DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-092, August 4, 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 1369: ** tentative Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 [confirmed August 4] 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 [irregular] 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 ** ALGERIA. Re 7-091: Right now they run no English, as I speculated yesterday, but again Arabic instead, with pips and news headlines not starting until 1802 or so, so obviously the pips are just part of their layout and not a time signal as one would expect. Enclosed a mono mix-down of their hideous stereo stream as received here (Kai Ludwig, Germany, 1818 UT Aug 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANGUILLA. Neil Kazaross wrote: ``Is Caribbean beacon still on?`` Yes, but having technical problems lately on the AM. The 1610 does not simulcast the SW. It is a mix of English and Spanish brokered programming. Before his death, Dr. Gene Scott said the engineers at Caribbean Beacon were a "Bunch of dumbasses". That could explain the technical problems and wrong programming on the wrong transmitters at times. Last night for the first time I heard Cuba on 1610 as well (Kevin Possum Hunter, location unknown but can we guess?, Aug 4, ABDX via DXLD) ? Are you sure it wasn`t after his death? (gh, DXLD) ** ARMENIA. RFE/RL lands Armenian affiliate. "The Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG) has renewed a contract to carry the programs of Radio Liberty's Armenian language service on a private radio network based in the Armenian capital, Yerevan. The contract with AR Radio Intercontinental runs from August 15, 2007 until September 14, 2008. The network has 23 transmitters, which cover Yerevan and a number of outlying districts. ... However, Gedmin noted that efforts to renew a contract with Armenian Public Radio, which has transmitters covering the entire country, have so far proven unsuccessful." http://www.armenialiberty.org/armeniareport/report/en/2007/08/37FF98E4-014A-4A5B-9095-6EF37CE2DBAB.ASP RFE/RL press release, 1 August 2007. 03 Aug 2007 (kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** BELGIUM. Tnx to Bill Wilkins, Springfield MO, for sending along the Été 2007 program booklet he got July 31 from RTBF. It contains generalized program sked info for the 9970 + satellite transmissions, and maps of the footprints of both. Astra 1KR for Europe and NSS7 for Africa have realistic footprint maps, altho uncalibrated. But like last year, the Eurafrican map of the SW coverage area looks like fantasy. It shows a dark circle over central Africa, which is nothing like a SW signal from Belgium would produce --- only a NVIS signal from the centre of the circle, which this transmission is certainly not. It shows another smaller dark circle centred in the middle of the Mediterranean, equally fabulous. Larger, lighter circles, presumably secondary or less-reliable coverage areas, surround them, but the European ones are concentric, while the African one is tangential! Altho the circles are obviously not reflective of a real SW coverage area, this at least implies that two different antennas are in use, one high-angle for Europe and one low-angle takeoff for Africa, altho there is only one frequency, 9970. But HFCC has just one entry showing a single antenna and azimuth, 167 degrees with 100 kW from Wavre. Probably what really happens is that the first hop comes down in the Mediterranean (or they hope, European land areas adjacent), and the third(?) hop comes down around Congo DR, if they are lucky. More big news: since 2006, 24-hour FM relay in Kinshasa on 99.2. The SW coverage page in the booklet says, times carefully converted to UT here, for SEu, 9970 runs at 05-20 Apr-Oct, and 07-17 Nov-Mar CAf, 9970 runs at 03-0430 & 19-21 Apr-Oct, and 04-06 & 17-2215 Nov-Mar So once again the breaks and overlaps really don`t make sense either. Is there really a break currently on 9970 at 0430-0500? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BULGARIA. Does anybody still remember the typical, metallic- sounding noise that always plagued one of the Ukrainian transmitters until they took it aside when the RUI schedule had been cut down? One of the 500 kW transmitters at Padarsko has developed an almost identical noise, just noted on German 1900-2000 on 5900. Bassy modulation, unlike what had been heard in the past, but altogether it sounds somewhat muffled (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re Bulgaria - the noisy transmitter has been heard here on 5900 and 11600. The effect is distracting, but not so bad as the noise that sometimes occurs via Romania's sender(s). (Noel R. Green, Aug 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Continuous Radio Canada International identification noted in French/English 0758 tune in on 6045, faded out 0828. Any ideas? (Edwin Southwell, July 7, World DX Club Contact via DXLD) 6045 is used from Sackville for Korea`s Spanish to Europe 0600-0630 so I would think either the transmitter had not automatically turned off or that they were testing the propagation towards Europe at this time (Mike Barraclough, ed., ibid.) Have previously heard them doing this for a few minutes past 0630 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CANADA. CHTO 1690 Toronto: At 1100 EDT, I've got them in decently here in Rochester, 80 miles or so across the lake. Mediterranean- sounding music, then a long TOH announcement about the station testing, with studio location and a phone number to call about interference. They appear to be on 1690.0 right now. s (Scott Fybush, Aug 3, IRCA via DXLD) ** CANADA [and non]. The Toronto station CHHA has recently moved their transmitter, and ever since, it has been often heard in Memphis. It apparently made a huge difference. I'd bet that they could easily be heard anywhere the big Toronto stations like CJBC are heard (Adam Myrow, TN, NRC-AM via DXLD) It's good, but nowhere near THAT good. CHHA has the advantage of a very clear channel on 1610, as well as a short antenna right on the edge of Lake Ontario. That gives it good skywave takeoff for the sort of long-distance reception we're all reporting, and I expect we'll see some pretty spectacular reports on its signal this winter. (Patrick Martin - have you heard this one out west yet?) Closer in, CJBC still has all the advantages. 50 kW from a half-wave tower on 860 will beat 10 kW from a short tower on 1610 any day of the week. 860 is like a local here in Rochester, 80 miles across the lake, while CHHA is deep DX via groundwave, buried under a couple of local TISes just to add insult to injury. s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, ibid.) Didn't they get a power increase to 10 KW Day too? I seem to recall one of the Canadian XBanders getting 10 KW Day (Paul B. Walker, Jr., ibid.) Yes, they did - they needed more juice to get back into the ethnic neighborhoods north and west of downtown Toronto after losing the site right in the heart of that area that they had been using. The neighbors didn't like hearing CHHA in their telephones and toasters, so the station moved to a site on the Toronto waterfront, which is great for DX but not so much for actually serving the audience they're trying to serve. (It's on the wrong side of all the RF blockage that the big steel buildings of downtown Toronto cause.) s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Scott or others, It seems ironic with all the Canadian stations dropping off the AM band in favor of FM that Canada would authorize use of the X-band. Are newly-manufactured radios in Canada (and Mexico too, for that matter, since they have X-banders) required to provide X-band coverage? Was this all part of some NARBA agreement which I missed? (Pete Taylor, Tacoma, WA, NRC-AM via DXLD) On the first question - using the X-band provides a quick and dirty way to put low-cost stations on the air in Canadian cities where the FM band is full, or nearly so. With the exception of the Canadian clear channels, the use of most other AM channels in the "regular" band in Canada requires directional antennas (sometimes very complex ones) to protect the US border. On the X-band, all you need is a fairly short Valcom fiberglass whip antenna (made in Canada, no less) and a warehouse rooftop and you're on the air. That's why we're seeing 1610/1650/1690 light up in Montreal, for instance, while other "abandoned" AM channels (600, 850, 1410, 1470) remain dark. The 600 there was a huge 4-tower array; the 1410 took 6 towers to protect WPOP and other co-channel US stations. On the second question, here's my guess - I don't know of any specific mandates that radios made in or imported into Canada cover the X-band, but I doubt there'd need to be. There are very, very few radios designed specifically for the Canadian market, after all. As long as manufacturers are required to include the X-band in products destined for the US, Canada will get them, too. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) I rent cars a lot in my travels in Canada and every single one has had x-band coverage for at least 10 years if not longer. (I first became aware of the x-band on a trip to The City in 1995 or so and heard KDIA on 1650 or so -- I noticed as I had QSLed them on 1310 years earlier) ef on the road a lot (Eric Flodén, BC, ibid.) Just 'cause I'm feeling nitpicky tonight - the KDIA that operated on 1640, then 1630, then back on 1640 again in Vallejo, CA has no connection at all to the KDIA in Oakland that was on 1310. That one's still on 1310, still transmitting from the same site next to the Bay Bridge toll plaza, and is now Radio Disney as KMKY. The KDIA on 1640 in Vallejo was the X-band outgrowth of the old KNBA on 1190 (now KDYA). The 1190 is still in Vallejo itself, at the site where 1640/1630/1640 started, but the X-bander has moved south and now diplexes with KNEW 910 in Richmond, a few miles north of the 1310 site. I remember when the 1640 came on for the first time out there. With a completely empty channel (it was the very first X-bander, as I recall), it was an easy barefoot catch at my then-QTH in Waltham, MA - the only CA I ever logged there, in fact. s (Scott Fybush, ibid.) ** CHINA. CRI in Russian on 6100, August 3 until 1257*, good signal on 500 kW aimed 55 degrees from Beijing site, thus onward toward us past DVR. Per Aoki, resumes at 1300 in Mongolian but aimed NW from Beijing (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COLOMBIA. Bienvenidos a "Historias de Radio", un programa donde el pasado y el presente de la radio se dan la mano. Una idea y producción de Daniel Camporini. Realizado, íntegramente, en el estudio de diexismo y comunicación, Munro, Buenos Aires, Argentina. Esta semana el programa está dedicado a "La Radio en Colombia". Sabías que la primera emisora radial en la historia de Colombia comenzó a funcionar en Bogotá y no en Barranquilla como erróneamente se ha dicho y se ha escrito en diversas ocasiones? La radio en Colombia se puso en marcha impulsada desde el gobierno y en medio de las expectativas del gran público, se le denominó HJN y se inauguró el jueves 5 de septiembre de 1929 a las 11 de la mañana. Esta y otras historias podrás escuchar en este magnífico programa que no puedes dejar de escuchar. Si quiere estar informado sobre la historia de la radiodifusión mundial, este es su programa; no se pierdan cada sábado este fenomenal espacio. Para cualquier comentario sobre el programa se pueden dirigir a: diexismoarg @ yahoo.com.ar Pueden escucharlo, a partir del sábado, en su página: http://es.geocities.com/programas_dx/historiasderadio.htm También en Programas DX: http://es.geocities.com/programasdx/ Cordiales 73 (José Bueno, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. 4909.23, Radio Chaskis, Otavalo, 0410-0435, August 4, Spanish talk, Ecuadorian music. Weak. Presumed (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** FINLAND. Radiomaailma/Radioworld via Scandinavian Weekend Radio is a special transmission starting 21 UT on August 3rd from annual summermeeting of Finnish DX Association held in Ylöjärvi http://tredxk.hard-core-dx.com/kesis2007/ You can follow atmosphere and happenings in this meeting directly from our remote studio in meeting place. We shall have 1500 watts ERP-power on our 25 mb frequencies and transmitting powers of 400 watts on MW 1602 kHz and 100 watts on 49 m. There will be issued a Special QSL from this transmission. Send your reports with 2 IRC's, 2 Euros or 2 US-dollars to: SWR Reports P O Box 99 FI-34801 Virrat FINLAND e-mails to our studios: studio(at)swradio(piste)net Aikataulu - Schedule 04.08.2007 Radiomaailma/Radioworld via SWR Local Frequency - Taajuudet Program details - Ohjelmatietoja Time 48 25 MW Studio UT 00-01 6170 11720 1602 00.00 Lähetys alkaa. 00.15 Kesisstudio: Kesäkokouksen avajaisseremoniat. Y 21-22 01-02 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 22-23 02-03 6170 11690 1602 02.00 Hukala.net News. 02.05 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 23-00 03-04 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 00-01 04-05 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 01-02 05-06 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 02-03 06-07 6170 11690 1602 SWR open studio, Virrat. V 03-04 07-08 6170 11690 1602 Kesisstudio: Madmanin sävellahja. Vinyylinvingutusta, CD:n rousketta ja kesäkokouslauantain sisäänajoa aamuvirkuille. Y 04-05 08-09 6170 11690 1602 Kesisstudio: Huomenta kesäkokouksesta by Dj Häkä. Y 05-06 09-10 6170 11690 1602 Aamuviihteellä SWR crew. V 06-07 10-11 6170 11720 1602 Aamuviihteellä SWR Dj Esa. V 07-08 11-12 6170 11720 1602 Kesisstudio: DX-kolmiottelu. (live) Y 08-09 12-13 6170 11720 1602 12.00 Hukala.net News. 12.05 Taajamakuuntelijan tehoantennit. Y 09-10 13-14 6170 11720 1602 "Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" an in depth look at this ground breaking album presented by TrickyTrev. V 10-11 14-15 6170 11720 1602 14.00 Hukala.net News. 14.05 Kesisstudio: Radioruletti. Kesiksen kuudestilaukeava Madmanin käsissä. Y 11-12 15-16 6170 11720 1602 TrickyTrev presents Jeff Waynes Musical Version of "War of the Worlds" Tricky looks at part one of this remastered classic album which features original 1978 famous cast (a must hear) V 12-13 16-17 6170 11690 1602 TrickyTrev's "60's show " a chance to relive those "groovy baby" days with some classic tracks that we all love. V 13-14 17-18 6170 11690 1602 Tricky's "Party time" a mix of music for the early evening, a warm up for a Saturday night out. V 14-15 18-19 6170 11690 1602 Kesisstudio: Iltatuulen viesti kesäkokouksesta 2007 by Madman. Y 15-16 19-20 5980 11720 1602 Kesisstudio: Happy Hour by JMN. Y 16-17 20-21 5980 11720 1602 Softaradiot käytännössä. Y 17-18 21-22 6170 11690 1602 FM-paneeli. Y 18-19 22-23 6170 11690 1602 TreDXK ry 40 vuotta -juhlaesitelmä. Y 19-20 23-24 6170 11690 1602 Tunnelmapaloja iltaohjelmasta ja closing seremony. Y 20-21 73' (Alpo Heinonen, SWR, August 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Less info: http://www.swradio.net [in advance on the dxldyg] ** GERMANY. Media&Broadcast schedule updates Some recent changes in Media&Broadcast shortwave transmissions (see also A07web_15a.pdf in Yahoo group): MV Baltic Radio: Another additional transmission is scheduled for September 16, as always 1200-1300 on 6045 (Jülich, using the HQ antenna). This could again be a broadcast from a third party like Coloradio (Dresden) or Radio Zusa (Uelzen/Dannenberg). Christian Voice: The transmissions via Wertachtal, supposed to be replaced by an additional transmitter at Zambia, have again been prolonged and are now scheduled until August 31. Bible Voice Broadcasting: Some transmissions have been added on the Nauen transmitters, abandoned by Deutsche Welle in spring: Daily at varying times in the 1500...1559 period towards 95 deg. on 15140 and 15530, Thu only 2000- 2030 on 9665 towards 145 deg., all with 250 kW. Trans World Radio: 5910 1807-1840, added on May 28, has again been cancelled on July 30. DRM for Broadcast Center Europe (i.e. RTL): 5990 is on air via Wertachtal Mon, Tue, Thu and Fri 0530-1630 plus Wed 0530-1729, 90 kW towards 270 deg. International Broadcasting Bureau: Updated entries are from May 1 1800-1845 9875 Wertachtal 250 kW to 150 deg. (VOA in Amharic) and from June 15 1500-1659 9725 Jülich 100 kW to 60 deg. (RL Belorussian), but these appear to be engineering adjustments, specifically antenna changes, only. But what about another entry updated on June 15, 1730-1800 7235 Wertachtal 250 kW to 90 deg.; what's this? Radio Miami International: Site for Minivan Radio on 11965 is again Jülich. Another new transmission, launched on July 8: Saturdays only 1700-1729 on 15650, Wertachtal 125 kW towards 135 deg.; what's this? (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: 15650: I guess this is Voice of Oromia Independence, which has been on for over a year now. But I think it has been on from Juelich, so maybe it has been switched to Wertachtal (Jeff White, RMI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. XM / Sirius audio quality (DXLD 7-087) >> I siriusly (yuck, yuck) doubt the bird is the problem with the sound quality. Both XM and Sirius are digital, so you either get the signal or you don't. I've always thought the XM sound quality was due to too much compression. I recall reading somewhere they're using 96 kbps on the music channels. (Talk channels must be about 32 kbps with horrible artifacts.) I'm not sure that correlates directly to MP3 bit rates, but it's clearly less than optimal (Jay Heyl, FL, ibid.) << Both XM and Sirius are suspected to use less than 96 kbps, cf. http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t56289.html I don't know how XM sounds, but for Sirius some samples are available at http://www.opengeek.org/2005/03/hd-radio-analog-fm-mp3-and-ogg-audio.html Music channels sound dull to me, lacking transparency and clarity, and on speech as well as critical material like cymbals things already start to fall apart into a digital mess. Audio bandwith is limited to 12 kHz (hard cut-off), and quite a lot of dynamics compression is in use as well. Talk channels (last two examples on the mentioned page) generally sound like mediumwave, but with the added products of heavy data reduction. Here a 8 kHz low-pass is applied. My conclusions: Nothing I would like to listen to. It might be acceptable for car use, but not for decent loudspeakers or headphones. (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Amateur radio satellites are in orbit, not one or two, but several of them, but they all seem to be getting very little use. Today I will try here to attempt to understand why the existing amateur radio satellites are seeing such little use, and the first thing that comes to my attention is that among radio amateurs there is very little knowledge about ham satellites and how you can operate using them. After the fiasco caused by the failure of the Oscar 40 super amateur satellite that was supposed to last for many years in its elliptical orbit, interest in amateur satellites dropped dramatically, and in my opinion it has never recovered. Another contributing factor to the present low use of ham satellites was also the failure of the popular Russian RS10 and RS12 easy sats, that could be accessed using very simple antennas and equipment. Now there are some signs of a revival in interest in the use of amateur satellites, that focuses mainly on using them during ham radio contests to boost the number of points by both club and individual stations, at a moment when as we all know well, HF propagation conditions are very poor. But, again, after carefully attempting to find out why ham radio satellites see such little use nowadays, there seems to be yet another important element, and that is the fact that the presently available satellites are at very low altitude Earth orbits, so the time available to make two way contacts is really very limited for even the best possible conditions between two stations. Prospects for a satellite with similar operating characteristics as the doomed Oscar 40 are not optimistic at all, so my point of view is that amateur radio satellite communications will remain at the present low ebb for years to come. Yes, it is one of the more than 81 ways you and I can enjoy the radio hobby, and at the present time it doesn't require a lot of expensive equipment or sophisticated antennas. So, if you are already an amateur radio station operator, explore the possibilities of testing your ham station's satellite communications possibilities. At these times of extremely poor HF propagation conditions, satellites keep operating as usual, because they don't depend on solar activity to provide two way communications (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited Aug 4, HCDX via DXLD) ** ISRAEL. Re 7-091: The schedule we last saw on the internet shows Ladino at 1645-1700 and Spanish at 1715-1730. I haven't checked it thoroughly so it may not be correct. Whenever I hear Ladino I cannot tell the difference between it and Spanish. Are they one and the same, or are there differences? So, Ladino is the service at 1645-1700 and Spanish is at 1715-1730 as per schedule? (Noel R. Green, NW England, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, there are some differences, such as `strange` or archaic words here and there. I should think these would stand out to a Castilian (or Catalan) speaker. Could be Kol Israel defaults to regular Castilian during some of the Ladino time (Glenn, ibid.) Según parece ser, este servicio sería en judeo-español, (ladino). Se pueden escuchar los programas de kol Israel bajo demanda en: http://reka.iba.org.il/ Hay que reconocer la similitud entre el ladino y el español; es apenas unas palabras diferentes: Español: Palestinos, Ladino: Palestinianos. Arabe Arabo Jerusalem Jerusalaim A [sic] dicho A disho Policia Policies Frontera Fronteres Eridos Feridos Etc., etc. Curioso e interesante (José Miguel Romero, Spain, ibid.) I'm not surprised at this, since "Jerusalaim" is very similar to the Hebrew pronunciation (transliterated in English: Yerushalayim). I imagine there are a lot of Hebrewisms in Ladino, as there are in Yiddish (the other traditional vernacular language of European Jews). (Saul Broudy, Philadelphia, PA USA, ibid.) ** ITALY. Rai still on SW? Re 7-091: If I understand Raul's message correctly, he is saying that the services to North, Central and S. America on 11800 and 9840 are still on air. These services are sched between 2240 and 0335. Two additional frequencies are listed for Italian at 0130-0230 = 6110 and 11765. However, on Aug. 2 I tried the 1830-1905 service to N America in Italian on 17780 and 15380 but couldn't hear either - perhaps due to no propagation, unless Italian language services have been reduced? Italian via Singapore relay 11920 at 1000 is either not propagating or not on air on Aug. 3. Services heard on Aug. 2 included Serbian at 1910 on 6130 - and much louder than preceding tent. Polish until 1900 on the same frequency that was mixing with better TWR SWZ. Somali was on air at 1910 via 11890 with a loud signal and English to E Africa & ME on good 5970 and poor 11875. Portuguese followed at 2050 on 11875 to the same area // 6110 & 7130 to NW Africa. And I heard bird chirps on 15240 at 2050, but too weak to copy the language - I assume it was Portuguese to C Africa. Earlier Italian transmissions to this area - as reported previously - were not audible (Noel R. Green (NW England), dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Exactly the same situation today. At 1855 tune-in I found 6130 on air with Italian songs, accompanied by a whistle of roughly 800 Hz which suddenly disappeared at 1858 before I had made out whether it was transmitted or a het from a co-channel transmitter severely off frequency (HFCC suggests "TIG 50 kW", i.e. the Romanian Saftica site, as possible culprit). At 1859 the RAI transmission suddenly cut from the ongoing song over to a closing announcement for "broadcasts to eastern Europe" as far as I could make out, then the open carrier stayed on air till past 1905. At 1910 a stronger RAI carrier appeared again on 6130, immediately followed by modulation of already running opener for RAI in Serbian and welcome from announcer with contact details and so on. It just makes no sense that this transmission comes in stronger here than Polish before, it should be the other round if really an antenna switch is involved, but HFCC suggests that the same antenna is in use for both transmissions. Modulation depth is better on the Serbian broadcast from 1910, too, furthermore a slight distortion which plagued the transmission until 1900 is gone as well, so this appears to be another transmitter in better condition. The audio input into the transmitter is of course the same, heavily filtered to phone bandwidth and with an AGC with very low threshold and release set to about 3 seconds in the chain, during pauses of the announcers sucking up the residual noise picked up by the studio mic to full volume. And while I'm on the radio ... [see BULGARIA] (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 3, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re the comments from Kai Ludwig - according to the HFCC registrations for RAI on 6130, what is in use until 1900 should also be in use from 1905/1910, but obviously "something" changes. I had difficulty in recognising the language of their Polish transmission due to the poor and QRMed signal, but the Serbian service was "loud and clear". As Kai intimates, I also would suggest another transmitter and antenna are in use. 6130 1800 1900 28E ROM 100 52 1234567 250307 281007 D various I RAI 6130 1905 1955 28E ROM 100 52 1234567 250307 281007 D various I RAI (Noel R. Green, Aug 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAMAICA. JBC is the one that went away. I have a v/l from JBC 750 Port Maria, from the early 1960's, a bit of a collector's item, I'd imagine. RJR just IDs as their FM, and I think "94" is part of their ID. 720 is about the only Jamaican I ever hear anymore and I'm a near local to them in Tampa. Any time I hear voice from there, it is in the beautiful (to me anyway) Caribbean accent (Bob (K2EUH once and now nowhere near NY) Foxworth, Tampa FL, ABDX via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. 13760v, Voice of Korea (presumed), *0700 to past 0800, July 31 & August 1, 2 and 3; IS, anthem, into programming in Russian, varied from 13759.9 to 13760.1, weak. No sign of CTN programming (via Meyerton) since their August 1 move here (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) also see SIERRA LEONE [non] ** KOREA NORTH [non]. RHC 6000 now has a het in the mornings here on 6003, and no doubt that is from the new frequency of Echo of Hope, clandestine from S to N Korea. Not strong enough at 1251 August 3 to really bother RHC, but detectable; on // 6348, heavy swish jamming dominated (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KUWAIT. 11990, Radio Kuwait, 1800-1905+, August 4, Tune-in to National Anthem followed by English opening announcements. Some local Arabic music & talk about Islam. US & Euro-pop music at 1814. News at 1830. Back to US pop music at 1834. Program about Kuwaiti women at 1900. Good signal (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBERIA [non]. see SIERRA LEONE [non] ** LIBYA. 17870, Voice of Africa, 1404-1559*, August 4, English IDs. African pop music. Talk about human rights. News at 1435-1443. Readings from the Green Book. Fair to good. // 17725-weak (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS [non]. GERMANY, 11965, Minivan R. via DTK Aug 01 *1600-1615 33433-23432 Vernacular, 1600 sign on with R. Miami International's ID, 1600 IS, ID, Talk, QRM from CRI on co/channel; Thanks for tip from Seiiti Hasegawa, (Kouji Hashimoto, Japan, Japan Premium Aug 3 via DXLD) I forwarded to Jeff White the above report, and the previous one from Spain indicating considerable QRM from China, as received elsewhere (gh) Glenn: Maybe so, but take a listen to this recording from the Maldives. There's absolutely no QRM that I can hear (Jeff White, RMI, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Jeff, Fine; I wasn`t disputing your report from the scene (maybe no QRM but reception pretty poor; I guess motivated Dhivehis could make it out). If it works for MR, it works, and I`m sure CRI is not losing much in its target area, with plenty of redundancy anyway. Still, strange DTK would have picked that frequency. Without checking the map, it seems Kashi to Europe would be more like off the side to Maldives, rather than off the back. 73, (Glenn to Jeff, via DXLD) Glenn: I agree, it seems weird that T-Systems would have chosen a CRI channel, and it does seem like that would have the potential of causing serious QRM in the Maldives area. So I'm amazed that CRI wasn't even the slightest bit audible in the recording they sent me. But as you say, if it works for the Maldives, it works. I think its worth keeping an ear on though in case the first day's recording was a fluke. I appreciate your reports (Jeff White, RMI, Aug 3, via DXLD) ** MEXICO [and non]. XEXQ, 6045, now definitely heard again, as classical vocal music was audible August 3 at 1248; 1259 piano music, 1300 announcement by YL but too weak to make out. This had a hefty 4 Hz SAH from something, presumably the FE station on 6045 which might otherwise go unnoticed. Aoki shows that is now: VOICE OF RUSSIA 1100-1400 1234567 Chinese 250 kW 230 degrees Vladivostok-Rasdoln RUS 13157E, 4332N VOR a07 and followed by another hour in English, same parameters. Also, no trace of XEYU carrier on 9599.2 once Cuba had closed, at 1303 August 3 nor 4 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. The Opinión de los lectores section of the Radio Enlace website http://www.informarn.nl/programas/programassemanales/RadioEnlace is filling up with objexions to the announced cancellation of the program in October. Here are a few of the latest ones, some of which aren`t even in Spanish, but Portuguese or Italian, if not Swedish: JOSE RONALDO XAVIER, 02-08-2007 - BRASIL POR FAVOR, NÃO DEIXEM RADIO ENLACE SAIR DO AR. É O MELHOR PROGRAMA DE RADIOCOMUNICAÇÃO DEDICADO AOS OUVINTES. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Luis Oscar Ottone, 02-08-2007 - Argentina No estoy convencido de que la decisión de cierre de programas fuese del Sr Zepeda, pero si así lo fuera, creo creo que no tuvo en cuenta que se puede innovar/ampliar los programas, pero sin afectar los conceptos fundamentales, manteniendo los mismos dado que tienen una gran relevancia en los oyentes, que SI son “vinculantes” o ¿acaso el programa no está dirigido a ellos? Finalmente creo que el cierre del programa Radio Enlace, como otros de RN, provocará una gran tristeza para aquellos que como yo, se iniciaron en la radio en su juventud, dejando volar la imaginación mediante la escucha de las Broadcastings internacionales. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Enrique Wembagher, 01-08-2007 - Argentina Si bien el avance de las comunicaciones no ha hecho emigrar compulsivamente a otros medios de escucha, esta no es razon para que RADIO ENLACE deje de emitirse. POR FAVOR SRES DIRECTORES DE PROGRAMACION, No sean hipocritas y recapaciten !!! Radio Enlace merece estar entre la grilla de programas OBLIGATORIOS de RNW !!! NO A LA DESAPARICION DE RADIO ENLACE !!! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Henrik Klemetz, 01-08-2007 - Suecia Lo hemos oído antes. Se requiere “un proceso de revitalización”. Hay que “hacer modificaciones”. Es cierto que en la radio, como en otros campos, cada cosa tiene su tiempo. Igual de cierto es que hay programas radiales emblemáticos que, cuando desaparecen, dañan el goodwill acaparado durante años. Cuando el fundador del programa “Sweden Calling DX-ers” se hizo viejo, decidió sustituirlo por un magacín electrónico, presentado por una persona con quien solo compartía el apellido (en traducción [Skoog & Wood]). No fue ningún acierto, pues se trataba de una “renovación” impuesta por la radio y no por el respetable público de la emisora. Cuando el “DX Juke Box” se convirtió en “Media Network”, fue un paso en adelante. Pero cuando al presentador de este programa lo ascendieron, ya no le quedó tiempo para seguir al frente del programa que lo había catapultado a la cima. Con la desaparición de “Media Network”, a mi se me quitó el principal motivo para seguir sintonizando el programa en inglés de Radio Nederland. Si los moderadores de “Radio Enlace” piensan que ya les llegó la hora de “plegar”, tienen todo el derecho de hacerlo. Que lo hagan con la cabeza en alto, pues han realizado una labor importante, pero que a José Zepeda le conste que no solo deberá tapar el vacío que se forme sino que deberá reemplazarlo por algo todavía mejor (aunque no necesariamente de tanta extensión en minutos). Me sorprende cuando dice que “la opinión de los oyentes la toma en alta consideración, pero que no es vinculante”, que “es importante pero no determinante”, y que “no siempre la gente tiene razón”. Como director tiene todo el derecho de expresar su criterio. Pero queda por ver si con el anunciado “proceso de revitalización” saldrá ganando Radio Nederland. Henrik Klemetz ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Dario Villani, 01-08-2007 - Italia Dopo 30 anni di trasmissioni, posso capire che sia necessario qualche cambiamento nel palinsesto, ma la formula di RADIOENLACE è talmente fortunata da renderlo un evergreen. Forse Jaime e Alfonso devono andare in pensione? Non chiudete questo programma. Ve lo chiedo a nome di circa 9-10 mila visitatori del nostro sito web, radiomagazine.net Grazie. Dario Villani giornalista ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Carlos Mourato, radiofarol@gmail.com, 01-08-2007 - Portugal Porque hacem esso? Esso es un buenissimo programa , com muchissima information tecnica, e que interessa a decenas de milhares de radioescuchas e radioaficionados por el mundo. La onda corta es muy importante para la radiodifusion, e el programa es muy importante para la cultura tecnica de los oyentes. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- João Costa, 01-08-2007 - PORTUGAL Estou ainda em estado de choque com esta incrivel noticia "el término de Radio Enlace" pois são 30 anos de programas que desaparecem. Caro Sr José Zepeda, director del departamento latinoamericano de Radio Nederland, os argumentos invocados são da MAIS PURA e SINISTRA HIPOCRISIA e concordo em absoluto com a analise do Pedro Sedano. Tal como ele, já escutei demasiadas decisões POLITICAS e ECONOMICAS para o encerramento de diversa emissoras, mas iguais ás invocadas por V. Exª ultrapassam tudo até hoje dito. Y para terminar le preguntaría, ¿quien o quienes son los nombres y apellidos responsables de esta increible decisión? Um VERDADEIRO DIRECTOR seria o PRIMEIRO que debería de encabezar un Comité de Protesta y ser la Voz de NOSOTROS los oyentes ante la Dirección de R. Nederland o ante la persona o personas que se están equivocando. Seja um HOMEM LIVRE e PEÇA A SUA DEMISÂO, pois ao não faze-la está a pactuar com este ENORME ATENTADO "TERRORISTA" desenvolvido dentro do departamento latino-americano da Radio Nederland. João Costa desde PORTUGAL (via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. TWO NEW MEGAWATT MEDIUMWAVE TRANSMITTERS FOR PAKISTAN The Director of Engineering for the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation (PBC), Mukkaram Khan Niazi, says that PBC has decided to install 1000 kiloWatt mediumwave transmitters in Umerkot and Lahore to extend the range of its broadcasts to about 500 kilometres radius. The project, to cost Rs1,200 million (US$20 million), was discussed in the Central Working Party and referred to the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council for final approval, he added. Mr Niazi said that the engineering wing of the PBC had manufactured some transmitters in its own factory. (Source: Dawn) (August 4th, 2007 - 8:57 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) WTFK? WTFK? ** ROMANIA. Subject: Romania 1989 (DXLD 7-088) >> Romania hung its leader (Nicolae Ceausescu, d. 1989) << Well, actually he had been shot to death. Perhaps it is not so well known, but the revolution in Romania was largely a TV event, as documented in the German production "Videograms of a revolution" I found extremely fascinating: http://www.pecina.cz/files/www.ce-review.org/99/17/kinoeye17_privett.html The red image mentioned herein actually contained an inscript "Transmisiune Directa" or like that, i.e. "live transmission", and it was very obvious that no technical problem had arisen, as this slide tried to suggest. A screenshot of these last live TV pictures of Nicolae Ceausescu: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/Ceausesculosingpower.jpg Studio scene after rebels had occupied the TV centre on Dec 22 1989: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ae/Tvr_revolution_%281989%29.jpg Actual screenshots: http://foundation.generali.at/fileadmin/artware/images/JPG/231/farocki_GF0003419.00_001.jpg http://www.xposeptember.se/galleri/farockiweb.jpg And footage from a few days later: http://danielsimpson.blogspot.com/2001_12_01_danielsimpson_archive.html (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. Radio St Helena made another test transmission July 17 1900-2100 (Mike Barraclough, Aug World DX Club Contact) [11092.5U] Strong signal here in Ludlow at S9 for the first 55 minutes with occasional fading, no interference. Dropped to S3 at 1955 but peaked again to S7 at 2040. After 2000, reception generally difficult. Music quality OK but microphone audio somewhat muffled. Interested to note that my Racal 6790 (crystal filter IF) copied the transmission throughout the 2 hours I monitored, admittedly sometimes with difficulty. The DSP receivers, TenTec RX340, Winradio 313 frequently lost the signal completely during the weaker periods. Perhaps there is life in the old technology yet (Glyn Jones, UK, ibid.) ** SAUDI ARABIA [and non]. Re 7-091, LIBYA [and non]: Bueno, parece que hoy no está en el aire la emisora afropop, estoy escuchando en 17660 a los saudíes en francés sin ningún tipo de interferencia; tampoco parece estar en un barrido que he hecho por la banda, lo que no me di cuenta ayer si ya no estaba. No es que los añore mucho o poco, pero los de BSKSA deben estar contentos. 17660.0, 1355 ARS BSKSA-Ryad Señales horarias + inicio en francés 02/08 Fra 45444. Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez, Aug 2, Noticias DX via DXLD) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. 13760 (new frequency, ex: 9525), Cotton Tree News (CTN) now via Meyerton (ex: Ascension), scheduled for 0730-0800, starting from August 1. This per e-mail from Anne Bennett, Coordinateur de Projet Sierra Leone, Fondation Hirondelle, Mount Aureol, Freetown, Sierra Leone. I have not been able to hear them here since the move. Wonder about Star Radio, have they also shifted their 0700-0730 programming here? (Ron Howard, Monterey, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) also see KOREA NORTH ** TAIWAN [and non]. From Radio Taiwan Intl. website --- RTI Broadcast problems The following English broadcasts were suspended due to technical difficulties. We apologize for the inconvenience. On August 1, broadcasts to Europe from 2230 to 2300 UT on 15600 KHz. On August 2, broadcasts to North America from 0200 to 0210 UT on 5950 KHz and from 0200 to 0210 UT on 9680 KHz. However seems like more transmissions were affected, here's what I heard on 31st July transmission to South Asia at 1650 utc on 15515 : http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/rti_tech_snag.mp3 Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, Aug 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) All except 15515 are WYFR. Why only fraxions of each hour affected?? Just news or material which is normally fed live? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U K. Re: Landmark radio masts demolished ``BBC News 2 August 2007 ... BT said the masts had been superseded by satellite and other methods of communication.`` Is it asking too much to do some own research on news items instead of just relaying the PR stuff issued by companies? Already a quick check of Wikipedia would have been enough to find out that BT has simply lost the former Rugby customers to the competition; neither the Royal Navy's VLF communication with submarines nor the 60 kHz MSF time signal were "superseded by satellite" but are on air via facilities of VT Communications now. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rugby_VLF_transmitter (illustrated) (Kai Ludwig, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) GBR ** U K. BUG STRIKES BBC WEB RADIO PLAYER By Mark Sweney August 3, 2007 MediaGuardian.co.uk http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2141179,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=4 BBC online radio player: problems come as the corporation unveils the 'beta' test of its long-awaited iPlayer A major technical glitch has hit the BBC's online radio player, leaving listeners unable to access much of the service for several weeks. The radio player gives listeners live access to all the BBC radio programming including Radio 1, Radio 2, Radio 3, Radio 4, Radio Five Live, the Asian Network and about 50 local and regional radio services. It also has a "listen again" facility. Visitors seeking to use the player over the last several weeks have been greeted with the following message: "We are experiencing severe technical problems, and regret that many programmes are unavailable. We are working to restore normal service. See station websites for alternative links." The BBC says that access to all of its radio content has still been available if listeners avoid the radio player and instead visit the websites of individual radio stations. "We have had a problem with the database that runs the BBC radio player," said the BBC in a statement. "The current issue has arisen in the last couple of weeks. We've rebuilt much of the software and have now fixed the worst of the problems. However, throughout the problem, all our programmes have still been available via 'listen again' on network's homepages." The ongoing problem with the service comes at the same time that the BBC has unveiled the public "beta" test of its long-awaited iPlayer. The radio player and the BBC news player will eventually be integrated into the iPlayer as a one-stop media shop for all BBC content. But classical music and audio books will not be available through the iPlayer after the BBC Trust ruled that it would have had a disproportionate effect on commercial rivals. The BBC has, this afternoon, removed the original error message which appeared in the "launch BBC Radio Player" icon which stated, in bold, that the BBC Radio Player is experiencing "severe" technical problems. Under the "get help listening" link below the icon a toned down explanation of the issues says: "We are currently experiencing technical problems with listen again streams on the BBC Radio Player. We regret that many programmes are not available. We are working to restore normal service as quickly as possible" (via Mike Terry, dxldyg; Dan Say, DXLD) ** U S A. Kim's review of new biography about Willis Conover. Willis Conover: Broadcasting Jazz to the World, by Terrence M. Ripmaster (iUniverse, 2007)… If you go to my website about international broadcasting and search on “jazz,” you’ll see several entries about musicians who were inspired by Willis Conover’s jazz broadcasts on the Voice of America. They listened from East Europe and the Soviet Union, as expected, but also from India, Cuba, Sweden – all over the world, actually. My own first memories of Willis Conover were as a teenaged shortwave listener in Indiana. When I began working at VOA in 1985, I considered it a perk to encounter the famous international broadcaster in the corridors. Willis always had a smile and a hello for me. I don’t think he ever knew my name. Given all the people who knew Willis, or at least listened to him on the radio, it’s surprising that the first biography about his was written by someone who had never heard of him until after Willis’s death in 1994. Nevertheless, Terrence M. Ripmaster, a retired history professor, is an expert on jazz and its history, so he writes with authority and recognizes the significance of Willis’s career. Ripmaster goes back to the early days of Willis’s life. At age 16, he started a publication for devotees of science fiction. By World War II, his interests had shifted to music. During and after the war, he was able to get work as host of jazz programs at radios stations in an around Washington. This is in the days before radio was focused- grouped and formatted, and when jazz was almost mainstream. That must have been quite a time, those hipster days of the 1940s and 1950, when Willis frequented the jazz clubs of Washington and New York. Cigarettes were more fashionable back then, and smoke filled clubs even more so. I regret that I am a bit too young to have experienced that scene, though my lungs are probably the better for it. As Ripmaster writes, for unknown reasons, Willis largely quit the club scene when he was hired by the Voice of America, his first program in January 1955. Willis always worked for VOA as a contractor rather than in the civil service. This, he said, was to protect his “independence,” though it may also have provided him with more generous remuneration than received by the usual starting VOA broadcaster. Willis did not receive benefits, such as health insurance, which would have helped him as his health failed in the 1990s. Ripmaster describes Willis’s many overseas trips, his efforts to break the color line in the jazz scene, and his personal life. We readers of biography always love gossipy, personal stuff … you do … don’t you? … and so we learn about Willis’s five marriages, which produced a grand total of zero children. But here, the author’s research trips up a bit. On page 11, he writes that Willis married his first wife, Mary Felker, in 1952. On page 19, we read that his marriage to Felker was in 1947, ending in divorce in 1950. Well, biography is difficult, especially when it involves gathering information from the National Archives, from the Willis Conover collection at the University of North Texas (did Willis ever set foot in Texas?), from Willis’s friends and associates, and from VOA itself. Ripmaster’s book meanders, like a procession of 4 x 6 index cards, so you have my permission not to read it from front to back, but to choose chapters as your mood suits. When I interviewed him for VOA’s “Talk to America,” Ripmaster told me there is enough material about Willis at the University of North Texas for at least two more books. In the meantime, there is plenty of good reading in his book for anyone interested in Willis’s life, VOA’s past, or the history of American jazz. Posted: 03 Aug 2007 http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/?id=2065 (via DXLD) Reviews of the new bio about Willis Conover. About Willis Conover: Broadcasting Jazz to the World, by Terrence M. Ripmaster (iUniverse, 2007): "In places all around the world where America is hated today, the name Willis Conover still draws smiles and releases a reserve of goodwill, yet the bizarrely narrow and smug Ken Burns PBS series on jazz a few years ago managed not even to mention Conover." http://blog.washingtonpost.com/rawfisher/2007/08/random_friday_question_what_to.html?nav=rss_blog (Marc Fisher, Washington Post blog, 3 August 2007) See also my review as written for the IBB house organ. [as above] (Kim Andrew Elliott, kimandrewelliott.com Aug 3 via DXLD) See also ARMENIA ** U S A. George Moore, Deputy Director of IBB. I am very sad to share with you the news of the sudden passing this morning (Aug. 3, 2007) of George Moore, our beloved Deputy Director of the International Broadcasting Bureau. George died at his home in Annapolis. All of us join in expressing our most sincere condolences to George’s family. George served as IBB’s Deputy Director since June 2006. He also served as Director of Engineering from 2000 to 2006. He joined VOA engineering in 1981 as a Transmitter Technician in Botswana, and rapidly progressed through the ranks of the Foreign Service to Station Manager. His other overseas assignments included Greece, Germany, and Morocco. George was promoted to the rank of Senior Foreign Service in July 1995, and in February 2003 he was promoted to the rank of Minister Counselor. He was the first Foreign Service Officer within the IBB to achieve this rank. Before he joined the BBG, George served in various engineering and management positions at radio and television stations in Columbus and Savannah, Georgia, and with General Electric Telecommunications Division in Lynchburg, Virginia. James K. Glassman, Chairman, Broadcasting Board of Governors Posted: 03 Aug 2007 (via http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/?id=2069 via DXLD) OBIT ** U S A. Re 7-091: 2 Responses to “BBG/IBB to install new mediumwave transmitter at Marathon” Hans Says: August 2nd, 2007 at 15:37 e I think the maximum output power on AM for the U.S. is normally 50 kW. Does this station have a special license? Kai Ludwig Says: August 4th, 2007 at 12:20 e FCC rules for commercial broadcasters, including the 50 kW power limit for mediumwave stations, simply do not apply to the Marathon transmitter because it is operated by the IBB as a governmental body. Hence it also has no callsign whatsoever, like the Greenville and Delano shortwave transmitters. What I find quite remarkable is that they plan to squeeze the new transmitter into the rather small control room instead of installing it in the transmitter room. Presumably the latter is already fully occupied by the existing gear? (To my knowledge two 50 kW transmitters, operated as a pair.) (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** U S A. I happened to hear WWCR announce on 13845 at 1303 Aug 4 that all four transmitters were going off the air for ``powerline and electrical maintenance``, and would return when completed. Meanwhile programming continues available on streams. Now`s our chance to hear something else around 15825, 13845, 9985, 5890, later 12160, depending on how long it lasts. (Glenn Hauser, OK, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. High Adventure Ministries --- Below a translated excerpt from Medien aktuell: Kirche im Rundfunk #144, published by Hansjörg Biener, explaining what became of High Adventure Ministries: "In 1999 Otis [who died July 22] handed the leadership over to Jackie Mitchum Yockey, but she did not manage to keep High Adventure together. Announced projects which were supposed to use the transmitters pulled out of southern Lebanon in 2004 never materialized. The successors of the ministry include Bible Voice UK, Bible Voice USA und High Adventure Canada who broker airtime [primarily on Media&Broadcast transmitters in Germany] as well as the shortwave station T8BZ at Palau, now with own management and mostly relaying Radio Free Asia programming. But the primary successor of High Adventure who rigorously supported Israel is Voice of Jerusalem, broadcasting from Jerusalem via the Sky Angel satellite network in North America with conservative, Israel-loving Christians being the target audience." (Kai Ludwig, Germany, August 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) They love it to death (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. SMALL STATION OWNER IN A SMALL MARKET I've just finished reading selected material from the 400-plus posts in my in-box after a three-day trip to Amarillo to visit my brother and his wife, including several on which I've already commented. I am a great fan of genuine local radio, as some will note on my comments earlier this evening regarding KSLM and other Willamette Valley operations. Clint Formby, owner of one 250-watt daytimer where I worked, and Warren Hasse, at KPDN-1340, a 250-watt fulltimer, in Pampa, TX, taught me a lot about local radio, and much of what I learned I put into practice at still another 250-watt daytimer, WCAS-740 in Cambridge, Mass., on which I was privileged to work with Pete Taylor, who has participated in this thread. After hearing Larry Stoller and his partners talk about their operation at WODI in Brookneal, Virginia, at the NRC convention in 2004, and, of course, after my own observations about how much more difficult it is to operate a truly local station today than it was during the time I was in the business, I had prepared some questions about WABV's operation even before the other Taylor suggested we could get a detailed picture of what's being done by a young, dedicated radio man to build a station that's relevant to his market. I did a little mapwork and webwork at the FCC website to get an idea of what the competition might be like in Paul's corner of South Carolina, close to the Georgia border, and confined myself to stations within about 40 to 50 miles of Abbeville. At Hereford, in 1958 when I was there, the population was slightly larger, at 8,000, than Abbeville is now. Hereford has grown to 14,000+ but Deaf Smith County has only 18,000. At KPAN, our operation was live .. I worked from sign-on (6:15 or sunrise, whichever came later, to 1 p.m.) on the board and a fellow named A.C. Higgins worked from 1 to 5 p.m. Then Rose Garcia came in to do the Spanish music show until sign- off, which went quite late in the summer. Higgins sold ads in the morning, then participated in our news block from noon to 1 p.m., and I gathered news in the afternoon, covering night meetings, etc. I also, during football and basketball season, took a big old reel-to- reel tape recorder (it was in the days before portable cassette recorders came on the market) to the football stadia and the basketball gymnasia and taped the Hereford Whitefaces football and basketball play-by-play. (I was quick enough back then that I could actually keep statistics and broadcast at the same time.) Formby handled some sales also, and there was one other full-time salesman. For a time, it was Ralph Beistle, who later managed Formby's station at Tulia, KTUE-1260, where I worked part-time as the afternoon DJ while going to school at West Texas State. Betty Roberts answered the phone, typed the logs and wrote much of the advertising copy which, for the most part, was read live on the air by Higgins, myself and Formby during the morning news block. (Clint also, as I recall, taped some spots and, I think, during the time I was there, we installed our first cartridge tape machine and began to records some of the spots thereupon.) It was a small but efficient staff. The questions I'd posed for Paul are: In your city of license of approximately 6,000 population in a county with a little more than 27,000 population, do you have a newsman who goes to the police station, the fire station and the sheriff's office to gather news from those sources? Does he cover the Abbeville City Council, the School Board, the County Board meetings? Does he use the cellphone (or some other form of communication) to call in on-scene accident or fire reports? Does someone do local interview programs with community leaders involved in various events? Do you reach out to the southwest for news and information from Calhoun Falls, to the south to relatively unserved McCormick County, or due north to Due West? Does your sales staff produce its own local commercials or are they done by talent (presumably you). How much production is done on local commercials? Do you do live remotes from advertisers' stores? Abbeville County looks to be small enough you're probably not yet dominated by chain retail outlets, so there should be, still, some locally owned and operated retail outlets ... but some county residents and maybe even some in Abbeville itself likely to head north to Anderson or east to Greenwood. Dun and Bradstreet, via Melissa Data, shows there are 334 businesses in the Abbeville ZIP-code, where the population in 2000 was 13,506. Regarding classic country music, how large is your playlist? How far back does it go? Do you have any Carl Smith, Webb Pierce, Hank Snow, Faron Young, Jim Reeves, on the play list? Mel Tillis, Marty Robbins, Don Gibson, Kitty Wells, Jean Shepherd, Mickey Gilley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Charlie Pride, Sonny James, Tom T. Hall, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens? Does anyone on your staff know who wrote "I Can't Stop Loving You"? I note that the median age of Abbeville County residents in 2000 was 36.9, 68.3 percent of the population was white, and only 0.8 percent of the population (eight years ago) was Hispanic. Do you have a local sports show that talks about American Legion baseball, high school football, basketball, track, baseball and other sports in Abbeville County? Does WABV do sports play-by-play? What arrangements have been made with small-school coaches to call in their scores? Do you concentrate on Abbeville County alone or do you depend upon your music to compete for local sales with stations in nearby Greenwood (population 22,000) in Greenwood County (population 67,000), where 100000watts reports WCRS-1450 plays adult standards, WLMA-1350 does talk and sports, WCZZ-1090 does black gospel, WZSN-103.5 is adult contemporary, and the 36-watt LP, WHZZ-97.7, does variety and 100-watt WXOR-102.3 does religion. I note WZLA-92.9 Abbeville, not owned by Hellinger, does oldies. Or perhaps you're trying to hit the Anderson market. Or, perhaps, none of those stations has significant listenership in Abbeville city/county, other than WABV and WZLA and listeners go farther outside the market for your competition. What competition do you expect, if any, when the FM'er with a CP in Due West goes on the air ... or will their owners concentrate on Anderson rather than Abbeville County? Do any of the stations mentioned in this paragraph have a full-time local newsman on staff? Demographics for Greenwood County are similar to that of Abbeville County, at least in 2000. Median age slightly younger -- 35.2; a slightly higher percentage of whites -- 65.6; and a considerably higher percentage of Hispanics, 2.2 percent. In the four Greenwood ZIP codes, there are 1,824 businesses, but one would consider How deep is Hellinger's commitment to its city of license and the county where you operate, considering that an application is on file with the FCC to move WABV from Abbeville to Whitney, Nevada, on 1370 kHz, to put a 14-kw signal from nine towers about five miles south of Las Vegas, daytime only, with virtually all of the signal going north- northwest? ------ If I were 30 years younger, I'd be interested in seeing what could be done with a news-sports guy, a crackerjack salesman, a good woman personality, each sufficiently versatile to contribute to programming, and some office staff to skillfully program a fully-automated station in a market the size of Abbeville. Preferably a market in Oregon!!! Impossible dream; Janice wouldn't go with me so I wouldn't go!!! (John Callarman, Krum TX (who often identifies only as Qal R. Mann, and/or The Krumudgeon, because my full name is in my e-mail address.), IRCA via DXLD) I have two employees here, me, and my chief engineer; well, 3, if you count my beagle, George. I focus almost exclusively on Abbeville and Abbeville County in terms of programming, which is a classic country as you said and goes all the way back to the Mid 40s. We don't do any local sports, as WZLA 92.9 has a pretty good lock on that market of revenue around here. WCZZ is all automated off the bird, WLMA 1350 is a joke and sounds like crap. I don`t think anyone around here has a full time news person of any kind. I basically do everything here except sales and major engineering. I walk the dog, fix the toilet and mow the lawn. I`m in the process of hiring a sales person or two. Hellinger Broadcasting's commitment to serve its COL and County is as deep as I make the commitment, since I`m in charge here. I don't want to comment too much on the APPLICATION, but suffice to say it was filed by a semi major engineering firm who ran this station for a short time. I farm out my voiceover work, for stuff like station IDs, liners and promos. If the client has an already produced commercial, I run it as is. If they need one done, I will do it myself or have a friend do it depending on what the client is looking for. Abbeville has a city population of about 5850 people, a county population of about 24,000 or so and Greenwood, the city itself is a city of about 22,000 (Paul Walker, WABV, SC, ibid.) Thank you, Paul, for your comprehensive and quick response to my late Sunday night query. It's a shame a fellow with your drive and determination couldn't have reached employable age in the early '50s or '60s when those of us who loved broadcasting could find that love at least partially requited. If you've read my posts on the loosy- goosy work I was able to do on my first full-time radio job in Oregon, you could tell it was fun to be on the air. Same thing happened at KIXZ-940 in Amarillo, which was thoroughly dominant Top 40 station in that market 1960-61 when I part-timed there while in my junior year at West Texas State. Playlist was, of course, stacked with locally charted Top 40 (don't by the PD's instinct rather than any scientific effort) but we had leeway to use lots of optional extras, including album cuts that tickled our fancy. We could still put on Sinatra, Sarah Vaughan, Bud & Travis album cuts to intersperse among the other material ... and we still had walk-ins from visiting artists ... Remember one night when Glen Gray and a couple of members of the still extant Casa Loma band knocked on our door an hour or so before midnight. My favorite KIXZ story concerns the week I was fired as the PD was told to drop two jocks by expanding air shifts from four to six hours. Saturday, I got my notice not to come in ... Sunday I got a frantic phone call ... An independent New York ad agency survey of high school kids in Amarillo determined that "Johnny Callan," the airname they gave me, was the most popular jock in Amarillo and, as I've told this story too often before, it's still true that they placed the Gillette Safety Razor account on my show, which continued without a hitch that Monday night. The Callan Caper continued. I seem to recall that the best local sales people were the ones who were willing to work on commission only. It was too easy to think you could get by on draw and difficult to determine how fast it would take someone on draw to get to where he was actually bringing in money rather than taking it all home with him. But then again it wasn't that easy to find someone who'd work on commission only! I wonder, too, since I've been out of the industry for a quarter century, what effect the dwindling number of local retail outlets, mom and pop stores, so to speak, has had on co-op advertising and the temptation to succumb to double-billing. With your workload, it's amazing you have time to spend with us on the list ... Go easy, though, on us geezers who remember the days when station personnel, particularly the engineers who were still around from the '30s and '40s, courted DX reports. We DX'ers didn't start to be perceived of as nuisances until sometime in the '60s, and some of us unthinkingly react negatively to that perception. John Culver, Krum TX (That's the name KFJZ-1270 gave me when I did news there in '63.) (John Callarman, ibid.) ** U S A. Re 7-091, clip of the new WCXH 780; the correxion was made, altho not shown, to the callsign in the URL, no longer wcxj.mp3: http://www.walkerbroadcasting.com/wcxh.mp3 Sounds like it is the last in a string of mostly FM stations, apparently no local origination at WBCQ Monticello studios. Paul also linx his blog from the main website, wherein he muses on his radio career so far, and his misgivings about it (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. WINS is going off the air for the night tonight while they upgrade to AM-HD radio. They'll continue to stream online though. The teletype sound will sound never sounded quite so good! [sic] http://www.radio-info.com/smf/index.php/topic,77837.0/topicseen.html Please, let`s not have this degenerate into an HD hating thread, even though I know it will because you DX'ers despise HD. I just wanted to pass along the information, nothing more. -- Sincerely, (Paul B. Walker, Jr. http://www.walkerbroadcasting.com http://www.myspace.com/walkerbroadcasting August 3, IRCA via DXLD) Lots of other stuff on 1010 New Yorkers and vicinitors might hear (gh, 0038 UT August 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Sorry to hear that. Now the teletype will sound muddy (Larry Stoler, NRCAM via DXLD) Heck, Paul, I promise not to start anything. Just wanted to take issue with a word you used. You said UPGRADE to AM-HD :-))(Mark Durenberger, CPBE, NRC-AM via DXLD) HD thread continues under DIGITAL BROADCASTING With WINS off the air, I am hearing the following..... [EDT] 1010 KXEN MO ST. LOUIS 0145 04/08/07 "KXEN, AM 1010, FESTUS - ST. LOUIS, CHRISTIAN PROGRAMING FOR ST. LOUIS." THEY SOUND GOOD FOR ONLY 500 WATTS; MIXED WITH WMOX. [WM-TN] 1010 WMOX MS MERIDIAN 0145 04/08/07 CARRYING COAST TO COAST, MIXED WITH KXEN. 1010 CFRB ON TORONTO 0155 04/08/07 "1010 CFRB" [WM-TN] All three stations are mixed together, a real mess. (DXer: Willis Monk, QTH: Old Fort, TN, ANTENNA: 149' long wire, RCVR: Drake R-4C, amfmtvdx at qth.net via DXLD) Here in Pennsylvania, around midnight Eastern time I got a mix of an unID black gospel, a likely WQYK FL with Sporting News Radio, and a Mexican with their national anthem. On my E-W EWE antenna both CFRB and WINS were knocked out almost completely. The channel sounded like a graveyard at times (Brett Saylor, R-8 w/ 50' EWE, IRCA via DXLD) Here's info on the WINS-1010 silent period tonight/tomorrow - including times - from the station's website: "Programming Note: 1010 WINS will be off the air from 12:30 a.m. to 4:30 a.m. Saturday morning, and approximately 14 other similar periods of overnight hours, to prepare our transmitter facility for HD broadcasting." That's 12:30-4:30 AM Eastern Time, or 0430-0830 UT. 73 - (J. D. Stephens, Hampton Cove, AL, August 3, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. You`d never know it from the item in 7-091 about A Way with Words, but the reason for the new website is that the show has just been canceled by KPBS! The current hosts are trying to get it picked up by another distributor. AWWW certainly has had a rocky trajectory, with 3 or 4 changes in personnel, and apparent bad blood among some of them and/or the KPBS management --- despite it being such a fun and informative show about language. I hope archives will still be available somewhere, as I have missed quite a few shows lately. The entire KBPS website was inaccessible when I checked around 0350 UT August 3; perhaps crashed by all the indignant listener reaxion? But back shortly later (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) From Martha`s blog: http://marthabarnette.blogspot.com/2007/08/news-about-way-with-words.html also linx to press about the matter: KPBS CUTS TWO LOCAL SHOWS, 12 EMPLOYEES by John Wilkens, UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER, August 2, 2007 SAN DIEGO – Citing a need to “spend our financial resources wisely,” KPBS yesterday canceled two local programs – the radio show “A Way With Words” and the TV show “Full Focus” – and laid off 12 employees. Doug Myrland, general manager of the public broadcasting station, said both programs “had elements of success in the past, (but) trends indicate their future potential for audience and revenue growth is minimal.” Among those losing their jobs, effective tomorrow, are Martha Barnette and Grant Barrett, co-hosts of “A Way With Words,” a language call-in show launched in 1998. “Everybody was completely blindsided,” Barnette said. “It was a punch to the gut, and I'm deeply disappointed for our listeners.” Myrland said the weekly one-hour program had a “decent-sized local audience” but was labor-intensive, and at $250,000 per year, “substantially” more expensive than other local productions. The show, also carried on public radio stations in Wisconsin and Kentucky, seemed destined for some time to become a national program, but Myrland said almost eight years of efforts to secure outside funding to make that happen failed. Barrett said yesterday's decision, while painful personally, made sense. “They tried,” he said. “The show is poised to go national, and they can't do it.” The co-hosts said they were talking with potential sponsors and stations about taking the program elsewhere. “I'm not sure where we'll land but I'm absolutely convinced we will land well,” Barnette said. KPBS said old episodes of “Words” will air in the program's Saturday noon time slot through the fall. . . http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20070802-9999-1m2kpbs.html Plus forum discussion abottom The KPBS website came back, with press release on cancellation, much of it quoted above: http://kpbs.org/about_us/press_room;id=9225 And archive of the shows which they say will be maintained (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also LANGUAGE LESSONS ** U S A. Pirate, LPFM or translator on 95.3 near Phoenixville PA Heard this last evening both on the way to and back home from my son's house. Location a bit NW and across the river from Phoenixville. On the trip down there it was quiet instrumental music, on the way back, children's religious music. Very strong just below the county Geriatric Center where Black Rock Road again meets Rt 113. Covered only a very small area, but too strong to be a satellite (or other) rebroadcast device. Have to pay more attention to this next time. I realize only a few people are in this area and might hear it, but... – (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 15 mi NW of Philadelphia ), Grid FN20id, Yamaha T-80 - Conrad RDS Mgr; Onyko T450RDS; APS-9B @ 15', IRCA via DXLD) Could be a closed-circuit broadcast that isn't very closed -- tipoff was the old folks home -- In both Havre de Grace and NE Baltimore I've picked up a service intended for such homes. It's a satellite that is rebroadcast on FM transmitters for residents to listen to. I forget the name of the service, but the one in Havre de Grace gets out for 4 or 5 blocks. Usually 3-4 channels (Bruce Collier, York, PA, ibid.) One such service is Companion Radio, http://www.companionradio.com/ They're based right here in Rochester (Scott Fybush, ibid.) Russ, Bruce and Scott may have answered more about the Indianapolis mystery "babbling brook" station on 100.1 that myself, Mike Glass, Steve Rich and Glenn Hale (I think) have heard. If you recall, Mike pinpointed it to an area behind some apartments on East 21st Street, near I-465. He drilled it down even further to a rehab or retirement facility, behind the apartments. I doubt that it's a leaky closed circuit broadcast but more like the companion radio that Scott mentioned. That being said, why a natural sound broadcast? If it is a companion radio setup, I wonder if there are other frequencies in play? The bad thing is that there is an application for a 27 watt translator on 100.1, with the transmitter located near 26th and Shadeland (near the old Western Electric facility). This would be 3/4 of a mile away from the "brook" station and that is definitely in the service contour of the translator. http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=FX632075.html (Dave in Indy KC9KDY Hascall, WTFDA via DXLD) The babbling brook *could* be them --- if you look at their website, they have several different channels, and the website used to mention at least one is programmed to "calm excitable residents" or some such language. Often you'll hear old radio shows, old gospel tunes, etc. Havre de Grace's runs on 4 frequencies --- I remember 99.9, 107.1, 102.3 --- don't remember the 4th. In NE Baltimore, one frequency was 104.7, and I found at least one other. They set them up on "open channels" in the area. I don`t know what the antenna is --- if it's just like an FM talking house type-thing or if it couples into the wiring like carrier current AM or what. 73, BC (Bruce Collier, ibid.) Thanks, Bruce. I did not delve too much into the companion radio website, that Scott mentioned but it could be either to help calm them or the "water" sound to help them to go to the bathroom (groan). Scott - Are these "companion radio" things legal? Mike Glass seems to think that they are 1-2 watts, tops. Is that not illegal? They do get out. I have heard them up to 2.5 miles away. I may have to do a nearby bandscan to see if anything else "oddball" shows up. Thanks, (Dave Hascall, ibid.) Hi David, I think you are on to something. I believe it has something to do with the retirement complex across the street from the clubhouse. When that translator kicks on, the "babbling brook" or "crashing waves" will have too much interference to keep operating on that frequency (Mike Glass, ibid.) Hey Mike; Right about the interference. However, I'm sure that translator operator will do some field strength tests and the engineer driving about will say, "what in the world is that???" It may only be a watt or two but it does cover quite well (Dave Hascall, ibid.) When I listen to it, I usually hear waves gently crashing on a shore. I need to go back over there and see if anything has changed. The one time I called was a Sunday afternoon and the lady who answered didn't know anything about it. A great mystery! (Mike Glass, ibid.) With mine, I'm not yet convinced this is it because: 1) The peak signal was 1/4 mile away from the Geriatric Center; 2) This is not a typical nursing home but rather a country [sic]-run, publicly-financed facility, therefore even the children's religious programming would seem inconsistent. I'll make some time to pursue this further in the next week or so, including checking additional frequencies. End-to- end, the signal didn't cover a radius of more than a mile (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA (15 mi NW of Philadelphia), ibid.) ** U S A. DISPOSITION OF CHANNELS 52-69 --- The FCC has also released the plan for use of TV channels 52-69 after transition. Channels 52, 57: 176 EA licenses Channels 53, 58: 734 CMA licenses Channels 54, 59: 734 CMA licenses (already sold) Channel 55: 6 EAG licenses (already sold) Channel 56: 176 EA licenses Channel 60 and the lower 5/6 of 61: 12 REAG licenses Lower 5/6 of channels 62 and 67: 1 nationwide license Upper 1/6 of 62; 63; and the lower 5/6 of 64: public safety Channel 65 and the lower 5/6 of 66: 12 REAG licenses Upper 1/6 of 67; 68; lower 5/6 of 69: public safety Upper 1/6 of 61, 64, 66, and 69: 52 MEA licenses, already sold Among the public safety channels: Upper 1/6 of 62 & lower 4/6 of 63: broadband Upper 1/6 of 67 & lower 4/6 of 68: broadband Upper 1/6 of 63 & lower 5/6 of 64: narrowband Upper 1/6 of 68 & lower 5/6 of 69: narrowband 5th sixths of 63 & 68 are guardbands. Provisions were made that seem (from a very quick read) to suggest commercial users will be allowed to use the public safety spectrum on a preemptible basis - the commercial service goes away in an emergency (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, WTFDA via DXLD) Abbrs mean? ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. Pleased to get a semi-listenable signal from Radio Nacional de la RASD, still on the air by 0608 UT, August 3 on 6300, with chanting in Arabic, or rather Hassania, I suppose, and shortly into talk. At first it seemed to lack any RHC spur co-channel QRM, but that developed shortly at 0611, 6060 leapfrog over 6180 at 120 kHz further up the band (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZAMBIA. New CVC transmissions delayed again: see GERMANY ** ZIMBABWE [non]. (via Madagascar), 9765, Radio Voice of the People- VOP, *0400-0455*, August 4, Sign on with local music & opening announcements in local language. English ID announcements at 0401 followed by talk in local language. Many IDs. Short breaks of African music. English at 0439-0455, but difficult to understand due to thick accent. Closing English announcements with address & e-mail address followed by local African music to sign off. Fair to good signal. Very weak music loop jammer heard under VOP at 0449-0455 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. A 1600 kHz station is off-frequency, about 1600.1 or slightly more, I would estimate. This het has been audible for years, but I have never been able to nail it down with all the QRM. This morning, August 3, it was still audible by residual skywave at 1315 UT; meanwhile KUSH Cushing OK gave way to further KRVA Metroplex TX in Vietnamese, and as that was happening it was clear those two stations were only 2 Hz apart [not 4 Hz as in original version of this report], so that rules them out as source of the audible het. It can`t be too far away, and there are 1600 stations in all states adjacent to OK. Would appreciate others monitoring for this, especially on local stations in neighboring states during the day. It won`t be obvious if there is nothing else to het against, but with BFO you can compare it to other stations known to be on frequency, perhaps something on 600, 9600 (not XEYU!), 11600, 15600, or WWV. Is anyone else at least hearing the het? Possibly it is something local, altho too long-term to be a talking house, unless a forgotten transmitter. I know there are groups keeping track of precise TV, and MW frequencies outside the US, as an aid to DX IDs, but how about inside, even in mid-America? There used to be frequency-measuring services, checking these out routinely, and maybe in FCC records, but I assume all that is a pastthing now. 73, (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, dxldyg et al. via DXLD) This would seem to be a good candidate for a Spectran run from those who are familiar with the application. We had a discussion on the list about this a while back regarding using it for DX tests. I've been using Spectran and DX Lab for carrier monitoring for some time now with interesting results. I would recommend using SSB mode on the receiver, selecting either USB or LSB, with the selection based on which sideband was the cleanest and had less slop. Once the sideband that is cleanest is determined, offset the dial tuning by 1 kHz to get a 1 kHz beat note on the carrier(s) and then fire up Spectran. The preset QRSS3 mode would be a good starting point for a carrier this far off frequency. You should be able to see the carrier even if you can't hear it or separate it from the other carriers on the channel by ear. And being 100 Hz off of the channel frequency should make the off-frequency carrier real obvious on the waterfall display. It should be possible to use either a receiver with digital filters that can be adjusted to a narrow very width or an external audio filter set very narrow, to effect single signal reception of this one off-frequency carrier het using Spectran as a filter setting indicator (because it is so far off), then go to audio by ear and with the AVC off on the receiver and the RF gain backed down, use a loop antenna to get a bearing on the off-frequency carrier. With a few bearings from folks who can receive the station, some idea as to the geographic location of the station might be inferred. I'll take a listen later on this evening from Michigan (Rick Kunath, ABDX via DXLD) KCRG Cedar Rapids is heard on 1600.01 kHz, but it is only 10 Hz up, not 100, and not causing any audible het of course. 73, (Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) Glenn, I hear this one from time to time around local sunset. Don't have my PFM before me, but think it's about 70 Hz high. Think it's a TIS. I don't have any other info, but if I can get a DF on it, I'll report such (Charles A Taylor, WD4INP, Greenville, NC, ibid.) Watertown, MN (now KZGX and ETH[nic]) used to be off frequency for years when call was KWOM. Don't know if they're still off? (Lars Bygdén, Sävar, Sweden, mwdx yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED [non]. Re 7-091: Dear OM, 12135 kHz is additional service of Open radio for North Korea (ORNK) via Taiwan (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Japan, 1616 UT Aug 3, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Just keep doing it (Tim Hendel, AL, with a check in the mail to Glenn Hauser, P O Box 1684, Enid OK 73702) I look forward to WOR. I catch it on shortwave or download the RealPlayer file. Question: Would you forward the text of the Standard Disclaimer? No fuss or bother. Curious only. Thanks for your program! (John in USA O`Neil with a PayPal donation to woradio @ yahoo.com) John, Many thanks. By standard disclaimer, I mean something like ``The opinions expressed on this program do not necessarily represent those of the staff, management, or contract engineer of this station, nor do their opinions necessarily represent those of this program.`` Regards, (Glenn) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ [AWWW] Bonus! New Word Open Mic There's a new online-only episode of "A Way with Words" today: a half- hour "New Word Open Mic" from the 2007 Dictionary Society of North America conference, during which all comers were invited to step up to the microphone and submit a new word they had coined or found. Find out more here: http://waywordradio.org/openmic Listen here: http://waywordradio.org/dsna Special thanks to Charles Hodgson of Podictionary.com for recording the audio and agreeing to let us use it on the show. Thanks! Martha Barnette & Grant Barrett, Hosts of "A Way with Words" http://waywordradio.org words@waywordradio.org (AWWW mailing list Aug 4 via DXLD) See also U S A, KPBS MUSEA +++++ PEQUEÑO MUSEO VIRTUAL DE QSL Hola: Estoy creando lo que he dado en llamar "Mi pequeño Museo Virtual de QSL", dentro de mi Website personal, así que en estos dos últimos días he estado escaneando-reduciendo para Web-subiendo, vamos lo típico en estos casos. La idea aparte de escanear para preservar el material original (algo que me llevará bastante tiempo) es también compartir estas imágenes de QSL que son como pequeños recuerdos de mi actividad con radioescucha y también recuerdos de las emisoras, algunas de las cuales hace años que dejaron de existir. http://www.telefonica.net/web2/amaranta/photo2.htm Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez Losa, Spain, Aug 3, Noticias DX via DXLD) includes Aum Shinrikyo DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ ERIC BUENEMAN`S LATEST ANTI-HD, DRM RANT I read Gary Siegel's Forum in DXM 44-27; the damage is already being done. On the night of June 8, KMOX 1120 was noted running low- definition digital after local sunset. It still wipes out 1110 and 1130, where I used to hear KFAB and KWKH. IBOC (alias "HD Radio") is not the only ill-advised technology being tested on AM; DRM is also being tested on AM, long wave and shortwave. I tried to use the Dream software to decode DRM broadcasts on shortwave, using the DRM signal that Radio Canada International is sending via Sackville, NB on 9800 kHz. While the program can decipher the zeroes and ones in AMSS mode with the software (I'm using a Sangean ATS-803A); it cannot decode the DRM broadcasts as received on even a portable receiver. It would require a more expensive receiver (such as a Kenwood R-5000) to allow the Dream software to decode DRM broadcasts. The truth to the matter is that the AM, FM, long wave and shortwave bands are unsuitable for, and cannot support, digital audio broadcasting. Since the Department of Defense is illegally squatting on the L-Band, in violation of international regulations (which Canada has been using for DAB), there is no suitable band for terrestrial digital audio broadcasting in the United States. I also talked with a sales associate at Radio Shack in Florissant, MO; the Accurian HD Radio receivers are not selling very well. I actually listened to some of the HD signals; there is no improvement in audio quality. Some of the HD stations sound worse than those broadcasting only in analog FM Stereo. KFTK 97.1 (which is in HD) had a scratchy signal in its city of license! Satellite radio is outselling HD Radio, despite the problems being reported at both Sirius and XM Satellite Radio. If this is any indication, digital audio broadcasting on AM and FM is doomed, despite the propaganda campaign the National Association of Broadcasters is wasting money on. All HD Radio does is make bogus claims of "CD-quality audio on FM" and "FM-quality audio on AM", when FM Stereo and AM Stereo ALREADY DELIVER near CD-quality sound! There's only one corporate-owned commercial FM station left broadcasting entirely in analog (which offers far better Stereo separation than HD Radio); WHHL 104.1. KEZK 102.5 (which is co-owned with KMOX) just added low-def digital in May. One DXer also reported in WTFDA that he had to hook up a longwire to Sangean's new HD receiver to pick up WTIC 1080 in HD mode; he reported no improvement in audio quality; it sounded like a low- quality AM monaural signal. He couldn't pick it up with his loop! One thing is true: HD Radio reduces a station's signal coverage area significantly. Even my only remaining local in AM Stereo, KSTL 690, sounds far better than any AM station in low-def digital. The broadcasters should realize that going back to proven standards is a viable option; dumping HD on AM to return to the C-QUAM standard (there are still over 24 million AM Stereo receivers in the U.S. marketplace) is more logical than keeping the failed "HD Radio". I won't be surprised that HD Radio will be a thing of the past in the next few years; it is a product of the most anti-consumer FCC in history. 73 and good DX! (Eric Bueneman, N0UIH, Hazlewood MO, IRCA DX Monitor August 4 via DXLD) DW en DRM 15725 Hola: Estoy escuchando (al hacer un barrido por la banda) a DW en 15725 (según Aoki pues no tengo receptor DRM) a las 1345. Solamente para decir que si esto es un avance tecnológico que baje Dios y lo vea, saliendo con 90 kW desde Sines está ocupando desde 15720 a 15730 con su transmisión, lo cual quiere decir que tanto 5 kHz arriba como abajo no hay posibilidad de escuchar nada, ya me dirán entonces dónde está la supuesta ventaja, además si estas transmisiones se generalizan lo vamos a tener crudo, podemos entonces añorar al Jamming Chino por lo menos este se centra en la frecuencia a interferir. Cordialmente, (Tomás Méndez Losa, Spain, Aug 3, Noticias DX via DXLD) v also GERMANY RADIOSOPHY --- BUSINESS NEOPHYTES SHARE PERILS --- by Pat Mack Morning Edition, July 19, 2007 Three years ago in North Sioux City, South Dakota, a husband and wife launched the company Radiosophy to produce high definition radios. But after suffering setback after setback, they say their story is something of a cautionary tale for entrepreneurs. Bill Billings and Sue Nail struck out on their own with the goal of living the American dream. They thought they'd create their own business, building and selling lots of high-definition radios, and live happily ever after. But it hasn't exactly worked out that way. "Would I do it again? No way," said Nail. "I just had no idea it would be this much work and this much of a challenge." "It's been so hard on Sue," Billings said. "I would not put her through that again." But the couple thought it was a smart move three years ago when they formed Radiosophy. . . http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=12091960 (via Paul Vincent Zecchino, FL, IRCA via DXLD) [Thread taking off from WINS going off to ``upgrade`` to HD, U S A:] This is not a flame, but please allow me to ask, and you answer from a broadcaster's perspective! What is the point of HD on AM news talk stations that don't play any music ? 73 Klueless KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, IRCA via DXLD) I can't honestly answer that as I`m against HD on AM in the first place, so I couldn't answer that and be fair (Paul B. Walker, NRC-AM via DXLD) If Paul won't take this one on, I'm fool enough to try. Keep in mind that even though we all know that analog radio, if not bandwidth-constrained, can sound extremely good on a properly-designed receiver under optimum signal conditions, most broadcasters have long since become accustomed to the cruddy, muffled sound that's typical of the AM section of most contemporary radios. If you believe that that's what analog AM sounds like (and for the majority of listeners these days, that IS what analog AM sounds like), the improved frequency response and low (nonexistent, actually) noise floor of AM HD seems like an attractive prospect, especially for AM news-talkers competing against the growing number of FM stations finding success with news-talk formats (Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Salt Lake City, just to name a few big examples.) I've spent some time listening to New York's WOR in HD, and a little time listening to my local WHAM in HD (can't stand most of the programming there, so I don't spend a lot of time with it!), and there's something to be said for hearing the music bumpers and such in stereo and with more than 5 kHz frequency response. Unfortunately, at least to my ears, the reality doesn't live up to the hype where AM HD is concerned - at least not yet. The limited bitrate available for the AM HD signal (24 kbps) leads to annoying artifacting on all but the very best-processed stations (KFAB in Omaha is probably the best-sounding HD AM news-talker I've heard so far, in part because they roll off the digital audio at about 12 kHz to give the codec an easier job), and of course we all know about the adjacent-channel interference issues and the nighttime skywave issues. There's also the issue of very limited usable range for the digital signal at current power levels. When we had our weekend get-together out at Jim Renfrew's place in Clarendon last weekend, I could hear just one HD AM signal, WLGZ 990 at about 8 miles distant, and even that one not very well. WHAM 1180, with 50 kW at perhaps 18 miles, decoded for only a few seconds, and WHTK 1280 (5 kW ND at 23 miles or so) not at all. That's not the story broadcasters were sold in the early years of HD, and many of the AM stations that adopted the system did so with hopes of a much better system than it's turned out to be. In this particular case (1010 WINS), I really wonder what they'll accomplish. WINS already suffers from some painfully tight DA nulls - it's all but inaudible for big chunks of my usual NYC commute, from my cousin's house in Montebello, Rockland County (less than 25 miles from the 50 kW transmitter) down the Thruway and the Palisades to the George Washington Bridge. I don't have HD in my car yet, but it's hard to imagine that an HD signal on 1010 would be very useful during that drive, either. The audio from WINS is already carried as an HD2 on sister station WWFS 102.7, which can be clearly heard in many of the areas of New Jersey and upstate NY that 1010 doesn't reach well. s (Scott Fybush, Rochester NY, ibid.) Great summary, Scott. My wife drives a 2006 Honda CRV whose factory audio system suffers from the CRAPPIEST-sounding AM section I have EVER heard on a modern receiver of any kind or make! I swear it sounds like the 2.4 kHz ceramic filter on my Yaesu FRG-100 does in full AM mode!! It's pretty much all bass and mid-bass, and as such is totally unlistenable in a moving vehicle (and I have high-frequency hearing loss in one ear as it is!). The FM section -- and the CD player-- sound perfectly decent, so it's obviously a design feature/flaw in the AM section. Frankly, however aurally tiring digital artifacting etc. might be, I place a high premium on INTELLIGIBILITY --- and on the muffled mess that is the (analog) AM section in our Honda, there ain't no such a thing. It's enough to make a person WANT AM-IBOC/HD just to get some damn treble (even of the "artifacty" kind)!! (Randy Stewart, Springfield MO, ibid.) What's 'degenerate' about the free and open exchange of ideas and of opinion? Nothing. But those with something to hide seem to find it most unsettling. I hold no animus for HD Radio. Do you know what the abbreviation represents? I don't. Industry experts give conflicting answers. Would anyone be even mildly upset about HD, let alone steadfastly opposed to it, if it didn't jam licensed services? I wouldn't. Nor would anyone else. I dislike monopolistic, exclusionary business practices by which elites exaggerate benefits and deny destructive faults. I look askance at undue influence brought to bear against officials, retailers, and manufacturers. When the public - HD's alleged beneficiary - is kept in the dark, you have all the badges of a racket. Citizens quickly discover product faults. Sometimes thru purchase, other times by regression as when desired stations are jammed. When public and private authorities callously dismiss their concerns and answer routine questions with nonsense, citizens first become skeptical, then quickly apathetic. HD is DOA. That's not my anti-HD opinion. It's the marketplace speaking. Why would a few bloated broadcast behemoths insist upon putting new HD jammers on air despite rampant consumer apathy? Can you arrive at any conclusion other than, in addition to jamming their way to monopoly status, BigRadio harbors additional unsavory sub rosa motives? Given the times, even slight projection of the lines allows one to see matters with clarity (Paul Vincent Zecchino pvz mk fl, ibid.) Isn't HD WINS a delightful and long awaited development, sort of a Hertzian miscegenation of goats? WINS 1010 now joins HD cloven hooves with Boston's 1030 and Pittsburgh's 1020 to pull the Great Northeast Jamming HatTrick. Personally, I can't wait until these greedy-gutkasters go HD all night. Howzabout you? Up until now, transmitters had Guy Wires. With HD, they have corkscrew tails. I can hear HD jamming before it keys up. Why can't Kronykasters see the brick wall coming? Yours in thrall to HD, Dr. Zecchino (PV Zecchino, T.D., Manamonopoly Key, FL, ibid.) Oh, good ! An oxymoron ! I never knew that apathy could be rampant. This opens up a whole new avenue.... Let's see, aggravated indifference ? Could we use that? (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) Herein lies the problem with this flawed tech. A super power 50 KW ND local and you can't keep it locked in 18 miles away at Jim's fine QTH!! I remain amazed that the FCC hasn't shelved AM HD!! Anyhow, what is needed for AM is for the FCC to pressure power companies about endless line noise (they don't care in IL) and to pressure device makers to add that 10 cent part to reduce AM emissions and to do their part to put decent analog AM sections in car rx's. 18 miles and you can't listen to WHAM in HD ..OMG .. 73 gagging KAZ (Neil Kazaross, IL, IRCA via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ RACAL 6790 trumps other receivers: SAINT HELENA. HD receivers: above PROPAGATION +++++++++++ ARNIE CORO'S DXERS UNLIMITED'S HF PLUS LOW BAND VHF PROPAGATION UPDATE AND FORECAST Extremely low solar activity continues. The July official sunspot average published by the Royal Observatory of Belgium was 10, a clear evidence that we are still going trough the solar cycle's minimum. And the most recent forecasts are telling us that during the next several days a blank solar disk is to be expected, with zero sunspots prevailing together with rock bottom figures of the 10.7 centimeters microwave solar flux. The extremely low solar activity is causing very poor daytime propagation on the frequencies above 15 megaHertz. More about solar activity and the HF plus low band VHF propagation update and forecast as always at the end of the program. Solar activity is , and will continue to be for the next several days at extremely low levels with solar flux between 67 and 72 units and daily sunspot count at zero or very near zero. Expect possible sporadic E openings by the end of the week, according to the most recent forecasts. Expect daytime maximum useable frequencies not higher than 18 megaHertz, and the best propagation conditions to be available always after your local sunset (Arnie Coro A., CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited August 4, HCDX via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ KAGIN ON INTERNET RADIO, RIVERO SHOW SATURDAY, 6:00 PM ET [22 UT] AMERICAN ATHEISTS MEDIA ALERT http://www.atheists.org EDWIN KAGIN, National Legal Director for American Atheists and co- founder of Camp Quest will be the guest tomorrow, Saturday August 4, 2007 on Michael Rivero's live internet radio call-in program. Visit http://www.whatreallyhappened.com to listen in. Mr. Kagin will be interviewed live from this year's Camp Quest/Michigan site, and will discuss the history of this important national project -- a summer camp for non-believing youngsters where "it's OK to ask questions." Kagin will also be discussing Atheism and related state-church issues. The call-in number is 1-877-864-4869. WHO: Edwin Kagin , National Legal Director for American Atheists. WHAT: Will appear on the Michael Rivero live radio call-in talk show to discuss Atheism related issues, on whatreallyhappened.com WHEN: Saturday, August 4, 2007 at 5:00 PM Central, 6:00 PM Eastern. WHERE: http://whatreallyhappened.com Call in number is 1-877-864-4869 Listen on line at: http://togientertainment.com/radio.php or http://www.whatreallyhappened.com AMERICAN ATHEISTS is a nationwide movement that defends civil rights for Atheists; works for the total separation of church and state; and addresses issues of First Amendment public policy (AA via DXLD) ###