DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-110, September 9, 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 1373 Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies; axually started at 0458 Sept 10!] 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 DXLD YAHOOGROUP: Why wait for DXLD, which seems to be coming out less frequently? A lot more info, not all of it appearing in DXLD later, is posted at our yg without delay. When applying, please identify yourself with your real name and location. Those who do not, unless I recognize them, will be prompted once to do so and no action will be taken otherwise. Here`s where to sign up http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dxld/ ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. REINO UNIDO, 17700, Radio Solh, 1217-1220, fue captada el 8 de septiembre desde Sacañet en Castellón con Sangean ATS 909 y antena telescópica, emisión de música pop afgana; posteriormente a las 1755 hasta final de transmisión a las 1800, cortan bruscamente la emisión, SINPO 35443 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ARGENTINA. 21 AGOSTO, 1108 UT, 6280 KHZ. Radio Nacional Argentina. Castellano. (6060 + 220 KHZ) Reporte sobre el aterrizaje del Huracán Dean. Felicitaciones a Radio Nacional en sus cumpleaños. Buena Calidad. 21 AGOSTO, 1134 UT, 5840 KHZ. Radio Nacional Argentina. Castellano. (6060 - 220 KHZ) Identificación: "Nacional Informa. En media hora ´Actualidad´. Nacional. La Radio Pública". "Por Radio Nacional, la Información Ganadera". Buena Calidad (Adan Mur, Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital Sept 9 via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. No sign of the Humpty Doo station on 5050 kHz in Port Douglas; only China could be heard. Radio Australia's service to Papua New Guinea and Asia from Shepparton is super strong in Northern Australia, a kind of "de facto" domestic service in a way. This was on all frequencies, day and night (Barry Hartley, NZ, Port Douglas in the tropical North of Australia, Sept 2, wwdxc BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) Port Douglas is just N of Cairns on the Qsld coast (gh, DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA [and non]. FROM GRAFTON WI TO GRAFTON AUSTRALIA [really vice versa] --- Woke up early this morning with the sun and quickly out to my driveway here in Grafton and hooked up the 470 ft BOG from the other end in about 10 seconds aiming at 245 degrees. A quick tune around for DU's found 702 2BL Sydney audible weakly but certainly enough to tell an Aussie accented gal was speaking to a man at 1117 [UT]! The BOG aimed this way basically totally kills WLW 700. Tuning around for more, I ended up on 738 where the audio surely seemed // at 1119 so 2NR Grafton !! Almost no trace of CHWO (faded to sunrise) on the BOG aimed that way and WRPQ not on day power that early. I believe both stations are supposed to be // at the time with ABC local radio. Carriers noted were 1503 weak, 675 decent but clearly too weak for audio, 612 decent but beat up by local WTMJ slop, 594, and 558. I suspect that I missed a few due to lack of time prior to fade out at my sunrise about 1130 and spending some time on the two that were audible. Big signals were noted from western Mexicans in that direction as is common around SR, and especially if I note DU carriers, i.e. presumed and unneeded Los Mochis on 650 was blasting in, etc. These are the first non X band Aussies I have ever logged here in the Midwest!! I got three X banders from Barrington IL back in 1997 when the X band had very few stations in the US and I had no line noise to fight. As has been observed previously, there is a very clear difference in reception from one end of the BOG to the other and aiming WSW clearly favors WSW over aiming ENE and trying to work the same direction. http://www.dxing.info/community/viewtopic.php?t=371 describes some detail testing I did concerning the F/B ratio of unterminated BOG's For example, day times, WHO 1040 is much better and very easy copy when using the BOG to the WSW. Nebraska's KRVN 880 and KTIC 840 can be heard weakly fighting distant powerline QRN. Des Moines on 1700 can be heard weakly in SS, but when using the same wire to the ENE there is no trace except a weak carrier. 73 from a mosquito chewed KAZ in Grafton WI (Neil Kazaross, Sept 9, IRCA via DXLD) ** AUSTRALIA. 2310 / 2325 / 2485, VL8A (Alice Springs), VL8T (Tenant Creek), VL8K (Katherine), 1108­1135, 9/5/07, in English. All //. Country music (some more traditional, some more country rock ­ ish), short announcements between songs by M. announcer, 1129 W. ``Radio National``, M with apparent news headlines (maybe regional?). Very unusual to have all 3 Aussie regionals in at once (Mark Taylor, Madison, WI, R-75, Eton E1, Sat 800, Sangean 909; 110' random wire, Eavesdropper, Flextenna, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 9 via DXLD) ** BELARUS. BIELORRUSIA, 11930, Belaruskoje Radyjo 1, 0525-0532, captada el 7 de septiembre en bielorruso a locutor con comentarios sobre Ucrania, locutora, SINPO 45343 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BOLIVIA. 21 AGOSTO, 1137 UT, 4550 KHZ. Radio Virgen de los Remedios, Tupiza, Bolívia. Castellano. Identificación: "Transmite, Radio Virgen de los Remedios en Frecuencia Modulada 89.5 y en Onda Corta, desde Tupiza, Bolívia". Buena Calidad (Adan Mur, Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital Sept 9 via DXLD) Another variable Bolivian. Reported on 4545.4 in DXLD 7-042 of April 3; 3214.90 in 7-044 of April 8; 5905 in 7-057 of May 16. Also an unID on 3451 in 7-083 of July 17 (gh, DXLD) ** BOLIVIA. 4690.2, R. San Miguel (presumed) 1003-1025 3 Sept. Apparent news program with actualities, some quite long but all at a lower level than the announcer`s mic level. Seemed like a remote broadcast after 1018. M sounded like the one I heard in the past. Faded pretty quickly after 1025. Audio has the 'feel' of a spur, and thought this might be a Rebelde spur at first. [:logs 5 days apart, and 9+ kHz apart:] 4699.41, R. San Miguel, 8 Sept, 0930. Apparent program intro by M with bird chirping SFX and instrumental flute music. Feature with M and W hosts talking and occasional music. Two pre-recorded segments by men reporters twice. Definite mention of onda corta at 0949. Used the same instrumental music throughout the program. 1001 outro with same flute music. Long canned ad block 1001-1008, one with possible mention of R. San Miguel at 1003, the another with definite mention of R. San Miguel at 1004. 1007 presumed religious program promo by M mentioning R. San Miguel and "...de Dios" along with easy music. Had a program in an Indian language with M host and instrumental and vocal CP music after 1015. Fading by 1020. Noisy. Heard on this frequency earlier in the week too (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, JRC NRD-535D, Hammarlund HQ-129X, Collins R-388, and various portables including the Sony SW-77, 60 meter T2FD, 60 meter Windom, HCDX via DXLD) 4875.91, R. Estambul (presumed), 1009 9 Sept, W in definite Spanish at tune-in, then into lively LA Pops. Really dropped down in the next 10 minutes, and barely any audio detectable by 1025. No chance for ID due to the weak signal and massive amount of QRN (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, JRC NRD-535D, Hammarlund HQ-129X, Collins R-388, and various portables including the Sony SW-77, 60 meter T2FD, 60 meter Windom, HCDX via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Rádio Globo de SANTOS - 3385 kHz --- Pessoal, ontem a noite, a propagação estava muito boa nos 90 metros, e captei com sinal forte e constante a transmissão em 3385 kHz, da atual RÁDIO GLOBO SANTOS - SP, antiga Rádio Guarujá. Todavia, a qualidade do áudio, continua péssima como sempre. Parece que os caras falam dentro de uma lata SUVINIL. Aguardemos, se agora com o PADRÃO GLOBO DE RÁDIO, eles corrigem o problema, se for de mesa, ou trocam o transmissor. Abs (EDSON, Sept 8, radioescutas yg via DXLD) Quanto à qualidade péssima de áudio da Rádio Guarujá, hoje Rádio Globo Santos, eu sempre apontei aqui na lista, inclusive escrevi para o big shot da emissora, Sr. Rampazzo, por mais de uma vez, informando-lhe que o áudio mais parecia um serviço de alto-falante de um parque de diversão qualquer do que o de uma emissora de rádio. O transmissor, se não me engano, estava em Pres. Prudente numa emissora de lá, foi comprado ou emprestado, sei lá, e já veio sucateado. Do jeito que veio, foi pro ar in natura. Um som ininteligível, misturado, saturado. Meu amigo, nem a minha estação de radioamador, com meu IC-718 tem um som assim, mesmo em banda lateral. Aliás qualquer aparelho marca Icom tem um belo áudio na transmissão. Sabe o que aconteceu? Ele me mandou um e-mail dizendo que não tinha sustentação financeira pra mudar o equipamento, que ele estava incentivando as ondas curtas e coisa e tal e que eu estava exigindo muito. Compare com a beleza de áudio da Rádio Cultura de Araraquara em 90 metros. A Globo vai sim tirar do ar definitivamente, não vai demorar. Falando-se dentro de uma lata de suvinil, talvez seja mais audível.. - - Ah, deixa pra lá, já foi (Luiz Chaine Neto, Limeira -sp-, ibid.) O que é suvinil? Not in my Langenscheidt, nor in Google translation database (gh, DXLD) ** BRAZIL. 16 AGOSTO, 2306 UT, 9353 KHZ. Cultura AM, São Paulo. Portugués. Hora Exacta, Identificación: "Oito horas seis minutos em Cultura AM". Programa: "Gramofone". Música tradicional, cantada. Menciona de la participación telefónica de varios oyentes, pidiendo selecciones musicales. Programa: "Nossa Língua Portuguesa". Buena Modulación. Buena Calidad, pero con desvanecimiento (Adan Mur, Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital Sept 9 via DXLD) Finally someone besides Célio Romais reports this, way off nominal 9615. Is it still? (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. CBCNQS 9625 transmitter fault --- Listening this morning, Sat. 9/8/2007 to CBCNQS transmitting on 9625 to Quirks & Quarks, news and part of DNTO. The presumed over-modulation peaks made listening difficult and also could be heard (on two different radios) from about 9565 to 9710 kHz. I could even tell whether a man of woman was speaking as far up as about 9700 (Wells Perkins in Central New Jersey, 25 km west of the Statue of Liberty, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Usually seems undermodulated here when I can hear it at all. Forwarded this to Sackville (gh, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. 6160, CKZN/CKZU. 0515-0600+. 6/7/9 Sept. CBC magazine format with generic "CBC Radio 1" ID at 0537 7 Sept., & "CBC Radio news" at 06 on 6/7 Sept. No local ID/programs heard (splattery 6165 QRM). Heard both years ago, but 'ZN heard closer to their dawn (1000 UT) & 'ZU closer to my/their local midnight (0800 UT). I'd guess 'ZU simply cuz they're 'way closer, but CBU usually IDs at ToH (Dan Sheedy, Cardiff, CA, R75/Kiwa & 150' random WOR, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CKZN should have been in CBC Overnight at that hour, relaying SW stations abroad via WRN. Of course, CKZN has CBC News on the (real) hour too; it just seems like the half-hour within Newfie. Best time to get local break is at :05 with weather after the news (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. WHITE COAT, BLACK ART --- Host: Dr. Brian Goldman Wednesdays at 9:30 a.m. Sundays 11:00 a.m. On CBC Radio One Dr. Brian Goldman takes listeners through the swinging doors of hospitals and doctors’ offices, behind the curtain where the gurney lies. It’s a biting, original and provocative show that will demystify the world of medicine. The show explores the tension between hope and reality: between what patients want, and what doctors can deliver. Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals will explain how the system works, and why, with a refreshing and unprecedented level of honesty (CBC publicity via Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, ODXA Listening In via DXLD) Although this series of programs will probably be over by the time you read this, this may be one of the best programs that CBC Radio has presented in recent years. Perhaps my view is coloured by the fact that I have spent most of this summer jumping over the hurdles one encounters when dealing with the health care system in the 21st century. Demystify is an apt word to describe what Dr Goldman does. I picked up a number of pointers in dealing with hospitals and doctors, which may have saved me a lot of bother. If it is ever repeated, its well worth hearing. Perhaps CBC Radio should try this again, exploring Canada’s social services sector, or other aspects of government that the public may deal with on a regular basis (Fred Waterer, Ont., ibid.) Yes, it`s over now; I too heard most of the eps. Since it was done by Canadians for Canadians, it also gave American eavesdroppers a better idea of what Canada`s health care system is really like than we get from one extreme or the other on this borderside (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. The SOWNY Show --- SOWNY is the acronym for the Southern Ontario – Western NY radio board. Maintained and moderated by my friend Craig Smith, it discusses many topics of interest to radio listeners in Southern Ontario as the name implies. Recently Craig and Don Andrews started an Internet radio show/podcast, heard live on Mondays at 7 pm Eastern time [2300 UT]. The program is usually posted the next day and so far, as this is written, all past shows are archived online. The most recent program featured Don Berns, Jack Armstrong and Doug Thompson reminiscing about the radio business. It was a fantastic show. The SOWNY board, and the SOWNY show are well worth checking out. Go to http://www.sowny.ca and follow the links (Fred Waterer, Ont., Programming Matters, ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** CANADA. English-language instructional campus FM radio station in Toronto The CRTC has received an application by Humber Communications Community Corporation (Humber), on behalf of a not-for-profit corporation, for a broadcasting licence to operate an English-language instructional campus FM radio programming undertaking at Humber College in Toronto, Ontario. The proposed station would operate at 96.9 MHz with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 60 watts. The applicant indicated that the proposed station would broadcast 126 hours of programming per week as part of its broadcasting and journalist training programs. The applicant proposed to broadcast a wide range of music, including rock, pop, country, jazz and urban. Type B Native FM radio station in Sarnia The CRTC has approved an application by Points Eagle Radio Inc. (Points Eagle) for a broadcasting licence to operate an English and Aboriginal-language Type B Native radio programming undertaking in Sarnia. The proposed station would operate at 103.3 MHz with an average effective radiated power (ERP) of 3,400 watts (maximum ERP of 6,000 watts). Points Eagle currently operates the radio programming undertaking CKTI-FM Kettle Point, and wishes to increase its reach into Sarnia so as to serve the Aboriginal population and help build positive relations between native and non-native communities in the listening area (Dan Greenall, FM/TV Report, Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) Peterborough, Ontario Kaos Radio is announcing their move to 90.5 from 99.5 will take place tomorrow - August 20th. On Tuesday the new CTV gm [former CHUM] FM station will sign on at noon on 99.3. I don’t understand how either of these stations can come on the air without Industry Canada testing, but there you go. I drove by both transmitter sites yesterday and did not hear anything on the new frequencies. At this writing, 99.5 is still going and nothing heard on 90.5. I met a KAOS rep the other day who told me a new antenna will be going up at their current site until they get their new tower built on an apartment block. They came on just as they said they would Aug 20 around 1 PM shortly after Kaos went off of 99.5. They are called “Energy 99.3”. http://www.energy993.com Now that I know, it should be said that Energy 99.3 is now ‘testing’ - even though CKPT AM has been closed [it just relays the FM now]. They are using the “testing period” as pre-launch. The station is being programmed by a computer. They go ‘live’ Sept 10. They kept their calls: CKPT-FM. Also see: http://kaosradio.com/ http://www.ckpt.com/ (Andy Reid, FM/TV Report, Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) A good chance some or all of these new stations will also be webcasting, so of more than provincial interest (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. 580, CKPR, Thunder Bay ON, has left AM for good leaving Thunder Bay with no AM signals. For that matter, there are no full power signals on AM in Ontario north or west of Sudbury any more (Niel J. Wolfish, Mediumwave Notebook, Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** CANADA. TV call letters back --- It's good to see some Canadian stations resorting to using call letters again!! All of the "CH" stations now use call letters as of yesterday, including: CHEK-6 Victoria, BC CHCA-6 Red Deer, AB CHCH-11 Hamilton, ON CJNT-62 Montreal, QC The ID bugs show " E " as that is the new quasi-network name for what was " CH ". I hope their embracing of call letters & local identities spreads to other stations across Canada. The trend in the last few years as been the opposite --- a complete wiping out of local identity for CBC, CTV and Global stations. In the media, there are a lot of copycats. This is one thing I would like to see them copy! (Bill Hepburn, End/WRH. Web Site: http://www.dxinfocentre.com Sept 8, WTFDA via DXLD) ** CUBA. Re 7-109: Henrik Klemetz brings up the subject of Cuban MW stations and lack of MW frequencies presented by 'Arnie C'. I read his frequent DX-Related transcribed articles on Hard-Core website. He does indeed talk about 'mucho' topics, but does not supply Cuban MW frequencies. I have been DXing Cuban MW since 1965 when I first used a simple Telefunken radio. I of course remember the times when Radio Moscow via Cuban MW radio could be heard in like 40 states in America. And their history of jamming certain Florida stations. And it seems like as far as I can recall, there has always been some mystery of Cuban MW stations. They come and they go. Watts go up, watts go down. Frequencies change frequently. I guess my initial impression of the lack of information forthcoming re : MW stations is because of some kind of need to be 'secretive' about MW stations` locations and frequencies because of the constant changes. Perhaps Arnie is only towing [sic] the 'party line' in Cuba to say 'Nada' about the state of affairs of MW radio in Cuba. Anyways, this is merely my opinion (Tom Messer, Mequon WI, USA, HCDX via DXLD) Hello Dxers, I think that Arnie is towing the line like he's supposed to (Rich Brock Pittsburgh, PA, ibid.) Hay una actualización de la lista [WD4LR`s, 7-109], publicada en abril de este año. En Florida no se oyen bien las emisoras del Oriente / Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, etc./ y supongo que es debido a eso que no se incluyen algunas emisoras que han sido captadas en el interín en el norte de Europa, p.ej. en 840, 1000, 1070. De manera que esta lista tampoco es exacta ni completa. Y de las ubicaciones ¿qué? (Henrik Klemetz, Suecia, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Or in more detail: Estimados Playdxistas: Lo que me gusta de esta lista es que indica las frecuencias en donde no hay ninguna emisora cubana. Pese a lo que se dice en el ingreso, esta lista no es tan exacta como se da a entender. Hay en internet una actualización de la lista, publicada en abril de este año, pero tampoco allí figuran algunas de las emisoras que llegaron a captarse de octubre a abril en Escandinavia y Gran Bretaña, 840 R Revolución, 1000 R Granma, 1070 CMKS Trinchera Antiimperialista para mencionar algunos ejemplos. En el norte de Europa, al parecer, se pueden captar algunas emisoras del Oriente (Santiago de Cuba, Guantánamo, etc.) que no llegan a detectarse en Florida. Con esta lista tampoco se soluciona el problema de la ubicación de las distintas emisoras. Chisst: Se rumorea que habrá datos inéditos en el WRTH 2008, debido a que ha habido gente recorriendo la isla para actualizar la información. Pronto sabremos qué hay de cierto en eso (Henrik Klemetz, playdxyg via DXLD) ** CUBA. If you look below, Barry asked a question about R Rebelde 670 kHz, and I thought I would post my reply here since it may be of interest to other members of the e-List. Please feel free to comment. Barry also mentioned an alternative link to Bruce Conti's article: http://members.aol.com/nrcidxd/cuba.htm 73s, (Martin A. Hall, MWC via DXLD) Hi Barry, WRTH lists CMBA for Rebelde on 670, and also R Reloj, without details, but I presume from a second site. I work on the basis that any national network station is likely to relay any other national station, and that any provincial, regional or city station could be relaying any of the national networks when I list transmitter sites. But if I hear a provincial, regional or city station with its own ID, I assume that's what it is. This is a rather conservative approach to determining where transmissions originate from, which is based on the lack of firm information about the Cuban radio scene. However, if anyone thinks this is rather too strict a basis for determining site, I'm open to persuasion. The call CMQ for 670 is, I believe, a historical one. But there's no consistency in the way call-signs are used in Cuba, so I can't get too excited about that. I know this call is used in Bruce Conti's excellent 2005 article (of which I believe you have a copy) - in fact, Bruce writes: "There's still much confusion as to exact callsigns and locations of radio stations. Accurate information from Cuba is difficult to obtain, therefore some of the data represent a best guess. Consult the latest edition of the World Radio TV Handbook for what is probably the most complete list published. This list will be maintained and updated as warranted on http://www.e-dxn.com and ¡BAMLog!" BAMLog is at http://members.aol.com/baconti/bamlog.htm and Bruce's article can be read there if any readers don't have it already. 73s, (Martin A. Hall, Scotland, MWC via DXLD) The original (pre-revolutionary) CMQ was on 640, as I remember it, and I think that call lasted a while past 1959y as the outlet was renamed Radio Liberación; strangely, that did not last (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. July-August monitoring of V02a, Cuban numbers stations, were on the following frequencies; some of them are cut-numbers = letters: 3292 4028 5762 5800 5883 5898 6768 6855 7887 9040 9240 10446 12165 12180 17436 17478 These adhere to a complex schedule depending on day of week, which is currently being updated. Also on 17735 once, 4 July at 1700, which is when R. Rebelde is usually on! (gh, from Sept ENIGMA 2000 bulletin via DXLD) ** CZECHIA. CZECH REPUBLIC (Czechoslovakia / CSSR). Dear Wolfgang, I had a good meeting with the staff at the English service of Radio Prague. Met at 10 am today with Paulina and others, then with director of Radio Prague. Photo was taken and interview over mailbag show due to go the air on Sunday. Showed them my old QSL cards from 1972 and some will be placed on the web site under Old QSL Issued through the Years. Was given a tour of the place which is under repair and the move was taken place these few weeks. The new entrance is at the back of the building. Tokens of Radio Prague were given such as tee shirt, mouse pad, sked, pen, old history book on the station. Walked a while in the rain, then went with the tube train. It was worth the trip to visit Prague and the Czech Republic. Talked about DXing and how the signal is getting through, and the loss of the DX show that was aired before. Raining non stop most days but very good food, sights, beer, etc. Asked what radio I use and antenna, etc. 73's (Costas Constantinides, Cyprus, on tour to Prague, Sept 6, wwdxc BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. Re 7-109: I can hear Amanecer all day (obviously nights are messy) so I'm not so sure, especially closer to the DR, that 6025 is all that bad. Of course I'm using an NRD-535 and dipole. But then again, probably nobody is really listening to it regardless as it's just old and dying shortwave (Terry L Krueger, Clearwater, Florida USA, Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) No sign of it around 0530 Sept 9; guess the 24h operation be sporadic (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. 15475, Africa Numéro Un, Moyabi, 1600-1655* 9/4/07 and *1555-1655* 9/5/07. Both OM and YL talk in French, but on both days, both French and English IDs, and on 9/5 actually opened with English jingle for 'Africa Number One'. Alas, the music that made this station special was mostly missing both days. Appears to have been cuts from the middle of longer program streams on both days; on 9/5 both the open and close seemed abrupt. Easy catch, good signal (Bill Tilford, IL, Grundig S350, Grundig Satellit 800, both with whips, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 9 via DXLD) ** GERMANY. http://www.dw-world.de/dw/0,1595,4703,00.html (Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, Sept. ODXA Listening In via DXLD) DW`s audio on demand page, but only I think for the latest week. Lots of good stuff there, such as World of Music tribute to Pavarotti (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** GERMANY. Nalepastraße --- Some pictures from today (not mine, no idea when I will have the time to bring them online) were already posted: [watch out for popups tnx to directupload – gh] http://s4.directupload.net/file/d/1180/2ck5AME2_jpg.htm http://s5.directupload.net/file/d/1180/66TzCpsb_jpg.htm Recording hall #1, at present unused. The organ is faulty, the audience seats are mere dummys since this hall has never been used for public events (as it was planned) due to the security paranoia at GDR radio. http://s4.directupload.net/file/d/1180/2txjJ5s2_jpg.htm http://s5.directupload.net/file/d/1180/zTsGGX43_jpg.htm http://s4.directupload.net/file/d/1180/ir5q7q59_jpg.htm http://s5.directupload.net/file/d/1180/XBQERSbT_jpg.htm Radioplay studio H2, leased by independent producers who marked a secret place on a piece of equipment with their estimations of the date they will be thrown out of this building until they stopped this practice in 1997. The old RFZ 700 series console, once a standard in GDR radio studios, is still in use here. Modules of these consoles (here a fader module) can be exchanged even while the console is hot, "but if you tear out the wrong one your broadcast is kaput". And it was quite an experience to try out the operation of such a console, the original feel of East German radio, so to speak. http://s4.directupload.net/file/d/1180/5WEeLa4I_jpg.htm How to make wind on the radio! (H2, too.) http://s4.directupload.net/file/d/1180/f7xYGapH_jpg.htm Mechlabor STM-210 (the Hungarian brand once ubiquitous in Soviet studios, too) tape recorder, on display in the former office of the head of GDR radio. The new investors collected here also some other keepsakes found everywhere in the buildings. http://s5.directupload.net/file/d/1180/HW8WAf32_jpg.htm Control room of K1 in Block A, the old furniture factory building. I think this studio had been used by Radio Berlin International, like the neighbouring K13, but I'm not sure. Anyway in this very studio the DX Aktuell show, created by Wolfram Heß as a domestic broadcast in 1991, had been produced until yearend 1993. This control room can also be seen on a special QSL card: http://www.joyce.de/basicode/images/kulturcrew.jpg http://s5.directupload.net/file/d/1180/3L6OEQ3K_jpg.htm Collection of clocks in the recently renovated foyer of Block A. http://s4.directupload.net/file/d/1180/3SIMpBvq_jpg.htm Block E, not taken over by the investor group, as seen from the director's office. All signs on the roof of the office building, including the infamous "RUNDFUNK========" (crippled in autumn 1990), were meanwhile removed. In the foreground the new studio complex (K5...K12 as two groups of four studios each), used by Radio DDR (closed down by yearend 1991), Berliner Rundfunk (moved to other studio locations in 1993), DT64 (moved under new name "MDR Sputnik" to Halle in 1993) and from 1992 also by Ostdeutscher Rundfunk Brandenburg until new (tho provisional) studio facilities at Potsdam were ready in 1994. http://s4.directupload.net/file/d/1181/2W3EYY9k_jpg.htm http://s4.directupload.net/file/d/1181/TvBWlYes_jpg.htm Close-ups from Block E. The insides are so horribly vandalized that we did not dare to try to get in. For orientation: http://lindert-privat.de/Rundfunk_Nalepastra%DFe.jpg (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GREECE. Greek pirates heard with mx and tc programs in Greek 1500- 1600 on 1620, 3240, 4860, 1630, 3260 and 4890 feat. hxs on Aug 28th (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept 4, wwdxc BC-DX Sep 9 via DXLD) Always the abbrs. to cope with. tc I guess means timechecks, tho strange for pirates to be concerned much with those. `Feat. Hxs` -- maybe featured harmonics? The SW frequencies are each second and third harmonix of the MW frequencies mentioned (gh, DXLD) ** GUATEMALA. 4052.47, R. Verdad, 1125 9 Sept, Spanish talk by M and religious music. Carrier was stable but the audio was quite distorted. Found it was gone at 1129 check. Obviously having technical problems (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, JRC NRD-535D, Hammarlund HQ-129X, Collins R- 388, and various portables including the Sony SW-77, 60 meter T2FD, 60 meter Windom, HCDX via DXLD) ** HAITI [and non]. Overnight recording on 840 kHz looking for 4VEH after Jan Alvestad's tip. Nothing there at 2300 or 0000; at 0055 there was a religious programme, "Alleluiah's", poor in the splatter, peaking to fair, but no toth [top-of-the-hour] break for an ID, as far as I could tell. The sermon (or whatever) was bilingual, English/Creole? - maybe the "Echo Dialogue" listed on the 4VEH website). There were English announcements at 0107, perhaps from this station, perhaps from another, too poor to copy more than the occasional word. At 0155 there was some religious brass band music and announcements, mixing with a Latin, but again poor with fair peaks in the splatter. By 0255 the splatter had diminished somewhat, and French/Creole talk was there, cross-fading with LA music, both peaking at weak/fair levels - and then it came up for a nice 4VEH ID at 0258. The TC clearly says "dix heures", but Haiti is supposed to be on UT -4h at the moment, which would make it 11 PM local, so that's a bit of a mystery. At 0355 4VEH was fair and on its own with religious music, a tentative ID with TC "onze heures" at 0358, fading into the noise shortly after 0400, and just audible in the noise until the recording ended at 0410. By 0455 two Spanish stations were there, one peaking at good levels, the other peaking to weak - and a big surprise to find one of them was CMKH Radio Revolución! Well, perhaps not so surprising, considering that Santiago de Cuba is in south-eastern Cuba, close to Haiti. Slowly losing strength towards 0640, and after then only very weak audio left, coming in and out of the noise. I never did discover the identity of the second Spanish language station. I didn't start to listen live until 0654 this morning, by which time only the common east coasters were left at weak to fair levels. 840, 4VEH, Cap Haitien; French ID “Ici la Cap Haitien, vous écoutez Radio 4VEH, la voix … dix heures”, then religious songs, French/Creole announcements, talk; personal first; last reported as a definite in the UK by JF in 1980, if the CA All Time List is correct. Fair peaks, 0258 7/9. 73s (Martin A. Hall, Clashmore, Scotland, NRD-545, RPA-1 preamp, beverages: 513m at 240 degrees, terminated; 475m at 265 degrees, terminated; 506m at 290 degrees, terminated; 550m at 340 degrees, terminated. http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/clashmoreradio/ MWC via DXLD) ** HAWAII. I remember a story Chuck Boehnke told me about a pirate on FM in Hawaii about 10 years ago. It was a pirate run by local Hawaiians that were quite anti-American. Anyway, some station in Hawaii reported them. The local FCC official did not do anything much as he did not want to deal with it. So, a bunch a officials showed up from the mainland in Honolulu and contacted the local FCC official. The guy suggested that the FCC do nothing about it as they were not causing QRM to any local station and he said this would be a mess. The FCC officials from the mainland said they should shut it down and were quite pushy about it. The local FCC guy "OK, but I warned you." Well, the FCC went out to the pirate and were confronted with a very hostile group of Hawaiians with rifles and the like and they ordered the FCC off their property. Well, the mainland FCC officials left and contacted the local marshals and their attitude was much the same as the local FCC official and not want to mess with them. So, the FCC officials from the mainland flew back. It could have been a real mess, maybe bloodshed too. I don't think the FCC wanted to start a incident. The local pirate was running Hawaiian news and programming. I have no idea if the pirate is still in operation or not. I think it was down near South Point on the Big Island as I remember. So guess at least in this case with a thing of white Americans vs native Hawaiians, it could have been a real mess. I can just see the news media getting a hold of this. 73, (Patrick Martin, OR, IRCA via DXLD) See also USA [and nonnish] ** INDONESIA. I heard the following RRI domestic stations in Port Douglas: I didn't verify the exact locations, but they were clearly RRI stations, all heard in the period 0900-1300 UT over several days. 3267 kHz, 3323 kHz (under R. North Solomons, PNG) 3976 kHz, 3987 kHz 4605 kHz RRI Serui, 4750 kHz, 4790 kHz, 4870 kHz, 4920 kHz (I'm not sure about this. It was very weak and I tend to think it was China rather than RRI Biak) 4925 kHz. I heard a couple RRI stations on higher frequencies. These were: 7290 kHz from fade in around 0645 UT until closing shortly before or after 0800. 9743 kHz: This also faded in around 0630-0645 UT and it was overwhelmed by BBC via Singapore about 0835. There was no sign of RRI Jakarta on 9680 or 11860 kHz. The Voice of Indonesia in English could be heard on 11785 kHz 0200- 0300 UT, but only just! (Barry Hartley, NZ, Port Douglas in the tropical North of Australia [Queensland], Sept 2, wwdxc BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) ** INDONESIA. English scheduled to Europe from RRIndonesia is doing well on 11785. ID at 2002 heard with heavy distance T-storms on 11785, but no trace of // 15150 // 9525 also mentioned. BTW, the latter is coming strong at 1300 with Japanese service. Anybody in North America getting this one? 73s (Raúl Saavedra, Costa Rica. Sony ICF7600GR + T2FD, Sept 8, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [non]. UCRANIA, 6245, Radio Zamaneh, 1914-1920, captada el 6 de septiembre en idioma persa, locutor y locutora con comentarios; se aprecia ligera interferencia de emisora rtty, pequeños segmentos de música clásica, SINPO 44454. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) So it`s still going; last report in DXLD, also from JMR2, was June 11 in 7-069 (gh, DXLD) ** IRELAND. RTE DRM testing on Longwave 252 kHz. Your members and friends may wish to know that RTE Longwave 252 is expected to broadcast during the IFA Amsterdam tomorrow. I have not got the exact hours. Best wishes, (Enda O'Kane, Sept 9, MWC via DXLD) They are still seem to be testing DRM nightly anyway, reports here: http://www.drmrx.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1683 (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) ** ISRAEL. Kol Israel. Here is the schedule posted by Doni Rosenzweig in DXLD 7-104 Aug. 29 rearranged in Universal Time with corrections and frequency changes recently monitored here. Kol Israel Sept. 8, 2007. Time is UT. * heard in Ottawa 0400-0500 Hebrew 9345* 0500-0930 Hebrew 15760 0930-0945 English 15760 13855 0945-1000 Ladino 15760 13855 1000-1015 French 15760 13855 1015-1030 Nothing reported for this time 1030-1400 Hebrew 15760* 1400-1525 Persian 15760* 15640 13850 11605 9985 (to 1500 Fri. Sat.) 1525-1630 Hebrew 15760* 11605 9345 (from 1500 Fri. Sat.) 1630-1645 Romanian 15760* 11590* 9345 1645-1700 Ladino and/or Spanish ? 15760* 11590* 1700-1715 French 13675* 11590* 9345* 1715-1730 Spanish 13675* 11590* 9345* 1730-1745 English 13675* 11590* 9345* 1745-1800 Yiddish 13675* 11590* 9345* 1800-1830 Amharic 11590* 9345 1800-1900 Hebrew 13675* 1830-1845 Tigris 11590* 9345 1845-1900 Hungarian 11590* 9345 1900-2000 Russian 15640* 11590* 9400* 2000-2100 Hebrew 15615* 9400* 2100-2300 Hebrew 9400* 2300-0330 Hebrew 9345* 0330-0345 English 9345* 7530* 17600 0345-0400 French 9345* 7530* (Bernie O`Shea, DX LISTENING DIGEST) However: Cf. bcdx #823. Voice of Israel announced in advance the changes starting September the 2nd, but observing their transmissions I found some chaos in the frequency usage. Asking for best frequencies or random switches in the technical department there? For example: the broadcast in English & French 0330-0400 on Sep 1st was on 9345, on 2nd on 11590 and today over Radio Bulgaria on 9400 and 7530 kHz was inputed on Sep 3rd, etc. Today were observed: 0300 Hebrew on 9400 0330 English, French on 9400, 7530 0400 Hebrew on 9345 (on 3rd of Sep was on 11590) - 0500 1400-1525 Farsi/jammed on old 11605, 13850 (no 13855 !), 15760 1530-1630 Hebrew on 15760 1630-1700 Romanian and Ladino on 9345, 11590, 15760 and heard yesterday Sep 3rd: 1700-1800 French, Spanish, English, Yiddish on 9345, 11590, 13675 1800-1900 Hebrew on 9345, 13675 & Amharic, Tigris, Hungarian 11590 1900-2000 Russian on 9400, 11590, 15640 2000-2115 Hebrew on 11585 and presumed/weak signal also 15615 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept 4, wwdxc BC-DX Sep 9 via DXLD) Glenn, Of course some of Rumen Pankov's report is out of date. See my report: Israel DXLD 7-108 Sept. 6 for changes as of Sept. 4/5. Extremely good reception here of Kol Israel recently, all day from the time I get up (around 1200 UT) to bedtime (0400 UT or so). So I am not monitoring from about 0400 to about 1200. I hope someone else is and will report to DXLD (Bernie O`Shea, Ont., DX LISTENING DIGEST) It seems any such report will be out of date one day later. Certainly a full-time job for those who want to undertake it (gh, DXLD) One or two observations today (Sunday the 9th Sept). As listed by Doni and Bernie, 15760 was heard with Hebrew from tune in around 0630 until 0930 when there was a rapid switch to English followed (as listed) by Ladino and French. This frequency was at good strength but 13855, which came on air c0930 (not much before) was weaker. The French transmission concluded with music and another rapid switch back to Hebrew at 1015 - 13855 went off air. At 1400 there was a more ordered change-over to Persian on 15760. I could hear Firedrake on 11605 at 1357 and the usual RFA music used at conclusion of their transmission - I assume the Tibetan service. Mixing was the Israeli interval signal and jamming noises, and these were alone on frequency when RFA and Firedrake left the air on the hour. 13850 came on around 1400 together with jamming (V. of Russia is using 13855 from 1400 for Turkish). On 9985 I heard WWCR with their ID shortly before 1400 and nothing after the hour. Their Sept. 1st sched says transmitter #1 at 40 degrees till 1400, then transmitter #4 at 90 degrees from 1400 - this was not propagating to me. There was no trace of Israel or jamming - nor on 15640. Doesn't 9985 replace 13850 in winter time (and usually 7420 replaces 11605)? At 1525 Hebrew was heard again via 15760 while jamming remained on 13850 until about 1529 after Israel went off. 11605 still had weak jamming after 1530 but Israel was off air. On 9345 is Radio Netherlands via Tashkent in English (1400-1600). A search through other traditional Israel frequencies reveals nothing, and so it seems 15760 is the only one after 1525 (Noel R. Green (NW England), Sept 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL [non]. Internet Show --- My friend Elad Benari, through the magic of the Internet, hosts a program on Israeli internet station Click FM from his home in Toronto. Something a little different, nice mix of Israeli music classics. Fridays 10 am-1 pm Toronto time [1400- 1700 UT; but is he about to shift an hour later after Israeli DST end? --- gh] http://www.clickfm.co.il/english/ (Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, Sept. ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** ITALY. For the last month [Aug] in the hour 1500-1600 UT on 9870 and 11895 only news in Bulgarian there are from 1540 UT. In Turkish and in Greek only songs and short announcements that this is RAI International (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sep 4, wwdxc BC-DX Sep 9 via DXLD) [non]. SINGAPORE [Italy non]: Contrary to some reports, Rai Rome via Singapore is still be relayed to Australia 1000-1100 UT on 11920 (Barry Hartley, NZ, Port Douglas [Qsld.] in the tropical North of Australia, Sept 2, wwdxc BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) Deleted transmissions of Rai International, in Italian: 1000-1100 on 11920 SNG 250 kW / 140 deg to AUS (R BULGARIA DX MIX News, Ivo Ivanov, via wwdxc BC-DX Sep 4, ibid.) Rai via Kranji Singapore. I have just got back to my office after a hard night's work (!) at 1050 UT and checked to see if I could hear the RAI relay via Singapore on 11920 kHz. Not a sound, so it appears to have gone, as reported in the Radio Bulgaria DX Mix! (Barry Hartley, Sept 6, ibid.) ** JAPAN [and non]. Radio Japan will have a reduced schedule to Oceania from 1 October as follows, according to an email they sent me: 0900-0930 UT in English on 11890 kHz 1200-1230 UT in English on 9625 kHz 2000-2200 UT in Japanese on 13640 kHz 2200-2220 UT in English on 13640 kHz All these transmissions are from Japan according to the ITU/HFCC schedule. I guess other services are to have major changes as well, but I don't know what they are yet (Barry Hartley, NZ, wwdxc, Sept 7, BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) OTRO SERVICIO DE ONDA CORTA QUE DESAPARECE En el programa Buzón del Radioescucha de R. Japón de hoy domingo 9 de septiembre, Alberto Fonseca nos anuncia lo siguiente: "El día 1 de octubre, NHK Radio Japón dejará de transmitir hacia Europa, por la frecuencia de 11970 kHz. Los avances tecnológicos y la diversificación de las transmisiones han motivado que el número de oyentes de onda corta sea cada vez menor. Esto a su vez ha provocado que un creciente número de emisoras internacionales, haya decidido abandonar este servicio. Por desgracia, las circunstancias han obligado NHK Radio Japón, a tomar la decisión de dejar de transmitir hacia Europa. Sin embargo, le recordamos que seguiremos transmitiendo por onda corta hacia Centro y Sudamérica como lo venimos haciendo hasta ahora. Asimismo continuaremos ofreciendo nuestro servicio de Internet, donde podrán escuchar los boletines informativos y los programas semanales". Los servicios que desaparecen el día 1 de octubre: 0500-0530 UT para España por 11970 kHz 1820-1840 UT para España por 11970 kHz. Continúan los servicios siguientes: 0400-0430 UT para Región occidental de América del Sur por 9660 kHz 0500-0530 UT para América Central por 11895 kHz 1000-1030 UT para América Central por 9540 kHz 1000-1030 UT para Región oriental de América del Sur por 9710 kHz Para escuchar el programa, pueden hacerlo en: http://es.geocities.com/programas_dx/noticiero_diexista.htm Cordiales 73 (José Bueno, Córdoba, España, Sept 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) [Adding transmitter sites and azimuths:] Delete --- Los servicios que desaparecen el dia 1 de octubre 0500-0530 UT para Espana por 11970 kHz [GAB 500 kW 350 deg] 1820-1840 UT para Espana por 11970 kHz [YAM 300 kW 330 deg] Continue --- Continuan los servicios siguientes 0400-0430 UT para Region occidental de America del Sur por 9660 kHz [GUF 300 kW 215 deg] 0500-0530 UT para America Central por 11895 kHz [GUF 300 kW 295 deg] 1000-1030 UT para America Central por 9540 kHz [YAM 300 kW 55 deg] 1000-1030 UT para Region oriental de America del Sur por 9710 kHz [YAM 300 kW 85 deg] (Wolfgang Büschel, ibid.) Hola: Gracias por el mensaje, José, aunque en realidad no es que desaparezca totalmente el servicio en español de NHK; únicamente dejan de transmitir hacia donde consideran que ya no es necesario, como tantos otros, RNW, VOA, RFI, etc. Ahora bien, las razones esgrimidas para la cancelación son las de siempre, bla, bla, bla, bla, el mismo rollo de siempre, y en la misma medida en que las emisoras se creen sus propias razones yo tengo todo el derecho a no creérmelas, y como ya dije hace unas semanas, simplemente con hacer el mínimo esfuerzo de, en primer lugar elegir un horario de "prime-time" de 20 a 22 UT, por ejemplo. En segundo lugar, la señal no llega bien, utilizemos un relay en Europa. Es sencillo decir que hay pocos oyentes en España, es cierto, pero además no nos lo pongas más dificíl. Pasaron los tiempos de los oyentes dóciles, con unos banderines y unas pegatinas ya tenían una legión de aduladores (los dorados años '80). Si hay que decir algo mejor, decirlo claramente, es mi opinión. Cordialmente (Tomás Méndez, Spain, logsderadio yg via DXLD) ** KOREA NORTH. Online recording which may be of interest: Voice of Korea --- Complete broadcast 26th June 2006 recorded on 9335: http://www.archive.org/details/Voice_Of_Korea_6_26_06 (Mike Barraclough, England, dxldyg via DXLD) What happened then? (gh) ** KOREA NORTH [non]. TAIWAN, CLANDESTINE, 9485, Shiokaze at 1303-1330 UT on Sep 2. Weak at tune-in but improved rapidly by 1330 UT. Today's transmission was in Korean. No sign of the obnoxious noise that was there yesterday. Maybe it wasn't jamming, after all - many strange noises can be found on the bands nowadays (John Wilkins, CO, Sept 2, DXplorer via BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) ** KUWAIT. September 5, 2007, 11990 kHz. I tuned in at 1912 and tuned out at 1935. English program, SINPO=4,5,5,3,4. I tuned in during a discussion of taking care of livestock and the need for proper water and grazing land. Then there were a number of rock and roll songs. At 1930 a male said, "Radio Station Kuwait presents, 'The Democratic March to the State of Kuwait.' An interfering station came on at around 1930; it may have been R. France Internationale (John Davis, NRD-545 and HVU-8 antenna, Johnstown, Ohio, USA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LAOS [non]. Reconfirmed Hmong Lao Radio running on 11785, Sunday Sept 9 until 1359 WHRI ID, but for some reason retuned at 1404, and heard more Hmong! Just in time for ID in passing as Hmong World Christian Radio, with St. Paul address, website. This is still missing from the WHR online schedule, just showing it as Tue & Thu 12-13 on 12135, which is KWHR. So the additional Hmong presumably runs another hour at least on Sunday mornings until 1500. Unless you understand Hmong, this one is also worth listening to for the exotic music (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LATVIA. Dear listeners, The Latvia Today programme this evening at 1900 UT will only be on 945 AM in the Baltics and around the world on http://www.radionord.lv The Latvian 9290 relay transmitter has technical problems and hopefully will be back on next weekend. 73s (Tom Taylor, Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LIBYA. 17870, V. of Africa, tnx to Brian Alexander log, found here at 1402 9 Sept with nice signal. Opening English ID by W mixed with instrumental music. 1405-1410 Afro Hi-life music. 1410 program intro by W and program about Muammar al-Gaddafi (what else??), "...the man born to lead the revolution and the biggest state in history, the united states of Africa...". 21695 not heard (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 17870, V. of Africa, 1417, 9/9/07. English program at fair level but spoken content hard to make out here. Likely political / news talk as heard several mentions of Gaddafi. Noted a few musical interludes. Only a het left by 1510. Reported 21695 parallel not heard. Tnx Brian Alexander tip (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA. JRC NRD-545; Wellbrook 330S, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 9 via DXLD) ** MALAYSIA. Voice of Malaysia in English, 15290 kHz very strong at 0650 UT, but with distorted modulation (Barry Hartley, NZ, Port Douglas [Qsld.] in the tropical North of Australia, Sept 2, wwdxc BC- DX Sept 9 via DXLD) ** MEXICO. XERTA, 4810 missing around 0530 check Sept 9. Thierry Fricot in the DF explains why, forwarding a bulletin from XE1RCS wherein the station says they are off for 30-60 days as they are replacing their antenna. Now, is the blob of noise on the high side of 4810 gone with it? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Viz.: XERTA Off the air --- Hello Glenn, I send you this info, taken from the "BOLETIN N 36 DE XE1RCS DEL 7 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2007" http://www.xe1rcs.org.mx/boletines/radiado/070907.html XERTA --- Tenemos un comunicado que nos envía Eduardo Corona XE1LPE y que tiene que ver con la RETRANSMISION de nuestro BOLETIN SEMANAL por XERTA . MI ESTIMADO JOAQUIN: TENEMOS FUERA DEL AIRE LA XERTA. MUCHAS GRACIAS POR EL APOYO QUE HEMOS TENIDO POR PARTE TUYA EN DIFUNDIR LA ESTACION ENTRE LOS RADIOAFICIONADOS. POR EL MOMENTO ESTAMOS HACIENDO UNOS AJUSTES TECNICOS Y EN UN LAPSO DE TIEMPO QUE VA DE UNOS 30 A 60 DIAS ESTAREMOS NUEVAMENTE TRANSMITIENDO, POR LO CUAL TE PIDO TENGAS EN CUENTA ESTE COMUNICADO, DADO QUE CAMBIAREMOS EL SISTEMA DE ANTENA POR COMPLETO. GRACIAS A LA COMUNIDAD QUE NOS ESCUCHA POR MEDIO DE TU BOLETIN Y GRACIAS AL RADIO CLUB SATELITE Y COMUNICARLES A LOS AMIGOS QUE EN BREVE ESTAREMOS NUEVAMENTE AL AIRE EN 4810 KHZ. Sincerely, (Thierry FRICOT, XE1/F-14314 op. Thierry, SAT, SW & BC Listener, QTH: Mexico City, Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Off for a month or two to replace the antenna (gh, DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [non]. 15315, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Radio Nederland (Bonaire), 2246-2251, 9/8/07, Dutch. Comedy show featuring music in Dutch and English mainly concerning anatomical features, and ancillary uses thereof. The programming was way too racy for US general broadcasts. Very good signal (Joe Wood, Greenback TN, DX 390, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 9 via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS. Re 7-109: RE: [ODXA] When and how do you listen to Radio Netherlands? RNW wants to know Yes, you may also hear Andy Clark, the new Head of English, on the air asking shortwave listeners from all parts of the world for feedback on how they listen. Most of the listener mail we get these days is from people who listen via partner stations, WRN, or online. The response from shortwave listeners has dropped off enormously in the past several years. We are still committed to shortwave, but we we need SWL's to confirm that they are still listening to us. There are no changes planned for the upcoming winter period, but in order to justify the huge amount that we spend on analogue shortwave distribution, we have to produce evidence to justify it. From the feedback we have received so far, it seems that the morning transmission is not very much listened to, nor the additional weekend transmissions. Taking those out of the schedule would save 13 transmitter hours per week, a considerable cost saving. I stress, this is just a personal observation and nothing has been discussed or decided about any changes at this stage. We don't need letters "in support" of shortwave - those are the biggest turn-off for international broadcasters because they're so obviously from hobbyists, not regular listeners. What we need is honesty - if you never listen to RNW, please don't fill in the form and pretend you do. That's one of the reasons we didn't send out a mailing to DX clubs - we're only interested in the behaviour of our regular listeners (Andy Sennitt, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, swprograms via DXLD) An interesting question is when one crosses over from being a "regular listener" to a hobbyist? (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA USA, ibid.) If the morning broadcast were when regular listeners are awake, it would have more of them. For me, ideal time would be 1330 UT summer, 1430 winter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** NETHERLANDS. 28100 DRM - non. Today I received a message from Dick Harms, President of the Veron [= Netherlands ARRL]. He spoke to a representative of Agentschap Telecom. Leo Ket, my contact in the AT Organisation, let us know he was very busy last year and had a lot of emails at the office. Leo has promised to respond in the future to my emails concerning the IARUMS. So, this radiosilence has come to an end. Dick Harms confirms there are no transmissions heard on 28100 kHz. Peter Hoefsloot, PA3BIY, member of TNO Delft, monitored daily 28100 kHz with a DRM-receiver. End of a long story. I hope you both are glad to read this information. "We all carry on to defend our exclusive amateurbands." Kind regards, Dick van Empelen, PA0GRU http://www.iarums-r1.org/ Dear Dick(s) v. Empelen and Harms, thank you very much for your efforts and your fine work. This activity of a university on exclusive Amateur Radio frequency shows that we radio hams have to be careful about our frequencies. I think it was the good contacts DARC MS has to the BCL which made it possible that the DRM from Delft disappeared so quickly. I wish Alex some sleepless nights to think over the story giving the "Baby" his call sign. My sincere thanks to Kai Ludwig and Wolfgang Bueschel! Regards, Uli (Uli Bihlmayer DJ9KR, Sept 6 via wwdxc BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. Spotted another Talking House sign as we drove around Enid on West Chestnut at the intersexion of Briar Ridge, but WTFK? Had to go a few blox north to get to the house and another sign with the frequency on it, 1670. But yet another sign beside it said the house was SOLD. But the 1670 transmitter was still running as if it were available. Greg Winkeljohn (sp?) was speaking, for Remax Premier Realators (as he pronounces it, and he am one!); phone (580) 231-0992 given several times during spiel. Refer to Offer #456, or see http://www.enidhomes.com Address of this one is 4322 Briar Ridge; it`s 3 BR, and has other wonderful attributes. Also used part of his spiel to promote the Talking House angle and offer it to other sellers; ask him for a free video about it. This one on 1670 has better range than some of the others monitored recently. Could still be heard back at the Chestnut intersexion, and even audible on crummy caradio as far east as Chestnut @ Oakwood. This was in mid-afternoon Sept 7, so no skywave to QRM, but surely could be heard in Bellabarba`s Italy. Is that enough info for a QSL? (Glenn Hauser, Enid OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA. Here's another one I dug up . . . LICENSE CANCELLATIONS/CALL LETTERS DELETED --- 1430 KALV OK Alva No longer appears in the FCC's database (Bill Hale, TX, Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Still on the air. Or so it must be. I am almost in their daytime null, but just checked at 4:30 pm [CDT] and weak music signal DFs for Alva, not Tulsa, altho there is enough Tulsa to make a SAH on it. Maybe I can get an ID just to make it 100%. 73, (Glenn, Enid, ibid.) If, indeed, the FCC canx their license and they are still on, they're in for a BIG fine if the Feds catch up with them (Bill Hale, ibid.) 2155 UT on 1430: gold & silver ad, 1-800-985-3619 2157 UT: ``Your favorite oldies, and Ranger sports, we`re your goodtime oldies, KALV`` Well, it`s still in the database as a deleted station, DKALV: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/amq?list=0&facid=43280 Maybe they are in the same situation as KUSH, reinstated again without the `paperwork` showing up yet? (Glenn, ibid.) Yes, you are correct. What I meant to say was they are about to be deleted. Getting a "D" callsign is the step prior to. They filed for renewal on 7/20/2006, but for some reason no action was taken. And there's nothing in their correspondence file. Who knows what's up? Like you said, the paperwork is in the famous FCC Never-neverland. If they are on the Rangers network, they should have been carrying today's game (if what you sent was heard today). (Bill Hale, The Metroplex, ibid.) Yes, Sept 9. ?? I don`t think there was a Rangers game on Sunday afternoon: http://www.nwosu.edu/atHLETIC/main/broadcasts.htm [sic] Were you thinking of some other Rangers? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. Pakistan is somewhat of a challenge for DXers in this part of the world. A quick look at Radio Pakistan’s website reveals that there are a number of audio options; including historic speeches and on demand audio news broadcasts. This country is a major player in Central Asia, bordering on Afghanistan. It might be interesting to monitor this one. http://www.radio.gov.pk/index.asp (Fred Waterer, Programming Matters, Sept. ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. Many (but not all) of the shortwave outlets have a distinctive ID in Tok Pisin. Following is a list of the frequencies with the words to listen for in their IDs (as per WRTH). 3205 “Sandaun” 3325 “Sunkamap” 3220 “Kundu” 3335 “Sepik” 3260 “Garamut” 3355 “Mambu” 3275 “Murak” 3365 “Voice of Kula” 3305 “Voice of the Sunrise” 3905 “Mai Mau” 3315 “Chauka” (from a 5.5 page illustrated feature article by Harold Sellers on DXing PNG, most of it background geographical, political info, etc., Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** PAPUA & NEW GUINEA. My letter to Radio New Ireland, addressed to P. O. Box 140, Kavieng was returned after 5 months from Kavieng Post Office, without any reason. P. O. Box closed, or the station ran away? (Takahito Akabayashi, Tokyo, Japan, Sept 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) That`s the one on 3905, and still on the air as below (gh, DXLD) 3905, R. New Ireland. 1229, 9/9/07. Only broadcast signal on band. Pop music program mostly covered by Ham Radio net on same frequency. Poor (Jerry Strawman, Des Moines, IA. JRC NRD-545; Wellbrook 330S, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 9 via DXLD) The following frequencies were heard in the period 0900-1300 UT: 3205, 3235, 3260, 3315, 3325, 3335, 3365, and 3905 kHz. Port Moresby on 3290, 4890 & 9765 kHz was not heard at any time. However, they were heard well on 585 kHz medium wave. Other PNG stations heard on medium wave were R. West New Britain on 900 kHz (very strong on Port Douglas) along with another co-channel PNG station that I presume is the Karai network in Goroka. I also heard what I believe is the NBC station in Wabang on 1494 kHz a couple of times, but I'm not totally sure of that. Radio Morobe, Lae could also be heard on 810 kHz, but fighting it out with RRI Merauke in Indonesian Papua on the same frequency at times. In the past, I have heard Karai Radio, Wewak on 675 kHz, but there was a local electrical hash "blob" killing the frequency. I heard Radio Wantok Light on 7325 kHz a few times but it was very weak, only just audible. The same for the Catholic station on 4960 kHz, I could just make it out at night (Barry Hartley, NZ, Port Douglas [Qsld, just N of Cairns] in the tropical North of Australia, Sept 2, wwdxc BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) ** PAPUA NEW GUINEA. 3260, R. Madang 1125-1200* Sep 2. Island vocals with Pidgin M announcer hosting; a short religious segment from 1152 to 1157 was followed by closedown routine: drumming, sign-off announcement, then anthem; carrier went off at 1202. One of many good signals from PNG this morning - 3205, 3235, 3275, 3315, 3335, and 3365 were all in at G to VG levels. Weaker signals also heard on 3220 and 3325 but do not know if these were PNG or other stations (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Sep 2 via BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) ** PERU. 5039.21, R. Libertad de Junín (presumed), 1035 8 Sept, surprised to find this here with beautiful instrumental OA tinkly music and joined by M in echo (sign-on??) ending with possible mention of Junín at 1037:10. Into nice OA campo music with W vocal at 1038 and continuing with nonstop OA music. Fading quickly in morning twilight unfortunately and barely getting any audio by 1050. Carrier still there at 1100. Tough to ID here (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, JRC NRD- 535D, Hammarlund HQ-129X, Collins R-388, and various portables including the Sony SW-77, 60 meter T2FD, 60 meter Windom, HCDX via DXLD) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. MOLDOVA, Radio Pridnestrovye in Russian on MW 549 with musical greetings and interviews with different people in Russian and Moldovian related with the 17th anniversary of separatist republic on Sep 2nd. Heard 1930-2000 UT, followed by relay of program "Mayak" in Russian from 2000 UT (and not from 2100). There was press release of the PMRadio and the speaker said good words for the Republic of Nagorno Karabakh (Stepankert) where is on Sep 2nd too anniversary of the republic, also for heroical peoples in Abkhazia, Osetia etc. for their justified struggle against the new (imperialism? - not clearly heard) etc., etc. (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept 4, wwdxc BC-DX Sep 9 via DXLD) ** ROMANIA. Online recordings which may be of interest: Radio Bucharest Romania --- A historic broadcast of Radio Bucharest after the fall of communism in the country. The triumphant announcer must be listened to, and although a large file, is well worth downloading. Date on this one, Saturday 23rd December 1989, around 1400 UT, 11940 kHz. The clip of the multi lingual loop tape lasts about 4 minutes, although the length of time each language was played was more like 10m. This was recorded in Scotland, and in fact played on air on Weekend Music Radio Christmas transmissions. Response to just that tape was quite amazing. Webpage (also 1972 WNYW here): http://193.63.162.100/other.htm (Mike Barraclough, England, dxldyg via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. 9765, RS Tikhiy Okean. Vladivostok. *0835-0900* 9 Sept. Huge signal with "govorit Vladivostok", chimes & "RS Tikhiy Okean" into what sounded like local news, then general Russian news, interviews, brief song breaks to 0858 & ship's bell, RSTO ID, 2 pips & off (Dan Sheedy, Cardiff, CA, R75/Kiwa & 150' random WOR, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** RUSSIA. For most of us, Russia seems to need no introduction. After decades of communism, Russia “lost” the Cold War by declaring bankruptcy, restructuring everything, and developing a powerhouse economy (albeit with some problems remaining). Its 144 million inhabitants live in the largest nation on earth, spanning ten time zones (Canada “only” has 5.5). The media environment is cited as both extremely competitive and, paradoxically, Kremlin-controlled; frankly, I’m not sure what to make of that information. International broadcasts come from the Voice of Russia. The Voice of Russia (RUVR): http://www.vor.ru/ or http://www.ruvr.ru/ The layout of the RUVR website is both clear and typical, with quick links on the left, news stories in the middle, and features on the right, all below a shiny logo bar. For English, find the map beneath the RUVR logo (in the top-left corner) and select English from the list of thirty-two choices. The ensuing page links to reams of information, so we’ll only look at a few things – please, take the time to visit! For those using the internet to enhance their shortwave listening experience, the Frequency Schedule link (below the language selector) provides region-by-region listings of times and frequencies, with a further link to specific programming for each broadcast. Voice of Russia broadcasts live via the internet in Windows Media format (although it claims to be in Real Audio format), while podcasts are available through the WRN website, which is linked from the RUVR homepage by clicking Our Audio Archive at the top of the page and then selecting World Radio Network. These podcasts appear to cover the past seven days, and are in both Real Audio and Windows Media formats. Interested in world conflicts, but tired of the same old news? Click on How Russia Defeated Napoleon in 1812, which links to a five-part series originally assembled in 2002y. Other fun links include Sochi 2014 Olympic Games, which will provide details on the venue which will succeed Vancouver-Whistler as host of the winter Olympics (although the page needs updating to reflect the fact that they’ve already WON the right to host); Russian Arctic Expeditions, which will be worth following in the coming months/years as several nations try to claim ownership of vast swaths of ocean; and for those who prefer to push their limits, Russian for You, language lessons for those craving a new language AND a new alphabet, all at once (Paul E. Guise, Click!, Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** RUSSIA. Re: Radio Moscow recordings --- David Goren's original post mentioned radio recordings of Radio Moscow put out by Cook Records. I have found an interesting review of them: "...from the early '50s through 1991, even the most upstanding American citizen was unknowingly bathed in subversive socialist propaganda. Radio Moscow, the official international broadcasting station of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), beamed in anti-capitalist rhetoric and Soviet-centric critiques of US foreign policy 24 hours a day, with a pleasant-sounding voice interminably blasting the hypocrisy of the imperialist blood-sucking banker class in the "home of the free." The station enjoyed the most powerful and far-reaching transmission network on the planet, with shortwave stations based in Siberia sending messages coated in icicles of loathing and smug certainty of inevitable victory! Talk to old-timers who were alive in those times and they'll recount how they would sometimes feel a mysterious chill up their spine." Full article, Considering Radio Moscow by Ian Svenonius is at: http://www.emusic.com/features/spotlight/289_200612.html Click on the link by the album cover and all the material is available on paid download though you can listen to sound samples of each track free. The CD is available at: http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/containerdetail.aspx?itemid=2208 where you can enlarge the cover and at http://www.folkways.si.edu/search/AlbumDetails.aspx?ID=2208 (Mike Barraclough, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) What a ridiculous load of nonsense. First of all, 99% of the American population never listened to Radio Moscow. Secondly, it was not on the air 24 hours a day to North America. It never used phrases like "blood-sucking". I suspect whoever wrote this text never actually listened to Radio Moscow. I am not suggesting that Radio Moscow was anything but a propaganda station, but if it caused "a mysterious chill up their spine", I'd be interested to know what these "old-timers" would have made of Radio Tirana in the days of Enver Hoxha, or Radio Peking in the days of Chairman Mao. I suspect I have listened to more hours of Radio Moscow/Voice of Russia than most SWL's, since I did Russian and Soviet Studies at university and then went to work at BBC Monitoring where every word of Radio Moscow's output in English and dozens of other languages were listened to, transcribed and analyzed. Of course, if you take a few highlights from thousands of hours of output and play them one after the other, you can create a false impression of what an ordinary broadcast sounded like. This, of course, is exactly the sort of editing technique that some of the international broadcasters themselves used. In reality, a large proportion of Radio Moscow's output was boring, and was more likely to send people to sleep than to send "a mysterious chill up their spine." (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) T'is a pity the reviewer is so so deeply ensconced in "the House of the Left Wing-tip" that he totally dismisses the true value of those recordings. They provide a glimpse back into a time when rhetoric, ideology, and plain piss-poor understanding of [what] motivates people had our hands on the launch keys for nigh 40 years. A time that could be in our future as well, making it worthy of true understanding. So it is a shame that this review just made me want to hurl. :/ (Scott Royall, Conch Republic, swprograms via DXLD) During my years working at what used to be the real ABC Radio in Los Angeles, I had the good fortune to enjoy several phone chats with Joe Adamov, while working with Ray Briem. At the time, those chats propelled my memory even further back to the mid 1960s, when I first heard Joe railing on via my first SW receiver, a National NC-120. I was about 8 at the time, and thought then of the few people I knew with fallout shelters in their backyards. I mentioned that to Joe, and he burst out laughing heartily, no doubt rolling in his power as a Broadcaster like a Russian bear in the Volga muck. Joe Adamov was a helluva character, and I'd bet somehow our original reviewer was influenced by his several decades hosting "Moscow Mailbag". True, the rest could be pretty droll, and Tirana at the time sounded like something from Pluto or beyond, as did their one contemporary ally, Radio Peking (GREG HARDISON, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SCOTLAND [non]. LETONIA, 9290, Radio Six International, 0710-0720, captada el 8 de septiembre en inglés, locutor con comentarios e identificación, programa musical, SINPO 45444 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SEYCHELLES [non]. I should know this but --- What missionary station uses a few bars of "What A Friend We Have In Jesus" as an interval signal? It was in French on 11790 at 1845z until sign off just before 1900. I see nothing in EiBi, HFCC, WRTH or Passport (Jerry Lenamon, TX, Sept 9, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) FEBA Seychelles (Bill Harms, ibid.) No more Seychelles! It`s FEBA via Rampisham UK, 500 kW, 160 degrees. Here`s the schedule, showing the wrong frequency 15130: http://www.feba.org.uk/Portal/cafrica.htm (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Thanks to both (Jerry Lenamon, ibid.) I am using their IS as a ringtone in my cellular phone. :) I got a studio quality mp3 of it from their website sometime ago. FEBA Seychelles was my first "DX" back in 1974 (Horacio Nigro, Uruguay, ibid.) ** SOLOMON ISLANDS. 5019.86: I heard "Radio Hapi Islands" (an oxymoron. if ever there was one!) for the first time in many weeks on 25 August around 0715 UT. It is much weaker than previously and I feel it is running on lower power. I thought that while I was in Port Douglas I would hear them on medium wave, but nothing was heard, only a strong heterodyne on 1026 kHz (Barry Hartley, NZ, Port Douglas [Qsld.] in the tropical North of Australia, Sept 2, wwdxc BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) ** SOUTH AFRICA. Since the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa’s 45 million inhabitants have seen enormous changes. The country’s economy is one of the most successful in Africa, and is seen as a bright light for investors (there’s your free financial tip – use it carefully). South Africa is also highly influential in African politics, helping neighboring nations and generally improving the lot of people throughout Africa. That said, unemployment remains high, poverty is a major problem, and the number of people with HIV/AIDS is enormous. South Africa’s media organizations are highly respected and influential throughout the continent. Channel Africa is the external service of SABC, the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Channel Africa: http://www.channelafrica.org/ Need a reminder of how far away South Africa is? Try loading the Channel Africa website, which is SLOW. Once you’re there, click on English (even though the homepage is in English) and you’ll be transported to the main English Service page. Here you’ll find links to sixteen different Programmes, a Broadcast link with frequencies, schedules, and audio & video resources, Events, Editorial Comments, and a quite comprehensive News section. Features and news items take up the majority of the page, and change regularly. On the right is a “Financial Indicators” chart, which appears to show HUGE volatility in the (South African? It doesn’t say) stock market – “Allshare” is up 541% as I write this, while “Financials” are down 124.1%. Methinks a bit of clarification is in order. As for the audio and video offerings, it’s a mixed bag. I found the streaming video worked quite well, although the picture resolution is quite low. The live audio, however, didn’t work, as my player couldn’t connect (I tried this several times, on different days). Both audio and video are in Windows Media format. On-Demand Broadcast worked just fine, however, and is available in several different languages. One final note – I found the Channel Africa website didn’t render properly on my machines, with the layout getting skewed; they need to spend a bit more time checking the website’s code to ensure everything is working (Paul E. Guise, Click!, Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** SPAIN. Tucked discretely between Portugal and France, Spain is home to 45 million people (just like South Africa – coincidence???). While it may appear homogeneous, Spain is in fact home to seventeen regions that represent many different linguistic and cultural groups. Since dictator General Franco’s rule ended in 1975, the country has regained links with the rest of Europe and become politically stable and economically successful. Oh, and it’s really easy on the eyes (and tastebuds!). Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) operates the foreign service, Radio Exterior de España. Radio Exterior de España: http://www.ree.rne.es/ or http://www.rtve.es/programas/ingles If you’re beginning with the first URL given, you’ll arrive on a page written in Spanish. Select Lenguas Extranjeras (left side, near the top), and on the following page, choose English (fourth item down). This will bring you to the same page as the second URL above, which will then evolve into the huge string of numbers & letters also given above. For all this effort (wouldn’t a simple language chooser on the Spanish homepage work?), here’s what you’ll find. The English page has six links on the left side (more on this), an “about us”-type blurb in the middle, and a list of nine staff on the right (along with a photo of eight of them – who’s missing???). Of the links on the left, Portada is the home page (which you’re already viewing), Day by Day lists the days of the week, each of which links to a little list of program titles (why not just put it all on one page?), and Information and Contact links to the home page text again, as well as a broken link and a single set of contact information. Programs links to the various programs, El Equipo to brief bios of the nine staff, and Podcast to the podcasts page, which contains one item, “Spanish course by radio.” And that’s all you get (Paul E. Guise, Click!, Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. Centuries ago, Arab travelers used to refer to Sri Lanka as “Serendip”, which should tell you all you need to know. While it looks like a tiny island off the coast of India, Sri Lanka is actually twice the size of Vancouver Island, and features palm trees, stunning beaches, and almost 20 million inhabitants. The tsunami in 2004 claimed over 30 000 lives, and violent conflict between Tamil separatists and the remainder of the mostly-Sinhalese population has been ongoing for decades. Still, you’d be hard pressed to find a better cup of tea… Radio Sri Lanka operates under the auspices of the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation. Radio Sri Lanka (SLBC): http://www.slbc.lk/ When entering the URL given, be sure to type the www portion: without it you will end up at the SLTnet webmail login page – this is a strange quirk. The SLBC homepage is quite visually appealing, with a large banner graphic across the top (including seven links; more in a moment); below this are news items on the left, an “About SLBC” item in the middle, and links to live audio, “Special Notices” (broken), and “Connect to World” (broken) on the right. Live audio is in Sinhala and Tamil languages only. Of the seven links at the top of the page, Home is obvious, About SLBC expands on the homepage teaser of the same name, Services lists several cassettes you can purchase next time you’re in Colombo, and Schedule is broken. Advertising may be of use to some, and Contact Us has a substantial list of contact information for various people. News Broadcasting was my surprise find, as it links to audio files (MP3 format) of the latest four English language news broadcasts (there are four such news broadcasts every day) – Sinhala and Tamil are both listed as coming soon (Paul E. Guise, Click!, Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) ** SRI LANKA. They said the transmitter on 9770 kHz is now in good condition; on Sep 2nd at 0345 UT on 15745 kHz and listening to that, I checked 9770 - in reality the signal was stronger than on 15745 kHz, for the first time in many years. By the way the SLBC English program is always with wonderful choice of old songs from the 50s (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept 4, wwdxc BC-DX Sep 9 via DXLD) ** U S A [and nonnish]. 10320, AFRTS (USB feeder). Lualualei, O'ahu. 0320+. 9 Sept. Very nice signal running Art Bell interviewing a guy who's documented several catastrophic world-wide floods. (His books are busy, but fun). Also heard Lualualei-6350 // Guam-5765 with car talk show at 0906 (Dan Sheedy, Cardiff, CA, R75/Kiwa & 150' random WOR, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** VENEZUELA [non]. 5 AGOSTO, 1945 UT, 17705 kHz. Canal Internacional de RN Venezuela. Castellano. Programa: "Diplomacia Bolivariana". Comentarios del Presidente del Parlamento Cubano, Ricardo Alarcón, referente la necesidad y la eventualidad de un gran cambio en los Estados Unidos, a manos de su propio pueblo. ´Es necesario un cambio total. Un nuevo Estados Unidos´. Buena Calidad (Adan Mur, Ñemby, Paraguay, Conexión Digital Sept 9 via DXLD) Hear, hear, but please, not along the Cuban socialist no-freedom model! Old log just now appearing. So that would be starting at 1900, recently rediscovered on 15290. So is 15290 ex-17705, or in addition? 17705 also has been used all along at 20-21. Checking RNV Sunday Sept 9 at 1905 via CUBA: unlike last week, RNV CI was underway as usual on 15290. Nothing audible on 17705, which Adán Mur in Paraguay, Conexión Digital, had reported at 1945 in mid-August. I wonder if the time was an hour off, as 17705 is normally used for the 20-21 UT transmission. Also, unlike previous weeks, the separate `Alo, Presidente` service was still running at 1905 on 11670, 11875 and 17750, but not on 13680. Thus I suspect the 13680 transmitter, if it was really on earlier, did not check, is the one taken out of that for the regular RNV CI service to start at 1900 on 15290. A double- dose of Bolivarianism. Thank you, Habana! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. ARGELIA, 6300, Radio Nacionala Saharaui, 0725-0730, captada el 8 de septiembre en árabe, locutor con comentarios y emisión de música popular saharaui, SINPO 34333 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. Re: 1181: Haven't really had much chance to monitor AM lately, but did hear this loud & clear in Billings, Montana on Tuesday night. Seems to loop ESE from Billings. Glenn, is it possible this is one of the experimental test stations you brought up in World of Radio a few weeks ago? (Doug Smith, TN, NRC-AM via DXLD) [Re Les Rayburn`s scenario, 7-109]: This is most interesting in that with what look like at least two potential locations from the plots, one potentially near (or in the air near) Cuba and the other in the US Southeast, which is coincidentally - or not so much - similar to some of the bearings much earlier on other frequencies, this idea is certainly credible, and one which I'd also been giving some thought to. I haven't attempted a bearing from here because I really have no way to obtain one I'd consider reliable given the strength of the signal on 1180 from WHAM here. Most of the bearings given have indeed been from good distances from Rochester. In fact it doesn't really matter whether Castro is dead or alive at this point - either way this would be preparation for events following confirmation or announcement of it whenever that might be. 1181 just happens to be very convenient (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ) [15 mi NNW of Philadelphia], ibid.) If they're planning on broadcasting into Cuba, it would seem to me they're wasting a LOT of ERP if they're using a power/pattern that puts a loud & clear carrier into Montana on a cheap portable in a noisy motel room! (Doug Smith, ibid.) All the better to override any potential jamming, perhaps? (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA, ibid.) I checked 1181 kHz around 1900Z. The carrier is still there, rather weak. No carrier on 1179 so not a 1 kHz tone on 1180. Two SS stations on 1180, R. Rebelde very strong // 5025 kHz and Martí weakly // 11930 kHz, both within 5 degree bearing at 180 degrees - I didn`t correct for about 5 degree magnetic deviation. The 1181 carrier here very weak, no audio could be heard. I will check again this evening but seems strange with reports of very strong signal middle/western US and it has always been weak here. Incidentally, I have a time share right on the Atlantic Ocean in Marathon about a mile across the bay from Boot Key with Martí's 4 in- line towers and I was there early in July. They have a very clean signal for such a powerful transmitter - no problem. Last year when I was in Marathon we drove across the rickety bridge to Boot Key thru several miles of scrub vegetation, took a sharp right towards the towers and were confronted by a chain link fence. Eventually we came across an open gate in the fence with a sign saying do not enter. Naturally I entered. A really spooky area, good environment for a CIA mystery novel. Apparently a number of squatters and commercial fishermen in the area. One looked like a squatter who was a woman was feeding 30/50 cats from a building right under the towers. The entire area is overgrown with vegetation. Spooky. Lingering any longer, I headed back for the gate before they closed it on me. There was a sign on the gate with a name and telephone and name in Marathon which I have since lost (Ray Moore, FT Myers, FL, Sept 8, NRC-AM via DXLD) I decided to check 1181 this morning even though there was a good bit of daylight here at my first check at 6:31 am Central (1131 UT). The tone/het was clearly in there against 1180, but began fading almost immediately after I tuned in. It gradually faded and was gone by 6:38 am/1138 UT. Now to plot the sunrise terminator for today (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, Sept 9, ABDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 5973.55 --- was getting a decent carrier here from about 0930 8 Sept. Still in there at 1132 check so not LA QTH. No audio noted. Heard on both receivers. 5973.7 --- The signal heard yesterday was on this frequency this morning 9 Sept, again from 0950 to 1130+. I suppose it could be Central American. Still no audio though. 49 mb virtually impossible to listen to for weak signals due to splatter up and down the entire band from DRM, jammer, and huge signals. Very disappointing. 73 (Dave Valko, Dunlo PA, JRC NRD-535D, Hammarlund HQ-129X, Collins R-388, and various portables including the Sony SW-77, 60 meter T2FD, 60 meter Windom, HCDX via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. E25, the Umm Kalthoum number station, 6140 and 9450 E25 [ O ] The new frequency discovered by Tarek provides lots of logs despite the interference from RAI. So far some general features are starting to emerge but I’m still trying to figure what’s the underlying structure of this elusive station. So please be patient and don’t hesitate to leave a comment via Group or privately. Let’s take a quick taste of what happened during the hot months of this summer: Some of the rare message types logged this summer: 2-message transmissions, control and message in a single broadcast, 4f, 3f- repeated message and 4f, 4f-repeated message in Arabic. Simultaneous transmissions with different signal strengths logged on 6140 kHz, for Agent 185 and Agent 014, on 06/08. A couple of messages in Arabic logged on 9450. One of them was of the 4f, 4f-repeated kind. Serial number/group count inconsistencies for Agent 701 and Agent 880; see detailed logs. Some errors made during call or message delivery. Operators accidentally continued to call after “EOM EOT”. Prerecorded message broadcasts occurred. Long control messages for Agent 785 and 788 (meaning extended vacation time?) A new song (by a Syrian singer this time) logged on 10/07, and identified by Tarek. The carrier frequency was off by some 100 Hz and after a while E25 ops managed to null the difference. During some musical sessions the operator changed frequency while playing music. And again, the “Windows” OS sound accidentally reached the airwaves. Each Agent has his time slot and message structure (if the message has a repeated group, its position within the message and the position of the serial/gc group within the message). For example Agent 880 gets his messages ~0700z on 6140 kHz, having the structure: RPTD NSCG YYYY … ZZZZ RPTD RPTD is the repeated (first and last in this example) group and NSCG (GC . GC Group Count and NS . SN, Serial No.) is the serial/gc group. The groups noted as YYYY, ZZZZ, etc, are the rest of the message. Agent 014 receives his messages at ~0715z on 6140 with the format: XXXX RPTD YYYY … ZZZZ RPTD NSCG Note how the positions of the repeated group and serial/gc group changes. On the other hand, Agent 672 has his messages having no apparent structure at ~0930z. Usually, broadcasts occurs between 0700z to 0930z quarters, (0630 to 1100z but not clear) on 6140 and 1100z to 1300z quarters on 9450 with no fixed schedule so far. Logs at a glance: (freq in kHz, time is UTC, July [extremely long and detailed, omitted here, except a few significant excerpts --- gh] E25 6140 kHz 1057z 10/07 [Strong carrier initially slightly different freq from RAI, 1101z new song(s) with TX breaks finally QRT 1127z] MG TUE In the beginning there was a 100 Hz difference between their carrier and RAI, but E25 ops managed to correct it. Tarek later identified the song: “Eskout Ba’a” (Please Stop Talking) by a Syrian singer called Asala. It was the first time he heard a song from anyone other than Om Kalthoum. I wonder if E25 operators got angry from RAI causing QRM and chose this song on purpose (“RAI stop QRMing” hihi!) According to Wikipedia, Asalah Nasri’s discography includes an album performing Umm Kulthum. E25 9450 kHz 1006z 11/07 [Music (new song, “Eskout Ba’aa”) QRT 1058z] MG WED Thank all of you who logged E25, despite QRM and inconvenient broadcast times: Alpha Vax, Costas, Mike, Niklas, Paul, Quirino and Tarek for your logs and comments! An apology for any omissions since this column was prepared without having access to my digital logs. (Pen & Paper logging will never die!) Thanks too for Manolis with his excellent log keeping skills :)) (Sept Enigma 2000 bulletin, excerpted not including very detailed logs, via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. 11740, HOUSE OF WEIRD. 1740, 9/7/07. A high-pitched buzz with a "tapping" sound every five seconds, as though against a metal pipe. Usually five "taps" and then the buzz again. There were occasional instances of a 6th "tap" with a split second extra gap between the first and second. There were also a few cases of just two or three taps. I followed this to just past 1800. I've never heard anything like this before. At the time there were only 3 other signals on 25m: Scott/Anguilla on 11775 (poor), REE-11815 [Costa Rica] (very weak) and Marti-11930 (very strong). WWV said we were in storm conditions (Gerry Dexter, Lake Geneva, WI, NRD 515, NRD 545, eton E-1, NASWA Flashsheet Sept 9 via DXLD) I also reported it recently; see 7-095; what I call a `bonker`, also heard on various utility bands, something to do with ALE. Gerry had a lot more patience to listen to that annoyance; restricted to daytime only in 25m broadcast band? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ AMATEUR RADIO HF nets A listing of known Amateur Radio HF Nets. http://ac6v.com/nets.htm http://geography.about.com/library/maps/blindex.htm http://www.dxzone.com/cgi-bin/dir/jump2.cgi?ID=15794 (David Ross, QRZ? Ham Radio Corner, Sept ODXA Listening In via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ IFA Auf der Suche nach dem Radio - ein IFA-Rundgang. Auf der 47. Internationalen Funkausstellung (IFA), der weltweit groessten Messe fuer Unterhaltungselektronik praesentieren ueber 1200 Aussteller aus 32 Laendern ihre Neuerungen. Ist das gute alte Radio dort noch vertreten? http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=evw5rrI44yvytsI0 (Paul Gager, Austria, A-DX Sept 6 via BC-DX Sept 9 via DXLD) TERMINATION OF 121.5 MHZ BEACONS FOR SATELLITE ALERTING IS COMING SOON This posting will be removed on October 6, 2007 On 1 February 2009, the International Cospas-Sarsat [1] Organization (U.S. included) will terminate processing of distress signals emitted by 121.5 MHz Emergency Locator Transmitters (ELTs). This means that pilots flying aircraft equipped with 121.5 MHz ELTs after that date will have to depend on pilots of over flying aircraft and or ground stations monitoring 121.5 to hear and report distress alert signals, transmitted from a possible crash site. Why is this happening? Although lives have been saved by 121.5 MHz ELTs, the downside has been their propensity to generate false alerts (approximately 98 percent of all 121.5 MHz alerts are false), and their failure to provide rescue forces with timely and accurate crash location data. Both of which actually delay rescue efforts and have a direct effect on an individual’s chance for survival. Rescue forces have to respond to all 121.5 MHz alerts to determine if they are real distress alerts or if they are being generated by an interferer, an inadvertent activation (by the owner) or equipment failure. Is there an alternative? Yes, the Cospas-Sarsat System (U.S. included) has been and will continue processing emergency signals transmitted by 406 MHz ELTs. These 5 Watt digital beacons transmit a much stronger signal, are more accurate, verifiable and traceable to the registered beacon owner. . . http://www.faasafety.gov/SPANS/notices_public.aspx?nid=981&page=1 (via Brooke Clarke, via Gareth Foster, BDXC-UK via DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: IRELAND; NETHERLANDS ++++++++++++++++++++ WBZ IBOC OFF AND ON At 1245 EDT Saturday Sept 8, WBZ's IBOC is definitely turned off. WIBG-1020 NJ is in loud & clear with local (Philadelphia Eagles) sports talk. – (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA http://hometown.aol.com/midcapemarc/myhomepage/profile.html NRC-AM via DXLD) Probably getting ready for 24-hour a day IBOC (Tom Dimeo, ibid.) WBZ is U3 - there is no need to make changes to acomodate 24/7 IBOC, except for reprogramming (/turning off) the timer which wouldn't require turning the IBOC off. From one of David Eduardo's posts over on Radio-Info, it sounds like a major software update to the IBOC encoders was issued last week. And I've heard of a number of stations having to turn off their IBOC temporarily to implement the update. I would imagine that's what's happening at WBZ. (I've also heard through the grapevine that this update addresses the self-interference problem, where some receivers hear the IBOC hiss when tuned to the IBOC station.) -- (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) WBZ's IBOC is still off at 1320 EDT. WIBG-1020 NJ in loud & clear with conservative talk. – (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA, ibid.) It seems to be on now at 2:30 ET (Bob Young, Analog, MA, ibid.) Yes, definitely back on at 1509 EDT re-check. Darn - it was nice while it lasted! -- (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA, ibid.) Noted tuning by 620 at 1315 EDT that KPOJ 620 is off. Technical issues or getting ready for IBOC? They were running IBOC for a while, then dropped it. Nothing noted on 620 here, as the nearest stations are in Regina, Wallace ID. 73, (Patrick Martin, Seaside OR, ibid.) WORLD OF TELEPHONY ++++++++++++++++++ PHONE NUMBER SEARCHES When it comes to unIDs, my specialty is always researching. That's what I do --- and I thoroughly do enjoy it and get the job done quick. The unID search with the prefixes took a good 20 minutes or so from start to finish. As far as phone number searches go, there are a number of good resources you can use. Here's what I frequent: http://thedirectory.org/pref/ can be used to search for phone prefixes. Select the area code and then type in a prefix. It'll tell you what town it matches with. You can also find out if it's a land line or cellular prefix, which makes a huge difference when it comes to ads on the radio for businesses -- they're likely to be using a landline-only prefix. But if it's not that simple, you can do some more related searches (personally, I often use two sites at once): http://www.whitepages.com is the one I frequent. Select the "Reverse Phone" tab to find what number matches with what business, or reverse address as well. Click on "Area and Zip Codes" to find which area code fits with which towns. If you hear a phone number without an area code and a town name, you can search for the town in White Pages and get the area code. Then go to the directory website and get the prefix specifically for that town as well. There are other places to do things like this as well. As far as finding names of towns and which states have towns with that name, sometimes a web search or Wikipedia can be helpful. I use my Michelin atlas which has an index by town, not state. Therefore, they're all listed right there. Hope this can help some people!! When I see a chance at a good and fun, fulfilling search, I usually take it, and these pages are what gets me there (Chris Kadlec, Buffalo NY, WTFDA via DXLD) ###