DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-112, September 13, 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 SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1374 Wed 2200 WBCQ 7415 [first airing of each edition] Wed 2300 WBCQ 18910-CLSB or 17495-CLSB Thu 0600 WRMI 9955 Thu 1430 WRMI 7385 Thu 1500 KAIJ 9480 Fri 0630 WRMI 9955 Fri 1030 KAIJ 5755 Fri 1100 WRMI 9955 Fri 2030 WWCR1 15825 Sat 0800 WRMI 9955 Sat 1630 WWCR3 12160 Sat 2130 WRMI 9955 Sun 0230 WWCR3 5070 Sun 0630 WWCR1 3215 Sun 0800 WRMI 9955 Sun 1500 WRMI 7385 Mon 0300 WBCQ 9330-CLSB [irregular; not 9/10/07] Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies to 0500] 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 ** AFGHANISTAN [non]. Sept 13 at 1325 good signal with Qur`an on 15680, then lecture in non-Arabic; 1330 audio cut off in mid-word, but carrier on until almost 1335. Per Aoki this is R. Free Afghanistan, via Sri Lanka, scheduled in Pashto until 1330. So the USG is promoting Islam to the exclusion of other religions? Afghanistan is as we know, destined to become a Korean-Christian country (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA [and non]. R. Tirana, 13750, with usual deep fades into the TVI, but readable at peaks in between, Sept 13 at 1315. Now has slight QRM from Cuba`s new 13760, but more QRM from something on 13745, which is supposedly Rwanda, active only on Fri and Sat until 1315, but this was Thursday. Tirana did not go off until 1331 after another program had started (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ANTARCTICA. ANTÁRTIDA, 15476, LRA 36, Radio Nacional Arcángel San Gabriel, 1950-2010, 12-09. Buena época para escuchar esta emisora. Por aquí entra casi todos los días en estas fechas, sobre las 2000 horas, aunque muchas veces con bastante desvanecimiento y luego desaparece la señal. Escuchada con programa músical de canciones en español hasta las 2000 horas, luego identificación y comentarios por locutora: "LRA 36, Radio Nacional, Arcángel San Gabriel", dirección de correo electrónico y comentario sobre biografía de un profesor, luego más canciones. A partir de las 2010 la señal se volvió inaudible. 24322 (Manuel Méndez, Lugo, Spain, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Aquí en Córdoba he podido escucharla casi todos los días de las últimas semanas de agosto (con un Degen1103), algunos con una señal bastante buena para lo que es habitual. En estas épocas equinocciales se dan mejores condiciones aún, aunque no me he podido pararme a intentar captarla. Saludos (Jorge Trinado, Spain, noticias dx yg via DXLD) LRA36, op 15476 kHz from 1902 12/9, with nice Spanish music, strong to S point 8, and clear audio. At 1920 ID (female) and info. Best LW 25 meter. RX NRD 545 Gr (Maurits van Driessche, Belgium, BDX via DXLD) ** ASCENSION [and non]. Site for ``Rangerats`` people who have worked ``downrange``, for NASA, RCA, PAA, et al., also about ANTIGUA, etc.: http://spacecovers.com/jpers/zjp_emp_rca_etr_rangerat01.htm stemming from a philatelic angle as the URL implies; including stuff about Volcano Radio = AFRTS http://spacecovers.com/misc/rrbooklisting.htm (via Juan Franco Crespo, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) Who did not include any URLs so we had to search out the source (gh) ** BHUTAN. BHUTANESE JOURNALISTS ON COURSE FOR ELECTIONS In 2008 the 700,000 citizens of Bhutan will go to the polls to elect a parliament for the first time in history. At present, the small mountain state is still an absolute monarchy, but the king has decided that his country is ready to become a democracy. Nineteen journalists from the state-owned Bhutan Broadcasting Service (BBS) have just completed an election-reporting course at the Radio Netherlands Training Centre to ensure proper coverage of this historic event. My colleague Sigrid Deters spoke to the course organisers and some of the participants. . . http://www.radionetherlands.nl/features/media/bhu070907 (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Sept 13 via DXLD) ** BIAFRA [non]. One biweek later, just in case, checked again the scheduled other time for V. of Biafra International, Wed 1915-1945 on WHRA 13710 --- no, from 1925 to 1932, just the usual WHR gospel fill music and ID. Is it still on the imaginary schedule? Yes, on WHR website, by searching on VOBI in specific program criteria, there it is, and also still showing wrong frequency for the non-imaginary Friday broadcast at 20-21 on WHRI, really 15665, not 17650 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Anomalies keep showing up in the CBC radio schedule. From the Hotsheet for Wednesday Sept 12, the final entry concerns the start of the new local day, Thursday: 11. AND THE WINNER IS: It may be the most famous radio documentary you've never heard. "Bells in Europe" won the prestigious Prix Italia in 1973. It's been translated into more than 15 languages from the original German. Through war and peace, through mourning and celebration, bells have played a role. Hear "Bells in Europe" tonight on And the Winner Is, with host Pat Senson, at midnight (12:30 NT) on CBC Radio One. The Sept 12 day schedule also shows a similar show 24 hours earlier at the beginning of local Wednesday, The Choice, ``Favourite CBC Radio programs and documentaries as chosen by our listeners and producers.`` These seem to be outgrowths of ``Rewind`` which has been running at least all summer every week another 24 hours earlier, i.e. midnight starting Mondays. I hope this means Hotsheets and online listings will also start previewing the content of Rewind. So now it appears that CBC Radio Overnight is not starting now until 1 am local. Well, yes and no. It seems the midnight hour is still part of Overnight, but not the WRN relays of various stations. In fact we have all the details at http://www.cbc.ca/programguide/program/index.jsp?program=CBC+Radio+Overnight CBC Radio Overnight invites listeners to tune in to CBC Radio One every morning from midnight to 6 a.m. for CBC Radio News every hour on the hour followed by information programs from public broadcasters around the world. These programs, courtesy of the World Radio Network, give Canadians an opportunity to hear some of the best English- language programming in the world. The international program schedule is: Weekdays: 1:05 Radio Netherlands 2:05 Radio Sweden and Radio Australia 3:05 Channel Africa and BBC World Service 4:05 Deutsche Welle and Radio Polonia 5:05 Radio Australia, Radio Prague, Deutsche Welle and Voice of Russia [surely not 13.5 minutes each; how does this break down?] Weekends 1:05 Radio Netherlands 2:05 Radio Prague and Voice of Russia 3:05 Radio Sweden and BBC World Service 4:05 Deutsche Welle 5:05 Radio Australia Monday Midnight-1:00 AM Culture Shock Tuesday Midnight-1:00 AM The Choice Wednesday Midnight-1:00 AM And The Winner Is Thursday 11:00 PM-1:00 AM Global Business/One Planet Friday 11:00 [PM]-1:00 AM Randy Bachman's Vinyl Tap Saturday Midnight The Ticket Sunday Midnight REWIND NOTE: the above days of week are the night before! Not the new day, even tho displayed grids start at midnight, rather than end at some inappropriate hour past midnight. Other versions of the online schedules attach midnight listings to the previous day. Make up your mind! Note that many of these shows are obviously from BBCWS, tho not identified as such here. Note also that we have previously confirmed that Rewind still falls on the weekend 4-zone, rather than 5-zone repeat pattern. I.e. the first broadcast is not at midnight ADT = 0305 UT Monday, but at 0405 UT, when it is midnight ET, and presumably AT/NT zone stations, if they carry it at all, run it simultaneously, tho that would bump out the first hour of CBC Radio Overnight. Presumably the same situation applies to The Ticket, 24 hours earlier. This is pertinent to webcast listeners picking their most convenient listening times. CBC Radio Overnight scheduling also concerns listeners to 6160 from St. John`s and Vancouver. Aside from the AT/NT jammup mentioned above on weekends, keep this in mind in case you find some of those ``SW`` stations on a ``new frequency``. The 1:05 to 5:05 am listings translate to 0405 to 0805 UT starts from CKZN, and 0805 to 1205 UT starts on CKZU. However, I think that in many (most major?) cities, the CBC stations dump out by 5 or 5:30 am local for their own wake-up programming, right? Another thing: the Wed Sept 12 Radio One schedule, unlike last week, now agrees with the Hotsheets that 11 pm - midnight local contains Afghanada and Wiretap; but are these prepeats or repeats of their other airings? Probably the latter (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) These are crap Sirius radio repackaging exercises by CBC to fill Sirius partner with something cheap from the archives. In the new season they expanded CBC Overnight (not enough in my opinion) and added an extra hour. But add another international broadcaster!? Oh no, we will fill with BBC one night, old CBC crocks another night. So the old WRN schedule is maintained and the "first hour" now has Sirius overflow programmes (Dan Say, BC, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Well, I wouldn`t call the Bells in Europe docu, `crap`! It is really a great piece of audio, which I just listened to. Tho I could do without the clashing announcements by the CBC/Sirius guy (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) This is an issue for a broadcaster targeting a local audience that also finds itself with a global audience. After all, some folks consider 2 AM Tuesday morning (local time, wherever they are) to be "Monday night" in the vernacular. Those who wrestle with US public radio schedules always have to be on the lookout for this. In many instances, days start at 5 AM local time with "Morning Edition". Yet another reason I am always impressed by Kevin Kelly's endeavors with the Public Radio Fan database. Even international broadcasters aren't immune -- Radio Netherlands and HCJB used to show local days (not UT days) in their schedules even though the schedules themselves showed UT. It is particularly vexing when a broadcaster isn't consistent with this concept, as appears to be the case with the CBC (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, swprograms via DXLD) ** CANADA. Dead Dog in the City --- RCI used to have the hilarious program Dead Dog in the City late Saturday mornings if I recall. Now, it's gone from their lineup, in favor of programs to sell Canada to potential immigrants. I found Dead Dog on cbc.ca, which might mean it's still around. I saw somewhere else it was Radio One, Wednesday at 8, but the Internet broadcast had something else tonight. Are Tom and Grace still around, or has the Dog died? (Dan Malloy, KA1RDZ, Sept 12, ODXA yg via DXLD) there is a Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_King that says the series was revived in 2006. I loved the show, and would be happy to hear more of it. ef (Eric Flodén, BC, ibid.) Wasn't it called "Dead Dog Cafe"? I loved the bit about wilderness golf ;) Funniest show on the CBC since Dr Bundolo's Pandemonium Medicine Show, which was my absolute favourite in the '70's. The Royal [Canadian] Air Farce was much better on radio as well, back in Dave Broadfoot's day (Dan Murray, Brampton ON, ibid.) Originally Café, most recent series in the City. AFAIK it is out of produxion and not on the air, but would be great to have it back. The definition of deadpan. I believe it was slipped in by truncating Sounds Like Canada by 15 minutes on Thursdays. Of course, under current management, it could never be on RCI/SW (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA. Canada's first television station? CBFT-TV, Montreal, Quebec, September 6th, 1952. 73. Good DXing (Dave Sinclair, Vancouver, B.C., WTFDA via DXLD) Isn`t it CBFT, without the -TV? Like US stations with four-letter calls ending in TV, don`t really have or need a -TV suffix, altho networks and other listers of affiliate callsigns don`t seem to understand this, e.g. ``KWTV-TV`` (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) Doug Smith may be able to weigh in on this better than I, but I don't believe the CRTC (or Industry Canada, as the case may be) treat the - FM and -TV suffixes the same way the FCC does. The "-FM" and "-TV" suffixes are assumed for ALL FM and TV stations north of the border, as I understand it. This only really seems to matter when you encounter rebroadcast transmitters. An example of that would be the Radio-Canada rebroadcast transmitters in southern Ontario, which can relay either CJBC 860 (première chaîne) or CJBC-FM 90.3 (Espace Musique) from Toronto. An FM rebroadcaster of CJBC 860 would take the form "CJBC-1-FM," while a rebroadcaster of CJBC-FM 90.3 would take the form "CJBC-FM-1." In practice, I suspect the only people who really care deeply about this level of callsign detail are Glenn, Doug, Bruce Elving and (maybe) me... s (Scott Fybush, NY, ibid.) Hey, I just repeat what the FCC and Industry Canada tell me(grin)... It's CBFT, no -TV. CBC TV stations are the exception to the "suffixes for all FM & TV stations" rule. Usually there is no -TV suffix. Usually. Exceptions: - CBC stations whose calls don't start with "CB". (IIRC CJBR-TV Rimouski is currently the only such station) - CBAT-TV in New Brunswick (maybe because it's the last CB#T call to be issued? - CBC-owned relayers of privately-owned CBC affiliates, like CBCP-TV in Saskatchewan (actually I think the privately-owned CBC affiliates these stations were relaying have now been acquired by the CBC, but the relayers' calls haven't been changed yet). – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) ** CHINA. 7270 // 9750. Nei Menggu PBS. Hohhot. 1022-1028, 10 Sept., Non-Chinese language program (listed as Mongolian) with Chinese ID "Nei Menggu renmin guangbo diantai" at 1025. 9750 slightly cleaner signal, 7270 sounds a bit overmod (Dan Sheedy, Cardiff, CA, R75/Kiwa & 150' random WOR, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7270, PBS Nei Menggu (presumed), 1133-1203, Sept 12, with Mongolian programming, mostly talking, ToH 5 + 1 pips, weak, could not hear anything of Wai FM via RTM (Malaysia). Heard // 7210 (weak/under QRM) and 9750 (fair-poor, mixing with NHK). Very rare for me to be able to hear Wai FM under PBS, although I do see reports of them being heard (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 7280, CNR-1, 1206-1211, Sept 12, Chinese programming, strong signal, on top of a station that might have been in Chinese (Voice of Strait or SoH?). This is to jam the Sound of Hope, which is scheduled for 1100-1300. Heard // 5030 and 6030 (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. CRI 60th Birthday Quiz --- Prizes: Sixty prize winners will be chosen from those who correctly participate in the quiz. Each of them will get ONE of the prizes listed below. Tecsun world band radio (5) VIP card for eLong.com (10) Passport holder (20) Radio with flashlight (25) Contest Dates: The contest ends on October 10, 2007. For online entry visit http://english.cri.cn/tools/online/criquiz60/ (via Jaisakthivel, Chennai, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. WEAKNESSES IN CHINA'S INTERNET FIREWALL? New study investigates China's internet firewall and "discovered that it’s least effective when many Chinese are online at once, and also that the idea of the firewall is often more potent than the firewall itself." Digital Trends, 13 September 2007. "The government uses the pretext of watching people to encourage them to censor themselves because they think they're being watched." Computerworld, 12 September 2007. "We found that sometimes [it takes a few hops within China to get blocked], up to 13 hops. Some paths weren't filtered at all." eWeek, 12 September 2007. "On about 28% of the paths into China's net tested by the researchers, blocking failed altogether suggesting that web users would browse unencumbered at least some of the time." BBC News, 12 September 2007. "The work will be presented at the Association for Computing Machinery Computer and Communications Security Conference in Alexandria, Va., Oct. 29-Nov. 2, 2007." UC David press release, 11 September 2007. "Last week, ahead of China's Communist Party Congress next month, government officials reportedly took aim at a handful of interactive, user-generated Chinese Web 2.0 sites, shutting down the Internet data servers that support them. This news comes from Free Radio Asia, which, surprise, isn't available here. That hasn't stopped Chinese bloggers from buzzing about it." SFGate, 11 September 2007. Chinese official says the "United States and other Western countries use advanced technology 'to create an information hegemony' and relay unfavorable news from China, raising the risk of social instability. These countries 'have made the Internet a very important channel to infiltrate our politics, strengthening the delivery of Western democracy and values,' he added. 'More and more frequently, they organize writers to create bad information, exaggerating things that are inharmonious with our development and raise the specter of the China threat on the international scene.'" Washington Post, 12 September 2007. Posted: 13 Sep 2007 (See http://www.kimandrewelliott.com/index.php?id=2284 for linx to these 7 stories, via DXLD) ** CHINA [and non]. DISNEY VIOLATES CHINESE LABOUR LAWS: REPORT Disney: too draconian even for the Chicomms! http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=070912080154.wha6lkg6&show_article=1 (AFP via Greg Hardison, CA, DXLD) ** CUBA. Another check of RHC`s new 13760, Sept 12 at 1402: it and the mixing product on 13720 were audible again during frequency announcement, to which 13760 has indeed been added, but 9600 has not been removed, despite our pointing out that it goes off reliably over an hour earlier, at 1300. Also plugged upcoming Mesa Redonda this date at 2230 on 9820 and 6000 about --- guess what? ``Los 5 Héroes``!! Now what would Cuba do if it caught 5 Americans, especially gusanos, spying inside Cuba? Don`t ask! (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Información facilitada por Yandys. Saludos amigo, si puede, publíqueme este mensaje, un abrazo. Yandys Radio Florida (Camagüey, Cuba) Frecuencia: 104.5 MHZ (FM) 250 Watts Emisora Radio Florida, creada el 2 de noviembre de 1969. Actualmente nuestro horario de transmisión se extiende de 7:00 de la mañana a 11:00 de la noche [UT -4/-5], con una programación variada que incluye dramatizados, programas destinados al público infantil y juvenil, revistas de variedades, informativas y de facilitación social y espacios destinados a la difusión de música latinoamericana y caribeña, mexicana y de concierto. La tira de programación incluye boletines informativos y un noticiero titulado "Acontecer". El colectivo de realizadores lo integran un total de 48 trabajadores, de ellos, siete periodistas, 9 directores de programa, 15 guionistas, 7 locutores e igual número de técnicos de audio, a los que se le suma el personal de apoyo y de servicio. Sitio Web: http://www.radioflorida.co.cu Correo Electrónico: radioflorida @ enet.cu RADIO VARADERO 98.1 FM, 250 watts Cumplió su 2do año la nueva Radio Varadero este 22 de agosto. Hace ya exactamente dos años los pobladores de Varadero y zonas aledañas pueden escuchar la programación de 12 horas de La Nueva 98.1 FM. Antiguamente era la señal de Radio Taino Varadero, ahora la nueva emisora de radio ubicada en Calle 12, abarca una producción diversa para todas las edades, y se puede escuchar según reportes de sintonías en la zona del centro de la isla y litoral norte de la habana en horas de la noche. Este es parte de nuestro equipo de trabajo, aunque recientemente se han incorporado otros compañeros. De izquierda a derecha: Yasmany Salgado, Odalys Miranda, Bárbara Carriera, Maritza Tejera, Madelín Pérez, Yadelis Mirabal y Adonis Escanes. PROGRAMACIÓN [UT -4 now, -5 winter, unless stays on UT -4] Lunes-Viernes 9 a 9.59 am Aquí Ahora --- Informativo 10.00 a 12.29 pm Sonido Azul --- Revista de Variedades 12.30 a 12.39 pm Noticiero Radio Varadero --- Noticiario 12.40 a 12.59 pm Propuestas 98 --- Cartelera de la Estación 1.00 a 1.29 pm Noticiero Nacional de Radio --- Noticiero Nacional 1.30 a 2.59 pm A toda Cuba le gusta --- Musical Monotemático 3.00 a 5.59 pm Discotarde --- Discoteca Musical 6.00 a 6.39 pm Noticiero Provincial --- Noticiero Provincial 6.40 a 6.59 pm Propuestas 98 --- Cartelera de la Estación 7.00 a 8.59 pm Conexión 98 --- Programa de Participación Sábados 9.00 a 12.59 pm Mañana en Hicacos --- Revista Cultural 1.00 a 1.29 pm Noticiero Nacional de Radio --- Noticiero Nacional 1.30 a 2.29 pm Confidencias --- Revista de Facilitación para la Mujer y la Familia 2.30 a 5.59 pm Entre Amigos --- Revista de Variedades para los trabajadores del Municipio 6.00 a 6.39 pm Noticiero Provincial --- Noticiero Provincial 6.40 a 6.59 pm Propuestas 98 --- Cartelera Dominical 7.00 a 8.59 pm Conteo Mega --- Hit Parade-Escala Musical Semanal Domingos 9.00 a 12.44 pm Show Latino --- Musical Latino y humorístico 12.45 a 12.59 pm Actualidad Deportiva --- Revista Deportiva Semanal 1.00 a 1.29 pm Noticiero Nacional --- Noticiero Nacional 1.30 a 2.59 pm Pretextos--- Programa de Medio Ambiente, Ciencia y Técnica 3.00 a 6.59 pm Proyecto Móvil --- Revista Juvenil 7.00 a 7.29 pm Resumen 98 --- Resumen Informativo Semanal 7.30 a 8.59 pm Ondas del Domingo --- Revista de participación (via Ing. Yandys Cervantes Rodríguez, WebMaster. Sede Universitaria Municipal. Buey Arriba. Granma. Cuba, ycervantesr @ sbueyarriba.udg.co.cu via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA [non]. Hello Glenn, at 0113 Wednesday I heard what was announced as R. Pontifica in Spanish. Thought I heard Cuba mentioned. Couldn't find anything in WRTH. Most of the program was talk with some kind of chanting at 0145 w/heavy QRN. Thought I heard R. República mentioned also. YL singing, 0157 announcements with short musical fanfare and off at 0159. Your thoughts? 73 de (Jerry Ervine, KC5YRE, McAllen TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I have never heard of a Radio Pontífica, but once I know the frequency, maybe I can offer an opinion (gh to Jerry, via DXLD) Hi Glenn, R. Pontifica, 6155.0 at 0113 UT 12 Sept 2007, Spanish talk and music. ID at 0130 (ésta es R. Pontifica). Very low power or audio, heavy QRN. Approx. 0145 R. República mentioned the YL singing. 0157 announcements then musical fanfare, possible NA, 0159 off with no ID. Cuba mentioned once or twice during program (Jerry Ervine, KC5YRE, McAllen TX, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, certainly R. República via UK. Maybe Pontífica or something like that was the name of a program on it (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. R. Amanecer Internacional was on late again Sept 13, on 6025, noted at 0620 with lite gospel music, 0622 talk in Spanish about sunlight taking 8 minutes to get here, and then incidence of skin cancer: Adventist obsession with health matters (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ECUADOR. A circular from HCJB's German section, issued on Aug 30, says that they hope to continue the transmissions from Pifo to Europe beyond the planned deadline. So far they were supposed to stop by the end of September to allow the dismantling of the last remaining antenna for transmissions to Europe until yearend. But now it appears that the construction of the new Quito airport will be delayed by several months. Thus HCJB will negotiate with the airport operator how long this big antenna can stay. Probably it will be possible to continue the transmissions to Europe for some more months. Any reception reports for these transmissions, either AM or DRM, will be helpful here (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY [non]. Noticed DW in // on 17800 and much weaker 17770, Sept 13 at 1335, but a slight reverb between them due to different sites. Per Aoki this is Hausa, via Rwanda and Portugal, respectively: 17770 DEUTSCHE WELLE 1300-1357 1234567 Hausa 500 150 Sines POR 17800 DEUTSCHE WELLE 1300-1400 1234567 Hausa 250 310 Kigali RRW (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. DRM on LW: see DIGITAL BROADCASTING ** HAWAII. 880, KHNR-HI, Honolulu, WAS: silent ex-870, NOW: talk, news // FM again 1370, KUPA-HI, Pearl City, WAS: silent, NOW: Fox Sports Radio 1460, KHRA-HI, Honolulu, WAS: silent, NOW: Korean again 1570, KUAU-HI, Ha'iku, WAS: Protestant talk and teaching, "Praise Music", NOW: silent pending transmitter move (Dale Park, HI, IRCA DX Monitor Sept 15 via DXLD) ** INDIA. BIG FM SURAT INSTALLS SINGLE FREQUENCY RADIOS IN AUTO- RICKSHAWS http://indiantelevision.com/mam/headlines/y2k7/sep/sepmam54.php In an attempt to increase their listenership base, Big FM has installed single-frequency radio sets in 1000 auto-rickshaws in Surat. Through the promotional activity, the station aims to cater to 10,000 commuters being ferried by the auto-rickshaws on a daily basis. The activity is part of Big FM's plans of reaching out to every fifth Indian across the country, every third urban Indian and one in every eight Indian in the rural areas. Big FM Surat station director Hitesh Budhbhatti said, "In the city of Surat, the 75,000 auto-rickshaws are a boon for public transport and are most frequently used. Installation of single-frequency radio sets in these auto-rickshaws works as an excellent sampling exercise for the station. Through this, commuters can enjoy wholesome entertainment put together through our programming mix when traveling. "We saw a great marketing opportunity and are making the best of it. We are not just restricting to auto-rickshaws, but we are also putting up single-frequency radio danglers at public places including multiplexes, hotels and restaurants as part of our marketing plans," he said (via Jaisakthivel, dx_india yg via DXLD) Hope this doesn`t catch on in the US (gh, DXLD) ** INDONESIA. Fuerte terremoto y riesgo de tsunami --- Saludos cordiales, cuando son las 1250 UT, acabo de escuchar por el canal de TV Cuatro, (España), que se ha producido un fuerte terremoto en Indonesia y existe fuerte riesgo de tsunami. Habrá que estar atentos a la zona (José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070912/ap_on_re_as/indonesia_earthquake No SW left in Padang, anyway. Indeed no SWBC anywhere in Sumatera, per WRTH, page 245, SS or SU station keying (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) 11785, Voz de Indonesia, 1720-1725, captada el 12 de septiembre con emisión constante de la cuña de identificación en inglés acompañada del mismo segmento musical, por lo tanto sin servicio en español, SINPO 44444. Cuando son las 1735 se observa que a cesado la cuña de emisión, en estos momentos está emitiendo en indonesio, locutora con comentarios y música. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, ibid.) This morning I heard V of Indonesia from Jakarta on 9525.0 in English by YL. ID at 1450 then music. 1457 OM English, music bridge, 1500 YL with ID. Into Spanish with music. OM Spanish with news, etc. More talk with music in background, pos[sible; itively?] QRM. Frequency and time not listed in WRTH. 73 de (Jerry Ervine, KC5YRE, McAllen TX, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Yes, they have been active lately on 9525 in our mornings. Surprised they had Spanish at 1500 UT; that`s supposed to be at 1700. I also had them in Korean as scheduled before 1400 Sept 12. Maybe the quake jarred their clox two hours off? Also Korean before 1400 Sept 13 (Glenn Hauser, OK, ibid.) VOI with Holy Qur`an program on 9524.97 kHz, and dull heterodyne of CRI in Russian on even 9525.00 at 1400-1500 UT Sept 13. No Ramadan, rather modern South Sea music at 1700-1800 UT. 1700-1800 UT VOI Jakarta Cimangis in Spanish on 2 frequencies! 9524.97 kHz S=5, and more comfortable listening on 11784.86 kHz S=8-9. And in Google Earth: 6 23'35.18" S, 106 51'43.00" E http://www.flashearth.com/?lat=-6.393106&lon=106.862241&z=17.1&r=0&src=ggl 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDONESIA. Morning 75 meter DX --- Not the ham variety, but broadcast. I was listening this morning from 6:50-7:15 am Central / 1150-1215 UT and noted the following on an ICF-2010 and its whip antenna: 3977, Radio Republik Indonesia outlet at Pontianak assumed the one here through some heavy ham QRM; music and language were definitely like the RRI outlets I used to hear all the time when I lived in California. It also had that characteristic muddy "Indo modulation." Despite being listed for 3976, this signal seemed to peak on 3977. Location derived from 2007 Passport to World Band Radio, one of four books --- along with the Bible, Qu'ran, and Popular Mechanics Illustrated Guide to Home Improvement --- that I consider to be divinely inspired and therefore inerrant (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX, Sept 13, http://topsecrettourism.com ABDX via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL WATERS. Re: A CELEBRATION OF OFFSHORE RADIO The event was recorded by Rob Olthoff and a 90 minute DVD is now available for just £5 or 8 euros; more details at: http://www.offshore-radio.de/smc.htm (Mike Barraclough, BDXC-UK via DXLD) First pages of photos from Aug 4th now on the site! http://www.radiolon don.co.uk (Mary Payne, Director, RADIO LONDON Ltd, via Mike Terry, ibid.) There are many pictures of Saturday's event also interesting information, it was a superb day - (Mike Barraclough? ibid.) The Radio Academy site now has audio of the event available for download: http://www.radioacademy.org.uk/record.jsp?type=event&ID=81 (Mike Barraclough, ibid.) ** IRAN. 9544.94 odd, IRIB Tehran Albanian service noted at 1830-1928 UT, totally ahead of DWL Sines German to EUR on 9545. \\ Sirjan 9570 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Sept 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAN [and non]. I heard them Sept. 11 (Sept. 12 UT, 0130-0230) with their comments on the 9/11 anniversary. They're still going with the various and sundry conspiracy theories, like the CIA did it for Israel, 3000 Jews didn't show up for work that day, stuff that's long since been debunked. If you missed it on VOIRI, don't despair. You can probably hear it from one of the radio reverends on WWCR most evenings (Dan Malloy, KA1RDZ, ODXA yg via DXLD) How they see us: Obsessed with Iranian nukes http://www.theweekmagazine.com/news/articles/news.aspx?ArticleID=2268 quotes VOIRI, etc. (via gh, DXLD) ** IRAN [non]. UCRANIA, 6245, Radio Zamaneh, 1840-, tentativa el 12 de septiembre, se aprecia sin emisión. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. Log of Kol Israel, Sept 12: 1800-1830 Amharic 11590.05 9344.97 1800-1900 Hebrew 13675.00 1830-1845 Tigris 11590.04 9344.97 1845-1900 Hungarian 11590.04 9344.97 1900-2000 Russian 15639.95 11590.04 9400.00 (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, Sept 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ISRAEL. 6970, Galei Zahal, 1841-1845, captada el 12 de septiembre en idioma hebreo con emisión de música pop local, locutor con comentarios y saludo en hebreo, SINPO 44333. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. CHANGES TO THE BROADCAST AREAS OF RADIO JAPAN http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/info_body_e.html The following changes to the language services and broadcast areas will come into effect from 1 October 2007. There will also be related changes to air times and frequencies. Click here for the new frequency chart effective from 1 October. http://www.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/english/freq/all_e.pdf Please also note that the annual frequency changes will come into effect from 28 October. A new frequency chart will be issued around 20 October, and displayed on this website. The main changes from 1 October will be: *Discontinuation of services in German, Italian, Malaysian and Swedish (The Internet pages of these 4 language services will also be closed) [is “Malaysian” a language?] *Discontinuation of the Japanese service to Europe, North America, and Hawaii *Discontinuation of the English service to the Asian Continent, Middle East, North Africa, Latin America and Russian Far East *Discontinuation of the French service to Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa *Discontinuation of the Spanish service to Europe Beware, the top half of this pdf is the new schedule, while the bottom half is the old pre-Oct. 1 schedule. The new frequency chart from Oct. 1, in pdf will not copy properly; anyhow we re-arrange it to present all the remaining English broadcasts, hoping we have not made any mistaxe in handwriting notes and then retyping them. Note that English DOES continue to Europe and North America, altho contracted to 30 or even 20 minutes, no more 60s. Will this leave any time for feature programming, or just news and news-related? Also continues to C&S Africa, Oceania, Hawaii on a reduced scale; still quite a bit to SE and SW Asia, which apparently is not the same as Middle East! 0000-0020 SEAs 17810 & 13650, Eu 5960-UK, ENAm 6145-C 0500-0530 SEAs 17810, SWAs 15325, SAf 9725-G, Eu 5975-UK, WNAm 6110-C 0900-0930 SEAs 11815, SWAs 15590, Oc 11890, Haw 9825 1200-1230 SEAs 13660, Oc 9625, Eu 17600-UAE, ENAm 6120-C 1310-1340 SWAs 11985 [sic odd time, not clear why] 1400-1430 SEAs 7200, SWAs 11985, CAf 17580-A, Eu 13630-UK, ENAm 11705-C 2200-2220 Oc 13640 A=Ascension, C=Canada, G=Gabon, UK=UK, UAE=UAE; others Japan direct. 0000 UT is given as the last broadcast to Europe, and the first to North America. Does this mean program content will be one day apart and not //? So in NAm, we shall still have Canadian relays at 05, 12 and 00 UT, fairly convenient times, and add 1400 on 11705, which until now has been only in Japanese. That one should be a big improvement in our mornings. No changes in the Sackville relays are expected for B-07, staying at the same UT after we are off DST. Hawaiians will have to stay up till local 11:30 pm to hear the only English broadcast intended for them. Europeans will have no evening broadcast, but instead at 02, 07, 14 and 16 CEST. All but one of these are via UK sites, which means skipping over the UK; the only broadcast which should be OK in the UK itself is the 1300 BST on 17600 via UAE; UK also might get Sackville off the back on 6110 better at 0600 BST than 5975-UK. Central, if not South America, may be able to get some adequate signals from the Canadian relays to E&W North America (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** JAPAN. Morning 75 meter DX --- Not the ham variety, but broadcast. I was listening this morning from 6:50-7:15 am Central/1150-1215 UT and noted the following on an ICF-2010 and its whip antenna: 3925, Radio Nikkei was strong here throughout with Japanese talk by a man; signal peaked very nicely toward the end of the listening period. (Harry Helms W5HLH, Smithville, TX EL19, Sept 13, http://topsecrettourism.com ABDX via DXLD) ** MEXICO. Re 7-111: Hi Glenn, In 2005 I was able to regularly hear XERTA, but after they changed the location of their antenna in Jan-Feb of 2006, I rarely heard them at a decent level. Hope this antenna change will result in better reception (Ron Howard, CA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Traces of XEYU again after missing for a week or two, Sept 13 at 1340, very weak carrier and traces of audio on 9599.3 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO [non]. Evangeliums-Rundfunk, the German branch of TWR, has cancelled its transmission 0345-0415 on 1467, effective Sep 1. However, an announcement is still on air or was on air at least until Sep 10. Wording of this loop: "Good morning, I'm Andreas Ohrich, editor-in-chief of ERF-Radio. With just a small flick you can hear us again via mediumwave 1539 kHz or the Astra satellite, because from now on the expensive airing of our Aufgeweckt programme via Radio Monte Carlo no longer exists. So please retune to mediumwave 1539 kHz or the Astra satellite where you will hear our Aufgeweckt programme after the news and before that at 5:45 Bibel heute. Retune now to mediumwave 1539 kHz or the Astra satellite and you will get much more programming than before." On Sep 1 the ERF transmission on 1467 did overlap with Zone 80 Azur, indicating that Col de la Madone is in use for Zone 80 Azur rather than Roumoules (Summary of various postings in the A-DX list via (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 13, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MONACO. Re 7-111: MONACO RADIO WILL CLOSE THE SW TRANSMISISONS? Another marine radio station (the 3AC, Monaco Radio) will close the short waves transmissions? Some day ago a Principate of Monaco's newspaper has published an article that say that Monaco telecom has intention to close the transmissions in short waves of the 3AC to the end December in order to upgrade the own activity on the fixed & mobile telephony, Internet and TV. The article is available in integral version (in French language) on mine blog with the image of the QSL and the clip audio with ID of Monaco Radio. http://swli05639fr.blogspot.com/ 73's (Francesco Cecconi, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Hello from Hilversum, It has been quite a hectic week, with the earthquake in Indonesia and the tsunami warning occupying a lot of our attention here at RNW. Our Indonesian service went live as information was coming in on Wednesday, and asked listeners to send an SMS message if they had any additional details to report. One of the SMS messages was from a listener in Java who wanted to know if his son in Sumatra was safe, as he couldn't contact him. My Indonesian colleagues were able to contact the son, and interviewed him on the air. The father sent another SMS to say he'd heard the interview, and thanked RNW for putting his mind at rest. A reminder that even international broadcasters can sometimes play a role in affecting the lives of individual listeners. RNW website gets a makeover --- If you've looked at our website in the past couple of days, you'll have noticed that the Home Page looks a little different. Our English website has now adopted the same style as our Dutch website. English web editor Theo Tamis is still working on some further refinements, designed to enable you to find more content direct from our Home Page http://www.radionetherlands.nl/ It's a work in progress, so if you have any comments, positive or negative, send them to letters @ rnw.nl (Andy Sennitt, Media Network newsletter Sept 13 via DXLD) ** OKLAHOMA. HD radio stations, per iBiquity: http://www.ibiquity.com/stationlist_hdradio.php?state=OK&sortBy=StnFreq#stationlist (Glenn Hauser, Enid, DX LISTENING DIGEST) And access any other state ** RUSSIA. Se aprecia en la web de La Voz de Rusia que ya ha sido actualizada con las nuevas frecuencias para España. http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=spa&w=90&p= 2000-2100 Para España en 7310 y 9480. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Sept 12, Sangean ATS 909, Radio Master A-108, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SAINT HELENA. RSH Latest News: To celebrate R St Helena 40 years - a new R St Helena Day will take place in December 2007! More on this later! (from http://www.sthelena.se/radioproject/latest.htm September 12 via DXLD) ** SPAIN. RNE Radio 3: New program schedule went into effect last week, displayed at: http://www.rtve.es/rne/r3/pr/parrilla.htm There's also an alphabetical list of programs and some air times at: http://www.rtve.es/rne/r3/programacion.htm (Mike Cooper, GA, Sep 11, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** TURKEY. Just finished listening to VOT in the English language on 5975 kHz. Mostly vocals and musicals. Musical ID at 0349 +. This is a real surprise to me and it was like hearing from a long lost friend. I hope to listen to 5975 at 0300 more often. 0335-0349+ UT, 5975, 4 3 3 strong signal, moderate atmospherics, fair to satisfactory, 13 Sept. With my best wishes (George J. Poppin, San Francisco CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U K. THE ONE WEEKEND YOU CAN VISIT BUSH HOUSE. "Open House Weekend lasts from Sept. 15 to 16, and is the one chance of the year where the public can tour iconic buildings such as The Gherkin, the Foreign Office, the Bank of England and the BBC World Service. Best of all, the event is free." http://www.thestreet.com/s/ex-pat-yankees-guide-to-london-on-a-budget/funds/goodlife/10378531.htmlpuc=googlefi (The Street.com, 11 September 2007 via kimandfrewelliott.com via DXLD) Bush House tour includes photo exhibit of war images. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/history/story/2007/09/070911_open_house.shtml (BBC World Service website, 11 September 2007. Posted: 12 Sep 2007, ibid.) ** U K. Radio 2 celebrates 40 years on-air (Edited copy from Radio Today) BBC Radio 2 have revealed details of their special programmes which will be created to celebrate 40 years on-air, to be broadcast on Sunday 30th September when the station will be celebrating along with little brother Radio 1 and Radios 3 and 4. "Smashie And Nicey" will record a special Pick of the Pops and the network will air an edition of the Kenny Everett Radio Show from the archives. Paul Hollingdale, Ed Stewart and Michael Aspel will also make appearances. The nation's most popular radio station is also inviting listeners to vote for their Ultimate Icon - an enduring personality that they believe best represents popular culture over the past four decades. Read the full story and see the day's schedule at: http://radiotoday.co.uk/news.php?extend.2437 (via Mike Terry, BDXC-UK via DXLD) ** U S A. Willis online. The Voice of America announces http://www.voanews.com/english/About/2007-09-11-willis-page.cfm that it has launched a Willis Conover web page http://www.voanews.com/english/About/2007-Willis-Conover.cfm (Posted: 11 Sep 2007, kimandrewelliott.com via DXLD) ** U S A. Re 7-111: There is a typo in my WSLA logging message. The frequency for KFRA should be 1390, not 1590. My apologies for the typo. 73 - (J. D. Stephens, AL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) I already fixed `WLSA` to WSLA (gh, DXLD) ** U S A. [Re Florida raids Haitian FM pirate] I wish R.I. had that law. There's another Haitian pirate here on 107.7 in mono as well as a pirate on 103.1 which operates on the weekend, jamming WODS/103.3- Boston. I've been able to triangulate the 103.1 pirate. Also in Brockton, MA there's at least one Haitian pirate on 92.1 in mono blocking WPRO-FM/92.3-Providence. Is the F.C.C asleep?! That 103.1 has been around quite some time. Over a year ago (maybe closer to two) this pirate had me tricked into thinking I had Maine. I had others in my area check and there was no tropo at the time. I have not run into the 107.7 one yet. Even longer. Maybe 2002. I think he's also broadcast at times on 90.1, 90.7 (historically and now), and 102.1. It's always strongest by x.6 [Exit 6] on [Interstate] 195 & I live a mile from his location. It's 19/21 Winsor Av. in E.P. [East Providence]. You can see the antenna on his roof. 73, (Jay, N1WVQ/V31VQ/WQBI410, ABDX via DXLD) ** U S A. From the Oregon Media Insiders dated 8/1/07: KOPT radio in Eugene let all of its local staff go today. Brian Shaw, his producer, and the 3 news folks, Sarah Ferren, Sean Schoppe, and Rick Little. They couldn't sell the station. Their news department had just come off winning best news for the 2nd year in a row, and nabbed all kinds of other awards as well. Rick Little is probably the best news guy in the market too. But none of it mattered, proving that even in a liberal town like Eugene, you can't sell Air America. Too bad for those guys. Word is station will broadcast syndicated shows, and try and find someone to buy it. If they can’t find any takers, kiss it good bye. (Pat Martin, Seaside, IRCA DX Monitor Sept 13 via DXLD) ** U S A. Dennis Gibson sends along the following: http://www.merrag.com/lowpoweram.htm and http://svartifoss2.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.exe/genmen/uls/uls_call_res.hts?db_id=19&callsign=WQHI686&application_id= MERRAG and the Montecito Fire District operate Montecito Information Radio (MIR) at 1370 KHz on your AM dial. MIR is a low-power AM radio station that you can receive on your AM car radio or any other common portable radio that you may already own. MIR's signal covers all of the area encompassed by the Montecito Fire District, and is best received with an AM radio that has an external antenna attached. MIR will broadcast 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Currently, MIR is a temporary station established to assist with information on the current ZACA Fire conditions and will provide updated information on conditions of vital importance to the Montecito community. The current 1370 AM location is temporary, but Montecito Fire District has applied for a permanent FCC license and plans to have it operational soon. Montecito Fire District and MERRAG will announce it's permanent location once it is established. During emergencies, this information may include evacuation routes, expected fire direction, news about utility outages, and so forth. During normal times MIR broadcasts programming of general interest to Montecitans such as up to date localized weather forecasts, road conditions and hazard abatement projects. Please tune up 1370 KHz on your AM radio right now. Once the permanent location has been established, Montecito Fire Protection District will make a formal announcement of it's location on your AM dial. At that time, make it a point to store MIR on one of your radio's presets so that you will be able to tune in immediately in case of emergency (via Dennis Gibson, IRCA DX Monitor Sept 15 via DXLD) = just east of Santa Bárbara on 101 (gh) 890, KPD792, CA, San Diego, 8/5 1310 [EDT], TIS, “This is AM 890 Cabrillo Information Center.” (Mike Sanburn, Bellflower, CA, car radio, DX’ing from San Diego near Pt. Loma Lighthouse, IRCA DX Monitor Sept 15 via DXLD) 1000, WPMF428, CA, Barstow, 8/22 1430 [EDT], Caltrans TIS good on car radio while driving through area with mentions of calls and “AM 1000.” Signs on side of road mentioned to tune to 1000 for further info on road conditions (Robert Wien, Fontana, CA, DXing on I-15 between Barstow and Baker, CA on car radio, IRCA DX Monitor Sept 15 via DXLD) 1610, TIS, ID, Pocatello, 8/26 1230 [EDT], while driving through the area on I-90 we heard Idaho State Univ. TIS with a one minute loop promoting the university. They gave website http://www.isu.edu and ID at end of loop “This is KAM(or N)D-605 1610 AM.” Heard 10 miles north to 10 miles south of Pocatello (John & Nancy Johnson, DXing on the road, 2006 Chevy Trailblazer radio, IRCA DX Monitor Sept 15 via DXLD) ** U S A. WTEN/WCDC Sign off video --- This is the best Sign Off I have ever seen. Very Well produced. I love the Grass Valley 4S Switcher. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hltnN4YzADU&mode=related&search= (Jeff Rostron, Springfield MA, WTFDA via DXLD) That was very cool. I have not seen a TV signoff since I was a kid. I remember an announcer reading the same kind of information and a patriotic song, but never saw video footage of the station. Thanks for sharing the link (Mike Glass, Indianapolis, ibid.) I don`t see a date on this one, but something strikes me as possibly anachronistic. The are affiliated with ABC/Cap Cities, yet WCDC has DT, as shown below the final color bars. Did DT really start while Cap Cities still owned ABC? Also interesting (to me anyway), the visual/aural power ratios: for 10 it is 200/22 kW, and for 19 it is 223/30, i.e. approx. 9.1:1 and 7.4:1. Why? Who decides what ratio is to be used? I was thinking 10:1 is pretty standard these days, altho I can well remember when it was 2:1 and DX station audio would come booming in. Mexico kept the lower ratio longer than the US. I notice that the W9WI database, despite all its other details, does not even mention aural powers, so one cannot study or compare today`s ratios. Also, I suppose this is n/a when it comes to DTV, or is it? BTW, Youtube conveniently groups a number of other s/on/off recordings along with this one, starting with WOIO-19, and from 10/14/83, KTHI- 11. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) I will check on how old this sign off is. By looking at the master control I noticed the board is a Grass Valley Group 4S that was from around 1980 or so. I have a friend who worked there in the Cap Cities days but when DTV came along they were Young Broadcasting of Albany. I do remember that sign-off clip airing in 2004 on WCDC 19. I will check in the early morning if they still fly bars at night but I doubt it as ABC now had the WNN feed (Jeff Rostron, Springfield MA, ibid.) WTIC 3 Hartford first sign on 1957: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv7FsJT2cjs&mode=related&search= (Kevin Redding, ex-RI, ABDX via DXLD) I watched their first sign-on and program that day. The big celebrity on hand was Ed Begley, a long since deceased actor whose son, Ed Begley, Jr. followed in his dad's footsteps, and is a big advocate of solar power, electric cars, etc. I watched them sign on from 90 miles west of Hartford, in Saugerties, NY. At the time, we could only see one station, WRGB in Schenectady, N.Y, so having another station to see was a big deal. The antenna was a Finco F-4, a collinear array. 73, (Chris Johnson, K2FO, in rocky northern S.C., ibid.) 1957 seems rather late for a TV station back east to have started up. We already had 3 TV stations in Albuquerque by 1954. Was the delay since Hartfordians were pulling in NYC? Oh yes, CT was a UHF pocket initially, tnx to unfortunate proximity to NYC (and Boston?). Here`s a timeline of CT broadcasting, which confirms WTIC-3 starting sometime in 1957. Not to be confused with the subsequent WTIC on channel 61, which however seems to trace its roots to WTIC-3 (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** U S A. EMMY AWARDS CAVE TO RELIGION POLICE -- PUBLIC DESERVES TO HEAR FULL TEXT OF GRIFFIN MONOLOGUE, SAYS ATHEIST CIVIL RIGHTS GROUP An Atheist civil rights group is calling for a boycott of the Emmy Awards if officials censor remarks by comedienne Kathy Griffin making light of stars who "thank Jesus" for their good fortune. The awards ceremony is scheduled for broadcast on the E! Channel on Saturday night. . . http://home.comcast.net/~lmunding/SEPT1207.pdf (AA via DXLD) How do we know what she will say, anyway? Playback? (gh) ** VENEZUELA. Hasta cuando, Dios mío --- Esta noche juega la Vinotinto en el estadio José Antonio Anzoátegui, en mi ciudad, pero cuando comenzaba el segundo tiempo, aparece una cadena nacional de radio y televisión y zas, se acabó el fútbol, aparece Chávez hablando huevonadas y dándole las gracias a Fidel Castro; ¿hasta cuándo será esta vaina? Ahora para saber quién ganó el encuentro, hay que esperar como 5 horas a que termine de hablar las mismas marisqueras de siempre. No es por nada, pero me parece que este carajo está enamorado de Fidel Castro (José Elías Díaz Gómez, Venezuela, Sept 12, noticiasdx yg via DXLD) Enough is enough, pre-empting s. ballgames!! (gh, DXLD) [luego:] Tanto la radio como la televisión tienen que pegarse a transmitir lo que habla ese señor porque si no, le quitan el permiso de transmisión, así que ni la radio se salva de estas cadenas. Justo estaba grabando el partido por Radio Anzoátegui y zas, cadena con todo, no hay escape, mi hermano. El archivo lo tengo cuando se corta la transmisión de radio y pasan a la cadena nacional. ¿Hasta cuándo aguantaremos esta vaina? La verdad es que no sé; los venezolanos estamos pasados de huevones (José Elías, ibid.) ** WESTERN SAHARA [non]. R. Nacional de la RASD, 6300, Sept 13 at 0603 with Qur`an, but sounding quite distinctive from the mainstream Arabic version; 0612 a bit of music, and then a brief lecture; no sign of RHC mixing product tho 6060 and 6180 were both on; perhaps 6060 was too weak to make the leapfrog at the moment. SINPO 35333 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 1181 carrier missing. This morning since before 10 am ET [1400 UT] and for over an hour now, the carrier on 1181 has not been detected. Since 8/18, this is the first time the carrier has not been detectable during checks I've made at various times of day and night. Once the carrier was heard to drop and then return three minutes later, but otherwise it has always been there. Using Spectrogram software has always shown a steady trace, this morning there is nothing. Even during periods when 1180 audio is all but silent, there is no trace. I'll continue to listen and watch, could be conditions, but seems unlikely (W. Curt Deegan, Boca Raton, (southeast) Florida, USA [Ten-Tec RX-320D; LFE H-800 Vertical; Spectrogram], 1501 UT Sept 12, IRCA via DXLD) [Later at 1520:] Like it was attached to the send key of my email client, no sooner had I sent my post than the 1181 carrier reappeared. Apparently it was conditions after all (Curt, ibid.) Had 1181 L&C this qth 12 SEP '07, ca. 1600L on SR-III. Will take a look today. As w/most Cubano BCB's, temp absences to be expected. 640 PRO last week, couple times, briefly blew its front porch light. z pvz mk fl (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key FL, Sept 13, IRCA via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. Number Radio Stations - sinister or not? From Wikipedia: ``Numbers stations are shortwave radio stations of uncertain origin. They generally broadcast voices reading streams of numbers, words, letters (sometimes using a phonetic alphabet), tunes or morse code.`` Video from KUTV at http://www.southgatearc.org/news/september2007/number_stations.htm (via Mike Terry, dxldyg via DXLD) I'm always amused by the use of words like "sinister" in this context. I have never been able to get worked up about spying. I was actually taught at university by a Russian spy. There was nothing sinister about her, except that she collected routine information and sent it back to Moscow. Her name was Lucia Petrovna. Most spying is boring. Only a handful get picked to do the really exciting stuff. The exact location of the numbers stations, and the significance of their output, is of course known only to those who need to know - and to a handful of very dedicated researchers who have amassed a lot of information which is fascinating from a radio perspective, but pretty low down the scale of importance in the spying business. There have been a few more exciting moments, such as the "poison tip umbrella" incident in London in 1978 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2636459.stm but this had very little to do with numbers stations (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) Hmmm, was she a spy when teaching you, or before or after? (gh) At the time. We realised that half way through the year because of some of the questions she asked about industrial establishments. The university knew, but she was not considered a threat. These days, the sort of information she wanted to know is freely available on the Internet. Remember, this was 35 years ago :-) The lady who replaced her the following year was someone who had been expelled from the USSR, but she knew a lot about how the system worked because her mother was still living in Moscow. She confirmed to us that her predecessor was working for the KGB. I often wonder if Lucia Petrovna had a shortwave radio, and if she ever made use of the numbers stations. I should have asked, but in those days I didn't know much about them (Andy Sennitt, ibid.) UNIDENTIFIED. 95.3, Perú, 2959 miles? Going over some old audio recordings and unidentified ID's, listening again to an unknown "Doble B 95.3". Surprisingly Google recently produced a website for such a station and it's in Junín, Perú. Nothing came up last year when I first researched this. This signal was heard on a good Es opening to the south July 13, 2006 that included multiple directions at the same time. Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba, Mexico, Honduras were all ID'ed within an hour of this unknown signal. The website has a live audio link but I cannot get it to come up on my computer. If anyone else tries and gets it to work, please let me know. The station ID'ed in both Spanish "Doble B" and again along with a female English voice "Double B 95.3". I don't recognize the song but it's English. Either AC or Christian? Originally I thought this might be a Mexico station running a special program but after hearing the EE voice "95.3" just the other day for the first time this has to be a station ID. I can't make out what else is said in the first Spanish ID. Something "radio". There's also a "Doble N" in Peru and a "Doble L" in Nicaragua and in also El Salvador according to the web and Jim's book. Perhaps the "Doble" is a common station name in Latin America and this is just an unlisted station on 1 hop Es. If this is Peru's "Doble B" it is 2959 miles to Junin from here. I have emailed the station with an audio clip and hopefully will get a reply. Even if it's not Peru. http://www.dobleb.tk/black.html (Randy KW4RZ Zerr, Fort Walton Beach, FL EM60qk, http://www.geocities.com/kw4rz, WTFDA via DXLD) The roar certainly fits with the tiger, but can we be sure it`s not ``W``, which sounds just like `doble B` (or doble V for that matter). W being a widespread group in Mexico and elsewhere? I`m not sure the English is saying `double B`, but maybe. Something strange about their website, too, as I got a warning it was trying to access my clipboard. Live audio would not come up here either. 73, (Glenn Hauser, ibid.) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ I know that you`re very busy, as I have always been highly impressed with your work. It has been a long time since I saw you last, probably the Grove Exhibition in Atlanta? 73 de (Jerry Ervine KC5YRE, McAllen TX) PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ Great TA audio link This has a simple list of Trans-Atlantic stations divided by country for easy linking to web audio when the TA signals are coming in. Very quick. Just found it. http://delicast.com/radio (Jim Renfrew, Holley NY, NRC-AM via DXLD) Axually it has linx to other worldparts, but very sparse in USA (gh) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ RAMADAN IMMINENT The month-long Muslim Feast of Ramadan is upon us. Please be sure to report any observed extended station schedules! 73, (Brandon Jordan, Memphis, TN USA, http://bcdx.org Sept 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) CONVENTIONS & CONFERENCES +++++++++++++++++++++++++ IBC: BROADCASTING IN THE FUTURE - INVOLVING AUDIENCES AND SHARING CONTENT | Report by Peter Feuilherade of BBC Monitoring at the International Broadcasting Convention (IBC) in Amsterdam on 11 September The electronic media industry gathered in Amsterdam this week for the 40th annual International Broadcasting Convention (IBC), Europe's biggest broadcasting trade fair. This year's event attracted a record 47,000 visitors. Speakers at several sessions during the IBC conference looked ahead to the future, sharing their views on current industry trends and potential changes in the international broadcasting landscape in the next decade. The most frequent predictions included the greater involvement of audiences through interactivity, and the ability to exchange content freely across a range of platforms and devices. Involving audiences The term "broadcasting" is dead, said Netherlands-based media consultant, journalist and producer Jonathan Marks. People are already thinking and talking about "programming" rather than conventional broadcasting to passive audiences. Broadcasters will have to work collaboratively with audiences and involve them even before programmes are produced, Marks said. "The future of media will be about sharing content," he added. His views were echoed by Wendy Hall, professor of computer science at the University of Southampton in the UK, who predicted that increasingly, "all our memories will be available digitally". Interactivity and sharing content will dominate the broadcasting industry, she said. "Traditional FM radio will be severely marginalized or dead by 2020," Marks forecast. He added: "In less than 10 years, 80 per cent of Europe's population will be always connected online, anywhere. And all major content will be available via this always-on network." Gary Shapiro, president of the influential US Consumer Electronics Association (CEA), outlined his vision of a future where flat-screen televisions would be everywhere, families would have a "media centre" in the home, high-definition television would have spread throughout the US and Europe, and news, entertainment and even adverts will be much more customized. "The concept of 'mass media' will be replaced by 'my media'," Shapiro said. In this media-rich future, people will pay more for high-quality premium entertainment, speakers at the IBC predicted. "Pay-TV will enjoy even more growth, especially for premium content. But fringe channels will also benefit from advertising revenues, because of better audience measurement," said Duane Varan, executive director of the Interactive Television Research Institute in Australia. "The future is sharing" The glut of digital information in the future, whether user-generated content (UGC) or produced by media companies, will make personal recommendations and collaborative filtering even more important. "We're stepping into a universe of infinite choice. But we don't have the capacity to process infinite information," Varan commented. Speakers agreed that professional broadcasters would not wither away, because most UGC posted on the web was of very low quality. Abe Peled, chairman and CEO at encryption specialists NDS, said that the media industry should put the threat from new technologies in perspective. "Every newspaper, let alone every trade journal, is talking about the death of TV as we know it. UGC is a threat, I admit, and ignoring any threat would be a big mistake," Peled said. "But taking the hype literally would be an even bigger mistake. "Add up all of US viewing minutes spent watching Google videos, or YouTube videos - that is the number of people and the time spent viewing over one month - and they would not reach the number who watched a single episode of Desperate Housewives!" Peled noted. "Professional story-telling will not go away... most UGC is useless generated content, because not everyone can tell a good story," Jonathan Marks argued. Summing up his vision of the global media scene a decade from now, he said: "I don't believe in the future of radio, TV and the web. I believe in the future of audio, visual and text on various platforms. The future is sharing stuff, but on which platforms and media depends on where you are in the world." Source: BBC Monitoring research 12 Sep 07 (via DXLD) RADIO EQUIPMENT FORUM +++++++++++++++++++++ RESCUE RADIO: NYC IS NOT PREPARED FOR ANOTHER 911 Re: ``The communications infrastructure of New York City is not prepared to face another 911 attack or any other truly catastrophic event.`` Every time I read about the whole "interoperability" issue and the need for more spectrum for public-service & emergency use, I keep thinking that the reason things seem to be such a mess now, as compared with 50 years ago, is that we've gone to all these incompatible digitalized systems on UHF. Didn't we HAVE wider-area coverage and simple cross-organization communications capabilities (using shared frequencies) already when the services used VHF analog? If they would simply return to what we used to have, and which was proven to work, and give up the encryption and trunking, wouldn't our systems be more reliable and less likely to fail in crises or disasters? Use the higher frequency digital transmissions for computer-data transfer only, and return voice to the tried & true technology of the mid-20th century. Wouldn't traditional VHF radios have worked in the WTC disaster and gotten the info to the firefighters and police when the modern systems failed to notify them to get out in time? (Will Martin, MO, Sept 12, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) DIGITAL BROADCASTING DRM: see also ECUADOR ++++++++++++++++++++ Re: Preliminary Report by Ken Fletcher regarding HFCC B07 Conference ``Why will DXing (eventually) be dead or nearly so? There is a strong clue to this, in Gareth Fosters' Article on Page 7 of Septembers' Communication. As DRM is increasingly adopted, presumably, DRM Multiplexes will be re-used at least to some extent, especially outside Primary Service Areas, on Long, Medium and Short Wave.`` And now guess what is done on LW, MW and SW as long as broadcasting exists? ``Several stations, will be making some unusual moves` Aha? I'm always eager for sexy news items... ``and one will be abandoning Shortwave to Europe in English altogether for this Frequency Season, using Medium Wave only Instead.`` I bet this is the BBC WS, scrapping what is left of their shortwave service to Europe after at least two downsizing steps. And I also bet the announcements in elegant BBC Newspeak are already written. The only other possibilities would be related to the Swedish 1179 transmitter. Either Radio Sweden will abolish shortwave to Europe, or RCI will cancel Hörby-5850 in favour of some airtime on 1179 (I understand that RCI is not on 1179 at present). In theory another possibility would be Voice of Russia, but I think this is a really unlikely one. ``We are promised (yet again!!) that suitable DRM receivers will become much more plentiful, by Christmas/New Year 2007-8.`` Who makes such statements? I'm not aware of such promises being made even by the DRM Consortium. ``If this works(?) this means 4 Speech Channels per 10 kHz, (though not possible for Music) in theory, at quality somewhere between Medium Wave and FM.`` The available bitrate on a 10 kHz wide shortwave signal are about 18 kbps, depending on the transmission mode. Splitting 18 kbps into four channels gives each of them 4.5 kbps. An audio quality "between mediumwave and FM" from 4.5 kbps? And on IFA 2008 we can expect the presentation of the perpetuum mobile, or what? ``The possible future difficulties regarding 26 MHz DRM Tests are acknowledged and indeed they are there, at least in part, to test out whether the 'theory' that they will be swamped when Short Wave Conditions improve with increasing Sunspot Counts in the next several years, is bourne out in practice.`` It is one of the objectives of the Hannover pilot project to try an automated frequency hopping, designed to avoid interferences. So far the transmitter is fixed on 26045, however. ``Believe it or not there is still enormous pressure on Short Waves, in fact some administrations, are now looking to return to Short Wave because Satellite Charges are escalating greatly.`` ??? Which broadcasting organization plans to cancel satellite services and to resume shortwave transmissions instead (and how will audio being fed to the leased transmitter sites)? All the best, (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Sept 12, DX LISTENING DIGEST) LONGWAVE WITH DIGITAL SOUND Ready for the digital future of radio: on behalf of Deutschlandradio, Media&Broadcast is equipping the Donebach longwave transmitter for digital operation with Digital Radio Mondiale. The advantage: better sound quality, even over thousands of kilometers. Want to know what's happening at home while you're on vacation? Want to hear German radio programs without crackling, flutter and other disruptions? It's no longer just a dream, because Media&Broadcast, Europe's biggest full-service provider in the radio and media industry, is busy digitally equipping a longwave transmitter. The facility in Donebach in Odenwald, which works on a frequency of 153 kHz, will soon be able to transmit the Deutschlandradio programming digitally. DRM was specially designed for the structural particularities on shortwave, mediumwave and longwave to increase their transmission quality and minimize susceptibility to disruption. The innovation approaches VHF performance. Listeners can continue to hear the programs from Donebach throughout Europe, but thanks to DRM, they can do so in stereo. Transmission at a distance of up to 5,000 kilometers The Donebach facility, which was constructed in 1966, disseminates Deutschlandradio programming, as well as special broadcasts such as programs from the Bundestag, at a transmission power of 500 kilowatts. The terrestrial transmission range is nearly 5,000 kilometers, a radius that DRM also maintains. Media&Broadcast is gradually reengineering the complete transmission network (six middlewave and three longwave facilities) for the customer (t-systems via Roberto Scaglione, Sicily, shortwave yg via DXLD) PURCHASED A NEW RCA 15" DIGITAL TV, REALLY LIKE IT!!!! [make that 19] HI Guys: The other night my Buddy Al, in St. Thomas, Ontario alerted me to a pretty good deal on a 15 Inch DIGITAL TV. I have been looking for a SMALLER sized TV with DIGITAL TUNER to use in my radio room/ham shack. Trying to find a SMALL set in CANADA, with a digital tuner is not easy. Lots of bigger sets with digital tuners, but I wanted something small. Wanted it just for DX'ing. I already have a 50 Inch HD for my Viewing Pleasure. The set in question is the RCA L15D20, which has all 3 tuners built in, Analog/Digital/QAM. It is an LCD Set, with a square picture. It is Not true HD, but will display stations that are in HD, with bars on the top and bottom of the screen. The picture quality is excellent. The analog and digital tuners appear to be quite sensitive. The set scans for stations, first ANALOG stations, then DIGITAL stations. Or, you can just enter any channel you want to watch with the remote. This includes digital stations. If for example you want to watch Cleveland WEWS 15 Digital, you just punch in 15.1, and you get the digital channel. If you want another sub channel, you just punch in the appropriate sub Channel, e.g., 15.2, or 15.3. The set displays PSIP information as well. If you want an analog station, you don't punch in the "." sub channel decimal. Channel 15 analog would just be 15 (not 15.1). Scanning thru the analog stations 2-69 is VERY Fast. Scanning thru DIGITAL Channels 2-69 is somewhat slower, about the same time my HUMAX tuner takes, but not nearly as fast as my US Digital tuner. It also has a built in SIGNAL meter for digital TV. This is very helpful when trying to zero in your beam for a specific station!! Once the scan looks through all the analog and digital stations, it puts all stations received (both analog and digital) on your viewing list. You can manually hide any stations you don't want on the list. The other feature I really like is, every time you do a re-Scan, it starts from scratch, and only lists stations it receives on that specific scan!! You don't have to clear out the old stuff. Another nice feature is, it will recognize DIGITAL signals that are present, but are not strong enough to decode, it will add them to your list of stations present, even though they didn't decode. It may just take a tweak of the antenna to make them strong enough to decode. This makes sure you don't MISS stations, that were weak on the first pass by!! The QAM tuner enables the set to receive SOME DIGITAL stations from Rogers Cable, even without having the set hooked up to a cable box, just plugged the Cable into the set, and received all the music (udio) stations, and it also received ON DEMAND MOVIES, that your neighbours are watching, and paying for!!!! Even the ones they "shouldn't be watching!!" HAHAHHA. We had some decent conditions to the west last night, and I was receiving most of the Detroit stuff, some Toledo, and north central Michigan stuff. The TV was purchased from "The Real Canadian Superstore", which is a division of the LOBLAWS grocery chain. Price on the set was $299 Canadian dollars, but it was on sale for $269, so not a bad price for Canada, especially when it fit all the criteria I was looking at, size, 3 tuners built in, etc. It is also stereo sound. I tried to find some reviews before I bought it, but found nothing. I don't know if this is a fairly new set???? or has been out for a while, but there's nothing written on it. Anyways, I am happy with it, and I can give the big screen set a rest now. This set is in my radio room, instead of having to run out to the family room to DX!! So, anyone located in Ontario, that is looking for a smaller sized, reasonably priced set, that has a DIGITAL TUNER, may want to check these out. Is there anyone else out there that has any experience with this model??? Or, does anyone know how long it has been on the market??? Being an LCD set, it takes up very little table space, and fits the bill exactly to my specs!! I'll take some photos of the digital stuff when we get some more good conditions. Pretty crappy today with all the rain . Forgot to Mention, The set can also be used as a COMPUTER MONITOR as well!!! This Set DOES NOT have the dreaded BLUE SCREEN of death!!! If no station present on analog, you get snow, not the blue screen (Robert S. Ross VA3SW, London, Ontario CANADA N6A5K1, WTFDA via DXLD) Rob, Thanks for the great review on this set. I've been thinking about looking for a unit very similar to this, too. So per your comments above, you can simply enter the digital channel number via the remote WITHOUT first having to scan all channels? If so, that's great! So many of the new DTV sets seem to REQUIRE a full channel scan before watching anything. This automatic feature drives me crazy, especially if you can't defeat it or somehow bypass it. Some of the sets scan the digital channels so slowly that tropo enhancement could be over by the time the scan is completed. Thanks in advance for any verification you can offer on this aspect of the set. Hopefully it is similar to the tuner in the RCA ATSC11. BTW, I'm not familiar with this model, but I will certainly look around for it (Steve Rich, Indianapolis, IN, ibid.) That's correct, Steve. Last night I was punching in digital channels using the remote such as 56.1, then I was turning the antenna to see what came in. I got WCMU-DT, 56.1 from Mt. Pleasant Michigan. Now, I had done some previous scans before this, but some of the stations I was getting from DIRECT punchups were NOT DETECTED when I did the earlier scan. So I do not believe they were present from the earlier scan. Like I also said, the set even detected WEAK Stations that could not be decoded without Antenna tweaking. I've only used the set since last night; and conditions have been useless today, so I'm waiting for some more openings to really put this to the test. I like the way you can punch in 50, and you get 50 ANALOG from Detroit and when you punch in 50.1, you get WQLN-DT from Erie, PA, with a little antenna repositioning, that is!! More as I use the set (Rob Ross, ibid.) I got a hold of a RCA L15D20 today. (Thanks Rob - got it at the local Superstore). My thoughts.. Digital DXing is fun, all right (he says sarcastically). The tuner is reasonably sensitive. It can get DTV stations my Humax can't, but in a couple of cases the Humax held a signal better. Most of the time though the RCA won out. Analog video *seems* slightly more sensitive on moderate DX signals than my Samsung (i.e.- slightly less snow), but who knows whether video noise reduction circuit tricks are making it appear better. Here's where the story isn't as rosy: Selectivity seems average on UHF, meaning not as good as my Samsung analog. I can't get my usual 243 mile tropo scatter beacon CIVO-30 without the AFC causing the channel to go to the "black adjacent channel" look (caused by local 29). Ch 30 is more open on my Samsung. Selectivity is better on VHF than my Samsung analog. All this won't matter once analog is gone, but for now I'm still keeping my 13" analog TV around until I've gone through some DX sessions. Analog audio sensitivity is *much* better than my Samsung. Mutes on weak signals but threshold is decent (i.e.-OK). Audio does make an audible click sound as it goes in & out; might be annoying to some. I'm already used to it. "CC On When Mute" option very handy for DXing with the sound off. You can force Mono if you want. The audio on my TV has some digital noise on it. Normally quiet, but a few times has been audible at 6 feet away from the TV. Not sure if it's an issue with my particular unit or if all TVs have it (Rob, have you heard any digital noise?). As with all "digital" analog TV tuners I've come across, they have a harder time with analog CCI than "analog" analog tuners. Not as bad as some tuners, but still, pictures are not as stable and harder to see details with. Not as good for skip. Again, keep an analog around for skip. Can't truly judge til next Es season. May not be as bad as I suspect. This TV is 4:3. Picture format has "Zoom" feature, but it's not available for 16:9 HDTV when you most want it !!! (dumb). Instead you can only choose between normal (bars top & bottom) or what's called "center" which is like zoom but stretched vertically. Zoom is available for 4:3 SD and all inputs. Picture clarity is superb, 768 lines of resolution. (screen rez = 1024 x 768). Even on analog signals, the resolution may help resolve teeny call letters better than a CRT. Yes, you can tune in digital channels using their physical channel (like 5.1), unless that channel is already used by a virtual channel. In my example, virtual "5.1" is my local CBC on physical 20.1. So punching in 5.1 gets me CBLT-DT 20.1, not the real 5.1. During a DX opening, this might cause all sorts of headaches. An automatic scan sorts things out, as like Rob mentioned, existing assignments are then wiped out. You may need to do a scan with no antenna attached though to, in my case, make 5.1 available for DXing. When you do get a DX station on 5.1, the call letters do not show up - but instead can be found by entering in the virtual channel - which is automatically stored the instant a new station comes in (but the TV tuner does not automatically show the virtual channel - you have to hunt for it - all virtual channel assignments can be found in the Manual Channel Setup menu). The tuner does not decode analog call letters like some tuners can. It does decode analog program names (found by pressing the Info button). Analog channels can be turned on or off, but this gets ruined by subsequent auto scans. So, I won't be bothering to set it up to manually browse 2 to 69, instead will use my Samsung VCR for that. DTV signal strength meter has a good range to it, meaning 80 on my Sony TV is about 60 on the RCA. It's an useful meter. It can only be accessed through a menu, but disappears when you change channels. The TV has no video out capability, but does have a digital audio out. It has several inputs. There is no "blue screen of death", but the composite input does have a "black screen of death" which shows even with weak but barely watchable video from my VCR. Is it a keeper? Yes, since I can finally leave it on a physical digital channel and get DX. Is it a dream DX machine? Not by any stretch of the imagination. But if you're like me and would like digital DXing integrated into your main DX TV, then this TV does just fine. Don't throw out the analog just yet. RCA Link.. http://tv.rca.com/en-US/ModelDetail.html?MN=L15D20&nav=ByRoom&PC=Bedroom (Bill Hepburn, Grimsby, ON, ibid.) Bill, You mention that a scan will wipe out stored channels. Can you initiate a scan, then abort immediately and wipe out all channel memory? This has been a great feature on the ATSC11 for DX (Midwest DXer, ibid.) Hitting the "CLEAR" button immediately after scanning commences will wipe the slate clean. On another note: If you watch the scan, you will see many digital channels marked as "FOUND" along the way that don't show up in the end. Some of these are very weak signals, which the receiver must be seeing, but deciding not to include since they won't decode. Interesting, as this will be a clue as to other potential channels to "sit" on look for DX. WRH (Hepburn, ibid.) Took RCA Digital TV Back, Got a BIGGER ONE!!!! Hi Guys: Well, after using the RCA L15D20 15 inch digital TV for 2 days, I took it back!!!!! Not because I didn't like it, but because I REALLY LIKED IT!!!! So much so that I decided I wanted to get the 19 " TRUE HD 16:9 aspect larger screen with better resolution. So, today I traded the 15 incher and another $100 Bucks in for the 19 inch model L19WD20. Basically the same TV, same tuner, same jacks and controls, etc. Only the screen is 19 inch RECTANGULAR instead of 15 inch SQUARE, and the resolution is much better. NO bars on the screen for TRUE FULL SCREEN HD TV stations. I decided I could fit the Bigger set in the space it had to fit into, and since I was gonna keep this as my radio room DX TV, I may as well get the Real McCoy, so I won't have to replace it anytime soon. Of course conditions are the pits tonight, so I can't do much digital DX'ing, but I'm watching the Blue Jays get their butts kicked again on cable, and even though they are losing, they sure do look nice on this bigger screen!!! More on this set as I use it, and take it through its paces. 73, (Robert S. Ross VA3SW, London, Ontario CANADA N6A5K1, WTFDA via DXLD) Not that I'm trying to copycat Rob move for move, but I too have switched to the 19" RCA. The 15"'s lack of proper zoom for 4:3 pix received on a 16:9 HDTV station was really driving me crazy. A huge design flaw. The 19" ( L19WD20 ) works great. Having 900 lines resolution and watching HDTV DX in full widescreen is not bad either. (Will actually help for DXing). wrh. (Bill Hepburn, Ont., ibid.) Bill, I think we both made the right decision to trade our RCA sets up one Level. I liked the Little set a lot, it was a good price, and would have done the job without doubt as a DX'ing set. However, I think we'll be happier with the bigger screen, better resolution and won't have to trade up at a later date. This set should do the job for some time to come. I'm sure better sets are gonna come on the market in time, but we can spend our whole lives waiting for the dream set to arrive. I wanna get in on the action now, not later. Like we both stated earlier, it ain't perfect, but it's about the best I have found right now, and that's what I'm living for, right now, I'll worry about 2009 when it gets here!! HAHAHHAHHA. Have fun with the new set; hopefully we'll get some nice tropo before the season is over, so we can really give these sets a test run!! I find it odd that the prices on these sets are HIGHER IN THE USA!!!! That is a pleasant change for us here in CANADA!! it's usually the other way around. I had no problem returning the 15 inch set at the Superstore; they were HAPPY to take it back and take another $100 bucks from me for the bigger 19 inch set!! They actually have a 2 week return policy, no questions asked, as long as you keep all the original packing material. The guy at the store laughed, and asked if I was sure I didn't want the 26 inch size!! I assured him that the 19 incher was as big as I could fit into the ham shack in the space I have allocated for it. I already have a 50 Inch HD set for viewing pleasure, so didn't need another big set just to play around with. Anyway, let`s see who can be the first to log a 500 miler on these RCA Tuners!!??? Go get 'em!! 73 ROB (Robert S. Ross, VA3SW, London, Ontario, ibid.) Rob, I've been following the discussion on the new RCA sets and am interested. Sounds good. I will be in Canada next week and might get one. Is Superstore a chain store in Canada? I don't remember seeing them, but I may have. What is the cost? With the exchange rate about par, it is strange there is much of a price distance (Dave Pomeroy, Topeka, Kansas, ibid.) HI Dave: The store's actual name is ,"The Real Canadian Superstore". It is actually a grocery chain operated by the LOBLAWS. It actually replaced their Old "ZEHR'S" supermarket stores which were mainly located in smaller Canadian towns. It is a Canada-wide chain, I think, but may not be everywhere???? The sign said that the sale was only on til Sept/14. The original price on these sets at the Superstore was $399.00 Canadian Dollars, and it is now on sale for $369.00. The 15 Inch set is $100 Cheaper, but I think the 19 incher is the best deal. I got the LAST 19 inch set from the St. Thomas, Ontario store. When I went to the local London, Ontario store, they had 2 display models, one 15 inch, and 1 19 inch, but oddly enough, they said they didn't get any in to sell yet!!?? Kinda weird having a sale that ends on the 14th, and only having display models???? I know Bill got his in the Niagara area I think, so other stores obviously got them in stock. So, I'm not sure they will still be on sale next week, as the 14th is Friday!! Check online for the REAL CANADIAN SUPERSTORE, to see if there are any in the area you are going to in CANADA. There are a pile of places selling this set online in the USA, but I haven't seen any in the stores, and I go to Michigan quite regular looking for stuff like this!! I don't know why, but the sets seem to be about $50 MORE in the USA, which is usually the other way around for us!! Good luck, hope you can find one!! Regards, ROB (Robert S. Ross, VA3SW, London, Ontario, ibid.) Samsung SIRT-151 vs Accurian STB Well, I did buy a Samsung SIRT-151 on eBay for $45. This is an older box. I was told it was made around 2002. However, it can still stand up to the newer Accurian box. I like the remote better on the Samsung. The Accurian remote bogs down and sometimes gets so sluggish it refuses to work. I don't like the meter. The Accurian's gives more information and it's easy to activate the meter with one press of the button. It takes two or three steps to get to the Samsung's meter. For some reason I think the Samsung gives a better looking picture. The Accurian is a bit more sensitive although I can see 26 from New London and 29 from Worcester. 39 from New Haven and 43 from Bridgeport are iffy on both right now. The Accurian won't automatically put stations into memory. You have to manually add the channel so it remaps. The Samsung throws them into memory as soon as it detects the signals and remaps. With both sets you can manually add stations or auto-scan. What the Samsung has is a green LED next to the power button like the RCA ATSC11 does. It's marked DTV and lights up when a DTV station is located. What's neat is that it also lights or flashes when the DTV station is too weak to decode. I was able to make the channels on a weak station remap by pressing the info button a few times while the LED flashed even though no video was showing. Also one weak station decoded for a split second and remapped the call letters and channel numbers and stored them into memory. That's fast! I'm going to keep the Samsung box and use it next summer to try to capture some ch2 digital E skip. I can leave the box on all night and check in the morning to see what if anything remapped overnight. All I need is 2-3 seconds of video and the box will remap. My Accurian meter shows signals of analog stations. I wonder if they all do it. I get a signal halfway up the meter from my analogs on 38, 43, 65, 67 etc. These stations don't have digital counterparts. This is really annoying to me and the Samsung doesn't do it. If the Samsung shows a signal, you know it's digital. In a year and a half it probably won't matter. Hey, just $40 for a set top box that originally cost over $300. Who would have thought it would come down to this (Mike Bugaj, CT, ibid.) WTHR DTV News Article --- This is one of the first things that I have seen on DTV transition from a local Indianapolis TV station: FCC CHAIR PROMOTES POST-DIGITAL TV RULE Sep 11, 2007 11:40 AM EDT Washington - Here's the pitch from the cable TV industry: One way or another, all subscribers will still be able to tune in their favorite shows when broadcasters shift to digital-only transmission in 2009. Seeking more than a promise, Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin Martin wants commissioners to require cable companies to provide that service. "Unless the commission acts, some cable customers may actually be harmed by the transition and lose the ability to view some of these channels," Martin told The Associated Press on Monday. The FCC, which is scheduled to meet Tuesday, has been split over such a proposal in the past but may be moving toward a compromise. The greatest impact of the digital conversion will be on viewers of non-digital televisions who receive their signals over the air. Beginning Feb. 18, 2009, they will be forced to buy a special converter box, subsidized by the government, to receive their channels. The impact of the shift on the nation's cable subscribers is less certain. Today, cable television system operators receive broadcast feeds in analog and digital format. Come Feb. 18, 2009, broadcasters must stop supplying the analog signal. That creates a problem for the cable industry's 32 million analog subscribers. Cable operators can either convert the digital signal to analog at the point where their cable signal originates, or they can supply customers with a "down converter" device that will change digital signals to analog at the TV set. This is essentially what the FCC wants to force the industry to do, under Martin's proposed rules. Last week, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association launched a $200 million advertising campaign to assure customers that the shift won't affect them. "Every TV set you have that's hooked up to cable will work just fine," happy customers intone in a TV spot. What the commercials do not say is how the industry is going to manage the transition, something that concerns Gene Kimmelman, federal affairs chief for Consumers Union. "It is astounding that they're telling their customers 'don't worry, we're taking care of you' without telling them at what price." NCTA spokesman Brian Dietz said analog consumers will not be charged more when the transition occurs. Nor will they be forced to sign up for a more expensive digital service. The NCTA has committed to doing what the FCC is asking, but is resisting the mandate, a position Kimmelman calls "disingenuous." The NCTA says what the FCC is doing violates the industry's constitutional rights. "We've said we will voluntarily take care of our customers, which is different than a government mandate," Dietz said. Dietz said a government-ordered transition would deny the thousands of cable system operators the flexibility they need in managing the transition. Kimmelman credited the industry with launching the ad campaign, but said the government should assume an oversight role. "I think there are some sticks that can be placed over their heads to try to ensure that they don't take advantage of their customers," he said. The ads: http://www.ncta.com/dtvspots FCC: http://www.dtv.gov/ (via Dave Hascall, Indy, WTFDA via DXLD) IBOCh Re: “I wish WOR the best, and note that I think you may not realize how severe the QRM from WLW and WGN's IBOC will be when nighttime skip is at good levels.” (Neil Kazaross, NRC-AM via DXLD) Actually, you’ll be surprised to find how severe it isn’t. When we did nighttime testing, the nights were VERY active for skywave --- very cool to see selective fading at work on a spectrum analyzer. When we got blown out of the water by WLW, we were just as noisy with their HD carriers off. And we weren’t affected until after we drove out of the 1/2mV groundwave contour. So…… 73 (Tom Ray, WOR, Sept 11, ibid.) Does WGN use IBOC? Thought I heard that they do not. Most of the fun for me was lost when the FCC broke down the I-A clear channel stations and when many stations started carrying syndicated programming. It's unfortunate that there aren't lots of recorded night time band scans of the AM band during the thirties through sixties. That was a great period of history for AM radio (Tom Dimeo, ibid.) What they need to a high ticket receiver that will take out the IBOC hash. Then those radios, no matter the cost will sell. Better than the IBOC radios. :) 73, (Patrick Martin, KAVT Reception Manager, ibid.) In my experience, an IBOC radio will do just that. – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) Do IBOC receivers take out hash to allow for DXing on the first adjacent? If they do, they might have a lot of buyers in the DX world. ;-P (Bill Harms, MD, ibid.) Doug, You are saying that there is no hash on the adjacents on an IBOC radio? If that is true why has no one else ever mentioned that before? (especially the broadcasters). Bob Young, Analog MA, ibid.) An HD radio is constructed to >only< receive the digital signal. The digital signal it hears *IS* the hash you hear on analog under the current hybrid thing. I cannot comment on the relative quality of various receivers, but I think I can conclusively say that the current HD portion of the hybrid signal is relatively weaker than the analog, and is therefore not heard at as great a distance as many who have HD radios have noted. That is by design. Therefore, you may not only hear no hash, depending on where you are, you may not hear the station at all (Russ Edmunds, Blue Bell, PA ( 360' ASL ), ibid.) Mr. Ray, Does it begin on 9/14 at 0000 EDT? Or 9/14 at a station's local sunset? -- (Marc DeLorenzo, South Dennis, MA, ibid.) The HD rules were published in the Federal Register this morning. 24/7 AM HD starts September 14, 2007. I checked with our legal eagles. It's 12:01AM EDT (Tom Ray, WOR, ibid.) << WOR 710-HD will be starting nighttime HD operations on September 14 ... HD-DX should be a challenge. I'm sure you're up for it. Thomas R. Ray, III, CPBE >> Definition of a real advance in the art and science of radio in general and DX in specific: Getting a few seconds of audio in HD on a lucky fade every few minutes from a 50 kW short-skip station that would have been crystal clear and room-filling entertainment quality in REGULAR AM even on old 5-tube radios. Stuff we heard on crystal sets as kids will require Beverages or a 4-square array in a salt-marsh to get enough signal. NYC heard from Boston will become "real DX", in a similar difficulty range as getting UAE or Djibouti now. Hearing Philadelphia will be like getting India, Baltimore like Japan. Sounds like an Indy 500 race using Yugos pitted against '74 Pintos and Novas. I can hardly wait (Mark Connelly, WA1ION - Billerica, MA, ibid.) Mark, What a description!!! I could not have said it better. Instead of going to the future, HD Radio seems like we are going back, instead of forward (Patrick Martin, OR, ibid.) ###