DX LISTENING DIGEST 17-31, August 1, 2017 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 2017 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 1889 contents: Angola, Antarctica, Argentina non, Australia, Belize, Bhutan, Bougainville, Brazil, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, Korea North non, Kuwait, Mali, Myanmar, New Zealand, North America, Oman, Puerto Rico, Russia and non, Sikkim, Solomon Islands, USA, Vietnam, Zambia SHORTWAVE AIRINGS of WORLD OF RADIO 1889, August 1-7, 2017 [now starting first airings on Tuesdays] Tue 2130 WRMI 9455 15770 [confirmed] Tue 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [confirmed] Wed 1030 WRMI 5850 9455 Wed 1315 WRMI 9955 [confirmed] Wed 2100 WBCQ 7490v [confirmed] Wed 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [confirmed] Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB [confirmed] Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Sat 0630 HLR 6190-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [off until August 19] Sat 1431 HLR 7265-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [off until August 19] Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 Sun 0310v WA0RCR 1860-AM Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB Hamburger Lokalradio [off until August 13] Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v-AM Area 51 Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 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 ANOTHER PODCAST ALTERNATIVE, tnx to Keith Weston: http://feeds.feedburner.com/GlennHausersWorldOfRadio NOW tnx to Keith Weston, also Podcasts via iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/glenn-hausers-world-of-radio/id1123369861 AND via Google Play Music: http://bit.ly/worldofradio 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 NOTE: I have *resolved* to make DXLD leaner, more selective, as I seriously need to reduce my workload, much of which has been merely editing gobs of material into presentable form. This makes it even more important to be a member of the DXLD yg for additional material which may not make it into weekly issues (gh) DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg without delay. When applying, please identify yourself with your real name and location, and say something about why you want to join. Those who do not, unless I recognize them, will be prompted once to do so and no action will be taken otherwise. Here`s where to sign up: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** AFGHANISTAN. Weak to fair signal of R. Afghanistan External Service, July 27: 1535&1625 6100 YAK 100 kW / 125 deg SoAs English/Urdu & off at 1630 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/weak-to-fair-signal-of-radio_27.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6100, R. Afghanistan, Kabul. Presumed, talks, possibly news, 1533. Over choral music, which I assume is North Korea. Intonation sounded like English, but I need to process the audio to bring it out better in order to be sure, 29/7. Pyongyang has swamped the channel on previous nights I’ve checked, but propagation from South Asia generally good this evening (Craig Seager, VK2HBT, Bathurst NSW (Perseus SDR, IcomIC-R71E, JRC NRD-545, Tecsun PL-880, DX Engineering Preamp, Wellbrook feeder isolator, Icom IC-746, Loop Skywire, Home- made Loop with LZ1AQ amplifier), August Australian dX News via DXLD) Weak to fair signal of R. Afghanistan External Service, August 1 1536&1603 6100 YAK 100 kW / 125 deg SoAs English/Urdu & off at 1626 1630-1730 6100 YAK 100 kW / 125 deg SoAs Arabic/Russian is not on air http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/08/weak-to-fair-signal-of-rafghanistan.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALASKA. About last February`s HAARP tests, recordings of others: https://sites.google.com/alaska.edu/gakonahaarpoon/tune-in (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also PUERTO RICO! ** ALBANIA [non]. 5850, July 29 at 2258, WRMI is on with IS & ID runup to hourtop, 2300 R. Tirana IS and sign-on not mentioning any SW frequency, just ``from now on`` at the web address. Suspect this SW arrangement I proposed is somewhat extra-official, with shortwaveservice in Germany as intermediary (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGOLA. 4949.733, Surprisingly powerful signal from Mulenvos at this 0428 UT time slot here in Europe, fast dance music, S=6-7 signal strength. Morning log at 0415 to 0530 UT on July 30 in southern Germany: [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 30 dxldyg via DXLD) Yesterday July 30 morning noted stronger signal as surprise. 4949.733, Surprisingly powerful signal from Mulenvos at this 0428 UT time slot here in Europe, fast speed dance music, S=6-7 signal strength, and next door adjacent at other times of day / night: Srinagar low modulation from India Kashmir is exact 4949.995 kHz. 73 wolfie df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, July 31, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGUILLA. 11775, July 26 at 2052, Caribbean Beacon is still off day frequency. 6090, July 28 at 0550, now Caribbean Beacon is also AWOL from night frequency. 6090, July 29 at 0607 check, CB is on tonight with PMS; 11775 day frequency is off at 1331 check, but on by 1923 fair at S9-S7. I had just heard the expletive ``by cracky`` from DGS on // 13845 WWCR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6090. Sun, July 30 at 0051-0059, University Network, The Valley-AIA, in English. Recorded program by dead Pastor Eugene Scott, preaching in low English; 0059 Man announcer talks, ID, website. Fair broadcasting, 35433 (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier, Cabedelo, Paraíba, Brazil, Sony ICF- SW100S, Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** ANTARCTICA. 15476, LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, Base Esperanza, 1959-2005, 26-07, now on air, carrier and some comments detected only on USB. Very weak, barely audible. Not audible for more than a week (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) With a sense of futility, I do turn off my noise-makers and tune in -- - no, not a trace of it here. IIRC, LRA36 usually goes dark in August, spring fever? Or staff rotation time (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 1540 kHz, Radio Zorobabel es una nueva emisora religiosa cristiana que transmite en la frecuencia de 1540 kHz. Su eslogan es: “Tu dulce compañía” y sus estudios están ubicados en la calle Carmen de Areco 406, Barrio Santa Lucía, Monte Grande, Provincia de Buenos Aires. Pertenece a la Iglesia Asamblea de Dios (Ministerio Fe En Marcha), que está en Manzana 17, Lote 27, Barrio La Victoria, Monte Grande. El nombre Zorobabel corresponde a personaje bíblico, nieto de Joaquín y líder de los judíos exiliados que retornaron de Babilonia. Según el Nuevo Testamento es uno de los antepasados de Jesús. En el reinado de Ciro, condujo el primer grupo de judíos que regresaron a Judá después del cautiverio babilónico. Zorobael fue, también, quien puso los cimientos del Segundo templo en Jerusalén. Según el historiador musulmán Ya'qubi, Zorobabel recuperó la Torá y los libros de los Profetas, hecho que el judaísmo atribuye a Esdras. Zorobabel en hebreo, puede ser una contracción de Z?rua‘ Bavel (en hebreo, ,(??????? ??????) que significa "semilla de Babilonia", refiriéndose a un niño concebido y nacido en Babilonia, o bien de Z?rûy Bavel (en hebreo, ?????? ??????), que significaría, "el expulsado de Babilonia" (Arnaldo Slaen, de captación propia y fuentes varias) 1660, LRI232, Radio Ciudad de Nogoyá, Nogoyá, Provincia de Entre Rios, reportada a las 0820 UT del 22 de Julio de 2017 con identificación completa: “Desde Nogoyá, Provincia de Buenos Aires, en 1660 kHz, la Voz de la Gente”, 24432 (Captaciones de Arnaldo Slaen, desde Argentina, Conexión Digital 30 Julio via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA. 1710a, 0614, AM 1710 Selva, audio traces on 1709.84. Also another Argie on 1629.828 on 13/7. AM 1710 measured at 1709.843 on 15/7 and 1709.881 on 17/7 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, WinRadio G33DDC and AOR7030+ receivers, EWEs to North, Central & South America, August NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** ARGENTINA [non]. 9395, UT Wednesday July 26 at 0100, I happen to be on the road, so without the usual distraxions, listen to the entire RAE Argentina to the World hour. Usual good reception from WRMI on the BST-1 caradio, but occasional fades and crosstalk from something else which attenuation would probably have ridded. Fernando opens the broadcast claiming this is the Tuesday 0700 airing on 5850 and 7730. Must be playing the wrong file --- but does it really make any difference? Originally they pledged to update the news during the intervening 6 hours, which would hardly be worth the trouble overnight in Bs As. Are there any other changes? Fernando says he is back on air after a week off visiting Uruguay with his family. In his always very informal style the news follows, and I do have the impression he is translating it from original Spanish on the fly, rather than prepared in advance. Annoying music bed continues to be played during the news, brief fade-ups between items. Next show at 0116 is `Argentines with No Frontiers`, interviewing Lourdes Rivera, an Argentine lawyer in Manhattan after going to Cornell in Ithaca. 0138 final segment is by YL about ``Raúl Carnota(?), Innovator``, self-taught musician and guitarist, with lots of music segments. The multi-lingual ID reel played only thrice, at 0105, 0115, 0155, finally followed by headlines, frequency announcement and a bit more music. 5850 // weaker 7730, UT Wed July 26 at 0716, I happen to be awake so check briefly the RAE relay in English via WRMI. It`s *not* the same episode I monitored completely 6 hours earlier on 9395 and which was announced as ``Tuesday``. Now there is an interview with a guest from Wales about the milonga. Unless there was a mixup, does this mean that the first airing of each is at 07 and the repeat next UT day at 01? In that case a news update would also be called for (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARMENIA. 4810, V. of Armenia, Yerevan. 15/7 at 1700, IS, N.Anthem, ID in Turkish “Burase Yerevan” (=Here is Yerevan), from 1730 program in Azeri with ID “Damasa Yerevan”. Real schedule at 1700-1745 is on Sat, Sun 1700-1730 & Mon-Fri 1700–1715 in Turkish, other times in Azeri. But was not on the air on 19 & 20/07 – clear channel for AIR news in English from 1730 // 4910, 5010, 9380 etc (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF2001D, Folded Marconi ant 16 meters long), August Australian DX News via DXLD) ** ARMENIA. Mi Amigo International - Newsflash - July 2017 RADIO MI AMIGO SUMMER BEACH PARTY 2017 Hello to all Radio Mi Amigo International friends, We celebrate a 'offshore-summer-beach-party' together with our team' and you! The program will be in english, dutch and german. Details: Sunday, July, 30 from 19:00 to 21:00 CET (1700 to 1900 UT) Frequency: 11845 kHz in the 25m SW-band with 100 kW of power across Europe and online via http://radiomiamigointernational.com In these two hours each jock will remember the greatest summerhits from the offshore-days (1964-1989). Tune in and have fun! Don`t forget: Our Sumer-Competition is still running (till September 30). All details you will find here: http://radiomiamigointernational.com/english/competition.html http://radiomiamigointernational.com/deutsch/competition.html http://radiomiamigointernational.com/nederlands/competition.html Our programm-schedule, frequencys and onlinestreams: http://radiomiamigointernational.com Coming soon: A brandnew weekend-schedule with 2 more "BIG NAMES" joining our team. More details next week! kind regards Cpt. Kord and the whole team http://radiomiamigointernational.com Posted by: (Manuel Méndez, Spain, July 26, dxldyg via DXLD) Special transmission, Radio MiAmigo International July 30: via Shortwaveservice, Yerevan. Two hour summer special music 60's-80's 1700-1900 11845 ERV 100 kW / 305 deg WeEu English/Dutch/German Sunday: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/special-transmission-of-radio-miamigo.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dear shortwave friends. We have a special programming in English language for you on this Sunday: Radio Mi Amigo International presents the "Offshore Summer Beach Party" on July 30 from 19-21 hr CEST (17-19 UT) on 11845 kHz in the 25m SW-band with a power of 100 kW coming from Gavar Armenia beamed towards Europe (Christian Milling, Germany, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 28 via DXLD) 11845, July 30 at 1703, no signal from the R. Mi Amigo special as publicized to Europe at 17-19 today only; nor did I expect any, as they are certainly not aiming to be heard in North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) A weakish poor to fair signal at the start of the transmission here in NB but it improved to a stronger fairly good signal near the start of the second hour. There was Radio Romania International IS splash from 11850 kHz in advance of its Spanish broadcast during the last few minutes, which could have been attenuated by using LSB if I'd been listening live (-- Richard Langley, NB, dxldyg via DX LISTENNIG DIGEST) Radio MiAmigo International via Shortwaveservice Yerevan on July 30 1700-1900 on 11845 ERV 100 kW / 305 deg to WeEu English/German/Dutch, weak/fair: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/radio-miamigo-international-via.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11845, Radio Mi Amigo International via Gavar, *1659-1810, 30-07, tuning music, ID "Radio Mi Amigo International", pop songs, English, comments. 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, Sangean ATS-909X, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) By ``cable`` do you mean coaxial? That should not be good as antenna with shielding; rather for lead-in (gh, DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. I have a few logs/news: RFA new frequencies for Korean 2100-2300z from Tinian MRA on 11960 kHz with good signal from the start and no jamming. In Tibetan a new frequency 15745 kHz from Dushanbe TJK 1100-1400z heard from sign-on, fair signals but no jamming, two other frequencies jammed by China (Ullmar Qvick, Sweden, SW Bulletin July 30 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. An update on progress with 4KZ shortwave, proposed for 5055 kHz: Hi Craig, We have had to source a few inexpensive parts from overseas. They should be here soon. Unfortunately, new low power SW transmitters are rare in our part of the world. A new 1 kW SW shortewave is $38k. Hopefully by this time next week. The antenna works fine (Al Kirton, 4KZ, 30/7/17, to Craig Seager, August Australian DX News via WORLD OF RADIO 1889 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. CAN WE HAVE FAITH IN ABC? http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/inquirer/abc-says-no-threat-to-religious-programs-but-other-issues-arise/news-atory/9f40f0b58bd0b28dca3b59a7a1465c3e?nk=78025e6479e1c3a8727c61e9c22d8b86-1501263671 Church leaders say, `It has never been more critical that the ABC maintain and if possible enhance the content of its specialist religion unit'. Church leaders say, `It has never been more critical that the ABC maintain and if possible enhance the content of its specialist religion unit'. * Mark Day * The Australian * 12:00AM July 11, 2017 The eternal battle for the soul of the ABC has a new frontier -- religion. At a time when Australians' affiliation with their churches is receding, our religious leaders are demanding there be no loss of airtime on the national broadcaster for programs based on religion and ethics. This skirmish involves a small part of the ABC's whole but its ramifications are much wider. They go to the central question: What do we want from our public broadcasters? And how much are we prepared to pay for them? Many more questions spin off from this. Should the ABC specialise in "market failure" broadcasting -- identifying and filling the gaps in services provided by the commercial sector? Or should it seek to compete on every front in an increasingly crowded media world, using taxpayer money to reach for the hearts and minds of all Australians? As in religion, all sides in this argument rely on a central document to press their cases -- the ABC's charter. It's a stretch to call this 300-word section of broadcasting legislation public broadcasting's bible, but it does represent a form of Ten Commandments, being parliament's (and therefore the people's) decree on what is wanted from the ABC. The trouble is that the charter, like passages from the Bible, is open to interpretation. The language is broad and the devil is in the detail. Some argue that the words and intent of the charter must be upheld at all costs, that there is no room for wriggling away from its obligation to be all things to all people. Others, such as former ABC chairman Maurice Newman, say the charter is outdated and should be changed. Proponents of this say a new charter should be relevant, flexible and fit for purpose not only for traditional broadcasting, but also communicating in every form on every platform available in the digital age. This is a debate as old as the ABC itself. Its roots go deep into last century and battles have been fought over the ABC's participation in newsgathering, in television broadcasting and, more recently, in science reporting. Now, it seems, it's religion's turn. The first shots in this battle were fired last year, soon after a former editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, Judith Whelan, took up her position as the ABC's head of spoken content last November. This was a new job title, created as part of managing director Michelle Guthrie's push to reorganise, rationalise, flatten and make more efficient the ABC's internal management structures. Her plan was to rip costs out of management and put the money into new, innovative program ideas. Guthrie demanded of her senior executives a new structure that would meet criteria defined in management-speak as "decreasing layers and increasing spans". That is, that there be fewer managers, but they would have wider responsibilities. Whelan, fresh from the commercial world where staff shrinkage and cost reduction were imperative for survival, could see from her earliest days at the ABC that the Radio National division was over-managed. Its costs were four to five times the average cost of running local radio stations yet its audiences ranged between small and tiny. It had several divisions, each overseen by a content director and an editor. Whelan asked the question: What is the difference between a content director and an editor? In the absence of any answer capable of passing the pub test, she decided that an editor would henceforth manage RN's religion unit. She chose the incumbent, Joe Gelonesi, for the role. This meant the position of content director, held by Jane Jeffes, would become redundant. Inevitably, in the hothouse atmosphere of RN, where cliques and claques have abounded for decades in what some observers see as a structure akin to Marxist cabals, sides were taken. Some saw Jeffes, a religious specialist with a degree in English literature rather than theology, as a victim. Others sang the praises of Gelonesi, a philosopher, key member of RN's executive team and presenter of The Philosopher's Zone. What Whelan saw as a perfectly logical, sensible and minor tweak of management structures, others saw as a power grab by Whelan's boss, director of radio Michael Mason. Discord swiftly involved the churches. Three years ago, in the midst of an earlier ABC budget review, 29 leaders of Australian churches and interfaith organisations had written to the broadcaster imploring it not to cut back on its religious programming. Last September, again alarmed at the prospect of RN's religious unit being dismembered, 37 church leaders were again signatories to a letter to Guthrie seeking assurances that religious programs would not be cut. They argued that although active religious observance was around 14 per cent of the population, closer to 60 per cent had an interest in matters of spirituality. This, they said, was a similar level of engagement as sport, and in today's environment of global tensions "it has never been more critical that the ABC maintain and if possible enhance the content of its specialist religion unit". Guthrie and Whelan were happy to oblige, saying the ABC's commitment to religion was unchanged and minor changes to personnel and management structures would not compromise its program output. Indeed, Whelan said, the role of the religion editor had been upgraded. But still, the issue boiled over into a perceived arm wrestle between the ABC and God. There is no question that religion fits within the ABC's charter, which stipulates it has a responsibility to "provide a balance between broadcasting programs of wide appeal and specialist broadcasting programs". It also calls for programming to "reflect the cultural diversity of the Australian community". Clearly, culture embraces religion. Broadcasting and religion have been entwined for a century. In the US 100 years ago, entire networks were established to spread the word of God, and Australia still plays host to US-based organisations using shortwave transmitters to beam their hot-gospelling messages into Southeast Asia. In the early days of broadcasting in Australia religious programs were mandatory. Commercial stations were required as part of their licence undertakings to devote at least an hour a week to religion. In the 1980s these rules were relaxed and no longer exist today. It is therefore seen as the ABC's duty to fill the gap caused by the failure of the commercial stations to service the religious market. But how big is the gap? The 2016 census shows religious commitment in Australia is waning. In 1966, 88 per cent of people nominated themselves as Christians. That figure last year was 52 per cent, with 18 per cent adhering to other non-Christian beliefs; 30 per cent nominated no religion at all. Radio ratings show how this translates to listeners. During the first three surveys this year measuring audiences in the five capital cities, seven ABC religious programs managed to attract a total of nearly half a million listeners. Top rated in this genre was RN's Religion and Ethics Report, with 112,000 listeners. Its new program God Forbid managed 100,000 listeners. That's 0.4 per cent of the Australian population and less than the former top-rated religious program, Sunday Nights with John Cleary, which attracted 178,000 listeners. Added to the radio audience numbers are podcasts -- a fast-growing segment of the market where people download shows to listen to at a convenient time. This year the ABC notched up 1.2 million religious podcasts, with Gelonesi's The Philosopher's Zone topping the list at 640,000. Whelan, in an interview with The Australian, is adamant that the place of religion within the ABC has not been downgraded. "We have not reduced our commitment to religious programming at all," she says. "Religion is a vital matter of discussion for the Australian community. "What people think, what they believe, how they approach religion, how they embrace it or reject it are all relevant to people's identity and community decision-making and there is no way we're turning our back on exploring religion on every platform. The programs are not preaching at you. They are exploring ideas, getting different opinions about religion and expanding people's knowledge of religious issues." Whelan says she believes the complaints have been sparked by the potential redundancy of one staff member at management level. "We are not taking any religious programs off the air, nor are we reducing in any way our current line-up of religious content and we don't have any plans to do so," she says. "The perception that we are pulling away from specialist broadcasting is not right. "We have seven religion-oriented programs across our linear broadcasting each week. We are committed to these programs and are backing them." But Whelan's insistence that the matter is a storm in a teacup does not hide the fact that there are wider implications. Former ABC chairman Newman, a businessman who is also a former chairman of the Australian Securities Exchange, was John Howard's appointment who served from 2007 to 2012. He has conducted a long campaign against bias in the ABC -- including columns in The Australian -- and he links this with the debate over religious programs, saying it is evidence the ABC board "has lost sight of its charter obligations". "I have been totally dismayed about the direction the ABC has taken," he says. "I accept you don't want to spend a billion dollars broadcasting to five thousand people, but we were never looking at ratings. If we were to do that we would not have had religious programs. "But this draws into sharp focus questions about the need for public broadcasting -- what is it that is so distinctly different about what the ABC provides that is not provided by other outlets, whether they be commercial media organisations, on the web, or whatever. It applies equally to SBS. We're spending $1.3 billion a year to support this and I think you really do have to ask the threshold question: why are we doing it?" Newman says much of what is described as specialist programming on ABC radio can be found on the web at no cost to the taxpayer. "From a commercial standpoint why would you throw large sums of money at broadcasting to such a narrow group? "My answer is that the charter has to be revisited because if we're spending $1.3bn on our public broadcasters we have to ask the core question of what is it we want from public broadcasting. "Everything should be on the table. If we are to have a public broadcaster, what should it look like? What should its new terms of reference be? What should be its editorial policies? What should the charter say? What of bias? "The ABC is not balanced. I nail my flag to the mast regularly on this but I think I am sufficiently objective to know bias when I see it. The ABC is no longer faithful to the charter. It has moved away from its legislative remit and it is now up to the board and its management to explain why. "There is evidence of some programs having been made to an agenda. That goes to bias and ultimately to the charter. "I once spoke of the ABC's apparent groupthink and was roundly condemned for saying it, but since then they have gone backwards. "I don't have confidence that this can be overcome because I don't think it is on the radar of (new chairman) Justin Milne and Michelle Guthrie. When the chairman comes in and says there is no bias at the ABC, that says, `forget it'." Former ABC managing director Mark Scott says finding the balance between programming of broad appeal and specialist interests is akin to walking a tightrope that extends into financial management where executives must weigh financial efficiency with programming obligations. "It is the ABC's responsibility to deliver programming of broad appeal to a critical mass of Australian people," he says, "while at the same time it needs to deliver specialist programming that only the ABC could do. "When making programming decisions at the ABC you're always trying to find the sweet spot between the two -- and it's a debate that's been carried on internally for the best part of the ABC's 85 years." Newman's criticisms are likely to renew debate about the direction and future of the ABC. Judging from the positions adopted by parties to the current debate over religion, this is an unholy row destined to continue for some time yet (via Mike Cooper, Jul 28, DXLD) SHORT-WAVE TOPS GRIPES By Andrea Johnston, Centralian Advocate, July 11, 2017, page 5 The loss of short-wave and accessibility across digital platforms were strong themes which emerged during the ABC's first ever community forum, held in Alice Springs last week. ABC Chairman Justin Milne, Managing Director Michelle Guthrie, Director of Government Relations Michael Millett and Director ABC Regional Fiona Reynolds were all present to respond to questions from the community, raised after an hour-long brainstorming session. Individual tables were asked to write down ideas on what they liked about the ABC, where they thought the corporation could make improvements, and how it could more effectively reach diverse audiences. Alice Springs resident Bev Ellis was the first person to express interest in attending the forum, and received an ABC coffee "Keep Cup" for her efforts. "What I like about the ABC is the very high quality of programming, and that's television and radio; radio national and ABC Classic FM," Ms Ellis said. "I think all those areas have suffered because of cuts and I also think the short-wave issue is very close to the heart of a lot of people in the Territory and Northern Australia." Short-wave transmissions ceased on January 31 this year, raising concerns among long distance drivers, travellers, cattlemen and many other people who relied on the service. Managing director Michelle Guthrie addressed the issues, saying funding was fixed and as new technologies emerged it was difficult to address accessibility issues where communications infrastructure faced the sorts of challenges the remote outback poses. "I understand that, I'm not a Luddite," Ms Ellis said. "But I still think there's a place for that capability, and I think short-wave was something a lot of people depended on for emergency services." Alice Springs was chosen as the location for the first forum of this kind, and the next one will take place in Wagga Wagga in August. The 120 people who attended heard about the corporation's investment in the regions with 80 new roles recently created and a $15m investment in local broadcasting. Ms Guthrie said the aim of the forum was to listen to feedback from the community and to increase awareness of the ABC's content and services. More information on ABC services at http://www.abc.net.au (via Mike Cooper, Jul 28, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. A PIECE OF RADIO AUSTRALIA - SHEPPARTON PRESERVED http://www.countrynews.com.au/2017/03/21/4717/big-diesel-on-display-video I was fortunate in viewing this behemoth generator during a visit to the site many decades ago. Also bit more info about the status of the RA site here from May 2017. http://blog.marxy.org/2017/05/radio-australias-shepparton.html Interestingly the CBRE site still lists the tx site for sale, perhaps waiting on the senate determination, or maybe just not sold or under contract yet? (Ian, July 30, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) ** AZERBAIJAN. https://www.facebook.com/groups/wrthgroup/?fref=ts NAGORNO-KARABAKH. Christian Milling: I would say the FM thing on 9677 kHz is coming from Aserbaidschan to jam the Narorny [sic] Karabakh transmissions. Because it would make no sense to transmit the national broadcaster of Baku in a region claimed by Armenians. - The transmitter with FMish modulation presumably from Stepanakert has been inactive for two months now, reports Ivo Ivanov. - Mauno Ritola: That is how it is given in WRTH, too. But the strange thing is, that I have never detected a carrier of another signal there, just this FMish transmitter, which used to carry Ädälätin Sesi, then Tolisstoni Sädo. Have you? Now there is nothing heard - Mauno Ritola: Christian: interesting also, that the latest Voice of Talyshistan programme on their web page dates back to 2014! http://modusvivendicenter.org/node/74 - Christian Milling: And the Voice of Justice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXoVKtuFTYQ - Mauno Ritola: Well, that's a fresh one, but it has been many years since they were carried over shortwave. - Christian Milling: On VOT`s Youtube channel also recent files there: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCQd19cIhemEyfGx4b1da_LA - Christian Milling: They are also on FB: https://www.facebook.com/tolishstonisado/ - Mauno Ritola: OK, right. But I haven't heard them on SW for a couple of years and it sounded like coming with the same FMish modulation. (via Rus-DX 30 July, published 29 July via DXLD) ** BELIZE. 5/24 Es: [times EDT? = UT -4] 1231, VPR-FM 99.5, BZ, Belmopan - - EE/SS ads - More FM 1231 [miles] 1632, VPR-FM 107.1, BZ, Belize City - - EE More FM // 99.5 1200 [He also had Mexicans and Guatemalans in this opening] All above are new loggings. Total to date = 3585. Antenna: APS-13 Receivers: Sangean HDT-1X & AirSpy with SDR Console (Fred Nordquist, Moncks Corner, SC FM03af, WTFDA gg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) ** BHUTAN. 6035, BBS, 1206-1224+, July 26. PBS Yunnan (China) cut off at 1206*, leaving weak, but in the clear BBS; announcer in vernacular with usual short breaks at 1213 and 1216 for the unique indigenous instrumental music; 1224 into indigenous music and singing. Found off the air at 1246 check, so did not go through to 1400 today. My local sunrise today was at 1309 UT, while sunset at Thimphu was 1253 UT. This is encouraging to find them running past PBS Yunnan going off the air. 6035, BBS, 1231-1236*, July 30. In vernacular, with phone-in program; OM chatting with young girls (no singing today); best in USB to get away from strong CNR1 on 6030, which was playing loud music today; PBS Yunnan (China) already off the air here. 6035, BBS, 1201-1219*, July 31. Heard after PBS Yunnan (China) went off the air at 1201*; monologue in vernacular; 1214 usual brief break for indigenous instrumental music; suddenly off. Thanks very much to feedback from Gautam Kumar Sharma (GK), in Abhayapuri (Assam), India, who heard BBS on July 29, about 1220. His very nice musical recording is at http://goo.gl/9XsAZE Also heard that day by Ed Kusalik (Canada), 1201-1229*, after PBS Yunnan had gone off the air. GK and I agree that BBS is now fairly regularly running past 1200 (after PBS Yunnan is off the air), which is very good news. My local sunrise today was at 1313 UT, while sunset at Thimphu, was at 1250 UT (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX WORLD OF RADIO 1889, LISTENING DIGEST) ** BONAIRE. `In the Americas` is a series I have been enjoying now that I can get the CREATE subchannel of OETA; your PBS station may availablize it too. Lots of cooking, DIY, and travelogues there. An episode about Bonaire and Curaçao includes the Papiamentu language and clips of an announcer on BON-FM [102.7 Kralendijk] speaking it. Click on episode 301 here: http://intheamericas.org/programs/season-3/ It seems you have to ``join` in order to view online (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOUGAINVILLE [and non]. 3325, NBC Bougainville, 1058, July 26. A moment of nostalgia here, with playing of the song "Waltzing Matilda," by a heavily accented Australian singer. 1109 - Dire Straits with "Walk Of Life." No extended broadcast today, but instead was off the air before 1152. At which time I heard Pro 1 RRI Palangkaraya in the clear with almost fair reception; well above the norm for them, with time pips at 1200 and Jakarta news audio feed at 1201. Noted 3260 (NBC Madang - PNG), at 1254 and subsequent checking through to 1325, with no modulation/audio at all, but decent level open carrier (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 3375.1, Brasil, Rádio Municipal São Gabriel da Cachoeira 1000 to 1015, om Portuguese with fading , seems to be back on regular schedule? 21 July (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Florida, 746Pro, Drake R8, NRD 525, 90 meter dipole and other wire antennas, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. JRX Logs: Thu, July 27, 2017. Receiver: Degen DE1103. 4885, Thu, July 27 at 0102, Radio Clube do Pará, Belém-PA. Men announcers talks and comments about football. Station has a very poor signal and modulation, 25332 (sometimes 25331). (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier, Cabedelo-PB, Brazil, Degen DE1103, Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) 1636 km or only 1017 statute miles from Belém to Cabedelo (gh, ibid.) ** BRAZIL. 5939.830, R. Voz Missionária, Camboriú SC at 0443 UT http://www.gideoes.com.br Morning log at 0415 to 0530 UT on July 30 in southern Germany: [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 30 dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 6090 two signals noted here now: 6090 nearly even frequency or +1 Hz from Anguilla, prayer every Sunday, female prayer sermon at 0459 UT, S=9+5dB here in southern Germany, and also 6 Hertz lower sideband: 6089.994v, Portuguese, tentative Brazilian registered, ZYE956, R. Bandeirantes, São Paulo SP [isn`t this inactive on all SW? --- gh] weak and tiny signal. Morning log at 0415 to 0530 UT on July 30 in southern Germany: [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 30 dxldyg via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 9564.9, Super Radio Deus é Amor, Curitiba, 2125-2140, 26- 07, I didn’t hear it on this frequency for months, but on air at this time with its habitual religious program "Igreja Pentecostal Deus é Amor", in parallel with 11764.6. Interference from Radio Martí on 9565. 22322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Reinante, Tecsun PL- 880, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No jam? ** BRAZIL. BRASIL, 9725.4, R. Evangelizar, Curitiba PR, 2109-2120, 20/7, programa de propaganda religiosa, intitulado Pe. Reginaldo, apresentado pelo próprio; 34433, QRM adjacente. Good DX & 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, July 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL [and non]. 11734.94, July 26 at 2053, very poor signal with song, probably hymn from Rádio Transmundial, Santa Maria. WRTH kW column shows it`s nominally the most powerful ZY SW station, at 50 kW --- all others less, 250 kW RNA defunct. With BFO I can tell there is a second even weaker carrier, presumably Zanzibar, closer to 11735.0. At 2059 I am only hearing one JBA carrier, and at 2100 none. So seems both of them sign off about 2100*. Aoki shows RTM until 1859*, and nothing else until North Korea from *0330. RTM would do much better on a free channel if it ran on into the night, duh! This one is never heard in our evenings, when a few other 25m Brazilians make it; let alone overnight (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 11735, Radio Transmundial, Santa María, 1952-2012, 26-07, Portuguese, news, sport news, ID “Estas foram as notícias na Transmundial para todo o mundo”, religious comments and songs. 33433. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, Sangean ATS-909X, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 11815. Thu, July 27 at 1738, Rádio Brasil Central, Goiânia- GO. Program "Show da Tarde" by Ulisses Junior: interview with economy expert, about FGTS and other financial themes; 1748 Program "Rádio Brasil Central Saúde"; ID. RBC station with a poor transmission, 35332 (sometimes 35333). (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier, Cabedelo-PB, Brazil, Degen DE1103, Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 11895a, 2022, Rede Boa Vontade, Porto Alegre, the most difficult to hear 25m Brazilian heard at poor level 4/7 till closing at 2039. Frequency measured at 11895.134. Other Brazilans at same time: Trans Mundial on 11734.98 the best at fair level while Aparecida 11855.06 and Brasil Central 11815.03 both poor (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, WinRadio G33DDC and AOR7030+ receivers, EWEs to North, Central & South America, August NZ DX Times via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 15190, Radio Inconfidência, Belo Horizonte, 2000-2015, 28- 07, Portuguese, comments, ID “...Rede Inconfidência de Rádio..., Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais, Brasil”, “A Hora do Fazendeiro, o programa mais antigo da rádio brasileira, apresenta Tina Gonçalves”. 15321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, Sangean ATS-909X, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. SECRETLAND, Strong signal of Mighty KBC Radio via SPL Secretbrod on July 29 1500-1600 9400 SCB 100 kW / 306 deg to WeEu English Sat plus 2nd harmonic 18800 kHz http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/strong-signal-of-mighty-kbc-radio-via_29.html Shortwave Radiogram #6 via SPL Secretbrod on July 29 1600-1630 9400 SCB 100 kW / 306 deg to WeEu English Sat + 18800 kHz http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/shortwave-radiogram-6-via-spl.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BURUNDI [non]. FRANCE, Reception of Radio Publique Africaine via TDF Issoudun, July 27 1800-1858 on 15480 ISS 250 kW / 145 deg to SoAf Kirundi/French, good: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-radio-publique-africaine_27.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) FRANCE, 15480. Sun, July 30 at 1830-1840, Radio Publique Africaine, Issoudun, in French. A reggae song; 1833 Other reggae; 1835 Man announcer says Hi Burundi two times; Woman and man announcers present "The Magazine"- News. This Station target Burundi has a good signal and modulation, 45444 (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier, Cabedelo, Paraíba, Brazil, Sony ICF-SW100S, Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** CANADA. 660 Calgary --- As the IBOC was fading away from 670 [WSCR Chicago] leaving CFFR atop on the frequency with "traffic on the 1's and weather with a high of 14 degrees. Heard from 0510 to 0519 local time [CDT = 1010-1019 UT]. Apparently using day facilities never heard at night before (Todd Skaine, 2007 Toyota car radio, Twin Cities area, MN, July 28, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. LPRT questions (those 40 watt Canadian AM relay stations for remote areas). What is the farthest anyone received a 40 watt LPRT? Would anyone have a picture of what the LPRT looked like? I heard years ago that these were installed on telephone poles near CN railroad stations to serve remote areas of Canada. What kind of antenna did they use? How big (size wise) was the transmitter? I found some information on this online from the DX Listening Digest 7-127 October 22 2007. Basically it started in Vancouver in 1940 in Revelstoke on 840 kHz with 20 watts. I was curious if anyone has more information, photos and technical aspects of it all... 05-22-2017, 05:14 PM #1 (KY-Near-Cincinnati, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) I note from the American Bandscan Blog (The work of our own W9WI - Doug Smith) that Chaîne Française is converting CBON-6 from 1010 kHz AM to 98.5 FM. What's interesting about this is that CBON-6 is one of very few LPRTs I've actually heard (whilst passing through Blind River in 2005). If you do a street view for 100 Rue Nadon St in Blind River, and go down the street Southeast a little, you'll see, on the north side of the street, the big satellite dish and a shed, between two wooden poles, supporting what appears to be an inverted "L" antenna. Though the power of CBON-6 is 40 watts, the inefficient antenna gives an effective radiated power closer to 12 watts. No doubt WINS and CFRB give CBON-6 a lot of interference at night (though not as much as one would expect, they are not in either stations' major lobe). However interference from CFRB alone would put their 50% NIF to 5 mV/m (with the real NIF higher, since the standard for NIF is the worst 10% of the time). (Robert Grant, July 26, ibid.) ** CHINA. 4790, CNR1, 1239, July 30. This program jamming already on the air, in anticipation of BBC Uzbek (Tajikistan) signing on at *1300; // CNR1 on 6125 (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 9490, CRI (Kunming-Anning), 1315-1357 18 July. Fair signal in Bengali, several mentions of Bangladesh in the chat & for some reason, a clear "Radio Pakistan he", "Morning Music" at 1320. CRI web contact info at 1324, 1339, 1357 (+ IS). Music sounded "lounge-y jazz- ish" and nothing like what I've heard in the past on Radio Pakistan; still it's enjoyable while watching the waves at Moonlight Beach (Dan Sheedy, Moonlight Beach, CA, PL380/6m X wire, via Bob Wilkner, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** CHINA. BPM Time Signal, 10000, 1758-1759. ID in Morse Code, Female announcer with ID in Mandarin. SINPO 33333. Sent from my iPhone. Best 73 to all! (Ed, 7Z1ES, Sylvester, Rig: WJ-8711A; Ant: 130' Dipole with Ladderline/Tuner, Up 50', July 29, Riyadh, Sa`udi Arabia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 11935, July 28 at 1237, pop music and talk in Russian with strange accent about football; 1241 mentions ``kitaysky``, 1243 to Firedragon-like music. Must be MPK == CRI in Russian as scheduled 10- 13, 500 kW, 37 degrees from SZG site i.e. toward DBP and onward to CAm = Cevernaya Amerika (per HFCC, at 1200-1227 there would have been a collision with RVA westward from Palauig in Hmong). (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. 5910.351, Nice fair signal from Alcaraván in Colombia this 0440 UT, S=8-9 here across Atlantic into southern Germany. Enjoyed nice Latin American music selection, fast music speed. Morning log at 0415 to 0530 UT on July 30 in southern Germany: [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 30 dxldyg via DXLD) 5910.355, July 30 at 0602, very poor music below noise level, no doubt Alcaraván Radio active again. At 0440, Wolfgang Büschel had measured it in Germany on 5910.351 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 1050, Radio Victoria, Las Tunas. 0948 July 23, 2017. Cuban ballads, female announcer with brief José Martí factoid, ID 1004, "... emisora... Radio Victoria..." and male and female talk, another ID by the man. Good at times, with XEG nulled (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. 6145, July 28 at 0131, RHC English frequency is S9+10 of dead air, so check the only other one, 6000: VG S9+20/30 signal and VG modulation too --- but wait, it`s not RHC programming, rather China Radio International in English // 9580 where it is only supposed to be, and which BTW, is undermodulated by comparison. It`s also // 6020 Albania relay. Source soon becomes obvious when the talk is about stock market activity including NYSE. Things are REALLY messed up at RHC tonight. Obviously no one at studio or sites is monitoring what is going into or out of the transmitters! So how can they expect any listeners to do so? Shortly I check all the RHC Spanish frequencies for further anomalies but they are all on correct feed: 5040, 6060, 9535, 11670, 11760-overmod/distorted, 11830, 11840, 11850, 15230. At 0200, 6000 goes into Chinese like // 9580. 6145 is still dead air of S9+10. Ditto at next check 0222. Next2 check at 0456: 6000 is now in Cantonese CRI // 9790, and 6145 is STILL dead air. At 0500 we finally get to hear RHC in English as the extra frequencies have come on: 6060, 6100, and best 5040. Both 6000 & 6145 are now dead air. At 0548 I notice some hum on 6000, and at 0550 RHC English modulation finally cuts on, while 6145 remains dead air. Enough for tonight! (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RHC/Cuba messed up, again. 6000 should be English right now but it's Chinese. It's the same CRI feed on 6020/9570 from Cerrik and the same CRI feed on Quivican, Cuba's 9580 (Paul B Walker Jr, Warren PA, 0222 UT July 28, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) But what happened in Cuba Quivican San Felipe TITAN transmission center? at 0400 UT heard loud and clear on the RHC fq. CRI Cantonese language program instead on both odd 5999.9975 and 9790.000 kHz too! (Wolfgang Büschel, July 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 15140, July 29 at 1930, RHC English is S9+10 of extreme distortion: I have to listen a while to decide it`s really English; first seemed Italian, but guess it was the Spanish accent. When will RHC ever put its weblang Italian on SW? Carrier is OK, so it`s entirely a modulation problem, perhaps originating in the studio or link. At least someone eventually noticed, since transmitter is off at 1952 check; while 15370 in Spanish song remains strong. Something is always wrong at RHC. Patria o suerte, ¡pensaremos! (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6000v, Quivicán TITÁN San Felipe is always now 4 Hertz odd on lower sideband, seldom odd appeared on China made transmitter units. S=9+25dB at 0508 UT July 30. ALL! RHC English outlets suffer by distorted audio now -- from the studio feed to the broadcast centers? Also bad audio on \\ 6060, 6100, and 6145 kHz channels. Talk on crime and unsafety matter in Mexico. 5999.996, CUBA hit badly by adjacent powerhouse BBC Ascension of S=9+35dB. This July 30 propagation: 6060, CUB S=9+25dB into Germany. 6100, CUB S=9+10dB 6144.997var, CUB poor S=6, azimuth is Western California / Vancouver though. Morning log at 0415 to 0530 UT on July 30 in southern Germany: [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 30 dxldyg via DXLD) 13820, August 1 at 1338, considerable pulse jamming against nothing, the B-season-only Radio Martí frequency, which is also getting heavy jamming on 13605 but mostly atop (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. SECRETLAND, Reception of IRRS R. Santec The Word via SPL Secretbrod on July 30: 1459-1500 on 15190 SCB 100 kW / 090 deg to SoAs English Radio Habana Cuba/radiohc.cu 1500-1530 on 15190 SCB 100 kW / 090 deg to SoAs Eng/Ger Sun The Cosmic Wave, strong: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-irrs-rsantec-word-via-spl_30.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) How in the world did a minute of RHC English get on this transmitter? Surely accidental (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CUBA. THE CUBAN PACHANGA -- 2017 - The State of FM Radio in Cuba story by Jim Thomas, illustrated, August WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest: http://www.w4uvh.net/pachanga.pdf Did you know there are allowed some private FM stations in Cuba? Thanks to Jim for availablizing his article for our readers! (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. DATABASE UPDATE – CUBAN FM STATIONS http://db.wtfda.org/ From Jim Thomas: “This WTFDA FM database update comes courtesy of Radiocuba, the juvenile wing of their big brother, the ICRT. Radiocuba recently updated the coordinates for all FM radio stations, island-wide. Antenna heights at HAAT were also. It kind of amazes me that Radiocuba is slowly stepping up. They've also noted transmitter/tower parks (farms), which are mostly repeaters of the large Cd. Habana stations. Those have been noted in the Remarks column. Late last night (Saturday, July 15th), I completed updating the entire list in the DB. Approximately 90% of the Cuban FM radio stations co- ordinates (latitude & longitude) will take you to the base of the broadcast tower. This can be evidence by trying it with Google Maps satellite view. It's actually pretty awesome. However, some of the Google Maps satellite views do not have a very high resolution to them (compared to other parts of the Earth), so you might be hard-pressed to actually see a tower. Some of the shorter *sticks* are buried in residential areas, so I have to assume they have the coordinates correct.” (Jim Thomas, MO, August WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD) ** CYPRUS [non]. 9955, Wed July 26 at 1314, FG Radio via WRMI is closing after some music, as travelgazette.com. Also run across it Wed at 2104 on 9455 saying they are currently focusing on travel, such as violent crime in the Caribbean (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CZECHIA [non]. After 0200 UT July 26, with Argentine relay over, I am still tuned to WRMI 9395 and hear Radio Prague in English. Yes, that now shows on the skedgrid, with 9395 Oldies not resuming until 0230, which is when Prague plays again on 11580, after Ukraine at 0200 --- but too weak to confirm that here (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Prague missing at 0230 UT tonight (28 July UTC) on 11580 kHz and replaced by World Music [WRMI]. But Bro. Stair aired at 0300 as usual with an old program ranting against Glenn -- "the biggest sucker of all" ;-) . (- Richard Langley, NB, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DENMARK [and non]. DENMARK COULD BE NEXT TO BEGIN FM SHUTDOWN says the Radio Magazine. Switzerland is well ahead of Denmark in its plans, incidentally. (Can't find a link to this article) Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) This one: http://www.radiomagonline.com/around-the-world/0020/denmark-could-be-next-to-begin-fm-shutdown/39092 73 (Ydun Ritz, Denmark, ibid.) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC [and non]. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, HAITI TO TACKLE FM RADIO AND MOBILE PHONE INTERFERENCE Imagine if you lived on the border and only received cell phone service from another country. Even your local calls were roaming, meaning that calling anyone was more expensive than it should be. That's reality for some people in the border regions of the Dominican Republic and Haiti, who only receive each other's mobile phone service. That interference issue, along with others in FM radio, will soon be tackled by the two countries' telecommunications regulators. INDOTEL and CONATEL (Haiti) have agreed to look into solutions to the interference problems, as well as to renew their inter-institutional agreement from 2007 on the allocation of television spectrum with an eye toward digital services (Raymie Humbert, July 26, WTFDA gg via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 1270a, 0557, Radio Universal first noted on off-frequency 1270.091 putting het on 1270 on 21/7. Ident at 0619 helpfully deciphered by Rafael Rodríguez, MW Offsets Yahoo Group, as “Universal 12-70 AM, no se pierda todas las novedades locales, nacionales e internacionales; mantente siempre informado...” (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, WinRadio G33DDC and AOR7030+ receivers, EWEs to North, Central & South America, August NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 6250, (Fernando Poo). Radio Nacional, Malabo, Equatorial Guinea (presumed) heard from 0035 to past 0105 on 7/26/17 with mostly continuous hi-life music. I noted only one brief announcement in Spanish at 0042; the rest of the programming consisted of only hi-life music, and no ID was given. Mostly fair (Bob Brossell, Pewaukee, WI, JRC NRD-545 (Godar DXR-1000 antenna); ICOM IC R75 (Grove Flex antenna); Drake DSR-2 (Longwire); ETON E1; SONY ICF SW77, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) I wonder if he means UT July 27, as no other reports of it this early on July 26. Otherwise, he got it first of all. I attempt to present all the prolific further logs of this more or less in forward chronological order; I find it very annoying when some editors make it reverse chrono (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Re: Log: Radio Malabo 6250 kHz at 1845 UT on July 26. Ueberraschung auf 6250 kHz, da sind wohl wieder chinesische Techniker auf Afrikatour. Talk in Spanisch, um 1902 UT dann ID und weiter in Lokalsprache. Um 1945 UT gab's Nx in Franzoesisch. Das Signal ist recht gut, nur leidet der Empfang unter dem innerkoreanischen Radiokrieg (Patrick Robic-AUT, A-DX July 26, via BC-DX 28 July via DXLD) Toller Log, Patrick! Malabo war frueher einer meiner Indikatorstationen. Haette nie gedacht, dass die die KW wieder aktivieren. Der Sender lief bei mir unter "tot und begraben". Freut mich, dass von dort wieder gesendet wird. Wunder gibt es immer wieder ... (Franz Suess, Germany, A-DX July 26, ibid.) GUINÉ EQUATORIAL, 6250, R. Malabo, Malabo, 2213-2225, 26/7, castelhano, texto, canções ocidentais; 45444. Good DX & 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, SW Coast of Portugal, July 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 2339 July 26 alerted by Chris Smolinski to strong station on 6250 playing uptempo Africa #1-style music, still going straight through 0000 with no ID or talk of any kind. Might this be RNGE Malabo reactivated? -- (Jay Novello, Wake Forest NC, 0046 UT July 27, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Malabo 6250.0 kHz --- Surprised to tune into strong Radio Malabo, Equatorial Guinea on 6250 with ID and announcing test transmission in Spanish at 2305 UT tonight 26 July. Still on air with cont[inuous?] local songs at 2326 (Alan Pennington, AOR 7030plus, longwire, Caversham, UK, 2327 UT July 26, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Presumed Radio Malabo on 6250 with a fair signal into Tennessee at 2323 UT. Mariaroza by Eddy Kenzo at tune-in, then back to back African vocals. Posted by: (Brandon Jordan, July 26, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Brandon, Very nice catch! Have not heard this for a long while! Very good signal into KiwiSDR receiver in Reykjavik, Iceland with highlife vocals from 2340 tune - SINPO 45544. Somebody must have fixed a xmtr as this was (is?) a nominal 20 kW unit and is heard much better than Bata's nominal 50 kW. Nothing listed on Short-Wave.info. Maybe they fix their Bata xmtr as well?? (Bruce Churchll, CA, 2350 UT, ibid.) Hi Brandon - Found this posted today. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDdPiiEChpk (Ron Howard, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From whom, wherem? Linx to a bunch of other clips of it (gh) Thanks Ron. My daughter had to move back in with me for a while and I dismantled my radio shack to make room. It has been free for a few months now and last weekend I got around to getting it set back up. Still lots of work to do, but very happy to get it done in time to catch Radio Malabo! 73, (Brandon Jordan, KM4PBQ, Fayette County, TN EM55, http://www.swldx.us WinRadio G33DDC G313-e | RFSpace SDR-IQ NetSDR | Elad FDM-S2 | Icom IC-7200 | Array Solutions SAL-30 Shared Apex Loop | Wellbrook ALA100HG Loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still a great signal here in Tennessee. Hoping I can get them to QSL, while I QSL’d Radio Bata and Radio Africa previously, I never got a QSL for Radio Malabo which is considered a separate Radio Country in NASWA, Equatorial Guinea – Fernando Poo. Still non-stop music till this post at 0002. 73, (Brandon Jordan, KM4PBQ, Fayette County, TN EM55, ibid.) Brandon, If it's any encouragement, Malabo was an easier QSL for me from the 1970's whereas Bata's QSL (other than Radio Africa) has eluded me for several years. For a test broadcast they should be forthcoming one would hope! ?? (Bruce Chuchill, ibid.) Yes, Radio Malabo - ID and announced test transmission earlier in Spanish at 2305. Continuous songs since. Strongest sig I remember from them. 73 (Alan Pennington, AOR 7030plus longwire, Caversham, UK, 2346 UT July 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I echo Alan's observation about strongest signal ever heard from this station (from any previous receiver site I've used). Currently peaking at S9+10db in Reykjavik! (Bruce Churchill, 0022, UT July 27, ibid.) 6250, slightly on the low side: Tnx for tips from Alan Pennington, BDXC-UK of a test transmission heard at 2305, by a reactivated Radio Malabo, and also found by reactivated Brandon Jordan, west Tennessee, at 2323, I quickly check July 26 at 2351 to find very poor level music on 6250, S8 vs S7 noise level, still going past 2403+. If they stay on all night, should improve considerably. Best time for it used to be around 0500-0600 after their sign-on. This old Malabo frequency, 6250, was last heard in May 2011 per DSWCI DBS, but that appeared to be a mistake, as at that time Bonaire was producing a leapfrog mixing product of 6080 over 6165 another 85 kHz higher on 6250 during the NHK Spanish relay until 0527*. No more chance of that! The latest real log of Malabo in DXLD appeared to be from me a bimonth earlier in 2011y as in DXLD 11-12: ``6250, RNGE, March 17 at 0543, Spanish talking about events the last few years in Malabo. Fair with usual ute bursts on low side`` (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have the NetSDR (locked to a GPSDO) running while listening on the Excalibur. Radio Malabo has been steady on 6249.995 since I tuned in at 2319. They obviously have a very nicely upgraded transmitter. 73, (Brandon Jordan, KM4PBQ, Fayette County, TN EM55, 0046 UT July 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Malabo is definitely playing a loop, this is the same song after Mariaroza that I heard earlier. Verified with the next song at 0052, this is a musical loop they are playing for the test. Hopefully they ID after it finishes again around 0128 UT if the loop plays out. 73, (Brandon Jordan, KM4PBQ, Fayette County, TN EM55, 0100 UT July 27, ibid. WORLD OF RADIO 1889) Very very good signal & audio here at 0107z tune in with music then OM with talk (ID?) at 0110z then back to music. Overall 43434 SINPO and S9 (Rich near Chicago Ray, Ten Tec RX340 and Wellbrook A330s at 28', UT July 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250, EQUATORIAL GUINEA, R. Malabo (presumed). While testing a new USB cable to power the Perseus SDR with an XTPower power bank charger, was shocked to find a strong signal here at 0001 with African pop music nonstop past 0045. M in song at 0034 mentioned Malabo clearly several times. Very glad to have it reactivated (if it is indeed Malabo) and hope it stays on. So far Brandon Jordan in TN noted it first. Youtube video of my reception at 0017 27 July can be found at https://youtu.be/VVClRjhneuY 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR (on DC) with 153 foot Delta Loop, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) Hi Dave, Great catch! Probably it's really Radio Malabo. However, the song which is being played in the video clip is "Loi" by Koffi Olomidé, a soukous singer from the Democratic Republic of Congo! (Antonello Napolitano, Italy, ibid.) Still going strong at 0205z after little fanfare at TOH except at 0202z an OM gave two yelping type howls - strange I thought - then right into music (Rich Ray near Chicago, July 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6249.995, July 27 at 0314, after originally hearing it before 2400 UT, another check for reactivated after 6 years and 4 months, RNGE Malabo, and as expected by now over all-dark path, the signal is much better, S9-S7, so I measure the frequency more accurately. Nothing but African pop music heard past 0344, altho others were reporting some periodic IDs in Spanish and the same music repeating on a loop. My next2 check at 0610: still audible, but now talk definitely in Spanish, noticias, vs storm noise from TX Panhandle, and the NR on the R75 certainly helps (not the NB). Many more reports of it followed from Europe and North America, one from South America, including still testing and asking for reports the following evening; none seen yet from Africa, Asia or Pacific (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have uploaded a video which I recorded today in my blog. http://shortwaverecording.wordpress.com/ Can anybody explain what the Spanish talk is saying about? I don't think I can hear any station ID. Other than this talk, they just kept playing African music (Sakae Obara AB5MF(JH0BDK), New Jersey, USA, 0345 UT July 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Fair signal here in northern MI since 0255 on 6250. Best in LSB using NR on my Icom 7200. Still going after 0500 on 7/27. Mainly music with few ancmts. Weaker now and possible news at 0505 UT. Nice to see them back on the air. Now for that elusive QSL. Got Bata years ago (Don Hosmer, W8SWL, W Branch MI USA, 0508 UT July 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Don. We are in the same boat, got Radio Bata and Radio Africa via Bata years ago, never got a reply from Radio Malabo. Fingers crossed for finally getting Fernando Poo verified (Brandon Jordan, ibid.) 6250, Radio Malabo, Malabo, 0455-0545, 27-07, after being reported by several colleagues, heard in Reinante, Lugo, Spanish, program "Panorama Nacional", "saludaremos a los que cumplen años", African songs. news and comments, ID "Radio Nacional", "Hoy es jueves, nos acercamos al fin de semana", "Informamos para Radio Nacional", "Si Vd. quiere viajar a la ciudad de Bata...", "Desde los estudios centrales de Radio Malabo, en la ciudad de Malabo, "Compañeros de la Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial..., saludos a nuestros oyentes", "Radio Nacional, Radio Malabo en la onda corta, continuamos con Panorama Nacional". Clear signal. 25322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250.000 precise on-fq at 0650 UT on July 27. Heard in remote SDR units Detroit-MI and Florida, S=5-6 signal across the Atlantic Ocean this morning. The skillful clever China engineers of BBEF Beijing are again on repair and maintenance tour, like formerly in Zanzibar- Tanzania, Ethiopia, Mali and other African countries, or Thazin radio, Pyin U Lwin MMR. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DXLD) A neat explanation, but only a guess? (gh, DXLD) Hi Wolfie. First I have heard if the skillful clever China BBEF engineers. Which transmitters have they fixed in Ethiopia and Mali? 73, (Brandon Jordan, ibid.) See MALI anyway 5005, RNGE, R. Bata, 0513 & 0550, July 27. Definite open carrier, but unable to pull in any audio, which is usually the case here during my summertime. 6250, Radio Malabo, 0502-0602, July 27. Thanks to alert from Brandon Jordan; not a music loop, but actual programming in Spanish; started poor and improved up to almost fair, but heavy QRN (static); news and comments; both IDs given together - "Radio Nacional, Radio Malabo"; 0556 commercial announcement by child for "Banco Nacional." My audio: http://goo.gl/m3xfRN (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) No copy, nothing on the waterfall here in central Oregon last evening. I wish I still had my listening post in Virginia. Oregon sucks for radio. Regards, (George, NJ3H, Redmond, Oregon USA, SDRs: Perseus and Elad FDM-S2, Antenna: Wellbrook ALA1530AL-2, July 27, ibid.) Tuned into this at 2245 UT (26 July 2017) and heard back-to-back tracks from Celine Dion up to the hour then canned ID in Spanish followed by an African song. Then came a live announcement in Spanish, giving frequency details, and continuous soukous and other African songs which were still going when I tuned out at 0020 UT. Reception was good via a remote web SDR in Asferg, northern Denmark. You can hear an edited 4-minute clip of this on the Interval Signals Online page on Soundcloud: http://tinyurl.com/radiomalabo Thanks to Jordan C. J Heyburn via WRTH Facebook page for the tip! (David Kernick, Interval Signals Online, 1002 UT July 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) This is a very clear recording of the ID and frequency announcement about tests, Autoplaying after this was quite a nice surprise, a local-quality sign-off from AFTN Utapao, Thailand, my former network (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Thanks David for the first time crediting it to Jordan, who reported it already at 2115. 73, (Mauno Ritola, WRTH, dxldyg via DXLD) Does anyone know where reception reports can be sent? Thx (Rich near Chicago Ray, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) David Kernick`s is a very clear recording of the ID and frequency announcement about tests, ``Radio Nacional de la República de Guinea Ecuatorial``, Avenida 3 de Agosto, Malábo``, naming different continents it desires to hear from. WRTH address adds number 90 after Agosto, and also Apartado 195 (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Radio Malabo on air with good and clear signal --- 6250, Radio Malabo, Malabo, 1740-1803, 27-07, Spanish, comments, "Gracias por acompañarnos en este programa, volveremos el martes", ID "En sintonía de Radio Malabo", African songs. 25322 and improving to 35333 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Reinante, ibid.) 6250.000 even frequency. S=7 -83dBm signal here in western Europe, Germany, Belgium and Liverpool England. Happy African music program at 1840 UT on July 27. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) _6250.01_, 1955-2010 27.7, R Nacional de Guinea Equatorial, Malabo. Reactivated - last heard May [sic] 2011! Vernacular talk, Afropop, 44333. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, All heard on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via DXLD) Heard by you in May 2011? The only report I could find turned out to be a mis-ID by someone else for Japan in Spanish via Bonaire, leapfrog mixing product landing on 6250; as I already explained. Final report before that was from me in March 2011 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also audible now on the East Coast of North America (Art Delibert, Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, NRD-545, 40-foot vertical antenna, 2030 UT July 27, HCDX via DXLD) Following Alan Pennington's report of Malabo 6250 kHz last night, there is a reasonably strong interference free broadcast on 6250 this evening consisting of (mainly) unannounced African music. Presumably Malabo from Equatorial Guinea, an island in the Bight of Africa (David J Morris, Lytchett Matravers, Poole, 2052 UT July 27, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) 6250, R. Malabo (Radio Nacional de Guinea Ecuatorial), Malabo. First tuned in at 2015 UT but all that could be heard was Echo of Unification plus heavy jamming. But I waited until propagation from Korea started to dissipate (high signal absorption along the daylight path between Korea and Mount Evelyn fixes that!). Actually, the Korean QRM fell away very quickly around 2125. Sure enough, Radio Malabo could then be heard and clearly noted at 2130 with Spanish IDs and announcements. Then into back-to-back Afro music programming with no further announcements. A fair signal from 2130 but weakened considerably by 2210. More announcements at 2230 and the station finally faded by 2250. Great to see this station reactivated after a long absence, 27/7. Hear this log! (Rob Wagner, VK3BVW, Mount Evelyn, VIC (Yaesu FTDX 3000, Kenwood TS2000, Yaesu FRG100, Kenwood R5000, Tecsun PL-680, Horizontal Loop antenna, Double Bazooka antennas for 80, 40 and 20 metres, Par EF-SWL End Fed antenna, BHI NEIM1031 Digital Noise Eliminating Module, MFJ-1026 Noise Cancelling Module, ATU), August Australian DX News via DXLD) ?Reactivated! Was never an easy one via long path years ago, but quite plainly heard today, checked at 0545 and heard vague talks, by 0555 could distinguish Spanish, and by 0615 it was pretty good. Happy to hear them again after all this time, 29/7 (Craig Seager, VK2HBT, Bathurst NSW (Perseus SDR, IcomIC-R71E, JRC NRD-545, Tecsun PL-880, DX Engineering Preamp, Wellbrook feeder isolator, Icom IC-746, Loop Skywire, Home-made Loop with LZ1AQ amplifier), August Australian dX News via DXLD) Hello friends, Today I got a more than acceptable signal from Radio Malabo (GNE) here in São Bernardo City, São Paulo Region, southeast of Brazil. I created two videos of these receptions that can be viewed on You Tube on my ‘GrimmSBC’ video channel or by direct access to You Tube: First video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBHX2PTgbBE Second video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0CoezpHW8E I kindly request the information on where to send a reception report (electronic mail or postal address), for which I thank you. 73 and good DX! (Rudolf Grimm, São Bernardo SP, BRAZIL http://dxways-br.blogspot.com You Tube Video Channel: GrimmSBC Hard-Core-DX mailing list, July 27 via DXLD) Hi Rudolf, I do not have their e-mail address, but in 2003 I got the attached QSL from Radio Malabo. In WRTH 2017 the same postal address is mentioned. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, HCDX via DXLD) No attachment (gh) 6250, Radio Malabo, Malabo, 1857-2020, 27-07, African songs, at 1900 id. “Radio Malabo”, Spanish and Vernacular comments, at 2005 general interest advertisements in Spanish, “Por una Guinea mejor...”. “Estimados oyentes, les informamos que en estos momentos Radio Malabo está transmitiendo además de en frecuencia modulada, en onda corta en la banda de 48 metros, frecuencia de 6250 kilociclos por segundo, para Guinea Ecuatorial y para todo el mundo, les rogamos reporten cómo están recibiendo a nuestra emisora”. 25322 to 35433 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Log in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Dave Kernick (USA [sic]) has some really interesting audio of Radio Malabo shortly after Jordan first heard it. Dave recorded this "in the period 23:00-23:10 UT on 26 July 2017. In this 4-minute clip you'll hear a 'canned' ID followed by live ID and frequency announcement. This was monitored on shortwave 6250 kHz via a remote web SDR receiver located in Asferg, northern Denmark." Check out Dave's Soundcloud file https://soundcloud.com/intervalsignals/radio-malabo-radio-nacional-de-guinea-ecuatorial-26-july-2017 Thanks Dave. 73 and good DX everyone, Rob Wagner VK3BVW (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) When I tuned into reactivated Malabo on 6250 (at 2300 UT on 26th), I thought at first it was a pirate, because of the frequency and its signal strength, as I'd never heard Malabo that strong before when it was on air previously. But the Spanish language made me quickly discount that and then I almost immediately caught an ID which I just managed to record and is now uploaded at: https://app.box.com/s/08du9ltyji4l5bk50tacxvtjtj9dcm5f I did wonder how long they had used the out-of-band 6250 and looking back on old WRTHs it seems to date back to pre-independence days in the mid-1960s when it was Spanish Guinea and Emisora de Radiodifusión Santa Isabel, Fernando Poo used 6250 (Alan Pennington, UK, July 28, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Also Malabo has been on irregularly but only daytime hours 0500-1700, but probably have had some serious maintenance work done at the transmitter site. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) Not so: see my report of 6250 still audible overnight 01/05 UT July 28 (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250, Jul 27, 2045, Radio Nacional, Malabo noted (no ID heard). At this time non-stop music followed by a newscast at 2100. 1-2 (Christer Brunström, Halmstad, Sweden, SW Bulletin July 30 via DXLD) RN de la República Guinea Ecuatorial/Radio Malabo, July 27 2130&2300 6250 MBO 050 kW / non-dir WeAf Spanish, tiny to weak to fair http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-rn-de-la-republica-guinea.html (DX RE MIX NEWS #1020 from Georgi Bancov and Ivo Ivanov, July 31, 2017 via DXLD) Radio Nacional, Malabo (Equatorial Guinea - Fernando Poo) on reactivated 6250 kHz being heard at 0005 UT with fair signal playing continuous Afro pops. I missed yesterday's excitement when it was first logged around the world. 73, (Rich D`Angelo, PA, UT July 28, NASWA yg via DXLD) As with last night, just making it here on 6250 at 0034; lots of band noise but still audible (Jim Ronda, Tulsa, OK, ibid.) 6250, (Fernando Poo). Malabo (Presumed), 0140, 7/27/17 poor with non- stop songs; 0034, 7/28/17 fair with same program; 0008 7/29/17, fair with peaks to good with group and solo vocals, good at 0035 re-check (Jim Ronda, Tulsa, OK. R-75, E-1, Tecsun PL660 + Wellbrook loop and PAR SWL EF, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) Recorded 6250 kHz last night / this morning (28 July) here in NB continuously between about 0140 and 1100 UT. Decent signal initially from Radio Malabo but started to weaken by about 0200 and became virtually inaudible. Around 0300, the signal started to strengthen again very slowly and reached a reasonably strong level by about 0520. During that interval, programming switched from non-stop music to a talk program. Stayed at a good level until about 0600 when it started to decay again and was gone by about 0630. Attached is a snippet of my recording including an ID (Richard Langley, NB, dxldyg via DXLD) Mentions Málabo (as accentuated this time) in passing (gh, DXLD) 6250, July 28 at 0130, RNGE Malabo with African pop music is poorly audible, peaking S9+10 combined with high noise level, fades to S7. At 0222 a JBA carrier. At 0459 better now and I confirm comparing to WWV 5000.000 that this is also right on 6250.000. At 0551, now Spanish talk, mostly announcer monolog, with a few words caught: ``una mañana agradable``, ``en Malabo``. At 0553 I also check the other RNGE, 5005 Bata and find a JBA carrier there (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I posted a [n audio-] video of my reception in my blog: http://shortwaverecording.wordpress.com/ The signal is fairly good here in northern NJ, but I have not encountered a clear ID yet. In my video, at 00'30" the announcement sounds to me like "Radio Malabo" but I am not sure if it is Spanish or other language. Can anybody take dictation for me? - Thank you in advance (Sakae Obara AB5MF (JH0BDK), Bergen, New Jersey USA, July 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) MALABO? 6250.000 even fq again. Tiny poor signal string of S=4-5 seen at 0403 UT in Michigan and Florida SDR remotes, it's so tiny, I've my doubts that would be the Malabo music test series with new powerful transmitter level (Wolfgang Büschel, July 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Presumed Malabo on 6250 is poor in Johannesburg, evening and morning, but I can't think what else I might be hearing; I don't hear Korea on this frequency. Whatever station it is, it has little or no entertainment value here. 6250, Equatorial Guinea ??? Radio Malabo ??? Malabo ??? Jul 27, 2017 Thursday. 1829-1905. Music to 1900, then talk. No ID heard. Poor, barely readable. Jo'burg sunset 1539. 6250, Malabo ??? Jul 28, 2017 Friday. 0350-0405. Afro music. No ID heard. Poor, but a bit better than last night (July 27). Dark path all the way. Jo'burg sunrise 0449 (Bill Bingham, Johannesburg RSA. Drake R8E, Sony ICF2001D. dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Malabo asking for reception reports. Ave. 3 de Agosto 90, Ap 195. Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, Africa. That`s the address for "Radio television de guinea ecuatorial" (RTGFE) in WRTH 2017. Here in Reinante, Lugo, today July 28 at 0457-0540 UT, clear signal, but a little more weak than yesterday. Program "Panorama Nacional", male with Government advertisements of general interest for Equatorial Guinean people "Por una Guinea mejor", ID. "Para Radio Nacional", "Radio Malabo". The recording is an interview with a correspondent, news and Government advertisements for people, mentioned "Ministerio de Educación". Here in Reinante a little good signal than in your recording, but not as good than yesterday. Radio Bata on 5005 kHz also on air at 0511 UT but with very very weak signal, barely audible. Greetings (Manuel Méndez, Spain, DXplorer via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 28 via DXLD) 6250, Radio Malabo, Malabo, 0457-0540, 28-07, Spanish, comments, news, advertisements of general interest for Ecuatorial Guinean people, “Por una Guinea mejor”, “Para Radio Nacional”, “Radio Malabo”. 25322. Also heard 1825-2010, 28-07, Spanish, comments at 1818, female, “... Radio Malabo está transmitiendo además de en frecuencia modulada, en onda corta en la banda de 48 metros, frecuencia de 6250 kilociclos por segundo, para Guinea Ecuatorial y para todo el mundo; les rogamos nos reporten cómo están recibiendo nuestra emisora. Transmitimos además por frecuencia modulada por las siguientes frecuencias y ciudades...”, African songs, vernacular comments. Also 0101-0110, 29-07, songs. 34433 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, Sangean ATS-909X, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Manuel, Glenn, re Malabo 6250 kHz this morning, tiny signal string visible in US/CAN remotes in 0350-0550 Time slot. Listen to enclosed recording made at 0537 UT July 28 on the remote KiwiSDR station installation on Tenerife Island off Morocco coast. KiwiSDR worldwide URL http://sdr.hu/ S=5-6 rather tiny and noisy. nothing heard on the South Africa post of ZR6AIC. The recording reveals a probably ?religious? interview in Spanish language, not highlight African music anymore. I guess the ALL NIGHT music TEST hours on 6250 kHz are over now. 73 wolfie df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250. Fri, July 28 at 2306-2330, Radio Malabo, Malabo-GNE*. Music, only music: variety songs and rhythms; 2311 Open carrier, not modulation; 2312 Returns with many songs. Poor transmission, this time, 35332. (First Log).(*) Fri 8:06PM in Cabedelo & Sat 0:06AM in Malabo. Distance from Cabedelo: 4985km to Malabo, Capital of Equatorial Guinea, in Bioko Island. (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier. Cabedelo-PB, Brazil, Degen & Tecsun S-2000, Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) Guinea Ecuatorial, 6250, 2325 UT --- I'm getting the signal for 6250 kHz. By the south west coast of South America, in Santiago de Chile. The signal is low but audible, in Spanish. Music. 25332. Antenna "V" of 10x2 mts. Kenwood R5000 (ce3BBC, Hugo López C., Santiago de Chile, July 28, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) 6250, Radio Malabo, Malabo 2344-2354 music, male vocals, good signal - July 28 (Robert Wilkner, Pompano Beach FL, Drake R8 and noise reducing antenna, NASWA yg via DXLD) 6250, R Nacional, Malabo, 2345, surprised to find this coming in so early, great Hi Life music, M in Spanish with African accent, sometimes talking over the music, good signal but some QRN. This is SW the way I like to remember it. 28 July 2017 (XM, from Cedar Key, FL, NRD525D, R8A, E5, via Bob Wilkner, NASWA yg via DXLD) Strong signals yesterday evening here in NB from about 2200 UT tune-in to around 0130 tune-out. Primarily non-stop African and western pop music. National anthem with a voice-over at about 2256:30 (Richard Langley, July 29, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250. Sat, July 29 at 0023-0155, Radio Malabo, Malabo-GNE. A musical program with variety songs and rhythms: Local songs, English (including M. Jackson), French and Spanish songs - All songs, only songs in this transmission - no announcer talks. Broadcasting evaluation this night, 35433 (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier, Cabedelo-PB, Brazil, Degen & Tecsun S-2000, Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) 6250, July 29 at 0605, RNRGE, Malabo poor with M&W in Spanish. Wolfgang Bueschel and Patrick Robich think the reactivation is thanks to an Afrika-tour by Chinese techs from BEFF transmitter factory (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GUINÉ EQUATORIAL, 6250, R. Malabo, Malabo, 6250, 1015-1320, 29/7, castelhano, texto, canções e música; 15341. Good DX & 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, SW Coast of Portugal, July 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Note he managed to hear it thru midday (gh, DXLD) Where is Malabo tonight? At 2235, I can hear audio from Angola on 4949.75 and South Africa on 3320, but there’s not even a het on 6250. (Art Delibert, Vineyard Haven, Mass., JRC NRD-545 with 40-foot vertical antenna, July 29, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) 6250, R Nacional, Malabo, carrier 2345, 2350 sign on, with weaker signal that last night, no signal at 0004 29/30 July (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Florida, 746Pro, Drake R8, NRD 525, 90 meter dipole and other wire antennas, NASWA yg via DXLD) Sign-on, at 2350, really? 6250, July 30 at 0005 check, no signal from RNRGE, Malabo, so apparently done with the all-night testing. We should still be able to hear them from sign-on which used to be 0530, but will they stay on later than the old sign-off of 1830? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No signal noted on 6250 at 0530 UT this July 30 (Wolfgang Büschel, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6250, Radio Malabo, checked past night and today between 0445-0640, 30-07, seems to be out of air, nothing heard on this frequency, no audio, no carrier. First days on air strong signal, last days signal more weak and today nothing (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, July 31 at 0546, JBA carrier from presumed Bata RNGE; while 6250 is still gone from Malabo. Having proved that transmitter is working, they`ve turned it off again, or it broke down again. We`ll all be keeping an ear on 6250 a while longer (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Has anyone spotted them tonight? When they reappeared last week, they appeared to be on 24/7, or pretty close to it. I heard them as early as 2230 UT with a carrier barely above the noise. But I suspect they'd been on the air already and usually had a listenable signal from just before 0000 to about 0145 UT or so; despite their WRTH listed schedule being 0530 to 1830. I also saw where some DX'ers and Central and or South America heard them in their afternoon times. I'm wondering if they're on tonight? Wondering if last week was a test to iron out kinks so they needed to let the system burn in to find the problems, they found some; and will be back on their usual 0530-1830 schedule? I dont know, just a guess here (Paul Walker, Warren PA, 2307 UT July 31, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) 6250, still no signals from R. Malabo, July 31 at 2310, 2336 chex, nor August 1 at 0330, 0530. It was on the morning of July 29 but off by that evening. So now, what; silent for another sextayear? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Repro of a 1966 QSL received by Bob Wilkner when it was still Spanish with call EAJ205, says had music and news in English weekdays at 1900- 1945 GMT; plus three African languages. On 5 kW 6250 (SW Bulletin July 30 via DXLD) ** ERITREA. 7150, 1817, VOBME trying SW again, fair in vernacs with talkback, Folk instrumental interludes. New headlines 1827 and closed with anthem at 1929 30/6. Arabic service on 7180 also fair at this time till closedown at 1831 (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, WinRadio G33DDC and AOR7030+ receivers, EWEs to North, Central & South America, August NZ DX Times via DXLD) 7150, Eritrea 1. Moving here from 7145 on 17/7 with s/on at 0255, IS & ID in vernacular “Dimtsi Khafash” & close/down with NA at 1830. Jammed by white noise from 0302 and at 1502-1659 (Pankov*). 7175, Eritrea 2. 17/7 s/on at 0251 with test tone, ID at 0300 in vernacular “Radio Zara” or “Radio Tsara” & soon jammed. S/off was at 1833 after NAnthem playing (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF2001D, Folded Marconi ant 16 meters long), August Australian DX News via DXLD) [and non]. 7150.00, 0320-0330 27.7, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara, Tigrinya talk, folkmusic, 25333 AP-DNK 7176.90, 0330-0340 27.7, Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea, Asmara, Afar talk - only heard in AM, not in LSB nor USB! Jammed, 23332. Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, All heard on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) Hello, checked around 1700 UT July 31 at Doha Qatar remote SDR post: 7176.555 ERI Asmara HoAfrica music, at 1712 UT S=9+20dB, and 7150.020 ERI Asmara also Af music at 1716 UT S=9+15dB July 31. vy73 (wolfie, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Voice of the Broad Masses of Eritrea - Programme 1 was observed on the off-channel mediumwave frequency of 950 kHz (WRTH indicates this is an 'alternative frequency') at 1820 UT on 31 July 2017. Typical HoA music followed by vernacular news and sign-off with choral anthem, finishing at 1832 - transmitter switch-off was at 1836. This was monitored with fair to poor reception via a remote web SDR in Oman. Signal on (parallel?) 7150 kHz was too weak and noisy to confirm ID in the time available. Incidentally, this Oman receiver gives good round-the-clock reception of the Saudi-based Radio Sana`a surrogate on 11860 kHz - it can be accessed via the portal at http://www.sdr.hu (David Kernick, Interval Signals Online, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. 11965, CLANDESTINE, Radio Erena, Kostinbrod. 1704- 1800* 13/7, long time between loggings of this one with announcer speaking in listed Tigrinya language followed by talk. Some music at 1722 before switching to Arabic language program at 1730. Closedown announcements including station ID at 1756. Poor to fair signal but very deep fades (Richard A. D’Angelo, Wyomissing, PA U.S.A. (Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Sangean ATS-909X, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4), August Austrlian DX News via DXLD) SECRETLAND, Dimtse Radio Erena via BaBcoCk SPL Secterbrod [sic] Jul 27 1700-1730 on 11965 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Tigrinya Mon-Fri 1730-1800 on 11965 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Arabic Mon-Fri 1700-1800 on 11965 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Tigrinya Sat 1700-1800 on 11965 SCB 050 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Arabic Sun http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-dimtse-radio-erena-via_27.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) = Kostinbrod, BULGARIA ** ETHIOPIA. 6090.00, 0305-0310 27.7, Voice of Amhara State, Geja Jewe, Addis Ababa, Amharic ann, Ethiopian folkmusic, 25333 AP-DNK 6110.02, 0310-0315 27.7, R Fana, Addis Ababa, Amharic talk, folksong - splashes from 6105, 33333, Best 73, (Anker Petersen, Denmark, All heard on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 28 metres of longwire, wbradio yg via DXLD) ** ETHIOPIA. Voice of Tigray Revolution and Radio Amhara on July 28: Voice of Tigray Revolution 1527&1627 on 5950 GDR 100 kW / non-dir to EaAf Tigrinya, weak/fair https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DC_ZKhFQ6Dw&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTt0tfqHrEc&feature=youtu.be Radio Amhara 1606&1706 on 6090 GDR 100 kW / non-dir to EaAf Amharic, fair/good http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-voice-of-tigray-revolution.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 41 mb wanders heavily 1600-1657 UT. [see UNIDENTIFIED] Subject: Re: Strong carrier 7258.63 kHz Yes, Ethiopia is a separate matter. at 1600-1614 UT Aug 1, stronger likely ETH station wandered S=7-8 signal 7232.872 ... up to 7232.960 kHz around 15 mins later at 1615 UT. And at 1654 UT today seemingly ETH Gedja wandered from 7232.872 up to 7233.479 kHz. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. GERMANY, Strong signal of Voice of Oromo Liberation via MBR Nauen, July 26 1700-1730 on 15420 NAU 100 kW / 139 deg to EaAf Afan Oromo Wed/Fri/Sun 1730-1800 on 15420 NAU 100 kW / 139 deg to EaAf Amharic Wed Transmission is jammed by Ethiopia with very weak digital white noise: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/strong-signal-of-voice-of-oromo_26.html Reception of Voice of Oromo Liberation via MBR Nauen, July 28: 1700-1730 on 15420 NAU 100 kW / 139 deg to EaAf Afan Oromo Wed/Fri/Sun, good. Transmission is jammed by Ethiopia with very weak white noise digital jamming http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-voice-of-oromo-liberation_28.html Reception of Voice of Oromo Liberation via MBR Nauen on July 30 1700-1730 on 15420 NAU 100 kW / 139 deg to EaAf Afan Oromo Wed/Fri/Sun, strong http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-voice-of-oromo-liberation_30.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. R. Sagalee Qeerroo Bilisummaa via TDF July 27: 1630-1658 on 17840 ISS 250 kW / 130 deg EaAf Oromo Tue/Thu/Fri, good. Jammed by Ethiopia with fair digital white noise digital http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/radio-sagalee-qeerroo-bilisummaa-via.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Reception of Radio Xoriyo Ogaden via MBR Issoudun, July 29 1600-1630 on 17630 ISS 500 kW / 130 deg to EaAf Somali Tue/Sat, fair/good --- Transmission is jammed by Ethiopia with strong white noise digital jamming http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-radio-xoriyo-ogaden-via_29.html Reception of Radio Xoriyo Ogaden via TDF Issoudun on July 30 1600-1630 on 17870 ISS 250 kW / 130 deg to EaAf Somali Mon/Fri via Alyx&Yeyi Transmission is jammed by Ethiopia with strong white noise digital jamming http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-radio-xoriyo-ogaden-via_30.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. SECRETLAND, IRRS Radio Warra Wangeelaa-ti via SPL Secretbrod on July 29 1500-1530 on 15515 SCB 100 kW / 195 deg to EaAf Afan Oromo Sat, strong http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/irrs-radio-warra-wangeelaa-ti-via-spl_29.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EUROPE. FRS Holland - special summer broadcast Sunday 1752-2100 UT Similar to recent years, FRS will be on air in the Summer period with evening broadcasts. For this year we’ve decided to do two broadcasts. The first one is scheduled for next Sunday July 30th starting at 1752 UT/19:52 CEST. Close down will be three hours later at 2100 UT/ 23:00 CEST. Frequencies will be 7700 // 48 mb (yet unknown which frequency). So for this time we won't be on 9300 kHz/31 metres but instead 48 metres. More details including programme schedule at http://www.frsholland.nl/20-latest-news/105-frs-on-air-sunday-july-30th.html (via BDXC_UK yg July 29 via DXLD) FRS Holland confirmed on 7700 this evening with the parallel on 6284 kHz (6283.9); a much better signal on 7700 here currently (just after 1900) with 6284 starting to fade. 73s (Dave Kenny, July 30, ibid.) ** FRANCE. RFI is again this year broadcasting a summer series entitled "Ça va, ça va le monde!," which draws from theater performances at the Festival d'Avignon held in southern France each July. This year, there are six episodes, from July 30 through September 3 at 1010 Sundays, repeated at 0010 Mondays. The first is "Convulsions" by Guinean author Hakim Bah, winner of the Prix Theatre RFI 2016. I realize that spoken-word theater in French is of limited appeal, but it's nice to hear it offered by an international broadcaster (Mike Cooper, GA, July 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://www.rfi.fr/emission/ca-va-ca-va-le-monde Are these ``lectures`` also in the English sense, i.e. talks about the plays rather than performances? (Glenn to Mike, via DXLD) Glenn: They are live performances of story readings or pieces of theater. Ones I've heard before are just an author talking, the one today was more like a radio drama. The RFI site mentions that video is available of the performance, so it may be more like a conventional theater. What's neat is that these are recorded live, you can even hear cicadas or crickets or some other noise in the background, which helps conjure up the feeling of a performance on a summer evening. They also skip the bottom-of-the-hour RFI newscast, so you get 50 minutes of uninterrupted culture (Mike Cooper, GA, ibid.) ** GERMANY. see also SAAR ** GERMANY. New shortwave station about to commence broadcasting. New legal Shortwave Radio Service which will commence test transmissions. This station is fully licenced and is not a pirate. Full details will be announced by the station operators shortly prior to the launch of full programming. The signal will be audible throughout most of Benelux/UK/Ireland. Test period: August 1-October 28. Test transmissions details [kW / deg unknown]: 1000-1200 on 6160 tx Lower Saxony, Germany to NWEu English Mon-Sat 1200-1400 on 3975 tx Lower Saxony, Germany to NWEu English Mon-Sat 1400-1600 on 6160 tx Lower Saxony, Germany to NWEu English Mon-Sat 1600-1800 on 3975 tx Lower Saxony, Germany to NWEu English Mon-Sat 1800-2000 on 6160 tx Lower Saxony, Germany to NWEu English Mon-Sat 2000-2200 on 3975 tx Lower Saxony, Germany to NWEu English Mon-Sat Further info will follow soon. Contact/reports/audio/comments can be sent either to: <3975@shortwaveradio.de> and <6160@shortwaveradio.de>; and http://shortwaveradio.de/ http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/new-shortwave-radio-service-which-will.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Shaun Geraghty on Facebook, July 28, 1508: NEW SHORTWAVE STATION ABOUT TO COMMENCE BROADCASTING I have just recorded some test transmission announcements for a brand new LEGAL shortwave radio station which will commence test transmissions on 1st August. This station is fully licenced and is not a pirate. Full details will be announced by the station operators shortly prior to the launch of full programming. The signal should be audible throughout most of north western Europe and the UK/Ireland. Test transmission details: 6160 kHz / Monday to Saturday / 1000-1200 / 1400-1600 / 1800-2000 UT 3975 kHz / Monday to Saturday / 1200-1400 / 1600-1800 / 2000-2200 UT Test-period: August 1st to October 29th, 2017 Reception reports are welcome to 3975@shortwaveradio.de or 6160@shortwaveradio.de https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10212768436916060&set=a.1029216260953.5756.1541740156&type=3&theater Mark Stafford posted on Facebook July 21 that he had done some test transmission voiceovers for the station. posted by: (Mike Barraclough, July 28, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) Interesting. I'm curious about the transmitter power and programming lineup. I imagine it'd be low power similar to the existing 49mb German Stations. I hope so at least - god forbid they have high power and drown out poor little CKZN if it ever gets back on the air (John, FL, Jurasek, [VORW], dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have just sent a suggestion to the local CBC manager (who is responsible for the now at least temporarily shuttered CKZN 6160 txr), that she initiate a complaint about this planned use of 6160 kHz as it will certainly affect reception of the resumed CKZN. Perhaps others could do similar things (Philip Hiscock, St John's, Newfoundland, ibid.) This is manna from heaven for CBC management, regardless of whether the new station can interfere with CKZN or not. They are likely praying for a registration in HFCC to back them up. The official notice of termination will likely say that it's too expensive to change the frequency of the old transmitter yada yada... Regards, (Vince, Ottawa, ON, Ferme, ibid.) I guess another of these 1 to 5 kW tiny poor Hobby Music stations which appeared in last decade here in Europe. Look at the time schedule and path across the Atlantic Ocean; they will never hurt the Canadian shortwave signals co-channel between Vancouver and Newfoundland. 73 wb df5sx (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Transmitter site is in Lower Saxony, Germany - according to their website http://shortwaveradio.de/ (Dave Kernick, WRTH Facebook group, July 29) (via Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DXLD) New licensed station from Germany started 1 of August. The name of the station are Bits & Bleps Shortwaveradio. Schedule are Monday-Saturday. On 3975 12.00-14.00, 16.00-18.00 and 20.00-22.00. On 6160 10.00-12.00, 14.00-16.00 and 18.00-20.00. All times are UTC. Address to the station are 3975@shortwaveradio.de or 6160@shortwaveradio.de (M Barraclough via Facebook via Dan Olsson, SW Bulletin July 30 via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) ------------------------ Note: The station is run by Shortwave Radio Enthusiasts on non political and non commercial base. Transmitting location is in Lower Saxony / Germany in accordance with a licence issued by the German BNetzA (Zuteilungsnummer # 01958434 & #01958435) See info at http://shortwaveradio.de/ ----------------------- Domaininhaber ist Christian Senne DO1INT - sicher einigen bekannt durch die Publikationsreihe über Amateurfunk in der DDR sowie über den "Freiheitssender 904"... (siehe auch radiohistory.de). (73 tom df5jl via A-DX via SW Bulletin July 30 via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) Shortwave Radio Service via new transmitter site Winsen, registered today in HFCC 1000-1200 on 6160 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat 1200-1400 on 3975 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat 1400-1600 on 6160 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat 1600-1800 on 3975 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat 1800-2000 on 6160 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat 2000-2200 on 3975 WIS 001 kW / non-dir to NWEu English Mon-Sat Observer ? 11:38 PM August 1 (Bulgarian DX blog via DXLD) ** GERMANY [and non]. Shortwaveservice Newsletter 28. July 2017 Liebe Kurzwellen-Freundinnen und -freunde, offenbar klappt das mit dem Sommer momentan so garnicht, viel Regen in unseren Breiten. Also ideale Kurzwellenzeit. Zwei Programmtipps haben wir fuer Euch. Beide fuer den kommenden Sonntag, 30. Juli 2017. Zwischen 10 und 11 Uhr mitteleuropaeischer Sommerzeit (0800-0900 UT) ist wieder Zeit fuer "Radio. Menschen und Geschichten". Zu hoeren auf 6045 kHz {via MBR Nauen} und 7310 kHz {via Kall}. Ausgabe 19 hat u.a. folgende Themen parat: Es um den wichtigsten Radiosender eines Landes, das eigentlich kein eigenes Land ist ... Daniel Kaehler berichtet ueber die Radioszene auf den Faeroeer-Inseln. Das deutsche Programm von Radio Luxemburg wurde 60 Jahre alt. Wir sprechen mit Helmer Litzke, der zu dem Anlass eine 4-stuendige Sondersendung produziert hat und schauen auf die Geschichte des Senders zurueck. Wiederholt wird die Sendung um 1000 UTC auf 6005 kHz und um 1700 UT auf 3985 kHz {via Kall}, sowie im Internet unter Uebrigens: Die Ausstrahlung von Radio Menschen & Geschichten ueber den Sender Nauen endet mit Ende der Sommerzeit im Oktober 2017. Hintergrund sind gestiegene Verbreitungskosten. Ausserdem ist in den letzten Monaten das Feedback ueber die Kurzwellensendungen via Nauen massiv zurueckgegangen, waehrend die Internetsendungen stark an Resonanz zugenommen haben. Daher haben wir uns entschlossen, das Relais in Nauen aus oekonomischen Gruenden nicht mehr zu nutzen. Am gleichen Tag hat Radio Mi Amigo International wieder ein Sonderprogramm zwischen 19 und 21 Uhr deutscher Sommerzeit (1700-1900 UT) auf 11845 kHz. Die "Offshore Summer Beach Party" mit 100 kW aus Gavar Armenien fuer Europa. Und: vom 29.07. bis 07.08.2017 sendet das Radio der Documenta 14 in Kassel zu folgenden Zeiten: 1100-1200 UT 1800-1900 UT 2000-2200 UT auf 15560 kHz {aus Kall} fuer Hoerer ausserhalb Europas. Schoenes Wochenende! (Christian Milling-D, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 28 via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) From July 29 until August 07, Radio Documenta 14 broadcasts as follows: 1100-1200 UT 1800-1900 UT 2000-2200 UT on 15560 kHz for listeners outside Europe [Kall site]. Enjoy your Weekend. Best regards, (Christian Milling-D, via wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 28 via DXLD) New schedule of Radio der Dokumenta 14 from July 29 to August 7: 1100-1200 15560 KLL 001 kW / non-dir CeEu French/English/other langs 1800-1900 15560 KLL 001 kW / non-dir CeEu French/English/other langs 2000-2100 15560 KLL 001 kW / non-dir CeEu French/English/other langs http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/new-schedule-of-radio-der-dokumenta-14.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Weak/fair signal of Radio der Dokumenta 14, August 1 1100-1200 on 15560 KLL 001 kW / non-dir to CeEu English/French http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/08/weakfair-signal-of-radio-der-dokumenta.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Reception of Radio Menschen & Geschichten via MBR July 30 0800-0900 6045 NAU 100 kW / 233 deg CeEu German last Sun, good signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-radio-menschen-geschichten.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. HLR // Goehren transmitter site --- Hello Glenn, We were informed that there are planned works at the Goehren transmitter site over the coming week and a half. Therefore, unfortunately, there won't be any HLR transmissions on Saturday, August 5th, Sunday, August 6th, and Saturday, August 12th. The regular schedule, including World of Radio, will resume on Sunday, August 13th 2017. Best wishes from Hamburg, (Thomas Völkner, Germany, August 1, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Unusual radio stations --- Broadcast for pets began in Heilbronn. On the air of the radio station in a non-stop mode, music is played, specially selected for animals. Compositions, according to the idea of ??the creators of the new radio, should soothe the dogs and cheer them up. One of the authors of the unusual project was local radio presenter Stefan Stock, who thought about the comfort of dogs after he started a four-legged pet named Laila. As the host said, the radio station will help the owners of animals to keep their belongings intact: an animal, soothed by special music, will not gnaw and destroy anything in the house while the owner, for example, at work. In addition, the dog will not be lonely. The radio station was called Hallo Hasso, or "Hello, Hasso", as this name is one of the most popular nicknames of dogs in Germany. In the country there are other "canine" entertainment, writes Der Westen. So, the first television channel for the four-legged friends of DogTV has recently started working, and in Berlin it is possible to visit the excursion for animals and their owners together with the dog. Eg.ru (from http://onair.ru/main/enews/view_msg/NMID__66260/ via Rus-DX 30 July, published 29 July via DXLD) WTFK? See also USA ** GUAM. Missing transmission: KTWR Trans World Radio Asia via Agana 1430-1500 on 9975 TWR 200 kW / 285 deg to SoAs English Mon-Sat: Observer ? 11:38 PM August 1 (Bulgarian DX blog via DXLD) ** GUINEA. GUINÉ-Conacri, 9650 R. Guinée, Sonfonia, 2117-..., 24/7, francês, discussão acerca de política nacional; 42442, QRM adjacente, que se esvaiu mais tarde, ficando o sinal guineense limpo. Como já referi, o sinal diurno é sempre melhor e mais estável do que o vespertino, mas isto depende, em grande medida, da antena utilizada. Good DX & 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, SW coast of Portugal, July 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** HAITI. See DOMINICAN REPUBLIC [and non] ** INDIA. CONTENT GENERATION IN INDIAN LANGUAGES, A PRIORITY FOR THE GOVERNMENT - Shri Venkaiah Naidu http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=167175 Shri Naidu announces 2 new Shortwave Solid State digital transmitters of 100 KW to broadcast across the border for Afghanistan- Pakistan region --- I&B Minister convenes meeting to review functioning of Media Units in UTs Minister for Information & Broadcasting, Shri Venkaiah Naidu has said that the Government under the leadership of Prime Minister has been working proactively with the States/UTs to enhance the cooperation in the field of communication & outreach. Cooperation between Centre and States/UTs in content generation in Indian languages and local dialects was critical to effectively reach out to people in their own language. Adopting innovative ways and leveraging New Media in information dissemination was necessary to keep pace with the changing communication paradigm. Minister stated this while chairing a meeting to review the functioning of the media units of Ministry of I&B located in the Union Territories here today. Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister of State for I&B, Prof. Jagdish Mukhi, Lieutenant Governor of Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Secretary I&B, Shri N K Sinha, representatives from UTs and senior officers from Ministry were also present during the meeting. Soliciting cooperation from the UTs, Shri Naidu stressed upon the need to ensure effective implementation of Cable TV Act in order to restrict airing of objectionable content and unauthorized channels. He urged UTs to appoint Nodal officers who can assist the DMs for this task in the UTs. He also highlighted that UT administration was required to direct concerned District Magistrate's to investigate the matter for identifying non-existing publications in their districts and cancel the declarations of such publications as per the PRB Act. Out of 16,132 registered publications in Delhi, only 3704 publications has submitted their Annual Returns in the last five years. During the review meeting, Shri Naidu announced that the All India Radio would be commissioning of two new Shortwave Solid State digital transmitters of 100 kW power each for dissemination of content across the border for Afghanistan- Pakistan region by the end of August 2017. The transmitters shall be installed in Delhi. For the Andaman and Nicobar, a new 100 W FM transmitter would be installed in Car Nicobar by the end of the financial year. He also mentioned that to enhance the outreach, the 3 kW FM transmitter in Daman would be replaced by 6 kW transmitter. Similarly, in Karaikal, Puducherry, the present 6 KW FM transmitter would be replaced by 10 kW FM transmitter to enhance the reach. Highlighting the importance of communication in local dialects, Shri Naidu urged the UTs to give emphasis to setting up of community radio stations in UTs. He also mentioned the liberalised subsidy of 75% by Central Government for stakeholders in this regard. Shri Naidu reiterated that the Government believed in cooperative federalism and that the centre & states/UTs need to work as Team India in scripting the development narrative. Col. Rajyavardhan Rathore, Minister of State for I&B mentioned that the monitoring of the content broadcast by cable operators/ channels can be done using a software and that physical verification was not required. Earlier today, Secretary I&B chaired a review meeting with the officials from UTs, senior officials from Ministry and media units heads to discuss and deliberate on the concerned issues. CP/GV (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** INDIA. 4970, AIR Shillong, 1313, July 30. Ending the usual Sunday show “County [sic] Roads,” with C&W song (Juice Newton - "Angel of the Morning"); DJ in English; almost fair; 1315 into Hindi (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA. Prime Minister`s address to the nation today 0530 UT on AIR Mann Ki Baat, the radio programme by Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi in which he addresses the people of the nation is on Sunday 30 July 2017, 11.00 am IST, 0530 UT on all stations of All India Radio. The special SW frequencies observed in previous months are as follows: 7520, 9940 all via Delhi, 9380 Aligarh, 9865 Bengaluru, 11850 Delhi. http://www.narendramodi.in/mann-ki-baat Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India, Mobile: +91 94416 96043, http://www.qsl.net/vu2jos 0430 UT July 30, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDIA. Unscheduled transmission of All India Radio on 11560 July 30 1530-1546 11560 BGL 500 kW / 325 deg to WeAs English, unscheduled px, after 1315-1530 11560 BGL 500 kW / 325 deg to WeAs Dari/Pashto, as scheduled A-17 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/unscheduled-transmission-of-all-india.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also KASHMIR [non] ** INDIA. Mr. K.C. Sharma, Dy. Director (Engineering) at SMS Division of AIR is retiring today. He used to reply to radio hobbyists and also sends out schedules to them. (please see attachment) Let us wish him a happy retired life. Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, VU2JOS, National Institute of Amateur Radio, Hyderabad, India Mobile: +91 94416 96043 http://www.qsl.net/ vu2jos August 1, dx_india yg via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. 3325, Pro 1 RRI Palangkaraya, 1135, July 30. Heard only RRI here, whereas earlier (1030-1115) noted NBC Bougainville with their usual Sunday religious programming, so no extended broadcast and instead with an early sign off. From 1240 to 1301, RRI in Bahasa Indonesia, with music program of pop songs in English (Righteous Brothers - "Unchained Melody," Led Zeppelin - "All My Love," etc.); many singing "Pro Satu RRI Palangkaraya" jingles; 1300 time pips; fair. [See also BOUGAINVILLE, 3325] (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. MISSING TRANSMISSIONS No signal, V of Indonesia, July 27 1000-1100 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 135 deg to AUS English 1100-1200 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 010 deg to EaAs Chinese 1200-1300 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 010 deg to EaAs Japanese 1300-1400 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 010 deg to EaAs English 1400-1500 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 010 deg to EaAs Indonesian 1500-1600 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 010 deg to EaAs Dutch 1600-1700 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 290 deg to N/ME Arabic 1700-1800 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 290 deg to WeEu Spanish 1800-1900 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 290 deg to WeEu German 1900-2000 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 290 deg to WeEu English 2000-2100 on 9526vJAK 250 kW / 290 deg to WeEu French http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/no-signal-of-voice-of-indonesia-on-july.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reception of Voice of Indonesia, July 28 1301-1401 on 9526v JAK 250 kW / 010 deg to EaAs English, weak/fair 1501-1601 on 9526v JAK 250 kW / 010 deg to EaAs Dutch, good signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-voice-of-indonesia-july-28.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) What`s with starting Dutch at this late date? I don`t recall any of that language even in the immediate post-colonial era; took that long to heal? RRI have a long way to go to match all the Indonesian broadcasts from RNW while it existed (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9525.95, VOI, 1339, July 30. Reading reception report sent via email; in English; poor (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. And speaking of things astronomical, (Sirius and the dog days) there have been a couple of REALLY outstanding fly- overs of the ISS the last few days. Go to http://spotthestation.nasa.gov and enter your location for a tracking of when to see it in the sky. You can even get them to send you an email or text of when the best sighting in your area will be. There are regular radio transmissions in VHF of voice and SSTV so when the station is 'visible' be sure to check. But even if you just go outside to look up, it is a fun thing to do whilst we wait for the eclipse in August! (MARE Tipsheet July 28 via DXLD) ** KASHMIR [non]. INDIA, Weak to fair signal of Voice of Kashmir, July 28, 1430-1530 on 6030 DEL 100 kW / non-dir to SoAs Kashmiri http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/weak-to-fair-signal-of-voice-of-kashmir_28.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 5965, Shiokaze/Sea Breeze (via Yamata) 1318- 1330+ 20 July. Shiokaze back to 49M (ex-7215) as of 18 July (per Aoki) with their usual Thursday English program. Missed Shiokaze on the 22nd but noted pulse jamming after 1410 (CRI (Xian) is in Korean 14-15, so commies vs. commies) & no jamming 23 July at 1315, 1336. Shiokaze in Korean 1300-1330, Japanese 1330-1400 on Sundays per Aoki (Dan Sheedy, Moonlight Beach, CA, PL380/6m X wire, via Bob Wilkner, NASWA yg via DXLD) JAPAN, Frequency changes of Shiokaze Sea Breeze/Furusato no Kaze Shiokaze Sea Breeze 1300-1400 NF 5965 YAM 300 kW / 280 deg to NEAs, ex 7215 as follows 1300-1330 Chinese Mon; Japanese Tue/Sat; Korean Wed/Fri/Sun; English Thu 1330-1400 Korean Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat; Japanese Tue/Sun; English Thu 1600-1700 NF 6165 YAM 300 kW / 280 deg to NEAs, ex 6090 as follows 1600-1630 Chinese Mon; Japanese Tue/Sat; Korean Wed/Fri/Sun; English Thu 1630-1700 Korean Mon/Wed/Fri/Sat; Japanese Tue/Sun; English Thu Furusato no Kaze 1405-1435 NF 7295 YAM 300 kW / 280 deg to NEAs Japanese Daily, ex 6165 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/frequency-changes-of-shiokaze-sea.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) JAPAN, Weak/fair signal of Shiokaze Sea Breeze on new 6165, July 27: 1600-1700 on 6165*YAM 300 kW / 280 deg NEAs English Thu *CRI on same 6165 URU 500 kW / 270 deg to N/ME Turkish IS TEMPORARILY OFF AIR! http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/weakfair-signal-of-shiokaze-sea-breeze.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. 9100, V of Hope, 1308+ 18 July. This frequency is apparently unjammed—unlike // 5995/6350 (both mostly crunched by the 'juche jammer') former VoH frequency 4885 now has "Radio Broadcasting Guide" looping every hour [thanks to Chris Kadlec, Amano- san, & Ron Howard all via the radio.chobi site for the info]. (Dan Sheedy, Moonlight Beach, CA, PL380/6m X wire, via Bob Wilkner, NASWA yg via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Briefly noted July 30, that all their jamming was off the air 1226-1228; on 3985, 5995, 6015, 6135 (clear frequency - no station there, as VOF was down on 5920, as usual), 6350. Whereas on 5920, heard Voice of Freedom with no jamming at all today (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KOREA SOUTH. On August 1, found Echo of Hope - VOH, on 6350 with a third program, different from all the others; heard at 0949 and subsequent checking through 1218; clearly not // to any of the other VOH frequencies. 6350, at 1000, with "V O H" ID and not // to the others; mostly monologues and some pop music. 3985 // 5995 // 9100, at 1003 with the usual news in Korean; 1010 news item about "Beijing"; 1015 normal ID jingle and "V O H" ID. Unable to hear 6250 through jamming. 4885, at 1003 with the usual bell/gong rung slowly three times and intro to the regular "Radio Broadcasting Guide" program in Korean. Only 4885 and 9100 heard with no jamming. [later:] Thanks very much to Hiroyuki Komatsubara (Japan), for confirming my observations today. "Echo of Hope - VOH --- 6350 kHz, third program started since Aug 01, 2017. Not parallel to other frequencies (not // 3985, 5995, 4885, 6250, 9100 kHz) YouTube -1400- : https://youtu.be/bWeQvf7RaFs http://radio.chobi.net/DX/bbs/?res:2360#2441 " As always, I greatly appreciate Hiroyuki-san's feedback! (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) KOREA SOUTH, 6250, Echo of Hope, Seoul, 1810-1840, 01-08 Korean, comments, songs. Strong jamming on this frequency. 21321. Nothing from Malabo in the last days. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Lugo, dxldyg via DXLD) Aoki shows on 6250 both Echo of Hope, 10 kW from the South; and 100 kW from the North, Echo of Unification, as well as jamming (gh, DXLD) ** KURDISTAN [non]. Radyoya Denge Kurdistane, 11600, 1006-1009; Female Announcer in Kurdish, with Field reporters and crowd in background, discussing Kurdistan. Transmitter in MOLDOVA, SINPO 55545. Best 73 to all! (Ed, 7Z1ES, Sylvester, Rig: WJ-8711A; Ant: 130' Dipole with Ladderline/Tuner, Up 50', July 29, Riyadh, Sa`udi Arabia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 15535-15540-15545, July 26 at 2050, DRM noise detectable at S1, peaking circa 15537 and 15543, and no AM carrier in the middle, of course, from R. Kuwait in English, now inaudible to us even if it were stronger (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Reception of MOI Radio Kuwait General Service on July 27 0500-0900 on 15515 KBD 250 kW / 059 deg to EaAs Arabic, very weak http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-moi-radio-kuwait-general.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Kuwait --- Ciao a tutti gli amici del gruppo. Segnalo le regolari trasmissioni in DRM di Radio Kuwait su 13650 kHz nella prima serata (1700 UT e oltre). A proposito di questa stazione, chiedo se qualcuno conosce l'indirizzo email valido di Radio Kuwait a cui spedire un rapporto di ricezione. Per ringraziarvi, allego una piccola clip realizzata durante una ricezione di queste sere, ovviamente in DRM e con downconverter autocostruito ed applicato all'ultima media frequenza del Kenwood TS 440. Antenna dipolo e QTH Tortorici, provincia di Messina a 610 m slm nei Monti Nebrodi. Grazie per la collaborazione. 73 de (Giovanni -- ITALIAN AMATEUR RADIO STATION I T 9 T Z Z ESCLUSIVAMENTE IN TELEGRAFIA Sito web> http://www.webalice.it/it9tzz [1] QRZ.com page> http://www.qrz.com/db/it9tzz [2] Con Mobile Open 7 GB a 9 euro/4 sett navighi veloce con 7 GB di Internet e hai 200 minuti ed SMS a 15 cent. Passa a Tiscali Mobile! http://tisca.li/Open7GB0617 Attachment(s) from Giovanni Lorenzi 1 of 1 File(s) radio kuwait 21 luglio.mp3 July 28, bclnews.it yg via DXLD) Ciao Giovanni, in passato da qui rispondevano: Kwtfreq@media.gov.kw (Roberto Scaglione, Sicilia, iibid.) MOI Radio Kuwait on 15540 kHz in AM and DRM on July 28: 1600-1800 on 15540 KBD 250 kW / 100 deg to SoAs Urdu in AM mode, 1800-2100 on 15540 KBD 250 kW / 310 deg to WeEu English DRM mode http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/moi-radio-kuwait-on-15540-khz-in-am-and.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Kuwait 15540 DRM --- Been getting great decodes from Radio Kuwait DRM this afternoon, all Arabic though even though this frequency is scheduled English analogue. First decode-able DRM signal I have been able to find over the last week or so after getting my shack set back up (and finally finding my DRM license key on an old laptop). -- 73, (Brandon Jordan, KM4PBQ, Fayette County, TN EM55 http://www.swldx.us WinRadio G33DDC G313-e | RFSpace SDR-IQ NetSDR | Elad FDM-S2 | Icom IC-7200 2043 UT July 31, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) Ref DXLD 17-30: Radio Kuwait Main Programme was observed on 7250 kHz at 0855 UT on 1 August 2017, so in Arabic rather than Persian as stated in referenced DXLD. This was observed with good reception via a remote receiver in Oman. 15515 kHz (good) and 540 kHz (poor) were observed in parallel (David Kernick, Interval Signals Online, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) But now at 0940 in Persian, so maybe a feed error earlier. 73, (Mauno Ritola, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 9680, Radio Free Asia, Umm al-Rimam. 0141-0158* 11/7, announcer talking in listed Tibetan language. Mix of instrumental music and talks until closedown at 0157. Poor to fair (Richard A. D’Angelo, Wyomissing, PA U.S.A. (Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Sangean ATS-909X, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini- Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4), August Austrlian DX News via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. Sarawak FM, 9835, 1739-1741, Ballad type music. SINPO 22222 (QRM). Best 73 to all! (Ed, 7Z1ES, Sylvester, Rig: WJ-8711A; Ant: 130’ Dipole with Ladderline/Tuner, Up 50’, July 29, Riyadh, Sa`udi Arabia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALI. 5995, R. Mali, Kati, 2122-2130, 21/7, francês, texto, canções; 55444, nível de modulação aceitável. Durante o dia, em 9635, a situação foi igual. Good DX & 73, (Carlos Gonçalves, southwest coast of Portugal, July 31, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5995, Radio Mali, Bamako, *0559-0607, 24-07, French, ID “Nous émettons sur las fréquences... Radiodiffusion Télévision du Mali émettant de Bamako”, vernacular comments. Clear signal today. 25332. 9635, Radio Mali, Bamako, 1750-1759*, 24-07, African songs, tuning music, close. 14321 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, Sangean ATS-909X, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Mali 5995 kHz Modulation improvement --- Dear Glenn, I thought this maybe if interested to you. Last night (25th July) I was scanning through the bands at my QTH and I noticed Radio Mali operating with significantly better modulation at 2214 UT. Instead of the station being a carrier with very faint modulation, it was instead alive with much better modulation. I have a video which I will paste into this email, towards the end it has an ID. I hope you are interested in this and if you wish to share amongst fellow SWL’ers. Equipment: Perseus SDR & Wellbrook ALA1530LN Location: Armagh City, Northern Ireland Time & Date : 25th July, 2214 UTC Link : https://youtu.be/3dDDCbjFS1A Kind Regards, (Jordan Heyburn, Sent from Outlook, 1006 UT July 26, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5995, Radiodiffusion Télévision du Mali - Bamako. Noted at Mount Evelyn via the long path at 0655 UT with unusual African instrumental sounds, then news in French at 0700. Occasional phoned-in news reports. At 0720, Malian stringed music behind studio announcements, then more commentaries. A Malian song at 0725. This station appears to have taken some corrective measures at the transmitter as it seems to be producing much better modulation and audio now. Perhaps the problem that has plagued this outlet for years may now be fixed? I couldn’t hear them at all last week, so definitely something has changed! Not a strong signal but quite good considering it was long path propagation. July 26. 73 and good DX everyone, Rob Wagner VK3BVW (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK yg via DXLD) Radio Mali has not been off shortwave, just not audible because of its poor modulation. But yes, modulation does seem to have improved as reported. Daytime frequency 9635 (same transmitter as 5995) seemed better when checked on Canary Islands remote receiver this morning. 73s (Alan Pennington, ibid.) 5995, July 31 at 0648, ORTM is axually modulated as some fix has been done to this long almost inaudible unit; fair signal but splash from 6000 RHC which unfortunately is not undermodulated for a change (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Not much chance to hear them [940 KVSH NE; see USA] from home as long as XEKAM-950 continues to crank out 20 kW of the sloppiest IBOC you’ve ever heard. 73 (Tim Hall, CA, July 26, ABDX via DXLD) Hi Tim, Well, if XEKAM had good audio, you wouldn’t know it was them. Even going back into the 60s when they were XEGM, I don’t think I ever heard them with good audio. Maybe the worst was around 1977 when they were running programming via phone lines via L.A., and seemingly some engineer figured they could make up for the deficiencies of 5 kHz audio by running as much modulation as possible. Or maybe 1968 when they had a tone mixed in with their audio for months. No clue where it came from or why it was there, but leave it to XEGM/XEKAM to have that dubious exclusive. Why they could even imagine anyone listening to that train wreck for more than a few seconds is a mystery to me. – (Rick Lewis, ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 1060, XERDO, Reynosa, Tamaulipas. 1100 July 28, 2017. Anthem in progress way under XEEP, and the only other 1060 kc/s is XERDO, so (new term branded), Fake ID. XEEP hit the anthem from 1100:59 (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. RAYMIE`S MEXICO BEAT this sesquiweek --- We’ll probably get the callsigns on the Escápate al Paraíso stations this week as IFT-4 concessions continue to be added. I expect these stations to be carrying tourism promotional campaigns selling vacations. A couple of other weekend items: The Hidalgo state network should expand, say inhabitants of one of the state’s fastest-growing cities. Tizayuca, which sits on the Hidalgo- Edomex border, is currently without its own station, and residents and local legislators want Radio y Televisión de Hidalgo to expand there. https://www.sintesis.mx/Hgo/2017/07/17/legislador-local-del-pan-pide-ampliacion-de-cobertura-del-sistema-de-radio-y-tv-del-estado/ The town has no stations and would need to have a carefully chosen frequency and low power to maintain separation to Mexico City (37 km to Chiquihuite), Zumpango, Coacalco, Pachuca (26 km) and Tepejí del Río (39 km). Today is a radio station’s 25th birthday! At noon 25 years ago today, XHDIS-FM 93.7 signed on the air as Flamingo, a name it still uses today. It was the first FM station to operate in Ciudad Delicias, Chihuahua (another signed on in 1994 and five more were created in migration). It was not logged by a WTFDA DXer until July 1, 1995, when Mike Hawk nabbed it and two Chihuahua Capital stations, all of them new enough nobody knew the callsign (Raymie Humbert, Phœnix AZ, July 23, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Aside from what appear to be the last needed station callsigns for now, there was one item today that is of general interest about FM broadcasting. Earlier this year, the IFT approved a regulation requiring new cell phones to include FM radio reception functionality, and it goes into effect on Thursday. http://www.dineroenimagen.com/2017-07-24/89076 As a result, we may see firmware updates in Mexico requiring phone makers to enable this capability. FM radio on smartphones is a game changer for broadcasters, especially in small communities or rural areas where data can be scarce, slow and/or expensive. It provides listeners with a data-free option and a valuable service during emergencies. This was a great move by the IFT and I wanted to point it out here, if for no specific reason other than to highlight the fact that as new commercial, public and community radio services are built, some in areas with no stations or in underserved areas, this new guideline strengthens their role during emergencies and times of crisis. I do wish Mexico had a centralized system for emergency warnings and a weather radio network. (The closest available service is the earthquake early warning system in the weather radio band with coverage of the southern coastline, most of Michoacán, Oaxaca, and the Mexico City area, provided by an organization called CIRES.) http://www.dineroenimagen.com/2017-07-24/89076 (Raymie, July 24, ibid.) Interesting. Does that mean new iPhones are illegal in Mexico? Trip Come visit RabbitEars for all your digital TV subchannel informational needs. Comments are my own and not that of the FCC (my employer) or anyone else (Trip Ericson, Alexandria VA, July 25, ibid.) Apple may need to find a way to enable FM functionality to get into the Mexican market. I’m not particularly an expert in this area, but what Apple could do is either make a special SKU with no chip that would be disabled in the first place or enable it on the existing models (according to some sources, it is, but according to others, there’s no chip to enable as is). The consequences could actually spread beyond Mexico in this regard, particularly on budget phones or phones for the larger Latin American market (Raymie, ibid.) [and non] I always ask why in some countries the cell phones don´t have the FM radio hardware activated, here in El Salvador only the Iphones don’t. Even the cheapest cell phone have FM radios, without any law requiring that. In other hand you also can buy cheap cell phones (less than US$30) with NTSC TV receiver¡¡ (Humberto Molina, San Salvador, ibid.) Humberto, there has been a LOT of industry write up about Apple REFUSING to activate the FM capability of the iPhone. The controversy behind this circles around the fact that Apple also owns iTunes and they want to try to force the iPhone user to buy music they want to listen to. I read that Apple executives stand on the premise, IF you want to listen to an FM radio with your smart-phone, don’t buy an iPhone. Currently there are no laws in the US that obligate US phone manufacturers to activate the radio chip that is part of the IC board. From what I have read from Apple’s forums, there IS a chip on the IC board, the factory won’t enable it. At the store level, they can do nothing about it because it hasn’t been enabled. I own an iPhone 5c and did a bunch of research about this (Jim Thomas, Springfield, MO, Making FM Dxing more fun than a barrel of monkeys! ibid.) A Mexican radio institution turned 80 years old today. La Hora Nacional, the bane of every DXer who hears a Mexican at 10:00 on a Sunday night, began broadcasting on July 25, 1937. Here we are, more than 4,300 airings later. It’s still going, of course — there was a special edition last Sunday night to commemorate the historic occasion. They also have a special 80th anniversary logo on Twitter that looks pretty spiffy (Raymie, July 26, ibid.) ** MEXICO. ESTACIÓN MEXICANA DE RADIO CAMBIARÁ LA MÚSICA CLÁSICA POR GÉNEROS “POPULARES” 29/07/2017 https://gruporadioescuchaargentino.wordpress.com/2017/07/29/estacion-mexicana-de-radio-cambiara-la-musica-clasica-por-generos-populares/ La estación Opus 92, única emisora cultural del sistema de radio del estado mexicano de Nuevo León, dejará de emitir música clásica para pasar géneros populares a partir del próximo lunes, dijeron hoy fuentes del gobierno. Resultado de imagen para opus 92 [sic] “Ya no será cultural”, explicó Diana Adame, portavoz del gobierno de Nuevo León, al señalar que esta estación “se va a hacer más popular” y emitirá otro tipo de música. “No se si se van a incluir reguetón y narcocorridos (que ensalzan la violencia del narcotráfico y están prohibidos en varios estados mexicanos) en la nueva programación, pero sí habrá música más popular”, precisó. Opus 92, por 30 años la única estación cultural del sistema de radio de Nuevo León, comenzó hace unos días a diversificar su oferta de música con géneros como el jazz, blues y flamenco y un programa de superación personal. La decisión de cambiar la programación de la emisora ha llevado a un sector de su público y a varias organizaciones culturales a protestar por lo que consideran la eliminación de los programas de corte cultural. En una carta firmada por más de 3.000 personas, le pidieron a Ricardo Marcos, presidente del Consejo de Cultura y las Artes del estado de Nuevo León, que “se respete la vocación cultural de la estación”. La cultura debe ser una de las principales acciones del gobierno para combatir la violencia que aqueja a Nuevo León, estado que ocupa los primeros lugares en robos, extorsiones, entre otros delitos, señalaron. Aseguraron que si la mayoría de los niños escucharan más a los autores clásicos y conocieran el teatro del español Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra, el francés Moliere, o las pinturas de Leonardo Da Vinci, “no se sumarían a la delincuencia organizada ni serían sicarios”. Ricardo Marcos, presidente del Consejo de Cultura y las Artes de Nuevo León, se ha sumado a las protestas al señalar en sus redes sociales que los programas de superación personal “están muy alejados de la cultura”.(Hoy Los Angeles via GRA blog via DXLD) WTFK? On FM there is no Opus 92 in Monterrey, rather the state`s classical station is/was Opus 102 – XHQI-FM on 102.1 per WTFDA FM DB (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MYANMAR. (tentative), 5985 kHz. Heard from 2308 with pop music of a somewhat mellow variety that seemed very unusual to my ears. Announcement at 2326:30, followed by a man who seemed to be leading calisthenics – he kept a regular cadence for three minutes, as if he were counting, and injected some energy into it, like “ONE, two, three, four, ONE two three, four…” (but in Burmese). Brief music but no time signal at 2330 (which is TOH in their local time), followed by female announcer. Had to leave the radio at that time for a family commitment. 7/29/17 (Art Delibert, Vineyard Haven, Mass., JRC NRD-545 with 45-foot vertical antenna, HCDX via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) It`s hard enough for us to hear it in our mornings; in evenings likely by long-path (gh, ibid.) ** NEWFOUNDLAND. New station on 6160: see GERMANY ** NEW ZEALAND. Radio New Zealand International - 7425 kHz --- Fair signal indoors with just whip antenna on the Eton/Grundig Field BT this morning at 1058 UT here in NB. NO BEAM CHANGE AT 1100 (and no announcement about it nor IS)! (-- Richard Langley, July 26, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Same thing this morning, so at odds with the schedule as listed currently here: http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/listen (Richard Langley, July 27, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7425, July 27 at 1247, RNZI obviously still on the Pacific rather than PNG antenna as nominally switched to only at 11-13 UT; consequently a good signal here when we normally must strain to hear it or give up. RNZI still claims, ``Bougainville/Papua New Guinea and Timor Transmission 1100-1300 UTC. From 1100-1300 UTC our programme is directed to the North Western Pacific and Asia``, at http://www.radionz.co.nz/international/listen Dan Slevin is reviewing several films in `At the Movies`, including ``Baby Driver``, with a bad ending; ``Paris Can Wait``, directed by 80-year-old Eleanor Coppola. Includes lots of brief clips. 1254 wraps up with music from Baby Driver, Dave Brubeck jazz from 1961y. 1255 YL with other music fill; 1257 Adrian Sainsbury announces QSY to 6170, one tweet of the Bellbird, off at 1258* and 6170 on at *1259, S9+10 to S9, a bit weaker than 7425 had been, S9+20 to S9+10. RNZI sked shows nothing but `RNZ News` for the full hour at midnight Friday``, so we have to go to the detailed RNZ National schedule at http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/schedules for ``Ramere 28 Hongoingoi 2017`` which is Maori for Friday 28 July 2017 (kudos to them for coming up with their own original names while yet accepting the CE calendar imposed by the Aryan invaders), showing the `All Night Programme` including ``12:30 At the Movies with Simon Morris (RNZ)``. Not the name I heard, twice. Or was that the monicker of a filmaker? 7425, July 28 at 1220, for at least the third day, RNZI obviously continues on the Pacific antenna also USward resulting in much better signal than the PNG antenna; S9+10/20. 7425, July 30 at 1210 check, RNZI is still on NNE antenna with VG signal here. As Wolfgang Büschel points out, the latest change is 9630 ex-9700 at 05-07; presumably to avoid collision with Romania at 0600- 0630. Unlogged here yet; now confronting the weak only slightly off- frequency R. Aparecida, Brasil. But EiBi shows CNR1 from site-q is also on 9630. Aoki says it`s via Geermu at 00-11 except for the Tuesday 06-09 siesta. China could be worse for NZ than RRI was (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9630 kHz has replaced 9700 kHz at 0459-0658 UT from July 28: The full RNZI schedule is here: I’ve to check it here in Germany tomorrow morning. I guess Aparecida Brazil is very tiny and poor here in Europe at present, and no adjacent QRM problem. see also: BRAZIL, 9630.008, Only few Brazilians propagate today towards Germany / western Europe this Friday July 28. At 0501 UT heard ZYE954 Radio Aparecida, Aparecida SP [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (wb df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 28) 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, July 28, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Off 9700 presumably to avoid Romania at 0600-0630 only. Sked still claims 7425, 1059-1258 is on NW antenna; not checked today (Glenn Hauser, July 28, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) Frequency change of Radio New Zealand International from July 28: 0459-0658 NF 9630#RAN 050 kW / 035 deg English to All Pacific AM mode, ex 9700* *to avoid on 9700 TIG 300 kW / 307 deg to WeEu German 0600-0627 R. Romania Inter #on same freq 9630 GEM 100 kW / 236 deg to EaAs Chinese 0000-1100 China Nat. R.-1 #on same freq 9630 APA 010 kW / 060 deg to BRA Portuguese 0000-2400 R. Aparecida http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/frequency-change-of-radio-new-zealand.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) New UT morning channel of RNZI moved from 9700 to 9630 kHz from July 28, 0459-0658 UT noted S=6 at 0530 UT July 30, fluttery signal, S=8 in CAN/USA SDR remotes. In Europe hit heavily by adjacent 9620 kHz French from RRI Galbeni-ROMANIA site, latter S=9+30dB. [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 30 dxldyg via DXLD) 9630, July 31 at 0550, RNZI on new frequency ex-9700, S9+10 and seems clear altho confronting a local device blubbler here, my problem (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) RNZI ANTENNA SWITCH PROBLEM Hi Glenn, Further to your comments in the NASWA Flashsheet, RNZI has an antenna switching problem at the transmitter site, which means the 325 degree antennas cannot be used at present. Repairs should happen soon. The 35 degree antennas are being used full time with 100 kW, which actually is the power always used by RNZI. It is usually split between two antennas, 50 kW each beamed 35 and 325 degrees. The transmitter NEVER runs at 50 kW! Also there is a frequency change. 9700 kHz 0458-0659 UT was replaced by 9630 kHz on 28 July, because of interference. Regards, (Barry Hartley, New Zealand, August 1, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That explains it, but I am a bit confused by what you say. RNZI own skeds never show two headings at once, rather always Pacific except at 11-13, PNG, which is currently out of service. Do you mean when it`s working, the 325 antenna is still getting half the power even when PNG is not singled out as target? And only the other half on the 35? It did not seem that way to us, with a signal drop at 1100 on 7425. HFCC registrations do show 50 kW each on both antennas almost all the time (except unspecified DRM 35 kW) along with many alternate frequencies not currently employed. I figured this was to cover possible contingency changes, rather than actual usage all the time. http://hfcc.org/data/schedbyfmo.php?seas=A17&fmor=RNZ RNZI is also handling the frequency management for Vanuatu and Solomon Islands (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glen[n] Hauser, I am sending the 3 audios that I recorded and will be presented in the Programs DX, destined to the radio-stations of Brazil. The recording is in Portuguese, I tell you about my listening to Radio New Zealand International. Thank you very much. #1, 5 minutes http://www.ulyssesgalletti.radiolegal.org/DXCB/PDX371.mp3 [first one is about NZ in general, not RNZI] http://www.ulyssesgalletti.radiolegal.org/DXCB/PDX372.mp3 http://www.ulyssesgalletti.radiolegal.org/DXCB/PDX373.mp3 (Ulysses Galletti, July 27, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NIGERIA. VON Ikorodu - New Street View imagery https://goo.gl/maps/hb86q1ieKz32 (Ian, July 27, shortwavesties yg via DXLD) ** NIGERIA [non]. Radio Dandal Kura International via BaBcoCk Ascension/Woofferton, July 27 0500-0600 5960 ASC 250 kW / 055 deg to WeAf Kanuri, weak/fair signal 0600-0700 7415 ASC 250 kW / 055 deg to WeAf Kanuri, very weak signal 0700-0800 13810 WOF 250 kW / 165 deg to WeAf Kanuri, fair & distorted http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/radio-dandal-kura-int-via-babcock_27.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6950.6, 0432, USA [sic], Channel Z through to 0516 including Sweet Child o’ Mine, poor in English, 1/7 (Jonathan Wood, August NZ DX Times via DXLD) 6951a, 0429, US [sic] HOBBY PIRATE, Channel Z tested to NZ on 1/7, very weak signal with rock music, idents and some CW code on 6950.64. Closed 0516:30. Thanks to Jonathan Wood for organizing special (Bryan Clark, Mangawhai, Northland, North Island, New Zealand, WinRadio G33DDC and AOR7030+ receivers, EWEs to North, Central & South America, August NZ DX Times via DXLD) How to they know Z is in USA rather than some other North American country?? (gh, DXLD) ** NORTH AMERICA. 6950-USB, July 30 at 0111, rockmusic at S8-S9, no doubt Wolverine Radio, as confirmed by ID at 0115. Tonight`s key word is ``help`` per numerous logs from 0033 to 0146 at https://www.hfunderground.com/board/index.php/topic,36415.0.html I didn`t listen long with all the other stuff going on (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NORTH AMERICA. 15085, July 27 at 2018, bandscan hits JBA carrier here. Listening further, BA talk occasionally perceptible with the inimitable intonations by Josiah, of the anti-Christ pirate Station YHWH; so now he is back to earlier broadcasts in the daytime on higher bands than 7585 circa 0200-0500. I had noticed a JBA carrier on 15085 a week or two ago but not logged it. Of course, no legit station is ever using it now, not even Iran. Still past 2033, with brief slight fadeups of his talk. Not that we care to hear what he says in his well-worn diatribes, which are from just another wacky religionist, but with a slightly different angle than most of them (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Es all over the 6m map with MUF projected to over 100 MHz, so I try again for some FM DX, July 28 at 1455: NOTHING unusual in bandscanning 87.7 to 94.1 MHz with attention to open frequencies; but here`s something unusual once again defaulting to an OK discovery: 91.3, some kind of far-right Christian program, 1459 UT ID as ``91.3 KAKO, Ada-Oklahoma City``. I`ve not heard that before, next to local 91.1; is it newly on air? Hardly, FCC FM Query shows it started in 2006y from a 7.6 kW transmitter. ERP in the horizontal plane was already 100 kW on a vertically polarized antenna. http://licensing.fcc.gov/prod/cdbs/pubacc/Auth_Files/1118491.pdf WTFDA DB shows: {KAKO 91.3 ADA OK 0.0 kW H, 100.0 kW V, 134.7 m HAAT, 35-13-36, 96-55-42, AMERICAN FAMILY RADIO, CONTEMPORARY CHRISTIAN} Claiming OKC is a stretch. One 60 dbu coverage map at FCC shows it barely reaching the SE corner of OKC. There is now some tropo enhancement, but not enough to produce anything on UHF TV, not even KTEN-26 Ada. Besides a glorified translator in Guymon, the only other Okie on 91.3 is KRSC-FM in Claremore, at Rogers State College, a ``Real College Radio`` station but only 2.2 kW; no wonder I seldom hear it, even circa Tulsa. Re my log of KAKO 91.3 ``Ada`` -- Looking again at FCC coverage map, the transmitter site is axually near Shawnee, not Ada, and Shawnee is much closer to OKC, in fact about halfway there. Community of license, Ada, is barely within the same contour! Ada 2010y population was only 16.8 kilopersons, so who cares? KAKO again inaudible here under dead conditions (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. 92.1, July 27 at 1728 UT on the G8 at a restaurant in western Enid, promo/sponsorhip of something by ``Tulsa`s Channel 8``, and can`t hear any carrier from local KAMG-LP, nominal 68 watts, so is it finally off? No, just too weak, for back home at 2007 I am again getting the dead air and no 27 kW KTBT Broken Arrow. BTW, Tulsa is in the confusing position of the original channel 2, KJRH (ex-KVOO-TV) now being on DTV channel 8, while KTUL, the original channel 8 which is still its identity, is really on DTV channel 10; why didn`t they just keep 8? Furthermore, W9WI.com guesses the KTUL extra-citic boosters on RF 24 are also virtually 24, while I would guess they must be ``8`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. K253BC 98.5 Enid OK now in My Praise FM network Hi Mike, or so the station list read on air at the TOH ID during July 21 Es, and the web site confirms this. So no longer relaying a 90.3 station as in the database. Clip attached. Most marginal Es catch ever, but the web site confirms it. I was on 90.5 (KGVV Goltry OK). http://mypraisefm.com cc'ing Glenn because he can probably see the 98.5 tower from his yard - it's in Enid. My intent was about a format/affiliate change for a translator on 98.5 in Glenn's QTH of Enid OK. Anyhow, the clip has two Oklahoma FM 90.5 stations, very weak via E-skip, in immediate succession. Top of the hour is a fruitful time to record the 88-91 MHz portion of the band during skip. The signal quality of each station puts the myth to rest, for good, that e-skip signals are always mammoth in size (Saul Chernos, Ont., July 28, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Clip not received here. Ha, I probably would not have noticed the change, avoiding my local gospel huxters like the plague (gh, DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. DTV Repack info plans: Ada 17 KTEN From 26, 811 kW Bartlesville 36 KDOR-TV From 17; granted Claremore 32 KRSU-TV From 35, 133 kW/252m; granted Lawton 21 K38GL From 38, 15 kW Oklahoma City 18 KOPX-TV From 50, 104 kW/480m Oklahoma City 19 KAUT-TV From 40, 375 kW/467m; granted Oklahoma City 21 KUOT-CD From 19 Oklahoma City 25 KWTV-DT From 39, 748 kW Oklahoma City 31 KOHC-CD From 45, 11.4 kW Poteau 19 KSJF-CD From 50, 936 watts; granted Sallisaw 48 K48FL Requests power increase to 7.97 kW; granted Tulsa 16 KWHB From 47, 23 kW/457m; granted Tulsa 17 KUTU-CD From 25, 6.55 kW granted Tulsa 26 KOTV-DT From 45, 574 kW; granted; application for backup transmitter on this channel, 730 kW/505m Tulsa 34 KMYT-TV From 42, 770 kW; granted (From an all-state listing, FCC News, August WTFDA VHF UHF Digest via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. OSIYO, the show about Cherokee culture via OETA OKLA, August 1 at 16 UT, includes a segment about a guy who does a bilingual radio show, but never mentions station or time. Here`s the segment: DENNIS SIXKILLER, GIVING CHEROKEE ELDERS A VOICE September 12, 2015 --- Watch now http://osiyo.tv/segments/dennis-sixkiller-giving-cherokee-elders-a-voice/ (via Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** OMAN. 15140, Radio Sultanate of Oman, *1403-1550, 26-07, Arabic, comments and Arabic songs, at 1500 news in Arabic, at 1503 English program for about 1 hour 42 minutes, comments and pop songs in English, some Arabic songs, at 1545 Arabic again, comments. 45444. (Manuel Méndez, Lugo Spain, noticiasdx yg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) As of yesterday July 26 probably English will be from 15 to 16 UT (Ivo Ivanov, July 27, HCDX via DXLD) Radio Sultanate of Oman in Arabic, instead of English July 26 1400-1405 on 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu open carrier/dead air 1405-1500 on 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu Arabic, fair to good: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/radio-sultanate-of-oman-in-arabic.html Radio Sultanate of Oman again in Arabic, instead of English, July 27 1400-1500 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg WeEu Arabic, fair to good signal 1500-1600 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg WeEu English*, instead of Arabic from 1600 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg WeEu Arabic, as scheduled in A17 *Radio Sultanate of Oman, FM 90.4 MHz, The Nation Station at new time! http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/radio-sultanate-of-oman-in-english-at.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I would not assume any anomaly from them is a permanent change without much further monitoring (gh, DXLD) Radio Sultanate of Oman, The Nation Station, Oman FM 90.4 MHz in English on 15140 kHz --- 1400-1500 in Arabic and then 1500, 1600, 1700 in English and continues. Videos will be added later today -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DXLD) Radio Sultanate Of Oman, 15140 has blasted pasted their 1500-1600 UT English service relay of 90.4 Oman FM, the English language pop music station. Currently 1735 and still hearing English language pop music. And I don't hear the usual Radio Havana Cuba that usually prevents reception of Oman from 1600 to 2100 UT (Paul Walker, PA, July 31, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ?? Cuba doesn`t start 15140 until 1800, or later with transmitter problems (gh, DXLD) At 1800 in English, instead of Arabic. Videos will be added later today on https://youtube.com/user/SWLDXBulgaria and http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/ (Ivo Ivanov, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Sultanate of Oman, 12015, Thumrait, in English, at 2225, on 7/31/17. A male and a female announcer were talking in English. A slow pop song played with a male singer. This station is not supposed to be transmitting in English but Arabic at this hour according to my Skeds. At 2236 UT, a Station Id by a male announcer was given as Radio Sultanate of Oman. This was followed by a female announcer talking. S- 9, Good (John Cooper, Lebanon PA, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) John, That is certainly of interest. Oman has been all over the place as far as when it`s in Arabic or English. First log I`ve seen at this particular time. I myself did hear it in Arabic some time ago on 12015 (Glenn to John, via DXLD) At 2236 UT a Station ID by a male announcer was given as Radio Sultanate of Oman. 90.4 FM was mentioned so this must be a relay from Oman? (Cooper, ibid.) John, Anything in English from RSO on SW is taken from their 24-hour local FM channel in English on 90.4, so those IDs are to be heard. (Glenn, ibid.) 12015, Radio Sultanate of Oman at 0023 with Western songs, 0028 woman announcer and “90.4 Oman FM” ID in English. They are scheduled with Arabic, rather than English at this time. - Poor, Aug 1 (Harold Sellers, on vacation and listening in a park in Leamington, Ontario, beside Lake Erie. Using a Tecsun PL-660 portable, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) "90.4 Oman FM" relay on Radio Sultanate Of Oman 12015 kHz, 0140 UT August 1. Far Northwestern Pennsylvania with JRC NRD535D, 25 foot long by 10 foot tall volleyball net magnetic loop antenna with a Wellbrook ALA100LN, DXEngineering HF PreAmp, and EmTech ZM2 Antenna Tuner. An English language talk program just ended, "Know your religion" , talking about Islam. Now into night time chill out jazz type music. Arabic is scheduled now, not English. 12015 also usually isn't much more then "I can detect a carrier here". Supposed to switch to 9540 kHz at 0200 UTC. Let's see if it does (Paul Walker, ODXA yg via DXLD) Paul later found that all the extra English may have been due to coverage of some festival (gh, DXLD) R. Sultanate of Oman/The Nation Station/Oman FM 90.4 MHz, July 31 1400-1500 on 15140 THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu Arabic, ex English 1500-2200 on 15140*THU 100 kW / 315 deg to WeEu English, ex Arabic * co-ch same 15140 DEL 250 kW / 312 deg to EaEu Russian AIR 1615-1715 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/08/rsultanate-of-omanthe-nation.html (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3260, NBC Madang 1218-1237, July 30. With election results in Pidgin; extended broadcast here unlike NBC Bougainville on 3325, which was off the air by 1135. Good strength open carrier still heard at 1326, but by then with no modulation / audio. 3275, NBC Southern Highlands[non-log], on July 30, not heard. 3365, NBC Milne Bay[non-log], on July 30, continues silent (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PERU. 4747.20, -XXXX-, Perú, Radio Huanta 2000, Huanta, Ayacucho, nothing tonight, 2330 to 0010 and not heard last week 1030 to 1130 - 29/30 July (Wilkner) 4810, Radio Logos, Chazuta, Tarapoto, 1025 with OA music, later with priest to 1045 fade out, need LSB narrow for decent copy 29 July (Robert Wilkner, Pómpano Beach, Florida, 746Pro, Drake R8, NRD 525, 90 meter dipole and other wire antennas, NASWA yg via DXLD) 4810, R. Logos, 1003-1009 pleasant instrumental music, 1004 about a 20 second Spanish ID/promo by M between songs starting with ”Radio Logos…”. Hammered by the ute on 4812 and CODAR, and surprised I got the ID. 30 July. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S and 153 foot Delta loop, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** PHILIPPINES [non]. Radio Veritas Asia via SM di Galeria, July 27: 1430-1457 on 11630 SMG 250 kW / 089 deg to SoAs Urdu, very strong 1500-1552 on 15620 SMG 250 kW / 107 deg to N/ME Filipino, strong: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-radio-veritas-asia-via_5.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PUERTO RICO [and non]. LOG: 9400 KBC 15.31z MFSK32, 5x5 This reflecting dish at Arecibo, Puerto Rico, is combined with HF antennas for ionospheric heating experiments ... Sending Pic:136x106C; http://www.rhci-online.net/files/pic_2017-07-29_153241z.png Listen for carriers, tones, and pulses (but no IDs) on 5095 and 8175 kHz. Info: bit.ly/2eNEhME Please report decode to themightykbc@gmail.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ==> http://www.rhci-online.net/files/pic_2017-07-29_153241z.png https://sites.google.com/alaska.edu/gakonahaarpoon/operations-news (roger, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: 25 July 2017 I originally reported the Arecibo high-power HF operations to be transmitted at either 5.125 or 8.175 MHz, depending on local foF2. Note that these are just estimates and the actual transmitted frequency may be adjusted slightly from those values for various reasons. Arecibo is currently transmitting 5095 kHz at 0000 hours 25 July 2017 (UTC). 24 July 2017 Did you copy Arecibo during the 24-31 July 2017 HF campaign? Get your QSL card! This morning I received the following information by email from Angel Vasquez, Head of Telescope Operations and Spectrum Manager at Arecibo: I’m Angel WP3R, president and trustee of KP4AO the Arecibo Amateur Radio Club. KP4AO has QSL cards that have been made because of our Special Event Runs and the MoonBounce we did. My personal QSL manager, W3HNK does the QSL’ing also for KP4AO. I can give him a call and have him send SWL QSL’s to the interested parties. All that is needed is a SASE to W3HNK. His Address can be found onQRZ.com or WM7D.net. 23 July 2017 --- ARECIBO IONOSPHERE HF RADIO MODIFCATION CAMPAIGN! If you are reading this then another radio event of possible interest is the upcoming Arecibo ionosphere HF heating campaign during 24 to 31 July 2017. The new Arecibo ionosphere HF heater nominally transmits 600 kilowatts net power (100 to 200 megawatts effective radiated power) and has a unique Cassegrain dual-array antenna design that increases gain of three crossed dipoles for each band using the signature 1000 ft spherical dish reflector. Read more about the Arecibo HF facility at http://www.naic.edu/~astro/ao50/Arecibo_50th_Paper_Breakall_revised_Oct_23_2013.pdf During the upcoming campaign, the Arecibo HF transmitter is limited to two frequencies, 5.125 and 8.175 MHz. Campaign HF transmissions will start at approximately 1600 hours UTC and be active approximately 24 hours per day, with some occasional downtime for maintenance and other activities lasting one or more hours. Generally, the 8.175 MHz transmissions will occur in the daytime when foF2 is expected to exceed that value, between approximately 1830 and 2230 hours UTC. Otherwise the HF transmissions will occur at 5.125 MHz. The Arecibo incoherent scatter radar (ISR) will also be active throughout most of the campaign, but since it operates in the UHF band at 430 MHz long distance propagation is not expected. These transmissions will be in the vertical direction so this is an excellent opportunity to observe NVIS from a powerful transmitter in Puerto Rico. My own experiments are O-mode polarized CW (kicking off the campaign at 1600 hours on 24 July 2017 UTC) for measuring plasma wave and turbulence effects. Experiments by other scientists may use X-mode polarization. To the best of my knowledge, all experiments will be CW with no amplitude or frequency modulation. 31 May 2017 This is an embarrassingly delayed update after the successful first UAF-HAARP campaign! Five scientists funded by the National Science Foundation, Department of Energy, and Naval Research Lab conducted experiments at HAARP using a total of approximately 30 hours of “heater time.” Preliminary results from my own experiments is that I successfully created artificial airglow on the fourth night of the campaign. Unfortunately partial cloud cover, combined with lack of “X-mode” airglow meant that neither science objective was fulfilled. However, science is a process of repetition, repetition, repetition! The next campaign is tentatively scheduled for September, 2017. Ham and shortwave radio listener feedback greatly exceeded my expectations. The Luxembourg (cross modulation) effect was confirmed by regional listeners in Alaska and western parts North America. Listeners in more distant regions reported hearing the broadcast but not the cross-modulation effect. My hypothesis is that the distant listeners were receiving HAARP “side lobes” that are perhaps angled more favorably to long-distance propagation. The side lobes are still quite powerful, but probably not powerful enough to generate the Luxembourg or cross modulation effect. Finally, those QSL cards ... mea culpa! I did not anticipate the volume of fantastic reports from listeners, especially given the short amount of time between the UAF Geophysical Institute press release and the HAARP campaign, and I should have made better formal plans in this regard. The Geophysical Institute public relations office is drafting a digital card and perhaps printing some physical cards as well. During breaks between meetings and memos, I will do my best to start sending digital or printed cards depending, on the information I have on hand, for each confirmed report. (The confirmation will have to be relatively informal, again due to my original lack of planning.) If you are expecting a response, please politely ping me again this summer, as I am already embarrassed by my delayed response, though it is understandable given the workload at a university that is severely understaffed during year-after-year state budget cuts. Stay tuned for news regarding the next HAARP (and Arecibo) ionosphere HF radio modification experiment campaigns. The next campaigns will be even better! 20 Feb 2017 Day 1 of the first ever University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) Geophysical Institute (GI) HAARP campaign was a success! . . . (via gh, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) 5125.00, July 30 at 0006, extremely strong S9+15 to S9+30 open carrier, something new. I`m checking since this news emerged via roger on the DXLD yg: http://bit.ly/2eNEhME about ionospheric heating experiments from the Arecibo, Puerto Rico, radio telescope, on behalf of the same guy who brought us HAARP last winter from Gakona, Alaska. Arecibo ionosphere HF radio modification campaign! [Excerpts from above] So here`s what I hear: first at 0007, I compare the 5125 signal to nearby 5 MHz transmitters: 5129.8, WBCQ, JBA carrier --- will get blown away by this thing 5085, WTWW not on yet [see separate log later] 5050, WWRB, S9+15 5040, RHC Creole, S9 to S9+25 5025, Rebelde, S7-S9, undermodulated [see also USA: 6993] Assuming 5125 will continue to be unmodulated, I tune around elsewhere, but at 0031 I notice that different ascending tones are now being transmitted in steps. This is not unlike some proof-of- performance runs by AM broadcast stations, but why would they be doing this? The huge ERP carrier alone is all that`s needed to heat the ionosphere. And if they can transmit these tones, they could also easily include some kind of ID! So I am not positive all this is really Arecibo. If not, quite a spoiler! The tone sequences start over from low to high about every two minutes, at 0034, 0036, 0038. The higher-pitched ones being pure tones, produce what amount to distinct carriers on corresponding frequencies apart from 5125.00, in fact landing far beyond poor WBCQ circa 5130. At 0040 I start to follow the sequence with the NRD-545 on 0.1 kHz step tuning. Each lasts just a few seconds. I suppose the same thing is happening on the lower side but not listening there. 5133.2, 5133.6, 5134.0, 5134.4, 5134.8 --- so these are 400 Hz apart. Next run at 0043 I catch starting at 5126.1, then 5126.5, 5126.7, 5126.9, 5127.1, 5127.3, 5127.5, 5127.7, 5127.9, 5128.1, 5128.3, 5128.5, 5128.7, 5128.9 (and now traces of WBCQ at different pitches underneath), 5129.1, 5129.3, 5129.5, 5129.7, 5129.9 where it stops, so these were 200 Hz apart; and back down to start up again: 5125.9, 5126.1, 5126.3, 5126.5, 5126.7, also at 200 Hz --- and I tune up above to find some much higher ones going at same time far beyond the WBCQ frequency: 5135.9, 5137.4, 5138.3, [. . .]. 5142.2, 5143.1, 5143.8, 5144.6 where it stops. I may have missed some digits trying to keep up with them, as these were mostly, but not all, 900 Hz apart. More of same I do not track. At 0100* carrier goes off, back on circa *0102 with dead air; 0104 more tone test but this time steady at high pitch. 0108 dead air; 0110 high tones. At 0114 yet another variation: the carrier cuts off and on between tones, something it was not doing earlier. There was never anything on 5095 or other frequencies between. And so it went. 0330 recheck, nothing on 5125 or 5095, but a big S9+20 OC on 5100, where we have heard such before. Could that be Arecibo all along? 5125 et al., July 30 at 0600 no carriers or tones on now from presumed Arecibo as earlier. These are supposed to run thru/until July 31. No reply yet from the HAARP guy in Alaska for confirmation of source, Chris Fallen, Ph.D., Assistant Research Professor in the Space Physics Group at the UAF Geophysical Institute (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 5125, 0944 for at least the next hour, a massive signal on this frequency from someone apparently testing with repeating loop of test tones starting with OC, then 500 Hz and jumping up roughly 200 hz every 5 seconds to 4.9 kHz before starting the loop again. Thought it might be a Spanish numbers station, but only the loop of tones heard. 30 July. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S and 153 foot Delta loop, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) Glenn, I’m hearing absolutely nothing on 5125 but getting a lot of the same crap on 5130 as there was last night. Have a het off and on since shortly after 2300 and when I went exploring up and down the dial a bit and came back to 5130 there were ascending tones again for a bit. Not mostly just noise and the het like sound in and out. Very difficult to copy program. It’s not exactly as last night was but close enough to make me nervous (John Carver, Mid-North Indiana, 2340 UT July 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5130 at 0000: Sounding more normal. Signal strength is coming up as it gets darker between here and there and the noise is dropping some but that damned het is still there. Can’t hear anything at 5125 or at 5135. However, at 5135 S meter drops to about S7 and noise comes way up. At 5125 there is no noise at all but the S meter is surging to 40 over! (John Carver, 0006 UT July 31, ibid.) 5130 at 0030 --- Tones have started at every ten seconds (John Carver, 0031 UT, ibid.) Can clearly hear the tones from 5070 up to 5161 and above and below that can’t actually hear them but the S meter is reacting as if it can (John, 0041 UT, ibid.) 5125, Arecibo, 2125-2138 Jul 30 and 0105-0130 Jul 31, noted early with poor signal but later with excellent carrier strength with tones. Interesting stuff (Rich D'Angelo, 2216 Burkey Drive, Wyomissing, PA 19610, U.S.A., Ten-Tec RX-340, Drake R-8B, Eton E1, Eton E5, Alpha Delta DX Sloper, RF Systems Mini-Windom, Datong FL3, JPS ANC-4, NASWA Flashsheet via DXLD) 5125, July 31 at 0059, very strong carrier with tone tests on again tonight, from presumed Arecibo radiotelescope experimenting with ionospheric heating. Last night the tones were in steps, but tonight they are sweeps up and down in pitch, and between them the carrier cuts off briefly. These can be heard all the way between 5113 and 5145, weakening toward the edges, and of course, blotting out the very weak signal from WBCQ 5129.82-AM. Still the same past 0107 and 0121. Next check at 0219-0221 nothing heard, but WBCQ is still too weak in storm noise level. After 0300, when WORLD OF RADIO is on WBCQ, the 5125 signal is back on, but weakened, now with tones stepping upward causing weak hets to very poor WBCQ. By 0332, 5125 is S9+30 fading to only S9, and cutting on and off without tones at the moment. At 0434 off; at 0545 open carrier back on. At 0650 final check, still weakened unmodulated carrier. July 31 is supposed to be the final date for this week-long experiment, so unclear whether it will be on again for UT August 1 (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Tones stopped here I’d guess around 0115 or a little later. Was on the phone and had turned the radio down so can’t say for sure. Still have a bit of noise on 5130 and still have the het like sound. In general the tones were different than last nights (John, 0135 UT ibid.) Has the center carrier always been 5130 instead of 5125? I can`t start monitoring for a few more minutes (Glenn to John, 0050 UT, ibid.) That’s what it appears like here this evening. Though the no noise on 5125 and the S meter shooting up to 40 over had me going as that was the only place it did that. Although by my monitoring the center would be lower than 5125 (John, 0140 UT, ibid.) The het like noise on 5130 stopped at 0146 here. Het like noise back at 0151 (John, ibid.) 5120 dead quiet, 20 over. Moving up to 5125 still dead quiet but S meter jumping to 40 over. Het starting at 5127. 5135 and above very high atmospheric noise. Coming back down to 5125 can copy John Lightning there all the way up to 5135. Back to 5125 and no JL but het noise. Tuning up to 5125.8 there’s JL again. Then an audible click, frequency goes silent again with S meter up to 40 over and no JL till up to 5129.8! Everything is all over the place and I’m tired of checking all this out as it’s changing so often. Could be HAARP, could be WBCQ, could be Martians for all I know (John Carver, Mid-North Indiana, 0205 UT, ibid.) Tones back at 0230. Tones from 5103.6 to 5142.6 now at 0244. Guess I won’t be hearing WOR tonight. Tones stopped at 0330, just as WOR ended. Het came back at 0301. I'm really tired of this. Can we sue them or something? (John, Mid-North Indiana, ibid.) Just wait them out, almost over (Glenn, ibid.) 5125, July 31 at 2300, 2336 chex, and UT August 1 at 0330, 0530, nor August 2 at 0308, no huge carrier or tones on this or nearby frequencies, so the Arecibo ionospheric heating experiment has ended, and WBCQ 5130 and listeners may sigh in relief; until next time? (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. Reception of IRRS Radio City via ROU RadioCom, July 29 0800-0900 on 9510 SAF 100 kW / 300 deg to WeEu German Sat, very good 0900-0930 on 9510 SAF 100 kW / 300 deg to WeEu IRRS unscheduled prgr 0930-0932 on 9510 SAF 100 kW / 300 deg to WeEu VOA News and off air: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/irrs-radio-city-and-unscheduled-voa.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. HISTORY from 1999 and 2010. ----------------------- May 23, 2010 10:43 am Source: RV3ADJ Colleagues, friends! Tonight our friend and a wonderful man left us - Pavel Mikhailov, RV3ACC. He is also known to many as the permanent column leader in the magazine "Radio" and employee of the radio station "Voice of Russia" There are no words. Mourning ... RV3ADJ (Kovalenko I.Y./ "open_dx") - Based on the materials of the previous issue of the printed edition of "RUS-DX". No. 68, August 1999. Anatoly Klepov interviews the author and the leading program "Club DX" radio station "Voice of Russia" Pavel Mikhailov. - How do you feel? I really hope that it's better. The correction is very slow, because Myocardium and heart valves are very traumatized. Here the chief doctor is time. - How long have you, Pavel, been fond of DXing? For me, DHing consists of several parts. The first (early and most important so far) is the very technical possibility to receive a radio signal from afar. This opportunity for me was opened in 1961, when a radio ("Daina" radio of Lithuanian production) with SW bands appeared in the house. I was then 14 years old. The second aspect is the opportunity to learn about facts and events in other countries from the first mouth with the help of a long-distance reception. And soon came the understanding that only on SW you can find out the truth about life in your own country. - How was the idea of the DX program born, how was it created? Since 1977, I have been making a DX program for the American edition of the Moscow Radio, then for the World Service in English. In 1989 (not without my participation), a massive "pressure" was organized against the newly earned World Service, and me. As a person already known in the Foreign Service, as the author of good DX-programs. Invited to create and maintain a Russian-language 'Club DX'. Just 10 years ago! Yes, time flies ... - What are the most memorable cases in the preparation of programs? Frankly speaking, there were practically no special cases worth remembering and singling out, and it was not advisable for me to "take out" the technical and organizational overlays that appear in the work of any radio editing. - Do you have any favorite radio programs and what stations? Of course, the first and main thanks for joining the civilized DXing should be addressed to the DX program of Swedish radio and its first leading Ms Lydia Lundal. I listened to these programs (now it is already harder because of time) almost from the 1st issue and terribly envied. Who could freely send their DX-messages to Stockholm from the then USSR. - What would you like to wish your listeners today? Because among our listeners there are not only DXists. But just lovers of listening to the radio, then all of them. As well as all Russians, I can only wish one thing: that the trials that fell to the lot of our long-suffering country end as soon as possible! The truth (although some do not agree with this), very much here depends on ourselves. First of all, it's hard work and quality work in any field: one's own production, and not a profit on the resale of imported hack-work. Well. Of course, do not engage in idle politicking at an amateurish level - it only prevents you from living: be more tolerant and persevering in achieving good goals, but in no way follow the advertising telegram from Pepsi: 'Take everything from life!' Because primitive criminal instincts are born in this way, and we still have enough criminality and stupidity ... All of them from the heart (although it is still ache a bit) and the fulfillment of all good desires! Thank you. (24 June 1999) (Rus-DX 30 July 2017y, published 29 July via DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. Adygeyan Radio & Brother Stair on 6000, July 28: 1745-1800 on 6000 ARM 100 kW / 188 deg to CeAs test tone/dead air 1800-1835 on 6000 ARM 100 kW / 188 deg to CeAs Adygeyan Fri, good 1835-1900 on 6000*ARM 100 kW / 188 deg to CeAs Adygeyan Fri, poor *strong co-ch 6000 SCB 050 kW / 126 deg to N/ME Brother HySTAIRical http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/adygeyan-radio-brother-stair-on-6000.html Adygeyan Radio and Brother Stair on 6000 July 31: 1800-1833 on 6000#ARM 100 kW / 188 deg to CeAs Ad/Ar/Tu Mon, good 1833-1900 on 6000*ARM 100 kW / 188 deg to CeAs Ad/Ar/Tu Mon, poor #till 1805 on 6000 BEI 100 kW / non-dir to EaAs Chinese CNR1, weak *strong co-ch 6000 SCB 050 kW / 126 deg to N/ME Brother HySTAIRical http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/08/adygeyan-radio-and-brother-stair-on.html (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA [and non]. RUSSIAN PROPAGANDA HAS FLOODED U.S. AIRWAVES. HOW ABOUT SOME RECIPROCITY? By Editorial Board, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/russian-propaganda-has-flooded-us-airwaves-how-about-some-reciprocity/2017/07/28/77178a36-68f0-11e7-8eb5-cbccc2e7bfbf_print.html PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN is a fresh convert to the principle of reciprocity in his dealings with the United States. He ought to take it a step further. On Friday, the Russian leader, irked at a sanctions bill that sailed through Congress, confiscated two American diplomatic properties in Russia and ordered the expulsion of diplomats and other staff from the U.S. Embassy in Moscow. The moves matched sanctions that President Barack Obama slapped on the Kremlin in response to Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election. As long he’s into reciprocity, Mr. Putin might take notice that while Moscow continues to banish U.S. international news outlets from Russian airwaves, Kremlin-funded mouthpieces such as Sputnik radio have enjoyed a field day in the United States, taking advantage of America’s open society to sow misinformation and distrust. As reported by The Post’s Justin Wm. Moyer, Sputnik, Moscow’s main radio propaganda outlet, has taken over a bandwidth on the District’s radio dial, 105.5 FM, formerly occupied by a bluegrass station, and began airing broadcasts July 1 from offices in downtown Washington, three blocks from the White House. Meanwhile, there has been no change in Russia’s decade-long banishment of U.S. government-funded outlets airing programs on Russian television airwaves, or Russian-language broadcasts from Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, which were banned by a 2012 law. Mr. Trump should also take notice. Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One recently, he said, “To me, the word reciprocal is a beautiful word.” As it happens, he was talking about international trade, an area in which he thinks Americans get a bad deal. Yet in the realm of U.S.-Russian international news, reciprocity seems absent from Mr. Trump’s radar. A 24/7 Russian-language television venture produced by Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, called Current Time, has been up and running for several months, producing high-quality news, but is available only online. The asymmetry is a problem. Mr. Putin’s government, intent on undermining liberal democracies by casting doubt on the very notion of truth, and sowing division and doubt about basic Western institutions, has become increasingly adept at weaponizing information. U.S. intelligence agencies have called attention to Moscow’s fake news campaign, as have U.S. allies in Europe. English-language shows on Sputnik and, secondarily, RT — the Kremlin’s not-much-watched but widely available English language television mouthpiece — feature useful American dupes and others who need no instruction from Moscow to reinforce the narrative, already current on the extreme left and right of Western politics, that U.S. capitalism, elections, institutions and media are corrupt. They trade in moral equivalence, eliding the plain fact that the Russian government — cynical, brutal and heedless of democratic norms — pursues interests and subscribes to values antithetical to those prized by most Americans. The wild disparity in access accorded by Moscow and Washington to each other’s government-sponsored media outlets is unsustainable. If Mr. Trump is a champion of reciprocity, as he asserts, then U.S. diplomats should demand reciprocal treatment for Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. And if Mr. Putin has embraced reciprocity, he should be prepared to live by it. Read more on this topic: Michael Gerson: Trump’s breathtaking surrender to Russia Michael Gerson: An administration without a conscience Eugene Robinson: The worst is yet to come The Post’s View: The Russia meddling story is no longer just smoke. It’s fire. The Post’s View: This is why Russia wanted to help Trump © The Washington Post Company (via Mike Cooper, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) ** RUSSIA [and non]. What's new on dxsignal.ru (ENG): 29 July Hello, Info about the 22nd edition of the "Broadcasting in Russian" Handbook has been just published on dxsignal.ru. Direct link: http://dxsignal.ru/read/BiR_22e.htm (Dmitry Mezin, http://dxsignal.ru August 1, dxsignal yg via DXLD) ** SAAR. DE: Abriss der Mittelwellenanlage Heusweiler Heusweiler Wahrzeichen verschwinden. Im Ort wird bereits über den Abbau der 120 Meter hohen SR-Sendemasten in Heusweiler spekuliert. Eine Nachfrage ergab, dass es zwischen Herbst 2017 und Anfang 2018 geschehen soll. Gleiches gilt für den 50-Meter-Mast. Das kleine Gebäude enthält die zu den Masten gehörenden technischen Einrichtungen. https://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/saarland/saarbruecken/heusweiler/heusweiler-wahrzeichen-verschwinden_aid-2484317 (Hansjoerg Biener, July 29, via Wolfgang Büschel, DXLD) FYI --- Mediumwave installation DLF / SR Heusweiler Germany The scrapping of the 1422 / 1179 kHz mediumwave facility is expected soon, between autumn 2017 and 2018 start year. https://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/imgs/03/2/7/7/7/9/9/2/tok_9b295b1bbe1de16493786919c4bd1402/w540_h303_x992_y1122_SZ_2772692_106939236_RGB_190_1_1_3918848fda25ad901af1b792aaa22487_1501059855_106939236_7f13d01535-1daebe6f3c214230.jpg https://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/imgs/03/2/7/7/7/9/9/2/tok_9763b6c61f3a00ae99a159c413574949/w540_h303_x901_y1931_SZ_2772692_106939281_RGB_190_2_1_c04485fbfd1423f6274172fb40cb2426_1501059860_106939281_99d88cef3c-1a3b5a71b431be61.jpg Also protective metal net over the highway A8 strained, then is also dismantled. https://www.saarbruecker-zeitung.de/imgs/03/2/7/7/7/9/9/2/tok_d67761de12a4b8cf65cb7561db4b0843/w540_h303_x1641_y1202_SZ_2772692_106939365_RGB_190_4_1_ee45b82a764cd060fb7fc3cb1b1b7853_1501059873_106939365_bc04e87038-63772b2ca86a6999.jpg 73 wb df5sx P11 (Wolfgang Büschel, July 29, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAO TOME. 4959.996 (also compared measured to WWV Colorado US 5 MHz) VoA São Tomé, English, stronger S=9+20dB, and latter had accompanied two x 100 Hertz strings buzzy audio too, either sideband. Morning log at 0415 to 0530 UT on July 30 in southern Germany: [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 30 dxldyg via DXLD) ** SAUDI ARABIA. 15490, 1104-1105; male Announcer in Arabic, with discussion about Houthi Actions in Yemen and its illegality. Malaysian opinion of the war in Yemen. SINPO 33233. Best 73 to all! (Ed, 7Z1ES, Sylvester, Rig: WJ-8711A; Ant: 130’ Dipole with Ladderline/Tuner, Up 50’, July 29, Riyadh, Sa`udi Arabia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SCOTLAND [and non]. Radio Six International 50 years since the Pirates bade farewell – a week of special programmes to commemorate 14th August 1967. TONY CURRIE* Director of Programmes, *radio six international* 21 Sherbrooke Avenue, GLASGOW G41 4HF, Scotland UK phone: +44 141 427 0531 USA phone: +1 310 776 6280 radiosix.com loungemusic.co.uk facebook.com/radiosixinternational facebook.com/TheLivelyLounge On FM, AM, Shortwave and DAB Digital radio on 55 affiliate stations around the world and online at http://radiosix.com:8000/radiosix.mp3 Posted by: (Mike Terry, July 26, dxldyg via DXLD) WTFK? Shortwave has only been sporadic. August newsletter schedule has nothing about SW, and in fact only two low-power FM in NZ and something in Taiwan: ``TRANSMITTERS --- Tawa 88.2 MHz FM Stereo, Marahau 88.2 MHz FM Stereo, Taipei 95.5 MHz FM Stereo. Programmes on Tawa & Marahau marked * Programmes on Taipei marked ^`` (gh, DXLD) ** SIKKIM. 4835, AIR Gangtok. July 26, actually had some audio today 1302-1314. Slightly above threshold level audio; my local sunrise today was at 1309 UT, while sunset at Gangtok was 1257 UT, so very nice grayline reception. Not heard every day. The SWLer in me still misses ABC Alice Springs NT (Tony Delroy’s “Nightlife” show, etc.), but the DXer in me is very happy to be able to hear Gangtok in the clear! (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100’ long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. Heard back on the air, been of for a long time or not been able to hear it on 9545 kHz, here on the sunny coast. Time 5 hours UTC, good signal (Paul Thwaites, QLD, Alinco DX-R8E/T, long wire antenna, August Australian DX News via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) No date! (gh, ibid.) ** SOMALILAND. 7120, R. Hargeisa, Somalia. 18/7 s/on at 0330, military march, same at 1500, increasing broadcast time, confirmed & after 1940, all in vernacular (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF2001D, Folded Marconi ant 16 meters long), August Australian DX News via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. SOUTH AFRICAN STATION TESTS DIGITAL RADIO MONDIALE FEATURE --- Radio World http://www.radiomagonline.com/around-the-world/0020/south-african-station-tests-digital-radio-mondiale-features/39070 Johannesburg, South Africa — Johannes von Weyssenhoff, representing the community station Wecodec in Johannesburg, http://wecodec.org/2.html presented the case of DRM to an international audience at the “Radio Days Africa,” an annual event taking place at the Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg. His presentation also included results and findings of WECODEC’s ongoing DRM+ trial, the first of its kind on the African continent, according to DRM news. http://www.drm.org/drm-presented-at-radio-days-africa-2017/ The trial has demonstrated that there is no interference with analog stations on either side of the digital signal in the crowded FM spectrum of Johannesburg. The DRM power for the test is ¼ that of FM, giving similar coverage at 4QAM. “Fixed reception is performing better than FM. While exact ratios are still to be determined, generally it can be said that, so far, the findings and measurements confirm that less energy is needed for digital coverage than for analog,” according to the same article. During the presentation it was shown that three audio services were broadcast, using the latest xHE-AAC audio codec. Various text and data sets were also broadcast successfully. The main focus of the presentation was on spectrum and energy efficiency, as well as universal access to information for marginalized communities, using tools like Journaline. This attracted the attention of some South African and African community radio stations. Posted by: (Mike Terry via DXLD) WTFK? ** SPAIN. 17855, July 26 at 2052, still NO signal from REE`s North American frequency, while sufficient propagation is still verified by the S3 signal on 17715 to South America. I wonder if, like certain other stations, they are turning off deliberately to see if anyone cares? 15520 is S1 and 15390 JBA carrier (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Radio Exterior de España RNE on two of four frequencies, July 29: 1355-1400 on 2 of 4 frequencies Interval Signal/frequency announcement 1400-1800 15520 NOB 200 kW / 110 deg N/ME Spanish Sat/Sun, fair/good 1400-1800 17715 NOB 200 kW / 230 deg SoAm Spanish Sat/Sun, very poor 1400-1800 17855 NOB 200 kW / 290 deg ENAm Spanish Sat/Sun, no signal 1400-1800 21620 NOB 200 kW / 161 deg WCAf Spanish Sat/Sun, no signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/radio-exterior-de-espana-rne-on-two-of_29.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The question is whether they are still announcing 17855 even when it is AWOL. I try to listen to his second clip, but he keeps switching frequencies to show they are off when they may/should actually be saying ``17855`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17855, July 30 at 1710 check, REE still AWOL from its North American frequency, the only European capable of a usable signal in our midday. A weakie on 17850 must be France at 162 degrees (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SRI LANKA. MISSING TRANSMISSION — No signal of SLBC on July 26 Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corp via Trincomalee 1630-1730 on 11750 TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to N/ME Sinhala City FM http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/no-signal-of-radio-voice-of-adal-and.html Reception of Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation July 28: 1630-1730 on 11750*TRM 125 kW / 345 deg to N/ME Sinhala City FM Daily strong QRM 11760 BIB 100 kW / 105 deg to WeAs Kurdish VOA 1700-1800 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-sri-lanka-broadcasting_28.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN SOUTH. Alerts July 20, 2017 5:42 PM ET SOUTH SUDAN AUTHORITIES BLOCK ACCESS TO AT LEAST FOUR MEDIA WEBSITES https://cpj.org/2017/07/south-sudan-authorities-block-access-to-at-least-f.php New York, July 19, 2017 -- South Sudanese authorities should immediately unblock the websites of at least four media outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Juba-based journalist Ngor Garang told CPJ that public web users in large portions of South Sudan have been unable to access the news sites of Paris-based Sudan Tribune and Dutch-backed Radio Tamazuj, as well as the popular blogs Nyamilepedia and Paanluel Wel. Reuters also reported the partial blocking of the websites. Authorities blocked access to the sites on Monday for publishing content that was “subversive,” Minister of Information Michael Makuei Lueth told CPJ. “Censoring news and intimidating journalists is becoming increasingly common in South Sudan,” said CPJ Deputy Executive Director Robert Mahoney. “The government should immediately unblock all news sites and blogs.” Lueth told CPJ that the government was justified in blocking the websites to protect citizens from outlets that “disseminate subversive material”. He added that the bans would not be lifted until “those institutions behave well”. Michael Duku, an official with the press rights group Association for Media Development in South Sudan (AMDISS) told CPJ that the sites had likely been targeted for their critical coverage of the government. Teresa Cirisio, an official with South Sudan’s National Communication Authority Board, told CPJ that the Ministry of Information, Communication and Postal Service does have the authority to block websites, but could not confirm the cause for any blocks. She told CPJ that a ministry meeting scheduled for today to discuss the blocks did not occur. Radio Tamazuj and Nyamilepedia told CPJ today that their sites remain blocked, while the Sudan Tribune has published a story confirming the ban. CPJ could not immediately reach Paanluel Wel. “We see this decision [to block websites] as a new attack on the press freedom in the South Sudan,” Sudan Tribune Editor in Chief Mohamed Nagi told CPJ. Radio Tamazuj said that its broadcasts on shortwave radio continue “unaffected” and “uncensored”. South Sudan’s government has grown more hostile towards the media since civil war broke out in 2013. CPJ has found that journalists working in the country fear losing their liberty or their lives if they publish critical content. Last week the government detained the director of South Sudan’s public broadcaster, Adil Faris Mayat, after he failed to broadcast live a presidential speech, CPJ reported. Short URL: https://cpj.org/x/6db8 https://cpj.org/2017/07/south-sudan-detains-director-of-public-broadcaster.php Alerts July 18, 2017 3:19 PM ET SOUTH SUDAN DETAINS DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC BROADCASTER FOR MORE THAN A WEEK Nairobi, July 18, 2017 -- South Sudanese authorities should immediately release Adil Faris Mayat, the director of the country’s public broadcaster, South Sudan Broadcasting Corporation, the Committee to Protect Journalist said today. National Security Service agents arrested Mayat in Juba on July 10, according to media reports.... Read More > https://cpj.org/2016/12/cpj-condemns-south-sudans-expulsion-of-associated-.php Alerts [earlier related reports:] December 7, 2016 1:50 PM ET CPJ CONDEMNS SOUTH SUDAN’S EXPULSION OF ASSOCIATED PRESS REPORTER Nairobi, December 7, 2016 -- South Sudanese authorities should immediately reverse the expulsion of U.S. journalist Justin Lynch, a freelancer for The Associated Press, and should cease interfering with journalists’ ability to work freely, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. Security officers yesterday arrested the journalist and put him on... Read More > https://cpj.org/2016/07/in-south-sudan-editor-arrested-as-harassment-of-pr.php Alerts July 26, 2016 2:20 PM ET IN SOUTH SUDAN, EDITOR ARRESTED AS HARASSMENT OF PRESS INCREASES Nairobi, July 26, 2016--South Sudan should immediately release Michael Christopher, a journalist who was arrested in the capital, Juba, on July 23, and take action to stop the harassment of the media, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.... Read More > [no link to this one] Contact Us Committee to Protect Journalists 330 7th Avenue, 11th Floor New York, NY 10001 Tel 212-465-1004 Fax 212-465-9568 (via Mike Cooper, GA, July 28, DXLD) ** SUDAN SOUTH [non]. Reception of Eye Radio via Alyx&Yeyi TDF Issoudun on July 26 1600-1900 17730 ISS 250 kW / 130 deg EaAf Arabic/English, good signal http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/reception-of-eye-radio-via-alyx-tdf_26.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 17730. Sun, July 30 at 1842-1852, Eye Radio, Issoudun, France, in English. Men and woman talk, in conversation (interview) with other man about South Sudan (All speak English with a pronounced accent); ID. This station targetting South Sudan has a very good signal and modulation, 45544 (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier, Cabedelo, Paraíba, Brazil, Sony ICF-SW100S, Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** SURINAME. 4989.983, UNID. R. Apintie?? Carrier here past 0942 tune/in and sounded like bits of music at times. This was where Apintie was noted last February. 30 July. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S and 153 foot Delta loop, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) ** TAIWAN. Looking for someone in Southeast Asia region of Thailand and Vietnam. Will need someone to monitor for 2 or 3 days 1503 kHz and make some off air recordings. We are considering reducing the 600 kW to 300 kW. The times to monitor are from 1430 to 1500 UT. Directional antenna, azimuth 247 degrees. Contact me directly: keith.perron@pcjmedia.com (Keith Perron, July 28, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TAIWAN. 11600, S=6 signal across Alaska-Pacific path RTI English service via Paochung site, interview at 1155 UT on July 27. Hymn and station ID at 1158 UT, adress etc, fq. 11685 also advised [selected SDR options, span 12.5 kHz RBW 15.3 Hertz] (Wolfgang Büschel, df5sx, wwdxc BC-DX TopNews July 25 via BC-DX 28 July via DXLD) According to their web site, RTI will be broadcasting their German language programme for several days directly from the Tamsui broadcasting system in Taiwan in August, September and October 2017. Frequencies: 12030 kHz and 9680 kHz Time: 1800-1900 UT In analogue mode: August 25, 26, 27 September: 1, 2, 3, 29, 30. October 1, 3 In DRM mode: October 4, 10 Reception reports on these direct broadcasts will be confirmed by RTI with a special QSL card. It is unfortunate that they could not have found a better frequency instead of 9680 kHz. This suffered severe interference from CRI China on 9685 and Saudi Arabia on 9675 kHz during their last tests in July. They obviously have not bothered to act upon the listener reports they received. 73 (Alan Holder, Isle of Wight, U.K., July 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TIBET. 4905, Xizang PBS, Lhasa. 16/7 at 1600 ID” Holy Tibet” & program in English, confirmed also on 4920, 6025, 6110, 6130, 6200, 7255, 7385 (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF2001D, Folded Marconi ant 16 meters long), August Australian DX News via DXLD) ** TONGA. According to RNZ International on 4 July, the Tongan Government proposes selling off 49% of the Tonga Broadcasting Commission to private ownership. Reports from Tonga indicate this is the result of a political feud between TBC and the Government, as TBC would not take direction from the Prime Minister (Bryan Clark, Aug NZ DX Times via DXLD) ** U A E. Trans World Radio Africa via BaBcoCk Al-Dhabayya damaged tx, July 27 1300-1315 on 17680 DHA 250 kW / 230 deg to EaAf Afar Thu-Sun, good + strong hum: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/trans-world-radio-africa-via-babcock-al_27.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. JOHNNIE WALKER MEETS... THE PIRATES BBC Monday 14 August 10.00pm-11.00pm (UK) BBC Radio 2 [21-22 UT] Johnnie Walker celebrates the excitement of the ground breaking shows of the early pirate radio stations as well as reliving the end of the pirate era. In this programme, Johnnie - a former pirate radio DJ himself - takes a look at the early off shore pirate radio stations such as Radio London, Radio Caroline and Radio 270, and has interviews with fellow pirate DJs alongside archive of those sadly no longer with us. Johnnie is joined by ‘Admiral’ Robbie Dale, who along with Johnnie remained on board after midnight on the 14th August 1967 when the Marine Offences Bill passed into law, broadcasting illegally to an estimated European audience of 22 million. Johnnie is also joined by Tom Edwards, who left Radio Caroline on the 14th August, Pete Brady, Emperor Rosko and Tony Blackburn, who worked on both Radio Caroline and Radio London. Plus Johnnie will play some of 1967’s key tracks that were played on these stations. As a companion to this programme, Radio 2 will broadcast Johnnie Walker Meets the Pop Pioneers in late September as part of the stations 50th birthday celebrations. The programme will see Johnnie reliving the early days of BBC Radio ‘pop’ broadcasting, with anecdotes from fellow pirates who left the high seas for Portland Place following the pirate era. Presenter: Johnnie Walker Producer: Mark Simpson for the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/proginfo/2017/33/johnnie-walker-meets-the-pirates (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U K [non]. 7445, July 30 at 0054, nice ME song at S8, adding to all the music stations on 6, 7 and 9 MHz this evening. 0056 talk sounds Farsi but must be Dari, mottoes(?) with music interludes, and one ID- like in passing, sounds like ``Sedoye Samá``, 0059 mentions Afghanistan and off at 0059.5*. HFCC shows BBCWS via Woofferton, but the Afghan service alternating Pashto & Dari is to continue from Oman on 7445 until 0330 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 6993, July 30 at 0110, very poor carrier, which is often detectable, and as previously logged, in DXLD 16-16 and 16-46, it`s WH2XWF, an experimental 164-watt transmitter with several locations in Florida, to study ionospheric disturbances; re-logged in honor of Arecibo 5125, which ought to have some such callsign (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 17362-USB, Sunday July 30 at 1711, synthetic YL with marine weather forecast consisting of nothing but wind direxion and speed in knots, seas in feet, day by day from now until Thursday, attributed to NWS Miami on July 30 for the tropical North Atlantic, between certain coördinates. EiBi shows this is WLO Mobile AL, which emits half- sesquihour broadcasts at 05, 11, 15, 17 and 23 UT. Why don`t they consolidate and make all numbers metric? Usually she says ``knots``, but sometimes ``k-t`` when the original text lacks the -s or the full word. Smart cookie (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 25000, WWV, Despite not having any luck on checks on previous numerous days 1400-1900, have been hearing this the last two days in the 2300-0100 time period. According to the NIST website, is 2 kW experimental reactivation on this frequency. Usual format aired plus they’ve been giving this announcement at 16 min. past the hour: “Beginning the 7th of July 2017 at 2042 UTC, the 25 megaHertz broadcast is on a turnstile antenna with circular polarization and will remain in this configuration until after the eclipse on the 21st of August 2017. Signal reports are requested and appreciated. Listener reception reports may be e-mailed to wwv@nist.gov, or mailed to Radio Station WWV, 2000 East County Road 58, Ft. Collins, CO 80524”. Audible on the (20-200 degrees) Delta loop but not the Wellbrook ALA1530S. Seems to be peaking here just after 2300 and is always very fady, many times fading out completely, but also peaking fairly well at times. 29 July 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo, PA, USA, Perseus SDR with Wellbrook ALA1530S and 153 foot Delta loop, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) I think WWV active on 25 MHz is not new (gh) ** U S A. From July 25 Glenn Hauser moving its production WOR to Tuesday afternoons, instead of Wednesday afternoons, which will give more timely broadcasts on WRMI, starting with Tue 2130, and on WBCQ Tue 2330. The Wednesday airings will also be new rather than a week old. Full updated shortwave schedule of World of Radio is: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/updated-shortwave-schedule-of-glenn.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz., correct, except he removes WA0RCR, 1860-AM, and 5130 is AM, NOT CUSB: 2130-2200 on 9455 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to WNAm English Tue AM mode 2130-2200 on 15770 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg to WeEu English Tue AM mode 2330-2400 on 9330vBCQ 050 kW / 245 deg to ENAm English Tue in CUSB 1030-1100 on 5850 YFR 100 kW / 315 deg to WNAm English Wed AM mode 1030-1100 on 9455 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to WNAm English Wed AM mode 1315-1345 on 9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to SoAm English Wed AM mode 2100-2130 on 7490vBCQ 050 kW / 245 deg to ENAm English Wed AM mode 2330-2400 on 9330vBCQ 050 kW / 245 deg to ENAm English Wed in CUSB 2330-2400 on 9330vBCQ 050 kW / 245 deg to ENAm English Thu in CUSB 2330-2400 on 9330vBCQ 050 kW / 245 deg to ENAm English Fri in CUSB 0630-0700 on 6190 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sat in CUSB 1430-1600 on 7265 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sat in CUSB 2230-2300 on 9330vBCQ 050 kW / 245 deg to ENAm English Sat in CUSB 2300-2330 on 11580 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg to WeEu English Sat AM mode 0200-0230 on 11580 YFR 100 kW / 044 deg to WeEu English Sun AM mode 1030-1100 on 9485 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sun in CUSB 2330-2400 on 9330vBCQ 050 kW / 245 deg to ENAm English Sun in CUSB 0300-0330 on 5130vBCQ 050 kW / 245 deg to ENAm English Mon in CUSB 0330-0400 on 9955 YFR 100 kW / 160 deg to SoAm English Mon AM mode 2330-2400 on 9330vBCQ 050 kW / 245 deg to ENAm English Mon in CUSB 0030-0100 on 7730 YFR 100 kW / 285 deg to MEXI English Tue AM mode (??????????? ?? Observer ? 4:32 PM (via DXLD) ** U S A [and non]. Hello Glenn: I am happy to confirm hearing World of Radio #1888, at 1030-1059 UT on 5850 kHz on [Wed] July 26 at 4 AM local time before sunrise, ID at 1045 UT. Radio: JRC NRD-535 HF. Antenna: random long wires in the trees. Good listening, Richard Lemke, St. Albert, Alberta, Canada, July 29, 2017, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WORLD OF RADIO 1888 monitoring: confirmed Wednesday July 26 at 1315.5 after the only time WRMI ever plays the gh WRMI ID, at 1315.0. It`s fair-good at S8-S9, fading to S7. Also confirmed Wednesday July 26 at 2100 on WBCQ 7490.03-AM, S4-S2 but surely better further east, and now only one day old rather than seven. Also confirmed Wed July 26 at 2330 on WBCQ 9330.3v-CUSB, poor, and on 9330.2v by 2355 check. Next: Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0630 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 1431 HLR 7265-CUSB to WSW Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0315v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW WORLD OF RADIO 1888 monitoring: confirmed Thursday July 27 at 2330 on WBCQ, 9330.25v-CUSB, good. Next: Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0630 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW Sat 1431 HLR 7265-CUSB to WSW Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0315v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW WORLD OF RADIO 1888 monitoring: confirmed Friday July 28 at 2330 on WBCQ 9330.25v-CUSB, fair. Also confirmed via UTwente SDR, Saturday July 29 from 1431 on Hamburger Lokalradio, 7265-CUSB. This week it`s good and steady, no QRM, but not enough to suppress noise level, 100% copy except for skipping in the webcast. Right up to 1500* when as usual at end of WOR, just stops, no sign-off or HLR ID; and nothing further to be heard either from China. Other weeks, HLR/WOR not audible at all: is solely due to propagational variations? Next: Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0315v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW WORLD OF RADIO 1888 monitoring: confirmed Saturday July 29 at 2254, the 2230 airing on WBCQ 9330.25v-CUSB, poor. Also confirmed Sat July 29 at 2300 on WRMI 11580, good, after at least 5 minutes of music fill. Also confirmed UT Sunday July 30 at 0200 on WRMI, 11580, good. Also confirmed from 0345 UT Sunday July 30 on WA0RCR, 1860-AM, MO, later than usual. (Schedule here http://wa0rcr.com/sched.html does not include WOR at non-exact times) Next: Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) GERMANY, Reception of HLR relays on 9485=CUSB, July 30 Hamburger Lokalradio --- World of Radio #1888 1030-1100 on 9485 GOH 001 kW / 230 deg to CeEu English Sun https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uiv8LfyPdM4&feature=youtu.be -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Theme recognizable, not readable but improving in first sesquiminute (gh) WORLD OF RADIO 1888 monitoring: Also confirmed Sunday July 30 at 2330 on WBCQ, 9330.2v-CUSB, fair. Also confirmed UT Monday July 31 from 0300 on Area 51 webcast (a few seconds of the 0330 program cued up, Hobart Radio International started by mistake, quickly cut to WOR); while WBCQ 5129.8-AM is very weak, and obliterated by tone tests from huge 5125 transmitter, presumed to be ionospheric heating experiments from Arecibo, Puerto Rico, oblivious of the US SW station nearby. Also confirmed UT Monday July 31 at 0330 on WRMI, 9955, fair. Next: Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW Remember that new 1889 should start Tuesday at 2130 on 9455 & 15770; or if I am delayed, maybe at 2330 on 9330. WORLD OF RADIO 1888 monitoring: confirmed Monday July 31 after 2330 on WBCQ 9330.06v-CUSB, fair S7. Missed checking UT Tuesday 0030 on WRMI 7730, one of our best signals here, still on the sked. WORLD OF RADIO 1889 ready for first broadcasts Tuesday August 1; contents: Angola, Antarctica, Argentina non, Australia, Belize, Bhutan, Bougainville, Brazil, Cuba, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Germany, Indonesia, Korea North non, Kuwait, Mali, Myanmar, New Zealand, North America, Oman, Puerto Rico, Russia and non, Sikkim, Solomon Islands, USA, Vietnam, Zambia Confirmed first 1889 airings: Tuesday August 1 at 2130 on WRMI, 9455 fair, 15770 very poor. Also Tue Aug 1 at 2330 on WBCQ, 9330.20v-CUSB, fair. Next: Wed 1030 WRMI 5850 to NW, 9455 to WNW Wed 1315 WRMI 9955 to SSE Wed 2100 WBCQ 7490v to WSW Wed 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Thu 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Fri 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 0630 HLR 6190-CUSB to WSW [maintenance break until Aug 19] Sat 1431 HLR 7265-CUSB to WSW [maintenance break until Aug 19] Sat 1930v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sat 2230 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Sat 2300 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0200 WRMI 11580 to NE Sun 0315v WA0RCR 1860-AM ND Sun 1030 HLR 9485-CUSB to WSW [maintenance break until Aug 13] Sun 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Mon 0300v WBCQ 5130v Area 51 to WSW Mon 0330 WRMI 9955 to SSE Mon 2330 WBCQ 9330v-CUSB to WSW Tue 0030 WRMI 7730 to WNW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) HLR // Goehren transmitter site --- Hello Glenn, We were informed that there are planned works at the Goehren transmitter site over the coming week and a half. Therefore, unfortunately, there won't be any HLR transmissions on Saturday, August 5th, Sunday, August 6th, and Saturday, August 12th. The regular schedule, including World of Radio, will resume on Sunday, August 13th 2017. Best wishes from Hamburg, (Thomas Völkner, Germany, August 1, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7490, WBCQ with pop/rock music—some with an obvious religious bent, but not all—‘stealth’ Jesus-pop/rock? Into a OM preacher who appeared non-crazy (how do you mock preachers like that?) after 2115 talking about mentors and how we influence each other for good or bad, and much about how influencing and ‘being present’ for the future generations is critical. WBCQ ID and begging for money “From the Land of Freedom, this is WBCQ” and then into Brother Spare-change with contact info and into ragging on people who claim not to be able to hear him saying ‘they have no excuse’ for not being able to find him on the radio (he makes a valid point there!). Then into long diatribe about the eclipse in August. Apparently the paths of the moon and Sun are ‘signs’ rather than astronomical phenomena --- Now HE is EASY to mock. 4454+4 with local QRM rearing its ugly head during fades particularly, but all the time really. Better by 2200 -- up to SINPO=4+4+54+4+, 2105-2210 25/Jul, SPR-4 +randomwire (Kenneth Vito Zichi, MI, MARE Tipsheet July 28 via DXLD) Tonight’s AWWW [UT Sat July 29 at 0000 on WBCQ 7490, 5130?] --- Intro started about a half minute before the top of the hour this evening. Dr. Becker was in the studio as co-host tonight and there was talk of a tiny toilet during opening music. During the first phone call, Allan stated that he and Pirate Joe (JP) were going to South Carolina to view the eclipse next month and while there would visit Brother Scare. More talk about the eclipse and then a brief excursion into some nasty political talk. Allan and Dr. Becker had gone out and done some drinking this afternoon so Allan was a little more risqué than usual. Several phone calls about health care and insurance and then a longer discussion of the topic. Emails were read and Allan was ready to close the show but decided to play a song since Ross from the Cape had called earlier and stated he had six or seven hams at his place and they were having an Allan Weiner party. Allan rarely plays music during his show. One song became two, then became three, then became four. Music stopped at 0139 and he ran an ID then more music after the ID. Music continued until 0147. Brother Scare immediately after and he was talking about the eclipse also (John Carver, Mid-North Indiana, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Meltdown on 5130 --- 5130 was noisy from sign on but improving slightly as it got near 0000. At approximately 0000 a really nasty het appeared. Could track the program at 5132.5 but the het got worse. Tuned below 5130 and could hear nothing. Back at 5130 could hear nothing and nothing above 5130. Then the het dropped out and the signal started whining. Sounded like someone who didn’t know what they were doing trying to play a theremin. Actually, at times, it sounded quite beautiful. Other times just annoying. Still that way at 0024. Audio on 5130 returned at 0059. Lost audio at 0104 again. Back at 0109. Lost it at 0111 and then on and off for a bit. 5130 has cleared up again at approximately 0207. Noisy signal but atmospheric noise and not transmitter artifacts (John Carver, Mid-North Indiana, UT July 30, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I had replied: ``John, I was monitoring too. This originated from an extremely strong carrier on 5125, which was carrying out tone tests. It may have been from the Arecibo, Puerto Rico ionospheric heating experiments, as I will be reporting ASAP. Glenn`` Glenn, for some reason your reply got put into my ISP`s spam folder so I wasn’t made aware of it until this morning. Had intended to write to you today after reading your log report last night. I, too, came to the same conclusion after reading your report. Decided I’d been HAARPed. I can report that at no time during the event did I have the urge to walk backwards:) Thanks man (John Carver, Mid-North Indiana, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See PUERTO RICO for the rest about this ** U S A. 7490.07v-AM, Monday July 31 at 2313, Ramsey has apparently played a couple tunes from 2300 on `Furthermore, 29-54`, but now is talking, from the bank of the Tippecanoe River in Monticello, Indiana, plugging other programs on WBCQ, Fred Flintstone and J P Ferraro; 2317 on Kinky Friedman and his song about to be played at 2321, ``Glad to be an asshole from El Paso``, from a live pre-elexion performance and musing about Bernie becoming the first Jew in the White House. At 2323 Ramsey even plugs Glenn Hauser Wednesdays at 5 pm on 7490, and will he talk about the Puerto Rico QRM? Yes, thank you very much. Then something about John McCain (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. From the Isle of Music, July 30-August 5 Concert Hall #1 --- No interviews this week – This week we feature selections from the nominees and winner of the Concert Soloist (Solista Concertante) category of Cubadisco 2017. If you enjoy Classical music, this is an episode especially for you. Four opportunities to listen on shortwave: 1. For Eastern Europe but audible well beyond the target area in all directions with 100 kW, Sunday 1500-1600 UT on SpaceLine, 9400 KHz, from Kostinbrod, Bulgaria (1800-1900 MSK) 2. For the Americas and parts of Europe, Tuesday 0000-0100 UT on WBCQ, 7490 from Monticello, ME, USA (Monday 8-9 PM EDT in the US) 3 & 4. For Europe and sometimes beyond, Tuesday 1900-2000 UT and Saturday 1200-1300 UT on Channel 292, 6070 KHz from Rohrbach, Germany. Episode 23 of Uncle Bill’s Melting Pot, a musical variety program that features a little bit of everything from around the planet, will air on WBCQ the Planet, 7490, Thursday, August 3 at 2300-2330 UT (7:00- 7:30 pm EDT in the Americas). This week we go south to Brazil and Puerto Rico. Graphics attached. Thanks for all you do for radio! (William “Bill” Tilford, Owner/Producer, Tilford Productions, LLC, July 28, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 7780, July 26 at 1302, no signal from WRMI for `The Power Hour`, so is it really off? Originally had been closing at 1200* after TOM, earlier than the other 7 MHz channels, then extended to 1500 for TPH. VOA news is running on 9395 > 9455, and 13845 WWCR is not yet // but seemingly with TPH TOH filler segment. 7490 WWCR remains with replacement gospel huxterism. 1305-1308 different adblox on the two stations until they join for TPH at 1308. Recheck at 1418, now 7780 is amazingly good at S9+10/20, even better than the two niners. No significant sporadic E this morning, so this makes no sense propagationally, making me again suspect that at some point WRMI is (experimentally?) switching from the NE to a more favorable antenna on 7780, tho still shown as 44 degrees on their grid. Transmitters, 11, 12 and 13, which are normally connected to 315, 315 and 285 azimuth antennas, respectively, on 7570, 5850 and 7730, are all finished with Brother Scare at 1400 so then available for 7780. 285 was used for 7780 previously at other dayparts, and this would also comply with Arizona listener complaint to Jeff on Monday`s show that they need a better signal that way. Since the final hour at 14 UT is only 7 am MST, it matters more than 5-7 am. 7780, Sunday July 30 at 1215, VOA news about Pakistan back to odd timing other than hourtop amid WRMI Oldies service, S9 // 9395 at S7. At 1708, the Oldies on 9455 are a JBA carrier, while 9395 rates a better but very poor level. The BS on 9955 is noticeably stronger but still insufficient. 4840, Wed July 26 at 0719, as I am unfortunately awake, I check for `The Power Hour` as long scheduled on this WWCR at 2-5 am CT weekdays (07-10 UT, not 08-11 UT currently as they claim) --- no, it`s gone, instead playing country/maybe gospel song, probably `Worldwide Country Radio` filler. So is `TPH` now struggling to survive beyond the death of Joyce Riley, having to cut costs? Or is WWCR taking the opportunity to get rid of most of it? 13845, July 27 at 1237, WWCR is VG for `The Power Hour`, no doubt sporadic E enhancement, and still // blasting 7490 during first hour only. Same via WRMI 26 seconds later on 7780 // 9395, now about equal fair levels. No chance yet to check today at 1400 whether 7780 switch transmitters and azimuths for a signal boost this way as suspected. 7490, July 28 at 1228, WWCR with an hour of `Power`, as YL successor to Joyce reads something claiming that Venezuela is in the Southern Hemisphere! Typical ignorance, without noticing or correcting. Today I resolve to monitor 7780 before and after 1400 UT to determine whether WRMI make a transmitter/antenna switch improving `Power Hour` reception thisaway: At 1333 it`s S9 at best but hardly readable in noise level; while 7570 BS is S9+10 to 20. At 1358 I listen to 7780 continuously with BFO offset, but there is NO transmission break or improvement in strength, rather weakening gradually till I finally quit at 1423 when it`s S6 to S7. I also check the other 7s with BS until 1400: 7570 cuts off at 1400* sharp before WRMI ID can complete; 7730 goes to dead air until off shortly after 1402*. Now either transmitter and better antenna could make a quick switch to 7780 for TPH; but not today. 7780, Saturday July 29 at 1333, WRMI is on and // 9395, 9455 so on weekends `Oldies` gets not one, not two, but three frequencies, none outstanding. 7780 had been expanded weekdays to carry `The Power Hour` after 1200. Still something there on 7780 at 1412. `Oldies` program really needs to be on higher frequency in daytime. July 29 at 1930 check, 9395 & 9455 are detectable but far too weak to enjoy the music. Why not 13695, a former WRMI daytime frequency on the NW antenna? Perhaps the 9ers are good enough at half the distance from Okeechobee to Oklahoma, but hardly diverse in frequency. Likewise, needs to be on a lower frequency overnight to escape plunging MUFs, to 7 or even 5 MHz band. 9455, July 31 at 1321, WRMI is back to Oldies here instead of duplicating 9395 with `The Power Hour`. But when I tune in at 1321, it`s VOA news relay at odd time, soon followed by Biermann`s WRMI ID and ``Something Happened`` -- indeed; while TPH is in a 4-minute ad break. Nice of them to warn listeners how long they may safely tune out. 9395 is still // weaker 7780 WRMI, and stronger 13845 WWCR which is ahead by about a semiminute. At 1424 check, still music on 9455, TPH on 9395 // 7780, both very poor (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. Here is the lineup for Shortwave Radiogram, program 6, 29-30 July 2017, all in MFSK32 except where noted: 1:31 Program preview 2:44 China steps up efforts against unauthorized VPNs* 8:25 Iran tests rocket capable of launching satellites* 13:01 Daimler CEO touts diesel car engines* 19:33 Olivia 64-2000: Czech Republic car production increases 23:57 MFSK32: Image* and closing announcements* *with image http://swradiogram.net/post/163524121472/shortwave-radiogram-29-30-july-2017-no-vpn (Kim Elliott, dxldyg via DXLD) ** U S A. Transmitter changes of WRMI Okeechobee between 11530 & 9955 kHz from July 3 http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/transmitter-changes-of-wrmi-between.html 73! (Ivo Ivanov, B`lgariya, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: Transmitter changes of WRMI Okeechobee between 11530 kHz & 9955 kHz from July 3, all ``YFR 100 kW / 160 deg`` 0000-0100 on 11530 to CeAm Spanish R.Taiwan Int. tx#10, ex tx#04 0100-0200 on 11530 to CeAm Spanish Family Radio tx#10, ex tx#04 0500-1000 on 9955 to SoAm English Brother Stair tx#04, ex tx#10 1000-1100 on 9955 to SoAm Various WRMI programs tx#04, ex tx#10 1100-1200 on 9955 to SoAm Portug. RAE Argentina tx#04, ex tx#10 1200-1400 on 9955 to SoAm Various WRMI programs tx#04, ex tx#10 1400-2000 on 9955 to SoAm English Brother Stair tx#04, ex tx#10 2000-0500 on 9955 to SoAm Various WRMI programs tx#04, ex tx#10 ??????????? ?? Observer ? 4:31 PM (via DXLD) 9455, July 27 at 2009, no signal from this WRMI which is scheduled 24 hours; must be off, while S6-S7 on 9395, S5-S6 on 9955, so 31 m propagation is sufficient; also audible on 11580, 11825, 15770. 9395, August 1 at 0615, WRMI with unID gospel huxter, not Bob and not // BS as on 7570 etc., while 9395 is spinning Oldies. The canned Biermann ID at 0619 heard on 9455 during `Oldies` alleged it was only on 9395 which at that time had split off to some gospel huxter! Then playing ``Whiter Shade of Pale``. Contrary to WRMI skedgrid which still shows both 9395 & 9455 with Oldies in the 05-10 UT block. 9395 started off as the primary Oldies frequency, but now 9455 becomes primary or only, as 9395 is going off to other stuff, also for `Power Hour` in the 13-15 period at least, with Oldies on 9455 only (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KIMF SHORTWAVE LICENSED BY FCC https://apps.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-345947A1.pdf (via Benn Kobb, July 26, DXLD) That`s the SW station being built in remote northern Nevada, and which has been registering imaginary schedules for a sesquidecade. Maybe nigh? Only a very brief Public Notice, which says, No details: (Glenn Hauser, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) PUBLIC NOTICE FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION 445 12th STREET S.W. WASHINGTON D.C. 20554 News media information 202-418-0500 Internet: http://www.fcc.gov (or ftp.fcc.gov) TTY (202) 418-2555 Wednesday July 26, 2017 Report No. IHF-00142 re: Actions Taken International High Frequency The Commission, by its International Bureau, took the following actions pursuant to delegated authority. The effective dates of the actions are the dates specified. For more information concerning this Notice, contact Shahnaz Ghavami at 202-418-0740; Shahnaz.Ghavami@fcc.gov; TTY 202-418-2555. KIMF IHF-LIC-20161230-00007P Date Effective: 07/25/2017 Grant of Authority License International Fellowship of Churches, Inc. Page 1 of 1 (via Benn Kobb, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) ** U S A. 17775, July 27 at 2025, KVOH is still on in Thursday extension, with music, presumably Spanish, S9 and wobbling. Their engineering staff must be taking their sweet time to get the `new` transmitter going. Reminder that on Fridays only, they are allegedly back in English at 1900-2100, first quarter gospel music, rest huxterism, not even `Wavescan`. Should they also run overtime on Mondays, as is possible, `Frecuencia al Día` is on the schedule at 2000. 17775, Friday July 28 at 2010, KVOH is still on with sermon in English, but big wobble on carrier, worse than usual, such that even in AM mode it`s making a hum and distortion on S7-S9+20 signal. 17775, August 1 at 1406, not even a JBA carrier from KVOH, so not on yet, or not propagating? Not rechecked later on my busy produxion day for WORLD OF RADIO (which KVOH found too hot to handle) (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 9930 & 12105, July 26 at 2052, two-thirds of WTWWs are AWOL, while 9475 is on with SFAW. 9930, Sat July 29 at 1924, WTWW-2 is off, so probably missed TOITO an hour earlier. 9475, WTWW-1 is on with suptorted QSO show, so 9930 with another ham show is hardly necessary. 5097.9, July 30 at 0059, parasitic weak spur from WTWW-2 which has just signed on 5085 with music, 0101 Ted offers QSLs for e-mail; ham ads; 0106 `Theater Organ in the Ozarx` finally starts. If Arecibo had been on 5095 tonight, there could be a problem, but not on 5125 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Despite even 5085 kHz of WTWW, nothing spur peak special occurred around 0437 UT on 5097v kHz, except a digital STANAG signal covers 5095.2 to 5098.6 kHz range, powerful S=9+30dB heard in Alberta, MI, FL and southern Germany remote SDR posts (Wolfgang Buschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The WTWW spurs circa 5072.1 and 5097.9 occur whenever 5085 is on the air, and I can usually detect them despite the STANAG. And likewise flanking 9930 if ever on, daytime (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) 5829.986, WTWW S=9+20dB signal heard at 0438 UT here in southern Germany, and also in Rochester NY. Bible reading about Kingdom Abraham. Distorted audio, sound like 2.5 to 3 kHz small audio signal, not easy to understand the content. July 30 (Wolfgang Büschel, July 30, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, the #1 WTWW transmitter is quite ailing, tsk2 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. 910, MISSISSIPPI, WALT, Meridian. 1030 July 30, 2017. Up for a few seconds with male "... online... and 102 point 1..." and pointing NNW, and they show as simulcasting the WALT-FM, so a tentative. Sidebar: WALT are sacred former calls to Tampa until 1970, then assigned to the current 1010 kc/s WHFS. Tight WTWD null, and Radio Metropolitana co-channel (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, NRD- 535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 930, TENNESSEE, WSEV, Sevierville. 0848 GMT July 23, 2017. Still with the nonstop eclectic music format (as confirmed the one I'd been hearing from Florida, when vacationing in NC/TN at the end of May). Presumably continues with no commercials or announcements save for the canned top of hour ID. "Sister Golden Hair" by America, "Do You Really Want To Hurt Me" Culture Club, "Secret Garden" Springsteen and "Tom" by Natalie Imbruglia. Too weak on a fade around 0900 for any ID to make it (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. KVSH, (940), Valentine NE: A country song, an oldies dog, then some rock tune. About as local as local radio gets with on air features. Listening on my iPhone and Bluetooth earbuds as I walk through town. 5000 watt day/16 watt night facility in north central Nebraska, (Paul Walker, Warren, PA, July 26, ABDX via DXLD) One of many great “heartland” stations I enjoy hearing from the Border Inn beverage site (US 6/50 at NV-UT border) each year. I usually catch part of a Valentine Badgers HS FB game. Not much chance to hear them from home as long as XEKAM-950 continues to crank out 20 kW of the sloppiest IBOC you’ve ever heard. 73 (Tim Hall, Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone, ABDX via DXLD) I salute them for their absolute commitment to community service and live ops 6 am to 10 pm, whenever the station is on the air BUT: They probably pay minimum wage and they sound like, well, long gaps of dead air, warbly carts still being played on air. I listened to them one night a couple years ago when they had a female DJ on who sounded like she couldn’t have been much out of high school; she perhaps may STILL have been in high school. But at least it’s a learning experience for young announcers just getting their start, and you have to tip your cap to stations like KVSH (and KCJJ-1630 and others) for giving the newbies an opportunity to get their careers going somewhere. And in case anyone needs to log KVSH, well, they stand out on 940 like a sore thumb at 2300 Central Time pretty much every night. Most of the time (seemingly), they run their full 5 kW right up to sign-off time and wrap everything up with the Star Spangled Banner. 73, (Rick Dau, South Omaha, Nebraska, July 26, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. 1220, FLORIDA, WOTS, Kissimmee. 0835 July 23, 2017. Poor with Haitian kreyol religious talk, parallel station stream. This is otherwise Spanish, branded "La Fantástica" slogan, 1000/110 watts (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. 102.9 MHz, FLORIDA, W275AZ, Wesley Chapel (not). WFLA (970 kHz) is as of July 24, simulcasting on this translator, licensed to Wesley Chapel, however it's actually been relocated to the south Tampa Gandy Blvd. iHeart Radio cluster studios. Full details, including an on-air interview with John McMartin, Chief Engineer, is at this link: https://radioinsight.com/headlines/118971/wfla-adds-second-translator/ 103.1 MHz, FLORIDA, W276CX, New Port Richey. 1115 July 28, 2017. Noticed that 1010 kc/s WHFS, Seffner often mentions 103.1. Indeed, good signal here, about two seconds behind 1010 kc/s. No idea how long this has been simulcast, though 92.1 MHz W221DW is listed elsewhere as having been the WHFS translator, with 1031 MHz having been a translator for 103.5 MHz WFUS. These things are hard to keep track of and annoying. -- Florida Low Power Radio Stations: https://sites.google.com/site/floridadxn/florida-low-power-radio-stations (Terry L. Krueger, Clearwater FL, NRD-535, IC-R75, longwires, active loop, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Unusual Radio Stations --- In Los Angeles, the 34-year-old owner of the independent recording studio Adrián Martínez gave life to an unusual Internet radio station called DogCatRadio. It is designed for dogs, cats, hamsters, parrots and other pets. As the owner conceived, this radio [sic] wave should brighten up the gray routine of pets during the absence of their owners. Between the songs with the mention of animals, the hosts give lectures for the owners of our smaller brothers. And, quite logically, the broadcasts on DogCatRadio are accompanied by meowing and barking. http://www.uznayvse.ru/nauka-i-tehnologii/samyie-kreativnyie-radiostantsii-mira-34851-2.html American radio "Bird Songs" broadcasts twittering birds around the clock, recorded 20 years ago by Quentin Howard in his own Wiltshire County garden. Now Howard is already the general director of several foreign radio stations. "I was extremely surprised when I found out that the "fuss" I wrote attracted half a million listeners," the resourceful Quentin marvels. Fans of this radio claim that singing birds help them relax and even created a community of fans on Facebook (via Rus-DX 30 July, published 29 July via DXLD) See GERMANY ** U S A. La Ley 87.7 Beaumont TX KIPS - What’s the status of this one? Heard with La Ley 87.7 slogan, Mexican music, and Houston- Beaumont and Port Arthur ads on June 30 during Es to this same area. But listings are spotty at best. Not in WTFDA database, nor on RadioLocator, and listed as DT in Bill Hepburn’s directory. There is an 88.1 in Beaumont; seems crazy (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, July 26, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Looks like a TV station operating in a way not consistent with its license. A quick search retrieves a Facebook page for the station; the logo contains the text “KIPS-LD Beaumont TX”; the page has ads for a Port Arthur waterpark and a concert with a Galveston phone number; all posted in the last week. There’s also a webpage for the station with the “KIPS-LD” calls in even larger text. And yes, the logo does say “- LD”, not “-LP”. FCC DB (as reflected on RabbitEars and Bill’s directory) shows this station is only authorized to operate in digital. KIPS is old enough to have had an analog license at one time — but never on channel 6 (its analog license was for channel 66) (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, http://www.w9wi.com ibid.) Thanks, Doug. Has anyone actually logged this one? I checked June logs in the WTFDA Loggings board and not one report of it. I had two Spanish stations on 87.75 on June 30. The other was El Sabor out of Lafayette LA (Saul Chernos, Burnt River ON, ibid.) ** U S A. FCC’S O’RIELLY: GIVE US MORE TOOLS FOR PIRATE CRACKDOWN Commissioner says FCC should be allowed to confiscate equipment, raise fines --- July 26, 2017 By Tom Vernon An FCC commissioner is urging Congress to give the agency more enforcement tools to fight illegal radio broadcasts. Commissioner Michael O’Rielly has been vocal about the unlicensed operators that he and most broadcasters call pirates. Tuesday he raised the issue during FCC oversight testimony before a House subcommittee. Full article: http://www.radioworld.com/news-and-business/0002/fccs-orielly-give-us-more-tools-for-pirate-crackdown/340094 (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) It’s about time! Why has it taken years for them to quit farting around and actually do something that will help fix the problem? They still need to take it another step. If you have ever read the cases against the pirates, you will see that most of them plead hardship when it comes to paying the fines. The answer to that is to substitute jail time for fines. Maybe that will get the attention of prospective pirates. 73, (Kit W5KAT, CO, ABDX yg via DXLD) ** U S A. URGE THE U.S. SENATE TO SUPPORT THE AMATEUR RADIO PARITY ACT The Amateur Radio Parity Act was passed unanimously by the House of Representatives in January as H.R. 555. It provides a mutually satisfactory compromise reached between the American Radio Relay League (ARRL, the national association for Amateur Radio) and the Community Associations Institute (CAI, which represents home owners associations). The Senate Bill, S. 1534, allows for effective outdoor Amateur Radio antennas for public service and emergency communications while protecting the prerogative of community associations. Please take action and urge your Senators to pass S. 1534. First, Enter Your Zip Code . . . https://arrl.rallycongress.net/ctas/urge-us-senate-to-support-amateur-radio-parity-act Please consider supporting the Amateur Radio Parity Act and contact your Senators (via Enid ARC July 27 via DXLD) ** U S A. Jul 30, 2:46 PM EDT PBS CEO WARNS THAT FEDERAL CUTS WILL SINK SOME STATIONS http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_TV_PBS_FUNDING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2017-07-30-14-46-18 BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. (AP) -- The chief executive for PBS is sounding the alarm about public broadcasting’s future if federal funding is axed. CEO Paula Kerger said Sunday that public TV stations heavily dependent on federal funds couldn’t survive without it, including in rural or underserved areas. Kerger acknowledged there have previous efforts to cut federal support for public broadcasting. But she said the latest one is occurring in a period of extraordinary events. President Donald Trump has called for an end to federal funds for PBS and National Public Radio. Kerger told a TV critics’ meeting Saturday that she can make the case for the role PBS plays in American lives. But she said it’s crucial that viewers let their congressional representatives know what it means to them (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** U S A. NPR and radio Financial Times June 28, 2017, page 14 By SHANNON BOND -- NEW YORK Podcasts may be fuelling a golden age of audio, but the surging popularity of voice-powered gadgets is making public radio cool, according to the chief executive of NPR, the non-profit US public radio organisation. Accelerating adoption of smart speakers such as Amazon's Echo and Google Home will be transformative for radio by reaching new audiences and boosting time spent listening, says Jarl Mohn, who has held NPR's top role since 2014. "About 30 per cent of [people aged] 18 to 34 don't have a radio in their home. Strategically, that's not a good thing," Mr Mohn says. "[Smart speakers] not only provide a platform to listen, but people are actually listening more." He points to a new study from Edison Research and NPR released last week that found 70 per cent of smart speaker owners said they listen to more audio at home since getting their devices. More than three-quarters said they use their devices to listen to news and information. Voice-activated devices are surging in popularity: this year, 35.6m Americans will use a voice-activated assistant device at least once a month, more than double the 2016 level, according to eMarketer, the research group. Voice-Labs, an analytics company, estimates there will be 33m voice devices in US homes by the end of this year, up from 8.5m in 2016. The rapid emergence of a new, popular gadget built on audio is welcome news for the radio industry, which like other forms of media is being upended by digital disruption. NPR has signed deals to be the default news provider on Amazon's Alexa voice platform and Google Home, meaning that when people using those devices ask for the news, they hear NPR's hourly five-minute newscast. Amid changes in technology, the podcasting boom and a frenetic news cycle, NPR is experiencing a resurgence in listenership of its broadcast programmes, which are carried on its member stations across the US. Ratings have grown year-on-year for the past 18 months, Mr Mohn said. "And at the same time the demography has gotten younger," he added. Total weekly listening for all programming on NPR stations hit a high of 37.4m at the height of the US presidential election campaign in the autumn of 2016, up more than 10 per cent from the previous year, according to Nielsen, the measurement group. Its flagship morning and afternoon news programmes, Morning Edition and All Things Considered, each draw more than 14m listeners a week. Readers, viewers and listeners are flocking to coverage of global turmoil including Brexit, the war in Syria and the chaotic presidency of Donald Trump, giving boosts to news organisations on both sides of the Atlantic, including NPR. Mr Mohn said the uptick in appetite for information is "an opportunity to introduce people to the other things that we're doing, so that when the cycle is over -- some day maybe it will be -- we will have gotten people more used to our style of storytelling ... We look at the news cycle as our introductory offer." (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** VANUATU. 7260, Radio Vanuatu. English news, lots of ID's, 0800 for 3 minutes. It then dropped out and nothing more. Heard 16/7 (Bob Emmanuel, Blackheath NSW, August Australian DX News via DXLD) ** VATICAN. MISSING TRANSMISSIONS: No signal of Vatican Radio, Aug 1 Vatican Radio via Santa Maria di Galeria 0600-0615 on 15595 SMG 250 kW / 107 deg to N/ME Italian Mon-Sat 0615-0630 on 15595 SMG 250 kW / 107 deg to N/ME French Mon-Sat 0630-0645 on 15595 SMG 250 kW / 107 deg to N/ME English Mon-Sat 0600-0630 on 11625 SMG 250 kW / 210 deg to WeAf French Daily 0600-0630 on 13765 SMG 250 kW / 184 deg to WCAf French Daily 0630-0700 on 11625 SMG 250 kW / 210 deg to WeAf English Daily 0630-0700 on 13765 SMG 250 kW / 184 deg to WCAf English Daily 0645-0705 on 9645 SMG 100 kW / 228 deg to NEAf Arabic Mon-Sat 0645-0705 on 11740 SMG 100 kW / 130 deg to EaAf Arabic Mon-Sat Observer ? 11:38 PM August 1 (Bulgarian DX blog via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 7906-USB // 8294-USB, Ho Chi Minh Radio Coast Station, *1305-1310*, July 30. Started and ended with the usual tones; in Vietnamese; started with ID and then marine conditions; both fair. Ho Chi Minh Radio is the most powerful coastal station, so is usually well heard. Operated by VISHIPEL (Vietnam Maritime Communications and Electronics LLC) (Ron Howard, oceanside at Pacific Grove, CA, Etón E1, antenna: 100' long wire, dxldyg via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** YEMEN [Non]. Radio Sana`a, 11860, 1016-1020, Male Announcer in Arabic; ID at 1016; News of the Hour, “Hadith al Sa’ah.” Call-in program to discuss the human suffering in Yemen. Transmitter in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. SINPO 44434. Best 73 to all! (Ed, 7Z1ES, Sylvester, Rig: WJ-8711A; Ant: 130’ Dipole with Ladderline/Tuner, Up 50’, July 29, Riyadh, Sa`udi Arabia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Ed, Maybe Jeddah at that hour, but what about the other transmitter site, implied by the overlapping audio at certain times. Can you 100% rule out Riyadh, or where? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) SAUDI ARABIA. 11860. Sun, July 30 at 1743-1753, Radio Sana'a, Jeddah- ARS, in Arabic. Man announcer talks and a conversation with a man; 1747 Arabic songs. Radio Republic of Yemen with fair signal and poor modulation, 35433 (DXer: José Ronaldo Xavier, Cabedelo, Paraíba, Brazil, Sony ICF-SW100S, Longwire, Hard-Core-DX mailing list via DXLD) Circa 1753 used to be the time people would hear overlapping double audio/signal change during swap to a different transmitter site, which has yet to be identified (gh, DXLD) Incidentally, this Oman receiver gives good round-the-clock reception of the Saudi-based Radio Sana`a surrogate on 11860 kHz - it can be accessed via the portal at http://www.sdr.hu (David Kernick, Interval Signals Online, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. 4965, Voice of Hope, Lusaka, 1907-1920, 24-07, English, religious comments. // 6065. 15321. 6065, Voice of Hope, Lusaka, 1905-2015, 24-07, English, religious songs and comments, id. “This is The Voice of Hope”, “This is The Voice of Hope Radio on short wave, 4965 kHz and 6065 kHz”. 44444 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, Sangean ATS-909X, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA [and non]. New shortwave schedule of KVOH Voice of Hope Africa Lusaka effective from July 31, all LUS 100 kW 0500-0800 on 9680 / 000 deg SoAf English Mon-Fri tx#1, new additional 0500-0800 on 11680#/ 315 deg WeAf English Mon-Fri tx#2, new additional 1600-1900 on 4965 / 000 deg SoAf English Mon-Fri tx#1, ex 1630-2200UT 1600-1900 on 6065 / 315 deg WeAf English Mon-Fri tx#2, ex 1630-2200UT 1200-1700 on 9680*/ 000 deg SoAf English Sat/Sun tx#1, unchanged time 1200-1700 on 13680 / 315 deg WeAf English Sat/Sun tx#2, unchanged time 1700-1730 on 9680 / 000 deg SoAf English Sunday tx#1, new additional 1700-1730 on 13680 / 315 deg WeAf English Sunday tx#2, new additional # co-ch same 11680 KNG 050 kW / non-dir to NEAs Korean KCBS Pyongyang, QRM TRT 11675 * co-ch same 9680 PAO 100 kW / 352 deg to EaAs Chinese R.Taiwan Int+CNR-1 1200-1400 1 comment: Ray Robinson July 31, 2017 at 5:31 PM Please note, 1700-1730 Sunday is 9680 only, not 13680. (Bulgarian DX blog via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) 11680, August 1 at 0530, slightly off-frequency JBA carrier, suspect North Korea, but by 0613, weak signal with (Jesus, not Juche) praise music, so Voice of Hope, Lusaka, which has just resumed morning broadcasts M-F 0500-0800 on 11680 USward, and // 9680 non-direxional, hardly even a JBA carrier here (Glenn Hauser, OK, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZANZIBAR. 11735, Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation, Dole, 1803- 1815, 24-07, English, news, “The main points again, the end of this bulletin”, 1811 vernacular comments. 24322. 11735, Zanzibar Broadcasting Corporation, Dole, 1802-1814, 28-07, English, news, at 1811 vernacular comments. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, Logs in Reinante, Tecsun PL-880, Sangean ATS-909X, cable antenna, 8 meters, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 6149.0-USB, July 28 at 0131, INTRUDERS, 2-way in colloquial Spanish, S8, far enough from RHC dead air on 6145 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 7161.8, Unid. Under “siren” type Beijing jamming, observed daily in July confirmed at 1500–1900. Maybe is Sound of Hope/Falun Gong (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF2001D, Folded Marconi ant 16 meters long), August Australian DX News via DXLD) Siren? That`s more like Vietnamese jamming (gh, DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Strong carrier 7258.63 kHz --- Hi Noel and Wolfy, I have had quite a strong open carrier in daytime yesterday and today on 7258.63 kHz. Seems, that it isn`t so strong in Central Europe, but you maybe you hear it in the evening. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, (July 31 12:53 pm [MESZ?] via WB, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hello, checked around 1700 UT July 31 at Doha Qatar remote SDR unit post: 7259.990, PBS Xinjiang, Chinese XJBS Urumqi, nice S=9+10dB signal. 7258.625, ETHiopia, tentatively odd fq station in this 41 mb fq range. At 1707 UT noted the former varying unit, of v7236 ... 7237 kHz VOPDE from AA-Gedja ETH site. Wandered upwards 21 kHz? (Wolfgang Büschel, WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also ETHIOPIA UNIDENTIFIED. 7700, Again with talks in similar Arabic & Horn of Africa songs, on 15/7 at 1640-1819 & on 19/7 at 0339 & 1727. Presumed is Puntland Radio Somalia or similar to Warsan Radio Kenya on 7750, both on AM mode (Rumen Pankov, Sofia, Bulgaria (Sony ICF2001D, Folded Marconi ant 16 meters long), August Australian DX News via DXLD) Kenya? As a name or location? There are Somali refugee camps in Kenya (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. EGYPT [sic] Unidentified station with Egyptian music on July 30, 0815-0820 on 9550 unknown tx / unknown to UNID, very poor: http://swldxbulgaria.blogspot.bg/2017/07/unidentified-station-with-egyptian_30.html -- 73! (Ivo Ivanov, QTH: Sofia, Bulgaria, Equipment: Sony ICF-2001D 30 m. long wire, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ ACKNOWLEDGED ON WORLD OF RADIO 1889: Note from James Reynolds: quote ``Love your info. The new recording date works good too. Pace yourself. Ramsey`` with a contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com One may also contribute by check or MO in US funds on a US bank to Glenn Hauser, PO Box 1684, Enid OK 73702 TO BE ACKNOWLEDGED FUTURELY: Thanks to Chuck Ermatinger, for another contribution via PayPal to woradio at yahoo.com Thank you for the reports. I really appreciate the information (Don KB0OFO Elliott) GLENN HAUSER’S WORLD OF RADIO: http://worldofradio.com — Glenn works very hard to keep listeners apprised of up-to-date information regarding radio stations, changes in frequencies, relay station info, website information and the like. There is a plethora of sites on the page devoted to transmissions, English broadcasts, links to some of the other sites mentioned above, podcasts for the World of Radio programs, and operating schedules for HF transmissions as given by the FCC. If you can’t find what you need on this website, it probably doesn’t exist (Joe Robinson, Beginners` Classroom, August ODXA Listening In) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Updated by August 4: DX/SWL/MEDIA PROGRAMS http://www.worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html WORLD OF RADIO SCHEDULES http://www.worldofradio.com/radioskd.html ALAN ROE`S HITLIST OF SW STATION WEBSITES http://www.w4uvh.net/hitlist.htm Buch: KURZWELLEN-RUNDFUNK DER VERGANGENHEIT Eine schöne Empfehlung: Hobbyfreund Klaus Puth bietet sein umfangreiches Buch "Kurzwellen-Rundfunk der Vergangenheit", 96 Seiten mit der Vorstellung von sehr vielen Kurzwellendiensten nun als PDF zum kostenlosen Download an: http://radiolegenden.puth.org/Radio-Legenden_unlocked.pdf Muß man gelesen haben. 73 (Christoph Ratzer via A-DX via SW Bulletin July 30 via DXLD) DX-PEDITIONS ++++++++++++ JULY 2016 INTERNATIONAL ROCKWORK 4 DXPEDITION --- THE JAPANESE REPORT For those interested in new photos, videos and the Japanese description of last year’s Rockwork 4 International DXpedition, a PDF file has been prepared by Hiroo Nakagawa and Satoshi Miyauchi, the Japanese participants. To my knowledge, this was the first major Japanese / North American Medium Wave DXpedition, and most of the participants were from foreign countries http://my-bcl-life.sakura.ne.jp/PROPAGATION5.pdf Included is Satoshi’s translation of Nick’s excellent, detailed study documenting the enhanced transoceanic propagation at the Rockwork 4 cliff site (north of Manzanita) in comparison to a nearby flat ocean beach site at Nehalem Bay. This article was part of the annual “Propagation” magazine of the Totsuka DXer Circle (in the Tokyo area), with exceptional cover art by the famous Japanese manga artist Shinya Hasegawa (also a DXer). Nick is the real lucky one, with plans to participate in a Japanese DXpedition soon with these same DXers (Gary DeBock (in Puyallup, WA, USA), July 30, 2017, IRCA via DXLD) Gary, Thanks for forwarding this excellent report. Nice to see the photo of the Sony ICF-S5W. On the September 2016 Taitosaki DX Reception Log I found the number of US Midwest stations logged quite interesting. KICY Nome, AK blocking KOA. How novel! I had to work at nulling KOA from Biloxi, MS to SW Florida with the compact Sony portables I travelled with at the time. Best of DX & 73, (Craig Barnes, Wheat Ridge, CO, ibid.) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ CUSB Question: Dear Glenn, Please tell me: what does the abbreviation "cusb" mean? It is frequently met in your World of Radio bulletins, e.g.: WBCQ 9330v-CUSB. I could not find any info about it in the web. (Yuri Loburets, Novosibirsk, Russia, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Yuri, Compatible upper sideband. Same as reduced carrier USB. Compatible implies that you can listen to it on regular AM tuning without BFO due to the remaining carrier, as opposed to pure SSB with no carrier [altho it still sounds better with BFO on]. I think WBCQ may have started using this term which may not have any `official` standing (Glenn to Yuri, ibid.) MUSEA +++++ CRYPTO MUSEUM Welcome at the Crypto Museum website. At present we are a virtual museum in The Netherlands, that can only be visited on the internet 24 hours a day. We do have a permanent collection however, and regularly organize exhibitions and events in co-operation with other museums. http://www.cryptomuseum.com/index.htm Intercept receivers This section deals with receivers that have been used (or are being used) to intercept and monitor radio traffic. Please note that there are overlaps with other sections, as some of these receivers are also used for radio direction finding, or for finding the nature and source of an interference. In this section you can find a very interesting story about the old RCA AR-88. See this link http://www.cryptomuseum.com/df/ar88/ If you are interested to see the various models used, go to this website: Radio Boulevard, Western Historic Radio Museum: http://www.radioblvd.com/ar88.htm RCA's Amazing AR-88 Receivers Includes: AR-88D, AR-88F, AR-88LF, CR-88, CR-88A, CR-88B, CR-91, CR- 91A, SC-88, R-320/FRC, DR-89, RDM and OA-58A/FRC (From http://swling.com/blog/ via SW Bulletin July 30 via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DRM See KUWAIT; NEW ZEALAND; SOUTH AFRICA; ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ TAIWAN DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DAB See SCOTLAND incidentally ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- IBOC See RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM : FCC/AM +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ DIGITAL BROADCASTING --- DTV see also OKLAHOMA ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ FM HARMONICS MAR VHF TV RECEPTION On any VHF high band channel there is a problem with FM harmonics that can interfere with their reception, especially with digital signals. The problem is increased when you are using a pre-amp for the signals. The FM harmonics are amplified along with the VHF frequencies. For channel 10 (192-198 MHz) any stronger FM signal between 96 and 99 MHz can cause interference with channel 10 (96 X 2 = 192 & 99 X 2 = 198). You probably need to install an FM trap in the coax of your VHF antenna before it goes into the pre-amp. In my area there are a number of strong FM stations in that part of the band: 96.1, 97.9, 98.5. You can check your FM stations to see which ones can be a problem for harmonics with channel 10 (Bob Seaman, Hazleton PA, WTFDA gg via DXLD) Just the problem I have with KNID 107.1 x 2 on 214.2 vs ch13 OETA (gh) VIRTUAL CHANNEL 67 TVDX Before I went to bed last night I had some very weak signals including one on channel 36. Woke up this morning to find a virtual channel 67-3 had made a visit to the Zenith box. No call letters or any other identification. The only thing that matches up is KFTH-36 from Alvin (Houston), Texas. Have had Houston in via tropo (KPRC-2 via Es in the analog days) several times. I did not expect that distance. Should have stayed up longer (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas USA, July 30, WTFDA gg via DXLD) Dave, The situation you have occurs if there is enough signal strength for the tuner (converter box) to get enough information, probably for a brief period of time, to show that it is remapping to channel 67. The 67-3 is the default remapping if the tuner doesn’t get enough information to show the complete remapping information (incomplete data). I have seen a similar situation when the stations that I normally watch have decreased signal strength, fluctuating signal strength or interference. They will remap to 17-3, instead of 17-1 for a former channel 17 analog on 17 digital. Another is 42-3 from 29-1 for a former analog 29 that is now on 42 digital. From the information that you have, you had a digital station broadcasting on 36 that previously was on analog 67 (Bob Seaman, ibid.) I think it could be Houston, or it could be another rf-36 that uses virtual 67 and has no ID info. I don’t think I’ve had your situation happen to me (Chris Lucas, Poughkeepsie NY, ibid.) I believe KFTH-DT is the ONLY RF 36 that remaps to 67 (Jim Thomas, Springfield, Missouri, ibid.) Jim, Actually WPXP-36/67 Lake Worth, FL does also, but reception of WPXP in Kansas borders on the impossible. By the way, both WPXP and KFTH stay on RF-36 after the repack (Chris Lucas, Poughkeepsie, NY, ibid.) Bob, when a box decodes a station but has yet to receive the TVCT (Terrestrial Virtual Channel Table) that gives the virtual channel number, it will display the RF channel following by the "program number" from the PAT (Program Association Table). For 67.3, it must either be RF Channel 67 - Program Number 3 --- or Virtual Channel 67.3. The later seems more likely, as strange as it is Example from local WNED on RF Channel 43: partial decodes would show 43-3, 43-4 and 43-5 instead of 17-1, 17-2 and 17-3. Program Association Table PAT Version Number: 0 Transport Stream ID: 2135 (0x0857) PMT PID 48 (0x0030) - Program *3* <#pmt_3> WNED-HD PMT PID 64 (0x0040) - Program *4* <#pmt_4> Think PMT PID 80 (0x0050) - Program *5* <#pmt_5> KIDs PMT PID 160 (0x00a0) - Program *10* <#pmt_10> Terrestrial Virtual Channel Table Channel 3 Service Name: WNED-HD TSID: 2135 (0x0857) Channel Number: *17.1* Carrier Frequency: 0 Modulation Mode: ATSC (8 VSB) Source ID: 1 Descriptor: ATSC Service Location Descriptor Service Location Descriptor: PCR PID 49 Stream Type 0x02 (MPEG-2 Video) ESPID = 49 Language = Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 52 Language = eng Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 53 Language = spa Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 54 Language = fre ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Channel 4 Service Name: Think TSID: 2135 (0x0857) Channel Number: *17.2* Carrier Frequency: 0 Modulation Mode: ATSC (8 VSB) Source ID: 2 Descriptor: ATSC Service Location Descriptor Service Location Descriptor: PCR PID 65 Stream Type 0x02 (MPEG-2 Video) ESPID = 65 Language = Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 68 Language = eng Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 69 Language = spa Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 70 Language = fre ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Channel 5 Service Name: KIDs TSID: 2135 (0x0857) Channel Number: *17.3* Carrier Frequency: 0 Modulation Mode: ATSC (8 VSB) Source ID: 3 Descriptor: ATSC Service Location Descriptor Service Location Descriptor: PCR PID 81 Stream Type 0x02 (MPEG-2 Video) ESPID = 81 Language = Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 84 Language = eng Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 85 Language = spa Stream Type 0x81 (AC-3 Audio) ESPID = 86 Language = fre (Bill Hepburn, Ont., July 30, ibid.) I have always found the Zenith under those conditions would display the RF channel with a "-3". I always assumed the Zenith caught the TSID without getting the PSIP. It seems odd that their was an RF 67 out there, so it must have displayed the virtual in this case. I guess anything is possible with computers! (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana USA, Digital - Zenith DTT901, HDHR-US, ibid.) But there isn't anything on RF 67 (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) What Bill said. Both the major virtual channel (67) and the minor virtual channel (3) are transmitted as part of the *same* data table. You can't receive one and not the other. Why you didn't get 67.1 or 67.2 I have no idea (Doug Smith, TN, ibid.) Many times with the Zenith on a very weak signal it will decode "-3" subchannel instead of "-1" (Mike Glass N9BNN, Lebanon, Indiana, ibid.) This continues to be a bit of a puzzle. I've had some more time to think about this. A lot of what I'm saying below has already been said. I'm more or less summarizing. Since the box was specifically on RF 36, any reception of an RF-67 is out of consideration. I believe you have indicated that while you discovered a "67-3", there was no 67-1 or 67-2 (or any other "67-") in the channel edit menu. This I find most puzzling. Did you check the Program guide listing for a 67-3 and other 67 sub-channels? All this would be erased the next time you receive another RF-36. The most common cause of no call letters or station name in the box memory is there being a period where the power to the box was off between the time of reception and the time of discovery. This could have been simply turning the box off, or unplugging it. A power interruption of any kind would cause this. But still, there should be a blank 67-1 and 67-2. Assuming the power was continually supplied to the box, the only reasonable "explanation" is reception of Houston, and they were not transmitting a sub-channel identifier. But reception of Houston should have included 67-1 and 67-2 (perhaps with identifiers); there's no reason I can think of where these virtual sub-channels won't show up and be "remembered" by the box. Perhaps there's a "pirate" on RF-36. choosing a virtual 67-3, and not putting in a station identifier (call letters, etc.). That's very far- fetched. I can't think of any other scenarios (Chris Lucas, Poughkeepsie, NY, ibid.) Bill, You are correct. If there isn't enough information to provide the "remap" channel information, the RF channel comes up with RF-3. The one station I noted was analog 17 and digital was also 17, so 17-1 will switch to 17-3. The other was analog 29 and RF 42 it goes from 29-1 to 42-3 (Bob Seaman, PA, ibid.) TV NEWS SPECIAL: THE REPACK A preliminary estimate of the cost of the repack has been released. As broadcasters feared, it exceeds the FCC's statutory authority to reimburse. The law establishing the repack provided $1.75 billion to compensate broadcasters for their costs in being forcibly moved to new channels. Stations were required, by July 12th, to file their estimated expenses for moving. Those expenses totaled $2.12 billion. This is not a final figure – some stations had not yet reported their estimates, and the numbers have not yet been audited. The Commission has indicated it will go to Congress and ask for enough money to fully reimburse stations. Legislation has been introduced to accomplish this. Will it pass? Who knows... Official channel sharing information is now appearing. Channel sharing data you see in this month's column, and in future columns, does come from that official source (the FCC LMS database). So far only eighteen sharing pairs have shown up. Some pairs that have received considerable advance publicity have not yet been filed (WNBC/WNJU, for one). Trip Erickson reminds me that stations surrendering their channels under a channel sharing agreement are required to do so before the repacking proceeds. This means we will see these stations begin operating on their host's existing channels in the next few months. Where these host stations are being repacked, their sharing clients will move with them when the repack reaches the host's phase. This explains why, for example, you see KBEH Oxnard, California sharing with KWHY Los Angeles on channel 42, a channel that will cease to exist after repacking. KBEH merges its signal with KWHY first; only later does the pair move their transmission to their new channel 4. Potentially confusing situations have come up in Rockford, Illinois and Augusta, Georgia. In both cities, Gray Television has sold the spectrum of full-power stations in the spectrum auction – and then replaced the full-power stations with LPTVs using nearly identical facilities. In Rockford, WIFR (licensed to Freeport, virtual channel 23) sold its physical channel 41 assignment and went dark. Gray bought LPTV station W22EE, Rochelle; moved it to Rockford; obtained a permit to switch the station to channel 41; and changed the call letters to WIFR-LD. At least, that's what happened from a regulatory standpoint. What probably happened from an engineering standpoint is: that Gray reduced power on the WIFR transmitter from 100 kilowatts ERP to 15, then took the old WIFR license off the wall & replaced it with the new WIFR-LD license. The situation in Augusta is similar. WAGT, virtual channel 26, sold its physical channel 30. It was replaced with LPTV station WBEK. WBEK moved from physical channel 16 to physical channel 30; moved to the WAGT tower; and changed call letters to WAGT-CD. In practice, most likely the power of the WAGT transmitter was reduced from 400 kW to 15 & the licenses swapped. This allows Gray to collect a share of the auction proceeds without immediately shutting down the stations. If they can find a new channel below 37 for WIFR, they can continue to operate a station in Rockford indefinitely (this may be a challenge, given the proximity of Rockford to Chicago, Milwaukee, and Madison). The Augusta station holds a Class A license and is thus guaranteed a permanent channel after repacking. TV NEWS SPECIAL: THE REPACK – STATIONS GOING DARK In July, the FCC released DA-17-702. This is a list of stations which will be voluntarily leaving their current channels as a result of the repack. The list can be divided into three categories: - Off-air stations. - Channel Sharing stations. - Band Changing stations. Channel Sharing stations can be further divided between those which have already filed channel sharing agreements, and those which have not. Off-air stations: There are eleven stations leaving the air entirely. Two have already done so. The other nine have until October 25th. Channel Sharing stations: 132 stations will be leaving their current channels but have expressed interest in entering a channel sharing agreement with some other station(s). These stations must file their agreements with the FCC by late November, and go dark on their current channels by January 23, 2018. I'm not 100% sure what happens with stations that are not able to reach an agreement by November. I know they'll need to go dark on their current channels on January 23rd. I'm not sure that their licenses will be immediately canceled. It is possible they can continue to seek an agreement and may return to the air if they succeed in doing so. I'm pretty confident Section 312(g) of the Communications Act will apply here – if a channel sharing station is not able to negotiate an agreement and return to the air by January 23, 2019, its license will be canceled (that's not official but it seems probable). As of late July, only 18 channel sharing agreements have been filed. All of the agreements filed to date have involved two stations (it is technically feasible to involve more than two stations in a channel sharing arrangement, and the rules allow for an agreement between more than two stations). This means an additional 113 stations are at risk of going dark next January. Some channel sharing arrangements which have been the subject of significant publicity have not (yet?) been filed. The widely-rumored WNBC/WNJU and WLVI/WHDH agreements are not yet on file. A quick glance at the list shows at least three more stations which I very much expect will enter sharing agreements. I have listed other commonly- controlled stations in the same markets as channel-sharing stations which have not yet announced agreements. There's no guarantee a station will share with a co-owned station but that's the first place to look. One station which indicated interest in channel sharing has instead already surrendered its license and gone dark (WIFR Freeport, Illinois). Band Changing stations: Thirty stations will remain on the air but will be moving to a lower frequency band. 13 stations are moving from UHF to high-VHF. 16 are going from UHF to low-VHF. One station (WQED Pittsburgh) is moving from high-VHF to low-VHF. The dates for these moves vary. These changes must be coordinated with other stations' moves within the same band. The earliest move is November 30, 2018; the last July 3, 2020. The lists: (sorted in order by call letters for off-air and channel-sharing stations; by destination channel and call letters for band-changing stations) Off-air stations: KATA-CD 50 Mesquite, Tex. WAGT 30 Augusta, Ga. Already off WAOH-CD 29 Akron, Ohio WBKI-TV 19 Campbellsville, Ky. WDLP-CD 21 Pompano Beach, Fla. Already off WFXI 8 Morehead City, N.C. WMEI 14 Arecibo, P.R. WNYJ-TV 29 West Milford, N.J. WPBO 43 Portsmouth, Ohio WSJU-TV 31 San Juan, P.R. WWJS-CD 15 Clarksville, Ind. Channel Sharing stations: KBEH 42 GARDEN GROVE, CA To ch. 4 w/KWHY-TV Los Angeles KNET-CD 50 LOS ANGELES, CA To ch. 32 w/KNLA-CD Los Angeles KTNC-TV 14 CONCORD, CA To ch. 32 w/KCNS San Francisco WBIN-TV 27 DERRY, NH To ch. 27 w/WUTF-DT Marlborough, Mass. WCWG 31 LEXINGTON, NC To ch. 16 w/WXII-TV Winston-Salem WGSI-CD 11 MURRELLS INLET, SC To ch. 8 w/WGSC-CD Murrells Inlet WGTW-TV 36 BURLINGTON, NJ To ch. 36 w/WMGM-TV Wildwood WIRS 17 YAUCO, PR To ch. 17 w/WVEO Aguadilla WJAL 39 HAGERSTOWN, MD To ch. 9 w/WUSA Washington WKPV 47 PONCE, PR To ch. 36 w/WVOZ-TV Ponce WMCN-TV 44 ATLANTIC CITY, NJ To ch. 22 w/WPHY-CD Trenton WMDO-CD 22 WASHINGTON, DC To ch. 44 w/WIAV-CD Washington WTBY-TV 22 POUGHKEEPSIE, NY To ch. 22 w/WDVB-CD Edison, N.J. WUVP-DT 29 VINELAND, NJ To ch. 17 w/WPHL-TV Philadelphia WWTO-TV 10 LA SALLE, IL To ch. 30 w/WLPD-CD Plano WWTW 34 SENATOBIA, MS To ch. 23 w/WTWV Memphis WXFT-DT 44 AURORA, IL To ch. 22 w/WLS-TV Chicago WXTV-DT 30 PATERSON, NJ To ch. 26 w/WFUT-DT Newark [not clear why in the rest of this list there are many blanx – gh] DWIFR 41 FREEPORT, IL Already off K35DG-D 35 LA JOLLA, CA KAZA-TV 47 AVALON, CA KCCO-TV 7 ALEXANDRIA, MN KCEB 26 LONGVIEW, TX KEMO-TV 32 SANTA ROSA, CA KEXT-CD 20 SAN JOSE, CA KILM 44 BARSTOW, CA KJLA 49 VENTURA, CA Co-owned w/KVMD & KXLA KLCS 41 LOS ANGELES, CA KMMA-CD 41 SAN LUIS OBISPO, CA KMTP-TV 33 SAN FRANCISCO, CA KOCE-TV 50 HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA KOFY-TV 19 SAN FRANCISCO, CA KQEH 50 SAN JOSE, CA Co-owned w/KQED & KQET KRCA 35 RIVERSIDE, CA KSEX-CD 42 SAN DIEGO, CA KSFV-CD 22 LOS ANGELES, CA Co-owned w/ KVHD-LD & KHTV-CD KSMS-TV 31 MONTEREY, CA Co-owned w/ KCBA & KDJT-CD KTLN-TV 47 NOVATO, CA Co-owned w/ KAXT-CD KTSF 27 SAN FRANCISCO, CA WAGV 51 HARLAN, KY WAPG-CD 18 GREENEVILLE, TN Co-owned w/ WKPT-TV WAZF-CD 20 FRONT ROYAL, VA WAZH-CD 14 HARRISONBURG, VA WBDT 26 SPRINGFIELD, OH Co-owned w/ WDTN WBOA-CD 29 PITTSBURGH, PA WCDC-TV 36 ADAMS, MA Co-owned w/ WXXA-TV WCGV-TV 25 MILWAUKEE, WI Co-owned w/ WVTV WCLJ-TV 42 BLOOMINGTON, IN WCMZ-TV 28 FLINT, MI WCTX 39 NEW HAVEN, CT Co-owned w/ WTNH WDCA 35 WASHINGTON, DC Co-owned w/ WTTG WDCW 50 WASHINGTON, DC WDLI-TV 49 CANTON, OH WDPX-TV 40 VINEYARD HAVEN, MA WDWL 30 BAYAMON, PR WEBR-CD 49 MANHATTAN, NY WEDY 41 NEW HAVEN, CT WELU 34 AGUADILLA, PR Co-owned w/ WSJN-CD &WQSJ-CD WEMW-CD 19 GREENSBURG, PA WEPA-CD 16 PITTSBURGH, PA WFFP-TV 24 DANVILLE, VA WFMZ-TV 46 ALLENTOWN, PA WFPX-TV 62 FAYETTEVILLE, NC WFXZ-CD 24 BOSTON, MA WGCB-TV 30 RED LION, PA WHTV 34 JACKSON, MI WIMP-CD 25 MIAMI, FL WIVB-TV 39 BUFFALO, NY Co-owned w/ WNLO WKBN-TV 41 YOUNGSTOWN, OH Co-owned w/ WYTV WKOI-TV 39 RICHMOND, IN WLNS-TV 36 LANSING, MI Co-owned w/ WLAJ WLPH-CD 44 MIAMI, FL WLVI 41 CAMBRIDGE, MA Co-owned w/ WHDH WLVT-TV 39 ALLENTOWN, PA WLWC 22 NEW BEDFORD, MA WLXI 43 GREENSBORO, NC WMBQ-CD 46 NEW YORK, NY WMFP 18 LAWRENCE, MA WMLW-TV 48 RACINE, WI Co-owned w/ WDJT-TV & WBME-CD WMSY-TV 52 MARION, VA WMUN-CD 45 NEW YORK, NY Co-owned w/ WNMF-LD WMVT 35 MILWAUKEE, WI Co-owned w/ WMVS WMYT-TV 39 ROCK HILL, SC Co-owned w/ WJZY WNBC 28 NEW YORK, NY Co-owned w/ WNJU WNDY-TV 32 MARION, IN Co-owned w/ WISH-TV&WIIH-CD WNJN 51 MONTCLAIR, NJ Co-owned w/ WNET &WLIW WNJT 43 TRENTON, NJ Co-owned w/ WNET &WLIW WNNB-CD 30 BEAVER, PA WNNE 25 HARTFORD, VT WNVC 24 FAIRFAX, VA WNVT 30 GOLDVEIN, VA WOCH-CD 49 CHICAGO, IL WOTH-CD 20 CINCINNATI, OH WPCP-CD 27 NEW CASTLE, PA WPMT 43 YORK, PA WPWR-TV 51 GARY, IN Co-owned w/ WFLD WQVC-CD 46 GREENSBURG, PA WRAY-TV 42 WILSON, NC WRDM-CD 19 HARTFORD, CT WRET-TV 43 SPARTANBURG, SC WRIW-CD 36 PROVIDENCE, RI WRLM 47 CANTON, OH WRNN-TV 48 KINGSTON, NY WSBN-TV 32 NORTON, VA WSFJ-TV 24 NEWARK, OH WSNS-TV 45 CHICAGO, IL Co-owned w/ WMAQ-TV WTBL-CD 49 LENOIR, NC WTCV 32 SAN JUAN, PR WTGL 46 LEESBURG, FL WTSD-CD 23 PHILADELPHIA, PA WTTA 32 ST. PETERSBURG, FL Co-owned w/ WFLA-TV WTVE 25 READING, PA Co-owned w/ WPHY-CD WUAB 43 LORAIN, OH Co-owned w/ WOIO WUSF-TV 16 TAMPA, FL WUTB 41 BALTIMORE, MD Co-owned w/ WBFF & WNUV WUVN 46 HARTFORD, CT Co-owned w/ WUTH-CD WVCY-TV 22 MILWAUKEE, WI WVIA-TV 51 SCRANTON, PA WVPY 21 FRONT ROYAL, VA WVTA 41 WINDSOR, VT WVTX-CD 28 BRIDGEPORT, OH WWSI 49 ATLANTIC CITY, NJ Co-owned w/ WCAU WXBU 23 LANCASTER, PA WXEL-TV 42 WEST PALM BEACH, FL WYBE 35 PHILADELPHIA, PA WYCC 20 CHICAGO, IL WYCN-CD 36 NASHUA, NH Co-owned w/ WBIN-TV WYCW 45 ASHEVILLE, NC Co-owned w/ WSPA-TV WYDN 47 WORCESTER, MA WZDC-CD 25 WASHINGTON, DC WZGS-CD 44 RALEIGH, NC WZME 42 BRIDGEPORT, CT Band Changing stations: WGGS-TV 16 Greenville, SC To ch. 2 WHDF 14 Florence, AL To ch. 2 WQED 13 Pittsburgh, PA To ch. 2 WSBE-TV 21 Providence, RI To ch. 2 WTLW 44 Lima, OH To ch. 2 WVIR-TV 32 Charlottesville, VA To ch. 2 WGGN-TV 42 Sandusky, OH To ch. 3 KWHY-TV 42 Los Angeles, CA To ch. 4 WNGH-TV 33 Chatsworth, GA To ch. 4 KRCB 23 Cotati, CA To ch. 5 KVCR-DT 26 San Bernardino, CA To ch. 5 WGBH-TV 19 Boston, MA To ch. 5 WJSP-TV 23 Columbus, GA To ch. 5 WNYB 26 Jamestown, NY To ch. 5 WTNB-CD 27 Cleveland, TN To ch. 5 WKBS-TV 46 Altoona, PA To ch. 6 WOUC-TV 35 Cambridge, OH To ch. 6 KRON-TV 38 San Francisco, CA To ch. 7 WACX 40 Leesburg, FL To ch. 7 WFGC 49 Palm Beach, FL To ch. 7 WHFL-CD 43 Goldsboro, NC To ch. 7 WHMB-TV 20 Indianapolis, IN To ch. 7 WNCN 17 Goldsboro, NC To ch. 8 WUPV 47 Ashland, VA To ch. 8 WISC-TV 50 Madison, WI To ch. 11 WVTT-CD 34 Olean, NY To ch. 11 KDOC-TV 32 Anaheim, CA To ch. 12 WGBY-TV 22 Springfield, MA To ch. 13 WNYI 20 Ithaca, NY To ch. 13 WTSF 44 Ashland, KY To ch. 13 No stations are going to channels 9 or 10. (Doug Smith, August VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD) T-MOBILE TO PAY FOR SOME LPTV REPACK MOVES Company says it is willing to foot the bill to help ease transition Written by John Eggerton for Broadcasting & Cable [July 17, 2017] http://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/washington/t-mobile-pay-some-lptv-repack-moves/167217 T-Mobile has volunteered to pay for affected low-power stations to move to temporary channels in order to clear broadcast spectrum as quickly and equitably as possible following the incentive auction. That came in a voluntary proposal for a Supplemental Reimbursement Program submitted to the FCC Monday, a step LPTVs saw as a positive sign. "I am writing to inform you of a voluntary commitment that T-Mobile USA, Inc.('T-Mobile') is making to compensate certain low power televisions stations that operate on a secondary basis and are unable to obtain a permanent channel in time to accommodate T-Mobile’s rapid deployment of broadband service in the 600 MHz band," said T-Mobile. "As detailed more fully below, T-Mobile is offering to pay the reasonable costs associated for such stations to move from a temporary channel to a permanent channel. While these stations are required to vacate the 600 MHz band when the broadband provider is ready to initiate service, T-Mobile recognizes that some of these stations may need to move twice, and T-Mobile is willing to go beyond what is required and compensate these stations for the additional move." The double move would be required because the FCC may not have identified new channels for the stations before T-Mobile is ready to take over their old ones. LPTVs can file for a new channel in a special "displacement" window, but that does not open until November. In some areas, that would be after T-Mobile's planned deployment, so they would have to relocate to a temporary channel until the displacement window opened. T-Mobile says they should not have to pay for two moves, so it will cover the first, though it points out such double payments are fully consistent with the law, meaning it does not have to help out the LPTVs but will. T-Mobile, the biggest bidder in the auction, said it plans to have at least 10 MHz of spectrum ready for deployment across more than a million square miles by the end of the year. "Our Coalition applauds T-Mobile in doing the right thing in assisting displaced by the auction LPTV stations from having to incur the costs of moving twice in response to the T-Mobile rapid deployment of the spectrum they won in the auction," said Mike Gravino, director of the LPTV Spectrum Rights Coalition. "While not a panacea for all of the problems and inequalities of the auction and repack, this commitment by T-Mobile to assist some of the most vulnerable LPTV is most welcomed." The FCC created the displacement window to help find new spectrum homes for LPTVs and translators, but they are not protected in the repack, meaning that if the FCC runs out of spectrum, they could go off the air. T-Mobile has already agreed to cover the expenses of public TV's low- power translators that have to move following the auction to make way for wireless forward auction winners—T-Mobile was the largest—to move in. "NAB is gratified by the T-Mobile announcement, which recognizes the important role that low power TV stations play in providing quality entertainment and lifeline news and information to millions of TV viewers," said the National Association of Broadcasters in a statement (via August WTFDA VHF-UHF Digest via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ FCC IS RUINING AM AND FM “I’m enclosing a money order to continue in WTFDA for another year. Unfortunately with less enthusiasm than in the past. Part of that is atmospheric, fewer tropo, ducting and E-skip episodes in recent years has made FM/TV DXing increasingly less fruitful. New TV DX essentially has been terminated by digital TV that precludes exotic reception - unless one has specialized equipment which seems to require increased costs. FM DX is being hurt by the FCC’s desire to fill the FM band beyond capacity. They’ve filled open channels; are infringing on coverage areas of established stations with higher power translators and higher power digital transmissions riding alongside analog transmissions, thus harming adjacent channel reception close to local and semi-local stations. This likely accounts for the diminished tropo, ducting and E skip reception that numerous DXers are complaining about. Frustration in the hobby is due in part to supposed technology advances, some by the FCC to try to aid a fading medium – AM. The effort to help AM is both a detriment and hindrance to FM as well as to DXers. This from a federal agency that is supposed to be an advocate of consumers as well as the industry. The case for AM remediation would not be necessary if 1) the FCC would allow more sensible amount of night time interference on the AM dial instead of allowing silly flea night power for virtually all licensed stations, leveling night power with more non- directionality, cutting back some of the higher power stations’ wattages, especially those who use dial killing HD digital IBOC at night. The FCC talks about the noise on the AM dial, yet they are the ones promoting it. 2) Encourage local Edison companies to clean up their power infrastructure. 3) Decrease the crowding of frequencies on the AM dial, encourage more to just go off the air. 4) If AM is dead in the eyes of many, establish a lower frequency FM dial section for some of these AM stations to migrate to, 5) End AM digital broadcasts altogether, no one is buying digital radios, and the side channel noise is harming both coverage areas and is masking skywave reception; bring back AM stereo to boost, clean and clear overall reception. Why am I focusing on AM’s overall status? Because let’s face it, folks, the FCC has a mistaken notion that fixing AM’s problems by dumping their stations onto FM can somehow bring back a failing medium, which is now threatening to turn FM into a failure of a medium. This in turn threatens our hobby by causing detrimental QRM for those who enjoy FM both for its clarity and perceived greater listener enjoyment. With TV now highly limited in its receptibility, FM teetering on the edge as a distance reception medium, the future of our hobby does not look promising. I’ve for example spent the better part of the last 5 years gradually crawling toward the 1300 mark of stations heard on FM, finally pushing through with the help of 7 nearby Michigan translators – not exactly how I envisioned doing this, when at one time I would have thought hearing 2000 FM stations would have been more than feasible from my Toledo, OH location.” (Gary Siegel, Toledo OH, Mailbag, August WTFDA VHF UHF Digest) Thanks, Gary for your comments. We all need to vent sometimes. I vent quite a bit to my wife about the hobby and I know she’s sick of listening to me. So, if you have something to say, send me an email, write me a letter and I’ll put it here. Is the [USA] FM band crowded? As of June 30th - 6755 commercial stations, 4111 educational, 7453 boosters and translators, 1966 LPFMs. Total: 20,285 stations. Nah, it’s not crowded? CU in 30 (Mike Bugaj, ed., ibid.) CALLSIGNS & TRANSMITTER SITE USAGE IN CENTRAL/SOUTH AMERICA At the moment, as time & motivation (etc.) permits, I’ve been attempting to to track & compile a list of extinct SW TXer sites throughout Central & South America (extremely slow process). I would like to request some of the members` knowledge & expertise on the correlation of callsign usage pertaining to SW TX sites & station name/ownership changes. I’ve thought that callsign usage might be purely be associated with a station’s licence/tx site. But to be honest I’m not now really sure if it is & if the situation might be different from country to country. I’ve noted station name & perhaps ownership changes associated with either the same callsign or same freq/callsign, but couldn’t be sure if same tx site retained. I do know of cases where callsigns have been retained with a move of tx site. Also I suspect, (but not certain), that perhaps callsigns have been reissued after a station closes (not sold) & years later the same callsign reissued for a different radio station owner at different site. I’m certainly aware in the case of Australia from following Adrian Peterson’s Wavescan articles that some of the same SW callsigns have been used by a variety of broadcasters & utility operators using different transmitters & sites over time. I would like to know if there are some clear cut certainties re callsign usage within Central & South America for SW broadcasting? More information would be most welcome. Regards (Ian, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) Ian, you might find some useful info here, or ask William Hepburn: http://www.dxinfocentre.com/Call_Signs_SW.htm 73, (Glenn, ibid.) GOOGLE EARTH BLOG & GE UPGRADE Mixed emotions this morning. Pleasantly surprised to see my GE automatically upgraded to GE Pro & with latest release, but disappointed to read this blog post (below). But given Google's lack of recent development with the GE product, I'm not surprised to read the blogger's post & his decision. https://www.gearthblog.com/blog/archives/2017/07/google-earth-fan-site-ending-daily-blog-posts-starting-today.html (Ian July 31, shortwavesites yg via DXLD) DXING BY DRONE I have a cheap drone, I’ve thought about attaching an iPod Nano (tuned to a vacant FM frequency), and flying it as high as it can go. It would be interesting to see what it would get (J R Klingerman, Berwick PA, July 24, WTFDA Forum via DXLD) Audiovox model IHDP01A and Insignia model NS-HD1 (discontinued) are portable HD FM receivers that weight 1.76 ounces. If you plan to use these for a Drone FM-DX platform, make sure you plug in the earbud headphones to the 3.5mm audio socket because it is your antenna too. You can either let the earbud cable dangle vertical under the drone platform or you can spread them out like a T-dipole. Keep the earbud-antenna as far away from the motors as possible to reduce EMI/RFI. https://www.amazon.com/AudioVox-IHDP01A-Portable-Player-Armband/dp/B00CCIKJT0 https://www.cnet.com/products/insignia-ns-hd01/review/ (GACTVDX, Easton PA, July 25, ibid.) LOW BAND SPORADIC-E TV-DX VIA DRONE Since used digital to analog TV converter set-top-boxes are being sold at cheap prices on ebay, why not use them for TV-DX droning? Just before flight in the field, attached a 12 volt mobile LCD-TFT monitor to the STB box RCA video output (yellow plug). Then start the auto-scan feature on the converter. Then disconnect the monitor. After the flight, reconnect the monitor to see what stations were received. Depending on the TV channel you choose, the antenna length can be between 34 to 52 inches, hanging down the bottom of the drone platform. For the power source of the STB use lightweight high density Lithium- ion rechargeable batteries. Keep in mind LIB cells are rated at 3.7 volts with up to 3+ amp hours. Therefore, you would need a battery pack with at least three cells for 11.1 volts; maximum of four cells providing 14.8 volts (GACTVDX, Easton PA, July 25, ibid.) It would be much more effective to have an uplink for the IR remote commands and a downlink for the STB’s output. I know Radio Shack sold things that would do that, meant to watch and control movies in another room of your house, etc. Range should be greater since there would be no walls between your base station and your drone. (Ryan Grabow :: egrabow.com/dx :: facebook.com/egrabow440 :: youtube.com/user/egrabow440 Fort Myers FL, ibid.) SPECTRUM POLLUTION AND INTRUDERS PUT URBAN RADIO IN DOUBT Southgate Tuesday, July 25, 2017 http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2017/july/pollution-of-the-rf-spectrum.htm The Wireless Institute of Australia report on the speech by Don Beattie G3BJ at the Ham Radio 2017 event in Friedrichshafen The growing level of RF pollution has raised concerns around the world. Read the WIA post by Jim Linton VK3PC at https://www.wia.org.au/newsevents/news/2017/20170721-1/index.php STEPS TO LOWER NOISE FLOOR AND REVITALIZE AM RADIO RadioWorld report interference is degrading the quality of broadcast reception http://www.southgatearc.org/news/2017/july/steps-to-lower-noise-floor-and-revitalize-am-radio.htm By Southgate Amateur Radio News --- A Radio World article highlights the growing RF pollution problem which is ruining peoples’ enjoyment of radio Posted by: (Mike Terry, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) INACTIVE SWBC COUNTRIES I can report about a link to On the Shortwaves.com where Jerry Berg under Special Resources has been presenting “Active - Inactive SWBC Countries” based on NASWA Country List since 2015. I found it interesting, but since 2015 there had been very small changes, so I wanted to look a little longer back in time to find out what has happened. I took the EDXC Country List of 2014, applied the findings of the working group for Active - Inactive SWBC Countries and compared today with year 2000. And now I could see the drastic drop of active countries on shortwave. I informed Jerry about my figures and he found it very interesting and asked about permission to publish it on his site. You can now find my result on: http://www.ontheshortwaves.com/resources.html Look under “Active - Inactive SWBC Countries” and the last paragraph, there is a link. If you add that many stations now are reluctant to verify listeners reports, the future of DX-ing on the shortwaves is less than bright (Lennert Weirell, SW Bulletin July 30 via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ 21 AUGUST ECLIPSE OFFERS LONGWAVE RADIO OPPORTUNITIES Longwave Radio Club The total eclipse of the sun on 21 August offers coast-to-coast opportunities for radio experimenters to examine diurnal propagation variations on a shortened time scale --- and perhaps anomalous variations that aren’t analogous to the normal day/night changes. Effects can be expected from VLF through HF (probably even at ELF), so nearly every longwave enthusiast in the US and Canada should be able to observe and document signal variations during the eclipse with their current equipment. This will be discussed further in the August issue of The LOWDOWN. Meanwhile, to get a sense of the potential range of experiments possible, LWCA member Rick Ferranti W6NIR suggests these Web sites as an introduction: Whitham D Reeve and HamSci.org. Rick notes that the latter is a little vague on some of the organized activities, and more can be gleaned from an addition HamSci paper on the subject. HamSci’s own effort is strictly in the HF amateur bands and employs tools like the Reverse Beacon Network and WSPRnet, the latter of which will also be useful to monitors tuned to the WSPR segments of 2200 and 630 meters. But as previously noted, all longwave buffs can get in on the action. HiFER and LowFER signals, NDBs, Navy stations monitored on SID receivers, and whistler/natural radio receivers will also all provide unique opportunities to observe the transient effects on our ionosphere of the moon’s shadow. http://www.lwca.org/ Longwave Club of America Home Page, the prime source of information on radio below 500 kHz including beac... (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) Hi All, Please forgive my intrusion. The University of New York used to organise the HAMs, DXers, SWLers for such study during solar eclipse. I took part in such studies in past when I used to be more active. Kind regards, 73 de (Sudipta Ghose VU2UT, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) one of those DON’T MISS THE SOLAR ECLIPSE QSO PARTY on Monday, August 21 from 1400 to 2100 UT. This is a wide-ranging propagation experiment intended to observe what happens when the moon blocks ionizing solar radiation from the ionosphere. The event is sponsored by ARRL and HamSCI, and the details are in the August 2017 QST, or you can read the same QST article at http://bit.ly/2tJ6EON (QST de W1AW, Propagation Forecast Bulletin 30 ARLP030, From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA July 28, 2017 To all radio amateurs via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) THIS SPORADIC E SEASON Martin McCormick, WB5AGZ of Stillwater, Oklahoma reported on July 23: “This has been one of the less spectacular sporadic E seasons so far with several openings but very few that are the type one will remember much after they occurred. After learning that WWV had installed a turnstile antenna on its 25 MHz transmitter, I began parking a receiver on that frequency to see if I could hear it in North-Central OK. The first couple of weeks were nothing but then WWV began coming in around 0000 UTC starting July 20. Whatever is ionizing the E layer to create this propagation is sticking around for a few days because once it started fading in, it has made numerous appearances this last week. It has mostly been in the mid to late evenings Central time but on Sunday July 23, it has been in with a fair signal since around 1200 UTC and is still somewhat audible at 1700 UTC as I write. It is good that WWV is transmitting on 25 MHz as there are almost no steady identifiable signals in high HF and low VHF anymore to indicate when the bands are open. There is an announcement at 17 minutes past the hour stating that the turnstile antenna’s configuration will not change until after the eclipse on 21 August. The theory that one of the possible triggers for a Sporadic E event has to do with clouds of iron and magnesium atoms from meteorites is interesting because we seem to have nothing for days at a time even though Geo magnetic activity is not unusually low or high and then we have several active days of Sporadic E and the numbers are not any different than they were when there was no E sub S at all.” Today Martin wrote: http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2010JGRA..11512318K [sic: correct including the two dots, nothing removed] “The idea that a cloud of something such as magnesium or iron ions is one of the factors makes a lot of sense since we don’t have Sporadic E every day, all Summer or all Winter even though the angle of Solar radiation is totally predictable and the Geo magnetic activity indices are always present if variable so something else which is hard to see and slow-moving must also contribute to causing sporadic E. Those of us who have been listening to both sporadic E and normal ionospheric propagation for years notice that the fading rate of signals always speeds up when there is lots of variation in the Sun’s magnetic field and slows way down when things are quiet. The 25 MHZ WWV signal was audible here last week almost every evening and most of last Sunday but this week, there have been only a few seconds in which it pops in briefly and then everything goes dead again.” (QST de W1AW, Propagation Forecast Bulletin 30 ARLP030, From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA July 28, 2017 To all radio amateurs via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) :Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts :Issued: 2017 Jul 31 0238 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 24 - 30 July 2017 Solar activity was very low throughout the summary period. A B1 flare, observed at 27/2136 UTC from a plage region near center disk, was the strongest event of the period. Region 2668 (N03, L=311, class/area Axx/010 on 25 Jul) decayed to plage by 26 Jul and Region 2669 (N18, L=255, class/area Axx/010 on 30 Jul) remained inactive. No Earth-directed CMEs were observed in available coronagraph imagery. No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal to high levels on 26 Jul, high levels on 30 Jul and moderate to high levels throughout the remaining days of the period. A maximum flux of 18,800 pfu was observed at 25/1515 UTC. The enhancements in flux levels were due to persistently elevated solar winds from a slowly-waning, positive polarity CH HSS. Geomagnetic field activity ranged from quiet to active levels over the past week. Quiet to active levels were observed on 24 Jul and 26 July; quiet to unsettled levels were observed on 25 Jul and 27-28 Jul; the remaining days were quiet. Geomagnetic activity was associated with the influence of a slowly-waning, positive polarity CH HSS enhancing solar wind speeds. A steady decline in wind speed was observed over the entire reporting period from a peak speed of 705 km/s at 24/2219 UTC to a low of around 350 km/s by the end of 30 Jul. FORECAST OF SOLAR AND GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY 31 JULY - 26 AUGUST 2017 Solar activity is expected to be at low levels with a chance for M-class flare (R1-R2/Minor-Moderate) on 31 Jul - 13 Aug due to the return of old Region 2665 (S06, L=113) rotating across the visible disk. The remainder of the outlook period is expected to be at very low levels. No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit. The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to range from normal background to high levels. High levels are expected on 01-03 Aug, 05-10 Aug, and 18-26 Aug; moderate levels are expected 31 Jul and 11 Aug; normal background levels are expected for 04 Aug and 12-17 Aug. All enhancements in electron flux are due to multiple anticipated recurrent CH HSSs. Geomagnetic field activity is expected to range from quiet to G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels. G1 (Minor) storm levels are likely on 04-05 Aug and again on 17-18 Aug; active conditions are likely on 31 Jul, 06 Aug and 19 Aug; unsettled levels are likely on 01-02 Aug, 07 Aug and 20-21 Aug; quiet conditions are expected for the remaining days of the outlook period. All anticipated enhancements in geomagnetic activity are due to multiple, recurrent CH HSSs. :Product: 27-day Space Weather Outlook Table 27DO.txt :Issued: 2017 Jul 31 0238 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 2017-07-31 # # UTC Radio Flux Planetary Largest # Date 10.7 cm A Index Kp Index 2017 Jul 31 78 12 4 2017 Aug 01 78 10 3 2017 Aug 02 78 8 3 2017 Aug 03 75 5 2 2017 Aug 04 75 25 5 2017 Aug 05 75 18 5 2017 Aug 06 75 12 4 2017 Aug 07 75 8 3 2017 Aug 08 75 5 2 2017 Aug 09 75 5 2 2017 Aug 10 75 5 2 2017 Aug 11 75 5 2 2017 Aug 12 75 5 2 2017 Aug 13 75 5 2 2017 Aug 14 73 5 2 2017 Aug 15 70 5 2 2017 Aug 16 70 5 2 2017 Aug 17 70 15 5 2017 Aug 18 70 15 5 2017 Aug 19 70 12 4 2017 Aug 20 70 10 3 2017 Aug 21 70 10 3 2017 Aug 22 70 10 3 2017 Aug 23 70 5 2 2017 Aug 24 70 5 2 2017 Aug 25 70 5 2 2017 Aug 26 70 5 2 (SWPC via WORLD OF RADIO 1889, DXLD) GLENN`S PROPAGATION OUTLOOK FOR MEDIA NETWORK PLUS AS OF AUGUST 3 2017 Keith, From Space Weather Service Australia, degraded HF conditions expected August 4 and 5; the global HF propagation forecast calling for fair conditions at low and middle latitude bands, fair to poor at high latitudes. From the Space Environment Predixion Center of China, solar flux peaking at 81 August 12-16. Planetary A index peaking at 14 on August 5; 19 on August 13. From Spaceweather South Africa: magnetic conditions quiet August 4, active to minor storm on the fifth, shortwave fadeouts unlikely, MUF unstable. From Met Office UK thru August 6: a 30% chance of Minor Storm intervals. From F K Janda, OK1HH in Prague, the Geomagnetic field will be: quiet on August 4, 9 quiet to active on August 5, 7, 11, 13, 17 - 22 active to disturbed on August 6, 12 mostly quiet on August 8, 10, 14 - 15 quiet to unsettled August 16 From SWPC in Boulder, G1 (Minor) geomagnetic storm levels are likely Aug 4 and 5 with A and K indices rising to 25 and 5, and again on the 17-18 at 15 and 5; Lowest A`s and K`s of 5 and 2, August 8-16. Solar flux dropping from 75 August 13, to 70 by the 15th. William Hepburn`s VHF-UHF DX maps show extreme tropospheric ducting: off the east coast of Florida over the Bahamas August 5, 6 and 8; off both Californias thru at least August 8, also Oregon and Washington on the 8th; off the west coast of Africa from the Canaries to Cabo Verde all week; off Angola August 4 to 8; across the western and central Mediterranean all week; across the Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea all week. For FM DX, The Perseid meteor shower has started, to peak August 12 into 13th (via DXLD) ###