN heard it Oct 27 only until 2000* with music program, DJ mixing in some English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Thanks for all you do - at least all the way back to 1977 or so, when I started taking advantage of the information you provide. Thanks (Jay and Marie Novello, Wake Forest NC, Nov 1 with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) Glenn, Muito obrigado pela divulgação de meus logs em seu importante boletim. Quando publico meus logs tenho a preocupação que passem as informações mais úteis e verídicas para os colegas sobre aquela escuta e procuro sempre que possível fazer a gravação. Quando algumas de minhas escutas são publicadas em seu boletim tenho a convicção de meu amadurecimento na pratica do dexismo. Fico contente em saber que tão experiente dexista tem escrutinado meus logs e com isso tenho a certeza que estou fazendo um trabalho sério e que oferece importantes informações a colegas de todo o mundo. Esse é o objetivo do log que você traduz perfeitamente. Muito obrigado (Jorge Freitas, Brasil) Glenn, This is for all you do. For years, WOR has been my only serious source of DX, SW and BC news (Tim Hendel, Huntsville AL, with a check in the p-mail to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Now completely updated for B-09, post DST as of November 1: DX/SWL/Media Programs in English: http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html World of Radio schedules: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html MONITORING REMINDERS CALENDAR, updates almost complete: http://www.worldofradio.com/calendar.html 73, (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) MONITORING-MATTERS E-ZINE IS OUT The first general test issue of Monitoring-Matters is now on line at: http://www.monitoring-matters.com As explained before, this and the December issue are test issues for you to read and if possible, comment on. There is also a "text only" PDF version, but all the diagrams and photos are available in the web sites "Photo Parade" section. Have a read and let us know your thoughts via the various contributors email links. Last but not least, thank you for your patience and support (Pat and the Monitoring-Matters team, Oct 31, mm yg via DXLD) TINY TRAP +++++++++ Daljit Dahliwal, anchor of World Focus via PBS and OETA OKLA, Nov 5 at 2220 UT introduced a report on how Denmark excels in energy conservation by calling the country `tiny`. Sigh. I have resisted classifying her as an airhead just because of her beauty, but she is doing her best to merit that monicker with this and other ignorant gaffes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTEING DIGEST) WORLD OF HOROLOGY See ARGENTINA; BANGLADESH; PAKISTAN +++++++++++++++++ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ SWEDEN BANS POLLUTING PLT EQUIPMENT A CEPT Electronic Communications Committee report notes that Sweden has removed from the market some of the Powerline Networking equipment that pollutes the radio spectrum. The 54th meeting of the CEPT Working Group Spectrum Engineering in Bordeaux covered recent developments of the harmonised emission standard for IT equipment EN55022. Mention of the Swedish action in withdrawing polluting PLT equipment appears under '13 EMC' in the Working Group report. If you wish to read this in full, just type 'Working Group Spectrum Engineering Bordeaux' into your favourite search engine and go to the www.ero.dk reference you will see listed. (RSGB http://www.rsgb.org/news/newsitem.php?id=1 via Mike Terry, Oct 31, dxldyg via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ GRUNDIG MW LOOP ANTENNA NOW AT RADIO SHACK My wife and I visited Radio Shack last night for the first time in over a year. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were selling the Grundig AN200 AM loop antenna for a little over $30. While the same antenna can be purchased online for a little over $25, it was nice to see them stocking a product designed to improve AM reception. Or for that matter, to see them stocking communications products at all. Granted, I had to climb around a dozen cell phone displays to find them; and avoid about three pushy salespersons, but such is the state of the modern retail store. Hadn't seen this item mentioned here, so I thought I'd pass it along. This little loops make a great "booster" for the typical ultralight, and travel well. I often pack one along with a small radio on business trips to do some DXing on the road. 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, Maylene, AL 35114, NRC-AM via DXLD) I saw three of those on display at the Radio Shack I visited in Manchester NH two weeks ago. Very nice to see indeed. Chinese sellers are offering it for substantially less, but when shipping is factored in it is probably still a pretty good deal. There is also the added benefit of the 1/8" phono jack so the loop can be ported directly to most radios without the need for inductive coupling (Brent Taylor, VY2HF, Stratford, PEI, Canada, ibid.) MTM SCIENTIFIC I recently read a review of MTM Scientific's MW loop kit. Doesn't look too bad, it looks like a mini air core loop. BUT If you have not checked out their website, you should do so. VERY unique stuff, including one web page of free plans and the like for the experimenter, including plans for a 3 transistor SW receiver. http://www.mtmscientific.com/swradio.html http://www.mtmscientific.com/experimenter.html http://www.mtmscientific.com/ 73, (Dave in Indy Hascall, WTFDA via DXLD) It is indeed a basic air core loop, which is easy enough to build oneself. The price isn't unreasonable for the kit (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, ibid.) KINTRONICS KINSTAR SYSTEM ANTENNA After having such a long dry spell, since May, I received MW QSL #3006 in today`s mail: 1250, KCFM, OR, Florence, received very friendly letter in 6 days for CD report. From Jon Thompson-GM/Owner. Address: 4480 Highway 101, PO Box 20000, Florence OR 97439. The station moved to a new tower setup and dropped to 900 watts. They are using a Kinstar system of 4 poles that are 70 feet tall, instead of their 200 foot tower. "Kintronics recently got FCC approval on this tower arrangement, but ours was the first commercial tower ever constructed and tested." (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, IRCA via DXLD) I always wondered if anyone was using a Kintronics Kinstar system. Do they get out as well as before? After putting in the Kinstar they had to decrease day power from 1 kW to 900 watts and nighttime power from 68 watts to 37 watts. Why? Was the ground system at their old site really messed up and this one is so much better that they'd cover more area if they ran the same amount of power? They didn't move very far; a little over 2 kilometers. There's a whole lot of top loading going on here. The system does eventually add up to a quarter wavelength (90 degrees electrical height) but 61.2 degrees of that is top loading. The dealbreaker for me is that even though the towers are a lot shorter there have to be four of them instead of one and they still have to have a traditional quarter wavelength ground system; 120 quarter wavelength (60 meters) copper wires spaced three degrees apart and 60 meters long. Their new site still occupies as much land as the old one. I swiped some of this from the Engineering Statement: https://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getattachment_exh.cgi?e xhibit_id=632436&formid=301&q_num=5000 (Dennis Gibson, CA, Oct 26, ibid.) Dennis, I have no clue why the change over, but it sounds like they had to move and since they did, they had to do a different type of antenna because of possible interference. It sounds that way from the letter. Possibly they were leasing the land from where their old tower was and lost the lease. That is what happened with KODL The Dalles. They had to come up with a longwire. That lasted for several years. They finally got towers in the last couple of years. I don't know about KCFM, but if is possible. The signal is nearly the same. But at 150+ air miles from here, 1250 is rather weak at times. Florence is on the Central coast and I am the Northern Coast. If they had 5KW, I would hear them better. KWRO-630- Coquille on the South coast at wel over 200 miles, is strong off the SW EWE. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See CHILE; ECUADOR; GERMANY; INDIA; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ MADAGASCAR; NEW ZEALAND; PORTUGAL; RUSSIA; SPAIN DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FM IBOC POWER INCREASES It appears that the IBOC cabal doesn't even want news they don't like from within their ranks, and will again try to ignore and discredit it so that they can move on with their pre-conceived agenda. If the result would only be their sooner departure from the scene, that would be a positive development - i. e. that they shoot themselves in the foot again - except that all listeners will be the ones to suffer and radio overall would be the loser (Russ Edmunds, PA, WTFDA via DXLD) What I see in this study is an attempt to spin IBOC in a positive way and all the BS statements "...radio listening is at an all time high", and that subtle dig at home listeners. Of course most radio listening is done in the car, that is what kept AM radio stations like KAAY, WLS, etc competitive until the mid 1970's and FM radios (and those underdash "FM converters" I remember as a kid) got into more and more cars. Oh yes, cranking up the power; that was the solution that AM radio got that was supposed to make the competitive. I can tune across the AM band at night here and hear "coffeepot" QRM from all the fill-ins that destroyed clear channel AM'ers. I can only shudder seeing IBOC power increases and the K-Loves/AFR's getting their own IBOC transmitters (Fritze H Prentice Jr, AR, ibid.) Cranking up the power has always done so well when trying to cure interference or reception issues (sarcasm). It worked so well with the AM Class IV stations, it will work to cure the DTV issues for high- band VHF, and of course it will work to fix IBOC. As you correctly point out, there is some puzzling language in the report, and I'm mystified that anyone continues to take IBOC seriously. Perhaps the solution is to allow for testing of 8VSB transmissions on channel 6 using a maximum of 128 or 256k of video for ID and static graphic, with the emphasis on audio. How many FM stations could be placed successfully in a DTV channel, and would that not be more in line with the mobile movement going on now. Not to mention, not having a proprietary system in control of spectrum. I know, I'm preaching to the choir (Frederick Vobbe, OH, Oct 26, WTFDA via DXLD) In fairness, one of these things is not quite like the others. There's no skywave at 100 MHz to create interference hundreds of miles away, and the FM HD signal is designed to be (and is) considerably more robust than fragile 8VSB DTV. Having sat through an hour-long distillation of the Greater Media/Ibiquity studies in Boston (the ones summarized in the current issue of Radio World Engineering Extra, for anyone else who gets that publication), I concur with at least one of its conclusions: increasing the power level of the digital signal does indeed improve both mobile and stationary reception quality. The outcome of the Boston study, in which WKLB 102.5 operated at higher power levels, up to -10 dBc (10 times the current digital power), was clear: at current power levels, the digital signal falls far short of replicating the station's analog coverage area. At -10 dBc, it comes reasonably close. The problem, of course, is that WKLB doesn't operate in an allocations vacuum. If this were 1979, WKLB (well, it would have been WCRB-FM back then) could have cranked up the sidebands without interfering with anyone else nearby - but in the intervening 30 years, a whole slew of short-spaced signals have been shoehorned in, and now a higher-powered WKLB would wreak havoc on WRNI-FM and several other nearby stations that didn't exist 30 years ago. Why does anyone continue to take IBOC seriously? Because it's here, and because it doesn't require the reallocation of other spectrum that's highly unlikely to be repurposed for radio- or radio-like uses. Watch what the new FCC leadership is up to: as far as the new chairman is concerned, the future is all about broadband, not about broadcast as we know it. He's made several high-profile speeches warning that the mobile broadband industry will soon be facing a spectrum shortage as the rollout of 3G/4G services speeds up, and there's some talk now that there could be plans in the works to buy spectrum back from DTV operators, and perhaps an eventual total sunset to over-the-air TV as we know it. Here's the best discussion I've seen so far on the topic: http://bit.ly/2P8VAU Hyperbole? For now, probably yes...but it at least signals that there won't be any new broadcast spectrum coming out of the FCC, whether it's channels 5/6 or anywhere else. And THAT, in a nutshell, is why broadcasters continue to take IBOC seriously, at least on FM: it works (more or less) in the spectrum they already have - and while I realize it's not the case in Lima or Fort Wayne, when you start going to bigger markets like Columbus or Detroit (or even here in Rochester), the system has a pretty sizable installed base by now, and even some receivers out there. (At WXXI, we offered the Insignia HD portable as a premium in our pledge drive last week, and it ended up being the most popular item in the drive.) It's an open argument as to whether stations will have any interest in spending the money that an IBOC power increase would cost them. I don't think there's any possibility at this stage of the game that a significant number of stations would invest in a totally unproven new system operating on channel 6, even if the FCC reversed course and made that spectrum available. In a way, it's not all that different from what TV broadcasters are dealing with: the system is far from perfect, but it's the only game in town for now, so you make it work if you want to play (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) We'll have to disagree yet again, Mr. Fybush. Increasing power may help the mobile situation, but it's a lousy way to fix a problem. It's like being in a gymnasium where people are talking, and you're two people down from me and can't hear what I say, so I speak louder. Then you speak louder. The people near us can't hear their friends over us so they speak louder, and pretty soon the whole gymnasium is shouting at each other and everyone is fighting for airwaves. I realize that many of the bigger players are pushing for more power, and I sort of understand reasonings. But, in the overall scope of things it's not going to accomplish much other than to make a lot of equipment vendors happy with sales. And perhaps that's what it's all about. Just because you can, does not make it right (Fred Vobbe, ibid.) Sorry, but I'm not buying that analogy in this particular case. This is not the AM graveyarders, where the interference from hundreds of stations all raising power from 250 to 1000 watts is cumulative thanks to the magic of skywave. Let's use an example right in your backyard. I don't know if WIMT is using HD or not (I'm guessing not), but let's say it is. WIMT is a class B signal on 102.1. Its HD sidebands therefore fall over the spectrum occupied by analog stations on 101.9 and 102.3, right? The nearest signals on 101.9 to Lima are class Bs in Cincinnati, 100+ miles to the south, and in Detroit, 100+ miles to the north. Your nearest 102.3s are class As in Auburn/Fort Wayne, Holland/Toledo and Galion/Mansfield, all 60 miles or so away. Your issue here, if you're WIMT, isn't that those other stations are shouting so loud that you can't be heard. You'd need a very, very good DX setup to hear anything at all from any of those first-adjacent stations in Lima. Your issue, if you're WIMT, is that you're whispering so quietly that NOBODY can hear you - in this case, with just 110 watts of digital power (against 11 kW analog ERP). It turns out that FM HD is robust enough that it works surprisingly well even at those incredibly low power levels - I was walking around lower Manhattan a couple of weeks ago listening to the HD2 of WQXR 105.9, which has a whopping 6 watts of digital power from the Empire State Building. That was outdoors, though...go inside, and you're down to unusably low signal levels. (The Boston study, which I'd encourage you to read in its entirety if you haven't yet done so, measured signal levels as low as 22 dBu inside a steel-framed office building less than 10 miles from the WKLB transmitter site.) But radio is a mobile medium. The alternative to a power increase for DTV - get an outdoor antenna, and get it up high - doesn't work when the goal is to put maximum field strength over listeners using armband radios with earbud antennas. And the problem, of course, is that many stations aren't as well situated, allocations-wise, as WIMT (or my WXXI-FM, for that matter). But even there, your loud-gymnasium analogy isn't quite apt. In places like the northeast corridor, the FM dial is more of an overcrowded gymnasium: when the fire marshal wasn't looking, they let 1200 people into a set of bleachers designed to hold only 600, and so even when all those people are speaking only at normal volume, they're still sitting in each other's laps. The challenge, then, is to find another workable solution. "Give up on HD" might be a popular one here on the DX lists, but it's a non- starter in the real world, at least on the FM side. Like it or not, there's a large investment in making the technology work. In some cases - mine, for instance, at WXXI - there are even real-world listeners clamoring for a better signal. What, exactly, is not "right" about providing it to them? (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Sounds to me like the solution to real-world listeners clamoring for a better signal is an increase in ANALOG power. Each station occupying one channel instead of three (as in the case of HD) would also result in better signals for all. Need more room for stations or specialty formats? Expand band to include 76-88 with normal analog. HD attempts to solve problems that no one thought were problems. Wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) Now there is a thought. Although the problem with more power is still the fact that it propagates further. The one thing that has consistently bothered me about the AM side of IBOC has been that most petitioners pro-IBOC have made good cases for their city grades and partial Grade B. One in particular (Class 1B) made a statement that they only cared about their 45 mile service area. However, in posting year after year their signal was impacting stations 700 to 1,000 miles away, co-channel and adjacent channel. To me this is like living next to a guy who loves his rock and roll, and has an amp and speakers that allows the whole neighborhood to hear him. I don't think one needs to shout to have a voice, and certainly more power or volume does not prove a public need. But there are those that think so, I accept their reasons, but it does not make it right. In fact, it seems to show a certain quality of character (Frederick Vobbe, OH, ibid.) I think there's another reason for NPR's reluctance to endorse an across-the-board power increase. Due to the difference in the way allocations are handled in the world below 92 MHz, a non-commercial station is considerably more likely to have another station on an adjacent channel with an interfering contour right at the acceptable limit. In the world above 92 MHz, where class-maximum separations must (usually) be met even if the interfering station isn't operating at class-maximum facilities, real-life interference is less likely. (not by any means non-existent, but definitely less common) If we're to do radio in channel 6 (and maybe 5) 8VSB is definitely NOT the way to do it. 8VSB was never designed for mobile receivers. We took our ENG (live remotes) system digital about two months ago, using COFDM. The improvement is almost unbelievable. Actually, I don't think there's anything wrong with the IBOC standard if it's given its own spectrum. (and I don't see much chance of the broadband industry being interested in 54-88 MHz) > It's an open argument as to whether stations will have any interest in spending the money that an IBOC power increase would cost them. I think this is what's going to end up limiting any IBOC power increase. I don't think most stations have considered just how large of an investment will be necessary. -20 dB digital injection requires a relatively small combiner and digital transmitter. -10 dB requires either a larger combiner and a digital transmitter of at least equal size to the analog rig, or complete replacement of the transmitter. It's going to be hard for a lot of stations to justify that kind of money (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Wm R Hepburn (Grimsby ON) wrote: > HD attempts to solve problems that no one thought were problems. except iBiquity(grin). Just like DTV it has created an opportunity it wasn't really expected to create - to wit, the ability to create additional stations. For the most part that ability has been wasted by commercial stations. (I do think the decision of some FM-IBOC operations to carry co-owned AMs on HD2 or HD3 channels is a technically good idea, even if I can't stand the formats of the AM stations involved(grin)!) The ability has been used to considerable advantage (both for the stations and the listeners) by many public radio operations (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) On 2009-10-26 8:43 PM, Doug Smith wrote: > We took our ENG (live remotes) system digital about two months ago, > using COFDM. The improvement is almost unbelievable. I've been watching some of the AZCAR 2 GHz BAS Digital Transition Training on Galaxy 19 sat channel 11.779 GHz. It's amazing how 2 GHz COFDM-TV signals can co-exist in one city using the SAME channel. One station using vertical polarization. One using horizontal. Next to impossible to do with analog. Lots of examples in the training of co-channel issues, bandwidth reduction. Interesting stuff. COFDM seems way more robust than 8VSB. (William R Hepburn, Grimsby ON CAN 43 10 59.4 -79 33 34.5 http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ ibid.) I have to say that it's helped our station a lot. We have been getting shots from places we never expected to get shots from. The down side is that the news department HATES it, because of the latency. But now they not only have to deal with the latency of the microwave, but also the transmitter. If they try to take cues OTH, they get about 4 seconds delay. So we use analog UHF links on the 450 band. I'm surprised you have not heard them, Bill, when the band is up. Sometimes they leave them on for a while longer than they should be on (Frederick Vobbe, OH, ibid.) I think its a bandwagon that broadcasters feel they need to jump on, just as Twitter is to the internet. Someone had an idea, and those who are hungry jumped on it. Now they're buku bucks in the hole and it hasn't delivered the promise. Even locally, KCBS (740 AM with 50 KW) got on 106.9 and proudly proclaims their HD presence. Why? 50 KW AM is going to travel lots farther than they will on FM AND its voice only. Stupidity abounds! (Mike Hawkins, CA, ibid.) Scott Fybush wrote: > The challenge, then, is to find another workable solution. "Give up on HD" might be a popular one here on the DX lists... "Give up on DX" might be more appropriate here in the northeast. At least there are a few FM Dxers away from IBOC hell who are able to DX and keep the FM side of the club viable. For now (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.) That would be popular sentiment amongst DXers. An over-simplified analogy in my mind for radio/HD is going to the doctor with an ailment. He gives you a pill, you take it and you feel better...maybe. You have some other problem and you take a different pill. The correct answer more often than not is to get to the root of the problem and fix it. Radio has been losing audience for a long time, and HD won't change that. Anything that makes my radio sound like its sizzling while obliterating all of the stations that I used to be able to hear doesn't sound like a solution to me (Mike Hawkins, CA, ibid.) I alluded to this earlier - there's a wide disparity in the allocations scenarios across the public radio universe, and for every station that's relatively clear to increase power (like WXXI, fortunately for us), there are plenty of others that could never do so without creating or receiving intolerable interference...and as a result, of course, the public radio universe isn't speaking with one voice on this issue. > It's going to be hard for a lot of stations to justify that kind of money. Not necessarily. What you describe is true - but only of stations using "high-level combining," a system that's rapidly falling out of favor. There are other ways to transmit digital that are more easily amenable to a power increase. In our case at WXXI, we're using a completely separate HD transmission system - separate transmitter, separate transmission line, separate antenna with bays interleaved with the analog antenna, no combiner at all. If and when the time comes that we can increase power, we add a few amplifier modules, press "power up" on the transmitter and that's about it. (This "space-combined" method of transmission has another advantage: the digital transmitter can double as a backup analog transmitter should the need arise.) This kind of system is not viable for everyone - it requires additional loading on the tower for transmission lines and antenna bays, for one thing - but when it works, it works. (We have two other FMs here in town that are also doing space-combining.) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Wm R Hepburn (Grimsby ON) wrote: > Lots of examples in the training of co-channel issues, bandwidth > reduction. Interesting stuff. COFDM seems way more robust than 8VSB. And indeed it is - but, at least for broadcast use, at the expense of requiring considerably higher power bills for broadcasters, which was one reason it wasn't adopted as the DTV standard, despite vocal support from Sinclair and a few other station groups. Perhaps Doug can chime in here with a better-informed overview than I can offer of ATSC-M/H, the new "mobile DTV" standard that was recently developed as an option for DTV broadcasters. s (Fybush, ibid.) FM signals are often more pleasant to listen to than AM ones in large cities. More noise-free. CBC Toronto moved from 740 to 99.1 a decade ago or so (and added a few other channels in outlying areas). In Toronto, 99.1 is much better sounding. AM really was a mess - downtown (driving or at home or work), you would not want to be near an electric streetcar line. Of course, 99.1 is full power, not a translator, and I'm *not* hopeful a translator would do much in terms of listenability. (I'm not sure what power the KCBS relay on 106.9 is operating at). As for IBOC - traditional radio broadcasters are being usurped by something bigger and better, and instead of thinking their way through this and building bridges to their future they're panicking. It would be much wiser to stake ground on all the various mobile, interactive venues. And to replicate and further develop the current brand and presence there. And to do this by enhancing content, not cutting it back. Maybe this is nature's way of culling the herd. If I was a coroner I'd rule this an assisted suicide (Saul Chernos, ibid.) > I don't think one needs to shout to have a voice, and certainly more power or volume does not prove a public need. But there are those that think so, I accept their reasons, but it does not make it right. In fact, it seems to show a certain quality of character. This still seems to me to be missing a very important distinction between MW and VHF propagation. You can crank WLIO-DT channel 8 up to a megawatt if you want, and unless there are unusual propagation conditions - trop or, very rarely in that case, e-skip - your signal still won't see appreciably past the curvature of the earth. Nor will it receive interference from any other signal coming from beyond your horizon. When you were allocated channel 8, you did not have to give any consideration to the channel 8s in Pennsylvania or New York or Wisconsin. The FCC could drop in a dozen more channel 8 signals in Wyoming, Utah and Nevada and it would have absolutely no effect in Lima. But that class I-B AM station you talk about both receives and causes regular, predictable interference to stations thousands of miles away, and you can't wish that propagation away. WLS is an excellent example here: if you've tried to hear it in downtown Chicago in the last few years, it's increasingly evident that even with 50 kW into a highly efficient antenna, it no longer has enough field strength in the Loop, 22 miles away from its tower, to reliably overcome the buzzsaw of noise from LED streetlamps and switching power supplies, the higher level of background noise from distant co-channel stations, not to mention all the other woes that plague urban AM reception. When I was last in Chicago in June, WLS was literally unlistenable in my hotel room a few blocks west of Michigan Avenue. Solving that problem, which involves both skywave and groundwave, has little or no relation to the interference and allocation issues that affect VHF and UHF line-of-sight reception, and it's disingenuous to pretend they're the same issue where power increases are concerned. (This is especially true of the IBOC adjacent-channel issue. My semi-local 102.3 here in upstate New York will never have an impact on your 102.1 in Lima. But my 1180 here in Rochester can, does, and always will have a serious impact on your reception of WOWO.) (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I live 4300 feet from four (soon to be five) full-power FM HD operations, including my own. As a DXer, I don't like it any better than you or Mike B. or the rest of the club. But at least for now, that ship has not only sailed but is now somewhere far over the horizon, and I don't see much point in continuing to stand on the pier and wave for it to come back - or in suggesting that it should have taken the subway instead. (Boy, is this metaphor running off the rails in a hurry, or what?) The marketplace will eventually reject it if it's not serving a purpose. We're seeing that already with AM HD - it didn't work as advertised, it was destructive to even casual, non-DX radio listening, and while it's not completely dead, it's not adding stations and is slowly disappearing even from the early adopters as equipment fails. The picture for FM is less clear just yet. For at least some public radio stations, FM HD is serving a very real purpose and reaching a very real audience. For us at WXXI, it's provided a way to move beyond the severe coverage limitations of our nighttime AM signal, and the same is true of our colleagues to the west at WNED. In Philadelphia, it's providing 24-hour classical and jazz services to supplement what had been a split classical/jazz service on WRTI. In New York, it's extending the reach of the new WQXR 105.9 via WNYC-FM 93.9's HD2. In each of those cases, it's a much less expensive solution than pretty much any other alternative. For us to buy a full-market FM signal in Rochester to replace AM 1370 would cost, even at today's reduced prices, 6 or 7 million dollars. Adding HD to 91.5 cost perhaps 5% of that, maybe less when you consider that our 1974-vintage antenna had to be replaced soon anyway. The picture is less clear for the commercial broadcasters. Right now, HD isn't paying its own way on FM. But the cost of adding HD to most big-and medium-market FMs has now been spent, and it's not going away any time soon. I don't say that with any glee; just trying to share the industry reality here. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Saul Chernos wrote: > As for IBOC - traditional radio broadcasters are being usurped by something bigger and better, and instead of thinking their way through this and building bridges to their future they're panicking. It would be much wiser to stake ground on all the various mobile, interactive venues. And to replicate and further develop the current brand and presence there. And to do this by enhancing content, not cutting it back. The smart ones - and there are smart ones - are doing just that. For some of them, IBOC is one piece of a much bigger puzzle, as it is for us at WXXI. What was once just "AM 1370" is now available to listeners in a half-dozen different venues, including AM, analog FM (for at least part of the day on our semi-sister-station WRUR), HD2, and a variety of streams and podcasts on wxxi.org. It's the same thing for a station like KCBS - the simulcast on 106.9 isn't intended to replace the wide reach of AM 740, but it does keep the "KCBS" brand and content available on the increasing number of radio devices that are FM-only, a list that now includes new iPods and may soon include the iPhone. It's much more efficient and much less expensive, at least for now, to reach those listeners via one FM transmitter than via thousands of streaming connections. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I'm pleasantly surprised space combining is working so well for you. I've heard a LOT of skepticism over space combining. Most of the concerns seem to involve difficulty in matching the patterns of the two antennas. You end up with some places where the HD/analog ratio is a lot less than 10dB -- possibly, some places where the HD is actually stronger than the analog. The risk of course is of severe self- interference. How many bays do you have? (I might imagine space combining works best with relatively high power and relatively small antennas?) (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) (I still think we screwed up by rejecting Sinclair's proposal for rules changes allowing stations to choose between COFDM and 8VSB) To remain compatible with 8VSB, there are limits on what could be done with ATSC-M/H. There are also limits to my understanding of the mode(grin) but I think the big difference is they stuff more data redundancy in there so you can lose more bits and still get a viewable signal. I think COFDM would still work a lot better, but you can't transmit a COFDM signal and an 8VSB signal on the same channel at the same time (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) The KCBS relay on 106.9 is full-power station KFRC-FM. 80 kW/305 m. It may not cover as many square miles as AM 740 but I'm sure it's a LOT more listenable in a majority of homes in the city and the bordering counties where nearly all the population lives (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) As you also pointed out, commercial radio doesn't know what to do with the extra channels. Why? Because the same formats are available already in quantity on the main channels and the commercial broadcasters would rather re-broadcast a local AM or replicate their primary than do something more daring. Of course any niche format which has any sizable audience is probably already covered by a smaller or college station somewhere in the market. Clearly the extra channels could be better utilized, but I'm not betting that occurs for the very same reasons radio is suffering now - there are younger generations who get their music, news, sports, etc. elsewhere. But propagation isn't the only nor even the major issue. As you pointed out earlier, the problem is adjacent channel interference. I don't think anyone could reasonably dispute that current digital FM coverages are a fraction of the former analog coverage. And for those who loudly proclaimed they only cared about the 15 mile radius, then that's what they've got. For those who were simply saying that for maximum effect, they are now living with that. IF there's a way to increase the effective coverage of IBOC FM to a level closer to the analog coverage area without creating additional adjacent channel interference, then that would be the holy grail. But if nobody's listening - especially to those rather pointless secondary channels above 92 MHz, then what's the point of spending more money? (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, Blue Bell, PA ( Currently in San Diego, CA ), ibid.) We're using a 6-bay Dielectric for analog, with a 2-bay HD antenna interleaved between the bottom analog bays. The other space-combined FM on Pinnacle Hill is WPXY/WCMF - theirs is a 6-bay Shively analog with a 2-bay HD interleaved between the bottom analog bays. The key, I think, is that in both cases it's a new antenna specifically designed for space combining, and there's no doubt the interleaving helps, too. We wouldn't dare try it with unmatched antennas in different apertures on the tower. There's an even newer version of the Dielectric antenna that uses circular polarization, with the HD bays polarized opposite from the analog bays. I haven't heard one of those in action yet, but they look awfully cool on the NAB show floor. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Scott Fybush wrote: > This still seems to me to be missing a very important distinction > between MW and VHF propagation. . . Actually, I'm not. AM aside, let's look at the real world of VHF/UHF propagation from the normal viewer side. Put away your DX toys and be Joe Viewer, the guy in Upper Sandusky, Findlay, Napoleon, or Defiance. What about Cleveland OH? Right now we're toe to toe with each other with some viewers saying that the can turn their outside antennas SW for us, and NE to WJW. But that is the exception, and most people run smaller, less efficient antennas. Many of these people report period of time when our picture will be lost, or WJW captures the DTV set. Again, antenna efficiency is not that good in the real world. WJW is planning on doing some tests with their normal "skull" pattern at 30 kW. We've calculated that on paper to be about a 4% loss of service area in their direction. If they go to 30 non-directional, we're looking at roughly 8.5%. But again, the real world plays here, and signal levels jog up and down and are not constant. So based on our calculations (mine and our PE in Washington), our poor buddy Phil Wayne will lose WLIO completely, and people in Findlay will start to receive enough interference to cause drop-outs of service. Now, I guess I could double WLIO's power to 60 kW, or more to regain what I have lost, but who will win? WJW then doubles to 60, then I go to 100. It's a giant piss match and nobody wins. And UHF? Let's look at WOHL-CD. Presently it's at 9 kW, dropped from 15 to protect Windsor. I could say "darn the Canadians" and go to 21.7, and still not interfere with Cincinnati or South Bend, but who has the right to have more land mass over another station, and interfere more? Do my needs preclude Canada's channel 35? Do I justify it simply by saying "the interference will fall over Lake Erie, so what the heck!" Truth is, with Joe Viewer's antennas, they already have signals converging on them from multiple vectors. People in Hancock County, and Henry County routinely tell us that they watch 35, as well at the Toledo and Ft Wayne UHFs without moving antennas. Unless we have another government coupon program for TV antennas, you won't solve the problem of getting lossy low gain antennas away from the public. The same plays for FM services as well, and more so since FM radio is portable and mobile. The one thing different from you and I is that it's not like Rochester with the proliferation of choices and big signals. We have some Class Bs, but there are a lot of Class A stations that are listened to. For example, people in Allen County listen to Findlay, WKXA. I will listen to Kenton, or the Paulding FM, or Celina, or any number of stations out of our area for programming choice. I'm not alone. Several guys I work with listen to out of town stations because of choice. Now if we tell everyone, double your power, and add IBOC on your FM carriers, what do you suppose the FM band will sound like? Answer, unusable. In fact, I won't be able to hear the LP2 in our district for EAS. Nor will I be able to hear the LP1 out of Dayton or Ft Wayne. I doubt that our LP1 will be able to get the State relay as it's on the fringe now, but still works. So now we've crossed the line from purely a listener inconvenience to a safety and security issue. We have different viewpoints for different reasons, Scott. Perhaps we should take this to e-mail if we want to discuss it further. As I pointed out, one person shouting over others can be heard. But once everyone is shouting, nobody is heard. DXing aside, IBOC and blanket power increases are bad for the public. Good for business and the government, but bad for the citizens (Fred Vobbe, Lima OH, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FCC CONSIDERS SHIFTING SOME TV AIRWAVES TO BROADBAND FWIW. The FCC wants more. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17441455#post17441455 And now a CEA funded study says free OTA TV not worth keeping. http://tvtechnology.com/article/89516 (Steve Rich, Indianapolis, IN, WTFDA via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ The geomagnetic field was quiet from the beginning of the summary period through most of 29 October. An increase to unsettled levels was observed late on 29 October and intensified to unsettled to active with some minor storm periods at high latitudes from 0000-1200 UTC on 30 October. Activity levels returned to quiet for the remainder of the interval. Solar wind observations from the ACE spacecraft indicated a sector transition from positive orientation (away) to negative orientation (towards) between 0553 UTC on 29 October through early on 01 November. During the transition of this solar sector boundary the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) showed an enhancement of total field up to about 11 nT and the Z-component (in GSM coordinates), Bz, rotated from positive 10 nT (at 1059 UTC on 29 October) through -7 nT (at 2300 UTC on 30 October). The interval of enhanced negative Bz was well associated with the increase in geomagnetic activity seen late on the 29th through midday on the 30th. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 04 - 30 NOVEMBER 2009 Solar activity is expected to be very low to low. There may be a small increase in background levels from 15-27 November due to the return of Region 1029. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal levels through the period. The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet for 04 November but is expected to increase to mostly unsettled on 05 November due to possible effects from the CME that occurred on 31 October (as described above). Quiet conditions should return on 3 November, followed by a small increase to quiet to unsettled levels on 7 November due to a recurrent high speed stream. Activity levels should return to predominantly quiet levels for 8- 25 November. A small increase to unsettled levels is possible due to recurrence on 26 November. Activity is expected to return to mostly quiet levels for 27-30 November. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2009 Nov 03 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 Nov 03 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2009 Nov 04 70 5 2 2009 Nov 05 70 8 3 2009 Nov 06 70 5 2 2009 Nov 07 70 7 2 2009 Nov 08 70 5 2 2009 Nov 09 70 5 2 2009 Nov 10 70 5 2 2009 Nov 11 70 5 2 2009 Nov 12 70 5 2 2009 Nov 13 70 5 2 2009 Nov 14 70 5 2 2009 Nov 15 72 5 2 2009 Nov 16 72 5 2 2009 Nov 17 74 5 2 2009 Nov 18 74 5 2 2009 Nov 19 74 5 2 2009 Nov 20 75 8 3 2009 Nov 21 75 5 2 2009 Nov 22 75 5 2 2009 Nov 23 75 5 2 2009 Nov 24 75 5 2 2009 Nov 25 75 5 2 2009 Nov 26 75 8 3 2009 Nov 27 72 5 2 2009 Nov 28 72 5 2 2009 Nov 29 70 5 2 2009 Nov 30 70 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1485, DXLD) ###