DX LISTENING DIGEST 7-121, October 7, 2007 Incorporating REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL BROADCASTING edited by Glenn Hauser, http://www.worldofradio.com Items from DXLD may be reproduced and re-reproduced only if full credit be maintained at all stages and we be provided exchange copies. DXLD may not be reposted in its entirety without permission. Materials taken from Arctic or originating from Olle Alm and not having a commercial copyright are exempt from all restrictions of noncommercial, noncopyrighted reusage except for full credits For restrixions and searchable 2007 contents archive see http://www.worldofradio.com/dxldmid.html NOTE: If you are a regular reader of DXLD, and a source of DX news but have not been sending it directly to us, please consider yourself obligated to do so. Thanks, Glenn NEXT SHORTWAVE AIRINGS OF WORLD OF RADIO 1376 Mon 0415 WBCQ 7415 [time varies to 0500] Mon 0830 WRMI 9955 Tue 1030 WRMI 9955 Tue 1530 WRMI 7385 Wed 0730 WRMI 9955 Wed 2300 WBCQ 18910-CLSB 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]. Cuando son las 1330 no se escucha en 17700 a Radio Solh vía Rampisham; quizás empieza mas tarde. Últimamente se observa emisiones irregulares; unos días comienza a las 1200 UT y otras veces más tarde. Se desconoce el motivo. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Oct 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. Radio Tirana, October 5, 2007, 13750 kHz, *1300-1328*, Signal fair to poor. Deep fades at times. Slight interference from UnID station on 13745 kHz. UnID station on during whole Radio Tirana broadcast. Better reception using 43 foot Eavesdropper antenna running East to West than 134 foot multiband running NW to SE. Programming comment: Announcers need to put some emotion into their speech. Flat, monotone voice makes for uninteresting listening. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ALBANIA. Updated winter B-07 schedule of Radio Tirana: ALBANIAN 0000-0130 on 6110 SHI 100 kW / 300 deg to NoAm 0000-0130 on 7425 SHI 100 kW / 310 deg to NoAm 0730-0900 on 1458 FLA 500 kW / 338 deg to WeEu 0730-0900 on 7105 SHI 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu 0901-1000 on 1395 FLA 500 kW / 033 deg to WeEu 0901-1000 on 7105 SHI 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu 1500-1630 on 1458 FLA 500 kW / non-dir to WeEu 2130-2300 on 6005 SHI 100 kW / non-dir to WeEu 2130-2300 on 7430 SHI 100 kW / 310 deg to WeEu ENGLISH 0130-0145 on 6110 SHI 100 kW / 300 deg to NoAm, ex 0245-0300 on same 0245-0300 on 7425 SHI 100 kW / 310 deg to NoAm 0330-0400 on 6110 SHI 100 kW / 300 deg to NoAm 0430-0500 on 7425 SHI 100 kW / 310 deg to NoAm, ex 0330-0400 on same 1530-1600 on 13640 SHI 100 kW / 310 deg to NoAm, ex 1500-1530 on same 1945-2000 on 6135 SHI 100 kW / non-dir to U.K. 1945-2000 on 7465 SHI 100 kW / 310 deg to U.K. 2100-2130 on 7430 SHI 100 kW / 300 deg to U.K. 2100-2130 on 9915 SHI 100 kW / 310 deg to NoAm GERMAN 1900-1930 on 1458 FLA 500 kW / 338 deg to Germany 2031-2100 on 7465 SHI 100 kW / non-dir to Germany GREEK 1645-1700 on 1458 FLA 500 kW / non-dir to Greece FRENCH 1830-1900 on 7430 SHI 100 kW / 310 deg to France 2001-2030 on 7465 SHI 100 kW / 310 deg to France ITALIAN 1830-1900 NF 7460 SHI 100 kW / non-dir to Italy, ex 7500 2001-2030 on 6035 SHI 100 kW / non-dir to Italy SERBIAN 1900-1915 on 6125 SHI 100 kW / non-dir to Serbia 2115-2130 on 1458 FLA 500 kW / 004 deg to Serbia TURKISH 1630-1645 on 1458 FLA 500 kW / non-dir to Turkey (DX Mix News, Bulgaria, Oct 4, via DXLD) Note the greater variety of times for evening English to NAm, which we thought would be advantageous in different timezones. In our mornings, 1530 is later than we preferred, but it needs to be no earlier than that in order for a new day`s programming to be ready, rather than repeating the previous day`s as has been the case so far (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** BANGLADESH. 4750, Bangladesh Betar, 5 Oct, 1535 with news on Bangladesh in English. At 1545 in Bangla or Hindi. Off at 1600. S6 max, 33232 (Zacharias Liangas, Thessaloniki, Greece, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4750, Bangladesh Betar followed up its earlier electronic reply with a full data "Bangladesh" QSL-card and personal letter from Mahesh Chandra Roy, Senior Engineer at the Research and Receiving Center in 23 days (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing PA, DSWCI DX Window Oct 3 via DXLD) ** BRAZIL. Olá pessoal, Sintonizada a Rádio Cultura SP em 9615 kHz, horário 1130-1145 UT. Sinal bom com interferência moderada, programação musical, música "Sonho de Verão" com Max de Castro, anúncios culturais, programa Sábado Cultura. SINPO 43333. [73] (Antonio Schuler, Recife BRASIL, Grundig Yacht Boy 80, Antena Externa (LW), Oct 6, DX Clube PR yg via DXLD) Apparently reactivated after some time off, and before that off-frequency 9353v (gh, DXLD) ** BURMA [non]. DW English to Burma --- Since Oct 4 Deutsche Welle beams a one-hour English broadcast to Burma; daily 1600-1700 on 9485, using a "back-up transmitter" of the Trincomalee site which had been "especially aligned to Burma", using "the existing shortwave frequency 9485 kHz in parallel": http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,2808683,00.html HFCC shows 9485 from Trincomalee 1600-1658 with an azimuth of 345 degrees So it seems that this frequency was already on air before and is now beamed to Burma instead. Certainly no "back-up transmitter" as this puffy press release claims (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Why not? Actually, this would appear to be exactly the way to accomplish the addition of Burma as a targeted coverage area. They had the existing 345 transmission. Rangoon is almost exactly 60 from Trincomalee. There are antennas at Trincomalee that are boresighted at or will slew to 60 . That gives an adequate separation between the two signals. Use the same synthesizer to run both transmitters. No need to search for a clear frequency. All that's needed is an unused transmitter that will connect to an unused antenna in the required direction. And, of course, propagation of the same frequency to the desired additional target area. It's not an uncommon way of doing things (Dan Ferguson, SC, ex-IBB, Oct 7, ibid.) Dear Kai Ludwig, I checked 9485 at 1600 and heard DW in English with a slight echo effect. One program is noted a split second earlier. Yours sincerely, (Jose Jacob, India, ibid.) 75 degrees is NOT adequate azimuthal separation. In fact there is no such thing. You`ve got to synchronize the audio when running two transmitters on the same frequency, as there will normally be enough signal from both at any location to cause an echo otherwise. Duh! Furthermore, altho one could applaud DW for frequency conservation, was it really necessary to double up on the same one in this case? Perhaps they were in too big a hurry to coördinate something else. I must say I am somewhat amused by all the stations jumping on the bandwagon to serve Burma in English, when they are really already doing so, whether or not Burma is a specific target. Will not many English broadcasts to SAs or SEAs in general include Burma?? I would be much more impressed it they quickly put together a new Burmese- language service (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Understood Dan, but the question is, do they have a FOURTH transmitter at their disposal at this time slot? Never heard about this. DWL uses 6170, 9485, and 17650 kHz - normally. No slew need - TRM uses 45 degrees outlets on other times of the day. That would cover all Burma from Rangoon in the south-east to the northern border with China. 73 wb (Wolfgang Büschel, Germany, ibid.) Apparently they indeed have four operational shortwave transmitters now: http://www.tdp.info/cln.html Were ever all four ones run simultaneously until now? If not the oldest one (which appears to be still a design with class B plate modulation) is perhaps the "backup transmitter" in question. And the reported echo strongly indicates that indeed two transmitters are now in use on 9485. Also the wording of the press release exactly fits this scenario when being read from this point of view. And what became of this press release? Focus Online picked it up almost as it is and just removed, guess what, the frequency: http://www.focus.de/politik/ausland/diplomatie_aid_134811.html Die Welt simply speaks about an "additional transmitter", omitting also that it is the "Relaisstation Trincomalee", admittedly a term which will be of no meaning for readers without background information about shortwave broadcasting (so it's actually almost stupid to keep it but eliminate the bad kHz figure): http://www.welt.de/politik/article1235312/Die_birmanische_Militaer-Junta_laedt_ein.html (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 7, ibid.) ** CANADA [and non]. Re: Fluff Programming on CRI --- It dawned on me that CRI's remit to serve a domestic audience is not that different from what RCI is trying to do nowadays. Both broadcasters see themselves as serving the immigrant community inside their home countries, in addition to the intern[ation]al audience traditionally regarded as their target audience (Richard Cuff / Allentown, PA, Oct 1, ODXA yg via DXLD) ** CANADA. Hi Glenn: CBC Radio One in Winnipeg is using the catch phase ' Completely Winnipeg'. CBC Rado One Winnipeg on 990 is also using 89.3 on the FM band. The FM frequency is used for coverage in the city will 990 is best outside the city. The FM frequency gives a better signal within Winnipeg, so they are promoting 89.3 for best Winnipeg reception. Some parts of Winnipeg could not pick up 990. 73's (Doug Copeland, MB, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) But 990 site is not that far from Wpg, is it? Unlike CBK-540 being almost halfway between Regina & Saskatoon at Watrous (gh, DXLD) ** CANADA. Co-owned CHNC-610, New Carlisle, Québec and its relay CHGM- 1150 Gaspé, Québec have applied to move to FM using a total of five transmitters as detailed below: http://www.crtc.gc.ca/archive/ENG/Hearings/2007/n2007-13.htm#12 New Carlisle, Carleton, Chandler, Gaspé and Percé, Québec Application No. 2007-1089-9 Application by Radio CHNC ltée to convert radio station CHNC New Carlisle from the AM band to the FM band. The new station would operate on frequency 107.1 MHz (channel 296B1) with an average effective radiated power of 3,800 watts (maximum effective radiated power of 6,000 watts/antenna height of 169 metres). The transmitter at Carleton would operate on frequency 99.1 MHz (channel 256B1) with an average effective radiated power of 480 watts (maximum effective radiated power of 790 watts/antenna height of 395 metres). The transmitter at Chandler would operate on frequency 98.3 MHz (channel 252A) with an average effective radiated power of 870 watts (maximum effective radiated power of 1,380 watts/antenna height of 11 metres). The transmitter at Percé would operate on frequency 107.3 MHz (channel 297B1) with an average effective radiated power of 426 watts (maximum effective radiated power of 1,200 watts/antenna height of 325.5 metres). The licensee also proposed to convert its transmitter GHGM Gaspé to the FM band and to add three new FM transmitters in Carleton, Chandler and Percé. The transmitter at Gaspé would operate on frequency 99.3 MHz (channel 257A) with an average effective radiated power of 257 watts (maximum effective radiated power of 468 watts/antenna height of 73 metres). The Commission notes that by adding the proposed transmitters the coverage would increase the authorized service area of CHNC New Carlisle. The licensee is requesting permission to simulcast the programming of the new FM station on CHNC New Carlisle and its transmitter CHGM Gaspé for a period of 3 months from the date of implementation of the new station. 73, (via Deane McIntyre VE6BPO, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CANADA [and non]. I had a horrid time getting ERP for Canadian stations -- the government database doesn't seem to have them (?), Doug's lists are all different from what else is online and some stations are outright missing or have since changed (sorry Doug ;)), and Wikipedia was only of help for some stations - usually right, but didn't always match what else was out there!! (Chris Kadlec, NY, putting together a Niagara bandscan, WTFDA via DXLD) Here's the deal with the Canadian powers: the current regulatory regime in Canada has adopted directional antennas as the norm for most new FM facilities, often far more directional than would be allowed under FCC rules. As a result, the allocations scheme for Canadian FM facilities more closely resembles the US AM allocations scheme than it does the US FM allocations scheme. This is not entirely a coincidence, since so many of those new FMs were licensed specifically to replace defunct AM stations, with requirements that the new FM signal not exceed the AM station's signal coverage. At least as of the last time I looked at Industry Canada's "Baserad" database, which was a couple of years ago, it listed several columns' worth of power information: maximum ERP, average ERP and minimum ERP. It's important to understand a key distinction between the way the FCC handles directional FM ERP and the way Canada does it. In the US, the FCC states only the maximum power of a directional FM. Take, for example, WRUR here in Rochester. It has a pending app to go to what the FCC states as 18 kW DA. Look at the pattern, and you'll see that WRUR would only put that full 18 kW along the 150-160 degree azimuth; in other directions, it will put out as little as 7.2 kW. Were that same signal to be licensed in Canada, the CRTC would report it as something like "an average effective radiated power of 9,500 watts (maximum effective radiated power of 18,000 watts/antenna height of 106 meters)", and the relevant columns in the Baserad database would read "18000," "9500," and "7200." From the point of view of a bandscan, it's tricky to say which number is the most useful, unless you can also look at the directional station's pattern and determine with certainty how much of that power is coming your way. (I know, for instance, that Rochester sits in a deep directional null of most of the CN Tower DTV signals.) The numbers Doug shows on w9wi.com are maximum ERPs, and within that context they appear to me to be correct. I'm not sure where some of the numbers in your bandscan came from - 100 kW for CIXL 91.7, for instance, is definitely not right. I use the maximum ERP numbers when reporting station powers in NorthEast Radio Watch, but the house standard for 100000watts.com, as well as for Radio Journal, when I'm editing that publication, is to use the average ERP numbers. I'm not at all sure that I'd put a lot of trust in the Canadian FM engineering data shown on 100kw, as that's highly dependent on what's reported to the FCC database, which is often non-compliant with reality. Fully confounded yet? :-) s (Scott Fybush, WTFDA via DXLD) Except that there's no minimum ERP listed, this is accurate. Both ERPs are listed for both the vertical and horizontal planes. In the USA, for stations above 92MHz, a directional antenna cannot be used to create an allocation. For a frequency to be assigned, there must be a place where a station, operating at maximum power and antenna height for its class, could operate without violating spacing regulations. A directional antenna may be used if, after the channel is assigned, the station doesn't want to (or can't) use that hypothetical site and cannot meet spacing regulations from its desired site. The rules are different below 92 MHz. As Scott says, I'm using maximum ERPs (these are also what's reported in FM News for Canadian stations. However, I'm advised we have a new FM News editor. He may have his own sources for Canadian info and may - or may not - use average ERPs). ERP numbers. --- That's a bit of a surprise - it's really not all that hard to parse the official Canadian data. Would be glad to help if they want any advice. I do see a LOT of sites reporting the FCC-based Canadian and Mexican data. Not a good idea. (this week it may be easier than the U.S. stuff - last week the FCC yanked the links for the individual CDBS files - and the files themselves - and is offering only a single .ZIP file containing all of them! 70 MB, not fun over dial-up... but the *names* of the missing files are still there which leaves me hope the situation is temporary. If permanent I'll either have to fall back to weekly updates of my site -- or finally break down & send Charter the $$$ they want for a cable modem...) – (Doug Smith W9WI, Pleasant View, TN EM66, ibid.) ** CHAD. 6165, RNT, 2210-2230*, Oct 7, Mixing with Croatia. Both in at fair levels with Croatia in English at 2215-2218*. Croatia abruptly off at 2218 leaving Chad in the clear with French talk, Afro-pop music, & sign off with National Anthem (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. 6028.97v, Radio Santa María (tentative), via Coyhaique, 0135-0240, Oct 6, clearly in Spanish, seemed to be all religious programming, mostly talking and briefly some religious music, weak, best in LSB to get away from splatter from Calgary on 6030.0. Signed off before 0240, but took me a minute or two to realize they had gone off. By sign-off had shifted slightly to 6028.95. Mostly threshold level but occasionally better than that. Website http://www.radiosantamaria.cl/ Very nice to hear this again, as it was back in 1986 that I last hear them. Still needs work for a definite ID, but am fairly sure it's them (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Remarkable Calgary more of a problem than Martí and jamming, perhaps not up to full strength for you that early? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** CHILE. Listened to the first Esperanza DX show via the DX program archive, recorded off the air; http://federachile.podomatic.com/enclosure/2007-10-05T11_16_32-07_00.mp3 the time check just before it was for 1:15 pm, so it was at 1715 UT, not 1710 as publicized and it was really 9:33 long, not 5 minutes. However, as already discussed, the next edition on the last Friday of Oct will be one UT hour earlier and thenceforth during DST. BTW, handy linx to DX program audio archives in Spanish, Portuguese and English are at the bottom of http://worldofradio.com/dxpgms.html (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHILE. Audio de Salvador Allende, sus últimas palabras en R. Magallanes. Elocuciones radiales durante el golpe de estado del 11 de septiembre de 1973 http://eprints.cddc.vt.edu/marxists//espanol/allende/11-09-73.htm Pronunciado: El 11 de setiembre de 1973 en momentos en que las fuerzas armadas de Chile, subvencionadas por el gobierno de los Estados Unidos, se sublevaban contra el régimen democrático constitucional. Al mediodía, con cuatro aviones de guerra, se inició el bombardeo aéreo al Palacio de la Moneda. Salvador Allende, quien fiel a sus palabras, reiteradamente rehusó la opción de renunciar y acogerse al exilio, no sobrevivió el ataque. Esta edición: Marxists Internet Archive, 2001. Audio añadido y texto corregido en mayo de 2003. Audio: http://eprints.cddc.vt.edu/marxists//espanol/allende/salvador_allende_11sept_1973.mp3 (via José Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 6+ min ** CHINA. Firedrake Jammer Chinas ausentes. Hoy 5 de octubre se observa a los jammer chinos apagados en muchas frecuencias, los conocidos cómo firedrake jamming. Quizás el tifón Lekima que está asolando esa zona haya provocado algún problema. http://ar.news.yahoo.com/s/reuters/071004/internacional/internacional_tormenta_asia_lekima_sol_2 La tormenta azotó la isla china de Hainan el martes, atrapando a turistas y obligando a la evacuación de 225.000 personas. Se supone que es en esta isla donde están ubicados los transmisores de las Firedrake: http://www.iarums-r1.org/iarums/prcdragon.pdf Frecuencias chequeadas el 5 de octubre entre las 1350 y 1505. 9370*R.FREE ASIA 1500-1600 1234567 Tibetan * 9450*Xi Wang Zhi Sheng SOH 1400-1500 1234567 Chinese 9455*R.FREE ASIA 1500-1600 1234567 Chinese 9605*BBC 1300-1530 1234567 Chinese 9680*CBS TAIWAN 1100-1800 1234567 Chinese 9845*VOICE OF AMERICA 1300-1500 1234567 Chinese 9905*R.FREE ASIA 1500-1800 1234567 Chinese 9930*KWHR Xi Wang Zhi Sheng SOH 1400-1500 .23456. Chinese * 11520*VOICE OF AMERICA 1400-1500 1234567 Tibetan 11575*VOICE OF TIBET 1420-1435 1234567 Chinese * 11595*VOICE OF AMERICA 1500-1530 1234567 Uzbek * 11665*CBS TAIWAN 0900-1600 1234567 Chinese 11705*R.FREE ASIA 1500-1600 1234567 Tibetan 11795*R.FREE ASIA 1500-1600 1234567 Tibetan * 11805*VOICE OF AMERICA 1230-1500 1234567 Chinese 11965*VOICE OF AMERICA 1300-1500 1234567 Chinese 11990*VOICE OF AMERICA 1300-1500 1234567 Chinese 12040*VOICE OF AMERICA 1100-1500 1234567 Chinese * Marcado con asterisco [derecho] firedrake activos. Normalmente en estas frecuencias se escucha dichas jammer desde Valencia en España. 73 (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Oct 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Your scenario may very well be accurate, but I find it hard to believe that Hainan is the only location whence Firedrake emanate. I see you are no more certain than I whether `jammer` is masculine or feminine? A quick check Oct 7 at 1325-1330 found Firedrake audible and in // on 10300, 7445, 6030; not audible on 18180, 13970, 9200; and on 7300 there was something in Chinese without FD. I see that none of these were frequencies you checked (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Saludos cordiales Glenn, yo tampoco creo que Hainan sea el único lugar desde donde China transmite estas emisiones; parece extraño concentrar todo ese potencial en un único lugar con el riesgo que eso conlleva. Por otra parte cabe pensar que el tifón no haya destruido o dañado toda la planta, quizás una parte, sí. Respecto a las frecuencias que comenta y que no fueron chequeadas, pudo decirle que algunas sí que lo hice, pero por regla general desde Valencia algunas de esas frecuencias no son siempre audibles a esa hora. Por lo tanto, el hecho de no haberlas escuchado ese día tampoco era significativo; podría tratarse de algo habitual y no debido a algún supuesto daño. Atentamente José Miguel Texto traducido de forma automática [but fixed up by gh]: Warm greetings Glenn, I do not believe either that Hainan is the only place from where the Chinese transmit these emissions; seems strange to concentrate all that potential in only one place with the risk that entails. On the other hand it is possible to perhaps think that the typhoon has not destroyed or damaged all the plant, but a part of it. With respect to the frequencies you mentioned and that were not checked, I could tell you that I did check some of them, but as a rule from Valencia some of those frequencies are not always audible at that hour; therefore, not hearing them that day was not significant either. Could be something habitual and not due to some assumed damage. Kindly (Jose Miguel Romero, Spain, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CHINA. 6110, CNR-1, 1222-1238, Oct 7, Chinese programming, fair signal with strong echo (operating more than one jamming transmitter and out of sync, causing echo), // 5030. Jamming weaker VOA in Chinese, with some English (recording of Condoleezza Rice). VOA scheduled for 1100-1500. Tibet/PBS Xizang is also scheduled here during this same time slot, but suggest it is unlikely to hear them through VOA and two CNR-1 transmitters. Have recently observed Tibet/PBS Xizang on 4905 // 4920 // 6200, around 1200-1230 (Ron Howard, CA, Etón E1, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also CANADA ** CUBA. RHC missing from 15190 at 1339 check Sunday Oct 7 during DX program; I wonder if that`s the transmitter now on 13760. By 1400, 11875 was on, much stronger with Cuban NA and opening Aló, Presidente service (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** CUBA. Folk style singer on Radio Habana --- Dear Friends: I have heard on several occasions, a female singer on Radio Havana, who sings in the style of Jodi Mitchell, Judy Collins, etc.; she sings in Spanish and is backed up by a full complement of instruments including acoustic guitar, violin, electrified mandolin. If anyone knows who she is, could you please let me know!!! I have written Radio Habana and Prof Arnie at least 4 times and no reply. Thanks group!!! (Larry WA2TVN Cohen, Utica, NY USA, Oct 4, ODXA yg via DXLD) Do you hear her on the Spanish and/or English broadcasts? (gh, DXLD) ** DJIBOUTI. 4780, R. D., 2117-2202* Oct 6, Nonstop talk by M possibly in Afar. It didn't quite sound like Arabic. Finally some lively Horn of Africa music at 2127-2133+. Sev. [seven, or several, or severe?] men in conversation at 2144. Live outdoor remote at 2148, more music at 2157. 2159 W, instrumental music with M voice-over, same W again ending with ID sounding like Radio "Jah-Bee-Tee". Short instrumental NA 2201-2202, and carrier off at exactly 2202:29. Good signal heard while on a micro-DXpedition using a BOG aimed at Europe (Dave Valko, PA, HCDX via DXLD) Must be on late for Ramadan, which BTW has only a few more days to run (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 4780, Radio Djibouti, 2105-2200*, Oct 7, Vernacular talk, phone talk, Horn of Africa music. Sign off with National Anthem. Very weak at tune-in but slowly improved to a fair level by sign off (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** DOMINICAN REPUBLIC. 6025, R Amanecer Internacional, Santo Domingo, 2322-0003, Sep 18, Spanish religious talk alternating with inspirational vocal selections. ID at 2328 and again at 2353. Fair to good signal until 0000 when squeezed by China R International via Sackville on 6020. They verified from cabina @ radioamanecer.org an e- mail report with an electronic reply in 3 hours indicating that there will be a delay in getting a postal response (Rich D'Angelo, Wyomissing PA, DSWCI DX Window Oct 3 via DXLD) ** ECUADOR. 4909.19, Radio Chaskis, Otavalo, 1004-1015, Oct 6, Spanish announcements. Lively Ecuadorian music. ID at 1007. Poor to fair (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA [non]. NON-QSL Reply: My reception report (letter with MP3 CD recording) for Voice of Democratic Eritrea, 13630 kHz (via Jülich), c/o EFF-RC Office, Neue-Mainzer Street 24, D-60311 Frankfurt am Main, Germany was returned after 3 months, indicated as 'non responsive' and 'insufficient address'(?) (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ERITREA. 7100, VOBME, Asmara, program 1, *0353-0410, Oct 6, Sign on with IS. Talk in unidentified language at 0359. Weak. 7175, VOBME, Asmara, program 2, *0353-0410, Oct 6, Sign on with IS. Talk in unidentified language at 0359. Motorboat type jammer at approximately 0402. Weak (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ETHIOPIA. 5970, Radio Fana, Addis Ababa, *0257-0325, Oct 6, IS. Opening announcements at 0302 with IDs & into Horn of Africa type music. Now on 3 frequencies. Good signal but some adjacent channel splatter. // 7210-weak under BBC & // 6109.9-weak under TWR (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5980, Voice of Tigrey Revolution, Mekele, *0356-0420, Oct 6, Sign on with IS. Talk in unidentified language at 0358. Some Horn of Africa music but mostly talk. Fair. // 6185-very weak under Vatican Radio (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Re DXLD 7-120. Voice of Tigray Revolution has now popped up on additional 5960 // usual 5980 6185. I first heard them on this NF Oct 04 at 1850, HOA songs covered by co-channel TRT, then again Oct 05 at 0353 opening with IS barely audible under Channel Africa. On both occasions all three frequencies were used simultaneously (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GABON. Hoy 5 de octubre se observa que la emisora afro pop que venía transmitiendo en los últimos meses de forma interrumpida por la frecuencia de 17660, probablemente desde Gabón y que salió al aire con la finalidad de interferir a la emisora clandestina para Libia Sawt al-Amal, está fuera del aire. Normalmente empezaba sus emisiones a las 1130, prolongándose hasta las 1530, llegando a interferir a BSKSA Riyadh en su emisión en francés de las 1400 a 1555. Se descarta que sea mala propagación, ya que África Nº 1 en 17630 está llegando con un SINPO 44433. Recuerdo que ayer 4 de octubre esta emisora musical estaba emitiendo (José Miguel Romero, Burjasot (Valencia), España, Oct 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** GERMANY. New corporate logo of Bayerischer Rundfunk Munich, Oct 8: http://www.br-online.de/br-intern/artikel/0710/08-neues-logo/index.xml (Paul Reinersch, Germany, A-DX Oct 5 via BCDX Oct 6 via DXLD) Today (Oct 8) Bayerischer Rundfunk launched a new youth station called Bavarian Open Radio (yes, that's the, uh, German name), carried also on the 801/729 mediumwave transmitters. http://www.br-online.de/jugend-radio/index.xml I forgot to observe when they made the switch from Bayern 1, but presumably this happened at 2200 UT on Oct 7, i.e. local midnight. Apparently Bavarian Open Radio on mediumwave will not be interrupted by any coverage of parliament sessions, sports or other events, since a few days ago a new "Bayern 5plus" channel, dedicated to such programming, has been added to the ARD radio bouquet on Astra 1H. So there is no risk of confused listeners abroad, like it was the case in 1992 or 1993 when DT64 at Berlin received a letter from the UK, asking about the strange talk programming the other evening (it was just a session of the Saxonian parliament, lasting until the late night and thus audible across Europe thanks to the 250 kW mediumwave relay, with the audio being routed via the former GDR radio studios at Berlin, god forbid!). For the time being the only real program on Bavarian Open Radio will be on air Mon-Fri 6 PM to 9 PM, i.e. 1400-1700 UT in summer, 1500-1800 in winter. The remaining time is still filled with non-stop music, like it was the case on the predecessing project "Das Modul". This label still appears on the Astra and DAB channels, but apparently it is no longer in use on air, at least at about 2215 I heard an ID "Bavarian Open Radio" inserted between two songs. It's necessary to introduce young people to mediumwave nowadays: http://www.br-online.de/jugend-radio/empfang.xml "It sounds quite oldschool, but almost every radio can pick Bavarian Open Radio via our mediumwave/AM transmitters. So you can listen to your favourite station also when no PC, satellite receiver or DAB radio is available! -- Peculiarities: Especially at night mediumwaves behave quite unconventional. After sunset Bavarian Open Radio can become audible on all possible places in Europe, from Portugal to Estonia, while at the same time reception problems may arise at home in Bavaria." And one side-note: Probably the overnight programme ARD-Nachtexpreß is known amongst mediumwave listeners outside Germany as well. With the launch of Bavarian Open Radio it is now gone from MW altogether (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) see BURMA ** GUATEMALA. Interesante blog donde se puede escuchar un audio de la primera transmisión de la emisora clandestina La Voz Popular de Guatemala. Este es el primer programa de la Voz Popular, radio que funcionó durante la guerra y era emitida desde el Corazón de la Sierra Madre por la Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca. Por su valor histórico, lo compartimos con todos ustedes. http://esnecesariohabervivido.blogspot.com/2007/05/la-voz-popular.html Un poco de historia sobre La Voz Popular de Guatemala. La Asociación Mujb ’ab’ l Yol (Encuentro de Expresiones), es una iniciativa que se propuso la intensa labor de darle seguimiento a lo que fuera “La Voz Popular”, emisora clandestina y Voz Oficial de la Unidad Revolucionaria Nacional Guatemalteca (URNG), la que estuvo operando en las faldas del Volcán Tajumulco, del departamento de San Marcos, durante el conflicto armado interno recién-finalizado. . . http://www.entremundos.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=406&Itemid=41 (via José Miguel Romero2, Spain, dxldyg via DXLD) ** INDIA. AIR IS, Oct 7 at 1319 on 9425, 1320 into singing group, G but some flutter, and not // weaker VBS on 9870. Aoki says 9425 is the AIR National Channel opening in Hindi from Bangalore, 500 kW, 18 degrees; while 9870 is only 250 kW at 174 degrees. ?? Now, why would they be aiming a domestic service southward from S India? Previously on 10330, it was 500 kW at 335 degrees, also favoring us (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGST) ** INDIA. Jose Jacob from H'bad informs that AIR-Mumbai noted on wrong frequency 4940 instead of usual 4840 kHz. Right now 0151 UT, AIR Mumbai still on 4940 with IDs at 0133, 0147 and 0151. Co-channel AIR Guwahati. Regds (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, UT Oct 5, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** INDIA [and non]. Re 7-120: JAMMING OF TRANSMISSION OF RADIO PAKISTAN LAHORE 630 KHZ BY INDIA FROM 1330 to 1400 Alokesh, Glenn used to publish such reports in DXLD with out confirming the exact details. Hope DXLD will check the accuracy of such reports from next time onwards. While many reliable DXers are present, the accuracy should be checked before publishing such baseless report. Many thanks for Alokesh for clearing the doubts (T. R. Rajeesh, India, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There is no way a guy in Oklahoma can confirm whether a MW frequency on the other side of the world is really being jammed. I leave it to you guys to quarrel over it, but I do note so far that it depends on which side of the border you are on. Please try not to get too personal about it and keep in mind that Aslam Javaid is outnumbered by the Indians in this discussion, but evidence to back up his position is called for. Such as recordings, especially as it goes on and off. Just because jamming cannot be heard in New Delhi does not mean it cannot be heard in Lahore. There is background noise on Alokesh`s recordings, which could be normal on a non-local signal; or it could be some kind of jamming (or as we are learning in NAm, IBOC could be confused with jamming by casual listeners not aware of what is going on). Just what kind of jamming sound is Aslam talking about? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Hi Glenn, re 7-120: a) 5 years or 500 years, if Aslam has noticed any jamming, should send an audio file to support his claim; otherwise, he's talking nonsense which nobody can believe as I did not find any jamming at 1330-1400 UT and have already sent audio files to substantiate the same. http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_630_1336utc_23sept2007.mp3 http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_630_1350utc_23sept2007.mp3 http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_630_1343utc_24sept2007.mp3 http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_630_1314utc_29sept2007.mp3 http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_630_1331utc_29sept2007.mp3 http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbs_630_1323utc_29sept2007.mp3 http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_630_1355utc_29sept2007.mp3 Anyone can listen to these audio files & make out whether there is any jamming or not? b) Re jamming the transmission of Azad Kashmir Radio, Muzzaffarabad in past - I'm not aware or read about that. If you need to know about present situation can send you some audio files. c) I'm getting PTV transmission at my home, do not know about other places, name the place & I'll let you know. d) Re Pak newspaper websites blocked by India - need names or URL. Checked websites of five of the most read newspapers in Pakistan, none of them are blocked ............ http://www.jang.com.pk/ http://www.nawaiwaqt.com.pk/ http://www.jasarat.com/ http://www.paktribune.com/index.shtml http://www.dawn.com/2007/10/05/index.htm e) Nobody is discouraged from writing letters to PBC; here are some of the stuff I received from PBC; have many more including "Pakistan Calling" newsletters, need to search my archives. PBC QSL http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_qsl.pdf Letter dated 17 June'98 from PBC http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_ltr_2.pdf Letter dated 10th March '99 from PBC http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_ltr_4.pdf Letter dated Feb 2000 from PBC http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_ltr_1.pdf Letter dated 11th Dec 2003 from PBC http://alokeshgupta.googlepages.com/pbc_ltr_3.pdf Also noticed recently Oct 3 email from Mukesh Kumar confirming receipt of this QSL : Station: - Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation Date: - 10-08-2007 Frequency: - 9340 kHz Time: - 0100-0115 UTC Language: - English Description: - Verified by Mr. Asad Ayub. Historic Building of Islamia College, Peshawar. How are we getting mails if Indians are discouraged writing to PBC and letters get lost on the way?? Let me know if emails are also blocked & I'll send him more evidence. f) I've no idea why visiting Indian Sikhs to Lahore are meeting broadcasters in particular & narrating their stories about missing letters! My suggestion for them is to use email or fax for sending letters instead of snail mail. g) Re : http://www.newkerala.com/oct.php?actioction=fullnews&id=3706 Quote is from Indian website but if he has read the report carefully it refers to the "classified documents of the US, made available to public" in support of the facts. h) Regarding Glenn's remarks - Once again would like to remind that there's no jamming on 630 kHz, click on the url's mentioned above and listen to the audio files. This is what we call propaganda --- blabbering without any corroboration. Regards, (Alokesh Gupta, New Delhi, India, Oct 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See also PAKISTAN ** INDONESIA. 4790.05, RRI Fak-Fak (presumed) at 1122-1230+ UT on Sep 26. Kor`an recitations, still going past 1230 UT per re-checks. Ditto for subsequent mornings. Hardly anything resembling Ramadan programming heard from other RRI stations (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Sept 30 via BC-DX Oct 6 via DXLD) ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Re: 50 years ago tomorrow! WTFK? The Sputnik 1 satellite: 20005 and 40002 kHz, both with 1 W (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Glenn: -- Thought you might like the following: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1004.html which is included in the attachment, from the 10/4/1957 NY Times, with freq info found inside (allegedly 20.005 and 40.002 MHz). Fascinating to think of a moment in time where these were the ONLY two detectible Satellite-proliferated signals available on the planet. This also became my ex-wife's birthday a few years later, speaking of Aliens (GREG HARDISON, CA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Also linx to another Sputnik story http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/04/opinion/04thur3.html?th&emc=th (via gh, DXLD) There's a special exposition at Bochum Observatory in Germany, devoted to Sputnik anniversary: http://www.sputnik50.de ------ COSMOS, COMMUNISM, COLD WAR SPUTNIK 50 --- THE HISTORY OF SPACE TRAVEL IN TWO POLITICAL SYSTEMS An exhibition which starts on August 10th at the observatory in Bochum, Germany. The Bochum Observatory was one of the first in Western Germany that received the Sputnik signal in 1957. At that time it was basically received in the private flat of the director Kaminski. ------- Here's more on Heinz Kaminski who is considered to be the first in the West to hear the Sputnik broadcast: http://home.arcor.de/satellitenwelt/satbeostation.htm (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) See LANGUAGE LESSONS below ** INTERNATIONAL VACUUM. Radio Netherlands audio feeds have turned up, in MPEG digital, on the AMC-4 satellite. This is surprising since RNW1, RNW2 and RNW3 are already available on Panamsat 25. (Both feeds are on Ku-band.) The AMC-4 feed also includes an RNW5 and RNW6. Can anyone with RNW who might see this explain what 5 and 6 are for? And why the duplicate feeds -- is RNW moving from PAS25 to AMC4? Both satellites also carry RVI in Dutch, by the way. I only wish RTBF would join the crowd (Mike Cooper, GA, Oct 9, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** IRAQ. Hi there, I am interested in finding any info on Radio Shatt al-Arab, an Iraqi station that broadcasts from Shatt al-Arab, southern Iraq. The channel is generally new and is part of the surge of many Iraqi private media following the fall of Saddam's regime. There seems to be nothing on the internet on this channel except a fact that it was in form or another supported by German Deutsche Welle network. DW website does not include any info on this, or due to my ignorance of German, I just couldn't find it. Can anyone please help me with any info? frequency? date of establishment, sources? I will be grateful. Best regards, (Abdallah Khader, UK, Oct 6, dxing.info via DXLD) ** IRAQ. KARBALA RADIO STATION CHALLENGES TRADITIONS --- Station's tackling of controversial social issues, liking for western music raises clerics' eyebrows. KARBALA, Iraq - A radio station in Karbala is pushing boundaries in this holy Shia city by broadcasting music and cultural programming that some clerics and leaders consider inappropriate. Originally backed by the Iraqi National Congress, a moderate party led by Ahmad Chalabi, Karbala FM launched in October 2003 from a small home in the city’s Hussein neighbourhood. Karbala FM is now independent and is the most popular station in the city - particularly among its youth. . . http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/features/?id=22547 (via Zacharias Liangas, DXLD) ** ITALY. Recording of Rai goodbye: POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS et al. ** KOREA NORTH. 13760.05 kHz - 1300 UT - 4/10 - KRE - Voice Of Korea, Kujang, sign-on, IS, ID’s “This is Voice of Korea“, English program, news mainly about demands for reunification of Koreas, slightly off frequency and fading away, no parallel frequency found - 25222. 15245.1 kHz - 1347 UT - 5/10 - KRE - Voice Of Korea, Kujang ID “This is Voice of Korea“, patriotic song, propagandistic talks in English, bad audio, off frequency // 13760 - 24222 (Marc Vissers, Borsbeek, Belgium, (N51º11'/E04º29'), JRC NRD-525 (ESKA-modified), 15m lw + MLB, 13m inv-L + Yaesu FRT-7700, HCDX via DXLD) ** LIBYA. V. of Africa, 15660 at 1740 with ID in French. Strong signal, very clear. // 11835 weak with deep fades. Sked from 1600 to 1800 as per DX Mix #470 dated 22 May. Heard 4 October (Liz Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) 21695, Voice of Africa, 1450-1545+, Oct 7, Tune-in to English programming with talk about local culture, history. IDs. News at 1531. Readings from The Green Book. // 17870 - both frequencies with fair reception (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** LITHUANIA. QSL: 6255, KBC via Sitkunai. Full data (with site indicated) multi-colored card of radio tower and AM frequency. This in response to an e-mail report with a MP3 recording. Reply in 20 days. v/s: Tom de Wit (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MEXICO. Radio Educación, 6185 kHz: 0725 GMT Oct 5: this is about the only time of day I can hear Educación. earlier it's obliterated by Cuba on 6180 and China Radio International on 6190. they played two covers of George Harrison songs, "Beware of Darkness" and "Old Brown Shoe," apparently from a live tribute concert though I didn't recognize the performers. then they segued into a funk/rap song in Spanish. the wonderful eclecticism of this station continues. : ) (Terry Wilson, MI, dxing.info via DXLD) ** MEXICO. 9599.24, Radio UNAM, Mexico City, 2120-2135, Oct 7, classical music. ID at 2132 followed by Spanish talk. Fair level but must use ECSS-LSB to avoid China Radio International on 9600 (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) DST dates: see WORLD OF HOROLOGY ** MEXICO. Blatant racism in beauty contests: My tuner happened to land on Univisión after 2300 UT Oct 7, when they were carrying the ``Nuestra Belleza`` beauty contest from Colima. I wasn`t paying that much attention when all 31(?) contestants were visible, but it was painfully obvious when the 10 semi-finalists were lined up in their trajes de baño that there was precious little variation in skin tone: from light to lightly-tanned. No one would be classified as brown- skinned, or god-forbid, black. I would not say either that any of them had `indigenous` features. The only saving grace was that not a single one was (bleached)blond, as one sees all over the novelas, tho there were sure a lot of brunettes and reddish tints, rather than regular black hair. Yes, I know, in a nation of dekamillions, there are many people who are totally ``caucasian``, even natural blondes, but they are certainly in the great minority, and they have a stranglehold on the concept of `beauty`, apparently without anyone noticing or caring --- for the darker-skinned people wish they were white? Even they consider whiteness == beauty? (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** MICRONESIA. 4755, Oct 3, 1300-2000, FSM: PMA The Cross Radio Station. Verified already my tentative email report from yesterday including recording. Have received reports also from Japan. They wish to receive as small audio samples as possible due to dial-up connection. Exactly on 4755.25 kHz (Mauno Ritola, Finland, HCDX online log via DXLD) They could be heard with a weak signal today Oct 4 from 1430 UTC with a peak in strength around 1530. Frequency was 4755.253 plus or minus a couple of Hz. My SDR-IQ was not calibrated! (Gert Nilsson, Örnsköldsvik, Sweden, R71+R75 + beverages dxing.info via DXLD) MICRONESIA (POHNPEI). 4755.25, PMA "The Cross" Noted on Oct. 5 from 1257 to past 1336 with a program of up-beat hymn music to black soul hymn music, ranging from different artists. ID at 1259 & 1332 (the latter being the best indication that it is this station on the air). The ID at 1332 started as: "Hi, this is Melinda. You are listening to The Cross, Cross Radio...." Signal varied but was QRM free at this location. As others have noted, the audio varied from good to poor. Have sent a e-mail report along with a sample of a recording at my location (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Are there many American blacks in Micronesia?? (gh, DXLD) 4755, low level with American style of religious English programming, (without the fire and brimstone), 0907 through to 0925 when announced in local language, unable to obtain a clear ID. After 0925 signal was barely audible. Presumed this to be Pacific missionary station. 6 Oct (Johno Wright in Sydney Australia. ICOM R75 using a directional EWE pointing almost directly at the station. HCDX via DXLD) Heard here last night, American preacher after 0905 UT, indigenous announcements after 0925. No positive clear ID. However certain this is the one (Johno Wright, NSW, Oct 7, ARDXC via DXLD) Re Yap [sic] 4755: Johno, Yeah - I was listening from about 1030 through to 1210 UT. Heard lots of rock music, then 50 minutes of male religion and then back into rock. At 1200 I heard "This is ... Radio" followed by a "log on to...." then into more rock music. Too much noise and fading to get anything definite plus some utilities on frequency and stations either side. I'm going to string a north facing long wire right now to see if it's better tonight. I heard it Friday as well but it was better last night. Regards, (Wayne Bastow, Wyoming NSW, 0314 UT Oct 7, ARDXC via DXLD) Funny you guys are talking about Yap. Are you talking V6AI? - I didn't know they were on SW. Anyway I was also listening to this station last night - digital though on my AE Radio, so SINPO 55555! - I often listen to this station, one of my favorites. Just tuned it up right now, playing local island music at the moment (Mark Fahey, ibid.) Loggings From 6 October MicroDXpedition: Went out to one of the local remote listening sites this morning specifically to try for PMA 4755.25. Did indeed hear it!! Conditions were only fair at best and very noisy from thunderstorms. RX: JRC NRD-535D ANT: 394' Beverage (BOG) at 285 QTH: local reclaimed stripmine Duration: 1000-1200 UTC Solar Indices: S.F. = 68 A Index = 6 K Index = 2 G1 No storms. WX: Mainly clear, warm 56 F. (13 C.) MICRONESIA (POHNPEI), 4755.25, PMA "The Cross" 1002-1201, M preaching at tune-in, but not quite strong enough to copy. About on par with 3235 West New Britain at this time. 1019 music bridge, then deep- voiced announcer. 1026 pleasant Pop-like music, about 20 seconds of dead air, then more music. Continued with music sounding like live pop, rock, and even alternative (à la Greenday). 1048 short ID by young lady "Hi, this is Melinda. You are listening to Radio ?? ?? Aviation, ?? ??". I'm not 100% sure of "Radio" and "Aviation", but that's what it sounded like. Into "good news" of the Gospel program with M preaching from 1049 to 1150. Went into more music starting with a punk song at 1151(!!) followed by a long soft pop song to 1159 with apparent program promo by M over music. Then back to pop/rock at 1200. Poor to fair with a lot of static noise and some quick fading. There was also a longer fade from about 1120 to 1135, then it picked up again. When it was peaking at around 1110, it was about 50-60% readable. QRMed by R. Educação Rural at the start, but then in the clear, and some CODAR QRM after 1130 UT. During the broadcast, there appeared to be numerous drops in the audio/modulation level without any change in strength. Maybe the engineer was adjusting the equipment. This is radio country heard #226 (at least) according to the NASWA rules. Have an e-mail report with MP3 recording out to info @ pmapacific.org (Dave Valko, near Dunlo PA, HCDX via DXLD) 4755.25, PMA "The Cross" already in and audible at 0715 7 Oct with preaching by M. ZY QRM of course. Recorded later but conditions weren't very good and the signal was rather poor (Dave Valko, PA, HCDX via DXLD) I was hearing PMA Radio here both yesterday and today beginning around 1115 or so on 4755.25. At that time on both days there was a female announcer speaking and that continued until about 1152 or so when inspirational music began playing until the top of the hour (1200). I believe this corresponds to their scheduled 10 PM (local) 'Revive our Hearts' program which is oriented to women. Today, at 1200 I did hear a woman announcer who seemed to ID as: "You are listening to Pacific Misionary Aviation Radio". http://www.pmapacific.org/ministries/radio/schedule.php (Steve Lare, Holland, MI, USA, Oct 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Strange that some are hearing (only?) The Cross ID, and some are hearing (only?) the P- M- A- ID (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Here's their reception report online form: http://www.pmapacific.org/ministries/radio/report_reception.php No QSL cards, though. But you can subscribe to their station newsletter (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, Oct 5, dxldyg via DXLD) 4755.25, PMA Pohnpei heard Oct 5 from 1200 tune to 1415 UT tune out (entire session recorded). Possibly weak audio but mostly just a carrier heard until 1222.5 when audio suddenly appeared at S3 with a female praise vocal. Longer than normal gaps between songs. All Christian music programming with a woman announcer (English) at 1257 with about a 7 second announcement - could not make it out. Same YL (sounded like a young girl) again at 1330 and 1357. Sporadic QRM from RTTY bursts and Mexican 2xSSB, but not enough to be bothersome. Otherwise clear channel. After 1222.5 UT signal remained fairly constant at S3 level with some deep fades (S2 to S8 on the S-meter) - however modulation levels dipped from time to time. The programming seemed almost like a test broadcast - a station like this would normally have syndicated Christian programming mixed with non-stop music for shorter periods. I have a 3 min audio clip (360 KB) from 1356 to 1359 UT including the YL at 1357. This seemed to be the peak reception period. The PMA web site has an interesting comment on the people of Micronesia - "caught between the computer and the canoe", an apt description, I would imagine. As it's just after midnight on Guam, I will wait a few hours [?? why] to e-mail a report to Melinda Espinosa on Guam. Recorded a later session from 1421 to 1451. Hymns, gospel and praise vocals as before with woman in English, very short announcement at 1428. Still going but fading fast after 1450. Format seems similar to CRN in PNG (except for the Vatican R. relays.). Nice S3 signal, mostly in the clear - Mexican 2xSSB on channel in ECSS (USB) but switching to LSB solved that problem. Rechecked at 1510 - still audible but S2 with increased noise level. Earlier this morning (0730 to 0800 UT) heard some similar music mixing with R. Educação Rural on 4755 kHz, but PMA was fading in and out and the Brazilian dominated in this time frame. Tried ECSS (U) with 3.8 kHz bandwidth, notching and USB but couldn't isolate PMA enough to distinguish programming. Thanks to Mauno for alertly picking this up and the precise frequency measurement! (Bruce W. Churchill, CA, DXplorer Oct 5 via BC-DX via DXLD) 4755.25, Pacific Mission Aviation at 1229-1400+ UT on Oct 5. Presumed with programming as described by Bruce Churchill, i.e. mostly religious-sounding music, with occasional announcements by young- sounding female. Not much readable; the "best" of these was at 1332 UT when she said "Hi, this is Melinda[?]. You are listening to....". There was also a male announcer from time to time but could not make out any of his words. Not very strong - suspect rather low power, as other regional stations (PNG) were doing well. More or less readable until a bit past 1400 UT, although a very weak carrier still detected at 1500 UT (John Wilkins, CO, DXplorer Oct 5, ibid.) Hi John, they are 1 kW. They say that the speech parts come on very low modulation, because they have problems with the signal processor and they must bypass it for the time being. The most common ID version continues as " ... 88.5 FM The Cross" (Mauno Ritola, Finland, DXplorer Oct 5, ibid.) Verschilende bronnen maken melding van de aktiviteiten van het nieuwe religieuze station op Pohnpei in Micronesie. Op de A-DX lijst hebben enkele mensen zelfs het signaal op SDR apparaten ``gezien``. Ik heb met Speclab zelf ook geprobeerd. Inderdaad 's avonds tot ca 2000 UT (fade out) een zwabberend signaal tussen 4775.25 en 4775.28 [sic] kHz. Kan het geweest zijn. Veel te zwak om ook maar iets te horen. Met 1 kW niet bepaald makkelijk, maar ook niet onmogelijk als er een keer (heel) goede kondities zijn. In de gaten houden dus! Er zou rond 0600 UT evt ook een morgenopening moeten zijn [long path]. Maurits, ik reken op jou.... Groeten, (Aart Rouw, Buehl, Duitsland, Oct 7, BDX via DXLD) Hallo Aart ea, Ik zag een type foutje in je bericht; de freq is 4755.25 niet 4775.25. Zie ook het onderwerp van je bericht, daar staat het goed (Max van Arnhem, Netherlands, ibid.) ** NETHERLANDS [and non]. Saludos a todos, Tengo algunas preguntas para la comunidad diexista. Anoche mientras escuchaba Radio Enlace de Radio Nederland nuestro amigo Jaime hablaba sobre las futuras frecuencias para el período B07 y sobre la desaparición del programa en cuestión. Él explicaba sobre unas futuras frecuencias pero en Modo Digital para Sur América, mi primera pregunta es: ¿Existen condiciones en Sur América para recibir DRM, se comercializan receptores de ese tipo? La otra pregunta es relacionada con Radio Nederland, ¿Nacerá otro programa del corte de Radio Enlace, o específicamente de diexismo? Cordiales 73´s (Ing. Yandys Cervantes Rodríguez, WebMaster. Sede Universitaria Municipal. Buey Arriba. Granma, Cuba, noticias dx yg via DXLD) Flevo to close? All DRM transmissions of RNW via the Flevo site will be terminated by the end of the A07 season. Instead Nauen and Wertachtal are scheduled for B07 as follows: Nauen from Oct 28 0759- 0857 on 9895, also Oct 29 til Sep 3 only 1000-1400 on 5930, both using the ex-RBI antenna, aiming at 225 deg. Wertachtal is scheduled from Nov 5, Mon-Fri only 1159-1557 on 5955, beam 210 deg. So far both 9895 and 5955 were during these times in use for AM distribution of RNW Dutch in Europe, so apparently this AM service will be cut back considerably, and one has also to wonder if the Flevo plant will be shut down altogether. DRM transmissions are also shown for Bonaire, using 120 kW (so much for DRM's power efficiency), so no doubt the new transmitters will be operational by Oct 28 if they are not already in use. Schedule will be 0459-0557 on 6130 (305 deg.), 1659-1757 on 17605/17700 (133/170 deg.) and 1759-1857 on 15315/17605 (320/350 deg.). All DRM from RNW via Montsinéry and Sackville will be terminated in favour of Bonaire. All this gathered from discussion at http://forum.mysnip.de/read.php?8773,451822,page=18 (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 7, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) See INTERNATIONAL VACUUM ** OKLAHOMA. Around 0030 UT Oct 7, I was passing by Tonkawa OK on US 60, and as usual tuned to 90.7, the lowish-powered student station KAYE at Northern Oklahoma College, which I had previously heard running commercial advertising. No sign of it this Saturday night, allowing the fringe-signal from Wichita 90.7 to occasionally fade in. FCC FM Query says it is now 1.2 kW, and has a 60 dbu radius of 7.5 miles, i.e. not quite reaching Blackwell to the north. All the info: http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/fmq?list=0&facid=49589 However the webstream played at 128 kbps when checked at home 4 hours later at mms://media.north-ok.edu/radio with rock, altho the link next to it for the station itself, on NOC`s home page in the lower-right corner under Media Services, http://www.north-ok.edu/ics/Portlets/ICS/bookmarkportlet/viewhandler.ashx?id=89f95354-e687-41d3-9768-a54ea3dd4b3e&target=mms%3a%2f%2fmedia.north-ok.edu%2fradio does not work. This is the same situation as previously noted. The NOC website is rather strangely uninformative, for a publicly-supported college, requiring password and login to get to many parts of it. And KAYE maintains a very low profile. Should anyone listen long enough to the stream to still hear some commercials, please let us know, with details (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** OKLAHOMA [and non]. CLEAR CHANNEL CLOSES DEAL TO SELL MORE RADIO STATIONS --- by Erik Sass, Thursday, Oct 4, 2007 8:01 AM ET CLEAR CHANNEL RADIO HAS CLOSED deals to sell 66 of its smaller radio stations. The sale of 52 stations to Gap Broadcasting, and another 14 to Bicoastal Media, are part of its ongoing push to sell a total of about 450 stations in small and mid-sized markets. The news comes a week after Clear Channel's shareholders voted to sell a majority of their stakes to two private-equity firms: Thomas H. Lee Partners and Bain Capital Partners. Gap Broadcasting, based in Houston, will pick up stations concentrated in Texas -- including multiple stations in Abilene, Amarillo, Lubbock, Lufkin, Midland-Odessa, Texarkana, Tyler, Victoria and Wichita Falls. It will also acquire a smaller number of stations in neighboring Oklahoma and Louisiana. Bicoastal is acquiring 14 stations in Oregon-- five in the vicinity of Medford and another nine around Albany. Clear Channel Radio initiated the sale of hundreds of smaller stations to concentrate on its most profitable businesses serving larger markets. Parent company Clear Channel Communications also sold its 56- station television group to Providence Equity Partners for about $1.1 billion in net proceeds. Wall Street analysts speculate the parent company may also spin off its profitable outdoor business once the buyout by private equity is sealed. The two private-equity firms purchased the stock at $39.20, representing a roughly 30% premium over the average share price of $30 during the 12-month period before October 2006, when the deal was first proposed (via Kevin Redding, Oct 4, ABDX viax DXLD) Does KTOK 1000 OKC count as ``smaller``? If not, which are smaller, and which not? Here are CC`s holdings in OK per their website http://www.clearchannel.com/radio/StationSearch.aspx?RadioSearch=oklahoma They don`t even know that AM stations do NOT take an -AM suffix, sic: Guymon: KGYN-AM (LMA) OKC: KEBC-AM, KHBZ-FM, KJYO-FM, KTOK-AM, KTST-FM, KXXY-FM, Tulsa: KAKC-AM, KIZS-FM, KMOD-FM, KQLL-FM, KTBT-FM, KTBZ-AM (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) ** PAKISTAN. Crashed all stations almost regulary in range 9349-9384 kHz with broom in times 1555-1617 UTC, from 9380 kHz (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept 27, wwdxc BC-DX Oct 6 via DXLD) Sic. Tentative translation: the 9380 R. Pakistan transmitter almost always sweeps away (with spurs) all stations in the 9349-9384 range between 1555 and 1617 UT. Am I right? (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** PAKISTAN. 540 kHz, 1615-1700 UT, Radio Pakistan, Peshawar, Dari Service for Afghanistan; and 585 kHz interference from India Radio Pakistan Peshawar in its special transmission for Afghanistan broadcasts programme in Dari Language from 1615 to 1700 UT. The broadcast consists of news in Dari, news comment, feature programs and Pushto and Dari music. The program has developed listenership in Afghanistan and among Dari Speaking Afghan refugees still residing in Pakistan. And Glenn, you may note the following with reference to range of MW transmitters: The Radio Pakistan Peshawar transmission is broadcast through 300 kW transmitter. The transmission is clearly heard in Lahore which is about 600 km from Peshawar. But The Islamabad mediumwave station which is of 1000 kW is not heard clearly in Lahore which is nearer to Lahore as compared to Peshawar. On regular monitoring of Radio Pakistan Islamabad Station 585 kHz at night it was noted that an interfering station is also heard on 585 kHz. It was noted that All India Radio Nagpur (Central India, Maharashtra State) is also broadcasting on the frequency of 585 kHz. Initially the transmitter of All India Radio Nagpur was of 100 kW; later on its power was increased to 300 kW in 2002. This increase in power is badly hitting the reception of Islamabad station, which perhaps is the cause weak reception of Radio Pakistan Islamabad. Such unauthorized increase in the power of transmitter should be taken notice by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) because at the time of frequency allocation the broadcaster had informed about a lower power transmitter and increase in power at a later stage results in interference for other co-channels. Regards, (Aslam Javaid, 136/H Model Town, Lahore, Pakistan, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) see also INDIA ** PERU. 3172.664, Radio Municipal, Panao, 1010 to 1100, happily noted as back on with weak signal 1 Oct (Bob Wilkner, FL, Japan Premium Oct 5 via DXLD) 3173[X], Radio Municipal, Panao. Nothing noted this morning. Noted on the air on 3 October same time period. rlcw (Wilkner, Oct 4, HCDX via DXLD) ** PRIDNESTROVYE. Glenn, According to Austrian online newspapers there will be a presentation of the following book at the BA-CA Kunstforum gallery in Vienna, tomorrow at 20.00 hours local (1800 UT) Ciao, Andy HIER SPRICHT RADIO PMR /// NACHRICHTEN AUS TRANSNISTRIEN Hardly anyone from the West knows about Transnistria (also called Pridnestrovia [sic] or PMR). It is not internationally recognized, has no noticeable voice, and the little media coverage there is draws only a one-dimensional picture. The EU would like to have the problem off the stove. The authors Kramar and Marcell Nimführ have been exploring the country to the left of the river Dnjestr for the past six years. They were able to get to know the country and its people on their travels and have recorded many reports and portraits. Moreover, they were lucky to meet Andrey Smolensky, an interpreter, radio presenter and university lecturer. He brought them to places no western eye had ever seen before and acquainted them with people who otherwise would not have been that friendly to any other journalist. Transnistria belongs to the Republic of Moldova (the Moldovians say), Transnistria is autonomous (the Transnistrians say), Transnistria should not exist (says the western world). Although Kramar und Marcell Nimführ are westerners they really do have an intimate knowledge of the PMR. The authors do not defend any regime and do not support possible criminal actions of any regime. There is no one truth – and this book does not claim any such truth. Rather, it shows how the Pridnestrovians (Transnistrians) see their country. „This is Radio PMR“ is a photography book, a travelogue, a book on propaganda and counter-propaganda and above all it is a magnificent photographic portrait put forward by the Viennese Journalists. A differentiated picture of the „small Soviet Union“ is drawn in numerous interviews and transliterated radio reports. VERLAG FÜR BILDSCHÖNE BÜCHER 2007 /// 240 SEITEN HARDCOVER /// 210 X 280 MM /// 150 ABB. /// DEUTSCH, ENGLISCH, RUSSISCH http://www.25books.com/25_books_detail.php?book=2206&img=0&lang=en English excerpts: http://www.fischka.com/e_index.html (Andrea Lawendel, Italy, Oct 5, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** ROMANIA. 11923v, 2040 12 Sept, RRI, English news // 9515 11810. Supposed to be on 11940! Transmitter faulty, drifting down, on 11918 by close of English program at 2100; SIO 433 (Alan Pennington, England, BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) R. Romania International, October 6, 2007 *1200-1256* 15220 kHz with "Radio Newsreel", "The Week", "World of Culture", "Roots" and new "Network Europe". Overall fair. First time I've heard "Network Europe" via R. Romania Int. "Network Europe" is not in their printed schedule and not found, at least when I searched, at http://www.rri.ro R. Romania Int is listed as a partner of "Network Europe" at http://www.networkeurope.org Interesting and informative. 73, (Kraig, KG4LAC, Krist, VA, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SIERRA LEONE [non]. 9525: Received QSL card from Cotton Tree News. It has Fondation Hirondelle on one side and Cotton Tree News on the other with full data. Report sent to gbennett76 @ yahoo.co.uk Answer came from Sierra Leone via snail mail (Artur Fernández Llorella, Catalonia, Spain, HCDX via DXLD) ** SINGAPORE. QSL: 9795, Radio Nederland via Singapore. Full data (with site indicated) 'A Dutch Morning' QSL card, in 5 months, 38 days after sending e-mail follow-up to media @ rnw.nl (Edward Kusalik, Alberta, CANADA, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** SWAZILAND. TWR: see U S A [non] ** TAIWAN [and non]. R. Taiwan International sent out a ``B-07`` schedule which actually contained A-season outdated info! Wolfgang Büschel corrected it, and here is the English portion: Days Area kHz Site kW 0100-0200 daily SEAs 11875 TWN 250 0200-0300 daily CNAm 9680 WYFR 100 0200-0300 daily NEAm 5950 WYFR 100 0300-0400 daily SEAs 15320 TWN 100 0300-0400 daily SAm 15215 WYFR 100 0300-0400 daily NWAm 5950 WYFR 100 0700-0800 daily NWAm 5950 WYFR 100 1100-1200 daily SEAs 7445 TWN 100 1100-1200 Thurs China 747 TWN 250 1100-1200 Thurs China 1422 TWN 50 1200-1300 Fri WEU 9750 Rampisham 35 DRM 1600-1700 daily SEAs 9785 (10/28-3/2) 11995 (3/3-3/30) Issoudun 500 1600-1700 daily China, SAs 11550 TWN 100 1700-1800 daily Af x15690 11850 Issoudun 500 1800-1900 daily WEu 3965 Issoudun 250 2200-2300 daily Eu 9355 WYFR 100 (via DXLD) x15690 presumably means 11850 will already have replaced it (gh, DXLD) ** TURKEY. Dear Friends, Here is the B07 HF schedule for the English Language service of the Voice of Turkey, effective 28th October 2007 To Europe 0400-0500 6020 1330-1430 12035 1930-2030 6055 2300-2400 5960 To North America 0400-0500 6020 2300-2400 5960 To Asia 0400-0500 7240 1330-1430 11735 2130-2230 7180 To Australia 1330-1430 11735 2130-2230 7180 To Africa 0400-0500 7240 Schedule announced on Voice of Turkey's DX Corner Saturday October 6. Best Wishes (Christopher Lewis, England, Oct 7, DX LISTENING DIGEST) In NAm, also check out the 1330 broadcast to Europe (in the same direxion) on 12035; and compare with 11735 (if neither be blocked), as last winter 11735 was sometimes better here tho supposedly aimed away. from us. BTW, VOT broadcasts vary from 50 to 55 minutes long, never more (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** UKRAINE. We also have an announcement for our listeners via Internet: Recently the audio on demand service has started on the site of the National Radio Company of Ukraine. You can listen to some of the regular columns of Radio Ukraine International programmes in Ukrainian, English and German languages in mp3 format. Really, it is a very useful function of our website, for which we have waited for a long time, and which is very appreciated by our listeners, but it is important that the files are renewed regularly. So listen to our programmes via audio on demand service and write us your comments and proposals (Whole World on the Radio Dial 8 Sept via DXLD) ** U K. 75 Years BBC --- Maybe of interest? (BBC WS E-Mail Network) 75 Years --- In December, BBC World Service celebrates 75 years on air and this week we're launching the first series of our anniversary season. Every day for 75 days we'll be broadcasting special one-minute features in selected editions of our news and current affairs programmes. They'll include archive recordings from each of the 75 years and cover innovations in broadcasting, changing styles in reporting and some of the unforgettable moments from radio and television which bring 20th-century history to life The series begins in 1932 with Director General Lord Reith's somewhat restrained launch of what was known then as the Empire Service. From 4 October - programme times (GMT) - at approximately 18 or 20 minutes past the hour in the programmes listed below; 27 minutes past in editions marked *: Monday to Friday : World Briefing: 0100, 1500*, 1800, 2100; The World Today: 0300, 0700, 2300; World Update: 0900; Newshour: 1200, 2000 Saturday and Sunday : World Briefing: 0100, 0900*, 1700*, 1800, 2200; The World Today: 0300, 0700, 2300; Newshour: 1200, 2000. 73, (via Paul Gager, Austria, HCDX via DXLD) ** U S A. By now have all the repairs to hurricane damage at the WYFR plant been made? Looks like there may be nothing more this year as we are into October... Regards, (Glenn Hauser, to Evelyn Marcy, via DXLD) Yes, we are all repaired. It has taken a long time. I was able to put the finishing decorator touches in the lobby where I work, and it looks nice. We are not quite out of the woods yet for hurricanes, but I am hopeful. However, a nice tropical storm wouldn't hurt --- we need the rain --- it's been a very dry year (Evelyn Marcy, WYFR Okeechobee, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A [and non]. IN THE WORLD'S RURAL OUTPOSTS, A SHORTWAVE CHANNEL TO GOD --- By Kevin Sullivan, Washington Post Foreign Service, Sunday, October 7, 2007 As dusk fell deep in a forest of mango and palm trees, Jaime Jeremias Matsimbe sat on the rose-colored dirt and hand-cranked a shortwave radio, looking for the word of God. He wound the little plastic handle round and round, charging the radio like winding a watch, and soon a preacher's voice boomed across a courtyard filled with goats and turkeys. Twenty miles from the nearest paved road, Matsimbe smiled as he listened to a Texas preacher's sermons about Jesus and Saint Paul, translated into a local language spoken only in the southern African backcountry. --- Long article in Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/10/06/AR2007100601253.html?hpid=topnews (via Mike Barraclough, UK; Zacharias Liangas, Greece; Artie Bigley, OH; Dale Rothert, OH; David Cole, OK; Mike Cooperr, GA; et al? DXLD) Where`s the ``allegedly`` in the headline or story? The first example given involves the Xitshwa language, which despite a megaspeaker, has only this one gospel huxter SW broadcast using it. Yet, I can find no such language in the EiBi language key, nor in the WRTH May supplement schedules, and the story never gets around to mentioning which station broadcasts in it! Geez. A google search on the language, also spelt XiTshwa, did not turn up any broadcasts, but it seems the Jehovah`s Witnesses and Methodists, at least, have been involved with them. Nor anything turned up in WRTH, even alternative spellings, under likely candidates FEBA, TWR, AWR. Unless, could it = Chichewa, the usual spelling, since that is spoken in nearby penenclave Malawi, and the story is about Mozambique? The X- spelling could be Portuguese influence, = sh. WRTH doesn`t enumerate the 20 ethnic languages spoken in Moz. No, Chichewa itself has more than one single SW broadcast --- or does it any more? WRTH shows it only under TWR Swaziland. Maybe Liz Cameron can come up with something more definite? (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) Hi everyone, Xitshwa is an alternate spelling of Tswa. Please look at: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=tsc Ethnologue is sponsored by the Summer Institute for Linguistics, which works with both missionaries and secular linguists. You would think that gospel huxters (or hucksters) would use the SIL's common spellings. 73/Liz (Cameron, MI, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) It shows up on EiBi as: TSH Tshwa (Mocambique) (Steve Lare, Holland, MI USA, ibid.) So, mystery solved: EiBi has a single listing for TSH: 1600-1630 M-F on 3200 from TWR Swaziland However, WRTH May update --- where you have to find it under SOUTH AFRICA for some reason --- still has nothing under that name, but Chichewa daily at 1600-1630 on 6130 Manzini, extended on weekends, and nothing shown on 3200 during this semihour. Maybe a recent addition (Glenn Hauser, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Working (and listening) together, we get things done! (Steve Lare, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) ** U S A. Regulatory Background --- Glenn, Those who enjoy the making of sausage may find the recently issued Government Accountability Office report on the vagaries of the FCC's rulemaking process to be interesting reading. Even those of us who are familiar with the regulatory world and the requirements of the Administrative Procedure Act are sometimes surprised to find that the FCC (and the FAA as well) exhibit interesting "cultural aberrations" which do not seem to follow the APA's procedures. Summary: http://www.gao.gov/docsearch/abstract.php?rptno=GAO-07-1046 Full Report pdf: http://www.gao.gov/new.items/d071046.pdf (Ben Dawson, WA, Oct 4, DX LISTENING DIGEST) Part of the summary: ``In the case studies and in discussions with other stakeholders that regularly participate in FCC rulemakings, multiple stakeholders generally knew when the commission scheduled votes on proposed rules well before FCC notified the public. FCC rules prohibit disclosing this information outside of FCC. Other stakeholders said that they cannot learn when rules are scheduled for a vote until FCC releases the public meeting agenda, at which time FCC rules prohibit stakeholders from lobbying FCC. As a result, stakeholders with advance information about which rules are scheduled for a vote would know when it is most effective to lobby FCC, while stakeholders without this information would not`` (via gh, DXLD) This report is making its way around. Seems I was incorrect and most unfair in dubbing the FCC the Feckless Chamberpot of Cronies. Cronyism many times is not illegal, just rude. But according to the story, the FCC engaged in downright criminal behavior, leaking inside info, squashing reports, usw. Welcome to the banana republic, as Terry Reed put it. Perhaps FCC more accurately might be dubbed Felons, Cretins, and Crooks. z (Paul Vincent Zecchino, Manasota Key, IRCA via DXLD) ** VATICAN. VATICAN STATE [spurious] During the liturgies in Romanian on 9645 kHz on Sundays - Sep 16th and 23rd at 0630 UT and later, strong spurs were on 9465, 9525, 9555, and 9735 kHz, but also DW 9545 kHz was 'jammed' (Rumen Pankov, Bulgaria, Sept 27, wwdxc BC-DX Oct 6 via DXLD) ** VIETNAM. 5975, Voice of Vietnam -1, 2308, Oct 04, Vietnamese, male & female alternating, news? Clear frequency, fading but still fair at 2347 when they got blocked by co-channel VOR carrier. VOV-2 5925 was // at first but appeared to carry separate programming at 2331 recheck (Martien Groot, Schoorl, Netherlands, DX LISTENING DIGEST) 5975 is direct from Hanoi, per HFCC, aimed south (gh, DXLD) ** ZANZIBAR. TANZANIA. 11735, Radio Tanzania-Zanzibar, 1800-1810, Oct 6, English news. IDs as "Spice FM". Back to Swahili & local music at 1810. Good. (Brian Alexander, PA, DX LISTENING DIGEST) There is confirmation that the English news segment is again/still at 1800, tho it was occasionally reported (really more than once?) at 2000 (Glenn Hauser, OK, DX LISTENING DIGEST) UNIDENTIFIED. 4805.3, 1820 9 Sept, very faint with static crashes, energetic songs, female announcer, SIO 222 (David Morris, Dorset, Oct BDXC-UK Communication via DXLD) UNIDENTIFIED. According to some info I received, 7345 at 1700 UT (techno non-stop music) is a test of TDP. No transmitter site specified (Jari Savolainen, Finland, Oct 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) Samara, Russia? (Wolfgang Büschel, BC-DX Oct 6 via DXLD) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ UNSOLICITED TESTIMONIALS ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Hello, Glenn. Once again let me thank you for the excellent bulletins you edit. They're full of information and quite interesting to read (Élmer Escoto, San Pedro Sula, Honduras) See also INDIA PUBLICATIONS ++++++++++++ NEW URLS FOR MY TV DX PAGES The new URL for the Mexico and Latin America TV DX ID pages and all of my "Geocities" pages is: http://www.tvdxtips.com The new URL for The TV/DTV DX Exposition and all of my "Tripod" pages is: http://www.tvdxexpo.com (Danny Oglethorpe, Shreveport, LA, WTFDA via DXLD) LANGUAGE LESSONS ++++++++++++++++ SPUTNIK, NOT JUST A SATELLITE Sputnik was also the title of a "digest of the Soviet press", issued in various foreign languages. It was quite popular in the GDR and got the fame to be banned from further delivery in November 1988 because "it publishes articles with a distorted representation of the history and does not contribute to the German-Soviet friendship anymore", resulting from a series about the role of Stalin in WWII. Mind you: A Soviet magazine got banned in the GDR. This was a real blow, and it marked the beginning of the end. It was just too obvious that the game was over when the hardliners started to openly oppose the USSR. Btw, a Czech edition of Sputnik had been issued by a publishing house at Prague instead of Novosti at Moscow itself, and if I recall correct the critical articles in question were simply missing from this Czech edition (Kai Ludwig, Germany, Oct 4, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) The magazine was actually named after Sputnik the Satellite. Curiously, this "digest of the Soviet press" was the size of the Reader's Digest. Printed in Finland, the monthly's Russian edition was almost as difficult to come by in the USSR as America Illustrated (a USIA-run Russian counterpart of Soviet Life). Cuba was another country that banned its distribution in 1988 or so. Radio Martí immediately took advantage of the situation and introduced a regular program based on Sputnik's Spanish edition. Radio Moscú chose not to follow the suit, due to close editorial/technical cooperation with RHC at the time (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, dxldyg via DX LISTENING DIGEST) According to the Russian news reports, the famed (or infamous?) East German car was named Trabant in 1958, after Sputnik's success. Another meaning [of Sputnik] is a [male] spouse, or a life companion (Sergei Sosedkin, IL, DX LISTENING DIGEST) What`s the feminine of Sputnik, then? (gh) BURMA OR MYANMAR? Discussion of this and other proper name changes: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/theeditors/2007/10/name_changes.html (via Dan Say, BC, DXLD) DIGITAL BROADCASTING ++++++++++++++++++++ DRM FREQUENCY MANAGEMENT [see also: NETHERLANDS; TAIWAN] The transcript of the September 8 edition of Whole World on the Radio Dial from R. Ukraine International has finally been posted almost a month later at http://www.dxing.ru/content/view/628/1/ Includes a report on the HFCC meeting in Birmingham, and interviews Oldrich Cip, chairman of HFCC, including this: (Host) Are there any problems with implementation of DRM on AM bands? (Guest) Yes, there are two folds I would say. One is that coexistence, if we can call it, with AM is a bit difficult, because the DRM signal causes interference, it can even remind us of the Cold War jamming or something of that sort. And that discourages, some Dxers are not very happy about this kind of interference, and they complain. But we, that I now speaking as a chairman of HFCC, we are trying somehow to regulate this problem in such a way that we recommend to our members that the DRM transmissions are placed in 13 clusters on the band that they are adjacent to each other and they are not dispersed among AM transmissions. But I must admit that the situation is not completed, as we would like to have it (RUI via DXLD) IS HD RADIO TOAST? --- by Richard Harker Apple took 74 days to sell one million iPhones. Despite mixed reviews, numerous glitches, a long-term service agreement, and a $600 initial price tag, they managed to move nearly 700,000 the first weekend. Nielsen BuzzMetrics reported that in the month following Apple’s iPhone announcement, Apple’s official web site had 1.79+ million unique visitors. The keyword “iPhone” was searched 870,000 times that month. In March 1997, the DVD was launched. The first year, 350,000 DVD players were sold. Despite the current format war between Blu-ray and HD DVD, something like 300,000 players were sold its first year, not counting the gaming consoles that can play Blu-Ray DVDs. In the last quarter, XM added 338,000 net subscribers to bring their total subscribers to 8.25 million. In the same period, Sirius added 561,500 net subscribers to bring their total to a little over 7 million. That means there are over 15 million satellite subscribers and something like 10 million radios sold. Sales figures for HD Radio sales are hard to come by and sketchy at best. HD Radio has been around for three years now, and last year there were perhaps a couple of hundred thousand sold. If the rate of sales had accelerated this year we probably would have read about it. However, the HD Alliance has been rather quiet on sales lately. Let’s face it, as new-tech toy sales go, HD Radio sales have been a dud. Radio reaches 93% of Americans every week and is one of the most effective marketing tools available to advertisers, yet we haven’t been able to sell in three years as many HD radios as Apple sold iPhones in a single weekend. That alone should alarm us. . . [much more] http://www.fmqb.com/article.asp?id=487772 (via Curtis Sadowski, IL, WTFDA via DXLD) More negativity: http://gormanmediablog.blogspot.com/2007/10/radio-hd-radio-gets-bilk-oed.html (via Harry Helms, ABDX via DXLD) NIGHT OF THE BEES Radio listeners across America are trying to hide from a monster, but there is no shelter. After spending its adolescence in technical trials during daytime hours, IBOC has now come out at night. IBOC is the acronym for in-band on-channel, a method of sending digital audio along with old-fashioned analog radio signals. It's marketed, confusingly, as HD Radio. In theory, HD Radio should be transparent to the end user listener. In reality, the system is anything but on- channel. It actually uses about five channels to convey its information. . . http://karlzuk.blogspot.com/2007/09/night-of-bees.html (Karl Zuk`s blog, via BDXC-UK via DXLD) WORLD OF HOROLOGY +++++++++++++++++ According to timeanddate.com, DST is to end in Mexico on Oct 28, even tho the USA has extended it one week longer. I suspect Mexico will really follow suit. BTW, Cuba is shown as matching the US dates, despite a certain hostility. 73, (Glenn Hauser, Oklahoma (UT -5 too, but should be UT -7), MWC via DXLD) POWERLINE COMMUNICATIONS et al. ++++++++++++++++++++++++ Evidence of the decline of the Voice of America. They let me back on the air, at least this weekend, with a report about an amateur radio exhibit near the U.S. Capitol. VOA "Our World," 6 October 2007. The radio amateurs "put their emergency communications skills to the test on October 3, demonstrating to members of Congress and other Federal agencies how ham radio continues to work when other means of communications are disabled during hurricanes or other natural or man- made disasters." American Radio Relay League, 5 October 2007. Posted: 06 Oct 2007 http://www.voanews.com/english/Science/2007-10-05-voa28.cfm When consumers around the world hopped onto the Internet starting in the 1990s, most used dial-up modems, which converted data into sounds that could be sent over telephone lines designed for voice communication. As websites became more complex, and people wanted to download or share pictures, music and video, dial-up became too slow, and users migrated to high-speed Internet connections. Today, about half of American homes have high-speed Internet service, usually either through cable TV or digital telephone lines. As for the rest, some are not interested or can't afford it, but many simply can't get broadband service for technical reasons. One solution is to piggy-back Internet service over electric power lines. The technology works and is cost-effective, but as we hear from VOA's Kim Andrew Elliott, broadband over power lines, or BPL, can interfere with shortwave broadcasting and amateur radio transmissions that can be vital in emergencies. ELLIOTT: Amateur radio is a hobby, but it also provides a public service is times of emergency, like Hurricane Katrina in 2005, when the electrical grid, telephone lines, cell phone networks, and the internet were all not available. AMATEUR RADIO SOUND ELLIOTT: Those of us who are into radio know that sound. It's an amateur radio QSO, or conversation. In most countries, amateur radio operators are licensed to operate low-powered transmitters as a hobby. This amateur radio contact took place Wednesday from an outdoor exhibit here in Washington, next to the U.S. Capitol building. With an array of equipment running on batteries, generators and solar panels, it was a demonstration of how amateur radio can provide off-the-grid communications in a time of emergency. That close to the seat of Congress, there must have been something political about this display. There was. The radio amateur community is supporting legislation that would protect their frequencies. Specifically the amateurs are concerned about a new technology called broadband over power line, or BPL, also called. Outside the United States, BPL is known as power line communications. Allen Pitts is the public relations manager for the American Radio Relay League, the national organization of amateur radio. PITTS: "BPL is a scheme which is to put broadband signals on electrical power lines. The problem is that it turns those electric lines into antennas, and they actually radiate radio waves. There are places where it has been done successfully and has not caused interference, but there are many other places where it has caused massive harmful interference." ELLIOTT: The ARRL website provides this sound of interference to the amateur radio frequency 14335 kilohertz, heard while driving through, monitored in Briarcliff Manor, New York, where a BPL system is now operating. BPL RADIO INTERFERENCE ELLIOTT: That would be heard not only on the amateur frequencies, but also in the shortwave broadcast bands. The companies that provide BPL say that they do not get many complaints about radio interference. And BPL has many advocates. The chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, Kevin Martin, said, "By encouraging the development of new technologies, such as BPL, we can best achieve the president's goal of universal broadband by the end of 2007." So, aren't more households in the United States interested in broadband access than in amateur radio? Allan Pitts admits that's possible. PITTS: "And BPL can be done without causing trouble. That's the key issue. We're not against BPL. We're against the interference, and it doesn't have to have it." ELLIOTT: Now, Art, while the radio amateurs see a threat to shortwave caused by BPL, shortwave broadcast listeners see a threat caused by international radio stations going off shortwave. CHIMES: Right, that seems to be happening all the time. I know a couple of years ago you were here in the studio and told us about Swiss Radio International. You had a tape of their last moments on the air. And now I gather another European broadcaster is giving up on shortwave. ELLIOTT: Yes, the latest station to go off shortwave is RAI, the public broadcaster of Italy, and indeed they are going off all of their 25 languages plus Italian on shortwave, and dropping all those 25 languages on the Internet and satellite as well. Now, many of your listeners probably have heard this interval signal have heard this interval signal on their shortwave radios — RAI INTERVAL SIGNAL — and I'm going to miss hearing that bird, which was the unique tuning signal for RAI Italy. I also managed to record the last day of RAI English broadcasting from RAI RAI NEWSCASTER: "I would like to inform all our listeners that starting from tomorrow, Monday, October the first, RAI will end its shortwave news broadcasts." CHIMES: And I think it's very interesting that you recorded that off the Internet. ELLIOTT: Yes, I was cheating, although I did listen to RAI on shortwave that last day. But as shortwave goes, it was fading out by the time the English broadcast came on that evening of September 30. Art, by the way, on October 1 another international broadcaster, NHK Radio Japan, dropped all of its German, Malaysian, Swedish and, ironically, Italian broadcasts, and it reduced shortwave transmissions in Japanese, English, French and Spanish. CHIMES: It's a real pattern. And we should say, I guess, that VOA is not immune from this either. ELLIOTT: No, VOA is among the stations that has cut back on shortwave. CHIMES: Dr. Kim Andrew Elliott. He was for many years the host of Communications World here on VOA and currently works as an audience research analyst. Thanks for coming in, Kim (VOA via DXLD) PROPAGATION +++++++++++ ARNIE CORO’S DXERS UNLIMITED’S HF PLUS LOW BAND VHF PROPAGATION UPDATE AND FORECAST More and more days with ZERO sunspots and extremely low solar flux levels --- solar scientists are now almost sure that since July the Sun is going trough the minimum of cycle 23. Equinoctial propagation conditions are slowly fading away, as the northern hemisphere winter and the lower hemisphere summer approach; so be prepared for many more days of very low maximum useable frequencies, and also of very low ionospheric absorption. Transequatorial propagation on the 10 and 6 meters band is now happening every day, from the Caribbean to the extreme end of South America, and here in Havana, a good example is the fact that 10 meter band pirate stations from Argentina and Brazil are coming in every afternoon (Prof. Arnaldo Coro A., RHC DXers Unlimited Oct 6, ODXA via DXLD) You mean above or below 28000 kHz? TE normally works to southern Brasil, Uruguay and northern Argentina, not Tierra del Fuego (Glenn Hauser, DXLD) SUNSPOT CYCLE REPORT FROM ARRL Monthly averages of daily sunspot numbers for April 2006 through September 2007 were 55.2, 39.6, 24.4, 22.6, 22.8, 25.2, 14.7, 31.5, 22.2, 28.2, 17.3, 9.8, 6.9, 19.8, 20.7, 15.6, 9.9 and 4.8. Monthly averages of daily solar flux for the same period were 88.9, 80.9, 76.5, 75.8, 79, 77.8, 74.3, 86.3, 84.4, 83.5, 77.7, 72.2, 72.4, 74.4, 73.7, 71.6, 69.2 and 67. The average solar flux and sunspot numbers for September were the lowest on this side of cycle 23. This suggests we are still in the cycle bottom, or perhaps haven't reached it yet. But how low is 4.8 for a monthly average of sunspot numbers, compared to the last cycle minimum? Average monthly sunspot numbers for October 1995 through August 1997 were 31.6, 15.3, 16.7, 18, 9.1, 12.1, 8.5, 11.9, 18.8, 13.2, 20.7, 2.9, 2.3, 20.6, 15.1, 8.7, 11.4, 13.7, 24.5, 29.6, 22.1, 17, and 36.1. You can see that we are the closest to September and October of 1996 (2.9 and 2.3), which had some very long strings of no-sunspot days, the longest being September 13 to October 20, 1996. Here is the latest update on the 3-month moving average of daily sunspot numbers: Sep 05 39.3 Oct 05 28 Nov 05 35.3 Dec 05 40.6 Jan 06 32.4 Feb 06 18.1 Mar 06 27.7 Apr 06 38.5 May 06 39.7 Jun 06 28.9 Jul 06 23.3 Aug 06 23.5 Sep 06 21.2 Oct 06 24.1 Nov 06 23.1 Dec 06 27.3 Jan 07 22.7 Feb 07 18.5 Mar 07 11.2 Apr 07 12.2 May 07 15.8 Jun 07 18.7 Jul 07 15.4 Aug 07 10.2 The average for July, August and September, centered on August, at 10.2 is the lowest yet for this side of cycle 23. This number was derived by adding together all the daily sunspot numbers for those three months, then dividing the sum by the number of days, which was 92. The past few months correlate pretty well with the fall of 1996, when the 3-month moving average for July through November was 17.5, 12.4, 8.7, 10.1 and 14.2, observing that the August 2007 moving average is similar to September or October 1996 (Propagation Forecast Bulletin 41 ARLP041 From Tad Cook, K7RA, Seattle, WA October 5, 2007, via Dave Raycroft, ODXA yg via DXLD) GEOMAGNETIC INDICES - GEOI Phil Bytheway - Seattle WA - phil_tekno @ yahoo.com Geomagnetic Summary July 5 2007 through October 2 2007 Tabulated from daily email status Date Flux A K Space Wx 7/ 5 72 7 2 no storms 6 72 14 2 no storms 7 71 4 1 no storms 8 73 5 2 no storms 9 75 3 1 no storms 10 77 2 1 no storms 11 78 3 1 no storms 12 79 27 2 minor 13 77 6 1 no storms 14 78 4 1 no storms 15 76 16 4 no storms 16 75 10 1 no storms 17 73 9 0 x 18 72 3 1 no storms 19 79 2 1 no storms 20 68 2 1 no storms 21 67 13 2 no storms 22 66 16 3 minor 23 66 15 1 no storms 24 67 2 1 no storms 25 68 3 1 no storms 26 69 1 0 no storms 27 68 11 3 no storms 28 69 10 1 no storms 29 70 4 1 no storms 30 69 14 3 no storms 7/31 69 15 2 no storms 8/ 1 68 6 1 no storms 2 68 6 2 no storms 3 69 7 2 no storms 4 70 3 1 no storms 5 69 1 0 no storms 6 69 1 1 no storms 7 70 12 4 no storms 8 69 26 3 moderate 9 69 26 1 no storms 10 67 4 1 no storms 11 68 12 3 no storms 12 68 12 2 no storms 13 68 12 1 no storms 14 68 6 1 no storms 15 69 2 1 no storms 16 68 10 2 no storms 17 67 7 1 no storms 18 68 4 1 no storms 19 68 4 0 no storms 20 68 1 2 no storms 21 69 2 1 no storms 22 69 2 1 no storms 23 70 3 1 no storms 24 71 2 0 no storms 25 72 0 1 no storms 26 72 1 2 no storms 27 72 10 2 no storms 28 70 9 3 no storms 29 69 12 2 no storms 30 70 15 2 moderate 8/31 70 3 2 no storms 9/ 1 72 5 2 no storms 2 71 8 3 no storms 3 69 25 4 minor 4 68 13 1 no storms 5 68 13 2 no storms 6 68 8 2 no storms 7 67 10 3 no storms 8 67 12 2 no storms 9 67 14 2 no storms 10 67 7 0 no storms 11 67 2 1 no storms 12 66 1 1 no storms 13 66 2 0 no storms 14 66 1 3 x 15 67 4 2 no storms 16 68 4 2 no storms 17 67 3 1 no storms 18 67 2 0 no storms 19 67 1 1 no storms 20 67 2 1 no storms 21 67 3 4 no storms 22 67 10 2 no storms 23 67 9 3 no storms 24 66 14 1 no storms 25 66 14 2 no storms 26 66 14 1 no storms 27 67 3 0 no storms 28 67 3 5 minor 29 67 13 2 minor 9/30 68 26 3 minor 10/ 1 65 13 2 no storms 10/ 2 68 8 1 no storms ********************************************************************** (IRCA DX Monitor Oct 6 via DXLD) Solar-activity forecast for the period Oct 5 - 11, 2007 Activity level: very low Radio flux (10.7 cm): a fluctuation in the range 64-72 f.u. Flares:weak (0-3/day) Relative sunspot number: in the range 0-30 Astronomical Institute, Solar Dept., Ondrejov, Czech Republic e-mail: sunwatch(at)asu.cas.cz (RWC Prague) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period Oct 5 to Oct 11, 2007 quiet: Oct 5, 6, 7 and 10 quiet to unsettled: Oct 9 and 11 unsettled: Oct 8 active: 0 minor storm: 0 major storm: 0 severe storm: 0 Geomagnetic activity summary: geomagnetic field was quiet on Oct 1, quiet to unsettled on Oct 2, unsettled on Sep 30, unsettled to active from Sep 27 to 29 and Oct 3. RWC Prague, Geophysical Institute Prague, Geomagnetic Dept, Czech Republic e-mail: geom(at)ig.cas.cz ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Geomagnetic activity forecast for the period of one solar rotation unsettled to active: Oct (21,) 22, 29(-30) active to disturbed: Oct 17-19, (20,) 24-26 quiet: Oct 5-16, 23, (27,) 28 Survey: quiet on: Sep 26 mostly quiet - quiet to unsettled on: Sep 30, Oct 1-2 quiet to active - quiet to disturbed on: Sep 27-28 mostly unsettled - unsettled to active on: Oct 3 unsettled to disturbed - mostly active - active to disturbed on: Sep 29 disturbed - Notice: Days in brackets refer to a lower probability of possible solar activity enhancements depending on previous developments on the Sun. F. K. Janda, OK1HH, Czech Propagation Interested Group e-mail: franta.janda(at)quick.cz (via DXLD) ###