DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-21, May 25, 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 1566 HEADLINES: *DX and station news about: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Egypt, Eritrea, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Japan, Libya, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Malta, Micronesia, Morocco, New Zealand, Pakistan, Peru, Saint Helena, Sweden, Uganda, USA. SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1566, May 26-June 1, 2011 Thu 1500 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Thu 2100 WRMI 9955 Fri 0330 WWRB 5050 [confirmed] 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 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 2130 WBCQ 7415 [or 2115, or 2100] Thu 0330 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/ ** ALASKA. 11870, KNLS, Anchor Point; 1227-1237+, 21-May; English Bible feature on Job plus pop religious music; KNLS spot at 1236+. SIO=2+43-, very fadey & LSB helps with wind-howl QRM (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. 13735, May 18 at 1853, R. Tirana is S9+12 on peaks, but just barely modulated during 1845 English. 13735, May 19 at 2002, R. Tirana English to NAm, S9+15 but JBM (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALGERIA [non]. 11985, May 21 at 0616, Arabic talk sounds a lot like BBC on 11820, but not //. HFCC and WRTH Update show it`s new since May 1 for the TDA relays via FRANCE, 0600-0700, 500 kW, 194 degrees; the only frequency during this hour, ex-9535, which continues at 05-06 only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA. 7216.76, Rádio Nacional, 2107, per Dave Kenny info (thanks World of Radio), sure enough, here in English with several mentions of "Luanda." Despite reports of good audio, I found modulation was still very low (but still much better than 4949.8v, which was little more than an OC today). 21 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGUILLA. 11775, University Network; 1030, 21-May; No Rev. Barbi or Dead Dr. Gene on 11775 or 6090. Thought maybe they'd been raptured, but both turned up later. 11775, University Network; 2147, 21-May; Rev. Barbi sez that the Los Angeles post office has been losing some of her mail; sent some to the wrong P.O. and returned some. (But keep that money coming in!) Switched to Dead Dr. Gene at 2155+. S20 peaks. // 13845 via WWCR, SIO=453 (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 11775, May 24 at 0614, PMS with VG signal, having failed to switch to night frequency 6090 which was vacant. This time of year there is no need to stick to 49m at night; except at 00-03, there must have been a big self-defeating clash with R. Martí and the DentroCuban Jamming Command via Greenville, then Sackville; and CRI Arabic via Albania at 05-07, but not audible now (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. Re 11-20: Noted your comment Glenn, that you were seeing few logs of LRA36 this season, and wondering if anyone was monitoring. Well I have been, from Whitby ON, near Toronto, and with limited success. Years ago when they were on closing at (from memory) around 2000Z, they invariably peaked, with fair to good audio, but never (in my experience) before 1900. I listened an average of 3 mornings a week last Summer, and this season, and the nearest I have got to a readable audio on the morning-only schedule was on May 17th, when they were toying with local fame for about 20 minutes from about 1250 to 1310. I got snatches of Latin music and that was about it. This morning was back to normal --- way down. I can see the carrier on the Perseus SDR --- but hey, I can watch Makassar sign off at 1500+ just about any day I try, but it is many thousand-fold below an audible signal of course. Unlike your sea-path, mine is 95% land, and that, or latitude, may be the difference. My antenna system is geared for 60m and down at the moment, but I have a 40m dipole that has a good lobe that way. Maybe I should re-install the Carolina Beam at 90 feet over the ravine (N/S) again. Worked well, but tough to keep up in Winter around here (Tony Ward (VE3NO), May, 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476.0, LRA36, 1413-1506*, May 17. YL in Spanish playing pop songs; 1437-1449 YL seemed to tell a story; had several phone conversations; went from poor to almost fair and back to poor when they suddenly went off the air. By far the strongest reception to date! May 18, randomly from 1332 to 1545*; even better reception today; played songs in Spanish (rock, ballads, pop, etc.); often fair. How did reception at 1336 compare to 1519? Audio of equal portions posted at http://www.box.net/shared/yrgng1pxd1 1500-1545* was non-stop music; suddenly off with no announcement. Enjoyable listening! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476, LRA36, May 18: 1230 tune-in, already on with vocal music, S9+15. After a quick Firedrake scan [see CHINA], I return at 1235 as ``Soy Feliz`` themesong is running along with XYL sign-on of `Amanecer Austral`, mentions ``hoy, buena música y algo más``, credits. 1239 contact info, 1240 another song. 1250 is weaker, S9+12; 1256 chatting and laughter, ``en esta mañana gris``, mentions a ganador so are they giving something away? By 1311 has become JBA, but resurges a bit at 1342, back up to S9+12; however the S/N is worse. 15476, LRA36 check May 19: nothing at 1229, but retune at 1231 it`s on with vocal music, 1241 still music with heavy beat; 1247 still has not started announcements, and since signal is very poor today, S7 to S9 peaks, I stay with it no longer, except to note at 1311 the music is S7 to peaks at S9+10. 15476, LRA36, Friday May 20: *1231:40 with music at S9+5 average level, a bit too weak to get much out of. 1242 recheck, XYL was talking. 1305 still S9+5 with music. After that, thunder made me switch to inside antenna, so much for Antarctica today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15476.0, LRA36, May 20, randomly from 1332 to 1524*; segments with dramatic fading up and down; often fair. Spoken audio http://www.box.net/shared/lm3bvotsjm Suddenly went off the air in mid-song (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not exactly what you would expect from Antarctica. An historical item, about a Nazi death camp in Poland. Mentions that 7-16 thousand prisoners died of hunger, rising to 20 thousand by 194-. ``El trabajo hace libre`` = Arbeit macht frei, the motto of the place as on that famous gate, work shall set you free. Mentions the S.S. Also, a prison within a prison, block 16; prisoners who worked in the fields vs inside prisoners. 850 Polish prisoners died ... (Glenn to Ron, via DXLD) 15476, LRA36, May 23: tune-in at 1238 to just-barely-audible carrier, much weaker than China on 15480. By 1246 rises to very-poor level with some music; 1256 Spanish XYL talk mixed with music, S4-S8 averaging S6. 1303 building to peak of S7-S9+5 during vocal music; 1319 laughing in conversation; 1329 gone, cut off early as sometimes happens? 15476, LRA36, no carrier audible May 24 at 1247, several later chex including 1315, 1340. Yesterday it vanished sometime between 1319 and 1329; breakdown? It could be gone for months again. 15476, LRA36 missing for another day, May 25 at 1232, 1307, 1331 chex. Ahá, per http://www.wordtravels.com/Travelguide/Countries/Argentina/Holidays May 25 is National Day in Argentina, and we know they take holidays off, but why was it also missing May 24 and part of May 23? Anyhow, maybe will be back May 26 unless they take the rest of the week off too. Further holidays are 15 June, 9 July and 17 August (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 1700 kHz, R. Fantástico, 0917, very surprised to uncover this, after first hearing a huge het against the mess on 1701. Local music, "Fantástico FM" sweeper. Don't see this listed in WRTH, so had a look on the net and found they have a Facebook page. Would be curious to know how much power they're running. 19 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 15345.11, RAE, 2056, good with Radio Nacional relay; conversation between a man and woman, who talked across TOH with pips underneath, at 2100. Then ID and fanfare. Slowly drifting down to about .07. 14 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF- SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASIA [and non]. 17615, May 25 at 0525, two or three syllables by OM, Chinese? Cutting on and off, then at 0528 YL announcement without interruptions, and now // 17855 which is a few words ahead of 17615; 0530 `diamond` theme R. Free Asia frequently plays around this time; both over SAHs, no doubt ChiCom jamming underneath. 0535 a signal JBA on 21580, but could not make it // for sure. 0533, 15615 has echo- jamming of CNR1 atop. Per HFCC, the RFA frequencies are: 21580, 250 kW, 313 degrees from Tinian 17855, 100 kW, 310 degrees from Saipan 17615, 250 kW, 295 degrees from Tinian 15615, 125 kW, 295 degrees from Tinian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 2368.46, R. Symban, 1122, noted off-frequency and with poor telco-quality/humming audio. Otherwise, still very strong, even with lower power. 16 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF- SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 3210, Ozy Radio, 1305-1329, May 17. Older pop songs in English (“Superstar”; Procol Harum with “A Whiter Shade of Pale”; etc.); normally below threshold level here; went up to 5050 and yes, was clearly //, but well under BBR (China). First time that I have confirmed the // (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5050.06, Ozy Radio, 0952-1038, recognized songs "The Ticket" Joe Cocker, "Stand By Your Man" Tammy Wynette, "Jambalaya" Hank Williams Jr., "Peace Train" Cat Stevens, "In the Summer of My Life" Ray Price (I'm not 100% sure of this song, but that is what it sounded like), "Da Do Ron Ron" Shaun Cassidy, "You're No Good" Linda Ronstadt, "Good Lovin" Young Rascals, "Somebody to Love" Jefferson Airplane. Also hrd canned anmnts; 1005 "...Australia's top hits ?? Common sense... results... 557", 1008-1009 UT, a brief inspirational message about 'loving relationships', 1011 e-mail address as "Like what you hear, send an e-mail to ozyradio@iprimus.com.au", 1015 a very short TC "Quarter past 8" and at 1032 ID as "You're listening to Ozy Radio". Weak of course with moderate QRN but clear of QRM. First IDed 16 May. Only at carrier on 18 May and nothing hrd on 3210. Very surprised and pleased to hear this. (17 May) Ozy Radio, 5050.06, simple e-QSL confirmation received by station owner Craig Allen stating 400 watts. Appeared to be a generic confirmation as it states (".You were listening to Ozy Radio on 3210Khz or 5050Khz.). (18 May), 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, HCDX via DXLD) 3210, Ozy Radio, 1254-1321, May 25. Best reception to date! YL and OM in conversation; both clearly had Australian accents; website given; both announcers talking to OM on phone talking about himself; only able to make out a word here and there, but if the reception had been a bit better I could have made out more, as it was tantalizingly close to being very readable. Clearly NOT // 5050, where Ozy Radio was playing music under BBR/China. Very encouraging reception! http://www.box.net/shared/ap90rd3383 has almost 5 minutes of audio (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, I was NOT hearing Ozy Radio on 3210 today. The following insightful email is from Ian Baxter (Australia). Is a mystery as to just what I was hearing. Clearly I should have shown this log as "presumed" and now it is UNIDENTIFIED. Listening again to my audio, it sounds to me like "A-B-C Environment website" at 03:42. This is indeed strange, as there are certainly days here that I do in fact hear nothing; no carrier or anything. So when I do hear some audio that peaks at my local sunrise and it clearly is with an Australian accent, I immediately think of Ozy Radio. Now I am at a loss to understand just what this was. Ian's idea about passive retransmitting is interesting, but can it be confirmed? Appreciate his setting me straight! (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: - - - - email from Ian Baxter: Well here's the news. Ozy Radio has been off the air on 3210 kHz for at least 5 days now I reckon. So what you are hearing is NOT Ozy Radio - the programming doesn't fit either. However having said that, the English is distinctly an Aussie accent from what I can determine. I note that this in the second time you have reported as having logged Ozy Radio on 3210 kHz when it hasn't been on. So as to the clues... Well, listening to the audio & programming, this is nothing like the programming of Ozy Radio, but it does sound a bit like ABC Local Radio programming for that hour that one might hear from say Sydney 702 kHz that hour. The audio quality isn't sufficient for me to even verify that. I can only make out the odd word. However what is heard at that time locally that I thought of is the 'Tony Delroy' "Nightlife" program & the format fits I think. If the ABC Local Radio website has a file of the program you might be able to sync the audio to confirm. The ABC Nightlife program files usually appear within 12 - 27 hours or so on the Internet. From your audio file a woman was being interviewed at the time by male host and that could possibly fit with what can be heard at that time. The audio quality just isn't sufficient for me to positively confirm. I was listening to ABC 702 from about 1403 to past 1440 UT when they have the 25 question quiz, so had your recording been an hour later I could have possibly confirmed immediately. You know whilst one could consider mixing products from AM transmitters giving the signal. Here's another thought. I have heard of switched off transmitting equipment passively retransmitting other signals - heard it many times with FM broadcasts. So given that 3210 kHz if off air at the moment, maybe the switched off 3210 kHz OzyRadio transmitter is passively picking up ABC Local Radio 702 kHz from Prestons transmitter site & re-radiating the program on 3210 kHz via the antenna. That would certainly make for an interesting logging & entirely possible :-) I have too much MW crud on my lower SW freqs to tell, but there's some other non Sydney based Aussie DXers that might be able to confirm my suspicions. Hope this helps. Regards (Ian Baxter, NSW, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) For those interested; these are the SW transmitters that Ozy Radio are using. That is, 2 x 1kW transmitters run at their respective licensed power outputs. This according to Ozy Radio. http://www.lpbinc.com/omni/1000sw.htm Regards (Ian Baxter, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 9580 and 9590, May 21 at 1330, R. Australia VG with `Saturday Night Country`, blissfully unaware that everything in the UT+10 zone was certainly destroyed by Harold Camping`s earthquakes at 0800 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, 9590, Radio Australia; 2224-2234+, 20- May; ABC program -- sounded like gospel music. SIO=2+52; // 15560 also weak (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, 9590 is due east from Dhabayya at 22- 24, while it`s Shepparton at 08-16 (gh) ** AUSTRIA. QSL: 17620, Austrian Military Radio Society (AMRS) via Moosbrunn Transmitter. Date/Time/Frequency AMRS Radio Station in Cyprus Camp-Duke Leopold QSL Folder Card, thanking me for my detailed report, with AMRS Sticker, in 124 days. This for a Postal report sent to the station with return postage (Edward Kusalik, Daysland, Alberta, Canada, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHRAIN. 6010, Radio Bahrain, English, 2120, fair with British/Euro pop music, brief comments by a woman. All alone on frequency but fading fast. 13 May (David Sharp) 9745 USB, Radio Bahrain, 1459, Arabic, ads to news at 1500, which was read by a man (and began with presumed headlines, with brief music between comments. Only fair, with splatter from powerhouse BBC (via Singapore) on 9740. 13 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 9745, mixed of R Bahrain and Han Sheng with nearly the same signal level listenable as they were ISB! In LSB Han Sheng is heard clearly though undermodded while in USB Bahrain is heard quite well. S8, 43533, 17-5 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Time???? Circa 2200 judging from logs before and after this one (gh) 9745, Radio Bahrain, 2357-0045, May 23-24, carrier + USB. Audible after Romania 2357 sign off with local Mid-East style music. Arabic talk. Local chants. Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BELGIUM [non]. [TDP] DRM broadcast to India Dear All, We will start a new regular daily broadcast in DRM to India as of today May 20, 2011 as follows: Days: daily Time: 1530-1630 UT Transmitter: Issoudun Alliss 100 kW DRM Frequency: 15775 kHz Antenna: HR 4/4/0.5 Azimuth: 79 degrees Program: The Disco Palace Language: English Target area: India Start: 20 May 2011 Kind regards, (Ludo Maes, May 20, TDP yg via DXLD) If only Ludo liked classical instead of disco music, DRM might go somewhere. Note azimuth, power discrepancy below; why?? (gh, DXLD) New transmissions from TDP: The Disco Palace in DRM mode: 1530-1630 on 15775 ISS 035 kW / 090 deg to Asia Daily 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, May 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 3309.98, R. Mosoj Chaski, 1007, presumed with mensajes or similar, did not catch an ID but did hear a couple of references to "Cochabamba." Mostly weak, but fair on peaks. 11 May. (David Sharp) 4699.97, Radio San Miguel, Spanish, 0944, fair with "yip-yippie" flute music and frequent comments by uptempo man. 11 May. (David Sharp) 4795.92, Radio Lipez, 1106, fair with news by a man, apparent ad string with mention of "supermercado". Slight CODAR QRM. 21 May 4864.99, Radio Logos, 1020, presumed, fair with vocals, mentioned "boliviano" by a man, but no ID. 10 May. (David Sharp) 5580.23, R. San José, 1017, presumed with local music, time check as "Son las seis y 17 minutos..." First time reception. 19 May. 5952.43, Radio Pio XII? 1115, Spanish station here, with general conversation at first, then into comments by a child. Very tough copy, with several stations short-spaced in this area. Certainly not Radio República relay; needs more work. 19 May 6134.77, Radio Santa Cruz, 0940, good with rustic vocals, weak carrier on high side, so best in LSB. 12 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD- 535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 3309.98, Radio Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba, 0940 on 15 May [Wilkner] 5952.306, Pio XII, Siglo Veinte, 1030 on 19 May (Robert Wilkner, Icom 746Pro, Drake R8, NRD 535D, Noise Reducing Antenna, 41 meter dipole, Pompano Beach, South Florida, US, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. ESTADO CONTROLARÁ EL 20 POR CIENTO DE FRECUENCIAS --- Los canales de Televisión del país deberán tambien adecuarse a la nueva Ley. El Estado tendrá control sobre el 20 por ciento de todas las frecuencias de radio y televisión, en tanto que el restante 80 por ciento será sometido a licitación pública para el uso de privados, durante un periodo de diez años, renovables por un periodo similar, señala el proyecto de Ley 474 remitido por el Poder Ejecutivo a consideración de la Asamblea Legislativa. El proyecto fue remitido a la Presidencia de la Asamblea Plurinacional el pasado 5 de este mes de mayo, con la firma del presidente Evo Morales . . . FUENTE: http://bit.ly/k2V0Yj (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4804.989, R. Dif. do Amazonas, 1002, very good with rapid- fire talk by two men, several local references, then into ads or similar with reverb EFX. 12 May (David Sharp, Bourke NSW: FT-950, NRD- 535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole.) ** BRAZIL. Para quem conhece o valor do rádio --- Amigos, Interessante documentário sobre a Rádio Difusora Acreana: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICTnZLVYlHk&feature=player_embedded#at=477 73 (Fabricio Silva, 23 May, radioescutas yg via DXDL) ** BRAZIL. 4885.034, R. Dif. Acreana, 1055, very strong, but strangely, the only ZY station on 60 meters; lots of talk by a man, then comments by a second man at 1058. Went across TOH without ID. 21 May. (David Sharp) [much further west than the other one, R. Clube do Pará which would have faded by then --- gh] 5990, R. Senado, 0856, carrier on, then 0858 jazz music interlude, ID by a woman, brief music and second ID by a man at 0901. Heavy slop from R. Australia on 5995. 21 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. Coisa mais estranha... Já escutei outras vezes. Nesse instante (8h47 local [1147 UT]), estou escutando a Rádio Daqui, Goiania, transmitindo em 11450 kHz, em FM (isso mesmo). Por algumas vezes com identificação e passa a freq. 1.230 kHz. Estou captando com o IC R1500, filtro 15k, antena Madol, cortada para bandas de amador (3,5; 7; 14; 21; 28; 52; 146 e 446 MHz), minha localização HI22nv, João Pessoa - PB (Tota Garcia, PY7024SWL - PR7BCP, 24 May, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) BOM DIA. AQUI EM LOUVEIRA AS 9.55 HS SINAL 9+10 AUDIO LIMPO EM FM 11.450 KHZ. ABRAÇOS (PU2TRZ RONALDO Louvetel, ibid.) Oi Antonio, Isso já aconteceu antes, nas vizinhanças da QRG que você citou, anos atrás. Eu acho que até tivemos filmagem da recepção em por parte do Renato Uliana. É um espúrio gerado na emissora. –hg Sent from my Nokia phone. Oi Jockyman, Mourato! Jorge, Carlos: baseado no vosso conhecimento em transmissores de radiodifusão, vocês imaginam o que pode estar acontecendo para uma emissora em OM lançar espúrio na faixa de 25m modulado em FM? Estou admirado com os relatos de centenas de quilometros de distância; uns 100W ou mais de um sinal largo e modulado em FM devem estar 'vazando' fora-de-banda. –hg P.S. Desculpem-me as falhas de ortografia. Digito desde um telefone celular, é complicado premir as teclas miúdas! (Huelbe Garcia, ibid.) How come? R. Daqui`s normal SW frequencies are 11830 and 4915 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. 9700 & 11700, R. Bulgaria to NAm, currently both from Plovdiv site, checked during every hour 23-03 UT May 21-22 and recorded clips for Ivo Ivanov. 11700 was generally somewhat better than 9700 until by 0228 they were about equal. During the previous test with Kostinbrod on 11700 instead, that was definitely better (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. CLANDESTINE. via Armenia, 11595, Democratic Voice of Burma, via Yerevan, *2330-0030*, May 20-21, sign on with local music and opening ID announcements in Burmese. Mostly continuous talk by man and woman. Short breaks of instrumental music. Fair to good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** CAMBODIA [non]. T8WH Angel 4 changes: 1200-1300 on 9960 The Khmer Post Radio in Khmer, but really cancelled, 73! Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGIEST) Has anyone heard (or seen reported) Khmer Post Radio on the air at all? I haven't. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, May 24, ibid.) ** CAMEROON. Cameroon E2 Evening TEP in Portugal Cameroon E2 included the audio tonight (48.25 Video 53.75 Audio) The signal is very fluttery which is a characteristic of E-Tep. [trans-equatorial propagation, not exactly] They seem to be on a soap-opera,the room where it was recorded has very bad acoustic characteristics giving echoes, etc. on the sound which doesn't help! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJGf3Fk-kKk (Hugh Hoover, Portugal, 19 March, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CANADA. Montreal 690/940 to return? A post on radio-info.com links to a Montreal Gazette article indicating that two new all-traffic stations (one English, one French) will launch on AM in that city later this year. http://www.montrealgazette.com/Montreal+traffic+radio+stations/4792423/story.html It looks as if these may involve the resurrection of the silent 690/940 frequencies. My response on R-I below: It might be. Looking at the I-C database --- Both licences were canceled, on February 22nd of last year. There is no current authority for either frequency. However, two records appear showing proposals for new stations on those frequencies in Montreal. The date on both records is last Tuesday. No power is listed for either frequency. Strangely, different sites are proposed -- 45-38-58N/73-42-51W for the 940 station in English, 45-30-00N/73-35-58W for the 690 station in French (yes, the language is listed for each channel. Indeed, "Montreal" is rendered "Montreal" for 940 and "Montréal" -- with the accented e -- for 690.) Neither coordinates are those of the former 690/940 facilities, and neither coordinates are those of any other existing or recently defunct station. On April 14th, someone filed a proposal for a new station on 1530 at the proposed 690 coordinates. No powers are given for that proposal either. From the data shown, there is no way to know *who* filed these proposals (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, May 17, WTFDA-AM via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) Applications have been submitted to the CRTC for new 50 kW stations in Montreal on 690 (French) using the old CINF transmitter and 940 (English) using the old CINW transmitter to the CRTC: Both stations will be glorified TIS stations. Seems a waste of 50 kW class A facilities to me. Log what you can on 690 and 940 while you can still do so:) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Montréal, Quebec, Application 2011-0801-9 Application by Metromedia CMR Broadcasting Inc. for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-language AM commercial radio programming undertaking in Montréal. The proposed station would operate on frequency 940 kHz (class A) with a transmitter power of 50,000 watts daytime and night time. The station’s programming would be dedicated to the broadcast of information relating to traffic and the obstacles caused by road work in the greater Montréal region, by using the studios, the transmitter and the site of transmission of station CINW, whose licence was revoked in January 2010. Cogeco Diffusion Acquisitions inc., the applicant’s parent company, has entered in to a three-year agreement with the ministère des Transports du Québec, with possibility of renewal, that, among other things, stipulates the broadcasting of this information. Montréal, Quebec, Application 2011-0802-7 Application by Metromedia CMR Broadcasting Inc. for a broadcasting licence to operate a French-language AM commercial radio programming undertaking in Montréal. The proposed station would operate on frequency 690 kHz (class A) with a transmitter power of 50,000 watts daytime and night time. The station’s programming would be dedicated to the broadcast of information relating to traffic and the obstacles caused by road work in the greater Montréal region, by using the studios, the transmitter and the site of transmission of station CINF, whose licence was revoked in January 2010. Cogeco Diffusion Acquisitions inc., the applicant’s parent company, has entered in to a three-year agreement with the ministère des Transports du Québec, with possibility of renewal, that, among other things, stipulates the broadcasting of this information. 73, (via Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, May 18, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) These applications went on Public Notice with the CRTC today. [above] http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/archive/2011/2011-336.htm Apparently the information in the Industry Canada database is flawed; as the CRTC notice specifically states both frequencies plan to use the former CINF/CINW facilities at 50 kW. The applicant is "Multimedia CMR", I understand that's a subsidiary of Cogeco? The 690 site in the I-C database pretty much had to be wrong, as it was essentially the site of the Montreal *FM* tower in Mont Royal Park -- a pretty bad place for a 50 kW *AM* station! (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) Why does Montreal need an all-traffic station, especially a 50 kW station? Doesn't *anyone*, AM or FM, do traffic in Montreal? And what's wrong with having some weaker traffic stations somewhere in the 1600-1700 kHz section of the AM band like we have here (Tune in to 1670 AM for the latest traffic reports...etc...) Looks to me like somebody has money to burn (Mike Bugaj, CT, ibid.) Consider that Canadian TISs are not necessarily non-commercial; and they have a (provincial) government contract. Actually, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if it's cheaper for Transport Quebec to pay Multimedia CMR to run a pair of 50 kW TISs than it would be to install a dozen or two 10-watters spread around the Montreal area and the necessary infrastructure to feed them all programming. While it's not cheap to provide electricity and maintenance on two 50 kW transmitters, it's also not cheap to send techs all over the city maintaining a dozen or two remote sites. In any case they couldn't do it in the X-band, as that's full in Montreal. I do note there are thirteen proposals for low-powered (14- watt) stations on 910 in the Montreal area. I wonder if these are what Transport Quebec originally proposed? (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) It's not that bizarre. Niagara Falls has a 5,000 watt TIS, CJRN 710. (the TIS' history can be traced back to an 8 watt TIS on 91.9). Even Environment Canada, at one point, did research on the potential use of high power AM for its weather broadcasts in remote parts of the country. wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) I think your point that one transmitter site being cheaper to run and maintain is valid. But, I have to wonder why 50 kW would be necessary for this purpose. If the intent is to run a traffic/TIS station, the coverage area provided by big power, low on the dial is a waste. Unless you're in metro-Montreal, the signal is not useful. A kW or two would be more than adequate to cover the City. Why spend the cash on the power bill? (Peter, N4LI, Peter Baskind, J.D., LL.M., Germantown, TN, 901-624-5295, ibid.) *Is* 1-2 kW enough to cover metro Montreal, under the current noise environment in most cities? I've seen engineers argue that 50 kW is the minimum to provide useful service in most modern North American cities -- and from my observations listening to 15kW WPLN-1430, I'm inclined to agree (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Canadians 690 and 940 return with all traffic all the time... http://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/dailybrew/canadian-am-stations-increasingly-being-salvaged-traffic-radio-173020511.html CANADIAN AM STATIONS INCREASINGLY BEING SALVAGED WITH ALL-TRAFFIC RADIO NEWS When a radio station in Vancouver became the first in North America to change its format to non-stop traffic reports in 2006, it was viewed by some as a desperate move from an industry that ran out of old ideas, and couldn't be bothered to develop new ones. But the concept has proven to be worth something in the age of ever-soaring gasoline prices. Transport Quebec has announced a $3-million scheme to take over two vacant spots on the dial in Montreal as part of a partnership with its new owner Cogeco. Traffic reports will be heard on the 690 and 940 frequencies in both English and French between 4:30 a.m. and 1 a.m. weekdays. Morning show hosts will get to sleep in for 90 minutes on the weekend. Programming will include status updates about main highways and bridges, advice on which routes to avoid, road conditions, information on road work sites and tips on highway safety. And because traffic on the radio is now expected to be reported together with weather, the Montreal stations will deliver those details, too. The new format marks a resurrection of two long-time frequencies that signed off with no ceremony whatsoever in January 2010. Corus Entertainment attempted to run a French news and talk station during the preceding decade as Info 690. The sister station, AM940, switched to mostly automated oldies music in 2008 after a failed attempt to offer a combination of local and syndicated English-language chat shows. Meanwhile, talk radio started to integrate more traffic updates, even if there was nothing to report. Clearly, there was more demand for these reports than most other topics. So, what would happen if the stuff between the traffic and weather together was eliminated entirely? Montreal will find out soon enough. The theory was cautiously put to the test in Vancouver, whose AM730 was forced by low ratings to give up on music by 2001, but failed to gain a following for all-news, talk or sports formats. Ratings for the seven-minute "traffic wheel" offered by the station in morning and afternoon drive quickly doubled anything it tried before. As a result, "All Traffic, All the Time" became a profitable 24-hour format for owner Corus. Rather than give away prizes, like most other radio stations, AM730 has promised to save listeners money by cutting down their time spent behind the wheel. The fresh-faced staff who deliver the reports obviously don't cost much, either (via Kevin Redding, May 18, ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. CJLV LAVAL 1570 AM CHANGERA DE MAIN SOUS PEU Ghislain Plourde Publié le 25 avril 2011 à 00:00 La station CJLV Laval 1570 AM changera officiellement de main d ici les prochaines semaines. Le CRTC devrait statuer sous peu sur la proposition du groupe 7590474 Canada Inc. (Photo Pépé) Le Conseil de la radiodiffusion et des télécommunications canadiennes (CRTC) étudie présentement la demande de la société 7590474 Canada Inc. qui veut se porter acquéreur de la station de radio CJLV Laval 1570 AM. En juillet 2010, Pierre Marchand, propriétaire de Diffusion Laval, cédait à un groupe piloté par Michel «Mike» Mathieu le contrôle de la station. Une entente de gestion intérimaire était intervenue entre les parties. Les intervenants se sont retrouvés devant le CRTC le 1er avril dernier afin d'officialiser la transaction. "L'entente devrait être entérinée assez rapidement, d'ici un mois approximativement", déclare Jasvir Singh Sandhu, actionnaire majoritaire de Radio Humsafar Inc., la requérante dans ce dossier. Radio Humsafar détient des stations de radio en Californie, San Jose et San Francisco, ainsi qu'à Winnipeg, Ottawa et Montréal. Elle offre un service en continu à un auditoire majoritairement composé d'immigrants originaires de l'Asie du Sud. Ses émissions sont diffusées en punjabi, hindi, urdu et anglais. Cependant, il n'est pas question de transformer CJLV 1570 AM en radio pour les communautés culturelles. «Nous conserverons le créneau actuel avec de la musique des années 50 à 80, en plus d'avoir des plages horaires réservées à la musique country. Nous visons aussi à augmenter notre couverture de l'actualité locale et régionale», a déclaré à L'Écho de Laval, Jasvir Singh Sandhu. L'achat de la station 1570 AM Laval par la compagnie 7590474 Canada Inc. est estimé à 200 000 $. http://lechodelaval.canoe.ca/webapp/sitepages/content.asp?contentid=187683&id=2496 (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. CIBQ-1340 Brooks AB is silent for good as of yesterday May 22, as the 90 day simulcast period with their new FM on 105.7 came to an end. 73, (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, Calgary AB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. As many are aware (or not) the conditions for rain in this region are not too promising. With the recent devastation up in Slave Lake (over 400 homes, businesses burnt to the ground), the forest fire situation is extreme, with a total fire ban for this province. Many residences of that town are left with nothing and both Federal and Province aid is promised (Edward Kusalik, Daysland, Alberta, Canada, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) SLAVE LAKE FIRES, INTERESTING RADIO STORY In the previous message, Ed Kusalik brought up the devastating Slave Lake fire. I read about this station on a radio board and just googled the story: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2011/05/17/calgary-slave-lake-radio-station.html (Fred Waterer, ODXA yg via DXLD) Viz.: DESTROYED SLAVE LAKE RADIO STATION TURNS TO INTERNET CBC News Last Updated: May 17, 2011 1:25 PM MT A Slave Lake radio station may have burned to the ground, but employees are continuing to keep the town updated with emergency information using the internet. The studio and transmitter of 92.7 Lake FM went up in flames on Sunday evening, when wildfires ripped through the northern Alberta town of 7,000. Employees are streaming their broadcast on the internet and posting news updates on the station's website and Facebook page. During the evacuation, Courtney Murphy, the station's news director, was also calling into a sister radio station in a nearby town in hopes the broadcast would reach listeners in Slave Lake.A Lake FM vehicle wasn't damaged, but the fire destroyed the station just steps away. "In times like these they really need their local media to reassure them, to let them know that everything is going to be OK," she said. "I am from Ontario, but I have grown so attached to this community. I was just concerned about each and every person in Slave Lake and I didn't even have time to think that the place I love and work was burned to ashes." Station evacuated Lake FM, which is mostly a music radio station, was providing live news updates between every song before the station's power, which had been flickering on and off, was finally cut off on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. "It was just tremendous to see ashes flying everywhere, big huge pieces of trees just flying across the street. The studio was shaking because the winds were so high," she recalled. Shortly after the power cut out, she got a call from a provincial official informing her to evacuate the building. The staff fled to a ball diamond about a block away, where families were huddled in their cars. "I love technology nowadays. It's a magical thing. I have an iPhone and I was updating our Facebook page and I was also calling one of my bosses in Edson, at the Eagle [radio station], and giving him updates and he was putting them on our website and our Facebook page," she recalled. By 10 p.m. Murphy got a call from a friend telling her Lake FM had burned to the ground. "She said the station was nothing but ashes." Station has RV ready Around 11:30 p.m. Murphy learned the town had to be evacuated. Although she and her colleagues are operating out of a temporary studio at a sister station in the town of Edson, they have a RV on standby and hope to return to Slave Lake soon. "We have our RV set up with equipment in it and we are getting ready to move to Slave Lake as soon as we get the go ahead. We are going to park our RV and we are going to be doing everything we can from there," she said. Murphy said it's important to her that accurate information gets out to displaced residents. "Residents are just a mess and these rumours certainly don't help." Murphy said her current home is standing, as far as she knows, but the home she moved out of a week ago has burned to the ground. Slave Lake's mayor, Karina Pillay-Kinnee, said Tuesday residents may not be able to return to the town for at least a week, possibly two. Fire fighters said the wildfires were under control in the town, where an estimated 40 per cent of the homes and buildings have been destroyed (via Fred Waterer, ODXA yg via DXLD) CHSL, Slave Lake AB Update on the Slave Lake Fire Thanks to Fred Waterer for the input on the radio station, and yes, at this point the radio station is gone. Just a footnote the ARES (Amateur Radio Emergency Service) was activated through the SARA Repeater system, when the residents where forced to leave. A lot of traffic was passed and at times amateur radio was the only contact! The one question that lingers to many residents was why they were not given advance notice of the impending danger. The struggle against the forest fires is down to 48, with 8 still out of control around the Slave Lake Region. That is a far cry from the 80 or so that where burning over a week ago. Today, buses from Athabasca and Westlock, with escorts from the RCMP, are carrying residents back to Slave Lake to view the devastation and see for them selves what is left of the homes and businesses. As well, today we have some rain/showers in our vicinity, which will help (Edward Kusalik, VE6EFK, ibid.) ** CANADA. 6069.97, CFRX, 0849, back after brief absence and pretty strong (S9+20), with usual overnight program of stand-up comedy. 13 May (David Sharp) 6159.98, CKZU and CKZN? 0900, CBC News, but it sounded out-of-phase, with a fractional second echo (similar to multi-path effect, but more subtle). Simultaneous reception of both stations? Warbly audio and NO het (which would be expected, because it's unlikely both transmitters are "precisely" off-frequency). 13 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD- 535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. Re [Tvfmdx] CBEW 97.5 Problems due to US IBOC That's what many of us DX'ers have been saying since the beginning of IBOC, but I think this is the first notice of a cross-border complaint that I've seen. This probably won't be as interesting as we might wish, but it'll bear watching nonetheless (Russ Edmunds, PA, WTFDA via DXLD) I've heard some talk about using asymetrical sidebands -- where the IBOC power is higher on one sideband than on the other. So 97.1 might drop the IBOC power on their upper side, and 97.9 drop it on the lower side, thus cleaning things up for CBEW. FWIW, it's also my understanding this won't work on AM unless the IBOC station doesn't mind interfering with itself; as apparently phase cancellation between the two sidebands assists in limiting self- interference (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) In my experience, most of the locals here already have asymmetrical IBOC already. The IBOC interference is worst on the upper side on most of them. That may not be the intent, but it seems to be the effect. (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, 15 mi NW of Philadelphia, Grid FN20id, ibid.) ** CANADA [and non]. Updated summer A-11 schedule of Radio Canada International: Arabic 0200-0300 on 5950 SMG 100 kW / 114 deg to N/ME 0300-0400 on 7230 SMG 100 kW / 114 deg to N/ME 1900-2000 on 15180 RMP 500 kW / 115 deg to N/ME 1900-2000 on 15235 SAC 250 kW / 073 deg to NCAf Chinese 0000-0100 on 9690 KIM 100 kW / 225 deg to EaAs 0000-0100 on 12015 PHT 250 kW / 349 deg to EaAs 1100-1200 on 9490 PHT 250 kW / 332 deg to EaAs 1100-1200 on 9570 KIM 100 kW / 225 deg to EaAs 1500-1600 on 6110 YAM 300 kW / 290 deg to EaAs 1500-1600 on 11730 YAM 250 kW / 240 deg to EaAs 2200-2300 on 9525 KIM 100 kW / 225 deg to EaAs 2200-2300 on 9870 KIM 100 kW / 305 deg to EaAs English 0000-0100 on 11700 KUN 150 kW / 177 deg to SEAs 1500-1600 on 11675 KUN 500 kW / 283 deg to SoAf 1500-1600 on 15125 URU 500 kW / 212 deg to SoAf 1800-1900 on 9530 KAS 100 kW / 239 deg to EaAf 1800-1900 on 11765 SKN 300 kW / 160 deg to EaAf 1800-1900 on 17810 SKN 250 kW / 175 deg to NCAf 2000-2100 on 15235 SAC 250 kW / 073 deg to CeAf 2000-2100 on 15330 SAC 250 kW / 073 deg to CeAf 2000-2100 on 17735 SAC 250 kW / 105 deg to NEAf 2100-2200 on 9800 SAC 070 kW / 268 deg to NoAm DRM French 1900-2000 on 11765 KAS 100 kW / 239 deg to EaAf 1900-2000 on 13730 SMG 250 kW / 199 deg to CeAf 1900-2000 on 15320 SKN 250 kW / 175 deg to NWAf 1900-2000 on 17735 SAC 250 kW / 105 deg to NWAf 2100-2200 on 9525 SMG 100 kW / 184 deg to CeAf 2100-2200 on 15235 SAC 250 kW / 073 deg to NCAf 2100-2200 on 15330 SAC 250 kW / 105 deg to CeAf 2100-2200 on 17735 SAC 250 kW / 105 deg to CeAf 2300-2330 on 9525 KIM 100 kW / 225 deg to SEAs Portuguese Fri-Sun 2100-2200 on 15455 SAC 250 kW / 163 deg to SEAm 2100-2300 on 17860 SAC 250 kW / 163 deg to SEAm 2300-2400 on 13760 SAC 250 kW / 163 deg to SEAm Russian 1500-1530 on 15325 RMP 250 kW / 062 deg to EaEu 1600-1630 on 15325 RMP 250 kW / 062 deg to EaEu Spanish 2200-0100 on 11990 SAC 250 kW / 176 deg to SoAm 2200-2400 on 15455 SAC 250 kW / 176 deg to SoAm 0000-0100 on 13760 SAC 250 kW / 240 deg to CeAm 0100-0200 on 11990 SAC 250 kW / 212 deg to CeAm (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) ** CANADA [non]. 17810, May 18 at 1850, surprised to be hearing RCI English so well here, with Ian Jones, as I know that Sackville is no longer scheduled at all on this 1800 transmission to Africa. It`s really 300 kW, 175 degrees via Skelton UK. Cut off at 1859:30* without any ID or IS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [non]. FORMER RADIO CANADA INTERNATIONAL EMPLOYEE NOW WORKS "IN CONFLICT AND POST-CONFLICT ZONES SETTING UP RADIO STATIONS." Posted: 22 May 2011 Montreal Gazette, 20 May 2011, Danielle Murray: "David Lloyd Smith, 50, ... worked at Radio-Canada International until budget cuts put him out of work. When the same job came up in the Netherlands, he went there. Two years in, he was offered a station manager position in Durban. 'It was too exciting to turn down.' After a year, he was back home and working at the National Film Board. When the United Nations called a little while later and asked him to set up a radio station in the former Yugoslavia, he jumped at it. 'Again, I wasn’t leaving Montreal. I was going to a job. An exciting job.' Once his contract was over, he returned to the NFB. And then the UN called again. This time, he was off to Bangui in the Central African Republic for another two years. Followed by another UN stint in New York City. He came home every other week. In 2001, he was asked to set up a peacekeeping network in Kinshasa, so off he went. Now, although he lives in South Africa, he works mainly in conflict and post-conflict zones setting up radio stations. His home and office are in Johannesburg because of its proximity to other parts of the continent." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) I believe this is the fellow responsible for R. Okapi and some other target broadcasters to Africa (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. 9625, CBCNQ, 0013, English, fair, with a man playing bluesy-type music and vintage (50s/60s era) pop. All alone on frequency. 22 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF- SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13925, CBC Northern Quebec Service; 0129-0144+, 22-May; English, Saturday Night Blues program featuring Canadian artists; call 780-468- 2399 for requests. SIO=343 with buzz bursts. Presume some sort of spur or mixing product, but can't figure out the math. Heard on 3 different radios & different antennas (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ! It must be a leapfrog mixing product of 9625 over 11775, Sackville relay of R. Martí, another 2150 kHz higher, from nearby transmitter, same antenna field. 11775 is on the air as fulcrum 0100-0300, following Greenville 0000-0100 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 5-18 Es: 2 unID 1828 CTV, ad with "Cam Corey" and Ford dealer seen, google search comes up w/ Corey Ford in Woodstock NB, CKCW Moncton?, but Woodstock is in the other end of the province in an area covered by a CTV relay station of CKLT which relays CKCW, but why would an ad for a Ford dealer in Woodstock NB air on all the CTV NB stations, unless that's the way they do things? 2 unID 1845 CTV ads, strong color, "CFTO" calls displayed (that helps...NOT!) That was CKCW-TV, log #237. I received an e-mail from CTV in Moncton. The Corey Ford commercial "aired as I mentioned on ckcw-tv ch 2 Moncton area, cklt-tv For the Fredericton/Saint John area and also on cklt-tv1 Oakland Mountain Ch 3 which covers the Woodstock area. However, the Corey commercial airs through the province as we don't split off our commercials for specific regions in NB" "...The CFTO may be because our Master Control for all CTV stations Ontario east is from the CFTO station but I don't know for sure if they label it in some way. The Channel 2 and Channel 9 will change to digital only on Aug 31 and CH 2 will change to 29 but we are still keeping an analogue feed going to our other transmitters and repeaters (such as Woodstock's Channel 3 for the foreseeable future..." (Michael Procop, OH, May 20, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Sporadic E analog TV DX May 22, in UT: At 1837 on ch 2 from north, `Family Guy` animation in English. Generic TV Guide Canada (which is in bed with zap2it.com, and is not linked from the US TV Guide site), says FG is on the Global network at 1:30-3 pm EDT, so that narrows it down to CKND2 in Manitoba. If it were from NW it would be CICT in Calgary (if the time fit, probably not), or from the NE one of the Ontarians, CIII2 or CFGC2. At 0217 UT May 23, following an afternoon of SC/NC/VA FM DX, and both TV and FM DX from Aguascalientes, Zacatecas and San Luís Potosí, found analog Es on ch 2 from the northeast, live broadcast of Billboard Music Awards; in the USA on ABC which has no full-power analog affiliates, so this must be Canada. Online generic TV Guide Canada shows it`s via CTV Network [as CFTO with the CTV logo barely visible unlike the CBC Exploding Pizza], so this must be CKCO2 Wiarton Ont., and/or CHBX, Sault Ste. Marie; continued in and out until fade around 0300 when event ended, then a few snatches of weather grafix. Was a few seconds ahead of KOCO via analog cable. Could not make out any local commercial clues during long break around 0225, but did catch a CTV logo later at 0248 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DTV: see DIGITAL BROADCASTING ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. 3389.99, Radio ICDI, 1735, presumed with French talk by a man and some music. Warbly carrier in sideband and very weak -- just above the noise floor. 20 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT- 950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise- reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. 6165, RNT, 2215-2231*, May 20, French talk. Short breaks of Afro-pop music. Sign off with National Anthem. Poor. Weak (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** CHILE [and non]. 11855, R. Aparecida, Brasil, 23 May 2134 with music co QRMed with spur from R Japan Portuguese!! on 11856. Main frequency of RJ was 11880 causing another spur on 11905 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Really the relay via CVC as in HFCC, 2130-2200, 100 kW, 60 degrees from Santiago; spurs like they used to provide from 11920 HCJB relay (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. MUZAK 47-49 MHZ FM FREQUENCIES http://www.lu1dma.com.ar/grupooeste/musica_funcional_chilena_en_vhf_.htm (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, WTFDA via DXLD) I have 47.9 MHz narrowish FM and 49.2 MHz much wider coming in here in Portugal at the moment (Hugh Hoover, Portugal, 1756 UT April 4, ibid.) ** CHILE [non]. Rusia: José Miguel Varas: ADIOS A GUENADI SPERSKY ESCUCHAR http://spanish.ruvr.ru/data/2011/05/24/1250981616/JMVaras.wav Desde Santiago de Chile para la Voz de Rusia informa José Miguel Varas. Inesperada y dolorosa, la noticia que nos llega desde Moscú: ha muerto el periodista Guenadi Spersky. A estas horas lo recordamos y lamentamos su partida todos los periodistas y locutores chilenos que tuvimos la oportunidad y la suerte de trabajar junto a él en los programas de Radio Moscú dirigidos a Chile. Guenadi pasó una temporada en Chile en los tiempos de la frustrada revolución chilena de la Unidad Popular, con el Presidente Salvador Allende. Desde entonces se enamoró profundamente de nuestra Patria, se identificó con las grandes causas y tradiciones del movimiento obrero chileno, con la historia y la acción del Partido Comunista de Chile... FUENTE: http://bit.ly/j4mguS NOTA: Les recuerdo que pueden conseguir una copia del libro ESCUCHA CHILE en formato pdf: en el enlace: http://uploadmirrors.com/download/0L4PPQ4F/ESCUCHA_CHILE.pdf (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) ** CHINA. Firedrake May 18: 16980, poor at 1237, none higher; but good at 1259-1300* 16100, very good at 1237 15550, fair at 1313, het on the lo side = V. of Tibet; also 1326, but at that time no others found 12-17 MHz 15540, JBA at 1340 vs het on 15542 or 15543, presumably FD as usual 14700, very good at 1233; none in the 15s at this time 13920, VG at 1235 13850, VG at 1235 13540, VG at 1234, unusual frequency 13130, VG at 1233 12600, fair at 1235 and obviously not // the others 12240, good at 1235 7970, very poor at 1247; none 8-12 MHz Firedrake May 19: first, some heard at unusual time, midday in China: 17170, fair at 0449 16100, very poor at 0451 15900, very poor at 0451 14720, very poor at 0452; frequency unheard elsewhen Now to the usual monitoring times: 11500, mostly open carrier, hum at 1221, maybe not from FD; none lower 13920, very good at 1225, none in the 12s or 10s 14700, very good at 1346; was not on earlier 15530, good at 1227 // 13920; JBA at 1249 15540, fair at 1227 // 15530; fair at 1336, only one around here now 15545, fair at 1308 and also on 15550 15555, very poor at 1249, no longer on 15540; no doubt all five in this area vs jumpy V. of Tibet 16100, poor at 1229 with flutter, no others up to 19 MHz; fair at 1251 Firedrake May 20: 17170, fair at 1231 16980, fair at 1235 16100, very good at 1235 15970, very good at 1236 15900, poor at 1236 15555, very poor at 1251 and 15545 also still on 15545, poor at 1248 15430, poor at 1341; not during previous hour 14970, very good at 1237 13920, very good at 1319; not during previous hour 13800, good at 1237 13130, fair at 1238 12240, very good at 1317; not during previous hour; none lower (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Firedrake active on 13800 this morning [May 20] 1245-1259 GMT against SOH. Family Radio also on frequency. SOH was getting through at times. Firedrake 1220-1300 GMT also on 13130, 14970, 15540, 15900, 15970, 16100, 16980 and 17170. As I am typing this email at 1340 GMT, Firedrake is on 12240, 13130, 13920, 15430, 15540, 15900 and 16100. So far Firedrake was not heard this morning on anything below 12240 or above 17170. 73 (Steve Handler, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) EAST JAMMERSTAN: 7970, Crash & Bang Chinese opera music jammer; 1038, 21-May; 7970 weak; // 12240, 13130 (strong), 13850 (under CC audio) & 16100; 12600 also there but not // the others. 13130, Crash & Bang CC opera music jammer; 0120, 22-May 13920, Crash & Bang CC opera music jammer; 1239, 21-May; strong, // to all the following; 7970 (weak), 12240 (strong), 13130 (strong), 14970 (strong), 15545 (strong), 15555 (medium), 15970 (strong), 16980 (medium), 17170 (medium); No jammed audio heard on any (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake May 21: 7970, fair at 1253 12240, very good at 1258 13130, very good at 1258 13920, very good at 1258 14970, very good at 1258 15430, fair-good at 1341 15540, poor at 1341, down from 15545 15545, fair at 1258; fair-good at 1319 15970, very good at 1259 16100, fair at 1259 16980, very good at 1259 Firedrake May 22: Another few weakly audible during the local noon hour: 16980, poor at 0435, none others found between 12 and 18 MHz 15970, and 15900, JBA at 0442 17170, JBA at 1148; JBA at 1257 16100, fair-good at 1256; good at 1355 15970, very poor at 1147; very poor at 1225; very good at 1257, 1354 15545, poor at 1256 15430, fair at 1355 14970, VG at 1354; very poor at 1437 14900, good at 1254; VG at 1354 14700, very good at 1255: could hear some Chinese talk during brief music pause and then under it; very unusual, presumably Sound of Hope; FD VG alone at 1354 13920, poor at 1149; very good at 1253; VG over ute at 1353 13850, fair at 1149 13500, poor at 1150 11500, good at 1252, and no CCI; all gone at 1358 10970, fair at 1152, JBA at 1252; nothing on 10300 ever 7970, JBA at 1153 Firedrake May 23: 17170, very good with flutter at 1243 16100, fair with flutter at 1244 15555, poor at 1246 compared to 15545 15545, good at 1246 15540, very poor at 1348, not on 15545 or 15555 now 15430, very poor at 1347; never before 1330 13970, good at 1159; very good at 1250 13920, very good at 1250; none in the 12`s 10970, fair at 1159; fair at 1253 7970, fair at 1254, and better than 10970 Firedrake May 24: 16100, JBA at 1258 15555, JBA at 1344, I think, under DTV cable converter bubble jammer 15545, very poor at 1315 15540, very poor at 1344 15430, very poor at 1345 14900, fair at 1251; very good with flutter at 1339; no other out-of- banders at this time, just the three 15s as above 13920, good at 1253 13850, good at 1253 12600, very good at 1255 12240, very good at 1255 10970, very poor at 1256 Firedrake May 25: 16980, good at 1337 16100, very good at 1337 15970, good at 1337 15545, very poor at 1308 vs het from 15548, V. of Tibet variable 14700, poor at first check 1246, none higher, and gone at 1310; again audible very poor at 1338 when there were none in the 13s, 12s or 11s 10970, good at 1249; poor at 1339 7970, very poor at 1250, easy to check 3.000 MHz down from 10970 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 11665 is a mess, where MALAYSIA [q.v.] has a new transmitter at 00-16, 100 kW, 93 degrees from Kajang, per HFCC. All I hear is ChiCom CNR1 echo jamming all morning, e.g. at 1352 May 19, plus het. HFCC shows the only competition as IBB in Somali via Sri Lanka at 13-14, then CRI in English by Wulumuchi at 14-15. But there must be some reason for the jamming, for which Aoki must be consulted: Yes, it`s of course. R. Taiwan International, in Chinese which must be jammed, all its broadcasts banned from HFCC by the ChiCom, not only at 1000-1705 but also at 0400-0600. Wake up in Malaysia! This frequency is no good. I was again hearing their other one OK on 9835 earlier around 1230 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 3900, Hulun Buir, 1210, fair with Chinese (or similar- sounding dialect) conversation, by a man and woman, then further comments by a man and into local music. Fair. 10 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 15390, CNR minority service, 0720 with a nice rock song 'we have to rock you', musical countdown, then talks by OM with laughs at the end of each of his sentences (a comedian??) and talks by OM and YL (seems child). 0525 another pop song ID "Merkz Helk radio stankz" web address then a new pop song. ID 0730 by OM with ref to Beijing. I wonder how `Americanized´ was this program, huh! Standard rig : ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not in HFCC, but Aoki shows: 15390 0600-0900 CHN CNR 13 Uighur Lingshi 725 124-7 (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. 15600, fair May 18 at 1314, CRI with website info pronounced in English, then a bit of Chinese, then to real scheduled language, Malay. HFCC and Aoki show it 1230-1327, 100 kW, 175 degrees via Kunming. [non]. 9650, May 20 at 1320, CRI via CANADA, `China Drive` with a report about DST: China does not observe it after trying it 1986-1992, but there is new pressure to resume it to `save energy`. Trouble is, China, which should cover 5 timezones, observes UT+8 = Beijing time only, which makes DST or multiple DST in effect to the west, and adding another hour would only make that worse. One suggestion is to split China into maybe 3 timezones plus DST (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 2979.98, Radio Vida Nueva, Barranquilla, 1016 with music on 15 May. Thanks Ralph Perry - http://www.imagenlarevista.com/guiapastoralbarranquilla/radiovidanueva1490am.html (Robert Wilkner, Icom 746Pro, Drake R8, NRD 535D, Noise Reducing Antenna, 41 meter dipole, Pompano Beach, South Florida, US, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5909.94, Alcaraván Radio, 0930, very good with traditional vocals, ID and comments by a woman over guitar music bed, brief comments by a man and back to music. 12 May. (David Sharp) 6035.03, La Voz del Guaviare, 1015, Spanish, presumed with Rosary recitation. Mixing with co-channel and also heavy slop from 6030. 16 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF- 2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO (Brazzaville). 6115, Radio Congo, 1817, French, I'm pretty sure this is the one, with rambling talk by a man and occasional music bridges. But modulation continues to drop and it's difficult to copy. Not much on the frequency prior to 1800. but seemed to peak by 1815. 18 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DR. DEMOCRATIC CONGO, 5066.33, Radio Tele-CANDIP, 1839, French, nice local music and talk by a man. Only partially readable, due to co-channel UTE. 11 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5066.3, Candip, 1830 May 22, signal S2 over S0.5 QRN with clear carrier in SSB but quite poor in terms of reception due to local noise or possibly station's low modulation with very few exceptions of hearing a song (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 5954.26, R. República ELCOR relay, 0928, Spanish, tune- in to convenient ID by a woman, and into a discussion about (what else?) Cuba. Surprisingly clear and free of jamming. 11 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 17865, May 17 at 2122, lite pulse and noise jamming against nothing, i.e. the third harmonic of 5955 vs R. República 5954.3v which presumably started at 2100. Nothing audible yet on 18090, the third harmonic of jammer against R. Martí, which does not start until 2200. 6150, May 19 at 1200 I pause on RHC here to monitor their complete frequency announcement. All sounded correct until they got down to 49 m, mentioning only 6000! Usual squeal, undermod on this channel. 11760, Sunday May 22, `En Contacto` squeezed into 13 minutes, 1337- 1350, program 21 for 2011, interviewing program founder Norberto, and then a Salvadorian who is running Cuban programs on FM stations there. 13680, May 22 at 1405, big open carrier with hum, as RHC has cut this frequency off early on a Sunday, while 13780 continues, and 13750 is missing. At 1437, still no 13750, and 13680 is off but 13780 is still on, and 13740 with China. Turning 13680 off early is pointless, unless there is an `Aló Presidente` about to start on its five special frequencies; but still nothing on 13750 or 17750 at 1621 check, yet another week without a dose of Hugazo. 11760, meanwhile, still on the air at 1515 Sunday May 22 with song, lyrix sound like plain old Spanish to me, but followed by announcement in Esperanto at 1517 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. 7210-LSB, as I tune across at 1229 May 18, the unmistakable anti-Castro ranting tones of N1NR, Nelson Roig, in Pennsylvania, somewhat demodulated by a weak broadcast carrier without employing BFO --- the latter being, in decreasing order of probability: PBS Yunnan, or the 20 kW Vietnamese, or R. Fana longpath (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Radio Martí's SW frequencies --- Hello, I can't find their SW frequencies anymore. Their website has been revamped, but nothing about frequencies (or audio link). Have you got an idea ? (Of course, I can find this information via other sources) Regards (JM Aubier, France, May 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, Radio Martí's website is redesigned! It now shares the almost same web design as VOANews.com. And there are NO SHORTWAVE FREQUENCIES listed on site at all! Live audio (and video) stream is available, now with much better audio quality, but you can listen to it only via web browser, because it is a FLASH stream (rtmp protocol) with the following audio coding: MP3, 64 kbps, 44 kHz, mono. Audio stream url: http://www.martinoticias.com/templates/ocb-mediaDisplay.html?streamerURL=rtmp://cp117766.live.edgefcs.net/live/&streamFileName=live_audio@47388&isAudio=true Regards, (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, ibid.) ** CYPRUS. 15727-15752 approx., May 18 at 1327, OTH radar pulses presumed from here, and no broadcasters affected, as far as I could hear, so are they picking times and frequencies carefully? Not per HFCC which shows VOA Somali via Madagascar on 15730, NHK English via Uzbekistan on 15735, and SLBC Sri Lanka English on 15745. 15438-15453, OTH radar buzz, presumed from here, May 21 at 2028, not bothering any audible broadcasters at the moment. 13942-13967, more OTH radar, May 21 at 2130. 15316-15341, OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, May 24 at 0612; lots of broadcast signals from Eu/Af/ME/Asia on 15 and 17 MHz bands (but not 21), in N Hemisphere midnight-sun mode, but this range was free of them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [non]. GERMANY. 13740, Radio Dardasha 7, *1900-1927*, May 19, sign on with instrumental music and opening ID announcements. Arabic talk. Arabic style music. Jingles. Abrupt sign off. Good. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) Due S from Wertachtal (gh) 13740, Dardarsha 7, 1903 May 22 with ID OM and YL with refs to Internet and on democracy (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GERMANY, 11810, Radio Dardasha 7, 0525-0530*, May 24, Arabic talk. Jingles. ID. Some Arabic style music. Good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** CZECHOSLOVAKIA. CZECH MEDIA COVERS RFE 60TH ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS --- RFE/RL May 17, 2011 http://www.rferl.org/content/in_the_news_czech_media_60th_anniversary/24177152.html In honor of RFE's 60th anniversary of its first broadcasts to what was at the time Czechoslovakia, leaders of the Czech Republic and Slovakia joined other social and political dignitaries in Prague for commemorative celebrations. The events were widely covered in Czech media and below are highlights, excerpted from the originals and translated by RFE. --- "THE BEST PROPAGANDA IS ALWAYS THE TRUTH" Pavel Pechacek | Mlada Fronta Dnes April 30, 2011 "Today we know from experience that truthful information is the greatest nightmare for all totalitarian systems. (...) That is why President Havel asked RFE/RL to continue in the activities with the new journalistic generation, and also to pay back to the USA what they had done for Czechoslovakia. The result is RFE/RL in Prague." --- "RFE's Birthday" (CZ), Erik Tabery | Respekt, May 2, 2011 "We (Czechoslovakia) could not have dreamed of a better end. Not only did we manage to get rid of the totalitarian regime, but we also give back to the world the thing we had delighted in for such a long time: RFE/RL has its seat in Prague and it broadcasts uncensored news to countries that cannot yet enjoy freedom. This is the greatest diplomatic contribution from the Czech Republic to the world. So to conclude we would like to congratulate RFE/RL on its birthday and we express our thanks." --- On April 30, the Czech TV news outlet CT 24 aired a one-hour documentary (CZ) on RFE's history and current operations. The program featured RFE News Director Jay Tolson and veteran broadcaster Pavel Pechacek (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** DEUTSCHES REICH. DAUGHTER BELIEVES LORD HAW-HAW WAS AN MI5 DOUBLE AGENT A man with a cut-glass English accent broadcast to the UK every evening from Nazi Germany. Six million Britons tuned in to his sneering tones, some entertained, many frightened, others simply intrigued by the latest instalment of “Germany Calling” from Nazi propagandist William Joyce, alias “Lord Haw-Haw”. Joyce was hanged for high treason when the war ended, but now 82-year- old Heather Iandolo, his daughter, is making an appeal to the British authorities to have her father’s guilty verdict overturned. Aged just 17 at his death, she has just put her name to an application to the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) which asserts that not only was her father not technically British, and therefore unable to be a traitor, but he was also a double agent for MI5 throughout the war, a protégé of the spy master who inspired Ian Fleming to create the Bond character M. Read more from the Express http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/248115/Should-Lord-Haw-Haw-really-have-been-hanged- (May 22, 2011 - 1034 UT by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.13, Radio Amanecer, Spanish, 1014, noted with partial copy on 12 May, with sermon by a man. Always difficult copy with powerhouse Radio Australia on 6020. So, I was very surprised to have even better copy at 1040 on 18 May, with Spanish hymns and nearly perfect copy in USB (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EAST TURKISTAN [and non]. 15245, May 25 at 0535, weak station in German, which must be CRI, 500 kW, 308 degrees from Wulumuchi; also with wavering het. I thought it would be V. of Korea, but Aoki shows that not starting 15245 until 0700, while R. Taiwan International is on there at 04-06, so ChiCom jamming vs ChiCom broadcasting! And/or RTI is off-frequency, not unlikely (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4814.88, Radio Buen Pastor, 1017, Spanish, presumed with scripture readings by a man. Heavy ute QRM. 11 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise- reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 6050, HCJB, 0826, all alone with nice Andean music (which substitutes for IS), then lengthy HC national anthem, ID by woman and distinctive time pips at 0830. 21 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD- 535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 15345, Radio Cairo, from Abu Zabaal registered in English at 1600-1800 UT also on four spurs accompanied on 19 mb tonight. Strongest spur signal on 15364.5 to 15366 kHz, but also three lower strongest on 15301, 15323, and 15389 kHz. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, May 19, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENNIG DIGEST) ** EGYPT. 9305, May 21 at 0621, S9+10 but JBA music, presumably Cairo still running until 0700* since there is no DST in 2011 in Egypt per http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/2011.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA [and non]. ED BOUSMAN DIED - STARTED SHORTWAVE RADIO AFRICA IN 1997 [NOT] "Nationally known for his nearly 50-year-old radio broadcast ministry based on prayer, Lynchburg evangelist Ed Bousman passed away Monday after a long illness. He was 92 . . . GIJPA [sic] was just one way Bousman attempted to reach thousands worldwide. According to his website, http://www.gijapa.org in 1984, he started the “Preaching Christ” television program, seen mainly on satellite in North America, Alaska and South America. Then in 1997, he started “Bible Voice Europe” on Shortwave Radio. That same year, Bousman started Shortwave Radio Africa, reaching over 140 million English-speaking people in three former British Colonies: Nigeria, Ghana and Cameroons. Beginning in June 1999, he was broadcasting in to India by the SUPER-POWER Radio Sri Lanka. This shortwave broadcast reaches India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Nepal, and Sri Lanka, the website says." http://www.wnewsj.com/main.asp?SectionID=49&SubSectionID=156&ArticleID=189683 (via Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, May 19, dxldyg via DXLD) Same?: http://newsdemocrat.com/main.asp?Search=1&ArticleID=133582&SectionID=1&SubSectionID=1&S=1 (via Mike Terry, May 24, ibid.) I must say I had never heard of GIJAPA, but it has a certain ring to it until you learn what it stands for. Are they talking about the R. Africa in Equatorial Guinea? Yes, via his webpage, radio schedules link, http://www.gijapa.org/pages/default2.asp?active_page_id=57 ``Radio Africa Monday 1800 UTC 7190 kHz`` --- a frequency which has not been used for at least a decade, just 15190 erratically. And below that another listing shows ``7910`` kHz, to a population of 186 megapeople! Every one of whom must positively have a SW radio tuned to the wrong frequency and listen to him! Along with other questionable SW listings (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ed Bousman did NOT start Radio Africa Hi Glenn, Sent an email to Robin Boggs at Pan American Broadcasting for clarification. Website: http://www.radiopanam.com/ His response: “Thank you for the notification, we did speak with the family and did read that same notification you read. We also noted the misquote of who started Radio Africa, we will be notifying that publicist today to correct that. Radio Africa remains a wonderful outreach for ministries. It celebrates over 26 years of service this year, amen.” He also added: “Radio Africa began broadcasting 26 years ago via Pan American Broadcasting.” (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Should have said ``started ON Radio Africa`` Bousman did NOT start R. Africa. He just started broadcasting his religious programs via R. Africa from Equatorial Guinea in 1997. Radio Africa began broadcasting 26 years ago via Pan American Broadcasting. This per Robin Boggs of P.A.B. http://www.panambc.com/assets/RadioAfrica.pdf (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, ibid.) ** ERITREA. 7235, Voice of Broad Masses of Eritrea, 0305-0320, May 21, vernacular talk. Horn of Africa music. Weak. Stronger on // 7175 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) [and non]. V of Broad Masses 2 (??) on 9830.05, being in // 7175 at 1755 and 1905. At 1755 played HoA songs and had a S5 signal. At 1913 with phone ins and again signal S5 33333. Checked that time to be // 7175. 9 minutess of recording included here in this blog http://zlgr.multiply.com/journal/item/367 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki Greece, May 24, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9830 an unknown frequency for Eritrea, but certainly likely if // 7175, tho you never know whether they will be on 7165, 7175, 7185 or somewhere else in the 40m hamband; and/or Ethiopian jamming (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. QSL: 6030, Radio Oromiya via Geja Transmitter. E-mail verification letter, stating my details where correct (for a tentative report) and surprised to hear my broadcast in Alberta, Kanada. E-mail report sent to habtamu_gargie @ yahoo.com and received back within 48 hours, a reply. V/S; Habtamu Dargie, Oromia Radio and TV Engineer Head. Pleased with this one! (Edward Kusalik, Daysland, Alberta, Canada, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 9705, Radio Ethiopia, 2040-2100:30*, May 16, wide variety of rustic tribal music, US pop music and local Horn of Africa style music. Amharic talk. National Anthem at 2059. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 9705, Radio Ethiopia, 2045-2100:30*, May 24, local Horn of Africa music. Local folk music. Amharic talk. Sign off with National Anthem at 2059. Fair to good (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. BELGIUM(non), New transmissions from TDP: Radio Democracia in Amharic, tentatively: 1200-1300 on 21555 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Sun (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) ** EUROPE. Dear FRS Friends, In preparation of a full and regular FRS 3rd Sunday broadcast in June (19th), we will do two short 15 minute tests tomorrow Sunday May 22nd. The tests will only last some 15 minutes and will be aired on 7685 kHz (7600 is occupied in the afternoon). The first test is at 1500 UT = 17:00 CEST, the second test one hour later at 1600 UT = 18:00 CEST. Reception reports are highly appreciated via [frs @ frsholland.nl]. For this test we prefer mail reports only! [you mean e-mail?? gh] At 1700 UT = 19:00 CEST Radio Star Int. will test till 2000 UT = 22:00 CEST. They can be reached via P O Box 2702, 6049 ZG Herten, the Netherlands or [rsi @ live.co.uk]. 73s, Peter V. (via Alokesh Gupta, India, May 21, dxldyg via DXLD) FRS, 7685 at 1600 and 7600 at 1700 May 22: For 7685 the signal was nearly nil under the local noise, but for [7600] 1700 to ca 1800 signal was relatively better (Radio Star). For R Star I heard mostly classical music in early all the program with short ID trailers in between. Suppose they stopped transmission after 1800 or R Thailand due to their S9 signal suppressed reception. 7600 transmission not above S2. There are 3 recordings that can be found at http://zlgr.multiply.com/journal/item/366 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE [?]. 6933 - claiming to be broadcasting from "the beautiful Mediterranean where all the interesting people meet", Radio Malta Shortwave. I have heard this for the last two nights, approx. 0030- 0200+ UT with varying signal strength. May 18 was very weak. The only thing coming thru was the music, lots of Dionne Warwick. Static levels here have been very high due to unsettled weather systems in the area. I was however able to get a tentative ID. Last night, May 19, the signal level had improved significantly although it did fluctuate and static was still high. It was able to get a positive ID and a tentative e-mail, maltashortwave @ hotmail.com which did go thru but I haven't received a response as of today. The music was 1960's contemporary mod, as I said lots of Dionne Warwick, along with soul and blues selections. Resembled the soundtrack to an early Blake Edwards or James Bond movie. The announcer had a slight British accent. The frequency varied a bit between 6935-6933 and it was in AM mode (Stephen Wood, Harwich, MA, Drake R8B 25x50 superloop antenna N/E termination, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) EUROPE? PIRATE. 6933.98, Radio Malta, 2340-0205+, May 18-19, lite oldies pop music of the 60s and 70s, included music by Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass, Ray Charles, Dionne Warwick, and others. IDs. Tentative email address: shortwavemalta@hotmail.com Weak at tune-in but stronger after 0030. Fair on peaks (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) FRN has been reporting Radio Malta on 6933 since 2310. They're still there at 0430+. I assume this is a pirate; heard anything that might indicate "legitimacy"? [later:] Never mind. 0435 "This is the pirate radio station Radio Malta" (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, UT May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) As being reported by ECNA listeners, Radio Malta, apparently a new, since two days ago, Euro pirate noted here, mostly poor to fair, here in SE Wisconsin since 0108, peaking here about 0130. Music fair but man announcer difficult. No ID either of music, mostly mellow stuff, vocals and instrumentals. Not yet able to come up with song titles. 6933 kHz. Still there at 0210. No details known yet. If what it seems to be, astonishingly the second Euro pirate in 2 weeks, also R. Marconi, the Dutch, and no other Euro pirates received here since the mid 80s. Anyone else in the midwest listening? --don (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, May 19, NASWA yg via DXLD) ?? Why do you think it is in Europe? Is it also being heard there? (gh) --Euros --- Radio Malta: 6933/AM, 0424-0442+, 19-May; Jazz vocal, German ballad, bluesy tune. ID at 0436, This is the pirate radio station Radio Malta. Poor but copyable just over QRN; cleanest in USB (Harold Frodge, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) We were putting this under NORTH AMERICA until there was some evidence it was really from EUROPE. Seems all you need to do is give your pirate an European name, and away you go! (gh, DXLD) Now there is! --- Giovedì 19 maggio 2011, 2120 - 6933 kHz, PIRATE STATION R. MALTA, English, IDs OM e mx pop. No QTHs. Segnale sufficiente-buono. Raro QRM UTE-DIG (Luca Botto Fiora, G.C. 09E13 - 44N21, Rapallo (Genova), Italia, bclnews.it yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) Also just in, e-QSL from pirate R. Malta for reception several days ago. Map card of Mediterranean area with red dot on Malta. Email said "Thanks," but no details. The card design implies Malta but I still have my question as to location. dnj (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, May 21, NASWA yg via DXLD) 6936v, SW R Malta, 1839 May 22 with pop songs, better heard in NB AM. Heard ID at 1902 then continuing with songs mostly rock S3 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) At this hour obviously would not propagate from North America, but is it really on Malta? (gh, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 6937/AM, Pirate, 0024-0037+, 21-May; Sounded like sub- continental music; covered by roar blasts & 6936 pescadores? Uncopyable announcement (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) `R. Malta`?? (gh) ** FINLAND. 6170, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, 0015-0050, Sat May 07, back after the winter break with non-stop hard rock music and Finnish songs, strong signal: 44444 QRM 6165. Also heard with weak signal same day at 1230-1345 with Finnish and English ann and songs, 25121 // stronger 11690 or 11720. Audible again at 1930-1940 with Finnish ann and songs, 35333. (Petersen) 11690, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, 1340-1345, Sat May 07, English ann playing hard rock, 24122. Also heard same evening 1930-1940 with Finnish ann and songs, 24232 // 6170 (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window May 18 via DXLD) 11720, Scandinavian Weekend R, Virrat, 0805-0810, Sat May 07, Finnish ann and songs, 35333. Still heard well here same day at 1230 with Finnish ann and songs, 35343 (Erik Koie, Denmark, and (Anker Petersen, Skovlunde, Denmark, DSWCI DX Window May 18 via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Reprieve for RFI? --- It's hard for a foreigner to understand the nuances of the French judicial system, but it appears that an appeals court in Paris has suspended an effort to consolidate RFI staff. RFI's workers committee says the decision has implications for plans to merge RFI with France 24 and let go of more RFI workers. A headline in the French Communist daily Humanite said Alain Pouzilhac, named in 2008 to head the Audiovisuel exterieur de la France, has been "nailed to the pillory" by labor unions, who object to what they see as the dismantling of RFI (Mike Cooper, GA, May 20, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11995, May 21 at 0612, fair with Horn-of-Africish music, but must really be Hausa music, as that is the language scheduled from RFI at 0600-0630 daily, 170 degrees from Issoudun; vs 135 for English until 0457 on same. HFCC also indicates that not until Sept 4 will the 0500- 0600 gap be filled by more English on 11995 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 15160, R. Australia normally loud and clear here on 65 degree azimuth for Pacific and also USward, but May 25 at 0536 there is CCI underneath, not sure of language. HFCC shows RFI in English at 05-06, 500 kW, 135 degrees from Issoudun. Apparently it`s been there all-season, but now starting to propagate. Since the two have different CIRAF targets, the coördinators did not think there would be a problem. Unfortunately, this is the only frequency for the 05-06 English hour from RFI! At least it`s not used for any of the other remaining English hours 04-08 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. QSL: 15360, Adventist World Radio, Hindi to India via Issoudun Transmitter. Full data (with site indicated) 40th Anniversary QSL Card showing a fella holding a portable radio to his ear. This for a postal report sent to Indianapolis address with return postage. Reply in 42 days. V/S; Dr. Adrian M. Peterson, DX Editor (Edward Kusalik, Daysland, Alberta, Canada, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 6189.990, DLF Berlin Britz, German public radio service, political comment on chaos in Syria, 0415 UT May 18. S=9+25dBm (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 19 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. QSL: 15215, Radio Oomrang Special via Wertachtal transmitter. Received an e-mail verification statement/letter from Media Broadcast. No reply to date from the station itself. Reply in 12 days. V/s: Walter Brodowsky TDF Group Short wave Project leader (Edward Kusalik, Daysland, Alberta, Canada, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Once a year ** GERMANY [and non]. DEUTSCHE WELLE TO END MOST SHORTWAVE BROADCASTING Bonn, Germany - The government-financed German broadcaster Deutsche Welle is to cease most of its shortwave broadcasts on July 1, with emphasis shifting to television broadcasts and the internet, the corporation said in Bonn Wednesday. Full story at : http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1639879.php/Germany-s-Deutsche-Welle-to-end-most-shortwave-broadcasting (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, May 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGE SERVICES WILL END RADIO PROGRAMMING AND WILL CLOSE FM OUTLETS: In den Sendesprachen Bulgarisch, Griechisch, Kroatisch, Mazedonisch, Polnisch und Rumänisch stellt die DW daher ab 1. Juli 2011 die UKW- Ausstrahlung ein. Die eigenen und angemieteten Frequenzen in Sofia, Bukarest, Pristina und Tirana werden zum 1. Juli 2011 zurückgegeben, ebenso die entsprechenden Sendelizenzen. THE FOLLOWING RADIO PROGRAMMES WILL BE REDUCED: Die UKW-Ausstrahlung von Sendungen auf Albanisch, Bosnisch und Serbisch wird reduziert. In diesen Sendesprachen konzentriert sich die DW künftig auf ausgewählte Partnerschaften mit lokalen UKW-Sendern. Das albanische Angebot fokussiert auf das Kosovo; auch hier wird die Präsenz im Land über UKW-Partner sichergestellt. Ein Angebot auf Romanes bleibt mittelfristig erhalten. Für die Ukraine prüft die DW die Zusammenarbeit mit einem Partner, der das reduzierte, auf ihn zugeschnittene Hörfunkprogramm auf UKW übernimmt. Die Radio-Verbreitung auf Hindi wird ebenfalls zum 1. Juli beendet. FROM NOV. 1 THE FOLOOWING SHORTWAVE LANGUAGES WILL CEASE TOTALLY: Zum 1. November 2011 stellt die DW die Kurzwellenübertragung auf Deutsch, Russisch, Farsi und Indonesisch ein. ENGLISH AND CHINESE ON SHORT WAVE WILL BE REDUCED: Für das Englische Programm wird die KW-Ausstrahlung auf Afrika begrenzt, die Sendezeit des Chinesischen Programms wird von 120 Minuten auf 60 Minuten reduziert. THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGES ON SHORT WAVE WILL CONTINUE AFTER NOV. 1: Von November an strahlt die DW dann noch in folgenden Sprachen Radioinhalte via Kurzwelle aus: Amharisch, Chinesisch, Dari, Englisch und Französisch für Afrika, Haussa, Kisuaheli, Paschtu, Portugiesisch für Afrika und Urdu. TODAY DW HAS 260 HOURS/DAY ON SW, FROM SEASON B11 IT WILL HAVE ONLY 55 HOURS/DAY; SRI LANKA AND PORTUGAL TRANSMITTING STATIONS WILL BE CLOSED: Wurden zuletzt täglich rund 260 Stunden Kurzwellenprogramm über eigene und angemietete Sendestationen verbreitet, sind es mit der Konzentration auf Afrika und wenige weitere Zielgebiete in Asien zu Beginn der Winterzeit 2011 nur noch rund 55 Stunden täglich. Für die KW-Ausstrahlung nach Afrika wird nur noch die Relaisstation in Kigali (Ruanda) benötigt, die Stationen in Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) und Sines (Portugal) können nicht mehr ausgelastet werden. Da ein wirtschaftlicher Betrieb nicht mehr möglich ist, ist die Einstellung des Sendebetriebs in beiden Stationen zum 1. November 2011 und die Schließung der Stationen zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt vorgesehen. FULL PRESS RELEASE (IN GERMAN) AT: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6529090,00.html Regards, (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, dxldyg via DXLD) Google translation: http://tinyurl.com/6f3c7m5 regards (Alokesh Gupta, ibid.) OK, here is a shortened English translation of DW press release (key facts only): THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGE SERVICES WILL END RADIO PROGRAMMING AND WILL CLOSE FM OUTLETS FROM JULY 1: BULGARIAN, GREEK, CROATIAN, MACEDONIAN, POLISH AND ROMANIAN. FM transmitters owned by DW will stop in Sofia, Bucharest, Prishtina und Tirana. THE FOLLOWING RADIO PROGRAMMES WILL BE REDUCED: ALBANIAN, BOSNIAN, SERBIAN. ONE PROGRAM IN ROMANI WILL BE KEPT. THE RADIO DISTRIBUTION IN HINDI IS TO END ON JULY 1. FROM NOV. 1 THE FOLLOWING SHORTWAVE LANGUAGES WILL CEASE TOTALLY: GERMAN, RUSSIAN, PERSIAN AND INDONESIAN. ENGLISH AND CHINESE ON SHORT WAVE WILL BE REDUCED: ENGLISH WILL HAVE SW SLOTS ONLY FOR AFRICA, CHINESE WILL BE SHORTENED FROM 2 TO 1 HOURS. THE FOLLOWING LANGUAGES ON SHORT WAVE WILL CONTINUE AFTER NOV. 1: AMHARIC, CHINESE, DARI, PASHTO, ENGLISH AND FRENCH FOR AFRICA, HAUSA, SWAHILI, PORTUGUESE FOR AFRICA AND URDU. TODAY DW HAS 260 HOURS/DAY ON SW, FROM SEASON B11 IT WILL HAVE ONLY 55 HOURS/DAY; SRI LANKA AND PORTUGAL TRANSMITTING STATIONS WILL BE CLOSED (via Dragan Lekic, Serbia, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, ibid.) Dragan And Alokesh: That's sad news. DW gets hit hard this time. What happened to Dieter Weirich who used to be heard on DW's now cancelled English service from the 80's? Has DW changed their IS from Fidelio to beeping like the sound heard on VOR? Thanks again and 73's from (Noble West at BMSS for DXLDYG via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Press release in English now available online: http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6529299,00.html Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, ibid.) Viz.: DEUTSCHE WELLE: CHANGES IN RADIO BROADCASTS STARTING THIS SUMMER Increased focus on television, online and mobile services and a reduction of shortwave broadcasts. Starting July 1, 2011, Deutsche Welle (DW) will be making major changes in how and when its radio programming is broadcast in Asia and Europe, as well as German radio programming as a whole. The measures will ensure the further development of Germany's international broadcaster to a truly multimedia organization. As stipulated in the organization's strategic plan for 2010-2013, DW will focus on modern modules that can be integrated into partner's FM line- ups as well as being offered as stand-alone, on-demand services for the Internet and mobile devices. DW will thereby increase the cooperation with its partners throughout the world. With the exception of Africa and parts of Asia, linear shortwave broadcasts will be discontinued due to limited usage. The resources that have been saved will be reinvested in projects for the future - especially in the development of television services with regional languages and content, as well as an increase in online and mobile services. DW will aim to use its available resources to offer two TV channels per region. This will give viewers the opportunity to choose between a channel with predominantly German programming and a channel with a focus on one of the regional languages - English, Spanish or Arabic. In the future, DW will work with partner stations in Central and Southeast Europe to broadcast regional TV magazines and produce online services - each in the regional language. Starting July 1, 2011, the FM services for Bulgarian, Greek, Croatian, Macedonian and Romanian will be reduced and eventually discontinued. The frequencies that were purchased or rented in Sofia, Bucharest, Pristina and Tirana will be returned, as well as the corresponding licenses. The FM broadcasts for Albanian, Bosnian and Serbian will be reduced. In the future, these services will focus on selected partnerships with local FM stations. A service in Romani will be maintained for the time being. For Ukraine, DW is currently examining whether or not an agreement can be made with a partner to broadcast a reduced amount of FM radio programming that has been tailored to fit their needs. Radio programming for Hindi will be discontinued on July 1. Reduction of shortwave On November 1, 2011, DW will be discontinuing the shortwave broadcast for German, Russian, Farsi and Indonesian. For English, the shortwave broadcast will be limited to Africa. The broadcasting times for Chinese programming will be reduced from 120 minutes to 60 minutes. For these languages, DW will also be increasing the online and mobile services as well as video-on-demand and audio-on-demand. The portfolio will also include audio productions for rebroadcast by partners (when applicable). Starting in November, DW will only be broadcasting radio programming via shortwave in the following languages: Amharic, Chinese, Dari, English and French for Africa, Hausa, Kiswahili, Pashtu, Portuguese for Africa and Urdu. Closing of relay stations The shortwave program currently broadcasts 260 hours daily with DW's own or rented relay stations - with the new focus on Africa and regions in Asia that will be reduced to just 55 at the beginning of the winter season. Only the relay station in Kigali (Rwanda) will be needed for shortwave broadcasts in Africa. The stations in Trincomalee (Sri Lanka) und Sines (Portugal) can no longer be used to capacity. The financial operation is no longer possible and the relay stations will stop being used on November 1, 2011 and closed at the next possible point in time. With the reduction of rental prices and the closing of the two relay stations, DW will be able to save resources that can be reinvested in the further development of its services. Development of FM broadcasts with partners DW will continue to expand its network of FM partners in Africa. The radio production for Hausa, Kiswahili, French and Portuguese for Africa will be optimized for FM broadcasts step by step. DW will also produce a regional radio magazine daily in English, to be rebroadcast by partners in Africa. Audio content in Arabic will be created for the Middle East and North Africa and distributed online, via mobile or rebroadcast by partners. DW will focus on FM partnerships for Bengali, Urdu, Dari/Pashtu und Indonesian for South Asia, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. A decision will be made about the future of these partnerships in accordance with the budget situation and following the evaluation results. Strategic plan for 2010 to 2013 The German Bundestag approved DW's strategic plan in April 2011 with an overwhelming majority. The core of the plan is the multimedia orientation of the broadcaster, the focus on major tasks and target regions with regards to the budgetary issues. The new strategic direction ensures that DW is prepared for the changing conditions of international media markets: Services for certain languages and regions will be reinforced to secure DW's competitive position in the future. The focus for the coming years will be on Sub-Sahara Africa, the Middle East, Iran and North Africa, South Asia and Afghanistan, Russia and Latin America. Due to the limited budget, the development of services will only be possible when activities are reduced somewhere else. In the area of television, DW will work more closely together with the German public broadcasters ARD and ZDF and develop regionalized TV programming with selected partners. For many areas around the world, it will be necessary to further development online and mobile services in order to reach DW's target audience better: Individuals who are interested in diverse perspectives and use a large amount and variety of media resources. That especially includes opinion leaders and future opinion leaders as well as people who lobby for democracy, freedom and progress in authoritarian countries and thereby strengthen the civil society (Press Release via Alokesh Gupta,VU3BSE, New Delhi, dx_sasia yv via DXLD) All this has been hinted at for several years; now we have the full details. From the wording of the press release, it sounds like some leased transmitter time will be retained to go along with the Kigali relay station. Sure will be interesting to look over the B-11 schedule. I don't find any fault with the changes. DW is boldly moving into the future, and wisely managing its budget and resources. Yes, it is sad to see it go on shortwave after all these decades, but changing technology, geopolitical considerations, and listener expectations have forced these moves. There will be plenty of other broadcasters who are very aware of the changes taking place at DW, which will probably accelerate the demise of other SW operations. DW certainly knows the arguments in favor of SW, but budget restraints force tough choices. Oddly, as I noted in a post a few weeks ago, North American listeners might come out okay for B-11, as the West Africa beams from Kigali usually do quite well here, assuming favorable frequency selection. (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, dxldyg via DXLD) And if not already seen: Sines and Trincomalee will be shut down at the end of the current A11 season. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,6529299,00.html (Says actually November 1, but I think it's highly unlikely that B11 frequencies will be planned for October 30 and 31 only. It would not be the first case of "rounding off" such closures to the full month.) (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 18, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) DEUTSCHE WELLE TO SHIFT FOCUS & INFRASTRUCTURE http://www.radioworld.com/article/deutsche-welle-to-shift-focus--infrastructure/23537 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) Be sure to read the 19 comments (so far) to the Media Network item: http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/deutsche-welle-announces-major-shortwave-cuts#comments (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) While the story Alokesh links to mentions a July 1 shutdown of most SW services. The link from Andy Sennitt mentions that it will be from the start of the B11 broadcasting season. Regardless of the date, for us in North America we will not lose English to Africa but transmissions will probably be limited to the Rwanda relay station (unless Rampisham, UK is still utilized) as both the Sines, Portugal and Trincomalee, Sri Lanka relay stations will be closed. With the decision to close the Sines, Portugal site, which is a DRM transmission site, will this help kill DRM or will they move elsewhere? (Mark Coady, Ont., ODXA yg via DXLD) Most (if not all) shortwave transmitters made for broadcasting in the past few years are DRM-ready. There are a lot of sites that could run DRM, but don't. If any international broadcaster wants to use DRM, there are plenty of options. However, Deutsche Welle's enthusiasm for DRM ended when Peter Senger retired. I don't want to go into details, but there were some in DW who never supported its leading role in DRM. My personal opinion is that DRM will never become a major platform for international broadcasting. That's apparently what the receiver manufacturers think too (Andy Sennitt, May 20, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. 17650, May 19 at 1341 VG signal talking about John Kerry in Pakistan, mentioning Taliban, Afghanistan. Scheduled as DW in Dari at 1330-1400, 500 kW, 92 degrees from Rampisham UK, to be followed by Pashto at 1400-1430 --- but what I was hearing sounded more like Pashto already, not Dari. 1345-1347 there was a biminute of deadair; 1348 DW jingle (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Frequency change of Deutsche Welle in Swahili from May 18: 1000-1100 NF 13780 KIG 250 kW / 265 deg to CeAf, ex 9485 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) ** GOA. INDIA, 15409.959, AIR Panaji in tentative Thai language, but heavy distorted audio quality feed. S=5-6 weak at 1145 UT May 20 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 20, dxldyg via DXLD) ** GUAM. 5765-USB, AFN. May 17 off the air, as well as 13362-USB. Was able to hear DG on 4319-USB. May 18 heard only 13362-USB at 1426; normally they would have changed to 5765-USB by this time; extremely irregular switching times! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5765, AFN/AFRTS; 0912, 21-May; CBS news spot, "on AFN Radio", into TV critic program. USB, SIO=253 (Frodge-DXP) 13362, AFN/AFRTS; 1102-1109+, 22-May; Sporting News sports program; 1104 spot for Red Line? "no matter where you're serving." SIO=152+, USB. First time I've heard this frequency. 5765 not there (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. Frequency change of KSDA/AWR in Telugu: 1500-1530 NF 11640 SDA 100 kW / 270 deg to SoAs, ex 9530 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) ** GUAM. Upcoming frequency change of KTWR in Mandarin Chinese: 1200-1215 NF 11800 TWR 100 kW / 308 deg to EaAs, ex 9975 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, Radio Verdad, 1106, already on with hymns and occasional talk by a man. Noisy but readable, 10 May. Also noted on 16 May with six-note IS at 1058, then into National Anthem, fair-good (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF- 2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA. 7125, RTVG, French, 0636, good with talk by a woman, brief Cora music and simple ID as "Radio-Guinée." Then, only a minute or so later, "Radio-Diffusion Nationale" ID. 16 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT- 950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise- reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7125, Radio Conakry, 2240-2302*, May 17, vernacular talk by man and woman. Brief breaks of local tribal music. Abrupt sign off. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 7125, RTVG, 0630-0700, May 21, French talk. Afro-pop music. Local cora music. IDs as “Radio-diffusion Nationale.” Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 7125.03, Radio Conakry, 1912 May 22 with talks by OM in French. A folk song then possibly political talks by OM. A discussion between 2 ppl but also nice hilife songs in between, S9. New tune in 2209 with news in French mentioning Dar es Salaam and signal S5 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3290, Voice of Guyana (presumed); 0920-0930+, 22-May; M in English with lotsa chit-chat and eclectic music mix; Nat King Cole to Bollywood. SIO=343- with weak ute clatter (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3289.995 Voice of Guyana, English, 1006, weak with news, local time check as "10 past 6." Cochannel Radio Central (PNG) conveniently off the air. 23 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, R30A, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. 3249.51, R. Luz y Vida, 1117, no ID, but presume the one with Spanish program. Bucking up against North Korea, on the high side of nominal. Needed LSB and notch filter to get any copy. 13 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 3945, All India Radio, 1719, Urdu (listed), fair under someone else's OC [Vanuatu? Nikkei? --- gh]; local vocals and female host. 20 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, RD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR- D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP- 2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 4990, AIR Itanagar (tentative), 1229, May 18. This has not been heard in a long time; normally I only hear PBS Hunan here, but today that was mixing with another station; heard some subcontinent music. Was a good day for the northeast, as 4775 AIR Imphal was above the norm, with the usual heavy CODAR QRM (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. 5015, Terrible noise audio of 60 Hertz BUZZ (like BSKSA Riyadh) signal noted at 1523 UT May 15. Similar terrible broadcast signals from Khampur site on 9620 kHz Persian, and 9950 kHz in Swahili (Wolfgang Büschel, May 13/15, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 19 via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) ** INDIA. 9425, AIR Bengaluru - National Channel. 1445-1500, May 18. Good with a strong signal; the “Vividha” program in English; scheduled for Monday, Wednesday and Friday/1435-1500; conversation about Indian monetary issues (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Spurious distorted signal in 9597 to 9637 kHz range, 01-02 UT: 9595, 250 kW, 334 degrees, Delhi (Khampur) 0000-0430 Urdu (to Pakistan), produces a terrible distorted FM broadband like signal in 9597 to 9637 kHz range this morning. S=8 distortion level. 73 wb df5sx dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD ** INDONESIA. [Re 11-20] 9525.96, Voice of Indonesia. 1344-1357, May 17 was in English. Repeated again from 1500 to 1600; as I checked from 1520 to 1600. As Glenn also noted today, there was none of the normal Tuesday banter during “Exotic Indonesia”; instead just the usual segments that Glenn has already enumerated; all the music had severe IADs (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9526-, May 19 at 1216, VOI remains with poor signal only, now in special-Japanese, i.e. spoken more slowly and clearly than native speakers do on NHK. 9526-, May 20 at 1305, zero signal from VOI which should be here in English. Atsunori Ishida reports for May 20 only: ``9526 kHz (Carrier at 1004-1012)`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525.96, Voice of Indonesia, 1223, May 20 off the air; confirmed by Glenn and Atsunori Ishida (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9526-, May 21 at 1254, no trace of VOI again today. http://rri.jpn.org/ confirms. 9526-, VOI in Special Japanese, May 22 at 1223 very undermodulated, tho registering S9+18. 9526-, May 23 at 1334, poor with music, just enough to confirm VOI is on the air today if not the language, supposedly English. 9526-, Tuesday May 24 at 1304, VOI S9+12 but very undermodulated, YL talking seems English, then nothing audible, music break? 1307 a bit more talk mentioning Indonesia. Useless (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525.96, Voice of Indonesia, 1301, May 24. Last week there was no Tuesday program of “Exotic Indonesia”; for several weeks before that it was VOI and a new 100.9 Paradise FM/RRI Denpasar (Bali) production of “Exotic Indonesia". Today returned to their former joint production by VOI and RRI Banjarmasin; news items switching between Jakarta and Banjarmasin; some items had very low audio level (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9680.052, RRI Jakarta, 1045-1100 May 19, At tune in noted local music being presented. Signal was very good without any interference or splatter. At 1047 a male comments in Indonesian language. This is followed by a male chanting or reciting (Chuck Bolland, WR-G31DDC, 26N 081W, Clewiston FL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`ve yet to note any audible 52 Hz het against Taiwan, etc. on this. 9680, May 22 at 1221, RRI domestic service in Indonesian talk, music, well above the CCI and adequately modulated; while 9526-, VOI in Special Japanese, May 22 at 1223 was very undermodulated, tho registering S9+18. 9680+, checking reports that RRI is considerably off-frequency to the high side, May 24 at 1309, yes it is, comparing it with BFO to 13680 RHC, 17680 CVC and 11680 Korea North. Each had a different tone, and of course none of them can be relied upon to be precisely .000, especially Korea. In order of increasing separation: 17680, 13680, 9680, 11680 --- the latter probably on the low side. 9680 also had a double-tone caused by Taiwan/China on a slightly different frequency, perceived without BFO as a subaudible heterodyne, but not so much as to be an audible het (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non?]. http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/18/report-denmark-to-lay-claim-to-north-pole/?hpt=C2 (via Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, DXLD) ** IRAN. Frequency change of VOIROI/IRIB in Arabic from May 16: 1730-2027 NF 6175*KAM 500 kW / 178 deg to N/ME, ex 6215 // 9420 ZAH * strong co-channel CRI in English 1800-1857 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) ** IRAN [and non]. 15150, May 24 at 1317, nice ME vocal music with minor harmonies, fair signal, announcements in Arabic between selexions; 1330 three chimes, Iran ID, news theme and headlines. Unless V of Indonesia axually starts using 15150 at 02-04, V. of the Islamic Republic of Iran is the only station on 15150 at any time, per HFCC, Arabic all the way from 0530 to 1630, 500 kW, 295 degrees via Sirjan, plus Russian at 0500-0530, 40 degrees. Meanwhile there was intermittent ACI from a much stronger open carrier on 15155, 1320-1321, 1322-1323, 1327-1328 approx. I expected someone to be starting at 1330, but no more of it then, and nothing scheduled for the next four hours (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [and non]. IRANIAN SITE "REVIEWS, CRITICIZES" OUTPUT OF US PERSIAN RADIO | Text of report by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website on 17 May A new website called Radio Yesterday (Radio Dirooz) http://www.radiodirooz.com has been launched in Iran in an apparent effort to counter RFE/RL's Persian-language Radio Farda, which means Radio Tomorrow in Persian. Radio Dirooz says it aims to review and criticize the work of Radio Farda. The website selects and summarizes reports of Radio Farda or comments by experts and reposts them, recast and with its own spin. It claims, for example, that Radio Farda has been trying like "other media associated with the movement that claims support for democracy" to suggest there have been differences between Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamene'i and President Mahmud Ahmadinezhad while "rejoicing" over it. Radio Dirooz has been registered by an individual named Javid Arabshahi, who has registered some 50 other domains, including the website of Iran's hard-line "Hezbollah" in the city of Gonabad. The editor of Radio Farda's website, Fred Petrossian, suggests that "the time and effort" invested in the newly-launched website demonstrates "the impact" Radio Farda is having. "Radio Dirooz modifies some of the content of our reports to match their goals. They're obviously investing a lot of time in this," Petrossian says. Last year, Iran's Culture Ministry published a book on Radio Farda that described it as part of a "soft war" against the Islamic republic. Source: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty website, Washington DC, in English 17 May 11 (via BBCM via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. 6977, Galei Zahal, 2305-2335, May 17, local pop music. Hebrew announcements. Weak. Much stronger on // 15850 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ISRAEL. 15850, Galei Zahal, better than usual signal, EZL levels, 2100 with news by man and woman, music bridges, reporting on Obama speech today, etc. 2109, great guitar rhythms, 2110-2117, man and woman bantering, including laughing and giggling. 2117, ``Big Spender,`` in English, Streisand?? Then back to light banter. Sounds like one of those US AM morning guy-gall talk/DJ/call-in programs, only in Hebrew. This is one of my favorite SW stations these days. --dnj (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, May 19, NASWA yg via DXLD) 6977, Galei Zahal; 0230, 21-May; M in Hebrew with Hebrew pop music. SIO=433! (best in quite a while); // 15850, SIO=3+53+! Pretty rare to hear both this well at the same time. 6977 had splash from WYFR on 6985 in English. 15850, Galei Zahal (presumed); 0905, 21-May; M commentary in Hebrew. SIO=152+ (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re 11-20: Someone posted an article about the possible closure of Galei Tzahal, if it didn't get permission to continue advertising... Jpost mentions that they received a 1 year extension. Unfortunately, when I try to click on the article I found there, it mentions that Jpost Premium is needed to access the article (Doni Rosenzweig, May 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) This link to a similar story in Haaretz seems to be working fine: http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/army-radio-may-close-if-not-allowed-to-air-commercials-1.361716 73s (Andy Lawendel, Italy, ibid.) That was the original story as in 11-20, before the decision (gh) Thanks, but I was looking for a readable article in English about the extension. Haaretz' search engine by date, isn't working properly. Jpost gives me an article which isn't accessable without the new $8 a month service. I found this from the Prime Minister's Office http://www.pmo.gov.il/PMOEng/Communication/Spokesman/2011/05/spokegalats150511.htm (Doni Rosenzweig, ibid.) Viz.: CABINET APPROVES EXTENSION OF ORDINANCE ALLOWING ARMY RADIO TO CONTINUE BROADCASTING PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENTS AND SPONSORED PROGRAMS --- 15/05/2011 The Cabinet today by a 16-1-4 majority, voted to extend by one year the special ordinance allowing Army Radio to continue broadcasting public service announcements and sponsored programs. The Cabinet also instructed Defense Minister Ehud Barak to establish a team to work on establishing public oversight of broadcasts and programming on the station and report back to the Cabinet within 60 days. The Cabinet similarly instructed the Defense Minister to submit – within six months, in consultation with the relevant ministers – a comprehensive proposal on establishing the status and future of the station (via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) Sorry for that and thanks for that PMO communiqué (that should pretty much solve the question, shouldn't it?). Could you please give that Jpost paid link out, for I can't find any reference to it here on DXLD? (Andy Lawendel, dxldyg via DXLD) ** ITALY (VATICAN). QSL: 15350, Radio Veritas Asia, Filipino Service via Santa Maria di Galeria Site. Date, Time, Frequency and Language ’15 Languages’ QSL Card with NO site (per my request). Also sent schedule and Radio Veritas camera atrap. Reply in 59 days for a CD Mp3 Postal report with return postage (Edward Kusalik, Daysland, Alberta, Canada, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. 9595, Thursday May 19 at 1302, R. Nikkei in French lesson, only French about Japanese visiting Paris, until 1304 mixing in explanations in Japanese; fair (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. [Re 11-20]: 15335, NHKWNRJ in second of two-day test via ``Santiago``, CHILE, May 18 at 1401, but in Japanese! Yesterday it was in English during the first half hour, but we can`t have that in a broadcast for South America! HFCC shows the 14-20 span may also include some Portuguese. This was running about 2 sex behind // Sackville 11655 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15335, regarding NHK via CHILE heard May 17 and 18 after 1400, in English the first day, and Japanese the second. It was not a test, but a special broadcast. S. Hasegawa explains to DXLD: ``Dear Glenn, R. Japan via Santiago on 15335 performed temporarily special broadcast in Japanese for South America on May 17 and 18 at 1400-2000 UT. Midnight program of "Radio Sinyabin-the radio midnight mail" on NHK -1 and FM as for the program for domestic. Because "Brazil-hatu Radio Sinyabin-sending from Brazil, radio midnight mail" was broadcast for these two days, it was relayed for South American Japanese from Santiago. South Asian Service (English, Hindi and Urdu) by misfeeding until 1520 UT May 17.`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN [non]. Upcoming frequency change of Radio Japan NHK World in Urdu: 1515-1600 NF 7435 TAC 100 kW / 186 deg to SoAs, ex 7410* *to avoid AIR in Pashto (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) ** KAZAKHSTAN. 15559.903, Very odd signal of YFR via Almaty tx site, ID in English "The Sound of the NEW Life", ID and fanfare hymn at 1158 UT, May 20. S=9+5dBm. TX off air at 1200:22. 13820 / 13819.945 -- Terrible two programs of YFR feed in parallel at 1200 till approx. 1220 UT, S=7-8. Most probably two outlets from Almaty-KAZ; 13819.945 had very distorted scratch signal in background, and latter left probably the mb around 1220 UT. Continued Filipino service from YFR on even 13820 kHz til 1300 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 20, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KENYA. NOSIM 90.5 FM KENYA --- KENIA INAUGURA PRIMERA EMISORA EN EL IDIOMA MASÁI --- Moscú, 23 de mayo, RIA Novosti. La Corporación de Tele y Radiodifusión de Kenia (KBC, por sus siglas en inglés) anunció haber lanzado la primera emisora de radio en idioma masái. La nueva emisora vernácula, Nosim FM 90.5, transmitirá 24 horas 7 días de la semana. La ceremonia de la inauguración, abierta por el ministro keniano de Información, Samuel Poghisio, se celebró en la ciudad de Narok, al oeste de Nairobi, capital de Kenia. Hasta el momento los medios de comunicación masiva contaban con pocos programas para los masáis, la mayoría fueron difundidos por líderes religiosos a través de la Radio Mundial Adventista (AWR, por sus siglas en inglés) que tiene transmisión en 80 idiomas. Así, muchos representantes de este pueblo son cristianos, aunque llevan una vida seminómada y están apartados de la civilización. FUENTE: http://bit.ly/jLx0LA Imagen: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Nosim-905-FM-Kenya/102496219838533?sk=wall (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) It`s about time the Adventists had some competition for the Masai demografic, but it may be too late already to save them; but when? Searching on the MAS language abbr., in EiBi there is ONLY one item: 1730 1800 USA Adventist World Radio MAS EAf 9600/AFS (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KENYA. KENYA CHANNEL E2 AFTERNOON TEP IN PORTUGAL --- Quite strong around 1445 UT. MUF not enough for audio, video carrier 48.249947 today. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B3kapqYryrA Circular ghosty logo can be seen at the bottom right like the logo on their website for KBC 1 below. http://www.kbc.co.ke/channel.asp?cid=1 Something is at the top right also. Cheers (Hugh Hoover, Portugal, April 15, WTFDA via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 2349.28, KCBS Sariwon, 1146, very poor with triumphal music, running same program as 2850.02. Rare catch. 16 May. 5700.12 Harmonic, KCBS Pyongyang, 1515, weak with usual patriotic hymns, 2 x 2850.06. Anyone else hearing this? 13 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes; see UNIDENTIFIED [non] ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6135, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1402, May 17. In Japanese; fair to good even with light jamming; May 18, Wednesday in Korean; noted moderate jamming. 6135, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1401, May 20, Friday. In English which seems to only be used on Friday; fair with light jamming. May 21 in Korean. 6135, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1335, May 24. In Japanese with light jamming (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1330-1430; about time to jump again? (gh) ** KOREA SOUTH. 3480, Voice of the People, 1349, in the clear and unjammed, with passionate talk by a man. All listed //'s (3912, 4450, 6518 and 6600) buried under varying levels of jamming. 20 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH [non]. 9650, KBSWR via CANADA, May 18 at 1248 talking about a musical instrument with a bamboo soundbox, two silk strings, the hegum(?), but didn`t axually hear it, just some other music from P`yongyang underneath, as KBS foolishly uses the same frequency. This is the new `Sounds of Korea` show Vincent Kusek in Chicago told us about, Wednesdays at 1240 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. QSL: 5820, Radio Free Europe, Turkmen via IBB / Kuwait Relay Station. Full data (with Language and site indicated), Front Offices of RFE/RL HQ in Prague. This for a postal report to Prague, Czech republic. V/s: nil. Total time: 50 days (Edward Kusalik, Daysland, Alberta, Canada, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT [and non]. 15540, May 17 at 2050, R. Kuwait with English news headlines by a more comprehensible, less accented and rushed announcer than yesterday, 2052 back to western pop music, and this time no legal notice for illegal immigrants before 2059 sign-off, but cut off the air at 2059:30* before that announcement was completed. Arabic service on 17550 remains well audible thenceforth. Conditions are shifting; 13m showing some signs of life again, but unlike a few weeks ago, 21540 dominated by Spain // 21610 May 18 at 1321, Kuwait nothing but a SAH on 21540 making REE appear to wobble with BFO on. Nearby BSKSA 21505 was also JBA, while the SSOBs were 21780 DW RWANDA in Hausa, and 21655 PORTUGAL stronger than Spain. The lower-latitude the path, the better. 15540, May 18 at 1902, R. Kuwait not with Islam-for-Heathens as usually heard at this hour, but this Wednesday instead a secular talk about `Gulf Landmarx & Utilities` (not sure of last word!), some medical facility in Qatar; in the form of a dramatic trialog, rather hokey with two men and one woman. 15540, May 19 at 1942, R. Kuwait with the illegal-immigrant amnesty proclamation in English, which they apparently drop in at various times. 13650, R. Kuwait Arabic to NAm, not as good as 15540, mostly music until 2000 May 19, then talk, news headlines? 17550 not on yet. 2001.6, 13650 back to music as intro to another program, cut off about 2003*. Then I sit on 17550, and it cuts on at *2004.4, JIP programming, VG here, much better than 13650. DX Mix News, Bulgaria, as quoted in DXLD 11-20, missed 17550 and claimed 13650 was on until 2100. I had always assumed it was the same transmitter QSYing to 17550 around 2000v on same 350-degree antenna, and this confirms it. WRTH A-11 Update agrees. 21540, May 20 at 1254, R. Kuwait in Arabic talk and music is the SSOB, Spain co-channel barely a SAH; 21780 Rwanda #2 on 13m (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KYRGYZSTAN. 4009.95, KGR-1, 1337, poor, with traditional music and talk by a man; much lower modulation and much weaker, than 4050. 20 May. (David Sharp) 4050.07, Radio Rossii Relay, 1320, fair, with program of EZL Russian ballads, hosted by a woman. 20 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD- 535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) KYRGYZ REPUBLIC, 4050.073, Radio Rossii, Bishkek, at 2320 UT on May 21, S=7, rather poor signal (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 21, dxldyg via DXLD) ** LATVIA. Ulbroka SW site status --- I'm curious to know if anyone knows anything more about the status of Latvian Ulbroka SW site? It was last used (on air) to the best of my knowledge around Dec 2008. The latest update of GE imagery reveals that the SW masts were still in place in July 2009. Regards (Ian Baxter, NSW, May 22, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Demolished almost exactly a year ago: http://www.lvrtc.lv/lat/par_mums/medijiem/pazinojumi/?doc=205 http://www.diena.lv/lat/politics/riga/abi-torni-un-masts-ulbroka-uzspridzinati http://www.laiki.lv/Stopinu/abi-tor%C5%86i-un-masts-ulbrok%C4%81-sekm%C4%ABgi-uzspridzin%C4%81ti.aspx Some material about selling off the former antenna field appears online as well. The transmitters sat in a neoclassical estate building (Gut Stubensee) from around 1800. Of course it can be assumed that the building will see another use. In fact pressure had been put on LVRTC to withdraw from there. The last transmission on 9290 kHz (all mediumwave transmitters had already been shut down by then) took place on Dec 30 2008 from 1300 to 1500 UT, consisting of a programme from the German shortwave listeners club RMRC (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) Thanks very much for the valued research, Kai. Yes, looks like the SW masts came down on May 15 & 16th, 2010 according to one of your links. Google Chrome does such a good job at language translation & so fast :-) Cheers (Ian Baxter, ibid.) ** LIBYA. 8500, 1650 May 22 with OM talking in Arabic, refs to Allah (was an interview by YL), 1652 with Arab song, S6 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA [non]. 6877, 20/03 1045-, Odyssey Dawn operation, Mediterranean Sea or Sky. Loop message to people of Libya in 3 languages: Arabic, English, French. In USB. At 1150 Jamming but good reception the same. Then activity in French observed on 6712 kHz at around 1130 UT. 4196 was observed active in the afternoon. At 1733 UT O5M... calling EL1, then others, man voices speaking in English with French accent. Another frequency involved in Odyssey Dawn operation is 6688 as reported by Borgnino and BCL news. SUFF/GOOD (BOC-23 - MEDIUM WAVE & SHORT WAVE REPORT 18 - 23 MARCH 2011, DX-NIGHTS BOCCA DI MAGRA (LA SPEZIA), ITALY, 44 02,70' North/09 59,40' East, OFFICIAL WEB : http://www.portoboccadimagra.it PARTECIPANTS: GIAMPIERO BERNARDINI (GIB) & DARIO MONFERINI (DM), VISITORS: ALESSANDRO CAPRA & MARZIO VIZZON, not posted until 20 May [after going thru Perseus recordings?], ODXA yg via DXLD) ** LIBYA [non]. Audio/video of NATO’s warnings to Gaddafi forces http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/video-of-nato%e2%80%99s-radio-warnings-to-gaddafi-forces The website of the Libyan Youth Movement contains a video of NATO’s broadcasts to Libyan forces in English and Arabic being received on a car radio. This particular broadcast was received in Zintan, a city in Northwest Libya about 160 km SW of Tripoli. The frequency displayed on the radio is 143000, which I assume to be 143 MHz. There are a couple of comments from website visitors about the Arabic accent. One says “They are speaking classic Arabic not dialect. The accent is more likely north African, maybe Algerian or Moroccan. Not Iraqi for sure. It would be more persuading to speak Libyan dialect.” * Watch the video NATO transmissions are also taking place on shortwave. The same website reports: “This message was picked up with Icom R-8500 with long wire and balun on 22nd of May 2011 at 10:30 UTC by FMCNL. It’s coming from USAF EC-130J as STEEL 74 airborne with a message for Libyan Navy sailors. FMCNL adds that STEEL 74 has finally switched to this Libyan GMMRA frequency, 10404.0 kHz to spread the UN resolution 1973 message to the Gaddafi forces in Libya.” * Listen to the recording Related story: Audio/video of NATO’s warnings to Gaddafi forces (see URL above for linx, May 22nd, 2011 - 11:58 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** LIBYA FREE. AL-HURRA TV IS ON ITS WAY BACK Libya Al Hurra TV announced today that its logo has appeared on Arabsat frequency 10730 H and 10782 V on Nilesat. Promotion will begin shortly followed by official broadcasting. Libya Al Hurra TV until now was an internet television channel founded by the late Mohammed Nabbous on 17 February 2011 at the start of the Libyan civil war. It was the only TV broadcast from Benghazi when Gaddafi shut down internet lines as the war began. Al Hurra was able to bypass government blocks on the internet in order to broadcast live images from Benghazi across the world. (Source: Voice of Free Libya, May 24th, 2011 - 14:52 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG. Re 11-20: Limited Junglinster broadcasts on shortwave these days: 0545-0600 daily 6095 kHz 60 degr Europe 50 kW RTL Radio LUX German 0600-0630 daily 6095 60 Europe 50 KBS World KOR German (baseportal.com drm May 18, via BC-DX May 19 via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) There still used to be a WRN-brokered transmission of KBS World in German at 0600-0630. But reportedly this may have ceased on May 1. It could not hurt if someone checks whether or not this transmission is still on air (just if the RF signal is still there, it needs of course no DRM decoding equipment to find this out). If the WRN-brokered KBS is indeed gone (without anybody missing it) no transmissions whatsoever should be left at Junglinster, although in this case they presumably still keep the transmitters, like they did from 1993 to 2002 as well (Kai Ludwig, Germany, May 18, shortwavesites yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) Erik Koie checked in the beginning of May and he couldn't hear anything on 6095 kHz (Mauno Ritola, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, ibid.) The last shortwave transmission from Junglinster was May 1st 2011. Word has been received that it is unlikely that Junglinster will return to shortwave :-( Luxembourg was the last of the Benelux countries to leave shortwave. My thanks to Mauno for his part in helping me obtain this info & to Kai with his research & observations which have now been confirmed. RIP Junglinster (SW) - Thanks for the memories (Ian Baxter, NSW, Shortwavesites YG - SW TXer Sites R Us, May 21, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) And this May 1st transmission was presumably the last one in DRM mode from Luxembourg as well. Most DRM on 1440 kHz ceased in last autumn, and around yearend 2010 the Marnach site also ceased to switch to DRM only for the 30 minutes of KBS German that had transmit here in parallel to 6095, providing it with a "real" mediumwave relay. Presumably it went away together with 6095, and it would not hurt to check if KBS English is still on 1440 2300-2400 now. The whole development clearly signals that RTL has terminated its former strategy to reinvent radio services from Luxembourg with DRM technology, as in large scale announced at IFA 2005 in Berlin. Concerning the memories: In the former GDR Radio Luxemburg (German, thus not Luxemb*o*urg) was pretty popular until the interest almost suddenly collapsed around 1985. So one of my childhood memories is the pesty 5 kHz het that always accompanied it, thanks to Bayerischer Rundfunk running on 6085 kHz the foreign service of Bavaria, mocked as such due to the huge S 4005 transmitter (Telefunken 500 kW PDM) they installed for that at Ismaning (thus the mock: "Klein Wertachtal") . Penultimate active memory was the purchase of a shortwave radio (Sangean ATS 818, still in almost everyday use here, but not for SW...), on which the clerk at the local radio shop was indeed aware of the 6090 vs. 6085 demonstration. Programming- wise it was of course of no interest whatsoever anymore, from 1992 til its closure at yearend 1994 carrying the French RTL from Paris (// 234). And the last memory were the AM tests with RTL Radio programming in 2002, done to revive the transmitters for the DRM project. They brought back memories of the typical Luxembourg modulation, to the extent possible with the terribly sounding studio output of RTL Radio at all. One of the two 250 kW Telefunken plate-modulated transmitters can be seen here: http://www.deutsches-drm-forum.de/DSCN1515.JPG Plenty of outside photos are around, so here just one of the new antenna they built for DRM on 6095: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mega-ouate/4529009022/ (Kai Ludwig, shortwavesites yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 6135.299, Radio Malagasy, 1440, indescript talk by Malagasy man, best in USB to escape weak unID on fundamental. First time I have heard this frequency in awhile. 7105 remains untraced. 13 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF- 2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 9835, "Sarawak FM" relay. 1156 May 15, 2011. Definite Qur`an poetry, Malay male at 1200, then shortly thereafter, sing-song vocals with Islamic tone. Clear and decent level (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Duplicated from above: CHINA [and non]. 11665 is a mess, where MALAYSIA [q.v.] has a new transmitter at 00-16, 100 kW, 93 degrees from Kajang, per HFCC. All I hear is ChiCom CNR1 echo jamming all morning, e.g. at 1352 May 19, plus het. HFCC shows the only competition as IBB in Somali via Sri Lanka at 13-14, then CRI in English by Wulumuchi at 14-15. But there must be some reason for the jamming, for which Aoki must be consulted: Yes, it`s of course. R. Taiwan International, in Chinese which must be jammed, all its broadcasts banned from HFCC by the ChiCom, not only at 1000-1705 but also at 0400-0600. Wake up in Malaysia! This frequency is no good. I was again hearing their other one OK on 9835 earlier around 1230 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Glenn, 11665 kHz on RTMalaysia-Sarawak Wai FM/Sarawak FM via Kajang is missing from May 17. I cannot receive former 6100 and 7235 kHz (S. Hasegawa, Japan, May 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) May 20 brief scan from 1231 to 1239. 5964.65v, Klasik Nasional via RTM; fair with reciting from Qur’an. 6049.6v, Asyik FM via RTM; fair to good with pop song. 7295, Traxx FM via RTM; poor with pop song. 9835, Sarawak FM via RTM; fair to good in vernacular; // 5030 (fair). 11665, Wai FM via RTM; poor (clearly underneath and mixing with CNR1 echo jamming) with indigenous chanting/singing; // 7270.49v (poor). At 1410 heard both frequencies with distinctive singing “Wai FM” ID. Sei-ichi Hasegawa indicates 11665 has recently been off the air, so was nice to find them back again. 6100 and 7235 both continue to be off the air (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7295, Traxx FM; 1012-1031+, 22-May; W in English with lite pop music; Traxx ID at 1030+ with mention of Kuala Lumpur. SIO=242 (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also SARAWAK ** MALI. 9635, ORTM, *0759-0815, May 21, sign on with local flute music and opening French ID announcements. Local tribal music at 0800. Some vernacular talk at 0806. Poor in noisy conditions and weak modulation (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Glenn -- HERE'S A QUICK QUESTION: Over the weekend I have been plotting the locations of AM transmitters in and around Mexico City (on Google Earth.) The ONLY one that I cannot positively point to is that of XEN-690. I do know that they went to 100 kW days about seven or eight years ago (in information from Harris Corp whose DX-100 they use). What I don't know is where that transmitter is. I have Googled it to death, finding your own reference to it, that of Harris Corp (they used XEN as an IBOC testbed in 2004), John Callarman's blog, the FCC as well as http://www.radio-america-latina.org/am/radio-am-en-america-latina.html Nobody has a correct location for the transmitter that can be seen on Google Earth (and GE's photos are current as of 12/29/2009) So, my question is do you know where XEN transmits from?? If not, do you know a source where I could go to find out?? (Rick Lucas, Rochester, NY, May 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rick, No, I don`t, but if anyone or any group can find out it`s Ian Baxter and the shortwavesites yg. I`ll copy this to him, in case you are not already in contact (Glenn to Rick, via DXLD) Dear Rick, Glenn passed your message onto me. I think I can help you & hopefully my information is correct. I'm no expert on MW in Mexico, but I do, as it happens have this info. XEN-690: Coordinates are here: 19.333099 -98.988389 I know how frustrating it is attempting to locate site info. Enjoy! (Ian Baxter, Shortwavesites Yahoo Group, via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 6185, Radio Educación, 0637, program of EZL ballads, then finally ID by a man at 0654 as "Radio Educación." 14 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Televisa's flagship "XEW-2" network (Channel Of The Stars) has added a 60 to their logo I'm presuming to commemorate the 60th anniversary of that network (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV Star City, AR, May 22, WTFDA via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Big sporadic E opening brought in both TV and FM the afternoon of May 22; after already getting Canada on TV, and SC-NC-VA on FM, I switched to analog TV, finding lots of Mexicans, UT: 1934, ch 2, many stations interfering, encouraging higher tuning 1934, ch 3, movie from Net 5 per bug in upper right; went back to FM hoping for Mexico, but not yet, still eastern US dominating; see U S A 2042, ch 3, still movie, now obviously from music and Pierce Brosnan, a James Bond one. Surely XHBQ in Zacatecas, the only full-power 5 on 3 2042, ch 4, CCI 2056, ch 5, same movie as 3, JB music. Could be XHGC lead station, DF 2058, ch 6, video with Spanish ad, and 10 kHz offset QRM; some audio starting to show; 2100 with 6 logo animation, so this is a local- origination station; ``Finanzas 6 próspero para todos``, ``Flash Finanzas``; PSA for Tribunal Federal de Justicia, with a logo consisting of a capital T overlain by a lower-case f. Then ``6 Aguascalientes TV presenta ---`` ``El Cuartel del Aire``, ``escenarios de San Marcos, 2011``, outdoor concert in the dark starting with group singing and speaking in German, mentions Multi- Kulti. Briefly snow-free. Continuous Aguascalientes 6 ID bug in upper left. This is XHCGA, the logo visible here http://www.mexicoradiotv.com/aguascalientes/tv.htm but his link to the station site doesn`t work, instead from here, run by the Ags. state government http://www.aguascalientes.gob.mx/ which also has streaming video. I DXed this station last year, but always a pleasure to see it again. 2127, 87.75, ch 6 audio heard on FM, with Bond music from net-5 A lot more TV on chs 2-6, but I concentrated on FM while I could. MUF fell below FM after 2200. 2213, ch 4, San Luís Potosí mentioned, maybe XHSLP, Once TV network 2216, ch 5, still with a net-5 movie, maybe no longer James Bond 2323, ch 5 in Spanish, game show sort of like Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy, one of the contestants in a skeleton costume scaring his female opponent away; TVDX fadeout around 2345 [but CANADA, q.v., back in early next UT day] FM DX from Mexico, after getting Aguascalientes ch 6 TV. Equipment: DX-398 on AC, antenna built-in whip only, easily manoeuvrable, inside. 2114 UT, 90.5, English rock with Es fades; 2121 Spanish ID sounds like ``Cuba 90.5``, but surely not, more rock in English. 2125, ``Cuba 90.5, ochentas, noventas y hoy``. I`m switching back and forth with 92.7. At 2129, 90.5 ID as XHUVA, Aguascalientes, also mentions an AM frequency --- 1170 per Cantú --- all the Ags AM and FM stations are here: http://www.mexicoradiotv.com/aguascalientes/index.htm --- so this is really ``Uva 90.5``, not Cuba. Is/Are Ags known for grapes? 2116, 92.7, Castilian-accented documentary on how well Japanese cars are maintained, making them good bets for the second-hand market in Kenya, complete with location sound. Educational station? The RDS is stuck claiming TEMP 57C, which I find hard to believe either in F or C! Next probably not the same station: 2123, 92.7 now bearing English rock, but that doesn`t mean it`s not Mexico! 2126 ID as ``Alternativa FM 92.7, contigo en todo momento``, PSA with phone number to call the army - ejército, sponsored by el gobierno del estado --- but which? Don`t they know they have listener a thousand miles away?? And back to rock in English. 2130, full ID as XHUVTA (?), Alternativa, street address for grupo Radio y Televisión de Aguascalientes; another PSA for calling the army (vs drug wars?), promo for related AM, Radio 13-20. Cantú and Elving show the call for 92.7 is really XHRTA, contrary to what I thought I heard above. 2142, 96.5, plug for a 25 de mayo event, probably a concert, in a Zacatecas palacio; poor and soon faded. FM Atlas shows XHZER, Fresnillo, Zac. But Cantú says it`s in Zacatecas city. 2143, 97.7, Mexican novelty song, ``es la número uno en San Luís Potosí``, fadeout. So it`s XHSNP, La Caliente, en SLP city per Cantú. 2152, 97.3 PSA from gobierno del estado, but which? Poor and fadeout. But then I got one more US station, from NC, see U S A (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA. 4755.4, V6MP Cross Radio, Pohnpei; 0909, 21-May; English religious program just audible. Poor. 0933, 22-May; English religious program with lite music & talk. ID with web address at 0935+. SIO=2+52, much better than previous morning despite the increased QRN (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4755.44, PMA-The Cross Radio, 1156-1206*, May 22. Contemporary Christian songs; 1159 ID; more songs; suddenly off. May 24 running past 1435 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Response from Sylvia Kalau (station manager): "Last night we neglected to shut down the SW. Hence you heard us because we were still on. Thank you for caring about us and listening and giving reports. It's so encouraging to hear that we are being received." (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, May 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4755.45, The Cross, 1127, noted extension of broadcast hours, with American-accented preacher. Very good. 23 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT- 950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, R30A, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I can still receive PMA-Cross Radio-Pohnpei on 4755.44 kHz at 1500 UT. Seem to be all night service. Nonstop music and ID at 30 and 59 minutes (S. Hasegawa, Japan, May 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) May 24 running past 1435 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [non]. 9800, TWR, Caught their IS at 0655 and English ID by W at 0700 that sounded like "This is TWR England". Is this from Monaco or a different relay?? Their website says Monaco. Didn't they used to ID as "This is Trans World R. Monte Carlo"?? (20 May) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, HCDX via DXLD) TWR 9800 broadcast is via MC site (called Monaco on ITU) but located two kilometers north of Monaco soil, on F R E N C H territory. Program in English belongs to TWR England section. Other TWR branches located on the Netherlands, ERF-TWR Germany Wetzlar, and many other branches spread over Europe, and managed MW and SW broadcasts via TWR Austria bureau, close to Vienna capital. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** MONGOLIA. V. of Mongolia, 12085, F/d "Przhewalski's Horses" QSL card, brochure on "Ulaan Baatar Carpet", and personal letter from v/s Densmaa Zorigt (Mail Editor) densmaa9@yahoo.com in about 3 weeks. Was hoping for one of their old large vinyl pennants ;-) 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA 15930, HCDX via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. 15345, R. Marocaine, May 17 at 2103 is still on the air in Arabic, news? 2104 IDs by YL matching WRTH info: ``Idha`atu-l-Mamlaka al Maghribiyya`` and also ``Idha`at al-Wataniya``, mixed with bits of classical music; still on air at 2107 after nominal 2100*. Since there are no(?) SW broadcasts in French, we should call this by its true Arabic names, IMM or IW for short? Wataniya refers to Nation, and Mamlaka to Kingdom, or should I say Royaume? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DIGEST) 15345, May 19 at 2110, IMM is still on in Arabic past nominal 2100*. Tough luck for Germans wanting to hear RAE, as these two set-in-their- ways stations refuse to avoid each other even by a simple 5-kHz shift (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello, colleagues! Has anyone got a QSL from RTM Morocco? Tell me, please, e-mail address, if of course there is. Thank you! (Andre Pisaniy, Ukraine, May 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Andrey, it is not any more RTM, but SNRT. Try the web form on http://www.snrt.ma in the link "Contactez le web master". 73, (Mauno Ritola, ibid.) ** MYANMAR/BURMA. 5985.0, Myanma R. via Naypyidaw, 1514, May 17. In vernacular; so they still are switching transmitter sites during their evening broadcast here; earlier was on 5985.83v via Yangon (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7200.05v, Myanma Radio, 1216, May 20. In vernacular; audio drifting between the extremes of being readable to completely unintelligible; terrible, but with good signal strength (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7200.098, MRTV, 1117, talk by a woman, with clear mention of "Myanmar" at 1120, then into local ballad. Audio was slightly overmodulated. 21 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF- 2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Hello from Hilversum --- Perhaps I should also say 'Goodbye from Hilversum', as according to Family Radio boss Harold Camping the World is going to end on Saturday. But I just received my duty roster up to 18 July, so apparently RNW is expected to survive the end of the World! Talking of RNW surviving, it appears that a Cabinet decision on the future role of RNW is scheduled for 17 June. We will of course make an announcement as soon as something is announced. There are some rumours going around, but that's all they are - rumours. In the meantime, this week it was Deutsche Welle's turn to announce changes in its delivery platforms. There's going to be a big reduction in the use of shortwave from 1 November. Details in the Weblog for 18 May. RETIREMENT OF EHARD GODDIJN AFTER 38 YEARS AT RNW Tomorrow marks the official retirement of my friend and colleague Ehard Goddijn of our Programme Distribution Department. Some of you will have met Ehard at HFCC Conferences, and others of you have probably had correspondence with him in the past. Ehard has been working for RNW for 38 years, well over half his life. I am assured that his retirement the day before Harold Camping says the World is going to end is pure coincidence, but it won't be quite the same at RNW without Ehard's cheery presence. I am sure you'll join me in wishing him a long and happy retirement. I'm sorry to have to bring you some sad news about a former colleague: EX-RNW BROADCASTER MEETS SAD END IN ADEN Yemeni journalist and former Radio Netherlands Worldwide broadcaster Abdel Rahman Bajunaid has been found dead in his apartment in the seaport city of Aden. His body was discovered on Wednesday with multiple stab wounds. Police in the city have begun an investigation into the circumstances surrounding his death. Mr Bajunaid started his broadcasting career as a presenter and programme producer at Radio Aden before moving to the Netherlands in 1969. At Radio Netherlands, he was a member of the Arabic department for 25 years. His former boss and head of the Arabic Department, Middle East expert Bertus Hendriks, remembers him as “an extremely popular radio personality among Arabic listeners because of his flair in presenting Dutch and other Western light music with a natural grace.” Abdel Rahman Bajunaid was widely acclaimed in Arabic circles as a singer and lute player. When he retired, he lived between Amsterdam, Portugal and Aden (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter 19 May via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. Frequency change of R. Netherlands Worldwide in English: 1900-2057 NF 11615#KIG 250 kW / 280 deg to WeAf, ex 11610* # co-channel DWL in Russian till 2000 * to avoid REE in English/French Mon-Fri, also to Africa (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. It`s 6 pm in New Zealand, so the country must have been destroyed by Harold`s Earthquakes; yet May 21 at 0600, RNZI on 11725 is acting as if nothing has happened, world and domestic newscast with no mention of Rapture! Including getting more than one elephant for the Auckland zoo. Must be a fake RNZI by Satan, which immediately took over the frequency to fool us all. 0604:30 program promo, 0605 regional forecasts from the Met Service, ignoring earthquakes. RNZ National ID and 0606 `Brief Encounters`, alleged hilites of past week`s interviews. 15720, UT Sunday May 22 at 0434, totally American accents on a documentary, VG on RNZI: we know how fond RNZI are of American accents, e.g. on the opening to `Mailbox`, and we Americans at least have RNZI for access to American public radio programs on SW! As not a single public radio station in the USA understands, values SW, just gospel huxters. Per listings, this was from American Public Media, ``4:07 The Sunday Feature: Back of the Bus: Mass Transit, Race and Inequality. An American Radioworks documentary examining the re-emergence of equal access to transport as a civil rights issue in the USA (APM)`` in turn part of ``4:06, 4 'til 8 with Katrina Batten, A selection of special interest programmes``. Except this was a program (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. AM and DRM frequencies reversed: May 23 at 0553 and also after 0600, RNZI in DRM on 11720-11725-11730, AM on 11675 mentioning Christchurch! Another programming mixup, or deliberate? Not shown as such on the website. This QRMed NHK in French on 11730 via FRANCE, instead of BBC Arabic on 11680, altho the latter was still getting some analog NZACI. 11725, May 24 at 0617, RNZI news about a suit against Twitter, back in AM mode, whilst 11675 was back in DRM. Adrian Sainsbury confirms yesterday`s reversal was a ``programming error`` due to a ``dyslexic operator`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RNZI Shortwave Budget Frozen Again Media Release, Radio Heritage Foundation, http://www.radioheritage.com RADIO NEW ZEALAND INTERNATIONAL BUDGET FROZEN FOR THIRD YEAR Wellington --- New Zealand's international shortwave broadcaster, Radio New Zealand International [RNZI] has again had its annual budget frozen in the latest government budget for FY 2011-12 announced here today. This is the third year in a row that RNZI's budget has been capped at NZ$1.9m [US$1.5m) but the buying power in US dollars has actually increased by almost 20% because of the stronger New Zealand currency. The budget is forecast to stay the same in future years through to 2015, so the good news is that core shortwave services to the Pacific continue to be funded, but the bad news is that increased wages, costs and inflation [around 2-4% in the coming few years] will effectively put greater pressure on the broadcaster. Again, no funding is provided for a replacement of the 21 year old 100kW analog transmitter, but RNZI must achieve 99% transmission service on both this and the more recent 100kW digital capable transmitter. To reduce costs, RNZI often cuts the power down to 50kW on both transmitters, whilst making sure it also delivers daily news bulletins able to be rebroadcast by a minimum of 17 Pacific region radio stations. Currently, RNZI provides FM quality news bulletins and its flagship 'Dateline Pacific' program to some 19 Pacific stations, and rebroadcasts by the BBC Pacific program stream reach another 11 local stations across the Pacific region. In addition, RNZI provides live audio feeds, podcasts and audio on demand news, current affairs and other programs from its website http://www.rnzi.com RNZI also continues to provide emergency tsunami, earthquake and cyclone warnings for much of the region between French Polynesia and the Solomon Islands and also works with New Zealand and Australian aid programs to upgrade the shortwave broadcasting capacity of local broadcasters such as VBTC Vanuatu and SIBC Solomon Islands. The budget freeze is in the context of government budget expenditure reaching 8.4% of GDP this year because of the world economic climate and the massive economic and social cost of the Christchurch earthquake in February. All government agencies have had budgets frozen or reduced for FY 2011-2012. **************************************************** Radio Heritage Foundation is a registered non-profit run by volunteers connecting popular culture, nostalgia and radio heritage across the Pacific. Features, news, information and radio listener guides are at http://www.radioheritage.com Operating costs are currently 60% funded from supporters worldwide. Donations are welcome to support this free community service. US$50 donation covers one day of operating costs. **************************************************** (unsigned, but surely adman David Ricquish, RHF, May 19, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGER. 9705, ORTN, 0520, no ID, so presumed the one, with indigenous music (tribal chants and balafon music) and occasional comments by a French woman. Somewhat better at 0605 recheck. 21 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF- 2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 15120, Voice of Nigeria; 1838-1858*, 21-May; Radio drama with sfx and in heavily accented English. ID & sked at 1856+, mentioned meter bands and 7255 specifically. 7255 not audible. SIO=3+32 with splash from Spain via Spain in Spanish on 15110 which continued in Spanish past 1900 (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA [non]. via Germany, 11945, Hamada Radio Int, *1930-1945+, May 18, sign on with local music and opening ID announcements. Hausa talk. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** NORTH AMERICA. [Pirate]. 6925.37, WBOG, 2320-2345, May 16, rock music. ID. Radio-drama. Poor to fair in noisy conditions (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. TCS on 6862 kHz --- The Crystal Ship Noted at 0237 UT tune in on 6862 AM mode with rock music. Was in progress when tuned in at my QTH. Good signal varying from poor to good at 0248 UT on Friday, May 20, 2011. 73's (Noble West, BMSS, TN, Sangean ATS818ACS, Radio Shack Pocket SWL Antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ON AIR! (Thurs nite 0144 UT) --- In progress, just playing some tunes on our likely new primary frequency of 6862 kHz. Gotta get it in before 'Judgement Day' and the atomic bombs start flying (John Poet, The Crystal Ship, 0146 UT May 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The TCS Blog http://tcsshortwave.blogspot.com/ H.F. Underground: Pirate & Shortwave Forums http://www.hfunderground.com/board/ ** OKLAHOMA. 5660, May 22 at 1155, very poor with talk at steady level, likely local external mixing product, audio soon found // 960 KGWA. But it`s not a plain harmonic; instead, KCRC 1390 x 2 = 2780 plus KGWA 960 x 3 = 2880 >> 5660. 2780 and 2880 are always there but not this combination. No KCRC audible on 5660, strangely enough (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KGOU TO MOVE OKLAHOMA COUNTY TRANSMITTER For some time, we've known that the 105.7 FM (KROU) transmitter and antenna would eventually have to be moved to another tower in northeast Oklahoma City -- and that inevitability is now an immediate need. The tower that currently hosts KROU is being sold, and we will be moving our equipment over the next few months. This forced move also presents an opportunity to make a few improvements to the signal that serves Oklahoma County. We can position a new antenna higher on another tower, which will result in an improved signal inside buildings and in null spots. However, we must still abide by all the strictures set by the Federal Communications Commission, and so this move will only slightly expand KROU's coverage area. We have set aside about $75,000 toward the costs of the move, but the total bill is going to be close to $140,000. General Manager Karen Holp outlines all the details of the project in a special report from The Manager's Desk. http://kgou.org/index.php?moving-krou-105-7-fm Contact her with any questions you might have. If you'd like to contribute to this project, our online pledge forms accepts donations for capital campaigns (KGOU Newsletter May 19 via DXLD) Viz.: Manager's Desk --- KGOU General Manager - Karen Holp, May 11, 2011 This is a special message from "The Manager's Desk." In the next two months or so, we will be moving the KROU transmitter and antenna. KROU is at 105.7 FM, serving Oklahoma County. The land where we now lease space for KROU is no longer available. Television station KFOR has generously offered us new space on a tower in northeast Oklahoma City at the same yearly rent. Our goal is that KROU listeners will have a minimum of disruption during the change – and that makes it a complicated project. Please see below for the details. We knew that this was going to happen eventually. I planned ahead and have some money saved for this project, but it is not enough for the estimated $140,000 needed. I need your help in moving KROU to a new location, and ask for your financial support for this immediate project. Thanks. From the Manager’s Desk, I’m Karen Holp. Details on the KROU move: Our goal in moving the KROU transmitter and antenna is to minimize the disruption to KROU listeners, and yet be as cost conscious as possible. To do that, here is our planned new coverage area [map] The process of the move and equipment rationale: 1. We will purchase a new broadcast antenna rather than move our current, 18-year-old antenna, which is near the end of its normal life-span. The new antenna will be installed on the new tower location. • The new antenna should improve reception inside our current coverage area. Please note – it will not substantially increase the size of our coverage area, only the quality of the signal inside the general Oklahoma City metro area. • The map here estimates the change in coverage area: the blue line is the current coverage area; the red/green line is the expected coverage area of the new antenna and new location. But this map does not show the improved signal within the current broadcast area. • Even more, the type of antenna we are purchasing is less susceptible to icing so KROU will be better able to stay on the air at full power during ice storms. 2. We will borrow a small transmitter and hook that to the new antenna for the week or so that it takes us to move the transmitter and transmitter building from the old location to the new location. Then we’ll reinstall the old transmitter and hook it up to the new antenna. • If we had decided to purchase a new transmitter, it would have added another $40-50,000 to the project. • We’ll purchase a new transmitter for KROU in another 5 years or so, closer to the end of the current transmitter’s predicted life span. 3. But still, there are things to be purchased: The view from 640 feet on the KFOR tower • a new antenna • transmission line for the antenna, plus hanging equipment to secure the cable to the tower (This kind of cable contains copper, and currently copper prices are very high) • installation of the broadcast antenna on the tower, plus the studio- transmitter link antenna and cable • a new cement foundation for the transmitter building, moving the building to the new location, and demolition of the old foundation • service to “unwire” the transmitter at the old location and “rewire” it at the new site • electrical services to wire up the new location • engineering and legal services to make these changes at the FCC. Advantage of the move: The move could not be avoided as the land owner is selling the property where KROU is now located. KFOR-TV has offered a generous deal by keeping our rent the same as at the old location and allowing us to place the broadcast antenna at a height of our choosing on their tower. In addition, KFOR has offered us access to their electrical generator at no additional charge. That means when electricity is lost from the power company, KROU’s signal will not be interrupted. The cost: Our current estimates are for the project to cost about $140,000 but we had only saved about $75,000 for the project. The costs are higher because • we are choosing to put the broadcast antenna at a higher place (640 feet) on the tower to improve reception in downtown Oklahoma City, and so the costs of the transmission line is higher, both for the length of the cable and because of the high cost of the copper in the cable. • we are choosing a more expensive antenna to improve local reception, an antenna that wraps around the tower which size would otherwise interfere with our broadcast signal. How you can help: If you can help in this immediate project, please make a donation to KGOU. You can make a credit card donation on our secure web site here. You can send a check to KGOU, 860 Van Vleet Oval, Room 300, Norman, OK 73019. Please make a note in the memo section that the donation is for the KROU Tower. Thank you! Karen (via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. 88.3, KOSR, the newish fill-in transmitter on the OSU campus in Stillwater, since moving their main 91.7 transmitter halfway to OKC made the signal too weak at homebase on crummy radios, inside buildings, May 21 around 0300 UT I was driving in range of it on I-35, and noticed that programming on 91.7 was running about 2 seconds behind 88.3, why? KOSU 91.7 already has a built-in deliberate digital delay of 7-8 seconds compared to network programming on unrelated stations, in order to match its own HD signal. IDs by Jennifer Reynolds, KOSU alumna, indicate KOSR also has HD, but not the full- power Ketchum-Tulsa relay on 107.5, KOSN. KOSR is blocked in Enid by Family Radio translator, but on the outskirts of Enid it had heavy QRM from a third 88.3 station, luckily IDing at 0402 UT as KTGS, Tishomingo-Ada-Paris[=TX]. Meanwhile, FR (not Camping himself) was still begging for donations as Rapture Day was already sweeping the world, not quite here yet. BTW, OK has a lot of minor earthquakes all the time, no big deal, lately increasing tnx to fracking? 89.3, KALU at Langston University, 150 watts can`t make it to Enid vs all the ACI and CCI, but I confirmed it was still active, with rock music, in the stretch of I-35 around Guthrie where it is audible, circa 0300 UT May 21, overcoming some gospel huxter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non?]. While Es FM DXing, May 22, some local notes: 88.7, KLVV plugs website as http://www.mypraisefm.com 90.3, at 2201 UT preacher in Spanish, weak, probably groundwave, as Mexico`s radio dial is not yet infested by gospel huxters like ours. 90.5, one of my most open frequencies, after finding TVDX from Mexico, checking this at 2012 hoping for XEDA or something, but hear a weak station in Spanish talking about Jesús, probably one of the Oklahomans other than KNYD, or Kansan. Or Virginia? See U S A. Mexico came later. 99.7, stereo pilot on, but at 1919 ``Green Onions`` is playing in mono, absolutely no separation, from ``The True Oldies Channel``, i.e. KZLS `Mustang`, and VG signal now. Must have completed their upgrade/move slightly closer to Enid but still in OKC market. Chisholm Trail Broadcasting bought out its original Alva competitor on 99.7, KXLS, with site halfway to Enid; then put KXLS format on another station it bought out, 95.7 in Lahoma; moved its original 96.9 KNID halfway to OKC, rebranded as ``Bob``; put its main station KNID on 99.7. But more recently closed 99.7 to move it into OKC market, moving KNID again to 107.1. At 2005, some music really is in stereo. 101.1, the latest frequency for KVRO Stillwater, originally commercial student station, at 1854 ``California Dreamin``` with extreme stereo separation, artificial? Slogan sounded like ``RC Rock `n` Roll``. Quickly discounted from being DX, as signal too steady, even more so at 1901 slogan as ``classic rock``, interrupted for EAS notification of Tornado Watch #326 for Lincoln and Payne counties, the latter = Stillwater. (None of the tornadic weather extended as far west as Enid today, fortunately. whew). 104.1, RDS at 2029: KMGL / MAGIC / 104.1 / OKLAHOMA / CITY`S / FAVORITE (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Tnx to high humidity and foggy weather, area tropo built up on May 21, besides the usual Tulsa signals: At 0415 UT, 12, KXII Ardmore with CBS Letterman // 11 KTVT Dallas. 12-1 says KXIICBS 12-2 says KXIIMYT 12-3 says KXIIFOX 26, KTEN Ada says: 10-1 KTENNBC 10-2 KTEN-CW 10-3 KTENABC At the same time, normally solid OKC channels 24, 27 and 29 were not decoding, either messed up by CCI from TX, or ``tropped out`` 47, OETA at 0420, can only be K47KI-D, Duncan OK in the south, 9.84 kW. OETA is not helpful with any specific PSIP IDs on the translators. 45, after IDing KBSD, the REAL channel 6, with antenna still aimed at Dodge City, KOTV was also visible as virtual 6, KOTV-HD, after 0530. Needless to say, Enid`s translator on RF 45 is still long inactive. Next morning at 1429 UT, 11, KSWO Lawton as: 7-1, KSWO 7-2, TELEMUN do with infomercial in Spanish Same market KFDX Wichita Falls also in on 28; see U S A for non-OK logs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 39, KWTV-DT, OKC was in continuous tornado-warning coverage for the Ada area on 9.1, UT May 22 at 0101 when I saw a crawler saying Tune to 9.2 for CBS Programming. Normally 9.2 carries their `News 9 N`, continuous news, i.e. playbacks over and over of preceding semihour newscast. And sure enough, there was CBS on 9.2, with nothing but a weather warning map in the corner. It would make more sense to keep CBS on 9.1 and do the extraneous stuff of no interest outside the threatened area on 9.2, except 9.1 has full access via cable systems while 9.2 does not. Anyhow it`s the first time I have caught them putting network temporarily on the subchannel. This kept up for at least the rest of the hour, altho all- tornados-all-the time had abated earlier. KOCO-7 and KFOR-27 could do that too with ABC and NBC, but did not (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 88.5 radio tower was a total loss, Jessica Schambach on KOCO-7 reported May 25. First news I have heard about any such damage in the May 24 OK twisters. That`s KZTH, `The House` relay in Piedmont, a totally worthless station we could already hear on original DX- blocking 89.7 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KFOR had a report on this May 26, but I can`t find the video on their website. Station itself has stills via: The House FM 500-foot tower for 88.5 FM west of OKC was hit Tuesday night by a tornado. It may be weeks before 88.5 can go back on the air. Please pray for this ministry as insurance will not cover all the expenses of the tower, antennas, cables, fence, damage to the generator plus labor, freight and other smaller items. To see all pictures showing the damage to our tower click here. http://www.thehousefm.com/TowerDisaster2011.aspx (via Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 3975 KHZ RADIO PAKISTAN NEW TRANSMITTER IN ISLAMABAD Hi Glenn, 22-5-2011. The transmission of Radio Pakistan's Azad Kashmir Radio Trarkhel via new transmitter from Islamabad was monitored at 3975 kHz from 1400 to 1600 UT today. The transmitter was probably through API-9 which was off air from some time since its installation after brief test operation. The transmission on 3975 also carries relay of Radio Pakistan National Broadcasting service as well. The SINPO rating was 55555. The signal was very strong and audio quality was excellent. It appeared as if we are listening to some local station on medium wave. The other transmitters used for external service are in bad shape. Instead of using the transmitter for transmission of Azad Kashmir Radio Trarkhel for 11 hours daily which has a very limited listenership it would have been better to use it for external service. The other two shortwave transmitters of Radio Pakistan at Karachi are still under installation. An amount of Rs 70 million has been allocated for their completion in Financial year 2011-2012. Hopefully the will be brought in operation in 2012 (Aslam Javaid, Lahore, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 15490, Radio Pakistan. 0132-0156* May 14, 2011. Qur`an, man in presumed/reported Urdu. Clear/fair. First Paki log in ages here (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PALAU. QSL: 9965, Nippon no Kaze via T8WH Koror. Full data (with site) 25th Anniversary card for a CD Mp3 postal report. Reply in 3.5 months. V/S: “LWV” (Edward Kusalik, Daysland, Alberta, Canada, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Larry W. Vehorn, i.e. at WHR in South Bend (gh) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3205, NBC Sandaun via Vanimo, West Sepik, 1213-1303, May 17. DJ in Tok Pisin with pop island songs and dedications; PSA for jobs. As I also noted yesterday, they favor giving only the SW frequency with their IDs (nice!); local TCs; 1301 PNG birdcall; NBC News which was // 3365-NBC Milne Bay. May 18 another day of almost fair reception; in English at 1154 about teachers union and asked for a list of all the absent teachers today; 1201 NBC National News (no birdcall); PSA about elections in both Tok Pisin and English; 1209 back to the studio, but suddenly their audio became over modulated (distorted); 1213 tuned out. NBC- East New Britain on 3385 did not start the NBC News till 1202. 3385, NBC East New Britain, 1224:47*, May 17, almost fair. May 18 off at 1224:41* (only slight variation) (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3205, NBC Sandaun via Vanimo, West Sepik, 1201, May 20 with PNG birdcall; NBC National News in English with very distorted audio; 1245 audio was fine with YL DJ in Tok Pisin playing pop songs and giving dedications; 1259 full “N-B-C Sandaun” ID with frequencies; 1301 PNG birdcall; NBC National News again with distorted audio; // 3365-NBC Milne Bay which had fine audio, so the problem was not with the Port Moresby audio feed. Noted 1325*; suddenly off. Am pleased they have dropped their earlier sign off time, as this now allows for better reception; mostly fair. 3275, NBC Southern Highlands, 1229-1300, May 23. This seems to be the most independent of all the NBC stations, as they usually do not carry the National News relays at the ToH nor do they carry special national programming. 1229-1238 interview in Tok Pisin; 1238-1254 songs (Little River Band, island pop, etc.); 1254 “Good night Southern Highlands” (in the States we would say “Good evening” as a greeting, but in PNG it’s “Good night”); conversation in Tok Pisin about elections; almost fair. 3290, NBC Central, 1228-1326, May 21. A fun show in English with DJ playing pop/hip-hop/R&B music; was a national audio feed // 3365 NBC Milne Bay; frequent live reports from Club Shooters at Port Moresby for the “Young Music 4 Young PNG” concert; interviews at the concert; http://www.box.net/shared/ev72c76nzu audio with four minutes of the “DJ K Note” interview; noisy background at the concert. http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:bV9v5NoG1MoJ:masalai.wordpress.com/2011/05/19/justin-wellington-kween-g-dj-knote-mirrah-akay47-shooters/+club+shooters+port+moresby+young+mucic+4+young+png&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us&source=www.google.com 3290, NBC Central, 1301, May 22. National relay; IDs “N-B-C National Radio, the Voice of Papua New Guinea”; pop songs (Little River Band “Help Is On Its Way”, Phil Collins “Do You Remember”, island songs, etc.); DJ in English; 1316*; suddenly off; almost fair. (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3385, Radio East New Britain (Rabaul), 1106-1120, 5/25/2011, Tok Pisin. Talk by woman, assumed to be news. Announcement at 1115, then more talk. Good signal, the best strength in months, fading to poor at tune out. Other possible PNG carriers heard on 3260 and 3325 (Jim Evans, Germantown, TN, IC-R75, RX-340, 90' Wire, Wellbrook ALA100M Loop, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 5960, R. Fly, 1341-1407 + 1437, May 24. Above the norm; music variety (instrumental, island, pop, Nat King Cole song, etc.); non-stop except for “community” service announcement in English; weak. Still have not heard 3915 yet (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Wantok R. Light, 7325, date and freq card showing satellite dish and (presumably) station staff (and family) waving. Mistakenly wrote in the frequency where the time should have been. Also got a short personal letter on pink station stationary from v/s Rebecca Dango (Administration). Slogan is "Proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ over the airwaves". Mailing address is: P. O. Box 1273, Port Moresby, N.C.D. Papua New Guinea. E-mail; info @ wantokradio.org and website is http://www.wantokradio.org Wow, 2 QSLs in 2 days!! (21 May). 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Cumbredx mailing list, via DXLD) ** PERU. 3329.607, Ondas del Huallaga, 1130, happy to find this all alone, with no trace of CHU. Man with a slow read, giving mensajes and time checks. 10 May. (David Sharp) 4746.94, Radio Huanta 2000, 1059, mensajes by a woman, then news or similar by man, after 1100. Best in LSB to avoid 4750 slop. 10 May. 4774.97, Radio Tarma, 1109, very poor with huaynos and banter by uptempo man. Tough copy with ute on top. 11 May. (David Sharp) 4789.925, R. Visión, 0733, Spanish, mostly poor, but fair on peaks, with sermon by a man. Bothered by weak CODAR. 16 May. (David Sharp) 4824.46, La Voz de la Selva, 1150, still fair, with huaynos and chatty male DJ. All alone, with no sign of Sicuani. 10 May. (David Sharp) 4850.72, Radio Génesis, 1141, presumed with huaynos and male DJ. There is a second station very close by -- couldn't pull any audio, but the FT-950 notch filter eliminated the het at a setting of 760 Hz). Too early for India. Who else would be here? 10 May. (David Sharp) 4954.98, Radio Cultural Amauta, 1054, noted in passing with huaynos and upbeat male announcer. 10 May. (David Sharp) 4974.76, Radio Pacífico, 1042, fair with general talk by man and casual "Pacífico Radio" ID. 10 May. (David Sharp) 5024.81, Radio Quillabamba, 1035, happy to hear this on low side of Rebelde, with comunicados and mensajes by a man. 10 May. (David Sharp) 5039.185, Radio Libertad, 1046, good with continuous huaynos, talk by man over music with time check. Slight CODAR QRM. 10 May. 5120.17, Ondas del Suroriente, 1117, presumed with huaynos and chit- chatty male announcer. Bothered by over-the-horizon radar. 10 May. (David Sharp) [WORLD OF RADIO 1566] 5486.6, Reina de la Selva, 1124, presumed, weak with huaynos, just above upper limit of over-the-horizon radar (which cut off at 5482). 10 May. (David Sharp) 6019.17, R. Victoria, 0629, fair with pentecostal-sounding sermon by a man (not David Miranda), and occasional crowd response. 14 May. (David Sharp) 6173.88, Radio Tawantinsuyo, 1136, noticed this as a strong het against China and was actually surprised to pull audio in LSB; continuous discussion between a man and woman and several mentions of "Cusco." About the best I have ever heard them. 10 May. 18057.51, Harmonic, R. Victoria, 0710, threshold-poor with ID and address, then David Miranda preaching. Easily to // against 6019.17. 14 May (David Sharp, Bourke NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1565, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 3329.53, Ondas del Huallaga, Huánuco, 1000v to 1030 local South Florida mornings, with CHU signal subdued, often [Wilkner] 4824.49, La Voz de la Selva, Iquitos, 0000 to 0030 with music de Perú, om chit chat, good signal 17 May [Wilkner] 4986.319, Radio Manantial, Huancayo, 0025 to 0045 music om en español, ID once, not noted 0900 to 1100 17 May [Wilkner] 5120.230, Ondas del Suroriente, Quillabamba, 1030 to 1100 fade 16 May 5120.358, Ondas del Suroriente, Quillabamba, 0030 noted strong signal 17 May [Wilkner] [WORLD OF RADIO 1566] 5460.316, Radio Bolívar, Cd. Bolívar, 0020; 0023 noted with fair signal 16, 17 May signal drifts; still active [Wilkner] 5921.31, Radio Bethel, Arequipa, 1020-1035, no ID 15 May [Wilkner] 6173.985, Radio Tawantinsuyo, Cusco, 0030 - 0100 on 16 May (Robert Wilkner, Icom 746Pro, Drake R8, NRD 535D, Noise Reducing Antenna, 41 meter dipole, Pompano Beach, South Florida, US, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5921.25, Radio Bethel, tentative, 1115, occasional bits of Spanish conversation cutting through the slop, but far too much splatter for anything close to an ID. Even with tight filters, presumed China on 5925 is a problem. 23 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, R30A, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise- reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 14471 approx., extremely distorted FMing spurblob, with no specific carrier, May 24 at 1248, but could recognize the talk as Korean, so compared it to VOA Tinang 7225, whose VG signal I had tuned across a few minutes earlier. Yes, it matches, and synchronized! Trouble is, the second harmonic of 7225 should be on 14450; nevertheless, obviously related from out-of-whack transmitter. Gone at 1302 recheck, so suspected a site switch, but that`s not scheduled until 1400 when Tinang goes to Tinian. Somebody must have kicked the transmitter. 7225 itself continued to sound OK, marred by some ham using it as BFO for his SSB. 14471, no sign of the filthy spur from 7225 VOA Korean via Tinang, 24 hours after first heard, May 25 at 1231 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 15190, Radyo ng Bayan (DZRB 738 kHz) simulcast via R. Pilipinas, 1736-1930*, May 19. Special program of “Talking Points” with long news conference in both Tagalog (many words in English) and English; dealing with terrorism and the upcoming visit by China’s Defense Minister; IDs for both R. Pilipinas, the Voice of the Philippines and also “Radyo ng Bayan”; off with National Anthem and final ID for “Radyo ng Bayan 738 kHz.”; mostly fair; // 11720. Radyo ng Bayan/DZRB simulcasts scheduled for Tuesday and Thursday, with Wednesdays being DZRM Radyo Magasin (1278 kHz) simulcast. After sign off no open carrier noted, so assume no Brazil or Africa on the air today? “QUEZON CITY, May 19 (PIA) --- “We will not give them the opportunity to do that.” stressed Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) Chief General Eduardo Oban Jr. during an interview at a special edition and simultaneous broadcasts of DZRB’s Radyo ng Bayan, PTV 4’s Talking Points and Philippine Information Agency’s (PIA) Communication and News Exchange (CNEX) forum when asked about facing possible attacks by the Abu Sayyaf terrorist group (ASG) versus the capability of the military forces. Speculations point to possible retaliations by the ASG due to the recent death of Al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden as they are connected with and funded by the Al Qaeda group through the Jemaah Islamiyah. However, Gen. Oban reiterated that the armed forces is capable of handling the threat imposed by the local terrorist group.” http://www.pia.gov.ph/?m=1&t=1&id=33347 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) FOILED ATTEMPT TO BURN PHILIPPINE GOVERNMENT STATION Various groups and the city government of Tabuk made the initial move this morning to condemn the attempt of still unidentified suspects to burn the only government radio station in the province. In a statement over DZRK Radyo ng Bayan [837 kHz], city Mayor Ferdinand Tubban, Cordillera Bodong Authority secretary general Placido Alsiyang Jr and Philippine Information Agency Infocenter manager Peter Balocnit have condemned in the strongest possible terms the attempt to destroy the station. Station manager Basilio Baluyan said the police are still investigating the motive, expressing hope that the perpetrators will soon be identified for the filing of appropriate charges. The alleged attempt to burn down the station happened at around 1:02 am on May 25 [sic], 2011, according to Paulo Dayag, security guard in charge. He said that he was awaken by a loud noise inside the lavatory. Getting up he saw a bright light coming from the room. Immediately he took the fire extinguisher and woke up the station’s technician, Willie Anastacio, and both immediately put off the fire. Mr Baluyan said that if somebody has any ill feelings against whatever was aired on the station, he should not resort to such vindictive act considering that the establishment is a government-owned facility. “If they feel they were hurt by some pronouncement, they should come to me or file a complaint but should not retaliate in a way which is destructive to the facility and the lives of the people working here,” he said. During the investigation, police found two half burnt empty 1.5 soft drink bottles inside the station’s comfort room and lavatory confirmed to have contained the gasoline used to instigate the fire. Outside the station, an unused gasoline inside a 1.5 soft drinks was left by the suspects who could have immediately left upon finding out that there a security guard who was alerted. This is not the first time that the station was harassed. Last May 15, 2010, DZRK anchor Jerome Tabanganay was shot by two assailants just outside the station. Former radio announcer Placido Alsiyang Jr, also recalled that during his stint, they had also experienced incidents of harassment, but the threats at present he said are more daring and destructive. (Source: Philippine Information Agency)( May 24th, 2011 - 12:11 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** PORTUGAL [and non]. Re 11-20: Three Fs: Fátima, football, Fq change. -F- n.º 1 --- "But Sr. Lucia Dos Santos, the last of the three to survive, lived in her convent in Coimbra, Portugal until her death in 2005 at the ripe age of 98. Pope John Paul II had a special relationship with Sr. Lucy as she is also known. Theirs was a friendship that spanned decades, until the Pope John Paul's own death in 2005, less than two months after the passing of Sr. Lucy. The two had kept in touch regularly - up to the very last days of their lives - and as you'll soon hear in this program by Tracey McClure, with special ... (Wolfgang Bueschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)" "Sr.", i.e., Senhor, so *mister* "Lucy"? Hum, this Fátima business seems to be ever worse than I thought!... Again, prepositions in names *are not written* with capital letters. [Carlos, In Catholic parlance (in English), Sr. means Sister, and Fr. means Father (or friar?), Br. for Brother, but I don`t think they ever use Mr. for Mother. 73, Glenn Hauser] -F- n.º 2 Very nice yesterday, 18/5, at nearly 1900 UT when the RDPi was already airing a major football match in Éire between two national teams: The WAfr+SAm audiences simply were left without any more of the show while the NAm audience missed the first 15 minutes as their beam started at 1900; the European listeners however were the only ones benefited with a full length relay as there's a Mon-Fri 1900-2300 extra segment in case of need. It is indeed funny to hear RDPi arguments explaining their overseas listeners not only enjoy but *demand* such relays, and often phone in to complain whenever there's some breakdown, so there you have a "good" reason why the station has always been so careful in planning the schedules that always include those extra time segments for "kW wasting." So the restrictions in the A11 schedule simply play tricks on the football fans among the overseas audiences. Well, the only comfort with this all is that there won't be any more kW wasting when the HF broadcasts finally, but sadly!, reach the day when they are halted, and that's just a few days' time away. - F - n.º 3 The last F in this goes to... frequency, a change as already publicised in DXLD & BC-DX for instance; 11840 replacing 12060 to Africa, Mon-Fri 0500-0700, was due to QRM, but is not BC related, it's a disturbance caused on some aeronautical transmission. _______________________________________________ Apparently, there are no plans whatsoever to put the RDPi HF site into use by some other station during the period in which the suspension lasts, i.e. if this is nothing more than a suppression in disguise. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, May 18, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11840, May 20 at 0532, RDPI in Portuguese Portuguese, good signal, ex- 12060. HFCC shows this M-F 05-07 broadcast as effective from 27 March, and nothing for 12060, even tho the change was only made a few days ago! Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, says ``was due to QRM, but not broadcast-related; it's a disturbance caused on some aeronautical transmission``. An harmonic on VHF? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RDPi: adm./tutela imbecis e hipócritas. Nestes escritos acerca da anunciada suspensão da Onda Curta da nossa RDPi - Rádio Portugal, nem se tocou nuns quantos pormenores que a emissora achou por bem incluir na sua pág.ª internet. E em boa hora que estes parágrafos foram inseridos, pois, como diz o ditado, "o feitiço virou-se contra o feiticeiro"; ora vejam: OCurta: "9- PORQUE SE UTILIZAM AS ONDAS CURTAS? NÃO BASTA A TRANSMISSÃO VIA SATÉLITE OU ATRAVÉS DA INTERNET? Se bem que a Internet seja um meio excepcional de comunicação deve-se notar que um grande número de pessoas não dispõe sequer de telefone, quanto mais de ligação à Internet. A transmissão por satélite é igualmente um excelente meio de comunicação que, no entanto, necessita de equipamentos elaborados e dispendiosos. Na verdade, as Ondas Curtas são utilizadas há muitos anos e apresentam grandes vantagens. Os receptores de OC têm um preço acessível, são portáteis e utilizáveis em numerosas partes do mundo. Embora a RDP Internacional seja transmitida via satélite e Internet, as Ondas Curtas continuam a ser a melhor escolha no sentido de se atingirem várias regiões do globo." Na Rede de satélites, aparece isto: "1- QUAL A COBERTURA DA RDP VIA SATÉLITE? A RDP assegura uma rede de 6 satélites que permitem a livre recepção da RDP Internacional em qualquer parte do mundo e da RDP África no continente africano e da Antena 1 na Europa e na Ásia e Oceânia. 2- POSSO CAPTAR A RDP Internacional COM A MINHA ANTENA PARABÓLICA? Se está na Europa ou na América do Norte, Hawai ou América do Sul poderá captar a RDPi com uma antena parabólica de pequenas dimensões, um receptor digital e um televisor. Se, pelo contrário, se encontra em África, ou na Ásia e Oceânia terá que recorrer a uma antena parabólica de grandes dimensões (cerca de 3 metros) dado que estas transmissões são especialmente destinadas a retransmissões profissionais." ______________ Posto isto, considerando a suspensão do serviço em OC... que é quase certo tornar-se numa supressão pura e simples, não encontro adjectivos melhores e mais suaves do que os usados p/ titular este escrito. É de pasmar o atrevimento, hoje em dia, dos que trabalham em serviços públicos e se imaginam acima do comum dos cidadãos, quando eles não passam disso mesmo, servidores, para não socorrer-me de outros derivados, e se nesta qualidade não servem, deverão ser arredados de vez do serviço público, não apenas afastados. O que temos, porém, é "servidores" que se servem, de alguém que é bafejado c/ a sorte de ir parar a um serviço público, com tudo o que isso significa, e desejar permanecer no poleiro a todo o custo. 73. (Carlos Gonçalves, PORTUGAL, May 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST cc to radioescutas yg) c/ = com/with; p = para/to Caro Carlos, Se compreendi bem, os gestores da RDPi esperam que os ouvintes do continente africano desembolsem quantias volumosas de dinheiro para comprarem pratos parabólicos de 3m se quiserem ouvir as transmissões? Estou falando especificamente daqueles que por inúmeras razões ainda não possuem acesso à Internet. Neste caso geográfico, as transmissões são voltadas para retransmissões profissionais. Não deveriam eles mesmos continuarem o papel de retransmitir profissionalmente o próprio sinal? Me parece minimamente lógico. Como um fã da RDP, sinceramente, me choca saber que um veículo de comunicação tão grande e tradicional, após mais de sete décadas de transmissões, consiga lançar de si e com tanta facilidade um continente inteiro de ouvintes. Mais uma vez sinicamente ignorados e rejeitados. 73, (Rodrigo de Araujo, SWARL PY4004-SWL. http://www.ondasderadio.wordpress.com Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil, May 23, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Caro Rodrigo: Não, não se trata disso, mas dá vontade de pensar que é mesmo assim, não é?! Veja, por um lado, a pág.ª internet explica as limitações do serviço via satélite, a ponto de fazer notar que, na cobertura de África, a dimensão de uma antena está mais vocacionada p/ ser usada p/ retransmissão (local), não pelo interessado directo, embora se saiba que há muitos que o fazem. Por outro, valoriza a Onda Curta... Cinismo é, de facto, mais dos adjectivos que poderiam ser aplicados justamente a quem, na RTP, pretende "vender" a ideia de que a internet, o cabo e o satélite substituem perfeita e completamente o único meio soberano que é a OC. Como eu disse há dias num comentário a um membro brasileiro, se a suspeita de que a RTP ou partes dela vão ser privatizadas, é de supor que que está lá agora receie pelo seu futuro, e acautele uma possível situação menos cómoda, se apresentar redução de despesas - redução, convém dizê-lo!, em algo *de que o contribuinte não se aperceba*, por se tratar de um canal que não é ouvido cá e do qual poucos conhecem pese embora o facto de, modernamente, graças à existência de uma pág.ª internet, www.rtp.pt, todos quantos a visitam podem ficar sabedores do que outrora era pouco divulgado, um serviço ultramarino. 73. (Carlos Gonçalves, ibid.) Boa tarde amigos. Já para não falar na desculpa de que o centro emissor precisa de ser "modernizado", quando o mesmo foi modernizado há 5 anos, e está equipado com emissores bem modernos e automatizados, controlados romotamente a partir de Chelas durante a noite, e com uma elevada eficiência em termos de consumo de energia. Tudo "cantigas" para os ouvintes menos informados consumirem. Tudo isto não passa de truques politicos com vista à privatização da RTP. Para mim, com o encerramento do CEOC a 1 de Junho, deixarei de escutar a RDPi. Fez-me companhia no batente e durante as minhas viagens pela Europa e pelo Brasil, mas agora acabou. Não quero saber de "radios via internet" 73 de CT4RK (Carlos Mourato, Portugal, ibid.) Caro Carlos Mourato: Ora ainda bem que deu mais uma achega! Pois a desculpa da "necessidade de modernização" é simplesmente outra p/ juntar às demais balelas. Mas olhe que quanto à automatização, posso dizer-lhe que tem tido falhas que reputo de ridículas, pelo que não sei se aquela foi tão extensiva quanto se pensa. Por diversas vezes, notei emissor(es) fora do ar, quando deveria(m) estar activo(s), telefono p/ a RTP, indagando se acaso houve uma alteração de freq. da qual não tivesse notícia, e - quase invariàvelmente - a resposta que me dão, p/ além da surpresa que mostram quando lhes digo que não estou no estrangeiro, mas sim perto da própria RTP, é a de nada poderem fazer durante o restante período da emissão, senão aguardar até que o pessoal regresse ao CEU/CEOC no dia seguinte... Situações como a que relato têm ocorrido quando todos os (4) txs de 300 kW deveriam estar a funcionar, e aí pouco ou nada há a fazer, senão despachar de imediato uma equipa - o que não acontece. Contentam-se em verificar, por telemetria, os níveis de desempenho.. . Mas quando nem todos os txs estão a funcionar, não seria possível entrarem c/ outro tx de substituição? A isto dizem-me, também invariàvelmente, que assim deveria ser, teòricamente, mas "é complicado.. ." Tenho p/ mim que a complicação é, possìvelmente, a incompetência e/ou falta de conhecimento dos raros elementos que a RTP tem p/ mexer neste sector das OC. Que diabo, a Pro-Funk utiliza técnicos portugueses e, como se vê, é um centro modelo. A antiga RARET também tinha técnicos portugueses, e o centro atingiu uma reputação superior aos que a RFE/RL tinha na Catalunha e na Alemanha. Portanto... Há muito que tenho a noção de que houve um desenvestimento no próprio pessoal técnico, e o director do CEU/CEOC, que suponho não ter colega c/ a mesma formação que lhe dê apoio in situ, tão-pouco faz milagres c/ os técnicos que, não convém esquecer, são funcionários públicos - o que só por si diz e explica muita coisa. ___________ Oponho-me à privatização da Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, como sempre me opus ao facto de a antiga RTP (tv), actualmente a componente tv da dita RTP, transmitir publicidade comercial. Contudo, não veria com maus olhos que alienasse alguns canais, que - quer se queira, quer não - são em número excessivo, atendendo à dimensão e capacidades do País. Se esta segunda hipótese for avante, porque suponho ser isso que está subentendido na privatização defendida por alguns meios, então veremos como se comportarão depois os [funcionários públicos] que lá trabalham agora. 73. (Carlos Gonçalves, ibid.) Carlos, Na realidade é um absurdo deixar uma estação como o CEOC à "deriva" durante as noites e fins de semana. É um absurdo porque eu conheço os emissores do CEOC como conheço a palma da minha mão, e até tenho grande parte do esquema de cabeça. Em Sines opero-os e faço-lhe manutenção desde que foram montados à [sic] 10 anos, e sei que podem ser muito bons, mas tem muitas falhas a nivel de software de control. Em Sines levaram 3 ou 4 updates e upgrades e mesmo assim nunca dispensaram um radiotécnico em permanência e outro de prevenção. O nosso SCADA permite fazer o mesmo que fazem no CEOC, mas os alemães nunca foram nisso; Nada melhor que um técnico dia e noite a "guardar" as latinhas!! Uma vez telefonei também para Lisboa e disseram-me que "agora só Segunda feira"...Será que nem existe pessoal de prevenção no CEOC? Faz-me ainda lembrar uma vez que telefonei para Lisboa, a dar conhecimento de um problema que havia na antena de satelite da RDP em Sines. Fiz uma discrição do problema e disseram-me que iam transmitir o recado ao departamento técnico da RDP. Esse telefonema que eu fiz, foi em 2009. Ainda estou à espera dos técnicos da RDP. Por minha iniciativa (não o devia ter feito mas fiz, por uma questão de brio profissional) e apesar de não ter ordem para mexer nos equipamentos da RTP, resolvi eu intervir no sentido de reparar a anomalia, visto que da RTP, nem sequer se dignaram a telefonar para nós a perguntarem o que se passava. 73 (Carlos Mourato, ibid.) ** ROMANIA [and non]. 11920, May 19 at 0444 VG signal with rock music seemingly in English; thought it might be gospel-rock, but uplooked later in HFCC, this has to be RRI, Romanian service at 04-05, 300 kW, 285 degrees from Galbeni. BTW, since IRAN changed time for English, V. of Justice to NAm from 0130-0230 to 0330-0430 on 11920, there should be quite a collision for a semihour; needs to be checked before 0430. BTW2, this frequency area has a lot to offer before 0500: also Jordan Arabic 11960, Turkey music 11980, France in English 11995, Tunisia Arabic 12005 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. 13610, May 25 at 1313, poor signal with rock song, non-English; 1315 Chinese announcement. Therefore it`s VOR via Vladivostok during this hour, rather than CRI via Kashgar, East Turkistan, also scheduled on 13610 in English, per Aoki (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. The special beam antenna has been damaged and can not be reliably repaired on the island. Therefore, a replacement antenna (expensive) will be needed. The tower has been severely damaged. The lower few sections are still OK, but the rest will need to be replaced. New upper sections can be ordered, but it will all cost money (that RSH, as usual, does not have). The special hard-line coaxial cable and also the special control cable for the rotator have been cut rather than disconnected at the top of the tower. The rotator needs to be tested, but the cable needs to be repaired first. I assume that the rotator is mechanically still OK, but it needs to be tested. The heavy-duty thrust bearing at the top of the tower is still OK (I assume). The special Power Amplifier and the transmitter with power supply are OK. All the equipment that was inside the RSH building is OK. Besides all that, RSH has several other local economic and political problems to solve. I am in e-mail contact with Gary Walters, and we are both looking for solutions. However, it would appear that only Gary and I have any interest in repairing the station. At the Winter SWL Fest this Spring in Pennsylvania, Joe Buch presented his wonderful holiday on the Queen Mary II and his visit with Gary Walters on St. Helena. At the end, Joe presented a PowerPoint presentation with audio comments from me to the audience. I discussed the Radio St. Helena matters (as here above). I told the participants again, that it would take a lot of money to put RSH back on the shortwaves. Gary and I would both love to have a 15 meters tall STEEL tower for the big antenna and rotator. There is a source of steel towers in the UK, but RSH can not afford to buy such a tower. It would be a miracle, if some person(s) or group could manage to donate such a tower, but, now and then, miracles do happen. Gary and I are still hoping that someday there could be another Radio St. Helena Day Revival with shortwave broadcasts live and directly from the wonderful island of St. Helena. With best greetings to all Friends of Radio St. Helena everywhere. (Gary Walters, Station Manager, R St. Helena, Pounceys, St. Helena, and Robert Kipp, Langen, Germany, May 11, DSWCI DX Window May 18 via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) I`m all for R Saint Helena on SW, but `a lot of money` for some 6 hours of broadcasting per YEAR is hardly prudent. If they did get all that fixed, they should have regular broadcasts at least once a week, if nothing more than relaying domestic service, so no special effort would be required. In fact, they should have been doing this while in good repair! Or they could surely jury-rig some kind of temporary antenna once a year which would do the trick, maybe even work better. Is there not a single ZD7 radio amateur on the island who could lend his facilities for this? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I agree in the realism of the points of view by Glenn Hauser in this aspect. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SARAWAK. 7270.49v, Wai FM via RTM, 1424, May 24. Better than normal; pop song; ID; distinctive indigenous chanting/singing; almost fair in USB; clearly // 11665 (poor under CNR1 echo jamming) (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also MALAYSIA ** SARAWAK [non]. T8WH Angel 4 changes --- 1000-1200 on 15420 Radio Free Sarawak in Bahasa Malay 1000-1100, ex 1000-1200. 73! Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 9714.989, Surprisingly odd frequency BSKSA Riyadh in Arabic Qur`an morning prayer performance, followed by Arabic news at 0500 UT May 16, S=5-6 weak signal in EUR. All other Riyadh outlets in 25 to 16 mb were on even frequencies this morning. But at 1305 UT noted BSKSA Riyad's Holy Qur`an program on odd 17625.032 kHz, and \\ 17895.000, both S=9+20dBm, 12-14 UT. 9714.928 on May 17 at 1015 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 19 via DXLD) I am glad someone is tracking all these `odd` frequencies, but I don`t think being only 11 Hz off nominal is that odd (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 17615, May 23 at 1333, Qur`an by a cantor with a rather unpleasant nasal sound, better than // 17625, better than // 17895, all BSKSA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SERBIA. SERBIAN STATE BROADCASTER APOLOGIZES FOR 1990S "HATE SPEECH" | Text of report in English by Serbian, pro-Western, Belgrade- based Radio B92 website on 24 May Belgrade: The Managing Board of the Radio and Television of Serbia (RTS) apologized on Monday for "insults, slander and hate speech" in its programmes in the 1990s. A statement on the website [of] the TV and radio outlet said the apology was meant for "the citizens of Serbia and neighbouring countries". The RTS Managing Board noted that during this period, RTB and RTS programmes had been "abused in order to discredit the political opposition in Serbia and its leaders and as part of the propaganda of the then non-democratic regime". As a result, "RTB and RTS on a number of occasions hurt the feelings, moral integrity and dignity of Serbia's citizens, humanistically- oriented intellectuals, members of political opposition, criticism- oriented journalists, some minorities in Serbia, the minority religious communities in Serbia, as well as of the country's neighbouring nations and states." The newly-appointed RTS Managing Board said that during its five-year term, it would do its best to use the programmes of the Serbian public service to convey the principles of the rule of law, social justice, democracy, human and minority rights and freedom and commitment to European principles and values. Source: Radio B92 text website, Belgrade, in English 24 May 11 (via BBCM via DXLD) SERBIA TV APOLOGIZES TO VIEWERS OVER PROPAGANDA By JOVANA GEC Associated Press BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) -- Two decades after its reporting helped fuel the worst bloodshed in Europe since World War II, Serbia's state-run television has apologized to viewers throughout the former Yugoslavia for serving as the key propaganda tool of late autocratic leader Slobodan Milosevic in the 1990s. Radio Television of Serbia - or RTS - said in a statement posted on its web site Tuesday that the station's program was "almost constantly and heavily abused" by Milosevic's regime with the aim of discrediting his political and ethnic opponents and spread the official propaganda. The broadcaster "apologizes to the citizens of Serbia and those of neighboring countries who were subject to insult, slander and what would now be termed as hate speech," the statement added. The apology is the first by Serbia's state broadcaster, which was one of the symbols of Milosevic's era and a key pillar of his heavy- handed, decade-long rule, marked by wars in Slovenia, Croatia and Bosnia, international isolation and economic decline. When he came to power in the late 1980s', Milosevic appointed trusted associates to head the national broadcaster, firing longtime professionals and turning the TV into his regime's mouthpiece. The station blatantly spread Milosevic's nationalist propaganda, portraying Serbs as the victims of the ethnic attacks in the former Yugoslavia, thus wiping up nationalism that led to wars. At the same time, the television accused the Serbian opposition of being foreign mercenaries and traitors who are working against the country's interests. The propaganda was so intense that it led to major anti-government protests in March 1991 in the capital, during which two people were killed in what was the first popular uprising against Milosevic's rule. It also prompted NATO in 1999 to declare the TV a legitimate target which was bombed during the air war that the alliance launched to stop Milosevic's onslaught against Kosovo Albanian separatists. Sixteen RTS employees died in the bombing. The same building was on fire again in 2000, when thousands of pro- democracy demonstrators stormed its Belgrade headquarters during an uprising that eventually toppled the autocrat and paved the way for his extradition to a U.N. war crimes tribunal to face a genocide trial. The state TV conceded in its statement that "during the tragic events of the 1990s', RTS with its reporting on many occasions hurt the feelings, moral integrity and dignity of the Serbian citizens, intellectuals, members of political opposition, journalists, ethnic and religious minorities, as well as certain neighboring peoples and states." It added the television will in the future promote "the rule of law, social justice, civic democracy, human and minority rights and freedoms." Serbia is seeking to become a European Union member. Milosevic died of a heart attack in 2006, while in custody of the tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands (AP via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** SOMALIA [non]. 9930, Bar-Kulan Radio, 1700 UT 19/5/11. Music, OM mentions of Somalia; I think I caught a "Bar-Kulan" then chanting and off at 1700 http://www.box.net/shared/6is7mtd84x (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) via RSA; see also CANADA [non] ** SOUTH AFRICA. Hi Glenn, I picked a good time for my move. Propagation into South Africa, and even to some extent within South Africa, has been abominable this week. 6190, BBC WS relay, Meyerton, 2011/05/18 wed 0815-0830, "Outlook". Interview with Bill Gates, Chairman of Microsoft. Fair signal but some audio distortion with a loud irregular buzzing in the background; sounds like an outboard motor idling. Distortion and buzzing still present at later checks, 0951 & 1118. Jo'burg sunrise 0441 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. Brother Scare acquires another transmitter: see U S A: WWRB 15795, Brother Scare via WWRB still on the air May 21 at 2131, 2211; unclear yet when this signs off, well beyond the 20 or 21 hour BS was expecting. Presumably starts at 1300, already on at 1308 May 22 with BS, no CCI audible today. 15795, May 24 at 1313, WWRB Brother Scare service, but Alex Scourby pontificating at the moment, not yet up to full strength and suffering from co-channel AIR/ChiCom jamming. Then BS proclaims he is the Voice of the Last-Day Prophet of God (VOLDPOG) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15795, WWRB at 1755 and 1910, the later time with program from Overcomer (?? Heard an ID) with religious program, S5 35333 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki Greece, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) & former 15795, WWRB Manchester TN (presumed); 1329, 21-May; Bro. Stair already on -- announced earlier that 15795 would come on the air at 1400. SIO=352+. 1450, 21-May; B.S. in good form with audience of ameners. Now SIO=4+54. ---Rapture Logs: 9385, WWRB Manchester TN; Caller sez that Bro. Stair is the only one talking about the coming of the Lord (caller obviously listens only to B.S.). B.S. sez that it isn't about Mr. Camping. B.S. responded to phone messages. One started off, "If you are the last days prophet...". B.S.'s response was, "What do you mean, IF?" (best line of the weekend!) B.S. sez he has 80-90 folks living in or near his SC compound. Sed we should cash in all our assets and move in with him, and for 20 K$, you can have your own house there. S10 peaks; // 15795 WWRB, SIO=454 (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15795 missing lately (gh) ** SPAIN. REE LISTENER SURVEY AND LUCKY DRAW Spain's Radio Exterior de España is conducting a listener survey. Drop them an e-mail at: english @ rtve.es before the middle of June and let them know when and how you listen to them and why - whether that be via shortwave, satellite radio, or the internet. A draw will be held for those who answer this survey request. There are a number of prizes of shortwave radios, CDs, etc. (Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, ODXA yg via DXLD) RADIO EXTERIOR DE ESPAÑA NECESITA TU OPINIÓN Y TE REGALA UN LIBRO Radio Exterior de España sigue con su campaña para conocer a sus oyentes, y en especial, desea saber cómo nos escuchan estos espacios que transmitimos para todo el mundo. Es decir, si lo hacen en directo, a través de la forma habitual, la onda corta, vía satélite, o a través de Internet. A lo mejor lo hacen aprovechando las ventajas del Podcast o del servicio a la carta, que permiten a los oyentes escuchar cuando quieran cualquier programa de esta emisora, Invitamos a los oyentes a que nos envíen esa información y algún otro comentario u opinión sobre nuestros programas, y los esquemas de programación de esta emisora. Lo pueden hacer por correo electrónico o de la forma tradicional por correo postal, a nuestra dirección: Radio Exterior de España, Avenida de Radiotelevisió n nº 4, CP 28223, Pozuelo de Alarcón, Madrid, España. También disponemos de un apartado postal donde dirigir sus cartas, es el siguiente: Radio Exterior de España, Apartado de Correos 156202, CP 28080, Madrid España. Por último nuestro correo electrónico: ree @ rtve.es Si participan y nos remiten esa valiosa información para nosotros podrán optar a varios premios: Sortearemos varios obsequios, entre ellos 10 relacionados con la radio y con la onda corta. Escuchado en el programa Amigos de la Onda Corta del 22 de mayo 2011 http://programasdx.com/amigosdelaondacorta.htm LA ONDA CORTA EN REE PUEDE ESTAR EN PELIGRO!!! Cordiales 73 (José Bueno, Spain, May 24, condiglist yg via DXLD) The edition which was preëmpted from its second airing Sunday at 1230, so we could *not* hear it on SW if we wanted to, and I did (gh, DXLD) [and non]. 21610, May 19 at 1254, REE finishing Basque, 1255 into Castilian promos, starting with lengthy phone number for listeners to leave messages, for return calls ASAP. Unlike yesterday, // 21540 finds KUWAIT in Arabic pop music atop making fast SAH, but at 1300 REE news is dominant. What a waste! With scads of open frequencies on 13m, no need to collide, e.g. 21570 which Spain quit after B-10. 11880, REE via Costa Rica, Sunday May 22 at 1233 has pre-empted the DX program `Amigos de la Onda Corta` for live relay of RNE talking about a ``jornada electoral`` at least in Sevilla, with demonstrations; 2:35 TC, deportes about Fórmula 1, baloncesto, etc. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: 22-MAY: Regional/Local Election day in Spain. Hi friends, RNE will have special regional/local blocks of programming to give the results: UT 22-may: 1845-1900 REG R1//R5 1930-1935 REG R1//R5 2210-2240 REG R1//R5 (R5 only until 2235) 2235-2240 LOCAL R5 23-may: The R5TN LOCAL break (0700-0715) could be extended till 0730 if it is considered necessary by each station. In Castilla y León, the Ponferrada branch will act as a real local station again for this special local breaks on R5 (from some years ago they are only relaying R5TN-León). So it is a rare opportunity to catch this station with own programming (1107 kHz, 10 kw). The same could be expected from La Línea-1503 (usually // Cádiz) or Vigo-1413 (usually // Pontevedra)... but unsure for me. The same kind of special local programs could be expected in the private networks too (Mauricio Molano, Salamanca, ESPAÑA - SPAIN RX site: Aldea del Cano, Cáceres. LAT: 39º17'09.70 N LONG: 6º19'00 W RX: PERSEUS. ANT: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ http://moladx.blogspot.com/ May 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 7189.85, SLBC, 1137, presumed with (listed) Tamil program. Very weak signal (peaking at less than S9) and very low modulation makes copy difficult, though it seems to be there most days. 23 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, R30A, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. 11905, SLBC, *0020-0035, May 24, sign on with local drums. National Anthem at 0020:40 followed by more local drums and local music. ID announcement at 0025. Hindi talk. Religious recitations at 0026. Local instrumental music at 0030. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** SUDAN [non]. 11500, R. Dabanga via Madagascar, 1626-1706, May 17. Almost fair; numerous IDs and nice singing ID; audio of which is at http://www.box.net/shared/gz469trh71 (I like it!); many reports about the Sudan; in Arabic; no jamming as such, but intermittent pulsating noise (data transfer of some type?). First time I have come across this station, so did not know to check for //s (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) MADAGASCAR/UAE, In order to avoid Sudanese wiper sound jamming on 13730 kHz PNW/RNW broker added 15550 kHz registration, both via Al Dhabbaya relay site at 0430-0527 UT from May 21. But latter heard not on May 23 yet. 13730 on S=9+25dB signal strength. \\ from 0429:35 UT sung-ID "Radio Dabanga" on 13620 from Madgascar relay site, S=9+15dBm, but hit by - probably - 1000 Hz tone from AIR Bangalore site co-channel. Phone-in contact at 0435 UT, and many station IDs (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 23) The tone runs the entire hour, and has also been hard on other Dabanga frequency, so it is surely jamming, not AIR (gh) 13620, 1 kHz-tone jammer already on vs open carrier May 22 at 0429, then R. Dabanga starts at 0430, VG via MADAGASCAR. Meanwhile, the totally different oscillating whoop-whoop jamming against their other frequency via UAE, 13730, was JBA unlike R. Dabanga which was not audible at all there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) NETHERLANDS(non), Upcoming frequency change of Radio Dabanga in Arabic: 0430-0527 NF 15550 DHA 250 kW / 255 deg to EaAf, ex 13730 // 13620 MDC (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) As of when? 13620, R. Dabanga via MADAGASCAR, May 25 at 0527 has just ended but jammer still on now with lower-pitched tone than the 1000 Hz we had been hearing previously. No jammer or Dabanga on 13730 now; that`s supposed to be replaced by 15550 via UAE, only a JBA carrier. Of course, we need to check earlier in the 0430 hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. U.K./UAE, 11800-RMP and 13720-UAE. According to different schedule of Sudan Radio Service in WRTH Update May 2011 on page 55 under OTB radio schedules heard at 0400 UT May 23: 11800 from Rampisham-UK at S=9+25dBm signal strength in Arabic-Darfur language program. 13720 from Al Dhabbaya-UAE at S=9+10dBm level in Arabic-Juba language program. Lots of IDs and different phone-in program and local singer (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 23 via DXLD) ** SUDAN [non]. 19-5, 9670, Miraya FM, 0402 with a very clear signal of S20-30 without any spurs on 9430 or 10000 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SURINAME. 4990, Radio Apintie, 0937, threshold (but fair on peaks) with talk by a man in Dutch, into pop music, then further comments. 11 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF- 2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. 4775, something talking May 19 at 0430, into choral hymn 0431, too poor in T-storm noise level, but unusual for me to hear anything here, usually not monitoring before 0500. Could it be the Bolivian? Surely not: this must have been early enough around Swazi sunrise before fadeout of TWR. In fact, gaisma.com does show today`s Manzini sunrise as 0428 UT! WRTH A-11 Update shows 4775 usage: 0340-0400 daily in Lomwe, 0400-0800 in German/English, divided up this way: German 0400-0430 M-F, 0400- 0500 Sat/Sun; followed by English. The German portion only has // 3200. HFCC adds that at 0358-0400 there is a beam change from 3 to 233 degrees on this 50 kW unit (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. FORMER RADIO NORD STAFF GATHERING AT RADIO NORD REVIVAL WEEKEND --- 19 May 2011 The Radio Nord Revival weekend of May 27-29 is fast approaching and the following members of the Radio Nord staff have sofar confirmed that they will be attending the event on board the s/s S:t Erik: Lars Branje, newsman and DJ Seve Ungermark, newsman Kjell Bergström, editor-in-chief Björn F Höijer, editor-in-chief Christina von Schrenk, Miss Radio Nord. Nils Stertman, ordinary seaman on board the Bon Jour Film producer Johan Sköld will also present his brand new documentary about Radio Nord and the film will be available for sale on board. We are still trying to locate further members of the Radio Nord team and hopefully we will be able to add some names to the list soon. Live broadcasts with our guests from Radio Nord will start at 1200 Swedish local time/CET (1000 UTC/GMT). Radio Lidingö have confirmed that they will relay Radio Nord Revival on May 27-29 each day at 1200-1500 Swedish time/CET. Their frequency is 97.8 MHz and they can also be heard on the web. We expect other stations to relay parts of our transmissions as well and we will publish details about such relays as soon as we get the information. We will be on board the S:t Erik from 1000 Swedish time on Friday 27. Welcome to visit us and please help us to spread the message about Radio Nord Revival in any forum you like. http://www.radionordrevival.blogspot.com/ (via Mike Terry, May 24, dxldyg via DXLD) SW frequencies for Radio Nord Revival [NOT UT] 41 metre band 7320 kHz: 08:00-11:00, 13:00-18:00 7360 kHz: 08:00-16:00 7485 kHz: 06:00-22:00 31 metre band 9340 kHz: 06:00-22:00 9930 kHz: 06:00-22:00 9940 kHz: 06:00-22:00 Power will be 10 kW and QTH is Sala, Sweden. These are frequencies available for use and an exact transmission schedule will be published prior to starting. http://radionordrevival.blogspot.com/2011/05/radio-nord-revival-shortwave.html (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) Surely only one frequency at a time, or one on each band. I thought they were going to be on SW to North America earlier in our evenings; by 0400 UT the sun is up in Sweden (gh, DXLD) Yes only one (or two?) shortwave frequencies at a time Glenn going by note on http://radionordrevival.blogspot.com/ Exact shortwave schedule not announced yet though. Also, importantly, times are Swedish Summer time (UT +2): "The times are Swedish Summer time which is UTC+2. Yes, the SW rig will alternate time and frequencies and we will get back to the details before we start." "We will be on the air 24/7 during the weekend of May 27-29 on MW 603 and 1512 kHz plus on SW at times which will be announced before regular transmissions start." (Alan Pennington, UK, ibid.) The live web streams listed in this post http://radionordrevival.blogspot.com/2011/05/basic-programme-schedule-of-radio-nord.html are already working at 1822 on 25 May. Regards (Harry Brooks, North East England, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN [non]. 11875, IBRA Radio/Radio Ibrahim via Rampisham Transmitter. May 11.11 2015-2029* Broadcast in Hausa, with religious text, gave http://www.ibra.org web site and Stockholm address at sign- off. Also noted on the 18th from 2015 to 2029, with similar programming with a ID as … a radiayo Ibrahim…at sign-off, with contact information, closing selection noted. Receivers: Drake R8A, Eton E1XM (newly acquired) Antennas: 125 foot long wire, pointed due east, with 4:1 Balum Match, with Pi-type Antenna Tuner. Trap-sloper, cut for 6955 kHz, pointed due south, 1:1 Matching Balum top feed, with 41-meter long wire, top feed for radial effect, with Heathkit HFT-9 Antenna Tuner. 135 foot Window T- antenna with MFJ – 941 B Antenna Tuner Hustler 5BTV Vertical Antenna with MFJ-901 B Antenna Tuner. (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** SYRIA. "La sección española de Radio Damasco necesita del apoyo de sus oyentes para poder continuar con su programación en Onda Corta. Por tanto, desde aquí hacemos un llamamiento a todos los radioescuchas y participantes de la lista para que se lo hagan saber a sus amistades. Este mensaje se limita única y exclusivamente al servicio en lengua española en cuanto acto de solidaridad a sus locutores y locutoras y demás equipo técnico. vuestros mensajes a: radiodamasco @ yahoo.es " (via Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, May 23, condiglist yg via DXLD) Ellos no ayudan mucho --- el porcentaje de modulación no debe llegar al 10%. Así difícil que tengan audiencia, aunque la portadora llegue 5/5. ¿Siguen en 9330 o algo por el estilo? (Moisés Knochen, ibid.) Por favor confirmen el correo al cual escribirles; yo siempre les escribo a Radiodamasco @ yahoo.com y me confirman los informes de recepción. Ahora el que pasó Horacio es Radiodamasco @ yahoo.com.es o puede ser que funcionen los dos ??? (Ernesto Paulero, Argentina, ibid.) ** TAIWAN [and non]. 9745, mixed of R Bahrain and Han Sheng with nearly the same signal level listenable as they were ISB! In LSB Han Sheng is heard clearly though undermodded while in USB Bahrain is heard quite well. S8, 43533, 17-5 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Time???? Circa 2200 judging from logs before and after this one (gh) ** TAIWAN [and non]. 9665, May 25 at 1255 nice music but with het; 1257 RTI ID in Chinese website announcement. Per Aoki, RTI is on 9665 only at 12-13 in Chinese, from Paochung site; and the het is surely the always off-frequency P`yongyang KCBS, and apparently not jammed by the ChiCom (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN [non]. On the May edition of Media Network Plus we have some very interesting stories. First we will have a first hand account of what it's like working for a foreign news correspondent in China. Stephan McDonell ABC's (Australian Broadcasting Corp.) will give us a diary on it's like. We will also be joined by Keith Somerville who once worked for BBC Monitoring and then later the BBC World Service, he is one of the people behind the movement to save the BBC World Service against cuts from the British Foreign Office. Finally actor, tv presenter Derek Partridge will join me to talk about his time in Rhodesia at RTV (Rhodesian Television) and what it was really like. And much more. The first transmission of Media Network Plus is at 0100 UT on 9955 to the Americas. 73s & 88s, Keith and Paulette (Facebook (via Mike Terry, May 24, dxldyg via DXLD) That`s UT Saturdays! but surely earlier in May than this week (gh, DXLD) No, first airing May 28, seems (gh) ** TIBET [non]. TAJIKISTAN, 15538, V of Tibet via Dushanbe Yangi Yul in Tibetan language noted at 1200-1230 UT, S=8 level. Adjacent FIREDRAKE music from China jammer noted on even 15540 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 20, dxldyg via DXLD) ** TURKEY. 15450, May 19 at 1312, enjoyed some Turkish pop music fill from VOT, 1322 headlines in English, 1323 sign-off YL claims this broadcast was at 1330-1430 on 15520, 15450! Don`t they even have a clock in the studio on UT, which might clue her in that it is not even 1330 yet? Then played identical IS nine times and part of a tenth before cut off at 1326*. You never know how many times it will repeat if any; but if you`ve heard one, you`ve heard them all. 15450, May 20 at 1327, VOT is still on after 1230 English, playing IS, and by now inserting Turkic-language IDs, in fact sounds like real Turkish with `Burasi`, altho the only broadcast scheduled to start at 1330 now per WRTH A-11 Update is Kazakh on 11880, blocked here by REE/Costa Rica. Finally turns off 15450 at 1328:36* for hasty QSY by the Emirler engineer. 15450, May 22 at 1230, VOT opening English; this OM is also way out of touch, giving schedule as 1330-1430 on 15520, 15450, while it`s really an hour earlier on only one of those. I wonder what time they give at 1630 UT, the new broadcast, or is it merely a playback they don`t even know about at the studio? So I bring up the bookmarked webcast where we normally hear English, VOT World, but that`s in Spanish, which is scheduled at 1630 on 11930, oblivious of the Cuban radio war. How about the other two webcasts, VOT-East and VOT-West? East keeps stalling after a few seconds, buffering at 17% but the language is not English, something Turkic? VOT-West is playing music, which would not be the case for an English broadcast just starting. SNAFU! No other languages are on the SW schedule at this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. 4750, Dunamis Shortwave, 1940, English, sermon by a man, presumed, barely above threshold. 21 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA [non]. New transmissions from TDP: Radio Ndiwulira in Luganda, new station from May 21 (not from May 17): 1700-1730 on 17770 SAM 250 kW / 188 deg to EaAf Tue/Sat. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, May 20, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17770, very poor signal with some talk audible, May 21 at 1702. Per Ivo Ivanov, this is the first broadcast of a new service via TDP via Samara, RUSSIA [as above]. See http://www.airtime.be/schedule.html for this and all other TDP clients currently. Ndiwulira is not yet included in the logo-and-link gallery at http://www.airtime.be/whose.html most of which are no longer active (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17770, Radio Ndiwulira in Luganda, nueva emisora via TDP, 1700-1710, Mayo 21, vernacular, Anuncio por OM, noticias o charla por el mismo OM en vernacular, comentario por YL a las 1720, 3.4.4.3.3. La de hoy fue la primer transmisión de esta nueva emisora que emite de 1700-1730 para Uganda en 17770 via Samara con 250 kW con transmisiones dirigidas a 188 grados por el Este de Africa. Emite solo los martes y sabados. (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) ** UGANDA [non]. New station heard today --- Today between 1930 & 2000 UT heard a station on 11750 talking in English about Uganda. When I got home did some research on the internet. This what I found. The broadcast is at 1900-2000 UT Saturdays only. 250 kW from Issoudun France at 141 degrees. In Aoki it says it is Ngoma Radio via Bible Voice in Luganda language; in EiBi it says it is an English Clandestine broadcast to Uganda (Heard at Bethpage State Park NY, Eton E-1 with 100 foot wire antenna, Peter W Hansen, May 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luganda Yes Aoki is right, Bible Voice Broadcasting Network mission from Canada via Issoudun. Brokered by Media&Broadcast Cologne, Germany. 11750 1900-2000 48SW ISS 250kW 141deg. Scheduled since Saturday April 30. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, ibid.) ** UKRAINE. UKRAINIAN WEATHER FORECASTER CREATES A STORM A Ukrainian weather forecaster has created a storm of her own by taking a swipe at Ukraine’s leadership during a live radio broadcast. Lyudmila Savchenko, head of the forecasting section of Ukraine’s meteorological service who has become a well-known voice on national radio with her daily weather reports, put her own spin on why the country was enjoying a spell of blissful weather. “One cannot remain indifferent to this beauty which shows in the tender scent of lilac and lily of the valley and the melodious trilling of the birds,” she said lyrically on Ukraine national radio. She went on: “At times it seems that such miraculous days are a gift from nature to compensate us for the chaos, lawlessness and injustice which reigns in our country.” “It is simply incomprehensible that anyone can dislike this paradise on earth, this country, the Ukrainian people so much that they treat it so badly,” she said. Ukrainska Pravda online newspaper quoting a national radio source said that following Ms Savchenko’s remarks a decision had been taken to end live broadcasts from the weather centre. There was no immediate word on whether any action would be taken against Ms Savchenko. Parliamentary speaker Volodymyr Litvyn said parliament would support an opposition move to ask national radio not to sack her (Source: Reuters)(May 18th, 2011 - 13:13 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U K [non?]. 4709 usb, RAF, Volmet, 0027 yl excellent signal http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A90OnLPVVnM http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2MMY4TYQuc 17 May [Wilkner + XM-Cedar key] (Robert Wilkner, Icom 746Pro, Drake R8, NRD 535D, Noise Reducing Antenna, 41 meter dipole, Pompano Beach, South Florida, US, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So where is this? (gh, DXLD) ** U K. I`m still surviving without a computer, but it`s getting harder. One of these days there won`t be any more stores. You`ll just order your groceries on line, and within thirty minutes UPS will be dropping them off at your door. Thank goodness I still get my share of the BBC on shortwave. They start to come in in mid-morning, and stay good on one frequency or another right up until 7:00 pm [EDT]. Then they`re back at 11:00 pm for four more hours on various frequencies. I`d be lost without BBC; especially their news and science series (Pete Bentley, E Aurora NY, on a manual typewriter, 18 May, retyped by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. WILLIAM HAGUE QUESTIONS BBC WORLD SERVICE'S COMMITMENT TO SAVINGS --- Foreign secretary says cuts 'challenging but fair' as he questions corporation's transparency The drawn-out battle over controversial cuts to the World Service has taken a new turn, with William Hague questioning the BBC's commitment to efficiency savings and the scale of the job losses the corporation said would be required by a 16% reduction in its funding. More at : http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/18/william-hague-world-service (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, May 18, dxldyg via DXLD) BBC WELCOMES WORLD SERVICE REVIEW MPs call on Foreign Office to look again at funding settlement. The BBC has given a cautious welcome to the government's decision to review its controversial funding cuts to the World Service. Full article here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2011/may/20/bbc-world-service-review?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theguardian%2Fmedia%2Frss+%28Media%29 (via Mike Terry, UK, May 21, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. BBC TURKISH RADIO SERVICE TO SIGN OFF FOR LAST TIME DUE TO CUTS In the 50th Year as Turkey's English Daily http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=bbc-radio-to-end-its-turkish-service-2011-05-23 London - Anatolia News Agency May 23, 2011 --- BBC Radio's Turkish Service will end on May 27 after 72 years of continuous programs following a serious of British government cuts to their funding. Although the Turkish service will continue online and on television, funding cuts to the British broadcaster by the David Cameron government mean the radio service will be taken off the air before the end of the month. As part of the financial cuts, three employees at the BBC's Turkish service are voluntarily leaving their jobs while two others are being laid off. There are 19 employees in total at the service. Noting that the British government slashed the BBC World Service's budget by 25 percent, Murat Nisancioglu, the deputy director and editor for BBC Turkish, said the budget cuts for his group were more than the average at 27 percent, Anatolia reported. "Not only the Turkish radio service, but the Russian radio service will also be shut down," Nisancioglu said. Nisancioglu said everyone was upset about the cuts since the radio service has fulfilled important missions throughout its history. The radio had an important role when the media sector had not grown as much yet, Nisancioglu said. Güney Yildiz, a reporter with the Turkish service and the member of a union, said there were two powerful unions at the BBC that were currently conducting a poll to determine whether to move ahead with potential strike action to protest the cuts. "Within several weeks, the unions will decide whether to go on strike or not," Yildiz said. (Also 6 Reader Comments) (via Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. UK MPS AND NEWSPAPERS DISCOVER BBC WORLD SERVICE TRUST AND QUESTION ITS PROJECTS. Posted: 22 May 2011 BBC World Service Trust might be "little known," but its existence is hardly a secret. Why has World Service Trust evolved into the multifaceted international charity that it is today? I have three hypotheses, not based on any inside information: 1) BBC World Service desired to use its communication skills and resources to advocate for worthy causes. World Service itself, to protect its credibility, should not advocate for anything, no matter how commendable. The establishment of World Service Trust as a separate organization addressed this dilemma. 2) Success in international broadcasting nowadays requires the formation of partnerships in the target country. In order to get a "foot in the door," and to establish goodwill in those target countries, World Service Trust engages in various beneficial projects. 3) World Service Trust would also generate good publicity for World Service within the UK -- although the opposite seems to be happening now (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com; for press prompting this response see http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11308 via DXLD) ** U K [and non]. 11680, May 20 at 0531, something on AM in Arabic is barely audible in DRM noise from RNZI 11670-11675-11680. It`s BBC via Rampisham at 05-07, clashing with RNZI at 05-08, per HFCC. [non?]. 11820, May 21 at 0613, Arabic news about Obama, Syria, Sudan, etc., 0614 BBC news sounder similar to those heard in English, and yes, it is BBC, per HFCC during this hour since 11 April scheduled both via Rampisham, 250 kW, 140 degrees, and via Cyprus, 250 kW, 101 degrees; but no echo or signs of a second signal here. [non]. 11750, 25 degrees via THAILAND, also USward, May 22 at 1210, BBC interviewing Pres. Obama about Israel, Pakistan, etc. Kim Elliott comments on Obama not yet granting any interview to VOA, and why: http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11289 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. BBC Hindi on 9395 via Nakhon Sawan --- I can receive 1400-1500 UT BBC Hindi on 9395 kHz from May 23. // 7565, 9685, 15470 kHz (S. Hasegawa, Japan, May 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC Hindi on 9395 --- Due to interference on 9685 kHz (AIR on 9690 kHz at 1330-1500) BBC Hindi is now using 9395 kHz (from Thailand) 1400- 1500 UT since 23rd May and continues 9685 kHz from Oman. It was a dual transmission from Thailand and Oman on 9685 kHz, now it has been broadcasting on 2 different frequencies - 9395(THA) and 9685(OMA). (Alok Dasgupta via DXAsia-UADX Blog via Alokesh Gupta, dx_sasia yg via DXLD) Obviously(?) the two 9685 sites from BBC could have interfered with each other! Even if they tried to totally synchronize them (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 20000, WWV, May 21 at 1304 survey announcement; usually inaudible, skipping over here, but Es must have helped. Wish they would resume 25000 too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. US “MADE A MISTAKE ABANDONING SHORTWAVE BROADCASTS” TO CENTRAL ASIA Paul Goble, director of the State Department’s Foreign Service Institute, believes the US has erred in cutting shortwave broadcasts to countries such as Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Mr Goble was speaking at a discussion of the likelihood that the so- called “Arab Spring” of democracy movements in the Middle East and North Africa might spread to the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. In response to a question from Representative Steve Cohen about the influence of radio programming beamed into the countries by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Mr Goble said the US made a mistake abandoning shortwave broadcasts in favour of FM stations licensed by the repressive regimes in Central Asia. He said the stations practice self-censorship in order to retain their licences, defeating their purpose. * Read more (May 18th, 2011 - 9:08 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 1. #1 John Figliozzi on May 19th, 2011 at 18:38 You would think this would be obvious to policymakers – that domestic stations who broadcast something at odds with the wishes of variably repressive regimes would either self-censor or be censored. (Having worked in government for almost four decades, I can’t say I’m surprised. Advice from those with expertise are regularly eschewed for those with political agenda which is why we too often get the brain dead policies we do.) Then when such censorship occurs we hear the pols bleat about their shock at the brazen acts of dictators to censor contrary opinions that they perceive threaten their omnipotence. Duh. (MN blog comment via DXLD) ** U S A. SUCCESSFUL US INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING TO CHINA -- IN 12 STEPS. Posted: 24 May 2011 Getting through to China with a successful international broadcasting will require much more than keeping the Voice of America Mandarin Service on shortwave. See America Calling China: A Strategy for International Broadcasting (pdf). http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/USIB_to_China.pdf [draft, by Kim himself] (via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes of IBB: 0030-0130 NF 15625 TIN 250 kW / 279 deg to SEAs, ex 13865 RFA Burmese 1700-1800 NF 13860 UDO 250 kW / 308 deg to CeAs, ex 13855 VOA Georgian 1730-1930 NF 7510 UDO 250 kW / 300 deg to WeAs, ex 7455 VOA Persian 2200-2230 NF 11765 TIN 250 kW / 280 deg to SEAs, ex 15110 VOA in Khmer (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. 17530, May 21 at 1344, R. Sawa via KUWAIT, good signal with Arabic rock, very little fading; 1345 cut to R. Sawa ID, akhbar; 1350 already back to music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15795, WWRB testing again May 18 at 1912 with continuous big band music including ``In the Mood``, still at 1950 with no announcements at all. S9+8 on meter but sounds only poor and now roughly equivalent to 15825 WWCR. BB music is good for evaluating frequency response, dynamic range, and it sounds fine except for the non-solid signal here. The latest from Dave at 2354 UT May 18: ``Greetings: WWRB shortwave this week will begin extensive testing on 15.795 MHz. The RF heating issues have been resolved. WWRB is receiving excellent reports on our audio quality & signal levels. During the test, WWRB may take the transmitter off the air at random times to check for RF heating in other areas of our transmitter facilities. The Runway LOCALIZER monitors co-located with WWRB shortwave Flag / Alarm on some modulation peaks. The LOCALIZER monitors are required by FAA rules for ILS (Instrument Landing System) approaches to Airline Transport's private runway co-located with WWRB shortwave. The LOCALIZER monitors MUST be working to specifications before WWRB can start regular programming on 15.795 MHz. Regular programming on 15.795 MHz to be announced. Regards, Captain David L. Frantz, Chief Pilot, Airline Transport``. 15795, May 19 at 1856, poor signal from WWRB test, sounds like gospel rock rather than big band music; without any Es, about the same as 15825 WWCR. 15795 still on at 2110. 15795, after testing this frequency for a week or so, WWRB has started regular programming. Guess what, it`s Brother Scare! Not surprised, but Dave wasn`t letting on beforehand what would be on it, as he sought monitoring reports from DX listeners, who may now ignore it, if not be repelled by it. Despite WWRB ``no longer operated as a ministry``, with Dave ranting against deadbeat gospel huxters who don`t pay their bills, he`s sticking with the BS cash cow, now on TWO frequencies all day, // 9385, with 15795 destined for Europe. Tune-in at 1314, it was colliding with but well atop India`s Chinese service plus ChiCom jamming until 1315*, as I knew it would if WWRB would come on as early as 1300; however, in HFCC it`s now registered from 1000 to 0100, not necessarily using that full span yet. 15795 had some Es help so now the signal is S9+18, initially a lot stronger than 15825 WWCR until the latter also got its signal into the Es patch a few minutes later, with `Musical Memories`. Conveniently, Brother Scare was talking about this new frequency at 1317, said would be on the rest of the day until 20 or 21, 7 days a week for Europe. Repeated it at least a semidozen times in a row, along with others, including 9385, 9980, 9655, 13810, 17485 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) More at SOUTH CAROLINA [non] The UT Friday May 20 0330 broadcast of WORLD OF RADIO on WWRB 5050, very good signal and modulation at 0345 check; however, not to be heard on any of the four `Global` webcasts from WWRB: 1, 2, and 3 were all KJV Bible readings, and 4 had some preacher other than Brother Scare. We can never be sure which webcast, if any, will be carrying WOR. At conclusion around 0400 on 5050, Capt. Dave came on live talking for a few minutes about his 15795 tests, explaining some problems being worked on as in my last report (where further airings of WOR on other stations are listed) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A tip off via Dave Kenny earlier this month about WWRB testing on 15795 kHz at 1900 onward --- Top quality signal here this evening (23/5/11) at 1947 gmt in English with religious program. Nice clear frequency (Steve Calver, Letchworth Garden City, England, UK, Perseus, Lonwire/balun in loft, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** U S A. 4840, WWCR, Nashville TN (presumed); 0040, 22-May; Pernicious Pastor Pete Peters talking about the Pig Alley Club in London; sez it's for the elite including Tony Blair. PPP sez that you are greeted by four burly transvestites dressed in nun's habits. PPP then ragged on Jews, Catholics & Baptists. (I've never heard PPP ever mention Family Radio -- too bad.) S20 peaks (Harold Frodge, Michigan Area Radio Enthusiasts DXpedition #100 (Rapture DXpedition), Port Hope MI, Drake R8B + 500 ft. unterminated east bev + 85 ft. TTFD, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Are you sure it was PPPP? Was not aware he`s back on WWCR. Scheduled Saturdays at 7-8 pm CDT on 4840 is Texe Marrs, `Power of Prophecy`. Was it // PPPP on WTWW 5755, (or is it still 9479 at that hour)? I don`t remember what Texe sounds like, but too close to PPPP? (Glenn to Harold, via DXLD) Sure sounded like PPP, but I may have been suffering from ECS; Excess Camping-Stair syndrome (Harold Frodge, ibid.) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1565 monitoring: WBCQ, Wednesday May 18 from 2130 confirmed on webcast; JBA on 7415 at 2152 check. 9955 WRMI, UT Thursday May 19 at 0330: nothing but wall-of-noise- jamming audible; tnx a lot, Arnie! Confirmed on webcast. Next airings Thursday 1500 [missed checking], 2100, Friday 1430, Saturday 0800, 1730, Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730. On WWRB: UT Friday 0330v on 5050. On WWCR: Friday 2030 on 15825, Saturday 1600 on 12160, Sunday 0630 on 3215. On IPAR: Saturday 1800 on 7290. On SiriusXM 120: Saturday & Sunday 1730, Sunday 0830. WORLD OF RADIO 1565 monitoring: first airing confirmed on WRMI webcast after 1530 Wed May 18, but on 9955 nothing audible except a SAH, presumably WRMI vs WYFR Taiwan. Next chances on WRMI: Thu 0330, 1500, 2100, Fri 1430, Sat 0800, 1730, Sun 0800, 1530, 1730. On WBCQ 7415: Wed 2100 or 2115 or 2130. On WWRB 5050: UT Fri 0330. On WWCR: Fri 2030 15825, Sat 1600 12160, Sun 0630 3215. On WRN via SiriusXM 120: Sat & Sun 1730, Sun 0830. On IPAR: Sat 1800 7290. Full schedule including more webcasters at http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html Audio available: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html WORLD OF RADIO 1565 monitoring: confirmed on WWCR 12160 webcast, Saturday May 21 at 1702; missed checking the Friday 2030 on 15825: if anyone noticed anything amiss, let us know. Next repeat is Sunday 0630 on 3215. On 9955 WRMI: Saturday 1730, Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730. On IPAR: Saturday 1800 on 7290 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9330-CUSB, May 21 at 0622 dead air from Radio 2:11 on WBCQ; OK at next tuneby 1254 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WBCQ OnLine Sked Updated --- I e-mailed WBCQ about some recent changes that were not reflected in the on-line schedule, and they kindly updated it, maybe because I did that. So take a look at it. I keep a printed copy by my radio, along with gh's SWL/DX Pgm list. Here's the link: http://schedule.wbcq.com/ 73, (Will Martin, MO, May 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It still doesn`t show `Frecuencia al Día` at any time; and WORLD OF RADIO supposedly 2115 Wednesdays on 7415, but usually really at 2130, sometimes at 2100 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. 12100, WTWW, Lebanon TN testing new transmitter and rhombic antenna again May 18 at 1336, S9+22 open carrier with some hum, off at 1341:50*. Back on at 1351 check. If there was a sign-on or ID at hourtop, I missed it, but at 1402 modulating music in program with announcements, ``Beethoven`s `Joyful2, We Adore Thee```, really a knockoff of `Ode to Joy`. What would Schiller say about his pagan poem being converted to Christianity? OK, he does mention a `spark of God` in praising Joy. Then more hymns on piano et al., next `Gott sei die Ehre`, but no doomed WYFR, this, R minus 3 and counting. Some brief dropoffs the air such as at 1419. 1430 program outro as `Afterglow`, with Don Johnson from Germantown TN, then another episode including 1452 ``Lord`s Prayer`` in conventional musical setting, 1459 another `Afterglow` outro, 1500 open carrier to 1505* 12100, WTWW: George McClintock advised me May 23 at 1527 that this frequency would be testing off and on today; it ran beautifully yesterday for nine hours, and may also be on all-night; however, not on when I checked at 1942 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nor anytime later ** U S A. 9370-, WTJC missing May 21 at 1254, not even a carrier. 9370-, May 22 at 0454, WTJC is on with hymn. We are in another interlude between out-of-whack spurriness, so enjoy it while it last (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 13570, May 18 finally confirmed when the long break in transmission from WINB ends on weekdays, after starting circa 1315v*. (Since Good Friends Radio pulled out despite still appearing on the WINB website program schedule by time.) Carrier on at *1859:52; 1900:30 modulation cuts on with big hum, ID with phone number (not a sign-on per se), 1901 to `Voice of the Spirit`, the anapaestic androgynous preachperson from Fence Lake NM also emanating via WBCQ 15420-CUSB (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later WINB missing ** U S A. 11714.85, NM, KJES, May 17, 1430. Checking to see if on. Nothing hrd, but switched on Drake R-8, looked for carrier with BFO. there WAS a carrier, and I could zero-beat it to 11714.85, meaning they were on but not audible. with them being slightly off-frequency, this may be a way to check for this one being on the air. Only a trace of audio heard after listening for several minutes. I should write the home office in El Paso (Rick Barton, El Mirage, AZ, Hammarlund HQ- 140X, HQ-200, SP-600, Drake R-8, outdoor l.w., slinky, cats whiskers provided by Lucy, Loco, and Ziggy, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. 17775, no sign of KVOH, Thu May 19 at 1904; come to think of it, believe I have not run across it at all this week on its supposedly Tue-Fri-only schedule. Did they finally sell that terrible old transmitter to some gospel sucker? WRTH A-11 update shows: KVOH – LA VOZ DE RESTAURACIÓN (Rlg) kHz: 17775 Summer Schedule 2011 Spanish Days Area kHz 1600-2400 .twtf.. CAm 17775voh† Key: † Irregular. But when active it would start by 1500 or even earlier. Still missing at 1554 May 20. 17775, KVOH still missing this week when it was normally on, Tuesday May 24 at 1805 check. And not there May 25 at 1514 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WRNO is having problems with their transmitter. There is a post on Facebook that says this from December 29th. You might follow on Facebook or Twitter what is going on. By the way this was the last post on WRNO's Facebook page (Richard Lewis, May 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I decided to try to pick up WRNO Shortwave. There was no signal on 7505. The last thing I heard was on The Facebook page of WRNO Radio was their Transmitter was in need of repair. That was on December 29th, 2010. I tried the signal at about 0200-0230. I guess they are waiting for the funds to repair the transmitter (Richard Lewis, May 24, ibid.) ** U S A [non]. 17680, Sunday May 22 at 1303, CVC La Voz, Miami via CHILE, with `Tertulia con los Artistas`, token program conversing with artists, but probably with a stealth-evangelism angle. Website is down for updating, only 65% complete, it says at http://cvclavoz.com/ (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. 15490, UNIDENTIFIED WYFR. 1157-1200 May 15, 2011. Quasi-Commie on/off 1000 cycle tones till 1200, into WYFR trumpets and then unidentified language opening. Presume ex-USSR site, but didn't bother to research out of source boredom. Clear and fair (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15490 1200-1300 NVS 250kW 155degr to SoAS (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) THE END IS NEAR: OR MAYBE IT’S NOT By Jeff Mullin, columnist Enid News and Eagle Thu May 19, 2011, 09:30 PM CDT http://enidnews.com/opinion/x1372148209/The-end-is-near-Or-maybe-it-s-not OK, let me see. Snacks? Check. Plenty of pop? Right. Bug spray? Got it. Calamine lotion? yessiree. Oh, hi. Don’t mind me, I’m just getting ready for Judgment Day. It’s Saturday, in case you haven’t heard. The great apocalypse is scheduled to begin with a devastating worldwide earthquake at 6 p.m. This apparently will not be like network TV, which presents shows at 8 p.m. Eastern time, 7 Central, and so on. Judgment day is supposed to happen at 6 p.m. local time Saturday, wherever you are. That means at 6 p.m. Saturday believers will be raptured, or swept up into heaven, while the rest will be left behind to suffer the tribulation set forth the Bible. I’ve decided to get ready for either possibility. In case I happen to get raptured, I’ve decided to dress for the occasion. No, really, I will be in a suit and tie at 6 p.m. Saturday. Actually I’ll be getting ready for a wedding, but if I should be raptured on the way, at least I’ll be in my Sunday best. The possibility of the rapture is the reason for the snacks. Travel always makes me hungry. And, just in case I am left behind and the tribulation begins, I am preparing for that, as well. The Bible tells us the tribulation will be a time of unprecedented trouble, of God’s wrath and the vindication of God’s holiness. The book of Revelation tells us there will be seven angels with seven trumpets. When the first angel sounds the first trumpet, hail and fire mixed with blood will rain upon the earth. I have an umbrella handy. And galoshes. The second angel will turn a third of the sea into blood. The third will turn a third of the water bitter. Thus, I bought a filter pitcher. The fourth angel will turn a third of the sun, moon and stars dark. I laid in a supply of flashlight batteries. And that, the Bible says, will be the good part. The fifth angel will unleash locusts with the sting of a scorpion. Hence the bug spray and calamine lotion. Angel No. 6 will set loose four other angels, who will kill a third of mankind. I plan to hide. Angel No. 7 will trigger a severe earthquake. Then there’s going to be a pregnant woman, and a dragon, a war in heaven, a beast coming out of the sea, another one coming out of the earth, more angels and a winepress to crush the unbelievers. Can I take a rain check? Then, on top of all that, the seven bowls of God’s wrath will be poured out on the earth. There will be festering sores. Keep some body lotion handy. The seas and rivers will turn into blood. The sun will scorch people with fire. Shades and sunscreen, that’s the ticket. There will tongue gnawing, drought, frogs, more hail, more earthquakes, lightning, thunder, a lake of burning sulfur and just general mayhem. Whew. And it all begins Saturday, at 6 p.m., if you believe 89-year-old civil engineer turned California radio evangelist Harold Camping. He has done the calculations and says 6 p.m. Saturday the end of the world will begin. The actual end of the world won’t come until Oct. 21. That’s a Friday, which is a crummy day for the world to end. Why can’t it be a Monday? Mondays always feel like the end of the world anyway. At any rate, Camping and his followers have been touting Saturday as Judgment Day, posting 2,200 billboards throughout the country, criss- crossing the U.S. in RV convoys to spread the news. Some of Camping’s followers, like New Yorker Robert Fitzpatrick, are putting their money where their beliefs are. Fitzpatrick has poured $144,000 of his own money into an ad campaign touting Saturday as Judgment Day. That was his entire retirement fund. Adrienne Martinez is 27 and pregnant, with a 2-year-old child and a husband. She and said hubby, Joel, quit their jobs and moved from New York to Florida. They budgeted their money so it would run out today. Is Harold Camping a heretic, as some have suggested, a false prophet? Is he simply a misguided believer, or is he some sort of charlatan? There are reports some of Camping’s followers are selling their homes and donating the money to him. I believe Judgment Day will come and Jesus will one day return. I just don’t believe it will be Saturday. But I don’t know. In fact, nobody does. Matthew 24:36 says, “No one knows about that day or hour, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” It could be Saturday. It also could be a thousand years from now, or 10,000, or 100,000. It could be today. “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come. But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into. So you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.” Be ready. That’s great advice. Not get ready. Be ready, at all times. Live, as Tim McGraw sings, like you were dying. Dance, as the saying goes, as if no one were watching. Sing as if no one were listening. Love as if you’ve never been hurt. Live every day as if it were your last. Do all that, but plan for the future, as well. And don’t listen to people who claim to know when the end will come. But just in case it does come Saturday, I’m sorry for every wrong I’ve ever done, I love all my friends and family and, in case I am raptured, the cat food is in the cabinet over the washing machine. Mullin is senior writer of the News & Eagle. E-mail him at least until 6 p.m. Saturday. ======= DOOMSDAY PREDICTIONS WRONG By Cindy Allen, Managing Editor Enid News and Eagle Thu May 19, 2011, 09:33 PM CDT http://enidnews.com/opinion/x1372148211/Doomsday-predictions-wrong It’s being called doomsday. The end of the world. The rapture. And, it has been predicted at least 44 times in recent history, and likely many more. As one pastor put it, the commonality among all these end- of-days predictions is that they have all been wrong. Local resident James Molle, a fellow who likes to do research on current events and is a frequent letter to the editor writer of the Enid News & Eagle, has compiled a timeline of predictions in recent times. The one making the rounds now is the prediction by Harold Camping, who has convinced a number of followers that the world will end on Saturday. He is calling for Judgment Day to take place around 6 p.m. Saturday, followed by an actual end of the world on Oct. 21. Camping has made his prediction before, and he’s been wrong before. But, that doesn’t matter. He has recalculated and is certain that Saturday is the day. In Molle’s timeline, it looks like the year 2000 was a very popular year for end-of-times predictions. Of course, it didn’t help that our own government was freaking out about computer breakdowns due to the turn of the new millennium. Remember all those folks who bought generators and worried over whether electricity would just automatically shut off? In fact, my husband was working in information systems at a major hospital in Arkansas at the time, and he had to spend the entire night New Year’s Eve night at the hospital just waiting for the big computer crisis to occur. It never did. Many popular preachers have predicted the end of the world, according to Molle’s research. Martin Luther predicted Armageddon would occur in 1546. John Wesley, founder of the Methodist Church, predicted Christ would come back in 1836. Pat Robertson predicted Judgment Day would come in 1982. Hal Lindsey predicted Dec. 31, 1981, would be the rapture. The pope predicted the world would end in 1284. Jerry Falwell predicted April 6, 1999. In many of these predictions, even in the 1800s, people heard about them and really believed in them. They received national newspaper coverage, just as these end of times predictions make national news today. Molle goes on to say that the rapture theory is an escaped gospel. In his thinking, the rapture theory produces lazy Christians who want to passively wait, rather than to work at building the Kingdom of God. I tend to think along the same lines as Molle. I don’t know why we are so anxious to determine or try to predict the end of the world. Is it because we are so beaten up by the events of the day? Are we just tired of the violence, the inhumanity and the cynicism of our time? Were those who predicted the end of the world even as far back as the 1200s just as disturbed by what was going on around them and were prayerful that the end would come? Today I hear so many people say they believe we are living in the end times. Their evidence includes wars, violent events, extreme weather. They say these things are unique to our time. We know they are not. We know our planet has been through many wars, much violence and very violent climate change that occurred even before humans populated our planet. When His disciples asked Him when shall these things be, Jesus said “...Of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no not the angels which are in heaven, neither the son, but the Father.” We can look at these prophetic proclamations in a negative or positive way. There are those who are mocking the whole prophecy thing by planning rapture parties and organizing Facebook pages ridiculing the prediction. When the world doesn’t end, Christians will once again be ridiculed for believing in fantasy. That’s no big deal, we’re used to it. I say it’s not a bad thing to occasionally ponder our place in this big old universe. It’s not a bad thing to re-examine our faiths and our commitments to service or our relationship to God. This latest prediction has brought many to church to talk to their pastors or rabbis. When Sunday morning dawns bright, Christians all over the world, indeed people of all faiths, can say a prayer of thanks for another day to serve their Lord (Enid Eagle, May 20, via DXLD) Family Radio has Programs produced through May!!! Hi Glenn. Thought you might find this interesting. The producer in Illinois said, "We're trying to guess what it means for the company. Our producers have programs done through the end of the month, so we're not looking at that having any effect on the work." http://money.cnn.com/2011/05/19/news/economy/may-21-end-of-the-world-finances-harold-camping/index.htm (Ryan Ellegood, Northwest Tennessee, USA, May 20, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CAMPING: LAST APPEARENCE ON OPEN FORUM I've wondered if he'll engage in some sort of Hale-Bopp activity, though I wouldn't wish that on anyone. http://www.latimes.com/la-me-rapture-20110521,0,1687317.story (Terry Wilson, dxldyg via DXLD) I've always known Camping was mentally ill, and now would be a great time for the authorities to take custody of him for psychiatric evaluation for causing potential wide-spread harm. Camping is indeed potentially causing harm to others who have reportedly already been putting their animals to sleep needlessly. Anyone remember the 1970s mass suicide of a certain religious group? At the end of the nineties, there was a mass suicide of another group as well (Dan Hensley, ibid.) HAROLD CAMPING PREPARES FOLLOWERS FOR RAPTURE - NYTimes.com http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/21/us/21doomsday.html?src=twr&pagewanted=print (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) WAITING FOR THE END OF THE WORLD... Saturday, May 21, 2011 07:01 ET Salon - War Room By Justin Elliott Oakland The headquarters of Harold Camping's Family Radio, devoted in the last few years to warning that the End will come on 6 p.m., May 21, 2011, is deserted when the time comes. It's 10 p.m. Pacific Standard [sic] Time on Friday night on the industrial strip where Family Radio is based, flanked by a sushi joint and a palm reading place. A few doors down is a prosperous-looking business called weGrow, which describes itself as the first full service hydroponic superstore. . . http://www.salon.com/news/religion/?story=/politics/war_room/2011/05/21/may_21_is_here (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) The Family Radio site has been up and down for the last 24 hours, probably due to server load. All local Family Radio stations here broadcasting normally at 2:45 PM Eastern (John Cereghin, Smyrna DE, 1853 UT May 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Random tuning on May 21 shows WYFR still on its usual frequencies, including at 1327, 11830, 11910, not // 11865 in English. Brother Camping already taped his ``last Open Forum`` but there must be a huge stockpile of them if needed, and habitually many of the latest broadcasts have been months-old repeats. His earthquakes are to destroy WYFR at 2200 UT today (and everything else in the UT-4 zone), so be sure to tune in. Will Lake Okeechobee flood Florida too? I hope the WYFR staff in Okeechobee are not quaking in their boots too much; surely must have more sense than the HQ honcho in Oakland --- altho, his background is as an `engineer` [civil]! But it will be interesting to hear if there are any disruptions henceforth in WYFR or numerous overseas relay broadcasts, and/or how FR explains still being there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WYFR heard on 13615 with a repeat of a relatively recent Open Forum program (i.e., still predicting the end on May 21) to 1959, then into Bible reading after 2000 UTC May 21. Conditions here not good enough to tell if the listed Wertachtal (9610) and Armavir (9850) relays are on -- one would think relays might not have been paid for in advance, while there's no reason not to keep the network-owned local US stations and WYFR up and running while Mr. Camping figures out what, if anything, to say (David Yocis, Shannondale, WV, USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17795, WYFR, May 21 at 2030 with Judgment Day promo, about using RV caravans to publicize it plus more than 61 languages on radio. Only one Okeechobee sesquihour left at this point! Some monitors noted various YFR relays still running normally past local 6 pm eastward. In the following hours I noticed nothing changed from WYFR, altho not wasting my time thoroly checking every scheduled frequency. 9625, e.g., May 22 at 1222 still has WYFR Portuguese way over CBC Northern with lo het, the latter off-channel; no relief there! 13695, as I tune in May 22 at 1436, Harold Camping is saying ``I don`t trust my own wisdom; I need help`` ! But I am afraid this was pre- recorded, rhetorical or a quote rather than post-non-Rapture contriteness of his own. What gets me is that idiot in NYC who spent his life savings on May 21 subway signs, still surprised when nothing happened at 6 pm EDT. Apparently has no concept of timezones, which might have tipped him off starting 17 hours earlier that the whole thing was a bust. Or was God confused by Man`s DST? No, still nothing an hour later when it was really 6 pm EST! Now we may marvel at how the suckers are rationalizing this non-event. How about some legal axion; anyone want their money back? FR has plenty of it, but stupidity of followers could be an out for them (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Checking round the bands May 21 from 2000 to 2020, I heard the following: 15195 Ascension and 7540 Kazakhstan in // with Family Bible Reading (7540 about 30 seconds behind) 9850 Krasnodar and 12060 Ascension in // with Harold Camping's Open Forum 18980 Okeechobee and 17840 Okeechobee in // with a speaker 17750 Okeechobee and 11690 Ascension in // with a different speaker 9610 Wertachtal with Family Radio Hymn-Sing (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello DXers, out of curiosity checking WYFR in Arabic on 6115 kHz via Nauen, I can hear them asking listeners to send them letters asking for books etc. and Gospel music. 9610 kHz in English with open forum via Wertachtal getting phone calls from the listeners giving 7420 kHz in Arabic via Wertachtal signed on at 2200 UT with ID followed by reading from the bible. Looking forward to tomorrow's programs if there will be any. B.Rgds (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, 2204 UT May 21, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Aaaaannnd nothing happened. Just after 6:00 PM Eastern (2200 UT) I noticed the following. 11740 kHz (Okeechobee) had a program "For the Record" hosted by a man talking about heart disease and strokes. 5950 kHz (Okeechobee) had Harold Camping talking, presumably opening a recording of Open Forum. 15440 kHz (Okeechobee) also had Open Forum, and the callers were coming out swinging against Harold. Haven't checked the other sites/frequencies but I presume it's the same. Interestingly on 13690 kHz (Okeechobee) at 2124 UT there was a man (not Harold Camping) talking about May 21, how it was calculated, what is going to happen, etc. Shortly after he was done at 2140, some music played before the frequency signed off at 2145 (Jon Pukila, Thunder Bay, ON, Canada, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Harold Camping, WYFR, 7520, loud and clear this morning with a pre- recorded programme; this could have been sent from a pre-programmed server, but as the masts were still standing at Okeechobee, could the earthquakes / end of the world be postponed again? Camping was out when the BBC called; perhaps he has been taken up, hopefully to somewhere secure. A thought:- if all the money spent on the publicising and advertising his predictions, was spent to help those less fortunate, the impact would have been a lot greater!! (Graham G3XYX Bedwell, 0857 ut May 22, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) When checked last night on frequencies in Asia it was business as usual (Keith Perron, Taiwan, 0518 UT May 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WYFR End Of World Scam As we all know, WYFR's Mr. Camping has again fraudulently acclaimed the end of the world and now it is up to the public to demand that all donations be refunded and other activities be held to account for what could have been a disastrous day in human history. This should automatically be reason for the FCC to revoke their broadcasting license for character problems related to journalistic integrity issues. Albeit that no severe incidents took place as a result of this false advertisement of the end of the world, it could have easily turned out that way. Somehow, WYFR and Mr. Camping must be held to account for their actions (Dan Hensley, 025 UT May 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I couldn't agree more. How can we start the ball rolling on this? If it's true that people had their pets euthanized in anticipation of 5/21, Camping has a lot to answer for -- and since he's 89, it looks like he'll be answering for it soon. 73 de (Anne Fanelli in Elma NY, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) What you say makes sense in terms of the licensing. On the other hand, regarding refunds, those idiots who consent to be fleeced should remain fleeced. They wanted it that way. Ya, I feel sorry for all those dead pets but they're not coming back to life no matter what you do. There should be some kind of penalty for being stupid enough to buy into Camping's scam. It's not like he misrepresented what he was selling (a prediction, not the thing itself) or that what he was selling was breakable (Clara Listensprechen, ibid.) You're right, Clara; when I was a kid I was taught that nature abhors a vacuum, but what She really abhors is willful ignorance (rampant right now, with the piper making a first request for payment). 73 de (Anne Fanelli, ibid.) I "read" that he had purchased 20 suvs and decorated the vehicles with his "message". I think we need to know the destination of these vehicles. He should be held accountable for the money trail he has left behind. We could be talking about 500, 000 dollars (Pehaire, ibid.) That`s nothing compared to the assets of Family Radio (gh, DXLD) Anne And Dan: I totally agree. Mr. Camping seems to have numerology down pat, but falls quite short of the true precise timeframe for "the rapture' as he put it. I hope that The FCC takes into account the false alarm he has caused and asks Family Stations, Inc. to surrender their license upon request from them, and find a buyer for the Okeechobee site near Miami Dade County, Florida. WYFR should revert back to WRUL and resume its former programming after the sale completes. Camping should be glad he lived to admit he was wrong again! 73's, (Noble West, BMSS, TN, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mr. Camping in my view was sincerely wrong. His teaching was full of error. He simply thought he was right in his date setting and the numerology he used. On hallindsey.com, whoever tends to Hal Lindsey's web site said early this morning, "Jesus is coming back one day, September [sic] 21, 2011 was not that day". It turns out that Mr Camping is a false prophet. In one way or another it will be God Almighty who will judge his ministry going forward. Already some Christian Broadcasters are gunning for his stations. I do not know who will want to take WYFR since the art of Shortwave Listening is a dying means of Communication (Richard Lewis, ibid.) If radio station licenses were taken away by the FCC because stations spread false information, the turnover would be astronomical. The airwaves are filled with fraudulent and bogus claims (just listen to the brokered programming airing everywhere, especially on the weekends). Should the FCC have revoked the licenses of all those who spread the Y2K panic? If people are dumb enough to quit their jobs, sell their belongings, etc. based on the ravings of someone they hear on the radio, that's their problem. But, as Scott Fybush explains, in a posting on another forum: If the FCC were to take action against Family Radio's licenses, it would be under the "hoax rule," 73.1217, which reads thusly: No licensee or permittee of any broadcast station shall broadcast false information concerning a crime or a catastrophe if: (a) The licensee knows this information is false; (b) It is forseeable that broadcast of the information will cause substantial public harm, and (c) Broadcast of the information does in fact directly cause substantial public harm. Any programming accompanied by a disclaimer will be presumed not to pose foreseeable harm if the disclaimer clearly characterizes the program as a fiction and is presented in a way that is reasonable under the circumstances. (David R. Alpert, Twitter: twitter.com/DaveAlpert dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, one thing that could/should be done is to end the tax exempt status of jokers like these. It adds insult to injury that these scam artists get to ride free just by calling their activities "religious". If they had to pay taxes like the rest of us, I'm sure there would be fewer of these kinds of operations; or if not, considering the massive amounts of money they receive in donations, at least we'd get a share of it and reduce the national budget deficit (John Figliozzi, Halfmoon, NY, ibid.) The position that shortwave is a dying art or means of communications is indeed a falsehood. There are plenty of listeners out here. Although the count of listeners is not accurately known, we can judge by the existence of over 700,000 licensed amateurs (I am one of them) and by the prominent sales of shortwave receivers, and the good health of places like scanner master, HRO, AES, and other places that shortwave communications is simply changing with the advent of station management who have no idea just how far the reach of shortwave goes, and that in many countries still, it is the ONLY means of receiving news and other media (Dan Hensley, ibid.) It would help to know what percentage of the licensed hams ever listen to SW broadcasts; for that matter, how many ever operate on HF (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) As an avid SWL long before I was licensed and an HF CW operator, I'm not sure I want to know :-). 73 de (Anne Fanelli WI2G in Elma NY, ibid.) Glenn, A few years ago, I did a presentation about SWLing to a group of about 50 hams. Only one in the audience had done any serious SWLing. The rest were dumbfounded at what I presented via recordings of various things I had taped over the years. The whole numbers stations thing really shocked them, especially my recording of the Italian Food station (Andy O`Brien, K3UK, NY, ibid.) WYFR End Of World Scam I think Hal Lindsey speaks from experience. According to Wikipedia he tried his hand at predicting the end for the 1980s and 2000: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hal_Lindsey The list of predictions is a long one: http://www.armageddononline.org/failed.html (Mike Mayer, ibid.) BROADCASTER SILENT AS "JUDGMENT DAY" HOURS TICK BY Sat, May 21 2011 By Gabrielle Saveri SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - With no sign of Judgment Day arriving as he had forecast, the 89-year-old California evangelical broadcaster and former civil engineer behind the pronouncement seemed to have gone silent on Saturday. Family Radio, the Christian stations network headed by Harold Camping which had spread his message of an approaching doomsday, was playing recorded church music, devotionals and life advice unrelated to the apocalypse. . . http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE74I3KS20110521 (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) MINISTER NOT SEEN AFTER DOOMSDAY FAILS By Dennis Cauchon, USA TODAY The religious broadcaster who predicted the world would end Saturday — and convinced hundreds he was right — was nowhere to be seen publicly Sunday after his prediction didn't come true. . . http://www.usatoday.com/NEWS/usaedition/2011-05-23-rapture23_ST_U.htm (via Mike Cooper, GA, DXLD) HAROLD CAMPING 'FLABBERGASTED'; RAPTURE A NO-SHOW Will Kane, Chronicle Staff Writer Monday, May 23, 2011 (SF Chronicle) http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2011/05/23/BAKO1JJIK7.DTL (05-22) 19:18 PDT ALAMEDA -- The man who said the world was going to end appeared at his front door in Alameda a day later, very much alive but not so well. "It has been a really tough weekend," said Harold Camping, the 89- year-old fundamentalist radio preacher who convinced hundreds of his followers that the rapture would occur on Saturday at 6 p.m. Massive earthquakes would strike, he said. Believers would ascend to heaven and the rest would be left to wander a godforsaken planet until Oct. 21, when Camping promised a fiery end to the world. But on Sunday, almost 18 hours after he thought he'd be in heaven, there was Camping, "flabbergasted" in Alameda, wearing tan slacks, a tucked-in polo shirt and a light jacket. Birds chirped. A gentle breeze blew. Across the street, neighbors focused on their yard work and the latest neighborhood gossip. "I'm looking for answers," Camping said, adding that meant frequent prayer and consultations with friends. "But now I have nothing else to say," he said, closing the door to his home. "I'll be back to work Monday and will say more then." Camping's followers will surely be listening. "I'm not as disappointed as everyone since I didn't fully believe him," said one, who asked to remain anonymous Sunday because he worried he would be shunned for admitting he was "upset" with Camping. The middle-aged Oakland resident said he'd been listening to Camping since 1993, when he said the world would end in 1994. That was strike one, the man said. And this is strike two. Even so, he said, that doesn't mean the message is wrong. "I just know he's biblically sound," the man said. "I've never been one of these guys who think everything he says is true. "I don't think I am going to stop listening to him," the man added, heaving a deep sigh before continuing: "I don't know, I gotta listen to him on Monday, see what he says on the radio." Outside Camping's compound near the Oakland airport, which was locked and dark on Sunday, a different religious group waited for dejected believers. "I would encourage them not to lose their faith because they listened to a wolf in sheep's clothing, and Jesus said there would be wolves in sheep's clothing," said Jackie Alnor. Alnor, a resident of Hayward who blogs about the rapture, said Camping had twisted the word of God by trying to predict the end. Only God knows when the world will end, she said. "He's in big trouble with God," she said. If that isn't bad enough, she said, Camping's false prophecy could have bigger impacts on religion. "It's given people who hate Christianity an excuse to hate it even more," she said. "People can just paint with broad brush strokes." Across town, a group of atheists gathered in Oakland's Masonic Center to observe the promised rapture in their own way. "The issue is the Bible is mythology," said Larry Hicok, state director of the American Atheists, bluntly laying out his case. Roughly 200 people attended the hastily scheduled conference to discuss the impact of organized religion on American culture. "Every ruler needs a religion," Hicok said. "Everybody knows that's the way you get power." He said too many followers of religion get lost in the details of their particular belief. "Maybe the constant is love, and the rest of it you can let go of," he said. Copyright 2011 SF Chronicle (via Dale Park, HI, DXLD) 3-sesquiminute video by TheThinkingAtheist: http://www.raptureday.org/about.php (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks for the link, Glenn!!! Great video. Wonder if Family Radio will broadcast Camping's apology? (Bruce Winkelman, Tulsa, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Check out some interesting comments by VOA web visitors: BIBLICAL SOOTHSAYER PREDICTING WORLD'S DEMISE, BUT AMERICANS SCOFFING http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Biblical-Soothsayer-Predicting-Worlds-Demise-but-Americans-Scoffing-122387634.html (Dragan Lekic, Serbia, May 23, dxldyg via DXLD) FR Site Returns! Dear DX'ers and Web Surfers: Family Radio's official site is back as of UT Sunday, May 22, 2011 at 2300 UT. It still has the banner on "Judgement Day" which we know now did not happen! In any event, why would Harold Droning proclaim this when he has been wrong since 1994? The official site: http://www.familyradio.com Be sure to add "Index2.html" to that and you'll find it. 73's, (Noble West, BMSS, TN, dxldyg via DXLD) As for Family radio's web site, they have took that Rapture site down and went back to the old site just as if it never happened. Brother Camping is having a news conference sometime today to explain. Unless you reside at one of Family Radio's station sites, I'd look at streaming video to find out where he thinks he went wrong (Richard Lewis, May 23, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CAMPING BREAKS HIS SILENCE http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/05/23/national/main20065398.shtml And I quote; "It has been a really tough weekend." *eye roll* Can't wait to see what he says his radio broadcast later today (Nathan Adams, May 23, dxldyg via DXLD) RADIO HOST WHO PREDICTED END OF DAYS TO SPEAK By GARANCE BURKE Associated Press May 23, 2:51 PM EDT ALAMEDA, Calif. (AP) -- The Christian radio host who predicted the world would end over the weekend said Monday he's ready to talk about why the apocalypse didn't arrive. Harold Camping declined to immediately comment to The Associated Press but said he'll make a full statement in a broadcast through his Oakland-based Family Radio International. "I will have more to say tonight," said Camping, an 89-year-old retired civil engineer who previously said there was no possibility the Rapture would not occur at 6 p.m. Saturday. "I will be putting out a message in our broadcast." Camping had preached that some 200 million people would be saved, and that those left behind would die in a series of scourges visiting Earth until the globe is consumed by a fireball on Oct. 21. His earlier apocalyptic prediction in 1994 also was a bust, but he said it didn't happen because of a mathematical error. He told the San Francisco Chronicle on Sunday he was "flabbergasted" his latest doomsday prophecy did not come true. Gunther Von Harringa, who heads a religious organization that produces content for Camping's media enterprise, said he was "very surprised" the Rapture did not happen as predicted, but he and other believers were in good spirits. "It hasn't shaken my faith, and we're still searching the Scriptures to understand why it did not happen," said Von Harringa, president of EBible Fellowship, which he operates from his home in Delaware, Ohio. "It's just a matter of OK, Lord, where do we go from here?" Family Radio's special projects coordinator, Michael Garcia, said he believed the delay was God's way of separating true believers from those willing to doubt what he said were clear biblical warnings. "Maybe this had to happen for there to be a separation between those who have faith and those who don't," he said. "It's highly possible that our Lord is delaying his coming." (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Harold Camping on right now --- have Harold Camping on atm on 15440, explaining, for those of u that get the messages in real time (Rick Barton, 0038 UT May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I'm getting him on 9505. He dodges questions as well as any politician I've listened to (Nathan Adams, 0114 UT May 24, dxldyg via DXLD) Judgment Day --- Now we know. Harold Camping just explained things (15440 WYFR 0100 UT May 24). He was not wrong with his date, or, rather dates. There are four dates in the “end time.” 5/21/1988, God weighed the churches of the world and found them wanting, and pronounced judgment on them. 9/7/1994, when HC last predicted the end of the world, what he hadn’t realized then was that this was a spiritual, not a physical destruction of the world. We got one last chance. 5/21/2011 – turns out this also was a spiritual end, but with it we lost our last chance. HC admits he didn’t realize that then, but does now. So the last of the four key dates will be 10/21/2011. That is the real and truly physical end of the world, now less than 5 months away. But we sinners missed the boat. Too late for us now. HC will issue no more warnings. The billboards will come down, no more Bible tracts distributed. “Our task is done.” For SW listeners, expect new programming on Family R. Lots of music, and spiritual lessons for those already saved, but no more evangelizing. It’s too late for that now. --dnj (Don Jensen, WI, May 23, NASWA yg via DXLD) Nothing else on the radio tonight? 8-) Mr. Camping deserves kudos for amassing a pile of valuable FM licenses and for keeping alive the SW transmitters of WNYW / WRUL but not for much else. RC (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) I listened also and the guy stammers for answers and at one point he said he did not teach what he believes. I almost fell off out of my chair. Seems Family Radio made a pile of money out of the deal in the end. The news reporters wanted apologies for this and never got them. Brother Camping claims he has no interest in money. He might not, but Family radio loves it. I have to think once we pass 21 Oct the new date will be 2012. No, wait, that was a movie (Bob Montgomery, ibid.) Odd as it may seem, I wanted to hear his explanation after being so colossally wrong. So, I did seek out that explanation this evening. And if only he had kept WRUL and/or WNYW alive, instead of just the xmtrs, I might have joined in the kudos. . . (Don Jensen, ibid.) I've noticed all of Family Radio's shortwave stations regardless of language are playing the exact same music. I guess they've pulled off all the foreign language content off those transmissions until they get can new translators up and in place (gpsblake, 0557 UT May 24, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The Family Radio website has been updated and makes no mention of the recent non-event. http://www.familyradio.com/graphical/graphical_frame.html They are playing recorded music on the European stream and the last archived "Open Forum" phone in is from May 18 which widely discusses "Judgement Day". I quote Camping, "We are just a few days from that end... on May 21... events will continue for 5 months and eventually the whole earth will be annihilated". A critical caller was cut off. The concern of so many people was very evident in their phone calls (Mike Terry, UK, 0700 UT May 24, dxldyg via DXLD) The beeping Family Radio icon orbiting the Earth is appropriate since they've been alarming and frightening people just like Sputnik (Terry Wilson, ibid.) Here you go ...Harold Camping is back in business JUDGMENT DAY FORECASTER SETS NEW DOOMSDAY DATE http://m.timesofindia.com/PDATOI/articleshow/8553615.cms (Alokesh Gupta, ibid.) PREACHER SAYS WORLD WILL ACTUALLY END IN OCTOBER By GARANCE BURKE Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- A California preacher who foretold of the world's end only to see the appointed day pass with no extraordinarily cataclysmic event has revised his apocalyptic prophecy, saying he was off by five months and the Earth actually will be obliterated on Oct. 21. . . http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_APOCALYPSE_SATURDAY_?SITE=OHLIM (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) AN AUTUMN DATE FOR THE APOCALYPSE http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/us/24rapture.html OAKLAND, Calif. — Here we go again. A California religious radio impresario who predicted — wrongly — that the end of the world would begin on May 21 revised his prophecy on Monday, saying now that the end is due in October. In a rambling, 90-minute speech, broadcast both online and on his stations, Harold Camping, whose Family Radio network paid millions of dollars to promote his prediction, said that he was stunned when the rapture did not happen on Saturday. “I can tell you very candidly that when May 21 came and went it was a very difficult time for me, a very difficult time,” said Mr. Camping, 89, a former civil engineer. “I was truly wondering what is going on. In my mind, I went back through all of the promises God has made, all of the proofs, all of the signs and everything was fitting perfectly, so what in the world happened? I really was praying and praying and praying, oh Lord, what happened?” What he decided, apparently, was that May 21 had been “an invisible judgment day,” of the spiritual variety, rather than his original vision of earthquakes and other disasters leading to five months of hell on earth, culminating in a spectacular doomsday on Oct. 21 — something he had repeatedly guaranteed. On Monday, however, Mr. Camping seemed satisfied with his new interpretation, which apparently spared humankind its months of torture for a single day of destruction. But his shifting soothsaying led to a barrage of questions from reporters, something Mr. Camping seemed to wave off with a wan smile and occasional flashes of emotion. “The world has been warned,” said Mr. Camping, who said this would be his last interview. He added that his company — which had bought billboard space nationwide to promote the May 21 date — would not promote his new prediction, Oct. 21. “We don’t have to talk about this anymore,” he said. Mr. Camping’s campaign — his second prophetic failure, coming on the heels of another doomsday prediction in 1994 — had been widely derided by the mainstream Christian groups and openly mocked in the other quarters. At the same time, it raised concerns that some believers might do themselves harm rather than face Mr. Camping’s promised apocalypse, something he refused to take responsibility for on Monday. “I am not the authority,” he said. But Mr. Camping said his company — which is a nonprofit — would also not return donations given by his followers in advance of the May 21 prediction. “We’re not at the end,” he said, “Why would we return it?” Mr. Camping also said he had no plans to fold his company in advance his new doomsday date. “If it’s the end of the world, God will dissolve it,” he said. Pressed by reporters, Mr. Camping did offer a measured apology — “If people want me to apologize, I can apologize” — before adding that the missed prediction had somewhat humbled him. “I’m not a genius,” he said. “I pray all the time for wisdom.” (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via DXLD) 9680 and 9715, WYFR, May 23 at 0558 with flutter, quite unusual from Okeechobee, southerly single-hop site. Usually these are loud and clear, sometimes not, but lacking flutter. Perhaps a reflexion of Brother Camping`s instability. K index at 06 was only 1, SF = 85, says WWV. 13695 // 13800, May 24 at 1253, WYFR with dramatic cinema-music, apocalyptic? morphing into hymn. 13695 was unusually distorted, but carrier stable. Expect WYFR programming to be transformed post-May 21? Terry Wilson, dxldyg, found the May 23 `Open Forum` on Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2AyO1RlihU All 83 minutes of it, audio only with a still of a meteor/asteroid crashing into the ocean? Harold Camping making his excuses, and it seems he will resume regular OFs henceforth. Bottom line: the real doomsday will be 21 October 2011, so we`re in for another pentamonth of this total nonsense. Milk it, Harold, milk it!! There are still plenty of fools with money out there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Camping on TV Nation in 1994, Interviewed by Louis Theroux: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pmoYf0qM5Kc (via Terry Wilson, dxldyg via DXLD) 9830, May 24: At 1800 supposedly WYFR was to transmit in supposedly Greek though really only English is transmitted, but for the first 5 minutes I heard there was just music). (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Scheduled via Rampisham UK; Amid his ERITREA log, q.v. New language service of WYFR Family R. via BABCOCK from May 18: 1700-1800 on 17545 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg to EaAf Luba 1600-1700 on 17545 ASC 250 kW / 085 deg to EaAf English, ex 1600-1800 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 23 May via DXLD) No, it`s back to English (gh) ** U S A. The following is the Tentative 30 October 2011 to 25 March 2012 --- High Frequency Schedule for Family Stations, Inc., WYFR. Freq (kHz) Time (UTC) Az(Degrees) Zone(s) Power 5745 0500-0600 222 11 100 5745 0600-0800 44 27 100 5745 0800-1000 160 14 100 5745 1900-2100 44 27 100 5950 0300-1200 355 4,5,9 100 5950 2100-0300 355 4,5,9 100 5985 0445-0700 315 2 100 5985 2000-0445 181 11 50 6000 0500-1000 181 11 50 6000 1000-1200 160 14 100 6085 2245-0100 355 4,5,9 100 6085 0945-2000 181 11 100 6105 0800-1100 142 15 100 6875 0300-1200 285 10 100 6890 0100-0500 222 11 100 6890 0900-1300 355 4,5,9 100 6915 1800-2200 44 27 100 7455 0100-0445 355 4,5,9 100 7455 0700-1345 315 2 100 7520 0100-0400 142 13 100 7520 0400-0800 44 27 100 7570 0045-0400 160 15 100 7730 0300-0500 160 15 100 7730 0500-0745 44 27 100 9355 0400-0500 160 14 100 9355 0500-0800 44 27 100 9355 1945-2300 44 27 100 9355 2300-0400 160 16 100 9430 2245-0045 160 15 100 9495 0500-1000 222 11 100 9505 0000-0445 315 2 100 9525 0100-0400 285 10 50 9555 0800-1400 160 16 100 9575 0900-1200 160 15 100 9605 0800-1100 142 13 100 9605 1100-1300 222 12 100 9680 0145-0800 315 2 100 9680 0800-1100 140 13 100 9690 2145-0045 142 13 100 9715 2345-0100 285 10 50 9715 0400-1245 285 10 50 9930 0145-0500 222 11 100 9930 0100-0145 142 13 100 9985 0100-0500 151 15 100 9985 0500-0900 87 46 100 11530 0500-0800 44 27 100 11530 1200-1400 160 13 100 11565 1345-1700 315 2 100 11565 2000-2145 44 27 100 11580 0400-0900 87 46 100 11580 2200-2300 142 15 100 11700 2100-2300 160 14 100 11720 2245-0145 142 13 100 11725 1100-1600 222 11 100 11740 2145-2345 315 2 100 11740 0800-1600 151 15 100 11825 0045-0300 160 14 100 11830 1100-1300 140 13 100 11830 1300-1700 315 2 100 11855 1300-1700 355 4,5,9 100 11855 2000-0100 222 11 100 11885 2300-0145 140 13 100 11970 1145-1345 285 10 100 12160 1945-2200 44 27 100 [not WWCR!] 12160 2200-2300 151 15 100 13615 1200-1600 160 15 100 13615 2300-0045 160 14 100 13695 1200-2100 355 4,5,9 100 15115 1700-2245 87 46 100 15130 1245-2345 285 10 50 15210 1400-1600 160 14 100 15250 1600-1700 44 27 100 15355 1245-1400 222 12 100 15355 1400-1600 142 13 100 15400 2300-0100 151 15 100 15440 2145-0300 285 10 100 15565 1800-1945 44 27 100 15795 1600-2000 44 28 100 17535 1700-2200 315 2 100 17555 1400-1600 160 13 100 17555 1700-2145 285 10 100 17575 1700-2245 140 13 100 17665 1600-1745 44 27 100 17690 1600-2245 87 46 100 17760 1345-1700 285 10 100 17760 1700-1900 44 28 100 18930 1600-1945 44 27 100 18980 1600-1800 44 28 100 (Evelyn Marcy, WYFR Okeechobee, May 25, DX LISTENING DIGEST, WORLD OF RADIO 1566) Notice, no 21 MHz planned, despite rising solar cycle HAROLD CAMPING ABANDONA A FAMILY RADIO Lunes 23 de Mayo de 2011 19:24 Neo Club Press http://www.neoclubpress.com/milenium/37-profecias/1379-harold-camping-abandona-a-family-radio.html Camping, sorprendido en Alameda (IB Times) [caption] El predicador evangelista Harold Camping, quien predijo que el pasado sábado 21 de mayo comenzaría el Juicio Final y/o el fin del mundo, no se presentó este lunes a su puesto de trabajo, abandonando a su suerte a la cadena Family Radio. El gerente de proyectos internacionales de Family Radio, Matt Tuter, dijo a un corresponsal de The Christian Post que esperaban a Camping este lunes en las oficinas de Family Radio, pero éste no se presentó. Tuter, visiblemente enojado, aseguró que Camping había hecho un "lío" de la situación. Tan temprano como ayer domingo, el profeta fallido fue sorprendido en la vivienda de uno de sus familiares, en la localidad californiana de Alameda, por periodistas de The San Francisco Chronicle e IB Times, pero se negó a ofrecer declaraciones alegando que tenía que "meditar". Camping, adicionalmente, ha dejado de contestar su teléfono. Según Ricardo Becerra, experto en cultos y sectas, tras estas predicciones fallidas "se corre el riesgo de que personas en su desilusión incluso se suiciden luego de verse en la calle o perder todas sus pertenencias". Precisamente, pudo saberse hoy que una madre en Los Ángeles, California, intentó suicidarse y matar a sus hijos tras no cumplirse "la segunda venida" profetizada por Camping (via Yimber Gaviría, May 26, DXLD) I quickly searched for a version of this in English, but have not found one yet. Note that `abandonar` normally connotes only leaving rather than the stronger `abandon` in English. Here`s a quick Google translation of the above, which I cleaned up. HAROLD CAMPING LEAVES FAMILY RADIO Monday May 23, 2011 19:24 Neo Press Club Camping, caught in Alameda (IB Times) [caption] The evangelist Harold Camping, who predicted that on Saturday May 21 would begin the Final Judgement and / or the end of the world, did not show up on Monday at his job, leaving the Family Radio Network to its own fate. The international project manager of Family Radio, Matt Tutera, told a correspondent for The Christian Post that Camping was expected on Monday at the offices of Family Radio, but he did not appear. Tutera, visibly angry, said that Camping had made a "mess" of the situation. As early as Sunday, the failed prophet was surprised at the home of a relative, in the California town of Alameda, by reporters from The San Francisco Chronicle and IB Times, but declined to say anything, alleging that he had to "meditate ". Camping, additionally, has stopped answering his phone. According to Ricardo Becerra, an expert on cults and sects, after such failed predictions, "there is a risk that disappointed people even commit suicide after being on the street or losing all their belongings." Precisely, it was learned today that a mother in Los Angeles, California, attempted suicide and to kill her children after the "second coming" prophesied by Camping was not fulfilled. === This Christian Post mentioned above also has a lot of stories about Camping and what may happen next, such as: http://www.christianpost.com/news/family-radio-gets-1-million-bid-for-66-stations-50531/ There has been a LOT more music on WYFR frequencies, many in parallel, especially those scheduled for Spanish; I do hear some English preaching on others, but not Camping (Glenn Hauser, OK, 1500 UT May 26, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1290, UT Saturday May 21 at 0320-0325+ am hearing a less- than-1-kHz tone for 17 seconds, 5 seconds of silence, and alternating with ``This is TSS(?) Service Channel 6, Houston Astros``, occasionally dominating the CCI briefly. The `ID` could have been TSN or CSN, something fonetikally similar. This was previously pinned on KIVY Crockett TX, the only Astros affiliate listed on that frequency, http://houston.astros.mlb.com/hou/schedule/radio_affiliates.jsp reported by Bruce Winkelman, Tulsa, to NRC, UT Thursday April 7 at 0255, and UT Sunday April 10 at 0348-0353, also heard on the later date by Steve Ponder, Houston, at 0410-0425. Crockett is in east Texas, between Grapeland and Lovelady. Another unattended automated station failing to switch programming after a certain satellite feed --- or it could be some other station which programmed in the wrong satellite channel altogether, but this is obviously happening again and again (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Getting to the bottom of 1710 --- Radio Moshiach and Redemption in Brooklyn seems to be off the air - http://www.radiomoshiach.org/ When this was up and running, it was an endless playlist of very low bitrate preaching. Very strong station then went off the air. Radio Celestial in the Bronx - Religious preaching in Spanish - is very strong. I can hear it in Stamford, CT in the daytime - http://www.smjrc.com/ (Karl Zuk, 1 April, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. FM Pirate with a lot of balls. Pirate Big City 101.3 here in the Boston area really has a lot of the above. Listening this morning and not only are they running fairly high power and commercials but they just had on air interview with a Boston City Council member (Keith McGinnis, Hingham MA, 07 April, WTFDA via DXLD) They must be doing something right. And there must be quite a few heads at "real" radio stations wondering just what *they* are doing wrong! Somebody tell 'em (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.) ** U S A. A couple notes on locals: 337 kHz NDB "NA" hasn't been heard lately. They are located at local Orange County airport. 2670 kHz, I still haven't heard the Marine Weather Forecast at 0503Z from USCG Long Beach CA. I'll keep trying. Maybe their transmitter is just under repair (Martin Foltz, Mission Viejo CA, May 22, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. Finally some Tropo DTVDX after a long dry spell here --- on May 20 we got 4.1 inches of rain in Enid, causing some local flooding. May 21 at 0415 UT, I find 11 bears KTVT DFW with Letterman; 0429 on 14, KERA Dallas with ID, BBC World News --- I wonder if that`s live, or delayed from when? In OK we have to put up with a sesquihour delay from 2000 to 2130 UT. A number of stations from southern OKLAHOMA [q.v.] not normally seen were also in. From the other direxion, on 6, Dodge City KS was barely decoding with antenna still pointed south at 0532, solid when pointed NW, with 6-1 KBSD-HD and 6-2 KBSD WX = relaying KWCH from Wichita. A number of other KS signals were too Bad to decode, not including 22 KSNC Great Bend which broke thru. Bill Hepburn`s tropo maps correlate well with this opening, continuing the following morning: Not often do I see a signal bar on channel 5, but there it is at 1418, tho too Bad to decode; peaks from the south, not east, north or west, so I am quite sure it was KCWX Fredericksburg TX, the only full power in TX, besides a few translators, unless it was KXXF-LP in Abilene; and zero channel 5s in Oklahoma. Next morning after 1430 UT: 28, KFDX Wichita Falls TX as: 3-1, KFDX-DT, NBC kids `e` 3-2, KJBO-DT, disguise balding women infomercial with Joan Rivers also intriguing unID bad signal on RF 9. See also OKLAHOMA 11, KSWO (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KSNV-DT-2 Las Vegas, NV Es May 21, 2011 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZQoUVUW2HI (Pat Dyer, San Antonio TX, via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) ** U S A. Sporadic E FM DX May 22, in UT: main reference is FM Atlas XXI, now over one year old, so some calls etc., could be outdated. Equipment: DX-398, on south-facing porch with AC, antenna built-in whip only, easily manoeuvrable. After 2030 it was too hot, 90+ so I went inside, using same. 1848, 93.7 with car race in stereo overriding baseball; the latter obviously KSPI Stillwater OK as after 1900 the game was OSU vs Texas Tech, with homey announcer. Any ideas from SC area? 1850, 95.9, country music, RDS scrolls: MARY GENTRY Y-ROLL WITH ME as song title, and ID: KICKIN / 95.9 / MONTGOMERY. Silly me, I figured Montgomery was the city, like in Alabama, but must be the GENTRY artist, as Kickin` 95.9 leads to WIOP, Isle of Pines SC, a Charleston suburb. FM Atlas does not have any slogan for it, but shows 50 kW on an ex-Class A channel. There is another 95.9 in the Mont`y AL market. 1852, 100.3, phone 533-1660 for NTIA (?) Net; Orangeburg Pharmacy on Russell St., ``here in Orangeburg since 1912``, another ad for Chestnut Grill. It`s WORG (get it?) but COL Elloree SC, 25 kW. Nice to hear another station from around O`burg, since WPJK eliminated its 3160 harmonic last year. 1856, 89.3, organ music, fades, stereo, then `Pipedreams` announcer Michael Barone. National program on many public stations, but fortunately RDS IDs it right away as SC ETV, i.e. WSCI Charleston. This network is in trouble with a budget-cutting anti-intellexual governor; but it`s always been odd for a statewide radio network to be such a subsidiary of TV that it`s known as a TV network on radio. 1858, 95.1, rock music, RDS: WSSX-FM, i.e. Charleston SC. FM Atlas shows slogan ``95-SX`` but if so, why not on the RDS that way? I`ll take a full legal callsign any day. 1900, 100.9, mention wayfm.com I figured it would be tough to track down one of the gospel-huxter nets with lots of translators, but found a match immediately at http://www.wayfm.com --- the only 100.9 being yet another outlet for Charleston SC. FMA shows it`s really WPAL-FM, 13 kW at Ridgeville. 2015, 90.5, at first thought groundwave, weak station in English, ``positive hits 89 point – something``, sharathon. Googling matches this with 89.9 at http://www.positivehits.org/ --- lotsa luck finding any real callsigns on their webstite; not even on a coverage map with lots more frequencies, but the main ones 89.9 for Northern Virginia, 90.5 for Central Virginia. No slogans matching in FM Atlas, but 89.9 (unheard) must be WPER Culpeper, and 90.5 WJYJ, 18.5 kW in Fredericksburg. FCC FM Query confirms both are licensed to Positive Alternative Radio. Oh oh, 90.5 WPIM, 4 kW in Martinsville is also licensed to same, so which was I getting? This one alone has the `PAR FM` slogan in FM Atlas. 2018, 93.7, ``Bob FM`` advertising a concert in Virginia Beach, Newport News, overriding KSPI. RDS: BOB-FM / 93.7 / ANYTHING / WE PLAY --- yes, in that order. I.e. WNOB [sic], Chesapeake VA, 100 kW. 2021, 95.1, RDS: WAIT BY / PAULA / COLE / ON Z95.1. This fits for WQMZ, Charlottesville VA, which is well inland unlike the mostly coastal stations heard so far. http://www.z95.net/ FMA shows it only as Z-95, 6 kW. 2021, 95.3, ad for Hunting Hog Golf Club, and The Pavilion (restaurant?) near the ninth hole, phone 749-1900. That info leads to Ashland VA, just north of Richmond, i.e. WKHK, Colonial Heights- Richmond, 47 kW, says FM Atlas. Colonial Heights is on the other side of Richmond, south. The third time I heard it, decided they were saying ``Hunting Hawk Golf Club`, slightly more upscale, and that checks out. Then mentioned near highways 64 and 295 (Interstates) and that totally clinches it. Also mentioned another hiway, and Innsbruck(?), then fadeout. 2024, 97.3, RDS: 97.3 THE EAGLE --- country music playing: BLAKE SHELTON / HONEY BEE. Must be WGH-FM, nice call! Which FM Atlas has as Eagle 97 FM, Newport News-Hampton Roads-Norfolk. 2026, 97.5, PSA For Piedmont Casa(?), 971-7515; ID for Charlottesville Radio Group, community awareness; mentions Bubble Wilson, hard-sell ad by Charlie Obaugh Chevy in Waynesboro for 42 mpg vehicle. Phone and Piedmont CASA lead to http://www.pcasa.org/news.php = Court Appointed Special Advocates, for children. So station is WWWV, Charlottesville VA, `3WV` per FM Atlas, 8.9 kW. I wonder how accurate their time signals are? I should also have been getting WBRA-DT on channel 3, but my setup is logistically inconvenient to DX FM and TV at the same time. 2155, 97.3, mixing with Aguascalientes (see MEXICO), phone number 910 332-2387 promo for Cumulus radio group jobs. This leads to Wilmington NC, i.e. WMNX, 100 kW. 2159, after an hour of Mexican TV and FM DX, a last gasp from the east, on 90.5, brief fade-in just for ID, ``WDLL, Dillon``, religious. That`s 25 kW direxional, from Dillon SC (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. JOPLIN TV AND RETRANSMISSION CONSENT DISPUTE While I was searching the web for articles on the Joplin tornado, I found that the CBS affiliate for Joplin, KOAM Pittsburg (KS) and its FOX sister station KFJX were *not* carried via DirecTV due to a contract dispute (rival Dish Network does carry KOAM and KFJX however and both sat companies carry KODE and KSNF.) http://www.koamtv.com/story/12653551/koam-and-fox-14-will-not-be-added-to-directv-service-at-this-time This is yet another reason that I advocate the use of OTA antennas by the general public (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, May 23, WTFDA via DXLD) I encourage friends who are cable or satellite subscribers only to have a backup OTA receiver (preferably battery powered) to be able to get emergency information in the event of the loss of cable or satellite service or the loss of power. We have a battery powered DTV set as a backup to our OTA sets -- we don't have a Pay TV "provider." We had tornadoes in the Topeka area Friday night but fortunately no major damage. Another problem with satellite has to do with what local stations the FCC allows to be distributed by satellite. There are areas very close to Topeka (within 15 miles) that are in Douglas County which is in the Kansas City DMA. Those subscribers do not have access to their real local TV stations without being able to watch over-the-air (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, KS, ibid.) ** U S A. FRN SERVER WAS LOCATED IN JOPLIN, MISSOURI! This just received from Commander Bunny of WBNY, which I am forwarding on, to those who monitor the Pirate radio bands. Edward Kusalik ********************************************************************** The FRN is down because the server was located in Joplin, Missouri. The slack-jawed, lip-droolers on HF Underpants are beating their little monkey chests over "pay back" and sadly this has nothing to do with payback. Even I would hope they'd stop gloating over this sad event. Time to set aside petty differences and focus on important matters! We are all keeping John Cruzan and his family in our prayers, as that is where he and the FRN server are located. We'll let you know when we hear from John. In the meantime the FRN is down because of the Tornado that destroyed Joplin, Missouri. Not so funny now, huh? Commander Bunny (Via Edward Kusalik, AB, May 23, DXLD) This relayed from Commander Bunny of WBNY: GOOD NEWS! John Cruzan, the founder of the FRN is OK. Here is his post on Facebook earlier today! John wrote: "We are fine, no damage at all, My parents` home was leveled but they were not hurt, we are busy trying to dig out their stuff for now, thanks for thinking of Us!~" Considering the devastation of the phone lines, the infrastructure, etc., it may be a couple weeks before the FRN is back up. The important thing is that the people we care about are OK! Thanks to those who dropped the petty bickering to pray for John Cruzan and family! Commander Bunny (via Edward Kusalik, May 24, ibid.) ** U S A. It would appear that WTFDA member John Tudenham (W0JRP) lives in the area affected by the Joplin tornado. Any news? (Fred Laun, Temple Hills, MD, HS0ZAR, May 23, WTFDA via DXLD) Hi, Fred! Some of us Midwestern DXers who know John well had some anxious hours last night before one of the guys managed to reach him by phone. John and Betty are all right, escaping any injury. Their house had window damage along with their two vehicles, but otherwise their property escaped. Apparently they were within just a few blocks of the path. John's brother-in-law's home, some five blocks away, was destroyed, and he is now staying with John and Betty. 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, ibid.) ** U S A. RADIO REUNITING JOPLIN FAMILIES The deadliest and most destructive tornado to hit Missouri since 1896 has touched broadcasters' lives as they work to serve listeners with the latest news and help reconnect families. Despite widespread destruction estimated to have leveled one-third of Joplin, no radio station tower or station suffered serious damage. Stations are now working to help families reunite (Inside Radio May 24, 2011, via Mike Terry, UK, May 24, dxldyg via DXLD) More on this: http://www.allaccess.com/net-news/archive/story/91724/radio-s-multi-platform-reach-informs-alerts-joplin (Mike Terry, ibid., and via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ZIMMER SHINES AMIDST DEVASTATION. by Ed Ryan http://www.radioink.com/Article.asp?id=2193787&spid=24698 One by one they were calling in asking for help. Can you help me find my cousin? Can you help me find my brother? It was reminiscent of 911 family members holding up pictures of their loved ones hoping they were spared the crushing collapse of a New York skyscraper. There were no pictures yesterday, only trembling voices. And one by one the KZRG morning team tried to console or help or do whatever they could to help their neighbors get through the next hour or minute. By now you know the devastating damage a tornado heaped upon the tiny town of Joplin Missouri. A killer tornado ripped more than half that town to pieces leaving over 150 people dead so far and scores more injured. And like a broken record in 2011 here we are again to tell you what an outstanding job another terrestrial radio company is doing staying live and local, putting people in touch with people. It was yet another lesson in what radio does best. Despite the fact that one person from the morning team had lost his apartment in the tornado, there he was, calm, cool and collected on the air telling residents where they could get gas, which Wal-Mart was still standing and who needed to go on their "emergency diet" in the community. Without missing a beat Zimmer News Talker KZRG was broadcasting live on all 6 of the Zimmer stations in Joplin. The only way you could hear the station outside the market was on U- Stream. The radio station website streams were not working. When we spoke to Zimmer Operations Manager Chad Elliot he asked us how we were listening. He also told us as soon as the tornado hit "cell phone service went down instantly. There was no way to communicate with the community other than the radio." The tornado missed the station building and tower by just a few blocks enabling them to stay on the air and help the community. Elliot says coverage began Sunday night at 4PM when tornado activity was first discovered in Kansas. The stations have been wall-to-wall ever since (Radio Ink via Artie Bigley, May 23, DXLD) Glenn, KZRG 1310 Joplin, streaming is now working, as of 20 minutes ago --- http://www.1310kzrg.com/ (Artie Bigley, 1947 UT May 23, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not when I tried a bit later (gh) Hi, Just heard Sheldon Harvey's email read over KZLG 1310 in Joplin. I'm also streaming the station in Ohio (Artie Bigley, 1712 UT May 24, via DXLD) RADIO STATIONS CHUG ALONG 24/7 IN TORNADO-DEVASTATED JOPLIN By Moni Basu, CNN May 24, 2011 4:34 p.m. EDT (CNN) -- A panicked Frank Reynolds dialed the number for KZRG on Tuesday morning. The Joplin, Missouri, radio station was the glue that was holding the tornado-devastated community together. Reynolds' great-nephew, Skyular Logsdon, only 16 months old, was missing after the deadly tornado struck the family home. . . http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/24/missouri.tornado.radio/ (via Artie Bigley, DXLD, and via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) TV Report on KZRG in Joplin Monday, May 23, 2011 KZRG's Steve Kraus, homeless but still helping others --- One of the heroes of the Joplin tornado has been KZRG announcer Steve Kraus, who has been homeless since the twister hit, but who has nevertheless stayed on the air, helping others to deal with the tragedy. http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2011/05/kzrgs-steve-kraus-homeless-but-still.html (via Artie Bigley, May 25, WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) JOPLIN RADIO STATIONS BECOME LIFELINE FOR TORNADO-STRICKEN RESIDENTS - -- The staffs of six radio stations, based in a one-story building in Joplin, are providing nonstop disaster coverage. Broadcasters are turning into unofficial public information officers as callers ask for information on loved ones or make offers of assistance. . . http://www.ivpressonline.com/news/la-na-tornado-radio-20110526,0,7937798.story (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. RADIO STATION THAT TURNED HERO FACES AN UNCERTAIN FUTURE The Texas Tribune The Texas Tribune --- Expanded coverage of Texas is produced by The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit news organization. To join the conversation about this article, go to http://texastribune.org Tom Michael of Marfa Public Radio, which reported on weather, road closures and evacuations during the Rock House Fire. [caption] By MICHAEL HOINSKI, Published: May 21, 2011 MARFA, Tex. — The three-member staff of Marfa Public Radio was in a meeting room appointed with a miniature wooden shack housing an ornamental radio — a “radio shack” — donated by the artist Patrik Qvist. On the table was a stack of letters waiting to be folded and stuffed into envelopes. A grant report was due by day’s end, and a financial meeting loomed in the afternoon. “Are we confident enough I can give the board a number?” Tom Michael, the general manager of KRTS 93.5 FM, asked at the May 9 meeting. The station had just completed a membership drive, and Mr. Michael needed to know how much money was raised. Membership dues are now at a premium for this nonprofit, listener- supported station. Half of its roughly $250,000 budget comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, an arm of the federal government that finances locally owned and operated television and radio stations — and a favorite target of Congressional Republicans during budget- cutting talks. “A loss of funding to the C.P.B. would destroy little stations like ours,” Mr. Michael said. But financial worries come amid a time of sudden evolution for MPR, which last month transformed itself from a cultural pundit reliant on NPR content into what Mr. Michael called “a ragtag coterie of volunteer citizen reporters” whose public-service journalism on the Rock House Fire was a daily fix on the air and on the Web. Had MPR not been around on April 9, when an electrical malfunction in a former storefront for rocks less than two miles west of downtown Marfa ignited the largest wildfire in Texas history, it might have meant the difference between life and death for some West Texans. The station played a vital role in broadcasting to ranchers, border patrolmen and transplants about road closures, evacuations and weather conditions during the fire’s 3-week, 35-mile, 315,000-acre rampage north to Fort Davis. . . [more] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/22/us/22ttnpr.htm (KMFA mailing list via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. 6125, emisora de S.O.D.R.E, Radio Uruguay con identificación como Radio Uruguay, y somos el SODRE, está en el aire con muy buena señal por los 6125 kHz (Ernesto Paulero, Argentina, 1511 UT May 18, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. Webradio Infoideas --- La emisora en OC, no oficial, que estuvo trasmitiendo el verano en los 6678 no estaría con planes de reactivarse. Según me manifiesta el operador, los monitoreos de URSEC se han mejorado y hay ya dos estaciones de monitoreo remotos, una en Minas, Lavalleja y otra en Treinta y Tres. Se complace del buen resultado de aquellos experimentos (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, May 23, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** URUGUAY. ¿Y Chaná cómo anda? (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, May 24, condiglist yg via DXLD) Anoche la busqué y no la pude captar pero hace dos semanas, con EAW en Atalaya, Pcia. de Bs.As., la captamos con fenomenal recepcion en 5904.8 variable (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, May 24, ibid.) Anoche estaba 5910 excelente señal (Ernesto Paulero, May 24, ibid.) Chaná esté en el aire (Paulero, 1549 UT May 24, ibid.) Right then? ** VANUATU. 3945, R. Vanuatu, Port Vila. May, 20 0934-0946 male in English talks but few words identified like “country, Sunday, someone”. At peak, 35422. 73’s (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN [non]. 13730, VR via Sackville, CANADA, Sunday May 22 at 1200 still in Spanish instead of switching to English; 1204 talking about evangelism in China, claiming even some people in the government are getting Catholicized; 1206 `Pensamiento del Papa y la Santa Sede` segment. Here we go again; was this a mistake, or a change to all-Spanish 1130- 1215? WRTH A-11 Update does show English at 1200-1215 as Mon-Sat only, but it does not show Spanish beyond 1200 on any day. We also rechecked 9830, in WRTH A-11 as // but could not confirm the weak signal under heavy RTTY was // 13730. At 1205 a DW jingle via PORTUGAL could be heard underneath 13730. 13730, while Vatican Radio via CANADA was in unscheduled Spanish after 1200 Sunday May 22, on Monday May 23 at 1205 it was back to English, news about Syria (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. 15290, RNV via CUBA, May 19 at 1857 IS heard briefly but off at 1858*, back on at *1901.5 joining program in progress until 1902.4* off again, *1903.6 on again, and did not keep monitoring, but noted it until intentional sign-off at 1958.5* (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also CUBA ** VIETNAM. Pix of the V of Vietnam complex courtesy of Electricman, who is currently traveling in Vietnam: http://forums.radioreference.com/shortwave-broadcast/211391-electricman-vietnam-hanoi-vov-offices.html Best regards (Mike Agner, KA3JJZ, May 17, NASWA yg via DXLD) Voice of Vietnam: New HQ Whilst our focus in this group is SW transmitter sites, some of our members also have a interest in the studio sites of SW stations. I think it's good to document a little SW shortwave history with recording imaginary & site coordinate data of such stations. Also such information should be invaluable for someone wanting to visit a SW station. Of course visiting a SW station is one way of accessing or requesting transmitter site material & the like. Most importantly of all, most of the major SW stations love to receive visits from their listeners. A couple of weeks ago I put in some hard research in attempting to locate the new Voice of Vietnam HQ at 58 Quan Su St., Hanoi & I managed to locate it here: 21 01 37N 105 50 44E (GE) Today I was fortunate in receiving some photos from a radio enthusiast visiting Vietnam who took some photos of the VOV HQ as a result of my request & information on the location of this site. Those who value this information - I hope will be grateful for our efforts to bring you this material. It was also my hope that my contact may have been able to take some imagery of the other VOV SW TX sites, but I believe he is on a tight schedule & thus we should be appreciative of the imagery taken. I have posted some of the pics up on our YG website. Images appear in the 'Studio' PHOTO Album. Enjoy :-) (Ian Baxter, May 18, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** YEMEN. 9780.14, Republic of Yemen Radio, San’a, 0357-0440, May 23, local Mid-East style music. Arabic news at 0400. Mix of traditional Arabic music and Arabic talk. Fair to good. Irregular. Not heard very often (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. 9870, May 22 at 0456 tuned in just in time to hear web references concerning Zimbabwe, 0457 cut to tone and open carrier. Audio was rather muffled, signal S9+20. This was R. V. of the People, clandestine via MADAGASCAR, per WRTH Update, in English/Ndebele, 04-05 on 9870, 16-1630 on 9445, 18-19 on 7330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4721.06, 0950, someone here; threshold. Brief snippets of music make me think it's Bolivian or Peruvian, but could easily be someone else. Much weaker than R. San Miguel but about the same level as R. Apintie. 11 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF- SW7600GR, PR-D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP-2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4995, Suspected South or SE Asian station, 1328, very low modulation, with talk by a man in dialect; the local music was "heavy on the flutes." No pips at 1330 or 1400 would seem to rule out India and China, respectively. Not heard previously, and not heard the following night. Maybe someone else will have better luck getting an ID. 21 May (David Sharp, NSW: FT-950, NRD-535D, R8, ICF-SW7600GR, PR- D5, ICF-2010, Timewave 599zx, MFJ 1026, MFJ 959C, Palstar MW550P, SP- 2000 speaker. Also 100m noise-reducing aerial and 50m dipole, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Glenn, any idea? 6019.177, Puzzled me, seldom heard sermon of two Portuguese / Spanish mixed language prayers at 0845 UT May 21, S=6 signal on remote SDR unit in FL-USA. Probably R Gaucha, Porto Alegre or R Victoria, Lima-PRU (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews May 21, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wolfy, R. Victoria, Lima, has been measured right around there by Bolland. Pull up some of his reports on HCDX, etc. And the mixed Spanish/Portuguese preaching is the signature of David Miranda heard on so many Brazilian and some non-Brazilian stations. RV also puts out third harmonic matching the fundamental, as often reported. 73, (Glenn to Wolfy, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. On 6070 at 0626 UT/Z I heard a station playing comedy and it identified as 1010 Radio All Comedy Radio Overnight out of Canada. Anyone know who this is? Is there an actual station callsign? Great audio and signal in Northern Illinois (Dan Hensley, KC9NCF, May 20, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CFRX which is the SW outlet of CFRB Toronto "Newstalk 10-10" 1010 kHz. (Harold Sellers, Editor of World English Survey and Target Listening, available at http://www.odxa.on.ca ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 9320, May 23 at 0601, extremely strong S9+25 open carrier with slight fading, stronger than 9330 WBCQ; at 0608, 9320 making some digital noises, probably Cuban or US spy transmitter as heard occasionally on other 9, 11 MHz frequencies late at night. Before that, I could detect local audio mix from ESPN Radio, KCRC 1390 on that carrier, presumably occurring inside receiver (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 10960, May 20 at 1241, JBA talking, maybe in Spanish. Nothing to bleed over from plus or minus 1000 kHz, and peaks with preselector on FRG-7. Unlikely harmonic either; mixing product? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 11500, May 23 at 1209 and 1253 all I can hear is a fair open carrier with a bit of hum. Either: V. of Russia in English via TAJIKISTAN, losing modulation; or: Firedrake against Sound of Hope, also lacking modulation (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 13450, I`ve been hearing a chirping bird, and it`s there all hours of the day and night. It`s like some sort of beacon, alternating between two tones, shifting in phase, and audible from 13425 to 13475 kHz. Oh well, it`s spring-time and I`ve got lots of birds sitting on my antenna. Maybe one of them is just talking too loud (Pete Bentley, NY, 18 May, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s CODAR = ocean wave radar, somewhere along some coast. Has been explained in DXLD previously; also around 12.1, 9.2, 4.8 MHz among other spots (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 14505-USB, May 23 at 1247, two-way in colloquial Spanish so hard to understand, one with some lite engine noise in background enough to keep the vox on during his pauses. Mentioned kilos, but also pescados, so narcotraffickers or fishing poachers; or both? Still going at 1310 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 14970, May 23 at 0551, weak oscillating tones much like the jamming in the 0430-0530 hour on 13730 against R. Dabanga for Sudan via UAE; 14970 is of course a Firedrake frequency elsewhen, but maybe coincidental. Furthermore, DX Mix News reports that R. Dabanga has moved to 15550, still via UAE; and still // 13620 via Madagascar, the only one we get here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. [with IRAN 15150:] Meanwhile there was intermittent ACI from a much stronger open carrier on 15155, 1320-1321, 1322-1323, 1327-1328 approx., May 24. I expected someone to be starting at 1330, but no more of it then, and nothing scheduled for the next four hours (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 18960, nothing audible at several chex May 18 before 1300, at 1319 and at 1410. Sheryl Paszkiewicz, Wisconsin, NASWA had heard something in Arabic May 15 at 1320-1850* with a ``continuous live concert``, maybe R. Sawa? Only WYFR is known to be active on this band, 18930 and 18980. Several stations on 9480 could harmonicize, but unlikely over 5.5 hours and in her always brief notes, she gave no details of strength. Also watch out for 2 x WTWW on 18958 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++ Glenn, I sent you a money order. Thanks for what you do; I enjoy it. http://www.icanhascheezburger.com/ Stulti rident linguam Latinam (Jack Smith, Newport NC, WORLD OF RADIO 1566) More `survey` responses: Listener on internet. Framingham Mass USA. Compuserve with 10 year old Computer (Gordon C.) Glenn, Still enjoying the show. I didn`t get a chance to input the survey, but I listen to a download of the latest WoR show burnt to CD and enjoy during a weekly half-hour derive with a notepad nearby. Wish I could offer more money but --- keep up the great work! (Rob Holman, Flat Rock MI, with a check to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702) Hi Glenn, I`m a bit late with this, but here`s my little report: MOST OFTEN: Sat 1600 on 12160 [WWCR] SOMETIMES: Fri 0330 on 5050 [WWRB] SOMETIMES: Fri 2030 on 15825 [WWCR] LEAST OFTEN: Sun 0630 on 3215 [WWCR] I didn`t include any airings on WRMI because 9955 is almost always buried in noise. This past winter I heard that someone was on his way to repair that north beam antenna, and it was supposed to be in service ``soon``, but nothing ever changed (Pete Bentley, E Aurora NY) I LISTEN TO THE SHOW VIA MP3 DOWNLOAD FROM YOUR SITE (GEORGE THURMAN, Houston, TX) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ NASB RELEASES [preliminary] RESULTS OF ITS SHORTWAVE LISTENER SURVEY AT 2011 ANNUAL MEETING Around 1300 shortwave listeners from around the globe took part in the NASB shortwave listener survey between May of 2010 and May of 2011, and the results of the survey were announced at the 2011 NASB annual meeting on May 14th. In the conference center of Royal Caribbean's Majesty of the Seas, anchored off the coast of CocoCay in the Bahamas, Dr. Jerry Plummer of WWCR announced the results for the first time. Jerry is the administrator of the survey, which was posted online at the NASB website, http://www.shortwave.org with links on other shortwave and DX websites. Most of the respondents were located in North America and Europe, with significant numbers from Asia and Oceania as well. Nearly half of those who responded were also amateur radio operators. Around 97 percent were male. Not surprisingly, most listeners who took the survey listen to shortwave stations for news and commentary, and many listen for cultural programs as well. Around 7 percent listen for religious programming of a variety of faiths. The number one shortwave station in the poll was the BBC. Full results of the survey will be published in the next NASB Newsletter, which will also be on the NASB website, http://www.shortwave.org The NASB meeting took place on the Majesty of the Seas May 13 to 16, sailing from Miami to CocoCay and Nassau in the Bahamas, then returning to Miami. Twenty-one persons from the United States, France, England and Finland participated, including representatives of NASB member stations, associate member organizations and DX clubs. It was the first time the NASB has ever held its annual meeting on a cruise ship. In addition to the meetings, delegates were able to enjoy a variety of entertainment onboard the ship, a private beach resort in the Bahamas, and a sightseeing tour of Nassau, capital of the Bahamas. The meeting began May 13th with a presentation sent especially for the meeting by Chinese shortwave listener and language teacher Cui Litang, who explained about Chinese jamming of shortwave signals and Internet sites, as well as about his use of shortwave station language programs for teaching English in China. John Wineman of HCJB's Global Technology Center in Indiana showed the new Pappradio DRM receiver housed in a small external hard drive box. On May 14th, Risto Vahakainu of the Finnish DX Association told participants about his country in northern Europe and the special challenges and opportunities of doing shortwave and mediumwave DXing there. He presented a video produced by his club about DXing in the Arctic at the very northernmost part of Finland, where mediumwave stations from North America can often be heard using so-called beverage antennas stretching up to one kilometer through the forests of northern Finland. For a totally different venue, Jerome Hirigoyen of TDF -- Telediffusion de France -- told about his company's shortwave sites and other installations, including the large relay station in exotic Montsinery, French Guiana, where a number of 500-kilowatt transmitters are located, reaching nearly all of the Americas and West Africa as well. On May 15th, there was a slide presentation about the NASB's two member stations in Florida -- veteran broadcaster WYFR in Okeechobee and relative newcomer WRMI, Radio Miami International, in Miami. Michel Penneroux, chairman of the DRM Consortium's Commercial Committee, explained the difficulties and delays involved with the mass production of low-cost DRM digital shortwave receivers, and he presented an investment plan for producing a large number of such receivers within a 12- to 18-month period. Rex Morgan, senior producer for Latin America for World Christian Broadcasting, talked about his efforts to reach Latin American listeners from Miami via shortwave and other media, and Kok Hai Tan from the same organization presented a timely video about the progress of World Christian Broadcasting's new shortwave station being built in Madagascar and where it will reach with programs in Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese and other languages, including transmissions to India. Finally, at the NASB business meeting, two new members were elected to the board of directors. George Ross, frequency manager of KTWR in Guam, was elected to replace Bill Damick, also of Trans World Radio, whose term was ending. And Charles Caudill, President of World Christian Broadcasting, was elected to replace David Creel of Far East Broadcasting Company, whose term also ended this year. Others attending the NASB meeting included Arto Mujunen, a Finnish DXer who works at the U.S. International Broadcasting Bureau monitoring office in Helsinki; Michael Murray, a British DXer who is a former secretary general of the European DX Council; Dino Bloise of Miami, who produces a syndicated Spanish-language DX program called "Frecuencia al Día;" Brady Murray, operations manager of WWCR in Nashville; and Terry Borders and Ed Mathis of the Catholic shortwave station WEWN in Birmingham, Alabama. A number of spouses also took part in the cruise. The meeting was organized by Jeff and Thaïs White of WRMI in Miami. Next year's NASB annual meeting will take place at the headquarters of Radio Free Asia in Washington, DC on May 10th and 11th, 2012. And just before concluding this year's meeting, the NASB board accepted an invitation by WEWN in Birmingham to host the 2013 NASB annual meeting (NASB press release May 19 via WYFR via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ DXPEDITION IN THE ARCTIC MADE EASY FOR YOU! Going on DXpeditions has always been difficult: finding the right place, dealing with the interference, getting permission for the antennas, and the hard work of actually putting up the antennas. Not any more. We have just the right place in the Finnish Lapland, tested and found to be excellent for AM DXing, and already equipped with a huge array of 1-kilometer-long Beverage antennas. You may have read about the hundreds of legendary DXpeditions made to the Arctic since the 1970's. Now you can join the fun! We built "Aihkiniemi" last summer for ourselves. But we can't be there all the time, so we are also offering it for rent to fellow DXers from around the world. If you don't mind traveling, this is a unique chance to experience a DXpedition of a lifetime without the hard work. Check it out at http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/aihkiniemi_dx_cabin_for_rent.dx The article includes everything you need to know: what to expect there, how to get there, how to prepare, and how to make a reservation. 73s (Mika Makelainen, on behalf of the eight DXers running Aihkiniemi, May 24, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That is good if you are rich and famous and get paid to DX I am not fortunate to do such a thing and also I cannot drive. I read in the article that you cannot get any drinking water or hot showers from the cabin and you have to pay a fee, arm and a leg to get a shower. I guess where the water is and showers is where the interference is. It seems that we need to have DXpedition areas and no cannot cause interference in those areas like star areas that have no light pollution. If it's a interference quiet area that means no internet or satellite TV services. If you go to Finland you will hear stations only in Europe, and West Asia and other areas. But the Arctic sounds good if you can take the cold weather cause winter is the best time for DXing. Finland has different electricity grids 50 Hz than US, but what makes the interference is the smart meter technology on the longwave to AM bands (Adam Ebel, Virginia Beach, VA, ABDX via DXLD) ``Other areas``, like the whole world, on MW, if you ever read their log reports (gh, DXLD) Adam, Either you are a very young fellow or you are a neophyte in the hobby. The Finland DXpeditions commonly bring in America and Canada and Mexico as well as China, India, South America and other places in Africa. You really ought to go to their website shown in the message so you can drool over what the finest DXers on earth get, the Finns. They are incredible (Kevin Redding, Adamsville, TN, ABDX via DXLD) Adam! WHAT? Well, no one gets paid for DXing. These folks built the cabin in super nowhere just for DXing. If you can't afford it, well, that's too bad. I can't either. As for DX your claims are just wrong. I get QSL requests from there all the time. Power in Europe is often 240 volts 50 hertz, you need to check what converters you need. Also American cell phones may not work there, and IF you do you need to get a special plan to allow you to use the phone without incurring multiples of thousands of dollars of cost. DATA, however is VERY expensive by cell phone there (Powell E Way, III, SC, ibid.) Might I suggest Sapelo Island as a DX spot? It's relatively inexpensive and you get the beach to yourself, for the most part, while you're there. Very few locals venture to the beach near the Big House (Bert New, Watkinsville, Georgia, Proudly Serving You Since 1964! ibid.) Adam, Travel expenses are surely an issue, but think of this as a Dxpedition of a lifetime. And, for American DXers, getting to Finland has just become easier, because in addition to New York, there is now a direct flight from Chicago to Helsinki operated jointly by American Airlines and Finnair, and since they're marketing a new route, the rates are reasonable. As for driving, it would be likely that when you find a partner to join you for the week, he could do the driving. There are buses to Aihkiniemi as well, but they don't run often, and showering would remain an issue, as taxis up there are pretty expensive. True, Aihkiniemi is not a luxury cabin in terms of amenities, but in terms of potential for AM DXing, it is the best that you can find. You're saying that in Finland it is possible to hear only stations in Europe, West Asia, and "other areas". Well, these other areas do include pretty much everything there is. For example, during my DXpeditions in Lapland, I have logged about 1400 different AM stations from the US and Canada combined, over a thousand from Latin America, and probably the same amount from all of Asia, mostly from the Far East. Check out http://www.dxing.info/dxpeditions/lem271log.dx to see the results of an average DXpedition to Lapland. Hundreds of common stations in Europe, Africa and Asia are not even mentioned in the log. 73 (Mika, ibid.) MUSEA +++++ HELP WITH HISTORIC INFORMATION ON HALLIGAN Hi All, I am preparing to close the file drawer on the HHRP - Historic Halligan Radio Project. But before I do, I am willing to devote however much time and work it takes to add any additional material that some of you have and I do not. Even though this entire project is for the most part a labor of love, I am not asking you to donate materials free gratis. We will work out the financial end of it somehow. Keep this in mind! Even though I am going to close the file drawer on the project, that does NOT mean that any one of the four original packages, or all four as one package, will become unavailable! For as long as I am physically able to replicate the DVD's and CD's, I will do so! What is going to end is me working on the HHRP project itself any more. If any of you have photos, original correspondence, original QSL cards from the period, audio and video materials, and so forth, please contact me direct. I do not wish to duplicate what is already in the HHRP materials, but if something is different, be it only slightly, it should be included. It would also be very cool if we had correspondence between the Icons of that era; Bill Halligan to the founder of Collins or Heathkit or Hammarlund etc. Anything that you would care to contribute will be greatly appreciated! Some of you were there in those golden years and hearing from you would truly be both a honor and a thrill. All such material to be added to the HHRP materials with full credits to the donors. Thanks to all of you for helping to make Hallicrafters as close to eternal as anything having a path to ground ever gets! (Duane Fischer, W8DBF - WPE8CXO, E-Mail: dfischer @ usol.com Hallicrafters web site: http://www.w9wze.net HHRP web site: http://hhrp.w9wze.net May 16, swl @ qth.net via DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ WRTH BARGRAPH FREQUENCY GUIDE Media Network looks at a new product for the SWL/Dxer http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/sitemap/product-review-wrth-bargraph-frequency-guide (Media Network blog via DXLD) AXIS SALLY Was Axis Sally really a brazen traitor, raving anti-Semite and she- devil of the airwaves? Or a misunderstood victim of love, forced to serve as fascism's spokeswoman? Richard Lucas largely lets readers be the judge in his intriguing book "Axis Sally, The American Voice of Nazi Germany", a detailed, seven-year effort born of the author's interest in vintage radio and a "deeply flawed but fascinating woman." Details at http://www.cleveland.com/books/index.ssf/2011/05/axis_sally_ohio-born_mildred_g.html (via Mike Terry, UK, dxldyg via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ NEW MARINE SERVICE ON 500 KHZ ? The ITU has released a study regarding reactivation of 500 kHz as a marine information channel. The study recommends a new high-capacity digital mode as an upgrade to the existing NAVTEX broadcasts on 518 & 490 kHz. Using a new 64QAM digital format, they are recommending a 47,400 baud signal (vs. the current 100 baud), occupying a 10-kHz wide channel from 495 to 515. This new broadcast is intended to supplement, not replace, the existing NAVTEX's. Details can be found here... http://www.itu.int/dms_pub/itu-r/opb/rep/R-REP-M.2201-2010-PDF-E.pdf (William R Hepburn (VEM3ONT22), Grimsby ON CAN 43 10 58.7 -79 33 34.1, 22 March, WTFDA-AM via DXLD) POLARIZATION ISSUE ON FM The FCC has dismissed the application of a Native American tribe to increase the power of their (commercial, on 107.5) FM station to 10kw vertical-only. The FCC does not allow vertical-only polarization on commercial stations. The tribe asked for a waiver, citing economic concerns. Most receivers have vertically-polarized antennas; running both vertical *and horizontal*, as required by the rules, requires twice the transmitter power. And thus, more power from the electric utility. Electricity is expensive on the reservation. The decision doesn't say *why* the FCC dismissed the application but I'd be pretty sure they didn't accept the economic argument for the vertical-only waiver (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, March 23, WTFDA via DXLD) THE BEGINNINGS OF CATV On Thanksgiving Day 1948 when Seattle's KING-TV signed on (ch 5) a fellow in Astoria, Oregon was ready with what the industry mostly recognizes as "the very first community antenna system". There is a plaque in Astoria commemorating this. However at about the same time in central Pennsylvania, along (presently numbered) highways 81/180 (Williamsport and north) several people with radio backgrounds had discovered the presence of TV signals atop local hills/mountains. Over the next few years (1948- 1951) several of these "hilltop sites" would become primitive off-air headends for CATV. What interests me here is this news item appearing in February 1949 issue of Radio Electronics; it refers to "last month" but given that 2/49 RE would have hit the newsstands in mid January 49, and the lead time, "last month" could well have been November or even October 1948. The article: TELEVISION LABORATORY was set up last month by the Associated Radio Service men of Central Pennsylvania atop Mostoller Hill in Williamsport. Facilities available include a 40 foot tower with platform, two types of antennas, meters, signal generators and other equipment. Preliminary tests with several television receivers were reported satisfactory, signals received from New York, Philadelphia, Washington and Baltimore. Any member of the local association who wishes can drive out to the lab and make his tests. All work on the laboratory was done by members in their spare time. This is possibly the first instance of a co- operative experimental television laboratory set up and maintained by radio service technicians. Unquote. Williamsport's "official" elevation is but 528' (being a riverside town) but there are peaks in most directions over 1500'; some to 2,000. Thus trying to identify the precise location, elevation for what the article called Mostoller Hill. And the tower description ("with platform") suggests it may have already existed for another purpose; such as fire watch? (Bob Cooper in NZ, March 28, WTFDA via DXLD) NEW U S WIRELESS NETWORK A HAZARD FOR G P S More FCC uselessness --- Yet more proof that the FCC these days is run by a bunch of suits with zero technical understanding: http://www.thestar.com/business/article/969886--new-u-s-wireless-network-a-hazard-for-gps?bn=1 The Soviet Union with its hundreds of jammers and woodpeckers had an organized radio spectrum compared to what the US is turning into. (William R Hepburn (VEM3ONT22), Grimsby ON CAN WTFDA via DXLD) BREVILLE VTT296 BLACK 2 SLICE RADIO TOASTER Spotted, this morning. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Breville-VTT296-Black-Slice-Toaster/dp/B004JF5VGA Yes, I drooled. Here's my very dumb question: Will the radio be useless in the U.S.? In other words, if it has the European radio frequencies programmed into it (Blaine Thompson, (who has no 94.8FM around here), 9 April, WTFDA via DXLD) FM will be OK. AM will likely be 9 kHz spacings. Although some radios used to be modifiable to 10 kHz by adding or deleting a diode, I doubt that's possible now in the era of 1-chip radios. (????) wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) NAVY RADIO SYSTEM JAMMS GARAGE DOOR OPENERS http://articles.boston.com/2011-05-18/news/29556676_1_radio-system-garage-door-openers-jamming A new US Navy radio system is having an unexpected jamming effect on an unusual target, garage doors. The Newport Daily News reported yesterday that the new radio system at Newport's naval base operates on the same frequencies as some remote garage door openers. The interference leaves the openers ineffective. Naval officials said the base started using the system May 5. One manufacturer said 30 customers in the area have reported malfunctioning garage door openers. Wall-mounted openers, which do not rely on radio waves, are unaffected. Naval officials said they did not know that the system would cause interference. Sincerely, (via Bruce Atchison - author of When a Man Loves a Rabbit and Deliverance from Jericho. http://www.bruceatchison.blogspot.com http://www.inscribe.org/BruceAtchison DXLD) 5-10 KW SW TRANSMITTER I have a contact who is after a new (or near new) 5 - 10 kW SW txer for a Pacific SW station. Doesn't appear to be too many manufactured these days in that power range. Does anyone have knowledge of CURRENT manufacturers or availability of a near new 5 - 10kW SW TXer capably of operating in the tropical SW bands? My contact got badly burnt financially when 100% of funds were paid to Omnitronics for two SW TXers & the company went broke - no txers & no return of funds. Any assistance appreciated (Ian Baxter, May 20, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Hi Ian and Co, I suspect that RIZ in Zagreb will be able to help with a HF tx in the power and freq range your contact needs. Regards, (Dave G4OYX at Woofferton UK, ibid.) Energy Onix builds FM-VHF, MW and SW transmitters. I've had excellent results with mine. Below is a link to some of their models. http://energy-onix.com/HTML/Solid%20State%20AM.html Good luck to your friend. JL (Jerry Lenamon, of Radio 94.5 Waco, ibid.) PCJ REVIEW OF THE TECSUN S2000M (aka Grundig Satellite 750) Another program in a series of radio reviews from PCJ is now available. This one is on the TECSUN S2000 a receiver that is also sold under the Grundig name. http://vimeo.com/24070325 73s & 88s (Keith Perron, Taiwan, May 22, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 12 minutes PCJ CONTEST 4 SHORTWAVE RADIO! PCJ is having a contest giving away 4 shortwave receivers. In June, July and August we will be giving away 3 TECSUN DR920s. Then in September the grand prize a NEW Sangean ATS909X. Visit PCJ for details, http://www.pcjmedia.com Regards, (Keith Perron, May 17, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: How would you like to win a SHORTWAVE Radio? Well PCJ will have a contest to make this happen. We are giving away 3 Tecsun DR920, and a grand prize a new Sangean ATS909X. How will this work? 1. Beginning on the May 28th edition with Media Network Plus there will be a small that id asking a question will be played in the show (very easy question) [sic]. This ID will also be used on Happy Station, Nash Holos, & Switzerland In Sound. All you need to do is answer the question and give details on where you heard the show either FM/AM/Shortwave or internet. 2. There are 3 Tecsun DR920 that we are giving away in June, July and August. Everyone that enters will be entered into the draw to win a new Sangean ATS909X. Winners will be announced in Media Network Plus. The grand prize of the Sangean ATS909 will be announced in the September edition on Media Network Plus. 3. Just make sure when you enter that you also give some program details. 4. Those who enter by snail mail will also receive a small thank you gift. The address to enter for winning one of the 3 Tecsun's and the final grand prize is: PCJ Radio, 8FL, No. 47, Lane 31, Section 1, Sanmin Road, Banciao, Taipei, Taiwan, ROC 22070 Or email: ats909x @ gmail.com TECSUN DR-920, ATS909X. SOURCE: http://www.pcjmedia.com/component/content/article/1-latest-news/142-pcj-a-media-network-contest (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) RADIO "TARGET ZONES" ?? Can you direct me to a file that defines or shows the radio "target zones" alluded to on your site for domestic HF broadcasters? Or are they also international in scope?? Thanks, (Bill Boas, KC0IZI, May 19, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Bill, By ``domestic``, are you referring to US SW broadcasters? Officially they have to target areas outside the US, so they may pretend to broadcast to Mexico or Canada, or Latin America or Europe, but cover USA on the way, or from side/backlobes. The HFCC schedules linked from my homepage have a column for CIRAF target zones, which correspond to numbers on this map. http://www.itu.int/ITU-R/terrestrial/broadcast/images/broad-ciraf2.gif The EiBi schedules [and WRTH] show target areas more generally, by continental abbreviations (Glenn to Bill, via DXLD) JAMMING AND MORE INTERFERENCE TO SHORTWAVE BROADCASTS Glenn, A quick alert to new jamming heard here (Cork, Ireland), Friday around 1900-2000 UT, two frequencies, 6045 and 6185 kHz, same sweeper type, about 3 per second, wuh-wuh-wuh-wuh sound, VERY strong S9+. Due work not able to listen since. Could not find what they were jamming on the 2 frequencies. Lots of RTTY constantly heard these days in the 6 and 7 MHz BC bands, lot of weak Asiatics too, but not familiar with the languages. Barely able to differentiate Chinese/Japanese/Korean yet, all the other tonal (sing-song) ones out there. Still hearing the Chinese jammers with domestic programmes on 21 and 17 MHz frequencies. A bunch of nine all the same one morning around 0630 UT early April, most go off suddenly at 0700. 21 MHz still has the usual bunch of Spanish/Portugal/Libya/Mid East + a few others in daylight hours. No big improvement in higher frequencies yet. Some days 25/26 MHz Russian (Slav definitely) taxis and data communications and of course CB (European). 26 MHz gives R Maria 26.0 and DRM 25470 kHz. In Dxld 11-13 I see a mention of wideband slow pulse OTH radar across 6800-7000 kHz from a BC, Canadian contributor. Well, I have been hearing for over 4 years a similar slow pulse, about 4 per second with a variation across its 4+ MHz wide spectra of about 6 db EVERY 40 kHz. Heard up to 27 MHz at times, usually to 24 MHz, suspect from China across 3 bands roughly 6.8 to 9 MHz, 11.5 to 14 MHz and 21 to over 24 MHz, weak, so only heard in low noise areas, very few of them now with all the electric junk and dirty insulator power lines). BUT SUDDENLY it disappeared on Wednesday May 18th, last and I have not heard it since. I have been blue in the face writing to magazines and ham societies trying to get it noticed to no avail!! Only response was from retired radio engineer in the remote western Scottish islands with much equipment who reckons that the three pulse transmissions have some form of phase jitter (modulation?) between them. He asked Royal Signals contact about this, only response was “how the hell do you know that exists?``! It chopped up weak signals in the 7 and 21 MHz bands (BC and ham) quite badly for me, but everyone else seems to be deaf/non-perceptive. Interesting to see if it returns. It was much stronger and intermittent about 4 years ago when I first heard it, as if it was a network being installed and tuned up. The French NOSTRADAMUS HF radar was a really viscous thing all over the 31 mb and two years ago when it appeared for two mornings in June 9800 kHz +- 500 kHz wiping the band out. Also hit 13800+-, into 20 ham too. Deliberate mistake or finger trouble we will never know. I note in your comments that digital TV has been giving varying results since it was brought in. Well, we are on the road to DTV here after a late start. Different system to yours. National broadcaster, RTE, has all the main transmitters on-air now and most of the planned relays. But lower power, more remote relays will not change over and viewers will have to go to sat tv (Saorsat) for reception. Equipment Ka band (25-40 GHz high rain losses ??) not yet available, also not decided if it will follow existing Astra/Eutelsat/Sky transmission system, so new receivers may also be required, multi-spot tight beams too, so little spillover into adjoining countries. Problems already exist due to two different DTV standards across Europe. British controlled stores here started selling up-market analogue/digital TVs some years ago but Rep. of Ireland decided to select the more efficient MPEG4 TX system than the MPEG2 that the UK uses (note UK, i.e., Britain and Northern Ireland ‘the Six Counties). So viewers in their thousands have expensive TVs that end of next year will be expensive monitors! Even I got caught as I brought 4 DTV tuner boxes in Spain back assuming they would work here. Caught! Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Portugal and some more choose older MPEG2 system whilst Nordic, Baltic and a few others including Rep. of Ireland went for more efficient MPEG4. So last trip to Spain I brought out my UK sourced DTV, set it up and stored the Spanish channels. All well, EXCEPT I was missing 3 channels, transmitted on Spanish ch 69 top of the band, but UK only goes up to ch 68! Minor IC program set-up in factory of course, impossible afterwards. Also it would not decode Teletext, the digital on-screen display of text that is so useful for weather, transport, headlines, etc. Talk about European incompatibility. Miles and gallons in the UK, kilometres and litres elsewhere. A few words about interference (local). Most of the modern electronics now use dreadful switched mode power supplies, and with PCs and domestic electric equipment on the go, there is a high background level of pulses, noise and the like in urban areas, impossible to avoid; only higher antennae away from the houses will help. Even rural areas do not escape, with high power electric fences radiating for miles and many power lines with dirty arcing insulators putting high levels of impulse interference into the air, affecting mainly lower frequencies to say 4 or 5 MHz. All BC Band (medium wave) RTE is gone now, only the odd 1 kW temporary special stations at times, plus a few 1 kW pirates in northern areas near N. Ireland not touched. Good opportunity to hear low power British stations, using car radio with 20 foot wire up in the air. Good daytime long distance reception: S Wales, Swansea, 800 watts, 220 miles, 1170 kHz, 70% sea path, Manx Radio, Isle of Man, 1368 kHz 250 miles, 10 kW,70% over hilly land to 2500ft at least twice, Channel Islands, upper end of BC, 320 miles, 80% sea, lots others, 200 watts to 5 kW at 200+ miles. Of course evenings all lost under fierce European onslaught! No clear channels at night. Long wave is still going strong too, good coverage, except our 252 kHz allocation RTE1, cci from Algeria in darkness, they have a super 500 kW / 1 MW blaster on the Mediterranean coast so we get it along our south coast here. Hope I haven’t bored you with the waffle! Radio has got a lot of life in it yet. You shoot a signal in the air, and it lands you know not where! Regards, (Des Walsh (EI5CD), May 22, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DSCALER NOISE FILTERS for TVDX, weak signals My mate Mark Borthwick sent me a file today of Belarus he received on his JVC TV and a 2 element indoor Moxon antenna and I ran his clip through dscaler and I think you will agree there is quite a difference and to show you don`t have to use dscaler "live", i.e. through TV card etc., you can do what Mark did and record with his camcorder directly in front of the TV, then run the file through dscaler. I find best results "live" i.e. using UHF on my TV card for the D500 and using dscaler with the filters active. The clip can be seen on the following link and the raw file is played first then cleaned up in dscaler: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oghDp3C_jNQ Cheers david h (David Hamilton, UK, via Mr Hugh Hoover, Portugal, May 23, WTFDA via DXLD) After watching this (twice) I have to ponder why anyone would ever again NOT use the dscaler noise filter ALL of the time when DXing. (Bob Cooper in NZ, ibid.) Yes indeed, to me it's essential for DXing; it's been around for a few years now. I made a couple of videos last year with a 405 line Ch B1 signal source and a 1956 Bush TV 62 receiving a noisy signal. Without dscaler http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FodVVSl1chc Same clip with dscaler http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlXHVCKS5i8 (Hugh Hoover, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See also OKLAHOMA; U S A ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Canadian DTV transition I have a feeling the Canadian DTV transition is not going to go smoothly for those using antennas. The good news: the CRTC has today issued a mandatory edict today that TV stations must broadcast DTV transition notices starting May 1. http://www.crtc.gc.ca/eng/com100/2011/r110318-1.htm The bad news: our local Canadian Tire is only stocking the RCA DTA-800 DTV converter, which is a piece of junk. I bought one for a joke and couldn't get it to turn on. On the 5th attempt it turned on, then promptly crashed on the setup screen, then went back to not turning on again. A 2nd unit turned on, but switched itself off after 10 minutes and refused to turn back on. I got my money back. I've searched the web and seen tons of posts with similar experiences. Unfortunately, if Canadian Tire is any indication, there will be a lot of disappointed TV viewers. The manager at Canadian Tire was disgusted with the box, by the way (said something stuff made in China - I'll leave it at that). I'll check some other stores and see what they have. Transition to be made Aug 16 or Aug 18 depending on station: http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/about/index.cfm?page_id=889 Wrh -- (William R Hepburn (VEM3ONT22) Grimsby ON CAN, http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ 18 March, WTFDA via DXLD) I've heard horror stories about the "RCA" box. It is a disgrace what these offshore companies do with the "bought" names. Is the LG/Zenith box being sold in Canada? That is probably the best box overall (at least for a DX'er). What I've from the low power transmitters being proposed is that the Canadian broadcasters M.O. is "well, we have to put a DTV transmitter on the air; let`s just run as low power as permitted and hope everyone is on cable (or sat)." Many stations down here have done that (as in underpowered VHF). (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, ibid.) It's a bit difficult to evaluate, since DTV and analog powers cannot be compared directly -- and the official definition of "service contour" is ridiculously optimistic. Officially the DTV signals cover better than the analog, but I don't think any of us believe that happens in real life. Vancouver and Winnipeg stations, for the most part, indeed seem to be doing as little as possible (though CKY proposes a fairly powerful facility). It looks to me as if stations in Quebec are trying harder to maintain OTA coverage, and those in the Maritimes trying less. (I'm curious, whether maybe cable penetration is significantly lower in Quebec compared to the other provinces?) Unless there's more going on behind the scenes than I know about (very possible) it seems to me many Canadian stations will not be ready for this summer's conversion (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN, ibid.) The CRTC has denied the CBC's application to use the CBAFT-10 French- language low-power relay transmitter for the required digital operation of their English service in New Brunswick's provincial capital of Fredericton. While the transmitter would cover Frederiction, it would NOT cover Saint John, the province's largest city. The existing analog transmitter is located between the two cities and covers both. The decision says the CRTC asked the CBC to provide an estimate of the cost of providing service to both cities. Apparently they never received a response (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, March 23, WTFDA via DXLD) That's because it's a matter of principle. The CBC only wants to run DTV stations in the originating station's studio cities, leaving out major cities such as Kelowna, Sudbury, London, Kitchener, Barrie, Saint John and Moncton. These stations will not exist to serve viewers, but only to satisfy bare minimum CRTC requirements. One exception like Saint John might unravel their plan. But what is the point of having any HDTV stations at all if you are going to cover a little place like Charlottetown but not a large city like London? wrh PS - They could shut all the Canadian stations down and folks like me (and some I know in Windsor) would barely notice, as long as Buffalo & Detroit keep broadcasting. It would be 1951 all over again (William R Hepburn (VEM3ONT22), ibid.) We're gonna get a better idea of digital reception in the Montreal are when any of the networks actually start broadcasting from Mount Royal! They've run into so many problems it's getting ridiculous. They still haven't been able to solve the ground radiation problem from the tower. Also, back in the fall, a contractor severed many underground cables causing harm to at least five Mount-Royal transmitters. We're still waiting for SRC/CBC to move their digital operations from the CBC building to the mountain. Also, there hasn't been ANY public messages about the transition so far. A lot of folks are gonna get a big surprise come September 1st! You think it was bad in the US? Wait for the reaction of Canadians not only losing analog service but also regional service in their own language - CBC/SRC closing transmitters. 73, (Charles Gauthier, Brossard, QC, ibid.) NEW FULL-POWER STATIONS IN NJ AND DE The applications have been filed for the new low-band full-power DTV stations in New Jersey and Delaware, required by law and triggered by the PMCM petitions. Both stations propose to operate at the maximum permissible low-band power, 10 kW ERP. The NJ station will operate on channel 4 from a 279m tower near Berlin, New Jersey. Its 28 dBu service contour will easily encompass Philadelphia. The Delaware station will operate on channel 5 from a 144m tower near Wye Mills, Maryland. Its 28 dbu contour will encompass both Baltimore and Washington. No full-power station currently uses either tower. The tower proposed for the Delaware station does currently house FM translator W241AO- 96.1, licensed to Wye Mills. Neither station will be reliable indoor-antenna reception in any of the three large cities mentioned. However, both will be required carriage on cable in all three cities; I think you can assume that's their business model (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, April 4, WTFDA via DXLD But will the NJ station provide the same coverage for its alleged COL of Atlantic City ? Berlin is about 1/3 of the way from Philadelphia to AC (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, 15 mi NW of Philadelphia, ibid.) The signal in Philly will be better than the signal in Atlantic City, but it will easily cover both cities (by FCC regulation standards. Again, I think it's going to be marginal indoor antenna reception in Philly so it certainly will be in AC, but there are plenty of existing stations in a similar situation) – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) A can of worms I was reviewing this 'recent' article today...... http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/460430-FCC_Votes_to_Launch_Broadcast_Spectrum_Reclamation_Initiative.php Dated in November 2010, while there was probably some discussion on this email list after the article was published, a couple paragraphs in it still leaves me wondering: "Finally, the commission said it would adjust the power levels on VHF and look for other ways to boost its reception capabilities. That would pave the way for moving broadcasters from UHF allocations, which are more conducive to DTV transmissions than VHF, the reverse of the analog pecking order." ***A few months removed, does the FCC still plan to move a lot of the UHF broadcasters to VHF? Another paragraph... "Chairman Genachowski focused on the spectrum broadcasters weren't making use of. He said that while some broadcasters had seized the opportunity to use their DTV spectrum for other uses like mobile DTV, others had not. He likened them to trains with a fixed number of boxcars but with many boxcars empty. The need for that spectrum was too great for it to be used inefficiently. He also said the fact that less than 10% of broadcast TV is actually viewed over the air was another inefficiency." ***I am just curious...what is the major hangup with broadcasters that most don't want to use their bandwidth without compromising the HD quality on the primary channel? From a marketing perspective, it seems that having multiple outlets from a single broadcaster would be attractive to the advertiser. I am still having trouble accepting the fact that OTA could eventually become a utility.....**you have to pay to watch or listen** to TV or Radio. I am one of those holdouts that refuses to PAY for TV viewing (entertainment purposes). (Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Springfield, Missouri, April 4, WTFDA via DXLD) OTA will go away, in favor of more efficient use of the spectrum, and TV will be either cable, satellite or via the PC. The only question is when. There's big money to be made by the new users and by the government in selling off what rightfully belongs to the public to private commercial users. But that's the way things are going. Again, it's only a question of when (Russ Edmunds, WB2BJH, 15 mi NW of Philadelphia, ibid.) It appears more and more that broadcasters themselves don't really care about their OTA signals and with such a high percentage of homes using pay TV, that is understandable. I do, however, think it is unfortunate that broadcasters do not tout the advantages of OTA -- particularly in this poor economy when many can't really afford pay TV but don't realize there is a free option. None of the stations here push OTV or even mention the superior quality of the HDTV signal OTA. I had the misfortune of watching a sporting event recently over cable and was amazed how much the signal was degraded. I am retired from KTWU (six years now) and fail to understand why the station does not promote their on-air service in Douglas County (KS) which is adjacent to Shawnee County which is where the city of license. Douglas County is in the Kansas City DMA where Topeka stations cannot be distributed by satellite services. Yet the station refuses to promote there where some homes are within 20 miles of the KTWU transmitter. At one location on the Kansas Turnpike you can see the top beacon on the KTWU from Douglas County on a clear night. But you can't watch the programming if you only have satellite service. However, at times I am surprised how many cable homes also have second or third sets that only receive OTA. The pay TV percentage may be 80%, but the OTA is much higher than 20% if you count homes also watching free over-the-air broadcasts. Another failure of many stations is to promote their multicast services on their .1 or .2 channels. With cable many of these are not available and some that are, are hidden somewhere in an obscure tier. We do not have pay TV at home but realize that OTA will disappear (and how will we get tornado warnings, etc. which we can now tune into using a battery powered portable set), but then so will cable TV and satellite eventually as technology evolves. Nothing is forever. But for now I will save the $1,200 per year that it would cost us to switch to cable and will use it to travel the world. Sure did enjoy my recent trip to South America (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka KS, ibid.) I think the DX'ers that actively DX TV would be advised to enjoy the hobby now while its possible to DX TV. I hate to be "Debbie Downer" about TVDX but perhaps the golden age of ATSC has already passed. Many broadcasters IMHO consider the OTA transmitters/towers to be a necessary evil in order to maintain their franchises. I can name several broadcasters that push cable/sat viewership at the expense of OTA. There are three groups that OTA appeals to (not counting us DX'ers): The HD/videophiles whom use OTA to supplement cable/sat; cord cutters that had pay TV in the past but use OTA to supplement legal (and otherwise) video sources via the Internet; and the third group is the pay TV virgins --- those for one reason or another have never had *any* pay TV service. There is another aspect to the threat of OTA and that is those pesky "stupid ball games" moving to pay TV. The major college football bowl games of the BCS moved to ESPN this past season; in 2016 per the new contract for Men's NCAA college basketball one of the Turner Pay networks (TBS or TNT) will alternate with CBS. It`s possible in a few years for the NFL to abandon OTA for the SuperBowl telecasts. I don't want to see OTA go away, but it *will* go slowly. Too many commercial interests (see the current FCC chair and his ties to the cellular industry) will force the FCC to move OTA TV to all VHF and degraded video quality before it dies off a quiet death. Those desiring programming other than local news, infomercials, and LCD type fare will be forced into the arms of pay TV providers (including IPTV) which will only increase their stranglehold on TV viewers (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, ibid.) CONVERTER BOXES [see also above about RCAs] I was looking around, in Best Buy, the other day, and decided to look at the Converter Boxes. I found that Apex, is the ONLY box they carry, now. I asked about Insignia, and they do not have any more! If you have an Insignia or Zenith, better, hang onto it! (Gary Hickerson, OK [nr Ft Smith AR], 13 April, WTFDA via DXLD) I would avoid the Apex, especially after seeing a very unfavorable review from WLMB, who pointed out that the Apex interferes with itself, wiping out reception of WLMB's low-VHF DTV signal. I would, however, stress that the Zenith/Insignia is *not the only* decent CECB out there. [coupon-eligible converter box, passé] I've had good luck with the Sansonic - decent sensitivity and good multipath tolerance, and it does have a manual RF channel tuning mode, only it is mislabeled "ANT LEVEL" and only allows "up and down" tuning, not random access (like dialing a telephone). It also NEEDS the remote control to work at all. I suspect that the silicon tuner **might** be susceptible to overload in the presence of very strong RF fields, but cannot confirm this. One advantage is that it can be kludged for battery power operation. The Zinwell is also a good DX performer, with buttons on the box itself, and can be kludged for batteries (and works better with batteries than the Sansonic). It does have a stupid "double action" manual tuning, that can only tune manually to a channel that has a good signal at the instant you are trying to tune it, but if you get a station on that RF channel once, you can save it for good - just remember to enter the virtual channel you had seen to get to the actual channel you want to DX. Even the Magnavox and Philco boxes, which nobody professes to like, are better than nothing for DTV DX. Any difference between these and the Insignia with regard to multipath tolerance and sensitivity is minor - the antenna, cable and connection being far more important. If you have a Meijer store where you live, they still sell a converter box - AccessHD, better than the Apex, very sensitive, but not quite the multipath tolerance of the Zenith/Insignia, Sansonic, Zinwell or Magnavox/Philco (still much better then the old RCA ATSC-11, however) (Robert Grant, 17 April, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See BELGIUM; CANADA; GERMANY; LUXEMBOURG; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NEW ZEALAND; UK; C&C; REF: Walsh DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See CANADA +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ GCHQ complains about PLT --- 'Threat to GCHQ spying' from broadband networks. Technology meant to spread broadband access is likely to endanger British lives and national security, according to a document that emerged from GCHQ, the signals intelligence agency. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/8516912/Threat-to-GCHQ-spying-from-broadband-networks.html (From Tuesday's Daily Telegraph via Chris Greenway, May 18, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ F2 waking up, but only to 28 MHz so far. Daily F2 noted here: Dominican Republic 2-way radio 26.52 / 26.54 / 26.555 LSB Jamaican bootlegger (cb/ham-wannabe) 27.515 & 27.535 LSB Mexican Beacons XE1FAS and XE1RCS 28.171 / 28.183 California Beacon WA6MHZ 28.279 (miskeying as MA6MHZ) Looking forward to the MUF cracking 30 Megs. Solar flux is down from the 150 peak a while back. (William R Hepburn (VEM3ONT22), Grimsby ON CAN 43 10 59.4 -79 33 34.5 http://dxinfocentre.com/hepburn/ 21 March, WTFDA via DXLD) It's been rolling here, also. As you point out, though, 28 MHz seems to be close to the top right now. And, that's not surprising. My experience has been (others may have slightly different experience) that 28 MHz starts getting interesting as SFI approaches 100. Below that, the east/west paths seem to drop out. For 6m (50 MHz) to perk up, it seems that the magic number is somewhere around 200. Sure, some of the guys at low latitudes will work a little TEP, but that's about all. Reports are that SFI will ramp back up a bit over the next week, or so. There are some active spots on the far side of the Sun that should be rotating into Earth view. Let's hope so, anyway. (Peter, N4LI, Baskind, J.D., LL.M., Germantown TN, 901-624-5295 ibid.) Yip, can't wait for what could be our last good crack at F2 TV. I've been running Perseus with CW Skimmer & Spot Collector all day on 28 MHz and have managed to get many new beacons automatically over the past few days from Brazil, Peru, Spain, France, Italy & Greece. But when checking the band manually, the MUF seems stuck at 28.5 MHz. I haven't had any FM repeaters in the 29.6 MHz range yet so far. The day-to-day consistency is a good sign though. wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) EUROPEAN BAND I TRANSMITTERS STILL ACTIVE On 28MHz (10 Meters) I worked Venado Island at noon (CDT) today, and heard just minutes ago KH6CB station in Hawaii. SF is now at 117 and rising, hopefully as summer arrives the level will rise enough to allow F2 skip on 50 MHz (6 meters) and those countries still using Band I VHF analog TV (Fritze H Prentice, Jr., AR, March 28, WTFDA via DXLD) There was a list published on Skywaves this morning but the only stations I could find of any probability are: PORTUGAL: E2: RTP 1, Muro, 40kW E3: RTP 1, Lousa, 60kW (55.25) and ICELAND: - E3: RUV, Stykkisholmur, 90kW (55.25) - E4: RUV, Skalafell, 300kW - E4: RUV, Gagnheidi, 80kW There are transmitters in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa but the probability of seeing any of those is pretty remote. The good thing about the E3s and E4s is you can get them on a TV with US standards. E4 is just below our ch4 in frequency, so the video ought to be seen with a lot of luck. The whole list is at http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?12097,684481 and updated on the 7th (today). Something to dream about today. (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT USA, 7 April, WTFDA via DXLD) Don't forget the R1 transmitters. The guy in Maine K1TOL often has them coming in very very strongly on his ham gear before the E2's. Frequencies to look for are 49.739,49.744,49.750 Also look here http://www.g0che.co.uk/tv_info.php Antenna to build for E2/R1 http://www.wtfda.info/attachment.php?attachmentid=1575&d=1153878590 TEP from Africa and South America here in Portugal as I type this. (Mr Hugh Hoover, ibid.) Hugh also has streaming video going at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/hughtest and I caught about 20 minutes of Es from Italy to Portugal. Right now he has audio from an African carrier on 48.2497mhz. This is definitely interesting stuff nobody in N. America has ever seen or heard. (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT USA, 25 April, ibid.) BDXC PROPAGATION REPORT JUNE 2011 with James Welsh propagation @ bdxc.org.uk Links: http://www.jameswelsh.org.uk Propagation Summary May began with sunspot numbers of 115 dropping to 110 for 5 days on the 6th, then by the end of May sunspot numbers had dropped to 105. The Boulder A and K indices have remained at their 'norm' of 5 and 2 during May, except for the 9th and 10th, with a peak of 15. May should finish with a rise to 15 once more. Sunspot numbers in June should start at 105 but are likely to drop to as low as 92 by Jun 13. The A and K indices should peak at 12 and 4 by June 11th. According to the trend charts at: http://www.solarham.com/sunspots.htm the predicted sunspot numbers were back to predicted levels during April but sunspot numbers are likely to have fallen back by the end of May. From: http://www.wm7d.net/hamradio/solar/27d_forecast.shtml Maximum Usable Frequencies The estimated MUF's for Western Europe, are 4 MHz (0100-0400), 5 MHz (0500-0600), 6Mhz (0700-1000), 7 MHz (1100-1800), 6 MHz (1900-2200) and 5 MHz (2300-0000). (Times in UTC). This and other regional estimates can be found at: http://hfradio.org/fot_7.html [these are really OWFs, not MUFs, meaning within Western Europe only] Sporadic E The Sporadic E season should be under way from around 1st May. Look for short skip on 15 and 10m. More details about sporadic E and HF propagation can be found in Steve Nichols' blog and Podcast at: http://g0kya.blogspot.com/ Summertime Sporadic E, or Es as it's often referred to, is one of the most exciting VHF propagation modes. This is especially true when the MUF reaches 144 MHz. Below is a guide to Summertime Sporadic E, what to listen for and how to work the DX. What is Sporadic E? There are three layers to the ionosphere F, D and E. We all know about the importance of the F layer to HF propagation and the way in which it refracts radio waves making world wide communication possible. The D layer and the E layer play little part in this, indeed they can have a detrimental effect to HF conditions by absorbing the transmitted signal before it reaches the F layer. This is particularly true of the E layer when it is heavily ionised. During the summer months from May to September but in particular June and July, very intense clouds of ionization can occur. While not good for HF it does mean that VHF signals can be refracted by these clouds allowing contacts way in excess of the normal VHF range. The cause of this intense ionization is unknown and of course very sporadic in nature. But some aspects have a degree of probability and with careful monitoring of the VHF range a good indication of a likely opening can be gained. Openings are more likely to occur early in the morning, early afternoon and in the evening although they can occur at almost any time. From http://g3vre.org.uk/ES.asp (Chippenham and District ARC) Solar Cycle Prediction The current prediction for Sunspot Cycle 24 gives a smoothed sunspot number maximum of about 69 in June of 2013. We are currently over two and a half years into Cycle 24. Two consecutive months with average daily sunspot numbers in the 50s has raised the predicted maximum above the 64.2 for the Cycle 14 maximum in 1907. The predicted size would make this the smallest sunspot cycle in over 100 years. Predicting the behaviour of a sunspot cycle is fairly reliable once the cycle is well underway (about 3 years after the minimum in sunspot number occurs. Prior to that time the predictions are less reliable but nonetheless equally as important. Planning for satellite orbits and space missions often require knowledge of solar activity levels years in advance. (NASA Solar Physics) http://solarscience.msfc.nasa.gov/predict.shtml Links to these articles and more can be found at http://www.jameswelsh.org.uk (James Welsh, May 18, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Es AND SEVERE WEATHER LINK/NON-LINK: A PROJECT Hi all, So all this debate about severe weather coinciding with Es and their being a possible linkage between the two has inspired me enough to try and start looking into a couple of things. There's a lot of upper-air and, what we call, reanalysis data available now online that can make looking at anything weather related since 1950 possible (not perfect, but as close to it as possible right now). How to go about this, I don't know; but I want to try and see if anything sticks out. I will say flat out that I don't think this will be conclusive at all. I think the Es/Weather link is more a function of them coinciding the same time of year more than anything else, and the real meat and potatoes lies somewhere else, outside the troposphere. I think the most obvious place to start are the biggest events people can recall. I'm fairly new to the hobby. I did trop for awhile, but I didn't know quite what I was doing; then in like 2006, I experienced Es for the first time and became hooked (FM Es really only). By no means do I consider myself that knowledgeable on the mechanics of Es. I know generally how it works, but not much beyond that. I would like to use my meteorology background though to see if anything in the upper atmosphere stands out (If there is a linkage, I imagine it to be there moreso than something at the surface, i.e.: specific t'storms) on days that large Es openings occur; or if certain paths open in certain situations, etc. So with the bigger events in mind, what I want and/or need though from anyone willing to share that's interested enough is *a list of your top 5 or 10 or so Es days that you have records from: the dates, times (if you have them), your location, and the logs.* It can be over any period of time. I know a lot of folks have records that go back to long before I was born. Anything post-1950 flies, though the more recent, the better chances of getting more information on the upper atmosphere/weather those days. I want to focus just on FM if possible, as it's what I'm most familiar with. I know a lot of people do TV exclusively, but I figure this is easiest for now instead of working in discussions or debate about MUF, etc. You could go many different directions with this, and I just want to stay in FM. Email those to me at my email address here (mattlanza@gmail.com). You don't have to email them to the list if you don't want to clog up everyone's inbox. You can paste the logs in an email, text/Word file, Excel file, whatever works easiest for you. Like I said, I have very low expectations about this (as I'm sure many others do as well), but I am curious enough that I want to look into at least to satisfy my own curiosity, if not other people's. I can't guarantee this will be done in a week, 2 weeks, or 2 months, but I am going to work on it during dead Es periods, quiet work periods, and when I'm not traveling this summer. I'll share whatever I do find with the list somehow, some way at some point. Thanks a lot, and good DXing! (Matt Lanza, Jacksonville, FL (formerly Pasadena, CA), WTFDA via DXLD) Keep in mind that all (and I do mean all) VUDs since January 1980 are stored in .pdf form at http://www.wtfda.org The older ones are scanned; all eVUD .pdfs are there. These are grouped by decades (80s, 90s...etc...) The archives can be a great tool for you to use in your research. You can go through all of the FM DX reports there, find the dates, times and logs you need and go from there. These reports should make the job much easier. People tend to forget that all that stuff is there and you are already registered there (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.) I'd just recommend to be aware of the inherent flaws of DX reports as a basis for a study. For example, a few things that come to mind are: - Data is likely more skewed towards afternoon and evening since a larger percentage of DX'ers are at the dials at that time - Overnight Es data is likely under-reported since we are often sleeping and/or not checking for Es - WTFDA membership in the west has always been sparser than the east. The west gets comparatively less severe weather, but the sparser membership would make it difficult to draw conclusions on the amount of Es that occurs. This is why I hold Ernest K. Smith's research in such high regard. Granted, that research was from several decades ago, but it was based on 24/7 ionosonde readings of FoEs from many locations over a long period. Also, if we limit this study to the 'biggest' events, as suggested, I think it will be very difficult to discern much of use. The biggest events tend to be widespread and roving, so it would be easier to correlate severe weather somewhere in the country with the mid-point or end-point of an Es path. I'm not saying it is impossible to get useful data with this approach, but I do think obtaining conclusive results will be difficult and require a fair amount of thought and consideration. FWIW, there is a lot of ionosonde data available on the web. I used to maintain a page linking to those that I knew of: http://www.amfmdx.net/fmdx/ionosonde.html Most of the links on that page are now dead, however, the majority can be found here: http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ftpdir/lists/iono_day/ This data is not without its flaws either - some sites only post hourly measurements; some go offline for days at a time; and some have been permanently decommissioned. But perhaps data such as this will be useful to someone. -mike (Michael Hawk, ibid.) ROBERT HELLIWELL, RADIOSCIENCE AND MAGNETOSPHERE EXPERT, DEAD AT 90 http://www.scientificcomputing.com/news-DS-Robert-Helliwell-Radioscience-and-Magnetosphere-Expert-Dead-at-90-052311.aspx Melissae Fellet Courtesy of Stanford News Service Robert Helliwell, an emeritus professor of electrical engineering, was remembered as “a man of great ideas and inventiveness.” Robert Helliwell pioneered the study of how radio waves – both those naturally generated by lightning and manmade signals from a radio transmitter in Antarctica – interact with charged particles in the upper atmosphere. Late one night in 1950, a graduate student was monitoring radio waves emitted by distant lightning when strange descending whistling tones came from a speaker. The student, Jack Mallinckrodt, mentioned the experience to his adviser, Robert Helliwell. "I suggested that if he took a short vacation perhaps the sounds would go away," Helliwell wrote in an article for the October 1982 issue of Stanford Engineer. "But he didn't and they didn't. My curiosity was finally aroused and I spent a late night with Jack at the receiving station. Luckily, we both heard two distinct whistlers and I was instantly converted to belief in the reality of a strange new phenomenon." This chance observation started Helliwell on decades of research that led him from Stanford to Antarctica as he followed these mysterious radio noises and later sought to reproduce them with a transmitter. Through this work, he made fundamental discoveries about how radio waves can be used to investigate the ionized atmosphere high above Earth's surface. "He was a pioneer," said Don Carpenter, professor emeritus of electrical engineering and one of Helliwell's colleagues. "He did some of the earliest observations and interpretations of phenomena in our field." Helliwell was born Sept. 2, 1920, in Red Wing, Minn. His father died when Helliwell was young. To escape the cold weather, his mother moved with him to Palo Alto, where she worked as a librarian for many years. Helliwell earned his bachelor's, master's and doctoral degrees from Stanford and joined the faculty in the Department of Electrical Engineering in 1946. Helliwell died on May 3 in Palo Alto of complications from dementia. He was 90. A service will be held at Stanford Memorial Church on June 7 at 3 p.m. He changed the direction of his research after encountering "whistlers," the name given to the very low frequency radio waves that he heard with Mallinckrodt that night in 1950. This natural event, which he described as "weird, strange and unbelievable as flying saucers" to a reporter for the Palo Alto Times in 1954, fascinated Helliwell for the rest of his career. His son David Helliwell said his father would often whistle a whistler. Radio waves zoom around the Earth by bouncing off charged particles in the upper atmosphere. High-frequency signals from AM or FM radio stations travel between the Earth and the ionosphere, the partially ionized layer of the atmosphere that begins about 50 miles above the ground. Very low frequency (VLF) radio waves shoot past the ionosphere and into the next region of space, the magnetosphere. Here, the atmosphere is completely ionized. The Earth's magnetic field controls the motions of charged particles, creating channels of ions aligned with the horseshoe-shaped magnetic field lines. These channels trap VLF radio waves, guiding them between opposite hemispheres along a path that reaches up to 15,000 miles from the surface. Conducted international experiments In 1957, Helliwell arranged one of the first experimental tests of this effect by using signals from a powerful communication transmitter. At a prearranged time, the VLF transmitter in Annapolis, Md., broadcast a series of pulses that traveled along a guided path in the magnetosphere. About one second later, a receiver placed in Chile by a graduate student detected the signals. Soon Helliwell was using these manmade radio waves, as well as naturally occurring whistlers from lightning, to sense the properties of the charged particles that the waves encountered along their high-altitude paths. Helliwell had some receivers at the Stanford campus to detect natural whistlers, but electrical noise from the city power lines interfered with his work. In 1957, he traveled to Antarctica to scout a new research site. The frozen continent provided the quiet conditions needed to detect interesting signals and transmit controlled waves. With a team of students and staff, he built a radio transmitter with a 13-mile long antenna at Siple Station, located on a mile-thick ice sheet in West Antarctica. There, researchers sent radio waves into the magnetosphere, where they traveled along a charged channel to receivers in Canada. It was "like a lab experiment in space," said Carpenter, who knew Helliwell for 55 years. The transmitted radio waves were amplified along their journey and often triggered waves at new frequencies. "Helliwell's crowning achievement was establishing the VLF transmitter in Antarctica," Carpenter said. The Stanford Radio Science Laboratory conducted ionospheric and magnetospheric experiments at Siple Station from 1971 until it closed in 1988. Today Stanford graduate students in the VLF Group are still analyzing data from that research. Helliwell wrote what is considered a classic work on whistlers, Whistlers and Related Ionospheric Phenomena. He is the namesake for the Helliwell Hills, an Antarctic mountain range along the coast of Victoria Land on the Ross Sea. "He was a man of great ideas and inventiveness," said Evans Paschal, one of Helliwell's students during the 1970s. An immense sense of curiosity Inquisitiveness seemed to be a hallmark of Helliwell's work. In 1986, he told a Stanford reporter that he studied the magnetosphere to satisfy his curiosity. And a career of surprising results gave him plenty to ponder. “He took a scientific approach to everything," said his son David, recalling family discussions at the dinner table. "If you voiced an opinion, you'd better be able to back it up." He encouraged his children to think carefully and creatively. "His mantra was 'Make no assumptions,'" said his son Brad. "He always got us thinking about the engineering aspects of things." Brad Helliwell remembers his father teaching him about electrical filters using a rake and a pile of rocks. Small rocks slipped through the tines of the rake, but large rocks were trapped. "I'll never forget that," he said. Robert Helliwell won the Antarctic Service Medal in 1966 and the Appleton Prize of the Royal Society of London in 1972, awarded for distinguished research in ionospheric physics. He was a fellow of the American Geophysical Union, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and chair of one of the Commissions of the International Union of Radio Science (URSI). Helliwell came to Stanford as an undergraduate one year before his high school sweetheart, Jean (née Perham). He joined the fencing team and encouraged her to do the same. She went on to become the university's first woman fencing coach. They had been married for 59 years at the time of her death in 2001. He was also active in the community, participating in the Kiwanis Club and serving as the Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 51, founded at Stanford in 1923, for several years. He often took the family on camping trips in the Sierra. Helliwell is survived by his sons, Bradley of Sedona, Ariz., David of Arcata, Calif., and Richard of Colorado Springs, Colo.; his daughter, Donna, of Sunnyvale; four grandchildren and one great-grandchild. (via Kevin Redding, May 23, ABDX via DXLD) Same: http://news.stanford.edu/news/2011/may/robert-helliwell-obit-052011.html (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to active levels, with an isolated minor storm levels at high latitudes during 16-17 May. During this time, wind speeds ranged from 428-610 km/s, while Bt ranged from 11 to 2 nT, and Bz ranged from -6 to 7 nT. The increase in activity was due to a favorably positioned coronal hole high-speed stream. Activity decreased to quiet levels for the rest of the period. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 25 MAY - 20 JUNE 2011 Solar activity is expected to be very low, with a slight chance for low levels between 25-30 May. Activity is expected to increase to very low to low levels during the rest of the period, when old Region 1208 returns during the rest of the period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal to moderate levels. High levels are expected during 29 May - 06 June. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet levels on 25 May. Activity is expected to increase to quiet to active levels, with isolated minor storm levels at high latitudes during 26-30 May, due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Activity is expected to decrease to predominantly quiet levels during 31 May - 10 June. Activity is expected to increase to during 11 - 12 June due to a recurrent coronal hole high-speed stream. Quiet levels are expected for the rest of the period. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2011 May 24 1842 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 2011-05-24 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2011 May 25 85 5 2 2011 May 26 85 8 3 2011 May 27 85 12 4 2011 May 28 80 15 4 2011 May 29 80 12 4 2011 May 30 80 10 3 2011 May 31 80 8 3 2011 Jun 01 85 5 2 2011 Jun 02 90 5 2 2011 Jun 03 90 5 2 2011 Jun 04 90 5 2 2011 Jun 05 85 5 2 2011 Jun 06 85 8 3 2011 Jun 07 85 8 3 2011 Jun 08 90 5 2 2011 Jun 09 90 5 2 2011 Jun 10 90 5 2 2011 Jun 11 90 12 4 2011 Jun 12 90 12 4 2011 Jun 13 90 8 3 2011 Jun 14 85 5 2 2011 Jun 15 85 5 2 2011 Jun 16 85 5 2 2011 Jun 17 85 5 2 2011 Jun 18 80 5 2 2011 Jun 19 80 5 2 2011 Jun 20 80 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1566, DXLD) ###