DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-19, May 10, 2011 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 2011 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html Searchable 2010 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid0.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 WORLD OF RADIO 1564 HEADLINES: *DX and station news from: Australia, Burma non, Canada, China, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, France, Germany +non, Greenland, Kuwait, Libya, Mexico, Mongolia, New Zealand, Nigeria non, Peru, Portugal, Russia, Saipan, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan non, Syria, USA SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1564, May 11-17, 2011 Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Wed 2100 WBCQ 7415 [or 2115, or 2130] Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Thu 1500 WRMI 9955 Thu 2100 WRMI 9955 Fri 0330 WWRB 5050 Fri 1430 WRMI 9955 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1600 WWCR2 12160 Sat 1730 WRMI 9955 Sat 1800 IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA 7290 1566 1368 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WRMI 9955 Sun 1730 WRMI 9955 Mon 1130 WRMI 9955 Mon 2130 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 0100 WRMI 9955 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://193.42.152.193/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN: http://www.wrn.org/wrn-listeners/world-of-radio/ http://www.wrn.org/listeners/world-of-radio/rss/09:00:00UTC/English/541 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? 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, and say something about why you want to join. 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/ ** AFGHANISTAN. T6PSE AFGHANISTAN DXPEDITION CANCELLED - The group planning a big DXpedition to Afghanistan this month have been forced to cancel it following security concerns. The group have posted the following statement on their website: "The Intrepid-DX Group has been planning for many months to conduct a large multi-national DXpedition from Kabul, Afghanistan as T6PSE. We had been receiving advice and assistance from Jim McLaughlin WA2EWE/T6AF, who was killed in Kabul earlier this week. The Taliban subsequently announced their 'Spring Offensive'. Last night, President Obama announced the killing of Osama Bin Laden. Given these circumstances, and with careful consideration, we have decided to cancel our plans for a DXpedition from Afghanistan. There is just too much uncertainty in the region for us to continue to move forward with our plans. In the next several weeks, I will refund all donor/sponsor monies that have been given to support our plans. Thank you, Paul S. Ewing-N6PSE Co-Leader T6PSE DXpedition [Southgate ARC] (via I.C.P.O. Bulletin (06- 13 May 2011) "Islands, Castles & Portable Operations", via editor Dave Raycroft, May 5, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. ARMENIA, 11755, R. Sadaye Zindagi via Armenia May 01 *1459-1510, 35333, Dari, 1459 sign on with IS, ID, Opening music, Opening announce, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 6 via DXLD) ** ALASKA. 9655, KNLS Anchor Point, sermon in Russian, S=9+10dB signal in CA, 0830 UT May 4. Strong S=9+30 dB carrier signal on May 7 at 0910 UT, but low modulation though (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, May 5 at 1210 I set the second receiver with BFO on 15475, to be notified exactly when LRA36 turns on its carrier: Not until *1229 and immediately with music, S9+12 peaks. This turns out to be one of my best receptions so far. 1236 segué to another music, no announcements yet. 1239 finally ID with frequency, plus FM 96.7, longitude & latitude; 1240 other XYLs join in, mixing with ``Soy Feliz`` themesong. Credits to various tenientes/coroneles, operators and bosses. ``Amanecer Austral, del día 5 de Mayo``. 1245 with phone and e-mail contact info. Now the 3-way chatter is hard to follow. 1315 still fair signal with music; weakening at 1347, music and talk. Whenever hearing this, visualize Base Esperanza with bright-red buildings all over it, to facilitate finding them in the blizzards (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LRA36 --- Muchachos, esta mañana llega con una señal excelente, 45544 !!!!!!! siendo las 1316 UT (CE3BBC Hugo López, C. Casilla 9570, Correo Central http://www.qrz.com/db/ce3bbc May 5, condiglist yg via DXLD) [and non]. 15476, LRA36 monitoring Friday May 6: started at 1232, but no signal, and still none at 1241. I was about to give up, but checked again at 1243 and now it`s suddenly on with the best signal yet, S9+15, opening routine with ``Soy Feliz`` themetune, `Amanecer Austral`, YL mentions ``falta de agua``, a water shortage the latest problem at Base Esperanza: guess it has not been snowing much yet. Now modulation is good both on the talk and the music, as she proceeds to name the support staff including Lt. Cols. Guillermo Borger, Pablo González, and a third person as technical operator whose name I can`t catch. One of the other XYLs is speaking and she is off-mike compared to her compañeras. 1246 music mix finally stops and the three say their welcomes, phone numbers including 0297 444 5309, e-mail. 1249 temperature mentioned as 8 grados, not sure if plus or minus, but maybe they get that warm above zero? Rapid chatter continues, hard to copy. 1254 has weakened to only S9+10, but still stronger than 15480 UK producing lite het unless I sidetune downwards; 1257 music. Meanwhile since 1255 there has been intermittent scratchy SSB QRM on the low side traced to 15471-USB, a problem only due to side-tuning and the wide selectivity of the FRG-7. Sounds like weak 2-way intruder in Chinese rather than Spanish. At 1310 LRA36 has romantic song with piano accompaniment; 1316 more romantic with guitar past 1329. 1346 final check has faded to S9+5, still music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LRA36, 15476, fair 6 May 1336-1346 with talkative woman in non-stop rapid Spanish. I have no idea what she was saying, but she was occasionally joined by 1-2 other women. Programming switched to ballads 1346 (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur with K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, Monday May 9 at 1301, LRA36 is on with music. 1307 next music is at a feverish pace, no doubt encouraging fast-dancing to keep warm, as at 1311 announced the temperature as -21 C, on `Amanecer Austral` show; 1312 with phone numbers, seemed to mention date as ``9 de marzo`` but maybe was really ``mayo`` with that zh sound prevalent in the Southern Cone and beyond. (``Argentine Antarctica`` might be described as the ``Northern Cone``, literally, of that continent as normally displayed on imperialist maps). Signal now peaking S9+18, stronger than UK het from 15480. 1314 music under and up. By 1335 it faded to much weaker, only S3-6, unreadable (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ANTARCTICA (Presumed): LRA36 at 1336 UT in Spanish weak but barely audible under noise floor, some music coming through, talks by YL and YM between tunes. 73's, (Noble West, BMSS, TN, May 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WKTF = we know the frequency (gh) LRA 36 en el aire con una señal por Buenos aires de 45444 (Ernesto Paulero, 1422 UT May 9, condiglist yg via DXLD) 15476, May 10 at 1252, LRA36 with music to S9+10 level, and YL quickly mentions LRA36 as in their e-mail address. (I don`t like to convey Spanish fonetically, as everyone should at least learn its simple pronunciation scheme and numbers, but just once I will do so to assist some others in copying the ID: EH-leh, EH-reh, AH, TRAYN-tah__ee SAY- ees). 1300 strengthened noticeably during music; 1303 local weather conditions including temp way below zero, wind velocity, sky cover -- nublado = cloudy; soon started fading down after this peak (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. I have just noticed that 4GM Gympie 1566 kHz is quite high in frequency ... measured at 1566.2453 at 0700 UT 25/02. I wonder whether this is a flood resulting problem. Don’t know how long they have been there! (Merv Joyce, Brisbane, mwoz, via DXWW II, IRCA DX Monitor May 7 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2310, 1035-1048, VL8A, Alice Springs. May 2. Strong and clear signal of country music and call-in quiz with questions for listeners; male announcer in English with Aussie accent. Into old rock classic 'What I Like About You' at 1045. Parallel 2485 VL8K Katherine, which was slightly stronger (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See DX-PEDITIONS! 2310, VL8A, Alice Springs NT, 2049-2105, 06 May, English, music; 25231. 2325, VL8T, Tennant Creek NT, 2048-2103, 06 May, English, songs, talks; 25231. 4835, VL8A, *2130-2156, 06 May, English, ABC news, weather report, a few pops and into some comedy show; 35342, deteriorating. 4910, VL8T, 2135-2154, 06 May, cf. \\ 4835; 35342, deteriorating. 5025, VL8K, Katherine NT, *2130-2155, 06 May, English, ABC news until 2140, chatter; 45343, deteriorating. \\ 4835 VL8A & 4910 VL8T just until the end of the news bulletin (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So all three are now on the air again (gh WORLD OF RADIO 1564,) ** AUSTRALIA. 2368.5, 1014-1102, R. Symban, May 2. Rapid-fire, continuous Greek talk across bottom of the hour; no break or ID noted. I checked the frequency every five minutes, but there was only Greek talk. At 1100, the station went into Greek music with no ID noted. Very weak audio. I forgot to check for "Ozy Radio" on 3210 and/or 5050, but it might not yet be back on the air (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. On the 'Australian Pirate Radio' Facebook page, Peter Tate the operator of Radio X on the Gold Coast has announced that "Plans are a foot for tests on legitimately licensed 2368 khz SW in the next few months coming from SE QLD" (Jim Carr, May 8, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Despite NSW on 2368.5? Seems the government has decided to license a number of low-power stations around the country all on 2368.5 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Ozy Radio - Update 2011-05-11 --- Today noted new Christian programming on 'Ozy Radio' with Brother Stair of the Overcomer Ministry on both 3210 & 5050 kHz at around 2010 UT. During the broadcast Bro. Stair surprisingly mentioned new shortwave frequencies of 3210 & 5050 kHz for nationwide coverage around Australia. In recent times 3210 & 5050 have carried identical Christian programming until today at around 2250 UT when 5050 switched to music format. Lately 5050 has been either off or on extremely low power during the late evening/early AM hours. I usually note this transmitter start to increase power over a 20 minute time frame from 2000 to 2020 UT; I'm sure it's not the ionosphere playing tricks on me, maybe a program that enables a slow transmitter power increase over time? Really not sure what time in the local evening/night 5050 transmitter power tracks down or turns off. My noisy QTH doesn't allow me to note this accurately. I consider this station to still be in testing phase, but transmissions have been regular lately (Ian Baxter, NSW, May 11 dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. RA Shepparton in English news at 2300 UT May 7, S=6 signal on 15240.140 odd channel, but \\ 15415 kHz from same site was even frequency !? Same odd unit noted also on May 9th at 2320 UT, on 15240.121 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, May 6/7/8, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) 21725, 0448-0454, R. Australia, Shepparton, May 3. Male and female announcers in English with discussion about finances and prospects for economic growth. Slowly fluctuating, poor to fair signal (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 12360 USB, 1649, VMW, Wiluna, reporting maritime weather. SINPO 25333. At 1650: "end of transmission of VMW". I think it was on 12360, rather than 12362, as stated at http://www.hfunderground.com/wiki/Maritime_Weather_Transmissions Received in Trincomalee. 12365 USB, 1652, VMC, Charleville, reporting maritime weather. SINPO 35333. At the end mentioned "Australian weather service" and listed all the frequencies used by VMC and VMV (12360 was among those listed for the latter, not 12362!). Received in Trincomalee (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS. 6040.00, 2250-2300 03.05, Belaruskaje Radyjo, Hrodna. Belarusian talk and music, late broadcast 25222 heard // 6010 and 6070, both Brest (Anker Petersen, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) 11930, Belaruskoye Radio, 0403-0435, May 7, local music. Possible news at 0405 in Belarusian. Back to local music at 0407. IDs. Ads. Jingles. Poor to fair. Threshold/very weak signals heard on // 7235, 7280, 6040. Thanks to Rich D'Angelo tip (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BELARUS. FOREIGN PROGRAMMES OF BELARUSIAN RADIO POPULAR Programmes of Foreign Broadcast Division of the Belarusian Radio are popular with compatriots abroad. This was stated by father Jan Kojlo, Director of the Orthodox Radio Station “Orthodoxia” (Bialystok, Poland) at a meeting of employees of Radio Station Belarus with representatives of Belarusian NGOs and media of Latvia, Poland and Ukraine. Jan Kojlo suggested widening cooperation with the foreign broadcast division of the Belarusian Radio and including cultural and educational projects in the Polish language on the list of programmes of radio station Belarus for radio station Orthodoxia. Chair of the Union of Belarusians of Latvia Valentina Piskunova proposed to actively cooperate with the Latvian radio to disseminate Belarusian-language programmes for compatriots living in Latvia. In turn, Director of the Foreign Broadcast Department of the Belarusian Radio Naum Galperovich noted that Radio Station Belarus is open for such cooperation. He also said that the radio station has begun broadcasting in two more languages - French and Spanish - since September 2010. Thus, to date, the total amount of radio broadcasting is 26 hours a day, including 16 hours of broadcasts in seven languages - Belarusian, English, French, German, Polish, Russian, Spanish, and also 10 hours of English Internet broadcasts online. Radio Station Belarus broadcasts to 20 countries of Eastern, Central, Southern and Western Europe in the medium and shortwave radio spectrum. In addition, programmes of the foreign broadcast division of Radio Station Belarus can be listened to in border districts of Brest, Grodno, Minsk and Vitebsk regions and in cross-border regions of Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. Naum Galperovich highlighted the particular importance of expending a feedback link from foreign audiences and assured that comments and suggestions of the radio audience are always considered and taken into account when preparing programmes, and positive feedback on them is the best reward for a journalist (Source: rtv.by)(May 6th, 2011 - 15:17 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** BELGIUM [non]. Further evidence that DRM is NOT compatible with AM shortwave broadcasting, and should be restricted to totally different utility bands: May 7 at 2010, 17750 WYFR in English has heavy QRDRM noise from 17750-17755-17760 TDP via GUIANA FRENCH. HFCC shows the two overlap for half a sesquihour at 2000-2045. Does WYFR AM also disrupt the handful trying to listen to TDP in DRM? Does WYFR care? Ha (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On subsequent occasions here, WYFR has been barely audible in the noise on 17750 (gh) ** BELGIUM [non]. TDP Radio will do a DRM test broadcast towards India as follows: Date: 12 May 2011 Time: 1500-1700 UT Frequency: 15775 kHz Power: 100 kW DRM Txer Location: Issoudun, France (Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, http://alokeshgupta.blogspot.com/ dx_sasia yg via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4409.82, 2310-2320 05.05, R Eco, Reyes, Spanish announcement, Andean music, 15221 4795.98, 2235-2400 03+05.05, R Lípez, Uyuni. Spanish ann, hymns by choir, Andean music 2400 ID improving to 25232 while China on 4800 was fading out (Anker Petersen, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BONAIRE. Re HCJB: Yeah: the "religious aspects" thereof... Um, HCJB and their ilk try to present an unusual audience profile, and have done so from whenever. I recall as a high school teenager in New Zealand in the early 1960's, and being a DX'er at the same time, that my name/address because of a reception report to easily heard PJB/800, gained the attention of the gospel schemers. Myself and another high school buddy who had also logged PJB were "invited" to a local soirée where a visiting senior PJB-type basically waxed poetic that our success at reception of PJB "proved" the power of their "ministry". Buddy and I were aghast -- we'd been used. TD (Theo Donnelly, BC, May 4, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** BOTSWANA. 4930, 0423-0430, VOA, May 4. Program of African news or commentary, with mentions of Algeria, Lesotho, and other countries by male announcer in English. Mentions of '...on the Voice of America' at 0430. Fair, but strengthening signal during grayline conditions to Western USA. This is the sixth African frequency I've logged in the last half hour, so I'm officially renaming Grayland, Washington to 'Grayline, Washington' (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOTSWANA [non]. 7255 identified: SOUTH AFRICA ** BRAZIL. QSL: 3325 kHz - Rádio Mundial, São Paulo/SP. Recebido: PPC assinado e carimbado + carta de agradecimento + adesivo + calendário 185 dias (15 dias após 2º f/up). V/S: Luci Rothschild de Abreu. IRC enviado por carta. QTH: Rádio Mundial - Av. Paulista, 2200 - 1º andar - Cerqueira César - São Paulo-SP 01310-300. Em breve a imagem destas confirmaçãos estarán disponível no http://pqslfabricio.blogspot.com/ Forte 73 (Fabricio Andrade Silva, PP5002SWL (SWARL), Tubarão - SC, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Why send IRC inside Brasil?? (gh) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 4915.00, 2305-0025 03+06.05, R Daqui, Goiânia, GO. Portuguese ann, two ID's: "Rádio Daqui", a lot of sertaneja songs, 44333, splashes from Xizang 4920 which faded out (Anker Petersen, Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5045, May 9 at 0554, some music is making it thru unlike anything else from SAm on 60m, no doubt R. Cultura do Pará. Maybe reception is picking up with seasonal changes. Haven`t been able to hear much of it for months (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9629.9, R. Aparecida, Aparecida SP, 21234-2140, 07 May, rlgs. propag.; 44444, adjacent QRM, extremely weak audio/modulation; \\ 5035 (no QRM), 6135 (useless here due to QRM), 11855 (some QRM, avoidable depending on one's antenna). (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 15190, 0236-0303, R. Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, May 4. Romantic music, ballads and vocals in Portuguese; male announcer in Portuguese and advertisements at 0248-0250. Two mentions of frequencies at 0259, followed by 'Belo Horizonte...' and 'Inconfidência'. At 0300, the station went into a beautiful music version (ugh) of the Beatles' 'Here Comes the Sun'. Fair signal at best (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. [checking the 100 kW Kostinbrod transmitter tests]: At 0430-0500 UT May 5th noted 5900 kHz on S=9+20dBm signal level, excellent, 7400 kHz on S=9+15dBm signal level, interference SPLATTER from IBB R Martí Greenville in Spanish and Jamming from Cuba both 7405 kHz. 9400 kHz on S=9+25dBm signal level, excellent signal, best signal here in Germany at this time span. At 0530-0700 UT May 5th noted 9600 kHz on S=9+20dBm signal level, excellent, 11600 kHz on S=9+25...30 dBm signal level, interference noise tone from Sentech Meyerton S Africa, carrying RFI Paris in French language on adjacent channel 11605 kHz. At 2300-2400 UT May 6th noted 9700 kHz on S=9+20dBm signal level at 2300 UT, excellent, but suffered little by Radio Australia in Indonesian language on 9695 kHz from Al Dhabbaya-UAE on adjacent channel S=9+5dBm. 11700 kHz on S=9+30dBm signal level at 2310 UT. At 13-14 UT May 3rd noted, but forget to test 15700 kHz ... 7400 kHz on S=7-8 signal level, slight noise level. 9400 kHz on S=8-9 signal level, no problem, best signal here in Germany. 11700 kHz on S=7-8 signal level, slight noise level. Suffered by probably TRT Ankara Emirler transmission in Uighur co-channel til 1327 UTC - underneath Turkish music -. At 1300-1400 UT May 8th noted 15700 kHz on S=9+20dBm signal level at 1305 UT, very well, but suffered little by IBB Radio Farda Iranawila on 15690 kHz on adjacent channel, also equal S=9+25dBm. Listen to the attached recordings. 11700 kHz on S=9+35...+40dBm signal level at 1322 UT. A little bit QRM side band splatter of IRIB Kamalabad in Urdu on adjacent 11695 kHz on S=9 signal level. At 17-18 UT May 2nd noted 7400 kHz on S=9+30dBm signal level, a little of interference SPLATTER from 7390 kHz Belarus broadband signal. 5900 kHz on S=9+35dBm signal level, but suffered a little bit by adjacent interference of 5895 kHz IBB Tinian RFA in Korean language. ... listen attached MP3 recordings (Wolfgang Büschel, May 2-8, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. 6225, Dem. V. of Burma, Apr 30 *1430-1440, 44433- 44444, Burmese, 1430 sign on with opening music, ID, Opening announce, Talk. Also May 01 *1430-1440, 44444, Burmese, 1430 sign on with opening music, ID, Opening announce, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 6 via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) Via ARMENIA, in Aoki, not HFCC (gh) 11595, CLANDESTINE, Democratic Voice of Burma via Yerevan [= Gavar, ARMENIA], *2330-2354 May 4, opening with woman announcer in Burmese with ID followed by man and woman with news. After news at 2336 short features with plenty of phone calls. Poor, fluttery signal (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing, PA 19610, U.S.A., Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet May 8 via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) ** CANADA. DAVE SILVERMAN ON CBC FRIDAY -- RAPTURE, BILLBOARDS & MORE Dave Silverman, President of American Atheists will be interviewed on the Canadian Broadcasting Corp. tomorrow (Friday, May 6, 2011) beginning at approximately 7:38 AM ET. Tune in to CBC Radio One for The Current, an public affairs program hosted by Erica Johnson, The program will repeat at 8:38 AM local time [axually repeats 4 times every hour for westward timezones. However, 8:37 am EDT is only the start of the show which lasts until 10 am EDT, so this segment could be anywhere in there. But first airing is an hour earlier for the Atlantic zone. Easier to find it in the archive. -- gh] It will also be streamed live on the Internet at http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent and archived there as well. Dave will be talking about the Rapture and Judgment Day prophesies of Harold Camping. WHO & WHAT: American Atheists President Dave Silverman live on CBC WHEN: Friday, May 6 2011 beginning at about 7:38 AM ET WHERE: Canadian Broadcasting Corp., CBC Radio One -- The Current show live and on the Internet at http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent MORE INFO: http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent (AA press release via dxldyg via DXLD) `The Current` from CBC Radio 1 had a fine segment on Harold Camping and his Rapture nonsense starting the Friday May 6 program; final playback for the Pacific zone is 1537-1600 UT, but then to be on demand at the start of the show. First, another gospel huxter who falls for this, then Dave Silverman of American Atheists; afterwards, somewhat more rational religious scholars. This page http://www.cbc.ca/radio/ has a photo of Harold Camping as he appears today. Perhaps that will be preserved in the link to archive later. For me the zone feed program listings are always displayed one hour off, claiming that the Central zone feed was starting at 1437 UT, while it was really the Mountain. Do others see them that way? And why does CBC insist on claiming The Current starts at :30 past the hours?? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Camping on Current --- Actually, Camping was not interviewed on the Current... Streaming mp3 audio: http://www.cbc.ca/video/news/audioplayer.html?clipid=1912000074 DOWNLOAD MP3 [20.2 MB]: http://thumbnails.cbc.ca/maven_legacy/thumbnails/current1_20110506_99492_uploaded.mp3 Source: http://www.cbc.ca/thecurrent/episode/2011/05/06/the-rapture-judgement-day/ Regards, (DrAgan Lekic, Serbia, dxldyg via DXLD) Tnx for the linx. I didn`t say he was interviewed. It was *about* Camping. We have certainly heard all we need to directly from him on WYFR (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also U S A for much more ** CANADA. 6159.983, CKZU Vancouver, popular technical hobby program in English, featured a lot of worldwide media, web and computer news at 1145 UT May 8. Noted on remote unit at WA-USA, S=9+15 dB (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) So was that some show from R. Australia or BBC, CBC Overnight? No, here it is in local time, right back to Germany! http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/program/spectrum Weekly Schedule --- Spectrum regularly airs on: CBC Radio One Sunday 4:30 AM - 5:00 AM From advances that will change our lives to offbeat oddities, Spectrum keeps you abreast of developments in the realm of science and technology. From Deutsche Welle Radio. For further info: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,,3126,00.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. 6070, CFRX back on the air after missing all month, May 5 at 1126 interview with 877 toll-free number, in typical style and accent from a Toronto commercial station, so different from everything else on SW; but at this hour heavy Asian co-channel QRM (CCI), i.e. V. of Korear, Japanese service until 1250. CFRX reactivation was first reported by several DXLD monitors May 4 after 2200, so I had to edit a last-minute update into WORLD OF RADIO 1563 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) At 0555 UT May 5th, S=6-7 normal level on remoted Perseus sdr rx in Florida. Live party conserve RECORDINGS on exact frequency 6069.967 kHz. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I guess he is referring to stand-up comedy overnight format (gh, DXLD) [6070], CFRX Toronto (Mississauga) ON; 1522-1530+, 9-May; News Talk 10-10; Real Estate Talk Show promo; Jerry Agar(sp?) talk show; ad string 1523-28; SIO=253, definitely not their usual killer signal here this time of day. // 1010 CFRB, about same quality as CFRX. All English (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On May 10 over night path sounded normal strength to me (gh, OK, DXLD) ** CANADA. Incidentally, ever since (CHRI/99.1) the local religious station went on the air in 1997, I've seen a van parked in various east end Ottawa parking lots. Most noticeably it used to be parked close to my office in the former Shoppers City East plaza with the Canadian Tire, the beer and the liquor store. The advertising has changed a bit as CHRI became "family radio" (I believe related to that of shortwave fame, among other things) in 2007. It seems to have had a coat of paint recently as I think originally it was a lighter blue and very rusty. If I am not mistaken, it is one of the Ford family of fine cars. I went to the Walton emporium Saturday morning to pick up a few odds and ends and spotted this van again, parked conveniently close to the main entrance. For once, I was in the right place to take a picture. VE3OSM [on the licence tag] is a call sign held by a guy in Orleans. Ottawa is a small provincial lumber town masquerading as a national capital. This van proves it. 73, (Michael Bolitho, Ont., May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Having had Mexican TV DX earlier in the day, I was looking for it again in the evening, with antenna southward. Ch 2 analog video faded in to sync at 0006 UT May 6, but too weak. Finally at 0031 I rotated north and found stronger signals, and yes, in English, so has to be Canada. Weather graphic about Saskatoon, 0033 English talk about trees greening around the legislative building, i.e. Regina; 0034 news about medicine; 0037 CTV News graphic; 0044 football clip in CTV sports; graphic of Swift Current Broncos lineup (so they know how to spell Bronco unlike some Americans). Must be CKCK-TV, a common catch here for sesquidecades at ideal Es distance just over one kilomile. Dominated in and out tho with some CCI, and occasional signs of video on higher channels. At 0059 on 2, a graphic looked like Sevens Run, and then credit roll, Citytv promo (definitely not CTV), 0100 `Law & Order` video starts, while audio has hockey and occasionally hockey video overtakes. Channel 2 weak videos still showing at 0130, mainly L&O, from further west than Regina; Citytv bug in lower right. Still some fade-ins around 0203. Citytv is CICT Calgary [NO! see below], and L&O: SVU is indeed scheduled there on Thursday nights at 7 local, following `Reviews on the Run`. W9WI.com listings http://www.w9wi.com/channels/2.html still show CICT as a Global affiliate. It`s more like 2 megameters from here, still a good Es distance. The Citytv website also shows ``My RONA Home``. I had seen RONA on the screen initially when still aimed at Mexico. The channel info page of Citytv http://www.citytv.com/calgary/channelinformation does not even bother with on-the-air channels! Just cable and satellite (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx to Deane McIntyre, correcting my assumption about channel 2 TVDX: Glenn: CICT Ch. 2 here in Calgary still is Global. If you had city-tv on Ch. 2 it would be Lethbridge AB, CKAL-TV-1, a repeater of CKAL Ch. 5 Calgary. 73, (Deane McIntyre, Calgary AB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tnx, Yes, and as so listed in W9WI. I still haven`t got used to the idea of another 100 kW ch 2 in AB at Lethbridge, which did not exist in my earlier days of TVDXing (gh, OK, DXLD) ** CHAD. CHADE, 6165, RD. Nationale Tchadienne, Gredia, 2208-2225, 05 May, French, news; 54443, strong splatter de CRI in Portuguese o 6175 via some Euro relay (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Logs Firedrake Jammings --- Seguem os últimos logs, exclusivamente de jammings, todos com a indfectível música instrumental chinesa tradicional. Ressalto a diversidade de frequências, inclusive algumas inusitadas. Local de Escuta: meu apartamento, Goiânia (GO), com ruídos... 13920, 21/04 1157 Fraca, chiado, fading, 15211; 13980, 21/04 1200 Fraca, chiado, estalo, encerra abruptamente às 1201, 15321; Rx: Degen DE 1103, antena telescópica. Local da Escuta: Parque das Rosas, Goiânia, GO, com ótimas condições e sem ruídos. 16980, 23/04 1028 Apito, chiado e fading, 35222; 14700, 23/04 1039 Chiad o, estalo, forte fading, 25311; 12240, 23/04 1042 Sinal fraco, estalos ao fundo, 15211; 10965, 23/04 1046 Forte chiado, 35422; Local de escuta: Parque Bosque dos Buritis, Goiânia (GO)< também com excelentes condições: 10300, 30/04 1042 Sinal muito forte, leve chiado, 55454; 11500, 30/04 1046 Sinal muito forte, 55454; 73's (Arthur Antonio Raimundo, Goiânia GO Brasil, 16º40'50.91"S, 49º16'15.29"W, GH53IH76, 8 May, radioescutas yg via DXLD) 11870, FIREDRAKE 5/2, at 1700, no other heard at the time (Rick Barton, El Mirage AZ, Hammarlund SP-600 , Drake R-8, slinky, lw, ABDX via DXLD) 11950, Chinese Firedrake jamming music against SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng, Taiwan, at 0859 UT May 4 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) Firedrake May 5, starting to monitor earlier than usual: 7970, very poor at 1141; not heard after 1200 10300, good at 1146; SOH had been in clear at 1051; see TAIWAN; also good at 1258, 1321 10965, very poor at 1259-1300* 12240, fair at 1148; fair at 1258 13130, good at 1258 13800, fair at 1059-1100*. Aoki shows this as a SOH frequency at 20- 17, but I never hear FD on it after 1200. Also at 1151 at first seems undermodulated, but really under open carrier from WYFR before *1200 13920, fair at 1152, het and ute QRM; good at 1258 14700, good at 1257, the only one not // 14970, very poor at 1152 15745, very good at 1255. Aoki shows SOH via Tajikistan at 1230-1300 15900, very good at 1256 16100, fair at 1159-1200*; very good at 1256. None higher to 19 MHz. Also good at 1318, and none lower now except 10300 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13100, FIREDRAKE, 5/5, 1200, very loud strong music jammer heard here, with noted //s on 7070 [surely 7970 --- gh], 10300, 11500, 12240, 13920 (Rick Barton, El Mirage AZ, Hammarlund SP-600 , Drake R-8, slinky, lw, ABDX via DXLD) Hi Glenn, I have been monitoring Firedrake lately. I have noticed in some of your Firedrake comments you refer to JBA. For example "7970, JBA at 1253, none higher found before 1300; propagation degraded. K- index 4 at 1500". What does JBA stand for? Also, most Firedrake frequencies are synchronized exactly as the transmitter sites are fed by satellite. However, I have noticed that the music on one or two frequencies each day for the 1200-1400 GMT are significantly out of sync with the music on all other frequencies. Sometimes it is a single frequency out of sync and sometimes it is two. On the days when it has been two, the music on those two frequencies although out of sync with the other frequencies, are in sync with each other. Any ideas why one or two frequencies each day are materially out of sync with all others and when there are two out of sync with all others, they are in sync with each other? (Steve Handler, IL, May 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Steve, JBA means just barely audible. I use the whole phrase now and then, but if I had to explain it every time there would be no point in abbr`ing it. I also use it when applicable elsewhere. I don`t know the exact answer to your other question, but it presumably results from two separate playbacks of the hour loop from HQ in Beijing. Probably because they are on separate satellite feed circuits. Have you read this about it? http://www.satdirectory.com/firedrake.html (Glenn to Steve, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Yes, I had read that story and have the entire hour firedrake music. Your comment about a second satellite feed is interesting. However my question would be why Firedrake would be using two satellite feeds rather than one? Also if there are two feeds, why aren't they in sync. The music is not even close to each other in terms of where in the one hour loop they are playing. Also, the single or double frequency that is not // to the main group consistently signs off 4 to 6 seconds after the main group signs off. Why? In addition, the Firedrake frequency(s) that is not with the main group sometimes has suppressed audio, yet good signal strength. It bothers me that the frequency(s) that are not in // to the main group are always far off in the musical loop. Tuesday it was 10965 that was on not in sync with the main group of Firedrake frequencies. However today 10965 it was in sync and // with the main group of Firedrake frequencies. Wednesday 11500 was not in sync with the main group of Firedrake frequencies but on Tuesday and Thursday this frequency was // and in sync with the main group of Firedrake frequencies. Thursday it was 14700 that was not in sync but on Tuesday and Wednesday was with in sync with the main group of Firedrake frequencies. Today from 1221 to 1300* both 11500 and 14700 that were not in sync with the main group of frequencies but both were // to and in sync each other. I think there is a reason why each day one or two frequencies are not in sync with the main group of frequencies and not even close to each other in the music loop. I also wonder why there is a consistent 4-6 second difference between the main group sign off (which is always first, exactly on the hour) and the not // frequency(s)? (Steve Handler, ibid.) Appreciate your detailed observations. Could be they are just playing mind games on you, hi (gh, DXLD) Firedrake May 6; all checked were //: 7970, fair at 1222 10300, good at 1223 10965, good at 1223 11500, tune-in at 1224 to open carrier, but Firedrake audio is then faded up; so it looks like the OC heard previously was also FD 13920, good at 1226; none were found in the 12s on the way to this 14700, fair at 1227 15545, poor at 1228; and a het went off at 1229* as VOT QSYed 15550, poor at 1304 with het from 15552 VOT; also oscillating tone. At 1306 the het is gone, now a carrier with talk on 15558; FD still 15550 15555, very poor at 1330, not positive it`s FD, with too weak carrier on 15558, far enough away in the cat-and-mouse game with V. of Tibet; both mainly evidenced by the het between them 15900, fair-good at 1229 15970, very good at 1229, quite a contrast to 15900 16980, fair-good at 1230. No more up to 19 MHz (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13920, Firedrake jamming music noted on that channel, as well as additional wiper noise jammer, at 0035 UT May 7. Also Firedrake on 13799.830 kHz, 11500 at 0118 UT May 7. 16980, 16100, 15900, 14700, 11500, 10300, 10965, 7970 kHz Firedrake music at 0900-1000 UT May 7, all S=9+20 dB strong. 12240 and 13920 kHz only S=7 signal, 15970 only S=4, 16100 S=9 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) Firedrake May 7, all // when checked: 10965, fair at 1244; poor at 1346; very poor at 1435 11500, poor at 1349, CCI, // 10965 13920, good at 1216 with ute/het 14700, poor at 1248 // 13920; poor at 1352 15430, very poor with flutter at 1355; // 16100 at 1358 16100, good at 1255 // 13920; good with flutter at 1358 16980, good at 1256. I compared to reception quality of CRI 17490 English and 17650 Chinese, both known to be Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN, and 16980 was better; however it was much like 17575 at 1257 with non- Firedrake Chinese music, a CRI postlude until cut at 1300* after only two pips. 17575 is scheduled as Russian, 315 degrees from the SZG site at 12-13. 16980 was not on at 1358 when 16100 was still running 17705, May 7 at 1300, ZRGD/CJKT ID atop Indian music from AIR Chinese, which the ChiCom feel so threatened by. I.e. CNR1 jamming (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) FLAMING GOOSE UPDATE --- CRASH & BANG CHINESE OPERA MUSIC JAMMER, a.k.a. Firedrake From 2011 posted logs (various sources). All broadcasts originate from East Jammerstan. (t) means tentative * Not reported on this frequency during 2010. 6030 13 7415* 17 7445* 17 7970* 11, 12, 13 8400 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 23 9170* 12 9350 13 9355 13, 14, 17, 19 9365 13 9380 13 9450 15 9455* 17, 19 9540 17 9905 17, 19 10300 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 23 10965* 12, 13 10970* 01, 12, 13 11500 11, 12, 13, 15 11540 13 11870* 17 11940* 17 11945 19 12180* 12 12240* 04, 05, 11, 12, 13, 14 12600 12, 13 12980 12, 13, 23 13060 12 13130* 01, 11, 12, 13 13500 03, 12, 13 13625 13 13850* 04(t), 12 13900* 13 13920* 12, 13 13960* 23 13970 01, 03, 12, 13, 14 13980* 12, 13 14400 03, 11 14700 07, 12, 13, 14 14720* 01, 03 14900 00, 03, 09 14950* 13, 23 14970 12, 13 15265 13 15375* 13 15430 13 15520 13 15535* 13 15540 12 15545 13 15550 12 15560 13 15570 13 15670 12, 13 15780* 14 15900 00, 01, 03, 08, 11, 12, 13, 23 15970 13 16100 01, 03, 11, 12, 13 16970 01 16980* 00, 03, 12, 13 17170* 01, 03, 23 --Updated 7-May-11 (Harold Frodge, MI, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake May 8: As usual there was a break from 1300* until later in the hour when they were showing up again, vs SOH or VOT; also, lots of T-storm noise on lower bands. Weather.com map for golfers checked at 1528 showed the only lightning area in USA was northeastern South Dakota. 7970, poor-fair at 1243, with T-storm noise 10300, fair at 1249; very poor at 1338 10965, very poor at 1338 11500, poor at 1250, // 10300, mixing with another station, lo het 12600, poor at 1339 13920, good at 1341, fair at 1358 14700, poor at 1255, very poor at 1342 14970, poor at 1255 15430, poor at 1343 15900, good at 1256, good at 1348 15970, good at 1256 16100, good at 1256, good at 1348 [and non]. Firedrake May 9: Checked at 1542, the major lightning area on the Weather Channel golfer map is western Wisconsin, plus a little spot in central Missouri. 7970, poor at 1250 with lots of summer storm noise as above 10300, fair at 1256; fair-good at 1319 when most of the others were not yet back on 11500, fair at 1257, mixing with other signals, het; at 1325 better and dominating over other signals with talk, het 12240, fair at 1258 13130, fair at 1259; good at 1327 // 10300 13850, good at 1258; an unusual one, hetting WWCR 13845. Aoki shows as Sound of Hope at 20-17, no doubt only in use sporadically 13920, fair at 1327 // 13130 15430, poor at 1359 15555, very weak carriers here and 15558 at 1329, not sure if FD audio, but likely usual jumparound vs V. of Tibet 15670, CNR1 jamming dominating vs RFA in Tibetan via UAE, before 1300, and at 1333 could also hear FD // 13130, but no RFA, jammer vs jammer! Also audible at 1358 15900, poor at 1328 // 10300; very poor at 1358 16100, poor at 1259-1300* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7565, Aoki list says SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng via Dushanbe Yangi Yul site. But heard Firedrake music only, on odd 7564.600 kHz, that means minus 400 Hertz at 2240 UT May 9 (Wolfgang Büschel, May 7/9, wwdxc BC- DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) Firedrake May 10, with very subjective ratings: 10300, fair-good at 10300; poor at 1351 10965, fair-good at 1240; poor at 1351 11500, fair with CCI, het at 1241; only open carrier at 1350, maybe trace of FD 12240, good at 1244 12980, fair at 1244 13060, good at 1245 // others, but with ute QRM 13130, poor at 1348 13920, fair at 1348 14900, poor at 1246 15430, poor with CCI, flutter at 1346 15550, poor at 1249 vs het from 15552 15900, good at 1247; poor at 1347 16100, poor at 1345 16980, fair at 1345 with flutter (like most of them) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11500 ?? 2125+ 2135 8 May with music and talks in Chinese and signal just S2 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 13590, May 5 at 1101 news with American accent, so is it VOA? It certainly can`t be BBC, which for newscasters welcomes all kinds of regional British and ex-colonial accents except North American. Of course! It`s CRI as the content of the news centered around the Middle Kingdom soon reveals. Has long/short path echo. HFCC shows CRI, 500 kW, 193 degrees via Beijing site at 10-12. {No sign of 1Africa, ZAMBIA, which has been behaving itself lately on 13590 during its lengthy 06-20 broadcast heard at other hours.} (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 15250, one would like to hear the only intentional English broadcast from BSK Saudi Arabia, at 0930-1225 on R. Riyadh, per Aoki, but instead one must hear stuff in Chinese: May 5 at 1108 CNR1 echo- jammer plus het against VOA Mandarin via Tajikistan (except on Wednesdays when site switches to Tinang, Philippines; why??). At 1213 still the same, plus SAH, with the VOA site after 1200 daily being Tinang (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CRI Shortwave Program Schedule --- The way things are going, it probably will not be to long before the only reliable shortwave signal available to us thruout a large part of the day will be coming to us from China; here is there Program Schedule: They broadcast 4 different program blocks. #1: China Drive Program Block-recorded 5-7PM Beijing Time (last 5 minutes of each hour is : Chinese Studio- Language Lessons) 1300-1500: NA frequencies monitored here in Bethpage, NY 1600-1800: EU frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 2000-2200: EU frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY #2: 55 Minute Program Block xx00 DAILY: News xx05 M-F: People In The Know Sat/Sun: Heartbeat xx30 Sun: China Horizons Mon: Frontline Tue: Biz China Wed: In The Spotlight Thur: Voices From Other Lands Fri: Life In China Sat: Listener's Garden xx55 DAILY: Chinese Studio 0000: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 0200: (not heard) 0400: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 0600: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 0800: EU frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 1000: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY (summers only) Siberia frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY(winters) 1200: EU & Asian frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 1800: (not monitored on EU frequencies yet) 2200: (not heard) #3: 7AM Beijing Hour Program Block xx00 DAILY: News xx05 M-F: The Beijing Hour-7AM Version Sat/Sun: News & Reports xx30 Sat: Listener's Garden Sun: China Horizons xx55 DAILY: Chinese Studio 0100: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 0300: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 0500: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 0700: EU frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 0900: (not heard) 1100: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY #4: 7PM Beijing Hour Program Block xx00 DAILY: News xx05 M-F: The Beijing Hour-7PM Version Sat/Sun: News & Reports xx30 Sat: Listener's Garden Sun: China Horizons xx55 DAILY: Chinese Studio 1500: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY 1900: (not monitored here yet) 2300: NA frequencies Monitored here in Bethpage, NY (PeterTheRock, May 6, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 6035.02, La Voz del Guaviare, 5/3 with usual rosary show at 1011 first note, modulation cranking up and well heard by 1015. 1030 program change to romantic canciones noted, per usual, along with OM deejay with what sounded like a full info s/on announcement and ID. Horrible side slop gets worse after BOH and never fails to drive me away. Nice signal on 5/7 at 1024 with YL locutora giving schedule info, as rosary show had just ended (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. 08/05/2011 1837, 5066.3, R Télé Candip, Bunia, COD, px locale bassa modulazione -Suff. Ciao e buoni DX 73! (Mauro - Giroletti, Italy, -Swl 1510-, -IK2GFT-, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** CRETE. ERA 2 on 1512 KHz from Crete who was heard here for a couple of weeks in early April gave some interesting results. Here's how it boomed at one time on April 9th at 02:51 UTC: http://www.quebecdx.com/greece_1512b.mp3 (Sylvain Naud, Portneuf, Quebec, CANADA, http://www.quebecdx.com Perseus SDR, Icom ICR75 with LF mods, 228 meters (750 feet) remote controlled switchable termination beverage pointing towards Africa when terminated (268-88 degrees) 289 meters (950 feet, winter seasonal) terminated beverage towards Europe (55 degrees) 425 meters (1400 feet winter seasonal) remote controlled switchable termination beverage pointing towards Eastern Europe - India when terminated (215-35 degrees) Homebrew K9AY with vactrol T2FD cut for 90m band Two 30 meters (100 feet) long wire Homebrew remote wire antenna switcher DX Engineering RPA-1 HF preamplifier MFJ-1026 phaser with LF mods, IRCA via DXLD) ** CROATIA. 3985.00, Hrvatski R, Deanovec, 1815-1900, Apr 20, non-stop Croatian songs, 1900 Croatian ID: "Glas Hrvatski", news, 55544, ex 6165 which now opens for Chad (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window May 4 via DXLD) How about in the morning, when we used to hear Chad 6165 best? Between Bonaire blasts (gh, DXLD) See also CHAD ** CUBA. 5055, May 5 at 0452, two Spanish programs mixing about equally, i.e. a leapfrog mixing product of R. Rebelde 5025 and RHC 5040, landing another 15 kHz higher. I could hear it on two different receivers and also when attenuated. It ends of course around 0500 when 5040 goes off. see also ECUADOR [and non]! 5735, May 7 at 0546, pulse jamming against nothing, timed at the rate of approx. 232 per minute or almost 4 per second. Something interesting might turn up on 5735, unless this was totally spurious. 15360, Saturday May 7 at 1432, RHC starting `Cancionero Iberoamericano` good music show, altho previously heard at this hour was `Sonido Cubano` as still shown on `new` program schedule: http://www.radiohc.cu/index.php/de-interes/programacion.html Tried all the frequencies and found: 15360 fair 15230 fair 15120 off by 1400 13780 and 13680 good 12040 JBA under Chinese QRM 11830 mix and SAH with WYFR 11760 good 11730 poor 11690 poor with RTTY 17560, RHC may have driven prior occupant VOA off this frequency, but now it even disrupts R. Kuwait [q.v.], Arabic on 17550, May 7 at 2011, especially when playing `news` sounders with audio approaching 10 kHz. 13680, RHC, Sunday May 8 at 1340 check during `En Contacto`, it`s a repeat of last week`s anniversary show, at the moment Dr. Madrid from R. Verdad greeting again. `EC` is normally introduced with the week- number edition during each year, so will this get a separate number or will one be skipped?? At 1359, while 13780 continued with RHC programming, 13680 went to dead air, until 1401:45*, but the transmitter shift to 13750 never showed up by 1417. It might have eventually, if there were an `Aló, Presidente` this week, but El Hugazo excuses himself once again, not for Mothers` Day; see VENEZUELA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. RADIO MARTÍ EN EL OJO DE LA PRENSA | Noticias | Radio/TV Martí_ http://www.martinoticias.com/noticias/La-Oficina-de-Trasmisiones-hacia-Cuba-en-el-ojo-de-la-prensa-121408019.html (via Oscar de Céspedes, FL, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** CYPRUS. 17860-17885, OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, May 7 at 1439, and luckily enough, not hitting any broadcasters, and indeed per HFCC none are scheduled at this time on Saturdays, except some ADM from UAE on 17885, probably wooden (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHOSLOVAKIA [and non]. TWO RADIO ANNIVERSARIES MARKED TODAY BY RADIO PRAGUE Czech Radio is celebrating the sixty-sixth anniverary of the Prague uprising, which occurred after patriots seized the radio building. Coincidentally, the Czechs are also commemorating the sixtieth anniversary of Radio Free Europe's broadcasts to their country. Both anniversaries are covered in today's programme from Radio Prague. The feature on Radio Free Europe is part of the regular "Panorama" programme and runs for 10 minutes. Among other things, it is revealed that the Czechoslovak secret service tried to kill RFE staff by putting poison into the salt cellars in the station's canteen! The programme can be heard at http://www.radio.cz (Roger Tidy, UK, May 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DJIBOUTI. 4780, Radio Djibouti, *0300-0330, May 9, sign on with National Anthem. Arabic announcements at 0301. Qur`an at 0302. Arabic talk at 0314. Weak but readable. Lost In noise by 0330 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [and non]. 6050, May 5 at 0454, RHC English service has heavy co-channel QRM and subaudible heterodyne from music. At 0458 RHC stops modulating, and then HCJB is clearly heard in Spanish, 0459 full ID mentioning 89.3, 91.3, 96.1, a couple other FM frequencies in different cities, 690 MW and 6050 SW, automatic timesignal at 0500, signing off until 3:30 am in Quichua, national anthem which sounds like a very old 78 rpm disc. I think the RHC 6050 carrier had been cut, presumably for antenna change, but I could not tell when it came back on, or whether HCJB left its carrier on for a while. There was ACI from Spain on 6055. At 0503, I found RHC English underway on 6060, not on 6010 yet, and it did not pick up until later than minute on 6050, when also there was a bit of extraneous music. HCJB used to display this defect after ``sign-off`` on 9745. At 0504 RHC English is only poorly audible on 6050 with SAH from some carrier, maybe still HCJB. At the 0454 outset, HCJB signal was definitely stronger than I expected for 10 kW. It certainly is capable of messing up RHC reception in North America, which is the only thing which might persuade recalcitrant frequency ``manager`` Arnie Coro to move away from 6050. HCJB, or rather Vozandes Media, is also planning on beefing up its transmissions from Pichincha. OTOH, Arnie`s happy to be colliding with WYFR on 11830 and numerous other instances of poor selexion, not even in RHC`s self-interest, and certainly with no consideration for others (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR [non]. 9955, `DX Partyline` via WRMI, Thursday May 5 at 0520 during report from Luigi Cobisi, adequate copy vs heavy pulse jamming, but losing out by 0526 during interview with Brent Weeks, HCJB Global Latin American Engineering Director about a new DRM receiver from New Path Radio (?). 0528 the big announcement by Allen Graham (Allen always with an E as in Ecuador), with excuses why he is killing `DXPL` after the last week in May (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AFTER 50 YEARS, POPULAR SHOW FOR SHORTWAVE RADIO LISTENERS TO END ON ANNIVERSARY DATE http://www.hcjb.org/HCJB-Global-News/after-50-years-popular-show-for-shortwave-radio-listeners-to-end-on-anniversary-date.html (May 6, 2011 - by Ralph Kurtenbach) The “dah-di-dit” code tapping that opens the DX Partyline (DXPL) radio program for shortwave hobbyists will fall silent this month, moving the popular program to history’s pages. The program will end with broadcasts the weekend of May 28-29, exactly 50 years after it first aired on Radio Station HCJB in Quito, Ecuador, on May 28, 1961. Program host Allen Graham’s surprise announcement came near the end of his April 30-May 1 show. He cited as one reason HCJB Global’s change of emphasis regarding direct shortwave broadcasts from Pifo, Ecuador, where HCJB terminated shortwave broadcasting in 2009 after nearly 58 years. Three years earlier the station had ceased English-language broadcasts. Also contributing to the decision was the “global change in our ministry priorities as a mission and my increased involvement and work responsibilities in areas very different from those I had when I arrived in Quito as a producer in English Language Service in August 1993,” Graham said. A former host now retired in Carrollton, Ga., Ken MacHarg referred to DXPL as offering a “beginner’s guide to DXing while at the same time maintaining a loyal audience among hobbyists with years of experience.” Just after DXPL’s Morse code opening, the booming voice of the late Bob Beukema begins teaching basic principles with, “DX . . . a telegraph term meaning ‘distance.’” Former host Rich McVicar of Navarino, N.Y., considers “getting Bob Beukema to intro the program probably the smartest production thing I’ve ever done! What a voice, eh!” As humble-start-to-wildly successful goes, DXPL’s beginnings started more humbly than most. The program was conceived to fill a calendar anomaly. At the time, the Party Line show kept missionaries in Ecuador in touch with kin back home in a way that former DXPL host Clayton Howard once characterized as “much like the old-fashioned party-line telephones that used to be popular in rural areas.” Party Line aired on Mondays, and when a fifth Monday periodically occurred, it gave Hardy Hayes an opportunity to fill that slot. “His solution was to start a program for DXers,” continued Howard. “There were not many such programs on the air in 1961.” Created out of necessity, the show was soon a hit. As programs go, DXPL offered engineering not elegance, facts not flash, and because HCJB Global is an international evangelical mission, DXPL offered the gospel. Along with a calendar of DX events, new developments and listings (called loggings) of station’s exotic programming to which the listeners themselves had tuned in, “Tips for Real Living” was a key component. Asked about the short evangelistic segment’s contribution to DXPL, former host John Beck replied, “It was the program. Everything else was designed to attract the listener to the spiritual component.” Beck now works as an engineer with the Kansas City-based Bott Radio Network. “This brief message was the only place where they (listeners) might be touched by the gospel and given an opportunity to respond to the saving message of Jesus Christ,” added MacHarg. With involvement in DXPL for the last several years, Shelly Cochrane wrote that “from my home in Alaska, I’ve counted it a privilege to offer ‘Tips for Real Living’ to point our listeners to God’s promises for our lives.” Hardy Hayes headed DXPL just briefly, turning the show over to Clayton Howard and his wife, Helen. The Howards (now both deceased) began what was to become a 20-plus-year stint hosting the show. A continent away, Beck, MacHarg and McVicar were mentored by Howard whose career training and radio work was in engineering. “I know that Clayton … helped me with my Christian walk during the years of college,” wrote Beck. “had been an engineer moving towards radio production; I came as a radio producer moving towards engineering. So I feel that I was able to enhance the production values while depending upon the engineering expertise surrounding us at HCJB.” Beck fondly recalls a letter from a Puerto Rican television technician who had never understood the subject of impedance (resistance) until it was explained on DXPL. Another letter came from a Jet Propulsion Laboratory scientist who listened frequently. A syndicated overnight network program host, Ray Briem, called into DXPL, according to Beck. McVicar added that there were “some memorable times on the air. A special thrill and challenge for me was scooping other DX programs when new stations came on the air from Latin America, especially Peru…. I would also do a lot of DXing from Quito and air clips of the stations that I could hear.” It fell to Graham, however, to steer a course through celebrating shortwave radio’s golden past and a sea change of rapidly growing technologies since the Internet’s advent. And as HCJB Global’s emphasis has shifted to local radio and later the Internet, Graham continued providing a forum where DXers could not only listen but participate. E-mailed reports and audio clips became standard fare on the show. When he set up his Facebook account, Graham soon topped a thousand friends, including some from DX Partyline. Ever fascinated with science, Graham’s interview on his April 30-May 1 program “pushed the envelope” of telecommunications yet again, as Brent Weeks described an HCJB-designed paper radio for receiving digital shortwave signals. Hugely popular worldwide among radio aficionados, the DX Partyline is to join the telegraph and its younger cousin, the telephone party line, in the annals of communications history. Its presence on the shortwave bands will end; its fond recollections will last and last. To listen to the program, tune in to HCJB Global-Australia’s international broadcast facility in Kununurra at the following times and frequencies on Saturday: 0800-0815 UTC on 11750 MHz; 1230 to 1245 UTC on 15400 MHz; and 1515-1530 UTC on 15340 MHz. To view the program schedule, visit http://www.hcjb.org.au/docs/A11_Schedule_HCJB_Australia_20110327-20111029.pdf (HCJB Global via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, dxld yg via DXLD) Glenn, [same story as above] http://calloftheandes.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/after-50-years-popular-show-for-shortwave-radio-listeners-to-end-on-anniversary-date/ I presume you have seen this link, but the interesting part of the article is reproduced below: I recall that there was always a debate in the pages of RIB during the early days about the point of the program, and here it is in black and white from a retired host. I am not sure how anyone thought a one minute religious segment would make that much of a difference. ``Asked about the short evangelistic segment's contribution to DXPL, former host John Beck replied, "It was the program. Everything else was designed to attract the listener to the spiritual component." 73, (Michael Bolitho, Ont., May 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, that`s an old interview with Beck admitting that all the rest was window dressing around the TFRL (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) DX Partyline is one of the last of the DX program, later media program, genre in international radio. The first of these was Radio Sweden's Sweden Calling DXers, later MediaScan. Radio Netherlands DX Juke Box eventually became Media Network (audio archives here), which is now the Media Network blog. VOA's Worldwide Shortwave Spectrum later became Communications World (presented by me 1995-2002) (and this website is a successor to that program). In previous years, the World Radio TV Handbook would annually list the DX programs of various international radio station. (See, for example, the list from the 1975 issue.) These DX, later media, programs were citizen journalism before the term was known. Listeners would send in their shortwave listening tips, later expanding to general media news, by the miracle of airmail, later fax, later e-mail. Now that DXers can keep in touch through various blogs and internet discussion groups, these radio programs have lost some of their original function. I think, if they sufficiently adapt to the times, these programs could retain their popularity (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** EGYPT. 9305, Garden Fence: Heavy distortion on 31 mb of spurious signals from fundamental 9305 kHz by R Cairo tonight. 2030 UT May 8th - 7 kHz wide peaks on 9006 9083 9136 9157 9231 9379 9451 9473 9529 kHz. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9/5/11, 9455, a spur from R Cairo // 9305 with a horrible modulation and signal S7 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) time? ** EGYPT. Updated summer A-11 of Radio Cairo: 0400-0600 on 13650 ABZ 250 kW / 170 deg to CEAf in Swahili 0700-1100 on 17510 ABZ 100 kW / 250 deg to WeAf in Arabic General Sce 1015-1215 on 15090 ABZ 250 kW / 090 deg to WeAs in Arabic 1215-1330 on 17870 ABZ 250 kW / 090 deg to SoAs in English 1230-1400 on 15710 ABS 250 kW / 106 deg to SEAs in Indonesian 1300-1600 on 15080 ABS 250 kW / 241 deg to WeAf in Arabic 1300-1600 on 17550 ABZ 250 kW / 070 deg to WeAs in Dari/Pashto 1330-1530 on 15040 ABZ 100 kW / 070 deg to WeAs in Farsi 1500-1600 on 13580 ABS 250 kW / 315 deg to EaEu in Albanian 1500-1600 on 15160 ABZ 250 kW / 050 deg to CeAs in Uzbek 1530-1730 on 17810 ABZ 250 kW / 170 deg to CEAf in Swahili 1600-1700 on 15450 ABZ 100 kW / 160 deg to ECAf in Afar 1600-1800 on 6270 ABZ 250 kW / 090 deg to SoAs in Urdu 1600-1800 on 15345 ABZ 150 kW / 195 deg to CSAf in English 1700-1730 on 15285 ABZ 100 kW / 160 deg to ECAf in Somali 1700-1900 on 9280 ABS 250 kW / 005 deg to N/ME in Turkish 1700-2300 on 9250 ABZ 250 kW / 180 deg to EaAf in Arabic Waadi e Nile 1730-1900 on 15285 ABZ 100 kW / 160 deg to ECAf in Amharic 1800-1900 on 6270 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg to WeEu in Italian 1800-2100 on 9990 ABS 250 kW / 241 deg to WeAf in Hausa 1845-2000 on 11555 ABZ 250 kW / 245 deg to WeAf in Fulfulde 1900-2000 on 6270 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg to WeEu in German 1900-2000 on 9280 ABS 250 kW / 005 deg to EaEu in Russian 1900-2030 on 11510 ABZ 250 kW / 250 deg to WeAf in English 1900-2400 on 9305 ABS 250 kW / 315 deg to WeEu in Arabic General Sce 1900-0030 on 11540 ABZ 100 kW / 160 deg to CEAf in Arabic V of Arabs 2000-2115 on 6270 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg to WeEu in French 2000-2200 on 6860 ABZ 250 kW / 110 deg to AUS in Arabic 2030-2230 on 9280 ABS 250 kW / 241 deg to WeAf in French 2115-2245 on 6270 ABS 250 kW / 325 deg to WeEu in English 2215-2330 on 9290 ABZ 250 kW / 245 deg to SoAm in Portuguese 2300-0030 on 6270 ABZ 250 kW / 325 deg to NEAm in English 2330-0045 on 9250 ABS 250 kW / 241 deg to SoAm in Arabic 2330-0045 on 9290 ABZ 250 kW / 245 deg to SoAm in Arabic 0000-0700 on 9305 ABS 250 kW / 315 deg to NoAm in Arabic General Sce 0030-0430 on 6270 ABZ 250 kW / 325 deg to NEAm in Arabic 0045-0200 on 9315 ABZ 250 kW / 330 deg to NoAm in Spanish 0045-0200 on 9290 ABZ 250 kW / 245 deg to SoAm in Spanish 0045-0200 on 9915 ABS 250 kW / 282 deg to CeAm in Spanish 0200-0330 on 9315 ABZ 250 kW / 330 deg to NoAm in English (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 9 May via DXLD) 9305: WORLD OF RADIO 1564, ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 6250, 0500-0510, Rdif. de Guinea Ecuatorial, Malabo, May 4. Sign-on and ID in Spanish and into world news by a male announcer. Mentions of Malabo at 0508. Nice to catch this one at Grayland (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Beware, as I have been pointing out, of the leapfrog mixing product at Bonaire on 6250, NHK R. Japón 6080 in Spanish over RNW 6165 in Dutch. I never hear EqG on that early, and the mix ends at 0527 when 6165 fulcrum goes off. But hard to dispute an ID if it was definite (Glenn to Guy via DXLD) Hi Glenn, I wasn't recording at the time, unfortunately. I was unaware of any mixing products other DXers have observed on 6250. I wonder if such mixing product makes it up to our corner of the USA? In any event, without a recording to double-check what I heard (or thought I heard) as "Malabo", let's change this to a tentative to be safe: EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 6250, 0500-0510, Rdif. de Guinea Ecuatorial, Malabo, May 4. Tentative, during grayline conditions with other Africans heard. Sign-on in Spanish and possible ID, then into world news by a male announcer. What sounded like "Malabo" heard at 0508. This would be a good catch from Grayland if indeed Equatorial Guinea (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the scrutiny of this one! 73, (Guy Atkins, ibid.) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 15190, R. Africa with a serious problem, May 7 at 2038, carrier cutting off and on twice a second, quite regular but not precisely so. This means we got roughly alternate syllables from the gospel huxter of the moment, totally useless. This was still going on at 2055. Finally during music at 2107 cut off the air and stayed off, did not come back by 2117. Perhaps the operator did not notice until it was music being disrupted? Did it finally die or will it be right back the next day? {No Tony Alamo today, SOB!] [and non]. 15190, R. Africa, checked 24 hours after it vanished following a long period of cutting on and off twice per second --- still absent May 8 at 2117. By 2148 the WYFR carrier was on; no sign of ZYE522 meanwhile (typo in WRTH 2011 as ZYE622) (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. ?? 7205, Voice of the Broad Masses ??, Asmara ??, 2011/05/06 fri 1740-1802, Tigre ?? with Arabic-type song and other Arabic-type music. Time pips at 1800 but couldn't make out the ID. Fair at first, poor by 1750, virtually unreadable by 1800. Jo'burg sunset 1535 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. 15360, V. of Asena, Apr 29 *1700-1710, 25332, Tigrigna, 1700 sign on with opening announce, Talk. 15360, V. of Asena, May 02 *1700-1710 35333, Tigrigna, 1700 sign on with opening music, ID, Opening announce, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 6 via DXLD) Via Samara, RUSSIA, M/W/F, not in HFCC! (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 5950, Voice of Tigray Revolution, *0257-0320, May 8, sign on with IS. Vernacular talk at 0300. Haunting local music at 0303. Poor. Mixing with Okeechobee, Florida (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 6110, R. Fana, Addis Ababa, 0310 5/9 nice booming signal on clear frequency with what others have been called "Horn of Africa pop music". (This type of music, often schmaltzy love pop, mainly with organ, horns and heavy bass, is eerily similar to the nightclub music played in cabarets in SE Asia; heard a lot of this stuff in the 1980s. 0316 OM announcements in language, presumed Amharic, and then the instrumentals continued. Pleasant listening and armchair level -- good enough to set as background music while working on other stuff in the office! (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD- 545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I would not describe `HOA` music that way (gh, DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. 13830, V. of Oromo Liberation via Germany May 01 *1700-1701, 25432, Oromo, 1700 sign on with opening music, ID, Opening announce, Jamming from 17:01'40" (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 6 via DXLD) ** FINLAND. For the first time in the history of Scandinavian Weekend R is about to broadcast Midsummer Radio two-day long. Broadcasts starts on Fri Jun 24, Midsummer's Day and continues until the end of the next day, Jun 25. Coming community midsummer news and how people spend midsummer, reports, events and more entertaining Finnish music (from http://www.swradio.net/index2.htm via DSWCI DX Window May 4 via DXLD) It is impossible by our current calendar for Midsummer`s Day to occur as late as June 24, i.e. the Solstice, which on US calendars is June 21, 2011. If it`s very late in the day, it could only be the next UT day in Europe. Apparently SWR (or all of Finland?) have decreed that it should be on the following weekend, June 24 being Friday. `Midsummer` is also a misnomer, as it is only the very first day of summer; mid- in the sense of the shortest night of the year (gh, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Re 11-18: POR FAVOR ALGUIEN RESPONDA !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Hace 3 días escucho entre las 1600 y las 1633 UT un servicio en portugués de Radio Francia Internacional, en los 17605 kHz. Ahora el departamento en portugués de RFI dice que no tienen emisión en ondas cortas. ¿Alguien sabe algo? (Ernesto Paulero, Argentina, 1613 UT May 4, condiglist yg via DXLD) Más que curioso lo que decís Ernesto. En el Listado actualizado del EiBi que acabo de bajar aparecen estas opciones en la QRG mencionada. 17605 1600-1700 F Radio France Int. E EAf 17605 1600-1700 F Radio France Int. E CAf Es cierto. RFI no transmite en PP en onda corta desde hace años pero qué es entonces lo que estás escuchando? (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, ibid.) Desde el departamento en portugués de Radio Francia dicen que no tienen emisión pero yo la descubrí hace tres días que emite de 16 a 1633 UT. Hoy grabé la identificación; te la mando (Ernesto Paulero, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, ibid.) La identificación es clarísima y es evidente que se trata de una transmisión para Africa. A priori sería un nuevo servicio de RFI, es decir, portugués para el continente africano. Che, no sería el primer caso de una emisora internacional en la que desconocen la existencia de algún servicio en otro idioma. Sorprendente (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, ibid.) Esto de la onda corta internacional ya parece una irracionalidad por el lado que se lo mire. Se eliminan sistemáticamente servicios de idiomas que son tradicionales y - hasta yo diría - con una audiencia más o menos estable y, a la vez, aparecen emisiones como la que descubrió Ernesto ¡Media hora en portugués por RFI seguramente para África! Un idioma diezmando desde hace décadas por una emisora que casi no existe!!! (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, ibid.) Podemos regresar al asunto??? Como le dije a Ernesto cuando me pidió en directo con la grabación: ``Ernesto, Yes, that is certainly RFI and they give time as 1615 TMG. This hour 1600-1700 on 17605 was supposed to be in English, but they dropped all English broadcasts except 0400-0800. There was a Portuguese at 17-18 on 17600. Do you still hear that? Maybe they moved it to 16 on 17605. RFI website is not kept up to date.`` También es erróneo decir que RFI no cuenta con portugués desde hace años -- sólo consulte el WRTH 2011 página 405, con portugués para Africa en temporada B-10, 17 a 18 entonces en 12015, 15530, y además 06-07 en 11830 via Sudáfrica que permanece en vigor. Quien respondió desde RFI no sabe qué pasa en su emisora. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid. WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. Radio France International in the period April 21 to April 26 was heard in English between 0400 and 0800 hours under new schedule: at 0400 on 9805 and 11995, at 5 on Saturday and Sunday on 15160, at 6 hours every day on 11615 and 17800, and at 7 hours on 15615 kHz (Rumen Pankov, R. Bulgaria DX May 6 via Yimber Gaviria, DXLD) You mean the 05-06 hour is on Sat & Sun only, unlike others? [non]. 13640, May 5 at 1149 as I tune across, surprised to hear an RFI ID in Russian during music. I suppose they were just showing off, as this is fill after the Météo Marine in French, via GUIANA FRENCH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. FRENCH RADIO STATIONS FALL VICTIM TO ANGLOPHONE ARTISTS The Telegraph, By Henry Samuel, Paris, 4 May 2011 French radio stations are struggling to stem the tide of English- language pop songs on their airwaves, as stations say they can no longer fulfill quotas on French-language titles because less are being produced. . . http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/8492894/French-radio-stations-fall-victim-to-anglophone-artists.html (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GABON. Re 11-18: 9580, 0503-0530, Africa Number One, Libreville, May 4. Rather weak during a quick check at 0503, but improving nicely by 0512 with soukous music and male announcer in French between songs. I miss the strong signals from Gabon on 15475 kHz which made for wonderful listening in Seattle in the 1980s! (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9580, Africa #1; 2228-2242+, 5-May; M in French with African music (best African music on SW); IDs at 2235 & 2242. SIO=553 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Africa Numero Une [sic], 9580, Libreville, Gabon - 0500 UT on May 7, 2011. Reports of this station's demise have been somewhat exaggerated, as tonight the station signed on at the usual time (0500z) in French with news by OM & YL, plus the playing of delightful African pops. SINPO = 35333 (Bruce Jensen, CA, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. 13730, May 7 at 1211, French underneath VATICAN via CANADA until its 1215*. 1218 in clear, as DW to Africa with contact info, jingle. It`s via Sines, PORTUGAL, about which Kai Ludwig reports [see below]: 15410, May 7 at 1356 sounds like the VTC fill-music loop, but off at 1357* after unmistakable 4-note DW jingle. Scheduled as Hausa via RWANDA, so no Babcock involved; however, on 15410 from 1400 it`s DW via Woofferton in Russian, so maybe the two overlapped (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Hi Glenn, Just reading DXLD 11-18. Re my unidentified 17860, the problem was solved in the last DXLD (11-17), thank you very much. GERMANY [non]. New Frequency changes of Deutsche Welle: German to AUS/NZ 0800-0900 17860 TRM 250 kW / 120 deg, ex 15650. (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 22 April via DXLD). There! Someone does read DXLD! (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Trincomalee Ceylon site. 17860 0800-0900 55SE,59S,59NE,60 TRM 250 120, from 210411, Deu CLN DWL (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reported in the May edition of the "Journalist" magazine, as quoted in the enclosed posting: DW will close its Sines and Trincomalee transmitter sites. Radio programmes in Persian, Russian and Indonesian will be cancelled before the end of this year. It appears that the DW radio operations at Bonn will be hit particularly hard by cuts, with employees having to move to DW TV in Berlin. I will try to get a copy of this article ... -----Original Message----- Date: Thu, 05 May 2011 18:05:13 +0200 Subject: [A-DX] Deutsche Welle: Schluss in Sines & Trincomalee Moin, moin - wie die Deutsche Welle der neuesten Ausgabe des "journalist" bestätigte, werden die Relaisstationen in Portugal und Sri Lanka geschlossen. Zudem verschwinden noch in diesem Jahr die Sendungen in Farsi, Indonesisch und auch Russisch. Propagandaaufgabe einerseits erledigt, andererseits alles doch zu unübersichtlich? Im nächsten Schritt geht das Gezerre zwischen Bonn und Berlin los. Wer in Bonn arbeitet, will nicht nach Berlin umziehen. Luxusprobleme, also. 80 bis 90 Prozent der Einsparungen gingen zulasten des Standortes Bonn. Vielen Freien hat man ohnehin längst gekündigt. Mal sehen, wann da ganz die Heizfäden ausgehen. Und dann heißt es nur: Bisamberg, wir ko-mmen! Mein Vorschlag: die schon länger überflüssigen DW-Mitarbeiter können doch zur GEZ gehen. Die sucht ja noch viele, viele Leute. Angstblüte, nennt der Gärtner das. -- 73, (Nils DK8OK Schiffhauer, A-DX via Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) Hi Everyone, It looks as though the European broadcasters are dropping shortwave in droves. Good luck to 'em when satellite broadcasts are blocked in times of crisis by unfriendly governments, or the internet is cut and their web streams become unavailable, to those who need them most. 73s (David Sharp, NSW Australia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The possible closure of Sines was hinted at in a Carlos Gonçalves posting exchange with me in regard to the possible suspension of RDPi SW transmissions, but he declined to elaborate. Kind of surprised at this -- I had thought that DW would drop the leased transmitters and continue with just Sines, Trincomalee, and Kigali. Looks like it will only be Kigali and perhaps some leased facilities that survive the cuts. I had speculated a few months ago that major cuts would come at the end of 2011, as that would be five years from the start of DW's contract with VTC/Babcock, which might likely be expiring. I'm sure the broadcasters have thoroughly hashed over the drawbacks of satellite and internet distribution. But government budgets everywhere are under huge strain...and cuts have to come from "somewhere"...and sometimes SW is going to be one of those "somewheres." At least as long as Kigali is beaming to West Africa, we'll still have some good DW signals into North America. :-) (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. 11645, May 7 at 0527, at last we hear R. Filia via V. of Greece in English instead of Albanian --- but nothing to do with Greece, as it`s just a BBCWS relay, at the moment mentioning demonstrations in China, confirmed by // 7255 ASCENSION, and slightly ahead of it, programme ID as `World Today`. At 0530, 11645 cuts to announcement in Greek, and then something in French; poor with flutter, and deteriorating later in the hour. Those languages match John Babbis` new 11645 schedule for Saturdays, plus Spanish from 0545. On Sundays, 0500-0530 Albanian, 0530-0600 BBC `Satellite English`; M-F 0500-0600 all Albanian, but cuts off well before 0600 for QSY. It seems rather pointless to take the second quarter hour only of BBC`s 55-minute `W.T. Weekend`, also the programme excerpted on Sundays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Greek unions state they will hold a 24-hour general strike on Wednesday, 11 May, 2011 (John Babbis, Silver Spring, MD, USA, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More classical music fill instead of usual? (gh) FYI from Deutsche Welle http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15058930,00.html (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** GREECE. 15630, May 9 at 0543, VOG with music and Greek announcement, good signal in the nightmiddle, much better than 11645 with R. Filía service. John Babbis warns that another general strike is scheduled for May 11, so anticipate more classical music fill: ``Greek unions state they will hold a 24-hour general strike Wednesday, 11 May, 2011 --- A general strike will be held in Greece on May 11 against the government's austerity measures after a leading union joined on Tuesday a previously declared labor mobilization. The ADEDY union that represents civil servants said it was joining a strike announced Monday by GSEE, the country's main worker group that defends private sector staff. European trade unions from the ETUC will also be gathering in Athens next month for a congress on May 16-19. The general strike is the second this year held against unprecedented cuts imposed by the Socialist government in its efforts to reduce a gaping deficit and a soaring debt that nearly bankrupted the country last year.`` [source?] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ERT S.A.: THE VOICE OF GREECE A-11 SHORT WAVE TRANSMISSION SCHEDULE Effective from 27/03/11 to 30/10/11 (00:00) UT Avlis: 9420=170 kW. 7475, 11645, 15630, 15650, 17705=100 kW. UT kHz Language Days Area 0000-0250 15650 Greek daily Au,ME 0000-0450 7475 Greek daily Eu,Af,Am 0000-0450 9420 Greek daily Eu,Am 0300-0800 15630 Greek daily Eu 0500-0800 9420 Greek daily Eu 0500-0515 11645 Albanian .....s. Eu 0500-0530 11645 Albanian ......s EU 0500-0550 11645 Albanian mtwtf.. Eu 0515-0530 11645 English .....s. Eu 0530-0545 11645 French .....s. Eu 0530-0550 11645 English ......s Eu 0545-0550 11645 Spanish .....s. Eu 0600-0750 17705 Greek daily Af 0800-0830 11645 German m.wtf.. Eu 0800-0900 11645 Bengali .....s. Eu 0800-0900 11645 Greek ......s Eu 0800-1000 9420//15630 Greek m.wtfss Eu 0830-0900 11645 Russian m.wtf.. Eu 0900-1000 11645 Greek m.wtf.. Eu 0900-1000 11645 Filipino .....s. Eu 0900-1000 11645 Greek ......s Eu 1100-1200 9420 Greek m.wtfss Eu,As 1100-1200 15630 Greek m.wtfss Eu 1200-1300 9420//15630 Greek daily Eu 1300-1400 9420//15630 Greek mtwtfs. Eu 1300-1400 9420//15630 English ......s Eu [reported early start] 1400-1650 9420//15630 Greek daily Eu 1700-2250 15630 Greek daily Eu,Af,Am 1700-2400 9420 Greek daily Eu,Am 2300-2400 7475 Greek daily Eu,Af,Am 2300-2400 15650 Greek daily Au,ME (John Babbis, Silver Spring, MD, May 8 for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREENLAND. 720, KNR Simiutaq, 0026 UT 27 April, Inuit talk by man (good) Receivers: SRF-M37V, SRF-39FP, SRF-59 (Allen Willie & Dianne Froude, Bristols Hope, Newfoundland, 47:43N 53:11W http://nldxers.110mb.com IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) All MW transmitters were to be closed on 11 February 2011, but this did not actually happen. 720 has been heard after that and is now confirmed to be closing on 11 May. The others will be closed as it fits the planning of TELE Grönland and weather permitting (Stig Hartvig Nielsen via MWDX 6.4.2011) Grönland (via ARC Information Desk 2 May via Olle Alm, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) ** GUAM. 5765-USB, AFN, May 5 at 1125, sufficient signal with NPR `Morning Edition`, // KOSU 91.7 which was running some 8 seconds behind Guam due to IBOC delay. On my FRG-7, USB and LSB signals can be tuned equally well on the LSB or USB setting, but USB helps to avoid the QRM from WTWW 5755. Had not heard this one in a while in my usual post-sunrise monitoring, so glad it`s still going, but apprehensive about WTWW`s plan to use 5765 too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, May 5 at 1117, ``Goin` Home`` spiritual à la Dvorak, choral and organ, but modulation rather distorted from R. Verdad (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUIANA FRENCH. Special DRM transmissions from MSY to Florida on 11 May to 17 May: Time = 1431-1558 UT Frequency: 17875 kHz Power = 150 kW RMS Program = English Wishing you good DRM reception. 2 - Test en DRM vers l'Inde pour TDP le Jeudi 12 Mai 2011 1500-1657 TU Fréq : 15775 kHz Pui = 100 kW 73's. Jacques F6AJW (Jacques GRUSON-DANIEL via drmna list via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15770-15775-15780, DRM noise May 11 at 1232, bothering WYFR AM Spanish on 15770. Nothing at all in latest HFCC on 15775, but Jacques Gruson, F6AJW publicized a DRM test to India from Montsinéry, in the drmna list via Alokesh Gupta, for 12 May only at 1500-1657, 100 kW. I can only assume that like so much DRM operation, this is same, ad-hoc, outside the publicized schedule. Not very strong here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. 7125, Radio Conakry, 2240-2304*, May 9, vernacular talk over lite instrumental music. Some Afro-pop music and local tribal music. Abrupt sign off. Irregular. Not heard very much lately. Fair to good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. Re 11-18: Here's some clarification regarding Voice of Guyana schedule and frequency usage, ascertained by monitoring their webstreams at http://ncnguyana.com Voice of Guyana observed at 0800 UT 11 May switching from overnight BBCWS relay to their own programming, announcing 24 hours operation on 560, 3290 kHz, 102.5 MHz, and from Linden on 700 kHz and 106.5 MHz. Radio Roraima stream was off this day, but it was observed on 4 May, announcing only 100.1 MHz, no mediumwave. Incidentally, other NCN service Hot FM was noted on 11 May switching from VoA Music Mix overnight relay to own programming at 1005 UT. Current examples of VoG and Radio Roraima frequency announcements are available on Interval Signals Online at http://intervalsignals.net (Dave Kernick, May 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII [and non]. HAWAII RADIO HERITAGE - HAWAII CALLS Here's a link to one of the programs: http://www.angelfire.com/ky2/cumberlandgapbc/491229HawaiiCalls.mp3 (Walt Salmaniw, IRCA via DXLD) ** HAWAII [and non]. 15000, May 7 at 1247:45, quite good signal from WWVH ID and no trace at all of WWV following it; 1248 NIST Survey announcement which the two have stuck in at many different once-open minutes each hour; this version ends with ``aloha``. 1248 on to Pacific weather. Could also hear different pips on the lo side, no doubt 8 kW RWM Moscow-Taldom from 14996 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Dear Glenn, How are you? I’m just back from Sri Lanka (was there April 24-May 1). Did some listening over there, though not too much. Some more interesting observations for your attention below. India, 60 mb. All India Radio (regional stations) noted on these frequencies during the local evening (afternoon in UT) – English news in parallel, followed by regional programming (received in Anuradhapura and Trincomalee): [English news at 1430 and 1530 UT; which are you referring to? gh] 4760, SINPO 32433 4775, SINPO 45434, 34433 4800, SINPO 43433, 44544 4810, SINPO 45434 4880, SINPO 45434, 35433 4895, SINPO 23422 // 5040 4905, SINPO 32432, under Tibet in English 4910, SINPO 24423 4920, SINPO 55555 4930, SINPO 24322 4940, SINPO 34333 4950, SINPO 23422 4965, SINPO 32432, 24422 4970, SINPO 35534 5010, SINPO 44434 5040, // 4895 And on mediumwave: 1206, SINPO 44444. // 1566 1215 1251 1377, SINPO 23433 1467, SINPO 35423 1539, SINPO 24233 1566, SINPO 24423 to 33333 // 1206 1584, SINPO 25222 (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. QSL: 5010 All India R., Thiruvananthapuram. F/D "Humayun's Tomb" card in 69 days for f/up to Delhi, 250 days total. V/S illegible, Director of Spectrum Management and Synergy (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** INDIA. 9690, May 9 tune in at 1323 just in time to hear hum-only convert at 1323:37 to add music modulation, not IS; presumably the Tibetan service supposed to be only on three other frequencies. AIR better watch out: if the ChiCom hear any Tibetan on 9690 they`ll start jamming it too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15075, 0220-0236, AIR FS, Bangalore, May 4. Tabla and vocal music at tune-in; woman in unID language 0230 (listed as Kannada in Pacific Asian Log-SW). Back to Indian music at 0236. Good signal (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. PIONEERING BROADCASTERS USE MOBILE PHONES AND CREATIVE PROGRAMMING TO PUSH THE LIMITS OF INDIA'S BAN ON NEWS RADIO. Jason Overdorf May 6, 2011 06:11 India radio news mobile phone 2011 05 05 Citizen journalism training session in Chhattisgarh, central India. Shubhranshu Choudhary, formerly a producer with the BBC, led the session. He has launched a mobile phone-based news network which aims to skirt India's radio news ban. (Sakhi/GlobalPost) [caption] NEW DELHI, India — Even in Asia's supposed bastion of free speech, India, news radio is illegal. Newspapers are allowed, and so are television stations. But those media reach mainly the rich. For the bulk of India's more than 1 billion people, radio is all they have. Restricting radio, then, is a powerful way to keep information from the masses. "We call ourselves the world's biggest democracy," said Shubhranshu Choudhary, formerly a producer with the BBC. "[But the ban on news radio] tells a lot about our country. It's a democracy for the rich." Last year, Choudhary set out to change that. “[The news radio ban] tells a lot about our country. It's a democracy for the rich.” ~Shubhranshu Choudhary, founder of mobile phone-based news network based radio news network in Chhattisgarh, a remote state in the middle of India at the center of the battle against Maoist insurgents. His network, CG Net Swara (Voice of Chhattisgarh), offers audio broadcasts in the guise of "messages" to listeners who call into a central server. CG New Swara isn't a news network in the traditional sense and operates without a broadcast license, skirting India's strict laws banning conventional radio news broadcasts. Some say that in the age of the smart phones and the internet, those laws are becoming outdated. Until 2006, when the government began allowing commercial FM stations and community radio, state-owned All India Radio enjoyed a monopoly on the dial — its only [sic!] competition coming from international shortwave broadcasts from the BBC and Voice of America. Today, pioneers like Thane Richard — a 23-year-old American from Bozeman, Mont., who hopes to turn Mumbai-based Dabba Radio into India's NPR — are introducing internet radio to the market. Richard has developed a show made by residents of Dharavi, Asia's largest slum, designed to tell their stories to the rest of India. The station is working with Boston-based former NPR host Chris Lydon on an international chat show intended to be a meeting of the minds between the two democracies. Even though internet penetration remains low — according to the Internet and Mobile Association of India, internet penetration is just 24 percent in urban India, which accounts for about a quarter of the population, and fewer than 1 percent of rural Indians — Richard says that smart phones and technical solutions that can push voice messages out to simpler mobile phones are fast making a conventional broadcast license obsolete. "We don't have standard FM, but I'm not worried about that," Richard said. "Internet is growing and we're working on getting up on cell phones. So that can be overcome." Meanwhile, along with Choudhary's mobile phone-based CG Net Swara, community radio stations like Gurgaon Ki Awaaz Samudayik (Gurgaon's Community Voice) and Kumaon Vaani (Kumaon Voice) are pushing the limits on the content they're allowed to broadcast. And by harnessing the power of information to mobilize listeners these grassroots radio stations — some 111 in all, according to the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia — have already made an impact. Using call-in shows, radio plays and even folk songs to skirt the ban on outright news, local stations have exposed corrupt practices and drawn national media attention to issues that vested interests had prevented from coming to light. "The thing is that news is undefined, so the government is opposing anything in a news format, with a news reader saying this happened today or that happened today," said 29-year-old Aaditeshwar Seth, whose free, open-source Grameen Radio Internetworking System software makes it easy to get a station up and running. So far, though, no conventional community radio station has harnessed the power of citizen journalists as effectively as Choudhary's CG Net Swara, which allows users to call into the system and record or listen to voicemail "broadcasts." For the last 18 months, the network has broken numerous stories of human rights violations in India's jungle war against the Maoists, including the alleged burning of some 300 villagers' homes by the government's paramilitary forces in March. "Chhattisgarh was a complete black hole [as far as news]," said Choudhary, who started the network with aKnight International Journalism Fellowship. "Nothing came out of that place. Almost all the human rights violations of the last five years, this citizen journalism platform has played a big role in getting that out." Choudhary calls the mobile phone "the most democratic tool" for gathering and disseminating news. He aims to link tribes like the Gonds, spread across three states, to a single news portal focused on issues they define themselves. That's something he could never accomplish with a conventional community radio license — partly because a government monopoly keeps broadcasting equipment prices artificially high and partly because regulations limit the reach of community stations to a range of 15 kilometers (9 miles). But his mobile network also has limitations. It still costs users money to call in and listen to broadcasts, and even though some 70 percent of Indians now have mobile phones, many of the remote poor who are his target audience still do not. Choudhary is already plotting solutions for that problem, however. "What we are suggesting is a mixture or a linkage between internet, radio and mobile phone: a voice-based platform where news gathering happens through mobile phone," he said. "Then in the middle the internet connects one to many on the phone, and thirdly that population without mobile phones has to be served by a short-wave radio station, because it has to have reach." Of course, for now, despite India's cherished freedom of speech, a station like the one Choudhary describes would have to be hosted in Nepal, perhaps, or Sri Lanka. Opening it in India would make him a criminal. SOURCE: Can India rise up through radio? http://bit.ly/mxUxA3 (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** INDIA. 8879, 1545, Mumbai Air Traffic Control communication with aircraft, SINPO 45544. Forgot to note whether this was in USB or LSB (probably USB). Received in Kandy (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9526-, unusually awake early, I have a chance to check out reports from Ron Howard that VOI has replaced other languages with nothing but English: May 5 at 1055, poor signal with interview in English as usual during the 10-11 hour. 1142, still in English with speech in echoey venue about the 2011 economy, Asian Development Bank. Until this week, the 11-12 hour had been in Mandarin. At 1219 instead of Japanese, song in English with IADs; 1221, YL ID as ``Voice of Indonesia, the Sound of Dignity``. None of the usual scripted programs on definite subjects, but instead the YL DJ chats about the song she likes, ``more and more improvements to our programs``, offering to make birthday greetings; 1224 weather forecasts for cities in Indonesia, Asia, Australia, Europe, and even USA, altho it sounded like she expected the same high and low in NY and LA. 1229 another song. A cheap and easy way to fill an extra hour, à la `Live Talk` from R. Australia! 1301, English ID, program previews, 1302 news but reception has deteriorated from fair to poor. This hour seems to be like the old one with certain definite features rather than DJ chatter and music, e.g. `Today in History` at 1322, after which I gave up trying to copy anything. It appears that VOI has dispensed with its Japanese and Mandarin services, as well as some of its English staff. We wonder if other languages are also gone, such as the previously scheduled: 1600 Arabic, 1700 Spanish, 1800 German, 2000 French? Yes, Atsunori Ishida reports at http://rri.jpn.org/ that since April 28 it`s been all- English at 10-15 and 16-21, the exact times varying widely. 9526-, VOI absent May 6 at 1217, 1303 chex. 9526-, VOI back on the air May 7 at 1240 with lite music, fair signal, IADs. 1305 poor during news in English; at 1314 noise starts to override, and still atop VOI at 1343. Could be taken for jamming, but unlikely; maybe spur from some near-frequency transmitter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of Indonesia, Jakarta, 9525.960, at 1340 UT, Historic program, English spoken by women. Frequency Interference by sun activity (not always), fair reception. Perseus SDR and Super Kaz antenna (Maurits Van Driessche, Belgium, May 7, HCDX via DXLD) 9525.96, Voice of Indonesia, 1156-1216, May 8. Special coverage of the closing news conference of the ASEAN summit given by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bahasa Indonesia, with a poor translation into English; only brief portions translated; mentioned a Memorandum of Understanding with Thailand regarding border dispute with Cambodia; 1218 back to their music show in English; all the music with severe audio hiccups (Glenn’s IADs). 9680, RRI Jakarta, 1156-1220, May 8. The normal 1200 Jakarta news was delayed due to special coverage of the closing news conference of the ASEAN summit given by Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono in Bahasa Indonesia, but without the VOI translation into English; // 3344.97 (RRI Ternate) and 4749.95 (RRI Makassar); followed by several minutes of commentary about the news conference; started the usual Jakarta news relay at 1220 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9526-, VOI, fair May 8 at 1316 in English about tourism in 2011y, something about Garuda from June 1 to Singapore; long IAD in usual under-modulation, but at least it`s on the air today. RRI 9680 much louder. 9526-, May 9 at 1323, VOI is very poor but seems English, as well as a check before 1300. Atsunori Ishida confirms that this frequency continues to be only in English. I check the main website, http://www.voi.co.id and it forwards to http://en.voi.co.id titled ``VOI Indonesia Latest Radio News, Broadcast International in English Language`` with auto greeting whether you want to hear it or not. Dropdown at upper right still linx to other languages, but when I tried Spanish, it wanted to install a CAB! Deutsch did go to a German page. Both English and German include dire warnings like this: Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'Asia/Jakarta' for 'WIT/7.0/no DST' instead in /home/ambiucom/public_html/voi.co.id/german/libraries/joomla/utilities /date.php on line 198 and an identical one for line 56. I did not do any spelling of a timezone identifier! Not there on the French page. Second try on Spanish got to proper page, also without timezone warning. Each includes ``AV on demand``, linking to nothing. SNAFU. [will they keep new news in other languages as web-only services?] 9526-, May 10 at 1310, VOI, very poor signal and seems barely modulated too, so no way to tell if they are doing an `Exotic Indonesia` excursion to Banjarmasin or Bali this Tuesday (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. SOAP OPERAS AND DEVELOPMENT === GOOD TRASH How television and radio shows can improve behaviour May 5th 2011 | from the print edition http://www.economist.com/node/18648847?story_id=18648847 In the radio drama “Nau em Taim” (“Now is the time” in Pidgin) aired in Papua New Guinea, a widowed father takes up dynamite fishing— profitable but disastrous for the reef. Then he meets a dashing marine scientist who warns him off. The idea is that by the end of the drama, which debuted in February, both he—and the listeners—will renounce dynamite for sustainable fishing. The show’s producer, the Population Media Center (PMC) in Vermont, has been a pioneer of programmes with the goal of fostering development. But other groups have increasingly followed suit. In Vietnam Khat Vong Song uses radio drama to teach its listeners about domestic violence. In Kenya Mediae promotes civil rights with a television soap called “Makutano Junction”. Evidence that radio and television soaps can change behaviour was first spotted in the 1970s. But solid academic research was lacking until a few years ago. In 2008 economists at the Inter-American Development Bank, for instance, found that Brazilians receiving Globo, a television network, had fewer children and got divorced more often. Another study discovered that, as cable television spread, the fertility rate in rural India dropped by as much as if women had received five additional years of education. Some thought that this was because couch potatoes were less likely to make babies. But research in Ethiopia showed that dramas can have a direct effect. Demand for contraceptives rose by 157% among married women who listened to the soap operas “Yeken Kignet” and “Dhimbibba”. Male listeners sought tests for HIV/AIDS four times as much as male non-listeners. “The best results are when people identify with characters,” says Betty Oala of the PMC. This is why the organisation does extensive research, takes on local writers and uses native languages. Not only are soaps effective, but they are also cheap. Radio programmes can cost as little as three cents to reach a listener in Africa. Yet trying to influence the poor can be controversial. Although producers do not hide their agendas, Charles Kenny, an economist, thinks that there could be a “quagmire of a debate over morals and a tangle of regulation”. An increase in divorces, say, may seem like good news to a woman activist, but bad to a Catholic priest. from the print edition | International (via Gerald T Pollard, DXLD) ** IRAN. 6215, Voice of the Islamic Republic. Marulas. 2011/05/06 fri 1735-1739 Arabic. OM's talking. Poor. Jo'burg sunset 1535 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not in HFCC, but Aoki shows: 6215 1630-0527 IRN VO ISLAMIC REP.IRAN Ara Marulas 1-7 Marulas? Where`s that? WRTH 2011 does not mention any such site under IRAN. Sounds familiar, but where? I check nine atlases at hand, and not indexed in any of them! Then search DXLD archive and quickly find that Marulas is or was transmitter site for low-power Philippine stations several years ago on 6170v, 9620v, near Quezon City or Valenzuela, certainly nothing to do with Iran! The only B-10 SW frequency for that lengthy Arabic broadcast was 6065 via Sirjan, but in A-11 it has been on 9420 colliding with Greece et al. So is 6215 ex-9420 or in addition? Latest IRB schedule at HFCC still has 1630-0530 on 9420 AND 9460 Zahedan, which was really replaced by 9420, but no 6215. This was already discussed in DXLD 11-12 after Bill first heard it (gh, DXLD) Hi Glenn, Sorry about the Marulas mistake; I couldn't find it in my atlas either, but I assumed it was a small place, probably just a transmitter site, and that Aoki was correct. I notice that Aoki does not agree with the updated Iran schedule in DXLD 11-15: Arabic 1730-2027 on 6215 9420 2030-0227 on 9420 According to the Iran update, 6215 is only in use 1730 to 2027, not 1630 to 0527 as per Aoki (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15530, May 10 at 0535-0538 in Spanish with lengthy transmission schedule, poor signal, website; 0538 on to other talk by YL. It`s Voz de la República Islámica de Irán, and I must have just missed the opening Corán, shux. Too poor to copy details, but the revised sked from DX Mix News in DXLD 11-15 shows: 0030-0227 on 9905 11760 0230-0327 on 9905 0530-0627 on 15530 17530 2030-2127 on 6055 7300 9780 Somehow they managed to stretch that to fill three minutes. 15530 is 500 kW, 289 degrees from Kamalabad (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 17755, fair May 10 at 1325 mentions R. Farda, sounders, more in Persian. HFCC shows 100 kW, 85 degrees from Biblis, GERMANY at 12-14 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. 5810, R. Rahoya Iran, Apr 25 *1601-1611, 35333, Farsi, 1601 sign on with opening music, ID, Talk (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 6 via DXLD) via PRIDNESTROVYE per HFCC (gh) ** ISRAEL. Después de varios años de escribirles, por fin confirmaron: Radio Galei-Zahal Of Israel Defence force confirman con tarjeta QSL debidamente confirmada sin sobre, con todos los datos de la escucha en 15850 KHz y avisan que trate en 6973 KHz (Ernesto Paulero, Argentina, May 5, condiglist yg via DXLD) 6977.0, Galei Zahal, 2330-2350, May 7, oldies US pop standards. Several Louis Armstrong tunes. Hebrew announcements. Weak but readable. Stronger on // 15850 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** JAPAN. JJY 40 KHZ REACTIVATED AGAIN BUT STOPPED IMMEDIATELY National Institute of Information and Communications Technology (NICT) sent "a suicide corps", wearing nuclear protective suits, on May 9 to recover the Mt. Ootakadoya JJY transmitting site (located 17 km from dangerous Fukushima No.1 nuclear power station), which was destructed by lightning on April 25. After the recovering works 40 kHz time signal was temporally reactivated at 0408 UT on the day. But at 0340 UT on May 10 the signal was stopped again due to the bad weather. The transmission seems to be remotely stopped, but manual recovery at the site is needed again to reactivate. According to NICT, they will send another "corps" to this nuclear dangerous site to recover in the future. The date of the next recovery is not fixed (Takahito Akabayashi, Japan, 0009 UT May 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. 3925, 1108-1110, R. Nikkei May 2 Powerhouse signal of marimba music, followed by female announcers in Japanese; string of short advertisements (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. 17690, good May 6 at 1231, R. Japon opening in French, whence? It`s 250 kW, 305 degrees USward from MADAGASCAR, where else? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KALININGRAD. Our RTRN's Kaliningrad branch has its own QSL card. Their postal address: Kaliningrad Regional Centre (RTRS), 184, Sovetsky pr[ospekt?]., Kaliningrad, 236023, Russia. Unfortunately, it seems only DRM on SW at the beginning of A11. But on 1215 MW (1200 kW), German is broadcast at 1600-1900 and English at 1900-2100 (Mikhail Timofeyev, St Petersburg in Dxplorer via DSWCI DX Window May 4 via DXLD) ** KASHMIR [non]. 4870, V. of Kashmir, May 01 1443-1531*, 45443-45433- 45432, Kashmiri, India music and talk, ID at 1526, Closing music at 1530, 1531 sign off (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 6 via DXLD) From Delhi-Khampur site per Aoki (gh) ** KAZAKHSTAN. 7539.912, Seldom odd frequency, one of the Almaty transmitters is always odd by approx. 100 Hertz. Noted on YFR service in English at 2015 UT May 1. And 9364.897 kHz when YFR English at 14-15 UT via Almaty transmitter on May 8 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 11710 and 11735, we are doubly blessed with two different streams of triumphal music from VOK, on the English and Chinese services respectively, May 7 at 1348; at 1351 also on 13760 // 11710. At 1354 they go into their respective language announcements. Until then one might have thought them parallel, without comparison (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH & SOUTH. 4450, May 5 at 1120, Korean talk with a SAH, but I have no idea which is on top, V. of the People from S to N, or KNDF blocking it from N to S (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. 6518, May 6 at 1208, surprised to hear music in the clear and no jamming! V. of the People, from South to North, 1212 YL Korean talk, poor signal. Meanwhile the // 6600 seems even more heavily jammed than usual, sounds rather like a video carrier buzzing. 6348 Echo of Hope also has heavy jamming but not the video sound (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. KOREA D.P.R., 3219.878, KCBS Pyonyang, Hamnung, Korean night program. S=8. 1610 UT May 9. \\ 3250.037, 3320.008, and 3959.016 kHz at same time, both S=9+10 dB in Japan. Same program totally distorted like an FM signal on 3347-3353 kHz. 9665.338, KCBS Pyonyang, Kanggye, female singer in Korean language, S=6-7 on remote receiver in CA. On May 5th at 1600 UT on 9665.407 kHz, noted on remote receiver in Iceland. On May 7th at 0915 UT odd 9665.412 kHz, on 9665.378 kHz at 2250 UT May 9, noted on receiver in Japan. 9989.976, V of Korea, Pyongyang, Kujang in English section at 1630 UT May 5, shrill lady singer. S=4-5 only, meant for the Arabic world much further southwards. 9974.973, V of Korea in Chinese to southern Asia at 2245 UT May 7. Weak signal S=5 only. 9974.976 at 2254 UT May 8. 9974.970, R Pyongyang in Korean, men`s like army chorus, at 0920 UT May 7, S=9+5dB signal in Japan. At 2210 UT May 9, on 6250.424 kHz and disturbed by ute like jamming by S Korea? At 2215 UT May 9 on 6398.722 kHz weak on S=3-4 level in Tokyo. 11679.720, KCBS Pyongyang, Kanggye in Korean, bitter-sweet lady singer performance. S=7-8 in CA. \\ 9665.338 kHz. 11679.800 at 0115 UT May 7. 11679.762 at 1245 UT May 8. 11679.802 at 2243 UT May 8. 11679.974, KCBS Pyonyang, Kanggye in Korean, endless sermon, 2255 UT May 7, S=6-7. 11865.031, V of Korea, Kujang, in Japanese at 2245 May 8. 13649.953, KCBS Pyongyang in Korean at 1228 UT May 8, noted in Vancouver. 13760.024, Voz de Corea, in Spanish to Latin America via Pacific, at 0048 UT May 7. S=9+10dB. 6250.363... .400 wandering, Pyongyang BS with shrill chorus at 2105 UT May 7, S=9+20dB. \\ 6398.762 Pyongyang BS Kanggye in Korean, S=9+5dB in Japan. 6398.730, Pyongyang BS Kanggye in Korean, at 2338 UT May 8 S=8 in Japan. 7454.890, 24 hours? bubble engine jammer from N Korea at 2200 UT, but - I guess meant - against RFA Korean scheduled earlier at 15-17 UT transmission (Wolfgang Büschel, May 4/5/7/8/9, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) Geez, can`t they put any of their transmitters right on frequency to .00 if not .000?? Even by pure chance? Or do you only report the ones that are off? (gh, DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. CLANDESTINE - 9780, Furusato no Kaze via Taiwan, *1600-1630* Apr 29. Opening announcement, then vocal music to 1610; talks in Japanese followed to 1621, then a final musical number and closing announcement, including e-mail and/or website (did not copy); off at 1630*. Fair today (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** KUWAIT [and non]. 15540, R. Kuwait, May 6 at 2055 after news headlines in English, reading a proclamation, article by article, about amnesty for illegal immigrants. NA at 2059 and off immediately at 2100* unlike other occasions, switching to Arabic feed // 17550 and staying on as much as 20 minutes past. 21540, May 7 at 1304, Arabic music and talk, over SAH from Spain collision, the SSOB but not saying much, as still poor and nothing else but Spain itself audible on 21610. Seems like the spring peak of 13m reception is over; we can only hope that rising SSNs will compensate to some extent over the summer. 17550, May 7 at 2011, R. Kuwait in Arabic mixed with music, at first seemed CCI, but apparently transmitted that way; strong but fluttery, and with QRM from CUBA 17560 especially during `news` sounders with audio approaching 10 kHz. 17550, R. Kuwait, Arabic to C&W NAm, signal is improving with latening spring sunsets; May 9 at 2030 good signal even rivalling RHC 17560, nice ME music but interrupted too frequently for talk. Much of the time there is too much talk for my taste. Meanwhile, the English frequency 15540 rarely plays any music but Western pop, yecch. May 9 at 2050 news headlines about Libya, Egypt, Pakistan; 2053 music; 2055 again reading the residency and immigration law, as the MOI must mandate it to do (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. USA (non), Summer A-11 for IBB via KWT 250 kW: 1730-2130 5830 / 046 deg WeAs FAR Farsi 0200-0530 5860 / 046 deg WeAs FAR Farsi 2300-2400 5860 / 078 deg CeAs RFA Tibetan 2200-2300 5865 / 078 deg CeAs RFA Tibetan 0300-1200 5885 / 046 deg WeAs FAR Farsi 0530-0930 7220 / 046 deg WeAs FAR Farsi 0000-0100 7250 / 078 deg CeAs VOA Tibetan 0400-0500 7280 / 080 deg WeAs FAR Farsi 0030-0100 7430 / 080 deg SEAs VOA English 0100-0200 7430 / 070 deg SoAs VOA English 1000-1400 7435 / 046 deg WeAs FAR Farsi 1900-2100 7475 / 350 deg EaEu RFE Belorussian 2200-2300 7480 / 058 deg SoAs VOA English 2300-2400 7505 / 070 deg CeAs RFA Tibetan 0030-0100 7555 / 070 deg WeAs ASH Pashto 1600-1700 7555 / 054 deg CeAs RFE Uzbek 1830-2030 7555 / 070 deg WeAs ASH Pashto/Dari 2030-0030 7555 / 070 deg WeAs VOA English 1430-1830 9335 / 070 deg WeAs ASH Pashto/Dari/Pashto/Dari 0100-0300 9365 / 070 deg CeAs RFA Tibetan 0100-0400 9390 / 080 deg WeAs DEE Pashto 1230-1330 11550 / 070 deg WeAs AFG Dari 1330-1430 11550 / 070 deg WeAs AFG Pashto/Dari 0130-0230 11565 / 070 deg WeAs ASH Dari 1630-1730 11565 / 070 deg WeAs ASH Pashto 1630-1830 11580 / 070 deg WeAs ASH Pashto/Dari 1200-1400 11590 / 070 deg CeAs RFA Tibetan 1400-1500 11595 / 078 deg CeAs VOA Tibetan 1500-1600 11590 / 070 deg CeAs RFA Tibetan 1700-1800 11665 / 185 deg EaAf VOA Somali 0100-0400 12015 / 078 deg WeAs DEE Pashto 0400-0900 12130 / 078 deg WeAs MAS Pashto 1500-1530 13755 / 046 deg CeAs VOA Uzbek 0830-1330 15090 / 070 deg WeAs AFG Dari/Pashto/Dari/Pashto/Dari 1330-1430 15090 / 070 deg WeAs AFG Pashto/Dari 1430-1630 15090 / 070 deg WeAs ASH Pashto/Dari 1100-1300 15320 / 080 deg WeAs MAS Pashto 0230-0330 15680 / 070 deg WeAs AFG Pashto/Dari 0330-0530 15680 / 070 deg WeAs AFG Pashto/Dari 0730-0830 15680 / 070 deg WeAs AFG Pashto 1400-1500 15725 / 078 deg SoAs AAP Urdu 1630-1700 15730 / 185 deg EaAf VOA Somali 0900-1000 15740 / 070 deg WeAs MAS Pashto 1300-1500 17530 / 285 deg NEAf SAW Arabic 1500-1600 17540 / 285 deg NEAf SAW Arabic 0600-0700 17560 / 035 deg CeAs RFE Russian 1000-1200 17750 / 078 deg CeAs RFA Tibetan 0600-0700 17765 / 070 deg CeAs RFA Tibetan 0800-1100 17880 / 285 deg NEAf SAW Arabic 1100-1300 17840 / 285 deg NEAf SAW Arabic AAP=Aap Ki Dunyaa AFG=Radio Free Afghanistan ASH=Radio Ashna DEE=Deewa Radio FAR=Radio Farda MAS=Radio Mashaal RFA=Radio Free Asia RFE=Radio Liberty SAW=Radio Sawa VOA=Voice of America (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 9 May via DXLD) ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4050.075, R Rossii, Bishkek in Russian noted at 2345 UT May 6, signal strength S=9+5dB. Remote SDR receiver in CIS used. \\ very weak on 4795 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) Do you know where? CIS is a pretty big place (gh, DXLD) ** LIBYA. 17725, May 7 at 1301, Swahili fair with deep fades, snatch of Beethoven`s Ninth, as always on VOAf from the GJ; signal had been barely detectable past week. At 1440 not so good in English, but could make out ``Dear listeners ---`` and something about, guess what? The Revolution. No, not this one; that one. 17725, May 9 at 1402, no carrier detectable de VOAf from the GJ, supposed to be in English, but too soon to draw any conclusions (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The al Jazeera English news at 0500 on 5/10 said that a NATO strike in Tripoli had hit, among other places, the state television agency. Footage on their Arabic feed showed some damage to a building at the base of a rather tall transmission tower (Chuck Albertson, Seattle, Wash., DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reports of strikes on Tripoli broadcast installations keep on coming, but Voice of Africa from the Great Jamahiriya survives so far: 17725 inaudible yesterday, but May 10 at 1251 poor carrier in presumed Kiswahili; 1344 better with hilife music during presumed English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17725, Voice of Africa, 1406-1428, May 10, Afro-pop music. English talk at 1410 about “The Revolution” and political stability in the African continent. ID. Program about local geography. Announced frequencies as 21695 and 17850. Fair to good (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. El gobierno de Estados Unidos bloqueó este jueves los activos de la emisora estatal libia Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation, agregándola a la lista de sanciones por parte del Departamento del Tesoro, lo cual podría aumentar considerablemente las presiones sobre el gobierno de Muamar Al Gaddafi. Continúe leyendo esta info en http://gruporadioescuchaargentino.wordpress.com/ (Arnaldo Slaen, condiglist yg via DXLD) Viz.: http://gruporadioescuchaargentino.wordpress.com/2011/05/06/el-gobierno-de-ee-uu-bloqueo-los-fondos-de-la-jamahiriya-broadcasting-corporation/ El gobierno de Estados Unidos bloqueó este jueves los activos de la emisora estatal libia Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation, agregándola a la lista de sanciones por parte del Departamento del Tesoro, lo cual podría aumentar considerablemente las presiones sobre el gobierno de Muamar Al Gaddafi. El Departamento del Tesoro de Estados Unidos procedió al bloqueo de sus propiedades y activos en el país, prohibiendo a los estadounidenses negociar con ellos. Dentro de esta situación, también fueron sancionadas dos firmas de inversiones que eran controladas por el gobierno libio, encontrándose una en Londres y la otra en Argelia. “Las Naciones Unidas y países alrededor del mundo están bloqueando los activos del gobierno de Libia para evitar que el régimen de (Muammar) Al Gaddafi financie más derramamientos de sangre”, así lo expresó en un comunicado Adam Szubin, funcionario del Tesoro. La emisora libia , Jamahiriya Broadcasting Corporation realiza la transmisión de noticias por medio de distintos canales libios, así como también transmite por medio de la web, noticias en árabe, ingles y francés y a todo el Medio Oriente por vía satélite. A comienzos de la revuelta popular contra el gobierno libio, la familia Gadafi, altos miembros del ejército y altos funcionarios del gobierno, han sido sancionados por Washington y su vez le han sido supuestamente bloqueados más de 34 mil millones de dólares en activos. Anexado a esto, las empresas del gobierno libio, fueron incluidas en la Orden Ejecutiva 13.566 del gobierno estadounidense, la cual establece sanciones contra todos los bienes e intereses del gobierno libio y organismo dependientes. Estados Unidos y sus aliados mantiene una intervención militar que ha dejado decenas de muertos en Libia. Hace 15 días fueron asesinados un hijo y tres nietos de Al Gaddafi. La OTAN niega su responsabilidad pero apoya la actividad rebelde que busca terminar con el Gobierno. (Telesur)(via DXLD) Note source, so has anti-American agenda (gh) ** LIBYA FREE [and non]. LIBYA REBELS TAKE LEGAL ACTION TO SILENCE STATE TV While Libyan rebels struggle to push the front line west, lawyers in the east are attacking satellite networks that air Muammar Gaddafi’s TV channels because they incite “hate and violence.” “Gaddafi exploited the channels to transmit military codes,” said lawyer Issam al-Mawy, adding that when the Libyan strongman mentioned a city in one of his speeches, it was attacked shortly after by loyalist troops. “We have tons of footage and evidence,” he said. A Libyan firm of six lawyers accuses regime broadcasters – including Al-Jamahiriya and Al-Jamahiriya 2 – of inciting hate and violence by painting rebels as terrorists seeking to split the country in two. In the first speech by the Libyan strongman after demonstrations erupted against him mid-February, Gaddafi struck a strident tone, telling supporters to “go out and capture the rats.” If nothing else, Gaddafi is guilty of “defamation and libel,” lawyer Mawy said, because he had tarnished the reputation of rebels by saying they were in cahoots with Al Qaeda and slandered individual members of the opposition. Although Gaddafi has only made a handful of rabble-rousing speeches since protests escalated into a violent conflict that has claimed hundreds of lives, Libyan [state] broadcasters are widely viewed as an extension of the regime. Abdel Hafiz Ghoga, vice-chairman of the Benghazi-based National Transitional Council (NTC), said Gaddafi’s regime had “without a doubt used media as a weapon, as a bullet” to spread propaganda. The United States would appear to share that view. On Thursday it put Libyan Jamahiriya Broadcasting, which transmits news on several channels inside Libya and via satellite across the Middle East, under sanctions. Lawyer Mawy said regime channels had aired footage showing the corpses of rebel fighters to support claims that NATO’s airstrikes had caused civilian casualties instead of hitting military targets. “He is using the corpses of rebels he killed to say they are casualties of NATO,” Mawy said. A Libyan diplomat and writer said the main reason people rush towards camera crews in Tripoli shouting support for Gaddafi is to “show their faces” and “reassure friends and family” in the rebel east that they are fine. “Some of the people at Bab al-Aziziyah are war prisoners,” said Idris Tayeb Lamin, in reference to the complex that houses military barracks and Gaddafi’s residence. “They rush to the cameras because they want to show their families here they are alive,” said Lamin, who served 10 years of a life-sentence before being pardoned. Mawy said his top priority is to force Egyptian satellite network Nilesat to remove the regime’s channels, which he says broadcasts programmes showing “armed presenters directly threatening Libyans.” A judge in the eastern city of Al-Bayda ruled in favour of the lawyers in late March, but for the order to carry any weight in Egypt, it must be signed by Cairo’s envoy to Libya. The obstacle? Libya’s neighbour to the east does not recognize the NTC, which has set up its headquarters in the coastal city of Benghazi and claims to be the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. Only France, Italy, Qatar and Gambia have recognised the interim body. “We are hoping for a diplomatic solution,” sald Mawi. Should this avenue remain blocked, he said the lawyers were prepared to partner with Egyptian counterparts to raise a claim against Nilesat directly from Egypt. “Nilesat has to take responsibility morally and legally,” said Mawy. The NTC’s media representative said the interim body had made a direct request to Nilesat to take the channels down but that this bid was unsuccessful as Gaddafi simply “paid double” to keep them. Nilesat chief engineer Salah Hamza has said the network’s “code of conduct is to respect the contract,” but he refused to answer questions on the controversy by phone and did not reply to questions repeatedly sent by email. Missing from the picture, said Mohammed Abdel Dayem, programme coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa at the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, is a “thorough and transparent content analysis” of the channels. If the broadcasters’ acts met the legal definition of “incitement to violence” as set by the Geneva Convention, he said, they would be candidates for jamming, blocking or removal from the air by technical means. “While Libyan state broadcasts have certainly been engaged in propaganda and at times provocative and instigatory acts, they do not currently constitute legitimate targets for disruption,” he said. Media outfits could also be considered targets under the Geneva Convention if they make an effective contribution to “military action,” Dayem said. But NATO, which is currently bombing Gaddafi’s military installations, communication centres and troops as part of a UN-mandated air campaign to protect civilians, says it has not struck broadcasting facilities. (Source: AFP) (May 7th, 2011 - 10:34 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 1 Comment on “Libya rebels take legal action to silence state TV” 1. #1 Mervyn Hagger on May 9th, 2011 at 06:56 The USA has already determined that Libya is governed by a rogue regime that is killing its own people, and it has also already sanctioned the State broadcaster (’US sanctions Libya state broadcaster’); but the world community shuffles its feet on this one. The reason is that US foreign policy is based upon advancing the first three of the four freedoms, with the fourth (world disarmament) being found unworkable in the world as it presently exists. Therefore the US goes it alone and works where it can with other nations that sign on. The US has no religiously motivated plans for colonization, and therefore its foreign policy is geared to stopping other nations from harming the USA. Sometimes like 9/11 this does not work, but as bin Laden found out, the USA will take unilateral action where necessary to avenge those that harm the USA. The USA cannot be (for financial reasons) the world policeman and so it is limited in what it can do. Because of Lockerbie the UK has a strong interest in bringing an end to the current Libyian regime, but as the antics of Prince Andrew and Tony Blair revealed, until very, very recently the UK was saying one thing and doing something else. The answer is for the UK to send in its own special forces and remove the governing structure in the same way the bin Laden was removed. The United Nations can tut-tut all the way to the grave, because in the main it represents a lot of nations with less than ideal qualifications in the advancement and preservation of individual freeborn rights. It was Winston Churchill by the way who wanted to just shoot the Nazi leadership, because the evidence of its mayhem had been not just seen but experienced by millions of people. In the end a trial was held, but legally, that trial was riddled with problems that no one wanted to discuss. Sometimes the only thing to do is follow Churchill’s (and now Obama’s) policy and take out the leadership. This is in contrast to the nutty suicide bombers who randomly kill any and everything in their path upon instructions from idiots such as bid Laden. Sometimes the obvious answer is the correct answer and the shorter road to peace: you take out the ‘bad guys’ first (if you can.) (MN blog comment via DXLD) ** LIBYA FREE. MISRATAH RADIO "BASTION OF REBELLION" AGAINST LIBYA REGIME - AL-JAZEERA | Text of report in English by Qatari government- funded aljazeera.net website on 5 May; subheadings as published For residents of besieged Misratah, all it takes is a flick of the dial to tune into freedom. Broadcasting revolutionary songs, news, and debate, Radio Free Libya Misratah [aka Voice of Free Libya from Misratah] is a bastion of the rebellion against Mu'ammar al-Qadhafi's regime. The rebel broadcasts act as a unifying force for the war-torn city. As residents drive through the sandbag checkpoints, past bullet- riddled homes and devastated buildings, the programmes remind them of their cause: forcing al-Qadhafi from power. Radio Misratah, as it used to be called, had been an ordinary local station, enslaved to the whims of al-Qadhafi's rules of broadcast. Dissenting voices were banned from the airwaves, and the content was strictly controlled. The moment the rebels seized the frequency on February 21, every aspect of the regime's 42 years of control was diligently erased. "Good Morning Libya" "During the al-Qadhafi period, most nationalistic songs had al- Qadhafi's name in them. We searched through dozens to play a tune that only mentions the land," says founder Ahmad Hadiyah. "Good Morning Libya" - the radio's flagship show, features news on the latest front line fighting, interviews with rebel council members, and the availability of food, water and other city logistics. Other programmes focus on keeping up morale. "The Protectors" focuses on and praises the work of volunteers around the city. The religious programmes preach the need for patience, and the rewards to come. "We started with this to raise the national feeling of the people," says Hadiyah. It is also used as a propaganda tool aimed at al-Qadhafi supporters; running calls for them to join the other side. "Who controls the media, controls the country. If the radio waves had gone silent [when al-Qadhafi was pushed out of Misratah], it would have given the impression that there was no control," explains Hadiyah. Initially the rebels had no trouble finding presenters - teachers, clerics, academics; all people with no previous radio experience committed themselves to the cause, producing a flurry of unprecedented programmes. After decades of biting their tongues, the radio was inundated with callers desperate to speak their mind. "They wanted to express how happy they were that the city had become free, and to convey how much they hate al-Qadhafi and the dictatorship," says Salim Betmal, a Leeds University-educated lecturer turned DJ. "We even had a few al-Qadhafi supporters ring in to threaten the radio and other callers," says Betmal. "We let them speak on air without censorship." However, the dissenting voices symbolized a defiance that quickly became an object of fury for Gaddafi. Al-Qadhafi's forces react Regime jets tried to bomb the station twice before the NATO no-fly zone was implemented. The building stood riddled with bullets from heavy machine gun fire, and parts of the walls crumbled from the impact of a rocket propelled grenade. Despite all this, Hadiyah remains steadfast: "This is our land, it is part of us, we have to defend it - even if we pay with our bodies." Loyalists still inside the rebel town tried to destroy the station's antenna with explosives. Worse, hit men were hired to assassinate the staff. "The checkpoint guards caught a man armed with a gun, and 3,500 Libyan dinar [almost $3,000 USD]. He later confessed that he had been sent to kill Ahmad Hadiyah," says Betmal. Some of the radio's staff cut new entrances to the building in order to evade the sniper fire trained on the door. For security reasons, they decided to relocate their offices twice to new buildings. The attacks scared many of the presenters away, but the radio's founders continued undeterred. An engineer added an AM channel alongside the FM signal so that the station can be heard, on clear days, in places as far away as Europe. Today, the radio station continues to expand. Free Libya correspondents are being dispatched on the ground to gather news from the local front lines. The fear-fuelled rumour mills produced in warfare can only be abated with boots on the ground, and the rebel news programmes say they want to be accurate. "Sometimes we choose uplifting news, but we never tell a lie. Either tell it straight, or don't tell it," says Betmal. Source: Aljazeera.net website, Doha, in English 5 May 11 (via BBCM via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) WTFK? 1449 kHz ** LIBYA FREE. INFORMATION ON MISRATA AVAILABLE ON LOCAL WEBSITE For all of those interested in up-to-date information from Misrata, you are encouraged to visit the official Misrata website: http://www.freemisurata.com Media representative for the Misrata City Council Saddoun El-Misurati announced that data is often updated within 10-12 hours and covers important topics such as frontline news, casualty rates and other key events such as demonstrations and meetings. Photos and video uploads are often provided. The website is currently only in Arabic but there are plans to provide an English version soon (Source: The Interim Transitional National Council)(May 10th, 2011 - 9:46 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) ** LIBYA FREE. NEW RADIO STATION IN ENGLISH LAUNCHES FROM BENGHAZI Tribute FM is an English Radio Station broadcasting in Benghazi om 92.4 FM and worldwide online. Its vision is to provide a whole range of social entertainment & information services. The station describes itself as “Libya’s first free, independent and urban English language radio station.” Tribute FM is run by young Libyans who decided that the once banned English language should now have a presence on the airwaves in the new Free Libya. Some members of the team spent time in London, UK where they had exposure to urban radio stations and felt that a similar thing was missing from their homeland. (Source: Tribute FM) http://tributefm.com/ (May 10th, 2011 - 9:32 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) 1 Comment on “New radio station in English launches from Benghazi” 1. #1 David Kernick on May 10th, 2011 at 17:29 Appears to be still testing: continuous pop without announcements heard so far today, and a slideshow banner states “Launching Soon” (MN blog comment via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 6100, May 5 at 1130, fair and clear reception in Malay M&W talk about Islam, not news; 1135 choral music with birdsong; 1140 segué to Qur`an. This is a new frequency from Kajang, West Malaysia, first reported by Ron Howard April 24, sometimes relaying Wai FM from Sarawak, sometimes Sarawak FM, but I heard no ID for either, nor heard any //. Aoki shows it in use 24 hours, but CRI clashes after 1200. However, there was a wavering het on 7270, no doubt caused by the off- frequency Wai FM relay really in Kuching vs China or India. That het was also audible before 1100 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA [and non]. 7270.435 / 7270.000, Mixture of RTM Wai FM from Kuching-Stapok and PBS Nei Menggu from Hohhot, China in Mongolian, at 1050 UT April 30. Noted on remote SDR in Japan. 5964.708, Tentative, RTM Kajang, big band music, modern pops, at 2050 UT May 7. Weak S=6 signal. 6049.638, Tentative RTM Kajang in BM, at 1130 UT May 8, also RTM RTM Wai FM on 6100.00 at 1140 UT, S=8 strength on remote unit at WA-USA. 7270.462, RTM Wai FM from Kuching-Stapok, at 1205 UT, and tentatively \\ 11664.887 at 1240 UT from Kajang site, both May 8. 5030.021, RTM Wai FM from Kuching-Stapok at 1245 UT May 10. Holy Qur`an prayer in progress (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 7235, RTVM (presumed), 1258-1400+ May 9. Qur`an to 1302, then a brief announcement followed by long talks in presumed Bahasa Malaysia and at least one speech before an audience; more Qur`an at 1350 continuing past ToH. Fair signal at tune-in but considerably weaker at 1400. Was // to 9835 and possibly 6100, both poor today. Not sure of transmitter site for 7235 - have not heard this frequency before (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 9 May 2011, 9835, Sarawak FM heard on 0315 informed to be up to 1400 local time. Indonesian and Malaysian songs, interview with one of "Teladan Jaya" award. News scheduled at 0400 UT (Tony Ashar, West Java, Indonesia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. 5995, R. Mali, Kati, 2207-2223, 06 May, French, Kor`anic propaganda program; 55333, weak modulation, but better than lately. I found 9635 as their only daytime frequency, no activity on 7285, whereas 5995 remains the evening outlet (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Sporadic E season is getting a good start with another TV DX opening appropriately from here on Cinco de Mayo: I was hoping for it, since Es was affecting HF as early as 1107 from WWCR 15825. When I turned on the analog TV at 1419 UT, channel 2 with at least two stations 10 kHz apart, one with a variety show involving models. By 1434 the MUF was up to ch 4 video. At 1441, 2 was giving a national weather summary with highs in various cities, including 40 degrees in Hermosillo, whew! At 1444, ch 4 has net-5 cartoons (dibujos). I turn off the computer too close to the TV, verifying that when on it blocks ch 5. 1542, ch 4 is still in with net-5 dibujos. Unfortunately there are 6 full-power and 4 low-power net-5 XHGC relays on 4, per W9WI.com. Then I had to go out for most of the day in search of a suitable 2.5 GHz transmitter to cook my food quickly, which required a trip outside Enid. It`d better not QRM MF, HF or VHF! (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So far: just longwave! At close range ** MICRONESIA. 4755.44, Cross R., May 01 0848-0859*, 35333, English, Music, 0859 sign off (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 6 via DXLD) ** MONGOLIA. 12015, Voice of Mongolia, Ulan Bataar, *1529-1530, Apr 26, English broadcast (ex 9665. Ed) just impossible to hear in Sri Lanka, although it is supposed to be for South/SEAsia, because it is drowned out by Russia. Thanks to the Perseus on line receiver near Tokyo, I clearly heard Voice of Mongolia tuning signal on 12015 at 1529 though weak, and just a bit over Golos Rossi. I also hear English ann by the usual female announcer. Remote receivers are nice for such things, but not personal DXing for QSLing etc. That has to be from my home on my receiver! Guess I am an old school type!!! (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, in Dxplorer via DSWCI DX Window May 4 via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) I completely agree! (DSWCI Ed. Anker Petersen, ibid.) Taken from 1551-1559 Voice of Mongolia on 12015 kHz, SIO = 454 found the end of transmission is very interesting to tell about the history of relations between the Mongols and the European states the 12th century. Russian language at a high level, unlike the Voice of Vietnam and MRKitaya [CRI] (sort of). Finally, asked to write letters as desired. Transfer out on Fridays (only) on the waves of the Voice of Russia (Shukhrat Rakhmatullayev, Uzbekistan / "open_dx" via RusDX May 8 via DXLD) But the 12015 surely in English as above (gh) Mongolia, Ulan Bator, 13, PO Box 365, Voice of Mongolia" EDITORIAL BROADCAST IN RUSSIAN LANGUAGE vom.russian @ yahoo.com Phone: 976-11-329060 (Dmitry Kutuzov, Ryazan / "deneb-radio-dx", ibid.) ** MONGOLIA [non]. FEBC-MONGOLIA CELEBRATES 10TH ANNIVERSARY! Dear Friend of FEBC, This month FEBC celebrates 10 years of sharing Christ with the people of Mongolia, a landlocked nation of 3 million undergoing enormous changes, including a Christian population explosion. Two decades ago the Mongolian people had little knowledge of God, heaven, or salvation, but now it’s a country with over 60,000 Christians, in part due to radio’s impact on a people culturally immersed in Buddhism. And at the helm of WIND FM, FEBC-Mongolia’s radio station, is Batjargal (Bat)Tuvshintsengel, who was one of the early Christian pioneers in this country, committed to sharing the Gospel and seeing his people transformed by God’s love. 10 Years Strong! From May 15-21, 2011, several anniversary events are planned in the capital city of Ulaanbaatar that will involve the community - a hallmark of FEBC-Mongolia - which emphasizes the importance of strong, godly families. In 2010, FEBC also expanded into two other Mongolian cities, Murun and Nailah City. . . (May Ministry Update 2011 via Juan Franco Crespo, Spain, DXLD) Let`s keep this in perspective. Per CIA World Factbook, http://www.theodora.com/wfbcurrent/mongolia/mongolia_people.html the population of Mongolia is just over 3 megapersons, which means 60 kiloChristians = less than 2 percent. However, CIA also says: ``Religions: Buddhist Lamaist 50%, Shamanist and Christian 6%, Muslim 4%, none 40% (2004y)`` --- Notice they lump Shamanists in with Christians! Sorry, Shamanists. And together they account for only 15 percent as many people as Atheists! I wonder which group is most subject to conversion? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. MARROCOS, 595 SNRT-"A", Oujda, 1854-..., 07 May, Arabic, talks, music; OFF CHANNEL AGAIN; 43453, QRM de PORTUGAL (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO [and non]. 15345, May 7 at 2100, RTM with Arabic music, no audible het from ARGENTINA, but with BFO could detect a second carrier too, slightly offset at the SAH level. 2116 both had weakened a lot, or was it only R. Nacional by then? We should now expect Morocco to close at 2100 instead of 2200, since per http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/2011.html DST of UT +1 is now in effect: ``Morocco All locations Sunday, April 3-Sunday, July 31`` The early ending no doubt due to the ever-earlier precession of Ramadan, as explained last year when DST lasted a week longer: http://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/morocco-ends-dst-2010.html This year Ramadan runs from 1 to 30 August, at least in Morocco. 15345.1, May 8 at 2145 in Arabic, so RTM is still on, evidently until 2200v* even if they are really on UT+1 now. No sign of Argentina, but this one was slightly off-frequency to hi side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. Hi Everyone, From last night from 2300 UT, 5985.8 kHz, Myanma R, Yangon, 5/5/11, sign on music then YL and I think an ID http://www.box.net/shared/d4t0vp44dq (sign on) http://www.box.net/shared/u4b0cxcgnf (later and not so weak) (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, dxldyg via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Re: RNW websites --- Hi Glenn, A correction to your report on the cyber attack on our websites in DXLD 11-18: You quote Horacio Nigro as saying: "The servers are suffering a DDoS hacker attack..." A DDoS attack has nothing to do with hacking. Hacking is when someone gains control of our servers in order to cause mischief - usually revealed in some sort of notice replacing what should normally be there. A DDoS attack is simply when a network of computers somewhere else makes incessant calls to the website(s) being attacked. In our case, this was happening 5000 times a second or 300,000 times a minute. The servers could no longer handle the amount of extra traffic and thus legitimate users could not get the website to load. The websites were taken offline while some filters were installed to block traffic from the IP addresses that were responsible for the attack. There are currently some residual problems resulting from the technical changes that had to be made. Users who type comments will find that their comments cannot be saved. I hope this will be fixed on Monday. So, in fact, websites can effectively be 'jammed' just like shortwave. I understand that you can hire computers for this purpose. In our case, the IP addresses were mainly in Russia, but the perpetrators could be anywhere. We are investigating the matter, and there may be something to report in due course, but for the time being please don't use the words 'hackers' or 'hacking' as technically those refer to an entirely different scenario. Our web servers are secure and have not been hacked. 73, (Andy Sennitt, RNW, May 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. RWANDA, 9500, Radio Netherlands (list log); 2200-2227*, 5-May; English feature on pedophilia. Off abruptly without ID in mid-interview. SIO=4+54 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 15720, 0420-0445, RNZI, May 3. For the first couple of minutes after tune-in, I thought I was hearing RNZI interview a New Zealander who had been in the USA during the past week's severe outbreak of tornados. Instead, it was live coverage about a tornado that struck North Auckland (Albany area) only a few minutes earlier. The announcer did an excellent job describing the scene and taking phone calls and reading text messages from witnesses. Sadly, it was a description of death, destruction, and injuries that eerily mirrored the USA's weather news (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 8/5/11: 11725, RNZI on 1959 with music, clock, ID RNZI with immediate news (first with headlines), then detailed. S7, 324432. LSB suffers QRM from a Brazilian station (possibly Marumby) carrier on - 200 Hz; still heard a bit under Marumby at 2136 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. Frequency change of Radio New Zealand International from May 1: 0659-0758 NF 13730 RAN 025 kW / 035 deg to Tonga in DRM, ex 15720 // 6170 AM (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 9 May via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RADIO NEW ZEALAND MAY SEEK PUBLIC DONATIONS NZ Herald, By Claire Trevett, May 5, 2011 http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=10723589 New Radio NZ chair Richard Griffin says the broadcaster is considering seeking donations from the public to help it. Speaking to the Commerce Select Committee, Mr Griffin said Radio NZ remained committed to a commercial-free future, despite its funding being frozen. He personally believed sponsorship was a possibility. However the board had decided against it. It was now "a very real possibility" that a trust would be set up to seek donations from those concerned about public broadcasting. Mr Griffin said the board would "move mountains" rather than cut staff or programmes. RNZ's chief executive Peter Cavanagh said it could survive with the funding freeze for "another year or two". "If the freeze continues beyond that point, the board will have very tough decisions to make." Mr Griffin later clarified that the trust would likely only be for RNZ's Concert station, not National. Green MP Sue Kedgley said it was ridiculous that the government funding freeze reduced Radio NZ to "scramble round holding cake stalls". (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) HARD-UP RADIO NEW ZEALAND SELLING OFF PIANOS The Dominion Post 6 May 2011 Radio New Zealand's financial strategy rests on cake stalls and selling a couple of grand pianos, MPs have been told. The public broadcaster's chairman, Richard Griffin, told Parliament's commerce select committee yesterday that it could only survive a government funding freeze for a further two years. The board was now considering asking listeners to help fund its Concert station. "We're looking at the real possibility of setting up a trust ... in an attempt to actually have people reach into their pockets on the basis of their belief in public broadcasting." The board was unsure if a trust could elicit much extra money. "But something has to be done ... We can't live forever on the [current] funding." Labour MP Clare Curran asked if the trust would run fundraisers, such as cake stalls. Mr Griffin said cake stalls would be an option. "Any ideas?" he asked committee members. "You'd be very welcome to contribute any ..." He also revealed RNZ was selling two grand pianos to raise funds. A financial strategy was only just emerging, he said. "The possibility of setting up a trust and selling the pianos is about as far as we've got at this stage." A $38 million cap on its government funding had placed RNZ in a "more than difficult" financial situation. The board would "move mountains" to prevent staff and programming cuts, but the freeze would begin to bite after two years. "If we're left in a position where every year costs increase and funding remains static, we're going to wither." Despite his belief that commercial sponsorship should be considered, that had been ruled out by the board. Previous measures to save money, such as closing down RNZ's Palmerston North office and axing its external advertising budget, remained in place. The Christchurch earthquake had made a further dent in the books, though the final cost would not be known for about six months, chief executive Peter Cavanagh said. Broadcasting Minister Jonathan Coleman did not hint at any financial reprieve yesterday. "At this stage Radio New Zealand will have to live within its current budget for the foreseeable future." http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/politics/4968745/Hard-up-Radio-New-Zealand-selling-off-pianos (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) RADIO NEW ZEALAND PROMISED MORE FUNDING New Zealand’s Labour Party has said it would restore Radio New Zealand’s funding to compensate for the government’s budget freeze, the public service broadcaster reported. Radio New Zealand’s board chairperson Richard Griffen told a committee yesterday that the funding freeze has made it difficult, but the broadcaster can survive for the next two years on the same amount of money. But the Labour Party said that public broadcasting is an important part of democracy. Broadcasting spokesperson Claire Curran said talk of a developing a trust to raise funds for Concert FM shows the state broadcaster is struggling. Ms Curran said the Labour Party would increase funding for Radio New Zealand by about NZ$1.5 million (US$1.18 million). The government said it expects Radio New Zealand to operate within its budget, which is in line with wider expectations across the state sector (Source: Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union)(May 6th, 2011 - 16:41 UT by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. via Germany, 9610, Hamada Radio Int, 0530-0559*, May 7, Hausa talk. Short breaks of local music. Listed // 11970 not heard. Via Germany, 11945, Hamada Radio Int, *1930-1959*, May 7, sign on with local music and opening ID announcements. Hausa talk. Short breaks of local music. IDs. Very good. Strong (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX Listening Digest) 21480, no signal at all detectable from Hamada Radio International via Wertachtal, Monday May 9 at 1403; has that been canceled? Other usual 13m signals were in weakly on 21470, 21505, 21540, 21610, 21630, 21655. Not on 21810 either, where HRI was once reported (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: Since May 1 Hamada is on 7 days a week at 0530-0600 on 9610 and 1930-2000 on 11945. It has never been on 21810 (Jeff White, RMI, May 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Just to clarify, that 21810 was a typo, I heard Hamada on 21480 (Dave Kenny, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. Pirate: Radio Free Manitoba: 6930.2/AM, 0316-0331+, 5-May; Cuckoo clock & RFM is on the air -- may have just come on. 2M chit-chatting with lengthy discussion about frog cheese; other esoteric commentaries with musical accompaniment. Numerous IDs (Tnx!) SIO=343- with ute buzz (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. TCS Sunday Night: That awful seventies station Greetings, pirate radio fans! The Crystal Ship plans to be on the air a little later this evening, on about 6815 kHz AM. I expect to start somewhere around 0030 UTC give or take. Giving you a tad bit advance notice tonight. Format will be 70s pop/rock. Dunno how 'awful' any of it will be. Dunno if I can stand playing any disco this evening, lol. Notice on listener email: We will be posting some listener mails / reception reports on our blog at http://tcsshortwave.blogspot.com from time to time. Any listener addresses, callsigns and the like, and last names of any female reporters, and anything else deemed sensitive information will be removed before posting. And of course, if you specifically ask that it not be used, it won't be published. I don't need anybody's mailing address anyway for the time being, as we are only eQSLing for the immediate future.Cheers! (John Poet, The Crystal Ship, The TCS Blog http://tcsshortwave.blogspot.com/ 2339 UT May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. $10K FINE AGAINST AN LPFM PROGRESSES TO FORFEITURE ORDER http://www.rwonline.com/article/10k-fine-against-an-lpfm-progresses-to-forfeiture-order/23431 A $10,000 fine for Enid Public Radio Association, licensee of low- power FM radio station KEIF(LP), Enid, Okla., has progressed to a Forfeiture Order. The penalty, originally issued in July 2010, was for airing commercials rather than underwriting announcements and for operating at an antenna height greater than authorized. Another broadcaster, Chisholm Trail Broadcasting Co., had complained to the commission about the violations. The commission took the next step in April, saying KEIF hadn’t disputed the findings nor tried to get the fine reduced or cancelled. Therefore it has no basis on which to change the proposed penalty and must impose the total fine of $10,000. The station was given until this week to pay or the case may be turned over to the Justice Department for collection. In 2010 a local newspaper reported on the station’s history and past practices. Read that account here. http://enidnews.com/localnews/x2114030259/KEIF-hit-with-FCC-fines/print (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. F.C.C. FINES: MM&K of Alva, Inc. Licensee of KALV(AM) Alva, Oklahoma [1430] Fined $7,000, for failing to timely file a license renewal application for the Station, and for continuing to operate the Station after its license expired (IRCA DX Monitor April 22 via DXLD) ** OMAN. 15140, R. Sultanate of Oman, Apr 30, 1408-1433, 35433 English, Music, Gongs and ID at 1429, News. Also May 01 1429-1439, 35433, English, Music, Gongs and ID at 1429, News (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium May 6 via DXLD) I frequently look for this, but just not making it (gh, OK, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Venerdì 6 maggio 2011 (E5 Etón), 0515 - 15725 kHz, sembra R. PAKISTAN - Islamabad. Musica e modulazione tipica di tale emittente. Segnale insufficiente-buono. Per A11 schedules s/on 08.30!!! (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** PALAU. 9930, May 7 at 1233, English lesson cum Bible lesson from Luke XII:15, YL explaining difficult(?) words with other words: ``take heed`` means ``pay attention``; ``beware`` means ``watch out``; ``covetousness`` means ``to want other people`s things``. T8WH is registered here 24 hours! With no competition except South Africa at 16-17 from Babcock in Somali (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3205, 1049-1051, R. West Sepik, May 2. Male and female announcers in Pidgin; seemed to be an interview program. Poor signal. Retuned at 1100 to find a stronger signal with top-of-the-hour news read by a male announcer. 3275, 1051-1052, R. Southern Highlands, May 2. Tentative. Very faint signal with sing-sing music. 3290, 1052-1055, R. Central, May 2. Male announcer in Pidgin, conducting a phone interview. Poor to fair signal. 3365, 1101-1103, R. Milne Bay, May 2. Weak signal of male announcer with news items. Parallel 3385 R. East New Britain. 3385, 1103-1104, R. East New Britain, May 2. Male announcer in English with news items. Poor to Fair signal (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 3385, May 5 at 1114, poor signal in talk I can`t tell whether English or Tok Pisin, but at least there is some modulation from R. East New Britain, unlike other presumed PNG/Indonesian carriers on 3365, 3325. At the same time, 13m was open at least from Spain. This is a good example for us to beware of simplified A-11 Aoki, which still shows RRI Kupang on 3385, and R. Eastern Highlands on 3395, neither of which have been heard for years (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 5960, 1112-1116, R. Fly, May 2, Tentative. Female announcer in possible Pidgin, but signal was far too weak for positive ID of language. Into choral music at 1116 (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 7324.958, Wantok Radio Light, Pt. Moresby, English prayer, at 0845 UT May 7. S=6-7 signal on remote receiver in Japan (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) ** PERU. 4790-, haven`t had a decent signal from R. Visión, Chiclayo for ages, but there it is, slightly on lo side, May 7 at 0549 hymn with piano, minor-key Andean touch, S9+15 over CODAR but carrier unstable. 0554 changes to shouting predicator, discussion of evangelio (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4790, Radio Visión, Chiclayo, good signals on 5/6 and 5/7 during 1000- 1040+ period. Big signal with charismatic preacher leading prayers at 1010 on 5/6, best signal in the band. At 1000 on 5/7, OM providing network sked into at 1000, mentioning 'cadena peruana radial . . .'. City names (Cajamarca, Chiclayo) in the network also heard (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4850.7, R Génesis, Huanta, active again during the last weeks. Operates approximately 1100-1200 and 2300-0030. With acceptable signal, evangelical programming presented in the Quechua language, in Spanish only for some short ads. It has no ID at s/on or s/off announcement. Sometimes referred to as "Radio Genesis", but continually makes allusion to Genesis Presbyterian Church of Huanta. I could hear the location of the church to be the same as the station: Miguel Jirón Untiveros 431, Huanta, Ayacucho, Perú. At http://dxdesdecolombia.blogspot.com/ I found a photo of the façade of the church and address which confirms this (Rafael Rodríguez, Bogotá, Colombia, DSWCI DX Window May 4 via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) ** PERU. 18057.6, new frequency, May 8 at 1354, very weak carrier here and imagination-level bits of audio, but no doubt it is R. Victoria, Lima, third harmonic as frequently heard and IDed before, when closer to 18057.9, and now correlating with many other reports that the fundamental has been varying closer to 6018.2 than 6018.3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6019.182, Radio Victoria, 0958-1005 May 10, Not much left of the signal at this time, but noted some Spanish comments from a person while the station On 6020 causes splatter. Signal was poor (Chuck Bolland, Clewiston FL, WR-G31DDC, 26N 081W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 9920, May 7 at 1230 ``Jesus Saves`` IS on chimes, dead giveaway it`s FEBC, then segué to Hmong-like hmusic on quena-like hmouth instrument with calliope overtones; 1231 change to quartet(?) singing about Jesus. 1238 talk with sort of a ringing het on it. Per EiBi this is really in Koho, spoken in Vietnam, daily at 1230-1300 following a complicated rotation of other languages from 1100, via Bocaue site (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. R. Veritas New Frequencies from 15 May --- In order to improve reception the following changes are effective 15th May 2011 for Radio Veritas Asia: Sinhala 0000-0027 9720 kHz -> 9670 kHz Bengali 0030-0057 11945 kHz -> 11710 kHz Urdu 1430-1457 15435 kHz -> 15260 kHz via Vatican R. Chin 1430-1500 9620 kHz -> 9535 kHz Also Filipino to ME 1500-1553 kHz on 15280 kHz (replacing 15350 kHz via Vatican R) --- (Alok Dasgupta via Dx Asia-UADX Blog via Alokesh Gupta, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) So is 15280 still via Vatican? (gh) ** PORTUGAL. Re: RDP plans 'temporary suspension' of shortwave Isn't this destined to be a self-fulfilling prophecy ... > the dwindling number of listeners served by this distribution platform, > "Only at the end of the period of provisional suspension will there be an evaluation of the consequences thereof, and a final decision, At the end of the provisional suspension period there won't be any listeners. So they then won't affect anyone by making the suspension permanent (Mark Hattam, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Amigos, repasso a notícia http://www.dn.pt/inicio/tv/interior.aspx?content_id=1844071&seccao=Televis%E3o 73 (Lúcio Haeser, Brasília, May 5, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Viz.: RTP SUSPENDE EMISSÃO DIGITAL DEVIDO A "AVULTADOS CUSTOS" por Lusa 04 Maio 2011 A RTP anunciou hoje que decidiu proceder ao encerramento da rede de radiodifusão sonora digital terrestre (T-DAB) a partir de 01 de Junho, medida justificada pelos "avultados custos que esta operação comporta". A empresa realça que a decisão surgiu depois de autorização da Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANACOM) e "sem prejuízo de algumas dificuldades de adaptação, que sempre decorrem de uma decisão desta natureza", a empresa acredita que esta "não acarretará consequências para os ouvintes", já que "a esmagadora maioria dos equipamentos que servem para ouvir rádio pelo sistema T-DAB também rececionam FM". Ou seja, precisa a RTP, "os ouvintes que utilizam a rede T-DAB para ouvir as antenas de rádio, continuarão a ouvi-las, agora através da rede FM". No quadro actual, "de rigorosa exigência de contenção orçamental", a RTP diz que a decisão de encerrar a emissão digital de rádio justifica-se "pelos avultados custos que esta operação comporta e que põem em causa uma eficiente gestão de recursos públicos afectos" à empresa. "As razões que levam ao encerramento desta rede prendem-se principalmente com o facto de a RTP ter permanecido sozinha no mercado na utilização desta rede de radiodifusão", diz a empresa, assinalando ainda que "os operadores privados nunca mostraram interesse em adoptar esta plataforma". Os "preços elevados dos receptores", que impediram "uma massificação na aquisição dos mesmos pela população", são também apontados pela RTP como justificação para a suspensão do serviço. A empresa pediu também recentemente ao Governo a suspensão temporária das emissões da RDP Internacional em Onda Curta, ressalvando estar a aguardar uma resposta da ANACOM e que a suspensão ainda não tinha data marcada "por serem necessários procedimentos de consulta prévia" ao regulador. Contactada pela agência Lusa, fonte da ANACOM disse que a RTP apenas lhes deu conhecimento sobre a situação e que o regulador "não vê problemas" na referida suspensão temporária (via DXLD) Also about `temporary suspension of SW`` at end; see also GERMANY [non]! (gh) So it looks like we'll probably have the São Gabriel de Pegões site disappearing soon. Followed by Sines and Trincomalee. And who knows what in between (Ian Baxter, NSW, shortwavesites yg via dXLD) Re GERMANY [non]: Sines and Trincomalee to close before yearend Steve, The closure (confirmed?) of the Prof-Funk managed relay at Sines, in our SW coast, was simply not among the possibilities that were mentioned to me, so if what's reported now is actually planned, it is a bit of a surprise, especially after new txs and curtain arrays were installed. Maybe I get fresh news on the matter. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, May 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** QATAR. There is Al Jazeera, And, then, there is Al Jazeera. And apparently we are not supposed to confuse the two. [. . .] If Al Jazeera Arabic and English have such different standards, what is the point of the Al Jazeera brand? If Al Jazeera Arabic is uneven in its coverage of Arab countries, or prone to inject opinion in its news coverage, this can and should reflect on Al Jazeera English and affect decisions to carry AJE on cable systems. If Al Jazeera English is so different, call it the Acme News Channel, and place it in a separate organization, under a separate board, in a separate building. (Kim Andrew Elliott, May 6, kimandrewelliott.com; see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11213 for referents, via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Got out of work a little early today & had some time to kill before picking up my wife. Had my Grundig G6 Aviator with me, so I sat down outside a nearby Starbucks & decided to see what signals I could pick up. Heard in Durham, NC between 2029-2045 UT on May 6th. ?, 11940, Radio Romania: News program. EIBI says this was Radio Romania, but I thought it was Radio Bulgaria, as Bulgaria was mentioned by the announcer. Didn't get a chance to listen to enough of it to make a positive ID (shady80fan a.k.a. Captain Slack, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tip: R. Bulgaria operates only on frequencies ending in -00, a silly self-imposed limitation resulting from taking a bit too seriously a ``make them easy to remember`` suggestion. Not all stations in –00 are RB, but all RB are in –00. Wow, you are only supposed to use WiFi at Starbux! A great source of free grounds for the garden (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 12040, still produces six spurious signals, V of Russia in English noted today at 1630-1700 UT on 12134, 12154, 12174, 12247.996, 12267.928, 12381.878 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. THE VOICE OF RUSSIA WORLD SERVICE (in English) MARCH 27 – OCTOBER 29, 2011 AFRICA 1500-1800 11985 1800-2100 12040 ASIA 0300-0500 15585, 15735* 0700-0900 1251 0900-1100 15170 1100-1200 12065 1200-1300 11500, 9445* 1300-1400 12065 1400-1500 11500, 4975, 1251 1500-1600 9660, 4975 1600-1700 4975, 1251 1700-1800 4975, 1269, 1251 AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND 0600-0900 15405 MIDDLE EAST 1400-1500 4975, 1251 1500-1600 11985, 4975 1600-1800 11985, 4975, 1251 1800-1900 4975 EUROPE 0500-0800 1323 0800-0900 1323 1400-1500 9750*, 7225* 1500-1600 12040, 7225* 1600-1900 12040 1900-2000 12040, 1215 2000-2100 12040 NORTH AMERICA 2200-2300 9800 2300-0200 9800, 9665 0200-0300 15425, 7440 0300-0400 15425 0400-0600 13775 LATIN AMERICA 2200-2300 9800 2300-0200 9800, 9665 0200-0400 9665 * – DRM broadcast Web site: http://english.ruvr.ru E-mail: world@ruvr.ru (Andrey Martynyuk, Moscow, RusDX May 8 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. RUSSIA MARKS RADIO DAY The Voice of Russia, By Lada Korotun, May 7, 2011 http://english.ruvr.ru/2011/05/07/49979351.html Russia is marking Radio Day. May 7 became a holiday in 1945, exactly 50 years after the great Russian physicist, Alexander Popov, invented wireless communication in 1895. More than a century later, radio still remains one of the most consumer-friendly, fast-developing and democratic media around, along with television, mobile communication and the Internet. Exactly 115 years ago to the day Alexander Popov successfully demonstrated the radio, effecting transmission of radio waves between different campus buildings in St. Petersburg. The prototype's effective range was just a few hundred meters but before long Popov's invention was already effective over a distance of 6 miles in 1898 and 30 miles in 1899. The whole thing was initially called wireless telegraphy with the term "radio" coming along years later. Defying repeated predictions of demise, first with the advent of television, and then the Internet, radio still managed to adapt to the changing reality and is now ready to go digital, which means the number of stations will go through the roof and transmission quality will radically improve too. The Voice of Russia is doing its bit here adding a new dimension to the tried-and-true means of communication, broadcasting its programs in 44 languages to 160 countries worldwide. Faced by tough competition, the VoR is going with the times making wide use of modern technology while, at the same time, preserving the traditional short-wave service. Our FM programs can now be heard in more than 100 cities of the former Soviet Union and beyond and we are beaming in medium wave to Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia and China and, from January this year, also to New York City and Washington DC. Our Internet portal - http://english.ruvr.ru/ - brings together 37 multilingual websites offering a continuous flow of daily news, Russian and foreign media comments, political think pieces and much, much more! All this is available on a round-the-clock basis online, via mobile phone and also in audio, video and other multimedia formats. We are sending Radio Day greetings to all our listeners wherever they may be in the world! (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) I feel it`s a great shame to claim any one man (or woman) of any particular nation 'invented wireless'; far fairer to credit Hertz, Loomis, Hughes, Marconi etc. as part of an international 'army' of great physicists, dentists, professors of music and brilliant engineers both professional and amateur - after all wasn't Michael Faraday originally trained as a book binder! 'Let us now praise [ALL] famous 'men' (Rog Parsons (BDXC 782), Hinckley, Leics., BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Not forgetting of course, Sir Oliver Lodge, who gave the first public demonstration of morse transmission at Oxford in 1894 but who often seems to be forgotten amongst the inventors of radio (Alan Pennington, moderator, ibid.) ** RUSSIA. Russia Marks V-Day, Live Broadcast in English --- Watch the traditional Victory Day Parade from Moscow, with English commentary, starting in less then half an hour, at 06:00 UT at: http://rt.com/on-air/ Not sure if VoR English is going to carry a live broadcast, as well. In recent two dozen years VoR didn't seem to have those (Sergei S., 0539 UT May 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [non]. "INTERNATIONAL RADIO BROADCASTER" SEEKING HOST FOR THREE-HOUR SHOW FROM WASHINGTON, DC. And no, it's not VOA. Journalism.Jobs.com: "International radio broadcaster is seeking a personality driven On-Air host and news reporters for a daily three- hour news talk show from Washington DC studio. The candidate must be able to engage guests, discuss issues of the day with experts and politicians, take calls from listeners, produce news packages, write monologues and work with other staffers to generate show topics. - Considerable experience in broadcast industry is a must. -A strong interest in International Affairs. -Candidates must have exceptional writing and producing skills and be able to multi-task This is a full time position in Washington DC, local candidates are encouraged to apply. To apply, please email your resume and on-air demo to hr@ruvramerica.com." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Is VOA reviving its English-language radio broadcasting? Probably not. The ruvramerica.com domain is similar to that of ruvr.ru, the URL of Voice of Russia (formerly Radio Moscow). A check on ruvamerica.com shows the address "1325 G st" (presumably NW) in Washington, DC. That's the same address as the RT (Russia Today) Washington studios. Voice of Russia now has full-time AM relays in Washington and New York. See previous post. (Thanks to Art Chimes for the news tip and reporting assistance.) (Posted: 10 May 2011, Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** RWANDA. 6055, Radio Rwanda, Kigali. 2011/05/06 fri 1658-1702 French. Western vocal music to ID "Rwanda" at 1700, then snatch of afro music and into 2 x OM talking. Fair - poor. Jo'burg sunset 1535 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RWANDA. 6180, 0350-0402, DW Kigali, May 4. Fair signal with female announcer in Swahili; mentions of Kigali at 0356. Suddenly off at 0357, but back on with very faint signal with female announcer in (I think) English. Full grayline conditions from Kigali to Grayland at this time (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also NETHERLANDS [non] ** SAIPAN. Glenn, do you know something about decline of KFBS Saipan in past two years or so? Rumours say KFBS Saipan ceased all services on SW Saipan on April 30? Website showed some transferring to local radio stations in RUS / FE Siberia, KAZ sites in Russian and CIS area? News of KFBS Saipan was very silently in past years. And some transmissions also rent on AWR Guam site? 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, May 4, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wolfy, I had not been paying much attention to that. But I was wondering why on this page: http://data.febinfo.org/p_stations.php it says KFBS only 7.0 hours per week, and if you click on ALL, you get no schedule of anything. Rather limited schedule here: http://hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A11&broadc=FBS Too late today to check out until 2230 on 12090 (Glenn to Wolfy, via DXLD) Oleg Cherny is FEBC RM's chief engineer. He is responsible for all the engineering issues of FEBC-Russia. Oleg lives in Moscow and travels to different FEBC centers throughout Russia as needed. "My goal is to make our recording and broadcasting studios both efficient and professional," says Cherny. He is also responsible for implementing new technologies, organizing special broadcasts, developing and overseeing Internet-casting, and training FEBC's sound engineers. Oleg and his wife Natalia have one child. http://www.febc.org.ru/update-pdf/2011-1 RM UPDATE.pdf http://www.febc.org.ru/about/ http://www.febc.org.ru/about/index.php?page=organization http://www.febc.org.ru/contact/mail.shtml (via Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) 12090, May 5 at 2357, no signal as I am checking for the 2330-2400 broadcast of KFBS, but I may have tuned in too late. Wolfgang Büschel says there are rumors that KFBS has closed down. It certainly has a limited schedule of 7 hours a week per the FEBC website, but if you click on ALL for it at http://data.febinfo.org/p_stations.php you get no transmissions at all. WRTH says they have 4 x 100 kW transmitters, but nowhere near that usage in HFCC, just a few hours daily at http://hfcc.org/data/schedbybrc.php?seas=A11&broadc=FBS And that`s why I was checking 12090. We need to try the others to find if anything is really on, none of it in English: 0830-0900 11850 0900-1130 15580 0930-1000 11990 1100-1400 11650 1130-1300 11920 1200-1300 11800 1300-1400 15580 2230-2300 12090 2330-2359 15580 Looking for KFBS as per schedule in last report: 11650, May 6 at 1156, no sign of it, but instead Chinese lesson from CRI English, via Wulumuchi, EAST TURKISTAN; 1159 giving CRI websites. More searches for KFBS frequencies on the schedule previously included for A-11: still nothing, May 7 at 1220 on 11920, 11800, while 11650 had very poor something, presumably CRI as before; so is KFBS defunct? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAMOA. To jump the dateline! See WORLD OF HOROLOGY ** SARAWAK. 7270.45v, Wai FM, 1200-1235 May 6. Presumed news at ToH, followed by regional music to BoH, then droning/chanting segment. Fair/good today. Has been operating on this frequency, give or take a few hertz, all week (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) See also MALAYSIA ** SARAWAK [non]. 15420, R. Free Sarawak, 1011-1100*, May 8. In vernacular; pop songs; many IDs; 1035 animated call from Azizan Manan talking about his uncle Taib Mahmud; started fair and went down to poor to fair; ex: 1000-1200. Assume still via Palau? http://radiofreesarawak.org/2011/05/sunday-8511/ has the same program I heard (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. New time and frequency of FEBA Radio in Pashto: 1530-1600 on 11755 ERV 300 kW / 100 deg to WeAs Pashto from May 1 0200-0230 on 9725 DHA 250 kW / 045 deg to WeAs Pashto till May 1 (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, May 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. FEBA 9770 Sundays --- Hello! Some months back Mauno Ritola enquired with me about one FEBA broadcast on Sunday mornings on 9770 via SLBC, however it was not heard then. However, at last, last Sunday I picked up one transmission as follows: 9770, 0035-0105, Tamil, FEBA. May be via SLBC. I understand Tamil and have made recording of it also. They are announcing as broadcast only on Sundays. Not transmission noted on other days at that time. SLBC starts on 9770 now a days at around 0125 UT. Not found in any schedules of FEBA, Aoki etc. Any more info appreciated. Anyway look out for this transmission tomorrow morning. Thanking you, Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, http://www.niar.org cell: 91 94416 96043, May 7, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Via Ekala, see Nagoya xlxx file. 9770 0000-0100 41 EKA 300 350 ENGLISH CLN SLB cheers wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Today 8 May 2011, Sunday, FEBA was heard on 9770 as follows: 0000-0030 Telegu, 0030-0101 Tamil. I contacted the mobile number announced in the program but the lady who answered don`t know where the transmitter is but will get the info for me later. 73 (Jose Jacob, ibid.) Dear Jose, Today morning I were also get it. But it were not that much strong here in deep south of Tamil Nadu, India. The reception is 23222. After 0105 UT some Chinese station were start with strong signal. 73's (Jaisakthivel, ADXC, Tirunelveli, ibid.) It was also in WRTH winter update p. 4, only listed until 0200: http://wrth.com/files/WRTH2011IntRadioSuppl1_B10SchedulesUpdate.pdf MR (Mauno Ritola, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA [non]. 9955, USA, Slovakia Radio International [sic] relay on WRMI, English, 0040 19 Apr, Sports, tennis match report. ID as Radio Slovakia International. Oxford style of debating. Occasional QRN. Local music at 0049. Talks about river cruises. Interview of captain 0054. Lots of fades but totally audible. Female sign off with male ID and station information. QRN very heavy and no longer audible. Checked again 20 Apr. Same reception level with jammer starting at 0058. World of Radio can be heard under the jammer on occasion 0101 [UT Wed] (Robert Montgomery, Levittown, PA, USA, R390a, SE3, NRD 535d, DSP 599zx, NRD 525, FRG 7700, Lowe HF 150, SP 150, PR 150, Ten Tec RX 320, Grundig G 5, Sony ICF SW 100, S38 H500, Clifton Lab Z1501 active antenna, home brew active antenna, Mini Windom sloper, AN-1 active antenna, NASWA Flashsheet May 8 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 3215, Adventist World Radio, Meyerton // 3345. 2011/05/04 wed 1802-1809, Badly distorted audio. ID "Adventist World Radio" at 1808. S9 but atrocious audio. What gives at Meyerton, so many of their relay transmissions (for various suppliers) these days are of appalling quality. Jo'burg sunset 1537. 3215, Adventist World Radio, Meyerton // 3345. 2011/05/05 thu 1800- 1816 English service signing on with ID "Adventist World Radio". Still badly distorted, almost unreadable. Good signal s9+10, but lousy transmitter. Jo'burg sunset 1536. 3345, Adventist World Radio, Meyerton // 3215. 2011/05/04 wed 1812- 1822, ID at 1820 "AWR". From 1820, cookery programme. Much better than // 3215, no audio distortion. Jo'burg sunset 1537. 3345, Adventist World Radio, Meyerton // 3215. 2011/05/05 thu 1803- 1816 Talking about health. Good signal s9+10, no distortion, much better than // 3215. Jo'burg sunset 1536 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, May 8, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 3255, 0440-0448, BBC, Meyerton, May 4. I was following this slowly strengthening het for a while, and couldn't make out any audio until it improved enough to tell a musical selection was parallel to 6190. I'd call 3255 as threshold level audio, and the 6190 signal weak to fair (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Re R. Botswana on 7255? Hi Glenn, Can I chip in my 10c worth on this debate? If only to muddy the waters! DXLD 11-17: ``BOTSWANA. Radio Botswana Sebele transmitter site, 7255 kHz. 0525 UT 04/20/2011, SeTswana, 32233, Man and woman with talk. Faded under the BBC at 0529. Clashing badly with the BBC, S-4 (Nick Rumple, Kannapolis, North Carolina, U.S.A., Yaesu FRG-100, 125 foot longwire - 40 feet high, shortwavelistening yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) R. Botswana has been gone from SW for many years. What is your reference? BBC Ascension is certainly here. If there was something else it could be V. of Nigeria, which is normally on 15120 during this hour, but unheard lately. Are you sure it was in SeTswana; was there any ID? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.)`` DXLD 11-18: ``BOTSWANA. Re 11-17, reported on 7255 around 0530: Not completely unlikely. For European listeners: Just before 1700 the frequency 7255 is free of strong eurosignals for a few minutes; there was a weak carrier today April 29th. Eibi gives Xizang for that time, but WRTH indicates this as inactive. Eibi gives Belarus until 1700 and from 1705, but strong carrier appeared at 1659. 73 (Thorsten Hallmann, Münster, Germany, http://www.africalist.de.ms April 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` I trawl this band on a daily basis (admittedly usually in the evening, but also some weekend mornings) and can not log Radio Botswana on short wave. I am about 200 miles from Sebele, so at this frequency I doubt that I am in the skip zone. I get signals in the same frequency range from Meyerton, and that is much closer. Prompted by the above debate I tried 7255 this morning (2011-05-08). No sign of Botswana, but BBC WS from Ascension was there, although poor and weak. Positive id, programme was "The World Today", and id at 0530 "BBC World Service". More interesting, there was an interfering signal of male and female voices with occasional classical music and songs; totally unreadable, extremely severe distortion, but apparently co-channel; probably what Nick described as "clashing badly with the BBC". Tuning up or down a few channels caused it to fade out, hence the suspicion of co-channel. The distorted speech was still there on 7255 after BBC WS signed off. I eventually found that if I tuned further up-band the voices came back, but quite readable - in fact, extremely good. The problem was SABC's Radio Sonder Grense on 7285, 100kW from Meyerton, c/o Sentech (naturally!), splashing right down onto 7255 and up onto 7315, +&- six channels away (at this time 7315 is unoccupied, at least in Africa). Using two receivers, the distorted speech coincided perfectly with the Sonder Grense programme. The clincher was that it disappeared from both 7255 and 7315 when Sonder Grense changed frequency at 0755. I've no idea what's going on, but it is clearly a transmitter problem. I've checked my receiver (Sony ICF 2001D) on the same-power (100kW) BBC WS 6190 relay, also from Meyerton, and there is no interference at +/- six channels. If your correspondents hear a tentative Radio Botswana again on 7255 it might be worth checking for // 7285 and even // 7315. The language will be Afrikaans, not SeTswana. Sonder Grense schedule: 0500-0800 7285 0800-1700 9650 1700-0500 3320 All three frequencies are currently active. HFCC lists Sonder Grense as "SAB" (presumably meaning SABC), Aoki lists it as "R. Sonder Grense". It is a 24 hour SABC station for the Afrikaans community in SA, but actually, according to the Sentech website, targetted south towards the Northern Cape. Despite this, it is often received well in Joburg, especially overnight and early mornings on 3320. And, as this morning, received very well on 7285. Right now, at 1330, it is virtually inaudible on 9650 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, May 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA [and non]. Hi Glenn (again). The idiot broadcasters who are dumping shortwave in favour of online might like to consider this: http://www.techcentral.co.za/quarter-of-sa-uses-the-internet/22925/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+co%2FUqJF+%28TechCentral%29 And South Africa is supposed to be the most technologically advanced country in sub-Saharan Africa. What bullshit (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 15420, May 7 at 1356 and 1358, no signals from WBCQ, which is normally running its IS/ID loop prior to the 1400 Brother Scare Sabbath Service. Still nothing at 1420, 1431. Propagation does not seem to be that bad; WBCQ 9330 is in as usual. It`s a new month and BS`s contract may have run out in April? But recheck at 1650 found him JBA on 15420, incomparably inferior to blastfurnace 9980 WWCR, // but not synchronized. Meanwhile, BS also audible on 17485 via GERMANY, May 7 at 1432; first thing I heard upon tune-in was BS yelling ``blood running out of the body``, with murmurs of assent from psychophants, prompting a quick tune-on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also AUSTRALIA! ** SPAIN. 21610, May 5 at 1112, REE poor in Spanish, the OSOB, but nice to find the band open this early, and at the same time all other bands down to 3 MHz; see PNG. Still wondering what became of the mailbag show on REE in Spanish, which used to accompany the DX program, the latter still running UT Saturdays at 0505-0530 on 11890, 12035. May 7 at 0532 talking about a poetic folklore competition, unseems mailbag; does it still exist anywhen? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Exterior de España necesita tu opinion y te regala un libro --- Radio Exterior de España está lanzando una campaña para conocer nuestra opinión sobre la manera de escuchar la REE. http://ediciones-irreverentes.blogspot.com/2011/05/radio-exterior-de-espana-necesita-tu.html Atentos porque puede peligrar la OC en REE. Cordiales 73 (José Bueno, Spain, May 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmmm. Asking about which platform the audience uses to listen. Why do I hear the sound of another shortwave axe being sharpened? Three or four years ago, REE made some noise about cutting or dropping SW, but nothing since. Are cuts back on the table? (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. DW Trincomalee relay to be closed: see GERMANY [non] ** SRI LANKA. 11905, SLBC, *0020-0035, May 10, sign on with drums and local music. National Anthem at 0020:30 followed by local drums and music. English ID announcement at 0025. Local chants at 0026. Local music at 0030. Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15745.01, SLBC, *0126-0230, May 7, sign on with local drums. National Anthem at 0126:30. Opening English ID announcements at 0130 followed by local music. Time pips at 0200 and English news. Back to music at 0208. Some country music. Personal messages. Poor to fair in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** SUDAN [non]. New schedule of EDC Sudan Radio Sce Darfur Program from May 1 in Arabic: 0400-0500 on 11800 RMP 250 kW / 125 deg EaAf Sat-Thu, new txion 1600-1700 NF 15500 RMP 250 kW / 125 deg EaAf Sat-Thu, ex-11770 MEY // 17700 ASC 250 kW / 065 deg EaAf Sat-Thu (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, May 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 9465, Miraya, 0420 May 6 with HoA song and many audio drops. "Waa Mirasili" program followed with talks in vernacular which was heard again at the end of the program. This made me remember a recent log for 9670 // 9430 with the same program for Miraya. Found to be in // 9670 but not synched. S7 (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So 9465 can`t be a spur of 9670 like 9430 was. Another unpublicized test by another relay site? (gh, ibid.) Miraya FM on 11680 --- Today 9.5 during the morning radio search I found Miraya test transmission IS reel at 0419Z on 11680 kHz advising for 9710 kHz and another frequency which I didn´t notice though signal was quite good. Also found to be // 15590 and synched. I was a bit confused for the name (as Villarreal) but the mirayafm.org. Is it a new transmission?? Just look at the file uploaded on http://www.mediafire.com/?293s8k590hpcw8u 9670 Miraya today 9.5 with great signal S9 at 0402 with news in English. Standard rig: ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Clip from 11680 has the announcement twice. Refers listeners to web and also 9.710 MHz in the mornings, 15.710 in the evenings, but no times. Are they mixed up? Morning 03-06 has been and is supposed to be on 9670; 14-17 on 15710 via IRRS via you-know-where. Is this on 11680 IRRS testing new frequencies from same; from somewhere else; or another broker from somewhere else? Miraya`s own website http://www.mirayafm.org/ still shows at the top: ``SW: 6-9 AM 9670 kHz 5-8 PM 15710 kHz`` i.e. UT +3. BTW their daily program schedule is at: http://www.mirayafm.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2036&Itemid=305 IRRS website still shows the same schedule, nothing about 9465, 9710, 11680 or 15590. Nor does HFCC have anything about those. This page http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Schedules/IRRS-SW_tests.html claims there are no test transmissions currently. BTW, The SW frequencies at the bottom of this page http://www.nexus.org/NEXUS-IBA/Shortwave/ are very outdated, and anything else on that page? (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) via Slovakia, 9670, Radio Miraya, 0345-0420, May 9, tune-in to Arabic talk. English news at 0401-0410. “Radio Miraya” IDs. ID jingles at 0410 and local pop music. Arabic talk at 0419. Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [and non]. 13620, R. Dabanga via MADAGASCAR, checked about half an hour earlier than usual, at 0443 May 5, not only had the continuous tone jamming but an envelope of buzz extending between 13612 and 13638. Since this is about 25 kHz bandwidth, it may have typically been an OTH radar such as the one in Cyprus altho the sound was somewhat different (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. GROUP OF DARFURI JOURNALISTS COMPLAINS ABOUT "IRRESPONSIBLE MANAGEMENT STYLE" AT NETHERLANDS-BASED RADIO DABANGA. Association of Darfur Reporters & Journalists, 3 May 2011, via Ground Report: "Radio Dabanga started broadcasting into Darfur from Hilversum [the Netherlands] since December 2008 primarily because of [Sudanese] government censorship and crackdown on independent media. Because of, among others, Radio Dabanga, the Darfuri people realized that the international community has not forgotten them and their suffering. Thanks to the commitment of Dutch, other European and international friends, the voiceless people of Darfur started to have a voice in Radio Dabanga. However, this historical initiative is starting to collapse due to irresponsible management style of Radio Dabanga that continues to exclude the Darfuri journalists from every policy of Radio Dabanga. This irresponsible management style has not only damaged the effectiveness of Radio Dabanga but it has also endangered the lives of Darfuri journalists in The Sudan. Radio Dabanga management opened a studio in Khartoum. That led to the arrest of Radio Dabanga workers and other activists on October 30th, 2010, other fled to Uganda and still other are missing within Sudan." (kimandrewelliott.com May 5 via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) -- This press release has appeared in a handful of websites. I do have confirmation that some sort of labor dispute is going on within Radio Dabanga. There was a small demonstration near the Radio Netherlands headquarters in Hilversum, although Radio Netherlands' only involvement with Radio Dabanga is the coordination of its shortwave frequencies. See previous post about same subject. See also http://www.radiodabanga.org down at the moment: 2100 UT (Kim Andrew Elliott, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, ibid.) More than a jamming problem (gh) ** SWAZILAND. 3200, Trans World Radio relay. Manzini. 2011/05/04 wed 1758-1759, ID at 1759 "Trans World Radio Africa". That was enough for me; one minute is all it takes. Fair. Jo'burg sunset 1537 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3200, 0411-0414, TWR Africa, Mpangela Ranch, May 4. Faint signal of organ music, Christian hymn, and male announcer or preacher in what sounded like German language. I noted a slightly stronger parallel signal on 4775, peaking out from beneath an annoying CODAR sweeper. 5995, 0407-0412, TWR Africa, Mpangela, May 4. Tentative, during grayline conditions. Weak signal of female speaker in unID African language (Chiwa listed); sounded like a sermon or religious message (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SYRIA. Cuts at Radio Damascus --- R Damascus SW transmissions seem to have been curtailed. The transmission in French ends at 1930 (ex 2000) although the programme isn’t yet finished. Noted the the last couple of days. On WRN, the programme is 60 minutes long (Jean-Michel Aubier, France, 1945 UT May 6, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And still so? (gh) 9329.980, R Damaskus - Wackeln auch die KW Sendungen aus Syrien? Jean- Michel berichtete heute Abend, dass Franzoesisch nur 30 Min ueber Kurzwelle lief. Ich habe ihm dann mit der Beobachtung des English Programms auf 9329.980 kHz um 2135 UT geantwortet. Radio Damascus on air in English at 2135 UT today May 5 with S=9+20dB, frequency 9329.980 kHz according remote Perseus (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) All we hear in NAm, of course, is WBCQ on a slightly higher frequency (gh, ibid.) ** TAIWAN. 7 May: 7970, SOH? 1905 with talk in Chinese and poor signal S2 142x1 Also heard on 8-5 on 2128. Found no Chinese parallel on 5 and 11 MHz; therefore I suppose is SOH (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 10300, May 5 at 1051, VP signal in Chinese, but no jamming, so presumably Sound of Hope. By next check 1146, Firedrake was on. This and many other frequencies compiled under CHINA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Giovedì 5 maggio 2011 (G3 Etón), 2133, 7970, SOUND OF HOPE (not Firedrake) IN/SF Legenda segnale IN - Insufficiente/ Poor SF - Sufficiente/ Fair BN - Buono/Good MB - Molto buono/Very good (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) 17170, SOH, Xi Wang Zhi Sheng program in Chinese at 0930 UT May 7, but not jammed! S=3-4 weak. 17919.920, 14970 and 9040 also. 7105, SOH, Xi Wang Zhi Sheng program in Chinese and echo talk jammed by various signals, at 2210 UT May 7. S=9+5dB in Japan (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [and non]. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING: SURVIVING THE SHORTWAVE DECLINE --- Recently I made some comments about International broadcast stations surviving in a world where there is a decline of shortwave transmissions & broadcasters in a letter to RTI. I sent a letter (mainly of program comments) to Radio Taiwan International (RTI), where I am well known there. It was read out on the 'Hear In Taiwan' mailbag program last Tuesday. If interested, the program (and my letter) can be accessed from RTI's English language webpage here: http://english.rti.org.tw/default.aspx Go to Audio On Demand webpage & access the Tuesday May 10th files, Go to 'We've Got Mail' audio file. My letter is the first to be read. NB. I was urged to make comments about the Flora Expo :-) , as I suspect many other regular RTI listeners were. Probably as part of a sponsorship deal with RTI. ALSO. For those interested in sovereignty issues & furthering their knowledge of geography, there's a item on the RTI English home page in the news section about the Spratly & Paracel Islands. Regards (Ian Baxter, NSW, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Skip the first 3+ minutes, pointless small talk about the weather, etc.; vapid chat, giggling airheads (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RADIO TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL --- The English Service has an opening for a program host/reporter. Responsibilities include: translating, writing, broadcasting, interviewing, producing programs and maintaining web page. Applicants must -- have graduated from university, -- have a good speaking voice, -- be fluent in spoken and written English, -- be proficient in speaking and reading Chinese, -- have a strong interest in the broadcasting profession, -- have basic computer skills, -- Web experience is a plus. Those interested should download an application form from our web page (click here) and send it to 1000521-English@rti.org.tw by May 13th, 2011. Written and mic. tests will be administered for this position from 9 am until 12 pm on May 21, 2011. Address: RTI Personnel Department, No. 55, Bei-An Road, Taipei, Taiwan Fax: (02) 2885-0403 Tel: (02) 2885-6168 #516 Applicants must provide a phone number; qualified applicants will be notified before the test date. Resumes will not be returned. SOURCE: http://english.rti.org.tw/Content/WhatsNewSingle.aspx?ContentID=124398 (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, May 7, DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 7444.983, RTI Yunlin in Thai, female announcer, 2234 UT May 9, fair S=5-6 signal. 11605.088 odd, R Taiwan International from Tainan in Japanese, S=9+15dB fluttery. 0810 UT May 4. Remote receiver in CA. 11605.082, RTI, Tainan in Japanese at 2250 UT May 7, S=9+5dB in Japan. 11605.103, RTI, Tainan in Japanese at 2240 UT May 8, S=9+5dB in Japan. 11714.886, RTI from Taipei in Amoy (Hokkein) language, phone in talk by two female at 1242 UT May 8, S=7 signal. 11764.953, RTI Tainan in Vietnamese at 1250 UT May 8. Weak S=4-5 signal. 11874.890, RTI Tainan from Taiwan in English with IS and IS at 0100 UT May 7. S=6-7 in Japan. 11885.019, RTI Hu Wei in Chinese at 2310 UT May 9, weak in Tokyo remote site. 11915.094, RTI Tainan in Hakka language at 1256 UT May 8. All on remote Vancouver unit. [that date, anyway] 15269.954, RTI Paochung in Vietnamese at 0905 UT May 4, S=6-7 in CA. (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 6220.00, YFR Hu Wei in Burmese at 1150 UT May 8, endless sermon by male. S=6-7 weak signal. 6239.984, YFR BauJong in Chinese, www web address at 1158 UT, May 8. 7459.984, YFR Paochung in Vietnamese, 1215 UT May 8. S=5-6 weak. 9464.905, YFR in English via Paochung-TWN, S=8-9 at 0900 UT May 7. 9954.986, YFR Tainan in Russian at 1625 UT May 5, sermon by male prayer. S=8-9 strength. [the SAH we hear on WRMI] 11569.981, YFR Hu Wei in Burmese at 1230 UT May 8. Weak only S=3-4 11894.980, YFR via Taipei Taiwan relay, Korean, sermon, flute and piano music, 0857 UT May 4. S=6-7 signal level in CA (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) Geez, can`t they get any of their transmitters on-frequency to .00 if not .000, at least by chance? Or do you only report the ones that are off? O yeah, they succeeded on 6220.00 (gh, DXLD) 11535, May 8 at 1351, good with Chinese talk by OM. Nothing in HFCC to account for this, so check Aoki: of course, it`s TAIWAN, banned from HFCC by the ChiCom, with Family Radio at 12-13 via Yunlin site, and thus not worth jamming either. Think of all those hundreds of millions of non-Christians in China who have less than two weeks to get saved or get damned! Tsk2 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. 15670, May 5 at 1155 and 1256, CNR1 ChiCom jamming against R. Free Asia, Tibetan via Tajikistan, is assisted by spurs from WWCR 15825; see U S A (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. 9830, Voice of Turkey; 2248:50*, 4-May; English sked, e- mail & ID. Off to IS. SIO=544. Caught them on 9730 a few days ago -- pretty sure that wasn't a logbook "typo", so maybe a punch-up error (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15450, VOT, May 5 at 1323-1325* closing the English broadcast, we get to hear the 26-note IS played several times absolutely identically, the variations having been eliminated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 10110, mixing product for TRT with IS at 1926 May 6 and with another station. Standard rig : ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser (Zacharias Liangas, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Explained in previous issues 15450, VOT, poor May 7 at 1351 in `DX Corner` with YL reading some radio news about NHK; 1253 music break. Too poor to copy, but we need to ascertain if she is still ripping off items from the Media Network blog without credit. The on-demand file on the website is not yet for May 7, but May 6 as of 1730 check; not May 8 either at 1830. Seems they are slow to get around to uploading new content over weekends; do they pile up on Mondays or get missed altogether? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, next checked at 1722 UT May 9, today`s program is already linked, having skipped May 7 and 8!! (gh, DXLD) ** UGANDA. 4750, Dunamis BC, Mukono, 1846-1858* (abrupt closure), 06 May, Vernacular, talks; 35342. 73. (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA [non]. via France, 15410, Radio Y’Abaganda, *1700-1715*, May 7, US pop music. ID at 1705 and back to more US pop music. Some Afro-pop music at 1709. Local choral tune at 1713. Vernacular talk at 1713:30. Fair. Sat only (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. The Director-General of the National Radio Company of Ukraine, Taras Avraham informed the staff of the World Service of Radio Ukraine's intention to eliminate international broadcasting in the Ukrainian language, and later on English, German and Romanian languages, the Ukrainian service of Radio Freedom. [?? Liberty?] The Director-General NRKU referred to the decision of the Board of the State Committee <> NRKU. According to him, instead of programs specially prepared for the Ukrainian diaspora worldwide, sound program internal Ukrainian radio broadcasting. As reported earlier online publication Telekritica, since the beginning of this year concerned about the students accessed the Editor with questions, please <>. Actually continued to broadcast on the air only to the Romanian edition - 1,5 hours a day. A Ukrainian version of the program in other languages can be found only in satellite and the Internet. In recent years, power transmitters that transmit signals abroad reduced from 1000 kW to 100 kW, and the full broadcast in Ukrainian English, German and Romanian languages in Europe, North America, Russia and Australia has been sporadic. World Service radio broadcasting has been operating for over 60 years. As notes site NRKU, the problem of the service - <>. For comparison, the foreign broadcasting of the Russian Federation - The Voice of Russia - is broadcast on 160 countries in 40 languages, and all the while expanding coverage of the CIS member states. Information: http://news2000.com.ua/news/sobytija/v-ukraine/170001 (Dmitry Kutuzov, Ryazan / "deneb-radio-dx" via RusDX via DXLD) ** U K. unID: I am listening on 6947 kHz at 1951 (6/5/11) and can copy rock (?) music and an om announcer. Strange frequency; I thought it may be a pirate station? Nothing listed in WRTH or on the EIBI, etc lists. Any help would be welcome. Thanks. RX Perseus, Ant Longwire and balun (Steve Calver, UK, May 6, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Just played 'Laser Hot Hits' jingle, also recognisable Laser DJ in English. Exact frequency: 6946.72 kHz. Not parallel to 4026 kHz though (Alan Pennington, Caversham, UK, AOR 7030+ / longwire, 2009 UT May 6, ibid.) ** U K [non]. BBCWS relay via GREECE: q.v. I found two sufficient frequencies for BBCWS in English, should one care to listen between 11 and 12 UT, unlikely since it carries the pandering `World, Have Your Say` listener-participation programmme: 15285, May 5 at 1106, good signal; and at 1111, fair signal on 17760. 15285 still in at 1153. Unfortunately, 15285 is about to be canceled! Plus three others in English, according to Ivo Ivanov May 5: [as below] HFCC agrees that 15285 has been 13 degrees from SINGAPORE, and 17760 is 25 degrees from THAILAND, so both USward unintentionally (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Cancelled frequencies of BBC from May 8: 1330-1400 on 7470 NAK 250 kW / 325 deg in Bengali 1400-1500 on 7565 NAK 250 kW / 280 deg in Hindi 1500-1545 on 7565 NAK 250 kW / 305 deg in Urdu 1545-1615 on 7600 NAK 250 kW / 255 deg in Tamil 1500-1600 on 9510 SLA 250 kW / 045 deg in Urdu 1400-1500 on 9685 NAK 250 kW / 275 deg in Hindi 1600-1800 on 9495 SLA 250 kW / 085 deg in English 1500-1600 on 11745 NAK 250 kW / 300 deg in Urdu 0900-1300 on 15285 SNG 100 kW / 013 deg in English 0800-1300 on 15400 ASC 250 kW / 027 deg in English 0900-1300 on 21660 NAK 250 kW / 020 deg in English (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, May 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC English still heard on those three frequencies. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, 1126 UT May 8, ibid.) And then? Additional frequency of BBC WS in English: 1700-1800 NF 7565 NAK 250 kW / 280 deg to SoAs, ex 9810 CYP 300 kW/090 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 9 May via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. BBC World Service is available in 28 languages, but bbcworldservice.com is useful only if you speak English. Posted: 07 May 2011 [See http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11220 for numerous further linx] I've just noticed that the bbcworldservice.com URL takes the user directly to the World Service English "Programmes" page. There are no longer links to the BBC World Service language services. I finally found those links, first by clicking on the How and When to Listen tab at the top of the home page, and tehn, under the FAQ header, clicking on Which languages do you broadcast in. One can also type bbc.co.uk/(name of language), e.g. www.bbc.co/russian or www.bbc.co/chinese. An international broadcasting entity that offers content in more than one language should ensure that its web home page is friendly and accessible to speakers of each of those languages. This means that there should be a link in the language at the top of the home page. The user should not have to click on some word in English (or the home language of the broadcaster) to get to the user's language service. Yes, as Andy Sennitt has just pointed out, each BBCWS language service has its own URL, e.g. bbcrussian.com, or bbcmundo.com, which is announced on the air, if they are still on the air. But if you don't know these URLs, the BBCWS home page won't be very helpful. This page should be the BBC World Service home page, with the addition of prominent links to BBC English content. Those links could be: BBC World Service Radio in English; BBC World News Television in English (which provides a schedule but doesn't say much about what BBC World News is); and BBC.com News Online in English. This would also solve the problem of not finding much news when going to the bbcworldservice.com. Then there is the BBC World Radio and TV web page. I believe we previously discussed how to get to this page, but I have since forgotten. In any case, this page is more useful than the BBC World Service homepage in navigating to BBC World Service language services, although one has to scroll down below the initial visible page. It is apparent that BBC needs to go back to the drawing board in designing and organizing its international broadcasting websites. Examples of international broadcasting home pages that are language friendly: Radio Netherlands, Radio Sweden, Swissinfo, NHK World, Radio Canada International, China Radio International, Radio Free Asia (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U K. NUJ BALLOTS ON INDUSTRIAL ACTION AGAINST BBC COMPULSORY REDUNDANCIES --- The National Union of Journalists, April 28 2011 http://www.nuj.org.uk/innerPagenuj.html?docid=2063&string=BBC Thousands of BBC journalists are being balloted for strike action in response to the threat of compulsory redundancies across the Corporation. Around 100 BBC journalists based in the World Service, BBC Monitoring, Online, and in Scotland and Wales are threatened with compulsory redundancy. TheNUJ, which represents the majority of journalists at the BBC, is to ballot members after the BBC refused to consider further moves to secure redeployment or find alternative opportunities for around 100 staff. NUJ general secretary Jeremy Dear said: "For months we have been negotiating with the BBC and have been able to resolve most cases by agreement.But the BBC’s refusal to consider workable alternatives for around 100 staff has left us with no choice but to ballot members for industrial action to defend jobs and services. "There is no justification for these compulsory redundancies." The union begins the ballot this week (via Mike Terry, UK, May 8, dxldyg via DXLD) So results in by now? ** U K. Sunday Classics --- It's wet weekend this weekend, not as nice as last weekend. But it is Sunday which can only mean that it is time to dig out some classic hits. This is just a short note to let you know that WR International is on air now on short wave @ 12257Khz until 13:00 BST (UK time). We are also on the internet with the Destiny radio system http://www.pirateradionetwork.com in stereo, visit our web site for details http://www.wrinternational.co.uk you can also listen via shoutcast search for WR International at http://www.shoutcast.com or the url is http://radio.wrinternational.co.uk:8003/listen.pls You can contact us any time at radio @ wrinternational.co.uk with http://www.facebook.com/wrinternational or sms text message to +447539441912. 08:00 Dave Jones 11:00 Ed Marshall 12:00 Pat Taylor Happy listening if you choose to, have a good day. Dave, WR International (via Roberto Scaglione, May 8, shortwave yg via DXLD) ** U S A. 9885, VOA Spanish, May 6 at 1219 says the program in progress is `Estudio 45`, lunes a viernes a las 8 de la mañana. Naming a program for the studio where it originates, of significance only to those within the building, demonstrates a profound lack of imagination, but hardly the first time this has been done. And what if the studio has to be changed for technical reasons; then what? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Estudio 45 arranca en la VOA Este nuevo programa ofrece información sobre Estados Unidos. El lunes 9 de mayo, a las 8:00 de la mañana, la Voz de América estrena un nuevo programa: ESTUDIO 45. ESTUDIO 45 es un programa de actualidad noticiosa de Estados Unidos con el acontecer más relevante en América Latina y el resto del mundo. El programa, producido desde los estudios de la VOA en Washington, ofrece además lo más destacado en el mundo de la informática, la salud y la inmigración. Según el periodista Alejandro Escalona, quien conduce el programa, Estudio 45 busca informar sobre eventos políticos, sociales y culturales de Estados Unidos, haciendo énfasis en la capital. ``La misión de nuestro programa es ofrecer información sobre estados Unidos, lo más relevante y que a su vez pueda interesar a nuestra audiencia en América Latina``, dijo Escalona. ESTUDIO 45 es transmitido de lunes a viernes, de 8:00 a 8:30 de la mañana hora de Washington [1200-1230 UT M-F], vía satélite, por onda corta y por voanoticias.com FUENTE: Estudio 45 arranca en la VOA http://bit.ly/kViLM0 VOA Frecuencias --- Efectivo desde el 27 de marzo a las 0800 hs UT del 30 octubre 2011, Español : 1130-1200 UT* 9885 13750 15590 1200-1300 UT 9885 13750 15590 2300-2400 UT 5890 9885 12000 0000-0100 UT# 5890 9885 12000 # - Martes a Sabado * - Lunes a Viernes (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, May 9, noticiasdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) ** U S A [non]. 17545 and 15580, VOA sufficient, Saturday May 7 at 1425 concluding `On the Line` discussion, 1427 `USG Editorial` about AU/US coöperation on Ivory Coast, Libya, but lasted only one sesquiminute, then fill music ending with VOA jingle, until 1430 `Encounter` discussion of UBL. It seems my previous suspicion that 17545 could be Greenville is not so; both SÃO TOMÉ at this hour. Yes, let`s always call him Usama from now on, less confundible with Obama (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17750, May 9 at 0542, good signal from VOA Kurdish, 250 kW due north from MADAGASCAR. Some JBA CCI this time, way over R. Australia collision. It`s the SSOB with the only other one being 17855, R. Free Asia, Saipan, very poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) New additional transmission for V. of America in French from May 14: 1100-1130 on 11925 SAO 100 kW / 335 deg to CeAf Sat only 1100-1130 on 13770 SAO 100 kW / 100 deg to CeAf Sat only 1100-1130 on 15715 BON 250 kW / 090 deg to CeAf Sat only 1100-1130 on 17630 IRA 250 kW / 271 deg to CeAf Sat only New Frequency changes of Voice of America: 0500-0530 5995 SAO 100 kW / 335 deg to CeAf, ex 7320 Hausa, re- 9600 0700-0730 17530 MDC 250 kW / 305 deg to CeAf, ex 17525 Hausa, re-17820 1530-1630 9320 PHT 250 kW / 270 deg to SEAs, ex 9355 Burmese 1600-1700 11790 PHT 250 kW / 283 deg to SoAs, ex 9320 Bangla 1700-1800 13855 UDO 250 kW / 308 deg to CeAs, ex 7425 Georgian 2030-2100 9810 NAU 250 kW / 190 deg to CeAf, ex 9815 Hausa Mon-Fri 2030-2100 11990 BOT 100 kW / 350 deg to CeAf, ex 15185 Hausa Mon-Fri (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 9 May via DXLD) See also KUWAIT ** U S A [non]. 15120, May 7 at 0520 in Chinese a few seconds behind // 17855. Unlike Aoki and its easily overlooked or misunderstood a*terisks, Eibi explicitly shows CNR1 jammers on these frequencies, as well as R. Free Asia in Mandarin, 03-07. 15120 is TINIAN and 17855 is SAIPAN. Deliberate offset delays are typical of those sites to even out power consumption, even if both were from the same site, so I am quite sure it was RFA being heard, and the ChiCom jamming not propagating. 15120 did have some QRM under and SAH, no doubt poor NIGERIA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes of Radio Liberty: 1300-1400 NF 13745 RMP 500 kW / 062 deg to RUSS, ex 9710 in Russian 1400-1500 NF 13745 RMP 500 kW / 062 deg to RUSS, ex 13830 in Russian 1500-1600 NF 12025 BIB 100 kW / 088 deg to CeAs, ex 9405 in Azeri (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 9 May via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes of Radio Farda in Farsi: 0430-0500 NF 17880 IRA 250 kW / 316 deg to WeAs, ex 17845 0500-0600 NF 17880 UDO 250 kW / 304 deg to WeAs, ex 17845 0600-0800 NF 17880 UDO 250 kW / 304 deg to WeAs, ex 21715 0800-0830 on 17880 UDO 250 kW / 304 deg to WeAs, cancelled to avoid R. SAWA! (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 9 May via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. 17530, May 9 at 1403, pop music from R. Sawa via KUWAIT, still on this same frequency for more than a week! Vying for the longevity award (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 25910, WBAP Fort Worth, TX, FM narrow studiolink, 1555-1605, Apr 16, English news, IDs and ads, 35522/3. 25990, KSCS Fort Worth, TX, FM narrow studiolink, 1605-1610, Apr 16, English ann, lots of IDs for the 96.3 FM channel, 35433 (Max van Arnhem, Hoenderloo, The Netherlands, DSWCI DX Window May 4 via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1563: first airing should have been 0330 UT Thursday May 5 on WRMI 9955, but too busy to check it here; then at 1500, 2100, Friday 1430, Saturday 0800, 1730, Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730. On WWCR: Friday 2030 on 15825, Saturday 1600 on 12160, Sunday 0630 on 3215, as still shown on May schedule. On WWRB, UT Friday 0330 on 2390, 5050, we hope back this week after missing last week. On IPAR, Saturday 1800 on 7290 via Slovakia. On WRN via SiriusXM, on new channel numbered 120, Saturday and Sunday 1730, Sunday 0830. 2390, WWRB, as usual the preacher before us ran about a minute over, so at 0332 UT Friday May 6, Dave Frantz comes on live announcing that from Monday May 9 all programming on 2390 will be heard on the summer frequency 5050. Apparently this is a roundabout way of saying that 2390 will be off for the summer, as the two have already been running // for several weeks, especially during WORLD OF RADIO. So what will become of the 2390 transmitter in the evenings? Or will he be putting some other programming on it? As also often happens, there followed dead air as Dave attempted to get the WOR 1563 playback started. At 0333 he said something about ``waiting for the internet to send it to us`` altho we already sent the file by ftp to WWRB. Finally started at 0334:30. Next chances: via WWCR, Friday 2030 on 15825; Saturday 1600 on 12160; Sunday 0630 on 3215. WRMI 9955: Saturday 0800, 1730; Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730; IPAR Saturday 1800 on 7290 via Slovakia; WRN via Sirius/XM 120, Saturday and Sunday 1730; Sunday 0830. WORLD OF RADIO 1563 monitoring: Friday 2030 on WWCR 15825 confirmed at 2044 check May 6, but very poor with no Es enhancement, skipping over here. E.g., KUWAIT [q.v.] was much better on 15540. WOR repeats on WWCR are Saturday 1600 on 12160, Sunday 0630 on 3215. Confirmed on WRN/WRMI webcast at 1731, to repeat Sunday at same time, and also on WRMI Sunday 0800, 1530. On IPAR via SLOVAKIA, Saturday 1800 on 7290. Also on WRN via SiriusXM new channel 120, Sunday at 0831 and 1731 WORLD OF RADIO 1563 monitoring: Sunday May 8 at 1535, very poor signal on 9955 WRMI, but enough to confirm, and no jamming as is usually the case now during this hour. Next airings on WRMI: Sunday 1730, Mon 1130 & 2130 (both likely jammed), Tue 1530, Wed 0100. On WRN and via SiriusXM 120: Sunday 1731 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Greetings: Many changes at WWRB shortwave: WWRB is no longer a Ministry; it is a commercial radio station: Our web page http://www.wwrb.org is being updated to reflect this change. We ask our clients & potential clients to no longer address our staff as 'Brother' or 'Sister' WWRB shortwave no longer provides Free airtime to broadcasters; In keeping with other shortwave stations` policies, open airtime slots until sold will be filled with various specialty programs. WWRB shortwave is now open to all broadcasters` political and religious points of view. WWRB does not discriminate. On air conduct will in good taste, and respectful. WWRB is reviewing our rate card and structure in relation to other shortwave stations. WWRB is changing Global - ONE broadcast frequency from 2390 to 5050 kHz for the summer. Some programming will move to 3215 & 3195; working out the details with our broadcasters. WWRB shortwave is installing Audio Processing equipment to enhance / augment our broadcast audio chain. Global-ONE is the first transmitter to be updated. WWRB is adding 15 MHz to our broadcast line up. 15 MHz frequency to be announced. Antenna Azimuth will be 045 degrees, rhombic antenna 150 feet high. Antenna will be calibrated by using one of our Radio survey aircraft, N 5259Q. Airline Transport, WWRB's parent company, has received FAA approval to construct an 'All weather' runway with full Instrument Landing System (ILS) capability. This runway will be 36 / 18. Airline Transport's Runway 28 / 10 ILS / DME has been upgraded. WOW, we have been and will be very busy! Regards, (Captain David L. Frantz, Chief Pilot, Airline Transport, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Greetings to all: The audio processing equipment is being installed in Global-1 right now: We hope to turn on the unit in the next few days. We have played around with it, just cobbling it in the audio chain: The plate current meter on the Harris SW-100 F transmitter goes nuts when the processor is turned on; the modulation monitor graphic displays stay just below the 145% Plus modulation index, the neg modulation - 95 %. WWRB will be testing 15795 kHz for our broadcast expansion. We are asking for reception reports on 5050: If listeners would be kind please drop us an email via the WWRB web site http://www.wwrb.org let us know how the processing sounds, as we will be adjusting it for weeks. The web site is being updated with our move to WWRB converting to a Commercial Radio Station. Adding more photos to our photo gallery; most of the new photos will be Aviation related (Dave Frantz, WWRB, 0343 UT May 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Looks like 15795 should be quite clear after India is done at 1315 UT. 5050 might benefit from some audio processing, but your other frequencies, especially 9385 are plenty loud. The `over-processing` on some WWCR frequencies sounds awful, in my opinion (Glenn to Dave, via DXLD) WWRB likes to operate close to WWCR frequencies, presumably to divert their listeners; cf many other examples (gh, DXLD) WWRB with a solid signal on 5050 at a 0325 check UT Tuesday May 10. Audio processing sounds much better than previous output from this station; more like what we expect from co-state WWCR (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, dxldyg via DXLD) On the audio processing: We never wanted to use it but clients hear the 'louder' station and think it must be stronger, better, further reach. Worthy of more money per hour. We are matching 'louder' stations` broadcast rates & policies. After years of total disrespect and serious flagrant disdain and abuse of our Generosity, WWRB is no longer operated as a Ministry it is now a commercial radio station. Regards, (Captain David L. Frantz, Chief Pilot, Airline Transport Communications, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: I got a message from WWRB's Dave Frantz with the following: Greetings: We will be using 5050 with WOR for the summer. Let us know how it sounds. That from Dave Frantz at WWRB in Tennessee. 73's, (Noble West at BMS, TN, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Greetings to all: The audio processing equipment is being installed in Global-1 right now: We hope to turn on the unit in the next few days. We have played around with it, just cobbling it in the audio chain: The plate current meter on the Harris SW-100 F transmitter goes nuts when the processor is turned on; the modulation monitor graphic displays stay just below the 145% Plus modulation index, the neg modulation - 95 %. WWRB will be testing 15795 kHz for our broadcast expansion. We are asking for reception reports on 5050: If listeners would be kind please drop us an email via the WWRB web site http://www.wwrb.org let us know how the processing sounds, as we will be adjusting it for weeks. The web site is being updated with our move to WWRB converting to a Commercial Radio Station. Adding more photos to our photo gallery; most of the new photos will be Aviation related (Dave Frantz, WWRB, 0343 UT May 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Looks like 15795 should be quite clear after India is done at 1315 UT. 5050 might benefit from some audio processing, but your other frequencies, especially 9385 are plenty loud. The `over-processing` on some WWCR frequencies sounds awful, in my opinion (Glenn to Dave, via DXLD) ** U S A. 9370, WTJC remains out of whack with distortion on the fundamental and wide-ranging spurs messing up many neighboring signals. At 0524 May 5, I could hear WTJC at many spots between 9315 and 9455. At 1052 the main peaks were circa 9320, 9345 and up to 9420. 9370, WTJC`s out-of-whackness the worst yet, May 6 at 0549, spreading continuously from 9250 to 9470 with extreme distortion, especially bad for other US stations on 9330, 9355, 9385. Do WBCQ and WYFR care about this? Inconsequential compared to The Rapture. At 1226, the main spurs are on 9320, 9345 vs VOK, and 9395 vs FEBC in Chinese on 9400. 9370, WTJC and its filthy spurs: May 7 at 0534, worst on 9395, weaker around 9345 talking about Jee-e-zus (3 syllables); also bothering Greek music on 9420 and audible up to 9445. And also at 1242, worst on 9345 vs VOK, 9320 and 9395 vs nothing, audible down to 9300. 9370, WTJC, May 8 at 1244, dirty spurs still emanating, peaking around 9345, 9395, i.e. +/- 25 kHz. Will the Fundamentalists ever notice and clean them up temporarily yet again? 9370, WTJC distorted spur situation, May 9 at 0532: peaking around 9320, 9345, 9495, 9420, i.e. plus/minus 25 kHz and multiples. At 1256, worst on 9395, mixing with distorted BS splash from 9385 WWRB. At 1322, WTJC was louder on 9395 spur than 9370 fundamental. At 1407, splatter from 9385 WWRB so bad on 9395 that it obscured the WTJC spur, commercial station vs fundamentalists! Yes, Capt. Frantz notified us May 8 that WWRB is no longer a ministry --- [as above] 9370, WTJC remains out of whack for more than a week, polluting the 31m band with filthy distorted spurs. Rather like squeezing a pastry with cream filling, more of it comes out around the edges than is left in the center. May 10 at 0547 the usual peaks circa 9320, 9345, 9395, 9420, with 9395 worst. Also at 1238 same setup. Dear Jesus, please make them work to fix their transmitter once and for all, and not wait till You come. Amen (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9330-CUSB, May 5 at 1052, WBCQ again in dead air, with mush from WTJC 9370 spurs audible underneath. Next check at 1146, GFRN modulation had resumed, still with WTJC hash. It seems DA from Orangeville is not unusual, a sure way to lose what few listeners they could have. 9330-CUSB, May 10 at 0547, dead air from Rod Hembree`s network, the programming I find most satisfying, while the hard-sell pseudo-hip presentation of Radio 2:11 is annoying, even if I were interested in the content (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15420, WBCQ: see SOUTH CAROLINA [non] ** U S A. 9265, WINB is fond of confronting CODAR, not only on its only other frequency, 13570, but also here: May 5 at 1051 in English, lite CODAR underneath, with its weak peak circa 9250. 18530, May 8 at 2122, JBA music, sounds like Martha Garvin, and sure `nuff, // 9265 WINB she is belting away her ``Musical Memories`` hymns, accompanying self on piano. Second harmonic always radiating when 9265 is on, just waiting for enough propagation. Wish I knew what the power on 18530 is, but I`m sure not even WINB knows (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15825, May 5 at 1107, a bit of a novelty to hear Russian on WWCR, but now so scheduled, and good signal getting a sporadic-E boost this early before sunrise, shortly after sign-on. Per May 3 WWCR program sked, this is a version of James Dobson`s `Focus on the Family`, M-F at 1100-1115, followed by Arabic New Testament at 1115- 1130. 15825 was so strong, S9+20, that at 1155 when back in English, modulation spike spurs traced to it by matching could be heard on 15670 vs Chinese radio war --- see TIBET [non], and spreading 15660- 15680; 1210 faded to only fair, disaudiblizing the spikes; 1256 could again hear the spurs vs Chinese. This was a tipoff to more Es seen later from Mexico up to 68 MHz, q.v. Strangely enough, the May 3 program schedule still shows Rollye James, Mon-Sat 0500-0800 on 3215, tho her show went off the air at the end of March and WWCR has been playing fill music shows instead. Maybe they expect her to resume any time. Of course, if she really appreciated shortwave, she would do her show there if nowhere else (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Confirmação recebida --- Amigos, hoje recebi mais uma confirmação QSL. A norte-americana WWCR tem se mostrado ótima pagadora de QSLs. Todos os meus informes foram confirmados com o cartão QSL. Esse cartão QSL da WWCR me surpreendeu, pois, a emissora vem melhorando a qualidade dos seus cartões. As imagens das duas confirmações podem ser vistas em: http://rubensdx.multiply.com/photos/album/48/ 48 5935 WWCR - Nashville - TN - USA - Recebido bonito cartão QSL full data com vista parcial de Nashville. 36 dias. V/S: Cathy D. (Program Director). QTH: WWCR - 1300 WWCR Ave. - Nashville, TN 37218 USA (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso (PY5-007), Bandeirantes - Paraná - Brasil, May 6, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Nice, evening view of Nashville skyline and reflected in water (gh, DXLD) 15655-15680, May 9 at 2015, WWCR modulation spike spurs scratch thru this range, from S9+18 // 15825 fundamental; looked for a match around 16000, but none there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 12100, May 9 at 2023 open carrier, quickly off; 2043 back on and off briefly: no doubt WTWW testing second/third transmitter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also UNIDENTIFIED 12100 ** U S A. KJES finally heard again here. 11714.85, KJES via Vado, NM. 5/10, 1530, children chanting in Spanish. Exceptionally strong carrier with some hum and, as I noted, somewhat off nominal frequency 11715. All this after numerous frequency checks over weeks and weeks, with no joy (Rick Barton, El Mirage, AZ, Hammarlund 600 "Super Pro", Drake R- 8, outdoor l.w. and slinky, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7555, if you tune in WEWN anytime between 04 and 06 UT on Tue-Sat, also // 11870, chances are great you will hear their super- unxuous announcer intoning ``por su dolorosa pasión``. That`s exactly what I hit May 7 at 0537, and in fact he recited it over and over, alternating with an OL saying ``en misericordia de nosotros y del mundo entero``. This went on for over a minute before they moved on. What a downer! I think the intention is to be comforting and peaceful in the moonlight --- even when the moon has already set, like tonight. The show is nevertheless always called ``Paz a la luz de la luna``, EN VIVO, per http://www.ewtn.com/radio/sp_radio_sched.asp#ixzz1LgLRpqIy (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5950, WYFR Family Radio, Okeechobee FL; 2251, 4-May; Harold C droning on Open Forum; H attempted to explain the 5/21/11 numerology. Caller hung up, not sounding convinced. Next caller wanted to know if any prominent religious person outside of Family Radio believed in 5/21/11. H said that many did, but wouldn't name any. Then he waxed philosophic for several minutes on what "prominent" meant. SIO=453 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) I heard that same bit of an O.F. elsewhen. We are still waiting for a straight answer. At least he does not edit out such embarrassing parts, or are there even worse ones clipped? (gh, DXLD) 17795, May 8 at 1302, WYFR English is putting overmodulation spur spikes out to 17780-17810. Who cares, with The Rapture almost here! See also TAIWAN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. I've just googled "Harold Camping" and saw the following latest (video) interview with him... Text: http://www.kmph.com/story/14583628/end-of-the-world-may-21-2011 Video stream [7 minutes]: http://www.kmph.com/category/170789/video-landing-page?clipId=5823570&autostart=true Video DOWNLOAD [flv, 23.5 MB]: http://flash.video.worldnow.com/kmph/KMPH_20110506015025630B.flv Regards, (DrAgan Lekic, Serbia, May 6, dxldyg via DXLD) See also CANADA; CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES May 21, the end of the world. No more DXing for you! (Redding, ABDX) THIS TIME, IT’S FOR REAL, BELIEVERS SAY: DOOMSDAY COMING THIS MONTH. By Michael S. Rosenwald, Published: May 5 http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/doomsday_approaches/2011/05/05/AFDcOd2F_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage The unexpected and potentially rotten news that the world will end on May 21 rolled into the District on Thursday morning, plastered on a caravan of five recreational vehicles that parked near the Washington Monument. “Have you heard the awesome news?” the side of the RVs asked, in big bold letters. “The End of the World is Almost Here!” As if the message weren’t scary enough, the dozen or so occupants of the RVs — vanguard of a national campaign funded by a fundamentalist Christian radio network and fueled by bus ads and Internet buzz — wore highlighter-bright yellow shirts that said “Earthquake So Mighty, So Great.” They offered pedestrians handouts saying there was “ marvelous proof” that “Holy God will bring judgment day on May 21, 2011.” The Rapture, they warned, is upon us. A woman waved off the pamphlet: “Already have one.” A jogger ran right past. “No thanks,” said another. A tourist simply said, “No.” Many people said exactly nothing. Although the District is apparently a tough audience for doomsday forecasts — despite the power here to make something like it happen — many Americans have been captivated by the idea of the end of time since the country’s beginning. Some have even been so bold as to pick a date. William Miller, who spawned a 19th-century religious movement that remains visible today, is the most classic example: He created a nationwide stir when he predicted that Jesus would return and the world would end before March 21, 1844. (He was stood up.) “In American history, you have always had a fascination with this stuff,” said Doug Weaver, professor of religion at Baylor University. End Times, as the phenomenon is known, has spawned an economy that rivals the GDP of small countries. There have been scores of books, movies, video games and albums that revolve around Armageddon and the end of the world. There was, among others, the 1991 movie “The Rapture,” starring Mimi Rogers and David Duchovny. Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, authors of the “Left Behind” series, have sold more than 63 million books. Even Johnny Cash dabbled in End Times lyrics, particularly in his popular song “The Man Comes Around.” “This is a cottage industry,” said Weaver. “People really love this stuff.” And for many Christians, it is a core part of their beliefs. About 41 percent of Americans think that Jesus will return before 2050, according to a 2010 poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press. Prior prophecy The man pushing the current forecast is Harold Camping, an 89-year-old Christian fundamentalist radio host and co-founder of the Family Radio network, which broadcasts on dozens of stations across the country. His group has sponsored the end-of-the-world caravan and plastered cities, including Washington, with billboards and signs. This is not Camping’s first end-of-the-world prophecy. In a 1992 book, he predicted that the world would end in 1994. When he woke up in 1995, clearly something had gone wrong. “It’s just like anyone who invents something or comes to a truth or any technician — they don’t immediately make a finished product,” he explained. “I did not come to the finished product until three years ago. It was at that time that God showed some exquisite proof.” This time, he insists that he’s right, and by lunchtime Thursday, about 50 area residents joined up with the caravan to support his message. Among them was Gary Vollmer, who took a leave of absence from the Department of Homeland Security to spread the word. He’s supposed to go back on May 23. “But I’m not going back,” he said. “I’ll be gone on the 21st.” That’s when a great big earthquake is scheduled to occur. “The remains of all the believers who have ever lived will be instantly transformed into glorified spiritual bodies to be forever with God,” Family Radio says on its Web site. “On the other hand the bodies of all unsaved people will be thrown out upon the ground to be shamed.” Tony Moise, a 47-year-old insurance underwriter from Silver Spring, quit his job to prepare. “It will be hell on Earth,” he said, taking a break from handing out material. “You won’t want to be around on May 22. There will be no electricity, no power, no water.” Camping, an engineer by training, says he came up with the very precise date of May 21 through a mathematical calculation that would probably crash Google’s computers. It involves, among other things, the dates of floods, the signals of numbers in the Bible, multiplication, addition and subtraction thereof. Camping describes his equations with absolute conviction. “He seems to be the only one who understands the equation,” said Paul Boyer, a University of Wisconsin historian who studies apocalyptic beliefs. “But he has a very persuasive radio voice, and he preaches with absolute confidence, and there seems to be enough people that believe it all.” But there are also many skeptics, including LaHaye, who has made a fortune selling books about the end, although he hasn’t picked a specific date. “I would assume he’s sincere, but many people can be sincerely wrong,” he said, noting that in the Old Testament, false prophets were stoned. “Camping is very fortunate we don’t do that anymore.” A time certain On Thursday, Brenda Forester, visiting from Michigan, got into a somewhat heated encounter with one of Camping’s followers, citing a passage from the Bible that says nobody knows when Christ will return. “He will return,” Forester said, “but not on May 21st.” Another man was so perturbed by the May 21 message that he brought over a woman he found on the street who needed money. He asked whether the Camping followers would give her some cash, because there was no need for them to keep money with the world ending. They did not. Still, those in the yellow earthquake shirts insisted that the end was near, saying all signs point in that direction. Boyer said End Timers who pick dates almost always make their prophecies in context with current events. In the 1800s, Miller relied on financial panics. To bolster his claim that “judgment days are coming,” Camping has mentioned the massive earthquakes in Chile, Haiti and Japan, as well as the recent tornadoes in the South. And to top that off, gay people are thriving. “There has always been some homosexuality in the world, of course, but now it is successful everywhere it turns,” Camping said. “Whole nations no longer consider it a sin, even though it is a sin. It fits into place now — God has orchestrated this to indicate we are right at the end. We are at the threshold of being destroyed by fire and brimstone.” The end will come sometime around 6 p.m. on May 21 — not 6 p.m. California time or New York time or Hong Kong time. The world will end at 6 p.m. only when it is 6 p.m. locally, Camping said, citing his calculations. “People will see this coming to them from around the world,” he said. “It will follow the sun around.” Camping doesn’t seem exceptionally sad to at the notion of seeing the world go: “Frankly,” he says, “I wonder why this hasn’t happened sooner.” (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) "Family" radio has a blind spot for teenagers. In fact, anybody under about 60 years old. Most Christian radio is a waste of electricity to teenagers. And I don't blame them for not listening, I don't myself, it is so stodgy and irrelevant and boring. I wish my church would get into radio - there might actually be something on there people would care to listen to. Too bad they are giving a date. The Bible itself says nobody can know the date. I guess on the 22nd they will pack up and go home - egos and credibility bruised. If any of them wants to sell me their worldly possessions on the cheap, I'll gladly make a bid. If they happen to be right by pure dumb luck, I'll be in the rapture (Bruce Carter, TX, ibid.) A win-win situation!! (gh) I consider myself to be a person of great faith, and those of us who are can spot a false prophet from miles away. That having been said, what interests me is what's going to happen to Harold Camping and his followers when May 22nd arrives, we're all still here, and he is more clearly exposed the second time around (he was obviously wrong in September 1994) as a fraud. I see something happening similar to Jonestown. I hope I'm wrong, but Camping has clearly demonstrated that he's a few fries short of a happy meal, and I wouldn't put it past him. *steps off soapbox* (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. IS THE END NIGH? WE'LL KNOW SOON ENOUGH by Barbara Bradley Hagerty May 7, 2011 [illustrated; linx to 6:29 audio; 753 comments so far] http://www.npr.org/2011/05/07/136053462/is-the-end-nigh-well-know-soon-enough Brian Haubert grabs some pamphlets and marches toward the flea market in Palmyra, N.J. Armed with a poster that trumpets Judgment Day on May 21, 2011, he braces for rejection. Announcing God's wrath is not always a popular message. "I've been called a heretic," says Haubert, a 33-year-old actuary. "I've been told I read the wrong Bible. And then there's the occasional person who seems to be genuinely interested," he says. His friend and fellow believer, Kevin Brown, uses a gentler approach, not confronting people or engaging in conversation, just politely handing out Judgment Day pamphlets. Brown, who owns his own nutrition and wellness business, is soft- spoken and polished, not someone you'd imagine giving away doomsday tracts. But he says the clock is ticking. "People need to know," Brown says, "and God commands us to share the Gospel about the end of the world. He says if we do not share the Gospel then their blood will be on our hands, whether they believe or not. God's been moving me to do this." Spreading The Word Haubert and Brown are two of a small — or not so small, who knows? — army of Christians sounding the alarm. They drive caravans and put up billboards, hand out tracts and try to convince friends and family that Judgment Day is upon us. Brown says this message is laced throughout the Bible, but only some can decode it. It will happen this way: Brian Haubert (right) and Kevin Brown hand out Judgment Day pamphlets in Palmyra, N.J. Barbara Bradley Hagerty/NPR [caption] On May 21, "starting in the Pacific Rim at around the 6 p.m. local time hour, in each time zone, there will be a great earthquake, such as has never been in the history of the Earth," he says. The true Christian believers — he hopes he's one of them — will be "raptured": They'll fly upward to heaven. And for the rest? "It's just the horror of horror stories," he says, "and on top of all that, there's no more salvation at that point. And then the Bible says it will be 153 days later that the entire universe and planet Earth will be destroyed forever." Most Bible scholars note that even Jesus said he had no idea when Judgment Day would come. But May 21 believers like Haubert are unfazed. "I've crunched the numbers, and it's going to happen," he says. Haubert says the Bible contains coded "proofs" that reveal the timing. For example, he says, from the time of Noah's flood to May 21, 2011, is exactly 7,000 years. Revelations like this have changed his life. "I no longer think about 401(k)s and retirement," he says. "I'm not stressed about losing my job, which a lot of other people are in this economy. I'm just a lot less stressed, and in a way I'm more carefree." He's tried to warn his friends and family — they think he's crazy. And that saddens him. "Oh, it's very hard," he says. "I worry about friends and family and loved ones. But I guess more recently, I'm just really looking forward to it." Haubert is 33 and single. Brown is married with several young children, and none of them shares his beliefs. It's caused a rift with his wife — but he says that, too, was predicted in the Bible. "God says, 'Do you love husband or wife over me? Do you love son or daughter over me?' There is a test. There is a trial here that the believers are going through. It's a fiery trial." As May 21 nears, Brown says he feels as if he's on a "roller coaster." What if he is raptured but his family is left behind? "I'm crying over my loved ones one minute; I'm elated the next minute," he says. "It's all over the place." Family Radio No one knows how many people believe Judgment Day is right around the corner. But it appears that many became believers in 2009 after turning on Family Radio, a Christian network worth more than $100 million. [! No wonder they can buy up all that SW time --- or is that mostly adding up the market value of their radio properties if they were sold to real broadcasters? --- gh] Harold Camping speaks, holding a Bible, during his live television broadcast in 2002. Enlarge AP [caption] Harold Camping, the network's 89-year-old founder, has been interpreting the Bible on the air for years. He says that everyone knows there would be a judgment day at some point. "We just happen to be in that time in history," he said in an interview. "And whether we like it or not, we're here." Camping's predictions have inspired other groups to rally behind the May 21 date. People have quit their jobs and left their families to get the message out. "Knowing the date of the end of the world changes all your future plans," says 27-year-old Adrienne Martínez. She thought she'd go to medical school, until she began tuning in to Family Radio. She and her husband, Joel, lived and worked in New York City. But a year ago, they decided they wanted to spend their remaining time on Earth with their infant daughter. "My mentality was, why are we going to work for more money? It just seemed kind of greedy to me. And unnecessary," she says. And so, her husband adds, "God just made it possible — he opened doors. He allowed us to quit our jobs, and we just moved, and here we are." Now they are in Orlando, in a rented house, passing out tracts and reading the Bible. Their daughter is 2 years old, and their second child is due in June. Joel says they're spending the last of their savings. They don't see a need for one more dollar. "You know, you think about retirement and stuff like that," he says. "What's the point of having some money just sitting there?" "We budgeted everything so that, on May 21, we won't have anything left," Adrienne adds. Nothing, except for the fervent hope that all of them will be raptured. 'There Is No Plan B' Camping is not the first person to fix a date for the end of the world. There have been dozens of such prophets, and so far, they've all been wrong. Camping himself has had to do some recalculation. He first predicted the end would come Sept. 6, 1994. He now explains that he had not completed his biblical research. "For example, I at that time had not gone through the Book of Jeremiah," he explains, "which is a big book in the Bible that has a whole lot to say about the end of the world." So he's not planning for May 22? "Absolutely not," Camping says. "It is going to happen. There is no Plan B." I've asked a dozen of Camping's followers the same question. Everyone said even entertaining the possibility that May 21 would come and go without event is an offense to God. They all hope they'll be raptured. Some worry about being left behind. "If I'm here on May 22, and I wake up, I'm going to be in hell," says Brown. "And that's where I don't want to be. So there is going to be a May 22, and we don't want to be here." On the other hand, he will presumably have lots of company (NPR Weekend Edition Saturday, May 7, tnx to tip from Harold Frodge who heard it on WKAR, via DXLD) Going to Heaven May 21? Atheists offer to take care of your pets 4:13 pm May 10, 2011, by George Mathis As you are doubtless aware, the Second Coming is scheduled for May 21. Needless to say, it’s time to get your worldly affairs in order, and this includes finding a longterm pet sitter. . . http://blogs.ajc.com/news-to-me/2011/05/10/going-to-heaven-may-21-atheists-offer-to-take-care-of-your-pets/ = http://shar.es/HuG2b (via Greg Hardison, DXLD) The Camping campaign Hi Glenn, A fun read about the nutters campaign in Southern Africa: http://www.thedailymaverick.co.za/article/2011-05-10-countdown-to-judgment-day-global-cult-stays-firm-as-weeks-turn-into-days (Bill Bingham, RSA, May 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is receiving a lot of attention from the mainstream media now, tnx more to the billboards than the broadcasts (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 12787.5, May 8 at 2148, very strong and extremely distorted SSB masculine robot with marine weather; quotes NWS Weather Predixion Center, Washington DC, for west-central North-Atlantic continental shelf, etc., etc. Mispronounces ``décimal`` something like ``decíminil``. Geez. But the worst thing is the awful maladjustment of the transmitter which has been going on for months on this and other USCG frequencies. Searched the 33908 posts so far in the UDXF yg on that frequency and got zero hits, nor on 12787, but instead 12788. Dave Alpert posted this on Nov 4, 2010, source not cited: NOAA's National Weather Service Marine Forecasts Broadcast by USCG ``Gulf of Mexico Region NMG - New Orleans (MSY) Broadcast Time GMT (Zulu) Station Location Station Call Sign Frequency (kHz, USB) Forecast Type 0330Z MSY NMG 4316 8502 12788 Offshore, Hurricane 0515Z MSY NMG 4316 8502 12788 High-seas, Hurricane 0930Z MSY NMG 4316 8502 12788 Offshore, Hurricane 1115Z MSY NMG 4316 8502 12788 High-seas, Hurricane 1530Z MSY NMG 4316 8502 12788 Offshore, Hurricane 1715Z MSY NMG 4316 8502 12788 High-seas, Hurricane 2130Z MSY NMG 4316 8502 12788 Offshore, Hurricane 2315Z MSY NMG 4316 8502 12788 High-seas, Hurricane Broadcast of hurricane and other weather broadcasts from this station may on occasion be preempted, as the transmitters are shared with the radiofax broadcast.`` So I guess it is still the 2130 broadcast from NMG, which needs serious engineering attention! But beware: other USCG stations probably share frequency depending on time schedule. IIRC, 8502 has also been heard with the same problem (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I've been spending most of my radio time on shortwave utility stations and unfortunately nothing I can report here and not much to report there either. I have tried twice for local USCG Long Beach on 2670 for their 0503Z weather broadcast and nothing heard. I hope they come back. I have heard USCG North Bend at 0600 and that's about it. (Martin Foltz, Mission Viejo CA, May 8, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn, I have the Warning of Unlicensed operation for WEAK radio. I hope you will announce this from a FOIA request I sent. ``FCC ENFORCEMENT BUREAU SOUTH CENTRAL REGION Atlanta OFFICE WARNING OF UNLICENSED OPERATION [name and location withheld] On February 15, 2011, agents from the Atlanta Office confirmed by directing finding techniques that radio signals on the frequency 6.930 were emanating from your residence on, XXX XXXXXXX. The Commission's records show no license was issued for operation of a broadcast station on 6.930 at this location.`` (via Artie Bigley, May 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) After receiving a very nice email from the WEAK operator, Please do not use the name of the operator, NOR the City and State where he resides. He has no problem with you mentioning that a "Warning of Unlicensed broadcasting" was issued for the operator of WEAK radio on 6930. This is proper because, like he said, I received this notice through a FOIA and this is not in the FCC database. Agreed 100%. The important thing is now we know the FCC shutdown of WEAK radio is now OFFICIAL and this is not just a rumor anymore. That was my mission from the start of this. Setting the facts straight for the unbelievers of persons in denial. Last but not least, I was in denial that the FCC even cared about the pirate band after 12 years of paying no attention to it and this helped cure my denial (Artie Bigley, May 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5/4/11 - FCC Enforcement: Shortwave on Radar? The Enforcement Action Database continues to show a relatively lackadaisical year of pirate-hunting shaping up: just 35 actions through mid-April. Should the trend continue, enforcement activity against unlicensed broadcasters may approach levels not seen since 2005-06, the start of the FCC's post-LPFM station-hunting campaign. This would signify a significant shift and could be indicative of strategic revisions involving the agency's spectrum enforcement priorities more generally. However, some of the FCC's divided attention seems to be turning in an unexpected direction - shortwave pirates. Booming for years, the last time the agency conducted organized enforcement on the shortwave bands was more than a dozen years ago. According to Ragnar Daneskjold, producer of the PiratesWeek podcast, station WEAK was taken off the air in February by Douglas Miller, Director of the Atlanta District Field Office. PiratesWeek played a clip of WEAK's visit and shutdown (clip begins at 8:20). Mr. Miller announced his visit on-the-air and then killed the transmitter. He has since confirmed by e-mail that the incident occurred. This would not be the first time an FCC agent has announced the bust of a pirate over its own airwaves. Former FCC Enforcement Bureau chief Richard Lee did the same thing when he silenced Philadelphia's Radio Mutiny (the progenitor of the Prometheus Radio Project) in 1998. Mr. Miller himself is not unknown to radio pirates: he participated in the infamous FM enforcement sweep of 1998, hauling off gear from the studios of Free Radio Memphis. Ragnar comments that three shortwave stations have been investigated and/or contacted by the FCC over the last "several months." Intriguingly, the agency has not published any formal notification of these activities, strongly deviating from its FM anti-pirate protocol, where a Notice of Unlicensed Operation is almost always issued. There has been little public discussion of this among shortwave pirate enthusiasts, but if I were a broadcaster I'd want to know about FCC enforcement activity so that I could properly assess my relative risk of being on the air (from http://diymedia.net/archive/0511.htm#050411 with further linx, via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. THE FCC PROPOSES A $25,000 FINE FOR A CALIFORNIA PIRATE WHO THREATENED AGENTS http://www.radio-info.com/news/the-fcc-proposes-a-25000-fine-for-a-california-pirate-who-threatened-agents Pirate radio "KNRG-FM" was operating in San José, California. The only problem was the person operating the station didn't have the right to use those call letters, nor did he have the right to broadcast from his house, or broadcast at all. The FCC investigation found Gabriel Garcia was operating his pirate radio station at 92.9 without a license. Unfortunately for Garcia, who was also being investigated by the FAA for interfering with their communications, he did not welcome the FCC investigators when they came calling on him, threatening the San Francisco-based agents by saying "Do you want to get shot?" According to the FCC, fines were increased due to what the Commission called "particularly egregious" acts, and levied a $25,000 fine. The FCC report on this: http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2011/DA-11-836A1.html Older: http://www.rbr.com/radio/another-fm-pirate-walks-the-plank.html (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. WWVA TOWER REBUILD --- Does anyone know the status of the WWVA 1170 Wheeling WV tower rebuild? Are they still using a makeshift antenna? It sounds like it. Will the three downed towers ever be rebuilt? (Karl Zuk, IRCA via DXLD) The three downed towers have all been rebuilt. Last I heard, they were still operating ND (50 day/12.5 kW nights) from the first of the rebuilt towers while getting the new phasor in place and the directional pattern proofed. Even for a company with a sizable engineering staff, CC has been swamped with emergency AM engineering work, most recently in Memphis where the WDIA 1070 [Memphis] array is underwater, so I'm not sure if the company's AM gurus have finished the work in Wheeling yet (Scott Fybush, NY, May 6, IRCA via DXLD) Hi Scott: I can tell they are not yet up to full power and directional pattern. As I am sure you have witnessed during past decades, they used to burn holes through the Northeast, but not since the tower incident. I still miss the Jamboree broadcasts on Saturday night. Thanks for the informative update (Karl Zuk, N2KZ, ibid.) ** U S A. WJR, One of a Kind - 1966 WJR - One of a Kind - Part One of Three http://www.youtube.com/user/GrandOleDetroit?blend=24&ob=5#p/u/17/bl6WtQtqW3U WJR - One of a Kind - Part Two of Three http://www.youtube.com/user/GrandOleDetroit?blend=24&ob=5#p/u/16/1CzSgTpB8tQ WJR - One of a Kind - Part Three of Three http://www.youtube.com/user/GrandOleDetroit?blend=24&ob=5#p/u/15/JEgwhmcX9Og (via Kevin Redding, TN, May 5, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. WSCR IBOC - Schedule --- For the benefit of the midwestern DX'er, Chicago's WSCR 670 is known to switch off its IBOC when broadcasting a White Sox's game, making 660 and 680 listenable. Here is a link to the White Sox schedule on WSCR. http://chicago.whitesox.mlb.com/schedule/broadcast/index.jsp?c_id=cws Hope for a long game, the possibility of sunset DX and little or no thunderstorm static! The IBOC should come back on immediately after end of game, ready or not, the opening will be over. Let's see if the IBOC goes off on schedule. I imagine it will be switched off only for WHITE SOX home games (Tom Jasinski, Joliet IL, 27 April, IRCA via DXLD) Good point & I know what you are saying but I had heard (and it could be wrong) that IBOC is turned off for some sporting events for both home and away games. Home games, for people in the stadium, obviously. But also away games for those radio broadcasters who try to persuade viewers to turn the teevee sound off and watch with the radio on. Just a thought (Eric Flodén, BC, ibid.) Well, I think Eric's theory is correct - WSCR switched off its IBOC almost on time this evening according to the White Sox schedule for today, at 6:10 PM! And, this is an away game in New York (Tom Jasinski, ibid.) ** U S A. Heard on a Chrysler Corp AM Stereo / FM Stereo car radio with whip antenna between Rock Springs & Evanston Wyo.: Sadly, one more to report. Another extinguished pilot light :( 1650 KBJD in Denver -- Spanish format still broadcasting in C-Quam AM Stereo. They were coming in great last night but sadly, no pilot. So I guess they are no longer stereo. That would have been the one remaining stereo signal in the Denver market. Also had WBAP 820 coming in quite nicely. I had recalled in the past they were still running c-quam at night. Seems like it's been a while since I heard it, though. Confirmed last night: no c-quam. So with all the DX and all the frequencies, nothing to light the stereo light till I got close enough to Evanston to hear KEVA (Michael n Wyo Richard, KEVA, May 6, ABDX via DXLD) Presumably early UT May 6 ** U S A. 1610, RSAG* CA, Running Springs, 3/3 2301 [EST = 0401 UT March 4] I have finally identified the very weak religious programming in English on 1610. RSAG stands for Running Springs Assembly of God and the station goes by AM 1610 Christian Radio. Running Springs is in the San Bernardino mountains about 120 miles from me as the crow flies. Don’t know the power, but I’m sure it isn’t much. I will e-mail them and see if they will verify my reception (Garry Stoklas-P.O. Box 117-Imperial, CA 92252-0117 jergar@sbcglobal.net Kenwood R-1000 with a four foot box loop, WDXR, IRCA DX Monitor via DXLD) ** U S A. 05-09-2011 'RADIO BACH' ON AM FREQUENCY [Kansas City] http://www.bottomlinecom.com/kcnews/radiobachonam.html Anyone who has listened to the new simulcast of Entercom's KMBZ 980 AM on 98.1 FM that went into effect on March 30 is amazed at the difference in clarity between the two stations. Even though KMBZ is a talk station the difference between AM and FM is amazing. In fact, it is so amazing that KMBZ has seen its listeners increase fully 29% to 231,100 in the first two weeks. On the other hand, a veteran radio pro is amazed that Entercom has dubbed KUDL-AM (formerly KXTR) as "Radio Bach." It is at 1660 AM on the dial (Link). http://www.radiobach.com [got a warning that this may be a malicious site; leave immediately! Not before I saw there is a listen-live link and still on HD 98.1 -gh] "I think Entercom has finally gone over a cliff," he says. "Not only does the classical music sound awful on AM, but now they are branding the station 'Radio Bach'?" "1660 was an empty frequency," he added, "and Entercom decided to put classical music on there several years ago. But Radio Bach is just awful." (Bottom Line Communications, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. CLEVELAND'S COMMERCIAL-CLASSICAL WCLV-FM FINDS A "SAFE HARBOR" http://www.radio-info.com/news/clevelands-commercial-classical-wclv-fm-finds-a-safe-harbor Ownership of WCLV, Lorain, OH (104.9) will be transferred from the WCLV Foundation to the not-for-profit ideastream. WCLV licensee Radio Seaway becomes a subsidiary of ideastream, which operates Cleveland's PBS affiliate WVIZ-TV and public radio news/talk/jazz WCPN (90.3). The staff remains at WCLV, led by GM Jenny Northern. And so does the station's commercial status, says WCLV co-founder and principal Robert Conrad. He says the transfer is a matter of finding “a safe harbor for WCLV as it moves forward into the 21st century." The station moved into the Idea Center at Playhouse Square last December. Conrad and the late Pat Patrick began WCLV (on a different frequency) in 1962 and Conrad says “little did we know the station would continue on for 50 years. Nor did we foresee the vital part the station would play on the Cleveland cultural scene.” Conrad and current partner/EVP Rich Marschner say it's now appropriate to plan for the next few decades. ** U S A. SEATTLE'S CLASSICAL KING-FM (98.1) CONVERTS TO NON- COMMERCIAL STATUS http://www.radio-info.com/news/seattles-classical-king-fm-981-converts-to-non-commercial-status Beethoven's "Ode to Joy" was the first music heard on KING-FM, in a transition from commercial to non-commercial that was moved up by two months because of the progress in fundraising. The station still doesn't have all the funding it needs, and the Crosscut publication says it just announced a new $250,000 challenge grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. But the commercials have been replaced by underwriting announcements and - later this month - the first pledge drive. KING-FM was already having difficulties selling commercials as a standalone, and then the Arbitron PPM system entered Seattle, further complicating the situation. PD Bryan Lowe says they will be expanding the amount of music played, and going from 40 live-and-local classical music broadcasts a year to about one per week. The station has long been set up to share its proceeds with local arts groups, and the performing arts ensembles heard on KING-FM range from the Seattle Symphony to Seattle Baroque. The Seattle-Tacoma Board of Radio-Info.com is talking about the new business model for KING-FM, here (via Kevin Redding, May 2, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO STATIONS ALONG THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER BEDEVILED BY FLOODING http://www.radio-info.com/news/radio-stations-along-the-mississippi-river-bedeviled-by-flooding The Memphis Board here at Radio-Info.com is watching the water rise, and reporting on the situation as stations such as Urban AC WDIA (1070) cope with historic amounts of water near their transmitter. WDIA had been off the air earlier this week, but is reported back on, perhaps with a weaker signal. There is also a report that the transmitter of Flinn's urban "Hot 107" KXHT, up on stilts, would now be accessible only by boat. What could be the first of many requests to the FCC has surfaced from Flinn Broadcasting's Spanish "Radio Ambiente" WGSF, Memphis (1030). It asks the Commission for approval to remain silent because of emergency conditions. Here's the Flinn description of the situation: "Due to extensive flooding in the Memphis area and at the station's transmitter site, the station has been forced off the air. Flooding at historic levels is expected to continue for the next several weeks. Once the flooding recedes, the licensee shall assess the damage, replace damaged equipment, and return the station to the air." AM stations, with their extensive ground systems and often low-lying transmitter locations, are particularly vulnerable to flooding (Radio- info.com May 7 via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. To add to my last Forum, I would strongly disagree that the computer has improved radio programming; it's made matters worse. Radio has not improved with the computer. Most of the broadcasters who have gone completely to computer automation are not being professionally run. This is especially true on AM, with computers failing to turn daytime-only stations off, as was the case several times with WLRB 1510, or switching from day to night power and/or pattern. Computer failures also occurred in the St. Louis area; last winter, I twice caught KSLG 1380 illegally simulcasting KTXR 101.3 Springfield, MO (both are separately owned) after failing to switch over to Fox Sports Radio following a Missouri State basketball game. Another result of deregulation is that convicted felons are now allowed to own radio stations and work in broadcasting. The most notable convicted felon who had a syndicated talk show is Watergate co-conspirator G. Gordon Liddy. The owner of Insane Broadcasting Company, licensee of KQQZ 1190 De Soto, MO, KZQZ 1430 St. Louis, WQQX 1490 East St. Louis, IL and WQQW 1510 Highland, IL (presently on an irregular schedule) is Bob Romanik, a former Chief of Police in Washington Park, IL. He is a convicted felon; as far as I know, Mr. Romanik was convicted of verbally threatening another public official while running the Washington Park Police. He also hired a disc jockey for a Saturday afternoon Jazz show on KZQZ that was under suspicion of taking payola when he was working with me at WSIE; he has pending litigation against Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. And all these stations include "Hot Talk" in their slogan, even though the two most powerful stations in this group, KQQZ 1190 and KZQZ 1430, don't air one single hour of talk programming! WQQX airs a talk show with controversial talk show host "Onion" Horton on occasion. Some radio stations even go as far as to hire registered sex offenders; that is not the kind of radio industry that embraces the values of hard work, honesty, fair play, adherence to civil law, and devotion to their communities and families. The lack of a listenable format on AM and FM has forced me, and some several million others, to subscribe to satellite radio. Internet radio is not portable. With the loss of many international broadcasters providing fair and balanced news and talk programming via shortwave, as well as the loss of a full-time Classical music station in St. Louis, satellite radio especially comes in handy. The closest Classical music station to me now is KXTR 1660 Kansas City, KS. Easy Listening? The closest one to me is WGCY 106.3 Gibson City, IL (near Pontiac and Bloomington/Normal). And what does "HD Radio" do? Nothing but degrade the AM signal and audio quality to worse than analog AM quality, degrade FM Stereo performance to the point where there is little or no Stereo separation versus the near-CD separation offered by analog-only FM stations (like KLJY 99.1 and WSIE 88.7), and cut down on the signal coverage of many AM and FM stations. DRM isn't any better; I've heard a demonstration of DRM, and the sound quality does not approach that of analog AM. The amount of spectrum wasted is too valuable: depending on the distance from the transmitter, "HD" takes anywhere from 30 to 100 kHz of AM spectrum, and up to 600 kHz of FM spectrum. DRM takes up 40 kHz of spectrum on shortwave. Any country who wants to scrap analog broadcasting is living in a fantasy world. Terrestrial digital radio will never approach the high sound quality of analog AM, FM and shortwave, especially with today's DSP technology. Keeping analog broadcasting on AM, FM and shortwave is a more efficient use of spectrum than going digital. Radio would be better if all owners and employees adopted the same character requisites as those expected of licensees in the Amateur Radio service; I think that all format changes should be approved by the FCC before they are implemented. If I ran a radio station, criminal background checks on potential employees would be standard operational procedure. And even with the proposed Cumulus Media- Citadel merger, radio is only going to get worse. None of the mergers in radio over the last 15 years have led to job creation. The fewer jobs radio is willing to create, the worse the radio economy will get. 73. (Eric Bueneman (NØUIH), 631 Coachway Lane, Hazelwood, Missouri 63042-1347, IRCA DX Monitor Feb 26 via DXLD) ** U S A. NEVER MIND THE `VAST WASTELAND.' MINOW HAS MORE TO SAY By JAMES WARREN, May 7, 2011 James Warren writes a column for the Chicago News Cooperative. Sitting high above the Loop with Newton Minow, I realized that history buried his lede [sic] -- to his everlasting good fortune. "Burying the lede" is newspaperese for sticking a story's main point too far down. It partly explains why Monday brings the 50th anniversary of a speech that is now part of the cultural lexicon: "A vast wasteland." That's how he referred to television on May 9, 1961, in his first address as chairman of President John F. Kennedy's Federal Communications Commission. One can't imagine regulatory chiefs or cabinet officers today speaking so harshly, and forthrightly, to an industry they oversee. The real message that Mr. Minow, then a 35-year-old Chicago lawyer, wanted to impart was that in exchange for free and exclusive licenses to use the airwaves, bona fide "public service" programming should be provided by broadcasters, whom he addressed and angered at their national gathering in Washington. "Vast wasteland" was a parenthetical term. The immediate news coverage, and history, thought otherwise. The next morning's New York Times heralded the speech on the front page: "F.C.C. Head Bids TV Men Reform `Vast Wasteland' -- Minow Charges Failure in Public Duty -- Threatens to Use License Power." The "men" were outraged. The producer of the lowbrow classic "Gilligan's Island" named a sinking ship after the young lawyer, coyly spelling it S. S. Minnow. Yet the potency remains of Mr. Minow's excoriation of "a procession of game shows, violence, audience participation shows, formula comedies about totally unbelievable families, blood and thunder, mayhem, violence, sadism, murder, western badmen, western good men, private eyes, gangsters, more violence and cartoons." "No, I could never have anticipated" the impact, Mr. Minow said last week. It was a speech given before the birth of President Obama. He later gave Mr. Obama, a Harvard Law student, a summer job at his firm, which led to Mr. Obama's meeting his future wife. "Vast wasteland" may be in the first line of Mr. Minow's obituary, and three high-achieving daughters joke that his tombstone will be inscribed "On to a vaster wasteland." It has slightly obscured a distinguished legal and public-service career, with the hitching post being the Sidley Austin firm. He still sees television in a Dickensian best-of-times, worst-of-times light. He believes there should be hefty financing for noncommercial TV, whose growth he accelerated as F.C.C. chairman. His favorite shows are "The NewsHour With Jim Lehrer" and "Chicago Tonight" on WTTW Channel 11 and, on Friday, he spoke at a memorial service for William McCarter, the longtime head of Channel 11, whom he recruited. (Window to the World Communication, the parent of WTTW, was a partner in the creation of the Chicago News Cooperative.) For sure, the news and entertainment media landscape is quite different now. In 1961, there were two and a half commercial networks -- ABC was seen in just half the country -- and scant public television and radio. There was no cable TV to speak of, no satellite TV and no Internet. TV quiz-show, radio-payola and internal F.C.C. scandals had polluted the industry. But, then as now, news is the most important public service, Mr. Minow says, and television falls woefully short. "Too much deals with covering controversy, crimes, fires, and not enough with the country's great issues," he said. Our presidential campaigns are obsessed with the trivial, he argues, despite his effort to upgrade them as longtime co-chairman of the federal Commission on Presidential Debates. The anniversary of his speech has brought a smattering of attention, including his own article in The Atlantic and a CBS "Sunday Morning" profile next week. But some interesting things are being missed about Mr. Minow, now a vigorous 85 and a board member of The Chicago News Cooperative. An unknowing Silicon Valley might erect a monument to him. While at the F.C.C., he helped push Congress to mandate that new television sets have UHF tuners. Most existing ones did not, meaning the majority of viewers couldn't watch channels between 18 [sic] and 83. That inspired a boom in silicon chips and a drop in their price. He also signed the charter for a public television station in Washington, and it became a programming pacesetter. While Chicago had had a noncommercial station, WTTW, since 1955, most big cities did not. "I was astonished that no such station existed in New York, Los Angeles or Washington," he said. Mr. Obama has reason to be grateful to Mr. Minow. But so do Elmo and the "Sesame Street" gang, not to mention Intel shareholders. Those are the makings of a good epitaph, too (NY Times via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6055 CWA 148 Radio Universo Internacional, Castillos, Rocha Department, REACTIVATED!!!!, 1515-1530 UT, May 7, Spanish, reported with the programme "Centro Informativo Universo", greetings: ".....saludos para La Toscana" & "....mandamos nuestro saludo para nuestros amigos de La Cantera.......", local ads. 34333.- Nothing about this SW transmission on web page http://www.universoam.com/cobertura_oc.html Reported by Enrique Alejandro Wembagher y Arnaldo Leonel Slaen in DX Camp Atalaya, 110 kms. to South-East from Buenos Aires City, near Rio de la Plata coast (Arnaldo Slaen, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Felicitaciones che!!!! Esquiva por años esta pequeña emisora al fin pasa a los hechos, que si fue en algun momento no la pudieon captar en ningun lado. Curioso horario, pues la última vez que hablé con Brañas, su director, me dijo que trasmitían una hora de noche como a las 0100 UT. Pedí al colega Alberto Machado, que es un viejo DXista de que le pegara escucha desde esde Rocha, la capital del departamento, pero nunca pudo ser reportada. Yo pensé que era una jugada de marketing nada más. Con ella son tres las emisoras activas en OC desde Uruguay. SODRE 6125, Sport en 6045 (USB) y ésta (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, condiglist yg via DXLD) Many thanks, Arnaldo. Now they have their frequency also on their website: http://www.universoam.com/cobertura_oc.html Even with a map telling that their signal reaches Europa. We'll see, 73 (Max van Arnhem, The Netherlands, HCDX via DXLD) Surely it`s low power, 300 watts per WRTH! And if really on air all- night, contrary to usual Uruguayan SW practice, will be blocked by Spain 23-06, and then Japan until well after sunrise. The coverage map looks slightly optimistic. Not to mention adjacents from Cuba, etc. And is Bolivia active on 6054? Axually, 0600 UT = 3 pm in Japan, 4 hours before sunset, so 0600 might be the best window for it in NAm before Nikkei infades, IF really on the air then (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Juan XXIII is received at 21 UT. Not before (Arnaldo Slaen, ibid.) Gracias mi viejo!! El WRTH 2010 ni siquiera menciona la QRP. El colega Glenn Hauser señala en el foro del dxld que operaría con unos 300 vatios. Hoy me escribio el colega holandés Max van Arnhem esperanzado con la captura. Te cuento que organizamos esta movida DX medio de pedo con Enrique y al mediodia, antes de ir a comer y casi sin esperanzas de captar nada nuevo ni interesante, terminamos de escuchar "Radioactividades" por Radio Uruguay en 6125 Khz, para reportar luego, como bien señalás, a Radio Sprot en modo USB en la misma banda para sorprendernos, a los pocos minutos, con esta transmisión. A principios de 2010 con los amigazos Ruben Margenet y Victor Castaño (y su esposa, Bea) y podco despues de tener el placer de verte a vos y a Moises en Solymar, visitamos Castillos, en viaje desde Aguas Verdes. Pasamos y fotografiamos (tengo que buscar la foto) las sencillas y casi precarias instalaciones de Radio Universo. Hoy me sorprendio encontrármela en la web. 73 (Arnaldo Slaen, condiglist yg via DXLD) The logs by my Argentinian DXfiends [sic] is the first time ever report as far as I know. Thought to be a marketing invention, since their website was the only reference from them, besides the WRTH entry. Will try to check here, but local QRN is always near the S-7 of the S-meter. Congrats! (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not even a carrier. Also 6065 kHz. BTW, Arnaldo, what do you hear on 6154.92 kHz? 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, 2231 UT May 8, HCDX via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. ACLARACIÓN SOBRE EMISORAS URUGUAYAS CAPTADAS Ayer habia una cuarta emisora uruguaya en el aire que pudimos captar con EXCELENTE señal. Era Emisora Chaná, que estaba en 5904.5.- La estación no corría por el dial como otras veces y se advertía que estaba estabilizada en la QRG de captura. Pasaba programas en vivo sobre el mediodía y me llamó la atencion uno, casi al mediodía, en el que difundían viejas canciones brasileñas en disco de pasta. Cuatro emisoras uruguayas en la onda corta transmitiendo simultáneamente --- y de este lado? (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, condiglist hg via DXLD) Radio Chaña hace muchos meses que está permanente en el aire aunque a veces con frecuencia variable o (Rajable) ja ja se dispara, pero hace mucho que está a diario (Ernesto Paulero, ibid.) Che, alguien sabe si esta gente verificó algún reporte? Si mal no recuerdo, algún comentario hecho por Horacio Nigro. el director es radioaficionado (Slaen, ibid.) Me olvidaba de ésta, no oficial. Gracias por refrescar la memoria. (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) Radio Chaña y Atencion Arnaldo --- Horacio se había comunicado telefónicamente a través de un celular que era de un auspiciante o algo así (Paulero, May 8, ibid.) Entonces tal vez finalmente concretó la anunciada instalación de un cristal, como quien dice una vieja aspiración que se cristalizó :D La última vez que la escuché (durante el verano) estaba por 5845 si no me equivoco (Moisés Knochen, ibid.) Desde los 57 y algo hasta los 5980 te la encontrabas por cualquier lugar y había que seguirla como si fuera la última mina sobre la tierra (Arnaldo Slaen, ibid.) These guys like to joke around a lot. I`ve skipped a lot of totally off-topic banter. Once spelt above Chaná, another time as Chaña, so which is it, or both? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Recuerdo la dirección postal [de R. Chañá]: Sr. Omar Lima, CX6OL, Radio Zorrilla de San Martín, Canal 7, Tacuarembó, 18 de Julio 304, Tacuarembó, Uruguay (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, condiglist yg via DXLD) Algo que ver con la emisora de la familia Dini? Otrora CX140 era una excelente verificadora e incluso tenia tarjeta QSL. Veremos si Emisora Chana la tiene. Le voy a escribir. Gracias Horacio! (Slaen, ibid.) Nada que ver, sólo que Omar trabaja en la parte técnica del canal (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) ** URUGUAY. Radios Uruguayas ahora en el aire --- por 6044.96 USB, Sport AM, comentario deportivo (Ernesto Paulero, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1514 UT May 9, condiglist yg via DXLD) I.e. midday again ** UZBEKISTAN. 9660, May 5 at 1306, YL in S Asian language, music, and mentions ``Voice Asia``; fair with flutter. It`s CVC in Hindi via Tashkent, 100 kW, 153 degrees at 11-14. I`d much rather hear the late lamented R. Tashkent, even if it is from one of the most repressive, controlled-press countries in the world, which very well may have once used the very same transmitter. Apparently the time-brokers consider CVC a kindred spirit (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ### ** UZBEKISTAN. Radio Japan, 15735, fair with news by man and woman in English, 6 May *1400-1415 (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur with K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. 4005.6, Vatican Radio (presumed); 0326-0333+, 9-May; M&W in unknown language; Aoki & EiBi list Slovak (but disagree on times). SIO=3+22, must use USB due to strong ute on about 4004.5; no copy in AM. Nothing heard 0456-0500+; too close to St. Peter's sunrise? English sked at 0500 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN. Italy (Vatican), 13765, Vatican Radio, Santa Maria. 2011/05/04 wed 1738-1757*. Prevention of malaria, mosquito control. Interviewed YL from UN Radio. "Communication Update" at 1747, mentions of St. Peter's Square. ID "Vatican Radio" at 1756, 1757*. Poor. Jo'burg sunset 1537 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN [non] Vatican Radio - New Frequency 11730 --- From 1st May 2011 Vatican Radio is using 11730 kHz (via Tashkent) replacing 9580 kHz at 0040-0200 hrs (Mon, Thu from 0025) parallel to 7335 kHz (via SMG) in Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam and English (Alok Dasgupta via Dx Asia-UADX Blog via Alokesh Gupta, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) See also PHILIPPINES: RVA [non]. 13730, May 6 at 1200 checking whether VR via CANADA is still in English? Yes, ``good morning`` and news in English, but very poor reception so far. 13730 via CANADA, May 7 at 1212, closing ``Vatican Radio World News`` with some words from PBXVI. Caster was Charles Collins, American- accented. Seems VR is doing more newscasts like a real radio station rather than a gospel huxter, but can`t resist inserting Catholic stuff into them. Good reception unlike yesterday, but CCI and a SAH from something in French. No IS from VR, but dead air 1214-1215* uncovering French which HFCC shows is DW, 110 degrees from the doomed Sines, PORTUGAL relay, see GERMANY [non], while VR is 100 kW, 189 degrees from Sackville for CIRAF 11, i.e. Caribbean and Central America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. 15250 CUBA (relay), R. Nacional de Venezuela. May 4, 2315 heard only OC at this time, and rechex at 2325, 2330, 2345. Left radio on this channel --- finally, VOX! - at 2350, F presenter and M with ID at the end of the segment. Seemed like most of this RNV broadcast was missed due to Cuba only transmitting the open carrier. (Rick Barton, El Mirage AZ, Hammarlund SP-600 , Drake R-8, slinky, lw, ABDX via DXLD) May 8 at 1535 I check the `Aló, Presidente` frequencies via CUBA, and none of them are on: 17750, 15370, 13750, 13680 (something else there), 11690. Missing for the fourth week in a row! Has El Hugazo run out of hot air? The A,P website has this excuse: ``El programa "Aló, Presidente" de este domingo, 8 de mayo, no será trasmitido y cede para que continúe el proceso de registro la Gran Misión Vivienda Venezuela.`` So it`s not because of Mothers` Day! According to http://www.mothersdaycentral.com/when/ (disregard the advertising as that is the real purpose of M.D.), Venezuela is among the majority of countries which like the USA observe it on second Sunday in May = May 8, 2011, but others spread it all the way from February to December. Is there an `only child day`, and if not, why not? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [and non]. MARIANA ISL/TINIAN, 15560, Checked the RFA Vietnamese service from Tinian Isl-MRA at 0020-0028 UT May 6 and surprisingly heard two bubble oscillating jamming signals on +1200 and +2400 Hertz. Is that jamming service from Vietnam new? Nagoya Aoki list shows no * jamming marker on this entry (yet). Listen to the enclosed recording. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WALES. CELTICA RADIO VIA RADIO HAFREN 756 KHZ A Welsh-based online radio station has crossed the digital divide and is now broadcasting its programmes on the medium wave [756 kHz]. Bridgend based Celtica Radio, established in 2000, is syndicating its programmes on Radio Hafren, the new local station for mid-Wales. The online broadcaster is now on air on MW during the hours of darkness from midnight. William Everatt, Celtica Radio's Managing Director, said: "A couple of years ago we experimented with transmitting on the Medium Wave using the facilities of a supportive mainland European broadcaster. The transmissions took advantage of the atmospheric effects that the Medium Wave, or AM band, is subject to late at night. These characteristics ensured that the broadcasts could be received throughout most of central Europe and the east coast of the UK. I'm so very grateful to Radio Hafren for giving us this opportunity and the owners themselves for supporting us. We've spent eleven long years working to get our shows broadcast on UK radio. Not only will it bring our programmes to a whole new audience of late-night listeners in mid- Wales and further afield, as our material is syndicated during the hours of darkness, we will no doubt pick up what are known as DX, or distance, listeners as well." All the shows will also be available online to download or to listen again for one week to one month after the initial broadcast. Thomas Pain, joint owner of Radio Hafren, said: "We've had an excellent relationship with Celtica Radio since January and, like us, they have the same business ethos and local broadcasting values. Plus they have already produced popular shows for us in both English and Welsh. Indeed, the programmes produced by Celtica actually assisted in the transferring by Ofcom of our broadcast licence, so we know that we've got a tried and tested product already accepted by the regulator." http://www.radiowaves.fm 24 April [Celtica Radio website http://www.celticaradio.com/ and blog http://www.celticaradio-audio.co.uk/ say they're on 756 kHz 2 hours each night 0000-0200 BST (2300-0100 UT). Celtica Radio had been relayed via Radio Seagull from the Netherlands on 1602 kHz back in 2008.] (Alan Pennington, May 4, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. CLANDESTINAS, 1550 Polisario Front, Rabouni, ALGERIA, 1011-1301*, 06 May, Arabic, talks, music, phone-ins, frequency announcement at 1300 followed by the "natl." anthem; 35444, deteriorating gradually until closure, but still relatively fair & fully readable; \\ 6297.15 very good (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. Venerdì 6 maggio 2011 (E5 Etón): 0449 - 9780.1 kHz, R. SANA'A, Arabo, nxs OM. Segnale sufficiente-buono. Mi sembra che sia un tx molto irregolare. Prima delle 0500 subentra REE in DRM (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) ** ZAMBIA. 4965, 0330-0415, R. Christian Voice, May 4. Very tentative, but this signal peaked with threshold audio during max. grayline conditions, and heard while other East Africans were audible (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 13589.611, CVC International 1 Africa from Lusaka in English, 36 km westwards Lusaka, from Makeni ranch transmitter site: G.C. 15 32 17.43 S 28 00 04.87 E. Log periodic antenna towards 315 degrees. S=6 at 1725 UT May 5 (Wolfgang Büschel, May 4, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 11 via DXLD) I had not noticed this was so far off-frequency, nothing to beat against, unlike when they switched to 13600- (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. MADAGASCAR, Frequency change of V of People in English/Shona/Ndebele to ZWE: 1800-1900 NF 7245 MDC 050 kW / 265 deg, ex 7330 to avoid WYFR in Romanian (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 9 May via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 1710, Frequency approximate. Spanish-speaker frequently heard around 0755-0805 [EDT = 1200 UT] in late-March and early April. It was weak but all alone on 4/7 at 0800 with ID "Escuchas aquí WWW- 30." So evidently it’s a pirate, Mexican or domestic. The announcer had a polished voice and loop bearing was north/south. Anyone else hearing this? (Larry Godwin-2390 Clydes Dale Lane-Missoula, MT 59804 lbg @ mtwi.net Hammarlund HQ-180, Sanserino air-core box loop, WDXR, IRCA DX Monitor April 22 via DXLD) Yes UNIDENTIFIED. 1709.93, Radio Luz de Vida ? 0702 02-Apr-11, Spanish language vocal, ID by a woman. Have heard this several times over the past month, gradually drifting upward in frequency, but the location remains a mystery. Seems likely to be from the SW USA. The station on 1710 (or just under), has been an interesting mystery. I’ve heard it as late as 1230 UT, so that rules out any of the eastern U.S. pirates. It’s strongest off the southern antenna, so the evidence points to the SW United States. There are no authorized stations in the U.S. on 1710, but this one seems very polished for a pirate. One possibility is that it is re-broadcasting a legitimate station (Nigel Pimblett, AB, May CIDX Messenger via DXLD) Luz y Vida would be more likely (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 3345, 1056-1100, May 2. Very weak signal of rock music with thumping bass. Brief announcement in unID language at 1100, and off suddenly (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4790 kHz, 7 May, man in Spanish talking to a crowd, sounded like a religious program 0736-0745. Choral music at 0759 recheck, then announcement by man in Spanish, followed by pan pipe music. Fair-weak signal with strong CODAR sweeps every second or so left little hope for understanding any of it. The most likely candidate seems to be Radio Vision in Peru, which is listed as 500 watts (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur with K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. LA - 4865.03v, unid Latin heard several mornings this week from at 1015-1030 on 5/6, only weak to fair signal and really can't work. High-voiced OM locutor but too weak to differentiate if Spanish or Portuguese; and then what sounded like a religious hymn this morning at 1030. Bad QRN. A little better on 5/7 at 1003 tune/in with LA ballads, orchestra and YL/OM duet in love songs. Seguéd programming, so no announcements for key country clue. Perhaps can eliminate Alvorada (the ZY), as found this programming not // Alvorada's online stream. Don't want to leap to any identity guesses here, tho, and am still somewhat skeptical that this could be the often-list-reported R Logos from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia. As the old joke goes, R. Logos may be reported a lot more often than it is heard, hi hi. Other sets of ears invited to work on this one, tnx (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Jammers heard: 6250 and 6417, 1553 – the same type of instrumental music heard, much stronger on 6417. Jamming?? Received in Trincomalee (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Pyongyang is on 6250 at least (gh, DXLD) 6250.363... .400 wandering, Pyongyang BS with shrill chorus at 2105 UT May 7, S=9+20dB. \\ 6398.762 Pyongyang BS Kanggye in Korean, S=9+5dB in Japan (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6260, 1635 a clandestine referring to itself(?) as "Degne Kebad"(?) in an UNID language with call-in programme "Hallo, Assalam", SINPO 45434 (listened in Trincomalee). (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CVC in Hindi via Tashkent at 14-20, but `Denge` implies Kurdish (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 6315, 1556 reading spy numbers in English! SINPO 21311, QRM from USB talks. Received in Trincomalee (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What format? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6332, 1601, Deutsche Welle in English, SINPO 42442. From Trincomalee relay? But why on this frequency? By the way, near Trincomalee I saw the Deutsche Welle antennas from a distance (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So were you there near Trinco in sight of it when you heard this? How accurate was your receiver? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6398-6399, 1611, SINPO 25322. Non-stop instrumental anthem-like patriotic(?) music for a long time, then short ID in UNID language at 1629, then music continued. The signal seemed slightly distorted. Heard all over Sri Lanka several evenings, and did not sound like a spur. Who could this be? (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Pyongyang Broadcasting Station is on 6400; does it vary a bit? (gh, DXLD) Re: 6398.730, Pyongyang BS Kanggye in Korean, at 2338 UT May 8 S=8 in Japan (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also 6250 UNIDENTIFIED. Unid on 6668.060 LSB: I just spoke to an engineer friend of mine who gave me some possible insight. It could be a modified ham radio transmitter or an HF Marine radio that has a mic permanently keyed up and live/on but the person doesn't know it. It would explain the change in audio source you're hearing. Especially if the audio from the radio station or the man talking sounds like he's far back from the mic (Paul Walker, April 28, IRCA via DXLD) This SW item was on a MW list only, I did not check till later (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 6925+ on AM, May 7 at 0532, music from a pirate, but very poor, too weak (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Logs for 7/May/11, 6943, 1843 OM with 3-5 fgs on DSB (suppressed carrier) S10 and bad audio. At 1902 found transmission using USB + carrier mod on RU with 3 fgs (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Zacharias, what do you mean by `3-5 fgs` and by `RU`?? (gh, DXLD) RU = RR = Russian. 3 fgs: WUN or ute term for figure groups (Liangas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So it`s IN Russian, not ON Russian. I wish you had read my previous explanation of English prepositions (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 7210, 1419, SINPO 33433. Non-stop chanting of Buddhist mantras (received in Kandy). (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Listed: PBS via Yunnan; CRI in Chinese via Beijing site; V. of Vietnam BMT regional, none of which are exactly Buddhist (gh, DXLD) Re 7210 - Minorities services. Lahu service of PBS Yunnan ? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lahu_language http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:mo_R5vdzbecJ:www.travelchinayunnan.com/minorities/lahu.htm+PBS+Lahu+Yunnan&cd=1&hl=de&ct=clnk&gl=de&client=firefox-a&source=www.google.de (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7280, 1708 jammer over some station. Received in Nuwara Eliya (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What kind of jamming? R. Free Asia is here in Chinese via TINIAN, among others. Apparently you have not consulted Aoki or HFCC as I just did for these many suggestions (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 9615, 1446 Religious station in English referring a lot to Jehovah. SINPO 33443. Received in Kandy (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) YFR via Irkutsk (gh) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Little help, maybe. Hello, Listening now (1350 EDT) to 12100 kHz, playing some nice oldies. Haven't been able to catch an ID. Any suggestions as to who it might be? -- Tony, N4RNI, Traverse City, MI (Antonios Kekalos, May 4, ABDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. For 4 May: 12100 unIDed 2224, heard the song ‘you are always on my mind’ but suddenly left with open carrier, S7 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTWW testing, as I reported earlier that day. See U S A (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 12275, 1520 in Russian(?), SINPO 23322. Received in Kandy. Spur?? (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Could be spur from VOR 12040? See RUSSIA; and DXLD 11-17 (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 12710 LSB, 1700, SINPO 23433. Speaking in a language similar to Arabic. Clandestine or spur? Received in Trincomalee (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) You mean it was broadcast type programming, not utility? No broadcasts known around here (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15160, 1535 – probably Sri Lankan BC for India with typical regional songs, SINPO 55552, overmodulated (listened in Trincomalee – probably too close to the transmitter). Signal much weaker in other places of Sri Lanka (SINPO 35432). (Robertas Pogorelis, visiting Sri Lanka April 24-May 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Cairo in Uzbek, typical with bad modulation. SL not known to use this frequency (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 15527.5-SSB, May 8 at 1344, Spanish 2-way intruder, discussing ``la bodega allá en la esquina, 20 por ciento de descuento``. Could that be a coded message, or really so banal? Sounded quite casual (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++ At the mid-point of WORLD OF RADIOs 1562 and 1563, I asked for everyone listening to let me know how they listen to WOR; what station or by webcast? This was purposely not brought up in DXLD or the yg as I wanted to hear from people who were really listening. I am gratified by the large response, many from people I had never heard from before, and for many nice comments about the show, altho I was not fishing for those. These are the replies that came in during the following biweek: *Always* listen to WWCR Friday at 2030 UT or IRRS Saturdays 1800 UT. Regards, (Keith Phillmore, Rugby, Warwickshire, England, 30th April, airmail postcard with 76p postage) The *only* p-mail reply so far! Hi, Glenn! The main way I listen to WoR these days is the Thursday- evening airing on WWRB on 2390, which of course was not on yesterday as you noted in your dxld yahoo group posting. So this week I am listening as I type this via the net, since I had the chance to be on- line at my neighbors' today. But I always prefer listening via radio to listening on-line. If the WWRB airing is missing or otherwise unheard, I try the WWCR Friday-afternoon airing but that is sometimes really poor reception here in St. Louis and the time is usually just the same time as I would be away from home hanging out with the senior group or eating somewhere. 73, (Will Martin, MO) Hi Glenn, great programs. You ask how we listen. I always grab the mp3 files for the ipod. Regards (Trevor vk4yh) Hi Glenn, I don't normally report negatives, but I can't receive here "World of Radio" on any of your published frequencies / times (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg, South Africa, April 28) Not a response (gh) Dear Mr Hauser, I normally listen to WOR on WWCR 12160 MHz at 1600 UT Sat/ 0330 UT Fri on 5050 MHz WWRB, which was not aired on 04/28/2011 (CDT). When WOR is not jammed on WRMI 9955 MHz, whenever it is scheduled. Sometimes WRMI will air WOR at unscheduled and unpredictable times, as a bonus. Although I read WOR on the internet every week, I refuse to listen to it thru the computer. Radio is radio and I have been listening to WOR since 1990. I hope that you can keep WOR on the air. I also wish that I could send you a financial contribution, but since I have been unemployed for over a year, thanks to being "overqualified" times are rather tight. Keep up the great work, your dedication and self sacrifice are very much appreciated here. Good luck (Pete Medellin, listening on an 11 year old DX-398, San Antonio, TX) Hi Glen, I am listening via Internetstream from IPAR/IRRS/NEXUS/IBA. But the quality is bad (24 kpbs). It could also be that they take the wrong link from you (Download/Stream). Best regards, (Hans-Jürgen Püttmann, (from Essen, Germany) April 30 1846 UT) I typically listen via WRN on XM radio. Occasionally WWRB 5050 Fridays 0330. Sent from my HTC on the Now Network from Sprint! (Sheryl Paszkiewicz, WI) I am now 62 and have been a short wave listener since I was 5. I have a receiver but not very active the last 20 years due to career and family. Enjoy listening to you on XM radio channel 135 [now 120]. (Fred Schroeder, Sent via DROID on Verizon Wireless) Hi: I hear you through the World Radio Network through both their podcasting services and through the Sirius Satellite Radio. Keep up the good work, to both you and all your supporters. :) -- (-Nels Nielson, responding to you live, somewhere from cyberspace) Hi Glenn, I listen via a WRN Podcast. Sorry, weird, but the last time I listened to WOR on shortwave was something like 1998 (Larry Nebron, CA) Glenn -- I am a sporadic listener, but used to subscribe to RIB back in the 80's when I lived in Missouri. Currently, I either listen to the broadcast on Saturdays on WRN on my XM radio, but also have a podcast from WRN, which is what I'm currently listening to -- the most recent broadcast. I remember well your broadcasts on WRNO back in the 80's! 73's (Ken Gore, Walnut Ridge, AR) Hello GH, I almost always download the MP3 version of World of Radio on Thursdays. It's hard to get a reliable shortwave signal at a convenient time for me. 73, (John Wesley Smith, KC0HSB) Hi Glenn, I listen to your audio stream as soon as it's on. I never listen to you on short wave (PA3GQW) I download your audio directly from w4uvh.net. I also upload that to a phone system so those without access to the internet or XM can listen. The system is called my telespace and most of the users who access that system are either blind or visually impaired. 575-802-8142 option 2 (Ray T. Mahorney, WA4WGA) I download the mp3 file each week and have done so for several years. Thanks for making it available in that form. I am waiting on a radio that I've just bought after being without a shortwave receiver for several years after my Sony ICF2010 died. I shall seek your program out once I receive the new radio but would still prefer to be able to download the show. I have been listening to your show for a couple of decades. Thank you for all of your good work! Cheers, (Julie Murphy, Wollongong, NSW, Australia) Dear Glen, I mainly listen to World Of Radio on your website now. I had been listening to it on a couple of WWCR's frequencies but now there is no shortwave frequency where I can pick it up at a convenient time (Alex Horton, Ontario) I listen to WOR streaming from your website. I cannot tune into it on shortwave as my equipment consists of a regenerative receiver, a Kaito KA1103 portable, and a Realistic DX-302. My West coast location (San Diego) is also a hindrance. Most of the content you mention in your programming are of stations I will never hear, but I still enjoy the program and listen every week (Mike Dice) Glenn, I almost always download the program from your web site and listen to it locally. That way I can listen whenever I have the time. The other good thing is that there is always so much in the program, I find myself rewinding several times, and also listen to the entire file through several times. I prefer the Realaudio version and listen to the file on Linux using the Linux version of the Realplayer. Thanks again for the great work that you do (Rick Kunath, k9ao) Listen exclusively from the Current Audio web page. Used to automatically download from iTunes. Usually listen just before bed. 73! Sent from my iPhone (David Coursey) Hello. Used to listen on 9515 from Italy but local PLT interference makes radio listening all but impossible. Use only the podcast now to see if it's worth switching on the receiver, otherwise all listening is online now. A real shame. An RSS feed for the podcasts would help. I hate to miss them! Waste your time with Bob's website: http://www.listenersguide.org.uk/ Cheers now, (Bob Ellis) Glenn, I listen via WWCR's SWL DX Block, & am listening at this exact time (11:21 CDT) on 12160 KCs (John C. Bernay, Jr, W5AWQ) Hi, Glenn, and I hope you were unscathed by the latest byproducts of global warming. Just wanted to let you know that I listen religiously (so to speak) to WOR on WWCR 12160 kHz Saturdays at 1600. Hope you get a good response to your survey and very 73 de (Anne Fanelli in spring- at-last Elma NY) I listen to World Of Radio via I.R.R.S. on 7290 kHz at 1800 UT Saturday. I have the internet at home but I prefer to listen using a traditional radio and use the net only as a last resort. I have never been a serious DXer but I do enjoy perusing the bands for anything of interest. You could say I am a compulsive knob twiddler! 73s and thank you for a very enjoyable programme (Ian Evans, Wales, U.K.) I listen via your pod casts. I seldom listen to the show on the radio (Robert LaFore) Glenn, I listen to WOR via MP3 download from your site. Thanks, (Benn Kobb) Glenn, Since WWCR stopped carrying WoR at 0230 UTC Sundays I have been downloading the program from your website whenever I listen. WRMI provides poor or no reception here in Illinois. Regards, (Martin Gallas, Jacksonville IL) Dear Glenn, I enjoyed your programme on April 30th at 1800 UT on IRRS broadcasting on 7290 kHz. I had excellent reception or SINPO 45444 here in Sweden. Next weekend we'll have the annual convention of the Arctic Radio Club and the Shortwave Bulletin here in Halmstad. We expect more than 20 DXers from all over Sweden. Kind regards (Christer Brunström, Halmstad, Sweden) Hi Glenn, I listen to WoR exclusively from your web site, usually every Sunday morn. Best Regards (Andy Reid, Ont.) Glenn: I download and listen using the World Radio podcast link. Then I open the podcast on my "hand-held device" (i-phone) using the app, Podcaster. Thanks. Charlie (Charles Harlich) I always record WOR. I don't save the tapes, but, I like to record it in case there are frequencies I want to write down, or station I.D.s that I want to hear again. My favorite time to actually get the program is via World Radio Network, channel 135 [now 120] on XM, Sat. and Sun. 1730 UT. (1830 winter). I sometimes forget this, or am not home. So, I try to catch the first airing I can, WWRB, 2390, Fri. 0330 UT. Reception on this varies from good to poor. Alternative, WWCR, 3215, Sun. 0630 UT. WWCR and WWRB freqs above 5 MHz are usually not heard here, due to our being within the skip zone. I rarely have good reception on WRMI, and WBCQ is very variable. I used to listen on ACB Radio, but, somehow, I always think of the radio and don't remember the computer (Tim Hendel, Huntsville AL) Hi Glenn, I download the podcast using the link on your webpage when I remember to (Swlistener, UK) Hi Glenn, I listen to you regularly at 0800 UT on Saturday or Sunday via WRMI online on an internet radio. Good Wishes (Paul Kennett) Glenn, In order of preference 1 Shortwave 7290 Saturday evening on IRRS 2 Live streaming from WRMI, World FM or ACB 3 VERY occasionally I might stream the mp3 file from http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html Hope this helps you. Best Regards (Harry Brooks, North East England UK) I used to listen to your show on the DX Block on WWCR, or - if I could get it in during the day - WBCQ weekday afternoons, if I could get it in past the jamming, on WRMI on weekend mornings. I have regular Internet access now so I either download or stream the program off of your website (April Yamane) Hi Glenn, I listen to "World of Radio" on two platforms. I listen to the program when I can catch it or remember to tune in on WWCR on 3215 kHz at 0630 UT Sunday morning. I also listen to "World of Radio" if I miss it on shortwave by downloading the podcast via WRN. Hopefully, you will continue to operate on shortwave as well as keep the podcasts. It would be rather odd and ironic to hear the "World of Radio" on a platform that's not on radio. If you do stop having broadcasts on shortwave, at least continue the show via podcast. At least it's better than nothing at all and what really matters is that the program is heard and the content. Keep up the good work and I will keep listening, on whatever platform it's on. 73s, (Chris Freitas) Hi Glenn, I listen to your brodcasts on 7415 at 2130 UT and always enjoy them! Been and SWL and ham for many years and love radio. Keep up the good work, and thank you. 73, (Jeff Covelli / WA8SAJ) Mr. Hauser: Thank you for your wonderful show. Please keep up the good work! I usually listen to you by downloading your show on your website. I am embarrassed that I am listen to a show about shortwave communication on any medium other than shortwave, but my schedule does not allow me to listen to the show on a regular schedule. JP (Jason F. Poplaski, http://www.jasonpoplaski.com KB3SAR N2KFJ - 147.255+ MHz; PL - 151.4) World of Radio, being heard here, regularly, via Internet, initially via Real, but more recently mostly via Windows MP3, SW now virtually impossible due to local Power Line Transformer. Up-Graded to Broadband about 15 Months ago, so no further difficulties or requests for Dial Up Version!! It is understood here, that 'Real' will be 'dying out' in the next couple of years or so, the BBC are no longer using it. With Best Wishes and 73 (Ken Fletcher, CH43-UK) I download the Real Audio version, after email notification. Thank you Glenn (Leonard J. Rooney, Delaware County, Springfield PA) I hear World of Radio on KXOT (Dup of HD2 feed from KUOW) Seattle / Tacoma (Scott Lindstrom) Hi There, Sorry for my delay in responding to your survey. I listen to World of Radio each week via podcast which I download from your website. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Glenn and all the team for the time and effort they put into such an excellent programme. It is much appreciated. Keep up the good work! Kind Regards (Freddy McGavin EI4GMB, County Cavan, Ireland) Hi Glenn, I started listening to your program when you were on 910 WSUI Sunday nights. Then Iowa NPR did a reorg a few years ago and I didn't listen for a while. Then I got broadband a couple years ago and I have been downloading your show since then. I really enjoy the show Keep up the good work (Gary Largess, Tipton, Iowa) Glenn, Here in Nigeria I usually listen to World of Radio on Saturdays at 0800 via WRN (English Africa). I hear this via WorldSpace satellite radio, which in theory went bankrupt last year but someone is still sending up a few channels including a BBC World Service stream and WRN. I can also listen via WWCR, Fridays 2030 on 15825, though reception varies (James MacDonell (Niger State, Nigeria)) Hi Glenn, I'm a long time listener of World of Radio. I started back when you were on WRNO in 1982. I've followed you ever since and enjoy your program. I currently download your program from your web site. I use the real audio version because of smaller file size. Thank you again for a Great Program (Jim Carson, Pleasantville, NJ (53 miles SE of Phila, PA.) Dear Glenn, I have been a listener to WOR since 1982 and a shortwave listener since 1957. But now I am downloading WOR from the internet for the convenience of being able to listen when I choose and without fading or interference. Best regards, (Alan Knapp, Madison, Alabama) Glenn, I hear it exclusively on Eutelsat Hotbird, WRN. 73, (André DL8WX) Glenn -- I meant to send you this last month, but it slipped my mind after listening to the program. Personally, I rely solely on online resources to listen to WoR. I can't recall the last time I actually tuned into the show on the radio. I do have an interesting story regarding WoR though. In late 2009 I was on a work related conference call with a software vendor. I was on the call a bit early and the guy on the vendor side actually asked me "are you the Jordan in TN who has been sending shortwave reports to World of Radio?" That was pretty amazing. I can't recall the guys name, but it wasn't familiar. 73, (Brandon Jordan, TN) Statistix from the above: Replies from: 22 USA 9 Europe 3 unknown 2 Canada 1 Africa 1 Australia 38 TOTAL Radio on air, primary and secondary = S: WWCR 5, S=3 IPAR 3, S=1 WBCQ 1 WWRB 1, S=3 WRMI 0, S=3 KXOT 1 Web: not always clear whether download from WOR, podcast via WRN Download from WOR site: 19, S=1 WRN podcast 6, S=3 WRMI 1, S=1 World FM S=1 ACB S=1 Satellite: WRN via Worldspace 1 WRN via SiriusXM 5 WRN via Hotbird/Eutelsat 1 LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ Note and remember, some of gh`s log abbrs include: IADs = intermittent audio dropouts, e.g. VOI on 9526- JBA = just barely audible JBM = just barely modulated (altho carrier may be sufficient) ACI = adjacent-channel QRM, i.e. 5 kHz away CCI = co-channel interference, i.e. same channel, or almost so OSOB = only signal (or station) on band SSOB = strongest station (or signal) on band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ SAMOA TO JUMP FORWARD IN TIME BY ONE DAY 9 May 2011 Last updated at 02:13 ET http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-13330592 The South Pacific island nation of Samoa is to jump forward in time by one day in order to boost its economy. Samoa will do this by switching to the west side of the international date line, which it says will make it easier for it to do business with Australia and New Zealand. At present, Samoa is 21 hours behind Sydney. From 29 December it will be three hours ahead. The change comes 119 years after Samoa moved in the opposite direction. Then, it transferred to the east side of the international date line in an effort to aid trade with the US and Europe. However, Australia and New Zealand have increasingly become Samoa's biggest trading partners. Samoan Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said: "In doing business with New Zealand and Australia, we're losing out on two working days a week. "While it's Friday here, it's Saturday in New Zealand and when we're at church Sunday, they're already conducting business in Sydney and Brisbane." Samoa is located approximately halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii and has a population of 180,000 people. (via Terry L Kruger, FL, DXLD) ! Currently is UT - 11 and also observed DST of UT -10 during `summer` per WRTH. So apparently they will change to UT + 13 = the same time, just a day ahead. Its `neighbors` Tonga and Kiribati are also east of 180 meridian, but on the west side of the dateline, especially Kiribati which extends even further eastward into the Western Hemisphere. Left unanswered here is what becomes of its closest neighbor, American Samoa, which is just east of the former Western Samoa?? Will those two seemingly most closely-related countries then be 24 hours apart? What would the US Dept of the Interior say? BTW, AmSam is much smaller than Samoa. BTW2, shouldn`t that be Dept of the Exterior? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SAMOA TIME TRAVELLERS TO LEAP A DAY INTO THE FUTURE Pacific island chain plans switch to west side of international dateline to be on same day as Australia and China * Associated Press in Apia * guardian.co.uk, Monday 9 May 2011 16.33 BST Samoa, international dateline --- Samoa and its current position on the international dateline. The islands' prime minister wants to move his nation into the same time zone as Australia [caption] Samoa plans to leap 24 hours into the future, erasing a day and putting an extra kink in the international dateline, so that it can be on the same weekday as Australia, New Zealand and eastern Asia. The island nation is planning to reverse a decision made 119 years ago to stay behind a day to help do business with American traders in California. That choice has meant that when it's dawn on Sunday in Samoa, it's already dawn on Monday in adjacent Tonga – and fast approaching dawn on Monday in New Zealand, Australia and China. Samoa has found its interests lying more with the Asia-Pacific region and now wants to switch back to the west side of the international dateline, which runs roughly north-to-south along the 180-degree line of longitude in the Pacific Ocean. "In doing business with New Zealand and Australia, we're losing out on two working days a week," said the prime minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi "While it's Friday here, it's Saturday in New Zealand and when we're at church on Sunday, they're already conducting business in Sydney and Brisbane." Samoa's change will have a cost: it has long marketed itself as the last place on Earth to see each day's sunset. "It will be really confusing for us. I just don't see the point, and we don't know the benefits yet," islander Laufa Lesa told the Associated Press. "The government says it's good for the economy, but it's totally fine the way it is now." The prime minister already has a new tourism angle: telling visitors they can celebrate the same day twice, because American Samoa next door will stay on the California side of the dateline. "You can have two birthdays, two weddings and two wedding anniversaries on the same date – on separate days – in less than an hour's flight across [the ocean], without leaving the Samoan chain," he said. Tuilaepa hopes to scratch this year's 31 December from the calendar and celebrate the new year a night early. The original shift to the east side of the line was conducted in 1892 when Samoa celebrated 4 July – US independence day – twice. The dateline drawn by mapmakers is not mandated by any international body. Nearly as many Samoans now live in Australia and New Zealand as the 180,000 living in the islands, which are located about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii and rely on fruit and vegetable exports as well as tourism. In 2009, Tuilaepa enacted a law that switched driving from the right to the left, to bring Samoa into line with Australia and New Zealand. He said then the change would make it easier for Samoans in Australia and New Zealand to send used cars home to their relatives. Opponents predicted traffic disruption, but this did not happen. Tuilaepa said: "Today we do a lot more business with New Zealand and Australia, China and Pacific Rim countries such as Singapore." The change of date would make commerce with the Asia-Pacific region "far, far easier". (via Ian Baxter, Australia, dxldyg via DXLD) SAMOA TO GO BACK TO THE FUTURE, SHIFTING DATE LINE By Associated Press http://www.staradvertiser.com/news/breaking/121499578.html# APIA, Samoa >> Samoa plans to leap 24 hours into the future, erasing a day and putting a new kink in the Pacific's jagged international date line so that it can be on the same weekday as Australia, New Zealand and eastern Asia. It'll be Back to the Future for the island nation, offsetting a decision it made 119 years ago to stay behind a day and align itself with U.S. traders based in California. That has meant that when it's dawn Sunday in Samoa, it's already dawn Monday in adjacent Tonga and shortly before dawn Monday in nearby New Zealand, Australia and increasingly prominent eastern Asia trade partners such as China. Samoa has found its interests lying more with the Asia-Pacific region and now wants to switch back to the west side of the line, which separates one calendar day from the next and runs roughly north-to- south through the middle of the Pacific Ocean. "In doing business with New Zealand and Australia we're losing out on two working days a week," Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi said in a statement. "While it's Friday here, it's Saturday in New Zealand and when we're at church on Sunday, they're already conducting business in Sydney and Brisbane." Samoa's change will have a cost: The Polynesian nation has long marketed itself as the last place on Earth to see each day's sunset. "It will be really confusing for us. I just don't see the point, and we don't know the benefits yet," multimedia company official Laufa Lesa, 30, told The Associated Press in an interview from the Samoan capital Apia. "The government says it's good for the economy, but it's totally fine the way it is now," Lesa said. The prime minister already has a new tourism angle: You can easily celebrate the same day twice, because the next-door U.S. territory of American Samoa will stay on the California side of the date line and remain one day behind. "You can have two birthdays, two weddings and two wedding anniversaries on the same date — on separate days — in less than an hour's flight across (the ocean), without leaving the Samoan chain," Tuilaepa said. Tuilaepa has proposed leaping forward by scratching this year's Dec. 31 from the calendar and holding New Year's celebrations one night early, though the date hasn't been confirmed. The original shift to the east side of the line was conducted in 1892 when Samoa celebrated July 4 twice, giving a nod to Independence Day in the U.S. The date line drawn by mapmakers is not mandated by any international body. By tradition, it runs roughly through the 180-degree line of longitude, but it zigzags to accommodate choices of Pacific nations on how to align their calendars. Nearly as many Samoans now live in Australia and New Zealand as the 180,000 living in the islands, which are located about halfway between New Zealand and Hawaii and rely on fruit and vegetable exports as well as tourism. In 2009, Tuilaepa enacted a law that switched cars to driving on the left side of the road instead of the right, also to bring Samoa in line with Australia and New Zealand. He said at the time the change made it easier for Samoans in Australia and New Zealand to send used cars home to their relatives. Opponents predicted major traffic problems, but they never happened. "Today we do a lot more business with New Zealand and Australia, China and Pacific Rim countries such as Singapore," the prime minister said, adding that his latest idea will make commerce with the region "far, far easier" (via Brock Whaley for DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ SCADS Meeting May 14th [Saturday, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA DXERS] Tis time for another monthly meeting!! This month`s meeting will be held on May 14th. Meeting will start at 1:30 pm and end by 3:30 pm. The meeting is held at the Los Alamitos/Rossmoor County Library Community Room at 12700 Montecito Road, Los Alamitos 90740 at the corner of Seal Beach Blvd at St. Cloud. Parking available at the front side of the Library. This is all just North of the 405 Freeway. Exit North to Seal Beach Blvd North. Hope to see many of you at the meeting. Bring along your questions and current loggings from you. The weather should be bright and sunny for us all!! Need assistance? Then call me at 714-846-1685 (Stewart MacKenzie, WDX6AA, Huntington Beach, California, "World Friendship Through Shortwave Radio Where Culture and Language Come Alive" ASWLC: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ASWLC SCADS: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SCADS May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Rapture is Coming! The Rapture is coming! Or is it? GET READY FOR THE WEST COAST RAPTURE REGIONAL ATHEIST MEET (RAM) May 21-22, 2011 ~ Oakland, California Question: What's an atheist to do on Rapture Day? a. Celebrate with other heathens and skeptics b. Plan a secular future with like-minded people c. View the $27,000 billboard at the foot of the Bay Bridge mocking two millennia of false predictions that the world was about to end d. Be inspired by and meet some of the country's top atheist speakers, entertainers and thinkers at the most exciting atheist conference ever held in this region e. All of the above Don't get left behind: Register Now! May 21, 2011 is the date for the latest Rapture, or Judgment Day prophesy by Christian radio broadcaster Harold Camping, who predicts the world will then end on October 21. Camping is the President of an Oakland-based religious broadcasting network with over 150 outlets nationally. This is an event for the entire West Coast secular community, especially for those in California. Two days of community building, activism, networking and fun! Our speakers will include Brian Dalton (Mr. Deity) , Matt Dillahunty, Greta Christina, David Eller, Rebecca Watson and Jen McCreight. We'll be there organized and ready to pick up the clutter left behind when the Christian Rapture begins that Saturday, as promised by "God" Himself at www.wecanknow.com. Since "God" has chosen to reveal this vital fact to his prophet in Oakland, we thought Oakland would provide the best venue for an intimate view of the event. WHERE: Oakland Masonic Center at 3903 Broadway (wheelchair accessible) WHEN: Registration on Saturday starts at 8:15 AM. You must check in at the conference even though you have already registered on-line. Please arrive on-time. The Conference starts at 9:00 each day. Party Saturday night. Conference ends at 1:00 Sunday. COSTS: $49 for the entire weekend, $39 for American Atheists members (you can join when you register), and $20 for students (for advance purchases). Register Now. All tickets $59 at the door. FOOD: A catered lunch and dinner are offered for $25 (both meals) on Saturday. MUST be ordered by May 18th. -- Lunch: Choice of Turkey or Mediterranean Vegetable/cheese sandwich (both come with vegan salad) -- Dinner: Meat or Veggie lasagna,With vegan salad and a side of roasted vegetables. GETTING THERE: BART to MacArthur Station. Get a bus transfer ticket inside BART for the very short bus ride. Take the 57 bus on 40th Street outside the station. Exit the bus at 38th & Broadway, one block from the venue. From downtown Oakland it is a short bus ride on Broadway on the 51A line directly to the Masonic Center. The same line runs from Berkeley to the venue. Bus fare is $2.00. For more information go to Bus Maps or BART PARKING: Just down the street at 3701 Broadway is a large public parking garage that charges a maximum of $18 for the day. (Don't worry, it is not just for Kaiser visitors.) There is limited street parking in nearby residential neighborhoods. LODGING: Here is a list of the four close hotels with their mileage from the event. All are very close to the Broadway bus line. You might want to search for the best rates online: $89 walk-in rate Clarion Hotel Downtown Oakland 371 13th street (0.1 mi) (510) 279-1700; Clarionhotel.com $59 walk-in rate The Washington Inn Hotel 495 Tenth Street (0.2 mi)(510) 452-1776; TheWashingtonInn.com $95 walk-in rate Courtyard Oakland Downtown 988 Broadway (0.3 mi) (510) 625-8282; Marriott.com $134 walk-in rate Oakland Marriott City Center 1001 Broadway (0.3 mi) (Where the RAM Speakers will be staying!) (510) 451-4000; Marriott.com Register Now [David Silverman mentioned on CBC`s The Current May 6 that A.A. would have additional Rapture Parties in Wichita, Fort Lauderdale, Houston] AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for nonbelievers; works for the total separation of church, mosque, temple and State; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy. AMERICAN ATHEISTS 225 Cristiani St. Cranford, NJ 07016 908-276-7300 2011 IRCA CONVENTION – COLORADO SPRINGS, CO JUNE 23-25 The convention will be held June 23-25, 2011 at the Airport Value Inn http://www.airportvalueinn.com located on the east side of Colorado Springs at 6875 Space Village Avenue, Colorado Springs 80915. IRCA has set aside a special block of rooms with a special reservation rate of $69.99/night (regularly $79.99/night during the summer months), please call the hotel directly at (719) 596-5588 or toll-free (800) 596-5588 to book the special rate (the special rate is only available over the phone), views of the rooms can be seen on their website. The Colorado Springs Airport is located about 5 miles south of the hotel and is a relatively easy drive from the airport to the hotel (taxis are available at the airport, the hotel doesn't have a shuttle). Convention registration is $30, please send registrations to: Mike Sanburn, P.O. Box 1256, Bellflower, CA 90707-1256. If you wish to donate items for the auction, they can also be sent to this address as well, all AM radio-related donations are welcome. The convention will include radio station tours (specifics to be announced later), an AM transmitter tour around the city, DX quiz with prizes, business meeting, banquet, and the traditional Saturday night auction. The banquet will be held at the Golden Corral Buffet located on 1970 Waynoka Road (near Powers/Palmer Park Blvd., about 4 miles NW of the hotel) Saturday night 6/25/11 at 6 PM (we will have a room reserved at the Golden Corral, it is a 'pay-your-own-way' all-you-can-eat-buffet, cost is approximately $10/person (NOTE: COST OF BANQUET IS SEPARATE FROM CONVENTION REGISTRATION FEE), beverage extra, to see the menu, go to http://www.goldencorral.net ), with the auction to occur in the hotel meeting room after the banquet at approximately 8 PM. (Thanks to Mike Sanburn, KG6LJU, for the information.) (IRCA DX Monitor May 7 via DXLD) NRC/DXAS/WTFDA CONVENTION, OMAHA, NE, OCTOBER 13-15 The dates are: OCTOBER 13, 14 & 15, Thursday (3 PM) through Saturday night (midnight). Location: Comfort Inn & Suites, 7007 Grover St, Omaha NE 68106 (call 402-934-4900 for reservations, mention NRC), I- 80 at 72nd St, exit 449. Airport Shuttle, Expanded Continental Breakfast, Hospitality Room on 2nd floor for all 3 days, an indoor pool, and Meeting Room. Buffet Banquet in that same room on either Friday or Saturday evening. Cost: $75.00 + tax = $88.62 if room quota is met. Checks for the registration fee ($45) will be payable to the NATIONAL RADIO CLUB and mailed to: Ernest Wesolowski, 13312 Westwood Lane, Omaha NE 68144-3543 (IRCA DX Monitor May 7 via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ This trip to Grayland Beach State Park for three nights of DXing was my first ever to the extreme west side of the newer section of the park. This meant there was nothing between me and the Pacific ocean beach except a few hundred yards of dune grass. It was great to have the wide open space available, instead of fighting antenna-eating trees, brush, and thorny blackberry bushes. It also meant that antennas would be in view of the nearby RVers in adjacent campsites... and I'm careful about drawing too much attention to myself and this not-so-appreciated hobby of DXing! So instead of using telescoping masts up to 32 feet high with phased delta loop antennas, I tried a more discrete approach with phased Wellbrook ALA1530 and ALA1530S+ loops. These well known active loop antennas are one meter in diameter, a lot easier on the eyes for non-DXers. I oriented the loops' plane at 220 degrees/40 degrees, as I hoped to chase South Pacific stations. I also spaced the loops 50 meters apart, as recommended by Andy Ikin of Wellbrook, and used my "workhorse" prototype Wellbrook phaser that's served me well with ALA100 and FLG100-based delta loop arrays. During daytime tests on Washington and Oregon medium wave stations, I observed 25 to 30 dB nulls on stations across a fairly wide swath off the back side of the array. I used a 6db attenuator module with the ALA1530S+ only, to drop its signal level down to that of the ALA1530 so that the antennas would be essentially equal for phasing. I removed the attenuator when using the antennas separately. Unfortunately, MW propagation was extremely poor all three nights, and I couldn't even begin to assess the performance of the phased Wellbrook loops on DU reception! I heard weak audio from just a couple of DU regulars--Tahiti 738 and Marshall Islands 1098, along with scraps of signal from HLAZ South Korea on 1566. When you can't get a decent signal on 1566 from Grayland, there's something seriously wrong! The problem was propagation, not the antennas. The loops were hearing distant daytimers on MW very well, in the low noise environment at Grayland. Unfortunately we are too far past the equinox for TP Asian DX this time of year, and it's evidently too soon before summer when the Aussies and Kiwis can be heard well on medium wave. Check out this link to see a photo of one of the antennas at sunset, and a screen capture of Perseus showing the superb low background noise level: http://tinyurl.com/3ny69xg Despite the extra cost for camp sites in this section of the park due to the water connections and below-ground AC power (that make this a popular destination for RVers), site #66 is worth revisiting for DXing. The available space for modest length BOGs or Beverages to the SW and NW is promising as well as the opportunity to try phased Wellbrook active loops again. I eventually decided to focus my efforts on shortwave and reconfigured the loops as separate antennas oriented SW-NE and NW-SE. The results are below --- not a very large "haul" of DX; I wish I had given up chasing foreign medium wave earlier in the trip! (Guy Atkins, Puyallup, WA USA, DXing at Grayland Beach State Park, Perseus SDR & AR7030+ receivers, Wellbrook ALA1530, ALA1530S+ antennas, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Logs are integrated into this issue, starting with AUSTRALIA. The entire report was posted in one piece in the dxldyg (gh) MUSEA +++++ THE BIG SHIFT --- 70th anniversary missed..... http://www.wired.com/thisdayintech/2011/03/0329radio-stations-shuffle-frequencies/ Darn it. *Yesterday* was the 70th anniversary of the Big Shift. 80% of AM stations changed frequencies - nearly all of them in large blocks - establishing the AM band we have today. – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, March 30, NRC-AM via DXLD) Doug Smith recalls the "big shift in most frequencies" that occurred just 70 years ago on this date. I was there on that date, and here are some of the changes. The first frequency to move up was 740 where WSB moved to 750, then WJR to 760, WJZ [now WABC] to 770 and WBBM to 780. 780 became regional 790 and 800 a Canadian-Mexican frequency. The rest of the 800s moved up 2 frequencies ending with WABC [now WCBS] to 880 and WLS to 890. Most of the 900s moved up 3. KDKA moved 4 freq. to 1020, WBZ 990 to 1030 and WHO to 1040, KYW to 1060 from 1020 and WTIC to 1080. Most of the rest of the 1000s and 1100s moved up 3. On 1160 WWVA moved to 1170 and WOWO to 1190. KOB went down to 1030 from 1180 and KEX up to 1190. WCAU [now WPHT] moved from 1170 to 1210. From 1200 up most moved up 3 freq. 1460 [then KSTP and WJSV] went to 1500. WKBW [now WWKB] and KOMA moved from 1480 to 1520. The 1500 graveyard channel went back to 1490. 1510 to 1600 were new channels. You can imagine the confusion all this caused but it was a lot of fun. At that time I was a student at Grove City College, Grove City, Pa. [home of WSAJ] and I was using a six tube Philco that served me very well until I got an HQ-180 in 1961 (Ben Dangerfield, Wallingford, PA, ibid.) BOSTON RADIO HISTORY The Boston Radio History interview by Donna Halper is now available for download at http://raccoonradio.freehostia.com/Air/WBURDonnaH.mp3 Select 'Save Target As' to download to your local hard drive. Size is about 39 Meg, so plan accordingly. Donna's interview was broadcast on WBUR Boston (90.9) and West Yarmouth (1240) on Monday. This interview and her book "Boston Radio: 1920-2010" are highly recommended (Mark Connelly, WA1ION, Billerica, MA + South Yarmouth, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ Re MODULATION CONTROL OF CARRIER, 11-18 Glenn, The piece about the tests of modulation control of carrier slightly mischaracterizes the regulatory situation. The carrier shift rule 73.40(a)(5) was eliminated sometime in the 1980s. Carrier shift is still defined in 73.14, but the rule about it appears to have been eliminated in the R&O in Docket 88-376 in 1989 (see 66RR 2d 650) if not earlier. So the only rule requiring waiver (or, as is the case in the Alaska situation, experimental authorization) to use modulation determined carrier level control (DCC or perhaps more generically, "MDCL" Modulation Dependent Carrier-Level control - an umbrella term for ACC, AMC, CCM, DAM, and DCC) is the rule on carrier power maintenance, 73.1560. And use of any of the proprietary methods necessarily causes carrier shift - that's the whole point of the exercise (I wrote the engineering statements for the experimental authorizations for the Alaska stations.) (Ben Dawson III, WA, May 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) OVER MOD ON THE INCREASE? I have been watching this "overmodulation" thread and think that there may be a problem with observation. I suspect strongly that junky/bad/unwanted/splattery sidebands are being observed and the problem is being immediately (and incorrectly) blamed on overmodulation. I suspect that the REAL problem is simply distortion in the modulating circuitry in the transmitter, not actual overmodulation. Just because a signal splatters over one or more adjacent channels does not mean the station is overmodulating. Distorted modulation (caused by a dead modulator tube, for example) can easily cause such trashy sidebands. Knowing how little maintenance is being pulled on transmitters nowadays, this seems perfectly logical to me. Or an RF amplifier tube that has low emission and simply can't produce the required positive peaks. The list goes on. To flush out the answer about whether the station is overmodulating or not, simply watch the output of your receiver I.F. strip on a scope. Don't look at the demodulated audio. Look at the "RF" being applied to the demodulator. I point out this little tidbit because even my Collins 51J4 has distortion on the negative peaks at modulation levels considerably below 100% and most radios do the same thing. And while I have your attention, you would do yourselves a favor by giving a brief look at an appnote on this subject of why demodulators distort. To see it go here http://tonnesoftware.com/miscellany.html and click on Demodulator. I suspect you will find the paper to be an eye opener. 73, JimT W4ENE (Jim Tonne, May 7, IRCA via DXLD) GLENN`S RADIO EQUIPMENT Glenn, Enjoy reading your logs. Thank you. When you listen, what equipment do you primarily use and what is your location? I think most of us novices would be interested to know. TNX. Mike WA1KSN (Michael J Skorvanek III, May 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have been asked to give my location and equipment. I work this into items from time to time, but for the record: Main receiver: FRG-7 unmodified. Also use RS DX-398 and Grundig YB-400 as backups, portables, measuring frequencies, checking parallels. Also have a rarely used Sony ICF SW-07 with Sony window loop antenna which I occasionally try when synch detexion, USB/LSB might be helpful. Usually it is not, since signal levels are lower with that antenna. Also various lesser portables kept in other houseparts, car. Main antenna; random wire about 7 feet above ground, about 110 feet long, most of it running east-west. For the other receivers or during storms, some shorter random wires inside the house. Also have a shorter random wire outside around the porch, used with the DX-398 for quick checks away from some of the interior computer noise when inconvenient to turn that off. This combo is never as sensitive as the FRG-7 with interior noises minimized (Glenn Hauser, Enid, Oklahoma, USA) Hi Glenn, just saw a bit on the antennas you are using and wanted to comment on them. Fine on your long wires ants, they should do fine. The window ants you are running are a favorite of mine for a few reasons. One is they can be hidden behind drapes and if you use a coax feed line that is of a neutral color they are even less noticeable. Add to that the fact that to destroy an indoor ant the house has to be wrecked, so a storm is unlikely to drop your window ants unlike your long wires. The design I use for window ants is thus: 2 turns completely around the window frame, then fed simply via coax soldering one end of the loop to the center conductor of the coax and the other end of the loop to the outter shield of the coax. I use whatever coax is at hand, whether rg59 75ohm cable tv coax or rg58 50 ohm, it does not matter, and oddly enough these ants work much better over all freqs as a loop and not a coiled unterminated wire. These ants even work well in a aluminum sided home. The benefit of a loop such as this is that they respond more to the magnetic component of a signal, whether that signal is noise or a broadcast. The noise floor of such an ant is usually very low even in a home filled with electronic noisemakers such as pcs and switching power supply battery chargers and so on, as most noise is propagated via the voltage component of a radio wave rather than the magnetic. Another neat trick with the window loop ant is that if you feed one at the corner and another window loop ant at the middle of the bottom horizontal portion, the corner fed ant is verticaly polarised while the one fed at the bottom middle is horizontaly polarised. Often when one ant is not getting a signal well the other will. Polarity diversity is a huge boon to radio reception. I have even used these to transmit on 40m and higher with a transmatch and they work fine for the small space they take up. They would work at lower freqs as a tx ant with a transmatch but I never used them lower than 40m. Just some thoughts for you (Chris, N0SYA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Chris, Tnx for the tips. The (amplified) window antenna I am using is the one supplied by Sony, AN-LP2, which can fold up into a rather small pouch (Glenn, ibid.) Photos of the USAF GLOBECOM HF Receiver Site Hi, I have just find this nice photo-set of the USAF GLOBECOM HF Receiver Site, Lincoln CA http://www.flickr.com/photos/coldwararchaeology/sets/72157626417878559/ 73 (Andrea Borgnino IW0HK - HB9EMK shortwavesites yg via DXLD) PHILO T. FARNSWORTH STATUE By ANDY WRIGHT May 5, 2011 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/us/08bcintel.html?ref=todayspaper&pagewanted=print Tucked among the greenery of the Presidio is George Lucas's sprawling Letterman Digital Arts Center. In front of Building D is a statue commemorating Philo T. Farnsworth. Though not a household name, Farnsworth was responsible for pioneering one of the most common household items: the television. ANDY WRIGHT Tube Time Farnsworth worked out of a laboratory at 202 Green Street in the North Beach section of San Francisco, where he successfully projected his first image on Sept. 7, 1927: a simple straight line. Later that year, he projected a symbol for investors that they could relate to: a dollar sign. Four Noble Statues The Farnsworth statue, installed in October 2008, was sculptured in bronze by Lawrence Noble. Three more statues of media superstars made by Mr. Noble also populate the arts center's campus: Eadweard Muybridge, the photographer; Willis O'Brien, the stop-motion animation pioneer; and Yoda, the Jedi master. THX for the Memories Farnsworth, 1906-71, is depicted holding a cathode ray tube, used to project images in classic television sets, and a roll of patents. He stands next to an early television. Mr. Noble said the set was styled after a 1948 Bush model made in England that looks like a mix between "a Coca-Cola machine and R2D2." On the back of it, Mr. Noble has added a reference to one of Mr. Lucas's early works: one of a set of several dials is labeled "THX," for his 1971 dystopian science fiction film "THX 1138." Farnsworth Steps According to popular lore, Farnsworth Lane in the Inner Sunset area is named for the inventor, and the nearby Farnsworth Steps lead to a house he once owned on Edgewood Avenue. A 1949 biography of the inventor by his financial backer, George Everson, makes no mention of the Edgewood house, but does say Farnsworth lived in a home in the Marina district overlooking the Presidio. Swords to `Star Wars' The Presidio was a United States Army Base until 1989. The land is still peppered with old barracks and relics but most recently has become a hub of popular entertainment. In addition to the Digital Arts Center, which opened in 2005, the Walt Disney Family Museum opened its doors in October 2009 (NY Times via Mike Cooper, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ WORKING TOWARD A NEW DTV STANDARD The ATSC board is expected to move forward with plans to develop a new standard for TV broadcasting in the next five to 10 years. For viewers, it may mean another traumatic transition similar to one leading up to the final June 2009 switch from analog to digital, but it will enable TV stations to broadcast more programming more reliably, and to explore new business opportunities. . . http://tinyurl.com/NewTV-Again (TVNewsCheck via CGC Communicator via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See USA WSCR and Bueneman rant +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See BELGIUM, ECUADOR, GUIANA FRENCH, ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ KALININGRAD, NEW ZEALAND, RUSSIA, USA, YEMEN [some really mentioned as QRDRM] POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ PLT INTERFERENCE RAISED IN UK PARLIAMENT Southgate May 5, 2011 Interference from PLT devices can ruin peoples' enjoyment of radio and a question on PLT was recently raised in the UK Parliament. David Lewis G8JXA posted the following extract from Hansard on the UKQRM Yahoo Group: David Mowat (Warrington South, Conservative) To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Olympics, Media and Sport what recent discussions he has had on the future regulation of power line telecommunications devices; and if he will make a statement. Hansard source (Citation: HC Deb, 27 April 2011, c449W) Mark Prisk (Minister of State (Business and Enterprise), Business, Innovation and Skills Hertford and Stortford, Conservative) I have been asked to reply. I have had no such discussions, however my officials have responded to a number of inquiries concerning power line telecommunication (PLT) equipment and its compliance with the Electromagnetic Compatibility Regulations. In common with most electronic products sold in the UK, PLT equipment is required to comply with the Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) Regulations 2006, which are based on the European Electromagnetic Compatibility Directive, 2004/108/EC. Enforcement powers are delegated to the Office of Communication (Ofcom) where a radio spectrum protection or management issue occurs. Ofcom has investigated 219 incidents, with one still to resolve, but has not concluded that PLT products fail to comply with the essential requirements of the EMC Regulations. The essential requirements require that equipment shall be designed and manufactured, having regard to the state of the art and good engineering practice, so as to ensure that the electromagnetic disturbance generated does not exceed the level above which radio and telecommunications equipment or other equipment cannot operate as intended. The technical solution to ensure the essential requirements of the Regulations are met will vary with the state of the art, latest good engineering practice, extent of knowledge and similar variables and no revision of the technical requirement is currently foreseen. Power line equipment manufacturers are committed to continuous innovation as technology advances, allowing them to comply with the requirements and spirit of the regulations while providing products to better meet general consumer expectations and needs. UKQRM Yahoo Group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKQRM/ http://www.southgatearc.org/news/may2011/plt_raised_in_parliament.htm RSGB PLT response - Ofcom 'disingenuous' Southgate May 5, 2011 The Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) has released a response to the latest Ofcom statement on power line adaptors, also known as PLT. The response concludes with: "The RSGB believes that Ofcom has been disingenuous, has misled its spectrum-user customers and had failed in its statutory duty to enforce the EMC Regulations. These are serious matters for the protection of the spectrum and for Ofcom's position as a regulator. "The Society does not intend to let this rest. We are considering how to take this forward and will keep the membership informed." Read the full RSGB response at http://www.rsgb.org/news/articlelinks.php?id=0124 RSGB - Are You Getting Interference? (3. Making a formal complaint to Ofcom) http://www.rsgb.org/emc/are-you-getting-interference.php Online Form for Reporting Interference https://faq.external.bbc.co.uk/templates/bbcfaqs/emailstatic/interferencePage Ofcom PLT statement http://www.southgatearc.org/news/april2011/ofcom_plt_statement.htm http://www.southgatearc.org/news/may2011/ofcom_disingenuous.htm (both via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) HI. I admire your untiring efforts, but from reading some of the Computer Press, it is clear, that 'the Horse has long since bolted the Stable Door', these 'things' are openly on Sale, there is lots of reference to the advantages of being able to use Power Line Adapters, in the Home etc, but NO problem is, perceived, with NO reference to these adapters, affecting the Radio Spectrum (or anything else for that matter). It is, in my opinion, unlikely that Ofcom will legislate against something that is contributing to the profits etc of many, as it would be seen as an 'Anti-Trade' practice. The only thing I can suggest is if some enterprising firm, (Like the old 'Datong') could come up with some Anti PLT Device, there might be a way ahead. I have NO idea whether this is electronically possible. (Ken Fletcher, CH43-UK, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) That`s the ticket! Jam the damn things to make them unusable (gh) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ GEOMAGNETIC SUMMARY FEBRUARY 1 2011 THROUGH APRIL 30 2011 Tabulated from email status daily. By Phil Bytheway Date Flux A K Space Wx FEBRUARY 2011: 1 80 10 2 no storms 2 79 6 1 no storms 3 80 2 0 no storms 4 82 15 5 minor 5 81 15 2 no storms 6 80 14 2 no storms 7 82 4 1 no storms 8 90 5 1 no storms 9 89 2 0 minor 10 91 4 1 no storms 11 91 3 2 no storms 12 96 3 0 no storms 13 107 2 0 moderate 14 113 8 3 minor 15 113 5 2 strong 16 114 2 0 minor 17 111 2 2 no storms 18 125 17 2 moderate 19 109 6 1 no storms 20 105 8 2 no storms 21 97 9 1 no storms 22 91 2 1 no storms 23 89 3 0 no storms 24 89 2 0 no storms 25 88 2 1 no storms 26 90 5 2 no storms 27 90 2 0 no storms 28 96 2 1 minor MARCH 2011: 1 111 25 4 minor 2 113 15 3 no storms 3 121 14 3 no storms 4 127 11 2 no storms 5 135 5 1 no storms 6 143 4 2 no storms 7 153 9 2 minor 8 155 4 1 moderate 9 143 5 1 strong 10 131 13 3 strong 11 123 25 5 minor 12 121 12 3 no storms 13 113 5 1 no storms 14 107 2 0 minor 15 102 1 0 minor 16 95 1 1 no storms 17 90 2 1 no storms 18 88 2 0 moderate 19 89 5 1 no storms 20 92 5 2 no storms 21 101 4 3 minor 22 100 8 1 minor 23 105 12 2 minor 24 108 3 1 minor 25 113 3 1 minor 26 115 1 0 minor 27 117 1 2 no storms 28 119 1 1 no storms 29 116 2 2 no storms 30 118 5 1 no storms 31 113 3 1 no storms APRIL 2011: 1 109 12 3 no storms 2 108 20 4 no storms 3 114 16 3 no storms 4 113 7 1 no storms 5 109 4 2 no storms 6 117 20 3 minor 7 112 5 1 no storms 8 109 8 3 no storms 9 105 8 1 no storms 10 105 2 1 no storms 11 106 8 2 no storms 12 110 16 2 no storms 13 118 14 1 no storms 14 119 5 3 no storms 15 129 5 2 minor 16 119 4 2 no storms 17 114 4 1 no storms 18 111 11 1 no storms 19 111 6 3 no storms 20 117 15 1 no storms 21 113 5 2 no storms 22 115 5 1 minor 23 119 7 1 no storms 24 117 6 3 no storms 25 112 6 1 no storms 26 109 3 1 no storms 27 108 1 1 no storms 28 110 1 1 no storms 29 110 12 5 minor 30 110 21 3 no storms (IRCA DX Monitors via DXLD) The following text of an item on R. Bulgaria`s DX program has some serious errors in it (gh, DXLD) http://bnr.bg/sites/en/Lifestyle/DX/Pages/DXProgramMay6,2011.aspx EARTH’S ATMOSPHERE AND RADIO WAVES Radio broadcast is achieved through radio waves. These waves can be ground waves, which are transmitted perpendicularly to the antenna and are easily affected by the topography of an area. For long distance radio transmissions people count on the types of radio waves, which are back scattered by layers of the atmosphere. At the bottom of the atmosphere, up to 11 kilometers in height, is the ***troposphere, which affects mainly long and medium waves. In extraordinary cases it can have effect on the FM waves too. The next layer is the stratosphere, which includes the ozone layer and the so-called cirrus clouds, which enable reception of far-away FM stations in the mid-latitudes during spring and summer.*** Some scientists believe that ozone itself also affects transmission but there are no sufficient evidence for this. 50 kilometers above the Earth starts the ionosphere. The upper border of this sphere is not strictly defined but it reaches 350 kilometers. There is also the layer of the upper ionosphere, which does not affect radio transmission. The ionosphere between 50 and 350 kilometers above the surface of the Earth has a major effect on radio transmission. It can be divided into 4 layers. Layer D is located from 50 to 95 kilometers. Because of the strong ionization of this layer of the atmosphere due to solar activity, it absorbs long waves and such transmissions can reach only local listeners. The medium and tropical ranges of the short waves also disappear during the day in the E-layer of the ionosphere, situated between 95 and 110 kilometers above the Earth. In rare occasions FM waves can be reflected by this layer. Short waves are reflected by the F1 and F2 layers - 110-250 km and 250-450 kilometers, respectively. The F layers also can sometimes reflect FM transmission. Otherwise, FM waves just vanish into space. There are other things that affect transmission, such as some clouds situated 80 kilometers above the ground where the zone where most asteroids burn up is also situated. The aurora takes place between 100 and 400 kilometers above the Earth, and also has effect on transmission. Debris left by spacecraft also interfere with radio waves, although not much attention has been paid to this fact. (English: Alexander Markov, Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) The original author is not given; perhaps some of the mistakes derive from translation. The portion marked *** to *** is bold-faced in the original. The troposphere does *not* affect mainly LW and MW!!! It has little if any effect. Apparently they are confusing ground (or surface-) wave with tropo, which affects VHF and UHF, not MF or HF. ``Far-away FM signals at mid-latitudes during spring and summer`` obviously refers to sporadic E, which *is* via a part of the ionosphere, not the mere stratosphere, and cirrus clouds certainly have nothing to do with it! The ``strong ionization of the D layer due to solar activity`` refers not to the sunspot cycle, but to normal daily radiation from the sun. The normal E-layer is far more useful than implied, responsible for normal nighttime `skywave` reception on MW, and for shorter shortwave propagation up to about 10 MHz (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Geomagnetic field activity began the week ranging between unsettled to active conditions at mid latitudes, and minor to severe conditions at high latitudes on 02 May, due to a favorably positioned coronal hole. The high speed stream effects began prior to the summary period (29 April) and persisted through 02 May with solar wind speeds in excess of 640 km/s, and intermittent periods of negative Bz. Conditions began to subside on 03 May, settling to predominately quiet conditions with predominately positive Bz, before solar wind speeds decreased to background velocities near 400 km/s on 04 May. Conditions remained mostly quiet at all latitudes for the remainder of the summary period. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 11 MAY - 06 JUNE 2011 Solar activity is expected to be very low to low. There is a chance for isolated periods of moderate levels due to the possible emergence of new regions, the return of old Region 1195 on 13 May, as well as Regions 1199 and 1202 on 14 May. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at high levels 11-19 May due to multiple coronal hole high-speed streams. Normal to moderate levels are expected to be predominate [sic] from 20-27 May, before elevated wind speeds from another recurrent coronal hole should produce high levels from 28 May until 02 June. Moderate or lower conditions should persist from 03 June until the end of the outlook period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be unsettled to active 11-13 May due to coronal hole high-speed stream effects. Conditions are expected to subside for a day or so before increasing back to mostly unsettled conditions 15-17 May with another coronal hole coming into a favorable position to impact Earth. Conditions are forecasted to be predominately quiet 18-26 May, bar any transient activity, before the next recurrent coronal hole is expected on or around 26 May. Active to minor strorm conditions are possible 27-29 May due to the coronal hole, and lesser effects in the form of mostly unsettled to acive conditions should persist 30-31 May. Mostly quiet conditions are expected 01-05 Jun before the currently geo-effective coronal hole returns to produce unsettled conditions on 06 June. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2011 May 10 1749 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 2011-05-10 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2011 May 11 105 12 3 2011 May 12 105 15 3 2011 May 13 105 8 3 2011 May 14 105 5 2 2011 May 15 100 8 3 2011 May 16 100 8 3 2011 May 17 100 8 3 2011 May 18 100 5 2 2011 May 19 105 5 2 2011 May 20 110 5 2 2011 May 21 110 5 2 2011 May 22 110 5 2 2011 May 23 110 5 2 2011 May 24 110 5 2 2011 May 25 110 5 2 2011 May 26 110 12 3 2011 May 27 110 22 5 2011 May 28 110 18 4 2011 May 29 110 18 4 2011 May 30 110 15 3 2011 May 31 105 8 3 2011 Jun 01 105 5 2 2011 Jun 02 105 5 2 2011 Jun 03 105 5 2 2011 Jun 04 105 5 2 2011 Jun 05 105 5 2 2011 Jun 06 105 8 3 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1564, DXLD) ###