DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-096, August 12, 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 1370: Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB [irregular; not 7/23/07] Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies] Mon 0830 WRMI 9955 Tue 1030 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 7385 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 ** ALBANIA. Tirana. Lights out: All of Albania was without power for nearly an entire day last week [sic --- would it hurt to be specific?] as the country struggled to cope with a severe energy shortage. A heat wave that has been baking the Balkans has hit Albania the hardest because the country has such an antiquated and unreliable grid. The power plants that do work are mostly hydropower, and the drought is drying up the reservoirs, causing energy output to drop. The government this week announced it would cut the work day of public employees from eight hours to five, in an effort to save electricity (The Week, August 10, via DXLD) Obviously this could impact R. Tirana and other SW transmissions from Albania on more than one level (gh) ** ASIA. David Baden of Radio Free Asia badend @ rfa.org has the following request for broadcasters and shortwave listeners: We are trying to compile information about shortwave jamming. If it is not too much trouble, could you please provide us with information on transmitter sites that you suspect are being used specifically for jamming purposes? We would also appreciate your thoughts of the viability of shortwave as a broadcast medium in the future. Any information that you pass along would be kept confidential, very beneficial and would be greatly appreciated. [David Baden, Radio Free Asia, 2025 M Street, NW, Washington DC 20036. Tel (202)530-4900] (Aug NASB Newsletter via DXLD) see also U S A ** BELARUS [non]. Un rapporto d'ascolto a R. Racyja all'indirizzo e- mail radioracyja @ wp.pl è tornato indietro con la frase "No mailbox here by that name". Qualcuno ha dati più precisi? Has someone correct datas to contact R. Racyja 6225 kHz? (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) ** BHUTAN. BHUTAN BROADCASTING SERVICE NEW 100 KW TRANSMITTER INAUGURATED Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation inaugurated the new 100 kilowatt THOMSON TSW 2100D DRM short wave radio transmitter on 10th August, 2007. The inaugural ceremony of the installation of the new transmitter was attended by the Indian Ambassador to Bhutan, Sudhir Vyas. Also present were the Information and communications minister, Lyonpo Leki Dorji and other government officials. Addressing the gathering, the information and communications minister Lyonpo Leki Dorji said Bhutan being a mountainous country with rugged terrain, isolated and inaccessible settlements and far flung communities, BBS radio remains the most powerful medium to inform, educate and entertain the masses. Speaking at the function, the Managing Director of the Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation, Mingbo Dukpa said Radio and TV are powerful tools of communication. He said any development to further enhance the capacity of the broadcast media marks an important milestone in the development of the country. BBS radio has come a long way since it was established as an amateur radio station in 1973. BBS Radio today broadcast 100 hours of News and Programs in 4 languages in a week. The short wave transmitter was installed with financial support from the Indian Government. This DRM capable 100 kW transmitter was installed in Sangaygang, 2660 meters above sea level and test transmissions were already going on. One of the station engineers informed that transmitter was not being operated on DRM mode due to problem with the RF Exciter. However the same has been rectified & they are having occasional DRM tests during transmissions b/down [sic] times with power output of only 25 watts. Related links : http://www.transmitter.be/tbm-tsw2100d.html (via Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, and Mukesh Kumar, dxldyg via DXLD) Photo of the new transmitter : http://www.kuenselonline.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=8875 (Alokesh Gupta, ibid.) Gift-wrapped. Text accompanying Kuensel story: BBSC RADIO WIDENS REACH --- THE CONTROL ROOM OF THE NEW TRANSMITTER 11 August, 2007 - Of all the forms of media in Bhutan the radio has the widest reach. Yesterday its reach was further strengthened when the Indian ambassador to Bhutan, Mr. Sudhir Vyas, and the minister of communications, Lyonpo Leki Dorji, inaugurated the Bhutan Broadcasting Service Corporation’s new 100 KW shortwave transmitter in Sangaygang, Thimphu. Lyonpo Leki Dorji said that the new transmitter will ensure that the illiterate population of the country who live in remote villages have better access to information about happenings in the country and to entertainment programmes as well. The government of India financed the project at a cost of about Nu.80.326 million. The Indian ambassador said that the project was given priority to strengthen and develop the Bhutanese media, which will play an increasingly important role in the democratic process. The BBSC established a 50 KW shortwave transmitter at Sangaygang in 1992. BBSC can be received in all the dzongkhags (via DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4690.63, Radio San Miguel, Riberalta, 0145-0245+, August 12, Spanish talk. Variety of local music, Spanish ballads, instrumental music. Poor. Weak in hash (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 4865.05, R Logos, Santa Cruz, Aug 12 0125 - Tentative with long religious solo vocals, low-key talk by male between songs and suddenly gone at 0150*. Strong S7 signal but weak audio, best in LSB to avoid ute QRM. Weaker unID on 4865.01 close enough to not cause a het. 6134.80, R Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, Aug 12 0113 - Religious talk by male, choir music, mentions of Bolivia. S6-7 signal, best in LSB to avoid probable R Cairo in Spanish on 6135.015 kHz (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, http://www.bcdx.org Receivers: WinRadio G313/e, RFSpace SDR-14. Antenna: Wellbrook ALA 100, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 9624.84, Radio Fides, La Paz, 1810-1820!!!!!!!!!!!!!, August 11, Spanish, “desde el Estudio 6 de Radio Fides.”, transmission from “Universidad Mayor de San Andrés”, local songs, 24432. Signal 2/3 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So a bit unusual to hear at that time of day? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 4885.01, R Clube do Pará, Belém PA, Aug 12 0205 - Full ID by man 'Rádio Clube do Pará...ondas tropicais 4885 kilohertz...Pará, Belém' then monologue and finally into vocals at 0215. Decent S7 signal with good modulation and occasional threshold CODAR QRM. 4894.99, R Baré, Manáus AM, Aug 12 0223 - Tentative with threshold audio despite S5-6 signal, vocals and talk by man. Noticeable hum from ± 60 Hz & 120 Hz spikes. Best in USB to avoid het from likely R Novo Tempo on 4894.88. Weak CODAR QRM. [name has changed from this to R. Globo Manáus, as in DXLD 7-094] 5034.99, R Aparecida, Aparecida SP, Aug 12 0045 - Com a Mãe Aparecida program with contemporary religious vocals, Catholic religious talk, IDs and announcements at the top of the hour into prayers. Poor to fair, slowly drifted downward 7 Hz by tune-out (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, http://www.bcdx.org Receivers: WinRadio G313/e, RFSpace SDR-14. Antenna: Wellbrook ALA 100, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BRAZIL. 740 kHz - Sunset in Salvador (Speclab trace) I ran SpecLab this evening so see if I could detect the carrier of 740 kHz Rádio Sociedade da Bahia and it came up beautifully, almost as if it had been switched on, at sunset in Salvador: Copy of trace: http://paulc.mediumwaveradio.org/images/740.jpg Time on the trace is BST (UT +1). Sunset in Salvador was at 2028 UT and the yellow trace shows random 'peak frequencies' until 2026 when a carrier is detected at 10 Hz above the nominal frequency of 740 kHz. The green trace shows the strength of the signal rising above the noise (red) (Paul Crankshaw, Troon, Scotland, Aug 10, MWC via DXLD) ** BURKINA FASO. 5030, Radio Burkina, 2230-2400*, August 11, Afro-pop music, local folk music. French talk. Sign off with National Anthem at 2358. Weak. Poor in noise & splatter from Cuba 5025 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. Once again on UT Sunday, WHRI opened 7335 at *0558:30 blowing away CHU. Altho on schedule as daily from 0600, had not been heard at that hour for a few weeks, and suspected to be a weekend-only thing at the moment (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Broadcasting in Fort Nelson, about 1000 km north of Vancouver on the Alaska highway, as seen through German eyes and posted in the ukwtv.de forum: http://www.directupload.com/files/yyyw21ymxtn3qzatz1nu.jpg http://www.directupload.com/files/kdrmzmgjymzqy1hyllyz.jpg FM/TV transmitter at Fort Nelson. It carries CBC Radio 1 on 88.3, [CBUO], a commercial station called Energy FM on 102.3 [CKRX], on the TV side CBC Vancouver on ch. 8, and that's all. No traces of signals from outside Fort Nelson could be detected, and the mediumwave band is during daytime completely empty. [At a quick look I found that 102.3 had in fact replaced a 250 watts mediumwave outlet on 590 in 1997.] http://www.directupload.com/files/mtmqzwtyyxnunyjgztzm.jpg Cable headend. The system offers not less than 50 analogue channels, including the stations from Seattle, but for a monthly fee of not less than 40 Dollar (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I remember well hearing 590 as I traveled the Alaska Hiway in the 70s. Seems like it was a twin with another lo-band station in Ft St John further down the road (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHAD. Noted on centered approx. 7257.16 kHz tonight Aug 11, audio chirping range from 7254.95 to 7258.39 kHz, using 2.3 kHz filter in E1 Radio set. 2100-2130 UT (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA [and non]. Thursday, 19 July, in the morning I noticed very severe interference to WWV on 15 MHz. Chinese type music with no announcements obliterated WWV and immediately I tuned to 13970 kHz and heard the same 'bamboo' type music. The following day Fri 20 it was there again and lo and behold at 0904 there was a female announcer with a short announcement in what I take to be Chinese, the first time ever I have heard anything but Chinese music on that station which broadcasts for hours on end on all sorts of strange frequencies, i.e.: 7185, 7280, 7300, 7355, 7365, 9200, 9355, 9370, 9455, 9540, 9680, 9905, 10300, 11540, 11700, 11740, 11750, 11765, 11795, 12025, 13625, 13970, 14500, 14520, 14535, 14620, 15530 and 17630 logged so far! I've contacted WWV to tell them of the situation (Des Walsh, Ireland, Aug World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) The Chinese station is the Firedrake jamming one (Mike Barraclough, England, ibid.) We already had report of their being on 15000 for a couple of days (gh, DXLD) ** COLOMBIA. 5909.99, Marfíl Estéreo, Lomalinda, Aug 12 0353 - Lively Latin vocals, ID and TC between each song. Good S7 signal, best in LSB to avoid Utility on 5911. 6009.44, LV de Tu Conciencia, Puerto Lleras, Aug 12 0346 - Full station ID, TCs into phone conversation. Good S7 signal, best in LSB to avoid 6010 (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, http://www.bcdx.org Receivers: WinRadio G313/e, RFSpace SDR-14. Antenna: Wellbrook ALA 100, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** COSTA RICA. 3350.0, R Exterior de España, Cariarí de Pococí, Aug 12 0416 - Discussion about Guatemala, then Colombia. Excellent S9+10 signal marred by 60 Hz (and harmonics) hum (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, http://www.bcdx.org Receivers: WinRadio G313/e, RFSpace SDR-14. Antenna: Wellbrook ALA 100, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Making another check for R. Nacional de la RASD on 6300, August 12 at 0601, I did not hear it but instead RHC English on its weak mixing product of 6060 over 6180. There was a SAH, however of 3 Hz or so, not counted out, which could well be RASD underneath. Of more interest was QRM from bubble jamming! Never noticed that before on this frequency. May have emanated from the 6030 transmitter which was extremely strong blotting out R. Martí, somehow mixing into an RHC transmitter next to it. DentroCubans vs DentroCubans! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also VENEZUELA [non] ** CUBA [non]. QSL: CUBA VIA ESTADOS UNIDOS: 21600 kHz - R. Martí - Greenville - USA. Recebida carta QSL partial data. Pouco mais de 7 anos e meio (55 dias após follow up). V/S: Margaret Ray de Arenas (Assistente al Director de Inginieria y Operaciones Técnicas). O e- mail da V/S é: mraydearenas @ ocb.ibb.gov QTH: Office of Cuba Broadcasting, 4201 N.W. 7th Avenue, Miami, FL 33166 (Rubens Ferraz Pedroso, Bandeirantes - Paraná - Brasil, Conexión Digital Aug 12, 2007 via DXLD) Here`s where the very outdated site http://www.cubapolidata.com/ach/ach_activestations.html comes in handy as it shows in the B-99 season, 21600 was in use for R. Martí at 15-22 UT, but certainly not in the last several years. That fits nicely with the QSL taking 7.5 years. I suspect the DentroCubans would object to your classification of this as ``Cuba via EU`` (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** EQUATORIAL GUINEA. 5005, Radio Nacional, Bata, *0531-0545+, August 12, Abrupt sign on with local music & Spanish talk. Very weak (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. 7100, Voice of the Broad Masses-Program 1, Asmara, *0356- 0410+, August 12, Sign on with IS. Talk in local language at 0400. Horn of Africa music. Fair. 7180, ex-7175, Voice of the Broad Masses-Program 2, Asmara, *0356- 0410+, August 12. Sign on with IS. Talk in local language at 0400. Horn of Africa music. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 7210, Radio Fana, Addis Ababa, *0256-0331+, August 12, Sign on with IS. Talk in local language at 0300. Horn of Africa music at 0301. Weak. Covered by BBC IS at 0258 but audible under BBC. In the clear when BBC leaves the air at 0329. Weak // 6109.89-in the clear but slight QRM from open carrier on 6110 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. English from Ethiopia at 1430 Thanks to a tip from Carlos Gonçalves in DXLD 7-087, subsequently also confirmed by Mauno Ritola, Radio Ethiopia's domestic service (5990/7110/9704.2) is now being heard with English at 1430. A friend in East Africa this past week confirmed that this is not an additional English prog, but a replacement for the 1030 English, which is no longer aired. 1430 is a better time for listeners in Europe to catch it, especially as sunset draws earlier. This is quite separate to the external service (7165/9560), with English at 1600-1700. I can't remember if I have already reported this to DXLD, but the external service has added an extra Somali broadcast at 1800-1900, in addition to the one at 1200-1300 (Chris Greenway, England, Aug 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 7110.01, R Ethiopia, Geja Dera, Aug 12 0320 - Amharic with news magazine format program with male announcer, brief music bridges between segments then traditional vocal at 0330. Good signal with slight hum from moderate ± 50 Hz spikes. // 5990.006 (poor) and only a S1 carrier on 9704.17 (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, http://www.bcdx.org Receivers: WinRadio G313/e, RFSpace SDR-14. Antenna: Wellbrook ALA 100, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA [non]. Nonostante l'indicazione riportata sul sito web di Andenet Le Democracy, il rapporto d'ascolto e-mail è tornato indietro con la frase "Unable to relay for andenetadmin @ andenet.com". Proverò con l'indirizzo postale (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) ** FINLAND. On 25.0 MHz a station with time pips heard with very weak signals at times, no identification yet (Des Walsh, Ireland, Aug World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) for search purposes, kHz! 25000 The time signal station you heard is probably the Finnish station mentioned in last month`s DX News. There's some information on it on the web at: http://www.mikes.fi/documents/upload/ursi2004_sent.pdf The address is Centre for Metrology and Accreditation (MIKES) Otakaari 7 B, FI-02150 Espoo, Finland, email: kalevi.kalliomaki @ mikes.fi tapio.mansten @ mikes.fi or ilkka.iisakka @ mikes.fi Time and frequency laboratory of MIKES (earlier VTT/AUT) has taken care of Finnish official time and frequency since 1976. Finnish broadcasting company (YLE) as a partner disseminated the time signal using audio channels and frequency with the aid on TV synchronisation signal. The accuracy of frequency obtained was better than 10 to the minus 11 as a relative value. Digitalisation of TV links caused random delays at every link station and the accuracy of the frequency became 100 times worse than earlier when analogue links were used. Calibration of high quality oscillators needed a better easily available reference. That is why MIKES designed and constructed its own transmitter and a suitable receiver. 25 MHz was selected for several reasons. First, when using a high frequency the antenna size is convenient. Second, 25 MHz lies in the short wave band, which means that one can use cheap, commonly available receivers. In 1977 they tried to use 250 MHz for transmission, but with little success due to lack of receivers. The third reason was that they could utilise 27 MHz citizen band components. More information at the weblink (Mike Barraclough, England, ibid.) But, but, local range on 25 MHz will be very limited and skywave, on rare occasions it happen, will skip entirely over Finland (gh, DXLD) ** GABON. Good Morning Glenn: I have been following the Gabon Afro Pop Jammer story in DXLD with considerable interest. On 8/11/07 I heard the following on 17630 (1520-1559*) Fair, sometimes peaking to good beginning at 1520; then rapidly losing strength after 1545. This seemed to be a live concert of rap music in both French and English; the stage chatter by the musicians was in both French and English; announcer said that this was a concert from Nigeria; at 1529 the French discussion shifted to the studio and continued to 1534; no ID was heard at BOH; at 1534 the program returned to recorded music, not the concert; off at 1559. Again -- no reliable IDs heard at any time -- certainly not like Africa #1 where there were frequent IDs. Most of the Afro Pop Jammer reports have been for 17660 but I also note in DXLD that there have been some closer to 17630. 73 (Jim Ronda, Tulsa OK, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Jim, I think this is still more likely ANO itself; their program schedule shows for Sat: ``15h10 - 16h00 TU : HIT PARADE Du rythme, toujours plus de rythme avec Jean Jacques MAYI et son Hit Parade International`` as in http://www.africa1.com/grille.php Altho a mixup, deliberate or not could occur. It would not take much for them to get their program feeds crossed; transmitters probably right next to each other. So was there nothing on 17660 this date until the usual 1531*? ANO does (claim to) have a live stream, which one could compare, tho I haven`t tried it (Glenn to Jim, via DXLD) Glenn: thanks very much for the information. I will put this in my log book as most likely ANO. I must admit that rap music in French and English is not exactly high on my music list. And the mix of French and English chatter from the concert stage was unusual -- perhaps the result of the concert being in Nigeria where English is widely spoken (Jim Ronda, Tulsa, ibid.) Simultaneously, tho with no ID reported: 17630, Africa No. 1, Moyabi, 1550-1600, August 11, French, afropops and announcement by female, 24442 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. 4777, Radio Gabon, *0501-0525+, August 12, Abrupt sign on with news in French. ID. French pop music. Afro-pop music. Fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Re 7-095: Concerning DW on SW: For a long time, the only somewhat reliable service I have found is 11865 kHz, at 2100- 2200, which is usually readable here in New York at a general SINPO 33333. The same frequency is noted much weaker from 2000-2100 in English, from 2200 in German; Is this Kigali with a different beam, Sines, or some other site? In a recent survey received from DW, in reply I noted that the only service I listen to regularly is on the local NPR WRVN / WRVO FM on 91.9 MHz at 6 am on Sunday mornings only, with Inside Europe. This survey was quite extensive, and in comments on how to improve DW, I suggested that they perhaps resume some regular service on SW for the Americas on SW in Spanish or English. I strongly suspect it is very unlikely that this will happen. I really don't think that DW or BBC either one have a clue at how angry many listeners still are about their prematurely leaving shortwave, leaving a real void for listeners in the Americas who either have no computer access or choose not to listen on line. Limited overnight hours on various NPR or PRI outlets (where available) just doesn't cut it as providing reliable reception of their fine programming (Roger Chambers, Utica, ODXA via DXLD) Hi Roger: DW on 11865, other than 2100 - 2200 is as follows: 2000 - 2100 is via Rampisham 2200 - 2300 is via Sines, Portugal As for BBC/DW etc. via local radio, I listen to DW, Polish Radio External Service, Radio Australia, and Radio Prague each morning via CBC Radio Overnight as I have a fairly lengthy commute (123 km one way). My drive time runs from just after 4 AM to just before 5:30 AM. BBC is on during the 3 - 4 AM timeslot. Unless you're in my boat, or recording the programs for later listening, then it is certainly "Radio for Insomniacs". This all started in the early 90's during "Desert Storm". Before that, the CBC would shut its transmitters down from just after 1 AM until 6 AM. I wonder if the practice has been kept up because it is cheaper to keep the transmitters running rather than shutting them down for a few hours and restarting. I also wonder if, since then, it became a requirement that you have to keep a transmitter going or risk losing the frequency. We have Trent University's FM station on 92.7 that used to run an open carrier during the summer months when the students were away. This summer, however, they have seemed to keep some programming going (Mark Coady, Editor, Your Reports/Listening In Magazine, Co-Moderator, ODXA Yahoogroup, Ontario DX Association, ibid.) There`s also the matter of being able to notify awake listeners of a local or national emergency, which you can`t reliably do if you are off the air for 5 hours a day (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GRENADA. Can anyone confirm whether Grenada has moved from 535 to 540 kHz? Still listed on 535 in current WRTH. BBC website says 540 kHz and Grenada Broadcasting Network website gives no frequencies but still uses PO Box 535. Rgds (Steve Whitt, Aug 11, MWC via DXLD) I haven't started compiling details for the Caribbean for the 2008 edition of the WRTH yet - but Grenada is indeed now on 540 kHz. I don't know when they made the shift from 535 to 540 - but at that time of editing one year ago (August-September 2006) I had no information on the frequency shift. But I've seen reports that they were off air in November 2006 - so it might have been around that time. Just a guess!! Best 73s (Stig Hartvig Nielsen, Denmark, ibid.) ? This was already discussed in ABDX via DXLD 7-095 (gh, DXLD) ** GUAM. WHERE AMERICA'S DAY BEGINS --- The first presentation was given by George Ross of NASB member KTWR in Guam. It was his first time attending an NASB meeting. The U.S. territory of Guam in the South Pacific is where America's day begins, said Ross. The KTWR transmitter site is in the extreme southern part of the island. The United States gained possession of Guam in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. Ross said there is still a lot of Spanish heritage found in Guam. Magellan first discovered the island in 1521. Guam was the only U.S. territory occupied by the Japanese during World War II. In 1974 the last Japanese soldier was found living in a cave in a bamboo orchard. Ross had an opportunity to see him in a Liberation Day 50th anniversary parade. Today, tourism is the mainstay of the island, explained Ross. Most of the tourists are from Japan. Guam is located 1200 miles south of Japan and east of the Philippines. KTWR's antenna field covers Australia, New Zealand, Indonesia, Southeast Asia, China, Korea, Japan and Mongolia. This is the only transmitter site that TWR has on U.S. territory. "We started to look for access as we were praying about how much we could reach China and the Orient with the Gospel of Jesus Christ," said Ross. "And we prayed about Guam for a long time. Our founder Dr. Freed approached the FCC in 1964 to see if we could put a transmitter site here on Guam. And then in 1965 there was a freeze on shortwave broadcasting or building within the U.S. Finally in 1974 we heard word that it was open again, so TWR applied for a license and received it. So in 1975 we were able to start building in Guam. In 1977 we were able to go on the air." KTWR began broadcasting with two Harris 100-kilowatt transmitters in September of 1977. In 1982, two more transmitters were added. There were four TCI model 611 curtain antennas. "We also have quite a need for 5000-pound counterweights," said Ross. "I'm sure you've heard about the typhoons we have on Guam." Today KTWR has six antennas and a backup power generator. Their newest transmitter is an HC-100, which is paired with a new TCI antenna to reach China. KTWR has a fully automated playout system. The programming is all produced elsewhere and sent to Guam via FTP. There is a staff of 6 in Guam, including an antenna rigging crew. Ross showed some dramatic photos taken from the top of one of the antenna towers by a member of the rigging crew who is an amateur photographer. "We're really fortunate," said Ross, "the Lord raised up a great area for us to have a take-off right on the ocean, so our first hop is right off the ocean." In 2002, Guam had one of its biggest typhoons ever, and it hit the KTWR transmitter site. The antennas are rated for 155-mile-per-hour winds, but the typhoon's winds were over 200 mph. Ross said: "The new antenna we had from TCI was the new design. If you've seen the new model, there's a circle in between the dipoles; it's just open for air. And during this typhoon we didn't lose the antenna at all. We had two connections to the slew lines that were lost, but we didn't lose the antenna whatsoever. So within a couple hours we had the antenna back on the air." On that occasion, TCI was able to provide replacement parts to the station and get them to Guam quickly. "It's a real privilege being a U.S broadcaster," said Russ, "because the FCC gave us incredible help in getting frequencies. We had to allocate different times and new frequencies in order to keep our programming going on the air as we got the transmitters up. And the FCC just helped out so incredibly to make it so there was no hesitation at all, and we were able to get our broadcasts back on the air." (Jeff White, NASB Annual Meeting Report May 11, 2007, HCJB Global Technology Center - Elkhart, Indiana, August NASB Newsletter via DXLD) Much more at http://www.shortwave.org/news/NEWSLETTER_0708.PDF ** INDIA. WELCOME TO FRIENDS OF PRASARBHARATHI http://www.friendsofprasarbharathi.org/ Home Membership About Prasarbharathi Significance of Prasarbharathi About Friends of Prasarbharathi What you can say What you can do Recent news Responsibility of Public Service Broadcasting [buttons] Vision Statement of Friends of Prasarbharathi Friends of Prasarbharathi aims to defend and promote Broadcasting Corporation of India in its vital role as India's National and Public service Broadcaster, to inform, educate and entertain the public. We demand, to serve its real purposes Prasarbharathi should be completely funded by the government. We oppose all efforts to to compromise its significance and independence by throwing it to the mercy of market forces (corporate forces). We feel that monopoly media is the worst that can happen to a democratic country like India. We feel that equally strong national and private broadcasters can co- exist and that is essential for a healthy democratic country. We declare that as citizens of this great country it is our legitimate right to have a National and Public service Broadcaster which is autonomous and not influenced by market forces. ...... ...... ...... ...... ....... ........ ...... ...... ..... Commenting on this statement You can submit comments on this statement by e-mail click here |||||| Thank you for your interest. |||||| This site is maintained by Joseph Martin C.J 09446548073. jmartin@aol.in |||||| for details, please contact , |||||| mail to: jmartin @ friendsofprasarbharathi.org (via Alokesh Gupta, dx_india via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. HCJB's John Brewer`s responsibility is radio planting for the Asia/Pacific region. Brewer is also sub-director of Southeast Asia for the HCJB Global mission. He is based at the HCJB Asia/Pacific ministry center in Singapore. HCJB now has 18 local stations in Indonesia, the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. "It's kind of odd," said Brewer. "I live in Singapore. That's a free country -- the most free country in the whole area, but you can't have religious radio in Singapore. But if I go to what everyone thinks is a big Muslim country, I get to do Christian radio. So it's a little odd, and it's a lot of fun." [. . .] As for future plans, Brewer says: "One thing I want to do is put a more powerful station near Singapore. I can't put a radio station in Singapore. I want to put a 50,000-watt AM station on one of the Indonesian islands just off the shore of Singapore and run DRM on it, At night, it will get into Vietnam, all of Borneo, Sumatra and Java. I just need a little bit more cash." Brewer said the station would have a single-tower non-directional antenna. He explained that there are no AM stations in Singapore, so there would be no coordination problem. He said the AM band is problematic in the tropics because it is very noisy. It's hard to get FM frequencies, but AM is wide open. He is also thinking of putting a 5-kilowatt FM transmitter on the nearby Indonesian island of Batam to reach Singapore. Brewer said that HCJB-Australia covers western Indonesia very well on shortwave, but it doesn't have an antenna to cover eastern Indonesia (Jeff White, NASB Annual Meeting Report May 11, 2007, HCJB Global Technology Center - Elkhart, Indiana, August NASB Newsletter via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL INTERNET. CJOY Internet Radio, based in Hyannis MA, has resumed carrying WORLD OF RADIO, up to three times a day, `run-of- station`, i.e. at no specific times. http://www.cjoyinternetradio.com Thanks to Darryl & Vicki Breffe for availablizing us on their service (Glenn Hauser, Aug 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non]. THE INTERNATIONAL LIGHTHOUSE/LIGHTSHIP WEEKEND Irish Radio Transmitters Society Radio News Bulletin August 12 2007 The International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend will take place from 0001 UT on the 18th of August to 2359 UT on the 19th of August. A list of entrants and application from are available on http://illw.net This event is not a contest and each station's operators decide how they will operate their station regards modes and bands. Participants are not committed to being on the air during the entire period. There are no restrictions on aerials or power. The activity does not have to take place inside the tower itself. Field day type set-up at the lighthouse or other building nearby is OK. Complete guidelines are available at http://illw.net The event is always held on the 3rd full weekend in August starting at 0001 UT on Saturday and finishing at 2359 UT on Sunday. It also now coincides on the Sunday with the International Lighthouse Day which is an event organised by the International Association of Lighthouse Keepers whereby as many world lighthouses will be open to the public for the day. The basic objective of the event is to promote public awareness of lighthouses and lightships and their need for preservation and restoration, to promote amateur radio and to foster International goodwill (via Mike Terry, England, dxldyg via DXLD) See also MARKET REEF ** IRAN [non]. V. of Mojahed, historical: see KURDISTAN ** ISRAEL. Well, the official domestic REKA schedule has been updated at: http://reka.iba.org.il/Doc/DOC104418.pdf All times ISRAEL LOCAL TIME! [UT +3, soon to be UT+2] Still no shortwave schedule update. Again, the current Kol Israel schedule relays SOME of the domestic REKA network, plus 1 hour and 55 minutes of Persian, created for an international audience. The http://www.israelradio.org website, now has a comment about the cutbacks on the homepage. They have updated the REKA and Israel Radio International schedules, in 6 time zones on the webstream page: http://www.israelradio.org/livestream.htm The IRI schedule and webstream is, "As broadcast on the Amos satellite at 4 degrees west on 11.633GHz (Pol Vertical, SR 8518, FEC ¾, SID10, APID 4119)" The AMOS/IRI webstream does carry the Reshet Hey Persian broadcast, but, at least according to the schedule posted (I haven't checked it), it relays REKA, even when shortwave isn't relaying REKA and isn't broadcasting any non-Hebrew broadcasts. Neither the IBA nor israelradio.org websites have an updated SW schedule (Doni Rosenzweig, Aug 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. RAI, Radio Vatican etc. Just found two interior pictures of the Santa Palomba site (846 kHz, reactivated on January 31 as an experiment and still on air), revealing an Asea Brown Boveri transmitter and, besides the presentation of a tube, the quite huge dimensions of the transmitter hall: http://www.arilatina.it/Foto/rai.jpg http://www.arilatina.it/Foto/foto_15.jpg Antennas: http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/palomba_e.html And while I'm on this site I discovered that some interesting stuff has been added since my last visit: http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/stato_vaticano/stato_vaticano_e.html Transmitters and their antennas in Vatican city. The featured shortwave transmitters appears to be the old Marconi, actually listed as being more powerful than 10 kW. The notes on the SWR indicator specifies the mediumwave transmitters as RCA models. http://mediasuk.org/archive/siziano.html Milano-Siziano site. The DRM signal on 693 originates from a Harris transmitter, probably 100 rather than 50 kW as the text indicates. Unfortunately nothing about the AM powerhouse on 900 herein. http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/awr.html The tiny 10 kW transmitter AWR once operated at Forlí. Quite cute also the rack with cassette decks and a vertically mounted mixer which appears to be the playout set-up, just as humble as the transmitter. If not known yet: Prato Smeraldo, the RAI shortwave site that could go dark in just a few weeks: http://www.mediasuk.org/archive/prato/pratoe.htm (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ITALY. On 26.0 MHz [26000 kHz] Radio Maria in Italian is heard sometimes with weak fading signals and a few DRM signals heard in the 25 MHz band too. Heady old days when you could hear 10 or 15 stations on 25 MHz in daytime (Des Walsh, Ireland, Aug World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) 26000.0, 1001-, 04/8, # R. Maria, Adrate. Songs, chimes 1002, talks. 15442 (Carlos Gonçalves, Portugal, Conexión Digital Aug 12 via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. Broadcasts for North Korea [gh condensed to line up the columns, which are in time order] RFNK = Radio Free North Korea - Jayu Bukhan Bangsong ORNK = Open Radio North Korea - Yeollin Bukhan Bangsong RFC = Radio Free Chosun - Jayu Joseon Bangsong NKMR = North Korea Mission R. - Bukhan Seongyo Bangsong NnK = Nippon no Kaze - Ilbone Baram Site coordinates: Tanshui TWN 12129E 2513N Tainan TWN 12038E 2311N Naalehu HWA 15540W 1901N Ibaragi-Koga-Yamata J 13950 E 3610N kHz Station UT smtwtfs Lang kW deg Site 9490 RFNK 1000-1100 1234567 Kor 100 2 Tanshui 9930 ORNK 1100-1200 .23456. Kor 100 300 Naalehu 9485 SHIOKAZE 2(Sea-breeze) 1300-1330 1234567 Jap 100 2 Tanshui 9485 SHIOKAZE 2(Sea-breeze) 1300-1330 1234567 Kor 100 2 Tanshui 9485 SHIOKAZE 2(Sea-breeze) 1300-1330 1234567 Eng 100 2 Tanshui 9485 RFC 1330-1400 1234567 Kor 100 2 Tanshui 12135 ORNK 1530-1630 1234567 Kor 100 2 Tainan above Heard on Aug. 1-3 only. Test? 9780 Furusato no Kaze 1600-1630 1234567 Jap 250 45 Tanshui 9820 Nippon no Kaze 1700-1730 1234567 Kor 100 2 Tanshui 9780 NKMR 1900-2000 1234567 Kor 100 2 Tanshui 9785 RFC 2000-2030 1234567 Kor 100 2 Tanshui 9785 RFNK 2030-2130 1234567 Kor 100 2 Tanshui 6045 SHIOKAZE 1(Sea-breeze) 2030-2100 1234567 Jap 100 280 Ibaragi de NDXC-Monitoring (S. Hasegawa, NDXC, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** KURDISTAN. The Voice of the Mojahed [historical] Massoud Khodabandeh has provided some biographical details on his website including the time when he was involved in shortwave clandestine station The Voice of the Mojahed. The station broadcast for more than 22 years and used to open its broadcasts with "The Voice of the Mojahed. The Voice of the Mojahedin-e Khalq of Iran. The Voice of Iran's National Liberation Army. The Voice of the Iranian people's new revolution. Greetings to you dear listeners of the Voice of the Mojahed. We begin today's programme of the Voice of the Mojahed with conviction that the oppressive regime of the clerics will be overthrown, and the luminous light of freedom will be cast over our beloved homeland Iran." It used as many as 16 shortwave transmitters at times, often changing frequencies by 5 or 10 kHz pursued by Iranian jammers. Mr Khodabandeh says of his involvement with the station: "In 1980, I and another 51 members of the organisation occupied the Iranian embassy in London for which we were sentenced to some months of imprisonment. When I was released from prison I joined a Mojahedin organisation in Paris. I became part of a team tasked with purchasing a 10 kilowatt radio transmitter as well as other telecoms equipment - intended to connect Iran to the Paris headquarters - and other materials and to transfer them to Iranian Kurdistan where the new Iranian Government could not exert its power. I was appointed as technical advisor and subsequently, the technical head of broadcasting once the stations were installed in Kurdistan. We ended up in Baghdad with a huge load of telecoms and other equipment. We were working under the protection of the Kurdish Democratic Parity (KDP) which would allow us passage from Iraqi into Iranian Kurdistan. The equipment was shipped by the Iraqi military to Soleimanieh - where the Iraqis would go no further - and from there we were taken towards the border of Iran by Kurdish people sympathetic to the KDP. It was winter and it took us several months to transfer the dismantled pieces of radio equipment into the mountains of Sardasht (in Iran) from where the transmitter started broadcasting the clandestine short and medium wave 'Radio Mojahed' into Iran. The transmitter (and therefore me and my team) had to change place in the mountains of Kurdistan more than 7 times over the next two years in order to survive the air attacks. We survived as a team (though of course some individuals didn't) and continued our broadcasting successfully. When we first arrived in Iranian Kurdistan, the Mojahedin base was inside the KDP compound just outside Sardasht. But our numbers were growing rapidly. Kurdistan was becoming the HQ for training terror teams to carry out operations inside Iranian cities and it was the major transit route for transferring Mojahedin executives from Iran to France (via Turkey or Iraq/Jordan). It took two years of military battles during the summers and fighting with nature in the mountains of Kurdistan in the winters before the Iranian army reached the 'Free Zone' of Iranian Kurdistan. After a few days of battle, we had no other choice than to abandon everything and, crossing the border river Zab, to retreat into Iraq. We had to blow-up everything we had in order not to let them fall in the hands of enemy but managed to bring the transmitter with us and even managed to get it up and running again in only a few days to broadcast Radio Mojahed. But now we were living alongside an Iraqi military base with direct connection to roads, and after two years I enjoyed the luxury of moving around with cars instead of mules! It didn't take long before I was given the go- ahead to return to Paris. Now that transmission was taking place from Iraqi territory with the help of the Iraqi Government, I was perhaps needed more in Europe than in Iraq. So, I went back to Paris." Mr Khodabandeh`s full story can be read at http://www.khodabandeh.org A clandestineradio.com feature on the station can be read at http://tinyurl.com/37p9qx (Mike Barraclough, Aug World DX Club Contact via DXLD) ** LAOS [non]. Re 7-095: Hi! Sorry, I forgot that. The web page of Hmong World Christian Radio is http://www.hwcr.us 73, (Patrick Robic, Austria, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And the SW sked via KWHR and WHRI: http://www.hwcr.us/program.html (gh, DXLD) ** MALDIVE ISLANDS [non]. 11965, Minivan R (presumed), 1610-1630, August 11, vernacular/English, talk by male in vernacular. At 1620 short talk in English. After, other talk in vernacular, 24332 (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) via GERMANY. Was the QRM from CRI? ** MARKET REEF. OJ0 - The Nordic team of OH0RJ, OH2BH, OH2PM, SM0W and SM6U will try landing on Market Reef (EU-053) around 16 UT on 11 August. They may appear on the air on that night as OJ0B (QSL via OH2BH) and will operate CW and SSB until 16 August, when (weather permitting) OH2HAN, OH2MZB and OH2LU will be swapping the operating duties and will air OJ0MI (QSL via OH2HAN). They will focus on RTTY, but also the weekend's lighthouse activity. Expect CW at .025 kHz, and SSB on 3790, 7040, 14190, 18140, 21290 kHz. Over the lighthouse weekend 14250-14260 kHz will be used. The Finnish Lighthouse Society has been active repairing the lighthouse for this summer and you may wish to follow their activities which include daily reporting and interesting general details http://www.lighthousesociety.fi/eng/ If you are a stamp collector or wish to receive your QSL card with unique Market Reef stamps, you may send SASE with 7,00 euros (10 USD) as your donation to the Finnish Lighthouse Society through respective QSL managers. [TNX OH2BN] ILLW ---> This year the International Lighthouse/Lightship Weekend, organized and managed by the Ayr Amateur Radio Group, will take place from 0001 UT on 18 August until 2359 UT on the 19th. Full information on this popular event can be found at http://illw.net The official list of entrants is at http://illw.net/2007_list.htm (425 DX News via Dave Raycroft, ODXA via DXLD) See also INTERNATIONAL WATERS [non] ** MEXICO. 9599.26, Radio Universidad, Mexico City, 0800-0845+, August 12, classical music. ID at 0805. Fair to good. In the clear at this hour with no offending stations on 9600 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Mr. David Carrillo Blanco of Radio Transcontinental de America, XERTA (4810 kHz), gave us an interesting talk about the work of his station. He told us that it exists thanks to donations from the faithful. The station does not belong to any particular church, and they plan to soon have an Internet TV channel. The transmitter, as I understood it, is a Crown-HCJB model adapted for missionary work. It is on a small plot of land in the hilly area of La Montada, Coatepec, near the area which is the main antenna center for stations in Mexico City. He talked to us about projects like increasing the power to 30 kilowatts and the use of DRM to facilitate rebroadcasts by AM and FM stations throughout the country, since he said it is very costly to use satellite to send programs live to local stations in the interior. The station's website is http://www.xertaradio.com Our group went by Metro to visit the studios of XERTA located in a modest building. The welcome was cordial by those who were waiting on us in a small cozy room. The reception area, administrative office, etc., is quite small. The studio is even smaller. Next to the studio, on the other side of the glass, there is a console, various computers and other instruments. In small groups we passed through. The station has no fixed budget. To operate the station by computer, they cannot buy the appropriate software. It is very expensive, so they use free programs. If you do not believe in miracles, visit this station! They gave each of us a personalized QSL card, and we took pictures and videos of the station (Chronicle of the 13th Mexican National DX Meeting by Miguel Angel Rocha Gámez, Condensed, translated and slightly adapted by Jeff White, Aug NASB Newsletter via DXLD) IBOC: see DIGITAL BROADCASTING ** NEW ZEALAND. Can anyone please confirm whether RNZI (analog) is really on 9655 at 11-13 UT, as I have been unable to hear it there. Thanks, (Glenn Hauser, Aug 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) I could hear from Buenos Aires. Is 1059-1258 9655 AM 100 156 Bougainville, PNG, Timor 325 deg (Arnaldo Slaen, Argentina, ibid.) 9655, RNZI Rangitaiki noted here in EUR around 1200-1215 UT slot with S=6-7 AM signal fade pulsing, Aug 11. Most probably on western long path via Pacific, Easter Island, Colombia, Azores, Atlantic. Despite R Australia noted on 11880 SHP only, S=2, - nothing on 9475, 9560, 9580, 9590, or 12080 kHz at same time slot. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) No chance here in Tiquicia for RNZI after this change has been made in that time slot. BBC Caribbean Service on 9660 take all away. I have to detune as far as to 9652 to avoid the Beep sprinkle, just to barely hear the Rangitaiki signal. So, the good time for us from RNZI is after 0200 on 13730 and a little diminished in our wee hours on 6095. 73s. (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica, ibid.) I just happened to check either Thursday or Friday and it was there. Not the best of signals (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, ibid.) ** NORWAY. NORWEGIAN PLAN FOR SCOTTISH RADIO STATION FALTERS The consultant touting a Norwegian radio tower to transmit a new Scottish national radio station has conceded he will probably fail amid rumours that Emap’s Scottish radio assets could soon go on the market. Paul Graham, who has been offering the lease of the tower, located off the Norwegian mainland, on behalf of the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation (NRK), has failed to find any takers over the past few months. The only party that appears to have shown any real interest in the idea has been New Wave Media, which is fronted by former Radio Forth managing director Adam Findlay. He decided not to go ahead after meeting several times with Graham. There were also suggestions that Norman Quirk, the former managing director of Glasgow’s Saga Radio was interested, but he was quick to reject them. Radio executives have been saying privately that the transmitter is unattractive because it is restricted to AM and would require a massive marketing outlay to build a national brand. Graham conceded that the same difficulties discouraged NRK from using the transmitter, and said that if Emap puts its Scottish stations on the block it would be even harder to generate interest. Emap effectively put itself up for sale last week by making the announcement that its entire business has now been put up for review. (Source: Sunday Herald) (August 12th, 2007 - 8:04 UTC by Andy, Media Network blog via DXLD) Andy Sennitt comments: This story presumably refers to the high power mediumwave station at Kvitsøy on 1314 kHz, which was used by NRK until mid-2006. In December 2006, the Norwegian Post and Telecommunications Authority (NPT) said it had received an application for a licence on 1314 kHz, but noted that “The future use of LF/MF bands in Norway is under consideration. Hence, frequency licences in these bands will at the moment be issued with a short duration. Expiry date for this frequency licence will be 31 December 2008.” (Media Network blog via DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. >> But the PBC link recently to station list only shows 630 and 1080 for Lahore << 1332 is a thoroughly refurbished, probably even entirely new (although the room interior doesn't suggest this) site with a Transradio TRAM 100 transmitter, cf. http://www.waniewski.de/id372.htm A similar new facility has been built for 1170 at Peshawar: http://www.waniewski.de/id393.htm (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And here's the link to the Quetta pics. http://www.waniewski.de/id360.htm (Olle Alm, Sweden, ibid.) ** RUSSIA. ======== Yakutiya (Sakha) ------------------------ Yakutsk. RS-1. Tulagino. 171 kHz 150 kW Radio Rossii + GTRK "Sakha" 549 kHz 50 kW Radiostation Mayak 846 kHz 25 kW Radio NVK "Sakha" 6150 kHz 5 kW Radio Rossii + GTRK "Sakha" 7140 kHz 5 kW Radio Rossii + GTRK "Sakha" 7200 kHz 250 kW Radio Rossii + GTRK "Sakha" 7345 kHz 100 kW Radio Rossii + GTRK "Sakha" (Viktor Rutkovskiy, Yekaterinburg / "open_dx" via Rus-DX via DXLD) 7200 of course being the notoriously unstable unit, warbling frequency and/or het against other 7200s. And it`s their most powerful unit (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. 12065, R. Tikhiy Ocean, 0837-0900*, Aug 9, Russian. OM with lengthy talk, presumed IDs at 0844 and 0849. Pop music, ad/promo string and more OM from 0852 until time pips at 0900*. Poor/fair, improving. // 9765-weak/choppy under QRN (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) R. Center : see U S A ** SCOTLAND [non]. See NORWAY ** SHETLAND ISLANDS. Re: ``You have to be on the ball to listen live though, because there is just one 30-minute show each Friday at 1730 BST [1630 UT in summer]. Good Evening Shetland contains local news and weather, diary, jobspot, the fish report and `Clear da Air` (Chris Brand, radio websites, Aug radiouser via DXLD) Don`t see anything about Shetlands there (gh)`` Most recent show is available on Listen Again at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/radioscotland/programmes/goodeveningshetland (Mike Barraclough, England, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SOMALIA. TWO SOMALI RADIO JOURNALISTS SLAIN - washingtonpost.com Station Had Antagonized Both Government and Insurgency By Stephanie McCrummen, Washington Post Foreign Service Sunday, August 12, 2007; A14 NAIROBI, Aug. 11 -- Two prominent Somali radio journalists were killed in Mogadishu on Saturday, the first by gunmen in the morning and the second, the radio station's co-owner, in an explosion hours later as he returned from the reporter's funeral. The killings targeted Horn Afrik radio, which has been criticized by the Ethiopian-backed Somali government as well as hard-line members of an insurgency that has been battling government and Ethiopian forces for months. . . http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/11/AR2007081100893_pf.html (via Mike Cooper, DXLD) ** SRI LANKA [non]. 7115, IBC Tamil Radio via Wertachtal, 0051-0100*, Aug 7, vernacular. two OM with talk; several mentions of Colombo. Various announcers and music bits from 0055. Contact info at 0059 then music thru sign-off. Good (Scott R. Barbour, Jr., Intervale, NH, R8, R75, NIR10, MLB1, 200' Beverages, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SUDAN. 7200.0, R. Omdurman, Al-Aitahab, Aug 12 0310 - Arabic talk by man, music bridges between segments then into religious monologue at 0317. Dominant over co-channel R. Bulgaria Russian service, with Ham SSB QRM on both sidebands (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, http://www.bcdx.org Receivers: WinRadio G313/e, RFSpace SDR-14. Antenna: Wellbrook ALA 100, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. 4975.97, R Uganda, Kampala, Aug 12 0245 - On early with long monologue by male in presumed Swahili, mentions of various African countries, then African vocals at the top of the hour. Mainly poor with moderate CODAR QRM, best in USB to avoid hets from presumed Peru and Brazil on ~4974.8 (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN, http://www.bcdx.org Receivers: WinRadio G313/e, RFSpace SDR-14. Antenna: Wellbrook ALA 100, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UGANDA. There's an article with photos about Dunamis Shortwave 4750 (Mukono, Uganda) at http://www.biblevoice.org/uploads/Canada0706.pdf (Jari Savolainen, Kuusankoski, Finland, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) And well illustrated, but rather short on the details we would like. Antenna is supported by six 40-foot poles, which were raised by rhythmic human teamwork, so does that fit for a Lazy H NVIS, vertical incidence? First two DX reports were from Finland and Sweden, exciting them. But how many DXers have managed to hear it anywhere well enough to listen to, much less be taken in by, their Protestant evangelizing? Do they really even cover the whole country of Uganda as was their aim, considering the low power and co-channel QRM from Sudan? (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Good question, Glenn. I thought about the reception already yesterday and sent a message to my contact at the station in Uganda. The reply was they're covering all Uganda on SW and no interference has been reported (of Radio Peace, Sudan). Personally, all I've been hearing lately on 4750 after 1730 UT is Radio Peace and occasionally RRI Makassar running late. 73, (Jari Savolainen, ibid.) Maybe these guys tried again and were successful this time: http://www.wbs-tv.com/Lugazipolice.php "LUGAZI POLICE HOLDS TWO OVER ROBBERY. Lugazi police is holding two youths suspected to be part of the gang that has been robbing people at Lugalambo along the Kampala-Jinja Highway. Mawejje Ibrahim 18, of Wanjeyo village in Nama sub-county and Juma Idd Mubarak 20 of kinawattaka in mbuya, were arrested by a watchman as they attempted to steal a generator from the booster site for DUNAMIS FM at Walusubi. Police recovered two toy pistols, several mobile phones, ladies' handbag and army uniforms from their homes. Mukono District Police CID boss Jackson Tumwine confirms that police has been receiving reports of highway robberies and that the suspects are to be taken to court." (via Mauno Ritola, Finland, ibid.) ** U K. BBC World Service in virtually gone off shortwave compared to a few years ago having been got at by the bean counters. Midday reception here is diabolical now. Even the few occasional daytime channels get clobbered, 11760 for instance has a RTTY transmission a few kHz lower bashing it. Of course we can have our satellite receivers, televisions or PCs switched on to receive it but that's a lot more electricity consumed and no portability, unless you connect up an (illegal) FM oscillator to send it around the house and garden! Progress??? Well, that's my gripes made for now; will they have me on 'the Grumpy Old Men Show'? (Des Walsh, Ireland, Aug World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) ** U S A. A YEAR LATER, POLICE STILL DON'T KNOW WHO KILLED D.C. LAWYER GC Robert Wone was found stabbed to death in Arent Fox partner's Washington, D.C., home --- Joe Palazzolo, Legal Times, August 9, 2007 House at 1509 Swann Street, where attorney Robert Wone was murdered. Image: Diego M. Radzinschi/Legal Times [caption] Sometime on the night of Aug. 2 last year, someone walked into the second-floor guest bedroom of 1509 Swann St. N.W. in Washington, D.C., and plunged a kitchen knife deep into the chest of 32-year-old Washington lawyer Robert Wone [who worked for R. Free Asia]. That much police know. But a year after the murder, the case remains unsolved. Why? The answer involves bureaucratic delays, rotating prosecutors and a trio of potential suspects, who quickly lawyered up. Police have made no arrests in the case -- or even established any clear motives -- and investigators are still waiting for the FBI to return portions of the evidence that was taken from the $1.2 million town house. In a sense, it resembled a classic closed-room mystery. Three other people were present in the row house when Wone was murdered. Yet D.C. police so far appear stymied in the yearlong investigation. . . http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1186563716143 (via kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) see also ASIA ** U S A. The Delano station has several high-powered shortwave transmitters and a variety of antennas covering Asia-Pacific and the Americas. NASB members and other organizations that might be interested in utilizing the Delano facility after the IBB transmissions cease in October -- if this becomes possible -- should contact us nasbmem @ rocketmail.com so we can put you in touch with the appropriate personnel (Jeff White, August NASB Newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. Glenn: I have finally figured out how to put a viewable/downloadable version of our program grid on the website. On the "Current Schedule" page, just click on the pink WRMI logo at the bottom. It's in Excel format. http://www.wrmi.net Note that we have just extended 9955 kHz during weekdays to 0100 UT, with 7385 at 0100-0300. WRN currently runs till 2300, with other programs from 2300 to 0100. We have a new Cuban program, La Voz de la Esperanza (produced by the Committee to Aid the Dissidence [sic] of the 2506 Brigade) at 0030-0045 UT Tuesday-Saturday on 9955; and another new Cuban program, the Committee for Human Rights and Democracy of the 2506 Brigade on Saturdays at 2200-2230 UT on 9955 (Jeff White, WRMI, Aug 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) On the new grid, which is designed to last a while without updating, just ``DX and various programs`` without specifics M-F 05-09 and 10-12 on 9955, and that includes some additional airings of WORLD OF RADIO, as recently published. Some other listings from the grid: MUNDO RADIAL: Thu 2315, Sun 1030 FRECUENCIA AL DIA: Tue 1430, Thu 2330, Mon 0400 LA ROSA DE TOKIO: Sat & Sun 0700, Mon 2300, Wed 2300 [1 hour] VIVA MIAMI: Tue 2300, Wed 1500, Thu 1530, Fri 1500. The WRN stations now on WRMI SW 9955, M-F: 1600-1615 RNZI 1615-1630 Vatican R 1630-1700 R Slovakia International 1700-1730 Polish Radio ES 1730-1800 Channel Africa 1800-1830 RTE Ireland 1830-1900 R. Prague 1900-1930 R. Sweden 1930-2000 R. Australia 2000-2030 CRI 2030-2100 KBS World Radio 2100-2130 RTE Ireland 2130-2200 R. Romania International 2200-2300 R. Netherlands (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. WHRI vs CHU 7335: see CANADA [and non] ** U S A. I perhaps show my weirdness by seeing in at least one broadcast an example of some imaginative use of a shortwave frequency that would seem to invite more. I frequently listen to the weekly musical half hour program on WBCQ, "Goddess Irena." She is not a media star, she is not the greatest singer in the world, nor the greatest 12-string guitar player, but she is out there trying for all she's worth, giving it her best shot. She is sure as heck unique. I'm not sure what makes her tick. But she has won my respect and my admiration. While I certainly can't say that Goddess Irena necessarily represents the direction shortwave radio broadcasting ought to take, I would suggest that shortwave frequencies could provide a place for things which don't meet the cookie-cutter requirements of the national media (alvahw Aug 11, shortwavehound forum via DXLD) Another forum full of anon. posters. What`s with this, anyway? It would help to say when the show mentioned is on. Here`s the entry on the annotated WBCQ program guide: GODDESS IRENA 1 MUSIC SHOW E-mail: GoddessIrenaOne @ webtv.net Thursday 7415 07:00PM 07:30PM ET, 2300-2330 UT Program start and end times are listed in Eastern United States time and UT. Join the Goddess Irena 1 accompanied by her 12-string guitar for a fascinating journey with the finest musical standards. An interesting and most unique music show. Verified Thursdays from 7 to 730 ET on 7415 (7/24/3). On July 1, 2004, The Goddess invited listeners to visit a gallery of some of her artwork at http://www.biznet1.com/goddessirena1/index.html Wow, cool paintings. There are also a couple of pictures of the Goddess on this web site (via DXLD) Also leads to other art, for sale ** U S A [and non]. FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE --- Andrey Nekrasov is the manager of NASB associate member Beth Shalom Center Radio. This year marks the 15th anniversary of the ministry's station in Moscow, although Nekrasov is now based in Brooklyn, New York. "If you're visiting New York, you can hear Russian, Ukrainian, Arabic, Yiddish and about 30 other languages, but no English," Andrey jokes. Nekrasov is originally from Moscow, where he established Radio Center on June 3, 1992 as the first Christian radio station in the former territory of the Soviet Union. He was 19 years old at the time, and his partner was 16. "It's not just my station," he remarked. "It's God's station." Nekrasov's first job in radio was at Radio Moscow's World Service on shortwave. He co-produced the DX program "Frecuencia RM" in the Spanish section which is hosted by Francisco Rodriguez, worked with the program "Onda DX" in Radio Moscow's Brazilian Portuguese section and "Moscow Calling" in Radio Moscow's French section. He also produced DX and other programs for Radio Eco, the first independent radio station in Moscow. "I came to Christ through Christian radio," Nekrasov explained. "Back in 1985, I tuned my radio to the Christian stations on shortwave. I heard very amazing programs, and I came to Christ through the shortwave radio. I love shortwave radio. When I was a young man, early in the morning I tuned my radio to HCJB, the Voice of the Andes. It was 7 a.m. local time. And when I heard their programs, I stopped [going to] school after that for a couple of months. I was just listening to HCJB programs. HCJB was our first partner [of Radio Center]." Today, Radio Center has many partners in the United States, including NASB member Family Radio, the Back to God Hour, Jack Van Impe Ministries, etc. "It's not easy to open a radio station in Moscow right now," said Nekrasov. "You need a million dollars. You need about 20 million dollars for getting a license on FM right now. But 20 years ago it was a little bit easier. God gave us the opportunity to open the station 15 years ago." Nekrasov showed the audience in Elkhart a video he produced about Radio Center. The building where the station is located is just 100 meters from the Lenin mausoleum in Red Square. In the station's offices he has an old Soviet radio that many of his listeners are still using. A large map shows where Radio Center's signal on 1503 kHz can be received. The station can be heard well, said Nekrasov, within 140 miles of Moscow. They have received letters from Minsk, Belarus; Riga, Latvia; Helsinki and other parts of Finland. Radio Center broadcasts programs in English which Finns listen to. At nighttime, Radio Center's signal is excellent in Kiev, in the Ukraine. The southernmost point where it has been heard is Krasnodar, in southern Russia, near the Black Sea. "It's not excellent," says Nekrasov, "but it's listenable." The easternmost point where it has been reported is beyond the Ural Mountains. And "we're praying the Lord will help us install a 20-kilowatt repeater in St. Petersburg," said Nekrasov. Radio Center's audio is now streamed live on the Internet as well, so the overseas partners can hear their programs via the web. Next, the scene shifted to New York City, where Nekrasov said that 1.65 million Russian-speakers live legally, plus probably a similar number illegally. New York is the gateway for Russian immigration to the U.S., and the city's Russian community is subject to a variety of social problems, including drug addiction, prostitution, drinking, depression and homelessness. Nekrasov explained that many of these people lived in an atheist Russia, "so they don't know God, including many Russian Jewish immigrants. These people need to hear the Gospel. The answer we found was radio." Nekrasov said that when he came to New York, there were several Russian-language programs on the radio locally, but none with Christian programs. So Beth Shalom Center started two-minute radio programs on a local radio station shortly after September 11, 2001. "We did live programs on the street about the important issues of life," he said. The programs are broadcast from a small studio in Brooklyn. Their goals are to increase the airtime even more, to open a low power FM station in New York, a U.S. National Russian Radio Network on 26 MHz in DRM mode, and to eventually expand to television as well (Jeff White, NASB Annual Meeting Report May 11, 2007, HCJB Global Technology Center - Elkhart, Indiana, August NASB Newsletter via DXLD) ** U S A. THE PRICE OF FREE AIRWAVES --- The current AdBusters (#73) has this article written by FCC Commissioner M J Copps, reprinted from NY Times. Excerpt: "Now we have what big broadcasters lovingly call 'postcard renewal' - the agency typically rubber-stamps an application without any substantive review." I hope you'll buy AdBusters to read it, as the magazine is so good . . . ef who rides past the AB Office every day (Eric Flodén, BC?, IRCA via DXLD) ** U S A. FCC TO GRANT NEW LICENSES FOR NON-COMMERCIAL RADIO STATIONS Submitted by Jonathan on August 10, 2007 [Ursula Ruedenberg (Pacifica Network) and Libby Reinish (Prometheus Radio Project) interviewed on Democracy Now!] JUAN GONZALEZ: The crisis of media consolidation continues. The FCC, chaired by Republican Kevin Martin, has not yet seen a merger that it doesn't like. Conglomerates like Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation are among the most powerful corporations on the planet. His papers routinely beat the drums for war, while simultaneously distracting the public with gossip and glitz. Yet people are finding innovative ways to fight back to demand independent community-based media. One such effort that you can join is the movement to create new full-power, noncommercial FM radio stations in the United States. AMY GOODMAN: This October, the Federal Communications Commission will open a one-week window during which nonprofit community groups in the United States can file applications for their own noncommercial broadcast license. A coalition called Radio for People has formed to help groups through the application process. It's a once in a generation opportunity. Today, we're joined in our firehouse studio by two members of that coalition: Ursula Ruedenberg is with Pacifica Radio, and Libby Reinish is with the Prometheus Radio Project. We welcome you both to Democracy Now! Ursula, let's begin with you. Explain the significance of this window in October. . . Source URL: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=07/08/10/142236 http://reclaimthemedia.org/grassroots_media/fcc_to_grant_new_licenses_for_%3D5397 (via Mike Terry, England, dxldyg via DXLD) ** VATICAN. Transmitter site photos: see ITALY ** VENEZUELA [non]. I happened to tune by RNV CI via Cuba on 17705, Sunday, August 12, 2007 at 2030 when they were announcing their transmission schedule. I soon realized it was exactly the same as at http://www.rnv.gov.ve/noticias/index.php?act=ST&f=22&t=5173 which was posted 39.5 months ago and has undergone considerable change since then, as I have repeatedly pointed out in the interim. The times given, altho not specified, are all in LOCAL time, more or less. Note the date of the press release, not the date on the framing, and it says the service started 22 April 2004. For one thing, none of the morning broadcasts at 10, 11 or 12 UT are mentioned even tho they have been going for a year or more. It so happens the final broadcast on the list still exists as the one I tuned into, 20-21 UT on 17705, never very strong here. AFAIK, neither RNV nor RHC has ever published an up-to-date schedule of these broadcasts. It was left to us, the DX Community to monitor the true schedule of RNV, and that has been published several times in DXLD. Since the Bolivarians obviously do not want it to get out, I am happy not to publish it again until any further changes be discovered (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ZIMBABWE [non]. L'indirizzo e-mail di SW R. Africa tech @ swradioafrica.com non è più valido e infatti non è più riportato nemmeno sul sito web della stazione (Luca Botto Fiora, Italy, playdx yg via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Mali, 9635? Has anyone logged Mali on 9635 recently? Today at 1615z I logged a station with what sounded like African harmonies and music. No definite ID. Passport list Mali 9635 as inactive and also lists CVC Chile at this time but it certainly sounded different than what I usually hear from CVC. Anyway, I'm curious if 9635 has been reactivated? (Jerry Lenamon, Waco TX, Aug 11, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 9635 -- despite of S=8 signal of BBC Russian from Cyprus, noted IRIB Tehran English service underneath - endless talk by lady, towards S Asia, and in \\ to 7370 kHz same program. At 1628 noted IS of Tehran on both channels. Increased signal from 1615 UT onwards. Checked it with SYNC and PBT on E1 radio and AOR 7030 set. No RTM Bamako program, no Sahel music heard at all on 9635 channel. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ A propósito, el hecho que me respondieras mi pregunta ha sido de gran satisfacción y sorpresa; obtener información directa a través de una leyenda del DX como lo es usted. Te comento todos los domingos, escucho tu programa a través de Radio Nederland y de veras he aprendido mucho. Gracias y hasta la próxima (Jesús Chinchilla, Costa Rica, July 19, via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ SOVIET OTH RADAR [see also INTRUDER WATCH below] >> http://foto.cqham.ru/showphoto.php?photo=3571 I don`t see any UK flag; really about OTH radar? In case you`re wondering, per Google Russian-Beta translation, woodpecker is ``dyatel``, tho I doubt the Soviets ever called it that themselves << Of course they did not. Quick and dirty summary of the caption: Duga-1 system at Pripyat in the Ukraine, designed to detect rockets, operated in the 21...24 MHz range. This is the reception antenna; a smaller transmission antenna is located 60 km away. 2000 kW transmitter of Kondor model [this very model is in use as broadcasting transmitter as well], installed in a large brick building [so probably here? http://pripyat.com/ru/internet_photo/chernobyl_2/2/1380.html however, this look like the reception antenna as well]. Usually a couple of such sites were run in a synchronized mode. http://pripyat.com/ru/internet_photo/chernobyl_2/1/1625.html says that the first Duga station near Nikolayev had been inaugurated in 1971. The Duga-1 facility at Chernigov, dubbed "Chernobyl-2", had been completed by 1985 and specified for a frequency range of 3260 to 17540 kHz [sorry, can't dig further to clarify these seemingly contradictory descriptions]. Duga-2 station at Komsomolsk na Amure. See principal sketch of the whole system design at bottom of this page. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Woodpecker states contrary to these reports that the final system was called Duga-3 and mentions another site near Gomel in Belarus. See also http://temperedinsanity.blogspot.com/2007/06/russian-strategic-defense-part-2-abm.html and so on and so on. Other non-ham pictures from the foto.cqham.ru site: http://foto.cqham.ru/showphoto.php?photo=3170&cat=526 465 metre tall antenna of "transmitter 137 kHz" (of course everybody knows where the "transmitter 137 kHz" is located and what it's purpose...) http://foto.cqham.ru/showphoto.php?photo=903&cat=526 http://foto.cqham.ru/showphoto.php?photo=904&cat=526 "Antennas 204.5 and 160 metres" The latter would be maritime radio while 204.5 metres is 1467 kHz. Happy guessing about the site (Kai Ludwig, Germany, DX LISTENING DIGEST) AOR AR7030 My barefoot AOR AR7030 is now fixed, after ten years of struggle and prayer. I should have sent it to England in 2002. I received great help from Richard J Hillier, who was Sales Director for AOR. Mr Hillier is a Knight in Shining Armour. He studied my detailed description of my troubles, and deduced what was wrong. It was unusual and complicated and the local AOR technician was not able to solve the problem. Mr Hillier sent me detailed directions and replacement parts. All this free of charge although the trouble surfaced about two years after I bought the receiver. At last I obtained the services of the AOR technician in Israel. I am very happy now and it feels almost like having a new main receiver. Here are some tips about buying an AOR AR7030. The best country in which to buy an AOR. AR7030 is Great Britain, because your receiver will arrive direct from the factory and will be up-to-date. If you buy it in another country, your receiver comes from the AOR warehouse in Japan. This warehouse is run on the first-in first-out system, so you get the oldest receiver in the warehouse. Before purchase ask your supplier what is the version of the Central Processing Unit; this is shown briefly when switching on. Then contact the factory and ask then what is the current version. If different, request the factory to send the current version to your supplier, and request your supplier to install it. I bought an optional Murata filter and its value changed over the years. Maybe a Collins filter would have remained stable. I think the AOR boxing is primitive. The best place to buy your receiver is at the door of the factory. Don't misunderstand me. My remote control arrived with a small crack. The factory sent me a new remote control, and I believe they now wrap the remote control very well. I am still using the cracked remote control. I still don't like the ACR boxing. The latest model is not always better. My old AOR AR7030 has no hiss on single sideband. Put the latest model Central Processing Unit is likely to have less bugs - or programming flaws. Don't complain too much. Remember the Drake R8B - it was discontinued! (David Crystal, Israel, Aug World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) BEWARE XM ROADY XT A few days ago XM made me a deal I could not refuse. I have been an XM customer for a month or so and was completely satisfied with the performance of my Roady 2 receiver which I picked up at a flea market for $3. The deal offered a second receiver, the new and improved Roady XT for $7, free activation, and a monthly charge of only $7 for six months. What a deal. The total price with programming would only add up to the retail price of the Roady XT. I bit. I gave my Roady 2 to my daughter. It was a wonderful receiver with a strong FM transmitter built in that could be heard for at least 100 feet. I had XM on every radio in the house. I could hardly wait the arrival of my new and improved Roady XT. Wow was I surprised to find the XT could only be heard on FM at about 1 foot from the XM receiver. On checking with XM I now find that I need a hard wire connection to either the FM input of the car radio or an audio input of a stereo amplifier. My solution is to buy a CC Crane transmitter which I was going to do anyway to distribute internet radio stations around the house. When I threatened to cancel my XM subscription in response to what I believed to be a fraudulent marketing ploy for this lousy receiver, I was advised that the small print of the contract allowed them to levy a $65 cancellation fee on my credit card if I cancelled before the end of the contract. I know I could have persuaded the credit card company to void the deal but decided instead to keep the radio and the deal through the contract period and solve the problem with the CC Crane transmitter. Just a warning to you if you should encounter the same fraudulent, in my opinion, offer (Joe Buch, DE, Aug 12, swprograms via DXLD) Gotta wonder if this "improvement" is the product of NPR's pressure on Sirius and XM. They grouse that satradio users tend to keep their transmitters set to 88.1 MHz -- the default setting -- thus interfering with reception of any 88.1 signals (such as we have here in Allentown). They argued that, initially, the FM transmitter- equipped satradios were breaking FCC Part 15 regulations. I had this happen once -- was in the fringe area for WDIY-FM, driving along I-78 when I suddenly started hearing NFL commentary. I slowed down, inducing the driver behind me to pass. He had the telltale magnetic satellite radio antenna on his car. Sure enough, once he was 10 car lengths past me, WDIY then came back up. Interestingly, the Delphi website states the XT has an onboard FM transmitter. Wonder why XM said otherwise? (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, ibid.) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: also BHUTAN; INDONESIA; ITALY; MEXICO ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM IN THE CONTERMINOUS? HCJB's Charlie Jacobson mentioned the idea of locating available stations for possible shortwave DRM tests in the U.S. in the near future. He said we need a survey of transmitters that NASB member stations have, including brands and model numbers. He said "a group of us could look over the list to see which are most easily DRM ready." He said they would also have to see whether the stations are interested and if there is time available on those transmitters without affecting the station's regular programming. "At some point we'll have to invest in some equipment, but it would be good if we could have some DRM transmissions from the 48 states." Jeff White said that he had talked to Charlie about this recently, and that he had brought copies of WRMI's transmitter manuals to Elkhart for this purpose and urged others to provide their information as well. He asked if Ludo Maes' TDP website contained the transmitter information that Jacobson was referring to, and Ludo replied that it does. George Ross said that the HFCC has done a survey of station transmitters and antennas as well. Charlie suggested forming a task force to review this information, and he offered to head the committee. Mike Adams, Ludo Maes and George Ross also volunteered to serve on the committee. It was agreed that they would compile the information, and details would be made available later in the NASB Newsletter. [see also USA about plans for a Russian DRM network on 26 MHz band] (Jeff White, Minutes of 2007 NASB Annual Business Meeting, Elkhart, Indiana, May 11, 2007, August NASB Newsletter via DXLD) Much more at http://www.shortwave.org/news/NEWSLETTER_0708.PDF BBC DRM TEST USES SINGLE FREQUENCY NETWORK David Jones visited the Plymouth medium wave transmitter site last month and posted some photographs at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davidcjones One of the transmitters photographed is the one on 855 the BBC is using for DRM tests. They have now added a second transmitter on 855 at North Hessary Tor thus broadcasting a single frequency network. Steve Whitt of the Medium Wave Circle gives this information about DRM single frequency networks, which Ofcom sees as one of the systems advantages: "The DRM system employs Coded Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (COFDM) to transmit the audio and data signals to the receiver. COFDM has a high degree of immunity to multi-path propagation due to the use of a multi-carrier technique and the addition of a Guard Interval to the transmitted symbols. Because the DRM system exhibits a high degree of immunity to multi-path it is possible to make use of this to construct a single frequency network (SFN). In an SFN multi-path is deliberately introduced by transmitting an identical signal on the same frequency from a number of geographically spaced transmitters having overlapping coverage areas. Any receiver in the coverage area of these transmitters will receive a signal, in most of the area, from more than one transmitter. This situation is no different from that of a receiver receiving several signals from a single transmitter due the presence of multi-path propagation. In both cases the receiver will receive one or more identical signals, which have different arrival times due to the different path lengths. Provided the difference in arrival time for all the signals received is contained within the Guard Interval period the energy of all these signals will be constructive. This describes the situation that exists for an SFN. For this reason it provides a highly spectrum efficient method of extending the transmission coverage area without requiring the use of multiple frequencies. Indeed the constructive addition of the signals from several transmitters provides network gain. That means that the overall signal availability improves over that of a similar network constructed using transmitters placed at the same sites but on different frequencies." In Germany Kaufradio was being transmitted as a Single Frequency Network from three sites, Schäferberg, Frohnau and Rüdersdorf, on 1485 in 2003, according to the schedule at drm.org only Schaferburg is in use now. Implementing an SFN on short wave needs more thought. Deutsche Welle in Germany tested this system in 2005 from two transmitters; one was located in Wertachtal, Germany and the other in Sines, Portugal. Deutsche Welle decided on a control point in Germany (a designated geographical location) and then calculated the signal transit time from Sines and Wertachtal via the ionosphere. Sines is the longer path so the signal from the Wertachtal transmitter was delayed by about 4 milliseconds to ensure that both signals arrived at the control point at the same time. 5990 is at the moment carrying Radio Luxembourg French service as a single frequency network at times using transmitters both in Junglinster and Wertachtal (Mike Barraclough, Aug World DX Club Contact via DXLD) HIMALAYA DRM RECEIVER NOW AVAILABLE A second DRM standalone receiver, the Himalaya DRM2009 is now available in Germany; like the Morphy Richards it covers DRM, DAB (Band 3 and L Band), long wave, medium wave and shortwave. You can also record to an SD card and there is a DAB EPG. It's more expensive than the Morphy Richards, though, at 249 Euros, the set does take batteries but battery life on DRM is only around 3 hours. It has 40 station presets, a timed recording option and an input for an external antenna. Price is more than the Morphy Richards at 249 Euros. Two German reviews of the receiver have been posted online and they seem somewhat mixed. DAB reception is good however, like the Morphy Richards, the manual tuning is unsatisfactory and the set seems somewhat insensitive on long, medium and shortwave. There's also an accompanying ticking noise when listening on shortwave, one of the reviews says that the processor is insufficiently protected and screened. More information, including a link to T-Online and the manual, is at http://www.himalaya.com.hk (Mike Barraclough, Aug World DX Club Contact via DXLD) 6 and 7 MHz bands occupancy is decreasing rapidly day and night with the fall off in shortwave broadcasters. I note up to 15 clear channels in each band even at night, which is a new phenomenon to me, i.e. at 1845 clear channels were 5910, 5925, 5950, 5975, 6000, 6015, 6060, 6125, 6135, 6140, 6170 and 6180, amazing. DRM stations still abound but I think there`s a fall-off in quantity. They really are a nuisance with their noise spreading way beyond their channel limits and are much 'dirtier' than a good AM transmission. Really I don't think it will catch on soon. Is there a car radio out yet with DRM? I think not. It's an engineer's toy! (Des Walsh, Ireland, Aug World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) DRM honcho Peter Senger has a DRM receiver in his vehicle, custom-made (gh) NIGHTTIME MW IBOC IN THE USA An inside look at radio technology and other news twice a month from Radio World News Editor/Washington Bureau Chief Leslie Stimson. Issue: Aug. 08, 2007 MEXICO SAYS HANG ON A MINUTE! http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0121/t.7715.html Mexico wants U.S. radio regulators to re-think their decision to allow AMs to go IBOC at night and FMs to operate on the extended hybrid digital carriers. Our neighbors to the south say they are not happy the FCC authorized its recent “final” IBOC rules governing broadcast transmissions without first coordinating those through international treaties. In a letter to Chairman Martin filed in the IBOC docket, the Mexican Federal Telecommunications Commission, which regulates communications in Mexico, states that “until technical criteria” have been established between the agencies to allow “optimal and efficient development of analog and digital radio broadcasting along our common border,” the commission should hold off on the two points made earlier. Sources tell me they believe Mexico filed the letter so it would have standing in any proceeding on IBOC and to have a way to adjudicate interference claims for the border area. Indeed, the group also refers to possible interference from U.S. IBOC stations to Mexican stations as a reason to have the coordination completed according to treaties first. The FCC handles coordination with the State Department, so perhaps the timing isn’t all up to the FCC. Interesting development. As we recently reported, Mexico has agreed in principle to allow border stations to use FM IBOC, and that decision needs to be finalized and printed in Mexico’s version of the Federal Register. SO, WHERE ARE THE IBOC RULES? http://www.rwonline.com/pages/s.0121/t.7716.html “When will the rules kick in?” If I had a nickel for each time I’ve been asked when the IBOC Second Report & Order text will be published in the Federal Register, I could buy a few more VW Beetles and drive my choice of color each day. People want to know because the new FCC rules won’t take effect until 30 days after publication, and that still hasn’t happened. The vote on the rules occurred in March and the text came out in May. Usually items are published in the register within a month or so. Granted, this is a complicated item with lots of details, but it seems to be taking longer than usual. It’s not clear why; sources have pointed out that Martin runs his ship differently than his predecessor, and items seem to be taking longer than they used to be finalized. From my observations, the commissioners have said they consider the broadband rollout their priority; that, plus congressionally-mandated deadlines related to the DTV rollout, have center stage, not an un-mandated digital radio rollout. I asked Ibiquity whether the Mexico border discussion mentioned above has anything to do with why the IBOC rules haven’t yet appeared; the company had no comment on that (Radio World via Bill Harms, DXLD) I was talking to Scott Fybush on Friday night, and he pointed out that the Mexican objections *may* have something to do with why we have not seen these rules hit the Federal Register yet. As the RW article points out, "The FCC handles coordination with the State Department, so perhaps the timing isn?t all up to the FCC." If these indeed become international treaty issues, they come under the sphere of the State Department, and the State Department has a different agenda and different sense of urgency from that of the FCC. 73 (Bill Dvorak, Madison WI, Aug 11, IRCA via DXLD) One thing to note about that... The FCC adopted some new rules for digital *TV* on April 25th. It took 75 days for those rules to be published in the Federal Register, on July 9th. The IBOC rules were adopted on the last day of May. If you add 75 days to that date, you get... next Tuesday. (August 14th) Not that international issues *won't* slow this, but I think it's too early to say that they *have*. – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, NRC AM via DXLD) Doug, I am not sure how we can go ahead and do it if Mexico objects, especially if "fixing" it to the satisfaction of Mexico is too costly. One thing is for sure, if we don't take international issues into consideration and go ahead over the objections of Mexico, it clearly shows arrogance on our part (Bill Harms, MD, ibid.) Don't be so sure it won't happen that way (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) You know Russ, it would not surprise me. It would be just one more thing to add to the Ugly American image. Even if the State Department manages to get Mexico to agree, it will be perceived as the USA forcing its will on Mexico. I think I had better stop before I say something I shouldn't (Bill Harms, ibid.) Far be it from me to understand the niceties of international negotiation, but... it does seem to be a give-and-take thing. Like there might be something Mexico wants from us that we're prepared to give them if they drop their objections to IBOC. - Maybe we make it easier for American broadcasters to lease Mexican stations to broadcast into San Diego, El Paso, and Harlingen? (or harder? - I'm not sure what the Mexican government's feeling is on the subject) - Maybe we drop our objections to a couple of Tijuana and Tecate FM stations that some California engineers believe are operating outside "official" parameters? - Maybe we agree not to object if Mexican stations clobbered by IBOC interference from the U.S. increase power and/or run day facilities at night? - Maybe there's some issue that has nothing to do with radio where we can oblige them? As the article says, it doesn't look like Mexico is out to stop IBOC altogether. Heck, they've authorized a few stations in the country to run IBOC. It suggests they just want to get their objections on the record so that if something bad happens to their stations, we can't just say "You never complained!". – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Bill, We can only hope they are having second thoughts on this. Now if our friends up North would add their comments, if the CRTC hasn't already. Maybe our friends to the South and the ones to the North will have the effect that the rest of us within the US has not gotten. Politics can be a very powerful tool. If they can change the minds of our government & FCC, we should all be forever grateful. 73, (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) Fat chance of that happening. Didn't somebody intimate that the US government was perhaps a tad bit arrogant as far as caring what other nations think or feel? Bring on the IBOC from Mexico! (Bob Young, Millbury, MA, ibid.) Bill, I only know one engineer that runs Mexican stations and his attitude is that if the US turns on the IBOC, then they will do the same except they won`t be running at 10%. They will crank them wide open. The jamming effect will wipe out a lot of the band. Of course the coverage of IBOC signals outside their city will be destroyed totally. I don't think we want a jamming war. We already have had a bit of it from Cuba through the years. 73, (Patrick Martin, ibid.) F*&k it all; whatever is going to happen will happen and no matter how much we try and convince our government otherwise is an effort in futility. IBOC is here to stay, get used to it. It'll affect DX, we already know that. So, again, get used to it or find another hobby (Paul B. Walker, Jr., ibid.) Paul, while I understand your sentiments here, I have to say that when the government does something that might not be good we are within our rights to say something about it. Sure IBOC would adversely affect DXing, but this goes beyond DXing. It will affect whether or not stations will stay on the air. It will affect how listeners perceive the AM band. Change for change sake is not necessarily a good thing (Bill Harms, ibid.) And Mexico should be the last one to complain about violations. They have lots of room to complain about with all the violations they have. The FCC has a lot of more pressing issues right now, and there WILL be IBOC at night. It's like being on the Titanic at 2 AM (it sank at 2:18) and hoping it wouldn't sink (Powell E. Way III, ibid.) INTRUDER WATCH ++++++++++++++ PULSE OTH RADAR INTERFERENCE [see also RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM above] from SE Asia continues to plague the high frequencies. It is not from the Australian JORN system but said to be from Hainan Is., S. China. Now it comes across in three broad bands on HF; ca 7.3 to 9 MHz, 12.5 to 15.5 MHz and 19 to over 24 MHz (26 at times). In daytime it is particularly strong around 7.5, 14.4 and 23 MHz. I have tried to contact the IARU (International Amateur Radio Union) concerning the interference to the Amateur bands but have not received any response after a few weeks. The Region 3 (Americas) section of IARU acknowledges the level of interference and wishes something could be done about it. The interference can be heard as a slow pulse, 5 or 6 per second, with a swishing chuff-chuff-chuff sound, not a sharp pulse, probably softened by multihop and multipath propagation. It can be heard above 13 MHz at night too when such frequencies are 'dead', and best reception is on a vertical antenna (low angle DX). But I am really amazed that so few people have heard it or have commented on it. It is really horrible interference to weak-signal reception (Des Walsh, Ireland, Aug World DX Club Contact via Alan Roe, DXLD) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ CHRONICLE OF THE 13TH MEXICAN NATIONAL DX MEETING by Miguel Ángel Rocha Gámez Condensed, translated and slightly adapted by Jeff White Editor's Note: The NASB sent a display and brochures from our member stations to the 2007 Mexican National DX Meeting, which is attended by shortwave listeners (and often shortwave broadcasters) from all parts of Mexico and even abroad. The following is a personal chronicle of the event from the perspective of a shortwave listener from Chihuahua state who attends these meetings every year. The 13th National DX Meeting took place in beautiful Mexico City on August 2, 3 and 4... http://www.shortwave.org/news/NEWSLETTER_0708.PDF [the final item in this publication] (via DXLD) The adaptation tends to omit MARG`s negative comments about the organization of the meeting, etc., as in the original Spanish version we published (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ Re: Big Ben to fall silent for maintenance Big Ben goes on his holidays! I remember nothing of this incident myself, but Wikipedia has some interesting facts about what I presume was this stand-in timekeeper who clearly did his job rather well: "Great Tom is the bell that hangs in Tom Tower (designed by Christopher Wren) in Christ Church, University of Oxford, England. It is the loudest bell in Oxford, and measures seven feet one inch in diameter and five feet nine inches in height, and weighs six and a quarter tons." Recordings of this heavyweight bonger are available; much more information available via Google. Incidentally, long before Big Ben arrived on the scene, there was also a bell called Great Tom in Westminster Hall, which was later re-cast (rather unsuccessfully) and sold to St Paul's Cathedral (Mark Savage, Horological Correspondent (!), BDXC-UK via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ OUR EXCLUSIVE AND NOT COPYRIGHTED HF PROPAGATION PLUS LOW BAND VHF PROPAGATION UPDATE AND FORECAST Solar activity continues at very low levels, with the daily solar flux barely reaching 70 units. The effective sunspot number Saturday at 13 hours UT was at the rock bottom figure of 6, indicating very low solar activity and experts believe that we have already reached the bottom of the solar cycle by now, as the most recent forecasts call for a smoothed sunspot number of about 20 by December of 2007, something that is very good news to all users of the short wave spectrum (Arnie Coro, CO2KK, RHC DXers Unlimited Aug 11, HCDX via DXLD) TIPS FOR RATIONAL LIVING ++++++++++++++++++++++++ BILL MOYERS' KEYNOTE SPEECH AT MEDIA EDUCATORS' CONFERENCE Investigative reporter Bill Moyers delivers the keynote speech at tonight's session of the Assn. for Education in Journalism & Mass Comm. conference. Another excellent speech by Bill Moyers was on C-SPAN Aug 10; video is typically available for only 15 days: http://www.c-span.org/Search/basic.asp?ResultStart=1&ResultCount=10&BasicQueryText=Moyers rtsp://video.c-span.org/15days/e080907_moyers.rm (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ###