DX LISTENING DIGEST 12-10, March 7, 2012 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 2012 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html For restrixions and searchable 2011 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid1.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 1607 HEADLINES: *DX and station news about: Alaska, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Burma non, Canada, Central African Republic, Congo DR, Costa Rica, Cuba, Finland, Germany, Greece, Holland, Kazakhstan, Korea North, Libya, Madagascar, Mexico, Micronesia, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Russia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Tuvalu, USA, Virgin Islands British SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1607, March 8-14, 2012 Thu 0430 WRMI 9955 [confirmed on webcast] Thu 2200 WTWW 9479 [confirmed] Fri 0430v WWRB 3195 [confirmed] Sat 0200v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 Sat 0900 WRMI 9955 Sat 1600 WRMI 9955 Sat 1830 WRMI 9955 Sun 0500 WTWW 5755 [DST timeshifts start here:] Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1530 WRMI 9955 Sun 1730 WRMI 9955 Mon 0500 WRMI 9955 Mon 1130 WRMI 9955 Tue 1030 HLR 5980 Hamburger Lokal Radio Thu 0330 WRMI 9955 [or maybe 1608 if ready in time] Latest edition of this schedule version, including AM, FM, satellite and webcasts with hotlinks to station sites and audio, is at: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html or http://schedule.worldofradio.org or http://sked.worldofradio.org For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://193.42.152.193/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN: http://www.wrn.org/wrn-listeners/world-of-radio/ http://www.wrn.org/listeners/world-of-radio/rss/09:00:00UTC/English/541 OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg without delay. When applying, please identify yourself with your real name and location, and say something about why you want to join. Those who do not, unless I recognize them, will be prompted once to do so and no action will be taken otherwise. Here`s where to sign up: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** AFGHANISTAN. [Re 12-09] Glenn, Very gratifying to read Mr. Whaley's comments about 1296 Kabul. A specific design objective when the Russian Pol e Charki antennas were rebuilt was to retune the 1296 one for nighttime skywave to Kandahar! There is a nice paper about the design procedure in the IEEE Antenna & Propagation Society Magazine a few years ago by the late Paul Leonard of our office. We didn't select the frequency, however. The Russian Pol e Charki antennas are skirt fed Franklins, and are (as is the case with many Russian designed MF antennas) a very elegant design, and so the vertical radiation characteristics can be determined by adjustment of the feeds/terminations of the skirts. It is not an easy problem to model, however, and so Paul's analysis was very elegant as well (Ben Dawson, WA, Hatfield-Dawson, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AFGHANISTAN. 7200, R. Afghanistan, Kabul: 1555, 4 Feb, tune-in to Afghan song, announcements at 1601 start of listed Urdu, talk, Afghan music, 1632 off, SIO 232 1615, 10 Feb, Afghan songs, announcements in Urdu, 1629 off; distinct jamming in background, presumably Ethiopian; SIO 222 (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, HF Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** ALASKA. Re: Chicago stations off March 10, 08-11 UT: Well, that would be a nice set of frequencies to try and DX. As there are big Alaska stations on each frequency: 670 KDLG Dillingham; 720 KOTZ Kotzebue - I logged this one way back in the 1990's for my only AK station heard; 780 KNOM Nome. It could be quite a night if we are all VERY lucky. Let us see who logs them first. LOL 73 Best of DX. REMEMBER ON A CLEAR DAY YOU CAN HEAR FOREVER (Shawn Axelrod, VE4DX1SMA, Winnipeg MB, Feb 27, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** ALASKA. KOTZ 720 Alaska test --- Idaho not good enuf for ya easterners? Paul Walker reports on the following DX Test, and it's probably closer to Russia than Sarah Palin's back doorstep. I think even western DXers will find this one a challenge. Given that the Chigago Three were on all night last night, here's hoping the Chicago transmitter work proceeds as planned the morning of Saturday March 10. There's just two matters to resolve - defining the time zone where the station is located, and figuring out how that translates into UT, CST, EST, PST, etc. And determining if e-mail QSL requests (leading to eQSLs of course) are acceptable. Paul and I came up with conflicting times and I'm not convinced either of is right. So from Paul (with thanks): Saturday March 10th 12 to 1230 am local time. More as we know more; please spread the word (Saul Chernos, Ont., IRCA via DXLD) Saturday March 10th 12 to 1230 am local time: KOTZ 720 Kotzebue, Alaska will test for 30 minutes during WGN's off air period. The test will consist of sweep tones, morse code, sound effects and other announcements. If you are listening for this test, please include your location, type of listening device and antenna you used along with what you heard and the quality of what you heard along with other details about the signal. Chief Engineer Pierre Lonewolf is most interested in the results from this skywave skip as they are evaluating their signal right now. The Chief Engineer will respond to QSL requests. A self addressed stamped envelope should be sent along with the report to: Chief Engineer Pierre Lonewolf KOTZ-AM 720 PO Box 78 396 Lagoon St Kotzebue, Alaska 99752 (Paul Walker, via Kevin Redding, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Kotzebue AK is in the Alaska Standard Time zone: UT -9, EST -4, CST - 3, MST -2, PST -1. As has been pointed out before, on March 10 we will still be on Standard time, though it will be the last full day before the shift to DST. http://wwp.greenwichmeantime.com/time-zone/usa/alaska/kotzebue/time-kotzebue/index.htm_ http://www.timetemperature.com/tzak/kotzebue.shtml 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, ibid.) So the test will be at 0900-0930 UT. Why doesn`t everyone just use UT in the first place? No conversions necessary! (gh, DXLD) ** ALASKA. ANCHORAGE DX --- Just came back from five days in Anchorage (three days of meetings and two days of play, including snowmobiling, dog sledding, visiting a musk ox farm and watching the ceremonial start of the Iditarod and the annual reindeer run). Too much! I would like to say DX was phenomenal but that was not the case. I had the Tecsun 300 up against the hotel room window and could hear 550 590 650 700 750 920 1020 1080 1110 1140 - and one other on 1430. This would appear to be KWAP Wasilla which was licensed on 1/24/12. The signal was only audible at night. On 3/3 at 9pm local time, it was noted with GCN Radio Network programming and a mention of Alex Jones but there was no ID. The GCN web site does not provide an affiliate list. Perhaps KWAP is testing. While tracking this through the FCC database, I noted a CP for 50/10kw on 1540 in Anchorage. It is not on. While off topic, I noted a smooth jazz station in Anchorage on 87.7 which ID'ed as KNRK. Anchorage has had 121" of snow this season, 8" short of tying the all- time record. Mt. Denali (McKinley) was visible on several days (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, March 4, IRCA via DXLD) Pete: The 87.7 is the audio form a local LPTV Channel on 6. The 50KW CP for 1540 in Anchorage expired, unbuilt (Paul Walker, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** ALASKA. Planned schedule of KNLS in A-12 summer season: kHz UTC ITU zones kW deg language 7355 1200-1300 33SE,44 100 285 English 7355 1400-1500 33SE,44 100 285 Chinese 9610 1100-1200 33SE,44 100 285 Chinese 9655 0800-0900 33SE,44 100 285 Chinese 9655 0900-1000 33SE,44 100 285 Chinese 9655 1000-1100 33SE,44 100 285 Chinese 9655 1300-1400 24,33,34 100 300 Chinese 9655 1500-1600 24,33,34 100 300 Russian 9655 1600-1700 23,24,25,33 100 315 Russian 9655 1700-1800 23,24,25,33 100 315 Russian 9920 1300-1400 33SE,44 100 285 Chinese 9920 1500-1600 33SE,44 100 285 Chinese 9920 1600-1700 33SE,44 100 285 Chinese 9920 1700-1800 33SE,44 100 285 Chinese 11765 1400-1500 45,50N 100 270 English 11870 0800-0900 45,50N 100 270 English 11870 0900-1000 24,33,34 100 300 Russian 11870 1000-1100 45,50N 100 270 English 11870 1100-1200 24,33,34 100 300 Russian 11870 1200-1300 45,50N 100 270 English (via Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, "deneb-radio-dx" RUSdx Febr 26 via BC-DX March 1 via DXLD) ** ALGERIA. Jil FM, the new service from Radio Algérienne aimed at the 14-25 age group that started on 15 January 2012, offers good reception here in the UK on 531 and 549 kHz. The web page for Jil FM has a programme schedule dated 15/01/2012 (times converted to UT): Sunday-Thursday 23-01, Allo Imad (Sun-Wed); Music Non-stop (Thu) 01-06, Music Non-stop 06-09, Jil Morning 09-11, Programmation musicale Sahara 11-15, Music Non-stop (except Visa Lil Moustakbal, Tue 1200-1323) 15-17, H`ta I Tam (Sun-Wed); Decrochage (Thu) 17-19, Music Non-stop 19-21, Afro-Sound (Sun); Music Non-stop (Mon/Wed/Thu); Tagnawit (Tue) 21-23, Jil Live Friday-Saturday (Weekend) 23-07, Music Non-stop 07-11, Jil Weekend 11-17, Music Non-stop (except Prière du Vendredi, Fri 1330-1400) 17-19, Between Worlds (Fri) [in English?? gh]; Cinémusic (Sat) 19-21, La Mission Dialkoum 21-23, Playlist de l`internaut (Fri); Electro Jil (Sat) News: 06, 07, 08, 09, 11, 12, 15, 16 UT (from http://www.radioalgerie.dz Jil FM via Tony Rogers, Medium Wave Report, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** ANGOLA. 4950, R. Nacional, Mulenvos, 0410-0415 Feb 8, Portuguese, M&W announcers, excellent 60 dB signal but audio almost non-existent (Richard Parker, Geryville PA, Tropical Band Loggings, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) 60 dB compared to what? (gh) ** ARGENTINA. 6060, RAE Buenos Aires strong but badly distorted audio 27 Feb with tuning signal and Japanese ident 0955, over co-channel Brazilian. Lengthy national anthem on the hour then multi-language idents resume. Hope this doesn`t mean more transmitter difficulties coming up for RAE (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11710.83, 3/3 0321, RAE, songs & news in French, good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, RX: Winradio Excalibur Pro - ANT: T2FD - Some images on my blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. [Re 12-09] Hola Rafael. La estación costera "Argentina Radio" (LSD836) es operada por la firma "SES Sistemas Electrónicos S.A.) http://www.ses.com.ar/home.html y tiene muchas frecuencias, tanto en fonía como en modos digitales. Opera en canales marítimos internacionales aunque se la escuchó varias veces en frecuencias extrañas con las bases antárticas con phonepatch familiar, por lo que es de suponer tenga algún convenio con las FF.AA. La estación en 13363.5 es, como bien dijo Arnaldo, LTA estación cabecera del Ejercito Argentino. En esta frecuencia se ha escuchado muchas veces retransmisión de varias broadcasting de Buenos Aires y también phonepatch familiar con bases antárticas. Espero sea de tu ayuda. Cualquier consulta a tu disposición (Tony, LU2DKN, March 1, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. [Re 12-09] You are right about Armenia 4810, they have now Assyrian 1530-1545 and Kurdish 1545-1615 (Mauno Ritola, Finland, March 1, dxldyg via DX WORLD OF RADIO 1607, LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA [and non]. /RUSSIA, A new radio was noted on MW 1350 kHz from a very strong signal from transmitter located in the Caucasus on 21, 22, 23, and 24 February: 1500-1700 UT on 21 & 24 Febr; 1500-1600 UT on 22 and 0400-0430 UT on 23 Feb. The program is in Russian and is consisting of disco songs in Russian and in Abkhazian. At 1600 UT is sounding gong and "In Sukhumi is 20 hours. On Febr 24 from 1601 UT began a music-info program called "Antiglamour", and at 1500 UT usually is weather report for Sukhumi. Often they said "The Frequency is 101.9 MHz". The transmitter used maybe is between a combination of Gavar transmitters of VOR and PRA (1350, 1395 and 1314, 1377 kHz) and TWR and BBG (864, 1350, 1377 kHz) or there is a new transmitter in Abkhazia. The name of the station is some like Radio Renovira (for first I heard it as Radio Reunion). The broadcasts are in times which earlier were of Abkhaz Radio. No traces on SW on 9535 kHz in period 20-26 Febr. V of Russia in Turkish was observed with s/on at 0430 UT and with close down at 1500 UT ( \\ 6005, MW 1170 kHz). V of Russia in Russian was noted at 1830 UT on LW / MWs 171, 657, 999, 1089, 1143, 1170, 1395, 1413 kHz; \\ SW 5940, 5945, 7230 kHz on 25 Febr (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Feb 26, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 1 via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Caucasus mystery on 1350 --- I was going to mention Rumen Pankov's interesting post to BC-DX TopNews about a (?new?) Abkhaz station, called something like Radio Renovira, on 1350, which Glenn has posted. This is the existing frequency for Sukhumi, but Rumen says the latest signal on 1350 is "new" and "very strong". He reports hearing this new station around 0400-0430 and at 1500-1600 or 1500-1700 in late February, including at 1600 the announcement in Russian: "It's 2000 in Sukhumi". Over the past week in both Baku and Tbilisi, I have heard 1350 (presumably from Armenia) with Voice of Russia in Turkish at 1400-1500 (//1170, 1314, 6005, 7270) and then with continuous music at times (but not every day). The signal seems very much stronger than one would expect from the listed 30 kW in Sukhumi. In the mornings, I have heard continuous music on 1350 (strong signal) after 0300. I thought it might be TWR from Armenia, but WRTH says TWR only uses use of 1350 is in the evenings. Unfortunately I haven't had time to make enough observations, but it does seem that something is going on that needs further investigation and confirmation! (Chris Greenway, March 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Chris, WRTH update http://wrth.com/files/WRTH2012IntRadioSuppl1_B11SchedulesUpdate.pdf has Turkish on page 5: > 0300-0500 daily ME 1350erv (add) > 1400-1600 daily ME 1350erv (add) I checked the frequency yesterday and also today. It seems that the evening transmission is only 1400-1500 (or maybe 1300-, that is too much in daylight here). But these transmissions, along with TWR starting in Kurdish at 1800 are on 1350 kHz sharp, while the local FM station relay and Apsua R. transmissions (starting with IS at 1659) are on 1350.043 kHz. And here that transmission did not sound as strong as VOR/TWR; stronger than usual though, but maybe just favourable conditions (Mauno Ritola, Finland, March 6, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, ibid.) ** ARMENIA. 7590, The Overcomer with Brother Stair poor-fair in English, 23 Feb at 2006 UT. Per DX Mix News No. 719 this is a test broadcast from Yerevan (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASCENSION. Re: U S A. 5446.5-USB, Feb 29 at 0644, AFN Saddlebunch Keys FL --- However, 5446.5-USB had uncomfortably close ACI SSB QRM on the hi side, YL in English with numbers, maybe aeronautical (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Glenn, It's probably RAF Volmet on 5450 which is apparently now broadcast from Ascension Island. See here http://dxinfocentre.com/volmet.htm Regards (Harry Brooks, North East England, UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. Hi All, In this morning`s Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper it reported that 3MP - also known as 1377MTR - went silent at 020600 UT (5 pm yesterday - Australian Eastern Summertime) and it has been placed in administration. I will check tonight to confirm this. Regards (Tony Magon VK2IC, Sydney NSW, March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) MELBOURNE RADIO STATION CLOSES DOWN SUDDENLY The right-wing radio station that promised to shake up Melbourne’s staid media market went out yesterday with a chaotic final broadcast in which a newsreader broke off part-way through her bulletin. ”I’m told that’s it for MTR,” drive host Luke Grant told MTR’s handful of listeners shortly before the 5 pm news. Grant then threw to newsreader Amie Meehan in Sydney - who got part-way through the bulletin before being told by producers the station was no more. ”I’m really sorry, I thought that I was doing one last bulletin,” she said after being interrupted. Read more/listen to the final moments from the Sydney Morning Herald http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/tv-and-radio/mtr-voices-go-quiet-as-cricket-turns-up-at-5pm-20120302-1u8gb.html (March 2nd, 2012 - 17:29 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 1 Comment on “Melbourne radio station closes down suddenly” #1 Fay Chamoun on Mar 3rd, 2012 at 06:27 I am so sorry to hear the closure of MTR. The presenters were excellent, Steve Vizard was always well informed and has a great personality. The station will be sadly missed by many (MN blog comment via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2310, VL8A with "Tape on too slow" error -- no other 120 m Aussie heard at this time 1121-1125 and they never fixed the error! Weak but OK other than the audio error! 26/Feb (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. Floods near RA Shepparton site --- In Victoria, more than 60 millimetres have fallen in Shepparton and surrounding areas causing flooding in some parts. Residents at Tallygaroopna and Congupna are being told to check their properties and prepare to evacuate to a relief centre in Shepparton, while there are also reports of flooding in Yarrawonga and Bundalong. (source? via Ian Baxter, 1323 UT March 1, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) I wonder how the RA site at Shepparton is faring? The northern antennas at the Shepparton site are located on the edge of Congupna (Ian Baxter, ibid.) again?! (gh) There has been no further news at all of any effect on the RA transmitter site (gh, March 7, DXLD) 9580, March 6 at 1358* this RA frequency cuts off air abruptly (for change to 5995 or 7240 on different beams) as YL DJ is saying goodbye. I never can catch her name, but per http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international/radio/programschedule?tz=0&stream=pacific at 1230-1400 it`s ``Live talk and music with Al Crombie and Namila Benson`` (BTW, she looks Aboriginal). I usually only hear the YL; maybe they take turns rather than both at once. They are also on at 1130-1200. Other `Live talk` segments have different DJs: 2135-2400 Live talk with Phil Kafcaloudes 0000-0200 Live talk with Heather Jarvis and Clement Paligaru 0600-0700 Live talk and music with Isabelle Genoux 0800-1100 Live talk with Tracee Hutchison 1800-1900 Talk and music with Al Crombie and Namila Benson [not live?] Those are from the Tuesday schedule to the Pacific; may vary on other days, especially weekends, and to Asia. RA`s new website http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/international automatically detects your timezone for schedule display. Fortunately, my computer is on UT already (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: I see from your recent e-mail that you are monitoring RA where I've decided that it's the best bet for me. I appreciate the romance of shortwave from bygone days. But at that website, the sound is pure as a bell. Why fight the idea, eh? (Wendell Lloyd, Rockport, Texas, ptswyg via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 15340, March 2 at 1354, good S9+15 signal from HCJB with S Asian song, announcement. Sounds more like Hindi than Rawang to me, as both are shown in Aoki during this semihour; WRTH shows Rawang at 1230-1300 instead, except Saturdays. Not often audible, maybe long path; signal really dropped off after 1400 tho no change in parameters, 100 kW, 300 degrees in Urdu from Kununurra. Other frequency 15400 is already off after 1230-1300 English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN. Re 12-09: Radio Dada Gorgud still on the air --- I spoke too soon! Radio Dada Gorgud is still on the air. I must have thought it had gone because the SW frequency (6111) closed some years ago. But it is still going on 1296, heard during the day today (1 March). Not very strong, even in Baku. Radio Dada Gorgud was last mentioned in the DXLD archive in 2006, when it had English at 1700- 1730, so I will try to check that. Also on MW, I have heard Azerbaijan Radio on the listed 801 as well as 891. Sergei, you are right about AzTV. I'm told that it has English news on Sundays at 0600 GMT and also very late at night (possibly around 2200 GMT as you mentioned). The English news bulletins are said to annoy local viewers as they can interrupt the late-night movie! I assume the very late timing of the English bulletin (2 a.m. local time) means it is aimed at satellite viewers in Europe (Chris Greenway, Azerbaijan, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Aleksandr, I regret to say that Radio Dada Gorgud now only appears to be on the air during the daytime, which is another reason (along with the ending of its SW service) why it is not heard outside the region and we all thought it had gone completely. Last night (2 March), I listened to 1296 at 1700, when Dada Gorgud used to have English. There was no sign of it, and the strongest signal on 1296 was --- Radio Netherlands in Dutch from Orfordness! This surprised me for a moment, as one can forget that ORF is still (just) operational. After the 1700-1800 transmission from RN, Sudan was the strongest signal on 1296, as it also was at 0200-0300 this morning. After listening to that in Baku, I left for the airport, and I am now in Tbilisi for a few days (Chris Greenway, Georgia, March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AZERBAIJAN [and non]. Re 12-09: Iran being jammed on 702 --- Chris, can you confirm, which AM stations are currently on air in Azerbaijan? You already mentioned 891 kHz. 1296 kHz is presumably closed, 1476 kHz is listed. Perhaps you did a bandscan or there are a few more logs from this interesting area, I'm really interested to see them. Expanding the topic, if you check the reception predictions on http://www.fmscan.org for Baku, are they reliable for FM or AM? (Björn Tryba (editor, http://www.fmlist.org - www.mwlist.org), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear Björn, The 14 FM stations listed for Baku at fmscan.org are all heard, with the exception of 102.7 and 107.7. And I don't hear any extra transmitters that aren't on that list. On AM, I have just reported separately to DXLD that I have heard 801 and 1296, as well as 891. I haven't heard 549 or 1476, which are listed in the WRTH. Best regards (Chris Greenway, ibid.) Please check whether their Russian service is still on the air. It was on 1296 kHz at 1730-1800 UT, right after their English broadcast. Thank you (Aleksandr Diadischev, Ukraine, ibid.) I think I found the correct carrier: yesterday it appeared on 702.42 kHz and drifted slowly upwards reaching 702.75 kHz at 1910 s/off. But unfortunately no chance for audio here. Jaroslav Derevyagin in Odessa and Vlad Titarev in Kremenchug also observed, but no strength for audio there, either. Today they started on 702.4 kHz at tune-in 1430 and signed off at 1848 on 702.66 kHz (Mauno Ritola, Finland, March 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Mauno. Yes, that's the one! Close-down time seems to vary from day to day (Chris Greenway, March 2, ibid.) Thanks Chris, for your observations, logs, and updates! The mediumwave signals from Azerbaijan never seem to come out that well towards the west or into Europe, even on Mauno Ritola's SDR remote receiver in Finland it's hard to detect any signals coming from Azerbaijan (in contrast to the signals from neighboring Armenia and Iran, which are often easily received on mediumwave in parts of Europe). A co-editor on MWLIST living in Istanbul, Turkey tried to receive Azerbaijan on mediumwave as well, he was unable to receive Azerbaijan recently. It's very helpful to read your reports about the current situation of Azerbaijan mediumwave stations, probably the transmitters are running on reduced power (Björn Tryba (editor, www.fmlist.org - www.mwlist.org), ibid.) Re: Iran being jammed on 702 > I think I can confirm that the jammer on 702 is coming from > the same site as the local 891 transmitter. Which as of 1993 was also listed on 621 with 20 kW (Mayak), 801 with 7 kW (Baku 1st program, back then primarily still on 216 while 891 carried Radio-1 from Moscow) and 1476 with 20 kW (Baku 2nd program, which appears to have been terminated altogether at some point, leaving only the former 1st program). I think one should not be too wrong when imagine a room with a collection of Tesla transmitters... > So, it is possible that they are using the old external service > transmitter for the jamming! This one is listed for a location called Pirsaat/Pirsagat, about 100 km south of Baku at the shore of the Caspian Sea. It was once listed also for 1476 (synch. network with Baku), like 1296 with 150 kW, indicating equipment like DSV-150 or Shtorm-S transmitters. I could imagine that they prefer to confine the jamming to modest power at Baku, in order to avoid going a bit too far. > Finally, I will ask about AzTV's English news (though I don't > think I will stay up until 2 a.m. to watch it!). Can be checked also via 13 deg. East where it is carried together with the radio program from 891 kHz etc. Of course no external service there, and I see not a single mention of it on the AzTV website either, making me suspect that the continuing transmissions on 1296 are a mere token, not meant for real listeners anymore. http://de.kingofsat.net/tp.php?tp=948 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WB: URS/AZE Baku 612 891 1089 1530 kHz 7 kW probably at http://g.co/maps/h6jtn 40 24'51.97"N 49 44'13.29"E WB: URS/AZE Pirsaat Pirsagat 801 kHz 150 kW, 1296 1507125 kW, SV2+2 sidefire directional antenna, 1476 20 kW only dimmly visible at http://g.co/maps/hnpkz 40 03'41.96"N 49 03'16.31"E location 28 kilometers away from shore of the Caspian Sea. 73 kilometers southwesterly of Baku (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** BAHAMAS. 1540, Radio Bahamas ZNS1, Nassau, New Providence. 0007 March 2, 2012. Tune-in to "Death Notices" which is a quaint thing local US stations mostly no longer provide. Specific time-of-death mentions where apparently available were mentioned, including one recent death with a living in "Kiss-im-IN-ee, Florida" (it's Kissimmee, but we won't fault her: most non-native Floridians do far worse when coming to Florida and then think they can try to pronounce it on their little vacations). Then at 0013, male live, "This is Radio Bahamas, 15-40 AM and 104 point 5 FM." Then a promo for live coverage of "Prince Harry of Wales" at 10:30 a.m. Monday (March 5). I wonder what little hottie he'll have with him, or how many he'll pick up in nightclubs. His schedule: http://www.bahamashclondon.net/news-detail.php?news=106 Other promos for tuning in to 1540/104.5 FM to specifically listening to a program, so I guess they are really in parallel, despite the WRTVH 2012 listing. Lots of nice local soca/Junkanoo vocals after. Including a cool "Good Night, Irene" cover (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHRAIN. 9745, Radio Bahrain, 2325-0040, carrier + USB. Local Middle-Eastern style music. Arabic talk. Indigenous vocals. Weak. Poor with adjacent channel splatter. March 2-3 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BELARUS. R. Belarus Needs Your Questions - Quick! R. Belarus's Program Director Naum Galperovich will be answering questions about the External Service in about 40 minutes from now (or starting at 0800 UT, to be precise). This online conference is related to R. Belarus's 50th anniversary. You can submit your questions by email at internet @ tvr.by There's also an online form but it's in Russian only http://www.tvr.by/rus/online.asp First line - your name, second - location, third field - question. Note that "Submit" button is on the right! The left button is "Clear the form." It seems like the final text of the conference will be available only in Russian. It will also be covered by the Belarusian TV. I hope R. Belarus will translate the text into its languages, though. At any rate, it's a good chance to voice your questions and concerns to the man on top. 73, (Sergei S. 0719 UT March 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Sergei, Pity I didn't see this post earlier. The answers to the tendered questions now appear on the link below http://www.tvr.by/rus/online.asp Several members of the Shortwavesites YG and perhaps others might have been interested to know the commencement date (DD/MM/YYYY)of SW broadcasts from the: Minsk - Kolodziscy SW site (maybe 50 years ago - I don't know) AND former low power (ex jamming SW sites) of: Hrodna (Grodno) Mahilioú (Mogilev) Brest - Rakitnica. I think it was mentioned here that Grodno commenced on SW somewhere around 1991?? Not sure about the other SW sites in Belarus. Regards (Ian Baxter, NSW, ibid.) ** BELGIUM [non]. Frequency change of Suab Xaa Moo Zoo in Hmong- Blue/Njua: 2230-2300 NF 5910 TAI 100 kW / 250 deg to SEAs, ex 5930, re-ex 7530 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 07 March via DXLD) I.e. a TDP client (gh) ** BOLIVIA. 4865, R. Logos, Santa Cruz, 0420-0430* Feb 8 in Spanish, slow, tribal-like music with M vocal, occasional W announcer; decent signal with good audio but thrashed by ute via 4863.9; off or fade-out at 0430; best using synchro USB and 2 kc mechanical filter (Richard Parker, Geryville PA, Tropical Band Loggings, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 3310, Radio Mosoj Chaski, Cochabamba, 0930 strong signal, ments of Roman Catholic Saints. 6 March. 4716.67, Radio Yura, Yura, 1030 to 1050 very strong signal with percussion. Gray line favoring Bolivia 6 March. 6134.777, Radio Santa Cruz, 1006 noted with very strong signal 6 March (Bob Wilkner, S Florida, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Brasileña reactivada --- Esta mañana sobre las 1000 UT entraba una emisora brasileña en 4785; aparentemente se trataría de R. Caiari, Porto Velho dado que al dar las frecuencias, anunciaba 1430 kHz que coincide con la frecuencia de Caiari en AM. También anunciaba una frecuencia en "bandas tropicales". La recepción era regular con mucho desvanecimiento, 34222, lo que impidió una identificación más completa. Hace tiempo que estaba inactiva. Un abrazo (Miguel Castellino, Spain [non], March 2, condiglist yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Rádio Caiari, 4785 captada em receptor DRM dia 09/02/2012 às 07.24 horário local, 1124 UT. "DXismo" has posted a videoclip with good audio of Rádio Caiari as heard by him - apparently in Brazil - on February 9, this year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQwLmZyAP-c (Henrik Klemetz, SW Bulletin March 4 via DXLD) DRM receiver? But no way it`s a DRM transmission (gh, DXLD) Re: ``4785 UNIDENTIFIED 1019-1035 Feb 27; LA mx w/ M announcer between selections; presumed Spanish though not 100% sure; presumed ad/promo at 1029; (T) ID & sounded like "..onda corta.." made it through; back to mx at 1031; fair at t/in & rapidly deteriorating under band noise; unusable by 1035; I see that D. Sharp-Australia, recently logged Campinas, Brazil here but I suspect either a Bolivian or Peruvain. GeoClock 9.0 grey line favored both, while Campinas, in eastern Brazil, was well into local daytime; monitored frequency on the 28th from 0930-1030+ & heard nothing; not even a carrier. (Barbour-NH)`` 4785, unidentified heard this a.m., 1005-fading badly by 1030, gone by 1040. Only signal on the frequency at that time and no het, so almost certainly the same as the unidentified noted by Scott. Language is, without question, Brazilian Portuguese, not Spanish. A typical morning DJ type program, with man chatting and laughing between music selections. One canned echo ad noted. Very nice sertaneja music with vocals and heavy bass (guitar) beat. DJ wishing listeners ``bom dia`` and giving time check (mention of horas though I couldn`t make out the numbers to get the Brazilian time zone). Several references to ``Brasil`` and perhaps, though I am not 100% certain, one reference to Caiari. Glenn Hauser previously noted two Brazilians on or about this frequency in the past --- Rádio Brasil in Campinas and Rádio Caiari in Porto Velho. Both have websites. Both refer to their respective MW frequencies, but no mention of SW. Their on-line program schedules for a Friday were noted. Rádio Brasil, Campinas, is scheduled at the hour noted with a program called Jornal da Manhã --- Rede Jovem Pan. I would translate that as Morning Journal --- Peter Pan Network. That might be a news magazine type show from 5 to 7:30 a.m. local time (UT -3 in Campinas). Or, perhaps it is a children`s program from the name. In either case, that does not match with what I heard. Radio Caiari in the Amazon time zone, UT -4. 1005 UT would be 6:05 a.m. locally in Porto Velho. Its program schedule from 5 to 6:30 a.m. is listed for Manhã Sertaneja, which would match exactly what I heard. As to grayline or path of darkness, I would concur with Scott that Campinas would be fairly well into daylight at 1000-1030 UT. To look at that specifically, web sources show that dawn at Campinas in southeastern Brazil this morning was 5:42 a.m., local time (or 0842 UT) However, Porto Velho (on UT -4 Amazon time) had dawn, per web sources, at 5:59 a.m. local time (or 0959 UT, entirely consistent with 1000-1030 reception. Further, at the same time this morning, Radio San Miguel, 4699+ in Riberalta, northern Bolivia, was doing very nicely this morning at 1000. Riberalta`s dawn this morning was 6:09 local time, or 1009 UT, also consistent with reception of San Miguel. In fact, Riberalta, Bolivia and Porto Velho, Brazil are only separated by 214 miles. Conditions that bring in San Miguel would be VERY similar to those for a Brazilian station at Porto Velho. Based on this analysis, I think it likely the unidentified station on 4785 is Rádio Caiari in Porto Velho, and not Rádio Brasil in Campinas or any Bolivian or Peruvian. Obviously, there also could be a third and unknown Brazilian station, located at Porto Velho or elsewhere in western Brazil, that has chosen this frequency recently. But my educated guess is that it is Rádio Caiari that has returned to this former frequency. Despite this analysis, I still think it would be premature to jump from calling an educated guess a ``presumed`` identity. The time-worn advice, ``needs more work`` applies here (Don Jensen, Kenosha WI, March 2, NASWA yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Identificación de emisora brasileña en 4785 --- Esta mañana, sobre las 10:00 UTC, entraba muy fuerte la emisora brasileña en 4785 así que la pude identificar completamente y confirmar que se trata de R.Caiarí. Espero que continúe en el aire y no sea una reactivación fugaz. Un abrazo (Miguel Castellino, Argentina? March 6, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4824.95, Rádio Canção Nova, fair in Portuguese, 0655 27 Feb with idents and references to ‘católica’ (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4824.954, 2.3 0259, R Canção Nova heard quite often. TN 4878.817, 4.3 0300, R Roraima now moving upwards. Several nights noted with heavy distortion. The transmitter is not stable – small 10+20 Hz repeating frequency jumps (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 4 via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) 4878.8v Brasil, Rdif Roraima, Boa Vista RR 0950 to 1000 wildly distorted signal 6 March, Generally noting frequency drift (Bob Wilkner, S Florida, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) 4880.13v, Rdif Roraima, 0330-0401*, Brazilian pop music. Portuguese announcements. Closing announcements at 0400. Fair level, but still a wobbly, unstable, quite distorted audio. And now off nominal 4875 by a wide margin. Feb 29 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest 12-09 via WORLD OF RADIO 1607) ** BRAZIL. Confirmação recebida - Rádio Difusora Acreana 4885 kHz, Rádio Difusora Acreana, Rio Branco - AC: Recebido e-mail confirmatório, 1 dia (após 1 ano e meio tentando via carta ....) V/S: Francineide Dias. Relatório enviado por e-mail: comercial.difusora @ ac.gov.br Visualização (print screen) em breve no http://pqslfabricio.blogspot.com/ 73 (Fabricio Andrade Silva, PP5002SWL, Tubarão, SC, 1 March, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 5940.05, Voz Missionária, 0100-0115, Portuguese talk. Inspirational music. // 9665.03 - both frequencies poor, weak. March 3 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** BRAZIL. 6059.936, Super Rádio Deus é Amor, Curitiba PR, religious program, sermon by men. 0734 UT March 2 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. A Bandeirantes SP é (mal)ouvida também em 6185 e 6190 kHz Há muito tempo a Bandeirantes de São Paulo, que transmite em 6090 kHz em 49m, vem causando QRM's na faixa. Para testar, peço aos colegas que sintonizem 5990, ou 6185 e 6190 kHz. Lá ouve-se a Band. Os e-mails que enviei pra lá avisando parece não chegarem, pois não há retorno e muito menos solução do problema. Esses harmônicos se misturam com outros emitidos por algumas emissoras evangélicas. É um pandemônio na faixa. Salve-se quem puder. Já não bastam os QRN's ??? Principalmente de alta-tensão? 73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira sp, 6-3-2012, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Isso é fato realmente, aqui no Rio o davi miranda suja a faixa de 31 metros. o Brasil está anárquico, manda quem tem dinheiro e é mais esperto do que os outros. Infelizmente (Sarmento Campos, ibid.) Já experimentou comunicar a ANATEL? Fundamente uma queixa e leve até a ANATEL. Não tem outro jeito, ao menos não vejo (Antonio Garcia, João Pessoa-PB, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL, 6180, RNA 28/29 Feb. 2353-0005+ nice to have them back // 11780 with "Nacional Informa" & RNA AM/FM/SW IDs (Dan Sheedy, G5/X-wire in the gym parking lot, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 6180, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia 0001 Portuguese. Two men with what sounded like sports coverage, but with no crowd noise; frequent mentions of “Americano”. Very good, // 11780 good. Mar 2 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car by Kalamalka Lake with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna on the roof, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6180.006, Rádio Nacional Amazonia started already at exact 0740:45 UT March 2, and supposed to be continously til 03.33 UT, acc report of Glenn Hauser yesterday. \\ Rádio Nacional Amazônia today at same time on 11780.007 kHz. This is the former - power of 250 kW registered transmitter - 12 years used for Rádio Senado 5990 kHz 345degrees from 0750-2200 UT on the same - government transmitting site at Brasília (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2, dxldyg via DXLD) [and non]. 6180, March 1 at 0246, checking the sign-off time of reactivated R. Nacional Amazônia (or is it Amazônica? I see both from Brazilians). Some hyper enthusiastic coverage is ongoing; seems unlikely it would be futebol (foo-chee-BOLL) so late close to local midnite, and continues past 0301. Initially VG signals both on 6180 and // 11780, but then weakening somewhat. Altho 6180 is VG, it`s still not as strong as Vietnam/Sackville 6175, but enough to require sidetuning 6185 XEPPM to 6186 or 6187 to avoid most of it. Still, it`s a lot better than a co-channel collision on 6185 (of course, after 0300, CRI/Sackville is on the other side, 6190, so forget about any Radio Education until 0600, or rather 0620 when Vatican gets off 6185). Finally at 0317 the live event is over, a new day has begun and usual glib overnite DJ starts `Madrugada Nacional`; it`s still going on both frequencies at 0330, but both cut off circa 0332 or 0333, presumably to return by 0800 latest, while continuing on MW 980 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, O nome é Rádio Nacional da Amazônia. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Brasil, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Per http://ebc.com.br site, it's 'Rádio Nacional da Amazônia' (Huelbe Garcia, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Also heard running late (?) 0417, 0539 on 4 March, tnx to DXLD info, the transmitter is from Senado-5990 who are no longer on SW (Dan Sheedy, G5/X-wire in the gym parking lot, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 6180, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, Brasília, 0543-0740, 04-03, Brazilian songs, male, comments, Portuguese, identification: "Nacional", "Estamos apresentando... agora na Radio Nacional", female. Parallel with 11780. 33433 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) As expected, RNA is on late/early for UT Sunday, both on 11780 and newly reactivated VG // 6180, at 0631 check March 4. Likely they have also been on the past two sesquihours unlike weekdays (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Aqui em Novo Hamburgo na grande Porto Alegre, nenhum sinal dela durante o dia como há quase 10 anos vem ocorrendo. à noite é regular, entretanto com forte QRM de uma emissora chinesa no início da noite. Agora, poderiam voltar para o QRG 6185 Khz para fugir desta interferência indesejáda. Creio que para o sul, não irradiam 50 kW (Edison Bocorny Jr., March 2, radioescutas yg via DXLD) TRANSMISSÕES EM 49 METROS DA RÁDIO NACIONAL DA AMAZÔNIA Prezados, Posso informar que as transmissões da Rádio Nacional da Amazônia em 6180 kHz estão partindo do transmissor que era utilizado pela Rádio Senado Ondas Curtas em 5990. No ano 2000, quando a Secretaria de Comunicação do Senado Federal decidiu implantar transmissões em ondas curtas, negociou com a Radiobrás um contrato de utilização de equipamentos e da própria frequência de transmisão pertencentes à estatal. O valor do primeiro contrato anual foi destinado à reforma de um transmissor que estava inoperante por falta de manutenção por parte da Radiobrás. Hoje esse é o transmissor em OC da EBC em melhores condições técnicas de operação, justamente, por conta dessa reforma sofrida há mais de 10 anos. UM POUCO DE HISTÓRIA Na década de 70, durante a Ditadura Militar, a Radiobrás comprou 5 transmissores em OC/AM para transmitir, em diversas faixas de frequencia, para a Amazônia e para o exterior, e divulgar a versão controlada e censurada da vida nacional e com isso captar a audiência dos amazônidas que naquele momento tinham como principal fonte de informação as emissões em português de diversas emissoras internacionais. Como é do conhecimento de todos, naquela época, emissoras de rádio como: BBC de Londres, Voz da América, Rádio França, Rádio Moscou, Havana etc mantinham programas em português direcionados para o Brasil e que obviamente não estavam submetidos a censura à imprensa imposta pela Ditadura Militar e com isso os amazônidas recebiam notícias sobre torturas, prisões ilegais e desaparecimentos de presos políticos. Para interferir nessa guerra de informações e tentar anular ou se contrapor às emissoras internacionais é que foi construído o Parque do Rodeador, em Brazlândia DF, a 1360 metros de altitude, de onde partiam as transmissões da Rádio Nacional da Amazônia e da programação internacional da Rádio Nacional. SITUAÇÃO ATUAL Com a redemocratizaçã o do país, a consequente perda do interesse estratégico do Governo Federal pela Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, a proliferação de FMs, além da diminuição da audiência das emissoras OC/AM, o Parque de Transmissões do Rodeador no DF deixou de receber os recursos necessários à sua manutenção e os seus equipamentos tornaram- se obsoletos e sucateados. Por esse motivo, a Rádio Nacional da Amazônia que transmitia em 11780 kHz (faixa de 25m) e 6180 (fx 49 m) deixou de transmitir em 49 metros por ter apenas um transmissor em condições de funcionamento. Agora, com a não renovação com o Senado (até o momento) do contrato de transmissão em OC, a Rádio Nacional da Amazônia passou a utilizar o transmissor que era usado pela Senado OC e voltou a transmitir em 49m. Não consegui achar no site da EBC a informação de que está sendo providenciada a aquisição de peças para os transmissores. Não sou técnico, mas como repórter e apresentador da Rádio Senado OC presenciei e me angustiei inúmeras vezes com as falhas frequentes que resultavam em suspensão repentina das nossas transmissões por problemas no "DOJÃO" (nome pelo qual apelidei o transmissor da Senado OC). Mesmo com a reforma que sofreu, o "Dojão" vivia saindo do ar. Além disso, para não queimar a válvula principal, o transmissor que tem uma potência nominal de 250 kwatts está transmitindo com apenas 145 kwatts. Acho que os "DOJÕES" do Rodeador deveriam ser aposentados e no lugar deles serem comprados transmissores mais modernos (transistorizados ou em estado sólido como dizem os técnicos). Torço para que a nova direção da EBC volte a dar importância às transmissões em OC que continuam sendo a única fonte de informação para agricultores familiares, ribeirinhos, extrativistas e outros moradores de baixa renda, dessa imensa Amazônia Legal. Só através das transmissões em ondas curtas que atingem longas distâncias é que parcela significativa dos moradores das zonas rurais do interior do Brasil, especialmente das regiões Norte, Nordeste e Centro-este, conseguem receber notícias, informações e prestação de serviço. Precisamos lembrar que o alardeado LUZ PARA TODOS ainda não se concretizou; a instalação de antenas parabólicas não está ao alcance financeiro de grande parte da população; nos municípios do interior o telefone celular, aonde existe, só cobre a área urbana e arredores mais próximos, deixando extensas áreas territoriais completamente isoladas. Sendo assim, nesses locais distantes com estradas precárias, sem energia elétrica e serviços públicos, o mais barato e eficiente meio de receber informações sobre o Brasil e o mundo, orientações sobre a vida cotidiana e até mesmo recado s de parentes distantes é através do velho e barato radinho de pilha sintonizado em uma emissora OC. Quanto à situação da Rádio Senado Ondas Curtas a informação que recebemos é que continuam as tratativas (e já duram 1 mês após o fim do contrato e a retirada da emissora do ar) entre o Senado Federal e a EBC para renovar o contrato de utilização do velho "Dojão" reformado. Se os integrantes dessa lista de distribuição considerarem relevante contribuir para tentar voltar com as transmissões da Rádio Senado Ondas Curtas podem fazer como fez o engenheiro agrônomo Everaldo Moreira da Silva, natural de Palmeira do Piauí, atualmente residindo em São Paulo. Ele enviou carta aos Senadores do seu estado que transcrevo abaixo. As manifestações podem ser enviadas também para os membros da Mesa Diretora do Senado que são os que cuidam mais de perto da administração da Casa. Abraços a todos, José Carlos Sigmaringa Seixas [apparently with R. Senado], 5 March, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Sou Everaldo Moreira da Silva, natural da localidade Manoel Antônio - Zona Rural de Palmeira do Piauí-PI, sou engenheiro agrônomo formado pela UFPI-Teresina e, atualmente, faço Doutorado na Universidade de São Paulo - USP. O motivo para o qual escrevo para os senhores é pedir encarecidamente que façam um esforço para manter o único meio de comunicação que tenho com meus pais, me refiro à programação da Rádio Senado ondas curtas. Pois senhores, moramos em uma região que em pleno século XXI, o nosso único meio de comunicação é esta rádio, se a mesma não estiver operando, milhares de pessoas daquela região perderão o contato com o mundo e voltaremos para a era pré-histórica. Não me alongarei mais, pois sei que os senhores são muito atarefados. Certo de que farão um esforço para manter a Rádio Senado ondas curtas no ar, me despeço. att. Everaldo Moreira da Silva, Eng. Agrônomo-UFPI, Mestre em Irrigação e Drenagem-ESALQ/ USP Doutorando em Irrigação e Drenagem-ESALQ/ USP, via Sigmaringa, ibid.) Em 2010, graças ao Lúcio Haeser, pude fazer uma visita ao Parque Transmissor da EBC, em Brazlândia. Naquela oportunidade fiz um vídeo que mostra as duas antenas, tanto a que à época era utilizada para a transmissão da Rádio Senado em 5990 e a antena que transmitia a RNA em 6185, apesar dessa estar inoperante no momento da visita. http://youtu.be/zF8OB-9bXMg A antena mais próxima (à direita) é a da R. Senado, estava transmitindo naquele momento e a antena maior à esquerda era a de 6185. 73's! (Thiago P. Machado, http://bsbdx.blogspot.com Brasília-DF, Brasil [GH54XC], ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 9550.122, Rádio Boa Vontade, Porto Alegre, RS at 0440 UT March 5th, Port talks by male, poor signal S=4-5 strength. 9564.854, Annoying rasping sound on Super R Deus é Amor, Curitiba, PR, noted at 0450 UT March 5, fair S=6-7 signal, talk by male and female. [rasping = Cuban jamming overrun? Usually audible here --- gh] 9645.358, Rádio Bandeirantes, São Paulo, SP, male voice, endless talking, no music, 0455 UT March 5. Poor S=4 signal. \\ 11925.025 kHz at 0510 UT. 9665.032, Radio Voz Missionária, Camboriú, SC, funny locutors, ads, MHz mentioned at 0457 UT March 5. Fair S=7-8 signal this morning. Hit a little bit of REE Cariari outlet next door 9675 kHz. 11764.973, Super R Deus é Amor, Curitiba PR, female Portuguese, weak S=4 signal. 0520 UT March 5 (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Incrível o fato da equipe técnica não conseguir regular o QRG 9585 Khz que recentemente está fora do ar, mas nos últimos 3 ou 4 anos sempre esteve em 9587 à 9592 Khz, sem falar nos espúrios que infestam o dial dos 31 metros. Há uns 2 anos fui repreendido e ofendido por 1 membro daqui, alegando que estava perseguindo os evangélicos. Nem estava discutindo o mérito da questão religiosa, mas sim a interferência que esta emissora estava causando. A propósito, o proprietário comprou também o canal 6030 Khz, 11805 Khz e jamais colocou no ar (Edison Bocorny Jr., Novo Hamburgo - RS, March 6, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9645.3, Rádio Bandeirantes, São Paulo, 2045-2055, 03-03, male, Portuguese, advertisements, female. 22322. (Méndez) 9695.7, Rádio Rio Mar, Manaus, 2006-2044, 03-03, soccer, male, Portuguese: "Campeonato Paulista", "Nacional", "Goooool", "Campeonato Carioca". 23322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9819.61, Rádio 9 de Julho seems to frequently relay Rádio Aparecida nowadays. Good 0636 with Portuguese talkback, idents // 5035 fair 19 Feb (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio 9 de julho - 9819.60 --- Quizás esté atrasado en novedades, puede alguien decirme si Radio 9 de Julho cambió de 9820 a 9819.6 kHz? Captado en 9819.6 a las 0149 UT 2-Mar-2012, 22222. Locutor recibe llamadas al aire. Interferencia desde Cuba contra R. Martí en 9825, se alcanza a sentir. 73 y Buenos DX (José Luis de Vicente T., HK3ORT, Colombia, Rig: 706mkIIg Ant: V invertida, condiglist yg via DXLD) No se ha cambiado sino siempre se varía abajo de la frecuencia correcta desde hace por lo menos tres años después de su reactivación en 9820 el 11 de setiembre de 2008. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) [Re 12-09]. “And I was wondering why they kept saying "Aparecida" and there was no mention of 9 de Julho! Great signal in Romania too, here is a recording I made on Feb. 26: http://youtu.be/XU6wgP-ipjM (Tudor Vedeanu, (Gura Humorului, Romania, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1606, DX LISTENING DIGEST)” R 9 de Julho is a Catholic broadcaster, as well as R Aparecida. Maybe a transmission in chain of an event of the Catholic Church. 73 (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana Bahia, 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, ibid.) 9819.58, 3/3 0358, Rádio 9 de Julho, song, IDs as "Rede Aparecida", really good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, RX: Winradio Excalibur Pro - ANT: T2FD - Some images on my blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9820, Rádio 9 de Julho, São Paulo, 0548-0735, 04-03, religious songs, male, religious comments, Portuguese, "Primeiro mistério da glória do Senhor", identification: "Rádio 9 de Julho com a rede de Rádio Aparecida apresentou Com a Mãe Aparecida", "Rádio 9 de Julho, 1600 AM, São Paulo, Brasil". 33433 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some of Manuel`s logs show rounded frequencies from stations known to be off-frequency, while others show decimaled variants. Since he does not say 9820.0, I assume R 9 de Julho is one of the former, as many other reports have it considerably on the low side (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9819.576, Very odd signal. R Nove de Julho, São Paulo, SP, Rádio Católica, weak signal "Bom Dia" by male announcer, time announcement 0505 UT March 5, S=4-5 poor (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 5, dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Here some tips from Milan city. Several Brazilian stations with nice signals 6080.47, 3/3 0210, Rádio Marumby, songs, talks about God love, // web streaming. Great ID with 770 kHz announcement. News 0225. Weak/fair. 9645.31, 3/3 0336, Rádio Bandeirantes, funny talks, fair/talks 9665.32, 3/3 0342, Voz Missionária, religious talks & songs, fair/good 9674.99, 3/3 0351, Canção Nova, songs & several ids, good signal, QRM from co-channel lower broadcast 10000, 3/3 0329, Observatório Nacional, usual pips & ID with time, fair 11764.98, 3/3 0311, Rádio Deus è Amor, sermon, "... la tua gloria en la capital...en todo Braaaasiiiiillllll…" Good // 9564.8 fair 11780.01, 3/3 0315, Rádio Nacional da Amazônia, Brazil, songs, IDs, fair (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, RX: Winradio Excalibur Pro - ANT: T2FD - Some images on my blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11734.95, R. Transmundial (presumed), 1823-1835, March 1. Clearly in Portuguese; playing pop songs; in the clear once Voice of Turkey ended transmission on 11735.0 at 1823*; poor. No hint of Zanzibar (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 11925.06, Rádio Bandeirantes good with Portuguese actuality reports in the clear 0520 28 Feb on this measured frequency, much closer to nominal frequency than usual. // 9645.37 was strong but suffers 9645 [VATICAN] QRM (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11925.0, Sat March 3 at 0555, two weak stations mixing about equally with slow SAH. R. Bandeirantes is normally 0.1 to 0.2 kHz off- frequency, so surely it`s two other stations? But the only other one scheduled at 05-06 is BBCWS in Kinyarwanda/Kirundi via SOUTH AFRICA, 250 kW at 7 degrees daily per HFCC, Sat & Sun only per Aoki. Tried to // what sounded like Brazilian to 9645.3v, another Bandeirantes frequency, difficult due to Vatihet, but that went off at 0558 for a semihour break. At 0600 after a 5- or 6-pip timesignal from one of them, BBC was off making it easier to make the // so 11925.0 really is Bandeirantes back on-frequency! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A log above is at 11925.06 ** BRAZIL. 15189.85, Radio Inconfidência, 2330-0005, Portuguese talk. Fair. // 6010 - Poor, weak with adjacent channel splatter. March 2-3 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 15190-, March 4 at 2252, R. Inconfidência signal has built up to poor level with flutter, definitely Brazilian talk, phone numbers mentioned. As usual this is on the low side of the frequency, and nothing else there, while R. Africa used to be spot on. Harold Frodge, MI, recently reported the ZY on 15189.90 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 28485-USB, March 3 at 1438 during CQ Contest, one of only a few signals on 10m making it was PX5E; has a bit of reverb on his mike, and furthermore, interruptions by some other sounds: suspect another op in same room is tripping his vox! Maybe not, seems to be an individual op, not a club station, per QRZ.com, but why use a different callsign? Because it takes another second to pronounce 5 characters fonetically instead of 4, thereby lessening the score! PX5E Op. Sérgio - PP5JR ; QSL via ai4u Morro da Boa Vista Rancho Queimado - SC Brazil Checked 10m after finding 15m full of contest SSB signals, while 13m adjacent BC band [how can they be ``adjacent`` when they are two meters apart??? Answer: the ham band is really 14m!] had only very poor AM signals from some of the few Eurasian broadcasters, Saudi/Kuwait/Spain. This says something about propagation and the relative activity levels of broadcasters vs ordinary hams vs contesting hams. Meanwhile, no contest activity on 12m (nor any SSB signals, just some CW), and only ragchew contacts on ``17m``, so these so-called ``WARC bands`` must be free of such contesting overload. Around 0600 I had also noticed a lot more SSB QRhaM in the 7200-7300 region, certainly for the same reason as on a normal night, hams mostly avoid that range with all the broadcasters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also JAMAICA I used to do a lot of Ham contesting, nearly all (all I can think of) contests preclude the use of the WARC bands in the contests. 73 de (Phil, KO6BB, Atchley http://ko6bb1.multiply.com/ (OTR Blog) http://www.qsl.net/ko6bb/ (Web Page) swl at qth.net via DXLD) ** BULGARIA. I do participate from time to time in the KBS World Radio, Voice of Turkey and R Prague contests, and also now R. Bulgaria who have just started a monthly quiz question. And on the subject of R. Bulgaria, the internet-only programme schedule is now shown on their website as follows: Monday Events and Developments Youth Corner Sports Music Selection Tuesday Events and Developments Politics Economy Music Selection Wednesday Events and Developments Environment Travel Music Thursday Events and Developments History Club Science Music Selection Friday Events and Developments Arts and Artists Life in Bulgaria Music Selection Saturday Weekly Overview: Politics and Economy Life in Bulgaria Listeners’ Feedback Sunday Weekly Overview: Culture events People Leisure Folklore (Alan Roe, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. Democratic Voice of Burma QSY to 11560 kHz via Dushanbe at *1430-1530* UT with Almati transmitter site close. (ex 6225 kHz via Almati) (S. Hasegawa, Japan, March 1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURMA [non]. TAJIKISTAN, Frequency change for Democratic Voice of Burma in Burmese: 1430-1530 NF 11560 DB 200 kW / 125 deg to SEAs from March 1, ex 6225 A-A (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 07 March via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Democratic Voice of Burma captado en 7510 Khz a las 0015 UT 02-Mar- 2012, 43233, empleando lengua Burmese (según listados), locutores (hombre y mujer) probablemente dando noticias breves; la emisión termina abruptamente a las 0030 con anuncio e himno de fondo. Si alguno conoce el dialecto le agradecería traducción, anexo audio. Propagación ruin. http://www.goear.com/listen/e6ec559/demvoiceofburma-hk3ort 73 y Buenos DX (José Luís de Vicente T., HK3ORT, Colombia, Rig: Icom 706mkIIg, Ant: V invertida, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** CAMEROON [non]. Radio Sawtu - Linjilla [sic] Radio, 9655 via Wertachtal, e-mail mbayangacharles @ yahoo.fr v/s Charles Mbayanga. Station is located in the Cameroons (station notes via Play DX, via Sam Barto, QSL Report, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) 9800, 1857 8 Feb, Sawtu Linjila via Issoudun, end of talk in Fulani, announcements, African drum beat and then off, SIO 232 (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, HF Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) HFCC B-11 on 9 Feb, and still today shows this 1830-1900 transmission as via Wertachtal, altho in wrong language Hausa. Was it ever really Issoudun? Now that they own sites in both France and Germany, M&B are free to switch around as they wish (gh, DXLD) Re: LWF Sawtu Linjila [sic] M&B two entry registrations in A-12 summer schedule: 9655 1830-1900 46S,47SE ISS 500 180 0 217 haus MBR 11975 1830-1900 46S,47SE ISS 500 180 0 217 haus MBR > Re: Was it ever really Issoudun? used LWF 11975 kHz via ISS 500 kW at 167 degrees always in summer, also in previous A-11 season. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. CKMO 900 Victoria with CW IDs --- Just happened to be listening to CKMO Village 900 here in Victoria. Well surprise, surprise: They're frequently having CW ID's!!! At 7:49 AM local (15:49 UTC) between songs, there was a rapid CW ID as "CKMO 900 AM". After the news at 8:06 AM local, this was heard: "You're listening to CKMO 900 AM, broadcasting from the Lansdowne campus of Camosun College, Victoria. We are Village 900". This was immediately followed by rapid Morse code, this time: "CKMO 900 AM Victoria BC Canada". I suspect that this will be the case from now until they sign-off for good sometime tomorrow. Now's the time to go after them, folks. Now I understand what the program director (and ex- amateur) meant when he said that he was planning some "flourishes" before they permanently leave the air tomorrow. Continuing to listen to CKMO this morning, they finally announced when they're pulling the plug tomorrow: They announced "midnight Sunday". This then, should be, therefore, 0800 UT (midnight Pacific time) on 5 March 2012. I suggest that you listen for CW IDs, etc.! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Walt, ``Midnight Sunday`` is totally ambiguous, as it could be the start or the end of local Sunday. Can you find out from them what they really mean? Great on the Morse code IDs (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Glenn, make that a minute before midnight, tomorrow Pacific Standard Time. They won't sign off tonight. CW IDs are infrequent. After the ID following BBCWS news, nothing further until )* eight-forty local. Saul, I have the answer for QSL information (sorry, forgot to mention that when I spoke with the manager). He mentioned to me that he'd be happy to receive mp3 files via email, and would issue QSL cards (sorry, not sure whether paper or eQSL) to the following email address: psa @ village900.ca Just happened to be listening to the BBC news at 3:00 PM PST (2300 UT), and this hour after the news at :07, there was about 15 seconds of dead air, and then back to normal programming. This is where the CW ID has been heard. Hopefully just an oversight on the announcer's part as this seems to be the best time to listen for the CW ID (check between 5 and 8 minutes past the hour to be sure). 73, (Walt Salmaniw, March 3, ibid.) Dennis (and the group): yes, they did not sign-off at midnight last night, so it will be tonight. I tuned them in again just after 7:00 AM (1500 UT). After the BBCWS news came the longer CW ID again, followed by a 23 minute history of CKMO. Haven't heard this one until now. CKMO started as a closed circuit system at Camosun College. After a couple of years, they received a FM frequency (103.1) and later traded with a commercial operator for 900 AM. The callsign originated way back to 1928 (no relation to the college then, of course). From midnight, the only way to listen to Village 900 will be on http://villagenow.net At 7:29, the short CW ID was repeated (and once again at about 7:50 AM). The expected (and announced) BBCWS news didn't happen at 08:00. Instead, there's a program about killer whales (orcas). Probably an old program. 73, (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, 1616 UT March 4, IRCA via DXLD) The CW ID seems to be at the end of a canned verbal ID by a man mentioning call letters, Camosun College and ending with "we are Village 900". The CW pitch seems to be a few Hertz below 700 Hz for those who might want to try some filtering on an otherwise blocked channel. I've heard the ID on the hour as well (not before BBC news?) as well as after the news, but it seems to be popping up at other times also. Oh yes, the CW ID is pretty swift also, at least to my aged ears, and goes on for over 10 seconds. Good luck with catching this. It's effectively a several day long DX test, with no hope of a repeat, so best to log them now. Best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, 1744 UT March 4, IRCA via DXLD) I wasn't listening live, but my mp3 was running, so I went back to have a listen. The final program was "The State we're in" from RNW. Then, "Join the revolution Villagenow.net" followed by a CW ID (the longer version). According to my mp3 timer, seems this went on until 8:52 PM/0452 UT. The OC remained, with some pops/static. The same noisy open carrier remains as I type this at 9:22 PM/0522 UT. Goodbye, CKMO/Village 900! Not sure whether this is how they meant to sign-off, or if a break occurred causing them to prematurely sign-off before midnight/0800 UT (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, 0526 UT March 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CKMO history http://www.villagenow.net/2012/03/brief-history-of-radio-at-camosun.html Well, now it's gone, there seems to an audio history of this broadcaster on the web. Hope it's of interest. Best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, 0824 UT 5 March, IRCA via DXLD) 0010 PST 03/05/12 -- Victoria BC: CKMO 900 is still running a dead carrier and has not thrown the transmitter off. That's the second glitch that's happened tonight. In case some of you were trying to snag this one before sign off at "midnight" they stopped audio just before 9 PM Local Time instead of the announced "midnight". That was the first glitch. The second one is that the TX has not been shut down as we all expected to happen at "midnight". I'm a little tee'd off right now because I can't DX 900 and I can't stay up all night to listen to the eventual kill off of this transmitter so I can see what's behind this carrier. Darn. I had a gut feeling that they were going to keep it on after "midnight". If it's still on when I wake up in the morning I'm going to call up and find out what they're keeping it on for and who is paying the electric bill for a piece of equipment that uses as much juice as my 19 storey apartment building. Tsk Tsk – relax, Bill, get some sleep (Bill in Victoria BC Kral, ibid.) Bill, as of 6:56 AM PST (1456 UT), the carrier is *STILL* on with the same frequent pops. Shall we start a pool on when CKMO will actually pull the plug??? (Walt Salmaniw, ibid.) Maybe the transmitter owner will throw the switch since it is out on the island? CKMO may [not] have been able to do that for some reason. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) 03/05/12--15:00 PST--Victoria BC --- A reliable source at Rogers Com FM Station JACK FM told me that the AM 900 transmitter will be decommissioned later this week or early next week (no specific day or time) depending on the (marine) weather since it involves using a small boat to go to a small rocky island east of Victoria to throw switches and pull plugs and sequentially shut down all the electronics in the transmitter building, but not the lights on the towers which have to stay on until the towers can be dismantled sometime later this year if nobody in the broadcasting business comes along in the meantime to set up shop on the 900 frequency before that happens. So in the meantime I'll have to put 900 on the back burner for a few more nights and check out other slots for something I haven't heard yet (Bill in BC Krall, ibid.) Yes, thanks Bill for the update. I just checked, and yes it is still there at S7 off the NE EWE. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, 0049 UT 6 March, ibid.) Yep, and still S9 + 50 here in Victoria at 9:20 PM (0520 UT) (Walt Salmaniw, UT 6 March, ibid.) They might as well have left the Morse code IDs running 24/7 for the duration of the carrier staying on, duh. 73, (Glenn Hauser, March 7, ibid.) Glenn, perhaps you can QSL the open carrier (especially if they are slightly off frequency). The MW offset list shows 900.0029 kHz. Should be easy!!! ;-) (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC, ibid.) ** CANADA. 6030.02, CFVP Calgary with country music vocals, weak 0630 in the clear 27 Feb after Ethiopia has faded out and Cuban jamming off. “Real Country” slogan at 0638. Only possible Mondays when Radio Martí is off (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6069.97, 3/3 0216, CFRX, Toronto, Canada, talks, jingles, fair/good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, RX: Winradio Excalibur Pro - ANT: T2FD - Some images on my blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 5730, China Radio International via Sackville? - (I assume this was a mixing product of 5960 and 6190 since if you subtract the two (230 kHz) and then subtract 230 from 5960 you get this frequency!) -- In English re education. 24+433 but occasionally fading to zippo. Best in LSB. ID as CRI at :24. 0520-0525 25/Feb (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) Right (gh) ** CANADA. Radio Canada International Technical Schedule for Shortwave (Summer 2012) From March 25th (0700 UTC) to October 28th (0700 UTC), 2012 [daily EXCEPT PORTUGUESE: Fri-Sat-Sun] UTC Site Freq Pow Azi Ant Type CIRAF Zones Language ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 0000-0059 KIM 9690 100 225 HR 2/4/0.5 43SE,44S,49,50 MANDARIN 0000-0059 PHT 12015 250 349 HR 2/4/0.5 33S,43N,43SE,44NW,44S,50NW MANDARIN 0000-0057 KUN 11700 150 175 HR 4/4/0.5 49,54 ENGLISH 0000-0029 SAC 11990 250 176 HR 4/4/1.0 12SE,13NW,13S,14,15W,16NE SPANISH 0000-0029 SAC 13760 250 240 HR 4/4/1.0 08S,10N,10SE,11NW SPANISH 0100-0129 SAC 11990 250 212 HR 2/1/0.5 11 SPANISH 0200-0229 SMG 5950 100 114 HR 3/2/0.5 38E,39 ARABIC 0200-0229 WOF 7230 100 114 HR 4/3/0.5 39,40SW ARABIC 0300-0329 WOF 5990 250 114 HR 4/3/0.5 39,40SW ARABIC 0300-0329 SMG 7230 100 114 HR 3/2/0.5 38E,39,40SW ARABIC 1100-1159 KIM 9570 100 205 HR 2/4/0.5 44S,49SE,50,54N MANDARIN 1100-1159 PHT 9490 250 332 HR 4/4/0.3 42NE,43,44NW,44S MANDARIN 1500-1557 KUN 11675 500 283 HR 4/4/0.5 41 ENGLISH 1500-1557 URU 15125 500 212 HR 4/4/0.5 41 ENGLISH 1500-1529 SMG 17815 125 85 HR 4/4/1.0 41 (DRM) ENGLISH 1500-1559 YAM 6110 300 290 HR 2/2/0.5 43, 44N MANDARIN 1500-1529 YAM 11730 250 240 HR 4/2/1.0 44 MANDARIN 1500-1529 WOF 15325 250 70 HR 4/4/1.0 29 RUSSIAN 1600-1629 WOF 15325 250 70 HR 4/4/1.0 29 RUSSIAN 1800-1859 KAS 9530 100 239 HR 4/2/0.5 39, 48 ENGLISH 1800-1859 SKN 11765 300 160 HR 4/2/0.3 39,48 ENGLISH 1800-1859 SKN 17810 250 175 HR 2/2/0.8 37,46N ENGLISH 1900-1959 KAS 11765 100 239 HR 4/2/0.5 39SE,48 FRENCH 1900-1959 SMG 13730 250 199 HR 4/4/0.5 37SE,38W,46N,46SE,47NW FRENCH 1900-1959 SKN 15320 300 180 HR 2/2/0.3 37,46N FRENCH 1900-1959 SAC 17735 250 105 HR 4/4/1.0 37S,46 FRENCH 1900-1929 SAC 15235 250 73 HR 4/4/1.0 37SE,38W,46E,47NW ARABIC 1900-1929 WOF 15180 250 114 HR 4/4/1.0 39,40SW ARABIC 2000-2100 SAC 15330 250 105 HR 4/4/1.0 37S,46,47W,52 ENGLISH 2000-2100 SAC 15235 250 73 HR 4/4/1.0 37SE,38W,46E,47NW ENGLISH 2000-2100 SAC 17735 250 105 HR 4/4/1.0 37S,46,47W,52 ENGLISH 2100-2129 SAC 15455 250 163 HR 4/4/1.0 12, 13, 15 PORTUGUESE 2100-2129 SAC 17860 250 163 HR 4/4/1.0 12E,13,15NW PORTUGUESE 2100-2159 SMG 9525 100 184 HR 3/2/0.5 37SE,38W,46E,47NW FRENCH 2100-2159 SAC 15235 250 73 HR 4/4/1.0 37S,46,47W,52 FRENCH 2100-2159 SAC 17735 250 105 HR 4/4/1.0 37SE,38W,46E,47NW FRENCH 2200-2229 SAC 17860 250 163 HR 4/4/1.0 12E,13,15NW PORTUGUESE 2200-2229 SAC 11990 250 176 HR 4/4/1.0 12SE,13NW,13S,14,15W,16NE SPANISH 2200-2229 SAC 15455 250 176 HR 4/4/1.0 12NE,12S,13NW,13S,14,15W SPANISH 2200-2259 KIM 9525 100 225 HR 2/4/0.5 43SE,44S,49,50 MANDARIN 2200-2259 KIM 9870 100 305 HR 4/4/0.5 42N,43N,44N MANDARIN 2300-2329 SAC 13760 250 163 HR 4/4/1.0 12,13NW,13S,14,15W PORTUGUESE 2300-2329 KIM 9525 100 225 HR 2/4/0.5 43SE,44S,49,50 FRENCH 2300-2329 SAC 11990 250 176 HR 4/4/1.0 12SE,13NW,13S,14,15W,16NE SPANISH 2300-2329 SAC 15455 250 176 HR 4/4/1.0 12NE,12S,13NW,13S,14,15W SPANISH Sites : KAS: KASHI, CHINA [= KASHGAR, EAST TURKISTAN] KIM: KIMJAE, SOUTH KOREA KUN: KUNMING, CHINA PHT: TINANG, PHILIPPINES SAC: SACKVILLE, CANADA SKN: SKELTON, UNITED KINGDOM SMG: SANTA MARIA GALERIA, VATICAN CITY URU: URUMQUI [sic], CHINA [= WULUMUCHI, EAST TURKISTAN] WOF: WOOFERTON [sic], UNITED KINGDOM YAM: YAMATA, JAPAN (As on March 1st, 2012) (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, March 7, dxldyg, tidied up by Glenn Hauser for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Note that for no comprehensible reason, the ONLY remaining English broadcasts via Sackville to Africa, move back to 20 UT in A-seasons, vs 18 UT in B-seasons. Whenever, they are easily audible in NAm off the back beyond the skip zones (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC. Jim, Thanks for your newsletters. Obviously water and other issues are your main focus, but I am wondering if your radio station is currently on the air, on 6030 or 3390 kHz? I never see any reports of it being heard altho of course it is difficult outside the CAR. Nor have I seen it mentioned for a long time in your newsletter. Please update on Radio ICDI status, hours of transmission. Thanks, (Glenn Hauser, March 6, to Jim Hocking, ICDI via DXLD) Dear Glen[n], I am on the road again right now but let me answer your questions. 1) yes, we are on the air with both frequencies but please remember this is only a 1000 watt station that basically has a 1000 mile radius so many short wave listeners should not be able to hear it except for special "skip" situations. 2) This is one of our main supporting ministries for all our works, AG, WATER, MED, and others. This is how we get the message out to the villages. However we do not often have a lot to say; it is the same, significant messaging and interviews to keep the interest level of the people up in the areas of change that needs to happen in their daily habits for their health and hygiene. But I hope this does give you some updates. Just today I received a message that we are having some software problems. Back up equipment is very difficult for us to sustain but these men have been very creative in keeping things going when there are electric and software- computer problems. Thanks so much for asking (Jim Hocking • CEO, Integrated Community Development International, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WRTH 2012 says: ``Boali 6030 & 3390 kHz 1 kW. D. Prgr. in French, Sango, Bayaka and Fulfulde: 0500-1100 & 1500-1600 on 6030 and 1600- 2110 on 3390 (3390 inactive at time of editing)``. That means our best chance in NAm should be 6030 at *0500 UT Mondays when R. Martí and Cuban jamming may be off; usually it`s only CFVP heard, if anything. Europeans might have a better chance at 3390 in the evening. Altho there was some later discussion from Sweden of QSLing it, the last logs(?) of ICDI in DXLD were: 3389.99, Radio ICDI, 1735, presumed with French talk by a man and some music. Warbly carrier in sideband and very weak -- just above the noise floor. 20 May 2011 (David Sharp, NSW) 3389.99, Radio ICDI, tentative. Noted threshold carrier at 1850, but unfortunately, no audio. Had ICDI on this frequency 20 May, still active? 17 June (David Sharp, NSW) 3390 could be a third harmonic from MW 1130, but the only very remote possibility in NSW would be the Hawaiian. The current website http://icdinternational.org/radio/ mentions 6.03 MHz only, no times, but is © 2010 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. 21590, 1056 4 Feb, VOA via TINIAN, Chinese, blocked by SIO 444 CNR1 but VOA jingle in background; timesignal and off at 1100 leaving VOA sign-off in clear (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, HF Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** CHINA. East Jammerstan: 11500 FireDrake 3+54+4+4 0032 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 12230 FireDrake 4554+4 0037 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 12300 FireDrake 1+5442 0036 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 12600 FireDrake 45554 0039 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 12980 FireDrake 34+4+4+4 0039 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 13850 FireDrake 4554+4 0040 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 14700 FireDrake 2+5553+ 0041 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 15800 FireDrake 3+5554+ 0049 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 16100 FireDrake 25553 0038 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 11500 FireDrake WEAK 1116 26/Feb --Zichi DXp 12600 FireDrake WEAK 1119 26/Feb --Zichi DXpedition (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) 13680, Firedrake 27 Feb. 2350+ apparently rolling against SOH (sked 20-17 in Aoki) // much weaker 14950. 13680 unheard on the 28th (Dan Sheedy, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) [and non]. Firedrake March 1: 12670, very poor at 1232; no others 9-18 MHz by 1236 17570, poor at 1420, with some CCI from presumed V. of Tibet via Madagascar; no others. Firedrake March 2: none heard 7-18 MHz before 1400, altho some weakies may have been obscured by the hi local line noise level which continues to infest most of the HF band in the neighborhood despite complaints to OG&E. A couple days ago one of their trux pulled briefly into our driveway but departed before I could talk to them. This morning there were also lightning crashes on the lower bands, the closest storm being a spot in central Missouri. Firedrake March 3, before 1400: 12230, fair with flutter at 1356; none higher to 15 MHz by 1400 11500, very poor at 1359-1400* Before 1500: 15800, good at 1423, and still/again fair at 1446, none higher; 15800 is seldom heard, but Aoki has 100-watt Sound of Hope nuisance here up to 23 hours a day 12980, fair with flutter at 1446 12500, fair at 1448 11500, poor at 1449 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake musical jamming: An Active Day 3-4-12 --- Hi Glenn, The following loggings are from today. Feel free to use them for publication - steve 11500, 1326, presumed target is the Sound of Hope. Fair-Good also at 1333 and 1417 Fair. Also at 1431 Poor. 12230, 1320-1323 and 1335, presumed target is the Sound of Hope. Strong. 13680, 1328, strong and also at 1340 Good and 1419 Fair-Good. 13850, 1424 and 1431, presumed target is the Sound of Hope. Momentary silence at 1430 than back on. Also at 1432. Fair. 13920, 1328 and 1340, presumed target is the Sound of Hope. Good. 13970, 1424, presumed target is the Sound of Hope. Poor. Also at 1433 JBA. 14970, 1329 and 1345, presumed target is the Sound of Hope. Good. 15500, 1329, presumed target is the Voice of Tibet who broadcasts on 15503. Fair. 15535, 1345, presumed target is the Voice of Tibet who broadcasts on 15537. Fair. 15540, 1330 , presumed target is the Voice of Tibet who broadcasts on 15537. Fair. 15570, 1346, presumed target is the Voice of Tibet who broadcasts on 15567. Fair-Good. 15800, 1427 and 1434, presumed target is the Sound of Hope. Fair with flutter. 15870, 1331, presumed target is the Sound of Hope. Fair. Also heard 1435 Poor (Steve Handler, Buffalo Grove IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Firedrake March 4 before 1430; hardly `very active` for me, but was not checking before 1400: 11500, fair at 1422; none in the 12s, 14s, 16s 13850, poor at 1421 15800, very poor at 1423 Before 1500: 11500, fair at 1456 13850, JBA at 1456 15800, poor at 1456; none in the 12s, 14s, 16s Firedrake March 5: none found 7-20 MHz, 1450-1455; propagation subnormal today. Firedrake March 6: 11500, JBA at 1432; no others found above or below Propagation is quite poor again today, despite rising flux as WWV reported at 1500: ``Solar-terrestrial indices for 05 March follow. Solar flux 132 and estimated planetary A-index 8. The estimated planetary K-index at 1500 UTC on 06 March was 2. Space weather for the past 24 hours has been minor. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level occurred. Space weather for the next 24 hours is predicted to be minor. Radio blackouts reaching the R1 level are expected.`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5909.94, 3/3 0257, Radio Alcaraván, songs, fair. At 0300 QRM from Radio Canada Int. starting on 5905 kHz (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, RX: Winradio Excalibur Pro - ANT: T2FD - Some images on my blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CONGO DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC. Radio Kahuzi fades in around 1530 with sun setting over Central Africa and the stations builds up in strength and sign off at 1709 UT on 6210 kHz. Programming in French, Swahili and KinyaRwanda. Absolutely thrilled with this one. Bruce Churchill first heard this on my Perseus rx which I put on line most nights. My QSLs on the way, and this night acknowledged my e-mail on the air. http://soundcloud.com/user6004348/2nd-march-kahuzi-3-2-2012-5-05 (Victor Goonetilleke, Sri Lanka, 1805 UT March 2, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) another version: ** CONGO DEM REPUBLIC: Radio Kahuzi fades in around 1530 with the Sun setting over Central Africa and the station builds up in strength and sign off at 1709 UT on 6210 kHz. Programming in French, Swahili, and KinyaRwanda. Absolutely thrilled with this one. Bruce Churchill first heard this on my Perseus receiver which I put on line most nights. My QSL`s on the way. And this night Richard MacDonald acknowledged my e- mail on the air. They play a hymn instead of an anthem. Morning sign- on around 0400 UT. This one and Radio Dunamis [UGANDA] on 4750 make up for all that is going away from the International bands. I have some recording. You are welcome to enjoy, especially Dan Henderson. http://soundcloud.com/user6004348/2nd-march-kahuzi-3-2-2012-5-05 (G V A GUNATILLAKA [sic; Sri Lanka] via DXPlorer via SW Bulletin March 4 via DXLD) ** CONGO DR [non]. 11795, 1610 20 Feb, R. Okapi via Dhabbaya [UAE], news, jingle, ID, African music, announcements, French, 1635 Lingala, back to French, music, etc., thru to 1659*, SIO 333 (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, HF Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) 11690, SOUTH AFRICA, R. Okapi. Reports in French, then W in studio; Okapi jingles, ID by W. Sports item by W 0433, soccer relating to Democratic Republic of Congo; report by M, musical bridge. At 0436 M in African language, not French. Fair. 02/03 (Also noted at 0430 on 23/02). (Victor C. Jaar, Longueuil, Québec, IC-R75, Long wire, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** COSTA RICA. 11815.247, March 1 at 1439, REE Cariari relay is unusually off-frequency, causing het to NHK direct 11815, about equally weak. This measurement is based on matching pitch with B below middle C on a keyboard, whose frequency per http://www.phy.mtu.edu/~suits/notefreqs.html is approximately 247 Hz based on A = 440. // 9765 and 15170 were very slightly off compared to neighbors but nothing like this. 11815.0, March 2 at 1348, REE Cariari is back on frequency, in Basque atop NHK, making no het other than possibly subaudibly, ex-11815.247 as tuned 23.7 hours earlier. 11815.247, March 5 at 1414, REE COSTA RICA relay is off-frequency again making B-below-middle-C het with much weaker NHK on 11815.0, mentioning enlamar address. I first heard this March 1, but March 2 it was back on frequency; unsure about March 3 or 4 but did not run across the het when bandscanning. By 1448, NHK signal has built up to make het stronger and audiblize its musical modulation // 11655 Sackville. 9765, March 6 at 1354, dead air, then REE cuts on as it is going from Basque back to Castilian. 11815.0, March 6 at 1400, timesignal and REE ID, right on frequency today, ex 11815.247 yesterday and some other days, even tho there is no reception from NHK today to confirm no audible het (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 530, 0341 UT March 2, William Tell Overture which I thought a bit too classical for R. Enciclopedia EZL format, but apparently thence with Spanish announcement following amid CubaRM. 530, March 7 at 0641 UT, zero signal here from R. Enciclopedia or anything else. With auroral conditions, should have been enhanced if anything, and Cuba was quite audible on 670, 710, so CMBQ must have been off the air (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A real Enci-fest this week. A reason to celebrate with a cold Mojito or two. 1310, Radio Enciclopedia, Nueva Gerona, Isla de la Juventud. 0046 February 29, 2012. Good on occasional fade-up peaks over WYND and othes with piano and orchestral music, female announcer, parallel 530. 1220, Radio Caribe, La Fé, Isla de la Juventud. 0140 March 1, 2012. Huge signal with nice Cuban pop-ish vocals, female ID moments after 0200 as "En el territorio [libre??] de América, Radio Caribe..." Same female after every couple of songs. This one has always been a big overdriven signal regardless what channel they've been on in the past 30-plus years of monitoring. 1260, Radio Enciclopedia, unknown site. 0115 March 1, 2012. Very, very poor with EZL piano, female, parallel 530. Not listed on the Molano page. My records show this first documented in year 2000. WSUA, Miami (Spanish, "Radio Caracol") mostly dominating the channel. 1280, Radio Enciclopedia, Varadero, Matanzas. 0106 March 1, 2012. Fair-very good on peaks over many others with the usual EZL and piano instrumentals, female host, parallel 530. Mostly dominating the channel. Not listed on the Molano list, but my last entry on my own Cuba list is from the 1997 WRTVH 1997 at this site, for what little that's worth. 1570, Radio Enciclopedia, unknown site. 0047 March 1, 2012. Threshold but definite parallel to 530 with EZL instrumentals, female announcer under several others. This one has been here for for quite awhile per my records, but not on the Molano list (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Re: ``... I am hearing the R. Reloj tix and `RR` Morse Code once a minute, but not the continuous newstalk in Spanish which ought to be louder. Do they sometimes take a rest and just run the clock? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` Never occurred to me that they would do this, but on numerous occasions I have heard the clock but no voice. – HF (Harold Frodge, MI, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 13890, March 2 at 1353, RHC mix quite sufficient, R5, S9+8, of 13670 leaping another 110 kHz over 13780; but nothing audible the other way on 13560. 11840, March 3 at 0603, RHC is running late on this frequency starting `Sonido Cubano` with the Orquesta Sinfónica Nacional, only fair signal, and none of the lower ones found still running, while 11840 too was soon gone (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. CANADA, 9490, Radio República via Sackville to Cuba in Spanish, vgd and clear with anti-Castro commentary 0354 on 12 Feb. Off abruptly 0358:30 and DW Kigali opened 30 seconds later (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Amigos, 9490 kHz, RADIO REPUBLICA "La Voz del Directorio Democrático Cubano", ha sido reportada en el día de ayer sábado 3 de marzo, a partir de las 0020 UT (Domingo 04-03-2012), con programas Anti- Castristas con destino a Cuba. SINPO: 34433. Cierre de emisiones a las 0200. Anuncia el siguiente esquema de emisiones: Sábados y Domingos, de 1900 a 2200 (Hora de Cuba) - 2300-0200 UT por 9490 KHz; y 2200 a 0100 (Hora de Cuba) - 0200-0500 UT, por 5955 KHz. [CUBAN time is NOT UT -4, not yet. Did they never change their announcement from last summer? --- gh] QTH: Radio República Directorio Democrático Cubano P.O. Box 110235 Hialeah, Florida 33011 USA Tel. 305-220-2713 E-mail: Web: Vale señalar que el esquema que figura en el WRTH-2012 respecto de esta estación NO sería el correcto, y que la Página Web: NO estaría activa (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, March 4, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** DJIBOUTI. 4780, Radiodiffusion Télévision du Djibouti, *0259-0344 Mar 1, choral vocal opening followed by a man announcer with ID and opening announcements in Arabic. This was followed by another man with recitations. Later, lively music. Poor to fair at tune in but improving to a solid fair around 0340ish (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing PA 19610, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) ** EAST TURKISTAN. [INTRUDER ALERT] Intruder 40m / Broadcaster Hi, I want to report an intruder on 40m band: Operator: Radio Chine International PX language: French Time/Date: 14 Feb 2012, 1915 UTC Frequency: 7180 kHz Mode: A3E Signal: S9+40 dB RX-Ant: 25m wire, endfed, N-S RX: IC-7600 RX QTH: JO40JB, 20km South East Frankfurt/Main. 73, (Peter DL1YAK, Feb 14, Intruder Alert via Wolfgang Büschel, March 3, DXLD) CHINA, 7180 kHz TX Intermodulation on high power URUMCHI China transmitting site. Fundamental frequencies of two CRI transmissions: French 7350 kHz 500kW 270degr, Bulgarian/Czech 7265 kHz 500kW 308degr, UTC - z 1830-2027 French 9645kun, 7350uru 1830-1857 Bulgarian 9695jin, 7265uru, 6020szg 1900-1927 Czech new?7265{ex7415}uru, 7325bei Intermodulation formula 7265 x 2 = 14530 minus 7350 = 7180 kHz similar signal of CRI Bulgarian/Czech spur should appear too on symmetrical 7350 x 2 = 14700 minus 7265 = 7435 kHz. Czech 1900-1927 UT was registered formerly on 7415 kHz instead, but due of permanent jamming on 7415 kHz, probably Urumchi frequency was replaced by 7265 kHz recently? Location Urumchi map image of 26 tall dipole curtain masts visible, see 44 08'56.11"N 86 53'46.31"E http://g.co/maps/vduy9 73 wolfgang df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) See also CHINA: Firedrake ** EGYPT. 15450, 1600 7 Feb, R. Cairo, listed for Afar service; very poor and distorted signal, could just make out muffled speech and some music (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, HF Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Par 6269.76, 20.2 2135, Radio Cairo med nyheter på engelska. Ovanligt stark denna kväll. 3 (Christer Brunstrom, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 4 via DXLD) 6269.7, R Cairo with Arabic Music and their news theme music and then into News. I THINK it was in English but I wouldn't swear to that. Couldn't really even hear one word that I would say 'yup -- that is English'; Hum/roar in modulation of voice, music was sort of OK. 454+4+1 2127-2132 25/Feb 9315, R Cairo with the usual weak and muddy audio despite a really strong signal. YL reading what appeared to be the news in what appeared to be English (I could catch an occasional phrase) but pretty useless. 45441+ 0220-0228 25/Feb (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) 9315, Radio Cairo at 0200 with a perfectly-modulated Sue Stokely with program highlights and a mention that she is an American living in Egypt for years and into light instrumentals at 0201 then another woman with a tourism program at 0204 - Very Good Mar 4. Hallelujah! They can find good studio equipment! (Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Yay, but I bet it doesn`t last; it never does (gh, DXLD) Weird Signals --- Hi all, tuning around the shortwave band later this afternoon. First of all, Radio Cairo in Arabic on 9305 around 2130 UT is really totally distorted. Might as well take it off the air. I can't understand they keep it on air like that. I have a youtube video of this here : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DWsbTwmADI&context=C3ae129fADOEgsToPDskJw7a7p63NdI4oOn4oYElHM 73's all (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, March 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15210, 03/Mar 2053, R Cairo. Supposedly in French, but only the signal with tinnitus (Jorge Freitas, Feira de Santana, Bahia 12 14´S 38 58´W - Brasil, Degen 1103 - All listening in mode of filter Narrow the 6 kHz. Dipole antenna, 16 meters - east/west Escutas (listening, my blog): http://www.ipernity.com/doc/75006 dxldyg via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Nothing to cause much excitement, except for Radio Cairo which I regard as a rarity. Radio Cairo, 17810 Abu Zaabal. Mar 04, 2012, Sunday. 1613-1619. Swahili, apparently talking about Sudan, mentioned "Khartoum" and, later, "Addis Ababa". Poor. To east Africa (EiBi). Egypt is a rare catch for me. Last logged March 7, 2011, on 11510. Almost exactly a year ago, it must be my annual treat. Joburg sunset 1636. Radio Cairo, 17810 Abu Zaabal. Mar 05, 2012, Monday. 1550-1622. Swahili. OM talking, unreadable, followed by middle-eastern music. OM singing with slow drum accompaniment. Then back to unreadable talk. Poor, but twice in two days. To east africa (EiBi). Joburg sunset 1635. Egypt (NOT) Radio Cairo, 15345 Abis. Mar 05, 2012, Monday. 1603-1639. Although I am (just) getting the Swahili service on 17810, there is no sign of the fabled English to Africa service on 15345. Should be on air 1600-1800, according to all the lists. Not there although, like 17810, targetted to east Africa (EiBi). Joburg sunset 1635 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. 7175, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea - Asmara, 0343. Horn of Africa music, talk by M, musical bridge, M again. Nice at times when ARO’s are silent. Program is in Arabic, ending at 0359 with special announcement by M, music then M in other language at 0400. Fair. 02/03 (Victor C. Jaar, Longueuil, Québec, IC-R75, Long wire, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Meaning 2 March. Special about what? (gh) ** ERITREA/ETHIOPIA. Each morning and evening these are jumping between 7195-7200 (ETH) and 7195-7205 (ERI). The most clearly is on Sundays when Ethiopia`s Foreign Service ends at 1800 (other days 1830) and Eritrea closes down at 1830 – some days ago on 7200 and now on 7195 (both) (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, 30 January, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) More new observations: at 1630 UT on 9705 kHz, Radio Ethiopia in English + Eritrea 2 + DRM jammer on Febr 20. At 0430 UT on Febr 23 Eritrea and the jammers began on 4750, 7110, 7175, 9715, 9720, and 9805 kHz, but the Home Service of Ethiopia was with songs of Whitney Houston on 7200 and 9705 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Feb 26, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 1 via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. 7210, Radio Fana, *0256-0315, sign on with IS. Opening ID announcements at 0300. Amharic talk. Local Horn of Africa music. Chirping birds. Poor. Weak under Russia 7210. Much better on // 6110. March 4. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** EUROPE. Euro-pirate 6305, Very weak at 2320-2330+ with pop music. European dxers say this is TRX Radio. March 3 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Brian, I can confirm that, it's TRX R. Audible as I write this. 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, 2352 UT, ibid.) PIRATE. 6305, TRX Radio, 2320-2355, very weak with pop music. Presumed. IDed by European dxers. March 3 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** EUROPE. FRSH internet streaming [March 4]/repeat March 11th. Hello FRS Friends, Between 1452-2105 UT/15.52-22.05 CET a repeat of the complete February 26th broadcast will be streamed via internet: And more good news: next Sunday March 11th 0752-1403 UT/08:52-15:03 CET the broadcast will be repeated on 7600 and _hopefully_ 9300 kHz. More news follows (mid next week...) 73s, FRS Crew (via Manuel Méndez, Spain, March 4, noticiasdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** EUROPE [and non]. FREE RADIO --- Next Global HF Pirate Weekend will be 24 and 25 March. I am sure there will be more stations on the air. Some will have new transmitters and antennas so it will be very interesting. In the future I can list only the frequency of the station, not the name. I suppose many stations are afraid to be raided if they are listed on my blog. I had nice suggestion from Rick on this: I give only the frequency, and perhaps the country, not the name of the station, or only in real time, in the future, if needed. I have been informed that F2-layer in ionosphere will give better conditions in spring and autumn, like it was in November 2011. So, I expect that in the end of March HF will be open better. For the January 14/15 weekend, despite only a few stations on the air, there were nice reports: Channel Z was received in Japan as first US- pirate, on 11428 with 16 Watts. Borderhunter (Holland) and Undercover (USA) had transatlantic-QSO on 15490 (link to audio on blog). Cupid and Borderhunter had nice signals in New Delhi, India by three listeners. Black Bird reached Japan as the only Central European station. Baltic Sea and Borderhunter were heard in New Zealand again. New HF-stations were on the air: Radio Shadow, Fox 48, Alpenroos, WEMP (Harri Kujala, Finland, hkdx2.blogspot.com, January 16 via DX News, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** FINLAND. Scandinavian Weekend Radio (SWR) on air Fri-Sat Audible with a fair signal on 11689.90 kHz at 0730 UT, slight fading nothing heard last night at 2200 though. SIO 3,4,3. Schedule at: http://www.swradio.net/schedule.htm According to their schedule on their web page they should now be on 11720 kHz but at 0820 UT, 11689.90 kHz is still providing decent reception (Russ Cummings, North Ferriby, AOR 7030+, 60ft long wire, March 3, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) ** FINLAND. QSL letter from MIKES --- Ricevuta in 32 giorni via posta ordinaria la lettera di conferma del rapporto d'ascolto inviato via email alla stazione di tempo e frequenza campione finlandese *MIKES* di/Espoo/ sui/25000 kHz/, con allegatofile audio. Da notare che nella lettera viene indicato l'aumento di potenza del trasmettitore da 40 W a 250 W a partire dal 4 gennaio 2012, ma al momento viene utilizzato ancora solo con 40 W. Copia della lettera al seguente link: http://diarioradio.blogspot.com/2012/03/qsl-mikes.html -- (Roberto Rizzardi, SWL I/0216/GR, Porto S. Stefano (GR) Italy, March 6, bclnews.it yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** FRANCE. HISTORIA DE LA RADIO, DE LA RADIO GALENA AL SONIDO DIGITAL Por Julio Feo La exposición “Histoire de la Radio, ouvrez grand vos oreilles” (Historia de la Radio, preste mucha atención) ha abierto sus puertas al público el 28 de febrero y se prolongará hasta el 2 de septiembre 2012, en el Museo de Artes y Oficios de París.La historia de la radio francesa en un recorrido lúdico y original, aunque históricamente incompleto. . . FUENTE: Portada http://www.espanol.rfi.fr/cultura/20120302-historia-de-la-radio-de-la-radio-galena-al-sonido-digital ESCUCHAR http://telechargement.rfi.fr.edgesuite.net/rfi/espagnol/audio/modules/actu/201203/PAD_CULTURA_IN_VIVO_02_03_12_Exopsicion_Historia_de_la_radio.mp3 (Via Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, DXLD) This exhibition on the history of radio in France totally ignores RFI, and they try to justify that (gh) ** FRANCE. 7390, Radio France Int’l, 0643 French. Program sounded like African current affairs, website says it was Features & Analysis. Fair. Curious that this signal was coming through this well under solar storm conditions. Perhaps it is actually via a southern relay? Mar. 7 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening lakeside from my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe sneaking in under the auroral oval? (gh) ** GERMANY. Over the past week, R 700, Germany seems to have changed the format of the programming as before it used to be oldies songs in English, but now they are sung in German with with a male announcer. Also not noted was the religious type of programme at 1730 UT. R 700 can be heard on 6005 kHz. Before it used to be non-stop oldies pop songs in English with very few announcements except for the odd ID and weather and news towards the top of the hour (Edwin Southwell, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) [and non]. Like Edwin, I have also noted R 700, Germany, later in the evening on 7 February on 3995 from tune-in at 2024 UT playing mostly German cover versions of songs - such as Boney M's “Rasputin” (although I seem to recall that Boney M did record some of their tracks in German, so this may not have been a cover), also a German cover of the Bucks Fizz hit “Land of Make Believe”, and Middle of the Road with a German version of “Yellow Boomerang”. All this followed 20 minutes or so of ethnic-type music from RTV Tunis on 7225 (from tune- in at 1937). Such is the diversity of music that you can hear (Alan Roe, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** GERMANY. 15215, R. Öömrang (via Wertachtal) 21 Feb. *1600-1610, 1635-1700* Frisian/English tnx DXLD tip, heard this once-a-year broadcast with poor/fair signal. OC, then "hello, welcome, we are broadcasting on--meters, Radio Oomrang", then cultural program about 21st of Feb. festivities in the Frisian Islands: "biikebrennen" (bonfires) lit on the eve of St. Peter's Day to drive out winter with special meals and speeches, a mix of English/Frisian 'til 1610 tune/out; retune at 1635 had long all-Frisian speech (Frisian history?) to 1657, then different announcer with possibly website info. Audio cutout for a couple minutes and back at 1659 with English closing remarks: "This is Radio Öömrang, I hope you had some fun during this broadcast, thank you.." and gone 'til next year (Dan Sheedy, G5/X-wire @ Moonlight Beach, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) QSL: Radio Öömrang 15215 kHz E-QSL in 2 days. Report sent to QSL- Shortwave @ media-broadcast.com v/s Lothar Kuchenberg (CHRISTIAN GHIBAUDO, France, 3 March, playdx yg via DXLD) So it`s a proxy, as MB will QSL any client broadcast (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. 15190, 1520 26 Feb, R. Santec via IRRS, ROMANIA, also ID as ``Cosmic Wave`` and ``The Word``, religious program. 1529 IRRS ID and closed; Sundays in English, SIO 555 (Dave Kenny, Berks., HF Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. DWL English still alive ... RWANDA, 9490, Came across surprisingly of DWL's English program outlet from Bonn bc-house at 0430 UT, via Kigali relay site this morning March 05. 9490 0400-0457 46,47W KIG 250kW 280degr English RRW DWL At 0437 UT featured a story of Keith Murdoch press medium empire and investigating procedures. Well reading signal of S=8-9 strength, but little fluttery. and DWL En Kigali relay also on 11800 kHz, also S=8 signal. At 0512 UT report "Inside Europe" of Madrid about protest movement, former foreign building workers, and protester also against bank struggle on "cheap credit cash back" on the street. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No big deal here, fortunately, still to hear DW in English, always via RWANDA now, but apparently it is, back in der Heimat (gh, DXLD) East African target reception, including SW schedule http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,6588795,00.html (Dated Jan.13, 2012) (via Sergei S., dxldyg via DXLD) Lotsa luck navigating from this page to other parts of Africa (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Additional frequency of Deutsche Welle in Swahili from Mar. 3 1000-1100 on 15275 KIG 250 kW / non-dir to CSAf // 9800, 12045, 15440 all KIG (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 07 March via DXLD) ** GHANA. GBC national channels defunct? Remember GBC Radios 1 & 2 [a.k.a. Radio Ghana], which used to be on shortwave 4915 and 3326 kHz? Well, of course they disappeared from SW several years ago and apparently no longer exist - no mention on the GBC website http://gbcghana.com and the last few editions of WRTH merely give a time span and minimal programme details for an unnamed FM service without giving any frequency information. "Radio Ghana" now seems to be just a production centre for some national news and current affairs programmes which are networked to the various regional FM stations at various times (the website has a podcast archive of these). WRTH 2004 edition mentions that Radios 1 & 2 were to be merged; can anyone confirm the existence or otherwise of any GBC national radio channel? (David Kernick, March 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Dave. It's several years since I was last in Ghana (nice country), but my understanding is that, once the SW service closed (there never was any MW in the country), "Radio Ghana" ceased to exist as a separate channel, but was just the ID for the networked news carried on the GBC's various regional stations. In other words, as you describe it. For clarity, the WRTH reference to the unnamed FM channel should go. When both Radio 1 and Radio 2 were still going, they used those names on-air, with "Radio Ghana" as the ID for networked news. Radios 1 and 2 merged when they went down to just a single SW transmitter, and used "Radio Ghana" as the ID for that single national service (Chris Greenway, ibid.) Hi Chris, Thanks for that very comprehensive reply! I visited Accra in 1999 but don't even remember if Radios 1 & 2 were on FM in addition to shortwave at that time, but judging by recordings I made at the time (and the relevant WRTH) they were not. I remember being impressed by the friendly folk of Accra, which stood out in sharp relief from the relentless and exhausting hassle I'd experienced whenever I'd taken more than a few staps from my hotel in Dakar just a few days before. Regards, (Dave Kernick, ibid.) ** GREECE. 4/3, 15070 quite funny to find local (Greek ) pirate in this frequency on 0846 asking for QSO with FM modulation!!! S9 steady signal (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. ERT MW - 13 STATIONS TO CEASE FOR EVER see: After a meeting on February 17, the Administrative Board of the Greek Public Broadcaster (ERT) ordered the switch-off of eleven medium wave transmitters (MW) whereas only nine medium wave transmitters with their respective programs of the Greek Public Radio will keep operating. As can been seen in the tables and the map below, in fact it is the high-power transmitters that survive, most of which are located near the border and had been used previously for the "International Network of ERA". Additionally ERT retains the frequency of the "First Radio Service" (729 kHz) and "Filia" (666 kHz) from Attica, and also the one of ERA Sport (792 kHz) hosted by the former Voice of America transmitter that was re-installed in 2002 at Malgara. A relatively low power transmitter in Florina will also be retained, probably because of its location being nearby to the FYROM. The switch-off includes many historical transmitters; most of them have gracefully served YENED [military radio] and [its successor] ERA since the '60s and hosted initially the transmissions of all regional services of ERA, before FM emerged as a technology. Their FM network started being installed during the early '90s and will remain as the only broadcasting medium for the regional stations that lose their medium wave transmitters. Nevertheless, including the FM transmitters installed after 2000, it seems to cover most of the regional stations' areas of interest. Though, no survey suggesting statistics for the medium wave listenership has seen the light. Please note that due to the transmission mode, as opposed to that of FM, medium wave propagates over long distances and can "overcome" great obstacles, which is valuable in mountainous areas; but it is an old technology with poor sound quality and tends to being abandoned. The decision of the ERT has already started being implemented. It has already been confirmed that the transmitter E.RA. Sports in Attica (erstwhile YENED historical frequency), the transmitter of 9.58 of ERT3 at Malgara (1179) and those of E.RA. Tripoli (1314) and Orestiada (1080) have been already switched off. With this decision, ERT revoked any previous decision concerning the closure of AM transmitters. The official document was posted online and archived under the topic "Culture and Leisure" (!) In our future articles we plan to deal with any problems caused by the switch-off. As the main reason given was to save energy, we should mention that the switched off transmitters had a cumulative power of 500 kW, while the ones which remain in operation consume about 760 kW. The tables and the map indicate the stations that remain in operation according to the announcement made by ERT, and the ones which cease operation as estimated by subtraction. The last list contains probably two stations that seems to have been out of operation in recent years, due to decommissioning of obsolete equipment and lack of qualified personnel, without having been officially dismissed (probably in Larissa and Heraklion). 13 stations to cease for ever: Ioannina 765 kHz Larissa 945 kHz Heraklion 954 kHz Attica 981 kHz Perea 1044 kHz Orestiada 1080 kHz Malgara 1179 kHz Tripolis 1314 kHz Pyrgos 1350 kHz Volos 1485 kHz Serres 1584 kHz Kavala and Kozani 1602 kHz 9 stations remain open: Location Freq(kHz) PowerkW Emitted program 1 Boyati Attica 729 100 EPA 1 (NET 105.8) 2 Megara, Attica 666 100 FILIA 3 Malgara Thessaloniki 792 100 ERA SPORT 4 Corfu 1008 100 Local Progr and National Progr 5 Komotini, Rodopi 1404 100 Local Progr and National Progr 6 Chania 1512 100 Local Progr and National Progr 7 Rhodes, Dodecanese 1494 100 Local Progr and National Progr 8 Zante 927 50 Local Progr and National Progr 9 Florina 1278 10 Local Progr and National Progr Interrupt function: Location Freq(kHz) kW Year establ Emitted program 1 Ioannina 765 10 1968 Local Program 2 Larissa 945 5 1965 Local Program 3 Heraklion 954 10 1972 Local Program 4 Attica 981 200 1963 NRA Sports 5 Perea 1044 150 1947 102FM ERT3 6 Orestiada 1080 10 1970 Local Program 7 Malgara 1179 100 1997 958FM ERT3 8 Tripolis 1314 10 1968 Local Program 9 Pyrgos 1350 3 1959 Local Program 10 Volos 1485 1 1948 Local Program 11 Serres 1584 1 1959 Local Program 12 Kavala 1602 1 1967 Local Program 13 Kozani 1602 1 1967 Local Program (from http://radiofono.gr Febr 27 via Felix Lechte-D, A-DX March 2 via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD; also via Christos Rigas, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Here is a map showing the MW situation in Greece after this shut off: http://www.radiofono.gr/files/images/era-switchoff-english.jpg Source: http://www.radiofono.gr/node/3126 The first ERA station that was turned off was ERA Tripolis on 1314 kHz. The transmitter was turned off on February 23, 2012. related story: Medium-wave transmitter of South Greece ceased operation in a cost- saving effort The medium-wave transmitter of public radio of Tripoli, Peloponnese on 1314 KHz, ceased operations at noon of Thursday, February 23 implementing a rationalization plan of the public broadcasting finances. The transmitter used to operate in this frequency for about 50 years. Complaints have already been expressed as it used to be the only medium-wave transmitter in the central and southern Peloponnese, the reception of the FM transmitter at 101.5 MHz is limited, while the public service of Tripoli has not yet been able to stream via the internet. According to Kalimera Arcadia "a history of more than 50 years on the airwaves of Peloponnese has come to an end. [...] The dismissal of the AM transmitter of Tripoli (as well as other the ones of other areas) had been decided by the administration of ERT following a generalized (memorandum-follower) plan of cost saving since most channels already broadcast in FM." "Especially for Tripoli - and nearby Peloponnese areas, the closure of the transmitter may cause serious problems as there are many (mostly mountainous) who can not receive the FM signal. And of course, we would give right to the protests of many listeners off the station's FM listening area, who are also unable to listen through the internet, since the station hasn't yet been streaming" "Already the historic AM transmitter has been switched OFF, we believe that the administration of ERT may reconsider the issue. There has obviously been waste of money in many operational services .. but this cannot include the regular cost of a transmitter (telephone lines, electricity), which for years operated automatically, i.e. without staff. Public radio should reach everybody. It is the right of listeners to receive the public radio station of their region, even in the smallest village on the mountain top. Let's hope the ones responsible realize that and act accordingly." Source: http://www.radiofono.gr/node/3119 (via Christos Rigas, Chicago, Illinois, USA, dxld yg via DXLD) Thank you, Christos, for sharing about this unfortunate development. It's good that the high-power transmitters used for some kind of unofficial cross-border broadcasting will remain. I'm a bit confused with the transmitter count, though. The headline states that ERT decided to close 13 out of its 22 MW rigs. And then in the first paragraph we read that ERT ordered to silence 11 transmitters with 9 - still remaining in operation. At any count only 9 senders remain. But were there 22 or 20 to begin with? (Sergei S., ibid.) 981 kHz, But heard Greek music at 1902 UT March 2, seemingly a Greek Pirate station covers now the channel? Please help check, DXers on post in southern Italy, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Yes, it would be helpful to have monitoring reports from southern Europe to determine if the transmitters have already been shut down. I tried last night after 2100: It's a hopeless case here. On 1044 Spain dominates here to such an extend now that one has to null it to make Wilsdruff audible at all. Hard to imagine that there are just one 10 kW and another 5 kW transmitter who from more than 1000 kilometres away drown out a 20 kW outlet just 50 km away. 981 had just Algeria in the clear. Not very strong, but this should still not suffice as confirmation of the Attica transmitter being off. (Kai Ludwig, ibid.) Today (March 3) I was able to monitor MW frequencies until 1600 UT. Nothing from Greece on 981 kHz or from the other supposedly closed transmitters. I've heard only some of the active ones on 729, 792, 1008, 1278, 1494, 1512. On 981 kHz around 1515 UT appeared Iran, and earlier a Chinese station which I presume it's CNR 1. I made a recording and posted it on YouTube: http://youtu.be/iU-K2oLvsgY (Tudor Vedeanu, (Gura Humorului, Romania), ibid.) ** GUAM. 9655, March 5 at 1357, good with flutter, pop song, language uncertain, but 1358 Russian announcement. At first thought it might be KNLS with similar format, on one of their frequencies, but currently used only later for Chinese. Gave address in Moskva, and .ru website or e-mail, but finally a few notes of giveaway AWR theme music before cut off at 1359*. So it`s KSDA as scheduled, 1330-1400, 100 kW, 345 degrees from Agat (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. I traveled to Guyana on medical mission trips in the early/mid 2000's. As a co-leader of a medical team of 15-20 people, my listening time was quite limited but I did take a DX398 on most trips. I can't find my notes now, but I do remember that only 560 was heard and 760 was absent on all of my trips. I also remember how electrically noisy Georgetown was! (Bruce Winkelman, Tulsa, OK, March 6, 2012, NRC-AM via DXLD) 3290, V of Guyana (presumed) with NON STOP marimba music -- mostly EZL stuff; most odd, but kind of fun. VERY clear audio but (Presumed) because there were NO announcements of any kind. 354+54 0335-0345 26/Feb (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) ** INDIA. 7420 Guwhati back --- For the last few days, 7420 AIR Guwhati which was off air for some months is noted back but with distorted carrier (No audio) at 0130 etc. Their schedule is 0130-0230 Nepali, 0230-0300 HS, 0300-0430 Bangla, 0700-0800 Nepali, 0800-1100 Bangla, 1215-1330 Tibetan, 1330-1430 Nepali, 1445-1515 Bangla, 1515-1600 HS, 1600-1730 Bangla, 1730-1740 HS (HS = Home Service) Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, March 5, dx_india yg via DXLD) AIR Guwhati 7420 tests around 0110 March 8 with songs etc. on Holi. Scheduled sign on is 0130. Audio heard after long time. Lately some humming carrier only used to be heard. Today is Holi, the festival of colors in India. Happy Holi! Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. 9835, All India Radio, Dari Service strong but heavily distorted (sounded like FM mode) 0331 on 7 Feb with news. Parallel frequencies 11735 strong, 9910.06 fair (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Site? 250 kW Delhi-Khampur per Aoki (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. All India Radio, 17670 Delhi (Khampur). Mar 04, 2012, Sunday. 1702-1730*. Hindi, OM talking about Pakistan. ID at 1705 "All India Radio". Popular music and vocals at 1709, pleasant background music but I prefer paying attention to classical. ID by OM at 1729 "All India Radio", repeated by YL at 1730. Then brief talk by OM and off-air. Good. Joburg sunset 1636 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. [Re 12-09, 50 kW transmitters to be shut down, end of B-11]: 6030 0145-0310 41N DEL 50 102 Uttaranch. 6030 1200-1430 41N DEL 50 102 Uttaranch. 6085 1200-1830 41N DEL 50 154 Internal-N 6190 0445-1215 41NW DEL 50 154 RSW - DEL 7235 0200-0400 41N DEL 50 162 Internal-N 7295 1230-1730 41NW DEL 50 162 FM Gold 7360 0015-0430 41NW DEL 50 162 FM Gold 7360 0615-1200 41NW DEL 50 162 FM Gold 7360 1230-1730 41NW DEL 50 162 FM Gold 7370 0015-0045 41N DEL 50 162 H/E News 9575 1200-1330 42S,43SW DEL 50 102 Tibetan 9575 1330-1830 41NE DEL 50 102 Internal-E 9835 1315-1830 41S DEL 50 174 Internal-S 9950 0045-0130 49NW DEL 50 102 Burmese 11710 1100-1145 41E DEL 50 102 Arunachali 11710 1200-1315 49NW DEL 50 102 Burmese 11830 0115-0400 41 DEL 50 174 Internal-S 15135 0115-0400 41E DEL 50 102 Internal-E 15185 0715-0930 41E DEL 50 102 Internal-E 15185 1100-1145 41E DEL 50 102 Arunachali 15260 0645-0930 41S DEL 50 174 Internal-S 15260 0945-1100 41S DEL 50 174 GOS-II Eng (via BC-DX March 1 via DXLD) ** INDIA. CENTRE FOR BIG HIKE IN DOORDARSHAN, ALL INDIA RADIO OUTLAY Centre for big hike in Doordarshan, All India Radio outlay The government has decided to take the propaganda war against neighbouring countries to a higher level. The UPA government has proposed a massive 10-fold increase in the amount of budget spent on strengthening of Doordarshan and All-India Radio broadcasting and coverage in border areas. The Union information and broadcasting ministry has proposed to spend Rs 986 crores on strengthening of national broadcasters in border areas during the forthcoming 12th plan period. The amount spent in the corresponding period during 11th Plan was Rs 100 crores. Government sources stated that out of the total amount Rs 586 crores has been earmarked for the expansion of Doordarshan, an amount of Rs 400 crores has been proposed for All-India Radio. This is the highest ever amount being proposed by the government to strengthen facilities of national broadcasters over the past few decades. More at : http://www.deccanchronicle.com/channels/nation/north/centre-big-hike-doordarshan-all-india-radio-outlay-066 (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, March 6, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA [and non]. 9526-, March 1 at 1455, VOI fair with vocal music until cut off at 1456:48*, almost a minute before CRI cut on 9525.0 at *1457:42 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Mediocre propagation conditions this past week with a slight increase in local background noise. 9525.978, VOI, 1503 UT. Very weak signal with inadequate audio modulation. Enough audio to be able to pull out some Middle Eastern-sounding vocal music. Poor overall 3 Mar (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9526, March 4 at 1458, VOI still on with enough carrier to make the almost-1-kHz het with CRI which has just come on via Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN, but no modulation audible from either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sunday evening quick reception summary --- Trying out the new Slinky dipole, running N/S. 1920, 9526, Voice of Indonesia - News and Commentary - SIO 444. 73s (Tony Molloy, 20 miles NW of Manchester, UK, March 4, ICF 2001D, Slinky dipole, Twitter @swlistener http://swlistener.wordpress.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL. LISTENING POST: Programme List B11 by Alan Roe This month I have a few additions, deletions and other changes to the lists that have appeared over the last two months. The lists will be fully updated for A-12 and will next appear probably in two parts in June and July. Once the A-12 season is underway, I would appreciate any suggestions for inclusion in these lists. Also, a question: Do you find these listings useful in any way? Is the format acceptable? Can it be improved? Do let me know! Add 0105-0200 su R Ext de Espana SP Desde el Infierno 9535 Add 0500-0600 su R Rebelde SP Toda Música (LAM music) 5025 Add 0600-0700 su R Rebelde SP Toda Música (LAM music) 5025 Add 0650-0657 su R Vaticana Af Sce EN World Around Us (Environment) 7360 9660 11625 Add 0700-0800 su R Rebelde SP Toda Música (LAM music) 5025 Add 1240~1250 mo R Romania Int EN Pro Memoria 15430 15460 17530 17765 Add 1240~1250 th R Romania Int EN Listener's Letterbox 15430 15460 17530 17765 Add 1240~1250 fr R Romania Int EN Traditional Music Box 15430 15460 17530 17765 Add 1240~1250 su R Romania Int EN DX Mailbag 15430 15460 17530 17765 Add 1250~1257 th R Romania Int EN The Skylark 15430 15460 17530 17765 CHG 1805-1825 su Polish R EN Multi-Touch 3955ske CHG 1805-1820 mo,we V of Russia WS EN Moscow Mailbag 7330 CHG 1815-1830 we V of Nigeria EN Evergreens 15120 CHG 1815~1825 mo V of Vietnam EN Vietnam Land & People 5955moo CHG 1815~1825 we V of Vietnam EN Letterbox 5955moo CHG 1815~1825 fr V of Vietnam EN Rural Vietnam 5955moo CHG 1815~1825 sa V of Vietnam EN Weekend Music 5955moo CHG 1815~1825 su V of Vietnam EN Sunday Show 5955moo CHG 1820-1900 tu R Taiwan Int EN We've Got Mail 3965iss CHG 1830-1855 sa,su V of Russia WS EN VoR Treasure Store 7330 Add 2000-2030 mo V of America FR American Hit Parade 9780 12080 15225 Del 2000-2030 daily V of America FR Musique (with Matthew Lavoie) 9780 12080 15225 Add 2000-2030 we V of America FR International Music 9780 12080 15225 Add 2000-2030 th V of America FR African Music 9780 12080 15225 Add 2000-2030 fr V of America FR Music of the Caribbean 9780 12080 15225 Add 2000-2030 Sa-su V of America FR R&B and Rock 9780 12080 15225 Add 2020-2030 daily R Vaticana Eu Sce OO Music (mostly light classical) 6075 7435 Del 2030-2100 su or mo V of Russia WS EN Musical Tales 7330 Del 2030-2100 su V of Russia WS EN Russia - 100 Years of Music 7330 Add 2110-2130 su All India R EN Film Songs 7550 9445 11670 Add 2110-2130 fr China R Int FR Jazz Cafe 6115 7350 (Alan Roe, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** IRAN. 4005, VOIRI Teheran, fair with tuning signal 1927 14 Feb. Theme music & “Govorit Tehran” ident to open Russian program. // 7205 good but with transmission breaks (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran --- Friday 2 March 2012. Parked in the North Pennine Hills today I had a scan on the car radio starting from 7200. I was surprised to find Iran in English at 1542 on 7420. The news was on and was a good to very good signal and no interference from then until 1554 when a telephone interview started. The IRIB World Service website still shows 13785 and 15525 for the 1530-1630 English broadcast. Presumably this is a frequency change from 1 March. I will have to try and find the other frequency if there are still 2 being broadcast. Regards (Harry Brooks, North East England UK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non] Lithuanian relay has been scheduled entire B-11; has it not been on until now? HFCC: ``7420 1530 1630 18,27N SIT 100 259 0 146 1234567 301011 240312 D Eng LTU ZRC ZRC 19055`` Glenn Hauser, ibid.) No Harry, not a change; 7420 is a relay of the IRIB from Sitkunai (Lithuania). 13785 (Sirjan) and 15525 (Kamalabad) continue (Noel R. Green (NW England, on the coast), ibid.) Voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran --- Used to regularly receive emails and postal propaganda from VoIRI before I told them their programming was "Program Comment: Textbook propaganda in use since Nazi Germany." Perhaps I need to learn to NOT be so honest. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, March 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [and non]. 7200, 3/3 0408, Gran Mix: 3 stations. Broad Masses (presumed) dominant with Horn of Africa style songs, Radio Sudan with Arabic talks and maybe Iran (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, RX: Winradio Excalibur Pro - ANT: T2FD - Some images on my blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 7365, "VOICE OF JUSTICE" (vía IRIB), Kamalabad, Irán, abriendo emisiones en Inglés desde las 0330 UT. SINPO: 33433 (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, UT March 4, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** IRAN [and non]. 1575, Radio Iran has established a transmitter on this frequency to disturb Radio Farda. In Växjö Radio Iran has a stronger signal than Radio Farda and the Radio Iran transmitter is off frequency approx 60 Hz. Location unknown (Bengt Ericson, Sweden, (ARC mv-eko 5 March via DXLD) Glenn, this has been going on for a long time now. During good propagation conditions last year, we often saw the other off channel carrier cochannel to the 1575.000 Radio Farda transmitter. Can't recall whether we've seen the same this year, but propagation is way down and I've only occasionally heard Farda this year, compared to daily Farda last year! (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria BC, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. One thing about scanning the bands is the good variety of music and songs in various languages and types of music and songs. As I mentioned to you at the last Reading meeting, I heard a song being played on R Farda titled “Living next Door to Alice”. Can't remember the time now, but late evening and on 5830. Very odd on such a station broadcasting in Farsi (Edwin Southwell, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** ITALY. 5000, Time Signal Station IBF, Turin, 0731-0740, 04-03 Morse code, identification in English, Italian and French: "IBF, IBF, IBF, Standard Frequency and Time Signals from the National Electrotechnical Institute, Turin, Italy". Interference fron WWV Fort Collins, 21221 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Friol, Grundig Satellit 500 and Sony ICF SW 7600 G, Cable antenna, 10 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) As this is only a historical tribute transmitter, I would like to know how accurate the timesignals and the standard frequency really are. If I could ever hear it, would compare to WWV (gh, DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. QRT: RAI Bologna 567 kHz. RAI hat die Sendungen auf 567 kHz aus Bologna am 28.02.2012 eingestellt (via fmdx_italy yahoo group): Photos of the now dead transmitter: [Bologna 567 was 60 kW] http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/budrio.html Just (at 2040 UT) checked out the frequency: No trace of program audio as on 900, so the 20 kW transmitter on Sicilia is completely inaudible here (assuming that it is still on air). Dominating are the signals from Romania, with a rather close runner-up being another transmitter broadcasting opera. Hmmm, who could this be? Should it really be... let's punch up 171: Yupp, it's indeed the same program audio, so Volgograd, more than 2000 kilometres away. Not bad, even for a megawatt blaster, at which everyone can get to the antenna it seems: http://misha2-bbs.narod.ru/rst1.htm That's lovely... http://misha2-bbs.narod.ru/ve.jpg (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) RaiWay and local authorities had already signed an agreement for a new transmitter site some kilometres away from Budrio. So I don`t know if it is just the Budrio site which has been closed, or if broadcasts on 567 kHz from the Bologna area have been closed for good. RaiWay statement is a bit cryptic. 73, (Stefano Valianti, Italy, March 1, MWCircle yg via DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. via ROMANIA. 15190, IRRS, *1257-1315, sign on with inspirational music. IRRS theme music at 1258. IRRS ID at 1300 and into Brother Stair and the Overcomer Ministry programming. Also heard at 1500-1530* with religious program called “Voice of Reason” and “The Word, the Cosmic Wave” at 1500-1526 with address in Germany. Mentioned Santec. Closing IRRS ID announcements at 1529 with contact information. About 30 seconds of English “UNI News” at 1530 before pulling plug. Poor to fair. March 4 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) Overcomer is gone from this; still Santec Sundays? (gh, DXLD) ** JAMAICA. 28434-USB, March 3 at 1436, only a few signals on 10m during CQ contest including 6Y1V, making lots of contacts with 59K signal reports (K = he is running a kilowatt); at 1437 with VA3BL, unheard nor any of his other contacts. QRZ.com leads to website http://www.6y1v.com/ --- ``Welcome to 6Y1V, the contest superstation of K1LZ (Krassy Petkov) & KY1V (David Kopacz) at the home of 6Y5GC (George Campbell) in Hopewell, Jamaica. We hope to hear you on the air you soon.`` [sic] Only if they my listen to my SWBC stations. Try WRMI at 1830. I`ll bet Petkov is Bulgarian, and Kopacz probably Polish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See BRAZIL ** JAPAN. 3925, Radio Nikkei 1 0747 Japanese. Instrumental music. Very poor, // 6055 fair. Mar. 7. 3945, Radio Nikkei 2, 0747 Japanese. Male speaker. According to WRTH and other references this frequency is supposed to close at 0605 or 0610. Poor. Mar. 7 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening lakeside from my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Beware, VANUATU (gh) ** JAPAN [non]. France. NHK Radio Japan, 17735 Issoudun. Mar 04, 2012, Sunday. 1635-1659. Japanese, OM's talking. Cut off in full flow at 1659, no ID heard. Fair - good. Joburg sunset 1636 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And no Tunisia co-channel? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Definitely no Tunisia co-channel. There was some slight atmospheric QRN, but no QRM at all (Bill Bingham, ibid.) ** JAPAN. Tallest Broadcast Tower --- Southgate March 3, 2012 http://www.southgatearc.org/news/march2012/tallest_broadcast_tower.htm The world's tallest free-standing broadcast tower has been completed in Japan. A massive tower called the Tokyo Sky Tree has been completed ahead of schedule. Standing 634 m (2,080 ft) high, it is the world's tallest free-standing broadcast tower - and the second tallest building in the world after the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. Watch the BBC News report at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17234847 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KARELIA. RUSSIA {Karelia} 765 kHz MW on Febr 22, 2012 took Radio Kaleliya [sic] with 0325-0347 UT SINPO 44444. At a distance of more than 1200 km. They have a new QSL which depicts the mast tower (Alexander Golovikhin, Togliatti-RUS, "deneb-radio-dx" RUSdx Feb 26 via BC-DX March 1 via DXLD) Yes, since co-channel powerhouse Sottens Switzerland ceased transmission forever, Radio Kaleliya 765 kHz is easily heard on various times of morning/night here in southwestern Germany too (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) ** KAZAKHSTAN. 9310, Family R. Signal came on at 1046:57, and deadair to 1100 when usual IS song started. W with presumed opening announcements in Ilocano. 1101 fanfare then apparent religious talk program. Slowly getting better and up to fair by end, 1157 with same religious theme song and closing by W with Family R. address in CA. 1200 IS again, then W with ID in Tagalog. 1201 fanfare, W intro and talk by M (same program an hour earlier??). Faded pretty by 1258. IS again at 1300, then what sounded like heavily accented English. Fanfare, then M mentioning "world" and "revelation". Finally went off at 1400:04. Nothing from Kazakhstan on any of the other sub-31mb freqs/times. (28 Feb.) [non] KUWAIT, 11510, R. Free Asia 1059 instrumental music, 5+1 time ticks, M with ID in presumed Tibetan, instrumental music, then talk by deep-voiced M. After time ticks at 1200, it went off. Not much stronger than at s/on. So no sign of Kazakhstan from 0950-1210 during the MD recording. (28 Feb.) Spent the 1300 and 1400 hours looking for transmissions from Kazakhstan but nothing definitive. Nothing on 9310 at all while Family R. was heard there on the 28th. So it looks like Kazakhstan can be added to the list of SWBC countries gone. (4 March) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, NRD-535D, Perseus SDR, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) 9310, WYFR via Almaty, 1316 UT. Last day of operation. Weak with static crashes. WYFR theme at 1317. Sermon by OM. Poor overall, 29 Feb (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA, Perseus SDR, Wellbrook Loop, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KAZAKHSTAN [non]. Re: Closing Alma-Aty Kazakhstan transmitters in March 2012 --- Was checking Alma-Ati schedule till 1600 UT, found: 12130 kHz, Family R. 1300~1400 Nepali SoAs 200kW 132 degrees: 1329 UT, 44334 OM talking about sins and god, eternal life, 1330 Tune, frequency and program info; 7550 kHz, Family R. 1400~1600 Punjabi SoAs 500kW 177 degrees: at 1429 UT, 44444, OM talking about gifts of GOD and his care. 7560 kHz, Open R. N. Korea 1400~1500 Korean: at 1434 UT, SINPO 44334 - English Learning Program in Korean by OM & YL. All other transmissions between 10-16 UT were missing. Additionally found 9380 kHz, R. Free North Korea, 1200~1400 Korean Yerevan-Gavar Armenia: 1228 UT, YL Talking, 34433 - weak but fair I wonder what steps Bible Voice and WYFR are taking about this sudden closure (Partha Sarathi Goswami, Siliguri, West Bengal, India, March 1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also BURMA [non] Closing Alma-Aty Kazakhstan transmitters in March 2012: Family Radio for Philippines: 1100-1200 Ilocano 17555 via Grigoriopol MDA (ex 9310 via Almati) 1200-1300 Filipino 17555 via Grigoriopol MDA (ex 9310 via Almati) 1200-1300 Cebuano 17860 via Yerevan ARMENIA (ex 9390 via Almati) de Hiroshi (S Hasegawa, Japan, Mar 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Moldova - 2-Mar-12 at 1201 UT, 17555, WYFR Filipino SINPO 34333, YL talking then music followed by YL ID and YL talking, 1202 OM talking, presumed Bible reading hour Armenia - 2-Mar-12 at 1205 UT, 17860, WYFR Cebuano SINPO 43434, OM talking presumed Bible reading -- Thanks & Regards, (Partha Sarathi Goswami, Siliguri, Dist. Darjeeling, West Bengal, INDIA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) How do you know that 17555 is Grigoriopol? See 12-09, where tests on that frequency were traced to Tashkent. Or later changed? (gh, DXLD) Re: Kazakstan - Last Days on SW > I bow to the expertise of Kai on this topic BUT during the last > 3 years I clearly remember reading that Samara (the new one away > from Novosemeykino) was earmarked for imminent closure. That site > is alive and kicking - which backs up Kai's point. > 73's Dan Goldfarb Indeed, there were such local press reports, and they clearly referred to the shortwave plant (known as Radio Centre 3), not the meanwhile demolished Novosemeykino facilities. They added that the process may take some years, but these years have meanwhile passed. A source who prefers to remain unnamed meanwhile pointed out that official documents from Kazteleradio could be read in such a way that the Dmitriyevka facility has indeed been withdrawn at some point between 1997 and now, with only the Tolkiyn plant left. But this is also just a conclusion drawn from abstract facility numbers. Still no real information is available. And the monitoring reports I saw so far do not really indicate whether or not the hinted shut-down took place. There were mentions of new transmissions from Grigoriopol and/or Tashkent as well as "A-A" frequencies still being in use (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 3, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) 15390 kHz BVBN via Dushanbe 1100-1130 Chinese (Mo) 1100-1115 Cantonese (Tu-Fr) 1115-1130 English (Tu-Fr) 1100-1130 English (Sa,Su) de Aoki ex. 1400-1430 6225, 9375 via Almati It was Cantonese not Vietnamese that I received on Mar. 2 [see UNID] (S. Hasegawa, Japan, March 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) U S A [non]. Some frequency changes of WYFR Family Radio from Mar 1 1100-1300 13690 UNID tx to EaAs English, ex 13795 A-A 300 kW / 094 deg 1100-1200 17555 UNID tx to SEAs Illocano,ex 9310 A-A 300 kW / 121 deg 1200-1300 17555 UNID tx to SEAs Tagalog, ex 9310 A-A 300 kW / 121 deg 1200-1300 17860 UNID tx to SEAs Cebuano, ex 9390 A-A 200 kW / 132 deg 1200-1300 13720 UNID tx to SEAs English, ex 9310 A-A 300 kW / 121 deg 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, March 5, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Ivo, Tnx for the update. 17555 has already been traced to Tashkent, as in DXLD 12-09 unidentified section. Or did it change again? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) IBB BBG RMS monitoring at Manila PHL showed yesterday March 5 Some frequency changes of WYFR Family Radio from March 1: 1100-1300 NF 13690 UNID tx to EaAs English, ex 13795 A-A 300 kW / 094 1200-1300 NF 13720 UNID tx to SEAs English, ex 9310 A-A 300 kW / 121 Both 250 kW Trincomalee-CLN to Manila target according to GE 77 degr. DWL used previously ITU ant type 217 / 218, centered 75 degrees, to be slewed plus/minus 15 or 30 degrees also. 1100-1200 NF 17555 UNID tx to SEAs Ilocano, ex 9310 A-A 300 kW / 121 1200-1300 NF 17555 UNID tx to SEAs Tagalog, ex 9310 A-A 300 kW / 121 Grigoriopol Maiac-MDA relay site, 78 degrees towards Manila, revolving antenna? 1200-1300 NF 17860 UNID tx to SEAs Cebuano, ex 9390 A-A 200 kW / 132 deg, Yerevan Gavar Armenia relay site. 87 degrees towards Manila. vy73 de Wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) MOLDOVA/SRI LANKA Ivo from Bulgaria mentioned new YFR tests yesterday. Noted this March 6: 13690 kHz YFR English from SLBC site Trincomalee-CLN noted around 1130 UT on SDR remote unit in Japan with S=8-9 strength. 17555 kHz YFR English from Grigoriopol Maiac-MDA noted on test at around 1125 UT on SDR remote units in Japan with S=9 strength. Little stronger all over Europe at FIN, IRL, U.K., HOL, BEL, GER, ITA, GRC rx sites. Weak signal heard in Austria (Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ARMENIA/MOLDOVA/SRI LANKA. At 1247 UT March 6th only a faint signal of 13690 and 13720 from YFR Trincomalee test heard in EUR, only poor to fair signals in central Finland. In Japan and Australia heard all test frequencies 13690TRM, 13720TRM, 17555GRI, 17860ERV with mostly S=8-9 signals, but in southern Japan close to Yamaguchi and also at remote unit in Brisbane noted always stronger at S=9+10dB level, and on 22 mb even rather on S=9+20dB signal level at 1235 UT March 6. I guess all YFR broadcasts from former DWL, now SLBC site Trincomalee Ceylon can cover a lot of the Muslim world audience, from the westerly Tanzania, Somalia, Sudan in NoEAF, also to NE&ME target, the CeASian and Indian subcontinent targets, as well as INS and Mindanao in PHL too (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 6, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Family Radio: I was able to confirm that 13690 and 13720 kHz via Trincomalee were transmitted from March 2 when analyzed data of Perseus. de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, Japan, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No transmissions of BVBN in Chinese/Cantonese/English: 1400-1430 NF 9375 A-A 200 kW / 132 deg to EaAs from Mar 1, cancelled No transmissions for Voice of Orthodoxy in Russian Tue/Fri: 1600-1630 on 7515 A-A 200 kW / 310 deg to CeAs from March 2, cancelled (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 07 March via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. L'etere della Corea del Nord --- Ciao, ecco il podcast della puntata di oggi di Interferenze andata in onda su Radio3 dedicata ai segnali radio della Corea del Nord http://www.radio.rai.it/podcast/A42424571.mp3 Saluti, (Andrea Borgnino, IW0HK, March 1, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) Ciao a tutti, ho una domanda per Andrea che potrebbe interessare molti: c`è un modo per recuperare le puntate precedenti? Grazie! (Antonello Romaniello, ibid.) Eccone qui un'altra puntata http://www.podcast.it/episodi/radio3mondo-interferenze-del-27-01-2012-16947954.html 73 (Andrea HK, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH. Others on 4557 kHz can receive DRM of the UnID that continues carrying non-stop pops without an announcement on 6600 kHz at *2330v-0405v* from Feb. 29. 4557 kHz TX7 3985 18.40 kbps EEP AAC+ P-Stereo ID:8299 6600 kHz TX6 25875 18.40 kbps EEP AAC+ Mono ID:8299 TX6 on DRM http://www.mediacat-blog.jp/usr/drm/6600_20120229_0415.gif de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, Japan, March 1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And I thought it was North Korean jamming on 6600! Still do as it is identical to 6518. Very few are listening on DRM and I think it is a form of jamming perhaps under the guise of an experimental DRM service (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Norwood, TAS, ibid.) Why would North Korea start jamming when South Korea stops their transmission? (Mauno Ritola, Finland, March 7, ibid.) Mauno the North Koreans are very similar to the Cubans in that they jam any potential south Korean transmissions. Even if they abandon either temporarily or permanently their known frequencies. The white noise they use sounds very similar to DRM and a Japanese monitor claimed it indeed was DRM. Why Pyongyang would use it as nobody would be listening to that mode leads one to speculate perhaps DRM is being used a a jammer. FWIW the only audio that I can hear in the jamming sound is on 6518, all other channels are completely obliterated by the white noise/DRM. 6230 is used by VLW Wiluna WA for weather broadcasts on USB and is unusable in the local evening and early morning hours because of the persistent QRM from the jammers (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Norwood, Tasmania, March 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Robin, I know North Korean and Cuban jamming and it would be OK if the jamming would continue the same after the jammed target signs off, but it starts only after that. And the type of music it plays: http://web.ndxc.org/aoki/dc/tx7_3985-20120202-0217_4557.mp3 No, the DRM transmission must be from South Korea. Best regards, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) Does not make sense if it was South Korea in DRM because there will be nobody at all in the DPRK with DRM receivers. Occasionally do hear the same audio as 6516 which it is said is from South to North. The white noise or DRM, if it really is that, is constant on other channels that are jammed around the clock, that is 6003, 6015, and 6348. These are all from the South to the North. Yes the South does also jam the North Koreans but it sounds different, e.g. 3480 but not the official North Korean external services in Korean. They both target their clandestine signals. Mutual paranoia! Just listened to the recording of the DRM transmission on 4557 and it sounds to me if it is coming from the Americans and not the South Koreans :) Again I reiterate who would have DRM except the Intelligence/security apparatus. 4557 is a known North Korean clandestine frequency as I have previously heard audio with typical music and slogans but not of late (Robin VK7RH Harwood, Norwood, Tasmania 7250, March 7, ibid.) ** KOREA NORTH [and non]. KRE / KOR March 2 - nothing heard today on usual 6100, 7570, 9335.010, 9849.968, 9975.011, 11709.983, 12015.286 kHz. KOREA D.P.R. Between 1340-1500 UT on March 2nd I checked the various North Korean broadcasts and jamming stations on different remote units in Japan and Europe. 621, 1053{heavily bubble jammer covered}, 2349.721-not on air?, 3220.000, 3911.990 engine noise jammed, 3959.020 some QRM noise, distorted audio modulation 3966v and 3979v, 3985.004, two peaks 4449.968jamming and Korean 4449.988 in disturbed range approx. 4433 to 4464 kHz. 5855 - 6 kHz wide jammer signal ahead, 6003 + two jamming peaks of bubble/howler audio type on 6000 and 6005, 6015 smallband jamming of 3 kHz, 6100 - nothing heard today of KCBS Pyongyang Kanggye, 6185.011, 6230 plus bubble/howler audio type, 6251 distorted multi-tone engine type - jamming or UTE signal?, 6284.991 VoKOR Russian-'amerikansky imperialista', 6348 white noise jamming, 6400 Pyongyang BS Kanggye - western big band orchestra music - S=9+30dB in JPN. 6518, V of People Kyonggi-do-KOR in Korean plus distorted 6507...6532, plus OHR 6522-6545 of unknown country origin, \\ 6600 kHz not jammed - and same content of 6518 kHz. Korean Radio Play noted at 1435 UT March 2, 11680.002 kHz, Nothing of VOK French on air logged on the following frequencies today 14-15 UT March 2nd: 7570 no French service of VOK Kujang noted, as well as nor on 9335.010, 9849.968, 9975.011, 11709.983, 12015.286 kHz. Maybe the Chinese delivered the announced new SW transmitter to Kujang site at present now? And some of the older transmitter units and antenna masts switched OFF during refurbishing? (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) North Korea's international service and jamming has indeed been on and off for days. VOK returned a couple of days ago at 1500 in English but has been missing the last two days. This appears to be more than a shortwave problem. A monitor in South Korea tells me the FM network has been off the air as well, leading South Korea to halt its FM jamming ops around Seoul (Martyn Williams (FYI Glenn, I moved from Tokyo. It's now Palo Alto, CA), March 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nichts aus Kujang zu hören, not on air at 2000-2100 UT. 73 wb 2000 Franzoesisch 7570 12015 3560 WeEUR 2000 Koreanisch (KCBS) 6285 9325 4405 WeEUR 2000 Koreanisch (KCBS) 7210 11910 SoAF 2000 Koreanisch (KCBS) 9975 11535 ME, NoAF (Wolfgang Büschel, March 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But on air a g a i n on March 3rd 0000 Chinese 13650 15100 3560 SoEaAS 0000 Korean (PBS) 7220 9345 9730 4405 NoEaCHN 0000 Spanish 11735 13760 15180 CeAM, SoAm KOREA D.P.R. on air a g a i n at 1000-1100 UT March 3. 1000 English 6185 9850 SoEaAS 1000 English 6285 9335 CeAM, SoAM 1000 Japanese 621 6070 7580 9650 JPN; but not 3250 nor 4405 1000 Korean (PBS) 7220 9345 3560 NoEaCHN KOREA D.P.R. on air a g a i n at 1100-1200 UT March 3, except Kanggye in Japanese on 6070 kHz is OFF today. 1100 Chinese 7220 9345 NoEaCHN ; but not on 3560 feeder 1100 French 6185 9850 SoEaAS 1100 French 6285 9335 ALS, WeCAN, CeAM, SoAM 1100 Japanese 621much distorted Japanese language signal heard in Tokyo, maybe main power failure on North Korean transmitter site? 6070-off air 7580 9650 JPN; but not 3250 nor 4405 kHz KOREA D.P.R. All VoKOR's external services WAS O F F AIR a g a i n at approx. 1215 UT March 3 onwards! Still OFF at 1238 UT. 1200 Japanese 621 6070-off air 7580 9650 JPN; but not 3250 nor 4405 1200 Korean (KCBS) 6185 9850 SoEaAS 1200 Korean (KCBS) 6285 9335 ALS, WeCAN, CeAM, SoAM 1200 Korean (PBS) 7220 9345 NoEaCHN but not 3560 feeder Measured frequencies on March 3: 6185.011 6285.013 7219.998 7579.992 9334.952 9344.980 9650.123 9850.088 kHz 73 wb KOREA D.P.R. Kujang on air a g a i n at 1300-1320 UT March 3. 1300 Chinese 6185 9850 SoEaAS 1300 English 9335 11710 NoAM 1300 English 7570 12015 WeEUR 1300 Korean (PBS) 6285 9325 EUR Korean 6284.990 kHz produces sometimes audio ditting, like main power low voltage failure ? Chinese 6185.019 9849.967 kHz Also on 7570.014 9325.007 9335.012 11709.980 12014.981 kHz just after 1300 UT. But seems from approx. 1330-1357 UT only single Korean sce 6284.990 kHz was remaining on air, all others off air. KOREA D.P.R. Kujang on air a g a i n at 1500-1600 UT March 3, on all services/frequencies. 1500 Arabic 9990 11545 NE/ME, NoAF 1500 English 9335 11710 NoAM 1500 English 7570 12015 WeEUR 1500 Russian 6285 9325 EUR Measured frequencies on March 3: 6284.991 7570.015 9324.950 9335.014 9989.968 11545.020 11709.982 12015.008 kHz KOREA D.P.R. Kujang on air a g a i n at 1600-1700 UT March 3, on all services/frequencies. 1600 German 6285 9325 WeEUR 1600 English 9990 11545 NE/ME, NoAF 1600 French 9335 11710 NoAM 1600 French 7570 12015 WeEUR Measured frequencies on March 3: 6284.991 7570.012 9325.012 9335.013-mostly OFF and ON switch 9989.967 11545.017 11709.982 12015.004 kHz KOREA D.P.R. Kujang on air a g a i n at 1700-1800 UT March 3, on all services/frequencies. 1700 Arabic 9990 11545 NE/ME, NoAF 1700 Korean (KCBS) 9335 11710 NoAM 1700 Korean (KCBS) 7570 12015 WeEUR 1700 Russian 6285 9325 EUR Measured frequencies on March 3: 6284.991 7570.012 9325.012 9335.013-mostly OFF and ON switch 9989.969 11545.017...x013 11709.982 12015.004 kHz KOREA D.P.R. Kujang on air a g a i n at 1800-1900 UT March 3, on all services/frequencies. 1800 German 6285 9325 WeEUR 1800 English 7570 12015 WeEUR 1800 French 7210 11910 SoAF 1800 French 9975 11535 NE/ME, NoAF Measured frequencies on March 3: 6284.989 7210.004 7570.015 9325.012 9974.966 11535.018 11909.983 12015.017 kHz KOREA D.P.R. Kujang on air a g a i n at 1900-2000 UT March 3, on all services/frequencies. 1900 German 6285 9325 WeEUR 1900 English 7210 11910 SoAF 1900 English 9975 11535 NE/ME, NoAF 1900 Spanish 7570 12015 WeEUR Measured frequencies on March 3: 6284.988 7210.005 7570.013 9325.010 9974.966 11535.017 11909.983 12015.018 kHz KOREA D.P.R. all VoKOR's external services from Kujang were O F F AIR at approx. 2000-2100 UT, March 3 onwards ! 2000 French 7570 12015 WeEUR 2000 Korean (KCBS) 6285 9325 WeEUR 2000 Korean (KCBS) 7210 11910 SoAF 2000 Korean (KCBS) 9975 11535 NE/ME, NoAF Resumen: Kanggye 6070 in Japanese was totally OFF air. When VOK was OFF air at 1200-1300, 2000-2100 UT and from 1330-1400 UT, often a single channel resumed services, like 7 x txs at Kujang were totally silent, and but a single station was still on air, probably from DIFFERENT LOCATION like Kangyye? No 3 or 4 MHz audio feeder noted anymore, like 2 years ago. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, 2032 UT Mar 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) KOREA D.P.R. VoKOREA Kujang on air a g a i n at 1400-1500 UT March 4th. 1400 French 9335 11710 ALS, CAN, NoAM 1400 French 7570 12015 WeEUR 1400 Korean (KCBS) 6185 9850 SoEaAS 1400 Russian 6285 9325 EUR Measured frequencies on March 4 at 1415-1425 UT: 6185.011 6284.990 7570.014 9325.012 9335.013 11709.981 12014.957 kHz. (wb, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 4, ibid.) Beware on 9325 and 9335 kHz channels are co-channel by VOA Burmese Tinang-PHL and US separate Radio organization "Radio Azadi" Kuwait in Dari and Pashto to Afghanistan/North Western Pakistan. All noted in BUL on March 3 1500-1557 UTC 6285 1500-1557 Russian 200 325 Kujang 7570 1500-1557 English 200 325 Kujang 9325 1500-1557 Russian 200 325 Kujang 9335 1500-1557 English 200 28 Kujang 9990 1500-1557 Arabic 200 296 Kujang 11545 1500-1557 Arabic 200 296 Kujang 11710 1500-1557 English 200 28 Kujang 12015 1500-1557 English 200 325 Kujang 73 (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. 9335, March 3 at 1451, martial music concluding the French hour of VOK, but nothing audible on 11710 except a JBA carrier which could have been something else; OC until 1500 IS and opening English. VOK`s broadcasts as well as Juche jamming have been sporadic and unpredictable lately. Jamming and VOK check March 4: at 1253, 4450 has propeller-noise jamming only; at 1254, 4557 weak talk, no jamming but some CODAR; 6230, 6348, 6518 and 6600 all have noise jamming only audible; at 1314, 9335 with VOK in English, no 11710, also weaker 9325 in Korean; at 1409, both 9335 and 11710 in French (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH. Updated winter B-11 for Voice of Korea: 0700-0757 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 0700-0757 on 7580 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 0700-0757 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 0700-0757 on 9650 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 0700-0757 on 9975 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Russian 0700-0757 on 11735 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Russian 0700-0757 on 13760 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 0700-0757 on 15245 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 0800-0857 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 0800-0850 on 7580 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 0800-0857 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 0800-0850 on 9650 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 0800-0857 on 9975 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Russian 0800-0857 on 11735 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Russian 0800-0857 on 13760 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 0800-0857 on 15245 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 0900-0957 on 6070 KNG 250 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 0900-0950 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 0900-0957 on 7580 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 0900-0950 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 0900-0957 on 9650 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 0900-0957 on 9975 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Korean 0800-0857 on 11735 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Korean 0800-0857 on 13760 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 0800-0857 on 15245 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 1000-1050 on 6070 KNG 250 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 1000-1057 on 6185 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in English, or new 6180? 1000-1057 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in English 1000-1057 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 1000-1050 on 7580 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 1000-1057 on 9335 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in English 1000-1057 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 1000-1050 on 9650 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 1000-1057 on 9850 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in English 1100-1157 on 6070 KNG 250 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 1100-1157 on 6185 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in French, or new 6180? 1100-1157 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in French 1100-1157 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 1100-1157 on 7580 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 1100-1157 on 9335 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in French 1100-1157 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 1100-1157 on 9650 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 1100-1157 on 9850 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in French 1200-1250 on 6070 KNG 250 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 1200-1250 on 6185 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Korean, or new 6180? 1200-1250 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Korean 1200-1257 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 1200-1250 on 7580 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 1200-1250 on 9335 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Korean 1200-1257 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 1200-1250 on 9650 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 1200-1250 on 9850 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Korean 1300-1357 on 6185 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Chinese, or new 6180? 1300-1357 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 1300-1357 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in English 1300-1357 on 9325 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 1300-1357 on 9335 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in English 1300-1357 on 9850 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Chinese 1300-1357 on 11710 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in English 1300-1357 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in English 1400-1450 on 6185 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Korean, or new 6180? 1400-1457 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 1400-1457 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in French 1400-1457 on 9325 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 1400-1457 on 9335 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in French 1400-1450 on 9850 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Korean 1400-1457 on 11710 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in French 1400-1457 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in French 1500-1557 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 1500-1557 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in English 1500-1557 on 9325 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 1500-1557 on 9335 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in English 1500-1557 on 9990 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in Arabic 1500-1557 on 11545 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in Arabic 1500-1557 on 11710 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in English 1500-1557 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in English 1600-1657 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in German 1600-1657 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in French 1600-1657 on 9325 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in German 1600-1657 on 9335 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in French 1600-1657 on 9990 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in English 1600-1657 on 11545 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in English 1600-1657 on 11710 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in French 1600-1657 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in French (not German) 1700-1757 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 1700-1750 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 1700-1757 on 9325 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Russian 1600-1657 on 9335 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Korean 1700-1757 on 9990 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in Arabic 1700-1757 on 11545 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in Arabic 1700-1750 on 11710 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Korean 1700-1750 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 1800-1857 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in German 1800-1857 on 7210 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in French 1800-1857 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in English 1800-1857 on 9325 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in German 1800-1857 on 9975 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in French 1800-1857 on 11535 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in French 1800-1857 on 11910 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in French 1800-1857 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in English 1900-1957 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in German 1900-1957 on 7210 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in English 1900-1957 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Spanish 1900-1957 on 9325 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in German 1900-1957 on 9975 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in English 1900-1957 on 11535 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in English 1900-1957 on 11910 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in English 1900-1957 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Spanish 2000-2050 on 6285 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 2000-2050 on 7210 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in Korean 2000-2057 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in French 2000-2050 on 9325 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 2000-2050 on 9975 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in Korean 2000-2050 on 11535 KUJ 200 kW / 296 deg in Korean 2000-2050 on 11910 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in Korean 2000-2057 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in French 2100-2157 on 7235 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 2100-2157 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in English 2100-2150 on 7580 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 2100-2157 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 2100-2150 on 9650 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 2100-2157 on 9975 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in Chinese 2100-2157 on 11535 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in Chinese 2100-2157 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in English 2200-2257 on 7235 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 2200-2257 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Spanish 2200-2257 on 7580 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 2200-2257 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 2200-2257 on 9650 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 2200-2257 on 9975 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in Chinese 2200-2257 on 11535 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in Chinese 2200-2257 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Spanish 2300-2350 on 7235 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 2300-2350 on 7570 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 2300-2350 on 7580 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 2300-2350 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 2300-2350 on 9650 KUJ 200 kW / 109 deg in Japanese 2300-2350 on 9975 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in Korean 2300-2350 on 11535 KUJ 200 kW / 271 deg in Korean 2300-2350 on 12015 KUJ 200 kW / 325 deg in Korean 0000-0057 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 0000-0057 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 0000-0057 on 9730 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Korean 0000-0057 on 11735 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Spanish 0000-0057 on 13650 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Chinese 0000-0057 on 13760 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Spanish 0000-0057 on 15100 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Chinese 0000-0057 on 15180 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Spanish 0100-0157 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in English 0100-0157 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in English 0100-0157 on 9730 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in English 0100-0157 on 11735 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in English 0100-0157 on 13650 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in French 0100-0157 on 13760 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in English 0100-0157 on 15100 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in French 0100-0157 on 15180 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in English 0200-0257 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 0200-0257 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 0200-0257 on 9730 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in Chinese 0200-0257 on 11735 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Spanish 0200-0257 on 13650 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in English 0200-0257 on 13760 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Spanish 0200-0257 on 15100 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in English 0200-0257 on 15180 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in Spanish 0300-0357 on 7220 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in English 0300-0357 on 9345 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in English 0300-0357 on 9730 KUJ 200 kW / non-dir in English 0300-0357 on 11735 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in French 0300-0357 on 13650 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Chinese 0300-0357 on 13760 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in French 0300-0357 on 15100 KUJ 200 kW / 238 deg in Chinese 0300-0357 on 15180 KUJ 200 kW / 028 deg in French KNG=Kanggye KUJ=Kujang (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 07 March via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 6135, March 2 at 1340, Sea Breeze still here in English on Friday, from JSR, Tokyo/Yamata, JAPAN. Before long we will be losing access to this for a semiyear due to increasing daytime absorption and noise (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. UZBEKISTAN, Extended transmissions for Voice of Martyrs in Korean: 1600-1730 on 7485 TAC 100 kW / 065 deg to KRE, ex 1600-1700 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 07 March via DXLD) ** KOREA SOUTH [and non]. 6518, March 3 at 1350, weak Korean and no jamming audible, as it`s become quite sporadic lately, nor on // 6600. But 6518 had het and QRM from the 6520 local Enid mixing product I reported recently, computed as 4 x 1390 = 5560 + 960 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN [non]. UKRAINE. 11530, Denge Mezpootamya, 1320-1345, local Kurdish music and talk. Fair. Barely audible in noisy conditions at 1457 check. March 4 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) ** KUWAIT. 15540, March 3 at 1833, R. Kuwait very poor in English but enough to hear an ID in passing amid newscast. As spring oncomes we may expect gradual improvement in reception of this 18-21 UT broadcast at 310 degrees which RK continues to pretend is in Arabic and in DRM! Per HFCC registrations, also A-12. 15540, March 4 at 1758, JBA carrier as R. Kuwait is presumably about to switch from Urdu prélude to English, by playing the national anthem twice (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sunday evening quick reception summary --- Trying out the new Slinky dipole, running N/S. 1846, 15540, R Kuwait - Music - SIO 333, 73s (Tony Molloy, 20 miles NW of Manchester, UK, March 4, ICF 2001D, Slinky dipole, Twitter @swlistener http://swlistener.wordpress.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [and non]. Radio Kuwait. 21540 Sulaibiyah. Mar 05, 2012, Monday. 1112- 1122. Arabic, OM talking, but mostly unreadable. No ID heard. Poor. Competing with co-channel Radio Exterior de España from Noblejas, according to the state of the fade. Joburg sunset 1635 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. KWT IBB rotating ALLISS light antenna --- Bing Maps shows for the first time the newer rotating ALLISS light antenna. In contrast to the antennas in Issoudun France, this dipol array contains no tx house below the rotatable antenna - like the Alliss one in Sines Portugal. The IBB BBG Alliss one is fed by a 1.1 kilometers long feeder line from the central TX house, to location 29 31'24.32"N 47 40'20.71"E. cut and paste URL: sign '/#/' works not properly on double-click http://www.bing.com/maps/explore/#/qgwhts4w463tv41v [works for me; more interesting view of this thing than most --- gh] see also under Radio Kuwait Kabd http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ALLISS http://www.thomson-broadcast.com/products/antennas-masts/short-wave-directional-and-non-directional-antenna-systems/rigid-dipole-ante http://www.thomson-broadcast.com/products/antennas-masts/short-wave-directional-and-non-directional-antenna-systems/hp-rca-rotatable http://www.thomson-broadcast.com/products/antennas-masts/short-wave-directional-and-non-directional-antenna-systems http://www.thomson-broadcast.com/products/antennas-masts http://www.thomson-broadcast.com/sites/default/files/Products-images/Antenna-MW-LW.jpg http://www.thomson-broadcast.com/products/antennas-masts/medium-and-longwave-antenna-systems http://www.thomson-broadcast.com/products/radio-transmission/shortwave-transmitter-tsw-family/tsw-2500d-shortwave-transmitter vy73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. Tentative: Libya 11600, Very weak station heard at 1710- 1728+ with talk, Lite instrumental music. No ID heard but I think I may have heard their usual theme music. [later:] Definitely Libya. ID heard at 1744. French talk. Heard their usual theme music. Weak, very tough copy in noisy conditions Mar 4 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Brian, 11600 Libya heard from tune-in at 1615 onwards with talk and ID and still there when rechecked at 1745-ish (Alan Roe (Teddington, UK), March 4, ibid.) "Radio Télévision Libye" (and not "Radio Télévision Libyenne" or "Radio Télévision de la Lybie" which are more correct) heard until s/off at 1801 approx., today March 4 (Jean-Michel Aubier, France, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, ibid.) 11600, Radio Télévision Libye - Radio Libye, 1710-1800, French talk. Instrumental music. ID at 1744. Heard their usual theme music. Weak. Tough copy in noisy conditions. March 4. Noted a very weak unID station signing on at 1603. Possibly Libya back at their normal sign on time? March 4 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX Listening Digest) 11600, Radio Télévision Libye - Radio Libye, *1740-1802*, lite music. ID at 1743. French talk. Poor to fair. March 5 (Brian Alexander, PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX Listening Digest) ** LITHUANIA. Radio Sitkunai. Detailed information about antennas/transmitters: http://www.zilionis.lt/rtv/qth/sit/index.php?e Detailed chart http://www.zilionis.lt/rtv/qth/sit/sit-widearea.php Sitkunai Soviet topographic map http://www.zilionis.lt/rtv/qth/sit/sit-map2.php Photos of the SW-antennas http://www.zilionis.lt/rtv/qth/sit/sit-sw.php Quite interesting information about the cost of air time for broadcasting via mw/sw transmitters in Lithuania http://www.sigitas.biz/airtime/index.php The history of the Russian Orthodox Church from the website of Radio Netherlands http://www.zilionis.lt/rtv/qth/sit/RNW_lithuania020204.htm (Alexander Dyadishchev, Ukraine / "deneb-radio-dx" via RusDX March 4 via DXLD) This is NOT about the church, but about the history of the Sitkunai transmitter site; must be awful RusDX computer translation error. The first link above also originally had `ROC` after transmitters (Glenn Hauser, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, Yeah I think you must be right. I was also wondering what on earth "...of the Russian orthodox church from..." had to do with the item :-) (Ian Baxter, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) see also IRAN ** MADAGASCAR. 5010.15, Radio Madsgasikara, 0303-0340 Mar 1, lively vocals with a woman announcer. At 0314 a man began speaking before a “live” audience. More local instrumental music and talks. Fair at first but getting choppy by tune out (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing PA 19610, Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 5010.18, 4.3 0259, tentative R Madagasikara with religious music. Too weak to get a decent ID, but definitely not Spanish. According to the lists, sign on is at 0255 (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 4 via DXLD) ** MADAGASCAR [and non]. World Christian Broadcasting: Video with the mission statement [for KNLS, MWV] can be found here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrm31YF17mc (via Jan Oosterveen, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Thanks Jan, The YouTube MWV promo video. 16min. For the members info: Contains a little video & imagery of the KNLS & new MWV SW transmitter sites. And what groups/areas the new station will target. Video is copyright 2010, but posted on Jan 2012 - is insightful. :-) Much appreciated (Ian Baxter, ibid.) TCI ANTENNAS FOR MADAGASCAR WORLD VOICE - MAHAJANGA TCI Delivers Shortwave Broadcast Antenna System to World Christian Broadcasting ---- FREMONT, CA - JULY 27, 2007 TCI International, Inc. has completed delivery of a high-power, multi-million- dollar shortwave antenna system for a transmitting station that World Christian Broadcasting is building in an ideally- located site just off the Indian Ocean. The four antennas will be used to broadcast to the continents of Africa and South America, the 25 capital cities of the Middle East, India, Indonesia, the European part of Russia, Southern and Western China and other areas in Europe. This project is the third set of antennas that TCI has supplied to World Christian Broadcasting. In 1982 and 2004 TCI supplied high-power shortwave broadcast antennas for its radio station KNLS at Anchor Point, Alaska. The TCI antennas at KNLS cover two-thirds of Russia, two-thirds of China, and many other countries on the Pacific Rim. World Christian Broadcasting uses shortwave because unlike other forms of mass media such as satellite, television, AM/FM radio, printed material, and the Internet, only shortwave radio signals can travel vast distances and can be sent without program content being restricted in any way. International broadcasting organizations estimate that at any given time up to one billion shortwave radios are turned on. World Christian Broadcasting' s new station in the Indian Ocean and its existing station in Alaska provide effective broadcast coverage to a large percentage of the world's population (via Ian Baxter, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Source? presumably TCI PR, of almost 5 years ago (gh, DXLD) Are we taking bets on when this site gets on air? I'd say no earlier than late August for first testing (Ian Baxter, NSW, March 6, shortwavesites yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Madagascar World Voice: The last piece of paperwork is on the desk of the Minister of Communications in Madagascar awaiting his signature. Once the document is signed, our three transmitters will be shipped to the dock in Mahajanga. From there they will be shipped the 17 kilometres to our site and installed to be ready for testing. Please pray with us that this can be accomplished by the end of 2012 (World Christian Broadcasting, Facebook, link to website update, Feb 23 via DX News, March World DX Club Contact via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. 11665, Wai FM (via RTM) noted closing just after Negara Ku at 1600 on 7, 8, 20, 21 Feb. but on past 1600 // Sarawak FM on 15, 24 Feb (Sheedy, CA G5/X-wire @ Moonlight Beach) 11630, Wai FM/Sarawak FM (via RTM) noted // 9835 (Sarawak FM) at 1530+ on 10 Feb., but back // 11665 (Wai FM) at 1520+ on 14 Feb. Unheard since (15, 17, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24 Feb.) (Dan Sheedy, CA G5/X-wire @ Moonlight Beach, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 6050a, Asyik FM/Salam FM 17 Feb. Salam FM 1540-1641+ running late with inspiration yak/Qur'an readings, pop music, & Salam FM jingle/tags. 19 Feb. Asyik FM (presumed) 1448-1500 with DJ chat & pop music, RTM 1+1 pips at TOH, quick "Salaam Aleikum" song with Salam FM jingle/tag into Negara Ku and off mid-song at 1501. 25 Feb. Salam FM 1515-1532+ again on late with "usual" programming, including a long yak by the DJ with "Pipeline" (possibly the original version by The Chantays) as background! 26 Feb. Asyik FM/Salam FM 1446-1520+ Asyik presumed as I can never pull an ID from the DJ. Closing program with "bye-bye" & 2 segued Malay pop songs, RTM 1+1, Negara Ku, Salam FM jingle/tag. Devotional yak/Qur'an readings. Gone at 1535 recheck (Dan Sheedy, G5/X-wire lurking in the gym parking lot, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 9835, Sarawak FM, 1201:45 ID by live W, into Koran to 1204, then W again, and more Koran 1206-1209. Asian Pops at 1212. Best around 1210. (3 March) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, NRD-535D, Perseus SDR, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) ** MAURITANIA [and non]. 7245, March 1 at 0623, IGIM is already on and chanting; 7250 Vatican barely audible after 0629. 7245, good March 3 at 0611, IGIM is already on with chanting. Often it doesn`t pop on until after 0630. You never know when it will appear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. 730, XEX México, DF FEB 26 0900 - Fair; "Tiempo Fuera" promo, "TDW" Morse code ID. XEX is now "TDW" as a part of the Televisa Deportes network per website http://televisadeportes.esmas.com/tdn Thanks to Chuck Hutton and Barry McLarnon among others at RealDX for the help with this longstanding Morse code mystery (Bruce Conti, WPC1CAT, Nashua NH; WiNRADiO Excalibur, 7 x 19.5-m variable termination Split SuperLoop at 60 , 15 x 23-m variable termination north/south SuperLoop, NRC International DX Digest March 2 via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) which linx to: http://www.facebook.com/radiotdw ** MEXICO. Re: Big-time Mexican puzzle on 780 --- As I've read in this thread [not in DXLD but available in the ABDX open archives], this has been IDed as XEWGR, Monclova which is the only Mexican I've heard on 780 from here in IL or up north in WI, where it's much easier to get past WBBM. They changed formats to Exa-FM a couple years ago from R. Nostalgia (Spanish NOS mx). They may have had another call then, but since I don't count call changes, that doesn't matter to me. Most notatably I heard them off the back end of the Phased BOG System aimed at Maine (for that DX test that didn't come on in time that I never got) a few years ago as R. Nostalgia past phased WBBM. Anyhow, I live 13.9 miles from WBBM's transmitter, and with the right Phased BOG combo, I can sometimes dig these guys out, so they really get out. Obviously, like many Mexicans they were running day power at night. Here's a good online reference for Mexicans. http://mexicoradiotv.com/frec_am.htm I suspect that from Omaha with your loopstick set to null WBBM, you may find XEWGR isn't uncommon if running day power. Of course, there's other Mexicans you may get as well, like XESFT which seems to be close enough to the same bearing from me as WBBM so it gets reduced when I phase WBBM. 73 KAZ Barrington IL (Neil Kazaross, March 5, ABDX via DXLD) 780 UNID - 3/5 0101-0147 [EST = 0601-0647 UT] - Someone in here with a great signal under WBBM. Mexican NA heard clearly at 0101, followed by a long string of American pop ballads, including Elton John's "Candle In The Wind", Boz Scagg's "Look What You've Done To Me", Air Supply's "Here I Am", Crowded House's "Don't Dream It's Over", and Chicago's "Hard Habit To Break", among others. Could never get this one to surface for an ID, but Mike Westfall in Los Alamos, NM sez he heard the same station, and that there was definite Spanish talk at one point. C'mon, DX sleuths, help me out here (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska, Sangean ATS-909X barefoot, IRCA via DXLD) Re: [IRCA] Big-time Mexican puzzle on 780 Rick: I listen on 780 kHz from 0055 EST. There was a fading signal from a Mexican station playing mostly American rock music. Strongest at 200? [sic, degrees?], the signal strength was poor with moderate WBBM and slight XEMTS QRM. They broadcast the national anthem at 0104- 0109 EST. There were only a couple of partially readable announcements (need to review my recording). My guess is that the station is XEWGR, Monclova, Coahuila. It sounded like Exa FM programming. Good DX. (Richard Allen, 36?22'51"N / 97?26'35"W (near Perry OK USA), ibid.) Rick: I've reviewed the recording from earlier this morning. Following the national anthem of México, at 0109 EST, the station on 780 kHz gave the following identification announcement: "XHWGR, Exa FM in Coahuila, con ..... mil Watts potencia en Monclova, Coahuila". XHWGR, 101.1 MHz, is an Exa FM outlet in Monclova. Therefore, the station on 780 kHz was surely XEMF. The only other announcement heard was "Exa FM Radio Equis" at 0202 EST. I hope this helps. Buen DX (Richard Allen, (near Perry OK USA), UT March 6, IRCA via DXLD) I'm guessing that your recording matches what I recorded the other night at 0004 MST (an hour later than your recording) when we were trying to figure out what this was on 780: http://mesamike.org/radio/mwdx/audio/dxclips/XEWGR-780-20120305_0004.mp3 So, we did finally figure out that it was XEWGR, Monclova, COAH. (Mike Westfall, NM, ibid.) Fred Cantú's great site indicates that the calls are now XEWGR, and that the XEMF calls have moved to 970. Kaz (Neil Kazaross, ibid.) Everyone: My error for using the former call. It is, of course, XEWGR 780. At least that's what the last edition of "Infraestructura de Estaciones de Radio AM" shows. Last night they were apparently using their nighttime power. Occasionally the station runs their daytime power of 10 kW at night. However, the ID announced at 0609 UT was that for their FM outlet XHWGR 101.1. Sorry for the mistake. Buen DX (Richard Allen, 36?22'51"N / 97?26'35"W (near Perry OK USA), ibid.) ** MEXICO. 6185, Radio Educación, 0722. Several old French songs from 30s or 40s, one or two might have been by Edith Piaf, 0733 IDs, frequencies and meter bands in Spanish, followed by instrumental music that was barely modulating the carrier. Good. Mar. 7 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening lakeside from my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA. 4755.47, The Cross, Went off at 1030 in mid-song. Pity too because it was the best it`s been heard in a while (3 March) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, NRD-535D, Perseus SDR, T2FD antenna, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) 4755.4, P.M.A. The Cross, 0713 English. Preacher, 0727 began a number of Gospel songs, 0749 promo for “Hot Spots” program then “This is The Cross Radio. Stay with us for Turning Point.” Fair. Mar. 7 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening lakeside from my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 12085, V of Mongolia with English YL talking about ice sculpture and many mentions of Mongolia, including what I'm 99% sure was an ID as VM at :52. Many different styles of music between spoken items, including throat singing. Cool stuff! Dead air at :58 and off with no apparent ID or s/off info etc. First time heard in a dog's age! 34+443 1044-1058* 26/Feb (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) ** MOROCCO. 9575, 1658 7 Feb, Medi 1, pop music, ID in French, ``le premier radio de la Maghreb``, 1700 news in Arabic, report on Africa Cup of Nations, SIO 344 (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, HF Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. Doubtless you remember the Myawaddy broadcasting site which has been inactive for many years --- interesting! I think it was another Burmese Army transmitter if I recall correctly. As recently as 2006 it was listed in WRTH as an AM only station on 1440 kHz. WRTH 2012 has a Pyinsawaddy FM station operated by the Forever Group in Sittwe, Rakhine State, the only transmitter listed for that state (Bruce Churchill, CA, DX Fossils via Listeners Notebook, March NASWA Journal via DXLD) On Jan 27 I sent an email report along with a link to an mp3 clip of 7110 to mrtv @ mptmail.net.mm I received a reply a few days later from Htike Htike at nptradio.eng @ gmail.com He [sic] wrote: ``Dear Mr. John, Welcome to Myanmar! Thank you so much for your attention to Myanmar. I am a member of Myanma Radio. My name is Htike Htike. I am over 30. I would like to tell you that we have other radio stations in Myanmar. The programmes you received were not from our station. Those may be from one of radio stations in our country. So you had heard Myanmar (Burmese) language. Our station, Myanma Radio is broadcasting other frequency such as 7200, 9730 and 5985 kHz. So I`ve sent you our radio programme`s schedule with QSL card. Please don`t mind me that I`ve sent you by mail because it take too much time and too long to wait to arrive you by using post. I hope you`ll enjoy our card I`ve sent. Please reply me if you`ve received this mail with QSL. Sincerely yours, one of our member from Myanma Radio`` H-H attached a jpeg of the front of a Myanma Radio QSL and a native Adobe InDesign file of the back of the card (but no data filled in). (John Herkimer, DX Fossils, via Listeners Notebook, March NASWA Journals via DXLD) Well, that fits since she says you didn`t hear it (gh, DXLD) 7110, Myanmar R., 1227. Pop song by M (apparently in English), ARO QRM. Announcement by W in Malay-like language; clear mention of Myanmar noted; song by M, announcement by W then M; W announcer again, ballad in local language by W; still OK, same format at 1241. I never believed Myanmar would make it so well to ECNA. Fair at times (Heard also very weak in early February, as well). 29/02 (Victor C. Jaar, Longueuil, Québec, IC-R75, Long wire, NASWA Flashsheet via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Burmese is not Malay-like, so maybe one of their minority languages is? (gh, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. Hallo Wolfgang, ein paar Myanmar-logs aus Thailand, kann mit meinem kleinen Sony natuerlich nicht mithalten mit Victor's equipment, dafuer bin ich naeher dran. Schicke Dir auch ein paar audioclips mit: Myanmar 1 9730 kHz, Febr 27, 0428 UT, Burmese, 1'20' Myanmar 2 5985 kHz, Febr 27, 0930 UT, s/on in Burmese, 1'17" Myanmar 3 7110 kHz, Febr 27, 1030 UT, s/on in Burmese, 1'28" Myanmar 5 9730 kHz, Febr 28, 0700 UT, s/on in English, 1'05" Beste Gruesse (Gerhard Werdin, touring Indonesia and Thailand, 57 kilometers east of Burmese border, Feb 28, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 1 via DXLD) A run-down of logs from Feb 22-27 in Hua Hin, Thailand with Sony ICF-7600GR and telescopic antenna, all times in UT: 5770, Defence Forces Bc; difficult to catch with my limited equipment, always poor, but definitely s/on 1130 through 1440 UT. 5915, Myanma Radio; 0135 UT in progress, no other Burmese QRG audible; 0645 UT neg., 0900 UT poor signal, 1000 UT improving, at 1240 UT all different programs (5770, 5915, 5985, 7110, 7345 kHz), heard through 1340 UT; presumably s/off 1430 UT. 5985, Myanma Radio; 0110 UT in progress, 0130 UT s/off; 0930 UT s/on with Anthem-like signature tune, checked through 1445 UT, always strong here in Thailand. 6030, Myanma Radio presumably; only heard once Febr 27 at 0045 UT with definitely Burmese word program, past 0100 UT, off at 0140 UT. 7110, Myanma Radio; 0001 through 0110 UT, but poor signal strength, much less than other times; off at 0140 UT; 1030 UT s/on through to 1430 UT s/off; always strong and clear signal here, no QRM. 7345, Myanma Radio presumably; 1000 UT only CNR1 in Chinese, 1110 UT Burmese word program under Chinese, 1245 UT Burmese stronger, 1330 UT only Chinese audible, tent s/on 1030 UT, s/off 1330 UT. 9590, Myanma Radio presumably; 0530 UT in progress, no other BRM QRG audible this time, through 0730 UT in progress, usually mix of Burmese word program & music; from 1100 UT virtually blocked by strong CRI in listed Cantonese. 9730, Myanma Radio at 0228 UT female voice anncmt in Burmese; 0230 UT IS, ID in English, freq., 0530 UT in progress in Burmese; 0700 UT National Anthem or IS for about 50 secs, ID "Good afternoon, dear listener, this is Myanmar Radio Naypyidaw. We are broadcasting our second English transmission radiating on 30.85mb and 520mb {576 kHz, wb.}, 505mb and 594 kHz. First of all, we're going to present you the news"; 0710 UT western music, 0728 UT close-down anncmt; 0730 UT Burmese, 1002 UT silent. Also tried 9400 and 9460 kHz in time segment 0000 to 0100 UT, but no luck. General remark on identification: Burmese to me is an easily identifiable language, distinct from other tonal languages in the region (Thai, Lao, Vietnamese, etc.); Most sentences end with a word or syllable on a clearly rising pitch or tone, a feature which also other indigenous languages in Burma may have, thus distinguishing them appears to be difficult. Also, if signal level is sufficient and one can listen to details of the word program, especially around the half hour, one often hears words like "Myanmar, Yangon" (Gerhard Werdin, touring Thailand, 57 kilometers east of Burmese border, Feb 28, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 1 via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** MYANMAR. Thazin Broadcasting Station --- Re Myanmar Txers: http://www.btl.com.hk/news.htm (per I. Baxter, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some installed last year (gh) soo, RIZ and NAUTEL firms involved ... http://www.btl.com.hk/about.htm SW 50 kW transmitter delivery by RIZ Zagreb Croatia via BTL key project ... > Radio station 50Kw Shortwave transmitter installation(RIZ), > the project has been sucessfully completed in March 09 > 2 SW antennas installation in Yangon and new capital (Nay Pui Daw) > has been successfully completed on March 08 new Nay Pui Daw Myanmar 200/400 kW MW, and 130m tall mast units: > MW Radio transmitter System from Yangon to Nay Pui Daw - the new Capital City of Myanma. > MRTV(New capital)- Radio station 200 Kw MediumWave transmitter > installation (Nautel), the project has been sucessfully completed in Dec 07 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Direction Finding for Thazin Broadcasting Station - Thazin Radio If the MW &/or SW broadcasts of Thazin Radio are NOT transmitted by the Myanmar MW/SW sites of Naypyidaw or Yangon - Yegu, then some further investigations are required. Myanmar is a fairly large country. DXers in the region could consider radio direction finding for the MW site with MW Loop Antennas & triangulate a possible region/location from accurate true azimuth readings & the DXer's precise home coordinates. Just 3 DXers from three different locations in south, & SE Asia would be all that is required, provided no troublesome co-channel interference at time of listening for the 639 kHz channel is present. Amateur radio operators with rotatable log periodic HF antennas may be able to triangulate a location for the SW frequencies Contact details for station are obviously still to be procured. Has any member here considered contacting either International Telephone Directory Service or contacting their local Myanmar Embassy for assistance with contact details & info on the station? Just food for thought (Ian Baxter, March 2, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Photo of new office building of Radio Myanmar Here is the photo of new office building of Myanmar Radio. http://bit.ly/xJ9elQ Thanks, (Swopan Chakroborty, Kolkata, India, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From his blog which adds: Radio Myanmar new office in Tatkone Township --- Here is the picture of Radio Myanmar new office in Tatkone Township in Naypyittaw region, Myanmar. Head quarter has now been shifted from Yangon. Radio Myanmar does not have its own website. But daily programmes can be heard via http://www.mrtv3.net.mm/ Click on the radio icon in the left top corner (via DXLD) ** NEW ZEALAND. RNZI frequency change --- The RNZI website today, March 2, shows a frequency change for the DRM transmission at 1551- 1750 from 7285 to 9890 kHz. DanF = = = = = = File difference report generated by CSDiff by ComponentSoftware Base file: B11_RNZI_120301.txt Compared file: B11_RNZI_120302.txt 8c8 1551-1750 9765 AM 7285 DRM Cook Islands, Samoa Daily --- 1551-1750 9765 AM 9890 DRM Cook Islands, Samoa Daily (via Dan Ferguson, March 2, shortwavelistening yg via DXLD) 15720, R New Zealand with English News and Sports (mostly sports!) and at :09 ID and "Dateline Pacific" with items re rebuilding of Tonga after the 2006 riots. I learn more about Pacific events that you never hear about from the US media on this station. IDs as "R New Zealand International, the Voice of the Pacific". Into Pop music at BoH. 3+54+4+4 fading to 254+4+3+ by tune-out 0302-0342 25/Feb (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 7275, Radio Nigeria was missing 27 Feb when Tunisia closed at 0628:45. But when I rechecked the frequency at 0638, they were best level I've yet heard with comprehensive news program in English plus Government PSAs and ident for "Domestic Service of Radio Nigeria". Audible most days but usually poor reception (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. 15120, VON (possibly, no ID) 20 Feb. 1616-1630* good signal with hummy audio, mix of English/Hausa with news on ANC meeting, drum bridge at 1619 and all Hausa after with mentions of Abuja/Lagos near BOH, talking drums/percussion & gone. 22 Feb. 1534-1600* English very muffled audio (program sounds like the "60 Minutes" show heard last year around this time), orchestral bridge at 1658, M with sked/frequencies, talking drums/percussion (similar if not the same as heard on 20 Feb.) and off. Severe IADs from tune-in to just past 1540. 23 Feb. checks at 1520, 1535, found carrier only and off by 1604 (carrier sounds a bit unstable) and no carrier at all on 24 Feb. during checks at 1540, 1600 (Dan Sheedy, CA G5/X-wire @ Moonlight Beach, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 15120, VON, 27 Feb.-2 March, 1520-1600* marginal at best on 27-29 Feb. with occasional English words surfacing. 1 March just a weak carrier; 2 March just a carrier at tune-in but about 70-90% readable audio (with just a slight hum). "You are listening to "60 Minutes", our news programme from Voice of Nigeria", at 1545 into national economic news, then sports (NFL=Nigerian Football League), "Today in History", recap of major news stories & closing with webstite (sounded like www.voiceofnigeria.com), ID, orchestral bridge, talking drums/percussion & off (Dan Sheedy, G5/X-wire @ Moonlight Beach, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 15120, March 3 at 0553, VON is fairly audible with hum, M&W conversing in English, also wobble on the carrier frequency. Most nights cannot get them at all (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sunday evening quick reception summary --- Trying out the new Slinky dipole, running N/S. 1830, 15120, Voice of Nigeria - Station ID followed by literary programme - SIO 555. 73s (Tony Molloy, 20 miles NW of Manchester, UK, March 4, ICF 2001D, Slinky dipole, Twitter @swlistener http://swlistener.wordpress.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [A-DX] Log: Nigeria in DRM, 15120 mit netter Textbotschaft und schöner Musik - allerdings nur in 9 kbps. Maximal 13 dB SNR an der Pappe (und kaputter Antenne). 73, (Douglas Kähler, Kiel, Germany, March 7, A-DX via Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) Hier ist BSKSA Riyadh co-channel in Bengali mit Peak auf 15119,966 kHz auch noch zugange. Dann ist Bodo Fritsche DF8DX exDL3OCH von Thomson Broadcast AG Turgi Schweiz / Schifferstadt wieder mal vor Ort ? Kannst ja bei ihm mal anfragen: df8dx @ gmx.de nach der Schedule. NIG new Dec 2009 VoNigeria, Abuja Lugbe estate, building site. 7255 9690 11770 15120 17800 kHz two fixed curtains, one ALLISS like revolving antenna 08 57'53.00"N 07 21'46.00"E http://g.co/maps/d8geg Er macht dann ja auch oft Amateurfunkbetrieb über die schönen neuen Antennendipole. Zuletzt war er im Okt 2011 dort im gefährlichen Pflaster Abuja. Oder der Sender wurde jetzt bezahlt und nunmehr von Thomson an die Nigerianer übergeben? Der Sender ist seit Dezember 2009 fertig gestellt ... 73 Wolfgang # # # # # Click to http://www.qrz.com/db/ and 5N0OCH or DL3OCH HB9EHJ Changed the ham radio call. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sztmmg7FJLs but he has now the new call --- DF8DX or 5N7Q http://files.qrz.com/h/5n0och/5n0eme_1.jpg http://files.qrz.com/q/kt3q/kt3q.jpg but lives permantly in Switzerland with Thales - Thomcast Suisse. Bodo finished work on the Thomcast-Thales tx, Alliss like revolving antenna, at 08 58'04.70"N 07 21'55.24"E http://files.qrz.com/h/5n0och/rca_2.jpg and two SW curtains in 000 / 180 and 105 / 285 degr direction 08 57'58.98"N 07 21'39.15"E http://files.qrz.com/h/5n0och/antenna_2.jpg (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, ibid.) UNID station noted on March 7 1500-1530 on 15120 in DRM, but no program 1530-1545 on 15120 only noise, no transmission 1545-1555 on 15120 in AM Voice of Nigeria in English Maybe tests of Voice of Nigeria in DRM? Please check March 8. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, March 7, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voz de Nigeria --- en 15120 kHz en este momento muy buena señal (Ernesto Paulero, Argentina, 1819 UT March 7, condiglist yg via DXLD) Hi Glenn, Have been listening to Voice of Nigeria over the past few days, as reception has been favorable. The transmission on 15120 between 1800 and 1900 has been strong. The heavy buzz, maybe a 50 Hz buzz is present throughout the 18-19 hour. Over the past couple days, VON has been broadcasting thru 2000 UT on 15120 kHz. There is a co-channel between 1857-1900, and I think this is the new transmitter site online. Audio at 1900 is excellent, no buzz whatever, and comes from the Abuja studios, and from what I conclude, is via the new transmitter (this is just my guess). An announcement at 1955 UT on March 8 said, "Voice of Nigeria will soon commence a transmission of its programs from its Abuja Ultra modern transmitting station." A list of frequencies and languages were announced. VON also announced, "If you are listening to this test transmission in any part of the world, we would be glad to get a reception report from you indicating exactly from where you are listening to us from and the quality of our signal" The E-mail address announced was vonnews (at) yahoo.com Signal was great yesterday and today, with only minimum noise. Best wishes (Chris Lewis, England, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. [Pirates]. 6900.02, WBNY, 2337-2345, fake ads. IDs. Talk by Commander Bunny. Mentioned WBNY Talent Contest. Poor to fair. March 4. 6924.85, WMPR, 0144-0155, techno-pop dance music. Echo ID announcements. Strong. March 4. 6924.8, Big Boobs Radio, *2356-0020*, country music. Theme music from Green Acres TV show. IDs. Weak. Poor. March 5-6 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6925-AM, March 6 at 0621, singing on very poor signal with little hope of identifying, but stick with it a while, and pays off at 0624 with announcement, novelty song, 0625 strong enough to hear Radio Free Euphoria ID, and something with a 3+2 beat; haven`t knowingly heard this pirate before (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. USA, 6925.08, HOBBY PIRATE, WBNY with Commander Bunny in zany conversation, poor from 0633 till closing 0645 26 Feb (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWEs to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See 12-09, Brian Alexander and I were also listening at the same time (gh, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. 11600, Radio Pakistan 0107 Urdu. Songs, male speaker; had listened at 0045 s/on but nothing heard; //15490 barely audible; at 0126 11600 was barely detectable but 15490 was now up to poor level; 0129 Islamic devotional; 0202 man with news, 11600 very poor, 15490 poor. Mar 2 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car by Kalamalka Lake with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna on the roof, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17700, 0935 18 Feb, R. Pakistan, Islamabad, mostly Pak songs, announcements in Urdu, 1000 news in Urdu, 1100-1105 news in English, closing in Urdu, SIO 343 (Tony Rogers, Birmingham, HF Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. RADIO PAKISTAN “FACING RS2000 MILLION DEFICIT”: DG Radio Pakistan is “facing deficit of over Rs2,000 million [$21.9 million] and needs funds to improve its vital services,” says Director General, Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC) Murtaza Solangi. Addressing a news conference on Saturday, he urged civil society and media to extend full support in making Radio Pakistan a financially viable and efficient national institution. He said the proposal of raising funds for Radio Pakistan by imposing levy of two percent on mobile phone cards has been floated to bring PBC out of financial crunch. Mr Solangi said if the proposal is approved by the parliament in the new Federal Budget for fiscal year 2012-13 it would help Radio Pakistan to upgrade its services and improve quality of programmes. He said radio is “hot media, has a fast and wide access to the masses in remote and far flung areas of the country compared to any other source of information and communication.” (Source: Pakistan Press International) March 4th, 2012 - 12:58 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Related story: New tax proposal to keep Radio Pakistan on air http://blogs.rnw.nl/medianetwork/new-tax-proposal-to-keep-radio-pakistan-on-air 1 Comment on “Radio Pakistan “facing Rs2000 million deficit”: DG” #1 Jonathan Marks on Mar 4th, 2012 at 13:34 I’m afraid that Radio Pakistan will have to present a plan to explain how it will make programmes in the public interest far more efficiently than it does now. Government radio stations in South Asia have become notorious in professional circles for being bureaucratic, inefficient and vastly over-staffed. First the plan, then the finance, I would say. Looking at the Radio Pakistan website it looks like they have got carried about with new platforms like webstreaming. I was the only one watching when I checked. Pakistan has a rich heritage and an important role in our world. But Radio Pakistan needs to do a lot differently (MN blog comment via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. IN DEFENCE OF PAKISTAN RADIO --- Instead, what people should do if they disagree with it, is to present counter-proposals. By Letter Published: February 27, 2012 [+ comments] http://tribune.com.pk/story/342490/in-defence-of-pakistan-radio/ ISLAMABAD: Recently, the National Assembly's Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting discussed a proposal to restore licence fees for radio use. The proposal by Radio Pakistan is just that. We have wise legislators directly elected by the people to address the issue. It is easy to criticise and dismiss the proposal. Instead, what people should do if they disagree with it, is to present counter-proposals. At the end of the day, the choice is either to have a public broadcaster -- as the rest of the world does -- or shut it down. If it needs to be retained, then people need to tell us how. Public broadcasters are not textile mills whose products can be bought and sold. They provide critical public service programming in areas and on issues which are vital to nation-building. They can only be judged by the value they provide to the people. Public broadcasters do not buy and sell, nor are they created to generate income, and this is true for anywhere in the world. Public service broadcasting is like any other service which other national organisations provide. The police are paid to keep our streets and localities safe. And no matter how good or bad a job they do, nobody expects them to `generate income'. Similarly, we pay a huge chunk of our taxes to keep our military machine well-oiled to protect us from our enemies. But we never ask our jawans to be commercially viable. We need to keep the military strong so that it can protect us. No matter how starved a nation we are, we will never want to close it down. Will we? Radio Pakistan has always served as a nursery for all forms of art, literature, poetry, performing arts and all types of music. That is why most of the stars of yesteryears or the present-day started their careers in Radio Pakistan. In most countries, public broadcasters are funded by the public. This is true for the UK, most other European countries, China, Japan and India. The concept of a licence fee for the radio began in the subcontinent, during the time of the British. In Pakistan, it continued till 1999, after which it was discontinued by Nawaz Sharif's then-government. However, later, the licence was reimposed and was collected through electricity bills. Mr Sharif also abolished the tax-exempt status of Radio Pakistan which was enacted as a result of the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Act of 1973. There are approximately 140 privately-owned FM stations in Pakistan, located in various cities. Most are basically music stations along with programmes on news, current affairs, community issues, health, education, environment, youth, or regional and international affairs. There is no media in Pakistan which serves the ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity of the country like Radio Pakistan. We broadcast shows in 22 Pakistani and 11 foreign languages. In areas like Balochistan, Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the rural areas in general, there is almost no private radio and only infrequent cable and television coverage. The terrain and typography of the country also requires that we continue high-powered medium wave stations. For this, significant investment is needed, which is why the private sector does not have a single medium wave radio station to reach areas like Balochistan and Gilgit-Baltistan. Maintaining medium wave stations is costly since they are around a hundred times more expensive than FM transmitters and require 100 times more electricity and manpower to be managed. In a province like Balochistan -- which is almost half of the area of Pakistan -- FM technology is next to useless. At the same time, advertisers show little or no interest in medium wave stations, which means that either they be shut down or someone step in and foot the bill. In the annual advertising market of Rs30 billion, the entire share of radio is a billion rupees. Readers can judge the financial constraints for themselves when they realise that the annual wage bill of Pakistan Radios' employees and pensioners is over Rs2 billion. We have close to 4,000 pensioners and 2,600 employees maintaining 63 FM, medium wave and shortwave stations afloat across the country -- with an annual operating cost of Rs5 billion. In a country like Pakistan, where natural disasters, insurgencies, underdevelopment and chronic power shortages are chronic and perennial, the idea of closing down a public broadcaster is based on a lack of knowledge, is simply dangerous and highly irresponsible. Murtaza Solangi Director-General Radio Pakistan Published in The Express Tribune, February 28^th, 2012. (via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) JAPAN TO UPGRADE TECHNICAL FACILITIES OF RADIO PAKISTAN | Text of report by official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) Islamabad, 7 March: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will install a state-of-the-art 500 kW mediumwave transmitter at Faqir Abad in Attock district [in Punjab Province], establish five modern studios, and replace master control room at Radio Pakistan Islamabad. An agreement to this effect was signed between JICA senior representative in Pakistan, Toshiya Sato, and Radio Pakistan Director- General Murtaza Solangi, here today. Under the agreement, the Japan government will provide 1,384m yen as grant aid, while Pakistan government will contribute 89m rupees for the project. The project is part of “Rehabilitation of Radio Pakistan medium wave transmitting network for the improvement in education, health, information, and enlightenment in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas], Gilgit-Baltistan, and parts of Punjab Province under Japanese grant aid.” Speaking on the occasion, JICA senior representative said the survey for the project was started in July 2010 and the project will be completed in 16 months after the work starts in August this year. Highlighting salient features of the project, Murtaza Solangi said the new dual mode transmitter will be Radio Pakistan’s most powerful transmitting unit. It will replace the aging 1,000KW transmitter installed in 1976. Based on old analogue tube technology, the transmitter has already completed its life. He said the project will be completed jointly by Pakistani and Japanese experts. After completion, the new transmitter will cover the whole of Pakistan particularly at night, he informed. The director-general thanked the Japanese government for extending assistance for this important project despite braving devastation caused by recent tsunami and nuclear tragedy in their country. (Source: Associated Press of Pakistan news agency, Islamabad, in English 1011gmt 07 Mar 12 via BBC Monitoring) Andy Sennitt adds: This appears to be the transmitter on 585 kHz listed as Islamabad (Fageerabad) in WRTH 2012 (March 7th, 2012 - 11:45 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3385, Radio East New Britain 0808 Tok Pisin. Songs, 0812 woman announcer, she read a long list of something with numbers after words that I didn’t recognize, followed by mentions of “program budget”, “energy”, “development”, “fishery officer”, back to a song at 0822. Coming in very well. Much weaker PNGs on 3325 & 3365. Good. Mar. 7 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening lakeside from my car with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, Editor of World English Survey and Target Listening, available at http://www.odxa.on.ca dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3915, R. Fly (tentative) on March 2. After many months of monitoring here with nothing heard but hams, finally success! In June, 2011, the Radio Fly technician, Roseanne “Rosie” Kulupi, left the station. Afterwards they never had any luck getting someone to fix the 3915 transmitter at Kiunga. 1315-1430 Carrier heard, but below threshold level. 1430 Start of some music being heard. 1440-1512 Best reception; non-stop EZL songs (Celine Dion “How Do I Live Without You?”, etc.). My local sunrise here was at 1433. Unfortunately today had outstanding reception from S. Korea (Voice of the People) on 3912 (with no jamming!), so heavy QRM; best in USB; no announcements heard and no ID. For some months now have been unable to hear R. Fly on 5960; usually hear China now. BTW – Rosie moved to Madang and is pursuing a career in avionics (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3915, R. Fly Back on. Heard as early as 1025 with weak music under strong hams that didn't quit until 1115. Finally at decent level at 1137 with Bob Dylan song. Island song then. Possible deadair 1148- 1149, then another island song. Audio level seemed to vary from song to song. Was getting ham splatter from 3912 the entire time too. Nothing but Chinese on 5960. Only other PNGs heard were 3385, 3365, and 3260. Too late to check 7325. (3 March) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, NRD-535D, Perseus SDR, T2FD antenna, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** PERU. 4789.829, 2.3 0259, R Visión noted with weak modulation, some sort of mass (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 4 via DXLD) As in Catholic, or at least Episcopal? Other Protestants don`t have masses. Or maybe equivalent of mass is a more general term in Swedish for religious service? Most LA religious stations are either Catholic, or they are not (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 4789.839, R Visión, Distrito José Leornardo Ortiz, Chiclayo, Lambayeque, in Spanish, 0708 UT March 2. Now at 0708 to 0715 UT only endless announcements in Spanish by men. No music anymore. Heard this morning with exciting music here in Berlin, Germany around 0540 UT. 73 (Wolfgang Büschel, March 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 5120.01, presumed Ondas del Suroriente, Quillabamba, hrd 3/6 1057-1120 tune/out, strongish signal at tune in, altho bathed in heavy static and bothered by a pulsing utility station. 1057 OM in Spanish and then into pleasant 2-man choral huayno with charango and guitars. 1101 time/check for 'seis horas' by sleepy-voiced OM -- no passion for the job at all, it seemed, hi -- and long announcement, possibly program preview, as heard mentions of 'programación diaria' and 'su sintonia'. 1104 morning folklórica show resumed, very rustic huayno with YL and thumping bass notes and fiddles. Signal already starting to fade. Another time/check at 1110 in Spanish, clearly "10 minutos" and then again more música nacional peruana. Already getting lost in a sea of static by now and nearly completely gone by 1120, tuning out after two more songs and more time/check announcements. Reception best in ECSS-LSB. Pesky ute on top of frequency, clicking away, but the Quillabamba station quite workable despite the ute. Have seen listings of this with 1030 s/on, in which case may be much better heard a half hour earlier than today. Never caught an ID, but am quite certain about this one (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 + customized (tropical bands) Quantum Phaser antenna unit Longwires (150' + 100'); Tuned Multi-Turn 20" Small Loop; Single-Turn Coax Loop, Ddxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PHILIPPINES. 11890, R. Pilipinas/VOP, *1730-1817, March 1. What happened? They did not carry the R. ng Bayan/DZRB simulcast as they always do on Thursday. Was just straight R. Pilipinas in Tagalog with news; dead air for about 10 minutes; // 15190, which after 1758 had very garbled audio while 11890 had good audio the whole time with fair to good reception. I miss hearing the R. ng Bayan/DZRB simulcast! (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** POLAND [non]. CANADA/U.K. {POLAND} The planned schedule of the Polish Radio Warsaw in A-12 summer season: kHz UTC ITU zones loc kW deg days language adm 7420 1700-1800 27S,28W,37N WOF 125 114 1234567 English G 9590 2100-2200 7E,8 WOF 300 294 123456. Polish G 9590 2100-2200 7E,8 WOF 300 294 ......7 Polish G 11640 1530-1630 28NE,29SW WOF 250 78 .234567 Polish G 11640 1530-1630 28NE,29SW WOF 250 78 1...... Polish G 11730 1800-2000 28NE,29SW WOF 125 78 1234567 Belorus G 11955 1400-1430 27S,28W,37N WOF 125 114 1234567 German G 13780 1630-1700 38E,39SW WOF 250 105 1234567 Hebrew G 15260 2100-2200 6,7,8 SAC 250 285 ......7 Polish CAN 15260 2100-2200 6,7,8 SAC 250 285 123456. Polish CAN 15265 1500-1530 28NE,29SW WOF 250 86 1234567 Ukrainian G 15480 1300-1330 29N,29SE WOF 125 62 1234567 Russian G 15480 1330-1400 28NE,29SW WOF 125 74 1234567 Belorus G 15480 1430-1500 29N,29SE WOF 125 62 1234567 Russian G 17860 1300-1330 29N,29SE WOF 125 70 1234567 Russian G DRM outlets of Kvitsoe-NOR and Skelton-GB ceased. Relays via Moosbrunn-AUT ceased. I warn you, that all of these indicative schedule. Before the summer the season is still far away, so there may be all sorts of changes in the frequencies and in time (Alexander Yegorov, Ukraine, "deneb-radio-dx" RUSdx Febr 26 via BC-DX March 1 via DXLD) Why are three Saturday or Sunday broadcasts listed separately from other days when the parameters are identical? (gh, DXLD) ** PORTUGAL. Jingles antigos de radios Portuguesas! para escutar siga este link: (Manuel Jesus, Portugal, March 2, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. I listened to R Romania International on the 17th at 2130 UT on 7310 kHz (also later 2300 on 6015). Programme started off with a male announcer who said here's the weather before the news and after the weather news a female announcer said that's the end of the news, and then the news was broadcast (Edwin Southwell, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) R Romania International had an interesting short item in their Inside Romania programme on 19 February (heard at 2130 on 7380). In 2010, A group of speleologists made a discovery of pre-historic cave-art in the Coliboaia Caves. >>“Flowing through the Coliboaia Cave there is an underground river, which makes several sinkholes, turning the act of crossing the cave into an exceptional as well as dangerous undertaking. [...] >> ... the five speleologists got inside and waded through three areas that were completely flooded, only to come across a tall gallery, on whose walls they found the paintings, which they thought were samples of cave painting ” said Viorel Lascu, the head of the Romanian Speleology Federation. Lascu went on to say that: ” to be able to get there (to the cave paintings) you need to cross three completely flooded passageways a diver may find hard to swim through, as the gallery stretches quite close to the floor, waters get murky fairly rapidly and the route you need to take is not straight, but rather winding. >>[...] Researchers discovered 13 drawings in the gallery as well as several engravings depicting various animals, such as rhinoceros, bulls, horses and cats. They also discovered bear bones, and the walls looked like they were etched underneath the paintings, which only confirms the authenticity of the discovery. << I would have liked to visit but the area is off-limits for visitors, and there is no way you'd get me going through flooded passageways!. I'll content myself with seeing photographs. I found more information at the following link: http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/06/romanian-cave-may-boast-central.html (Alan Roe, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) 7265, March 1 at 0624, very poor signal seems French, presumably RRI`s 0600 broadcast; reception from Europe at this hour on this band has really degraded, as recently I could not hear 7265 at all. 11730, March 7 at 1458, RRI IS, poor with heavy flutter, the OSOB from outside Cuba/N America during disturbed conditions. I normally don`t hear this at all; about to open Arabic, 300 kW, 140 degrees from Galbeni (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. New transmission from NEXUS-IBA IRRS Shortwave: Radio Sentech Universal Life The Cosmic wave, ex Brother Stair (TOM) 1500-1530 on 15190 TIG 300 kW / 100 deg to AS/AUS/NZ in English Sun (DX Re Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 March via DXLD) As we previously reported. This is NOT ``ex`` BS, as he was never on this weekly transmission. It is ``ex`` only in the sense that incorrect assumptions were previously published! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. OP-ED: AMERICA’S RADIOS DANCING TO PUTIN’S TUNE IN MOSCOW Ted Lipien is a former Voice of America journalist and former VOA acting associate director. He co-founded Free Media Online and the Committee for US International Broadcasting. In an Op-Ed, Mr Lipien says: “US government-funded media freedom broadcasters, Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Liberty (Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, RFE RL), have resorted to self-censorship of their news to keep broadcasting on two leased radio stations in Moscow in the days leading up to Russian presidential elections. Self-censorship affects only their radio newscasts on two AM Moscow transmitters, which are leased and paid for by the US government to rebroadcast VOA and RL programs. It does not extend to their other program delivery options, such as their websites. The newscasts on these stations were changed in response to a request from Russian operators of the transmitters who had warned that broadcasting political programming or poll results several days before the elections would violate Russian media law.” Mr Lipien supports this claim with a copy of a letter sent out by the Voice of Russia warning the US broadcasters that breaching the regulations could result in them losing their licence to broadcast. A BBG spokesperson commented “The VOA Russian Service intends to report on the elections and update its website and blogs throughout the election cycle, without any restriction on its activities. The VOA Russian Service prepares, however, a 30 minute radio program that gets broadcast Monday through Friday on another AM station in Moscow. The rest of VOA’s programming on the Moscow medium-wave station is in English. Because the frequency is on a local lease, it is subject to the Russian law. To comply, in the five days before the election the VOA English Service is making a change to the 24/7 stream sent to Moscow - replacing its five-minute hourly newscast with a pre-recorded segment that invites audiences to go online to VOANews.com for news and information about Russia and the world. The remainder of English stream to Moscow is unchanged.” Read the full Op-Ed http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/320486 (March 2nd, 2012 - 11:41 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) 1 Comment on “Op-Ed: America’s radios dancing to Putin’s tune in Moscow” #1 SRG on Mar 2nd, 2012 at 12:20 Wow!! If I’m not mistaken that’s the first time that BBG confirmed this semi-secretive fact that VoA’s Russian radio program is still on the air. Formally, VoA shut down its traditional radio broadcasting in Russian back in 2008. But some ‘rogue elements’ in the Russian dept. have continued to produce a 30-min.clandestine broadcast on weekdays, relayed on VoA’s AM frequency in Moscow. BTW the commentary itself is complete nonsense, of course ;) (MN blog comment via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** RUSSIA. RADIO LIBERTY AND VOA VIA MEDIUM WAVE TO MOSCOW SUBJECT TO ELECTION CONTENT RESTRICTIONS. Posted: 04 Mar 2012 Digital Journal, 2 Mar 2012, Ted Lipien: "US government-funded media freedom broadcasters, Voice of America (VOA) and Radio Liberty (Radio Free Europe and Radio Liberty, RFE RL), have resorted to self- censorship of their news to keep broadcasting on two leased radio stations in Moscow in the days leading up to Russian presidential elections. Self-censorship affects only their radio newscasts on two AM Moscow transmitters, which are leased and paid for by the US government to rebroadcast VOA and RL programs. It does not extend to their other program delivery options, such as their websites. The newscasts on these stations were changed in response to a request from Russian operators of the transmitters who had warned that broadcasting political programming or poll results several days before the elections would violate Russian media law. ... The letter sent to the Broadcasting Board of Governors by the operator of the Radio Liberty station in Moscow warned of a five-day ban on opinion polls, forecasts and use of research related to the campaigns or elections. ... The BBG pays hundreds of thousands of dollars a year for these two weak AM transmitters in Moscow. Since the BBG claims that its newscasts also can be easily accessed online, that money might be better spent on US-operated shortwave transmitters to reach those without Internet access in Russia rather than making Putin supporters richer and allowing them to dictate VOA and RL news coverage. Some of the money could be used to advertise shortwave frequencies in Russian media, for as long as that is allowed, and the remainder on improving radio, TV and new media coverage of human rights issues." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) Ted's op-ed points to the tradeoff that international broadcasters increasingly face. Larger audiences can be achieved thought access to the domestic media of the target country. But such access usually requires compliance with the domestic media laws of that country. Iran's Press TV recently lost its license to operate from the UK because of such laws. In India, no private FM station is allowed to broadcast news, but BBC, Deutsche Welle, Radio Netherlands, and Voice of Russia place soft, "infotainment" programming on these stations to gain a presence, and increase familiarity with their brands. These stations will have a head start when India relaxes its rules about news on FM radio. Even if certain content is disallowed via rebroadcasting, it introduces audiences in the target country to the existence of the international broadcaster, and invites them to access the broadcaster through transborder direct-to-home media, such as the internet, satellite, and shortwave. The Russian election media restrictions on the "freedom broadcasters" are lemons from which lemonade could have been made (or perhaps was made). During the affected days, this message could be repeated in lieu of normal programming: "We are unable to bring you are regular programming due to Russian government restrictions on broadcast content during the election period. We invite you to visit our website for full news coverage. The URL is ... ." And in the case of Radio Liberty: "We remind you that all of our programs and coverage are available in our shortwave transmissions. Here is the schedule:" With all all times and frequencies provided. The svobodanews.ru website could even sell, or provide advertisements for those who sell, shortwave radios. Shortwave radio has fallen into such disuse in Russia that even medium wave, also no longer very popular in Russia, probably provides a small boost to RL and VOA audiences in the Moscow area. The purchase of MW transmitter time might be worth the investment (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** RUSSIA [non]. USA(non), Frequency change of Radio Liberty in Russian: 0300-0400 NF 5975 LAM 100 kW / 075 deg to CeAs, ex-7285 BIB 100 kW / 063 deg (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 07 March via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Schedules of some local radio stations: Magadan (Magadanskaye Oblastnoye Radio – Magadan Regional Radio). 1700-1300 with RR1 program. Own programs in Russian according to station info on 5940, 7320, 234 kHz: M-F 0710-0800, 1000-1010, 1800- 1810; Sat 1000-1100. Heard at night here on 7320 but always with R. Rossii program. Murmansk (Murmanskaye Oblastnoye Radio – as they said). Heard here often from 0310 and from 1410 with own programs. Own programs on 6160 and 657 kHz: M-F 0210-0300, 0310-0400, 0600-0700, 0910—0915, 1410- 1500, 1710-1715, Sat 0610-0700. Other times RR5 (as in Moscow) 0100- 2100. Arkhangelsk (Radio Pomorye). Heard from 0310 with own program on 6160. Their own programs are: M-F 0310-0400, 0910-1000, 1410-1500, Sat & Sun 0610-0700 & 0810-0900. At other times between 0100-2100 with program of RR5. Five versions of Radio Rossii can be heard on SW: RR1 5940, 6075*, 7320, MWs, LW [* Pet/Kam now moved to 6010 --- gh] RR2 6150, 7230 RR3 6085, 6100, 6195 RR4 4050 RR5 5930, 6160, 5905, 7310 . . . All of course // with different MW and LW transmitters. In some hours and [sic] weekdays there are common programs for all streams, for example 1500-1600 of RR2 - RR5, observed in autumn 2011 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, March BDXC-UK Communication retyped by gh for DX LISTENING DIGEST) Altho there will no longer be any DST timeshifts March 25, there may be some A-12 frequency changes, such as 6010 to 5930. RR1 to RR5 are now obviously numbered from east to west. Are these your own way of naming them, or official? By ``RR2 - RR5`` do you mean ``thru`` including RR3 and RR4? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. Have been listening to various stations on the bands and noted while scanning a few enjoyable music programmes. At certain times now we do not have any English broadcasts like we did a few years ago, so I scan around. Here are a few observations. Usually hear R Rossii, Russia, at around 2023 UT on 5905 kHz with a music programme, and on Tuesday 8th February which featured blues music and songs sung in English with a male announcer. On the following day a programme of classical music with a Russian announcer. I also heard R Rossii, Russia on the 16th February also on 5905 at 2036 and in the programme they had a tribute to Whitney Houston, the singer who recently passed away. On 5940 at around 1735 UT logged Golos Rossii in Russian with a pop music programme with songs sung in Russian with a female announcer and news at the top of the hour (Edwin Southwell, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Note: The Voice of Russia programming varies considerably, both from their on-line schedule, and an updated list that was sent by VoR to Costas Constantinides and forwarded by Wolfgang Bueschel a few weeks ago. I've deleted some of the entries, but I've not had opportunity to verify other broadcasts, especially those overnight (in UK), so you may find that they also do not match up. Hopefully VoR will upload a fully updated programme schedule to their webpages with the new A-12 season (Alan Roe, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) See INTERNATIONAL ** RUSSIA. 4966, RWM Moscow with Pips (pips 9 10 11 12 13 and 21 were doubled) for the first bit, then 'fast pips starting at :20 and a solid tone starting at :30. Silent in minute :38 and then "RWM" sent in code MANY times at :39 and back to pips as at start. In well 34+454 0413-0441 26/Feb --Zichi DXp [that`s surely meant to be 4996 --- gh] 9966, RWM Moscow with Pips // 4996 24+4+53+ 0442 26/Feb (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) Surely 9996 (gh) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 9555, BSKSA, 2059 end of Arabic music, then talk by M in Arabic, accurate time ticks, ID by M, then into presumed news in Arabic. Good strong signal with a slight buzz. (3 March) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, NRD-535D, Perseus SDR, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) ** SERBIA. Frequency change of International Radio Serbia from Feb 26: 1400-1430 NF 9640 BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in English 1430-1500 NF 9640 BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in Serbian 1500-1530 NF 9640 BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in Spanish 1530-1600 NF 9640 BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in Arabic 1600-1630 NF 9640 BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in Russian 1630-1700 NF 9640 BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in French 1700-1730 NF 9640*BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in German 1730-1745 NF 9640*BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in Chinese 1745-1800 NF 9640*BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in Albahian 1800-1815 NF 9640 BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in Hungarian 1815-1830 NF 9640 BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in Greek 1830-1900 NF 9640 BEO 010 kW / 310/130 to WeEu, ex 9635 in Italian * co-channel 1700-1800 Radio Liberty in Russian Caucasus Echo Good reception on March 1 and very very poor on March 2! (DX Re Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 March via DXLD) ** SERBIA [non]. IRS, 2200 English transmission on 6100 not heard February 5, interval signal 2159, open carrier, off at 2204 re-check. Not heard February 9 and 10, back February 14 (Edwin Southwell, DX News, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** SIKKIM. Today (8 Mar 2012) loggings: AIR Gangtok noted on 4835 at 0100 (for some days they were on around 4837) (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA. R. Slovakia International --- Slovakia is heading towards elections in early March and members may be interested in following developments in this relatively young country approaching its 20th birthday. RSI has no shortwave transmissions any longer, but does retain a 30 minute programme each day via its website http://www.slovakradio.sk/radio-international-en and the WRN [and WRMI 9955: do they ever admit this on website? - gh]. Their website has helpful links to programmes in six categories: Society, Culture, Personalities, Travel, Sport and Economics. They also have an informative news stream via Facebook. There is a video featuring the famous upside-down pyramid headquarters of Slovak Radio (built in 1983) available for listeners at http://www.tinyurl.com/slovakradio The station is still as keen as ever to hear what listeners think and each Sunday has the Listeners' Tribune programme (Jonathan Murphy, Ireland, Making Contact, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** SOMALIA [non]. 15700, RADIO DAMAL (Clandestina con destino a Somalia) vía Dhabayya, UAE, abriendo emisiones a las 0400 UT, mejorando la escucha desde las 0420, en idioma Somalí. SINPO: 34433 (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, UT March 4, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 15580, March 2 at 1356, BaBcoCk IS; recheck 1401 in VOA News in English. This time it`s not colliding/overlapping with another VOA relay site, since the afternoon starts at 1400 with Meyerton during the first hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 17760, South African Radio League’s “Amateur Radio Today” program via Meyerton opened abruptly 0801 on 12 Feb at good strength. Slow decline in reception but still fair at 0820. Scheduled Sundays only (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai (Northland) New Zealand, March 1, AOR7030+ and EWES to North, Central & South America, Google Earth - 36.1170 S, 174.5670 E, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA [and non]. Hi Glenn, A massive tropical storm is moving in from the Indian Ocean, it is expected to hit Mozambique over the next few hours, and eastern South Africa soon after. It is expected to last for about 48 hours. The SA weather service is describing it as potentially the worst storm to hit since the early 1980's, and are forecasting severe flooding and widespread damage to infrastructure. The SA Radio League have advised that via Hamnet they will be monitoring the situation, so once again, amateur band monitors may find interesting traffic from South Africa and Mozambique over the next couple of days. Regards, (Bill Bingham, 1611 UT March 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I failed to post timely; so how bad was the storm? (gh, March 5, ibid.) It was less severe than predicted. Seems to have skimmed along the SA coastline; it was supposed to have rained as far inland as Gauteng, but that didn't happen. Not sure what happened in Mozambique. Our media seemed more interested in the hurricanes in the USA, which apparently were happening at the same time; they certainly seem to have claimed more lives. http://newsletters2.mg.co.za/servlet/link/6026/115256/6505046/841672 The amusing thing about this is that, for reasons best (only) known to itself, our government has recently been proposing legislation that would make it illegal for anyone but the SA Weather Service to predict seriously bad weather. And it seems they have made a real foul-up of this prediction. Nothing like as bad as they said it would be. Regards, (Bill Bingham, ibid.) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. USA(non), Additional test transmissions of Brother Stair TOM in English: Feb. 20-Feb. 21 1400-1700 on 15750 tentative from ERV to EaAf Feb. 20-Feb. 28 1800-2100 on 7590 tentative from ERV to WeEu Feb. 25 only 1400-1530 on 15750 tentative from ERV to EaAf, only carrier Feb. 29 1600-1700 on 7590*tentative from ERV to WeEu, new 1800-2100 on 7590 tentative from ERV to WeEu 2100-2200 on 7590 tentative from ERV to WeEu, new March 1 1640-1705 on 7590*tentative from ERV to WeEu 1750-2200 on 7590 tentative from ERV to WeEu March 2 1600-1700 NF 11590 tentative from ERV to WeEu, ex 7590 1700-1800 on 11590 tentative from ERV to WeEu 1800-1900 NF 11590 tentative from ERV to WeEu, ex 7590 1800-2200 * co-channel North Korea Reform Radio in Korean (DX Re Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 March via DXLD) 1/3, 7590 Overcomer! 2132 with echoed talks, god bless you, preaches at 2136, signal S9 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11590, Overcomer Ministry with Brother Stair heard signing-on on Sunday 4 March at 1600. AOKI has this as new (since 2 March) broadcast 1600-1900 Saturdays only via Armenia. Still there when checked after 1800 (Alan Roe (Teddington, UK), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Additional test transmissions of Brother Stair TOM in English: 1400-1600 on 11590 tent. from ERV to WeEu from March 5, new 1600-1900 on 11590 tent. from ERV to WeEu from March 2 1900-2200 on 11590 tent. from ERV to WeEu from March 5, new, please check. 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Bulgaria, March 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, it is there now at 1950. Strong hum with ±100 Hz carriers (Mauno Ritola, Finland, March 6, ibid.) Additional test transmissions of Brother Stair TOM in English: 1400-1600 on 11590 probably via Yerevan to WeEu from March 5, new 1600-1900 on 11590 probably via Yerevan to WeEu from March 2 1900-2000 on 11590 probably via Yerevan to WeEu from March 6, new Cancelled transmissions: 1300-1500 on 15190 TIG 300 kW / 100 deg to AS/AUS/NZ till March 6 1500-1700 on 15190 TIG 300 kW / 100 deg to AS/AUS/NZ till March 3 (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 07 March via DXLD) ex-IRRS via ROMANIA ** SPAIN. 1359, RNE Madrid is back with their dreadful DRM signal. It´s been off for many good months - and I only wish they´d stay quiet for good, but are being audible at least as from today, 1st March (Carlos Gonçalves via Ydun’s Medium Wave Info 3.3.2012 via ARC mv-eko 5 March via DXLD) OFF now: RNE DRM Arganda 1359, and Sevilla 684. 73s (Mauricio Molano, Salamanca, ESPAÑA - SPAIN, 2327 UT March 5, RX site: Aldea del Cano, Cáceres. LAT: 39º17'09.70 N LONG: 6º19'00 W, RX: PERSEUS. ANT: WELLBROOK ALA1530S+ http://moladx.blogspot.com/ Mwdx yg via DXLD) ** SPAIN. Radio Exterior de España heard on 5970 at 2207 February 5 at 2207 tune in with English programme, off abruptly at 2213. On 6125 same programme so transmission error. French is heard on 5970 at 2300, sign off 2357 and then heard unidentified station with church bells (Edwin Southwell, DX News, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) Radio Exterior de España, 17755 Noblejas. NOT // 21610. Mar 04, 2012, Sunday. 1619-1625. Spanish, OM's and YL's talking, football noises in background with bits of commentary, mentioned "Real". Poor, to "Africa" (EiBi). Joburg sunset 1636. Radio Exterior de Espana, 21610 Noblejas. NOT // 17755. Mar 04, 2012, Sunday. 1547-1603. Spanish, OM's talking to 1553 then into a Spanish pop song. ID by YL at 1555 "Radio Exterior de España", twice, and again at 1556. Followed by more music with song by YL. Time pips at 1600 and another ID by an OM. Then talk, sounds like it could be news or current affairs. Poor-fair, readable in part, lots of atmospheric QRN. To middle east (EiBi). Joburg sunset 1636. Radio Exterior de España, 21540 Noblejas. Mar 05, 2012, Monday. 1112- 1122. Spanish, OM's and YL's talking, mentioned "España" at 1114. Poor - very poor. Competing with co-channel QRM in Arabic (according to the fade), no doubt Radio Kuwait from Sulaibiyah. Joburg sunset 1635 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17595, March 6 at 1408, `Españoles en la Mar` with PSA about calling ``Pan, pan, pan`` [?] on 2182 kHz for medical emergencies, with more at http://www.salvamientomaritimo.es That`s the Spanish coast guard, except they don`t guard or patrol, just provide aid and rescue. But I couldn`t find any mention of 2182 on their website, so need to confirm details, maybe from first four minutes of podcast of today`s program once it is up (not yet by 1653) at http://www.rtve.es/podcast/radio-exterior/espanoles-en-la-mar/ On March 7 I can listen to the March 6 podcast of REE`s `Españoles en la Mar` to confirm the PSA I heard about 3 minutes into the program about calling ``pan, pan, pan`` for urgent medical help on uVHF channel 16, or on 2182 kHz, and see http://www.salvamientomaritimo.es for more (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also COSTA RICA ** SPAIN. CONTACT REE FOR THEIR 70TH CELEBRATIONS ON 15 MARCH An email I received today from Radio Exterior de Espana after a reception report I sent them at english @ rtve.es Chrissy ------------ --------- --------- Dear Chrissy, I am sorry to be responding so late to your wonderful and kind note! (I was delighted to be able to read it on "Listeners' Club")... as you know, the lack of QSL mailings has been a sad embarrassment for us and I only hope the situation changes. I'm attaching an announcement and hope, especially after your lovely defense of Short Wave Listening, that you might be interested in taking part. Thanks, and best wishes, Alison Dear Listener, On March 15th, Radio Exterior will be celebrating its 70th anniversary and we would love you to take part in the festivities. If you are interested in sharing your experience as a listener of the English language shortwave broadcasts, by letter or phone, -- we would call you -- please let us know as soon as possible. We´ll be dedicating our March 15th broadcast to the anniversary and would like to reserve a special section to listeners -- your impressions and memories as well as the importance shortwave listening, in general, has had in your life. Please send us a note and, if appropriate, your phone number and general time availability. Thank you ... many times over, Alison, Frank and Justin of the English Language Broadcasts of REE Corporación RTVE - http://www.rtve.es (via Chrissy Brand, March 2, BDXC-UK yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. [Re 12-09] ``Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, 11750 Colombo, Ekala {see below}. Feb 24, 2012, Friday. 1809-1830. Sinhalese. OM talking, to Indian-style music at 1813, with song by YL. More talk and Indian-influenced songs. Cut off without ID as song ended at 1830 UT (as per Aoki and EiBi). Good. EiBi says it is from Trincomalee, but Aoki and HFCC say Ekala. To the Middle East {Ceylonese foreign workers there}. Johannesburg sunset 1644 UT (Bill Bingham-AFS, dxld Febr 29)`` The ONE AND ONLY regular service from former DWL Trincomalee tx site Trincomalee, originates not from SLBC Ekala site. 1530-1830 UT. (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 4, dxldyg via DXLD) English program of Family radio is relayed by Trincomalee from Mar. 5. 1100-1300 13690 kHz 1200-1300 13720 kHz de Hiroshi (S. Hasegawa, Japan, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see KAZAKHSTAN ** SUDAN [non]. 15500, SRS (via Skelton) 17, 20, 22, 24 Feb. *1600- 1635+ Arabic/Sudanese, drums/percussion to open, then freq/sked/email/SMS/phone #s, "salaam aleikum, Darfur, Sudan Radio Service" into news/phone reports with frequent "SRS" & "Sudan Radio Service" mentions. 22 Feb. noted what sounded like a frying/whine jammer start up at 1606, but not heard since (Dan Sheedy, G5/X-wire @ Moonlight Beach, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 17745, SRS (via Woofferton) 17 Feb. 1635+ finally heard the English segment with news/reports. "you are tuned to SRS" & "that's the end of (this?) news bulletin from Sudan Radio Service" followed by family health PSA in English as well. Lately 17745 has been weak/poor at best -- 15500 is usually much better (Dan Sheedy, G5/X-wire @ Moonlight Beach, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Via Woofferton, 17745, Sudan Radio Service, 1620-1653+, tune-in to vernacular talk. Local music. Into English at 1630 with IDs, contact information. News at 1631. PSA for land development in Southern Sudan. Local music. Interview with Sudan Defense Minister. ID and contact information at 1646 and news headlines. Closing announcements at 1646 and into local music. Good. March 2 (Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, USA, Icom IC-7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11800, SUDAN RADIO SERVICE, vía Dhabayya, UAE, de 0400 a 0415 UT, en Darfur. SINPO: 45544 (!!!)(Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, UT March 4, condiglist yg via DXLD) UK. Sudan Radio Service, 17745 Woofferton. Mar 04, 2012, Sunday. 1625- 1635. Language uncertain, Aoki suggests Moro for South Sudan, but EiBi says it's Arabic (but then EiBi also says it`s coming from Skelton). Doesn't sound Arabic to me. ID at 1629 incorporates several mentions of "Sudan", followed by Sudanese music. Fair. Joburg sunset 1636 (Bill Bingham, RSA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 11940, R. Tamazuj (via Issoudun) 19 Feb. 0422-0428* Arabic/Sudanese fair with DJ chat & a few "Radio Tamazuj" IDs, closed with sked/freq and 1 kHz tone. 20 Feb. *0400+ Arabic Sudanese fair-good with OC, opening announcements/sked/ID into news (Dan Sheedy, CA G5/X-wire lurking in the gym parking lot, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 11940, R. Tamazuj (via Issoudun) 27 Feb./4 March *0400-0429* usually a good signal with Darfur-related news, plenty of IDs -- opens with a kind of singing jingle & closes with ID/frequency/sked & 1 kHz tone. Aoki lists R. Dabanga here *0428-0457* but unheard in several checks after Tamazuj shuts down (Dan Sheedy, G5/X-wire still in the gym parking lot, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) 7315, 3/3 0414, Radio Tamazuj, via Issoudun France, in Arabic, interview mentioning many times Sudan. ID at 0422, then songs. Good (Giampiero Bernardini, Milano, Italia, RX: Winradio Excalibur Pro - ANT: T2FD - Some images on my blog: http://radiodxsw.blogspot.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN [non]. 9845, AFIA DARFUR RADIO, vía Selebi-Phikwe, Botswana; en idioma Darfur, de 0300 a 0330 UT, SINPO: 34433, y en paralelo a 7275 KHz -(Sao Tomé)- SINPO: 34443 (Marcelo A. Cornachioni, Lomas de Zamora, Argentina, UT March 4, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** SWAZILAND. 15359.65, TWR, Chime IS at 1359, ID in English by M, into instrumental middle-eastern sounding music and talk by M in apparent sked Urdu. Nice signal. (3 March) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, NRD-535D, Perseus SDR, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) ** SWEDEN. Radio Nord update: We have now booked a room at the Interhostel on Kammakargatan 46 in central Stockholm on 30 June. The hostel is located in the premises where Radio Nord had offices and studios. Idea is that we are here to send out Radio Nord`s last moments in the air. For then it is exactly 50 years since Radio Nord closed down for good. Hopefully, we can get some Radio Nord-veterans again. We start at 1400 and close at midnight [UT +2?]. This according to plan. The hope is that as well as via the Internet we will also be heard on FM in Stockholm, on mediumwave from Kvarnberget and Sala, on shortwave also from Sala (Göran Lindemark on Radio Nord Revival 24 Feb, translated by Bing, DX News, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** SYRIA [non]. VOA'S MIDDLE EAST VOICES CREATES SYRIA: FACES OF THE FALLEN PAGE. Posted: 03 Mar 2012 Nextgov, 29 Feb 2012, Joseph Mark: "Once conflict reporting became a crowdsourced affair, perhaps it was inevitable that tributes to those conflicts' victims would be managed by the masses as well. The folks over at the Voice of America's Middle East Voices site recently launched a Faces of the Fallen page http://facesofthefallen.middleeastvoices.com/archive where people inside Syria can submit photos of friends and family members killed in the clashes between President Basher Assad's government and Arab Spring protesters. ... To date, the site has about 100 submitted photos, according to an information page." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) I am uncomfortable about this. Would Faces of the Fallen show the pictures of official Syrian or pro-Assad forces that were killed by overzealous demonstrators? This appears not to be the case, although the information page refers to "8,000 slain on both sides." The photo page suggests that Middle East Voices is taking sides. It may be taking the side of history, and of humanity, but taking sides is something a news organization, which trades on its credibility above all else, cannot do, or even give the appearance of doing. Middle East Voices was originally described as "an Arab Spring social media project powered by the Voice of America." The "Arab Spring" has since been removed from the larger type at the top of the home page, though it remains in the small type at the bottom of the page. The Arab Spring could be construed as a movement, and, at least at its inception, Middle East Voices identified with this movement. Over the decades, VOA has been hampered by its status as the duckbill platypus of international broadcasting -- part news, part public diplomacy. VOA must sort this out before it can contribute fully to the BBG's goal of becoming the "world's leading news agency" by 2016 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** SYRIA [and non]. U.S TAKES AIM AT SYRIAN RADIO, TV March 5 2012 at 07:16pm By Reuters The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday barred Americans from any dealings with Syria's state-owned radio and television stations. Washington - The U.S. Treasury Department on Monday barred Americans from any dealings with Syria's state-owned radio and television stations because it said they support the Syrian government's crackdown on its own people. "The General Organization of Radio and TV has served as an arm of the Syrian regime as it mounts increasingly barbaric attacks on its own population and seeks both to mask and legitimize its violence," Treasury said in a statement. Treasury said it "stands with the Syrian people" against the violence backed by the Syrian radio and television organization. It added a warning: "Any individuals or institutions supporting its abhorrent behavior will be targeted and cut off from the international financial system." The United Nations says Syrian security forces have killed more than 7,500 civilians in a year-long crackdown on protests against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The action by Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) makes the Syrian radio and television organization subject to sanctions imposed against the government of Syria under an executive order that took effect in August 2011. Essentially, the order prohibits Americans from engaging in business with any Syrian state-owned entity. - Reuters (via Steve Whitt, March 5, MWCircle yg via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. 14950, Sound of Hope, 1645-1716, March 1. Seemed to be in Chinese; at first thought they were playing soft background music, but the more I listened I realized it was a very faint Firedrake underneath SOH; first time I have heard SOH many times stronger than FD; many news items with fanfare between items; some sound bites in English; 1713 clear ID over soft religious song; spelled out: “w-w-w- s-o-u-n-d-o-f-h-o-p-e-o-r-g” followed by “Sound of Hope” in English. MP3 audio http://www.box.com/s/70g7004zp4nfokqdqjn7 (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 14950 // 11500, SOH, 2 March 1601-1620, 1635-1713+ thanks to Ron Howard's tip, found SOH very weak but clear of FD with Chinese yak, possible Chinese ID just past TOH (got "guangbo diantai.."), news / comments after 1700 with English sound bites & occasional music bridges. Another Chinese "ID" at 1713 just before website spelled out in English + "Sound of Hope" all done over a music bed. // 11500 seemed to go off just after 1713. Happy to finally get a clear ID on this (Dan Sheedy, G5/X-wire @ Moonlight Beach, Encinitas CA, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) ** TAIWAN [non]. January QSL card from R. Taiwan International Hello radio friends! On March 1, 2012 I received a QSL from R. Taiwan International, 3965 kHz Issoudun 26/01/2012 2000 UT; sent reception report via web report and received new full data QSL card in 35 days via ordinary mail. The QSL of this month reproduces a work of artist Chau Er-dai (1916-1995), that is the horizontal painting named "Spring". 73 from (Nino Marabello, Treviso, Italy, RX: SONY SW7600G, Ant.: VHF outdoor antenna at 230 degrees http://acquamarina.blogspot.com March 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAJIKISTAN. Frequency change for Democratic Voice of Burma in Burmese: 1430-1530 NF 11560 DB 200 kW / 125 deg to SEAs from March 1, ex 6225 A-A (DX Mix News, Bulgaria via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. 4765, Tajik Radio 1, Dushanbe 0116 Tajik. Coming in very well via Grayline. Music and woman speaker, 0118 sounded like news headlines with music bridges between items, 0120 popular song; 0138 now up to fair level and continuing with national music; 0153 fading out. Poor-fair. Mar 2 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car by Kalamalka Lake with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna on the roof, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. Sunday evening quick reception summary --- Trying out the new Slinky dipole, running N/S. 1915, 9680, Radio Thailand - Holiday in Thailand programming - SIO 544. 73s (Tony Molloy, 20 miles NW of Manchester, UK, March 4, ICF 2001D, Slinky dipole, Twitter @swlistener http://swlistener.wordpress.com/ dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. China, PBS, Xizang, logged under Voice of Turkey on 6050 signing on at 2000 UT with announcement followed by oldies English pop songs which seem to be the same ones every day. One song heard every day at around 2023 UT is Hotel California by (I'm told) The Eagles. Parallel 4820 sometimes heard. They must be short of tapes to play (Edwin Southwell, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** TIBET [non]. 11695, U.A.E., Radio Free Asia, 0101 presumed Tibetan. Man with news headlines, music bridges between items, very faint possible Chinese jamming. Meanwhile on 17730 which RFA uses from Mongolia, I noted Chinese prior to 0100, so probably a jammer. Heard time pips here, but difficult to determine if from RFA or the jammer and I didn’t hear anything similar to what was on 11695. At 0142 only the Chinese jammer was audible on both frequencies. Mar 2 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car by Kalamalka Lake with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna on the roof, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUNISIA. RTTunisia [sic] in Arabic to N/ME from March 1: 1600-2110 on 9725*SFA 250 kW / 100 deg, ex 17735//12005 SFA 500 kW / 100 deg --- *strong co-channel 1600-1700 RFA in Uighur. BUT ON MARCH 2 AGAIN BACK ON 17735! (DX Re Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 March via DXLD) 17735, March 4 at 1758, Arabic, very poor with flutter, from IWT. Ivo Ivanov, DX Re Mix News, Bulgaria, says on March 1 they were back on 9725, but March 2 resumed 17735; so it comes and goes (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. 11735, VOT, 1820-1823*, March 1. VOT Foreign Service IS and off; much stronger than Brazil underneath (Ron Howard, Asilomar State Beach, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9610, 06/Mar 2135, Voice of Turkey em inglês, eu presumo. Sinal muito fraco. Ouço YL falando e parece ser em inglês. Glenn Hauser certa vez comentou a respeito dos sinais precários com transmissão em 500 kW, informou que possivelmente não estão transmitindo com 500 kW, talvez por uma questão de economia, necessária devido aos cortes sobre as transmissões de ondas curtas no mundo todo. Talvez não seja essa a situação dessa transmissão, mas o certo que poucas emissoras que estão transmitindo com 500 kW chegam aqui como antigamente. A maioria está chegando muito fraco. 25322 (Jorge Freitas, Brasil, condiglist yg via DXLD) ** TUVALU. NEW AM SIGNAL IN THE PACIFIC Posted on http://www.tuvalu-news.tv in December 2011 December 30, 2011 New AM Radio Station in Funafu, Tuvalu 9th of November 2011, new AM radio station completed its construction under the support from Japanese government and they started their broadcasting experimentally. In Tuvalu, the radio is the only media and it broadcasts many kinds of information that are closely related to people`s everyday life. Until now, FM broadcasting had been used in Tuvalu. However, there were some islands where people there could not listen the radio properly because of the remoteness of those islands. Thanks to the new AM radio station, people in all the 9 islands can get the information from the radio without hindrance. Ms. Afasene Pese, Program Producer of Tuvalu Radio, said ``Now, all the stuffs in Tuvalu Radio are very happy to work here because all the rooms and radio equipments are very new. At the studio in our radio station before, we did not have a good soundproofing. That is why, sometimes people can hear the noise from outside such as dog`s barking, the sound of rain and people`s shouting. While our new radio studio has a high quality soundproofing. We cannot hear any sound from outside. Though the radio is the only media in Tuvalu, there were some islands they cannot get our broadcasting because of their remoteness. We got a lot of their complains in those days. Now, all the people in Tuvalu can get valuable information for their life with 100% satisfaction. We get a lot of happy voice from them. We never experienced such a wonderful thing before. We deeply appreciate to the people in Japan." (via Paul Walker, March 5, IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) WTFK??? (gh) I don't know what kind of power level they're running, but I suspect 5 to 10 kW. I also don't know what frequency they're operating, but it's possible they're on 621 kHz or something nearby to that, as they used to have an AM on that frequency. They do have an FM Channel, operating with about 200 W from a 50 to 100 foot mast next to their studio (Paul B Walker, Jr., ibid.) Tuvalu 621 I QSL'd years ago (1983) and I heard what I thought was them the other night with Pacific Island music and I thought they were a bit strong. It seems to me their transmitter site was destroyed by a storm a few years ago. So I am glad they are on again. They were 5 kW in the old days but did not get out well. P. George was their CE and it was British then. I heard 621 about 0700-0800 UTC. Tonight, only a het there at 0600, so far. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR UT, 6 March, IRCA via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) I was in Grayland on Feb. 21-23 -- well my Perseus was there; I was only there part of the time. I had a unID on 621 at 0700 UT on 2/21 that I was tempted to call Radio Rhema from NZ but after being alerted to this from Walt Salmaniw, I'm going back to look at/listen to wav files a bit more closely. Here's a short sample of what I had on 621 - across TOH ... splatter courtesy of KPOJ: [and non] and here's what Tonga on 1017 sounded like at the same time: Conditions were not great but nor was the weather or my mauling of a new antenna design I was trying. Other things I heard in Grayland during this visit are on this page: (Bill Whitacre, Alexandria, VA, ibid.) After looking at GeoClock and listening to TOH and BOH cuts from the same date from 05 to 10 UT, I'd bet what I heard was Tuvalu but about the best audio is still what I sent the URL to. So prop fits and it sure 'sounds' like a Polynesian language but I think I'll wait for another Grayland trip to get totally excited. Conditions were not the best this year - at least not compared to what Guy Atkins and I heard in Feb. 2010: but, as someone else has said -- "Even bad conditions at Grayland beat just about anyplace else!" I got a little lazy [or in a hurry] too and tried to get away with one-element DKAZ antennas [one at 240 and one at 335 deg.] They're really good but to really knock down the domestic crud you need two elements to phase the heck out of it. Next time ... whit (Bill Whitacre, ibid., via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** UKRAINE. 11980, RDH (Radio Dneprovskaya Hvuilia) on 11980 kHz was on the air on Febr 25 only, 0700-0800 UT. But on Febr 26 at 0700-0900 UT relayed Ukraine 1 and own program at 0755-0800 and 0855-0900 UT with demodulated voice and songs - observed with weak signals here. Given address (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Feb 26, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 1 via DXLD) Hvuilia, yet another spelling for this, perhaps Bulgarian-influenced (gh, DXLD) ** U K. BBCWS: The Future of Interntional (sic!) Broadcasting? I didn't have a chance to enjoy this so called "80th anniversary" discussion live. Instead, I spent 53 min. listening to the recorded and edited version at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00pfhmc Well, I'm sure glad I didn't waste two hours of listening to the original debate. BBCWS invited Shakira (!) to voice her opinions on international media. So you can skip first 20 min. on BBC iPlayer. Don't get me wrong - she is a fine singer. But Shakira has little to do with int. broadcasting! Why did her interview take almost half of the program?! I don't think I heard anything from RT's Margarita Simonyan. Not sure about Al-Jazeera's guy, either. (I have to admit I wasn't such an attentive listener.) Maybe their opinions were included. Or edited out, as irrelevant. Adam Long's poetry piece on BBCWS's history was a highlight for me. If you are short on time, fast forward your iPlayer to 35 minutes to listen to his poem and the ensuing discussion. My general conclusion: the future of interntional (sic!) broadcasting looks muddy, at best. I'm afraid this whole "80th anniversary" celebration was a positive spin on BBCWS's funeral (Sergei S., March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hm, Shakira? Have they also asked the Teletubbies? (that's how the CBeebies are called in Krautistan) I have an impression that all the hype about this anniversary is to a large extent driven by nostalgia. What I have heard from the BBC World Service in recent years did not really convince me, was a far cry from the former German service that went away in 1999, with a farewell broadcast including masterpieces of sarcastic remarks. And so I fully agree with your conclusion (Kai Ludwig, east Germany, ibid.) ** U K. I guess that's what the real future looks like :: BBC ADVERTISING OPENS FIRST OFFICE IN SWITZERLAND Date: 01.03.2012 BBC Advertising has opened its first office in Switzerland, as it looks to capitalise on the recent growth in the market and build on its existing successful business relationships there. As growth in the Swiss market has been fuelled predominantly by the luxury category, BBC Advertising, part of the BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, is uniquely positioned to meet that demand, with the BBC commercial platforms' consistently quality editorial output and high production values attracting the premium demographic that luxury brands are seeking. The increasing move towards online and its accompanying video formats also presents a great opportunity for advertisers to benefit from appearing on BBC Advertising's wide range of platforms, which includes BBC.com, lonelyplanet.com, digital apps as well as its network of commercial television channels, including BBC World News. According to recent research by Toluna, TV and online are the most effective platforms for inspiring consumption of luxury goods among both men and women*. BBC Advertising has also today announced the appointment of Sarah Green to lead the new operation in Switzerland, based in Lausanne. Reporting into Laeticia de Belloy, BBC Advertising's Regional Director for France, Benelux & Switzerland, Sarah will be responsible for managing the existing international client base in Switzerland and for developing new business opportunities across the BBC Worldwide commercial portfolio. Sarah brings with her a wealth of Ad Sales experience, both inside and outside of the BBC. She worked for the BBC World News Ad Sales department for five years, in London and in Singapore, before moving on to work for The Economist Group in Asia. Quickly embracing the growth of online in the region, she became Asia Pacific Online Sales Manager for The Economist in September 2008, before returning to Europe in early 2011, with a few months at The Economist in Paris as European Digital & Online Sales Manager. Sarah Green commented: "Setting up this new office presents us with an exciting opportunity to connect international media buyers in Switzerland with all the fantastic content and innovative ways of delivery that only BBC Advertising can offer. I'm excited about finding new opportunities and building fruitful new relationships." Laeticia de Belloy said: "BBC Advertising is delighted to have Sarah heading up our new office in Lausanne. She brings with her great expertise, insight and enthusiasm and I look forward to seeing our business grow and develop in Switzerland." For more information, please contact Lucy Philippson on +44 (0)20 8433 2687 or at lucy.philippson@bbc.com Notes to Editors *In a survey conducted by Toluna in May 2011, when asked which media gives you ideas for luxury products or services to purchase, 54% of women agreed that TV was effective for this and 40% agreed online media was effective. (The research was conducted in France, Italy, Russia, Japan and the US with a survey sample of 4,516.) * Switzerland was one of the first countries to be offered the Global BBC iPlayer, when the pilot was launched as an app for the iPad (now also on iPhone and iPod Touch) in July 2011. More information on the video on-demand service offering international audiences access to the best contemporary and classic shows from the BBC can be found here and here. * TV viewers in Switzerland can also enjoy the BBC Entertainment and BBC World News channels. BBC World News broadcasts award-winning news, interviews, and documentaries in addition to lifestyle programming such as Fast Track and The Culture Show, which are areas of high interest to luxury brands. Globally, BBC World News reaches over 300 million homes. * BBC.com, the number one international news website in Europe, offers people in Switzerland top quality, impartial news as well as the best sport, business, travel and science and technology analysis, comment and features. The site attracts around 58 million unique users per month globally. About BBC Worldwide BBC Worldwide Limited is the main commercial arm and a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). The company exists to maximise the value of the BBC's assets for the benefit of the licence fee payer and invest in public service programming in return for rights. The company has five core businesses: Channels, Content & Production, Sales & Distribution, Consumer Products, Brands, Consumers & New Ventures, with digital ventures incorporated into each business area. In 2010/11, BBC Worldwide generated profits of £160 million on sales of £1158 million and returned £182m to the BBC. For more detailed performance information please see BBC Worldwide's Annual Review website: http://www.bbcworldwide.com/annualreview Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/worldwide/010312switzerland.html (via Sergei S., dxldyg via DXLD) The logical next level of the "opinion formers and decision makers" thing. It's also nice how they boast of the BBC World News TV channel, the very one which recently had to apologize on air for serious breaches of editorial principles. Btw, Switzerland is in the luxury category in its entirety. Holidays there are simply not affordable: 40 Euro for a lunch and so on. Just ridiculous. The other way round shops at Konstanz get literally stormed by Swiss customers, for an obvious reason (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) ** U K. BBC BUSH HOUSE SITE MOVE. http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/World-Service-Media-Pack.pdf (via Ian Baxter, March 1, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Bush House memories --- To my mind one of the "public" parts of the Bush House complex was the BBC Shop. This is where I bought my WRTH copies from approx 1989 until 1994. In the shop during the first years of visiting there were large numbers of books through BBC Publications as well as DX related books. I was fascinated that they had a monitor carrying BBC World TV from Hotbird satellite - I thought that the only English viewers of this channel were DXers! I think that the building is a beautiful one but it will be hard on future sightings to decouple BBC from Bush House in my mind. 73's Dan Goldfarb, Brentwood, England, March 2, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** U K. PEEL WING A 'FITTING TRIBUTE' TO DJ BBC Ariel 2 March 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/ariel/17225560 A wing of New Broadcasting House is to be named after John Peel, the late Radio 1 DJ. The Egton Wing, which is on the site of Radio 1's former Egton House home in London's W1, will become the Peel Wing in tribute to the man who championed new music and anticipated new trends. 'John was one of the BBC's great radio talents,' judges Mark Thompson in an email to staff, 'broadcasting regularly on Radio 1 from its launch in 1967.' “Peel started out in pirate radio, but joined Radio 1 at its outset. His distinctive tone, dry wit and willingness to offer airtime to unsigned and underground talent soon made his programmes a must listen. They included the famous Peel Sessions - live performances by artists including Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Nirvana and The Smiths. Four thousand Peel Sessions were broadcast by 2000 artists. Peel also broadcast on the World Service, and attracted a new following from the nineties with his Home Truths programme on Radio 4. He made occasional forays into television, presenting Top of the Pops, the BBC's Glastonbury coverage and contributing to BBC Two's Grumpy Old Men. The DG describes Peel, who died suddenly in 2004, as 'a great ambassador' for the BBC. 'As we move into the BBC's iconic new home at Broadcasting House, the Peel Wing will be a fitting tribute to a man who personified so much of what the BBC stands for - quality, creativity and innovation.' (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K. Audio for BBCWS 80th Anniversary is available --- Thankfully the BBC World Service has made the audio from its special February 29th programs regarding its 80th Anniversary available for online listening (and downloading, if you have the appropriate software). Check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/schedules/2012/02/29 (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, March 8, Swprograms mailing list via DXLD) but only for a week? ** U K [non]. 15510, March 3 at 1525, BBCWS is back in English this week, or at the moment, instead of scheduled Somali 15-17 via CYPRUS on Saturdays only. Interview, then a clip of SBG coverage, so it`s mandatory `Sportsworld`, // an echo apart from 9740 SINGAPORE (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. NEW JOB DESCRIPTION FOR BBC MONITORS BBCRussian.com often publishes job announcements for BBC Monitoring openings in the former USSR. In the most recent announcement I noticed that the position now requires monitoring "social media" in addition to the Russian broadcast media. Before the descriptions included monitoring TV, radio, newspapers and news websites. (Sergei S., March 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) BBC Monitoring Moscow seeks journalists to monitor Russian broadcast and social media and write reports in English. The successful candidates will have: - Native level English and Russian; - Solid news sense and editorial judgement; - Ability to prioritize and summarize quickly and accurately; - Education to degree level; - Team working skills. Regular shift work, some verbatim translation involved. Please send CVs to: Fax: +7 (495) 775-2958 E-mail: yelena.lakeyeva@mon.bbc.co.uk Deadline 12 March 2012 Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/russian/institutional/2012/02/120229_monitoring_bbc_job.shtml (via Sergei S., dxldyg via DXLD) SW DXing skills no longer required (gh) ** U S A. 4470/USB, NN0KDBM and NN0WPT, W. Virginia Navy MARS with ops who had an accent like "Boomer" on King of the Hill. So thick you couldn't really understand what they said, but you could kind of get the gist of it -- sort of. Do these guys ever do anything remotely connected with military affairs or getting messages to/from the soldiers/sailors? (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) ** U S A. 7811-USB, 5446.5-USB, 12133.5-USB, AFN at 0644-0646 UT Tue- Sat with Jim Hightower commentaries, always cuts off the closing which we do hear e.g. via KRZA webcast at 1606-1608 UT M-F, referring to his website http://www.hightowerlowdown.org which includes text and audio of each program (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Frequency change of Radio Free Asia in Tibetan: 1500-1600 NF 11625 KWT 250 kW / 070 deg, ex 12085 or 1500-1600 NF 11625 DHA 250 kW / 075 deg, ex 11905 (DX Re Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 March via DXLD) so which one wins out? ** U S A [non]. In the late 50s and early 60s during the local times 1945-2000, 2010-2030 and 2110-2130 (except on Tue & Fri), the central streets in Sofia were empty. All of us young people went home tuning to 379 metres to listen to the music, prohibited in Bulgaria, aired via a radio station which we called ``Radio Beirut``, because at the end of programs the address given was in Beirut (in Arabic: `Souto America, sonduk lio beriib, telefmia uahud, Beirut`). VOA played songs by request featuring Elvis, Cliff, Paul Anka and also songs in French. Some years later I found out that this was VOA from the ship `Courier` near the island of Rhodes, and it was not from Beirut. I had a graphic schedule with programs featuring pop music airing from BBC, VOA, Yugoslavian stations on MW, etc. Around 1962- 1963 the most popular music radio was Luxembourg and we schoolboys listened each Sunday night to the Top 20 Chart (in summer from midnight, in winter from 0100 local time on Mondays), Tony Prince Show (as he said `Prince Tony Show`). In 1968 I saw for the first time the weekly newspaper New Musical Express. Good old times! (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Open to Discussion, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Altho I never heard it directly, I recall the Courier frequency was 1259 kHz. Was it previously on 379m = 791 kHz? That became the land- based Kavala frequency, later 792 kHz (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 9810, March 4 at 1247 romantic music in Thai? 1250 YL announcement including the English letters ``V-O-A``, another song. No, it`s Lao as scheduled 1230-1300, via Tinang, Philippines per Aoki, but latest HFCC March 1 says site is SAIPAN. Amazingly strong signal for beam due west from there; it could have passed for Delano if it existed (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Winter B-11 for Voice of America: Afaan Oromoo 1730-1800 on 9320 9485 9860 11905 13625 Mon-Fri Albanian 0600-0630 on 5945 1700-1730 on 7235 1930-2000 on 7235 Amharic 1530-1600 on 1431 Mon-Fri 1800-1900 on 9320 9485 9860 11905 13625 Arabic to North Africa "Radio Sawa" 0400-1645 on 990 1170 1548 1645-0400 on 990 1170 1431 1548 Arabic to Sudan "Afia Darfur" 0300-0330 on 5885 7275 9845 1800-1830 on 9805 11615 11975 1900-1930 on 9780 9815 11975 Azeri 1830-1900 on 6040 7315 9440 Bangla 1600-1700 on 1575 7405 9915 Burmese 0000-0030 on 1575 7430 9325 12120 0130-0300 on 12120 15115 17780 1130-1230 on 11965 15555 17850 1430-1500 on 1575 9325 11965 12120 1500-1530 on 9325 11965 12120 1500-1530 on 1575 Sat/Sun 1530-1600 on 1575 9355 11560 1600-1630 on 9355 11560 2300-0000 on 7430 9325 12120 Cantonese 1300-1500 on 1170 7390 9705 Chinese 0000-0100 on 7495 9545 11925 15125 15385 17645 0900-1000 on 9845 11720 11855 12120 13650 13765 15670 21590 1000-1100 on 9530 9845 11720 12120 13650 13765 15670 21590 1100-1200 on 9530 9825 11720 12045 13650 15670 1200-1300 on 6045 9530 9825 11635 12045 15110 1300-1400 on 6045 7295 7525 9530 9825 11635 12045 1400-1500 on 6105 7295 7525 9390 9785 9825 2200-2300 on 6045 7440 9545 9755 9875 11925 Dari "Radio Ashna" 0130-0230 on 1296 7560 9335 1530-1630 on 1296 9770 9975 12140 1730-1830 on 1296 5780 7560 9440 1930-2030 on 1296 5780 7560 English to Europe, Middle East, and North Africa 0100-0130 on 1593 0130-0200 on 1593 Tue-Sat 1500-1600 on 11840 13570 2000-2100 on 7470 9480 Mon-Fri English to Africa 0300-0400 on 909 1530 4930 6080 9885 15580 0400-0430 on 909 1530 4930 4960 6080 9885 15580 0430-0500 on 909 4930 4960 6080 9885 15580 0500-0600 on 909 4930 6080 9885 15580 0600-0700 on 909 1530 6080 9885 15580 1400-1500 on 4930 6080 15580 17650 17715 1500-1600 on 4930 6080 15580 17715 17895 1600-1700 on 909 1530 4930 6080 15580 17895 1700-1800 on 6080 13635 15580 17895 1800-1830 on 6080 13635 15580 1800-1830 on 909 4930 Sat/Sun 1830-1900 on 909 4930 6080 13635 15580 1900-2000 on 909 4930 4940 6080 15580 2000-2030 on 909 1530 4930 4940 6080 15580 2030-2100 on 909 1530 4930 6080 15580 2030-2100 on 4940 Sat/Sun 2100-2200 on 1530 6080 15580 English to Sudan " South Sudan in Focus" 1630-1700 on 9790 11905 13635 Mon-Fri English to Zimbabwe "Studio 7" 1730-1800 on 909 4930 12080 15775 Mon-Thu 1810-1820 on 909 4930 12080 15775 Fri 1720-1740 on 909 4930 12080 15775 Fri-Sun 1840-1850 on 909 12080 15775 Fri English to Afghanistan 2030-0030 on 1296 7560 English to Far East Asia, South Asia and Oceania 0030-0100 on 1575 6170 9325 9490 9715 11695 11730 15185 15205 15290 0100-0200 on 7325 9435 11705 1100-1200 on 1575 Sat/Sun 1200-1300 on 1170 7575 9640 11700 11750 12150 1300-1400 on 7575 9640 9760 11700 12150 Sat/Sun 1400-1500 on 7575 9760 12150 Mon-Fri 1500-1600 on 7575 9930 12150 2200-2300 on 5840 7365 7425 7570 11860 Sun-Thu 2230-2400 on 1575 Fri/Sat 2300-2400 on 5840 5895 7365 7460 7480 7570 9490 11840 11860 English-Special 0000-0030 on 1593 0030-0100 on 1575 1593 6170 9325 9490 9715 11695 11730 12005 15185 15205 15290 0130-0200 on 1593 5960 7465 Tue-Sat 1500-1600 on 6140 7465 7520 9760 9945 1600-1700 on 9395 13600 15470 1600-1700 on 1170 Mon-Fri 1900-2000 on 7480 9590 2230-2300 on 5810 7545 9570 French to Africa 0530-0600 on 1530 4960 6020 9480 12060 Mon-Fri 0600-0630 on 4960 6020 9480 12060 Mon-Fri 1100-1130 on 11915 13735 15620 17850 Sat 1830-1900 on 1530 15225 15620 1900-2000 on 1530 12080 15225 2000-2030 on 9780 9815 12080 15225 15620 2030-2100 on 9775 9815 12080 15225 Sat/Sun 2100-2130 on 9435 9680 9780 9815 Mon-Fri Georgian 1600-1700 on 7390 11840 1700-1800 on 9760 11840 Hausa 0500-0530 on 1530 4960 6020 6035 0700-0730 on 4960 12070 13780 17680 1500-1530 on 9780 11860 17650 2030-2100 on 4940 6035 9690 11860 11885 Mon-Fri Khmer 1330-1430 on 1575 9325 11965 2200-2230 on 1575 6060 7260 9435 Kinyarwanda/Kirundi 0330-0430 on 7340 9400 9540 1600-1630 on 11750 13740 15730 Sat Korean 1200-1500 on 1188 5890 7235 9555 1900-2100 on 648 5835 6060 7420 Kurdish 0500-0600 on 7390 9690 9760 1400-1500 on 1593 11840 11880 13580 1700-1800 on 7480 9655 11820 2000-2100 on 1593 Laotian 1230-1300 on 1575 9810 11965 Ndebele to Zimbabwe "Studio 7" 1800-1830 on 909 4930 12080 15775 Mon-Thu 1820-1830 on 909 4930 12080 15775 Fri 1850-1900 on 909 12080 15775 Fri 1740-1800 on 909 4930 12080 15775 Fri-Sun Pashto "Radio Ashna" 0030-0130 on 1296 5925 7560 1430-1530 on 1296 9335 12140 13835 1630-1730 on 1296 9770 9975 12140 1830-1930 on 1296 5780 7560 Pashto "Deewa Radio" 0100-0400 on 621 9370 9380 11895 1300-1500 on 621 7455 7495 9370 9565 1500-1900 on 621 5835 7455 7495 9370 Persian 0230-0330 on 7265 9440 9495 Portuguese to Africa 1000-1030 on 11915 17850 Sat/Sun 1630-1700 on 9880 15670 17655 Fri 1700-1800 on 1530 9880 15670 17655 1800-1830 on 1530 9880 15670 17655 Mon-Fri Shona to Zimbabwe "Studio 7" 1700-1730 on 909 4930 12080 15775 Mon-Thu 1800-1810 on 909 4930 12080 15775 Fri 1830-1840 on 909 12080 15775 Fri 1700-1720 on 909 4930 12080 15775 Fri-Sun Somali 0330-0400 on 11780 13745 15620 1300-1400 on 13580 15620 1600-1630 on 1431 13580 15620 Sat/Sun 1630-1800 on 13580 15620 Spanish 0030-0200 on 5890 9885 12000 Tue-Sat 1300-1400 on 9885 13750 15590 Spanish "Radio Martí" 0000-0300 on 1080 6030 7365 9825 0300-0400 on 1080 6030 7365 7405 0400-0500 on 1080 6030 7365 7405 Tue-Sun 0500-0700 on 1080 0700-1000 on 1080 5980 6030 Tue-Sun 1000-1100 on 1080 5980 6030 1100-1200 on 1080 5745 5980 6030 1200-1300 on 1080 5745 5980 7405 1300-1400 on 1080 5745 7405 11930 1400-2000 on 1080 11930 13820 15330 2000-2200 on 1080 9565 11930 13820 2200-2400 on 1080 6030 7405 9565 [SIC! MW frequency is 1180, not 1080; must have been relying on faulty memory. BTW, the RM frequency schedule as in DXLD 12-08 now ``does not exist``: http://www.martinoticias.com/programas/radio-frecuencias/ And is it appropriate yet to lump in RM as a ``VOA`` service? --gh] Swahili 1630-1730 on 13740 15265 15730 Tibetan 0000-0100 on 5980 7255 9645 0300-0600 on 15560 17860 21570 1400-1500 on 7255 7280 9315 9670 1600-1700 on 7530 7560 11920 Tigrigna 1900-1930 on 9320 9485 9860 11905 13625 Mon-Fri Urdu "Radio Aap ki Dunyaa" 0100-0200 on 972 1539 9520 12020 1400-1500 on 972 1539 7480 11675 1500-0100 on 972 1539 Uzbek 1500-1530 on 801 5930 6105 9575 11640 Vietnamese 1300-1330 on 1575 1500-1600 on 1170 (DX Re Mix News, Bulgaria, 3 March via DXLD) ** U S A. 6080.003, Intermodulation of Radio Martí Greenville 5980 and 6030 kHz broadcasts, after 0830 UT March 2, Spanish interview. Noted on remote SDR unit in southeastern USA (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WITH AN "ADVOCACY GROUP" LIKE THIS, WHO NEEDS ENEMIES? Posted: 04 Mar 2012 BBG Watch, 1 Mar 2012, BBG Watcher: "In a response for a RadioWorld article, 'Advocacy Group Objects to BBG Cuts,' a spokesperson for the Broadcasting Board of Governors advanced an argument that Voice of America does not have a special role representing the United States to foreign audiences and can be replaced in this role by private broadcasters funded by the BBG. ... CUSIB supports the so-called 'surrogate broadcasters' and their special independent role in delivering highly-targeted news to countries without free media. CUSIB does not believe, however, that surrogate broadcasters should be required to represent the United States and explain American policies to foreign audiences. According to CUSIB experts, the effectiveness of surrogate broadcasters depends largely on their editorial independence and being separate from the Voice of America and the U.S. Government. ... [A BBG spokesperson] did not elaborate how the requirement of the VOA Charter, a Public Law passed by the U.S. Congress which mandates that the Voice of America will represent significant American viewpoints and discussions and explain U.S. policies to foreign audiences, will now be carried out by surrogate, private broadcasters." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) The surrogate broadcasters are not exactly "private." They are independent but US Government funded corporations. When "CUSIB experts" say that "the effectiveness of surrogate broadcasters depends largely on their editorial independence and being separate from ... the U.S. Government," they imply that VOA does not have editorial independence and separation from the US government. What an awful thing to say about VOA, which must be independent if it is to have the credibility required for success in international broadcasting. If VOA's function is to "represent the United States," it should be transferred to the public diplomacy undersecretariat of the State Department and abandon any pretense of being a news organization. They also imply that VOA does not do targeted news. In fact, it, and BBC, have done so all along. They are de-facto "surrogate" stations. Where audiences for international broadcasting are large, they are mostly because those audiences are seeking reliable news about their own country. Stating that the surrogate station provides the news about the target country, while VOA provides news about the United States and elsewhere, is the equivalent of saying that the surrogate stations and VOA are differentiated by the fact that the former attracts an audience, while the latter does not. For each country, there is a sweet spot, a proportion of news about the target country, the United States, and the world, that best suits the interests of the international media audience. Only a consolidated USIB can achieve that proportion. There is no provision for success in the present structure of USIB. Those who are trying to preserve the present entities of USIB do none of those entities, or USIB in general, any favors. If USIB remains as a confederacy of overlapping, duplicative broadcasting efforts, it will be unable to compete with the growing sector of unified, global media brands (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** U S A. BBG READY TO DROP VOA CANTONESE AND TIBETAN Ann Noonan, Executive Director of the Committee for US International Broadcasting, writes in the National Review Online: “What is available on their [The Broadcasting Board of Governors] website is their FY2013 budget, wherein the BBG proposes to completely eliminate the Voice of America’s Cantonese Services to China. The BBG proposal completely disregards congressionally-mandated Public Law 94- 350 which directed VOA to inform the people in China who speak Cantonese by providing them with news broadcasts that promote freedom and democracy.” Ms Noonan says further that “The BBG FY2013 budget also dropped the ax on Tibetan Voice of America radio broadcasts to Tibet. This comes as a real surprise, as American compassion for the people of Tibet and respect for their spiritual leader, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, is at an all-time high.” Read the whole article http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/292542/bbg-ready-drop-ax-cantonese-and-tibetan-services-ann-noonan (March 5th, 2012 - 11:57 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) Broadcasting Board of Governors press release, 2 Mar 2012: "VOA’s Lao Service celebrated its 50th anniversary on February 22." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. BBG MEETING, WITH WEBCAST, IS THURSDAY AT 2015 UT. Posted: 07 Mar 2012 Broadcasting Board of Governors, 2 Mar 2012: "The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) will meet on Thursday, March 8, at the headquarters of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks, Inc. in Springfield, Virginia. The BBG will consider a report from the Governance Committee regarding Board leadership, Board operating procedures, the status of the consolidation of BBG-sponsored grantees, and the future structure for U.S. international broadcasting. ... The meeting, which is scheduled to begin at 3:15 p.m. [2015 UTC], will be open to the public via webcast live and on-demand." With links to the video and audio. Broadcasting Board of Governors press release, 9 Mar 2012: "The Broadcasting Board of Governors’ Governance Committee will meet on Wednesday, March 7, and on Friday, March 9, to discuss the authorities of the presiding governor and other issues. This meeting is not open to the public." (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) I monitored the whole open meeting, which did not really start until 2030 and ended shortly before 2200. Lots and lots of back-patting, different sexions presenting reports, including The Martís with a fancy self-congratulatory video. Its director saved us some money by staying in Miami. Conference table video froze for some long periods, but that may have been my computer`s fault (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA CELEBRATES ITS 70TH ANNIVERSARY. NEW PODCAST ABOUT WILLIS CONOVER. Posted: 07 Mar 2012 The Voice of America today celebrates its 70th anniversary with an event in the VOA auditorium. Former VOA directors and other past officials will attend. (As determined by recent historical research, the actual anniversary date was 1 February.) See the VOA 70th anniversary web page. http://www.insidevoa.com/about/voa70/ Jazz at Lincoln Center, 6 Mar 2012, David Goren: "During the Cold War with the Soviet Union, the United States had a secret weapon: Willis Conover's 'Jazz Hour,' carried on the shortwave radio signals of The Voice of America across Russia and Eastern Europe: Starting in 1955 and running for over forty years, 'Jazz Hour' nurtured generations of jazz musicians who grew up under the restrictions of Communism. On this edition of Jazz Stories we hear Willis Conover and two outstanding jazz musicians, Czech bassist George Mraz and Russian trumpeter Valery Ponomarev – both of whom learned about jazz from his broadcasts." http://www.jalc.org/podcasts/ With audio -- The link says "preview," but it's the entire 13:26 podcast (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. B-11 RFA Daily Broadcast Frequencies. GERMANY/KUWAIT/LITHUANIA/MARIANA ISL/MONGOLIA/PALAU/RUSSIA/SAIPAN/ SRI LANKA/TAIWAN/TAJIKISTAN/TINIAN/UAE All times in UTC. [with sites and hoppings added] Some Mandarin and Tibetan language broadcast vary in Frequency from day to day. Burmese (4 hours daily) 0030-0130 12115IRA 15700TIN 17835TIN 1230-1330 13595x7245TIN 11795TIN 12105IRA 1330-1400 13595x7245TIN(-1400) 11795IRA 12105IRA 1400-1430 11795KWT 12105IRA 1630-1730 7245TIN Cantonese (2 hours daily) 1400-1500 6025TIN 7470TIN 2200-2300 7250TIN 9780SAI 11775TIN Khmer (2 hours daily) 1230-1330 13810IRA 15160TIN 2230-2330 5790IRA 11850IRA Korean (5 hours daily) 1500-1700 648RAZ 5855TIN 7210IRK 9385TIN 1700-1900 648RAZ 5855TIN 9385IRA 2100-2200 648RAZ 7460MNG 9385TIN 11995TIN Lao (2 hours daily) 0000-0100 15690TIN 17770SAI 1100-1130 9325IRA 15120IRA 1130-1200 9325IRA 15120SAI Mandarin (12 hours daily) 0300-0600 11980TIN 13710TIN 15665SAI 17880TIN 1xhopping TIN: 21465Mon, 21480Tue, 21495Wed, 21510Thu, 21525Fri, 21555Sat, 21450Sun. 0600-0700 11980TIN 13710TIN 15150TIN 15665SAI 17880TIN 21540TIN 1500-1600 6025TIN 7445TIN 9790SAI 9905PAL 11945TJK 13725TIN 1600-1700 6020TIN 7415TIN 7445TIN 9455SAI 9905PAL 11945TJK 13725TIN 1700-1800 6020TIN 7415TIN 7445TIN 9355SAI 9455SAI 9905PAL 11945TJK 13670TIN 1800-1900 6025TIN 7385TWN 7415TIN 7445TIN 9355SAI 9455SAI 9905TIN 11790SAI 11945TJK 13670TIN 1900-2000 1098TWN 5860TIN 6025TIN 6095TIN 7385TWN 9355SAI 9455SAI 9875PAL 9905TIN 11790SAI 11945TJK 2000-2100 1098TWN 5860TIN 6025TIN 6095TIN 7355TWN 7495TIN 9355SAI 9455SAI 9875PAL 11900SAI 11945TJK 2100-2200 1098TWN 6025TIN 6095TIN 7355TWN 7495TIN 9355SAI 9455SAI 9875PAL 11900SAI 11945TJK 2300-0000 7540TJK 9585SAI 9825TIN 11775TIN 11975SAI 15550TIN Tibetan (10 hours daily) 0100-0200 9670TJK 11695UAE 17730MNG 1xhopping KWT: 7515Mon, 7500Wed, 7530Fri, 7500Sun, 7530Tue, 7515Thu, 7545Sat. 1xhopping TIN: 15610Mon, 15635Wed, 15640Fri, 15645Sun, 15655Tue, 15680Thu, 15690Sat. 0200-0300 7470KWT 9670TJK 11695UAE 15520TIN, 17730MNG MoWeFr 7470KWT 9670TJK 11695UAE 15540TIN, 17730MNG SuTuSa 7470KWT 9670TJK 11695UAE 15220TIN, 17730MNG Thur 0600-0700 17515TJK 17685KWT 21610TIN 21695UAE 1xhopping TIN: 21625Mon, 21640Tue, 21655Wed, 21670Thu, 21685Fri, 21700Sat, 21610Sun. 1000-1100 9690SIT 15140LAM 1xhopping BIB: 17580Mon, 17585Wed, 17595Sun, 17605Tue, 17810Fri, 17815Thu, 17865Sat. 1100-1200 7470MNG 9350TJK 15375UAE 1xhopping KWT: 11510Mon/Wed/Fri, 11545Sun/Tue/Sat, 11590Thu. 1200-1400 7470MNG 9350TJK 11590KWT 13625TIN 15375TJK 1500-1600 5780TJK 9955TIN 11905UAE 12085KWT 2200-2300 6005TIN 7470TJK 9835LAM 2300-0000 6010UAE 7470TJK 7550KWT 9875SIT Uyghur (2 hours daily) 0100-0200 7480TJK 9480SIT 9645UAE 9690UAE 1xhopping TIN: 17805Sun, 17815Thu, 17825Mon/Wed/Fri, 17850Tue, 17870Sat. 1600-1700 7285TJK 7470IRA 9725UAE 1xhopping SAI: 12035Tue/Thu, 12065Mon/Wed/Fri, 12075Sun, 12085Sat. Vietnamese (2 hours daily) 1400-1430 1503TWN 1400-1500 7245TIN 9400x9990SAI 9455TIN 11605TWN 12130IRA 13735IRA 2300-2400 1503x1359TWN 2330-2400 9920x5885IRA 11605TWN 11965TIN 15145TIN Su/Tu/Th/Sa 0000-0030 9920x5885IRA 11605TWN 11965TIN 15170TIN Mo/We/Fr (DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Febr 29; also some updates Radio Free Asia, via William Hague-UK, NWDXC via DXLD) ** U S A [non]. Updated B-11 schedule of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty: AFGHANISTAN/ARMENIA/GERMANY/KUWAIT/LITHUANIA/MARIANA ISL- Saipan/PHILIPPINES/SRI LANKA/THAILAND/UAE/U.K. [with sites added] Arabic Radio Free Iraq 0200-0700 1593KWT 1500-1530 1593KWT 1830-2000 1593KWT 2100-2300 1593KWT Avari/Chechen/Circassian 0300-0400 5830KWT 7425BIB 1500-1600 11765NAU 15130BIB Azeri 1600-1700 7480IRA 11850LAM Belorussian 0300-0500 612LTU 6105WER 6155LAM 1500-1700 612LTU 6120WER 9515WOF 1700-1900 612LTU 5930BIB 9515LAM 1900-2100 612LTU 5840UDO 5930BIB Dari Radio Free Afghanistan 0300-0330 1296AFG 9335KWT 12140KWT 15335UDO 0430-0530 1296AFG 12140KWT 15335KWT 17530KWT 0630-0730 1296AFG 12140KWT 17530IRA 19010KWT 0830-0930 1296AFG 12140KWT 17530IRA 19010KWT 1030-1130 1296AFG 9990UDO 12140KWT 19010KWT 1230-1330 1296AFG 9335KWT 9990UDO 12140KWT 1400-1430 1296AFG 9335KWT 12140KWT 13835LAM Kazakh 0100-0200 1314UAE 7235LAM 9790UDO 1300-1400 1314UAE 9445LAM 15530LAM Kyrgyz 1200-1230 11990UDO 15265LAM 17735IRA 1500-1530 9445LAM 11790WER Pashto Radio Free Afghanistan 0230-0300 1296AFG 9335KWT 12140KWT 15335UDO 0330-0430 1296AFG 9335KWT 12140KWT 15335UDO 0530-0630 1296AFG 12140KWT 17530IRA 19010KWT 0730-0830 1296AFG 12140KWT 17530IRA 19010KWT 0930-1030 1296AFG 12140KWT 17530IRA 19010KWT 1130-1230 1296AFG 9335KWT 9990UDO 12140KWT 1330-1400 1296AFG 9335KWT 12140KWT 13835LAM Pashto Radio Mashaal 0400-0500 621AFG 12130IRA 13580IRA 15760IRA 0500-0800 621AFG 12130IRA 13580NAU 15760IRA 0800-0900 621AFG 12130KWT 13580NAU 15760IRA 0900-1100 621AFG 12130KWT 13580UDO 15760IRA 1100-1300 621AFG 12130KWT 13700IRA 15760IRA Persian Radio Farda 0000-0200 1314UAE 1575UAE 5830KWT 5860IRA 0200-0230 1575UAE 5830KWT 5860IRA 9430LAM 0230-0300 1575UAE 5830KWT 5860IRA 9550BIB 9430LAM 15690IRA 0300-0400 1575UAE 5860KWT 9430LAM 9550BIB 15690IRA 0400-0430 1575UAE 5860KWT 9430LAM 9550BIB 13615IRA 15690IRA 0430-0500 1575UAE 5860KWT 9430LAM 9550BIB 13615IRA 15535KWT 15690IRA 0500-0530 1575UAE 5860KWT 9550BIB 13615IRA 15535KWT 15690IRA 0530-0600 1575UAE 5860KWT 9520BIB 13615IRA 15535KWT 15690IRA 0600-0700 1575UAE 5860KWT 9520BIB 13615IRA 15535KWT 15690IRA 17840IRA 0700-0830 1575UAE 5860KWT 9520BIB 13615IRA 15535KWT 15690IRA 17840IRA 21715UDO 0830-0930 1575UAE 5860KWT 11975BIB 13615IRA 15535KWT 15690IRA 17840IRA 21715UDO 0930-1030 1575UAE 5860KWT 11975BIB 13615IRA 15690IRA 17735LAM 17840IRA 21715IRA 1030-1100 1575UAE 5860KWT 13615IRA 15410BIB 15690IRA 17735LAM 17840IRA 21715IRA 1100-1230 1575UAE 5860KWT 13615LAM 15410BIB 15690IRA 17735LAM 17840IRA 21715IRA 1230-1300 1575UAE 5860KWT 13615LAM 13635WER 15410BIB 15690IRA 1300-1400 1575UAE 5860KWT 11750BIB 13615LAM 13635WER 15410BIB 15690IRA 1400-1430 1314UAE 1575UAE 11750BIB 13615LAM 13635WER 15410WOF 1430-1530 1314UAE 1575UAE 11750BIB 13615LAM 13680WER 15410WOF 1530-1600 1314UAE 1575UAE 11785BIB 13615LAM 13680WER 15410WOF 1600-1630 1314UAE 1575UAE 7520UDO 11785BIB 13615LAM 13680WER 1630-1700 1314UAE 1575UAE 7520UDO 7580IRA 13615LAM 1700-1800 1314UAE 1575UAE 7520UDO 7580IRA 9850LAM 13615LAM 1800-1900 1314UAE 1575UAE 7520UDO 7580IRA 9850LAM 1900-2000 1314UAE 1575UAE 7520UDO 7580IRA 9850LAM 9965IRA 2000-2100 1314UAE 1575UAE 5850IRA 7520UDO 7580IRA 9965IRA 2100-2130 1314UAE 1575UAE 5850IRA 7520IRA 7580IRA 9965IRA 2130-2230 1314UAE 1575UAE 5850IRA 7520IRA 7580IRA 2230-2300 1314UAE 1575UAE 5830KWT 7520IRA 7580IRA 2300-2400 1314UAE 1575UAE 5830KWT 7520IRA Moldovian 0500-0600 5945BIB Mon-Fri 1600-1630 5910BIB Sat/Sun 1700-1730 6155BIB Mon-Fri 1900-1930 6135BIB Mon-Fri Russian 0300-0400 5925BIB 7285BIB 7435LAM 17770UDO 0400-0500 5925BIB 6015LAM 7435KWT 17770UDO 0500-0600 5925BIB 7425LAM 9430BIB 17770UDO 0600-0700 7425LAM 9430BIB 15250PHT 17770UDO 0800-1000 9360PHT 11705BIB 15555PHT 1200-1300 9360SAI 11785BIB 15130LAM 1300-1400 9360SAI 11805BIB 15130LAM 1400-1500 9715BIB 9840BIB 11805BIB 15130LAM 1500-1600 7270UDO 9715BIB 12025LAM 1600-1700 6180LAM 9495BIB 9715BIB 1700-1800 7325LAM 9405LAM 9715BIB 9785BIB 1800-1900 6140LAM 9405WOF 9715BIB 1900-2000 7225LAM 9405WOF 9715BIB 2000-2100 5885LAM 5895UDO 9405LAM Russian Caucasus Echo 1700-1800 5885UDO 9640WER Tajik 0100-0300 7275LAM 11795UDO 0300-0400 9520BIB 11795UDO 1400-1500 7215UDO 9695LAM 1500-1600 7260UDO 9695LAM 1600-1700 9445WER 9695LAM Tatar 0300-0400 5975LAM 7390LAM 0500-0600 9535KWT 1500-1600 9545BIB 11720BIB 1900-2000 7530IRA Turkmen 0200-0300 864ERV 7390LAM 12015UDO 0300-0400 6000LAM 12015IRA 1400-1500 6060KWT 12010BIB 1500-1530 6060KWT 11870WOF 1530-1600 864ERV 6060KWT 11870WOF 1600-1800 5820UDO 7225KWT Uzbek 0200-0300 9680IRA 12025UDO 15590UDO 0300-0400 9680LAM 12025KWT 15590UDO 1400-1500 9595WER 11995WER 12025LAM 1500-1530 864ERV 1600-1700 7550KWT 9840LAM 11805LAM (DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov-BUL, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Febr 29 via DXLD) ** U S A. 25910 FM, WBAP, Dallas, Texas, 1825-1920, IDs. News at 1830. Local traffic report. Weather. “News Talk Radio”. “Texas Home Improvement” call-in show. Fair to good, but occasional deep fades. March 3. 25950 FM, KOA, Denver, Colorado, 1925-1945, promo for Colorado Rockies Baseball. Local ads. “850, KOA”. Talk about spring training baseball. Local traffic report. Ad for Bank of Colorado. Poor to fair with occasional deep fades. March 3. 25990 FM, KLIF, Dallas, Texas, 1825-1905, local ads. Call-in show. FOX News at 1900. “Talk Radio 570, KLIF”. Fair to good, but occasional deep fades. March 3.(Brian Alexander, Mechanicsburg, PA, Icom IC- 7600, two 100 foot longwires, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WORLD OF RADIO 1606: finished in time for first airing to be on 9955 WRMI UT Thursday March 1 at 0430, but unconfirmed. Further times on WRMI SW: Sat 0900, 1600, 1830, Sun 0900, 1630, 1830, Mon 0600, 1230. Plus many more on webcasts only; see http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html On WTWW: Thu 2200 on 9479; UT Sun 0500 on 5755 (which happened to be off the air last week). On WWRB: UT Friday 0430v on 3195. On WBCQ: NEW: UT Saturday 0215v on 5110v-CUSB (replaces Thu 2230 7490) On WRN via SiriusXM 120: Sat & Sun 1830, Sun 0930 WORLD OF RADIO 1606 monitoring: confirmed Thu March 1 at 2200 inbooming on 9479 WTWW; also at 0430 UT Friday March 2 on 3195 WWRB, after a respectful 30-second pause. Remember, new time on WBCQ is UT Saturday 0215v on 5110v-CUSB. Also on 5755 WTWW, UT Sunday 0500. On 9955 WRMI: Sat 0900, 1600, 1830, Sun 0900, 1630, 1830, Mon 0600, 1230. And on WRN via SiriusXM 120, Sat & Sun 1830, Sun 0930. WOR as early as 0200 UT Sat 5110 --- http://www.worldmicroscope.com/ Area 51 via WBCQ is now showing WOR 1606 starting at 0200 UT Saturday, instead of 0215 as we were previously told. It may depend on whether the live Allan Weiner Worldwide show preceding it runs over, and vary from week to week. The SWL Winter Fest is underway this weekend and in the past WBCQ has broadcast live from there during portions of the schedule, but nothing about that is mentioned here, and 7415 is otherwise fully booked, AFAIK (Glenn Hauser, 0007 UT March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Measurements of how much WBCQ 5 MHz transmitter varied:] 5109.76, 0001 UT 13 Feb, WBCQ, crazy American, AM+USB only, SIO 242 5109.78, 0001 UT 25 Feb, Radio Timtron chat, AM+USB only, SIO 253 (Alan Pennington, England, Tropical Bands Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) WORLD OF RADIO 1606 monitoring: 5110v-CUSB, UT Sat March 3 at 0204- 0233, at new time, via Area 51 on WBCQ, confirmed on webcast tho I did not have a chance to check the SW. Further airings this weekend: 9955 WRMI, Sat 1830, Sun 0900, 1630, 1830, Mon 0600; 5755 WTWW, UT Sun 0500. WORLD OF RADIO 1606 monitoring: confirmed on 5755 WTWW, UT Sunday March 4 at 0500, excellent signal here and I hope elsewhere. Further repeats on 9955 WRMI: Sunday 1630, 1830, Monday 0600, 1230; on 5980 Hamburger Lokalradio, Germany: Tuesday 1030. On SiriusXM 120: Sunday 1830 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1606 monitoring: caught the end of the 0600 UT Monday on WRMI 9955: at 0628 March 5, sufficient vs lite jamming level (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From March 11, the imposition of DST causes our WORLD OF RADIO airtimes on US SW stations (and most webcasts) to shift one UT hour earlier so they seem to stay at the same local times, including: WTWW: Thursday 2100 on 9479, UT Sunday 0400 on 5755 WWRB: UT Friday 0330v on 3195 WBCQ: UT Saturday 0100v on 5110v-CUSB WRMI 9955: Thursday 0330; Saturday 0800, 1500, 1730; Sunday 0800, 1530, 1730; Sunday 0500, 1130 WRN via SiriusXM 120: Saturday & Sunday 1730, Sunday 0830 (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9955, UT Sat March 3 at 0607, no more Channel Africa in English via WRN via WRMI; instead something in Spanish with pulse jamming at about equal level to it. Eventually hear Catholic keywords such as ``novena``, ``virgen María``, seemed like discussion of itinerary for upcoming papal visit to Cuba et al. 0629 outro as `En Camino` Friday program until next week, ``Laudetur Iesus Christus``, so it is Vatican Radio; 0630 WRMI bilingual ID and into usual R. Praga in Spanish. As often, this change is not yet shown in the WRMI program grid dated Feb 22. So is WRN/ChAf also gone from UT Tue-Fri? Awaiting response from Jeff White about what`s now scheduled at 0600-0630. Re previous report of Vatican Spanish on WRMI 9955, UT Sat at 0600- 0630: Jeff White explains this is nothing new, but the previous program schedule was incorrect, since Channel Africa via WRN has been on UT Tue-Fri only during that semihour. A new program schedule grid dated March 3 is now up https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0AivhtkIEGb3_dENObnZrMkt1YmtUWGxkbkd3TGNzOXc&hl=en#gid=0 fixing that and making some other changes, which Jeff explains: ``Just updated the schedule, and added several changes, some of which are due to a new 15-minute daily religious program. Note Wavescan 0500 Sunday, Studio DX 0600 Sunday, Blues Radio International 1230 Thursday, Wavescan 0430 Tuesday, NO Studio DX 0200 Wednesday, NO Radio Sweden 0230 Thursday, Wavescan 0415 Friday, Wavescan 0400 Saturday, NO Frecuencia al Dia 2300 Saturday, NO Wavescan 0115 Monday.`` I see no changes for WORLD OF RADIO, except no longer on Friday mornings at 1530, a webcast-only time. Also during the non-9955 block I see that M-F at 1500-1530 is now Radio Sweden, 1530-1600 Radio Prague. ALL the times, of course, shift one UT hour earlier from March 11 due to the imposition of DST. Meanwhile, 9955, Sunday March 4 at 1244 has a black-sounding gospel preacher in English, no outro, but break for a promo in Spanish for `Foro Revolucionario` Sundays at 4:30-5:30 pm, right back into another preacher in English, from Gaffney, South Carolina --- and there is NO jamming; will that be the case 24 hours later on Monday at 1230 when there is a certain DX program also in English? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15420-CUSB, Sunday March 4 at 1756, WBCQ loop of IDs and IS of band music fanfare. Don`t think I have ever heard this on any of their other frequencies. Usually, but not always, it appears before 1500 on Saturdays when Brother Scare`s Sabbath service starts, but now the Sunday-Friday sign-on is at 1800, until 2200 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9990, March 2 at 1437, WTWW-2 is not on the air, but it is at 1520 recheck, still with Brother Scare in a new month, as was the case circa 0645 on 5085. Will he be staying on this transmitter more or less fulltime? [and non]. Conditions are awful following geomag storms, but 12105 WTWW is certainly missing March 7 at 1420, long after usual 1400 start. 9479 and 9990 are on with super signals as usual, altho neighboring WWCR 13845 and 15825 are weak. Lower Tennesseans on 7490 and 9385 are inbooming. A JBA carrier on 12105 is presumably IBB SRI LANKA, normally smothered by WTWW. While having breakfast of red grapes from Chile, left a receiver with BFO on 12106, and heard WTWW carrier come on at *1453. Probably just cut on with Arabible in progress, as I`ve never heard any formal sign-on or sign-off from WTWW; intention is to operate 24 hours, altho WTWW-3 only has been curtailed to 14-06 approx. after a brief 24-hour usage of 12105, which in winter at least tends to not propagate thru the nightmiddle. In A- 12 also plans to stay on 12105 24h via 40-degree rhombic, and 5765 is no longer registered for night, good news for Guam. From March 11 with imposition of DST, expect 12105 nominal span to shift to 13-05 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9265, March 4 at 1235, non-screaming YL gospel huxter about ``raising a family``, ``walking thru life`s doors``. Has to be WINB, also with characteristic wobbling carrier. Last schedule change in Feb had WINB opening 13570 as early as 1200 on Sundays only, but they must have concluded that was too early for propagation, and gone back to 9265, which they used previously in the early morning as well as evenings. Nothing on 13570 at 1251 check. I was listening for ID on 9265 but cut off during music at 1258:55*. By 1309 next check, 13570 was up and running with more YL preaching, undermodulated, hum and same wobble. So what does the WINB online schedule http://www.winb.com/schedule.htm show now? It`s dated today March 4 already. But still claims to be on 13570 at 1200-1659 EST, 9265 at 1700-2300 EST! (= 1700-2159, 2200-0400 UT respectively for another week until DST). Yet, right below that the Sunday program schedule starts at 6 am = 1100 UT, while weekdays it`s from 1700 or later, Saturdays from 1345. Altho end times (excuse the expression) aren`t specified, it looks like there is still a 2v-hour break on weekday afternoons until resuming at 2145. Presumably the Sunday start will be even earlier with DST, from *1000 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 13570, WINB, English preaching at 1409. 1457 ID by M "This is WINB, Red Lion, Pennsylvania, USA", e-mail, phone, and ending with "You're listening to WINB", then more religious programming. Buzzing audio, but sometimes perfectly clear. (4 March) (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, NRD-535D, Perseus SDR, T2FD antenna, HCDX via DXLD) WINB is celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2012 and we have a new QSL card. The card features a vintage view of our control room. Anyone sending us an audio reception report will receive this new verification. Reports can be emailed to me at winb40th @ yahoo.com 73s (Hans Johnson, WINB Frequency Manager, March 5, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** U S A. 15610, March 4 at 2114, piano music from WEWN, very distorted; carrier is wobbling and accompanied by usual spur field out to 25 kHz or so each side. Usually they manage to maintain adequate modulation quality if tuned to the center frequency, but woe betide any other station foolish enough to enter that 50-kHz-wide area (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 6105, 25 Jan at 0825, TWR Europe, `Thru the Bible` with Dr McGee, SIO 554 (Adam Toynton, Devon, HF Logbook, March BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Via Nauen, GERMANY. I pick this item in order to point out that J. Vernon McGee is one of far too many long-dead gospel huxters still infesting the airwaves. Wikipedia says he died in Dec 1988*. He`s just as entitled to be called ``Dead Vernon McGee`` as is Dead Gene Scott (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. Some frequency changes of WYFR Family Radio from Mar 1 1100-1300 NF 13690 TRM 250 kW / 75? deg to EaAs English, ex 13795 A-A 1100-1200 NF 17555 KCH 250 kW / 78? deg to SEAs Ilocano, ex 9310 A-A 1200-1300 NF 17555 KCH 250 kW / 78? deg to SEAs Tagalog, ex 9310 A-A 1200-1300 NF 17860 ERV 250 kW / 87? deg to SEAs Cebuano, ex 9390 A-A 1200-1300 NF 13720 TRM 250 kW / 77? deg to SEAs English, ex 9310 A-A (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, 07 March via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. FAMILY RADIO FOUNDER: NO MORE DOOMSDAY PREDICTIONS After numerous failed doomsday predictions, Family Radio founder Harold Camping announced this month that he has no plans to predict ever again the day of God’s Judgment. He also issued an apology to listeners, admitting that he was wrong. “We have learned the very painful lesson that all of creation is in God’s hands and He will end time in His time, not ours!” a statement on Family Radio’s website reads. “We humbly recognize that God may not tell His people the date when Christ will return, any more than He tells anyone the date they will die physically.” Read more from the Christian Post http://www.christianpost.com/news/harold-camping-admits-sin-announces-end-to-doomsday-predictions-70953/ (March 7th, 2012 - 11:36 UTC by Andy Sennitt, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. YouTube: 2004 WMLK TRANSMITTER SITE TOUR http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ipUkdpcw3BQ (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) And they are *still* off the air. Shows curtain antenna (before or after damage?), 50 kW and 250 kW BBC transmitters, associated equipment, including Trane aircon unit, so only air-cooled?? All with music accompaniment, sparse captions. Watch out for a blast of noise on the sound track around 7:40 into the 8+ minute video (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [non]. 17680, March 5 at 1443, CVC La Voz, Miami via Calera de Tango, CHILE, very poor audio like a lo-fi internet connexion, also cutting out, guy speaking Spanish about homosexuality (what do you bet he was anti-?), and seems like he has a slight Brazilian accent (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WGTG TX site Revisit --- The location of the former WGTG transmitter site that I was previously provided with was slightly incorrect. The correct location is seen with the attached file & with GE 1999 historical image. Clearly seen with the 1999 GE imagery is the cleared bush land for the 250/70 degree Rhombic antenna. Supposedly from FCC records there were 2 Rhombics & 4 Yagi antennas. I have tentative info that two RHO ants & two yagi antennas in use, but can't confirm anything than 1 or 2 RHO & one Yagi in use. Does anyone have any further info & can anyone familiar with the WGTG site indicate where all the SW antennas were located? (Ian Baxter, NSW, March 4, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Was in heavily forested area (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. KNMX, 540 --- I heard on 540 this morning (Wednesday, 3/7) Spanish music with an English ID of something, New Mexico. I picked them up at 6:30 am CST and they faded back into the noise by 6:40. I assume it was KNMX, which according to Radio-Locator IDs as "K New Mexico." At 767 miles I'd guess they were cheating and on day power of 5 kW (Larry Wild, Old guy, Aberdeen SD, ABDX via DXLD) I also noted that KNMX seemed to be doing pretty well for 20 Watts last night. Maybe they were still on day power, after all. For me, KNMX usually all but disappears after sunset (Mike Westfall, Lost Almost NM, ibid.) ** U S A. I can remember WMAQ (WSCR) being off the air only once since I started DXing in 1980. Considering that I live within 4 miles of all three stations this will be a great opportunity to hear some new stations on these frequencies. I hope it has nothing to do with IBOC coming back on WSCR as you say. Maybe it has to do with IBOC being dropped from WBBM, but I doubt that (Christos Rigas, Wood Dale, Illinois Feb 27 NRC-AM via DXLD) More on the Chicago AM stations off: http://milwaukeemedia.boardhost.com/viewtopic.php?id=88 670 WSCR, 720 WGN and 780 WBBM will be off the air on Saturday, March 10th from 2:00 AM to 5:00 AM [CST = 0800-1100 UT]. WBBM is off because of antenna adjustment. More information at the above URL (Blaine Thompson, IN, March 5, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ** U S A. Tentative KBOI [670, Boise ID] test, March 10 If WSCR is actually off the air Friday night/Saturday morning March 10, KBOI has graciously agreed to do some testing for the DX community. Because they have regular programming (and regular listeners) at that hour, it will be somewhat limited - a code ID over normal programming around 1:07 AM MST (3:07 AM EST) and probably again around 1:37 AM MST (3:37 AM EST). During the code transmissions ONLY, KBOI may switch to its 50 kW ND day signal. [0807, 0837 UT] There's no absolute guarantee that this will happen yet - it depends on WSCR actually being off and the engineer's ability to make this happen around his other responsibilities, but it should be a great opportunity to log Idaho if it comes to pass. I'll follow up with QSL information and such as needed. Stay tuned, and happy DXing! s (Scott Fybush, NY, March 1, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) Their night pattern has a severe null to the East, Jim. But, if they were to go non-directional, anything is possible. http://www.radio-locator.com/cgi-bin/pat?call=KBOI&service=AM&status=L&hours=N (Marc DeLorenzo, So Dennis, MA, NRC-AM via DXLD) WSCR silent period confirmed --- I know an engineer at CBS radio Chicago who confirms that WSCR 670 will in fact be off the air during this weekend`s Chicago "silent period." Happy hunting and good DX! (Brock Whaley, Enjoying long wave BC in Kandahar, Afghanistan, March 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 0800-1100 UT Saturday March 10, presumably along with WGN 720; and WBBM 780 which causes the downtime. Can we recover from the storms in time for hi-latitude tests from Alaska 720 and even Idaho 670? (gh) And I have confirmed with KBOI that they'll be doing some limited testing during that silent period. Regular programming, but they'll drop in code IDs at about 1:08 MT (3:08 ET) and 1:38 MT (3:38 ET), using 50 kW ND during the code IDs *only*. QSL info to follow. s (Scott Fybush, March 7, NRC-AM via DXLD) One minute later than above I've had KBOI here a couple of times using Phased BOGs aimed west to very deeply null WSCR while KBOI was still on day pattern during the best sunset skip conditions. They are easier in WI as I'm lots further from WSCR. I've never had them at night. If they switch to ND for code and WSCR is off, it should be a slam dunk except for those close to Cuba. Guys in the NE can just loop Cuba. Lived here almost 20 years..never caught WSCR off. Idaho has just come back on 890 and this was a much easier SSS catch than 670 as I am further from WLS and I think 890 gets out even better on 50 kW ND days. On 720, the last time I found WGN off, I had to phase the now defunct CHTN to get Vegas. Various Mexicans are possible as is the stn from near San Antonio. I had Venezuela about 20 years ago when WGN was off. On 780 Reno should be possible as I've had them with KAZM usually under when WBBM has been off. Mexicans are also possible and I've had Venezuela. Re: ZBVI, I logged them in WI thru phased WBBM several years ago but I don't know what their hours of operation are. But it seems they are on at 5:30 local which is 3:30 am in Chicago. http://www.zbviradio.com/information.htm 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, Barrington IL/Grafton WI, 2 March, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. WXME-780 opportunity next week? If WBBM is indeed participating in the downtime, and if they indeed stay off till 6 Eastern on March 10, keep in mind that WXME in Monticello, Maine goes from 60 watts non-directional to 5,000 watts non-directional at 5:45 in the first ten days of March. Owner Allan H. Weiner is a real DXer's friend, too (Steve Francis, Alcoa, Tennessee, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. WWL Special Event station now --- W5WWL - a special event station for 90th anniversary of WWL in New Orleans is now on 7190.9 LSB. Might be a nice crossover QSL card. Just worked them myself. 73, (Jim Pogue, KH2AR/W4, Memphis, 0306 UT March 6, IRCA via DXLD) How long in effect? Never caught it here yet (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. QSL: WWVA Wheeling WV, 1170, date/frequency map/logo card in 39 days for English report via first class mail and two first-class stamps in return postage. V/s. Jack Kees, CE. 73 (Al Muick, Whitehall PA, March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CU-BOULDER'S RADIO 1190 TO RESTRUCTURE, REBRAND By Ashley Dean, Posted: 02/29/2012 02:23:35 PM MST Updated: 03/01/2012 10:36:45 AM MST http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_20071657 By the numbers Eliminate Student General Manager Savings: $12,265 Consolidate Internal Programs Director and General Programs Director into General Promotions Director Savings: $10,452 Eliminate Underwriting Director Savings: $3,349 Eliminate News/Sports Director Savings: $7,964 Consolidate Training Director into Program Director Savings: $5,551 Eliminate Office Manager and Traffic Director, replace with Social Media Manager Savings: $9,505 Eliminate Web Director Savings: $4,362 Hire corporate underwriting consultant Cost: $1,500 per month for 8-12 months Hire website designer Cost: $7,000 one-time fee Establish PR/Marketing contract Cost: $10,000 KVCU and Radio 1190 are about to undergo a major reorganization in an effort improve operations and the station's reputation. A bill, passed unanimously by the CU Student Government's Legislative Council, cited several problems --including a “serious lack of communication” between station departments, a diluted talent pool due to a high number of radio personalities, a lack of accountability, a poorly managed budget and an attitude among student employees that the job is a hobby rather than a profession. “From a Legislative Council position, we want KVCU to be more relevant, or to be relevant again,” Legislative Council President and bill author Brian Taylor said. “It started as the cool college radio and we've kind of lost that, and that's a branding issue.” The bill proposes the consolidation and elimination of several positions at the station (saving around $53,448), an update in station technology, and a stronger focus on creating a more competitive environment for students to advance within the station. Before the bill was passed, Mikey Goldenberg was hired as the new general manager, and the changes have already started to go into effect under his direction. “1190 is something that's pretty ingrained in the Denver and Boulder market,” Goldenberg said. “I feel like it's my job, at this point, to create a professional and far-reaching radio station that delivers the brand message that Radio 1190 has always delivered, but now with just a little bit more substance to it. Now, everybody can get something from listening to the radio station.” The most visible part of this effort will be more concerts presented by Radio 1190, more partnerships with local venues and more involvement in local events. Goldenberg said his “No. 1 goal” is not just to improve the station for current listeners, but to make sure everyone in the community at least knows it exists. The promotional push seems to come at a good time. When asked about Radio 1190's influence on campus, there was silence among students. "I didn't know a campus radio station even existed," said CU student Elizabeth Peckham. When she arrived in Boulder from Pennsylvania at the start of her freshman year, she said she researched Colorado radio stations in search of one that would suit her vast taste in dubstep and country. She suggests that Radio 1190 work with the dorms -- like Williams Village North, where she lives -- so that the station is played on speakers in communal areas during events. CU student Brittany Brewer said she'd be inclined to tune in to Radio 1190 if it provided campus news. The student government bill advocates for the radio station to partner with the CU Independent, the campus student newspaper. For music, she mostly listens to her iPod. Jiyeah Kim said that she never heard of Radio 1190. Instead, she turns to radio stations like Denver's KS 107.5 for hip-hop. She said the campus radio station should market itself as an alternative to commercialized and overplayed music. "It seems everyone here on campus listens to dubstep and electronic music," she said. The big change in programming will come with the new partnership with the CU Independent, said Taylor. The News Underground program on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays currently pulls news from wire services, but with this partnership, the stories will be reported by student journalists who can cover the stories first hand, he said. Goldenberg is also working with Denver-based web developer Guiceworks to redesign Radio1190.org. The station's mobile app, which is currently only accessible by iPhone, will be redesigned to work on more platforms and will push news content, he said. Goldenberg said many of the changes approved in the bill will only be visible within station operations, especially changes in staffing. Part of Radio 1190's purpose is to educate students who work there, and Goldenberg hopes the reorganization will provide a professional experience as similar to the real world as possible. Part of that involves digitizing Radio 1190's analog collection of 30,000 albums. The station has traditionally worked with CDs and vinyl, and while Goldenberg said that's an important part of the station's brand, it's not how most professional stations run. The digitization will also allow the staff to focus on more than music. “What we're looking to do is basically digitize a vast amount of [the CDs], which will allow us to keep our eyes on the actual function of the radio station -- the programs, the content,” Goldenberg said. All of the changes have been approved by the department of Journalism and Mass Communication, and everything is already underway. Goldenberg said the community can expect to see the Radio 1190 brand popping up around town very soon. Camera Staff Writer Brittany Anas contributed to this report. University of Colorado senior and Radio 1190 program director Hannah Warner DJs a show on Wednesday in the basement of the University Memorial Center on the CU campus in Boulder. For a video about the recent changes at the radio station go to http://www.coloradodaily.com Colorado Daily (Jeremy Papasso ) [caption] (via Artie Bigley, OH, DXLD) Also a video at the above Camera website, finally living up to its odd name for a newspaper (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 1300, FLORIDA, WFFG, Marathon. 0019 February 29, 2012. Network and local spots, fair-poor on occasional fade-ups through WQBN, Temple Terrace in Spanish. 1310, FLORIDA, WYND, Deland. 0010 February 29, 2012. Preacher, concluding 0015 as "The People's Gospel Hour" from Halifax, Nova Scotia with a MA mailing address. Then at 0016, live male, "This is WYND, Deland, 1310 on your A-M dial, WYND..." into gospel vocals. Another night power violator. Should be 113 watts by now, but probably still at full 10,400 watts (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re 12-09, 1530 KFBK Sacramento CA: Glenn, The KFBK directional antenna (skirt-fed Franklins, both towers) has the highest inverse distance RMS field for a given power of any directional antenna in the western hemisphere. It is possible that one of the other (very few) Franklins has a higher non-DA field, but I haven't checked. It is also possible that one or another of the 8 tower antennas of the standard Russian designs has a higher RMS field for a given power, but it's a little hard to know because the data one would need to calculate that is a bit obscure, although I do have very good data on the one at Kamo. It would have to be operated at the very upper end of the band to be as hot as KFBK. And it does get out - you may recall the information from the DXer at Easter Island who reported it being quite significant there (Ben Dawson, Hatfield-Dawson, WA, March 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And ESPECIALLY at such a low dial position! I got into it last night with someone on Star Chat who kept INSISTING that KFBK-1530 in Sacramento has the strongest groundwave signal of any station in the US! Used something about 5632.70 mV/m at 1 km or somesuch as his rationale (Rick Dau, Omaha, Feb 27, NRC-AM via DXLD) This is actually true; but so is your observation about KFYR. There are a few things going on here: KFBK uses a special type of antenna called a Franklin. A traditional vertical AM antenna is usually anywhere from 60 to 210 electrical degrees in height, fed at its base and mounted on an insulator below which are multiple ground radials. KFBK doesn't have a traditional ground system - instead, each of its towers is a full wavelength in height. The towers are fed at the center, where there's an insulator that separates the driven 180-degree element at the top from the lower 180 degrees, which functions as a counterpoise. You can see a tour of the KFBK site here: http://www.fybush.com/sites/2005/site-051028.html AM stations in the US are licensed by the input power to the antenna system, so an antenna that's especially efficient can yield a much higher field strength at any given distance than you'd get from a less-efficient antenna. And KFBK, because of that pair of super-efficient Franklins, indeed generates more field strength than any other AM station in the country. So, why isn't it a very strong signal in South Omaha? There are three reasons: 1. The efficiency measurement is for groundwave signals. Because of the way Franklins concentrate so much energy out along the ground, they're not very good antennas for skywave transmission. We know as DXers that other stations with segmented antennas (KNBR, KSTP, KDKA, WFAN/WCBS) also seem not to get out as well by skywave as we'd expect them to. Same deal with KFBK. 2. KFBK is a very directional station. Its two towers create a pattern that's concentrated roughly north/south. It aims a mammoth firebomb of a signal down the Central Valley - not just into its city of license, Sacramento, 25 miles to the south, but also city-grade into Stockton and Modesto and north into Chico, too. But it doesn't send much signal east or west. In particular, at night, it protects 1530 in Cincinnati, whatever the calls are this week. I doubt KFBK generates more than the equivalent of a few hundred watts toward Omaha at night. 3. Ground conductivity varies greatly around the country. There's nothing particularly special about the signal that KFYR emits from its antenna - at 139 electrical degrees, its tower is somewhat taller than the average for a low-on-the-dial AM station, but not by much. What makes KFYR magical is what happens to that signal once it leaves the antenna. That moist soil in the Dakotas (not to mention Nebraska and Iowa and Manitoba and Saskatchewan) does phenomenal things to AM groundwave signals, especially low on the dial. Shorter version: there is much more RF coming out of the KFBK towers than the KFYR tower, but the conditions around the KFYR site make even a lot less RF go much farther. That make sense? s (Scott fybush, Feb 27, NRC-AM via DXLD) Scott, Do you mean by a "segmented antenna" an antenna that is fed at a point other than the base? I know about KSTP that is almost a Franklin with one section being 180 degrees and the other being 120 degrees but didn't know about the other stations. I'd think KSTP would have a rather strong ground wave signal too. It sure would be interesting to know how far a station on the low end of the MW band could be heard running 50 kw into a true Franklin (Tom DiMeo, ibid.) ** U S A. QSL: KXEL Waterloo, IA, 1540, full data QSL sheet with picture of towers in 19 days for English report by first-class mail with US $1 (returned) for postage. V/s Mark (Illegible), Chief Engineer. Also sent some nice pictures of their transmitter and a very friendly cover letter from Joyce Halverson, KXEL Receptionist, describing the station history and their area of the country. 73 (Al Muick, Whitehall PA USA, March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. QSL: 1550, KRPI, Ferndale WA, QSL received in p-mail March 3 promptly within a week after sending SASE as requested for report by e-mail with Morse code audio clip attached for DX test, 26 Feb 0925- 0929 UT, v/s David Harris, CE. It was running day power 50 kW, and card info says for that there is a 3-tower direxional array (and 10 kW night with 2 towers), but the card illustrates only a single tower by the transmitter shack, with a snow-covered peak behind it, I guess the nearest, Mt Baker. Ferndale is halfway between Bellingham and the border. Tnx, David, for the test and the QSL. Front: http://www.w4uvh.net/KRPI1.jpg Back: http://www.w4uvh.net/KRPI2.jpg QSL gallery index: http://www.worldofradio.com/QSL.html (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. When does R. Disney ever ID or have local breaks? I have tons of recordings on 1640 in similar conditions that should bring in the OR Disney, but nothing local to tell whether it is OR or WI (nulled decently off side of antenna and not strong on 1 kW night power). (Neil Kazaross, IL, ABDX via DXLD) The only local Radio Disney break I know of for sure comes within +/- 2 minutes of TOH, at least when they're in their usual music programming. A song ends, there's a Disney network promo that can be covered by local spots, then a Disney kid star usually says something like, "Hi, this is Selena Gómez, and Radio Disney's back." That's when the local ID triggers, followed by the network jock talking up the top of the hour song. Some fairly recent examples: http://www.tophour.com/audio/Providence%20RI/am0550_2010-04_wddz_jlehmann.mp3 http://www.tophour.com/audio/Seattle%20WA/am1250_2011-11_kkdz_wharms.mp3 http://www.tophour.com/audio/Phoenix%20AZ/am1580_2009-04_kmik_gwollman.mp3 (Yes, I have an eight-year-old daughter who listens to Radio Disney incessantly; and no, she doesn't use a radio for that purpose, but that's another topic entirely) s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Yeah, I've heard some ID's/local breaks within this time frame, i.e. on 1580 from AZ or 1690 from Denver (often blows away WVON on west antenna before Denver sunset) but listening to several recordings in 5 minute segments around 1900 on 1640 have nothing local that I can tell. Ads, yes; local, not heard. I've also just sat on 1640 during these conditioins and never anything local. If conditions cooperate tonight I'll make sure to tape 10 minutes around 1800 PST on 1640. 73 and thx KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, ibid.) ** U S A. Eastern Local time for Domestic DX: 1660, KMBZ, KS, Kansas City, 03/05 0748. Poor to fair signals under KQWB with their new business news format and callsign. The ID was ``The KMBZ Business Channel on 1660``. Ex KUDL and classical music which was easier to spot than talk. NEW (SA-MB) COMMENTS Nice to get a new one on the X band. I still need WPLA on 1670 which will be VERY hard to get but I will keep trying. 73 Best of DX (Shawn Axelrod VE4DX1SMA, Winnipeg MB, March 6, NRC-AM via DXLD) FCC AM Query is still showing KMBZ on 980 and KUDL on 1660. I guess database doesn't necessarily get updated immediately (Mike Westfall, Los Alamos, NM march 6, ibid.) Well, just because they ID as KMBZ, it seems they are not. The old call is still in effect so I did not get a new one after all. Sorry if I misled anyone with this logging. 73 Best of DX (Shawn Axelrod, VE4DX1SMA, Winnipeg MB, ibid.) Lots of DXers don`t consider mere call changes a ``new station``, anyway (gh, DXLD) [1660 Kansas City] I need to monitor 980, 98.1 (which I actually worked for in '73-'74), and 1660, which recently were using call letters KMBZ, KMBZ-FM, and KUDL, respectively. "KUDL" previously was used on 1380 and then 98.1 for years. On 1660, which has seen a succession of calls as Cumulus has tried to preserve them, the legal ID was always "buried", or muttered, and indeed I couldn't hear what the station was using last week, other than what Shawn caught, the "KMBZ Business Channel". Update forthcoming (Paul Swearingen, Topeka, March 6, NRC-AM via DXLD) 1660 was a.k.a. KXTR too (gh, DXLD) 1660 definitely is still using "KUDL, Kansas City" as their legal ID. Format is BIZ, with Bloomberg Business network. Nothing local except commercials heard. 98.1 simulcasts 980, but with at least a 15-second delay. The ID I heard was "KMBZ AM and FM, Kansas City". I didn't listen to 980 separately, as the Savior of AM Radio was on, and I can take only so much of him. FYI KMBZ is licensed to to Kansas City, Missouri, and KMBZ-FM is licensed to Kansas City, Kansas, as is KUDL-1660 (Paul Swearingen, Topeka KS, NRC-AM via DXLD) ** U S A. MW Talking Things: 1710, Regal Recycling in Whitmore Lake(?) Michigan with a tape loop ad mentioning regalrecycling.net and both the Whitmore Lake and Howell Locations. Slogan was "If it's metal it's money". I did some DFbDA (Direction Finding by Driving Around) after the DXpedition and the transmitter was OFF so I couldn't say for sure it was in Whitmore Lake not Howell, but I haven't ever heard it in Howell before, or since, so I would guess this is the correct location. Weak and noisy 25342 2350-2355 24/Feb--Zichi DXp 1710, Whitmore Lake MI; 2346-0051+, 24/25-Feb; Loop ad for Regal Recycling "on Lucy Road, just south of Grand River"; "Top dollar for scrap metal"; "If it's metal, it's money." Fair (Frodge-DXP) (Harold was guessing this was from their Howell location -- he may be right, but we'll still call this Whitmore Lake based on the fact that I STILL have not heard it from Lucy Road (which is about a mile from my office. If this is wrong, it is my error! -kvz) (Kenneth Vito Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) ** U S A. NEWS ABOUT NEWS RADIO: CNN RADIO NEWS TO END; "NBC NEWS RADIO" TO DEBUT --- CNN Radio News affiliates are being told by Dial Global that "as of Sunday, April 1, CNN Radio News will no longer be distributed by Dial Global and will not be produced for U.S. radio distribution." It says "the content provider for your affiliation will change from CNN Radio News to CBS Radio News." Also this morning: Dial Global and NBC News announce the creation of "NBC News Radio", a new 24-hour radio news network. Dial Global co- president/CEO Spencer Brown says "Through our new partnership with NBC News we are proud to continue in the tradition of defining great moments for radio listeners across our country." Elizabeth O'Connell is announced as the Executive Producer for NBC News Radio. More now at Radio-Info.com (via Brock Whaley for DXLD) Re: NBC News to beef up radio newscasts as CNN pulls out For those who have been interested in this NBC news story, it is indeed correct that NBC News belonged to Westwood One. Dial Global is disseminating the NBC News and Dial Global was recently called by the name Westwood One. I was hearing the 1 minute version of Westwood One's NBC News as far back as 2008 in Arizona. ``So NBC is getting back into the Radio News Biz. This might get interesting since they sold the NBC Radio Brand to Westwood One. How are they getting the brand back?`` They have been doing NBC news for a long time out WEST. Please google KBSZ Apache Junction as they have been doing NBC news since before I left AZ in 2008 (Kevin Redding, Crump TN, March 3, ABDX via DXLD) Dial Global is also now the name of the syndicator of the Jim Bohannon Show, rather than Westwood One (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. WTC TOWER SEEKS RADIO, TV SIGNALS A battle is brewing for the airwaves over Manhattan. The owners of One World Trade Center are planning to install a broadcast antenna in the 1776-foot building's spire in a bid to lure some of the more than two dozen television and radio stations currently broadcasting from the Empire State Building. The move --- reviving an earlier broadcast plan that was dropped out of financial concerns --- would inject some competition into the skies for the Empire State Building, which since the collapse of the original World Trade Center ... (subscription required to read further) http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203370604577263713212500538.html (Sergei S., March 6, dxldyg via DXLD) ** VATICAN STATE. Radio Vatican 2nd program changes in B-11/M-12 season from March 4. Armenian 1650-1710 UT new 11715 kHz ex7365, 9585 kHz. Russian 1710-1740 UT new 11715 kHz ex7365, 9585 kHz. Ukrainian 1740-1800 UT 1611am, new 9585, ex6185, 7365 kHz. Byelorus 1800-1820 UT 1260, 1611am, new 9585, ex6185, 7365 kHz. Lithuanian 1820-1840 UT 1260, 1611am, new 9585, ex6185, 7365 kHz. Latvian 1840-1900 UT 1260, 1611am, new 9585, ex6185, 7365 kHz. (Alexander Dyadischev, Ukraine, Feb 26, "deneb-radio-dx" RUSdx via BC- DX March 1 via DXLD) ** VENEZUELA. Holanda: Cartas@RN: Radio Nacional de Venezuela hacia la onda corta --- Emisión: 4 Marzo 2012 11:25 - 6 Marzo 2012 16:25 (Sergio Acosta/RNW) En Cartas de esta semana conversamos con Daniel Peralta, director del Canal Internacional de Radio Nacional de Venezuela. En este país se está construyendo un centro de transmisión de onda corta. Según Elio Ludovic, Gerente General de Ingeniería y Tecnología de Radio Nacional de Venezuela, las transmisiones se harán directamente desde el edificio que está ubicado en el sector El Recreo de la ciudad de Calabozo, en el Estado Guárico. Peralta nos cuenta sobre lo que hacen ahora y los planes para el futuro. . . http://download.radionetherlands.nl/rnw/smac/cms/sp__cartas_rn_2012_03_04___06__20120304_64_44_2.mp3 It`s the first item in the program. Starts with standard RNV sign-on which we have not heard on SW for nearly a year. Interview with Peralta from the recent Colombo-Venezuelan DX Encounter. He`s a manager, not an announcer, elocution hard to understand. Still does not have an exact target date; says resumed SW in 2005 or 2006, a bit improvised, as did not have any SW specialists on staff. SW center is under construxion, to reresume SW from within Venezuela. Have met with comrades at RHC, and are preparing for SW production from Venezuela. 58 minute daily production in Spanish continues on the RNV FM classical channel nationwide, and on the web. Also Venezuela en Directo, daily half-hour for diplomatic missions, in English and Spanish. SW plan is a total rebirth. At first four hours a day, two of them live. Staff currently of 14 persons, producers, announcers, audio engineers. Has been training them since January 2010 (notes by Glenn Hauser for DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. All `Aló, Presidente` frequencies via CUBA are absent March 4 at 1633 (17750, 15370, 13750, 13680, 11690), as they were last Sunday: I later learned that El Hugazo was axually *in* Cuba for a tumor removal, so expect he will be out of axion again for some time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ¿Alguien sabe si esté en el aire y en qué frecuencias? Radio Nacional de Venezuela (Ernesto Paulero, Argentina, March 4, condiglist yg via DXLD) Sé que no está. Acabo de probar hoy como todos los domingos para ``Aló, Presidente``, y no hubo nada en 11690, 13680, 13750, 15370, 17750, las frecuencias para la emisión más o menos entre las 1530 y 1930 cuando funcione. Sin duda actualmente en pausa debido al cáncer de Chávez. Apareció de vez en cuando desde enero. Las emisiones diarias desde Cuba desaparecieron el pasado junio(?), para no regresar. Se informa que las emisoras dentro de Venezuela se demoran aún más, tal vez no en el aire hasta setiembre. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** VIETNAM [and non]. 9920, SRI LANKA, Radio Free Asia (presumed) 0006 Vietnamese (listed). Woman speaker. Fair, with high pitched, siren- like jammer. Mar 2 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, Listening from my car by Kalamalka Lake with the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna on the roof, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VIETNAM [non]. Here's a puzzle - in Voice of Vietnam's Letterbox programme (on 15 February at 1815 on 5955 via Austria) they mentioned someone who had just sent in, in one batch 12 reports for the whole of 2011. The first report was for 1 January, the second for 2 February, then 3 March and so on until 12 December. The presenter was curious and asked if the listener could write in and explain! (Alan Roe, England, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** VIRGIN ISLANDS BRITISH. 780 WBBM off next week - target ZBVI If? WBBM 780 has a silent period next week one target station is ZVBI Roadtown B.W.I. Are they still on the air? They were heard here during a WBBM S.P. on 2/5/73 (Tom Jasinski, Joliet, IL, March 2, IRCA via DXLD) WRTH 2012 says ZBVI Sign-on Saturdays is 1000 UT (gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) I think I really said 0930, relying on faulty memory, which is the listed M-F s/on time; sorry! (gh) ** WALES [non]. “16 Gwendoline Street" is the new name for the programme "39 Dover Street" relayed via IRRS [via ROMANIA]. This 15 minute music programme is on air every weekend and deals with non commercial music from around the world; occasionally poetry is aired. The current SW schedule is: Saturday 0945 9510 kHz (2nd, 4th and 5th Saturday of month) Saturday 1930 7290 kHz Sunday 1230 9510 kHz The Saturday evening repeat is back after being replaced by religious programming during 2011; it gives very good reception. The producer of the programme, Stephen, moved to Wales recently, hence changing the name of the programme. You can write to doverstreet @ tiscali.co.uk to express your comments or send a reception report (reports are verified with QSL card) (RAFAEL MARTÍNEZ, in Barcelona, Listening Post, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 1610 touchtone phone beeps? I have a 30-mile commute to work, traveling roughly north-south between Waynesburg, PA and Morgantown, WV. This morning, I noticed touchtone beeps on 1610, in a simple repeated pattern of 4 tones every few seconds, in an almost Latin rhythm, with the 4th tone played like a sixteenth ahead of the beat. I assumed it was our local 10 watt TIS, but I heard this pattern consistently, and fairly strongly, my entire commute, and again driving home tonight. I could hear the audio loop of our TIS in the background, unrelated to the tone signal. Tonight around 8 pm EST I still heard the tones faintly through CHHA. But by the time I got home and went outside w/my PL-606 to DF the tones, they were gone (9:30 pm EST). I'll take the PL-606 to work tomorrow to see if the tones are still there, and DF them. Any idea what I might be hearing? It's too strong & widespread for a TIS. It must be fairly close, since I'm hearing it day and night-like maybe in the general area of Pittsburgh-Wheeling-Morgantown-Cumberland. (Fred Schroyer - Violonista Canhoto, Freelance Writer/Editor/Book Developer, Waynesburg, PA 15370 - Approx 40N/80W, 0247 UT 6 March, IRCA via DXLD) The tone beeps I reported on 1610 a cpl of days ago turned out to be our local TIS, at the PA Welcome Center where I-79 enters PA from WV. The tone modulation is very high, swamping the normal voice loop beneath it. I am amazed that this TIS gets out that well. I had not heard it identifiably in WV before, but the touchtones make it stand out. 10 watts stretches farther than I thought! (Fred Schroyer - Waynesburg, PA 15370, 0503 UT 8 March, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 4894.954, 3.3 2215, UNID station, maybe R IPB Novo Tempo with weak audio when the other Brazilians were strong. Covered by a sort of hum difficult to remove with the notch. This one needs more investigation (Thomas Nilsson, Sweden, SW Bulletin March 4 via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 6100, March 5 at 1346, intruder, very poor 2-way SSB in Spanish demodulated by weak broadcast carrier, probably KCBS in Korean altho Aoki also lists CRI in Mongolian via Urumqi, EAST TURKISTAN (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6925, March 4 at 0644, weak pirate with music in SSB, very hard to tune in properly, but did make out part of brief announcement mentioning ``free radio`` and ``don`t forget, I QSL 100%``. There was an ID but I couldn`t catch it. Perhaps will match with someone else`s log (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 8989, at 2350 in USB and in Spanish with an excited male preacher with mention of “El Buen Pescador” and off at 2357 - Weak Mar 3. "El buen Pescador" translates as "The Good Fisherman" (Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) 8989 has been reported most recently from late last year in DXLD 11- 43, concluding with: ``Los mensajes religiosos en 8989 kHz es una ya "tradicional" cadena de pescadores nicaragüenses que reciben el evangelio desde un pastor en la costa en Puerto Miskut; a veces se suman otros pescadores del área del Caribe, hace poco leí que han captado estas señales en centro de Europa, siempre aprox 2230 a 0000. Cordial saludo (Rafael Rodríguez R., Bogotá D.C. - COLOMBIA, WORLD OF RADIO 1588, ibid.)`` and in 11-44: ``NICARAGUA. 8989-USB, "Pescador Preacher", 2153 October 27, 2011. Excellent as usual, with scripture quoting man broadcast to the fishing boats, pauses with occasional boater responses. Lots of "hallelujah, hallelujah" breaks to key responders. Mention of "Puerto Cabezas" and "Zelaya" by one fisherman. This one was first discovered by D. Crawford probably about a year ago. Active almost daily, weekdays around this time and an hour or two later, more sporadic on Saturday/Sunday (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, 27.55.83 N, 82.46.08 W, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST)`` (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 8989-USB, Nicaragua/Venezuela? "Pescador Preacher" with Christian music, 2244 with very strong signal in South Florida, tnx MR-Vero Beach. 73s de (Bob Wilkner, March 4, 2012, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) 8989-USB, Nicaragua - "Preacher" with Christian Music y talk en español, 2244 with very strong signal to 2305. Interference and rapid fade 2306, 3 March - similar 2345 to 0005 on 4 March. "El Buen Pescador" ID. Thanks Mark Coady (Bob Wilkner, MR Vero Beach, XM Cedar Key, S Florida, Cumbre DX via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Weird signals -- I also came across a bizarre pulse buzzing type of signal that takes 30 kHz wide of spectrum from 9165 to 9195 kHz. Could be a radar of some sort, I don`t know. Here is the link to this video taken at around 2145 UT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsmZG7SiumU&context=C393f656ADOEgsToPDskKMGVsolDxuleuGtrVIULb7 73's all (Gilles Letourneau, Montreal, Canada, March 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 9324, March 5 at 1351, slow hand-keyed CW is beating against 9325 in Cambodian, i.e. VOA via Tinang, PHILIPPINES; no sign of R. Pyongyang also listed here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. 11590, Brother Stair TOM program, croaker in English language heard at 18-19 UT, S=6-7 rather weak on remote SDR unit in CLN. Unidentified transmitting center, but I guess TOM via Yervan Gavar was scheduled previously at 14-18 UT on 11590 and 15750 kHz towards NE&ME, NoEaAF. Also Brother Stair TOM program test at 1600-2100 UT via Yerevan Gavar was planned (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews March 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See last DX REMIX NEWS # 720, all tests of Brother Stair are via Yerevan Gavar via Spaceline. Maybe 100 kW / 305 deg to WeEu (Ivo Ivanov, ibid.) as at SOUTH CAROLINA [non] UNIDENTIFIED. 3/3, 12175 (...hua she zhen), 1147 with talks in Chinese, S9, 35222 sudden s/off 1159 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fits an Aoki listing for jumparound Sound of Hope via TAJIKISTAN: 12150 SOH Xi Wang Zhi Sheng 1130-1200 1234567 Chinese 100 95 Dushanbe- Yangiyul TJK 06848E3829N SOH b11 12120-12195 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. UNKNOWNIA, 13825, with non-stop "Ethereal" music loop repeating every 3 minutes. After :30 splatter from 13830 caused issues, but LSB knocked most of the crud out. 24+4+53. Ideas? 1315- 1345 26/Feb (Ken Zichi, DXing in Brighton MI, MARE Tipsheet March 1 via DXLD) Sounds like the BaBcoCk (formerly VTC) interval signal; have you not heard that before? Maybe testing for a new proposed service, as nothing is scheduled here. It`s also reliable filler between languages on the Vietnam relay via Canada 6175 just before the half hour; hour too? And end of transmission at 0527. I bet a lot of casual listeners to VOV on 49m think it`s their own IS (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 3/3, 15010 possibly pirate at 1209 with pop of 80's. Just S1 with 10 db preamp (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, ICOM R75 / 2x16 V / m@h40 heads Sennheiser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. I can receive unlisted Eternal Good News via BVBN for Far East on 15390 kHz from 1104 (tune in)-1130* on Mar. 4. I was able to receive Vietnamese until 1115 and English at 1115-1130* on Mar. 2. Where will a transmitter site be? (S. Hasegawa, Japan, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. NEW ZEALAND + "whosis", 15720, RNZI/unID, 27 Feb. 0410- 0423. Someone running possibly Russian* 5# groups on 15721a & pretty much munching RNZI. # groups on 'til 0415, then just carrier hetting RNZI & carrier off by 0423. (*Googled my versions of the #s heard & they fit fairly well with Russian.) -- have heard the het against RNZI on rare occasions in the past, but just assumed it was some transmitter glitch at Rangitaiki (Dan Sheedy, CA, G5/X-wire, Encinitas Fitness/Boxing parking lot, via Bob Wilkner, Cumbre DX via DXLD) This was also reported in DXLD 11-43 and 11-45, from Brasil and BC, all in the same time period, plus this link: http://forums.radioreference.com/utility-listening/220035-numbers-station-15721khz.html where there is a lot of discussion of it, more recordings, that it is S06 as classified by Enigma, probably from European area, and really on 15721-USB, away from RNZI (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ACKNOWLEDGED ON WORLD OF RADIO 1607: I was looking for a possible means to make "subscription" payments each month to support WOR but didn't see anything. Do you offer this option as I would be glad to donate each month but as I approach "senior years" I fear it may slip my mind some months. Thanks (Dennis Sivert (sy-vert), with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com) Dennis, Thank you! No, I don`t have a subscription set up, and you`re the first to ask about it. Appreciate your wanting to do it that way, and hope you will remember. Or if you miss a month, you could send double the amount, hi. Regards, (Glenn to Dennis) TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED ON SUBSEQUENT PROGRAMS: Thanks Glenn for all the great things you do for shortwave (David Goren, with a contribution via Pay Pal) Thanks to Donna Kay Ring, Baltimore MD, for a check in the mail to P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 (gh) Hi Glenn - I was Googling and rediscovered your website. Still in business after all these years. I don't do much in radio these days, but it's always nice to see what friends are doing. Keep up the great work. Regards (Terry Colgan, TX, March 2, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Terry was head of the Association of North American Radio Clubs for a while (gh, DXLD) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ MARCONI NEW STREET WORKS - THE WORLD`S FIRST WIRELESS FACTORY There's a new book just published titled: "Marconi New Street Works - The World`s First Wireless Factory" by Tim Wander (who published "2MT Writtle - The Birth of British Broadcasting" in 2010). Details below. (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK) From the Press Release: MARCONI’S NEW STREET WORKS 1912 – 2012 Birthplace of the Wireless Age With the centenary of the New Street Works now here ex-Marconi engineer and historian Tim Wander has spent the past two years putting together a history of the famous factory. */_The book is now available_/* direct from the publishers priced at £12.99 – see http://www.authorsonline.co.uk or http://www.amazon.co.uk search for ‘New Street’ or ‘Tim Wander’. At nearly 400 pages and with over 130 photographs the book charts the history and development of the site and tells the stories behind the world beating and world saving technologies that were developed there. New Street was the birthplace of many technologies that have shaped and changed our modern world including radio, broadcasting, television, radar, satellite communications and even the computer and the technology behind the mobile telephone. But most of all the Marconi New Street centenary book tells some of the stories of the men and women who worked there from the 1930’s onward. Over a hundred people have contributed to a unique oral history - everything from a paragraph or humorous anecdote through to a career history. With careful editing they have been woven together to form a permanent record of the factory and the people who served there. Many of the photographs in the book are previously unseen and span the entire history of the New Street site and include some taken earlier this year inside the main factory showing the dreadful state of decay and dilapidation now rain water has got into the site though the vandalised roof. For more information on New Street and Tim’s forthcoming books see:- *2mtwrittle.com* (via Alan Roe, dxldyg via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ L D O C Regarding your "what is LDOC" in latest DXLD on 13348: According to a 2003 posting at the airliners.net bulletin board: LDOC is Long Distance Operational Control (radio stations) which communicate with aircraft on HF frequencies, ARINC is an example of LDOC station(s), there are various other stations in the world - i.e. Stockholm Radio, Berna Radio, HongKong Dragon, Baires (Argentina), Lima Radio... (Mike Cooper, GA, Mar 4, DXLD) Long Distance Operations Controls - yes presume via NY Radio even though not one of their normal channels AFAIK (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida, March 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ END OF TIME --- THE WEATHERCHRON COMPANY SHUTS DOWN. http://weatherchron.com/ (Mike Cooper, GA, March 1, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ IRC'S From mid February International Reply Coupons are no longer available from Post Offices (Allen Dean, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) In the UK or nowhere? (gh, DXLD) SLOVAK STAMP EXCHANGE Longtime listeners to RSI will remember Pete Miller and his unique Friday programme from around Slovakia. Pete still has thousands of stamps to exchange and has asked me to remind members that he can be contacted at: Hlavna 14, 900 66, Vysoka pri Morave, Slovakia. He always appreciates stamps from your home country to exchange (Jonathan Murphy, Ireland, Making Contact, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) And remember, he is no longer with RSI (gh) MUSEA +++++ USA: HISTORICAL AERIALS Hi folks, Another website resource that I discovered today that should be of interest to those interested in historical USA shortwave transmitter sites &/or to the changes that have occurred to the present ones over time:- http://www.historic aerials.com/ Some of the imagery of old sites is better than than that seen on Google Earth. I haven't had time to check out more than a couple of sites so far; but there's a nice B/W image of the former VOA Schenectady, NY SW site where I got to see for the first time the SW masts from a 1952 photographic aerial image. Use these coordinates: 42 47 36N 74 00 42W (perhaps in decimal format as I did) If you have time to check out any other US SW sites with interesting observations (not procured from GE or Bing Maps)but from the above mentioned website , particularly from the 1940 to early 1990's then please let us all know about it. 73's (Ian Baxter, NSW, March 7, Shortwavesites Yahoo Group, via DXLD) MUSEA / RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ NOSTALGIE PURE Godwin/Kuttner: Die schoene Adrienne hat eine Hochantenne (BC-DX via DXLD) Old 78 rpm song (gh) SOVIET-ERA SHORTWAVE RADIOS, CONSUMER ELECTRONIX One of the stories featured at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-17155441 - namely, that of Gary Rawnsley of Leeds, UK - caught my attention. Gary recalls how he became a regular SW listener after his parents bought him a Soviet-made Vega Selena 215 radio in 1986. Well, my parents gave me Okean-209 radio as a gift in 1985 and that's how I became an avid SW listener. The curious part is that Vega Selena 215 was the export version of Okean-209. (Vega boasted two additional SW bands - 19 and 16 meters and "Western" FM band.) I have a good DX-pal in Belarus who used to work as an engineer at Gorizont radio factory in Minsk back in 1980s. That's where Selenas and Okeans were produced. This is completely unrelated but the infamous Lee Harvey Oswald also worked at Gorizont factory in 1959-1962 during his "political refugee" stint in the USSR. He was employed there as a turner (Sergei S., March 2, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Some Soviet "worldband radio" had been sold also in the GDR, and I think it was the Vega Selena in question. It indeed must have been this export version, because radios with OIRT band were illegal here, a circumstance that even led to conspiracy theories: Do they try to prevent people from listening to Czech and Polish stations? However, the most prominent pieces of Soviet consumer electronics were here... http://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/showthread.php?p=200861 After 1980 the Radugas (of which a 726 was my first contact with colour TV) disappeared very quickly, but the Yunost B&W portables still remained on the scene (Kai Ludwig, Germany, March 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rightly or wrongly but Raduga color TVs sold in the USSR were considered to be of very poor quality. As a kid I remember, when one family on our floor got it sometime in 1980, the rest of our "community" quietly concluded that it was a wasteful purchase. Everyone else had a black-and-white set yet at that time, so maybe it was mostly envy speaking ;) Raduga TV cost about 650 Rubles when an average salary was about 150 Rub. per month. Okean-209 was sold at around 130 Rub. Here how my radio looked http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgntCW5X5r8 (this is not my video, though). Radio had a very good audio quality on SW and MW but it couldn't keep the SW frequency for very long. I exploited my radio very heavily in different environments. Another popular SW radio was VEF Spidola 202 - from Latvia. Here's a good overview in English http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SF3AEqFTeFo This radio was 15-20 Rub. cheaper than Okean-209. I didn't know that OIRT band was illegal on radio sold in GDR. Maybe just a technical standard taken very seriously by bureaucrats with no technical knowledge? I remember wondering why E. Germany didn't use "our" FM band. Any ideas? From a rational perspective it would make a much better move actually to use OIRT and to ban "Western" FM. Of course, back then there were many things that look irrational today. Like having high-quality SW radios sold in every Soviet department and electronic store. 73, (Sergei S., March 4, ibid.) The Vega Selena radios were also very popular in Romania among radio aficionados. They were considered to be the best portable radios one could get. I don't remember seeing them in stores, I think the main (only?) source for obtaining a Vega radio in Romania was the black market where they were brought directly from the USSR (Tudor Vedeanu, (Gura Humorului, Romania), March 5, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ THE TECSUN PL-360 RECEIVER I have been reading WRTH-2012. The tuning knob is a tuning thumbwheel. Its notches are detents: they still feel like notches to me, and they are very useful. Tecsun has produced a whole family of very different receivers, and the Tecsun PL-360 is the most revolutionary. I will now tackle a painful problem head on. There is no S-meter. There are two digital meters. One meter shows signal strength plus noise or signal plus noise strength, and claims to be in decibel micro volt units. I know it shows signal plus noise because when I tune a frequency without any signal and only just noise, it shows the strength of the noise. The other meter shows signal to noise ratio; and claims to show decibels. It shows the fades an instant after they have occurred. Sometimes it shows zero when I can still hear the station. When I am not tuned to the exact frequency of the station, it shows zero. Translating these meters into SINPO is not easy, but I never have had a clean conscience about reporting signal strength. You have a new Tecsun PL-360 and you want to tune it the usual way. Preset the Medium Wave button. You are at the bottom of the Long Wave. Press the FM button. You are at the bottom of Japanese FM. It is easy to rid of Long Wave and Japanese FM, and you can do so to avoid a lot of twirling of the tuning thumbwheel. You lose nothing by giving up Long Wave. Here in Israel I can hear Romania and Poland on Long Wave. Its specifications say its sensitivity on Long Wave is less than its sensitivity on Medium Wave. How to Tune the Tecsun PL-360 Remember the tuning knob moves in notches. On shortwave each notch moves you 1 kHz when you tune slowly, or 5 kHz when you tune quickly. This receiver has continuous coverage of shortwave and marks shortwave bands. Press the shortwave button with the arrow pointing up, and you will get the lowest frequency of the next higher shortwave band. The shortwave button with the arrow pointing down will bring you the lowest frequency of the next lower shortwave band. Now let’s say we are in shortwave and we want to tune in to a certain frequency in a different shortwave band. 1, The primitive way; use a shortwave button to move to the desired band. Then turn the tuning button until you reach your frequency. This could be several hundred kilohertz and a lot of twirling, which is no fun. 2, Tecsun recommends; use ETM, Easy Tuning Mode. ETM has its own full sized memory system with 250 presets for shortwave. Short press the ETM button and you will see the display. Long press the ETM button and the receiver will scan the entire shortwave in 5 kHz increments, from bottom to top, and will store all the strong stations as presets. Now, when you twirl the tuning knob each notch gives you a different station, precisely tuned in. This is possible thanks to the Digital Signal Processing. You will reach your desired station quite quickly. The storing process of the ETM on shortwave takes about five minutes. The presets remain in ETM storage until you do ETM again, perhaps later in the day. 3, I recommend: use main storage, and prepare stepping stones once and for all. I have no other use for main storage. For the regions of shortwave that interest me, I make a list of frequencies 100 or 200 kHz apart in rising order. I then store these in main memory. To reach my desired station I scan main memory. I short press the VM View Memory button, and then each notch of the tuning knob gives me a preset stepping stone. When I am near the frequency I want, I short preset the VF View Frequency button and I tune in one or five kilohertz steps. For testing the PL-360, I have fixed up a Sony ICF-SW77 with its telescopic antenna without any outdoor antenna, and with its sensitivity switch at minimum. When receiving a signal that is not strong, the Sony is noisy. The Tecsun is noisier. On 12 meters I believe the Tecsun is less sensitive. With some weak signals, the Sony receives much better with its sensitivity switch at medium, much better than the Tecsun. I use the Sony because it’s on my radio table and it has a big S-meter. The basic price of the Sony was US$470, the basic price of the Tecsun US$60. The Easy Tuning Method stores all the stations you can hear, thanks to Digital Signal Processing which makes signal strength on the precise frequency of the signal, much stronger than on adjacent frequencies. Unlike the Sony, the Tecsun has separate storage for medium wave, FM and short wave. Both for ETM and conventional memory. The Tecsun PL-360 is hard to learn. Nimble fingers are needed to set the sleep and the alarm. The Sony ICF-SW77 without outdoor antenna and with minimum sensitivity and the Tecsun PL-360 both give poor reception in many cases but many people cannot have an outdoor antenna. The truth will emerge when I test with the Kaito KA1107. After spending a month learning the Tecsun PL-360 I thought my instincts were wrong and it is not a good receiver. Only now have I taken it for a walk outdoors. The weather was bad until now. I am delighted, what a difference. The telescopic antenna is very directional and reception is very good. The Tecsun PL-360 which weighs all of 200 grams with batteries is the ideal receiver for walking. I am trying to be objective, but I like the Tecsun PL-360. Here are original Chinese ideas suited to the short wave bands of today. I am having an adventure while staying at home. I intend to test the Tecsun PL-360 with the Kaito KA1107 (David Crystal, Israel, Making Contact, March World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ATTIVO WEB SDR http://websdr.ewi.utwente.nl:8903/ in questo momento stò ascoltando radio kapodistria dall'olanda ... attivo a singhiozzo ma fantastico da 100 khz a 19000 khz (Ivan Guerini, *# Swl I2 - 5759 # http://swl-i2-5759.blogspot.com/ bclnews.it yg via DXLD) 2/23/12 - FCC BUDGET: ENFORCEMENT BUREAU TO GET SOME NEW GEAR [links in this story] http://www.diymedia.net/archive/0212.htm#022312 The Federal Communications Commission has tendered its budget request to Congress for fiscal year 2013. It's asking for $346.8 million - a $7 million increase from FY 2012. The trades have highlighted the agency's request for $2.5 million to replace and upgrade "direction finding and wireless monitoring equipment," of which $1.1 million will be spent on eight custom field enforcement vehicles. The Clear Channel-owned publication Inside Radio dubbed this an investment in "pirate-fighting funds." Such sentiments have no basis in fact. The Enforcement Bureau's proposed budget is $52.1 million, or 15% of the FCC's total budget. It is the second-largest departmental line item in the agency (its chief administrative arm, the Office of Managing Director, takes the cake with an ask of just over $100 million). The $2.5 million request for new field enforcement gear represents just .7% of the agency's total budget request. $1.1 million will be used to purchase eight new field vehicles, which are "very specialized and include industrial computers, touch screen monitors, custom designed antennas, FCC-designed electronics, visual spectrum displays, and radio receivers." The budget mentions that the vehicles are used to hunt pirate broadcasters, but it is not their primary function. The FCC says these purchases "will replace existing [vehicles] that will be past their practical lifetime in FY 2013." It made a similar request three years ago. The agency characterizes much of the gear currently used in the field to analyze and track radio signals as "obsolete," and while field offices "have obtained the highest priority equipment using allocated equipment funds...those funds have not compensated for the continued aging equipment, equipment that is no longer repairable and the fast-changing emerging technologies" which field agents need to do their jobs. Ancillary data does not support any move on the FCC's part to increase its pirate-hunting efforts. The Enforcement Bureau's halfway through a two-year process of hiring some two dozen new employees, bringing its total workforce up to 299 (of which the vast majority work at headquarters). There's long been concern about the aging of field staff, so some of this hiring is designed to bring in young blood - not a net growth of the field inspectorate. Under the budget proposal's performance goals, there is no specific mention of anti-pirate enforcement activities; the agency simply pledges to "[c]ontinue an aggressive program of inspections and investigations by agents in the field to help maximize compliance with the Commission’s licensing and technical requirements." In a nutshell, these are not unreasonable requests. Over the last few years, field enforcement activity has increasingly focused on finding and shutting down cell phone jammers and bi-directional amplifiers, cutting into the already busy schedule kept by field agents dealing with ersatz two-way radio systems run by the private sector, leaky cable TV networks, and the inspection of licensed broadcasters. Relative to these efforts, pirate-hunting has been and will continue to be a low-priority item, as far as the FCC's field resources are concerned. It's been a slow 2012 so far - not as slow as last year, when unlicensed broadcast enforcement efforts plummeted, but certainly far off the pace of previous years (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) THE SLOW DEATH OF SHORTWAVE RADIO http://tvnewswatch.blogspot.in/2012/02/slow-death-of-shortwave-radio.html (via Alokesh Gupta, DXLD) by an anonymous blogger in London; refers to GCN, Alex Jones, WWCR, WHRI, BBCWS Re 12-09: A GOOD [CAR] RADIO > I wish I could find one of those 55" telescoping antennas. All there are is 31" or little stubby rubber duck kind of things. The 'rubber ducky' antenna fad of the 90's is one thing from the consumer end that probably hurt broadcasters in general as a 'drive- time make-or-break', particularly for the little Class A FMers and flea-power AMs. Working at RatShack in the 90's, I used to have customers come in to buy new car stereos because 'their old one doesn't pick up anything anymore'. I worked in a store where the customers would park right in front of the store windows, and I could see their car. 80% of the time, they had one of those 'stubby' antennas on their car, not the factory one. So, I'd sell them a new stereo AND a 37" mast antenna, explaining that the short antenna killed reception (and our community was behind a major mountain ridge from the Los Angeles area), and that our radios were tuned to use a standard antenna. Of course, some customers refused the mast antenna, and would then come waltzing back to the store a couple days later to return the stereo, stating that they still couldn't receive anything clear - 'it must be my car or battery or something'. At that point, I'd hand them the mast antenna for free (only 9.99 to screw on - just expense the store for it), and they'd drive away happy with their new stereo and new-found reception after trying it. One thing I detest about car rental agencies is that most rent you a car having NO ANTENNA (probably a window-film antenna somewhere). Takes the fun out of car-DXing when you're visiting another part of the country (Darwin Long, Buras, LA, Feb 29, ABDX via DXLD) Unfortunately, a lot of people allow themselves to be misled by advertising, or maybe they are just searching for something that is too good to be true. I have a car that has a "hidden antenna" somewhere inside the body. When talking to others with the same car, there is a common complaint that the radio reception is poor compared to their other cars. I have given them a very easy to understand, non- technical explanation for the problem that anyone should be able to make sense of. When you hide the antenna from sight, you are also hiding it from the signal it is supposed to be receiving. It doesn't take an electrical engineer to figure that out. Everything is give and take, so it comes down to how much a person values good reception or the cleaner appearance of no antenna. When manufacturers push the idea of a hidden antenna, they fail to mention the trade-off involved, so most people expect some sort of miracle, which we know will not happen. 73, (Kit W5KAT, ibid.) And these days, if you end up with a car that has a crappy radio, you can't even go to your local Walmart (or wherever) and buy an aftermarket replacement, because car radios these days are part of an integrated system of everything (Mike Westfall, Los Alamos, NM, ibid.) Or you can do like I have at times and have the radio of your choice riding on the passenger seat or floor, connected with jumper cables and alligator clips. Tacky, but it gets the job done. I should post a photo of my 91 Civic, which is the car I drive the most. Maybe I can shoot one today. The mass of wires and stuff on the passenger floor will need some explanation. I still use the stock Honda radio in the dash, but it's pretty lame. The AM side actually sounds better than the FM. The stuff in the console and on the floor is for 2 meter ham and a goofy thing I had to build to keep my overdrive working. That is what will need an explanation. It is also what nearly got me in trouble a few times crossing the Canadian border because the customs agents thought it was some sort of bomb. Well, the whole car is pretty much an old bomb. :) (Kit W5KAT, ibid.) This is far from a scientific opinion, but I have had the same radio (Blaupunkt Acapulco with Digiceiver) in 3 different cars. In the first car - a '94 Honda Civic with the aforementioned antenna mounted at a 45 degree angle to the roof where it meets the "A" Pillar, the radio performed very well. The only exception to that was that I did get quite a lot of tire static, so performance was best when I wasn't moving - but that's not the fault of the radio or antenna. The second car was a '95 Chrysler Concorde, with a vertical whip on the rear next to the trunklid. This one also performed well, and I really did not see much difference from the Honda antenna. As an aside, the speakers in the Concorde were excellent - I wish I could have them in my current car, they sounded great. So this brings me to the current car, a '94 Infiniti G20 with a rear- mounted power antenna mounted at a slight angle. I believe that this car has some kind of diversity system with the stock radio, because I had to get an adapter to allow me to hook up the antenna to the Blaupunkt. In this car, the Blaupunkt is noticeably worse than it was in either of the other 2 cars. On AM, it picks up only the locals and strongest of DX stations, and even the strong locals are overwhelmed by static at times when driving around. I'm not sure if it's the diversity system or the antenna, but whatever it is, it stinks. I just don't feel much desire to swap the antenna and re-wire the car, so I just put up with it. Plus I spend more time these days listening to MP3 CDs or Pandora on my phone, which I can plug into the Blaupunkt's aux port. So there you have it - All other things equal, it's possible that a vertical antenna will perform better than one at an angle, but other factors are of equal or maybe even greater importance (Brian Leyton, ibid.) You would be amazed at the adapters, Faceplates, and kits Scosche makes to put an aftermarket radio in them anyway. http://www.scosche.com/car-audio/products 73, (Kevin Raper, KJ4HYD, CE WCKI WQIZ WLTQ, ibid.) GM is using the windshield antennas. Well it's on my 2005 Buick. Not sure about current models. FM is in the front, and the AM is in the rear window, shared as the defrost wire. AM reception is good when it works; when It gets noisy, a good pop on the roof of the car makes it go away. One of these days I need to take the liner down and see what the issue is (Juan Gualda, Ft. Pierce, FL, ibid.) I have found Ebay is a good resource for car radio antennas and car radio add-ons of all kinds. Just type in your year and make of car and add "antenna" or whatever you are looking for and usually pages and pages of items will turn up. Aftermarket antennas galore. There are several sellers there that have OEM "reverse male" wiring harnesses for your year and make of radio. That allows you to plug a wiring harness into the radio just like the original factory plug. There is a universal color code for which wires go where. This way you can easily wire up a 13.8vdc power supply and speakers to the radio for home use. Makes hook up to the radio plug-and-play. The 'rubber ducky' antenna fad of the 90's is one thing from the consumer end that probably hurt broadcasters in general as a 'drive- time make-or-break', particularly for the little Class A FMers and flea-power AMs. 73 - (Todd WD4NGG Roberts, ibid.) > That UX-1 ?? What cars was it in It was used in a LOT of GM's Cars and Trucks. I have seen them in Blazers, S-10s, Chevy Vans, Impalas, Buick LaSabers, Pontiac Fiero, and many others. Just look for any Delco "2000" Series 1 1/2 DIN sized radio with AM-FM and Tape with the 5 Band EQ. Here is a link with a Pic of a newer one from a S-10 http://www.mnrelectronics.com/par16s10um6w.html And this is an older one from a Cadillac: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v158/t7craig/El%20Camino/1989CadillacUX1Radio.jpg 73, (Kevin Raper, KJ4HYD, CE WCKI WQIZ WLTQ, ibid.) Just don't count on the cassette part of the UX-1 to work. While the radio was well made and sounds fantastic, the cassette mechanism is junk. I have never seen one yet that still works, and I have had three UX-1s (Kit, ibid.) The newer Panasonic made deck is MUCH better than the older Blaupunkt made one. 73, (Kevin Raper, KJ4HYD, CE WCKI WQIZ WLTQ, ibid.) I have had good luck adding a line-level output to the UX1. This allows a direct connection to an external hi-fi amplifier or PC sound card input and bypasses the 5-band EQ and volume control. This way you get the audio direct off the receiver board and the UX1 operates more as a home tuner this way. You can still leave the speakers connected and listen to it that way if wanted using the on-board amp. I like having a line-level output connection for even better sound or for recording off-air. 73 - (Todd WD4NGG Roberts, ibid.) FULL-SERVICE FMs, LPFMs BATTLE FOR SPECTRUM by Leslie Stimson on 02.29.2012 Ever since Congress passed the Local Community Radio Act to allow more low-power FMs to be allocated onto the FM dial, the FCC has been wrestling with what to do about the thousands of pending FM translator applications. The conundrum facing the agency has been whether to process those first and then open an LPFM application window or vice- versa so it can implement the act. Broadcasters favor acting on the FM translators first and LPFM proponents want their application window opened first. Lobbying on the twin issues has intensified as the agency works toward opening an LPFM application window by the end of this year. . . http://www.radioworld.com/article/full-service-fms-lpfms-battle-for-spectrum-/212077 (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) FLASHING LIGHTS SAVE BIRDS http://www.islaearth.org/show.php?_sid=1285743600 And to the Red Light District, for birds. Migratory birds make amazing journeys to their wintering grounds and back. But conservation scientist Joelle Gehring of Michigan State University notes that each year millions of those birds fatally collide with tall man-made structures such as communication towers and wind turbines. Gehring and her colleagues decided to study that problem, and they focused specifically on radio towers. Turns out they might have a solution to keeping more birds alive. They compared bird deaths, mostly of tropical migrating songbirds, at towers topped by red and white incandescent lights, both flashing lights and steady-burning beacons. They discovered that towers with flashing lights had the fewest dead birds under them, and towers with steady red lights had the most dead birds. It's not clearly understood why but it could be that the type of light affects their ability to "see" magnetic fields. Whatever the reason, help seems within reach. Simply switch lights on radio towers to blinking lights. That would reduce bird deaths up to 70 percent, and the cost would be minimal. Gehring plans to propose the change to the Federal Aviation Administration. It's certainly an idea that's for the birds. Script by Bob Rhein (Isla Earth script for Sept 29, 2010 via DXLD) As heard on KOSU, 1628 UT March 5, 2012, instead of the latest March 5, 2012 show on the Isla Earth website. It seems to me most radio towers already have flashing lights, which I assumed was a requirement, perhaps for other reasons (gh, DXLD) 'TWISTED' WAVES COULD BOOST CAPACITY OF WI-FI AND TV By Jason Palmer Science and technology reporter, BBC News 2 March 2012 Last updated at 03:20 ET "Signal received" message on Palazzo Ducale In a public event in 2011, Venice's Palazzo Ducale lit up with "signal received" when the test worked [caption] A striking demonstration of a means to boost the information-carrying capacity of radio waves has taken place across the lagoon in Venice, Italy. The technique exploits what is called the "orbital angular momentum" of the waves - imparting them with a "twist". Varying this twist permits many data streams to fit in the frequency spread currently used for just one. The approach, described in the New Journal of Physics, could be applied to radio, wi-fi, and television. The parts of the electromagnetic spectrum that are used for all three are split up in roughly the same way, with a spread of frequencies allotted to each channel. Each one contains a certain, limited amount of information-carrying capacity: its bandwidth. As telecommunications have proliferated through the years, the spectrum has become incredibly crowded, with little room left for new means of signal transmission, or for existing means to expand their bandwidths. But Bo Thide of Swedish Institute of Space Physics and a team of colleagues in Italy hope to change that by exploiting an entirely new physical mechanism to fit more capacity onto the same bandwidth. Galilean connection The key lies in the distinction between the orbital and spin angular momentum of electromagnetic waves. . . http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-17221490 (via Terry L Krueger, FL, DXLD) SINAIS ESTRANHOS Vejam alguns sinais estranhos que captei com o SDR-IQ: http://www.qsl.net/py4zbz/se/se.htm Alguém tem uma ideia de que se trata (fora os OTH)? Observem a banda varrida e o tempo. Não são sinais locais de fontes chaveadas ou coisa parecida, pois só aparecem com propagação aberta para longe. 73 de (Roland, via PY2ZX, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Olá Roland, As suas imagens das portadoras correndo o espectro são chamados de "squiggles" e são geralmente associados a equipamentos "RFH - radio frequency heating" na Ásia. Veja no link algumas informações que coletei meses atrás. Tenho outros debates e imagens interessantes mas por falta de tempo não pude atualizar no site. http://www.archangelo.net/misc/hf/sq/view.htm Ficaram bem bonitas suas imagens dos OTHR. Parece também que vc tem uma cerca elétrica nas redondezas. 73! (Flávio PY2ZX, ibid.) FREQUENCY COORDINATION COMMITTEE FORMED FOR SUMMER POLITICAL CONVENTIONS Frequency coordination is a beautiful thing. Broadcast engineers have formed a Frequency Coordination Committee, PolComm 2012, to coordinate spectrum use at the Democratic and Republican conventions this summer. Members formed the committee in an effort to head off radio and TV personnel who may show up at the conventions and then try to use their wireless mics and two-way radios without first going through the frequency coordination process, according to Ray Benedict, a member of the group. Benedict is also director of spectrum management for CBS. Broadcast engineering consultant Louis Libin is the PolComm 2012 chairman. Libin has chaired frequency coordination committees for past seven national political conventions. The committee has asked the FCC to designate PolComm 2012 as the official frequency coordinator for this summer’s political conventions as is allowed per 74.24 (g) (2) of the Communications Act. The GOP convention is Aug. 27–30 in Tampa, Fla. and the Democratic convention is Sept. 3–6 in Charlotte, N.C. The committee will seek a temporary rules waiver to allow TV Channels 14, 16 and 17 to be used as communication channels in Tampa and TV Channels 14, 16, 17, 18, 19 and 20 in Charlotte, N.C. Coordination requests for 12.5 kHz channels within these TV channels will be accepted. Request coordination forms at Rfrequest@Broad-Comm.com. The completed forms may be submitted to the same email address. (from http://www.radioworld.com 3/2 via Jaisakthivel, ADXC, India, http://www.dxquiz.wordpress.com dxldyg via DXLD) HERE'S WHAT'S NEXT FOR THE SPECTRUM AUCTION..... http://tinyurl.com/7mqtrwj Sounds kinda crazy and just curious how long this will take to accomplish. Do any of you TV engineer guys see any potential problems with this? (Jim Thomas, WTFDA via DXLD) John Hane is a lot better qualified than I to speak to this, and *he's* got a lot of questions! The big red flag I see in the article is: "Each station that doesn`t sell will be subject to having its license modified. Many or most will receive different channels and many may be assigned different power levels or in some cases even different transmitter sites." Will $1.75 billion pay for all these moves? If, for example, our station is required to move its transmitter to Joelton (where several other stations transmit), will we receive enough $$ to pay rent on American Tower's tower in perpetuity?* Or enough to build our own new site? How long will it take to work this through *local* government issues? With the 2009 transition, no station was *required* to move to a new site. With this move, will all stations required to move to new sites move to *existing* new sites? With towers strong enough to hold their antennas? What happens if new tower construction is required but the locals won't allow it? The other thing I don't see in this article is channel-splitting. The FCC has previously discussed the idea of allowing two stations to share the same channel. The idea is that two or more licensees operate as subchannels on the same transmitter, and channel.** Right now, the transmitter in Brentwood, Tennessee on RF channel 27 carries two DTV MPEG programs. Program #3 is virtual channel 2.1 and carries WKRN's ABC, syndicated, and local programs. Program #4 is virtual channel 2.2 and carries WKRN's "Nashville WX Channel". Young Broadcasting is responsible to the FCC for the content of both programs. Under the proposal, a third program might be added. Program #5 might be virtual channel 30.1, and carry My Network TV and WUXP syndicated programs. Sinclair, not Young, would be responsible to the FCC for the content of Program #5 (while Young would remain responsible for #3 and #4). Programs #3 and 5 would both be eligible for must-carry on cable & satellite. Presumably Sinclair would then surrender the license for WUXP's own transmitter on RF channel 21 in Joelton. They never decided how responsibility for the transmitter itself would be divided. You're going to read about this in the March VUD that came out today. ION (formerly Pax) proposed to do essentially the same thing - except that instead of moving two existing stations in with each other and surrendering one license, they proposed to create an entirely new station. The FCC denied ION's request. Channel-splitting would allow stations to offer up *part* of their spectrum in the reverse auction, without having to "commit suicide" in the process. The way I read this article, stations that volunteer for the auction are agreeing to surrender their licenses and go out of business if they "win". With channel-splitting, they can continue to operate but with less opportunity for subchannels of their own or special services like mobile DTV. The Commission had discussed both voluntary channel-splitting and, potentially, involuntary channel-splitting if neither station involved is currently using all its bandwidth (for example, many religious and home-shopping stations that carry only a single standard-definition program). Assuming this does happen, it will not happen quickly. I think Hane may be rather optimistic to suggest only two Presidential Administrations will be involved (and I'm assuming that both Obama and his successor will be re-elected). Stations that feel poorer coverage or higher expenses are being imposed will go to court. Imagine that WKRN is reassigned to a channel with poorer coverage, and their channel 27 is reassigned to a station in, say, Louisville. Now, WKRN goes to court to try to stop the reassignment. The Louisville station can't move until the Nashville case is resolved. If WKRN wins, the FCC has to find somewhere else to put the Louisville station -- which may force something else to happen in Dayton -- which might undo an assignment change in Columbus -- which causes KDKA to sue over interference in Pittsburgh -- which stalls a reassignment in Altoona – which prevents the authorization of a land-mobile system in Washington... It's all interlocking, and no actual hardware will get changed until all the complaints shake out. I think they'll get some volunteers. They'll be home-shopping and 3rd- rate independent stations. I can also see duopolies volunteering to surrender one station, moving it to a subchannel of the other one. (think Entravision giving up WFUT in New York, and moving Telefutura to a second program on WXTV) There are 42 full-power stations in Tennessee. 29, I'm pretty much certain would not volunteer. Five I think probably would. Eight might. But that's all just a guess. – * I cannot believe I spelled that right on the first try. ** The initial FCC release suggested the channel be shared by different transmitters at different sites. To the best of my knowledge, this is technically impossible (Doug Smith, W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, of WSMV, Feb 28, WTFDA via DXLD) And the next step in the spectrum auction: http://www.commlawcenter.com/2012/02/tv-stations-class-a-status-on-the-chopping-block.html Ho hum (Jim Thomas, wdx0fbu, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See BRAZIL; CANADA; ERITREA/ETHIOPIA; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ KOREA NORTH; KUWAIT; NEW ZEALAND; NIGERIA; POLAND non SPAIN PROPAGATION +++++++++++ [Tvfmdx] BRAZIL AND PERU VIA F2 While nothing much is happening on this list, over at wtfda.info you can read (and listen to audio) of Brazil and Peruvian TV received on ch2 by WTFDA member Chris Dunne, Pembroke Pines, Florida on February 29th between 3:30 and 5 pm EST [2030-2200 UT]. Simply amazing! http://www.wtfda.info/showthread.php?7020-Feb-29-2012-Leap-DX!-%28TEP%29 (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT USA, March 3, WTFDA via DXLD) Mike, TV Brasil has station in Acre state. It's not so far from Perú. Would be possibility. Boa noite (good night). 73 (Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP, ibid.) I suggested the same thing to Chris. TV Aldeia in Rio Branco relays many programs from TV Brasil. This document shows the coverage of TV Brasil & its affiliates: http://www.ebc.com.br/ebc/sites/_ebc/files/Res%2001_2011_1.pdf (Jon Hamilton, Canada, ibid.) PROPAGATION INTERESTED GROUP : P.I.G. BULLETIN 120304 Solar activity will temporary remain relatively low with a tendency to slow growth over the next three months. In the shorter term is expected mostly low activity with a scarce occurrence of C class eruptions and unique occurrence of M class eruptions. Geomagnetic field will be: Quiet on March 10, 14 - 16, 21 - 22. Mostly quiet on March 9, 23, 28. Quiet to unsettled on March 7 - 8, 12, 19 - 20, 24. Unsettled on March 11, 27. Quiet to active on March 6, 25, 30. Unsettled to active on March 5, 18, 29. Active on March 13, 17, 26. High probability of changes in solar wind which may caused changes in magnetosphere and ionosphere is expected on February 27, March 5 - 6, (10 - 11, 13,) 17 - 19, 21, 24, 27 - 28. F. K. Janda, OK1HH Czech Propagation Interested Group (OK1HH & OK1MGW) e-mail: ok1hh(at)rsys.cz (via Dario Monferini, March 4, DXLD) Active region A very active region, 11429, has rotated into view on the northeastern sun. There has already been a long-duration M2.0 flare with associated CME. This region is one to watch - more information at the usual sources, e.g. http://www.solen.info/solar/ 73 (Andrew Brade, UK, 2010 UT March 4, MWCircle yg via DXLD) SUMMARY: X-Ray Event exceeded X1 (R3) Space Weather Message Code: SUMX01 Serial Number: 77 Issue Time: 2012 Mar 05 0448 UTC SUMMARY: X-ray Event exceeded X1 Begin Time: 2012 Mar 05 0230 UTC Maximum Time: 2012 Mar 05 0409 UTC End Time: 2012 Mar 05 0443 UTC X-ray Class: X1.1 Optical Class: 2b Location: N15E54 NOAA Scale: R3 - Strong NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales Potential Impacts: Area of impact consists of large portions of the sunlit side of Earth, strongest at the sub-solar point. Radio - Wide area blackout of HF (high frequency) radio communication for about an hour. (SWPC, 0453 UT March 5, via DXLD) Big Sunspot Unleashes X-flare Space Weather News for March 5, 2012 http://spaceweather.com STRONG SOLAR ACTIVITY: Big sunspot AR1429, which emerged over the weekend, is crackling with strong flares. This morning the active region produced an X1-class eruption and a bright coronal mass ejection (CME). The CME appears set to deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field in the days ahead, possibly sparking geomagnetic storms. Stay tuned to http://spaceweather.com for images and updates (via Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, Cumbre DX via DXLD) Space Weather Message Code: SUMX01 Serial Number: 78 Issue Time: 2012 Mar 07 0057 UTC SUMMARY: X-ray Event exceeded X1 Begin Time: 2012 Mar 07 0002 UTC Maximum Time: 2012 Mar 07 0024 UTC End Time: 2012 Mar 07 0040 UTC X-ray Class: X5.4 Location: N17E29 NOAA Scale: R3 - Strong NOAA Space Weather Scale descriptions can be found at http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/NOAAscales Potential Impacts: Area of impact consists of large portions of the sunlit side of Earth, strongest at the sub-solar point. Radio - Wide area blackout of HF (high frequency) radio communication for about an hour (SWPC 0100 UT March 7 via DXLD) Another Major Flare Space Weather News for March 7, 2012, http://spaceweather.com SOLAR ACTIVITY: Big sunspot AR1429 has unleashed another major flare--an X5-class eruption on March 7th at 00:28 UT. As a result of the blast, a radiation storm is underway and a CME will likely hit Earth's magnetic field in a day or so. Geomagnetic storms are already in progress at high latitudes due to earlier eruptions from the active sunspot. Last night, auroras were spotted over several northern-tier US states including Michigan and Wisconsin. Check http://spaceweather.com for updates and images (via Mark Coady, Peterborough, ON K9J 6X3, 1720 UT March 7, Cumbre DX via DXLD) March 7 circa 0630 UT, geomag storms have severely disrupted reception. Some North American signals (including Cuba) unusually have flutter on them, some do not, depending on distance and azimuth. 9 MHz is almost dead except for a bit of WWV on 10000, so I check the 3-4-5- 6-7 MHz bands to make comparisons: Fluttery signals, mostly weakened but some still sufficient: 3215 WWCR, 5000 WWV, 5025 Cuba, 5890 & 5935 WWCR, 6050 Cuba, 6060 Cuba- (more so than 6050), 6115-Canada/CRI, 6125-Cuba, 6165 Bonaire!, 6185 Mexico, 7275 & 7335 Tunisia, 7390 France, 7555 WEWN. Non-fluttery: 3185 WWRB, 4840 WWCR, 5085 & 5755 WTWW, 5965 Costa Rica, 6010 Cuba, 6070 CFRX, 6090 Anguilla, 6875 WYFR/RTI, 7245 Mauritania, 7405 Cuba/Martí (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Whopper sunspot 1429 has indigestion, it would seem. Following a set of M-class flares, the spot spewed a long-duration X-5.4 last night -- the second biggest flare of Cycle 24. An X-1.3 followed during the night. A resulting CME should make, at least, a glancing blow to Earth. Aurorae will likely result. SFI is also on the rise. This morning, it's 138; we may hit 150. Cool. It may be time to start using the HTX- 10 in the SUV. PB (*Peter Baskind, J.D., LL.M.*, N4LI Grid: EM55, Germantown, TN 38138, 901-413-4006, 1249 UT March 7, WTFDA via DXLD) Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to minor storm levels during 27 - 28 February due to a CME passage associated with the filament eruption/asymmetric halo-CME observed on 24 February. Activity decreased to quiet levels on 29 February. Quiet to unsettled levels occurred during 01 - 04 March with active to minor storm periods observed at high latitudes due to weakly-enhanced solar wind speeds combined with sustained periods of weak southward IMF (Negative Bz). FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 07 MARCH - 02 APRIL 2012 Solar activity is expected to be at moderate to high levels from 07 - 16 March. Activity is expected to decrease to low levels during 17 - 28 March after Region 1429 rotates around the west limb. Probabilities for moderate to high activity will increase once again on 29 March with the return of Region 1429. There is a chance for isolated proton events at geosynchronous orbit while Region 1429 remains on the disk through 16 March. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal to moderate levels from 07 - 17 March. Flux is expected to increase to moderate to high levels on 18 - 19 March due to effects from a recurrent coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Normal to moderate levels are expected to return from 20 - 28 March followed by moderate to high levels on 30 March - 01 April due to a second recurrent CH HSS. Normal to moderate levels are expected for the remainder of the period. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be active with a chance for minor storm levels on 07 March due to the combined arrival of CMEs observed on 04 and 05 March. Activity is expected to be at quiet to unsettled levels on 08 March as the effects from those CMEs subside. Mostly quiet conditions are expected during 09 - 10 March. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected on 11 - 13 March due to weak CH HSS effects. Activity is expected to decrease to quiet levels during 14 - 16 March. Activity is expected to increase to unsettled to active levels during 17 - 20 March due to a recurrent negative polarity CH HSS. Mostly quiet conditions are expected from 21 - 27 March followed by an increase to quiet to unsettled levels on 28 - 31 March due to another recurrent CH HSS. Predominantly quiet conditions are expected for the remainder of the period. **Attention** Beginning Monday March 12, 2012, the Weekly Bulletin will now be issued and available on the SWPC web page every Monday morning by 1500 UTC. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2012 Mar 06 1552 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 2012-03-06 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2012 Mar 07 140 20 5 2012 Mar 08 140 10 3 2012 Mar 09 135 5 2 2012 Mar 10 135 5 2 2012 Mar 11 135 10 3 2012 Mar 12 135 10 3 2012 Mar 13 135 10 3 2012 Mar 14 130 5 2 2012 Mar 15 130 5 2 2012 Mar 16 130 5 2 2012 Mar 17 125 12 4 2012 Mar 18 120 15 4 2012 Mar 19 115 10 3 2012 Mar 20 115 8 3 2012 Mar 21 110 5 2 2012 Mar 22 110 5 2 2012 Mar 23 105 5 2 2012 Mar 24 105 5 2 2012 Mar 25 105 5 2 2012 Mar 26 105 5 2 2012 Mar 27 105 5 2 2012 Mar 28 105 10 3 2012 Mar 29 115 8 3 2012 Mar 30 125 8 3 2012 Mar 31 130 8 3 2012 Apr 01 130 5 2 2012 Apr 02 130 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1607, DXLD) ###