DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-068, June 8, 2007 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 2007 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1362: ** tentative Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 [irregular] Sat 2130 WRMI 9955 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1500 WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Mon 0530 WRMI 9955** Mon 0930 WRMI 9955** Tue 1030 WRMI 9955** Wed 0730 WRMI 9955** WORLD OF RADIO, CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL SCHEDULE: 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 For updates see our Anomaly Alert page: http://www.worldofradio.com/anomaly.html WRN ON DEMAND: http://new.wrn.org/listeners/stations/station.php?StationID=24 WORLD OF RADIO PODCASTS VIA WRN NOW AVAILABLE: http://www.wrn.org/listeners/stations/podcast.php OUR ONDEMAND AUDIO [also CONTINENT OF MEDIA, MUNDO RADIAL] http://www.worldofradio.com/audiomid.html or http://wor.worldofradio.org ** AGALEGA ISLAND. Agalega DX pedition update --- Glenn- just received this. 73s (Bill Bergadano, KA2EMZ, June 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: http://hamspirit.wordpress.com/2007/06/06/3b6sp-dxpedition-trouble-with-ship/ DX Cluster reports mention SP9MRO/MM and team en route to Agalega have encountered a problem with the catamaran they are sailing in. SP9MRO/MM has been working on 15 and 17m. Unfortunately, as I type this, ZS1Y has confirmed via the cluster that the catamaran has lost an engine and sail and is now heading back to St. Brandon (3B7). All on board appear to be OK. The DXpedition may now be canceled (via Bergadano, DXLD) ** ALBANIA. I believe that the audience during these days might be the highest, because of independence of Kosovo and the first ever visit of USA President in Albania on Sunday, June 10 (Drita Çiço, R. Tirana, June 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, a good time to make a point of listening. A reminder of the English schedule: 1845-1900 6035 7465 Eu exc Sun 2000-2030 7465 Eu exc Sun 2000-2030 13720 NAm exc Mon 0145-0200 6120 7425 NAm exc Mon 0230-0300 6115 7425 NAm exc Mon 1300-1330 13750 NAm exc Mon Hmmm, I guess we`ll have to wait until UT Tuesday for news about Bush`s visit (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Director of Radio Tirana wrote me that it will be broadcasted on Monday. At 0800 UT there were news on private TV here that President Bush is having stomach problems (Drita Çiço, R. Tirana, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGUILLA. More irregularity from DGS, or rather Pastor Melissa Scott who seems to be devoting most of the airtime to herself these days: June 8 at 1525 check, nothing on 11775 aside Brasil 11780, but at 1544 she was back (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 11440/LSB, Radio Continental; 2254-2307+, 4-June; Baladas at tune-in; break at 2301+ after tune ended; News to 2303, ID promo at 2304 then commentary. All in Spanish. SIO=152. Nothing audible on 15820/LSB; first time I've heard the 11440 feeder (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** ASIA [non]. Dear Friends, Today on 8th of June, I receive a nice detailed QSL verification card from RADIO FREE ASIA for my detailed email reception report on 23rd of May 2007 from 0230-0300 UT on the frequency of 17730 kHz of their Mandarin language broadcast. The card also stating as follows: - This is the first in a series of RFA QSL cards that commemorate the youth of the world, and the spirit of democracy and freedom. The drawing was created on April 26, 2007 RFA’s annual “Take Our Daughters And Sons To Work Day” in Washington DC. This is one of many drawings made by the children of RFA personnel, inspired by the work their parents create daily at RFA. Please continue to submit your reception reports to http://www.rfa.org/schedules or by e-mail to qsl @ rfa.org Regards & 73’s (Mukesh Kumar, The Cosmos Club, Muzaffarpur, INDIA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Detailed? Minus transmitter site of course, which everybody including the Chicom knows but RFA is not willing to admit. Per Aoki this is: 17730*R.FREE ASIA 0100-0200 1234567 Tibetan 250 178 Ulaanbaatar 17730*R.FREE ASIA 0200-0229 1234567 Tibetan(Amdo) 250 178 Ulaanbaatar 17730*R.FREE ASIA 0229-0300 1234567 Tibetan(Khams) 250 178 Ulaanbaatar MONGOLIA 10700E4755 RFA a07 So are you sure it was in Mandarin when you heard it?? Could be there are Mandarin announcements within the Tibetan/Khams service 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** AUSTRALIA. June 8 at 0525, 19m was hopping solstitially, with various signals from Asia and Pacific, especially R. Australia on 15160 // 15240 in English, but absent from the usual third // which is strongest, 15515. Transmitter trouble at Shep? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Curiously, there's no signal readable here from Australia after 0400 on 19m. Rather 12080 is the only strong Aussie signal I can get, and BTW, remarkable has been the way Radio New Zealand Int. is in booming on 13730 after 0300, since the last three days (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BAHAMAS. FM DX (EDT): 5-31 Es: 101.9, BAHAMAS, Nassau, 1043, P+weak, local ads ~1150 mi #1558 Yamaha T-80 tuner (modified IF filters), Onkyo T-4310R tuner w/ RDS Radio Shack 6 Element Triple-Drive FM Antenna, Phase Box (home brew), non directional FM antenna for phase. Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio (Cleveland), amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** BELARUS. New 6010, 2250-2300, 31-05, Belaruskaje Radyjo, Brest, Belarusian announcement, western evergreens, talk, ID. 44444, heard // 6040, 6070, 6080, 6115, 7110 and 7145 - Now all night broadcasts again. APV-DNK New 6080, 0005-0015 31-05, Belaruskaje Radyjo, Minsk Belarusian talk about Belarus 53544 heard // 6010, 6040, 6070, 6115, 6190, 7110 and 7145 - Now all night broadcasts again. APV-DNK (Anker Petersen, Denmark, Vejers Strand at the westcoast of Denmark, on my AOR AR7030PLUS with 25 + 45 metres longwires via Dario Monferini, playdx yg via DXLD) Evidently he means ``new`` in the sense of new at that particular hour, not a totally new frequency (gh, DXLD) ** BERMUDA. FM DX (EDT). 6-3 Es: 89.1, ZBM BERMUDA Hamilton, 1158, F-G AC, local nx report "Bermuda Broadcasting News", rest was satellite with "Music Week" program ~1020 mi 98.1, KJAZ BERMUDA Hamilton, 1210, F-G when not under semi local WKDD, smooth jazz music, liners ~1020 mi #1559 107.5, WHT BERMUDA Hamilton, 1228, F Dionne Warwick oldie, "Hott 107- 5", old school Sunday, reggae oldie ~1020 mi #1560 106.1, VSB BERMUDA Hamilton, 1230, VG with AC, "VSB Tipsters" spot, PSA, "Mix 106" ~1020 mi #1561 98.1, KJAZ BERMUDA Hamilton, 1238, F still in as late as 1250, but not as strong as before, nothing but smooth jazz & occasional liners. I tried for the 94.9 and something tried getting through local WQMX but wouldn’t punch through enough to hear anything significant. Maybe next time! Yamaha T-80 tuner (modified IF filters) Onkyo T-4310R tuner w/ RDS Radio Shack 6 Element Triple-Drive FM Antenna Phase Box (home brew), non directional FM antenna for phase Good DX! (Michael Procop, Bedford, Ohio (Cleveland), amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) ** CANADA. The increase of the daytime power of CHHA-1610 Toronto ON from 1 kW to 10 kW has been approved by the CRTC: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Decisions/2007/db2007-170.htm CHHA Toronto – Technical change 1. The Commission approves the application by San Lorenzo Latin American Community Centre to change the authorized contours of the Type B community radio programming undertaking CHHA Toronto, by increasing the daytime transmitter power from 1,000 watts to 10,000 watts. 2. The increase in power will restore the CHHA radio signal to areas that lost coverage following the relocation of the transmitter approved by the Commission in Broadcasting Decision 2007-301. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Will be interesting to se how this station will do on sunrise/sunset skip with the power increase. 73, (Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. The extremely distorted signal which has been traced to RNT being over 1 MHz off-frequency from 6165 is still there: June 6 at 0510 check, it was pretty much centered on 7290 causing severe QRM to BBC in Portuguese, which is via South Africa, 500 kW at 335 degrees, 0430-0530 and M-F only. Does BBC care? RNW, DW and our team tracked down the source already when it was on 7312v (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Re 7-067: 7300 strong signal, SOH type programme at 2200 (June 6). Firedrake in the background from 2205. The 14620 outlet switched to 14520 a few days ago and Firedrake confirmed again this evening (Olle Alm, Sweden, June 6, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The program in Chinese must have been listed Vatican Radio, sounding exactly like the programs I have heard on SOH. Today from 2100 I have noted only Firedrake with no SOH signal audible during the TOH breaks on 7300 (Olle Alm, Sweden, June 7, ibid.) Tho there were lots of Chinese-language signals, RFA and/or jamming on 16m, June 8 at 0527 Firedrake on 18180 against Sound of Hope was JBA (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. Firedrake, 14520 (new frequency?), 1622-1654 June 8, not heard on 14620. All against SOH: parallel with 7300 (weak), 9200 (good), 10300 (good) and 18180 (good). Noted firedrake against RFA on 11795 (very strong) with weak station under them. Also firedrake on 15210 (weak), mixing with a station in English, against who? (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COOK ISLANDS. I listen to Radio Cook Islands, 630 kHz on a semi regular basis online (Paul B. Walker, Jr., SC, June 3, NRC-AM via DXLD) Paul, At least ZK1ZC has entered the 21st century to have their signal online. Logging them on MW on 630 in the 80s was not as easy feat. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) Yeah, you're right about that "entering the 21st century". They stream at like 18 20K, and it sounds remarkably well (Paul B. Walker, ibid.) Streaming audio may be the thing that saves radio. IBOC isn't (Patrick Martin, ibid.) RADIO COOK ISLANDS GOES LIVE ON THE WEB A radio station in the southern Pacific, once heard all over the world thanks to shortwave, can again be heard worldwide. Radio Cook Islands (RCI) is now available on a live audio stream from the station's website at http://www.radio.co.ck BBC Monitoring first noted this on 5 June 2007, when the following programming was observed (in English unless otherwise indicated): 1550 - In progress: Religious programme in Maori 1600 - Pacific Regional News (relay Radio New Zealand International) 1608 - Music and information, presented in English and Maori 1700 - Pacific Regional News (relay Radio New Zealand International) 1708 - Music and information, presented in English and Maori 1800 - World and Pacific News (relay Radio New Zealand International) 1810 - Sports News (relay of Radio New Zealand International) 1815 - Music and information, presented in English and Maori 1900 - RCI national news (5 minutes) Frequent promotional and identification announcements in English were aired throughout the period under observation, typically: "News on the hour every hour, Monday to Friday, only on Radio Cook Islands, 630 kilohertz, your news station." Radio Cook Islands is on the air 18 hours a day from studios on the main island of the archipelago, Raratonga, broadcasting on mediumwave and FM. For many years it was also relayed on various shortwave frequencies, finally 11760 kHz, ceasing when the transmitter was destroyed by fire in 1992. Formerly owned and operated by the government, the station was acquired by private media group Elijah Communications in March 1999. The Cook Islands archipelago is a group of 15 islands and atolls in the southern Pacific Ocean, roughly midway between New Zealand and Hawaii. A British, then New Zealand, protectorate until 1965, Cook Islands is now a self-governing parliamentary democracy in free association with New Zealand. Local time is gmt -10 hours. Source: BBC Monitoring research 6 Jun 07 (via DXLD) ** CUBA. Re 7-067: Palabras --- Hola, Como moderador de esta lista estoy asombrado de las palabras gruesas que algunos colisteros han usado en relación a la información de que Cuba no ha admitido la entrada de los 500 receptores de OC. Espero que ésta sea última vez que se usan esas palabras gruesas, fuera de tono; en caso contrario, me veré en la obligación de comenzar a amonestar a los contertulios que no respeten las opiniones y usen un lenguaje barriobajero. Y, lo dicho, es aplicable a todos los mensajes. Es de suponer que somos aficionados al DX, no a la telebasura. ¿Tanto cuesta ser correcto y diplomático (aún en la divergencia)? Un saludo cordial (Pedro Sedano, Noticias DX yg via DXLD) ** CUBA [and non]. CUBA NO OTORGA LA ENTREGA DE RECEPTORES DE RNW -Tomado del sitio web de Radio Nederland: http://www.informarn.nl/about_radionederland/noticias_de_prensa/pre070605_receptores -Escuchar audio del program Cartas a RN especial del dia de ayer en http://www.informarn.nl/programas/programassemanales/programa_Cartasatrn/ ----- Cuba no otorga la entrega de receptores de RNW 05-06-2007 El Gobierno de La Habana no permite la entrega de 500 receptores de radio, que estaban destinados a los oyentes de Radio Nederland Wereldomroep en Cuba. El impedimento de la entrega de las radios es una sorpresa para Radio Nederland. El director general de Radio Nederland, Jan Hoek: "Estamos muy decepcionados. La Embajada de Cuba en los Países Bajos estaba al tanto de la iniciativa, cuyo objetivo era sortear receptores de radio de onda corta entre nuestros oyentes, que participaban en un concurso consistente en escribir historias. Hasta ahora la Embajada cubana no había puesto objeciones contra este propósito. Lo que más lamentamos es que nuestros oyentes ahora no recibirán lo que les prometimos". Radio Nederland tiene una amplia y activa audiencia en Cuba. Se ha optado por sortear receptores de radio para facilitar la escucha de las emisiones de Radio Nederland. Debido a la problemática situación económica en la isla, muchos cubanos no pueden comprar un radioreceptor. Además de ello, es difícil conseguir en Cuba un receptor con el que también se pueden escuchar emisoras extranjeras. En enero del 2007, Radio Nederland organizó, junto con sus colegas canadienses, un concurso para escribir historias sobre los más variados aspectos culturales de su país. En los últimos meses, Radio Nederland recibió 945 cartas. Los 500 receptores se sortearían entre los autores más talentosos. Según el director del Departamento latino-Americano de Radio Nederland, José Zepeda Varas, las autoridades cubanas temen que con el reparto de radios se le haga el juego al Gobierno estadounidense. Según ellos, el presidente Bush estaría envuelto en una acción para desestabilizar el país mediante la desinformación y la entrega de las radios contribuiría a ese objetivo. Radio Nederland pone de relieve que no existe ninguna relación entre la política de Estados Unidos y el concurso. (véase información de fondo) Radio Nederland espera poder entregar el premio a los ganadores en otro momento, cuando las circunstancias en Cuba lo permitan. Para más información puede tomar contacto con: José Zepeda Varas, director del Departamento Latinoamericano Tel: 31 35 6724 305 E/mail: jose.zepeda @ rnw.nl INFORMACIÓN DE FONDO: Una ilusión frustrada. Junto con sus colegas canadienses, Radio Nederland organizó un concurso desde mediados de diciembre del año pasado para regalar 500 receptores de radio a los oyentes cubanos. La intención era favorecer a gente que tiene una larga tradición de escucha de estas emisoras internacionales, pero que les resulta muy difícil acceder plenamente a la recepción por falta de recursos económicos y como consecuencia del bloqueo al que está sometida la isla por parte del gobierno de los Estados Unidos. El concurso se cerró en marzo de este año. Hemos recibido un total de 945 cartas. Lo que constituye una verdadera hazaña porque se trataba de escribir historias cubanas sobre los más variados aspectos culturales y pagar para enviar las cartas. El miércoles 30 de mayo, el embajador de Cuba en Holanda, Sr. Óscar de los Reyes, comunicó a Radio Nederland que lamentablemente el Gobierno de su país no respaldaba la entrega de estos receptores porque si bien el concurso se enmarcaba dentro de la línea histórica que ha mantenido Radio Nederland Wereldomroep no se le escapa al gobierno de La Habana la política de los Estados Unidos, y especialmente la del presidente George Bush, que promueve la entrega de receptores en Cuba y estimula a Gobiernos aliados a hacer lo mismo. "No existe animadversión hacia Radio Nederland" ha dicho el diplomático, pero "mi gobierno no puede ser partidario de una acción de esta naturaleza que de cualquier modo se asemeja a los propósitos agresivos del Gobierno estadounidense". Radio Nederland lamenta esta decisión por tres razones esenciales: En primer lugar estamos seguros, por el contenido de las cartas recibidas, de la gran ilusión que ha despertado el concurso entre los oyentes cubanos, y será para ellos una enorme decepción no poder recibir estos radio receptores. Razón por la cual RNW presenta sus más sentidas excusas a todos aquellos que enviaron su participación, pero se trata de un imponderable que escapa a la buena voluntad y propósitos de RNW. En segundo término es decepcionante que el gobierno cubano no haga diferencias a la hora de tomar decisiones entre gobiernos distintos con políticas distintas. La transparencia de los objetivos perseguidos con el concurso no se merecen esta respuesta. Por lo demás no se trata de una iniciativa gubernamental sino radiofónica. Entendemos que los contactos internacionales con Cuba no son lo que deberían ser y que ello afecta el normal desarrollo de las relaciones con ese país. En tercer término Radio Nederland tiene la estrategia del diálogo y la negociación como elementos centrales para resolver controversias, estimula el multilateralismo internacional basado en el respeto mutuo, y considera que son los propios pueblos, y en este caso, el pueblo cubano, el encargado de resolver soberanamente su destino. Radio Nederland es, en consecuencia, no una muralla, no un muro, sino una ventana abierta para el mundo desde la pluralidad y la libertad. José Zepeda Varas Artículos relacionados: ¡Atención Cuba! Informes relacionados: Cuba Opinión de los lectores: much more listener response, some from inside Cuba, via above link, and also Zepeda has more to say (via Horacio Nigro, Montevideo, Uruguay, Noticias DX via DXLD) CUBAN GOVERNMENT PREVENTS DISTRIBUTION OF RADIOS BY RNW The Cuban government has prevented the distribution of shortwave radios that had been intended for Cuban listeners of RNW. The prevention of the import and distribution of the radios in Cuba was unexpected, says RNW Director-General Jan Hoek. “We are disappointed. The Cuban embassy was fully aware of our initiative, with which we planned to reward listeners who participated in a story competition with a world receiver. Up to now, the embassy had not indicated there would be any difficulties. The worst part is that our listeners cannot have something that we promised them.” RNW has a large audience in Cuba. It was decided to offer the radios as prizes to make listening easier. Through poor economic circumstances, many Cubans do not have radios, and sets that can receive foreign stations are difficult to get. In January 2007, in partnership with Radio Canada International, RNW ran a story competition in which listeners were asked to write about their country. A total of 945 entries were received, and 500 radios would be distributed among the most talented authors. According to José Zepeda, Head of the Latin American Department at RNW, the Cuban authorities fear that the distribution of the radios will directly benefit the Americans. As they see it, President Bush is carrying out a campaign of disinformation to destabilize the country, and the US would welcome the distribution of world receivers for that purpose. But RNW stresses that there is no connection between this writing competition and US government policy. RNW hopes that its Cuban listeners will eventually be able to get their prize when the circumstances in Cuba permit. (June 7th, 2007 - 8:22 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) ** CZECH REPUBLIC [non]. ¿Alguien por el lado del Río de la Plata ha escuchado R. Praga en español recientemente? Yo el año pasado solía escucharlos muy bien vía Ascención, 0000 UT en 11665 kHz, pero si bien esa frecuencia sigue listada no encuentro ni rastros de ella. 73, (Moisés Knochen, Montevideo, Uruguay, June 6, condig list via DXLD) And how about the Sackville relay at 2330 on 9685 ex-6000, anyone confirm? (gh, DXLD) ** FALKLAND ISLANDS [non]. Re the recent item that an Argentine deputy from Tierra del Fuego is introducing legislation for LRA24, 640, Radio Nacional, Rio Grande to be upgraded in order to broadcast 24 hours to the Malvinas --- What would it take to make this work? I measure the distance to Port Stanley on the far side of E Falkland at about 750 km, the rest considerably closer. Station at present is 25 kW day, 5 kW night. Unknown if it already has a direxional antenna. The power reduxion is common for Argie stations, presumably to reduce co-channel QRM at night, and there are a few others on 640, not to mention 50 kW in RGS Brasil --- but those are still a considerable distance from the southern tip of Argentina. They could easily leave 25 kW power on at night and see how that works. It seems that 50 kW non-direxional would do the trick at night, as 750 km is a common distance for ordinary reception of US clear channel stations, e.g. WOAI 1200 in San Antonio which booms in here all night. Getting the same signal into FI in the daytime would also be possible, but with much less signal strength, it seems to me, even considering an overwater path. If they stay on the low-end frequency 640, that would be an advantage. We even get a weak daytime signal overland from 670 50 kW in Denver at about the same distance. On the contrary, for nighttime skywave a high-end frequency would be more effective, and surely in this remote region finding clear frequencies at both ends of the dial should not be difficult. At that latitude there would also be more interruptions due to auroral activity than we find closer to the tropix or sub-tropix. So a transmitter location further north, even if it is somewhat more distant, would be advantageous. A dedicated Malvinas service on shortwave could be carried out from much further away in Argentina at an appropriate skip distance and frequency; no particular reason to base it in TdF. As to whether many Falklanders would care to listen to this even if reception were good, that is quite another matter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. Glenn, Nice to know that with all the cutbacks in international broadcasting, especially here in Europe, some broadcasters are still looking to hire. This was posted today on the Journalismjobs.com website (Marty Delfin, Madrid, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: DEUTSCHE WELLE Deutsche Welle is Germany's international broadcaster - offering a wide selection of multimedia programming: DW-TV broadcasts in German, English, Spanish and Arabic. DW-RADIO broadcasts in 30 languages and DW-WORLD.DE offers output in 31 languages. We are looking for you The English-language departments of DW-RADIO in Bonn and DW-TV in Berlin are seeking to hire several journalists/editors as soon as possible. Freelance Editors wanted in Bonn and Berlin Job Description - Translating and voicing reports - Generating your own reports and scripts - Planning and production - Presenting news and business programmes (TV) and news and current events programmes (Radio) The above description is an example only; other duties may apply. Your profile - Native English-speaker with a good knowledge of German - Education and training in journalism and/or experience in radio and/or television - Good knowledge of German/European politics and society - Excellent analytical and communication skills - Flexibility, ability to work under pressure and in a team - Willingness to do shift work - Knowledge of standard news management and office software Successful candidates will be employed under standard wage agreements for freelance workers employed on a regular basis. Please send applications for Berlin (television) to: Deutsche Welle Fremdsprachen TV Herrn Ewen Campbell Voltastraße 6 13355 Berlin, Germany Bonn (radio) to: Deutsche Welle Englisches Programm Herrn Marco Vollmar Kurt-Schumacher-Straße 3 53110 Bonn, Germany (via Marty Delfín, Spain, June 6, DXLD) ** GREECE. Re 7-067: Glenn: Something doesn't make sense to me here about the time UT, or the frequency, or the station either. On UT Sunday 2305 until UT Monday 0005 I listened to "Greek In Style" in English with the lady announcer on VOG on 7475 and 9420; 15650 was not audible. At about UT Sunday 2355 she introduced the recording of Dizzy Gillespie with "Ta Pedia Tou Pirea (Never on Sunday)". Following more recordings they went into "Edo Athina" and then with "From Where and Why" in Greek. Another thing, if Marty was listening to 7450 at 2055 UT, he would have been hearing ERT-3, Radiofonikos Stathmos Makedonias in Thessaloniki. UT 0200-0300 Sunday is when Katerina does her "Hellenes Around The World" in English. Incidentally, Greek Time is UT+3 hours, but that has nothing to do with this since it is not UT-3. Regards, (John Babbis, MD, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yeah, I understand the confusion because of the time; that's why I was curious why at such an early hour in English. Seems John heard the same program also but at a later time and different freq. It was most definitely 7450 kHz, the freq I tuned in and at 2055 UTC. But I didn't check neither 9420 (which is a also excellent freq for me here) nor 15650. But after "Ta Pedia Tou Pirea" there was no more English programming, just the "Edo Athina... " ID followed by news in Greek (Marty Delfín, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: Could it be possible that ERT-3 was doing a repeat of "Greek In Style" in English during the 2000-2100 UT Sunday time period on 7450? That is the only plausible thing that could have happened for Marty to have heard this English program at 2055 UT June 3. Regards, (John Babbis, MD, ibid.) We had another report unconfirmable later that one of the English hours showed up at an unscheduled time. Could be they just slap on the recording at random, in which case trying to keep track of them will be futile (gh, DXLD) ** HONDURAS. El CPJ, Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas, organismo independiente que defiende la libertad de prensa en todo el mundo y tiene su sede en Nueva York, expresó el 31 de mayo en una carta al presidente de Honduras, Manuel Zelaya, su preocupación por las cadenas de radio y televisión obligatorias impuestas por su gobierno y le pidió que las anule. Las cadenas, que comenzaron el 28 de mayo, fueron impuestas por Zelaya para divulgar las obras de su administración porque, según él, algunos medios de comunicación, con los que ha entrado en conflicto en los dos últimos meses, no las quieren difundir. Esa disposición, añade la misiva, "viola el derecho a la libre expresión tal como está consagrado en la Constitución hondureña". La carta del Comité para la Protección de los Periodistas expresa además que Zelaya, al obligar a todas las estaciones de radio y televisión a transmitir los puntos de vista de su administración, viola también "el espíritu del Artículo 13 de la Convención Americana sobre Derechos Humanos, de la cual Honduras es signatario". Copias de la carta fueron enviadas a organismos internacionales de prensa, a la embajada de Honduras en Washington y a altos cargos de la administración de Zelaya, quien asumió el poder el pasado 27 de enero para un período de cuatro años (RNW Radio Enlace June 8 via DXLD) ** IRAN [and non]. RADIO FARDA CORRESPONDENT DESCRIBES ORDEAL FROM TEHRAN http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/06/2FD98E5D-A2C0-4E05-A02A-7404BD34DE4C.html June 6, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Radio Farda broadcaster Parnaz Azima has been prevented from leaving Iran for the past five months. Azima -- an Iranian-American -- had traveled to Tehran in January to visit her sick mother when authorities confiscated her Iranian passport and charged her with working for Radio Farda and spreading propaganda against the state. Since then Azima has been unable to leave Iran and return to her work in Prague. Azima talks about her situation in a phone interview with RFE/RL correspondent Golnaz Esfandiari. RFE/RL: You have been trapped in Iran for the past five months, authorities have confiscated your passport, and you cannot return to your work and life here. How do you feel about this? "Officials from Iran's Islamic republic, who always say that [Iran] is one of the best democracies in the world, should not have any fear for [those] telling the truth." Parnaz Azima: On the surface it seems that everything is well, I'm in my mother's house and I can go anywhere I want and no one stops me. That is on the surface; but the truth is that I am facing a state of uncertainty and waiting. I can describe it as a prisoner who is in a larger prison and the length of the prison term has not been determined. [The prisoner] is expecting an answer any minute that he will remain in jail or be released. But I have to say that I'm grateful when I compare my [situation] with that of Haleh Esfandiari, Kian Tajbakhsh, Ali Shakeri [Esfandiari and Tajbakhsh are Iranian- American scholars recently jailed in Iran; Shakeri is an Iranian- American peace activist who has also been detained], and many other prisoners who do not enjoy the relative freedom that I have. I do my best to use this opportunity -- when I left Iran some 25 years ago I left some unfinished work -- I have found some of my manuscripts but many have been lost and I am working on them. RFE/RL: There's been lots of support for you in the United States and internationally and several human rights groups have called on Iran to let you go and also release Esfandiari, Tajbakhsh, and Shakeri, the Iranian-Americans who have been jailed in Iran. Have you received support also from inside Iran? Azima: There has not been such organized support [inside Iran], though I have received emotional support from my family, my friends, and it's very positive. There are people that I didn't even know and they just had heard my name and seen my work; they came to my house with flowers. Such gestures lift up my morale but I also have to say that the extent of such support is very limited because everybody knows that it is very likely that my phone is being tapped, my calls are being monitored and people are to a large extent worried about their everyday lives. They are common people with no support and protection therefore I have many close friends who have not contacted me and I understand them and I know that they have the right to think about their own [situations]. RFE/RL: You have been charged with spreading propaganda against the state by working for Radio Farda. What is your reaction to these charges? Azima: I gave an example to [the authorities] who interrogated me: news organizations such as the BBC, CNN, and others that are based in foreign countries, the governments of [these countries] can also accuse them of propaganda against them because they bring the voice of opposition forces to their [audience] -- and even the voice of those who are against the policies of the U.S. government -- they cover their views. In my eyes this is what journalism is all about: informing freely. Unfortunately in [Iran] journalism is such that journalists should always praise officials or they face censorship and pressure. But if we increase our awareness about journalism and the principle of the free flow of information then we will realize that [such practice] is not propaganda against the state, in my view it's to the benefit of a state. Of course democratic states, because dictatorships or totalitarian regimes are afraid of people, they're afraid of telling the truth, they're concerned about informing people. But officials from Iran's Islamic republic, who always say that [Iran] is one of the best democracies in the world, should not have any fear for [those] telling the truth. If they really care about people's thoughts and opinions, they should consider people's ideas and value them in order to improve the Islamic republic. The other issue is that journalism is a profession that doesn't take sides and is impartial; a journalist should say everything objectively therefore I think -- as Mohammad Hossein Aghasi [Azima's lawyer] has said -- these charges are baseless. RFE/RL: Do we know how authorities will proceed regarding your case? Have they set a date for another court hearing? Azima: The judge in charge of my case decided that I will not be detained but I was allowed to remain free on a very heavy and unprecedented bail of about 500 million tooman [approximately $550,000]. They will now do their investigation -- the Intelligence Ministry is doing the investigation. It will give the results to the judge in charge of the case and the judiciary, then they will decide about having a court session. My case is waiting now for the response from the Intelligence Ministry so I will have to see what their decision will be regarding my case. It is possible that they will decide to return my passport and since I'm an optimistic person I think it is very likely, but it could be quite the opposite -- so I'm waiting and I've been in this state for five months now. (See also "Iran: Simin Behbehani, A Poet For The Ages, Captures Nation's Suffering And Joys," by Parnaz Azima.) (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) ** ISRAEL. As has happened in the past, Kol Israel today is on 11605 instead of 11590 (per schedule) at 1900 in English. 8 June 2007 (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST ** ISRAEL. I don't know any more than this article says. http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1180960624449&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Here are some excerpts of the article - the full article contains a link to an editorial on the matter: IBA CUTS MAY FORCE ENGLISH NEWS OFF THE AIR Greer Fay Cashman, THE JERUSALEM POST Jun. 6, 2007 "Although English is the most universal language in the world, it may very well disappear from Israel's air waves - at least on a temporary basis. "The Israel Broadcasting Authority's Management Committee is due to vote next Monday on a cost-cutting emergency plan that would close down most Channel 1 and Israel Radio programs, including the IBA News in English and the English radio news. "Steve Leibowitz, editor of Channel 1's English IBA News [Television], was informed by senior management on Tuesday that all programming with the exception of Hebrew language news will be suspended for an indefinite period of time to save on costs. ... "It's a dire situation," she said. "The IBA has never faced a crisis of such proportions." ... "Radio stations Reshet Bet, Reshet Gimmel and Radio 88FM would remain operational because they bring in revenue, Bar said, but foreign language and culture programs are likely to disappear. ... "Leibowitz, who has mounted an intensive lobby within the IBA and beyond, said that while he understood that the IBA was facing a crisis, there were at least two important reasons for not axing the IBA News [Television]. One is that outside sources have contracted to broadcast the programs abroad, which means the news broadcasts bring in income, and the other is that IBA News provides the world with a window on Israel and is an important hasbara (advocacy) resource. ... "radio broadcaster suggested that closing down broadcasts was not only outrageous, but possibly illegal, as the IBA Law mandates broadcasts for immigrants. ... "Nonetheless, Leibowitz and news anchor Leah Zinder have lobbied the Prime Minister's Office, the Foreign Ministry and the office of Acting President and Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik. " === Separately: You can now stream whatever Webfeed you want to your phone, using a free service called Market Keys. The keys come defined for financial info, traffic and weather, but you can reprogram the keys, as you'd like them - including to listen to Windows Media Audio and Podcasts: http://www.market-keys.com You need to know the actual URL for the audio stream. I've used it to listen to some Israeli broadcasters over the past month. Audio is only 8 kHz, as it's meant for telephones, so music isn't the best thing to listen to. The spoken word, is quite good. If I listen on a regular speakerphone, the music is decent -- on my cellphone, it's probably slightly worse then listening to music on SW. This could also be a useful way to confirm what you're listening to on your radio, without turning on your noisy (RF wise) PC. I have no ties to the company other than I use the service and have made suggestions to them based upon my experiences (Doni Rosenzweig, June 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Again, English threatened?? ** ISRAEL. 6971.16, Galei Zahal (presumed); 0057-0102+, 7-June; Low key pop tune; news by M in Hebrew at 0100. SIO=332, USB takes out buzz QRM (Frodge-MI) 15780.05-.18, Galei Zahal (presumed); 2151-2234+, 4-June; Call-in programm; news 2200-02 then call-in resumed; Pop music bumpers. All in Hebrew except BeeGee's tune. SIO=2+33- at first, trill QRM & cleanest in LSB; much improved by 2220, SIO=343 with one clatter burst. Frequency drifted steadily upward. Nothing on 6973-75 (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet via DXLD) ** JAPAN [and non]. R. Japan, NHK Warido, really goes after the language-learners. UT Thu June 7 at 0623 I was hearing Japanese lessons for Germans on 11970 via Gabon, and at the same time on very strong 11715 direct, Japanese LL for English-speakers. I wonder how many people actually learn a language this way? 11715 tho for NE Siberia following the Russian broadcast at 0530 is on a 35 degree beam so might as well be designated for NAm too like 13630. Program is Brush Up Your Japanese, Thu 0620-0654 among other times, while on Tue at same hours it is Basic Japanese For You (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. JAPAN TO LAUNCH RADIO CHANNEL TARGETING N. KOREA http://english.chosun.com/w21data/html/news/200706/200706070017.html The Japanese government will launch a radio channel for North Korea focusing on Japanese citizens abducted by Pyongyang. A Japanese government official on Wednesday said the channel will be launched in July and is different from the privately-run Shiokaze channel that started broadcasting for North Korea in late March [sic]. Shiokaze is run by an activist group calling itself Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea. The new state-run Japanese radio will focus on the Japanese government's position on the abduction issue, messages from victims` families, and efforts to have them sent back to Japan. Shiokaze recently reported the new channel would carry official messages about the Japanese government's position. A staffer with Free North Korea Radio, a South Korean radio station targeting North Korea, said the state-run Japanese channel will broadcast for an hour a day, half in Korean and half in Japanese. The radio is under the supervision of the Japanese Foreign Ministry and a Cabinet committee dealing with the abduction question. South Korea's only official radio channel targeting North Korea is KBS Social Education Service. But the channel is mostly educational and targets not only North Korea but also Korean nationals living in northern regions such as the Maritime Province of Siberia and China. In South Korea, there are four civilian radios for North Korea led by North Korean refugees or activists for human rights in North Korea, including Free North Korea Radio and Open Radio for North Korea, which transmit their programs using frequencies of a British shortwave service provider. Kim Seung-min, the founder of Free North Korea Radio, said the launch of the state-run Japanese radio is a graphic example showing the Abe administration's ``determination to pressure North Korea." de "The Chosun Ilbo" at June 7 (via S. Hasegawa, NDXC, DXLD) WTFK? SW? ** KOREA NORTH. VOK, 11710 to NAm, works surprisingly well on some mornings, such as June 8 at 1521 during stilted English broadcast with usual bull, 1526 into music, also characteristic with some kind of primitive electronic instrument, Hammond organ? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) [non] See JAPAN just above ** LIBYA [and non]. LIBIA, hoy 7 de junio se aprecia desde las 1225 dos emisiones de La Voz de África emitiendo en paralelo por 17665 y 17670; a su vez la emisora musical afro-pop en 17660. Esta situación sigue invariable a las 1345; de fondo se presupone que Sawt al-Amal está emitiendo (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) LIBIA, hoy 8 de Junio a las 1206 se observa en 17632.5 a Sawt al-Amal, en 17635 a La Voz of África emitiendo en árabe y en 17660 a la emisora musical afro-pop, pero a las 1209 entra otra emisión de La Voz de África en 17630 en paralelo por 17635. A las 1301 siguen las emisiones de la Voz de África en 17630 y 17635; sin embargo la emisora afro-pop ya no está en 17660, se la escucha con mucha dificultad en 17635, incluso hay que templar a 17637 para confirmar que está ahí. Esa situación se mantiene a las 1330. Cuando son las 1355 se escucha a la emisora Afro-pop en 17637. En 17645 una emisora con música en árabe, probablemente La Voz de África en paralelo por 17640 (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) June 8 at 1317 I found the Afropop music jammer on 17637.0 with good signal, and on BFO I could find it flanked by much weaker carriers on 17635.0 and 17637.5, which may have been Sawt al Amal and/or other jammer inside Libya. After 1400, 17637.0 music was alone, and still going at 1518 as usual (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. XEYU again barely audible, June 7 at 0623 on 9599+ with classical music, het (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. Re: DXLD 7-067, "Pues, el mismo sinsabor que nos dejara hace una década una similar determinación de acabar con la versión radial de Media Network." Before someone starts a discussion thread on this old chestnut, let me repeat what we said at the time: The Media Network radio show was *not* cancelled by a policy change at Radio Netherlands. It stopped because Jonathan Marks, who built the show around his own interests and personality, simply could not find the time to continue producing it. When Diana Janssen decided to leave for a new job, and to raise a family, the pressure increased even more. Rather than run the programme down until its listeners deserted it, Jonathan decided to end the programme while it was still popular. His decision came as a shock to colleagues, and we spent some time trying to work out a way of continuing it. In the end, we all came to the conclusion that Media Network on the radio without Jonathan Marks would never achieve the same high standards, and rather than produce an inferior programme, we reluctantly accepted that the programme would have to end. I make this point because Mike Shaw, the outgoing Head of English, was a great supporter of Media Network and tried hard to change Jonathan's mind, then to look for another solution. Some ridiculous stories invented by people who had never even met Jonathan suggested there had been a big argument within RNW - forgetting that Jonathan was also Creative Director and ultimately responsible for all the output, so even if Mike had decided to stop Media Network Jonathan could have overruled him. Had that happened, there might indeed have been a big argument - but it didn't, and there wasn't. So, while Radio Enlace listeners are bound to be upset by the decision to end the programme, please don't equate that decision with something that happened 7 years ago, since when there have been two reorganisations and a lot of staff changes (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands (but speaking personally, not on behalf of my employer), June 6, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DESAPARECE RADIO ENLACE EN OCTUBRE Hola Jaime: Disculpa que te moleste pero ante algunos rumores que están surgiendo por ahí como estos mensajes que te estoy enviando, me gustaría si fuera posible confirmaras o desmintieras estos rumores. Hombre, si no es a mi personalmente, sea a través de alguien de ADXB, por ejemplo Paco Rubio o Manel Castro quienes sin duda nos lo transmitirían al resto del grupo. Un saludo muy afectuoso (Tomás Méndez to Jaime Báguena, RNW, via Noticias DX via DXLD) Estimado Tomás: Gracias por tu carta. Pues ya que me lo preguntas... te respondo. Como quizás te hayas percatado, el pasado año realizamos importantes cambios en los programas informativos (ahora tenemos servicios de noticias casi las 24 horas!). En el mes de febrero la dirección de RNW nos convocó en una reunión anunciando que debíamos comenzar con la segunda fase de los cambios: los espacios temáticos. En dicha reunión se hablaron y se decidieron muchas cosas. Así pues, a fines del mes de octubre desaparecerán muchos de los programas regulares. También Radio-Enlace. La noticia oficial de terminar con Radio-Enlace y la explicación a esta decisión, se dará a conocer dentro de poco. Durante una gira por Latinoamerica con motivo del 60 Aniversario de RNW, fuimos hasta Santiago de Chile para reunirnos con muchos y muy queridos oyentes. Allí también fuimos entrevistados por el amigo Luis Valderas. Él nos preguntó muchas cosas relacionadas con RNW. Pero casualmente cuando quiso saber sobre los planes que tiene Radio-Enlace para el futuro... silencio... yo me tuve que morder la lengua. En ese momento Alfonso no pudo aguantar más y rompió con nuestro "embargo" que nos impusimos de no hablar públicamente todavía sobre el asunto, y lo dijo. Si bien estamos muy satisfechos y contentos por la labor realizada en Radio-Enlace durante más de un cuarto de siglo en favor del DX y las radiotelecomunicaci ones, no dejamos de sentir pesar por tener que dejar el programa. Recibe cordiales 73 (Jaime Báguena García, Director Artístico, Depto. Latinoamericano, RADIO NEDERLAND WERELDOMROEP, http://www.informarn.nl via Méndez, ibid.) See also CUBA! [non] ATENCIÓN - CAMBIO DE FRECUENCIA --- Debido a la mala recepción de nuestras esmisiones en el Sur de Sudamérica, el próximo martes 12 de junio realizaremos un cambio de frecuencia. Los habituales 15315 (19 metros, vía Bonaire), serán reemplazados por los 9450 kHz (banda de 31 metros). A la misma hora seguiremos emitiendo hacia el Norte de Sudmérica por los habituales 6165 kHz (Radio Enlace June 8 via DXLD) Es decir, 00 a 02, y 6165 via Portugal (gh, DXLD) Recibí en el día de la fecha un correo electrónico del amigazo Jaime Báguena que se reproduce a continuación: "Debido a la mala recepción en el cono sur de nuestra emisión en onda corta, el próximo martes 12 de junio realizaremos un cambio de frecuencia. Los habituales 15315 kHz (19 metros), serán reemplazados por los 9450 kHz (banda de 31 metros). Es decir la emisión correspondiente a las CERO horas y que se prolonga hasta las DOS UTC, se transmitirá por los S6165 y B9450 kHz, a partir del miércoles UTC, es decir martes en la noche en Sudamérica. S: SINES, PORTUGAL B: BONAIRE, ANTILLAS NEERLANDESAS. Cordiales 73! Jaime Báguena García, Director Artístico, Depto. Latinoamericano, RADIO NEDERLAND WERELDOMROEP http://www.informarn.nl (via Arnaldo Slaen, June 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CUBA! ** NEW ZEALAND. Coninuing the bird call interval signal topic, Chris Shorten has e-mailed and says ``what about the one for RNZI. Is it the kiwi? Back in the early days they were using a 7.5 kW transmitter and you really had to strain your ears to hear anything, but you were always assured that through all the white noise the haunting bird call IS would seem to make it. I hope this brings back memories to ur readers`` (Open to Discussion, June BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) It`s the bell-bird; I searched and quickly found this http://www.kiwi- wildlife.co.nz/sound_gallery.php which includes the bellbird, not exactly the same rendition as on RNZI, but not the kiwi. Another site includes a certain kiwi, and now we know why RNZI didn`t go with its rather boring call http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/birdsong.html (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA [non]. St. Gabriel Radio is moving toward a major expansion that will move us up from 500 watts to at least 10,000 watts in the near future! This will enable us to bring a daytime signal into Columbus (Mr. Chris Gabrelcik, President of St. Gabriel Radio, Inc., June CRA Messenger via DXLD) St. Gabriel Radio, Inc. operates stations WUCO 1270 AM in Marysville- Columbus and WFOT 89.5 FM in Mansfield-Lexington, offering good Catholic programming for the Dioceses of Columbus and Toledo , Ohio . (Ed., ibid.) This may or may not have anything to do with the ID reported on 4960 PNG. It seems that Gabriel is their patron saint, so maybe there is no Ohio-PNG connexion other than that (gh, DXLD) ** PERU. Radio Andina de Huancayo fue intervenida... http://www.andina.com.pe/NoticiaDetalle.aspx?id=128605 Inspectores del MTC decomisa transmisores a canal de TV y dos emisoras informales Huancayo, jun. 03 (ANDINA).- Los transmisores y otros equipos de dos emisoras radiales y del Canal 19 de Huancayo, fueron incautados por operar en forma irregular, informaron hoy fuentes policiales. El operativo fue realizado por personal del Ministerio de Transportes y Comunicaciones (MTC), con el apoyo de la Fiscalía de Prevención del Delito y la División de Seguridad del Estado de la Policía Nacional. La acción de control se inició a las 09:30 horas, cuando los medios lanzaban sus señales al aire. Inicialmente, un abogado e inspectores de la Dirección General de Control y Supervisión de Telecomunicaciones del MTC, se desplazaron hasta las instalaciones de Radio Andina, allí incautaron 1 transmisor, 1 excitador y 2 consolas. **** Luego, se trasladaron hasta el sector denominado Cerrito de La Libertad donde ingresaron a la planta de transmisión del Canal 19 UHF- Perú TV, en este lugar incautaron un transmisor de una potencia de 200 watts aproximadamente. Por último, los inspectores se constituyeron en el distrito de Huayucachi donde visitaron las instalaciones de Radio Comunal que también es conocida como "La Voz del Pueblo de Huayucachi"; allí se incautó un trasmisor y el CPU de una computadora. Juan Carlos Ramos Díaz, abogado del Ministerio de Transportes de la sede central de Lima, al ser consultado si estos medios estaban operando al margen de la legalidad dijo “se procedió a la incautación de los equipos porque estos medios estaban operando sin autorización del Ministerio de Transportes”. Explicó, además, que el Canal 19 contaba con autorización, pero ésta fue anulada por motivos que él desconoce; en el caso de Radio Comunal, precisó que antes ya había sido suspendida y a pesar de ello continuaba operando ilegalmente. Sobre la cantidad de medios que trabajan ilegalmente en Huancayo, mencionó que “no se puede determinar el número de radios y TV piratas, ya que algunos empiezan a operar y en cualquier momento salen del aire”, puntualizó. De otro lado, se refirió que los canales de televisión y emisoras radiales que operan sin autorización están incursos en el delito contra el patrimonio en agravio del Estado, en la modalidad de hurto de las ondas electromagnèticas (via Alfredo Cañote, Perú, condig list via DXLD) **** Estimados Amigos DX: Verificaré si es la emisora que transmitía por la Onda Corta. Cordiales 73 (Alf, ibid.) En WRTH 2007, Radio Andina, de Huancayo cuenta con siglas OAX2S y así no debe ser ``informal``, aunque parece inactiva, en 4996v. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Sería la que operaba en 4996v hasta hace unos cuatro o cinco años (Arnaldo Slaen, ibid.) ** SOMALIA. SOMALI RADIO STATIONS OFF AIR 06/06/2007 15:11 - (SA) http://somalinet.com/news/world/Somalia/10927 Mogadishu - Somalia's transitional government on Wednesday ordered three local private radio stations to stop broadcasting from the country's capital. Mogadishu-based stations Shabelle Radio, Radio HornAfrik and the Voice of the Koran radio stopped broadcasting early on Wednesday afternoon, an AFP correspondent said. "We have been ordered to close the radio station and we don't know why so far," Mohamed Amin, director of Shabelle, told AFP. "I have called some government officials to ask them why the radio stations have to close but they said we could discuss the issue later," he added. Government officials were not immediately available for comment but have in the past complained of pro-Islamist bias in the outlets' reporting. The Somali government in January banned the same three Mogadishu broadcasters as well as Qatar-based Al-Jazeera satellite television network for 24-hours following the ousting of an Islamist movement by Ethiopia-backed Somali troops at the start of the year. Somali officials are attempting to organise a national reconciliation conference to start on June 14, despite an increasing Islamist-led insurgency, including suicide car bomb and landmine attacks on prominent targets in Mogadishu (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Hey, I've posted a new episode on my podcast. Check it out; I think you'll like it! Title: Yimber's podcast. Episode: Programa Radio Enlace (Radio Nederland) http://yimbergaviria.podOmatic.com/entry/eg/2007-06-08T06_48_25-07_00 Enjoy! (Yimber Gaviria, Colombia, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Axually, it`s a one-minute clip from RE which in turn has a clip of Radio RSA announcing the termination of its Spanish broadcasts in 1990y (gh, DXLD) ** THAILAND. BBCWS, 21660 via Nakhon Sawan, is a prime propagation beacon at Solstice, scheduled all the way from 03 to 11 in English at 25 degrees, so also toward NAm. June 8 at 0529, around midnight here (really 11 pm LMT), was good with some flutter, airing programme prommos, then back to World Today. Must also look for R. Thailand`s English to Europe at same hour scheduled via Udorn on 17655 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TUVALU. Radio Tuvalu now has a website --- http://www.tuvalu-news.tv/tmc/index.html It only mentions FM operation, so to no great surprise I think the AM on 621 is now kaput. As it is, the FM only runs about 5 hours a day of local programming and fills the rest with the BBC (Bruce Portzer, WA, DX Worldwide II, IRCA DX Monitor June 9 via DXLD) Imagine that: a .tv website axually in Tuvalu! (gh) ** U K. BBC World Service additional programme information - Assignment: the Treasury War In Assignment: the Treasury War on Wednesday 13 June and Thursday 14 June, Mark Gregory discovers that the United States government has been economically squeezing its enemies. He explores how the US is waging an undeclared financial war against Iran and other nations it says are developing nuclear weapons. When the US discovered the North Korean regime had been laundering money through Macao, in particular through a tiny family bank – BDA - it made this information public. There was a run on the bank and the North Korean accounts were frozen. The policy appears to have been staggeringly successful. North Korea returned to the negotiating table on condition its accounts were unfrozen. Assignment: the Treasury War goes to Macao on Wednesday 13 June, where Mark Gregory is granted a rare interview with the monetary authority and doorsteps BDA. “The Treasury learnt two lessons for Iran,” Mark Gregory says. “That targeted sanctions can work and that the private sector could and should be ‘persuaded’ to cooperate with government policy.” The Treasury Department’s Stuart Levey embarked on an extensive travel programme to dissuade international banks from doing business with Iran. Stuart Levey says: “I think there’s a feeling that the United States is trying to coerce banks into quote ‘cooperating’ close quote. And it really is the case that what we’re doing is making the information to the private sector because we have every confidence that the private sector will react in a particular way not because we’re going to coerce them, but because they really don’t want to be involved in the illicit conduct that we’re explaining to them. They’re making their own business decisions based on the information that we provide to them and their own assessment of the risk.” Big European, Chinese and Malaysian oil companies have been forced into a delicate game in Iran – not investing huge amounts there but keeping a foot in the door with ‘feasibility studies,’ Mark Gregory discovers in part two of Assignment: the Treasury War on Thursday 14 June. Nick Burns of the US State Department warns that these oil companies have to be careful they don’t get penalized by the US under its sanctions legislation. He says he will implement an existing law which can fine any company that does more than $20m of business in Iran. Some argue that the economic squeeze on Iran has slowed down its nuclear programme. Anthony Cordesman, a security expert at Washington’s Centre for Strategic and International Studies reveals, chillingly, that in any nuclear war, Iran would not just lose, it would be ‘terminated’. Presenter/Mark Gregory, Producer/David Edmonds Broadcast Times: Assignment: 2 programmes x 25 minutes Wednesday 13 June and Thursday 14 June at 0805, 1105, 1905 UT on European stream. Listen online: http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/index.shtml (via Rich Cuff, DXLD) ** U K. Pirate BBC Essex 9-14 August 2007 -- First press release here: http://www.radiolondon.co.uk/otherwaves/piratebbc/2007/firstpress07.html [Later:] Webpage now up, including audio from this mornings BBC Essex breakfast programme, plus a video of last year on YouTube: http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/articles/2007/06/06/pirate_bbc_essex_feature.shtml http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yUf_jI4P8JY (Mike Barraclough, England, June 6-7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. FOR U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTERS, GOOD NEWS FOR NOW The 5 June markup of the House Foreign Operations Appropriations Subcommittee fully restored funding for the following VOA language services: Albanian, Bosnian; Croatian, Greek, Macedonian, Serbian, Ukrainian, Georgian, Uzbek, Hindi, Cantonese, Thai, and Tibetan. The mark also provides $8 million for VOA English, which more than fully restores the cuts to VOA English radio broadcasts. For Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, the mark restores cuts to South Slavic [Serbian, Croatian, Bosnian], Romanian, Kazakh, Russian, and Ukrainian. For radio Free Asia, the mark restores cuts to Tibetan and Cantonese language services (kimandrewelliott.com June 7 via DXLD) It remains to be seen what the Senate Appropriations Committee will do. In 2006, it agreed with the White House/BBG proposal to cut those services. The two versions never made it to conference because of the distraction of the 2006 election. See my charts of proposed cuts/additions for FY 2008 and not yet implemented but still (mostly) in effect proposal for FY 2007. Posted: 07 Jun 2007 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** U S A. YEARNING FOR THE OLD USIA, AND ITS REABSORPTION OF U.S. INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING "The US public diplomacy effort involves a variety of other techniques, including radio and TV broadcasting, the Internet, foreign-based information officers, and speeches and question-and- answer sessions with senior officials. Its funding and operations have been much reduced since the United States Information Agency (USIA), which ran these programs, was phased out after the cold war. The remnants of that agency were integrated with the State Department. The challenges besetting the US today require that the USIA, or a replica of it, be formed to bring focus and strategic planning to America's public diplomacy." [more] http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0606/p09s01-cojh.html (John Hughes, Christian Science Monitor, 6 June 2007 via kimandrewelliott.com June 7 via DXLD) As I have written before, the old USIA was in step with U.S. policies, it operated through U.S. embassies, its activities in country were approved by the U.S. ambassador, and its overseas personnel were Foreign Service officers. So why the need for an "independent" agency? What the "independent" USIA did manage to do on several occasions was to deprive the Voice of America, which was under USIA, of the independence necessary to achieve the credibility required for success in international broadcasting. The reëstablishment of USIA would create an entire suite full of senior level federal jobs, but it will take more than a boondoggle to restore America's image in the world. Posted: 07 Jun 2007 (Kim Andrew Elliott, ibid.) ** U S A. Glassman will soon replace Tomlinson. James K. Glassman is confirmed by U.S. Senate as new chairman of Broadcasting Board of Governors. http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/one_item_and_teasers/nom_confc.htm U.S. Senate, 5 June 2007. Posted: 06 Jun 2007 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. REGISTER'S LAST HURRAH? By JOEL MOWBRAY, June 4, 2007; Page A17, Wall Street Journal To understand the challenge faced by Al-Hurra, the U.S. taxpayer- financed Arabic TV network, consider the case of Yasser Thabet. For years, Mr. Thabet has been a leading figure in shaping news coverage in the region. Whereas fawning over terrorists would be career suicide in the United States, Mr. Thabet, formerly a broadcast editor at Al- Jazeera, did just that -- and promptly landed a top position at a major Arab media outlet. . . http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB118092002906123341-lMyQjAxMDE3ODAwNzkwMjcwWj.html This article will be available to non-subscribers of the Online Journal for up to seven days after it is e-mailed. (via David Cole, OK, June 7, DXLD) ** U S A. Another time for WORLD OF RADIO on WRMI is 0600 UT Thu on 9955, as I happened across it at 0621 June 7; Jeff White says that has been added tho like most of the overnight broadcasts it is ``semi- permanent``. 9955 has been propagating lately, without jamming, also e.g. UT Mon 0530 with WOR (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Following should be useful for figuring out when it`s safe to tune in Extension 720 on WGN following a silly baseball game which started at a specific earlier time. I searched on ``baseball game average length`` and this came out atop: http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/13218 According to the Elias Sports Bureau, In 2004, the average length of a National League game was 2:47:20, compared to 2:46:55 in the American League, A table listing overall averages for the past 1990-2002 can be found here: http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2003-03-05-faster-games_x.htm Per the USA Today story, they were pushing to make them shorter, speed up the plays. That of course does not include any wrapup gab to conclude the broadcasts. But beware: the shortest game on record lasted only 55 minutes --- what`s that, everybody walx? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WVKO PREPARES TO RETURN TO AIRWAVES Thursday, June 7, 2007 By RANDY NAVAROLI ThisWeek Staff Writer http://www.thisweeknews.com/?sec=home&story=sites/thisweeknews/060707/Northland/News/060707-News-368604.html A historic Columbus radio station is set to return to the airwaves from its new home in Northland, possibly on a limited basis, within the next few weeks. WVKO-AM 1580 has been off the air for more than a year and had until May 5 to begin broadcasting again or risk losing its FCC license. In March, the FCC agreed to give the station's new owners, Bernard Ohio LLC, an extension until Sept. 15 to get back on the air after construction delays occurred at its new location. Delays erecting the towers were blamed on wet soil conditions at the station's site at 2708 Morse Road. However, the station has enough of its equipment operating to broadcast station identification information every few minutes. Other than that, it remains silent for now. Bernard Ohio LLC president Chris McMurray said the station could receive FCC approval to begin broadcasting some programming again within two to three weeks. "We'd be broadcasting at a lower power and with just one tower initially," McMurray said. Final FCC approval to run the station at full power using all four antennas is expected within 60 to 90 days, McMurray said. The FCC is weighing WVLO's request to operate at 3,000 watts during the day and 290 watts at night. Before being bought by Bernard, the station was owned by Stop 26- Riverbend, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July 2005. The financially troubled local radio station was pulled off the air by a bankruptcy trustee on May 5, 2006, partly because its previous lease for a site in Upper Arlington had expired and it had no place to move. The 50-year-old station gained Columbus City Council's approval in September 2006 to move its broadcasting operation and four 150-foot antennas to the site on Morse Road, just west of Chesford Road. Bernard Radio LLC, and Columbus Urban Growth Corp., which owns the property, finalized a lease agreement for the nine-acre site on Morse Road shortly after council approved the station's move to Northland. Columbus Urban Growth Corp. spokesman Mike Duffey said Urban Growth will retain ownership of the site and will review the lease agreement as necessary to ensure that WVKO is meeting its terms, including shielding the adjacent Brandywine Meadows subdivision from its operations by installing fencing along the northern boundary of the site. McMurray said the fence has not yet been installed but the work will be completed in the coming weeks. Until it went off the air, WVKO had a gospel format that included local religious and political talk shows. It was also the home of Capital University's Crusader Radio Network and broadcast Columbus Clippers games (via Artie Bigley, DXLD) ** U S A. WNJC 1360 AM Washington Twp, NJ --- We are going to do some transmitter testing this Saturday, well Sunday morning from midnight to at least 4 am, if not till 6 am [0400-0800/1000 UT Sunday June 10]. We will be running 4,000 Watts, non-Directional doing a transmitter test. Programming will be morse code IDs, sweep tones, voice ID and other misc sound effects that I will throw in the mix. Thanks, John "Duke" Hamann, kc2dux, Chief Engineer WNJC 1360 AM John @ DuxPond.com June 6, dxhub yg via DXLD) Twp = Township, not maritime mobile Notes: Reception reports are desired via e-mail (first choice) and snail mail (only if e-mail is not available) Station would prefer to received recordings of the test (MP3, CD, or cassette). Submit reports to: les @ highnoonfilm.com Please put "WNJC DX Test" in the subject line. All standard mail reports should go to: Les Rayburn, High Noon Film, 100 Centerview Drive, Suite 111, Birmingham, AL 35216. Note: SASE Required for QSL. Our special thanks to John "Duke" Hamann, KC2DUX for including this test material during the transmitter maintenance! 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator, DX LISTENING DIGEST) WNJC to add "Quasi-QRSS" to this weekend's Test WNJC has agreed to add some "Quasi-QRSS" to their test signals during this weekend's maintenance. The broadcast test committee has sent a .wav file containing the slow speed Morse Code tones to WNJC. The QRSS signal is encoded at 2.5 kHz. Dot length is 5 seconds in length. You can attempt to detect the "Quasi-QRSS" signal using only your radio, computer soundcard and some free spectrum analysis software from http://www.weaksignals.com Download the software called "Argo". Best chance is to use CW mode, and narrow filters to look for the two carriers that will be present at 1357.5 and 1362.5 kHz. For the latest information on the test, please visit both: Brandon Jordan's Top Notch site with a countdown timer for each test! http://www.dxtests.info Real time chat room devoted to medium wave DXing. A real aid to bagging the new new ones: #mwdx on www.starchat.net 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator, June 8, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM discussion of QRSS ** VENEZUELA. EL GOBIERNO DE VENEZUELA RENUEVA LICENCIAS DE AM Y TV . . .Hasta ahora la única televisora cuya renovación de la licencia fue negada es Radio Caracas Televisión (RCTV), aunque continua transmitiendo vía internet, por satélite y en algunos operadores de cable. . . (http://www.radiodifusiondata.com.ar/ June 7 via Nicolás Eramo, Argentina, condig list via DXLD) How`s that for a misleading headline? (gh, DXLD) Bueno, en relación con esta noticia debo decir lo siguiente: me parece que Argenpress no está informada como debe ser, ya que RCTV no está saliendo por satélite ni por cable, ya que el gobierno venezolano le ha confiscado los equipos para que no lo pueda hacer; también quiero recordar que el nuevo canal de televisón llamado TVes está al aire, gracias a los equipos de RCTV en toda Venezuela, porque era un canal que solo iba a verse en dos partes, Caracas y Maracaibo. En cuanto a internet, lo único que se ha visto es el noticiero llamado el Observador, que lo colocan en youtube. No he visto ninguna programación via internet tampoco. Me gustaría saber, si es que Argenpress lo sabe, las compañías de cable y satélite por donde sale la señal y programación de RCTV. Ahhh otra cosa, el gobierno venezolano está presionando a las compañias de satélite y de cable para que no saquen al aire la señal de RCTV, porque podrían exponerse a ser eliminadas aquí en Venezuela. Atte: (José Elías, Venezuela, ibid.) But, but, Adán promised us that RCTV would continue on satellite, cable, all media except over the air broadcast! (gh, DXLD) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Re DXLD 7-067 (new schedule for Radio Nacional de la RASD): one can add that all transmissions of the station are streamed live on the Internet: http://web.jet.es/rasd/radionacional.htm (during the transmission breaks, the stream stays naturally silent). The website of the RASD TV Station http://www.rasd-tv.com has a 4-minite videoclip (click on "Medios de Comunicación Saharauis") which shows some sequences with the radio & TV production facilities. The official website of the RASD exile government is http://www.rasd-state.ws and it has a.o. a more detailed description of the history of RASD Radio (all in Arabic): http://www.rasd-state.ws/p_medios.htm (Bernd Trutenau, Lithuania, June 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: MEDIOS DE COMUNICACIÓN SAHARAUI http://www.rasd-tv.com Prensa, radio, televisión, todos exigen a los medios de comunicación Saharaui que lleven su mensaje al mundo, pero el mensaje no se crea ni viaja solo. Detrás de él, antes que suceda, hay personas trabajando, y medios que facilitan la posibilidad de hacerlo. En un clip de video de cuatro minutos no caben las incontables horas de trabajo, el cansancio al final del día, y los anhelos de todos los que trabajan para que la voz del pueblo saharaui llegue más lejos, más alta, más fuerte. Si estos cuatro minutos sirven para que todos nos acordemos de ellos de vez en cuando, habrá valido la pena acompañarlos durante unos días y resumir tantas horas en unos pocos minutos, sin voz, sin casi palabras, porque ya todas están dichas. Marzo 2007 (via José Miguel Romero, ibid.) Perhaps it should be mentioned that the whole site, including the actual videos, is Flash-based. But it works even on an ancient Windows 98 system, unlike sites like Youtube who tend to crash this six years old machine. What can be seen in this video is a small, dark (apparently no daylight in there) control room; it should be possible to identify the console and the automation / on air assist system they are using, I just did not bother for now. There is also footage of two reporters, sitting with their scripts inmidst the desert and doing a remote via phone (perhaps satellite, the phone appears to be a bit too big for standard GSM, and it appears to be doubtful if GSM is available away from the settlements anyway). The TV side is featured with a similarly small and dark editing suite and shooting work. A bunch of large cassettes (like Betacam SP) can be seen in the editing suite, but all featured filming is done with semi-professional DV cameras (Kai Ludwig, Germany, ibid.) And one cameraman has HARRISON on his back, hardly what you would expect (gh, DXLD) CLANDESTINE. 700, Polisario Front, (Tindouf, ALGERIA?), is replacing 1550 kHz as of today, but poorly received: 2107-..., 7 May, Arabic, talks, 24442, adjacent QRM de ALG 702, // 6300 very good. 1550 kHz has been observed regularly though off on some rare occasions, and a few hours after s/on, the transmitter develops some noise & audio distortion; now, whether it broke down, and 700 kHz is via a 2nd unit or then the same transmitter is for both frequencies, I don't know, of course (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, June 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. R. Zambia/R. One, 5915, 0238-0310 June 8, Fish Eagle IS, 0250 choral anthem(?), drums, usual excited OM talking in vernacular with sound of crowd in background and clear mention of Lusaka. First time I heard this I thought it was a political rally or something but seems to be a regular portion of their sign-on, more drums, pop African songs, poor-fair (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. What's on 7935 around 1630 and sign off 1700 UT!? Hello DXers, I picked up a station (Asian one I suppose as the music sounded chinese to me, but not the language) with lots of Chinese music and OM in between with unknown language to me. The reception was really good, SIO 444, but the frequency is really new to me. I checked both WRTH and PWBR 2007 but nothing listed there!? Anyone can help? Many thanks in advance. All the best (Tarek Zeidan, Cairo, Egypt, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Tarek and Glenn, Per: http://www.geocities.jp/binewsjp/bia07.txt 7935 CNR 8 1600-1700 1234567 Mongolian 100 286 Lingshi 725 CHN 11140E3652 CNR8 a07 I discontinued buying my yearly copies of WRTH and PWBR some time ago, due to the abundance of up-to-date information on-line (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Way out-of-band 7935 is a Chinese frequency which goes back many years. It`s in current Aoki list, which is the first place to look for up-to-date Asian info, tho it covers the whole world; and surprisingly missing from WRTH and PWBR. Maybe it was off for a few years and recently came back. It`s still missing from the WRTH A-07 PDF update frequency list (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. CODAR, ocean wave radar, has invaded the 22m band, which is now supposed to be exclusively SWBC worldwide, isn`t it? June 8 at 0522, weak CODAR pulses ranged from 13700 to 13760, interrupted on 13730 by Austria. The other CODAR transmitter, centred on 13550, was at a slightly higher pitch (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1540, KXEL, Waterloo IA; 0245-0300+, 27-May; Preacher Paul Westra sounds like Glenn Hauser! The Cedar Valley's Power Source KXEL. The Power Source, AM 15-40 KXEL Waterloo-Cedar Rapids. SS, C&W & EZL QRM (Harold Frodge, MI, MARE Tipsheet June 8 via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ Re: KXTO QRSS Sample File Hi Harry, Perhaps we need to come up with a new term for this super- slow, quasi QRSS-simulated non-cw, audio-tone generated morse code, or invest in some really large umbrellas so that we can keep our parade dry :) While it obviously isn't real QRSS by any stretch of the imagination, I bet it will be a useful addition to the typical arsenal of audio generated techniques that are used in the DX tests to cut through the channel mess, such as sweep tones, fast 1 khz morse, show tunes, etc. During one of the later tests of last season, I was able to visually monitor the 1 kHz "morse code" traces using Spectrum Lab, and at times that I couldn't hear the code Of course, the code was sent to fast for the software to display the individual dots and dashes. I think that raising the audio tone to 2.5 kHz so that the traces are well away from the carrier frequency and using really slow morse characters that can be visually monitored with Argo, Spectrum Lab, and other audio spectrum analyzers will be very interesting.... 73, (Brandon Jordan, TN, ABDX via DXLD) I hope it does prove useful, Brandon, and I appreciate the effort and creativity that went into this test. My point was simply that the KXTO test will not involve real QRSS and it's misleading to imply the potential for performance comparable to true QRSS (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, ABDX via DXLD) Re: ``No; an AM signal is an AM signal is an AM signal. Unless the carrier is being switched on and off to form the characters, it's not QRSS. To say you're sending QRSS using audio tones makes as much sense as saying you're using "full carrier SSB." Harry! THINK about what you just wrote! If an AM station modulates with a 5-kHz tone, there will be two sidebands on each side of the carrier frequency +/- 5 kHz. So if KXTO modulates with a 5-kHz tone, there will be two side-bands of 1545 and 1555 kHz. Each sideband will appear to be a carrier. If the modulation is "keyed," the two sidebands will appear to be two CW transmissions at 1545 and 1555 kHz. Therein lies the possibility of "copying" KXTO through some really intense QRM. The most readily audible tone is 2 kHz, but a 5-kHz tone would be right between the 10-kHz channels. If an operator is looking for emissions on 1545 or 1555, he could set his receiver accordingly. Is anyone not understanding this? 73, (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP, Greenville, North Carolina, ibid.) Who cares what they "appear to be"? They're still not CW, and you can't have a QRSS signal unless it is CW --- that is, just a carrier switched on and off. (Or has CW been redefined as "a carrier and two sidebands" and I didn't get the memo??) True; the fact that constant tones or tone modulated Morse can cut through a crowded channel is no secret. But that's not germane to the point I was making, namely that QRSS is a CW mode, not one involving transmission of audio tones. The KXTO quasi-QRSS tones might be distinctive on the channel, but they won't be QRSS and it's very misleading to imply otherwise (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, ibid.) The CW is *really* slow. So slow that a casual tune across might sound like a continuous carrier. In the case of the really weak and still detectable carriers, the audio spectrum analyzer will display a trace even if you cannot hear the carrier by ear. The audio spectrum analyzer program (start with either Argo or Spectran), allows you to decode the CW by eye because the waterfall scrolling speed is dead slow. it takes a long time for it to move across the screen (depending on the mode setting, usually rated at dot speed), and it is showing the QRSS CW in a form that your eye can see as the traditional dots and dashes by this slow scrolling. As far as your eye seeing the dots and dashes, it isn't any different than experimenting on a non-directional beacon with it's normal speed CW, except that the waterfall takes forever to fill in and display the CW in QRSS mode as you have the waterfall scroll speed slowed way down. Here are a few pages on the different speed modes and transmission modes (there are some two tone modes where the keying is more like FSK than A1 CW, too): http://www.wireless.org.uk/signoise.htm http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=14300 There is quite a bit out there on the web about QRSS, and lots to read and learn. One other interesting use for these audio spectrum analyzers is in characterizing a channel for possible new receptions. Using the spectrum analyzer with the receiver offset to tune the channel of interest such that it produces an audio beat note using CW/USB/LSB mode on the receiver allows you to see the on-channel carriers. No two are exactly on frequency and one can become familiar with the usual carriers, their unique drift characteristics as the transmitters run, power up and down, sign on and off, etc. If you know what the usual channel readout looks like, you can easily see if there might be possibilities for something new on a given channel. Spectrum Lab is about the best for this, but all of the apps work. Obviously, since you have the receiver offset tuned and producing a beat note, you can't DX on the channel at the same time you are doing the carrier display. I use a second receiver, or use an FSV (frequency selective voltmeter) for the spectrum app audio feed (Rick Kunath, June 6, ABDX via DXLD) KXTO Quasi-QRSS Response --- There has been a bit of discussion about the use of QRSS in the upcoming KXTO 1550 kHz test in July. Most of this has taken place on the ABDX E-mail list. Noted DX'er Harry Helms pointed out, quite correctly that true QRSS is a CW mode. It involves the switching on and off of the carrier signal of the station. Thus a 2.5 kHz tone modulated on the AM carrier of KXTO is not true QRSS and likely will not generate the same remarkable performance that true QRSS does. My speculation about its potential benefits are in fact, just that. Speculation. KXTO will transmit a 2.5 kHz tone that will result in two very narrow carrier signals at 1547.5 & 1552.5 kHz. Using the Argo software and narrow bandwidths, these two signals should be detectable, potentially at much lower levels that aural reception of sweep tones and standard Morse Code. Using this material is an experiment. Will it significantly improve the ability of DX'ers to receive the test at great distances --- we're not sure. Will it allow detection of the signal -20db under the noise as true CW QRSS does? Almost certainly not. But I think it's an important experiment and I'd love to see as many DX'ers as possible attempt to receive the signals. In the future, I'll refer to long duration Morse Code ID's on AM stations as "Quasi-QRSS" to be more precise. For those attempting reception, Brandon Jordan pointed out the following: I listened to the qrss file today, and the code on the file is 5 second dots and 15 second dashes, with 5 second spaces. One repetition of the Code ID takes 3 minutes total. My thanks to both Harry Helms and Brandon for catching my errors. Here's hoping that everyone gets a chance to hear (and see) the KXTO test! 73, (Les Rayburn, N1LF, NRC/IRCA Broadcast Test Coordinator, DX LISTENING DIGEST) The article below may prove very helpful: http://www.ussc.com/~turner/qrss1.html In searching for an article on QRSS, I encountered a phrase that may or may not comprise the words for which the QRSS scheme the article describes constitute an acronym: quasi-random signal source. As far as I can tell, the article does not say that the QRSS technique it describes stands for quasi-random signal source. (I searched the article for the text strings "quasi-randon" and "quasi random" and came up with no matches.) However the modulation scheme described in the article (which I'm pretty sure IS the QRSS we are interested in) is related to picking signals out of random noise by using a very slow data rate and very narrow-band filtering. So this appears to be a case of somebody making a VERY unfortunate choice of acronym! (And BTW, if I've figured it out correctly, the QRSS of interest to this group is not, strictly speaking, an acronym--because the letters QRSS are not the first letters in the words of a phrase that is the "longhand" name of the technique.) Apparently the QRSS of interest to this group is ham-speak for "slow your transmission speed (word rate) WAY down." (Dan Strassberg, IRCA via DXLD) I'm reposting the original message from March 19 titled "A idea for future DX Tests....." which was published to a few lists suggesting this quasi-QRSS mode for future DX tests. Some may be interested to see the Spectrum Lab screenshot of the results I had monitoring the normal speed 1 kHz tone generated morse ID's during the KTMI-650 test that morning, along with my brief explanation of the receiver set-up I used then. And please note, anywhere I mention CW below, what I really mean is audio-tone generated morse code :) 73, Brandon Brandon Jordan wrote: I sent a suggestion to Les for the next round of tests that I think would be pretty awesome, and that is very slow morse. I thought I would bring it up here to get other folks opinions. Lets say a station sent out a few 1 kHz tone-generated CW IDs during the DX Tests, say with 2 second-long dots and 6 second-long dashes. Maybe even switch between 1 kHz and 2 kHz tone CW. This would allow DXers, with minimal equipment, to run their receiver audio through a program such as Spectrum Lab and actually see the morse code in the waterfall display. Here is a dump that I took from Spectrum Lab from this mornings KTMI DX Test: http://www.dxtests.info/KTMI.jpg I had my receiver set to 649 kHz, USB mode with 3 kHz bandwidth. You can plainly see the traces 1 kHz above the carriers on 650 kHz, these are the CW ID's KTMI ran during the test. These traces were even visible when I could not audibly hear the morse code. Now imagine if the morse code was really slow, per my suggestion above. The long dots and dashes of the "DE KTMI KTMI KTMI" would easily be visible on the waterfall even if too weak/QRM'd to get by ear. Seems like this would also do wonders for foreign DXers monitoring these tests. I really think it is something worth considering that would provide a lot of 'bang for the buck' for DXers with minimal effort on either the BTC or the station to implement. 73, (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, http://www.bcdx.org DX LISTENING DIGEST I'm a mere mortal too, but QRSS isn't that hard to understand with some reading. (Hey, it worked for me, and I'm no genius!) I find the concept to be intuitive instead of counter-intuitive --- the notion that the bandwidth of a signal increases with the amount of information conveyed makes sense to me (after all, doesn't a soft bag expand as you put more stuff into it?). That's why a SSB signal is wider than a CW signal, a TV signal is wider than a SSB signal, etc. When you send Morse code at a faster rate using CW, the bandwidth of the CW signal must increase with the increased keying rate. This theory behind this is called Shannon's Law, but you don't have to understand it in order to understand this: the bandwidth of a CW signal increases as the keying rate increases and its bandwidth decreases as the keying rate decreases. As the bandwidth of any signal increases, the available transmitter power is spread over a wider area and "signal efficiency" drops. This is something our DRM/IBOC friends are discovering, and it's also why CW transmitters can, indeed, get through when other modes can't --- 100 watts occupying only 20 Hz of bandwidth will pack a lot more wallop on the receiving end, with the appropriate filter, than 100 watts occupying 2.4 kHz of bandwidth. The whole notion behind QRSS is to slow the keying speed of a CW signal down as low as possible in order to pack the available transmitter power into the narrowest possible bandwidth. QRSS also uses computer-based signal processing tools to detect the QRSS signals instead of a human operator; the DSP software can provide the narrow filtering required and extract signals too weak for the human ear to detect --- it really is possible to copy (via computer) a true QRSS signal several dB below the noise level, and experimenters with QRSS have produced some eyepopping DX at picowatt levels. But QRSS only yields its benefits when it is sent via CW --- that is, turning the transmitter on and off to form Morse characters. If the Morse characters are sent via audio tones on an AM signal, THEN IT AIN'T QRSS!! Period! End of discussion! I'm more than a little surprised at the confusion this has caused. Maybe it's because we use "CW" and "Morse code" so interchangably that we start thinking they are the same thing --- they're not. Morse code sent over an AM station is an AM signal --- not CW, nor QRSS --- and you're not going to get anywhere near the weak signal performance of QRSS sent using CW. The signal bandwidth will still be too great; you need to reduce that bandwidth down to a few Hz or so for QRSS to start working its magic. The use of pseudo-QRSS by KXTO will be interesting, fun for those managing to receive it, and hopefully will provide another useful tool for DXers. But it will not be QRSS and will instead be a tool on par with ordinary Morse code IDs, sweep tones, etc. --- it will help KXTO stand out on a crowded channel. It's not the magic bullet that's been implied; it's still just an AM signal. The reason I'm making such a big deal about this is because the KXTO test announcements referenced some QRSS web pages and contained statements about how KXTO might be heard worldwide, etc., that were highly misleading and raised unrealistic expectations about the test. Some clarification is in order. True QRSS could provide some interesting MW DX opportunities in the future. Maybe some 100 milliwatt Part 15 stations operating on split frequencies (like 1235 kHz) sending their calls continiously via QRSS. . . . coast-to-coast reception of those might indeed be possible, even with IBOC (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19 http://topsecrettourism.com abdx ABDX via DXLD) I understand that the total bandwidth of the KXTO pseudo-QRSS signal will be on the order of 5 kHz. But it's a sparsely populated bandwidth. If the only modulation is a sine wave tone being keyed on and off, then all the power of the transmitter will be concentrated into 3 very narrow segments of that bandwidth, one centered at the carrier frequency and the other 2 at the audio frequency sideband offsets from the carrier. The slower the keying rate, the narrower the bandwidth of the sidebands. If you filter out one sideband and the carrier (which is easily done on better communication receivers), then what you have left is in fact indistinguishable from a CW signal, it seems to me. Even though the energy in one sideband is only a fraction of the total transmitter power, it's still gonna be an awesome amount of power compared to what's usually used for QRSS. I predict that the slow seed morse code will be detected far and wide, if anyone bothers to try (Mike Westfall, NM, ibid.) ``The slower the keying rate, the narrower the bandwidth of the sidebands.`` NO!! The bandwidth of AM sidebands is proportional to the modulating signal --- a 500 Hz modulating tone will produce a pair of 500 Hz wide sidebands, a 1000 Hz tone will produce a pair of 1000 Hz sidebands, and so forth. The bandwidth will vary only if the modulating frequency varies --- the "keying rate" of the tone modulated Morse will have nothing, absolutely nothing at all, to do with the bandwidth of the signal. It doesn't matter if KXTO sends Morse modulated with a 1000 Hz tone at the rate of one dash per hour; the sidebands' bandwidth will still be 1000 Hz. If they speed up the code to 35 words per minute with 1000 Hz tone modulation, the sidebands' bandwidth will still be that of the modulating frequency, namely 1000 Hz. ``If you filter out one sideband and the carrier (which is easily done on better communication receivers), then what you have left is in fact indistinguishable from a CW signal, it seems to me.`` It will be very distinguishable from a CW signal for many reasons, not the least of them being occupied bandwidth, effective use of transmitter power, and the fact there will always be a carrier present. This is nothing new. Back in 1975 (IIRC), an AM station in Illinois conducted a DX test on a crowded channel and transmitted a series of audio tones. I was using a Hammarlund HQ180 back then, and had zero copy until they switched to a 1000 kHz tone and I used the 1 kHz filter on the '180. Best copy was achieved when they used a 500 kHz tone and I used the 500 kHz filter in my '180; I also used the USB position of my '180. (The '180 allowed you to select sidebands in the AM mode; the BFO was not automatically switched in.) I expected similar results for anyone trying to copy the pseudo-QRSS from KXTO -- - but, again, it won't be a true of QRSS because the signal will not be CW but AM. As I've written before, I expect the pseudo-QRSS portion of the test will be interesting, fun, and I hope some people are successful in receiving it. I applaud the forward-thinking that went into it. But do take the time to read and research such topics as QRSS, bandwidth, modulation techniques, etc.; knowing about such things makes DXing more fun and lets you understand the potential, and limitations, of various techniques---modulation, antennas, receivers, propagation, etc. (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, ABDX via DXLD) In the stated example, the above statement is incorrect. AM is simple mixing. In the example, there will be tones generated at +/- the modulating frequency from the carrier. These sidebands will not be 500 Hz or 1000 Hz wide. The single-tone modulation frequency determines the offset from the main carrier. This is true whether the modulation is a simple single tone or a complex waveform. Nope. The modulation offsets are proportional to the modulating frequency. The sideband bandwidth is not. The sideband *offset* will be 1000 Hz (I think Hz was meant not KHz) for a 1000 Hz tone. It's actually going to be MCW, using AM modulation. I won't comment further on the subject of the sideband bandwidth as it relates to this ongoing discussion. There is plenty of theory on the hows and whys of amplitude modulation available out on the web. Here is one, and there are many engineering documents available on the IEEE site as well: http://www.qsl.net/vk5br/TransMods.htm Note the difference in the transmitted spectrum of the single-tone signal, and the speech- modulated signal. Mock it up on the bench if you are still not convinced. Use a quality signal generator with appropriate modulation, and a spectrum analyzer with sufficient frequency resolution to display the actual RF transmitted waveform, and see for yourself. If you don't have the gear handy, slide down to the longwave NDB band and try out CW reception of the modulation offsets from the keyed CW on the beacons for yourself. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. As to experiences using the receiver and various filters during tests, this is quite to be expected based on the modulation tone offsets from the main carrier and the Am detection mode used. One could have received the test in CW mode using an even narrower IF filter had one wished to do so. {Engineer switch off] (Rick Kunath, K9AO, ibid.) True, but I thought the original claim was that a tone modulated slow speed Morse signal sent via AM could approximate on one sideband the bandwidth of a CQ QRSS signal. I look forward to seeing how pseudo-QRSS works, especially on a crowded channel with multiple QRM sources. I hope it proves a useful new tool for DXers, but I submit that anyone who thinks they're going to see even a rough approximation of what true CQ QRSS can deliver is going to disappointed (Harry Helms, W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, ibid.) I would suggest that it will come pretty close to true QRSS. While the KXTO carrier will not be appearing & disappearing, the modulating tone will. KXTO will transmit a 2.5 kHz tone that will result in two very narrow carrier signals at 1547.5 & 1552.5 kHz which IMHO would be indistinguishable from true QRSS carriers. Except that, since they arise from AM modulation, each will be at 1/4 the power of the KXTO carrier. So IMHO (refutable!) this "quasi-QRSS" on KXTO will be indistinguishable from "real-QRSS" except that: - There will be two carriers, 2.5 kHz "off-frequency" - Each will be at 1/4 power == (Doug Smith W9WI Pleasant View, TN EM66, AMFMTVDX mailing list via DXLD) I agree with Doug, though I believe that your prediction that you would only see 25% the performance of true A1 QRSS with the test is too conservative. At any rate the test will tell, and I'll be looking forward to it (Rick Kunath, ABDX via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ Re 7-067: HF radio signal propagation topics I like to work PSK31 and CW on 40 meters roughly around 7035.0 kc between my location in Florida and Europe during my late afternoon through early evening period EDT. I can copy signals of medium strength up to 3 hours before we get any semblance of reciprocity in propagation along the path to where I can also be heard. This occurs as the ionospheric layers are heterogeneous in density of ionization and also height along the path. Propagation circuit reciprocity varies by frequency, time of day and time of season. 73 (Best Wishes), (Thomas F. Giella, KN4LF, Lakeland, FL, USA kn4lf @ earthlink.net KN4LF Solar Space Weather & Geomagnetic Data Archive: http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf5.htm dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) GEOMAGNETIC INDICES - GEOI Phil Bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno@yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary February 15 2007 through June 4 2007 Tabulated from daily email status Date Flux A K Space Wx 2/15 73 18 3 minor 16 74 16 2 minor 17 75 5 2 no storms 18 75 8 1 no storms 19 76 6 1 no storms 20 75 3 1 no storms 21 x x x x 22 75 2 0 no storms 23 76 1 0 no storms 24 75 1 1 no storms 25 75 2 0 minor 26 77 4 2 no storms 27 75 4 0 no storms 2/28 75 10 3 no storms 3/ 1 76 20 3 minor 2 75 11 1 no storms 3 76 5 2 no storms 4 73 3 1 no storms 5 73 2 1 no storms 6 72 12 3 no storms 7 72 18 1 minor 8 73 20 3 no storms 9 73 6 1 no storms 10 72 2 1 11 71 4 1 no storms 12 71 6 2 no storms 13 71 6 2 no storms 14 71 20 2 minor 15 70 11 2 no storms 16 69 8 2 no storms 17 69 7 1 no storms 18 69 9 1 no storms 19 71 4 1 no storms 20 70 1 0 no storms 21 73 1 0 no storms 22 73 0 2 no storms 23 73 2 1 no storms 24 73 2 3 no storms 25 73 10 2 minor 26 74 12 1 no storms 27 74 12 4 no storms 28 73 15 3 no storms 29 75 9 1 no storms 30 74 1 0 no storms 3/31 74 1 0 no storms 4/ 1 73 2 0 no storms 2 72 28 3 minor 3 71 26 3 minor 4 71 22 3 no storms 5 71 13 1 no storms 6 71 10 0 no storms 7 71 3 2 no storms 8 71 4 1 no storms 9 71 3 0 no storms 10 70 10 1 no storms 11 69 7 2 no storms 12 69 8 1 no storms 13 68 9 1 no storms 14 68 9 1 no storms 15 68 1 1 no storms 16 69 5 1 no storms 17 69 5 1 no storms 18 69 0 3 no storms 19 69 8 2 no storms 20 68 5 1 no storms 21 69 4 0 no storms 22 69 3 1 no storms 23 69 4 3 no storms 24 69 13 2 minor 25 73 5 2 no storms 26 77 5 1 no storms 27 81 8 3 no storms 28 83 13 3 no storms 29 85 29 3 minor 4/30 85 27 1 no storms 5/ 1 87 19 1 minor 2 86 9 1 no storms 3 87 2 0 no storms 4 83 4 2 no storms 5 x x x x 6 81 3 1 no storms 7 78 2 1 no storms 8 76 18 3 no storms 9 73 17 2 no storms 10 72 7 1 no storms 11 71 3 2 no storms 12 72 3 1 no storms 13 71 2 0 no storms 14 74 2 1 no storms 15 74 4 2 no storms 16 77 4 2 no storms 17 77 5 3 no storms 18 77 4 1 no storms 19 76 18 3 no storms 20 75 10 2 no storms 21 74 8 2 no storms 22 74 6 1 no storms 23 73 5 3 no storms 24 72 10 3 moderate 25 70 37 3 moderate 26 70 23 3 no storms 27 68 16 3 no storms 28 68 17 2 no storms 29 67 14 0 no storms 30 69 3 2 no storms 5/31 70 4 2 no storms 6/ 1 71 4 1 no storms 2 75 4 2 minor 3 79 8 2 minor 6/ 4 83 6 1 moderate (June 9 IRCA DX Monitor, June 6, via DXLD) ###