DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-27, July 7, 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 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 1572 headlines: *DRM or not from Bulgaria, Spain, Vatican *Time signals from Finland, Japan *English from Greece, Oman, Uganda *More news about Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Madagascar, Malaysia/Sarawak, Mexico, Myanmar, Netherlands, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Portugal, Russia non, UK, USA, unidentified SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1572, July 7-13, 2011 Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 [confirmed on webcast] Thu 1500 WRMI 9955 Thu 2100 WRMI 9955 [confirmed on webcast] Thu 2100 WTWW 9479 [NEW, confirmed, not on webcast] Thu 2130 WBCQ 7415 [NEW, confirmed on webcast] Fri 0330 WWRB 5051 [ex-5050] Fri 0500 WRMI 9955 [NEW] Fri 1430 WRMI 9955 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1500 WRMI 9955 Sat 1730 WRMI 9955 Sun 0400 WTWW 5755 [NEW] Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WRMI 9955 Sun 1730 WRMI 9955 Mon 0300 WBCQ 5110v-CUSB [NEW] Mon 1130 WRMI 9955 Mon 1530 WRMI 9955 Mon 2130 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 1530 WRMI 9955 Wed 2130 WBCQ 7415 Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html or http://schedule.worldofradio.org or http://sked.worldofradio.org For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://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. June 27, 1046-1058 male and female in English religious talks “God created plants, the seas”, gospel music, male announcements on music “www.knls”, religious pop music. 35433 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11870, after good reception of KNLS June 29 and audible reception June 30 of the 1200 English hour: July 1 at 1241 it`s nothing but a JBA carrier. Yet much further Asian signals from close to the same azimuth as Anchor Point continue to be heard, e.g. Pet/Kam, Japan, Taiwan with YFR 11535. Plus numerous signals from China over even higher latitudes. Something else strange is going on at KNLS affecting wide reception variations here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA. 4949.76 Radio Nacional, Luanda with Portuguese talk 1934 28/6, the best reception so far this winter. Still audible at weak level 2030 UT (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4950, R. Nacional de Angola, Mulenvos. June 28, 2235-2245 male in Portuguese talks, African music, female talks. Distorted audio by strong het, 32432 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, RN Arcángel, San Gabriel. 06/27 at 1322, 1425; 06/28 at 1437; 06/29 at 1348; 06/30 at 1322 no signal (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I am no longer non-reporting this every weekday altho I may surreptitiously check 15476 once during the span (gh) ** ANTARCTICA [non]. Re 11-26: UNITED KINGDOM [and non]. 7295, BBC via Rampisham with special mid-winter broadcast 2130 21/6 for the 43 people wintering over at Halley Antarctic Base and Bird Island. Very good & clear // Skelton 9850 good, Ascension 7360 poor. Included special messages from Michael Palin (off to film his next TV series in Brazil), Eddie Izzard and Brian Cox (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. THE RADIO SCENE IN ARGENTINA On the wireless scene, it was on August 4, 1906, that the Argentine Marconi Company was formed for business in both Argentina & Uruguay. Four years later, Marconi himself visited Buenos Aires in Argentina, and while there he installed a rudimentary transmission device, which included a kite for use as the aerial, and a set of earphones. The location was the southern suburb of Bernal and the year was 1910. With this simple apparatus, Marconi succeed in communicating with Canada & Ireland. During the year 1910, an official list of wireless stations shows a total of eight on the air throughout Argentina, including a fixed facility at this same Bernal location under the callsign MBL. Construction work for a huge new wireless station at Monte Grande, some 12 miles from Buenos Aires, began in 1918. The main transmitting station was developed on a property of 1200 acres, and two low frequency transmission alternators were installed. The antenna system for this wireless giant, nearly two miles in length, was supported on ten towers imported from France & Germany, each 680 ft tall. The counterpoise earthing system consisted of a buried network of wires, as well as a system of wires, 30 ft above ground level. The Monte Grande Wireless Station was officially opened for international service in January 1924 under the callsign LPZ. The corresponding stations in overseas countries were located in New York, Paris & Berlin. The receiver station in Argentina was located at Villa Eliza, 20 miles from Buenos Aires. The two Alexanderson alternators installed at the Monte Grande communication station were in continuous usage until they were de- commissioned seven years later in 1931. By that time, a bevy of shortwave transmitters had been installed at this location. The broadcast of radio programming had a very early beginning in Argentina. A man by the name of Enrique Susini, together with three friends, established a make shift radio studio in the Teatro Coliseo in Buenos Aires which was under renovation at the time. They constructed a small 5 watt radio transmitter, erected an antenna wire from the theatre building to the dome of a neighboring building, and hooked in a microphone normally used by people with a hearing loss. At 8:30 pm on August 27, 1920, the opening announcement was made in the Spanish language stating that the Radio Argentina Society was presenting the opera Parsifal by Richard Wagner. This live radio broadcast was taken from the stage of the theatre and it was heard by an estimated radio audience of less than 20 people, including a ship way up north off the coast of Brazil. The local newspaper, La Razon, published a raving review of the event, and the President of the nation, Hipolito Yrigoyen, commended the group for their initiative in producing Argentina’s first radio broadcast. During the next 19 days, many more radio broadcasts were presented over the little 5 watt transmitter and temporary aerial wire, including two of Verdi’s operettas, Aida & Rigoletto. Over a period of time, Radio Argentina grew until it became a widespread network throughout the whole nation, until its demise ¾ of a century later, at the end of December 1997. These days, Argentina is on the air from 1½ thousand AM mediumwave and FM radio stations that provide virtually total coverage to the entire population of their country. According to the World Radio TV Handbook, Radio Nacional operates two high powered mediumwave stations at 100 kW each, LRA1 on 870 kHz for capital city coverage & LRA7 on 750 kHz at Cordoba, for regional coverage inland in the center of the northern part of the country. In our program next week, we will present the shortwave story in Argentina, including the development of their international broadcasting station RAE, as well as the network of Voice of America, VOA, relay stations in Argentina. We will also call the listener, Jean Barbat in France, who made the request for this particular feature. (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for April 17 via DXLD) RETURN TO ARGENTINA: ARGENTINA ON SHORTWAVE RAE In our program today, we continue on from where we left off last week in the story of wireless and radio in Argentina. You will remember also that this was in response to a request from Jean Barbat in Beaumont, France; and so we take up the story today, with the shortwave radio scene. It was somewhere around the late 1920s that the first radio broadcasts from Argentina were noted on shortwave. At the time, there were two shortwave communication stations active, one at Monte Grande and the other at Hurlingham. The subsequent callsigns at Monte Grande were:- LQA LQB LQC LSA LSC & LSD, and we would suggest therefore that six shortwave transmitters were in operation, each rated at probably 10 kW. The subsequent callsigns at Hurlingham were:- LQR LSL LSM LSN & LSP, and we would suggest therefore that five shortwave transmitters were in operation, each rated, again, at probably 10 kW. It is noted that there were occasional shortwave broadcasts on the air from both locations, Monte Grande & Hurlingham, usually for special occasions, and sometimes there were occasional relays of mediumwave programs for network relay to country locations. Around the same era, some of the mediumwave stations in Argentina were also installing their own shortwave transmitters. One of the well heard communication transmitters that often carried radio programming during the 1930s was the 10 kW LSX on 10350 kHz. This station was operated by Transradio Internacional and they issued attractive QSL cards to listeners in North America, Europe & the South Pacific for these broadcasts. All through these eras, the total number of shortwave broadcast stations on the air in Argentina in any one year was usually around a dozen, with most of them and sometimes all of them, as part of the government owned radio networks. Among the well known shortwave networks were:- Radio El Mundo LRU at 7½ kW & LRX at 10 kW Radio del Estrado LRA at 1 kW & 10 kW Radio Splendid LRS at 10 kW Radio Belgrano with callsigns LRY 5 kW in Argentina, & ZPA 5 kW in Paraguay The official government operated international shortwave service was inaugurated on April 11, 1949 with the usage of two transmitters rated at 50 kW each. Nine years later, this international broadcasting service was renamed as Radiodifusion Argentina al Exterior, RAE Internacional. Programming was taken from mediumwave LRA with studios in the Central Post Office building, though a new self contained studio building was constructed in 1980. In 1977, a Harris 100 kW transmitter was added to the facility known as the General Pacheco Transmitter Plant. Then, six years later again, RAE took over the five shortwave transmitters, rated at 1 kW, 7½ kW, & 10 kW, that were previously on the air as Radio El Mundo. These days, RAE is listed with three shortwave transmitters, two at 50 kW & one at 100 kW; and, as was stated recently, they did not close their international shortwave broadcasting service at the end of last year after all. RAE has always been noted as a good verifier of listener reception reports. VOICE OF AMERICA RELAYS IN ARGENTINA It is probable that every radio broadcasting station in Argentina, mediumwave & shortwave, carried a relay of programming from the Voice of America in Washington DC in those earlier years. During the early 1940s, the shortwave programming from NBC in New York was relayed off air by 130 stations in South America, including Argentina; Crosley programming in Cincinnati was relayed by 28 stations; and CBS had their relay network down there also. From February 1, 1942 onwards, all of this relay programming formed a part of the Voice of America network. Beginning on May 4, 1942, the VOA took out a specific 13 week relay via the eleven station network of Radio El Mundo in Argentina, and this included shortwave LRX with two transmitters rated at 7 kW & 10 kW. Then, in May 1943 for example, station LSN2, a feeder transmitter at Hurlingham, was noted in New Zealand on 9890 kHz with a relay from CBS in New York. This had to be a VOA program produced by CBS, and it would appear that Buenos Aires was relaying this programming on shortwave for rebroadcast by local mediumwave stations in countryside areas (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for April 23 via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 1610, R. Fosil – new station from Rosario. E-mail: iacom @ satlink.com Logged on 1610.15 (Rubén Guillermo Margenet, Argentina, ARC SOUTH AMERICAN NEWS DESK July 2011, Tore B. Vik, MYSEN, Norway, ed., via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 15344.2v, RAE, 2058, July 4. Heard IS and multi-language IDs after Morocco signed off on 15345.16; from 2122 to 2128 assume Actualidad DX program with YL in Spanish giving several frequencies; started and ended program with usual Morse code; poor; by 2206 was stronger and on 15344.13v (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) also see MOROCCO ** ARGENTINA. [Locating a certain reporter previously quoted]. Miguel, por favor me podes decir que equipamiento tenes y en donde estas ubicado geograficamente asi lo aclaro en la seccion sintonizando el dial gracias un saludo [sic] (Ernesto Paulero, Argentina, condiglist yg via DXLD) Ernesto: Te paso los datos requeridos: - Ubicación Geográfica: Godoy Cruz (Gran Mendoza) - Equipamiento: * Receptor: Kenwood R-2000 * Sintonizador de Antena: Palstar * Antena: hilo largo. Un abrazo (Miguel Castellino, ibid.) ** ASIA [non]. July 6 at 0528, W Pacific was favored on 16m, with RFA via NMI good on 17855, less good on // 17615, even worse on // 15615. At 0530 they played a snatch of the ``Palladio Suite`` by Karl Jenkins, made famous by DeBeers diamond commercials (whatever happened to those?). This is a regular theme on RFA programming, at least around this hour as frequently heard in lieu of a Chinese ID (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Hi Glenn, Propagation has recently been very good every other day (25th, 27th, 29th and 1st). Rather a strange cycle. 2325, VL8T Tennant Creek NT, 1227, July 1. After a short absence that are back on the air again! // 2485 VL8K ABC Katherine NT and 2310 VL8A Alice Springs NT. 3210 // 5050, Ozy Radio, randomly 1110 to 1257, July 1. Definitely //; so Craig Allen has not packed up the transmitters yet for the supposed move to a new location; pop songs (Rod Stewart “You're In My Heart”, etc.); Australian announcer; 5050 slightly higher in frequency than BBR on 5050.0 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ozy Radio, 5050.06, 1 July, 0650-0830 at various checks, carrier noted for the umpteenth time, but so far I've never heard more than trace audio (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur, K9AY antenna, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3210, Ozy Radio, 1247, July 5. Pop songs; “This Diamond Ring” by Gary Lewis and The Playboys; one of the better receptions for this frequency; // 5050+ with BBR QRM. 5050+, Ozy Radio, randomly from 1243 to 1417, July 6. Continues to have decent reception; The Chordettes “Mister Sandman”, The Zombies “She's Not There”, Tom Jones “The Full Monty” and Nina Simone “Sinnerman” (song from the Thomas Crown Affair movie); frequent IDs (“This is Ozy Radio”, “You are listening to Ozy Radio”, etc.); QRM from stronger than normal BBR (China); // very weak 3210 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. 9580, July 3 at 1025, RA with Philip Adams interviewing author of book ``The Last Empress`` about Chiang Kai-Shek and his women. So is `Late Night Live` back on RA? No! ``Live Talk`` is scheduled from 08 to 11, and they were merely playing back a segment of LNL, ending at 1038 and into sporting report (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13570, R. Australia, site unknown. Another ring-in with an English talk about the Christchurch earthquakes. Fading in and out of the noise at 0610, 14/6. Not listed and // with 13630 and 13690 (Dennis Allen, Milperra NSW (Icom R75, Realistic DX160, Dipole), July Australian DX News via DXLD) Some sort of mixing product, perhaps –cs (Craig Seager, ed., ibid.) Not just some sort, but a typical leapfrog, 60 kHz lower. Never noticed here tho 13690 and 13630 often strong (gh, DXLD) [non]. 17800, July 6 at 0528 fair signal with pop music until 0530* without any announcements. Must be scheduled RA in Indonesian due west from PALAU at 0500-0530. 17750 with RA direct from Shep was only poor, or was it VOA Madagascar instead of usual SSOB status? At 0528 July 6, W Pacific was favored, see also ASIA [non]. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See U A E ** AUSTRALIA. 15400, HCJB, Kununurra. English ID at 1528 on 04/6. Close/down at 1530 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF-2001, 16m Marconi antenna), July Australian DX News via DXLD) ?? 15400 has been closing at 1300*. It`s the other frequency, 15340 which stays on until 1530*. Mixup at Sofia, or Kununurra? (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 6676, Volmet broadcast, fair 1 July, 0700 with computer- generated woman's voice giving aviation weather for various Aussie cities (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur, K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4796, Radio Lípez, Uyuni, very strong 0817 with non-stop Andean pops 6/6, ident over music at 0820. Frequency measured as 4795.96 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 5950, R Pio XII, Siglo XX, Cochabamba, 25/06, 1255/1320, 44444, programa en dialecto, parece aymara, ID “Radio Pío XII, Siglo XX, Cochabamba`` (en español), continúan en aymara (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Perú, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD; also via Horacio Nigro) ** BOLIVIA. Re 11-26: 6134, Radio Santa Cruz, 7/5, 0100 strong signal, with wrap up of broadcasting day. Numerous ``Radio Santa Cruz`` mentions. 0105 the usual s/off ``Santa Cruz`` vocal song with flutes and off 0108 (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, NASWA yg via DXLD) Usually reported on 6134.8, so should be rounded off to 6135, not 6134 (gh, DXLD) ** BONAIRE [and non]. Problema con antena en RNW Bonaire, y la decisión del parlamento sobre RNW Un mensaje a todos los miembros de Cartas@RN Estimados todos, Entre el martes 28 y el miércoles 29, una de nuestras antenas en RNW Bonaire se afectó seriamente; esto siginifica que nuestra emisión de la mañana de La Matinal, de las 1100 UT ha sido redirigida hacia otra antena, que puede significar una recepción dificultosa sobre todo en el area de Cuba. La reparación tomara algunas semanas, pero RN lo tomará en serio, aunque se haya anunciado la reducción y posibre cierre de todas las transmisiones de onda corta. Por otro lado informarles que previsiblemente la decisión del Parlamento sobre tres mociones a favor de RNW y su futuro será hoy jueves, pero puede extendense para después de las vacaciones de la Cámara Baja, para septiembre. Saludos cordiales, RNW y Cartas @ RN Visitar Cartas@RN en: http://cartas.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network (via Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Jun 30, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 3325, Rádio Mundial now regular, poor but improving signal 0432 24/6. Comprehensive Portuguese ident at 0500 with mention of “24 horas”. 4878v, Rádio Roraima reactivated, first noted 0925 9/6 with talkback, “bom dia”, popular music tracks, ident 0930. Also audible afternoons around 0300, e.g. to s/off with sung anthem 0405 27/6. 4935.2, Súper Rádio Deus é Amor here 0837 6/6 // 6120 & 9565.24. 5939.9, Rádio Voz Missionária vgd in Portuguese 0424 with internet address 8/6. Exact frequency 5939.86m. Best on USB to avoid WWCR 5935. 9645.4, Rádio Bandeirantes good 0055 in USB 9/6 to avoid het with 9645. Ident and sports promos in Portuguese // 11925.25 poor. 9685v, Rádio Gazeta São Paulo heard 0100 with pop music across the hour at weak level on 9685.04v but better at 0250 recheck. Portuguese ident and address at 0255; followed past 0345 but bad QRM from Chinese stations on 9680 & 9690 9/6. Better after 0400 when 9690 closed. Ident for “Gazeta AM” at 0512 9819.9, Rádio Aparecida relayed by Radio Nove de Julho on 9/6 at very good strength 0254 UT // 5035. Best on LSB to avoid 9820 het from VOBME Eritrea wandering on 31 metres to avoid Ethiopian jammers. “Rádio Nove de Julho em São Paulo” ident 0302 then time pips and multiple references to Aparecida. Blocked by Ethiopian jamming at 0430 recheck. 11765, Súper Rádio Deus é Amor, Curitiba, 2032 good & clear 17/6 with religious program in Portuguese (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 3355, R. Educadora 6 de Agosto, Xapuri (tentativa). No lo había escuchado antes. Al parecer transmite en forma muy irregular. Horario: 1000 UT. Si puedo, les envío algunos audios. Un abrazo (Miguel Castellino, Argentina? June 30, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4865, BRASIL, R. Verdes Floresta[s], Acre, 24/06 0153/0215, 33333, en portugués, ads, px religioso, mx, ID “940 kHz OM e 4865 kHz. Onda tropical, Rádio Verdes Floresta[s], Verde Floresta [sic], Acre, Brasil..” mx (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Perú, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD; also via Horacio Nigro) ** BRAZIL. 6070.01, unID Brazilian station 0855-0920 on 7/5, only audible due to Canadian powerhouse CFRX 6070 being off air this early this morning. (Need to check if this was a random occurrence, or a regular Monday night occurrence, such as for maintenance or licensing reasons.) Brazilian outlet heard with a morning futebol highlights show hosted by OM and YL tandem in Portuguese. Very bad QRN and signal quite weak, but clearly Portuguese and a Brazilian. Seemed like ID at 0902 by OM in eco, which sounded very much like, " . . .está sintonizando Rádio Capital...". But not positive on the ID, for now. Believe this will turn to be R Capital in Rio de Janeiro, last reported heard in 2010. Real tough one to hear in ECNA, thanks to the co-channel Canadian blockbuster (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 15190, Rádio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, 2056-2110, 06- 07, male and female with comments in Portuguese, announcements, sports: "Campeonato Brasileiro, América-Palmeiras", "Esportes Inconfidência", identificación: "Onda média, 880 kHz, ondas curtas de 49 metros, 6010 kHz, ondas curtas de 19 metros, 15190 kHz, emisoras da Rede Inconfidência de Rádio, Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil". 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Lugo, Cantabrian Sea coast, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. From July 1 Radio Bulgaria and BNR HS-1 again on air in DRM mode: Radio Bulgaria 1530-1600 9700 SOF 050 kW / 030 deg to EaEu Russian 1630-1700 9700 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu German 1700-1730 9700 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu French 1730-1800 9700 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu English 1800-1900 9700 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu Bulgarian BNR HORIZONT HS-1 0400-0700 9700 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu Bulgarian, HS-1 Fri 0600-0900 11900 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu Bulgarian, HS-1 Sat/Sun 0900-1200 11900 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu Bulgarian, HS-1 Mon-Thu 0900-0930 11900 SOF 050 kW / 306 deg to WeEu English Euranet Sat/Sun (DX Mix News July 3 via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. 11595, Democratic V. of Burma via Yerevan [Gavar, ARMENIA]. Came on at best strength ever heard on this day when listening conditions at my location are very poor. Program opened at 2330 with male and female speakers in listed Burmese, 2329, 12/6 (Charles Jones, Castle Hill NSW (Sony 2001D with 7m. vertical antenna), July Australian DX News via DXLD) ARMENIA, 11595, Democratic Voice of Burma relay via Yerevan, tone test 2329, native instrumentals 2330 & opening announcements 8/6 including frequency info in presumed Burmese. Measured as 11595.03. Fair to good in clear till closing and anthem at 0029 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. TRAFFIC WOES REVIVE STORIED AMs by James Careless on 06.30.2011 http://radioworld.com/article/traffic-woes-revive-storied-ams/23829 MONTREAL — This city is legendary for its traffic jams, and the problem is about to become worse. Deteriorating highways and bridges are forcing the Ministère des Transports du Québec to make major repairs over the next few years. About 1.3 million drivers will be affected at choke points such as the Turcot Interchange — known locally as "Spaghetti Junction" due to its many levels of ramps — and several bridges that connect to the shores of the St. Lawrence River. This is why Ministère des Transports has struck a deal with Quebec broadcaster Cogeco Diffusion to provide all- traffic radio broadcasts in English and French, using two currently dark AM radio stations. Quebec Minister of Transport Sam Hamad, left, and Vice President of Cogeco Radio Broadcast Richard Lachance [caption] "The Ministère des Transports had planned to install special low- powered transmitters and antennas in the affected areas," said Richard Lachance, senior vice president at Cogeco Diffusion. "But since our company currently has two dormant AM transmitter plants and studios available, we can provide much better coverage and deliver it to AM radios that everyone already has in their cars." "Cogeco providing diffusion, coverage and content will allow MTQ to keep drivers informed about detours and work areas not just in the city itself, but right down to the Canada-U.S. border," added Ministère des Transports spokesperson Mario Saint-Pierre. Frequencies & equipment The medium-wave frequencies selected for the project are 690 kHz and 940 kHz. Both are AM clear channels previously used by public-service broadcaster, Canadian Broadcasting Corp. (CBC), in French and English. In order to deliver better audio, the francophone Radio-Canada station CBF moved from 690 kHz to 95.1 MHz and the anglophone CBC Radio CBM from 940 kHz to 88.5 MHz in the 1990s. The frequencies were then used by Corus Broadcasting, which put all- news French station CINF on 690 kHz and all-news English station CINW on 940 kHz. CINW's history can be traced back to Dec. 1, 1919, when Montreal's Marconi Wireless Co. launched XWA. Short for "Experimental Wireless Apparatus," XWA was one of the world's first commercial radio broadcasters. Lack of listeners convinced Corus to pull the plug on both stations in January 2010, with the licenses being returned to the regulator, the Canadian Radio-Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC). Corus subsequently sold all of its Quebec radio properties to Cogeco Diffusion, including the dark CINF/CINW AM transmitter plants and studios. Once the CRTC grants Cogeco Diffusion's request to revive 690 and 940, these old facilities will transmit and house the province's all- traffic radio stations. At a cost of $3 million (Canadian) a year until 2014, Ministère des Transports will pay Cogeco Diffusion to program and transmit live traffic broadcasts in English and French daily, from 04:30 (06:00 on weekends) to 01:00 at night. The broadcasts will be live, with the hosts using the Ministère des Transports' extensive network of roadside cameras to provide up-to-date reports. "We will cover traffic conditions on the major highways and bridges," said Lachance. "We will tell our listeners which roads to avoid, what the road conditions are like, and where work is being done right now." Late at night The all-traffic stations will also provide highway safety tips and weather information. Lachance estimates that a total staff of 15 people will be needed to operate the two stations together. So why will the stations operate well into the night? "People think that rush hour is the only time when roadwork matters, but given how many truck drivers travel in and out of Montreal, night times also count," said Saint-Pierre. "Besides, in our efforts to minimize the impact on rush hour drivers, we do the majority of our work during off-hours. That's when truckers and other off-hour drivers need our information most." As clear-channel 50,000 W stations, the former CINF and CINW transmitters have the ability to reach west into Ontario, east into the Maritime provinces, and across the southern border into much of New England at night. However, Lachance does not expect the services to operate at full power. "We will exist to serve the Montreal market and outlying areas," he said. "It will be useful to go as far as the Canada-U.S. border [about 44 miles due south], but we won't need 50,000 W to do that." Assuming the CRTC greenlights this proposal — and there are no pressing reasons why it would not approve it — Montreal's two all- traffic stations will go live later in 2011. "We have all the equipment in place, and can get both stations up-and- running in short order," said Lachance. "When this happens, life should hopefully become a bit easier for Montreal's 1.3 million drivers — even with all the road construction under way." (via starship2001, ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. 6070, CFRX Toronto poor to fair in the clear 0541 with weight loss adverts, promos for “The Live Drive 4 till 7 on News talk Radio 10-10, Toronto”. Improved to good at 0850 recheck (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 'The Link' seems to be gone from CBC overnight --- The RCI based program 'The Link' appears to have been removed from the CBC overnight schedule. I have listened to the 03 EDT hour twice on weeknights and have heard BBC programming. Don't bother looking to CBC's web site for an updated sked (Andy Reid, Ont., July 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Radio Canada International changes from June 27: English 2100-2200 on 9800 SAC 070 kW / 268 deg to NoAm in DRM, deleted Portuguese Fri-Sun 2100-2130 on 15455 SAC 250 kW / 163 deg to Brasil, ex 2100-2200 2100-2130 on 17860 SAC 250 kW / 163 deg to Brasil, ex 2100-2200 2200-2230 on 17860 SAC 250 kW / 163 deg to Brasil, ex 2200-2300 2300-2330 on 13760 SAC 250 kW / 163 deg to Brasil, ex 2300-2400 Spanish 2200-2230 on 11990 SAC 250 kW / 176 deg to SoAm, ex 2200-2300 2200-2230 on 15455 SAC 250 kW / 176 deg to SoAm, ex 2200-2300 2300-2330 on 11990 SAC 250 kW / 176 deg to SoAm, ex 2300-2400 2300-2330 on 15455 SAC 250 kW / 176 deg to SoAm, ex 2300-2400 0000-0030 on 11990 SAC 250 kW / 176 deg to SoAm, ex 0000-0100 0000-0030 on 13760 SAC 250 kW / 240 deg to CeAm, ex 0000-0100 0100-0130 on 11990 SAC 250 kW / 189 deg to SoAm, ex 0100-0200 (DX Mix News July 3 via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) 15330, RCI, July 3 at 2010. Music and interview program. Fair. Good afternoon programming, tho would be hard to hear without table-top receiver and long antenna. Nice to hear remaining English from Canada. While it lasts (Rick Barton, El Mirage, AZ, Hammarlund HQ-200, SP-600, Drake R-8, 75' Inverted L, Slinky, ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA [non]. 17495, Sunday July 3 at 1426, gospel huxter in English, poor signal but better than Brother Scare on 17485. The 17495 sked is complex, depending on day of week and different sites for MBR carrying Bible Voice Broadcasting, per HFCC: 1345-1500 Sundays 250 kW, 83 degrees from Issoudun, FRANCE 1400-1500 Saturdays 250 kW, 95 degrees from Nauen, GERMANY (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. NEWFOUNDLAND [and non]. NTV-6 --- Received from Karl Zuk: NTV Newfoundland is dropping their analog Channel 6 transmissions sometime in July and re-appearing in August with DTV on channel 21. No flash cut here! They are not touching any of their analog translators. They will all remain as they are. Take a look at: http://www.ntv.ca/news/hd for details. It sounds like this approach is being followed all over Canada. Some 'richer' groups are doing flash cuts to DTV but it looks like most are only converting the 'essential' main transmitters to DTV - not their elaborate translator networks. This must be a financial decision. Canadian TV as a whole is not making much money as it is! (Via Mike Bugaj, CT, June 1, WTFDA via DXLD) I'm not sure that Karl releases [sic; realizes?] that the 2011 DTV mandate is only for capital cities and metros over 300,000. Reading the website info, it doesn't sound as though the repeaters are going away - they will remain analog for now. The 2011 DTV mandate is only required for St John's. It also doesn't sound like they have ruled out that some of the repeaters may be going digital at a future date. wrh (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) Please see the article in the current VUD. There are still some holes in it, but for the most part... - The "drop-dead date" is August 31st. - Transmitters in "mandatory markets" will be converted to digital. - Transmitters outside "mandatory markets" will continue to operate in analog. - Transmitters above channel 51 will move to lower channels or be shut down. Most of the larger ones will convert. Most of the smaller ones will be closed. - As Bill says, "mandatory markets" are the ten provincial capitals; any market of over 300,000; any market with more than one originating station; and the National Capital Region (Ottawa/Gatineau). A few exceptions... - CBC/Radio-Canada plans to convert only their primary transmitters in mandatory markets. Transmitters located in mandatory markets but which relay primary transmitters elsewhere will not be converted. Since the CRTC will not allow these transmitters to continue to operate in analog, they will be closed. Examples include CBRT-6 channel 10, Lethbridge; CBAT-TV-2 channel 7, Moncton; and CBLN-TV channel 40, London. - The CBC feels they will be able to leave some relay transmitters in the Maritimes operating on channels above 51, if they reduce power sufficiently to convert the transmitters to unprotected low-power stations. - A large number of low-power relay transmitters (of private stations) in Quebec plan to convert, even though they are not required to do so. - As in the U.S., some stations plan to convert early. Channel 2 in Thunder Bay says August 1st, unless it becomes convenient to do it in July. TVO will convert half of the eight transmitters they're converting on August 16th, the other half on the 18th. And of course, plans may vary. The CBC's plan still calls for replacing CBAT-TV, whose analog signal covers both Fredericton and Saint John, with a single transmitter covering only Fredericton. The CRTC has stated this plan is not acceptable, but I've seen nothing from the CBC to suggest any other ideas. Who blinks? -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) ** CANADA. TA Signals --- Hi, Around 1200 UT today there was some Canadian transatlantic reception in Portugal on Channel A2. Posted video on the forum. Any help as to origin would be appreciated. http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?6013-Canadian-Transatlantic-TVDX (Hugh Hoover, Portugal, June 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Hello Hugh: Wow! What a catch! Gerry Nicholls is a commentator with the CTV network. You were watching the network program, "Canada AM." The "Canada AM" logo comes up at 7:20 in your video, and that is the writing you mentioned around 9:00. So you have a CTV Channel 2. I wish I could help you narrow it down a bit further than that, though! (Richard McVicar, AB2FN, On the outskirts of Navarino, New York, ibid.) ** CANADA. Lots of analog TVDX all evening, UT July 1; Happy UT Canada Day! 0156 on 2, from NNW, black-ish screen with credit roll; audio modulation is quite low when almost-fully-quieted. Maybe it`s just the program. 20 kHz CCI (many narrow bars) meaning this one is offset plus or minus 0205 on 2, drama, Global bug LR, plus/minus offset, maybe same as above. Must be CICT Calgary AB, 2+, not CHBC Kelowna BC, 2-zero, which is also above 1400 miles, rarely DXed from here in years past 0208 on 3, soccer. Later found CBC is the net with this. CBCP3 or CBKT7 in southern Sask. 0257 on 4, from NW, Nissan and Walmart ads, soccer in English. Probably CBKT1, Regina. 0302 on 6, 10 kHz CCI, one with drama and CHAT-TV text bug LR, clearly readable. Medicine Hat AB, one of the great callsigns. Took a few shots. http://www.dxinfocentre.com/TV6.pdf shows it as I, for independent? Or City TV? Wish each page had a key to the abbrs. 0307 on 3, CITY TV promo; I thought but don`t find any listed. So easy to confuse with CTV in poor reception. 0316 on 4, still soccer in English // 3, CBCs as above 0356 on 3, soccer, FIFA Women`s World Cup, seems England and/or Canada involved, English-accented commentary. Cannot see any network bug even when good video fades in; but at 0359 closing as CBC. Hoped for local ID but none caught, 0400 into `The National` newscast with Peter Mansbridge, top story being Royal Visit 0415 on 5, car ad, 0417 CBC news // 3. Too many CBCs on 5 in MB, SK, AB to unravel 0422 on 3, French audio finally heard, CBWFT Winnipeg being first choice but seemed further west, maybe one in Saskatchewan or Alberta 0428 on 3, promo or ad in English mentions Saskatchewan. There are two CBC stations there and one CTV. 0428 on 4, Lloyd Robertson anchor is wrapping up `The National` after a semihour, and it is NOT // `The National` on 3 with Peter Mansbridge, which continues! Originating from different centres? No, Googling later, we find that Robertson used to be on CBC but is now on CTV, National news, but not THE National, and is about to retire. Must be CKYB-TV as below. 0429 on 2, local sports mentions dodgeball.com and Global bug; 0430 into `Whatever Happened To?` show about `Family Matters`; 0437 break for Global Winnipeg local news promo. Therefore CKND-TV-2 Minnedosa MB 0430 on 4, CTV news starts, single YL anchor, imagine that! No co- anchor to play off, happy-talk with. She just reads the news with a distinctive accent. About flooding in ND, Brandon MB. 0438 ``CTV news`` definitely, but not national, about Manitoba. 0447 ad for FM station `FAB 94.3``, i.e. CHIQ in Winnipeg, apparently no longer ``The Curve`` as in FM Atlas XXI. This 4 is CKYB-TV in Brandon, satellite of CKY-7 Wpg, or is this newscast really originating from Brandon? This encourages me to start tuning FM too: 0447 on 92.7, easy-listening music, likely CBWS, CBCR2, Brandon MB 0447 on 90.3, classical; FM Atlas XXI has zero stations on 90.3 in MB or ND, let alone anything matching format in the area I also get some FM from North Dakota: see U S A 0449 on 4, UR large ``SKYWATCH``, weather from CTV Winnipeg; CKYB 0531 on 4, `Daily Show` with Bill Kristol guest as seen two hours earlier on Comedy Central cable. Darn Canadians, get to see it free on CTV! Running a bit overtime; offset plus/minus. Still CKYB, I suppose, which is offset + 0533 on 89.5, classical. I have to side tune to 89.45 due to 89.7 local. Maybe KPPR in Williston ND; no MBs on 89.5. Then MUF goes below FM 0543 on 2, glimpse of graphic including CHAT 810 --- not sure what that`s about as there is no CHAT radio on 810 or any AM frequency 0544 on 6, algo from NW 0550 on 3, from NW, YL stand-up comedian, CBC bug 0558, Es still showing, best on channels 4 and 6, gone by 0630 quit. DX Sherlock shows all the 6m Es activity to the north, not south, July 3 at 0115 UT, but I check both direxions to be sure: yes, weak northerly Es; 0136 on channel 2 analog, glimpse of CBC Pizza logo in promo. In and out, mostly out. 0205 on 4, a bit of drama from north, soon gone. Some sporadic E but in and out with rather weak signals: July 3 at 1838 UT on analog channel 3, French with FIFA women`s game. Hard to tell, but seemed a bit NNW, so maybe SK or AB rather than CBWFT Winnipeg due N. The DX Sherlock 6m map showed the main Es patch right over OK, which means that was of no use for us. UT July 4 at 0105 on 2, `Family Guy` from NNE, Global bug LR. Not // Fox OKC KOKH-24, or at least not synchronized, but I think a different episode. 0120 Global promo. This signal is offset plus or minus with narrow 20-kHz beat bars from another. 0143 still on with a Fox toon, same offset. Now it does seem to be same ep as KOKH a few sex apart. Based on direxion, it`s one or both of the two Globals in Ontario. Both CIII2 and CFGC2 are shown as offset plus on the map at http://www.dxinfocentre.com/TV2.pdf But can`t completely rule out CKND2 in Manitoba from north, which is offset minus (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. Pessoal da lista, Neste momento a Rádio NDjámena - Chad - chegando com sinais débeis, porém audíveis em 6165. Segue log 6165 kHz - Radio N´Djamena - Tchad - 0146 UT - FF - 02.07.2011 - 23333 - ID - OM talk in French + music. 73 (Marcelo Pera - PY2AE, Valinhos SP, Dipolo 40 metros PP5UA rotativa 15 mts do solo, IC756PROIII, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ?? Never on the air at this hour; time misconverted? RN Spanish via Bonaire is on 6165 then (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA. CHINA NATIONAL RADIO, CNR 1 A11 May 22, 2011 SW 1955-1735 (not Tue 0600-0850) UT [3-digit numbers are site designators by some system, not keyed; nor is the -b explained after some frequencies. This appears to be the official schedule. CNR1 is axually heard on numerous other frequencies not listed here, i.e. as JAMMERS --- gh] 17890 572 0000-1000(=17725) 17725 723 1000-1200(=7290) 17605 572 0030-1000(=11710) 17595 723 2300-1100(=6125) 17580 725 2330-0900(=11925) 17565 572 0100-0730(=9830) 17550 572 0100-1030(=9845) 15550 572 0000-1100(=7345) 15480 572 0100-1300(=5945) 15380 572 2300-1100(=7275) 15370 723 0100-1100 15270 491 0200-0900(=9775) 13610 954 2300-1300(=9810) 12055 725 0300-0500, 0700-0900, 1000-1100 12045 572 2300-1200(=9860) 11960 572 0000-0900(=6175) 11925 725 1955-2330, 0900-1735(=17580) 11760 723 0000-1200(=7365) 11750 723 2200-1000(=7305) 11720 723 2330-1100(=9710) 11710 572 1955-0030, 1000-1735(=17605) 11630 725 1955-2400, 0300-0500, 0600-0700, 0800-0900, 1000-1400(=CNR8) 9900 572 1955-2300(=12045) 9860 572 1200-1735(=9900) 9845 572 1955-0100, 1030-1735(=17550) 9830 572 1955-0100, 0730-1735 9810 954 1955-2300, 1300-1730(=13610) 9775 491 2055-0200, 0900-1605(=15270) 9710 723 1955-2330, 1100-1735(=11720) 9675 572 2300-1000(=5030) 9645 572 2330-1100(=6000) 9630 916 2300-1200(=6080) 9630 725 1200-1300(=CNR8) 9500 723 1955-1735 9455 725 1955-0100(=CNR8/12055) 7365 723 1200-1735(=7215) 7345 572 1955-2400, 1100-1735(=7345) 7305 723 1955-2200, 1000-1735(=11750) 7290 572 1955-2400, 1100-1735(=17890) 7275 572 1955-2300, 1100-1735 (=15380) 7230 594 1955-1735 7215 723 1955-2400(=11760) 6175 572 1955-2400, 0900-1735(=11960) 6125 723 1955-2300, 1100-1735(=17595) 6125 572 1955-2300, 1000-1735(=9675) 6080 916 1955-2300, 1200-1735(=9630) 6030 572 1955-1735 6000 572 1955-2330, 1100-1735(=9645) 5945 572 1955-0100, 1300-1735(=15480) 4800 916 1955-1735 4750 2021 1955-1735 [sic; is 2021 also a correct site designator?] CNR 2 A11 May 22, 2011 (English: China Business Radio) Shortwave 2055-1605 not Wed 0600-0855 17625 491 0000-1200(=9515) 15540b 0100-1100 not Tue 0600-0900(=11740) 15500 491 0100-1000(=6155) 12080 724 0200-1000(=9755) 11915 724 0030-1000(=7335) 11845 594 0000-1100(=9820) 11835 594 0000-1300(=7425) 11800 491 2300-1200(=7375) 11740b 2055-0100, 1100-1605(=15540) 11670 491 2330-1200(=6065) 11660 594 0100-1100(=7315) 11610 491 2300-1300(=7370) 9820 594 2055-0100, 1100-1605(=11845) 9810 724 0100-1230(=7265) 9755 724 2055-0200, 1000-1605(=12080) 9720 722 0000-1000 9620 491 2300-1300(=7245) 9515 491 2055-2400, 1200-1605(=17625) 7425 594 1300-1605(=7395) 7395 594 2055-2400(=11835) 7375 491 2055-2300(=11610) 7375 491 1200-1605(=6040) 7370 491 1300-1605(=7375) 7335 724 2055-0030, 1000-1605(=11915) 7315 594 2055-0100, 1100-1605 7265 724 1230-1605(=7255) 7255 724 2055-0100(=9810) 7245 491 2055-2300, 1300-1605(=9620) 6155 491 2055-0100, 1000-1605(=15500) 6065 491 2055-2330, 1200-1605(=11670) 6040 491 2055-2300(=11800) site QH 916 100kW [refers to following? Originally on different page] 9570gm 0100-1000(=6090) 7220gm 2300-1300(=3985) 6190gm 2055-2300(=7220) 6090gm 2055-0100, 1000-1605(=9570) 3985gm 1300-1605(=6190) (NDXC via July ADXN via DXLD) ** CHINA. 9355, Firedrake. Location?? 2011/06/27 mon 1810-1813, endless Chinese brass band, presumably jamming Radio Free Asia from N. Marianas. Poor (Radio Free Asia inaudible.) Jo'burg sunset 1527 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Crash & Bang music jammers heard at 1100 bandscan on 10300, 13500, 13920. (Barton-AZ) [date?] 13420, FIREDRAKE Jammer, also on 12500, 16500, 14700, and they hit the "X" button at 1200. [date?] 7990, FIREDRAKE Jamming, June 28, 1145, strong with crashing and banging, with // on 11500. Later bandscan (1545) reveals Firedrakes on 13970 and 14700 (Rick Barton, El Mirage, AZ, Hammarlund HQ-200, SP- 600, Drake R-8, 75' Inverted L, Slinky, ABDX via DXLD) Firedrake July 1: 11500, very poor at 1150; no others above or below during degraded propagation; nothing but 3 x Cuba on 15 MHz, 17 MHz dead. At 1225, 11500 is still the only FD audible, poor. At 1244 poor with flutter. Yet the usual CNR1 jammers still manage to be heard. Firedrake July 2: 10300, fair at 1255, 1342 11500, good at 1233, 1259; gone at 1342 12025, very poor at 1314, JBA at 1339 // 12980. Unusual frequency; Aoki shows target is RFA in Tibetan via Kuwait during this hour only, inaudible here 12980, very good at 1339 13920, very good at 1236, 1337 13970, good at 1236; very good at 1337 14970, fair-good at 1240; good at 1337 15275, poor at 1358 // 12980 15525, very poor at 1359 // 12980; off at 1402 recheck nor anywhere 15900, very good at 1331; VG until 1400:00, carrier until 1400:04* 16980, JBA at 1249 with flutter; poor-very poor at 1331 More Firedrake July 2: 15970, poor with flutter at 2327 16980, fair at 2328 UT July 3, during power outage following lightning strike, so local noise level lower, on ATS-909, battery power with interior random wire: 15800, poor at 0027; Aoki has SOH here at 20-17, but not heard in our mornings 15970, fair at 0027 16980, fair at 0027 17170, very poor at 0028 18180, JBA at 0028 Firedrake July 3, by half-hour groups; up to 1330: 10300, poor at 1330 11500, fair at 1323 12980, fair-good at 1324 13920, good at 1326 13970, fair at 1326 14720, good at 1327 14950, good at 1327 15550, poor at 1328 15670, fair at 1328, mixing with CNR1 jammer 15970, fair at 1327, none higher 1330-1400, no thoro scan but found an unusual one in-band: 11785, fair at 1333, with SAH over CCI. Target is VOA Mandarin via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, normally jammed only by CNR1 After 1400: 10300, very poor with flutter at 1427 13920, fair at 1422, no 13970 now 14720, poor at 1422 14950, very poor at 1422 15790, fair at 1423, slightly better than // 15800. Nothing scheduled on 15790 so maybe another jumpy Sound of Hope nuisance transmitter 15800, poor at 1423; heard earlier at 0027 when I said `not heard in our mornings` --- well, now it is, presumably vs SOH (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Just read your Firedrake log for July 3rd. Slightly different results here - All the below are July 3rd. With exception of the 1100-1130 GMT time slot, all known frequencies were searched. 1100-1200 10300 weak at 1129 12600 weak at 1129 No time to check other frequencies 1130-1200 11500 fair 1159 & 1132 12600 fair 1155 12980 fair 1156 & 1132 13920 good 1133 & 1149 14700 weak 1134 & 1147 14970 weak 1135 15670 weak 1144 against RFA. CNR-1 was also on freq in Mandarin 15670 jba 1144 1200-1230 10300 fair 1226 11500 good 1227 12600 jba 1227 12980 strong 1227 13920 strong 1228 14970 fair 1219 15900 fair 1229 15970 good 1229 1230-1300 10300 jba 1244 11500 good 1244 12980 strong 1245 13920 strong 1245 13970 good 1245 14970 good 1256 15900 fair 1247 16980 fair 1247 1330-1400 11500 weak 1358 12980 good 1358 13920 good 1358 13970 weak 1358 15275 jba 1359 15970 fair 1359 1400-1430 10300 jba 1419 13920 good 1420 13970 weak 1425 14720 fair 1424 14950 fair 1424 15275 weak 1421 15800 fair 1423 1430-1500 13920 fair 1445 13970 weak 1446 14720 weak 1446 14950 weak 1446 15760 good 1440 15800 fair 1446 1500-1600 13970 weak 1521 and 1555 No other Firedrake frequencies could be heard. Hi Glenn, The following are my observations of the Firedrake musical jammer for today, July 4 as of 1438 GMT. 1030-1100 13850 Fair 1057 No others 1100-1130 11500 Fair 1122 12770 Fair 1120 14700 Weak 1125 14970 Fair 1126 15800 Weak 1127 15900 Fair 1124 1130-1200 11500 Weak-Fair 1147 12270 Fair 1148 13850 Strong 1150 13920 Fair 1152 14700 Fair 1153 14970 Fair 1153 15670 Weak 1155 15800 Fair 1155 15900 Fair 1156 1200-1230 11500 Weak 1221 12270 Weak 1228 12980 JBA 1222 13970 Fair-Good 1229 14720 Good 1222 14950 Strong 1223 15900 Good-strong 1224 16980 Weak 1225 1230-1300 12270 JBA 1247 12980 JBA 1247 13970 Fair 1248 14720 Fair 1248 14950 Strong 1249 15900 Strong 1252 15970 Fair 1252 16980 Weak 1253 1300-1330 12270 Fair 1316 12980 Fair 1319 13920 Weak 1320 13970 Good 1321 14720 Fair 1322 15900 Fair 1325 1330-1400 12270 JBA 157 12980 Weak 1351 13920 Weak 1351 13970 Strong 1351 14720 Weak 1352 15900 JBA 1355 1400-1430 13970 Good-Strong 1418 14950 JBA 1419 No others 1430-1500 13970 Good-Strong 1435 14950 Weak 1436 No others 15550 Weak 1324 15540 Weak 1251 73 (S. Handler-IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake July 4 by semihour segments; just before 1300: 16980, JBA at 1257 15900, poor at 1258 14950, good at 1259 14720, fair at 1258 13970, poor at 1259 1300-1330: 15900, poor at 1318 14720, fair-good at 1319 13970, good with flutter at 1319 12980, fair at 1321 12270, good at 1321 11500, fair at 1321; no 10`s 1330-1400: 15900, poor at 1340 14720, fair at 1340 13970, good at 1339 13920, poor at 1339 12980, poor at 1338 12270, fair at 1338 11785 unlike yesterday, at 1337 no FD, just CNR1, Chinese CCI with SAH 11500, poor at 1338 1400-1430: 14950, poor-fair at 1417 13970, fair at 1417 11500, poor at 1420 10300, very poor at 1420 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake Take-over on July 4th? Bandscanning this morning before 31m, 25m, and 22m normally fades out here locally and noticed something a bit different. A lot of times Radio Free Asia comes in like it's broadcasting next door, from Tinian mostly, but also a couple other Pacific locations. Today, at tune in around 18 UT, where RFA usually is, only Chinese music. Either the American holiday left RFA staff with a day off and they decided to broadcast only music, or Firedrake operators decided to send a message today. Really not sure. Logs below 9455 1800-1900+ UT very strong signal for last hour. Chinese music only where a mix of Chinese talk and music from RFA usually is. 9875 // very strong 9905 // much weaker than two above 11785 // quite strong 13800 // strong, but getting fluttery as if tune out around 1910 UT I think the last two frequencies are independent of RFA schedules, though, since I don't see those frequencies listed by RFA. So looks like it is probably FD, also broadcasting on RFA frequencies. So I wonder if they just had a day off then? (Daniel Hostetler from Alaska, July 4, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dalai Lama’s visit to USA causes increased Chinese jamming --- Of course China pulled out all the stops to block RFA July 5th from telling the story of the Dalai Lama’s visit to DC today. On 12025, RFA was scheduled to broadcast via Kuwait in Tibetan (1300-1400), but seriously blocked by BOTH Firedrake and CNR1 jamming together; heard at 1349 and both ended at 1400. Look for this to continue during the Dalai Lama’s 13 day USA trip. His birthday will be celebrated on July 6 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake July 5: started too late before 1300 for a thoro band scan, but hustled to check the usuals before 1300* and found: 10300, fair at 1259 12980, fair at 1259 15900, poor at 1259 16980, very poor at 1259 After 1330: 10300, fair at 1335 11500, nothing here nor earlier 12025, poor at 1336 mixing with Chinese, CNR1 presumed 12270, good at 1337, best one by far today; none in the 13s or 14s! 15275, very poor at 1339 but // 12270 15525, very poor at 1339 15900, fair at 1338; none higher High-latitude/higher-frequency propagation quite degraded today Firedrake July 6: 15970, very poor at 1129 14980, very poor at 1129 13920, JBA at 1128 12980, very poor at 1126 12500, very poor at 1126 12270, very poor at 1126, but slightly better than the above 12s 11500, fair at 1139 10300, fair-good at 1139 Next quick check before 1300*: 12980, 12600, 12500, 12270; best on 12600, none higher (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST Hi Glenn, I had slightly different frequency results today - July 6 At 1100-1130 I didn't have 14980 or 15970 which you did receive. I had 11500, 12270, 14950 and 17170 which you didn't receive. At 1230-1300 I had 15545 and 15900 in addition to the freqs you list. Interesting what a difference about 500 miles between our QTH's will make in the propagation. 1100-1130 11500 Weak 1127 12270 Fair 1127 12980 Very weak 1128 13920 JBA 1128 14950 Fair 1125 15900 Weak 1126 17170 JBA 1127 1130-1200 11500 Fair-Good 1150 12270 Good 1141 12500 Good 1142 12980 Good 1143 13920 Fair 1137 14950 Fair 1138 15900 Weak 1139 15970 JBA 1142 1200-1230 11500 Good 1220 12270 Fair 1225 12500 Fair 1226 12600 Fair 1220 12980 Good 1220 15900 Weak 1224 1230-1300 11500 Fair 1248 12270 Weak 1250 12500 Fair 1251 12600 Fair 1249 12980 Good 1249 15545 Weak 1247 15900 Weak 1247 (S. Handler, IL, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake July 7: 10300, fair at 1231 12025, very poor at 1329, mixing with some talk 12500, good at 1235 12600, poor at 1235 12900, fair at 1235; quite a quality range at same time on 12`s 12980, good at 1328; none in the 10`s or 11`s now 13920, very poor at 1326 14700, poor-fair at 1235; good at 1326 15670, poor at 1259 mixing with Chinese CNR1 jamming; 1300 timesignal and both continue, unlike other Firedrake TOH breaks; 1330 still mix 15750, very good but flutter at 1330; not earlier 15900, very poor at 1243; poor-very poor at 1330 15970, fair-good at 1323; poor-fair at 1330; none higher (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Below is this mornings Firedrake monitoring. I only had a limited time this morning from 1257 to 1400 GMT. A couple of minor differences between what I could hear and what you heard. I couldn't hear 10300, 12600, 12900, 13920, or 15750. All of those were checked multiple times. I did hear two not on your list, 15755, and 16980. Nothing lower 12500 Fair 1258 12980 Weak 1328 and 1357 14700 Fair at 1259, 1329 and 1357 15670 Fair at 1257 against RFA. CNR-1 also on frequency 15755 Fair 1324 Good 1358 15900 Weak 1356 15970 Fair 1325, 1356 16980 Weak 1257 Nothing higher (S. Handler, IL, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Chinese UNIDs! Please share with other clubs! The audio UNIDs: http://beaglebass.com/dx/chinese/ [FM DX by tropo to an mp3 player] PLEASE PASS THIS LINK OR MAIL AROUND to different DXing groups. I'll imagine we don't have any Mandarin-speaking DXers in our club or on this list, so the help of other groups would be most useful. I have more than 11 hours of Chinese clips, a lot of which will be deleted when the needed info is taken from them to ID. These are just some of the clips, particularly ones with phone numbers, IDs, and other such hints that I can clearly detect the presence of, but cannot understand. Some stations I'm pretty sure of, but simply need confirmation that I am indeed correct. While I have Chinese friends, the large majority speak Cantonese. On the other hand, if you are curious about what Chinese radio sounds like, well, feel free to listen. Most clips are 350-600 miles, some possibly more, most of them very clear (Chris Kadlec, Songtan, Korea, 29 mi. s of Seoul, 150 mi. s of Pyongyang, June 15, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. All times EDT, July 1: 2000, 91.9, No ID, right into "Hourly News" with American and Chinese presenters, China focus 2005, 91.9, "Today ... Beyond Beijing", mentions the program will go another two hours. Seems like a brokered program block from CRI. Any ideas who would run this? [recap:] 1959, 91.9, UNID, China-USA bridge building English programming from EDI, no ID at top of hour, into "Hourly News" and "Today ... Beyond Beijing". About six stations mentioned on EDI website, but nothing on 91.9. This was coming in well after other Es stations faded. Nothing in Florida matches. Nothing local matches, unless CFRC off the back with between semester programming (though no hint of this on the web page) (Jim Renfrew, Holley NY, Sansui TU-9900 and Sangean HDT-1X, rooftop FM antenna, WTFDA via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) CHIN-1-FM, Toronto, I'd bet. According to http://english.cri.cn/7146/2010/03/30/2141s559997.htm CHIN relays China Radio International, English 7 am-7 pm. CHIN's site http://chinradio.com/radio-programs/chinese/ doesn't acknowledge any CRI relays but claims they broadcast *in Chinese* as "A1 Chinese Radio" from noon to 7 pm (the website is almost entirely in Chinese). But the only other place where CRI claims to broadcast on 91.9 is Nairobi, Kenya, and I really don't think you had that(grin!). (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Hi Jim, It is CHIN-1 in Toronto running the CRI programming. They raised their power a couple of days ago (Jonathan Hamilton, Canada. WORLD OF RADIO 1572, ibid.) So CRI is still in fact on CHIN? CRI's site claims they are on CHIN, but CHIN's site says a different Chinese broadcaster is using those hours -- and broadcasting in Chinese (if it were winter I'd tune AM 1540 & find out for myself.....) – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, ibid.) Hi Doug, CHIN on 91.9 re-transmits 1540 AM. They air brokered programming in various languages. CRI most likely pays to have their programming transmitted at night on CHIN AM. I noted CRI programming this evening in English as well. I have also heard CRI programming in Mandarin as well on 1540. See: http://chinradio.com/radio-programs/cri/ A couple of days ago they were fading in & out on my Sony XDR-F1HD, and for the last 2 days they have a stable 1-bar signal from 35 miles away. I imagine this is a result of the CRTC granting them a power increase a few months ago (Jon, ibid.) ** CHINA [non]. China Radio International in Portland, OR [this item from 11-26 mentioned on WORLD OF RADIO 1572] Re 11-26, KXPD in Tigard/Portland, Oregon --- KXPD is back on 1040 kHz with Chinese programming. Chinese and English combined. Also heard the slogan "Easy FM". Nice 60 dB signal on the High Performance active whip. Heard at 7:30 P.M. PDT on 07/01/11 (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, R-390A High Performance Active Whip, IRCA via DXLD) KXPD now is CRI. I caught several IDs for CRI. At least they are doing something different, but who knows if it will work. Dennis, are they still using IBOC? (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Patrick, I can hear stations on 1030, 1050 kHz, so their IBOC must be off. 1190, 1330 & 1640 locals with IBOC , can't hear nothing on adjacent channels (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, R-390A, High Performance Active Whip, ibid.) ** COLOMBIA. 6009.92v, LV de Tu Conciencia, 0305-0332, July 3, local pop music. Spanish talk. ID. Mentions of Colombia. Poor to fair with adjacent channel splatter. Constantly drifting up and down between 6009.91-6009.95 during this time period. They usually drift quite a bit but I don’t usually see them this low. Usually I see them up around 6010.01-6010.08 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 5910, Alcaraván Radio, Puerto Lleras, 0510-0550, 06-07, male with religious comments in Spanish and Latin American music, identification: "La música de distintas nacionalidades, la cumbia en Panamá, el norteño en México y en Colombia el ballenato, Alcaraván Radio", "Alcaraván Radio, 1530 amplitud modulada y 5910 kHz en onda corta", "Las 12 y 40 minutos en Alcaraván Radio", "Alcaraván compañero". 24322. (Méndez) 6010, La Voz de tu Conciencia, Puerto Lleras, 0701-0720, 06-07, religious comments in Spanish. Before 0700 Radio Havana Cuba eclipsed the Colombian Station. Very weak, best in LSB. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Lugo, Cantabrian Sea coast, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Rafael Rodríguez has a 49-second clip of La Voz de la Resistencia, 6080, now at http://dxdesdecolombia.blogspot.com/2011/06/noticias-y-escuchas.html CRB stands for ``Cadena Radial Bolivariana, una voz de dignidad y lucha popular ---`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. Radio República, 5954.3, 1 July, 0520, jammer-free for once, good signal with what sounded like promotional announcements in Spanish with several IDs, then woman interviewing another woman via phone (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur, K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 5970, July 7 at 1222, REE relay, altho S9+12, is significantly undermodulated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Rebelde AM y FM schedule is listed here: http://www.radiorebelde.cu/programas/ Seems accurate or close, though most of the SW relay schedule would appear to be dated. Note that Noticiero Nacional de Radio is blocked off daily for only 30 minutes from 1-1:30 pm local, despite rare occasions (such as last Saturday) where it aired for one hour (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, USA, July 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. All loggings made by Terry L Krueger at Clearwater, Florida unless otherwise indicated. Such as: logs appended with [MNSK] were made from the second floor of Paul V. Zecchino's QTH at Manasota Key, FL with the PR-D5 portable atop a Target bamboo Lazy Susan. Abridged list of junk: JRC NRD-535; ICOM IC-R75; Hammarlund HQ-180A; Aqua Guide 705 Radio Direction Finder; Sangean PR-D5; Sony ICF-7600GR; GE SuperRadio III; RadioShack DX-399; 1 X roof dipole; 1 X in-room random wire. 650, CUBA Radio Progreso, Ciego de Ávila, Ciego de Ávila. 0646 July 4, 2011. Clear and fair, parallel 630 and 640. 910, CUBA Radio Metropolitana, Villa María, Ciudad de la Habana. 1952 July 1, 2011. Excellent signal on the PR-D5 with extremely tight nulling of gospel WTWD, Plant City. ID 1954, into "Momento Cultural -- - [something]" and male, "Buenas tardes, capital Habana" then female canned, "Radio Metropolitana, la radio de casa CMBL presenta "A Propósito"... buenas tardes, capital... 910 AM y 98.3 MHz FM" and into "A Porpósito", an hourlong program hosted by an older-sounding man, featuring Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" followed by a reggae- influenced Cuban Spanish vocal and traditional jazz instrumentals. Male "Ésta es CMBL, buenas tardes, capital" at 2031, into a far more obscure Marley song. On July 4: checking to see if relaying Noticiero Nacional de Radio at 1716 (they were July 2 when monitoring from Manasota Key), but just a big, fat open carrier, though on loud with local programming a couple of hours earlier. Did someone forgot how to patch in the NNdR feed on the board? Yep! Metro audio back up at 1731 re-check. Clearly, a CRFU. 930, CUBA Radio Reloj, Ciego de Ávila, Ciego de Ávila. 1745 July 2, 2011. Fair. [MNSK] 1000, CUBA Radio Artemisa, Artemisa, Artemisa. 1702 July 2, 2011. Presumed the audio feed here with baseball coverage, while 1020 which now is usually also Radio Artemisa (see separate follow-up log) was relaying Noticiero Nacional de Radio. Worth noting that today, a Saturday, NNdR ran a full hour, till 1800. Rarely does NNdR run past 1730, including spot checks on at least recent previous Saturdays. Most of the last half-hour was dedicated to poor Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías. [MNSK] 1000 / 1020, CUBA Radio Artemisa, Pinar del Río, Bahía Honda. 1701 July 4, 2011. Relaying Noticiero Nacional de Radio till conclusion a few seconds after 1730, ID, youthful female DJ coming out of a nice female vocal, and mention by her of Israel Márquez. Not sure if her name or the vocal artist, or neither since I'd usually expect Israel to be a male's name. Chatter with a phoned-in guy. Mention of "Israel" again after the call, so likely it was he. 1180, FLORIDA Radio Martí, Marathon. 1700 July 2, 2011. Martí theme bubbling up amongst the multiple Radio Rebelde transmitters for a moment. Not a particularly easy log on west central coastal Florida. Obviously it becomes a little easier beginning this far south, same left coast. Hey, Arnie: FAIL! [MNSK] 1210, CUBA Radio Sancti Spíritus, Sancti Spíritus, Sancti Spíritus. 1049-1052 July 6, 2011. Fast-paced newscast by man and woman, mention of something to be carried by Cubavisión y Radio Habana Cuba (common), 6:50 time check and ID. Fair. 1340 / 1350, CUBA Radio Ciudad del Mar, Palmira and Aguada (respectively), Cienfuegos. 1740 July 2, 2011. 1350 channel tight with nulling WCRM, Ft. Myers, FL's black gospel format. Parallel relatively clear but weaker 1340. [MNSK] 1400, CUBA Radio Sagua, Sagua la Grande, Villa Clara. 1650 July 2, 2011. Spanish vocals. Relaying Noticiero Nacional de Radio from 1700. Clear but fair at best. [MNSK] (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 12180, July 5 at 1922, 5-digit Spanish YL spy number groups on reduced-carrier USB, but the `modulation` is rough at the attack of each syllable; much weaker than RHC English 11760 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 15360, Saturday July 2 at 1244-1245, Arnaldo Coro with one of his drop-in commentaries for RHC magazine shows, about Radio Reloj. Says the 4-8 am program `El Matutino` outrates the other Cuban networks, (which would include `Haciendo Radio` on R. Rebelde, and `Despertar con Cuba` on RHC itself); RR is a ``school for announcers`` and sets a fine example of elocution, Spanish spoken properly. Has been on the air since 1947; maybe this is prompted by an anniversary, which Cuban stations self-promote every year whether or not they be multiples of 5 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I read somewhere that Radio Reloj was the world's first all-news station and wondered if you knew anything about that(Harvey Novacek, July 2, ptsw yg via DXLD) http://www.radioreloj.cu/english/ (Larry Faehling, KL7IBV, ibid.) ``The oldest continuous news channel in the world``, it says (gh) El 1ro de julio de 1947 salió al aire por vez primera la señal de Radio Reloj, en el antiguo circuito CMQ, ubicado en la esquina de Monte y Prado. La iniciativa provenía del Jefe de Programación, Gaspar Pumarejo, quien se inspiró en la planta mexicana denominada XEQK que daba la hora cada minuto, intercalando menciones comerciales grabadas, según consta en la página web de Ecured. Siga leyendo esta nota en: http://gruporadioescuchaargentino.wordpress.com/ (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, July 4, condiglist yg via DXLD) 15230, July 2 at 2325, RHC still colliding with R. Australia and atop it, while RA`s // 15560 is very good at 70 degrees vs 30 from Shep on 15230. 17560, Sunday July 3 at 2042 I am surprised to hear RHC with Esperanto in progress, usual VG signal but during this semihour it is supposed to be in Arabic, to Europe --- where else? Talking about Esperanto Congress coming up in São Paulo, Brasil. Next check at 2102, outro French broadcast claiming it was at 2000-2030, and into Spanish with `Memorias Culturales` archival program. 2000-2030 is the scheduled time for French to Americas on 11760, while to Europe on 17560 it is supposed to be 1930-2000. Totally SNAFU! The RHC website was slow to connect at 1505 UT July 4 as I wanted to see what it says about Esperanto now. Took several attempts, and then was intermittent as I tried to navigate within. Finally got to http://www.radiohc.cu/eo/index.php/interesaoj/frekvencoj.html which to no surprise unmentions this, just the usual 07, 15 and 2230 broadcasts. And I don`t see anything about the congress, which they really hyped last summer when it was in Havano, Kubo (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. 7210-LSB, July 1 at 1136, N1NR in Pennsylvania with his usual counter-revolutionary rants, expecting to be overheard dentro- Cuba, in contact with another gusano in Miami, N4RU(?) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [and non]. 9955, July 1 at 1149 wall-of-noise jamming blox WRMI, but no such jamming on 9965 where R. República ought to be (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CYPRUS [and non]. 15544-15569, July 3 at 0028, OTH radar pulses, presumed from here, poor signals. 17520-17545, July 4 at 1413, OTH radar pulses presumed from here, messing up R. Sawa via KUWAIT, 17530, RSDM. (Right-smack-dab-in-the- middle; next time I say RSDM will not need to explain it; well, close enough, 17532.5 being the true RSDM of this range) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025.1, Radio Amanecer with Spanish ident 1044 “en Santo Domingo” 20/6 and gospel songs. Best reception I’ve had of this station, fairly regular from 1000 opening but subject to Radio Australia 6020 splatter (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4815, R. Estación 92.9, Loja, 30/06 1408/1510, 22222, ads, programa Revista Deportiva, sobre reporte en todo el mundo. Ads. En Loja y en toda la provincia pague la electricidad en el banco; apoyando a la zona sur del país. ID “No escuche radio, hágalo por 92.9” se les recuerda a los padres de familia que matriculen a sus hijos en el octavo grado. Ads. Se vende una maquinaria para peluquería. ID “Son las 22 horas; hemos presentado la revista deportiva por Radio 92.9 señal…” [another time conversion foulup --- 22 local time would be around 03 UT! See PERU --- gh] [en http://www.radiomegaestacion.com/ la programación es de la MEGA ESTACION. Y hay muchas repetidoras en el país. Paco, aquí estuvo Radio El Buen Pastor, http://www.saraguros.com/radio.php Es una emisora religiosa y no pasa deportes. Quizás vendieron la frecuencia??? Que opina el "experto" Henrik ????? Comentario de Dario Monferini] (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Perú, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD; also via Horacio Nigro) Dario: La de 4815 no es la Megaestación sino Radio del Buen Pastor. http://www.radiobp.com No todo es programación religiosa. Hay también programas comunitarios y la retransmisión obligada de "La hora de Carondelet" que es un servicio del Gobierno Nacional que toman por microondas. Lo origina Radio Ciudadana, 640 y 640 kHz, de Quito y Guayaquil, respectivamente. El aviso comunitario o comercial que escuchaba Pedro es del Banco del Barrio, un servicio especial para la gente que necesita pagar sus facturas sin aunque no tengan cuenta bancaria o internet. Lo opera el Banco de Guayaquil (Henrik Klemetz, Suecia, July 2, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) ** EGYPT. Re 11-26: 9380-9388, ERTU, 0108-0131*, 7/5/11, in Arabic. Mid Eastern music, man talking, Qur'an chant. The signal was very wide and distorted. Along with this oddity, the signal suppressed when a ute on 9379.7 would pop up and run. After a bit of searching, found // 9305 ERTU - Abis. Fair (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, this on WinRadio g313e & E1, Flextenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) IOW, one of the many spurs from 9305, as in 11-26 (gh) ** EGYPT. Hello DXers, a new FM station started testing in Cairo on 1/7/2011 on 105.3 MHz; yesterday I heard a jingle saying Nagham FM - Melody FM - soon on the air. For the time being the station is broadcasting nonstop Egyptian old songs by the legendary Egyptian Singer Abd Alhaleem Hafez. Best regards (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, July 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 5950, Voice of the Tigray Revolution. Addis Ababa. 2011/06/27 mon 1646-1702, Tigre, with north-east African music and song. But faded right out for TOH ID! Fair - poor. Jo'burg sunset 1527 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 9705, Radio Ethiopia, Gedja. ID “This Radio Ethiopia on 31, 41 and 49 meter bands and on medium waves…” – counting 7 frequencies on MW, program parade in English and music from 1200 on 21/6 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF-2001, 16m Marconi antenna), July Australian DX News via DXLD) 9705, Radio Ethiopia, *0258-0320, July 2, sign on with short electronic IS and opening announcements. National Anthem at 0259. Chimes at 0300 followed by Amharic talk. Local Horn of Africa style music. Instrumental versions of US pop music. Fair level but poor with adjacent channel splatter and noisy conditions. 9705, Radio Ethiopia, 2040-2101*, July 3, Amharic talk. Local folk music. US pop music. Short music clips featuring Euro-pop and US pop music. Possible news at 2057. Sign off with National Anthem at 2059. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** ETHIOPIA [and non]. IN ETHIOPIA, BBG DELEGATION WAS "GIVEN A LECTURE" AND ASKED TO CENSOR VOA AMHARIC, TIGRIGNA, AND AFAN OROMO. Posted: 03 Jul 2011 http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11572 Ginbot 7 press release, 28 June 2011: "Just last week, in one of the most dramatic moves unseen and unheard anywhere, the regime in Ethiopia shamelessly asked the VOA board of governors to censor the Voice of America Broadcasting to Ethiopia in three different languages. In its verbal and written request submitted to the VOA board of governors, the regime of Meles Zenawi made an official request to the Voice of America to censor interviews, opinions and news analysis of opposition parties in its broadcasting, or face jamming of its radio and satellite signals. It is well remembered that just one year ago, PM Meles Zenawi compared the VOA Amharic program to Radio 'des Mille Collines', the hate media that incited genocide in Rwanda; and vowed that he would order jamming of VOA broadcasts. Abugidainfo.com, 2 July 2011, Abebe Gellaw: "VOA Amharic reported on its June 23rd broadcast that during the meeting the BBG delegation was given a lecture on the history of the Tigray People Liberation Front by Bereket Simon, Government Communication Affairs Minister. David Arnold, Chief of VOA’s Horn of Africa, said that Bereket Simon demanded VOA not to give platform to well-known critics such as Dr. Merara Gudina, Dr Birhanu Nega, Siye Abreha, Professor Beyene Petros, Professor Petros Milkias, Girma Moges, Getachew Metaferia and Ali Abdu. 'The list goes on,' Arnold disclosed." See also VOA On the Road Africa, 22 June 2011. -- But no mention of Ethiopian jamming anywhere in the VOA On the Road Africa tumblr. IS CHINA HELPING ETHIOPIA JAM VOA, DW, AND ESAT? BEIJING SPOKESMAN "DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE QUESTION." Posted: 03 Jul 2011 http://kimelli.nfshost.com/index.php?id=11571 Computerworld, 29 June 2011, Michael Malakata: "The Chinese government is facing accusations that it has helped block news websites in Ethiopia and jammed Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT) and other broadcasters, including the Voice of America and German's Deutsche Welle Amharic services. ... In Ethiopia, the People's Republic of China been providing training, technology and technical assistance to the regime to enable it to jam ESAT's transmission, according to Ethiopian Free Press Journalists Association (EFJA) President Kifle Mulat. ESAT has just resumed transmission to Ethiopia after nearly two months of interruption. ... Chinese government officials in Beijing and Africa declined to comment when asked for their reaction to these accusations. When asked to comment, a Foreign Ministry spokesman in Beijing said he did not understand the question." See previous posts on 26 June and 23 June 2011. Abugidainfo.com, 2 July 2011, Abebe Gellaw: "A couple of weeks ago, the Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), an agency of the US Government that oversees all civilian international broadcasting of the United States, sent a delegation to Ethiopia to discuss with senior government officials issues related to the jamming of Voice of America Afaan Oromoo, Amharic and Tigrigna transmissions to Ethiopia. The jamming of all independent broadcasts including the Ethiopian Satellite Television has particularly intensified after Mr. Zenawi told reporters in March 2010 that he would authorize jamming." (kimandrewelliott.com via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) ** EUROPE. HOBBY PIRATE, 6937.1, Pirate Radio Malta tentatively the music station here 0321 18/6 till fading around 0500 UT. Ident per Brian Alexander & European reporters. 7685.1, FRS-Holland very poor 19/6 with music mix, English announcements past 2100 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. FREE RADIO --- Laser Hot Hits is as of deadline using 4015 and 6945 for its transmissions (Mike Barraclough, DX News, July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Irish Music Radio 6930 now has a contact address IMR6930 @ yahoo.com FRS Holland had an evening transmission June 19 1652-2200 on 7685. Heard until around 1950 when signal lost due to severe noise. If you are waiting for a reply from them they have been having a special booklet printed concerning their 30th anniversary (Allen Dean, ibid.) IRELAND. Euro-pirate. 6959.61, Atlantic Radio, 0115-0130, July 2, pop music. Very weak. Thanks to tip from Chris Lobdell, I was able to confirm reception with their streaming audio at http://www.atlanticradio.ie (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) Europirates Tonite --- I'm hearing signals on 6930 IMR-Irish Music Radio?, 6945-LHH Laser Hot Hits?, and 6960-Atlantic Radio?. IDs are presumed based on recent history. QSL just received from IMR-Irish Music Radio, 6930, full data Green pdf E QSL in 5 days from Tony Kenny. Power stated as 60 watts. Email address: imr6930 @ yahoo.com (Chris Lobdell-Mass, 0151 UT July 3, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** FINLAND. 11720, Scandinavian Weekend Radio, Virrat, *2100-2120, 01- 07, pop music, English: "Good evening, welcome", identification: "Scandinavian Weekend Radio", male, "Celebrating our ... anniversary". Parallel with 6170. 13221 to 23222 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Reinante, Lugo, Cantabrian Sea coast, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. 25000, MIKES Time Signal, Espoo, 0830-0840, Jul 03, time pips, good. Sul mio sito ho caricato il video della ricezione di MIKES (Leonardo Peppe, Italy, http://taccuinodx.blogspot.com twitter: taccuinodx playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) ** FRANCE [non]. 17690, RFI Spanish via GUIANA FRENCH at 1400-1430, June 30 was music-fill instead, due to strike? But July 1 at quick 1425 check, it`s back in Spanish. 13640, July 6 at 1128 about the only signal on 13 MHz band, RFI via GUIANA FRENCH already in music; 1130 ``RFI Musique`` ID and more music --- strike again, displacing Météo Marine? No, 1133, cut to M.M. so is that its regular precise start-time? Gave conditions for 0000 TU today and then for 1200. Mostly geo coordinates, positions of storms or low- pressure areas, giving hektopascal readings for each; 1138 heard Gibraltar and Bermude mentioned, so not only concerning the Caribbean (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FRANCE. See LIBYA FREE [and non] ** GERMANY. Re: Wachenbrunn 882 kHz now with announcement loop Another recording of the still running loop has been posted here: http://www.jans-radioseiten.de/wachenbrunn.html But this car was obviously parking at some place much closer to Wachenbrunn... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUI0BSFGNa0 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 2236 UT July 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Re 11-26: 1323 to continue in operation This is all very confusing: I don't actually know where Wachenbrunn is - I think in the state of Thuringen (known for its excellent sausages, by the way!). However, I do know that 1323 kHz comes from a transmitter near to Dresden called Wilsdruff. This is surely the only transmitter on 1323 kHz? Again - from experience - 882 does not come from this site, and the two sites must be much, much further apart from each other. Incidentally, when I have been in the Dresden area, I had the impression that the whole of the MW had a low level of raised background noise that might have been faulty emissions from Wilsdruff, which is of course a very strong signal. I suspect that DXers within a wide distance of this site by the A4 Autobahn on the outskirts of the city would be quite pleased to have this monstrous signal turned off. A (Andrew Tett, June 30, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Hi Andrew and all, to either avoid or even increase the confusion these are the facts as far as I know them: The "Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk" (MDR) has MW transmitters in Leipzig (783 kHz), Dresden-Wilsdruff (1044 kHz) and Reichenbach (1188 kHz). All of them are airing the "MDR Info" programme. Since midnight local time the Wachenbrunn transmitter on 882 kHz is referring to the FM and DAB frequencies and the coverage of a large area of Thuringia by the MW frequency of 783 kHz. Apart from this, the "Voice of Russia" (VOR) is using four MW transmitters in Germany: Zehlendorf (near Berlin, but on Brandenburg soil and not identical with the Berlin borough with the same name of Zehlendorf!) on 693 kHz, Königslutter (in the Braunschweig area of Lower Saxony) on 630 kHz, Dresden-Wilsdruff (Saxonia) on 1431 kHz and Wachenbrunn in Thuringia on 1323 kHz. This morning 1323 kHz is on normal schedule. Have a pleasant weekend. (Harry Niebuhr Bonifatiusstrasse 5 29223 Celle Germany Telefon: +49 5141 53848 Fax: +49 5141 9939483 Mobil: +49 162 7168189 E-Mail: niebuhr.harry @ kabelmail.de 2011-07-01, ibid.) Wachenbrunn today --- I'm back from a trip to a place I last visited almost 17 years ago. When I stepped off the train at Themar at 10:40 CET and flipped out the radio the signal bars already no longer lit up; the 882 kHz transmitter had been turned off around 10 AM (0800 UT). The bus driver asked what's actually going on. On a first round in the morning he already had four passengers to Wachenbrunn, something that otherwise just never happens. Apparently I was not the only person who went out to the transmitter site for the occasion. And what said the local people, amongst them a pensioner who once worked as gatewoman on the transmitter station and said how ridiculously tight the controls were: The grounds of the old station have simply been sold. Gossip has it that someone wants to use them for a solar power plant. It is understood that the two pipe masts will be destroyed soon, and the old transmitter buildings will perhaps face the same fate. When I arrived shortly before noon, the 882 kHz antenna was already grounded and the work to remove the equipment under way. They banged on one mast so that it could be heard over hundreds of metres, making one wonder if they are trying to overturn the antenna immediately. Some vans were parked around the transmitter container (which is not there yet on the Google aerial images; they date back to a point where still the ex-Erfurt 1947 vintage transmitter was in use). So perhaps by now the transmission equipment is already gone to whatever other location (if so, apparently not the 1323 kHz facility). Meanwhile the traces of the former feedline from the transmitter buildings to the Kvadrat antenna are almost gone. Next to the former transmitter building they can still be recognized if one knows what was there, but further on everything is overgrown now. The Kvadrat itself is of course interesting (and now I know that my camera works properly even when one gets a megawatt of RF blown around the ears, by standing just some dozen metres away from the antenna on its northwestern side to which it radiates during daytime). The new 1323 kHz transmitter building is nondescript but can't be called a disappointment; the fans clearly signal the presence of a working 1000 kW transmitter. On this occasion I could also observe how the practice to use the 310 degree angle of the Kvadrat until 5 PM and then switch it to 220 degrees (the southwestern angle) apparently is still in force. At 16:59 (1459 UT) there was a carrier break of about 10...12 seconds which perfectly fits the listed parameters. The moment of melancholy was when I sat in the train back towards Meiningen and the two pipe masts one more time appeared in sight, up there over the valley of the Werra river, until they finally disappeared behind the trees. This time for good (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. 6190, Deutschlandfunk Radio, Berlin-Britz. 2355-0045 July 5/6, 2011. Tune-in to EZL German vocal, seemingly three short, one long time sounders 0000, male live "Hier ist Deutschlandfunk" into news headlines by seemingly the same man, into old German Torch Music vocal from 0004, female jock, more old vocals, female opera from 0014, 30's/40's jazz vocal, Bob Dylan "Just Like A Woman" and another circa- 1966 Dylan track abruptly cut as the DJ girl stepped in. Clear and fair, slowly improving as darkness falls upon this fragment of the earth (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W. Florida, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [and non]. Re 11-26: Wertachtal: There were talks about Radio Traumland (Sun 1300-1400 on 5945) just having cancelled. And the adress of Free Press is in fact the RNW building. Free Press is already financed by the foreign ministry, unlike RNW which so far belonged to the public broadcasting system. So there may also after 2012 still be shortwave transmissions from the Dutch foreign broadcasting service, just no longer under the RNW brand. And presumably not produced by current RNW staff members. Deutsche Welle: So radio production in Hindi ceased as well. This requires to check if the broadcasts in Persian and Indonesian still exist, since under this circumstance one must suspect that they have been terminated as well, just like the ones in Russian (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Updated DW schedule http://swling.com/blog/2011/06/dw-sw-and-mw-schedule/ (rogturn111, June 30, ptsw yg via DXLD) It's effective tomorrow, July 1. And I've made it available regurgitated into a by frequency list at http://www.hfskeds.com/skeds/ (Dan Ferguson, North American Shortwave Assn: http://www.naswa.net Combined SWBC skeds .xls & TEXT - updated June 30 at 1500 GMT: http://www.hfskeds.com/skeds/ http://groups.yahoo.com/group/shortwave-radio #swl on Starchat.net IRC, ibid.) 9480, July 3 at 0540, conversation between a Brazilian and a Portuguee with their divergent accents, but whence? Scheduled as DW, 190 degrees from RWANDA, toward Angola rather than Mozambique. Had continuous undercurrent of percussive African music. 17610, July 5 at 1907, news about Europe, Germany, fair. Is DW via Sines, PORTUGAL, 250 kW, 140 degrees at 1900-1930 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17780 DRM, DW, Trincomalee. Very steady signal with English news 0504, SNR to 20.5 dB, ID, 17.1 kbps stream, stereo, 3/7 (Craig Seager, Bathurst NSW (Icom R75, Murphy B40, Horizontal Loop, EWE, Longwires), July Australian DX News via DXLD) see also SRI LANKA ** GREECE [and non]. 11645, July 3 at 0531, BBCWS English news headlines, poor; 0532 into sports programme. If I had only a few minutes to relay BBCWS I would pick something slightly more significant. Seemed same on 9410 via SOUTH AFRICA, but did not try to // them; 11645 is the `Radio Filia` domestic service from Athens relayed by VOG, but the schedule keeps changing and you never know which language and station will be relayed on any occasion. This Sunday it was BBC in English for a while. Meanwhile VOG`s other programming on 9420, Greek Orthodox singing on Sunday, was only poor; often better on 15630 at midsummer (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11645: Today July 6 checked ERT Voice of Greece International service relay in various languages, taken from domestic Radio Filia Athens program. Schedule changed now, when compared to ERT schedule on WRTH 2011 spring update PDF format file. Heard various IDs in Greek at 0800 UT, into GERMAN service ID and followed by Radio Filia ID. R Filia German service lasted 58 minutes duration, at 0801 UT till 0859{!} UT, interspersed by some Greek language announcement features at 0814, 0823 and 0841 UT. S=9+15 dB signal strength in southern Germany. But 11645 kHz outled signal is NOT clean. Heard another program UNDERNEATH interspersed with different signal strength level, which carried parts of the ERT Greek service from 9420/15630 kHz outlet at Avlis at same time in parallel. I don't know wherever that happens, on the mixing console desk on broadcasting house, or on feeder from Athens to Avlis transmitter site, or at the antenna switch unit to antenna feederline at the transmitting station? 0859-0901 many IDs in Greek, followed by the RUSSIAN language section from Athens at 0901 UT. Similar structure like the German service program. At 0937 UT heard a program in undoubtedly FRENCH til 0959 UT, then short announcement in Greek and switch off. 73 wb but heard today instead: French Days Area kHz 0930-0959 m.wtf.. Eu 11645avl German Days Area kHz 0800-0859 m.wtf.. Eu 11645avl Russian Days Area kHz 0900-0930 m.wtf.. Eu 11645avl - - - Voice of Greece schedule which appeared in WRTH Update French Days Area kHz 0530-0545 .....s. Eu 11645avl German Days Area kHz 0800-0830 m.wtf.. Eu 11645avl 0800-0900 ......s Eu 11645avl Russian Days Area kHz 0830-0900 m.wtf.. Eu 11645avl (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM [and non]. 13362-USB, AFN, July 5 another day they did not switch over to 5765-USB during checks at 1146, 1329 and 1342; continues to not be // AFN-Diego Garcia on 4319-USB (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUAM. The TWR-UK Summer 2011 issue of their Listening World leaflet has the following short article on their transmitter site on Guam: Since 1977, TWR has been spreading a blanket of the Gospel by radio across the vast continent of Asia. From the island of Guam, TWR has sent messages of hope in Jesus Christ to those suffering from circumstances like earthquakes, tsunamis, poverty, addictions and human trafficking. The broadcasts, aired from four 100-kilowatt shortwave transmitters reached North Korea, China, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar and beyond to India, Indonesia, Australia and New Zealand. However 33 years later, these transmitters were in great need of replacement. We at TWR hope to use the most effective technology available to reach the nations and so it was a great blessing to obtain two newly refurbished transmitters that are more than twice as powerful and technologically advanced as the old ones. They will more than double our current broadcast power across the continent, allowing our radio signals to reach farther and stronger. In addition, these newer transmitters have the added feature of digital technology. Through the faithful prayer and giving of supporters around the world, TWR reached "phase three" of the project in April with the transmitters being brought into the building and the £420,000 goal for the project being not only met, but exceeded! "We praise the Lord for His goodness, and we are so thankful for this wonderful provision," says TWR President Lauren Libby. The digital capabilities of the transmitters will enable us to reach both rural areas and large cities with a strong "near FM" quality signal. Digital broadcasts also reduce the fading and interference common with many analogue transmissions. With Asia's transition to the digital broadcast platform scheduled to take place in the next few years, TWR is now well positioned to meet the needs of listeners well into the 21st century (via Alan Roe, July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Radio Churches - Upwards of 20,000 "radio churches" have been formed in the last several years. The radio-church movement centers around the use of short-wave radio in a house-church setting. Gospel programs, broadcast from Trans World Radio's station in Guam, are utilized as the teaching and worship time for many of these small churches, often lacking a pastor or written study materials or scriptures, RS (2567) (via Ralph Smith, Canada, ibid.) ** GUATEMALA. 4055, Radio Verdad, fair 0546 17/6 but noisy atmospherics. Christian hymns, Lords Prayer in English, multi language idents to close with sung anthem at 0600 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4055, July 6 at 1115, R. Verdad, fair signal with Japanese announcement so may have just signed on, then Spanish, or rather vernacular with Spanish in it, then maybe Swedish, mixed with hymnic music on Hammond? organ. 1123 fading down before I could hear the choo-choo on `El Tren del Evangelio`. Enid sunrise today 1120, Chiquimula 1134 so right on the grayline. Not too much T-storm noise this morning (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUINEA [and non]. 7125, July 1 at 0658 French talk poor in noise level, 0705 music. NO other broadcast signals audible up to Cuban jamming on 7405; just LSB hams below 7300. The early midsummer sun must have sucked up all the other signals from Eurafroasia. Mauritania at least should have been audible on 7245 but apparently not on today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HONDURAS. [Tvfmdx] 6/14 Es Central America, UNID --- Weak Es from SSW at 1140 edt with what looked like a "V" logo in UR. A children's program was in process. Not sure if it was Mexico or something further south (Fred Nordquist, SC, WTFDA via DXLD) Fred, This is likely what you reported on tvfmdx. Christopher Dunne posted these pictures a few days ago. http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?6084-Mexico-Central-America-6-11-11 (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, Mexico TV DX Tips http://www.tvdxtips.com ibid.) Maybe Vica TV in Honduras. You're certainly in range. http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?6084-Mexico-Central-America-6-11-11 (Jeff Kruszka, ibid.) 1140 *HRJS-2 Honduras - San Pedro Sula - Vica TV (1323) Noted "V" logo in UR, with very small unreadable lettering at bottom right of "V". Thanks to Danny & Jeff for pointing out Chris' thumbnail of their logo in the WTFDA forums, which is exactly what I saw. *=new logging (Fred Nordquist, Moncks Corner, SC, 33.21756N 79.95798W, KJ4BUG Grid FM03AF, WTFDA via DXLD) Time EDT, (Distance) statute miles presumably ** INDIA. 4810, All India Radio with cricket commentary 2037 India vs West Indies 21/6, fair-good, alternating English and Hindi. // 4910 weak under Chinese open carrier. 4810 still audible 2200 this day (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. AIR Itangar 4990 kHz --- Heard AIR Itanagar on 4990 this morning, i.e. June 29th right from the sign on at 0020 UT with AIR Interval signal followed by Bande Mataram, then station identification announcements plus frequency infos both shortwave & medium wave, etc. in Hindi around 0024 and then there was usual shehnai recital, etc., as far as my memory goes. Later I checked this frequency around 0123, there was back to back folk music played upto 0132 as checked for the last time. Signal was fair. 73 & 55 (Gautam Kumar Sharma, Abhayapuri, Assam, India, via Alokesh Gupta, dx_india via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) Is this unusual? Had it been inactive? (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR Jeypore is noted back on 6040 kHz after some months. It`s a 50 kW tx. The sked is 0700-0945 UT. 73 (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS National Institute of Amateur Radio, Raj Bhavan Road, Hyderabad 500082, India, July 2, dx_india yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 4790, RRI Fak Fak, 0800, noted in passing with RRI news, then local comments and into music. Didn't bother "chasing" the exact frequency, but I doubt it's "spot on" nominal. Actually, the broadcast was horribly modulated, nearly to the point of FM'ing, but signal strength was impressive. Last time I heard this, a few weeks ago, the signal also had horrible modulation and after a few days, was off the air. 30 June (David Sharp, NSW Australia, dxldyg via DXLD 11-26, WORLD OF RADIO 1572) I can receive RRI-Fak Fak on 4789.97 kHz at 1130 UT on June 30. Fair signal in Japan. Local ID at 1159 by female, News at 1200 (S. Hasegawa, Japan, dxldyg via DXLD 11-26, WORLD OF RADIO 1572) RRI Fak Fak, 4789.96, 30 June, 1100, bits of music, then talk in presumed Indonesian, weak with severe Codar interference. Presumed, based on Sei-ichi Hasegawa's log from about the same time (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur from an unattended recording session, K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4789.96, RRI Fak Fak, randomly 1141 to 1312, July 1. OM and YL DJs playing EZL songs and on air phone calls; David Sharp’s description fits very well: “Actually, the broadcast was horribly modulated, nearly to the point of FM'ing, but signal strength was impressive”; 1301 newer version of Rayuan Pulau Kelapa (SCI) followed by the news and ending with the usual song at 1306; strong CODAR QRM. Thanks to Sei-ichi original alert in dxldyg and to the others who have sent in logs of this reactivated station. 4789.96, RRI Fak Fak, off the air July 4, which is not too surprising in light of their recent audio problems (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4789.96, RRI Fak Fak, back again July 5 at 1202 with the Jakarta news relay which ended at 1226 with usual patriotic/national song; audio sounded much improved; news and song // RRI Palangkaraya (3325), RRI Makassar (4749.95) and RRI Jakarta (9680), but not // RRI Ternate (3344.96). Was off the air by 1240 check; Atsunori Ishida indicates 1233* (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9526-, July 7 at 1252, VOI in Special Japanese, then music, poor at S8 to peaks S9+8. At least something is making it now, but 13-14 for English is still too far into daylight (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. For easy summertime listening, reading and reflection. Strange but captivating, even Orwellian. You have a choice of listening to any of five cities’ police scanners with music, of a sort, superimposed. To be fair it has to be listened for 5 or 10 minutes at least, as background. My choice is New York. The audio and sound/music blend better. New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago and Montreal can be chosen with a click. http://youarelistening.to/newyork (Robert Ellis, World Utility Column, July CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM [non]. History in the making - STS-135 Countdown Under Way --- 5 July 2011 The countdown for the final space shuttle launch began today at 1 p.m. EDT, starting at the T-43 hour mark. However, the launch-day weather forecast looks less than favorable for Friday's 11:26 a.m. liftoff. At the 10 a.m. precountdown status briefing this morning, NASA Test Director Jeremy Graeber reported space shuttle Atlantis is ready for flight, and STS-135 payload manager Joe Delai said the payloads are ready to go as well. The only issue standing in the way of liftoff on Friday is a 60 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms developing along the sea-breeze front reported Kathy Winters, shuttle weather officer. After flying to NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida yesterday, the STS-135 astronauts today are reviewing their flight data file and conducting checks of their launch and entry suits. At Kennedy's Launch Pad 39A, technicians have completed space shuttle Atlantis' aft confidence checks and final preparations of the main propulsion system. Despite storms in the area over the extended weekend, there were no reports of adverse weather or lightning strikes inside the launch pad. http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Space Shuttle Launch I wasn't fortunate enough to land any tickets to the last launch of the Space Shuttle next week. However, I do have reservations in Ormond Beach for the launch. I'd like to get as close as possible and I'm hoping someone with a little more experience can lend a hand. I know that I'll probably have to leave Ormond pretty early Friday morning in order to get anywhere near the launch and then sit around in the warm Florida sun and wait for the launch at 11:26 Friday morning. Any help would be appreciated. I'll take along the scanner to listen for anything I might be able to pick up and a couple of other radios too. Try not to send me too far into the boondocks as I will have my Wife and ten-year-old daughter with me. Thanks in advance (KI4SYC, Bert New, Watkinsville, Georgia, Proudly Serving You Since 1964! June 30, 2011, NRC-AM via DXLD) Bert, I was at Space View Park in Titusville for the STS-133 launch in February. It was an amazing experience. Space View Park is about as close as you can get to the launch site with a direct view if you don't have a ticket to be on NASA property. Garrett Wollman and I got there about 4 hours before launch and we were able to edge ourselves almost up to the water, with nothing but about six rows of people and a couple of miles of open water between us and the launch. With a long lens, you can see the back side of the launch pad right across the water from the edge of the park. If you're daring (and willing to risk catching whatever's in the water!), you can actually go right into the shallow water between the two sides of Space View Park. There were a ton of people sitting in lawn chairs in the water or just standing in the water awaiting the launch. The south side of Space View Park has bathrooms (very long lines!) and a live PA feed of NASA audio. We were on the north side, which was marginally less crowded. I am told there are also lots of private property owners right along the water in Titusville (just a couple of blocks east of US 1, south of Space View Park) who will let you set up in their yards with water views --- for a price. The worst part of the experience wasn't the traffic coming into Titusville (not bad), nor the parking (on the street about 4 short blocks away), nor the crowds in the park (intense but friendly). It was the VERY long wait in traffic to get out of town after the launch. It took us something like 3 hours to get from where the car was parked in downtown Titusville up to the SR 50/I-95 junction northwest of town, and then another hour-plus from there back into Orlando via a roundabout route. Your best bet - and what I'd do if I had it to do over again - would be to plan on sticking around Titusville for a few hours after the launch. Bring a picnic or patronize one of the local restaurants (they'll be hurting for business after the shuttle program ends!) and don't plan on leaving town until 5-6 hours after the launch and you should be able to move pretty quickly after that. (You *might* have slightly better luck with your drive going north, but I doubt it!) Do not expect to have any usable cell service around launch time. Verizon, at least, was completely overloaded for an hour or so, which was a challenge to me since I was trying to get calls out to file live-on-scene reports for WXXI in Rochester and for Ron Gitschier's WNZF up the coast in Flagler County! Oh, and as for radio? WMEL 1300 out of Cocoa does nonstop coverage of the launch for quite a while before and after, sometimes just relaying raw NASA audio. WDBO 580 and WMFE 90.7 from Orlando cut into regular programming closer to the launch for updates. It's the experience of a lifetime; hope you have a blast!! s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) And I recommend reading "The Martian Chronicles" by Ray Bradbury if you're stuck in traffic down there, or looking for something to do besides swatting mosquitos while waiting for the launch. It was the first serious science fiction book I ever read. "Rocket Summer" is one of the short stories in the book that will get you looking up! PS - Just watched "Moby Dick" from the 1950's on DVD. I noticed Ray Bradbury is credited for the screenplay (Jim Renfrew, Holley NY, IRCA via DXLD) Anywhere in Titusville will give you an excellent view of the launch. I've seen several launches from there. And a little known secret - NASA subcontracts with WMIE 91.5 in Cocoa Beach to carry the audio feed from NASA. After the launch, WMIE reverts back to its normal Christian format. WMIE 91.5 is not receivable much farther away than Titusville, the frequency is re-used in Daytona Beach and Orlando (Bruce Carter, ABDX via DXLD) ** IRAN. 17560, July 4 at 1307, very poor signal but several mentions of Indonesia amid `busy` music ground. So I assume it`s in Indonesian, but whence? WRTH A-11 update shows VIRI at 1230-1330 via Sirjan in Indonesian, but HFCC lists this as Kamalabad in `Melau` which apparently means Malay, not a language in the WRTH schedule for Iran (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. AL ARABIYA LOOKS BACK AT 75 YEARS OF BAGHDAD RADIO On July 1, 1936, the first radio station in Iraq emerged. It is known today by two names, the Republic of Iraq Radio or Baghdad Radio. The radio’s morning broadcasts used to start with a bulbul singing for five minutes. The bulbul’s voice was later adjusted for sound necessities, but the bulbul remained an icon that characterized Baghdad Radio. When the radio was first established, the radio director used to take a monthly payment to feed the bulbul. The bulbul used at the radio was real at first, but when it died, King Faisal the second granted Baghdad Radio an alternative mechanical bulbul which he had bought from London. This mechanical Bulbul is still working until now. Many Iraqis call him the ‘radio’s poet’ as they thought for years that it was real and not artificial. ¦Read more/watch video from Al Arabiya http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/07/05/156207.html Andy Sennitt comments: I have always maintained that you’re never too old to learn, and it seems that for donkey’s years the World Radio TV Handbook (WRTH) description of Radio Baghdad’s interval signal was inaccurate. That’s a bit embarrassing, given that I was the editor from 1988-97. The text, which never varied, said “soft chirps of mechanical nightingale”. But now I discover that the bird was actually a different species, the bulbul. It was one of the most distinctive interval signals on the air, and I had no idea that there was originally a live bird (July 5th, 2011 - 11:29 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** IRELAND. Pirates: see EUROPE ** ISRAEL. 15850, July 2 at 2328 rock music at S9+12, from Galei Tsahal. Not in HFCC, but WRTH says 10 kW to Europe. If it is really direxional like that, also favors NAm beyond, not bad (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY [non]. Checking the IRRS/NEXUS-IBA/EGR webcasts, Saturday July 2 at 1814, when WORLD OF RADIO used to be on, http://mp3.nexus.org/mp3/ I am hearing nothing but lite music fill on all four, not Brother Scare. It`s a new month, so wonder if he is still on 7290 anyway? At 1816 into the `California Report`, of all things, podcast of public radio show originating at KQED San Francisco! And preceded by `the NPR voice` who does all the underwriting announcements (does he have any other job?) Please check this in Europe. IRRS program schedule still shows Overcomer at 18-20, but not updated since June 10. TOM SW schedule ftp://www.overcomerministry.org/RadioSchedule/Short%20Wave%20Radio.htm l has never got round to including 7290, altho mentioned on homepage (Glenn Hauser, OK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Replies soon came in: Glenn, checked 7290 at 1853. Nonstop English songs until around 1858, then some PSA's and IRRS ID with address. Back to nonstop pops. Recheck at 1921, Brother S on the channel (Jari Savolainen, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I tuned 7290 at 1855 and heard pop music and a commercial(?) for 'skicher' (phonetically) and other promo, followed at 1900 by ID as IRRS and address, all in an American accent, followed by --- well, it sounds musical. Similar followed without announcement, but the off- switch is now beckoning! I hung on till 1910 when a news broadcast "of less heard items" suddenly appeared and then `Between the Lines`. This was faded out at 1917 when the familiar voice of Bro. Scare appeared! Had they been taking the wrong feed? The signal is very strong and peaking to 30 dB over 9 with only slight splash from 7295 (Noel R. Green (NW England), ibid.) We also notified IRRS and at 1918 Alfredo Cotroneo replied: ``Sat[ellite] problem now OK. Thanks`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I wonder how the Bro. S. audio is routed to the transmitter [Tiganeshti, ROMANIA]. When checking out 7290 last Saturday, the transmission had a remarkably shabby audio quality, as if a stream with low bitrate was reencoded into another low bitrate stream, perhaps with both streams using different codecs (this makes the results of such cascading particularly bad). The fan noise that always accompanies the, uh, talk from the "radio room" at Walterboro had turned into a weird bubbling sound which a gate muted during every pause. Probably their solution (are these ordinary webstreams?) is sub- standard not only in regard to audio quality but also in regard to reliability. And this without a real need, since this program audio can simply be taken from Hotbird, which in all likelihood is what Wertachtal and Moosbrunn are or were doing (are these MB-brokered transmissions still in place?). (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 2, ibid.) It seems that something has been changed as compared to last weekend, perhaps even related to the disruption. Tonight the screaming and the accompanying noises are modulated considerably clearer, although still not as sharp as on the MB transmitters (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 3, ibid.) ** JAPAN. The first topic is about Japan’s Community FM Radio. We have donated 700,000 yen (about $8,600) to help earthquake affected community radio stations to reestablish their radio transmission capabilities. I had a chance to meet many stations’ executives during their annual gatherings, and came to know that the current problem of Japanese radio community was the lack of radio tuning knowledge among young generations. They are accustomed to remote control of TV tuning and don’t know how to tune the radio to certain stations. After the earthquake, some of our members were appreciated by many people in afflicted areas, because they were the ones who knew where foods and necessities could be purchased. All of the information was available through community radio stations, which our members were frequently listening to when driving to work. All essential information for survival was aired by community radio stations, but they were not as popular as network stations, and even the frequencies were not recognized well. We realized the urgent need to teach ordinary people how to tune to local radio stations in order to get important information for them. This is all for this month (Toshi Ohtake, Japan Short Wave Club JSWC, P. O. Box 44, Kamakura 248-8691, Japan, July bulletin via Dario Monferini, July 2, playdx yg via DXLD) ** JAPAN. Utilitarias: señal japonesa JJY en 40 y 60 kHz En la madrugada de ayer pude recibir y grabar las emisiones de la estación japonesa JJY en 40.0 y 60.0 kHz. Utilicé antena L invertida de 54 m con filtro PI pasabajos directo a la placa de sonido y programa Spectrum Lab; también con la antena conectada al Icom R-75 y la salida de audio REC de éste a la placa de sonido con programa Argo. Adjunto capturas con Argo; después subo videos a Youtube. En 60 KHz anda mejor el Icom que la placa de sonido sola. JJY emite pulsos de CW puntos y rayas pero no es morse, es una señal horaria y de frecuencia pero en los minutos 15 y 45 de cada hora se identifica en Morse. Más detalles aquí: http://jjy.nict.go.jp/index-e.html En ambas frecuencias la señal fue fácilmente audible por parlante. El mejor horario es de la madrugada y mañana en Argentina o sea con oscuridad sobre el Pacifico. Por más que digan que las bajas frecuencias llegan por onda de superficie todo el dia, en este caso es clara propagación ionosférica; también lo verifico en el rango 10 a 30 kHz con estaciones de USA y Europa. Una señal no identificada pero parecida a JJY estoy captando en 12.0 kHz. En general en el rango 10 a 25 kHz se reciben muchas estaciones, la mayoría en MSK y no hay forma de identificarlas salvo por listas de emisiones que se consiguen en internet. No todas las emisiones son H24 y algunas aparecen y desaparecen en minutos pero no por propagación. Saludos (Alejandro D Alvarez LU8YD, Patagonia Argentina (grid FF51XC), condiglist yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) Los videos prometidos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdXi-onxYVg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOeKGzvgwjg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nljEOACzVc 73s (LU8YD, July 4, ibid.) ** JAPAN [non]. 6120, July 1 at 1202, RJNHKW via CANADA, sufficient but noisy over all-day path at midsummer, news about 15% power savings required in much of the country to avoid blackouts, and ``some local governments are instituting DST``! That should be a big mess if not all-or-none, some parts of Japan on UT+10? What about train, broadcast schedules? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11730, July 3 at 0529 surprised to hear R. Japan in English, closing announcement of the 0500 broadcast which is not supposed to be on this frequency; after a pause, 0530 opening French as scheduled via FRANCE. Issoudun turned up the audio feed too early. Strangely, the French service does not open with `Sakura` but some other music. Like English, Russian on 11715 direct does open at 0530 with `Sakura`. 11730 has ACI from NZ, better on // 13840 MADAGASCAR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 13650, July 4 at 1301, VOK IS and NA, poor, better on 13760, much better on 11710, poor on 11735. Same programming now, but 13650 and 11735 are Chinese service, 13760 and 11710 English, destined to diverge (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5985, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1331 and 1402, July 5. In Korean; fair with light jamming and Myanmar het 5985, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, 1339, July 6. In Korean; another non-English Wednesday; fair with no jamming and light het from Myanmar (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. 9650, KOREAS N/S, July 3, 1200. Today, neither Pyongyang nor Seoul (via Sackville CANADA) wins the "battle of the bands" today, as both being equally weak on the channel. Hoped to catch weekly popshow here (Rick Barton, El Mirage, AZ, Hammarlund HQ-200, SP-600, Drake R-8, 75' Inverted L, Slinky, ABDX via DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 11530, another check for V. of Mesopotamia, July 2 at 1341, clear frequency with absolutely no carrier. Wolfgang Büschel confirms it`s still on the air but: ``UKRAINE {to Kurdistan} TDP brokered V. of Mesopotamia S=8 signal noted here in CeEUR at 1815 UT in like Arabic{?} language, - though out of main lobe from Ukraine tx site -, June 30. Program to 25 million Kurds in Iran, Iraq, Turkey, Syria. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST 11-26)`` and Kai Ludwig in Germany says: ``The 11530 signal from Luch is pretty weak already here in Central Europe, close to a right angle to the beam (cf. the recent discussion about Miraya FM, same story). Thus it's no surprise that nothing can be heard anymore thousands of kilometres further away. Past receptions of Denge Mezopotamya in North America may date back to the previous use of Grigoriopol.`` But Brian Alexander in PA: ``KURDISTAN [non]. via Ukraine, 11530, Voice of Mesopotamia, *0400-0425, July 1, sign on with National Anthem followed by indigenous vocals. Kurdish instrumental music. Kurdish talk. Weak. Poor in noisy conditions. Must use ECSS-USB to avoid QRM from WEWN spur on approximately 11529`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Via Ukraine, 11530, Voice Of Mesopotamia, 0403-0430, July 3, tune-in to National Anthem. Indigenous vocals at 0404. Kurdish music. Fair signal with no sign of WEWN spurs, but slowly deteriorated to a very weak/threshold signal by 0430 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** KUWAIT. 17550, R. Kuwait at 2215 on July 3rd. Two men speaking in Arabic with occasional background music, and short break with soft instrumental music. Fair to good signal, deteriorating at about 2240. This was a fun logging because it was made on the dreaded Bell + Howell 9 Band World Receiver, a $10 pocket analogue set which garnered amateur reviews summing it up as "garbage" and "not a radio", etc. I'm enjoying good reception of Radio Kuwait and many other international shortwave broadcasters even more in light of these cursory, vitriolic reviews, and the fact that the radio came to me via a garage sale for 50 cents, including the two AA cells (Eric Bryan, WA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VG; I tried listening to this on a more professional receiver a bihour earlier, but it was all talk. Me want ME music! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS. Lao National Radio, 6130, 30 June, 1200, weak but recognizable with music bit, then anthem and woman in SE Asian language, with splatter from China on 6125 (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur from an unattended recording session, K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6130, LNR, 1301-1326, July 5. Rarely heard at this decent a level; adjacent QRM; indigenous vocals. MP3 audio with nice local song http://www.box.net/shared/s8rnx959qnx639s1oerj (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. 9355, VG July 1 until 1158* enjoyed a bit of nice music I could not place. Listed as RFA Lao via SAIPAN 11-12 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LESOTHO. 1197, Family Radio relay. Maseru: 2011/06/28 tue 1750-1815, Conspicuous by their total absence tonight. Equidistant Radio Botswana is loud and clear two channels up on 1215 kHz. Even Radio Lesotho on 891 kHz is there (just) and it is always a harder catch. Just nothing there. Jo'burg sunset 1527. 2011/06/29 wed 1630-1637, They are back, with Family Bible Reading. The Lord sayeth something to someone, but Harold isn't involved yet. Almost inaudible time zone given as what sounded like UT + 7, which is a bit of a mystery, should be UT + 2 for Lesotho. At 1636 (UT) OM singing "Abide with me". At later check, 1747-1805, Harold is back with repeat of a post-rapture, pre-stroke Open Forum, explaining what went wrong. Oh dear, at 1759 someone called him a false teacher; suddenly went to time-filler until Harold came back to tell us all about the different types of false teachers and prophets and why he isn't one. Poor at first. Improved to good at later check, 1747. Jo'burg sunset 1527. 2011/07/01 fri 1820-1825, According to DXLD 11-26, WYFR say Harold will be taken off-air on June 30th. This may be so in the USA, but as of July 1st he is still being inflicted upon the Third World, at least those parts served by Maseru. Fair. Jo'burg sunset 1528 (Bill Bingham, South Africa, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA. VOA call sign 5MVA in Liberia --- Here's an interesting website of G. Kock with lot of nostalgic DX pictures and soundfiles: http://www.filatelia.fi/dx/index.html#111 If you scroll down to "station identifications" and to "Africa", there's a soundfile of VOA Monrovia as 5MVA. I never knew this station used call sign in their ID. Always something new to me in the net :-) (Jari Savolainen, Finland, July 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) LOTS of other audible and visual archives there too (gh) ** LIBYA. THE SHORTWAVE RADIO SCENE IN LIBYA: PART 1 Wireless communication came quite early to Libya, and the first stations were installed immediately after the end of World War I. These early wireless stations were located in Tripoli as ICK; Benghazi as ICJ; and Tobruk as ICU; together with four other regional locations. However, radio broadcasting came quite late to Libya, and interestingly, the first mediumwave stations were installed and operated by British & American forces personnel, not by the national government or commercial interests. According to all available references, there was a total of six different BFBS stations on the air in Libya giving coverage to four different localities on AM FM & SW; and just one AFRTS station on AM mediumwave. We look first at the British stations. According to Doreen Taylor in her book, “A Microphone & A Frequency”, the first two British stations were erected somewhat simultaneously during the year 1946, in Benghazi & Tripoli. Both stations were quite small to begin with, using just whatever electronic equipment was available. The original station in Benghazi was located on what had been the Italian airfield, and quite early, in 1947, an attempt was made to broadcast on shortwave. The transmitter was an American made RCA unit rated at 7½ kW and the chosen channel was announced as 11820 kHz, though monitoring observations in Australia stated that the channel was more like 11850 kHz. Unfortunately, these BFBS shortwave broadcasts caused interference to a regular BBC transmission, so the first attempt at shortwave broadcasting was aborted. However, shortwave broadcasting was again attempted on two subsequent occasions; in 1949 on 4780 kHz, and in 1956 with 7½ kW on 4930 & 7220 kHz. Two years after the station was inaugurated, Arabic programming was introduced for the benefit of local citizens; and four years later, the station was flooded following heavy rains in the hills nearby. However, due to quick action on the part of station personnel, very little damage was done to the station equipment. The Benghazi station was closed in February 1958, but upon the insistence of King Idris, a smaller station with 1 kW on 833 kHz was installed in an empty ward in what had been the base hospital in Wavell Barracks. That was in 1960, but when most of the British forces left the area, the station was taken over temporarily by Signals personnel, and soon afterwards it was closed. The BFBS station in Tripoli likewise had a double life. It was located initially in the British army barracks at Mareth, and ten years later the station was transferred to Miani Barracks four miles distant. Likewise, shortwave coverage was tried from this station, and it was noted in England on 4785 kHz in 1953. This station, with 1 kW on 1394 kHz, was finally closed in January 1966. The BFBS station located at Tobruk came on the radio scene considerably later than the previous two. It was inaugurated in July 1964, it radiated 1 kW on apparently two channels, 1439 & 1484 kHz, and it was closed after six years of on air service. Interestingly, the programming from the Benghazi BFBS station was also on the air from an FM relay station located at El Adem, 17 miles inland. This relay station received its program feed via a landline connection, and it was likewise on the air for only six years. BFBS in Libya was therefore on the air shortwave from two different locations, Benghazi in 1947, 1949 & 1956; and from Tripoli in 1953. And yes, these BFBS stations in Libya did issue QSL cards, though these days they are quite rare. The Indianapolis collection does contain one card, verifying BFBS Benghazi on shortwave with 4 kW on 3305 kHz in 1954. The American AFRTS station was located at Tripoli and the best information would suggest that it was launched with 100 watts on 1510 kHz in 1954. Very little is known about this station; it must have had an American callsign, but of that we do not know. It was closed, we would suggest during the year 1970, and at the time, it was operating with 1 kW on 1594 kHz. Next week here in Wavescan, we will look at the earlier shortwave radio scene in Libya (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script March 20 via DXLD) THE SHORTWAVE RADIO SCENE IN LIBYA: PART 2 In our program here in Wavescan a few weeks back, we presented the first part of our Station Profile on the story of radio broadcasting in the North African country of Libya. In that program, we gave the story of the early Morse Code wireless stations in Libya, and also the program broadcasting stations that were established in earlier years by BFBS, the British Forces Broadcasting Service, and AFRS, the American Forces Radio Service. In our opening feature here in Wavescan today, we present Part 2 in the story of radio broadcasting in Libya; and on this occasion, it is the story of the government radio services, on both mediumwave and shortwave. Actually, radio broadcasting on the part of the Libyan government took place quite late, as compared to similar events in other countries. As far as we can determine, the first government operated radio broadcasting station in Libya was on the air for a brief period of time in Cyrenaica in 1947. One isolated monitoring report informs us that the station was operating in the standard 19 metre band on 15320 kHz. We would suggest that this station was a communication station located in the eastern city of Benghazi and that was on the air temporarily with program broadcasting. It would appear that the first regular broadcasting station in Libya was installed in the capital city, Tripoli, in probably 1953. According to the World Radio Handbook for the following year, this station was a small facility, operating with just 250 watts on 1552 kHz. It would appear that this new small station was an interim facility while a larger station was under construction. A larger mediumwave station was inaugurated five years later, with 50 kW on 1052 kHz, apparently on the edge of suburban Tripoli. Around the same time, a shortwave transmitter was installed at El Beida, the most northerly point, in eastern Libya, and this was listed with 3 kW on 6140 kHz. Over the years, at least two additional shortwave transmitters rated at 100 kW were installed at El Beida, and also a 500 kW mediumwave unit for wide area coverage in Africa, as well as nearby Mediterranean areas. The shortwave usage at El Beida was closed out around the year 2000. Work commenced at another shortwave station listed as Benghazi in 1958. Over the years, several transmitters were installed at this location, including 3 kW, 7½ kW, 10 kW and at least one at 100 kW. These days, no shortwave unit is active at this Benghazi location, though a 100 kW mediumwave unit is active on 675 kHz. In the early 1970s, work commenced on the construction of another shortwave station located at Sabratha in the northwest corner of Libya. At the time, it was stated that this would become the largest shortwave station in all of Africa, with four Thomson transmitters rated at 500 kW each and a total of 48 curtain antennas. For many years, test transmissions were noted from this supposedly large station, and ultimately, in 2002, program broadcasting began. This station seems never to have fulfilled its original ambitious purpose, and currently it is on the air with just two transmitters carrying programming under the title, “Voice of Africa”. It would almost seem that the Libyan authorities would build a new radio station instead of maintaining and repairing existing stations. Another shortwave station was constructed at Al Assah, again in northwest Libya, near the border with Tunisia. This facility was inaugurated on August 28, 1996; and again it was re-inaugurated on December 8, 2001 with four shortwave transmitters. This station is no longer listed as active on shortwave, though a 500 kW mediumwave unit is shown on 1449 kHz. As if they don’t have enough transmitter locations, at least two more were constructed in more recent time, both at inland oasis locations. One was at Sebha in the middle of the country, with two Harris transmitter at 100 kW; and the other at Ghat in the bottom south west corner of the country, also with two transmitters at 100 kW. The Sebha station was in use with the broadcast of radio programming from 1985 to 2002; and the Ghat station was heard in Bulgaria with test transmissions four years ago, though apparently it was never taken into full time broadcast usage. To make things more complicated in the radio scene in Libya, the Transmitter Documentation Project, published by Ludo Maes in Belgium, lists a total of two dozen additional shortwave transmitters that were installed at unknown locations in Libya from the mid 1970s to around the year 2005. No doubt many of these units were installed at already existing locations, but perhaps additional locations are also involved. These additional units were procured from Siemens-RIZ in Zagreb Croatia. It would appear also, that various transmitters at various locations in Libya were also in use for varying time periods for general government communications, in addition to program broadcasting. We should also mention that Libya took out a relay from four shortwave transmitters at 500 kW located at Issoudun in France, beginning in 2003. Programming from Libya to France was provided by at least one communication transmitter, located at either Sabratha or Sebha. This program service was presented under the same title, “Voice of Africa”, and it was on the air for a period of some five years. So, what can you hear from troubled Libya these days? If you live somewhere near any of the Mediterranean areas, you can tune in on mediumwave to some of their powerful stations, if they still happen to be on the air. On shortwave, just two of their 500 kW transmitters located at Sabratha are listed as in use on air, so maybe some programming can be heard further afield on shortwave. In what might be described as better times, Libya issued large colorful oversized QSL cards for their broadcasts on both mediumwave and shortwave. These cards identify the shortwave broadcasting service from Libya as “Radio Jamahiriya”, and they were obtainable from two different addresses, one in Libya and the other in Malta. The QSL card, printed in English and Arabic, depicts a large ornate rainbow. Other QSL cards from Libya show current country scenes and ancient historic scenes throughout their country (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script April 3 via DXLD) ** LIBYA. TWO RADIO SHIPS: ON THE AIR IN LIBYA During a spate of research in the preparation for another topic in Wavescan, we were reminded again of the fact that two radio ships were once in use by the government of Libya for the broadcast of regular radio programming. This is the story of the two radio ships, known as Mebo or Mebo 1, and Mebo 2; or as they were known in Libya, Al Masira & Al Fateh. The small ship Mebo 1 began life in Norway as the Bjarkoy. It was purchased by the Swiss electronics company Mebo soon afterwards, and in 1969, it was loaded with electronic equipment as a radio broadcasting ship. There seem to be some reports that radio broadcasts were indeed made from the Mebo 1. In the meantime, another slightly larger ship was procured by the Mebo electronics company. This ship began life in 1948 as the Slikkerveer in Holland and it was purchased by the Mebo company in 1969. In actual fact, it became one of the biggest and best radio ships back in the era of European pirate radio broadcasting. This radio ship contained usually four different radio broadcast transmitters for operation on mediumwave, shortwave and FM. The first test broadcasts from the Mebo 2 were made off the coast of Holland on January 23, 1970, and test broadcasts and regular programming continued for the next five years in various seagoing areas off the coast of Holland, Belgium & England. The shortwave transmissions on the edge of the 49 metre band were heard throughout Europe & North America, and at times in Asia and the South Pacific. These broadcasts were best known as Radio North Sea International, though other identifications were used at various times. Both radio ships went silent on August 31, 1974, and both were taken into a Dutch harbor for refitting, maintenance and repair. Soon afterwards, efforts were made to sell the two ships, and it appears that offers were made, but nothing came of these endeavors at that time. However, both Mebo 1 & Mebo 2 were sold to Libya three years later, and they both arrived at the port of Tripoli on February 9, 1977. Shortly afterwards, test broadcasts began from the Mebo 2; and in August, regular broadcasting began under the Libyan leader, Colonel Qadhafi, as Radio Jamahariya. These ship broadcasts were intended to be temporary while the same Mebo company was installing their electronic equipment in a new land based shortwave station in Libya. In the meantime, Mebo 1 was renamed Al Masira, and Mebo 2 was renamed Al Fateh. Three year later, broadcasting from the radio ship was terminated; and four years later again, the two ships ended their lives unceremoniously when they were sunk for navy target practice in the Mediterranean in the Gulf of Sidra. The best known QSL card from the Mebo 2 is an aerial photo in color, showing the ship under the title Radio North Sea International. (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script Script for May 8 via DXLD) ** LIBYA FREE [and non]. The Audiovisuel Exterieur de la France has announced that journalists from RFI and France 24 will train local journalists in rebel-held areas of Libya. Press release at: http://www.france24.com/fr/libye-formation-soutien RFI's labor unions were quick to condemn the proposal by AEF President Alain de Pouzilhac, saying the plan is contrary to basic principles of journalism and threatens the safety and credibility of its reporters. "The head of the AEF sees us as auxiliaries of the French army," said a union statement. "Reporters for RFI and France 24 doing their work in Libya risk being considered military enemies by forces loyal to Moammar Gadhafi," the unions said. "Never in the past, no matter what conflict, has RFI taken sides, even in official French military engagements. We urge Alain de Pouzilhac to immediately reconsider this irresponsible decision. We solemnly ask RFI's journalists to disobey all instructions from their bosses pushing them to act like parties engaged in the Libyan conflict." (Mike Cooper, GA, Jul 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LUXEMBOURG. Re 11-26: Marnach is nowadays running 600 kW, at least for third-party programming. The Transradio TRAM solid-state equipment was originally 300 kW only but has been upgraded to 600 kW later. See the picture here; each of the cabinets is "worth" 50 kW (in general in a TRAM system just so much of these cabinets are combined as needed for the wanted output): http://www.transradio.de/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=118&Itemid=105&lang=en The TRAM system has of course been installed as part of the RTL/BCE enthusiasm for DRM, which as well-known has now vanished. So it can be considered a lost investment, like the new antenna they built for 6095 kHz at Junglinster. It had earlier been hinted that 1440 kHz would be already dead if no airtime could be leased to third parties. RTL Radio is on mediumwave now hardly more than a frame for this programming, in particular for the missionaries of which some use this frequency already for decades. Making money by leasing airtime is the whole point of the whole operation now, and gossip has it that it is not so terribly profitable as one might be inclined to believe. Check out http://www.bce.lu/BCE_Broadcast_and_Transmission.htm It does not show the new TRAM system but features the tube transmitters, no longer in everyday use but still kept in operational condition I think. The S 4006 transmitters, which in the past had been combined to 1200 kW, are kind of a mediumwave variant of the S 4005 500 kW shortwave transmitter. Such transmitters may still be in everyday use at Zeewolde, at least on 747 (1008 kHz is reportedly now run with the 100 kW solid-state unit that in the nineties was used at Lopik on 1395), and in the past they were as such 1200 kW pairs in use in Norway on 1314 and in Taiwan on 927/1521. The S 1445/2 represents an earlier generation with classic plate modulation, similar equipment had made it into this millenium at Mainflingen (1539) and was earlier also in use at Langenberg (1593), Königslutter (549/756) and DW's Malta station (1557). Concerning Junglinster: After shortwave operations have ceased for good, as indicated to Ian Baxter, this is still a stand-by site for 234 kHz, with two 600 kW Thomson transmitters, one from 1964 that had been installed as last one before Beidweiler took over, and one installed in 1987 to replace the even older gear. Regular 234 site is now the near-by Beidweiler, often still listed as "Junglinster". It operates with a pair of Thomson 1000 kW transmitters from 1994 and still has the original transmitter pair from 1972 as aux. Now Beidweiler is about to be upgraded with a 1500 kW TRAM system. It remains to be seen if BCE will still go with the redundancy much beyond all usual standards and keeps not only aux transmitters but even a complete aux site. Anyway 234 kHz is a completely different story than 1440 kHz, with the French RTL apparently still having a noteworth audience on longwave, also for having relevant programming to offer, much unlike the German-language programming from Luxembourg (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I previously `corrected` TRAM to DRAM (gh, DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR. 5010, RTM poor but clear in French 0406. Measured 5010.02 with tell-tale ECSSB mode (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) long path? 5010, R Nasionaly Malagasy --- Hi Everyone, A recording from Monday: 5010, R Nasionaly Malagasy (PRESUMED), 1855ut. Signed off just after the hour without any NA or music just an OM coming to the end of his sentence. Music earlier on some of it actually sounded a bit Latin ! But then I`m hopeless with music. If anyone can help to "firm" this up with language, etc., it would be appreciated. http://www.box.net/shared/i7445i362ykymz5bkmxx (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, July 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I can receive R N Malagasy with LSB+ carrier not USB+ carrier from July 1. Malagasy s/off at 1857 UT on July 6. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmSSzIYOXP4&feature=related by Tuyoshi in Shimane-pref. Japan (S. Hasegawa, Japan, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6135.25v, RTVM, brief opening just after my local sunrise; via long path; 1316-1332, July 1. EZL and Afro-pop songs; ads; almost fair; // 5010 (LSB + carrier mode); yes that’s right, not in their normal USB + carrier mode (very unusual!) (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5010 (LSB + carrier mode), R. Madagasikara, 1339-1406, July 7. African Hi-Life music; series of on air phone calls; many IDs (“FM Radio Madagasikara” and also just plain “Radio Madagasikara”); 1400-1403 news. Series of IDs at 1405 - MP3 audio http://www.box.net/shared/pgzmoxtjby3qybop737m Continues to be in LSB, as I first noted on July 1. Found // 6135.28 fading up about 1350 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALAYSIA. 7295, Traxx FM, 1200-1211 Jun 30. In English with short news bulletin, then pop vocals after 1203. Fair with intermittent ham QRM (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) See also SARAWAK [and non] ** MAURITANIA. 7245, Radio Mauritanie audible nightly since 6 June with Qur`an from around 0600 variable, good strength. Flute music & ident 0700 27/6 then Arabic news. Audible as late as 0855 some days (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7245, July 5 at 0603, unlike last night, IGIM is already on with usual soporific wake-up chanting, good signal, and no ACI from 7250, Vatican absent, q.v. (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 590, MÉXICO, XEPH, Sabrosita 590, México DF. 1028 July 5, 2011. With the Cuban Radio Musical Nacional nulled, this was huge on the PR-D5. All nice tropical vocals, sounding very Cuban or South American, not the usual Mexican fare. But finally, a female "Sabrosita 590, la más caliente." Into choral Mexican national anthem at 1059. Quickly faded down (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 610, XEGS Guasave, Sin, JUN 2, 1120 - Banda tunes, canned slogans after each song, sounding like "Buenali Sinaloa" or similar, with several variations; MDT time checks (UTC-6). Used to be semi- rare but now noted almost daily before 1130 fadeout. Mixing with, and usually under, KNML. [Wilkins-CO] 1040, XEGIS, Guaymas, Son, MAY 29, 1100 - Apparently new call letters, ex-XEGYS. Signal is in almost daily around this time, generally fair, sometimes good, with one or two XE's underneath. Canned IDs at top and bottom of the hour, always the same: "Ésta es una señal estrella de Radiovisa - XEGIS Diez Cuarenta, frecuencia mega, cinco mil watts..." Address also given as well as mention of 90.1 FM. Fourth letter is definitely I ("ee"). [Wilkins-CO] 1040, unID, JUN 15, 1116 - Ad string to 1118, then "Ciento tres punto cinco FM, La Tapatía" slogan and into music. Rather weak and soon faded under XEGIS. Possibly XEBBB, since Guadalajara has an FM station on 103.5 FM with this slogan, although sources still show XEBBB with "Radio Mujer" slogan and talk format. [Wilkins-CO] [Tapatía refers to Jalisco state and nowhere else --- gh] 1180, XEDCH, Cd. Delicias, Chih, JUN 16 1105 - ID in progress: "...XEDCH, Once Ochenta AM, Romántica Once Ochenta, llegando a ti con cinco mil wats de potencia... [address]... Radiorama, estamos cubriendo la nación...," then back to music. Generally fair (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge CO; Drake R8, 4-foot box loop, NRC International DX Digest July 1 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Radio Mil, 6010, good with Latin pops, many IDs 0728-0740 1 July, mixing with unID Spanish talk, possibly Colombia (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur, K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6009.95, Radio Mil back and the XE again blotting out this frequency as of 7/1. First noted weakly at 0940 tune-in with quick, clear ID by OM (burst out, simply, with "Radio Mil !"). By 1025 recheck, was totally bombing in with pops and time/checks, as strong as ever. Nice listening station, actually. The 6010.04 unID previously heard, weakly, not noted, nor the usual heterodyne mess. Suspect that one was indeed R. Inconfidência, uncovered by Mil's temporary absence, as suggested and IDed by Herk and Bob Wilkner. Thanks for the assist, gents! (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer, Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408, Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola Glenn: recientemente fué reparado el transmisor de XEOI, ya que, presentó una falla hace un par de semanas, la transmisión se reinició el viernes y he notado una mejora importante en la recepción de XEOI, incluso Ralph Perry asi lo menciona. Te pregunto: ¿Notas mejoría en la recepción de XEOI en los 6010 kHz? Probablemente la mejora se deba a que estos dias ha llovido copiosamente en México. Que tengas un buen domingo. Saludos, (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, July 3, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hola Julián, Tengo que decirte que no -- al menos a las horas acostumbradas de mi monitoreo --- no la escucho a las 05+ (cuando RHC tarde), ni cerca de las 12. Tal vez debe llegar más temprano en la madrugada. Casi nunca sintonizo por la tarde. 73, (Glenn to Julián, ibid.) Muchas gracias por tu información, en cualquier caso si llegas a escucharla mucho te agradeceré me lo hagas saber. 73´s (Julián, ibid.) 6009.96, Radio Mil, noted with nice signal 0845 on 7/5 with OM ID, "Radio Mil de Mexico .." and inviting listeners to write in to them. Program of pleasant local pops and lite music, no het or QRM this morning (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD- 545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer; Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408; Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6010, July 6 at 1044 tune-in, first only a het presumably caused by HJDH, but by 1046 XEOI fades in with slogan ``En Radio Mil, vive México``, music. At first bothered by het and by North Korean jamming on both sides, but then overcame them to S9+15 level, song ``Corazón Selvaje``. 1049 DJ exhorts ``levántete`` --- no tnx, I`d rather go back to sleep; another slogan ``llena de energía``, yawn. 1124 recheck, it`s weaker again vs het and jammers. Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF and a Radio Mil supporter, says they were off the air for a couple weeks, but came back July 1 with a better signal (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6010, July 7 at 1215, R. Mil with news in Spanish fading in and out from poor level to peak S9+15 at 1223 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn: thank you very much for the two days log of Radio Mil, it seems the heavy rain we have had for 10 days cause a local effect of better and cleaner reception on 6010 kHz. Manuel Méndez in Lugo, Galicia, Spain has reported not being able to receive Radio Mil instead, LVTC (Julián Santiago Díez de Bonilla, DF, July 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See COLOMBIA ** MEXICO. Follow-ups to my TVDX in 11-26: I added a new tip to my site today. In case you haven't seen it, Televisa independents and Galavisión/Local stations are running some programs from the various Televisa networks. As for XELN-4, I've seen XEW and XHGC programs there lately (with network logos upper right), in addition to Galavisión and local programs. Glenn, I'm enjoying your DX reports on tvfmdx. That is an "H" on the Azteca newscast. I've attached a photo from XHHSS-4 last week with "Hechos." [As seen on XHAQ-5 Mexicali with Azteca Trece, a dot in the middle of the H instead of a bar] (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, Mexico TV DX Tips http://www.tvdxtips.com June 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. July 2 signs of Es on HF earlier, so at 1441 UT I turn on the analog TV. Mix of stations on channel 2 with Spanish music, 3, 6 at first. 1450 on 2, mixing with another program, some fast Morse code is sent, uncopied. Sounds like on regular TV modulation mode, i.e. FM audio, but could it have been a US translator ID, or part of some Mexican program? 1458 on 2, news show with bug in lower right: LAS >>>> NOTICIAS 21. 9:58 [I have problems getting the degree symbol to show and stay] 1459, same has in lower left: EL MARTEL / Tel. 84 00 9503. I am certain of the phone number, but nothing productive googled. Then Televisa logo in closing credit. 1500 into a kid show with no local ID seen. Character in costume, can`t figure out what animal it is supposed to be. 1500 on 4, comedy skit with Azteca Trece bug UR 1502 on 2, video for PUASSANCE, impotence infomercial, confirmed by Googling. Evidently this trade name is deliberately misspelt French, from Puissance = Power. But audio from the kid show above. 1503 on 3, net-5 toon 1503 on 5, briefly sombrero movie 1513 on 3, medical(?) discussion with large 3 bug in UR and below it 10:13 and temp. Suspect common XHP Puebla, an originator on 3. 1532 on 2, kidshow with UR bug, the word canal below a cloud(?); did not see a tu before the canal. Opening gone by 1545. Since DX Sherlock, back in service, showed 6m activity from these parts to the Caribbean, SE direxion rather than Mexico, I turned toward there, but no, all I am getting on TV is from Mexican direxion. I never get anything even from Cuba, altho should not be that hard, Habana at 1300+ miles. Trouble is, Mexico always seems to be coming in with multiple signals when anything from further might be underneath. Some sporadic E analog TVDX the morning of July 5, UT: 1420 on 2, fade-in some CCI with antenna S; checked N and it goes away 1422 on 3, suddenly a snow-free signal in Spanish, Tostitos ad, then vanishes, but back at 1428 with Notivisa news, i.e. XHBC Mexicali, so I rotate to WSW and it peaks at snow-free. 1430 Notivisa with soccer news, also net-2 star-60 bug in UR. 1436 about boxing, including women pummeling each other (do they agree to avoid breasts? Heads are fine!). 1436 Large N bug in LR with NOTIVISA in tiny letters below it; plus clock at 7:36 = PDT. Soon fades out, still bits here and there and CCI on 2, more from the SSW. 1428 on 5, horoscope segment ``Los Astros`` with YL spouting nonsense, Azteca-13 bug in UR, i.e. XHAQ also Mexicali BCN. Bug in LR has a large AM [name of program], digital clock below that, as 8:28 --- hmmm, that`s MDT/CST, not PDT! There are A-13s on 5 in BCS and Chihuahua, but I still think it`s XHAQ matching reception of XHBC-3. Also has snowfree peaks and below the clock is rotating list of city abbrs. with presumably current C temps; I copied several of them before fading out again: MTY OAX PACH 14 VALL 26 TIJ 16 TOL 13 TORR 22 TUX 23 VER ZAC 16 ACA 34 AGS 19 Es TVDX July 5: earlier in the morning I had 3 and 5 from Mexicali, as in previous report. 1600 UT on 3, program promos for Once-TV including something to be at 7:45 pm. This is still peaking from WSW. 1602 animated promo for IRN(?) 75 AÑOS. 1604 letterboxing, with right side of top black strip reading ONCE. Must be XHTJB in Tijuana, only net-11 affiliate anywhere around there, and usually blocked by slightly closer XHBC Mexicali, but for the moment skipping over that. I still can`t figure how they could put another ch 3 that close in Tijuana too. Wonder if it has a null toward XHBC and me, as I never got anything this definite from it last summer. UT July 6, weak Es in and out from the south from 0200 or so; finally: 0308 on 2, net-2 UR, novela 0312 on 4, algo, 0316 Spanish, 0319 Mexico mentioned 0344 on 4, maybe news, with news streamer across bottom 0349 on 2, news streamer at bottom, but unknown if // 4 not in now Another huge TV and FM DX opening from Mexico July 6: turned on at 1313 UT, channel 2 starting with XHY Yucatán and XHQRO Quintana Roo, then sweeping across entire country to BCN, past 1700 UT. It will take a while to compile all this, so holding for next report (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I`m getting XHTJB in Tijuana on 3, mixed with XHBC Mexicali, very close beat bars, maybe 4 or 5 each dark and lite, which indicates they are the same offset (previously when XHBC had that CCI I thought it was XHQ, but this makes more sense). I can`t find any key to your database abbrs., so I have to ask you. What does NH mean in the offset column? Unknown offset, horizontal polarization? It seems to be Zero. I don`t have a radio to measure offsets, so it`s only by comparing video CCI (Glenn to Doug Smith, July 6, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, it means unknown offset, horizontal polarization. In the U.S. it means "no" offset -- only applicable to LPTVs/translators, it means the station is supposed to be on-frequency ("zero offset") but the necessary frequency tolerance is considerably looser than full-power stations. LPTVs/translators that show an offset must adhere to the same frequency tolerance as full-power stations (and may need to be + or - offset if so indicated). So to make a long story short, if a Mexican station shows "N" you can assume it's zero offset, but there's not enough information to be certain. > If ODP means offset, directionality, polarization, why are there only two symbols under the Mexicans? I am also wondering if one or the other or both have some directionality to protect each other, being too close? Nothing shows up in the "d" column unless the station is directional. For Mexican stations, we usually don't know (so they may be directional but we don't have the information to know that one way or the other (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66 http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) Lots of TV and FM DX July 6, UT: 1313 on 2, turned on TV to find Es hopping already, and this time peaking SSE rather than S to WSW, so hoping it`s unMexican. At first audio is loud but video weak, OM telling story. 1329 I confirm it`s suspected XHY-TV, Mérida, Yucatán, by // to stream a few sex apart at http://sipse.com/envivo/canal2 1329 the dialog is between a clown and a guy in camos. At 1330 spot XHY in lower left; show is `Matutino Express` with three people at desk having big time in raucous discussion. Now has constant facebook f in lower-left. {f = maybe not Facebook, but ForoTV, the XHTV-4 network relayed} 1350 XHY is still dominant vs XHQRO co-channel below. 1357, one of the deskers, a low-cut, tight-skirted female, is now at a weather map but her figure is constantly getting in the way of the figures! Temps from around the nation. Oops, I`m watching the web more than the TV. 1313 on 2, CCI to above is net-5 with toons, Roadrunner vs Coyote. Mostly music and SFX on audio, but seems to have occasional narration in Spanish; was there ever narration in English? Maybe things need `splaining. Must be XHQRO, 100 kW at Cancún QR per ch 2 map, tho W9WI has net as 2. 1323, Looney Tunes that`s-all-folx, Bisquick commercial. 1319 on 4, net-5, also with Coyote toon, and constant bug in large letters, upper-right, XHMEN-TV. If only all Mexican TV stations would do this! Is Mérida, Yucatán. 1330, more Roadrunner & Coyote toon. Twice the 1200-mile distance and direxion from Mérida lands in the Pacific between Panamá and Colombia, with Guayaquil and Quito, Ecuador also under 3000 miles. At 1320 I noticed the video CCI on 2 was rather strange, like maybe some slightly different video standards or frequency variation. I may at least imagine that the Yucatecans are blocking reception of anything from there. 1353 on 2, CCI audio briefly in English, probably XHRIO Matamoros. 1403 on 3, net-5 now from south, still toons, no QRM at the moment, probably XHBQ Zacatecas. 1412 on 3, zero-CCI with `Hoy` show from net-2 takes over, also S At 1414 the DX Sherlock 6m map shows lots of activity over the US, concentrated in the SE quadrant, and nothing from Mexico except two hams right on the Rio Bravo border, nothing from beyond in Mexico. Similar paucity at further chex. 1416 on 3, CCI including Azteca Trece, UR 1416 on 5, CCI is almost exactly same offset 1417 on 2, XHY is snow-free, then CCI in fútbol report 1418 on 5, Veracruz PSA; 1420 TeleVer promo, Poza Rica in UR, so XHAJ Las Lajas 1418 on 6, some video is starting to show here; 1431 net-5 toon 1419 on 4, heavy CCI; dominating is talk show with ALEGRE in LR, // 3, with Azteca Trece bug UR, but also see a promo for something on Azteca Siete; I suppose the sibling nets cross-promote so not necessarily another station 1432 on 5, `hoy` bug in LL, with studio phone numbers 439 81 03 y 04, 20 degree temp and clock in LR; in upper left, TELEVISA and below it in smaller type I finally make out in a strong fade-up, SALTILLO. But there is no net-2 bug UR. `Hoy` is the national `Today` show of Televisa, but this is a local one, or does the national have local cutaways? 5 in Saltillo is XHAE, which W9WI has on the XHGC-5 net. 1434 an amateur crooner gets to sing. 1447 mentions Televisa Saltillo. 1435 on 6, 10-kHz CCI, net 5 atop, also at 1447 1439 on 88.5, exercise instruxions in Spanish, fadeout 1453 on 6, YL talking about maintaining erexions (O, must be an XYL as a virgin would surely not go on TV about those!) Phone numbers for MTY and DF, and yes, it`s another infomercial for Puassance, which I gather does wonderful things both to men and women, making them strong and potent; same formula? Maybe XET-TV 6 axually in Monterrey, tho supposed to be on net-5, so could be the next item instead. 1458 on 6, net-5 toon CCI to above, 1458 atop with show name `El Chavo` 1500 on 90.1, Spanish YL DJ with rock overrides KCSC in OK starting Brahms` Fourth; 1503 ID as XHCHL, Monterrey NL with street address (US stations never do this! Don`t want visitors), phones. Cantú list (prime reference here for Mexican FM logs) says slogan is ```Beat 90.1`` and is axually in China, NL, power not given. FM Atlas XXI shows it on 99.1, typo or move? With 15 kW. 1504 YL DJ otherwise in Spanish mentions ``Big Hits``, phone number. 1522 on 88.5, RDS says XHUSP, one of only two RDS I got in this opening, tho may have missed some trying to keep eye on 5 TV channels too. Talk discussion about ``Hábita``(?) with URLs; mixing another SS. It`s R. Universidad, 3 kW; I guess same source as ex-SW XEXQ-OC 6045. 1525 on 88.5, live YL DJ with 40 Principales, CCI, mentions sanmiguelito.com I thought, but goes nowhere with or without www. No Top-40 stations in Cantú on 88.5. But at 1526 ID for 88.5 and 1080 in Irapuato, Guanajuato, Los 40 Principales, 10:27 TC, SS rock. That format in Irapuato is listed for XHNY 93.5. [later: it`s http://sanmiguelito.com.mx which goes to a restaurant/bar/bazaar/gallery/museum in Morelia and Querétaro but no matches for either on 88.5] Radiorama station list at http://www.radiorama.com/secciones.php?sec_id=32 is no help on this, including lots of other formats around the country; tho it displays current date and time at top, © at bottom is 2005-2006, so maybe not updated. Per WRTH 2011, the 1080 in Irapuato is XECN, indeed Los Cuarenta Principales. 1528 on 88.1, CCI from two Mexicans, music and talk 1531 on 88.7, Spanish briefly over KLVV OK 1531 on 88.9, Spanish, ``La Radio ---`` 1531 on 89.3, RDS says GRUPERA; Oaxaca promo, then ``XHNP, La Grupera 89.3, 50,000 watts, . . . dominando`` but this is really in Puebla. No Oaxacans on this frequency. 1533 on 91.5, stereo Spanish rock, ACI from KOSU 91.7, best heard off- tuned to 91.45 on the DX-398. 1534 phone 10-14-11-67 (or -77), keeps chattering over music; 1539, mentions Grupo Marmor, Exa FM 91.5; 1540 YL DJ with Exa ID too, mentions Michoacán. It`s XHMRL, Morelia, 100 kW; PSA for elexion 13 November in Mich. See http://www.grupomarmor.com.mx/webmarmor/ 1542 on 97.7, weak Spanish briefly, highest frequency noted in this opening, but so much was going on lower that I did not keep scanning up to 108. 1545 on 88.1, Zamora ad, ``Los 40, 88.1``, 40 Principales; so XHZN in Zamora, Michoacán again; CCI. 1546 on 88.9 CCI SS talk and music; 1549 ``La Zeta 88.9, 1300 AM, sigue escuchando``. Is XHKV, León, Guanajuato, 10 kW. 1551 on 90.5, Spanish M&M conversation. This is one of my most open frequencies, the nearby Okie CP not yet having started up, if ever? 1553 on 90.5, YL rock in Spanish, mix romantic music, conversation with Pedro 1556 on 2-6, TV channels are all full of CCI = co-channel QRM 1557 on 90.5, 10:56 TC, ``Uva 90.5``, outro music, talk about Tabasco salsa. Is XHUVA, Aguascalientes, Ags. 1559 on 90.5, ``Imagen`` single-word ID over algo, CCI. XEDA Méx DF 1604 on 90.5, YL discussing calories, sex, with OM; which of these? 1604 on 90.5, Ciudad Obregón ad, CCI; 1607 ID in passing as ``La Invasora``. Is XHFL, 20 kW. First sign that the opening has moved out to the Pacific coast, of Sonora. 1605 on 3, VG signal with El Che ad, maybe XHQ Culiacán, Sin. 1614 on 90.5, classical briefly over XHFL; could be Kansas groundwave? 1615 on 90.5, no it isn`t, Spanish classical back-announcement with other music background, fade. Cantú shows several cultural possibilities, Monterrey, Mazatlán, Tamaulipas; 1619 fadeout to OK 1619 on 90.7, SS conversation, VG, $tereo but no RDS, mentions ``W Radio`` but none of that group listed 1630 on 3, SKY logo LR which I have seen before on XHBC Mexicali 1621 on 5, adstring from WSW, surely XHAQ also Mexicali; 1624 Azteca Trece promo; 1631 snow-free, 09:31 clock in LR during infomercial, Azteca Trece bug UR 1623 on 6, English ads, PSA Help for Homeless in ``Better`` show seen before from XETV Tijuana; 1641 M&W in English, ``San Diego Living`` in LR with clips of movies, interviews with personnel/stars; is cropped with semifaces at each edge 1628 on 89.5, Spanish rock, $tereo, VG, side-tuned to 89.45 to avoid 89.7 local, but no RDS; 1632 fades for ID, then hear slogans as ``La Pachunga``; DJ talking over music, has lower-class accent; 1633 TC for 9:32 = UT-7, more IDs as ``La Pachunga``. Google and listings insist it is spelt Pachanga, but they are pronouncing it as if with a U! 1635 local ads. It is XHRCL, 15 kW from San Luís Río Colorado, Sonora, across from Yuma AZ. 1655, MUF falls below FM 1656 on 4, algo talk show from the SW, not S; only some 2s from S 1658 on 4, Azteca Trece UR; CCI with exercises? 1725 on 3, not much but WSW, XHBC? 1749 on 3, LR has clock on CDT 12:xx, even tho from WSW, so not XHBC Mexicali; Then I make out ONCE NOTICIAS along with it in LR, so they are taking live net from the DF not changing the time; as this is surely XHTJB Tijuana in the PDT zone two hours earlier, as also seen yesterday. Talk about sex abuse. This has almost same offset heavy CCI at times, i.e. 4 or 5 each dark and lite horizontal bars, which I have often seen on XHBC. I had assumed that was from XHQ Culiacán, Sinaloa, as both listed zero offset, but now I realize it is a clash of the two much closer BCN stations on 3. W9WI lists NH for XHTJB, which means offset-unknown, horizontal polarization (like almost every TV station). They really need to offset this away from XHBC. It must be a real mess between Mexicali and Tijuana, let alone in Oclajoma! 1805 on 3, now XHTJB in letterboxed toons, with ONCE inside the black bar at top to the right, and some more letters below it inside the pix, maybe TV ONCE. 1823 on 3, XHBC is back weakly with ad for Denny`s in Mexicali y Calexico 1830 or so the opening finally fades out. Whew! Even channel 2 remains devoid the rest of the afternoon and evening (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Your DX reports are always detailed and interesting. Your 1432 Hoy on channel 5 from yesterday is surely a local version, which run on some Televisa independents and Galavisión/locals. XHAE-5 Saltillo has been Galavisión/local for the last two years. I've had an unusually large amount of short Es from northeastern Mexico this summer and have been able to photograph the local Hoy programs on XHAE-5 and XELN-4.I've attached a couple of pictures. As you have probably noted, XHAQ-5 is running some local news in the morning, and they are running the Azteca-13 morning show on a delayed basis. That is very rare in Mexico. BTW, you and I both had XETV-6 at about the same time. I saw the "San Diego Living" program and posted photos on WTFDA Forums. I appreciate your good work for DXers (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, July 7, Mexico TV DX Tips http://www.tvdxtips.com DX LISTENING DIGEST) And tnx for your valuable website. The HOY logos are quite different; XELN-4`s has a script word below it, looks like Laguna. I think LN stands for Laguna, the original name being Televisora de la Laguna, now part of Multimedios. Wikipedia explains the importance of this name: ``La Zona Metropolitana de la Laguna es la novena área metropolitana de México. La Zona Metropolitana de la Laguna, mexicana ubicada en el centro-norte de México, está conformada por ciudades de los Estados de Coahuila y Durango, la región es también conocida como La Laguna, debido a los cuerpos de agua, es decir, a las anteriormente existentes trece lagunas en el área, entre las que estaba la Laguna de Mayrán, la más grande de Latinoamérica, que se formaban alimentados por dos ríos: el Nazas y el Aguanaval, hasta antes de la construcción de las presas Lázaro Cárdenas y Francisco Zarco, que en la actualidad regulan su afluente y por lo que las lagunas han desaparecido`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOROCCO. 15345.16, RTVM (presumed), 2056-2058*, July 4. OM and YL chatting in Arabic; brief music and off; fair-good (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) also see ARGENTINA ** MYANMAR. 7200.08, R. Myanma (presumed), 1133-1203 Jun 30. YL talk (news?) in unknown language; into vocal music at 1145 and continuing past ToH. Poor signal (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R-8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) 7185.74, Myanma Radio, 1042, July 4. Seems they cannot make up their mind which frequency to broadcast on, here or 7200.05v, as they have recently been bouncing back and forth; in vernacular with pop songs; not // 5985.83 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7185.74, Myanma Radio, 1142, July 5. In vernacular; not on the air by check at 1234; normally would be 1330*. This erratic behavior also noted by Robin Harwood (Tasmania) who heard them recently on this frequency suddenly going off at 1220. Nothing on 7200.05v. 7185.74, Myanma Radio, 1211-1220*, July 6. Seems to have a new sign off time and also new closing theme music (indigenous); in vernacular with EZL ballads; Thanks again for the kind assistance of Robin Harwood (Tasmania). Need to check to find out if they keep to this closing time and format. MP3 audio of closing theme music posted at http://www.box.net/shared/4v1j8jkhk3dh8gktzpgp (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. 7185.74, Myanma Radio, 1207-1221:07*, July 7. In vernacular; pop songs; same closing theme music (indigenous) as heard yesterday; so seems to be ex-1330*. Today had strong OTH radar from 7125 up to 7200; totally blanketing the band and causing heavy QRM for Myanmar; noted past 1406 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Lo más reciente sobre el futuro de RNW Un mensaje a todos los miembros de Cartas@RN --- Hoy había una esperanza, pero se esfumó. Las tres mociones no pasaron, dos fueron rechazadas, pero una tercera quedó pendiente, pero esta última no tendría ninguna consecuencia sobre los planes del Gobierno ya anunciados anteriormente. La dirección de la radio ya ha informado que en breve comenzaran las negociaciones con los respectivos ministerios de cara a la nueva Radio Nederland que funcionará desde el 1 del enero del 2013, y que en octubre de este año se preparará el plan social que debe regular el despido del personal. Sobre el futuro del departamento latinoamericano solo en las próximas semanas se podrá conocer más, después de las negociaciones con los respectivos ministerios, y de la decisión interna de la radio sobre el camino a tomar, las lenguas a continuar, y con qué cantidad de personas. La dirección de la radio reitera que no comprende la falta de visión de la política holandesa, y considera la decisión incomprensible y escandalosa. Continuaremos desde el 2013 con 14 millones en lugar de 46, y 250 trabajadores podrían ser despedidos de los 360 que trabajan actualmente. Muy doloroso para RNW. Continuaremos haciendo nuestro trabajo adecuadamente. Más información en el programa Cartas@RN que preparo para el domingo... Visitar Cartas@RN en: http://cartas.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network (via Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, Jun 30, condiglist yg via DXLD) See also BONAIRE. In 11-26, Andy Sennitt must have meant he became a FTE in 1999, not 2009, now the 12.5 anniversary (gh, DXLD) RNW BUDGETS CUTS TO GO AHEAD The Dutch parliament has voted against two motions which might have blunted the effect of the budget cuts facing Radio Netherlands Worldwide. One motion called for a separate debate devoted to the future of RNW. Previous debates tackled the cutbacks facing all public broadcasting. The other criticised the decision-making as hasty and called for a postponement. Effectively, this vote means that the cabinet’s plans to move RNW from the education, media and culture ministry to the foreign ministry and cut the budget from 46.3 million euros to 14 million will definitely go ahead. RNW’s management will now draw up a redundancy plan, which is expected to be completed in October. (Source: RNW News)(June 30th, 2011 - 13:09 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) 2 Comments on “RNW budgets cuts to go ahead” #1 Brian on Jul 1st, 2011 at 14:20 Hi Andy, I’m really annoyed at the cuts at RNW - by pure coincidence it’s our Station of the Month for July on our website (clue in my email address!). I hope the small amount of extra exposure for the station helps in some way. All the best, Brian #2 Andy Sennitt on Jul 1st, 2011 at 15:11 Thank you Brian. As a well-known supermarket would put it: “every little bit helps.” (MN blog comments via DXLD) Re 11-26: RNW budgets cuts to go ahead --- Many thanks to Andy for keeping us up to date during such a difficult time for staff at RNW. I am not sure what to expect over the next 18 months. On the face of it, this appears to be a massive downsizing, with some operations remaining beyond 2012. On the other hand, Jonathan Marks, on his excellent Critical Distance blog, believes that the reduced funding only exists to enable a complete and orderly wind-down of operations, with the closure of Bonaire, and the sale of the Hilversum studios and the Madagascar relay. It sounds like shortwave is probably gone even if RNW manages to survive in some form. At the very least there might be a few hours via leased transmitters, but this looks doubtful. I am also curious about the continued (but separate) radio service to the Dutch speaking Caribbean islands...what form will that take (assume a service feeding local stations) and would SW be involved? Will be interested to see who any potential buyers of Madagascar might be. The operators of Madagascar World Voice must be rather annoyed, after building a facility of their own in that country. I would assume there has been no interest from anyone in purchasing the Bonaire facility. Note that the old BBC/DW relay on Antigua failed to sell. The fairly new Thomson transmitters might fetch a nice price (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, July 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello from Hilversum, After several stressful and frenetic weeks, this week was relatively calm. Despite the imminent loss of so many jobs, the mood at RNW is remarkably good. There's a feeling of "we're all in this together", and since it's the start of the peak vacation season, many colleagues have other things on their minds. There was a union meeting this lunchtime as a prelude to negotiating a satisfactory redundancy package, but apart from that there's nothing new to report on the forthcoming reorganisation, and for the time being it's business as usual (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter July 7 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. 9720, July 1 at 1145, ``This is Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty, Praha`` and beep, loop repeating. I was about to time how many times per minute when at 1136:20 cut back to M&W from RNW with discussion in Indonesian. Another foulup to the relay via IBB SAIPAN, but at least the modulation was OK today. 9795, July 1 at 1147 found to be // 9720 but about two sesquiseconds behind it, ID in passing as Radio Holanda. This one is via Tinang, PHILIPPINES. I`ll always wonder whether this too had defaulted to Praha. 9650, July 4 at 1326 I am hearing the orange-tinted anthem under CRI English via CANADA, i.e. the RNW relay via Tinang, PHILIPPINES, so I stay tuned to tell if there will be a PS in English. No, that`s still suppressed. 7360, July 6 at 1059 RN carillon IS which we must savour as long as this doomed station last, good signal, then opening in Dutch announcing 7360 for Japan, 9670 for Philippines, 1100 into Nieuwslijn. 1104 checked 9670 and also audible but poor. Sites: 7360 Tinang, PHILIPPINES on the 21-degree antenna so also USward; 9670 TINIAN, 267 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEWFOUNDLAND [and non]. 6160, July 1 at 0703, both CBC stations with news // except for awful echo, CKZN in the east and CKZU in the west. At 0705 sounded like a R. Australia relay had started on the stronger one (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NEW ZEALAND. 6170, July 1 at 0659 RNZI Bellbird IS, 0703 news in progress. Fair signal I am rarely awake to hear sign-on, but it`s some two hours after sunset in wintry NZ, so easily propagable, better now than when reopening at 1300, two hours after daylight at this end (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The AM transmitter appears to be slightly off frequency tonight. I'm measuring them on 15719.985 with a music program at 0347 on 2July2011. Usual excellent signal strength of S9+10 to 20. Conditions to the Pacific seem to be down from the superb conditions last night (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Walter, May be your set (a problem with frequency displays is common on some new sets) No problems this end in NZ; exact frequency is 15720 and spot on -- D.....-41.36 S Nthn Buller, N.Z., NZRDXL, IARU Monitor. http://www.freewebs.com/zl3sqth/ Receivers: - Yaesu FRG 77OO,.... Kenwood R-1000,.... Uniden UBCT8,.... National RF-B300, & various others, (Degen DE1125,Sony.. ICF- SW7600G,.. Icom Pcr 10000,.. Sangean ATS 818acs) plus a Tono -550 Comm Decoder, & Microcraft "Morse-a-word".... 292 ft long wire (E to W), ..20ft Whip,.. 6 element Discone, & Several Commercial VHF/UHF antennas, useing a "Welz"Multi Ch Antenna Switch (``Dallas MacKenzie``, ibid.) 15719.986, Odd signal from RNZi Rangitaki, news started at 0129 UT July 4. S=9+10dB in Brisbane. About compensation law against nuclear test program of France in south sea in 1966 year. NZ firearms and gun control program. Item on private hospitals in Port Moresby-PNG (Wolfgang Büschel, remote software defined radio units in Australia, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NICARAGUA. 600, la Nueva Radio Ya, Managua. 1045 July 5, 2011. Man and woman banter, mentions of Nicaragua and Managua, slogan ID, into Managua store ads. Clear and fair on the PR-D5 700, NICARAGUA, unidentified, Managua. 1026 July 6, 2011. Spanish man and woman chatter (mostly him), with some inspirational quotes, frequent mentions of Nicaragua and Managua, male probably ID 1100 but fading down by now. Mostly poor signal. Checking the 2011 WRTVH, I see they still fail to list anything on 700. When I first discovered Radio la Poderosa here in September of 2010, sign-on was at 1100. Power announced as 30 kW then. But I see a listing for a Radio Managua YNMM and no Poderosa at http://radio-america-latina.org/am/fm.php?itu=Nicaragua®ion=mng but 10 kW, and no la Poderosa anywhere, so all this may be old. La Poderosa still operates an active page at: http://www.radiolapoderosa700.com/ (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 9690, Voice of Nigeria, Ikorodu. June 30, 0928-0939 male and female in English talks “Voice of Nigeria”, outside, tribal music, back male and female. 35333 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15120, Voice of Nigeria; 1853-1902+, 3-July; Heavy accented English speech; mic or feed cutting in/out, like a bad cell connection. 1901 sed English closing, gave 1-minute-late TC, but continued in English. SIO=233 with hum & weak co-channel QRM (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, Drake R8B + 125 ft. bow-tie; 85 ft. RW & 180 ft. center-fed RW, logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. NIGERIA'S PIDGIN RADIO STATION TAKES OFF Lively new Lagos broadcaster promotes Nigeria's rough, witty "broken English." --- Shyamantha Asokan, June 27, 2011 06:19 LAGOS, Nigeria — In this African megacity's rusty yellow taxis, sweaty roadside markets and hustlers’ hangouts, a different kind of radio station can be heard. This is Wazobia — the only Nigerian station to broadcast fully in pidgin, the country’s fast and inventive “broken English.” The station has been a hit since going on air in 2007. Wazobia DJs greet listeners by asking "how de body?" or "how you dey?" Rapid news bulletins describe Somali pirates as "no go 'gree people," meaning those who are hostile or won’t agree. One report said that a local bus crash resulted in "12 people dem get visa to see Baba" (12 people getting a visa to see God). Many Nigerians consider this their lingua franca, especially in the mostly Christian southern states. Spoken at breakneck speed and constantly toying with English and local languages, pidgin certainly seems a fitting medium for Africa’s most populous country, a chaotic nation that struggles to contain 150 million people, 250 ethnic groups and over 36 billion barrels of oil. . . http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/africa/nigeria/110623/nigerias-pidgin-radio-wazobia (via DXLD) Tnx to Yimber Gaviria who sent us the Spanish version of this; then we found the original English. Now how about the whole article in Pidgin? WTFK? Wazobia not mentioned on page 294 of the 2011 WRTH. TFK: I should have looked at the jpg Yimber attached from: http://www.wazobiafm.com/ with three FM frequencies: Lagos 95.1 Port Harcourt 94.1 Abuja 99.5 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Hi Glenn, How about this, for pidgin? :-) http://www.wazobiafm.com/lagos951/news/3-una-world-news/173-we-presido-jonathan-yan-say-we-young-young-people-for-africa-na-im-be-biggest-thing.html (Andrea Lawendel, Italy, ibid.) ** NORTH AMERICA. USA HOBBY PIRATES: 6924.65, Radio Free Mars at poor strength 0509 24/6 with pops, ident with email address at 0522. Gone at 0600 recheck. 6924.7, Radio True North at poor to fair level 0610 26/6 with unusual music mix including ‘My Boomerang Won’t Come Back’. Gave email address for reception reports. Measured frequency 6924.7 so suspect same transmitter as Radio Free Mars heard 24/6. Audible past 0700. 6930, XFM very good signal 0427 8/6 with one of the most professional formats I’ve heard from these stations. Frequent idents, promos, email address for reports. Followed till 0605 closing when signal only fair level. Also heard 17/6 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) How do you know these are in USA, not Canada? (gh) ** NORTH AMERICA. [Pirate]. 6924.92, Captain Morgan Shortwave, July 2, blues music. ID. Email address. Good level but audio somewhat distorted (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** NORTH AMERICA. [Pirate]. 6925 USB, Wolverine Radio, 0235-0245, July 2, pop music by The Eagles, George Thorogood and others. ID at 0245. Good. Strong (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) My first pirate station that I was able to identify!! Woo-hoo!! 6926.0, LSB, UNITED STATES, Wolverine Radio (pirate), 0258-0313, Jul 2, English, Rockabilly type music. First song was a live recording, I believe it was "One Bourbon, One Scotch, & One Beer, followed by male voice annoucing, "Wolverine Radio". Next song was called "Let Me Go Home Whiskey". Next was UB-40 doing "Red, Red Wine". More music & comedy sketches followed, some kinda vulgar, but all with a drinking theme. Lots of feedback sounds, then abrupt signoff. Decent signal, but lots of static. Modulation isn't great, either (Nathan Adams, Clayton NC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably, but how do you know for sure it`s in the USA, and not e.g. in Canada? (gh, DXLD) > 0215 UT "Drinking rum and coca cola" The Andrew Sisters ..... > Some heavy QRM from 6930 kHz / IMR ============================================ so I can open the filter ± kHz to a maximum of only 2.5 kHz, depending on the level of 6930 Irish Music Radio http://www.file-upload.net/download-3553467/HDSDR_20110702_020443Z_6925kHzUSB_wolverine_radio.aac.html Shortly before the QRT 0315 UT a short-SSTV broadcast in "Scottie 1" http://www.rhci-online.de/wolverine_radio_sstv_6925usb_mmsstv.jpg [Satellit650/43mB-Dipol/HDSDR2 + MMSTV, QTH: Central Germany, Saxony- Anhalt] 73 +55 (roger, ibid.) That must have been the feedback noise I was hearing right before the signal cut out (Nathan Adams, ibid.) ** NORWAY. Re 11-26: "Per WRTH that leaves ONE NRK on MW elsewhere, 20 kW on 675" --- for another 1.5 years until that will be turned off as well on 31 Dec 2012, leaving 153 as only AM signal from mainland Norway, from the northern tip of Europe, generally inaudible all the 2000 kilometres down where the frequency is used in Germany and Romania as well. And it may only be the substantial investments for this transmission facility and its 362 metre tall antenna that prevents it from being shut down for the next few years (Kai Ludwig, Germany, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. KOSU+ Transmitter update --- Hi Dan, May I have an update on these? 1) Is there still a possibility of moving 91.7 to KWTV tower? 2) Any progress on finding a relay for NW OK? 3) I never hear 107.3 Tulsa or 101.9 Okmulgee translators mentioned in IDs. Are these still on the air? 4) Apparently KOSN does not have HD unlike 91.7 and 88.3. Why not, and do you plan to add that? Thanks, (Glenn Hauser, Enid, to Dan Schroeder, KOSU CE, July 1, via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, 1. I think the move to KWTV is unlikely. Most of our financial issues with the current site have been resolved. 2. No progress on a relay for NW Oklahoma. Money continues to be very tight. Cameron Univ and OU both now have 5 kW and 25 kW stations in the Woodward area. Not sure if the 25 kW OU station on 88.1 is hearable in Enid. [marginally] 3. We don't legally have to audibly ID the two translators. They are still on the air and the legal ID's are handled by internal FSK automatic IDer's. I went to both sites yesterday and they are handling the heat OK. Tulsa, a priority with 250,000 in the 60 dBu contour, is in a air conditioned building. Okmulgee is in a 6' aluminum outdoor cabinet with 4 muffin fans. Still chugging along, though. Management has decided it is too much work and numbers too long and confusing to mention 107.3 and 101.9 on our air. I see their point, but disagree. We ran out of money to properly advertise the stations when they were first put on the air. Contributions from all three NE OK stations are up, however. 4. KOSN is operating on a shoestring budget. HD would require nearly $100,000 to [up]grade and we have no room in the current tx bldg. Since OSU does not own the station, grant money from the Feds is not available. We also have no cost efficient way to get a second audio channel to the site. Our 12 month "experiment" with an AT&T T-1 line for audio delivery was expensive to set up and a dismal failure. T-1 service uptime with regard to AT&T's inability to live up to a 4 hour fix time (more like 25-35 hours) made the delivery extremely unreliable. Every thunderstorm put us at risk for an outage. On May 19th we returned to satellite uplink delivery with a bit lower data rate to save some monthly expense. The T-1 is disconnected. There is nothing good I can say about AT&T T-1 service. Tulsa Univ has a Classical music station [KWTU 88.7] running basically the same programming we use on 91.7/88.3 for HD2. It doesn't make sense to try to compete against them with the same programming. *** Don't know how much you keep up with some of the OKC happenings - OU is transmitting KROU 105.7 from the old Ch 43 tower that Gene Autry built in the 80's. The owners, KFOR, want to cut the guy wires and let it fall to the ground. It is that much of a drain keeping the tower lights and insurance going for the one (OU) lease. Cost of properly dismantling tower is roughly $250,000. Cost of cleaning up a fallen mess of steel is unknown. OU has applied to move the station to the old KFOR analog tower at the 650' level. They have started a $140,000 capital campaign to do it. They have applied for a construction permit (minor change) to move the station, but it has not been granted yet (Dan Schroeder, KOSU, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 91.7, KOSU, July 1 at 1235 UT, weekly Friday commentary by Frosty Troy of the Oklahoma Observer, lamenting that OETA has to cancel the weekday unbiased `Oklahoma News Report`, as the Republicans now controlling state government have hit OETA with a 9% cut vs only 5% for other state agencies; they can`t stand the objective truth being reported about what they are doing to destroy government. The final ONR airs tonight July 1, but to come back as a weekly on July 15 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Enid low-power part 15/pirate update: 99.9, the GCN pirate on S side of Enid, has not been heard for several weeks in random chex. (From its new site slightly closer to Enid than Mustang was, 99.7 KZLS is now a regular here, altho not solid, with True Oldies satellite format, giving 92.5 KOMA a run for its money, KZLS with a larger playlist. Now I am not quite so pissed that Chisholm Trail Broadcasting `hijacked` the Alva-Enid 99.7 frequency to OKC market.) 97.7, ``WECS`` at Emmanuel Christian School on West OKG, ran a summer- oriented loop for a while but has also been off the air lately. 1670, have been hearing on caradio in western parts of Enid a weak talking house again on this frequency. Even in central Enid, parked with engine off, I was able to copy the loop July 4 at 1918 UT: yes, it`s still Greg Winkeljohn, for 3017 Falcon Crest in NW Enid --- as previously reported in DXLD 11-01, 11-13 with photos, so a quarter later that house still hasn`t sold! OR, somebody forgot to turn off the TH and/or even moved it to another location without changing loop. I have not yet gone back to that address to assure that`s whence it still emanate (Glenn Hauser, OK, July 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 1670, talking house at 3017 Falcon Crest in NW Enid: July 5 around 1730 UT we visited the place, and the signal was definitely at local range. Rang the doorbell and a lady answered promptly. She was not aware her place is a transmitter site, but realized that she still had the TH transmitter in an unused bedroom (referred to on the spiel as ``for the brother-in-law``). There is no longer a For Sale sign on the curb, let alone anything about 1670; she said they got tired of seeing it altho the house is still on the market. Maybe she`ll contact Winkeljohn about whether to unplug or keep running 1670. Apparently we were the first drop-in as a result of it with no visual stimulus (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. On 15140 kHz at 1400-1500 UT on Saturday 18th June 2011 with lots of interference but I could detect pop music only from 1420 UT. SINPO 43543 at best. At 1430, ID and news which I could follow from 1435 with presenter Bob Hawkins; from 1439 “This week’s talk show” – a story, followed by “Today in History”, obviously taken from the domestic service. Just once in the past I heard Oman with better reception with a disc jockey and talk show. Will have to listen in occasionally to this transmission (David Crystal, Israel, July World DX Club Contact via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) 15355, Radio Sultanate of Oman very good 0309 with lively English DJ program, call for text messages to 90207, off abruptly just before 0400 UT 27/6 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Radio Pakistan 15265 kHz --- Oi Pessoal, Estou em casa em recuperação de uma cirugia de coluna e como estou com bastante tempo livre, tenho-me dedicado mais às escutas, principalmente nas frequências mais altas durante a tarde... pois a propagação tem ajudado bastante. Tenho observado diàriamente muitas emissões provenientes da Africa, Europa e Asia (Oriente médio) com bons sinais. Todas as tardes, inclusive neste momento, tenho escutado a Rádio Pakistan em 15265 kHz, com sinais fracos porém audíveis, conforme log abaixo. Segundo observo, o sinal mais forte aqui no SE é captado entre 15:30 às 16 hs (Brasília [1830-1900 UT]) e neste exato momento encerra-se a transmissao. Geralmente são músicas e comentários locais em idioma URDU (parecido com o Arabe [sic]) e inclusive o ID, mencionando várias vezes o nome Pakistan. Logo postarei no Youtube um filme com os melhores momentos da escuta desta rádio. Tentei escutar com meu rádio Degen 1103 e antena telescópica, mas nada. Só consigo escutá-la com antenas yagis direcionadas para essa região. 15265 - Radio Pakistan - Islamabad - 01.07.2011 - 1550 UT - URDU - 43333 - Músicas locais e comentários diversos na língua local Convido vocês a assistirem um vídeo que fiz por lá um tempo atrás, quando pude visitar este exótico país ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2HgHCub7oW0 - Viagem ao Pakistan http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GofEDP9jfWM - Viagem a Índia - Parte I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vxvp_3nRIKM - Viagem a Índia/Caxemira/ Região Tibet - Parte II Abraços (Marcelo Pera - PY2AE, Valinhos SP, IC 756PROIII, Yagis + dipolos rotativas - 15 metros de altura, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3205, Radio Sandaun, Vanimo reactivated with National news in English 0902 from Port Moresby 6/6 // 3260, 3275, 3365 and 3290 (strongest). (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA [and non]. Very nice opening on 7/1 with host of 90 meter PNGs all showing up around 1000+ in Chicagoland, and fading up to full levels by 1015+. Bandscan showed 3385 Radio East New Britain (Rabaul) with OM news in English and Tok Pidgin at 1004; 3365 R. Milne Bay, Alotau, with YL announcer and similar programming; 3290 R. Central Boroko weaker than the others; 3205 R. West Sepik (Sandaun) with fair signal, again OM in EE and Tok Pidgin. Also this same date, noted all the 60 meter Brazilians also strong by 0915 -- nice conditions, although usual horrendous summer static crashing, non-stop. Andes opening never transpired, tho traces of 4790 Chiclayo going AN, around 0930 (Ralph Perry, Wheaton, Illinois, Drake R8B; Japan Radio NRD-545; Eton E1; Hallicrafters SX100; Knightkit Star Roamer, Dentron Super Tuner + Ameco PLF-2 + Palomar P-408, Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3915, Radio Fly reactivated here mid-June, providing very good signals with pop music 1920 on 18/6 till 2000 when sequence of anthem, national pledge, identification, gospel song and devotion in Tok Pisin is carried (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5960 // 3915, R. Fly, 1005-1105, July 1. Live coverage by two announcers with Australian accents with the Parramatta Eels vs Brisbane Broncos rugby match; 1035-1045 non-stop music during a break in the game; coverage still going at 1124 check (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A while ago there was some confusion regarding the locations of the two Radio Fly transmitters (3915 and 5960). It has now firmly been established by several of the personnel at the station that both are in fact located at Kiunga. None are at Tabubil. The two places are separated by about 85 miles. Tabubil is the location of the headquarters of Ok Tedi Mining Limited, which owns and operates Radio Fly (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, NASWA yg via DXLD) Radio Fly - the long awaited QSL card. . . (Ron Howard, in DXLD 11-26, mentioned on WORLD OF RADIO 1572) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Re TAIWAN: Hi Bruce, It is indeed frustrating to have RFI sign on every day at 0930 and totally block Wantok Radio Light, which in fact continues to be on 7324.95. Best time for me to catch WRL is from about 0830 to 0930, depending on conditions. Clearest features to check for are the 0902 PNG birdcall followed by the NBC National News in English (check news to be // 3385) and just after the news always give a "Wantok Radio Light" ID. Good listening! (Ron Howard, San Francisco, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. Re Pedro F. Arrunategui --- ``Although Cañote and Arrunátegui and I listened a lot, we have not heard any mentioning whatsoever of phone, mail or other address (Henrik Klemetz, Sweden, WORLD OF RADIO 1571, ibid.) Pedro F. Arrunátegui? Haven`t heard from that DXer in many years (gh, DXLD)`` Dear Glenn, In found Arrunátegui in Facebook and joined him to my friends' list, but haven't exchanged ourselves any comments so far. The profile reads: "Pedro F. Arrunátegui Seminario. Trabaja en: Felizmente jubilado. Vive en: Chaclacayo, Lima, Perú. Nació el 04 de octubre de 1945``. It seems he likes photography and his email is: churreviejo @ hotmail.com There's not a single word about radio/DX on his wall. And it seems he's not very actively in Facebook; his last posting is from May. I got him via Dario Monferini who has also a FB account. I've found FB an interesting platform. I find easier to post videos and photos, links, etc. than via e-mail and DX Ygroups. Of course you share a lot of personal info. 73 (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, July 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Searching DXLD archives, the last we heard from PFA was in late 1999, early 2000. And here`s his first new DX report; gh inserted a lot of missing punxuation, hoped to be in the right places] Amigos, Adjunto reporte de escucha correspondiente al mes de junio, esperando sea del agrado de ustedes. Disculpen si hay errores; estoy un poco desactualizado con los reportes. Efectúen las mejoras que crean necesaria. Espero que para julio el reporte mejore. Gracias a ustedes por el apoyo para iniciar de nuevo esta escucha. 128’s Paco EL CHASQUI DX JUNIO 2011 CQ, CQ, CQ, aquí Pedro F. Arrunátegui para compartir algo con los que disfrutan y aman el DX latinoamericano, todas las horas son UT, desde la tierra de los incas, les informo mediante este Quipus lo siguiente: 1540, TurboMix, Cajamarca, 25/06 1956/2038, 22222, mxf, 22222, escucho ID “En todo el norte La voz Cajamarquina en 1540 kHz y 102.4 FM en todo el Perú”, música tropical andina. Para confirmarla al no encontrarla en listado, escucho el 26/06 1910/0010, 22222; busco en internet y es la estación TurboMix que transmite en 1540 y 92.5 desde Cajamarca. Lo llamo telefónicamente y me confirman que ellos son TurboMix, le cito lo anterior y me dicen que ellos no han efectuado esa transmisión; podría ser una informal, pues su frecuencia es 92.5 (La Voz Cajamarquina), ID “En TurboMix halla [sic] de todo”, música romántica LA, ID “TurboMix mas halla [sic] de todo”; luego lo confirmo vía internet que transmite en //. 3360, R. JPJ del Perú - Lima, 22/06 2152/2210 UT (2:52/3:10 hora peruana [sic: apparently he has these reversed?]), 22222, mxf en español, ID “Radio ..PJ del Perú”, fuerte QRN a las 2200, 1111, Mientras la escuchaba con dificultad. ID “…del Perú” al final imposible de escucharla, fue necesario usar los audífonos. Creo entender ID “Radio JPJ del Perú”. Tnx Henrik Klemetz, pude superar el ID. Vía internet http://www.radiojpj.com La escucho vía internet con la señal 55555, 0840/0915 UT mxf. ID “Radio JPJ, haciendo tonear a todo el mundo” mxf ID “No te quedes, estamos haciendo tonear a todo el mundo, pásate a Radio JPJ” mxf ID “Radio JPJ haciendo tonear a todos”. PD: Tonear viene de tono, expresión coloquial del pueblo, que equivale a bailar. [I am not sure what he means by `mxf` -- at first I thought it was música folclórica, but appears so often looks maybe more like masculina y(?) feminina referring to voices? --- gh] 4745, R. Huanta 2000 – Huanta, 21/06 1230/1325 UT, 44444, mxf huayno en quechua ads y avisos varios en quechua y español, ID “Radio Huanta, Año del centenario de Machu Picchu”, mxf, Huaylas, ads Romano plus limpia los parásitos de sus animales, mxf, ads. Nos estamos preparando para celebrar el 186 aniversario de nuestra ciudad, Huanta. Ad Clínica El Nazareno, ID “Radio Huanta 2000, llegando a lo largo y ancha del Perú”. 4775, R. Tarma – Tarma - Junín, 21/06 1330/1400 UT, 22222, ads mxf en español, QRN y algo de QRM; fue necesario escucharla en LSB para mejor escucha. ID “Por Radio Tarma”, ads, maca, cómprela en el centro naturista del Jirón Moquegua 535, Tarma. ID “Radio Tarma en amplitud modulada” 4790, Visión, Chiclayo, Lambayeque, 23/06 1315/1350 UT, 33333, mx pasillos ID: “Radio Visión, una radio para todos” mx pasillos, ID “Radio Visión, un entretenimiento para todo el Perú, mx pasillo, ID “Radio Visión, una estación para todos, trasmitiendo en 770 kHz //” ads, ID “En Radio Visión, 6 y 38 minutos de la tarde”, regular QRN, señal en 22222 [that local time check does NOT fit for 1315/1350 UT! Maybe he means 2315/2350?? Beware of times in other items --gh] 4940, R. San Antonio, Villa Atalaya, 25/06, 1205/1250 UT, 55555, mx romántica de la vieja ola. ID ”En la programación de Radio San Antonio de Villa Atalaya”, mx, ID “Radio Atalaya, en el Consejo Municipal de Atalaya. Esta estación está en CNR, Consejo Nacional de Radio”. Mx, programa Ondas de Paz, programa religioso. NOTA: mejor la escuché en 4939 en LSB. [Paco, la emisora religiosa se llama Radio San Antonio y se encuentra en Villa Atalaya. Algún año atrás enviaba un maravilloso banderín http://intermirifica.net/entity.aspx?Id=5025 Name Radio San Antonio AM - FM Owner / Institution Parroquia Atalaya Director Juan López Encinas. Coverage LOCAL Mailing address Calle Iquitos 499 Villa Atalaya, Ucayali, Perú. VILLA ATALAYA Phone + 51 64 461240 Country Peru Region Ucayali Region E-mail rasat @ terra.com.pe Type Educational Additional Information RADIO SAN ANTONIO AM-FM OBW8U 95.5 MHz F.M. OAW5A 4940 Khz S.W. – interjexion by Dario?? Source of data?] [Dario: La información de la 4940 me parece que es correcta. Es una de las pocas emisoras de onda corta que vas a poder escuchar en Huánuco. A mi me parece maravilloso que Pedro haya vuelto a rastrear las bandas. Vayan por este medio mis mejores deseos para él y su querida familia. --- Henrik Klemetz, Suecia, July 2, playdx yg via DXLD] 4975, R. Del Pacífico, Lima, 25/06 1550/1625, 55555, ID “Aquí Radio Del Pacífico”, programa lluvia de bendición para ti. ID “En Pacífico Radio, dan la hora, 9:00 de la noche” habla el pastor David Vega de la Iglesia Cristiana. [again, local and UT do not match above. Of course he is close enough to hear these stations in full daytime -- gh] 5025, R. Quillabamba – Quillabamba – Cusco, 22/06 1325/1413 UT, 55555, programa religioso, rezo del rosario bilingüe quechua y español, 1400 ID “Radio Quillabamba presentó el rezo del santo rosario” ads Cooperativa Central Agraria, “Radio Quillabamba presenta el Vocero cooperativo”, programa sobre el agro, tratan sobre el café. 5120, R. Ondas del Suroriente – Quillabamba – Cusco, 22/06 1425/1442, 22222, ads Casa del Constructor, todo lo necesario en ferretería, Banco Continental, Veterinaria, en Cusco. Fue necesario escucharlo en LSB para mejor escucha, regular QRN, mx. 6174, R. Tawuantisuyo [sic], Cusco, 28/06 1025/1050, 44444, ads y mensajes, programa Los mensajes de felicidad, ID ”Radio Tawuantisuyo, la emisora más potente del sur del Perú” Después de muchas lunas estoy escuchando las ondas radiales, tnx Dario Monferini y Henrik Klemetz, La recepción la he efectuado del 21/06 al 30/06 con mi Sony ICF-SW7600G en compañía del Mizuho KX-3. Muchos 128´s, Paco (Pedro F. Arrunátegui, Perú, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD; also via Horacio Nigro) See also BOLIVIA; BRAZIL ** PERU. 4940, R. San Antonio, Villa Atalaya. June 28, 2217-2233 Spanish romantic music selections, time announcements in every music break (a R.S.A. characteristic). Deteriorating, audible by the sign off of Brazilian 4935, 34433 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. Odd 15279.400 heard a ute signal like jamming? against RVA Manila's Urdu program 15280 even, on July 4 at 0117 UT, S=5-6 level (Wolfgang Büschel, remote software defined radio units in Australia, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PORTUGAL. 11850, July 1 at 0650 Luso Portuguese with a talk about that language, 0653 song; 0659 RDPI satellite and internet parameters, 0700 3+1 timesignal with the final one shorter rather than longer, news theme. Fair signal. RDPI LIVES! on analog SW via this single transmission from Sines, 0645-0800 M-F, 250 kW, 55 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 7340, July 1 at 1241 open carrier; 1156 intermittent tones, 1200 much weaker with M&W opening in Japanese. It`s VOR, 250 kW, 240 degrees from Pet/Kam, opposite being 60 sorta USward. 13870, July 3 at 1353, violin/piano classical music, fair; 1357 briefly bothered by three tones and Bronx-cheer ute; 1357.6 W&M Russian announcements, 1359 finally IDing as Golos Rossii; 3+1 timesignal to 1400 ending about three seconds late. Programming continues but weakening steadily to JBA by 1422. HFCC says 200 kW, 145 degrees from St. Petersburg at 12-15 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Summer A-11 Voice of Russia on short waves: Arabic 1500-1600 on 5925 1600-1700 on 11795 1700-1800 on 9360 11795 12060 12065 1800-1900 on 9360 11795 12060 1900-2000 on 7315 9360 2300-2400 on 7315 Chinese 1000-1300 on 6075 1300-1400 on 13610 Dari/Pashto 1200-1400 on 4975 15510 English 0200-0300 on 7440 9665 15425 0300-0400 on 9665 15425 15585 0400-0500 on 13775 15585 15735* 0500-0600 on 13775 0600-0900 on 15405 0900-1100 on 15170 1100-1200 on 12065 1200-1300 on *9445 11500 1300-1400 on 12065 1400-1500 on 4975 *7225 *9750 11500 1500-1600 on 4975 *7225 9660 11985 12040 1600-1800 on 4975 11985 12040 1800-1900 on 4975 12040 1900-2100 on 12040 2300-0200 on 9665 9800 French 1600-1700 on *9880 9900 13850 1700-1800 on 9900 13850 15465 1800-2000 on *9880 9900 12050 13850 15465 2000-2100 on *9880 12030 13850 German 0900-1000 on 11655 1500-1800 on *9750 12010 1800-1900 on 12010 Hindi 1300-1400 on *9445 9670 11500 1500-1600 on *9445 9670 Italian 1700-1800 on *6155 7310 *9880 12050 Japanese 1200-1400 on 7235 7340 Kurdish 1600-1700 on 5925 Mongolian Mon-Sat 1300-1400 on 6075 Persian 1500-1700 on 9360 Polish 1700-1800 on 9615 Portuguese 2100-2200 on 5920 2200-2400 on 9430 11605 Russian WS 0100-0300 on 7270 7285 15585 15735* 0800-1000 on *9850 1200-1300 on 9745 *9850 12030 13870 1300-1400 on 9465 9745 *9750 12015 13870 1400-1500 on 5925 12015 13870 1500-1600 on 11730 12015 15640 1600-1700 on 7310 12015 15640 1700-1800 on 15640 1800-2000 on 7310 2300-0100 on 7270 7285 Serbo-Croatian 1500-1700 on *6155 12060 2000-2130 on 7340 Spanish 0000-0100 on 9430 9810 0100-0200 on 9430 9810 9945 0200-0400 on 9430 9735 9945 0400-0500 on 9735 9945 2000-2100 on 5920 Turkish 1400-1600 on 7325 Urdu 1400-1500 on *9445 9670 Vietnamese 1200-1300 on 12065 *DRM mode (DX Mix News July 3 via DXLD) {same as above with foreign sites added by wb.} --- RUSSIA [ARMENIA/CHINA/TAJIKISTAN/UKRAINE] Summer A-11 Voice of Russia short waves: Arabic 1500-1600 5925 1600-1700 11795 1700-1800 9360TJK 11795 12060 12065 1800-1900 9360TJK 11795 12060 1900-2000 7315 9360TJK 2300-2400 7315 Chinese 1000-1300 6075 1300-1400 13610 Dari/Pashto 1200-1400 4975TJK 15510 English 0200-0300 7440LV-UKR 9665MDA 15425 0300-0400 9665MDA 15425 15585 0400-0500 13775 15585 15735* 0500-0600 13775 0600-0900 15405 0900-1100 15170 1100-1200 12065 1200-1300 *9445 11500 1300-1400 12065 1400-1500 4975TJK *7225 *9750 11500 1500-1600 4975TJK *7225 9660XIA 11985 12040 1600-1800 4975TJK 11985 12040 1800-1900 4975TJK 12040 1900-2100 12040 2300-0200 9665MDA 9800 French 1600-1700 *9880 9900ARM 13850DA(x9410) 1700-1800 9900ARM 13850MDA 15465 1800-2000 *9880 9900ARM 12050 13850MDA 15465 2000-2100 *9880 12030 13850MDA German 0900-1000 11655MYK-UKR 1500-1800 *9750 12010 1800-1900 12010 Hindi 1300-1400 *9445 9670TJK 11500TJK 1500-1600 *9445 9670TJK Italian 1700-1800 *6155 7310 *9880 12050 Japanese 1200-1400 7235 7340 Kurdish 1600-1700 5925 Mongolian Mon-Sat 1300-1400 6075 Persian 1500-1700 9360TJK Polish 1700-1800 9615 Portuguese 2100-2200 5920 2200-2400 9430ARM 11605GUF Russian WS 0100-0300 7270ARM 7285MDA 15585 15735* 0800-1000 *9850 1200-1300 9745 *9850 12030 13870 1300-1400 9465 9745 *9750 12015 13870 1400-1500 5925 12015 13870 1500-1600 11730 12015 15640 1600-1700 7310 12015 15640 1700-1800 15640 1800-2000 7310 2300-0100 7270ARM 7285MDA Serbo-Croatian 1500-1700 *6155 12060 2000-2130 7340 Spanish 0000-0100 9430ARM 9810GUF 0100-0200 9430ARM 9810GUF 9945TJK 0200-0400 9430ARM 9735GUF 9945TJK 0400-0500 9735GUF 9945TJK 2000-2100 5920 Turkish 1400-1600 7325 Urdu 1400-1500 *9445 9670TJK Vietnamese 1200-1300 12065 *DRM mode (R BULGARIA DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 3 via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. FROM THE STUDIO IN DOWNTOWN D.C., IT'S RUSSIA ON YOUR RADIO Washington (CNN) -- Jordan Hostetter doesn't know it, but he's a target. He's a young professional living in Washington, curious about international events and listens to the radio while driving to work -- just the kind of person Voice of Russia radio is trying to reach. Changing American hearts and minds about Russia has been Voice of Russia's mission since it first went on the air in 1929, broadcasting from Moscow via short-wave radio. It still does use short wave but with the Internet, Facebook and Twitter, that seems like a blast from the past. Undeterred, VOR is turning to that American classic, morning and evening-drive AM radio. It broadcasts from a new studio in downtown Washington. It's the first time VOR has produced programming directly from the United States rather than from Moscow. But don't expect to hear shock jocks and in-you-face AM fare. VOR is soft mix of American and international news and culture, delivered in English by young American hosts such as Diana Ray. Why would an American want to work for a Russian broadcaster? "I think it's very interesting, the perspective that Voice of Russia brings to the U.S.," Ray says as she gives a studio tour. "There are a lot of, I think, misperceptions. It's a different voice. "We want to present the Russian perspective definitely, but in a balanced, credible way. There has not been any influence at all on what we cover." Hostetter tunes in as he drives through city traffic to work. First comes a bouncy musical theme, then "This is the Voice of Russia," followed by a discussion about Libya and the Arab Spring with an American journalist from the National Press Club. There's no specific focus on Russia. "A very legitimate news story -- journalists in Libya," he notes. What's Hostetter's image of Russia? "Generally negative," he says. "I'd generally think of it as oppressive and just propaganda." In an interview at VOR's studio, Deputy Chairman Yury Minaev, visiting from Moscow, concedes, "Russia in many respects is seen negatively in this country, and we would like in some way to overcome this attitude." Meanwhile, VOR's traditional rival, the Voice of America, has gone totally digital, reaching out to Russians on the Internet with its Russian-language website and on Facebook and Twitter. On YouTube, VOA gets a quarter million monthly viewers for its videos, says Irina Van Dusen, managing editor of VOA's Russian Service. "Russia is very oriented toward new technologies," she says. "A lot of Internet users, a lot of people who go online regularly every day to read news." According to its charter, says Van Dusen, VOA is not in the business of propaganda or public diplomacy, attempting to improve the U.S. image. "We give voices to all the spectrum of opinion because we are not representing American government," she says. "We are representing America and American society, and American society has many opinions." VOA says it tried to get a license to do the same kind of thing VOR is doing -- broadcast on local Russian radio in Russian to Russians. But Elez Biberaj, VOA's Eurasia division director, says it was prevented from affiliating with Russian radio and television stations "because of threats and because of the pressure that the government brings on license holders." So far, Americans can hear Voice of Russia on 1430 AM in New York and on 1390 AM in Washington. VOR Chairman Andrey Bistritskiy said at a news conference announcing the new venture that the aim is to "speak to the Americans in their language," offering more choices in voices for Americans. But competition on American AM radio is fierce. As Hostetter maneuvers his way through Washington traffic, he says he'd be more likely to listen to the Voice of Russia if they had a celebrity host. But there's no indication Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin or President Dmitry Medvedev is looking for a new gig. The biggest challenge could be getting Americans to care about what Russia thinks. Hostetter says he wouldn't have a problem if VOR radio explained Russian policy on issues. "If it came across as propaganda, I might," he says, "but I think if it's just specifically talking about Russia, they're going to have a very limited listener base." (via Kevin Redding, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) Problem! I was listening to a BBC news program which described the country as rotten with corruption. You pay a cop to forget about the speeding ticket. You pay the teacher to make sure your kid gets a good grade. and so on. Who in their right mind would want to listen to the Voice of Corruption, oops Russia? Best wishes (Barry :-) Davies, UK, ibid.) I am not in a hurry to listen to VOR but you can pay to get your way if you are rich in the USA as well. It bothers me a bit that we have China and Russia LMAing stations to put their programs on the air (Kevin Redding, Adamsville, TN, ibid.) So how much of the time on the US outlets is relayed from Moscow? And now: is any of the US produxion relayed back via VOR on SW?? (gh) ** SAIPAN. Re 11-26: NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS: New station KKMP- 1440.04 in Garapan noted by Japanese DXer Shinya Hasegawa on 6 June with Island music and ID. The station's website http://cnmiradio.com/ says it has been on the air since December 9 (RealDX YG via DXWW II, IRCA DX Monitor July 2 via DXLD) ** SARAWAK [and non]. 5030, Malaysia, RTM Sarawak FM. June 28, 2245- 2255 Malaysian (listed), pop/rock music selections alternating male talks “FM”. 34432 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Something must have happened at the Sarawak site! Both 5030 and 7270.3v were off the air on June 30 and July 1; confirmed by John Wilkins; only a moderately strong PBS Nei Menggu heard on 7270.0 on both days during checks from about 0930 to 1108 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7270v, Wai FM and 5030.02 Sarawak FM have been off the air since June 30 in the 1200 UT time frame. Wai last heard on June 29 with usual mix of music, chat, and indigenous chanting from 1150 to 1240. 5030 also last heard on that day (John Wilkins, Wheat Ridge, Colorado, Drake R- 8, 100-foot RW, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) July 4 found both 5030 and 7270.3v still off the air; only PBS Nei Menggu heard on 7270.0, with 5030 clear of anything (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) July 5 found both 5030 and 7270.3v still off the air; only PBS Nei Menggu heard on 7270.0, with 5030 clear of anything. Is something seriously wrong that has both transmitters down at the same time (rare!) or are they now relying on the Kajang (near Kuala Lumpur) transmitters on 9835 and 11665 to provide coverage for Sarawak? In addition to the usual absence of SARAWAK on 5030 and 7270.3v, on July 6 noted 9835 (Sarawak FM) also off the air. Traxx FM was heard at 1234, but they too were off the air by 1331 and still absent during subsequent checks. Strange happenings! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6049.6v, Asyik FM via RTM, 1248-1319, July 7. In vernacular; YL DJ playing pop songs and with on air phone calls; solid fair reception; frequent IDs; MP3 audio of a few at http://www.box.net/shared/e74xziyxcrvy08aoqjng Checked again at 1335 and 1411 found only strong open carrier, but no audio at all. More weird happenings when I checked both 5964.65v (Klasik Nasional) and 7295 (Traxx FM) to find they also had just strong open carriers like Asyik FM had; earlier both heard with normal audio. 9835 (Sarawak FM) back on the air today after being off yesterday; 11665 (Wai FM) unaffected so far by all these strange developments. SARAWAK on 5030 and 7270.3v continues to be off the air July 7; no open carrier or anything (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SLOVAKIA. Slovakia: Competition: The 1st round of the RSI SUMMER COMPETITION „Welcome to our home“ --- The 1st round of the RSI SUMMER COMPETITION „Welcome to our home“ – self-governing regions of Slovakia ------------------------------ Unique history, attractive locations, beautiful monuments, interesting personalities – together the regions in Slovakia form one remarkable country. To learn more about these self-governing regions, click on the sound file at the bottom of the page. If you want to take part in the competition for a prize in each round, as well as the main prize, one week stay in Slovakia for two people, and 8 material prizes, all you have to do is send in the correct answer to at least one round of the competition and answer two additional curious questions anytime during the competition. All correct answers will be entered into the final prize draw. The overall winner will receive a week-long stay for two. Before you make a decision, we have to remind you of two important points. The first rule states that the winner has to cover the costs of travel to Slovakia, and the second rule states that only listeners who are not permanently residing in Slovakia can take part in the competition. The competition question: What unique collection is on display in the Primatial Palace? Deadline – July 6th Two additional curious questions: Which destination portrayed caught your interest the most? Which region would you like to visit? Send your answers to the following email address: englishsection @ slovakradio.sk or by post to: Radio Slovakia International The English section Mýtna 1 Postbox 55 817 55 Bratislava, Slovakia Good Luck LISTEN http://www.slovakradio.sk/radio-international-en/The%201st%20round%20of%20the%20RSI%20SUMMER%20COMPETITION%20%E2%80%9EWelcome%20to%20our%20home%E2%80%9C%E2%80%93%20self-governing%20regions%20of%20Slovakia.mp3 (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, July 2, DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. Miraya FM relay via IRRS, 15710 kHz, card in 21 days via Fondation Hirondelle, v/s Mr. Jean-Luc Mootoosamy (Miraya Program Officer). (Vashek Korinek, South Africa? 30 June, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Presumably not specifying Slovakia ex-site (gh) ** SOMALIA [non]. QSL: R. Damal, 11740 kHz, e-mail verie and a sheet with station info in 37 days. v/s Faith Kwamboka (Station Manager). Gives postal address as: P. O. Box 104638-00101, Nairobi, Kenya (Vashek Korinek, South Africa? 30 June, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 3230, Family Radio via Meyerton with English religious talk 1948, Family Radio theme orchestral at 1959, poor 18/6. 7285, Sonder Grense, Afrikaans Home Service via Meyerton good & clear 0504 8/6 with news, frequent commercials past 0530 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7285, Radio Sonder Grense, Meyerton. 0528-0540 July 4, 2011. Clear and good with Afrikaans man and woman, ID and news headlines 0530, quickly back to discussion program (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 5890, July 3 at 0515, Brother Scare is talking about how little response he gets from listeners to several stations, which means he will drop them. Mentioned as endangered: KTW, WLNO, KAAY, WCKY, KXEG, KLO, WDRJ, KCKN. He said WCKY is especially expensive. Donations always fall off in July and August. Said shortwave for July costs $80,000 and fortunately a Brother has come thru with funds to cover all of that for one more month. He previously announced that IRRS on SW & MW would cost $10,000 a month, so it would be very interesting to know how the other $70,000 breaks down among WWRB, WWCR, WBCQ, M&B. Same spiel was being played back at 1317 check on 9385, 9980. And July 5 at 1926 on 9385, as he said he would keep playing this back for a week or so (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN [and non]. 17715, Sat July 2 at 2105, an excellent hour of contemporary classical music by South American composers, at least from Bolivia and Perú, including a `cello trio portraying kids at a circus, and a bassoon (fagot) piece. Reception also excellent, as if 350 kW aimed right at US from Noblejas, but registered as 250 kW at 230 degrees to South America. It`s at least as strong here as the morning M-F broadcast on 17595 at 302 degrees. Equally good // 17850 via COSTA RICA, with audio quality to match instead of muffled like the relays used to be. The latter, altho only 100 kW, is 340 degrees, really USward. Another fine musical hour after 2205, `Mundofonías` starting with music from Galicia, and interviews promoting various music festivals around the country. The direct // frequency during the second hour is 15110, equally inbooming and is really 302 degrees. Things unravel before 2300. 15110 cuts to sign off announcement at 2255-2256*. 17850 is still on with promo fillers, including one for weird `Costa de Tormentas` show, but audio keeps being interrupted, still past 2301 with music until carrier cut at 2302*. 9780, July 5 at 0540 surprised to hear REE in AM instead of DRM noise, // and a few words ahead of much stronger COSTA RICA 9630. 9780 is HFCC-registered as Numérique at 05-08, 350 kW, 50 degrees. Really? Normally DRM powers are only a fraxion of equivalent AM; anyhow it`s in AM this time. Mistake or have they come to their senses? WRTH A-11 update v2 shows it as 05-09 with that harmless-looking little + after 9780 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also COSTA RICA ** SRI LANKA. 15745, SLBC Colombo with popular song requests and dedications 0243 7/6 on 15745.03m, good & clear. At 0259 closing anncts and National Anthem (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Broadcasting Corporation on 15745 kHz at 0201-0304 UT on 17th June 2011 with request program of golden oldies, anthem and off with very good reception. On Saturday 18th June there was a windy background when I tuned in well before 0300 and heard the request programme followed at 0303 with a preacher with “Gospel of the King” which is a weekly program. Sign off at 0332. WRTH says no broadcast Sunday and also return postage so I will not report to SLBC. Equipment used: barefoot AOR AR7030 with long low antenna (David Crystal, Israel, July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. 15640, July 4 at 1416, dirty jamming noises, I thought, by Ethiopia against some Amharic service, but no, it`s really DRM of BBC/DW, 90 kW, 5 degrees from Tinco at 14-18. This DRM was quite `rough` as I tuned across. Really hard to tell from jamming, and the Ethiopians are thought to use DRM transmitters from Chinese aid as jammers (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA [and non]. WHY AXE TRINCOMALEE? 16 June 2011 by Victor Goonetilleke From my experience of Short Wave broadcasting for more than 40 years, I have always found that it is better to get a signal from one or two hops away than dealing with a ground wave, especially when a station not far away and close to skip distances. Sines in Portugal is a very good example. This DW relay station was meant to reach the East European countries, which are at about 2 hop distance. Also RFE’s [former] stations to E. Europe from Portugal and Spain. And much of Africa is covered by the VOA from Sri Lanka than from Botswana. Currently the Zimbabwe Service (and Ethiopian services) are from Iranawila 1700-1900 and deliver a much stronger signal than from Botswana. When I look at Africa, I feel strongly that the whole of Africa could be well serviced from Trincomalee as it has a very well-conducting sea path to Africa. The signals from VOA/IBB Iranawila Sri Lanka are much stronger than VOA from Botswana to Zimbabwe and VOA very effectively uses Iranawila to serve East and North Africa and the Gulf area plus the Asian continent. The problem with Kigali / Rwanda is that one hour after sunrise and sunset it will be very difficult to serve the central part of Africa and even East Africa because of the short skip. In the 6-MHz band, the signals are fluttery and for example a signal coming in from the UK on 15 MHz to Sri Lanka and Southern India is much stronger at 1600 UT than Trincomalee due to the short skip, thus more reliable. Now, this is exactly what will happen within a 1000-1500 km radius around Kigali. However, Trincomalee will be able to deliver a strong and flutter-free signal even on 6 or 7 MHz for about an hour in the African mornings and after sunset when most people will be listening. The Trincomalee signal will be S9+ all the way within those African regions. Besides, Trincomalee can cover Asia as well. The African English Service will be heard very well in Asia as well, killing two birds with one stone! Trincomalee has both DRM and MW which Kigali hasn’t!! Kigali’s signal will be effective in South and North of Africa, while Central and East Africa will not be covered well. However, Trincomalee will also be able to serve these areas which Kigali skips and also where Kigali is strong. As mentioned earlier, take a look at a very important target for VOA to Zimbabwe and Ethiopia where its signals are heavily jammed. We have seen that domestic audiences in developing countries like to listen on the 9 MHz (31 mb) and below. Trincomalee will be excellent to broadcast to Africa on these (6 + 7 + 9) MHz bands, at the peak listening times in the morning and in the evening after sunset, when Rwanda will be struggling to be heard. The ideal would be to keep both stations, Trincomalee and Rwanda alive. However, if it is one station it would be Trincomalee in my opinion. Germany and Sri Lanka have long been friends in broadcasting. Much of SLBC’s MW and SW expansions came with German aid and training. I would be really sad to see these facilities being made available to others who have had nothing to do with it. Trincomalee is now in a peaceful and stable political environment and the DW would be naïve to throw away their station which is contracted to be till 2020 (DX Asia via Craig Seager, July ADXN via DXLD) ** SUDAN. 7200, SRTC, *0234-0400, July 2, sign on with local chants. Arabic talk. Some Horn of Africa style music. Indigenous vocals. Very poor with HAM QRM. Fair to good signal, with less HAM QRM by 0400 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** SUDAN [and non]. 13730, July 4 at 0512, the oscillating tone jammer thinx R. Dabanga via UAE is still on this frequency, and maybe it is. As usual, R. Dabanga is audible here only on 13620 via MADAGASCAR, good signal but with continuous tone jammer underneath. 13620, July 7 at 0508, 1000 Hz tone jamming is much stronger than R. Dabanga (?) via Madagascar underneath, the first time this has ever been the case. Or has RD moved elsewhere? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. 4775, Trans World Radio with religious talk in German 0419, poor 7/6. English from 0430. Also heard with English at 0508 18/6 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Long path? 9500, July 5 at 0551, poor signal in English I don`t usually hear, so listened a while even tho it is clearly a gospel huxter talking about the Ark of the Covenant; 0557 into ``Abide with Me`` hymn theme for show, 0558 closing program, back at ``same time, same station tomorrow``. 0559 different announcer mentions ``TWR Today``. Yes, it`s really Swaziland, not South Africa, scheduled 05-08, 100 kW, 5 degrees from Manzini (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWEDEN. SAQ easily received in Italy --- Hi folks, reception of SAQ this morning, in Italy, was pretty fine. Check details on: http://fromdctodaylight.splinder.com/post/24872750/hey-its-saq 73 to everybody, (Chris Diemoz, July 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Can report very good reception today of both Alexanderson Day broadcasts from SAQ on 17.2 kHz. Tune-up for the 0900 UT transmission began at 0842 with brief carrier bursts. The V V V DE SAQ ID's began at 0845 and continued until the commencement of the CW message at 0900. A weak descending tone (presume power down) came at 0908. The afternoon transmission tune-up started at 1141 in readiness for the CW message at 1200. This tune-up seemed more eventful than the morning broadcast, with a few more tone changes and signal strength variations. The ID's got into full swing by 1148 and the power level seemed to suddenly increase at 1154, just prior to the message. It was all over by 1207 with a weak descending tone, leaving just the static crashes. Estimate SIO as 454. There were also signals on 16.4 kHz (presume Norway, but rather weak) and 18.3 kHz (presume France, but the directional ferrite aerial nulled this) and even the electric fence QRN was absent this time! 73's (Nick Rank, Buxton, UK, July 3, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. RFI apparently the one on 7325.00 with weak female Chinese talk, 1 July, 0945. At least that's what's listed here at this time. Covered by CRI Japanese service sign-on at 1000. I almost mistook it for Wantok Radio until it faded up to where I could recognize the language. Solidly on channel too, unlike Wantok, which has been reported on about 7324.95 (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur, K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET [non]. VOA CARRIES DALAI LAMA BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION LIVE Photo: VOA Public Relations --- VOA Special live broadcast of the Dalai Lama's birthday celebration in Washington. Washington, D.C. — July 6, 2011 — Tibetans around the world were able to watch live VOA coverage of the Dalai Lama’s 76th birthday celebration in Washington Wednesday, as the spiritual leader made his first major speech since announcing he was stepping down as head of the Tibetan government-in-exile. Voice of America’s special two hour broadcast from the Verizon Center, which was carried live on radio, television and streamed on the Internet, included a 25-minute Tibetan language address by the Dalai Lama to the people of his homeland. . . http://www.insidevoa.com/media-relations/press-releases/VOA-Carries-Dalai-Lama-Birthday-Celebration-live-125101914.html (VOA press release 6 July via DXLD) See also CHINA: increased jamming ** UGANDA. 7195v, UBC logs by Martien Groot and S. Hasegawa from 11-26 mentioned in WORLD OF RADIO 1572 (gh) Plus: 7194.99, UBC Radio?, 0507-0515, July 2, threshold signal with high noise level and thunderstorm static. Very tentative. Too weak to pull out any program details (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX Listening Digest) Hi Everyone, One recording to share. Recorded on the 30/6, 1800 UT, OM then Local type music. 7194.75, R Uganda Kampala, Ham QRM at the end. http://www.box.net/shared/75p3ki49b48sth7tcgx8 (Mark Davies, Anglesey, Wales, July 4, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA [non]. via France, 15410, Radio Y’Abaganda, *1700-1715*, July 2, sign on with African choral music. Vernacular talk at 1705 to sign off. Poor. Weak in noisy conditions. Sat only (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) Re 11-26, mistake: ``Oops, those must be local times in Brazil. Still not in HFCC. Aoki says via Samara, RUSSIA, Tue & Sat only at 1700-1730 (gh, ibid.)`` No doubt, this is a mistake, right is as follows: 17770, Uganda via Russia, R. Ndiwulira, Luganda. June, 25 at 1700 carrier on but no modulation during this check until 1711. 73’s (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1571, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UNITED ARAB EMIRATES. 7340.1, Radio Australia via Dhabbaya relay opening abruptly 2205 during Indonesian news. Very good initially but poor at 2303 recheck 7/6. 9855, Radio Australia via Dhabbaya relay with vgd carrier 2200 till opening abruptly mid-programme in English 2205 on 7/6. Audio level only fair, with splatter from China 9850 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K [and non]. 10 YEARS AGO TODAY BBCWS DROPPED SW TO N AMERICA As cuts in international broadcasting continue, we note that it’s exactly 10 years ago today (1 July 2001) that the BBC World Service dropped its shortwave broadcasts to North America and the Pacific Rim. At that time, Radio Netherlands still had a sizeable shortwave audience in North America, and we took the opportunity to exploit the fact that many listeners were probably unaware of the BBC’s decision, and for a couple of weeks our English service broadcast additional transmissions on frequencies that had just been vacated by BBCWS. A listeners’ coalition was formed to urge the BBC to reconsider its decision to end shortwave broadcasts of the World Service to North America and the South Pacific. To my surprise, the website they created, www.savebbc.org, is still online. Some of the UK press were supportive of the coalition’s aims - for example, here’s an article from The Independent entitled Why the BBC’s short-wave switch-off does a disservice to the English-speaking world. By the time RNW made the decision a few years ago to drop shortwave to North America, a number of other international broadcasters had already done so. We received some complaints, mainly from hobbyists who were not regular listeners but routinely wrote to any radio station that stopped or reduced its shortwave transmissions. Looking back, I remember saying at the time that the BBC’s decision in 2001 was not necessarily going to start a domino effect, but I guess I was being over-optimistic. I still maintain, as I did at the time, that the BBC switched off shortwave to North America too soon. It’s impossible to know what would have happened if the decision had not been made. There’s strong evidence to suggest that our own shortwave audience started to decline significantly once the BBC stopped using 6175 kHz to North America, as anyone tuning in to RNW on 6165 kHz is likely to have discovered us while looking for the BBC transmission. Soon, a lot of people in other parts of the world will have to manage without our shortwave transmissions - and this time it won’t be due to a strategic decision, but a financial one. Exactly what will be left of RNW following the 70 percent budget cut will become clearer over the next few months (July 1st, 2011 - 11:39 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) 8 Comments on “10 years ago today BBCWS dropped SW to N America” #1 Willie Bone on Jul 2nd, 2011 at 08:35 Hello There, At the current ripe young age of 58 years, I was an avid listener to short wave radio back in the 1970s through to the early 1990s. Shortwave was thee platform of long distance radio station delivery back then. Shortwave radio is a bit like steam locomotion for ships and trains, there is an unrivaled thrill factor and nostalgic emotion when using them, but at the same time acknowledging deep down that these performing methods belong to a bygone era. For the life of me, I cannot imagine any of the up and coming ipod generation tolerating the short comings of short wave reception. I can imagine the same ipod generation discovering good quality radio channels on a wifi radio, internet radio or indeed listening to radio services piggy backed on a television satellite system with good clear audio quality. Away back in the late 1960s and early 70s, I used to listen to Mike Raven’s Rhythm and Blues programme on BBC Radio 1 on many a Sunday evening. BBC Radio 1’s output was then exclusively on 1214 kHz medium wave. The 1214 kHz frequency at that time was shared with Radio Tirana’s high powered transmission to China, accompanied with the USSR and pro Soviet east European governments jamming transmission noise which attempted to block out Radio Tirana and as a by product, partially blocked out the BBC Radio 1 signal as well. Again, the current younger generation brought up with MP3 players and iPod docking stations will never tolerate co-channel interference. I sincerely believe wifi radio or satellite radio is now the platform of delivery, rather than analogue shortwave for developed nations. The DRM organisation and its digital radio solution, saviour of analogue short wave radio, has failed to deliver the product to shelves of electrical retailers in the UK and elsewhere! Stating all that, I am against analogue radio switch off for digital, I believe the bulk of the listening public in the UK and other countries, prefer digital and analogue radio to peacefully coexist together for the long term. Kind Regards, Willie in Scotland #2 Kai Ludwig on Jul 2nd, 2011 at 13:23 A look into the files: The closure came officially into force on 1 July 2001 at 0800 UT, thus after the end of the 30 June 2001 transmissions of which the swan song came from Delano/California (as well known a transmitter site that no longer exists at all), 0400-0700 UT on 6135 kHz. RNW stepped in immediately, and as of 1 July 2001 “test transmissions” run from Delano 0000-0200 on 9590 kHz (75 ), 0200-0400 on 6135 kHz (20 ), 0400-0700 on 6175 kHz (20 ), 1200-1630 on 9515 kHz (75 ), 1300- 1600 on 11865 kHz (89 – all for Canada; yeah, sure) and from Sackville 1000-1200 on 5965 kHz, 1400-1600 on 15220 kHz, 1700-1800 on 17840 kHz, 2200-2400 on 9590 kHz, 2200-0400 on 6175 kHz (azimuths 240…285 ). No former BBC slots at Okeechobee (WYFR) were involved from the start it seems. Planned program audio was some “rnx” feed, somehow the whole thing ended up in a loop that became famous as the “All Jonathan, all the time” format after no routing could be arranged at such short notice if I recall correct. This run for two weeks until 14 July 2001. Then: “Following their sucessful test transmissions to North America on the vacated BBC frequencies, Radio Netherlands (RNW) are starting two permanent extra transmissions as from Sunday July 15th. This EXS cancels the test transmissions and sets up the permanent transmissions. For the 1027 - 1225 GMT transmission, the programme feed will appear as Chain Source RNW2, which should be fed to Chain 81 as described below. Sackville will obtain the feed for the 1427 - 1625 GMT transmission from a local satellite, as Chain 81 is already in use at that time.” I think back then there was also a direct airtime exchange between RNW and RCI, so who knows why Merlin did bother with any routing via Bush House at all, especially when they were not even able to maintain it for both the slots they arranged. Anyway the final 1027-1125 was on 5965 kHz (240 ) and the 1427-1625 on 15220 kHz (285 ). From the German angle the big caesura was 26 March 1999, when the BBC terminated its German service, with very much the same reasons given than two years later in North America, the infamous “opinion formers and decision makers”. One of the highlights of the farewell programme was a remark of piercing sarcasm that “you, as we all know, perfectly understand English”. This closure set off a domino effect as well, no thanks for that. Today, after RFI pulled the plug in last December, the only German service from a foreign broadcaster that still has an audience outside the hobbyist scene (not a big one, but at least more than nothing) is that of Voice of Russia. And I fear the next domino effect has just been set off, with RNW being just the next stone in the row. #3 Andy Sennitt on Jul 2nd, 2011 at 17:58 Kai, the reason that the broadcasts were not routed via Bush House is that the BBC would not allow it. On 1 July 2001 the first broadcast did go via Bush House, but when senior BBC management found out about it, they were furious. They had not anticipated that anyone would be so quick off the mark in taking over their old frequencies. I recall that “Incandescent with rage” was the phrase used at the time. We didn’t explain that at the time as we didn’t think it was in our interests to start a public war of words with the BBC. So Jonathan had to go into the studio and record some material on CD, which was sent to Sackville to play out from the transmitter site until an alternative solution could be arranged. I can’t recall the details, but I remember it did take some days to sort out. That’s why the “All Jonathan, all the time” format originated. It was not intended to be that way, but we had to improvise quickly. #4 Steve Martin on Jul 2nd, 2011 at 19:56 Despite heavy criticism at the time, the BBC decision has been vindicated. Its radio audience in the US is vastly higher now than at any time. #5 Andy Sennitt on Jul 2nd, 2011 at 21:43 True, but a large proportion of the total in the US is people who listen to BBC news via public radio stations. They are not listening to the range of programmes that the World Service used to offer on shortwave. And, given that many of the people who used to listen to the BBC on shortwave don’t live in range of a public station that carries BBC news programmes, the BBC audience is now concentrated in the larger cities. So in terms of raw numbers, the audience may have increased, but IMHO public service broadcasting should be about more than just raw numbers. But perhaps I’m old-fashioned :-) #6 Havid on Jul 3rd, 2011 at 06:00 Proper advertising of shortwave services would help in obtaining more listeners. In a way, the internet could easily provide that advertising of radio. The two can help and compliment each other. Not everyone is around the computer all day or have dedicated mobile connections (nor would want to use their limited, capped cellular data plans). With more efficient technology in both the transmitters and receivers, today’s shortwave broadcasts could still be viable and important for international broadcasting. Look at most broadcaster’s websites, and the frequency and time schedules are buried in a number of clicks. Make this information stand out and easy to find, and perhaps more people would see the importance of not completely relying on the internet for broadcasts. #7 Kai Ludwig on Jul 3rd, 2011 at 11:25 For my part applies what Wolf Harranth once remarked: I prefer to remain a dinosaur. I proceed from the assumption that the BBC World Service has no problem with no longer serving audiences in the rural areas of the USA where also broadband internet connections may be rare. They are after the “opinion formers and decision makers” who tend to live in the large cities. And who tend to rather not listen to longer programmes of various genres, so it presumably does not bother the BBC World Service either that these larger numbers of listeners get their news programmes only. There is nothing wrong at all with trying to reach as much influential people as possible. But in my opinion public service broadcasting should leave no doubt about being there for everyone, also for Joe Sixpack somewhere in the middle of America or for Lieschen Müller that does not speak English. And it was not that BBC World Service would no longer have been able to do that, at least they did not say so a decade ago. Thus I have no sympathy for them now, in the current situation. Are they seeking support now? Sorry, not from this side. Go elsewhere. If the friends of your choice do not care: Bad luck. RNW is the best example for a different approach in this regard, also for real communication instead of shallow PR blabbering (just take as an example the BBC’s Orwellian style of always announcing the termination of shortwave transmissions as “change”). I also classified the cancellation of RNW English to North America as the decisive point at which shortwave ceased to be a relevant distribution platform in the USA and Canada. And I fear I have to assume that what will now happen with RNW could be a milestone of similar significance. #8 Jonathan Marks on Jul 3rd, 2011 at 15:58 Hi all. I think I can answer some of Kai’s questions since I was Programme Director at the time. Just posted the original programme on the vintage vault together with a short explanation. http://jonathanmarks.libsyn.com/radio-netherlands-shortwave-of-publicity-july-1-2001 Judge for yourselves. At the time, the control room for Merlin was inside Bush House. They decided not long after that since the BBC was no longer their only client, they would set up their own facilities. Merlin is now Babcock and they have a very impressive control room in another part of London (MN blog comments via DXLD) ** U K. NUJ MEMBERS VOTE FOR STRIKE ACTION AT THE BBC National Union of Journalists (NUJ) members at the BBC have voted 72 per cent in favour of strike action and 87 per cent in favour of action short of a strike. Thousands of journalists at the BBC are threatening to hold two national one-day strikes in July unless compulsory redundancies are stopped at the BBC. The strike ballot was called after it became clear that compulsory redundancies would arise from cuts to the World Service and BBC Monitoring, where 387 posts are scheduled to close. Union representatives from across the BBC met yesterday and passed the following motion: “This meeting of BBC M/Focs condemns the BBC’s intention to make NUJ members compulsorily redundant. We note the dismissal of an NUJ member in the BBC World Service on the grounds of compulsory redundancy last month, despite viable redeployment options being available. We reiterate the policy of no compulsory redundancies among NUJ members and call on the BBC to resolve the outstanding cases. We believe there are workable solutions in all cases. We further note that there are many volunteers that the BBC is currently refusing to release. “We condemn the fact that the additional £2.2 million granted by the Foreign Office to the World Service for the next three years has not been used to halt all compulsory redundancies and in some instances is being used to create jobs overseas while closing jobs in the UK. We believe that the BBC’s resources should be spent on protecting core journalism and programming for audiences. We welcome the principle, endorsed by the Chairman of the BBC Trust, of linking median and top pay at the BBC and have been campaigning for this for more than two years. However we do not believe this proposal goes far enough. We therefore reiterate our policy that the differential should be no more than five times median salary. We agree that executive pay at the BBC is a toxic issue which has seriously damaged the corporation and that pay levels at the top continue to be unacceptable – particularly at a time when NUJ members are threatened with compulsory redundancy. “This meeting of BBC M/FoCs calls on the BBC to attend urgent talks to resolve the outstanding threat of compulsory redundancy to NUJ members and to re-instate the member dismissed in the BBC World Service, Bengali section. If the BBC fails to address these matters within the next 7 days, this meeting authorises the General Secretary to call NUJ members out in industrial action.” In a staff email sent in response to the announcements, director of News Helen Boaden emphasised that turnout for the ballot was less than 40%, involving 1,248 members - 6% of BBC staff. “We will continue with our efforts to limit the number of compulsory redundancies but the number of posts that have to close means that unfortunately it is likely to be impossible for us to avoid some compulsory redundancies,’ she said, adding that the extra FCO funding for World Service was ‘not enough to allow us to avoid having to continue with this process”. She continued: “I understand that many of you who are NUJ members will face a personal choice about whether or not to take part in this industrial action. Before you make that decision I want to stress that we will continue to do all we can to limit the number of compulsory redundancies though at this point we have no other options available to us.” (Sources: NUJ/BBC Ariel)( July 6th, 2011 - 10:14 UTC, by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) ** U K [non]. 17795, July 5 at 1936, BBC with discussion of cyborgs, poor-fair into fadeouts; yet the only BBC frequency audible on SW tnx to absence of WYFR. This is due south from Skelton at 18-20; probably would be better at 16-18 via Ascension 55 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. GEORGE JOHN POPPIN Joe Hanlon, NJ reports on July 2, 2011 that he has found obituaries for George J. Poppin, San Francisco CA; we last heard from him in late 2009 or early 2010, and had lost track since, tho he had been ailing at that time. George was a longtime monitor for several international SW stations, but that part of his life did not make it into the brief notices. The first one has a good portrait of him (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?n=george-poppin&pid=140240933 George John Poppin 8/31/1918 to 3/1/2010 WWII Vet, retired teacher / football coach Galileo HS, loving husband of Dorothy, and father of Nancy, Tom, Joan, and Debbie. Lived richly, loved deeply, encouraged many, and left an "I am proud to be a Poppin" legacy for his eight grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren and one great-great grandchild. We celebrate your life, Dad. We will miss you and part of us went with you. Next, from http://obit.duggans-serra.com/obitdisplay.html?task=Print&id=760802 George John Poppin Born in Arizona on Aug. 31, 1918 Departed on Mar. 1, 2010 and resided in San Francisco, CA. Visitation: Wednesday, Mar. 3, 2010 Vigil Service: Wednesday, Mar. 3, 2010 7:00 pm Mass of Christian Burial: Thursday, Mar. 4, 2010 10:00 am Cemetery: Holy Cross Cemetery Friends and family may visit Wednesday (TODAY) at 4 pm and to the Vigil Service at 7 pm at DUGGAN'S SERRA MORTUARY, 500 Westlake Ave. Daly City. A Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Thursday, 10 am at St. Cecilia's Church, 2555 17th Ave., SF. Committal Holy Cross Cemetery (from googling, via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) Glenn, thanks for looking this information up. It's unfortunate that no one in his immediate family let us know when his passing occurred. George's enjoyment and active role in the shortwave hobby will be missed. His involvement in technical monitoring for many international broadcasters (among them: BBC, Israel, France, RAI-Italy, and later Russia) encouraged me, in 1984, to take up that role for Radio Norway's overseas service, which I was involved with up until 1998 when Norway dropped their Sunday-only English program. I remember the many times I enjoyed talking about radio, and sports (especially football where he was such a diehard fan of Cal, in college, or the 49ers, or his memories of his high-school coaching days), with him. R.I.P., Coach! (Joe Hanlon, July 4, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) George would also ask us for updated English schedules of several stations, so he could make up handouts to popularize SWLing locally, in libraries? Or by p-mail (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, ibid.) ** U S A [and non]. 20000, July 2 at 1333, WWV with good signal tnx to sporadic-E/short skip, normally inaudible here. So I also check 25950 for KOA remote unit but unheard, under 500 miles from Denver. To commemorate the Fourth of July and American Exceptionalism, NIST has activated two extra WWV frequencies! (Axually, the 10 MHz transmitter is out of whack again producing spurs.) July 4 at 0539 I am hearing WWV on 9901 and 10099 kHz, weakly but clearly, while 10000 itself is S9+20, not unusual, perhaps with some HF sporadic-E help. Both still there at 1323; 10099 means the ham on 10101 with automated CQ does not need any other BFO: KI4UUZ, who is per ARRL lookup: GILES, JONATHAN U, KI4UUZ, PO Box: 486, Vonore, TN 378850486. Fortunately, unlike last time, no WWV spurs at plus/minus 50 kHz to QRM other broadcasters and aeros. 9901 did have a het from something on 9900, i.e. Vatican in Vietnamese via Tinang, per HFCC. WWV spurs from 10000 kHz continue for a second day; is anyone paying attention at Fort Collins? July 5 at 0538, both 10099 and 9901, and measuring them as closely as I can with the 1-kHz-step-up-and-down method on YB400`s BFO first zeroed to 10000, they are precisely 9901.00 and 10099.00 as if intentional! But WWV is known for its precision. Furthermore, modulation quality is fine, unlike the dirty spurs previously output. Still at 1259 check on 9901, 1306 on 10099. 9901 & 10099, the WWV spurs of the past two days are gone, July 6 at 0538 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not July 7 either. I did not see a single other report of these (gh) ** U S A. I don't think we'll see a complete shutdown of VOA SW anytime soon, as there are still some select areas of the world that need it. But significant cuts are most certainly on the way. Does anyone have updated info about Greenville? Escaped the axe last year, but probably high on the list of things to be eliminated. If it weren't for Radio Marti, this facility would already be gone (Steve Luce, Houston, Texas, July 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. AT IBB, A CALL FOR REJUVENATION by Paul McLane If you're a tech manager in a bureaucracy, you'll appreciate the headaches that confront engineers at the International Broadcasting Bureau. More at: http://www.rwonline.com/article/at-ibb-a-call-for-rejuvenation/23858 (via Alokesh Gupta, VU3BSE, New Delhi, India, dxldyg via DXLD) Tho dated July 6, (yes, I checked whether they put month or day first), this seems like a rehash of old material about Mendes (gh, DXLD) 15590, July 1 at 1222, VOA Spanish is poorly audible // 9885, a Greenville transmitter back on air after yesterday`s absence (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non]. 15715, Unidentified. Weak and noisy reception of a French talk at 1117-1121 on 11/6. Poor audio and I was unable to ascertain the subject being discussed! (Dennis Allen, Milperra NSW (Icom R75, Realistic DX160, Dipole), July Australian DX News via DXLD) HFCC shows it`s VOA via BONAIRE, 250 kW, 90 degrees to Africa, from Mauritania to Madagascar, Saturdays only at 1100-1130 since 14 May, and 11 June was Sat; but why? (gh, DXLD) 15590, July 7 at 1245, VOA Spanish very good from NC while TN signals were barely audible (see USA WWCR entry). Pausing in `Buenos Días, América` to plug `Música Country` show on VOASat, affiliates all over the continent, and voanews.com but no mention of SW! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Frequency changes of IBB: VOICE OF AMERICA English to FE/SoAs/OCE 1400-1600 NF 9405 TIN 250 kW / 305 deg, add.freq. Mon-Fri 1500-1600 NF 9405 TIN 250 kW / 305 deg, add.freq. Sat/Sun English to Zimbabwe 1730-1800 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Mon-Thu 1810-1820 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Fri 1720-1740 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Fri-Sun 1830-1900 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Mon-Fri Ndebele to Zimbabwe 1800-1830 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Mon-Thu 1820-1830 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Fri 1740-1800 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Fri-Sun Shona to Zimbabwe 1700-1730 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Mon-Thu 1800-1810 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Fri 1700-1720 NF 7210 SAO 100 kW / 126 deg, ex 15730 Fri-Sun Swahili to CeAf 1630-1730 NF 9855 BOT 100 kW / 010 deg, ex 9815 Tibetan to CeAs 1400-1500 on 15180 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg, Sun/Tue/Thu/Sat, deleted 1400-1500 on 17760 LAM 100 kW / 077 deg, now Daily, ex Mon/Wed/Fri Uzbek to CeAs 1500-1530 NF 15780 KWT 250 kW / 046 deg, ex 13755 RADIO FREE ASIA Chinese to EaAs 1700-2000 NF 13800 DB 250 kW / 095 deg, ex 13625 Tibetan to CeAs 1000-1100 NF 15330 KWT 250 kW / 078 deg, ex 17840, re-ex 17750 1100-1200 NF 17815 KWT 250 kW / 078 deg, ex 17750 1200-1300 NF 17545 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg, ex 11590 1300-1400 NF 12025 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg, ex 11590 (DX Mix News July 3 via DXLD) ** U S A. 15825, July 1 at 1248, WWCR has built up from JBA a semihour earlier to S9+15, not yet super-strong, but nevertheless the matching scratchy modulation-spike spur field is audible 15630-15675. 15825, July 2 at 1241, WWCR-1 up to S9+22 with screamer, overdubbed? But back in whack with no spur fields in the 15.4 or 15.6 MHz ranges. Not too much splatter either around 15825, but the always present plus/minus 16.4 kHz much weaker parasitic carriers with same modulation audible upon them, 15809.4, 15840.6. As I would find on TV later, Es was in from Mexico again, but on HF the affected area is much wider. 15825, July 7 at 1244, WWCR with JBA carrier; at first I thought it off, propagation very poor, while VOA Greenville 15590 Spanish was VG. 13845 WWCR also JBA at 1248 while VOA-G 13750 Spanish was good. The other Tennessean, 12100 WTWW in Arabic was VG at 1248 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1571 monitoring: confirmed on new station WTWW, Thursday June 30 at 2100 on 9479, excellent signal here as always. I hope elsewhere too, tho Harry Brooks in England says he was not hearing it, checked after 2130. Is Russia also on 9480, or not? 5051, UT Friday July 1 after 0331, fair signal for WOR from WWRB, and a het from something on 5050 which WWRB would otherwise override. 5050 possibly Brazilian if on, no other broadcaster likely to propagate at this hour, or maybe ute. Further airings: on WRMI 9955: Saturday 0800, 1500, 1730; Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730. NEW on WTWW: UT Sunday 0400 on 5755. On WBCQ: UT Monday 0300 on 5110v-CUSB. WORLD OF RADIO 1571 monitoring: confirmed on new station, time and frequency, UT Sunday July 3 from 0400:40 on WTWW 5755. Like the other airing, Thu 2100 on 9479, the transition from SFAW is a bit ragged: cut to canned ID by Ted Randall, back to Laporte for part of a minute, and then starting WOR playback, which anyway was intact. S9+22 but fading some by this late hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A reminder to check for our new WORLD OF RADIO times: UT Sunday 0400 on WTWW 5755 UT Monday 0300 on WBCQ 5110v-CUSB New WRMI 9955 schedule grid dated July 5 shows a new time for WORLD OF RADIO: UT Friday 0500. That`s usually one of the better times for WRMI reception here. Tnx, Jeff! (WORLD OF RADIO 1572) Altho 24 hours earlier nothing but moderate pulse jamming was heard. First airing of #1572, UT Thursday July 7 at 0330 confirmed on webcast, while 9955 was nothing but noise jamming. Further airings on WRMI: Thursday 1500, 2100, Friday 0500, 1430, Saturday 0800, 1500, 1730, Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730. On WTWW: Thursday 2100 on 9479, UT Sunday 0400 on 5755. On WBCQ: Thursday 2130 on 7415, UT Monday 0300 on 5110v-CUSB. On WWRB: UT Friday 0330v on 5051. On WRN via SiriusXM 120: Sat & Sun 1730, Sun 0830. Full schedule: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WORLD OF RADIO 1572 monitoring: Thursday July 7 at 2100+ confirmed VG on WTWW 9479 until 2129 but WTWW-1 webcast still not funxioning. WRMI inaudible on 9955 tho no jamming either, but confirmed on webcast from 2100. WBCQ 7415 confirmed on webcast from 2132 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5110, WBCQ Monticello Maine poor in English at 0350 27/6 till closedown 0401 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15420-CUSB from WBCQ on an hour longer than scheduled: another anomaly one finds only by monitoring, not by consulting the website http://schedule.wbcq.com/main.php?fn=sked&freq=15420 which shows 15420 seven days a week only until 2100*. Saturday July 2 at 2132, TimTron is in progress with his unique style and funny novelty music. Is this // 7415? Strangely, the program schedule for that now at http://schedule.wbcq.com/main.php?fn=sked&freq=7415 does not show anything at all on Saturdays; everything canceled? I can`t be sure there is a signal on 7415 with the summer noise level. At 2152 plays ``Eyes without a Face``; 2156 starts to close, complaining of QRM from CRI (on 7415), and mentions also being on 15420, with today`s date, his hotmail address. 2202 still wrapping it up, and I think he said another hour would be on 5110, but 41m is closing. Finally at 2204-2205:20 regular generic canned WBCQ sign-off by Allan, but followed by tone until really off at 2207*. FCC and HFCC show 15420 registered, and thus available if wanted, from 12 to 23 UT. This schedule http://schedule.wbcq.com/main.php?fn=sked&freq=5110 shows two hours of TimTron Worldwide, but not at 2100: spanning UT Sat into Sun at 2300-0100 on 5110! Area 51 schedule for July 2 also shows TimTron at 23-01 [7-9 pm EDT]. 7415 rechecked at 0250 UT July 3: no signal, when `QSO with Ted Randall` used to appear for hours and hours on UT Sundays. I did confirm it Saturday sometime between 18 and 20 on 9479 WTWW, technical discussion rather than PPP (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15420-CUSB, since WBCQ was on an extra hour Saturday with `Radio TimTron Worldwide` until past 2200, I hope to have a chance to hear `Marion`s Attic` 24 hours later, as 7415 is inaudible. Tune-in July 3 at 2101 `Global Spirit Proclamation` is still on but at next check 2104 it`s off; shux (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 5051, WWRB with English religious programs 0350 on this slightly changed frequency 8/6 till closing 0400 announcing move to 3185. Het QRM from Ozy Radio 5050.07 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s not exactly a move: 3185 is already on the air but the 5051 transmitter is closing at that hour (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 11580, July 2 at 2335, WYFR, the mistaken and murder- inducing laughingstock Harold Camping is *still* on the air with `Open Forum` despite FR notice that they would stop playing him back after June 30. This is one of the few remaining English hours via Okeechobee itself, 23-24 only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RAPTURE PREDICTOR RECOVERING IN NURSING HOME OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- The California radio preacher who predicted the world's end on May 21 has been moved to a nursing home, where he is recovering from a stroke he suffered last month. Harold Camping's daughter confirms her father recently moved from an area hospital to a skilled nursing facility. He is undergoing rehabilitation there to regain his strength following the June 9 stroke. Camping's Family Radio network is working to replace the 89-year-old's show, Open Forum, with interim programming. The station has been playing repeats since his stroke. It's unclear if the show will return. Camping predicted Judgment Day would occur, first in 1994 and again in May. His media empire spent millions of dollars, some culled from followers' donations, over seven years on billboards and other publicity for his 2011 predictions about the spiritual Rapture in May and the end of the world in October (Daily Astorian, OR, Jul 5, 3:36 PM EDT via Mike Cooper, DXLD) Harold Camping raptured --- to a skilled nursing facility http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/07/05/arts/AP-US-Apocalypse-Predictor-Stroke.html?hp Apparently some replacement programming is forthcoming. (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, July 5, NASWA yg via DXLD) Short story, but why in the world is that in the ARTS sexion? (gh) SEEKING TO UNPLUG THE VOICE OF DOOMSDAY By SCOTT JAMES Published: July 1, 2011 The Bay Citizen http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/01/us/01bcjames.html?emc=eta1 The world did not end on May 21 as Harold Camping, an Oakland evangelist, predicted. But some would still like to see Armageddon — for Mr. Camping’s radio empire. Several people have filed complaints with the Federal Communications Commission demanding that the licenses of dozens of AM and FM radio stations owned by Family Radio, Mr. Camping’s broadcast ministry, be revoked. Copies of the complaints were obtained by The Bay Citizen using a federal Freedom of Information Act request. The F.C.C., as per its usual policy, redacted the names of those who filed the complaints — seven were filed between Jan. 11 and May 25. They originated from across the nation in communities where Family Radio has stations, including California, Maryland, New York and Wisconsin. The complaints said Family Radio had created a public panic and deceived listeners into sending the ministry money; the ministry has said it raised and spent “tens of millions of dollars” promoting the May 21 prediction. At least two grim incidents have been linked to Mr. Camping’s doomsday message. Referring to Mr. Camping, a complainant from Redwood City, Calif., said: “He has created untold financial catastrophe and abrogated his responsibility as a broadcaster of public airwaves. His licenses should be revoked.” A complaint from Stevensville, Md., said, “They are distributing hateful and homophobic messages on-air including ‘Gay Pride is a sign of the end of the world.’ ” Another complaint, from Valley Cottage, N.Y., took the F.C.C. to task for not halting the May 21 campaign while it was happening, and said, “If it causes one casualty or tragedy when it could have been prevented well then shame on you.” Family Radio is on 216 AM, FM and low-power radio stations in the United States. Tom Evans, a ministry spokesman, said in an e-mail that there was no formal investigation, and, “The F.C.C. has not contacted us, so I have no interest in commenting.” So far the F.C.C. has taken no action against Family Radio — and it is unlikely to do so. Officials from the agency would not comment on the record, but commission employees and industry experts said that the federal government does not intervene when religious beliefs are involved, citing the First Amendment and separation of church and state. The fundamentalist Christian Camping ministry is not affiliated with any church. There are few examples of the federal government’s silencing religious broadcasters. Perhaps the most significant case was in 1939 when the Rev. Charles Coughlin, a Roman Catholic priest and virulent anti- Semite in Michigan, had his popular radio show canceled because of World War II security concerns. These days the F.C.C. typically admonishes broadcasters when indecency complaints are involved. On Monday the Supreme Court agreed to hear an F.C.C. argument that it should be allowed to fine broadcasters if an obscenity is accidentally uttered during live programming. Marlene Winelle, a Berkeley psychologist who treats patients suffering from religious trauma, said the F.C.C. should be more concerned about Family Radio than errant curse words. Dr. Winelle referred to two tragedies that have been linked to the May 21 prophecy where people feared being left behind as the rapture occurred, and rather than face an agonizing apocalypse, took horrific action: In Antioch on May 21, at the hour the rapture was to arrive, Victor Frasno reportedly tried to reach God across a lake, but could not swim, and drowned. On March 18 in Palmdale, Calif., Lyn Benedetto slit the throats of her two daughters, and then her own, the police said, to prevent them from suffering on the impending doomsday. All survived, and Ms. Benedetto is in jail awaiting trial. “The whole rapture teaching is just abusive,” Dr. Winelle said, adding she was not surprised that the F.C.C. is unlikely to intercede. “It’s hard in such a religious culture to hold anyone accountable.” Dina Ibrahim, associate professor of broadcast and electronic communication arts at San Francisco State University, said she understood people’s frustration over the F.C.C.’s inaction in a case like Family Radio. “It’s disheartening to see how arbitrary these decisions can seem,” Dr. Ibrahim said. She said the government tends to act only when children are exposed to content considered obscene. While the complaints to the F.C.C. have not been effective in muting Family Radio, fate has already intervened. Mr. Camping, 89, changed his rapture prediction to Oct. 21, but he is off the airwaves for now. Last month he had a mild stroke and is recuperating in a nursing home. Scott James is an Emmy-winning television journalist and novelist who lives in San Francisco. The Bay Citizen --- A nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization providing local coverage of the San Francisco Bay Area for The New York Times. To join the conversation about this article, go to http://baycitizen.org (via Benn Kobb, Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) See also LESOTHO in this and previous issues ** U S A. * AMERICAN STATES ON SHORTWAVE: TEXAS - 1 Whatever Happened to Shortwave Station KAIJ in Dallas Texas? That is the question asked by Peter Grenfell in New Zealand as part of his entry in our annual DX contest last year. In response, Peter, this is what we find as a result of a spate of interesting radio research. It so happens that there were two attempts over the years at establishing a shortwave station in Texas; one was unsuccessful and the other was successful. The first attempt was made back half a century ago, and the other just a quarter of a century ago. Here are the details. Back around the beginning of the year 1960, a request was lodged with the FCC in Washington DC for approval to establish a shortwave station in Dallas Texas for coverage into Latin America. In May, the details of this new shortwave station were published in a radio magazine in Australia, Radio & Hobbies. This news item stated that this new American shortwave station would operate at 50 kW on 15180 kHz and that it would broadcast into Latin America during the daytime, in English & Spanish. As further details became available, it was stated that the owner of this new station was Albert L. Cain, who was also an amateur radio operator with the callsign W5SXT. The intended callsign for this new shortwave station was KFRN, and a news report published in August 1960 stated that the station was under construction. The 1961 edition of World Radio TV Handbook lists this new station, under the company ownership of Global Broadcasting, not in Dallas Texas, but instead in Tulsa Oklahoma, though now no callsign is shown. That is the last reference to the new shortwave station KFRN, planned but never completed. In more recent time, there was the well known shortwave station KCBI- KAIJ which was located a few miles out from Denton, just north of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. The application for this new station was lodged with the FCC on March 18, 1983. The requested callsign was KCBI, which was also the callsign of their FM station that was inaugurated seven years earlier. The callsign KCBI honored the Criswell Bible Institute, which was established in Dallas by the First Baptist Church. The transmitter and antennas for shortwave station KCBI were installed in an isolated area of corn country 16 miles east of Denton, a little north of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex. The transmitter was a re- engineered mediumwave unit manufactured by General Electric and there were two antennas, both described as corner reflectors. The first test broadcasts from station KCBI were noted on 11790 kHz around Christmas 1984, and the station was inaugurated in the middle of the following year, on July 28, with studios in the Baptist Church in Dallas. Initially the station was on the air with a regular daily schedule, but during the following year, this scheduling was reduced to just the weekends, due to a shortage in funding. Shortly afterwards, the station was closed and placed up for sale. Four years later, the station was re-activated, and then sold for $1,000 to the University Network for the programming of Dr. Gene Scott. An additional shortwave transmitter, a Continental unit rated at 100 kW, was installed in 1994 and the callsign was changed to KAIJ, though it is not known to this day just what was the significance of these new identification letters. During the height of its operation, station KAIJ was on the air with a full 24 hour daily schedule on both transmitters, 100 kW & 50 kW. However, as time went by, this scheduling was reduced until just one transmitter was in use part time. The station was sold again, this time to Peoria Broadcasting Services, though it was on the air again with little more than occasional test broadcasts. Two years ago, this shortwave station was procured by an organization called Leap of Faith, and the equipment was removed from Denton in Texas and re-installed at an isolated country area near Lebanon in Tennessee. The 100 kW transmitter was refurbished for use at its new location, and two rhombic antennas were installed. Test broadcasts from this shortwave station now located in Tennessee began in January last year under the callsign WTWW which stands for We Transmit World Wide. Program broadcasting began officially at 1500 UTC on February 19 on 9480 kHz, though at reduced power. Full power broadcasting began on March 1. So, that’s the story of the two shortwave endeavors in Texas, both in Dallas. Station KFRN back in 1960 was never erected, neither in Dallas nor in Tulsa. Station KCBI was inaugurated in Dallas in 1985, it was re-designated as KAIJ nearly ten years later, and now it is on the air as station WTWW in Lebanon Tennessee. There are a few QSL cards from the original KCBI in the collections of international radio monitors, and three different styles are known; a 1973 calendar, a two sided On the Air Card, and an On the Air card with a plain back. After the University Network procured the station, two cards were in use, both under the title, Two If By Sea Broadcasting. One card shows the callsign KCBI, and the other card shows the callsign KAIJ. QSLs are currently being issued by email and by post for the transferred station WTWW at its current location in Lebanon Tennessee. As an interesting side note, when this shortwave station was on the air under the callsign KCBI, it broadcast a delayed relay of the early DX program from Adventist World Radio in Poona, India. The program title at the time was “Radio Monitors International”, the AWR studios were located in suburban Poona, and the broadcast from station KCBI was on the air under the auspices of Radio Earth. The broadcast of “Radio Monitors International” via KCBI was on the air for a few weeks beginning on October 13, 1985 (Adrian Peterson, IN, AWR Wavescan script for April 18 via DXLD) ** U S A. 25910, WBAP, Fort Worth, Texas with newstalk format 0155 21/6, time pips on the hour, news headlines and extensive weather report “from the WBAP Weather Center” (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 25910 FM, WBAP, Dallas, Texas, 1820-1835, July 3, becoming a regular here lately. “Money Matters” financial news program. ID. News headlines at 1830. Local traffic report. Weather. Reception varied from very weak to very good. Threshold signal on deep fades but a very good signal on peaks. 25990 FM, KSCS, Ft Worth, Texas, 1820-1835, July 3, becoming a regular here lately. Country music. Ad for local rodeo. ID. Reception varied from very weak to very good. Threshold signal on deep fades but a very good signal on peaks (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, Icom IC- 7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 25950, KNOW Newsradio, Denver (presumed) weak but discernible on peaks 2104 7/6 with low powered (100 watts?) remote pick-up transmitter on talkback format throughout the day past 0305 UTC. Colorado sports news and live baseball commentary 0203. FM mode transmission made reception difficult (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ? Where did you get KNOW? It`s from KOA 850 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. During analog sporadic-E TV DX opening from prairie provinces, CANADA, q.v., UT July 1, I also get: 0448 on 88.5, rock, Es fades so not OK; NarcAnon PSA; fades out by 0459 ID time, but 0503 back in with NPR news // KOSU. 0506 end of news, no announcement, back to rock music. Very likely KEYA, Belcourt ND, res station, V. of the Turtle Mountains near the MB border in N central ND, which is an NPR affiliate. I was all set to compare to webstream via http://keya.utma.com/885/psched.html except there isn`t any. Program in progress on grid is `Night Owl`s Nest`. 0451 on 94.9, ``94-9 The Classic Rock Zoo`` spoken ID, which Googles directly to KTZU-FM Velva ND per radio-locator.com. Velva is just down the swollen Mouse River from Minot. I guess the site is on high ground. During this 4-hour opening from the north, I kept an eye on channel 2 or 3 for signs of DTVDX (the antenna is split to the DTV STB and to the analog set), but nothing ever showed. I`ve yet to see the SD stations, now KOTA-2 and KDLO-3, in the 600+mile range, tho they occasionally made it in the analog era; another one often reported by those farther away, KNOP-2 in Nebraska, is too close to me for Es (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. A new quarterly Capitol Steps holiday comedy special is at http://www.capsteps.com/sounds/Radio-1107.rm If you missed the previous one for April Fool`s, it`s at: http://www.capsteps.com/sounds/Radio-1104.rm Even tho no longer linked from the website (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Changes at famous 750 KXL Portland, Oregon --- The IRCA reports:- 750 KXL Portland, OR new call: KXTG. "7-50 AM The Game" with Fox Sports Radio. Best wishes (Barry :-) Davies, UK, July 1, MWCircle yg via DXLD) Another heritage 3-letter call bites dust (gh) ** U S A. More than 50 years and now 5,000 watts RADIO STATION LOOKS TO THE FUTURE Cibola Beacon - Grants, New Mexico By Rosanne Boyett Beacon Staff Writer Published Monday, July 4, 2011 4:27 PM MDT http://www.cibolabeacon.com/articles/2011/07/05/news/doc4e12381105a0c919022582.txt GRANTS - In the 1950s, KMIN was the only AM radio station serving residents living between Albuquerque and Gallup. Recent changes have allowed the station to expand and reach more listeners. “With the new transmitter, we now broadcast KMIN, 980 AM, and KMYN, 1510 AM, at 5,000 watts,” said Derek Underhill, owner. “Before we changed to the new transmitter we were still using the 1956 transmitter.” The AM station’s logo reads, “KMINE is Grants’ heritage station serving our community since 1956.” The station’s name honored the rapidly growing uranium industry that was the region’s main source of employment for almost three decades, according Underhill. The station began broadcasting, at 1,000 watts, in September that year, he explained. The Federal Communications’ Commission rules limited on-air time from sun-up to sundown. He said in the 1980s those rules changed and KMIN began nighttime service. Underhill confirmed that originally the AM station primarily served those living within a 15-mile radius of Grants. Another change happened this spring. On May 28, KMIN began simultaneous broadcasting with its new sister facility in Albuquerque, KMYN, 1510 AM. “Now it’s more of a regional station,” he said. “I’ve heard from sheepherders down at Magdalena and one person told me they were still listening in their car just outside of Holbrook, Ariz.” The two AM stations specialize in country music. “There’s no other station like this,” Underhill pointed out. “Most stations just keep a few hundred recordings so listeners hear the same music repeated on a regular basis. Our library has more than 6,000 songs including performances from the 1940s up through this year.” The recent change meant adding Albuquerque sales staff to meet advertisers’ needs. “That’s the largest radio market in the state,” he said. “It’s rated number 68 out of 100 on Arbitron, the national rating system. There are 50 stations in Albuquerque but none is like ours’. We can now attract people from Albuquerque to some of our area events.” Underhill also owns KDSK, 97.2 FM, in Grants. Both facilities are located on Roosevelt Avenue. The FM station describes its music as “Sounds Souvenirs” and programming includes regular interviews with Future Foundations Family Center, NMSU-Grants, the state’s Work Force Solutions, Cibola General Hospital and the Bureau of Land Management staff. Don Webb is the “voice” of the FM station, which features live programs such as Grants’ High School athletic events, the Fourth of July activities and other area activities along with regional weather forecasts and statewide news, according to the owner. Most listeners are familiar with Barry Lee’s voice on the AM channel that offers listeners country music, weather and news updates. Underhill shares time behind the microphone on both channels. “I’ve wanted to have my own radio station since I was in Cub Scouts,” recalled Underhill, an engineer. “I bought the license in January 2001 and I love every minute.” The FCC expanded broadcasting permit process started almost two years ago. “I had to prove that the upgrade would not interfere with other stations,” he explained. The new transmitter was purchased from a Montana station. Shipping and installing the equipment required several months. The future looks bright for radio listeners and the owner is enthusiastic about recent changers. “We’re excited with our expanded coverage,” Underhill said. “We plan to continue maintaining the current operational standards that allow us to sound like a big city station.” (via Kevin Redding, July 5, ABDX via DXLD) Derek is truly living the dream out there in Grants. I had the pleasure of visiting him at KMIN/KDSK when I was out that way in April, and will be featuring pictures of the station in an upcoming Tower Site of the Week. Several rooms at the station are devoted to a museum of old radios and broadcast gear - VERY cool stuff and a must- stop for anyone passing through on I-40. Derek loves showing the place off! s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) ** U S A. 1520, KMSR, 20 JUN 11, 2300 CDT noted sports talk behind KOKC. Fading up and down 2300-2307 CDT, heard "sportradio1520.com" under KOKC 2304, quick check online found KMAV-FM and KMSR home page. Strong on top of KOKC 2309 with ESPN programming/promos/"ESPN Radio" slogans. New one here on 1520! KMSR listed as daytimer with 1300 W ND. Still dominating KOKC as I type 2317 CDT (Bruce Winkelman AA5CO, Tulsa, OK, R8, EndFedz SWL sloper, ABDX via DXLD) Where in the world is KMSR? Had to look it up: Mayville, North Dakota. Another intriguing anomaly is that during my Es opening from ND and MB, Bruce Winkelman in Tulsa was getting KMSR, 1520 in Mayville ND, at 0400-0417+ UT, atop KOKC OKC. It`s a daytimer, not even supposed to be on the air at night, but could that have been sporadic-E also affecting MW? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WDAY 970 AM is back to nearly full power after it lost two of its three radio towers in a major Memorial Day wind storm. General Manager Kevin Weaver said on Friday that engineers are done boosting the signal and bolstering the structure of the one remaining tower, meaning there won’t be any more time off air. “It’s near full power,” he said. “I don’t think any of our listeners will notice a difference.” The news-radio station, owned by the same company as The Forum, had one tower crumpled and another snapped off at the top by the high winds that struck Fargo-Moorhead May 30. It went off air for nearly three entire days, from 9:30 p.m. on May 30 to 5 p.m. on June 2, broadcasting only via the Internet, Weaver said. Ever since, it occasionally had been forced to go silent as crews reconfigured the remaining tower to transmit a more powerful signal to make up for the felled towers, Weaver said. All of the station’s signal strength, approved to be as strong as 5,000 watts, will be coming from one tower until the others are rebuilt. WDAY’s towers are just north of Main Avenue in West Fargo, Weaver said. Weaver said the station got special federal approval to use its remaining tower to transmit nondirectional signals at night. Typically, its three towers only send a signal in one direction after nightfall, he said. The two crippled towers should be rebuilt by fall, the general manager said. It was a frustrating week and a half for the station but could have been worse. “If that third one would have gone down, we would have been off air the whole time,” Weaver noted (FROM: INFORUM DOT COM via Dale Park, Honolulu HI, IRCA DX Monitor via DXLD) ** U S A. 104.5 Unidentified, probable translator. As I was typing this, I just discovered this station. It is extremely weak and would probably not be received were it not for the relative absence of tropospheric enhancement, as WAXX would surely blow it out of the water (Jacob Norlund, MN, July 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Don't be so sure - at least as long as WAXX is operating at low power from temporary facilities after the collapse of the WEAU-TV tower where its 100 kW transmitter was located. WAXX is running a very unusual setup right now: one low-power transmitter on the WQOW-TV tower in Eau Claire and a second, also on 104.5, from the WOSQ 92.3 tower near Marshfield. It's the first time the FCC has ever licensed two transmitters on the same frequency under special temporary authority, and it *is* only temporary until WEAU rebuilds its tower near Fairchild and WAXX returns to its 100 kW signal there (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) ** U S A. 99.9 MHz FLORIDA (Part 15 Carrier Current) "WECX" Eckerd College, St. Petersburg. 1328 July 2, 2011. While driving south on I- 275, this one was active, with Alphaville's "Big In Japan" followed by several other 80's New Wave/Pop tracks. Signal was very good on the Tom Stewart Causeway and lost just before the beginning of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge proper (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W; Florida DX News and "Florida Low Power Radio Stations" are at: http://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/ DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. All Florida from 2008 to 2058 [presumably EDT = UT -4], except for 106.3 WGMK Georgia. Shifted west to Tallahassee before it disappeared at 2058. One strange one is Deutsche Welle German lessons for English speakers on 87.9 MHz. This seems local, not skip, as it is still in after Florida has faded. Interesting to have channel six on 87.75 and this thing on 87.9. Antenna aimed south. Signal lost when I move the antenna. Program break around 2107, but then a second episode of the same program begins without any ID except Deutsche Welle. Ideas? (Jim Renfrew, Holley NY, July 3, WTFDA via DXLD) WGCE, ch 6 Greece, NY often carries DW TV programs/news (Jim Pizzi, NY, ibid.) Jim, do you ever hear WGCE-CA in Greece on channel 6? I know they were carrying Deutsche Welle programming at one point a few years ago; and I wonder if they've drifted up from 87.75 to 87.9 or are playing at being a "Franken-FM"? s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, ibid.) The German lessons are still going strong on 87.9. twelve hours later. Any of my local buds hearing this? The lessons have a story line - Andreas a student and an Elf "X" who jumped out of the pages of a book. Except for the elf, all lessons are scenes from everyday life. With the story line threading through all the lessons, this may the longest soap opera ever (Jim Renfrew, Holley NY, 1350 UT July 4, ibid.) ** U S A. 87.7 NYC deleted??? Well, that's interesting --- The FCC database has prepended a "D" to the calls of WNYZ-LP, the NYC analog channel 6 LPTV that's been operated as a FM station. The "D" stands for "deleted", indicating that the license is no longer valid. This is not necessarily as final as it may sound; often, paperwork snafus are involved, and the stations will be brought back from the dead. (I'll bet Scott has more on this!) – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, July 5, WTFDA via DXLD) It may be deleted but I heard it on the air yesterday (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, July 5, ibid.) I'm willing to bet it's a mistake. Here's why. In the Correspondence Folder, I found the letter regarding the deletion of the license. http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/prod/cdbs/forms/prod/getimportletter_exh.cgi?import_letter_id=26580 It basically says their flash cut was dismissed since the extension request was filed after the expiration of the permit. What I suspect happened is one of two things. - The FCC thought it was off the air for more than a year, thus deleting the facility when it was found that the permit had expired unbuilt. - The FCC thought it was a companion channel, and thus when the permit expired, so did the license. In either case, unless there's something else going on here that I am unfamiliar with, I foresee it being reinstated (Trip Ericson, ibid.) ** U S A. KAYT 88.1 --- One notable log this morning among the short haul tropo. KAYT 88.1 Jena LA at 7:40 AM [CDT = UT -5] with "On Point Talk" (hosted by a YL African-American) and a large number of ads despite the show being on a NON Commercial frequency. KAYT is leapfrogging semi-distant gospel-huxter and AFR station KBPW 88.1 Hampton AR. The On Point Talk website http://www.onpointcxmas.com does not mention KAYT save for a photo of a van with "88.1" painted on the van and KAYT's bare-bones website http://www.kaytfm.com gives no mention of any programming including "On Point Talk" (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, 15 June, WTFDA via DXLD) The difference between (legal) underwriting and an (illegal) ad can be fairly subtle. Fundamentally, if it contains a "call to action" (Buy Today!) or comparative language (our car gets 25% better fuel economy than Acme's) then it's an ad. Mention of price is also prohibited in underwriting announcements. I've heard a number of announcements (usually on non-commercial contemporary Christian stations like Way-FM) that sure sound a lot like ads, but when analyzed against the FCC's announced standards, aren't. Although if you look at this link: http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/broadcast/enhund.html you'll see it's hardly unheard of for a non-commercial station to run an outright ad -- and the link only lists the ones someone complained about... A few more useful links: http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/audio/nature.html http://transition.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2011/DA-11-410A1.html (Doug Smith, TN, ibid.) The Central Arkansas outpost of American Family Radio (Arkansas AFR) KANX 91.1/KBDO 91.7 is notorious for their sponsors and pushing the limits for "underwriting announcements". Many of these are inserted at the local level and not by the national AFR Networks (Fritze H Prentice Jr, KC5KBV, Star City, AR, ibid.) ** VANUATU. 3945, R. Vanuatu, Port Vila. June 30, 1030-1040 outside female in English talks “to R. Vanuatu”, studio male and female “news”. At 1035 abrupt lower audio level, before it 35333. 73’s (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN [and non]. 7245-7250-7255, July 4 at 0545 there is DRM noise! Normally here is analog Vatican Radio with Latin Mass during this semihour, introduced in various other languages. VR does have a DRM transmitter, and SMG must have switched it from AM to DRM, by mistake? Otherwise someone else was totally blocking them. Recheck at 0559, nothing there in DRM or AM. The DRM covered traces of BBC Ascension on 7255, and would have marred Mauritania if it were on 7245 that early. VR uses 7250 intermittently all day long, so wonder if DRM came back later. See also USA [and non], WWV. 17765, July 4 at 1312 VR IS, very poor, 1315 opening Vietnamese. Sometime around 1315 they rotate from 65 to 72 degrees going from Chinese to Viet. 7250, 24 hours after hearing DRM here, July 5 at 0544 there is none, and not any AM either that I can detect; while 7255 Ascension, 7275 Tunisia, 7285 and 7230 South Africa, 7295 France were audible. Was VR really off 7250, or higher European paths just not propagating? 7250, VR again audible and on AM, July 6 at 0536, but very poor; sounded like a bit of German besides the Latin (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VR was at good strength on 7250 this July 7 morning at 0635 UT in English. Didn't check any parallels. Mauritania was fair strength same time on 7245 (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN [non non]. QSL: Vatican Radio on 4005 kHz via the 10 kW transmitter in Vatican City State verified an electronic report with a postal mail reply indicating carrier power of 2.5 KW, P.E.P. 10 KW, L.S.B. suppressed, carrier reduced -6 dB, from Sergio Salvatori, Frequency Management. Sergio included a Radio Vaticana 2011 program guide, an English booklet about Radio Vaticana, and frequency schedule. That’s it from Wyomissing! 73, (Rich D`Angelo, PA, July Australian DX News via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 12019.3, VOV, 1349-1357*, July 5. Fair to good in English; talking about training for their labor force; rock Vietnamese song. Found this was best in LSB to get away from the strong adjacent Firedrake and CNR1 jamming on 12025 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN. 9780.14, Republic of Yemen Radio, 0358-0410, July 2, Irregular. Traditional Arabic music. Arabic talk. Good. Gone at 0450 check (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA [and non]. 4965, CVC The Voice, Lusaka, fair 2038 with contemporary Christian vocals 20/6. Great mid-winter conditions as still audible 2135 UT! [9:35 am local]. Zimbabwe 4828, VOA Botswana 4930 & VOA São Tomé 4940 also audible around 2038 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, New Zealand, AOR7030+ and EWEs to NE, E & SE, Google Earth: 36.11.70 S, 174.56.70 E, July 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE. 4828, Voice of Zimbabwe, Gweru. June 28, 2158-2215 male and female in English talks, many mentions of Zimbabwe, Hilife music, break at mid song, female talks, national anthem (female choral). 33433 (Lúcio Otávio Bobrowiec, Embu SP Brasil, SW40 - Dipoles and Longwire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [and non]. RADIO VOP APPLIES FOR OPERATING LICENCE IN ZIMBABWE One of Zimbabwe’s most widely listened to, but currently unlicensed radio stations and websites, Radio VOP, has applied for an operating licence, the Executive Director, John Masuku, has confirmed. Addressing more than 40 Radio VOP website and radio correspondents gathered in Harare for a one-day workshop, Mr Masuku said: “Yes, we have applied for an operating licence. We are waiting to see what will happen.” The Broadcasting Authority of Zimbabwe (BAZ), which falls directly under the Media and Information Commission (MIC) currently led by veteran broadcast journalist, Godfrey Majonga, has the final say before issuing out broadcasting licences in Zimbabwe. Radio VOP is among three independent radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe today. Only the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation Holdings Limited (ZBC) operates legally in Zimbabwe. However, people living in Zimbabwe are currently fed up with the national broadcaster which broadcasts mainly former ruling party Zanu (PF) propaganda material which is in black and white and was shot during the days of the liberation struggle before Independence in 1980. The two other radio stations broadcasting into Zimbabwe are Studio 7 from the Voice of America and UK-based SW Radio Africa. Studio 7 currently led by former senior reporter for The Standard newspaper, Ray Choto, while SW Radio Africa is currently led by Jerry [sic] Jackson, a former journalist with the cash-strapped ZBC. (Source: Radio VOP) Andy Sennitt comments: Radio VOP currently broadcasts into Zimbabwe on shortwave via the RNW relay station in Madagascar. However, this facility will be closed or sold by the end of 2012, following the Dutch government’s slashing of the RNW budget (July 5th, 2011 - 9:38 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 1 Comment on “Radio VOP applies for operating licence in Zimbabwe” #1 Debra Mabunda on Jul 6th, 2011 at 07:20 Good for VOP. Wish you the best. This will be another landmark in the history of broadcasting in Zimabwe. However I would like to set the record straight, there is another fourth independent radio station broadcasting into Zim via shortwave, and that is ZICORA(ZIMBABWE COMMUNITY RADIO). Please let us know the outcome, so that we continue the fight to free the airwaves in Zim (MN blog comment via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. At 1215 A.M. PDT [0715 UT] 07/01/11 Spanish is being heard on 1710 kHz with man and woman talking and playing music. Signal ranges from 20 to 40 dB with deep fading at times. First time here that Spanish has been heard on 1710 kHz. Receiver is a R-390 A connected to the High Performance active whip (Dennis Vroom, Salmon Creek, WA, IRCA mailing list via DXLD) Spanish on 1710 kHz --- I am wondering if this is the SS station I was getting mixing with the Russian. Larry Godwin in MT also reports a piate in SS on 1710 too (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) An American DXer, OM Larry Godwin in Missoula, MT, has written to me to ask if I had any info on this one he heard, "a radio station on 1710 kHz. Broadcasting religious programs in Spanish. It identifies as "WWW-30" I don't now of any station in the X-band from So. America with this name, so I presume it is from NA (Horacio A. Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, ibid.) There are pirates on 1710 in North America, in Russian and Spanish. But we have logged several Argentine X Banders here. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 2465, UNKNOWN "Bonker" station, June 21 1110. 4 dot, single long dash pattern. V strong (Rick Barton, El Mirage, AZ, Hammarlund HQ-200, SP-600, Drake R-8, 75' Inverted L, Slinky, ABDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4750, 30 June, 1100, presumed Chinese with bits of audio, 4+1 pips. Carrier was right on channel and separable from RRI Makassar, which was on approx 4749.94. There also seemed to be a third, weaker carrier on 4749.99 (Bruce Portzer, Seattle, WA, Winradio Excalibur from an unattended recording session, K9AY antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6305, July 2 at 0540, some weak music. This is a well- known Euro-pirate frequency, tho it`s a bit late to propagate now; I doze but at 0617 hear an American-accented ID giving gmail address sounding like Radiosená. No doubt that`s not correct. Did anyone else get a definite? FRW logs on 6305 not since May 9 with R. Merlin International, March 26 with R. Powerline International at other dayparts. Nor is there anything recent on FRN Grapevine logs. I was tuning around here vainly for SASASAM on 6297.1 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7215, July 3 at 1048 sounds like a national anthem to 1049*. Nothing seems to fit in the listings; no doubt Asiatic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hmmm, 7215 used to be Brunei`s only SW frequency; I am sure the Sultan could afford to revive it (gh) UNIDENTIFIED. 9385, July 4 at 0555, soft repetitive music, maybe a loop, transmitter breaks off and on, then stayed off. May have been spur coming from REE Costa Rica 9630, very strong there and then with similar sounds. WYFR used to occupy 9385 at this time before its drastic cutbax (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 13359, July 1 at 1300, something new and very strange! A station with professional production, at least two announcers talking, is being VFO-jammed – het of less than 1 kHz varies back and forth as another transmitter (or two, I think) sweep across 13359. I strain to identify language of the target. The intonation first sounds Burmese, but at one point I think I hear an `imnida` which is nothing but Korean. Unfortunately the poor signal gets weaker and weaker vs the jamming, but at 1319 I can detect some music has started; by 1329 both it and the jamming are gone or faded out. I urge others to check this out. If it keep up, should get it again here on better propagation days. I compute harmonic/fundamental possibilities: 6679.5? 3339.75? Unlikely, but: 4453 x 3 = 13359 and there is a longstanding Korean radio war on nominal 4450! However, that`s not involving VFO jamming, AFAIK. The S Korean 4450v transmitter is apparently putting out this harmonic (maybe deliberately) and is thus being jammed deliberately. At the outset 1300 there seemed to be some SSB on the hi side, i.e. 13362 AFN Guam which sometimes runs late on this frequency, per Ron Howard, instead of switching to 5765. 13359, 24 hours after previous log of Korean(?) clandestine and VFO jamming, nothing July 2 at 1238 or 1303-1330 except very weak stable carriers circa 13359, 13358, which could be from local devices. Occasional SSB on lo side, with selcalls, flight levels, etc. This is, after all, supposed to be an aero band. Need to keep checking following days. VOK was propagating well enough on 13760 at 1312 in English, CCI. 13359, July 3 at 1325, still no recurrence of the Korean(?) with VFO jamming 48 hours earlier. Both today and July 2 rechex I also sought them elsewhere in the entire 13-14 MHz range (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 13590, July 6 at 0532, continuous 1000 Hz tone, as mysteriously heard on many other frequencies past month. Or it could be CVC ZAMBIA prior to their 0600 broadcast; no longer scheduled on another frequency before 0600, but I don`t recall their running long tonetests. Not a het, as the 1 kHz tone produced additional carriers on both 13589, 13591 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 13920, July 1 at 0645 open carrier S8, brief tone, thought it might turn into SOH or Firedrake, but then fax noises, probably the Australian (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 17880, July 5 at 1341, poor signal sure sounds like DRM noise centered here. Nailing the center frequency is tricky for this weak wideband crud, and nothing scheduled; instead 17875 is available from GUIANA FRENCH between 13 and 21, but only activated sporadically for mostly unpublicized tests. 17880, July 6 at 1256 DRM again, and this time on the DX-398 I make sure this is the center frequency, not 17875 where HFCC has N scheduled for Guiana French. 1309 still going. Is there anything anywhere near either frequency now listed at http://www.drm-dx.de/ -- of course not! How about the DRM fora for any logs on 17880? Or course not! How about http://groups.yahoo.com/group/drmna/messages --- the drmna yg? Nothing about that frequency since Nov 24, 2010, when TDF were testing from GUF to Brasília (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not heard July 7 tho propagation was very poor UNIDENTIFIED. 18966.5, 7/5, 1847-2007* Tuned in, looking for Marcel’s 19020 [q.v.] mystery station. It wasn’t on, so I tuned down through the band, looking to see if any SWBC stations were using it and found this. Programming consisted of a variety of mostly adult contemporary- style ballads (and a couple of rock ballads) in non-English languages and no talk at all. Not sure, but I think that some of the ballads sounded Italian. Fair signal here; I checked the Bedford, UK, web receiver and the station was strong there (S7 or S8). Off immediately after a rockabilly song. The music was not unlike the songs that I heard the day before on 19020 kHz. Possibly an Italian pirate or private station testing? (Andrew Yoder, POB 109, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214, Drake R-8, ½-wave inverted V cut for 6300 kHz, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 19000, July 4 at 1343 surprised to hear gospel music at slow ballad pace, I think in Spanish, good signal but the FRG-7 produces its own birdies every exact MHz, i.e. causing het and blockage. It went off around 1348 or 1349 and did not return during the following hour. WYFR is the only US station ever to use this band, so I`ve asked them if they were testing. Bandscanning frequently for Firedrake has a great side-effect of uncovering stuff like this (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Dan, I hope things are going OK for you in this new era. I suppose there must have been lay-offs with the drastic reduction in WYFR operations. I appreciated getting the new schedule promptly, tnx also to Evelyn. Today I was surprised to hear a good signal on 19000 kHz, July 4 at 1343 UT playing slow gospel music in Spanish (I think), but off 5 or 6 minutes later. Was this by any chance WYFR testing? I don`t know of any other US station which ever operated on that band. Thanks, (Glenn to Dan Elyea, WYFR, via DXLD) Well, Glenn, we don't presently operate on any of the 18.9 MHz frequencies. One of the techs, testing, did have a transmitter up briefly on 17725 kHz this morning. Doesn't seem quite the right spacing for an image response, unless it's an oddball IF. Yet, it seems possible that some offbeat combination of circumstances may explain what you observed, since we did do the brief testing this morning. The tech couldn't speak to the exact time of the testing. He's been buried in repairs all morning. Yes, FSI has hit a rough patch. Best regards, (Dan Elyea, ibid.) Somewhat inconclusive; you`d think the tech would know if he put a transmitter on 19000; this was certainly not a receiver IF image. I did not notice anything on 17725 other than extremely weak presumed Libya, but maybe not at that moment (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 19020, 7/4, 1632- Marcel, a DXer from France, has occasionally reported a pirate here over the past year, but no one else has reported it. It has played a lot of American music, so his belief is that it’s an American pirate. He reported it on the FRN Grapevines on 7/4 and I heard it for the first time. I checked the Bedford, UK, web receiver and it was audible, but much stronger on my home receiver, often sitting around S6/S7. I heard three ballads with no announcements. The carrier stayed on for hours afterward but the programming ended at 1641. Other DXers around the US tuned in after 1641 UTC and reported hearing the strong carrier, but no audio (Andrew Yoder, POB 109, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17214, Drake R-8, ½-wave inverted V cut for 6300 kHz, Cumbredx mailing list via DXLD) See also 18966.5 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hello Glenn, I heard WOR on XM Radio and WRN for the first time yesterday. I hope to get you on SW like I used to on WWCR, but in the meantime I'll use XM as long as our subscription lasts. I retired May 31 and so can devote more time to SWL'ing. Best wishes, (Martin Gallas Jacksonville IL, with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com acknowledged amid WORLD OF RADIO 1572) WORLD OF HOROLOGY See JAPAN [and non] +++++++++++++++++ LANGUAGE LESSONS Pidgin English essential in NIGERIA: q.v. ++++++++++++++++ CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ READING INTERNATIONAL RADIO GROUP The next meeting of the Reading International Radio Group will be on Saturday July 9 in Room 3, Reading International Solidarity Centre, 35-39 London Street, Reading at 2.30 p.m. The meeting will include a look at the history of radio psyops broadcasts from WW2and earlier to the current Libyan conflict , newly researched material on some of the earliest and pre-war offshore and pirate broadcasters, audio from stations and sites soon to closed down, as well as other current and historical radio related items and audio extracts. All are welcome. For more information email me or phone 01462 643899 (Mike Barraclough, England, July 3, worlddxclub yg via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ LAZY SUSANS FOR ROTATING FERRITE RADIOS DX Tools: Regarding a quality Lazy Susan, I couldn't find another at one of the two local Target stores this week. Bought the first one ( about 13.5-inches wide) at Target about a year ago. So, discontinued? However, Bed Bath & Beyond has an even larger one (about 16-inches wide) for $19.95, less if you use one of their constantly-mailed 20% off any item postcards. When first seeking one of these a year ago, BB&B didn't carry these. So, I snagged the one they now (had) to be the dedicated Lazy Susan for remote site use. The bamboo ones have a nice, smooth glide spin (Target's is actually smoother) and they are rugged, unlike the cheap plastic ones which I don't recommend unless no others can be found. Four felt or small rubber feet should be affixed to ensure no scratches, if used atop a car trunk or roof remotely. (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ETON E1 TEMPORARILY DISABLED BY HIGH RF FIELD? This story is worth telling --- It's about a holiday I had in North Donegal, in Malin Head, to be precise. I had my trusty ETON El short wave radio by my side when one day while twiddling around the radio screen went completely blank; mind you I could still hear the audio as I DX'ed my way around the bands. The screen gradually came back, but it was still quite unreadable. It did get a little brighter when I returned to my home in Killybegs in south Donegal. I then took it to my local communications shop and after we both wondered if this problem was because I was operating my radio only about a mile away from the Malin Head Coastguard ship to shore radio station which broadcasts on the 2182 emergency frequency and other side band frequencies USB on short wave. My dealer also suggested that it could have been because of the car journey which took almost 3 hours. Anyway the radio eventually came back from Nevada Communications in the south of England after 10 weeks with a note stating that they were unable to repair it. I was then informed that the company who manufactured it in India went out of business. Now, the story gets even more bizarre because when I brought the radio home and switched it on --- surprise, surprise --- the screen was back to its normal brightness. I then rang my dealer and he was as surprised as I was. I understand this radio is not being made any more and even after all this bother I had, I would still feel that it's a very good performing receiver with more facilities on it than any other portable on the market to-day. I now wonder if any other member has had a similar experience. I await next month's magazine with some curiosity. SO (2116) (SEAN O'DONNELL, Republic of Ireland, July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) SLOW PULSES ACROSS SW BANDS CONTINUE TO DISTURB DES WALSH, IRELAND Another noise source that I spotted some years ago but never got a satisfactory explanation as to its source, or its use, are the wideband slow pulses that I continue to hear across wide swathes of HF, mainly grouped in three wide bands (3 to 6 MHz wide around 8, 13 and 22 MHz) with a pulse rate of about 5 per second and a variation in amplitude of about 6 dB every 40 kHz (just under it, about 39.7 kHz). It can chop up weak BC and amateur signals in the 7 and 21 MHz areas badly at times. Its level is low, so usually will not be heard in urban locations. I hear it at a rural location where I can also hear vehicle ignitions, power line noise and electric fences quite well. It comes from a south easterly direction and I would say from East / South-East Asia. It does not seem to be a radar signal, which show the usual bell type frequency distribution even with their relatively narrow transmitted bandwidths, ca 50-100 kHz, (but > 1 MHz in the case of French NOSTRADAMUS back in June 2009). Does anyone hear this cursed wideband chuff-chuff-chuff intruder? Very strangely, it all completely disappeared for a number of days in second half of May. It was there on May 17 but on the next morning it was gone. It came back on May 28 as usual. In the past it had gone off-air for maybe a few hours or half day but not over such a long period. It has been on again every day that I have been able to monitor at the low noise location, about half the days on average, with work and holidays intervening. There is a slight variation over a few days in the signal strength across the MHz of the spectrum it occupies, that I put down to variations in HF propagation (Des Walsh, July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) CARS WITH WARBLING TONES EVERY 20 KHZ Now a query, a shot in the dark. Two years ago I bought a Nissan Micra Diesel, great radio in it, but a year ago suddenly I started hearing low level interfering tones across medium and long waves. The tones are about every 20 kHz, so vary according to the stations they hit, but also warble slightly in frequency and do not vary at all with engine speed, gear selection, electrical loading etc. I would guess that it comes from something in the engine electronics but no on one in the motor trade is able to help me. Amazingly some months ago I had a petrol version on the Micra on hire and the same interfering tome were on the car radio. So it is common to petrol and diesel engines. As an addition, on about 213 kHz there is a sweeper variant like a shortwave jammer swishing across 216 kHz. So my letter this time is all about radio interference!! All coming from modern technology. Enough to drive you to listening on the Internet, but that’s not for me. That’s narrowcasting, under heavy control from outside agencies. Figure it out! (Des Walsh, July World DX Club Contact via DXLD) SONY CAR SW RADIO Someone was asking about these a while back and in an e-mail from Durham, they show this item http://www.durhamradio.com/sony-cdxgt180-car-stereo-shortwave-bands-am-fm-cd.html Tuner Section FM Tuning Range (MHz) : 87.5-107.9 (200 kHz steps) or 87.5-108.0 (50 kHz steps) AM Tuning Range (kHz) : 530-1710 (10 kHz steps) 531-1602 (9 kHz steps) SW Tuning Range (kHz) : 2940 - 7735 and 9500 - 18135 (except 10140 - 11575) ef (Eric Flodén, Vancouver BC, July 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WHY THE BBG OWNS SUVs. Posted: 29 Jun 2011 Government Executive, 23 June 2011, Charles S. Clark: "The sums the government spends buying and leasing 'nonessential' motor vehicles would shrink by 20 percent under a bill introduced on Wednesday by Sens. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., and Jeanne Shaheen, D-N.H. The proposal, originally offered by the fiscal commission appointed by President Obama, could save $500 million if enacted by 2012, the lawmakers said. ... The senators acknowledged the importance of mission-critical and national security-related vehicles, but they asked why SUVs are needed by the National Science Foundation, the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the Federal Housing Finance Agency and the Small Business Administration." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) I don't think I've seen a government-owned SUV parked in front of the VOA/IBB/BBG headquarters in Washington. IBB does have two transmitter sites on US soil, and additional transmitter sites abroad. These are typically the size of a county park. (In fact, the old VOA shortwave transmitting site near Bethany, Ohio, became a county park.) Getting around these sites to tend to antennas requires travel on dirt paths, or driving through the bush. The vehicle also needs room for antenna parts. This is no job for a family sedan, hence, I'm guessing, the BBG's need for SUVs (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See BULGARIA; CANADA; GERMANY non; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ LUXEMBOURG; RUSSIA; SPAIN; SRI LANKA; UK; VATICAN; UNIDENTIFIED 17880 DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See CANADA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See CHINA [non] KXTD +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ PROPAGATION +++++++++++ HAWAII DUCT On now to Long Beach region California 144 MHz (Bob Cooper, NZ, 0537 UT July 5, WTFDA via DXLD) Dang, no open frequencies here as San Diego/Tijuana are up. No locals happen to be off either. I need to get in the habit of checking the KH6HME reports more often (seems like the duct's been around for 10 hours today). Thanks for the heads-up, (Tim Katlic, Los Angeles, CA, ibid.) Reports of 144 and 432 MHz signals from Hawaii into the southern California region (Bob Cooper in NZ, 0357 UT July 6, ibid.) CYCLE 25 MAY NOT HAPPEN AT ALL "As the current sunspot cycle, Cycle 24, begins to ramp up toward maximum, independent studies of the solar interior, visible surface, and the corona indicate that the next 11-year solar sunspot cycle, Cycle 25, will be greatly reduced or may not happen at all." http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=33826 (via Dan Ferguson, ODXA yg via Robert Ross, June 14, WTFDA via DXLD) The referenced article should be read by everyone. Then go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maunder_Minimum and yes, Wikipedia is not the best (or always accurate) "source" but this one leads you to a dozen plus much more detailed analysis pieces. Bottom line? 25% of the time since solar cycles have been visually and more recently scientifically plotted, there have been NO cycles - no 11 year series, no sun spots. We (you and I) have been rather fortunate from cycle 15 onward to have 'lived' in a period when (1) shortwave radio was developed, (2) electronic technology multiplied upon itself as the square and cube of each creation. Ponder for a moment if the Maunder Minimum had been happening between 1920 and 1990 - and therefore virtually NONE of what has transpired in the world above 10 MHz could have possibly occurred! No sunspots, no shortwave radio above 10 Megs (if that high) and who can prophesize where that might have led us as we 'discovered' radio, television and all that follows. Cycle 25? My solar observation professional friends have been telling me this was a 50 - then 60 - now 70 percent likely sequence for several years now. Would hams have 'discovered' the usefulness of shortwave without a cooperative series of solar cycles? Unlikely (Bob Cooper in NZ, WTFDA via DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity was predominantly quiet for 27-30 June. Quiet to active levels were observed on 01 July due to a high speed stream from a coronal hole. Quiet to unsettled levels prevailed for 02-03 July with some isolated active periods at high latitudes as the high speed stream slowly subsided. The high speed stream was weak with peak velocity around 450 km/s; enhanced activity intervals corresponded to somewhat enhanced negative Bz intervals (e.g. around -5 to -7 nT late in the day on 30 June and early in the day on 03 July). FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 06 JULY - 01 AUGUST 2011 Solar activity is expected to be very low to low for most of the outlook interval. There may be an increase in background levels for 10-21 July with the return of old Region 1236 on 10 July which may also increase activity to low levels. There is a chance that new, rapidly emerging flux regions could increase activity to moderate levels at any time during the outlook period. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at background levels initially. An increase to high levels is expected around 20 July and lasting through 26 July in response to a recurrent high speed stream. Background levels are expected to return for 26 July - 01 August. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be quiet to unsettled for 6- 8 July. Quiet levels are expected for 09-19 July. An increase to unsettled with a chance for active periods is expected for 18-21 July in response to a recurrent high speed stream. Quiet levels are expected to prevail for 24 July - 28 July. Another increase to unsettled levels is expected for 29-30 July due to another recurrent high speed stream, with quiet levels returning for 31 July - 01 August. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2011 Jul 05 1804 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 2011-07-05 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2011 Jul 06 82 5 2 2011 Jul 07 80 8 3 2011 Jul 08 80 10 3 2011 Jul 09 82 5 2 2011 Jul 10 84 5 2 2011 Jul 11 86 7 2 2011 Jul 12 88 7 2 2011 Jul 13 90 5 2 2011 Jul 14 90 5 2 2011 Jul 15 90 5 2 2011 Jul 16 90 5 2 2011 Jul 17 90 5 2 2011 Jul 18 88 5 2 2011 Jul 19 88 7 2 2011 Jul 20 88 8 3 2011 Jul 21 88 12 3 2011 Jul 22 86 15 3 2011 Jul 23 86 10 3 2011 Jul 24 86 7 2 2011 Jul 25 86 5 2 2011 Jul 26 86 5 2 2011 Jul 27 86 5 2 2011 Jul 28 86 5 2 2011 Jul 29 86 8 3 2011 Jul 30 85 8 3 2011 Jul 31 85 5 2 2011 Aug 01 85 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1572, DXLD) ###