DX LISTENING DIGEST 15-45, November 11, 2015 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 2015 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html [also linx to previous years] 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 1799 CONTENTS: *DX and station news about: Armenia/Azerbaijan, Bangladesh, Belarus, Bhutan, Biafra non, Bolivia, China, Czechia, East Turkistan, Europe, Finland and non, Germany non, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea, Kurdistan non, Madagascar, Mali, México, Micronesia, Mongolia, Netherlands non, Papua New Guinea, Somaliland, South Africa, Spain, Sudan South non, USA and non, Western Sahara SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1799, November 12-18, 2015 Thu 1230 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Thu 2100 WRMI 7570 [confirmed] Fri 0200 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [confirmed] Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 [confirmed] Fri 2130 WRMI 7570 [confirmed but truncated] Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [confirmed] Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM [confirmed] Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v Area 51 Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 Wed 1415 WRMI 9955 Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v 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 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS: Tnx to Dr Harald Gabler and the Rhein-Main Radio Club. http://www.rmrc.de/index.php/rmrc-audio-plattform/podcast/glenn-hauser-wor ALTERNATIVE PODCASTS, tnx Stephen Cooper: http://shortwave.am/wor.xml AND ANOTHER PODCAST ALTERNATIVE, tnx to Keith Weston: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GlennHausersWorldOfRadio Also via [but still not back in service]: http://tunein.com/radio/World-of-Radio-p198/ OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO: http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org DAY-BY-DAY ARCHIVE OF GLENN HAUSER`S LOG REPORTS: Unedited, uncondensed, unchanged from original version, many of them too complex, minutely researched, multi-frequency, opinionated, inconsequential, off-topic, or lengthy for some log editors to manage; and also ahead of their availability in these weekly issues: http://www.hard-core-dx.com/index.php?topic=Hauser 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/ ** ALBANIA. 7470, R. Tirana (nf), IS and s/on in English with News at BoH, and into talx re Albanian history. At 0240 ID and into Albanian pop music for the rest of the broadcast. IS again at 0257 and carrier off. This is a test frequency based on tip from DXLD which complained 7425 was too QRMed. Rather poor reception especially when compared to how CRI from Albania POUNDS in here earlier in the evening. 34443 with my local QRM making things difficult. Using Heath SB-310 *0229-0257* 31/Oct (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov 6 via DXLD) Yes, a pity Albania turned over the best equipment to CRI. R. Tirana broadcast time has diminished so much that CRI/Cërrik ought to be able to spare them a few hours of transmitter time over there (gh, DXLD) 7470 - R. Tirana tune/in at 0230 s/on to YL in English with opening ID’s followed by OM with apparent news. Signal is poor at best with significant extended fades. Bands are still severely depressed as they have been over the last few days. Lots of static just about everywhere. Meanwhile MW conditions are at fair levels with some good TA openings to N. Africa & Spain (Stephen C Wood, Harwich, Mass., Perseus SDR, 25 x 50 variable terminated superloop antenna (N/E 60º & SW 225º), UT Nov 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Very bad shortwave propagation conditions in past two days. Similar bad like Radio Tirana English to the North America audience on 7469.978 kHz fingerprint started 0229 UT tonight on Nov 6 as S=7-8 or -84dBm in remote SDR unit in MA/NY/NJ eastern coastline area (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7470, Nov 7 at 0229, R. Tirana is JBA with IS, so has stayed here for a week now, ex-7425, where the Greenville leapfrog is just as strong/weak. 7470, Nov 10 at *0225, R. Tirana IS is barely audible, still here ex- 7425 (and a good thing too: see VATICAN). Unlike via the NRD-545, now I`m checking on the FRG-7 and find so much overload from 7455 and other strong signals nearby that I have to ATT to LOCAL in order to dig out Albania. In Nov BDXC-UK Communication, Alan Roe reviews R. Tirana programming and has put together a program schedule grid I`ve never seen from them direct, here transformed into plain text: ``Here is the complete programme schedule for R Tirana – note that a music break is often, but not always, heard prior to the day’s feature block, which may then start slightly later than shown. 0230, Daily News 0235, Sun Mosaic of the Week Tue-Sat Press Review 0240, Sun Folk Music Tue Albania in a Week Wed Music Thu Albania & the EU Integration Process Fri Albanian Economy and Facts Sat Profile 0245, Tue Cultural Activities Wed Mailbag Thu Hits Through the Years Fri Around Albania Sat Music 0250, Tue Sport Fri Music 0255, Tue Music 0257, Close`` [Same programming at equivalent times the previous UT days to Europe from 2100 on 7465] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Tirana --- This month I have listened rather more regularly to the programmes of Radio Tirana than I would normally and in particular during the period from 5th to 17th October I listened most days at 2000 UT on 7465 kHz. Reception here has been very variable - from fairly good to virtually inaudible – along with generally poor conditions throughout the bands. Here is a brief look at some of the programmes that I enjoyed during that period. All programmes start with a five minute news broadcast followed with a Press Review each day except Saturday (Sunday in North America), when there is a recap of the top stories of the week in Mosaic of the Week. These are then sometimes followed by a brief music break, then the day’s feature programme and usually some more Albanian music to end the transmission. Daily News/Press Review block I have to confess here that I am not a regular listener to the news/press review block, and usually tune-in around 10 minutes into the programme for the features which follow. However, I did hear some news broadcasts such as these ones noted over the period 15-17 October: Thursday 15 October 1. Judiciary reform 2. Economic, trade and industry co-operation with Czech Republic 3. Supreme State Audit report 4. Health reform and accusation of slander against a Minister Friday 16 October 1. Golden Eagle honour to police officer killed last year 2. Report on decriminalisation in Albania 3. Foreign debt in Albania 4. New draft law on meterology 5. Albanian football federation and the Secret Police co-operating on closer ticket checks Saturday 17 October 1. Brussels meeting on EU enlargement process, treatments of immigrants, and judiciary reform. 2. Public administration reform. 3. Economic, trade and industry co-operation with Czech Republic 4. Swedish tourism in Albania 5. Electoral reform As can be seen, the focus is on Albanian news (which in my view is as it should be - although it would be nice also to hear from time to time Albania’s take on the major world events of the day). I have often found that their news broadcasts are quite difficult to follow as items tended to run into each other without much of a pause between items. Also, the language used is quite stilted and the news subjects tended to be perhaps a little dry. For example on Friday 16 October, the report on decriminalization in Albania sounded quite interesting, but making sense of the news item is quite a challenge, as perhaps these opening sentences of the news item demonstrate: “The Special Parliamentary Commission for Decriminalisation stayed for three hours to reach nothing. The Democrats advanced with difficulties to the point of presenting the draft for the constitutional amend for interrupting of terms of people with criminal records. ‘Criminals should not be in institutions – they will not be there in the future. This is the objective for which we have established criteria so that criminals stay away from the institutions’, {I?name?...} from the Democratic Party declared. The meeting went on for three hours after the request of the Socialists followed by the debate between the parties if they should follow or not the method that was being proposed by the majority. One of the requests was to make a report about the report of the Venice Commission and how decriminalization can be done in Albania [//]” Profile – Friday 9 and 16 October The feature on 9 October was about the famous Albanian writer and nationalist: Faik Konica; someone unknown to me and whom I’m sure is unknown to most people outside of Albania. He is introduced in the programme as: “[Isomeone who gave...] Albanian prose a modern image; the intellectual who brought the proper western mentality to the Albanian culture”. Wikipedia, by the way describes him more succinctly as: “/one of the most important figures of Albanian culture in the early decades of the twentieth century”. I do find it is interesting to hear about famous people in other countries that people outside those countries have most likely never heard of. It’s the same as hearing about someone in your own country who was hugely famous in their day, but has since been all but forgotten. I tuned in again to Profile on 16 October – however this turned out to be simply a repeat of last week’s episode about Faik Konica. It took some time for me to track down the actual spelling of the name via internet search – a few attempts with phonetic spellings failed to produce results; however, finally I found what I was looking for following a Wikipedia search on Albanian Writers. Music Selection - Friday 9 and 16 October This will be one to add to my Music Listing next month. This selection of back-to-back songs each week generally features modern Albanian Easy Listening/popular music and makes for pleasant listening. I would have preferred some titles or other background information about the music, but I suspect it’s all a question of time and resource. The selection on 16 October seemed quite familiar, and when I checked back to my recording of 9 October I found that, like Profile, it was a repeat of last week’s music selection. Folk Music – Saturday 10 and 17 October I always enjoy folk music programmes from around the world, and R Tirana’s Folk Music programme is no exception, and I am a regular listener. On 10 October was an interesting selection of songs described as “patriotic” songs with titles such as “I Love Albania Most” and “Snow Whitening the Mountains”, whilst on 17 October the songs were all from the Tirana region by Artola Tiosca (at least sounding something like that) with some music that sounded rather more Asian – Indian almost – than East European. None of the track titles were announced. Mailbag – Tuesday 6 and 13 October R Tirana makes a good job of presenting an interesting Mailbag programme. It’s very easy to get bogged-down into just reading a series of reception reports and, frankly, just hearing other people’s reception reports does not make for entertaining listening to anyone except for the person who submitted the report – although I admit to still getting a thrill to hear my letters and reports read out on air. Sadly, most listeners’ reports contain very little comment about the programmes themselves. I only send three or four reports a month (at most, and often less) to stations and I do try to include at least a paragraph commenting about the programme, but I also could probably do better. The format of R Tirana’s mailbag comprises the reading of a few reception reports, then a “response to listener’s questions” and finally some music. I found the “response” section for both these broadcasts to be very interesting. On 6 October there was a short talk about Albanian iso-polyphonic music, followed by some examples of such music, and on 13 October there was a short history of Radio Tirana. Notably, neither of these “responses” was attributed to specific questions from named listeners, so I guess it is likely that they were simply made up by the staff. Whilst listening to the item on the History of Radio Tirana, I noticed a definite “third-person” bias in the way the history was presented, for example these paragraphs - as read out on air: “Despite the country's tiny size and isolationist policies, Radio Tirana was a fairly major international broadcaster during the Cold War. Its programmes had a reputation for being little more than dull propaganda. “During Albania's alliance with China in the 1960s and 1970s, Radio Tirana had to walk a fine line between being anti-West whilst also being anti-Soviet. As such, Radio Tirana kept close to the official policy of the People's Republic of China, which was also both anti- West and anti-Soviet whilst still being socialist in tone. Following the break with China, programming still remained Marxist-Leninist in nature. “During the 1970s, the station broadcast to Europe on 1214 kHz, causing interference problems for the British BBC Radio One on the same frequency. During the 1980s and early 1990s the international service was broadcast on 1395 kHz (along with various short wave frequencies) and was received throughout Europe during the evening and through the night. Radio Tirana also upset many amateur radio operators in Europe by operating transmitters in the 7 MHz (40 metre) amateur band.” On a hunch, I looked up the Wikipedia entry for Radio Tirana, and found the whole item to be virtually word for word. Similarly large portions of the iso-polyphonic music item were also found word for word in Wikipedia. I should add, however, that this is not a complaint – merely an observation. I’ve noted frequent verbatim extracts from Wikipedia read out by other stations on all manner of features and reports, so R Tirana is by no means alone in this matter. From 26 October, Radio Tirana is scheduled to broadcast from Monday to Saturday to Europe at 2100-2130 UT on 7465 kHz and from Tuesday to Sunday at 0230-0300 UT on 7425 kHz [changed to 7470]. Please check DX News for the latest information in case of any changes (Alan Roe, Listening Post, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ADXB - Radio Tirana - special QSL Dear friends, I will remind all members of the list, that we from ADXB are still until End of November open for reports to Radio Tirana. You will get a special QSL-card for a report - every frequency used from Radio Tirana foreign language Programm can be used by one report. Send reports from Programm latest 30th November 2015 including 2 IRC, or 2 EUR, or 2 US $ to the following address: ADXB - Austrian DX Board, c/o Harald Suess, P. O. Box 1000, A-1081 Vienna, Austria. The special QSL comes directly from Tirana. Here the schedule: GERMAN: Monday through Saturday : 2030-2100 / 7465 kHz ENGLISH: Monday through Saturday : 2100-2130 / 7465 kHz ENGLISH: Tuesday through Sunday : 0230-0300 / 7425 kHz FRENCH: Monday through Saturday : 1830-1900 / 7465 kHz ITALIAN: Monday through Saturday : 1900-1930 / 7465 kHz SERBIAN: Monday through Saturday : 2115-2130 / 1458 kHz TURKISH: Monday through Saturday : 1930-2000 / 1458 kHz GREEK: Monday through Saturday : 1645-1700 / 1458 kHz MW – Transmitter Fllaka – 500 kW ; SW – Transmitter Shijak – 100 kW. Souvenirs from Albania will be drawn for the participants. Winners will be published on the ADXB website http://www.adxb-oe.org in December 2015. See also the English tender script: http://www.adxb-oe.org/adxb/ALBQSL-englisch.pdf We know that in the UK the MW 1458 kHz is occupied by Lyca Radio, so it will be very difficult or unpossible to catch it there. But you can try on shortwave. Good luck (Harald Suess, ADXB - Austrian DX Board, P. O. Box 1000, A-1081 Vienna, Austria adxbsuess@aon.at Nov 7 MWCircle yg via DXLD) ** ALBANIA. 5960, China Radio Int'l; 2110-2120+, 6-Nov; "Round Table on EZ FM"; English feature on Nobel peace prizes. SIO=3+34; brief hiss about every 2'15'', SSB no help (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA. 4949.8, Rádio Nacional at 0350 in Portuguese with a woman with talk, then African Hi-Life music to 0358 and a woman with talk and a number of promos to time pips at 0400 and into a man and woman with apparent news with correspondent reports ending with “Rádio Nacional” – Fair Nov 6 (Mark Coady, ON, ODXA YRX via DXLD) 4949.726, Rádio Nacional, Port, S=5, poor signal (Wolfgang Bueschel, fingerprints, quick log in Colombo CLN on Victor's remote SDR unit, circa 0118 UT, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 15345.17, Nov 6 at 2216, RAE has an S9 signal, but it`s just barely modulated, can`t determine the language, but should be Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15344.770, probably Radio Nacional Spanish signal peak 'visible' at 0200 UT, threshold level only peaks visible (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA/AZERBAIJAN. Starting 2nd November 2015, the Stepanakert Nagorno Karabakh Radio is on the air in Azeri and rarely in Russian (during the interviews): Mon-Sat on 11760 at *0420-0610* and on 9677 *0820-1410*. Broadcast times vary 5-15 minutes. I listened to their "FM" frequencies which are in ranges 11754-11761 and 9671 to 9681 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Nov 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ASCENSION. 6005, Nov 11 at 0519, BBCWS `Newsday` with noticeable hum on this frequency only --- I`ve heard it before on various other channels, presumably defect of only one of their six transmitters? I`m also hearing BBC on 5875, 7445, so I compare them on two receivers --- - no synchrony despite all from Ascension: 5875 is about 1 second behind 6005; 7445 is ahead of 5875 and behind 6005. IOW, first 6005, second 7445, third 5875 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA [non-log]. 2368.47, Radio Symban. Since mid-July they have been off the air, through Nov 8. Will they return again? (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** AUSTRALIA. B15 schedule for Reach Beyond Australia (ex HCJB) in English: 1115-1130 smt.tf. As 15430 (Spotlight) 1130-1145 XXs As 15430 (Family Care) [Sat only] 1330-1400 X..f. As 9720 15340 (Hindi/English) [Fri only] 1445-1600 Daily As 15340 (Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) So contrary to previous info, there are still bits of Enlgish other than 1445-1600 (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRIA. We hear from Rémy Friess, who writes: “I've just read your column in Communication. That list of music programmes is very interesting. My favourite music programme on SW remains the relay on 6155 kHz of a programme called Guten Morgen Österreich that goes out 7 days a week on Ö1, the main Austrian domestic channel. Between 0535 and 0552 UT (possibly 0635 & 0652 during winter time) they play very nice light-classical music. I listen to it every morning. A pity they only relay the third and final part of the programme on SW (Alan Roe, Listening Post, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** BAHAMAS. 1540. ZNS-1 Nassau, 0128 UT 10/10/2015 - Finally able to cross this one off my list with occasional decent peaks lasting for several minutes with talk mentioning the Bahamas and music // to 810 during mild auroral conditions, on South D-KAZ, new (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD) ** BALEARIC ISLANDS. And now the bonus log: 1755 kHz, Valencia Radio, Palma, Baleraric Islands of Spain - 2236 UT 10/29/2015 - Very weak reception of Valencia Radio, part of a network of coastal maritime stations located in Spain, broadcasting in upper-sideband. This particular station, 1755 kHz, is located in Palma, the capital city of the Balearic Islands in Spain. Although extremely weak, two mentions of "Valencia" can be heard in the clip which was also parallel to an even weaker transmission heard on 1767 kHz from Cabo Gata during the same time. Heard on the North D-KAZ, video clip here: https://youtu.be/N2FA9tzSa10?list=PL2CDEDA7EB969E66D (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) So why not consider it a separate radio country (gh) ** BANGLADESH [non-log]. 4750, Bangladesh Betar (HS), Nov 9 not heard at all at 1200 and subsequent checking; normally heard around this time. Off the air today? Fairly good overall conditions. Very unusual to not have any trace of them here! (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4749.943 Noted - tentatively - weaker RRI Makassar, much lesser signal strength than 3904.981 kHz RRI Merauke. On same channel noted CNR1 Chinese top ahead on 4749.994 kHz fingerprint. Some notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4750, Bangladesh Betar (HS), Nov 9 through Nov 11, not hearing any trace of them about 1200 and subsequent checking. Off the air or is it just poor conditions? (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BELARUS [and non]. After not having heard Polish Radio on Long Wave 225 kHz in a while, I checked mediumwave.info and found that it's merely a scheduled downtime: POLAND 225 kHz scheduled downtime from Nov 2 to Nov 22 2015 - via Jarod Middelman 2015-11-04. LW: Currently, we can still hear quite a bit on Long Wave in central Europe - and due to the longer hours of darkness, this is the season to check it out! 153 Antena Satelor (ROU), 162 France Inter (F), 171 Médi 1 (MRC), 184 Europe 1 (D), 189 Ríkisútvarpid (ISL), 198 BBC Radio 4 (G), 207 SNRT (MRC) & Ríkisútvarpid (ISL), 216 RMC (F), 225 Polskie Radio - currently on maintenance (POL), 234 RTL (LUX), 243 DR specials at certain times during the day (DNK), 252 RTA (ALG) & RTE Radio 1 (IRL), 270 CR1 Radiozurnál (CZE), 279 BR (BLR). By the way, 279 from Belarus is only barely modulated, can't be more than a few percent of audio modulation level, while the carrier nominally 500 kW is quite strong and even audible during the day at times. 270 from CZE is the opposite, heavily compressed but thus well audible audio on a relatively weak carrier of only 60 kW, not exactly a powerhouse on LW, but outperforms the BLR audibility by lengths! Best regards (Tobias (T²), Germany, Nov 10, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BHUTAN. 6034.95, BBS, 1109, Nov 2; clearly in English; seemed gone after 1121(?); poor; mixing with PBS Yunnan. BBS, 1149, Nov 3. Pop song under PBS Yunnan; seemed off at 1200(?). BBS, 1142-1327, Nov 5. Running past normal sign off; in English till 1200; 1219 & 1221 usual indigenous music; 1223-1231 singing; long interview; 1315 & 1318 usual indigenous music; off the air sometime after 1327(?); again QRM from PBS Yunnan (China) [q.v.]. 6034.95, BBS, running late Nov 9; still on at 1345; usual format; clearly two stations, with the other being PBS Yunnan (China). Hiroyuki Komatsubara (Japan) reports BBS doing well here as late as 1430 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6034.952, fingerprint odd frequency of weak tiny undermodulated BBS Thimpu, but suffered a lot of ahead co-channel PBS Yunnan "Voice of Shangri-La" program from Kunming CHINA site, latter which was S=9+20dB strong. At 1105 UT. Some notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BIAFRA [non]. Re: FRANCE Open carrier/dead air plus weak Denge Kurdistan on Nov 4: from 1820 on 15560 ISS 250 kW / 170 deg to WeAf, instead of Radio Biafra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51e5T1UqDuY And tonight no signal could be traced on 15560 kHz anymore. http://www.thebiafratimes.co/2015/11/attention-british-nigeria-lied-again-fg.html "Our current limitation on Shortwave was as a result of the dirty game of the British-Nigerian Government who went to those carrying our shortwave signal to threaten and induced them with a mouth-watering bribe to agree to drop our signal. In place, British-Nigeria implanted their propaganda message to give the impression that they have taken over the operations of Radio Biafra. Of course, this is not the first time they have played out the old game of deceit which they are excellent at orchestrating – impostor per excellence. Therefore, all our esteemed listeners should henceforth desist from tuning into the Shortwave Frequency 15560 kHz in the 19-meter band. The Hausa-Fulani cloned Nkemdidi Chukwuemeka (The female announcer) is not a Biafran and do not have any connection with IPOB or Radio Biafra. [...] Moreover, we pledge to announce to the general listening public our different Shortwave listening post as soon as the logistics and testing of the new frequency is concluded." Sounds as if a revival of Nigerian Forces Radio or maybe even Issoudun/Okeechobee relay bookings for Voice of Nigeria have been promised (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Nov 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Keith Perron had a piece on the demise of the recent Radio Biafra SW broadcasts in the latest Media Network Plus show. Said the contract with the SW broker came to an end and wasn't renewed. Didn't identify the broker or transmitter facility (widely assumed to be TDF and Issoudun) but because of the hate-mongering tone of the broadcasts, many SW facilities are now shunning Radio Biafra. Listen here: http://www.radio4all.net/files/kperron@gmail.com/3101-1-Media_Network_Plus_PRG251_November_6_2015_30min_edition.mp3 (Richard Langley, NB, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. RIESGO DE CIERRE DE 450 RADIOEMISORAS EN BOLIVIA El presidente de la Asociación Boliviana de Radiodifusoras (Asbora), Raúl Novillo, ha vuelto a poner en el tapete de la discusión un tema de alta importancia. La reducción del "espectro de frecuencias” para las radioemisoras bolivianas. Según su cálculo, al menos 450 radios bolivianas podrían desaparecer. Entre ellas dos que han sido catalogadas como "enemigas” por el gobierno, Fides y ERBOL, y que figuran entre las más importantes del país. Lo que sucede es que la ley de telecomunicaciones establece que solo el 33% de las radioemisoras bolivianas pueden ser privadas. Y como actualmente son entre el 70% y el 80% del total, deben reducirse para encajar en el 33% determinado por la ley. Por lo tanto, cree Asbora, unas 450 de ellas podrían perder sus licencias de funcionamiento. El artículo 10 de la norma establece la distribución de frecuencias para radiodifusión: 33% para estaciones comerciales, 33% para medios del Estado, 17% para pueblos indígenas y 17% para emisoras de carácter comunitario. Las primeras son en realidad de tipo gubernamental, no estatal. Las comunitarias e indígenas son casi siempre proclives al oficialismo. En el mundo privado es donde se encuentra más diversidad. La ley faculta al gobierno, mediante la ATT, administrar, autorizar y supervisar el uso de las frecuencias de radiodifusión en territorio nacional a través de un plan nacional de frecuencias, que todavía no está definido. Haber colocado esos arbitrarios porcentajes en una ley no es parte del azar: todo parece indicar que es un elemento estratégico para acallar a los medios de comunicación que no comulgan con el gobierno. Por tanto, el gobierno, sin control de nadie, autorizará o rechazará los permisos de acuerdo a su criterio. Muchas de las licencias de las radios terminan entre 2016 y 2017. Las de Fides y ERBOL concluyen en octubre del próximo año y, tres meses después, en enero de 2017, la de Panamericana, otra radio boliviana de alcance nacional y alta influencia. La norma no solo afecta a las radios sino también a los canales de TV, que se encuentran en la misma situación de inermidad y vulneración. El actual sistema mediático boliviano está ya muy debilitado. El actual gobierno ha logrado controlar, mediante distintos mecanismos, a una buena parte de los medios. La aplicación de la ley de telecomunicaciones podría implicar el golpe de gracia contra éstos y, por tanto, contra el pluralismo democrático. El cierre de 450 radios, entre ellas algunas de alcance nacional, y otras decenas de canales solo señalaría el empeoramiento de la salud de la democracia (tomado de http://www.paginasiete.bo/ via GRA blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 6135. R. SANTA CRUZ, 09/11 1026 UT. ID: “Radio Santa Cruz, la primera…”, y luego avisos del comienzo del programa “Maestro en casa” con el desarrollo de un módulo de autoinstrucción y una cartilla, acompañado con pequeños espacios de música. SINPO: 35433 (Claudio Galaz Toledo, RX: Realistic DX-160, ANT: 45 metros de antena de hilo, más antena de tierra y balún de ferrita 9:1, QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. [contrary to item via 15-44:] RÁDIO APARECIDA 5035 kHz Olá, Cássio. a QRG de 5035 kHz, 62 metros da Rádio Aparecida continua muda. Pelos menos tentei sintonizá-laneste dia 5/11/2015, quinta- feira, logo de manhã e não ouvi modulação - (lembrando que hoje é Dia do Radioamador, Radiocidadãoe aficcionados). Talvez você tenha sintonizado espúrios da QRG de 49m. A frequência que está com boa sintonia e qualidade de áudio nítida, é a Rádio Canção Nova, de Cachoeira Paulista, frequência de 4825 kHz. 62 metros. Neste mês de novembro o programa Encontro DX da Rádio Aparecida está completando 29 anos no ar. Lembro-me do primeiro dia de apresentação do programa que foi em 3-11-1986, sempre às 19h (de Brasília). Forte 73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, LIMEIRA - SP, 5-11-2015 - quinta-feira, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Rádio Aparecida ondas tropicais de 62m [sic: 59 m] -- Parece que a frequência de 5035 kHz da Rádio Aparecida, há muito fora do ar, deve entrar na fila das ondas tropicais e curtas que são desativadas pra sempre. Quem pode confirmar são os apresentadores do Encontro DX Macedo e Moura. As ondas curtas são a pedra no sapato de empresários de rádio mal informados. 73 (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira sp, 7-11-2015, ibid.) Luiz, Se fosse dono de uma emissora e tivesse que optar em desativar algum transmissor, seja em FM, ondas médias ou curtas, certamente desativaria o transmissor de ondas curtas. Por mais que a Rádio Aparecida não vise lucros e mesmo que possua ouvintes em locais distantes, será que compensa mesmo numa evetual situação de contenção de gastos manter um transmissor de ondas curtas? Fora do círculo de Dexistas/radioamadores, você conhece pessoalmente alguém que ouça ondas curtas? Eu nunca vi nenhum nesses anos de hobby. Espero estar errado quanto a você e que possa afirmar conhecer alguns milhares deles. Lembrando que diversos países muito mais pobres e com populações muito mais isoladas que aqui já não transmitem em ondas curtas/tropicais, em alguns casos há várias décadas. Me custa crer que a situação de um nômade ou morador de áreas rurais no Níger ou República Centro Africana seja melhor quanto a acesso a comunicações que a de um seringueiro na Amazônia. Prestigiemos e aproveitemos o que ainda existe, pois vai acabar mesmo. Já li estimativas que afirmam que até 2020 não haverá mais NENHUM transmissor em ondas tropicais ativo no mundo. Não adianta chorar. 73 (Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP, https://www.youtube.com/regionaldx http://ivandias.wordpress.com http://twitter.com/ivandiasjr ibid.) Ivan: Boa a sua reflexão caro Ivan, mas a direção da RA sempre diz que tem ouvintes nas onda curtas e sendo uma emissora católica que deve seu sucesso as queridas ondas curtas e tropicais. A questão são os gastos dos transmissores que são altos, principalmente na atual conjuntura do setor elétrico. Se nós consumidores pessoas físicas estamos sentindo como esta isso, imagine as rádios, que no Brasil ficam com algo em torno de 5% a 6% do bolo publicitário. É muito pouco. Agora concordando com você, se eu fosse um empresário do ramo, eu também em momento de crise, fecharia as ondas curtas, chorando é claro. Agora com relação as ondas tropicais eu não tenho ainda informação oficial da emissora. Como nossos amigos sabem, somos voluntários e não estamos em contato com a emissora diariamente como os funcionários da emissora. Em geral estamos na emissora a cada 40 dias. Assim que tiver informação precisa sobre a onda tropical eu informo. Para encerrar, nesse momento o programa não está indo ao ar e acredito que foi porque a missa deve ter encerrado num horário que caso o Encontro DX fosse colocado no ar, ultrapassaria o tempo previsto. Saudações a todos (Cassiano A. Macedo, Programa Encontro DX, Nov 7, ibid.) Cassiano, Apenas para complementar: como você bem sabe (até por me conhecer pessoalmente), sabe que gosto muito do rádio e do que ele é capaz. Sinto muita tristeza quando percorro as faixas de 90 e 60 metros e não consigo encontrar praticamente mais nada. Apesar de gostar de praticar Dexismo Utilitário, FM e TV, sei que tais modalidades talvez nunca trarão a mesma variedade das ondas curtas, mas foi a forma que encontrei para não abandonar o hobby que tanto gosto. Tudo isso é parte de um processo evolutivo natural. Se até mesmo o homem evoluiu ao longo de milhões de anos, creio que seria difícil nos mantermos presos ao passado (por mais que eu ainda goste de fazer caminhada vez ou outra usando um walkman com toca-fita). Da mesma forma eu vejo um futuro igualmente sombrio para as emissoras que operam em ondas médias. Certamente a sobrevida será maior, mas não muito. Quer ficar mais triste ainda? Leia os livros do Gerry Dexter que tratam da radiodifusão em ondas curtas de 1929 a 2008. Dá vontade de ter uma máquina do tempo e de chorar ao mesmo tempo. As ondas curtas foram um meio usado amplamente usado e com milhares de emissoras mundo afora. Infelizmente é um ciclo que está chegando ao fim. Nada é eterno. Vida que segue. 73 (Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP, ibid.) Me dá tristeza pensar na redução e nas dificuldades das transmissões em ondas curtas e tropicais. Devo o fundamento da minha formação acadêmica às ondas curtas. Lembro-me de um senhor evangélico, analfabeto, que escutava a Rádio Transmundial, para memorizar e repassar aos membros de sua comunidade. Certo dia, ele chegou em nossa casa e disse aos meus pais que eles precisavam comprar um radinho de ondas curtas e me dar para escutar a Rádio Transmundial. Eu morava na roça, interior do Paraná, filho de pequenos agricultores, e o radio que ganhei estava arrebentado e eu precisava amarrá-lo para pressionar as quatro pilhas grandes. Arrumava a cama, apagava o lampião de querosone e ficava movimentando os ponteiros até achar a Rádio Transmundial, o rádio não era digital, nem sabia que existia. Como não queria perder os programas, eu ficava fuçando as diferentes ondas e assim, fui sintonizando, Voz da América, Rádio Pequim, Rádio Tirana, Berlim Internacional, Rádio Áustria, Central de Moscou, HCJB, Rádio Aparecida, PRB-2, Bandeirantes, Copacabana, Rádio Relógio Federal, Difusora de Londrina, tantas emissoras em 62 metros, 120 metros e 41 e outras. Dali para frente, minha paixão pela ciência política e relações internacionais só aumentou. O rádio me levou a literatura, aos livros e depois ao curso universitário. No caso da Rádio Aparecida, escutei muito o famoso e saudoso Padre Victor Coelho e troquei cartas com Padre Zezinho. “Os novos postulantes querem a universidade não para se doutorarem, no sentido pedante e ocioso da expressão, mas para adquirirem conhecimentos que os qualifiquem para o trabalho futuro, útil, que terão de produzir. Nisto está o essencial do problema: os estudantes compreenderam a essência alienada da universidade brasileira, sua função desambientadora, sua quase nula atuação progressista, sua inadequação às tarefas exigidas pelo país, e a querem precisamente como instrumento para revogar e por termo a toda essa alienação. É neste sentido que se estabelece no presente momento o problema da reforma da universidade: trata-se de transforma-la não na superfície, não na superestrutura pedagógica, no cerimonial didático, nas qualificações jurídicas, no enriquecimento de recursos financeiros, no aprimoramento das instalações materiais levadas às vezes á suntuosidade, pois tudo isto, agora se compreende, por mais útil que seja é secundário. Trata-se de transforma-la na essência, isto é, de faze-la deixar de ser um centro distribuidor de alienação cultural do país, para convertê-la no mais eficaz instrumento de criação de nova consciência estudantil, direta e exclusivamente interessada em modificar a estrutura social antiga e injusta, substituindo-a por outra humana e livre”. Álvaro Vieira Pinto, médico cancerologista e professor de Filosofia da UB (Acir ibid.) Apenas para corroborar: Vai acabar sim, antes no Brasil que em outros países (se bem que sobrarão apenas as chinesas e religiosas, pelo andar da carruagem), só nos resta aproveitar os últimos momentos de "degustação". Estou escutando muita OM, que só não acabou ainda porque a burocracia (felizmente) atrapalhou. Mas quando (e se) acontecer, pelo menos teremos a faixa livre para boas escutas noturnas de outros países e continentes. Em suma, aproveitemos bem o pouco que resta. 73 (Arthur Antonio Raimundo, Recife PE Brasil, Nov 8, ibid.) Acredito que devem estar com alguma dificuldade técnica já que compraram transmissores novos para OC e OT, sempre falo com o pessoal de lá, e me dizem que esse de onda tropical está dando trabalho demais pifa direto. 73 (Ariovaldo Lobrito, P.Pte, 8 Nov, ibid.) Acir, Sua história se confunde com a de milhares de pessoas que seguiram o mesmo caminho que você! O rádio tem esse poder mágico que muitas pessoas desconhecem mesmo o usando! Roquete Pinto dizia que o rádio é o instrumento que educa o analfabeto, pois um jornal das mão de um analfabeto é como uma navalha nas mãos de uma criança, enquanto que o rádio educa sem caderno, sem livros, sem jornais, pois basta ter boa audição e as informações são compreendidas! Um instrumento que educa a quem é cego, ou analfabeto é extraordinário! Pena que nem todos, principalmente os nossos governantes enxergam isso! (Wilson, Itaúna MG, Nov 9, ibid.) Sei que muitos não concordam com um possível fim das emissoras AM em SP, principalmente na região onde trabalho, Tatuapé, Carrão, Radial Leste, esta impossível sintonizar essa banda. Como os demais colegas do hobby eu amo o AM, mas as interferências nas grandes cidades impedem as pessoas ouvirem esse tipo de transmissão, principalmente se estiverem num carro. Além disso tem os aparelhos celulares que possuem apenas a banda de FM e o AM perde audiência. Para a sobrevivência dos radiodifusores não resta outra alternativa a não ser o FM, mas mesmo assim vão perder audiência, porque vão perder alcance de suas emissoras. Sei que nos EUA eles tentam evitar a ida do AM para o FM e criaram uma série de artifícios técnicos, autorizados pela FCC, mas não sabemos se esta dando certo. Ao que tudo indica perderemos o dexismo em AM que é tão bacana. Grande abraço (Cassiano A Macedo, ibid.) Cassiano, A migração de emissoras que operam em ondas médias para o FM pode trazer a oportunidade de captações de emissoras de outros países, por mais que também já existam países que abandonaram as ondas médias por completo. Como a faixa estendida de FM também é ainda mais suscetível a aberturas por determinados mecanismos de propagação que a faixa convencional, mais uma oportunidade para DX pode surgir. Como já repeti inúmeras vezes, quem se adaptar ainda terá muita diversão por muitos anos. O que não dá é abandonar o hobby ou ficar chorando diante de um paciente terminal e sem chance de recuperação que é as ondas curtas. 73 (Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP, Nov 9, ibid.) [originally all-CAPS:] O DRM é a solução para o AM, ou seja digitalizar as ondas medias, mas como nosso governo é só trambique resolveram migrar para FM, dai em São Paulo só vai ser FM quem for para a faixa estendida, detalhe o ruído está presente por culpa também dos radiodifusores que deixou juntar lixo no seu quintal, como lampadas ruidosas que as emissoras colocaram nas suas dependências, redes de energia com vazamentos e geram ruídos, redes telefônicas arcaicas com trafego de internet, mas e ai nenhuma emissora reclamou sinal que concordaram, deixaram o lixo juntar no seu quintal. A migração vai existir se as emissoras aguentarem pagar a nova concessão, detalhe só vai migrar porque foi um trambique do governo com ABERT e suas afiliadas, o HD radio ou IBOC como queiram, que pretendem implantar aqui não funciona em onda media, OC, OT, meia boca em FM, por isso fizeram a migração, sabem quem estava por trás a tell- HD comunicações, pegue o CNPJ e vejam quem são os donos, vão se assustar. 73 (ariovaldo lobrito, ibid.) No radioamadorismo as Ondas Curtas sempre terão diversão garantida! DX todos os dias. 73 (João Ricardo Bergamini, PY4TW, CW ENTHUSIAST http://radioentusiasta.blogspot.com/ ibid.) Cassiano, A migração de emissoras que operam em ondas médias para o FM pode trazer a oportunidade de captações de emissoras de outros países, por mais que também já existam países que abandonaram as ondas médias por completo. Como a faixa estendida de FM também é ainda mais suscetível a aberturas por determinados mecanismos de propagação que a faixa convencional, mais uma oportunidade para DX pode surgir. Como já repeti inúmeras vezes, quem se adaptar ainda terá muita diversão por muitos anos. O que não dá é abandonar o hobby ou ficar chorando diante de um paciente terminal e sem chance de recuperação que é as ondas curtas. 73 (Ivan Dias Jr. - Sorocaba/SP, ibid.) Perfeitamente PY4TW. E as oportunidades de escutas dos rincões mais isolados do planeta serão possíveis por muito tempo ainda por meio dos amadores mundo afora. Infelizmente eu sei do sentimento quanto ao declínio do rádio broadcasting. Sou um entusiasta há muitos e muitos anos e hoje o que vemos é uma caricatura do que realmente foi o rádio em ondas curtas e médias. Além do avanço tecnologico, acelerado nos ultimos dez anos, veio tambem o atual ciclo solar que provocou uma má propagação nunca vista nos ultimos anos. Assim não há como o rádio tradicional se defender. A migração para FM, que atende principalmente os interesses locais, acabará se sobrepondo às ondas médias, e para nós dxistas, o vazio que causará no espectro, não será garantia para podermos ouvir verdadeiros DX nesta banda, sumidos há algum tempo aqui entre nós, o fechamneto das ondas médias é mundial. Quanto às ondas curtas, este processo vem há longo tempo. Com tudo isso, o rádio através da Internet (ai não é mais rádio) certamente dominará, muito, mais que o FM. Isso tudo separou 100% a radioescuta de programas do DX, aqueles que apenas se interessam por programas não dependem do rádio, os DXistas sim. Hoje vejo,, sem dúvida nenhuma, a escuta de estações de amadores continuarão nos possibilitando os verdadeiros DX, uma das únicas formas atualmente. 73 (Samuel Cássio Martins, São Carlos SP, ibid.) Em virtude de problemas técnicos, o Encontro DX não foi ao ar dia 07 de novembro e 2015. Pedimos desculpas aos que são ouvintes do programa. Quanto à frequência que não [sic] está fora do ar, ainda não tenho a posição oficial da emissora. Como somos voluntários e vamos gravar a cada 40 dias, nosso contato com a direção da rádio não é constante. Grato (Cassiano A Macedo, Programa Encontro DX, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 5939.928, Rádio Voz Missionaria, only weak tiny S=4-5 signal, at 0307 UT on Nov 8. 5964.976 BRA Rádio Transmundial from Brazil, weak S=5 signal tonight. Just above tiny weak threshold level. (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 9723.40, Nov 8 at 0049, Radio RB2, very poor S6 in Brazuguese, continues its drift ever-downward from nominal 9725 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11780.097, Nice Brasilian singer group heard on RNB/RNA channel at 0215 UT, only S=8 signal heard tonight (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, always circa 11780.1 when I check it, and still spurless; way to go! (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11934.947, Rádio RB2 at 0221 UT on Nov 8, only threshold level (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, always off to low side when I tune by (gh) ** BRAZIL. BRASIL: 15190.07, ZYE622, Rádio Inconfidência (presumed); 0208-0216+, 7-Nov; M&W announcers in Portuguese with PP pop music. SIO=253 peaks with QSB; 6010 not audible (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [non]. 15325, Nov 6 at 2215, no signal from R. Gazeta, which had been reported reactivated with futebol, by Cassio Secundino Borges Santos Secundino on Nov 3 but without specifying the time heard. Argentina is S9 on 15345.17 at this time, and a JBA S3 signal on 15190.00 may not be R. Inconfidência since it`s not off-frequency altho nothing else scheduled (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. I just caught part of the announcement -- it seems that next Sunday 15th (or Saturday 14th), CBU-690 will be off the air from 0910 to 1210 PST [1710-2010 UT]. I was distracted and could not focus on the whole of it, but think I have it right. Their other signal (88.1) will remain on. FWIW. ef (Eric Flodén, BC, Nov 8, IRCA via DXLD) This is an important event! Not sure on what level, but it would allow us crystal clear reception of whatever else is on 690 kHz. And now for a slight exaggeration: When there is a technical failure of virtually any AM or FM transmitter in B.C. (and likely in any other Province...) resources for our stately CBC are so stripped down and cut to the quick that there are few technicians to respond to any issue. Recently there were some hardware issues in Ucluelet / Tofino with the FM transmitters - they had to send someone from Vancouver B.C. - as one of the few techs that still work for Canada's mother network radio. Issues like the current flakey behaviour of CBC 6160 kHz on the West Coast will likely continue for some time as there are simply no staff resources to look after the trouble (Colin Newell, BC, ibid.) So what would've changed in the Tofino case (has FM even started yet in Ucluelet?)? How has Mother Corp 'serviced' outlier transmitters in the past, say on Vancouver Island before there was even a local originating studio in Victoria? As for 6160, both CKZU and CKZN danced around the frequency for a couple of years, though the Newfoundland transmitter was the worse of the two. When I phoned CBC Vancouver a number of years ago on the subject, I had a tussle to get beyond switchboard, and eventually gave up when having to deal with a PR person who insisted that all shortwave activities were the responsibility of RCI in Montreal. A late-morning off-air has to be a first? No overtime; but, hang on, it's Saturday (Theo Donnelly, BC, ibid.) I wonder if that "time off" is an error. Seems very strange to shut off a transmitter in morning prime time. Worth looking into! (Colin Newell, ibid.) I'm thinking that they'll be doing antenna, and/or transmitter repairs. For this, I'm sure they'd prefer daylight hours, so with 690 secondary to 88.1 (remember, the plan had been to close 690 completely, when they brought 88.1 on), I don't think it's such a big deal to the CBC brass. 73, (Walt Salmaniw, BC, ibid.) ** CANADA. Discussion of all-traffic stations on 730: see USA: 1550 KBUD Denver thread ** CANADA. The CBC got approval to add an FM repeater in Sydney, NS for CBI 1140. It is intended to address reception issues in downtown Sydney, but will not replace the AM station. Interestingly, the CRTC did grant the CBC approval to move CBI to the FM dial back in 2007, but it never happened (Nigel Pimblett, AB, November CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** CANADA. Re: New Log -- CBI 1140 Sydney NS: CBI is a very nice achievement from Albany NY, congrats! 1140, CBI runs 10 kW omni by day, cardioid facing east by night. Most nights they are pretty weak and messy here in PEI, not very far away at all in DX terms. Occasionally they are strong at night - either due to pattern change issues or some sort of skywave "foldback"; due to so much power being directed over salt water. [please explain this phenomenon further -gh] 1140, CBI was scheduled to be flipped to FM, but after receiving CRTC approval the CBC got cold feet due to the CJFX effect [a station flipping from AM to FM and losing much of its coverage in an area of rugged terrain, and also losing audience and revenue]. Duplicating the 1140 coverage via FM would have been tough in rural Cape Breton, a land of many hills and valleys. While ad revenue is not an issue for the CBC, audience and coverage is. IIRC, 1140 CBI runs oversized towers, e.g. taller than 90 degrees. Same goes tower wise for 1270 CJCB, also 10 kW omni by day, east facing cardioid by night. CJCB also has a very poor signal here most nights, but occasionally it`s very good. Interestingly, when CJCB is good CBI is also good, making me strongly suspect that there are no pattern issues and its just skywave "foldback". So once again, a very nice catch for your QTH, and congrats! (Phil Rafuse, VY2PR, Stratford PE Canada, Nov 5, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. 1610, Nov 10 at 0140 UT, ads in Italian including one for cheeses, with 905 area code. My phone book doesn`t list it, but internet check leads right to S Ontario, Mississauga, Niagara Falls, etc., new? Getting this instead of Anguilla, i.e. CHHA Toronto, Voces Latinas. This page has a program schedule in embedded pdf format: http://chha1610am.ca/programming/ As before, the language I`m hearing does not match up with what is shown: Mondays at 8-9 pm ET [01-02 UT Tue], `A Drink of Water [ENG]`. They do allegedly have Italian elsewhen: `Bella Italia` at 11 pm- midnight M-F [04-05 UT Tue-Sat] and 9-10 pm Sunday [UT Mon 02-03] (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 1710, CHIM-FM - Timmons, Ontario (presumed) - 2253 UT 10/24/2015 - With Christian pop music and unintelligible modulation that I believe to actually be FM. Audio is terrible in AM mode, but switching to FM during good signal peaks actually produced decent and rich audio during the music selections. ID's as "CHIM-FM 92.7", best on North D-KAZ, relog (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD) ** CANADA. IBOC in Canada? Yes, it’s true. Corus has announced it is the first multi-market radio operator to offer HD Radio (to use its brand name) in Canada. Listeners with access to HD Radio technology can tune into CFMJ (AM 640 from Toronto) under Hamilton’s 95.3 CING-FM (Fresh Radio) on sub-channel 95.3 HD2. It will be interesting to see if Corus expands this into other markets where it operates (Nigel Pimblett, AB, November CIDX Messenger via DXLD) See also DIGITAL: DTV ** CHINA. 9860, 29/10 1900-1905, F I R E D R A K E; penetrating flute and drums music, 44333, USSD (Uwe Sennewald, RX: Tecsun S 2000 with Grahn GS3-SE+ML 2, vy´s 73 from Germany, via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) 7470, Firedragon (music jamming) and CNR1 jamming (// 6125), at 1243, on Nov 11; strong FD, with weaker CNR1; against Radio Free Asia (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 4940, Voice of Strait, 1500-1530, Nov 7 (Saturday). They continue with their Sat. only English program "Focus on China"; started with pop song in English; only two news items (China/Taiwan summit in Singapore & the roll out of the new C919 aircraft that has been designed and manufactured in China); ID: "You are now listening to Focus on China, Voice of Strait Broadcast Station"; 1530 ID "This is the Voice of Taiwan Strait News Radio"; very readable; my audio at https://app.box.com/s/m21vvz3z5khe293peb5oic9imkl3p6bx (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 5000 kHz. BPM, China time station, 2157-2207, heard with a marker each second, and a longer one before each 10th second; a higher-pitch beep on the minute. ID in Morse Code, repeated several time in the minute before the TOH. CNR-1 (which is apparently here to jam the listed Taiwan) was good on 5010 at the same time (Art Delibert, Maryland, 11/8/15, N. Bethesda, RACAL 6217E, Pennant Antenna facing east (more or less) with DX Engineering pre-amp, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** CHINA. 6035, PBS Yunnan noted Nov 4, at 1155 & 1355, with former English ID; clear “This is the Voice of Shangri-La, brought to you by Yunnan Radio,” instead of the recently heard "Yunnan Radio and Television International, The Voice of Shangri-la"; actually seems like no English ID at ToH (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CNR2 returned to 6155, on Nov 6, after being off the air for a while. (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 7215, China Radio International – both Jinhua and X’ian. CRI Japanese from Jinhua dominates with female announcer. CRI in Mandarin under with male then female announcer. Overall a mess. Why interfere with yourself? That must be a mess in Asia too (Mark Taylor, Madison, Wisconsin, Perseus, SDRPlay, Eton e1, Grunding Satellit 800, Sangean 909X w/ clear mod, Tecsun PL 660 and various other portables; 40 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, Flextenna NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Oops, time and date missing; per Aoki must be 1300-1357 UT. Don`t knock it: one less frequency-hour occupied by the ChiCom. Azimuths are widely divergent, 190 and 59 degrees, so in theory could share, and possibly each overrides the other in target areas (gh, DXLD) ** CHINA [non]. [re 15-44:] CHINA'S `SOFT' POWER EXPOSED --- MORE THAN A DOZEN U.S. RADIO STATIONS TURN OUT TO BE BEIJING MOUTHPIECES. The G&E Studio office in West Covina, Calif. Photo: Reuters By L. Gordon Crovitz Nov. 8, 2015 4:58 p.m. ET [caption] Some American radio listeners might have been surprised last year to hear a news account explaining how pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong "failed without the support of the people of Hong Kong." In fact, a large percentage of local residents joined the demonstrations until they were forcibly suppressed under orders from Beijing. Listeners would have been less surprised if the stations had disclosed that the communist government in Beijing controls their content. More than a dozen stations across the U.S. are among a total of 33 globally that operate covertly, with Beijing hiding behind front men. Last week it came to light that Beijing's state-run China Radio International secretly owns 60% of a U.S. company, G&E Studio, which leases stations and airtime in Washington, Philadelphia, Boston and San Francisco, among other cities. Beijing uses similar subterfuges in Europe and Australia. China went to great lengths to hide its role. Reuters broke the story after deploying 39 reporters to investigate in 26 countries, including the review of "scores of regulatory, zoning, property, tax, immigration and corporate records, including radio station purchase contracts and lease agreements." Beijing's involvement was discovered via a footnote in a Federal Communications Commission filing on behalf of a separate company also affiliated with James Su, a Shanghai-born naturalized U.S. citizen, whom Reuters exposed as Beijing's minority partner in its American radio operations. The U.S. government apparently didn't suspect a thing, but the FCC and Justice Department have both now opened investigations. Federal law bars foreign governments from holding radio licenses or owning stations and requires agents for foreign countries to disclose their roles. These stations routinely air pro-Beijing propaganda. A report on Beijing-controlled WCRW in Washington last month on the cyber hack of the personnel records of more than 20 million federal employees failed to mention that U.S. officials blame Beijing. Another report, on talks between U.S. and Chinese naval officers about artificial islands Beijing built in the South China Sea to narrow international sea lanes, blamed "the tension the U.S. created this week." Beijing's ability to operate secretly in the highly regulated broadcasting industry may be surprising, but its officials are open about their ambition to spread propaganda. President Xi Jinping last year urged: "We should increase China's soft power, give a good Chinese narrative and better communicate China's message to the world." The head of China Radio International boasts of a "borrowed boat" strategy of using existing media outlets in foreign countries to spread Beijing's party line. Laws prohibiting foreign control apply only to traditional broadcasting. Foreign-owned cable and satellite channels -- China's CCTV, Russia's RT and Qatar's Al Jazeera -- are perfectly legal. The U.S. should mandate transparency by requiring these channels to make announcements every 15 minutes disclosing, "This programming is controlled by the government of China/Russia/Qatar." Americans would at least be on notice that they're getting foreign propaganda billed as news (WSJ via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5910.061, Alcaraván Radio, sermon prayer in Spanish language, no music program, long sermon on orden matter! S=6-7 in Canada [What is ``orden matter``? -- gh] 6009.946 - PROBABLY -, not \\ 5910v kHz, S=7 signal, music group performing at 0320 UT on Nov 8, probably La Voz de tu Conciencia, Lomalinda. Frequency not stable hopping some Hertz up and down again. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Manuel Mendez comment: ``I think 6010.1 or 6010.2 kHz is LVTC and 6009.94 kHz is Rádio Inconfidência Brazil. Two days ago Inconfidência heard well at 0720 UT, and I can't pick up LVTC at this time but Inconfidência signal deteriorated later, and at 0800 LVTC appears strong and Inconfidência very weak`` (wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Nov 8 via DXLD) 5010.065 approx., Nov 11 at 0515, ID for La Voz de tu Conciencia immediately followed by Alcaraván Radio, 1530. One is a subsidiary of the other? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 1020, Radio Artemisa, 2359 UT 10/8/2015 - Heard over Radio Reloj and a weakened KDKA with "Radio Artemisa" ID by YL during mild AU CX [auroral conditions], on South D-KAZ, new. 1110, Radio Angulo, 0000 UT 10/8/2015 - Over WBT when "Radio Angulo" ID was given with mentions of Cuba over musical sound effects. Heard during mild AU CX on South D-KAZ, new (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD) Note: this name is not ángulo (gh, DXLD) ** CUBA. 6005 & 6055, Nov 5 at 0706, pulse jamming spurs peaking around here against nothing much, roughly 25 kHz above and below pileup on 6030; the upper one is stronger. 11910-11990, Nov 6 at 1405, DentroCuban Jamming Command not only attacks 11930 Radio Martí with a wall-of-noise, but allows it to splatter spuriously far beyond the `necessary` frequency. It`s particularly heavy around 11990. The bane of shortwave, and don`t give RHC a pass for it when their own signals, such as 11950 in between, remain clear of any jamming. The mess on 11930 also degrades one of our few chances to hear R. Japan in English, 11925 via Palau. 15370, Nov 6 at 1359, RHC is already on here with canned announcement that 9850 and 9550 are closing, and 15370 is opening. Modulation on 15370 is breaking up. Then the live announcer, still well before 1400, claims it`s ``exactamente las 9 de la mañana``! There`s nothing wrong with approx. timechex within a minute, but there is something wrong when you repeatedly claim them to be ``exact``. Furthermore, 9550 is *not* going off at 1400, still on at 1440 check. RHC has failed to make its announcements accurate during the Two Sesquiweeks of Confusion until their own B-15 sked kicks in on Nov 15; but don`t count on them to be correct then, either (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9535, Radio Habana Cuba; 0405, 7-Nov; Spanish music; SIO=454 and putting out +/- 70 kHz spurs on 9465 & 9605. 13740, Radio Habana Cuba; 0218, 7-Nov; Spanish at S10 on 13740, putting out +/- 115 kHz spurs on 13855 & 13625 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Congrats! Haven`t noted those, myself (gh) 13605, Nov 8 at 1434, residual pulse jamming against nothing, as the entire DentroCuban Jamming Command network has not yet caught on that Martí has moved to 13820; or, just in case it should move back, which it won`t. Meanwhile, any otherstation contemplating using 13605 would be well-advised not to, forevermore. 5040, Nov 11 at 0512, RHC in English this hour as well as 06-07; at least tonight as schedules conflict about whether 5040 is in Spanish or English at 05-06. 9535 & 9710, Nov 10 at 0632, RHC Spanish is still on past normal sign- off, both undermodulated; asleep at the switch? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also RADIO PHILATELY below ** CUBA [and non]. 7210-LSB, Nov 10 at 0125, raucous music in Spanish is S9, jamming N1NR and his anti-Castro net. 0126 switch to different weaker music, from another CO station, also mixed with broadcast- intoned talk. Thought it might be relay of Rebelde, but not // 5025, so could be any other Cuban program. More music soon grows to same level as before. BTW, Arnie, music is prohibited on ham radio, not to mention deliberate interference. 0158 recheck, no music at the moment but probably N1NR talking (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EAST TURKISTAN. 4850, PBS Xinjiang, 1212, Nov 3. First day I have heard their seasonal change back to this frequency; please do not think this is AIR Kohima (through Nov 5, it`s not). Also 4980 & 5060 are again being heard (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EGYPT. Radio Cairo 9800 kHz: QSL card received in 53 days for e- mail report to station. I sent to 4 e-mail addresses, and I'm sorry that I don't know which resulted in the QSL. Addresses sent to were: englisheuropeservice@gmail.com freqmeg@yahoo.com enginfo@ertu.org radioinfo@ertu.org Sender`s address on envelope is Propagation Department, P.O. Box 1186, Cairo 11511. The face side of the QSL features an un-captioned museum exhibit of a man holding a walking cane (Alan Roe, UK, November CIDX Messenger via DXLD) That is awesome, Alan. Nice to see Radio Cairo stills sends QSL cards out even if the audio needs some work (Mick Delmage, QSL ed., November CIDX Messenger via DXLD) 9900, R Cairo with OM in English reading what must have been news and with the usual mush-mouth modulation making it impossible to really understand. WHY do they bother? WHAT will it take to get them to fix it? WHEN will it happen? WHO should tell them, and WHERE will Hell first freeze over when that fix does happen? (I'm practicing my journalism skills!) Clear(ish) "R Cairo" ID by OM amidst the mush at 2147. Music and more mushmouth talk -- every once in a while you could catch an English word or two word phrase, but not listenable. 44+541+ 2135-2150 31/Oct (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov 6 via DXLD) 9900, Radio Cairo; 2203, 1-Nov; English, "Radio Cairo Presents" into historical feature. SIO=3+33- with buzz, SSB no help (Harold Frodge, MI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9900 & 9800, Nov 6 at 2229, no signals from R. Cairo English to Europe, on the usual or alternate frequency. Don`t think that propagation is that bad, so off? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. Radio Waves International 32ND Birthday continue, just update website for complete schedule visit http://www.wrwi.fr Good DXs, good weekend, the terrible twins, Peter HILLS & Philippe (via Robert Scaglione, Sicily, Nov 6, bclnews.it yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) Viz., as of Nov 10, all Sundays: RADIO CHANNEL 292 8th of November: 0700-0800 UT on 6070 8th of November: 1100-1200 UT on 6070 & MV BALTIC RADIO 8th of November: 1000-1100 UT on 7265 & 1100-1200 UT on 9485 15th of November: 1000-1100 UT on 7265 & 1100-1200 UT on 9485 22th of November: 1000-1100 UT on 7265 & 1100-1200 UT on 9485 29th of November: 1000-1100 UT on 7265 & 1100-1200 UT on 9485 ----------------------- + Our own TXs on 48 or 41 meters bands. During November‘s weekend stay tune & send your reports to us.`` (via gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005.00, Nov 11 at 0511, JBA carrier, suspecting, RNGE, Bata (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND [and non]. RUSSIAN TROLL ARMY TARGETING ONE OF OUR OWN Wednesday, November 11, 2015 6:15 AM While reading some articles on FB tonight, I focused on an article about a young journalist employed by YLE in Finland, and how she was targeted by despicable trolls who have done everything to discredit her and YLE. What caught my eye, was that one of our own, Mika Makelainen, has also been targeted. Hits close to home. A sickening turn of events. http://kioski.yle.fi/omat/my-year-as-a-pro-russia-troll-magnet (Walt Salmaniw, Victoria, BC dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** FRANCE. Via C. GHIBAUDO: ’alsacien sur France Bleu? A la poubelle! ARTICOLO PUBBLICATO DA UNA AGENZIA DI STAMPA LOCALE DI STRASBURGO IN FRANCIA PER PROTESTARE CONTRO LA PROSSIMA DISATTIVAZIONE DEL TRASMETTITORE DI RADIO FRANCE BLEU ALSAZIA OPERANTE SULLE ONDE MEDIE 1278 CHE AVVERRA A FINE ANNO. DI FATTO TAGLIERA DIFFUSIONE DELLA PROGRAMMAZIONE IN LINGUA ALSAZIANA DALLE ONDE RADIO. RINGRAZIO CHRISTIAN GHIBAUDO PER LA SEGNALAZIONE. http://hewwemi.net/alsacien-sur-france-bleu-a-la-poubelle/ [dustbin] A l’époque, Adrien Zeller s’érige contre cette façon de faire, mais il est vite calmé par les arguments de Paris : Vous aurez plus d’heures de diffusion en ondes moyennes ! Mais à quoi sert l’augmentation de la diffusion sur un émetteur désuet, à des horaires sans audience et dont Paris ne veut pas ? Et pour ce qui est de capter la chaîne, on te souhaite bonne chance camarade dialectophone. A Strasbourg par exemple, c’est quasiment impossible ! Et bien entendu, aucun des directeurs qui se succèdent depuis 1992 n’a l’idée de sortir le dialecte de son ghetto, de le laisser se développer sur une antenne digne de ce nom en lui accordant ce à quoi il a droit : vivre dignement en étant accessible ! Le dégueulis germanique des Alsaciens heurte leurs oreilles. L’envie de valoriser les cultures alémaniques et franciques ne les effleure pas : ils s’occupent de l’antenne française en FM, sans faire de vagues, en attendant d’être mutés ailleurs, avec si possible une promotion à la clé. Le résultat? Depuis 1992, les auditeurs francophones ont été habitués à une antenne expurgée de langue alsacienne, et depuis 3 ans, nous avons tout juste droit à quelques mots d’alsacien chaque jour sur France Bleu Alsace (la francophone exclusive). Et voilà comment ça se passe: la première minute de chaque heure d’animation, après les infos et le bulletin météo (à 7h05, 8h05, 9h05, 10h05 et 11h05), l’animateur FM est en duplex avec l’animateur ondes moyennes pour que celui-ci annonce une manifestation liée à l’Alsace, en disant quelques phrases, en français bien sûr, et quelques mots en alsacien, awer Achtung! surtout pas une phrase complète, car cette langue est une insulte à l’oreille française. Il doit s’en tenir à quelques mots qui servent d’alibi à cette politique de l’édredon: Vous le voyez bien qu’on fait la promotion du dialecte, il passe même en FM! http://hewwemi.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/FBElsass.jpeg Et pourtant, de la part d’un Etat qui affirme vouloir promouvoir les langues régionales, on est en droit d’attendre une radio de service public qui s’engage pour l’alsacien, pour l’allemand et qui se tourne vers les jeunes! Au lieu de ça, Radio France met l’alsacien sur l’émetteur historique de Radio Strasbourg, créé avant guerre, qui émet en ondes moyennes, 1278 kilohertz ou 235 mètres, en sachant parfaitement qu’ainsi, la langue se retrouve sur une voie de garage et que cette radio fantôme sera un bon alibi pour les politiques : Vous le voyez bien qu’on fait la promotion du dialecte, il a une station pour lui tout seul! Il aurait été facile pour Radio France d’obtenir une longueur d’onde en FM pour l’alsacien, les radios associatives y arrivaient plutôt aisément. Ces longueurs d’ondes sont redistribuées tous les trois ans par le CSA, et lorsque les radios dialectales privées (RTA, Radio 67 entre autres) ont successivement fermé dans les années 90, Radio France loupait à chaque fois volontairement le coche qui leur aurait permis de récupérer les auditeurs en mal de dialecte. Ceux-ci n’ont plus guère que Radio Dreieckland pour écouter la langue de leur région et de leurs racines avec le confort d’écoute de la FM. Difficile, non, impossible de croire que la radio de service public ait pu échouer à chaque fois: il s’agit là d’une volonté délibérée de ne pas aboutir, car vu de Paris, l’alsacien doit crever, point barre. Et ce qui devait arriver arrive! Lors de la longue grève du printemps 2015, on découvre brutalement le déficit monstre du groupe Radio France. A se demander comment on a pu le cacher toutes ces années! Une des mesures qu’annonce le PDG, Matthieu Gallet – celui qui, a peine arrivé de l’INA, a fait refaire à coût exorbitant son bureau pourtant fraîchement restauré de la Maison ronde – consiste à supprimer des émetteurs en ondes moyennes. Il faut économiser. Et c’est qui qui passe à la trappe ? Bravo, t’as deviné, c’est pour le 1er janvier. Tout cela est parfaitement normal, depuis Louis XIV, nous sommes là pour payer les nouveaux bureaux, les limousines, les beuveries et les putes des chefs à Paris. Mais attention, hein! On n’est pas un peuple! On l’a jamais été ! Le lupanar français est indivisible! Paris justifie ainsi la suppression: l’émetteur des ondes moyennes, qui est à Sélestat, revient plus cher que celui de la FM. On parle d’un coût de 13 millions d’euros pour les antennes FM et OM. Sur un an ou sur plusieurs années ? Personne n’a pu vérifier ces chiffres auprès de Télé Diffusion de France. Et puis, si l’émetteur des ondes moyennes coûte si cher, pourquoi l’avoir payé pendant 23 ans? Pourquoi la direction n’a-t-elle pas trouvé d’émetteur en FM, moins cher et valorisant à tous points de vue, pour France Bleu Elsass? Pendant 23 ans, elle a donc sciemment payé plus cher ce qu’elle savait être un tombeau herzien pour le dialecte! http://hewwemi.net/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/7.jpg Paris fait miroiter que France Bleu Elsass deviendra la première webradio du groupe Radio France, vaste fumisterie! Toutes les radios de Radio France, donc également les 45 du réseau France Bleu, sont des webradios depuis plusieurs années, y compris France Bleu Elsass! Radio France justifie la suppression de cette antenne en raison de sa désuétude. Mais à qui la faute si ce n’est à Radio France elle-même, qui a mis ce système en place? Il est parfaitement dégueulasse de priver d’écoute les auditeurs de France Bleu Elsass qui, vu leur âge, ne sont pas versés dans le numérique. Les fringants directeurs s’exalteront: on forme le public à la modernité! Une nouvelle appli permet d’écouter France Bleu Elsass sur smartphone! Sauf que les jeunes, abandonnés par Radio France depuis 1992, ne se tourneront pas vers la webradio Elsass, et ce sont donc les derniers Mohicans, ceux qui s’accrochent aux derniers lambeaux de langue maternelle sur leur vieille radio à qui on crache à la gueule. Belle leçon de démocratie française. Car il faut savoir que rien n’a été fait pour la promotion de France Bleu Elsass. La chaîne n’a été associée à aucune des campagnes publicitaires menées régulièrement pour France Bleu Alsace. Sa longueur d’ondes n’est jamais apparue – de 1992 à 2015 ! – sur aucun flanc de bus lorsque France Bleu Alsace y étalait ses longueurs d’onde en blanc et bleu. Pire: on n’a aucune idée à Radio France du nombre de personnes qui écoutent les ondes moyennes. Aucun sondage n’a jamais été réalisé pour France Bleu Elsass, alors que France Bleu Alsace en achète plusieurs fois l’an! Jean-Pierre Cluzel, PDG de Radio France de 2004 à 2009, avait dépêché un observateur qui devait l’informer sur l’état de la langue régionale. On n’a jamais connu son compte-rendu. Mais certains se souviennent avec effroi du passage en 1992 d’une agente de Radio France qui avait pour mission de transmettre un rapport sur la langue alsacienne: ce rapport concluait que les Alsaciens avaient honte de leur langue et que le mieux était de la supprimer des programmes radio! Paris laisse aussi miroiter l’arrivée de la RNT (radio numérique terrestre), mais pour laquelle rien n’est sûr, et surtout pas que Strasbourg sera ville expérimentale si cela devait se faire. Quand? Aucune date n’a été fixée ni même avancée. Et si la RNT devait arriver, et si elle était la panacée, n’eut-il pas mieux valu attendre son arrivée effective avant de supprimer l’émetteur de France Bleu Elsass? Car c’est certain: la radio va sauter, mais Radio France ne communique pas sur le sujet, elle t’emballe ça façon faux derches, on va pas vous l’annoncer tout de suite bande de cons d’Alsaciens, faut d’abord que vous alliez sagement voter pour les partis nationaux les 6 et 13 décembre prochains (PS, Républicains, FN, extrême-ceci, ultra-cela, du moment que leur siège est à Paris). Radio France pousse le cynisme jusqu’à fêter le 11 novembre les 85 ans de la radio régionale, sans préciser que 6 semaines plus tard, l’antenne sera supprimée! Mon enquête ne m’a pas permis de déterminer si le budget de la fête prévoyait un poste «vaseline pour anciens auditeurs». En attendant, à compter du 1er janvier, plus besoin de sondage: on saura minute par minute, clic après clic, combien d’Alsaciens écoutent la webradio France Bleu Elsass. Et gare à vos fesses si les chiffres ne sont pas bons, j’entends déjà la complainte des Tartuffes: On a fait tout ce qu’on a pu pour l’alsacien, mais vous voyez bien que ça n’intéresse plus personne !Et hop! A la trappe, la langue de merde. Quant aux animateurs dialectophones, ils passeront au français ou iront bouffer aux restos du cœur. Finalement, il faut peut-être se réjouir de cette nouvelle félonie du pouvoir français. A force de se comporter ainsi, il renforce et justifie l’émergence d’un véritable mouvement séparatiste alsacien. Car de plus en plus de compatriotes ouvrent les yeux, font le bilan, et se rendent à l’évidence: que l’Alsace devienne un canton suisse, un Land allemand, ou qu’elle arrache son indépendance, aucune de ces trois solutions ne peut être pire que sa situation actuelle. --- Joseph Schmittbiel / 20 octobre 2015 (via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) ** FRANCE. Re: Medium wave closures in France --- As far as I know, 1467 TWR Roumoules will remain active (Bruce Conti, NH, Oct 31, mwdx yg via DXLD) ** GERMANY [non]. While the English press release does not mention short wave, the German press release does. "Crime Fighters": DW's new audio crime thriller for young Africans Four young detective teams are the protagonists of "Crime Fighters." DW's gripping new series of radio dramas tackles challenges and perils faced by African youths. The plays address listeners in five languages. Each team's story has eight ten-minute episodes during which the juvenile investigators try to clear up murders and drug fraud, hunt down professional landgrabbers and big-scale poachers. One of the dramas also deals with terrorist recruiting strategies and suicide attacks. The stories aim to examine the perils and challenges young listeners face in their everyday lives and to offer them encouragement. "This format of crime stories allows us to address controversial news and issues and to turn them into exciting and educational fiction," says Claus Stäcker, DW's head of African programming, adding, "'Crime Fighters' is educational radio entertainment." All of the authors are African. Pinado Abdu works on DW's Haussa team and writes about the terror of Boko Haram troops in Northern Nigeria on a daily basis. US-Kenyan crime writer Mukoma wa Ngugi contributed the case "Drugs to Cure, Drugs to Kill." Helon Habila from Nigeria and Andrew Brown from South Africa supported DW's editorial team as script advisors. Audio samples provided to DW partner stations in Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria received unanimously positive responses, leading DW to record "Crime Fighters" in five languages – English, French, Portuguese, Haussa, and Kiswahili. The production with local actors took place in Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Tanzania and Mozambique. Only the planned Amharic production was prevented by Ethiopian authorities. Actress Wanjiku Mwaurah from Kenya stresses the importance of the plays for youths: "'Crime Fighters' addresses the huge challenges young women and young men in particular are facing in our countries." "Crime Fighters" is broadcast by DW - online and on the AfricaLink podcast - as well as by more than 250 FM partner stations throughout Africa. The series will also feature prominently on DW's social media platforms. DW RECOMMENDS Crime Fighters Date 04.11.2015 Author Vera Tellmann Permalink "Crime Fighters": DW's new audio crime thriller for young Africans | Press Releases | DW.COM | 04.11.2015 Four young detective teams are the protagonists of "Crime Fighters." DW's gripping new series of radio dramas tackles challenges and perils faced by African youths.... http://www.dw.com/en/top-stories/crime-fighters/s-32392 http://dw.com/p/1GzHy (via Hansjoerg Biener, Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** GERMANY. B15 schedule for Deutsche Welle in English 0400-0500 Daily Af 9800-me 11800-md 0500-0600 Daily Af 7425-me 9800-me 15275-md 0700-0800 Daily Af 15275-me 17800-dh (HFCC via Nov BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) Madagascar, Meyerton, Dhabayya ** GERMANY. ALEMANIA. 9560, DPO7, Seewetterbericht, Kall-Krekei, 1220- 1223, escuchada el 8 de noviembre de 2015 en alemán, mala señal aunque se intulle emisión con comentarios por un hombre, SINPO 14421 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, antena hilo de 10 metros, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Add to the schedule of MB in B-15: I listened to the programs in English "Day of Decision Ministries" by pastor Paul Groman on 1st & on 8th November 2015 (on Sundays) on 5980 kHz from 0445 to 0515 by BVB Middle East Services & via MB transmitter in Nauen, Germany - it is after program in Arabic maybe from Dardasha Ministries (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Special EDXC Broadcast 5-7 December: Rhein Mein Radio Club will be broadcasting on shortwave about EDXC - Conference at St. Petersburg. Special QSL-Card for reception reports to RMRC mail@rmrc.de or by post Rhein-Main-Radio-Club e.V., Postfach 700849, 60558 Frankfurt, Germany. via Lithuania: 5 December 0800-0900 on 11690 to Asia (Japan) in English 5 December 0900-1000 on 11690 to Russia in Russian via WRMI, USA: 5 December at 2200-2300 on 11580 may be audible in Europe 6 December at 0100-0200 on 11580 may be audible in Europe 6 December at 2300-0000 on 5850 to North America 6 December at 0500-0600 on 9955 to Caribbean and Latin America 7 December at 2100-2200 on 7570 to North America. This may also be audible in Europe. 7 December at 2100-2200 on 15770 to Europe and North America. (Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Fri-Sat-Sun, to be clear (gh) ** GREECE. Greek pirate and others from remote Calabria and Greek posts --- Strongest Greek pirate, 1619.831 kHz at 0040 UT on Nov 11, \\ harmonic 3239.661 kHz (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. And now at 0645 UT Nov 5, V of Greece is totally in the clear, no QRM either side, far away adjacent broadcaster 9400 Grigoriopol Maiac / Kudrdistane program, and other side 9440 kHz BBC Ascension Hausa. So I enjoyed the songs of amore light music singer from Athens, GREAT MUSIC! Fingerprint 9420.005 kHz this morning, in Germany observed powerful signal of S=9+25dB or -47dBm strength. 73 wolfy (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Helliniki Radiophonia --- Good signal this evening on 9420 kHz at 2158 UT here in New Brunswick using just the whip antenna on a Tecsun PL- 880 receiver with pleasant Greek music. Nothing heard on 9935 kHz. Time check, ID and IS a little late, but within the first minute after 2200 (Richard Langley, Nov 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE [non]. Small Planet Productions | AGORA international screenings in November - Scroll down for the greek version | The international tour of AGORÁ continues with screenings in the UK, Germany, Poland and Guatemala during November. Online distribution through Vimeo On Demand continues while the collector’s AGORA DVD Box Set including the original soundtrack is coming soon! AT THE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL MEMORIA VERDAD JUSTICIA IN GUATEMALA --- AGORÁ travelled to Latin America to participate in the 7th International Film Festival Memoria Verdad Justicia in Guatemala. The film was screened on Thursday, November 5 at 18:30 at Cine Lux in Guatemala City. AT LEICESTER DOCFILM FESTIVAL --- Leicester Docfilm Festival in association with the Media & Democracy Research Group, University of Leicester organizes a screening of AGORÁ in the context of the Documentary Media Month hosted at the Documentary Media Centre in Leicester. The screening of AGORÁ is scheduled on Friday, November 20 at 18:00 and will be followed by a Q&A session via Skype with film director Yorgos Avgeropoulos. AT MUNICH GREEK FILM WEEK --- AGORÁ will screen at the 29th Munich Greek Film Week (November 12-22). This year’s event will showcase 13 recent Greek fiction and documentary feature films as well a selection of short films. AGORÁ will screen on Sunday November 22 at 17:00 at the Gasteig Cultural Centre in Munich. AT HUMANDOC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL IN WARSAW --- AGORÁ has been selected to participate in the International Competition of HumanDoc International Film Festival (November 20-22) in Warsaw. This year’s festival will present 17 films recently produced in 31 countries all over the world. AGORÁ will screen on Sunday, November 22 at 12:30 at Kinoteka. WATCH AGORA ON VOD --- While the film’s international tour continues, AGORÁ is also available worldwide through online streaming at Vimeo On Demand in five languages: Greek, English, French, German and Spanish. Watch it at http://agora.smallplanet.gr MORE --- Visit the film’s official website: http://www.agorathedoc.com Facebook: facebook.com/agorathedoc Twitter: twitter.com/agorathedoc (Small Planet Productions, Nov 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GUYANA. 3290, Voice of Guyana; 2346-0006+, 6/7-Nov; Oldies, standards such as; Andy Williams' Butterfly, Doris Day's Que Será Será, Elvis' Jailhouse Rock, Jambalaya, Mills Bros?, Nat King Cole; 0000+ W in English mentioned FM96? into what sounded like a community calendar & ID. Poor with copiable peaks (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAWAII. HAWAIIAN REPORT --- My wife, DX-398 and I spent the last two weeks in Kailua - Kona on the west coast of the Big Island. All Hawaiian AM stations were audible. Comments: 1. KRTR-650 was off the air from our arrival 10/26 through 11/5. It was noted back on with Filipino programming on 11/6. 2. KEWE-1240 was the weakest of all Hawaiian stations 10/26-11/5. On 11/6 it was noted at good level, comparable to other Maui stations. I believe I read in someone?s earlier post that they were temporarily operating at reduced power. My guess is that they got the 5 kW rig operational. Format is Christian Contemporary. IDs are frequent. 3. KHBC-1060 Hilo is off the air. Confirmed during our visit to Hilo. 4. KKON-790 was the only local. It carries ESPN and usually has a hum on its signal. 5. KHNR-690 is the strongest signal out of Honolulu. Format is talk. Promotes itself as ?The Answer.? 6. KPHI-1130 was one with which I had no familiarity. Filipino programming with frequent mention of its 96.7 repeater. Not a very potent signal. I do not see it cutting through CKWX and KRDU with any regularity. As soon as I find my notes, I will report on what I heard outside of the Islands (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, Nov 8, IRCA via DXLD) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1250-1405, Nov 6. Special live broadcast to mark the silver jubilee of the North Eastern Service of All India Radio, Shillong; mostly in English; series of speeches, most important one by the chief guest, Meghalaya Governor, V. Shanmuganathan, who had to leave during the celebrations, so as he left the National Anthem was sung; then continued with cultural performances by groups from the Northeast (music, dance, etc.); many AIR promos; thanked listeners, "who made it all possible." Very enjoyable programming!! The whole celebration will be rebroadcast again at 9PM IST (1530 UT) over the North Eastern Service; many IDs; “North Eastern Service of All India Radio broadcasting from Shillong on shortwave 60.36 meters, corresponding to 4,970 kHz. and an additional FM 100.1 MHz” (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) There is a weak signal, not above the noise level, on 4970 at tune in 1540 UT that I assume is AIR Shillong - nothing else listed on this frequency. The signal appears to be improving slightly, and a man`s voice is heard, but no music as yet at 1550. Thanks for the information, Ron (Noel Green, ibid.) Hi Noel, News story at: North Eastern Service of All India Radio completes 25 years, celebrations tomorrow http://www.radioandmusic.com/biz/radio/air/151105-north-eastern-service-all-india-radio-completes-25-years (Ron, ibid.) Thanks Ron, and very interesting. You certainly seem to find these special celebrations as they take place! Unfortunately, 4970 'took a dive' soon after 1600 UT, and it hasn't reappeared. 73 from (Noel Green, England, ibid.) Hi Noel, Sorry you were not able to enjoy Shillong as I did today. Reception was decent enough to enjoy their programming. AIR Shillong audio - https://app.box.com/s/88ib50rcejgkjz7zyw8bdi063nj86a69 (Ron Howard, ibid.) 4970.014, AIR Shillong, 0117 UT, only S=6. 4895.994 (!!) very odd frequency, maybe keyboard glitch by engineer? AIR Kurseong, Hindi, S=5 weak (Wolfgang Bueschel, fingerprints, quick log in Colombo CLN on Victor's remote SDR unit, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe significant to some, but I have skipped several others within 10 Hz of nominal (gh, DXLD) ** INDIA. All India Radio has a new special weekly series (started on 31 October) called "Stumped" and is all about cricket and is a 24 part series. It's an AIR production in collaboration with the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. The broadcast times are Saturday 1350, 1910, 2130 and Sunday 0005 UT. I don't follow cricket myself, but I know many do so hopefully some will find this of interest (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, Nov 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) That must be the one I heard on AIR with the ABC/BBC joint produxion credit (gh) Its also on the BBC WS, not sure if it`s on shortwave as this page http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02gsrmh states: EXCEPT EAST ASIA, EUROPE AND THE MIDDLE EAST, WEST AND CENTRAL AFRICA. So perhaps only on to Southern Africa and South East Asia (Stephen Cooper, ibid.) I know countries have cut back on SW programming sent to the USA, but on occasion I could pick up All India Radio here in the Boston suburbs. If I recall correctly about 1745 hrs on 11670. Has anyone been picking them up lately? If so, what time/frequency? Again, I am on the East Coast USA, near Boston. Thanks for your help! Posted by: (B-T-M, Nov 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to AIR's B15 schedule which I downloaded from http://allindiaradio.gov.in/profile/radio%20network/Pages/Default.aspx 11670 is still used from 1745-1945 but 25 meters is still too low a frequency for eastern North America. I still hear them pretty well at 2045-2230 on 11670 and 9445. Good listening and very 73 de (Anne Fanelli in Elma NY (near Buffalo), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not long ago I was getting 11670 surprisingly well on the 1745+ transmission, so keep trying. Until RHC on new schedule blox 11670 after 1900, starting Nov 15? Of course anything from AIR is not intended for N America at all (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) 9445 kHz with a weakish signal this evening right now at 2145 UT here in New Brunswick with just a Tecsun PL-880's whip antenna indoors. But stronger than 11670 kHz (Richard Langley, ibid.) AIR comes booming in on some of the European receivers of GlobalTuners.com (Mike Bryant, KY, ibid.) ** INDONESIA. 3324.88, RRI Palangkaraya on Nov 9, too weak to hear at 1200 (if on the air?); unable to hear a carrier; by 1339 noted decent level open carrier, but no audio. Recently has been very poor (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3324.891 UNID weak tiny signal 'visible' and fragments of music, maybe Palangkaraya under threshold level at 1020 UT, Nov 10. Some notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA [and non-log]. 3905, Pro 1 RRI Merauke, through Nov 5, this continues to be silent; seems to really be gone (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3905, Pro 1 RRI Merauke, 1140, Nov 9. On the air again after being off for a while; radio drama; 1159 usual pre-news theme music; Jakarta news which ended at 1225 with "Bagimu Negeri"; still on at 1330. Happy to hear them again! (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I was hearing a het this morning on 3905 kHz, between 11:30 and 12:00 UTC, for the first time in several weeks. With the magnetic field going crazy, there was no chance for any audio. Does anyone know if RRI Merauke is back on the air on that frequency? Thanks (Art Delibert, North Bethesda, MD, Nov 10, Hard-Core-DX mailing list WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) Hi Art, Yes, everyone in the DXLD yg knows this --- 73, (Glenn Hauser (with Ron`s latest report above), ibid.) 3904.981, Nice fair to strong signal of RRI Merauke SOUTH-SEA-like smooth music played at 1010 UT, S=9+ or -65dBm signal strength. Some notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010- 1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 3904.981 (thanks to Wolfy for measurement), Pro 1 RRI Merauke. They continue to air their multiple newscasts at 1200, 1300 and 1400; at 1258, Nov 11, with RRI jingle; usual pre-news theme music; 1301 pips (full minute late); news (local?), commentary(?) and economic news(?); ending at 1323 with usual patriotic song "Bagimu Negeri"; followed by "Pro Satu RRI Merauke" ID; ham QRM; poor. Later at 1403, news (headlines?) ending at 1406 with the normally played patriotic song "Bagimu Negeri"; followed by RRI jingle and another "Pro Satu RRI Merauke" ID; almost fair, as my local sunrise was coming up at 1445 UT (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4750, Pro 4 RRI Makassar // 3324.88, RRI Palangkaraya // 4869.88, RRI Wamena, 1218, Nov 3; Jakarta news; ending news at 1226 with patriotic song "Bagimu Negeri" (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4750, Pro 4 RRI Makassar, 1200-1232*, Nov 9. Seemingly with technical problems today; pop music; 1203 local ID followed by filler music, instead of the normally aired Jakarta news; at 1205 finally joined the Jakarta news, which was already in progress; became // 3905, Pro 1 RRI Merauke; 1227 local RRI Makassar ID and music till suddenly off, leaving CNR1 in sole possession of this frequency, as Bangladesh Betar seemingly was off the air today. Random checking till 1324 found only CNR1 here (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4749.943 Noted - tentatively - weaker RRI Makassar, much lesser signal strength than 3904.981 kHz RRI Merauke. On same channel noted CNR1 Chinese top ahead on 4749.994 kHz fingerprint. Some notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4749.943 (thanks again to Wolfy for measurement), Pro 4 RRI Makassar. Nov 9 through Nov 11, still hearing only RRI and CNR1, with no hint of Bangladesh Betar (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 4869.88, RRI Wamena. Nov 9 noted clearly off the air at 1200 & 1246, but by 1337, they were broadcasting again (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4869.914 Threshold signal string 'visible' on Perseus screen, at 1030 UT on Nov 10. Probably RRI Wamena program there? Some notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. 9525.98, VOI, 1318, Nov 9 (Monday). Unable to confirm if scheduled "Exotic Indonesia" program; VOI-Jakarta and Pro 2 RRI Bukittinggi, West Sumatra due to weak signal; "Today in History" (this date 1953, Cambodia, which had been a French protectorate for 90 years, gained independence); at times the audio cutting off and on (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525.978, VoI, S=9 or -67dBm signal strength noted at 1055 UT, played light Indonesian music singer, but heavily disturbed by VoA Chinese from Tinang-MRA islands and accompanied word spoken CNR jamming by China mainland on even 9530 kHz. Long path ride of the Chinese programs, heard time pips 6 seconds late at 1100 UT. Some notings of remote SDR log at Brisbane downunder, on Nov 10 at 1010-1110 UT: as always [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN. 11730, Nov 9 at 1421, IRIB IS, good with flutter, but suffering from slight IADs; 1423 brief sign-on in listed Hindi via Kamalabad, still intermittent audio dropouts during NA. 11880, Nov 10 at 1450, fair signal in Russian, but undermodulated. HFCC reveals it`s VIRI, 500 kW, 320 degrees from Sirjan, carrying on to here, at 1420-1520 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRELAND. CHURCH LOGS --- Nov 3 1120 UT: 27631, St. Stephen & St. John Church Castleisland, Co. Kerry 27635, Church of the Nativity of Our Lord Beaumont, Dublin 5 Nov 4 1020 UT: 27631, SS Mary & Peter Church Arklow, Co. Wicklow Nov 5 1100-1200 UT: 27601, Daniel O´Connell Memorial Church Caherciveen, Co. Kerry 27608, Holy Trinity Abbey Church Adare, Co. Limerick 27991, St. Mary´s Cathedral Killarney, Co. Kerry 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Keeping track: IRELAND NORTHERN consists of six counties: Antrim, Armagh, Derry (Londonderry), Down, Fermanagh and Tyrone. All the others are in the Republic. This is not the same as Ulster, which is an historically larger region, with three more: Cavan, Donegal, Monaghan, per http://goireland.about.com/od/bsics-ireland/tp/Counties-In-The-Province-Of-Ulster.htm It would also be interesting to know which, if any, church broadcasts from IRELAND are not Catholic (and which, if any, from I.N, are Catholic) (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** ITALY. PRIMO ELENCO EMITTENTI ATTIVE IN ONDA MEDIA IN ITALIA, TNX R. SCAGLIONE: Emittenti: 567, Challenger Radio http://www.challenger.it/challenger/ita_radio_challenge.html (Villa Estense, PD) 846, Challenger Radio http://www.challenger.it/challenger/ita_radio_challenge.html (Villa Estense, PD) 1017, Media Veneta Radio http://www.mediavenetaradio.eu/ (Piove di Sacco, PD) 1035, Media Veneta Radio http://www.mediavenetaradio.eu/ (Vigonza, PD) http://www.mediavenetaradio.eu/1071 Radio Marina (irregolare) 1323, Radio Base 101 http://www.radiobase101.it/ (Peraga di Vigonza, PD) 1350, I AM Radio (Milano, MI) 1359, Radio Time 1359, Radio Settanta (Casalborsetti, RA) 1359, Radio Stereo 98 http://stereo98.it/ (Zero Branco, TV) 1360, Challenger Radio http://www.challenger.it/challenger/ita_radio_challenge.html (Villa Estense, PD – test) 1368, Challenger Radio http://www.challenger.it/challenger/ita_radio_challenge.html (Villa Estense, PD) 1386, RAMradio (test) 1395, Radio Activity 1404, Radio Luna http://www.radiolunanelmondo.eu/ (Casalgrande, RE – irregolare) 1476, Cosmo Radio (Milano, Mi – irregolare) 1476, Skate Radio 1476, Radio Briscola 1476, Musictime Radio 1476, Gold 14-76 Hit Radio http://gold1476.caster.fm/ 1476, Radio Treviso 1500, Stazione Sperimentale 1500 http://stazionesperimentale.ondemedie.am/ (irregolare) 1512, Progressive Radio 1512, Free Radio AM (Barcola Bovedo, TS – irregolare) 1512, Radio Fioretta 1548, Radio Junior 1566, Radio Ghost 1566, Radio Melody (irregolare) 1566, Radio Macondo (irregolare) 1566, Radio AM Stereo (irregolare) 1566, Radio Settanta (Casalborsetti, RA) 1584, Radio Studio X http://www.radiostudiox.it/ (Momigno, PT – stereo C-Quam) 1593, Gold 15-93 Hit Radio http://gold1593.ondemedie.am/ (stereo C-Quam) 1597, Radio Galaxy (Napoli, NA – non verificata) 1602, Golden Radio Italia http://www.goldenradio.it/ (Sarego, VI) 1602, Radio Crystal (irregolare) 1611, Gold 16-11 Solo Musica Italiana http://gold1611.caster.fm/ a cura di Roberto Scaglione http://www.bclnews.it/ e DX FANZINE https://dxfanzine.wordpress.com/ Emittenti | Onde Medie Italia http://www.ondemedieitalia.it/emittenti/ 567, Challenger Radio (Villa Estense, PD) 846, Challenger Radio (Villa Estense, PD) 1017, Media Veneta Radio (Piove di Sacco, PD) 1035, Media Veneta Radio (Vigonza, PD) 1071, Radio Marina (irregolare) Ver en http://www.ondemedieitalia.it http://www.ondemedieitalia.it/emittenti/ https://dxfanzine.wordpress.com/ DX FANZINE https://dxfanzine.wordpress.com/ Active DXers from Italy (via Dario Monferini, Nov 10, playdx yg via DXLD) ** ITALY [non]. IRRS now via Bulgaria? IRRS transmissions since 17-18 October are believed to be via Secretbrod [i.e. Spaceline] Bulgaria instead of via Tsiganeshti, Romania: 0930-1200 on 9510 - European Gospel R in English - on 17 and 18 Oct. 1500-1530 on 15515 - Radio Warra Wangeelaa -ti in Oromo - on 17 Oct (Observer SW News via Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Explains why IRRS was weaker than usual when heard at 0930 on 17 October on 9510 with an unscheduled broadcast; it is scheduled only on Sundays at this time. Possibly a test? (Dave Kenny, UK, ibid.) B15 schedule for IRRS Shortwave: 0900-1000 Sat 9510 1030-1300 Sun 9510 1500-1530 Sun 15190* 1500-1530 Sat 15515** 1900-2000 Fri/Sat/Sun 7290 *= Radio Santec in English; **= Radio Warra Wangeelaa (IRRS web site/DK, ibid.) ** ITALY. Re: [dxld] Experimental Italian Time Signal Station JN53DV Well, at least it is not reported as a time and frequency station in the WRTH (the 2015 edition specifically). On the matter of whether the minute-marking pips are actually on time: I did compare the lateness of the pips via the U. of Twente SDR receiver as heard on my computer for both CHU and the Italian station, and they were both about 4 seconds late. So it looks like the Italian station's pips are at least within a second of UTC. But, as mentioned earlier and confirmed by Wolfy, we can't using the carrier frequency as a standard. Also, the name of the station is not really JN53DV although some call it that. That's just the Maidenhead locator code given on the station's website, presumably as the location of the transmitter (to a precision on the order of 10 km). The station actually identifies itself on the half and full hours as "Stazione del Segnale Radio dell'Associazione Italcable" if I copied it correctly or Radio Signal Station of the Italcable Association. There might be a better translation. Can any Italian speakers offer one? Note that Italcable as a separate company ceased to exist some time ago and the station is actually operated by Associazione Amici di Italcable or Association of Friends of Italcable or just Friends of Italcable (Richard Langley, Nov 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) put in the locator JN53DV into small window, and click http://qthlocator.free.fr/index.php 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Good suggestion, Wolfy, for resolving Maidenhead locators with a map display. There are several sites on the Web for converting between geographic coordinates and locators and displaying locator grid "squares" on a map. There is a partial list here: http://www.arrl.org/grid-squares I use the Python script "edist" from the "upoints" package. It provides the centre coordinates of the grid "square." For example: Richard-Langleys-MacBook-Pro:~/upoints-0.12.2$ python edist.py display JN53DV Location 1 is 43 53.75'N, 010 17.50'E To really pinpoint the location of the transmitter, we would need two or four more (extended square) characters. For the approximate location of one of our GNSS tracking station antennas at UNB, the locator is FN65QW28XB. See, also: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maidenhead_Locator_System (Richard Langley, NB, ibid.) ** ITALY. Schedule of new Marconi Radio International's test roadcasts Greetings from Italy! After two weeks of stop we resume our test broadcasts on 11390 kHz with power in the region of 30 watts. Here is the schedule for this week’s test broadcasts of Marconi Radio International: 11th November 2015, from 1600 to 1900 UT 14th November 2015, from 1300 to 1430 UT 15th November 2015, from 0900 to 1300 UT Test broadcasts consist of non stop music and station identification announcements in Italian, English, Spanish. MRI encourages reception reports from listeners. Audio clips (mp3-file) of our broadcasts are welcome! Until now reception reports, found to be correct, have been received from 10 countries: Italy, Spain, Germany, Ukraine, Belgium, Finland, France, Netherlands, Romania and Switzerland. We are anxious to receive feedbacks from more countries! We QSL 100%. Our E-mail address is: marconiradiointernational@gmail.com We hope that you will share this information with your members. Thank you very much for your cooperation – (Marconi Radio International (MRI), Short wave test broadcasts from Italy on 11390 kHz, Nov 9, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Hi Glenn, Conditions here on the West Coast certainly better than you have inland. 774, JOUB Akita (NHK-2), 1345-1410, Nov 2. Chinese language lesson and of course also in Japanese; again confirming that this station not only has the often heard English lessons, but other language lessons as well; ToH into English lesson: "How was your weekend?," "Today's vocabulary," "For breakfast I usually have rice, miso soup and grilled fish," "For breakfast, would you like some bread?," "I had fresh bread every morning at the hotel," "Freshly brewed coffee"; QRM, but fairly readable. Certainly this is the easiest Trans-Pacific for me to hear. https://app.box.com/s/c62s5tgf5rjcjf15jeiz5fbsceklkhj7 contains my three minute audio (poor/fair quality) (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Glenn, I was also listening to this one today. Thanks to you for the original tip. 8785-USB, Itoman Marine Radio (call sign: JFE), 1212, Nov 5. In Japanese, assume giving the haul information of each fishery ship. This is well heard on a daily basis. Thanks again to Takahito Akabayashi (Tokyo, Japan) for his excellent info about this station. My audio (good quality) at https://app.box.com/s/yngdd3miewrfpetu2fbv0tsuss7q0u9v (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KAZAKHSTAN. Kazakh Radio has appeared on new frequency of 1557 kHz, heard in Finland at 1430, and continues at 2100, so seemingly 24 h. http://kazradio.kaztrk.kz/ru (Mauno Ritola WRTH 19 Oct, via Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. POLISH RADIO AMATEUR MAY BE A STEP CLOSER TO ACTIVATING NORTH KOREA === ARRL November 10, 2015 http://www.arrl.org/news/view/polish-radio-amateur-may-be-a-step-closer-to-activating-north-korea Polish radio amateur Dom Grzyb, 3Z9DX, has indicated that he’s moving forward with his plans to operate from North Korea early next year. Earlier this year Grzyb announced that he had secured written permission to operate from North Korea in January or February 2016 and that he would be going to the capital, Pyongyang, for a final meeting to discuss guidelines for the operation. Grzyb now has informed DX News.com that he will head to North Korea in December, radio gear and GP7 vertical antenna in tow, to pin down the details of his ham radio plans. Grzyb is said to have already procured a license to operate as P5/3Z9DX on three bands with 100 W. If he succeeds in being allowed to operate from North Korea, the P5/3Z9DX operation would be for 5 days, SSB only, on 20, 15, and 10 meters from a secured location with 24/7 government supervision. He has said he plans to concentrate on 20 meters. The last DXCC-approved operation from North Korea took place more than a decade ago. Ed Giorgadze, 4L4FN, of the Republic of Georgia operated on SSB and RTTY as P5/4L4FN in 2001 and 2002, making more than 16,000 contacts before being asked abruptly to cease transmitting and pack up his gear. Giorgadze, who was not on a DXpedition but working for the UN World Food Program in Pyongyang at the time, had tried for more than 2 years before obtaining oral permission from North Korean authorities to operate. The Democratic People’s Republic of North Korea remains the most- wanted and elusive DXCC entity on the globe. -- Thanks to DX News.com Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 11710, Voice of Korea; 1520-1525:57*, *1530:00-1533+, 7-Nov; Tune in to M in French; W singing & sitting on something very sharp. IS from 1530 to English VoK ID at 1531 into anthem, then W in English with music. SIO=253-; // 1205 [sic] poor & // 9435 poor; not heard on listed 7570 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7580. VOK. 09/11 1001 UT. Servicio en Japonés. Música juche, especialmente de coro de mujeres. SINPO: 45444 (Claudio Galaz Toledo, RX: Realistic DX-160, ANT: 45 metros de antena de hilo, más antena de tierra y balún de ferrita 9:1, QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) A Recent QSL Request --- I paid $7.10 to mail a reception report to a station that contains nothing more then a 3 page letter and 1 CD. Check out the picture at the link below to see where my QSL request is going to. http://onairdj.com/qslrequest.JPG (Paul walker, AR, Nov 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Good luck. After trying multiple times in the 80's to get a real QSL from them including mailing via Mexico & Canada, I prepared a reception report and mailed it personally from Munich, Germany on a trip there in the early 90's. When I returned stateside 2 weeks later, I had a F/D QSL, letter, pennant and lapel pin in the mail direct from N Korea. It seems the Euro postal path worked best. 73, (Don W8SWL Hosmer, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Hi Glenn, Yes, 7400, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze via Yamata, *1300-1400*, Nov 5 (Thursday), in English; "Today's Newsflash"; "Today's News on North Korea Issues"; segment "Message from the Japanese government" about the screening of a movie in Tokyo, about abduction issues; same half hour program repeated; good signal, but some CRI QRM till 1357. Pulsating noise jamming from N. Korea. Shiokaze had a news item today that the BBC was going to start broadcasting to North Korea, in an expansion of BBC World Service. To be via SW!! https://app.box.com/s/3t5at38mqnybmjnbu65ceitfjpxudztf contains my audio (good quality) (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 7620, UZBEKISTAN, Voice of Wilderness presumed with Korean at 1345, woman speaker, music bridge. - Very weak, Nov 6 (Harold Sellers, Vernon, British Columbia, listening in my car, parked by the lake, and using the Eton E1 and Sony AN1 active antenna, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I note this is not in HFCC: nothing on 7 MHz above 7600 (except WOOB 7730 from WRMI) And site reported by Ivo as DB = TAJIKISTAN, not Uzbekistan, so where did you get that? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** KOREA. UNIDENTIFIED. 3276.90, Asian station?, noted signing off Nov 4 & 5, about 1340; weak; if I had to guess I would say in Korean(?). First time I have noted this. Needs more work and better conditions. Spur or what? 3276.9, Random Numbers station (spy station), 1335-1338*, Nov 7. YL with numbers in Korean; much better reception than my Nov 4 & 5 log. Thanks again to Hiroyuki Komatsubara for his help. 3276.9, Random Numbers station (spy station), 1341*, Nov 9. YL with numbers in Korean; seemingly a regular station here now (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) So you`re non-comittal as to where it`s NORTH or SOUTH. I requibble about the term ``random`` --- if they convey a secret message, they are anything but random (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. 9400, Nov 5 at 1359, Denge Kurdistane somewhat atop CCI from presumed FEBC Philippines in Chinese, which goes off at 1401 clearing up DK, which is playing a march, unnational anthem? Then a 6-pip timesignal ending at 1401:18! Before 1500, has faded way down; site presumed PRIDNESTROVYE during this span (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Comment 9400.700 kHz carrier from unknown location: re Wojtek, Poland: UNIDENTIFIED Denge Kurdistan jammed? There's now strong carrier on 9400.70 kHz making severe het to Denge Kurdistan on 9400 kHz. Switching to LSB is resolving the problem. Is it jamming or something else? (Wojtek Zaremba, Legionowo, Poland, 1808 UT Nov 2, Icom IC-R75 with T2FD, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) > 1700-2000 on 9400 ISS 250 kW / 090 deg to WeAS Kurdish # # Yes, a strong carrier of 700 Hertz distance away on 9400.700 kHz heard today on Novemer 5th at 1730 UT, here in western Europe, / southern Germany as signal strength S=9+30dB or -47dBm At Zakynthos Greece SDR unit location only S=9 strength only, S=9+15dB in Moscow Russia monitoring post. I guess the Turkish secret service of President Erdogan's police set a strong Carrier these days - next to the Kurdistani radio program to jam that service, after the recent Turkish parliament election AKP winner action. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** KUWAIT. 17550, R Kuwait, Oct 22 at 1550 with a story possibly being told by YL followed by man and YL talking Arabic (Mike Yohnicki, London, ON, DX394, Antron 99 antenna, Hallicrafters SX110, 60 ft longwire or 102" whip, November CIDX Messenger via DXLD) Kuwait has been gone from SW for over a year. 17550 was one of their frequencies, but never at that time, instead 20-24 UT to North America. A-15 HFCC showed Iran with a long 17550 broadcast in Arabic, but supposed to end at 1430; and Pakistan in Urdu at 1330-1530, altho that has been quite unreliable. Are you sure it was in Arabic? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 19010. RFE [RL]. 09/11 1103 UT. Servicio en Dari. Un hombre habla avisos. SINPO: 55444 (Claudio Galaz Toledo, RX: Realistic DX- 160, ANT: 45 metros de antena de hilo, más antena de tierra y balún de ferrita 9:1, QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** LIBERIA. Photos: ELWA Radio 4760 kHz Tropical wave and FM 94.5 MHz and now in short wave 6050 kHz from Monrovia, Montserrado - Liberia. Photos of the engineers working on the antenna tropical wave 4760 kHz Photo ELWA Radio Web site: http://www.elwaministries.org/ http://dxbrazilsw.blogspot.com.br/2015/11/photos-elwa-radio-and-antennas-parque.html 73 (Daniel Wyllyans, Nova Xavantina, MT Brazil, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** LUXEMBOURG. RTL, 1440 kHz, closure confirmed. On 31 December 2015 the transmitter of Radio Luxemburg on 1440 kHz will be closed. By 1 April 2016 all steel constructions shall have been removed. Some works have already been started. All info via Christian Milling referring to the newspaper Luxemburger Wort of 3 October 2015 (Bengt Ericson, ARC, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) The full schedule of Manarch 1440 since time change is (all times UT): 0355-0400: Interval Signal 0400-0600: Sun: RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0 0400-0700: Mon-Sat RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0 0600-0630: Sun Missionswerk Freundesdienst 0630-0700: Sun RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0 0700-1200: Radio China International (in German) 1200-1210: RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0 1210-1655: Off air 1655-1830: Thu-Tue: RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0 1655-1825: Wed: RTL Radio 93.3 & 97.0 1825-1830: Wed Lutherische Stunde 1830-1900: Missionswerk Freundesdienst 1900-0000: Radio China International (in German) 0000-0001: Luxembourg National Anthem 0001-0355: Off air (James Robinson, mediumwave.info, 25 Oct, ibid.) ** MALI [and non]. 17630, China Radio Int'l; 1437, 5-Nov; English Round Table discussion, now on colleges in China. SIO=2+52+, // 15700 via Cuba (Harold Frodge, MI, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) B-15 schedules no longer show spoiler duplicate CRI English transmission via East Turkistan on 17630, just Mali at 14-16, so now you can be sure it is Mali, and I won`t have to correct mislogs. I expect E.T. will be back in A-16 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** MEXICO. Mexican DX notes --- This year at the beverage site I tried to pay more attention to XE stations (last year with my old laptop I could only record 400 kHz at a time, so I emphasized 1220-1620 kHz to hunt for GY and TIS stations and didn't spend much time on XEs which have been gravitating to lower frequencies over the years). A few years ago we were blessed with the emergence of two very helpful trends: the state anthem and the FM simulcast. These two things really helped us get good IDs because we could avoid mixing up stations like XEBN and XEVM which are on the same frequency [1240] with phonetically very similar calls. This year we have a not-so-good trend: never-ending network newscasts! I can't tell you many stations on this year's recordings just droned on and on with news (on some channels it was hard to distinguish them from a co-channel Cuban). Not only does it frustrate our attempts to ID the stations, but I fear it will also lead to mis-IDs. We all know folks who don't understand a word of Spanish and say things like "heard mentions of Chiapas, so it must be the Chiapas station...". Kind of like the folks who can't read Morse code yet constantly claim to have heard "Morse code IDs" from a DX test clear across the country. You can see where this might go. Another interesting thing this year was some kind of a baseball playoff between the Chihuahua Dorados and the Guasave Algodoneros (the Golden Boys vs. the Cotton Pickers?!). This game seemed to be carried on at least one station from each city in the state of Chihuahua, but I don't recall hearing it on any Guasave or Sinaloa stations at all. What was even more odd about this was that the broadcasts from the various Chihuahua stations were mostly not // each other. It was as if each station group owner sent his own guys to cover the game(s). That Chihuahua stadium must have an enormous press-box complex! 73 (Tim Hall, CA, Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone, Nov 8, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Who runs "Amanecer Norteño" on 800 kHz during the 6 am hour (CDT)? In my Border Inn recordings, I'm getting one or two other Spanish stations under XEROK. The most widely-heard stations after XEROK are usually XEDD and XEZR. One of the stations under XEROK was running the program "amanecer norteño" during the hour of 6 am CDT [11 UT --- this was in late September --- gh]. XEDD web page seems to indicate it would not be them, so I would suspect XEZR. Does anyone know? I'll probably re-scour my recordings later, to see if this station was audible at other times. 73 (Tim Hall, CA, Nov 9, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 880, XEAAA, Zapopan, Jal., 1101 UT 10/14/2015 - With legal ID after Mexican National Anthem "X-E-Triple A" and "Ultra Radio" slogans by YL, on Southwest phased BOGs, new (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Surprise: XEJ-970 is back on the air (with lower power and getti [sic, truncated] --- XEJ-970 is back on the air (or never actually left?) as "Pancho" // 99.1 with only 1 kW. The signal is very weak compared to their old signal. I caught their national anthem and ID in my Border Inn beverage site recordings at 1104 UT on Sept 26th. Most nights XESW is audible instead. Web page: http://www.gradiomex.com/estaciones-por-ciudad/ Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pancho970am/timeline?ref=page_internal 73 (Tim Hall, CA, Nov 8, ABDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) Reading some of their older FB posts, it appears XEJ Ciudad Juárez was off the air from 970 for a while last year. With XEROK 800, that makes two CiJz stations with strange downsizing (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. 1650, Nov 6 at 0655, as KYHN OK is not too strong at the moment (really 1 kW night power?), I null it and try to pull something else thru, aiming N/S, especially some Spanish music. 0656 tentative ID in passing as Radio Zer, which would finally get me the México DF 5/5 kW XEARZ which has been eluding me. Trouble is, there are also two US SS stations on 1650, CO & TX, and adding to the mix is KCNZ IA. I can forget about the two Canadians and other UStations (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this week::: Have a transmitter site: Televisa Tapachula https://www.google.com/maps/@14.9284666,-92.2723403,3a,75y,1.7h,91.78t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1s7oWtIiFXhgXKrOsVmXlohg!2e0!7i13312!8i6656!6m1!1e1 An absolute gem of a sign! The most elaborate design I've seen on a Televisa tower. The sign itself dates to the 90s or so, including the calls and channel numbers of its two stations (XHTAH-5 and XHAA-7), proudly emblazoned with "Televisa, S.A. de C.V." and "Est. Rep. Tapachula, Chis." (Estación Repetidora Tapachula, Chiapas). (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, Nov 5, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) The IFT has approved the first social-community radio concession in the country. It will be for Autogestión Comunicativa, A.C., which will set up shop in Hermosillo, Sonora. http://www.ift.org.mx/comunicacion-y-medios/comunicados-ift/es/el-pleno-del-ift-aprueba-el-acceso-multiprogramacion-del-instituto-politecnico-nacional-en Also, four multiplexing authorizations were given, all to the IPN, for its Chihuahua stations and in Mochis. These were the last four to be built in digital. It looks like this, the UJAT TV station, and the XETNC and XETEB renewals would have come up in April if a spectrum availability study didn't need to be conducted. http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/conocenos/pleno/sesiones/ordinaria/vi-sesion-ordinaria-del-pleno-22-de-abril-de-2015/acta6aord220415.pdf The UJAT item was delayed a month, and the XETNC and XETEB items were tackled this week along with Autogestión Comunicativa. The only missing station from that list now is located in Tlaxcala. —— We also received the full list of station modifications authorized by the IFT for Cadena Tres. I have compiled that information and all the authorizations into one document. http://jmp.sh/b8rfA1q Last edited by (Raymie; 11-06-2015 at 03:03 PM, ibid.) APAGÓN ALERT: December 11. http://www.ift.org.mx/comunicacion-y-medios/comunicados-ift/es/el-11-de-diciembre-sera-el-siguiente-apagon-analogico-ift-comunicado-942015 In Baja California, San Felipe*. In Coahuila, Ciudad Allende, Saltillo and Parras de la Fuente. In Guanajuato, León and Celaya*. In Querétaro, Querétaro. And in Sonora, Caborca* and Agua Prieta.* *A permit station is exempt in these cities. In San Felipe, the Punta Estrella trio; in Celaya, XHCEP-11; and in the Sonora cities, Telemax. Their digital transmitters are operating there, too (Raymie, Nov 6, ibid.) I wonder why they changed Reynosa's channel from 18 to 22. 18 had already been approved by the FCC so it's almost like they did double work changing it to 22. KTLM has a low power translator in Harlingen on 22. I assume it will have to go off the air (mismac7, south Texas, ibid.) The change was approved in the FCC-IFT repacking agreements. C3 went to the IFT and said "we have 31 stations in 600 MHz that need to move". The IFT came back and said "and we need to move 14 additional stations", half of which were in the border zone. The others were: Campeche, Valle de Bravo, Zitácuaro, Tehuacán, Ciudad Valles, and Cerro Azul Ver. In Campeche, four of their five transmitters (Campeche, Carmen, Escárcega and Hopelchen) will form a single-frequency network on channel 20. The exception is Xpujil on 28. In fact, there are many more moves that will be happening where stations exist above 36, even though Televisa has been vociferous in moving a lot of its station builds below channel 37. The only case in which I know repacking-related spectrum replanning has had an effect is that Azteca's shadows in Guadalupe, Nuevo León, reflect new channel placements for the stations in question. I believe that is also the case with their León shadows which do not match channel-wise to their Celaya parents, but I cannot be sure (Raymie, Nov 6, ibid.) Article roundup Postura de la CIRT ante frecuencias ilegales de radio en Oaxaca https://oaxaca.quadratin.com.mx/Postura-de-la-CIRT-ante-frecuencias-ilegales-de-radio-en-Oaxaca/ Pirates are sailing the airwaves of Oaxaca with abandon, and the CIRT is none too happy about it. They also helpfully include a list of every licensed station in the state. Juan Omar Fierro, El Universal: "Avala SCJN dar tiempo de radiodifusión al Estado" http://www.eluniversal.com.mx/articulo/nacion/politica/2015/11/7/avala-scjn-dar-tiempo-de-radiodifusion-al-estado The Supreme Court of Mexico has ruled that commercial stations must offer 30 minutes a day to the government. Impulsora Radiofónica, in the state of San Luis Potosí (XHXR-FM Ciudad Valles), was the plaintiff in this case. Rosa María Morales, Pulso SLP: "Ancianita se desmaya esperando su televisión" http://pulsoslp.com.mx/2015/11/06/ancianita-se-desmaya-esperando-su-television/ One 93-year-old woman in Matehuala waited so long for a TV that she fainted while in line and had to be brought to a hospital. Veneranda Mendoza, Proceso: "Radio Calentana exige al gobierno mexiquense retractarse de acusaciones" http://www.proceso.com.mx/?p=420124 The community radio station in Luvianos, Edomex (the one that got seized while approval was pending with the IFT for a new frequency) is demanding that the state government retract accusations that the station incited support for criminal groups (Raymie, Nov 7, ibid.) I think I get it now. If I'm understanding the tables correctly, it looks like channel 18 (as well as 14, 16 & 17) will now be available for stations on the US side (mismac7, TX, ibid.) How backed up was Cofetel when it came to requests for new radio stations? Well, one IFT commissioner says that there were more than 400 requests for new radio stations backed up under the old agency. https://twitter.com/LabardiniA/status/663580998597132288 Holy cake. ——— Seeing some new shadow channel authorizations in the RPC today, probably 40 or more, mostly Azteca. For instance, we now know that XHIC and XHCPE have digital shadows at Orizaba with more than 30 kW ERP. In San Juan de los Lagos, Jalisco, Azteca has XHJCM/XHLGA shadows with 25 kW ERP, higher than the main stations. Many, many small towns that I'd never heard of before. Surprisingly for a local station, XHBO has shadows too, including this one in Ejutla de Crespo, Oaxaca, authorized for 5 watts on channel 32. http://rpc.ift.org.mx/rpc/pdfs/190815-EQ_COMPLEMENTARIO-010539.pdf Last edited by (Raymie; 11-09-2015 at 12:54 PM, ibid.) A few days on we have a little more information on the new community radio station at Hermosillo. It is the successor to "Política & Rock & Roll" 97.7, which operated from 2012 to 2014. Historically it is related to Radio Bemba, which became XHCD-FM "Zoom FM" and received a permit in 2005. It will likely move frequencies: this article suggests 104.1, http://mediazoom.news/node/573 but I expect 104.3 instead as that is an allotment available there. 103.5, 105.9 and 106.7 are the only other allotments available to Hermosillo through the FCC database. The FM database is a similar mess to TV, but not as bad. (There are many, many missing callsigns, especially from the AM-FM migration.) Try decoding these errors: Baja California -XHBCE-FM 92.1 Ensenada. This isn't XHHC; in fact, this became 105.7 XHPRS-FM in Tecate thanks to a two-step move-in. XHHC was put on the frequency later. (XHBCE is also listed in Tecate.) -XHTIJ-FM 97.7 Tijuana. Oh so close: this is XHTIM, which moved to 90.7. Even worse yet this callsign used to be on 91.7 XHGLX. -Two callsigns listed for 99.3: XHKY-FM (that one's now clear across the country at Huixtla, Chiapas) and XHATE-FM. The second one became XHHIT 95.3. The first one is now XHOCL. Sonora -"XHIMS" Magdalena de Kino: Yes, this was originally XHIMS, in IMuriS (get it)? It signed on in 1997, but as XHLDC-FM. If you wonder how you get XHLDC from Magdalena de Kino, its most famous product is probably a certain Luis Donaldo Colosio. -There's an "XHSIT" 99.1 Sonoita (this was apparently put out for bid in 1992, awarded to Carlos Caballero Ávila in 1994 but never operated), and on the same frequency, "XHNZ1FM". That should be "XHNZI". Coahuila -XHHCC is listed. It's a miracle, as this is a real new station, dating to 2012. -But then they misspell "XHAAL" as "XHALA". There is no XHALA. -"XHMCL" Monclova and XHCCG Cuatro Ciénegas. Somehow we wound up with (in reality) XHCCG Monclova. XHMCL must have failed or never been put out for bid and then XHCCG moved. Nuevo León -If you think 94.9 in Monterrey is vacant, you've been wrong since 1998. Tamaulipas "XHNVA-FM" 89.5 Valle Hermoso. Mexico loved to fill the AM and FM databases with NueVA, and this is a case of that. The callsign is XHRV. The station moved from San Fernando, where it was XHSAF-FM; that's listed too, because I think at one time the callsign and frequency were reopened for the state radio network. "XHCDL-FM" 93.9 Ciudad Alemán. This was the original callsign for XHRAW. As prior experience should attest, this is one of those Carlos Salinas de Gortari-era callsigns. You know the type; there are a bunch of them here (Raymie, Nov 11, ibid.) There's Room in Saltillo, But the IFT Doesn't Seem to Notice We've been covering on and off over the last few months the potential future permit failure of XESAL-AM 1220 in Saltillo, the station of the Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro (UAAAN). The university had a bad rector that kind of forgot to renew the station's permit. Even worse, XESAL didn't get the opportunity to migrate to FM. This year, one potential applicant approached the IFT and put in a request for it to include a Saltillo FM in its 2016 PABF. It was denied, with "lack of spectrum availability" cited as the main reason. Well, here's me coming in and refuting that. There are five open frequencies for a new FM radio station in Saltillo. We know this because we have the FCC allotment tables. Saltillo has 13 licensed FM radio stations. The most recent was built two years ago when XHUACS-104.1 came to air. But it has five additional allotments: 92.1, 96.7, 100.1, 101.7, and 107.3. The closest Mexican 92.1 is 116 miles away. The nearest 96.7 is at 231 miles. The nearest 100.1, at over 300 miles. For a 101.7, 161 miles. And the closest 107.3 is 174 miles out. These are frequencies that meet the 800 kHz current spacing limit (91.3-92.1-93.5, 94.7-96.7-97.7, 99.3-100.1-100.9-101.7-102.5, 106.5- 107.3). These are frequencies allotted to Saltillo more than 40 years ago. And yet the IFT says "no spectrum available". Come on. Give the Narro an FM station so they can migrate and resolve their permit woes. Give the social use applicant the station they requested. Perhaps put one or two more out for bid. But don't let five unused frequencies just sit there (Raymie, ibid.) The last of Chihuahua's commercial television stations is on air, as XHAUC-TDT 32 (9.x) has finally hit the airwaves as of yesterday. There aren't many missing stations left. This was one of the big ones and one of the last remaining missing commercial stations nationwide. (XHENB in Ensenada is my most immediate concern in the category.) State networks are another concern entirely. In Campeche, http://www.campechehoy.mx/notas/280236/no-tiene-fondo-social-apagon-analogico they're wondering why some municipalities that lack any television service are getting TVs when there's no OTA television to be had. On Ciro Gómez Leyva's radio show, IFT President Gabriel Contreras said that unready broadcasters will face sanctions if they don't get to air by year's end. https://twitter.com/CiroGomezL/status/664813759093829632 That would include some 30 public stations. He also said that the focus right now is getting shadow channels on the air. These are networks that I consider ready that were in analog: Edomex, Aguascalientes, San Luis Potosí, Nuevo León (Monterrey only), Oaxaca, Campeche, Yucatán, Sonora, Morelos, Puebla, Guanajuato, Jalisco, Veracruz. In some cases only some transmitters are operating in digital at the moment, but that still leaves big gaps (Raymie, Nov 12, ibid.) Sometimes you look at cities and wonder "where's the full network service"? For instance, Tenosique, Tabasco, has a local station, a CE transmitter, and the state network. But then we get the shadow authorizations, which are filling in the picture. For instance, Azteca operates shadows of its Cd. del Carmen stations there (at 930/920 watts). Also: a couple of authorizations for full stations appeared! XHCDC-TDT 39 at 31 kW (Google Maps; note that for digital Televisa installed a new, 51 m self-supported tower to replace the old guyed stick) http://rpc.ift.org.mx/rpc/pdfs/020915-FREC-ADICIONAL-010531.pdf XHPCE-TDT 33 at 159.97 kW http://rpc.ift.org.mx/rpc/pdfs/020915-FREC_ADICIONAL-010616.pdf — This is one of the highest-powered digital TV stations in rural Mexico. Azteca's other transmitter here was at 8 kW. And speaking of high-powered, XHTVM was authorized for final digital facilities and will be raising its power to 513.05 kW from the analog channel 40 site (instead of the Azteca tower). That is the highest ERP in Mexico and the first digital television station to exceed 500 kW ERP. Azteca's Mexico City stations, all three of them, now surpass Televisa's C. de las Lajas transmitters as the highest-powered in Mexico after being authorized for new final facilities this year. ——— Also, the apagón declaration hit the DOF today. XHLEG and XHPAC do not have full digital service in their analog coverage area but, as service is guaranteed by other stations, they will be able to shut down. The XHLEG coverage area overlaps with those of a whopping 25 digital television stations based out of Querétaro, Guanajuato, Aguascalientes, Jalisco, San Luis Potosí and Michoacán, according to the document. Some shadows are spared: XHPAC-7 at Melchor Ocampo, Zac. and XEZ-4 and XHZ-8 at Landa de Matamoros, Qro., as they are not in digital and are the only available television services in their areas. Last edited by (Raymie; 11-13-2015 at 02:04 PM, ibid.) The IFT's third quarter report is out, including an inventory of numbers of requests for various sorts of telecommunications applications. http://www.ift.org.mx/sites/default/files/contenidogeneral/transparencia/ita3-2015-acc-13112015.pdf On page 95 is the broadcasting one, showing that there were hundreds of pending requests for shadows, 37 radio modifications, and so on (Raymie, ibid.) ** MICRONESIA [non-log]. 4755.54, PMA-The Cross Radio. Since May 10, the date Cyclone Dolphin hit them, has been silent through Nov 8 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MOLDOVA. Rumors confirmed at last: As of February 2015, Radio Moldova Actualitatsi on 873 kHz (Codru transmitter site) are employing a new Nautel NX50 (50 kW) transmitter. Curious turn of events, given earlier reports of a 100 kW Transradio unit delivered, installed, tested and sent back to the manufacturer. Then again, as a sidenote - no idea which source the WRTH were using when showing 150 kW for 873 / Codru in their 2015 edition. Wishful thinking? The older (DSV-150) unit wasn`t being used at full power for quite a while, with just one of the two 'semi-blocks' in use at 75 kW only. WYSI-N-WYG [sic]. Posted by: (Leo Barmaleo, Moldova, UT Nov 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. Voice of Mongolia announces its English Service airs to South East Asia from 0900 to 0930 on 12035 (a change from 12015) and to Europe from 1530 to 1600 on 12015 (Bill Matthews, OH, Nov 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONGOLIA. 4830, Mongolian Radio 2, at 1054, Nov 2. They are back here again; in past years was easy to confirm ID via // 4895, but no longer so; am only hearing AIR on 4895 and Aoki no longer listed Mongolia there. Sign off time varies a lot; Nov 3 off the air by 1210 check; Nov 4 off the air at 1151 check; Nov 5, first heard 1140; still on the air 1209. Hiroyuki Komatsubara noted 1459*, on Nov 5. No routine schedule yet? (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2015 11 05, 1400 UT, 4830 kHz Mongolian Radio active again! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTvW38gWlqE I don't know when they came back. No signal on 4895 and 7260. I found 7260 active on Aug 23, 2015 but I haven't heard them on 7260 since then. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwwFkXgZvNY (pesnyaozemle) QTH: Yokohama, Japan (via Daniel Wyllyans, Nov 6, HCDX via DXLD) 4830.00, *2302-2315 6.11, Mongoliin [sic] R, Altay, Mongolian talk and songs. Thanks to Daniel Wyllyans for alerting me on this reactivation. However the signal was much, much weaker than when it disappeared in January 2015 using 10 kW! 15211. No carriers noted on 4895 or 7260 AP- DNK Best 73, (Anker, Dear DX-friends, A few unusual stations were heard in Skovlunde on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, via playdx via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** MOROCCO. MW: See WESTERN SAHARA ** MOROCCO [and non]. MUSIC ON SHORTWAVE --- We start this month with a quick update from Rafael Martínez, who writes: “I have seen on a quick view of October’s Communication that you have already detected the new programme Selection Reggae on Medi 1. Sanae also produces Sundays at the same time (2000 UT) a Bossa Nova programme that until now was only available online. Note the new sked for Medi 1 Ritmo Latino is Saturdays 2115-2158 and repeated Sundays 1503-1558 UT on 9575 kHz. As a curiosity, RTA Alger Chaîne 3, 252 kHz has a programme on Saturdays 1303-1358 UT with the same name (El Rythmo Latino) and format!” // Thanks for those updates, Rafael - I hadn't yet spotted the Bossa Nova programme by Sanae, and also hadn't yet checked the new times for Ritmo Latino. I do get a little confused with the Medi 1 website and have never quite managed to fully match up La grille des programmes at http://www.medi1.com/radio/programme.php with what I hear on 9575 kHz. The two are frequently different. I assume that these programmes times will change by an hour from the end of the month. Thank you once again for your support for Listening Post (Alan Roe, Listening Post, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** MYANMAR. 7200.00, Myanmar Radio, 0920-0948, Nov 10. Long interview and breaks for pop songs; phone ringing and chatting; brief QRM from CNR1 testing their transmitter at 0941 & 0945, before the full-time jamming at 1000, to block RTI (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. From Kim Andrew Elliott: "The Mighty KBC digital transmission this weekend will be different. Instead of the usual image with some text in MFSK32, the minute will be text in Olivia 64- 2000, mixed with music. This will be Sunday at 0130 UT (Saturday 8:30 pm EST) on 7395 kHz, via Germany. Last weekend’s KBC transmission was on 7350 kHz, but Eric tells me that was an error at the transmitter site. This weekend, if you don’t hear the KBC broadcast to North America Saturday 2300 to Sunday 0200 on 7395, tune around the 41 meter band! Reports to themightykbc (at) gmail.com" (via Richard Langley, NB, Nov 6, dxldyg via DXLD) I'm told Nauen engineers made a mistake last weekend and used 7350 kHz. Reception at my QTH on 7350 was good. 2300-0100 UT S9+20dB to S9+30dB. After 0100 UT signal "fell" to S9+10dB to S9+20dB I'm also assured the Mighty KBC will use 7395 kHz 2300-0200 UT for the November 7/8, 2015 broadcast even with R. Romania Int, China Radio Int and BBC all using 7395 kHz. Interesting, the EiBi B15 skeds as of November 4, 2015 don't even list the Mighty KBC on 7395 kHz. The EiBi sked shows 7350 kHz. If, broadcast problems happen again, one can always listen to the studio quality audio at my website. I endeavor to post within 1 week of actual airing. http://www.kg4lac.com On this week's "Forgotten Song" I feature an artist born in 1942 whom I've not heard on the radio for a long time. I play a song from 1975. I hope, with last week's frequency problem and this week's potential QRM mess, everyone is able to hear and enjoy the broadcast. Thanks to Eric Van Willegen for keeping shortwave alive for those of us who still care about radio. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, Nov 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7350, UT Sunday Nov 8 at 0037, looking for The Mighty KBC on the frequency it unexpectedly had to use last week --- no, all I get is a weak signal from CRI English, which was already there at 23-02 via Kashgar, EAST TURKISTAN, to Europe (also on 7425 for S Asia at 00-01). Is KBC back on 7395? 7395, Nov 8 at 0037, JBA carrier, can`t tell what it is, but maybe KBC via Nauen, GERMANY, where it was a biweek ago. Nothing on 7375, the frequency before that. At 0131 Nov 8, still only CRI on 7350; but on 7395, the giveaway beeps of a VOA Radiogram, and then the unmistakable voice of Uncle Eric, but it`s still very poor, S6. Kim Elliott quickly reported to the DXLD yg that they were replaying last week`s program instead of a new one (for those who never found it on 7350 without notice?) Propagation from Europe is still very degraded; moving down to 6 MHz band might help a little, but transmitting via a US station such as WRMI or WBCQ would help a lot more. Why does KBC have to emanate via Germany? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And of course we subsequently found that quite aside from the collisions on 7395, propagation was so poor that we could barely hear it. Kraig, why don`t you ask Uncle Eric about this? (Glenn, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn, Please realize I've been trying to convince a frequency change since the October 31/November 1 broadcast. Once I became aware of R. Romania Int using 7395 kHz I knew there would be problems. The mistake of 7350 kHz provided very good reception at my QTH. I checked 7200 to 7455 from 2300 to 0200 UT. Not many open frequencies. Add to this propagation problems (for example 7395 kHz was basically dead November 7/8). It's easy to get frustrated. Put a lot of time and effort into a show. Write and produce funny comedy bits, do features, etc., and then no one is able to actually hear. We should all listen and show our appreciation for Eric keeping shortwave alive even thru hurdles. I don't believe WRMI is a valid option. Both Kim and I suggested WRMI years ago. Deals were made and contracts signed with Nauen. Can't just simply "walk away". I believe Nauen was picked as it was stronger than Lithuania and, at the time, more reliable than Bulgaria. I believe the switch to Germany happened around the time Radio Bulgaria transmissions were ending. I do know a frequency change is coming. At this time I do not have the details. Believe it or not, the target is Chicago, IL as this is considered as the middle of the USA. 73, (Kraig Krist, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Not exactly. Chicago is 306 degrees from Nauen, while 7395 is HFCC- registered as 300 degrees, which is more like Montréal-Pittsburgh- Bâton Rouge (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It would also be nice to have something like the Giant jukebox coming from the US (Glenn Blum, dxldyg via DXLD) WBCQ's coverage in my part of the US sucks, quite frankly. I would choose WRMI if it were up to me. And why do they broadcast from Germany? Because they can, they want to, and the US isn`t their sole target, I`d bet (Paul B Walker Jr, AR, ibid.) The Saturday evening broadcast is certainly for North America. KBC does have another broadcast in the daytime for Europe via Germany which presumably works OK there (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) They have a lot of listeners in places other then Germany and the rate for the Nauen transmtiter may be more affordable then WRMI or others (Paul Walker, ibid.) The Mighty KBC difficult to hear 8 Nov on 7395 kHz via Germany due to poor propagation. And the site in Germany transmitted last week's show, so the digital text mode was MFSK32 rather than the advertised Olivia 64-2000. MFKS32 image and text are as decoded from a receiver in Germany at 0130 UT --- 1 of 1 Photo(s) KBC_081115_Florida.png (Kim Andrew Elliott, 0146 UT Nov 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Between 2300-2400z, KBC under a strong signal of: Radio Romania Int. in English language (2340z DX mailbag) ===> Japan, KBC: O=1-2 between 0100-0130z KBC in QRM with BBC/Hindi from Oman ==> South Asia KBC O=2- 3. between 0000-0100z + 0130-0200z KBC solo on QRG, weak O=3 here in Central Germany/skipzone. KBC MFSK-32 at 01.30z quality: OK, useful Yesterday also bad conditions for 17580 kHz VoA, so I had to make a nightly recording for 5745 kHz - nevertheless a lot of work for the SSTV-pic-denoiser: http://www.rhci-online.net/radiogram/VoA_Radiogram_2015-11-08.htm (roger Thayer, Germany, ibid.) ** NEW ZEALAND. New Zealand radio masts taken down http://www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/news/73859014/53-metre-porirua-radio-mast-toppled Anyone [know] which stations are off air? 73 (Steve Whitt, Nov 9, MWCircle yg via DXLD) See recent DXLDs; is this a.k.a. Titahi Bay or somewhere else? (gh, DXLD) ** NIGERIA. 6090, Radio Nigeria Kaduna (presumed); 2050-2101:57*, 6- Nov; M in LL [unknown language] with lite Afro-pop music; Brief announcement to 2101:10 sung anthem & off. SIO=2+43- (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Probably off-frequency? (gh, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. 3230, PIRATE, WJD, 0210, 11/7/15. SSTV (couldn’t decode it due to local noise), voice ID, into George Carlin routine, off 0116 then problems with transmitter coming on and off with ID at 0220, 0226, SSTV at 0231 that was vague, illegible words but mostly abstract impressionism. Poor (Mark Taylor, Madison, Wisconsin, Perseus, SDRPlay, Eton e1, Grunding Satellit 800, Sangean 909X w/ clear mod, Tecsun PL 660 and various other portables; 40 meters dipole, 100’ long wire, Flextenna NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Does one happen upon such an anomaly, or get a tip-off? (gh, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. PIRATE-NA. Amphetamine Radio, 6925 USB, 2354-0005+, 11-8/9-15, SIO: 343. OM playing rock such as "Turbo Lover" by Judas Priest, IDs, SSTVs, etc. (Chris Lobdell, Box 80146, Stoneham, MA 02180, Receivers: Eton E1, NRD-525, Aerials: G5RV, 40 Meter Dipole, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. 530, Nov 7 at 0637 UT, EZL music from R. Enciclopedia (overdue for a new name), CUBA, can be heard without K530AM Vance AFB QRM if I null the latter, far enough away from the 10?-watt pointless TIS, still playing in rotation same old stale off- topic PSAs from Ad Council as in previous years. If not completely nulled, makes fast SAH, as reactivated K530AM is slightly off- frequency to low side. If there is ever an emergency at the base, I`ll be listening whether the nonsense be overridden for something useful (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 960, Nov 7 at 0727-0730+ UT, local KGWA Enid is open carrier/dead air with some hum, and nulling it as much as possible at 0729 UT I can hear one or two English stations, but no ID. The ones I used to get most in the midnight Fox-hole were KMA IA and KGKL TX. No telling how long before or after this KGWA was moribund (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1210, Nov 10 at 0143 UT, KGYN Guymon is buried in QRM, and has been for the past several nights, implying that finally after months they have resumed proper night pattern with a null toward Philadelphia and almost toward Enid. 1210, Nov 11 at 0451 UT, KGYN Guymon is again dominant, so back on day pattern, ``From the 90`s till now, Today`s Country, 1210, KGYN`` and ``Today`s Country for Elkhart, 1210 KGYN``. That means nearby Elkhart KS, but tonight including Elkhart IN (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1270, Nov 8 at 0115 UT, KRXO Claremore (Tulsa), ID for ``NBC Sports Radio on 1270 AM and 107.9 FM, KRXO The Fan`` --- huh? They were an outgrowth of 107.7 KRXO in OKC; while 1270 goes on and on with national ads, PSAs, NBCSR promos at least until 0121 UT, 107.7 is amid play-by-play of some SBG. Originally 1270 was // 107.7 but way out of synchrony. Now it`s independent with its own FM, but wonder of wonders, the 250-watt translator is not getting top billing (yet?) Here`s the info about 107.9 in Broken Arrow, K300CY: http://licensing.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/prod/cdbs/pubacc/prod/sta_det.pl?Facility_id=157502 showing its primary as KTUZ, all owned by Tyler Media; this page not updated for KRXO call-change on 1270 (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 1650, Nov 6 at 0659 UT, KFSW Sallisaw, still claiming to be with its singing ID, ``Arklahoma`s talk radio, KYHN Fort Smith``. Probably paid a pretty penny for their jingle package which the call change will obsolete, if they ever admit new identity (why not ``Oklansas``?) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OMAN. R Sultanate Oman on 15140 kHz when checked back at 1525 UT is continuing in English with its relay of 90.4 FM transmission well past scheduled end time of 1500. Nominally should be Arabic programme now. Strong signal here (Alan Roe, Teddington, UK, Nov 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Right you are, mate, same here checking around 1510 and I can still hear English hits instead of usual Arabic programs (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, Sent from my iPad, ibid.) 9540.0 - When checked 31 mb at remote SDR station in Doha, Qatar, came across light pop music station in English on that channel. According to B-15 HFCC list, scheduled 02-03 UT Arabic, 03-04 UT English RSO Radio Oman from Thumrait site, at 220 degree azimuth towards East and Central Africa. Noted on air still at 0425-0435 UT Nov 7. S=8-9 on sidelobe in Qatar remote SDR post (Wolfgang Büschel, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Nov 7, dxldyg via DXLD) Or was it Nov 8? ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA [and non-log]. 3260, NBC Madang seems to be the only semi-active NBC station currently being heard. Nov 2 noted 1215*; only open carrier. No 3275 nor 3365. Nov 3, at 1202 with "NBC News in brief"; best reception in a while; news, sports & weather ("showers"); 1207 "NBC National Radio" ID; 1208* suddenly off. No 3275 nor 3365. Nov 4, at 1148, with no 3260, 3275 nor 3365 (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU [and non] 5980, Nov 8 at 0055, JBA carrier from R. Chaski; 0059 joined by a weaker one from BBC UAE, making the usual double- pitch het with BFO since they are a few Hz apart. Restoring a weaker single-pitch carrier from UAE only, R. Chaski cuts off at 0110:08*, which is 32.5 seconds later than last check Nov 3 at 0109:35.5, or an average of 6.5 seconds later per diem (noctem?). By the time it precesses to as much as 10 minutes ``late``, R. Chaski should be about to reset the slippery clocktimer closer to 0100*. 0138 recheck, no carrier as BBC runs only until 0130. 5980, Nov 10 at 0108, two very weak carriers beating against each other as made obvious by BFO USB offtuned about 0.3 kHz below on the NRD-545; at 0109:22.5, one goes off early, but only briefly as a temporary failure. Chaski goes off for good at 0110:20.5* which is 12.5 seconds later than a binite ago, Nov 8 at 0110*08, i.e. 6.25 seconds later per; while BBCWS via UAE remains (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5980. R. CHASKI, 11/11 2336 UT. Programa “Momento Decisivo” sobre la reina Esther y su petición contenida en el capítulo 5 de su libro. SINPO: 54444. RX: Realistic DX-160. ANT: 45 metros de antena de hilo, más antena de tierra y balún de ferrita 9:1 QTH: Ovalle, IV Región, Chile (Claudio Galaz, condiglista yg via DXLD) ** POLAND. Whither Poland 225 LW?? Several recent checks across all hours of the day & night, via the Twente SDR remote receiver, have failed to produce any signal whatsoever from Poland's LW monster on 225 kHz. Is it gone for good, or down for some long-running maintenance? Perhaps we've lost yet another LW-AM signal to the ravages of history? (- - GREG HARDISON, CA, Nov 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Temporarily off for maintenance; see DXLD 15-44 (gh) ** RUSSIA. Recently surfaced theme "Hummer ..." 01/11/2015 took it with great quality at 4625 kHz and 6998 kHz in parallel on. In the final frequency - the signal was weaker. But at first glance it seemed to synchronous transmission. I tried on two receivers. Reception hours from 0900 to 1200 UT (Konstantin Aseev, Kursk, Russia / "deneb-radio- dx" via RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD) ** SLOVAKIA [non]. 9955, Nov 6 at 1350, REI in Spanish, for at least the third day, instead of scheduled RSI in English from 1330, via WRMI 9955, Nov 11 at 0530, WRMI with Radio Eslovaquia Internacional, VP at S3. Sked now shows 4 daily (or almost) REI Spanish relays, at 0330, 0530, 1130, 1330, but NO English, leaving that and Slovak for other frequencies (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALILAND. 7120.0-LSB, Nov 9 at 0333, S5 carrier presumed R. Hargeisa just after sign-on, and I find no modulation if tuned in the USB mode on the NRD-545, but just barely modulated when tuned in LSB mode, altho that also picks up CW QRhaM. Is this station habitually on LSB only? Recheck at 0355, now there is a Spanish ham on 7120-LSB, still a JBA carrier too (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 5980, R. Sondergrenese, 0328 Oct 3. Man in English with station info, noisy signal but heard South Africa mentioned followed with YL with weather, weak signal on 3320 separate program in Afrikaans at 0335 but heard name Richard Marx during the music program (Mike Yohnicki, London, ON, DX394, Antron 99 antenna, Hallicrafters SX110, 60 ft longwire or 102" whip, November CIDX Messenger via DXLD) 3320 is Sonder Grense, but 5980 is Channel Africa, different SABC services (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. 6155, Nov 9 at 0335, Channel Africa with long promo for its coverage of some summit in Jo`burg 29 Nov to 3 Dec; 0336 `Rise & Shine` program ID. Good at S9+25, even tho azimuth of the 250 kW from Meyerton is 19 degrees during this hour only in English; a few minutes later a much weaker signal on 3345, presumably same, which is 100 kW at 5 degrees from 03 to 05, both M-F only as nothing happens on weekends (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) B15 schedule for Channel Africa (all Mon-Fri only) 0300-0400 English 3345-me 6155-me 0400-0500 English 3345-me 0500-0600 English 7230-me 0600-0700 English 7230-me 15255-me 0700-1200 English 9625-me 1200-1400 Nya/Loz 9625-me 1400-1500 Portugu. 9625-me 1500-1600 English 9625-me 1500-1600 Swahili 17770-me 1600-1700 French 15235-me 1700-1800 English 15235-me (HFCC via Nov BDXC-UK Communication via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** SOUTH CAROLINA [non]. 9980, Overcomer Ministry via WWCR Nashville TN (presumed); 2150-2202+, 7-Nov; Bro. HyStairical totally blowing a gasket claiming to be "the only prophet", then interrupted his gasketblowing with an Overcomer spot; No ToH ID break into Alexander Scourby Bible reading; B.S. interrupted him; as he usually does to continue his propheteering. S10 (Frodge-DXP) 11825, Overcomer Ministry via WRMI Radio Miami Int'l (presumed); 1429- 1440+, 7-Nov; Bro. HyStairical on a stream of consciousness rant; "The Japanese Empire was becoming militarily militant", "People will ride in driverless, egg-shaped cars", "Women will adopt the clothing of men", "A cruel woman will seek power in the U.S.", "If she's elected, the last days won't be far behind us" (far ahead of us?) and regarding the Russian airliner crash, "Who done this?" (All this & more in 11 minutes!) S15 peaks (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SPAIN. 1755 kHz: See BALEARIC ISLANDS ** SPAIN. AS SPAIN'S MEDIA INDUSTRY CHANGES RAPIDLY, SOME WORRY ABOUT OBJECTIVITY --- By RAPHAEL MINDERNOV. 5, 2015 [. . .] Pablo Casado, a conservative lawmaker who is a spokesman for Mr. Rajoy's Popular Party, said he was unaware of any complaint from journalists about political interference. "I don't see a problem with the press in Spain," he said. Still, the government has taken steps to increase its control over RTVE, Spain's public television and radio broadcaster. In 2012, Mr. Rajoy's government introduced a law that allows the government to appoint RTVE's boss without the consent of other political parties. While the management denies editorial interference, Alejandro Caballero Mateos, a journalist who is president of RTVE's newsroom committee, listed a dozen examples this year of news items that, he said, RTVE purposefully played down or ignored. Those included RTVE's coverage of a report by Amnesty International, without citing its criticism of Spain, including its gag law. RTVE, the committee found, ignored news about a possible conflict of interest between Cristóbal Montoro, Mr. Rajoy's budget minister, and contracts signed by a company he founded. In July, the committee also found, RTVE played down a judge's report about one of Spain's largest corruption investigations, involving a group of conservative politicians accused of negotiating kickbacks on 250 million euros, about $272 million, in public contracts. In an emailed response, RTVE denied any censorship. While Amnesty International's criticism of Spain was not reported on its main afternoon news report, RTVE said it was mentioned in other programs and on its website. The past business dealings of Mr. Montoro, the budget minister, were not under court investigation, which justified not reporting on them, the station said. Newsroom conflicts have also heated up at El Pais, which established itself as Spain's leading newspaper in the late 1970s when it chronicled Spain's transition from dictatorship to democracy. The newspaper's editor, Antonio Cano, recently quashed an attempt by members of its newsroom committee to organize a vote of confidence over his leadership. [. . .] http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/06/world/europe/as-spains-media-industry-changes-rapidly-some-worry-about-objectivity.html?ref=todayspaper (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** SPAIN. Strong signal on 9690 kHz this evening around 2045 UT. // 15390 and 15500 kHz much weaker. 11530 kHz not heard at all. But the signal on 9690 kHz ended abruptly at 2051 and did not come back (at least not by 2150). – (Richard Langley, NB, Nov 10, dxldyg via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. 11905, Nov 10 at *0114:10.5 JBA carrier on from SLBC, 0114:49.5 music prélude starts; a single mis-time pip audible at 0115:09.5 before sign-on announcement (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN SOUTH [non]. 15400, Nov 6 at 1514, YL ID for R. Tamazuj and several ``kHz`` mentions in Arabish, no doubt citing own frequencies rather than a DX program; fair here and also on poor 15550, which is about a sesquisecond ahead, i.e. two different transmitter sites. HFCC will not break out specific services under the PNW registration, but shows 15550 is VATICAN at 1500-1630, i.e. followed by R. Dabanga, while 15400 is via FRANCE at 1500-1530 only Tamazuj. Trying to remember the third frequency, I try 15150, but that`s AWR via Germany. HFCC shows 13800 is also PNW at 1500-1630, switching from Madagascar to Vatican at 1600. Which means that siteswitch still comes in the middle of the Dabanga broadcast rather than between Tamazuj and Dabanga. One might be amused by observing any overlap around 1557-1600 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN SOUTH [non]. Re: FRANCE, No signal of Radio Miraya effective from November 25 [sic]: 0300-0600 on 11560*ISS 250 kW / 130 deg to EaAf Eng/Ara in B-15 [SIC: means 11560 in A-15] 0300-0600 on 9940 ISS 250 kW / 130 deg to EaAf Eng/Ara in B-14 (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) Means certainly October 25? Would be a closure after exactly eight years, and it would be no surprise, considering that they claim to meanwhile have 26 FM transmitters: http://radio-miraya.org/about/ Their shortwave run started in 2007 at Rimavská Sobota, and when they left for another transmission provider in 2011 it spelled the end for this facility because operating it only a few hours on just three days a week, for what's left at Nexus-IBA, was of course not viable. Then they were for a year one of the very last shortwave transmission customers in the Ukraine until the SW transmitters at the Luch facility had been decomissioned in 2012 as well. Next stations were Kostinbrod, Grigoriopol and finally Issoudun if I recall correct (Kai Ludwig, Nov 5, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. RADIO TAIWAN INTERNATIONAL SEEKS YOUR MEMORABILIA Via Thomas Witherspoon, The SWLing Post Many thanks to SWLing Post contributor, David Iurescia (LW4DAF), for sharing information about this initiative by Radio Taiwan International: http://events.rti.org.tw/big5/2015Activity/2015collect/en/index.aspx Radio Taiwan International began broadcasting in 1928. In an era when information did not travel as quickly as today, RTI programs could be heard thousands of miles away by people like you. If RTI has touched you in any way over the years, let us travel back in time together to look back at the voices, letters, and memorabilia of RTI’s history. RTI invites you to take part in piecing together the history of RTI with any sounds and memorabilia you may have collected throughout the years. Your participation will help us commemorate RTI’s precious history. […]RTI is inviting listeners to lend/donate RTI memorabilia from 1928 to 1998, including QSL cards, sounds, and other items from the Central Broadcasting System, Voice of Free China, Voice of Asia, and the Broadcasting Corporation of China (BCC). Items to be collected? Sounds: Tapes of programs, news broadcasts, and records from the above stations can be sent or e-mailed to RTI. Items: Station gifts to listeners, letters, QSL cards, pennants, and other souvenirs. Mailing the items is preferred. You can also send pictures of the items. Historical pictures or videos related to RTI. If material is received from the 1928-1982 period, and is perceived to have historical significance to the station, there will be the following feedback: The official station site will list those who donated and the items donated. RTI will send a thank you letter and souvenir. If the item is from 1983 or later, RTI will send a nice souvenir to thank for the item. If the donated item cannot be put in our archive, the station will send a thank you letter. (RTI reserves the right to make final decisions on the collection) Full details about the archive initiative are available at Radio Taiwan International (Nov CIDX Messenger via DXLD) ** TAJIKISTAN. Location in map antennas Tropical wave Radio BBC Uzbek 4790 kHz relay from Dushanbe, Yangiyul - Tajikistan https://www.google.com/maps/@38.478933,68.805778,855m/data=!3m1!1e3 Note that these same antennas airs the radios: - Tajik Radio 1 - Radio Free Asia - Voice of Tibet - CMN Khmer Radio - National Unity Broadcasting Station. UBS (Daniel Wyllyans, Nova Xavantina MT Brazil, via RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD) 4 radio towers, rectangle or //ogram in the middle; could be MW array. I rather doubt that these would serve for multiple SW frequencies and bands. How many transmitters are there at Yangiyul? WRTH 2015 page 487 says Teleradiokom has SW: 1 x 50 kW, 5 x 100 kW, as well as on MW, 150 and 100 kW. (The other site, Orzu, on SW: 2 x 1000 [sic] kW; and operated on behalf of IBB/USA: SW, 1 x 250, 1 x 500 kW; On MW, 1000, 300 and 500 kW; for IBB, 800 kW) (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** THAILAND. 13745, HSK9 Radio Thailand; 0009, 7-Nov; Thai travel spot into English commentary re economic development in Thailand. Need USB due to heavy splash from Cuba in Spanish on 13740 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. 12035, Nov 6 at 1351, VOT English, poor, but much better than usual, into `Eco-Friendly Turkey` segment; 1407 recheck nice Turkish music, as the second half of broadcasts are mostly music. Transmission break of less than a minute at 1413, but when it cuts back on, seems noticeably weaker; what happened? Maybe discovered belatedly to be on wrong azimuth? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5960, Voice of Turkey; 2321-2327+, 6-Nov; English Turkish news to 2322 "Eco-Friendly Tips", nothing specific, all philosophical; 2325+ "Question of the Month". SIO=3+54- (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi All, For some reason, today's 1330 UT broadcast by the Voice of Turkey came up on 12040 and not the usual 12035 kHz. There was some interference from another station on the channel (probably Iran), so I suspect this might have been a mistake rather than a frequency change as 12035 was clear at that time. They still listed 12035 in the schedule at the end of the programme, so it will be interesting to see if things are back to normal again tomorrow (Alan Gale, Nov 10, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 26110/FM, KMK282, KOVR-TV Sacramento CA studio relay; 1602, 7-Nov; Good Day Sacramento; Sacramento & CA news; local weather -- snow down 4500' & 10" above 8000'. VGood peaks to zilch (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Very depressed propagation conditions around 0630 UT Nov 6: 9 MHz almost dead; 11 MHz not much but usual VG signal from 11725 NZ, with 11780 Brasil much weaker than usual; US stations on 6 MHz weakened, and even 4840 WWCR. But VOA English news inbooming on 6080, tnx to equatorial SAO TOME site, and despite seemingly unfavorable 20 degree azimuth at 05-07. 6080, Nov 7 at 0627, very strong open carrier, as VOA is about to start; 0630 recheck with rock music, evidently JIP as this is Saturday, instead of news, and as everyone knows, nothing ever happens on weekends. Registered as SAO TOME as I noted in Oct 30 log, and still as such in latest HFCC B-15 info. However, this is so strong that I am now suspecting that Greenville is substituting, perhaps for maintenance at Pinheira; also that should have been on continuously from 0500 to 0700. 6080, Nov 8 at 0634, VG signal from VOA with rock music. I can now confirm that contrary to B-15 scheduling, this is indeed Greenville, substituting for São Tomé which has transmitter or antenna problems. On weekdays the 0630-0700 segment broadcasts news. 6080, Nov 10 at 0630, VOA still good signal but some of that dratted Cuban pulse jamming also audible; Greenville instead of Pinheira, with `International Edition` news magazine. But I must wonder if it`s up- to-date, as BBG Watch critix have charged some of these are reruns. 6080, Nov 11 at 0630, now VOA is very poor, if that`s what I am hearing, weaker than 6005 BBC Ascension, so apparently handed this transmission back to SAO TOME. Closer US signals, however, from TN are quite degraded, on 4-5-6 MHz, while Anguilla and Cuba remain VG (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Later back to GB ** U S A. 7425.01, Nov 10 at 0154, Vatican Radio in Italian-accented Spanish about You Know Who, almost 100% readable at S9, much stronger than R. Martí audio on this leapfrog from Greenville, violating Separation of Church and State, of 7305.01 intentional Vatican relay, S9+40, over 7365 Radio Martí at S9+45 (including jamming). Bits of RM audio can also be heard underneath VR on 7305 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. B15 schedule V of America English on SW to Africa: 0300-0400 909-bo 1530-sa 4930-bo 6080-va 15580-kt 0400-0500 909-bo 1530-sa# 4930-bo 4960-sa 6080-sa 15580-kt 0500-0600 909-bo 4930-bo 6080-sa 15580-bo 0600-0700 909-bo 1530-sa 6080-sa 9550-sa 15580-bo 1400-1500 4930-bo 6080-bo 15580-bo 17885-sa 1500-1600 4930-bo 6080-bo 15580-bo 17895-sa (mo-fr Border Crossings) 1600-1700 909-bo 1530-sa 4930-sa 6080-bo 9915-ud 15580-bo 17895-va 1700-1800 6080-sa 9915-ud 13590-kt#sa## 15580-bo 17895-va 1800-1830 909-bo(SaSu) 4930-bo 6080-sa 13590-la 15580-bo 1830-1900 909-bo(SaSu) 4930-bo 6080-sa 13590-la 15580-bo 1900-2000 909-bo 4930-bo 6080-sa 13590-sa 15580-bo 2000-2100 909-bo 1530-sa 4930-bo 4940-sa(SaSu)## 6080-sa 15580-va 2100-2200 1530-sa 6080-sa 15580-gr (HFCC) B15 schedule for VOA Studio 7 to Zimbabwe in Shona/Ndebele/English 1700-1800 909-bo 4930-bo 13860-sa 15460-sa 1800-1900 909-bo 13860-sa 15460-sa (HFCC) B15 schedule for VOA Sudan in Focus in English to Sudan/South Sudan 1630-1700 Mo-Fr 11900-me 15180-va 13865-wo (HFCC via Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) # and ## not explained! Sites not explained here either, and are not standard as in other references. bo = Botswana; sa = São Tomé; va = Vatican [violating Separation of Church & State]; kt = Kuwait; ud = Thailand; la = Germany; gr = USA. Note: substitutions may be made without notice, e.g. 6080 Greenville instead of sa at 0630 (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Hopefully conditions will improve again soon, since this past weekend, for the first time this year, I wasn't even able to get an audible signal from the VOA Radiogram via Greenville on 19 or 16 m due to unusually poor reception. Best regards (Tobias (T²), Germany, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) VOA Radiogram changes to 5865 kHz Saturday 0930-1000 UT --- The VOA Radiogram broadcast Saturdays at 0930-1000 UTC will change to 5865 kHz effective 14 November. This should alleviate any interference experienced by the Colombian audience of Alcaraván Radio on 5910 kHz. This Saturday 0930-1000 UT transmission uses a dipole intended for the Caribbean, but it is often heard and decoded in the Asia-Pacific region. And in the weeks surrounding the winter solstice, this broadcast is also occasionally heard (or decoded, even if not heard) in Europe. VOA Radiogram transmission schedule (all days and times UT): Sat 0930-1000 5865 kHz Sat 1600-1630 17580 kHz Sun 0230-0300 5745 kHz Sun 1930-2000 15670 kHz All via the Edward R. Murrow transmitting station in North Carolina (Kim Elliott, http://voaradiogram.net Nov 10, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. WORLD OF RADIO 1797 monitoring: confirmed Thu Nov 5 after 2100 on WRMI 7570, good. NOT confirmed UT Fri Nov 6 at 0225 on WBCQ 9330v-CUSB --- Should have shifted to 0200 UT, but I did not have a chance to check until 0225, and on two portables, no signal at all. Was it off? Or blotted by K-index of 3 at 00, 4 at 03 per WWV, altho no spaceweather storms before or predicted at that time. Could/did anyone hear this broadcast? Next: Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 to NE Fri 2130.5 WRMI 7570 to NW Fri 2330 WRMI 5850 to NW Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? Sun 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7570, WRMI Radio Miami Int'l; 2122-2200+, 6-Nov [Friday]; Wavescan hosted by Jeff White with segment from the Japan SW Club; 2129+ WRMI ID in English by Rudy Espinal; 2130 Glenn Hauser's World of Radio #1798; quoted an item by Ken Zichi regarding Channel Africa & mentioned MARE's tour of the VoA Bethany site conducted by John Vodenik, who passed away recently. 2200 into Bro. HyStairical. SIO=444 with brief warble QRM. W.O.R. was // 15770, SIO=3+54- and apparently went off at 2200 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1798 monitoring: confirmed Friday Nov 6 after 2130 on WRMI 15770 & WRMI 7570. The latter continues to be the better one here now. NOT confirmed Friday Nov 6 at 2330 on 5850, where had been for a few months. The WRMI frequency/program grid has now been updated to show this slot occupied by R. Ukraine International and // 11580 which is what I was hearing at 2357 check, but cut off in progress at 2359:30 for Keith Perron ID, and 0000 Nov 7 into RSI in Slovak. Another WOR broadcast dropped is Sunday 2300 on 11580. WOR also NOT confirmed Saturday Nov 7 at 1538-1557 on 7265-USB Hamburger Lokalradio; Utwente SDR is getting nothing but S Asian music from CRI Kashgar. (Last week WOR was well atop.) 1540 during talk segment I can now hear another station under but unsounds like me! Aoki shows Azad Kashmir Radio, 100 kW from Pakistan is also on 7265 at this time, but suspected it was imaginary. Next for WOR: Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GERMANY, 7265, Hamburguer LokalRadio, Göhren, 0740-0755, 07-11, English, Glenn Hauser's program "World of Radio". 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante and Lugo, Sangean ATS-090X, Tecsun PL880, Cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Should you be reading this in time, have a try at WA0RCR, 1860-AM, Wentzville MO, carrying WORLD OF RADIO 1798 at approx. 0415 UT Sunday Nov 8; otherwise, UT Monday 0400 on WBCQ 5109.7-CUSB or 0430 on WRMI 9955; etc. (Glenn Hauser, OK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1798 monitoring: confirmed UT Sunday Nov 8 at 0429 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, Missouri, at Egypt, which is 9 minutes into the program, so started circa 0420 this week. Next: Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello Glenn, 2015-11-10 --- Yet another (final I would think) note on the IRRS rebroadcasts of your show: it's unfortunately back to "business as usual", in other words, this past Sunday 2015-11-08, I have recorded the 846 kHz broadcast from about 2200z and the latest World of Radio was on past 2204 or so, but it ended abruptly again by 2215z (about 21 minutes into the attached recording, which suffered heavily from the poor propagation, heavy adjacent channel splatter and local QRM, yet slightly improving toward the end). So not really an option for us Europeans to get your updates reliably. The signal on 1368 kHz is usually a bit stronger but on the other hand has more co- channel interference. Best regards (Tobias (T²), Germany, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1798 monitoring: confirmed UT Monday November 9 starting at 0401:08 on Area 51 via WBCQ 5109.70-CUSB, right after Johnny Lightning finished. But very poor propagation tonight, S5 only here. WOR sounded a little louder than JL. Checked at 0340 Nov 9, WRMI 9955 is a JBA carrier, S3, very degraded propagation; likewise KVOH on 9975.0. By 0430 UT Monday Nov 9, I`m back on the WRMI webcast to confirm WOR 1798 still airing then. Next: Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW Complete WOR schedules, not only SW: http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html WORLD OF RADIO 1798 monitoring: Confirmed Wed Nov 11 after 1415 on WRMI 9955. Also confirmed Wed Nov 11 at 2200 on WBCQ 7490 --- now with a low audible het, from BBC Thailand, with WBCQ slightly off- frequency. WORLD OF RADIO 1799, ready for first SW broadcasts on Thu Nov 12: Thu 1230 WRMI 9955 to SSE Thu 2100 WRMI 7570 to NW Fri 0200 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW [please confirm; unheard last week] Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 to NE Fri 2130.5 WRMI 7570 to NW Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW WORLD OF RADIO 1799 monitoring: confirmed first SW broadcast, Thu Nov 12 after 1230, on WRMI 9955, atop some pulse jamming; tnx a lot, Arnie! Also confirmed Thu Nov 12 at 2100 on WRMI 7570; and UT Fri Nov 13 at 0200 on WBCQ, good signal but still way off frequency, approx. 9331.5-CUSB; the latter two on the PL-880 portable while in Oklahoma City. Next: Fri 2130 WRMI 15770 to NE Fri 2130.5 WRMI 7570 to NW Sat 0730 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 1530 HLR 7265-CUSB to SW Sat 2030v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? Sun 0415v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND? Mon 0400v WBCQ 5110v-CUSB Area 51 to WSW Mon 0430 WRMI 9955 to SSE Tue 1200 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 1415.5 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2200 WBCQ 7490v to WSW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7490.00, Fri Nov 6 at 2214, WBCQ seems right on-frequency during `Behaviour Night` = ancient music recordings, and VG signal with no BBC Thailand QRM audible. If/when WBCQ fades, skips over part of N America, BBC will likely appear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5109.7 [CUSB], WBCQ Monticello ME; 0057-0109+, 7-Nov; Two different repeated IDs to 0101:33 intro to Alan [sic] Weiner Worldwide to Wm. Tell Overture; fill-in host failed to ID himself. SIO=3+54 (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9330.1-CUSB, Nov 8 at 0046, hard rock music, but soon softer instrumental rock until 0059 with no announcements whatsoever. I assume it`s Radio Northern Ireland, which was planning to broadcast every Saturday night to North America on this frequency at 2300, I thought, evidently shifted to start at 0000 UT Sundays, but no such listing yet appears on the WBCQ 9330 program schedule. On a previous program, Jordan had said goodbye by :45 with nothing more but music then either. When it stops at 0059, WBCQ ID & IS loop plays for a minute, marred by some uteblaaps, 0100 sign-off announcement and off (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5109.698, carrier peak like, but audio portion heard on 5109.8 to 5113 kHz range, in peaks measured up to 5115.8 kHz. USA very odd frequency, pop hard rock concert heard from WBCQ Monticello at 0230 UT, USB mode signal (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, haven`t noted their other transmitter closer to 5110.0 on AM lately (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. Should Ramsey's Roadhouse cease at the end of this month as scheduled, that will be the end of me on the air anywhere. My recorded bits were on the old Trailer Trash Radio show years ago until almost the end of the program when there was a falling out between the host and myself. Was introduced to Jim Reynolds via email in the latter days of Trailer Trash Radio. He started Ramsey's Roadhouse about that time and I soon found out that he lived about forty miles away from me. We met eventually and have been to each others houses and eventually I filled half a cassette with little bits for his show and he has been using them for breaks in programming for several years now. Since there haven't been many other programs like this on WBCQ, I imagine that when Ramsey's Roadhouse goes dark I will also. It's been a hell of a run and a lot of fun (John H Carver, Jr., Mid-North Indiana, Nov 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s UT Tuesdays 0000 on WBCQ 7490v --- I tuned in at 0045 Nov 10 but discovered some other program as R.R. is only 30 minutes (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9331.465 approx., CUSB, Nov 10 at 0132, WBCQ with Blalock the blaster, way off-frequency this time (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9955, Nov 5 at 1334, WRMI is in Spanish, presumably R. Eslovaquia Internacional still in wrong language contrary to scheduled English (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also SLOVAKIA [non] 9955 WRMI Radio Miami Int'l (p); 1451-1500:07*, 7-Nov; Chipmunk-voiced huxtress ragging about using too much sugar; Amazing Facts on 3ABN. Program over at 1459:25, into Arabic music, then flute music and off without ID. SIO=3+44, no jamming (Chipmunk-voiced huxtresses are apparently acceptable) +++ 1139, 8-Nov; Non-B.S. huxter said, "We're mortal and one of these days, we're going to get a glorified body". (I look forward to that!) (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9955, WRMI revised program grid as of Nov 6 shows R. Eslovaquia Internacional in Spanish not only at 1130-1200 daily except Sundays, but also at 1330-1400 M-F! So my logs last few days of RSI in ``wrong`` language Spanish instead of English at 1330 are now contradicted by the schedule, as if intentionally changed, tho doesn`t make sense. Presumably R. Prague at 1300-1330 except Sundays remains in English; it`s shown as R. Praga Mon-Thu at 1100-1126. 9955, Nov 9 at 1303, WRMI with good signal playing big band music, presumably filler lacking R. Prague. 11580, Nov 10 at 0112, WRMI with drumming music, presumably more fill with the scheduled preacher program `Steve Weeks`, AWOL. BTW, the latest non-9955 program schedule grid now shows 11580 with identical shows every day at 0100-0200 and repeating at 0200-0300 UT too! BTW, you have to keep checking, as the ``effective date`` at the top of the page does not necessarily change from ``Nov 1`` with each modification (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Important Announcement from Adventist Word Radio The time has come for change. For the past quarter century and more, the Indianapolis address for Adventist Word Radio has received listener mail and reception reports from more than 100 countries all around the world. It has been our privilege to respond to all of the incoming mail, both postal and email, and to send out uncounted thousands of QSL cards. However, because of major health issues for us both (my wife as well as myself) and due to our advancing years (we are both nearing our mid-80s) it has become necessary for me to reduce my work load, just as soon as possible. It is with great reluctance that therefore I announce the fact that the processing of listener reception reports will be transferred from Indianapolis to a new address in Silver Spring Maryland. Staff at AWR headquarters will take over the processing of all reception reports addressed to Adventist World Radio. They are located in the building complex at the world headquarters of the Seventh-day Adventist denomination on the edge of suburban Washington DC. Effective at the end of the year, the Indianapolis post office box address will be closed, and emails addressed to the Indianapolis address will no longer be received. Likewise, postal mail addressed to the AWR street address in Indianapolis will no longer be processed locally. The new address for all reception reports addressed to Adventist World Radio worldwide is:- Box 10188, Silver Spring, MD 20914, USA. Every item of postal mail received at the Indianapolis box address up to December 31 will be processed here and QSL cards will be sent out in the usual way from this location. It will take some time, well into the New Year, to complete the processing of all pending mail, but each item will be processed and all QSL cards will be posted out. We might add that a new QSL card has just been received, and this card will be the last QSL card ever issued from this address. In addition, a new batch of many different types of AWR curios and souvenirs has been received, and these items will be sent out to listeners who enter our big annual DX contest. These souvenirs and curios will never become available again. Remember to enter our big annual DX contest which has been extended till the end of November. Many awards, and souvenirs, and new QSL cards are available, as well as a new award for listeners in New Zealand and Australia; a copy of the colorful Australian Radio History by Dr. Bruce Carty. In this year’s contest, you are invited to design the details for your own contest entry. You are invited to tell what is your best QSL since our last contest, and to provide three AWR reception reports. Complete details are available from many DX club magazines, and from various websites. You may also contact Wavescan in Indianapolis for an email version of the contest details. In order to grant opportunity for listeners in Australia and New Zealand, the closing date for the 2015 DX contest has been extended by one month. All entries worldwide now need to be postmarked by the end of November, and received at the Indianapolis postal address by the end of December. Details regarding the results of the contest will be announced in Wavescan in mid January. It is intended that the AWR DX program, “Wavescan”, will continue as usual in the same regular way. We are grateful for the DX reports from our DX reporters in India, Japan, Bangladesh, Philippines and Australia. We are grateful for the professional production of this weekly broadcast by Jeff White in the studios of WRMI in Okeechobee Florida, and for the reading of regular features by Ray Robinson in the studios of KVOH in Los Angeles, and for the widespread broadcast of Wavescan via the shortwave facilities of Adventist World Radio, WRMI, WWCR and KVOH. Dr. Adrian M. Peterson (via Tony Ashar, Indonesia, Nov 10, dxldyg via DXLD) Prayers to Adrian; he has been a SW QSL friend forever. 73, (Brandon Jordan, WA4230SWL, Fayette County, TN EM55gc http://www.swldx.us DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 15610, Nov 9 at 1411, WEWN English with long-path echo. This occasionally happens when the direct short-path is weak enough but propagation the other way around is hopping. As one of my closest SWBC stations (about the same distance as WWCR), that also makes it my farthest possible --- about 39 Megameters. In rough figures, the delay is 0.127 second, i.e. 38/300. It would be interesting if one could axually measure it. Per HFCC B-15, original azimuth for this is 335 degrees, which is close to usward but mostly skipping over as normally the case without Es enhancement or heightened F2 conditions. Come to think of it, instead of long-path minus short-path distance, considering the original beam angle, it could also be long-path plus short-path, minus short-path, i.e. the long route not coming from the opposite direxion, but from the same direxion, a little more than a full circuit of the globe, in which case the delay would be 0.133 second. Precise timing could confirm this one way or the other. BTW, 15610 allegedly employs three different azimuths: 335 at 14-15, 40 at 15-19, and 85 degrees at 19-24. One might detect considerable changes in strength at changeover times (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 3185, Nov 8 at 0101, WWRB is S8 but suptorted, modulation not making a connexion: wiggle that patchcord! Still same at 0142, nothing but scratching on 3185, while 5050 is VG, loud & clear (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5049.992, TOM BS program of WWRB, latter scheduled here 22-13 UT, noted at 0228 UT, also station address given at later check 0250 UT. S=8-9 medium level strength from Morrison TN (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ``Scheduled`` somewhere maybe, but 5050 not on the air much later than 0300, and quite variable before then; Viz.: 5050, Nov 10 at 0111, no signal from WWRB --- you never know whether this will be on or not, or for how long into the evening. 9370, VP signal still here, and I think 3185 was also on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 3215.000, WWCR noted at 0235 UT, alignment exactness checked against Canadian CHU time signal station 3330 kHz. S=9 signal strength observed in Alberta Canada remote SDR unit post. Sermon on devil, Kingdom of God, book of James, intelligence salvation stories given. Soundcaster service, - all strange to European ears ... phone #1 - 800 ...229 9965 (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also strange to rational American ears (gh, DXLD) 4839.9935, WWCR Nashville TN, at 0129 UT, tiny, S=3-4 seldom odd frequency from TN-US (Wolfgang Bueschel, fingerprints, quick log in Colombo CLN on Victor's remote SDR unit, Nov 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It`s only 6.5 Hz off (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. 6219.99, Nov 10 at 0152 UT, ranchera music makes S8, and soon ID as ``La Ranchera``. So the relay of WMDB 880 Nashville TN by WNQM 1300 Nashville TN is still getting shortwaved as a parasite to 7520 WWCR, 1300 kHz away from it (but nothing exceeding the noise level on matching 8820). 7520- is also very slightly on the low side while blasting at S9+55. Fortunately, on 6220, very little WWCR audio comes thru. There is intermittent ute QRM for which switching LSB/USB makes little difference. In B-15, the span on 7520 has expanded to 00- 03 UT Tue-Sat only, all of which is now after 1300 supposedly cuts from 50 kW ND day to 5 kW direxional night. Just before 0300 the same #4 transmitter changes to 5890, so one might find a corresponding - 1300 kHz spur on 4590 or maybe + 1300 at 7190 for the rest of the night, but so far I have not: filters might have been installed for those but never for 6220/8820 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also UNIDENTIFIED 4590 ** U S A. 5830, WTWW Lebanon TN (presumed); 1129, 8-Nov; Profusely Perverted Pastor Pete Peters; ran excepts from huxter Beane/Beame? shouting fire & brimstone stuff; PPPPP retorted that he was surprised that the audience seemed to be swayed & said, "You just can't get deep with certain people." S10 peaks (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5085, Nov 11 at 0512, WTWW-3 with Ted delivering a commercial for C Crane, 1-800-522-5863, about a radio with a ``cadimum`` battery, back to Art Bell`s `Midnight [sic] in the Desert` where it`s 9+ pm in Nevada. Original affiliation info from M[sic]ITD indicated breaks for local commercials are just before tops and bottoms of hours. I would assume C Crane is a national advertiser on M[sic]ITD, so Ted must be overriding one of those so he can mention WTWW, for a kickback? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Re: Good signal of WRNO New Orleans on Nov 4, 0200-0500 7504.8 RNO 50 kW 20 deg to NoAM English (Ivo Ivanov-BUL, hcdx via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews Nov 4) Yes, before I went to bed on local 0330 am CET time: 7504.748, odd frequency broadcast of WRNO New Orleans noted at 0228 UT on Nov 6, at S=7-8 signal level, bad propagation figures tonight (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WWBS Site --- Hi Ian and members, I don't know if this will be of any interest to this group, but I have just written and published a post about WWBS, Macon GA for my blog, the Mount Evelyn DX Report. It came about after some correspondence I had with Mike N3MCU who recently took some photos of the yagi antenna, still standing after all these years. There's a bit of station background info included as well. Anyway, you are welcome to check out the post at: http://medxr.blogspot.com.au/2015/11/whatever-happened-towwbs.html And if you have any further information that you think might be of value or interest to other readers, I'd gratefully receive that to share with other MEDXR readers. Best 73, (Rob Wagner VK3BVW, Nov 6, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) 11900 kHz, only limited hours; viz.: (gh) WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ---- WWBS? It's interesting to look back and reflect on the disappearing shortwave broadcasters from our past. Down in Macon, Georgia, USA there was once a private shortwave radio station with the callsign WWBS. Its programming largely consisted of religious content, and it maintained a schedule of weekend operation for approximately 2 hours on both Saturday and Sunday evenings (local Georgia time). Mostly the station schedule was 0000 to 0200 UTC, although sometimes it was noted opening up at 2300 UTC. WWBS began transmissions in December 1998 and continued till February 2003. The station was owned, built and operated by amateur radio operator Charles C. Josey K4LNL and his wife Jo Ann Josey K4LHO. Charles was an enthusiastic and extremely proficient constructor of ham radio equipment, and his residence was filled with old home brew transmitters, receivers and auxiliary equipment. One of Charles Josey's home brew transmitters You can still see some of the well-made home brew equipment Josey built by going to the following website: http://www.jamminpower.com/eBay/TMC/K4LNL.html So, I guess it was logical that Charles would also build and maintain the 50kW transmitter that broadcasts programs from WWBS. I believe the signal transmitted was upper sideband and carrier (no LSB), although I can't confirm this fact. In just over four years of operation, WWBS transmitted mainly on 11900 kHz, but was also known to swap to other nearby outlets of 11905, 11910 and 11915 kHz. The large 4-element rotatable yagi antenna on the roof of a building in downtown Macon was also designed and constructed by Josey, who is reported as saying it was 140 feet high (42 metres). In a recent Facebook forum, Charles Pennington reports that the antenna is delta fed with 450 ohm balanced line for broad bandwidth. It's SWR was measured good from around 9 MHz to 13 MHz enabling it to cover both the 31 and 25 metre bands. The transmitter operated from 300 Poplar Street, Macon, GA. (Coordinates: 32 49 56 N Latitude 083 37 34 W Longitude). Pop the address into Google Maps and you can still see the antenna (and its shadow) sitting high on top of this old building, which is labeled on the map as "Christ Chapel The Warehouse"! Google Street View Today, the huge yagi antenna still remains, as can be seen from these closeup photos below, taken last year by Mike Doughney N3MCU (and used with his permission - thanks Mike!) Click on each image for a closer view. Mike Doughney N3MCU (used with permission) Mike Doughney N3MCU (used with permission) Mike Doughney N3MCU (used with permission) Mike Doughney N3MCU (used with permission) The station appears to have been a regular verifier of reception reports with a large QSL Certificate, although it seems that for some listeners, a reply could take many months to arrive! The verification signer was usually Jo Ann, however, Charles was also known to sign the odd QSL, too. The station address was given as Radio Station WWBS, P. O. Box 18174, Macon, GA 31209. However, in response to one listener, Charles suggested that mail to this address was unreliable and that a better address for reception reports was 965 Hickory Ridge Drive, Macon, GA 31024 USA. This may have been the home address of the Josey family. So why did WWBS suddenly disappear from the shortwave bands? Well, Charles died on February 28, 2003. And as he was the owner/operator of the station, WWBS died along with him. We don't know what happened to the transmitter and studio equipment. I believe it was later sold, but the antenna still remains. I would be interested if readers have any further information. Never heard WWBS before? Well, over at IntervalSignals.net, there is a recording of the opening announcement. Check it out: http://www.intervalsignals.net/Files/usa-z-wwbs_ga_270200.m3u 73, and have a great weekend, everyone! Rob Wagner VK3BVW (via DXLD) Yes, very interesting reading, several bits of info I didn't know. I recall commenting to members in the past when SV first become available that it was noted that the SW antenna still remained. I guess it would cost a significant about of money to remove the antenna, but it was nice to be able to see clearer SV pics of the site each time Google did a combination of new SV passings & camera resolution upgrades. I have however wondered about the current usage of the building, though. Contributions like this Rob are always welcome. Stories of TX sites & the people employed at the sites etc. (Ian, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** U S A. WTJC Shortwave, 9370 kHz. QSL card, sticker + FBN card received in 16 days from Mrs Robinson. Reception report sent to Fundamental Broadcasting Network, 520 Roberts Road, Newport, NC 28570, USA (Tom Read, Macclesfield, Cheshire, Yaesu FT-897 + 25m Inv-L, Citroën car radio, Eton Global G3, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) !! WTJC has been off the air for years. WWRB quickly glommed onto same frequency, ex-9380. An annoying thing about most QSL report columns is NOT publishing the date or time of the original logging being verified, sometimes not even the frequency. They also excessively employ abbrs. There is nothing to indicate that this and many other QSLs from same reporter are not current, but possibly was a long- delayed follow-up. If not, FBN is still cluelessly verifying a defunct station! We last heard WTJC in Dec 2011, as in DXLD 11-49 and by Sept 2012, it was being scrapped, as in DXLD 12-37 and 12-39 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. In local radio news, KFNS, 590, Wood River IL, is back on the air as of November 5; the station is now broadcasting a mix of sports and local talk from Internet station Inside STL; they simulcast KXFN 1380 (the station never did change to KRFT) during daylight hours. Both stations are being leased by Inside STL from Grand Slam Sports. The on-air lineup is anchored by two of the more controversial personalities in St Louis radio history: JC Corcoran and Kevin Slaten (Eric Bueneman, 631 Coachway Lane, Hazelwood, Missouri 63042-1347, DX Forum, IRCA DX Monitor Nov 14 via DXLD) Was originally WRTH (gh) ** U S A. 600, Nov 8 at 0127 UT, ad for Kelowna Auto! Has me going, but isn`t the BC station on 600, CKBD, in Vancouver, and also gone for good? No, it must be merely WMT Cedarapids IA, as they continue with ``on highway 1 south of Iowa City``. However, I don`t find any such hiway around Iowa City, but the Trans-Canada Hiway is not too far (north) of Kelowna; hmm. I must suppose this Auto bizness in IA is otherwise spelt too (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 670, Nov 5 at 0722 UT as I tune across, ID for ``98.9 FM, Caddo Country``, i.e. KHGZ, 5 kW DAYTIMER in Glenwood AR, having abandoned its porcine identity. Nevertheless, FCC AM Query thinx its call remains KHGZ, since Feb 1, 2013, ex-KWXI, ex-KQAC. Makes SAH of about 4 Hz with WSCR, but quite mutually nullable at close to right angles. I first reported the flip from silly sportstalk to country music on Oct 28; Paul Walker says they were also on air earlier this UT day well after sunset. [non]. 670, Nov 6 at 0640 UT, Cuban music from R. Rebelde is now unimpeded by cheatin` daytimer KHGZ Caddo Country, Arkansas. What happened? 670, Nov 10 at 0148 UT, ``Caddo Country, FM 98.9 and AM 670`` IDs, country music. Dominating WSCR Chicago unless I null this, from Glenwood AR, daytimer resuming on late and maybe to be all-night again. The name probably derives from the Caddo River in the ARea, as the Caddo Nation/Tribe HQ is in Binger OK. I`ve yet to hear them utter KHGZ, but presumably do so at hourtop legal ID time only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 690, KEWI, Benton AR - 1100 UT 10/13/2015 - With very fast rapid-fire multi-call-letter ID, too fast to comprehend with at least three calls given in quick succession, mention of Arkadelphia and Malvern and then into ABC News at TOH, prominent on the Southwest phased BOGs, new (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD) 690 has been KAFN for about 3 months now. The other towns mentioned are stations they simulcast with (Paul B Walker, Jr., Nov 9, ibid.) Paul, this may be true. But just to be clear, KAFN wasn't the call sign used when I heard them on the morning of October 13th. "690 KEWI" was clearly announced, for what it's worth to anyone trying to log them. Thanks (-Tim, ibid.) Well, interesting; then they are [NOT] ID'ing properly (Paul, ibid.) ** U S A. 770, Nov 9 at 0350 UT, national adstring culminating in fleaspray.com at 0353 UT, presumably from KKOB and KKOB, and this time I detect a very slight reverb, as if the two transmitters are not precisely synchronized --- which they really need to be, to avoid self-QRM between Santa Fe and Albuquerque. Also another station in English QRMing, KAAM TX? 770, Nov 10 at 0147 UT, mention of Sandoval County, i.e. KKOB New Mexico, and with a light reverb, again implying I am getting both transmitters, the 50 kW main one in the north valley of Albuquerque, with a null toward WABC and almost toward me; and the ND 230-watt night-only fill-in for Santa Fe. Unless, of course, they are deliberately introducing reverb for effect in the studio, but I doubt it (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 780-USB, Nov 11 at 0453 UT, country music, but on 780-LSB, no country music, just WBBM without QRM, unlike on the hi side. Therefore KCEG Fountain CO is another station with suppressed LSB (but full carrier, presumably), like KHAC 880 NM. 0459-0500 UT going from bluegrass to country tune, pause but no ID at all. Does anyone know of others? Guess we always need to switch LSB/USB with any new catch. Yes, I made sure the passband tuning on the NRD-545 was neutral, and L/U`d it several times to be certain (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Doing another review and found that 880 WPIP [1800 W D1, Winston-Salem NC] is AM with LSB ONLY (no USB component), just like 870 WPWT 10000 W D1, Colonial Heights TN] Interesting (Dave Valko, PA, Nov 13, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KOA 850 AM simulcasts on FM 94.1 ---- For all of the AM radio DXers in the crowd, I shouldn't even have to ask you if you've ever heard powerhouse AM broadcaster KOA 850 Denver, Colorado. They are among the original clear channel AM broadcasters. On November 1, 2015, sportscaster Dave Logan (Denver Broncos announcer) announced in their pregame show that KOA is OFFICIALLY on FM radio. They also unveiled their new station logo, reflecting the addition of the FM frequency. Here is the story from the Denver Business journal: http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2015/11/01/koa-radio-expands-to-fm.html The story is rather vague, though, about who the station at 94.1 is. They don't say the call letters are actually KOA-FM. For the longest time it was a low powered translator near Boulder (K231AA, 205 watts). Does anyone know the scoop on how they are going to manage a full power station on 94.1? If not a full power signal to cover all of the metro area, it seems a waste of effort. The last time I checked, 93.9 had KCWA Loveland CO at 40 miles north of Denver, and KYSL Frisco CO at 72 miles west of Denver; and on 94.3, there is KMAX Wellington-Fort Collins CO, 50 miles north. I was just listening to the Broncos-Colts game yesterday on AM 850 and Dave Logan and the promos kept repeating that KOA is now also at FM 94.1 (Jim Thomas, Springfield, MO, Nov 9, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) They bought K231BQ (250 watts) Golden. They also have a lease agreement to take control of it immediately. The intermediary is KBCO HD3 and KBCO is listed as the new originating station in the pending FCC application to sell to iHeart (Raymie Humbert, AZ, ibid.) It seems rather odd they would make such a move to get KOA's signal on FM, by way of two translator stations. And they spent almost a million dollars for K231BQ (Golden). When I lived SW of Greeley (45 miles N of Denver), I could receive K231AA (Boulder) at my house IF I turned the yagi directly toward them. I could turn the antenna from the SE to the N and completely lose their signal. In the car K231AA was barely audible. I can't see how iHeart managers think two translators that are technically in the Foothills are going to offer any type of service to a market of two million people. And to think, Boulder is right next to the Flatiron Range (small strip of the Front Range), which really contains a high concentration of iron ore. The Flatirons work wonders with creating RF hell for radio listeners in the Boulder Valley (Last edited by Jim Thomas; 11-09-2015 at 11:51 PM, ibid.) MORE about KOA: see 1550, KBUD below ** U S A. 880-CUSB, Nov 5 at 1301 UT, hymn in Navajo, 1302 UT English ID as KHAC, Tse Bonito NM, and reciting Psalm XXIII in English. Seems always on 10 kW day power ND, penetrating far to the east at night unlike compliers 770 KKOB and 660 KTNN (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 910, Nov 8 at 1319 UT as I tune in, promo for NPR All Things Considered on Iowa Public Radio, so ex-WOR affiliate WSUI Iowa City (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. CONSTRUCTION PERMITS FOR EXISTING STATIONS Applications for CPs filed: 1120, KLIM, CO, Limon – Applies for D5 50000 (CH 3000) from two new sites; main day directional from two new towers at 39-12-07/104-20-44 and CH non-directional from the existing tower of K210CC and K220IK at 39-22-34/103-41-41 (David Yocis, AM Switch, NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD) Wow, bigsig if approved, but still not at night, pace KMOX (gh) ** U S A. 1150, Nov 8 at 0122 UT, promos for programs on ``Newstalk 1150, WHBY``, at least three of them so three such IDs, then mentions Wisconsin Badgers; surprised to hear this dominating 1150 as I tune across, rather than KSAL KS. NRC AM Log shows WHBY is 20/25 kW (yes, more at night), so no wonder it gets out, from Kimberley (Appleton) WI, U4. NRC Pattern Book shows very tight day and night patterns with huge lobe to the northeast! Must be out of whack, like non-direxional now; no wonder I haven`t heard it before. Looks like it should barrel into Europe if on proper patterns (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) It does come in well into Europe when conditions are good. I've not heard it for a while here, though (Andrew Brade, UK, MWCircle yg via DXLD) ** U S A. NRC AM Log Updates: 1160, KVCE, TX, Highland Park – Format to REL (ex-BIZ); slogan to “The Word,” delete nets, add // KWRD-FM- 100.7 (Bill Hale, NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD) So that answers our question, what format 1160 wound up with; since Salem moved the BIZ format to newly acquired KEXB 620; but the 620 ex- KMKI transmitter was briefly heard carrying KWRD programming during the transition (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. 1290, Nov 6 at 0707 UT, Jim Bohannon show about the National Radio Hall of Fame in Chicago, with guest Bruce DuMont, as tuxed JimBo has just emceed their annual awards show. DuMont founded the Museum of Broadcast Communications and is the nephew of Allan(sp?) DuMont, TV pioneer who started the first TV network (until 1955*; I remember seeing it during my earliest TV DXing days in NM). {or rather, probably in OKC 1954-1955, affiliate one of the early UHF stations, KMPT-19 or KTVQ-25.} Presumed this 1290 is Wichita Falls, but uplooked later in the station-finder, no, it`s from the opposite direxion, KOIL Omaha NE. Anyhow I soon switch to KSL 1160 UT where I know reception will be better, once I evade the IBOC from 1170 KFAQ (take that! KSL throws the same noise on KFAQ). Anyhow, it`s too late to keep listening, but this JimBo show should be of especial interest to broadcast historians, and they are available OD: not yet as of 1640 UT, but click on November 5 here: http://www.jimbotalk.net/programhighlights?pid=42031 http://www.radiohof.org/ for some details, and http://www.museum.tv/index.htm Before 0700 UT I was also hearing Bohannon on 680, i.e. KFEQ St Joseph MO, which plays the first hour at 0607 UT instead of live at 0307 UT (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Rather, not: see next issue ** U S A. 1380, Nov 11 at 0500 UT, USA ``news``, ``Good Gospel music on WKJV Asheville and WKJW Black Mountain [1010],``, local weather, 0501 UT into gospel huxter from Idaho. Quite a surprise, as I was just experimenting with trying to pull anything past my strongest local, 1390 KCRC and here`s something in NC, 859 miles away and beyond four other 1380s in between; LSB helped as well as the east-west Wellbrook. Only later did I see other reports of this, such as in NRC-AM list: ``At 2200 CST on Tuesday night 11/10, I am hearing WKJV Asheville NC dominating a very crowded 1380 kHz. This station has a day power of 25 kw ND and a night power of 1 kw and its night pattern throws its signal away from my QTH in Madison WI. This is a new station for me. Currently the station is carrying "The Gospel Hour" with Dr. Oliver B. Green. 73 Bill Dvorak Madison WI`` Yes, night pattern is supposed to throw southeast. I assume all broadcasters on WKJV must suppress/forsake all other versions of the Bible; but I doubt King James would recognize the American gospel music of today (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Wanted to thank Bill Dvorak for posting this last night to both the IRCA and NRC list. WKJV was an easy catch on my bedside portable last night, running a long list of local religious events such as revivals, gospel singing events, etc. It does appear that they had an automation issue, and were on day power/pattern. I tuned in around 3:15 AM [CST?] so the problem seems to have lasted overnight. Thank you for helping to put a new one in my log, Bill. My "DXing" hobby has become increasingly limited to these kinds of opportunities, as the pressures of work and life continue to mount. Weeks will go by without a single session at the dials, or even time to review SDR recordings (Les Rayburn, AL, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. 1380, Nov 11 just before 0502 UT as I have just IDed WKJV in Asheville NC, I catch another ID (nothing but) underneath, WLRM --- that`s in Millington TN, 2500/1000 watts U4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. First Christmas music of the season heard on 1390. On 11/4 at around 2300 ELT [=EST = 0400 UT Nov 5], I heard my first Christmas music of the season on 1390. I wasn't able to ID them because they faded down and I had other things I needed to go and do but I'm pretty sure it was KLGN, Logan, Utah. KLGN isn't consistently there at night here but does show up relatively often. They are normally AC/EZL & use the slogan "Lite 103.3," promoting their FM translator: K277BD. Around 0900 ELT, 11/6, while driving to work I noticed my local KISC(FM) "Kiss 98.1" playing solid Christmas music which will, of course, continue through 12/25. I believe this is lucrative for them as they sell sponsorships for it and have been doing this for many years. I called my wife at lunchtime to inform her that Kiss FM had gone all Christmas music, preempting their normal "Lite Rock," and she was excited. Kiss FM is her favorite station anyway. I'm with Rick Dau that Christmas music should appear only after Thanksgiving, and then only mixed in with the regular music. My normal response to Kiss FM is to remove them from my car radio presets until 12/26, although I haven't done this yet. My favorite station is Kool 107-1, KPKL Deer Park-Spokane, WA, which plays oldies from the 50's to the 80's, including many I haven't heard on the radio in decades. Where else can I hear "Pictures of Matchstick Man" by Status Quo (1968) or "Bad Time" by Grand Funk Railroad (1975). For years I've yearned for an oldies station that didn't play the same 300 oldies over & over but instead played lots of the thousands of popular old rock songs & KPKL does. Sorry if I've veered too far from the DX topic, but at least I didn't talk about how my local grocery store had a giant Halloween candy display up the last week of August, and the day after Halloween replaced them with Christmas candy (Stan "Bah Humbug!" Weisbeck, Spokane, WA, IRCA via DXLD) Stan, As we say down here in the South, "Preach it, brother!" I wish corporate America and especially broadcasters would get it through their heads that no one wants 90 straight days of the holiday season. What used to be a special few weeks has now grown to something to be dreaded. Enough already. -- 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, Maylene, AL EM63, ibid.) I wonder what USPS would do with grid locators, not ZIP codes? (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. SOUTH SUBURBAN CHICAGO AM STATION TURNS IN ITS LICENSE Chicago-market brokered-ethnic WCFJ/1470 has been taken silent by owner Newsweb, which will surrender the license to the FCC. Robert Feder says the station went dark Saturday, with Newsweb Radio President Charley Gross explaining that “the station was not profitable; we are turning in the FCC license.” Thousand-watt WCFJ Chicago Heights has a demanding technical array, which requires six towers for its daytime signal and three towers at night. It uses a total of eight sticks, in the farmland south of Chicago, serving the Indiana-Illinois state line. In addition to some talk stations, Fred Eychaner’s Newsweb operates three other ethnic stations in the Windy City (WSBC/1240, WNDZ/750, WAIT/850). Gross says “the rest of our stations are good.” Those include stations near-and-dear to Eychaner’s heart, progressive talk WCPT-AM/FM (820/92.5). (From Tom Taylor's Radio Newsletter Posted by: "Paul B. Walker, Jr." dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. 1510, KGA, Spokane, WA, 0058 UT 10/28/2015 - Noted several nights with fair to good signal during the last few days of the month until 0100 UT (October) pattern/power switch and then gone, relog and made much easier now using the North D-KAZ (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. SILENT STATIONS: Formerly silent stations informing the FCC that they are no longer silent: 1530, KQSC, CO, Colorado Springs – Silent (as KKHI) Mar. 23; back on the air Oct. 23 (David Yocis, AM Switch, NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD) ** U S A. 1550, KRPI, Ferndale, WA, 0100 UT 10/28/2015. See KGA 1510 log, the same applies to KRPI, which hasn't been heard here since the DX test several years ago. Now much easier thanks to the North D-KAZ combined with end-of-October long haul western enhancement (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. DENVER RADIO CHANGE --- Our local pot station is gone. (Awwwwww...) The station known as Smokin' 94.1, which is actually a translator on 94.1 that was simulcasting KBUD 1550 Golden, is now a simulcast of KOA. An application has been filed to sell the translator to KOA, so it appears to be a permanent change. Meanwhile, KBUD 1550 is now silent. No sale application has been filed yet for the AM. I doubt that many stoners would listen to AM, so look for it to be sold very soon. 73, (Kit, W5KAT, Nov 10, ABDX yg via DXLD) Never heard here in IL. I'd hoped 990 watts ND days could make it by sunset skip (Dir Night pattern is bad to me) but it never did. They have a CP for 5 kW ND days. If that is the plan, I assume someone might make a viable station out of them? 73 KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL/WI, ibid.) As you may know, KBUD (originally KDCO) has only been on the air for about a year. The current owner is the third owner. The second owner sold it very quickly after buying it from the original owner, and I mean within a matter of days. I think it was the second owner who applied for the 5 kW day upgrade, so the current owner may or may not follow through with it. Since he sold the translator, I would say it's a safe bet that he is now trying to sell the AM. It's probably just as safe a bet that the AM will end up being sports, religion, or Mexican, none of which are needed in this market. What this market could use is an all traffic station since the traffic is so bad here. In case nobody saw it, Salem just bought KDDZ 1690 from Disney, but so far it still has R. Disney on it. There are already so many religious stations in this market, it's hard to believe another one is coming shortly. One has to wonder how they all survive. And as I have said before, I still find it stupid that a 50 kW 1-A [KOA 850] thinks they need a piddling little 250 watt FM translator. Oh well. 73, (Kit, W5KAT, CO, NRC-AM via DXLD) [and non]. I know of only one all-traffic station, 730 in Montreal, and I wonder how well it's working out in that market. Kit, it sounds to me like what Denver could really use is an all-news station, with traffic checks and weather every 10 minutes throughout the day (à la WBBM's "traffic and weather together on the 8s"). Granted, WBBM, along with WCBS, KYW, WWJ, and KNX, all of which are other all-news stations, are CBS-owned, so it would take an ownership change for that to happen. But surely CBS could swoop in (if it felt like doing so), buy KLZ, KHOW, or KOA, and convert it to all-news. Three poli-talk stations in a market of Denver's size is, IMO, overkill. 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska EN21af, http://www.dxworld.com/bcblog.html NRC-AM via DXLD) As I remarked in a recent log of something else, CHMJ Vancouver, 50/50 kW, also on 730 is ``All Traffic All the Time`` according to NRC-AM log --- or not quite, also talk // CKNW 980? Is this not so? 73, (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Rick, If you hear traffic info on 730 in English, it will likely be Vancouver --- http://www.am730.ca/ (what is it about 730 in Canada?) They've been at it a number of years now, so it seems to be something that's needed. I've certainly used it in Vancouver, sometimes vowing to use a bicycle next time. Best wishes, (Nick Hall-Patch, IRCA via DXLD) The Montreal station is subsidized by the Quebec government. I don't know to what extent (does it also sell advertising?) == (Doug Smith, W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Things to consider with a possible change such as that; What are the ratings/revenue of the current format and will a change exceed the current numbers; does the signal do a solid job of covering the market; and starting an all news operation is a very expensive proposition. CBS in New York owns two all news stations, WCBS and WINS. Plus, WBBR also gives traffic, though not as frequently (Bob Galerstein WB2VGD, Monroe, NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) KOA is probably the closest thing to that here, but I don't listen to them since they are owned by you know who. CBS did have three FMs here for a few years (KIMN 100.3, KXKL 105.1 and KWOF 92.5) but they sold them for a big loss. They still have the TV here. Those three FMs were just sold by Wilks (who bought them from CBS) to the guy who owns several sports teams in Denver. I haven't seen or heard any changes yet. KIMN and KXKL are solid, so they probably won't change, but KWOF never has had very good numbers, so that one would be the most likely to change. There is a lot of format duplication and overkill here. In addition to the Denver stations, there are also outlying stations with local signals that multiply the number of AM formats for talk, sports, Mexican, and religion. I don't know how they pay the electric bill to stay on the air, especially in the case of the stand-alone AMs. It would be interesting to find out how much was paid for the 94.1 translator. My guess is that it could easily be more than the guy paid for it and 1550 since translator prices in major markets have gone through the roof. The guy who owned KBUD has probably already packed up and gone back to California and left a for sale sign on the AM. Wasn't the all traffic in Montreal on 690 or 940 before it was on 730? What a ridiculous waste of a 1-A, or any 50 kW facility. 73, (Kit W5KAT, ABDX via DXLD) The traffic station in Montreal has been at 730 since CKAC changed to that format. There was an application for 940 as an English language traffic station, but that was denied. The deal with CKAC going all- traffic was that the station would fund it for a certain amount of years. I can't remember how long but I think that deal is going to end in the next couple of years at the most. And yes, the former CKLG is also all-traffic in Vancouver. What a waste of what was once the most popular music station in town (Justin Nielsen, ibid.) ** U S A. 1570, Nov 11 at 0503 UT, I`m DXing now because a few hours ago, northerners were reporting ``auroral conditions`` but not very now, not here. On the E-W antenna I am hearing CBS News in English instead of XERF, seems cutaway already at 0504 UT, and ``country music`` on WTI#. Uplooked later, the closest fuzzy call to this is WYTI, Rocky Mount VA, 2500/220 watts U1, format C&W; but not CBS per NRC AM Log --- that may well have been a different station. Geo area fits as I just got NC and TN on 1380. I do a quick eyeball scan of the Log`s 1570 listings, and believe it or not, of the 60 stations, find only one C for CBS, WPTW, Piqua OH, 250/250 watts U1. But news net affiliations are too subject to outdating, and it`s easy to miss a hit with the eyeballs (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 1580, KAMI, NE, Cozad – 10/27 0940 [EDT = 1340 UT] noted with mention of DeKalb-dot-com, ID for the Rural Radio Network, ad for Cozad Community Hospital, “K-1580” ID into a Country format. A poor signal was noted. This station has not been noted in years; used to be common years ago, but is now a rare reception at L’Anse (John J Rieger, L’Anse MI, Grundig Satellit 750, stock antenna, Terk AM1000 loop, EDXR, IRCA DX Monitor Nov 7 via DXLD) This is a change from Bott Christian Teaching, simulcasting KCVN 104.5 (Eric Bueneman, ed., ibid.) ** U S A. In light of the recent FCC “AM revitalization” order, it’s interesting to see a couple AM “Class B” stations this week (WNZF-1550 and KMIK/KHEP-1580) apply to downgrade to Class D. I wondered whether these applications have anything to do with Class C (graveyard) and D stations getting the first crack at a translator move window. I doubt it; WNZF already has a translator (W292DE-106.3) and KHEP has a longstanding tower problem and a new owner to fix it. But a number of stations with longstanding STAs (especially those that have lost translator sites and can’t find new sites that meet FCC coverage rules) have stated they will apply for downgrade CPs when the new rules take effect. So stay tuned! (David Yocis, AM Switch, NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD) CONSTRUCTION PERMITS FOR EXISTING STATIONS Applications for CPs filed: 1580, KHEP, AZ, Tempe – Applies for U1 50000/95 from a new site, diplexed with KXEG-1280 at 33-29-32/112-08-28 (David Yocis, AM Switch, NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD) ** U S A. 1620, KSMH, West Sacramento, CA, 0111 UT 10/30/2015 - Heard during brief fade-up with Immaculate Heart Radio religious programming about 15 minutes prior to their pattern/power change, on North D-KAZ with South Bend nulled, new (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. 1630, Nov 6 at 0701 UT, news all about Iowa, how strange in the nightmiddle rather than plugging into some national network at hourtop; I bet it`s recorded. 0702 UT weather from some TV station; 0703 UT ``The Mighty 1630 --- loud & clear, KCJJ`` and rock music. Split format from Iowa City of TLK/AC per NRC AM Log. 1630, Nov 10 at 0138 UT, YL DJ informally talking on and on about some music group, then invites calls to 358-1630 or 1630kcjj.com and also KCJJ IDs from Iowa; at the moment in ascendance over KKGM TX (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. "KBXZ-LP" 1650 - can someone explain this? I've just noticed that the "pirate" on 1650 in Flagstaff that has been running Fox Sports for over a decade is now starting to show up in listings as "KBXZ" or "KBXZ-LP". Is this legit??? Station web site: http://www.foxsports1650.com/ Note its inclusion in the official Fox Sports Radio site: http://www.foxsportsradio.com/pages/radiostations.html?state=arizona (Tim Hall, CA, Nov 6, ABDX via DXLD) It's definitely not licensed and in my opinion not licensable on that frequency. Its night contour would seriously overlap with KFOX and KSVE (Dennis Gibson, CA, Sent from my iPad, ibid.) Weird, isn't it? They seem to run about the same power as a TIS. They've been on the air every time I've been to Flagstaff since 2001. I'm no expert, but I don't know of any type of license that would cover this. Meanwhile, two legitimate stations in this market (600 and 690) have at least gone silent and I think at least one of them has bit the dust for good (Tim Hall, Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone, ibid.) Point of clarification here, fellas. KBXZ is not a pirate but, rather, a Part 15 station, allowable under FCC rules, but limited to a broadcast output of 1/10 of a watt. KBXZ is listed as such, in fact, on http://mwlist.org (so its nighttime signal will DEFINITELY not affect anyone else's!). Under normal circumstances, 1/10 of 1 watt in the 1610-1700 range of the AM band will only allow a Part 15 to get out no more than 2-3 miles from the transmitter site (at least I know that's been the case with some of the Part 15s that've been on the air here in Omaha in recent years). I find it interesting, however, that the station carries Arizona State University sports. I wonder if anyone if anyone in the ASU sports marketing office is aware that KBXZ has such a limited reach? :) 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska EN21AF http://www.dxworld.com/bcblog.html ibid.) Thanks Rick. I guess I didn't realize Part 15 stations could air ads. 73 (Tim Hall, ibid.) There's really no such thing as a "Part 15 station." Part 15, if you read it in the federal code, is the section of rules that regulates how much interference "unintentional radiators" can generate against licensed signals. Pretty much anything electronic in your home is (or is supposed to be) certified under Part 15 that it won't generate unacceptable interference. Some clever folks figured out that you could put enough signal on the air under the Part 15 rules to actually get out a small distance. To the FCC, "KBXZ" isn't a "station," it's "interference." :) So what it programs, including ads, isn't the FCC's concern. About KBXZ in particular: I have heard (but never confirmed) that they run several Part 15 transmitters at different locations around Flagstaff that are synchronized to give the effect of a higher-powered signal. As long as each individual site complies with the Part 15 rules, it's at least theoretically kosher (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Thanks Scott for the very clear explanation. It's a bit surprising that Fox would go along with this, but the 1650 has always had a clean signal in town, which is more than could be said for the old 600 and 690 stations. Now I'm remembering another case, the old KRSX-660 in Victorville CA "Route 66 Radio". That guy had a great oldies format and sold ads for $1 apiece. They threw the book at him, as I recall, and the local 1590 celebrated his demise by changing their calls to KRSX. I suppose he must have been running more than the allowed 1/10 watt? 73 (Tim Hall, ibid.) Scott, I've always understood that the 15.200-series rules cover intentional radiators (like the AM rule in 15.209 that mentions 100 milliwatts and a 3-meter antenna system; yes, I know I'm oversimplifying), and the 15.100-series rules cover unintentional radiators. I also understand that 15.109 and 15.209 are the general requirements across the spectrum, and in cases where other rule sections conflict (like 15.219 vs 15.209), the other section applies, but if you exceed the rule of one you still have to be in compliance on the other. One thing that annoys me is that 15.209 and 15.109 generally specify the same limits. :( I personally would rather see the intentional radiators increased some (primarily in designated bands or designated modes, not necessarily across the entire spectrum), but the unintentional radiators (like CFL lights, dimmers, switching power supplies, etc.) decreased greatly, like 60-100 dB or so. 73, (Stephen [Ponder?], ibid.) ** U S A. 1660, KXOL, UT, Brigham City, 10/25 0401 [EDT = 0801 UT] weak signal with legal ID after Mexican song, station still truckin’ along despite [deleted] status; 469 miles (Brian Rachford, Prescott AZ, RTL-SDR with upconverter, 7’ x 24’ Conti superloop aimed 90 degrees, WDXR, IRCA DX Monitor Nov 7 via DXLD) ** U S A. 1680, KNTS, Seattle, WA, 0128 UT 10/28/2015 - With "Radio Luz" slogans and Spanish programming, strong and dominant at times on the North D-KAZ just before pattern/power change, relog (Tim Tromp, October, 2015 MW logs from West Michigan on the Perseus SDR, antenna used is noted in the log, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. 3060, WCKY Cincinnati OH (Villa Hills KY transmitter); 1200, 8-Nov; 2x harmonic; feature on ethnic restaurants & Cincy March of Dimes. S8 peaks! // 1530 at S30! Checked back at 1220 and harmonic gone (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. NEW TV NETWORK AVAILABLE IN MICHIGAN OVER THE AIR Coupled with the 'there's nothing on SW BC any more' canard, is the 'but I HAVE to have cable to watch TV' lie. Emphasizing how false that is, is the 'new' network on the air called Comet, featuring classic Sci-Fi, and some really bad (so bad they are good?) "B" movies of the genre. Founded June 29, 2015, and owned by MGM & Sinclair TV Group (i.e. not a flash in the pan organization) it is being used to phase out the ZUUS country music 'network' that had run on many Sinclair stations, but is being cut. That is exactly the case in Flint (RF-16 PSIP 66 WSMH) where they started up pretty much as the network started broadcasting on October 31. Thanks to Larry R for spotting this and sharing! I watched a bit Saturday PM --- a REALLY bad 1970s movie starring Tom Sellik [sic] set in the Philippines and an even worse B Movie after that made me think 'meh' but they 'redeemed' themselves with their weekday programming: Reruns of "The Outer Limits" and Stargate SG-1. They could give SyFy a run for its money, particularly since SyFy has dropped all their good original programming in favor of wrestling and the like! --kvz (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov 6 via DXLD) Viz.: DTV: RF-16, PSIP-66, WSMH, Flint MI, 66.3 running new COMET network, sci-fi shows. Program data still says ZUUS. 3 am [EST] 11/1 (Larry Russell, Flushing [Flu-xing?] MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov 6 via DXLD) [see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comet_(TV_network) ] Wow, a reason to slew my antenna north! :) Thanks for the tip! 16, 66.1, WSHM-DT [sic], Fox network w/"Sleepy Hollow 66.2, Get TV network (mostly old movies) with "Dead Reckoning" a REALLY good Bogie movie!) 66.3, Comet TV now showing the appropriate digital ID rather than ZUUS which is what they had up through the weekend, and carrying "Outer Limits". See All this in very well -- 75% signal, but they have set the aspect ratio wrong so unless you adjust your TV it is in 'squeeze-o-vision'. 0150-0205 [UT?] 6/Nov. Thanks to tip from Larry R about the network addition! (Kenneth Vito Zichi, Williamston MI, MARE Tipsheet Nov 6 via DXLD) ** UZBEKISTAN [non]. Re: Perseus Colombo. BBC Uzbek 4790 kHz check at Victor's Perseus 1257 - 1301 UT. Some 12 Hertz down frequency noted that outlet. 4789.988 kHz footprint from Dushanbe TJK 1300-1330 UT daily, not like compared to exact even frequency 4765 kHz of Tajik R1 program. S=7 or -86dBm signal in Piliyandala. I hear no jamming, but in background very low ?CODAR? ute scratches? Uwe Volk updated the web router at Victor's site in Piliyandala Ceylon today, changed the router mode, and now the access to SDR receiver unit works fine, and excellent antenna signals noted too. GREAT, many thanks to Piliyandala, ultra excellent reception at 1220 UT, Nov 8 Perseus alignment +002 Hertz throughout, also 13 mb. vy73 de wolfy (Wolfgang Bueschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VATICAN [and non]. B15 schedule for Vatican Radio in English 0140-0200 Daily As 7410-va 9560-va 0300-0320 Daily As 15470-ph 0300-0330 Daily Af 7360-va 9660-md 0500-0530 Daily Af 7360-va 11625-md 0630-0700 Daily Af 9660-va 11625-va 0730-0745 .mtwtfs ME 15595-va 0800-1130 irreg Af 21550-va (irreg -special events) 0900-1100 XwX Eu 7250-va (Papal audience - multiple languages) [I`m not sure how those X`s get in there, but leaves Wed only above] 1130-1200 .....f. As 17590-va 21560-va (mass) 1530-1550 Daily As 11695-ph 15470-rv 15775-va-drm (Sat Mass to 1600) 1715-1730 Daily ME 11935-va 1730-1800 Daily Af 9660-md 11625-va 13765-va 2000-2030 Daily Af 9660-va 11625-va (Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) Source HFCC, something else? (gh) I’ve noticed Vatican Radio using 3975 kHz again since the new B15 season changes took place on October 25th. This is always parallel strong 6070 kHz (which is a pity, as it blocks the weaker 6070 relays via Kall, Germany here). Their online schedule isn’t updated as I write this, but on HFCC, 3975 kHz is registered by Vatican at: 0630- 0715, 1940-2015 and 2140-2200 UTC (Alan Pennington, Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) ** VATICAN [non]. 7425, Nov 7 at 0229, Vatican R IS is JBA from Greenville leapfrog of 7305 over 7365, about to close; while ALBANIA remains escaped to 7470, but not any stronger, with propagation degraded. 7425, Nov 8 at 0136, JBA carrier from VOA Greenville, caused by S9+25 open carrier on 7305, leaping over adjacent 7365 Radio Martí transmitter, and a trace of that modulation can be heard on 7425 // 7365. Vatican Radio starts Spanish at 0145 per its new unpublicized schedule, and now the spur on 7425 rates S6, a mixture of weak Vatican and Martí audio (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also USA ** WESTERN SAHARA. MOROCCO. 711.0, 2302-..., 29/10, SNRT-"R", El Aiún. Arabic, chanting. Reactivated. Strong modulation. QRM de France. 54433 711.0, 1300-..., 02/11, SNRT-"R", Al-Watania channel relay, Arabic, news. Strong modulation - new transmitter? 45454 (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, JRC NRD-545DSP & DRAKE R-E; Advanced Receiver amp.; raised, 4 loop K9AY, 30 m 180º/0º mini-Bev., 80 m 300º/120º Bev., 200 m 270º/90º Bev., 270 m 145º/325º Bev., 300 m 225º/45º Beverage, radioescutas yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1797, DXLD) Probable source of het I got to 710; see UNID TA carrier search below (gh) WESTERN SAHARA. 711, SNRT Laâyoune, NOV 6 0500 - Fair; choral Morocco national anthem. Measured on-frequency at 711.0 kHz with no het. Previously logged at 711.11 kHz (Bruce Conti, WPC1CAT, Nashua NH; WiNRADiO Excalibur, MWDX-5 phasing unit, 15 x 23-m variable termination SuperLoop antennas at 60 northeast and 180 south, NRC IDXD via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. 1550.0, 1159-1303* 02/11, ALGERIA, POLISARIO Front (cland.), Rabouni. Arabic, talks, songs, anthem (new version) at closure. 35343 (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, JRC NRD-545DSP & DRAKE R-E; Advanced Receiver amp.; raised, 4 loop K9AY, 30 m 180º/0º mini-Bev., 80 m 300º/120º Bev., 200 m 270º/90º Bev., 270 m 145º/325º Bev., 300 m 225º/45º Beverage, radioescutas yg via DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA: 11735, Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar (tentative); 2000-2006+, 6-Nov; Arabish instrumental music to W in unknownlanguge at 2004:45; mentioned Dar es Salaam. SIO=2+23-, ute pips & roar QRM; LSB helps with ute but enhances roar (Harold Frodge, Midland MI, USA, MARE DXpedition, Brighton MI, Drake R8B + 500' N-S unterminated beverage, All logged by my ears, on my receiver, in real time! DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6015, Nov 9 at 0338, presumed Ungujan music, from ZBC, S9 but only fair with ACI from 6020 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Nothing from Tanzania 11735, 1700-1915 UT yday and today – neither on my own receiver in Central Ireland nor via UTwente SDR. Presume they are off for tech reasons again (Derek Lynch, Nov 10, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Trans-oceanic 9-kHz-plan carrier searches on the DX-398: Nov 5 at 0711-0714, first noted het on 620, i.e. 621.0 kHz; then found het on 710 too, i.e. from 711; and JBA carriers on 738 and 882. Sunrise in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands was 0719 UT today, likely source of 621, and maybe 882 tho WRTH flags it as low power; 711 could be Morocco, while 738 more likely Tahiti from the other worldside, looping WSW/ENE. My DFing is quite approximate, and the true bearing of Tahiti from here is 232 degrees (exact southwest being 225); and of Canary Islands is 71 degrees. Another search after I awaken at 1250-1253 UT Nov 5: first check 774 but nothing there; however JBA carriers on 747, 738, 702 from the west, and 792. My guesses: 747 Japan, 738 Tahiti, and 702 from Australia. Our sunrise today: 1258 (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. TA carrier search Nov 6 at 0643-0651: 711 from ENE, Morocco? 783 from about 80 degrees, Mauritania? 738, probably TP Tahiti (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1220, Nov 11 at 1353 UT, ad for something on ``Hiway 95 in Athens``, soon fade-out, long past sunrise here. This should be easy to pinpoint, but not: first of all, there are no 1220s axually in any community of license called Athens. The Wikipedia entry for Athens (Greece) has a handy list of ``Other locations named after Athens`` in the USA, some being townships, including AL, AR, GA, IL, IN, KY, LA, KS, MI, MN, MS, OH, TX, WI (skipping some too far east or west). I`ve looked up most of those on atlas maps and so far haven`t found any hwy 95, US or state, in their vicinities. Ideas? Perhaps I will keep searching more minutely. No idea of the direxion on this one (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or could it have been Atkins?? (gh) Other locations named after Athens; United States: Athens, Alabama (pop. 24,234) Athens, Arkansas[136] Athens, California West Athens, California (pop. 9,101) Athens, Georgia (pop. 114,983) Athens, Illinois (pop. 1,726) New Athens, Illinois (pop. 2,620) New Athens Township, St. Clair County, Illinois (pop. 2,620) Athens, Indiana Athens, Kentucky Athens, Louisiana (pop. 262) Athens Township, Jewell County, Kansas (pop. 74) Athens, Maine (pop. 847) Athens, Michigan (pop. 1,111) Athens Township, Michigan (pop. 2,571) Athens, Minnesota Athens Township, Minnesota (pop. 2,322) Athens, Mississippi Athens (town), New York (pop. 3,991) Athens (village), New York (pop. 1,695) Athens, Ohio (pop. 21,909) Athens County, Ohio (pop. 62,223) Athens Township, Athens County, Ohio (pop. 27,714) Athens Township, Harrison County, Ohio (pop. 520) New Athens, Ohio (pop. 342) Athena, Oregon (pop. 1,270) Athens, Pennsylvania (pop. 3,415) Athens Township, Bradford County, Pennsylvania (pop. 5,058) Athens Township, Crawford County, Pennsylvania (pop. 775) Athens, Tennessee (pop. 13,220) Athens, Texas (pop. 11,297) Athens, Vermont (pop. 340) Athens, West Virginia (pop. 1,102) Athens, Wisconsin (pop. 1,095) (Wikipedia, via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. unID on 1580 at 2338 UT --- Got someone on 1580 almost two hours ago with Christmas music and an ID that sounded like "The Jet 101.1" I'm 100% positive about the FM frequency, not so sure about the slogan. Tried to find any 1580/101.1 combos using radio- locator and topazdesigns.com/ambc, but struck out. Some of the Christmas songs had a country flavor to them. Any ideas? 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska EN21AF, 0130 UT Nov 6, http://www.dxworld.com/bcblog.html NRC-AM via DXLD) You should also try the WTFDA FM Database, as I did, but no Jets on 101.1 there either (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 4590, Nov 11 at 0509, I am deliberately looking for another WWCR minus WNQM spur now that the WWCR-4 transmitter is on 5890 instead of 7520 after 0300. I do detect a JBA carrier, but beneath a heavy ute blob and some CODAR. No way to ID anything unless that abates. 1300 kHz up, the fundamental 5890 is suffering from a dropping MUF, only poor at S8 with BS. 5890 is currently on air 03-13 UT Tue-Fri, 03-12 UT Sat, 05-12 UT Sun, 04-13 UT Mon --- mostly BS but some other g.h.`s before him in evenings. The WNQM relay of WMDB 880, La Ranchera, may not run all night, but you can`t tell from the WNQM website. Other #4 frequency is 9980 in the daytime, so look for parasite on 8680 when it is on, and maybe 11280 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4800, random checking 1140-1404, Nov 6. What happened here today? Recently CNR1 had been off the air here, leaving AIR Hyderabad in the clear, but no longer so. Heard strong signal, with traditional Chinese music (no singing, but not Firedragon); one very long loop of music with no announcements at all; non-stop filler music; not CNR1 programming. Thanks to Aoki, who also noted UNID today: "It has broadcast the same program(non-stop music) at frequencies below. 3985 kHz(CNR-2) 4800 kHz(CNR-1) 6080 kHz(CNR-1) 6090 kHz(CNR-2) ** 4800 kHz and 6080 kHz broadcast from the same transmitting station." Worth monitoring tomorrow to see what the situation is. 4800. The station I heard 1140-1404, Nov 6, playing non-stop filler Chinese music has not returned as of Nov 8; am only hearing presumed AIR Hyderabad in the clear (Ron Howard, San Francisco at Ocean Beach, CA, E1 & CR-1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5925, Nov 6 at 1315, very poor talk in unknown language, marred by humwhine seemingly self-imposed. HFCC shows only thing is CNR from Beijing; Aoki says it`s CNR-5, but also lists Voice of Vietnam-2 during this hour (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 12104.980, 'string' visible at 0225 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, some log noting of 0200-0320 UT on Nov 8 on western Canada Edmonton, Alberta remote SDR unit, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) WTWW-3 carrier on late? (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 17653.5-USB, Nov 8 at 1410, intermittent 2-way Spanish contacts and high background(?) noise, one INTRUDER much stronger than the other (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 17800, Nov 7 at 1839 tune-in to open carrier, shortly off at 1840*. Not very strong. HFCC and Aoki show previous and following users of 17800; maybe one of these such as AWR checking up: 17800 1700 1800 37,38,46,47,52,53SW ASC 250 65 0 147 1234567 251015 260316 D 16440 Fra UAE DWL DWL 296 www.dw. 17800 1930 2000 46S MEY 250 315 -25 418 1234567 251015 260316 D 17690 Ful AFS AWR AWR 3836 x104 Note the strange DWL info: site Ascension, but country UAE!! Error? Or has Deutsche Welle moved to Abu Dhabi? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 17805.50-USB, Nov 6 at 2220, very poor 2-way INTRUDERS, probably in Spanish (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 18000-SSB, Nov 10 at 1455, weak 2-way, perhaps Spanish, demodulated by the FRG-7 MHz birdie; could be aeronautical, what this band is for (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Just wanted to say thank you for your daily SW logs. They are very interesting and useful (Bruce KG5GEM Johnson, Sent from my iPhone, Nov 9) Hello Glenn! Please two items for the wonderful WOR & DXLD! Best wishes, (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria) Financially, one may contribute by check or MO on US funds on a US bank to World of Radio, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 Or via PayPal, not necessarily in US funds, to woradio at yahoo.com PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ UPDATED: DX/SWL/Media Programs http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html World of Radio Schedule http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html Alan Roe`s SW Station Hitlist http://www.w4uvh.net/hitlist.htm B-15 schedules from many different sources and formats are linked from the updated World of Radio homepage: http://www.worldofradio.com Victor Varzim, Leningrad region said on "deneb-radio-dx" & "open_dx": BASE AOKI B15 http://www1.m2.mediacat.ne.jp/binews/ut/bib15.xlsx (RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD) Still waiting for non-zipped text version (gh) RADIO-RELATED FILMS & SONGS To add the growing list of radio related films, CHRISSY BRAND tells us of Piter FM, set at the St Petersburg radio station. The city is a star in it and you can find a subtitled version on YouTube. The plot can be found at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piter_FM And RUMEN PANKOV would like to add, with regard to radio songs: “After my mistake with Pilot on the Airwaves (which was already published in Communication No 488 by Richard Gedye) here is another song hard related with the radio: Al Jolson and Isham Jones Orchestra with Mr Radio Man 2582 (1924) and an instrumental version of same song by Ted Lewis and his band both recorded in 1924 and be listening to YouTube.” (Nov BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) PHIL BYTHEWAY IS STUCK ON RADIO by Ken Deutsch on 11.05.2015 People who are passionate about radio collect all manner of station ephemera, including but not limited to coffee mugs, QSL cards proving reception, T-shirts, airchecks, belt buckles, key chains, buttons and music surveys. Phil Bytheway and sticker storage containers. The unusually-appellated Phil Bytheway collects stickers. [caption] “There are bumper stickers, window stickers, the relatively new static-cling stickers, mailing labels, phone stickers and even press- on tattoos,” Bytheway said. He collects just about anything with call letters or a slogan on it. “I started my collection with KJR(AM) here in Seattle, but in my early days I also picked up stickers from WLS(AM), Chicago; KHJ and KFRC [both AM] in San Francisco and others. On Yahoo, there is a group that buys and sells these, and the most famous stations seem to fetch the highest prices. Single stickers typically sell for between $5 and $10 online, but I like to pay much less if possible. My favorites are the ones with great designs, and the most colorful stickers come from Florida and Hawaii. But I’d be interested in collecting a sticker from any AM station I have heard.” In the world of radio stickers, there is often a promotional tie-in with musical groups, sports teams or radio personalities. “WRIF(FM), Detroit has a racetrack oval design,” said Bytheway. “In the middle they have their call letters, or even a rock group name without the call letters! At one point the networks that broadcast sports play-by-play would create decals and stickers for their teams and put the call letters of the local stations carrying the games on them as well.” How did Bytheway discover this niche hobby, and how does he obtain new station stickers? “I started listening to the AM band for distant stations while I was in junior high,” said Bytheway, now 62. “I began writing them to verify my reception and often they would include a sticker with their reply. That started me building and organizing my collection by call letters, and now I have about 42,000 stickers. “It’s more difficult to get stations to send you their stickers these days,” he said. “So when I initially contact a station, I seek out the promotions director and offer to include a self-addressed, stamped envelope. Once they ask for the envelope, I get a 100 percent return rate. If I can get them to send me two stickers, I’ll have an extra one to trade with my friends.” A COMMUNITY OF COLLECTORS Bytheway runs a newsletter called DecalcoMania (www.anarc.org/decal) and belonging to the club will cost you less than the price of a Big Mac. There are about 30 members in the United States, but Bytheway says that this hobby is huge in Europe. While he has obtained a small number of stickers from places like the United Kingdom, Mexico, Australia and New Zealand, he says he has a hard time just keeping up with domestic product. A collage of stickers from Bytheway’s collection [caption] All 42,000 of his stickers are detailed in an Excel spreadsheet, and Radio World obtained a copy of that document. Besides the expected “W,” “K,” “C” and “X” call letters of North America, one can’t help but notice stickers in the collection from VOAR in St. John’s, Canada (covering Nova Scotia and Saskatchewan), IBC in Iqaluit (Inuit Broadcasting Corporation) and JOY Radio in Ghana. Bytheway’s sticker collection is large, but that is a relative term. He trades with a friend in Italy who owns about 330,000. Contact Bytheway at phil.bytheway @ gmail.com (Radio World asked Bytheway about his surname. “My last name is derived from the British term for someone who was granted land on a road in Shropshire near Much Wenlock,” he said. “They lived by-the- way. ‘Bytheway’ is pronounced just like the expression ‘by the way,’ no odd twists or emphasis on any syllable.”) In perusing Bytheway’s spreadsheet, Ken Deutsch found a number of familiar call letters representing stations at which he did a lot of damage in his younger days: WOHO(AM), Toledo, Ohio; WPAG(FM), Ann Arbor, Mich.; and WXEZ(FM), Sylvania, Ohio. See more at [illustrated]: http://www.radioworld.com/article/phil-bytheway-is-stuck-on-radio/277460 Our fearless leader – great photo (?) (via Dennis Gibson, IRCA via DXLD) Phil heads the IRCA, not mentioned I don't know about fearless; Was approached about an article a couple months ago. Went through the process and then didn't hear back from them re WHEN it might appear. So thanks to the watchful folks that spotted it. Didn't have any idea about front page exposure. Kinda nice!! Article focuses mainly on my radio sticker collecting, but I did get an AM DX mention or two. I'm not holding my breath for tons of emails offering to send me stickers though, hi! (Phil Bytheway, ibid.) RADIO PHILATELY +++++++++++++++ DX PHILATELY --- Information for lovers of philately from Radio Habana PHILATELIC CONTEST 2015 --- On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first transmission of “The World of Stamps” show, Radio Havana Cuba has organized the 2015 philatelic contest. The question you must answer is: WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED BY LISTENING TO RADIO HAVANA CUBA’S PHILATELIC SEGMENT? All participants will be awarded Cuban postal issues as a prize. Besides, the best answers will be read in the program and published in the webpage. Contest deadline is December 31st, 2015. Essays must be addressed to RHC, P. O. Box 6240, Havana, Cuba; or sent electronically through radiohc@enet.cu Messages can be left also in the Correspondence Section of our website http://www.radiohc.cu (Anatoly Klepov, Moscow, Russia, RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ WUM-DA-DA, WUM-DA-DA ``Auf 15190.075, ZYE522, Radio Inconfidencia aus Belo Horizonte MG und jetzt auch wum-da-da, wum-da-da, zum Schunkeln um 0750 UT bei (Wolfgang Bueschel, Oct 25, A-DX via wb, WORLD OF RADIO 1797, dxld) How do you say wum-da-da in English? Google translates, merely jumbling the order in the second instance: "on 15190.075 ZYE522 Radio Inconfidência from Belo Horizonte MG and now also wum-da-da, da-da-wum, to swaying around 0750 UT at" (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Maybe alludes to heavy beat`` Bavarian brass band music! Sway in the beer tent, like Oktoberfest in Munich sway - to link arms and sway from side to side (Wolfgang Büschel, Stuttgart, DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ THE WORLD RADIOCOMMUNICATION CONFERENCE 2015 (#WRC15) is in session from 2 to 27 November 2015 in Geneva, Switzerland. News to follow (Mike Terry, Nov 8, dxldyg via DXLD) Viz.: La Conferencia Mundial de Radiocomunicaciones (CMR-15) dibuja en Ginebra el futuro del sector La Unión Internacional de las Comunicaciones (UIT/ITU) celebra hasta el 27 de este mes en Ginebra la Conferencia Mundial de Radiocomunicaciones (CMR-15). Broadcasters, operadores, reguladores, fabricantes y diferentes asociaciones y organismos debatirán estos días sobre diferentes cuestiones intentando mantener actualizado el campo técnico y regulatorio de las telecomunicaciones de cara a intentar armonizar los diferentes intereses en materia de espectro y procedimientos regulatorios. Reuniones previas a la CMR-15 Las Conferencias Mundiales de Radiocomunicaciones, que se celebran cada tres o cuatro años, ofrecen la oportunidad de revisar el Reglamento de Radiocomunicaciones, que es el tratado internacional que regula el uso del espectro de radiofrecuencias y las posiciones orbitales de los satélites. En este caso se trata de adaptar el marco existente para el espectro de necesidades, a fin de mejorar las aplicaciones existentes e introducir otros nuevos. Una vez sea aprobado este nuevo tratado, éste será obligatorio para todos los miembros de la Unión Internacional de Telecomunicaciones (UIT). Sin duda, el principal reto de esta Conferencia será determinar cómo hacer frente a la evolución de las comunicaciones móviles y la banda ancha con respecto al uso tradicional de frecuencias por parte de los broadcasters. La CMR-15 tiene como principal desafío identificar nuevas bandas de frecuencias para el desarrollo de la banda ancha móvil ya que, según defienden las telcos las necesidades en este campo crecen exponencialmente. También se valorarán las necesidades de banda por parte de los servicios de emergencia en caso de desastres o situaciones graves, o las relacionadas con desarrollos científicos de investigación y seguridad en la circulación aérea. Las decisiones que se adopten en Ginebra serán decisivas en el futuro de la banda de UHF, al estar previsto un segundo dividendo digital e incluso una posible revisión del uso del resto de esta banda, atribuida exclusivamente a servicios de radiodifusión de televisión terrestre en la inmensa mayoría de los países a día de hoy. La identificación de nuevas bandas de frecuencia para IMT (Telecomunicaciones Móviles Internacionales) o para el uso de tecnologías de Tercera y Cuarta Generación, y su atribución al servicio móvil de manera prioritaria, será un tema recurrente en esta CMR-15. Esta reunión servirá también para reactivar las discusiones sobre la revisión y modificación de los procedimientos regulatorios del Reglamento de Radiocomunicaciones, en lo relativo a la coordinación y notificación de redes satelitales. En este terreno, destacar que una resolución del Parlamento Europeo aprobada el pasado jueves insta a la Comisión Europea a desarrollar la tecnología satelital para el seguimiento de aeronaves en cualquier punto para mejorar la seguridad. Esta propuesta se llevará a la Conferencia Mundial de radiocomunicación (CMR-15) ya que, a juicio de Estrasburgo, poder disponer de una propia banda del espectro radioeléctrico podrían prevenir los fallos de seguridad y facilitaría la localización y recuperación de datos en caso de accidente aéreo (Panorama Audiovisual.com via GRA blog via DXLD) EBU WELCOMES WIDESPREAD SUPPORT FOR TV ON UHF DTG 10 November 2015 The European Broadcasting Union has welcomed the support of many international broadcasting groups at the World Radiocommunication Conference 2015 to retain UHF spectrum below 700 MHz for terrestrial TV. European and African countries, the Arab States, the Commonwealth of Independent States, and the Asia-Pacific Telecommunication Union, as well as a joint proposal from 14 South American states, have all signed up to the 'No change' position on allocating spectrum between broadcast and mobile use. You can find out how the decisions made at WRC-15 will affect the UK at the DTG Dynamic Spectrum Access Forum's WRC-15: Impact on UK Plc seminar on December 14th — click the link on the right to register. http://dtg.org.uk/news/news.html?id=5497 Posted by: (Mike Terry, Nov 10, dxld yg via DXLD) BDXC AC Extra - November 2015 Hi All; As promised, this month's BDXC AC Extra is in the form of two talks given at this year's EDXC Conference in St Petersburg. They were provided by Chrissy Brand. The first talk is titled, "DXing in Finland Today" and was given by Risto Vahakainu. You can download it here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/b7ijxd36qlgmmml/20150919%20Dxing%20in%20Finland%20Today.mp3?dl=0 The second talk is titled: "Radio Hooligans of the 1970s in a USSR Province a Sip of Freedom" and was given by Victor Rezunkov of Radio Liberty. It is in Russian translated into English and can be dowloaded here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/4u7g76y9plin0gm/20150919%20Radio%20Hooligans%20of%20the%201970s.mp3?dl=0 The quality of the recordings is not studio quality, but to those of you who would normally listen through the ether to a distant DX signal it should not prove too much of a challenge! We hope that you enjoy the recordings! (Andrew Tett, Nov 9, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) MUSEA See also USA: WWBS +++++ PUBLIC COMMENTS SOUGHT FOR ANTICIPATED ADVERSE EFFECT ON HISTOR [sic] Hi everyone - I received the note below in my e-mail; the US Fish & Wildlife Service is considering alterations to the site AT&T used for its ship-to-shore communication in the past century, and was apparently also used for VOA transmissions from 1944 onwards. Public comment on these plans is invited; check out the link near the bottom of the message. Note that the public comment period expires November 15 (Richard Cuff / editor, Easy Listening, Nov 5, NASWA yg via DXLD) ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Cultural Resources, FW5 Date: Tue, Nov 3, 2015 at 3:12 PM Subject: Public comments sought for anticipated adverse effect on historic properties Dear North American Shortwave Association: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service proposes a pole removal project in the tidal marshlands of the Good Luck Point (Ocean Gate) and Manahawkin units of Edwin B. Forsythe National Wildlife Refuge in Ocean County, New Jersey. The undertaking will contribute to saltmarsh enhancement funded by the Disaster Relief Appropriations Act of 2013. The proposal is for hundreds of poles to be removed, in addition to cables, wires, metal towers, and concrete blocks. The goal of this action is to enhance coastal marsh habitats by increasing marsh resiliency from impacts of large storm events and other ecosystem stressors. The poles are part of inactive shortwave antenna fields associated with AT&T’s ship-to-shore shortwave communications system, which was in operation at the sites from the early 1930s until 1999. The wires connecting the antenna poles were removed by AT&T prior to the creation of the National Wildlife Refuge units. Good Luck Point in Berkeley Township, Ocean County includes a shortwave transmitter building and antenna field. The municipality owns the shuttered building, while the poles of the inactive antenna field are on Refuge land. Under the call sign WOO, the shortwave facility at Good Luck Point (known as Ocean Gate) was a renowned transmitting station, which helped broadcast Voice of America around the globe after 1944 and enabled communication with ships at sea throughout the twentieth century. The historic property is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The proposed project will remove approximately 340 wooden poles from the inactive antenna field, along with several metal antennae. Manahawkin in Stafford Township, Ocean County includes the WOO companion site, which consists of a shortwave receiving station and antenna field. Via Manahawkin, shortwave communications from ships at sea were linked to America’s telephone network from the 1930s until 1999. The entire Refuge unit is within a conservation easement to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which does not own the building. The historic property is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. The proposed project will remove approximately 113 wooden poles from the antenna field. Several metal antennas will be removed, as well. Because both of the historic properties represent well-preserved examples of nationally significant shortwave facilities, they have been determined eligible for National Register listing. Consequently, the proposed removal of poles from the antenna fields will cause an adverse effect under Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act. A mitigation program is being developed in consultation with the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office. In accordance with Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service seeks public comment on the anticipated adverse effect. The public is invited to submit comments concerning the project’s effects on the historic properties to northeastcr@fws.gov The public comment period ends on November 15, 2015. Additional information is available via this Web link: http://www.fws.gov/refuge/edwin_b_forsythe/ Thank you for your interest. -- U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Cultural Resources Program Division of Refuge Field Support Northeast Regional Office 300 Westgate Center Drive Hadley, MA 01035-9589 (via Cuff, NASWA yg via DXLD) I remember hearing WOO in the 60`s(?) as an AT&T station, but never as a VOA site. Perhaps it was backup or before my time pre-1957y (gh, DXLD) NORTHEAST BLACKOUT RADIO REMINISCENCES, 50 YEARS LATER From: Mark Connelly, WA1ION This is being written on the 50th anniversary of the Great Northeast Blackout of 1965. Power went out in large parts of New York, New England, and some other adjacent states and Canadian provinces. The evening of November 9, 1965 was going on pretty much like any other after-school night. At my family home in Arlington, MA we had just finished supper. It was a chilly night outside and I went in the living room to do a little radio listening on a Realistic TRF portable ( http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1964/h080.html ) that had good sensitivity to pick up the many AM music stations from around the northeastern United States and adjacent parts of Canada. A bit after 5 p.m. I was listening to WNJR on 1430, a black R&B station skipping in from Newark, NJ (after local WHIL Medford had done its sunset sign-off). The song "Two is a Couple (Three is a Crowd)" by Ike & Tina Turner ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GUA5IaDhOw ) was playing. At 5:17 p.m. the lights dimmed, blinked off, blinked on, and then quickly went off to stay off for quite a while. The radio became the only link to the outside world that ran on battery power, so its role became much more important than usual functions as a source of music and long-distance hobby listening ("DXing"). I was a junior in high school at the time and was developing an avid interest in electronics. I was already building the occasional project and logging many broadcasts from around the world. A couple of my friends (Phil [later N1PZU] and Dick [WA1FAE / later KB1DN]) chatted with me on CB channel 11 from time to time on 100 milliwatt walkie talkies (' http://www.radioshackcatalogs.com/html/1965-a/h003.html ' or similar) including, I think, during the blackout. In less than two years I would be a licensed radio amateur (now WA1ION). The world of 1965 was one that had recent memories of the Cuban Missile Crisis and JFK assassination. The Vietnam War was starting to ramp up and civil rights struggles rocked many cities. Late that summer, folk protest music was making a resurgence with Bob Dylan's songs and "Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntLsElbW9Xo ). Such music had been earlier in vogue around '62 and '63 but was sidetracked a while by the British Invasion juggernaut. Cold War hysteria was never much below the surface in the autumn of 1965. The massive popularity of James Bond spy movies and of TV shows such as "Man from U.N.C.L.E." and "The Avengers" had a lot of appeal to young people. Sci-fi was also big. Space exploration and science had a certain amount of a "cool" factor; kids interested in it weren't necessarily thought of as geeks and nerds. Boston's Route 128 technology belt was growing by leaps and bounds as government and private money poured into aerospace, defense, computer, and telecommunications advances. Proximity to world-class universities spurred much of the activity. As I listened to the radio that November evening, it quickly became apparent that this blackout was not one of the usual ones just affecting our street and maybe, at most, a couple of others nearby - your typical branch-lands-on-wire or car-hits-pole scenario. Reports came in not only from nearby Boston but also Providence, New York, Albany, and quite a few other locales with stations that I could receive on the transistor radio. There was a pervasive uneasiness out there and various theories running from Russian sabotage to domestic loonies / criminals to UFO's abounded. The AM dial was an interesting mix of absent usual signals - gone with the loss of power - and other stations which had managed, thanks to generator availability, to come back on. Leading local Top 40 station WMEX 1510 lost power at the Boston studio but managed to get a generator going at the transmitter site, then located in North Quincy, MA. An improvised broadcast got going when some of the staff arrived there from Boston, 6 miles to the north. But either the voltage level or AC frequency of the generator was a bit off as records being played lurched along between too slow and too fast. I remember "Let's Hang On" by the Four Seasons ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8782KIj_rKw ) playing in a most discordant manner. Aware of the problem, the people at the transmitter quit music for a while and just talked. Houses started getting chilly as many furnaces wouldn't fire up without electricity. Fortunately the power did come back and a more normal pace of life returned. There is an online article written by a New York City broadcast professional that gives a good insight of how various stations responded to the blackout: http://nrcdxas.org/articles/blkout1.html Some other links: Dan Ingram on WABC New York http://www.mediafire.com/download/c2020aqx6j38m3b/WABC+1965+Blackout-1.mp3 Action at WDRC Hartford, CT https://www.facebook.com/groups/transmittersites/permalink/969803296414651/ NBC TV news coverage https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o47VVM5riaQ Boston Globe 50th anniversary articles https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/11/08/the-day-massachusetts-went-dark-fifty-years-later/EjabrHTQkJpRFn4eYuThcN/story.html http://www.boston.com/news/history/2015/11/09/remembering-the-day-boston-went-dark-years-ago/X4Be7F3fiGx3mw3QbFC5tK/story.html?s_campaign=bcom%3Asocialflow%3Afacebook How I Got Started in Radio and Electronics http://www.qsl.net/wa1ion/wa1ion_history.htm Besides songs mentioned in the narrative above, some of the other big hits I remember on Top 40 radio around then include: Look Through Any Window (Hollies) .. their greatest https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3B2_OTRpPd4 Turn, Turn, Turn (Byrds) .. taken from the Bible and huge follow-up to Dylan-written "Mr. Tambourine Man" of the early summer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKP4cfU28vM Something About You (Four Tops) .. soul classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6P-v5RD02g Rescue Me (Fontella Bass) .. another soul classic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9mp3s2gpy8 Five O'Clock World (Vogues) .. working man's anthem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQ9Nm_c3GVY Get Off My Cloud (Rolling Stones) .. Stones string of successes continues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlhPRuAve8k Mystic Eyes (Them) featuring Van Morrison https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Bo3IwYZlkw I'm a Man (Yardbirds) rocked-up blues https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAdCePtwoW4 Liar Liar (Castaways) .. garage monster https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7EpP9DPZ0Xo Sounds of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel) .. title cut from an outstanding album https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4fWyzwo1xg0 Once a week, WBZ's Jefferson Kaye brought us to an alternate universe of folk music and, occasionally, blues. Here are two of the more important tunes spinning in late 1965: Children of Darkness (Richard & Mimi Farina) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWPjWh_EwBo Shake Your Money Maker (Paul Butterfield Blues Band) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1L2vJ0U4Bc (Mark Connelly, MA, Nov 9, 2015, NRC-AM via DXLD) Mark, you have a great memory. I was 12 and remember that night and the next day being without power. I grew up in central Connecticut and was starting to become interested in short wave listening, Got my first short wave receiver that Christmas. Yes, it was dark and cold. I could see from the living room bay window that not only the lights were out on our street but the whole neighborhood was black. I had a little AM transistor radio that was tuned to WTIC 1080 in Hartford so the family could get the latest information. Lucky for us there was a fireplace in the family room which kept the house from freezing. Thanks for the memories, I had forgotten about that night 50 years ago. 73, (Dan W6DAN, ibid.) I was in college in Syracuse NY - so we were hit early. I was in the office of the student newspaper when we lost power. Nobody had a portable radio. I was actively DX'ing then, but had only my HQ-100 which was back in my dormitory room on the 13th floor. So even if I'd had a portable there, I probably wouldn't have wanted to walk up to get it. Instead, the few of us who were in the office went back to the apartment of one of the upperclassmen, found some candle and flashlights and hung out. He did have a portable, but everyone was too interested in hearing the news - and I forget now what station we found for that purpose, but it wasn't local - I'd guess it was either WKBW -1520 or WHAM-1180 opn generator power. I briefly aroused some minor interest when it was reported that the outage might have originated in Canada, and I was able to find CBE-1550 to check for that part of the news. It got quite cold, and eventually we dispersed and I did have to walk up the 13 floors to get some sleep. Since then though I usually tried to have at least one portable with good batteries available. Lesson learned. – (Russ Edmunds, 15 mi NW Phila, NRC-AM via DXLD) VOICE OF TRUTH --- YouTube Video of the Month https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mf2c93sUSjM Produced by the U.S. Department of the Treasury in support of the 7th War Loan, "Voice of Truth" is a terrific example of WWII propaganda films. "Voice of Truth" uses a Tokyo Rose broadcast as its conceit, to remind the audience of the stakes in the war. Stories circulated that Tokyo Rose could be unnervingly accurate, naming units and even individual servicemen; though such stories have never been substantiated by documents such as scripts and recorded broadcasts (November CIDX Messenger via DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ North America has switched back to standard time as of November 1st causing longer periods of darkness each day as we head to the shortest day of the year. This is always an excellent time for DXing, particularly the AM radio band which has already seen some very nice openings including several periods of trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific reception (November CIDX Messenger via DXLD) Gotcha! The Big Lie of DST scores another triumph over simple logic. Reverting to Standard time does NOT ``cause longer periods of darkness``! This is a natural process caused by Earth`s tilt, and consequent seasonal variations. Messing with our clox cannot possibly influence how much darkness there is, one way or the other (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ VAIZEY CALLS FOR EUROPEAN DIGITAL RADIO PLAN DTG 10 November 2015 [Daily Telegraph?] The Digital Economy Minister, Ed Vaizey, has called on the European Commission to include radio in the Digital Single Market Strategy to encourage the rise of common technical standards, in-car receivers and the carriage of European radio services on digital networks. Vaizey told the WorldDAB Assembly 2015 that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is helping Germany, Scandinavia and France to follow the UK success (sic) with DAB take-up by working with broadcasters and car manufacturers. http://dtg.org.uk/news/news.html?id=5497 Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See also BRAZIL, VATICAN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DRM RECEIVER ON AMAZON INDIA Konstantin Aseev, Kursk reported in the newsletter "deneb-radio-dx": I came across a DRM receiver from India: http://www.amazon.in/s/ref=nb_sb_noss/279-8249921-0410156?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=AV-DR-1401 But the price issue once shocked. Subject DRM thumb [sic] for a long time - do not have the budget the radio? (RusDX Nov 8 via DXLD) 14,990.00 in some currency; icon looks like a lightning bolt --- is that Rupees? Would be about USD $226, not too unreasonable in American terms. Or Yen? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) DISCO PALACE BROADCAST VIRUS ON DRM; QSL SCOFFLAWS On the attachment paranoia, if you recall many years ago I reported a virus-laden graphic file sent via Disco Palace DRM. Perhaps the only SW transported virus ever reported? Never got the promised QSL, tho; Actually, the only DRM broadcaster who has ever QSL'd a DRM broadcast over all these years for me was VOA Greenville. Most disappointing was AIR who specifically requested DRM reports a few years back. 73, (Brandon Jordan, WA4230SWL, Fayette County, TN EM55gc, http://www.swldx.us dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re: [radioescutas] Fim das ondas curtas e tropicais [extracted from the long thread under BRAZIL] Amigos, boa noite. Peço licença para meter minha colher torta na conversa. Estive em um evento em São Paulo, promovido pela BBC Brasil. O evento foi realizado para apresentar o DRM ao mercado brasileiro. Fazia-se referência à música do Queen (Radio Ga Ga): “you’ve yet to have your finest hour”. O DRM seria a “finest hour” (melhor hora) do rádio, ainda por vir. Uma inovação fantástica e revolucionária. Foi em 2004. A falta de receptores/decodificadores, a indefinição de padrões e a facilidade do webcasting deixaram o DRM para trás. Sinceramente, acho que não vinga mais. Infelizmente. Os colegas poderão dar opiniões diferentes e mais bem fundamentadas. Abraços, (Valter Aguiar, Curitiba, Nov 10, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Samuel, Corroboro da sua opinião. O DRM não é e nem será a salvação das ondas curtas. De nada adianta uma plataforma mais barata, bonita, cheirosa ou o que for se não tem ouvintes. Volto a citar o que disse no início dessa discussão: alguém aqui conhece fora do nosso círculo sequer 100 pessoas que ouçam ondas curtas? 73 (Ivan Dias Jr., ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See BRAZIL; CANADA; USA: 1290 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV See also USA; CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ [Note: this is a very long thread, but important, about the future of TV broadcasting (and DXing!) in the USA; it required so much editing that it has been delayed a couple of issues --- gh] FCC TO WCBS. GET OFF THE AIR. http://www.nationaljournal.com/s/90838/fcc-is-offering-new-york-tv-station-900-million-go-off-air (via Kevin Redding, Oct 16, ABDX via DXLD) I believe that the spectrum auctions are organized as reverse auctions. I suspect that the quoted figure is an opening bid. Final bids are usually heavily discounted from opening bids and the station is not obligated to accept the bid. JL (Jerry Lenamon, Waco, ibid.) Now from the WTFDA gg: FCC SETS INCENTIVE AUCTION OPENING BID PRICES Could this lead to the real end of OTA [over-the-air] TV? It seems to me that a number of stations would be crazy NOT to sell at these prices. Time will tell how this all shakes out. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/fcc-sets-incentive-auction-opening-bid-prices/145025 (Steve Indianapolis IN Rich, Oct 18, WTFDA gg via DXLD) I just posted on this top on WTFDA Forum. Digital TV. Some little hole-in-the-wall stations can make a lot of money just by going off the air (Chris Lucas - Poughkeepsie, NY - FN31bs, ibid.) WBGU-TV MAY AUCTION SPECTRUM; COULD LEAVE PART OF OHIO WITHOUT PBS http://current.org/2015/06/wbgu-tv-may-auction-spectrum-could-leave-part-of-ohio-without-pbs/ (Steve Indianapolis, IN Rich, ibid.) I can see that the true TV broadcasters (those that don't want to surrender), will move to a VHF assignment. We may get low VHF Es back because of a concentration of signals in that frequency range, but I can see it will be RF hell if this happens in very many urban areas (Jim Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.) Make me an offer I can't refuse. I think they just did (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.) Woah! Almost $270M *FOR AN LPTV* (WFXZ-CD: $269,322,300)!!! (Kaimbridge, ibid.) For a Class A. And, a reminder, these are opening prices. The auction will drop prices over time until a final price is reached (Trip Ericson, http://www.rabbitears.info ibid.) While the referenced article mentions a possible $40M spectrum value, the auction price list released today indicates an opening auction price of $188M for WBGU. They might find this very tempting (Chris Lucas, ibid.) What Trip said. These are opening prices in a reverse auction, they will go down from there. The FCC estimates the auction could generate $45 billion -- some in the wireless industry say up to $60 billion. The sum of all opening bids in that table is nearly $350 billion -- nobody believes the auction will actually deliver that much $$. For what it's worth, just to pick two stations, Meredith bought KTVK-3 and KASW-61 for $230 million. They couldn't keep KASW because of duopoly regulations, so they resold it for $68 million. That suggests the market value of KTVK is $160 million. The opening bid price is $191 million. It doesn't have to drop very far for a closedown to stop making sense. I suppose the most pressure will be on stations in small markets located near larger markets -- where the presence of a small-market station will preclude use of a chunk of spectrum in an adjacent larger market. Take, for example, the stations in Youngstown, Ohio, market #114. Listed opening bids of $399 million, $410 million, and $285 million. Compare to the stations in market #112 (Augusta, Georgia) - none of which is worth more than $222 million. Or, with market #115 (Fargo, North Dakota) where no station is worth more than $36 million and a majority of stations are worth *nothing* in the auction. Youngstown is of course adjacent to Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and Columbus. These stations' spectrum probably isn't worth very much in Youngstown, but if it prevents a move in Cleveland it becomes a LOT more valuable (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) That's why the prices are what they are. It's the most effective way to move stations out when the spectrum at auction is worth way more than they're paying here (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia), ibid.) FCC Sets Incentive Auction Opening Bid Prices --- Reading up on this auction, I see that the owners of non-commercial stations are not restricted on what they can do with the proceeds. A community or university can cash in their public TV station and do something else with the money. Will we see a reduction in OTA PBS programming? (Mike Glass, Lebanon, IN, Sent from my iPad, ibid.) Probably, at least in places where PBS availability is duplicated. In your area, I wouldn't be surprised to see WIPB and WTIU cash in, as WFYI will continue to reach those areas. I think (as Scott suggests in NERW) that where duopolies exist, one of the two stations is likely to be sold. Non-commercial stations will be no exception. PBS duopolies exist in Boston, Milwaukee, Salt Lake City, and Minneapolis (and there may be more [Tampa]). I would not be at all surprised to see WMVT sold; PBS would still be available OTA on WMVS. == (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) I would expect NJ to sell off those stations which are already covered by WHYY, WLVT (Allentown) and WNET respectively, as there are some budget problems remaining there. Were we still all analog, there would be more potential takers along this line because the OTA coverage areas were larger (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) I have looked at some of the "prices" (which could be much lower). However, if they stand up, I can see the PBS OTA network disappearing and possibly being payTV only if it survives at all. University and state licensees will see $s and being able to use the money however they see fit will place their TV stations in jeopardy. The licensee of local KTWU-11 (a university) is looking at that possibility. Educational spectrum should not have been a part of this ill-conceived auction. I think OTA could disappear in Topeka if the prices stay where they are. I think that is what KSQA-12 is all about. The 32 million listed for them would be grabbed up immediately. They have never amounted to much (24-hour country music), they have no promotion and just merely exist. Just waiting to sell "their" spectrum (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, Oct 19, ibid.) I'm throwing this thought out to all because I don't know the answer. Under the FCC auction/repacking plan guidelines, can a station (PBS, religious, ABC, Fox, etc.) sell its spectrum and still exist as a fully-functional station in the market via satellite, cable, IPTV, etc., and just not have an OTA signal? If so, will the FCC mandate that these pay-for-service providers MUST carry the station(s) with no OTA signal? I haven't read (so far) or heard anything about this possible option. Or, if the station sells its spectrum, is it SOL in being carried by any paid provider? (Steve Indianapolis, IN Rich, ibid.) If the station wants to continue operating, it has the options of not being in the auction, moving to VHF, or channel sharing. You can't go off the air and retain some kind of zombie license (- Trip Ericson, ibid.) Agree. The license covers the OTA. Everything else is an offshoot of that. That said, there are such things as cable-only or satellite-only channels, but today I don't know if I'd want to hitch my wagon to the former (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) Mild curiosity --- why would a low VHF station be offered money to go OFF THE AIR? I didn't think that particular part of the spectrum is of interest to the cellular telephone industry. Is it just to free up the channel for another station? I notice KJWP in Philadelphia (RF 2) is listed at $159 million (Jim Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.) Yes, if a UHF wants to go to VHF and no VHF is available, a VHF might be bought to make that option available to the UHF (Trip Ericson, ibid.) Thanks, Trip. The spreadsheet is here if you are looking for it: http://wireless.fcc.gov/incentiveauctions/learn-program/Reverse_Auction_Opening_Prices_101615.xlsx Does anyone know what the column Interference2 represents? (Jim Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.) I would think that licensees that own a number of stations but provide little or no local programming could opt out of OTA altogether and become national cable/satellite/streaming only channels. Two that come to mind immediately are ION and TBN. Not only would they receive lot of cash from the auction, but they would save operating costs for dozens of TV stations and maintain most of their current audience that doesn't use OTA anyway (Chris Lucas, Poughkeepsie, NY, ibid.) If ION and TBN did that they would lose their "must carry" rights in those markets (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana USA, ibid.) I have a technical question about channel sharing. Many of us who use computer controlled scanning make use of the TSID for many station IDs. If two stations share a channel, will there be two TSIDs on one RF channel? What will that look like for tuners that use TSID? (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana USA, Digital - Zenith DTT901, HDHR-US VHF - Antennacraft CS1100 at 48 feet AGL UHF - 10' parabolic dish w/CM4220HD feed at 40 feet AGL Preamps - HDP 269 HDHR-US for real time DX at: http://www.n9bnn.ham-radio-op.net/TV/ Current count at Lebanon, IN: DTV 432 starting 4/20/2014) Indy count May 2007 to Feb 2014 - 208 analog, 390 digital, ibid.) That is a great question. Wish I had a good answer; my guess is the TSID will be that of the "host" station (Trip Ericson, ibid.) FCC Sets Incentive Auction Opening Bid Prices, What about DX? I have just one other observation. I notice in some markets there are stations marked as "NOT NEEDED". The application instructions mention that if a station that is marked as "NOT NEEDED" submits an application to participate in the auction, the FCC will reject the application. SO --- there are stations above channel 38 that are marked with "NOT NEEDED". I thought ALL stations are suppose to vacate any spectrum above channel 38. Maybe I heard that incorrectly. But if they are suppose to vacate channels above 38, do they just get forced to move without any money? (Jim Thomas, Springfield MO, Oct 19, ibid.) As Mike Glass pointed out, if ION and TBN did that they would lose their "must carry" rights in those markets. So would any other station making such a move. Furthermore, commercial stations would lose their retransmission consent rights and their geographic monopolies. Without retrans-consent rights, commercial stations would no longer be able to force CATV and SATV companies into accepting take-it-or-leave- it carriage agreements. They'd have to deal with CATVs and SATVs on a level playing field. Under current law (the grotesquely misnamed "Cable Television Consumer Protection and Competition Act of 1992"), a station can demand just about anything in retrans agreements: - Money. Retrans fees have been rising steadily for several years, thus driving up the retail price of CATV or SATV service. - Carriage of the station's signal on the basic tier. - Mandatory carriage of co-owned non-broadcast channels. Under current law the licensee of a commercial broadcast station can demand that a CATV or MATV carry, and pay for, co-owned non-broadcast programming as a condition for granting retrans consent. It can demand that such programming be carried on the basic tier. Thus, for example, a Disney- owned ABC station can demand that CATVs and MATVs carry, as a condition for granting retrans consent, other Disney-owned programming such as ABC Family, A&E, Biography Channel, H2, Lifetime, ESPN, and numerous ESPN spinoffs. And that's the short list; for the full list see: http://www.cjr.org/resources/?c=disney From the point of view of the CATV and SATV companies, non-OTA "stations" would not be stations. They'd be just some more non- broadcast signals trying to get carriage in an already-crowded market. CATV and SATV companies would have ample reason to play hardball in such negotiations if for no other reasons that to seek revenge for years of abuse by the broadcasters (Neal McLain, Retired Cable Guy (TCI, Niall, Comcast, Warner), nmclain@annsgarden.com Brazoria, Texas, ibid.) Those stations will be paid to be relocated, but otherwise can receive no money above that relocation compensation (Trip, ibid.) All of this repacking activity may give a short term DX boon similar to the 2009 Transition. Some stations will move or go off the air before others do, so there may be a short window of opportunity if you have a local shut down early. It's not much, but I like to see something positive in everything! LoL (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana USA, ibid.) After doing a little reading, found the answer to my question: The methodology gives each station a weighted interference value that reflects its footprint and its impact on adjacent stations it overlaps with. A station with a big footprint and a lot of overlap with other stations will have a higher interference value — and command a value — than one in a more rural area that may not overlap with many stations or cover as large a number of people. That is because if the FCC doesn’t get that one station with the bigger footprint, it might have to buy three or four stations to achieve the same repacking result (Jim Thomas, MO, ibid.) At least in ATSC 1.0, a transmitter can only have one TSID. Which, IMHO, is the best solution for DX anyway. If WZTV and WUXP are sharing one transmitter, they may be two stations as far as the FCC is concerned but they're only one station as far as WTFDA is concerned (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) I totally agree. The "sharee" is essentially a sub channel of the host station. The PSIP will not be the reliable method of station ID for DX purposes. It will be an interesting time (Mike Glass, Lebanon, IN, Sent from my iPad, ibid.) Honestly, as long as the ATSC standard is observed (which occasionally it isn't) the TSID is the only reliable method of ID anyway. And it is, in my experience, accurate a lot more often than anything in PSIP. I do try to shy away from calling a "sharee" a "sub channel". When it comes down to it, I don't like the term "subchannel" at all. Each program stream on a DTV station is co-equal from a technical standpoint. WSMV 4.1 isn't any "better", as far as transmission is concerned, than WSMV 4.2 or 4.3. And really, the FCC is extending that principle to channel sharing. Each station sharing a channel is equally responsible for compliance. I suppose in many cases, Station X and Station Y will be sharing an existing transmitter currently carrying only Station X - so you could call X the "host station". With repacking though --- Consider this scenario: - Sinclair and Byrne enter into a channel-sharing arrangement for WMSN-47 and WBUW-57. - The two channels involved are 32 and 49. - The FCC repacks the stations into channel 15. - Neither the WMSN transmitter & antenna nor the WBUW transmitter & antenna are suitable for operation on channel 15. - A completely new transmitter & antenna are installed for the shared pair. Who's the "host station" when the transmitter & antenna in use didn't exist until repacking? (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) My experience is that TSID is generally more reliable for full power stations, but many low power stations don't use it at all. I guess it is not something the FCC is enforcing. Since an ATSC transmitter can only have one TSID, won't one of the stations on a shared channel have to be the "host"? But I understand that in reality both could be co- owners. Such an interesting time! However, this change doesn't sound good for station engineers if there are fewer physical transmitters ( Mike Glass, Lebanon IN, Sent from my iPad, ibid.) How did the WTFDA count share-time analog TV back when it existed - WTHS/WPBT 2 in Miami, say, or WPWR/WBBS 60 in Chicago? (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Having lived in Anchorage, AK for a year I checked the list for the value of stations there. They were all marked "Not Needed." A decent sized city, but in reality a rural area. The next nearest TV stations (other than translators) are in Fairbanks. There is no overlap with any other market. The Albuquerque market is similar (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) "Not Needed" means the FCC can fit all existing UHF stations in the market into channels 14-30. They don't have to buy any stations to make things fit. There are only 4 UHF stations in the Anchorage market so that won't be a challenge. Two of them are above channel 30, though, so if they do take the whole 126 MHz they will have to reimburse KCFT and KDMD to move below 31 (Doug Smith, ibid.) Since Channel 15 is already occupied in Madison (WMTV, NBC), WMSN and WBUW might want to include WMTV in their plans. I suspect that WMTV wouldn't want to move. But it might be willing to share its transmitter with WMSN or WBUW (Neal McLain, TX, ibid.) 15 is WMTV's virtual channel - their physical channel is 19 (which is why I chose 15 for this example: because that channel had to be clear during transition, to avoid interference to WMTV's analog signal, it was likely to still be available today). It does raise a question I haven't seen answered. What happens if more than two stations wish to share a channel? It *is* technically feasible (Doug Smith W9WI, ibid.) I'm not sure what you mean by "what happens". It is allowed in the rules. There is one host and multiple sharee stations, in that case. And to answer the earlier question, in the rules one station is always the "host", even if that's only a fallacy on paper with the FCC. In your WBUW/WMSN example, if the new channel 15 signal is on the current WBUW tower, then WBUW is the host. If it's on the WMSN tower, WMSN is the host. Presumably, at least, since the non-participating station is the one whose area and population are being preserved (Trip, ibid.) Some stations are already sharing, but I have not seen one where the "second" channel is as good as the first. It is done in Des Moines and Wichita. Here in Topeka KTMJ-43 (LPTV) is also broadcast on KSNT-27 on channel 27.2 which is co-owned. Since the channel 43 coverage area is smaller, I believe channel 27.2 is used to get the KTMJ Fox signal to more viewers. The picture on channel 27.2 is inferior to the signal on channel 43.1. KTMJ does have three translators, but the last time I saw channel 17 from Emporia it was still analog. They also have channel 15 in Manhattan and channel 6 in Junction City (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka KS, Oct 20, ibid.) I have a feeling the greatest fallout from the channel packing will be the services that have came along for multicasting --- sources like ME TV, Antenna TV, Cozi TV, etc. I'm sure most broadcasters will want to preserve their stream quality for the major network sources and if the secondary stream sources have to go, they will go bye bye (Jim Thomas, ibid.) I just really realized that the cutoff is ch 30. Think about that! Just 28 lousy channels left, 12 of them on VHF and 16 of them on UHF. We might have to change the name of the WTFDA to WFDA at some point. (Mike Bugaj, Enfield, CT, ibid.) Glad I have my low UHF yagis! Sent from my iPad (Mike Glass, ibid.) Incentive Auction --- At the beginning of this, I understood that channels 38 to 51 would be removed but there was a chance that more would be confiscated. Apparently that is the case with channels 31 to 36 also gone. That doesn't leave much for DX. In my area there are 13 vacant channels between channel 2 and 30. There are ten stations currently operating on channels 31 to 51 that would have to move to lower channels if they all decide to stay on the air. It is likely that some of the area stations will sell out. But if they all stayed on there would be only two vacant channels. And this (Kansas City, Topeka, Sedalia, St. Joseph) is not an area with a particularly large number of stations -- most are network stations with only 7 not being affiliated with a significant network including ION, Telemundo, TBN, ABC, PBS, CBS, NBC, CW and Fox. I don't see how this could possibly work in areas such as Chicago, Los Angeles, Baltimore-Washington, Philadelphia, Dallas, New York, etc. If WCBS-TV were to sell out for $900 million OTA would disappear as the major networks would go to pay TV. I can't imagine that cable and satellite operators wouldn't want to have them exclusively. Of course, technology is changing rapidly and everything could soon be online with cable and satellite gone too. When I wrote my thesis in the 60s, I predicted that stations would go dark due to payTV. I just hoped I would never see the day, but maybe I will (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) And losing those wouldn't bother me a bit. AFAIK those came about largely because the digital conversion created the space for additional channels which many broadcasters hadn't given any thought to how to use. At this point, the current effort seems to be addressing the same problem in a different way - putting more constructive use to those .2,.3,.4 channels (Russ Edmunds, PA, ibid.) USF CONSIDERS CLOSING WUSF-TV IN FCC AUCTION http://www.tbo.com/news/education/usf-considers-closing-tv-station-in-fcc-auction-20151012/ (Steve Indianapolis, IN, Rich, ibid.) Interesting article. Couple of comments were interesting. The writer mentions that both the RF and virtual channels were important as spectrum. Also, several remarks made about the "lower quality" VHF channels. Wasn't long ago when VHF was highly desired! (Mike Glass, Lebanon, IN, Sent from my iPad, ibid.) My fear is that the non-commercials will be the ones to sell out, leaving us with a proliferation of Ion, ME and their ilk to replace them. At that point it'll be almost 'why bother?' (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, Oct 21, ibid.) Russ, I think some people like the channels such as Cozi, ME, etc. (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport LA, ibid.) What I am wondering is how fast is all this going to take place? The FCC auction is March 2016 and I think the stations have 90 days to act with a possible 90 day extension after they work an deal. Will we have a repacked TV dial by the end of 2016? (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana USA, ibid.) I re-read the Canadian decision on what they plan to do with the U.S. auction and can't for the life of me figure out how there's any room in the Toronto-Buffalo region. The Canadian decision does not force any sharing (sharing is discouraged as stations want the bandwidth for future upgrades). Canadian stations will not have to switch bands. Canadian stations are not being asked to go off the air. I guess there's going to be a lot of new VHF stations in my area, lol. Also - Canadian stations (both digital and analog) will not have to change channels until the spectrum is actually needed in their area - even on channels as high as 51. So, there could be some decent upper- UHF Canadian targets for years to come - mainly north of the US border - such as 41 Sudbury, 44 Cloyne, 46 Saguenay, 47 Pembroke, etc. wrh (Bill Hepburn, Grimsby Ont, ibid.) So, the Buffalo area will not have full use of the new spectrum? (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana USA, ibid.) Looks like they have pretty good opening auction prices for the Buffalo dtv's. See attached (Jim Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.) Toronto/Hamilton/Oshawa stations on UHF: 15, 19, 20, 22, 25, 36, 40, 41, 44, 47 - total of 10. This does not count low power 35, 42. Buffalo/Batavia/Jamestown stations on UHF: 14, 23, 26, 32, 33, 38, 39, 43, 49 - total of 9. Total Toronto/Buffalo = 19. Adjacent markets : Kitchener/Paris/Woodstock 17, 28, 31 Peterborough 27, 35 Rochester 28, 45 Erie 16, 24, 50 So from channel 30 below - 14, 15, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28 are currently used in market or adjacent = 13 channels. 18, 21, 29 are empty = 3 channels. That means 32, 33, 36, 38, 39, 40, 41, 43, 44, 47, 49 - 11 channels need to fit into 3. -- and we also have to deal with adjacent market's 31, 35, 45, 50 - so really it's 15 channels into 3. I suppose 16, 24 could be shoe-horned in to Toronto. I could see 14/49 and 32/39 Buffalo sharing. VHF 7, 9 already used in market as well as 8, 10, 12, 13 in adjacent markets. That leaves 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 11 available on VHF. So add it all up and I will have a grand total of " 0 " dx channels or maybe 1. Or they just use the same channels in Buffalo and Toronto and I end up with no reliable OTA. If up to channel 36 could be used instead of just 30, it helps a little but it'll still be tight. Wrh (Bill Hepburn, WTFDA gg via DXLD) Same topic was covered in WTFDA FORUM threads, trying to weed out the duplications: THREAD: FCC SETS INCENTIVE AUCTION OPENING BID PRICES Is this the beginning of the real end of OTA TV? It seems that a number of stations would be crazy NOT to sell at these prices. Time will tell. http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/fcc-sets-incentive-auction-opening-bid-prices/145025 (Steve Rich, Oct 18, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Regardless of how much money the auctions take in and pay out, I do think this is another step toward the death of OTA TV. I watch very little TV, but today I did watch a sporting event, and most of the commercials seemed to be for telephone services. I suppose people would rather watch TV and do everything else on a handheld device - even while driving their cars. Thanks for the link, Steve (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, ibid.) Yes, you`re right, Danny. It's a shame everyone is selling out their right to free OTA TV to all these greedy companies that are buying up each other to become too big to fail and to kill any form of competition so that the only company you have to buy from is the mega company and that company sets up the price of goods they sell to crazy high prices because the one mega company bought up all their competition and you have no choice but to buy service from their greedy company. Just look at the merger of DirecTV & AT&T. Bet you that most of those commercials you saw was the excitement of how their merger will be the greatest thing that has ever happened. And let`s not forget about Verizon wireless, Sprint, T-Mobile etc. trying to fight for air time too. You notice how there are no commercials about how OTA TV is in danger and how you can save it by calling your congressman or senator and telling them to save my Free OTA TV during the airing of these highly rated sporting & TV shows. Thanks for the link, indysteve. I wanted to know how much they where offering to sell out OTA TV (Mike, southeast Louisiana, ibid.) So what happens if nearly every station sells? From what I understand, the most the FCC wants to reduce the spectrum to is down to RF 31. Would that mean more vacant channels? (Andrew, Akron OH, ibid.) And another question ---- Let's say that everything has been completed; the remaining stations have moved to their new RF's, and the other stations have indeed gone off the air. Now --- What about ATSC 3.0? Will the new-allocations stay where they are, or will it be a case of re-re-allocation? cd (Chris Dunne, Pembroke Pines FL, ibid.) It appears that if the FCC really had its way, the OTA TV spectrum would be reduced to just VHF (like the 1950's), no more UHF TV (Andrew, Akron, ibid.) Admittedly, I'm no expert on DTV engineering, but some things about all of this don't seem to be just right. Remember my little talk about WVUE-DT the other day? Why did they shut down the channel 8 and keep the channel 29? We know why. We also know VHF low is not good for DTV. Well, when you have a crowded VHF band, my thought is that there would not be room for high-powered stations in many locations. So then we are back to the WVUE problem. I'm not going to worry about all of this. I'll just do what I can with the DX for now. Then I'll move on. I'm still waiting for all of the Mexican low-band analogs to go off in a few weeks. After that, I'm not sure of my future in DXing, but I'll probably continue to do some DTV DXing and watch for the Cuban and Latin American analog TVs for a while (Danny Oglethrope, Shreveport, LA, ibid.) Well, Danny, there is always AM & SW, at least for now; and, you can catch something every night! "Everything old is new again." cd (Chris Dunne, ibid.) With the upcoming repacking and new channel assignments, I wonder what will happen with short-spaced stations. A while back I did a study, and found that EVERY New York City full-power DTV is short-spaced to other full-power DTV's except WWOR-38; and now the new WJLP-3 is also not short-spaced. Serious short-spacing exists in particular between NYC and Hartford-Springfield on ch 11, 31, 33 & 40. And bad Hartford- Boston short-spacing on 20 & 31; and so on. Will the new channel assignments try to avoid such short-spacing, or will the current short-spacing / interference contours be kind of "grandfathered" --- or will short spacing as currently defined get worse, perhaps through new shorter spacing requirements? Any thoughts? (Chris - Poughkeepsie, NY, ibid.) Well I would say that as the goal is to get stations off the air to accommodate the allocations, I see no QRM issues. What I do see is cable and sat. companies with dollar signs in their eyes. cd (Chris Dunne, FL, ibid.) Andrew, I told my son that the prices listed are very high and the final amounts will likely be much lower. However, he asked me why any of the stations in Shreveport (especially the small ones) would want to move to another channel when so few people use OTA TV and the stations can make all of that money. My thought was the new DTV format would be adopted as soon as the stations move. Am I wrong? (Danny, ibid.) The broadcasters want to do that, which makes some sense, but who knows!? (Raymie Humbert, AZ, ibid.) This is all Facepalm City. cd (Dunne, ibid.) ??? (gh) OTA is definitely taking a back-seat to the mobile phone companies. With the FCC trying to cram every TV station into VHF, I wonder why ATSC 3.0 tests weren’t done on a low-VHF channel instead of RF 31. That would have been more practical. At this point, the only hope left for OTA is ATSC 3.0. But I know that the FCC isn’t going to wait on it becoming available before they completely destroy what’s left of OTA (Andrew, Akron, ibid.) Tribune had an RF 31 digital facility sitting around and not in use, which they allowed the Futurecast partners to modify for their tests. I don't know if anyone in the US had a low-V digital facility available (Raymie, AZ, ibid.) According to Neal McLain (Retired Cable Guy (TCI, Niall, Comcast, Warner)), this may be the saving grace for some OTA TV stations for now. Neal is talking about why TV stations will choose not to go off the air. This is from WTFDA Google Group: [as above] My thinking is, unfortunately, there is no guarantee that "must carry" laws won't be rewritten in time to come in order to get around this (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, ibid.) [Re Raymie:] I would *not* consider that a legitimate reason not to test on low-VHF. As much money as the government wastes on thousands of expensive, yet useless, studies of such things as the the affect watching TV for ten hours a day has on Siamese cats living in houses that are painted white, DTV tests on the low-band would be one "useful" way to spend taxpayer money (Danny, ibid.) I wonder if they could have tested ATSC 3.0 using WKYC's old channel 2 DTV transmitter in Cleveland; unless WKYC didn't have it anymore (Andrew, Akron, ibid.) Neal is right about why many stations with minuscule audiences will not sell out. Must-carry rights attach to an OTA signal. If that OTA signal is gone, the station loses its guarantee of access to most of its audience. I would suggest a different dynamic applies to retransmission consent stations. There is no guarantee of access for these stations. If they can't reach an agreement with a CATV system, they drop off the system. It can (and does) happen. The fact that these disputes are nearly always settled within a few weeks (if not sooner) tells me these stations' programming is critical to the success of the CATV. That fact won't change if the station surrenders its OTA signal. How many people would continue to subscribe to a Comcast system that didn't offer CBS? That said --- - Must-carry is a nice backstop. One might like to think cable systems will always find it economically impossible to stop carrying a local ABC affiliate. That might not always be the case. The OTA signal maintains that audience access. - An OTA signal is an economically effective way to get your signal to some CATV systems. If your station is in an area with a number of smaller systems, running fiber to each system may not be economically practical. - OTA may be 10-15% of the audience, but stations will spend a TON of money on promotion/programming/talent to obtain a 10-15% improvement in viewership (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) But what if the demographics are not the desired ones? Some people have a viewpoint that everybody has cable or satellite except old people and poor people. I couldn't say if the viewpoint is correct (Danny, Shreveport, LA, ibid.) Doug, how much does a high-powered TV transmitter cost? What is the lifetime of a transmitter? How much does it cost to operate and maintain a transmitter, antenna, and tower? And I know there is some cost for maintaining or renting land. I'm just wondering what the cost of operating transmission equipment would be (Danny, ibid.) Doug, I'm not trying to be spiteful or rude with these questions. I'm playing devil's advocate here. I fully expect most (if not all) OTA broadcasting will end someday, regardless of current regulations that might keep TV alive a while longer (Danny, ibid.) ``I wonder if they could have tested ATSC 3.0 using WKYC's old channel 2 DTV transmitter in Cleveland... unless WKYC didn't have it anymore`` I believe it was shipped off to WLBZ in Bangor, ME. `` DTV tests on the low-band would be one "useful" way to spend taxpayer money`` But the government had nothing to do with the Cleveland test, that was handled by the ATSC which is not a governmental group (Trip, Charlotte Co., VA, US, ibid.) Thanks, Trip. I knew someone would say that. There should have been testing on the low-band, and the results otherwise are worthless for the low-band. That low-band noise is real. I know someone will now tell me that they can run computer simulations, etc, etc. (Danny, ibid.) My primary concern with this repacking is whether or not stations will be forced to be closely-spaced. I suppose at this point in time, it’s too early to know what will happen. It will be a matter of stations deciding to sell their spectrum or not. Shoehorning stations together will be bad for DXing and increase interference. We need some vacant channels in order for the hobby to continue. I am optimistic… I don’t believe this is the end of OTA television, but I don’t want to see co- channels in closely spaced markets near here like Pittsburgh, Cleveland/Akron/Youngstown, Erie, Detroit, Toledo, Windsor, London and Columbus. Another question --- what will happen in areas like Detroit where nearly all of the full-powereds are above channel 31? And there aren't any lower channels available due to nearby markets occupying those channels (Andrew, Akron, ibid.) All of the talking in the world is not going to affect the outcome of this. In fact, the telephone and cable companies, politicians, and American citizens are not interested in OTA TV. The young, affluent, buying, voting demographic groups don't even know there is such a thing as OTA TV. Let me be clear that I'm not blaming Trip for any of this. I'm sure he does a good job. I hope my name hasn't been placed on some kind of government list of troublemakers. I'm sorry if I've offended anyone here (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, ibid.) Well this all goes back to my post about how going back to the "good old days" is being unrealistic. Not knowing if this is exactly true, but somebody commented in Bernews' article about the VSB closing as VSB not being able to adapt to modern times [Bermuda]. OTA TV could well go away eventually --- no timeframe I know of, so we should just enjoy what we have now. The whole concept of repacking, moving channels, changing antennas, getting new TVs/CECBs to adapt to ATSC 3.0 --- it is enough to have people wanna do this to their TVs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGrs5ycQNf4 Here is a big question, though: Will 3.0 be the standard, once everything is in place? or will 1.0 continue, after the repacking? Are there any "target dates" for anything??? (Assuming that 3.0 will have less fading or blacking-out, I figure that no station will wanna move to 2-6 until 3.0 is the norm.) And, Danny, I used to be a member of what is now radiodiscussions dot com; after reading over there, your posts are tame, I assure you! cd (Chris Dunne, FL, ibid.) I'd actually have to disagree with your contention that young people don't know broadcast TV exists. This story ran just last week on Marketplace (a business-focused public radio program). http://www.marketplace.org/topics/business/new-generation-discovers-good-old-tv-antenna And here's one of the big stats in the story: “Initially, my goal was to sell 35 antennas a month," said Richard Schneider, who runs a company called Antennas Direct, not far from St. Louis. "Last month, I think we shipped 70,000.” (Raymie, AZ, ibid.) Although there is a trend toward "cord-cutting" as they are saying now, it would be interesting to know the demographics of the buyers at Antennas Direct & other companies. What if the younger buyers find out, that once the antenna is installed, they cannot find "Keeping Up with the Kardashians"? cd (Chris Dunne, ibid.) People aren't going to be happy when they see the diginets disappear due to the spectrum repack. From what I heard, the FCC WILL NOT wait for ATSC 3.0 to become available before they repack the spectrum (Andrew, Akron, ibid.) All good points, Raymie and Christopher. I also read that about Antennas Direct. Steve posted that on the Google group. I'm sure people of all age groups are buying antennas. However, I'm still not convinced that as many people under 25 know about OTA TV as those who don't. I'm not saying they are dumb (and I know they are not dumb). There has never been a need for them to use OTA TV, so why should they know about OTA. In reality, none of this really matters much in real life. It is not worth getting hurt feelings over (Danny, Shreveport, LA, ibid.) [and now a separate thread on the same subject, backing up to Oct 18:] Thread: Auction Prices The opening prices for the FCC DTV Auction this coming spring have been announced: http://www.tvtechnology.com/news/0002/fcc-auction-opening-broadcaster-bids-released/277179 A full list of first round auction prices listed here (you'll need to copy and paste this): http://www.tvtechnology.com/portals/0/Reverse http://www.tvtechnology.com/portals/0/Reverse Auction Opening Prices 101615 Attachment.pdf [this worx for me even with spaces in it; incredible figures --- gh] In particular, here is the list for New York market. I see that local WRNN-48 would be offered well over $800 Million to just go away. One of the very highest prices in the country. For a nothing station, this is amazing. I hope they take the money and run! (Chris - Poughkeepsie, NY, Lucas, DTV DXer since April 2009, Oct 18, 2015, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) I was looking at this via another board the other day. I don't understand: where is all this money that is being offered, whether to go off, move, or whatever? I guess that what I am asking is, why would *any* station, if offered that kind of money, wanna stay on OTA at all? I was thinking: it woulda been a wise move at the start, for any TV station, even the LD's, to get on the air, just to grab $$$ like that. (Lessee: In Miami, RF's 9, 11, 16, 17, 21, 24, 25, 29, 38, 41, 43, 44, 45, 48, 50, and 51, all being LD's or CD's, stand to reap the whirlwind here!) cd (Chris Dunne, ibid.) The "incentive auction" is in reality two separate and simultaneous auctions: A reverse auction designed to buy wireless spectrum from television station owners (full-power and Class A LPTVs are eligible): and a forward auction in which wireless carriers then buy the spectrum. In the reverse auction, bids go down over time as more spectrum is cleared. (These are opening bids, and they are high bids. This is very, very important.) The idea is that if nobody wants to sell, then the incentive is greater for someone to go out. Conversely, if more spectrum is reclaimed, there is less incentive to cash out. The forward auction works a little more normally. Note that non-Class A LPTVs are not eligible for the auction. http://wireless.fcc.gov/incentiveauctions/learn-program/broadcaster-faq.html After the auction, the FCC will then clear the 600 MHz band by repacking, channel-sharing and other mechanisms to move stations to vacant UHF channels; there are also incentives to move down, from UHF to high-V or low-V and from high-V to low-V. American stations may be placed in the duplex gap within wireless services. Mexican stations, of course, will also be repacked, but their channels have been identified already (thus the tables I've posted). The FCC also has some understanding with Industry Canada but I cannot recall the terms of it (Raymie Humbert, AZ, ibid.) It is a little more clear now thanks to you, Raymie; I do think that there needs to be a "Repacking for Dummies" book though. cd (Chris Dunne, ibid.) Christopher, remember the government is good about spending $2 for every $1 taken in from taxpayers, auctions, etc. That way we taxpayers wind up owing more in taxes to pay for this kind of fiscal management. It would save taxpayers money to just turn off all OTA stations and give the spectrum away (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, Oct 18, ibid.) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ Map Talk 2015-11 Recently I mentioned that Yahoo Maps had been retired. Whilst that is true from the main site, I discovered yesterday that you still access Yahoo Maps from the following Australian URL: https://au.maps.yahoo.com/search/maps/ As a reminder Yahoo Maps is powered by Here Maps (the former Nokia Co.). I however find the Yahoo Maps a nicer interface. 2015 saw many new countries & regions appear for the first time with Google SV imagery and 2016 should produce some surprises with exotic countries such as Senegal, Bolivia, Uruguay & Kyrgyzstan appearing. Hopefully other scheduled countries of Jordan, Sri Lanka & Austria will also appear in 2016. Should be some chances of seeing some remaining SW TX sites amongst that lot. Discovering when new satellite imagery comes along isn't as easy or frequent as it once was. GE previously released two updates per month. Now via the GE Voyager updates they only seam to come around once every few months or so, but the updates are large. I haven't heard of any updates from Bing Maps for some time. Unlike Google they do produce proper Birds Eye View of many regions which is a bonus when the area includes a SW TX site. Has been talk of Apple rolling out their own Streetview imagery, but to date limited to Apple products, but rumored to be available to Windows sometime in the future. A reminder to all members that we as a group are still chasing the locations of many unknown SW TX sites across the globe both active & closed/inactive sites. The discovery of previously unknown sites has slowed to a snails pace this past year. Peru & Boliva remain relatively untouched & yet there is SV availability in Peru. A large number of extinct SW sites still remain to be discovered in Africa & the list rolls on. Procuring txer info can be challenging, but it's so rewarding. Hope I can motivate our ghostly quiet members to help out (Ian, Nov 6, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Some of the most captivating, although horrific stories of SW TX sites have been those associated with warfare or a coup d'état. Sites such as: IBB Liberia & DW Kigali come to mind with horrifying stories. Sites such as the Yuloslav Stubline site were destroyed by NATO and the SW sites of former Radio Baghdad/R Iraq International were also targeted many years ago. I'd be very interested in the stories of the radio engineers who escaped the target raids on the Radio Baghdad SW transmitter sites and knowing more about the former operations there. My attempts to contact the organisation that is now the former Iraq national broadcaster for info, etc., as per usual resulted in no replies. These are the kind of stories that would have been covered superbly by Radio Nederland's Media Network, that we all miss very much (Ian, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ PREPARING FOR SEVERE SOLAR STORMS David Moore sent this article about the U.S. government plans for dealing with problematic space weather: http://www.space.com/30986-united-states-space-weather-plan.html David also sent this link to a high definition video of the Sun: http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/4k-nasa-video-lets-see-sun-new-light/ Robert Wood, W5AJ of Midland, Texas noted that sunspot 2443 is close to the Sun's equator, and we both got to wondering what this means regarding the current sunspot cycle projection. I couldn't remember. A check of butterfly diagrams shows us that early in a solar cycle, sunspots appear further north or south of the solar equator, and gradually appear close to the equator as the cycle progresses: http://bit.ly/1SvnU0a So this sunspot is probably typical of spots appearing after the peak of the solar cycle. A sign that the solar cycle is transitioning to the next cycle is when the magnetic signature of sunspots begins to change. In the most recent magnetogram, we can see the north magnetic polarization as the white splotches, and south as black: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/hmi_mag/512/ You can click that image to see it with higher resolution. This image is in real time, so by the time you see it in the future, the image may have changed significantly. Here is an article from nine years ago about sunspot polarization. http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime/hmi_mag/512/ As the solar cycle transitions from one to the next, that polarization will change, with an increasing number of new cycle spots gradually replacing the old. But don't expect this until five years from now (QST de W1AW, Propagation Forecast Bulletin 45 ARLP045 From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA November 6, 2015, To all radio amateurs, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) GEOMAGNETIC INDICES --- GEOMAGNETIC SUMMARY OCTOBER 2015 Via Phil Bytheway – Tabulated from email status daily (K = 0000 UTC). Date Flux A K Space Weather 1 120 11 3 moderate, R2 2 107 14 2 moderate, R2 3 97 11 1 no storms 4 88 20 4 minor, G1, R1 5 83 18 2 minor, G1 6 81 19 4 no storms 7 81 77 6 strong, G3 8 80 56 4 moderate, G2 9 81 26 4 no storms 10 81 12 2 no storms 11 85 12 3 no storms 12 89 22 4 minor, G1 13 96 25 4 no storms 14 101 23 3 minor, G1 15 107 10 3 minor, R1 16 109 8 1 minor, R1 17 117 11 2 minor, R1 18 120 22 2 minor, G1 19 124 4 1 no storms 20 123 9 2 no storms 21 129 12 2 no storms 22 121 6 2 no storms 23 115 7 3 no storms 24 106 11 3 no storms 25 106 8 1 no storms 26 106 3 0 no storms 27 110 4 2 no storms 28 112 3 0 no storms 29 113 5 2 minor, S1 30 121 9 3 no storms 31 113 6 3 minor, R1 Sx – Solar Radiation Storm Level / Gx – Geomagnetic Storm Level / Rx – Radio Blackouts Level (NRC DX News Nov 16 via DXLD) :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2015 Nov 09 0211 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/weekly.html # # Weekly Highlights and Forecasts # Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 02 - 08 November 2015 Solar activity was at very low to moderate levels. The summary period began with numerous weak to mid-level C-class flares from Regions 2443 (N07, L=316, class/area Fkc/650 on 01 Nov) and 2445 (N15, L=026, class/area Dac/240 on 02 Nov) observed on 02-03 November. Activity increased to moderate levels (R1-Minor) on 04 November. At 04/0326 UTC, Region 2445 produced an M1/1n flare with an associated Type II radio sweep (790 km/s estimated shock velocity). In addition, discrete frequency bursts of 56,000 sfu and 41,000 sfu were observed on 245 MHz and 410 MHz, respectively. Region 2445 also prodcued an M2/1n flare at 04/1203 UTC with an associated Type II sweep (1033 km/s estimated shock velocity). Shortly afterward, Region 2443 produced an M3/2b flare with associated Type II (955 km/s estimated shock velocity) and Type IV sweeps. This event also prodcued an associated partial-halo coronal mass ejection (CME), first observed in LASCO C2 imagery at 04/1436 UTC. By 05 November, activity levels declined to very low levels. Levels increased to low on 06-07 November with weak to mid-level C-class activity observed from Regions 2446 (N15, L-349, class/area Cro/020 on 01 Nov), 2448 (N06, L=234, class/area Dao/140 on 06 Nov), 2449 (S12, L=209, class/area Dao/150 on 07 Nov) and 2450 (S23, L=200, class/area Bxo/010 on 07 Nov). No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal levels on 02-03 November and high levels on 04-07 November due to enhanced solar wind speeds. Geomagnetic field activity was at quiet to major storm levels. The summary period began with quiet to unsettled levels on 02 November. Solar wind speeds, measured at the ACE spacecraft, were weak at about 300 km/s. Field activity picked up to unsettled to minor storm levels (G1-Minor) on 03-04 November due to effects from an equatorial, positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Wind parameters observed a rapid increase in winds speeds to an average of about 675 km/s with a peak of near 770 km/s early on 04 November. Total field (Bt) increased to peak at 34 nT about 03/0700 UTC while the Bz component reached a maximum southward extent of -24 nT at 03/0620 UTC. Activity levels decreased to quiet to active on 05 November through early on 06 November as effects from the CH HSS waned. Quiet levels were observed from 06/0300-1800 UTC. During this time frame, wind speeds decreased to near 475 km/s while Bt and Bz relaxed to nominal levels. On 06/1800-2400 UTC, field activity increased to active levels and further increased to minor to major storm levels (G1-G2 / Minor-Moderate) for the first half of 07 November. This increase in activity was attributed to the arrival of the 04 November CME. Wind speeds increased to 719 km/s at 07/0257 UTC, Bt increased to 20 nT late on 06 November and the Bz component varied between +18 nT to -16 nT. The last half of 07 November through the first half of 08 November saw field conditions relax to quiet levels. Wind speeds declined to about 425 km/s while Bt and Bz relaxed to nominal levels. By midday on the 8th, wind parameters indicated the likely onset of a co-rotating interaction region in advance of a recurrent positive polarity CH HSS. Wind speeds peaked to near 550 km/s late on the 8th while Bt reached 10 nT and Bz was mostly southward to -6 nT. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 09 NOV - 05 DEC 2015 Solar activity is expected to be at predominately low levels with a chance for moderate levels (R1-R2 / Minor-Moderate) through the outlook period. Regions 2443 and 2449 , coupled with the return of old Region 2437 (S18, L=098) on 12 November, are the regions most likely to produce M-class activity. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit in the absence of any significant flare activity. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at moderate to high levels on 09-16 November and again on 01-05 December due to an enhanced solar wind enviroment as recurrent CH HSSs become geoeffective. Normal to moderate levels are expected on 10-30 November. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at unsettled to active levels on 09-11 November. Minor storm levels (G1-Minor) are expected on 09 November as a recurrent, positive polarity CH HSS impacts Earth. Unsettled to active levels are expected on 16-17 November due to extended periods of southward Bz. Unsettled to active levels are expected on 30 November - 02 December and again on 05 December, with minor storm levels likely on 30 November and 01 December. This activity is due to recurrent positive polarity CH HSSs. Quiet to unsettled levels are expected for 12-15 and 18-29 November. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2015 Nov 09 0211 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 2015-11-09 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2015 Nov 09 108 25 5 2015 Nov 10 108 18 4 2015 Nov 11 110 12 4 2015 Nov 12 110 8 3 2015 Nov 13 110 8 3 2015 Nov 14 110 8 3 2015 Nov 15 110 8 3 2015 Nov 16 105 8 3 2015 Nov 17 100 12 4 2015 Nov 18 100 5 2 2015 Nov 19 105 5 2 2015 Nov 20 105 5 2 2015 Nov 21 105 5 2 2015 Nov 22 105 5 2 2015 Nov 23 110 5 2 2015 Nov 24 110 5 2 2015 Nov 25 110 5 2 2015 Nov 26 115 8 3 2015 Nov 27 115 5 2 2015 Nov 28 120 8 3 2015 Nov 29 120 8 3 2015 Nov 30 120 25 5 2015 Dec 01 115 25 5 2015 Dec 02 110 15 4 2015 Dec 03 110 8 3 2015 Dec 04 110 5 2 2015 Dec 05 110 12 4 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1799, DXLD) GLENN`S PROPAGATION OUTLOOK FOR MEDIA NETWORK PLUS AS OF NOVEMBER 11 From IPS in Australia, the global HF propagation forecast thru November 14: normal to fair at low latitudes; poor to fair at middle and hi latitudes. with significantly degraded HF conditions. From Spaceweather South Africa thru November 14: shortwave fadeouts unlikely, MUF unstable; magnetic conditions unsettled to active on November 13, active to minor storm on November 14. From Met Office UK, thru November 15: solar activity low; geomagnetic field unsettled to active with minor or moderate geomagnetic storm periods likely. From OK1HH of the Czech Propagation Interested Group: Geomagnetic field will be: quiet to unsettled on November 13, 17, 20, 23, 27 quiet to active on November 14, 16, 26, December 1 - 2 quiet on November 15, 22, 25, mostly quiet on November 18 - 19, 21, 24, 28 - 29 active to disturbed on November 30. From SWPC in Boulder, Solar activity predominately low with a chance for minor-moderate R1-R2 levels through December 5. Geomagnetic field unsettled to active November 16-17 with A- and K-indices peaking at 12 and 4. Minor storm levels likely on November 30 and December 1, A and K of 25 and 5. The quietest dates of 5 and 2 should be November 18-27. Solar flux dipping to 100 November 17 and 18, rising to a peak of 120 on November 28-30. William Hepburn`s VHF-UHF-Microwave DX maps show extreme tropospheric ducting around Madagascar to Mozambique thru November 16; and off western and northwestern Australia. Also along the southwestern coast of Mexico, November 15 and 16 (via DXLD) ###